Chapter 193: Black hole 1

Trees blurred behind their eyes as they ran through the forest. Kael was flying ahead, scouting for pending enemies. Jordan and Fin were in the front, with Davon and Quil behind. They broke out of the trees into the mountain side. Davon kept staring at Jordan.

"Hey Quil,"

Quil cast him a side glance, even without breaking stride.

"Have you figured out what his ability is?" he whispered.

Quil shook his head. "When he stopped the fight, I could have sworn he put a barrier on himself and repelled both of us."

"Energy barrier?"

"Not energy. He used his ability. I would have said he uses a barrier ability, but considering the attack pattern during their duel weeks ago, it has to be something more."

Kael landed beside them.

"Past that mountain, up ahead. I see them." He began to run with them. "But man, it’s a den down there."

"Did you see brother?" Fin asked.

"I saw him. He just stood there, and some people were fighting around him."

"Brothers and sisters," Fin said.

"That brings me to ask." Kael caught up to Jordan. "It’s a bit out of place but, how is it that your siblings whose names you don’t even know, are fighting for Elias?"

"Huh?" Jordan glanced at him.

"I mean, you live here, and only know the names of your direct siblings."

"I don’t have a direct sibling," he replied. "I’m the only child of my mother."

"So you learnt the name of a selected few?"

"Yes."

"You see, that’s the problem. You don’t even know their names and somehow they are protecting Elias, who doesn’t even know them. Am I supposed to take it as some sort of ’help your brother’ situation?"

Davon sighed. "Kael..."

"No no! I’m serious. They are clearly struggling down there. I wouldn’t want to risk my life for someone I met yesterday. No offense, it’s logic."

"You’re right." Jordan spoke. "It’s odd that they are protecting him. But that’s all they were born for. All of us."

The students flinched.

They hadn’t expected Jordan to utter such words, or that he would say it with such casualness.

"All you were born for?"

"There are about twenty-five of us." Fin spoke. "Cousins and distant family members included. We have always been told one thing. ’You are born to protect Elias.’"

It sounded even more absurd hearing it from a child’s mouth. They could only exchange glances.

"Don’t worry. We have been told the reason," Fin added.

They came over the ridge and the valley opened beneath them.

Kael had called it a den, and he wasn’t exaggerating. A heated fight was going on, and in the middle of it all, he stood perfectly still.

Elias.

Around him, his siblings and cousins fought with their backs to him, each one covering a different angle. Enemy soldiers poured in from every direction.

"The whole enemy population shouldn’t be more than two hundred. Did they summon more people?" Jordan muttered.

"First, they are after the mark, and now him? He’s not a marked one, right?" Davon asked.

"He’s not," Jordan answered. He dropped down the slope and the others followed.

Fin hit the ground first. The bones carved out of his body mid-run, covering his arms and shoulders, and the chains slid out of his fingertips like they had been waiting. He swung once. Three soldiers went flying back, armor split clean through.

Quil was right behind him, the rings spinning beside him. "Davon, left flank!"

"I know where the left is!"

He activated his ability and sped up, punching through the horde with superhuman strength.

Kael didn’t go to the fight. He went straight to the middle.

He landed beside Elias, and his wings snapped open, folding around Elias like a wall. He stood there with the flute gripped in one hand.

An invader broke through the line and charged. Kael swung the flute and the wave hit the man in the chest and threw him back into the dirt.

The fight dragged on.

The generals were not as weak as Jordan had casually said, but as soon as he, Davon and Quil arrived, the fight got easier.

They couldn’t get close to Jordan. A step closer and they got flung back by something invisible. Attack him and they get pierced by something they couldn’t see.

"They’re not even fighting us!" Davon yelled, ducking a blade. "They keep trying to get past us!"

"They’re after Elias," Kael said. "We stop them from getting through."

"I’m aware of the plan, thank you!"

"Do you both have to do this?" Quil asked.

Minutes passed. Then more. Some shot arrows and Kael’s wings took the damage. Fin’s chains were wrapped in blood to the elbow. One of his cousins had fallen and gotten back up with a limp. Rona was barely keeping up. Brin’s sword had taken damage.

"How long?" Kael said through his teeth. "How long do we have to do this?"

"Until he wakes up," Jordan said.

"What if he doesn’t?"

Jordan didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He turned, trying to think of a solution.

"I dunno. Can we move—"

And then Elias moved.

He left their middle in a blink. Kael stumbled back, startled.

"Wait, wait, he’s awake!"

They all turned back and then front.

A soldier stood ten steps away, and Elias was in front of him in a blink.

Nobody saw it happen. One moment there was a soldier, and the next there was Elias with his arm buried deep in the man’s chest.

"What the hell..." Kael muttered.

"Are you sure he’s awake like that?" Davon asked.

Elias pulled back out slowly, and in his hand was something still beating.

The soldier looked down at the hole in his chest. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Then he fell.

Silence.

The soldiers stopped. His siblings stopped. Even the wind seemed to stop. Everyone stared at the boy standing over the body, blood running down his wrist, a heart still pulsing in his palm.

"What..." Davon whispered. "What just..."

Fin took a step forward. "Brother?"

Elias turned his head slowly. His eyes were open. He looked normal, but as Jordan looked at those eyes, his face went pale.

"No," he breathed. Then louder, his voice cracking across the valley. "Fall back! FALL BACK!"

That broke the spell. Fin’s siblings scattered, running for the slope. Quil grabbed Davon by the collar and dragged him backward. Kael didn’t wait to be told twice. He launched into the air, wings beating hard.

The soldiers were running too, scrambling away from the boy who stood unmoving in the center of the valley. The heart fell from Elias’s fingers and landed in the dirt.

Then the air changed.

Quil felt it first, a pressure on his chest like a hand pushing down. The ground around Elias began to crack. Dust lifted off the earth and hung in the air.

"Jordan!" Fin yelled.

Jordan turned back. They were too late.

He immediately turned, planted his feet and held out his hand.

"Ability activate."

Elias’s energy exploded outward.

It came as a wave of pure force, tearing the ground apart as it rolled across the valley. Soldiers who hadn’t run fast enough vanished in it. Rocks shattered. The air itself seemed to scream.

Jordan planted his feet and pulled the air toward himself. It gathered in front of him, thicker and thicker, until it formed a shield, shimmering and clear, stretching wide enough to cover every person behind him.

The wave hit.

Elias stood at the very middle of the disaster, murmuring inaudible words.

"Ability activate. Black hole."