Elementals 13

    Fighting fire with fire not so good in this case. The flames are moving quickly and purposefully towards us. I grab Misha  who is starting to fall behind. I swoop her up and say "hold on." I pick up the pace struggling with the extra weight. I know that if the fire reaches us it won't burn me but Misha wouldn't recover from burns like these. I hold on to a tiny ray of hope that the retrievers are just scouting and don't know for sure where we are. 

    As I get closer to the tree I see a large crack opening in the ground. It's coming from the opposite direction of the fire. I'm trapped when I reach the tree so close to the cabin. At this point they have me and I decide to fight our way out. I put Misha down and tell her to stand behind me holding onto my waist no matter what. Her eyes wide with fear and shock she obeys me. I don't have the ability to close the gap that now stands between me and the cabin but I do have dominion over fire. 

     I summon as much energy as I can on this moonless night and concentrate. The flames start to retreat, I push them back towards the area they came from. Just as I begin to feel relieved that it worked a man wearing black pants and a rusty red shirt that appears to have been tie dyed with black so that he looks like walking flames appears. He stands between us and the space I just cleared. His hands out stretched and his mouth open. The last of the flames are retreating into the palms of his hands and his mouth. When he has absorbed them he exhales a thin stream of smoke and says "Now Roxie, that wasn't very nice was it?". 

   It's been a long time since I've faced off with a powerful Elemental and I'm not sure how to respond. My eyes dart back and forth looking for an escape. We could make a run for it, but I doubt we'd even make it by him. "We are not here to hurt you." He says calmly. "Just give us the girl and we'll be on our way". My mind is racing while I try to stall. "Us, how many of you are here?"I ask. "Enough" he replies. "What will happen to her?" I ask him. I want him to think I'm considering handing Misha over. I feel her dig her nails into my waist. 

   "That has yet to be decided" he says moving closer to us. I put my hands on Misha's wrist and we shuffle backwards being careful of the crack in the earth that is now large enough for us to fall in. In this moment I regret how I've let myself become so lax in my training. I wish I had more confidence in defending Misha and myself. I decide to tackle him the way I had done Alexis on our first day of training. I can distract him while Misha runs. I plant my feet and start to pull Misha's hands off my waist when I hear something coming from behind us.