Momentum (Completed)

Chapter Twenty Five: The Long Road Home

(Nephele) 

I winced as the sound ricocheted through my ears and when I felt the pain of the bullet pierce me, I thought that it was all over and I waited to take my last breath...and I waited...and I waited. 

Silence; and then, a scream. 

I forced my eyes open and followed the bright light of the torch only to find an Uxor warrior crouched over another. The one on the floor had a single bullet wound to the head and blood trickled from it. The warrior over her was shaking her and damning me to hell. Apparently, I'd killed her sister. 

Confusion flooded through me. I hadn't killed her; I had no weapons. My gun had dropped out of my pocket in the fall and my legs stopped me from moving. Had she shot herself? "Killing your own kind," hissed a voice I knew as the Queen. "There is no greater sin than betrayal." 

'Nephele?!' Imara's voice suddenly broke through. 

'I'm here, kitten,' I said, 'but I don't know for how much longer.' 

'Don't talk like that!' he ordered. 'Get up and get out.' 

The Queen was still talking to me, but I was ignoring her. I didn't care what she had to say. 'Imara, I can't, my legs are...' I trailed off; I didn't need to look. Any reset bones had only been re-broken and any healing muscles had been torn again. 

'Get up, damnit!' he roared, fear evident in his voice. 

'Imara,' I thought, trying to calm him, 'it's okay. We can-'  I was interrupted by a collective gasp and I couldn't help but think, what have I done now? but it soon became apparent that no one was paying any attention to me anymore. When I looked at the face of the Uxors, their eyes were fixed firmly on whatever was behind me. 

At first I thought it was my mother and I was ready to punch my own ticket out of here, but when the Queen herself started to back away I knew it couldn't be anyone on her side. Had Imara come back for me? Had Dimitri? Or was it something far worse?

I heard footsteps behind me and I froze, disliking not knowing how I was going to meet my untimely end. I braced myself for the worst. I saw a hand reach down and then, I heard a voice. "It's time to go, Nephele." I looked up in wonder and saw the last person I expected to see standing over me, offering me kind eyes and a warm hand. Felix had come to rescue me. 

I took his hand, still in stunned silence and tried to stand. My legs quivered and collapsed. I tried again to no avail and on the third attempt the Queen, now safely behind a wall of scared warriors, started to laugh. 

"Drop your weapons," she ordered at Felix, who still looked like a walking armoury. He looked to me and I nodded; we had to play nice while I tried to find a way out of here. "Well, well, look what we have here," said The Queen, taking a small step forward. "The traitor and her ever loyal slave." 

Felix was crouched next to me now with Noir wrapped firmly around his shoulders. "What do we do?" he breathed so the Uxors couldn't hear. I didn't know; I didn't have any idea... but I didn't have the heart to tell him that. 

"Gone quiet now have we, scum?" said The Queen. "Please do talk. After all, you do love an audience." As she spoke, she was making gestures with her hands but it was that small mistake that showed me the way out. As she lifted her hands, the torch that was around her wrist swung with it and it's light caught the reflection of a window. The one at the front of the facility. It was just to our left and if we could just run there, we'd be all but home free. 

"Give me a reason I should listen to you!" I spat at The Queen. I said it simply to give her a reason to talk and when her rant begun I shuffled ever so slightly closer to Felix. "When I give the word throw all your guns at them," I whispered, "then go for the window to the left. Keep Lyra safe for me." Felix looked at me like I was crazy so I explained, "I can't move Felix. You have to go without me."