Silent Storm
Chapter 17 - The Crescent Falls

Jax looks disappointingly at his wrist pad, “They’re not answering me either,” he says.

He raises his head and joins the others.

They line off at the edge of a cliff at the Crescent Falls and look across in amazement at the water crashing down several hundred feet into the lake below.

Several rainbow-colored birds fly past the falling water.

They quickly ascend and fly across the sun, leaving behind a beautiful trail of colors.

Ivan looks up at the beautiful birds, “Rainbow Pheasants, always a sight to behold,” he says, as Isabella and Trish join up with them at the edge of the cliff.

“What were you two up to?” asks Ivan curiously.

Isabella ignores him and looks down at the strands of Cordelia’s hair in her hand.

She clutches her hand tightly, and her eyes darken for a split second, which goes unnoticed by all but Rebecca.

“Let’s keep moving, I can feel her,” says Isabella.

Riley looks at her curiously. “Ahm, keep moving to where?” he asks.

“Becca, Jasper, think you can get us across?” asks Isabella.

Jasper smiles. “Step back guys,” he says.

The others step back, leaving Jasper and Rebecca standing at the edge of the cliff.

They both cross their forearms, summoning the Crossroads Rune.

A barely visible light flickers, covering the distance between the cliff and the waterfall.

“Ok let’s go everyone,” says Isabella.

The witches proceed confidently, while the others cautiously step onto what seems like thin air.

They approach the falling water.

“Now what? Are we to jump in and fall to our deaths?” asks a sarcastic Ivan.

Isabella gives him an angry look. “We need to get behind it. Riley and Jason, you’re up,” she says.

Riley pushes Jason out of the way and steps up. “I got this, watch and learn brother.”

Gale and Rebecca roll their eyes in disgust.

Riley stretches his arms toward the falling water.

The flow of water is distorted for a while then resumes as normal.

Riley begins to struggle. “A little help here brother, use some initiative, jeez,” he scolds.

Everyone shakes their head in disappointment.

“Idiot,” Gales says, as she giggles.

Jason and Riley stretch their arms toward the falling water.

They distort the flow of water, leaving an open space at the center, however nothing but rock can be seen through the opening.

“There it is,” says Isabella.

“It’s just rock, want me to smash it?” asks Muscle.

“No please don’t.” says Isabella, who places her hand on the rocky surface, conjuring the Eye Rune.

Her eyes temporarily go dark once again. “See it now?” she asks, as an opening suddenly appears.

The team is impressed.

“An illusion, huh. Good job Izzy,” says Jax.

“Even the Oracle’s illusions aren’t as good as Natalia’s, it seems,” says Ivan with a proud smirk.

“Ok everyone, now be careful,” says Isabella.

Riley rushes ahead, to the annoyance of the entire team, who enters behind him.

Gale and Rebecca stagger a few feet behind the group.

“Why are you with that? Gale asks, nodding in Riley’s direction.

Rebecca giggles.

“You mean Riley? Wanna trade?” she asks.

“Hell no,” says Gale.

“Then you better get over that stuff between you and Jason before it’s too late.”

Gale ponders on this as the team moves cautiously down several flights of rocky steps.

They all look up and stare in amazement at what they see.

Countless little insects are clustered together on the ceiling, giving off a radiant light.

“Wow, cluster bugs. They’re impossible to catch,” says the fascinated Brain.

“So beautiful,” says Gale as she stares.

They continue moving until they approach a hallway.

They pass several impressive but empty rooms on either side.

“What the hell, these rooms are nicer than ours,” says Mergana.

“Where is everyone?” asks Damon.

“Keep moving,” urges Isabella.

They approach the end of the hallway and see a large room.

They look through the glass and see several kids lying unconscious inside peculiar looking pods.

“The children!” Isabella exclaims.

“That can’t be all of them though,” says Ivan.

Jax tries to open the door but fails.

Muscle punches the door down with ease and they all rush inside.

Brain inspects the pods and sees they are connected to a highly sophisticated central processor.

“I think I can get them out safely,” he says.

He touches the processor and is knocked to the floor by a magical force.

“What was that?” asks Brain, still on the floor. The witches look up and see the Rune of Man, hovering below the ceiling.

“The room is protected by Rune magic,” says Rebecca.

Riley looks up. “What are you guys looking at?” he asks.

“Only witches can see Runes you idiot,” scolds Gale.

“Listen you little b----“, begins Riley, before he is interrupted by a blast of energy, throwing him several feet.

“Why can’t you people see Cordelia’s trying to help them? To help us,” says Silo as he approaches the team.

“Like how she helped Sasha?” asks Isabella.

Silo seems conflicted for a moment.

“She’s making you sick, manipulating you with dark magic,” says Gale, as Ronald and Christian appear.

“We learned to control our abilities because of it,” says Christian.

“We already proved we’re better than you losers last time,” adds Ronald.

A vicious growling is heard.

“Did anyone else hear that?” asks a startled Mergana.

Christian smiles. “She recently came out of the pod, you’re gonna love her,” he says.

A girl, late teens, appears. Her skin covered with ugly scales, sharp claws, with a long tail protruding from her lower back.

Dark veins are seen all over her face and neck.

“Say hello to Cassie,” says Ronald, as the team looks on in shock.

Silo, surprisingly, looks more baffled by Cassie’s appearance than anyone else.

“Cassie, how much did she give you?” he asks.

The cave begins to rumble, causing everyone to lose balance.

“What the hell is she doing down there?” asks Silo.

“Jasper, I don’t sense any Dark Magic emanating from the Rune, think you can deal with it while we go find Cordelia?” asks Isabella.

“Sure,” responds a nervous Jasper.

“As if we’re gonna let you pass,” says Ronald.

Isabella looks at Jax, springing him into action.

“Who says you have a choice,” Jax says, before throwing a tiny pebble which is easily dodged.

The pebble falls behind Cassie and the three boys.

“Becca, Damon, Ivan, grab on to Jax,” urges Isabella.

They all grab on to Jax, who snaps his finger, causing them to instantly switch places with the pebble.

Jax smirks, as they run off in search of Cordelia.

The boys attempt to go after them, but are abruptly interrupted by Riley, who releases a blast of water and knocks them to the ground.

Riley, Jason and Gale approach them.

“How about a rematch, you stupid jerks,” says Gale.

Wasting no time, Silo fires several blasts at Riley but he evades them and moves away from the group.

Silo pursues him.

Ronald speeds away with Jason closely behind.

“Cassie don’t let them open the pods,” instructs Christian, as he extends his wings and charges Gale.

He picks her up and flies her across the hallway at great speed, leaving the others behind in the Pod Room.

“Ok guys, I need to focus, you better have my back,” says Jasper.

He sits on the floor and raises his hands to the ceiling, summoning the Crossroads Rune, in an attempt to break the protective spell covering the room.

Brain curiously examines the pods and the processor. “How did they get all this sophisticated tech?” he asks himself.

A growling Cassie charges and attempts to slice Jasper with her claws, but Mergana intercepts and blocks with claws of her own.

They stare into each other’s eyes, snarling, sizing each other up.

Cassie swings her tail but Mergana blocks with her own tail.

Cassie punches her and sends her flying against the wall, then targets Jasper again.

A mirror quickly moves between Cassie and Jasper. Cassie disappears into the mirror and comes flying out another mirror which appears before Muscle, who grabs her and slams her through the wall.

The cave begins to shake once more.

“Brain, leave her to us, just get those pods open,” says Muscle.

“Ok, be careful buddy,” Brain responds.

“I always am dude,” assures Muscle, as Cassie’s tail suddenly wraps around his neck and drags him away.

“Muscle!” yells Brain.

“Don’t worry; we’ll get your boyfriend back,” Mergana teases, as she and Trish follow after them through the hole in the wall.

***

Ghost and the First Assassin are crossing swords, skillfully matching each other’s attacks.

Several feet away from them, Striker is spraying a barrage of bullets at the Second Assassin which is easily evaded.

Vanessa looks at the time on her wrist pad and becomes agitated. “The two of you better stop messing around and finish this before I do, Lou needs help,” she yells.

Ghost and striker glance at each other and put away their weapons.

Striker walks hastily and without emotion toward the Second Assassin, who fires several arrows but striker dodges with minimal effort.

He flickers behind the attacker and floors him with a leg sweep, then begins to choke him with his right hand.

The attacker screams in agony as his Aether is slowly drained.

His face becomes pale, and he passes out.

Striker continues to squeeze his neck.

“Striker stop, he’s unconscious, you’re going to kill him,” warns Marie.

Striker, now with a crazed look on his face, ignores her and continues to drain the life out of the attacker.

“Striker!” Marie yells once again, finally getting through to him.

Striker regains control and lets go.

He looks at his hand, as the wound begins to heal.

The other attacker, having witnessed what happened to his partner, attempts to flee.

Ghost removes her hood, revealing her pale, wrinkled face.

Her hair almost completely gray, barring a few streaks of black.

She glances at the fleeing attacker.

“I want him alive,” warns Vanessa.

Ghost collapses suddenly.

Striker flickers over and holds her lifeless body before it hits the floor.

The fleeing attacker stops dead in his tracks, then begins to walk back toward the others.

Striker approaches Lou and takes off his other glove, revealing a left hand as white as snow.

He places his hand on Lou, invigorating him with a rush of Aetherial energy, causing him to quickly regain consciousness.

“Sorry about that guys, I’m ok, I promise.” Says Striker.

Marie stares at him with an unconvinced look.

“Anyway, who are these guys?” he asks.

“Their blade was able to penetrate your skin, so it has to be made of Candorian steel, which would mean they’re from the Black Mist,” says Vanessa.

“The White Smoke must have their hands full in Candor to have let them get this far,” Marie responds.

“Lou, you ok to drive?” asks Vanessa.

“Yes my lady,” he responds.

“Good, take them to Navila for interrogation, they’re prisoners of the Silent Storm now.” says Vanessa.

Vanessa moves toward the First Assassin, “You okay?” she asks.

The Assassin nods.

“Ok, M, let’s go, we’re late,” says Vanessa, climbing onto Ghost’s cycle.

“You seriously expect me to ride in these heels?” Asks Marie, pointing to a plush pair of high heels.

“M, Candorian assassins just tried to kill us for Gaia knows why, and we’re late for arguably the most important Council gathering of our tenure, and you’re worried about your shoes?”

“Alright alright V, calm down,” Marie responds, as she hops onto Striker’s cycle.

“Thank you,” says an annoyed Vanessa.

“Its not my fault I don’t wear boots to every occasion like a certain person,” Marie says under her breath.

“What was that M?” Asks Vanessa.

“Huh?” Marie responds.

“Let’s just go M.”

Marie smiles and they both speed off.

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