Daniel Shaw - March 2121
I do everything I can to keep the two newcomers away from the school, but fighting two highly trained Awakeners at once is proving to be far more difficult than I expected. I'm an amateur compared to them, and every time I manage to get the upper hand, they adapt almost immediately.
The only reason I'm still alive is because I know this area better than they do. I know which trees are dense enough to hide behind, which paths lead back towards the school and where the ground dips low enough to disappear from sight.
I use that knowledge to my advantage, constantly moving through the trees instead of allowing them to corner me. I send vines through the undergrowth and use them to create distractions, forcing the two of them to separate whenever they get too close together. It takes several attempts, but eventually I manage to lure one of them far enough away from the other that I can strike.
My vines snap around his legs before he has time to react, dragging him off balance. I surge forward and drive another set of vines into him, knocking him hard against one of the trees. He tries to recover, but I don't give him the chance, hitting him again before finally forcing him to the ground.
One down.
Unfortunately, the woman is still standing.
She's the real problem.
Her ice abilities are far more powerful than anything I've dealt with before, and every vine I throw at her is either frozen solid or sliced apart before it can get close. I've tried attacking from different directions, using the trees as cover and even catching her by surprise, but nothing seems to slow her down.
My options are running out.
I could wait for Monica to return, but I have no idea how long that will take, and I can't risk letting this woman get any closer to the school. The other option is to get close enough to use one of the guns I've found on the ground, but I've never properly trained with them. I've always relied on my powers, and now I'm starting to regret that decision.
The woman steps closer, boots crunching over the frozen ground.
I retreat another step.
She raises her hand.
Ice spreads across the nearest tree in seconds, racing up the trunk before thickening around the branches. The wood groans under the pressure, and then the entire side of the tree suddenly splinters apart. Pieces of frozen bark explode across the ground around me, forcing me to throw myself sideways to avoid them.
"Come on," I mutter, scrambling back to my feet.
I thrust my hand forward and a vine shoots towards her, twisting through the air before catching the side of her face.
For a brief second, I think I've managed to surprise her. Then she slowly turns her head towards me.
That was a mistake.
Her expression hardens, and I barely have time to react before several thin spikes of ice form in the air above her. They hang there for a fraction of a second before she sends them flying towards me.
I dive behind a tree as the first spike tears past my head and buries itself into the trunk. Another slams into the bark beside me, sending splinters flying across my face.
I crouch lower, breathing heavily as I press my hand against the frozen ground.
"Let's try this."
A wave of vines bursts from beneath the earth and races towards her, twisting around trees and tearing through the undergrowth as they advance. She responds immediately, slamming her foot into the ground and raising a thick wall of ice between us.
The vines crash into it. The impact sends cracks spreading across the surface, but the wall holds.
That's all I need.
I move.
Keeping low, I slip between the trees and head in the opposite direction, putting as much distance between us as I can. My lungs burn as I run, and I can hear the woman's footsteps behind me.
She's following.
I break out from the trees and cross the road, hoping to use the open space to put some distance between us, but the moment my boots hit the other side, I hear the unmistakable crack of ice forming beneath me.
I look down and it's too late. The woman slams her foot into the ground and a line of ice races across the road towards me, spreading rapidly before enormous shards erupt from the ground one after another.
I jump sideways as one misses me, then another. A third tears through the ground directly in front of me but I'm running out of space.
I try to change direction, but the ice is moving too quickly. One enormous shard bursts from the ground directly beneath my path, its jagged point racing upwards towards my chest.
There's nowhere to go.
Then something grabs the back of my coat and yanks me backwards with enough force to knock the air from my lungs.
The ice spike shoots past where I had been standing only a second earlier.
I hit the ground hard and roll across the road before someone pulls me behind a nearby car.
"Ethan?"
I turn and stare at him.
He's bent over slightly, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tries to catch his breath. Sweat covers his face despite the freezing temperature, and his hair is damp against his forehead.
"What are you doing here?" I demand, my voice coming out louder than intended. "You're supposed to be with Tessa!"
Ethan doesn't answer immediately. He's still trying to catch his breath as he looks back towards the woman. Another shard of ice tears across the road and slams into the car, making the entire vehicle shake.
Ethan grabs my arm and pulls me further behind it.
"What the hell are you doing?" I hiss.
"I saw you die."
The words stop me completely. Ethan looks at me, his breathing still uneven.
"I saw you die," he repeats. "I saw the ice come up through you. I couldn't just do nothing."
For a moment, I can't speak. My eyes drift towards the road where the ice spike is still standing, only a few feet from where I had been.
I look back at Ethan. He came here because he saw me die. He didn't know whether he could stop it. He didn't know whether coming here would change anything or whether he'd simply arrive in time to watch the vision happen exactly as he'd seen it.
But he came anyway.
The realisation hits harder than the explosion ever could.
I look over the top of the car and see the woman standing in the middle of the road, her hands already beginning to glow with that same cold blue energy.
Ethan follows my gaze.
"We need a plan."
I stare at her for a moment.
He's right.
He may have just saved my life, but we're still trapped behind a car with an enemy who can turn the entire battlefield into ice.
The woman raises both hands, and the temperature around us seems to drop another few degrees. Frost spreads across the windows of the car in thin white veins while ice begins crawling across the road towards us. I know we can't stay behind the car forever, so I step out and immediately send my vines tearing across the ground.
They burst through the frozen surface in thick, twisting coils, surging towards her from several directions at once. She reacts quickly, throwing up a wall of ice just as the first vines reach her. They slam against the barrier with enough force to make it shake, wrapping around the surface and tightening until cracks begin spreading through the ice.
I push harder, forcing more vines through the ground while she slices through them with sharp blades of ice.
"Ethan!"
I hear him move behind me, and when I glance back his eyes are already glowing blue. "What do you see?"
He stares towards the woman, his expression becoming distant as his ability takes hold. "Left!"
I throw myself to the side just as a spear of ice tears through the space where my chest had been, burying itself deep into the ground behind me.
"Now!"
I don't question him. I send a thick vine around one of the trees and use it to pull myself sideways, narrowly avoiding another wave of ice that erupts across the road. Ethan continues watching the future, calling out each attack before it happens, and for a few moments we're actually managing to keep her on the defensive.
"Behind you!"
I duck beneath another ice blade before slamming my hand against the ground. A cluster of vines erupts beneath her feet, wrapping around her legs and forcing her backwards. I swing my arm and send another vine towards her shoulder, catching her and throwing her against a tree hard enough to shake loose a shower of snow from the branches above.
"Got her!"
I look back at Ethan, but something immediately catches my attention. Blood is running from his nose.
"Ethan?"
He wipes it away with the back of his hand, but another drop follows almost immediately. "I'm fine."
"You've been using your ability constantly."
"I can handle it."
I know he's lying. His face has gone pale, and his breathing is becoming heavier with every prediction. Every time his eyes flash blue, his expression tightens as though he's fighting through a splitting headache. His future sight might be keeping me alive, but I can see what it's costing him.
Another drop of blood falls onto the snow.
"Ethan, you need to stop."
"I can't."
His eyes flash again.
The woman has recovered, but she's no longer looking at me. She's staring directly at Ethan, watching him carefully.
My stomach drops.
"Daniel..." Ethan's expression changes.
The woman raises her hand, and Ethan suddenly grabs my arm.
"Move!"
We both dive sideways as a massive wall of ice erupts from the ground where we were standing. I roll across the road and scramble back to my feet, immediately sending another wave of vines towards her, but she destroys them almost instantly.
Ethan shouts another warning and I dodge, then another attack comes and I move again, but the woman's movements are changing. She's no longer attacking randomly. She's watching Ethan and deliberately forcing him to search further into the future, making him work harder for every warning.
Blood now runs freely from Ethan's nose, dripping onto his jacket as his eyes flicker repeatedly.
"Ethan, you're bleeding."
"I know."
"Then stop."
"I can't."
His eyes flash blue again, but this time he staggers slightly.
The woman raises a hand, towards Ethan. I turn towards him just as a massive spear of ice begins forming in front of the woman.
"Ethan, move!"
He starts to step backwards, but his ability suddenly falters. His eyes flicker, and he grabs his head as blood runs from his nose.
The ice spear launches.
I don't think.
I move. I throw myself between them just as the ice tears through the air.
A violent crack echoes across the road as the spear pierces straight through my body. For a moment, I don't feel anything. I look down and see the jagged ice sticking through me, blood already spreading across my clothes as the freezing cold begins to numb everything around the wound.
"Ethan..."
My voice barely comes out.
Ethan stares at me, his face completely white. "Daniel?"
My legs give way, but he catches me before I hit the ground, lowering me carefully against the side of the car while his hands hover uselessly over the wound.
"No, no, no," he whispers.
I can barely breathe.
"Ethan..." I look past him and see the woman still standing several metres away. She's watching us, and another spike of ice begins forming beside her.
I know she's going to attack again.
"Ethan."
He doesn't hear me. His eyes remain fixed on the futures as blood continues running from his nose.
"No, please."
"Ethan."
He finally looks at me.
I reach down with what little strength I have left and place my hand against the frozen ground.
The vines beneath the road respond. At first, nothing happens, then the ground begins to tremble.
The woman's expression changes as a thick vine suddenly erupts beneath her feet and wraps around her ankle. She looks down and tries to freeze it, but another vine bursts from the ground behind her and wraps around her arm.
He looks towards me in confusion. "Daniel, what are you doing?"
I don't answer.
I pull my hand against the ground and force every remaining ounce of strength into my ability. More vines burst through the ice, wrapping around the woman's legs, arms and torso. She struggles violently, freezing several of them solid and shattering them apart, but I keep sending more.
My vision begins to blur.
Every breath feels like it's tearing through my chest.
I can feel my strength disappearing, but I refuse to stop. The woman manages to free one arm and raises it towards Ethan.
I pull harder and the vines tighten around her.
One coils around her throat while another wraps around her body and violently drags her backwards. She loses her balance and crashes onto the frozen ground, the vines pinning her down before she can summon another attack.
Her ice powers flicker.
Then stop.
For several seconds, there is nothing but silence. I release the vines and my body immediately goes limp.
Ethan catches me before I collapse completely, lowering me against the car while desperately pressing his hands against the wound.
"Daniel!"
I look at him, but everything is becoming distant. The sounds of the battle are fading, and the cold no longer seems to bother me.
"Stay awake" Ethan says, his voice breaking. "We'll get you to Sophie"
I manage a weak smile. "Ethan... it's too late"
His head shakes as tears begin running down his face. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." I take a shallow breath and look towards the woman lying motionless across the road. "This isn't your fault"
His hand closes tightly around mine.
I can feel myself slipping away now, my vision darkening around the edges as I struggle to keep my eyes open.
"Ethan..."
"I'm here."
"Go back."
He immediately shakes his head. "No."
"Tell Tessa..." My voice fades, and he leans closer so he can hear me. I struggle to breathe before finally managing to whisper, "Tell her... I tried and that i'm sorry."
Ethan's face crumples.
"You did more than try."
His fingers tighten around mine as he pulls me closer, but I no longer have the strength to hold onto him.
My eyes slowly close as his voice becomes distant, the last thing I hear being him desperately calling my name.
Then everything goes dark.