Mianite- Season 3

Chapter 15: Entering Chrysoberyl

Martha's POV:

"Cypress, what do we do?" I asked worriedly, the sun slowly setting behind me. "Everyone scattered."

"I don't know," he confessed, a slight shiver running through his body. "Why did everyone start panicking suddenly?"

I bit my lip nervously. "Someone went to go get the people working at the visitation center, and I couldn't hear what they said when they returned. All I know is that someone screamed, and everyone went in different directions. I don't even know where to start looking."

"Head toward the restaurants and see if there's anyone there," Cypress told me. "I'll go down by the laboratory. Maybe someone went to get a leader?"

I shrugged, and began to jog in the direction of the shops and restaurants. The streets were empty, since the work day was ending. People were either going home or going to eat. The only sound was the steady slap of my shoes against the stone paths, although I strained my ears desperately to try and hear someone else approaching. Why did everyone split up?

Finally, I turned a corner, and ran straight into Jeriah. He looked almost paralyzed with terror, and seemed speechless when he bumped into me. "What's going on?" I demanded. "Why did everyone scatter?"

"We're trying to find someone who can help," he answered after a second of just staring at me. "I was trying to find the restaurant where Ambrosia's group is, but I have no clue where it is."

"Help with what?" My voice was practically a yell at this point, but Jeriah didn't seem bothered. 

"Apparently, something happened in the visitation center," he said, pain in his eyes. 

"Where Andor and Alyssa are?" I felt my fingernails digging into the brick wall next to me, trying to keep myself from screaming. Not the two of them, anyone but them. Andor was the only family I had left, and well... I couldn't imagine Mot's reaction...

Jeriah nodded, and I remembered just how much Alyssa meant to him. "They said Malachai was dead, or, at the least, unconscious. The two of them are nowhere to be found, and we can only hope that they went to get help."

I felt almost dizzy, unable to take it in. "Doesn't Malachai carry a weapon with him?"

Jeriah nodded again. "Apparently the weapon was wedged into the wall behind the counter, as if someone had just hurled it at whoever was back there. But there's no blood around it, so it looks like only Malachai was hurt during whatever happened."

I stood still for a minute, unsure of what to do next. "We need to... I don't know. Alert the leaders, I guess?"

"I think someone's already doing that, but I guess it wouldn't hurt." He took one last glance at the restaurants, and I heard him mutter something that sounded like "Poor Mot."

We ran down the streets of Galena, a fierce wind blowing on each of us. I tied my long purple hair back to keep it out of my face as we hurried toward the laboratory, but it still went everywhere as the wind pushed it from side to side. 

When we finally arrived, we came to a halt directly in front of the door to the laboratory. "Should we go in?" Jeriah wondered. "I don't think people who don't work here are supposed to go in, but I guess this qualifies as an emergency."

"Yeah." I stepped forward to open the door, but it was flung open before I could touch the handle. "Sorry... hey, wait a second!"

I was faced with a couple of guards, who were glaring down at me. Behind them, Mianite, Ianite, and Dianite all stood, looking at me with exhausted faces. "Move it, you two," one of the guards grumbled. "This is for leaders only. Work day is over." They started to walk away.