Darklight: Precipice

Part 23: Run

They ran. They ran as fast as their bodies could carry them.

Natasha was struggling with her footing and stumbled as she reached the bottom of the steps outside of the throne room Soran grabbed her arm and forced her up, compelling her to keep going.

“I can’t!” She protested. “The crystals… they’ve stopped resonating. Leave me here”.

“Get a grip and run!” Soran shouted at her, and that’s exactly what she did.

A few meters ahead, Ana was in the lead when the voice that carried unnaturally clearly on a breeze that swept over the five of them. It was as if it was being said right next to her ear.

“Oh you can run, but I’ll catch you. We’ll all catch you”.

Ana shivered.

“We need a faster way out of here!” She called back without stopping. The massive diamond-shaped building that held the device was as clear as day for them all to see in the white light, but it was still a mile away, and Natasha and Soran were making slow progress.

“Everybody group in a straight line!” Raine cried from just behind Ana. Draz was a few paces behind her and looked back to check on Soran and Natasha. But his stomach fell as he saw not the two of them, but what was happening behind them.

The One was standing at the top of the steps. Draz couldn’t see from this distance, but his face, the warped face of Master Kisa, was smiling again. A green mist-like light was pouring out of the doors and cascading down the steps as if it was liquid, expanding up the  processional road with alarming speed. 

“Get ready” He heard Raine shout as a strong wind began to manifest around them. Within seconds the wind dragged up the sand, dirt and earth from the ancient road forming a swirling horizontal vortex all around them. 

“Let it take you!” Raine cried, her hands outstretched and controlling the swirling air around them. She leapt from the ground and allowed the vortex of air to take her, propelling her forward at alarming speed towards the device. As Raine shot past her head Ana jumped also, shouting out with nervous effort as she was swept away towards their destination. Draz turned mid-run to see Soran throw Natasha’s limping body upwards and then follow himself. Behind them he could see that The One seemed to be moving towards them, suspended on that same green light. 

There was no time. Draz jumped also.

They were tumbling uncontrollably through the air, with the exception of Raine - who’s control of the horizontal tornado offered her a much less traumatic ride. As they approached the stairs leading to the device’s housing, Raine altered the orientation of the swirling maelstrom of air to deposit them at the top of the stairs. She didn’t intend to hand around in this place if she could help it - they needed to be in that device now.

As she was about to impact the side of the copper coloured sphere she relinquished control of the air which stopped spinning immediately, dispersing the artificial wind tunnel that she had created a few seconds earlier. She landed on her feet with a small stumble as the others hit the floor with more force than her, but causing little injury.

“Everyone in!” Ana shouted, getting to her feet immediately from where she had landed on her side and running into the device. The others followed her, ignoring the aches and pains caused by their unceremonious impact. They failed to notice that The One was already a third of the way down the procession already, floating suspended on a green light and rapidly closing in on them.

“No power” Soran said as he touched the glyph on the floor like he had done so back on Saxosis.

“I know” Ana said. “It’s ok, this whole device is a superconductor. It can draw energy from a number of different sources”.

“Like what? Have we got enough power to get us home?” Natasha asked.

“Can it be powered by hope?” Draz asked sarcastically.

“No” Ana cut at Draz. “But it could be powered by me. Raine, arc out as much as you can”.

The two women moved to the centre of the space and held out their arms to the inside of the sphere as Draz and Natasha stood behind them and Soran stood in front, looking up the procession. He saw The One. He was half way there.

Arcs of blue electricity sprung from the hands of Ana and Raine, striking the sides of the device. Only a single arc sprang per arm. Looking down Draz could see that the glyph in the ground flowed a faint cyan which was flickering pitifully.

“It’s not enough!” Draz shouted as Soran drew the Darklight Sword ready for a fight.

“I’m struggling as it is!” Raine panted, face red with effort as she attempted to channel more arcane power through her body. Ana had her eyes squeezed closed but said nothing, but they could all feel the intense heat radiating from her and they knew that she was burning up - her coolant system couldn’t handle the amount of electricity she was generating. Two more arcs sprang from each of her hands and the sphere began to spin, but then stopped once more.

“No getting out” That voice came again in their ears. Soran could see the grin on The One’s face now - he was that close.

And in that moment of looking at Kisa’s warped face, a memory came back to him. A memory of his first few days in Eresmai when Kisa had taken him to a remote part of the city to test his new powers. Kisa had told him about his affinity to the air element, and said to him:

“You had to use your abilities - I had to prove to you that your body knows what to do. This is a natural ability for you”.

Air was his natural ability, an ability his body first learned to control with that zap of lighting he had used to re-start the Utopian Light Fighter and his wrist mounted computer terminal even before he knew about his hybridised state. If there was anything he could control, it was that. And what was there to lose?

He sheathed the Darklight Sword on his back.

“Soran…?” Draz asked. His axe was still drawn.

“Be careful!” Natasha cried out to him. She knew what he was doing and didn’t stop him as he grabbed the metal plate on the right hand side of his neck and pulled. 

The pain was huge and he bellowed out as the long large bore needle was ripped out of his neck, applying coagulating paste as part of its safety measures to ensure that his coronary artery sealed in this kind of situation and he didn’t bleed out. The plate-mounted needle dropped, and by the time it hit the floor with a blood-soaked thud Soran’s chest was burning, burning with that power that had been suppressed for so long without reprieve.

The One was at the foot of the steps as Soran’s body raised up a few inches, blood trickling down his neck. Blinding white-blue bolts of electricity leapt out from all over his body and the sphere lurched once again, rapidly speeding up to launch velocity as the combined electrical power of Soran, Raine and Ana forced the mechanisms to life. The black portal opened above them and the white light and rushing noise pushed them into the black as The One screamed in anger at the top of the stairs.

Once again they were above the planet, the green light of The Faceless now observable from this distance, growing from its focal point in the throne room. Soran, Raine and Ana had stopped their arcing now, they were in transit - they had apparently generated enough power for the mechanism to fire.

But the green light grew in intensity, growing brighter and brighter. Ana began to scream. A great green claw was rapidly closing on them, flying up from the planet below. And that voice was there in their ears again.

“You can’t escape me. You will never escape me”. The three talons of the claw were around them now and as it began to close upon them, the beam of white light accreted rapidly towards the white star and they were whisked away through the corona and out into the cosmos once more.