by Travis Hall
“What are you saying?” Allora asked.
“This is a keeper key,” Milly said, sparking the object and revealing a series of markings that littered the exterior of the object in glowing lines of ancient text. “We are going to Sonora. It’s our only way out.” She turned on her communicator, pinpointing Theus’s receiver, along with Sas’s and a few others’. “I need to get Allora out of here. I’m opening the gateway and sending them through. I need you to hold them off.”
“Roger that,” Captain Theus said.
“Then I want you guys out of here immediately. No heroics. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Commander,” Sas said as he clipped a soldier in the chest with a burst of hadrons.
As Milly read off the inscription on the orb, five trolls ran toward the group at the edge of the lake. Allora, Tanner, Katie, and Dax stood, defiant but scared at the large creatures running at them.
Just then Captain Theus sent his entire force through the center of the cruiser group, targeting a few of the trolls on the ground. The five trolls took a direct salvo of hadron missiles, knocking them down and sending them barreling past the group and into the lake. It was a devastating blow that caught them off guard, but it left the main front force vulnerable to an exacting hit, wedged in between two of the cruisers.
Milly kept reading the inscription as the front carrier took a barrage of hits, erupting in flames and dropping into the forest at the lake’s edge. Milly’s heart sank as she read off the last of the inscription, watching as the reinforcement sent their entire squadron of skimmers toward the depleted rebel carrier group. The key glowed, dropped into the lake, and sent a spiral flow of water upward.
“Theus!” Milly screamed into the communicator. “Get out of there now!”
A scratchy voice came onto the intercom. “Milly, it’s been an honor to have served with you. I love—” The voice got cut off as the carrier that Theus was commanding exploded. The force of the explosion crippled the exterior shields of the two other ships, leaving them open to crippling blows from the remaining skimmers and skirmishers.
The sky was lit with carnage and death as thousands of men lost their lives in an instant. Allora dropped to her knees, fighting against the pain she felt in her heart and cringing at the thought of those who had perished. There was no time to mourn as another group of drow elves burst from the forest’s edge, descending on the remaining rebels.
“You’ve got to go now!” Milly screamed through the reverberating booms of exploding armaments, bursts of hadrons, and clashes of steel.
“What about you?”
“I’ll hold them off,” Milly said, gently touching her cheek. “I’ll meet you on the other side.”
“What do we do when we get there?”
“Just stay put, and the gnomes will find you.”
Then Milly took off toward the advancing drow elves.
Katie and Dax helped Brandon and Jenny to their feet as they clutched the only weapons that they had.
“We’re going into that?” Jenny asked, completely terrified by everything that had happened.
“Would you rather face the alternative?” Dax asked, looking back at the others as they battled against the royal guard.
“Good point,” Brandon said, getting into a track start position. “Let’s get out of here.”
Allora helped her sister to her feet and readied herself to jump into the spinning cyclone of water. As they prepared to jump, the ground next to them exploded, forcing them backward in a circle around the charred dirt. Lucas had jumped across the field of battle, dropping down on top of them.
“Not so fast,” Lucas said, holding a dagger against Bell’s throat and backing toward the swirling water cyclone. “You really think that you can beat me?”
Lucas was bleeding from multiple cuts on his arms, chest, and face. His striking good looks were now scarred by Milly’s sword. Bell whimpered under the sharp pain of the knife at her neck.
“Don’t do it, please,” Allora pleaded, tossing her sword on the ground at the look of rage and fear in his eyes.
“Allora,” Bell screamed, choked back by the strong arm of her captor.
“I’ll go with you. Just don’t hurt her!” Allora held up her hands, inching toward them as they backed up toward the edge of the cliff that led into the swirling gateway. It sparked lightning above, thundering from both the ending air battle and monstrous storm that surrounding the swirling gateway. Allora watched her sister’s terrified eyes as Lucas stopped at the edge of the cliff. She kept watch on the blade at Bell’s throat, waiting for her moment to strike. The others inched closer, getting behind Allora.
“You shall watch as I take this life,” Lucas said maniacally.
Jenny had gotten her blaster from behind her back, and from a kneeling position, she shot Lucas in the kneecap. The pain of a shattered kneecap sent a shockwave up through Lucas’s nervous system, causing his arm to spasm forward and out from underneath Bell’s chin. Allora grabbed her sister’s arm and shot a burst into Lucas’s stomach, launching him into the swirling cyclone. Just as this happened, a drow elf penetrated the defensive line and ran forward with something glowing in both palms.
Milly screamed at them as the elf ran forward. Allora put Bell behind her back as the ball of glowing light in the elf’s hands grew. The light fully engulfed the creature as it got closer to the group on the edge of the cliff. Katie pulled out a knife and threw it quickly at the advancing enemy. The elf stopped, but it was too late.
“Jump!” Allora screamed as the light imploded on itself.
Allora, Katie, Tanner, and Dax turned and put a shield out in front of all of them, as Jenny, Brandon, and Bell ran toward the swirling water tornado. The glowing light exploded outward, forcing them into the air. The entire area was flattened as everyone tried to flee from the suicidal elf. The last thing Allora saw was the spinning lights of the stars as she was pulled downward, through the planet, into the center of the gateway, and finally out of Earth.