We ran down the corridor with Jia in the lead. I rammed into her as she came to an abrupt halt. The instant i saw what made her stop, i knew this would be messy. Some armed men stood not more than five feet from us, weapons drawn and aimed at us. I tapped Jia on the back gently. She nodded, an action that went unnoticed to the others. The grating sound of metal against metal drew our attention to the closing door. Damn, i didn't see that. That's our window of opportunity dwindling. Okay, no use crying over spilled milk, I trust out ability to get out of this jam, not that I'm overconfident or anything. I edged Jia towards the set of doors by the right, the guns moved with us.
"Do your thing, Aba". Jia said in my mind.
"Okay". Here goes nothing. I twirled the orb fastened to my left wrist, moved my body so that my action was out of view of our heavily armoured friends.
"Well, well, well! What do we have here? My cheating girlfriend and her lover. What a catch". Jia rolled her eyes at Wand, the ever sadonic leader of the Topian army and her former lover. Don't ask, it's a story for another day. Aba glanced briefly at Wand, i have to reply the sadist before our cover gets blown.
"Sure, you superficial son of biatches." I said. Wand must have found it amusing because he laughed so hard. It's not that hard to get mad at Wand, he is a dick. Just as I was about to say more for his amusement, a guy dressed as a tourist came out of nowhere. He has a crossbody bag across his shoulder and held a 2.0 Calibre gun in both hands.
"Wha...what are you doing with those?" I asked, feigning fear of course. I handle babies bigger and badder that those toy guns even though my best affinity is magic, but they didn't know that. Good for me. The tourist guy waved the guns at me again, spoke in a language I couldn't discern immediately.
"Get those things out of my face" I shouted. The guy moved towards us with each word I utter. When I heard a pop behind me, the guy slumped, diverting attention from us. Aba smiled and tugged at me.
"Time to go", he said in my mind.
"Yippee", I replied and he chuckled. We ran out of the door Aba just unlocked without a backward glance.
"I know you are never up to any good, you filthy woman. This time, you'll pay. Thinking you can fool me..." I heard Wand shout behind us. Now, I did fool him, didn't I. The door we broke into is not a normal escape route, it leads to the dungeon were we our comrades are being kept. Tana and Ani are there already getting everyone out and preparing them for the journey ahead, there is no time to waste.
Aba let out a whistle, that was our 'go' command. He downsized to his original height, 10 inches as I and every other members of our group did the same. This is our original form and we are most efficient in it. We are faster than a Topian and we can use magic just by thinking about it. The others filed out, I would love to embrace them and say a few words to each and every one of them, but now is not a good time. We are still in the enemy's camp. I blet out a low whistle, signalling formation and all complied.
I led the group while Aba stayed at the rear. We anticipate a foolish Wand following us and someone needs to repel him. While I am a good scout, Aba is our strongest warrior. We glided and ran, sliding under or jumping over obstacles. The Topians build their house in a poor immitation of the western world. Not only did they try to immigrate the old western world with their abode, they also immigrate their size too. While an average old westerner is 5ft 5, a true Topian or Sopian form is just 10 inches. We Sopians do not believe in imitations and we only go 5ft. 5 height only when we are on missions that truly requires us to change form. The Topians however keep the form for eternity making half their population forgetting their true form. It is truly ugly. Twenty minutes into our journey and I heard Aba's voice in my mind.
"Someone is following us, but it's not Wand or any of his cronies."
"Who could it be?" I asked.
"The aura is that of a Sopian."
"Sopian? That's one of us. Did we leave anyone behind?" I exclaimed.
"Yes, a Sopian, but we got all our people. This must be someone we didn't know about", he replied. I did a head count and our team is complete.
"Who the hell is following us?" I asked no one in particular. The mission was a success and we have no casualties, which mean we left no one behind. How then could a Sopian be on our trail?
"Concentrate on getting us out of here, I'll handle the intruder. I just want you to know we're being followed."
"Okay, make sure to stop them." Aba is a capable warrior, one I trust with my life. If he says he would handle the intruder, then he would. I concentrated on getting back home faster instead.
When we got to the stream, everybody released their glide and plopped Into the water. Sweet bliss. We surfed the water like a fish. Another advantage of our small body is, no Topians could do this. The stream is too small for their body and our body moves light and super fast on the water, even more so than on land.
"It's Carrie", Aba spoke in my mind again. I blanched.
"Carrie. I thought she died."
"Apparently she didn't. She must have been held captive by the Topians." Aba said. I was glad our conversation was muted and only us could hear, otherwise, it would cause panic withing the group no matter how inconsequential the information is.
"So they have her follow us because she's one of us. It's a trap. We can't take her home with us. She can't find out where we live or the Topians will be all over us in no time." They probably know too much by now.
"Calm down, Jia. I made a protective orb over us before we left Topia. Their only hope is for Carrie to return. Don't worry too much, Jia. Lead the others home, the orb is still active and Will remain so till I deactivate it. Go, I'll be a little behind." Aba informed Jia. She knows better than to distrust Aba, he is known throughout their clan to be a man of his words. Jia sighed and moved faster. She got creative with their route and left false clues for the Topians, in case they sent more than one person after them.
