Emblems

Chapter 37: Clarity

Chapter 37: Clarity

JANNA AND LEONE HADN’T CONVINCED her to consent to dying just yet, but they’d succeeded in making her run out of magic. It was okay for the others – all of them had backup powers. Calida used mainly Earth now, turning the ground to slush for everyone except her, and Nicholas was wielding a wooden staff, with columns of wood spiking up from the soil every now and then. Even Daniel sent out mental commands whose pulses she could feel, one after the other. She didn’t know what they were meant for, though the oncoming Adepts stumbled sometimes. But her? She was almost done for, with her Metal powers sealed up tight.

If this battle was fated, then they had to truly become the Emblems. Dax was right. Every element was needed, even the one that was corrupted. The Emblems were supposed to bring peace to all the races – didn’t that include Demons, the creatures Metal had created, as well? There was a reason she had Metal powers, and this could be it right now. Without another type of magic she was the weak link that couldn’t defend herself, whether the other three bothered to cover her or not.

All of them had lasted longer than she’d expected, but that was because they’d started off with elements they were familiar with. Now that strategy had run itself to the ground, and it was glaringly obvious that they wouldn’t hold for as long with their secondary powers.

Kicking her attacker back into the mob, she used the brief respite to survey the Vortex forces. The crowd stretched four Adepts deep, each line taking turns to come to the front and fight the Emblems before fading to the back to catch their breath. Most had sheathed their weapons, or lost them along the way, and resorted to mainly magic. In a battle of stamina, the four of them definitely weren’t going to last. When our magic runs out, our lives go with it. We’re running out of time.

Another assailant switched in, making wind buffet her face. “Calida!” she shouted. The girl, fire burning under her mocha-coloured skin, slid to her right and let the oxygen feed the weak flames that flickered at her fingertips till they burned brighter, managing to score a flaming punch on the man’s chest. She dashed to her left and took Calida’s place next to Daniel, fending off the lady that tried to take advantage of the opening. A swift, bruising kick to her face sent her flying into the guy behind her.

Daniel didn't even look at her and in the corner of her eye his profile was grimy with sweat and blood and dirt. A Fire Adept came at her, flames a burning yellow that made Calida's seem like a flicker on a matchstick. She braved the heat, letting it sear her skin as she bent under it and stabbed upwards with the handle of her whip with her good arm, following up with a roundhouse kick that downed the man on impact. 

The smell of burning hair filled her nose, and she had to snuff the tiny flames out with her fingers. She took a deep breath. Quickly, before the next one gets close. Just like last time, she'd have to reach out into her surroundings but without her magic. "Daniel." She knew he'd hear her over the din of the battle. A glance out of the corner of his eye and a slight quirk of his lips were all she got. It was enough though. 

The moment they made eye contact she opened her mind to him, almost like how she'd take a knife to a sealed cardboard box, stabbing in and dragging down and then turning everything upside down, letting the contents of her consciousness spill out for all to see. Daniel half-turned to her as a tiny stream of water wrapped around the neck of the man in front of him like a noose, yanking him backwards. A cracking sound marked the dislocation of his jaw. "What—" Are you doing? Immediately he was inside her head continuing his question, just as a fist, earth coating the knuckles, came flying out of nowhere to slam into her jaw.