The Element Table

Chapter 20: Land or Sea

"What?" Ryia asked confused

"Shadow Warriors" Alianor explained "They're Caine's soldiers"

Dread and uneasiness started to settle among them. The seriousness of their situation settling even more on them.

"Well if they're here, that means..." Ryia began

"Caine is here" Philip finished

"Or at least close by" Henry added

They watched the group of warriors as they made their way to the bridge. One of them took a step onto it and then another. Soon, a line of warriors was walking across the rope bridge.

"They're coming, we need to do something!" Jacquelyn said in a panic

They watched the warriors approaching as they tried to come up with a plan. Alianor watched as the bridge wobbled under the weight of the warriors, and she had an idea.

"The bridge" she stated

"What?" they all asked in confusion

"The bridge, we have to get rid of it" she explained

The others nodded, understanding. Philip pulled out his sword.

"We can cut the ropes from the posts on this side," he said pointing to it

"I have a better idea," Henry said stopping Philip

He raised his hands, remembering his short game with the dragon. A ball of fire appeared in his palm, causing the others to stand aside. They knew what he was about to do next.

Henry pushed his hand forward, throwing the fireball at the bridge. It landed on one of the planks, and it instantly caught on fire. The warriors red eyes widened as the fire began to spread, heading in their direction. The warrior at the front yelled some incoherent words to the others, and they began to retreat. But it was too late, the fire had consumed some of them. And those who didn't make it back to the other side fell into the rushing river when the ropes were burnt through and the bridge fell.

"I guess we have to paint their faces on the rocks too" Jacquelyn commented

Under normal circumstances, they would laugh or shake their head at the teen, but there was no time for that.

"We still have to get out of here. They'll find another way across" Henry said

"We can go back to the waterfall" Jacquelyn suggested

"No, that would be the first place they'll look for us" Alianor answered

"And we can't go home, it's probably already crawling with these warriors," Ryia said

"And Caine" Philip added

"So, where do we go?" Alinor asked

"The beach" Ryia suggested

"What beach?" Henry asked

"On the map, there's a beach not too far from here" she answered pulling the map out and showing it to them "We can go there to buy some time to make a plan" she added

"So, the beach?" Henry asked the others

"The beach" they answered

With that, Ryia lifted her hands, and in a flash of green smoke, they were gone. A few moments later, miles away from the bridge, the five appeared on the beach.

They scanned the area, this beach didn't look like the ones they were used to. The sea looked the same as always, it's blue and green blending beautifully. But the shore was like none they've seen before. There was no sand, not one grain. All they saw were small pebbles, the whole beach was covered with them. Some were darker than others. A few in between were different colours. The beach was void, except for them and what seemed to be an old fishing boat that sat on the shore, not too far from the water.