Book 4: Chapter 21: Chaos

    The sea of clouds above was lit from within, blue jolts of electricity crawling across them. The air smelled of ozone and salt, which, on any other occasion, would have been a wonderful mix—something unusual enough to ground me in the moment and induce a sense of gratitude.

    But as Claws rocketed forward, her body no longer constrained by the laws of physics, I found my thoughts otherwise occupied.

    I teleported forward to meet her just before the treeline, only delaying by a fraction of a second to raise a shield of chi around Paul. Claws was not at all surprised by my movement through space or the explosion of light that resulted; her eyes remained pinned to me, the madness within making my skin prickle and mind worry.

    Lacking any other choice, I made a pushing gesture with my hands. Rather than raise a wall of chi, I sent countless threads flying from my core, each microscopic strand piercing deep into the sharp-toothed ball of lightning rushing toward me. They did no damage, yet their effect was profound.

    Her face began to morph from the visage of wrathful malevolence, but I paid it no mind—I wanted to know what had happened. Needed to know how to fix her. As I inspected her new form, I was shocked to find that she both did and didn’t have a body. Claws was composed of a material that exceeded my metaphysical understanding of the universe.

    She had an outside skin of sorts, a barrier that held her lightning chi within. Something about it was familiar, and I furrowed my brow, trying to remember where I’d seen—

    A core! I thought, the realization all but knocking the air from my lungs.

    When I had tried to connect to her earlier, I’d found her nexus of power completely absent. Now, I knew why. Every fiber of her being had melded together. She didn’t have a core; she was one. With this understanding, I redirected my strands of chi away from her abdomen, sending them throughout her mass.

    Each area of Claws’s new form I discovered granted more knowledge. The lightning within her was wild and chaotic, but just as she’d been trying to do with the spherical storm earlier, she had gained control. The chi was as much hers as her favorite rock was. Which, to my great delight, she still possessed. You couldn’t see it from the outside, but it was stored in a little pocket, able to be removed whenever she liked.

    Having gleaned all the information about her body that I was likely to, I gathered my will, preparing to do something I never thought I would. I was going to force my way into her thoughts. Despite deeming it necessary for everyone’s safety, I still loathed the idea. It was an action one friend should never do to another, and the longer I considered it, the more my resolve wavered.

    With the power Claws now possessed, it had to be done. I couldn’t let her go until I knew that she wouldn’t hurt anyone. So why did it feel like such a betrayal...?

    Just as I was about to throw in the towel and confine her until she returned to her usual self, I finally caught the look on her face. Long gone was the promise of violence. She stared at me with sheer surprise, having not thought I had the ability to send my chi into her elemental form. Her shock, though, also gave way to another emotion.

    Pure, unadulterated affront.

    She was incensed,and where her emotions had seemed directed at the world earlier, this was all for me. Confused, I reeled, but then she opened herself up, letting her feelings flood out.

    Our bond snapped back into place as if it had never faded. Her feelings and thoughts slammed into me with more weight than ever before, her breakthrough adding an overwhelming sense of clarity. Disoriented, I struggled to determine where my emotions ended and hers began, stumbling in an attempt to remain upright.

    Claws didn’t waste the opportunity. She crashed into my chest, her body possessing more mass than I’d suspected. My back landed among the sand dunes halfway to the ocean, and before I could skid any further, Claws slammed both forepaws into my torso. She released her rage with the strike, and lightning streamed from her in thick chords. I fended it off with my own power, causing her electricity to roll over me and into the ground. But the attack still packed some serious punch.

    The physical force had caused a crater to form around us, my body the peg and Claws the mallet. As her chi poured down into the ground, it melted sand and disintegrated shell, creating enough heat that any impurities were burned away.

    I shivered as the last of the electricity dissipated, my mind all too conscious of the power she now commanded. Standing to her full height atop my chest, Claws crossed her arms and stared down at me with disdain. She tapped her foot and raised an eyebrow, demanding an answer.

    ***

    Paul sprinted forward faster than he’d ever before travelled. There was a weird shine around his body. It probably came from Deklan and Dom, maybe? Paul didn’t give it much thought—he had cooler things to worry about. His legs easily traversed each dune, and after cresting one last slope, he and the twins stared down into a crater that hadn’t been there before.

    Fischer was on his back. The sand below him had melted into a big puddle, its center red and edges a dark black. Paul knew that was what happened when sand got hot enough—Fergus had shown him once. The blacksmith had needed tongs and a crucible to handle it without getting burned, but Fischer was just... laying on it.

    This fact likely would have further increased Fischer’s social standing within Paul’s still-maturing frontal lobe, but before he had time to consider it, the being atop Fischer’s chest started to glow like ten-thousand fireflies. No?v(el)B\\jnn

    Corporal Claws unfolded her forelimbs, pointing one down toward Fischer’s face as she let out a deafening chirp. Her body, which was blue and see-through like water, slowly lost its brightness as she very obviously tried to calm herself with slow breaths.

    “What did you expect, you furry little frack?” Fischer pointed his own finger at her in accusation. “You made me think you were evil!”

    Well, duh! That’s what I do! Claws responded, the meaning behind her trilled screams somehow clear to Paul’s mind. She gestured toward herself, then tippy-tapped her chest with both paws. You tried to invade me!

    “I only considered it for like a second. I wasn’t actually going to—” Fischer cut himself with a glare. “Stop changing the subject!”

    She narrowed her eyes back, and literal lightning danced over her body in what was one of the coolest things Paul had ever seen, second only to Fischer kicking the king’s butt. And Ellis flying over the ocean just now. Oh, and the way his dad had jumped into the sky with Ellis! And Cinnamon’s kick! And that cool rock he found that looked a little like Borks. And—

    “Ohhhh.” Deklan gave his brother a look that was intentionally scrubbed of emotion. “I get it. Fischer must have been too busy ruminating on his loss.”

    “My loss? What are you talking about...?”

    Dom returned the same suspicion-inducing look his brother’s way. “Poor Fischer still seems to be in denial about the bet.”

    “The bet? I won the bet, I...”

    “You would have won,” Dom corrected, voicing my realization. “If Claws hadn’t intervened, Ellis would have hit a mountain. Instead, he was shot out into the ocean.”

    “I shot him out into the ocean! I was the one who made the...” I trailed off too late. I’d walked right into their trap.

    “So you agree that Ellis shot out toward the ocean, then? He was going for the closest mountain, but then you redirected him.” Deklan patted Paul’s shoulder. “And you admitted it in front of a witness. You wouldn’t lie in front of him... would you?”

    They’d snared me like a crab in a trap, and there was nothing to be done. Accepting defeat, I ran my hand over the hardened glass beneath me. It was hot in the center and cool at the edges, the surrounding sands already leeching its heat away. I pressed my palms against it as I got to my feet. “You win this round.”

    “Fischer—” Paul’s voice cracked, and before he’d finished clearing his throat, a vicious crimson had arrived on his cheeks. “Fischer,” he repeated with a false timbre. “Where did she go...?”

    Intentionally ignoring the voice crack, I gazed up to stare at the clouds. Not long ago, they’d been pushed along by an unseen breeze. Now, they roiled, static electricity making them shift in hypnotic patterns.

    I pointed far to the north, where I could feel her. “She’s over there.” My finger shifted east, tracking her movement. “Now she’s over there.” Without speaking, I continued pointing her out, causing a sense of palpable awe to come from the young man’s core. “Don’t let her know how impressed you are, mate. It’ll go right to her head.”

    Lightning struck to the east, slamming down into the middle of the bay.

    “Yeah, yeah.” I waved a hand in Claws’s direction. “I know you can hear me. That’s the point.”

    If anyone other than Deklan or Dom had been present, they’d have likely despaired at Corporal Claws’s new power. At the very least, they’d have felt a little fear. Claws was, by all accounts, an absolute menace. A sane person would be wary of her even before she had turned into lightning incarnate. Which only made the brothers’ reactions even more unique.

    “Neat,” Deklan said. “She’s super quick.”

    “Hella neat,” Dom agreed, both men’s heads tracking her chaotic movement as she zoomed around within the clouds.

    I shook my head and hopped out of the crater, landing beside Paul. “Okay, mate. Now that all the distractions are out of the way, are you still up for that conversation?.”

    He nodded sharply, a hint of red still remaining in his cheeks.

    I held my breath for a moment, gazing around to see if the universe was going to throw anything else our way. I exhaled when nothing came, but as I did so, I noticed sources of chi approaching. Rather than get annoyed, I turned and waited. A crackling portal appeared right next to us; Borks, Cinnamon, and Barry stepped through.

    “Wait,” I said, holding up a hand before Barry could speak. “Please don’t ask. I still haven’t had a chance to chat to Paul about—”

    “But—”

    “No buts, mister. Each second that passes is a chance for another distraction to arrive. Let’s have that conversation with Paul, then I’ll tell you everything that happened, okay?”

    His muscular jaw flexed as he fought down his desire to know. Thankfully, he won. “Deal.”

    We started by walking down to the water, then Paul reminded us of the rods. The leisurely stroll turned into a run. There probably wasn’t anything hooked, especially after all that light and noise, but that didn’t stop us from hoping. As soon as I wound in my line a little, I knew that it hadn’t been touched; I could feel the sinker’s weight as it slid across the ocean floor.

    Deklan and Dom’s excitement also disappeared the moment they checked their lines, which only left Paul.

    At least we can get to having that chat, I thought, setting my rod back down. The sooner it’s over, the sooner we can—

    Paul inhaled sharply, adrenaline coursing through him. “F-Fish on!” he yelled, his rod bending in half as the hooked fish took off.