Chapter 614 Little worriers
Alina’s eyes swept across the playground.
The flyers were still in the air. Drake with Sable and Lucien, Felix with Rocky, the fairy girl with her twin, the insect boy with three smaller children clinging to him. But they were tired. Their wings were slowing. They couldn’t stay up much longer.
"FLYERS!" Alina shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. "LAND NEAR THE PRINCIPAL! ON THE STONE! NOW!"
Drake heard her.
He was exhausted. His new wings ached. His arms were sore from carrying Sable and Lucien. But he turned and flew toward the principal’s chair, his eyes scanning the ground below for a safe place to land.
Felix followed, his dragon form gliding through the air with more grace than Drake’s frantic flapping. Rocky clung to his back, his stone face pale but determined.
The fairy girl landed beside them, her delicate wings folding. The insect boy dropped to the ground, his three passengers tumbling off his back and collapsing onto the stone.
Alina counted them.
Not enough.
There were still children in the air. Still children on the ground. Still children hiding behind trees and under benches.
"EVERYONE! THE STONE! NOW!" she screamed.
A boy from Class C ran toward her, his face red, his breath ragged. A girl from Class B limped behind him, her ankle twisted. Alina grabbed them both and pushed them toward the stone.
"STAY THERE! DON’T MOVE!" she ordered.
She turned back to the playground.
More children were running toward her now. They had heard her voice. They were coming.
But the worms were coming too.
New monsters were pushing up from the earth, their massive bodies blocking out the sun, their circular mouths spinning, their teeth grinding.
Alina’s eyes darted across the field.
She saw a cluster of children near the swings. Three of them, huddled together, too scared to move.
"HEY!" she shouted. "RUN! RUN TO ME!"
They didn’t move.
They were frozen.
Alina ran.
She sprinted across the grass, her legs burning, her lungs screaming. A worm monster rose up beside her, its massive body blocking her path. She ducked under its teeth and kept running.
The children were still there, still frozen, still staring up at the monster above them.
Alina grabbed the smallest one, a boy from Class A, and threw him over her shoulder. She grabbed a girl from Class B by the arm and pulled her to her feet. The third child, a boy from Class C, was too heavy to carry, so she pushed him ahead of her.
"RUN! DON’T LOOK BACK!" she commanded.
They ran.
The worm monster behind them lunged.
Alina felt the heat of its breath on her back. The teeth were so close. So close she could hear them spinning.
She shoved the children onto the stone and spun around.
The monster was right there.
Its mouth was open. Its teeth were grinding.
Alina grabbed a fallen flagpole from the ground, the metal kind with a sharp point at the end, and held it in front of her like a spear.
"COME ON!" she screamed.
The monster paused.
It tilted its head, confused.
Alina didn’t wait.
She lunged forward and drove the flagpole into the monster’s skin.
The metal pierced the slick flesh, and the monster shuddered. Its teeth stopped spinning. Its body convulsed.
"FIRE!" Alina shouted. "SOMEONE GIVE ME FIRE!"
Drake heard her.
He was on the stone, exhausted, but he pushed himself to his feet.
"I CAN DO FIRE!" he shouted.
He ran to the edge of the stone and opened his mouth.
A small flame flickered out. Weak, tired, barely a spark.
"AGAIN!" Alina shouted.
Drake tried again.
This time, a stream of fire shot from his mouth, hitting the flagpole. The metal heated. The monster’s skin began to smoke.
"WATER!" Alina shouted. "SOMEONE GIVE ME WATER!"
Kelpie was on the stone, his water droplets falling around him. He didn’t have much left. He had been throwing water all day. But he raised his hands and sent a stream toward the flagpole.
The water hit the hot metal and turned to steam.
The steam filled the monster’s mouth, its throat, its lungs.
It choked.
It thrashed.
It collapsed.
Alina jumped back as the massive body hit the ground.
"THAT’S ONE!" she shouted.
But there were more.
Dozens more.
The children on the stone were watching her, their eyes wide, their faces pale. They had never seen their teacher like this. Fierce, ruthless, covered in dirt and blood, holding a flagpole like a weapon.
"LISTEN TO ME!" Alina shouted. "WE CAN KILL THEM! WE HAVE FIRE! WE HAVE WATER! WE HAVE ELEMENTS! BUT WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER!"
She pointed at Drake. "YOU! FIRE! BURN THEM WHEN I SAY!"
She pointed at Kelpie. "YOU! WATER! STEAM THEM WHEN I SAY!"
She pointed at the fairy girl. "YOU! LIGHT! BLIND THEM WHEN I SAY!"
She pointed at the insect boy. "YOU! WINGS! DISTRACT THEM WHEN I SAY!"
Then she looked at the other children, the ones with different abilities, the ones she hadn’t called on yet.
"CAPI!" she shouted.
The little nature spirit from Class C was huddled near the back of the stone, his leaf drooping, his green eyes wide with fear. But when he heard his name, he looked up.
"YOU! PLANTS! CAN YOU GROW THEM?" Alina asked.
Capi blinked. "Grow... plants?" he asked.
"THE WORMS COME FROM THE GROUND! IF YOU GROW ROOTS, THICK ROOTS, THEY CAN’T PUSH THROUGH!" Alina explained.
Capi’s eyes widened. He looked at the grass beneath his feet. At the soil. At the cracks where the worms were rising.
"I... I can try," he whispered.
"TRY NOW!" Alina commanded.
Capi closed his eyes.
His small hands pressed against the stone. His leaf trembled. And then came green.
Vines burst from the ground. Thick, twisted vines with roots that dug deep into the soil. They spread across the field, weaving together, creating a net of green that covered the cracks.
The worms tried to push through, but the roots held.
"IT’S WORKING!" Capi shouted.
"KEEP GOING!" Alina yelled.
Capi kept growing. More vines. More roots. More green.
The worms were trapped. They couldn’t rise. They couldn’t reach the children.
But some had already risen. Some were already above ground.
"CYRUS!" Alina shouted.
The ice dragon boy from Class C was standing near the edge of the stone, his white hair blowing in the wind, his icy blue eyes fixed on the monsters.
"ICE! FREEZE THEM!" Alina commanded.
Cyrus didn’t hesitate.
He raised his hands, and ice shot from his palms. Not snow, not frost, but thick, jagged ice that slammed into the nearest worm monster. The creature’s body froze solid, its teeth still spinning for a moment before stopping.
"AGAIN!" Alina shouted.
Cyrus froze another monster. And another. And another.
The ice spread across the field, turning the worms into frozen statues.
"MARINA!" Alina shouted.
The shark clan girl from Class B stepped forward, her dark hair blowing in the wind.
"WATER! NOT FOR STEAM, FOR PRESSURE! HIT THEM HARD!" Alina ordered.
Marina raised her hands, and water shot from her palms. Not a gentle stream, but a powerful jet, like a fire hose. It slammed into a frozen worm monster, shattering it into pieces.
"AGAIN!" Alina shouted.
Another monster. Another jet of water. Another explosion of ice and flesh.
The children were fighting now.
Drake burned them. Kelpie steamed them. Capi trapped them. Cyrus froze them. Marina shattered them.
The fairy girl blinded them. The insect boy distracted them.
And Alina stood in the center of it all, directing them, shouting orders, her bleeding arm hanging at her side.
"LEFT! A MONSTER ON THE LEFT!" she shouted.
Drake turned and sent a stream of fire at the creature.
"RIGHT! TWO OF THEM!" she called.
Cyrus froze one. Marina shattered the other.
"BEHIND YOU, CAPI!" Alina warned.
Capi spun and grew a wall of vines, blocking a monster’s teeth.
The children were moving together now, flowing like water, fighting like warriors.