The Order of the Elements 01 - Breaking Point (59 page)

Immediately a wave of protesting thoughts crossed each of their minds.
No. It’s too dangerous. What if we can’t get you back? You can’t! What about the prophecy?
The last thought had a valid point.

Phoebe shuffled through her memories and this strange new power—or whatever it was—quickly, and relayed the prophecy to them.

There, now you have the visions you need, and if you can’t get me back, then you leave me here and you get out. This is not up for debate right now. Just do it!

Phoebe retreated from their minds before they could protest any more. She was scared; she wouldn’t deny that. But if this would get them out, even if it meant sacrificing herself, then she had to do it. If she could save six lives by sacrificing her own, then that’s what she would do. She couldn’t let them die because she was too scared to die herself.

Zuriel had continued talking while Phoebe had given her silent instructions, and now he looked at her expectantly. He wasn’t angry enough; neither were the others. Evan was trying really hard, but even though he understood her reasoning, he didn’t want her to suffer. She needed to give them all a reason to be angry.

“What?” Phoebe said, glaring up at Zuriel.

“What did the prophecy say?” Zuriel asked angrily.

She let her sarcastic tendencies take over. “I don’t know,” she replied with an evil smile.

“Don’t lie to me,” Zuriel said, and his eyes flashed.

Phoebe laughed. “What are you going to do about it?”

She could feel a sudden surge of fear from behind her as anger built up in the man in front of her.

“Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head. I’ll get it out of you one way or another,” Zuriel said, grinning evilly. “Petrozan gave me full authority to use any means necessary, as long as I didn’t kill you before you talked. And the Shamarian do love torture.”

The creature holding Phoebe laughed, and she turned to look at it towering above her with one hand holding onto the chain that bound her wrists. It had to be the most revolting being she had ever seen. All it wore were thick-looking black pants, and its exposed black skin was gashed and torn with dark slime oozing from the open wounds. Its eyes were completely black, and its hands were clawed, but the worst thing of all was its mouth. It had no lips, and all of its teeth were rotted with blood dripping from them. Then it shifted and became a formless shadow as it hovered above her.

“Then again.” Zuriel yanked on Phoebe’s chain to bring her to her feet. “It has been a long time since I was with such a pretty little girl,” he said, standing very close to her, grabbing her arms fiercely and pulling her up in front of his face.

That had done it; Phoebe felt a spark of anger from behind her. Now she just needed to build on it.

“You disgusting piece of slime. Let her go. I will kill you,” Hector growled.

Zuriel smiled down at Hector. “Oh, is she yours? Well, that will make this even more enjoyable.”

Hector struggled against his chains, and Phoebe could hear the clashing of his skin against the metal. Unfortunately, even though his skin was probably harder than the metal, his talent was cancelled out by the nullifying power of the chains. His strength was still only human, and he couldn’t break the chains on his own. But Phoebe could, if she could finish what she had started.

She readied herself for the consequences of what she was about to do. Zuriel turned his attention back to her. She felt his putrid breath. He was inches away from her face, and she spat on him.

He immediately threw her down on the cold stone floor. She was able to avoid breaking her wrists by turning and falling on her side, but her dagger added to the pain of the collision with the floor. Pain radiated from her hip, and angry tears sprang into her eyes, but they didn’t spill over.

Phoebe struggled to get back to her knees. The others weren’t angry enough yet. And neither was Zuriel. In fact, he was actually laughing as he wiped his face off.

“You stupid girl. Nothing you do is going to save you so you might as well tell me the prophecy now, and I’ll kill you quickly.” He still thought death threats would change her mind. She already knew she was dying. Threatening her wouldn’t do anything.

“Phoebe, no!” Hector yelled.

“Spare me the pity party, you pathetic excuse for a man, and just do it already! You want to torture me? Then do it. What are you afraid of?” Phoebe yelled angrily over Hector’s voice. Hadn’t he figured out what she was doing yet? He needed to let this happen. It was the only way out.

A fresh wave of anger went through her.

“You think I won’t?” Zuriel said dangerously as his eyes narrowed into slits.

Phoebe laughed openly up at him. “I dare you.”

He raised his fist, and it connected with her jaw. He knocked her over and she landed, once again, on her already sore hip. Lights flashed in front of her eyes, and she tasted blood, but it still wasn’t enough. Phoebe struggled back to her knees, breathing heavily.

“Is that the best you got?” she asked, smirking as her lip swelled up.

He grabbed hold of her chain again and yanked her back up to her feet. Her wrists ached from the pain, but that didn’t matter right now. She was close; one more push should do it.

“Tell me the prophecy!” Zuriel screamed in her face.

“Oh, please. You think one little weak punch is going to get it out of me? You’re going to have to do better than that. I was hit harder in training on my first week,” Phoebe spat at him again.

He smiled. “Feisty little one, aren’t you? I am going to enjoy breaking you. It has been a long time since anyone fought back. Grillan, if you will.”

A creature that very much matched the description of a grilock stepped forward. It had long, clawed hands and sagging green skin that made it look as if it had at one time shrunk several sizes, but his skin had remained the same size. Zuriel shrugged off his overcoat and handed it to the grilock, who then handed Zuriel a whip. Zuriel came back to stand in front of Phoebe and held up the whip for her to see. Fear coursed through her friends. Evan and Jared were already trying to think of another solution.

“Do you know what this is?” he asked softly.

Phoebe raised her eyebrow. “A whip? You think that’s going to do it?” she said, laughing at him.

She wasn’t really looking forward to getting whipped, but it had to be done. She could see the sharp edges and the metal shards attached that would rip through her skin. It would be excruciating

“No, Phoebe, don’t!” Cynthia shouted from behind her.

Phoebe could hear a loud thud and a groan. She knew Cynthia had been hurt, and her anger built higher.

“Oh, I have no doubts.” Zuriel continued as if nothing had happened.

Then he lit the whip with his Fire power and went to stand behind Phoebe. He shoved her forward so she was within six feet of all of the other foul creatures in the cave, and they were all clearly enjoying the show.

“Last chance,” Zuriel said from behind her.

“Not on your life,” she replied as she braced herself for what was coming. “Oh, and by the way,” Phoebe added as an afterthought, “if you should make it out of here alive tonight, give your master a message for me. Tell him I think he’s pretty pathetic for not being able to take care of his own problems. You might have noticed that we didn’t send servants off to do our work. Then again, cowards always hide, and empires always crumble. His will be no different. You will all die.”

“I’ll be sure to deliver your message along with your body. I’m sure it’ll lighten his mood,” Zuriel sneered as the whip twitched in his hand.

Phoebe could hear it cutting through the air as it came at her and struck her back. Her skin ripped open, and the smell of her burned flesh was heavy as the creatures laughed in front of her. Tears ran down her face from the pain and anger that was building inside of her. The whip came at Phoebe again, and this time the force of the blow sent her to her knees, which collided brutally with the stone floor.

This time she didn’t feel it, though, because finally her blind rage had taken over. She felt her eyes turn black and her blood boil as she laughed with every strike he threw at her. Although, unlike last time, she knew what was going on and was able to control her actions to a certain point.

The muscles on her arms tightened as she strained against the chains binding her. The cold metal cut into her wrists, but at the same time, it didn’t hurt. The strikes from the whip continued to come, and she knew her back was being torn apart, but it didn’t matter. Slowly the chains started to give way. Zuriel didn’t even notice; he was too preoccupied with beating her mercilessly as she continued to laugh at him. Suddenly, the metal snapped, and Phoebe was set free from her bonds. Zuriel stopped hitting her when he realized that she had broken the chains.

She rose to her feet and turned to look at him. Pure anger filled every part of her body.

“But how…”

“Well, well, well. Look who walked right into a trap this time,” Phoebe said as a dark cloud started to fill the chamber.

A lightning bolt erupted from the cloud and hit the chains binding her friends, freeing them. It took a moment for Zuriel to take in the situation and bark out orders. Rain poured into the cave as thunder struck ominously.

“What are you waiting for?” he yelled. “Get them!”

Immediately, every creature around the room burst into action as they surrounded Phoebe’s six friends, who, now that they knew what was coming, had a very good advantage. Fighting broke out immediately all around her.

Cynthia was able to kill five of them at once with her Fire power, and Lucy sent a huge tornado around the room. Evan fought two to four creatures at a time with a sword in each hand, and Jared bound up to four at once with vines wrapping the entire lengths of their bodies. Ethan used his sword with one hand and made the room quake with the other, causing many of Zuriel’s army to lose their footing and fall to the ground.

Hector shoved through creatures as he tried to get to Phoebe. He was shouting, but she couldn’t hear him. He wasn’t using any weapon at all. He was simply crushing heads and snapping necks with his bare hands as claws and knives grazed his skin without even leaving a mark. The chamber was in disarray with Elemental powers flashing everywhere and the ground shaking.

The Shamarian shifted in and out as they tried to gain an advantage. These creatures could only be hurt when they were in their physical form; in their shadow form, Elemental powers went right through them, leaving them unhurt. Two appeared right in front of Cynthia, grabbing for her as she disappeared in flames that enveloped them. A horrible smell filled the room as the Shamarian screamed in pain and slowly died.

An invisible line kept Zuriel and Phoebe in their own private circle as reinforcements poured through the cave entrance and headed for the rest of her friends. Lucy turned and with her Telekinesis talent lifted the slab of rock that still held Irena’s wasted body and closed off the entrance enough so only one creature at a time could get through.

Evan fought two of the metallic soldiers, which were proving difficult to dispose of. He sheathed his swords in one fluid motion and instead connected his hands with each of the soldiers. They became covered in ice, and the fire in their eyes died. Evan then returned his swords to his hands and continued fighting.

Phoebe saw him smirk at his success as he continued to dispose of attackers easily. He was having fun. Fiery anger burned through her, and Phoebe couldn’t even roll her eyes in amusement at Evan’s behavior. She tried to regain control of her body, but the fire inside her burned brighter as it continued to steal her control and sense of right and wrong. She had one focus now as she zeroed in on her prey.

“Dorian is waiting,” the soft voice in her ear reminded her.

Dorian. Zuriel had tried to kill him before. He would pay for all of his crimes tonight.

Phoebe concentrated on the man standing in front of her as he held his whip, dripping with her blood, lamely at his side. She advanced on him. With every step, she felt blood running down her legs from the wounds on her back. She had lost what little control she had over her actions, and now the demon inside of her had taken over. She still felt the remnants of herself somewhere in her mind, but she was angry, and Zuriel was going to pay for what he had done to her.

Phoebe didn’t even care about anyone or anything else in the room. She just wanted to kill the man in front of her in the most painful way possible.

He hurled a ball of fire at her, which she blocked easily as she continued to walk forward. He flicked his whip at her, but she caught it around her wrist and yanked it out of his hand. He made a circle of flames around her, which she put out immediately. He pulled out his sword as she drew hers from across her back. They sized each other up for a moment before attacking.

Nothing he had done yet had stopped Phoebe’s steady advance, and fear flickered in his eyes. He would pay. He would pay for keeping Phoebe from Dorian. That was all she cared about. She didn’t care about who else was fighting or whose side they were on. If they got in her way, she would kill them too.

Fury still guided her actions as she moved fluidly around Zuriel, easily blocking his swings as they fought furiously with one another. She caught hold of his wrist and launched him across the room where he crunched against the stone wall. Pain flitted across his face when he stood back up and advanced on her again.

While he was larger and stronger than her, she was faster and lighter on her feet. Not to mention she had the added bonus of superhuman anger flowing through her veins, guiding her actions. They jumped around one another as swords flashed and blows fell. Phoebe’s sword slashed across his back, and blood spurted out. He caught her thigh and the cut went almost to the bone. She couldn’t feel it, but it put her off balance. Eventually, he was able to push her to the ground, and as she struggled to her feet, he disappeared and cloaked himself from view.

“Coward!” she screamed, stomping around the room. Creatures jumped out at her, and she easily tossed them aside as she looked for Zuriel.