I raced forward, drawing closer and closer to the home theater store mere feet ahead. Trusting my instincts, I braced for this plan to go massively wrong. But I wouldn’t bail out until the last second. They knew it, too.
My breath lodged in my chest and refused to escape my throat as I waited for what felt like minutes for the hidden Elementals to make their presence known. Just as I braced to abandon my bike at the last second, a man’s silhouette stepped before me from the shadows under the streetlight, illuminated in an eerie red glow from above.
I angled my bike, drifting and sliding to a stop. I couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting them, so I leaped from the seat and rolled across the rough asphalt. The leather jacket protected me from road rash, but fuck…my bike.
I watched in horror as sparks flew from the metal while it screeched against the road, flying up at the impact with the curb and going airborne.
Maybe it’s still fine.
Just before it slammed back down to the earth, it came to a halt inches above the ground, hovering there by Elemental magic, presumably by someone who wielded the power of air. Slowly, the bike lowered back to the ground, being eased to stand on its wheels.
I leaped to my feet from the roll, counting the number of Elementals that stepped out from the building and surrounded me. Three, four, six, eight…
Squaring my shoulders, I tilted my chin and aimed my palms outward to face them, an off-white light beaconing from my hands. The leather jacket covered my gold currents, but I knew that they peeked through the collar on my neck.
“You don’t belong here,” a deep voice announced into the deserted street.
I lifted my visor. “I came to talk to Regent King Orion,” I said, my tone leaving no space to question.
“What’s your business?” the male voice called out.
“It’s personal.”
A pause hung in the space between us. Tension covered us like a weighted blanket. I didn’t like my odds in this potential fight, but I would fight like the Warrior I’d been trained to be. It wouldn’t be easy for them, I’d be sure of it.
“That’s not a sufficient answer. What do you want?”
“I have questions, but I’m here in peace,” I said, holding my hands up beside my head in a sign of surrender. I didn’t suppress my magic, though, not trusting them not to try something the moment I locked it away.
“You’re Slate Helair.”
“I am. Where’s your king?”
“We don’t have a king. You have him.”
I tilted my head at the statement. “Wh-what?”
“You have our king,” the male voice said into the night air. “Andour queen.”
I bit my tongue, quickly sifting through all the diplomatic lessons I’d learned from my parents over the years. Finally, I decided to start with a simple move: I removed my helmet in hopes that it would show some level of trust.
“Look, I have nothing to do with that,” I said, tucking my helmet under my arm. “Chrome is kinda…under a tight rule at the moment.”
“And the princess?”
My nostrils flared at the mention of Gray. “As is she. But she is protected.”
A light chuckle sounded from the male, not one of amusement, though. “No one said anything about her protection, young Warrior.”
My lip twitched. “Regardless,” I started, “she’s safe and protected.”
“Is she really, though?” the man questioned. “Rumors say otherwise. Mentions of public punishments have returned to us concerning the princess. Doesn’t sound too safe and protected to me.”
My jaw ached from clenching my teeth together, and my pulse throbbed in my ears. The foreign vibration began to race to my palms again, an underlying force buzzing through my body. My breathing picked up in pace as I fought to suppress the urge to purge this bizarre sensation.
Without my consent, my palms lit up. A glow emanated from my hands. At first, I thought it was my light magic pushing through on its own accord. My heart leaped as panic set in, my power seeming to have a mind of its own.
My helmet slipped free, thudding to the asphalt and rolling away.
