Lazarus and his group ran to the front of the grocery store. Outside, a whirling tornado picked up plants, debris and parts of the building. The shrieking sound came again and he saw a face appear inside the maelstrom of wind. It was a magical creature created by the vortex of the tornado.

Cindy said, "What should we do?"

"We will fight!" Matthew said. Twin globes of fire appeared before the big man. His face looked fierce.

"No, not yet. We need some type of distraction. So we can leave," Lazarus said.

"Yes, I have an idea," Cindy said. "I will use my familiar to distract that thing outside and we can fly away."

Matthew said, "We should fight it. That creature killed people and we will avenge those people."

"Matthew, you are not a knight on a quest. This is for real. We can die."

"I’m not going to let this creature live," Matthew said. He trembled with anger and his fire globes burned higher.

The creature outside was getting closer to the store. Lazarus knew they didn't have much time to decide what to do.

He said, "We can have the familiar go outside and distract it and then we attack. But we should be careful. I want Grace and Cindy to come behind me as soon as the creature is looking at the familiar."

They all nodded. But the sound of the creature came from behind them.

Lazarus turned around and said, "Run! The creature is behind us."

He glanced behind him. The wind buffeted and struck them. He was almost flung off his feet. He grabbed Grace and pulled her toward the entranceway. Matthew didn't follow but faced the beast.

Lazarus said, "No!"

But his cry was not heard over the sound of the wind's screaming. Lazarus rushed out on the street. Grace was breathing hard and sucking in air. Her eyes had a darting, fearful look.

She said, "What? I don't know what to do."

The large windows of the grocery store exploded outwards. He jumped and pushed Grace out of the way, but the glass shards still pelted them. Then the glass stopped hitting them and he realized he held his hands up in a defensive posture and a light blue haze surrounded them, stopping the falling glass from hitting them.

Grace was about to say something when Matthew and Cindy ran out of the building. Behind them, her large wolf jumped to the street. The wind creature burst out of the building in a rush of hurricane and noise and a face appeared in the middle of the gale. It examined the large running wolf and blew a breeze at the animal. Instantly, the wolf changed into stone.

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"Hurry, let's go," Lazarus said.

They stood and started running. The blue haze surrounding them disappeared. Matthew turned toward the creature. The big man smiled and held up both of his hands. Fireerupted from his hands.

He snarled, "Come and get me."

Flames shot from Matthew as he attacked the wind creature. Lazarus knew the spell was not going to reach the wind elemental. The creature blew a mighty gust and struck the flames, changing them into rock.

"No!" Lazarus said.

Matthew's hands started to change into stone. Lazarus focused and lightning came forth from his body, striking the wind elemental creature in a loud burst of sound. The creature suddenly came at him.

Cindy, at the far corner of the street, shot a blast of water at it, knocking the elemental to the side. She yelled in a fury he never knew she possessed.

The creature moved so fast he didn't see it cluster around her. She changed into a rock statue. He looked at Matthew who was also a stone figure. Grace grabbed his arm.

She said, "We need to leave. We can’t help them until we know what we’re dealing with."

Grace flew up and he followed. Lazarus felt that he betrayed his friends by leaving, but he had no choice. The elemental creature didn't follow them like he thought it would but stayed on the ground spinning in a whirling mass of wind.

They flew toward the distant mountains. He landed on the ground but couldn't see because his eyes misted with tears and he couldn't go any further. The sun was fading on the horizon. They didn't have much time left.

They landed at the nearest open spaced on the ground far away from the city. He held up his hands in supplication.

"What are going to do? We need them."

She came up to him and gave him a hug. "I know. But we have to think."

He moved away from her. "We don't have enough time."

She looked around the area. "I wonder why the creature didn’t come after us."

"That thing is an elemental creature of wind and it takes its power from some type of source."

"How do you know that?" Grace said.

"I can feel it." He closed his eyes. "The reason why you couldn't feel the creature is because it was hiding its essence."

"But that’s impossible."

"No, magic has certain laws that we are just learning. What do we know about this creature?"

"It is a being made of wind and it makes humans into stone."

"Yes, but does it think and know."

"What are you saying?"

"Somebody created that thing, like Cindy's familiar. And this person is also controlling it."

"So, if we find this person we can control the creature?"

"Yes. This person is near."

"What if you’re wrong?"

He studied the city. "I’ve been trying to be too safe. But the time to be careful is over. Follow my lead but don't fight the creature until I tell you to."

Grace nodded.

He said, "Your magic talent derives from earth magic."

"What? I do?"

"Yes, you can control dirt, sand and stone. I want you to use your magic to throw pieces of concrete and cement around the homes and buildings surrounding the grocery store. But stay close to me. We will concentrate our efforts around Matthew and Cindy."

He flew upwards, going directly to the location of his friends. He didn't slow but raced forward.