Mirror

Chapter 4 - Tempest

I know; the music video is... odd. But the music is really good. So, just click play, but read without watching the video. Also, as before, the music belongs to Of Monsters and Men.

What happened before did not exist. The future would never coming. There was only now, floating in the endless, swirling darkness. Tempest recalled a memory.

"Come on, Tempest," Permafrost said, "we have to be strong if we want to be in the Stormlets."

"I am strong!" Tempest bared her teeth. They were young, Tempest only seven and Permafrost ten. Their bandmates were out hunting, and the two were left to train at the make-shift camp in the savannah. The two were the youngest, with Flood, thirty-seven, as the oldest. Their band was small, consisting of only six chromaveins.

"Well, then show me!" Permafrost, for the third time that day, threw her to the ground with a blast of icy wind. Tempest rolled on the dry grass, which crackled and froze on contact with Permafrost's ice breath.

Rage rushed through her, filling her with power. She rose up, drawing air into her lungs. Wind howled in her ears and tossed her hair around. Permafrost backed away slowly, conjuring a shield of ice before him. Then, Tempest landed on the ground, exhaling a blast of wind. Permafrost staggered backwards a few steps. He pushed against the violent winds, his ice shield shattering in his hands. He lowered, placing his hands to the ground. Frost began to spread from his hands, rapidly making its way towards Tempest. She tried to move in time, but ice was already wrapping around her feet and ankles, twisting around her legs and growing up her sides. She clawed at it viciously, scowling at Permafrost.

"Fine, you win." She grumbled reluctantly, "now get me out of here!"

"You still have got a lot to learn." Permafrost walked toward her. "And, I only destroy, not fix. Anyway, the ice will melt on its own."

"You're only a few years older than me. Stop acting so high and mighty," Tempest snapped, but he was right. Already, the ice was transparent, dripping in the harsh, Glorian sun. How embarrassing, she thought as it soaked into her ragged shorts.

And then, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet, dragging her out of her shadowy bliss. Tempest was too feeble to disobey. She opened her eyes, steadying herself. She was struck with horror by what she saw.

Smolder lay unconscious on the ground, glowing orange blood flowing from a wound in his chest. Storms were backing away from the leopard, who had its head lowered, lips peeled back in a snarl. Tempest felt little relief at the fact that she hadn't been out for long, but she was shocked that the leopard was really alive. I must've only knocked it out! Somehow, that thought made her feel annoyed with herself but also surprisingly relieved.

Most terrifying of all was that Blood had pulled her to her feet and was now standing right next to her.

"Heh. Whoops. I guess I didn't actually kill it." Tempest laughed nervously, edging away from the Ruby Alpha. Blood's hand shot out, fastening around Tempest's arm with an iron grip. Her claw-like hand dug into Tempest's flesh.

"You see, this is all just a big misunderstanding," Tempest said, trying to free her arm.

"You're lucky that I have something very important planned," Blood growled, "and we need all the capable Storms we can have." All the Storms turned towards her in interest, but Tempest was focused on the part where she was capable. She felt a flash of pride.

"But first, you must dispose of that menace. It's getting rather annoying." Avalanche, the Amethyst Alpha, said in a bored voice. Even Inferno didn't seeming to care one bit that one of his future Stormlet recruits was dying on the floor. The Storms started forward reluctantly. Tempest threw herself in front of the leopard, hands out.