Chapter 57: Dust Devil_Unchosen Champion

The group stared at the torches as they hovered in the wind. The lights pierced the gloom despite the hurricane, which made Coop think they weren’t just regular torches. The Empire was probably using someone’s abilities to keep watch. They had covered some decent ground, thanks to Derek’s support, so they expected to be near the inner ring. It seemed like the Empire was actively guarding their wall.

“Could we try going around?” Madison suggested as she peered through the wind.

Marcus was the first to shake his head. “They’ll be using the entire inner ring. All hands on deck until the threat is cleared.” He glanced around them. “In this case, the threat is the storm.”

“So this isn’t a manhunt for whoever killed Rod?” Coop asked the apparently knowledgable Marcus.

Derek missed a note and sounded like he popped a string. “Hold up. Are you saying Rod is dead?”

Coop just shrugged, jostling Madison, but it was enough for Derek to jump for joy and start strumming a new, out of tune song.

He stopped when he hit the untuned string. “You know he had a legendary class?”

“He mentioned it.” Coop stated. Between Rod, Charlie, and Camila’s declined class, it seemed like there were a bunch of those going around.

Marcus ignored Derek’s antics and answered Coop’s manhunt question. “This is a hold pattern, if someone in leadership was assassinated it would look a lot different and more people would be mobilized.”

“Maybe they’ll just let us through then.” Coop suggested. “If they’re not looking for us specifically, we can just say we’re taking shelter from the wind.”

“Nah, mate, they’ll hold us for sure.” Derek argued, still looking for someone to celebrate with him. He smirked at Camila while tuning his guitar.

Camila ignored him completely while staring intently at Coop. “Let me take care of it.” She requested. The look in her eye told him she felt like she had something to prove, but he didn’t think something like that was necessary.

“You sure?” Coop started. “I could go as well.”

“I’m sure. The conditions couldn’t be more perfect. A flat, open arena, and cover that doesn’t impede my momentum.” Camila referred to the walls of wind before adding, “And people who deserve it.”

“Alright.” Coop wouldn’t be the one to deny her persistence, even if he was concerned with her eagerness. “We’ll wait for you right here.”

All eyes were on Camila when she stretched her back and walked away from the party while rotating one arm. Derek’s reinforcement zone started to fade since he had popped a string. He finished his tuning and started playing some new chords. It reminded Coop of an old western theme. It would have seemed like a joke coming from Derek if he wasn’t obviously talented and if the song didn’t come with unmistakable buffs. They could barely hear each other over the sounds of the wind, so there was no concern for the Empire overhearing his songs.

The wind hadn’t weakened during the time that they had traveled, and Camila was quickly out of sight. Just a few seconds after she disappeared it became obvious where she had gone. She ripped through the storm, tearing a path through the wind that remained, even as she vanished, cutting through the clouds. A few moments went by while everyone watched the storm churn, then the torches started falling to the ground.

Camila tore through the haze, leaving a visible wake in the walls of wind. She moved so quickly she left turbulence that reached up and expanded until it revealed the blue sky before the storm could refill the gaps. Her movement was too fast to follow directly and the trails that remained were just temporary evidence of her presence.

The torch on the right was the first to fall, then the second from the left disappeared completely, followed by another on the right. It only took as many seconds as there were torches before Camila’s silhouette began to take shape in front of them, walking nonchalantly until she reappeared through the wall of wind like she had just been on a casual stroll. If they hadn’t been able to watch the wake that she cut through the wind as it reached the sky, Coop wouldn’t have believed she had even started. Derek stopped his western theme to give Camila a round of applause, Coop probably would have joined in if his hands weren’t full.

“Well, she’s pretty damn amazing.” Madison observed from Coop’s arms.

Coop nodded in agreement. “That’s Camila. She and Charlie have been inseparable since all this craziness started.”

“Oh?” Madison gave Camila another evaluating look, judging her daughter’s company before giving her approval. “I like her. Why don’t you put me down and talk to her. I need to check on my husband anyway.” She decided and patted Coop’s chest appreciatively.

Coop let her feet down gently, but kept a hold of her. “You sure?” He hesitated.

“Oh, stop fussing, you’re like an old lady.” Madison warned him as she took an unsteady step toward Emmanuel.

Coop watched as she reached out to him and began glowing like she had when she healed his own ribs. From the small distance, he could see the full length of the angel wings. They were huge, but insubstantial. The mana formed a blurry outline of the wings and didn’t solidify the way his ethereal mist formed his weapons and armor, remaining vaporous instead. Madison herself also had a similarly vaporous halo shaped crown that grew increasingly bright as she healed Emmanuel.

“She’s like an angel.” Camila commented from his side.

Coop nodded in agreement as the glow diminished and Emmanuel used his freshly healed arm to brace the fatigued healer. “I wonder how it works.”

“Charlie told me she was a really skilled emergency physician. That probably helps.” Camila shared.

“Hmm.” Coop thought that made sense. At least it was probably enough to attract the right sponsor when it came to factions. He nudged Camila. “You obviously didn’t have any trouble dealing with those guards.”

Camila stood up straight like she was basking in a spotlight. “I’ve always been a troublemaker, especially around my siblings and cousins.” She gave Coop’s arm a light punch.

“The ones in our way won’t bother us.” Camila told him. “It seems like they were just waiting there as a precaution. The inner ring is just a bit further and the winds die down as they approach the wall. There’s more of them waiting along the walls in both directions.” She explained. “You’ll be able to see the lights.”

Coop thought it would be better to go before anyone noticed they came through there, so he got everyone moving. Charlie had woken up as well, and the family reunion continued as they walked. Emmanuel had a look of perfect contentment that told Coop the man would have been happy to stay in the wind, or anywhere else, as long as it was with his wife and daughter. Coop had a pang of regret that his parents weren’t around, but he didn’t let it stop him from being happy for them. He felt like they had already done a good deed, even if they hadn’t escaped yet, just by reuniting Charlie’s family.

They made it to the checkpoint in the inner ring that the guards had been protecting. The winds had died down just before the protective wall, just like Camila said. He turned back to look at the massive stationary tornado that Charlie had summoned. It engulfed the entire inner area of the airport and reached into the sky so that it seemed to be continuously swallowing clouds, driving their remains into the ground.

The storm was shaped a bit like an hourglass, wide on the ground, but even wider in the sky where it stretched well beyond the Empire’s territory. It was staggering that a single person could cause something so dramatic.

They went through the metal gate, closing it behind them, and made their way through more crooked roads between shelters. Coop expected the outer wall to be easier to escape and the inner wall hadn’t even been that bad. He supposed they were in the cover of the storm and Camila took care of what should have been the hard part, making it seem easier than it was. She still looked satisfied with her contribution as she practically skipped along with him.

He kept an eye out for anyone that looked like they wanted to leave the flimsy shelters that dominated the Empire’s settlement. He thought there would be takers when faced with the massive storm and the reminder of how easily their huts could be destroyed, but no one even acknowledged him. It was kind of depressing, but he had to remember that they all had a different and more harrowing experience during the end of the world than he did back on Ghost Reef. He thought of the eager prisoner that provided the distraction for their escape. He certainly hadn’t lost hope yet. He wondered what his plan was.

Before they reached the outer checkpoint he veered the party away from the main thoroughfare and down smaller paths that wrapped around the shelters. Instead of leaving from the obvious gate, he wanted to exit the outer wall by entering one of the many buildings that the Empire was incorporating into its perimeter. He was sure they could find a way through one of the city blocks at the edge of the settlement. Empress City’s outer wall was essentially a bunch of blockaded streets all the way around the airport, which meant most eyes would be on the roads.

The airport was just outside of downtown, with one end mostly open toward the ocean. The airstrips were oriented so that the planes would fly over the sea during landings and takeoffs. Unfortunately, that meant that the city blocks Coop wanted to sneak through were zoned for shorter warehouse type industrial buildings rather than commercial and office buildings that would have provided more cover.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

It still didn’t take them too long to find a block dominated by storage units that they could sneak through, avoiding the Empire’s checkpoints altogether. A few more blocks to the port and they would be long gone. He checked on Charlie and Madison who had both recovered quite a bit in each other's presence. Emmanuel was just basking in delight. Marcus seemed anxious to go faster and Derek hadn’t given up on getting Camila to notice him, though he had at least stopped playing his guitar once they reached the shelters of the settlement. His pack full of Empire equipment was still strapped across his back.

They moved through the yellow self-storage units quietly, but ended up finding more people who were using the units as their own shelters. They had hung makeshift barriers across destroyed orange metal doors and used old furniture and boxes to create some privacy. All of the people just ignored the group as they walked by. He supposed they didn’t look much different than a party of the Empire’s Chosen.

Coop had everyone move a bit more quickly once they made it through the storage area, crossing the street and sticking close to the facade of a mostly empty junkyard on the next block. Peering through the chain link fence topped with barbed wire he noted just a handful of junkpiles. It seemed like many of the broken down cars the Empire used to create their wall had come from this place. Coop imagined dragging broken cars all the way around the airport and confirmed that it must have sucked.

Another block away and it really felt like they were home free. The port loomed in front of them, behind a high security barrier, with its massive cranes waiting for commercial shipping containers that wouldn’t be arriving any time soon. The second artificial island still had multiple stationary cruise ships moored in the port that looked to be in pretty good shape, but one of them was covered in leaves as the plants growing on board had taken over. Even further, on the opposite side of the island with the cruise ships were the private yachts and, hopefully, the waiting catamaran that would be their escape.

Coop looked back at the still flowing storm, centered over the airport, and noted that it was already fading. They could make out the buildings and the parking garages through the slowing winds even from multiple blocks away. When they were moving through it, they could barely see outside of their immediate vicinity.

To his surprise, a group of the Empire’s Chosen were also on their tail, hustling to catch up with them as they exited the storage facility. Coop realized it was the same group of guards that had escorted him to meet Rod.

“What are the odds?” He mumbled out loud getting the attention of the rest.

One of the guards, Coop remembered as the Level 28 Flame Knight, had four very familiar lights orbiting him as he led the group. It seemed like it was his ability that provided the torches to the Chosen that Camila had disabled. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Derek’s pack also glowing.

Derek, realizing the attention also took note of the glow, reached into his pack and dropped a few of the torches onto the ground. He looked guiltily at the rest, “C’mon, homing beacons on torches? How was I supposed to know?” He complained. “I just thought they were neat.”

“Just get moving, I’ll catch up.” Coop stated to the party. It seemed like Camila and Charlie wanted to stay, but Marcus didn’t need any encouragement and started moving even though he didn’t know where they were going. Clearly, ‘away’ was enough for him. “Make sure everybody’s ready to go.” Coop directed at the girls, hurrying them off. They finally went.

As they rounded the junkyard, Coop had a minute to inspect the auras once again before he would confront them.

[Human (Level 28)]

[Flame Knight (Body)]