Morning Rising (16 page)

“It’s good to see you getting back to
yourself,” Baron said. He sidestepped an overturned vendor cart,
squishing through the spilled food. “Feel free to order us
around.”

“Yes, now she’s the princess we all
remember.” Alster grinned and patted Dylan’s back. He had wormed in
close to Dylan and it irked Kara. “When your powers return, you
will be good as new.”

Kara glared at Alster. “She’s good as new
already. The powers would be a bonus.” Kara took Dylan’s arm and
pulled her away from the others, far away from Alster. They walked
a few paces ahead of the group. Kara glanced back to see Alster
watching them. Dylan leaned into Kara.

“He’s skeevy. I don’t like him,” Dylan
whispered as she glanced over her shoulder, leaning still closer to
Kara. Baron was talking to Alster, but Alster was still watching
Dylan intently.

“I don’t like him either,” Kara admitted with
a small grin. “Are you feeling alright though? That was some burst
of inspirational speaking.”

Dylan grinned. “God, I know, I was like
someone on a tacky TV show. It just seemed like the right way to
get everyone’s heads on straight.” They walked silently a few
paces. Dylan looped her arm through Kara’s, pulling them closer
together. Kara’s head spun at the touch.

“Do you miss home?” Dylan asked. Her voice
was soft, almost overwhelmed b the sounds around them.

“Not really,” Kara said. She bit her lip and
shook her head. “I keep thinking I should, or at least miss my mom
or something. It’s like every day we stay here she slips further
from my mind.”

“Same here,” Dylan said. “Not that me and my
mom got along very well anyway.”

“Baron said we were given to people who it
would be easy to take us back from,” Kara said. “They’ve already
forgotten us.”

“Wow,” Dylan said. She tugged Kara around a
body. “That should make me sad.”

“It doesn’t though,” Kara said with a smile.
She glanced sideways to see Dylan smiling at her.

“Not really. Actually it makes me feel better
that I can hardly remember what my mom looked like.”

Kara nodded. She was having the same problem
remembering her own mom. It felt like the awakening stone pushed in
her old memories while pushing out her memories of the human
world.

“Kara?” Dylan spoke hesitantly. Kara glanced
at her, but Dylan was looking off into the distance, not meeting
Kara’s eyes. Kara stared away with Dylan.

“Yeah?” Kara urged, nudging Dylan with her
elbow. A dozen different things Dylan could be thinking raced
through Kara’s mind.

“Is this gonna change things?” Dylan glanced
at Kara, then away again. She shook her head. “I mean if I’m really
some princess who gives inspirational speeches and isn’t a complete
fuck up. Is that going to change the way things are between you and
me?”

Kara opened her mouth to answer when an
explosion rocked the city around them. The dark sky lit up for a
fraction of a second as something crashed against the building
above them.

“Get down,” Baron shouted. He dove at Kara
and Dylan.

Kara didn’t have time to react. She pulled
Dylan to her and took a step backwards. Baron barreled into them at
full speed. He hit them with a whoosh of air and Kara felt the now
familiar sensation of being transferred. Her breath caught in her
throat, and then they were somewhere else. They fell to the ground
with Baron on top of them and their breath momentarily gone.

A moment later, they were pushing themselves
back up. Kara looked around, expecting to be far from the others,
but they were only a dozen feet from where they had been standing
before. Alster and Ivy hurried over. Together they stared at a
chunk of building twice as tall as Kara and nearly four feet wide.
It was half buried in the ground where Kara and Dylan stood only
moments before.

“What?” Dylan began, her eyes wide with
confusion. “What was that?”

“Strikers,” Ivy answered. Her small face was
ashen as she stared at the chunk of building. “They must be getting
close.”

“We have to move,” Baron said. He scanned the
surrounding area as he took Kara and Dylan by the arms and shoved
them into a nearby alley. They stumbled before finding their
footing. Baron ran ahead and the others sprinted to keep up with
him. Ivy spread her wings and glided along beside Baron, her
movements looking effortless. Another explosion lit up the sky
behind them.

“What are Strikers?” Kara panted as they
ran.

“Demitar’s personal forces,” Baron answered
with an anxious glance over his shoulder. “The worst of the
worst.”

Kara looked over her shoulder to see a man
step into the entrance of the alley. From a distance she couldn’t
see much, but the man was big. He wore a loose, blood red shirt
tucked into black pants, and there was the glint of something metal
at his wrist. It was all she needed to see. She didn’t want to
confront an army of them.

“This way,” Ivy said. She took a quick turn
down another alley. They were moving deeper into the back streets
of the city.

Unlike the glamor of the main streets, the
back streets had never been all that nice, even before all hell
broke loose. The buildings were stone and covered in layers of soot
or other grime. They looked ready to collapse at any moment. There
were so many bodies in the rubble that Kara’s mind stopped
registering them. Ivy led them on a crooked and nonsensical path
through the alleys, hoping to lose the Strikers. It was hopeless.
The Strikers never fell more than an alley length behind them.

“I can’t run anymore.” Dylan stopped and bent
at the waist with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her
breath.

“You can,” Kara assured her. She stepped back
to help Dylan forward, trying to pull her along.

“No, I can’t,” Dylan said. “I’m still too
weak from earlier.” She shook her head.

“I knew it was a bad idea,” Alster muttered.
He glanced over his shoulder toward where the Strikers were
approaching from.

“You suggested it first,” Kara snapped at
him. Alster glared.

“Guardian,” the voice was small and came from
a dark doorway.

“Who’s there?” Baron asked, stepping forward
to stand in front of Kara and Dylan. “Come out.”

“I is Glint,” answered the frightened
creature. He stepped out of the doorway and into the dim light. He
squinted in the fire fueled twilight. “I look for the Guardian.
Want to help the Guardian, I do.” He swayed back and forth as he
spoke, looking at the ground. Kara took a step towards him, but
Baron held her back.

“Stay back Kara. These things are vile and
untrustworthy.” Kara pushed Baron away and stepped closer to
Glint.

“Not so.” Glint frowned, his wide eyes
meeting Baron’s. In the distance there was a shout. Kara paused and
looked back, but the Strikers weren't in the alley yet.

“I agree, these creatures are to be avoided,”
Alster added. He looked at Glint with barely contained disgust.

“Not this one,” Kara spoke quickly. “He’s
helped me before and believe him if he says he wants to again. She
turned to the little thing, and he stared up at her with adoration
plain on his face and in his wide, white eyes. “You can help, but
we have to keep going now.”

“You come inside. Inside safe for Guardian
and friends.” Kara glanced at the others. Dylan shrugged, as if
saying it was her decision.

“Fine,” Kara said. Kara stepped past Glint
and opened the door. She held it open for the others. “Everyone get
inside.” Ivy immediately went in, but Baron and Alster
hesitated.

“I don’t think-” Baron started, but Dylan cut
him off.

“She said to go inside.” Dylan gave him a
little shove towards the door and he went in without another word.
Alster followed him. Kara mouthed a thank you to Dylan as she
passed.

One look around the place and Kara began to
worry they would be trapped. They were in a large room with no
doors in sight aside from the one they entered through. It looked
like it was a bar. Overturned tables and chairs lay littered across
the floor along with broken glass and spilled food. The bar itself
lay on its side, awash with glass and alcohol. One spark and the
place would go up like it was doused in kerosene.

Kara turned to the door. The unmistakable
sound of footsteps drew nearer. It would be only minutes before the
Strikers realized their prey was no longer running. Kara didn’t
think it would take the Strikers long to find their hiding place.
If they were lucky, they’d have a few more minutes before the
Strikers found them. Glint stood with the others, everyone watching
Kara, waiting for her next move. She still believed Glint had a
plan if he thought they would be safe in the bar. She went over to
the creature and squatted so she was on his level.

“Glint, we need to get safely to the eastern
edge of the city. Can you help?”

“Yes.” Glint nodded. “You takes the trail, it
gets you there.”

“The trail?” Kara looked up at Baron and Ivy
with confusion. “What is that?”

“The trail between the bars,” Baron said
excitedly. “We’ll need the pass though. Do you have it?” He was
looking at Glint with a new sort of respect.

“I has it,” Glint said. “Take the door and
use ‘Goldie’. Yous will get through.”

Baron looked at Glint and raised an eyebrow.
“If this works, I take back everything I said.” Baron smiled and
went to a portrait on the wall. It was of Demitar. He was decked
out in his finest suit, standing beside the wide desk in his
office. The artist captured the space and the man just as Kara
remembered them. She shuddered.

Baron searched the painting before he found
the small triangle he was looking for and pressed it. A portion of
the painting slid away to reveal a small keyboard. Baron typed in
Goldie. There was a soft hum, and the painting began to slide to
the side, revealing a dark doorway.

“Go,” Baron urged the others through even as
the footsteps outside grew closer. Alster went first, sliding
through the thin opening. Ivy, Dylan, and Kara went through almost
on top of each other. Baron pushed Glint in after them.

They were all through before the painting was
halfway open. Baron stepped through and hit the close button. He
mentally urged the painting to close faster, even though he knew it
was no use. When it finally clicked into place, he breathed a sigh
of relief.

They were at the top of a set of stairs that
led down into a faintly glowing darkness. The others waited part
way down, moving down just far enough to allow space for them to
all fit. Dylan stood close by Kara, who was smiling proudly up at
Baron.

“I think the vile creature just saved our
lives,” Kara said smugly. Baron rolled his eyes and began to walk
downstairs.

“Yes, fine, he was helpful,” Baron admitted.
He patted Glint on the head as he passed. “Let’s head down.”

They filed silently down the stairs until
they found themselves in a tunnel much like the one that led to the
Mission. The same fairy fire torches glowed at even intervals along
the wall to light the way. The only difference was that this tunnel
was made of stone, hand crafted instead of carved from the earth
itself. Kara glanced up and down the tunnel, unable to see where it
ended.

“What is this place?” Kara asked.

“The trail,” Baron answered.

“It links all the bars in the city,” Ivy
added. “They sell passes to it, and then you can use it to move
more quickly through the city. It’s mostly used by people trying
avoid attention, or just too drunk or lazy to navigate the streets.
The password is changed every week.”

“Thanks,” Kara said to Glint. The creature
bobbed his head in return, looking pleased.

“We should be able to make it almost to the
eastern edge of the city before we have to move topside,” Baron
said. He smiled. Beside him, Alster didn’t look near as pleased
with the turn of events.

“I don’t like this,” Alster said. “We could
easily become trapped down here. Strikers could attack from both
ends.” Alster looked off in both directions like he expected the
Strikers to attack at that moment.

“If they do we’ll be no worse off than we
were up there,” Dylan said. She glanced at Kara for support.

“We’d already be caught up there,” Kara said.
“At least down here we have a chance.”

“We would have been better off running for it
topside,” Alster muttered. Baron looked at him and shook his
head.

“The girls are right,” Ivy said quietly.
“Dylan is the only one who might be alive if we were up there. This
is the safest way.”

“Let’s get moving then,” Kara said before
Alster could argue any more.

Alster looked like he wanted to say
something, but Dylan and Kara turned away. Together they headed
down the tunnel. After a few seconds, they heard footsteps as the
others followed. They walked off into the flickering light,
wondering how long they would be safe in the tunnel.

Chapter 12

Travel through the tunnel was so easy that
Kara began to worry. It didn’t seem possible that Demitar could
have completely ignored this avenue of escape. Still, as the hours
wore on, she began to accept that they might make it to the end of
the tunnel without mishap. While the others gave Dylan and her some
space, Glint didn’t seem to be willing to be more than a few feet
from them at all times.

Kara kept sneaking glances at Dylan. She
wanted to talk openly and let her know what she was feeling, but
she was nervous with Glint so near. Kara wanted to believe the
little creature was on their side, but it was hard. Baron planted
the seeds of doubt in her mind. Now she couldn’t help but be wary
of Glint as he loped along beside her. Still, she preferred Glint
to Alster, who also seemed to be edging closer to them. She settled
on letting her hand gently brush across Dylan’s own, or rest on her
back for a few moments when it was possible. She hoped that would
get her feelings across.