Beneath Pleidus' Sky- Chapter 11

“Impossible!” said Alexis incredulously. “They won’t easily let their guards down,”

“But its better we try,” said Zoe.

“What if it’s just a trap?” said Alexis, still being pessimist.

“We just have to be extra careful. We are running out of time, Alexis,” said Nilus. Alexis shifted in his seat miserably. Should he trust what he heard? Maybe he should just shut up when he heard it.

Less than ten minutes ago, Alexis heard a distant mind babbling about having Rhea in custody and they had arrived at the portal. Rhea’s face was vivid in that person’s mind. He was taken by surprise that he blurted out the details, causing Linus to quickly rent a car to track Rhea.

Currently, they were already midway to the destination, the red dot on the Portal Tracker in Daphne’s hand blinking as if beckoning them towards it. They were not far from the portal.

All the way, they had been arguing with Alexis who was sure that it was just a trap set up by the Resistant to lure them away from Rhea’s real location but Vlasis insisted that they gave it a shot. Linus was driving the car with Vlasis sitting beside him. Alexis was grudgingly sandwiched between Daphne and Zoe.

They arrived at the beach without any incident, parking just behind an empty parked car. They got out from the car quietly. It was getting dark but they could see two pairs of a footprints and a shoeprints in the sand heading towards the beachside. They followed the prints which were making a turn along the beach where the prints disappeared, consumed by the waves.

“They are here,” warned Alexis in a low voice that was audible to he rest of his team. “All of them had their mind shielded,” he added but then he added his expression changed. “There is one unique mind shield,” he said wonderingly.

“Rhea,” breathed Linus. “She is really here, too,”

They paced faster now, following the blinking red dot on the Portal Tracker, leaving their deep shoeprints in the sand.

When the portal was just a few metres from them, they heard a girl’s voice.

“Please just let me go,” the girl pleaded. Vlasis gave a serious meaningful look at Zoe who nodded, while the rest of the Legion sprinted towards the voice where they found Rhea who was wearing a green dress and carrying a backpack surrounded by six armed men.

The one who was holding Rhea’s arm was casually dressed, unlike the others who were wearing their mud green long jackets. He was holding a sword in his other arm.

Realising that someone was trying to crack their mind shields, the Resistant looked around as if searching for something until they see the Legion who were ready to strike.

The Resistant started shooting at the legion who were dodging them and returned fire. But they had to be careful because they did not want to accidentally hurt Rhea in the fight.

Once Alexis nodded at Linus indicating that the Resistants’ mind were exposed, Linus concentrated and stopped the Resistant from shooting. They just stood there, eyes unfocused. They slowly dropped their guns on the sand. However, he noticed that the man who was holding Rhea was totally unaffected. He tightened his hold on Rhea’s arm.

Suddenly, the Resistants charged to the man who was holding Rhea. They pulled out their swords and attacked him with every intention to stab and slash him. The man fought back with his sword. Seconds later, he lost his hold and Rhea which Rhea took the chance to break free and ran towards the Legion.

Rhea turned to look at the man once, just as one of the swords slashed him on the shoulder, drenching his shirt with blood. Rhea gasped, her hand covered her mouth but she turned away and went straight to Daphne. Daphne embraced her, comforting the fear- stricken girl.

It was impossible for Alexis to read Rhea’s mind because her mind was securely vaulted, the kind he never encounter before, but her face told the general story of her emotion right then.

“Come, we must move!” ordered Vlasis. They ran back to their car in the darkness of the night, with Zoe following them closely behind while maintaining her effort to crack the Resistants’ mind.

Rhea closed her eyes tightly as soon as they had packed themselves into the car. Linus sped the car as fast as the car could go.

“We need to find the nearest safe portal!” said Linus loudly over the noise of the rumbling engine of the car and the whistling wind.

“There’s one about six kilometres away from here. This one will lead us to the spot just across the Xionthe River. Just follow this road for the time being,” said Daphne quickly, referring to her Portal Tracker.

Linus nodded and concentrated on the road.

“Are you OK, my dear?” asked Daphne to Rhea who had been silent the whole time.

“Yes. I think I am,” Rhea replied, nodding awkwardly.

“You know who we are, Rhea?” Daphne asked again.

“I know you are the Council’s Legion but my name is Lilian, not Rhea,” said Rhea. Of course, she still had not remembered who she were but she had certainly been well- informed, else they would be troubled to explain their reason for being here to her, Alexis thought.

A few minutes later, they noticed that they were being followed.  The bright beam of light from the headlight behind them was reflected by the rear mirror. A car was speeding up to them. A bullet reached the rear windshield, shattering it into pieces, sending the back passengers to lower their heads.

“Damn it! They are fast!” said Vlasis, looking at the side mirror. “We have to lose them,”

Zoe and Alexis who were sitting at each door had taken out their guns while Daphne was protecting Rhea. The Resistants opened fire again; one bullet whizzed past just next to Linus’ ear and hit the front windshield which cracked into hundreds of pieces, ruining his view of the road in front of him. Vlasis quickly kicked the cracked front windshield out to completely get rid of it and clear the view.

Zoe and Alexis returned fires, targeting the windshield and the tyres. It was not easy because of the darkness and the blinding light from their car. After a few shots, Alexis managed to shot both of the front tyres, puncturing them causing the driver of the car to have difficulty to control the car. The car swayed violently.

Zoe shot their windshield down and shot directly to the driver’s head, killing him instantly.

They lost control of the car and it went to hit the divider. The survived Resistants got out from their car and opened fire again in their desperate attempt to stop them but they were already in a safe distant, just three kilometres away from the portal they were heading to.

Soon enough, they stopped by the roadside and trekked into the woods along the road.

“Here it is,” said Daphne finally, running her fingers vertically downwards over an invisible surface. They quickly wore the crystals bracelet on their wrists. Daphne gave one to Rhea.

“I already have one,” she said, showing her crystal bracelet.

“They gave it to you?” asked Vlasis, referring to the Resistant. Rhea nodded. “It will do,” he said.

“Just walk straight. It’s completely normal. Zoe will go first. Just follow her,” said Daphne.

Rhea nodded without much question. Zoe stepped forward. A few more steps and she just disappeared. Daphne gave Rhea a gentle nudge on the back to encourage her to follow Zoe. She obliged.

****

As she stepped through the portal, Lilian gazed above her. The ghostly trees above her looked eerie with the bright crescent moon shining above them. That sight abruptly disappeared as she stepped forward, replaced by sight of the murky morning sky, the dull sun and the hazy surrounding. It was not a pleasant sight.

She looked around. A girl in her twenties which she knew as Zoe was smiling at her. Shortly, the others joined them.

Out of the blue, Lilian felt light- headed. Her neck ached.

She rubbed her neck with her hand but she felt something liquid like sweat on the side of her neck which was covered by her hair. She pulled her hand back and stared on her palm. Crimson liquid stained her hand.

She coughed. More crimson blood.  She tried to inhale but suddenly breathing became something so hard to do.

Lilian panicked when she found that she could barely able to breathe. She was suffocating as she held her neck.


She felt hands supporting her up but she was already losing the sense of the ground. Her sight blurred, darkness engulfed her. She felt so scared. So scared to think that she might never be able to see the light again.


-End of Chapter 11-