Children of Chaos

Chapter 33

That single thought propels me out of the room so fast I have to backtrack to extract the data chip from the computer before continuing. The storm started by my imaginings plus the power in the soul stone is still raging, but there's so much destruction I barely recognize the hallway and which way it leads. I don't see or hear any Forces members, so I forge my way forward with determination and help from strong gusts of wind.

At first I just needed to keep the data chip away from Gerna, but now that the information is in my mind, all he needs is to get close enough and all Keptana's theories will be his to comb over and use to his advantage. Interplanetary generators capable of turning off or on an entire, ten planet system of peoples core source of infrastructure, livelihood, and identity, is surely a dangerous thing in the hands of someone like Gerna. How easy would it be to manipulate and intimidate your opponents when you control the one thing that everyone needs?

I think of Shona and her family then, on the moon Haran. In the right hands, that level of control to the source of magic could be the great equalizer. There might be a way to give magic to people who previously lived without it.

For now, Gerna is not the right person to use this information, and I need to hold onto it until I find someone who is.

I barrel forward, barely thinking about what I want accomplished, though somehow the soul stone fills my needs, whether I need walls flattened or rubble moved. I make turn after turn and hope that I'm getting somewhere. This place must end somewhere, if I can eventually get to an outer wall.

"Storm cloud!"

I whip around in the windy halls in panic, but it turns into a blossoming hope when I see Janab rushing towards me, getting caught in the same winds that are helping me rush forward.

"How did you get out?" I ask, meeting him halfway.

"Your storm broke open most of the cells. I followed the way the wind was blowing, thinking it was heading out a breach in the walls, but it led me to you instead. How did you get the stone?" he asks, staring distrusting at my chest.

"Gerna had it. He was planning on using my powers to fill it, and have people in my disguise go cause mayhem and frame me for it. They already framed the destruction of Castle Liliar on me."

"The castle is destroyed?" he asks.

"Yes," I say, but stop when we hear voices shouting through the halls. "We should go." We take off running down the hall again as Deyjenese Forces bear down on us from behind.

"What's the plan?" Janab asks.

"We have to escape. And I can't let Gerna get close enough to read my mind. I learned what's in the chip."

"Good. Don't tell me anything."

"Where are we?" I ask, as I send a haze of fog down the hallways behind us as we take a turn at an intersection.

"We're on Deyjen, in the Realms central prison complex. It's impossible to escape unless there's some sort of mass destruction compromising the structure."

We share a look while we run, the magical wind propelling us faster than our bodies would normally allow.

"So keep using the soul stone?" I say. Janab grumbles but nods.

"The complex is set in a dormant volcanic crater, and we're likely deep in the lower levels right now. If we can make it out to the surface of the crater, we'll find some major power lines to the complex and the Deyjenese capital city. We could destroy a couple of those to cover our getaway from the hangar."

I nod, and we continue running down the halls. Janab takes the lead as we reach intersections, making decisions about where to go. The wind propels us forward, but it also carries noise with it, like the deafening sounds of walls collapsing, and the haunting echoes and shouts of our pursuers. I try to hurry our way by using the storm to force through already collapsed paths, but I have no precision over the powers. Everything is an act of brute force, so if I use wind to force down a wall, we get caught into it and slam into the wall as well. The only thing I manage to keep consistent is the winds pushing us ever forward.