As Azkadellia opened her eyes, she found that she was semi-reclined, standing, but pitched back. Her travel stained shirt and trousers had been replaced with a white robe. Wincing at the slight headache, she took in her surroundings.
She was encased in a glass cylinder, looking out into a dark cavern filled with machines and computers. The ceiling was high, encasing the command center of the giant machine. Lights blinked and there were many people moving about, hurrying back and forth in the final preparations to bring the machine online.
Carefully, she reached for her Light. It was there. It had apparently been returned to her. That meant that even with her magic, she was not seen as a threat. She wondered what her glass prison was made of and if it would be as effective at neutralizing her as they thought it would.
In the center of the room, she could see Zero and his witch standing with a third individual. He was tall, pale and cold. A sinister feeling washed over her. This was her enemy, Stribog. A descendent of the dark creature that her ancestor had defeated so long ago.
She prayed she had the strength to do the same.
As if feeling her eyes on him, the creature turned, pinning her with the iciest blue eyes she had ever seen. His voice was muted a bit by her prison, but she could hear him clearly. "Ah, Your Highness. I see you are awake at last. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
She smiled coldly. "Pleasure is all yours."
He was arrogant and bold as he approached her, studying her through the glass. "You have no idea."
"I won't help you."
"I'm afraid, my dear, that the choice is not yours."
"We'll see about that." Azkadellia threw out a hand, intending to hit this man with as much energy as she could muster. The blue light hit the glass and dispersed through it. Honestly, she had been expecting something along those lines, but she had to try anyway.
Stribog was laughing at her. "Didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"
"Not really." Azkadellia replied off-handedly. "But you have to start somewhere."
"It's too late, my dear." Stribog leaned in. "You are now mine."
Azkadellia leaned in as well. "That's what you think."
From the left side of her line of vision, another man, shorter that Stribog but alike in his features, appeared. "My Lord, all will be ready within the hour."
"Good."
"This isn't going to work." Azkadellia seethed. "My family won't stand for it."
Stribog turned back to Azkadellia, laughing. "As if they could do anything, little princess. Your mother is powerless. And the light of your poor little sister . . . " he tisked at her, "is lost forever. Depleted by the machine to get you here."
"I won't help you." Azkadellia repeated keeping her tone even as her heart ached. She had failed DG. She was supposed to get her little sister's light back. Instead, she had only gotten herself captured.
"It will be all over soon. You are the last of your line, Princess. Today, the Suket reclaim what was taken from us by your Other World ancestor."
Azkadellia didn't answer, just smirking at him in her 'yeah, right' fashion. Inside, she felt her stomach flip.
Stribog gave her one last evil smirk before turning. "Bring the workers inside. Let them find shelter before Tempest is activated. We wouldn't want our work force depleted."
Azkadellia watched him go; praying that her face was not portraying the misery and defeat she was feeling. May my ancestors give me strength.
"What are they doing?" Glitch whispered in Cain's ear.
They were in the valley now, watching as the three Suketian guards rounded up the last of the workers, snapping whips at their backs and screaming at them to stop dragging their feet.
Cain was breathing hard and trying to concentrate. "They're getting ready to fire that thing up. Wouldn't want their miners freezing to death, would they?"
"We don't have a lot of time here, Cain." Glitch said sternly as they watched the guards herd their prisoners to the cells beneath the fortress. "Once the Tempest is activated and conducting energy, there's no stopping it. The damage to the O.Z.'s environment will be irreversible."
Cain grabbed Glitch's shirt and pulled him deeper into the shadows as the final guard stood in the stone-arched entrance and looked around. Slowly, the guard passed his eyes over everything in the dying light.
Cain held his breath and prayed they wouldn't be spotted. Together, the two men had managed to sneak halfway across the basin of the crater and were now crouched behind a large boulder. It was probably his imagination, but Cain would swear that the guard's eyes lingered over their cover a little longer, but when he chanced a look again, the Suketian was moving inside.
There was a mechanical click and the whir of a motor starting. Slapping Glitch's shoulder to get him to move, Cain bolted for the door. As he sprinted, he hoped he would be able to execute the plan running through his skull.
As expected, the Suketian that had been standing at the door was just inside it when Cain threw himself in behind him. Catching the being completely off-guard, he slammed him against the rock, knocking the whip from his hand. With a few, well-aimed blows, the creature was unconscious at his feet.
Glitch had skimmed through the doors, barely making it before the heavy metal came together. He had managed to keep the second aggressor off of Cain, but unfortunately, that left the third at the front of the pack.
Cain swore loudly as the pale, blonde creature drew his weapon and fired a few shots in his general direction. Cain pushed Glitch to the wall before grabbing his revolver and answering the challenge. That was all it took for the Suketian to abandon the fight and dash up the hallway. They had been expected, as Cain knew they would be. "We haven't got much time. They're going to be all over us in a few minutes."
"I need to get to the reactor." Glitch said, patting the bulge in his jacket pocket.
Cain turned to the nearest man. He was young and tall, with red hair and green eyes. "You need to get everybody out of here. Can you do that?"
"I think so." The young man replied, picking up the weapons from the unconscious guards.
He handed one to a burly, black-haired man beside him. "Brock, what about he guards?"
Jason's son. Cain smiled despite himself and prayed a father and son reunion would be possible at the end of all of this.
Brock spoke again. "There's only a few down here after sunset. We should be able to take care of them."
"You've got fifteen minutes before we bring this place down." Cain nodded to Glitch. "C'mon."
Exchanging good luck wishes with the prisoners, Cain and Glitch hurried past them and headed up the corridor. The Tin Man went first, weapon drawn, checking the corners before allowing Glitch to run around them.
They moved away from the cell block, Cain noting that the hall swung around to the left. He tried to gage just how many cells there were in the depths of the prison, but he could see the passage led on forever. Those refugees were going to have their work cut out for them.
Luck remained with them and they saw no one.
It was then that they came to the fork in the tunnels. On the right, the path sloped down sharply, heading into the innards of the fortress. The left rose steeply, leading towards the upper levels.
"Maybe I should go up." Glitch looked up the path.
Cain shook his head. "We talked about this. You know what to do with that bomb."
"But-"
"Glitch." Cain stopped him. "We don't have time to argue."
The other man took a deep breath and nodded reluctantly. "Okay. Okay, you're right."
"Give me ten minutes if you can." Cain started up the corridor, but stopped. "Be careful, ya hear?"
"You too, Tin Man." Glitch disappeared into the belly of the castle just as the entire structure shook violently and deep rumble rose up from the earth.