The idea of the L-ementals was originally collectively created by AxelGripp, Khalalat, juribelit, Bry-Guy-1996, and Syfyman2xxx.
The cover image belongs to AxelGripp on DeviantArt and is used with permission.
This story was co-written with dubb1.
Chapter Ten
The sun was getting low, and when Clyde saw a cluster of trees to the side by a blank billboard. Whatever ad used to be on it had eroded long ago. He carefully parked Vanzilla behind the billboard, making sure the trees would add more cover.
"It's getting late. Solar batteries don't die the moment the sun goes down, but there's no way to recharge them after we use what power they have collected. So if we need to make a speedy getaway, we best not drain the battery now." He told Lincoln.
"But how far away is the Orchard?" Lincoln asked.
"I'm not sure, but it is this way. We just have to be careful. Luna and Lynn have said the place is guarded with anti-elemental methods, so be alert."
"Speaking of which, we better test you-know-what." Luan offered, and Clyde nodded.
"No, I don't know what." Lincoln replied.
The two ignored him and closed their eyes, looking like they were trying to will something to happen just then. But nothing changed, and they soon exhaled in disappointment.
"Yep, just as I thought, we're going to be stuck for the time being." Luan noted.
"Could someone fill me in?" Lincoln asked.
"Lincoln, haven't you ever noticed that sometimes you can't turn back to your human form?" Luan asked.
Lincoln tilted his head. "No, I've never had that problem."
The other two looked surprised. "Never? Not once in five years?"
Lincoln then shifted to flesh right now, then back to cloud form. "Why would I have that problem? Are you two saying that you do?"
Luan and Clyde looked at each other before him. "Lincoln, how exactly did you figure out how to become human again?"
"A scientist in the other world had a machine that could convert one element into another. He used it on me and Ronnie Anne and since then we've been able to change whenever we want."
"Holy cow, not even Lisa could do that. He must be smarter than her." Clyde commented.
"To be fair he did have access to power supplies that don't exist in this world, so I wouldn't hold that against her. But how did you guys get this ability if ether doesn't exist here?" Lincoln asked.
"We sort of just learned how. I know that doesn't make much sense but if we focus enough we can become human again. But sometimes, we get forced back into element form and can't turn back. It's random, we can't figure out what, if anything, is causing it. But we do think there's something in the bunker that slows it down since it never happens in there."
"So if they have anti-elemental weapons in there, right now you're the only one who's safe from them." Luan pointed out.
Lincoln nodded. "I'll go first then. After all, I still have the element of surprise."
Luan chuckled. "Nice to hear someone else using one of my jokes."
"Seriously, she uses that one all the time." Clyde added.
Lincoln grinned and the trio continued on.
"We're here." Luan said as they came to a stop some time later.
Up ahead Lincoln could see what looked a lot like a farm, except it was surrounded by a fence that would have looked more appropriate at Jurassic Park than someplace like Hazeltucky. There were lots of trees and a silo visible, but no visible buildings from the angle they were looking from.
"There's no way that fence is just to keep the sick people out." Lincoln claimed.
"Nope, it's to keep people like us out too. Though that's never stopped Luna and Lynn from finding a way through."
"How do they do it?" Lincoln asked.
"They never do the same thing twice, makes it harder to be predictable. But the fence at least isn't air-proof."
Lincoln nodded and turned invisible before flying towards the farm like a breeze. His gut told him that air or not, if the fence registered him as an elemental it would do something he didn't want it to do, so he went over. Fortunately, that worked, and he got on the other side with no problem.
Moving through the trees, still trying to be unseen even if invisible, he could see some people picking at the various fruits growing on the branches and putting them in baskets. However, these people were wearing what looked like prison uniforms, and all of them were miserable.
'That's not what I expected.' Lincoln thought, moving along. He felt bad for them, but he had a job to do and couldn't afford to get distracted. On the other side of the trees was open farmland with crops growing, none being harvested right now. But there were people attending to the crops. Oddly, in the center of the entire thing there was a large redwood tree, the kind he'd expect to see in a California forest instead of in Michigan.
'Where's Luna?" Lincoln thought, trying to find his musician sister.
Moving around the big tree, he saw more farmland and fruit trees, along with some farm equipment not in use. But what really drew his attention was a couple of buildings. One of them looked like a mansion, while two more looked as plain as possible, though one of them had a red roof.
'Is that a road?' Lincoln asked himself, seeing what looked like paved ground by the red roof building. He flew towards it and saw there was indeed one, forked so that it connected to the red roof and the mansion but avoided the third building entirely. There were a couple of trucks parked by it, the big supply hauling ones that truckers used, along with a few people in prison garb putting boxes into them. The boxes were coming from inside the red roof building.
'I get it. They're about to ship off food towards Chandler's city. This building must be where they store it before it heads out. And if I'm right, that other building is where they house the poor people who are forced to work here.'
Lincoln glanced towards the third building. 'If Luna's group is here, that's a good place to look for them. At the same time…' He turned towards the mansion. 'Whoever's in charge of this place must be in there, and they must have connections to Chandler. I should find out who's operating this place before I go. Luan and Clyde never did mention that part.'
He shook his head. 'No, Luna comes first. I can sneak around and play spy later.'
Leaving the loading zone, Lincoln took time to memorize everything he saw, the location around the area while mentally promising to investigate after finding his sister. He got to the third building which was unlocked and had minimal windows, making it look more like a large holding cell. He went to a window, finding glass, so she instead went to the door, which was open.
For the most part, the inside looked pretty much like what a prison would look like if everyone was in a single cell. Or what Lincoln would imagine historical slave quarters to look like. Privacy did not seem to be an option here, and he couldn't see anything to give a clue regarding hygiene care here. But that's not what stood out the most to him. In the back end up against the wall, there were some people caught up in stocks. Not the Wall Street kind, these were those wooden things used to keep people captive long ago, where the head and hands were put through holes and they couldn't get out. There were four of them in the back with four people trapped. And one of them really stood out more than the others.
"Luna?"
The third Loud sister lifted her head and looked around. "Who said my name?"
"Wasn't me." A blonde girl next to her replied.
Lincoln came up in front of them and became visible. "Luna? It's me."
The four captives gasped then glared. "What the hell do you want McCann?"
"No, Luna, it's me. Lincoln."
He turned human, letting them see him. Luna dropped her jaw, seeing the little brother she lost over five years ago. "Li…Li…Lincoln?"
"I'm back. It's a long story, but I'm back."
Luna began to cry, but she smiled.
"Long time no see Lincoln. Remember me?" The blonde girl asked.
"I think so. You're Sam, right?" The air elemental asked, and she nodded.
"I'm Benny, remember me?" The one boy in the stocks added.
"Oh yeah, Luan's friend."
"And I'm Darcy, I knew Lisa." A young girl at the end of the stocks said.
"What happened to you guys?" Lincoln asked.
"We came here to grab some food for our allies. But when we got here, we thought we saw your other sisters here." Sam answered.
"My other sisters?" Lincoln asked.
"Lola and Lana. I know I saw them here, forced to work in the field." Luna spoke up, sounding both sad and bitter.
"We tried to save them but got busted by the creeps who run this place." Benny claimed.
"And as you can see, we can't get out." Darcy added.
"Aren't any of you elementals?" Lincoln asked.
"We all are, but they got these on us." Luna replied, trying to adjust her head to show him something. He couldn't really see what she was referring to.
"These what?"
"They slapped some strange collars on us. With them on, we're stuck in human form. Otherwise we'd be busting out of here." Sam stated.
Lincoln frowned. "Maybe there's a way to get them off."
"If there is, it's in the mansion. But be careful Linc, the people in charge of this place are elementals too. Worse, it's the Millers."
Lincoln blinked. "You don't mean-"
"Yes, I do. Those Millers. One of them uses wood and can hide in the trees. That's part of how we got caught and why no one can escape here."
"I wish we knew that sooner." Benny commented.
"I'll get you guys out of here and then we'll grab Lola and Lana and bust everyone out of this place." Lincoln declared.
"Good luck bro." Luna said with a smile, though she looked like she wanted to wipe her eyes.
"Luna, I have to know. On the way here, Luan told me that Lori and Leni abandoned you guys. Please tell me, is that true?"
Luna grimaced, looking angry but also regretful. "Sorry bro, it's true. One day they were with us, the next they were gone. No signs of a struggle. Lori hightailed it out of here with her boy toy and Leni… I hope she went looking for her, but she's just as unreachable."
"Maybe they turned traitor." Sam suggested.
"They wouldn't do that." Lincoln insisted.
"Five years can change people, kid. I don't like the idea either, but if they can't be found, then where else are they but in McCann's castle?"
Lincoln frowned. "I don't know, but I'm going to get you guys out of here and then we can find them."
"Find something like a remote, that could at least get these things off us. Then we can be of use in busting out of here." Luna proclaimed.
Lincoln nodded. "You got it. Oh, by the way, you have a niece I want to show you."
Luna stood there shocked before her eyes lit up with a grin that would make Leni proud, a sense of hope renewed as Lincoln left.
"Looks like I'm checking out that mansion after all." He whispered to himself as he turned invisible again. Up close, he could see that the mansion was not locked down or overly guarded. It was like the people who lived here had nothing to be afraid of. But at least it wasn't airtight, so he could easily slip inside.
Lincoln didn't see anyone right away, but that didn't surprise him. 'Okay, if the Millers are the ones calling the shots here, I'm betting at least two of them are watching over the workers right now to keep them in line. So odds are only one of them will be in here. I just got to stay quiet and slow, it will be suspicious if there's an open breeze indoors.'
He got inside the mansion, seeing an entry hall that was pretty much exactly what he would expect of such an interior. The only odd thing was that there were no carpets of any kind, just hard floors.
'This place is definitely off.' He thought, looking around the other hallways and rooms. 'I see no forms of defense or monitoring. It's like they're not afraid of a riot breaking out at all. Heck, it's like they barely care enough to actually keep an eye on the prisoners. Which means… all three could actually still be in here.'
"Hello?" A voice called from behind, prompting Lincoln to hide despite being invisible. He could see a boy about the same age as him, blonde hair with glasses, dressed in fancy clothes and looking like someone who actually thought you could buy more money.
"Mr McCann? Are you here? I heard some wind and thought it might be you. Were you supposed to be here today?"
'Hmm… everyone who sees me at first thinks I'm Chandler. Maybe for once I can use that to my advantage.' Lincoln thought, coming around the corner visible this time.
"About time. I'm kind of annoyed that I had to go looking for someone when I got here."
"Oh, so sorry Mr McCann. I think we lost track of time. I didn't know you were coming here today." The boy, whom Lincoln was certain was Ryan Miller, replied respectfully.
"Save your apologies for someone who cares, I need a status update on Lame's bratty twin sisters."
"Oh, uh, they're being held in cells to keep them contained since their elements are useful but dangerous if unsupervised here."
"Don't just tell me idiot! Show me!"
"Right, sir."
The pair headed to the control room where there were dozens of cameras everywhere, especially on Lana, Lola, and Lun. He then noticed a remote on the table and picked it up.
"This is what's keeping them in line, right?"
"Yes sir." Ryan informed.
"And you've proven it works?"
"Of course. They haven't gotten their collars off yet."
"Maybe they're toying with you." Lincoln suggested.
"Toying with us?" Ryan repeated.
"Yeah, I mean your security couldn't keep me out, so that makes me wonder if anything here actually can keep them in. If they haven't escaped, maybe it's because they're plotting something."
Ryan frowned. "I find that unlikely."
"Then let me see for myself that what you're using to keep them chained up is actually doing its job. The last thing I need is for them to escape because you didn't bother locking the door."
"Alright sir." Ryan said, turning to lead Lincoln outside. "Also, while I have your attention, I have some data I think you're going to love."
"Then tell me."
"Our intelligence has found the locations of Loud's eldest sisters."
Lincoln nearly broke character learning that they knew where to find Lori and Leni, but he stayed composed. "Are you certain?"
"Certain enough. We're preparing a strike force to capture them and transport them back to the city to join the smart sister in captivity."
"Give me a copy of the data, now. This I want to see with my own eyes."
"Yes sir." Ryan nodded, going back into the room they had left. He got there and pulled up a file before copying it to a thumbdrive. "Here, this should tell you everything."
"Thank you." Lincoln said, holding onto it since he couldn't pocket it. "Tell me something, if you could find the oldest Loud sisters, have you been able to locate Lame or Santiago at all since their escape?"
"No sir, but I do believe we're close."
"Closer than you think."
Ryan was confused, but before he could react, Lincoln unleashed a powerful punch knocking out Ryan with one hit before turning his attention to the control room.
"Okay no big deal, I just have to save Luna, Lola, and Lana, then we have to get to Lori and Leni before they do, and then save Lisa," Lincoln thought, a little nervous. "Hang tight guys this is going to be one hell of a family reunion!"
Lincoln turned off all sensors before hacking the cameras to play loops so everything looks okay. He then pushed some buttons on the remote but got no indication of anything.
"Damn it, the remote must not work if I'm not in range. Okay I'll get this to Luan and Clyde." He said turning back to his human form and running out the door.
He got outside the mansion with little trouble and had to look around to find the holding cells where Lola and Lana would be..
"Damn it I should've waited until he took me to the cells, and then knocked him out!"
Nonetheless, he returned to air form and flew out of the property line.
"That was fast." Clyde said.
"Here, hold onto this. I was told this could tell us where Lori and Leni are." He said, giving it to his friend.
"Really? How can you be sure?" Luan asked.
"I'm not, but we need to find out if they're there before Chandler does." Lincoln told her.
Luan nodded, frowning a little. "Right, even if only to kick their asses for ditching us."
"I'll go get the others out. I won't be much longer."
"Good luck, Linc." Clyde wished before the white-haired boy flew back over the fence.
It took Lincoln some time but eventually he managed to find the cells, this only made him more determined to finish his mission. He got there and went slow to sneak up. The lack of security here really bothered him. The Millers from what he remembered were sneaky people, surely they'd be more concerned about being caught than this. Had they gotten comfortable with their seat of power? Or were their elementals very powerful?
The smell of something burnt caught his attention, followed by the sound of someone talking.
"-ready to talk today?" The voice of an adult man said from behind a closed door. There was a barred opening serving as a window, allowing him to hear when he got closer.
"Not a chance in hell!" A girl's voice replied.
'That has to be one of them.' Lincoln thought, tempted to go in there and bust them out.
"You're going to have to give up sooner or later. Or else it's back to the fields for the both of you." The man stated.
"I'd rather work in the dirt forever than betray my family. Too many have done that already." Another girl's voice declared.
"Then to work you'll go."
Footsteps could be heard and Lincoln got above the doorway before it opened. Out walked two young girls, roughly twelve or thirteen in age, both with blonde hair and wearing dreary gray prisoner uniforms. He couldn't see their faces, but Lincoln was positive that they were Lola and Lana. What he could see was that one of them, the one with the shorter hair, had one of those collars on, so presumably the one with the longer hair did too.
Following them was a man who appeared to be made out of ash or soot, smelling like a fireplace. Lincoln wanted to cough but held his breath, which as an air elemental was very hard to do.
'This must be Mr Miller. Well I've got something to show you.' Lincoln thought before pressing a button on the remote.
The collars beeped three times before unlatching, getting noticeably loose on the girl's necks. Then one fell off completely, followed by the other.
"What?" Mr Miller said, stopping while looking at the dropped collars. Lola and Lana touched their necks, confirming the absence of their restraints.
Lola and Lana stared at Mr. Miller giving him a sinister expression that made them look like they were two Lolas.
"Oh dear!"
The two girls transformed, with Lola becoming a plant girl covered in leaves and grass, and Lana becoming a dirt elemental. Lana's hands turned into hammers and Lola grew vine whips and thorns.
Mr Miller recovered from his shock and tried to look firm. "Don't even try it. You both know my element can suppress both of yours."
Rather than respond, the twin Louds jumped him together. Mr Miller reacted by turning into a cloud of soot, thus forcing Lola to bypass through him and get covered in the stuff. Lola landed, coughing heavily, and tried to get the stuff off her. She looked like she had crawled right out of a fireplace. Lana on the other hand had turned into a dirt cloud and mingled with Mr Miller, trying to fight him while mixed up with him.
"What?" Mr Miller asked, trying to shake her out but it wasn't working.
"You always do this to us, get your grime all over us so that I can't move and my sister can't breathe. Looks like when I have the chance I can do the same back at you." Lana claimed.
The mixture of soot and dirt spasmed back at forth like an unseen fight was occurring within. Lincoln was tempted to help her, but he went for Lola instead and sort of blew the excess soot off of her.
Lola coughed and took a few deep breaths, then saw what had saved her. Of course, she glared and looked ready to attack.
"Lola, it's me. Lincoln. I'm not Chandler." He assured her, turning flesh for a moment before returning to air.
"Lincoln? For real?" She asked, and then she tried to hug him. Of course she passed through him, falling on her face.
"Take this, go get the others out. I'll help Lana." He told her, handing her the remote. Lola nodded and ran off.
Lincoln readied himself and then propelled himself at the battling cloud, cleaving it with his own body. Lana and Mr Miller were forced apart, their particles scattered but recollecting on opposite sides. They groaned, as if they had just been trampled, but not done fighting.
"Lana, it's me, Lincoln. No I'm not Chandler, and I'm getting you out of here." Lincoln told his remaining sister, coming beside her.
"Lincoln? Where the hell have you been all this time?"
"It's a long story, let's save it for when we're out of here."
"You're not going anywhere!" Mr Miller declared, sparks appearing among his ashes as if he was smoldering, or about to set himself on fire.
"Listen Lincoln, if he gets his stuff on you or in you, he can hurt you. It's how he's kept Lola and I stuck here. It hurts a lot more than it should, almost like he's made out of pain itself." Lana warned, stepping back but reforming her hammer hands.
Lincoln just grinned. "I've got experience without someone who can do the same."
Lincoln jumped at Mr Miller who attempted to engulf the air elemental. Right away Lincoln understood what Lana was saying, he felt like he had jumped into a cactus patch that was on fire and had some broken glass mixed in there as well. But he spun like a whirlwind, throwing off the soot. As Mr Miller tried to reform, Lincoln exhaled greatly and literally blew him away.
"Wow Lincoln, that was cool."
"Thanks. Now let's go before he comes back."
"Not so fast!"
They turned and saw Ryan Miller back, only this time he was in his element form. It looked earthen, like Lana, but more muddy and smooth. Like clay Lincoln had used back in art class long ago. And he saw an adult woman next to him, Mrs Miller he presumed, and as warned she was made out of wood. Even her hair. It was like looking at Pinocchio's evil stepmother.
"Lincoln Loud, make this easy for yourself and surrender." Mrs Miller told him.
"Do you have termites in your head? Have you forgotten the last time you tried to stop me?"
"So be it."
All of a sudden, the barn that had contained Lola and Lana broke apart with the pieces propelled towards Lincoln as if they were magnetically controlled. Lincoln and Lana ducked low enough that most of the plywood passed over them but then more came at them from a lower angle. Lana seeped into the soil to better hide while Lincoln jumped above, swerving to avoid being hit.
'That… that's impossible. An elemental can't control anything except what came from their own body. Unless every piece of that building came from her, she shouldn't be able to manipulate them at all.'
During his time in Nowhere, Lincoln had obviously made many attempts to understand just how elemental powers worked. What he could and couldn't do. He found that he could control his own body, but not any other form of air or wind. Not without inhaling it and then exhaling it. It was the same with Ronnie Anne, she could do pretty much anything she wanted with her own body and the slime it produced, but her power did not extend to any poison or acid not originally a part of her. He had assumed the same would apply to all other elementals.
But unless every building in this Orchard came from pieces of Mrs Miller's body, then she had powers unlike the others. And that made her dangerous.
Ryan meanwhile tried to get into the ground just like Lana did. Lana could move through the ground a whole lot better, but he was a lot harder to hurt. She tried to force him out with an attack from below, but he was heavier and didn't budge. When Lana tried to get out of the ground, he formed hammers like her and tried to knock her back down like a game of whack-a-mole.
Mrs Miller smiled while she commanded dozens of planks of wood to fly around like her own personal army of drones to chase down Lincoln. He knocked them away when they got close and tried to build a box around him, and when he dove down to hit her directly they shielded her. Then it got worse when Mr Miller came back, standing by his wife's side.
"Mind if I borrow some, dear?" He asked.
"Be my guest."
Mr Miller was given some of the planks, and in his hands it burned until it was nothing but ash and cinders. He then threw them up into the air and they joined the hunt for the air elemental too.
'That… does that count as coming from his body? No, I saw him turn something else into ash, it shouldn't count as part of his body. That means they can control elements better than Ronnie Anne or I ever have. And if they can do it, that means any elemental connected to Chandler might be able to do the same. This just got a whole lot tougher.' Lincoln thought, throwing off more wood.
The ash tried to sneak up on him but quick spins and gusts kept it away. Mr Miller might be able to control the ash but it was still ash and therefore still no match for a strong wind. When he did so, some wood snuck up and formed a box before scooping him up, catching him by surprise. Another piece slammed down to make a lid, essentially trapping him in a coffin, and then the ash surrounded it and seeped through the gaps.
Lincoln tried to get out through the cracks but the ashes were already there and they were attacking him. It was like trying to squeeze through a mouse hole that was on fire and covered in thumbtacks.
The wooden box was lowered carefully to the ground to avoid breaking it, with Mr and Mrs Miller laughing at their victory. Ryan meanwhile had stretched his clay body to surround Lana and keep her contained. That is until she tunneled deeper underground like a mole and got away, though she had no idea where she was going.
"Keep him contained. We're going to be heavily rewarded for this." Mrs Miller said while Mr Miller added more ash since Lincoln was trying to push through despite the pain.
"Let me help." Ryan offered, withdrawing from the ground before oozing some of his clay over the ash-covered box to better seal it up. Now Lincoln really couldn't get out, but thumping could be heard from within.
"Good. Now to recapture the twins." Mr Miller stated.
There was a roar of outrage from a distance and the family of three turned to see the forced workers of the Orchard charge at them, tools in hands like weapons ready to rebel. Leading the stampede was Lola, Luna, Sam, Benny, and Darcy. All of them in element form. Luna looked like she was made out of stone, possibly granite, like a statue. Sam looked like she was made out of diamonds. Benny looked like he was made out of a yellow gemstone. And Dacry looked like she was made out of a pink-purple gemstone.
"Take them down boys. I'll keep watch over our prize." Mrs Miller told her husband and son, who nodded and went out to fight back. She grabbed the box and walked out towards the trees in the Orchard.
Seeing them all come their way, Mr Miller and Ryan stood confidently before changing, becoming bigger. Everyone paused, watching, scared.
"Wait, are they… hulking out? On purpose?" Lincoln asked.
"That can happen?" Luna asked.
'Now I'm starting to understand why Chandler's side has the upperhand in this elemental war.' Lincoln thought.
Mr Miller became something that looked like a cat and Chinese dragon combined, and Ryan looked like a golem, only not a very well made one. Mr Miller spat out a cloud of ash towards the rebels, who backed away, familiar with what his soot could do. Luna, Sam, Benny, and Darcy stood guard and embraced the hit. Despite all four being made out of stone, they still felt the pain, but they could take it better than the others could.
Lola got around the quartet and grew several vines, wrapping them around Ryan to try and hold him down. Ryan laughed and swallowed them, pulling her closer to him thus forcing Lola to sever the vines. Ryan then tried to stomp on Lola, but Lana defended her twin and got her out of the way, taking the stomp instead. But she was dirt, so it was like stepping on an anthill.
"I don't see your brother anywhere Luna." Sam said, altering her arms to form better shields. Mr Miller so far was content to just keep breathing ash on them all. It was all the weapon he needed, and when they could take no more punishment, he'd put them all in their place.
"He's here, somewhere." Luna replied, gritting her teeth while trying to get closer to Mr Miller, step by agonizing step.
Mrs Miller meanwhile reached the trees and commanded one of the big ones to open up like a closet, which it did. She put the box inside, making sure it fit, and grinned. But before she could command the tree to close and thus keep Lincoln trapped indefinitely, a fist sprang out of nowhere and hit her in the side of the face.
"What the-?" She asked, only to get covered in ice from the other side.
"Alright, freeze!" Luan said with a chuckle.
Clyde rolled his eyes. "That's only funny if you say it before you freeze them."
"And give us away? I don't need it to be that funny."
Clyde took out the box and tried to pry it open, though Luan forming icepicks with her hands did a better job and broke it open. Lincoln immediately escaped the box.
"Damn, I couldn't breathe in there."
"You're nothing but breath Lincoln. Heh, 'butt breath'." Luan remarked.
"Now let's go end that fight." Clyde insisted, and the two Louds nodded.
Team Rock continued to provide a shield while Lola and Lana tried to fight back directly. The captive workers were emboldened and tried to add to the fight by throwing their tools and anything else. A few brave members ran at the hulked out elementals only for Ryan to step on them and Mr Miller to cover them in burning ashes. But because of all this, there was a clear blind spot.
"Attack from behind." Lincoln advised, and the others agreed.
Luan dove in and shot out ice clouds at Mr Miller. His body seized up and began to freeze from the feet up, prompting him to end his own attack. Clyde and Lincoln did a tandem attack with them both sweeping under Ryan to knock him down. Lana took the opportunity to get underground and loosen up the soil, effectively creating a sinkhole under him that he fell into. Mr Miller tried to free himself from the ice, but Lincoln jumped to scatter and disorient his ashes, giving Luna more time to freeze him. Soon, Mr Miller fell over and shattered, most of the ashes still frozen.
"Quick, let's get out of here!" Lincoln warned everyone.
Luan did some more freezing and Lana made more sinkholes for both Millers, but the rest agreed to run and headed for the gateway. Luna's group and multiple prisoners were still hurting, but Lincoln and Clyde helped them move. It felt like much longer than it really was, but after some time everyone was finally outside the Orchard.
Now they just had to get anywhere else.