Chapter 16

I was thrown onto the ground, my hands tied behind my back and my feet bound. They used rope, probably because most everything else was wrecked in the crash. The effects of the EP gun slowly wore off and I was able to push myself into a sitting position. I glanced around and could see the others nearby. All of the Elemental Children, myself included, were paired up and placed around a large, stone circle. Jim was tied up as well, but was thrown off to the side and out of the way. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving at all. My eyes widened in fear and I looked at Gale.

 

“He’s fine. Just unconscious,” he answered under his breath. It sounded almost like a growl and his eyes showed anger.

 

“Where’s Morph?” I asked.

 

“In my coat pocket.” I glanced down and saw the little pink protoplasm peek out of my brother’s pocket.

 

“Not yet, Morphy,” I whispered. “Wait a minute first.” He nodded and hid deeper into Gale’s jacket.

 

“I hope this works,” Gale mumbled.

 

“It’s been working so far.”

 

“Great gods of Ementia!” Pathos yelled, startling me. “I have gathered the children of your natural forces! Bring their gifts upon me!” He then turned to one of his crew members. “Get the Water children first.”

 

“Now!” I yelled. All of us twisted to move off the stone platform. Morph then turned into a pair of scissors, slicing through our ropes one at a time. Gale was on his feet first and landed a forceful kick to a crew member’s stomach. As the man hit the ground, I took the two guns from his belt and tossed one to Gale.

 

“Mine are better, but this’ll work,” he said and fired a shot at another man.

 

“Gale, start a fire over here!” Ebony yelled. My brother fired a couple of shots at some bushes, sparking a small fire. With a few motions of Ebony’s hands, that small fire became a blazing inferno around her. I ran over to where Jim was still lying unconscious and shook his shoulder a few times.

 

“Jim, come on. You need to wake up,” I cried over the sounds of battle. Ari had gotten his hand son a couple of guns and Griffin was sapping the energy out of every electronic device nearby. Jim slowly awoke, holding his head in his hand.

 

“What’d I miss?” he asked.

 

“Just the start of the fight. You weren’t supposed to get knocked unconscious.”

 

“Sometimes plans go astray.”

 

“Shut up and fight,” I answered with a smirk, handing him my gun.

 

“Get back here, you son of a jackal!” Gale yelled, stealing my attention. I glanced up to see him running after Pathos, who was fleeing the battlefield. Scowling, I chased after the two of them.

 

“Oh, no you don’t! Not this time!”

 

“Ember, catch!” Ari called as I passed him, tossing a gun to me.

 

I gave him a two-finger salute in thanks and quickly caught up with my brother. I fired a shot a Pathos’ feet, causing him to stumble to the ground. In the background, I could hear Ebony cry out in frustration and could feel her anger, even as far as I was from her. I glanced behind me and see the raging inferno she’d created, as well as a small-scale mushroom cloud. If only Pathos had been in the middle of that.

 

“You’re not going anywhere, Pathos,” Gale said darkly. His gun started humming, but he didn’t shoot just yet. “But I want to make sure I get rid of you for good.”

 

“Have fun trying, boy,” Pathos spat. “I have the gift of Regeneration. You can tear me apart as much as you like. As long as a part of me remains, I’ll come back.”

 

“Gift? But you’d have to be-” I started.

 

“A Child of Earth. That’s right. And unlike you, I’m much less vulnerable. All I have to do is kill one of you and I’m rid of the other.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Didn’t that Wind boy tell you? You and your brother are bonded. One dies, so does the other,” Pathos answered.

 

“Then I’ll make sure we’re rid of you first,” Gale answered and fired a shot into Pathos’ chest. The lupine chuckled darkly.

 

“You don’t listen, do you boy?”

 

“I can always weaken you first.” I looked at Gale in surprise as he fired round after round at Pathos.

 

“Have you lost your every-loving mind?” I demanded. Why in the Etherium would he waste his fire on a man that wouldn’t die by such means? My brother didn’t bother to answer, but I saw it in his eyes. This was payback, avenging his mother’s spirit. I grabbed his arm and pulled it back, causing him to fire into the air.

 

“Stop it, Gale! Your mother wouldn’t want this!” I yelled. He pushed me away and glared at me.

 

“What do you know?!” he demanded.

 

“What mother would want her son to live in hate?!” Gale’s eyes widened as he stared at me. The hand holding his gun dropped, but he didn’t release the weapon.

 

“Then what should we do?” Gale asked. “We can’t let him live to do this to more people.”

 

“He won’t, but this isn’t the way to do it,” I answered.

 

Another shot was fired but it wasn’t from Gale or me. My brother slumped to the ground and I saw Pathos with a gun in his hand. It wasn’t an EP gun. I cried out and shot the lupine pirate between the eyes, killing him for the time being. I knew he’d be back, but this bought me more time. Kneeling down beside Gale, I could see the blood darkening his already red shirt.

 

“And what was that?” he asked, referring to my shot.

 

“Buying time. Gale, stay awake! You hear me?!” His eyelids began to flutter a little and I slapped his cheek, only hard enough to keep him conscious. I could feel my own strength being sapped from me.

 

“You think Dad’s really still alive?”

 

“He better be. And you better not die on me!”

 

“We’re going to find out now.”

 

“We’re not going to die! Not here, not now! Where’s your fighting spirit?!”

 

“I had a feeling I’d die here, when we crash-landed, I just knew.”

 

My eyes widened and tears spilled down my cheeks. Having Clairvoyance meant Gale was almost a hundred percent accurate with his predictions. I shook my head and pulled off my jacket, wrapping it around Gale’s wound. I pressed down firmly to stop the bleeding, or at least slow it.

 

“You’re wrong this time, Gale! I’ll make sure of it!”

---

 

Griffin had followed after Gale and Ember, looking for a little more action. He wanted the pleasure of killing the man who’d put him through so much hell for the past months. Griffin hid in the foliage and heard everything Pathos had said. He also saw Pathos shoot Gale and Ember try to keep her brother alive.

 

“F*****g b*****d,” Griffin muttered as he ran back to get Nyssa.

---

 

Willow jumped as she heard a gunshot nearby. She and Nyssa were standing near each other, with Tobias fighting to keep any crew members away from them. She heard as Ember cried for her brother and screamed at him to stay conscious. Willow also heard as Griffin swore and ran towards where they were.

 

“Nyssa, Griffin’s coming to get you. Go meet him. You have to save Gale, or he and Ember will die,” she whispered. Nyssa nodded and ran to meet the male Child of Fire. Willow could only pray they wouldn’t be too late.