Clone Earth : MELVIN

The clearing soon disappeared, and Ari found herself trying to listen to the forest. It wasn’t quiet; it somehow gave off a stillness she’d never experienced before, even when compared to her solitude on the dead space shuttle. Beneath the snow-covered ground, the animal’s hooves crunched through vibrant greenery. The breeze caused the plants to rustle with life.

The horse’s jostling movements fell into a steady rhythm, allowing Ari to loosen her hold on its other occupant. “S-sorry,” she stammered, straightening her back and placing her shaky hands on her own lap.

“No, I’m sorry about what happened back there,” Robie said. “Gilad, he moved the horse so you’d grab onto me. He does it often to university students that are out on dates. He thought he was helping.”

“Huh.” Ari was glad Robie couldn’t see her face. “How far is this trip?”

If he recognized the attempt to change the subject, Robie said nothing about it. “Only 15 more minutes to get to the opposite stables, then we’ll walk the rest of the way to the main buildings.”

Ari jerked backward as the horse lurched over a fallen tree, grasping desperately for Robie’s coat. She muffled a yelp but forced her eyes to remain focused over his shoulder. The path was not an obvious one, but the animal easily crushed through obstacles ahead, which is why Ari was surprised when it halted, shifting its feet heavily in the snow. Roca’s horse ears were twitching rapidly.

“What’s wrong?” Ari gripped Robie’s coat even tighter as they were jostled around by the horse’s movements. “It’s not broken, is it?”

As the horse’s movements became more erratic, Robie’s expression turned serious. He reached out to gently pat the horse’s neck, murmuring calming words to it. “Easy there, Roca. No, she’s not broken. Something’s making her nervous, that’s all.”

Ari’s heart raced as she held on tightly, feeling the tension in the air. She scanned their surroundings, trying to discern any potential threats. The forest seemed to close in around them, the shadows growing darker as the light was blocked from above.

“Are the trees—” Ari shook the thought from her head. She didn’t remember much from her planet science overviews, but she recalled that it took years for trees to grow. Nor did they move independently.

“Yes, they are moving,” Robie said, though his tone suggested this was normal. “Hold on.” With a careful hand, he guided the horse to a pathway on the right, moving at a quick pace now. Ari watched the trees ripple like a wave on their left. They weren’t growing taller, but the ground lifted and fell with a rhythmic pulse.

“This may seem strange, but it’s normal. The movement will be isolated to one section of the forest at a time. Roca can navigate around it, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” Ari lied. Her nerves had already been tested with the appearance of mutated creatures and a mysterious dying girl, on top of everything she’d encountered over the past month. She was impressed she hadn’t already gone full Farris on the world.

Her mind briefly wandered back to her previous adult guardian. She wondered if he’d safely escaped the Deviates and the scrutinizing eye of the military after the disaster. No matter what, she’d find him. She’d keep her promise first, then find him. Make right what she’d destroyed.

A loud crack echoed across the trees, and the ground to their right began to shift and crack, breaking away beneath them. Ari’s eyes widened in alarm as she felt the instability beneath them, her grip on Robie tightening instinctively.

“I’m worried now, Robie!” Ari shouted, her voice edged with urgency.

Robie’s expression mirrored her concern as he quickly assessed the situation. With swift action, he urged Roca forward, away from the crumbling ground. The horse responded with a burst of energy, galloping away from the danger as the earth continued to rupture behind them, only to meet the unstable waves of earth to the left.

Roca stumbled at the uneven ground before she reared up on her powerful back legs. Surprised by the animal and gravity, Ari’s grip slipped from Robie’s coat, and she fell to the ground. Glancing up, she saw Roca stumble backward. Ari’s mind worked fast to prevent herself from being stepped on, and she rolled away from the powerful hooves of the animal.

The trunk of a large tree stopped her, and she scrambled to her feet, using the tree trunk to brace herself. She could hear Robie calling for her, but she couldn’t understand him through the sound of crumbling rock. Suddenly, he was in front of her, pushing Roca’s reins into her hands.

“Hold her,” he insisted. The leather and metal vibrated in her trembling hands as she and the horse stumbled. Eyes wide, she didn’t miss Robie’s next moves. With large, flexed motions, his hands moved in front of him, generating a vivid golden aura. He widened his stance and stomped, shoving all that built into the ground.

The ground shuttered and instantly stilled within a radius around them. Robie remained still, eyes closed, until his face twisted, and he cursed. “It’s Russ,” he groaned.

“What does that mean?”

“He think’s I’m alone,” Robie said, his body still as if he was holding a wall back with all his strength. “He’s too far off. Get on Roca.”

“What?” Ari gasped.

“I can make a path for Roca to run, but I have to get closer to stop him.”

At this point, Ari was more scared of the ground than the unpredictable animal. She approached the side of the animal. The animal’s stirrup looked impossible, as if it started at her shoulders. She gritted her teeth and counted to three. With an audible cry, she jumped, pulling on the horse’s mane and saddle. She pulled until her foot slipped onto the oddly shaped metal, which gave her the lift to throw her leg over to the other side.

Gathering the reins in her hands as she’d observed Robie do so, she looked back down at him. He released the hold he’d managed and ran ahead of the horse. His hands making the same motions, though this time the golden aura was tainted with a blue color. The two colors swirled as he pushed the foliage away and stilled a pathway ahead.

“Come on,” Ari shouted to Robie, but he shook his head. “Roca, Hiya!!”

At his call, Roca didn’t give Ari the choice. The horse bolted down the path Robie had made, while Ari held on with all she had. She ducked as branches from shifting trees leaned toward her, but the shifting ground began to calm as the trees thinned out. They broke through into open space, and Ari could see the tops of buildings in the distance, gleaming in the late afternoon sun beyond layers of rolling hills. In the opposite direction, parallel to her, Ari could also see the silhouette of a guy. His arms and legs were actively in motion, suggesting he was the one controlling the changing forest, where she had left Robie.

With little thought, Ari collected Roca’s reins and pulled her to run towards the silhouette. At full speed, she calculated it would be a matter of seconds until he would notice a giant galloping animal bearing down on him. But before she reached that distance, his body shifted; crouching low, he made a jerking movement with both hands and the ground between them shot up into a nine-foot cliff, blasting snow into the air.

Ari’s hands grabbed frantically for Roca’s mane, determined not to fall this time as the animal reared, whinnied, and stumbled backward.

“Whoa, girl,” she gasped. She slid from the animal to the ground.

Leaving Roca to fend for herself, Ari used each hole and steadily pulled herself upward. She reached the top surprisingly quickly and swung her legs up and over to fall to the other side.

Only then did Ari catch a glance of the elemental; well-built and vivid red hair. She called out but the sounds as he changed the elementals drowned out her voice. Suddenly his hand flew up in a block as a blast of freezing cold wind rushed out of the tree towards them both. The full force targeted the red head but it also whipped icy snow into Ari’s face. Ducking low, she felt most of it breeze over her body as she rolled to the side and back on her feet. Snow whirled as the unnatural wind settled.

His mouth flashed into a grin but he still didn’t notice she was there. She could see his arms lower to the ground moments before the dirt and snow beneath her feet fell away. Ari slid down a gaping hole, trying to grasp a handhold anywhere.

She yelled gibberish curses as she fell until the ground stopped moving, and she was now stuck at the bottom of a lengthy ditch, running along the tree-line. Overhead, Robie appeared, if possible more disheveled than he had appeared before. Ari thought to call out to him, but his focus was on the boy across the crater, who was bracing for another attack to come his way.

As she opened her mouth to call out, a new sound filled Ari’s ears. She glanced below; water rushed through a crack in the bottom of the crater, filling it up and swirling to meet her. Ari scrambled to climb the muddy slope. She was almost at the top when she heard a familiar sound: the impact of a fist hitting flesh.

“Easy, man, okay, okay,” an unfamiliar voice said, a bit more gleefully than his victim. “Just wanted to properly welcome you home.” Another sound of impact and a whoosh of air being forced out of his lungs. “Okay, Rob, sorry I didn’t—”

“I wasn’t alone!” Robie barked.

The other boy coughed. “Like a date? Okay, okay, put the fist away, man. I’m sorry. Where’s your passenger?”

“Roca took her to the stables while I dealt with you.”

“Um, actually I’m down here,” she called, knowing she would have to face embarrassment, but looking down at the now calm river of water below, she would rather accept help than face the horrible realization she had never been taught to swim.

Two heads peered over the embankment, with matching shock in their expressions. The red head quickly set into motion, reaching down. He grabbed her right arm, while Robie reached for her left, but she was already being pulled to the top where she stumbled to her feet.

An explanation for why she was standing there began to form in her mouth, but Robie waved her off. “It’s not your fault. It’s Russ’.”

“Allow me,” Russ said. With a deliberate push and pull of his arms, a stream of water floated up from the crater, wrapping around her and pulling the mud and blood from every stitch of her clothing. It gathered into a large ball in front of him, leaving her completely dry.

In awe, Ari watched as he somehow tossed it aside without touching it. Then, he moved his hands differently, dispersing a thin layer of his vibrant blue aura around her, warming the air and her clothing, returning her body temperature to slightly above normal.

“I am very sorry,” the redhead said again, his blue eyes wrinkling in the corners as he smiled. “You have to focus hard when fighting against Robie, or he could accidentally kill you.”

“I’m fine,” Ari said, still confused at how she was now cleaner than she had been in weeks. “As strange as that was, it wasn’t the most terrifying thing I’ve experienced in the last twelve hours—which is really sad.”

Russ’ blue eyes squinted in confusion. “Deviates,” Robie clarified blandly.

“Oh damn. I’m an extra idiot. I…” Russ stopped as a new realization crossed his off-white complexion. “You’re Trevon’s missing sister.” Ari’s eyes widened as a jolt of fear practically tased her in the chest. Russ continued, “His traumatized first exposure to magic missing sister.” He held out his arm to Robie. “I deserve it. Drop me.”

With a mere glance at Russ’s arm, Robie walked away in an angry huff. Russ quickly slipped his hand under Ari’s elbow. “Can you walk?”

“I’m fine,” she said, pulling her arm away from his touch. “I can make the walk—”

“I think you deserve a ride,” Russ motioned to a motorized vehicle, featuring skis at the front for steering and a continuous track system at the rear for propulsion. Sitting just beyond the destruction zone.

“YES!” Ari exclaimed, relieved at the prospect of a faster and more comfortable mode of transportation.