Page 10 of 3013: Hellion

“You—what? Holy shit, the scratch marks are gone!” Eddie paused, then said, “Can you let us down now? And why are you dry when we are soaking wet?”

The boy’s manners were appalling, but she would give him a pass considering they had just encountered a horde of brain-eating zombies. Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to release them, she destroyed the net.

The boys let out startled screams as they fell, but she stopped their descent with a cushion of air that dried them as they were slowly lowered to the ground. Once the boys were safely on the ground, they attempted to act like they hadn’t been terrified a few seconds ago.

“Thanks for that. So, what should we do now?” Cosmo asked. “There are other people on the island who could be in danger. Should we go find them?”

She was planning on doing exactly that once she found somewhere she could stash the boys. “I will find them.”

“We can help,” Eddie insisted. “Can I have one of those magic whips?”

She eyed him with speculation. “Have you ever used a whip before?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Nay, you may not. You are more likely to damage yourself using one than it doing you any good defensively.”

Eddie pouted a little. “That’s a good point. We need weapons, though. We have holo-blasters that we used for the game, but I don’t think they will work now that the zombies are real. What if we encounter more of them?”

“I will destroy them.”

Since the boys looked extremely disappointed, she gave in and created bronze-hued metal daggers for them. The weapons had spirals of glittering black minerals in them and were laced with magic so the males wouldn’t cut themselves. Their faces immediately brightened like stars as they gripped the hilts of the daggers in their hands.

“Wow! Thanks!” Eddie exclaimed as he swiped the air with his knife. “I’m Eddie, by the way. And this is my friend, Cosmo.”

“Jaya Tesera.”

Cosmo studied his own blade with wide eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like this. What is it made of?”

“It is a metal found within the heart of the mountains on Tartarus. I believe the black minerals in the metal are used in your jump drives.”

Cosmo grinned. “That’s awesome!”

“Now we can kill some zombies,” Eddie exclaimed.

Shaking her head at their enthusiasm, Jaya glanced around. She didn’t want to go back the way she came since that would lead them back to the section with the alien insects. Deciding to head in the opposite direction, she began walking, confident they would follow her.

The boys began peppering her with questions as they walked. Some were about her race and her travels with her sister, which she gladly answered. Other questions they asked were more personal, but she simply ignored anything she didn’t want to answer.

The boys were slightly annoying, but their inquisitive natures and craving for adventure reminded her a little of her younger brothers, Riko and Nox.

They’d been walking for a while when the sky overhead became supercharged with energy. She raised up a protective shield just in time to block a lightning strike, then she transported the boys directly under a nearby overpass as the wind kicked up and started whirling into a narrow cyclone. She made sure they were safe by preventing them from leaving the safe space until she allowed them out.

When several more tornados formed, she secured her feet to the ground and watched. The weather phenomenon was highly unusual, and she wanted to study it up close. She wasn’t sure what was causing it, but she found the sight of so many tornados spinning in formation strangely beautiful.

“What are you doing?” Eddie called out. “Get away from those things.”

“This is a natural disaster zone,” Cosmo shouted. “Anything and everything in this area can try to kill us out here!”

She frowned at that. If the tornados were part of the program, that meant there was probably some sort of mechanism or machine that was being used to alter the weather.Since she had no idea where to begin looking for that, she could simply disperse the clouds instead.

Before she could do that, she sensed movement coming in fast to the left. Turning, she readied herself for whatever was headed her way. Her breath caught as she saw a magnificent male with a pair of large white wings spread wide flying toward her.

He was like a beacon of light in the darkness.

Her enhanced vision allowed her to see him clearly through the rain. Although he was dressed all in black and had on a pair of glasses that partially hid his face, what she saw of him was enough to know he was handsome and seriously built. Those majestic wings proved he was of the D’Aire race, but his short black hair and wider, muscular body revealed he was most likely of mixed heritage.

Through the transparent lens of his glasses, she could see that he had one black eye and one bright blue. She found the unique combination highly alluring, as was the tiny dimple in his chin that she longed to reach out and touch.

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