Requiem Run

Chapter 22

The rest of the walk to the temple was uneventful, thank god. Katie kept us on track, and kept Felice and I laughing, until we were just a stone's throw away from the building.

"Keep an eye out for Killian," said Felice, "He could be invisible, watching us and waiting to strike."

"He's probably inside the temple waiting for an ambush," I said, still looking around just in case I was wrong about that. Just as I was making it to the first step, a bright light flashed behind me and Katie.

"Crap!" Katie said as she manifested a fireball, while I pulled my sword, turned around...

And squealed with glee as Rhys stepped through the now-made portal, which closed immediately behind her.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Rhys said as she walked over to us, "I think Daniel and the rest of Redemption got things covered, but we had to create a small portal for me, since they're starting to move camp. Did I miss anything?"

"Some scorpions and a giant worm," said Katie, "Nothing we couldn't handle."

"Uh, what?" Rhys asked.

"We'll tell you later," I said, motioning to the temple, "Right now, we should deal with the problem at hand."

"Ah, good point." said Rhys, "Let's get this over with."

The three of us slowly walked up the steps. Despite the fact that we'd already done this twice over, my heart was still racing, and I could feel the nervous sweat dripping down my face. It was if I was walking to my own death. For all I knew, I probably was.

Rhys seemed to sense my nervousness, since she took my hand and gently squeezed it. I smiled at her, then tried to ignore Katie winking at me when she saw what was going on.

The inside of the temple looked the same as the other two - empty besides the fountain. Since Killian was the guy we were dealing with now, I kept an eye out for any movement that could come off as suspicious.

"Well, well, well... looks like I win."

Killian stepped out of thin air in the direction he had spoke, near the fountain. It probably would have looked a lot better if he had stepped out of some kind of shadow, but he didn't.

"Looks like you lost," said Killian, "I guess that means this is an easy win for me."

"Deal's off," I said as Felice brandished our sword, "We're getting that gem off you anyway."

"Deal?" Rhys asked.

"Later." Katie whispered.

I had expected some kind of negative reaction from Killian, since we were going back on his stupid deal. Instead, his grin almost seemed to get wider, and he started to approach us with a saunter, as though he didn't care at all.

"As if I figured you would just give up when I inevitably won," said Killian, "Rebellions make things so much easier, don't they? Of course, the three of you would know."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Katie asked.

"As if the emperor's unaware of that precious rebellion that's been helping you," said Killian, "Not that it matters, since I plan to end this right now."

Killian vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"Everyone, get together in a group!" I called. Katie and Rhys came up to me, back-to-back-to-back, and we started moving through the room towards the fountain.

"Here, take this," said Katie as she passed me her dagger, "Just in case you get a good moment."

"Thanks." I said.