"Isn't this such a flip in roles?" Abigail comments, crossing her arms as she closes in on us. "I'm finally the one who's looking down on you instead of the other way around. I have been dying for this moment to come."
"Don't come near my master!" Xander yells, pushing me behind him.
"Or else what? Are you going to fight me?" Abigail maniacally laughs. "I have the strength of ten dark elves in the palm of my hand. You guys really do have superhuman strength. It took a while to get it though since everyone was so weak."
"What did you do to my village?!" Xander begins to shake violently as if he's ready to strangle her.
"Xander! Don't let her get to you!" I yell, grabbing onto Xander's arm.
"Is there someone out there?!" a woman's voice shouts from the room.
"Please get us out of here!" a little boy's voice pleads. "It hurts!"
I can feel it. The blood literally racing throughout his arm. He's burning up from holding back his rage. The violent shaking only getting worse with every plea for help he hears from inside that room.
"Why did you do this, Abigail?" I ask again as I stand up.
Abigail laughs. "Why? You are really asking me why?! You humiliated me! You are just some low-life who just so happen to have powers. You went from the higher wealth class to the lower wealth and still manage to come out on top as Student Council President. You had my father yell at me for disrespecting you when all I did was put you in your rightful place as someone who belongs under my feet.
"I knew I couldn't stop you alone. I needed to be stronger than you but my weak wind ability could do nothing more than just flip the pages of my magazines. That's when I found these mages who wanted to do research on dark elves but had no investors. That's when I remembered that dark elves are super strong. They needed money. I needed strength. Nothing could have complimented our needs better than this."
I grit my teeth and clench tighter on Xander's arm. "So you resorted to inhumane experiments just so that you can beat me? What kind of monster are you? Why couldn't you just admit that I'm stronger than you? Does your father even know what you're doing with his money?"
Punching the wall, Abigail's eyes almost look like they glow red. "My father is too afraid of you. He is so dependent on getting on your good side so that he can get his money when he retires as your retainer. He doesn't even look my way anymore ever since you told him that I pushed you down at school. Taking money out of his account is easy. He never checks how much he has inside once he deposits all of his dirty checks.
"And as if I would admit defeat! That would mean that I'm putting myself, a higher wealth student and the daughter of a prestigious politician, under a little girl who lost her whole fame once her family died and became a lower wealth student. You would never be able to amount to anything your father did because girls will be the downfall of mafia families. They aren't made to lead. They are just well-bred to look appealing and marry into other organizations for stupid political relations."
"How can you say anything when you're just a girl yourself?!" I exclaim, zooming fist first into her face.
Abigail stops my fist and smirks. "Did you really think you could hit me? I have superhuman strength on my side! What do you have? A measly dark elf and a guidance counselor. It's almost laughable that you thought you could win when we outnumber you."
I peer inside the room while Abigail still has a hold on my fist and realize that no one is there except the caged villagers. I glance over at Xander who I can still see in the corner of my eye.
'Xander, Delic and I will distract her. You need to get yourself into that room and transport everyone to the estate immediately.'
'But Master, she is too strong. You know how strong a single dark elf can be. She has ten of their combined strength in that weird glove of hers. It's too dangerous!'
'Don't worry about me. I won't lose that easily. Go! Now!'
Xander stands motionless behind me. I look at Delic who is grasping at his shoulder where the door hit him.
'Delic, can you still fight?'
Delic smiles to himself. 'Of course, I can. I'm not so weak that a measly flick of a door can stop me.'
'Good. I already told Xander to free everyone while we distract her, but it seems like he still doubts our strength. Give him a little push. Will you?'
Delic stands up and walks over to Xander. This catches Abigail's attention.
"Don't try anything funny, you two. Your little 'master' here is in my hands. You wouldn't want to see her hurt, do you?" Abigail threatens as she tightens her grip on my fist.
I wince a little at the sharp pain in my fingers, yet I grin in Abigail's face. "You still think you can win against me. That's cute. You could never hurt me as much as I felt the months after my family died!" I grab onto Abigail's elbow with my free hand, turn around, and hurl her over my shoulder and onto the ground. "Now! Delic!"
Delic wraps his fingers around Xander's belt as he balls up Xander's shirt collar and tosses him into the storage room, closing the door behind him.
'We will buy you as much time as possible,' I remind Xander. 'If you want to repay me for helping you free your village, get everyone out of there as fast as you can. We will be just fine out here.'
Xander doesn't answer for a while. 'I promise your fight won't be in vain,' he finally says behind his held-back tears.
I just smile and face Abigail who is finally getting back up. Delic has made his way over to my side, still kind of holding his shoulder.
"Strength doesn't come from using others," I proclaim. "Strength comes from believing in others. Believing that everything you do no matter how small will mean something in the future. The days you spend training drenched in sweat, meeting new people on a moonlit night, and discovering a world outside yourself all mean something. Strength does not come overnight or in a little glove. It comes from something more than yourself. That's why you will never ever beat me."
"Oh save your little sappy lectures for someone who cares, dimwit," Abigail complains as she wipes her face. "I will show you that strength comes from money since money is all that matters in this world."
Abigail pulls out a whistle from around her neck that she hid inside her shirt and releases the most horrendous sound that makes Delic and me almost fall onto our knees. By the time we find the strength in our legs to stand back up, a team of ten mages stand behind Abigail.
"Two can play that game, Abigail," I remark, holding one hand in the air while the other is intertwined in Delic's hand. "As the Winter Vessel and the master of the highest ranked arctic wolf, I call forth the pack that has sworn allegiance to the Winter Family." As I chant, a swirl of snow surrounds Delic and me, freezing the hallway and lacing the walls with delicately intricate ice and snowflakes. When the snow dies down, a pack of twenty wolves of all breeds proudly stand behind me.
"Did you think that that would scare me? I have paid some of the strongest female mages to be here just in case an intrusion like this ever happened. Have fun taking them down with your lousy puppies over there." Abigail throws her hand out in front of her. "Take them down!" she commands.
The mages blast a wide range of magic at us from fire to wind to grass. Abigail still has a lot to learn if she thinks she's going to beat me.
"Go forth, my wolves! Fight beside me and take down this facility!" I announce as we charge towards Abigail and her group of mages.
Abigail relies on money and numbers. She doesn't know how to lead anyone. An attack that relies on outnumbering your opponent lacks any sort of thought from the individual fighters let alone their leader. I may be hypocritical as I have twice as many reinforcements, but I'm not relying on shear numbers. Each pair of wolves has their own set of tasks. They figure out their opponents weakness and take them down as efficiently as possible instead of just barring their teeth.
Meanwhile, Alex is facing his own battle in the security room. He witnesses the battle that Delic and I are enduring, but he also sees his older brother doing his best to get as many dark elves through the Shadow Movement as possible. Alex wants to help, but he knows that he can't leave his post. He knows that the moment he steps out, the water box will release and the mages could block his path by setting all of the alarms. In the end, he excruciatingly waits in the security room pacing back and forth to keep himself from leaving the room.
Xander is also facing a challenge of his own. The women and children are the only one's in the storage room which means that the men are most likely in the game room which is further down the hall. He moves all of the kids out first transporting them to the salon area of the estate where the workers are waiting for them with food and a simple change of clothes.
Who would have thought that Alex and Xander took the initiative to talk with the cooks and maids to prepare for the villagers' arrival?
However, Xander is beginning to feel the effects of using his power to move multiple people over a short period of time, so the women help out by transferring some of their dark magic to Xander in order to give him a bit more strength. I guess it works out when every dark elf has dark magic in them even if it is just a tiny amount.
"Don't you think you have had enough, princess?" Abigail taunts as she wipes the blood from her mouth.
"I have to give it to you. I didn't think a spoiled rotten brat like you would be able to hold out in a fight," I comment, straightening my back out. "Nonetheless, I'm going to end this here. I didn't think I was going to need to use my ability here, but I'm not left with much of a choice." I form a triangle with my thumbs and index fingers. "Snow and ice, hear my plea. Freeze this enemy and never let them free."
Sharp arrows made of ice encircle the area where I stand while snow accumulates in the triangle inside my fingers. Glaring back up at Abigail with my glowing blue eyes, I declare, "I don't ever want to see you in front of me ever again. You might not get the chance to live next time." I blast the snow from my hand. It envelops Abigail and hardens just as quickly as it falls, encasing the girl in a block of ice. The arrows shoot from my side and strike the mages not enough to kill them but enough to immobilize them.
I guess reading that journal Father left that had all the combative spells he learned and created came in handy, but why do they have to be so cheesy and rhyme?????
Out of breath, Delic and the wolves return to my side.
"Are you okay, Viola?" Delic asks as he wraps me in my shawl. "You're getting a bit of frostbite on the tips of your fingers."
I raise my fingers to my face and find small ice spots covering the tips. I grab the shawl firmly. "I'm fine. Just a bit cold. It should go away once we finish this and get home."
"Xander," I call out from the other side. "Open the door."
A small click and the door opens where I find Xander on his knees struggling to stand.
"Are you okay?!" I shout, dropping down so that I can support Xander before he falls. "What happened?"
"I got everyone out," he states, still trying to grasp onto the door handle.
I swiftly scan over his body. "You aren't in good enough condition to get the rest of the dark elves out," I claim as Delic and I lift Xander back onto his feet.
"I can do it," Xander weakly breathes. "It's my job to get everyone out."
"No, you are going to rest. Delic and I will get the rest of the elves as well as you and Alex out of here." I look over at Delic who is supporting the other half of Xander's body. "Set him on one of the wolves and get him out of here. He's in no condition to continue."
"I can keep going," Xander persistently protests. "The men can spare me their dark magic. It should be enough to get the rest of them to the estate as well as ourselves. Male dark elves are known to have significantly more dark magic than women since their bodies are bigger."
I take another look at Xander. He clearly can't go on, but he won't forgive himself if I send him home without letting him finish the rescue mission. I sigh and shake my head.
"Fine, but the moment I find that you can't continue, I'm going to stop you and send you home along with your brother. Okay?"
Xander nods his head and smiles.
Why are guys so hard headed sometimes? I laugh to myself.
Not long after we left the storage room did we arrive at the game room thanks to the wolves I summoned. Alex unlocks the door for us, and we enter inside finding three mages inside. It didn't take much to put them down, but it did take just about the rest of my energy. Even though he was shaking at first, Xander gained most of his strength back thanks to the men transferring some of their dark magic to him. Since there were a lot less men than women and children, it didn't take much energy from Xander.
After Xander finished transporting all of the men, the three of us double back to the office to rescue the other dark elves from the cages and reconvene with Alex. Xander transported the four of us back to the estate where the villagers were quietly celebrating their freedom from the month-long torture they have been through. Nothing could compare to the pure joy and happiness that is shining on the twins' faces as they reunite with their family and friends.