Elements (Tear of God Book 1) (37 page)

Ankrim addressed everyone in a low voice. “Just about all of those button pushers down there are asleep. We should only have to deal with Body and Water affinities. Rénys will take care of the Body users, leaving the Water affinities for our Lightning users who will be brought over the cliff by Air users.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Obyr whined.

“There aren’t that many of them,” Alré countered, expressing confidence that their Elemental powers trumped the limitations of weaponry. “Just a small contingent of the Machinist’s total forces. Our earlier reports were obviously exaggerated by those who haven’t seen what Freeland is capable of. They won’t even have time to call for back up.”

“You’re dad is really something else,” Ankrim directed to Mink. “Most of our work has been done for us.” He continued to address the group. “Tréa tells me they’re just about in position. I need Lightning users to mount up. It’s show time.”

T
HE AIR
users Imbued the four Lightning users with Featherweight, chanting breathily,

“Power of Air is mine to give.

I grant my target weightlessness.

The target is easy to lift.

Carrying is not a burden.

The slightest breeze can move it far.

No lack of strength experienced.

I may borrow the Air from Hewl.

Imbue Air as soon as I clap.”

After clapping to implement the effect, the Air users grabbed the straps on the harnesses and slung their riders onto their backs like they were empty sacks. Mink flashed to the strength Nyam had displayed hauling him single-handedly upward, pounding through two miles of dirt and ore, mysteriously empowered by the Tear of God that the Team would momentarily fight to acquire.

“Wait until your Cell is on the cliffside to chant the Sky Step, Corporal Thol,” Ankrim instructed his comrade. “Maintain cover until Rénys’ chant takes effect, then come up and have the Lightning users implement their A.o.E., Scattered Storm.”

Corporal Thol Ramink nodded and tucked her thumbs under her shoulder straps. “See you on the victory rendezvous. May God’s grace be your keep.” Ankrim nodded. Thol drew a circle in the Air with her finger, signaling for her Cell to move out.

As the eight of them left, Mink counted only nineteen who remained in the hudlew grove, himself included. This, against thousands of armored, gun-toting Machinists. A swallow got stuck in his throat. They all watched in silence until the Perimeter Cell was out of view. Obyr and Alré took deeper cover for him to fortify her with a fresh application of Materialized Body.

The next half hour of waiting was anguish. They remained silent, Mink and Gyov holding hands. He vascillated repeatedly between believing everything would be okay, and deciding this was a huge mistake.

When the time came, Ankrim and Alré simultaneously held their hands overhead in the shape of a triangle, indicating formation. The twins positioned their scooters about ten yards apart, where they could easily push through the shrubs. The other sixteen filled the space between, with Rénys positioned strategically in the middle. Mink took his place in the line and weilded his paddle with unfelt fervor, but he was far from prepared to engage the formidable sea of Machinists and puppets that awaited them on the ridge. Everyone on the line looked at Ankrim.

After a few very long seconds, he pumped his left fist up and down. Ready or not, they burst forth through the shrubs. Out in the open, the sense of exposure and vulnerability churned Mink from the inside. Rénys rushed ahead of the group, waving his hands back, indicating for all of them to stay behind him. As they ran in a V-pattern, Mink scanned the field in front.

He immediately noticed that not one Machinist, Reek, or puppet faced their way. Not one. “Corporal Alré, they’re not looking at us! They are specifically not looking in this direction.”

“And we are taking advantage of that fact, Mink. Shut up!” Alré jogged, eyes focused hungrily on the impending battlefield.

“I think we should pull back. We might be moving into a trap.” Mink made great effort to keep his place in the line, but his reluctant legs felt heavy with dread.

“Mind your place, Mink!” Alré barked. “Everyone advances. That is an order!”

The momentum of the day’s fate reached a point-of-no-return as Rénys implemented his secret, massive Water effect by unceremoniously spitting on the ground, still at a full run. He collapsed in exhaustion, but before his limp Body flopped to a rest, screams could be heard from the Machinists. As Mink thrust his paddle forward, its grooves grabbed the air and pulled him unwillingly ahead. He feigned the enthusiasm he saw in the others, hoping that it might foster some deep-rooted war cry.

Torrents of Water gushed out of every orifice of the Machinists’ bodies. Those without armor bloated visibly. Within seconds, the swarms of soldiers and puppets across the battlefield were ankle-deep in Water, as it collected quickly on top of the hard cracked Soil with nowhere to go. Obyr hoisted Rénys over his shoulder and kept advancing.

The flood continued to build under the glare of the relentless sun, revealing that the surface of the plateau above the Tear of God’s chamber was a shallow basin. The rushing Water carried dead and sleeping bodies alike toward the opening Nyam had dug up from the geode. The force of the whirlpool began eroding the Soil of the hole, widening the underground access. Bodies eddied and dropped through the center like bubbles getting sucked down a drain. Wails and curses echoed across the field from those Machinists who still had dry throats.

“Anyone harmed by Water or Lightning, stay on the outside of that flood!” Ankrim ordered. Now that they were nearly a hundred feet away from the Water’s edge, Mink slowed down. It was a scene unlike anything he had imagined. He understood now that Rénys’ effect was going to increase the strength of the Wood users making the pulley systems, with an added bonus of softening the Soil for the extraction of the geode. Very smart. Mink only hoped that the Water rushing down into the vortex of the flood wouldn’t weaken his dad.

Hovering now over the cliff’s horizon, the Lightning users wasted no time finding a place to point, implementing their effects. Instantly, four cores of Lightning appeared in the Machinists’ camp. Several Lightning bolts per second shot throughout the remaining forces with a deafening roll of thunder, raging an electric war-storm in broad daylight. The Scattered Storms effects arced violent flashes toward every metal object within their range, and crackling sparks danced atop the Water over smouldering bodies that the receding Water left in the muck. Still, Mink counted hundreds of Machinists and cloaks as yet unharmed.

Before Mink’s group could reach the Water’s edge and engage in battle, several dozen puppets sprung up from under the dirt in unison, like corpses rising from their graves. Unlike those they had encountered before, these puppets moved quickly and with dexterity, rapidly surrounding the Decoy Unit. Five of them swarmed each member of the Unit, possessing affinities specific to the individual, which would keep the attackers safe from harm. The Elementalists fought for their lives.

Obyr dropped Rénys, punching and kicking at the puppets grabbing him, to no avail. They all had Soil affinities! As a Body user, he could only make them stronger. In an instant, Obyr went from a man of intimidating stature to a four-and-a-half foot boy, no more than ninety pounds. All of his Body effects had been canceled. In a flash, it came to Mink that the Team had revealed their Elemental affinities to the Reeks in yesterday’s encounter. They desperately needed help, but the Extraction Unit was just now cresting over the slope of the plateau, entirely on the opposite side of the battlefield.

Mink fought off five puppets with his paddle, but their evasion was so well-timed that he couldn’t break their bones fast enough to slow the onslaught. Since he hadn’t shown an Elemental affinity, nor displayed any prowess with his weapon, how were they prepared to counter him so well? Sapo could clearly be seen towering over the black cloaks with Wood affinity that held her fast. She screamed and screamed for help, the sound barely carrying over the thunder of the persistent Lightning. Mink’s paddle suddenly split into three pieces, shot by a distant Machinist. Before the shards struck the ground, the five hooded figures grabbed his arms and head, immobolizing him.

Amid the chaos, Mink heard Ankrim and Alré yelling, but couldn’t make out their words. As if the thunder wasn’t loud enough, all the puppets now hissed their foul breath in everyone’s ears. Theen went limp. The twins’ armor was canceled. Gyov twisted and turned, unable to break free of the cold, dead grasp that held her fast. They all had been subdued, two cloaks clutching each arm and one holding the head. In unison, the captors rotated and stretched the Elementalists, putting them up on display for the three Machinists wading toward them.

Straining, Mink heard the distinctive tones of chants coming from those members of his group still able to speak, but they were soon interrupted. Much to his disgust and horror, the puppets began to shove their flesh-gloved, rotting fingers into each of their mouths, including his own. Mink threw up everything he had, the taste of decay and bile blurring his vision as his eyes teared. He fought through the haze and struggled to free himself in vain, watching powerless as the twins, Sapo, Alré, everyone, including Gyov, got caught in the same foul death-grip.

Mink hoped to God that Alré was somehow still connected via Silent Signal Fire to contact the rest of the Team for salvation. Choking on the repulsive claws pressing down on his tongue, amidst the constant daystorm of thunder and Lightning, Mink watched as puffs of blood-red mist exploded all over his people. The Machinists had opened fire.