The Night Marchers

Chapter 5

Days later, Layla found herself in the same hospital bed from when she arrived. Books were dumped around her as she fervently worked on her assignments. When she awoke, the special ops tried seeing her but the headmaster mentioned a general taking away their free choice. He gave her a letter saying they took Mike Roselli and his family into custody for now. Only, their hands were tied because of the general in charge of them.

Layla rushed to finish her assignment because Jaylen would be there any second. He promised to pick her up for Ellie's fight. Thankfully, they moved the dance and fight five days after her instead of only a day. Mike really destroyed the arena. That also allowed Layla to wake up and be authorized to see the fight. The nurse was stubborn on allowing Layla leave the hospital again; she just needed to stay away from the hospital portion for a solid month otherwise the nurse would never let her leave.

"Hey," Jaylen peaked his head around the cracked door, "ready?"

Layla sprang from the bed. With a fast pace, they made it into the arena where there other friends were in record time. All their hearts raced for their dear friend stuck in the pit. The last fight didn't leave a very good impression for all who watched; they were afraid another Night Marcher might appear out of nowhere. Their stomachs clenched tighter when the arena came into view. The hard surface of the seats made an ache lace through their legs. Laya hugged her knees to herself as she leaned against Abigail. The siblings held hands and their extroverted selves ran for cover. Jaylen curled his fingers along his shirt while pulling at the fabric.

Even when the headmaster came out, they couldn't hear the words passing from his lips. Then, Ellie stepped out along with Sharon. Both the girls wore their hair up in ponytails with sport shorts and a breezy shirt. Good thing the arena was inside or they'd be freezing. After bowing, they shook hands and muttered goodluck to one another.

Before they came out, Ellie and Sharon confessed to one another that fighting in front of everyone was terrifying. Their limbs wouldn't stop shaking. Instead of fighting to win, they agreed to put on a show for the school.

"Because you have wind, can we go to the pond to fight?" Sharon begged, "That way you can float above the water and impress people while I stand on it. It takes about the same amount of energy either way, right?"

Ellie thanked the stars underneath her breath that Layla forced her to practice flying. "Yeah, I think so. Let's at least make each other still presentable by the end of the match. Don't want horrific scars for the dance.

Sharon belly laughed, "that would be awful!"

The wind swirled around the stadium as the two girls smirked at each other. Sharon bolted for the water forcing Ellie to chose. With each foot fall, the air elemental threw doggers, when the water elemental touched the water, a barrier formed around the pond. The only way to breath was by creating strong enough winds or flying above it. Taking this as her que, Ellie lifted herself above the wall.

Boom! Water blasted onto her face. Both girls threw their elements at one another, erecting small explosions in between each other with a twirl in her hand, Ellie sent a mini tornado at Sharon's barrier. Seeing this, Sharon twirled water into a hurricane. When both of these collided, the barrier fell. Then the swirling mass of wind and water grew to their size.

Flabbergasted, the girls threw their elements once again. The blades hit the hurricane before spitting out the other side. Now, they clocked their bodies while also striking the hurricane.

At this point, Layla couldn't tell if they were dumb or planned to waste their energy. By leaving the hurricane, they deplete a large amount of energy without really doing anything. If they take it down, the two fighters could create a bubble while pushing one on another until the first one collapses; this option does enthrall the crowd more through.