"We're headed to the East gate," a Valentine soldier says as she walks us there. "They've been spotted about a mile away." I'm trying not to stumble as Elijah holds me and walks me down the street.
"Are you sick?" He asks. "You should stay behind if you are."
"No," I gently push him away to walk on my own. "I'm okay. It's just some nerves."
"Those are some nerves," Lauriel says. I need to get it together but I feel like I'm losing whatever battle this is. There's a high pitch ringing in my right ear. But there isn't time for me to sit and ponder what's happening. I said I don't want to keep thinking about it, and I mean it.
The soldier takes us into the forest where we walk another two minutes or so. More obstacles are in my way as I have to step over sticks, and logs and dodge branches from the tall trees. "Why's there an entrance in the forest?" I ask trying to catch my breath. "This should be sealed off."
"It's just up on the other side, princess," the soldier replies. "This is the only way to it. We have to keep this gate heavily secured because of that reason."
I feel like a boiled egg in hot water with this armor. The trees and leaves provide shade but the humidity in this forest is searing. We continue to walk, and I continue to sweat. We come across two bushes spouting pink flowers oddly placed in the forest. They catch everyone's eye as there aren't any other bushes like them in the surrounding area.
"Mountain laurels," Rose says. "Isn't this where you Valentine get your name and crest?"
"No," Elijah replies. "Our name comes from a woman called Ophelia."
"A true love story," He continues. "Richard, our very first ancestor fell in love with her. The story goes she asked him to become her valentine, but she died before they could make that a reality. That's what led to him forming The Aurora and overthrowing the human royal families at the time."
"The humans used element seal bearers to fight wars, Richard ended that and established us as the dominant power. Taking the name Valentine to honor her," I say. "I think it's sweet."
"No one's sure why the flowers are there, or where they came from, but we leave them," the soldier says. "We're here, by the way."
I can see a camp set up with about twenty of our soldiers. We're on the other side of the forest. It's just a dirt road from here.
"Good. We're all here," Lauriel says as we come across General Thomas. She turns back to me, "You." She points. "You look sick. What's going on?"
"No, I'm fine," I straighten myself out and smile, probably awkwardly. "The forest is hot. So very hot."
"Right," she looks at me strangely. "I'll try to defuse first," she continues. "If defusing doesn't work then I'll give the knight squad a signal. Everyone else, stick to your role in the plan."
"They're approaching!" A soldier yells out. Everyone shifts their attention to the road. A hooded, slender woman and young boy approach as the sun lights up the path in front of us. The boy who looks about eight grabs the woman's hand and hides behind her. Our entire group walks over to meet them as the soldiers stand behind us.
"Hi," the woman says removing her hood, revealing a pretty freckled face. "My son and I are just passing through."
I notice the bandages on both of their right hands. Lauriel steps out in front. "Let's not play stupid. Surrender now or we'll be forced to execute you, the both of you." It hadn't hit me until she just spoke, this mission is to kill the two of them. But the boy…
"Let's just go back, Katherine." The boy mutters, swinging her hand back and forth to grab her attention.
"You're scaring my son," she says with worry in her eyes. Her acting is decent.
"Does your son often call you Katherine?" Lauriel asks with raised eyebrows. Sparks of purple electricity begin to spark to her right. Suddenly the sparks form a right arm, a blade manifests its hand. "I'll say it one more time." She crosses her arms. "Surrender, or you'll die. I'm giving you a choice. I'd rather question the two of you."
"All shucks, you got me," The woman smiles, and a needle made of ice forms over her left shoulder.
Lauriel's electric arm disappears, and David stomps his foot into the dirt. The ground beneath Katherine and the boy begins to sink, causing them to lose their balance.
"Rose!" Lauriel yells.
"On it!" Rose replies, pulling back her head, her cheeks swelling like they're being filled with water. She jerks her head forward, releasing a beam of water, kin to a hose, aimed at the woman. They're so fast and coordinated, it's amazing. Lauriel's arm disappearing must've been the signal to David.
Before the beam of water reaches her, a giant sheet of ice forms in front of Katherine. It stops the flow of water in its tracks. The ground in front of them suddenly erupts with magma. Lauriel jumps back and out of its way. The sheet of ice melts and reveals Katherine, with a wide grin, staring directly at us as she pulls her legs out of David's trap.
She points to the ground and her palm glows white as she activates her seal. A second later, water bursts through and begins mixing with the magma. It causes an explosive eruption. David quickly stomps his foot, creating a large dome made entirely of dirt and rock. It encloses everyone in just in time. A sizzling sound can be heard all around as the magma slowly burns through. It completely melts through in some areas at the top of the dome, allowing the dome to be lit with sunbeams within.
None of us could have anticipated how well their seals would complement each other. Katherine has multiple abilities, and so far the boy has only been defensive. Smoke and debris from the outside seep into the small holes created by the burning magma. My chest becomes tight as the smoke starts to fill the dome, forcing David to bring it down.
"I noticed the rose emblem. Are you all Valentine?" We hear Katherine ask in the distance. She's taunting us in tone. "I've always wanted to kill a Valentine." She laughs.
"Then come do it," Brianna shouts. Suddenly something zips past me at high speed. Too fast for me to see what it is. Another one zips through the air, this time hitting Elijah in the shoulder. It's an... ice needle. Elijah's armor starts to freeze around the area where the needle is pierced. Spreading itself out like spilled water. Elijah panics, and yanks off his breastplate.
"What the hell kind of abilities are these?!" He asks. All of a sudden, a barrage of needles come burrowing through the air toward us. General Thomas quickly unsheathes his sword and swings once horizontally, his sword emits a strong gust of wind, sending the needles flying in different directions away from everyone.
"We can't just sit here. We need to get closer," Thomas says.
"We should separate them first, and take it from there," Lauriel says. "You three, create our openings." She gestures to Rose, Elijah, and Thomas. Alyssa, you stay on the sidelines for now."
"But I could-"
"That's an order, princess," she says sternly. I won't look at this in a negative light, I understand the situation. So, I won't be selfish at this time and look for my moment to shine. This is a group mission; maybe I'd just be in the way right now. I'm still feeling the effects of whatever happened earlier. Elijah, Rose, and Thomas all spread out. Brianna and Lauriel take the lead in front of them, and I run behind a nearby tree.
"Look, Ethan!" Katherine yells out as they approach. "They're getting serious now!" She frowns when Ethan doesn't respond to her.
Elijah casually shoots a beam of white light from his finger aimed at Katherine. A large sheet of ice appears out of thin air in front of her, but to no avail. The beam cuts right through it, leaving us only a small hole to see through. Everything is quiet for a few seconds before Katherine screams. The sheet of ice melts and it reveals that she's grasping her left shoulder with her right hand. Blood running down her arm and dripping onto the dirt.
Brianna dashes toward her with her sword drawn but before she reaches her, the ground between the two erupts with magma. Brianna quickly back dashes to us in an instant with her ability. "That damn kid." She mutters.
"Oh, I'll put a hole in him too," Elijah says squinting one eye and lining up a shot.
"Wait! He doesn't want to fight!" I quickly yell out.
Elijah groans. "This is no time for morality. You see what he can do. This is why we do what we do. Stay where you are and let us work," he says.
He goes back to line up a shot when suddenly a needle pierces him in the chest, sending him to the ground. My stomach fills with panic. Did I cause that?!
"Pull it out!" Rose yells running over to him. I cautiously run over to get a better look. She takes off his shirt to reveal the same pattern the ice formed when it pierced his armor. Rose touches it, but it seems to burn her hand when she does. She tears a piece of Elijah's shirt and uses it to take the needle out before it can spread anymore.
Katherine cackles behind us as she inches closer, taking slow steps. "It's safe to say he's out of this one. Anything my needles pierce will be consumed by frostbite."
She sends another barrage of needles toward us. David runs out in front and stomps his foot on the ground. A wall of dirt shoots up shielding us from the needles, Lauriel and Brianna run over just in time as well. The needles make loud thud sounds as they hit the dirt, and on the other side, I can hear the ice crystallizing. I turn around to check on Elijah, he seems fine but in pain. The frostbite didn't spread much as the needle wasn't in his skin for too long. Even the knight squad is being pushed back by them? I've never heard or read a report on any of our squads or soldiers having problems when going out on scouting missions like these.
"Come out!" Katherine growls. "The great Valentine family hides behind walls in battle? How pathetic."
Rose stays with Elijah behind the wall, trying to keep the heat on his wound. The rest of us step out from behind the wall.
"I'm glad you're so brave," says Katherine, still wincing at the pain from Elijah's shot. "You'll be consumed by ice, one by one. The Hazels send their regards," She says. The Hazels?!
"Stop!" Ethan yells. He walks over to Katherine and puts his arm out in front of her, gesturing for her to get back. "You're just going to get yourself killed. You're too injured," He says.
"No!" She shouts. "I can fi-" Ethan activates his fire seal, sending a burst of flames Katherine's way. Enough to make her fall back, but not to harm her. Her entire demeanor shifts. "Fine." She smiles. "But save me one! I want a Valentine under my belt!"
"Like hell!" Brianna says with a blue aura forming around her body. She dashes toward Katherine but Ethan stops her once again and Katherine begins walking to a safe position.
"Look kid, she just mentioned the Hazels. Did they put you up to this? If so, they're starting a war that they're not ready for and you will lose your life," Thomas says.
Ethan ignores him, his head is turned to Katherine as she walks away. Once she gets to a certain distance he turns back to face us. "Earth or Fire?" He mutters quietly.
"Enough of this!" Brianna says getting ready to dash.
"Earth for you," Ethan says. Suddenly two giant hands burst through the ground and grab Brianna.
Thomas swings his blade, creating a powerful gust swirling through the air toward Ethan.
"For you, fire," Ethan says with the gust approaching. A large spark of fire ignites with the wind, the force pushes all of us flying back, and into the dirt. Dust and smoke fill the air, and I can't see where anyone is located. I try to fan the dust from around my face to breathe.
The dust settles, and the smoke clears. I stand to my feet and after gaining my balance I raise my arm and activate my seal and aim it at Ethan. Putting everything I have into it but nothing happens, damn it! I'm nothing short of useless. I came on this mission to prove my worth but so far all I've done is just stand by and watch.
All of a sudden, Lauriel runs toward Ethan at top speed. Behind her, an arm made of electricity holding a blade. The arm floats about two inches above her actual one. But is double the size. She gets within about two feet of him, her feet sliding in the dirt as she comes to a halt. The electric arm raises to strike, and Ethan creates a wall to his left similar to David's, anticipating a blow.
The right arm unexpectedly disappears and a left one forms. I can see Ethan is panicked, without enough time, the arm cocks itself back, ready to strike. It swings but before it reaches Ethan, something flies by the both of them, causing Lauriel to fall back and the arm to disappear. Was it a needle? I look ahead and in the distance, Katherine has that smirk on her face.
Thomas, seeing the same thing, sends a gust of wind breaking Brianna free from the grasp of the two hands. She immediately dashes at Katherine, which momentarily distracts Ethan. Lauriel takes this moment to rush back in, creating another arm that quickly strikes down on him. He's able to notice just in time to slightly dodge, it slices his arm and he falls to his knees, screaming out in pain.
Lauriel's arm cocks back for another strike but Ethan reacts before she can do any more damage. His right hand glows with a red light and he lets out a fiery blaze, swirling in circles. David quickly erupts a dome around us. Everything happens so fast that I don't get a chance to see what happened to Lauriel and Thomas.
His seal glowed red this time, meaning he was infusing aura into his abilities. That's what they've both been doing this entire time possibly, them being multi-seals, it enhances their ability by a ton.
After the noise of roaring flames stop, David brings the dome down, the entire area is scorched, with flames still lit in various spots. Through the smoke, about ten meters away, I see Brianna's blue aura dashing around.
"I told you all to choose." I hear Ethan say in the distance. The dust settles and a blooded Ethan takes a few steps toward us. "Choose or I'll choose for you," he says. David steps out in front of me removing his sword from the sheath.
I can't just stand by, I need to help somehow. I fiddle for my sword while keeping my eyes on Ethan.
"Two-on-one is unfair. I'm just a little boy." He whimper. He aims his hand at the ground and gestures as if he's picking something up. An exact clone of Ethan made of dirt erupts from the ground. "Earth for you," he says to David. Another giant hand surfaces from the dirt and tries to get a hold of David. He dances around it, erupting walls, raising the ground he's standing on himself to escape. Anything he can possibly do, but the clone and giant hand counter him at every step.
"Run!" He yells. "Go find the general and Lauriel!"
No! For you, fire!" The boy shouts. He looks completely out of it. There's no logic in his eyes, all he sees is red at this point. "Just hold on!" David yells, still struggling to get away.
Ethan walks forward, his hand pointed up at my face. The fire seal on his palm glows white. I charge towards him, drop low and try to swipe his feet with my leg. He jumps back and a wall shoots up from the ground between us. I try to go right, but somehow he slides the wall to block my path. I quickly turn left and I'm met by his hand aimed up at my face.
"All of you deserve to die, you're terrible people," he says with tearful eyes filled with rage. The fire seal glows red, I look for Brianna, she's fighting Katherine. David still can't get free, and I don't see Lauriel or Thomas. What do I do?! Is this it?!
I panic and throw my hands out in front of me. Closing my eyes when the flash happens, I'm met with a wave of intense heat and pressure for a moment before it just...goes away?
I slowly open my eyes, seeing small clouds of smoke fill the air, not enough to stay around long as I notice Ethan's palm still pointed at me. Only the fire seal is missing from his hand.
"What just happened?" He asks with a shocked expression as the rest of the smoke clears.
Suddenly, the palm of my right-hand burns. I drop to my knees, clutching it tightly as Ethan slowly backs away. David is screaming my name but his voice slowly fades out. There's so much pain that I can feel every nerve in my arm light up. I can't help but scream out as it intensifies by the second. I slowly turn my hand over and I'm horrified by what I see.
The fire seal burned on top of my light seal. There's a splitting feeling in my head now. It aches in waves. In the back of my mind, I hear a faint echo. It feels like the echo is being pulled from the back to the front of my forehead. The sensation is strange, the sound continues to echo in my mind until it finally forms a voice, a woman's voice. The same voice I've been hearing for a year now.
"Finally, my darling!" She speaks so clearly for the first time, her voice is ghostly, but also posh...and confident. "Now then, who shall we kill first?"