Racing the Storm

Chapter 15

The sun rose over the eastern horizon. Her rays stretched lazily in to the sky as though the sun were stretching herself out after a good nights sleep. The dark colors of the night sky began to fade, turning gentler shades of light blue with yellow, orange, and red appearing. In some spots, the sky was a pretty shade of purple.

Thalia had not slept a wink, eagerly awaiting the morning. She was confident about her plan. She could practically hear Tuuka's roars of joy in her mind already. She had been replaying her daydream of how rescuing him would go in her mind for hours.

Just as the iron bar doors closed behind the crew, each rider removed their hood at once and drew their weapons. It happened in a flash for the smugglers they had been following. The six in front of them dropped dead, completely unable to even utter a sound before they had fallen limp.

As others turned to their fallen comrades the three sprung off in different directions. In Devon's hand, Nuri's spikes. He held the blue spikes like daggers and sliced at throats as if he had done it all his life. He moved like water, unrelenting and swift. Blood dripped down the long blue spikes and touched his hand but Devon continued to attack, flipping over bodies and dodging attacks just to make the final blow more dramatic.

Noah remained hidden in the shadows of the hallways, having stolen a bow and a quiver of arrows from a corpse. No one seemed to notice that the three dock workers they'd brought had dropped to two until arrows started to lodge themselves in the thieves skulls. A few thieves turned to discover the source only to have one of their own manufactured arrows nestle itself inside their eye sockets. 

Thalia had a dragonsteel sword in her hand, picking off her opponents one by one with ease. The weapon felt familiar in her hand, like she was holding the hand of her lover. The blade spun and sliced, parrying attacks and stabbing through the weak points in armor. A fire burned in the young girl's eyes as she made her way through the group. None had managed to even place a scratch on her. The blood pooled by her feet and soaked in to her shoes but still Thalia danced with her sword. It was graceful yet horrifyingly brutal. 

As the last of them began to cower and surrender, Thalia raised her blade and decapitated the nearest one who was groveling at her feet. She raised her sword to do the same for the next until Devon's voice echoed in the chamber.

"I got the keys," he said plainly.

Thalia's sword lowered as she looked to him. Dangling from his weapons was a golden loop with a set of fifteen keys on it. They clinked, swaying slightly as he moved the loop around. 

"Let's go see what they unlock," she hummed.

The two, who were in the thick of the bodies, stepped over corpses and splashed through blood to get to the nearest door where Noah was waiting.

"You both look like barbarians," Noah snickered.

Thalia smirked and lunged at him with her sword. He flinched, instinctively putting his bow out to act like a shield. Devon laughed at the sight, easing the tense feeling in the air as his laugh rang out. The other two chuckled and left the main section, traveling down the hallways to find any locked doors. 

After three tries and twelve extra victims the trio began to hear dragon roars. Possibly not even roars, but they sure sounded like them. Maybe it was the swell of joy in Thalia's mind that amplified the sweet sound of the dragons. She sped up to find the source, stopping as she came across the end of the hallway with a massive iron door in front.

She whipped her head around to glare at Devon, silently scolding him for not keeping up with her. He laughed a little and caught up. He tried several keys before the lock finally clicked. He pushed open the heavy door, revealing an even longer hallway lined with cages.