A Vision of Fire

TWENTY-TWO

The lighting in the vent passage is too dim. I collide into James, who is staring down through a vent and watching the action that takes place below. I let out a small yelp of surprise when I hit him. "Shut up," James whispers. "They'll hear us."

I glance back at Jackson and scoot closer to the vent to watch as well. The scene below is hard to see through the vent cover, so I use my ears to hear everything happening. All I see is what looks like Dominic and a young adult woman standing several yards away from each other, shouting.

"I told you already," Dominic's voice says loudly," she isn't here. I haven't seen her since the stupid war, and that was months ago!"

Another voice yells back. I recognize it, though I don't know who owns it. "What a load of bull that is! You and I both know she was gone longer than she should've been, and even after we announced her as dead, one of our troops -  Jackson - believed her to be alive and just happened to disappear as well after he went to find her." The speaker pauses to take a breath then resumes her rant. "Well, you let slip a few boys didn't you? Couldn't get them in your grasp, so you just let them go and thought it would be okay. Can you guess how I'm here right now? Those brave boys told me about their adventure of coming here, saving Idris, and losing her and Jackson this time. They're here, and I plan to leave with the both of them! If you deny me once again, my troops will not delay the fight any longer."

A short, piercing silence hangs in the air as Dominic carefully thinks of his next move. "Lana," Dominic says," don't you trust me anymore? If I as much as saw the girl, I would've told you."

The woman turns and begins walking slowly to the back of the crowd that stands behind her. "I saw our computers being hacked. The only ones who could do that are Idris and Jackson, since they both used to work for Aegis security. Tell your lies to my army."

With her final words, the army rushes forward with their strange weapons. Some of them hold devices that look like the guns Dominic's cronies used to recapture me. A few soldiers bear a variety of sharp objects enchanted with the elements they were born to control. Before I have time to process what's happening, James starts to pry off the vent lid. "I don't know which side you're choosing," he says with sweat rolling down the side of his face and his hands moving quickly and shakily, "but if we end up fighting each other, may the best fighter win." He turns and looks at me with a small gleam of bravery in his eyes. For once, I feel courage pulsing outward from him. He may not feel so brave, but he definitely acts the part.

The metal vent cover swings open and falls to the ground, nearly slamming into a member of Aegis. "Crap," James mutters, looking down at how far the floor is. He gulps loudly and jumps, swinging his body so that the fall is least painful as possible.

I give him time to move before I do the same. I throw myself outward and land on the balls of my feet. The impact of the fall makes me collapse and roll a short distance. Jackson follows, timing his fall perfectly to land on a PAWN member's shoulders. The troop buckles under the weight. I would be surprised if he could get back up anytime soon. Jackson springs to his feet with a goofy grin. "That felt great. Let's do this, eh?"

I laugh in return. "I can guess which side you're on. I've chosen to pick the same one, so I guess I don't have to kill you today."

He smiles again, but it disappears as quickly as it came. "They tortured me, and I plan to get revenge on them for it. Let's go."

I nod and we decide to find the lady who was yelling at Dominic earlier. I spot her by following her voice, which she uses as a weapon of its own. She is at the back end of her army, watching the fight from a short distance. It probably isn't smart, but I walk up behind her and tap her on the shoulder. She isn't locked into combat, so I figured it would be good timing. Boy, was I wrong.