by Holly Hook
Janelle beat the back of Mel's chair. "Come on. Can't this thing go faster than seventy?" Janelle glanced to her side again at the approaching wall and smacked the back of the chair again as if Mel were a horse. "I know it can. I'll pay for the gas. Just go!"
The frantic pitch in her voice made Leslie hug Paul harder from the side. He hugged her back, said nothing, and stood.
"Paul--" Leslie started.
Paul and Kenna stared out the window at the dust. Blue sky grew scarcer and scarcer. What would it be like inside a dust storm? Dark, if Andrina could hide inside of it. Like the storm Leslie herself had floated through a few days ago when she had her first--
"Oh, no." She leapt off the cot and ran to join Janelle. "Mel, you have to step on it. If she catches up to us, it's all over. She'll make me give Janelle my breath and make her a goddess like her. Then she'll release me and Paul both." She faced her friend, who stared at her with wide, gray eyes. "Sorry. I didn't want to say that."
"It's true." Janelle stood quietly now, staring at the road ahead. "She won't stop until that happens."
The camper's engine whined with speed. A car passed by on the other side of the road, probably headed to the rest area. The wall of dust grew across the space ahead of them. It was definitely growing closer by the second. Fat arms of tan and brown reached towards their path ahead. They weren't going to avoid the storm.
"I won't do it," Leslie assured her. "You know that I won't. Besides, what has she got on me now? We're in a desert. No thunderstorms. It's not like I can have an Outbreak out here." As soon as she said that, she knew she was wrong. Andrina could use Paul as leverage. What would she do if the goddess was holding him there, threatening to yank him out of his body forever and make him serve her? She wasn't sure, but she did know that she could never bear to see him vaporize and fly away.
Janelle glanced back at him. He still stood with Kenna, conversing with her in a quiet voice. They must be coming up with some kind of battle strategy. It wouldn't work. Kenna's elements were earth and fire, not the sky. Heights terrified her. Water paralyzed her. She was useless against a goddess who could fly and control it like--
There was no water in this desert. Only dirt and sand. They might have a chance.
"Pull over!" Leslie ordered Mel. "I have a plan."
At first Mel didn't even turn his head. The engine continued to whine and the dust overtook the road ahead. The sun still shone. That wouldn't last long.
Janelle swallowed. "Do it. That's an order." She glanced at Leslie. "I hope you have some great idea."
Mel slammed on the brakes. Leslie staggered and barely missed running into Sophia and Gary. The camper stopped with a final lurch.
Everyone stared at her. Paul. Sophia. Even Kenna. No one said a word. It was time to speak.
"I think I know a way out," she said. Talking fast was her talent. "We light a fire. Kenna uses fire travel to take us out of here."
Gary shook his head. "That won't work. The wind in the dust storm will blow it out before we can all get out of here."
He was right. Leave it to Janelle's boyfriend to always point out the negative.
The answer to this wouldn't please anyone. "We'll have to light it in here, then. We sacrifice the camper."
She waited for a round of protests.
There were none. Paul looked out the window again.
"I agree," he said.
Kenna already dug through her backpack for her matches. "I need something to burn!" She waved for someone to hand her something. "Even a small fire will work. But I can only take one person through at a time. Open a window, though. We don't need anyone dying of smoke inhalation."
Leslie wasn't crazy about traveling through a tunnel of lava way under the earth hundreds of miles to some other place, but they had no other options. At least she'd be unconscious. She hoped. It was a trip she hadn't dared take before.
"Janelle leaves first," Gary said, shouldering his way to Kenna. His hazel eyes darkened a shade. "Don't go too far. We need you back here fast."
Someone--probably Paul--handed Kenna a shirt, because it read Executioner across the front. A match struck and flames spewed up over it. A bitter smell filled the camper. Kenna tossed the shirt and the match to the floor. The stench of smoke filled the cramped space, sending Sophia and Paul towards the door. Gary pushed open a window, letting precious fresh air inside, but it only made the flames on the floor leap higher.
"Stay near the window," he shouted. "We all need air." He muscled his way to the front, accidentally shoving Leslie in the process, and dragged Janelle to Kenna.
"Watch where--" Leslie started.
"Gary--" Janelle said.
Kenna took her other arm. Gary released it, gave Janelle a peck on the cheek, and backed away.
"Go," Leslie told her. "You're the one Andrina wants the most."
Janelle dragged her feet, silent. Kenna pulled her straight at the flames, giving her no time. It made Leslie feel a little better about taking the trip. It seemed that no one except Kenna was very willing.
And then, the two of them vanished into thin air.
"You're next," Paul said, appearing next to her. He planted a kiss on her cheek. "You should take Sophia with you. Gary, Mel and I will go last."
"Makes sense," the other girl said. "Hyrokkin will protect me from burning. Kenna can take us at the same time."
Leslie coughed. Tears filled her vision. From the smoke, or from--"Paul, promise me you won't go last. I mean it."
"Okay," he said, joining her. His features blurred. "I promise you that."
"I'll be the last," Mel said. He coughed, taking Kenna's advice to get near the window.
Leslie took Paul's arm and joined him, squeezing against the wall and sucking in precious oxygen. "I'm not sure how much more of this my lungs can take, guys. Someone open the door."
The dust outside loomed closer, so close that it looked like it might devour the camper at any second. She gagged and stuck her face through the window. Breathed in. Out. "Okay. Your turn, Paul."
"Not until I do this."
He pressed his lips to hers, desperate and wanting.
It seemed to last forever, chasing away the dust storm and the horror that would come with it. But a thud made them break apart a second later. Kenna had returned without Janelle. She must have been gone for seconds.
"I got her across the border. I think," Kenna puffed. She showed no sign of the smoke bothering her. The fire burned brighter at her feet, filling the camper with haze. She motioned to Leslie. It seemed she'd read Paul's mind or the expression on her face. "Come on. You and Sophia."
"We don't have long," Gary shouted from the door. He hung in it like a spider, arms and legs splayed. Sophia stood behind him, face over his arm and gasping for air.
"Come on!" Kenna shouted.
Sophia pulled her shirt over her nose, staring wide-eyed at the fire. "Not thrilled about another trip through Lava Express."
"You'll be fine!" Kenna lunged and took Sophia's arm. Leslie held hers out, trying not to look at the flames dancing in Kenna's eyes. She wanted one more glimpse of Paul, just in case Kenna didn't get back here in time. It made sense that the men were last to go, but her heart ached with the terror. Why did he have to stay and wait?
The air outside was turning tanner by the second.
The dust storm had reached them.
"Go!" Paul yelled through the haze. Kenna yanked her backwards, making her crash into Sophia. Heat rippled over her legs, but no pain came with it. It felt like it was washing over a protective layer on top of her skin, superheating the air and ignoring her.
Leslie went to yell Paul's name, but the world snapped into blackness and she was gone.
* * * * *
Paul breathed a sigh of relief when Leslie disappeared.
She was out of here. Gone. On a trip away from Andrina. Only he, Gary, and Mel remained huddled at the front of the camper, trying to stay away from the thickening smoke in their spac
e. A wind gust made the vehicle rattle as his favorite Executioner shirt, the one his dad had gotten him for his last birthday, lay on the floor and continued to burn. It was the last present his dad had gotten for him. His Netbook from his Uncle Tanner was in here somewhere, too, but he didn't have time to find that. Besides, it had some ugly memories attached, even if he had reconciled things with his uncle.
Leaving it was better than letting Andrina destroy his body and force him into a permanent Outbreak.
"Captain Obvious says the dust storm's here," Gary said, slowly whirling in a circle. "Brace yourselves."
Paul tensed, all the relief gone. For the first time, terror started to fill him like polluted water.
Gary wasn't lying. The air outside turned a darker and darker tan by the second. Something in the structure of the camper whistled. Grains pelted the camper outside. It sounded like sleet. Paul had heard some once when he and his dad were living in Nebraska.
The air shifted to orange and faded to black. Day turned to night. The wall of dust had overtaken them.
"You're next," Paul said to Gary, resisting the urge to shove in front of him and make Kenna take him to Leslie right this second. He coughed on the thickening smoke, blinking tears away. "Andrina will want to use you to get to Janelle."
"But--" Gary protested.
"He's right," Mel said. The older man was huddled in the driver's chair, holding a napkin over his nose. There was no escaping the oppressive air. Inside they had to deal with smoke. Outside and the dust would probably blind them--and worse.
Kenna appeared again from the flames, gasping for breath and looking from Paul and Mel and back to Gary. The smoke didn't faze her. Her look was all business. If she saw the conditions outside, she didn't show it. "Next?"
"Gary," Paul said, shoving him forward. It was an easy win. Gary didn't have his Tempest powers out here so far from the ocean. Paul had his Outbreaker strength every day no matter what.
Something big landed on the camper roof above, making a huge thud.
Gary swore, whirling in a circle.
Outside, the darkness closed in. The camper groaned and creaked under the stress of the wind.
The storm goddess was here.
Paul recoiled, crouching down and trying to put as much distance between himself and Andrina as he could. Kenna pulled Gary back into the fire without looking back. They had no time left.
Only he and Mel remained…and the monster above them.
Paul exchanged a glance with the older man. Mel leaned back against the dash and let out a breath. He seemed resigned. Calm, even.
The familiar electric feeling filled the air, crackling. Paul's hair stood on end. The feeling grew stronger with each second. He closed his eyes. There was nothing neither Mel nor him could do against her. As soon as she entered the camper, they'd both be paralyzed in her presence, their free will gone.
Then she would pounce.
Then they would vaporize.
Leslie would be wherever Kenna had taken her now, frantic. If he made it there, she'd either envelop him in a hug or slap him for staying this long. Either would be good. Andrina didn't have a reason to not release him from his human form now. He wasn't that important anymore. She had Leslie to turn Janelle.
The flames started to flicker down on the shirt but the carpet caught fire. Shadows got long on Mel's face. He fumbled in his pocket for something. Paul's eyes burned. The darkness managed to grow deeper outside, so much that it looked like the dead of night. This felt like the end of the world.
An awful scratch sounded above them…and then the sounds of metallic ripping.
"Get back," he whispered, joining Mel at the steering wheel. Maybe they could drive away and shake her off.
Yeah, right. They had a bread's chance of that, especially since they couldn't see outside.
The smoke raced upwards through the sudden opening. A scream of rage sounded above. Andrina must have smelled it. Figured out what Kenna had done. The sound filled the air and exploded inside Paul's head. He squeezed his hands over his ears, but it was no use. The invasion of sound threatened to split his head open. Next to him, Mel did the same.
The sound died only to have another screech of ripping metal take its place.
She stared down through the opening now, grayish-blue eyes swirling with rage. Her blond hair looked unnatural, perfectly styled even in the wind outside.
The goddess's eyes focused right on Paul and narrowed. It did nothing to hide the horror within.
"Where is she?"
He flinched. Andrina's voice sounded like a hundred freight trains all on a crash course with each other.
Paul would face this moment in his nightmares for the rest of his life.
If he said anything, he didn't hear it over the wind. The camper rocked with the force of a gust. He tried to step back again, but his legs had stopped working. The goddess's presence had already taken its hold on him.
Mel appeared next to him, shoving something into his hand. A cell phone, maybe. He couldn't tell with all the smoke assaulting his eyes and his nose, but he could feel the old man's arm trembling.
Mel knew he wasn't going to make it out of here. At least, not in human form.
"Mel…" Paul started. But he couldn't finish. The older man gave him a grave look and nodded. He knew what it meant.
There was nothing either one of them could do about it.
Andrina swung her legs down through the opening. A pair of sharp, surgical high heels dropped and she landed only a few feet from the fire. If she weren't wearing a gray business suit and scowling with those awful eyes, she would have mirrored Janelle in almost every way.
The goddess took a step towards him, and another. She advanced like a predator, a shark, maybe. "May I repeat myself? Where is my daughter?"
Paul fought to say something, anything. Every part of him had locked.
The fire brightened a bit and Kenna reappeared.
Andrina looked at her, but there were no words. There wasn't time. Kenna took Paul's arm, yanking him at the fire.
"No!" Paul turned. Reached for Mel.
But the man stood tall, accepting his fate. If he went through the fire with them now, he or Paul would die. If he stayed, he'd be released.
"Hold on," Kenna yelled.
The smoke thickened and heat enveloped Paul, painless.
The last thing he saw before blacking out was Andrina growling, advancing on Mel and putting her hand on his forehead. Even through the thick smoke, he couldn't miss the form of Mel snapping into a gray mist and floating away with the smoke, or that last look on the man's face before he dissipated. If Paul didn't know better, he would have thought it was relief.
Chapter Three
Kenna wanted to kill something. Pound it with her fists, break it, burn it.
Mel had been like a grandfather to Janelle. She wouldn't take the news well.
Not at all.
Kenna had never wanted to murder Andrina more.
But the farther she traveled through the lava tunnel with an unconscious Paul in tow, the more the dread inside her replaced the rage. She'd have to deliver the news.
She wasn't sure how. The impending dread of it almost made her let go of Paul, but she kept a hold of his arm. The speed they were going at threatened to pull his shoulder out of its socket. No one had ever been injured while fire traveling with her, but she didn't want to ruin her record now.
The tunnel in front of her seethed and boiled as the earth itself opened to let her through. It was always a good thing that everyone she pulled through this mess blacked out through the whole trip. If Paul was awake and struggling, he might jar himself loose from her protection and burn.
But Mel…
She squeezed her eyes shut. The seething and bubbling grew louder, smashing her eardrums. Mel broke apart again and again. No speed she could travel would leave it behind.
Maybe she should have stayed and fought. She'd waited for that moment since Andrina had bet
rayed her back at Yellowstone. But the fire might have killed Paul and Mel both if she'd used it against Andrina. It was a no win situation.
She would go back and fight once she had Paul safe, then.
Kenna was the only one who could at all.
She opened her eyes and rejoined the world. The earth broke in front of her, pulling apart like molten gum. Her speed increased. Kenna thought of the land above, keeping along its curve, doing anything she could to keep from traveling under that ocean. If she accidentally came out of an underwater vent, not only would Paul be crushed by the ocean's pressure. She'd get trapped in the water and never be able to move again.
Uh, oh.
She sensed something else pass above, something massive, alive, and seething.
Kenna had felt something like this before, not only back home, but at Yellowstone.
A volcano.
She had passed directly underneath one.
It's not a big deal, she thought. It was only for a second. Not enough to make it erupt.
Definitely not enough.
She had other things to worry about, like Andrina back at that camper. The goddess was probably tearing it apart to figure out where they were headed.
Good thing Janelle had left no clues.
The tunnel sloped upwards ahead of her, the signal that her ride was done. Kenna couldn't help but brace herself. These were never smooth landings.
She and Paul tumbled onto a linoleum floor. The impact made spots flare in her vision. Kenna released him. Feet clad in tennis shoes dodged out of the way. Someone said something over the sound of a pan falling on the floor. The smell of cooking grease hit her. Kenna yanked her feet out of the flaming oven she had fallen out of. The heat tickled her shins and was gone.
Hopefully her friends didn't mind landing in a kitchen in a different country.
Paul groaned, rolled over, and pushed himself up. He had no time to catch a breath before Leslie smothered him in a hug.