Akasha 4 - Earth (41 page)

I moved on.
Did Shawn know I was coming?
It couldn't have been the dog fight; I was careful not to use
the other elements.

I lost concentration and dipped.
"Whoa."

Focus
, I told myself.
I can worry
later.

I had narrowly missed a
large billboard that read, 'Jefferson County Fairgrounds'. I tried
to prepare myself.
What could possibly lay
in wait?

"Trailers!" I squeaked out
loud.

Releasing my energy for a brief
second, I dipped again, narrowly missing a large RV spinning toward
me in midair. One of the bars on the side-canopy caught me on the
back. I buckled, just catching a glimpse of the source of trouble.
A combination of Airs and Earths were using both of their elements
to send a large row of campers up and out, directly toward me.
Another was already airborne. I didn't have time to dodge it. The
last thing I saw were the words, 'Open Sky', painted on moldy,
off-white siding.

Chapter
63

Brothers

"Put him up here." Shawn pointed to
the long, rectangular table top that served as a bar on the upper
terrace of the open air amphitheater. "Tie him down." Shawn took
out his Athame, glancing at Micah. "You don't seem too
worried."

Micah looked away, focusing on one of
two 300-foot monolithic cliffs. The giant, sandstone towers provide
near-perfect acoustics for the concert hall. He cocked his head,
noticing a large crack up the side. Natasha had said there were
some harsh tremors during Kaitlyn's dog fight, but would it have
affected rocks all the way out here?

"Well it's no fun talking to you if
you don't talk back, brother." Shawn ripped the duct tape off
Micah's mouth. Shawn studied the prickly facial hair left behind on
the gray strip of tape, then looked at Micah. There were deep lines
around his eyes, and he had lost weight. "You look like
shit."

Micah rubbed his cheek against his
shoulder. "I could say the same about you."

Shawn shrugged, walking around to the
other side of the bar Micah lay on. "It's this new world. No
massage parlors. No over-the-counter drugs. No working bars." Shawn
fiddled with the tap protruding from the table top, as if just to
make sure. He glanced at Micah. "No fishing at the Chakra lake on
Sundays."

Micah's eyes snapped back to Shawn.
"Those days were long gone, even before Daybreak."

"They don't have to be," Shawn said
quietly, keeping his eyes on the table top.

Micah looked up at the stars above
him. "How exactly did you expect all this to turn out?"

"Oh, I don't know. Almost like this.
Except you'd be right here…" Shawn took out his Athame and pointed
to the empty space at his right hand side. "…instead of lying
there."

"Even if Kaitlyn had never been
chosen—"

"Kaitlyn!" Shawn interrupted. "She
screwed everything up. She was supposed to be
temporary."

"But then you couldn't resist her, and
the power she held." Micah glared.

Shawn smiled his crooked half smile.
"Neither could you, brother."

The Earth rumbled and basketball-sized
pieces of the stone tower beside them crashed to the
ground.

"You and I have different ideas of
power." Micah said, looking out over the plains. In the distance,
the chilling screech of twisting metal could be heard. Both pairs
of eyes snapped northeast.

"She's coming for you, Shawn," Micah
said, voice low.

Shawn nodded. "We'd better get ready."
He pushed the tip of his knife into Micah's side.

Chapter
64

Fire

Pain crashed through my head in waves.
I lay on hard ground. Everything was dark.

Probably because your eyes
are closed.

I tried squinting one eye open, but it
hurt too much. I decided to concentrate on something further away
from my eye. I wiggled my toes inside my boots.

"Is she waking up? I think she's
waking up," a voice said to my left.

I stopped moving.

"Who is she?" Another said to my
right. "Is this the one we're running from?"

At my head, "No, stupid. This is
Artemis – from the fight tonight."

"She can't be – she was using air.
Artemis was an Earth."

"No, no," said yet another at my feet.
I was surrounded. "That’s Lucy – the one that brought in the wild
dog. I recognize that ink – I helped put it on her."

More voices chimed in. There had to be
a dozen, though it was difficult to tell with the chaotic waves
crashing through my head.

If the swells wouldn't go away, I
would have to embrace them. I waited for the next tide, it built
slowly. First, tingling at the back of my neck. Then up my skull
moving faster until my entire head was held in an unrelenting vise
grip.

I used the adrenaline it caused,
pushing it down into the Earth, and coming up with only stone. A
platform broke through the surface, raising me up above the circle
of people. I pushed up from the swell, back flipping off the rock
and using air for a steady landing.

The group of people around the raised
stone were trying to stay upright on top of the vibrating Earth.
The crest of the wave was long past, but another was already
coming. This time I used it to pull up more rock, surrounding the
group. It caught all but one. A small guy, who stumbled back from
the cage.

"Get her, David!" encouraging shouts
came from inside the rock. They'd be able to get out eventually,
especially if the Earths inside were worth their salt. I hoped it
would hold until after Akasha.

David turned to me, pushing his
glasses up on his nose, eyes wide. "Who…who are you
really?"

I picked up the crumpled iron rod at
my feet, gripping it with a solid fist. "All of the above." I swung
it at him, connecting with the side of his temple. He fell
sideways, unconscious.

I dragged him over to the rock cage,
leaving his body on the opposite side from where I was headed. I
placed my hand on the rocks. Energy was building up inside the cage
as the group tried their various elements. I wiped dusty earth from
my pants, and looked around. With the leather jacket nowhere in
sight, and my energy quickly waning, I needed another form of
transportation.

Over the Earth's vibrations, was a
high-pitched whinny. I followed the rock cage around, peering out.
The field just off the parking lot held a pen of horses. Most were
bucking, several throwing their front hooves in the air.

I looked at the only horse that was
staying on all fours, on the far side of the pen. I approached him,
hand reaching out through the bars. He looked at me out of the
corner of his eye, sidling away. "Whoa, fella. There's a good
boy."

He paused, extending his long face
toward my palm. I rubbed his neck and mane, glancing at the other
horses, still bucking. They were larger and stronger – probably
faster. This one even had a twinge of gray on his mane. But right
now I didn't need large and strong, I needed steady. I needed a
rock.

I climbed halfway up the pen and
pressed my forehead to the horse, nuzzling it. "I need Micah," I
whispered, the lump bigger than ever in my throat. "Can you take me
to him?"

The horse snorted.

"I'll take that as a yes." Climbing
the top half of the pen, I jumped on his back, thankful he was
saddled and ready to go. He headed for the gate and I kicked it
open. He idled through the opening as I fit my feet into the
stirrups.

"Giddy up," I said, leaning forward,
anticipating the rush of wind that would accompany his
speed.

He bent down to nibble on the
grass.

I bounced up and down. "Get on now –
go boy, go!"

His hooves stayed firmly planted. I
sighed, hanging my head. It had begun to snow.

The horse perked up, jerking his head
back.

"Whoa, you're gonna knock me
out."

I looked north as a blast of heat
swept through the snow flurries. Dust swirled up from the ground in
the distance, revealing the outline of a pair of sister tornadoes.
I watched in horror as fire entwined. The atmosphere crackled with
a new weather phenomenon. Fire tornadoes.

The horse stepped away.

"Whoa, there. It'll be alright. We're
not going that way."

I didn't say it out loud, but I was
sure both the horse and I were thinking the same thing.

The tornados are coming
this way.

"Kaitlyn!"

I shook my head. This had to be a
nightmare; they were calling my name.

"Kaitlyn!" Natasha shouted, pulling me
out of my shock. On horseback, she and several others gathered in
front of me, partially blocking my view of the tornadoes. "We'll
get this, then I'll head to the Chakra Center downtown – you go get
Micah!"

I shook my head. "No – I can't ask
you…" I trailed off, my eye drawn to the fiery wind inching closer
to us.

"Go!" Natasha shouted over
the roar. "I'm telling
you
." She urged her horse forward,
and slapped at the behind of my own ride. "Ya!"

My horse bucked, then shot off in the
other direction. I looked back in time to see Natasha turn. As she
stared at the fire tornadoes, the scarred side of her face was to
me. She kicked her legs, and her horse lurched, straight for the
flame. Straight for the same element that had marred her for
life.

I angled my horse for Shawn. It was
snowing harder, now. Fat, wet flakes brushed my cheeks as we flew
down the road. The horse stretched his neck out, knees bent, low to
the ground. He opened up his stride. I squeezed the reins, standing
in my stirrups. The wind grew loud in my ears.

I scanned the horizon, spotting
Elementals dotting the road. As we blew past them, they looked
confused. I saw recognition in their eyes. They'd seen me around
camp and let me go as one of their own. They turned toward the fire
tornados, wondering who the enemy was. I raised rock along the way.
Short but thick walls, near each Elemental, facing the way I was
headed.

The inside of my legs squeezed against
the saddle, and below that the horses mid-section. My hips,
slightly raised, rocked with the rhythm of powerful stallion’s
muscles. My heels pushed down, stretching out each calf. We both
panted. My heart raced, beating in time to the pounding of hooves
against asphalt.

Rumbling drew our attention to the
mountains. One of the larger snow, covered peaks was shedding its
white cloak. The avalanche was at a distance; no threat to us, but
I knew all too well what it was like to be caught up in that
beast.

Who is up there? Micah's
people?

Shawn and Micah had their battle plans
all along. Elementals were staged up and down the plains, and into
the mountains. And I hadn't been privy to any of that
information.

Why not?

Because I had never truly belonged to
either army.

I leaned into the horse, next to his
ear. "It's just you and me, pal."

He slowed, eyeing the mountains in the
distance.

"Come on, now….what can I call you?" I
kept talking, doing my best to distract him. "How about 'Rock'?" I
rubbed his mane. "That's it. Get on, Rock – ya!"

He picked up speed, and I crouched
down for fear of being blown off. The next Elemental we passed had
his ear to a handheld radio. I snatched it as we flew past, making
sure to leave a rock wall for him, too.

Shawn's voice blasted over the
airwaves, "No one passes! Everybody is in place – anyone moving
forward is to be considered a threat."

Shit.

The group coming up all had radios,
too. They saw me, and struggled to call their elements. We passed
before the first managed it. I wouldn't be so lucky with the next
group. I merged onto an interstate, honing in on Shawn's signal and
following it. It was getting stronger with every stride covered,
like a game of hot, hot, cold.

The next group was ready for me. They
stood as a wall across the road. A combination of Airs and Waters.
Above us, the atmosphere swirled, and behind us heat from the fire
tornados licked at our back.

The wind picked up, swirling the snow.
Infused with more moisture, the snow hit me from every angle. Icy
cold pelted the back of my neck, and sloshed across my face.
Thunder rolled overhead. Rock whinnied, coming to a
stop.

"Just a little thunder snow; can't
hurt Rock," I coaxed the horse. I tried to exude enough confidence
for the both of us. A draft moved upward, pulling the cold air to a
higher altitude. More thunder.

"Take a break for a minute," I said,
climbing off of him. I looked into the faces of the Elementals as I
approached them. I stopped at one face I knew well.

Erika stepped forward. "Lucy – what
are you doing?"