"Maybe it's a light to celebrate the arrival of The Orb," Lucas joked sarcastically.
Over the years, the four teens had watched the humans celebrate the arrival of The Orb. With each passing moment, what the humans were doing seemed to make no sense. The stone was not a deity, no one even knew what it contained. Yet many believed it to be a sign of salvation. For the children imprisoned in the Academy, this was primitive thinking as well as foolish.
"Come on, let's go," Elijah said.
"Are you sure?"
Josh's voice was defiant. Not mocking, but more like agreement that they should go in the direction of the light. Even he sounded excited. He and Elijah exchanged a look and both chuckled softly.
Lucas snorted. "Seeing people celebrating on top of our suffering?"
"Don't bother, aren't we going to Elijah's birthday? Think of it as a celebration for him." Josh replied.
"But down there is probably a mile or two. You can see for yourself that it seems like a long way. It's going to be tiring," Bernice complained.
"Take us flying." Elijah grabbed the arm of the only girl in their party. Bernice gasped in surprise as she stared at Elijah uncomprehendingly. "Come on, Bernice. Think of it as practice."
"Eli ...."
"I trust you, Bernice."
There was a look of doubt in Bernice's eyes that could be seen in the reflection of Josh's lumen. Suddenly, Lucas quickened his pace toward the mysterious light that was quite far away from them.
"I choose to walk," Lucas said in a clear voice.
Elijah laughed. "Jeez, don't you believe in Bernice's abilities?"
The three followed Lucas. "It's not that, I don't want to drain Bernice's energy. Besides, the classroom training probably hasn't reached that stage yet." Lucas replied.
Flying other humans was not necessarily part of the curriculum, even after they began training to become Deformity Soldiers. The Wind Benders were more focused on being a support team for the Core Benders, the Lightning and Fire Benders.
"You're right. Just walk then," Elijah broke off. He patted Bernice on the head. "I'm sorry, Bern, that I forced my will on you."
Bernice's eyes narrowed. "No problem, but keep your hands off my head."
"We need to experience what it's like to be a normal person," Josh said.
The others just chuckled and agreed. The four teenagers walked leisurely into the city. The feeling of excitement and freedom made them have no bad thoughts. Or a sense of caution. In fact, none of the teenagers knew what awaited them there.
*
The gray smoke became clearer and thicker as Elijah, Lucas, Bernice and Josh reached the edge of the city. Vehicles and several destroyed buildings were burning. In contrast, the scene was very quiet. They were shocked to see what had happened.
"What happened here?" Bernice looked shaken.
"Be careful," Elijah said quietly.
They walked down the sidewalk as fast as they could to get deeper into the city. The further they went, the more miserable the city became. Josh pointed to the light perpendicular to the sky behind the tall buildings that were also partially burned.
"Is that light coming from The Orb?" Elijah muttered. "Maybe we should check it out."
Lucas held his friend back. "No, Eli. We'd better get back to the Academy and tell them about the situation here. Something happened and the town was destroyed, I don't want us to take any chances."
"What if there are still people alive and injured? We need to save them," Bernice said.
"Don't be a hero." Josh argued, his face looking so pale. "What Lucas said is true."
"But—"
The sound of an explosion near them cut Bernice off, followed by a barrage of bullets from the front intersection. The four teens ducked for cover. They hid behind an upside-down car. They looked carefully to see what was happening.
Coming from the opposite direction of the shot were creatures exactly like ants, about the size of an adult human. They were reddish-black in color and moving rapidly forward. They could even walk up the wall like an animal in the Formicidae family.
The creatures attacked the humans who were shooting, apparently infantrymen. Then a military vehicle rounded the corner and sped past the teenagers. Behind it, the creatures chased wildly. Not one or two monstrous creatures, but dozens.
Elijah saw an opportunity to sneak up and grab Bernice's arm. They ran silently into dark and smelly alleys, avoiding the ant-like creatures. Every door at the back of the building was shattered, as if it had been bashed in from the outside. It was a warning that they should not hide in structures or buildings that had been invaded by the creatures.
They ran around the back of the building, looking for cover. For strange noises began to be heard, like people cackling, and there were so many of them. It gave them goosebumps.
The four of them passed behind a supermarket with the roll-up door half open. Elijah motioned for them to go inside. They needed to rest and fill their hungry stomachs. They cautiously stepped inside and saw packaged food and drinks scattered on the floor in the dim light. For there were still some lights on from the freezer display. However, none of the people they found seemed to have disappeared.
Each of them took a bottle of water, then sat down together near the shelf in the far corner and quite dark.
"What should we do now? You see those army vehicles, they're heading for the Academy," Lucas said.
"We didn't get a ride because they were being chased by those things." Josh opened the can of soda in his hand. "I don't want to follow them to the Academy and meet dozens of horrible creatures on the way."
"What if something happens there? At the Academy." Bernice was on the verge of tears. "There are a lot of children there."
Elijah was silent. In his mind, it was clear that they were trapped. Returning to the Academy was impossible, but staying there was risky, too. No one knew the exact number of these creatures, but they were vicious and deadly.
On the other hand, Elijah's heart was curious. Where did these creatures come from? Did they come when the sky turned purple for a moment and then crept down to the earth? Or did they come from within the Orb?
"I will investigate the location of the Orb," Elijah said.
Bernice quickly shook her head. "No! Don't be an idiot!"
"We need to know where this thing came from." Elijah insisted.
"This is the part in the movies where someone as stupid as you dies at the beginning," Lucas said. "Our best bet is to head back to the Academy, through the woods. We might be able to avoid those strange creatures."
"Ants," Josh muttered.
"What?" Elijah turned to the slit-eyed young man.
"They look like ants. Just call them that." Josh took a sip of his lemon-flavored soda. "You want to get acquainted and ask what their names are?"
"That's not funny, Josh," Bernice insisted.
Josh cleared his throat quietly. "Sorry."
"I'll just look over there, I'll be careful," Elijah said again.
Lucas was visibly upset. "Can you think straight, Eli? We saw what those creatures looked like, attacking a group of soldiers and wiping them out in an instant! They had weapons, and you?"
"I have nothing," Elijah replied.
"I mean, not even we have a chance to survive." Lucas took a long breath. "I don't want to lose you because of a rash action."
There was an immediate silence between them, no more talking. They just finished eating and drinking to fill their stomachs. Bernice took the initiative to go around the supermarket with Elijah, she found some backpacks and filled them with food and drinks. Josh and Lucas, on the other hand, looked for other equipment such as flashlights, ropes, anything they thought would be useful.
"Where are we going, Eli?" whispered Bernice.
"I have no idea."
The two leaned back and sat for a while on a rack of cereal and jam bottles.
"Are we going to find Deformity's headquarters?" asked Bernice.
"We don't even know if their people are safe."
"Maybe we should go far away from the city? Ah, no way...we don't know conditions in other cities. Or other parts of the world. Aren't the Orbs everywhere?" said Bernice.
Elijah nodded. "I know that. There are a lot of them."
"For some reason, I feel like the Ants are coming from that big rock."
"They hatched there? For twenty years?"
"I don't know, but it's possible they've been preparing an army all this time." Bernice turned to Elijah. "To destroy the earth."
"The Ants?" Elijah looked skeptical. "I don't know, Bern. They look primitive."
"They destroyed a whole city, Eli. What do you mean, primitive? They're barbarians."
"If that's their only purpose, why wait twenty years? When they arrive, they can destroy this earth."
"Build an army, I suppose? To grow their army." Bernice stood up. "They could come as larvae, eggs, or something like that. Then they take twenty years to develop."
"And what do you think that has to do with all these teenagers and children suddenly having powers?" asked Elijah.
"Are you sure about all of them?" Bernice crossed her arms. "We never know, there could be other normal kids outside the Academy like you, Elijah. And those who got the power of that slash curse were thrown into the Academy."
"That's my point. If this is all related to the Orb, I should still look into it, Bern."
A loud sound, like fireworks shooting into the sky, was clearly heard from outside. The two of them immediately ran to find Lucas and Josh in another aisle of shelves.
"The front door," Elijah pointed out.
Because it would be a waste of time looking for each other in the aisles of the supermarket.
As if they agreed with Bernice and Elijah, Josh and Lucas also ran to the entrance. They met there and peered cautiously through the door.
Suddenly, from outside, several adults were running as fast as they could. They were wearing the same clothes, all black, with matching robes that fluttered with the sound of their footsteps.
Bernice widened her eyes. "The Deformity!"