Original Stories Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ The Elementalists ❯ Twenty-four - Defeat ( Chapter 24 )

Candis formed two swords out of fire, dashing towards Gilead. Gilead formed his own sword made of metal and once it met the swords of fire, sparks flew as the two slashed at one another. Feng increased the force of the wind and directed it towards Gilead, the fire on Candis's sword burning his jacket and face as well as scorching the ends of his hair.

 

Chi made sure to control the ground carefully, only making the dirt beneath Gilead's feet shift to make him lose his balance. Unfortunately, he eventually caugh on to all of their tactics and jumped up in a nearby tree. Examining the burnt ends of his hair, his eyes narrowed as he looked down upon the four girls. “You dare to singe my beautiful hair? My clothes I can mend, but I cannot make my hair grow any faster. You will pay for that!”

 

He jumped at Chi, landing barely a few inches from her as he grabbed her by the neck, picking her up high above the ground. Chi gasped for air, struggling to loosen Gilead's death grip. His nails dug deep into her neck, making her cry out in a squeak. After a few moments, he decided he had tortured the girl enough as he threw her to a tree, her back hitting the trunk so hard it cracked.

 

“Chi!” cried the others. Florian was momentarily distracted from his own battle, panting, but soon had to dodge the chimera's next attack. Kai snarled as she said, “You sick bastard! You'll be the one paying for that!” Kai formed a sharp ice spear in her hand, tightening her grip on it when Gilead laughed like he always did.

 

“Silly little girl, that won't do much to me,” he said, chuckling. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and when he opened them—“Ugh!” The spear had hit him square in the heart, causing him to double over and fall out of the tree. The girls held their stances, watching as he gasped for air the way Chi had. Then, he went motionless, his skin as white as the ice. The girls sighed in relief for a moment, until they sensed his energy quickly rushing back to him.

 

“What is this guy?!” Feng questioned, thoroughly irritated. Gilead stood up, the wound in his chest closing up as he licked the blood off of his long, bony fingers.

 

“Don't you just love the scent and taste of blood? It's so…irresistible,” he said cruelly. “Oh look, your friend doesn't seem to be affected by my poison.” He looked disappointed as he glanced at his nails. The girls glimpsed over at Chi, seeing the girl struggle to stand.

 

Feng rushed over, helping her up. Gilead laughed menacingly, pointing out, “You can't beat me unless you unleash your true powers. There's no chance. You may not even be able to beat me then…” He grinned maliciously, craning his neck to examine the girls. “You all look so very angry… Let your anger out. Let the beast within come free… Don't you want to save your friends?”

 

Kai and Candis glimpsed at Florian, Eryk, Guren and Ilias as the four men struggled with their opponents. They had bruises and cuts all over, their hair tussled and clothes ripped and dirty. Candis clenched her teeth, turning back to glare at Gilead who smirked in return. “You see? Your friends can either die by my beasts…” He paused dramatically. “…Or by your own powers. Your choice.”

 

Feng scowled, shouting, “You're a horrible, heartless man! Nothing good will come of all this fighting. Why are you doing this? You could have so many opportunities if—”

 

“Don't preach to me, you filthy vermin,” he interrupted, spitting towards Feng and Chi. “I'm far too gone now for your words to convince this crazy mind.” He smirked at the expression on Chi's face; hurt, desperation, and misery.

 

Kai closed her eyes, remembering her brother's words. There's nothing you can't control, Kai. Never give in to the power that wants to take control of you; as long as it's the one being controlled, you can do anything. Her eyes snapped opened, her fists clenched tightly. “We have to use our powers,” she said calmly. “If we don't, they'll be killed. We don't want that… Do we?” She paused, realizing she was being rhetorical. Shaking her head, she tried to clear her thoughts as she explained to the others. “My brother once said that there isn't anything that I can't control. If we believe in that and in ourselves, I'm sure we can control our powers.”

 

Feng and Candis stared in astonishment at Kai. She would not meet their eyes, but something in her words made them slowly but surely trust in them. Feng helped Chi to stand up, guiding her towards the other two. “Alright,” she said quietly. “Let's do it.”

 

Kai nodded, turning to face her companions. They raised their arms up in the air, their bulky bracelets shining briefly in the moonlight. Realizing that they were waiting on her, Kai hastily brought her other hand up, resting it on the clasp of the bracelet. Hesitantly, she snapped it off and the others followed suit, wanting to quickly end this battle.

 

A bright light lit up the darkness of the night, engulfing the girls in its radiance. Shielding his eyes, Gilead braced himself against the strong winds as they raged wildly around the circle of light. The chimeras and vixen screeched in pain, shielding themselves from the burning light, but to no avail. It had consumed their corrupted souls, turning them into pixie dust. Florian, Eryk, Guren and Ilias swiftly made their way behind a tree for cover, though it didn't help very much.

 

The light gradually began to fade, revealing the four Elementalists looking very unlike themselves. Kai, the Water Elementalist, wore loose blue pants that ended below her knees; her shirt wove itself across her chest and around the back of her neck. Her eyes were icy blue, her hair longer and deep sea blue, flowing freely as if it was in fact water.

 

Candis's hair reached her mid-back, soaring wildly in the air, a mixture of reds and oranges with searing tips that would burn through to the bone. Her eyes were a bright, fiery red, so heated that they might just burn anyone who looked into them to the ground. She wore tight, blood red pants along with a matching shirt and coat. Her boots were also crimson coloured, raising her height a good two inches.

 

Feng's eyes were now an icy blue, matching the white-blue color of her graceful hair that flowed so naturally with the wind. She wore a white tunic that had the sleeves cut off, and an elegant white skirt that flowed gracefully around her legs. Her pure white shoes looked similar to ballet shoes, the laces winding up her calves.

 

Chi's hair remained its previous length, though it was now green with leaves and twigs tangled within. Her eyes had changed to a vivacious emerald green, no longer showing the innocent happiness that they previously held. She wore a green Chinese-style dress with brown swirls and designs on it.

 

Gilead sneered, admitting, “I didn't think you'd actually do it. No matter.” He walked towards the girls, leering dangerously at them. “You'll die either way!” He ran towards Chi first, mistakenly thinking that she would be the easiest target. But before he reached her, she disappeared. Startled, he looked around at the other girls who stared at him rather blankly. He felt the earth tremble beneath him and cried out when the branch of a tree extended to stab him in the arm.

 

Behind him Chi appeared, saying, “You forget. I am Earth.” She muttered something and the leaves of the same tree flew towards her, their edges razor sharp. Gilead staggered away as the leaves darted toward him, cutting open his arms and legs. He grunted, leaning against a tree.

 

“Not half bad,” he remarked, “But you forget. I can heal myself.” As his wounds had just started closing up, Kai rushed forward and stabbed him in the gut with a sword of ice.

 

“Not if we continue to attack you, one after the other,” she said, somewhat lifelessly. She quickly withdrew the sword from his stomach, causing him to bend over, stumbling as he attempted to stay standing. Candis brought her hands together, her pointer fingers and thumbs pointed outward as she mumbled an ancient fire spell. Exactly eight fireballs circled around her, then dashed towards Gilead, singing most of his upper body and some of his legs.

 

He swore too quietly to be heard, forcing himself to stand up as he desperately tried to heal his wounds faster. Feng reached into her tunic to take out a fan with a blue floral design on it. Facing Gilead, she swiftly waved the fan in his direction, creating four segments of sharp wind. Gilead coughed up blood when the wind hit him, cutting into his left arm, chest, stomach and thigh. He fell to the ground, laying immobile.

 

The four girls gathered around him as he fought to push himself up off the ground. “You've lost,” said Candis maliciously. “Get over it.” She formed a ball of fire the size of a basketball between her palms, the other girls doing the same each with their respective elements. They brought their spheres of nature up, combining them to a create a swirling ball of color. Concentrating hard, the girls muttered a ten-thousand year old spell of the elements, causing the sphere to spin uncontrollably until it flew high up in the air, then plunged back down to hit Gilead right in his spine. He briefly shouted in agony, then his body fell limp and lifeless.

 

The girls waited a few moments to be sure of the sorcerer's death before walking over to the four men huddled near a tree. Ilias shielded the other three as they approached. “Elementalists,” he said hesitantly. “…Well done. Go back to your previous forms now. Kai, Candis, Feng, Chi…” He paused for a moment, his eyes looking hopeful. “I know you can do it.”

 

The girls stopped in their tracks, staring at Ilias without emotion. Unexpectedly, the girls fell to their knees, holding their heads and groaning in pain. Florian and Eryk tried to rush over to them, but Ilias held them back. “What if they're dying, you moron?!” exclaimed Eryk, struggling to get out of Ilias's grip.

 

“No! Stay back,” replied Ilias, trying to keep his cool. He relaxed after a moment, once the girls had fainted. “…They're recovering,” he explained, relieved as he lowered his arms. “By using their true powers, they've exerted much of their energy. Perhaps some that shouldn't even exist yet.” He smiled gratefully, sighing in relief. “They made it.”

 

Florian rushed over to Kai with Eryk behind him, rushing over to Candis. Guren also sighed, sliding against a tree trunk. “I told them they could control it if they stopped making excuses,” he muttered, resting his eyes. Ilias chuckled.

 

“Yes, I suppose you were right,” he replied, sitting down next to the slightly bloodied Guren.

 

 

`W-what is this power?!' asked a young girl with choppy silver hair. She hugged herself as she bent over, clawing at her shoulders. `I c-can't… stop it!' she cried, her hair turning into red-orange flames.

 

`What's that?' asked a local visitor of the Kamiki Village, sniffing the air. `It smells like—'

 

`FIRE!' shouted a middle-aged woman, hurriedly carrying her child through the streets of the village. `A woman with fire-hair has gone mad! She'll burn the entire village down! Hurry, we must flee!'

 

The villagers started panicking, the merchants shoving their way out of the market's shops and their customers quickly following to make their way towards the exit. But it was no use; the fire had spread all across the exit of the village to the forest. The villagers continued to panic even more, turning around and running to the other side. They stopped and stared in horror at the figure that stood before them.

 

The pupils of Candis's blood red eyes were mere slits as she grinned evilly, fire ready in her hands.

 

“No!” shouted Candis, waking from a deep sleep and a memory she wish she didn't have. She wiped off the sweat rolling down from her forehead, then studied her surroundings. `Wait…' she thought, confused. `This looks like…'