Alix closed her eyes and released her link to the storm. Almost immediately she started to feel better and the storm clouds started dissolving. She felt Ben’s hand on her shoulder and that made her smile.
“Better now?” he asked.
“Yes. I feel like myself again.”
“Good,” he said taking his hand back.
The drive to the next set of fires was filled with small roads and lots of smoke. Just over three hours later they were in a town called Alturas. It was well past lunchtime and the snacks Natalie brought were long gone. They found a small diner to eat in then headed north to the forest.
Once again, they went as far as they could. Kris parked, they got out and made their protective circle around Alix as she prepared to create another storm.
As Alix gripped the Power Stone in her hand, she could feel that this fire was bigger and more intense than the last one. She could tell it hadn’t rained here in a very long time. She sent out her energy to find water to use to make her storm, but everything here was so dry. This was going to be harder than last time. She was going to have to try something different.
Alix sat cross-legged on the ground. She set the Power Stone on the ground in front of her, pressed her tattoo into it and put her left hand over her right. She blocked out what was around her and sent all of her energy into the ground to search for water. Minutes went by with nothing. Then, deep, deep underground she found a huge reserve of water. She started pulling it up towards the surface. Even with the tremendous amount of energy from the Stone it took a lot of effort. Water always tried to find the easiest path and that definitely wasn’t the one that defied gravity.
Eventually, she was able to get enough water to start creating her storm. She was creating the rain clouds as soon as the water was hitting the surface. Alix had no idea how long she’d been sitting there but was relieved when she felt the rain hit her hands. She didn’t let up on the energy though. She was only focused on the water and it was going to take everything she had to extinguish this fire.
Little by little she could feel the fire getting smaller. Finally, she felt the last of the fire go out where the rain was hitting it. She released the water and the Power Stone, letting go of the magic.
She finally opened her eyes and couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There were three unconscious people on the ground with their three Warriors standing over them. Ben, Natalie, Rick, Kris, and Sonya were standing around her ready to fight and Shay was sitting right behind her. She looked closer at the people on the ground. Their blue auras gave them away as Grynn.
“Oh my God,” Alix said. “What happened?”
“We were attacked by Grynn while you were making the storm,” Kris said.
“Was there just the three of them?” Alix asked.
“So far, but we need to be really careful from now on,” he said.
Alix tried to stand up and almost fell.
Ben reached out to steady her. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yes, just tired, I think. This storm was difficult to create, even with the Power Stone. What are we going to do with them?” Alix asked pointing at the Grynn.
“I don’t want to risk taking them with us, but we can’t just leave them here,” Kris said.
“I have an idea,” Alix said leaning heavily on Ben. “I can try to change their memories like Shelley did with Victor. We can’t let it get back to François that they found me.”
“But you can hardly stand Alix,” Ben said as she gripped his arm.
“I know but we can’t just leave them like this. I have to try something. Can you please move them all to the same place,” she said.
The Warriors dragged them to where Alix was while everyone else remained vigilant. They had no idea if there would be more Grynn or not.
Alix retrieved the Stone from the ground and put it in her right hand. She curled her fingers around it and let the magic flow through her.
“Holy crap,” Ben said beside her. He still had a hold of her arm. “I can feel the magic in you with the Stone. That’s amazing Alix.”
She just nodded and concentrated on what she wanted to happen. With the increased energy from the Stone, she was able to take care of all three Grynn at once. She sifted through their memories of finding her and fighting with the Warriors. She replaced those memories with ones about running from the fire and getting lost. She made them think they collapsed due to the smoke. She put the Stone away and had the Warriors arrange them so that it looked like they passed out on the ground. They would be unconscious for a few hours, so their group would be long gone.
It was too late in the day to try to put out more fires and Alix was too tired to even try. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if she was unconscious due to exhaustion. When she got in the van this time she sat between Shay and Ben. She needed the comfort they provided. They were going back to the safe house in Redding for the night and would deal with the rest of the fires tomorrow.
It was after 8:00 by the time they got back. Kris dropped everyone off at the house, then he and Sonya went to pick up dinner for everyone. Alix plopped down on the couch in front of the TV. Rick had turned it on to see what the news was saying. She listened to the news announcer.
“With a huge stroke of luck in California, two separate storms extinguished approximately half of the fires today. Northern California has been without rain for over one hundred days, continuing their three-year long drought. Firefighters are still struggling with the remaining two hundred and thirty-one fires. Let’s hope this lucky rain continues.”
That made Alix smile. Yes, she was tired beyond belief, but it was worth it to be helping so many people.
Twenty minutes later Kris and Sonya were back with several pizzas. Everyone was starving and the pizzas were gone in no time.
It wasn’t even 9:00 but Alix was ready to sleep.
“I’m going to bed,” she said to the room. “We need to get an early start in the morning. Kris, can you plan out the best route for getting to the fires tomorrow?”
“Of course, Alix,” he replied.
“Thank you. Good night everyone,” she said as she left the room.
Ben and Shay followed her. She went to grab her bag, but Ben beat her to it.
“I don’t want you to fall down the stairs trying to drag your bag with you,” he told her smiling.
“That’s actually a possibility, so thank you, Ben.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
The three of them walked up the stairs to the second floor. There were only six bedrooms so some of them were going to have to double up.
“Shay,” Alix said, “do you want to stay with me?”
“Of course, I do. That’s a silly question,” Shay said with a grin.
“Good. Ben, since there aren’t enough rooms for everyone can you please figure out who’s going to sleep where.”
“You got it. I overheard Kris say that someone will be on watch all night so that frees up one room.”
“Grynn can’t come on the property, do you think that’s really necessary?” Alix asked.
“After what happened today, I don’t think anyone is taking any chances,” Ben said.
“Okay. Kris can do what he feels is needed. He knows more about this stuff than we do.”
Alix heard her phone ringing. She scrambled to dig it out of her bag. It was James.
“Hello James,” she said as she answered.
“Alix, I just saw the news. I don’t know how you did it, but I see that half the fires are out in California. Tremendous work Alix.”
“Thank you.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to get there until tomorrow. How did you manage that?” he asked.
Alix told him about the blue door in the room of rooms. Then she told him about how she was able to put out the fires. Lastly, she told him about the Grynn.
“Outstanding Alix, that is amazing news about the fires but not so much about the Grynn. When do you think you’ll have all th
e fires under control? I think the sooner you can leave there the better it will be for you.”
“I’m hoping tomorrow. Kris is planning our route and I hope that the closer we are to the ocean the more water will be available. The last fire really took its toll on me. Don’t worry about the Grynn here. I have five Warriors and Ben here to protect me. How’s it going everywhere else?”
“To be honest it’s not great. We’ve gotten a little bit of a handle on helping the people affected by the natural disasters the Grynn created but we can’t even begin to touch the violence right now.”
That’s not what Alix wanted to hear. “I don’t know how we’re going to stop that. It’s easier to help people that it is to stop them from fighting each other.”
“You’re right Alix but we have to find a way. The fate of the world rests on us stopping the Grynn. I know it’s a lot to take in but the whole of the Nykara people will be doing their best to fight this.”
“I know,” Alix said. “I’ll call you tomorrow when we get back to the safe house here.”
“Alix, good luck and be extremely careful. The world needs you more now than ever. Goodbye.”
James hung up before Alix could say goodbye.
“Well that was cheerful,” she mumbled.
“What was that all about?” Shay asked.
Alix relayed the conversation with James.
“So, what does that mean for us?” Shay asked.
“I don’t know,” Alix replied. “I can’t see how we’re going to be able to get this under control.”
“Well I don’t think you need to worry about that at the moment Alix,” Ben told her. “What you need right now is a good night’s sleep.”
“Yes, I do.”
Shay and Ben left the room and Alix got ready for bed. She called her mom to update her on what had happened during the day. Alix hung up and she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Chapter 22
Alix was woken up the next morning by Shay gently shaking her.
“Come on sleepyhead, wake up,” she heard Shay say.
“What time is it?” Alix mumbled.
“5:30.”
That got Alix’s attention. “5:30? Why so early? And what the heck are you doing up before me?”
Shay laughed at her. “I know, crazy huh. Remember we have to get an early start today? I waited until the last possible minute to wake you up. Everyone else is already awake. Natalie and Rick are making breakfast, so get your butt in the shower and get ready.”
“Fine Miss Bossy Pants,” Alix said.
Shay smiled at her. “See you downstairs.”
Alix crawled out of bed and headed to the shower. She couldn’t believe Shay had gotten up before her and she hadn’t even noticed. Creating that last storm had really drained her energy. By the time she was finished her shower she felt like herself again. When she got to the kitchen everyone was just sitting down to eat.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Alix asked as she joined them at the table.
“That’s actually the reason that we’re up so early,” Kris told her. “Some of the fires grew overnight so we need to get going as quickly as we can.”
“Where are we headed?” she asked.
“West, toward the ocean. The fires you put out yesterday are still out and show no signs of coming back to life.”
“At least that’s good news,” Alix said. “What’s happening in the rest of the world?”
“There haven’t been any reports of new disasters or added violence, but it’s still a mess out there. Do you know what’s happening after we’re done here?” Kris asked her.
“No. I have to call James when we finish with the fires,” she told him.
They did a quick cleanup of the kitchen and were on the road. Alix wasn’t as nervous as yesterday and took more time to enjoy the scenery. Northern California was beautiful. She hoped she could put out the fires quickly so she could save some of the natural beauty. With renewed determination, she gathered energy into her as they drove.
Roughly three hours later they were at the first fire site of the day. Alix took out the Power Stone and repeated what she did yesterday. It was much easier than fighting the second fire yesterday. She hadn’t realized how difficult pulling the water out of the ground would be. Being closer to the ocean there were more water sources making it easier to create the storms. The only thing different was that those protecting her were extra vigilant. They didn’t know if the Grynn would find them again.
By the end of the day, they’d repeated the process two more times but all of the forest fires in California were now extinguished. And as an added bonus there had been no further encounters with the Grynn.
It was late by the time they returned to the safe house in Redding. Everyone was wet and tired but happy to have accomplished their goal. Kris turned on the TV to see the latest news.
“In a miraculous set of weather events today several rain storms helped firefighters contain the remaining forest fires in northern California. According to the Forestry Service, there had been over four hundred fires start in a twelve-hour period that began on the evening of Christmas Day. They believe that most of the fires were man-made. No suspects have been named and no charges have been filed yet.
“In other news, the violence in the Middle East has reached an all-time high in the last five years. It appears that a series of small events triggered the renewed fighting. American, Canadian and French troops are preparing to enter the battle zone in hopes of de-escalating the violence.
“The latest confirmed death toll in Japan is over eight hundred dead and thousands injured. This was the strongest earthquake in Japan’s history. According to government officials, the damage is in the billions of dollars and will take years to recover from.
“In Brazil, the unknown virus has yet to be contained. So far two hundred and twelve people have died. The World Health Organization has stopped all travel in and out of the country. The CDC is working on determining what the virus is and how to stop it.
“The biggest snow event in Russian history has slowed. Our weather correspondent in Russia described it like a hurricane on land only with snow. Some places in Russia have seen up to twenty feet of snow in the last forty-eight hours. Much of the country is without power and we don’t know how long it will be until it’s restored.
“The mourning in India continues for the second day over the death of their President. Rioting has broken out in several cities as the people want answers to why and how their leader was killed. As of yet, we have not received any reports as to the details of the murder.”
“This is just awful,” Shay said as they listened. “How is the world going to recover from all of this?”
“I don’t know Shay, but it will,” Alix told her. “I guess I should call James and see what’s happening on his end.”
Alix dialed James. He answered on the first ring.
“Alix, I saw that the fires are out in California. That’s the best news I’ve gotten all day. Is everyone okay there? Anymore encounters with the Grynn?”
“No, it was all clear today. What’s next?” Alix asked him.
“I’m going to need your help with the virus that’s attacking the people of Brazil. We are positive it’s Grynn created but we have no knowledge of what it is. We have some Nykara that work with the CDC and are currently in Brazil trying to find a cure. This is the most pressing thing at the moment. It’s spreading so quickly we have to get it under control.”
“Okay, where do we go?”
“There’s a Nykara safe house about an hour outside of Rio de Janeiro. I’ll have someone meet you there tomorrow. Good luck Alix, I’ll be in touch,” James said and hung up.
Alix ended the call and set her phone down. How was she supposed to stop a virus? That sounded impossible.
“What’s with the long face, Alix?” Natalie asked.
“That was James on the phone. He wants us to go to Brazil and stop
the virus. We’re supposed to meet with someone from the CDC at a Nykara safe house outside of Rio de Janeiro tomorrow.”
“Wow,” Ben said.
“Yeah,” Alix replied. “What do I know about viruses? If the CDC and WHO can’t figure it out what the heck am I supposed to do?”
Ben sat down beside her and took her hand in his. He turned her palm up and rubbed his thumb on her tattoo. “Yesterday you didn’t know how you were going to stop the forest fires and look how well you handled that. You are the Chosen One Alix, you can do anything you set your mind to. I have no idea how to stop a virus but if anyone can help those people in Brazil it’s you.”
Ben’s words were secondary to the look he was giving her. She could see the confidence he had in her. She had to remember that she wasn’t in this alone and had great people surrounding her.
“Thank you, Ben, and thank you all for coming with me. I know for a fact that there’s no way I’d be able to do this without you guys. This trip is dangerous and filled with unknowns but none of you hesitated to join me.”
“We’re with you all the way,” Ben said.
There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the room. Alix felt extremely lucky in that moment. She might be the Chosen One but there was no way she could face this alone. Her birth parents had done right by asking her mom and dad to take her to Sunset Creek.
It was going to be another early start in the morning, so the room emptied quickly with everyone finding their way to a bed. Someone was still going to be on patrol during the night. Alix called her mom and dad to update them on how it was going. She also told them she loved them and that she was the luckiest person to have them for parents. Finally, she and Shay crawled into bed.
“Are you okay?” Shay asked her.
“I think so. I just have no clue about how to help the people in Brazil. I mean, sure I have the Power Stone but how is that going to help me wipe out a virus. It increases my energy but how is that going to be translated into a cure. I just hope that our contact in the CDC has some kind of idea of what to do. Any help is going to be welcome tomorrow. Are you sure you still want to come with me?”
Chaos Page 15