Rising Tides | 2

06 | E m b e r

—

When I was in middle school, I ran track. Jonah had done it too. We goofed off and messed with each other whenever we could during practice. I liked to think that I enjoyed running because of him. I liked it so much that in high school, we both joined the cross-country team. I was an excellent long-distance runner, much better than I had been at sprinting. Even then, Jonah and I would constantly pester each other. We would kick rocks at each other's ankles and push tree branches in each other's faces. It took our minds off the burning in our legs and lungs.

Now, running through Mosica as if I were an ant crawling through the grass, I longed for my running companion. Jonah had this way of easing my mind, and I desperately needed that. Every time I came face to face with the Guard, I became afraid of losing. Every battle was a step towards the pit of death, and one day, I might just accidentally fall off the cliff. It terrified me.

But I tried to keep what Rhea said at the front of my mind. The Guard is nothing but a bunch of unskilled men who pledged their allegiance to Maddox in order for him to spare their lives. Hopefully, she was right. We had beat them twice now. I thought back to the battle on the beach in Winham: The strange blast that had erupted from me had killed all those men. Who was left? Surely there couldn't be that many of them.

Then I thought about how maybe Maddox had recruited more soldiers to fill his deceased Guard's places while we hid underground. It was a possibility in my mind. There could be twenty men waiting for us, or there could be five. I guess we would find out.

I was pulled back into reality when Rhea came to a sudden halt in front of me. I almost ran into her. She spun around to face me.

"Get your head straight now, Valarious. You're slowing us down," she snarled at me.

I hadn't realized that I had lagged our pace so much. We were almost to the target, but I could see everyone else far ahead of us. "Right, yeah. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Rhea turned back around and began to jog. "It better not," I heard her mutter under her breath.

We continued to run, and I focused my mind on the task ahead. Distract the Guard. Grab as many hostages as possible. Get them out. It seemed simple enough. The only variables were how many soldiers there were and, in turn, how long our surprise attack would hold.

Finally, we reached the last building. Rhea and I slowed to a silent walk and pressed our backs against the cool metal wall. To my left, a few buildings away, I saw Wren and Waverly in the same position. They were ready. To my right, the same distance away, were Adara and Ragan. They were ready as well. Rhea gave a nod, and we moved in.

I didn't know what to expect when I turned the corner, so I was prepared to lash out at the nearest person. What I saw did not, however, surprise me at all. The spot where everyone was being held was called "Cherub Square" and was centered around a gold statue of an angel with beautiful, intricate wings. The angel held out her hands as if to signify peace and serenity.

However, that serenity was lost in the faces of those being held captive around it. There had to be around two dozen of them. Terror flashed in their eyes. Fathers held mothers and children close as men in black, shiny uniforms barked out the punishments for betraying the Crown. The child nearest to me, a little girl around the age of six, had tears rushing down her flushed cheeks, not knowing what she had done wrong. A woman gripped her shoulders from behind, her mother, I assumed.

Standing even closer to me, was a soldier. His back was to me and Rhea, unaware of our presence. Not a Tanmos, then. I couldn't see much more beyond him except for the captives, so I was unable to estimate how many soldiers we were dealing with.