"I'm trying to get into the door codes," she said. "They've made it more difficult."
As she worked, Markus kept glancing back toward the room's entrance, expecting guards to rush in. Surely, with all this advanced tracking technology, they could monitor a room this important.
"Almost there," Karin said, tapping the keys furiously. "There! I've got it!"
The nearby door opened with a hissing sound, revealing a dimly lit corridor beyond. A moment later, an alarm blared, and red lights began flashing.
"Get inside quickly!" Karin said, and took off toward the door herself.
Markus and Nadia sprinted through the door mere moments before it slammed shut behind them. To Markus's surprise, Karin had also made it through.
"I thought you weren't coming with us," he said.
"I would've been trapped there otherwise," she said. "Then I would've faced execution for exposing government secrets and helping you escape. In here, I might die, but at least I'll have a chance." She shook her head. "I should've known they'd improve security. I must not have been careful enough in covering my tracks."
"We'll be glad to have your help," Nadia said.
Karin looked pale in the dim light. "I'll do the best I can, but I'm not that talented a Technomage. Even untrained, you're probably better than I am."
"But you have some idea of what we might face," Nadia said.
"I hope that's enough."
They started along the corridor with the alarms blaring behind them. The president would surely send guards into these tunnels, especially once he found out who'd escaped.
"Now let's eliminate your tracking bots," Karin said. "I'm gonna stick one of these syringes in each of you." She held up the device ending in a long needle. "The chemicals in the syringe will destroy the tracking bots."
She plunged the needle into Nadia's arm. Nadia winced but didn't say anything. When Karin repeated the process with Markus, he felt a hot stinging sensation in his arm, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
"In a few minutes," Karin said, "all your tracking bots should be destroyed." She peered down the corridor. "In the meantime, we should get moving."
They rounded a few corners, following the dim and empty corridor. Markus felt so tense he could barely breathe. He thought of all the dangerous machines Karin had mentioned. Something could be lurking around any corner.
Soon they entered a larger chamber with crisscrossing walkways. Strange clanking and whirring noises filled the chamber. Markus glanced down and saw something indistinct moving far below.
Karin took the lead, keeping an eye out for any traps or machines. Every few seconds, she stopped as if she sensed danger, but then she shook her head and started walking again. Following her, Markus felt sick.
They reached the far wall of the chamber, where the walkway made a sharp right turn. The wall next to them contained the unmoving forms of six robots plated in dull, gold-colored metal. Their eyes glowed a terrifying red.
"You think they'll attack us?" Markus asked softly.
"We'll see." Karin reached the first robot, and it came to life with a low hiss, moving out of its alcove with jerky motions and turning its red eyes upon them.
"You do not belong here," it said in a voice almost as jerky as its movements. "If you do not leave immediately, we will be forced to destroy you."
Markus looked for an escape route, but he could see no definite path among the countless crisscrossing walkways. "What should we do?"
Karin pointed her palm toward the robot, and a surge of lightning burst from her TW. The lightning struck the robot, and the robot made strange garbled noises before collapsing. Smoke poured from some of its joints.
"Lightning is our best bet against anything mechanical," Karin said. "The electricity these things run on is a lot like lightning. But they can't handle an excess of it."
Markus didn't understand everything she'd said, but he'd heard the important part.
A moment later, all the robots stepped out from their alcoves, facing the party. At the ends of the robots' arms were plasma rifles. They all fired at once, and Karin raised a shield around the party just in time. The blasts from the rifles fizzled out against the shield.
"Can we use magic through the shield?" Markus asked as the robots took aim again. He ducked instinctively as more blasts came at them, striking the shield.
"Yes, it only keeps magic from coming in," Karin said. "It can still go out."
Markus and Nadia both pointed their palms at the robots while Karin kept the shield steady. Lightning burst from Nadia's TW, and Markus focused on the idea of lightning himself. A moment later, he sent a burst of lightning at one of the robots. As soon as their spells collided with the robots, the robots made those garbled noises again before collapsing.
Soon Markus and Nadia destroyed all the robots. It was surprisingly easy.
"Good," Karin said. "I was worried you'd have trouble with your TWs."
"It felt natural to me," Nadia said, and Markus nodded his agreement. They continued along the walkway, stepping over the fallen robots. Soon the three of them encountered stairs leading them downward, but there was still a long way to go before they'd reach the ground.
Along the way, they encountered a few more robots and handled them just as easily. They also chose the wrong direction on the walkways a few times and found themselves facing dead ends. By the time they reached the bottom, they'd backtracked at least a dozen times. Now they stood on the ground, where the whirring and clanking noises were louder than ever.
Up ahead was a robot that looked like a giant spider. It fixed its gaze on them, and red beams of light shot from its eyes. Markus and Nadia rolled out of the line of fire while Karin raised a shield. But the red beams went right through her shield.
As the spider bot prepared to fire another beam of light at them, Markus and Nadia both sent bursts of lightning at it. But the lightning fizzled out as if the robot had cast a shield.
Markus ducked beneath another red beam of light. "What're we supposed to do now?"
"I don't know," Karin said. "We can't get through its shield with magic."
More of the spider bots scuttled toward them from the distance. Their eyes glowed red, and they launched more beams of light. Markus, Nadia, and Karin ducked under some beams and sidestepped away from others. The beams came from every direction as more and more of the spider bots emerged.
Markus sent a wave of fire at some of the spider bots, but it dissipated against the shields as well. He couldn't keep the spell going long either, for he had to leap out of the way of another beam of light. Those rays of light now crisscrossed the chamber, bathing it in eerie red light.
One beam of light skimmed across Markus's arm. It burned as hot as fire, but he ignored the pain, dodging more and more of the spider bots' attacks. There had to be some way to stop them. He recalled some of the magic Rik could do with his staff and sent shards of ice flying at the spider bots. The ice penetrated the shields but simply bounced off the robots' bodies.
He ducked as a beam flew inches above his head. "It was worth a try."
From his right, he heard a grunt.
"Don't worry." Karin jumped to the side to avoid another attack. "It hurt, but I’m fine."
Then, as if things weren't already bad enough, an alarm began blaring in the chamber, and red lights flashed, making it almost impossible to see the spider bots' attacks. Markus barely saw one in time, and it would have struck him right in the eyes if he hadn't ducked
There was a door up ahead, but six spider bots had blocked it. Their eyes all glowed red at once, and there was no way Markus, Nadia, and Karin could avoid that many attacks at once.
"Shields!" Karin shouted. "It's our only chance!"
All three of them raised shields at once. One shield hadn't been enough to stop the beams of light, but with three shields, the beams of light reflected, striking the spider bots instead. The spider bots' legs collapsed, and smoke swirled from their bodies. Mark
us, Nadia, and Karin rushed forward, leaping over the spider bots and racing through the open door. On the other side, Karin pulled a lever, and the door slammed shut behind them.
"Is everyone all right?" Nadia asked. "I've got a couple of burns."
Markus chuckled. "Yeah, I think we all do."
Sweat poured down his face, and his heart was pounding so fiercely he felt it in his head. He leaned against a nearby wall, trying to catch his breath. "Anyone need me to heal them?"
Nadia shook her head. "You need to save your strength in case we get hurt worse."
Once they recovered, they started through the corridor they'd entered. It twisted along for what felt like an eternity, and they didn't see any threats. At the moment, though, that was hardly comforting. Markus felt so tense he thought he might explode from the force of it.
At last, they reached the end of the corridor, where they had two choices of paths. One led through an open doorway to a room full of red beams of light so tightly packed there was no way through.
Markus peered carefully into the room. "Could we try using three shields again?"
Karin considered a moment. "No. We shouldn't risk it. Let's check the other path first."
The other path was a ladder that led upward to a small door. Karin climbed the ladder first and pulled the door open, revealing a much smaller tunnel. If Markus had been anxious before, it was nothing compared to how he felt about entering such a tight space.
He remembered the tunnel in the Fire Mountains, and his heart began racing again. "You sure the other way wouldn't be a better option?"
"I know it's a small space," Nadia said, "but you can do it."
"I'll do it, but only if I get to be at the back."
"That's all right," Nadia said. "Karin will take the lead, and I'll be in the middle."
Karin crawled into the opening first, followed by Nadia, and then Markus. As soon as he entered the tight space, he felt as if the world were pressing down on him. He kept taking deep breaths, refusing to give in to panic. It would not control him. Not this time.
The alarms began blaring again, and the door slammed shut behind them. Markus wanted to scream, but he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.
Nadia nudged him gently, her touch reassuring. "We'll have to see if there's another way out."
Markus could barely speak through his fear. "And if there isn't?"
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," Nadia said. Markus wished he could take that attitude, but he knew the truth. He was going to die. In this tunnel. Right now.
No. That was only his fear speaking. He could not let it rule him.
They continued through the tunnel. Soon it branched out in three directions. They chose to go straight ahead for no particular reason.
They followed the path for a few more minutes as alarms blared. It was only a matter of time until guards entered these tunnels. They were probably close already. Though Markus, Nadia, and Karin had magic on their side, Markus knew it wouldn't be enough.
At last, the narrow space came to an end. When Markus rolled out of the tunnel, he felt as if he'd been given a new chance at life. He got to his feet shakily. "I never want to go back through that place."
"I don't think any of us particularly cared for it," Nadia said.
Markus wanted to argue, but it would do no good. They had limited time, and they had to make the most of it. The room they'd entered had a massive window, through which they could see the room with all the crisscrossing beams of light. On the wall opposite the window was a large computer screen. To its left, a set of stairs spiraled downward.
"I think those stairs lead down to the room out there," Karin said.
Together, they made their way down those stairs and found themselves staring at the impenetrable maze of light. Dispirited, they returned to the computer. It was their only hope.
"Let me see if I can disable them." Karin began working at the keyboard, muttering under her breath and casting glances over her shoulder.
"Don't worry about anyone that's coming," Nadia said. "We'll watch for them."
Karin nodded and returned to her work. Markus had never seen anyone work at such a frantic pace, but the longer she worked, the more frustrated she appeared. The blaring alarms and flashing red lights certainly didn't help. Markus was getting a headache himself.
"I'm almost there." Karin continued working feverishly. "Come on. Let me through." She hit the keys a few more times, then slammed her fist against the wall. "Damn! The computer locked me out. They know we're down here."
"But if we can't disable those beams of light," Nadia said, "then what can we do?"
"We could go back into the ducts we just left," Karin said.
Markus's stomach clenched. '"I'm not going back in there."
Karin gave him a sharp look. "We have no choice."
"I may not know much about your world," Markus said, "but I understand the way people's minds work. If they wanna protect something, they're not gonna make it easy to get around an obstacle like this. That computer was our best chance. We'll just have to go through that room and hope we don't get killed."
Karin's look became even sharper. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard."
"We can't backtrack," Markus said. "If they know you've used this computer, then they'll already have people in those—what did you call them, ducts?"
Karin ran a hand through her hair, sagging against the metallic wall. "Didn't think of that."
"Maybe those beams of light won't hurt us," Nadia said. "Maybe they're intended as some kind of security, meant to detect intruders. They already know we're here, so there's no risk in getting detected." She shook her head. "But I could be wrong."
"You could also be right," Karin said. "We have to risk it."
"Then we shouldn't waste any time," Nadia said, and they all raced down the stairs. Now they stood at the edge of the room, watching the beams of light as they swept across every inch of that room.
"Well, it was my idea," Markus said, "so I'll step out there first. If it kills me, you can go back through the ducts." He took a deep breath. "But I don't think it will." I hope, he added silently.
After a few more deep breaths, he stepped out into the room, and one of the beams of red light immediately swept across him. To his relief, it didn't hurt, but the second it touched him, a new alarm began blaring—a lower sound, more like thousands of bees buzzing.
The red beams of light had all stopped. Nadia and Karin joined Markus at the edge of the room, and a few moments later, the door they'd gone through slammed behind them. That horrible buzzing sound continued, growing louder and more terrifying.
A low rumble passed through the floor, and Markus caught motion far above. The ceiling was opening, and something was coming down through it.
Something huge.
"I think I know what that is," Karin said. "They call it the Defender. I'd always thought it was a myth. Looks like it isn't." She paused a moment, eyes wide in terror. "Too bad it's the last thing we're gonna see before we die."
Chapter 11: The Defender
Nadia looked up at the immense form of the Defender as it descended from the ceiling. They all backed into a corner of the room so the giant thing wouldn't land on them. When it hit the ground, the entire chamber shook, knocking Nadia off balance.
She stared at the Defender. It was a robot, yes, but it was larger than any other robot she'd ever seen. By far. The monstrosity had to stand at least a hundred feet tall, and appeared to be just as wide. At the end of its arms were two smaller machines, relatively speaking. Each smaller machine contained a giant hole, through which something deadly would likely emerge.
The Defender's main body was even more terrifying. It looked to be made of the same solid metal as the other robots. Maybe lightning would work on it.
"Intruders! Intruders! You must die."
"Guess we don't get a chance to explain ourselves," Markus said.
A surge of lightning b
urst from the creature and flew toward them. Nadia, Markus, and Karin all raised shields at the same time, but Nadia still held her breath as the lightning crackled against the barrier. For a few terrifying moments, she was sure their shields wouldn't hold, but then the lightning dissipated.
As soon as they dropped the shields, Nadia let out her own bursts of lightning, aiming at the Defender's main body. The spell didn't hit it, striking a barrier instead and reflecting back toward her. Nadia, Markus, and Karin all threw themselves to the side, narrowly avoiding the rebounding spell. They'd have to come up with another plan.
But the Defender didn't give them time. One of its arms flew toward them. Markus and Nadia jumped out of the way, but Karin wasn't quick enough. The impact sent her flying at least thirty feet back, where she struck the wall and fell limp.
She had to be dead, but Nadia couldn't worry about that right now. The Defender's other arm was flying toward them. Nadia pulled Markus down, and they narrowly ducked beneath it. Nadia sent a spurt of fire toward the Defender, but the spell bounced off the shield.
"What can we do?" Markus asked breathlessly.
"I have no idea."
They both launched every spell they could think of, recalling what Rik and Alana had done with their staffs. But nothing worked against the massive guardian. Again and again, they narrowly avoided the killing blows it sent at them. Nadia was so panicked she could barely think. All she could do was dodge each attack the Defender sent at them. They couldn't keep this up for long, and the Defender appeared to be tireless.
"There's gotta be something we're missing." Markus jumped to the side to avoid another attack. "Maybe we should hit the arms."
Another arm shot out toward Nadia, and this time it seemed to predict her movement. Instinctively, she let a burst of lightning fly. When it struck the Defender's hand, it didn't reflect back at her. Instead, it swirled around the hand, and the hand stopped its movement less than a foot from her.
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