The guard turned to the men he was speaking to. “Wait! You resemble…”
But, by that time, the children and the Scavenger were already fleeing. They raised commotion all around as the creatures tried to capture them.
The Scavenger caught hold of the children as they were running. “Change of plan. I am taking James with me to the compound. He knows more about machines than any of us. This place has bombs laid out all over. From the control centre, we will set the timer and escape. Matt, Archer, Daniel, you need to get out of the factory as soon as you can and create a small force field for us. It will be the only thing that will save us when the factory blasts. And if you can, do manage to steal some useful weapons and chemicals too. Now run!”
Matt saluted him. “Yes, Captain!” Then they sped away in different directions with the creatures chasing behind.
“Where to first?” Archer asked.
“Let’s go to the armoury!” Matt suggested. “We can take all the weapons from there.”
“Good idea,” Daniel told him. “Let’s go.”
A fiend with two tentacles leapt in front of them. “You will not -”
Daniel jabbed him with his sword, and he fell away. “We need to hurry, or we might get stuck inside while the place blows into pieces.”
They burst into the armoury and locked the door behind them. The creatures pounded at the door.
“It will break soon,” Archer said, examining the feeble latch. “Hurry.”
The door burst open and monsters stumbled in upon each other. But the trio was already far from them, heading for the laboratory.
Hundreds of creatures and guards were all around. There was no way to escape except via the windows, which were too high up.
“Now what do we do?” asked Archer, looking around for some way out.
Before Matt could speak, a creature covered with a coat stepped forward.
“Surrender yourself and we will not hurt you!”
“No chance. Why don’t you surrender and give up?”
The creature laughed. “Have you seen the numbers?
“We are the prophesied children,” Matt trumpeted. “And the Elementals too.”
The creature stepped forward. “Enough fool play.”
“Wait!” Matt cried frantically. “I guess that whoever captures us will get a big reward from the Death Lord?”
The creature nodded. “Oh yes! There is an attractive price placed on your heads and I am going to get it!”
Matt saw the other creatures fidget uneasily. He could tell that they were not too happy to hear that, and here he saw a silver lining.
“But why only you? Why not these other creatures, who are just as powerful?”
A murmur went through the crowd. The big giant spoke up, “I should get the reward! I am the most powerful!”
“No!” another giant said. “I am! I deserve a reward.”
“No, me!”
“It should be me!”
“Not you, me!”
Matt watched the crowd slowly starting to fight and bicker amongst themselves. Seizing this opportunity, he quickly summoned the power of the wind.
Strong gusts of wind lifted him and his friends towards the windows. The monsters suddenly saw the children escaping and started jumping to catch them, but they were too late.
Soon, they were out of the factory and on the grass. Matt quickly rose.
“Come on,” he urged Archer and Daniel. “Create the force field. I will take care of the monsters!”
Already, a few monsters had jumped out of the window and were rushing towards the children.
“What about the Scavenger and James? They are still inside!” Archer reminded.
“We can’t go inside. It is too risky. We can just pray and hope that James and the Scavenger come out soon,” Matt said.
Archer and Daniel closed their eyes and began their spell to create the force field.
Suddenly, there were frantic whacks on the front gate.
Matt ran towards it and yanked it apart. The Scavenger and James tumbled out.
Matt sighed with relief.
“Get inside the force field, quickly,” the Scavenger urged. “The timer is about to go off!”
Matt rushed towards Archer and Daniel. He could see a faint outline of the force field they were making, but it was not powerful enough. As he, James and the Scavenger got inside the force field, the outline wavered. The three of them had to lend their powers to Archer and Daniel.
Suddenly, the doors split apart and hundreds of creatures plummeted out.
At the same time, the timer went off. A powerful blast darkened everyone’s vision. Matt was the first to lose consciousness.
***
You will die…
Matt’s body was racked in pain.
You will not survive…
The pain shot through his body again and his vision reddened. He opened his eyes.
You will not win…
Matt found himself in a barren land, surrounded by white wisps of smoke that looked like spirits. As he watched, suddenly, he felt a blistering pain.
You fooled me… You refused to accept my control… Now you will pay…
Matt shouted as someone smashed him against something.
I sense you will be the One, but no… You cannot defeat me…
Matt couldn’t feel anything. He was only aware of searing pain, nothing more. And then it stopped. A gust of wind lifted him to his knees.
Brave… and powerful…
Matt saw a shadow in front of him, but he couldn’t see the shadow’s face.
You control the power of the Wind…
Matt tried to stand, but he was in so much pain that he fell to the ground.
You could be my greatest enemy and could be the ray of light in the darkness. You will be the One…
Matt was lifted to his feet again by another gust of wind.
But I will end this here…
The shadow moved forward towards Matt.
I will take my revenge…
Matt stood helpless as a light shone all around him.
NOOOOOO! You cannot escape from me this time.
Matt was yanked and twisted, and he yelled in pain.
He opened his eyes and saw the Scavenger and his friends staring at him with fearful expressions.
“You were howling in your sleep. We didn’t know what to do except to wake you up,”
