The fear in his chest made his heart beat ten times faster and he felt like it could burst out of his mouth at any time but he didn't stop.
Emrys could see the gate,it was so close yet so far away. The sound of heavy footsteps and chaos behind him pumped adrenaline into his body and head.
He didn't look back,he couldn't. The pounding in his ears drowned out everything else. Someone shouted his name behind him like a command and the sharp human of something magical surged past his shoulder,slicing the air close enough for him to feel its heat.
He ducked and stumbled forward,his palm scraping the floor as he caught himself. The entire hallway was bathed in red lights,alarms blaring, security shutters slamming down one after another. Every second counted..he weaved between the shutters,sliding under one just as it sealed shut behind him with a hiss.
Another blast of energy struck the wall beside him,leaving a melted scar across the metal. The impact rattled through his bones.
He kept running,his breath came out ragged,every inhale burned his chest. He could taste blood in the back of his throat,but he didn't slow down, he didn't dare slow down.
"Target moving east corridor!" a voice barked from somewhere above, amplified through the intercom.
How many of them are there?! he thought,his chest having. The academy that had seemed so dead when he first entered now pulsed with life…no,not life, hostility.
He burst into an open hall,one wall completely lined with windows showing the courtyard outside… the gate,his only chance of freedom.
But several figures were already moving towards it. Black uniforms and the same crest
His stomach twisted. He scanned the room quickly…a maintenance hatch by the side wall, barely noticeable but ajar. He sprinted for it.
Behind him, he heard boots slamming the ground,orders being shouted. A pulse of magic flickered through the air again, warping the light for a moment. He dove into the hatch before the spell hit, rolling into darkness.
It smelled like oil and dust...a maintenance shaft,narrow, metallic,filled with pipes and cables. He dragged himself forward, ignoring the way his elbows burned as metal scraped his skin.
Something exploded behind him, the hatch door bending inward with the force.
Scared,he crawled faster. The Shaft opened into the lower storage floor…cold air,dim lights flickering overhead.
He pulled himself out and stumbled to his feet, scanning for a way up and a service ladder at the far end caught his eye.
His hands shook as he climbed,every muscle in his body screaming with fear. Voices echoed distantly through the vents…they were still tracking him.
"Sector three…no visual…he's moving towards the outer compound!"
Good,let them chase him because he was done being cornered like a cheese mouse.
At the top,he forced open another hatch and emerged on the outside yard. The night hit him like a shock of water,cold wind,the scent of rain and the echo of alarms from within. The academy behind him glowed red like a wound.
He ran across the open yard,his feet pounding against the ground. The outer fence looked ahead of him, tall, electrified and guarded.
His eyes darted around and he spotted a security vehicle parked by the side gate,it's engine still running,door half open. Someone must've abandoned it when the lockdown started.
Without a second thought,he sprinted towards it.
A beam of blue light seared past his head, shattering the windshield before he even reached the door. He threw himself against the side,his breath trembling. The woman's voice rang across the yard calm, cutting through the chaos like a sharp blade.
"Don't make this worse,Emrys. You have no idea what's waiting outside those gates."
He looked up and she was standing on the academy steps,her coat flaring in the wind,her hand glowing faintly with power.
"Stay the hell away from me!" he shouted, climbing into the vehicle.
"Running won't change what you are" she said,her voice carrying unnaturally far.
He turned the key and the engine roared to life.
"Watch me!"
He slammed his foot on the accelerator and the tires screeched as the vehicle shot forward, crashing through the side gate. Sparks exploded as the metal bent and the alarms flared even louder.
He didn't look back this time..he didn't stop until the academy's red lights vanished behind him in the distance.
Only then did his grip loosen on the wheel and his breath came in short gasps. His hands were trembling,his mind spinning.
He didn't understand any of it,the mark on his neck,the way the woman's words seemed to make the air around him twist or the sick, growing sense that something inside him wasn't normal and something very bad was about to happen or already happening.
But right now, none of it mattered. He just needed to see his father, everything else could wait.
Someone screamed and at the same time,a body was hurled against a wall with a sickening crack.
L'or lu atr kra! ( kill every living human here)
One of the raiders picked up a crying child from his dead mother's arms and stared at it for a few seconds before the child's head was bitten off.
"Shit shit!" Emrys slammed a hand on the stirring wheel of the vehicle before getting out and sprinting down the street. The vehicle had suddenly died down.
A scream made him halt so quickly his heels burned. He hadn't noticed,he hadn't noticed the chaos and the state of his neighbourhood. The smoke,the smell of burnt bodies,the screams and crying of children. His sole focus was getting home,he had wanted to get his father and run, quietly escape before those people at the academy caught up with him.
His heart hammered faster with dread. His father…his father was still at home, Betsy too.
What was going on? Why was the whole neighborhood on fire? Why was it so chaotic? What the HELL WAS HAPPENING?!
he took off running towards the chaos again, he had to get his father and Betsy out. Was this the doing of the unknown Sect? Was that why the First academy had come to get him? That woman from before,he didn't know her name, she hadn't introduced herself. But it seemed like she knew a lot and had foreseen this and that was why she had come to warn his father that day.
WHO THE HELL WERE THESE PEOPLE? And what did they want from him?