Chapter XII: Hurry

Tom didn't hurry.

My ears rang, and when I opened my eyes my vision was blurry. I looked up slightly, and saw nothing but a wall of dirt. Shakily I stood, holding my arms out and wobbling side to side. I closed my eyes again and breathed deeply. When I opened them, I could see a bit clearer, but the ringing was still there. I turned slowly, as I quickly discovered that fast movements screwed up my vision again.

I was in the center of a crater, exactly like the one I saw before. Flames filled the crater and the surrounding area, but I was still unharmed by them. My cheek felt damp, so I wiped at it with the back of my hand. When I pulled it away, the steel was tinted red. Trying to take a step, I stumbled and fell onto all fours. I crawled to the edge of the crater, as far up onto the slope as I could. I shakily stood again and almost dropped again, but Izzaker appeared beside me, supporting me.

“You didn’t hurry.” I heard him chide, though he sounded far away through the ringing. He dragged me up the slope and set me down on the ground just outside the crater before disappearing again. I could see… Nothing. The buildings around me that were partly destroyed were now almost completely leveled. The flames around seemed brighter and stronger; fresh. I must have been hit with… Whatever the hell that was. Before I could deduce anything else, my eyes rolled back and I passed out.

I came to after what must have only been a few minutes, and I was drenched in sweat. A flame licked at my hand and didn’t burn me, but I could feel Ikai’s power draining. I sat up. I could move, see, and hear normally now. It was hot as hell. Resuming my dogged march, I took off my coat and wrapped it around my waist. I stuffed my mask and scarf inside of it, my hat, depressingly, was lost somewhere.

As soon as I thought that, however, Izzaker appeared and handed to me, upside down with a banana in it. “You lost this.” He said with a smile, disappearing once I took it.

“I’ll never get used to that.” I mumbled. Izzaker disappearing was very unsettling, and I don’t know if that was intended or not. It wasn’t like he faded away, or dematerialized, just one second the was there… It didn’t seem real. I wondered what exactly his powers were. Ikai could control blood, earth, and (to an extent) souls. Izzaker, so far, could teleport, change his hair color, and turn things into bananas. Yet, it didn’t seem like that was all there was to him. Perhaps he predicted the future, telling me to hurry. Then there was that ominous warning back in the courtyard… I shuddered at the thought.

I was getting closer to the skyscraper, and the closer I got, the stranger my surroundings became. Metal was twisted and warped, which was natural, but so was the stone that covered it, like it was melting. No flames I’ve ever seen could do that. I went to touch one, but I figured I shouldn’t. I’d been getting hotter and hotter as time went on, so Ikai must be getting weak. I’d rather not push it. All of a sudden, the flames stopped.

There was no heat, no melting asphalt, no smoke, and there was even a pleasant breeze. I was standing just in front of the skyscraper. The entire structure was perfectly untouched. There wasn’t a burn mark or even a scratch anywhere on its stainless steel siding. It was odd, but I slumped against the side of the building, the cool steel actually steaming against my body. I guess Ikai was doing more than I thought. I decided to come up with some sort of plan for exploring this place (which was a good excuse to wait and cool off). A trap was obviously in place here; though who, or what, set it was a complete mystery The Equinox didn’t have the kind of firepower needed to level a city of this size, or I’d have been dead years ago. The Resistance wouldn’t launch such a large-scale offensive on a civilian area. The only other major force were The Absracts, who were a group in the southern continent who housed refugees and lived detached from the world. They might have the means to commit an act like this, but they don’t have a motive. They don’t take sides, and Azuma was clearly an Equinox city. So then, who did this? My gut told me it was whoever was in this tower. I almost didn’t want to find out.

Unfortunately, there was a good chance Alex was also in that building. It was also very unappealing to me to return to the flames. I sighed and leaned back against the wall. If only Izzy were here… She might’ve been able to make sense of the situation. She always was good at reading people; annoyingly good, at times. Of course, since I was just standing around, Izzaker appeared next to me, his golden hair soaked with sweat and hanging in his face. He brushed it up, and it dried instantly. Add hairdryer to his list of powers… I thought to myself. Izzaker snickered. Did he read my mind?

“Yup.” Izzaker said out loud. “So, what’s your gameplan?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but was cut off by a loud, familiar voice.

“Lord Izzaker!” The man shouted, with a basket of fresh bananas on his back, his clothes clean, like they were never damaged. His skin was clear too. I looked over at Izzaker.

“You actually saved him?” I asked him.

I swear I saw Izzaker’s eye twitch, but I don’t know what that implied. “No,” He responded bluntly before patting me on the shoulder, walking past me. “Good luck!” He said quickly, before disappearing once more. The man lower his hands onto his knees, panting.

“Darn! I thought I had him…” He stood back up and jogged past me at a surprising speed, his hand in the air again. “Lord Izzaker! Wait for me!” At this point, walking back into the flames was starting to sound like a good idea.

Nevertheless, the giant trap looming before me needed to be addressed. To be honest, I was nervous. Some unknown force was besieging the city, and had quite brazenly led me (and presumably Alex) to this location. I had no idea what was awaiting me inside the building. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to speculate. The doors flew open, and the circle of flames started to encroach upon my small respite. I hesitated for a second, then quickly walked into the building.