#us78

A strong hand forced her down as the Ferngill soldiers immediately broke into fire. Stunned, Najia scurried across the floor and around the corner, pushing her body flat against the wall out of their line of fire. She gripped her own gun tightly, but did not dare move around the corner to shoot, letting the Ferngill soldiers do their job. And, really, it wasn’t like she wanted to shoot another human, anyway.

She listened as the gun shots died and booted feet moved quickly across the tiled floor. “All clears” rang out from different corners. Najia looked up as one of the soldiers rounded the corner, a hand out stretched to her. She blinked at him for a moment before taking his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

“Did we scare ya there?” he said with a smile.

“Talk to me when you have Nox’s cold grip on your heart,” Najia muttered.

The soldier stared after her as she stepped around him, joining with the rest of the soldiers. They were already assembling the bombs and distributing them around the basement level. She knew from the moment they were planted, they would have ten minutes to get out. That had to be more than enough time, right? Even if they were ambushed on their way out?

Najia waited just outside the stairwell as the soldiers returned. They nodded to her when the job was finished, ready to get out before the bombs blew. She led them quickly back up the stairs and into the hallway on the main floor, but a large figure blocked their path back into the lobby.

Eight minutes.

“Najia,” Michaels said as he stepped in front of her. “What a lovely surprise.”

The Ferngil soldiers raised their weapons as Gotoro soldiers stepped around the corner, their own weapons raised. Najia glared at Michaels but said nothing.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I spoil your plans?” he said. “How terribly unfortunate, hm?”

Najia gritted her teeth. Where were the others? Had he found them, too? Were they alive? Her mind raced and her stomach knotted.

“You see,” Michaels said. “You’ve been ruining my plans, so it’s about time I take care of this problem once and for all.”

“We had a deal,” Najia hissed.

Michaels chuckled lightly. “We did, didn’t we? You know,” he hesitated for dramatic effect. “I found your little spy drone in the sewers.”

“Of course,” Najia said. “How silly of me to think a rat like you wouldn’t be in the sewers.”

“Yes,” Michaels said slowly, ignoring her comment. “I was in the sewers, helping out the Shadow People. All part of a plan that you almost destroyed. We could have lost this war.”

“What are you talking about?” Najia said angrily.

“The Shadow People are more powerful than any of us,” Michaels said. “To win the game, you have to play the game, and I was merely trying to play.”

“Cut to the chase,” Najia muttered.

“I needed information,” Michaels said, his voice raising loudly. His brows knit together fiercely. “Information you refused to give me.”

Najia could feel the color drain from her face.

His expression softened for a moment. “I know you were afraid, Najia, but you and I both know that you have information that could have ended this war long ago. Information you withheld from me when I was trying to help you.”

This wasn’t her fault.

“But you refused, and there was nothing I could do about. I could threaten and torture you all I wanted, but that would not have gotten me anywhere and certainly wouldn’t have won your trust. So, I took matters into my own hands. I confronted Nox. He and I both knew the sword was somewhere in the valley. I convinced him that I knew exactly where - that you had given me the information I needed. In exchange for that information, he promised me safety. So I lied. I gave him some coordinates into the valley. And the Shadow People started digging their way in.”

“What did you expect to get out of this?” Najia asked.

Six minutes.

“Time,” Michaels said. “I was buying us time, sending those brutes off on a wild goose chase. Nox thought I was on his side, so there was no reason for me to interfere. Can you imagine the surprise in his eyes when he got there and there was no sword?”

“And what about us?” Najia hissed. “They would have attacked us.”

“But I would have had the sword,” Michaels said. “You would have brought me to it.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

Najia searched his eyes. “You’re lying.”

“War is not simply a single battle between two sides,” Michaels said. “You know that, now.”

“I don’t know where the sword is,” Najia said.

Michaels held his gaze on her. “You’re lying,” he said simply. “We had a deal, yes? I have not gone back on that.”

“Do you think I’m stupid enough to trust you?”

“Najia,” Michaels said gently. “You have nothing left in this war. Nothing to hide, no one to protect. Either we win, or the Shadow People win. Which is it?”

Najia bit her lip, her heart racing. “I have the valley,” she said softly. “And everyone in it.”

“If you want the rest of them to live, you will tell me where the sword is.”

Najia held her gaze, ignoring the flash of blond hair from the corner of her eye, disappearing just around the corner from behind the Gotoro soldiers.

“Okay,” she said softly. “Fine. I have the sword. It is in my possession, safe in the valley.”

“Bring it to me,” he said fiercely.

Gun shots fired off in the lobby, and Najia was suddenly on the ground once more, her arms covering her head. A strong hand pulled her up, and she stumbled blindly in the chaos back down the hall. Her body was pushed against the hard wall, knocking the breath out of her lungs for a moment. Michaels looked down at her, a twisted scowl on his face.

“Where is the sword?” he barked at her. His hands gripped her shoulders hard as he slammed her back against the wall.

Four minutes.

Her head pounded from the impact on the wall and her eyes tried to focus. She was just barely able to catch another blur of blond. She winced at the sound of a gun being cocked and then fired. Michaels grip loosened on her shoulders and she collapsed onto the ground, rolling away as quickly as she could as his body fell to his knees.

Sam reached to her, pulling her to her feet, catching her as she momentarily fell into his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

She nodded quickly as she regained her balance. “We need to get out of here,” she said. “Now!”

They ran back down the hall way and rounded the corner. Bodies of soldiers from both armies lay scattered along the floor. Najia bit back a sob as Sam pulled her around them.

“Don’t look,” he said, his grip tightening around her wrist. “C’mon.”

It didn’t matter if she looked because her tears blurred her vision, anyway. She let Sam bring her around the next corner and back into the lobby. She blinked through her tears, watching the men that stood scattered around the room, standing over bodies, their weapons still in their hands. They looked up at her as she and Sam entered.

Two minutes.

Sam continued to pull her as they sprinted across the lobby. The rest of their group quickly followed suit as they exited the building. Outside, another battle continued to rage on as Gotoro soldiers fought Ferngill soldiers. Najia’s stomach twisted sickeningly to see the two armies fighting one another when they should have been allies. She leaned against Sam as her knees shook. This was all her fault.

They hurried around the building, keeping close to the walls as they made their way to their extraction point at the entrance to the sewers where Maru and Sebastian were to be waiting for them. And to Najia’s relief, they were there. One by one, they jumped into the drain quickly, just as the bombs started to go off. Explosion followed explosion as the ground shook above them, but they pushed on, sprinting down the sewers and away from the battle.

They didn’t stop running until they reached the other side where they would have to climb out and walk further to reach the vehicles. They ascended quickly, pausing only for a moment to catch their breaths.

But the world wasn’t as dark as they were used to. Najia turned back, watching in horror as the building burned and fell. The orange glow of the flames seemed to flicker against the dark haze that shrouded their sky. Inside those walls, the Gotoro and the Ferngill soldiers were fighting to the death, giving them every chance to escape alive.

Najia vomited. She felt hands on her, pulling at her hair as she heaved and vomited again. She sobbed as she wiped her arm across her mouth. She coughed and spit at the ground, whimpering. She could hear hushed, frantic voices around her. They were eager to get back to the cars and to the valley.

She straightened and sucked in a breath. They had to keep going. But she had to open her eyes, first.