Nari waited breathlessly for Chenn to come for her. She didn’t know the exact time because she didn’t have a clock, but she knew that he’d come around an hour before midnight.
It had been a day or two since he’d visited her last, and they’d laid their plans. Now was the time when they would either escape or die.
A clinking came at her door. She rushed over to it. A moment later Chenn opened the door.
“Come on!” He waved for her to hurry.
She hurried out the door, and he followed quickly on her heels after locking the door.
“That should make them think you’re still in there for a while. That way, if anyone just looks at the door, they’ll think you’re still there.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
They increased their pace, not speaking further. Chenn overtook her, and led the way to the hold. Nari was struggling to keep up. She was still weak from her illness, and it was hard work to keep up with Chenn.
But her body was resilient, and she knew it was a matter of life or death. If she dragged them down, then they’d both end up dead. She forced herself to speed up to keep in pace with him.
Moments later, they reached the hold. The guards were, true to Chenn’s prediction, gone.
“How long before they come back?” Nari puffed.
“No more than five minutes.” Chenn’s voice was clipped and hushed as he entered the numbers into the combination code.
The door to the hold swung open for them. Chenn hurried inside, sweeping the Book, Scepter, and Wand into his bag. Then he came back out. He shut the door gently, resetting the lock to look like nothing had been tampered with.
“Quick. Follow me. I know a way out that goes the opposite way of the direction the guards will come.” Chenn hissed.
Nari nodded, face pale. The excitement was taking its toll. The only reason she was still on her feet, she knew, was the adrenaline rush she was currently experiencing.
Chenn headed off again, and she followed, breathing hard. They ran silently through the empty halls. The dark shadows were filtering over the floor, scarcely disbanded by the dim light strips along the floors and walls.
Finally they reached the door outside. Chenn shoved it open.
“Go through the Gate first.”
“What? Chenn, we didn’t agree on that! I won’t!”
“Don’t argue with me! I found something that can help us, but I have to stay behind for it to work!” He snapped. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“What are you going to do?” Her face was a white sheet, and her lips were nearly as pale.
“I’m going to make sure that they can’t follow us for a while.”
Her eyes widened. “Chenn?”
“No time to explain! Now move. Get across the runaway as fast as you can.”
She nodded, no longer arguing. She had decided to trust him, and she couldn’t go back now.
“Now!” Chenn hissed.
She darted out of the door into the pouring rain. She slipped on the slippery surface of the runway. But she regained her footing, and continued on her way. Guards tried to stop her, but fear fueled her, strengthening her. She shoved them out of her way, slipping out of their grasp.
Nari soon reached the Gate. She shoved hands away from her frantically, and a moment later, they fell away. She ignored the nauseating feel the Gate had, and pushed through.
A moment later, she was spit out onto the ground in a clearing on Earth. She gasped for a breath of air, retching the meager contents of her stomach onto the grass. She wiped the bile off her chin with her sleeve.
She couldn’t stay where she was.
If Chenn didn’t succeed in whatever little game he was playing, she didn’t want to be found.
Wait, Chenn had the three things Andrew needed. If he didn’t succeed, those were lost, and there was no way that Earth would survive long. Amory would take over, and he would begin his despotic reign.
She ensconced herself in the bushes surrounding the clearing, lying completely still as she caught her breath.
But someone grabbed her, covering her mouth with a clammy hand. Vanessa stared down into Nari's eyes, smiling coldly. "Got you! And your boyfriend isn't around to save you. Not only that, you're weak now, and there isn't any escape."
Nari felt a strange tugging at her mind and then she felt something slipping in trying to assert control and pry her secrets out. It was as though the presence within her mind was trying to flip through all her memories. She fought back, crying out into Vanessa's hand as a particularly painful memory struggled to come to the foreground of her mind once again. She shoved it away frantically trying to remove Vanessa's hand from her mouth.
Then she realized. Vanessa was the one pulling out the memories.
There was a huge flash, and Chenn was flung from the Gate. He hit the ground with a thud, moaning. The Scepter of Seas flew from his hand, and landed a few feet away. The Gate turned a muddy brown instead of the usual gentle blue fluorescent color.
What just happened? What had Chenn done to the Gate? Why was it brown?
She tried to give a muffled yell for his help, but she couldn't with Vanessa's hand clamped over her mouth. Instead, she watched him, helpless to aid in any way.
He rolled over, retching into the grass just as she had.
But he steadied out after a moment, and started looking around for her.
She wanted to sob in frustration. She kicked Vanessa, trying to make enouhg noise to attract Chenn's attention.
Then she felt Vanessa's mind tugging at hers again. Without magic, Nari was hard pressed to fight back. She needed Chenn. He had magic equal to Vanessa's own, and if anyone could help her, it was him.
Fortunately, Chenn heard the struggle and headed their way.
He nearly tripped over them, accidently kicking Vanessa in the stomach.
Vanessa's mind slipped on Nari's own, losing focus.
Nari gasped, struggling to break free completely. Her mouth was free now. "Chenn! She's trying to take over my mind or look through memories or something. Please, stop her. It hurts."
Chenn's eyes widened, and he glared at Vanessa. Whispering a few words, he pointed the wand at her.
She screamed as the wand flashed and a searing light encapsuled her. Then the light disappeared and Vanessa lay unconscious on the ground.
"Come on. Let's get out of here." Chenn whispered unsteadily, helping Nari to her feet.
"What did you do to the Gate? A better question, actually, what did you do to her?" Nari nudged Vanessa with her toe gently. "And why didn't you tell me what you were planning to do with the Gate last night?"
“I learned a little trick during some studying on how to use the Scepter and the Wand. It’s a useful trick, but it takes a lot to recover. I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure if it would work or if I could do it. I wanted you to go through first so you'd be safe. And as to Vanessa, I used another trick. It's a combination of a spell and the Wand's power that will cut a person off from their magic forever.” Chenn murmured as he started to walk.
His stomach roiled and churned in agitation. He swayed slightly on his feet.
“Are you going to be able to walk, Chenn?” Nari steadied him, ignoring the pounding in her own head as she recovered from Vanessa's dip into her mind.
“Yeah.” He muttered.
“It’s too bad that we won’t reach the halfway point to West Base before the three month mark.” She whispered.
“What?” He frowned at her.
“Well, you see, Chenn, I was supposed to meet Indri or someone else at that point on the third day of the third month since I was sent out.” Nari explained as they walked.
“Oh. How long since you were sent out?”
“Uhh… I think I’ve been gone…” She counted it up in her head, and then she shook it vehemently. “There’s no way. It’s going to take us both at least four days, maybe more, to get back to the meeting point, and the deadline’s tomorrow.”
Chenn groaned. “Of course it is. I wish I’d listened to you, and let you go that night when you were escaping with these three magical items.” He waved his hand at his satchel, which had landed a few inches away. “I should’ve helped you, gone with you, and avoided all this trouble.”
“Well, things are what they are. How long before they can get through the Gate?”
“They can’t get through it for another day or so. So we won't be chased for that long at least. We're in no immediate danger, but we still need to move.”
Nari nodded. She got up, and picked up his satchel. It was heavy with food and the Book, Wand, and the Scepter added extra weight. She hoisted it onto her shoulder. "Will Vanessa be awake before then to follow us?"
"Maybe. Probably. But if she is, she'll be so disoriented that she won't be able to move on her own wihtout help for the next day or so. A side-effect of the spell." Chenn smiled weakly, shivering in the wind and rain.
“Alright... Well, come on then, Chenn.” She released him, taking the lead position.
He swayed on his feet a bit. But he began to stagger after her.
They walked in the rain and wind for nearly two hours. Chenn stopped her then. “Can’t keep going. Too tired.” He gasped.
“Yeah. Me neither.” Nari collapsed onto the wet ground under a tree.
It offered little protection from the wind, but the rain was kept off them for the most part.
Chenn collapsed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, and she nestled up against him for warmth. She was asleep a few minutes after, rain drumming into the ground all around as she slept. Chenn dropped off only a few moments later.
They had done it. They had escaped, and soon they would reach West Base. Earth was saved.
Well, that’s a bit premature. Chenn thought before he fell asleep. After all, we still have to get the items to Andrew, and I still have to tell him what I know about wielding them so that he has a higher chance of winning. We still have to make it without being killed by Amory’s marauding beasts. Not a comforting thought. His eyelids drooped.
Nari pressed slightly closer to him in her sleep, and he relaxed as her warmth penetrated deep into his own body. They were safe. He could rest now. His eyes fluttered closed, and he slept.