We reminded our non-Yan friends that what had just happened was only the beginning and that J.C. would fall before the authorities arrived. We were in the middle of our heated argument when we started hearing gunshots. We ran outside to find out what was going on.
The courtyard was packed with students who had also heard the gunfire and had come out to check it out. As soon as the Masani students saw us, they started yelling, “What are you waiting for? Fly away and tell us what’s going on.”
I looked at Amelia, Pam, Tristan and Alex, and we nodded at each other and flew to take a peek. What we saw was unimaginable. A horde of people were attacking the police and the military. We didn’t know why the military was there, but it was, and it was being attacked.
The horde looked like zombies, with foamy drool coming out of their mouths and red eyes. They were dirty from top to bottom and holding gardening tools, and they were launching themselves at the police and the military. The last time I had seen something like this was in Dawn of the Dead.
I could only assume that they were not of sound mind, because the people they were launching at were not your regular, run-of-the-mill police officers; they were authorised firearms officers, and they had soldiers with them, but that did not seem to faze the mob at all. I could see from far away that more military vehicles were coming. It looked like a war zone. These officers and soldiers had no idea what they were walking into, and they might have been massacred by now had they not been armed.
I turned to the others and said, “We have to help them.”
The look they gave me was of disbelief, but they could clearly see that Tristan, Pam and I were determined, and it was obvious that without our help it would be a slaughter, so they nodded yes. Then Amelia said, “What about the others? They are waiting for news from us, and if we don’t come back, they will be worried.”
I agreed, so I sent Amelia to go and relate to the others what was going on, and it was decided that the rest of us would be flying to lend a hand to the police, but then we saw a squadron of shadows coming towards us. They were far away, but we knew it was them, and we knew that they were in attack mode, because they had made themselves visible to the Masanis as well.
We heard a chant coming from the villagers. They started kneeling and chanting, “Fira, Fira, Fira, Fira.”
The soldiers and the officers really looked scared, so I turned to Pam and said, “Find Amelia and tell her to get Mabel, quick. Things just got serious. When you get back, I want a shield around these guys —” I pointed to the first group of soldiers and officers — “and those guys.” I pointed towards the military vehicles that had just arrived. “Quickly.”
She nodded and flew away. I turned back to the Firas. They looked like a dark sea coming at us. It reminded me of The Evil Dead, when Ash is relieved to see the sun out, and the demon darkened the sky to turn it into night-time again. The Firas were doing the exact same thing to us.
I sent Alex and Tristan to go and talk to the first group of Masani soldiers, while I went to the second group. They had come out of their trucks and were terrified to see me at first but calmed down when they realised that I was only a teenager.
I briefly explained who I was, but I made it clear to them that the Firas were coming to kill all of us and explained to them who they were up against. They revealed that they already knew about the invasion but that they had never faced the Firas before. I thought to myself, You and me both, brothers and sisters.
Their leader introduced himself as Major Paul McNamara. He was asking what I could possibly do for him when Amelia dropped Mabel near us and flew away. They looked puzzled, and he said, “What do you think you’re doing? What is that kid doing here?”
He seemed really angry, so I said with the same tone he took to talk to me, “That kid, as you put it, is here to protect you while my friends and I are fighting the Firas to save your lives, so a little bit of appreciation would go a long way.”
He said, “What? I forbid you to fight anyone. Pick up that child and leave right now.” Then he pulled out his weapon and told his team to get ready.
Clearly, talking to that man was a waste of my precious time, so I asked Mabel, “A taskitty na?” which meant “Are you ready?” And she said yes, so I flew over her and said, “Begin.”
Major McNamara, realising that I was doing something,screamed, “No, Diana! No! Come back here! No!”
His voice sounded panicked, but it was too late. Amelia and Mabel had erected a shield around the soldiers to protect them from the Firas. In order to do that, they had to kneel and concentrate their energy power to the ground, which erected a bubble-like energy shield around them. It took a lot of strength to maintain it for long, and Amelia and Mabel’s young age meant that they would not be able to hold the shield for long, so losing the battle was no option for us.
On the other side, the boys faced the same problem. They hovered over the police. The fight down there was over, and the officers were staring at them with disbelief. They eventually dived down to explain the situation to them, and as typical Masanis, they pointed their weapons at them.
They explained briefly who they were and showed them what was coming. They advised them to get back to their cars and protect themselves, but they did not do it. Luckily for them, the boys left Amelia to erect the shield while Pam was left outside the first bubble to fend off anyone trying to land. Then Tristan and Alex came and joined me to face the Firas.
They stood still and then made a face, as if trying to scare us was their intention. Then I had to admit it worked brilliantly; I was very close to running away.
We had decided to wait for them to attack us, so while we were waiting, Alex asked us, “Any last words?”
I turned to him and said, “I can’t believe that I’m going to miss the Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion.”
They burst out laughing, and their laugh was so contagious that I was laughing as well.
Then Alex turned to us and said, “Look, if I don’t make it, and you guys do, please tell my family that I love them, and tell Lani that I am crazy about her and that she is the love of my life.”
We turned towards him in disbelief.
“What?” said Tristan. “You and Lani together? Since when?”
He smiled and said, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Now I knew that I had to make it. That gossip was so juicy that not being able to spread it anywhere was almost illegal, but it looked like Tristan had an even juicier piece of gossip for us. He smiled and said, “Well, just in case I don’t make it, Mark and I broke up because I cheated on him. I kissed another guy.”
We mumbled, “What?”
Just then the Firas started to move towards us; we were close enough to them for us to feel their energy. The jig was up. We were about to fight.
“How do you want to do this?” the boys said.
“The two of you, make a sky-high wall of fire behind Pam. No one passes,” I said.
“What about you?” they asked.
“I’ll break their ranks with balls of energy. I’ll electrocute them. Make sure the fire does not go out, because it’s about to rain.”
I was about to leave when I turned to look at them once more and said, just in case, “Do not break ranks, no matter what. I’m serious.”
Alex made a move towards me and I stopped him.
“No matter what,” I added, and he pulled back.
I turned to Tristan and he nodded, and I flew higher, looked up at the sky and raised my arms up. As soon as the Firas saw me calling on Thor, they knew what I was about to do, and they attacked.
They started descending on us, and I noticed that they were not armed. I realised that they couldn’t hold solid instruments. The sky turned grey and thunder started. I knew Thor had heard me, and I dived into the middle of them by turning into a flaming human twister and started throwing balls of electricity at them.
I kept throwing energy balls at them and burning them, but there were just too many of them. It felt like forever, and they were not backing down, but my strength was diminishing, and so was the strength of my balls. Not long after that, they started suffocating me.
The feeling was unusual. It wasn’t like holding your breath. It felt like they were inside my body and were extracting any oxygen inside me. The pain was excruciating, and all I could think about was that I would never see William and my family again.
Then rage took over. I became so angry. I was not about to die that day, nor would I let any of my friends die either. I just burst into flame, and they started screaming in pain. They were burning. I turned towards the boys, and despite the wall of fire, I could see them, and I noticed that they were looking very worried.
Their wall of fire was holding, but I could see Alex making a move to come and help me, so I made the stop hand gesture. The wall of fire had to hold no matter what. I could see him struggling to obey me, but then I saw Tristan yelling something at him. He seemed to remind him what was at stake if he broke the wall.
My strength was even more diminished than I thought, because being flamed and flying among them and burning them did not last long. Before I knew it, my fire was so weak that the Firas were able to surround me and smother me. I started to scuffle desperately, and I heard the boys screaming, “Shield, Diana! Shield, please, Diana! Shield! Shield, please!”
It gave me courage, and so I did. I blasted an energy sphere around me to give me time to breathe and recover. The Firas were trying to penetrate the sphere, but they couldn’t. I knew that it wouldn’t hold for long; manoeuvring powers for a long time and at the same time takes a lot of training, and I hadn’t learned how to do either well yet.
But I wasn’t the only one in trouble. Amelia and Mabel’s shields were wearing off as well; they were getting tired. From the beginning of the fight, the Firas had divided themselves into four groups. One group dealt with me, another descended on Mabel’s bubble, the third one descended on Amelia’s bubble, and the last one tried to go through Tristan and Alex’s wall.
Pam had joined the boys and had made a rock serpent that went through the wall of fire, turning it into lava and burning not only the Firas attacking the wall but the ones attacking the soldiers.
Amelia and Mabel were getting weaker. The weight of the Firas as well as the lava was getting to be too much, and the soldiers had to carry them because they couldn’t kneel any longer. They were begging them to let go, promising that they would be okay, but the girls knew that if they did, then they would all die. Pam noticed that the girls were no longer supporting their own weight, and had stopped with the lava, but the Firas were still attacking the bubbles.
All seemed lost when suddenly we saw blazes of fire coming from all over. I had been descending slowly but surely, so I looked up, and that’s when I saw them: a full squadron of Infernos and Airborns holding flaming swords, throwing blazes of fire, attacking the Firas. Help had finally arrived.
We almost cried with joy when we saw them. I was so tired that I fainted, but Alex and Tristan dropped the wall and caught me before I could reach the ground. Amelia and Mabel had fainted as well and were being carried by the soldiers.
Pam jumped on Alex, and they hugged while the Firas were being defeated. We came down, and Tristan helped me to sit on the floor because I was dizzy. The police and the soldiers had recovered their freedom of movement after the bubbles disappeared.
The squadron leader was coming down, and the boys realised that it was my cousin Jaimie Altkasei Bouba. They were so happy to see Jay that they screamed with joy and ran towards her. She asked what had happened, and after they had explained, she ran towards Amelia and Mabel, who had been placed next to me by the soldiers.