James’s eyes shot open as his heart lurched down to his stomach. The airship he sat in hit turbulence, dropping several feet in the sky. He patted himself down in his seat, ensuring his seatbelt was well fastened. Near the rear of the airship, two fire elementals blasted fire into the vehicle’s engines, turning the pistons that powered the turbines. All around him sat his fellow graduates of Inferno 38. No more than two weeks ago, they sat at their commencement ceremony in the quad of the Academy for Combat Incineration, now they found themselves being thrown headfirst into the depths of hell. All his life he wanted to join his fellow fire elementals on the front line defending their homeland, but now he couldn’t help but feel as if nothing could prepare him for what was about to happen.

                “I can’t believe they’d actually try blowin it up!” To James’s right, his classmate, Maria awaited his reaction to her statement. His only friend he had known before the academy sat patiently. Her small head and slender neck were illy proportioned against the cumbersome sub-nautical gear she wore.

                “Me neither,” James brought himself to respond. He raised his hand to his face. The weight of the metal couplings and rubber lining battled his arm’s effort to move. How were they supposed to fight in these? “Hopefully it’ll just be a couple of them. You know we’ve had the water elementals on the run for the past five years. Maybe the war will be ending.”

                “I don’t think so,” another voice cut in to his left. The man’s violently red hair swayed with the airships turbulence as he turned to join the conversation.

                “Ross don’t be so negative!” Maria’s dark hair whipped around her in the wind. “You’re gonna end up scarin James,” she whispered poorly.

                “I don’t care if he’s scared! Those web feet are gonna be meeting us down there toe to toe. Do they think they can flood our lands by settin off a bomb down in that trench and we’re just gonna let ‘em? Nah, they’d best expect we’re gonna put up a fight.”

                Ross had always been the headstrong type. James’s roommate often led the class in the afterschool shenanigans that would often result in early morning drilling the next day. His two best friends sat next to him, the rest of his friends lined the cabin of the airship. With all of them here, there was nothing that could stop them. Not the water, not the elementals. Today was going to put a 1-0 record on Inferno 38’s board.

                The light above the cabin door flicked red as a siren blared. Over the deafening sound, a voice rose from the front of the airship. “Alright embers, you know why we’re here.” The class captain, Eryu Lancaster stood before the drop door. “The water elementals have planted charges in the Mariana Trench and plan on flooding thirty percent of our west coast by detonating them. Today, we stop them. We’ve decimated the Earth elementals in Turkey and snuffed the Wind in Norway. Let’s end this war once and for all!”

                Cheers reverberated throughout the chamber. Embers rose from their seats, retrieving their dive helmets from below their feet. The three friends followed suit, clamping down their suit’s couplings and helmets. According to the armory, these suits would prove air-tight to protect them from the water below. They were never told what would happen if they did touch water, but their imagination had gotten the best of most of the class. A heavy weight pulled James back. He struggled to balance on his heels as Ross hoisted a monstrous air tank over his shoulders. He heard a faint click from behind his helmet as fresh air filled the small bubble that surrounded his head.

                “Can you get me?” Ross turned to point to his empty pack. James returned the favor, repeating the process with Maria afterward.

                “Fifteen Seconds!” The captain’s voice broke through the static of James’s helmet. The drop door slammed outwards, revealing the endless night sky. The wind rushed to fill the cabin. James’s knees buckled against the force pushing him into Ross. His hands shook from within their gloves as the time to drop drew closer. Thankfully there was so much space in the suit, no one could see such minor movement.

                “Hey!” Maria turned to face James. “We’ll be ok! First mission friends, right?” Even from behind her glass visor, Maria’s smile pierced through the shield. James took a deep breath, filling his lungs and releasing his nerves as he exhaled.

                “I’ll have you’re back!” Ross’s voice blew out of James’s headset. He smiled, reminded of his friend’s presence behind him.

                The alarm blared again as the cabin filled with a green light. Row by row, pairs of Embers plummeted into the sea below. Captain Lancaster stood at the door, pushing the crewmates out of the airship. He barked orders and words of encouragement with each set of soldiers. Finally, James found himself face to face with his captain. Before him stretched the abyss of night. The dark sky bled seamlessly into the black mirror below him. Only the pilot lights from the previous pair were visible as they soon vanished below the ocean’s surface.

                “Burn Proud!” Eryu’s voice rang out. James felt a shove from behind him as he became parallel with the water. Rocketing towards the surface, James struggled to control his tumble. Just feet before the surface, he straightened out, managing to enter feet first. His boots quaked beneath him from the impact. For a brief moment, he slowed from the water’s resistance, as it wrapped its cold embrace around him. Whitecaps from the splash became visible, lighting up the black pool he sat in. Just seconds had passed as James began catching his breath. Suddenly, the ocean pulled him from his feet, dragging him beneath the surface, rocketing towards the unknown that laid in wait beneath him.