Happy birthday, Ember.
I wish you and your family all the best - even though you might not feel up to coming back on Wattpad any time soon, (and honestly this chapter length is appalling) it's still a ritual to post something on your birthday. ^ ^
~~~
Azure concealed herself a fair distance away from the Armoury, observing its interior with a handheld device. Binoculars, she recalled its name, albeit ones modified from primitive versions. She squinted slightly at the image and flicked a several side switches. Another set of lens click into place, increasing the magnification.
This was one of the thirteen entrances she'd observed from her brief scout around the exterior of the Armoury. Half-kneeling, Azure scooped a cylindrical container from her pocket and unscrewed the lid with the same hand. She checked the label briefly as she tossed the lid in the air and caught it between two fingers. Then, without hesitation, she poured the clear liquid on the uneven concrete.
The translucent solution flowed and settled into a shallow puddle, before hardening into solid glass. Under the illumination of the distant lights surrounding the Armoury, the unwavering silhouette of a silver-haired girl reflected on the surface of the glass; in the silence of the night, it possessed the serenity of a still, rippleless pond. Azure swiftly dislodged a prism-shaped chip from her hair clasp, dropped it in the centre of the glass and shone a beam of light upon it with her wrist watch. The light dispersed from the edges of the prism and filled the cold glass with its cold silver glow; at once thin blue veins materialized underneath the translucent surface, trailing along their destined paths.
It was the map of the Armoury, sketched as Arcthorn had left it – before the central computer had lost signal of him. Azure bent down to study the map, the decorative serrated edge of the plastic lid digging deep into her palm as she recalled the last time she saw it. It was just five minutes before she left. A thundering warning siren blasted in the room, driving her sprinting back to the control room – she could see the warning sign from the entrance. Professor Curtis found her ring. At the time she was composed, still, operating the computer with the same detachment she was accustomed to for years, muting the alarm and disabling the warning, reverting the screen to its previous display. After all, Curtis' discovery was nothing out of the ordinary. Someone gullible enough to miss her trifle trick would surely not be competent for his position in the Armoury.
That was before she decided to check the status of Arcthorn's ring. When she didn't spot the tracking marker on the map at first she blinked in surprise, and logically proceeded to back-track its movements in the past few hours. The pointer traced a path initiating at some point on the left, proceeded towards the centre, stopped, flashed in a completely different position on the map, and vanished like a spark. Azure stared at the motionless screen for a while, a thousand conjectures whirling in her head. The alarm wasn't activated, so the tracker must have been disabled manually. How that could be done was a mystery even to her – who else could have done it except for Arcthorn himself? What reason would he have to do it? He knew she was here, and he knew that she could track him. Even if he didn't wish for her to follow him –
There was a reason why he didn't want her to follow him, then.
"I can't think of bringing you to the heart of danger."
The heart of danger.
He couldn't lead her to him because he was at the heart of danger.
There was a light prickling pain in her heart, and the next moment, dread seeped through her veins like poison. It was as if someone injected ice into her bloodstream, or if she was struck by lightning. It was all so unfamiliar - the way that the numbing pain pierced her insides, the way that she had to clutch the chair with all her might just to stand.
Her heartbeat lost its original rhythm. Yet her mind was clearer than ever.
He deactivated the tracker moments before the alarm rang – moments before Professor Curtis discovered her ploy. It couldn't have been simply a coincidence. Arcthorn was in danger; that fact appeared to her plain as day. Professor Curtis, on the other hand, was inviting her, daring her to join him. No words could be sent from the ring to the control room, but she read Arcthorn's message anyway: forget this, forget me, and return to Empyrean.
Could she?
She knelt down slowly in front of the fluorescent display, committing every detail of the map to memory.
Professor Curtis threw down the gauntlet to her; it would be uncivil to just turn away with indifference. A smile graced her lips, devoid of warmth; the eyes that gleamed as brilliantly as night stars were coated by a sheen of frost.
Azure studied the device lying on the palm of her hand, deliberating. They were already expecting her; the element of surprise was gone. At first glance, she was already at disadvantage before the battle began.
Only, Azure wasn't one to let things slip at first glance.
YOU ARE READING
Countdown from Three
Science Fiction"Ten years at most... Earth will be inhabitable. We have three days." Earth was losing gravity. In 2011 A.R, the human race has just 10 years to spare. Half of those that remain live under ground. Clandestine. The other half was named Empyrean. Empy...
