*
Back in the normal temporal plane, Kingston watched in horror as the glass beneath Barsch's feet splintered and broke, sending the poor boy plunging into the turbulent waters below. It was a split-second decision that moved him, a single heartbeat later. Placing the still glowing solar staff in his mouth, he dove. Although the years had not been kind to him, his body had been forged on the battlefield, and it still held an iron core. It was this core that allowed him to brush aside the shock of the frozen water, and helped him to quickly reach his charge. The boy was already fighting a losing battle against unconsciousness, and slamming into the wrought-iron grate proved to be the finishing blow.
“Kingston!” The re-mech landed in the water with a heavy thud, his watertight chassis quickly dragging him to the bottom of the stream. After a moment, he righted himself, and emerged from the torrential rapids. The water began to stream past his mid-section, somehow knowing that trying to fell him would be a wasted effort. With the strength of ten men, the re-mech reached into the swirling depths and, after a few seconds of rummaging around, withdrew an unconscious Barsch.
“Maloch, we need to get through that grate! Can you break it?”
The re-mech finished fishing Barsch out of the water, holding him by the collar of his coat. He turned towards the last obstacle in their plan, and began to analyse it. “It's no good. The bars are not that strong, but it's taking everything I have to keep myself from getting pulled under. If we could weaken the bars, I might be able to do something...”
Another splash, and then, “I believe I may be able to rectify the situation.” Alza had landed beside Maloch, and had used his relatively sturdy frame to prevent herself from being swept away. The soft light emanating from her violet irises was the only foreshadowing for what came next, giving Kingston just enough time to dive towards Maloch. A single heartbeat later, fire blossomed overhead. Kingston felt the heat wave singe a few of his remaining hairs, before he collided with Maloch.
The jet of flame had come from a ball of fire, which hovered just above the water's surface. As the first burst died out, another was born, arcing from the orb to the grate with a beautiful yet deadly motion. Every spear of flame struck the grate dead-on, quickly turning the barricade into a semi-melted lump of metal. The bars, built for icy water, had no defence against the white-hot inferno that assaulted them. The simultaneous heating and cooling gave rise to a cloud of steam, from which the battle between water and flame was briefly obscured.
A few more fire-bursts later, and it was down. What was left of the grate still blocked their path, but it was nothing a well-placed fist from Maloch couldn't deal with. With barely a pause for thought, he proceeded to bring his hand down on the molten barrier, which shattered like glass under his immense weight.
At long last, the way out of the room was open to them, but it had taken a lot more out of them than they had anticipated. After her ball of flame had burnt out, Alza had joined Barsch in the land of dreams, with Kingston following mere seconds later. The combined forces of paralysing neuro-toxins, fatigue and stress had felled all three humans, leaving only the re-mech conscious.
However, even Maloch was struggling to stay awake, the effort required to stand fast against the rapids having quickly drained what was left of his power reserves. After making sure that his human masters were safely anchored to his robust frame, he let the water take them, into the dark future beyond the grate...
Awakening Page 168