Lost in Embers (Rising From Ash Saga #1)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

D ifferent-color beams shoot down and surround each one of us. We are safe now while enclosed in these beams. They will bring us back to our coaches for a short meeting before we are sent off to round two. This is a lot slower than it was when we were shot underground into the first battle. It feels as though this beam is actually trying to heal me; energy pulses against my face. I look down and can see the field beneath me. When I look toward either side, I can see more beams, but not the faces inside them. The beam gracefully brings me back down to solid ground. When I’m released from the safety of the beam, I feel as though I have just woken from the best nap. I smile at Marcus when I see Laila sitting next to him.

Marcus reads my face. “The beams are meant to heal and rejuvenate your body. You are the first one down because you have not been injured at all, just restored with some energy.” He’s right. I haven’t been touched. Even when attacked, I was able to evade all wounds, and not to mention my body’s reaction to the flamethrower; even Kieran was in shock .

“Tell me, how was your experience out there?”

“Enlightening. The rule is not to kill, but I was surprised by how many truly want to injure others. It does not make sense to me. We can take someone down without stabbing them or cutting off their wings.”

“I understand. My thoughts were the same. Many here are trying to prove to the Elders that they are fit for battle and will do whatever it takes to win.”

“We can do the right thing and still win. I will defend myself, as I have done, but I do not need to seriously hurt someone intentionally to compete in this simulation.” Exasperated, I just stare at Marcus.

“There will come a time, Ava, when you will need to defend yourself against someone who will not stop unless you kill them.” Marcus is frank.

“I know.” Simply put, that day will come, but it is not today and not in this place. There is nothing but relief when other beams start lowering to the ground. It is amazing how the different-colored beams float and light up this dark place. From a distance, they must look like bright stars in the sky that I know aren’t visible to the human eye from within this place.

When Kieran’s portal opens, I run to him, and for whatever reason, joy overcomes me and I jump into his arms for a hug. He holds me tightly in reciprocation, and I lean my head against his chest. My feelings toward him at this moment are insane. He is now someone I trust, no longer my enemy. At least for tonight.

I take note of all who walk out of the beams: Kai’s beam drops and he walks over to the coach on his side, followed by Cornelia. There is one other from my original team whose beam has come down, and that would be a small guy by the name of Efron. His power is telepathy. He’s short, at least five inches shorter than me, and skinny. His dark hair and dark eyes are quite the contrast against his pale white skin. He stands next to the sandy-brown-haired, masculine Kieran and looks small in comparison. Efron pulls me aside and insists on having a brief conversation with me about how he does not understand why he cannot read my thoughts but can read everyone else’s. I explain to him that I’m immune to powers being used against me for harm.

“But I wasn’t trying to harm you.” His voice is small, not in any way intimidating.

“As far as I know, people cannot use their powers against me. It is like there is a shield inside me that stops you from doing it.” I’m tempted to inform him on my whole situation, because I assume it is common knowledge since everyone seems to know more about me than I do. I let something else slide: “I cannot die at the hand of anyone other than someone I have linked souls with. But it doesn’t mean they can’t torture me and rip me to shreds, inches from life.”

“So, the person who you love the most, if they return that love for you, can kill you?” Kieran chimes in with a look of bewilderment. I was completely unaware that he was even listening. His eyes were focusing on the last beam. Brionna’s beam.

“Apparently so.” I shrug. The thought is kind of depressing. I think Efron senses a change in me, and he casually walks away to have a conversation with Marcus.

“Well, that is quite the travesty, isn’t it? Love is dangerous for you. What happens if you love someone and share your soul with them, only to find out they do not love you and are just trying to get in to kill you?” Kieran questions, taking his eyes off her beam for a second to look into mine.

Things are getting deep. I haven’t even thought about that. I always assumed a linked soul meant mutual feelings, something that connects us both. Is it possible that by me just loving someone, they have the ability to kill me? I close my eyes and think of the thought. How can I trust anyone? I need the answer to that question.

“I don’t know, Kieran.” The thought of someone deceiving me that way brings a tear to my eye. The single tear rolls down my cheek but is caught by Kieran’s finger, and he wipes it from my face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He just brought a reality to my eyes that I didn’t know existed. Marcus might have the answer to that question.

He does well to change the topic almost instantly. “I wonder how they will split teams up from here?”

Brionna’s beam finally comes down from the sky, but much slower than all of the other ones before. I do not remember her being hurt so badly that she would need to be up there for so long. She’s just a child. As her beam opens, she falls out, nearly hitting the ground hard, but I move fast enough to catch her before she does. I hold her in my arms, not sure what has happened.

“Brionna, I’m here. What’s wrong?” She seemed to be fine when she was beamed up, just a little shaken up.

“He…” She opens her eyes, and they are not as bright as usual. “Took part of my wing.”

What the fuck! I should have killed him. How can this affect her so badly? All I can do is hold her and hope to take some of the pain away.

I look at Marcus. “I don’t understand. ”

Above us an eagle soars, circling us, then quickly starts to move in our direction. I can see the wings on the eagle getting shorter and shorter the closer it gets, and the claws turning into feet and hands. It is her father, John, now standing before me.

“Her wings are part of her. When they are injured, she’s injured. Depending on where the injury is, it could be affecting one of her major organs. I have to take her home to tend to her.” I stand, holding her in my arms and gently pass her over to him without saying a word.

“She cannot go. She’s included in the final ten. She was standing when the flare rose into the sky. She continues on.” Man, I’m really starting to have it in for this Elder. Higgins appears with nothing but foul and useless words.

“She comes home with me, Higgins. Step aside.” Just by looking at John, you can tell he’s not to be messed with.

“She continues.” Higgins holds out one hand, directing him to stop.

“This is not a war you want.” Holy crap. It is about to go down. John is going to kill Higgins.

“It will not be a fair fight if she leaves.” Higgins needs to shut his mouth before I punch him in the throat. Like having a poor little girl in the battlefield is the right decision in the first place?

“I have a suggestion.” Kieran projects his voice louder over the two men. “Ava, Kai, Efron, and I would gladly be on a team and play a man down so Brionna can go home and John can tend to her.” Not a bad suggestion, but it is sad it has to come to that.

“You offer this without speaking to any of them? Quite the overachiever, aren’t you?” Higgins says in disgust. “Let’s see. If you would be willing to play a man down, step forward.”

Without hesitation Kieran, Kai, and I step forward. Efron looks nervous, unsure of what to do. I give him a look, but not one of fierce objective thoughts, one that conveys that if he does this, we will protect him. Over my shoulder, Kieran and Kai give him the same look. Efron steps forward and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

“You shall play a man down.” Higgins gives us his approval, but John is already gone. No surprise there. He was taking his daughter home regardless of Higgins’s view on the matter. The look on Higgins’s face when he slowly turned away was one telling us we would regret the decision we just made. The danger that leered in his eyes gave me an uncomfortable feeling.

“There is only one rule: no killing. The battle will continue until the opponent’s flag is captured. There will be no ability to release yourself from this game. You may be an inch from your life, but the game will continue. Maybe even that one rule is too gracious; they do not hold back in war.”

Higgins has gone mad. Efron looks scared to pieces, while Kai and Kieran look fierce and ready for battle. Can he change the rules so easily? He is the Elder, so I suppose, but being beaten an inch from your life? Before, if we were in a position where we could cause someone pain, they had the option to release themselves or continue until they were taken down, but this is excessive.

“And you four will defend the forest.” Higgins is a dick.

That’s great, considering it is the weakest vantage point in the whole field, with limited sight and multiple entrance points, not to mention the largest area to cover. The other team gets to choose their position. They choose the mountain, which is a smart idea. The flag will rest at the peak and they will have a clear line of sight to any intruders coming their way. We are given ten minutes to coordinate with our team before we are beamed into position, which is directly next to our flag.

We rally around each other in circle format. “So how do you guys want to play this?” I hope they all have ideas, because I’m lacking some of my own. The color of our X s has changed; we are sporting bright green and the other team has yellow. Kieran and Kai glance at each other, it is apparent they are back in their comfort zone working together.

Kieran is the first to break the silence. “What do we know about them?”

“Well, they have multiple attackers on their team, from what we have witnessed today.” Just my observation. Cornelia trying to show her dominance, not to mention the four others on her team, wrecking people while Kieran and I slid down the mountain.

“So, we need to make our defense strong, and we are outnumbered. Three should stay behind, leaving one to attack the flag. It is the last thing they would expect. They are going to go hard and fast, trying to end this quickly.” Kieran is focused and good at strategizing. The stakes have been raised.

“Good idea. One should be directly guarding the flag, another in the middle of the forest, and one standing in front of the tree line on guard.” Kai finishes Kieran’s thought. They are definitely battle compatible.

“Now the question is, who moves forward and who stays behind?” Finally, Efron spoke, but it was followed by more silence. The one to move forward would be at the highest risk with no one to help or protect them if needed .

“I will move forward. No offense, Efron, you look scared to pieces, plus you have the ability to hear the thoughts of others. You can warn Kieran and Kai when someone is coming, and they will protect you. Kai has to stay behind because of his defensive assassin-like skill, and he can duplicate himself. He should be in the middle of the forest to cover more ground. And Kieran…” I glance at him directly across from me; his eyes reflect the respect he feels for me right now. “You…” What are the words I’m looking for? “You hold the team together and do not let anyone get the flag. Bring them down. For Brionna.”

“Time is up, take your appropriate portals,” a voice that is not Higgins yells through speakers surrounding the field area.

I make my way to my portal, nervous and unsure of what to expect when we land in the forest. The one thing I know is that I will have a few seconds to take in the scene before I run off. Kieran walks behind me. Sensing him, I turn to question him before I step on my portal. He’s too close and runs into me.

“Ava.” His cool breath comes down toward me.

“Yes,” I say quietly, as last time we spoke like this Higgins threw a fit. I don’t need him taking away the last rule, but he’s not here.

“Please be safe. I don’t know what Higgins has up his sleeve, but there is more.” His voice, filled with concern, touches me. I nod and try to turn on my heel, but his strong arms hold me back. He stands staring at me, not saying a word, but then he bends down and places a kiss on the top of my head. I’m not sure how to react to this. He releases me, and I head to my portal. Kai glares at me with a smirk on his face but confused eyes. Join the club. He isn’t sure what happened either.

Kieran is the last one walking to his portal in a slow fashion; he does not care what rules are being bent or broken at this point. As soon as he steps onto his portal, all the walls go up on everyone else’s, and we are taken underground.

This suction feeling still feels bizarre, and nausea comes over me. As my portal comes to a stop and I slowly arise through the ground, the scene is not the woods but one of shooting fire and heat. I have been transported to the volcanic land in the midst of a volcanic eruption. This cannot be right. My teammates are nowhere to be found. Higgins is the cause of this.

Lava spews from the top of the volcano as I exit my portal, and huge chunks land all around me. I’m actually further away from the mountain now than I would be if I had started off in the forest. Somehow, time needs to be made up. Looking around for a weapon proves to be pointless, because there are none here. Surely, it’s that evil Elder’s doing again, as well as the ogre of a man standing in front of me.

He takes me off-guard and hits me hard with two hands, directly in my chest. I fly back and land against a rock. Trying to stand is hard considering the wind has been knocked out of me, but it slowly starts coming back. The heat of the boulder against my back with the volcano directly behind me is intense; she’s making noise like she’s ready to explode. The large man with discolored green skin and yellow hair stands about fifty yards away from me with his hands out.

Suddenly, I’m standing on my front porch on a sunny day with my dog by my side. The trees sway from side to side as I look out into the distance. The wind whispers against my ear, t his is not your reality, and I start shaking my head. The eruption of the volcano begins to become violent, and the man holds his position in front of me. He must have the power of reality warping. This is a strong power that I need to learn more about. A warper has the ability to take a location and place it entirely over this one. It does exist here and now, but with our true reality hidden underneath. I focus, and the lava surrounds me, pouring off to the side of the boulder that shelters me. He must not be aware that I can see through this. I wander toward him pretending to be home, mumbling to myself.

Walking closer and closer, he grins more, thinking he has won. I try my best to look as lackadaisical as humanly possible, until I get close enough. Standing directly in front of him, he still doesn’t have a clue and he starts to lower his hands. I punch him square in the throat, stealing his breath as he falls to the ground in front of me.

I stand over him as he props himself up on his elbows. “How could you see me? How could you see past my reality?”

I do not need to provide him with any answers as he clearly was placed here with a purpose, to defeat me and cause me pain.

“Stay down and do not follow me.” I walk away, convincing myself that he will listen to me. I’m wrong. He tries to lift his brute weight, and his harsh footsteps run toward me once he gets to his feet. I stand in my position for a moment, hoping that he will stay put, but the footsteps move closer and closer. I turn slowly and make eye contact with this giant beast of a man as he returns my gaze with a sneer.

I run toward him at full force, using all the speed that I possess, and push him on the chest, just as he did to me before. Talk about not knowing how to treat a lady. He flies back and hits the same boulder I did. His sheer weight causes the boulder to crack, releasing small amounts of lava onto his back. I turn and run, bringing my aura with me. This is my time to run while he’s preoccupied with his own pain. Within a matter of seconds, I approach the mountainside and have only a small distance to the target. Even if the beastly man wanted to follow me, it would take him a while to catch up.

This is the one time I wish I had Helix’s ability of sight, so I could see if there were others on the mountain and their positions. Keeping a safe distance until I devise a plan, I take one knee and place my two hands flat on the ground. I can read the vibrations from the mountain like a map; it could be rolling rocks or a heavy foot and I can decipher it. I need to learn to hone my tracking power through nature better; this could be a huge advantage for me in any battle.

The wind picks up around the mountain, swirling the snow and picking it up, simultaneously knocking a figure over. There is one person on the east side of the mountain spotted from a distance; there must be more.

Chase after midnight, the wind whispers in my ear. The same phrase that glided across my ear while exiting the bus. Suddenly the light that reflects off the mountain lowers and it is pitch-black on the mountainside. The moon shines bright to the west side. What the hell? I have nothing to lose. Chase after midnight? Perhaps that means the moon. The chase for our lives began right after midnight; now it is figuratively happening to me. Midnight is all around me, there is only one other object that represents midnight; that would be the moon.

I run to the west side of the mountain, stopping short of the mountain base, and sure enough, there stands the flag, with one guarding it. That means they have two people on the offensive, one surely has to be the ice queen herself. Now that I have my visual, it’s time to lock down the fastest path. I start to run up the side of the mountain, but it is fresh powder, making it hard to move. They have set up traps of rocks toppling down the mountain. With every fiber of my being, I concentrate to transform myself into a thick-haired snow leopard. With their wide, fur-covered feet they have natural snowshoes, which make it easy for me to navigate the mountain and leap over boulders with ease.

In no time at all, I’m within meters of the yellow flag, ready to make my transformation back, but the woman standing guard of the flag seems to be terrified of my current state. With every low roar and step closer to her, she takes two steps back. By the time my leopard body has reached the flag, the woman makes no attempt to stop me or advance toward me. Instead, she slides down the side of the mountain screaming for her life. I didn’t even have to do anything. I remain in this from as I take the flag in my mouth and run with ease down the side of the mountain. When I reach the bottom, my human form comes back, with long blonde hair flowing down my face, losing my hair tie mid-transformation. I show a huge smile.

I feel faint and reach to the back of my head and the blood runs down my fingers and the back of my neck. I must have hit the boulder hard. I look to the sky and a loud pang goes off. I exhale as the flare shoots up. We have done it. I hope my teammates were able to fend off the others in the time it took me to get the flag.