“Why just us?” Thorne asked as he peered at Moravian with a frown. The two of them were walking through the industrial section in the dead of night. The ephemeral fog that occasionally ran through the city shrouded the moonlight. With his hood up and walking fast, Moravian answered in a screeching whisper, “You can teleport. That will be useful.”
Thorne nodded as he looked at the shadowy road in front of them. No one walked the streets at this time, or even during the day, at least willingly. After the killings, a morbid sense of terror washed over the citizens. Unfortunately, their bosses forced them to work, even when many were grieving the death of a loved one.
The rest of the journey was silent. It was a bizarre feeling—walking through a massive city and it being overrun by the macabre silence that only death and night could cause. Thorne had lived in cities all his life and had been surrounded by violence, especially in the nighttime. He had attempted to dissociate as much as possible, which had worked to a small degree. He had never been involved in a killing or a severe beating. However, when he was younger and inexperienced, he was a witness to many acts of violence, and almost all the time, the noise only grew louder after the attack, never quieter. People retaliated and made sure to not take the damage lying down. ‘This is perfect but horrible.’ Thorne sighed. 'A mass killing like the one yesterday could not have happened at a better time. A rebellion is brewing.'
Finally, a distant light brightened the gloom of the unlit road. Ahead of them was a humungous steel wall towering hundreds of feet in the sky. Thorne could see the top of it only because of the luminous watchtowers and their beaming spotlights.
Thorne felt a sharp nudge to his ribs; “Be quiet and walk exactly the same steps as me. Otherwise, we’re done.” Moravian uttered while staring at Thorne with a dead-serious expression.
The looming spotlights shone in front of them, and Moravian stared at him with intensity. ‘Looks like I gotta follow the boss,’ Thorne thought as he nodded at Moravian.
“Understood,” Thorne murmured as he focused on Moravian movement. To the untrained eye, Moravian appeared to be walking normally. This was far from the truth, however. As he walked, Moravian swayed his torso slightly or twisted the angle his head was facing. They were minor distinctions and challenging to pull off with Thorne’s ample frame. ‘Well, this will be uncomfortable,’ Thorne sighed as he followed through and copied the Druagr’s exact movements. Despite the difficulty, Thorne knew that Moravian was the expert on stealth, and the consequences of not following his lead would be far worse than discomfort.
Ahead of them was a single, slim road that led to the solitary gate. There were no other entrances, and the rest of the wall was locked off by massive buildings to dissuade climbing. However, Moravian took an unorthodox method and motioned for Thorne to follow him toward the building nearest to the wall. It was a two-story, steel and glass structure. Most of the building was made up of thick glass, and even from the sandy ground below the building, Thorne could see that the rooms in the building were lit and full of people. “Hold out your hand,” Moravian whispered, glaring at Thorne.
Obeying, Thorne held out his right hand. With a quick prick, Moravian poked a small needle infused with sable energy into his palm. “Follow my lead. Right now, you're invisible, but it only lasts for a minute. So, move quickly.” Moravian grunted, as he leaped up the building, and began to silently scale the windowed building.
“Damnit,” Thorne mumbled; with a grimace, he pushed red energy into his legs and hopped up to the building. His leap wasn’t nearly as quiet as Moravians, but due to the soldiers in the building talking and relaxing, the noise Thorne elicited didn’t give him away. With ease, Thorne agitated his red energy and moved it to his fingers and feet, making the climb easy as his appendages dug into the glass without struggle.
In only a few seconds, Thorne had scaled the glass building and saw Moravian waiting for him on the roof. Moravian, while visible, looked strange to Thorne. He shimmered and shifted like a mirage. His form was never constant, and it appeared like he was some sort of holographic illusion. ‘I probably look the same as him,’ Thorne thought with a shrug. Unbothered by Thorne’s squinting, Moravian pointed at the wall before he jumped up and began climbing.
Before following the ascending Draugr, Thorne peered at the wall with widened eyes.
‘Incredible.’ He thought. The structure was ridiculous in its magnitude. Despite living on Earth for years, he had never seen such a unique and fear-eliciting structure. Even in the Zupu world, the buildings—magnificent in magnitude—didn’t elicit the same reaction as this wall. This structure was built with a purpose…. a maleficent purpose.
Not allowing his thoughts to get ahead of him, Thorne leaped forward and began climbing. The wall was slippery and surprisingly wet. Thorne had to move more and more red energy to his fingers and feet as he had to create handholds of his own so he didn’t fall. The climb took much longer than a simple minute. Thorne knew this as he saw Moravian's illusionary figure above, sputtered and distorted, before it finally calmed, and displayed the true, unhidden Moravian. Luckily, the spotlights were focused on catching people sneaking out rather than in, and no one focused on watching people climb the outside walls into the farm. It was impossible, after all; who would be able to climb such an imposing structure?
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Time slipped by as Thorn and Moravian climbed. They had decided to start the attack as soon as the sun set. Thus, they had plenty of time before the sunlight would give them away. After dozens of minutes of intense climbing, Thorne finally found himself at the top of the wall. Moravian was waiting for him up there. He was crouching low, and as soon as Thorne’s popped his head over, Moravian motioned for him to follow his lead.
Doing so, Thorne rolled over and lowered his body as far as possible next to Moravian; “How do you think we do this?” Thorne whispered into the Draugr’s ear. “Wait here,” Moravian said, “I’ll go rescue Lyra.” With immense speed, the shadowy Moravian hopped down the wall, landing in the grass with a muffled thump. ‘Damnit,’ Thorne grimaced, ‘Should I seriously just wait here?’ He pondered as he scanned his surroundings.
There were plenty of guards, but due to the sheer size of the wall, they were spread out and couldn’t cover the entire structure. This allowed Thorne to have some freedom of movement, and he took full advantage of it. Hunkering behind the wall, Thorne made his way around the ramparts. He made his way as close to the gate as possible. ‘Shit,’ Thorne grimaced as he heard the slow footsteps of approaching soldiers. With haste, Thorne sprinted away from the gate.
‘So, it's very well protected,’ Thorne frowned. He was at least a hundred feet away from it on the wall, but he could hear and sense dozens of practitioners and even more mundane soldiers. The ramparts on top of the wall were very well-lit by a multitude of bright fluorescent lights. Luckily, Thorne found an area that remained unlit, and he promptly threw himself to the ground with a sigh; ‘This won't be easy.’ He thought. ‘I have to catch the cultivators by surprise, and that’s not even accounting for the soldiers.’ Thorne glowered as he remembered the weapons the normal soldiers carried, ‘Even as a cultivator, bullets hurt.’
Time stretched on as Thorne waited for Moravian. He knew that not too much time had elapsed, but the stress of inaction and helplessness bit away at Thorne. ‘Damnint, why can't I just jump down there and help.’ He scowled. ‘I just have to hope that Moravian is successful,’ Thorne sighed as he stared up at the smog-filled sky. No stars were visible in the night sky. Only fog, darkness, and a dab of artificial light were visible.
“HEY!” Thorne heard a loud shout sound from below him. He hopped up and leaned over the wall, looking down at the green farmland. “What the fuck!” Thorne muttered with a gaping expression. Moravian was sprinting away from a pack of practitioners! They were all human and of middling power, but with so many of them, Thorne knew that Moravian would be helpless against them. What surprised Thorne, however, wasn’t the fact that Moravian clearly messed up; rather, it was the slumped, emaciated figure on Moravian's shoulder! “Lyra.” Thorne gasped. The spotlights shone on the Draugr, and bullets began to fly!
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
With precision, Moravian began to glow slightly as he dodged the attacks! ‘He activated a skill!' Thorne realized as he felt the energy around Moravian thicken. As discreetly as he could, Thorne leaned over the wall and waved at Moravian franticly!
WHOOSH!
An acrid burning smell assaulted Thorn’s nostrils as a man behind Moravian cast a fire attack. ‘He’s not gonna dodge it!’ Thorne realized. Only a couple dozen feet away from him, Moravian was sprinting through the open field, but the fire attack was sure to overtake him!
“Sword-Shield!” Thorne murmured. His eyes dilated as he held out his swords. The structure and control he had over the amber energy showed as a coursing amber light began to shine in the darkness of the desert night! Along his dual swords, amber energy ran down them until they reached the tip! “Almost,” Thorne muttered, ignoring the shocked eyes that looked over at him. The ball of fire was a dozen feet away from Moravian and Lyra, and it was closing fast.
Ten feet! Eight feet! Six feet! “NOW!”
With a surge of effort, Thorne grimaced as he pushed forward and thrust his amber sword-shield forward. It flew through the air in a controlled fashion and shimmered as it passed over Moravian's tiny figure.
BANG! The amber blockade collided with the ball of heated fire! Absorbed into the shield, the ball of deadly fire dissipated with a sizzle, and it all but vanished! Only a tiny spark remained, which latched onto Moravian's cloak. That final spark, the final spark of hope for the guards to stop the intruders, was readily stomped out as Moravian slapped it with his spare hand.
“Argh!” The Draugr shouted in effort as he heaved Lyra’s thin body over his shoulder.
“CATCH!” He screamed up at Thorne. Nodding, Thorne put away his blades and prepared himself. The blood-streaked Moravian, panting with exhaustion, pushed his energy into his arms and threw Lyra hundreds of feet up past the wall!
Gritting his teeth, Thorne zeroed in on the girl as she flew up. Her torn robe fluttered in the wind as she soared upward. ‘There.’ Thorne outstretched his arms at the perfect time and cradled Lyra in his strong arms. ‘Wow.’ Thorne gasped. She was light. She felt like she hadn’t eaten in months; her usual petite frame was now bony and withered beyond what Thorne thought possible.
Thorne bent over and placed Lyra on the ground with care as he retrieved his swords. His eyes burned with fury as he swiveled his head to look for enemies! He hadn't known Lyra for long, but she was always kind and never once was malicious toward Thorne. He would not allow the ones who hurt her off!
Cocking his ears, Thorne looked over at the wall below him as he heard a scratching noise.
“Moravian,” He sputtered as he saw the Draugr climb up. 'How'd he get up so fast?' Thorne frowned. Moravian was bloody and clearly exhausted. Black beads of sweat were scattered all over his body—shining in the spotlight. “Give me here.” Moravian panted, “I’ll take her down and then bring the rest.”
Thorne nodded, a stoic expression taking control of his facial expression. He knew what he had to do.
Moravian looked at him straight on, a morbid undertone on his face; “You have to hold them off on your own and open the gate. I'm sorry I can't help,” The Draugr muttered, looking down at the ground in shame, “I messed up.”
Thorne nodded solemnly, “It's fine.” He muttered, “You did your job, and I’ll do mine.”
Moravian nodded at him as he held the unconscious Lyra in his skeletal arms. “Good luck Thorne.” He said, before hopping off the wall, down to safety.
Thorne watched his departing figure. ‘I always do my job.’ He thought, his eyes hardening in the night air. The moons, once obscured by the city's fog, finally peeked through and shone bright, right on Thorne. He retrieved his black swords, the runes sparkled menacingly in the moonlight. “Let us begin,” Thorne whispered, as he leaped forward at the enemy!