Eight - The real storm is inside

After spending a whole day in here, for the fist time, I open the door to outside the room. I hear no movement. The corridor is dark. I follow the map on my helmet.

Every corner before turning I check if there is anyone. The helmet does not show anyone, but I do not trust the echo location. Especially during this storm.

All clear.

Keep moving.

It is weird not seeing anyone anywhere. To be fair, I do not think they are expecting an invasion. Not under this storm. Or never. The Capital people are always full of themselves.

I can not use any magic while in here. It is my first instinct anytime I am in a dire situation. But the gargoyles are worst than any dire situation.

On the way up I check other two rooms on this floor. It does not have anything that seemed important. This whole floor is empty. I get to the stairs.

Three flights up I reach ground floor. Now I can hear other people. They seem calm, playful. This will make my work easier. I slip away through the corners. The next stairs flights are a couple of corridors away.

A little more sneaking around and I find what I was looking for. A vent entrance. It will be safer now. I opened carefully and enter it.

It is completely silent. They must have closed it when the storm started. It is tight but I am fitting. I have to be careful to not let the armor scratch the ducts or make any noise.

Climbing up is now the hard part. It is flat and I have nowhere to grab. I have to pull myself through friction two floors up.

I am now close to one exit. It is closed but I can hear a little bit of the storm outside. The map indicates that the command room is bellow me.

The people inside seemed very bored and distracted.

There he was: Olvad Heeran Autagavaia.

He was the only one actually concentrated and working on something. Ferociously reading his screens.

I have no idea what they mean. He liked to study and I am sure that whatever he is doing, it will be used to destroy anyone on hist way.

I look around for any other thing that could be useful.

Nothing in this room.

It is also too dangerous to enter. I will have to find other place. I start to turn back. I hear a buzzing sound wrapping around the vents.

I fell. All the structure and the ceiling got pulled down by Olvad. He has an electric whip in hands.

By the gods.

He heard me.

“Looks like the rodents are getting bigger”. He has an expressionless face.

Five total guards surrounding me. And Olvad. I put my hand on the handle of the knife in my back. I do not see any gargoyles in the room. They are probably outside. It will be deadly if I use magic but also I do not see a way out here without it.

They aim their laser cannons at me.

“Should I interrogate you first or should I just kill you right now?” Olvad asks.

I use a little of air magic on my feet to impulse me towards Olvad. I grab him and put my knife on his neck. Almost instantly a white laser comes from outside and blasts the floor where I was standing.

One of the guards get caught by it.

One less to worry.

The gargoyles are confirmed outside.

The remaining guards as soon as they realize where I was they correct their aim.

I start pulling Olvad towards the door. The room is tense. He is not cooperating even with my knife on his jugular. A tough man. He is pushing back.

“Do not even try.” I murmur. “I will use magic and your gargoyles will blast us faster than you can escape. It is better to cooperate.” I get to the door. I get his security badge and I open the door.

I kick Olvad back inside the room. I use the same air magic to impulse me down the corridor outside. I throw my knife at the door’s panel to close it. It ricochets on the button. The door closes. The knife flies back to my hands.

A blasting white laser goes through melting the door and the floor where I was standing. Nice meeting you Olvad.

I run the fastest I can. The alarm starts to sounding. Time to redo the whole plan.

Go straight down to the power-plaint.

The people that appeared on my way are still very shaky from the alarm. I take them down easily.

The advantages of a surprise attack.

I am on ground floor now. The courtyard is an open area.

As soon as the guards see me they open fire.

Hundreds on lasers started blasting in my direction.

I take coverage.

The tinkling sound of the lasers hitting the metal cover of the pillar is like a symphony of death. I needed to use magic again, but now I am in the open area.

I look up. I see only one gargoyle.

Only one?

They must had been very confident no one would invade. If it is actually just this one I think I can out run it. But if there is any other…

What choice do I have in this situation?

The courtyard is a circle. I look up and I can see the sand storm through the transparent ceiling. It looks calmer now but it is still going on.

I do not think I can escape from there.

It is a transparent material but I doubt it easily breakable. It has to resist the storm.

Circling around, it is.

I have to run half of the circle to go back to the stairs I came up from.

I blast the air magic on my feet and start racing.

The soldiers can not keep up with me. Their aim is not fast enough.

Instantly the gargoyle shoots at me.

It is giant.

I manage to dodge.

But it is continuous and it is tracking me while I run.

I accelerate.

I am close to the stairs.

I jump down the flights.

The laser almost got me. It left a path of burning marks and evaporated everything it touched.

No time to think.

I start descending.

I jumped the stair handrails to make it faster down.

Four jumps down and I was already on the bottom floor.

I rush to the power-plaint entrance. Take the key card and open.

“I have to congratulate you on getting here.”

What? How he got here first?

Olvad.

I hold my knife in an inverted position for defense and charge head-first.

His whip crackles in my direction.

I evade.

He recoils and swings at me again.

I jump.

He repeats. Again and again.

He is fast.

He does not move or breaks his position.

We are standing on a suspended platform. The floor is a metal grate. Under us, is the power-plaint magical core.

It fissures the magical energy that it gathers from the air generating heat and energy.

Every device this days has one.

It is like a battery. This one is huge battery.

It power-up this whole fortress.

I am sweating under my armor and he is holding on completely unaffected. How much time do I have until the door behind me gets swarmed by guards?

I move my free hand to my pocket and grab one of the explosive shells.

I start running to my right, arching a semi circle of distance.

He swings at me.

I jump throwing the shells at him.

I think I got him.

He is faster.

He recoils and wave the whip at me before I can even touch the ground again.

It destroys the shells on its way. It does not even explode.

I fell.

Now I am on the floor.

The impact hurt.

I feel my skin burning where the whip got me. Even through the armor. I think I am bleeding too.

He moves and grab me by my neck with just one hand. He lifts me. What is this man?

He tuck the whip into the waistband and removes my helmet.

“Only a child.” He disdains.

I try to free myself.

I can barely breath and even with my two hands can not make his open.

His grasp is so tight.

My vision is turning red.

I kick his face but he is not affected.

My last resource.

I try to light a fire.

Only sparks.

I am too weak.

A noise from the ceiling. Olvad only has time to throw me down the power-plaint. Blasting through everything, the giant shine laser descends upon us. He dodges. I finally break his position.

I feel the air coming back to my lungs as I fall.

But it is too late.

The gargoyle laser hits the core.

Everything explodes.