Kingdom of Lies (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 15 [part 2]

At times, seconds can be endless. That's how those moments felt, locked in the room, trying to formulate a plan to escape from the castle, dealing with the fact that Rayn had abandoned us.

'His gone,' I dared to say, within the chaos.

The recognition of his absence was instantaneous and everyone's faces were tinged with anger and fury.

'He turned us in,' Tryx looked hopeless when she said it. 'It was one of Caelus' strategies, if there is trouble, save yourself at any cost.'

'The heir to Crescendo's throne is a reasonable cost to him?' cried Russell, at the blast of the arrows and the yelling of the soldiers.

'It doesn't matter now, we have to focus on getting out of here,' I tried to calm the waters, though despair was filling my body.

'Make the portal like you did before, come on,' Rich urged me to repeat my trick of the day before.

A single glance from me informed them of the cruel truth. I had no idea how to repeat it.

'Just try,' Galaga didn't look desperate like the rest, she tried to stay calm like the great warrior she was.

I threw myself on the floor and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate, which seemed impossible to achieve in an atmosphere of panic and uncertainty.

I stretched out my hands and invoked the same words that had led us there.

A portal, I need a portal, a portal.

Not to my surprise, nothing happened.

Or so I thought.

'Guys...' Tryx said in a disturbing tone, looking out the window. 'She did it, but not like we thought.'

'What do you mean?' Aaron asked, looking in the direction she was facing.

It didn't take long for me to join in where their eyes were pointing.

The portal had been created, but in the same place it had been before, several feet away from the castle. To reach our exit, we were going to have to pass through the soldiers.

'Bring it over here,' Rich urged. He grabbed his head and walked around not knowing what to do.

'I can't, I don't know how, I can't control it...'

'Don't make me say Rayn was right.'

'Rich, shut up.' Russell stood in front of his older brother, asserting himself no matter how old he was. 'She's trying. She's doing the best she can.'

I looked at him in amazement. No one had ever stood up for me as much as Russell did. I never thought anyone would do it, but he did it by his own choice. He wanted to protect me, he wanted to be the one who always had my back.

He wanted to be my partner, and I accepted that, and I loved him for that.

Indeed... I loved him.

'We're going to have to get out of the castle somehow,' Galaga vocalized the obvious. 'I say we look for the tunnel,' she said, adjusting the swords that hung from her back.

'The tunnel?' I asked somewhat confusedly.

'How do you think your mother got you out,' she replied, not wanting to seem offensive. 'My father told me that it was the emergency exit, which very few people knew about, for safety. If we go out that way, we'll only have a short distance to run. I mean, I would go out and face them, but there are only... six of us who know how to fight, so it's not a good idea.'