Chapter eight;

“Tonny! Wait…” Mr. Chard spoke, panting from running. He hurriedly leaped towards them and stopped to catch a breath. He reached out for Tonny's hand who brushed him off.

“I want to take Buanita Walker's place. Take me as bait instead. Here I am.” Tonny spoke as held out both of his hands to the mages and pushed his back into the line. 

A mage in a red jumpsuit with one star by the collar grabbed him  from the line and pushed his back  to the walls of the bus causing a loud bang. His clothing could tell that he was the fire captain. 

Tonny pushed him to free himself but the fire captain placed his hand on his neck, he couldn't move his head even slightly. He could feel the angry breath of the captain onto his skin as he glared into his eyes. These eyes could display how much hatred he had for the non-mages. 

“Listen! We don't take orders from non-mages,  the names of the mages who are the next bait are selected by Nathan Scott the Supreme god himself.” The fire captain spoke bitterly as he pushed him harder to the bus by his hand in his neck. “ You still have a lot of energy to work. Why would we exchange you for an old woman?” 

The fire mage gripped Tonny by his hair. A range filled his heart as the scene recurred again,  how Pele had gripped his hair.  He clenched his fists as he wanted to squeeze every piece of the mage that was in front of his eyes. He didn't want to put his parents life in danger. He couldn't use the energy because of the mages that were around. They could recognize the aura easily. 

Mr.Chad couldn't take it anymore, he picked up his walking stick and threw it across the fire captain's back. The fire captain turned towards Mr. Chad gave him a glowering look before he let go of Tonny's neck.

Mr. Chad walked a few steps backwards as the fire Captain walked forward in a thrust motion. 

“What are you doing Captain? Why isn't the bus leaving? The non-mages are still stationed here? We need to hurry. We can  not allow the monsters to reach the Caudy Shelter.” An aged mage walked out of the car that was in front of the bus. He had two stars by the collar of his white jumpsuit.

“Major,” All the mages there saluted him as he approached them.

The fire mage glared at Mr. Chad after saluting the major. 

Elizabeth who had been watching from the window mirrors moved steps to go outside and talk on behalf of Tony.She was pulled backwards by Allan who shook his head before she could say anything. 

The fire mage grabbed Mr. Chad by the cloth and pushed him into the line. Tonny fought  to get into the line but was pushed aside by three mages. All the non-mages were pushed  into the old bus. The fire captain smiled with a scorn at Tonny while he entered  and shut the door of the bus.

Cynthia moved forward to where Tonny was standing as she slowly put her hand over his to comfort him. Tonny stared back at her with his watery eyes. He had just found his mother and father and they were vanishing right in between his eyes.

Tonny walked away from her without saying any word.  Cynthia followed him for a while  but she had lost him. She looked around beyond the thatched houses but he had vanished in thin air.

She turned to the bus side but it had already vanished too.

*********

Inside the bus, Mr. Chad was seated two seats from Buanita.  They drove down the dusty road as their bodies moved vigorously. It was not his first time being outside as he watched the world that had been dismantled.

His eyes drifted to Buanita, she was sweating and a handkerchief in her arms trying to rub off all the sweat. The mage passing by him stared at him with a rough face about to hit him. 

Mr. Chad stared away from Buanita.  They arrived in the deserted place, it had a few of the buildings and cars that had been crushed.  It was very silent and the only noise was from the bus.

As they stepped out of the car, clouds were forming and the winds were blowing heavily. It was threatening to rain heavily. 

“Move to the other side of the buildings and scatter, we need to  in the monsters.” The mind captain shouted with his voice that was blown away by the heavy wind.

“I think we should leave.” The wind captain interrupted. “ It is dangerous. Our powers are limited.” He raised his voice so the other captains could hear amidst the blowing winds.

“No! We are staying. Now scatter you non-mages!” The major shouted. “The supreme god will take care of the rest.”

Nathan flew from the air and slowly landed to the ground as his cloak was being blown strongly by the wind. His brown face had been exposed as he took out both of his hands creating a white ball.

The non-mages were forced to scatter and  beaten brutally to the buildings. Mr. Chad got a hold of Buanita and they headed inside a deserted building. 

Nathan created a strong white ball blowing it in the air to stop the storm that was coming towards them. The ball was swallowed from afar by the tsunami. Their eyes widened. This had never happened before. They trusted Nathan with their lives.

Nathan spread his arms again panicking, forming another big ball, he combined all the elements this time around. The other mages were now frightened as the tsunami was coming close at a nimble speed. They all joined their elements and emitted the light towards the tsunami. 

A wide force was drawn back to them as they fell back to the ground one by one. Others were thrown over the buildings and cars. The monsters had started invading the place. They started running away due to the tsunami. 

It was accompanied by lightning and a strong wind. The lighting didn't spare any of the broken buildings it hit. Mr. Chad stared at Buanita who was terrified. He hugged her.

For the first time, she held him closer. “I wish that in another life, I would be more kind to you.”

The tsunami had now reached them, they could hear the sounds of the weaving water more clearly.