The Universe Rings (A Ringing Purpose)

Chapter Thirteen

A chilly breeze swept Halo's hair across her face, the aroma of smoke drifting from the ensuing battle. She stood at the bottom of the sandy slope, a tight worried gaze on the entrance passageway to the city. Dior's universe ring lay in her jacket pocket, but she swore to never touch it till he and Kenneth returned.

Halo chewed her fingernails at the thought of the contrary of their return—she'd been waiting at the beach for so long. If Dior failed to find Kenneth—or if he discovered him injured or...Halo threw her hands to her side, curling her fingers into fists. She wouldn't allow herself to think of such possibilities. "Kenneth will be alright—Dior will make sure of it," she thought aloud.

An Interitus crept onto the beach through one of the entrances. Halo's hair stood as she watched the billowing cloak behind him and the helmet tight on his head. She stepped back, aware that the Interitus hadn't noticed her existence yet, but that he would soon if she continued to stand in plain sight. She gazed for a place to hide till he left, and another thinner passageway uphill caught her eyes.

Halo inhaled deeply and dashed up the ebony sand slope, slipping behind the wall of the narrow exit—she wouldn't leave the beach to ensure Dior and Kenneth could find her, but she would hide in the passageway until the Interitus left.

Halo peered around the wall toward the beach and to her dismay, the Interitus approached—she must not have been as stealthy as she originally thought. She gazed down the narrow street, and found it didn't have any doors or exits till much farther down than where she stood. Sensing of the Interitus' nearing presence, she darted across the gravel.

Halo shoved her hair from her eyes as the pulse in her neck fluctuated. Shuffling boots behind echoed like a wave across the metal walls; in anticipation of an attack, Halo ran around the closest turn in the street.

Her feet stumbled to a stop as she gasped; a dead-end layout before her, only a slender door on one of the walls. Her hands grasped the handle, but no amount of twisting and thrusting would open the door—the door stood wedged where it was as if embedded into the wall. Out of all the passageways she could've taken, how did she find the one with no exit? What a maze of a city the Bishop citizens called their home.

Out of her peripheral vision, the Interitus blocked the exit from this dead-end. She whirled around and pressed her hands out, willing the magic within her to fabricate a shield. Transparent matter wavered in front of her, but never quite formed.

The Interitus outstretched his pale and wiry hand, and Halo's stomach lurched as she was thrusted into the air, her back pinned against a wall. Her limbs failed to fight against the spell's pressure, and panicked gasps choked up her throat as pleas reeled in her mind.

"Stop fighting," The Interitus demanded. A thick and rough foreign accent deepened his young voice.

Halo's precarious eyes struggled to stay on the attacker—she had never realized the extent the Interitus terrified her. Her fingers twitched as the spell held her nearly frozen, unable to perform any spells. Oh please, oh please...

"Pathetic child—is she really supposed to be fourteen?" the Interitus murmured under his breath as if questioning himself. Despite his angular facial features, he appeared quite young and couldn't possibly be older than his early twenties. Noticeably, a scar etched over his sloped upward nose, and blue eyes sharp like ice pierced from his fair complexion. How could an individual so young join such a vile cause?

Halo exhaled a shaking breath. "What...What do you want?" she asked, eyes narrowing on him.

The Interitus cracked an anticipating grin. "I think you and I would like to be acquainted," he said.