The Last Elementalist

Chapter 6

Evie and Connor found their new mentor outside the house in a large clearing, sparring with a straw filled scarecrow. She hardly even broke a sweat. Her strong arms guided her as she spun and tossed punches and lethal kicks. Soon enough, she decapitated the scarecrow with only the toe of her new looking sneakers. The shoes seemed out of place being that her sweatshirt was muddied and her shirt and jeans torn in several places, but she enjoyed studying the miniature pictures and designs painted on them.

"Wow!" she heard Connor mutter in awe.

Lielle turned to them, brushing her golden tips out of her eyes. "Good, you're here," she heaved. She grabbed their arms and pulled them into the center of the clearing, handing them each a blade.

"I thought we were leaving," Evie said, nervous of this girl's abilities. "Now that they know where we are, they can easily find us. Shouldn't we get to Edmond as soon as we can?"

Lielle frowned. "They would have no problem tracking us either way if they put a tracker in the car, so I drove it a couple miles to a motel. Maybe they'll believe the trick, maybe not, but next time we might not be so lucky if it comes to confronting them. That is why you both need to learn to fight ASAP." She turned on her heel and strolled down to the side of the field, dragging in a new scarecrow. As she stuck it in the ground, she explained that she had taken many martial arts courses over the years, but once she became a red belt at age nine, she had stopped.

Connor went to help drag over another scarecrow as she informed the two of them of her gymnastics training from ages four to eleven and upon reaching level eight, stopped to train herself in putting her martial arts and gymnastics practices together, leaving more time for other passions.

She looked longingly into the distance. "I almost qualified for the Junior Olympics, but my father was in a bad accident so I dropped out."

"Is he okay?" Evie asked sincerely.

Lielle stared at her with sorrow. "He's dead," she said plainly, as she began to explain the proper starting stance.

* * * * *

Evie attempted kicks and punches during her mixed martial arts lesson, but always ended up face down in the dirt, even though no one was attacking. Connor seemed to be catching onto Lielle's flailing arms and legs. Or at least that's what it looked like to Evie. What use would she be in a fight if she couldn't properly use her fists to defend herself? Every time she missed the straw filled target, Lielle reassured her that it takes time to master these techniques. Well, Evie thought, I don't have years to master all these high-yas and booyakashas like you did. Evie knew that her temper came from the thought that Connor was already a pro at this and she was weak and thin as a twig.

As she pulled back her arm once more to toss another knuckle cracking punch, she channeled her anger into focusing on this one hit. Let your anger guide you, Evie advised herself. These people tried to kill you and your family. Focus.

Yanking her arm back, she imagined she was aiming at her captor. She let loose her fist throwing as much wait into it as she possibly could without tumbling onto the ground once more. Her fist connected with the straw with a faint thud and Evie managed to stand her ground for a couple seconds before tripping on a rock and face planting again. Lielle allowed a small smile to creep onto her face. Feeling accomplished that she managed a hit, she continued until her face was beaded with sweat and her arms and legs were sore to the point she could no longer stand.

After a nice picnic, the trio headed back to the clearing for target practice. The pistol was cold in Evie's hand as she pulled the trigger. Shots rang out as the children prepared for possible murder. What would happen to her mother's reputation if Evie were to kill someone on their journey? Would her mother keep it quiet and send Evie to boarding school? Would she tell everyone it was all an accident? Evie thought long and hard about this matter as she continued to aim at the scarecrow's face with the gun, jumping back a foot at each shot.

As she got better at pulling the trigger without fear, reloading and shooting became second nature to her. They spend two hours with the guns. Lielle practiced with a dart gun and a pistol while Connor raised a rifle on his shoulder. He shot his dummy square in the gut, causing Evie to wince. If that was a real human being would they all be so confident in shooting them? Evie kept these questions to herself as they all tore the scarecrows limb from limb.

Once the rain began to turn the ground to mud, the three of them went inside to dry off. They slumped in the sitting room with dusty mugs of unfiltered water on the coffee table in front of them. She stared at Lielle who was playing with her fingers and scraping the dirt from under her nails. She looked as if she had aged ten years over the course of the night. More responsible. Yes, that must be it.

When Lielle stalked off to take a shower, Connor turned to Evie and said, "So, what do you think of her?"

Evie looked at him warily. "She cares about what happens to us. I guess she's nice. She seems so sad though. Maybe throwing us on top of the burden of losing her family is too much for her."

"I don't know, Evie. That girl is strong. She could be dangerous if she decides to go against us. I'm not sure it would be the smartest idea for us to stop in Edmond. Even if we could seek shelter, wouldn't the mystery men expect her to go there if they're her, like, second cousins or something?"

Evie was wondering this too. "Maybe we could make her motives go against it. I could try to persuade her. I've always been quite convincing."

"Maybe," Connor frowned, "But first I want to know more about her before you bend her mind to your will. You know, stuff like why she was at that bank when she was, what else happened before that. We may even be able to get her to tell us what's in it for her returning us to DC."

Evie giggled. She did have a way of manipulating the mind. "Alright. Let's try." Evie laid her head against his chest and sighed. "I miss home."

"We'll get there soon," Connor assured her, his hair falling into his eyes, as he lowered them to look at her.

Evie had always liked this about him. He was so careless about how he looked, but he always looked great anyway. His baggy, wavy hair caught the sunlight when they sat on her roof or stood on his balcony. It reminded her of a summer sunset, the sky full of golden light, the same color as his shining hair, mixed with pink and purples and oranges. He was like an older brother to her. Lielle probably thought it was young love, but Evie knew that it would never happen. They were like family. One couldn't live without the other.

Thunder boomed overhead as they sat on the sofa, chatting and joking about whom was the better fighter or gunslinger until Lielle reentered the room.

She plugged in an old radio and switched it on. Static filled their ears and soon after the grave voice of Connor's father.

Connor's face went slack as he became increasingly pale. "Since when does the president speak on the radio for himself?" Lielle questioned him.

"He doesn't."