The Elementals

Coal was almost completely healed in the morning. Steel was amazed. Just yesterday, Coal had been in a car crash. Today he was snapping at Steel to catch up as they continued to follow the tracks. He must have a faster recovery rate than a normal person. Steel wondered if they all had it.

The tracks ended by the same road they had driven on before the crash. Steel could see the long, black skid marks from the tires. The smell of burnt rubber and gas still hung in the air. Coal paced angrily around the trees, trying to find something to see where they had taken Tide.

He walked over to Coal, who was inspecting a bumper from a truck. It wasn’t the one from the truck they hijacked Steel was sure. He had seen that one charred and bent around a tree in the wreckage. Steel recognized the metal. It was a certain mixture of iron and something else Steel had never felt before. Steel had only seen this metal in the facility.

Steel touched it experimentally. He felt a buzzing in his fingers and a strong tug from the opposite direction in which they were travelling.

“She’s that way.” Steel told Coal who was watching him suspiciously. “I can feel the rest of the truck.”

Coal didn’t move, seeming torn. He glanced again at Steel.

“Look, I know you don’t like me,” Steel said, surprising himself. “And frankly, I don’t like you either. But Tide is that way, I swear.”

Coal looks taken aback. Steel felt the same.

“Fine.” Coal growled. Steel decided to take it for what it was worth.