04 Last

by Lynnie Purcell

  We ran in the opposite way from the direction we had come in, going deeper in to the tunnels. I knew it was dangerous to move deeper in to enemy territory, but it was the only way. It was the only way that wasn’t full of people chasing us.

  In another large cavern, Reaper noticed something. He lifted his head and pointed to a large building to our right. The cords from the other buildings were all running to this building. A dull hum of electrical power surrounded the structure.

  “We can disorient them if we cut their power. Not only that, but it will cut the power to those shock collars the Nightstalkers are wearing. It will free them. The chaos will help us escape,” Reaper said in my ear.

  “How do we get to it without getting killed?” I asked.

  “Tell your friend to drop me off,” Reaper said. “I’ll take care of it. Lead them away and then circle back around. Don’t forget about me.”

  “Okay.”

  I touched Alex on the neck and told her the plan. She changed course, headed for the building. She didn’t slow, but she didn’t have to. Reaper rolled off her back and landed smoothly next to the building out of sight of the Nightstalkers chasing us. No one but Alex and I noticed his departure.

  Alex took us in a long arc around the cavern. As she did, more Seekers joined the chase. She was forced to dodge more talents and more bullets. She occasionally ran right over any Seekers who were dumb enough to get in her way. Once or twice, I was forced to protect her from an attack from behind. She finally circled back to the building. Reaper was waiting on top of the large structure. He jumped on to her back as we passed.

  “We need to get out of here!” he said. “Head for a system without people!”

  Alex grunted in understanding and headed for a smaller tunnel, one that looked disused. As we reached the tunnel the sound of electricity changed. There was a moment of buildup in the energy then the building exploded. All of the lights in the tunnel system went out and the Nightstalkers chasing us stopped when they realized their collars were no longer forcing them to behave.

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  “Overloaded the system,” Reaper replied.

  “Was this what you had in mind when you said to ‘not cause trouble’?” I asked.

  “Things change,” he said.

  Alex came to an abrupt stop in the tunnel. Her pace had carried us far, but it was in the wrong direction. The tunnel dead-ended. There was a solid wall separating us from freedom. The only way forward was back the way we had come. She started to turn around when the whole world around us shattered in to non-stop motion and danger.

  I flew off Alex’s back as a shockwave of red energy pummeled me. As I flew in to the opposite wall, sound overwhelmed me. It was the sound of panicked yelling – it might have been me, it was hard to tell around the fear in my chest – fire roaring through the air, sucking up what oxygen it could, and rock tumbling to the earth. Despite the confusion, I moved my hands to my ears to block the sound. It was too much. I couldn’t take it. The sound was going to kill me before the fire did. Around me, the earth rattled with whatever had happened on its surface.

  The shaking went on for a long time.

  When the ground stopped moving, I looked up from my place on the floor. I was covered in debris. Sharp rocks had cut my face and arms, but I was alive. I couldn’t be sure if the same held true for Alex and Reaper. They weren’t next to me, and a wall of rock blocked me in. I wasn’t sure if they were on the other side, or if they were under it. It was impossible to tell.

  I put my hands on the wall and tried not to panic. It was difficult. I had a 5x5 area. It wasn’t enough to make me feel comfortable; not when I thought the rest of the ceiling was going to come down at any moment. My claustrophobia doubled. Flashes of my time in the tomb and my time in prison appeared in front of my eyes. My pain of those memories came back with the feeling of claustrophobia. My breathing increased to the point that I was not sure I could take another breath. I wanted out of my skin…I just wanted out.

  “Alex? Reaper? Are you guys okay?” I called in a squeaky voice, hoping that having them near would calm my panic.

  There was no reply. The silence did not help the fear in my chest.

  “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, crap, crap….don’t freak out, don’t freak out,” I told myself.

  I started to move the rock separating me from the outside, to find a way through, but more rock tumbled from the ceiling with my efforts. I was forced back as a dust-cloud rose in the air. When the dust cleared, I saw that more rocks had fallen. My space was even smaller now. I couldn’t turn, I couldn’t move. The dark closed me in; it was overwhelming. There was nothing but dark. My breathing got worse. There was nothing to keep the whole mountain from crushing me. This would be my tomb – no one would ever find me. Even Reaper and Alex wouldn’t be able to dig me out of this. If only I had a light…

  Light!

  Remembering Reaper’s lighter, I fumbled in my pocket for it and finally pulled it out. The light flicked to life, despite my uncertain hands. I held it in front of my face. It was a focus, beyond the panic. There was a way out – I just had to find it.

  “Reaper!” I yelled again. “Are you dead? If you are, just tell me, so I know.”

  I listened carefully for a reply. It was then I heard the faint sound of fighting. People yelling and bones crushing…A roar shook the heavens, sending more dirt my way. The lighter went out as the dirt hit me. I hurried to flick it back to life and listened with more intensity to the sounds. There was no denying a Nightstalker was fighting with Watchers. The sound was difficult to miss.

  The fighting grew louder. It was more intense. I couldn’t tell if it was Alex, or someone else, doing the fighting. It sounded like a lot of noise for just one Nightstalker; it sounded like an army of them. The sound of the fight was a reminder that there were larger things than my panic. Alex and Reaper could be in the middle of that fight. They could need my help.

  I took a deep breath.

  I knew what I had to do, but doing it scared the hell out of me. I had gone through the same in-between place that Sara and Shawn used when going from one place to the next. I had traveled there on my own. It scared me as much as the closed-in space I was standing in, for some of the same reasons. The dark of the in-between was even more complete than the one I was lost in now. There I could not use a lighter to light my way. I had to trust my body to pull me out of it. But at least that in-between space gave me the option of life. The closed-in, total darkness of the moving space would pass. When it did, I would be free of the rock. If I didn’t do something, I would die…Alex and Reaper would die.

  I shut my eyes and imagined moving through the rock, to the opposite side. I tried hard to recreate the feeling of being pulled in to one world from the next. The problem was that the last time I had found myself in the in-between Lorian had dragged me there. I hadn’t managed to start the transition – I had only ended it. I struggled to find the strength; I struggled with my fear. Finally, I opened one eye, to see if it had worked. I was in the same place.

  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 mov
ed, 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.