Relias: Uprising (51 page)

 Hendrick saw them jump. He felt the quaking trembling through his body and heard the deep, thunderous rumble of the building collapsing above him. Natural gas made the air heavy and nauseating. He knew he had merely seconds to escape.

 With four dead Legionnaires at his feet, Hendrick took off. His eye on the rope, he had only one thing on his mind. Speed. The Legionnaires swiftly flooded the room behind him, raising their rifles to fire. In one deft motion, Hendrick snatched the rope up off the ground, drew a deep breath, and took a flying leap from the open window. With more than a dozen Legionnaires ready to shower him in shredding metal, Hendrick spun in midair, raised his free hand clutching the trigger to his Blazer, and smiled.

 The flame from his Blazer ignited the gas. Flames expanded from that initial spark, spreading from ceiling to floor. The ensuing explosion erupted in a horizontal column of flame from the window above Hendrick as he plummeted towards the ground. He could only hope that the steel reinforcement was enough to keep the ropes from burning through.

 Before his line went tight, Hendrick hooked it into his harness, continuing his free fall and catching up with the others who braked and accelerated carefully to keep that perfect speed.

 He didn’t have to look up to know the building was coming down on them.

 Deafening wind battered Hendrick’s ears as he squinted his eyes and plunged through the smoke and dust, keeping himself straightened by taking long corrective strides across the side of the building, In mere seconds, he was in the midst of the group, taking the deadly plunge with them.

 “Rope’s short by nearly thirty feet!” Vyvyr yelled. Hendrick could barely hear him. But thirty feet; that was high enough to break their legs and they didn’t have the forward momentum to roll.

 Pieces of the building crunched and shot outward in the tufts of smoke as the building became shorter and shorter as it collapsed. Below them and coming at them faster and faster was the burning ruins of the street below.

 “When you get to the ends of your ropes kick away from the building and roll!” Hendrick barked. “When the smoke from the building kicks up stay close and run!”

 Faster they fell, braking only when they had to. The collapse had almost reached the floor where they tethered. If that happened, they’d be done.

 “SCREW BRAKING!” Hendrick yelled as he saw how long they had left. “JUST DROP AND BRAKE AT THE END!”

 Their ropes no longer felt secure. The self-destructing building thundered in their ears, and amidst that rolling torrent, the panicked screams and deathly yells of the Legionnaires inside pierced through the storm.

 “READY!” Hendrick yelled.

 None of them were. But they were already falling so what choice did they have.

 Just a few seconds from their floor. They were almost out of rope. The charred pavement and ashen flames blurred towards them. The collapse reached their floor.

 Now or die.

 “BRAKE!”

 They all did. The force of the sudden stop stretched the ropes which snapped backwards as they slipped from the ends of their ropes. Each of them put their feet on the building and kicked off. Pitt slipped, going into a spin as he fell the final thirty feet.

 Flames were still everywhere. It was luck if any of them came out unburned.

 Pitt fell headfirst towards the cement. Yelling for help was all he could do as he watched himself plummet to his death. Just twenty feet from the ground, Morlo stretched out, snatched him around the arm and pulled him in, bear hugging him as they all fell.

 They hit the ground at the same time, some ending up on their feet, most of them ending up stretched across the pavement. Morlo hit hard and wasn’t able to roll, landing on his back and breaking Pitt’s fall with a painful crack. He yelled. Some of them were hurt, bruised. The shock of the landing reverberated through their legs. Time for recuperation, though, wasn’t a luxury that they could afford.

 “Get clear, move!” Hendrick shouted. Some of them limped, especially Morlo, as they fled from the collapsing building.

 The street at the hotel’s front was a wasteland. Dead, charred piles of armor lay strewn and they heavy, pungent scent of death hung heavy. But the airstrike had drawn more attention than before, and even now nearly a dozen Battlecraft had been ordered to set down at their position and were zipping towards them. Behind them, thick brown dust spread from the imploding building. They kept their pace.

 “Into the alley!” Hendrick shouted, snatching a rifle from the ground and giving what little covering fire he could.

 At the edges of the buildings in the alleyways and out of the shops, white figures were reemerging. Every Legionnaire that was a part of that main force hadn’t been in the street when the strike hit. The surrounding buildings had given them all the cover they needed.

 Their legs aching, joints stinging, Rush and the Ditrinity ran faster.

 “Pontious! Check it!” Hendrick said of the alley.

 Immediately he obeyed, sprinting ahead with his gun raised, checking the corners and ushering them onward. With Legionnaires bearing down on the alley, Hendrick picked up another rifle and fire in all directions, shouting taunts and curses as he did. After backing into the alley, Hendrick emptied the clips of each rifle and tossed. Time for his escape.

 Around the corner, half of the group had already disappeared into a large manhole, even big enough for Morlo to fold his shoulders in and squeeze through. Morlo held the cover open for them, waving them all through as one by one they disappeared into the ground. Morlo and Hendrick were the last ones on the surface.

 “Hurry up!” Morlo said, looking down the alley where the voices of thousands of infuriated Legionnaires were echoing.

 Hendrick adjusted his Blazers, sheathed his knife and declined. “No, big guy, get to the ship.”

 “The hell you-“

 “I need to find Sable and Seraphine. You have to get to the ship. If they knew which rooms we were in they sure as hell know we’ve got a cruiser waiting for us. Help the others.”

 Morlo knew there was no time to argue. Morlo gave a grim smile and nodded, looking at Hendrick like he’d look at a brother. “Thanks, man.”

 Hendrick gave Morlo a casual salute. After that, Morlo jumped into the hole with his arms crossed across his chest and disappeared into the hole. Hendrick replaced the manhole cover and immediately went under fire.

 The Legionnaires were hot on him. Hendrick yelled taunts as he led them on, sprinting as fast as he could through the winding alleys. The Legionnaires followed and went right over the manhole, oblivious to the fact that the others had escaped through there.

 Step one was over with. Now Hendrick had to wade through the tens of thousands of Legionnaires and find Seraphine and Sable. Excitement charged through his gut as he ran with bullets ricocheting all around him.

 There was a Chainlance in the distance. The Legionnaires would only be using that kind of force with other members of Rush and the Ditrinity. The noise was his best bet, and Hendrick broke into a sprint. It’d be one hell of a fight. 

 Seraphine ran as fast as she could, wheezing with every breath as tears cut through the dirt and blood caked on her face.

 They hadn’t seen it coming. That Monolith came out of nowhere. They just heard the powerful roar of a Chainlance and Seraphine felt warm, thick liquid spraying across her face.

 Through her screaming, Sable told her to run. So she did. She turned and sprinted away, the last thing she saw of Sable was a Monolith with a Chainlance cutting through her armor and burying into her side. Even with the three inch teeth of the Chainlance chewing away at her side, Sable fought back, pressing vainly against the roaring Chainlance as her blood spurted across the concrete. Sable had killed a few Legionnaires, but by the time Seraphine had made the next corner the Chainlance went quiet and Sable had ceased to scream.

 Seraphine was on the verge of hysterics. It took every ounce of mental strength she possessed from crawling into a corner and bawling. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her mother again.

 But they needed her. The Ditrinity, the Darks, and if what they had said was right, the world. But She was only fifteen. She kept telling herself that. It’s okay to stop. They’d have to understand and it’s unfair of them to put that kind of pressure on her.

 She fought the thoughts. She had to keep going. Seraphine didn’t quite understand the world, the Commune, war, even Relias. All she knew was that the Ditrinity and Rush were fighting and dying just for a chance to get her to Pyre and she wouldn’t let their sacrifices be in vain.

 Howls echoed through the streets behind her, the howls of Nightwolves. And in the ominous quiet she heard their paws hitting the ground and their claws scratching against the rough pavement.

 Her stomach got tight. The wolves scared her. They weren’t like the regular Legionnaires. It was like they weren’t even remotely human. They wouldn’t stop at killing her. They felt the insatiable drive to tear their victims to pieces.

 Seraphine imagined the Nightwolves, their razor sharp teeth borne, licking their lips and frothing around their gums, circling around her before going in for the kill, tearing away at her flesh and devouring her bit by bit.

 She shuddered and ran faster. She had to get to the shipyard. She heard the fighting in the distance and knew it was the others. She knew how worried they were about her and Sable. It’d break their hearts when Seraphine told them.

 A knot built up in Seraphine’s throat and she shook as she almost lost control of her emotions. Poor Sable…

 There were more howls, closer this time. With the echo it was impossible to tell where they were coming from. But Seraphine pressed herself to go faster. Her legs, chest and head hurt but she ran faster. Even if she was the only one who made it to the cruiser she’d get to Pyre and get to the amplifier.

 Then the Commune would die. She’d kill them. She’d kill them all.

 There was another howl and this one she was able to zone in on.

 It was right behind her.

 Seraphine spun around and, at the end of the street, she saw a short silvery figure set against the darkness. He stood there, it’s shoulders rising and falling with each savage breath. Seraphine froze. She tried to move but she couldn’t.

 The wolf stood there for a moment longer, looking at her. Then it broke into a sprint.

 Seraphine watched as the wolf bore down on her, closer and closer, until she could hear its teeth grinding hungrily.

 Her feet wouldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe, speak, or even think. All she saw was the silvery monster sprinting towards her.

 
MOVE!
She screamed at herself in her mind. Her body wouldn’t respond.
PLEASE, MOVE!

 It was like lifting an incredible weight that was just barely light enough to be lifted. Seraphine peeled her feet from where they stood, starting slowly at first.

 The wolf was just behind her.

 Her legs gained momentum as she remembered how to use them. Soon she was running at full speed, scrambling madly for some sort of cover.

 There were yells down the street. Not howls, but yells. Seraphine chanced a glance behind the wolf.

 There were more Legionnaires down the street. One of them, a Monolith, stood at their front and wielded a bloody Chainlance.

 Seraphine stifled a scream. The wolf no longer scared her.

 There was a glint of light in the gutter ahead. A glass bottle.

 That’s all she had. She looked around through the street hoping to find something else, a bat or maybe a knife, but fat chance of finding either of those. No, the bottle was her only choice. But as close as she had to be to use it… Seraphine closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and-

 The wolf nipped at her heel. It caught the back of her boot and knocked it behind the other. Seraphine went sprawling and landed face first on the ground.

 The wolf bounded on top of her and went for her throat.

 Seraphine screamed and instinctively kicked out at it. Her heel caught it in the face, infuriating it even more. She tried to kick it again, but this time it caught her boot in its mouth and sunk its teeth in.

 She was finished. She only had one last chance. Without a weapon she was dead.

 Seraphine reached a hand desperately towards the glass bottle, the nail of her pointer finger just millimeters from scraping the top of the bottle.

 The Nightwolf jerked her. Her hand fell further away from the bottle.

 Teeth were starting to press against the skin of Seraphine’s ankle as the Nightwolf tore more and more furiously away at her leg.

 Seraphine moaned hopelessly, her arm burning as she stretched with all her strength to reach the bottle. Her fingernails, breaking and cracking, ground bloody against the rough cobblestone as she clawed frantically towards the bottle.

 Her fingertips grazed the bottleneck. She tried to stick a finger and bring it towards her.

 Another jerk. Seraphine was further still.

 The teeth were breaking skin and Seraphine let loose a shrill, airsplitting scream. With her free foot she kicked outwards as hard as she could, catching the Nightwolf in the snout.

 It yelped and released the boot. It became mindless and bloodthirsty. Its red eyes were on Seraphine’s neck. Without hesitation it darted at her and lunged at her neck.

 It was Seraphine’s chance. She clambered towards the bottle and gripped the neck firmly in hand.

 The wolf was in midair with his mouth agape. Its mouthful of sharp, yellowed teeth obscured her entire vision. Seraphine broke the bottle against the curb and plunged the broken side outward.

 The wolf stopped. In shock, sobbing quietly to herself, Seraphine watched as blood dripped down the bottle as it slowly slid deeper into the wolf’s chest, making wet squishing noises as she twisted the bottle subconsciously.

 Tears ran down Seraphine’s face. She whimpered quietly as she waited for the wolf to die.