chaos with Kodiak and River flanking me from behind. Katia hung back to take on the intruders on the fringes.
With a sword in each hand, I slashed the throat of a Kinetic locked in combat with an Elemental without slowing my pace. I whacked through any Kinetic Warrior I reached, clearing a path through the mayhem.
Currents and Elemental magic clashed across the entire property of the Hollow. Weapons clanged viciously as the song of death accompanied the crimson painting the grass.
Wanting to hold onto my magic reserves, I relegated myself to my blades for the moment. I sliced another throat, and when the woman’s eyes went wide, and her body slackened, I searched over her shoulders for any familiar faces—one in particular—as I felt him across the lawn.
I glimpsed Chrome’s metallic hair, slinging water droplets from its ends as he fought like a one-man army in his specific death dance in the rain. He was alive and okay. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw him with my own eyes. I pushed forward, landing a punch in the temple of a man with orange hair before shoving my Elemental blade in the space between his ribs. The Elemental he’d been locked in combat with didn’t have a weapon. I tossed one of my swords to him and moved along, sliding a spare one from my back.
I chopped at the backs of knees, impaled warriors from the front, and hacked necks as I held Chrome in my sights. He worked fluidly with his metal element and was throwing his opponents with a blast of some sort. I had never seen him wield his Kinetic ability before. He held it close to himself at all times.
Not far from Chrome, Orion flew—literally—across the battlefield, using his air magic to propel him around to run his sword through skulls and spines. The calm and compassionate Orion I was accustomed to was gone as I saw a thirst for violence and vengeance I never thought I’d see in him. Gone was the sadness in his Caribbean-Sea eyes, and in them stood nothing but cunning rage.
River and Blaize fought together with water and fire magic. The siblings intertwined their elements into a rope that charged a Kinetic that River sparred with. At the last second, the elements parted, the water rope moving up the warrior’s nose while Blaize’s fire rope coiled around his ankles and licked his body, consuming his screams in flames.
A hot blast of heat slammed into my side. I cried out and ducked, sensing a weapon swinging at my head. I kicked the side of a kneecap.
“Fucking abomination.”
I launched an electric blue blast at my attacker. The warrior seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him. He stumbled back a few steps with a grimace, then charged me with a sword raised high.
I let him come. “Your king raped a powerful Elemental to conceive me, so take that shit up with him.”
My air element rose to the surface within me, a breeze whipping through my hair. As I prepared to launch a blast at him, the Kinetic’s beady eyes widened. I glanced down at the roots, twining up his legs and climbing up his torso and chest before reaching his throat. Looking for the source, I spotted Void a few paces away, shoving his sword into the heart of an opponent.
Grateful for Void’s help, I took the opportunity to conjure air to throw a knife from my weapons belt into the Kinetic’s eye. “I never fucking liked you.” I shoved the blade in deeper with my element. “Sexist pig.”
Continuing to run, I spotted Onyx locked in a magically induced Kinetic duel with a blue-haired female. Green currents ran up her arms and neck, indicating her microwave magic.
Fuck.
My boot collided with a woman in the gut before running my blade through her throat. Rain poured into my eyes, the work of the water Elementals. I directed air to push others out of my path so I could help Onyx. Microwave magic didn’t fuck around.
The ground shook behind me. I stumbled, dodging a small sonic blast aimed at my head. I spun, finding Kodiak opening a chasm in the ground swallowing Kinetic Warriors before closing the gap. Large rocks from underground flew up and knocked into several attackers, leaving other Elementals to impale or behead them.
Void joined Kodiak to work together with earth magic. Void never slowed with his spear while using the limbs from trees as extra weapons to skewer. The roots responded to his command to wrap around throats, squeezing until the eyes bulged from their heads, and they collapsed to the ground.
Still, somehow, more Kinetic Warriors arrived just as quickly as we wiped them out. And sadly, there were too many gilded-skinned Elementals lying lifeless on the lawn. I remembered Onyx and raced toward him and the blue-haired Kinetic. I recognized her. I was pretty sure that was Onyx’s ex-girlfriend. How healthy.
I sensed Chrome before metallic hair and silver currents reflected in my peripheral a distance away. He sliced his double-edged sword clean through the neck of a Kinetic. As the body collapsed, his blood-coated face shone as the rain washed it down his neck.
Our eyes locked. He did a quick scan over my body, pure savagery illuminating his clenched jaw as he gazed at all the blood. Goose bumps raised on my arms. I felt his anger rise, threatening to scald me from the inside out. Without pulling his eyes from me, he held an arm out, releasing a pulsing blast into a threat rushing me that I was unaware of, obliterating them into entrails.
My mouth widened in shock, but he soon threw himself back into battle. Onyx still fought the blue-haired Kinetic, but I caught Aella several feet away, locked in a fight with a Kinetic, who attacked her with sonic blasts. Aella stood on a raised platform of compact air that carried her around, dodging his blasts as she lashed a whip at him. He deflected each strike with small sonic blasts, releasing thundering booms that broke the sound barrier.
A Kinetic sprinted toward me, face twisted in disgust at my gilded skin and rainbow eyes. I smiled, sending a sharp gust of air at his feet, sweeping them from the ground. The Kinetic crashed onto the mud, slipping in a hurry to get back to his feet. He looked so familiar, too.
Salmon hair jolted my memory as I recognized Mills, the bartender from my fateful birthday revel. “Ah, Vermillion, was it?” I purred, stalking closer. “I see you’ve earned yourself quite the promotion since we last met.”
Mills spat mud from his mouth to the ground.
I continued to prowl closer, throwing an air shield around my body so I could deal with him. “Going from poisoning drinks to all-out battle. Tell me, Mills. Did I ever do you wrong?”
He sneered. “You exist.”
“Ouch,” I hissed between my teeth, my hand on my chest in fake hurt. “Not the first time I’ve heard that.”
Orion whizzed in a circle to my right, throwing a well-aimed dagger at a Kinetic with ruby hair. My heart lodged in my throat as I recognized the man as Cardinal Kittle, Scarlett’s older brother. Did that mean Scarlett was here, too? Cotton?
Facing Mills again, I conjured an Elemental knife to my free hand, my sword still in the other. “It’s too bad. We could’ve been friends, but no. You chose murder. So, I think I’ll return the favor.” I threw the knife and watched it rotate until it landed perfectly between his now-frozen eyes.
I looked just in time to see Cardinal slipping away from Orion as another Kinetic Warrior took his place.
Sensing a knife cutting through the air, I sent a breeze to knock it off course. I looked just in time to see Chrome drive the Elemental side of his double-edged sword through the throat of a beefy Kinetic with light gray hair.
As savage as Chrome looked, he couldn’t help the dipped brow from the sadness that sat there with the life he took. He knew the man. And when I looked down at the slumped body on the ground, I met the vacant eyes of Scarlett’s eldest brother, Granite. The two had been friends. A fissure in my heart cracked for Scarlett and Chrome.
Chrome whirled, punching an incoming attack from behind. Again, when the blow landed, it was like a localized explosion of pressure, blasting the Kinetic back and imploding him into crimson bits.
Chrome was weaponless as he fought three-on-one with his bare fists. Each blow he landed sent a pressurized explosion into his attackers. If he kept using his magic at that rate, he’d deplete his reserves soon. I called out to him and conjured my element for assistance. Without looking, he held out a hand as I sent a sword his way, which he grabbed seamlessly before sparring with the two remaining Kinetics.
Water elementals unleashed their wrath, rinsing away the blood as fast as it drenched us while drowning Kinetics. Still standing in my air shield, I scanned to see if anyone needed help. River’s black ponytail caught my attention, and I watched as she began to struggle against a thermal Kinetic who countered her ability while she remained locked sword against sword. In their specific vicinity, rain formed and froze into large shards of ice. Just as it reached the top of the jade hair of a female warrior, the ice melted and turned to steam. River tried again with a different tactic but ended up with the same results.
Electric energy buzzed in my veins. I sent a high voltage of my blue magic into the rain pouring above River’s Kinetic opponent. The electricity combined with the water locked up the female warrior in electrocution, leaving River the chance to drive her sword in her gut.
I remembered Onyx in his fight with his ex, and I dashed toward them. Just before I reached him, I was barreled into from the side, taking me to the ground. Too focused on reaching Onyx, I used my air magic to drive my knife into my assailant’s side. With a curse, he lurched from my body, and I didn’t waste the opportunity to reach for my sword to finish him off. But I instinctively dropped it from the shocks of electricity jolting up the arm that held my blade.
That was all the attacker needed to lurch at me in a split second despite his wound. The male warrior sat atop me, pinning me to the ground. As his blade was about to pierce the skin on my temple, a dagger flew from nowhere and sunk into his carotid artery. A jolt coming from the bond had me opening my palm to catch the hilt of a dagger, my body having reacted before I ever realized what was happening.
Looking behind me, Chrome winked at me with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and pushed the gurgling Kinetic off me, climbing out of the mud. “Fucking arrogant ass,” I muttered to myself.
A familiar voice cried out in agony, distinguishing itself from the others’ echoing around us. Onyx collapsed to his knees. He looked up at the young woman with a look of betrayal just as the blue-haired Kinetic Warrior shoved a dagger into Onyx’s ribs.
I screamed and desperately scrambled through the mud to his side, tossing up an air shield to protect us. I rummaged through his pockets, searching for the antidote, trying not to look at the blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth. “Why is her blade affecting you? It shouldn’t…” It didn’t make sense but I searched his pockets anyway, not wanting to risk his life. His pockets came up empty. “Where’s your fucking antidote, Onyx?”
“Used…” he wheezed, “it.” He must not have restocked after the training session earlier.
I dug into my pocket and pulled out one of the extra vials I grabbed from the training facility. Jamming it into his neck, I couldn’t help but notice how pale he grew. His currents were flickering, shorting out.
“Come on, Onyx. Don’t you fucking do it.”
Suddenly, a black cloud appeared beside Onyx’s head, the specks of ash slowly piecing together to form a man. After a second or two, Chrome stood in its place.
Shocked, I asked, “What the hell, Chrome?” My mouth opened wide as I looked back at the space he had just been sparring half a football field away only seconds ago.
“New ability, I guess,” he mumbled in a rush, seemingly unconcerned. Squatting down, he slid his arms underneath his dearest friend and cradled him to his chest. Onyx was fading as his thick, dark lashes drooped, brushing against his ochre skin. “Let’s see if I can do it again without killing us both.” And just as he had arrived, he left in reverse, disintegrating into what looked like black ash that floated away on the wind.
“Holy shit,” I whispered. With the severe anxiety his final words just brought me, my air shield blinked out.
A flash of gold drew my focus, and not from the Elementals in battle around me. Sneering at me like he was already the victor, Golden Figarro flipped a dagger and caught it, drawing a sword in his other hand. Shoving the dagger into his weapons belt, he said, “Should’ve killed you back at the palace.”
Rising to my feet, I sighed. “Ah, I get it. My death will cement your place as Daddy’s number one bitch,” I said, adjusting the grip on the dagger that Chrome sent me while reaching for the final sword at my back.
“You can imagine my shock to find that our hero, Chrome Freyr, has been alive all this time, hiding out amongst the enemy. And not only that, but he’s an Elemental himself,” Golden mused as if we were having a casual chat.
“Yeah, you’d think the king would’ve said something a long time ago about that, right? Isn’t it strange that he hid it from all of us?”
Golden shook his head, unconcerned. “Not surprising. Of course, he’d disgrace such an abomination.” His upper lip pulled up as he pointedly eyed my golden skin and unique eyes.
“I honestly pity those who refuse to open their eyes to the truth before them; choosing to be sheep led to their slaughter and allowing themselves to be disposable weapons at the hands of a man on a power trip. He doesn’t care about any of you, only those that offer something of value. You look like a clown vying to be his lapdog, Golden,” I said, falling into a fighting stance. “Call off this attack. You don’t even know what you’re fighting for. Because if you did, you might think twice about your goals.”
Golden laughed and looked around the Hollow’s lawn-turned-battlefield. The numbers were dwindling on both sides. Blood blended with the mud in the puddles staining the beautiful oasis. “You think I’d ever believe anything you have to say? Look at you. I can’t believe I ever bowed to you.”
He lunged. Closing the distance between us, our swords clashed. Orange and blue glowing blades illuminated the space between our faces.
I shoved against him, throwing my body weight into the motion, then spinning away before using my element to throw the dagger at him. Golden dodged with a sidestep as if he anticipated the move. Instead, he launched a knife of his own before I could see what he was doing.
To avoid it, I dove to the side, landing with a roll. A sting on my thigh sizzled beneath my skin. I hissed and cursed from the cut of a Kinetic blade as I rose to my feet. My element went silent, no longer at my call. My electricity threatened to singe through my currents. I sent a crackling sapphire ball at my nemesis. It must’ve been stronger than I intended because Golden stepped back in fear. I pursued the advantage, ignoring the poison spreading through my veins.
My arms began to feel leaden as I lifted my sword. Just in time to avoid a fatal blow, Golden’s blade knocked mine away. We fell into a rhythmic dance of parrying and deflection. I focused on my footwork, doing everything in my power to stay upright and not give him much more advantage as my vision began to blur.
I wanted to scream from the increasing pain of the black crystal pumping through my veins. I didn’t have long before I was unconscious if I didn’t get the antidote in my system soon.
Golden feigned to the right, and through my hazy mind, I bought it. He kicked my ankles from the ground. The air fled from my lungs as I crashed to my back in the mud. A heaviness settled in my chest.
Disappointment. Failure. Shame. He won.
My leg grew numb, and my arm was too leaden. I couldn’t even aim an electric blast at him if I wanted to.
Golden straddled my thigh, standing above me. Droplets of water fell from the tip of his nose and jaw. I closed my eyes to prevent the water from dripping into them. I opened my eyes, hating that the last thing I’d see before death was this asshole’s face. I could only hope that Chrome and the others would kill Forest somehow if the Hollow still stood after this catastrophe.
Through my tunneling vision, I could barely make out the whites of his gleaming teeth, smiling with glee at this triumph. The reflection of metal whizzed past my line of sight, followed by the sharp puncture in my neck. As soon as the needle penetrated my skin, Golden stumbled back, blood painting his hands that covered his stomach.
Rough, calloused hands gripped the sides of my face, forcing my head to the side to look into metallic eyes. “Stay with me, Rainbow,” he murmured, desperation and fear in his voice as he pressed his forehead against mine.
Feeling my limbs ease the weight from them, I lifted my arm, gripping the back of his neck. “I’m here.”
He nuzzled the tip of his nose against mine, his warm breath warming the frigidity that the adrenaline had me unaware of until the poison had set in. “Where you go, I go.”
Another wave of warmth heated my chest as unadulterated panic shone in his eyes. “I’m here, Chrome,” I reassured.
He exhaled a quivering breath. Finally, he nodded before sitting up on his knees. It dawned on me that he’d been sprawled across my body in a way that acted like a shield as he gave the antidote time to work through my system. Initially, my gut instinct was to shove him off. However, after a hazy moment, a piece of my soul softened at the realization that he was protecting me with his life while I lay vulnerable, something no one else had ever done before.
I remembered I had the herb that Katia gave me before River informed us of the attack. Mushweed. “Oh, I have Mushweed. Take some. I can feel your reserves are low.”
Chrome’s jaw clenched. “Thank fuck. I was struggling not to…” he trailed off, biting his lip and looking down in shame. He was so low he wasn’t sure he couldn’t refuse depleting. He had one more shot. If he caved, it would be game over for him. For us.
I sat up, inhaling a deep and refreshing breath. “Hey,” I said, snapping him from his thoughts. “You got this. I’ve got you.”
Chrome’s lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came.
I looked away, reaching for the tin can in my pocket. “I don’t know how much to take.” I passed it off to him.
Carefully, he took the can and removed the lid, taking a small pinch of the ground-up herb. He tipped his head back and dropped it onto his tongue. With a bob of his throat, he passed the can back to me. “Here. Just a pinch.”
I imitated what he did and swallowed the earthy substance. My mouth was dry, making it hard to push down.
Replacing the lid, I shoved the tin can back into my pocket. Once again, a pair of large, strong hands grabbed the sides of my face. Except this time, a pair of soft lips melded against mine in a desperate and greedy kiss. The rain pooled in the space between where our lips met.
Though caught off-guard, I returned the kiss without question. Just as quickly, he pulled away. Blood and some type of gelatin substance clung to his chromatic strands of hair. It was entrails. Entrails were in his hair.
I was speechless. Even a gory mess, he was the most beautiful being I’d ever laid my eyes on.
“Come on, my little savage. Let’s go play.”