NEW PAAAART!

TOP

top

Part 13~

Leopard crouched in the sequoia tree, watching the clearing ahead. No movement, no sign of life except a solitary gray bird against a field of shimmering dry grass glinting like tarnished gold.

"All clear," Leopard said, leaping down with her cat's grace.

Keira and Abigail packed up camp. They scratched the detailed plan they had drawn in the dirt away with their feet before laying leaves across the campsite to cover their tracks.

"I once lived near that True Guard Battalion's base," Leopard had said that night, "and I know that they built near an old, large church. The irony of that made me laugh at the time."

The plan was that Abigail and Keira would skirt the outside of the camp and see if they could find the prison area. They would keep watch for several hours, and when they were sure of the right area, they would don black ski masks and Keira would tear down the wall with psionic energy. If the wall was reinforced, Abigail would help with her scream.

They would then take the girls and flee. Leopard would help take out the guards by coming behind them through any passageways. Keira and Leopard created a signal with Abigail: if Abigail said "wolf howl", Keira and Leopard knew to duck and cover their ears. Abigail's scream could do serious damage in an echo-prone environment like a metal prison or old church made to amplify choir music.

They set out for the base at dawn; Leopard knew the way. She had a very powerful sense of smell.

"My parents accepted my abilities," Leopard said, "they actually let me practice smelling for scents. That is, until the Guard-" she broke off.

Abigail's heart ached for Leopard.

"We'll get them back," Keira said, "we have no other choice." 

Shade barely thought about what to do. Her sense of smell, like Leopard's, was also rather keen.

She burst through the belfry's heavily boarded windows; it made her back screech with pain, but she ignored it. At least her wings were fine. Saint gasped and stood, and Shade winced. Saint looked gaunt, exhausted, a shadow of what she used to be.

"Come on," Shade said. Saint grabbed Shade's shoulders and Shade took off.

There was no use hiding now; Guards were shouting, pouring out of buildings like a colony of ants in grey uniforms. Shade shot out of gun range and began quizzing Saint.

"Where is everyone?"

"I saw the Guards put them in the tower across the way... they're trying to isolate us as best they can, but this Battalion doesn't have much of a prison."

Shade winced. The tower could only mean the imposing metal spire on the other side of the Base. She began flying over rapidly.

"Where is Curio being held?" Shade asked frantically.

"Probably with the others," Saint said, head lolling. Shade flinched under the dead weight.

"Don't hate me for this," Shade said. She landed on the roof of the tower and saw an old room, likely a storage closet. She kicked open the door. It lead into pitch blackness.

From a room in the tower below her, she heard Balea weakly ask "Shade? I-I heard something fall on the roof... is that Shade?"

Shade leaned against the roof of the tower and called into the room. "Balea, I hear you! I'm coming!"

A sharp True Guardsman's voice called "She's up here!" from the same room that Balea was in. Shade groaned. There must have been a True Guard stationed outside, or perhaps Balea had been forced to shout that by a guard.

She saw a rope coiled just inside the dark room; she grabbed it and flew to the very top of the spire. She tied Saint tightly to the top. "I'll be right back, but you're a dead weight right now," Shade said.

Shade used her claws and tore through the metal--it was fairly thin-- of the tower, landing in a dim cell. Balea wasn't there. She must have been taken.

Shade tore through the next three cell walls and found an unconscious Owlgirl, Booksy, and Balea. So she wasn't taken. Still no Curio.

She picked them up, grunting under the dead weight, and then flew to grab Saint. Just in time; the Guard started pouring up the stairwell.

Shade growled and flew, propelled by raw adrenaline; she grabbed Saint and flew rapidly away with the four girls. There was a muddy hill nearby. Owlgirl began to rouse when Shade set her down and nudged her.

"I need you to dig a hideout in this mud," Shade said gruffly, "use your wings to create an air pocket for you guys. This hill is made entirely of muddy dirt, so you should have enough room."

"Thanks," Owlgirl said, already beginning to dig. Shade said nothing.

"Don't worry, I didn't give away any information," Owlgirl said.

"Well, somebody obviously did!" Shade snapped, "The True Guard found the location of our camp."

Owlgirl looked confused and disheartened.

Shade stormed off and flew back towards the Base, staying above the clouds. Time to go back for Curio and Somebody.

Holy Jean-Luc Picard, Crypto just said cric! Like Cricket?