Chapter 17.
They followed Noah’s brisk pace, trying to keep up with his enormous strides. He led them down various twisting, turning streets, never slowing down. He clearly knew where he was going. Elijah, Molly and he discussed everything that had happened as they walked.
“I knew you two would head to the library. You’d said that was the plan all along, I knew nothing was going to stop you. I trust you learned what you needed to?”
“Yeah, managed to find some old documents. They give a vague idea of what to do. We’ll figure out the rest when we get there, it’s all we can do. Hey listen, why didn’t you come inside and let us know you were waiting for us back there? You scared the hell out of us!”
“Ah. Well good. I was going to tell you what I had learned from being up there, but you sound like you already know that this Azrael is not what he seems. And…well, I’m playing it safe, to be honest. I wanted to be absolutely sure it was the two of you before I rushed in.” Noah turned to look behind him quickly and saw their questioning faces. “Ah, yes. I’m afraid Percy did get the better of me back at the inn. I ended up letting myself get dragged up to the Cloud to meet our little friend, the instigator of all this.”
Noah went on to explain what he had encountered up there, and what Azrael had told him. It wasn’t much, and the most it really did was confirm some of what Molly had read out back at the library, but any information helped at this point. As they were walking and talking Elijah looked up and noticed that they were getting very close to one of the cable car stations. He could see the silhouette of the massive chain it was set up next to looming large in the pre-dawn gloom. That was the other thing as well, the day was fast approaching, and if they wanted to get to the cloud with the minimum amount of resistance it would be best to do it under at least some cover of darkness.
Elijah was about to mention this to Noah when he heard him mention that he had dived off of the Cloud. Elijah listened to the retelling with rapt attention, as did Molly as they continued along. The fact that Percy was still alive stunned and worried him a little though, and he hoped it was a decision that didn’t come back to haunt them later. He could understand why Noah had done it though. He was a gentle giant at heart, and wanted to save his old friend if possible. Elijah was just about to interrupt Noah and ask exactly what the plan was when the ground began to shake again.
It started as a low rumble this time, building and building in volume and intensity. The cracks and fractures that lined the streets and building already started to widen even more. It was more intense than last time, completely out of control, entire houses fell against each other, unable to stand up to the earthquake after last time. Building were crumbling like matchsticks, bricks and glass raining down in the streets all around them. The three of them took shelter in the doorway of the nearest building, and it was all they could do to pray that the entire structure didn’t come crashing down on them.
The earthquake was so loud now, roaring ceaselessly, ripping apart the city bit by bit. Elijah thought it would never stop, kept willing it to, hoping they weren’t too late, that this wasn’t what finally annihilated Spectrum. Were they too late already? Noah towered over the two of them, trying to shelter them further as the house they were in began to fall apart above them. Molly screamed and buried her face into his coat. The earthquake rose in intensity one last time, and in the distance, towards the centre of the city, an entire portion of the city began to sink into the ground. Entire streets disintegrated as the plummeted down to sewer level and below. The ether below the area had finally been disturbed enough to erupt, and did so, spraying out of a fissure in the ground and swallowing everything up. Giant beams and pulses of ether shot into the sky and buildings, carts, and the people still frozen were dragged below, gone forever.
And then as quickly as it had started, it was over. As if nothing had ever happened. They came out from under the doorframe, thankful that it had held up, just barely, and looked around them. The city was truly devastated, the roads and pathways completely ruined, torn to pieces, more houses now collapsed or leaning drunkenly against one another than still standing. Rubble and glass littered the city between the thousands of frozen statues everywhere. They were out of time. They had to go now, or there would be nothing left to save.
“We’re almost there. We need to carry on, come on!” Noah turned to go and started walking straight away. Elijah started to follow hesitantly, but Molly stood, frozen in place. She slowly emerged from the doorway, gazing out at the wreckage in front and all around her. She couldn’t comprehend the incredible amount of damage surrounding them. It was made all the more surreal by the silence that now followed immediately after. There was no screaming, no cries for help, and in an odd way it made everything worse. It was surreal, like some kind of awful nightmare.
Elijah walked over and put his hand on her arm, and Noah stopped and looked back to see what was happening. Molly looked at Elijah. She wasn’t crying, and probably wouldn’t. It was just the shock of everything that had finally hit her. She had been there for him earlier, however, and so he would be there for her now. He needed her, they needed to be completely focussed for what was to come.
“Hey…it’s going to be alright, you know.” He said, as she looked at him, slightly glazed over. He hated to see her like this. “We can stop this from happening again, Molly, but we have to go now. We need to stop him before he destroys the entire city.”
“What’s the use? Look at what he just did. How would we even begin to stop him, we’re just two people…”
Elijah grabbed her by the shoulders. “Remember when we down in the lab, down below your house? Think about what you said to me then. I was overwhelmed by what had happened and you were there for me. You wouldn’t let me give up or quit. Well I’m doing the same now. You’re stronger than this. Be upset, by all means, but be angry as well. Use that anger, and let’s go and put a stop to this. How dare he think he can destroy our city, trap its people, kill without a second thought. Let’s go and show him what happens, yeah?”
Molly shut her eyes for a moment. She covered her face with her hands and exhaled deeply. When she took her hands away Elijah could see the steely determination return to her eyes that he was used to. She was back. He smiled at her, relieved, and she nodded to him. “Thank you. I didn’t think I could get past what had happened there, but you’re right. Let’s go and put a stop to the bastard right now! I’m ready.” And with that she began to walk towards Noah again, who was still waiting a little ahead of them, and had been watching the entire interaction. He spoke up as she walked past him and Elijah caught up to where they were and walked along beside him. “That was a good thing you just did lad. You two need each other more than you realize. This is going to be a test of skill and resolve, no question about it.”
Elijah knew he was right. Not that what they had been through so far hadn’t been taxing, but the toughest part was just ahead. He was about to ask what Noah’s exact plan was, as he had seemed to know exactly what to do earlier, when they rounded the corner of the last destroyed house on the street they were on. The street widened here and opened up to one of the three cable carriage stations used for travel to and from the Cloud. The carriage was in the station luckily, sitting there waiting to be sent up, and next to it hung one of the mammoth chains that stopped the Cloud from drifting away for all eternity.
They crossed the large, open area surrounding the station, the early morning sun just beginning to rise over the horizon. They were in one of the higher parts of the city, with all three stations, and the rock that the Cloud had originally come from situated on large, hilled regions in the centre of Spectrum. Molly slowed down again as they approached the carriage and gazed out once more at the now completely wrecked city. Elijah thought it was going to overwhelm her again, but she shook her head slightly, and picked up speed again, marching over to the station. She was furious, and that was a good thing. They would need that kind of determination.
The sliver of sun showing over the horizon was incredibly bright, and only served to further illuminate the vast amount of damage the city had suffered just a short while ago. They all tried to ignore it, but it was almost impossible not to keep looking out at it all.
Luckily, the station itself, although damaged, was still working. The lines holding the cable cars hadn’t snapped, and looked safe enough for them to travel, after all they had been designed to be very strong. As they reached the station they stopped. Elijah realised he had been about to talk to Noah about what the plan was when the three of them got up there. Finally, with no distractions, he turned to Noah and asked just that, and he and Molly waited to hear what he was going to say as he set the giant sack he had been carrying with him down on the ground.
“I’m afraid I’m not going with the two of you. I’ve got work to do down here.” Before either of them could argue, he continued, explaining what he meant. “I stopped by your house on the way to meet the two of you. You weren’t there of course, but I couldn’t help but notice that the door behind the fireplace was open, which I thought was a little unusual. I went down under the house and helped myself to some supplies Molly, I hope you don’t mind.” And with that he undid the drawstring on the bag and began taking things out of it.
There were five things in total, and once they were assembled on the floor Elijah knew exactly what the plan was. There were three vials on the ground, although the word vials didn’t do them justice really. They were some of the biggest mason jars Elijah had ever seen, and they had been filled with one of the various liquids that Molly cooked up. This particular liquid was of the same type Molly had originally used on Azrael, to little effect. With a little bit of force it exploded. Elijah couldn’t even imagine how big the blast would be from this much of the stuff. The other two items he had assumed were the wings he had seen earlier in the lab. He had almost asked about them back then, but it didn’t matter, he supposed he was going to find out about them now. The wings themselves were in an oval shaped, metal canister. They were worn like backpacks, with a small pull cord on the front to release the wings themselves. Molly had some concerns, although it was clear she was already on the same page as Noah.
“I don’t know if those wings work properly yet, Noah, I’ve only tested them maybe…twice? And that was from a low height. Elijah weighs more than me as well, and…look, I really don’t know about this.” Noah stood and considered what she had said for a moment. Elijah already knew what he was going to say, and knew it to be correct as well.
“There’s no other choice Molly, I’m sorry. The jars of explosive will easily be enough to sever the chains holding the Cloud, and that’s what’s going to happen. I believe in the two of you, and I know you can deal with Azrael, I’m sure of it, but I won’t leave anything to chance, I refuse to.” Noah was going to sever the chains, leaving the Cloud to float away forever. The wings would enable Elijah and Molly to get off the Cloud before it got too high. It was a good idea, and one Noah had thought up to be instigated at the same time as their original one of going up there and dealing with the problem head on.
They all knew there was a chance they could die going into this, but what did that really matter? Their lives weren’t worth more than the whole of Spectrum’s. Noah continued on. “I’ll destroy the chains as you two are up there. I’ve already worked it out, and it should take me about three hours. Now, that thing’s going to tilt like crazy when the second chain goes, so that’s when you’ll know it’s time to be thinking of getting off there. Use the wings, and come back down. Molly, stop doubting this. Look at all the things you make, you’re a damn genius. This will work. It has to.”
Molly shook her head. “I don’t like it, but alright. There’s no alternative is there?” Both Noah and Elijah shook their heads to indicate that no, there wasn’t. “Well…fair enough I guess. Let’s get on with it.” And with that she span on her heel and walked onto the nearby cable car. Elijah looked at Noah and gave him a wry smile. “Well, I guess that settles it then!” He muttered and walked over to the controls to begin to get everything underway.
Noah followed him, and put a hand on his shoulder, telling him that this would work and that he would see him once this was all over and done with. He handed Elijah the two sets of wings, and took the jars with him towards the nearest set of chains. Elijah finished setting the cable car in motion, and as it began to set off, juddering and shaking as the momentum built, he ran after it and jumped in, taking the two sets of wings with him.
As the cable car slowly started to climb the two of them looked out and down at Noah, already busy at work setting up the first jar at the base of the giant chains. He was setting the jar up in between the links of the chain, and from what they could make out was pulling some long fuse wire out of the sack in order to give him enough time to get away from the explosion, and to allow them to reach the Cloud before it went off. Elijah and Molly turned away from the window after a moment, confident that he would be able to get the job done. They instead turned their attention to the wings that Elijah had placed on the floor.
Molly picked a pair up, examining it to make sure everything was in order. The two sets of wings were brilliantly constructed. They had been made from some kind of incredibly light metal that formed the outer shell, which was attached to two loops for the wearer to put their arms through and tighten as needed. On the front of one of the loops was then a little mechanism that one could pull which would cause the two wings to pop out from the shell at the back, as they were folded up when not in use, wrapped up safely within the metal. Molly was pulling one of the wings out to make sure it wasn’t ripped or torn, and that made Elijah incredibly nervous, because as he got a good look at the actual wing for the first time he noticed it looked like little more than paper. He tried not to think about it.
“All looks good to me.” Molly murmured as she looked everything over before snapping the wing back into its container. “I just hope they work as well as on my test runs. This is a bit different to jumping off of my roof into a bale of hay.” She laughed when she saw the look on Elijah’s face. “Stop worrying! It’ll be fine!” She handed him one of the packs, and they both put them on their backs, tightening the straps to make sure they didn’t fall off.
“Easy for you to say. You know what, I would rather just not think about it for now.” Elijah replied, turning to look out of the windows again. As they rose it seemed like the sun was trying to rise with them, and was doing a bad job of keeping up. It was a warm semicircle slowly lifting up from behind the horizon. It illuminated the destroyed cityscape below them, as well as the thousands of blue-black coloured crystals that had managed to ensnare almost all of the city. Almost, but not quite all. Molly walked over to join him in looking out.
“Hey listen, whatever happens here today, thanks. For everything, you know? We’ve had some good times right?”
“Oh absolutely. The best. I wouldn’t change any of the times we’ve had together. Alright, well maybe one thing. You know, I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but the hairs on my legs still haven’t grown back…” Molly gave him a sidelong glance as he said this, and gave him a playful thump on his good shoulder. Elijah laughed, but carried on. “But in all seriousness? Don’t talk like that. We’re going to be fine, you’ll see.”
She nodded and turned around to lean her back against the railing and window, and as she did, looked up out of the other window. She didn’t even have time to speak. Without thinking she grabbed Elijah by the back of his shirt and pulled down, hard. She dropped like a stone to the floor, as did he. Not a second later a horrific dark shadow smashed through the glass on the other side of the cable car, showering them with shattered fragments, and shot straight through the other side, destroying that pane as well. The two of them quickly stood up, trying to look every direction at once and see what had just attacked them.
Elijah managed a breathless thanks to Molly as they scanned around, and then they both notice
d it. Not that the thing was hiding, It was some distance away from them now, just hovering in the air, flapping what looked like tattered, leathery old wings. It was completely jet black, even its eyes, and its skin looked oily and slick. It had large, muscular arms and legs, and it hands each ended in five long wicked looking claws. Molly knew what it looked like straight away. This was almost exactly what Azrael had looked like the first time he had transformed, back in the old meeting room on the cloud. This was his doing, no doubt. He clearly knew they were coming.
The thing hovered there for a moment, flapping its wings. Elijah and Molly stood there, tensed, Elijah’s arms glowing more fiercely than usual as he prepared to channel, and Molly’s quarterstaff gave off it’s usual low crackle and hum as it pulsed with etheric power. They waited with baited breath for a moment, ready for the monstrosity to dive bomb or attack them again. Instead it just stared at them for a moment, and then, very slowly, lifted a long, sinewy arm, and stretched one finger out to point. At first it looked like it was pointing at the two of them, but then the slow, dread realisation hit them, and they half turned around. Sure enough, in the sky behind them were around a dozen more of the things, circling and swooping around silently in the sky. Molly leaned in close to Elijah. “What the hell are those things? What are we going to do, they don’t exactly look friendly…”
Elijah looked over at her. “Looks like we’re fighting again. Never gets old, does it?” And with that he started conducting, his forearms changing from looking like campfires to roaring infernos. Molly followed suit and twisted her quarterstaff, the two ends snapping out to expose the ether covering them. The pack of monsters flying in loops behind them stopped, and followed the example of their leader, hovering in the air for a moment, staring at the two of them in the carriage with their cold, dead eyes.
Everything was completely still for a moment, and then the flying beast that had smashed through the window initially let out a horrible, unearthly howling shriek, and dove towards them. Elijah immediately conducted again, sending out a lance of flame towards it. The creature dive-bombed at the last second, the flames just barely licking the tips of its wings. Molly guarded the other side at the same time, swinging her quarterstaff where possible, and using it like Elijah’s flames, like a lance as well. It was impossible to get a clear view of where exactly the creatures were at any one time. There were so many of them. They were above, under, beside the car, everywhere at once, leathery wings flapping, screeching every time they flew by, and raking their long claws along the side of the car as they went.
Several of them flew above the car, trying to destroy the actual cable itself, but it was several times as thick as they were, and incredibly tough, even for creatures of their strength. As soon as they realised this they got much more aggressive towards the carriage and the two of them themselves. Molly and Elijah were continually taking pot-shots, trying to burn and maim as many of them as possible. While the space was restrictive for them in terms of fighting, it was also keeping them alive at the moment, as it was impossible to truly surround them.
Or so they thought.
Two of the creatures bolder than the others, flew into the already shattered windows on either side of the car, landing heavily inside and instantly stalking towards the two of them. The car was just wide enough to fit two of them in side by side, and left very little room to manoeuvre. Not that that mattered to Molly. She charged forwards fearlessly, grimacing as she attacked both creatures at the same time. They had looked fast and fluid in the sky, and they were just as quick on their feet too. Molly swung high, trying to catch one of the at chest height. They skidded backwards just out of her reach and then slid forwards, one of them managing to rake her still outstretched arm with its claws. She gritted her teeth in pain and backed away, arm dripping blood through her torn sleeves.
Emboldened by the injury they had managed to score on her, the two monstrosities lumbered forwards, swiping and slashing faster now that they knew they could easily hurt their prey. What they hadn’t seemed to realise was that Elijah was still in there with them. Molly continued to back away for just a second more and then ducked down. There, standing right behind her was Elijah. The two creatures realised their mistake too late and tried to turn and escape. They blocked each other though, kicking and clawing at one another. Elijah didn’t waste any time in conducting a concentrated stream of fire right at them. They had just enough time to let out a shrill cry before they were completely consumed by flames, along with the entire half of the carriage. They slumped to the ground, dead. Two down, ten to go.
Elijah immediately picked Molly up off the floor and turned his attention back out of the window. As he did he noticed that one of the creatures was flying directly at him. He conducted as fast as he could, rapidly sending fireballs out of the car towards the monster. It spiralled and whirled through the air, dodging every shot and coming closer and closer. Just before it managed to reach Elijah one of the fireballs struck him it right in the middle of its wing. It cried out in pain as it tried in vain to make up the last little bit of distance to Elijah, and then dropped like a stone, desperately flapping its wings. With a large hole in one of them it was no good though, and it plummeted to the ground below. Three down, nine to go.
As Elijah was dealing with his attacker from outside, Molly was at the other end of the car, also still trying to score hits on anything that came near. She saw two approaching at the same time, and readied herself for whatever they might do. They changed course at the last second, winging sideways around the car to fly in either side again, just like the two before. Elijah would be of no use this time. If he tried to attack them he risked hitting her on the other side. She twisted her quarterstaff, shrinking it, and put it away. It had been no use last time, and she needed to think of another way to deal with these two. As before they started to stride towards her, making their unearthly shrieking noises as they walked, scraping their long claws along the sides of the carriage threateningly.
Molly suddenly had an idea, and moved forwards, to make it look like she was going to attack. The two creatures fell for it, simultaneously lunging for her, trying to rip her to pieces. Molly had counted on them doing this though, and reacted instantly, drawing back and pulling a vial out of her bandoleer at the same time. Without hesitating she threw it at them, the contents splashing over both of them as the vial smashed open. They stopped a moment, wondering what they had just been covered with, and then went to attack again. They didn’t get very far. The solution had solidified, completely stopping them from attacking, and from doing anything else. Molly, as quick as she could, ran to the middle of the car, squeezing past them, and flung the door open. She grabbed the two of them and with all her strength half dragged and half threw them out of the exit. They screamed and cried as they fell to their deaths, unable to free themselves. Molly smirked, loving how effective her concoctions always were. Five down, seven to go.
At this point the creatures were getting frantic. Elijah was still fending them off, and had switched from just protecting one of the car to running back and forth and taking aim and firing where he could. He was beginning to flag at this point though. “Molly! We can’t do this for much longer. We need a plan!” He shouted over. She shouted back that she agreed, and as she did so was knocked off her feet, falling and landing on one of the seats at the side of the car as one of the creatures swiped at her through the window.
The creatures had stopped flying around now though, and had decided to all come together and attack at once. They were on the roof and sides of the car, getting ready to go in for the kill. Elijah looked at Molly. They had mere moments to figure something out and do it. The vials Molly had had worked well, and Elijah’s conducting was reliable as always, but the space they were in was so confined, there was a real risk of them hurting each other if their aim was off by even a little bit. If only there was some way to combine the two…And then it dawned on Elijah. He ran across the car to Molly, ducking to one side
to avoid the raking claws of one of the monstrosities hanging from the side of the car. “Molly, I know what to do! Do you trust me?” He asked frantically.
“Of course! What’s the plan? Whatever it is, do it quick!” She replied. He nodded, and spun her around, grabbing a small vial from the back of one of her bandoleers. Turning her back around he told her what to do. “Douse myself in it? Elijah, do you realise this is the pale ether? We have one vial left if I use this.”
“I know, but there’s no time, there’s nothing else we can do. Those…things are weighing the car down, slowing it down. If we don’t do something, we’re not going to be off of here before Noah’s bomb goes off down below. If that happens, this was all for nothing anyway, and we fall. Trust me! Do it!” He undid the bottle and handed it to her. She looked at it for just a moment, biting her lip in concern, and then tipped the bottle over her head, the pale ether running down and covering her, creating the same, ethereal aura around her that had been apparent on Percy’s armour before.
As soon as it was done Elijah started to conduct, drawing as much ether into himself as he possibly could. His forearms turned completely white, and more than that, his chest and neck, almost his entire body began to glow like fire. The creatures, sensing that something was wrong, decided to make their move. The ones on the roof scuttled down, clambering into the car, and the ones on the sides smashed the remaining windows and began to enter the cable car. There were seconds to spare. Molly crouched in the corner of the car as the things approached her, readying for the kill. Elijah was now a bright, glowing white figure in the centre of the chaos. At exactly the same time, the one that had chosen to target Elijah went in to attack, as did the ones attacking Molly. It was at that exact moment that Elijah released all the stored up ether.
It exploded out of him, he roared as it did. An enormous fireball exploded out of him, a huge sphere of all-consuming heat that blasted outward, annihilating everything as it did. The creatures had barely enough time to try and shield themselves, throwing their arms up to cover their faces before they were vaporized by the extreme temperature. Molly screamed, curled up in one corner, but the fire didn’t even touch her. After a second of waiting, expecting for the pale ether plan to fail, she opened her eyes to a world of fire and flames, but not a single one touched her. She barely even felt the heat from it all. It was like she was surrounded by a beautiful, glowing aura that protected her, forming an invisible shield.
After what seemed like an eternity the expulsion of fire stopped, and Elijah stood, swaying a little. He hadn’t expected the plan to work out quite as well as that. He hadn’t thought he was even able to contain that much ether within himself. Molly grabbed him as it looked like he was about to topple, and sat him on the floor. She could have sat him on one of the seat cushions around the edge of the cable car but they, like everything else, had been incinerated, and were now no more than charred borders to the carriage.
Elijah let Molly sit him down on the floor, and rested. They had a few minutes until the car reached its destination on the Cloud, and they both knew that it was far from over, and they had to keep going no matter what. Molly knelt on the floor with Elijah.
“Nice plan.” She simply said, and then “How did you know that was going to work? That the pale ether wouldn’t hurt me, that the flames wouldn’t touch me?”
He shot her a weak smile. “I didn’t. It was a hunch. Sure did pay off though.”
Molly sat there, shocked for a moment, and then huffed, “We’re going to have to have a serious talk when this is all over.”
Elijah laughed, and then started coughing. That last bout had really taken it out of him. He could already feel the ether in the air around him, ready to conduct again, but knew that doing so already would be a huge mistake. His body had stopped glowing now, and his arms had returned to glowing their normal gentle yellowish colour. The vials of ether in his bandoleer really did make an incredible difference.
Now that that particular ordeal was over Molly looked around. The cable car was completely gutted, a burnt out shell ferrying them to the Cloud. She couldn’t believe Elijah had done that, or was even capable of doing that. She turned to ask him about it, but it was like he had read her mind, and pre-empted her.
“Nope, didn’t know I could do that either. Probably never could before. It’s all because I’m so close to the ether. It’s like it sucks in all the ether from the air and just…I don’t know, almost like it amplifies it.”
“That was incredible though. I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t even know if Azrael could stand up to that.” Molly replied, giving him a playful nudge and a wink as she said it.
“I can’t do that again Molly. I thought it was going to kill me. It’s the first time it’s ever hurt to conduct, and it hurt like hell. I could feel it as I released the ether. It felt like I was tearing myself apart. It’s ripped all my injuries open again, that’s for sure.” He winced as he said this, and Molly took a quick glance at his shoulder. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed before, but then again why would she? Sure enough though, she could see the dark stain of new blood spreading underneath what was left of Elijah’s shirt.
She looked at him, concerned, but he waved it off. “It’ll take a fair bit more than that to finish me off, don’t you worry.” She nodded, and Elijah asked her to help him to his feet, which she did. The cable carriage was almost in the station at the Cloud. It was time to prepare for whatever might await them when they got there. Molly prayed that it wasn’t more of those horrendous flying monsters. They had looked like something born straight out of a nightmare.
The cable car, now nothing more than a smoking wreck, juddered into the station. With no one to actually slow down or stop the carriage it crashed into the docking bay, which at this point Elijah was sure that the impact would finish it off and finally rip apart the car. It held together though, just barely, creaking and groaning under the final strain it was being put under. The movement eventually stopped, and Elijah and Molly made their way into the station itself. It was utterly deserted, not a sign of anyone or anything. They had not been expecting this, and it made the two of them very uneasy. They took a good, long look around, pausing to gaze down each of the long, dark tunnels leading their various different ways through the Cloud. This was wrong, there had to be some kind of trick they were missing. Molly took a few tentative steps forwards, listening intently to see if someone was coming. Still nothing. She turned back to Elijah and shrugged. “I guess he underestimated us, thought those things would finish us off maybe?”
“I guess so…I still don’t like it though. Hmm…East tunnel is the one we need, right? That should take us above ground the quickest if we stick to it, right?”
“Yeah, sounds good to me. We’ll stick together, stay quiet, just in case there is anything waiting for us.”
Elijah agreed that was a good plan, and they set off towards the right exit. Just as they began to move off towards it there was an incredibly loud explosion in the distance, and they both knew the first bomb had gone off back down below. They felt the force of it even this far away on the Cloud, and as they looked at the chain, one of the three that kept the place anchored, they saw it go from it’s almost forty-five degree angle to slack, hanging straight down, and knew that the links had been severed down below.
At the same time as they saw the chain move, they felt the ground under their feet shifting. It was slow, not sudden like they had been expecting, but the entire place seemed to continue tilting, painfully slowly and for the longest time. It did eventually stop, and the Cloud had found its new equilibrium. Two hours to go. They wasted no more time, and continued on towards and into the tunnels.
Since they had last been here there had been no one to maintain any of the grounds, and the place seemed to have fallen into disrepair. No one had restocked the fuel for the many lanterns that lit up the tunnels, so almost all of them had died. There were one or two still going though, tiny sputteri
ng flames creating a small ball of light that barely showed anything. They shone like tiny rainbows in the darkness, even in their diminished state. The only other source of light they would have as they proceeded down into the darkness was Elijah himself, his arms still glowing, the fire-like patterns dancing around his forearms wrists and hands. It barely gave off any light, much like the tiny globes of rainbow light from the lanterns, and Elijah mentioned to Molly they would be best to go slowly so as not to accidently walk into anything or anyone unpleasant. She agreed and they carried on walking as the dim glow of the morning light gradually faded behind them, becoming a pinprick, a memory of light.
It was unnerving walking in such total darkness, and every now and then one or both of them would stop and listen, convinced they had heard someone coming. At one point, because they were trying to hug the wall on one side of the tunnels, Molly jumped and almost screamed because she nearly walked into a wall sconce holding a now unused torch. They carried on though, and nothing happened. The tunnels, although dark, still led where they were supposed to, nothing had been caved in, there was no kind of obstacle blocking their way, and for a time it looked like everything would be alright. They eventually came to a split in the tunnel, where a separate path led downwards, going entirely the wrong way.
They carried on past it and continued on their chosen path, which they could feel was just beginning to tilt upwards slightly. From here the tunnel would continue to curve upwards and around in a very shallow spiral, eventually bringing them out on top of the cloud. They would hopefully see the other end of the tunnel’s twin soon, that tiny pinprick of morning light signalling they had made it through. They carried on around the curve, starting to relax a little now that they knew they had nearly made it
All of a sudden as they were progressing Molly grabbed the back of Elijah’s shirt, stopping him dead. He whipped his head around to glare at her, mouthing a silent question as to why she had stopped him so suddenly and with no warning. Her eyes were wide, and she simply nodded, indicating the way ahead of them. Elijah turned to look back the way they had been going. Faintly, very faintly, he could see some kind of dim shadow ahead. Molly had noticed it as he had gotten near to it, the pale light from Elijah’s arms giving off just enough light for her to see a faint silhouette.
She silently took hold of Elijah’s arms and lifted them a little higher, increasing the distance they shed their light. Molly had been partially correct, there had been an outline. Standing there in the silent darkness had been a hooded figure, waiting. His head was down, and it looked like he was staring at the floor, not that they could see his face. He, like so many other, held a small curved dagger in one hand. Molly had only been partially right because there had been more than one person waiting for them. As Elijah lifted his arms the outlines of dozens upon dozens of figures came into view, each identical to the first, hoods up, daggers in hands, still as statues. They were packed into the tunnel, and Molly couldn’t even fathom how many of them there might be. Just dozens? Hundreds?
There was no way they could go back. The trip back to the intersection and the extra time it would take them to get back up to the surface would take far too long. And who was to say that the other exits weren’t clogged with enemies just like this one? They looked, straining their eyes to see as far as they could. Just figures, outlines as far as they could see. There were spaces between the figures though, slim little pathways they might be able to squeeze through if they were careful. It seemed like the hooded scholars were just waiting for their prey to walk past before striking. They knew this would require patience, care and skill, and worst of all time, something they were running out of, but they had no choice.
Elijah took the lead, very carefully turning sideways to slip between the nearest figures, pulling the bandoleer he wore tight around himself so that it didn’t touch anyone behind him. He was much more bulky than he was used to, with both his bandoleer and the pack on his back containing the wings, but he inched his way along, excruciatingly slowly. Now that he was in between the scholars he could hear them breathing. Long, slow breaths, all perfectly even, like they were in some kind of trance.
One of them would twitch and murmur every now and then, and it was unnerving every time. Molly had followed Elijah into the living maze of bodies and knives, and the two of them were now gingerly tip-toeing through the crowd, praying that none of them woke up or noticed them. The tension was unbearable. All they had to light up the way in front of them was the glow coming from Elijah. It was so dim, but he dare not conduct any more than he already was, not knowing what exactly it was that might set them off or wake them up, never mind the fact that in such close quarters he was likely to set several of them on fire. Onwards they went, picking their way through, nerves jangling, until Elijah looked up and saw the familiar pinprick of light ahead. It was the exit, they were so close.
He turned around slowly to see if Molly had noticed it as well. She nodded, indicating that she had indeed seen it as well, and ushered him on. He turned back around and carried on. Not much longer now. He started taking his tentative steps again, making sure it was safe before he proceeded, it was not worth making a mistake here, as it could easily cost them their lives. They managed to squeeze past the maze of people they had come to so far, and Elijah was just about to continue when he looked in front of him and realised how difficult progressing was going to be. It was like there was even less room the further they went, and now the people were so tightly packed together it was going to be nearly impossible to pass them unnoticed. Elijah held his breath, and began to try and slowly weave between the cloaks and knives. Slowly, painfully slowly, the two of them went on. The glimmer of light in the distance was getting bigger by the second, they were nearly done.
Elijah went to squeeze between two figures, incredibly close together. He knew there was no way he was going to make it through with the bandoleer around his chest, and so very carefully took it off. Molly, smaller then he was, would just be able to make it through. Elijah held the Bandoleer of precious ether above his head, turning sideways to shimmy through the gap. He was right in the middle of them when one of the scholars twitched in their half-sleep. As they did so their elbow jerked outwards, just lightly bumping into Elijah. Horrified, he stood completely still, waiting to see if that was enough to wake up the crowd. The man’s elbow dropped back to where it had been, and complete silence returned. It stretched on forever, Molly looking on in fear waiting to see what would happen.
The silence seemed to stretch on forever, and Elijah thought perhaps nothing was going to come of the touch. Just as he let himself breathe a silent sigh of relief though the figure seemed to stir. It was facing towards him, and as it stirred it lifted its head. As it looked up it opened its eyes and Elijah found him himself face to face with a pair of completely black eyes, staring at him. It seemed to take a second for the scholar to realise what he was looking at, and then he reacted, swinging his blade as fast as possible. Elijah was faster though, and jumped to one side instinctively, or at least tried to. He collided with several more people, and the knife that had originally been meant for him was plunged into the side of another hooded man, who immediately woke up screaming in pain. The people Elijah had hit were now waking up, as was everyone else. All hell broke loose.
As soon as the men realised that Elijah and Molly were there they all tried to attack them. It was like a giant ripple running along the tunnel as every single figure woke up and turned to see what was happening. It was utter chaos. Elijah was trying to look everywhere at once, blade were flying through the air thick and fast, seemingly everywhere at once. This was a lost cause already, there was no fighting here. It was time to either run or die.
“Molly! RUN!” He bellowed, and she didn’t need telling twice. The two of them pushed, shoved and kicked their way through as fast as possible, desperately clawing their ways towards the light at the end of the tunnel, which couldn’t be more than thirty feet away now. The mob were co
mpletely frenzied, tearing and ripping at them with their free hands while swiping with their steel with the other. Elijah thought to himself there was no way of getting out of this without some kind of punishment, and he was right. He felt the tip of one of the enemies knives slice down the middle of his back and roared in pain as he immediately felt the blaze of agony, felt the blood running down from the wound.
Molly saw it happen and called out, trying to reach him and push him forwards, frantically trying to get them both out of there. She was concentrating so hard on ducking under the knives being swung at her that she didn’t even see the blade coming from low down. It cut her across the back of her thigh and she screamed, very nearly dropping down to one knee in pain. She couldn’t afford to let herself though, that would be the end of her. She ignored the white hot pain in her leg and carried on, kicking away those who got too close, wincing every time she did.
They were so close, Elijah knew they were going to make it out, but then what? The scholars, possessed as they were by Azrael, would just follow them out, surround them, and subdue them. Elijah was about to call to Molly when he felt one of the blades snag the bandoleer of ether. The blade pulled away, tearing a portion of the bandoleer, sending several vials of ether flying into the still relative darkness of the tunnel. He allowed himself a grim smile as he heard the screams of multiple killers as the ether vials smashed open on them, doing horrendous damage that Elijah could only imagine. The screams quickly faded to silence.
He shouted to Molly, as loud as he could. “The explosives Molly, the vials! We have to close the tunnel!” She replied in kind “I know damn it! I’m trying not to lose my head here though!”
If the mob in the tunnel had any idea or even cared what the two of them were shouting about they didn’t show it. Whipped into a total frenzy like they were, all they did was continue attacking, relentlessly, over and over again. It wouldn’t matter soon though, the end of the tunnel was here, Elijah had reached it, Molly just behind him, the entire mob now turning their attention towards them and beginning to press towards them and the exit of the tunnel as one. Elijah, his arms now not glowing at all thanks to losing the ether vials, began to conduct, sending twin streams of fire out, hands like flamethrowers. Molly ducked behind him and immediately rummaging in two of the bandoleer pockets to get the correct jars out. The groups were surging, desperately trying to get out of the tunnel and come after them now, but the exit had them bottlenecked, and Elijah was just barely managing to keep them at bay. Molly was ready now though, and let him know. “Try and keep them back while I do this!”
He didn’t need telling twice. With a burst of effort the streams of fire became like a blanket, covering the entire entrance of the tunnel and forcing the mob back. At least they tried to push backwards. There were a lot of bodies pushing the ones at the front forwards though, and those that couldn’t get back far enough screamed in agony as the fire hit them. He had to remind himself it didn’t matter. These weren’t people anymore, they were monsters.
Molly yelled that she was ready, and Elijah cut off his conducting just as she launched the two vials overhead. It took the enemy a moment to realize the fire had died down, and they were just about to press forwards again when the vials hit the top of the tunnel exit. The explosion was substantial, sending shards and chunks of rock flying in all directions. The two of them covered their faces with their arms. With a roaring, rumbling sound, the front of the tunnel caved in. It crushed and buried all those at the front of the crowd, and stranded those behind, trapping them in the tunnel. Elijah could still hear them clamouring to get out, but the exit of the tunnel had turned into a literal mountain of debris. There was no way they were reaching them. Molly and he were safe, for a brief moment.