Chapter 21
The Escape
Corps Castle was falling. Every second was a new tremor at its very foundations, vibrating Meredith’s entire body. Stone came down in trickles from what was left of the ceiling above. A crash in the distance indicated that something larger had fallen somewhere, but none of them could know what. All they saw were flames, spiraling towards the inky blackness that was the night sky. Marcus was long gone, and Meredith was staring at where the Earth-Splitter had disappeared. She wanted to go after it, but after one painful attempt at moving her legs, she knew that was an impossibility.
“I want a headcount. Where were the others that left with you?” Amelia shouted. As the sole remaining commander, she took charge, counting out all of the people that were there. “Childs, Lacroix, Baroné, the Lacardians…and just seven others. Where did Raymond go? I thought he went up with you.”
“Raymond…he…” Meredith couldn’t get the words out. Terrill. Raymond. Marcus. All of their backs retreated into the shadows of her mind, leaving her behind. Vivian, herself exhausted, was determined to answer the commander’s question.
“He…he joined Marcus. Along with a couple of others…” the blonde said. She was staring down at the Bow of Torrents. There was no way she could have known the pain that Kyle was concealing within, but Meredith felt like Vivian was still commiserating with him. Having seen Terrill in the flesh could only have conveyed those feelings.
“Marcus…To think he was…” The castle shook, ending Amelia’s remonstrations against herself. “There will be time to discuss this later. Right now, we need to get out of this castle. I’m all but certain it will come down around us.”
“How…?” Summer asked, closing her hands around her knees. “There’s no way out from up here, and those skyships are just waiting to kill us all.”
“Then we’ll find a way!” Amelia shouted at the girl. She scrambled back, terrified of the furious vision that was Amelia. “This Corps has stood for a thousand years, and you heard that man. Live! Live on! Don’t you have a sister you want to get back to? A school? Or are you telling me Roy gave his life for nothing?!”
“N-no…not nothing…” Summer said. Conrad reached under the twin, helping to pull her up, and Meredith realized that the girl’s foot was bleeding. Many of them were bleeding and broken, the last remnants of a destroyed Corps. Even Amelia, so staunch in her emotions and strength, was struggling to hold back her tears.
“What way is there out of here, commander?” Conrad finally asked of the woman. She lifted some wind, her frazzled hair tied into a bun while she considered the situation around them. Many of the Guardians that were left were helping each other up, though some remained seated, as if they were throwing themselves on the mercy of the castle. Meredith wasn’t willing to go that far, and with what little strength she had left, she brought herself up, placing weight on her legs.
“Ah!” Her scream as she fell over made Vivian rush to her, supporting her. It also called Amelia’s attention.
“Your legs are busted, Childs. One of you, carry her. And Baroné, too. Leave no straggler behind…though not many are left…” Amelia turned, watching as the hangar burned, the floor creaking and groaning with the tremors felt beneath it. “We’ll make our way to the back, as best as we can. With any luck, the skyships won’t be waiting for us there. I’ll protect all of you to meet up with the other survivors outside.”
A shockwave rippled through the castle, and a whole turret fell through. It was just visible in the darkness of night, crashing through the remaining ceiling and breaking upon the floor there. The whole room felt like it was turning on its axis, ready to deposit them to the floor below. Amelia’s wind flashed out, buffeting them back before they could slip into the flames that were waiting for them. A pair of hands held fast to Meredith, picking her up. It was Conrad.
“I’ll carry you, Mera. Just hold on.” He bent low, allowing her to place her arms around his neck before he lifted her up. He grunted a little bit before he distributed her weight evenly.
“No more dilly-dallying,” Amelia ordered them. “Get back to the lower levels.”
A crash sounded through, and Amelia whipped up her storm, driving back the rubble that threatened to crush them. The little that wasn’t caught by her winds was intercepted by Vivian and another Guardian with barrier magic. Emil was hauled up by another and Summer hobbled along while they turned to the service stairs, dragging themselves over to it. One of the Guardians that Meredith didn’t know wrenched open the door, only to find the metal stairs lined with flames.
“We’ll…need a different way down,” Meredith croaked out. She could hardly think from the ache in her legs, but her eyes looked at the collapsing hangar. “Who can…use some form of floating magic…for groups?”
“I can,” one of the female Guardians left answered. “I can’t support many, but…”
“Then I’ll help you with your stamina load,” Vivian promised. In her rare acts of kindness, the blonde clasped the woman’s arm, reassuring her of their path forward.
“Whatever we’re doing to get down there, hurry up and do it. That second floor won’t hold for long.” Amelia blasted back another patch of debris, but moved aside to allow Vivian and her new ally to reach the edge. The girl glowed green from Vivian’s enchantments, and then a whisper of wind trickled across the air. Conrad’s body felt lighter, but not in the same vein of Emil’s magic. It was more like treading water over the edge of nothingness. “Lower us gently.”
“Y-yes, sir,” the girl confirmed. Those that could move started to, clumsy as they were, each leaping off the edge of the chasm that had formed. As they did so, the piece of the building they were standing on began to break apart, leaving them with nothing on their floor. The floater began to ease off on their floating until right before they hit the ground. She breathed in relief once their shoes hit the ground in safety.
“Good work. Run,” Amelia instructed her. It was a warzone all round them, the dozen of them racing through the second-floor hall in the hopes of finding the stairs down. Every path was blocked by some new stone, or a mountain of bodies and flame. What the Order hadn’t summarily destroyed, Terrill had taken care of the rest, determined to not let Marcus’s Corps remain on the face of the planet. Meredith clung tighter to Conrad, her pained legs beating about under his hold.
There was another tremor, this one greater than the last, and their group paused at the end of the corridor. The busted-up cafeteria was in sight, but there was so much in the way of shaking that none of them could keep their footing for long enough to reach it. Meredith craned her neck as she held to Conrad, her eyes widening at the sight. The great lighthouse that had been at the top of the castle was falling, coming down to where they were standing.
“Behind us!” Meredith shouted. “Anyone with offensive spells, break it up! Miss Floater, reduce its impact as much as you can! Barrier people…you know what to do!”
“Even crippled you’re giving orders,” Vivian said, her lips twitching with annoyance. It didn’t stop her from enchanting the air to create a shimmering barrier. Amelia created lances of wind that pierced the falling turret, but failed to do much in the way of damage. Not on their own, at least.
“I’ll make it brittle. It might get a bit chilly,” Summer said. Her lips were pursed in concentration as the air became cold, like a winter’s night. The flames here and there forced her to work harder to achieve her goal, but eventually Meredith saw a marked difference, the turret freezing up. Joined by those with firepower, Amelia shot her lances again. This time they broke through, the crushing building breaking into far more manageable pieces that rebounded from their shields to crash harmlessly. As they sighed in relief, another Guardian returned from his scouting.
“There’s no way downstairs, commander. It’s either ablaze or collapsed, full of rubble. I think a water main might have broken as well.”
“Then we’ve little time. Little Miss Float, you and I will have to get everyone from this floor to the plains together. And all without alerting those skyships.” The girl nodded, her fists close to her chest with determination. Ignoring the trembling, their group ran down the rest of the corridor and into the cafeteria.
Pots and pans were strewn about, that day’s dinner splattered on the walls and floor. A few bodies were huddled in the corner, having tried to make their way out. The particles of black smoke spelled their fate at the Beastmaster’s hands, and Meredith gripped Conrad’s robes tighter. The television screen was cracked, no longer playing the news of what had happened. She wasn’t even sure if anyone was aware of what had gone down in Corps Castle that evening.
Looking at the food, her stomach growled unintentionally, but instead of thinking about filling it, her thoughts turned to Eddie. She so hoped he was okay with Tempest Squad, though she couldn’t find his soul anywhere. Of course, she reasoned, she was too exhausted to actually summon up her Soul Vision, so that was no surprise. With that rampant tiredness, she leaned her head upon Conrad as Amelia approached the exterior wall of the castle. She felt over its surface, her bereavement on display for a brief moment before she turned to them.
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“Stand back and get ready. This’ll be loud, and no doubt attract attention,” she said. They did as she requested, huddling by one of the overturned tables. A breeze formed in the room, building up into a greater gust and then into the force of a hurricane. Amelia stood back, her weapons out before she aimed them at the walls. With the power of her wind behind them, the weapons cleaved into the wall. After a final push, the wall blasted outward, falling towards the plains below. “Okay, let’s go. Quick.”
Conrad was the first to jog forward with Meredith bouncing on his back. Vivian and the float girl were with them as they reached the pivotal edge. Meredith breathed in, praying they could make the leap to safety.
Before they could, though, she heard it, the sound of a skyship engine. Amelia was shouting for them to get back, and light was flooding the cafeteria, spelling their certain doom. Meredith closed her eyes, willing to accept it if this was the end. Regret welled deep inside, but resignation lingered also. She would be fine if they were to die.
The voice that came from the hovering skyship told her it wasn’t time to.
“Any of you Guardians need a lift?” Meredith snapped to full attention, and as the light through the hole receded, she saw a different model of skyship, one she didn’t recognize. The girl atop it was one she did. “Glad you gave such an obvious sign of where you were.”
“Well, Miss Taylor, you are quite the credit to your Home Guard. Come to rescue your comrades-in-arms?” Amelia asked. With the lights dimming now that their presence had been confirmed, Meredith smiled at Brynn atop the skyship. It was manned by a skeleton crew, that much was obvious, but Brynn wore nothing but a smile for the bedraggled Guardians.
“Might’ve acted impulsively and disobeyed a few orders, but something like that. You wanna hop on and have this chat later, away from the burning, collapsing building?” Brynn’s enthusiasm helped Meredith to feel lighter, even if her legs were still in agony. The girl held a hand forward, and each of the Guardians took it, one by one being pulled upon the skyship by either Brynn or her imposing subordinate, Edgar.
“How did you know to come to Corps Castle?” Meredith asked as soon as they were on the deck and Conrad had placed her down next to Emil. The boy was once again returning from unconsciousness when he felt the skyship pull away from the building.
“After our conversation, I returned to Communications Tower. Your Captain Swanson asked me to work with Quake Squad, but they were nowhere to be seen,” Brynn answered. She scanned Meredith up and down, frowning at the girl’s state. “I had a guess something was wrong and worked to get out here as fast as I could.”
“Yeah, save the details, we have more comrades to pick up, and it won’t be easy. How versed with skyships are you and your men, Miss Taylor?” Amelia asked pointedly. Brynn left Meredith behind to answer the set of questions.
“Basic training, but anything more complicated is a no-go, and this is a civilian craft, so there are no weapons on-board…”
“We’ll make do. You have offensive magic, protect the ship. Lacroix, you’re on barrier duty. Enhance those attacks to the best of your ability. I’ll pilot.” Brynn didn’t argue with Amelia as she stormed towards the bridge. Before she entered the door that led to it, the commander turned back. “We’re getting Tempest Squad, then getting the hell out of here. Keep your wits up until we do.”
“Sir!” There may have been no more Guardian Corps, but Meredith was highly pleased to see that so many of them still believed. So many of them were still willing to stand and fight. She only wished that she was able to.
Immediately after Amelia had taken the reins, Meredith felt the skyship shudder, lifting off with greater speed than was intended for the tiny civilian craft. It didn’t stop the commander from pushing the ship, itself, to its limits. The vehicle bucked to the side as it made a turn past the flaming building, and Meredith gripped the edge of the deck. She pulled herself up, ignoring Emil’s groans, to scan the plains below for any signs of the Guardians they had left. She focused with her wavering Soul Vision, not searching for anything distinct, but just a mass of many souls.
They weren’t hard to find, running as fast as they could.
“Ten o’clock on the plains!” she shouted. Her legs refused to keep her up any longer, despite holding to the deck, and she slumped back down, holding back nausea. No time remained to think once her message had been passed on. Amelia had pressed on the throttle, taking them down towards the mass that was concealing themselves in the dark. The skyship clanked about, sounding as if the engine was about to explode, but Amelia pressed on, shining a light down on the plains.
They weren’t the only ones with a light. Those protecting her side of the ship faced the direction of the other strobing light, a familiar model of airship cutting through the night. The only consolation was that the enemy had lost their prey, and Conrad was lowering a ladder of himself down to the people gathered there.
Meredith collapsed against the deck, staving off the exhaustion that she could, even though the suffering of her legs was more than keeping her awake in that moment. The first Guardian of Flare Squad made it over to Conrad, carrying Emily on his back and depositing her once on board. Sleeping soundly, she was blissfully unaware of what had happened to her captain, and Meredith ground her teeth together. More were soon spilling over, and the distinct engine of the Defender was coming ever closer. Beside them, the castle was slipping from its very foundations.
The enemy skyship’s light was an ominous beacon, ever searching for the prey upon which they would fire. The greatest boon was that it was searching in a grid, careful to not miss a single spot of those who had escaped the intended destruction. Meredith held fast, watching it search with a certain dread inside of her. Sometimes it would illuminate the flames, and sometimes it would cross over to the sea. It just kept creeping closer as more of their Guardians were rescued.
The force they rescued was still paltry, but Meredith and the others were glad for how many were there, no matter how small, when Conrad climbed back aboard.
“That’s everyone. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Let me do the honors. They can’t fire on what they can’t see,” Brynn said. At her side were her boys, running around to aid the victims of the attack. It was all they could do for her when she placed her hands on the deck surface of their skyship. “If it gets hot and dangerous, I’m sorry. Commander, kill the lights and let’s get to the other side before they notice we’ve outfoxed them.”
There was no verbal agreement that Amelia could give, and Brynn didn’t wait for it. She just let the scalding water flow on to the deck. It ran along before spilling off the sides, dripping to the grass below. Meredith knew that wasn’t her friend’s intent as she built up the temperature of her water to the point that the air was filled with a fog of steam, concealing the skyship they were on. It spread out to the air, fanned about to cover their tracks.
The skyship turned and Meredith felt her stomach gurgle with nausea. She was too tired to fight it off, and fell down on the deck. She clutched at her stomach, closing her eyes while Brynn worked her magic. The slow-moving torque of the skyship was felt in her very bones, but Amelia was careful to not let the engine make too much noise while they piloted through the mist. The Defender drowned them out, carefully searching as its light started cutting away the mist and steam. Amelia kept them one step ahead, lowering altitude towards the shattering foundations of Corps Castle.
Meredith resisted the urge to cry out at the suffering of her legs and stomach, but she kept her mouth quiet, even as Amelia stalled the engines. She felt so useless right now, unable to do anything but keep herself from vomiting. The others weren’t doing all that much better, puckering in their lips so as to escape notice.
The Defender was still heard, and Brynn had ceased her creation of steam, not giving their enemy a trail any which way. They muted any sound they could, including Emil, who was groaning blearily. It was a deadly wait, causing their hearts to leap up and down as the skyship came gliding out of the mist. They each silenced their breathing, hoping that it wouldn’t turn in their direction and spot them. Every second was agony.
Then they heard it, the sound of the engines revving up, and the once majestic Corps ship lifted off towards the sky, its search over. It ascended above the mist, and then flew off to the other little lights in the sky. Gone.
They were safe.
Every Guardian on the deck that was conscious let out a relieved sigh. Although, Meredith came to realize, that sigh died on the ashen air. The members of Tempest Squad began to awaken on the deck, coughing and spluttering. Meredith couldn’t do it; she couldn’t tell them how their captain had betrayed them. How her brother had…
With what strength she could muster in her broken legs, Meredith pulled back up the side of the ship, joining all of them in staring at the ruined sight below, settling with a final, great rumble. In the stark firelight of the burning Corps Castle, tears fumbled down each of their faces.
Their home.
Their chief commander.
Their comrades.
…Their very dream.
All of it had gone up in smoke.
Amelia walked outside, taking her place with them to stare. Corps Castle was falling in on itself, folding and snapping in half, just as Terrill had intended. His blade was somewhere there, now completely dormant. So was Masters’s body, but with all the dust and flames, it was impossible to tell. Meredith lost her footing, unable to support herself for any reasonable amount of time, and the castle that had once been her dream slipped out of her vision.
Everything had been taken from her, all except those few standing around her. And…
“Eddie. Where’s Eddie?” Meredith asked. Vivian pulled away, too, along with Conrad and Summer. The three walked to the middle of the deck, to Tempest Squad, and tried searching but found nothing. Neither did Meredith with her eyes…or her soul. Her brother’s old comrades had been stirred awake, but none of them said a thing, failure in their eyes. She instead turned to her other friend, crawling over to grasp him by his arms. “Emil, where is he? Was he captured?”
“He…” Emil was downcast, his hair falling in his eyes. He refused to look at her. Refused to look at any of them. Meredith clasped him harder, shaking him, though her failing strength made him barely bob his head. “He tried…he fought him…but he…”
“No…” Vivian said, her whimper a whisper while she shook her head. Meredith dug her fingers into Emil’s arms. He was lying. He just couldn’t tell her what had really happened. He had to be. “You’re wrong…Eddie…Eddie wouldn’t…”
Everyone who wasn’t doing something looked at Emil while he sobbed. “I was so weak. He tried, but…Marcus…He wanted his soul…”
“His soul…?” Summer gasped. “What does that mean?”
No one could answer. No one wanted to answer.
Vivian fell, her knees hitting the deck. The girl’s hands trembled, reaching up to her mouth, as if holding back the pain she wanted to let escape. It still did, the water pouring down her face. Amelia looked over the edge, pounding the railing of the skyship.
Meredith didn’t want to believe it. But her soul knew.
Her fingers fell off Emil, collapsing at her side. She felt hollow. Broken. Wishing to grasp to some hope, Meredith turned to Tempest Squad, but their silence spoke volumes. Knowing the truth inside, Meredith’s body crumpled over. One by one, everything in front of her eyes had been ripped away. He had taken it, without pity or remorse, leaving her barren. Knowing that, and feeling it to her very core, her soul cried out. It gnawed at her chest and her skin, superseding any of the trauma done to her legs. This felt so much worse.
Her soul felt like the one ripped away.
There, amidst the burning flames and the broken dreams, Meredith fell, her body doubled over with agony, unable to move. Unable to speak.
And Meredith screamed.
TO BE CONTINUED…