Cataclysm

Brenan's Help

Hours pass and I find myself trying restlessly to find entertainment, but my mind continues to wander. I begin thinking about my father and mentor, but most of all my thoughts are for some reason on Brenan. I only met the boy a couple of hours ago and he already takes up the majority of my thoughts. Will he really break me out of here, or is he only bluffing? Does he really disapprove with the nation's tactic of the broadcast? Are there others who don't believe in the broadcast? All these answers appear to remain unanswered and I fear that they will stay this way for some time. I have some my previous answers answered, but I keep coming up with more and more. Will I ever be satisfied?

"Nora, are you awake?" I turn over and see the boy crouching beside the bars.

"Yes, I'm awake."

"Good because I found some information you might want to hear about." He whispers while I crawl to the bars and take a seat opposite of him. "There is an open meeting in the meeting hall in Dumani. If we can make it there, then maybe we can secretly attend and find out what their current plans are."

"I thought their current plan was to capture and kill."

"Yes, they discussed that briefly, but they mainly talked about Tetron's current plans and threats. These open meetings are meant to gain public attention and respect. The citizens are allowed to attend and learn about the current plans."

"That all sounds great and all, but how are we going to get to Dumani? We're in the base of a cave."

"Well, this base happens to have a landing dock with my airship docked in it." He says and I can see his eyes glistening with pride. "Now, let me get you out of there."

I stand up and watch as he plunges the key into the lock and opens the door for me. He then hands me my pistol and bow that he recovered from the burly man. He puts his finger to his lips and warns me to be quiet. I slip my hood over my head and follow casually beside him. His arm brushes mine with every step as we walk out into the bustling tavern. Nobody seems to pay any attention to us while we slowly enter a narrow pathway illuminated in more bright blue crystals. Brenan picks up his pace and I have to sprint to keep up with him.

He leads me swiftly down the hall until we come to a metal door. I watch as he enters a code on a keypad and the door slides open like magic. His hand grasps my wrist while he practically drags me to the corner of the massive hanger. A small aircraft opens its doors to us when we approach and Brenan ushers me on board where I wait in the aisle and watch as he sits in the pilot seat.

"Come on." He says with his eyes on the panel in front of him.

"Is this really your aircraft?"

"Yes, Rouge Shadow has been my choice of airship since my father and I started working on her." He says and I can't help but snicker.

"You actually named your aircraft?"

"Yes, do you have a problem with that, rebel daughter?" He asks with a challenging smirk. The nickname is clever, yet annoying.

"No, I don't, but would you care to start up your precious machine?"

"I guess that would be a wise idea." He says while driving a key into the slot and turning it.

The engines cough and wheeze loudly. He turns it again and the same results follow. I watch now as he turns the key a few more times before the engines choke one last time and start up. I can finally see the dark sky coming into view as he flies the ship out of the dock and into the air. My hands clutch the seat tightly because I have never been in an aircraft before and the thought scares me. Puffy white clouds part and hit the large glass window in front of us while filling the view with nothing but whiteness.