Two days had passed, and the sun was setting on the horizon as Lily and Tiamat flew high above the Chicago Skyway. She knew Commander Arlington had to have tracked her GFID Nano-chips by now, and was likely awaiting her arrival despite the late hour.
They approached the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building where the secret headquarters of her district of the National Security Agency was hidden. Then, Lily’s eyes blurred and she saw a most disturbing sight. It was daytime in the vision, and nearly twenty cloaked men climbed out of the back of a large delivery truck and entered the building from the service entrance.
“Take me down there.” Lily said.. “I need to go inside.”
I cannot go with thee. Thine entrances art too small. Where shall I await thy return?
Lily’s eyes blurred again, and the darkness of the night returned. It took but a moment to determine that the offices were mostly empty this late, so the parking garage should be a safe place for Tiamat to hide.
She pointed to the garage entrance. “Down there.”
Tiamat snorted and descended. Lily guided her to a set of stalls between a wall and a stairwell that would help conceal the great dragon from any potential stragglers who might be working late.
“If anyone spots you, leave.”
Yes, dear child.
“Don’t worry. I shouldn’t be long.”
Lily dismounted and made her way to the elevator. When the doors slid closed, she tried to turn the ‘Fire Service’ keyhole past the ‘On’ slot using just her fingernails, but only succeeding in snapping her index fingernail off. In frustration, she sucked on her throbbing finger, trying to staunch the blood oozing from beneath the jagged remains of her nail. With a mighty effort, she was successfully able to get the retina scanner to pop out from the wall.
Upon completing the scan, the elevator plummeted to the hidden subterranean offices of the NSA. The elevator door opened to a horrifying sight. Bodies of NSA agents riddled with bullets lay strewn on the floor. The smell of death and smoke was overpowering. She stumbled through the graveyard of bodies in shock.
I’m too late…
Around a corner, she found Commander Arlington’s body lying in a heap. Seeing her former mentor’s body sent her into a violent fit of nausea, and she barely had time to find an empty corner before her stomach emptied itself.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Timur and his Creed were the culprits of this carnage. Of that, she had no doubt.
After purging what remained of her stomach and her roiling emotions, she wiped her tears away. Timur had gone too far. These men and women had been her friends, arguably the closest thing to a family she would ever have. Now they were all gone.
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“Timur will pay!” she said through gritted teeth.
She ran past the bodies and back into the elevator. Her nose burned from the smell of decaying flesh, and the stale air of the parking garage was welcome by comparison. She rushed back to Tiamat’s hiding place, relieved to see that she hadn’t been spotted. Without realizing what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around Tiamat’s torso and cried.
Pray tell, what is the matter?
Lily’s recent memories flashed through her mind.
Forgive me, but I understandeth not the images I doth see in thine recent memories.
“They... they’re all... they’re all dead.”
Tiamat stood in silence as Lily’s breathing slowly returned to normal. Lily slowly regained her composure, her eyes ablaze with a fierce determination.
“Timur did this,” she said. “And I suspect he’s the one who killed Jason Bridger too.”
Over the past several days she had seen many visions of the past, and she had figured out that in order to see these visions she had to be standing in the precise location where the event had once occurred.
Together they left the garage and took off into the sky. Lily guided Tiamat toward Grant Park, knowing innately that she would find the answers she needed there.
The park came into view when, as if on cue, Lily’s eyes blurred again. It was still nighttime, and the cascading turrets of Buckingham Fountain glowed brilliantly.
Art thither fish in danger?! They doth dance in fiery waters!
“No.” Lily said. “First, those aren’t real fish, they’re statues. Second, that’s not fire. It’s light powered by electricity.”
Pray tell, is this a form of Earth magic?
“In a way, yes.”
They touched down on the north side of the fountain, just as Lily heard Jason’s voice approaching from the dark. She watched the vision play out as Jason walked briskly toward the fountain with his cell phone against his ear. He seemed jittery, and appeared not to have slept. It was unsettling for Lily to know that she had rescued him from the headquarters of CyberBolt Entertainment just the night before.
“Allan, this is Jason. I know we haven’t spoken in a long time, but I need your help. I’ve stumbled across some disturbing information that involves one of your firm’s clients. I need to speak with you in private immediately. As soon as you get this, meet me on the east side of Buckingham Fountain. There’s little time.”
“Indeed, you have very little time.” came Timur’s sinister voice from the shadows.
Jason spun around, his pistol cocked and ready, “Back off, old man!”
“Ah.” Timur brandished a handgun of his own. “Not until you return what belongs to me.”
“I’m not letting you get away with this.”
“This scene is all too familiar.” Timur chuckled and pulled the hammer back on his weapon. “This is exactly how your colleague died.”
Jason fired immediately, and Timur fell backwards. Lily watched in confusion as a strange greenish glow surrounded Timur’s body, and then it disappeared. From out of nowhere, Timur reappeared behind Jason and fired his weapon twice. Jason fell to his knees, clutching his wounds as blood pooled around him.
Timur picked up the thumb drive that had fallen out of Jason’s hand and placed the tip of his handgun against Jason’s forehead.
“As I said, you indeed have very little time.” he sneered. “And I might add, your friend Allan has very little time as well.”
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