When I closed my eyes, all I could see was the blood, replaying itself in my head on repeat as it burst from Evan's skull. Most people would be horrified, maybe even a little traumatized, but I'm not most people. When I was building up my power, forcing all of that pain into one area, I'd never felt more formidable, more alive. No one could stop me now, except maybe Five or Beloved Leader. Certainly not any of the rogue Garde.
"Are you all cleaned up now?" Five asked, breaking my trance. It had taken a while to cleanse myself of Evan's blood, even had to change my new uniform. I had to stop myself from requesting to keep the blood soaked jacket as a keepsake, the memory of the event itself would have to suffice. "Ethan says that they are almost ready for us,"
"Yeah," I grinned, buttoning up the very last button. "I'm ready to meet our Beloved Leader." I was bursting with excitement; I had just proved myself worthy of being a commander, spilling the blood that was required for myself to advance, and now it was time for Five to do the same.
"I'm so excited," Five beamed, he couldn't even keep his feet planted so he was hovering a few feet off the ground. Before we could leave the room, Ethan entered.
"Are the two of you ready for your ascension ceremony?" he asked, standing rigidly still with his shoulders back.
"We're ready," Five grinned, his fists clenched.
"Five," Ethan said slowly. "I wanted to apologize for the whole thing with Emma. I meant to do so earlier, but then everything got crazy. I never should have questioned whether or not you were ready, which you obviously are."
"Thanks," He nods, and I bite my tongue to keep myself from asking about her. I'd never heard of her before, and she definitely wasn't one of the trained garde. Five will tell me if he wants to.
"They should never have brought her here," he said quietly.
"At least she is alive," Five shrugs.
"Is that what they told you?" Ethan asks, his eyebrows knitting together. Something told me that he knew more than he was letting on.
"Deltoch said she was sent to another base somewhere closer to Florida," Five frowns, and I can tell that his mind is racing. Who is Emma?
"I'm sure that's where she is then," he says, as if trying to reassure him. "I haven't heard anything myself."
"Should we go?" He asks, I can tell he really wants to talk about something else.
"Yes," Ethan nods. "I have some things that I must take care of, but I will be there to witness the big event," without another word, he leaves.
"Nine's execution will be quite the scene," I smirked, knowing full well just how long Five had been waiting for his moment. And now that moment has come. As we walked through the compound, there were many Mogadorians walking amongst the halls that we had never seen before. Mog women, dressed in long gowns in deep purples and reds, their heads and faces heavily tattooed. Most have gleaming black braids or ponytails and unlike the soldiers that we are used to seeing, they are thinned and more snakelike in their movement. There were also young looking mogs who looked to be about our age, dressed in expensive looking uniforms that aren't unlike those that the mog commanders wear. It felt incredible to have all these mogs from high ranking families come to see us.
"This is incredible," Five grins, reading my mind. "I can't believe how many mogs are here to see us become commanders,"
"And the others have to watch it all happen," I added happily. A few mog soldiers run by us, probably on their way to tend to a fire that needed to be put out, some prisoner needed to be taught a lesson or a high ranking commander needed an entourage.
"From now on, things are gonna be different," Five shuddered.
"Different how?" I frowned.
"We have to do whatever they ask of us, so long as it means that we will ascend to the highest levels of their ranks," he said seriously. "We have to do whatever it takes to survive." I see him get a cloudy look in his eyes, as if he is going someplace deep in his mind. I'd only ever seen him get like that when he spoke about his mentor cepan.
More soldiers run by and suddenly the halls are teeming with soldiers. Some yelling, although I can't make out what they are saying, I could hear gunfire and shouting coming from somewhere within the compound.
"What's going on?" Five frowned. "We have to find out, now." Before I could stop him, he had zipped away. I had no choice but to run after him, towards the noise. I kept running until I reached Ethan and a large group of vatborn soldiers, who Five was hovering above, talking to frantically.
"What is it?" I asked them.
"There has been a breach in security in the detention centre," Ethan reported. "It appears to be the rogue garde."
"They're here?" I raised an eyebrow, shooting Five a look. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, his face seemed deep in concentration.
"Let's get those bastards," I see a flicker in Five's eyes before he plants his feet and dashes forward, and without hesitating, I follow. Using our telekinesis, we push against the flames that have erupted to allow passage for ourselves and the soldiers that follow on our heels and we remain unscathed.
Our ceremony has been ruined. I think selfishly as we dart through the hall, scouring for the rogues. Everything we had been working towards was ruined by those assholes. This is our chance to prove ourselves.
Five seems to read my mind because he reaches for the steel ball bearing in his pocket and instantly takes on the metallic sheen, his footsteps heavy against the stone floor. We are hit with a wave of heat and ash and it takes a moment for me to realize that the ash is from all the mogs in that hallway that were just obliterated. It's easy to see the route of the infiltrators; they've left behind piles of ash in their wake.
"This place is huge," I shout to Five. "How will we find them?"
"The pikens," He nods to the hideous creatures from Mogadore who sprint past us up ahead. "Follow them. They are going towards the Detention Cells,"
"Are they trying to rescue someone?" I frown, kicking a pile of ash as we make a left at the corner.
"Nine," Five's eyes widened in alert before he takes flight and zips up ahead of me, towards the cells. "They're here to free Nine!" Using as much concentration as I can, I put all my strength into my feet as I zoom ahead of the soldiers on my heels. Just as I turn the corner, just barely keeping up with Five, I see two people at the end of the hall. One of them, the one in the back with long brown hair, I recognize. Number Nine. The other I've never seen before.
"Who is that?" I ask Five.
"Number Four," Five seethes in hatred. "I recognise him from the Mog reports on the incidents in Paradise. Of course he has shown up here to ruin everything for me." A squad of mogs reaches us from the right set of stairs, falling in behind Five and me. The path of the intruders has been blocked, probably by one of their legacies. More Mogs join us and begin relaying information.
"We've captured one of them,"
"A human,"
"A teenager,"
"Only two assailants, three now that Nine is loose."
"You three," Five barks, pointing to random Mogs. "Find any escaped prisoners. The rest of you, come with us. We're going to cut the intruders off." They all stare at us blankly, they aren't used to us giving them these kinds of orders. They'll have to get used to it. We're going to be Commanders.
"Look around you," I scoff. "We are under attack, and we are the only ones close to being commanders in sight. If you don't move immediately, you'll be answering to our Beloved Leader," They all nod, some salute which makes Five shoot me a grin. Ethan approaches from the corridor, out of breath but seems to be pleased with us. As we begin to move out, he tosses Five an earpiece.
"In case we get separated," he explains before turning to me. "Sorry, I could only find the two, Andy."
"That's fine," I shrugged. As we continue running through the compound, I glance down several passageways and note that they are blocked from whatever it is that Four and Nine are doing. Boulders fall from the ceiling but we use our telekinesis to push them away from our path. The Mogs struggle to keep up with our speed but we don't dare slow down to wait for them.
"Andy, you take half the squad that way and I'll take the other half this way," Five shouts when we reach a fork in the road.
"Alright," I nod, racing into the right tunnel. I note that we are headed for the bridge, as we get close, we can hear the sound of gunfire.
"They're here," I hear Ethan say into his earbud to Five. I slow my speed once we arrive at the bridge, allowing the Mogs to rush forward ahead of me so I can access the situation. Ethan is amongst them, rapidly firing towards the rogue garde who are hidden from my sight. Balls of that acidic green lava that flows like a river under the bridge are being thrown in our direction, a display of Nine's or Four's powers. The Mogs don't stand a chance and are instantly reduced to ash.
I duck behind a large boulder and use my own telekinesis to create a barrier to prevent the lava from splashing onto me. When I'm certain it has stopped, I poke my head out to see the destruction and I'm frozen in shock. Half of my team is ash, the other are missing limbs, or wounded in some way by the green acid. I've never seen anything so gruesome, except maybe Evan but this was different.
I don't pay attention to them though because my gaze rests on Ethan. His right hand is missing, just a stump that's been charred and cauterized by the green ooze.
He locks eye contact with me, one eye wide and full of desperation, the other hidden by a smoking patch of green gunk. His good eye rolls back in his head and his legs give out, making him fall backwards, over the ledge and into the deadly green pool of lava.
"No!" I hear Five scream as he zips past me, I hadn't even heard him fly up. He manages to catch Ethan just before he hits the surface. Floating back up with Ethan cradled in his arms, I see a look on Five's face that I'd never seen before. The Mogs from his group stand around, awaiting orders.
"What are you doing?" Five looks at me, shouting with a hint of sadness and desperation in his voice. "Go after them!" I snap out of my trance and instantly return to my usual self.
"Let's go," I bark at the mogs, leaping over my injured soldiers and dash down the hall where the rogue garde members have gone. I reach out with my mind, the way I have done countless times in training to feel the loric power, sense them and catch them with my legacy, But I feel nothing. The only loric that I reach is Five, and suddenly I stop.
There is another power that I sense, and it's not the rogue garde or any of the garde that are deeper in the compound. It's something bigger, and much larger. Something far more powerful. Something sinister that sends a chill down my spine.
I reach out to it, trying to grasp it but a sudden pain sears my brain. There's a crackle of blue across my vision and instantly it goes black as I stumble forward, smashing my head on hard ground.