More and more guards pour from a wide black truck, sitting atop 12 ball bearing like wheels.
Delta shouts to Ai-Ling who pushes her power into a nearby water hydrant, which cracks and disintegrates. Water gushes forth, which Delta controls with her energy, moving it to the neighbouring truck, drowning the guards left behind.
Ai-Ling runs forwards and cracks the earth, swallowing the truck whole.
Ari notices four guards attacking Xavier and two more going for Guy. She searches deep within for that dark energy which started to wake as soon as the guards first entered the inn. She takes a deep breath and centres herself, calming her breathing and the heart threatening to break forth from her chest. Focusing only on those that threaten them, and hoping she does not hurt her friends, she pushes the energy forward, from every inch of her body, emanating it all round her.
The energy flows fast and hard, sweeping across them all in a blast, with a radius that spans past the village borders.
All remaining guards are floored, some grasping at their throats, others screaming in agony.
Then there is silence.
Gasping for air, and feeling suddenly light-headed, Ari makes to sit on the ground where she stands. Black spots invade her vision and she feels as if she may vomit. She lies down, staring up into the night sky, the stars winking brightly.
Kaley hurries over to her sister, ‘Ari, are you okay?’
‘I’m just a bit exhausted.’
‘Let me help you.’ Kaley starts her healing routine on her sister and the other wander over.
‘That was insane!’ Malik cries. ‘Who knew little Arielle was capable of such destructive power.’
‘There’s no time for celebrations,’ Guy says, as he runs a gloved hand through his dirty blonde hair. ‘If it’s anything like the last town and The Chancellor knows we’re here, a missile is probably headed our way now. It’s time to go.’
◆◆◆
After commandeering the car of the inn-keeper, who stood by to watch the fate of the guards attending to her call, aghast at their defeat, the assassins and mages travelled out of the village en route for the swamplands ahead.
Ari sits in the back seat of the car, head resting on her sister’s shoulder, still depleted of her energy and power, so much so, that she could not even harbour her own healing power to restore her energy. Xavier and Guy sit in the front, quiet, eyes peeled for any threats ahead. Malik and Delta talk in hushed voices, occasionally glancing over to Ari, before going back to their intense discussion. Ai-Ling stares out of the window, thinking about her late sister.
The car stops just metres from the swamp.
Ari has a flashback to her dream as she eyes the stone pathways leading to the other side. Guy clicks on his communicator, opening a map, floating above his wrist. He studies it for a few minutes before clicking his communicator off.
‘This way,’ he gestures to the West.
Too tired to protest, Ari follows suit.
Perhaps her dream was just that. A dream.
But then there is a rumbling beneath their feet, as they only make it halfway across the swamp.
Chapter THIRTY-SIX
‘Ari!’
Kaley is dragged beneath the water’s surface.
Coiled yellow-brown tentacles, covered in bright blue rings, emerge from below, ducking and weaving to avoid the weapons of the two assassins. A tentacle wraps around Malik’s torso, and starts to drag him below the murky water. Xavier slices through the monster’s flesh with his blade, and Malik scramble back up the reeds onto the stone pathway. Ari frantically searches the murky water for any sign of her sister.
Delta approaches her and without a word, places her hands into the water, ripples dispersing away from her. The ripples grow and start to appear faster. There is a bubbling and the tentacles briefly stop moving, almost as if sensing the power of the water-mage. Then the water splits, as if an invisible divider has been set down in it, and lying on the stones unconscious, tentacles wrapped around her leg and arm, is Kaley.
Ari jumps into the clearing, and places a hand on each tentacle. An electric shock jolts her and she lets go. Welts now cover her palms. Cursing the creature before her, she places her hands on the tentacles again and digs down into the last dregs of dark power she has left, shooting it forward out of her palms and fingers into the monster.
There is a shriek and the tentacles loosen, releasing Kaley.
Ari lifts her unconscious sister onto the stone pathway. The others continue to fight off the monster, tentacles flailing in the air. Delta reaches her hands down into the swamp water once more and then the water begins to boil. There is another shriek and the tentacles disappear and the surface of the water is once again still.
The other hurry over to Ari who now sits beside her sister, performing chest compressions, willing her to breathe.
‘Breathe. Breathe. Come on Kaley.’
Ai-Ling watches on, tears in her eyes, as she buries her face in Malik’s shoulder. Ari continues to beg her sister to come back to life. Kaley’s pale form remains lifeless, her blonde locks plastered to her wan face. Xavier rushes forward; falling to his knees, and takes over from Ari. He pushes harder on her chest, tears freely flowing down his cheeks.
‘Come on,’ he begs. ‘Come on, Kaley.’
Ari looks down at the large welts on her palms – like red raised spider webs. She sees the same on her sisters arms and legs – much more extensive, even snaking up her neck.
‘Poison,’ she says quietly to herself. ‘It must be poison.’
Xavier continues to perform chest compressions, as he turns to Guy and says one word.
‘Mythridatium.’
Guy nods once, before searching through the pouches on his belt, and removing a tiny vial of black, swirling liquid. He un-corks the vial and slips the liquid into Kaley’s mouth.
Staring intently, at her sister, Ari wills the antidote to take effect, and clean the monster’s poison from her body.
Minutes pass and nothing happens.
Guy places a hand on Xavier’s shoulder, but he bats it away and continues to perform chest compressions on the lifeless body.
‘It’s over, mate,’ Guy says softly.
Xavier shakes his head, sweat beads dripping with the exertion of him trying to bring Kaley back to life, but he stops and sits beside her body.
Ai-Ling buries her head deeper into Malik’s chest, as she starts to sob loudly. Delta places a comforting arm around Ari, who now watches her sister’s form in shock.
How could she let this happen?
She should have fought harder to cross the swamp to the East – away from The City of Secrets.
She should’ve warned them again – that something like this would happen.
But Xavier wouldn’t listen. He didn’t listen.
And now her sister was dead. Her only remaining family.
Dead.
‘You,’ Ari says, teeth gritting together, to Xavier. ‘This is all your fault.’
Xavier peels his puffy eyes away from Kaley’s body to find Ari lunging for him. She wraps her hands around his throat as the rage starts to eat her from the inside.
‘Stop!’ Guy makes to pull her off Xavier but his hand bounces back, as if touching an invisible shield around the healing-mage.
Nothing would stop her. Not when she felt like this. A pit of rage filled her now, nothing else.
Nothing would stop her from killing the man who took her sister from her.
Nothing. Except her own sister.
‘Stop,’ a feeble voice.
Ari releases her grasp on Xavier’s throat and rushes over to Kaley, who now sits up, slightly, propped up on her elbows.
‘Stop, please,’ she says again.
‘Kaley,’ Ari says, incredulous, ‘you’re alive.’ She flings herself around her sister’s shoulders, who winces at her touch.
‘I’m sorry.’ Ari releases her and Kaley lies back down, eyes closing.
Watch
ing her slow breathing, Ari addresses the others, ‘she is alive. But the poison is still in her system. How long will the Mythrandium last?’
‘It is only a temporizing measure,’ Xavier gasps between coughs. ‘It will only last about 24 hours. It’s designed to slow the effects of the poison until definitive treatment can be instituted.’
Ari starts to shake – unsure if it’s from rage or fear or both.
‘The closest Healing Centre would be at The City of Secrets,’ Guy explains. ‘We’ll have to smuggle her in there for treatment.’
‘If we all go, it’ll be quite risky,’ Malik counters.
Ari turns on him, eyes flaring with the challenge, ‘we need to do what is necessary for my sister.’
‘He is right,’ Kaley says, feebly, eyes still tightly shut.
Ari kneels before her sister, ‘what do you mean. We need to get you to The City for treatment or you will die.’
‘We have to split up,’ Kaley states, matter-of-factly.
Xavier agrees, ‘it would be our best way of getting into The City walls undetected. I’ll take Kaley.’ He looks to Ari with guilt plastered all over his face.
‘You cannot take her alone,’ Guy retorts.
‘You need to stay with them and get them to The Underground,’ Xavier says.
‘Earth-mage,’ Guy says to Ai-Ling, ‘you will accompany them to The City.’
‘She has a name,’ Malik states.
Ai-Ling steps forward and helps Xavier lift Kaley from the stone path. Guy opens the map once more above his wrist and examines is closely.
‘If you head west to The City, we will follow close behind, sticking to the outskirts.’
Xavier shakes his head and glances at Ari. ‘No, you must take the path from Almanach to The Underground.’
Puzzled, Guy also looks to Ari.
‘I think it’s the only way forward,’ she states, standing her ground.
Guy says nothing but starts to follow the stone path to the east. He turns to Ari and the others.
‘What are you all waiting for?’
Chapter THIRTY-SEVEN
As Ari, Malik, Delta and Guy enter the town gates, night has already fallen.
In contrast to the Tuchersfield Village, the Town of Almanach lacks the brightness or cheer of its neighbour. Instead the town is musty and full of shadows. The buildings have the same slanted roofs, and coloured glass windows yet they seem uninviting and somewhat sinister.
‘We need to find you something a bit less hobo,’ Malik says to Ari, looking her white and grey oversized pyjamas up and down.
Shivering in the cold of the night, Ari nods, teeth chattering together.
Guy removes his cloak and wraps it around Ari’s shoulders, before leading the group on.
They come across a small Laundromat, closed for the night. Hiding, in shadows, the mages wait for Guy to emerge from the Laundromat with something useful.
‘So how long have you had those destructive powers for?’ Malik asks Ari as he leans against the brick wall of the alleyway.
Ari thinks back to when she first learnt of these new powers. ‘I think it only really emerged when I started to realise I was being controlled by The Elites. After my sister was kidnapped, it just sort of appeared.’
‘And your healing power?’ Delta asks, cautiously.
Ari can’t help but feel Delta has lost some trust in her. Sure she hadn’t told them about her newest powers, but she wasn’t even sure of it or how it worked.
‘I still have my healing power.’
Just before Delta could ask any further questions, Guy appears, carrying a knapsack of clothing.
Ari changes from the pyjamas into a pair of black leather pants and a black pullover. She throws a black hooded coat over herself, concealing herself in shadow.
◆◆◆
The four of them come across a tavern – The Deuce. They take a seat in the far corner, as they re-group to work out their next move. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves from the Sub-Elite patrons of the tavern, Guy keeps his map closed.
‘If we head further West of the town, and make our way around the mountain ranges on the plains of Vastas, we will come to the underpass that will lead us to The Underground,’ Guy explains.
‘We will be better heading out in the night,’ he continues. ‘We rest here for another half hour before we move on.’
Ari feels exhausted, and the thought of hiking up hill through the plains of Vastas, makes her want to curl up in a ball and sleep for years. The events of the last few days have completely drained her.
A group of four cloaked figures enter the tavern, and approach the bar, before collecting their pints and taking a seat at a far table, heads bowed closely together.
As Guy continues to explain the plan to get to The Underground, Ari can’t help but watch the new comers. Something about them seemed familiar.
‘Ari?’
‘Ari?’
‘Oh, sorry,’ Ari realises she stopped listening to the conversation.
Guy follows her line of sight to the four cloaked figures on the other side of the table.
‘Guards?’ Malik asks, as he watches them too.
Guy shakes his head, ‘no, not guards.’
Before long the four cloaked figures get up and leave the tavern and Guy and the mages follow soon after.
Ari emerges first, sure of whom was under the hoods, searching for them. But the street is empty. She turns to the nearby alleyway before ne of the figures lunges forwards, fists raised. His hood falls, revealing the face she had been dreaming about for months.
With a cry, Ari runs forwards, and flings her arms around his neck, burying her face in his broad chest, taking in the scent of him. She had never noticed it before – an earthy scent mixed with a sweetness – a scent that reminded her of home.
Not the Holly Oaks Centre, but the home she was taken from. The home her parents had given her up from.
Justin pulls away to look down at the stunningly beautiful face that had kept him going these last few months.
‘Your hair,’ he says softly, as he takes a short lock of Ari’s hair in his gloved hand.
Ari beams back at him.
Without another word, Justin’s lips are locked on her own, and a warm feeling courses through her chest and abdomen, filtering all the way through to her arms and legs. Her heart pounds faster than ever. Her mind has gone blank as she kisses him back.
‘Welcome back,’ she murmurs, as she buries her face into his chest.
‘Glad to be back,’ he replies, as he hugs her tightly, resting his cheek on the top of her head.
Chapter THIRTY-EIGHT
‘Look at you.’
Maude holds Ari at arms length, as she looks her up and down.
‘You’re no longer the scrawny girl I met all those months ago. Look at these muscles’
Ari smiles back at the redhead before catching sight of her mangled hand, which she takes in her own. She meets Maude’s eyes, questions in her own.
Sadness crosses Maude’s face before she hides the hand behind her back. ‘Part of our plan to escape.’
Ari takes her hand back in her own. ‘I can try and heal it.’
Maude shrugs, ‘we should probably head back to The Underground first.’
Before Ari could say anything more about her injury, she asks about Kaley. Ari recounts their ordeal on the swamp and how Kaley had become poisoned by the monster lurking beneath the surface. She tells of Xavier’s plan to head to The City of Secrets in the hope of smuggling her sister into the city’s walls and find a Healing Centre.
Beside them, sisters and brothers are re-acquainted.
Malik and Hani embrace and River and Delta high-five.
‘I cannot believe I have finally found you.’ Malik squeezes his sister tightly before ruffling her white-blonde hair.
Clicking her tongue at him, Hani pulls away and tries to set the finger-waves back to the way they were.
‘Now we can
go back to Tiber, and reunite with our family,’ he says, white teeth beaming in the dark.
Hani shifts awkwardly on feet before glancing towards the white-haired male behind her who is in deep conversation with his own sister.
‘I think it is best we all stay together.’ Malik is about to protest when Hani clarifies, ‘at least for now, anyway.’
Conceding, Malik nods, before he and Hani join the water-mages.
Ari meets River and Hani and Justin and Maude tell them of their grand plan that let to their escape from the secret laboratories of The Chancellor.
As Ari, greets Hani, the memory of a woman standing atop a round velvet magenta stage, with a silver beaded dress draped across her beautiful chocolate skin, singing to a room full of leering Elite men and women, comes to her mind.
‘I know you,’ she gasps, as she is transported back to Madame Trousseau’s brothel.
‘We’ve met?’ Hani asks, surprised.
‘No, not quite. But I have seen you perform – your singing was just the best thing I’d even heard in my life.’
Hani smiles a sad smile, ‘thank you. I haven’t sung for my own pleasure for many years. It was only ever for those Elites who captured my brother and I when we were only children and then for the Sub-Elite woman who owned The Republique’s brothel – and then I was sold again. And I lost my penchant for singing. After being subject to experiments daily, it was a part of myself that I lost. Pretty much like losing my soul.’
Standing nearby, is River. Hearing Hani’s pain, his hand twitches towards hers, but after glancing towards her brother who is carefully watching Guy, he decides to keep it to himself.
Guy is speaking low and fast into his communicator, relaying the group’s whereabouts and the discovery of the missing assassins back to Colonel Duff, and their likely arrival at The Underground in the next few days.
Elite Nation: Book One Page 17
