"We might not get a second shot at this." Viktor warned as Fred started making an arsenal of ice spears next to me, with everyone else moving as far away from the gate as they could without walking back on the outer barrier. "Don't push yourself too much."
I nodded, shaking my hands and legs to release the tension. Fred gave me a grim nod and I tried to tune out the crackling noise from the outer barrier. Despite its increase in thickness and ferocity, someone was attacking from the outside and it was motivation enough for us to keep moving.
"Let's do this." I muttered to myself, locating the first symbol I needed. Lifting one of the ice spears with my mind, I sent it straight for the shimmering hieroglyphics and pierced it dead center.
A crisp, ding-dong sound followed the shattering of the ice spear and the symbol dissipated into a smattering of dust. The barrier shimmered – and for one millisecond it was completely gone. Then it returned, but visibly thinner than before.
"It's working." Diego said, an amazed look on his face as the rest of the team all brightened up. With renewed enthusiasm, I plucked the next ice spear off from the neatly stacked pile that Fred had made next to me and threw it at the second hieroglyphics.
Everyone watched closely (except Vulture, who was still on the stretcher) as the spear once again hit the target squarely in the middle, and cheered when the barrier flickered off and came back weaker than before. I was getting the hang of the pattern, shooting icicle after icicle at the glowing hieroglyphics. The whole thing resembled some kind of a video game, but I supposed whoever built or created this thing wasn't expecting people to throw ice spears at it.
"This is the last one." I said, pausing and taking a deep breath, giving myself some time to recover. Everyone gathered behind me, surrounding Vulture and I could sense how tense they were. This was all or nothing.
Lifting another icicle, I launched it at the last hieroglyphic on the list and held my breath. The moment the ice hit the barrier a deafening sound reverberated through the entire area and it almost felt like the ground shook. Cracks started appearing on the clear shell and within three seconds, the entire thing dissipated into nothingness.
The cheers forming on our lips froze as another deafening sound echoed on the far side of the Academy, and the previously charged air was beginning to lift. I whipped my head around and sighed in relief when I saw the outer, electric blue barrier was still on, but somehow I knew that it was only a matter of time before it went out too.
"We better hurry." Diego said, sending nervous glances at the barrier too. Viktor and him picked up Vulture's stretcher and we quickly set off to the nurse's office.
"Is that me or does it feel a bit strange here?" Casey murmured as we pushed through the gate and stepped into the Academy; and she was right. It felt a little like we were moving under water, every movement seemed more sluggish and a weariness set it, like I was injected with a heavy sedative.
"It's getting better." Iris frown, I could tell she didn't like setting foot in here one bit. Though I wouldn't be either if I was working for the UGE.
YOU ARE READING
Revolution (Book 3 of POE Chronicles)
Science Fiction(This is book 3 of the P.O.E. Chronicles, Read book 1 Evolution and book 2 Selection if you haven't already) I never wanted a war. All I wanted to do was to get things back to the way they were and to keep those I love safe. But it turns out that ev...
