Unseen

Chapter 17

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh." (2 Corinthians 10:3)

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Xale screamed as he flew down the road.  Ashim had taken out his old motorcycle that he hadn't ridden in four years and decided to use it as transportation.

"I'M A LITTLE RUSTY, BUT THAT'S OKAY!" Ashim yelled over the loud whirr of the motorcycle.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S OKAY?  YOU'RE GONNA GET US KILLED!" Xale yelled back.

"WAIT, DO I HAVE A LICENSE TO DRIVE THIS?" Ashim suddenly realized.  Xale smacked his forehead.

After a couple minutes, Ashim and Xale had made it to the demon's base.  They soon spotted the small opening that their friends had uncovered.  The second the motorcycle stopped, Xale rolled off and fell to the ground.

"Oh," he groaned.  "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"You didn't enjoy it at all?" Ashim teased.  Xale shook his head.

"Not one bit," he mumbled.

"Are you gonna puke?"

"No." Xale picked himself up, swaying slightly as he started walking away from the base.  "I'm okay!"

"Uh bro?" Ashim called, grabbing Xale by the shoulder.  "The tunnel is this way."

"What tunnel?"

"Come on."  Ashim pulled Xale towards the entrance.  "I think they went this way."

They crawled down into the tunnel, reaching the doorway at the end of the hall.

"Alright," Ashim took a deep breath, before turning himself invisible.  "Here I go."

Ashim pushed open the doorway as slow as possible, then he closed it behind him.   He saw demons coming up the stairwell, but since he was invisible, they didn't see him.  He waited until the demons passed to check out the sign to the right of the door.

"Dungeons - bottom floor," he read aloud, and then he knocked on the door three times, the secret code that let Xale know it was safe to come out.  He opened the door slowly, and Ashim pointed him towards the sign.

"Okay. You cause the distraction, I'll go save the others," he whispered.  Xale nodded and took a deep breath.

"Good luck, dude," Ashim whispered.

"You too, bro," Xale whispered back.

"Don't get captured.  Be really careful.  And remember the plan."

Xale and Ashim set off in different directions, Ashim still invisible.  Xale didn't know where he had gone, since he couldn't see him, so he just ran up the stairs as loud as he could.

"OH DEMONSSSSSSSSSSS!" Xale yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to mock the demon's hissing.  "COME AND GET MEEEEEEEEEE!"

An alarm sounded and the light in the halls dimmed.  Xale started running as fast as he could as he felt demons start to chase him.  He turned around, thrusting fire out of his palms at them, and then taking out his lava gauntlet and shooting that at them. He had a head start, but would it be long enough?

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Ashim heard the alarm go off as he descended down the many flights of stairs to the dungeons. Still invisible, he crept past the demons, which was easy since they were all rushing to get to the stairwell since Xale had sounded the alarm.

The next step was a bit harder.  He had to sneak into a demon's room and grab the keys so that he could unlock the doors to his friend's cells.  He didn't have much time either, he wondered how Xale was doing upstairs.

Ashim snuck into a random room down the hallway.  A demon was sleeping inside. 

"How does he sleep through this alarm?" Ashim wondered.  But it was good for him, he was able to creep in, snatch the key off the wall, and sneak out.

Ashim continued walking down into the dungeons.  He realized he had reached his friend's cells, he recognized their voices as they complained and wondered what had sounded the alarm.

"It's so loud!" Jem yelled.

"But was it louder than our music?" Ley chuckled.

"Oh it's definitely louder than our music," Ashim could hear Star say.

Ashim walked towards the nearest cell, spotting Jem inside of it.  He took out the key he had pickpocketed and unlocked the door.

"Guys?  My cell door just flew open!" Jem said.

"Jem, it's just me," Ashim whispered.

"AH!  Someones talking to me!" Jem screamed.  Ashim rolled his eyes and became visible.

"Ashim?  Is it actually you?" Jem squinted his eyes.  "Am I going insane?"

"No you're not, Jem," Ashim said.  "I'm saving you!  You can thank me later."

"Guys!  Ashim's here!"

"Jem, we could tell by your ecstatic screaming," Star chuckled.

Soon enough, Ley's cell door were open.

"Thanks dude," Ley said gave Ashim a hug.  "You were right.  We weren't prepared."

"But we are now," Ashim smiled.  "Peace?"

"Peace," Ley shook Ashim's hand.

Star easily stepped out of the chains holding her ankles down.

"How'd you get out of the chains?" Ley asked.

Star shrugged.  "I got out of them a while ago.  But the demon would have spotted me and tightened them.  I was just waiting for them to leave."

Ashim unlocked Star's cell door and she flew out.  "What's the plan?" she asked, floating a few inches off the ground.

"Okay.  Xale sounded the alarm.  He's running around up there, distracting the demons.  We don't have a lot of time, so Star and Jem will go looking for Milly, and Ley and Xale will go looking for Eloise and Kayta."  He pointed in the direction of the stairwell.

"I'm going to set up a bomb.  Ley, meet Xale at the entrance to the tunnel.  Once Jem and Star have freed Milly, they'll head back to base."

He tossed the keys to Star and the group set off.

"There she is," Star whispered.  Jem sped towards the tank, but gasped at what he saw.  Milly seemed to have run out of oxygen in her mask, she was unconscious at the bottom of the tank.

"MILLY!" Jem yelled, and Star rushed to put the key into the lock.  She pulled open the door and water flooded the room up to their ankles.  Milly rolled out of the tank and onto the ground in front of Jem and Star.

"Oh no, no, no!" Star exclaimed, pulling the mask off of Milly's face.

"What do we do!?" Jem panicked.

"I don't know!"

"Do you know CPR?"

"No, I don't know CPR!!"

"Then what do we do?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a cough from the ground below.  Milly was coughing up water.  Star and Jem helped her sit up.

Milly smiled weakly.  "You guys got here just in time."

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Ashim worked on setting up the bomb on the fourth floor.  Although he was invisible, he didn't feel invisible, because the materials he was working with weren't invisible, and the demons would definitely be suspicious of explosive materials seemingly being lifted up by air.

He didn't hear the demon come up from behind him.

But he was so close to finishing.