Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Kurt
Quiraing, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Five weeks later
My eyes flew open – and the first thing I saw was the face of that creature. Thick roots were covering its body like scars and only left black holes for its eyes and mouth. Its legs and arms were of wood with long branches instead of fingers, the torso was made of massive rock. Its foul breath was burning on my skin and made it impossible for me to take a breath. When that monster opened its mouth this time, I pressed my hands to my ears, but not even that could protect me from the deafening battle cry. Its force sent my flying backwards into the grass.
My head was spinning, my ears were ringing. No wonder dad didn't want me to hunt down those beasts all alone. Those monsters were frightening – and deadly. But what was I doing instead of listening to him? What any other more or less sane teenager would do at my place: Sneak out in the middle of the night.
Way to go, Kurt.
I jumped up again. Just in time to dodge the next blow of that monster. Just like dad had taught me a long time ago, I grabbed the creature's torso and arm and used its momentum to send it to the ground. At least, I had more time now to think of a new strategy. I grabbed my metal chain from my belt. With a loud thud, it landed on the ground, but it didn't clank. All its parts had been wrapped into cloth, what made the chain highly flammable. As if the elemental creature had waited for it, it turned its woody head to me and started running – right to me. Even though everything within me was telling me to dodge the blow, I forced myself to stay put. My heart was racing. I could feel the adrenaline cursing through my veins the closer the monster came to me. When I could smell its disgusting breath again, I ducked down. I jumped to the side, rolled across the ground, and got up right behind the monster. At the same time, it turned to me. Hastily, I retrieved my lighter from my pants' pocket. The flame was dancing around in the darkness before I held the lighter to the metal chain. The chain caught fire instantly. I held it by the fireproof spot and started hitting the beast with my new weapon. Its angry cries were ear piercing. My forehead felt sweaty, and my arm started hurting while I was attacking the monster, again and again. The smell of burnt wood was stinging in my eyes when the elemental creature caught fire as well. But it didn't give up that fast.
It dodged my blow, got down on all fours and ran over to me. It now looked more like a monster than before. A monster with animalistic instincts that wanted to kill me. When the creature came closer, I threw myself onto the ground, rolled further away, jumped up again, and attacked it with the chain. This time, I didn't miss. The dry leaves and branches on its body started burning. First, it were only small flames, but they spread uncontrollably. The elemental cried out loud, and I stumbled back.
And then, it was over. The monster turned to dust right in front of my eyes. I smiled contently. I just defeated another one. But I needed to give those monsters that: When they died, they at least didn't leave any traces.
I put out the flames on the metal chains with my boots that were worn out. Yes, fashion was important to me, but when it came to hunting, I didn't care that much about my attire. I once made the mistake to do the hunting with my newest pair of Marc Jacobs pants – something I regretted to this day. Those darned elementals.
I put off my fingerless gloves and washed my hands with my water bottle, when I was done, I rubbed them dry on my pants. When I got up, a gust of wind hit me that smelt of salt. It smelt of the sea. I smiled. Whenever I looked to the waves, I felt that familiar sensation, the same longing in my chest. I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket to check the time. Half past ten. Good. Content, I put it back. If I drove home now, dad would never find out where I have been tonight, because I would lie in bed and sleep when he came home from the pub. But if I stayed longer…
The ground shook and I blinked in surprise. That was impossible. Right…?
Slowly, I knelt down and put my hand on the ground. The shaking definitely came from down there. My heart started racing again. One elemental was not unusual, but more than one? At the same place? That was not normal – and could end deadly for me. I pulled two silver daggers out of the holsters on my upper thighs. They have been a present from dad on my fifthteenth birthday. He not only told me about elementals since I was little, but also trained me for situations like this all my life. Even if he would bite my head off if he knew that I would take multiple elementals at once now. In the middle of the night. All alone. Again.
I quickly scanned the surroundings. During the day, the landscape of Quiraing of Northern Skye was just picturesque: green hills, small lakes, and bedrocks everywhere. At night, that place looked as if it was straight out of a nightmare. Grotesque hill formations pointed skywards. Between those hills were canyons that were as pitchblack as the water of the lochs. Apart from the wind and the silent gurgling, it was silent, not even the sheep that were grazing here regularly were bleating. The humans think that the nature was responsible for the landscape of Quiraing, but that was far from the truth. Elementals had caused all the landslides that formed them like that, those monsters were also responsible for all the sudden changes in weather on the island. Even nowadays, the elementals made trouble. You just needed to know where exactly to find them.
I buried my fingers into the humid lawn. The vibrations grew stronger, but I just couldn't tell where they came from. Suddenly, I was swept off my feet.
"Seriously?", I hissed irritatedly and quickly got up again. At least, I landed on the lawn and not on the rocks a couple of inches further away. That little trip so didn't go according to plan.
The ground was still shaking, but now it was so strong I could feel the vibrations all over my body. As if the ground was alive or something. I clutched my daggers tighter, got into position… and felt a cold breeze on my neck. For an instant, I froze, but then, I turned around – and dodged the blow. The paw grazed me on the right cheek.
I started sweating, my black shirt was drenched now. Without thinking, I broke into a run. The bumpiness of the ground around here was not helping. Or that it was dark outside, and I couldn't see anything without a proper flashlight. I decided to take cover behind a small hill. Holding my breath, I listened to everything around me while the humidity of the grass soaked my pants. Its coldness let me shiver slightly. At least, I got protection from the wind now. Dammit, I needed to think. I would need half a mile to my car, most of the way were hills and rocks that were hard to get over. Besides, the elementals wouldn't just sit around and watch me escape. Though the most important thing was that I didn't want to run away from them. I still had my weapons and no grave injuries. I could do it. Not unhurt and definitely not before dad was home, but it was possible. It needed to be possible.
The elemental that attacked me was still close and searching for me. The other one was somewhere below ground level. I still could feel the vibrations under my feet. It came closer. I took a deep breath and left my hideout. At that moment, something cold was gripping my ankles and pulled me down. I landed on the grass, but the plants suddenly seemed to be alive. The grass blades were growing rapidly and gripped my legs tighter. And then, my arms. Those humid tendrils crept up to my neck and got tighter and tighter. That elemental seemed to control the grass – and now, its tendrils controlled me.
I gasped for air. Thorns were burying into my clothes; leaves touched my skin. I wanted to fight it, free myself, so I did everything to suppress the panic and lie on the ground, motionless. Hectically, I tried to get my daggers. I must have lost them when I fell. As slow as a turtle, I turned my head and tried to make out the weapons in the darkness. But in vain. Instead, I noticed bright green lights. The second elemental came closer to me. White stars were dancing in front of my eyes. I couldn't breathe anymore. My hands were shaking. I could already feel the breath of the monster when the underarm blades came to my mind. They were still new and I never used them before. Now, my life was depending on them. Without looking away from the monster, I moved my wrist and tried to trigger the unfoldment mechanism. Just a little bit more… The creature came closer and closer. The blade unfolded just in time. I was unstoppable now. Quick, I cut the tendrils on my wrist and ripped my arm away. The rest of the plants clutched me closer while the elemental prepared for its next blow.
Suddenly, something silvery came flying over to us. The monster was crying out loud in pain and for a split second, the pressure around my throat was gone. But that was enough. I ripped the tendrils away from my neck, sat up, cut the tendrils on my legs, and jumped up. The world was spinning. Coughing, I ran to the rocks nearby and took cover behind them. A couple of seconds later, someone landed next to me on the grass. When I looked up, I recognized a familiar face. Dark, unruly hair that was shorter on the sides as well as dark eyes. A small scar on his temple and bushy eyebrows. None of these details were visible in the darkness, but I knew them because I saw him everyday in school since he moved here one year ago. And every other night, we met out here where he hunted down elementals, just like me.
"What took you so long?", I panted.
He caught the chakram that came flying back to him like a boomerang and took cover next to me. "I didn't want to steal the show from you."
I smiled against my will. "Aww, Sir Blaine, my hero and knight in shining armour."
Even though the light was faint, I could see his smirk before he fastened his chakram on his belt and retrieved two claymores from the holder on his back.
"You should have waited for me", he muttered while he watched out for the elementals.
I followed his glance, but the elemental from before was gone. Just like the other one Blaine had attacked. "And pass on all the fun?"
"I always thought we had loads of fun together." He threw me an amused glance, but then, he got serious again. "How many are out there?"
"Two. Maybe more. I put down one of them not long ago."
"What element?"
"Earth."
He cursed under his breath.
"What?", I mocked him. "Not your favourite element?"
"Nope." He checked his two swords. I had already seen him use them and knew how deadly they could be. Just like my daggers. "They have an advantage over us out here", he stated. "We are practically on the serving plate for them."
"Tell me something I don't know."
Again, I tried making them out in the darkness. In the moonlight, I could only see their outlines, earth elementals were great at hiding like chameleons. Which was no surprise considering they were made of moss, rocks, branches, and leaves. Still, I was sure that I just saw a metallic glimmer in the darkness that didn't belong there.
"There are two." Blaine threw me a knowing glance. "One for each of us."
Challenging, I grinned. "Try to keep up with me, Anderson."
"Likewise, Hummel."
I didn't answer, instead, I grabbed my blade and threw it at the monster next to us. I normally didn't use my weapons to throw them around because it was hard to get them back while in a fight, but earth elementals were quite slow, and I was positive I wouldn't miss them.
But not today.
The blade merely grazed the beast. It screamed and went down on all fours to sprint over to us.
Oh, goddammit…
"By far not your best achievement." Blaine jumped up and leapt at the other monster. Of course, he wouldn't fight against my opponent to help me out another time. He wasn't that chivalric. And if I had a say in all this, that evening would end with me saving him, not the other way around. I hated owing people.
I waited until the monster was close, threw myself onto the ground, jumped up again, and broke into a run. While I was running, I picked up my daggers I had lost before. When I turned around, that beast was close on my heels. I threw up my arms and fought off the attack with the leather wristbands that protected my underarms. The force let us both stumble to the back.
He was quite fast considering he was an earth elemental, but I guess that's because he wasn't of stone, but rather of leaves and tendrils and was lighter thanks to that. Plants came closer to me.
"Oh no. Not again." I turned around and cut the tendrils with my dagger. Then, I tried attacking the monster, but I wasn't fast enough. Instead, the monster seemed to get angrier. I dodged its blow and the creature cried out loud. Still, I managed to not fall. On the corner of my eyes, I saw how Blaine fought against the other elemental, but I couldn't help him. First, I needed to help myself.
The monster was pushing me to the edge of a cliff. The canyon wasn't deep enough to die, but I could still do without bone fractures. I fought back another blow with my dagger. One part of a branch landed in front of me that turned to dust. Awesome. I had started to smile, but then, more monsters emerged from the ground like the undead. The ground shook once again, and the crack started spreading.
"Oh dear …", I wheezed.
"What was that?", Blaine shouted. He was about to cut off the head of his opponent, and the monster turned to dust.
I couldn't answer, I needed to dodge the wave of roots that would have hit me. But I didn't allow myself to take a break, I jumped up immediately. The crack on the ground was coming closer to me, I picked up my blade I had thrown on the elemental and took cover behind a rock. One heartbeat later, Blaine threw himself next to me.
"We should get lost."
"Oh, really?", I shouted sarcastically while small rocks and leaves rained down on us and the earthquake became stronger.
Blaine held his hand in the air warningly while he watched out for elementals. "Now!", he shouted two seconds later.
I pocketed the weapons and ran without hesitation. Away from the monsters and to the street. To safety. Without looking back, I climbed down acclivities, slipped on the mud, and jumped over small rivers. Behind me, elementals were screaming nonstop. If those monsters went on like that, they would cause another landslide that would give the landscape a new bizarre form. When the street came into view, I sighed in relief, got slower, and looked back. Blaine was right behind me. Luckily, the elementals weren't following us any longer, but we could still hear them from afar. Breathing heavily, I came to a halt on the edge of a cliff and stared at the hills and canyons before me. The earth was moving and changing, which was proof enough that those monsters existed. But nobody knew that.
"Kurt…" Blaine was standing behind me. He didn't need to keep talking because I already knew what he was thinking. He was just as frustrated and mad as I was, but trying to fight those beasts anyway would be suicidal. Those monsters were too strong and we were outnumbered. After some time, we saw how the elementals withdrew slowly until they had disappeared altogether. I saw how Blaine was rubbing his neck. But not the movement caught my attention but the blood on his neck.
"You are hurt."
"What?" He stared at me, then at his bloody fingers. "Shit."
"Let me have a look at it."
Before he could protest, I grabbed Blaine's arm and dragged him to my car. His car was parked right behind mine. I let go of him and climbed into my car to get the first aid-kit, then, I came back to him. He was leaning against the engine bonnet and carefully touched his neck. "It's not that bad", he muttered.
"And my sprained ankle two weeks ago was also not that bad", I answered dryly, back then, our roles were reversed.
Without a word, Blaine put down his hand and watched me step closer to him and look at his injury with my phone's flashlight. He was right: It was just a scratch. But even scratches could be dangerous if not treated.
"Did you know there would be so many of them?", he asked and inhaled sharply when I disinfected the wound.
"No", I admitted and looked back to him. "Or else, I would have waited for you."
The corners of his mouth twitched. "As if."
"You will never find out." I carefully put the compress on his wound.
"What about you?", he asked when I was done.
Surprised, I looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, his fingers hovered over my neck. Exactly where the plants had tried to strangle me. I swallowed and stepped back. "It's okay. Just a couple of bruises."
He frowned. "Really? If you don't tell me about an injury just so that you can fight…"
"No worries. I learn from my mistakes."
Last winter, we encountered two water elementals on the loch of Skye. The water surface had been frozen solid. And even though I loved ice skating, those monsters had made sure I slipped on the ice and fell hard. I hid the injury until we had beaten the elementals. Just when we were done, Blaine had noticed that my arm was bleeding, and just how I took care of him today, he had tended to my wounds. In the meanwhile, it had turned into some kind of ritual between the two of us.
I threw the first aid kit into my car and went back to Blaine. We both looked at the hilly landscape in front of us, then I turned on my heel, got into my car, and turned on the engine. Blaine got into his car as well. And while Quiraing got smaller in my rearview mirror, I knew that this wasn't the end.
It was just the beginning.
