Found (Book 1 of the Haven's Army Trilogy) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 18

The Angels shoved me forward. There were multiple silver trapdoors in a circle around a huge pillar, carved with deer and wolves.

An Angel stood near a trapdoor. His mask sported a small blue dot at the top, signifying jail guard.

"Name," he said.

I scowled. An Angel hit the back of my head so hard, my vision swam.

"Charlotte," I groaned.

The man looked up from his paper. "Charlotte?"

I wondered how he could know me. Had I met him before?

Then it hit me.

I blinked. "Father?" I asked.

He turned away. "Put her with the rest. They'll be executed at dawn."

"Father!" I shouted at him as they shoved me towards the nearest door.

He turned to me slowly.

"How could you do this??" I yelled. "To the girl you raised!"

He looked to the floor. "I'm sorry, Charlotte. If I don't carry out my orders, I die. It's you or me."

I couldn't breathe. The shock had hit me so hard it hadn't settled in yet.

The Angels kicked open a trapdoor and shoved me forward. I fell for what seemed like forever but was probably only a split second.

Snap!

I lay there on the cold, metal floor for a minute. My eyes swam with tears of anger, sadness, and the pain I now found myself in. I had definitely broken two, no three ribs.

There was no hope now. We were all going to die.

"Look who decided to show up."

At the voice I blinked away my tears and sat up. In the dim light of an unknown source, I could see a shadowed face. Long black hair hung in a pale face.

I groaned. "Hey Nathan." Then I mumbled, "Just had to throw that one in, didn't you?"

I stood up painfully and hopped over my hands so they were in front of me. I tried to think of a way to break free.

"You can't get out," Nathan said. "I tried. This cell drains your powers. It's no use."

I sighed painfully. I sat down carefully, shifting as to not further injure myself.

The minutes ticked by painfully slowly. Nathan was silent. I began accepting my fate. So close to the end, I thought, clenching my fist. We were so close to beating them and we couldn't. Now we're going to die.

Suddenly, Nathan shifted position. I lifted my head to look at him. He crawled over to me even though there was no need to with such a high ceiling.

"Your hands," he said in awe.

I automatically looked to my hands. It took me a moment but I noticed a dark glowing mist around them, the only place the light was coming from.

"What is it?" I asked.

He let out a short laugh. "It's the shadow powers! It's the most powerful of the abilities when first activated. This cell can't eat it up!"

I sighed. "And what am I supposed to do with it?"

His brow furrowed. "What happened? It's only triggered by strong emotions."

"What do I do with it?" I asked, ignoring the question.

"You can use any ability with it," he said. "Well, the special ones can at least. But we have to hurry! It only lasts twenty minutes! Which means you probably only have four more!"

I nodded. There was hope in the darkness.

I looked up at the trapdoor, which could only be seen by the tiny cracks around the edges. I felt the wall and realized the ceiling was made of clay, like earth. I flew up and created a ledge hanging from the ceiling.

"Little help here," came Nathan's furious whisper.

Right. I had forgotten he couldn't use his powers.

I landed softly on the ground and grabbed him hard on the arm, making sure to inflict pain. Then I flew back up to my ledge. He sat while I reached up to the trapdoor. A sharp pain in my side. I ignored it.

"Two minutes," he said urgently.

I relaxed and imagined tendrils of shadow seeping through the cracks and towards the lock. I could see the lock in my mind and used the shadow to pick the lock. I heard a click and nodded to Nathan. He pushed the trapdoor up and sunlight streamed through, blinding me.

"Now make your weapon, hurry," he whispered while we watched the guards. Without hesitating, he jumped up out and whipped out his shadow sword.

I jumped out after him and imagined shadow daggers. The shadows in palms of my hands molded like clay into two flowing daggers. I tested them. Perfectly balanced for my use.

I grinned and charged in after Nathan.