Run To Earth (Power of Four) (17 page)

“Ignore, ignore, ignore,” Sam chanted in Aaron’s ear.

“Don’t worry, I will.” Aaron replied quietly.

Skyler smirked at him but didn’t say anything. They had just passed each other when a yell sounded across the street.

“Skyler!”

Everyone stopped and turned to see a furious Kyran, his fists clenched and jaw set, coming straight for Skyler.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kyran spat, livid. “You messed around with Lexi!”

Everyone turned to Skyler with expressions of surprise and disgust, including Ella.

“Sky?” she groaned. “Tell me you didn’t.”

Skyler, for his part, looked completely calm. “I had to get him back for his little ‘joke’ with my roof.”

“So you used Lexi?” Ella asked, outraged. “That’s sick!”

Kyran got near enough to throw a punch, and would probably have clocked Skyler right in the jaw if four mages hadn’t stopped him.

“Hey, Kyran!” Ryan called, holding him back. “Whoa! Take it easy.”

But Kyran’s narrowed eyes were on Skyler, ignoring everyone else. “How dare you touch her!” he growled, fighting their hold.

“Calm down,” Skyler drawled. “You deserved it and you know it.”

“Oh yeah?” Kyran freed himself but didn’t lash out this time. He stepped closer until he was right in Skyler’s face. “Come on then, Sky.”

Skyler’s eyes brightened with glee. “Yeah?” He grinned. “Eager for another beating?”

Kyran smirked. “We’ll see who takes the beating this time.”

Skyler chuckled. “When you gonna get it?” he asked. “I’m an Elemental. You can’t beat me.”

“No,” Kyran agreed, “but I can make you bleed.”

Skyler’s eyes narrowed, the mirth and amusement gone. “Let’s go,” he said.

Aaron and Sam watched as the group hurried behind the two boys, headed for the path behind the cottages.

“Are they going to that ring place again?” Sam asked.

“Think so,” Aaron replied. “Should we follow them?”

“You seriously need to ask?” Sam grinned.

Both boys threw down their baskets and ran behind the mages.

***

It turned out that Kyran and Skyler were indeed headed to the ring. This time the only ones watching the fight were members of Skyler’s gang. Aaron and Sam inched closer and closer to the ring, and found that no one stopped them. It seemed the surrounding mages had eyes only for the two boys stepping through the stone archway that Skyler had lifted, to enter the ring. The crowd was thinner, yet the rumbustious cheers were just as loud and energetic as last time. Ella, Aaron noticed, wasn’t looking very happy, and stood to the side with her arms crossed, glaring at Skyler and Kyran.

The symbol on the ground – the strange circle with the inverted V, spiral and three wavy lines – started to glow. The light had barely faded when the two boys started. Kyran leapt at Skyler, his fist raised but it didn’t touch the other boy. Aaron thought Kyran had missed, that his punch was ridiculously badly aimed, but something hit Skyler, making him stagger a few steps back. Skyler recovered and threw out his hand, sending an unseen jolt of what Aaron now realised was power in retaliation. Kyran twisted out of the way, so fast that Aaron would’ve missed it if he had blinked.

“Whoa,” Sam breathed. “Did you see that?”

Aaron nodded, open-mouthed, staring at Kyran.

Kyran threw out his hand and Skyler was hit again. Gathering himself, Skyler kicked out, but Kyran dodged the blow. Twisting to the side, Kyran punched, and this time his fist connected with Skyler’s face, knocking him aside. Before Skyler could catch his breath, Kyran sent him flying across the ring with a sweep of his hand.

Aaron stared, awestruck to his very core. He had thought the Hunters of Balt were impressive, but none of them had managed to strike Skyler. Kyran, on the other hand, was knocking the Elemental to the ground.

Skyler swung his arm, like a punch in the air, and Aaron could hear the wind whistling as unseen power tore its way towards Kyran, who ducked to avoid it. The surrounding mages cheered, some calling out praise to Kyran while others yelled at Skyler to, “Make a hit already!”

Before long, Skyler and Kyran were both out of breath, a fine sheen of perspiration covering their faces. Most of their punches and kicks were in the air, but the jolts of power flew across the ring, sometimes hitting their mark, other times swiftly avoided. The stones around the ring were keeping the blows of power from crossing outside, but this time Aaron could hear the strain. Even through the cheering, clapping and shouting, Aaron could detect the whistle of every throw and a faint zap as the power hit the invisible barrier.

One of Skyler’s kicks caught Kyran, sending him careening backwards. He hit the ground, visibly winded but quickly rolled out of the way of Skyler’s next attack. Leaping onto his feet, Kyran pulled back his hand and then shot out, as if wielding a whip. Skyler doubled over, pain lighting his features. Kyran lifted up his hand and Skyler was thrown up into the air, like a weightless doll.

“Whoa!” Sam cried.

Kyran pulled downwards and Skyler smacked to the ground, face first, hitting it so hard that Aaron swore he felt the ground tremble. Being thrown around like a ball didn’t keep Skyler down for long, though. He was soon up on his feet, enraged, his platinum hair messed up and falling into his slitted blue eyes. Both of his hands were balled into fists and he swung them, double punching the air. Kyran stumbled back, taking both hits and falling to the ground. When he straightened up, he froze, green eyes widening. Aaron saw why and it stole his very breath.

Skyler was holding a gun, and it was aimed at Kyran.

Sam cursed before gripping Aaron’s arm and pulling, trying to get away, but Aaron refused to move. He felt as if he were glued to the spot, watching in numbed terror as Kyran regarded Skyler warily. The surrounding mages quietened too, surprised at Skyler’s tactic.

“Sky! Don’t!” Ella shouted, but Skyler didn’t look like he was listening.

He cocked the pistol and glared at Kyran. The shot rang out, so loud it almost popped Aaron’s ears. Sam ducked, taking Aaron with him, not trusting the invisible barrier to block bullets. Aaron’s gaze never left Kyran, who twisted out of the way with speed no human could match. Kyran pulled out both of his handguns.

“We’re getting out of here!” Sam pulled again but Aaron refused to be dragged away.

Kyran fired three shots from each gun but Skyler dodged them all. They were fighting with bullets now and the surrounding mages were yelling their disapproval.

“Stop it, Sky!” Ryan yelled. “Not cool, man!”

“Kyran, don’t!” Ella was yelling. “You both are going to get hurt!”

“Boys! No! STOP!” a voice thundered, and Aaron looked around to see Scott come belting towards them. A wave of Scott’s hand and the rocks lifted to give him access. “Stop it! Stop!” Scott cried, grabbing Skyler and pulling him back. Scott stood between them, his expression twisted in rage.

Kyran and Skyler were out of breath and stood glaring at each other, but had lowered their guns

“What is the matter with you two?” Scott yelled. “Shooting at each other? Really?” he asked with fury. “There are enough forces trying to
kill
mages, without the two of you hurting each other! You want to have a go at each other? Fine, so be it! But keep guns out of it!”

Both boys looked away, fidgeting where they stood. Scott ran a hand through his hair, struggling to calm down.

“There’s a meeting starting in two minutes,” he said a lot quieter. “Get inside, both of you.” He looked around at the surrounding mages. “All of you, inside the Hub – now.”

The crowd walked towards the circular building, climbing up the steps. Kyran and Skyler followed after them, quiet but with furious expressions and darkened eyes, their weapons slotted back into their holsters. Scott lowered the rocks, sealing the ring and walked up to the building.

Aaron followed after them with Sam, but had only set one foot on the wide steps when Skyler held up a hand.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, face still pink and beads of perspiration on his forehead.

“Scott said all of us–” Aaron started.

“I don’t think so,” Skyler growled. “Get lost, Adams.”

“What’s going on?” Scott asked, anger still in his voice. “What’s the problem?”

Aaron quickly spoke up. “I want to join the meeting.”

Scott didn’t say anything right away. He studied Aaron with quiet eyes before nodding. “Come inside.”

“What?” Skyler turned in fury. “Scott, he’s not a Hunter!”

“He’s a mage, isn’t he?” Scott replied. “Every mage has the right to get involved.”

“He may be a mage,” Skyler argued, “but he doesn’t know the first thing–”

“That’s irrelevant,” Scott cut him off. “Besides, Aaron is an Elemental.” He held Skyler’s gaze. “Are you really going to stop an Elemental, Skyler?”

Skyler didn’t say anything. His jaw clenched and he threw a furious look at Aaron before turning and walking past the doors into the building. Scott gave Aaron a tired, weak smile.

“Come on in,” he said, “but only you.” He looked pointedly at Sam. “Sorry, but it’s mages only.”

Sam took a step back. “Yeah, sure. That’s okay,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to work, anyway.”

Aaron looked back at Scott, ready to protest but Sam had grabbed his arm. “It’s cool,” he whispered. “Go. Tell me everything.”

Aaron nodded and turned to follow Scott into the Hub, feeling horribly guilty at leaving Sam behind.

11

The Hub

Scott led Aaron down a set of metal stairs, heading for the double doors at the end of a wide corridor. Aaron looked around at the glass-panelled walls, silver rafters and white marble floors. It all looked completely out of place in the otherwise very rural city of Salvador. Aaron stepped past double doors and entered a chamber. Like the building, it was round, with six lines of benches circling the entire room. In the middle of the chamber was a gleaming white table which, in keeping with the style of the building, was also round, but with a concave top.

Aaron walked up to the table to see what lay in its hollow. He couldn’t make sense of it. It looked like an image, depicting of a whole mess of lines with letters dotted around in a random order. Thick wavy lines made odd blob-type shapes with fine spidery lines sprawling every which way inside.

“Admiring the table?” Scott asked, coming to stand next to him.

“Sort of,” Aaron replied. “What is it exactly?”

Scott turned to look at the table with a smile. His previous anger and agitation seemed to disappear. “This,” he held the edge with both hands, his eyes sparkling with pride, “is the Hub.”

“And this,” Skyler called, “isn’t a class. Can we get on with the meeting already?”

Scott gave him a cold look before turning back to the table. He extended his hand over it and the image started to change. The fine lines began to fade and the thick-lined, random shapes began to lighten until they were barely visible. A different image began to take form, one that Aaron recognised at once.

“See what it is?” Scott prompted.

Aaron nodded. “A map of the world.”

“Wrong,” Skyler called out. “A map of the human world.”

“The human realm,” Scott corrected. His hand hovered over the table again and the map changed to the first image. “This is our world,” Scott said. “The mage realm.”

Aaron stared at the thin stretches of ink, circling and outlining a whole map of different shapes and sizes. He noted the increased number of marked areas when compared to the continents of the human world. What he recognised as South America had three areas marked on it. Africa was divided in eight areas – some big, some small. A quick glance and Aaron counted twenty-six areas covering the world map.

“These are zones,” Scott explained, pointing to the thick-lined areas, each with a letter of the alphabet on them.

“Where are we?” Aaron asked.

Scott pointed to a small area, with the letter
I
on it. “Salvador is located here.”

Aaron smiled. On the map of the world he had lived in, Scott was pointing to the United Kingdom. It seemed he was somewhat close to home after all.

“If we’re done playing ‘Where in the Realm is the Idiot?’ game, maybe we could start the meeting?” Skyler asked.

Aaron didn’t let Scott fight this time. He silently moved away from the table and took a seat on the wooden bench next to Ryan and a pretty, dark-haired Asian girl.

“Alright.” Scott rubbed both hands together and stood before them. “Today’s meeting has officially started.” He raised both hands to gesture to Kyran and Skyler, both seated at opposite sides to each other. “That is, if two of our best Hunters have recovered from trying to kill each other?”

Kyran shifted in his seat and Skyler looked away, avoiding Scott’s gaze.

“Good, so we can start,” Scott said. “First, the update. Kyran accompanied me to Harban, where we spent ten days trying to get the Pecosas to talk.”

“Any luck?” Ella asked.

“No,” Scott replied. “The Pecosas maintain they know nothing about the Scorcher.”

“You don’t believe them?” a tall, dark-skinned boy asked.

“I didn’t at first,” Scott replied, “but after ten days of the same answer, I had to give in.”

“But the Pecosas were sighted,” the Asian girl next to Ryan said. “We know they’re with him. They’re helping the Scorcher.”

“They say they’re not,” Scott replied. “The chief claims some of their people have turned. Those are the few Pecosas that have been sighted with the Scorcher. The majority of them have nothing to do with him.”

Skyler snorted. “You believe that tripe?”

“I have no other option,” Scott replied.

“The Pecosas are up to something,” the Asian girl said. “They might not be enemies, but they’re not allies either.”

“I agree with Zhi-Jiya,” Ella said. “We can’t trust them.”

“I never said we had to trust them,” said Scott. “But I do believe them.”

Aaron was confused. Not only with what Scott had said but with the whole discussion. It didn’t make any sense to him, not that he expected it to. He had walked into a mage meeting with no prior knowledge. It was bound to be confusing.

“Anyway, next call of business.” Scott waved a hand and the mages got up, walking to the circular table. Aaron joined them. “I’m setting up a Q-Zone in a week’s time.” Every mage became tense, standing still. “The others will arrive over the course of the week. I want everyone trained up and ready. This one is going to be big.”

“Where we going?” Ella asked.

Scott turned to the table and pointed to the zone labelled
M
.

“Here,” Scott said. “Zone M-25.” He pointed at one of the areas outlined by the fine, spidery lines criss-crossing inside Zone M. “Tobo, Japan,” Scott said, the map shimmering to show the map of the human world for a moment before reverting back. “The Q-Zone will be set up here.” Scott pointed to another area of the map. “I want everyone to start their training. You don’t impress me, you don’t get to go. Understood?”

“Understood, Scott,” came the response.

“Alright, you can go now,” Scott dismissed. “Kyran, Skyler, Ella – hold back, please. I want a word.”

As the rest of the mages moved out, Aaron stayed where he was, confused to his core.

“Aaron?” Scott smiled softly. “You okay?”

“I’m...I’m a little lost.”

“I would expect you to be,” Scott replied.

“You said you were setting up a Q-Zone,” he said, “but isn’t that the Q-Zone?” He pointed to the zone with the letter
Q
on it.

Scott laughed. “I can see why you would think that,” Scott said, “but this is Zone Q. What I’m talking about is a Q-Zone, short for Quarantine Zone.”

“Quarantine?” Aaron felt his mouth go dry. “What are you planning on isolating?”

“Things that need to be put down,” Scott replied.

“Like?” Aaron pushed.

“In this particular instance,” he met Aaron’s eyes, “Lycans.”

Aaron blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“Lycans,” Scott repeated. “They’re terrorising the people of Tobo. Over the last two months, there have been countless disappearances and mutilated bodies found almost every night.”

“In Tobo?” Aaron asked. “As in Japan? In my world?”

Scott paused, his eyes narrowed slightly. “The human realm,” he corrected. “Yes.”

Aaron gaped at him. “You’re talking about...werewolves?” he asked with disbelief.

“Lycans aren’t werewolves,” Ella said. “Humans confuse the two, but Lycans are very different to werewolves.”

“Werewolves are nothing more than dirty dogs that’ve had their fangs pulled out,” Skyler added. “Lycans are beasts that will rip you into a thousand shreds if you let them get near enough.”

“Which is why you lot need to be prepared,” Scott said.

“We are prepared,” Ella said. “Send me out today. I’m ready.”

“Easy there, Ella,” Kyran said. “Lycans are a big game.”

“You need to hold your ground against me,” Skyler said to her. “Then we’ll see if you’re ready.”

“Pfft, please.” Ella turned to him. “Kyran was smacking you around minutes ago. I’ll train with him, thank you very much.”

“I’ll supervise the training,” Scott said, before Skyler could reply. “That’s why I held you three back. I know you will pass the training and I need you three to get the rest in shape.”

The trio nodded their agreement.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t get past this,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “Lycans in Japan? How is this possible?”

“What’s so unbelievable about it?” Scott asked.

“Lycans!” Aaron exclaimed. “Big hairy beasts with claws and...and fangs and...they’re going around killing people? How does no one notice that?”

“They do notice,” Scott replied calmly. “Where do you think these human legends and myths come from?”

“But surely there would be panic and chaos,” Aaron said. “The humans would know for sure that werewolves exist.”

Skyler chuckled. “Is this kid for real?” he asked.

Aaron turned to see Skyler, Ella and Kyran all grinning, chortling at him.

“What?” Aaron demanded, annoyed.

“They’re humans,” Skyler said, as if that explained everything. “They could have Lycans break-dancing in front of them and they’ll still come up with something to explain it.
I was drunk. I was high. It was just the light. It was my overactive imagination
,” he mimicked in a high-pitched voice. “And the poor sod who does get it right and tries to tell the world gets locked up in a padded room for losing his mind.” He grinned. “Humans are the single most frustratingly naïve creation in all the realms.”

“That’s not true.” Aaron shook his head. “Humans aren’t stupid. If they see monsters–”

“They run,” Ella said. “That’s what they do. They see a threat, they run. That’s what they’re
supposed
to do. It’s the job of a mage, of a Hunter, to face the demons.”

Aaron turned to stare at the map. “The Q-Zone,” he said quietly. “That’s what the mages of Balt came here for. They wanted permission to go to it?”

“Every Hunter wants to prove their worth,” Scott said. “Hunters will fight with everything they’ve got, down to their last breath, to get a chance to go into the Q-Zone. But only the most skilled of Hunters can execute a perfect Q-Zone kill.”

Skyler, Ella and Kyran all sat up with pride, smirking at one another.

“What exactly is it?” Aaron asked.

“It’s a temporary zone that is created for only one purpose,” Scott explained.

“Trap and burn.” Skyler grinned.

Aaron looked questioningly at Scott.

“The threat, whatever it may be, is in the human realm,” Scott said as his hand hovered over the table to show the map of the world again. “We can’t go into the human world and end it, lest we reveal ourselves and put the Trace on half of the population.” Aaron tensed but remained quiet. “So the Hunters have to lure the demons out of the human realm and back into our realm to destroy them.” The map shimmered and went back to the mage realm. “But, of course, the demons aren’t stupid and they won’t let themselves be drawn out and brought back to a place they can be killed, so I make what’s called a Quarantine Zone. A temporary area, as big or small as required, that traps the demons. I can make Q-Zones in either realm, but it’s only visible to mages, so it allows them to lure the demons into the Q-Zone without them realising.”

“What happens to the demons once they enter the Q-Zone?” Aaron asked.

“Hunters can fight the demons whichever way they like in the Q-Zone,” Scott said. His expression darkened and he looked down at the map. “But like I said, the Q-Zone is only temporary. It collapses forty minutes after it’s created. Anything still inside the zone is destroyed.”

Aaron could read the grief on Scott’s face. “I take it the Q-Zone doesn’t distinguish between mages and demons?” he asked.

“We’ve lost many Hunters in Q-Zones,” Scott revealed in a quiet, morose voice. “An ideal execution is to trap the demons and have every single Hunter out of the zone before it collapses.” He shook his head and sighed, closing his eyes. “But that doesn’t always happen.”

“It’ll happen this time,” Skyler said, coming to stand next to Scott. “We’re not losing any more Hunters.” Then, with a look at Kyran he added, “Well, maybe just the one.”

Kyran rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“Don’t,” Scott warned Skyler. “I don’t want to hear you even joke about something like that.”

“Let him,” Kyran said. “He can say what he wants. I’m not going anywhere.”

Skyler only smirked back at him.

“So that’s what Hunters do?” Aaron asked. “They go to the human world to lure out the demons and bring them to the Q-Zone to be destroyed?”

“No,” Ella replied. “We do a lot more than that.”

“We have our own world to protect too,” Skyler said.

“Here?” Aaron frowned. “But I thought this realm was safe?”

The faces before him darkened.

“Our realm isn’t safe,” Ella said quietly. “Not by a long shot.”

“Not yet, it isn’t,” Skyler corrected. “But we’ll get there.”

Scott, Aaron noticed, looked downright miserable. His face was lowered, shoulders hunched and eyes closed, with deep lines on his brow.

“Scott?” Aaron called, making the man open his eyes and lift his head up before offering a tight smile.