The seniors, running on fumes, were nearing the end of their stamina. Their breaths laboured, desperate to maintain the elements at their command.
'We have to buy them a second to catch their breaths.'
Pushing through the confused students and guards attempting to maintain order, Maya couldn't ignore the creature's frightening moves up close. It wasn't just her hesitation; her friends mirrored the same uncertainty. A glance at each friend, a shared nod of encouragement—Maya, as the leader, pressed on, concealing any hint of wavering.
Taking their pre-assigned positions, they prepared. For their opening act, Maya's task will be the hardest.
'I may be clumsy, but I am nimble in air.'
Maya took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing in focus as she prepared to lure the creature away. Catching its attention won't be difficult, but staying out of its reach will be the most daunting.
She tapped into her powers, feeling the air at her fingertips, as if announcing to her element she was going to need its help. Maya prepared her fastest forms and began, darting straight into the field where the creature juggled between senior students. Surprise rippled through the onlookers.
She stole its attention. Its predatory eyes locked onto Maya, and with a ferocious snarl, it charged towards her.
Paralyzing fear gripped her. Maya couldn't dwell on the consequences. There was no other choice but to face it head-on, now. Riddled with self-doubt, she pressed on.
Fuelled by a mix of determination and unease, Maya unleashed her air-mage prowess in a display of dynamic manoeuvres. Her movements weren't as clean-cut and elegant as her seniors' but they got the job done. Her evasive dance resembled a ballet of desperate and uncertain moves. Though nimble, it betrayed a sense of internal conflict as she second-guessed every twist and turn.
Learning first-hand why the seniors persevered despite its superior speed helped her to believe there was hope. The key factor was agility. The creature was fast, but it wasn't as nimble. It was difficult for it to change its direction.
Its giant antlers were still a great risk factor. With its long reach, all it needed was to whip its head and catch you by surprise when you thought you were out of danger.
Maya had almost gotten caught in them, escaping only by the hair's length. However, her task was done for now. All she needed to do was buy some time and direct it. Her friends have taken their positions.
As Maya led the creature away, her nimble movements guided by the air, she shot a quick glance at Linda. Her expression may have not shown anything but her desperation, but Linda understood it was her cue.
Linda nodded. In the next moment, thorns erupted from the ground and newly-emerged vines snaked towards the creature. Linda unleashed a force of nature itself.
As the creature barrelled forward, Linda seized her opportunity. Her hands moved with practiced precision, coaxing thorns and vines from the earth beneath her. The vegetation snapped toward the creature, ensnaring its long limbs, aiming to restrict its movement.
Maya's eyes widened, and she almost lost her balance in a crucial moment. Linda's task was to buy her a precious moment, but she did not expect it to come in the form of bending plants. Up until this point Maya, and most likely many others, never even thought such a thing was possible.
At Linda's incredible display of power, Maya felt a tinge of guilt. As they discussed their plan earlier, Maya was ashamed to not have high hopes for Linda, knowing her to be a rather poor earth manipulator with a small amount of magical ability.
As roves of newly, instantly-formed plants whipped through the air toward the corrupted beast, it was clear that was only Maya's false belief. This wasn't something Linda was taught at elemental practices. However, the creature, with sinewy strength, tore through the vines, its bloodlust undeterred.
As thorns continued rising to entangle the creature, Maya's eyes darted nervously between the ensnaring trap and her next move. Linda's persistence couldn't stop the creature, but it succeeded in slowing it down and altering its path. Maya and the other children of air had some room to breathe now, but had to make sure the creature never shifted its focus to Linda who stood rooted to the ground.
Meanwhile, Andrea, with her connection with the earth, conjured a sturdy dirt wall. Rising swiftly, it became a barrier between the creature and the vulnerable students stranded on the stand. The earth trembled as the wall solidified, creating a temporary shield against the impending danger.
From observing, they concluded the creature's intelligence wasn't as high as its bloodlust. They were able to exploit that to shield students from its sight, making them less likely to become its target. This was Andrea's task; preparing the scene while the creature was occupied.
With the creature temporarily occupied by the thorns and vines, Maya darted back towards safety. The creature, with its attention divided, struggled against Linda's persistent assault. Maya used the opportunity to help Andrea with her other task — creating an earth syphon, directing the creature toward the point they wanted it to be.
Before the creature knew what came upon it, there was only one target in sight. One standing quite the distance away, but undeterred and defying.
Although she had jumped in the cross-path of the terrifying creature, not at a single moment has Maya been the sole target the creature could focus on. She had to put on a brave face as a lead example, but this situation would have made her crumble.
Despite the perilous situation, Elena's icy composure stood in stark contrast to the tension around them. As she stood, poised and ready, the air around her shimmered with cold energy. The monstrosity charged toward her, the ground shaking under its Goliathan steps.
Vines began quickly coiling around the creature, hindering it in its path. But the source of the nuisance wasn't in sight. Its own rotting power, although slow, assisted in handling them.
Elena extended her hand to the side where a long javelin made out of ice appeared seemingly out of thin air right into her grip. For this urgent occasion, Elena seemed to skip her usual process of gathering water to mould it carefully before solidifying it into the shape she wanted, making it appear as if she was conjuring straight ice.
The translucent weapon gleamed in the light as she took careful aim. The opportune timing was quickly running out. Elena released the ice javelin, and it sailed through the air with surprising precision.
A moment of suspense hung in the air as the ice javelin embedded itself in the creature's flesh. Until now, nothing had even managed to graze it. It was a miraculous success, making students hope the only threat left was the approaching night.
However, the brittle ice snapped under the strain, leaving only a gaping wound in its neck, splurging hot blood that melted the ice. The creature was momentarily surprised as if it didn't know its own body. Then, enraged with a new fury in its demonic eyes, it turned its attention to Elena again.
"Isaac!" Maya screamed.
Isaac, poised as their last line of defence, meant to act at this instance, found himself frozen in hesitation. The enormity of the situation seemed to paralyze him and his mind struggled to process the chaos unfolding before him.
Maya's eyes widened in horror as the reality set in — the only hope of averting catastrophe was succumbing to the grip of indecision. A desperate realization clawed at her; the arrogant assurance she had placed in their united efforts could crumble into the worst possible outcome — the loss of a friend.
The charging beast, a malevolent force of destruction, honed in on Elena, its breath steaming in the frigid air and mouth foaming in anticipation of the impending clash. Rivers of blood streaming from a gaping wound on its neck proved to be of little significance. With twisted antlers poised as sinister weapons, it lowered its head, ready to impale Elena in a grotesque display of violence.
In that harrowing moment, Elena armed herself with a feeble ice javelin made from a limited water supply and stood her ground. A lone figure against the approaching terror prepared to fight for her life. The brittle weapon seemed almost inconsequential against the onslaught of the charging mass.
A collective awareness swept over everyone present. Air-bending students, saved by their earlier intervention, surged forward in a desperate attempt to rescue or divert the beast's attention at the eleventh hour. Maya's scream reverberated, a raw expression of her helplessness, as her mind struggled to conjure a solution in the narrow window of time left. The guards, armed and determined, charged forward in a belated attempt to shield Elena.
Yet, the chilling truth loomed — not one of them would reach her in time.