Nobody spoke after the briefing was completed. Eight minutes of agony began.
Now that every moment mattered guilt filled Aria.
Could I have gotten to the tarmac faster?
In two minutes, people would begin dying. Every second counted. Every second another life was lost. Aria pushed these thoughts out of her mind. She must stay strong. Instead of moping about, she geared up into her jumpsuit. The device wasn't as much a jetpack as it was armor. Arcaners relied on their self sustained control over the elements. By manipulating the air around her, she could suspend and maneuver herself in the air. Such basic control over the elements was natural for all arcanas, but over time a certain affinity for a specific essence is formed. Aria herself was attracted to fire. Something about it had always fascinated her. She used to conjure a flame in her hand and stare at it for hours at a time, observing, examining.
"We are here," said Joseph as he slid the door open. The cold wind assaulted them and they each heated the air around their bodies. Aria took a peek outside and gasped. Destruction was raining down all around them. The pilot jerked the shuttle to avoid a burning piece of debris. The lights flickered in the cabin reminding everyone of the old condition of the shuttles. Suddenly Aria felt less safe knowing that she was in a flying tin can. Another look outside brought her back to her senses.
The top of SSC Tower was completely gone, innards exposed as chunks of the building came apart. Another explosion rocked the cabin and Aria's eyes went upwards towards the source of destruction. A man floated high above the chaos surrounded by four helping gunships. The man was enveloped in a layer of flame and conjured balls of fire in his hands. As he threw them downwards towards the building, they grew larger until they were the size of a bus. Waves of fire slammed into District Level Four and people ran screaming. Chunks the size of basketball courts broke off District Level Four and dropped to the building below. Aria could only imagine the destruction that would be down there.
Aria was brought back to attention when Ethan abruptly stepped out of the cabin. Joseph followed him into hell and finally Thera and Aria looked at each other before stepping out together. They hovered in the air taking in their surroundings.
"I just requested back up," Joseph hollered, reading off his holoscreen. "They are to arrive in twelve minutes guns blazing. Let's get this done before then and show those regulars how we do it!"
"All right! I'm ready to kick some hostile butt!" shouted Thera over the picking up wind.
Aria simply nodded and looked to Joseph for the plan of action. He was in an older class than the lot so commandeering privileges were given to him.
"I'll take out shuttles!" he shouted. "Make sure to stay by me unless you want to get killed by a tornado! You three, do whatever you can to take him out!"
He looked back at the three of his crew and they all nodded in response. Joseph took the lead, rising higher into the air with his arms stretched forward. The wind started to pick up and swirl around him gaining speed by the second. The air around him got blurier and soon nothing of him was visible. He continued on towards the gunships as a tornado.
"I'll try to distract him since our affinities match," said Aria. "Both of you hit him hard and fast. Also, remember Thera, opposites in battle tend to hurt themselves more than their opponents so keep your ice in check."
"Will do," Thera replied.
Aria turned away from them and ascended higher. She activated her fire affinity and found herself in a glowing red ball of fire. To any onlooker it would be absolutely terrifying.
"Craaaack!" Another chunk of district level four broke off.
Aria tore her eyes away and continued on. She had to make sure that she kept the hostile arcaner distracted. The best way to fight another arcaner is to fight with the same affinity. You fight fire with fire and water with water. The most deadly mistake in battle is two opposites fighting. They tend to do more damage to themselves than their opponent which is why she couldn't have Thera and the hostile arcaner directly combating.
Aria rose to eye level with the arcaner from a couple hundred feet away.
"Stop this madness!" she shouted desperately trying to get her voice across. At this point she didn't believe anything she said would convince him to stop,
He paused his barrage and turned to face her. Several seconds passed by before he did anything. He floated closer to Aria until they were talking distance away.
"Ahh. Another Airis Academy student," he said intrinsically. "I see the government is still getting you to do their jobs."
"What do you want?" she asked, careful not to eye Thera and Ethan as they rose up behind him.
"What do I want? Hmm...Nothing you can give me. I want a new government. I want a city where the people at the top aren't evil and corrupt."
"That's ironic because the only thing I'm seeing here is evil. This is your last warning."
"Then I decline," he said right before he charged.
Aria knew that she was outmatched. As a third year at Airis Academy, she had only been on four other missions. This was by far her most dangerous one. As the man charged her she took a defensive approach.
His fist swung at her engulfed in fire and she crossed her arms in front of her chest forming a shield right before he hit. The impact pushed her backwards as her shield flickered from view.
He took out my shield in one hit?
The strength required to take out her shield in one hit was immense. This man was very powerful. She looked up at Joseph for backup and found him locked into deadly combat. A massive tornado surrounded him as the gunships kept a constant stream of bullets on him. Several smaller wind spirals were thrown from the tornado at the ships.
Aria looked back at her attacker. He was coming for her again, but this time she knew what to do. The man who she was fighting could not be beaten with sheer force. He outweighed her abilities, but he could be outsmarted. She looked at Ethan and Thera now only a hundred feet behind him. Conjuring more fire, she launched a stream of it at the pursuer effectively engulfing him in the flame. She knew that her attacks would have little effect on the man, but she had something else in mind.
As the man exited the stream to where Aria had been the moment before, he looked around desperately trying to spot her.
"Stop hiding and fight me girl," he yelled in no particular direction. "Or are you too scare-oof."
The sentence was never finished because at that moment Thera and Ethan had torn through the remaining wisps of the fire stream that Aria had conjured. They plowed into his back like torpedoes. The man went flying forward at an astounding pace.
The man slowed his tumble and came to a stop looking back at the group looking unfazed.
'Impossible...'
"You are tricky ones. I'll give you that," he chuckled sheepishly. "But that's not good enough."
His face turned solemn and he closed his eyes. The change was almost immediate as his skin started to glow red. After a few more moments it faded to a yellowish color and Aria knew what was about to happen. She had never seen it happen before, but she had learned about it.
"Back! Back! Back!" she yelled at her team. "He's repleting!!!"
But it was too late. Waves of red and yellow light exploded from the man's body. Aria was blinded the moment they reached her eyes. An intense heat washed over her and she was unable to control it. The fire was burning through her and she felt every part of it. Immense pain took over every part of her body. At that moment, she knew she was going to die.