Dark Fall

Chapter 38 - Escape

"Will, now!"

At Terra's urging, Will flooded the hall with his Darkness, casting his power wide. The entire council cried out in unison as they reeled in terror, some slumping over the table, others grasping wildly in the air. President Senn crumpled to the floor, trembling in stiff convulsion. The Darkness hit Terra as well. Staggering and gasping at the sickening vertigo, she reached out blindly toward Will. He caught her in his arms before she fell, holding her against his chest.

This Dark cast was much stronger than what we practiced.

Will lifted Terra into his arms, then raced up the ramp. Not till he opened the door did she recover enough for him to put her down. Glancing back, Terra noted the council was still incapacitated.

The three guards outside were also disabled. The two higher function Talents lay twitching against the wall, while the other guard sat at his desk with a blank stare on his face. After Will settled Terra into a chair, he gathered sets of fighting spikes from two and a handgun from the other. By this time, Terra stood on her own, although wavering. He handed her the spikes, which she stuffed into her boots.

"That was intense, Will." Terra said, bent over and shaking off the last remnants of the Darkness.

"Are you alright?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Terra took a deep breath and straightened up. "We have overstayed our welcome. Time to leave."

As they rounded the corner, they came upon Hex and Walt, dazed and leaning against the wall.

Hex glared at her. "What the hell, Terra!"

Will answered for her. "That was me, Hex. Sorry you got caught up in it. You should be okay in a few minutes."

Walt said, "Terra, you and Will need to go now. I will trip the front-side alarms while you go out the back."

Terra hugged Hex and Walt, one after the other. "Thank you both. For everything."

Breaking into a run, Terra guided Will hand-in-hand toward the back door. They startled two guards along the way, but telekinetic pushes by Terra and a focused Darkness cast from Will quickly incapacitated them.

The last door to the outside was manually locked, but Terra's psi-surgical skills made quick work of the lock. Will pushed the door open, but the alarm did not sound.

Well done, Hex.

They sprinted to the truck. Will drove away with haste, but not so hast to attract undue attention.

As they left the city behind, Will let out a deep breath and smiled. "Wow."

Terra allowed herself a smile. "What was that you said? You are nothing but a little Dynasty? That really pissed him off."

"Yeah, but you already had him worked up."

"You were awesome, Will."

"No. We were awesome."

*****

Several hours passed as they made their way towards Freehold, where Terra now considered home. But a vague uneasy feeling lodged itself in her gut that she could not shake.

Her thoughts spilled out. "That was too easy."

"Easy?"

"We faced some of the most powerful Talent in the world and walked out without a scratch."

"Well, they had no idea what was about to hit them," Will reasoned. "Are you worried they are going to come after us again?"

"Well, yes, but that's not it. It will take them a while to recover. Near term, I am more worried about the Dynasty. I had hoped to come to an understanding with the Uprising to leave us alone." She paused while her heart pounded. "It's just a feeling I have now, maybe nothing."