Chapter 23: A Red Horizon

Eli walked to the outskirts of Corin academy. By then, The sun was high in the sky. He used the last bit of his strength to jump into a nearby tree. He sat there, hidden by the leaves. A ball of pain formed between his eyes that grew worse with every pulse. He turned and looked through the leaves at the academy. He was right. There was significantly more people there than when he and Alice had snuck in.

He wondered just what Draven had in mind, what could he do that would make an opening? It was these thoughts that eventually lulled Eli to sleep. He slept on pain and worry about what was to come. He was to betray Penitulus, Corin, but that didn’t matter, he had to save Alice. Then, he fell into a deep sleep.

A sound like thunder shook the ground. Eli woke with a fright. His tail Instinctively wrapped around the branch he was on as a kind of support. The area was dark, and yet light from the horizon shone red like a setting sun. Eli looked down and saw that the maestros that were on the ground had scattered. He got up and climbed to the top of the tree in order to get a better view of what was happening, and he stared wide-eyed. The light came from Icarus City that was engulfed in flames.

A cold shiver ran down his spine, at that moment he thought about his mother. was she okay? He pushed the thought out of his mind, he couldn’t worry about that now. He jumped out of the tree and cringed in pain when he landed. His body was still hurt from earlier, though the sleep helped.

He moved swiftly and close to the ground. He circled the perimeter until he got to the entrance he and Alice used before. He crept through it peaked his head out in the middle of the grounds. He made sure that no one was around before he entered fully. He spent little time on the ground. Once on the campus, he scaled the closest building and took a breather.

His head turned back to the light of the burning city, he then forced his gaze away and surveyed the area. He thought about what Draven said, ‘Go down.' What did that mean? He moved to the other end of the roof and decided to go to the clock tower. Once again he looked around ensuring that there was no one around before he made his way. Once inside, he came to a full stop. He had no idea what to do, didn’t know where to go. Then he felt the key tugging in his pocket.

When he pulled it out it fell on the ground and rolled. Eli followed behind. It rolled and switch directions, it altered its movements so unnatural it seemed possessed. Eventually, it rolled into a locked door and bounced back only to roll forward again. The door seemed old and was covered in a thick layer of dust.

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Eli grabbed onto the handle and pulled, and much to his surprise the door opened easily. He looked around thinking that this was the time that some monster or guardian should jump out, but that didn’t happen. As he went down a flight of stairs he couldn’t help but have a nagging feeling. There should be something, something to stop him, but there was nothing.

The stairs led to nothing but darkness. Eli ran his hands along the wall for a switch but there was none or at least none he could find. But that didn’t matter. The same feeling that had attracted him in the library, it was present here leading him onward. Eventually, he saw a familiar glow, the red-orange of the shards. And there they were, resting on a pedestal, completely unguarded. Eli reached out and removed them. Again he was captivated by them, the living, breathing. His train of thought was interrupted by a sharp pain in his tail. “It seems we have a little rat,” A voice came from the darkness.

Moving the shards behind his back, Eli turned in shock, but he wished he hadn’t. The source of the voice was shrouded in the dark of the room, but his eye’s glowed a pale yellow. His presence filled the room with a pressure that made Eli’s spirit sink. He remembered this feeling. The same feeling that he felt when he and Alice witnessed Penitulus fight that monster for the first shard. The feeling that only a person with overwhelming power can emit.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make this as enjoyable as possible. . . for me that is.”

Eli was frozen. The eyes approached, the closer they got the heavier Eli’s body became, the more defeated he felt. But that couldn’t be. He couldn’t be defeated, not here, he had to get Alice back. The figure approached slowly, sauntering forward. Almost as though it knew its prey wouldn’t be able to run, but it was wrong. Eli leaped past him with all the strength of his legs, “Well, that’s intriguing.”

Eli heard the man say as he dashed down a dark corridor, lit only by the shards he was carrying.

He glanced back for a quick second, and in that quick second, the pair of eye’s appeared and approached. It was then Eli remembered about the arch-like structure, and he noticed that the key he was given was still tugging in his pocket, harder now than before. He reached in, dropped it on the floor, and followed it as it sped onward. Soon it came into view. An arch-like structure, wide enough to hold one person, and high enough for the tallest of people. It sat over a circular platform that had a sharp-tipped pedestal in the center. In that instant, Eli knew exactly what he had to do.

All this happened in a second, a second of surety, free of hesitation. The key flipped off of the ground and flew into the Arch, which produced faint blue lines of light. Eli jumped and reached for the pedestal. Had he glanced back he would have seen the hand of the yellow-eyed figure already wrapped around his shirt, waiting only for its grip to tighten. But he didn’t, instead, he slammed his hand on the pedestal. The sensation of it pierced his hand made his teeth grit and toes curl. And in a flash of light he vanished, the yellow-eyed man came to a full stop. He stood staring at where his prey just was, and a sinister smile crept on his face. “It seems I’ve come across something interesting.”