The morning sun beat down on the cracked asphalt of the abandoned street, casting long shadows from the crumbling buildings around them. The air was still and heavy, the silence only broken by the distant call of a crow. Josh, Lauri, and William stood at the edge of what used to be a bustling marketplace, now empty and desolate, a testament to how the world had changed since the lottery had been announced.

  William checked his watch and then looked up, his face set in a grim expression. "Five days," he muttered, rubbing his temples. "Five days have passed since this all started. One week and two days left until this nightmare is over."

  Josh, still sore from his training with Vlad, glanced nervously at his sister, Lauri. She gave him a reassuring smile, but he could see the worry in her eyes. "Do you think we're ready for whatever comes next?" Josh asked, his voice uncertain.

  William snorted, his usual sarcasm cutting through the tense atmosphere. "Ready or not, kid, it's coming. This is the Power Lottery—we've already seen the lengths people will go to for that 500 million dollars. You think the worst is behind us? Think again."

  Before Josh could respond, a strange sound cut through the stillness—a low, whirring noise, like a thousand tiny wings buzzing at once. Lauri frowned, her eyes narrowing. "Do you hear that?"

  William's head snapped up, his senses on high alert. "Yeah... and I don't like it."

  The sound grew louder, and suddenly, the air began to stir around them. Small bits of debris skittered across the ground, and a light breeze began to pick up. The breeze turned into a gust, and before they knew it, a tiny whirlwind formed in the center of the street, spinning faster and faster.

  "Tornadoes!" Josh shouted, his eyes widening as more miniature twisters began to materialize, whipping the dust and debris into the air. "But they're so... small!"

  "Don't be fooled," William growled, his eyes scanning their surroundings. "Small doesn't mean harmless."

  Within moments, a dozen or more tiny tornadoes swirled around them, each about the height of a person but spinning with an unnatural speed and intensity. They twisted and turned erratically, moving as if guided by some unseen hand.

  "Move!" William yelled, shoving Josh and Lauri out of the way just as one of the tornadoes veered towards them. The ground where they had been standing moments before was ripped apart, shards of asphalt flying through the air like deadly shrapnel.

  Josh rolled to his feet, his heart pounding. "What the hell is going on?" he shouted over the roar of the wind.

  Lauri's eyes flashed with determination. She raised her hand and reached for the small, pocket-sized drone she had tucked into her belt. "I think I can manipulate these things," she said, her voice filled with urgency. "Maybe use the electronics in the debris to disrupt their movement..."

  "Do it!" William called out, using his metal manipulation ability to send a discarded manhole cover flying through the air, aiming to cut through one of the approaching twisters.

  The tornadoes, however, seemed to have minds of their own. They dodged and weaved around the manhole cover, closing in on the group with frightening speed. One of them darted towards Josh, who barely managed to jump out of the way in time.

  "Split up!" William commanded. "Don't let them corner us all at once!"

  The three of them scattered, dodging the erratic movements of the tornadoes. Josh ran, feeling the wind whip past his face, and he could hear the miniature twisters slicing through anything in their path. He saw a dumpster lifted off the ground and tossed like a toy.

  Lauri's fingers danced over her drone's controls, and she managed to send a burst of electromagnetic pulses towards the tornadoes. Two of them seemed to slow down, their rotations becoming unstable, but the rest continued their assault.

  "I can't get all of them!" she shouted. "There's too many!"

  William cursed under his breath. "We need a new plan, fast!" He threw another piece of metal debris, trying to buy them a few precious seconds.

  Josh dodged behind a car, panting, his mind racing. His ability to travel to the past was useless here—he couldn't change the present, couldn't stop these things from coming. And the rusty sword Vlad had given him felt heavy and useless in his hand. He was starting to feel the weight of his own inadequacy.

  Then, just as he thought they were going to be overwhelmed, he saw it—a figure standing at the far end of the street. A tall man in a dark suit, smoking a cigarette, watching them with a calm, almost amused expression.

  "Vlad?" Josh shouted over the chaos.

  Vlad nodded, his eyes never leaving the storm of tornadoes. "Time to test what you've learned," he called back. "And I'd suggest you hurry. These little twisters have a nasty habit of getting bigger."

  Josh swallowed hard, gripping the old, rusty sword with renewed determination. He had to prove himself. He had to prove that he could be more than just a scared kid with an enchanted blade.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Let's do this," he muttered to himself, and charged back into the fray.

  The tornadoes grew, their size and fury intensifying as they spun wildly, threatening to rip the street apart. Josh's heart pounded in his chest as he tried to keep his balance against the howling wind. He glanced at Lauri, who was struggling to control her drone while keeping herself steady. William stood a few feet away, metal debris hovering around him like a defensive barrier, his eyes narrowed as he watched the tornadoes' unpredictable movements.

  "They're getting bigger!" Lauri yelled over the roar of the wind, her voice tinged with frustration. "If we don't do something fast, they'll tear us apart!"

  Josh looked around, desperate for anything they could use. He saw a fire hydrant a few steps away, and an idea began to form. "Lauri, can you hack that fire hydrant and get it to burst?" he shouted.

  Lauri nodded, quickly directing her drone toward the hydrant. A few seconds later, a loud pop echoed through the street as the hydrant exploded, sending a powerful jet of water shooting into the air.

  To their surprise, as soon as the water made contact with one of the smaller tornadoes, it immediately collapsed into a harmless puff of air. The realization hit Josh like a lightning bolt.

  "Water! They're weak to water!" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with newfound hope. "If we can hit them while they're still small, we can take them out!"

  William nodded, already moving to manipulate a nearby streetlamp to direct more water toward the remaining mini-tornadoes. "Good call, kid," he said, a rare note of approval in his voice. "But we need to find the user controlling these things. They're getting bigger for a reason—someone's gotta be nearby, feeding them power."

  Josh ducked behind a broken-down car as a gust of wind sent glass shards flying past him. "How do we find them in all this chaos?" he shouted.

  William's face was grim. "We don't find them; we draw them out," he replied. "If they see us taking down their little tricks, they'll get desperate and reveal themselves."

  Josh hesitated, the weight of the situation bearing down on him. "But what if we can't draw them out fast enough? What if they just keep coming?"

  Vlad, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally spoke up. "We don't have to wait," he said, his voice calm and analytical. "Think about it—tornadoes spin in a certain direction. They're not moving randomly; they're moving with purpose."

  Josh blinked, the gears in his mind turning quickly. "You think the direction they're spinning... might be leading us to the user?"

  Vlad nodded. "If the user is controlling these tornadoes, they might be standing in the eye of the storm. The tornadoes are like a shield around them, protecting them while they attack."

  Lauri's face lit up with understanding. "So if we follow the pattern... figure out the direction they're spinning... we might be able to pinpoint where they're controlling them from!"

  Josh grinned, adrenaline surging through him. "Alright, we have a plan. Let's find that pattern and take them down."

  William cracked his knuckles, his usual smirk returning. "Now you're talking," he said. "Let's give this tornado master a run for their money."

  Josh took a deep breath, steadying himself for what was to come. The tornadoes were growing stronger, but they had a plan—a chance to turn the tide. He just hoped they weren't too late.

  The tornadoes spun with relentless fury, but the group was ready. Josh, Lauri, William, and Vlad moved with precision, following the twisting patterns of the wind, trusting Vlad's theory about the direction of the spin. Lojan Mackimee strolled alongside them, seemingly unfazed by the chaos, a grin on his face.

  "Keep your eyes peeled," William shouted, using his metal manipulation to shield them from flying debris. "If the direction is right, the user's gotta be close!"

  "Yeah, yeah, metal man, we know," Lojan replied, rolling his eyes. "But you've gotta admit, it's kind of poetic, right? Chasing tornadoes to find the storm inside the man."

  Josh didn't reply, his focus locked on the swirling winds. His hand clutched the rusty sword his father had left him, a blade that felt too heavy, too awkward in his grasp. He could feel the weight of everyone's expectations pressing down on him. I'm not a killer, he thought. I'm not a hero like the others... I'm just... Josh.

  Suddenly, a gust of wind parted, and they saw him—Jorge Machado, a small, wiry man standing atop a pile of debris. His eyes were wild, and his chest heaved with anger. With each exhale, a new tornado formed, starting small but growing with every second, swirling in tandem with the others.

  "There he is!" Lauri shouted, pointing. "That's our guy!"

  Jorge's eyes narrowed as he spotted the group. "So, you found me," he sneered, his breath coming in sharp bursts, each one creating another spinning vortex. "But it won't matter! You think you can stop the storm?"

  Lojan stepped forward, grinning widely. "Well, actually, that's exactly what we think. Now, be a good sport and come quietly, or we're going to have to—"

  Jorge didn't let him finish. He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, sending a powerful gust that blasted towards them, a small tornado already forming and expanding in their direction.

  "Move!" William shouted, throwing up a sheet of metal debris to block the incoming wind. The tornado smashed into the metal, dissipating, but the force of the impact sent him stumbling back.

  "Josh, now's your chance!" Lauri urged. "We need to get in close!"

  Josh swallowed hard, nerves jangling, but he nodded. He began sprinting forward, dodging debris and small whirlwinds that spun off Jorge's larger creations. He felt the rusty sword in his hand, its weight a reminder of the fight ahead.

  Jorge saw him coming and grinned, his chest expanding as he prepared to release another powerful gust. "You think you're brave, kid? Let's see how brave you are when you're caught in my storm!"

  Before Jorge could unleash another tornado, Lojan, now suddenly beside him, interrupted with a casual tap on Jorge's shoulder. "Hey, buddy, why so angry?" he quipped, his immortal grin never fading.

  Jorge flinched, surprised by Lojan's sudden appearance, and in that split second of distraction, Josh made his move. He lunged forward, the rusty sword raised high. Jorge turned his head back just in time to see the blade coming down. He tried to inhale, to summon another whirlwind, but he was too slow.

  The blade sliced through the air, cutting through the pressure of the wind. Josh's heart was racing, fear and adrenaline coursing through him. But he didn't hesitate; he drove the sword forward with all the strength he had.

  The blade pierced Jorge's chest. His eyes went wide with shock and pain, the wind in his lungs escaping in a final, feeble puff. The growing tornadoes around them began to waver, then collapsed entirely, leaving only a deafening silence in their wake.

  Jorge crumpled to the ground, his body limp and lifeless. Josh stood over him, panting, disbelief on his face. He looked down at the rusty sword, now stained with blood, and felt a strange, sickening mixture of relief and horror. I... I did it... I actually did it.

  Lauri was the first to reach him. She grabbed Josh by the shoulders, turning him to face her. "Josh, you did it! You found him, you stopped him!"

  Josh nodded, still in shock, as he glanced over at Vlad. The swordsman's expression was unreadable, his dark eyes assessing. Vlad walked over slowly, his cigarette smoke curling in the air, and took a long, deep drag.

  "You fought well, Josh," Vlad finally said, his voice calm but serious. "Better than I expected from a boy with no real training. You have courage, even if you do not know it."

  Josh blinked, surprised by the compliment. "Th-thanks, I guess..."

  Vlad reached out, holding the hilt of his own polished karabela, the blade gleaming even in the dim light of the fading tornadoes. "Your father's sword," he continued, his tone solemn. "It is a simple weapon, but it has served its purpose today."

  He paused for a moment, then nodded. "I think you might be worthy of wielding a better one," he said, and in a swift motion, he unsheathed his karabela and handed it to Josh.

  Josh took the sword, his hands trembling slightly. "Are you sure?" he asked.

  Vlad gave a small smile, a rare thing for him. "You've proven yourself in battle. Now, prove yourself with the blade of a true warrior."

  Josh felt a surge of pride and determination. He had killed a man today, but more importantly, he had protected his friends. And now, with a new blade in his hand and a new sense of purpose in his heart, he knew that his journey was far from over.

  To be continued...