Page 43 of Facade

Since Mars and Venus prided themselves on teaching control to those who struggled with it, all the professors at both colleges were experienced in crisis management. Hundreds of students having just come into their powers could be a volatile combination. Mishaps, some of them very dangerous, happened, often publicly.

But, that wasn’t the case, here. The water being impervious to his spells meant that this was not an accident. It was a planned attack by someone well-versed in controlling his element.

His rank for castings other than earth spells was a six-point-eight. That was nothing to be embarrassed by. Heath had the power to cast most spells without an issue.

But with sufficient training, even a low-ranking elemental would be able to thwart a spell meant to disrupt his or her element while they commanded it. Elementals would always have a closer tie to nature than casters. And this elemental had clearly been trained.

Mitch most likely knew that his days here at Mars were numbered after his temper tantrum on Friday. Heath would bank on the classroom being Clark’s, and that Mitch was insane enough to carry out his vendetta against the powered monitor.

With a rank of eight-point-two, Mitch was strong enough to direct a considerable amount of water while changing some of it to ice, and forming shapes with it. He couldn’t think of anyone else who had the motive, self-destructive tendencies, and power to pull off something on this scale.

Heath heard shouts and the sound of running feet as students on the quad spotted the impending disaster. That was good. It was pointless for him to stand here, and try to fight this elemental. Earth spells wouldn’t do much under the current circumstances.

“Do what you can to slow this down,” Heath bellowed as he ran for the rear entrance of the Humanities building. “I’m going inside.”

The targeted classroom was the second from the end. Heath needed to know what was going on in there, and help if at all possible. Several voices shouted assurances that they would fight the wave.

He hoped that an older caster with the foresight and knowledge to cast for the perpetrator was in proximity. Heath didn’t have the time to do so himself. Damage control was the immediate priority.

Heath had no idea what other classes might currently be in session. But most of the professors who taught in this building were scholars with low-ranking powers, and or on the elderly side. The subjects they taught were applicable to anyone, and didn’t require demonstrations of power.

Clark would not have help from his neighbors, who could also be in danger. Voudrie was reportedly quite accomplished, with a high-ranking power. But animating objects would only do so much in a classroom where there was little to work with.

Skidding around the corner of the building, Heath scaled the steps two at a time, and wrenched open the doors. With his wand out, he ran past the first classroom, stopping in front of the door of the second.

Seeing a metal pin stuck in the lock plate to prevent the door from opening, infuriated him. There was even a pitchfork braced against the door with the doorknob between two of its tines for good measure.

The students were trapped in the room. This was heinous. With one furious swipe of his wand, the pin was ejected, and the pitchfork fell to the floor.

Hearing the sound of splintering glass motivated Heath to move faster. Yanking the door open with his left hand, he cast a shield with his right as sharp shards of ice and glass flew into the classroom.

His shield was milliseconds away from being tested for durability when the glass and ice were sucked forcibly out of the room. Heath didn’t care who had saved the day, only that someone had. That was far too close for comfort.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Heath holstered his wand, and looked for the students. The boys were huddled against a wall out of the direct path the water would have taken. In front of them was a barricade comprised of every large and or flat object in the room.

Clark stood near the boys, looking both tired, and furious. Heath sympathized. He felt the same, and he hadn’t been trapped in here with innocent kids to protect.

The boys peeked past the barricade, some of them stepping around it. One of them held a rabbit in his arms. A mountain lion stalked toward the destroyed windows, growling and sniffing the air.

“Talk about inspiration. Will I be able to do that someday?” Paul asked as he stared out the windows with an expression of awe.

Carl Washington was using air to force the water back where it belonged, and prevent the glass from causing injury. It was a very impressive sight. But he was in charge of elemental studies for a reason.

The tall, broad-shouldered black man had a commanding presence even when he wasn’t using his power. Seeing him create a cyclone that encased the water, and move it with the ease of a musical conductor, was on a different level. Shards of glass separated from the water, guided by gentler gusts of wind. They landed gently on the cobbled path, where they could be swept up easily.

Carl was definitely giving all the elementals on campus something to aspire to. Dozens of students stared at him with a clear case of hero worship.

“It will be a while before we have an idea of your power ranking,” Clark said. “But yes, you may be able to do that, Paul.”

“I thought it was so badass to be a fire elemental, but watching this, I admit that I’m kind of jealous,” Brandon said.

Now that the danger was over, the two shifters who must have panicked, transitioned back to their human forms. The other boys helped collect the scattered bits of clothing so they could get dressed.

“Mr. Voudrie was awesome, too, the way he made all the desks fly together, creating a wall in like, two seconds,” Liam said. “I’m taking this as motivation to work hard, and control my power.”

“Yeah, that was awesome,” Steve agreed.

“Thanks,” Clark said distractedly. He was probably still thinking about the damage those ice spears could have done if no one had been able to stop them. “How are you feeling, Carlos?”