Author's Note: This chapter was like…so much fun to write…but my gosh I had a hard time keeping things in order and making sure I had everything I wanted in there! hehe. I think its semi-perfect now. Enjoy.
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7. Escape
Inu could only hope (something a Yautja was taught never to rely on) that his quick decisions of which turns to make were right. They had five minutes to reach the exit—and not just the grotto, but the entire surrounding area up top too. As they twisted around a corner he cursed himself for giving them only five minutes. He had completely forgotten about getting up the tunnel.
Damn him.
A high-pitched grunt made him stop and turn back. Lex had stumbled to her knees. Bloody human….He quickly reached down, grabbed her arm and pulled her back up. He didn't care if he pulled her arm out of its socket. They were running out of time.
Inu's breathing became heavy with the thoughts of escaping more than being tired. If he guessed right, the turn he made down the next path should get them home free. He took a chance to glance back, glad to see Lex was actually keeping up. Good. It would destroy his pride if he had to carry her.
Finally! The large mouth of the pyramid lay open ahead. They were almost there.
If it wasn't for the fact they were down to about two minutes until the bomb detonated, Inu would've stopped at the top of the stairs to look at them with great hatred. But there wasn't time. He started down, finishing off the first set, running across the landing, and then continued down the second, larger set allowing his long legs to do two at a time. Lex, however, was forced to go at them normally, each step being two wide for her to jump them safely.
Going down was much easier and faster than climbing up; no doubt about that. Then again, the time restraint probably made that happen. He had reached the bottom and turned to make sure Lex finished okay. To his surprise, though, she not only hit the bottom with a great leap, but rushed passed him.
He had to hand it to her; she had a lot of gut and courage, something he had been told didn't exist in most humans—compared to the average Yautja that is. As he ran after her, moving around the boxes-of-whatever, he watched her with amusement, even though a bomb was about to blow them into microscopic pieces in less than a minute.
Inu reached her at the end of the tunnel and, at first, couldn't figure out why she would suddenly stop. When she put the spear down on a flatbed-type of machine and started punching the keypad, it dawned on him. Of course! It was a contraption that would get them to the top; and judging by the thick wires attached to the front that traveled up the shaft, it would be a quick trip. She had run her hands along the buttons and looked up—slime covered it and he understood her fear. One of the kainde ameda's had reached the top. She turned to look at him and he gave her an urgent nod.
He couldn't believe he over-looked the flatbed thing when he passed it earlier. No more would he underestimate humans and their dumb ways. If it wasn't for this thing, he'd be using knife and wrist blades to climb up with Lex on his back.
Not that he couldn't have handled it, of course….
If Inu didn't have his dignity to keep, he would've been making a scene to get her to hurry up. She was putting in some sort of code; it felt like she was making the computer at this point.
Then, out of nowhere, something screeched above him. Before he could look up, a large, dark body dropped down and clung itself to his shoulders. He dropped to one knee, struggling to throw it off, but its claws had a good grip. A large roar was triggered by a thick, vertebrae-like tail shoving through his shoulder right below his armor. He had never been hit like this. He had to keep a sharp focus not to yell out again as he tried with one arm to pull the kainde ameda off.
Out of the corner of his eye Inu noticed Lex holding up some sort of large, odd looking weapon. Her pointing it at him—or the kainde ameda, he wasn't sure—gave him the thought that she better hurry either way. The tail in his shoulder started to suck away the feeling in his arm.
"You are one, ugly, mother—" she started. Inu leaned up to hopefully give her a better shot. With a sharp blast the weapon fired and literally blew away part of the monster, body parts flying everywhere.
Inu jumped up and growled as he threw the rest of the kainde ameda off before its acid blood had a chance to drip onto him. When he turned to watch the body slide away, a group of five more were snarling at their fallen brother. Inu paid them little attention—he heard the pulling of metal on ice. The machine was moving up.
Not wasting a second, Inu jumped from where he stood and landed next to Lex as she did the same, both of their arms hitting together as they landed on the metal sled. It started gaining more speed as it chewed up the cord. His fingers gripped the wide handle in front of him as tightly as he could while the force of air threatened to push him off. The air was hitting his fresh wound like someone shoved a knife in it to torture him some more.
He felt that if he moved with the thrilling, immense speed they were at that he'd be thrown away. But he risked a glance at his human companion. She was barely able to hold on.
The exit was fast approaching, but a sudden feeling of heat made him realize the bomb had exploded. He mentally prayed the machine would hurry its ass up. He could just imagine the ball of fire at his heels without having to see it.
The wide opening came and they flew through so fast Inu hadn't enough time to think about being airborne in this situation wasn't very gratifying. He figured he could take the upcoming landing…but could Lex?
He found out; the sled came down and started to tilt to the side—Lex's side—as it did. Inu shoved his weight to the left to keep them from toppling over. But Lex still ended up rolling off, her yell heard even over the blast from the tunnel.
Inu dug his claws into the snow to keep him from sliding forward after landing. Without hesitation he jumped to his feet, turning to find Lex struggling to do the same. He quickly leaned over, grabbed the collar of her apparel and hoisted her up. The explosion below was spilling out of the tunnel, flames and ice debris flying everywhere above.
Run, damn it…run as fast as you can! He told himself as he shoved Lex into action, fire chasing after them. He quickly grabbed the makeshift spear that she carelessly left behind. After all, he had been taught never to leave a weapon behind unless he had to.
The wound in his shoulder burned from the intense heat of the flames. He knew if they stopped, stumbled, or even blinked now it would be all over. They were trapped in time as they ran straight down the main path. Yet even he, a well-trained, muscular Yautja, couldn't outrun the final sweep of the bomb's show. The gust of air and debris and snow pushed him and Lex forward; his vision was blurred by the snow flying ahead and he hit the ground face first. It felt like someone had kicked him squarely in the back and was pouring ice-cold water over his neck; but soon it had passed.
He glanced back over his shoulder and almost had a heart attack when he saw buildings beginning to cave in…and it was a chain reaction. He pushed himself to his feet, Lex was doing the same, and he hurried forward, his hand gripping the pole of the spear even tighter.
Everything was coming down—buildings, poles, everything. He had never run so fast in his life. His legs carried him at their topmost capability and still he wondered if he'd make it. Lex faltered for a second and his arm jutted out to keep her from falling; if they stopped even for half a second they'd be swallowed up by the icy ground that collapsed so very close behind.
They rounded the corner of a dilapidated building, ice and debris falling next to their faces. Inu knew he could keep going, but his thoughts rested on how much longer the human could go on. The ice started breaking before he added his full weight on either foot. Ahead, he saw something that made him want to stab the nearest thing. The ground was pulling apart, much like that corridor in the pyramid.
If they didn't jump now, there would be no point in trying. Lex seemed to have known this too. The moment his feet gave one last push on the breaking ice, he felt as if his entire life was flashing before him and the only thing he could see was the widening gap of nothingness below.
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AN: I'm afraid chapter 8 won't be up for a few days—school and work have me tied down until Saturday, and even then it'll be hard to squeeze it in. This was a short chapter but it kinda had to stop there. Sorry for the cliffhanger…I'll make it up to you though! 3
