Ember

Ember (Story of an Ex-Superhero) -13-

Ember ran with Reno. 

They ran quickly through the night; dodging the streetlights that illuminated portions of the road, dancing through the narrow alleyways of San Marino's ghetto, whisking past the state capital and the mayors house until they reached the safety of St. Anne's Park. 

St. Anne's Park was a large expanse of land dotted with clusters of eucalyptus trees and stretches of lime green grass that ran alongside San Marino Harbor. During the day, families gathered for picnics and barbecues, but now in the shadow of the night, the park was as barren as a desert and only the fog horns in the distance kept away utter silence. 

After they both managed to catch their breath, Ember stormed towards Reno. Her skin was smoldering in her anger, illuminating the darkness that pressed down on the two of them and heating the cool night air.

“You have ten seconds to tell me what’s going on or I’ll kill you right here, on the spot. Got it?” Ember seethed. She hated not understanding the situation, it made her vulnerable to Reno and she couldn’t allow the slightest inch of inferiority or uncertainty to be glimpsed. He would take advantage of it.

“Fine. Kill me Ember. See if that’ll keep you alive longer,” Reno glared, his face seemingly undisturbed by the situation, but his eyes betrayed that serenity, for they were swimming with uncertainty. 

Ember grimaced at the truth of his words, but stepped out of his personal space, though eyes still burning wildly. 

“Then tell me who that man was. You seem to know, Reno.”

Ember watched impatiently as Reno closed his eyes for several moments, as if he were trying to think something through which was strange. Sure, he usually kept the appearance of collectiveness, but underneath that was pure, raw rage. This, was something entirely different, for Reno betrayed an aura of fear. It was uncharacteristic and the thought made Ember uneasy.

He looked like he was about to say something, but as soon as his lips parted, something bright and dangerous reflected in his eyes.  Reno jumped on Ember, pushing her roughly to the ground so that her face crushed against the earth. At first, she thought he was trying to take advantage of her and she tried fiercely to push him off, but then she glimpsed a flash of silver rocket right where their heads had been a split second before. It crashed into a tree, bluish-silver liquid coating the tree trunk, glimmering like a crystal in the moonlight. 

After a moment of stillness, the substance began to spread until it looked as if the tree had been enclosed in a shimmering case of ice. Then, a sickening crack rumbled in Ember’s ears, betraying any feeling of serenity that managed to overcome her. She watched as the tree split right down the middle and sucked in a breath as it’s two halves seemingly hovered in the air before bursting into a thousand glittering crystals that cascaded down upon Ember and Reno. As they both scrambled to their feet, an unnatural coldness that prickled their skin and spilled into their lungs, crawled towards them

Ember swore loudly, breath visible in the now icy air, and searched for the source of the phenomenon in the darkness. Her heart beat furiously inside her chest, heating up her body and making her fingers twitch with the promise of fire. 

“Of course she’s here,” muttered Reno as he too peeled the darkness with his eyes. As if on cue, a similar jagged jet of ice emerged from the dark surrounding them, aimed steadily for Reno’s head. He acted quickly, diverting the jet of ice with a flick of his long fingers.. But as soon as it diverted, crashing into the bark of a tree, three more flashes of ice blinked in the edge of their vision. 

An eruption of fire flew from Ember’s fingertips, lighting up the night. The brightness of her flames collided with the cool glow of the ice, both substances canceling each other out with a fizzling hiss as Reno diverted several more blasts of ice with his fingers.