Injection: Tides of War

Chapter 6

The sound of falling water calmed Shan as she floated in the main lake of Sanctuary. She felt at peace now that the fighting had ended and tranquility reigned. However, there still seemed to be an emptiness within her. The past was a black hole sucking her back in whenever she got near to escaping. An implosion of sorts, resulting from the regret and self-hatred formed out of years of indulging in her mode of comfort: killing.

As Shan lay there face up in the clear water, she sensed it becoming warmer. She leaned forward to stand. The lake only reached up to her waist here. Looking over at the crashing waterfall, she saw not the falling of water, but of fire. The red-orange flames seeped like liquid down into the lake below. Steam rose out from where the two connected, a blanket of grey eclipsing the sky which had turned from day to night.

The surrounding water boiled from the heat. She tried to escape it but when she turned for the shore it was gone. There was no Sanctuary. At least, not in the way she remembered. The once grand city had been reduced to nothing but remnants of hollowed-out skyscrapers reaching up as if pleading to be rescued.

Shan gritted her teeth at the pain of the heated water. She fought the urge to scream as her right leg almost gave out. The roaring of the flame waterfall crowded her ears, driving out all other sound. Unable to resist the scorching pain any longer, her legs collapsed, plunging the rest of her body into the fiery lake.

***

Shan Li woke to the hiss of steam escaping a ruptured engine block. Blinking several times to clear her head, she remembered where she was. There had been an explosion and the rover had flipped.

Looking down, she found the source of the shooting pain in her right leg. The roll bar had prevented the rover from completely crushing her, but the firm, wet sand bent it inward, pinning her leg against the top of the seat. Wet sand. They'd made it to the edge of the mangrove forest. She could see the bluish glow of the bioluminescent trees leaking in from outside.

The thin pool of water, which had risen out of the soaked sand, bubbled at Shan's touch. The small amount of Brann nanomites still inside her caused her skin to radiate enough heat to boil water. The dream. What did it mean? Just my subconscious playing tricks, she thought.

She pulled at her knee to see if the leg might come free. No such luck. The others were nowhere to be found, most likely ejected from the vehicle as it flipped.

"Rew? Can you hear me?" Shan said, her voice sounding weird to her own ears. It aggravated her, as she despised feeling helpless. But she'd rather not inject herself again so soon after using Brann, for fear of the unnecessary side effects. "Is anyone there?!"

"DEITY? You're alive?" came a voice. It sounded like Bondan, but she couldn't be sure. The words were distant and the hissing steam made it difficult to hear.

While she waited, she yanked on her leg one more time to make sure she truly needed assistance. If there was even the slightest chance she could spare herself of this embarrassment, she'd take it. Shan gritted her teeth as the metal dug into her skin. That confirmed it.

Several moments later, Bondan dropped to his knees on the passenger side of the overturned vehicle. Shan watched as his frown slowly melted in the opposite direction. Smug bastard, she thought.

"Who'd have thought I'd be the one saving a DEITY rather than killing 'em? Hah! 'The tides change often and for good reason,' my father used to say. Well it looks like you got lucky. Ratna broke her arm and several ribs, but she'll manage. Unfortunately, I don't know where your friend is... Here, let me see what I can do," Bondan said. He grabbed hold of the door frame and tugged. It made a crunching sound. He grabbed hold with both gauntleted hands and pulled, nearly falling onto his backside after two solid attempts.