WS- Well, I hate it when people don't review, so forgive me if I seem annoyed. My first story here has had 47 hits, but NO reviews. All of the others have no hits, so that I don't really mind. I have to give ya'll time to find and read them!
Chapter Two: The Return
"Careful! It's Myrmidons!" Gold-Eye exclaimed.
One of the Myrmidons rushed in, muscles rippling. Every foot step was heavy, and they all vibrated the floor under the humans.
Ella screamed. She hadn't seen anything like this. How could she? Drum didn't do a thing. His eyes were wide, his blonde hair falling into his face. He grabbed Ella's hand, and they clutched each other for support.
Lerow automatically got into a battle stance. She would fight hard.
Everything happened just like Gold-Eye's vision. A Tracker followed the Myrmidon in, and Lerow had moved from the door. Ninde slashed at the Myrmidon.
Then, the part of the vision was over. He'd have to rely on his senses to see what was happening there. He had been doing it for fifteen years, so it was pretty easy now.
The Myrmidon managed to move from Ninde's attack, and it jabbed at her with his fist.
Gold-Eye pushed Ninde out of the way of its fist. He almost got hit himself, but ducked just in time. He swung his sword at the Myrmidon's ribs. The Myrmidon moved to block it, but at the last second Gold-Eye stopped his attack and swung at the Myrmidon's head instead of its ribs. He had pulled a fake-out—a fake-out that worked.
The Myrmidon cried out in surprise and pain.
Ella watched in horror, as did Drum.
Ninde flinched. She knew that the Myrmidon was once a person, and they had to kill it because it had been implanted with new instincts—to capture or kill all humans that were not already prisoners.
Lerow took her opportunity lunged at the Myrmidon. She made a quick movement and cut the Myrmidon's head clean off its shoulders in one motion. She landed from her jump (she had needed to jump to reach the Myrmidon's head, she wasn't so tall), and watched as the Tracker retreated down the steps.
Ninde and Gold-Eye exchanged glances. These weren't going to be the only Myrmidons coming.
Lerow straightened up and looked at them all. She saw the two children cowering in a corner and walked over to them. She sheathed her sword, which was dripping with the blue-colored blood of a creature, and kneeled on one knee next to them. "It's okay. It's over now," she soothed.
Gold-Eye walked over. "She's right, kids. It's over for now. You're alright."
Ninde stood back and watched them soothe the kids until they were no longer crying. She couldn't help but think about all the battles that were most likely going to come soon enough.
"Gold-Eye, why do you think that the adults haven't been taken yet?" she finally asked.
Lerow looked up right before Gold-Eye. "I'd say they probably have other plans. They might not even have another meat factory this time. I'm not sure, but it's awfully possible," she said.
Gold-Eye looked at her, and then at Ninde. "She might be right. But what I have to wonder is, why would they come at all if they don't want to use us for creatures?"
Ninde nodded. "Yes, it's possible," she said. "Wait just a second. I'm going to check for any more creatures." She put her knuckle into her mouth and started to chew. She instantly left bite marks because she bit down so hard, but she didn't break the skin. She opened her eyes a moment later.
"There are creatures outside, but I don't think that there are any in the building now," she said.
"That's good. We need to get out of here. We're trapped if any more come," Lerow said.
"True. We can use the fire escape and hope that there are no Wingers," Gold-Eye said, and went to the window. He looked outside, scanning the air and ground. He didn't see any creatures. "Alright. We can go through here. But I would advise that we each get one more weapon in case we lose or break one."
Lerow nodded. "Good idea." She picked up another sword, this one slightly shorter than the other one. The hilt was golden, and the blade had a bit of decoration on it, like one of the Elvish swords you see on Lord of the Rings. She made sure it was balanced right, and slipped it into a sheath that she had fastened to her belt on the other side from the other sword. She also grabbed a dagger which had a sheath and wrapped a band around her left arm, sliding that into the band. "I'm all set. There are quite a few good swords and daggers here. I'd say we might need to get more than just two."
Gold-Eye shook his head and started to pick up another for himself. "No. We'll leave these for any other people who need them."
Ninde agreed with Gold-Eye. "Yes," she concurred. "We can always come back if need be. But right now, we have to focus on getting away from the creatures here."
"Fine. How are we going to handle the kids?" Lerow asked.
Gold-Eye glanced back at Ella and Drum, and so did Ninde. They glanced at each other then, and looked back to Lerow. "We're not leaving them. I'm not sure how we'll be able to get along with them, but they're coming," Gold-Eye said with finality.
Lerow nodded. "Exactly what I would do. Good choice. Now, let's get outta here." She opened the window that had the fire escape right below it. She climbed out, and waited for the others.
Gold-Eye lifted Ella and Drum over the window sill onto the platform, and then climbed out. To make more room, Lerow went one flight of stairs down, and Ninde came out.
He held Drum's hand as they walked down, and Ninde held Ella's. Lerow led the way, her combat boots on the metal making no sound. It was like she was a cat, totally silent.
When Gold-Eye was only about a foot from her behind on the steps, he noticed that she didn't vibrate the stairs, either. Even Drum did. It seemed like you couldn't use any sense to find Lerow other than sight. That in itself was surprising; she didn't necessarily strike someone as the kind of person who would put much stock in being graceful.
He shook the thought out of his head. Now wasn't the time. He needed to concentrate on keeping an eye out for creatures.
Lerow stopped suddenly, and so did Ninde and Gold-Eye. Both Ella and Drum almost tripped, but managed to hang on to their parents hands.
"What is it?" Ninde whispered.
"Trackers," Lerow and Gold-Eye answered simultaneously.
"We need to get down this thing quick… duck under the windows, they're inside the building," Lerow warned.
Gold-Eye nodded. "Where there are Trackers, there are probably Myrmidons."
"Alright," Ninde said. "Let's hurry."
Still, Lerow made absolutely no sound on the metal, even though she was moving quicker and ducking under every window.
They could see Myrmidons in the other buildings through the windows. This wasn't going to be easy.
They finally got to the bottom. It was hard going under all of the windows, but possible. Lerow was the first down the ladder to the ground and when she hopped off, Gold-Eye went, Drum on his shoulders.
Ninde took Ella half-way down and then handed her to Gold-Eye, and continued down the rest of the way.
Lerow made a movement for everyone to be absolutely quiet. She cupped her hand to her ear and listened. Her eyes narrowed, and then widened.
"Through this alley. They're in the street and coming our way." Her voice was low, in a whisper, and was teeming with finality.
Gold-Eye nodded and Ninde did the same. They took off running down the alley, in between the buildings, and across the street on the other side. Gold-Eye looked back and saw Lerow right behind him. It looked like she was just jogging, though she was keeping their pace. He realized that she still was making no sound. It was odd.
She saw Gold-Eye glance back at her and nodded to show that she was fine. "They're almost to the alley, we need to turn here so they can't see us," she said to him.
He nodded and relayed the message to Ninde, who did it automatically. Gold-Eye did next, and finally Lerow. She just barely peeked around the corner and quickly brought her head back around. "They're in the alley. Keep going."
This was going to be a long night. The streetlights had come on earlier, and it would have been pitch dark other than the moon and stars without them.
They all ducked behind some garbage cans as a Winger came into view overhead. Thankfully, it hadn't seen them.
The Winger disappeared from sight and they came out from their hiding place.
"A bit too close a call for comfort," Ninde remarked.
"We need to keep moving and keep an eye out for creatures," Lerow replied.
"Agreed. We need to go to the Submarine. Remember where it is, Ninde?" Gold-Eye asked.
"I do, but I don't know how that would help us," Ninde replied.
"Wait... you might have a point, Gold-Eye. If this is another Change, which I think it is, then maybe Shade is back," Lerow said.
"Shade!" Ninde exclaimed. "He didn't care one bit about everyone!"
"He's our only chance. Without him, my parents say that the Overlords probably still wouldn't have been sent back at all," Lerow replied.
"Yes," Gold-Eye agreed. "We need to go there. Maybe he's at the Submarine. His robots might be fixing it from when the creatures found it those years ago."
Ninde finally nodded. "Alright, I trust your judgment."
"Good. I don't remember the way, though. You need to show us," Gold-Eye answered.
Lerow shook her head. "I know the way. My parents have shown me once. They were away from the Submarine when it was attacked, like you were. They saw it, but ran away when they saw there was no hope of saving it."
Ninde looked at Lerow. "What? Erm… what are your parents' names?"
"Peter and Sarah," Lerow answered simply.
Gold-Eye and Ninde exchanged looks. "They're alive!" Gold-Eye asked.
"Yes. But since the creatures came this time, I haven't seen them, so I don't know for sure."
Ninde shook her head. "Wow… well, we need to get moving."
"Right. Now, I believe from here, the Sub would be this way," Lerow said, and started walking.
They all followed her, keeping a wary eye out for creatures.
Ella and Drum almost said something once, but their parents quickly shushed them. They didn't want to alarm any creatures to their presence.
They had seen different creatures at different times, but what puzzled them was the blood that always covered the creature. They never had a net, and never carried a human that they had captured. In the light it was hard to see, but they could always tell that the blood was red. It was human.
They finally got to what looked like a man hole, and climbed down a ladder. It was so dark they couldn't see the rungs of the ladder. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any Ferrets.
"I can't see a thing," Ninde whispered.
"No problem," Lerow said, and a flashlight came on. She was holding it.
"Where'd that come from?" Gold-Eye asked.
"My pants pocket," Lerow replied.
Ninde smiled. "Okay, let's keep going."
They balanced on wide pipes over the water and kept walking. Finally, after about ten minutes of this kind of walking, they were able to climb down onto solid ground.
They could see the plated on the wall next to every tunnel when this was used often to get to the Sub.
Lerow looked at one for a second, and walked down that tunnel, her flashlight sweeping the area in front of her.
They came to some water, but it was only ankle deep, and they stepped in.
"It's going to get a bit deeper," Ninde warned.
"Yes, I was told," Lerow replied.
They kept going for a while, in and out of tunnels, up and down in water. A few times it got deep enough that Gold-Eye had to carry Drum on his shoulders and Ninde had to hold Ella.
"We're almost there," Lerow said.
"Good. I think I see the hatch up ahead," Gold-Eye replied.
Lerow swung her flashlight toward it and the hatch was there, sure enough.
She took a few careful steps towards it and looked to Gold-Eye. "There's no special password or anything?"
"No."
Lerow nodded and opened the hatch. Stale air came out at her, making her wrinkle her nose.
"Okay, you all go ahead. I'll be in right after you," she said.
Ninde climbed up and set Ella down. Gold-Eye went next and set down Drum. Lerow climbed up then and turned off the flashlight.
"Why'd you do that? I can't see," Ninde said.
"Look and listen," was Lerow's reply.
Gold-Eye and Ninde both listened closely, and heard something shuffling around. They looked and saw something moving in the darkness.
One robot stepped towards them.
Gold-Eye let out a sigh of relief, and Ninde smiled. Lerow didn't say anything.
It was one of Shade's robots. Shade was back.
A voice rang out that seemed to come from everywhere at once. "Hello, Ninde, Gold-Eye."
Lerow smiled. "Shade."
"Yes, and you are?" the voice asked.
"My name is Lerow. I am the daughter of Peter and Sarah. They were part of the group that resided here," she replied.
"Very well. Come in, everyone. I have regained the power here, and there are lights in the hallway," Shade said.
At that moment, a light came on and they could see pretty well. They each had to blink a couple of times because the sudden change from the very little light in the sewer to no light at all, and then to light where they could se perfectly well.
Ella seemed to have quieted down a bit, and so had Drum. There wasn't anything frightening here.
Lerow pushed her hair from her eyes, and stepped to the doorway. She turned and waited for the others to start over.
They did after a moment's hesitation, and she opened the door and stepped through, with the others right behind her.
There was some rust on the walls, and a lot of dust, but the lights seemed to be in perfect working order.
"Over to the right. We can converse in that room," Shade said.
Lerow looked to the others, and Gold-Eye nodded. He remembered this, as did Ninde.
She stepped through the doorway, and the room was dark, like when they had come in through the hatch. A light came on toward the center of the room as they walked in, and then there were other lights that came on in different places in the room.
They looked around, and there were a few chairs in front of what looked like a desk.
"Sit down," Shade said.
Lerow took one of the chairs, and Ninde sat on another with Ella. Gold-Eye sat next to her with Drum.
"Good," Shade said.
All of a sudden, there was a large flash of light next to the desk that made Ella and Drum jump. Lerow, Gold-Eye, and Ninde didn't do anything. Ninde and Gold-Eye had seen it before, and Lerow had been told about it by her parents.
When the flash faded there seemed to be a man at the desk. He looked totally real, with jet-black hair and perfect white teeth. He seemed like he was tall, even though he was sitting.
But they all—except Drum and Ella, of course—knew that it was Shade. He was a high-tech hologram.
"It's so nice to see you again, Ninde, Gold-Eye," he said, a smile forming on his lips.
WS- Well, please review! I hope you like it!