Returned (35 page)

             
The ball of fire came from the right without warning. Cora lifted her hands to shield her face. He leaped towards her with his heart in his mouth.  Almost instantly the ball turned to ice and dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Jack, did you see that?” she squealed in excitement.

“Yeah,” he said grinning, “but if you squeal like that again we're going to get caught.” Not like they hadn’t already.

The ground shook violently beneath them. Ember suddenly appeared at his side.

“Crap, Ember, don’t do that,” he hissed.

“Sorry,” she said, grinning. She wasn't sorry. “Ayden is coming up around the back of us and Clay is lost by the looks of things.”

“Damn it! Cora?” he asked her.

A sound from their left made them turn. Ayden grabbed Ember from behind. Before they had a chance to act, Ember looked from Jack to Cora, smiled and then disappeared. Ember’s projection was no longer with them so Ayden lurched towards them.

             
Jack grabbed her hand and threw his element around her. She levitated beside him, her warm hand in his. A fireball whizzed past them skimming his hair. He looked to Cora who had her eyes closed.

“Sorry about this,” she whispered.

“Sorry about what?” he asked.

The heavens opened up and heavy, torrential rain bucketed down on them. This woman simply amazed him with her strength. The wind swirled, firing the rain in all directions. A crack of thunder rumbled overhead. The wind twisted, building in speed and strength until a tornado formed. It wasn't a very big tornado but it was powerful, he could sense that from the force of the wind sucking at them. The high pitched whistling was deafening. The tornado burst from her hold and lapped at the ground thirstily.

“Clay, tornado heading your way, where are you?”

“I’m nearing where we first started,” he shouted.

“Wait there!” he instructed and then looked at Cora. “You stay here.”

“Got nowhere else to be,” she smiled at him.

He ducked lower concentrating on keeping her up there. He felt he’d got his energy just right but if there was a blip she would go crashing to the ground. He shuddered. It wasn’t going to happen. He could handle this.

             
He floated just above the trees. For once he was happy it was bloody cold, the trees were dead so he didn’t need to peer through luscious green leaves trying to find his way. The smouldering trees from the fireballs made visibility hard which meant they couldn’t see him, it also meant he couldn't distinguish who was who. He peered down to where they had been before Ayden had nearly grabbed them. He could just about see Clay underneath the cloud of smoke.

“Clay, stay where you are and put your hand in the air,” he whispered.

He watched as the lone figure did as he instructed. He forced his body down a little faster. He could see as he reached for Clay that Cora’s mini tornado was crashing around with balls of fire whizzing around within it. Tabitha hadn’t been able to stop it. It had lost power since Cora had let it land. They needed to think of another plan.

             
He reached Clay’s hand and dragged him, perhaps a little too harshly, into the air encasing him in his energy. They levitated towards Cora.

“Ember, are you there?” Cora spoke into her ear piece.

“I’m here, sort of, my other self is somewhere safe.”

“Ember is fine but we need a plan of action.”

Jack motioned for someone to speak or at least give some input.

“I was thinking, I’ve never frozen one of Tabitha’s fire balls before but I guess it could work on anything. The idea has never come to me before and we might as well learn what we can do and push ourselves now before they come. Isn’t that the whole point?” she asked and without waiting for a reply, she continued. “Anyway, Clay, I could try and freeze your water and create a barrier around us.”

As she spoke Jack noticed the way Clay looked at her. His eyes roamed every angle of her face, following the curve of her cheekbones and then coming to rest on her lips. How did he look at her? Her warm brown eyes, they weren't just brown to him, they were a soft fawn flecked with bronze that popped out at you from underneath the heavy curtain of thick dark lashes. Her lips enticed him, the bottom one just asking to be nibbled. He knew every line of her face, what every crease in her forehead meant, what her eyes were telling him without her words. He shook his head.

“I think this is the day to try new things,” Jack agreed. “Right, we need to get somewhere safe.”

             
They descended; he made sure to bring them down within cover. No doubt one of the Aydens had seen them land. They ducked down and within seconds he could hear knocking sounds. They became louder, dull thuds were crashing all around them. Eli was up to his usual tricks.

“Clay, now,” Cora hissed.

Clay ducked a
s
low as he could and let the water flow. The ripple of crystal blue water cascading out of his hands was something he may never get used to. The water travelled, covering the floor space quickly. He studied Cora’s face as the air around them stilled. Two deep lines formed between her closed eyes. Her dark lashes fanning high cheeks bones. He didn't know if she could do something of this magnitude.

             
He watched, amazed, as the water stopped moving and started to become solid. The water cracked and groaned against the pressure of the cold air. His breath puffed in a white cloud around his head. The weather had dipped several degrees in seconds. The ground around them became an ice rink.

             
Cora opened her eyes just as Ayden appeared in front of them. They crouched low but Ayden was looking directly at them. There was a pop and another Ayden appeared. They stepped onto the ice. Jack held his breath, this was the only defence they could think of so it had better hold up. One Ayden slipped and fell, the other Ayden moved tentatively. He was smiling now. The wind picked up sending the second Ayden falling on the floor.

“Clay, I need water.”

Clay produced the water as Cora allowed the wind to blow it away from them. The water became ice much more quickly than before, Cora knew what she was doing. It froze, a five foot high wave, deadly shards protruded creating a dangerous obstacle
.
Ayden’s lips moved and within seconds the ground shook. It felt like a small vibration at first and then it escalated becoming a major earthquake. Jack stood trying to keep his balance.

“Ember, where are you?” he spoke into the ear piece and instantly lost his footing.

“Right here, Jack,” she whispered as she appeared beside him.

“Any suggestions for what we could do next would be great.”

Before anyone could answer, heat surrounded them. An intense overpowering heat that licked at your exposed flesh making it hiss in protest. He shifted his weight, his skin becoming unbearably hot which made the clothes on his back irritate him.

             
He looked over the top of the barricade to assess the situation. Tabitha was stood next to Ayden and Clio. Each of them had a smile on their face. The ground shook as Tabitha's heat thawed the ice.

“It’s not going to last, Tab's melting it,” Cora said.

“Yeah, they are going to get through sooner or later. What do we do now?”

“Go out there fighting?” Ember suggested.

Well, he wasn’t going to sit here and wait for what came next. He looked around their small group to assess the situation and formulate a plan.

“Okay, Ember you stay here and when they get close enough you can zap back to your body, where is that by the way?” Jack asked.

“It’s at Cora’s house laid up on the sofa,” she said and grinned.

“Does my mum know?” Cora looked surprised.

“Yes,” Ember laughed, “she keeps giving me chocolate when I go back.”

“Charming,” Cora sniffed. “Well, when you go back bring me some.”

“Focus. Right, Ember, you wait here. Clay, Cora, you’re with me. We are going to go behind them and attack. That’s all we have left. Ready?”

They nodded. He spread his energy lifting them with him. He wasn’t doing so badly with this. Well, no one had dropped out of the sky yet.

             
They moved swiftly across the tops of the trees. He could hear Ember making as much noise as she could to divert their attention away from the floating figures up above.

“Jack, Ayden is nearly here, I’m going to go real soon. You ready?”

“Almost,” he whispered back.

They hovered above the tree tops with a view of what was happening. Tabitha was melting the ice as multiple Aydens surrounded the area. Clio stood to one side occasionally stomping her foot which sent actual ripples across the ground. Where was Eli?

“Ready?”

“Yeah,” Cora whispered.

There was no reply from Clay.

             
He lowered them behind the others. To his surprise they landed without a sound. Clay took the right, he took the left and Cora remained in the middle. He made sure he was close to her.

             
A blow to his right shoulder sent him flying to the ground. Another blow hit him in the leg as he lay wounded from the previous hit. He grabbed his leg trying to squeeze out the pain.

“Jesus Christ!” he roared in anger.

Eli appeared in front of him with a smile on his face. Guilt flooded through him when he realised what had hit him. Cora had been pummelled by rocks and stones once. He now knew how much it hurt.

             
Another rock came hurtling towards his face, he nearly closed his eyes and if he had he would have missed the rock suddenly darting off in the opposite direction

“Come on.” Cora placed her hands under his armpits and half lifted, half dragged him away from Eli's firing range.

Jack threw his element and lifted Eli off the floor. Eli wasn’t smiling any more. Jack lifted him high enough to make him squeal; the drop was a long way down. He looked at Cora who was smiling up at Eli. She giggled, was she actually enjoying this? The sound of her laugh made him smile. She lifted her hand to her mouth and blew a kiss. Those lips made his pulse jump. Eli disappeared from sight.

             
Fireballs flew overhead igniting the bark as they hit with an almighty
thud
. Several blasted against the trees as one hit the floor, ricocheting into a bush beside them. It burst into flames and died almost as quickly as it started. A cloud of smoke encased them, choking he dropped to the floor in search of fresh air.

A wave of water crashed over them washing away the black cloud. Jack braced himself and pushed his body through the onslaught of water. He could see that the water had knocked Clio off balance putting an end to the mini earthquakes. It sent Ayden crashing into a tree. It was a good as time as any.

             
He ran towards Ayden, his energy quickly lifting Ayden into the air. He skidded along the floor looking for the next attack. Another Ayden came bounding towards him from the left.

“Clay!” he shouted into the ear piece.

Another powerful tsunami of water came hurtling in sending the current Ayden rolling towards another tree. He quickly glanced at Cora who was dealing with Tabitha’s fireballs like they were annoying flies buzzing around her head. He couldn't imagine that either of them could hurt the other.

             
He looked back at Ayden. He knew Ayden wouldn't think twice about hurting him. Again he cast his energy and lifted Ayden in the air. That was two of them up there now.

             
A yelp of pain stopped his heart. He turned to see Cora on the floor holding her hand. Tabitha had another ball glowing in her hand ready to throw. Tabitha had hurt her? He would never have believed it. Tabitha's hand lifted, she was preparing to throw it.

“Cora!”

All thoughts of this training session not being real flew out of his head. He just had one thought, to protect.

             
Cora rolled over and got to her feet. She would keep fighting, he knew. She didn't know how to quit but she wouldn't have time to stop the ball before it hit her face. His heart sank to the pit of his stomach; he was unable to do anything, unable to make his legs move quickly enough. Cora held up both her hands trying to freeze the ball but even if she did there would be ice spikes that would sit too close to her face. Spikes that would go straight through her vulnerable flesh.

             
He ran blind with fear, he didn’t want to see but his eyes remained focused on her and the events that were unfolding. The ball of fire slowed and came to a stop mere centimetres in front of Cora’s face. She barely held the ball suspended between both hands. He skidded to a stop next to her. She looked at him, an expression of shock on her face, and then threw the iced ball back at Tabitha. Tabitha blasted the ice ball with a spurt of heat.  A surprised expression moved across Tabitha’s face.

             
Suddenly Tabitha laughed. The sound made Clay come out of cover to see what was happening.