Orbs of Power

Chapter Seventeen

Sean was exhausted.  They had been travelling for days now, their week drawing to a close.  Max was close, he could feel it.  Sapphire was determined to get Allison back, fighting off the dread.  They need healers, right? They wouldn't kill her...right? Sean didn't want to think about it.  He had only known the two of them for a week or two before they had gone on a journey, so he didn't know either of them really well, but he knew that they were essentially his family, and Allison Evergleam had been so nice to him.  She had sacrificed herself for them, for pete's sake!

They were still a few hours away, and night was falling, but neither of them stopped moving.  They had their supplies on their aching backs, and their feet were very sore, but neither of them stopped.  They were so close, and sleeping now might mean the difference between life and death for them and Max.

"She might not be there, you know."  Sean started and turned his head to Sapphire.  She was staring blankly ahead, jaw set.

"She might not be there.  She has a life orb, so she's a healer.  They might have just sent her to a hospital or a contingent of police.  She might not be with Croman." She turned her dead eyes on Sean.  "To be fair, Max might not be there either.  This isn't the only place where they turn people to their side so they can use them; you know this."

Sean stiffened and turned to face forward. "I know.  But it's highly probable that they are in the fortress, so that's where we're going.  Plus, that's where Croman and Glass are, and if we can take them out, we'll kill two birds with one stone."

She was silent for a bit, but then she said quietly, "Es kostet nur einen Apfel und ein Ei." This literally translates to 'it costs and apple and an egg,' but it's basically the german version of 'its costs an arm and a leg.'

Sean shifted uncomfortably.  "What do you mean by that?"

She stopped and said quietly, "at what cost, Sean? How far will you go to get him back? How far will you go to see them dead?"

He paused briefly before continuing.

"I will do anything it takes."

He tried to ignore her when she muttered, "that's what I was afraid of."

                        -;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-

The moon arced in the sky, not dimmed by the fires on the fortress tops and the lights in the windows.  It was so much like a castle, that for a moment, Sean thought that maybe inside lived a just king who would rule them peacefully.  Then, however, he remembered who they were facing and he grimaced.  I miss Max.  He would have said something along those lines if he was seeing this for the first time too...it's just like those smuggled stories Mum used to read him when he had a nightmare...

The fence around the complex was obscured somewhat by the various trees that had grown over the years.  If he remembered correctly, this is where Ty's village used to be, before he razed it to the ground.

He had built a fortress on the remains of his parents and all those who had perished with them.

Sean really needed to get Max back before it was too late.

Sapphire was staring at a drawing she had made in the dirt.  It was four circles on the corners of a square, with a 'x' drawn in the middle of the square.  Sean approached her and squatted down.

"...what?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes.  "It's basically a castle, and the safest place would be the center, right? That way no matter what direction the enemy comes from, you're easily defended, so that's probably the throne room.  However, it's night time, so while Croman would be there during the day, at least for a little while, he would probably be sleeping, in one of the towers, by my guess, since that lot want to be high up.  Makes them feel extra special.  All nobles do it, and it's really weird."

Suddenly, she snorted.  "Then again, he seems like just the type to sleep in the basement, even if an earth could crush him if they had a decent power well."  She sighed.  "Which means we're back to nothing.  Wanna just try and take out the towers and see what happens?"

"NO," he said firmly.  "What if Max or Allison are being kept there? We would kill them!"

She nodded.  "Sound logic.  Sorry.  Any idea of how we're busting in?"

He studied the map a bit more and threw up his hands.  "Why don't we just walk in?"

She was about to roll her eyes, but she stopped, glancing towards the gate that was just visible.

"Why not indeed?"

           ---;-;-;-;--;-;--;-;--;-;-;-;----

"Das ist das Ende unser Schiebe; Gute Nacht!" That is the end of our shift; good night!

Sapphire's eyes glinted with mischief as she watched the two guards who had been there before walking away.  They had been lucky they didn't have to wait long for a shift change, or this might not have worked.  Once the other guards were far enough away, she gave Sean the signal and he left a zap fly from each hand, hitting the two replacement guards and knocking them cold.  Sapphire rushed up to them and hurriedly checked their vital signs.  Barely alive, but alive.

"Yeesh, you almost killed them."

"Sorry!  You know I have never tried it before on a human, right? Plus they have the armor.  How was I supposed to know how much to use?"

"I'm just kidding, Sparky.  If anything, it's a good sign, since you don't look like you've broken a sweat."

"Do not call me Sparky."

"Ok, Electro."

"Reaper."

"Ok, no I see what you mean, not cool."

They wrestled the armor off of the guards, and for a moment, Sean stopped when he saw their faces.  They weren't much older than him...

"Hey, Jackson.  Focus."

He nodded slightly and continued, trying not to think too hard about how he had almost killed these people. All to get Max back, he thought.

They donned the armor haphazardly, trying not to cause too much noise lest they draw the attention of the guards on the other posts.

At last, they were outfitted in some great disguises.  Sapphire had checked the guards for anything else they might have needed, but found nothing other that some personal accessories that she left on them as they were dragged into the woods to wake at a later time when it was too late for them to do anything; they were out, and probably out for a while, what with the blow Sean dealt them.

Then, the rest of the plan was simple. Wait until the shift ended and go directly into the fortress itself. Hard to go wrong in a plan so simple, but of course...

They found a way to screw it up.

It was quite simple really; they didn't know where the barracks were, and the shifts weren't over at the same time, so they couldn't just follow anyone back to where they were expected to go.  And, of course, any guard deemed suspicious (well, that's not quite fair; it didn't just apply to guards) was immediately taken in for questioning or simply laid off.

Or killed; this is a dystopian society, controlled completely by a madman and a psychopath.

And so, the plan went awry sooner than expected, with two words.

"Sapph?...Sean?"

Max had found them.