Home

They wove through the trees until they came to the main gates of the compound, where the third Zentith was waiting patiently for them.

“You have become a thorn in my side.”

They looked at the grotesque man. His body was covered with scars, and an arm was missing, but the power coming from him was immense.

“So you are the leader,” Talon said.

“I do have to thank you for getting rid of the others. It does make managing the lesser Zentiths much easier. However, I cannot manage as many, creating a problem for me. So I am afraid I must destroy you,” he said.

He stood and slowly peeled off his skin, doubling his size as he stepped out of it and stood before them, oozing slime and flames.

“I hope you have realized your ‘powers’ will not work on me.”

Wren and Talon looked at each other. What to do about this? The Zentith was right.

Other than their weapons, they were powerless.

“Now…what will you do?” the Zentith asked.

“Fight,” Wren informed him as she sent several bolts his way.

The Zentith deflected them easily and sent an arrow of poison at her.

She threw up her shield, only to have the arrow pierce straight through it.

She dodged but felt the arrow graze her shoulder.

~Damn, that hurt!~ Wren looked at her shoulder and applied pressure, healing the skin so as not to absorb the poison.

“Shit.” Talon appeared next to her.

“Now what?”

“I do not know.”

“We could try the sneak attack again,” Wren commented.

“No. He would not allow it.”

“Then what?”

“We need to pierce his skin. Our powers will work if they can get to his insides.”

“But how? He is immune to our powers.”

“True. What about the others?” Talon asked.

“How do we get them here?”

Talon looked at Wren.

“Oh no, we do not even know if it will work.”

“But you can do it.”

“Yes, but it is sporadic at best.”

“Still…”

“Oh, all right.” Wren sent him a glare.

“I need time.”

Talon nodded. “I can give you that.”

Wren grabbed his shirt. “Talon.”

“Yes?”

“Do not die on me.”

Talon gave her a grin and was off.

***

Wren climbed a tree and settled herself in, drawing her power inward as she focused her thoughts.

Once she felt enough power behind her thought, she pushed it out in the direction of the others.

Part of her and Talon’s training over the past couple of months was working on silent communication with the director.

If she could reach him… But she had only had limited success, and Talon none.

This was a new technique to help them communicate without risking detection, but the amount of power it took was enormous.

If this worked, the director would begin researching how to help the others obtain this ability, even if it required outside help from new technology.

She reached further and further from her body, praying she had enough strength to get to him.

Eventually, she felt it.

He was resting in the library.

~Director? Director, can you hear me?~

The director sat up at Wren’s voice. “Where are you?” he asked.

~I am only here in mind. We need help. Come to the front gate. Need…help…front…gate…~

“Wren?”

***

Wren leaned against the tree. Hopefully, she had reached him.

If not… She was tired.

More tired than she had been in her entire life, and she knew she was at the end of her power. If she were hit now, she would not be able to recover on her own.

She reached up and felt her braid, wondering if she should take it down. Would it give her more power, or was she really used up?

She reached up and removed the braid but kept the ponytail.

She had never trained with her hair all the way down, having been told it was too uncontrollable, but at least without the braid, she should have a bit more, right?

She headed toward Talon and the Zentith. She could not waste any more time.

Talon was starting to wear down as well.

All she could do was hope the director had heard her message and would reach them in time.

***

“Did you reach him?” Talon asked Wren when she reappeared by his side.

She was drained. He could feel it.

He grabbed her arm and transferred some of his power to her before she could yank away from him.

“Do not… Thank you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“You are welcome,” Talon replied.

He turned back to the creature before him.

“You may as well accept your death with grace. You will not defeat me,” the Zentith said, sending them a grin and looking completely untouched.

“We will see.” Wren glared at the creature before her. He had destroyed her home and threatened her family. He would die by her hand.

Talon and the Zentith both paused as they felt a surge of power from her.

“Wren?”

“I am fine, just a bit upset, is all,” Wren said.

She, too, was a bit shocked at her level of power. She should not have this much left.

It seemed taking out the braid was a good thing after all. Add a bit of anger, and the results were not bad.

She reached over and returned the favor to Talon.

“Where did it come from?” he asked.

Wren shrugged. “All I did was take out the braid.”

She turned her attention to the Zentith in front of them. They needed to destroy the thing before them. “We need to keep him engaged until the others arrive.”

“Got it.” Talon took off one way as Wren went the other, shooting bolts and dodging poison as they went.

“Give up. You cannot kill me with these,” the Zentith said after deflecting their attacks for a while.

“Who said they were trying to kill you?”

Wren and Talon turned to see the rest appearing from the trees.

“Thank goodness.” Wren let out a sigh. She had reached them.

“Why do you have so much power left?” Emerald asked.

Wren and Talon both shrugged, sharing a look. “The others were not so tough,” Talon commented.

Lily and Eric just stared at them.

“But… The ones we…”

“Must have been a lot stronger than these,” Wren interrupted.

The director and Mr. Lee shared a look.

There was more to this than they were letting on.

“I am glad you have arrived. You have saved me the time of hunting you down and killing you one by one,” the Zentith said as it started to shoot poison arrows in rapid succession.

“Stay away from those arrows. They pierce our shields and will kill any flesh they come in contact with,” Wren warned as everyone scattered.

“What do you need us to do?” Lily asked.

“Our powers are useless in breaking his shell. We need to crack it. If we can get our powers inside, he is done for.”

“Got it.” Suddenly, the dirt beneath the Zentith pulled it down, trapping its feet.

The Zentith merely laughed and opened its mouth, dripping poison as it pulled its feet out.

The rain came down from the sky, turning to ice as the wind blew ice shards at the creature’s body.

The Zentith merely laughed as it knocked them away. “Is that all you have? You are pathetic creatures.”

Mr. Lee stepped up and smiled as he looked at the Zentith.

“Allow me.”

The director stood beside his friend.

“Lee…”

“It is fine. I have been slowly bringing it up for the last hour.”

“But you have not used your power for so long,” the director warned.

Mr. Lee smiled at his friend.

“Have a little faith in me. You could help, though.”

The director nodded and closed his eyes.

“You need to pick up the speed by ten. Talon, get ready with your fire. We need to heat it even more if we are going to have a chance to harden it enough to pierce that thing. Make sure you are ready with the water and ice to cool it down.

“Wren, get ready with your charge. We only have one shot at this. Evan, move the earth out of Mr. Lee’s way, will you?”

Wren was confused, but she started to collect the electrical charge around her.

“We will need more than that, Wren, if we are going to pierce him.”

“That is all I have.”

The director reached over and took hold of her ponytail. “No, it is not. Good luck,” he whispered as he freed her hair completely.

Wren felt a surge of power as her hair fell around her.

Talon reached out.

“Wren!”

“Do not touch me,” Wren grounded out, trying to control the electricity gathering around her. “Do your part.”

Talon nodded.

“Protect!” the director barked out to the others, and they immediately started to attack the Zentith, allowing the others to focus on their tasks.

“Almost ready!” Mr. Lee called out, and Wren closed her eyes to the pain crawling through her body.

She had never gathered so much electricity at once, and she could hear the sound of her hair starting to burn.

“Just a bit more…”

Suddenly, a wave of lava shot out of the earth at Mr. Lee’s feet.

“Now!”

Talon shot his fire into the lava, heating it even more as the water came in, turning to ice and cooling the lava until it was hard as steel.

A soundwave followed, shooting it straight at the Zentith.

“Wren!”

Wren focused and threw an electrical charge right at the steel as it touched the Zentith’s skin, piercing its chest.

Talon reached over and touched Wren, creating fire along her lightning, as Mr. Lee and Evan added their ice and lava.

As the Zentith exploded, the earth around it rose and buried it while everyone took cover.

***

“Is it over?” Emerald asked once the earth and dust had settled.

“I think so.” Lily stood. “Everyone alive?”

“Yeah, but Mr. Lee is not in good condition.”

They congregated around Mr. Lee.

He lay covered in blood, dirt, and shards of hardened lava.

“He did not get out of the way quickly enough.”

“I…will be…fine.” Mr. Lee coughed up blood as Michael and Eric helped him up.

“We will get him to the clinic,” Michael said.

“Is there a clinic left?” Emerald asked.

They looked at the compound that now lay in ruin.

“Looks like we need to find a new home,” Carrie commented.

“No.” Talon shook his head. “We just need to rebuild, is all.”

Wren wrapped her arms around him. He was cut up and going to have scars, but they all were.

“What was that?” Evan walked up to Wren.

“What was what?” she asked, confused.

“How did you create so much power? You singed my eyebrows off, and I was a hundred yards away from you.”

Wren shrugged. “I do not know.”

“Yes, you do. Your power is incredible.”

Wren looked at her hair. It was filthy, and she was going to have to cut off the fried ends. “I cannot control it, though.”

“Then I think that is something we will need to work on.” Shorty appeared from the wreckage of the combat building.

“Come on. Let’s get you guys treated. Then you can bathe. The outdoor bath seems to have survived unscathed, go figure.”

“I could use a good bath, and I believe someone promised me a week’s worth of Chinese.” Talon grinned, looking at Wren.

Carrie shot him a look. “Over my dead body.”

“Talk to her.” Talon pointed to Wren. “She is the one who promised me Chinese.”

Wren took a step back as Carrie started to stalk forward. “Now… Carrie…”

End of Book