{6} Storm Warning
-Sam's POV-

I guess I fell asleep at one point, as the next thing I knew it was night, we had landed, agent guy was sat next to a fire, and Finn and Alex were nowhere to be seen.

The stone leopard was resting behind me, it's eyes closed and its head on its paws. It made a surprisingly comfortable thing to lean against, for something made out of stone.

"Ah, great, you're awake." Agent guy said, glancing over. "I guess I never introduced myself, right? In any case, I'm Agent Phil Wagner. And the statue behind you is Artifex."

"It's... Nice to meet you, I guess," I said slowly. Artifex rumbled softly behind me.

All of a sudden, Alex dramatically dropped from the sky. He seemed to be pretty good at making dramatic entrances. Maybe it was his thing.

<Finn's leaving.> He said, pacing. <He's going to give us a head start over the people who're following us.>

"How?" Phil asked. The way Alex looked at him, I didn't think he trusted the agent. Neither did I, really. Not that I had a choice.

<He's going to call up a bit of a storm. Maybe a wind or a fog.> Alex finally told us.

"He can do that?" I didn't keep the disbelief from lacing my voice. I didn't think that the skinny kid I had seen before could do something like that.

<Yes.> The Hollow said simply. He left it at that; apparently the matter was closed.

Moments later I felt the first gust of wind. It was followed by more wind, slowly gaining in intensity.

The wind nearly knocked the three of us off of our feet, and easily blew out our fire. Only Artifex seemed unaffected by it. After all, it was a stone statue.

"Could he not keep it from affecting us?" Phil muttered. "We need to keep going, in any case. We'll stay on the ground, I think. It's bound to be worse in the air."

Alex nodded in agreement.

Soon our little band set off among the trees, Artifex at the front as to shelter us from most of the wind. However the stone statue couldn't shelter us from the rain pouring down in sheets, nor the jarringly loud thunder accompanying the lightning.

<When Finn calls up a storm, he really goes all out,> Alex commented. He looked absolutely miserable as he trudged through the mud.

As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure all of us looked miserable. Only Phil managed to keep a positive attitude, but even he was having trouble with the weather.

It wasn't as if we could stop and wait out the storm, either, as as soon as the storm passed, whatever was chasing us would be able to find us.

Whenever any of us questioned Alex about who Finn was, he shrugged it off or gave us simple answers that meant nothing.

Finally Phil, following close behind Artifex, glanced back at us. "We need to stop!" He shouted over the thunder. "It's not going to do us any good to keep going. In this state, we'll be exhausted and unable to defend ourselves."

I could barely hear him, but I knew enough to make out what he was trying to say.

We stumbled around for a bit until we found a cave. It was too small for Artifex, but the statue said it would lie just outside and try to keep the elements from pouring in.

We agreed to this, and our ragged group staggered inside. Too weary to even set up camp, we curled up in separate corners and slept.

When we woke up once more, we found the storm had passed, finally. Artifex was still outside, keeping watch for any sign of anything following us.

We gathered to discuss what the hell we were even going to do out here.

<That's the thing! There's nothing to do out here! We could wander in this forest forever, or until we die,> Alex said in response to my question.

"Well, there's always the lost city..." Phil said, leaning back against Artifex.

<That doesn't exist.> Alex said stubbornly.

"But what if it does? It could be literally our only chance to survive." He leaned forwards. "Besides, there are people who've been there. It's not just a legend."

<It doesn't exist, Phil. Get that into your head.> He narrowed his eyes, wings flaring behind him. <It is a myth. It does not exist.>

Phil frowned faintly. "Your storm-boy, Finn. Hasn't he been there?"

<Yes, but—> Alex cut himself off. Even though Phil had supposedly fixed his vocal cords, he still hadn't tried to speak aloud. Maybe he didn't remember how to. <Finn is odd. He could be...>

"Lying? He is yourrr frrriend." Artifex cut in. I hadn't even noticed the stone leopard listening. "You should trrrust him."

Alex looked as if he was about to argue further, but at a glance from the statue, he sighed. <I just don't think it's a good idea.>

"We should at least try." I blurted out, surprising even myself. "If it doesn't exist, sure, we might die, but wouldn't that be better than going back to them?"

Apparently no one could find a way to argue with my statement.

Whatever Phil was going to say next, he was cut off by the appearance of a group of well-dressed people in a circle around us.

Stupid well-dressed people. Always showing up at the worst time.

Artifex growled, making many of them pale.

Then, wordlessly, a net was tossed over the statue, and what appeared to be literal balls of electricity were launched at us.

All further thought was lost as searing pain shot through my entire body and I fell to the ground.