Chapter 12: Horror
*DORIAN*
Altea and I were finishing controlling the bears when a terrible tremor took us by surprise. I embraced Altea, and when the shaking subsided, we hurried towards the carriage. Suddenly, I saw dust and small rocks. In an instant, a rockslide started, one rock falling after another. I saw Therius with his weapon out, and Elowen curled up against him. I tried to reach the children quickly, but a rock blocked my path.
The impact made me stagger and fall backward. On the other side, I watched as Therius lifted Elowen. It seemed he covered her with mana and tried to jump, but at that moment, a rock hit the carriage. A landslide of earth trapped Therius's foot, dragging him away. "KIDS!" both Altea and I shouted simultaneously. Trying to reach them, the earth formed a wall between us, preventing our rescue. I witnessed a large rock hitting Therius, taking the blow on his arm while shielding Elowen. Neither of us was an earth mage to control the landslide, despite our level.
As I saw them getting farther away and starting to fall off the cliff, it seemed Therius shouted something, but my panic prevented me from hearing. I watched as Dorian tried to jump, but I stopped him, feeling useless for not being an earth mage or something else to get them out of there. And just like that, Therius and Elowen were dragged out of our sight.
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**ALTEA**
When I saw Therius carrying Elowen, attempting to jump, a huge rock struck them, taking the full impact. Dorian tried to reach them, but the sand created a barrier. "KIDS!" we both screamed, unable to reach them.
I watched Therius shout something as they fell, but my panic kept me from hearing. Dorian attempted to jump, and I stopped him, feeling useless as I wasn't an earth mage or anything else to rescue them. And just like that, Therius and Elowen were dragged away to the bottom of the mountain.
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**Unknown**
An earthquake shook the mountain on the other side of where we lived. We were horrified to witness the mountain landslide.
Minutes passed, and everything calmed down, only mountains of dust passing through our area. Hours later, we were preparing to offer support in case anyone was injured. We had to cross a bridge over a river with a strong current. The water was brown, likely from the earth of the mountain landslide. "Look over there, in the river," my companion spoke, squinting to see in the distance. His eyes widened, "Those are, THEY'RE KIDS!" he shouted.
I quickly turned to where he pointed, and indeed, there were children on what looked like a destroyed carriage. "Use your earth magic to get us down now," I ordered my companion. Apparently, he thought the same, so he did it. After descending with his earth power, I used my weak water magic to force a wave and we managed to grab them. Quickly, another larger wave of water with rocks and other debris from the mountain landslide approached. We ran to the shore.
My companion quickly grabbed a large rock to lift us and avoid the water. After a few minutes, we managed to get out of the river and climb to the bridge where we had seen them. We could see the children better now. One was a girl, about 8 or 9 years old, with pale blonde hair and bronzed skin. She was thankfully only unconscious and almost intact except for some small bruises. The other was a boy, perhaps 12 or 13 years old, with ashen blonde hair, but with a pure white streak. We could see they were siblings because of that.
The boy was worse off. His leg was injured, and his arm was broken. His body was full of bruises. We quickly went to the village, where a healer was.
After almost 2 hours of running to the village, we met with the other villagers. "A healer, we need a healer," I shouted loudly despite having the boy in my arms. Everyone seemed confused. "Quickly, the boy was in the mountain landslide," upon hearing that, the mountain healer arrived.
"Quick, let me see him," the healer ordered us. "First, pass the girl through here," he guided us to his house. "The girl seems to be fine, just unconscious with some minor bruises, nothing that puts her in danger, but the boy is in worse condition," the healer told us with concern.
"From what I can see, the girl is intact thanks to him taking all the damage. His head is injured, his arm is broken, and his leg was fractured. I'll see what I can do for him," the healer said.
"Bring clothes and blankets for the girl, lay her in the bed over there, bring my assistant to help me with the boy," the healer quickly ordered. Everyone around us moved quickly. A woman and her daughter brought clothes and blankets, while the others searched for the healer's assistant. Just then, the boy woke up and grabbed the healer's arm. "Where, where am I?" he asked.
"Boy, calm down, you were found in the river with the girl, and they brought you to the village," the healer told the boy, who was still holding onto him. "My sister, where is she? She's my sister, she was with me when I passed out, is she okay?" the boy asked fearfully. "Yes, the girl is fine, thanks to you taking all the damage. She only has some minor bruises. Nothing to worry about," I replied.
Then the boy seemed to relax and passed out. It seemed he felt relieved after hearing that, so he fell asleep, and the healer began treating him. Shortly after, the assistant arrived. "I'm here, I heard about the situation. Where do you need me?" he quickly spoke. "Help me with the boy's head, that's his worst injury for now," the healer ordered.