overhead.
Brilliant emerald light slices through the air toward me. I drop to the ground, landing with enough force to bruise my ribs. I clutch my side as I roll and notice the burn mark on the wall where my head had been only seconds before.
I throw out my hands and shove the nearest machine right at the squadron of soldiers. Drakon grunts and dives to the side just before it hits. The sound of screams and breaking bones fills the room as I scramble to my feet. “Run, Bastien!”
I spin and sprint for the back of the warehouse, straight for the gaping hole in the back of the factory. I can hear Bastien’s feet pounding on the second floor and catch a brief glimpse of him as he rounds the far stairwell and thunders up to the third floor.
I pause to search for Drakon. Blood drips down from his temple and his nose is bent at a crooked angle. His hands clench into fists at his side. I’ve never seen such evil before, such unrepentant fury.
I turn and run for my life.
Five
I clutch my arms around my knees as a trembling reverberates through me. I begin to rock, thinking of how close I came to enslavement…or worse.
What happened back there?
I hold up my hands before my eyes but they remain unseen in the dark. Traces of heat linger in my fingertips, as if the fires might spark to life again. I clasp my chest as pain continues to radiate around my heart.
Something is wrong. I can feel this truth buried deep within my core. I’ve never lost my cool before. Never come so close to unbridled rage. I shake my hands and clench them into fists. What is happening to me?
What about Bastien? Did he make it out ok?
I can hear the aliens in the distance, coordinating a search for us. I don’t have long to linger, but I can’t seem to make my legs work properly. My mind refuses to think on anything but the way I tore a staircase off its hinges and hurled it across the room, or the way I shoved that machine with my mind.
I killed those aliens.
I can’t find it in me to regret my actions. I only wish I could understand them.
The pounding of my heart is nearly loud enough to drown out the sound of the aliens approaching. I push back on the wall to rise, stomping the blood back into my legs before I sprint through the alley and burst through the other side.
Shouts rise behind me and I know they’re on my trail. I don’t know how many are coming after me, but all that matters is that I get out of there quickly.
Block after block blurs past. I scour the streets, searching for an entrance to the subway. If I can get down there I might stand a chance, but luck is obviously not on my side. I don’t see any way of getting underground.
I glance back over my shoulder and see emerald light glowing a couple blocks back, dancing onto the walls as the aliens run. They are faster than I am. Whatever power it was that I tapped into back at that factory has left me weak and vulnerable. I have to hide.
I grab a metal street sign and sling myself around the corner of a building. It’s hard to maintain a full out sprint with a cramp forming in my side. My pace slows to a lurching run and then a fast walk. I clutch my chest as my lungs constrict, making it nearly impossible to draw a full breath.
Spying an alley halfway down the street, I hook right and race to the end.
“This can’t be happening!” I slam my open palms against a chain link fence that blocks the exit. It rises high overhead, and a spiral of spiked wire runs the length of the top. I turn and press back against the rusted fence, curling my fingers around the wire as I peer behind a large green container with a large, weathered sign that says GARBAGE on its side. No signs of rats or any other foul vermin so far.
The scent of trash has long since faded. A large hole gapes open on the lower right side of the container and a fine dirt mixture
Brilliant emerald light slices through the air toward me. I drop to the ground, landing with enough force to bruise my ribs. I clutch my side as I roll and notice the burn mark on the wall where my head had been only seconds before.
I throw out my hands and shove the nearest machine right at the squadron of soldiers. Drakon grunts and dives to the side just before it hits. The sound of screams and breaking bones fills the room as I scramble to my feet. “Run, Bastien!”
I spin and sprint for the back of the warehouse, straight for the gaping hole in the back of the factory. I can hear Bastien’s feet pounding on the second floor and catch a brief glimpse of him as he rounds the far stairwell and thunders up to the third floor.
I pause to search for Drakon. Blood drips down from his temple and his nose is bent at a crooked angle. His hands clench into fists at his side. I’ve never seen such evil before, such unrepentant fury.
I turn and run for my life.
Five
I clutch my arms around my knees as a trembling reverberates through me. I begin to rock, thinking of how close I came to enslavement…or worse.
What happened back there?
I hold up my hands before my eyes but they remain unseen in the dark. Traces of heat linger in my fingertips, as if the fires might spark to life again. I clasp my chest as pain continues to radiate around my heart.
Something is wrong. I can feel this truth buried deep within my core. I’ve never lost my cool before. Never come so close to unbridled rage. I shake my hands and clench them into fists. What is happening to me?
What about Bastien? Did he make it out ok?
I can hear the aliens in the distance, coordinating a search for us. I don’t have long to linger, but I can’t seem to make my legs work properly. My mind refuses to think on anything but the way I tore a staircase off its hinges and hurled it across the room, or the way I shoved that machine with my mind.
I killed those aliens.
I can’t find it in me to regret my actions. I only wish I could understand them.
The pounding of my heart is nearly loud enough to drown out the sound of the aliens approaching. I push back on the wall to rise, stomping the blood back into my legs before I sprint through the alley and burst through the other side.
Shouts rise behind me and I know they’re on my trail. I don’t know how many are coming after me, but all that matters is that I get out of there quickly.
Block after block blurs past. I scour the streets, searching for an entrance to the subway. If I can get down there I might stand a chance, but luck is obviously not on my side. I don’t see any way of getting underground.
I glance back over my shoulder and see emerald light glowing a couple blocks back, dancing onto the walls as the aliens run. They are faster than I am. Whatever power it was that I tapped into back at that factory has left me weak and vulnerable. I have to hide.
I grab a metal street sign and sling myself around the corner of a building. It’s hard to maintain a full out sprint with a cramp forming in my side. My pace slows to a lurching run and then a fast walk. I clutch my chest as my lungs constrict, making it nearly impossible to draw a full breath.
Spying an alley halfway down the street, I hook right and race to the end.
“This can’t be happening!” I slam my open palms against a chain link fence that blocks the exit. It rises high overhead, and a spiral of spiked wire runs the length of the top. I turn and press back against the rusted fence, curling my fingers around the wire as I peer behind a large green container with a large, weathered sign that says GARBAGE on its side. No signs of rats or any other foul vermin so far.
The scent of trash has long since faded. A large hole gapes open on the lower right side of the container and a fine dirt mixture
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