Aurora Rising (15 page)

He found Rori about twenty meters to his left. With a quick look to the hill, he made a dash in her direction, firing as he ran. Return fire peppered around his every step. Diving over what used to be a speaker, he pulled back from firing as a young man rushed him. Keyen deflected the blow then caught the young man, flipping him to the ground, controlling the motion so as not to hurt him. “I’m a Guardian,” he yelled before any of the others huddled there could react and charge him. It took a second for the words to sink in. The youth he still held, finally stopped fighting.

Keyen looked around at a dozen terror-filled eyes of the group clustered between the speaker and the stage. One young woman, that reminded him of Rori, slumped against a man, clasping her arm to her side. Two other girls had their arms wrapped around another boy, helping him stand. Keyen was already cataloging what he saw.

Most of what showed was scrapes and dirt. The one girl’s arm was broken but he didn’t have time to handle that. Ripping open a pocket on his pants, he pulled out a pressure bandage. Stepping to the young man held by the girls, Keyen tore open the young man’s blood-soaked pant leg and placed the bandage over a gash on his leg.

“You’ve got to get out of here.” He looked back at the youth who had attacked him. “I’ll cover you until you get to the canopy over there.” Keyen motioned where he wanted them to go. “Then stay behind it, and you can make your way to the street. They have med stations set up there. Tell them they have a bleeder. The bandage will hold for a while though. Okay?”

Keyen waited for him to nod. “You guys will have to take him. She’ll be okay.” He waited with a patience he didn’t feel while they shifted position. “Ready?” When the nodded he activate his link. “Rori can you see my location?”

Her acknowledgement came after a second. “I need a shield here to cover these guys to the canopy.” Her confirmation came immediately. “Go. You’re covered, I promise. Just stay in a tight group and keep moving as fast as you can. Go!” When he barked the last word they moved.

They hardly stepped into the opening when the first laser blast connected with the shield Rori had up. Keyen turned and returned fire. Focused on getting the group away, he almost missed when the speaker shifted his way.

Only the other telekintic’s lack of strength on moving it allowed Keyen the time to block it before the speaker pinned him. Still the distraction left him vulnerable. Laser fire scorched around him filling the air with a rank stench.

He had to move. Rori was still focused on covering the slow-moving group. Raising his head for a quick survey, he barely ducked down before a blast erupted where he’d been, showering him with sparks. He was getting tired of this. He could feel the fatigue in his body and knew the others had to be wearing down too with the prolong use of their talent.

Making a dive, Keyen rolled over the speaker, running as his feet hit the ground. Behind him, the speaker sliced in two, but he reached his next cover before any weapon fire found him. Unfortunately, he found his line of sight blocked.

Taking a deep breath, he sprinted for the back of the platform that put him just below the slope of the hill. He slid under the edge as laser fire cut through a piece of support structure, crashing it down at him. He caught it with his mind, only centimeters from his face. Groaning under the strain, he shoved it off to the side.

Keyen climbed to his feet, taking another survey of the team and his surroundings. The fire power was ominous. They’d faced multiple foes before but never this many, with this caliber of talents and weapons. He knew they were still outnumbered at least three to one. The thought was hardly through his mind when Cassie’s voice came over the comm.

“We’re pinned down and taking heavy fire.”

Keyen shifted his focus back to the twins and Sansa. Sansa fought a fire that had erupted not far from her, cutting her off from the twins who were caught behind a pile of debris with laser blasts coming at them from three angles.

Keyen followed one line back to a sniper on the hillside and focused on the man. The distance was at his far limits but Keyen fought for the hold then pulled. There was nothing smooth in the way the man was ripped from the rock outcropping. He was flung down the hill until he collided with a tree, falling into a crumpled heap on the ground.

An acknowledgement from Bass reached him followed by the twins doing a similar maneuver on another attacker.

Pulling his attention back to his own surroundings, Keyen opened fire where he knew another group was barricaded. Return fire peppered around him from two other locations forcing him down. He pressed back against the stage, trapped again.

On the stage above him, a control panel blew apart sending shards and sparks at him. With no time to prepare, Keyen was only able to catch and stop a few pieces. Luckily, his vest shielded him from the worst, but still he felt the tiny bites of pain.

Ignoring the pain, Keyen came up in time to catch the movement in the air of what looked like a small bundle floating down the hill toward him. It took only a nano-second for his mind to recognize it was a bomb similar to the one that took out Rori’s apartment.

He locked on it with his mind, but before he had time to wrestle it free and send it back, it exploded. The force of the explosion tumbled him back like a rag doll. Keyen smashed into what minutes earlier had been a recording station and fell to the ground stunned.

Rori’s demand to know what happened jerked him back to alertness. He stumbled his way around behind the recording console, not that it gave him much cover. Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes in an effort to clear his mind and the ringing in his ears. Behind him the console shuddered with the impacting laser blast. Keyen knew it couldn’t hold up long.

“Keyen.” Rori voice came over the link again.

“I’m okay.” He opened a view to her to see if she could cover him but her focus was still locked on the slow moving group. Her shield was taking continual hits. If he could hold out for a minute more she could cover him.

The thought hardly crossed his mind when the stench of fried wiring and plastic reached him. He picked the closest place for cover as he worked his feet under him. He waited out the next volley of fire then ran, shooting wildly at the hill in hopes of forcing the shooters there down.

He was three meters from the vehicle he was heading for when his mind seemed to stall out on him. Pressure in his mind tightened. The world lagged down to slow motion and his body followed. A staggered step backward saved him from one laser blast.

He tried to shake the fog away, and his thought cleared enough to realize that it had to be an attack from the hypno-talent Rori had described. He fought harder, forcing one foot in front of the other. To the side of him he was aware of something exploding but focused on making the next step that would have him safe behind shelter.

The blow hit him, and he dropped. Searing pain ripped his mind from the stupor into agony. At the next gasp for breath, he slipped into unconsciousness.

Rori sighed with relief when the group finally made it behind the shelter. Fatigue permeated her body. Not even when Keyen was in one of his masochistic training moods had she felt so taxed. She wanted to think that it was because it was all so new to her that she felt so fatigued but couldn’t as she could feel the weariness in the whole team.

She hadn’t even realized she was so a tuned to their individual strains of emotions, but she didn’t doubt she was correctly identifying each of them, just as she was aware of the unwholesome evil in Drasc.

As soon as she thought of Drasc, she could almost taste the foul bitterness of him. Keeping it in her thoughts, she turned to the hillside, locking on a spot near the top. Heavy trees and bushes obscured her view but she knew he was there, waiting back, savoring with glee like some sadistic puppet master.

Raising her laser weapon, she steadied it with her other hand and started to tighten her finger. She forced her mind from the fact that she had never fired on another human before. She held her breath and screamed in pain. Her shot went wild but she didn’t notice.

“Keyen,” she cried out, activating her viewer.

Nothing came over the link but she knew it wouldn’t. Still, she was already headed for his position, locking into the instinct deep inside her. Lasers deflected off her shield unnoticed by her as she darted around debris in her mad dash to reach him.

“Keyen.” Tears burned her eyes at the sight of him lying crumbled on the ground. Scorched material and blood covered his chest, a chuck of metal extended from the midst of it on his left shoulder.

A burst of fire jarred her out of her shocked stupor. She ran forward and grasped his legs, pulling him behind the wreckage that used to be a hoversled. He groaned at the movement, but she kept going until they were safe then dropped down beside him.

“Keyen,” she yelled down at him, trying to get a response. All she got was a low moan.

Terror filled her but she pushed it aside, forcing herself to look down at his chest. She saw that the scorched material was only the outer covering of his protective vest. But the metal that looked like it had once been part of the railing on the building above them had missed the vest, piercing through him in a downward angle.

Pulling a cutting tool from a pocket, she sliced open his shirt. Unfortunately, his vest hampered her view, and there was no way to remove it with the rod sticking out a good eight centimeters.

The sled shuddered with impacts. She ignored it, activating a link. “I need help. Keyen’s down.”

“On my way,” Tankin’s answer was immediate.

“I should … have stayed … behind … shield.”

His words took her by surprise. She jerked to meet his eyes. Pain filled them, and he grimaced at a slight movement.

“Stay still.” She brushed a hand against his cheek, sending out waves of comfort. “Help’s on the way. We’ll get you out of here.”

“Can’t. Have to … stop them.” His voice petered out.

“You’re more important,” she said firmly, wishing she could take away his pain.

“Giving orders.” The words were slurred and ended with a grimace of pain that she felt deep within her chest.

“Rori, how is he?” Hiymm’s question grounded her.

“Not good. Do you have visuals?” she answered back.

“Yes. His vital signs are dropping. Areathea wants to know if you can do something to staunch the blood flow,” Hiymm asked.

“There’s no way to put a pressure bandage on it with the vest in the way. I’ll need a hand to hold it steady while I cut it way. I don’t know if you can tell, but the rod angles down toward his heart.”

“We concur. Tankin is on his way to you. As soon as he gets there, Areathea wants you to remove the vest, put on the bandage then get him to the medics as fast as you can. Don’t give him anything for the pain. They’ll be ready. She’s relaying instructions and they’re prepping for him.”

Rori acknowledged. “Tank, where are you?”

“I’m pinned down thirty meters to your right. I can’t get to you.”

Rori’s heart sank when Tankin answered and jerked again when Keyen moaned. Edging up, she glanced over the edge of the sled and cringed at the sight. Tankin was pressed into the small space behind a drinking fountain. Laser fire rained around him. It would be suicide for him to move and a quick check showed the others were fairing no better.

“No,” she cried out as a burst came dangerously close to Tankin, coinciding with a wave of pain from Keyen as he tried to move.

“Tankin, I’ve got a shield on you.”

He was running before she even finished. Seconds later he reached them.

“Raebent hues,” the curse slipped from him when he saw Keyen on the ground. “I was hoping it wasn’t as bad as it looked, but it’s worse.”

Rori ignored him already back down by Keyen. “We need to get the vest off him. Can you hold it away from the rod and steady?”

“It won’t move a millimeter.” He moved into position.

Rori took a deep breath. Releasing the fastenings on the vest, she then adjusted the length of the edge on the small laser cutter they each carried. She went to work slicing apart the vest. Even with the laser, it was slow and arduous. True to his word, Tankin didn’t let the vest move at all. Still, removing the vest wasn’t easy. Tankin lifted Keyen slightly as Rori slid it out from under him and move the bandage into place on his back.

“Rori, Tankin,” Hiymm said as they settled him back down. “Areathea say’s you’re going to have to remove the rod. It’s too risky moving him with it in.”

Rori felt a wave of panic then tamped down on it immediately to keep it from flowing over to Keyen.

Areathea voice came next. “You must be extremely careful not to do anymore damage. Tankin, focus sound waves on his chest and use it as a sonogram to guide you in easing it out.”

“I understand.” Tankin’s deep voice had a calm Rori didn’t think she could have retained.

“Rori, have the pressure bandage ready to move in place as Tankin gets it out.” Rori didn’t need Areathea to add more. She knew Keyen could bleed to death in seconds if they didn’t staunch the flow.

Laying out what they needed, she placed her hands on Keyen to brace him then looked at Tankin. With a nod, Tankin’s attention dropped to Keyen. Rori felt a stirring as Tankin pushed out his talent. After several seconds, he started to slowly draw out the metal.

Pain burned through Rori.

Keyen sucked in air but he didn’t say anything. Rori pushed out with her mind to comfort him, and he relaxed with a shuddering sigh. Blood seeped around the metal. Rori didn’t take her eyes from it though she wished it would stop. The instant Tankin drew the metal free. Rori pressed the bandage in place, activating the seal.

Keyen stiffened, and Rori fought to keep in a gasp of pain. Keyen slipped into unconsciousness, and Rori sighed.

Her body trembled.

“Can you shield us?” She turned her attention to Tankin as he spoke. His look held concern. “We’ll never get him out of here if you can’t.”

“I can,” her voice broke, and she couldn’t say more until she forced a swallow. “Can you carry him?”

Tankin nodded.

Rori steadied Keyen’s head and watched the bandages as Tankin worked his arms under Keyen, settling him close to his body in a position least likely to jar him.

Rori was unsteady as she made it to her feet. Nausea threatened and pain cut deep in her chest. She tried to ease her mind from Keyen, but she couldn’t get past her fear of losing him.

Beside her, Tankin rose with much more ease though he held Keyen. He just made it to his feet when a blast hit the sled grinding across the metal toward them.

Rori’s shield was already building when the attack startled her. The pain and fear she felt tumbled into the shield. Dazed, she looked at the senseless destruction, fury boiling into the mixture.

When a succession of blasts hit the shield directly in front of where Tankin was holding Keyen. Rori reacted, pushing back with her emotion fed shield, sending it toward the hillside at all the locations where the firing was coming from. Flashes of fire sparked on the hillside, followed by a series of cries. In a split second everything became eerily silent.

“What was that?” Tankin stared at her in stunned disbelief.

“I’m not sure.” Rori swayed on her feet, incredibly tired. “They startled me. Keyen.”

“Yeah, we’ve got to go. Whatever you did, good job.”

Rori wasn’t sure what she did and didn’t care. Her entire attention rested on Keyen and the faint beat of his heart.

Rori fought to rebuild the shield but as they moved into the open no more blasts came their way. They were halfway across the space when her shield failed and Rori could not pull up the strength to recreate it. Still it wasn’t needed.

“I think it’s over,” Tankin said.

Rori could only nod, her entire force locked on Keyen. She hadn’t realized that sometime in their moving she had placed a hand on Tankin’s arm to keep up. Now she caught Keyen’s hand that dangled down over Tankin’s arm and interlocking their fingers.

Within her mind, she felt Keyen. He seemed so far away. “Hang on, we’re almost to help.” His body was slipping. “No,” she cried and heard someone shouting in her ears.

Rori hadn’t realized they had reached the medic until Tankin started to lower Keyen’s body down on a stretcher. Still, she clung to his hand.

“Keyen’s life signs are falling.” Areathea’s voice came over the link.

“He’s crashing. We’re losing him,” a med-tech shouted.

“No, we got you out,” Rori yelled at Keyen’s limp form, groping for his spirit. She felt the strain of it pulling away. She locked on to him, intertwining her life threads with his much like she had their fingers. “I won’t lose you. Do you hear me? I won’t lose you. Keyen, I love you.”

She poured her love deep into him. His heart caught and she urged his heart to match hers, to beat with hers. Rori could feel the tear in his body and see it in her mind. The damage sickened her. She wanted to take it away. She felt his agony and pulled it into her.

Rori was unaware of dropping across his body. Around her everything became muffled. Faintly, she heard someone say, “He’s stabilizing.”

“Rori’s vitals are dropping.”

“What’s happening? Someone report.” Rori recognized Areathea’s demanding voice.

“Let’s get her off him.” Rori felt herself being lifted away and wanted to object but couldn’t get the words out.

“Stop! Don’t separate them!” Areathea’s shriek cut through clearly.

“Her shoulder’s bleeding,” someone muttered.

“Whatever you do, don’t break their contact or we might lose them both,” Areathea’s warning to the med-tech trickled through to Rori, but she ignored it, focused on her name being said in her mind.

She knew Keyen’s touch. “I love you, too.” She clung to the words and floated off.