Powerful

26. Singing With the Choir

"There's more soldiers than I can count," said Jord, as she gazed out over the forest before them, which was absolutely teeming with people.

The blonde was standing on top of the ridge that bordered the valley, with Virg and Gini beside her. She was protecting all three of them with her shield, as they were easily visible from below, knowing there was no point in hiding. A few bullets had already pinged off the outside of the shield, but it seemed that the soldiers had learned their lesson after the last few times they'd tried to attack, and decided it wasn't worth wasting their ammunition.

"I've got my spears whenever you're ready to start a forest fire," said Gini, gazing round at the army. "Why are there so many soldiers? Surely this isn't just Dauntless..."

"It's not," said Virg, his voice filled with something that sounded like dread. It caused the other two to turn to him, wondering what he meant. "It's not just Dauntless," he repeated. "It's the entire city."

"All the other factions are here?" Asked Gini, with wonder. "Then what's happened to the Divergents from those factions?"

"Who knows," Virg breathed out heavily. "We can't ask those questions now. Let's get through today first. I think a forest fire sounds like a good idea."

Gini nodded, and picked up one of his spears from where they were sticking up out of the ground beside him, before holding out the end to Jordyn.

"Flames, please."

Jord lit the end of it for him, before Gini tossed it down into the forest below. The flames caught some of the nearby trees almost instantly, and the fire began to spread, causing a panic to ripple through the soldiers. They did the same again, starting another fire a little further along, and another, until they'd spread the flames like a barrier between the soldiers and themselves. Although it was not physically visible, Jord knew that Virg was tapping into the panic that was already taking grip of the army, turning it into something that was even more overwhelming.

"Are the others okay?" Gini asked him. "Can you sense them?"

"Only just," said Virg. "They're shielded as well, remember, and I don't want to weaken it by pushing through that. But they seem okay."

Ems was with Trent and Hannah at the entrance to the valley, which they'd affectionately termed the 'gate,' and Joe, Rory and Ox were round even further from Virg, Gini and Jord. They'd divided themselves into groups the thought would work best together, meaning each group had a shield with them. Every so often, a dull thud could be heard, as either Hannah or Ox made use of their rather large collection of boulders.

Jord kept a close eye on the fire, not wanting to allow it to get too out of hand, and trying to decide if she should try and contain it by toning down the energy of the fire itself, or using water to put some of it out. Even up on the ridge, they could feel the heat of it rising up to meet them, but the blonde girl did not judge it to be big enough to warrant her interference just yet. It was doing it's job, keeping the soldiers at bay, and that was good enough for now.

"This fire should be good for the time being," she said. "Let's move further along."

"Jord, they've got problems at the gate," said Virg. "People have broken through."

"Okay," she said, her voice lively with determination. "Let's go give them something to think about."

Gini took up several of his spears, and then the three of them began to make their way quickly over the rocky surfaces of the ridge. Jord used her telekinesis to pick up a large boulder she spied on the mountain side as they went along, flinging it out into the invaders below. Many soldiers had already been crushed in that manner, but they seemed to be replaced as soon as they were knocked off, a never ending stream of attackers.