Flamethroat (42 page)

I ran forwards, intent upon breaking up the vicious fight between the two animals, yet I was stopped mid-way.

One of the slimmest guards stepped in front of me, a manic gleam in his eyes.

‘Allo darlin’ He said as he gave me a yellow-toothed grin.

‘Get out of my way,’ I demanded.

‘Pretty fing, you are,’ he looked me up and down, approvingly.

I had no time to waste on this creep. I could hear Hawthorne’s deep growls filling the room. I lifted my arms, palms facing outward, towards the guard. A blaze of fire erupted from my hands, like a volcano exploding. The inferno shot towards the enemy Mage, intent on destroying everything in it’s path. The guard was quick and sent a powerful jet of water to meet my attack. Ribbons of red and blue entwined before my eyes as fire and water competed for dominance. I could tell by the force of his attack, that this man was a much higher level Mage than I. Nevertheless, I put all of my concentration into matching him.

It was no easy feat. I panted with the effort it took me to hold him off. I desperately hoped someone would notice that I was struggling to match the Water-Mage.

My mother seemed to sense that I was in danger and was by my side in an instant, flames surging from her own hands. It was too much for the Water-Mage. He may have been a higher level than both my mother and I, but together we had beaten him.

My mother turned on her heel and went to assist my father who had taken on a Mage capable of producing force fields. It was here that I found Martinez, protected by a glowing orb. My parents were struggling to penetrate it.

Hawthorne’s yelp made my heart jump into my throat. I spun on the spot and saw that Hawthorne was pinned to the ground, overpowered by the black-haired, yellow-eyed beast. I ran forward and launched myself onto the wolf-man’s back, grabbing fists-full of fur in my searing-hot hands. The wolf howled in agony, the cry sounding both Human and animal. He stood on his hind-legs and tried to shake me off, but I held on for dear life.

I saw that Hawthorne’s white fur was marked with red. I couldn’t tell if it was his own blood, or the wolf’s.

The wolf-man backed into a wall, crushing me against the stone. He put all of his force into the blow, winding me. I tried to suck in air, but my lungs would not allow it. I coughed and spluttered, almost losing my grip. A searing pain shot through my chest as I tried to
winch
myself from between the wolf’s spine and the wall. He slammed me into the stone, again and again. My head spun
and my vision blurred. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move.

It was Hawthorne who came to the rescue. The wolf was distracted, intent on hurting me and did not notice that Hawthorne was on his feet again.

It was horrendous, what I saw next. Hawthorne lunged forwards and took the wolf-man’s entire head in his mouth. He bit through his skull as though it was made of butter. Blood and brains sprayed the wall that I was pressed against. I tasted it in my mouth and felt it in my hair. The wolf’s headless body collapsed to the floor in a lifeless heap, vital fluids spilling across the stone.

I fell on top of the dead body, gasping for air. I rolled away from the wolf-man, whose body was slowly returning back to its normal, hairless state. I gagged and spat out the blood. It dripped from my face and clothes. I was covered in the disgusting red liquid.

‘Hawthorne!’ I gasped, reaching for my pet. ‘You didn’t have to kill him!’

Hawthorne gave me a disapproving look. I knew exactly what he was thinking. That guard would not have hesitated to kill me.

‘Th-thank you,’ I stammered, using Hawthorne as leverage to stand. The pain in my chest continued and I knew that I had cracked several ribs. It made it hard to move, but I was too full of adrenalin to care.

I looked around at the fight. Elise and Bran were still taking on the multiplier-Mage, whilst Penny pummelled the shockwave-Mage with her enlarged fists.

Tom was in a headlock with the Water-Mage and Jack was healing my mother and father, who had been thrown off their feet by the force field Mage. Maria and Robert took over their fight.

‘The Healer!’ I heard Martinez shout. His voice was muffled by the force field. ‘Get that damn Healer Mage. We’ll never beat them with
him
running around fixing their wounds.’

I wondered why Martinez was not taking part in the fray. Perhaps he was not as strong as people made him out to be.

The Water-Mage scrambled to his feet and headed in Jack’s direction. I sent fireball after fireball at the Water-Mage, but it did not seem to affect him much.

Jack got up and sent a punch towards the closest guard, but seemed to hurt his hand more than anything else. They were converging on him. The Water-Mage produced an enormous ball of liquid in the middle of the room, which zoomed towards Jack like an absurd bubble.

I reached out a hand and tried to warn Jack, but it was too late. The sphere of water encased him and Jack floated in the middle of the orb, unable to break free of the watery prison.

I blasted fire at the ball in the hopes of destroying it, but it did not work. My mother and father joined my side, but it was too late. The orb floated through the force field that protected Martinez.

‘Stop!’ Martinez bellowed.

Everyone stopped fighting and looked up at Jack’s floating form. Martinez’s cronies stood up and passed through the force field to stand by their master’s side. I looked around at my friends. Everyone seemed to be okay. Jack had managed to heal most wounds.

Panting, I rounded on Martinez.

‘Let him go!’ I demanded.

Martinez laughed, ‘Do you know how many ways there are to kill a Healer?’

I didn’t answer, because I didn’t want to know. Jack had once told me that Healers were extremely difficult to kill; one of the only ways was by decapitation.

‘There are only three ways,’ Martinez continued.

I watched in fear as Jack struggled to free himself from the water orb. A stream of bubbles issues from his mouth and I could hear his gargled yells of frustration.

‘One. You can cut off their heads or impale them,’ Martinez smiled. ‘Two. If you take away their Power – they are unable to heal. But since we do not have anyone here who can take away Power, I guess I am forced to use the third method. Drowning.’

‘No!’ I ran forwards and attempted to penetrate the force field. It was like hitting an electrified fence. I was thrown back several feet and landed on my buttocks.

Wincing in pain, I got up quickly and prepared myself to fight.

‘Let him go, Martinez,’ my father growled.

‘Hm, no, I don’t think so,’ he replied.

‘He’ll drown!’ I cried. Jack’s face was becoming redder by the second. He was running out of air.

I refused to let Jack drown. I focussed my Power on the force field. Raising my hands, I sent a continuous blast of fire at the barrier. My mother and father followed suit. Together, we sent an inferno towards the glowing shield. It began to warp at the point where our attack met, as though it was melting.

Robert and Maria summoned all of the rock, stone and debris around the dungeon and sent it rocketing towards the enemy.

It must have been the straw that broke the horses back, because the force field shattered before our eyes. The Mage who produced it fell to his knees, panting. Our combined Power was too much for him. He keeled over, unconscious.

‘Get up,’ Martinez hissed. ‘Useless!’

All eyes were upon Jack, who was slowly suffocating. I would not stand by and watch. Using all of the effort I could muster, an eruption blasted from my hands and headed straight at Martinez who welcomed the attack with open arms, absorbing my Power like a vacuum.

I gasped. I had forgotten what he could do.

‘Avalon, no,’ Penny squeaked, deflating to her usual size.

Martinez sighed. ‘I thought I was being fair, offering you the Humans
and
your freedom. I am a businessman, you know. Clearly you do not see a good deal when it is dangled in front of your nose.’

I glanced up at Jack. Time was running out. His eyes were becoming unfocussed.

It was at this point that Ræ
ve
n swooped down towards Martinez’s face, intent upon taking out his eyes. Seeing the attack, Martinez released the Power that he had absorbed from my attack.

It was as though a bomb had gone off.

The resulting blast threw everyone across the room. Ræ
ve
n hit the ground in her Mage form, unconscious, her flesh badly burned. Those of us who weren’t Fire-Mage’s erupted in painful boils. Penny wailed in agony, her eyes reduced to slits from the boils. Hawthorne rolled around in agony; his fur burnt away, his skin red and shiny.

Maria, Elise and Tom were also unconscious, their skin badly charred. Tom had been mimicking the wrong Power at the wrong time. My mother, father and I were unharmed. Winded, but okay.

Panicked, I got to my feet. We were running out of time and half of H.E.L.E.N.A was unable to fight after one attack by Martinez.

‘You have lost,’ Martinez drawled. ‘I did not wish for a fight, but you asked for it. I am impressed that your Vulmessian managed to take down Sven.’ He pointed to the headless corpse in the middle of the floor. ‘I think it’s only fair that I take one of yours too.’

I looked around the room, desperate for an idea, anything to help me free Jack. I had to be careful. I couldn’t let Martinez absorb my Power again, for he would surely finish off my friends.

But it was at this moment that I noticed something strange happening. I stared at Ræ
ve
n and saw that her burns were disappearing. Martinez seemed to notice this too.

‘What’s going on?’ He said. ‘How is she doing that?’

‘She’s healing,’ I said, astounded.

I looked over at Maria and Elise. Their charred skin was healing and they were stirring. Penny was feeling her face; boils no longer obscured her eyes.

I spun around and looked at Jack. He was still trapped in the sphere of water, but he was staring determinedly at me with one hand outstretched. It was then I noticed that my ribs no longer ached.

‘Jack!’ I gasped. ‘He’s healing without touching them!’

Martinez seemed furious. ‘Well he won’t be able to heal them when he is dead.’

This was true. Jack had been encased in the water for several minutes now. His healing abilities might help him remain under water for longer than usual, but he wouldn’t last forever. His face was going purple.

Maria, Elise and Tom were now getting to their feet, their skin as good as new. Ræ
ve
n sat up, blinking quickly. H.E.L.E.N.A was whole again.

We were ready. We were a team.

My mother, father and I focussed all of our firepower on the soundwave Mage, who did not stand a chance against the three of us. He was reduced to a screaming, flaming blur until the Water-Mage put him out. He lay on the floor, smouldering, unmoving.

Maria and Robert manipulated the stone ground so it broke open at Martinez’s feet, sending him tumbling over into his cronies.

The multiplier-Mage sent copies of himself across the dungeon, obscuring Martinez from view. He would be easy to take care of; he was nothing more than an illusion. Ræ
ve
n spun on the spot, transforming and taking flight at once. She swooped and dodged oncoming attacks before sinking her beak and claws into the face of the multiplier, who howled in agony, clutching the socket where his eye had once been. Hawthorne assisted by grabbing his leg and dragging him away.

Now it was only Martinez and the Water-Mage left. We advanced on them, our faces set.

‘Let Jack go,’ I said. ‘Now.’

‘What if I refuse?’ Martinez asked, trying to keep his cool.

‘I
will
kill you,’ I said.

Martinez scoffed, but his eyes darted around the room, afraid.

Elise sped through the dungeon at the speed of light and was behind the Water-Mage in an instant, her arm around his throat.

‘Drop him,’ she hissed in his ear, ‘Or I’ll break your neck.’

The Water-Mage whimpered and complied. With a deafening crash, the water orb hit the floor, sending a wave across the dungeon and soaking everyone within. Jack was released, gasping for air, his sodden hair plastered to his face.

‘Jack!’ I splashed across the room and fell to my knees at his side.

Jack heaved and coughed up large amounts of water. I slapped his back, hoping it would help.

‘Are you okay?’ I asked.

Martinez saw his chance to flee. Leaving his cronies behind, he made for the door, but Elise was too quick for him.

‘Going somewhere?’ She crooned, blocking the exit.

Bran, Penny and Tom advanced on Martinez like wolves honing in for the kill.

‘I think I’m going to enjoy this,’ Bran said, cracking his knuckles menacingly. ‘Try and absorb
my fist
.’