The Alliance Archive

Three Shots.

With a swift and silent motion, the string was released and an arrow plunged itself deep into a troll's fat leg. It roared and turned in frantic circles, trying to find the attacker. 

Blood splashed bright as another arrow sunk into its chest. The beast roared once more. With a soft sigh, I finally shot the last arrow. It hit the troll's eye and dug deep into it's socket, hitting the walnut sized brain and ending the creatures pain. 

"Three shots? Really?" A slim body emerged from the shadows, a red cload laid over her shoulders and a hood hiding her face. I pushed my own forest green hood back, letting my short hair and pointed ears be revealed.

"Shut your trap, Birch. I was using your bow. You know I like my guns better." She tossed her own hood back and rolled her eyes. 

"And if you ran out of ammunition?" 

"And if you run out of arrows?" 

She slid her sleek sword from its sheath on her belt . I made a face.

"How could I ever run out of ammo? Do you see how many bullets I take? I thought you knew me!" An expression of mock shock show and she punched me on the arm playfully. 

"Not the point. What if something happens to your gun? You need to have a backup." I though on it. 

"Does a bazooka count?" She groaned and I laughed. "Don't worry. I have my knives." I opened my cloak to show her the countless number of knives and ammo strapped to my waist and legs. I rebuttoned my cloak at the neck then tossed her the dark wooden bow. 

"Let's get down there. I wanna pull some of those troll teeth before we call for clean up." 

"Troll teeth?" Birch questioned as she followed me down through the cave system and to the bottom, where the gray body lay. She pulled her arrows out of the troll and helped me roll him over so I could pry some teeth from his disgusting mouth. "Ew." She held her nose. 

I pressed a button on my ear bud and waited for a response. "This is Trouble." 

"Stella Soot and Birch Light, reporting for duty. Troll is dead, requesting a clean up crew and a heli." 

"Rodger. Why the chopper?"

"To get out of this damned cave system! This troll was underfed, must have been lost down here." 

"Crew is on their way, Heli is coming down now." 

"Thanks, Trouble. And one more thing. Tell Lucas to call Maya and get the food out of the freezer." 

"Why?" 

"Because I'm going to celebrate." 

                                                                                 *          *          *

I opened my eyes and sat back in my chair. My fingers reached into my pocket and clasped around the cold metal. "Liz?" I looked up at Syd. "You okay?" I shrugged. Artemis as still staring at the blank TV screen where Lucas once was. 

"What is he still doing?" I asking, standing. "We already knew that Lucas was controlling. What we need to do is trace the call and figure out where he is. He might be near Holly and Butler." 

"He's trying to decode his words. He said 'You will find them int he place where the girl fears most.'" I nodded and Jene plopped down on the table. 

"Well I'm scared of being trapped in a room filled with poisonous, giant spiders." Syd rolled her eyes. 

"But that's not the same as mine. The place I'm most afraid to be is a room with no floor and no end. It's just four walls, constantly falling into blackness. What about you, Liz?" 

"No where." Artemis looked back at us. "Like, physically being no where. This is just nothingness. No bodies. Being stuck in a place where there is nothing, while you're still alive and just stuck in your mind." 

"Well," Artemis spoke. "We've ruled out that Lucas was talking about you three. So the question is: Who was he talking about?" Syd shrugged and I bit my nailed until Jene dug in her pocket and threw me a piece of gum. 

"What time is it?" Jene asked. I pulled out my mobile to find an odd message playing across my screen. 

"Guys, listen to this. 'Atlantis residents are being told to stay in their homes until further notice. They are not to panic by taking up arms.' It just keeps repeating." I tried to end it but none of the buttons would do anything. "Syd!" I whinnied. "Use your techy skills and fix it!" She grabbed the phone from me and hit a few buttons, then tossed it back. 

"You really need to figure out how to work your own phone." I glanced back at the small screen and saw I had 4 messages. All from 'Mom'. Well, she must be programed to worry. I deleted them all and shoved the phone away. 

"Artemis, we need to figure out who he was talking about. Think, who is the girl?" 

"Holly?" Trouble guessed. 

"Where does Holly fear most?" Artemis though out loud, interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on them. 

"Well, she's scared of being captured.

"No." Artemis shot down. "Not scared enough. Any other place she refused to go?" 

"No." Foaly walked in. 

I flashed a look to Syd and Jene before getting up and going to the break room. 

"What's is it?" They both asked in perfect unison. Creepy twins. 

"I know who's fear it is and Arty-boy is not going to like it." 

"Who?!" I creaked a smile and my cleverness. 

"Opal Koboi." 

OOOOOO look at the b-e-a-utiful plot twist! So sorry it took so long to upload and I really hope you guys like the chapter. I tried. LMOL and have a nice night!