Blood in the Fire

Chapter Fourteen The Run

Prison Caves - November 2184

Luke

Anton's lips moved, but I couldn't make out a word the kid was saying. It felt like blood was pounding against the inside of my skull. I thought my brain might pour out of my ears to get away from the high-pitched buzz in my head. Suddenly, the wall in front of us exploded. It was silent, but a large cloud of rock-dust mushroomed toward me. I brought my arm over my eyes as we were engulfed. The moist cave smell became stronger.

Bright flashes penetrated my sealed eyelids and warm air slammed my skin as Anton incapacitated the guards on the other side. The magic rumble didn't produce one sound.

Was Mark still next to me? In chaos like this, it would be just like my brother to get high on the excitement and try to throw a punch or something. I reached out with my free arm to grab him. Stop! Tamer yelled in my head. Luke, don't move a muscle. I froze.

Eln, move back! Anton yelled telepathically. The noise of their voices on top of the alarm was enough to make me crack.

You have a wizard standing an inch away from your hand, Tamer explained.

I forced my eyes open, despite the dust. The guard was right in front of Mark. My fingers hovered in mid-air above the enemy's shoulder. A bright flash erupted from behind the crumbled wall. Took all my self-control not to flinch, but Sir Wizard, Nerves of Steel, didn't react at all.

Tamer climbed the ruble. Anton, are you alright? he called out in alarm. I held my breath as I waited for an answer.

We're in, Anton said. The guard stood firm as his eyes washed over every corner. My heart stopped when he looked at Mark. Nothing changed on his face. As the dust cleared, another two guards came into view. The one in front of my brother turned and went toward them. I exhaled a relieved sigh and rushed to the makeshift door we'd blasted. Mark followed.

We have Eln, Anton announced. Let's go!

My vision blurred. Dark tones from inside the cave were overtaken by bright sun-soaked hues of hazelnut and gray. The sound in my skull disappeared. Next thing I knew, Anton, Mark and I were in some kind of forest. I whipped my neck around and tried to take it in. The leaves and grass were all the wrong shape and color, but, glory halleluiah, was I grateful to be somewhere away from that brain-blasting noise. Still, it was weird. The grass was brown and fat. Trees were the same color only instead of leaves, they looked to be covered in zucchini shaped bulbs.

"Where's everyone else?" Mark asked.

"Eln is locked up on our ship. The autopilot will take him back to the station so the rest of us can teleport straight home," Anton replied. "Tamer will camp out on an orbiting moon until we find Liz."

I took a couple steps to get a get a good look around. The grass crunched beneath my feet. My heart was still pounding, but the adrenaline was wearing off. "Where is she?" I asked. Anton closed his eyes and mouthed something. Working some kind of spell I guess.

"This way," he said, then pointed through the trees and began walking. "She has herself cloaked so wizards won't detect her, but her ID signal puts her a couple miles that way."

"ID signal?" I asked.

 "Yes," Anton replied. "Her uniform emits a unique signal that gives me a general idea of where she is. Not specific enough for a teleport though."

"Damn! That is one big-ass bug!" Mark exclaimed as he flared his arms to shake off a large, blue insect.

"Yeah, do me a favor and try not to get bit by anything, okay?" Anton replied as he sidestepped to avoid Mark and the bug dancing past. Mark stumbled over some shrubbery as he continued to struggle, but Anton caught his arm and steadied him. "City boys," Anton mocked, shaking his head. The bug flew off.