Distant Elemental

Andromeda lifted into the air with her usual giggle as the weightless feeling took over her. Blaise flared up, and Skye was flying up towards the clouds with a giant whoosh! Fulgora simply disappeared in seconds, leaving everyone puzzled as they spread out in the sky and flew towards a far-off cliff. Andromeda stayed low, bouncing merrily from rooftop to rooftop, keeping away from the other so they weren’t affected by the gravity change. Skye and Blaise zoomed a fair way apart, Skye not wanting to be too close to the burning mass that was Blaise. The wind whipped through his fiery hair and caused the fire around him to bend like that of a comet, tailing out behind him. Skye had to tie her curly hair into a plait back to stop it from pulling forward and obscuring her vision as the wind blew her along. Andromeda looked up at the sky, constantly leaping towards the stars that hung in the vast universe around them. At one point, when she jumped in the direction she wanted with a huge amount of force, she went suddenly into zero gravity and stayed in her constant state of motion, flying fast toward the vast cliff in the distance everyone seemed to be heading towards. Lights flickered below them, a vast amount in such a populated area, but at that time of night with the cold wind and chill atmosphere, hardly anyone walked the streets, nor looked up to notice two girls and one comet flying by.

“Guys, watch out!” Andromeda called almost cheerfully as she caught up to them. She couldn’t control whether or not she would crash into them unless she pulled herself down with gravity which would mean she was facing too far down to reach the top of the cliff. Skye and Blaise split left and right as Andromeda zoomed straight through the middle and in a few seconds had gained a great deal of altitude and distance from the other two. Skye laughed as Blaise called out: “Is that supposed to be a challenge?”
Andromeda spun onto her back, looking back at them but still moving forward in the clear atmosphere, having no trouble with the cold or the oxygen levels.
“Depends on what you consider a challenge!” she yelled back.
That was enough. Skye twirled about once or twice before calling you’ll regret that!and picking up the pace in a massive ripple of wind which bore her light body onwards. Blaise burned bright, outshining the lights below him, and reaching Andromeda just before the three of them arrived at the cliff. To their consternation, as they all landed, Fulgora stood there waiting for them. However, she wasn’t their primary concern.
Guys, turn back, turn back! Quick!
Blaise rocketed off suddenly to the right, Skye to the left, and Andromeda downwards. Luckily they hadn’t been seen by their friends who were facing the other way, looking at Fulgora.

Their three friends, Lily, Bianca and Ashleigh were already standing on the cliff. Ashleigh caught their attention, or more, her wings did. Long, copper coloured feather wings twice the length of her arm span. They were raised above her head and Skye (the only one now in a position to watch) could see them bursting from her back just under the t-shirt she was wearing. Skye tilted closer to the cliff before landing behind them, readying herself in case she had to drop backward to stop one of them seeing her if they turned around. Blaise and Andromeda hovered underneath the cliff, questioning Skye through their connection with her in their minds.
I can’t tell what’s going on, they’re just standing there. I think Fulgora distracted them from us. How’s she get here so quickly? Hey, I think I can see Nova appearing now!
It was true- Nova walked up behind Fulgora and stood next to her, a silent guardian.
“Oh, here he is. Our little teleporter friend! Finally, we’ve found you. You’re going to come with us.” Bianca was talking, obviously enjoying herself with her mocking tone.
Fulgora is glaring at them. Bianca said something about Nova going with them- she knows he can teleport! I can’t believe Ash has wings! Does that mean the others have powers too? I wonder if-
She was cut off suddenly as Blaise said Skye; just tell us what’s going on.Skye pouted for a moment and gently shifted her weight to her right foot, gaining the attention of Fulgora who glanced at her with wide eyes before almost immediately hiding her surprise and looking back at the other three before her.
“What did you say, Bianca?”
“You heard me, Fulgora,” she sneered, “your little friend is coming with us. I don’t suppose you know he can teleport? It’s quite amusing really. Just when we think we’ve cornered him he simply disappears on us. Not this time.”
As though on cue, Lily pulled out a tranquiliser gun and a dart appeared in Nova’s shoulder. He muffled a yell and quickly pulled it out, bending to his knees and staring at the spot where it had pierced through his outfit and flesh. A spot of blood had appeared, but more than that, Nova saw the world spin before he crashed to the ground. It had happened to quickly, Skye took longer to tell the others what had happened. Andromeda and Blaise were discussing floating up to intervene, but Skye stopped them. Their number one concern was concealing themselves.
“I’m not going to let you take him,” Fulgora growled. With a flicker of motion she had checked to see that Nova was okay, but she hadn’t had enough time to wait for a pulse because she had to stand back in her original position to stop the others from noticing her move. She had moved fast enough- they hadn’t seen anything except a slight movement as though she had shifted her weight, and she was safe. She already knew these girls couldn’t sense her powers, but no-one else had worked it out yet. To be fair, Fulgora had much more time than anyone else to think things through.
Fulgora, are you okay? What’s going on?
Shhh Skye, no time.
“You don’t have a choice,” replied a sneering Bianca, “we can’t sense any powers from you which means you’re a normal human being; a pathetic, weak waste of air. If you don’t get out of our way you’ll find out just how... unpleasant we can be.”
Did you guys hear that? She said-
Yeah we got it Skye, we’re just beneath you.
What do we do?
I don’t know came their replies at the same time.

“I think you three are the ones who should be backing off,” snarled Fulgora. She wasn’t happy. Bianca and the other two started laughing as though she had made the funniest joke in the world.
“You don’t understand,” said Lily, walking forward and motioning towards Nova, “we need this guy to help us with a certain task. He can detect the presence of elementals.”
“That’s right,” added Bianca, “because we plan to find them and capture them. If we have to, we’ll round up all the people with powers and make them suffer, that way causing all the elementals to come to the rescue and in fact fall into our trap, or ambush if you want to call it that.”
The three of them looked surprised as Fulgora started laughing. Her laughter rose, and she shook as she tipped her head back and laughed harder, enjoying her private joke. The other three gave each other she’s-a-retard looks before starting to walk forwards. Fulgora stopped laughing suddenly and gave them a massive grin.
“Well you guys have got one very major problem.”
“Oh?” asked Ashleigh, rather mockingly as she spread her wings further as though in preparation for flight. This was the moment Skye had been waiting for. A sudden breeze caught the feathers as Skye leapt backwards, giggling ferociously and keeping herself up near Blaise and Andromeda. Ashleigh gasped as the wind increased and tore at her wings, pulling her backwards towards the edge of the cliff as she tried to tuck her wings back in. The wind roared, and Bianca and Lily dropped quickly to the ground as Ashleigh teetered on the edge. Fulgora stood, unaffected where she was by this sudden wind. Ashleigh managed to stay on the cliff, tucking her wings back and lying flat on the ground, her ankles sticking off the edge.
“Oh, that is too tempting.”
Ashleigh screamed as she felt a hand grab her ankle and with a frightening tug she was airborne. Andromeda pulled her back, laughing, before simply letting go. Ashleigh only saw a blur as she was ripped from the cliff and fell down, down, down. She managed to flip herself over and pull out her wings, straining them to their limits but flapping them enough to steadily rise back up again. Blaise, Andromeda and Skye laughed and watched as, a long way below them, she pulled herself upright and flew away in a different direction, fear feeding her speed. She didn’t look back.