“You're getting closer,” Adam whispered before his body dislodged itself from Skye's blade and fell to the floor.
Sierra turned the corner once again and fired a lone bolt. It hit Karen Bowden directly in the abdomen, just below her chest guard. Her already lifeless body dropped the pistol she was holding and slumped against the wall.
“Skye, quickly!”
Skye snapped out of his daze and followed Sierra around the corner and down the corridor. They both stopped abruptly when they saw a horrendous sight before them.
Skye gasped as he watched Echo quickly rush toward them. The tall man had no weapon, but was armed with Night's hungry grin.
“What's the order?” Sierra asked, holding her crossbow high.
“No ... we can't,” Skye stammered.
“What's happening?”
Echo closed in on them, careening down the hall and picking up speed.
“Echo's here,” Sierra responded. “He's headed straight for us. We need to take him out.”
“No!” Tango's voice roared through the headset.
“Skye, what do you want me to do?” Sierra asked, turning to him.
“Yes, Skye, what are your orders?” Echo asked, taking another step forward.
“Don't take him out!” Ren shouted.
Skye's mind raced. He couldn't bring himself to harm his friend, but also couldn't risk Night taking control of them.
Echo stepped closer, mere metres away.
“Shoot his legs,” Skye finally said.
Without hesitation, Sierra fired a bolt into each of Echo's legs. His body buckled and collapsed forward.
Skye breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't resort to ending his life. “Good shot. We need to kill Night right now and bring Echo back.”
Echo started laughing from the floor. “And just how do you intend to do that?” Night asked.
“Skye, the speech is ending. Get moving, now!”
“Is Echo alright?” Tango desperately asked.
“He's fine,” Skye replied as they cautiously stepped around his injured body. Echo reached out and attempted to grab Skye's foot, but Skye quickly jumped out of the way. “He's wounded, but he's fine. I promise we'll find a way to bring him back.” As soon as he was far enough from Night's grasp, he broke into a run and resumed looking for the president. Sierra led the way and walked through the doorway at the end.
“Skye, this was no fun!” Echo called from the floor.
Skye turned around as he was about to leave the room. His eyes widened as he watched Echo rip out one of the crossbow bolts from his legs and stab it into his chest.
“No!” Skye screamed frantically.
He ran back to his fallen comrade, only to be held back by Sierra for his own safety.
“Don't touch him,” she warned.
Skye covered his mouth, shocked by the display he had just witnessed.
“Better luck next time,” Night whispered, his eyes staring into Skye's.
Skye fell to his knees, distraught. The sight of his lifeless friend sent a shock wave throughout his body.
“Skye, what is it?” Ren asked, an edge of fear in her voice.
“We need to go,” Sierra whispered, “now.”
Skye slowly stood up, trying to compose himself. He had been terrified since the previous evening that they would lose Echo, as none of them knew how to stop Night. But the scene before him was almost too much to bear. He struggled to breathe.
“Skye,” Tango said wearily, “what's happening?”
Angry tears began to well in Skye's eyes. He offered no explanation to the others. Instead, he turned around and let out a furious roar as he sprinted down the corridor, his mind only thinking of murdering Night and Archibald, and ending this mission once and for all.
Fifty-six
Sierra led the way as Skye tried to keep up with her. His heart was pounding furiously. Night had to be killed for what he had done.
“Skye, talk to me,” Tango said again. “Is Echo alright?”
Skye remained silent; he was in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening.
They turned another corner and stopped when they saw a man in a dirty tuxedo standing at the end of a long hallway, blocking the door to the suite. Night leaned casually on his cane, not bothered by their sudden appearance.
“We meet again,” Night said.
Neither of the duo made a move. Night had no combat ability of his own, and stood no chance against either of them. A trap was the only possible explanation.
Sierra turned back around, and raised her blade just as the black ball of energy hurtled toward her. She swung through it, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision.
Tahlia was poised in the narrow hallway behind them. She saw her opportunity and took action immediately, conjuring another ball of black matter. Skye threw his sword outward at the woman. Like themselves, she was faster than most, and grabbed hold of the handle before it pierced her skin.
Sierra leapt forward and swung her own blade wildly at the woman in the suit. Tahlia used Skye's katana to parry the attack, and held her free arm up, emitting a long, black stream of dark and ominous energy. It formed into the shape of a sword.
Sierra jumped up high and raised her curved blade to attack. Tahlia held up both Skye's sword and her own dark beam, blocking Sierra's attack.
Skye let out a mortified gasp as he turned his head right to see Night hobbling toward him, a twisted look in his vacant eyes. Skye stood defenceless without his weapon of choice, knowing that he couldn't let Night make physical contact with him. Skye held his arms forward, forcing his mind outwards and trying to keep the freakish man at bay. The force hit Night hard, slowing him down, but not stopping him. He surged forward slowly, creeping closer with every second.
Sierra used her blade to try to jab Tahlia repeatedly. With each thrust, Tahlia lifted her dark beam, blocking every attempt on her life. Sierra gave up and threw the blunt weapon at her at point-blank range. It barely travelled a few inches before Tahlia raised Skye's sword and deflected the steel. Sierra grabbed her weapon back and swung it upward toward her foe.
Tahlia's eyes widened with fear. She leapt backwards as the blade came dangerously close. She managed to evade it as it curved upwards. But Sierra was too skilled with the weapon—she twisted her wrist at the last minute, slicing Tahlia's chin.
Tahlia recoiled as she realised she was struck. Sierra crouched down and delivered a powerful back kick to her abdomen, sending her soaring through the hallway and smashing the window behind. She fell down to the concrete below, only just rolling and landing on her feet at the last second. Sierra gave chase, diving outside after her.
Sierra flew out with incredible speed, her eyes darting from side to side as she searched for her target. Tahlia was nowhere to be seen.
Her head suddenly snapped upwards as she saw Tahlia high on the roof, holding a large ball of black energy above her head.
“You shouldn't have left the girl alone,” she said.
Sierra stared at her blankly, her facial expression not changing.
Tahlia smirked, throwing the ball down with tremendous force. It hurled toward Sierra, who jumped backwards and avoided it easily. She gripped her blade tightly and turned her gaze back to the roof, only to discover that the woman was gone.
Skye focussed his mind even harder, trying to keep the predator away from him at all costs. Night slowly placed one foot in front of the other, taking his time as he crept closer. Without his weapon, Skye could only use his mind as an offensive tactic. Hand-to-hand combat was not an option. He knew Nikolai would never order his execution if he were to become possessed, but Night was sadistic enough to defy Nikolai and kill Skye.
“You really want to get into this room, don't you?” Night said, referring to the closed door behind him. “You'll have to get through me first.”
Skye clenched his jaw. He was a powerful telekinetic, but it was an incredible strain on him to use his ability on another. Wieldi
ng a light weapon was a far simpler task.
Night took another step closer, narrowing the gap between them to only a few metres. Skye dug his feet deeper into the floor, using every muscle in his body to keep himself grounded. Sweat began to bead on his forehead under the immense pressure he was exerting.
Another step forward. Skye was nearing his limit. He was already extremely fatigued from the previous two days, and he had now almost completely exhausted any remaining energy he had. Any second now he would drop to his knees and release his control on Night, allowing the monster to engulf him.
Frantically, he tried to think of a new strategy. He was completely defenceless. He only had one shot to end the assault.
He released his control on Night, who started striding toward him with eager haste. Skye acted as quickly as he could, focussing his mind on his enemy's jaw. He held his hands outwards, channelling his mental energy only on his face, locking on to it tightly. Night still surged forward, coming within a metre of Skye.
In a final move, Skye split his focus both upwards and downwards simultaneously, ripping Night's upper jaw away from the lower one. Skye screamed as he intensified his mental grasp. He exerted everything he had. The horrific crunching sound was almost deafening as Night's head tore from the remainder of his body. He collapsed to the ground in two pieces, mere inches from Skye.
Fifty-seven
Skye glared down at Night's decapitated remains, having never before taken someone's life. He was paralysed, his mind in a state of shock, unable to comprehend what he'd just done.
“Talk to me, please! What's happening?”
Ren's voice brought Skye back into the moment. He shook the fear from his head. “Night's dead,” he panted. “How much longer until they finish?” Uninhibited, he weakly walked forward. There was nothing stopping him from interrupting the inauguration now.
“It's almost over,” she said quickly, “he's signing the contract. You need to get in there now!”
Skye stumbled down the hallway, trying his best to keep his balance after the draining battle. He conjured any last remaining stores of energy and started jogging through the passage. This would be his final chance to stop the president.
He reached the set of double doors, grabbed the handles and pushed them open roughly, forcing his way into the room.
Skye stared blankly at his surroundings. He was alone in a large suite full of video recording and transmitting equipment. Undoubtedly, this must be the room where the president was giving his speech.
He frowned, perplexed and devastated by the dead end. “It's empty. Ren, the room's empty,” he whispered finally, confusion filling his voice.
“What!” Ren shrieked through the communicator. “What do you mean? I'm watching it live right now.”
Skye shook his head, lowering himself to the ground. His body was completely exhausted from the ordeal. He looked around, scanning the room from corner to corner, his fatigued mind working hard to try and piece everything together.
A wave of panic filled his body as he arrived at a horrible conclusion. He let out a defeated moan. “Ren,” Skye said weakly, “it was all staged. It was pre-recorded.”
On the other end of their headsets, the members of White Shadow paused as they heard Skye's words. Tango, Juliet, and Romeo stood frozen in the crowd outside the centre, watching the giant screen which depicted the president signing the final page of his contract.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a woman's voice boomed through the speakers, “may I present to you the ninth president of the Republic of Athenia.”
The crowd erupted with deafening cheering, whistling, and applause. Ecstatic and wild screams filled the arena, creating a wave of patriotic euphoria among the thousands of citizens.
The two youths stood helplessly beside Tango, not knowing how to react to the crushing defeat. For Romeo, it had been a restless couple of days with numerous near-death moments. For the rest of White Shadow, it was months of precious time and energy wasted. They had lost.
Skye shook his head in disbelief, unable to fathom how Nikolai had organised everything so well. It was all a game, and they had bean beaten once again.
Sierra flew into the room, curious as to where he had gone. Her lack of jubilation suggested her nemesis had eluded her once again.
“Tahlia?” Skye asked anyway.
“Gone. I think she went back to find Juliet.”
“What?” Skye gasped aloud. “Did you hear that?” he asked into the headset, but there was no response. “Ren, are you there?”
“They probably can't hear over the noise,” Ren said weakly after a moment of silence. Her voice was despondent and defeated.
“We have to go,” Skye said hurriedly. “We need to find the others. They're out in the open alone.”
They didn't waste another second. Sierra helped Skye up. They had already failed Echo—failing Tango, Juliet, and Romeo was not an option.
They ran back through the villa with haste, navigating through the maze of corridors. Skye stopped when he arrived back at his fallen friend's body.
“Echo,” he said, his eyes watering. “I'm so sorry.”
He couldn't take his gaze from the man's face.
“Skye, we need to go,” Sierra urged.
Skye didn't move. He stared at Echo's lifeless expression. “We can't just leave him here.”
“Come on,” Sierra beckoned, much further ahead of him. “We'll return for him later.”
Skye started running again, remembering the urgent task at hand. He took one last look back at his comrade, freezing when he saw what looked like a slight smirk spread across the corpse's face.
“Skye!” Sierra called.
Skye snapped out of his tormented stare and pressed himself on.
He ran though the hall behind Sierra, jumping over the heap of other bodies that lay in their path. He couldn't help but feel pity for the men and women who were only protecting their leader. They were all fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters, and they had been butchered by the sadistic Night.
It's over, Skye thought. Night's finally dead.
But I was too late.
Fifty-eight
Tahlia gazed down upon the crowd below from the lower mezzanine. She was surrounded by countless men and women in suits, all talking noisily among themselves and drinking Athenia's finest coffee. None of the political staff or campaign organisers paid much attention to her, as most of them were told that Archibald had selected an unorthodox group of advisors to serve him.
“The inauguration's complete,” she said over the cheering crowd, turning to face the statue-like Sabina and Aurelius. “Help me find the girl.”
She knew it wouldn't be long before Sierra came looking for her, so they had to move quickly. Fortunately, she was now more free to make her execution less clandestine. Nikolai had strictly warned her not to cause any unnecessary security risks or behave suspiciously until the new leader had been sworn in, so as to not raise the national threat level and delay the ceremony. Nevertheless, a callous public attack was still a last resort, as a crowd of stampeding people evacuating would be disastrous.
They pushed their way through the jubilant workers, who had spent countless months setting up the eventful day. None of them had any idea who Black Dawn were, nor could they grasp what the group was capable of. Tahlia led the way down the stairs, her only goal now to eradicate Juliet for the sake of their future plans.
“Tango, can you hear me?” Skye asked through the headset. “Tahlia's on her way back to you.”
“Skye, yes, I can hear you,” he responded, barely able to hear his own voice. He knew they had failed their mission, and turned his attention to the one concern that had been on his mind since the previous evening. “Where's Echo? Is he alright?” he asked, hopeful that his friend had survived.
An entire minute elapsed before Tango heard a response. His heart rate increased with every passing second as he began to fear the worst.
“No,” Skye choke
d. “Night killed him.”
Tango's eyes twitched as soon as the words were said. His mind was unable to process the information. His legs buckled as his body slowly sank to the ground. The mention of his fallen friend sent a wave of agony throughout his entire body. They had fought side by side for so long, and now, in a mere matter of moments, he was dead. Tango had failed his best friend. A tear slid down his pale face.
Juliet's jaw dropped, the news hitting her hard. While she hadn't become overly close with Echo during her time with White Shadow, her mind struggled to comprehend the thought of losing one of their own.
Romeo's head fell. He fought back tears. The stressful two days had culminated in the death of one of his new colleagues.
Tango's eyes became distant. He sat on the ground helplessly, struggling to breathe. A shrill roar left his throat as he stared upwards at the light sky, his sorrow dripping down his face and onto his broad chest. The horrific news was a nightmare he would be unable to shake.
A small crowd gathered around the group. “Is he alright?” a woman asked, placing her hand delicately on his shoulder. Her worried eyes looked about Tango, confused as to why he was so upset during such a triumphant moment for their state's history.
“Oh no,” Romeo breathed, noticing the growing crowd. One of them was sure to recognise Juliet and raise the alarm. “Tango, we need to get out of here,” he whispered.
He was too late. The helpful woman's eyes widened. Her caring face wrinkled, turning into a ferocious frown. “That girl,” she said loudly, staring straight at Juliet. “You're the one who tried to assassinate President Denning!” she shouted, attracting the attention of even more people, who then screamed for help.
“Tango, let's go,” Juliet begged. She grabbed his arm, but he was too distraught to move.
Within seconds, they were surrounded by half a dozen armed officers, including the soldier who had escorted them earlier. He stared at them and frowned, wondering why the public was calling for help.
Guard Two pushed her way through the crowd with three of her fellow members following close behind. “What's the meaning of this?” she asked in a loud, authoritative voice.
Eternity's War (Books 1-3) (Eternity's War Boxsets) Page 41