P.O.V: Iris
I had already slipped out of my cell and was now invisible. I was right about that spell coming in handy. The two guards patrolling the hallway never saw me coming. They now lay on the ground, unconscious. I stole one of the officer's master keys and made myself visible. All the kids around me were asleep. I quickly unlock the bottom level and usher the kids up and out of their cells. "Shhh. Don't make a sound. Take the other keys and finish the rest." I hand them the other keys and they begin to unlock others cells.
The green-eyed boy steps towards me. "I can take them to the Tyrant base, but it will take a few days." He says.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"My name is not what you should be worrying about right now, they are." He points to four guards waking around the corner.
I tun to the kids and say, "I'll take care of them. Keep going." I say the invisible spell inside my head. I heard quiet gasps escape from the kids, even the Tyrant boy was surprised. I move swiftly, not making a sound. I used the hilt of my dagger to knock them out. Not enough to kill them, but enough for them to have a long nap. I turn visible again, tossing my dagger in the air and catching it. "Follow me." I tell the wide eyed kids standing twenty or thirty feet away. I lead the kids through the different bends and turns and then stop and turn to face them. "Divide into four groups."
They immediately obey. "Each group will be going through a different exit. I will make sure most of you escape. The first exit is behind us. Turn right twice then left followed by another right. The second exit is to the left and the third one is to the right." I point to the halls leading to the different exits. "The turns are all the same. Two right, one left, and another right." The four groups nod, showing they got it. "I'll lead the first group to the back exit. There will be guards everywhere at the exits and outside. They will shoot. Have no doubt about that." I warn them. I point to a kid with a bruise on his face. "Your group follow me."
The group was made of the youngest kids here. They had divided into their closest age groups, just as I suspected. "The rest of you find a place near here and hide. Don't come out until I say so."
They nod. I wave the first group to follow me quietly but quickly. My side was starting to send a dull ache as I ran. On the way there, more guards started popping up. I told the kids to walk back a few feet because on the other side of this hall, there were at least eight guards.
I gave up the idea of just walking in invisible. Instead, I just opted to switch between being visible and being invisible as I threw my dagger at the guards and kicked their feet out from under them. That was actually a little harder than normal.
Once all the guards were laying on the tile floor, we made our way carefully. There were about twelve more guards at the double doors of the exit. I smiled to myself because they were standing near each other.
I turn invisible and set one of the officer's uniforms on fire, then ran back to the kids. The flame had already spread from one to the other. They were frantically trying to put the fire out but it was already too late. Their uniforms were scorched and I ran and knocked them unconscious.
"GO!" I tell the kids. "We will meet up in the abandoned part of the City. Now run!" I yell. They burst out of the doors and one trips. I quickly help her up, ushering her out of the door.
"Thank you." The small girl says to me before running to join her friends. As soon as she left, I raced back to the others.
"Coast is clear." They all merge at my words. "Okay, second group follow me." The second youngest group follows me as I turn down the hall to our left and see five guards. "Stay here for a minute." I dash towards the guards who tried to shoot me, but I quickly gained enough momentum to run on the wall and kick their heads.
Their knees buckled and they all collapsed as I also made a tiny earthquake shake them. I motioned for the kids to follow and they do, their eyes wide with disbelief. We were halfway to the exit when I hear the alarm go off. No, no, no, I think, I told the kids to run and I led them down the corridor and blast a fireball at any guards that stood in our way. They hit the walls and we continued on. I barreled through the guards standing at the exit, throwing caution to the wind.
"GO! Run!" The guards were passed out, but there were three of them trying to get up. One of them managed to grab one of the kids.
"Help!" The little boy screamed. I ran to the guard and hit his temple with the but of my dagger. His grip loosened and he fell to the ground in a heap. The other two guards were already running away with two kids, but I couldn't do anything about it as much as I did want to chase after them. As the last of the kids trickle out of the door, I speed away. I call out the the rest of the kids. "The group of the oldest kids will go out the side exit on the right. I won't be able to come with y'all. I need to lead the other group through the front doors. The alarm has been pulled and the highly armed guards will be coming soon. Make it fast and safe." I tell them.
"I will handle the guards and the other group. You handle the younger ones." The Tyrant tells me.
"We will all meet in the abandoned part of the City of the New World. Save as may as you can. Leave the ones you can't. Don't risk yourself." I instruct and he nods and leads his group the the side exit. I lead the last of the kids to the main exit. The one where more guards were going to be stationed. I hear heavy footsteps echoing behind my group. Shit! Some of the kids had turned to look, but I knew what it was. The reinforcements.
"Run faster!" I yell to the younger kids over the sound of the stampeding feet of the guards. Then guns started to go off. A few of the kids fell but we couldn't go back. I finally reached the heavy metal doors and threw them open. More kids were being captured. As the kids ran past, I shot fireball after fireball at the approaching guards. Finally, I spot him.
Ajax sees the kids that weren't able to escape and looks at me sadly. I begin to run towards the guards, now a human torch. They reel back at the sight of me, but don't stop shooting. Their bullets sizzle against my flames and melt away. I throw myself at them, sending flames everywhere. On my way back to the groups, I had made sure to create fires everywhere.
The initial hallway was already spreading its flames throughout the rest of the compound. The kids that were captured would have to be moved to a new building. Next thing I know, a grey, half-dead dog was running and biting the armed guards. The guards and I were surrounded in fire. Ajax was throwing water spheres at me, which I dodged and ducked easily.
I turn around and run up the wall and punch a guard in the face. His nose starts to bleed and the Death Hound jumps on him. The building starts to crumble behind us, even the concrete. I turn and run, everyone else and the dog following close behind me. The Death Hound was the one I had spooked and it now stands at my side. Everyone watches as the building comes crashing down in a heap of flames. As the officers were looking at the compound dumb-founded, I began to run away.
Ajax grabs my arm and whispers in my hear, "Be careful."
I nod and say, "The Tyrant said he would take us to the base, but it would take a few days to reach it." I glance at the guards.
"I'll find you. Now go. Hurry before these morons turn around and spot you." H says.
I nod again and run, the dog at my heels. I didn't look back until I was thirty feet away. Ajax was still watching me. I smile and then take off towards the abandoned part of the City. I caught up with the rest of the kids, who were still running through the large city. We decide to hide in an old office building. When all the kids were inside, I noticed we had lost fifteen kids. I walk to the Tyrant kid who was busy calming a little girl who was crying. He was crouched down next to her and she finally stopped crying. He stood up and we walked to a more private part of the room.
"So, how long will it take to reach your base?" I ask him.
"About five or six days. We will have to travel through the Deserted City and camp out in different buildings for shelter." The boy says. "I'm Emmett by the way."
"Iris." I say.
"Like the flower?" He asks and I nod.
I take a deep breath, deciding if I should tell him about Ajax, but decide against it for the time being.
"We'll stay here until morning. Then we start our journey to the base." Emmett says, then pauses. "The kids have said that you were running on the walls, turning invisible, and throwing fire from your fingertips."
I couldn't help but smile at that.
"This is going to have to be told to my leader. She might have a few questions to ask you. We have never came across a witch such as yourself. Most of the ones we have back at the base can do basic parlor tricks, grow plants, and other useless stuff like that. We have a few wizards as well, but they are the same. I'm actually one of them." He says.
My eyes widen in surprise. "I haven't met anyone like me except for that informant." I tell Emmett.
A flash of anger crosses his face. "I hate that guy." Then he gives me a suspicious look. "Why was he in your cell when they brought me in?"
"He was sent in to get information from me." I say in a duh kind of way.
"Usually they take you into an interrogation room and he asks questions until you just want him to shut up."
I hide a smile at the mention of the interrogation room. "He has a name you know." I say before I realized I said it.
"Yeah, I know. I just don't like to say it. It's really weird." He says, a little annoyed. He glances down and says, "You have a bullet hole in your leg and one in your arm."
"What?" I look down at my legs and sure enough there is one in my left thigh. The other was lodged in my right arm. "Dammit. How did I not notice that?"
"Adrenaline spike." Emmett says, guiding me to a chair.
The pain was excruciating as it explodes throughout my body. I sill have on the black tank top and black shirt, making it easier to get to my wounds. My bruise on my stomach was hurting along with the one on my face. "Perfect," I mutter.
"The bullets have to come out." Emmett tells me.
"No, they have to stay in." I say sarcastically, annoyed at this situation. I don't want him to go poking around in my wounds so I close my eyes and concentrate. I feel the bullets being pushed out of my body and I open my eyes to see a wide-eyes Emmett looking back at me.
"How the hell did you do that?"He asked, awe creeping into his voice.
"Just a trick I can do. I can also heal pretty quickly too." I say, then grimace. Great. My leg and my arm are both bleeding.
"I'll be right back." Emmett says, then walks off. A second later, he returns with two pieces of cloth and ties them around my bullet holes.
"Thanks." I say.
"It's the least I could do for you, Iris." He tells me. "How did you manage to break out of your cell?"
" A simple spell." I say obviously.
"But all my powers were suppressed. How is that even possible?"
"I don't know." I lie. I stand up and bite back a cry of pain. I walk to the front of the room and face the ninety-five kids. "Is everyone okay?" I lean most of my weight on my right leg.
In response, I get several nods. "Good. We will get some rest here for the night, then we leave out in the morning." I say, then step away and allow Emmett to talk to the group about sleeping arrangements and if anyone had any food rations that they should share with everyone. The sun had already began to dip below the horizon. I pull out my brown journal and begin to write to Ajax.
Hey. I'm in a safe location with the kids.
You did a great job for your first breakout.
I smile and write back Thanks, Ajax.
Did you get hurt at all?
Yeah, I have a bullet hole in my right shoulder and my left leg. I already got the bullets out.
Good. I should be able to locate you in two or three days.
Okay. So, where are you going to stay now that the compound is ash? I ask.
I moved back into my old room in a different compound. The Lord is very pissed off. I'm pretty sure his second-in-command is now the command of nothing. The Lord doesn't take mistakes lightly.
The second-in-command is now nothing. It sends a shiver up my spine.
You know the Tyrant right?
Yeah. Why?
He sorta hates you.
I know. I had to interrogate him a few times.
What do you think is going to happen when you show up?
Let's hope he doesn't try to kill me. And that you have gained his trust to where he won't think you're a spy.
True. You know he's a wizard, right?
Yeah, but only a minor.
Nothing like you, I joke.
I can cause tsunamis, Ajax brags. By the way, how did you run on the walls?
A smile breaks out across my face.
I can bend the gravitational pull of Earth.
Damn. I'm gonna start calling you The Flash.
Okay, fish boy.
Ugh. I have to go.
Awww. Already?
Yeah, I'll write to you tomorrow, okay?
Night, Fish boy.
Night, Fire girl.
I close the book and put it up. I notice Emmett was sitting in a chair instead of sleeping like the others. I was in my makeshift bed, laying down. I stand up, my leg and arm aching in protest as I step over sleeping kids and walk to him. Well, really I limp. "What are you still doing up, Emmett?" I ask him.
He looks up at me and replies, "Being a lookout."
I place my over-sized jacket back on my shoulders. One of the older girls had given it to me to stay warm in the cold night. Emmett has emerald green eyes that seem too colorful compared to his black clothing he had somehow managed to get a hold of.
"How did you get that tattoo?" I ask him, changing the subject.
He pushes his dark bangs out of his eyes and begins to tell me about his great accomplishment. "I had led a team of five into a torture compound just like the one you just burned to nothing. Me and my team gad helped around two hundred kids escape, but it came with a price." He pointed to a deep scar on his head. "I got shot there and almost died. Luckily, there were some kids who knew a thing or two about bullet wounds. I wasn't healed until about a month or two later. The leader was impressed with me surviving a shot like that and all the kids we saved. All six of us were granted the privilege of receiving the Tyrant's symbol." Just then, I hear something and instinctively summon my dagger in my hand. "Relax. It was just a patrol officer down the street. Nice dagger." Emmett tells me. "I've only known of two other people who could summon their dagger. Me and the leader." As if to demonstrate his point, a black-bladed knife appears in his hand.
"Can I see that?" I ask, looking at the knife.
"Sure." He smirks. "If you can catch it." He throws it in the air and I barely managed to catch it.
I put my own up and examined the knife. "Black steel with an oak and cedar handle. Nice."I say.
"Yep." The black steel makes it heavier than my dagger, but the steel is a rare sight to see. I toss it in the air and catch it expertly. "Has some weight to it." I toss it in the air again and he nods. I hand it back and take my dagger out again. "My dagger is just a normal silver steel blade but I managed to be able to do this." I watch Emmett's face as the dagger in my hand now has flames licking my fingers.
"Cool." He says, trying to hide his surprise and I smile.
"My dad gave this to me when I was ten. I've had it for four years and I can throw it with near perfect accuracy."
"I've only had this one for two years, but I can still throw it pretty good."
"Well, I think I'm going to go to sleep. Don't stay up too late, Emmett." I tell him.
He smiles at me. "I won't. Now go get some rest. You're going to need your strength." He tells me and I nod and walk back to my little sleeping area and lay down.
I hope Ajax is feeling better than I do right now. These bullet wounds are really staring to hurt. Eventually I fall asleep from the exhaustion and pain. Ajax had written he might have to set out out to find me in the morning.