Elementals: Book 1: Resistance

Chapter Nine

Two weeks passed, filled with training for the three Sirius had chosen. Tsubaki and the General had increased security in the city and now the humans were well aware of their presence.

Ash stood at the top of a large building near the west wall, he was on watch and kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He stood with his head facing the wind, the cool breeze ruffled his fur and sent a wave of relief through his body. The sun sat high above him and granted heat, that mixed with the cold wind made for a pleasant day. Suddenly, an explosion echoed through the city, it had come from the north wall. The Comms exploded with frantic voices asking what had happened, who was on the north wall, and if anyone was hurt. Ash quickly responded and leapt from the building, he landed softly and broke into a run, heading towards the explosion.

“Ash, you read me?” Tsubaki's voice stood out against the Comm chaos.

“Ash here, I'm heading there now,” Ash responded.

“Voltier and I are on our way to back you up. Radio in when you're on the scene, Tsubaki out.”

Ash bounded past humans going about their life, he ran through a cafe that was serving a variety of humans. He passed a park filled with laughing cub humans playing on large metal objects.

As he neared the explosion, he noticed large plumes of smoke ahead. Suddenly, shapes entered his sight and they were heading towards him fast. Ash took to the sky and got a better look at the creatures. There were two of them, and the way they were firing off blasts in random directions made it seem like their intent was to destroy the city. Ash didn't know either of them but being part of D.A.R.E. meant that he had to protect the humans that were in danger. He flew low and glided along side the two Elementals, one was a black panther and the other was some sort of hybrid, Ash let off a few fireballs aimed at their feet to slow them down. The two rogues stopped and Ash landed.

“Well well well, looks like we found the D.A.R.E headquarters, Nox,” The hybrid spoke.

“It seems so, Shade,” The panther, Nox, replied.

“Maybe we should report it back to Sirius,”

“Oh definitely, but let's have some fun first.” Nox took a step forward towards Ash, who instinctively stepped back in response. “Oh don't run away, I just want to enter your mind and see what you truly fear. Come here wolfy.”

Ash began to feel the Panthers influence wash over him, causing his body halt and for Nox’s presence to enter his mind. Ash began to hallucinate and see things that weren't there, he could sense Nox digging around in his mind but he couldn't stop him. A loud explosion brought Ash back to reality, he turned to see Voltier jumping off a building to his left before firing off several bolts at Shade. The bolts hit their target and Shade began to scream out in pain, she quickly dispersed into a cloud of darkness, reforming nearby. Ash felt a presence enter his mind, he turned to see Nox slowly walking towards him. Ash tried to move but his limbs wouldn't respond, Nox had immobilized him and was now using his powers to poke around inside his head.

“Hmm what are you afraid of? Your brother, Voltier? Your sister, Glaziel? No, you're not scared of them, you're scared for them. You're afraid that if Sirius did attack, the would most certainly die. Oh, but there is a bit of fear of your brother, you don't like disappointing him and you try your hardest to please him, but it fails in the end and he just gets angrier. Ahh there's the fear of Sirius, the fear you should all be feeling. Now let's see if I can exploit that.” Nox approached slowly, Ash couldn't help but stare into his eyes, he felt something begin to wash over him. Suddenly Nox’s presence disappeared and Ash was freed from his mental grip, Ash's eyes refocused and saw Tsubaki standing in front of him where Nox used to be, he looked up to see Nox slammed up against a wall to his right. Tsubaki had managed to come to Ash's aid just in time.