“They’ve gotta be tired by now!” Monique shouted, bringing one hand back. She thrust it forward, releasing a torrent of blue flames at the barricade of earth. The only one of the Fire Nexus after Angel’s death to master blue flames, she’d taken the talent to new dimensions, but it still wasn’t enough to break through the Earth Nexus’ defenses. After channeling for nearly five seconds, she was forced to take a step back from the red-hot wall with a growl of frustration.
The two siblings, Sean and Clara Jameson, both stepped forward and forced apart the molten sections of the wall to reveal the untouched rock beneath it. Sean shook his head. “We’ve only managed to put a dent in it.”
“They must be growing more rock behind it,” Emmet commented. “I can’t even hear them behind it, with how thick it is.”
Richard Coffee shook his head as he looked at the thick wall of stone that blocked their access to the underground parking garage. If only Janan Trex could have fought alongside them. She had created a technique to drill through tough structures with her flames. But as the Lieutenant, she couldn’t participate. “We have to break through.”
“I’m not sure if you noticed, Captain,” Sean Jameson said with a roll of his eyes, “But that’s what we’ve been trying to do for the past two hours.”
“Well, keep trying!” Richard barked, his old temper showing for a moment. “Jerik is trapped in there, in case you hadn’t noticed!”
“What’s more, the longer we take to break through, the greater chance that another Nexus will show up,” Emmet added. “But Richard is right, Sean. We have to break through, or Jerik will be discovered.”
“How long can he stay invisible?” Clara asked, pulling some of the molten magma up into a thick rope that floated in the air around her. “He’ll pass out if he goes too long, right?”
Richard and Emmet both shared an uncomfortable glance that let the others know they weren’t too confident in their answer. “His record was an hour, right?”
Sean, who had begun repeating his sister’s actions, dropped the magma, causing two other Fire Nexians to leap back with cries of alarm, and stared wide-eyed at his captains. “Are you kidding? So he might already be unconscious?”
“His orders were to lay low until it was time to act,” Emmet said soothingly. “Chances are he wouldn’t even use his invisibility until we got close to breaking through.”
The idea of their newest member sitting, at high risk of discovery, inside the Earth Nexus encampment, was not a comfortable thought. Sean reheated the magma he’d dropped and picked it up, then he and his sister combined their ropes into one thickly rotating drill. “Right then. Let’s get through this damn wall and hope we’re not too late.”
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As Emmet had hoped, Jerik was still undiscovered. He’d moved to a place of cover within seconds of their first successful break through the Earth Nexus defenses, and crouched low, letting his invisibility drop. He even lowered the temperature in the air around him a few degrees, to avoid tipping his opponents off with the aura of heat that he knew he’d otherwise put off. He didn’t have to rely on his powers to remain unnoticed.
More than once, he’d caught a pair of eyes glancing in his direction, but so far none of the Earth Nexians had raised the alarm. There was a tense moment in the last hour when their Lieutenant, Huang Jiang, seemed to have spotted him, but even if he had, he made no comment. Jerik remained sure that he wasn’t seen. Nearly a decade of learning how to move undetected through hostile territory in the military had made him an excellent sniper, and those skills helped him now, protecting him even from the heightened senses of Grimr, who was perched near the back of their formation.
He could hear the efforts of the Fire Nexus to break through the defenses even now. They were closer than they realized, and several of the Earth Nexians were already sitting away from the danger, exhausted by their attempts to hold them back. Any minute now, the current defenders would get tired, and then Sean and Clara or Monique would break through the wall. There wasn’t enough time for the Earth Nexus to switch defenders again.
“Get some metal on the attackers!” Li Shun, one of their Captains, shouted, pacing back and forth behind his comrades. “The instant their through, I want a dust cloud up! We’re not letting that Jerik get past us unnoticed again!”
As far as countermeasures against his invisibility went, it wasn’t a bad plan, Jerik thought. It wasn’t as ingenious as the tactic Megan had used, creating ice fog that stuck to his skin and revealed his position, but such skills were only feasible if you could manipulate water and ice. Besides, he was already clear of the wall, and throwing up dust now wouldn’t reveal him.
At the thought of Megan, his left forearm itched, as if the frostbite he’d gotten from her attack was still present. He resisted the urge to scratch it, knowing that any movement, no matter how slight, would draw attention. Even with his dark grey clothes that matched the color of the pavement so well, he had to be careful. He couldn’t move until the Fire Nexus broke through.
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Outside the wall, it was Emmet that first noticed the approaching danger. It happened right after Sean and Clara finally managed to punch a hole through the Earth Nexus’ wall. Monique followed through immediately, creating a strong blast that shattered the already weakened wall, sending the rubble flying down into the parking garage. There was a thick plume of dust that stung their eyes, but they charged forward, unfazed, letting out a yell that was matched by the Earth Nexus as they rose to meet them.
Too much yelling. Emmet glanced around almost by instinct and saw the figures in blue robes literally raining down upon them. He had barely half a second before Felix brought a wave of water crashing down upon him to conjure a shield of flames. Then water was crashing down on him and his allies, sweeping those that hadn’t managed to yet enter the garage aside like cheap mannequins.
The tide of crashing water, surged into the underground parking garage, knocking both Fire and Earth Nexians aside. In the enclosed space, they had no chance to avoid the deluge, which froze solid half a second later. Megan Richards, until now a barely noticed recruit, slid smoothly down the slope of ice, more water floating around her body. She quickly froze the two figures not already trapped, then came to a sharp halt, looking for the Earth Nexian that wore the headband.
Her eyes lit upon Grimr, who had managed to avoid the worst of the flood, only caught by an ankle. He’d already broken free and was standing by his Lieutenant. No headband in sight. “Where is it? I’ve got your entire Nexus trapped, Natal. You might as well surrender.”
Grimr didn’t reply immediately. He was glad that Megan had the presence of mind to use the name he’d given himself for Earth. She’d always had a good head on her shoulders, he thought. Even Eric might have made the mistake of addressing him by his true name in the heat of battle. Slowly, he lifted his arm to point to the far right, where Li Shun was frozen. “Li Shun’s got it. You’re right, I don’t stand a chance.”
He didn’t believe the words, of course. It had taken a great deal of effort to conjure a wave that strong, and he was certain he could break through the ranks of the Water and Fire Nexuses outside. Even if he couldn’t win a fight, he knew he’d be able to escape just fine. But he’d rather conserve his energy for a more important cause. Megan’s eyes followed his pointing arm, and her eyes narrowed into a suspicious glare. “Come on, Natal. Even I can see that he’s not wearing a headband.”
Surprised, Grimr looked over as well. Sure enough, his Captain wasn’t wearing the light brown headband that he’d had just moments ago. “What? But he had it just…”
“Jerik,” Megan said in a low growl. “Of course he did. He was already here.”
“It was quite clever,” Huang Jiang put in. “He was in the garage for the past hour, crouched over there in the corner. He got out moments before the water came in. Took the headband right off of Li Shun’s head without him noticing.”
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“How many did we leave behind?” Richard asked, leaning Aguta against a wall and glancing over his shoulder at the exhausted Fire Nexians that had managed to escape the onslaught of the Water Nexus.
“More than half,” Emmet said, lowering himself to sit against the wall as well. “Olivia froze Sean and Clara immediately. It was all I could do to avoid that massive wave.”
“It wasn’t a strong attack,” one of the tired Nexians said, “But I bet there will be a rule in future games against what they did. That was dangerous.”
“Poor Jerik,” Richard replied, shaking his head. “There’s no chance he got out after that wave of water. He’ll be one of the Water Nexuses’ prisoners by now.”
Emmet nodded in agreement, a bitter pang of disappointment in his heart. “We need to re-double our training efforts after this. We’re being put to shame.”
“I don’t know about that,” a voice said. It came from directly behind Richard, and as the Captain whirled around, ready to fight, Jerik appeared out of thin air, grinning from ear to ear. To compliment the image of triumph, he was also twirling a light brown headband from one finger. “I think we put up a good show.”
Emmet jumped to his feet at once, seemingly energized by the sight of the headband. “You got it? You got out! How?”
Several other Fire Nexians were also getting back to their feet, inspired by the presence of the Earth Nexus headband and what it signified. More than a few of them let out whoops of laughter and excitement, jumping up and down and causing quite a commotion until Richard silenced them with a hiss. “Quiet, you fools! We’ll be discovered!”
“Well, Li Shun’s first move when the water crashed in was to jump backward,” Jerik explained. “It was a good idea, but he had no idea I was there. So before I got out, I snatched it off his head.”
“But how did you not get frozen by that wave of water?” Emmet asked, looking breathless. “Even Sean and Clara couldn’t dodge it, and they saw it coming.”
Jerik’s grin faded slightly, not sure how to put what he did into words. Just like Eric had experienced a rush of instinct in his match against the Earth Nexus, Jerik had relied on his own senses and reflexes to avoid that massive wave. He’d taken advantage of the large rock that Huang Jiang had summoned to protect himself, then leaped to one of the rafters that hung above the garage. As Megan and the Water Nexians had slid in on the ice, he’d used his invisibility power to sneak out holding the headband.
“Got lucky, I suppose,” he finally said. “You actually helped a lot, Richard. That huge wave of fire you conjured disguised my heat. I didn’t bother fighting, just ran away. Then I saw you all retreating, and followed.”
He ended his short story with a slight shrug as if to say it wasn’t a big deal. But his Captains gaped at him with looks of astonishment, and Emmet let out a laugh. “Good god, your time in the army must have made you a badass. You’re like a small Michael.”
“We can’t get too comfortable,” Richard put in. Now that the shock of their unexpected success had worn off, he was back to his serious expression. “Let’s get somewhere we can rest for an hour, then we’ll work on freeing the others.”
They all gave nods of agreement and made their way into the building they were resting against. Still grinning, Jerik tied the Earth Nexus headband around his forehead. None of the others raised an objection, feeling quite clearly that he’d earned that right.