Chapter 179
- Evan -
The crowd we left behind in the district had grown.
A lot.
More people from District 3 came out to the market area and were complaining about the remaining Districts 1 and 2.
They were not organized; they were just different groups speaking their minds, arguing, and shouting.
The noise carried up the street as we walked back.
"Well...That escalated fast." Josh muttered not so quietly under his breath.
A bottle shattered somewhere in the crowd below.
Then another crash.
Two men started shoving each other near the barricade line.
More voices joined in.
Anger, accusations, and fear are boiling over.
"They're turning on each other." Micah frowned.
Duke stepped forward slowly.
"If we don't intervene soon, it will spread. Right now, when we may be waiting on another flood, we can't afford to be ununified. Lack of collaboration between them could mean life and death."
I watched below, thinking as the chaos built.
We had just spent an hour saving people. Now they were about to tear each other apart. I am starting to understand how Moses felt when people lost their minds when he was away.
Josh flexed his hands beside me.
"Looks like when the cat is away, the mice will play. Maybe it's time to show them our claws, riot control style. I may not have been on my to-do list today, but I can give it a shot."
Micah gave him a disgusted look. "Please never again. If that is your hot one-liner, please don't quit your day job."
"Why have you been cutting up so much today?" I whispered.
"Missing powers, someone is depressed, and fire and water don't mix well. We are sitting ducks until we leave."
"We already drowned once, and Kaysi and I twice. At this point, we may grow gills."
"Hold up, did you just make a joke?" Josh smiled.
We all froze and went silent.
A deep mechanical CLUNK echoed through the district.
It came from the direction of the sealed flood doors.
This time, it sounded more like the massive locks disengaging themselves.
This is different from before. We can't save everyone here; there will be a stampede. If the waters get in from the sealed doors, not just emergency entrances and water systems, the water from before 1 and 2, and the sharks left behind will make their way up here!
I felt the pit of my stomach drop.
Someone closer below the incline shouted.
"THE DOOR!"
The crowd shifted; panic rose again.
Josh looked at me, pale as a ghost. And his joking tone is completely gone.
"Please don't tell me what it is or what I think it is."
Another deep THUD echoes through the district far below.
Once that seal breaks, the ocean will return with a vengeance. This district doesn't stand a chance; their world will end within minutes.
Small veins of water trickled down the door as the release of the final lock became disengaged.
The water sprayed through the crack like a gunshot.
"Damn it, they're opening," Josh gasped.
The metal bent inward as something slammed into it.
"Is that the shark?" Josh asked, "
"Another BOOM echoed through the market as pressure finally overwhelmed the doors, and they slowly opened back up.
The ocean came back.
A roaring wall of water blasted through the broken seal and tore down the lower street like a charging beast.
"MICAH!" I shouted.
Air twisted violently as she threw both arms forward. As she unleashed a massive gust of wind, she smashed head-on into the wall of water.
The flood didn't stop, but it slowed.
The winds shrieked through the street like a hurricane trapped between buildings.
Micah's hair whipped wildly around her face as she planted her feet.
"I CAN HOLD IT!" She yelled.
The rushing wall of water buckled against the invisible force of her wind, and beyond the waters, the face of a monstrous crocodile-like demon smashed against the forces of water and wind.
Foam sprayed into the air as the pressure behind it continued to build.
"RUN!" Duke shouted to the people. "MOVE UP TO THE NEXT DISTRICT! NOW!"
Kaysi rushed into the crowd, pulling people toward the street leading to the next district's incline.
Josh grabbed my shoulder.
"They won't make it in time before Micah taps out!"
Micah couldn't hold the flood much longer; the thought played on a loop in my head.
And if that demon broke through—
Everyone besides us here would die.
The thought crushed me. Not injured. not trapped... Dead.
Families. Children. People who had done nothing wrong except live in the wrong district.
My finger tightened around Snarling Wolf.
No, not today, not as long as I can't help.
Lightning sparked beneath my boots. I fell into a rhythmic shuffle, discharging as it warmed up. Weight shifting, my muscles loosening up with a predatory grace. Kinetic energy that hummed in the air, building with every skip-step.
At first, it was a flicker.
Then it grew.
Blue arcs crawled across the pavement like living veins, cracking louder and louder.
Josh looked confused at me.
"Evan...?"
I ignored him.
My heart began to pound faster. Too fast with raw energy.
The lightning wasn't just outside my body.
It was inside me.
Racing through every cell and nerve, burning through my muscles like hot needles, shocking myself within me.
I knew what this was and what I must do. The forbidden power, Duke said, I was not supposed to use.
I slowed my breath, one decision, one vow as an act of defiance.
"If I don't," I whispered, "they die."
Lightning exploded, and the ground beneath my feet shattered with a violent crack behind me.
Blue energy erupted from the soles of my boots like a divine engine, igniting and scorching the ground below.
Raishin.
Lightning in an instant flashed as the world stopped.
Not because I controlled time but because I moved outside it.
Water droplets froze midair.
Micah stood motionless, but her winds still swirled around her hand; divine energy didn't play by the same rules as nature.
The crocodile demon's jaws hung open within inches of the sealed doors.
Kaysi was still mid-step as she guided people to the street, only looking back at Micah.
I don't understand, but a few small purple sparks jumped along her skin.
Josh was frozen in place.
Before he could finish, I was already gone.
The next step I took launched me back into the frozen street.
A mother and her children who had come down from District 3.
Some of the workers from District 2 dragged an injured friend.
And many others lined the streets.
Each time I moved, the street cracked beneath my feet, leaving smoldering indentations.
With each moment I accelerated, the lightning burned deeper into my nerves.
My lungs began to feel like they were filling with fire.
It took its toll. Too much power, too fast, but people were still left out there.
I grabbed another woman and pulled her up the incline.
Then another.
Then another two more.
The lightning storm around my body grew brighter with every movement.
A blur of blue streaks cutting through the flood. My heart raced as it drained my life force.
That was the price.
Raishin didn't stop time.
It burned through life, outrunning it.
My vision flickered, and my head pounded.
One more run.
I turned back toward the flooded street.
The crocodile demon still hung frozen in its charge.
Micah's wind fought to hold him and the waters there.
But the streets behind were cleared.
No one is left in the market but us.
The light began to fade as I couldn't hold that form any longer. Sparks discharged from my boots.
The frozen world shattered, and sound returned all at once.
The pressure hit my head, and I buckled.
"WHAT THE HELL?"
Josh blinked.
Blood trickled from my nose.
But I lifted slowly again, sword in hand.
"Everyone is clear," I said hoarsely, wheezing the words out.