Eternally Luminous

Chapter 10

The structure looked like a mine opening and was a gigantic, black, cylindrical container that fiercely protruded out of the ground in the middle of a crater. It contrasted to the golden brownness that filled the lands of Mortali. Ana barely slept, she couldn’t make herself comfortable even though the sand felt soft against her skin. There was too many things running through her mind. Royan slept against Dusty soundly, while Thomas and Leeroy went off to investigate the mine opening and the lands around it. She kept peering over the sand dune every five minutes to look at the big structure that she could see on the other side. She thought that maybe once, just once, when she looked over it may not be there and it was possibly a mirage. It was difficult to see it completely, apart from the lights that were dimly lit along the front of opening. When Ana squinted she could faintly make out a softly lit path that let away from the main gate. She would never admit it, but Ana was incredibly scared for what was going to happen. She knew she couldn’t die but she was frightened of the possibility of losing Leeroy, Royan and Thomas.

As she imagined life back at the mansionand how she missed Halley, her small dense room and the safety of the place, she felt her heart dropped and heavy heaves started to surface. Even though she hated it when she was there, she sure did miss it now and the security it gave her. She suppressed the rising heaves and the tears welting in her eyes.

“This is for Chloe, and all the others”, she whispered to herself, reminding her that she too, had a purpose for being here.

She peered over the dune one more time and to her surprise she saw someone climbing it. Instantly she thought it was Leeroy or Thomas, but she questioned why they would be alone. Crouching down she gripped her sword letting it slowly feel as though it melted to her palm. The person was just on the other side, not even three meters away when she pounced. They tumbled and slowly skidded down the sand dune. Ana still gripping her sword as they uncontrollably fell. She stopped, but the other person kept tumbling. When they stopped just in the middle, she slowly pushed herself down inch by inch, making sure she didn’t slide to the very bottom where the entrance of the mine was. Surely someone must had heard the scuffle coming from the dune walls and come check it out. Then Ana felt the panick inside her burst as though it were a water sack filled too much. Her heart raced and she stiffened. Slowly reality came back to her and she slightly was overcome with dizziness. Her body was scared, her mind was scared and she didn’t know what to do.

“Are you crazy? You almost gave away our position!” a familiar voice said. It was Thomas.

“Thomas! I’m so sorry, you just scared me and I couldn’t help myself. Instincts, and uh where’s Leeroy?” Ana said to him in a slight hushed manner, but reaching her arm out to help him up.

They climbed back to the top, slipping with almost every step as the sand was extremely fragile.  They were panting on the other side, trying to regain their breath when Leeroy appeared out of nowhere.

“And where did you go?” Thomas asked him sounding concerned.

“They found me, three of them chased me but I lead them in a completely different direction. Here’s what I know… Malgazon has guards with abilities. Two of them were normal humans but one of them could turn to steel. His whole entire body! To steel!” Leeroy said, emphasizing his amazement in an ability such as that.

He continued, “Obviously my fire was no use against him so I decided to just run. He metal body was barely able to keep up with me but the other two guards gave me a good chance. I suspect they know someone is here now and soon they’ll have more men out here patrolling this region”

Royan tossed and turned in the comfort of Dusty but soon she became conscious and aware of their small discussion. She crawled over, sleepy-eyed and a little bit confused. Ana assumed that Royan had forgotten that they were in the desert for a moment. They all sat, talking about life and how great of heroes they’ll be if this succeeds, the fame and fortune they’ll get and maybe the King will be overthrown and they could take his place. Ana momentarily imagined what she would be like as a queen with Leeroy next to her as King. That image vanishes almost as quickly as it appeared when they heard the sounds of men talking below.

“Royan, do you think you could try to read their minds and what they’re saying” Leeroy asked her as he stuck his head up slowly over the dune. The men below mustn’t be able to see anything when looking up into the darkness above the entrance. Ana said that she hadn’t seen anyone down there before when her and Thomas slipped down.

“I can try” Royan replied while gripping her temples and closing her eyes, breathing deeply. It was like she was in a state of complete concentration.

“They’re talking about…a shipment of some sort due in the morning, just before dawn. Three carriages full and should be able to supply to army sufficiently for a while” she said, questioning the last sentence.

“Try harder Royan, you need to find out what kind of shipment, and who’s it for, what does it contain”, the questions started bombarding Royan’s mind and the small girl tried harder, her mind stretching deeper trying to take hold of any valuable information, but she couldn’t hold onto anything. Then she grabbed onto something and what she said rattled the rest of them,

“People…with abilities. Dead and alive ones but not to here, to some other entrance. I can't make out where"

She soon collapsed onto the sand and was sweating violently. Ana crawled quickly over to her side and held Royans small fragile hands.

“You pushed her too hard” Ana tried to shout to Leeroy but did it as quietly as she could.

His face was overcome with worry and guilt and he too, held onto Royans other hand. They fed her bread and some warm water and she was better in no time.

Dawn was almost approaching and the four of them had gotten not nearly enough sleep but the small amount that they did get just after Royan’s episode would need to be sufficient. Thomas, who needs barely any sleep had kept watch all night, scouting the surrounding area and keeping an eye on the entrace down below. He said for everyone else to sleep and rest. Ana assumed that it must be related to his ability.

“Alright everyone, are we all ready for this?”, Leeroy said trying to boost the atmosphere.

“Ready as we’ll ever be” Royan said with an unconvincing smile.

“Uh Leeroy, where are the horses?” Ana asked him worried that something had happened to Lumen.

“I took them to a safe location not too far from here, they’ll be perfectly fine and it’ll be easy for us to get to them once we get out” Thomas told her pointing in the direction that he had taken them.

They ate bread in silence, absorbing each other as it was possible that anyone of them might not get out alive, except Ana. She had grown to feel guilty about her ability and it was getting to her. The fact that she knew she could lose Leeroy, Royan or Thomas any second hurt more than it did if she were to be hit across the face by a sledgehammer. The sun was rising and quickly so they had to move as soon as possible. Leeroy stood and said,

“Let’s do this for everyone, not only for the people with abilities but the people who are being terrorized by the King and Malgazon”.

Ana watched him and her heart felt heavy, he looked so brave and mighty standing there with the faint glow of the sun rising in the background. He looked back at her when finishing his words and for a moment, Ana felt as though she had found an inner peace, almost like an acceptance of what might happen.

Slowly, they slid down the other side of the sand dune heading towards the entrance of the huge structure. Thomas was ahead of them, because he could easily kill the five guards that were outside the entrance with none of them making any noise. As they reached the bottom they landed on a hard surface, it was made of metal and covered a small area outside the entrance. Five dead bodies were piled to the and Thomas stood there holding his dagger, wiping it clean. Ana looked up at the structure, it was much bigger than she thought. It stood at least twenty feet high and was the same in width. It looked like a oversized pipe with an intricate design along the walls. Leeroy said that it was made out of a metal that he’d never encountered and that Malgazon and the king had probably gotten mined specially from the Great Mountains.

A gate stood infront of them, fitted to the entrance. It was thick and made of the same metal. Royan peered into the darkness that seemed to consume the path ahead and gulped, the sound echoed and seemed to continue on as if there was no end. Leeroy nudged and motioned for them all to move away from the gate and then he ignited his hands. The three of them stood back while he ran his hands over the lock on the gate and the bars. The three others watched in amazement as bended the searing hot metal. They climbed through and ran off into the darkness, with Leeroy as their only light.