The Sky is Endless

by Alexander W Meurant

  Chapter 10

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  Jalel watched the factory from his hiding place with such rage in his heart that the two of his followers behind him were cowed into an uncomfortable silence. He had been humiliated by Sain last night and sought a dangerous revenge. He had never thought that Sain would fight back with his magic. Jalel had always thought Sain could be controlled through fear just like everyone else Jalel had manipulated. Because of those thoughts, some of his followers were dead, Ricky was in hospital and many others had outright refused to have anything to do with Sain again.

  Jalel lounged against a telephone pole, a cigarette between his lips as he surveyed the place of work of Sain. He was lying in wait with seven of his more enthusiastic followers. Those youths were hungry to prove themselves even if they were just there to intimidate any witnesses that may think about reporting whatever they saw to the authorities.

  Fingering the old six shooter in his pocket, Jalel recalled the reports he had received on Sain earlier. How his follower's had seen and shadowed Sain in the late morning as he had left his unit. Jalel's mind then returned to the explicit orders he had been given by his superiors in the Red Cobra's. His order was to only take out Sain as the Cobra's did not want Sain's father or brother getting involved further. The brother Niall was apparently some hot shot military recruit with a promising future and killing him would only bring unwanted attention to the slums.

  The six shooter Jalel had in his possession was an outdated model, now that energy weapons were used in the military. He had managed to steal it from the scrap yard before its destruction, finding ammunition for it had been harder though. He had done it however and now had a handful of bullets for the weapon.

  Jalel had already resolved to shoot Sain the moment he exited the factory. No matter how good a mage Sain was, he could still be shot and he would bleed just like the rest of them.

  A boom resounded within the factory and Jalel started in surprise as he was jolted from his thoughts. Two of his youths were casually lounging against the factories outer stone wall, and both of them looked around wildly seeking guidance from Jalel. Just as confused as they were, he waved at them to stay put, unsure of the situation. Again another boom sounded which was followed by a piercing shriek that rang in Jalel's ears. Standing up straight, he realized the commotion was coming from the building just inside the factories wall. Suspecting something was wrong he began walking in the buildings direction. Not twenty feet from the wall, he stumbled as the earth shook and a loud crack sounded. Looking at his followers by the wall, he watched horrified as they disappeared beneath the wall as it blew outwards behind them, engulfing them in a cascade of stone that plastered the nearby street in debris.

  Rooted to the spot, he witnessed a raging battle between an old man and what Jalel at first thought was a man cloaked in blue. Witnessing the old man thrown against a wall by a blue flash of light, Jalel took a step backwards as he realized a magical battle was taking place.

  The slaughter of last night still fresh in his mind, Jalel felt pure fear set in, urging him to run. He began to turn but stopped as he saw Sain appear with a sword, and charge the blue figure. He watched Sain jump and slash the figure that screamed intensely and exploded, sending both Sain and the rest of the building flying.

  Unable to grasp the situation, Jalel dumbly reached into his pocket and produced his gun, aiming to finish Sain now. He held the weapon up in shaking hands, aiming at nothing in particular now as Sain had been blasted out of sight. His hand shook so violently that he dropped the gun and swore. As he bent down to retrieve the weapon, a roof tile thudded into the ground less than a meter in front of him. Jalel started in shock and looked up as more tiles came crashing down around him. Looking to the sky, Jalel saw flaming pieces of rubble arcing through the sky and falling back to the ground, ripping through roofs of the surrounding buildings and smashing into the moving and stationary vehicles nearby.

  Jalel's mouth hung agape a few moments as he stayed rooted to the spot in fear. As another tile smashed into the ground near him, he finally snapped out of his fear induced trance and as terror urged him, Jalel turned and ran, leaving the gun and his follower's buried beneath the wall. He just ran as he had never run before.

  * * *

  Niall stood in the lobby of his friend’s room, awaiting a reply. Keran casually lounged on his couch as he picked at a tray of exotic food before him. As the heir to the noble Rindese Barlow family, he was afforded many comforts and continued to indulge in his strange appetites.

  "I can certainly take your brother with us back to Gestonia, but I doubt I will be able to let him stay at my residence there. That would be pushing the boundaries of my family’s patience I am afraid Niall" the young lord stated before popping some sort of small seedless fruit into his mouth. The young lord chewed slowly, seemingly enjoying the taste of the fruit before swallowing and continuing to talk to Niall.

  "No, you will have to deal with him when we get to Gestonia, and as for staying a few more days here, I can’t leave later then tomorrow, I made a commitment to be back in Gestonia no later than Friday" Keran finished, an impassive look blanketing his face.

  Rubbing his temples in what seemed to be becoming a regular fashion, Niall sighed, accepting his friends views. As a Rindese commoner, he was beneath the notice of Keran's family, a once minor family, they were now the most influential family in Rindai city and even the country. They had supported the invasion of the empire and openly supported the imperial family, and were now considered to be the most powerful family in the region.

  "It will do, and thank you Keran. I’ll make it up to you I promise" Niall stated, letting his hands drop down behind him. He clasped them at the small of his back and bowed his head forward for the noble. It was something he was always expected to do. Straightening up, he looked the young lord over. Keran sported a strange haircut, his blonde hair swept to one side of his head in an odd manner. He held a perpetual look of boredom on his hawkish face that many young women found attractive. Niall thought the lord's popularity was more due to his wealth however. Looking to the left he saw one of the Barlow family maids peeping around a curtain, who gave him a disgusted look. He scowled. Even the servants here were wankers.

  "Midday tomorrow Niall, no later. If you're not at the airport with your brother, you will have to find another way to get to the capital" Keran stated right before popping a chocolate covered strawberry in his mouth.

  Niall refocused his attention on Keran and nodded to show that he understood before he dismissed himself from the room and exited to the hallway. Truthfully, Niall was glad to be out of the stuffy place. He made his way down the hallway and reached the elevator that would take him down to the hotel lobby. He still didn’t know why Keran preferred staying in this place over his parent’s manor. Maybe he could get away with more parties or something. Niall just sighed and pressed the button and waited patiently. While he did so, he turned to face the windows and surveyed the bustling city. Looking out over the city hall, in the distance he saw the harbor and the ships occupying it. Looking further still he saw the offshore crystal mine that provided many jobs for the Rindese citizens. Moving his gaze, Niall noticed the suburbs where the middle class lived and finally the slums and nearby industrial district where the factory that Sain worked at was located. Finding what he thought was the factory, a shock ran down his spine as he saw military and police aircraft hovering over the area. Niall just stood there, frozen as he watched the aircraft slowly circle the area.

  Feeling sick, he heard the elevator arrive and the door's open. Niall snapped out of his frozen state and turned fast, practically leaping into the thing, stabbing the ground floor button over and over as if he expected the thing to go faster. It stopped on a few more floors, more passengers getting in and shooting him odd looks as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, impatient. The moment the elevator hit the ground floor and the doors opened he pushed past those before him, causing a few angr
y shouts and words. He even toppled over some guy in a business suit. He sprinted out of the building and looked around desperately. Hailing a nearby taxi, he jumped in and handed the driver a fistful of dinars.

  "Get me to the industrial district as fast as you can, I don't care how, just get there" he told the surprised driver as he strapped his seat belt on, completely on edge. He was biting his lip so hard he could taste blood and he actually had to stop himself doing so.

  The drive would take around twenty minutes and Niall needed to get there. He wasn't sure what had happened, all he knew was that he had a bad feeling that something had happened to Sain. The closer they got to the industrial area, the more traffic began to pile up, to the point that Niall just told the driver to stop. He jumped out of the taxi and full on sprinted down the road between cars, more than a few honking their horns at him.

  It didn't take long to get to the industrial area on foot, but as Niall turned a corner leading to the factory, a road block appeared. Swearing to himself, Niall approached the soldiers keeping back the crowd at the roadblock. He pushed his way through the crowd, a few people swearing at him in protest. Forcing his way to the front, he got a soldiers attention by waving manically in his face.

  "Hey mate, what’s happened, why is there a road block here?" he asked, his voice oddly high and on edge, which wasn’t surprising considering his nerves. The soldier just shot him a disapproving look, obviously having his hands full.

  "You know as much as me, and all I know is my orders. Now step back" the soldier stated bluntly before lifting his rifle menacingly. That was enough warning Niall needed, figuring these guys had the right to defend themselves with force if necessary.

  Knowing he wasn't going to get anything else out of the soldiers, or a way through the road block, Niall turned around and shoved his way out of the crowd. Once free of the shouting mob. Niall made his way back down the road, going back a block, and as he had thought, found that the small alleys weren't blocked or guarded.

  Running through the alleys in the slums, it didn't take him long to find the main street from his home that led to the factory. Not wasting any time, Niall sprinted up the sidewalk, only slowing to a halt when he saw that a crowd had formed at the end of the street just like the other one. Reaching the crowd, he pushed his way through once more, and found himself at another road block, this one positioned in front of the factory itself. The bad feeling got even worse when Niall saw an armored truck parked in front of a gaping hole in the factories outer brick wall. He could see a number of people inside the hole moving about. The one in charge seemed to be a tall dark haired man, and by his rich attire he seemed to be someone important.

  There were police all around, and a number of corpses lying next to each other, all with light blue sheets covering them from the prying eyes of the public. Throwing his gaze back to the man in charge, Niall watched as the man moved out of the way, allowing some soldiers to exit the hole, carrying a stretcher with a limp form laid out upon it. Niall drew himself up to full height, almost on his tip toes as he sought to see who was on it. He felt sick to the stomach, almost wishing that his hunch was wrong. When the soldiers took the stretcher around to the back of the truck, they passed into Niall's view and he instantly recognized the un-moving person laid out upon it. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he saw Sain laid out on that stretcher.

  "Holy shit, Sain" Niall whispered to himself, eyes wide. He didn’t even think as he grabbed the barrier and climbed over it.

  "Sain! Sain!" Niall yelled as he landed on the other side of the barrier, only to be summarily knocked clean off of his feet as two soldiers cut him off and tackled him to the ground. Niall froze, wide eyed as he looked straight up at a scowling soldier, the man’s rifle pointed right in Niall's face.

  "Stop" the command was shouted by the tall man who came to stand in front of an immobilized Niall, a hand being laid to rest on the angry soldiers arm. The soldier grudgingly lowered his rifle, seemingly disappointed he didn't get to shoot someone.

  "You know this young man?" came a curt, no nonsense question from the tall dark haired man. Niall turned his gaze on the man, feeling like he recognized the man from somewhere. Niall cleared his thoughts and then nodded in a short jerking motion. Gulping, he answered the man properly.

  "I do sir. He's my little brother" Niall replied with a constricted throat, panic deep-set in his gaze.

  The man stayed quiet for a few seconds before giving the two soldiers a curt order.

  "Bring him with us". The man turned away then, his attention taken by something else as Niall was hauled to his feet and guided into the back of the truck, only to be seated next to his motionless brother. Two other armed guards stepped into the truck, seating themselves opposite Niall, their eyes locked on him and rifles unslung, at the ready. The doors were closed after them, and the truck started up and began to move. Niall peered at his brother, who looked absolutely fine. Niall scrutinized every inch of the youth, finding that Sain had a giant burnt hole in the chest of his shirt, and although he was covered in blood, Sain didn't appear to have any injuries. Niall exhaling shakily and grasped his quietly breathing brother’s hand, squeezing it softly as the truck rumbled down the road.

  Chapter 11

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  Sain blinked as he woke up slowly, his mind rather hazy. Staring straight up, all he could see was a bright light. It was so bright it was almost painful. He let out a groan. He felt hot, and heavy, almost as if he was feverish. Was this what it felt like to be dead. Letting out a groan once more, Sain turned his head away from the light, squinting his eyes and causing the bright light to fade from his vision somewhat. His mind was still hazy and he groaned once more, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the bright light. As the light became bearable, Sain opened his eyes and slowly started to survey his surroundings. A door came into view on his left side. Next to the door on its right was a man, seated, his head bowed in sleep.

  Sain stared dumbly, looking at the man, taking in his attire. The man looked to be a police officer. He had a helmet, a sort of fabric face mask, and was dressed in what looked like standard issue police body armor. What was most alarming to Sain however was the energy rifle strapped to the officer’s chest. Normal police did not carry those.

  With a slow gulp, Sain tried to sit up, but realized he couldn't. Something was holding him down. He turned his gaze from the sleeping officer, and looked down at his body. With a jolt, he saw numerous strap's across his body and limb's, holding him down in a bed. Sain panicked and started to struggle against the straps, his heavy breathing the only sound coming from him. After a few moments, Sain stopped moving and just slumped back into the bed, his mind a jumble. He tried to think of where he was, what was going on, but every time it seemed a thought entered his mind, it sort of just, slipped away.

  Letting out a frustrated breath, Sain closed his eyes and forced his mind to steady. He slowed his breathing and tried to pull up magic from his core, just as he always did, but as he seemed to get a hold of the energy, it just slipped away, almost lazily. Gritting his teeth, Sain let out a frustrated groan.

  Hearing a sudden intake of breath from his left, Sain whipped his gaze over to the guard who raised their head and stared at Sain through a pair of sunglasses. Sain could barely see an inches of the guys face. As the officer saw Sain looking at him, he stood up, one hand going to the grip of his rifle, the other going to a radio attached to the officers chest armor.

  "Dog to Command. Suspect has regained consciousness. Over" the officer stated and stood straight, both hands now on his rifle. Sain became unsettled as the officer just stared at Sain through those glasses. The youth couldn't make out anything from the hidden gaze.

  "Command to Dog. Copy. Control has been notified. Operatives are en-route. ETA five minutes. Over" came a reply over the officer’s radio. The loud reply seemed to shock the officer, and he instantly patted himself down with one hand until he found an ear piece that had fallen out.
He put it back in his ear and then stood silent once more, just staring at Sain.

  It seemed less than five minutes of awkward silence before other people arrived. A sound like a key opening a lock came into the room, and then the single door in the room opened and three people piled into the small room. Sain looked at them, his mind still hazy, no doubt causing a perplexed look to appear on his face.

  Looking over them, Sain narrowed his eyes on the man in the middle. The one that seemed to be in charge. He was a tall well-built man, with short black hair and a somewhat hawkish look. He was clean shaven and had dark blue eyes. Eyes that seemed to burrow into Sain. The man made a gesture with his hand to the two others with him. They were also police officers, wearing the same attire as other officer. The duo didn't say a thing as they stepped around the dark haired man and approached Sain.

  They went straight to untying the strap's that held Sain down whilst the officer at the door held his rifle up, pointed at Sain as if in warning, in case Sain tried to escape or fight. Not that he really could with his mind such a jumble. Sain stared at the dark haired man with a somewhat confused manner. Sain swore he recognized the man, but from where, he could not place it in his drug addled mind.

  Sain was shocked back to reality as his arms were grabbed, and he was hauled from the bed, half falling, half stepping off the frame. He tried to mutter some sort of protest, but all that came out of his mouth was incoherent words that even he could not understand. As a pair of cuffs were slapped onto his wrists, he blinked in surprise and looked up, finding the dark haired man had turned his back and was stepping out of the small room.