Finding the Fallen

Chapter 13

Merik watched the tower from his hiding spot across the street. He had followed Kala as he knew she would suspect, but he didn't really care about the repercussions of ignoring her wishes. He had no intentions of letting the woman take on this task entirely on her own. She was stubborn to say the least. Once she got a notion in her head, there was little that would stop her. He hoped that would not be her downfall.

Glancing to the upper floors, he noticed an oddity. Something he could not identify seemed to be streaming down the remaining windows below the only floor lit with flickering candlelight. "What the hell?" he whispered to no one in particular. In the dark it was impossible to tell what he was seeing, but knowing who was up there at the moment, he came to a fairly obvious conclusion: it was water. It had to be.

And if that was the case, it could only mean one thing...Kala was exacting her revenge at that very moment.

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A brief flash of a large red 5 passed before Kala's eyes as she struggled down the stairs. Five more floors to go, but who knew what was waiting at the bottom. Even if she could muster enough concentration to call the water, she had no idea how to fight the monster raging above her. Without a line of sight on Tannish, she couldn't take him out. Her only option was to continue to flee.

The building was beginning to shake now. She could feel the steps below her feet vibrating as the storm grew in intensity. It was nearly upon her. The force pushing down on her was so strong, she had to fight to remain standing upright as she descended. Her knees threatened to buckle under the strain and her lungs were screaming for air, but she kept moving.

Glancing up briefly as she hit the third floor landing, Kala gasped. Sparks of electricity were beginning to form along the fringes of the whirlwind, which was only a couple floors above her now. Risking further injury but knowing there was no other option, Kala took a couple steps down the next flight, grasped the railing with both hands, and threw herself over it to the flight below. She landed hard, knocking her knee against the concrete. Struggling to rise, she repeated the process.

The second touchdown proved harder than the first. Her knees and hands were now bloodied, and her thighs were throbbing from the effort. With desperation taking hold, she looked up just in time to see a flash of lightning strike the railing above her.

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Water had finally stopped trickling down the side of the tower. Merik stepped out of the shadow of the building across the street and began strolling along the sidewalk away from both buildings. He was done waiting. Listening intently as he moved, he could barely make out a steady rumbling sound he was certain was coming from the tower. He knew the building had security so his objective was to circle around to the parking structure on the west side. He hoped he could enter there without being seen.

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Kala leapt down two additional flights, finally coming to rest against the ground level exit door. Bleeding from more scratches and scrapes than she could count, she grabbed the doorknob and pulled herself up. Swinging the door open with considerable effort, she flung herself out into the lobby. The guard at the front desk was waiting for her.

In defense mode now, Kala thrust a flimsy ball of water in his direction, running toward a set of doors labeled "Covered Parking" behind the guard's desk. She had no intention of leaving the building through the front doors. If Tannish had realized she was no longer in the stairwell, he would return to his office window and wait for her to appear below. That would give him an advantage she could not afford given her physical condition at the moment.

The guard dodged the water ball which smashed unceremoniously against his desk. Recovering quickly, he sprinted after Kala, only to find himself sliding uncontrollably into a dusty, and very fake, decorative tree which had undoubtedly been placed there years ago to hide one of the building's support columns.