Soul Riders | Star Stable

Unforeseen |Chapter 24

A door slam echoed down the corridor and multiple footsteps could be heard running in their direction from around the corner. Linda, Anne and Alex caught their breath as they looked behind them.
"Run," Alex whispered.
Alex in the lead, they sprinted off down the corridor. Running full speed with nowhere particular in mind. More shouting could be heard, and the soul riders didn't dare look back. An intersection in the corridor loomed ahead. Alex continued to go down the centre but noticed Linda's feet stopped running. Alex turned around to see Linda glaring at the workers running towards them as she slowly waved her left hand through the air. 

Anne and Alex were wide-eyed, unsure of what Linda was attempting as she continued to stand her ground. The dark core workers suddenly stopped running and got a dazed look on their faces, some even groping the air as if the lights had been turned off.

Anne and Alex looked at Linda with skepticism and wonder.

Linda turned to face them, "Rhiannon started teaching me something new with the moon circle after I asked her about one Soul Rider who used the power of illusions on enemies a few generations ago. I thought it was worth a shot."

"You decided now would be a good time to risk our lives for something that might not even work?!" Alex asked with a hint of annoyance, she looked somewhat shocked that Linda would ever do something so spontaneous.

"Risk is good sometimes," Linda said. "But we better start running before the illusion works off," she quickly added.

They continued down the centre of the intersection, no longer running for their lives but jogging at a brisk pace. The corridor sloped down slightly and sharply turned before a stairwell leading to the lower quarters of the ship appeared before them. The stairs creaked loudly beneath their feet and defeated any possible chance of stealth. Once they finished descending the stairs they took in a quick observation before continuing.
The hallway was dim with flickering lights above them. The ground had a film of filth on it, recently disturbed with footprints, and the walls had smudges of dark substances on them.  The hallway divided into two before them. On one side dark core workers had noticed their arrival and were approaching quickly, the other hallway was empty.
Alex held Linda back as she started walking towards the guards, "there has to be another way to get to Starshine," she said.
Linda looked to the floor and shook her head, she tried to work up the same power of illusion but using it on so many guards made her in need of recharging.

"I just know that Starshine is this way, I can almost feel him," Linda said quietly.

Alex rolled her shoulders and deciding brute force would be enough, sprinted forward with Linda and Anne in tow. Bracing for impact with the guards, Anne's survival instincts kicked in without her even realizing. Time slowed. Alex was stuck with a punch in midair, ready to land on the dark core workers face and Linda was evading the other workers grasp. They moved slowly, while Anne moved at a brisk pace. Straightening her back, Anne took a deep breath to steady herself and formed a small portal that she guided forwards to suck up both dark core workers. The portal was faint in the dim light, and she ached with each second it existed. She let out an exhausted sigh before returning time to its regular speed. Linda tripped and Alex took a slow blink.

"What-, what happened to them?" Alex asked.

"I dealt with it," Anne replied.

"What did you do Anne?" Linda asked.

"I will tell you another time". Anne felt like she could fall asleep, but she willed herself to keep going, to at least get off this ship first before she could rest.

"That sounds real suspicious, at least Linda explained herself," Alex replied with a smirk.

Anne let out a huff of air.