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Chapter 49
Kaugnay na kabanata
Fire and Water Chapter 50
Being in classes the rest of the day was almost an exercise in pointlessness. Eliza had not known anymore about what was going on than he did, so he was left to wonder. As the classes he had in the afternoon were some of his better subjects, he allowed his mind to prep for what was to come, even if the preparation might be in vain. No! he admonished himself, don’t think like that. This time, no matter what, he would not allow Kali to escape. There were too many lives at stake to fail. Even though it was one of those hurry up and wait type of things, he couldn’t help his mind playing over possible scenarios and outcomes like a movie reel. He had just been staring off into space, his thoughts elsewhere, when Jennifer West slid into the seat behind him. “Hey,” she whispered. He shook his head to clear it and faced her. Being discrete, he said, “Hey, what’s up?” “Nothing,” said Jennifer. “You just looked a little lost there for a minute. You okay?” “Yeah… just a lot on my mind I guess
Fire and Water Chapter 51
A woman in an Air Force uniform with strawberry blonde hair pulled tight into a bun and a warm expression on her face emerged and told them, “I’m Captain Willows and I’ll be the copilot for your trip. Director Masters already explained the situation to me and Colonel Smith and told us not to ask any questions. We’re to deliver you to Charleston and back. Drinks and snacks are in the galley. Have a nice flight.” She turned around and disappeared back behind the cockpit door.With a quiet whir, the stairs began to ascend. The moment the door has sealed shut with an audible thunk, one of the engines began to turn and a low rumble reverberated through the cabin. James looked out of the window and saw that the plane was beginning to move forward. It crossed out of the hangar, turned slowly onto the runway and made its way down to the end. He watched other types of planes take off in the distance, his eyes alight with wonder. It was a testament to the design of the aircraft as he barely fel
Fire and Water Chapter 52
He jerked awake as the wheels thumped softly to the ground sending a slight vibration through the plane. The flight had been short, less than two hours, and when he took a glance out of the window, the sun was still beaming brightly--- only a bit closer to the horizon. From what he could tell of the other planes in the vicinity, they had landed in a kind of small, private airfield. When the thrust of the engines reversed to slow them faster, Eliza was pulled up from sleep as well. She blinked the grogginess of sleep from her eyes, stretched luxuriously, and asked, “How long have I been out?” James shrugged. “A little more than an hour.” The vibrations of the engines normalized and as he looked out the window, he saw that they were moving slowly to align with other planes that had been parked off to one side. Theirs pulled up between two smaller airplanes, a black SUV nearby. As they lurched to a stop, Eliza stood and stretched out once again. He watched her with a small smile of c
Fire and Water Chapter 53
That takes care of outside the house, he thought to himself. But what about in here? “Alright… just be thinking about making sure it’s light enough in here or… wherever we’re going to try and corner her.” They nodded acknowledgment. Now, on to other important things. “Who’s hungry besides me?” James asked with a crooked grin. Eliza giggled as the seriousness of the moment passed and Blakeney crossed the kitchen to pull out the necessary items to make sandwiches. Maybe an hour had passed since Blakeney had shaken him awake and told him that it was his turn for watch. His sword and shield were both strapped onto his back and his muscles were poised and ready to fight at the drop of a hat. It had been decided that the most obvious place to keep watch was in a bedroom upstairs; he sat in a chair facing the window which overlooked the backyard. With the window cracked open about an inch and his hearing forced to the max, he could make out every nuance of the still night. If he closed hi
Fire and Water Chapter 54
In almost a blind desperation, she continued to push herself; she could not let Kali escape again. Lives were hanging in the balance. Eliza kept her spear balanced lightly in her hand as she ran after Kali. Taking this turn and that turn, she followed closely just waiting to get within range.Kali was searching for a patch of darkness with which to disappear into, but with the numerous lights and the bath of silver which the moon cast over the night, the task was incredibly difficult. If not impossible. Kali darted swiftly into another side street, but this time as Eliza turned the corner, she saw Kali stopped before a high stone wall. It was a dead end. She just caught the flick of Kali’s wrist and the refraction of light that danced brilliantly off a dagger being thrown. Eliza pivoted hard to her right and spun out of the way. She completed the spin and without breaking stride, she allowed the weight of the tip of the spear to carry the shaft forward. Taking a tight grip just shy
Fire and Water Chapter 55
Eliza ripped the tip of the spear back through and kicked Kali to the ground. “Bitch,” she spat lividly through clenched teeth. Kali’s body convulsed for a few moments, but as a pool of blood spread steadily, she finally lay still and deathly silent. The so-called goddess of Death was no more. He tucked his shield back around into place, and panting like he had just completed a triathlon, limped over to Eliza. “Are you hurt?” he asked breathlessly. That was when he noticed the blood dripping from her arm. “Oh my god,” he gasped. He sunk to his knees and took the end of his shirt. He tore off a strip of cloth and tied it around her arm. Now that the fight mechanism had fallen away, Eliza’s chin began to tremble. The tears broke through and she buried her head in his chest. “I-I’m… s-sorry. I was so stupid,” she muttered through the sobs. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I-I-I th-thought I was d-d-dead.” “Shh,” he comforted. “It’s okay now. It’s all over.” He held her closer as hard
Fire and Water Chapter 56
In an instant, the quiet whir of the stairs being extracted, and the door being sealed shut came to life. The whine of the jet engines sounded, and a dull vibration raced around the cabin. In less than another minute, they were off. Eliza was bent over Blakeney and worked feverishly on his severe injury. With his shirt off, the cut was on full display. It ran from the back of his left shoulder to the middle of his back in a diagonal slash. It was deep and the skin had folded back a bit. Blakeney’s jaw was clenched in order not to scream as Eliza finished cleaning the wound and dumped coagulant powder on it to stop the bleeding; his color had already faded slightly from the blood loss. He turned away to allow her room to work and pulled out his phone once again. Dialing a number from memory, he listened to the endless ringing. Finally… “State your name and business,” a nononsense male voice sounded through the speaker. “This is James Olympia… I need to speak with Director Masters.
Fire and Water Chapter 57
As a warm, fatherly smile had spread across his face, he had said, “I never knew this side of you existed. I’m really proud of you, Eliza. You did a great thing… you saved a lot of lives today.” At this, Eliza had turned as red as a tomato and bit her lip shyly. From that point onward, the small feelings of guilt that had crept up on her due to killing an actual person—if that’s what you could consciously call someone like Kali—began to recede. They were slowly replaced with a sense of pride and accomplishment. And he didn’t even remind her of how she had run off after Kali on her own, doing the exact same thing she had chided him for so many times. He had just smiled supportively and held her close as the two of them withdrew to her room and crashed for almost the rest of the day.Even though James had wanted to declare Sunday a lounge day, Eliza wouldn’t have it. She had dragged him away from the TV that morning and into the library and proceeded to drill him in preparation for the
Pinakabagong kabanata
