Chapter 5: Steel in her eyes

Tecna dropped the bottle of water Sky had passed her and leaped for her laptop. Her fingers shook as she enabled the microphone. "Hello," she said back to the man on the screen. "We're calling from Magix. Our realm was attacked and the population has been evacuated; we're the only ones left here – a group of six. We're in danger and we request immediate rescue. I'm sending you our coordinates–"

Just as Tecna's fingertips brushed the keyboard, the screen went black. Not a second later, the ground began to quake. Riven fell backwards, hitting his shoulder against a filing cabinet. He righted himself with a curse, feet wide apart, and helped Stella up from the floor.

"What's happening?" Layla screamed, steadying herself against a table. The ground was trembling more and more.

Riven stared at Layla's terrified face for a moment and then his eyes trailed to the room around him. The cabinets against the walls were shuddering, falling over. The lights overhead flickered and the computers slid along the desks on which they rested, crashing into each other. It took him a moment to realise what was going on: the creatures were firing meteors at them – or rather, at the buildings over ground above the research facility.

"We have to get out of here!" he shouted. "The ceiling's going to collapse!"

"But the signal–" Tecna began, already typing something furiously on the keyboard.

"Forget the signal! We need to leave now. The creatures know we're here."

Scooping up his bag from the ground, Riven grabbed Stella's hand, tugging her towards the exit. Behind him, in the far corner of the room, a portion of ceiling caved in. Layla screamed, starting after Riven in a run. The others followed suit, Tecna clutching her laptop to her chest, Nabu and Sky drawing their shields.

"Stay together!" Riven called back over his shoulder, leading the way down corridor after corridor.

All around them, bits of ceiling were crumbling, making their steps crunch. The overhanging lights, having come off their hooks on the ceiling, were crashing down. Glass and dust covered the floor, and metal carts lay toppled over in their way. The sound of falling stone and breaking glass was everywhere, muffling the group's exclaims and shouts as they banked left then right, and then left again, running hard towards the exit.

Stella gulped for air as she sprinted beside Riven. Her hair was flying into her eyes and even as she swiped it away, she couldn't see much: the crumbling ceiling was making her field of vision dusty like she was trapped in a sandstorm. She coughed, clutching onto Riven's hand more tightly. They rounded a corner, racing past the laboratory which she could just about make out through the dust. The lab meant they were close to the exit. She sprinted harder.

Up ahead a dark rectangular opening came into view. As the group drew closer, Stella saw stairs beyond the darkness; it was less dusty here, the ceiling above her only vibrating, not crumbling. There were huge windows in the wall to her right. One of them was broken. It was the same one Riven had taken her through to find medicine – which meant they were in the reception and that the dark opening was the exit. Hope surged through her. She ran even faster, her legs and chest burning.

Once they were close enough to the opening that she could distinguish one stair from the next, she lurched forward, clambering up the steps so quickly, she thought she would pass out from the lack of air getting to her lungs. A rectangle of light loomed some feet ahead, getting bigger and brighter as she approached – the doorway linking the underground facility to Magix. She stumbled through it, finding herself on the street Riven had carried her down to get to the facility. She moved from in front of the entryway and collapsed to her knees, gasping for air. Never had she run so fast. Her throat felt raw and her ears were ringing.

Footsteps thundered to an abrupt stop behind Stella as the rest of group emerged through the doorway, a narrow black rectangle in the face of the building she knelt beside. She turned to look at her friends; their chests heaved and their mouths hung open, gulping in air. Relief made her slump. They were safe, they were all safe. And mostly uninjured, only cut at the ankles from running through glass.

She stared at the effect of exertion on their faces for a moment until she realised she couldn't hear her friends gasping or wheezing in spite of their puffing cheeks and open mouths. She could only hear roaring and vicious crackling.

Fire.

She craned her head back, and her entire body seized up.

A meteor was embedded into the building looming up in front of her, burning as brightly as the one she'd seen fall from the sky after Riven had found her. Flames surrounded it, migrating across the façade of the building, dropping down to the ground around her. She watched numbly as a spark made its descent; it landed a few feet to her left and grew into a crackling fire. She could feel its heat but her insides grew ice cold. She had known meteors were being aimed at the area, known their collisions had caused the facility to quake, but the sight of them was horrifying.

Next to the building she sat in front of were more buildings with meteors set into their façades and roofs. Flame dripped from them too. The meteor in the building to the far left rolled off the roof as Stella stared and then a crashing noise filled the air as it hit the ground, overpowering the crackling of fire. Stella felt the impact of its landing shuddering up her feet. She heard shouting behind her, knew she should get up and run far away from the chaos, wanted to, but she sat shocked, staring at the burning stretch of buildings. Another shock wave travelled up her legs as a second meteor fell, landing only a few hundred yards away from her. Its searing heat washed over her in waves though she still felt cold, numb, unable to move.

Suddenly Riven appeared in her field of vision, concealing the burning buildings. He was saying something, something with urgency, but all she could focus on was the orange sky in her peripheral vison. The smoke curling up into the grey sky. But even that disappeared from sight as she was tugged to her feet and pulled down the street away from the burning.

She had not noticed the acrid stench in the air earlier, but now as she ran, being half dragged by Riven, all she could taste and smell was the smoke. It was welcome though, serving as a distraction from the fear overtaking her body. They had almost died. Had they not made it out in time, they would have been tapped in the research facility and probably crushed. In one moment, they could have been no more.

Chest tight, she straightened and propelled herself forward so that she was running parallel to Riven instead of behind him being dragged. She had to pull herself together. They had escaped so there was no point dwelling on what might have been. She focused on the positives and ran, leaving behind the smoky air and fiery buildings.

Buildings and rubble had been going by in a blur in Riven's vision; now the blur came into focus as he and group slowed down, the sound of their thundering footsteps petering out. When they finally stopped, he looked around and realised – though it took a moment because of the destruction – that they had arrived uptown, where the skyscrapers gave way to smaller commercial buildings.

The street they stood on was one of the twelve that formed the city's shopping district. The place looked nothing like it did normally, all shiny glass and metal, windows showcasing the latest luxury clothes. There was only wreckage: Soot smeared almost every store front and rubble and glass blanketed the road. Scraps of fabric, caught amid the wreckage, billowed in the light wind.

At the end of the street, a forest stretched to the horizon, which was a deep shade of red, telling of the oncoming night or day, Riven didn't know. Time was not easy to keep track of with the never ending gloom. He stood staring at the horizon, thinking of their next move: collecting firewood, which would be easy enough with the forest nearby, and then setting up camp. It was important they slept. They were all exhausted and they needed their energy to go on. They also needed time to get over their recent failure and time to properly grieve Flora. Although, it was apparent from the hopeless look on his friends' faces that Flora had left their minds and all they were thinking was how they were going to leave Magix now. Contacting another realm and calling in rescue had been their only plan, their only hope, and it had failed and they had been so close.

No one spoke for a long time. They just stood in the road, staring at the wreckage. Hopeless. Frustrated.

Riven broke the silence by clearing his throat. "We can't just keep standing here," he said. "No, we didn't manage to get help but there has to be another way to get out of here and we'll figure it out. But later. Right now, we should find someplace to rest."

"How can we do that?" Layla asked wearily. "If we sleep, we'll never wake up because we'll be dead. You know they track us and launch meteors at us if we stay in one place for too long."

"I know," Riven agreed. "But there seemed to be a gap of a few hours between the meteor attack at the weapon's place and the facility, so I'm thinking it takes them some time to locate where we are. We could get some sleep in that time while taking turns keeping watch for falling meteors."

"I'll take first watch," Sky volunteered. "We can set up camp in that shop." He pointed at a hair salon with a giant sign of a pair of scissors attached above the door. It was the least destroyed building along the street.

The group started towards it. Inside, the furnishing – a row of mirrors and chairs against one wall, shelves stacked with hair products, a white welcoming counter and beside it, black couches – was intact, just coated with ash which had blown in through the missing doors.

Before they entered, Riven stopped and said, "I'm going to collect firewood from the forest."

"I'll come with you," Stella announced. Riven gave a single nod and then they walked together to the end of the street towards the forest.

The outermost trees were charred, Stella noticed, as they drew closer. They would have to walk deeper into the forest, but that didn't seem as daunting as she expected. It wasn't that she felt less fear after being on the brink of death a handful of times since she woke in Alfea; it was because she was with Riven and knew for sure that he would protect her. As she followed him, she thought how strange it was that only a few days ago, she would have been prickling with anxiety, afraid even, at being alone with him, but now, this was where she felt safest. The thought brought a small smile to face.

She stepped forward, grabbing hold of his arm. He turned around, confused, and then her lips were on his. They were soft, sweet, sucking on his lower lip. He shuddered as frissons began running down his spine and pulled her closer. When she drew back, all her could taste was her and he forgot for a moment what he had come to the forest to do.

"What was that for?" he asked with a rare smile, breaking out of his daze.

Stella shrugged. "We could die at any time and after what just happened, I thought I'd take the opportunity."

"Don't want your biggest regret to be not kissing me enough." Riven nodded with mock solemnity. "I understand."

Giving a playful giggle, Stella pulled him towards her again, but this time, he captured her mouth. She moaned. Stars above, he was such a good kisser. They stumbled backwards, going deeper into the forest, oblivious to the fact that it was getting darker. Their hands ran up and down each other's bodies; Riven's skimmed over her gentle curves and Stella's traced hungrily over his back, shoulder blades and arms. They were both moaning, their kiss now deeper, a duel of tongues. Magix was forgotten. There was no annihilation, no danger, no mission. There was just the heat coursing through their veins, their joined mouths and their groping hands, which were now snaking under clothing.

Stella broke the kiss, gasping, as Riven's fingers skimmed her bra. Riven dipped his head, trailing open-mouthed kisses down her throat; she began moaning again, fingernails dragging lightly over the skin under the front of his shirt. She traced his hard stomach, outlining each ab muscle carefully with the pads of her fingers. Red Fountain training definitely paid off. Her hands travelled lower and reached the line of hair that disappeared into his trousers. She trailed her fingers along its path; Riven panted at her collarbone, pausing to savour the heat her fingers elicited. Then, as her thumbs rubbed at the skin just above the hem of his trousers, he lost his control, pushing her back fiercely against a tree trunk. A low noise escaped him, half growl, half inhale, a wanton sound.

Stella felt like she was standing in the middle of a fire. Heat licked her skin and she could feel it coiling deep in her abdomen. "Riven," she groaned, feeling him resume trailing kiss after kiss down her chest. She could barely take it as his lips moved lower, pushing the neckline of her top down. He was intoxicating and she had half lost her mind.

Fervently, she wrapped her legs around his hips, her hands moving from under his shirt to wrap around his neck. His head snapped up and lips captured hers again in a feverish kiss. There was stubble on his chin from having not shaved in a while; she felt its roughness against her own chin as he moved his mouth against hers. It felt good, adding another layer of heat to the sensations she was already drowning in.

Locking her ankles together at his back, she pulled him closer to her; his hips settled into the cradle of her own. Riven moaned, his hands squeezing around her waist. He couldn't stay in this position or he knew he'd completely lose his mind and he liked being in control. He gathered Stella up in his arms and just like before, they were stumbling through the forest, branches and leaves grazing their skin, tangling in their hair, though they hardly felt anything; the heat between them was too consuming.

After stumbling aimlessly for some more seconds, Riven lost his footing and tripped over a tree root. Thinking fast, he twisted his body so he would land on the ground instead of Stella. He hit the ground hard, a painful jolt sizzling up his spine. Stella landed on top of him, the breath knocked out of her, though it was only partly because of the fall and mostly because of the kissing. Once the pain had subsided, Riven opened his eyes and was met by what he thought had to be the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen: Stella resting on his chest, dazed with her lips bruised and her eyelids drooping and her dishevelled hair falling around them like a golden curtain. His lips curved. He stared contently at her for a moment before reaching up to stroke her hair.

Her honey-coloured eyes, still not completely focused, rose from his chest towards his face. He saw her mouth begin to curve upwards but then her jaw clenched, her entire face twisting into an expression of horror as she stared straight ahead. He felt her body tense up on top of his.

"Stella, what's wrong?" he asked, mild panic mixed with his words. She didn't answer, just kept staring. He tried moving her head so that she would look at him but her gaze remained stuck. "Stella," he said. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"Look," was all she said.

Concerned, Riven propped himself up and turned in the direction of her stare. And froze.

There, a few feet before them, was a giant chasm and what looked like a floating mass of rock with red circles painted on it at intervals. The rock-like structure was wide at the middle, tapering to two points above and below its centre. It was hovering soundlessly in the chasm. The red circles were windows. They looked like glaring red eyes in darkness. Above the pit, several creatures flew in circles, almost mindlessly, their bodies and wings black silhouettes against the grey sky.

"This is their base," Riven whispered. A cold chill was creeping through his body, quickly replacing the heat from kissing Stella. "Tecna was right. This is where they're tracking us from."

"And from where they're firing meteors," Stella added quietly. "Look into the pit."

Riven looked, seeing what Stella had noticed. There were meteors sitting at the bottom of the deep chasm. They glowed dimly, clearly not ignited and ready for launch yet, but there were a vast number of them and that made Riven's skin prickle.

"Where do you think they got them from?" Stella asked.

"I don't know," Riven said, keeping his voice low. "But they were obviously expecting a fight. Not that they got one since everyone fled." Riven sounded almost disgusted at the cowardice of the population. "I can't believe there weren't orders for some of us to fight and defend the realm. Students from Red Fountain and Alfea – and maybe even Cloud Tower – should've stayed at least; so should have Magix's army. We've faced worse! Evacuating was relinquishing the realm."

"We're still here," Stella said, looking at Riven expectantly.

He met her gaze. There was steel in her eyes; she was no longer afraid. But what she was suggesting…could they do it? They were missing half the team and there was no one who had their backs like the teachers and students of the three schools had had before over the years. And if they failed, no one would remember their attempt to save the world this time, and no one would know what happened to them. Even so, trying seemed the only thing to do. After all, this was what they did. This was they all trained for.

Riven nodded at last, and Stella's eyes splayed a little in surprise. "Let's go tell the others," he said. "Come on."

He got up slowly, pulling her up with him. With quiet, careful steps, they made their way back. They stopped before reaching the charred trees at the edge of the forest and collected the firewood they had come to get, Riven chopping swiftly and precisely at dry branches.

When they got back to the hair salon, they found their friends sitting in a circle in the middle of the floor. Tecna was using the screen of her laptop to provide light; it was darker now, the moonless sky a deep midnight blue. Someone had taken the cushions from the sofas in the waiting area and distributed them; Riven and Stella sat down on the pair left out for them, setting the trees branches they were carrying in the middle of the circle.

"What took you so long?" Nabu asked as he produced a large metal container which was stained with hair dye at the edges. He put the firewood into it and touched the branches with his sceptre. They burst into flame and in unison, everyone shuffled forward to soak in the heat. Tecna shut her laptop.

"We found something," Riven said. The tone of his voice made the group turn to him. "The base of those creatures. You were right Tecna," he added but she didn't look pleased.

"It's deep in the forest," Stella continued, "in the middle of this huge chasm. Those creatures are flying around it, guarding it, so it won't be easy getting to the core but I think we can destroy it and reclaim the realm."

"Wait, what?" Layla said, furrowing her brows. "We're going to destroy the base?"

Riven nodded. "It was Stella's idea and it's brilliant. If we destroy their base, we take away their power, meaning their ability to launch meteors and their ability to track us. We also destroy them. I think a lot of the creatures were inside the base, waiting almost, to be deployed, so taking out the vast majority of them would force the others to flee. We could save Magix by doing this."

For a moment, no one spoke, thinking the plan over. Then all at once, they nodded. Riven smirked. He had expected the agreement; it was like the desire to save the world has been inbuilt into them over the years. They had never backed down from a life-threatening mission before and he had known they would not back down now.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Sky asked.

It was Stella who spoke, surprising everyone. "I was thinking we could make a bomb and then Layla and Tecna could fly out and place it on the base. The rest of us won't be able to get to it because there aren't any bridges and the base is floating in the middle of the pit."

"But if there are creatures circling it, like you said, how are we going to fly out? They'll attack us." Tecna sounded apprehensive.

"Camouflage," Riven said. His eyes sparkled in the firelight. "Layla could use her magic to make armour which resembles theirs so you look bulky and huge like they do. We could even get some feathers from the creatures we've already killed and attach them to your wings. They don't seem that perceptive so I doubt they'd notice you with the getup."

"What about the bomb?" Nabu said, sliding his arm around Layla, who looked uneasy. He whispered to her, "I'll have your back, Layla. I'll be watching from the side-lines but I'll have my magic to help you if something goes wrong." That seemed to relax her a little; she turned and gave him a small smile.

"I don't know about the bomb." Riven unzipped his boots, lowering himself to lay on his side. "I was hoping Tecna could figure that one out."

"I have a few ideas," Tecna said, nodding. "It's definitely feasible."

"Great," Riven said through a yawn. "Let's get some sleep. We'll start when we wake up. Sky, wake me after an hour so I can take over keeping watch."

Sky nodded and walked over to the doorway, angling his gaze to the skies, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Tecna and Layla settled down on the floor, closing their eyes. Nabu opened his bag, took out an energy bar and while stroking Layla's head, ate it silently. Stella watched her friends for a moment, then crawled over to Riven's side. He was asleep, his breathing steady, his face relaxed. She lay down beside him, pulling his arm around her for both comfort and warmth. She shut her eyes. Her last thought before sleep claimed her was that her plan had better work because she wanted nothing more than for her friends to be safe and for all this to end.

So sorry it's been so long. I was caught up in exams and uni applications and visits. It's been stressful and crazy. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Please review. I'd love to know your thoughts.

P.S. Hope you're having an amazing summer!