Covenant: Exodus

Chapter 12

Noah leapt from his chair and grabbed Namaah's hand, urging Karok towards the door. His worst fears were coming to life, he was too late to save the people, they would all be destroyed because of his ineptitude. The building shook again, and Noah heard a crash as part of the ceiling in the library collapsed. They had just cleared the door when he sent a thought to Karok, Get her to safety! He did not need to wait for a response from his RaSheen, he knew that Karok was already leading Namaah to the door. Noah quickly ran back into the room they had just left and saw that the back half of it was now nothing more than a giant gaping hole, letting in the blackness of the night and the hellish glow of the fire from somewhere above them.

Noah had no idea what had caught fire, but he knew they had to move quickly because the earthquakes were just beginning, and if the old teachings taught them anything, it was that on the day that the catastrophe began no one was safe anywhere. Noah slid to a stop at the desk he had spent the last day working at and gathered up his notebook, the copy of Ratam RaAva, and the copy of Songs to the Gods and fled for the door. He could still hear Namaah screaming his name, but Karok had let him know that they were indeed on their way out of the temple. He knew that there was no way the elevators in the building would still be functioning, the shockwave that had rippled through the building would have been enough to arm the safety sensors in them and render them useless for now. He headed towards the stairs and began the long journey down all twelve flights of them.

Noah knew that more of his brethren must be in the building still, and he could not stand the thought of leaving them to perish, so he sought them out with his mind. He knew the twelfth floor, where he was coming from, was empty as that library was reserved solely for the high priest. He sensed that the two floors directly below that were empty as well, but there was definitely someone on the ninth floor, and many others fleeing from the floors below. In his mind he saw the men fleeing, saw the panic of the scene that must by now be gripping all of Atla, as the citizens would certainly be reeling from the effects of the earthquake, scrambling from their homes and seeking a place of safety that Noah knew did not exist. He rushed to the ninth floor and saw two of the youngest Mul'Ki there, struggling to move a large beam that had fallen from the ceiling.

He could not see why the men were trying to lift the beam, but he knew that for them to be there, in the midst of the chaos struggling to dislodge it that there must be someone trapped beneath it. He yelled at the men, "Get back!" and focused all of his Ari on the task of moving the gigantic beam. The beam shot into the air, with a force that made the other Mul'Ki recoil in what appeared to be fear and surprised even Noah. Then, with a small flick of his hand, it was sent hurtling against the back wall of the temple some seventy feet away, as though it was nothing more than a twig that had gotten in his way. He saw the man instantly, lying still in a pool of blood, he could not see his face but beside him sat a small golden lion tamarin, looking longingly at Noah, seeming to plead with him for his Mul'Ki to be rescued. The broken and battered body that lay at his feet could not be identified, but Noah recognized the man's RaSheen, Nuni, as it was the smallest of the companions that he had ever seen.

It was Jikar. Noahim and Jikar had entered into the temple at around the same time some twenty-nine years ago, at the age of five, and had quickly become friends, as there were no other boys within fifteen years of their age in the temple at the time. Rashan had decided early on that Jikar would be allowed to study with Noah and forgo the typical Mul'Ki training. Rashan had feared that Noah's training being done differently would ostracize him from the other Mul'Ki, many of whom already held resentment towards Noahim for the uproar he had caused with the people. The decision had proven to be a very wise one indeed. Jikar, also always very advanced for his age, helped to push Noah to reach greater heights than he could have done on his own, but more importantly, he provided a true friend that Noahim could count on. Noahim still remembered the day that had cemented their friendship forever.