Chapter 18: First Time in a Real Fight

As our extinction loomed, I ran in search of my wife and children. Pandemonium had ensued. Chaos was the new order. Soldiers abandoned their posts, looters ransacked stores. Anybody with a ship attempted to leave the planet as evacuation procedures were underway, but any vessel that launched into the atmosphere exploded in a red and gold light.

I knew it was the Gold Dragon’s doing. We had already been given our chance to leave, now we were doomed to pay the consequences of arrogance. People ran and screamed all around me while the earth shook, and fire and smoke filled the skies. The Golden Dragon would roar occasionally, and when he did, everyone had to cover their ears because of the pain even though he was still miles away.

Our whole world was crashing down around our ears, and it had all been by our own doing, just like on earth. I did my best to tune out the carnage as I put all my focus into finding my family. I didn’t know how I would find them. I didn’t even know what I would do to protect them in the face of this disaster. I just knew that I had to be with them even if this was the end ... or maybe because it was.

“Now who wants to go first? The loudmouth, or mister dark and brooding?”

“Which one do you think you are? Personally, I think I’m the dark and brooding one,” whispered Ryan to Leon.

“Silence!” screeched Lord Gregory, backhanding Ryan across the face again.

About a dozen guards came in and dragged Ryan and Leon into the torture chamber, which just so happened to be right next door to Gregory’s personal chambers. Lord Gregory hit a switch, and the door slammed shut behind them.

“You put your evil psycho lab right next to the place you sleep. Brilliant!” exclaimed Ryan ironically. “Mental note on what not to do if I ever lose my mind and decide to become a sadistic trillionaire someday.”

“Do you not understand the position you are in?!” bellowed Gregory. “I can have you killed in the most horrid ways imaginable with just one word! What do you think of that, you Elemental brat?”

Lord Gregory struck Ryan as a guy who demanded respect out of some severe insecurity issues that he suffered as a child. But how to tell him that in a way that would have a positive impact?

“Yeah, sorry, Mr. Mustache. I know you’re trying really hard to sound scary and villainous and all, but I just have a hard time taking you seriously. You just strike me as a guy who demands respect from others out of some deep-seated insecurity issue that you suffered as a child. That’s just my honest opinion. Take it however you like.”

Lord Gregory bit his lip so hard that it actually started bleeding. The nobleman then pulled out a whip that crackled and fizzled with electricity. Lord Gregory cracked the whip over Ryan’s back.

That one hurt!

Ryan screamed in pain as lightning coursed through his body. A loud ringing noise filled his ears and his hands spasmed uncontrollably as the energy seeped into his nerves. Over and over again, Lord Gregory swung his deadly weapon, cackling madly as he reveled in the brutality. Each time the whip made contact, Ryan felt like his head would explode. Finally, Lord Gregory tired himself out, lowering the whip. At that point, Ryan wasn’t sure who panted harder; him or Lord Gregory.

Despite his exhaustion, Lord Gregory chuckled evilly. “What’s wrong, you little hell-spawn? No witty comeback? No quip? Oh, what’s the matter? I want to hear more jokes from the comedian!”

For once, Ryan was at a loss for jokes. Fortunately, Leon picked up the slack. “How’s this one for you, Lord Gregory? If your puny strength is as limited as your vocabulary, then we probably shouldn’t have bothered coming here in the first place. We could’ve thwarted your plans by sending a riddle, or maybe by just asking you to spell the word ‘ego’.”

Ryan suddenly heard Leon’s voice in his head. Ryan, I need you to hold your breath. I have a plan, but it’s risky.

Not really knowing what Leon intended to do, Ryan complied and held his breath as instructed.

Lord Gregory gave Leon a strained smile. “Aww. Feeling left out. Well then, I’m happy to accommodate you!”

When Lord Gregory struck Leon with his electric whip, the young Elemental actually started laughing.

“What’s so funny! Did the electricity fry your braincells?”

“No,” said Leon, still chuckling under his breath. Leon could sure be creepy when he wanted to. “I just didn’t think you’d actually fall for it. Tell me, is this your first time holding an Elemental with wind powers?”

“What are you babbling about?” asked Gregory condescendingly.

When Leon spoke again, he didn’t use his mouth. Well, next time, don’t put him in an enclosed space like this. It makes it so much easier to do this.

Gregory opened his mouth to say something, but only a slight gasp came out. Ryan continued to hold his breath as Leon’s plan came to fruition. The effects were subtle at first, but little by little, Gregory and his guards started to look dazed and haggard, their faces going pale as if they lost the ability to breathe. With a small amount of surprise and horror, Ryan realized that they couldn’t.

If you can hear me, scum, then you are no doubt painfully aware of how difficult it has become to breathe at the moment. That’s because I’ve been slowly siphoning off the oxygen in this room and leaving nothing but nitrogen. I couldn’t have done it unless we were in a small, enclosed space like this torture chamber, so for that, you have my thanks. Ryan and I have been safely holding our breaths to avoid the effects of the nitrogen, but you failed to notice. If any of you live through this, always remember that the devil is in the details.

The guards made strangling noises while coughing and holding their throats. One by one, the guards fell forlornly to the floor until only Gregory remained. It seemed that he would suffer the same fate as his eyes bulged and his voice became shallow. But just when Ryan felt sure that the despot was a goner, Gregory pulled out a silver metal ball and dropped it to the floor at his feet. Gregory disappeared in a flash of light.

Ryan waited impatiently, mumbling at Leon with his mouth closed for some kind of sign of whether it was safe to breathe again or not. It came to the point that Ryan’s own eyes began to pop, and he could feel his face turn blue as the need to breathe became more prominent.

“It’s okay, Ryan,” assured Leon, speaking again with his mouth. “You can breathe now.”

With a loud gasp, Ryan breathed heavily for a few moments. “Dude, I’m going to be straight with you. You scare me sometimes.”

“Good,” grunted Leon as he rolled to the side and kicked one of tables around the torture chamber. Some of the tools clattered to the floor next to Leon and he picked up a surgical knife that landed near him. He then went to work cutting through the glowing ropes that restrained his arms behind his back.

“So, could you have done that the whole time?”

“I already explained it,” answered Leon, still concentrating on his work. “I need an enclosed space to make it work.”

“I still don’t get why you goaded Gregory on like that. That kind of thing is my schtick.”

“It’s a trick that Eramar taught me. I may not be a Fire Elemental, but I can still convert some forms of energy into psions, like the energy of electricity from the whip for instance. Gregory’s punishment gave my psions an extra boost of adrenaline so I could pull off the technique.

“Suppressant ropes are used to bind an Elemental’s inner psions, but energy originating outside the body is another story. It’s something that not many Elementals can do, but Eramar is an exceptional teacher.”

“Dagnabbit,” said Ryan in amazement. “I should’ve thought of something cool like that.”

“And that’s why I’m the leader and you’re the Grunt,” said Leon as he broke free of his restraints. Then he got to work on freeing Ryan.

“Hey, I contributed! My jibes will give him mental scars that’ll stay with him for the rest of his days. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just gave up and surrendered because of my demoralizing remarks.”

Leon finished cutting loose Ryan’s bonds, allowing him to flex his newly freed hands gingerly. The Lurranna then pushed a button on the wall, making the heavy door open. Fortunately, it seemed that Lord Gregory did not have the time to lock the door.

Leon suddenly frowned. “Speaking of demoralizing, I think we’re about to have company.”

Ryan heard it too, the sound of many boots coming their way. As Ryan and Leon ran out of the torture chamber, dozens of troops poured into the penthouse. These ones seemed to be taking more precautions than their predecessors, using energy shields that glowed blue over their bodies as well as exo-armor that made them look bulky and mechanical. But mostly, they brought guns, a lot of guns; and each barrel pointed at Ryan and Leon as the guards lined up throughout the room.

“Okay. You got your swords, right?” whispered Ryan.

“Actually, Slithe took them,” Leon whispered back.

“Well, can’t you do that thingy where you make them appear out of thin air?”

“That only works if I have them stored in my body as psions, which I don’t.”

“Son of a jerk! We’re in trouble!”

The mercenaries grinned in delight at their cornered and helpless prey. What Ryan found most interesting was that most of the men arrayed to kill him and Leon looked like ordinary folk to him for the most part.

Normal short, cropped haircuts, common for military and civilian alike. Normal hair colors of dark, brown, and blond. Normal eyes too, with varying hues of green and blue. Even with the insignia of Gregory Industries going across their chest, they still seemed fairly normal, like security guards from the mall.

Hey, listen up if you’re there! Zand or God or whoever is out there. See, there’s this girl I need to save before I die. Heck, there’s tons of other things that I need to do before I die. All this to say that if anyone is out there, please don’t let it end like this.

There’s still so much that I don’t know, so many answers I need to find. I know it’s a little presumptuous considering that there have probably been countless other people with more virtue than I who have died in an even worse fashion, namely my parents.

But still, I know in my heart that there’s something else I’m meant to do, or at least I hope so. Just give me a sign. Anything! I may not be one to believe in praying or miracles, but if you throw a guy a bone here, I’d be willing to give it a shot.

As Ryan finished his silent prayer in his head, the strangest thing happened. It started snowing. Little snowflakes dropped from the ceiling like some holiday novel that Ryan’s mother had read to him countless times. The mercenaries were just as confused as Ryan as they stared up at the ceiling in befuddlement. Some were in such a daze by the spectacle that they actually held out their hands, catching tiny snowflakes in their black gloves. And then, the little snow shower turned into a blizzard, a blizzard so cold that it took Ryan’s breath away.

The roar of the blistering wind became so loud that Ryan barely heard a familiar female voice scream, “Move, Ryan!”

Leon grabbed Ryan from behind and pulled him down to the floor just as half a dozen troops fell to the ground frozen. As the snow cleared, Ryan saw the figure of a young girl in the center of the room holding a bow with knife blades attached at the ends. Her long silver-gray hair tossed and blew in the wind.

She wore the same white armor as the day she disappeared; a tight, metal outfit with no sleeves which outlined her amazing figure. The torn, blue skirt draped over her knees looked to have been made from what remained of her coat. Adorning her legs were white pants of the same color as her top, and long, silver leather boots. Her bare arms were covered with cuts and bruises, and blood stains peppered a good deal of her face. In other words, Éclair never looked more beautiful to Ryan than she did now.

“Éclair!” called Ryan and Leon at the same time.

Éclair appeared as calm as a storm as her violet eyes twinkled with the anticipation of battle; no doubt another trait she picked up from Grafael. “Well, get up, boys! There’s still plenty that I haven’t killed yet!”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Ryan and Leon in unison.

In the next few moments, Éclair, Ryan, and Leon made such a great team together that it almost seemed to be orchestrated. Leon and Ryan covered Éclair as she withdrew another arrow, knocking down soldiers to her right and left. Leon then touched Éclair on her shoulder, and Ryan felt a rush of energy pulsate through the air. It was a similar feeling as when he siphoned energy from a Sun Gem, and Ryan realized that Leon had given Éclair some of his psions.

The rejuvenated Éclair then armed an arrow to her bow and fired at the nearest soldier, trapping him in a block of ice. Many of the soldiers tried to fire upon the Elementals, but something Éclair did had frozen the gears in their weapons, so they resorted to handheld weapons, such as electric whips or clubs.

One mercenary came screaming at Éclair with an electric whip from behind, but she spun around as quick as a flash, slamming him in his chest plate with an open palm and freezing him in an instant.

Some of the mercenaries got their energy rifles working again, their weapons humming and glowing as they fired. Éclair jumped clear of their blasts while notching another arrow as she flew through the air. She then launched the arrow up high towards the ceiling, and it exploded in midair, sending thousands of tiny ice shards into the nearby guards, either incapacitating them or severely wounding them. Éclair’s power was both beautiful and terrible to behold.

Leon wasn’t too shabby either as he somersaulted over laser slugs in his usual bit of showing off with some dazzling Kung-Fu madness. As he moved through the ranks of the mercenaries with uncanny speed, he batted away their weapons before they could even train their guns on him.

He then delivered dozens of quick jabs and kicks that left several burly men unconscious or worse. Ryan heard bones crack as some of Leon’s blows broke ribs even though the guards wore armor. Leon seemed to relish in the carnage that he wrought, almost as if he’d transformed from the teenage boy that Ryan knew into the spirit of warfare itself.

Crushing a man’s vocal pipes with one sweep of his hand and shattering a man’s leg with a downward kick at the same time, Leon wreaked havoc with every move. Leon’s and Éclair’s fighting styles seemed so similar - elegance mixed with carnage, almost like some morbid dance.

As for Ryan, he didn’t do too badly himself. Not wanting to be outdone by Leon or Éclair this time, Ryan went into the fray with unrestrained brutality. He didn’t have his swords or any psions to call upon for fire, so he just used his fists.

In comparison to Éclair and Leon, Ryan’s fighting style was unrefined and clumsy, but still pretty cool all things considered. Ryan used his superior strength to toss and shove guards into each other as a means to annoy and confuse.

He earned several hits scored against him, but he did his best to pretend their blows didn’t faze him, even though a punch from one exceptionally large man sent Ryan hurdling to the other end of the room. Quickly coming to his feet, Ryan bit the leg of one mercenary that aimed a kick at his head.

Thanks to his larger-than-normal molars, Ryan bit clean through the armored leggings and took at least a fistful of flesh from the guard’s calf. Ryan spat out the lump of meat and went back into the fray as the mercenary fell clutching his bloodied leg.

When a group of soldiers aimed their weapons at Ryan, something very strange happened. Ryan instinctively raised his arms for protection, and some of the mercenaries’ weapons exploded in their hands. The occurrence caused enough of a distraction for Ryan to duck behind the massive bed as the lasers pelted through the once elegant wooden frame without mercy.

Not having many alternatives, since he couldn’t summon fire and he had no idea how he did the exploding gun thing, Ryan grabbed the bed from its base and hoisted it up with all his strength. No small task considering that the bed was almost the size of a small house.

Grunting and spitting, Ryan quickly surmised that the bed was too large for him to lift. But then, remembering his training with Grafael to increase physical strength through psions, Ryan took a moment to concentrate.

What few psions remained in his body, Ryan used to increase his muscle mass. A surge of power rushed through his veins, and he screamed as he lifted the massive wooden craft up with all the might he could muster.

The giant bed flew across the room, smashing into five guards and burying them in a few thousand pounds of wood and mattresses. Ryan felt so proud of his success that he almost didn’t notice the mercenary in the exo-armor lumbering towards him. The military outfitted many of its soldiers with cybernetic suits, making them the physical equals of Elementals and aliens.

One such man, with mechanically shelled arms and legs, marched towards Ryan, grabbed him by the neck, and threw him to the other side of the massive chamber. Ryan hit the metal wall so hard that his back made a good-sized dent. Ryan wheezed, spitting and coughing up blood.

Ryan grinned. The guy’s almost as strong as Grafy. Almost.

As Ryan fell to the ground, he rolled to his feet ready to counter, but the exo-armored man moved too quickly. Using mechanical hands, the mercenary pummeled Ryan relentlessly. Ryan couldn’t see the man’s face because of the metal mask, but he could distinguish the man’s smug eyes through the shaded visor.

The exo-merc drove Ryan back into the wall, cutting off all escape like a boxer trapping his opponent in the corner of the ring. Ryan raised his arms over his face to protect his head, but the blows from the mechanical man left him feeling numb all over.

With his ears ringing and his vision dimming, Ryan concentrated all his mental energies into his hand to get some kind of psionic charge into his fingertips. Somehow, it worked. Ryan’s fingers ignited into tiny flames, which he pressed to the man’s facemask to give him a little incentive to back off.

The mercenary let out a shrill scream as his metal mask melted away. Ryan used the guard’s pain to his advantage, pummeling the man-turned-machine with a few blows of his own into the armored chest. Ryan forced the mechanical man back a few paces before the guy recovered and knocked Ryan to the ground with one punch. Unfortunately for the mercenary, Ryan had regained more than just the ability to create fire.

Pointing to a spot at the man’s shoulder, Ryan cried out, “Hey, what’s that?”

For a split second, the mercenary’s gaze went to a spot on his shoulder where his armor had started glowing with a red light. During their exchange, Ryan had left a trace of his psions behind in the man’s armor as he couldn’t alter living flesh yet. Then with a snap of his fingers, Ryan set off a small explosion that destroyed the exo-merc’s entire arm in a shower of blood and metal. The mercenary’s eyes went blank, and he slumped to the ground on his left side where his arm used to be. Blood oozed out in a wide arc where the merc lay. Ryan gasped.

I didn’t think the explosion would be that strong! I didn’t think I’d kill him! I just ... I just...

Well, that’s a lovely sentiment, boy. You don’t want to kill anyone, huh? Such a noble protagonist. So, when you finally do catch up to me, how do you plan on defeating me exactly? Harsh language?

The return of the dark voice and the sight of the dead mercenary left Ryan too stunned to move. A group of three mercenaries snuck up from behind and fired several shots into his back. Ryan’s armor absorbed most of the damage, but the bolts still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and drove him to his knees.

Even through the pain, Ryan still managed to swivel around and send three small fireballs into their weapons from his fingers. He could’ve used more firepower, but the recent experience of killing someone made him hold back.