Firewall

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Mark trudged along the riverside which was the lake's main source of substance, constantly tripping over his own feet, his hand pressed firmly against his shoulder. His breath came out as a hiss, eyes scrunched up from the pain he felt in his shoulder. His glasses were filthy, hence his constant tripping, but he couldn't be bothered to clean them. How they managed to even stay on his face through the whole 'almost drowning' thing he had no clue, and he honestly didn't care.

He wasn't walking anywhere in particular; the only think he knew for sure was that he had to go the opposite direction of the Firewall. He couldn't go back, not after what he had done. Jack had seen him snap, in the end, it was Mark himself who had scared Jack more than Sky ever would.

"What have I done?" he whispered to himself for what had to be the twentieth time "what have I done?"

As if he had begged nature to punish him as well, lightning soon cracked overhead, compelling him to tilt his head back into order to see the dark storm that then proceeded to dump rain onto him, as if he wasn't already wet enough.

He frowned up at the sky as droplets of water began to gather on his glasses. He soon shook his head and continued walking, glancing around for signs of a nearby patrol. After seeing none, he summoned his Warftache Wings and flew off into the dark sky. Flying during a thunderstorm had to be one of the more stupid things he could be doing right now, but right now he didn't give a damn.

"Smite me, see if I care!" Mark mentally challenged the world as he continued to fly, heading towards the mountain range that surrounded their known world.

Their universe was oddly compact due to the range of black mountains that surrounded them in a massive ring, and Mark was all to familiar with them due to his frequent patrols into the outer ring. They stood much taller than the mountains near the Wasteland, their peaks vanishing into the clouds, and were so tall that even daring flyers like Vanoss couldn't fly over them. Then again, no one really tried due to one massive problem.

The mountains were covered in a blood red haze, a thick mist that loomed over the black structures all the way around, and from within this mist the Viruses lurked. They were surrounded by it, no escape, and no way to get rid of it. Luckily, it took an extremely long time for the Viruses to build up enough strength to become a major challenge; the problem was that several have been laying in wait for years.

This place was called the Mist due to the massive amounts of red mist, which had seemingly no origin or showed any sign of stopping. It was too thick to see though, and the smell alone was awful, like a Virus itself.

Mark landed on the ground a full mile away, blinking as he saw that there were a distinct lack of Viruses around. Usually, weaker ones came out in a pitiful attempt of fighting, and they weren't that hard to kill, but today, within the storm, there was nothing. Mark was almost disappointed; he had nothing to take his anger out on. He clenched his fists, glaring down at his feet through the dark rain, lightning illuminating his wings, which were faintly glowing through the rain.

He suddenly began to yell up at the sky, his red hair suddenly glowing like fire as he launched up off the ground, bursting through the cloud layer almost immediately since he was going so fast. Once up in the sky, he began to let out his rage to its full extent. He thrashed around, yelling like a madman as spun around in circles, his hair still glowing, and soon it began the thrash around as if it was an actual flame, fire springing up from Mark's hands, casting a fiery glow into the clouds.

...

Sky stood on the Firewall, staring out to the south where the large body of water resided. Through the rain, he could see several flashes of red light far away in the distance, almost turning both the lightning and rain red. He immediately recognized it, his throat tightening as he knew what a dangerous situation Mark was in.