Untamed

Chapter 14

***Welcome back to a magical land of fourth wall breaks, deceptive romance, and...the death story of Rumi's parents?!***

***(Lloyd's POV)***

I hear rocks and clods of dirt pelt the top of the earth drill. The ground trembles beneath me, and I begin to cough at all the dust filling my lungs. I guess my ninja hood must've been lost in transit.

Nya tries to cover my nose with her sleeve while Cole grunts in pain. He splays his hands on either side of the vehicle, keeping soil from burying us under here.

With the side of my body that isn't entirely in agony, I cling to Nya, my best friend and quite possibly the last person I'll ever see in this world.

And suddenly, the roaring of falling dirt stops.

I take a huge breath. "Everyone okay?"

"Fine," Cole wheezes, still using his powers to keep the SUV from collapsing on us. And to keep our oxygen supply from being crowded by dirt, which would be bad.

"Do you need a drink?" Nya asks Cole, uncovering my face.

"Yes, please," he grunts.

In the dark, I hear her wiggle over to him.

I harness the bit of sanity left in my head. "We need to keep talking to a minimum, so as not to waste oxygen. Chances are, it will be a little while before our team or the authorities can get us out from under here. That means no talking."

"Tell yourself that," Nya grumbles.

"How are you doing, Cole?" I ask, ignoring her sass.

"Worse than before," he sighs. "Trying to hold up a vehicle that weighs two tons isn't easy. Lloyd...I hate to break it to you, but I don't know if your father or that freak who was after us made it. We're buried" – he lets out a groan of pain – "we're buried twenty feet under the surface."

I clench my eyes shut. I don't like the idea of anyone dying, even if they're evil.

And that guy in the ugly mask...he saved my life. I have a duty to make sure he gets out of here safely.

Nya comes to nestle herself beside me. "Are you thirsty?"

"A little. Limit using your powers, okay? We need to save our fresh air."

"Got it, boss." She transports a small spurt of water into my mouth.

To be honest, I've been in worse situations before. I'm pretty sure. I mean, I've been in scarier situations. There was the fire at Kai and Nya's place this summer, or literally any of the times some thug has come at me with a knife.

This is just a matter of waiting and not wasting air.

Cole grunts. "Guys...I don't know how much longer I can keep this thing from crushing us."

Nya wriggles over to him, and I can hear her shaking his shoulders. "Pull yourself together, man!"

I wince at a jab in my side. "Theoretically, I could blast our way out of here, but it'd take the two of us working together, Cole."

"And I could keep you guys hydrated," Nya suggests. "See, I'm good at more than just communications!"

"Now is not the time to argue your worth," I growl. "Cole, are you up to try it?"

"I'm up for anything that gets us out of here without suffocating or being crushed."

"All right, then," I say, bracing myself. "On the count of three, I'm blowing a big hole in this thing, and you're keeping that hole from filling in with your earth powers."