Embers & Ice

Chapter Seventeen

"A wise man once said–” came the monotone voice of Dr. Wolfe over an intercom system and both she and Will whipped around and searched for the source, “–that when the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong. Hunter Harrison. William Evans. You have both broken a very important rule we follow here at ICE Institution; respect all authoritative figures. Your punishment… is to fight. I will decide when it is over. And please–” He chuckled low and it sent shivers down Hunter’s spine. “–Fight fair.”

The glass wall rose very slowly, severing the boundary between them. Hunter straightened up and stared around at the glass, the figures so far off and so foggy that she couldn’t make out any faces at all. Her heart rate accelerated and she clenched her fists tight as she turned and faced her opponent.

They stared at each other for a long time. She could feel the anger radiating from Will’s taut body. He squinted soulfully at her, his doe eyes shadowed by brown hair messy around his face and neck. She couldn’t look at him without remembering what he’d done for her in the bathroom. Why would he risk it knowing this was their punishment?

Hunter remained still, waiting. She knew that Will couldn’t beat her with his own power, but even the thought of burning him made her stomach curl. Not even if Dr. Wolfe commanded it, she would not attack with fire.

“Might I remind you,” the doctor’s voice resonated, “that this is the only time you will have to use your powers, Miss Harrison. I suggest you have at it.”

Hunter looked down at her fists and let the flames creep through her skin. The sensation was… heavenly. The tingling warmth felt like rubbing her skin with soft soap after being dirty for a very long time. It was soothing and velvety and the flames danced around her fingers and up her wrists and arms. For a moment, she smiled at the bliss.

And then the fire started to get really angry.

For all the times Dr. Wolfe had prodded her with needles or sucked out her blood or shot her with X-rays, Hunter drew the fire out of the cage it had been trapped in for weeks and unleashed it. Like fire from the mouth of a dragon, flames burst from Hunter’s hands. They were so strong that they kept going, twisting in the air like giant snakes, surprising even Hunter herself with their magnitude. The flames were beautiful, woven and intertwined with each other like dancing eels, bright and angry. The snakes twisted high into the air, brushing the glass ceiling that didn’t burn or break. She launched them again and again at the glass, but it could not be penetrated.

“Please, Miss Harrison,” said Dr. Wolfe over the raucous noise, “not on the impermeable glass. You are both in the wrong, and this is how we treat misbehavior. I’m afraid you must suffer the consequences, and if you do not comply, I will make things interesting.”

As he spoke, a strange grinding sound erupted in the Orb. Hunter felt her heart pound against her chest and she stepped subconsciously closer to Will. Holes started appearing in the walls, spaced at intervals, all around the exterior. Hunter knew it would be something horrible, and she had no time to prepare before there was a sound like water from a hose. Then, fire appeared.

It shot straight at them, a ball of flames with so much power that it looked like a planet, like the sun. Hunter spread herself in front of Will just in time for the fire to hit her in the chest. She stumbled backwards against him.

“Are you o-”

Will did not get to finish his sentence before another fireball blasted from the rockets in the walls, this time from behind them. Hunter deflected it, but only just. And then another appeared, and she was too slow to protect Will. The fireball slammed into his back and he collapsed on the floor.