Authors: Lynnie Purcell
Another roar shook the tunnel, and more dirt fell in my hair. The fight would not last much longer. It was coming to an end. But what end?
“To hell with this,” I said.
I sucked in a breath and threw out the fear that was plaguing my brain. There was nothing in the moving dark to stop me. Nemesis was gone. It was just a place. It was no worse than the place I was currently stuck. I was not going to allow myself another slow torture. I would not bow down to the fear.
My aggravation worked.
I felt the pull of the in-between place without realizing I had made a choice to move. The walk through the darkness was quick. When the darkness cleared, I was on the other side of the cave-in. The sounds were louder now, coming from further down in the tunnel, but close enough for me to run to them. I looked around for my friends, but they weren’t trying to dig me out, and they weren’t lying on the ground crushed by the weight of rock. They were gone.
Alex and Reaper would never abandon me. Not on purpose. They were involved in the fight; they had to be. I put the lighter back in to my pocket and pulled my knife out of my pocket. I was more prepared to use it than ever. I ran down the tunnel, as fast as I could go. I ran until I reached the large cavern that held the prisons and outposts. What I saw was unexpected, despite the noises that had alerted me to the danger.
Many of the buildings were on fire. Seekers were running around without direction, trying to find a purpose around the chaos. No one seemed to be in charge. The prisoners had been set free, adding to the chaos of the fire and fighting. A large group of Nightstalkers was gathered at one end of the cavern. They were rallied behind a large Nightstalker with white eyes. Alex. She was leading the group. Alex’s eyes shone with a fierceness I had yet to see in her Nightstalker eyes, despite seeing her kill in that form. It was not a look to be trifled with.
Opposite the Nightstalkers was a large group of Seekers – the remnants of the guards near our entrance. One of the guards stood out from the others. He was standing close to an odd rock formation, his body language showcasing confidence and strength. I looked closer and saw the reason behind Alex’s fierce expression and the odd rock formation. Reaper was suspended in the air by a heavy rope of rock. The rock bound Reaper by the hands and feet in a large circle, making it impossible for him to move. Not that he was trying too hard. He looked unconscious. A trickle of blood ran down his face and his eyes were closed. It was the first time I had ever seen him look helpless.
Alex roared again, a warning for the others to set Reaper free. A different Seeker raised a crossbow and took aim. It was all Alex needed. She jumped across the space and started tearing in to the Seekers closest to Reaper. Some tried to control her with their electric sticks, but she was oblivious to the pain. All she knew was the rip and tear of Seekers flesh as she worked to set Reaper free. The other Nightstalkers jumped in to the fray. They were just as fierce, just as determined to kill the Seekers in front of them. Whatever Alex had done to make them follow her, they were loyal. They were willing to fight to the death.
I ran to the fight.
My focus was the Seeker closest to Reaper. He was the one holding Reaper up by the rock; he was the biggest threat. I watched as he enclosed one Nightstalker in a wall of solid rock. It was quick, faster than I had believed rock would move. The sight of the Nightstalker being enclosed was proof that getting close to the man was impossible. I would be swallowed by rock before I could get within five feet of him. I had to find another way.
As the man raised his hand again, to enclose another Nightstalker in rock, I threw my knife at him. It was a desperate throw; one I did not think would work. He was a Seeker – trained in combat. He would sense the knife before it hit him…except, he didn’t. My knife hit him directly in the heart. He looked down at the knife, then back at me, as if he had never thought something so little could kill him. Then, he toppled to his side. I ran to him and pulled the knife from his chest, before going to Reaper. I felt the others protecting me as I went to him; I knew no one would bother me while I rescued Reaper.
I touched Reaper on the face. He was still out cold. Despite the rock-man being dead, the rock was still formed around Reaper’s hands and feet; the man’s talent outlasted his life. My only chance to free Reaper was to wake him up. He could use his talent of dissolving in to mist to free his body from the rock. The problem was getting him conscious in a way that meant he could focus his abilities. Hitting him wouldn’t work – it would just break my hand.
Instead, I used my touch on his face. If I could winnow in to his thoughts, maybe I could get him conscious. As I focused, the others waged war around me. Alex led them in their violence without pause. Trusting my life to their violence, I tried to burrow my way in to Reaper’s mind. Everything was dark. There was a dim spark of thought, but it was hidden in his subconscious. I went to the spark, hoping it was something I could use.
Reaper!
I gave a mental shout.
There was no response from his thoughts. Frustrated, my patience worn thin after a long chase and more than my share of worry, I acted out. Instead of the gentle tug of my awareness that I had been sending out, I put the whole weight of my mind on to his. My cry turned in to a shout.
REAPER!
Reaper woke with a startled gasp. His silver eyes were confused, and he looked dazed. He searched for understanding through the confusion.
“Hi,” I said as his searched for awareness.
He focused on me.
“Your hands are bound by rock,” I pointed out. “You should probably use your talent to free yourself…that is, if you don’t want to die.”
Reaper blinked at me a couple of times before he caught up to my words. He slowly turned his head to look at his hands. He still looked confused, but even in his befuddled state he realized his situation was deadly. On instinct, he dissolved in to a black mist and reformed next to me. His legs gave out from under him the second he touched the ground. I bent down and put his arm around my shoulders, to help him stand.
“You okay?” I asked.
“It’s a concussion,” Reaper said in a slurred voice. “Nothing I haven’t been through before.”
“How nice for you, hero. How about we get out of here?” I asked.
“What about Alex?” he asked.
“She’s here,” I told him.
“Here?” he questioned, his eyes sweeping the fighting Nightstalkers and Seekers for signs of Alex.
“Alex! We need to go!” I called to her.
Alex killed the last of the Seekers with a swipe of her forepaw and turned back to us. As she turned, automatic gunfire sounded throughout the cavern. It was coming from a different tunnel across from us. We all jumped at the sound – it was unexpected, a new threat we weren’t sure we could face.
It was time for a hasty retreat. ‘Hasty’ was the last thing Reaper was capable of. He stumbled as I tried to pull him away from the gunfire. It took all of my strength to keep him on his feet. He was as much a stone as the ones he had been bound by. Alex stopped me before I could make it ten feet. Her roar was a question, a hint I should look again. I turned around and saw something I had not expected.
I was relieved, and more than a little surprised, when I saw Jackson making his way out of a tunnel. He was the source of the gunfire. He shot at any guard stupid enough to get in his way. Behind him was a group of Watchers I had never seen before. They all had weapons and helped Jackson clear a path through the Seekers. At the back of their group was another group. These people did not have weapons and looked more terrified. They were obviously humans. From their lab coats, I knew they were human scientists Marcus had kidnapped. In that group were two people I had thought I would never see again.
Han and Beatrice helped the humans stay on course. Their hands were gentle as they guided them. I smiled when I saw them. Their faces were so full of kindness, despite the ordeal they had just gone through. Spider was next to them, his eyes everywhere and full of anything but kindness. A small knife was in his hands and he looked fierce. Blood stained the knife.
Behind Han and Beatrice there was another group. It was a group of Watchers just as large as the first. At the front of this group, I saw Serenity. Silver blood dotted her white snowsuit, though her makeup and hair were still somehow immaculate.
I held my breath as I waited for the one person that mattered most. The others had cleared the tunnel, and were heading toward a bridge that spanned the gap, when I finally saw Daniel. He was a good distance behind the group, making sure they were not attacked from behind. He had found a sword, somehow. It, too, was stained with blood. Despite the violent nature of our meeting, I drew in a relieved breath. He was alive. He had done it; he had rescued his parents.
“Daniel!” I called across the space.
His green eyes startled, he looked at me. His eyes grew wider when he saw the group of Nightstalkers surrounding me. They surged and moved, protecting Reaper and me. I wasn’t sure why they were being so protective, but I felt it had something to do with Alex. Reaper tried to gain back the use of his feet when he saw the others, but his body still wasn’t working properly.
Daniel called to the others when he saw us, and they switched course. Any Seekers that stood between them and us were quickly dealt with. Any prisoners that they encountered were immediately added to the group. They clung to the help eagerly.
Jackson reached us first.
“Hey,” Jackson said. “How’s it going?”
“Oh, you know, the usual violence and chaos,” I said. “You?”
“The same…except I call that ‘fun,’” Jackson replied.
“You would,” I said.
Daniel pushed his way through the large crowd of Watchers to get to me.
He paused in front of me and took in the sight. I was covered in debris and looked as if I had crawled out of the depths hell towing Reaper with me. Reaper looked worse. Daniel reached out and put a hand on my neck.
“You kept your promise,” he said.
“I always do,” I said. “You wanna help me?”
I grunted as Reaper’s body fought to obey the law of gravity.
“Oh…yeah,” Daniel said.
He took Reaper’s arm off my neck and put it around his own. He accepted the weight easily. Reaper was not the dead weight to him that he was to me.
“I thought you were supposed to look after Clare?” Daniel said to Reaper. “Kind of looks like things got reversed.”
“What can I say? She’s a hell of a woman,” Reaper said.
The crowd parted and I saw Han and Beatrice up close. Their clothes were torn and their faces were sunken with worry and months held without light, without freedom. But they were alive. Despite the trauma, their eyes had not lost their warmth. Han’s eyes still held laughter and Beatrice’s held a warm glow no other person living could match. I went to them and hugged them both as tightly as I could.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” I told them.
Beatrice smiled. “We knew you would find us. We never lost hope.”
I smiled back, feeling the warmth of seeing them alive fill my body. For once, we had been truly successful with a rescue mission.
“This is a lovely reunion,” Serenity said pointedly. “But we need to go. You can get sentimental later.”
“I know the way back,” I said. “I can take you to the cave.”
“Lead on,” Jackson said.
“You follow us,” Daniel said to Jackson. “I’ll stay with Clare.”
Jackson nodded again and waited for us to pass him. I directed our feet toward the cave. Daniel fell in next to me, his pace not slowed at all by the weight of Reaper. Alex forced her way directly behind us. No one argued with her. The rest of the Nightstalkers followed at a slower pace. Their growls and grunting filled the air. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do with them, but I was grateful for their help…however we had gained it.
“How did you get down here?” I asked Daniel.
“The tunnels connect to the fortress,” he said. “We followed them out.”
“Was this part of the plan?” I asked.
“No…Serenity decided to change the plan in the middle of things. While we got everyone out and rescued Han and Beatrice, she decided to run around and set charges. She blew it all up…we barely got out alive.”
“Was that the explosion I felt?” I asked.
“Probably,” Daniel said. “It caused massive cave-ins and rearranged a lot of the tunnels.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said.
“Apparently, she knew the tunnels were here,” Daniel said.
I could tell he wasn’t happy about the idea of her keeping that sort of secret. It had almost cost us our lives. It was something we had all been expecting.
“She made us come this way. It was easier getting out than it was getting in. I didn’t understand why until I saw the confusion down here. Your doing, I guess?” he asked.
“I had help,” I said.
“She says we found Alex, but I don’t see her,” Reaper added in a dazed voice. “It’s all a big mystery…ohhhhh, can’t tell Reaper! He might react in a way Clare doesn’t like.”
“How hard was your head hit?” Daniel asked him.
“Pretty hard,” Reaper said with a happy smile.