Indigo (NaNoWriMo13)

Chapter 45 - Herald

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Chapter 45 - Herald

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Athira swung the colour-held wall with a wide gesture of her arms, slamming it straight into the line of Elites marching towards her. It connected, sending them flying back into the line behind them, but once again they got straight up and kept forward like nothing had happened. 

Athira grit her teeth. The hell is going on?

Something was wrong with these Elites, she just hadn't figured out what. The way they moved was sluggish but they could take whatever hits she threw at them. They could use large bursts of colour but their control lasted seconds, if that. No matter what she did, they just wouldn't stay down. 

She assumed they were Elites, anyway. They wore the same uniforms, but their movements and the dark smudges under their eyes reminded her of what zombies were supposed to be like. 

In all honesty, it was creeping her out. 

You're doing well, Thira, said Talon. Keep them back, don't go too hard on them. Distraction, not annihilation. Don't provoke Rathe.

I know, Talon, said Athira. But it doesn't change the fact that these Elites just won't stay the hell down!

She picked up the wall again and planted it into the ground in front of the Elites. Infused with black, the Elite's colour was ineffective against the newly created obstacle and they were forced to skirt around it, back into the rest of the obstacle course Athira had constructed over the last few minutes. 

I need to cut off the head, said Athira, her eyes locking on the five blue Wardens that'd led the group of Elites in. Zoe and Shift, Talia even still have to get out. I'll bet the Wardens are waiting until they've seen them. 

Strike first? 

Strike first. 

Athira ran to the edge of the roof and launched off the corner with a push from her left foot, arms stretched out before her. She pushed them back and hurtled forward, snapping her legs around to break the air before her with a flat boot aimed straight at the middle Warden's chest. 

The Wardens reacted quickly. Without a word between them, they increased the space between them, the mid one stepping aside and out of her path. The momentum pulling her too fast, Athira couldn't come to a full stop in time. Instead, she whipped her bent knee around and flicked the shin out, catching him around the waist and knocking the air out of him as he staggered backwards. 

Athira completed the turn and raised her arms, scraping a shield of black colour up just in time to protect her from a runed missile. It hit the shield and began to eat away at the colour. Athira dropped it and reached out to the closest Warden, aiming to grab her foot from beneath her with a tendril of colour. 

It made contact. Athira pulled back, and the Warden hit the ground with a shout. She was about to fling the Warden at a nearby wall and pin her there when the Warden took on Talia's face in her mind. 

Blue colour. Light hair. Pull down, throw at wall. Crack. 

Athira hesitated, taking the second to ensure Rathe was still kept in check and not injecting his fury into the adrenaline pounding through her system. Rathe had been the one to throw Talia at the wall. Not her. Hadn't he?

Talon? asked Athira, dropping her grip on the Warden as the one she'd initially hit was back on her. She dodged his next three attacks, absorbing the fourth with colour around his limb and ordering it to harden to give her time. Tal, is Rathe--