Keystone Trilogy Book II- Rift World

1

"We have to get out of here!" Elias yelled over the sound of the dying skyship. The floor rumbled beneath him as he spoke, and he almost lost his balance.

"We have to find the others!" Glael responded.

"I thought they were all messed up by the Intelligence!"

"Not all of them!" Glael picked a discarded gun off the ground and promptly blasted a hole into the depths of the ship below. He sheathed his sword and leaped down into the hallway.

Elias followed, his one remaining shoe making a dull thud on the metallic floor. All around him was evidence of the spectacular crash that he had caused. Suddenly, a hand reached out and stopped him from going any farther. "Shhh!" hissed Glael as he pulled Elias into a small alcove in the wall. And not a second too late. A group of about thirty soldiers marched past, no doubt going to investigate the damage.

"What if they're on our side?" asked Elias.

"Look at their eyes." Sure enough, every one of the soldiers' eyes was completely black, like the man Elias had seen lose his soul earlier.

"I guess not, then."

"No."

"What about the prisoners?"

"I'm hoping that there are still some left, but if they've all been corrupted, then, frankly, we're done."

"Done? What am I, a piece of toast?!"

But Glael was off, running down the hall with astonishing speed, and Elias could hardly keep up. He turned a corner and ran right into Glael. "Elias? Do you know which way it was?"

And Elias looked around. They were in a huge atrium filled with hallways on every side. "I know it was down a level, but-"

"Then I guess we'll just have to take a shortcut."

A group of dark soldiers appeared in one doorway, then another, and another, until almost every opening was filled with men. They raised their guns to their eyes and prepared to fire. Glael raised his sword over his head and plunged it into the metal floor. With a wrenching screech the section that Elias and Glael were standing on fell to the room below. The dust cleared, and the prisoners in the room all cheered.

Elias whirled around and his leg shot out, smashing the control board to pieces. The cell doors flew open, some of them so fast they came off of their hinges. "I've always wanted to do that." Elias confessed. He thought he might have gotten the tiniest of smiles from Glael, but he couldn't be sure.

"Come on, we have to get outta here!" Elias told the crowd of people trying to escape. But a crash sounded above, and thirty men dropped through the hole Glael had created moments before. Several more came through the door, blocking off their escape.

They were surrounded.