Lanterns In The Sky

by P. S. Malcolm

  Andrew’s eyes shifted upwards.

  "You know, I could teach you some basics before we go,” he offered. "I did spend half a century recruiting soldiers and teaching them how to fight, after all."

  My heart skipped a beat, and I nodded enthusiastically.

  "Yes! That would be amazing if you could do that!” I replied eagerly.

  Andrew quickly scanned my figure with his eyes. Blush rose to my cheeks, and I shifted a little, suddenly self-conscious.

  "With your broken wrist, I don't advise keeping a sword on you. But a dagger could work,” he said finally. He hammered the last of the nail into the wood, then stepped back to face me properly. Lifting his arms, he reached out and softly gripped my upper arms, positioning me better.

  "When fighting, your strength should come from your feet—not your arms. So when you lunge, make sure your stance is firm, and you put the weight of your entire body into the attack."

  I nodded, and he walked over and grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table, then brought it back. I hadn't realised we would be practising in here, but luckily the living room was fairly spacious.

  "It's not ideal, but practise with this for a moment,” he said, handing it to me. "Now, before we go any further, you're going to need to remember three things. The first one being you will get hurt—and even someone with experience can get badly injured. You'll be in close quarters with someone, wielding blades, so prepare yourself for that."

  I swallowed hard and nodded, wrapping my head around his words.

  "Secondly,” he said, his gaze holding firm with mine. "Tuck your chin in, and try to cover your chest—you want to eliminate any opportunity for your opponent to hit a vital organ. And keep your knees bent, or you'll be too stiff and they'll knock you flat."

  He gestured widely to himself, taking a single step back and stopping in his tracks.

  "Take a lunge at me. I need to see your form."

  I did as he said, driving my arm forward with the force of my entire body. He nodded slowly, his lips pulling thin.

  "Okay. Again—but you need to arch your shoulders more. Bring your whole body forward."

  I did it again, and he stepped toward me. His arm clamped onto my elbow just above where my bandage ended and pulled me close. He brought his other arm up under my arm, brushing against my side.

  "If I had a sword, it would currently be in your chest or throat,” he explained, his eyes alight with that amber fire I'd grown so familiar with. I exhaled slowly and nodded as he released me.

  "Again—we'll keep going until you can block me."

  I did it again, this time focusing on keeping my chest better protected. I managed to block his arm, but he caught my waist and completely spun me around, wrapping an arm lightly around my throat. I felt his heartbeat against my back.

  "Don't let them get you like this,” he breathed over my shoulder. "Or they can slit your throat."

  "O-okay,” I stammered, and he let go again. My own heart was fluttering, and sweat formed in my palms. His body heat still tingled all over my skin.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, clearing my mind and inhaling deeply. Concentrate.

  I turned back to him, bent my knees, and lunged forward, the remote smacking into his ribs. He smirked and reached for me. I stepped aside and away before he could wrap an arm around my waist. I watched for his next move, his eyes darting everywhere. He came at me.

  Block him, my mind said.

  I lifted my arm and our wrists collided. I gripped the remote and tried to angle it down to his wrist. He pushed back, making me lose balance, and I fell—

  His hand caught my arm, and he pulled me upright again.

  "That was good,” he said, nodding as his eyes glinted. "Probably a beginner's fluke, though. Again."

  Normally, his cockiness would have irritated me. But I found myself smiling at the words.

  We kept at it, over and over, until the morning light began to creep into the living room, onto the pale carpet. My weary bones were aching, and I needed to sit down. He could see it too, and he relaxed his stance.

  "That's enough,” he said finally. "You need to reserve your energy for tonight. And at least now, you should be able to hold your own for a little while if you find yourself in trouble.”

  I gave him a grateful smile.

  "Thank you,” I said, meaning it.

  "No—the pleasure was all mine,” he replied, grinning.

  When late afternoon rolled around, Valarie came to get me. I'd been asleep in Kyra's room, seeing as the contents of my room had now been ransacked by Valarie. She rapped on the door, startling me from the first dreamless sleep I'd had in days.

  "Hey,” she said. "It's almost time to head out. I have your clothes ready."

  I groggily rubbed the sleep from my eyes and clambered up from Kyra's bed, following Valarie back to my own room. It looked worse than it had this morning—she'd even cut into my bedsheets. But I didn't have time to be annoyed. She thrust a heap of black and brown clothes at me and told me to put them on.

  The top was long-sleeved, peplum style, with leather sides and cuffs. I noted that the material would protect my broken wrist. She'd layered my hideous curtains under the semi-transparent black fabric, creating the illusion of shimmering gold. It was paired with a belt to stop the hem from rising up, and a pair of black leather pants she must have fished out of Kyra's wardrobe—except she'd added a few extra slots and pockets for various things.

  I was going to grab my sneakers from my wardrobe for practicality, but she grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

  "Oh, no,” she said. "I would never make you go out in something incomplete. I have matching shoes for you."

  She handed me boots—again, from Kyra's wardrobe—but she'd removed the ridiculous heels and altered them to accommodate a flat sole. I noticed a pair of chopped-up flats nearby, and my stomach sank. Those flats had been my favourite.

  Valarie herself had also changed into an original design. She wore slim pants and tall boots, as well as a weird corset thing with transparent sleeves, which draped over her arms and hung loosely, in a dark enough color to eliminate her visibility.

  Skye was dressed in something less intimidating. She wore one of my black sweaters and my darkest pair of blue jeans. At first glance she appeared ordinary, but when she raised her arms to take a bundle of clothes from Valarie, I spotted a slim tank top peeking out from under her sweater—bulk lined in some of that heavy, expensive material from my skirts to create an armour.

  "Let's go get the others,” Valarie said, with a nod of approval at my outfit. I couldn't see what I looked like because the mirror was covered up, but looking down at my outfit, I had a pretty good idea. My blonde hair fell in loose tangles over my shoulder, and with my bruised face, my red nose, and my bandaged arm, I thought all the black clothing made me look kind of badass.

  I followed the two of them down the stairs. Everyone else was congregated in the living room and kitchen—with so many of us, it was hard to fit us all in one place.

  When we walked in, numerous eyes locked onto the three of us, including those of Jason and Andrew. I could feel Andrew's stare all over me, and I fought the urge to hide myself again. Then I noticed Jason, who looked torn between the two of us. He was clearly fighting to keep his jaw closed, eyes darting from Valarie to me and back to Valarie. After a moment, he had to look away entirely.

  Valarie and Skye went around handing the clothes to everyone, and slowly everyone went off to change in different rooms.

  Meanwhile, Jason had brought back weapons, as well as valuable intel about Devian. I'd already laid a claim on a dagger before I'd gone up to get some rest, and it was one of the remaining weapons left lying on the glass coffee table. I walked over to pick it up and found a slot for it on my pants. As it brushed against my thigh, I was hit with a sensation of dread and panic—this was real. We were about to go out there and risk our lives.

  Slowly, I looked back at Valarie, and wonde
red how she could remain so calm. I wondered if behind those green eyes of hers, she was panicking just as badly as I was. After all, it was her memories and power we were trying to revive. And I knew first-hand that nothing would be the same for her after she regained those things. Her entire world was going to flip.

  Jason was the first to return—his leather jacket was protection enough, so Valarie had only made some minor alterations to a shirt for him, adding some of that extra, expensive material to the underside of it.

  Andrew came next, in a similar ensemble, but Valarie had added a bit of detail to his collar. Andrew threw on his brown trench coat once more, to add protection.

  Neo and Irma looked ferociously vicious in dark brown and blue. Their outfits had the least bulky material, probably because of their training and reflexes, and this also gave Irma the flexibility to fly. It was clear that Valarie had thought hard about everyone's needs, so as to ration the material she could salvage accordingly.

  "So, let's go over the plan,” Neo suggested, waving a few of the angels over. He laid out a messy sketch on the table, and we crowded around it. "Andrew informed us of an abandoned network of mining tunnels that run under the town. There are two ways in—one is situated near the observatory, which would be the best way in for us. The other is situated in the hills on the other side of town, which would make it easy for us to get into town unnoticed.”

  We all nodded, noting where Neo was pointing to on the map.

  "They're holding everyone at the Community Centre,” Jason informed us. "Devian has to be around there somewhere, but there's so much security that it's going to be very difficult to get in there."

  "That's why Skye will come in handy,” Neo said to him. "Lucy, Valarie, and yourself will be going to retrieve Devian, along with twelve of the angels. You'll take Skye with you, but she'll go in before the rest of you do. Meanwhile, I'm going with Andrew, Irma, and the other eight angels, and we'll try to lead Chrissy out of town. We'll head to the palace ruins, and make it seem like we have something useful hidden there. To throw her off even more, we'll say that you lot are staying at Valarie's house."

  "Hold on,” Andrew cut in. "Why are you sending two of the least trained people into the heart of danger?"

  "Because it's like Jason said—we can't afford to make any mistakes, or let them suspect anything,” Neo explained. "Lucy is the Starlight Princess, and you've made a point of trying to keep her protected, so they won't suspect that she's coming for them. Valarie is the whole reason we're attempting this, and I figured that even if something goes wrong, it might pay to have her nearby in case she can grasp something from Devian. And Jason is trained well in fighting. Plus, he knows the Urenphians best, so his knowledge will be useful."

  Andrew nodded slowly.

  "Angels are vowed to protect the starlight people at any cost, so a whole group of them heading for the palace ruins is going to attract attention. It's the perfect distraction,” Neo finished. Even Jason looked convinced, his green eyes filled with a spark, and I felt a sense of hope rise in me.

  Maybe we were going to pull this off.

  "We're out of time,” Irma noted, her gaze drawn to the night sky peeking through the boarded windows. "We have to go now."

  My stomached twisted, but I swallowed my fear and nodded stiffly. I was ready. I could do this. Beside me, Valarie seemed tense.

  "Okay,” Neo said, grabbing a sword from the table. "We're taking the car, and we'll drive through the streets and head for Sarzbrek Farm. This should give you time to sneak to the mine entrance undetected."

  I thought about how far away the mine was from here. At least an hour-long walk—and that was if we stuck to the streets. How were we going to get all fifteen of us there undetected?

  Luckily, Jason seemed to have thought of this too, and he strode towards us.

  "I've arranged for the angels to fly us to the mine's opening.”

  We both nodded, and for once I wasn't hesitant to put my faith in Jason. Maybe because his word was the best thing I had right now. I felt like I was stumbling blindly through darkness, trying to think of the best way to go about this.

  I stepped outside for the first time in days, and it was eerily silent. I couldn't hear the bustle of the town below, or sounds of life from surrounding houses. Our neighbours had probably been smart enough to get the hell out of here while they still could.

  On my right, the garage door creaked open, the sound echoing through the street loudly. Chills went down my arms. I glanced around cautiously. Andrew's car, as well as my mum's car, both slowly backed out. The headlights were blinding in the darkness.

  Andrew rolled down a window and looked upon the four of us standing there, as well as the angels behind us.

  "Good luck,” he said with such graveness I almost couldn't bear it. The reality of this situation was finally hitting me hard, and I hated how everyone was acting like it might be the last time we saw each other.

  The engines rumbled deeply, resonating as both vehicles took off down the street. Jason didn't waste a single moment.

  "Let's go,” he ordered, and four angels stepped forward to take us to the mine. I let a female angel lift me into her arms, and they shot up into the air, soaring high into the night sky.

  It was a different sensation from last time, and it more terrifying after the ordeal I'd been through. I recalled those moments of pure terror when I'd been free falling, certain of my impending death. How the speed of falling had been enough for Irma's grip to break my wrist. I clutched onto the angel tightly, my heart hammering in my chest, and squeezed my eyes shut.

  We flew fast, and I felt queasy towards the end of it. I was thinking of leaning over to barf when the angel's speed dropped and we descended towards the foothills of the observatory. It was not at all far from where I'd landed last time, but we were a little further around the hillside this time. I immediately spotted where the mine shaft entrance was situated, noting a clump of rock that emerged from the rolling green hills. It seemed to tarnish and dry up the grass around it, until only dirt was left in its wake. But I knew it was only the remains of the mines, which had indeed been long abandoned.

  "So that's it, huh?” Valarie mused, inspecting it. We headed over to it, and the pitch blackness that awaited inside made me shift uneasily.

  I tentatively nudged the train tracks embedded in the floor, and the tap of my boot echoed through the tunnel. Perhaps anything dwelling within would hear us coming and run away, rather than towards us. I mean, anything could be in here.

  A blinding light suddenly flicked on. I whipped my gaze toward Jason, only to realise he'd pulled out a flashlight.

  Oh. Smart thinking, I thought as my racing heart steadied once more.

  "We'll go ahead,” two of the angels said, stepping forward. "Our vision is better than yours—just follow close behind us."

  They headed into the unknown, and the crunch of our footsteps on the gravelly dirt reverberated around the tunnel as we followed. Valarie stayed close to my side, and Jason kept a hand on his sword as a precaution. I double checked that my dagger was still at my thigh and hadn't toppled to the ground mid-flight.

  The flashlight made it a little bit better, but there really wasn't much to see. A lot of beer bottles, the occasional wooden bucket or chipped axe, and an endless path of train tracks. It took just over an hour to walk from one end of town to the other if you headed in a straight line. But these tunnels were curvy, and they could venture anywhere. I didn't have any idea how long it would take us just to get to the end.

  I became accustomed to the crunch of rubble as we walked through a sea of abandoned tools, so it wasn't really a surprise when a loud crack sounded, and I looked down to see I'd stepped on a thin, clunky, cylindrical thing. Jason noted my pause and shone the light down to inspect my tracks.

  "Just a pipe,” he murmured as the silver glinted in the torch light. "We should pick up the pace—these tunnels are sloping upwards, and we're losing speed.” I gently kick
ed it aside before continuing onwards.

  We walked for a good half hour, and I was starting to feel it by then. A stitch was forming in my side, and I was starting to feel short of breath from walking up a slope.

  Then, a few of the angels behind us stopped in their tracks.

  "Shh,” they hissed, their heads whipping around. I froze, as did everyone else. We listened hard, and then I heard it too.

  Footsteps.

  And not just any footsteps—running footsteps.

  My breath caught in my throat, and I heard Jason swear from beside me.

  "That pipe,” he said in a low voice. "You looked straight at it, didn’t you?"

  I turned to him. "What does that have to do—?"

  And then it hit me. It was made of silver. Meaning it was reflective.

  "Oh my God,” I breathed, and my heart began to pound in my chest. Of course! Chrissy was tracking Andrew, and she'd have hacked the car mirrors. And then when she hadn't seen me, she would have focused her search directly onto me!

  "Run!” Skye cried, and we took off. A few angels fell into formation behind us, urging us to go. We tore up the tunnels, sprinting faster than any of us had ever run in our entire lives. Our footsteps thundered through the tunnel. I dared a glance behind me and spotted a glimpse of our pursuers.

  Urenphians.

  They looked completely ordinary, but I could see it in their eyes. Just as Devian and Skye's eyes had held corruptive power within them, their eyes glowed red and purple, and they were locked straight onto me. The angels pushed them back, their wings tearing through their clothes and a flurry of feathers spiralling at them. But the Urenphians were just as fast, and I could already tell the angels wouldn't hold them for long.

  "Go!” I demanded, a surge of determination shooting through me like hot adrenaline. I was not about to fall at their knees so soon.

  Our heavy breaths sounded as we ran. How much further did we have to go? And what then? Where were we going to go?