Chapter 60 #3
“Stay here,” he instructed, gesturing toward a towering mound of snow, high enough to conceal them completely. “Remain out of sight. Call for me at the first sign of danger.”
They nodded, moving stiffly, almost mechanically, as they slipped behind the snowy barrier.
Rain didn’t waste another heartbeat.
He surged forward, channelling his power outward. The nearest attacker was yanked off balance, dragged across the snow toward him. The male twisted mid-slide, landing in a crouch only a few feet away, flames igniting around his hands as he prepared to strike.
Rain’s lips curled into a wicked smile. He beckoned him forward with a flick of his fingers.
“Those look awfully cosy,” Rain mocked, eyes glinting as the flames brightened, doubling in size. Shadows danced across his features. “Even better.”
He spared a quick glance toward Snow—she was holding her own—the pyro-forged male charged. A burst of heat slammed into Rain’s chest, forcing him back a step, but he barely reacted. The male laughed, adjusting his stance, readying another strike.
Rain brushed the lingering heat from his shirt as though dusting off snow.
The pyro-forged soldier hesitated. Confusion flickered across his face. His power should have burnt, singed, melted flesh; yet it hadn’t even slowed him.
Readjusting his approach the male rushed at him, his heat a white-hot blaze as he spun hit after hit. Flames kissed along Rain’s forearms as he effortlessly blocked each attack.
At the first sign of hesitation, Rain struck fast. A single, decisive blow sent the man reeling, clutching his jaw, disbelief etched across his features.
“How?” he rasped, spitting blood into the snow.
“What are you asking?” Rain grinned as he stalked up to him and grabbed him by the collar, anchoring him in place. The male grabbed onto his wrists; flames surged again, heat blooming between them, warming Rain’s frost kissed nose.
“Why isn’t it burning you?” he demanded, pushing his flames higher.
Rain’s smile sharpened.
“Oh, that? Are you even trying? All I feel is warmth. It’s rather pleasant, really.” The male growled, Rain laughed. “It turns out I’m fireproof, fucking glorious, isn’t it? Disappointing for you I suppose. Well, you and me both. Now… if your power inflicted pain, you’d be far more interesting.”
Frustration twisted the man’s expression. He extinguished the flames and clawed at Rain’s arm, desperate to break free. Rain tightened his grip, then delivered a swift, brutal strike that dropped him to the ground. The man groaned, dazed, struggling beneath Rain’s weight.
Rain straddled the male, pinning him between his thighs, the male squirmed and buckled, clawing to break free. He couldn’t.
He was inadequate in every way, barely worth the effort.
But Rain’s anger churned in his gut. He cracked his fist against the pathetic male’s temple.
“This is for your part in kidnapping my friend,” Rain said, voice low and cold. He struck again. “And this—this is for attacking my sister and this––is for”
He drew back for another blow—
“Rain, that’s enough!”
Snow’s voice cut through the storm. Rain froze, arm suspended mid-air. She stood exactly as he remembered her from the stadium: unharmed, unshaken, powerful.
He obeyed instantly, lowering his hand.
Her opponent lay, half buried in snow between two trees, still breathing but incapacitated. He’d likely suffocate or drown if he remained unconscious.
Rain pushed off the fallen soldier and rushed to Snow, pulling her into a fierce embrace. Her shoulders relaxed as she hugged him back, relief softening her posture.
“Don’t you ever run off and leave me like that again,” she scolded, cupping his face and forcing him to meet her eyes. “We are stronger together.”
Rain smiled, resting his forehead against hers. Her touch muted the cacophony of energies around him, quieting the battlefield’s psychic noise. The pain, the fear, the dying echoes; all of it faded under her grounding presence.
Only now did he feel his heartbeat settle into something steady, temporarily unburdened.
Her presence soothed him in a way nothing else could.
Rain squeezed Snow’s hand, guilt threading through his voice. “I’m sorry. I wanted to keep you away from the battle… and I couldn’t risk leaving Jay with Drazier a moment longer.”
Snow didn’t argue. She understood; even if she hated the truth of it.
Relief softened her features as she laced her fingers through his, offering him the reprieve he wouldn’t take for himself.
He would be too stubborn to keep his channels closed.
Rain let her, letting her presence dull the overwhelming noise of the battlefield as they turned back toward Jay and Jacklynn’s hiding place.
“You’re safe to come out now,” Rain called, his voice steady but edged with fatigue.
Jay and Jacklynn emerged slowly from behind the snow mound, their movements stiff with exhaustion. Their faces were flushed from cold and fear, eyes wide and glassy as they took in the aftermath around them. Jacklynn clung to Jay’s arm, trembling, her breath coming in thin, uneven puffs
Rain tried to offer Jay a reassuring smile; a silent promise that the worst was over, that he had them, that they were safe now.
But Jay didn’t smile back.
His gaze didn’t even land on Rain.
It slid past him.
Past Snow.
Past the settling snowflakes.
And his expression changed; drained of colour so fast it was like watching the life leave him. His pupils blew wide, his lips parted, and for a heartbeat he didn’t breathe at all.
Rain felt it a second later; a ripple in the air, a wrongness threading through the energy around them.
Snow stiffened as if she felt the same. Her hand in his rid him of the sensation, her presence nulling the psychic noise, but something still pressed at the edges of his awareness. Something cold. Focused. Intent.
Jay’s voice cracked through the stillness.
“Rain behind you!”
The words weren’t just shouted.
They were ripped from him; raw, terrified, instinctive.
Rain’s stomach dropped.
He tore free from Snow’s grasp and spun. A gunshot cracked through the air. Instinct surged; a shimmering wall of energy erupted between Snow and the incoming bullet, deflecting it with a violent ripple.
Rage detonated inside him.
A figure stepped into view; cloaked in burgundy, dark curls framing elongated ears, eyes black as obsidian.
Rain felt the presence of two more manipulators hidden just out of sight, their intentions slithering into his mind.
They were aiming for Snow and Jay. Their emotions twisted, erratic, but he could still sense them preparing to strike.
The robed male lifted his arm, a wicked glint flickering in his gaze; a glint Rain felt more than saw, a ripple of intent slicing through the air like a blade.
“Rain, watch out for his power—!”
Jay’s voice cracked, raw with terror, as he sprinted toward him.
Straight into the line of fire.
Time fractured.