Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1) by Sky Corbelli
Chapter 53
From a Clear Blue Sky
Mat and Gal exploded from their cover. Ezra was shocked to find himself keeping pace with them. I guess all that training paid off, he thought as the thin layer of black gravel crunched under his feet. Thirty meters. Twenty. Ten. He could smell the smoke and see where a bolt of lightning had hit the skiff's plating, melting a hole clean through. Then they were upon it.
Ezra coughed, covering his mouth against the smoke as he vaulted over the side and rapidly searched the front console for the wormhole controller. Sarah shouted something from behind them, and Ezra glanced up.
Two thunder-struck emerged from behind the crater's lip, directly opposite where they had come from. The morning light briefly dimmed as a cloud passed before the sun, but Ezra could still clearly make out the Son and Daughter of Lightning, flickering halos of electricity illuminating their faces. A tiny, strong hand clamped around his upper arm and yanked him back behind the cover of the fallen skiff just as the first stroke of lightning fell. Ezra yelped as the blast pushed the skiff into his back, nearly knocking him over. A second bolt struck to their right, throwing up chunks of loose earth and searing a line across Ezra's vision.
Fingers of lightning flashed out above his head, hammering the crater where Sarah had been standing.
“Did you get it?” Mat yelled over the deafening thunderclaps that accompanied every strike.
Ezra shook his head. “It wasn't there, but it wasn't destroyed either! The console was off, it must have fallen out!”
“Blighted hell,” Mat cursed as Ezra peeked through the hole in the skiff. The Daughter of Lightning was standing on the crater's edge, pointing imperiously at the skiff as bolt after bolt of lightning fell around them. Her partner was limping, and Ezra saw him pull a bloody dart from his leg, tossing it aside as he loosed a fresh volley of lightning toward Sarah's hiding place and continued stalking toward the skiff.
“Okay, one of them is almost here, what are we going to do?” Ezra glanced back and forth between the combat veterans. Mat nodded and drew his sword, staying low as he moved to the far side of the skiff. Another bolt struck a few feet from Gal and Ezra, hurling them apart. Gal fell into the wounded thunder-struck's line of sight, and he snarled as his hand extended toward her. Mat yelled and rounded the skiff, sword gliding up a textbook lunge. The struck saw him coming and adjusted his aim, catching the blade in a flickering cage of electricity. The sword was wrenched up into the air, pulling Mat off the ground as he held on for dear life, unwilling to surrender his weapon.
The Daughter of Lightning oriented on Gal, smiling cruelly and lifting her arm, sending streamers of lightning up into the clouds as she prepared her strike. She never saw Sebastian coming. His bolt-thrower hummed as it sent its deadly payload through her temple, dropping her instantly.
“No!” the Son screamed, releasing Mat and reaching for his partner. Her lifeless body arched as a tremendous bolt of lightning leapt up from it, blinding Ezra as he dove back behind the skiff. The air sizzled as the death spark answered the will of the Son of Lightning. He drove his fist into the ground and sent Mat, Gal, and even the skiff flying in a concussive wave. Ezra watched as the ship tumbled lazily over his head, dropping its contents all around him. Then he was alone with the thunder-struck. Power crackled madly through the air, buzzing and popping. The Son of Lightning held up a palm and electricity leaped to obey, coalescing into a ball that floated just above his hand. There was murder in his eyes.
Ezra scrambled away from him. I'm going to die, some part of his brain noted with clinical detachment, there is absolutely no way I can survive this. His hand bumped into something small and round, and he glanced at the broken storage unit behind him. Oh, that's good, another part of his brain chuckled, do that.
Ezra's fist closed on the lightly glowing orb. He rolled to the side and hurled the little globe at the thunder-struck. The elementalist's eyes flickered to the projectile and, from the writhing sphere of energy in his hand, a veritable blade of light flashed out. It sliced the waterwork in half, spraying luminous blue liquid everywhere. The Son's eyes bulged as he abruptly powered down, killing the electrical currents that crackled around him. He stared down at himself in confusion. “Wait,” he said, picking at his clothing, “this isn't water. What do you–”
Ezra slammed the top of the containment unit into the man's head. Then he hit him several more times, just for good measure. He stood there panting, lid held poised and eyes glued to the man lying senseless at his feet. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Gal rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Whoa, settle down. I think you got him, Ezzy.” Ezra let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and deflated a bit, improvised weapon falling from his limp fingers. “Next time,” Gal said, eyes dancing, “I'm letting you keep the sword.”
==
“Okay, I understand that because we couldn't find the wormhole thingy, we decided to get back to the cave and try to make a new plan. There's just one thing I'm unclear on: remind me again why we're keeping this one alive?” Sebastian muttered as he secured a pair of cables to the bottom of the little pool in their cave. “I'm nearly certain that he wouldn't have given a blighted damn about us.”
“Because someone's been leaking information about the Guild's movements to these strucking bastards,” Sarah grunted as she and Mat dumped the still unconscious man into the pool and began securing his arms and legs with the heavy metal cables they had retrieved from the skiff. “And it's past time that we got some answers.”
Mat peeled back the thunder-struck's eyelid. “We're not getting them this morning,” he said. “I don't have anything on me to get him up, so we're just going to have to wait it out.” He shook his head. “Did you have to go all barbarian on the guy, Ezra?”
“Sorry, Mat.” Ezra winced as Gal pulled a makeshift bandage tight over a gash on his arm that he hadn't even felt happen. “The next time a crazy guy carrying a ball of lightning tries to kill me, I'll take a moment to consider the greater strategic value of only mostly incapacitating him.”
“Well,” Gal said, sitting back to admire her work. “I guess that means that we all get to sleep before a fun afternoon of interrogation?”
“With the added possibility of some mild torture,” Mat growled. “I'll take first watch, you all get some rest.”
“Wake us if he does anything funny,” Sebastian yawned. “Like breathing too much.”
Sarah checked the restraints again, then nodded and stalked over to a wall, sitting back against it and closing her eyes.
“Come on, Ezzy,” Gal grabbed his hand and pulled him deeper into the cavern. They wandered through several twists and turns. “This place is more a maze than anything else. You'd be amazed how fast you can get out of earshot in here.”
“That's... nice?” Ezra looked around in the rapidly darkening cave. “Shouldn't we try to stay close, in case something happens or he wakes–”
Gal pushed Ezra against the wall with a growl, pressing her body to him, lips cool and delicious on his mouth. She trailed a line of chilly kisses along his jaw. “You're so warm,” she breathed into his ear, “I think I like that.” She gently nipped his neck as her lips continued exploring him.
“Gal,” he gasped as his hands wrapped around her sweetly curved waist of their own accord. “What are you–”
“That image,” she purred, nuzzling his neck. “You, charging the thunder-struck with nothing but a waterwork.” A shiver ran through her body. “Sarah said you were too brave for your own good, but I didn't know it would be so hot.” Her nails left little thrills of sensation across his shoulder as her leg wound its way away around his.
Ezra tried to get his thoughts in order. He was pretty sure they were supposed to be doing something, but just couldn't remember what...
Her leg hooked behind his knee, forcing him to slide down the wall, easing their way to the floor. Gal straddled him. She shifted her hips maddeningly, grinding against him, and
Ezra lost himself, knowing nothing but the feel of her, the smell of her, the taste of her.