We strode over to sleek gaudy pale-pink car, just as the first response team of the SPBI arrived. By air no less. Their four-propeller Helio-jet hovered over the academy. Twin cylindrical openings revealed themselves on the crafts underside. Two figures shot down from the craft and landed with a solid impact on the ground outside the academy entrance.

The figures were robots as it turned out. Robots laced with Arium and carrying Arium laced equipment. They had their guns at the ready, for any reactional activity. They looked fairly humanoid in appearance, if not for their hard-edged rectangular heads and the exposed frame work on their arms and legs. They each bore a single beady red eye that scanned everything in proximity.

“Go, go, go!” I muttered urgently, as I sat in the passenger seat beside Karen. The dark-blonde haired woman rolled her eyes at my nervous excitement.

“Hold your horses,” she calmed me, raises her hands in a placating manner. “If we burst out of here, racing at the speed of stupid. They’ll take notice.”

“So, we drive slow and calmly out of here instead?” I asked, my brow creasing in confusion.

“No. We wait for the Helio-jet to either land on the pad on the roof of the academy. Or we wait until the Sentinel’s go inside.”

“Can they track us?” I asked her nervously. Thinking of my Arium collar and the fact that I could snap it off like a broach.

“The SPBI doesn’t actually trace the Arium collars. They trace the use of super powers. As far as I know, they have multiple Locator Super’s hidden somewhere in each city.”

“Locators? The SPBI is employing collared?” I asked in surprise.

“No, not collared. Actual free agents in the employ of the SPBI,” Karen answered me patiently as we both watched the Sentinel’s start off for the entrance. A woman who’d just walked outside, screamed as they advanced on her. The left foremost Sentinel emitted a red fan-like scan that swept over her.

“The locator’s pinpoint the use of power’s and report to the SPBI. With myself, and the two Unbound using our powers in such proximity of each other drew the SPBI attention far quicker than usual.”

“So what’re the Sentinel’s scanning for?”

“Super powers,” Karen said frustratedly, and began to explain this to me like I was a child. “The legal system of the Plateau government keep track of Arium collars. It’s not a fool proof system. If someone with a collar doesn’t attend their monthly appointment, like you have to. They inform the S.P.B.I. The SPBI then have their Locator agent’s search for you.”

“So how’re you able to get to away with it then?” I asked her, as both Sentinel’s stepped inside the building. I felt the tension I’d been holding since the SPBI Helio-jet showed up ease marginally. I sagged into my seat and breathed out shakily.

“You okay?” Karen asked me, and I nodded absently.

“Yeah… just too much excitement in a single hour,” I replied and waved my hand dismissively. There were witnesses other than Karen who had seen me talking to Harry. Karen’s friends had been right there at the beginning. If the Sentinels found them and traced their tale back to me.

I was screwed.

“As for your question,” Karen started to explain and pressed the ignition button on her cars dashboard. “I never had a collar to start with. I didn’t gain my super powers through genetics, or the Supers genome like most present-day people. Mine came from a Delvos sap imbued artifact.”

“Delvos sap?” I asked her as we calmly pulled out of the academy parking lot.

“What became Arium,” she told me much to my amazement. If what she said was true, then that was information very few had. “Delvos sap, is produce from a single grove of trees in northern Winderall. At the Delvos groves centre is a pool of Delvos sap. My great, great, great-grandmother laid the weapon – it is said – within the pool of Delvos sap during a lightning strike. Thus Braken was imbued with a slither of sentient lightning and bound to my family line.”

“Wow,” I muttered and turned to stared at the side of the pretty blonde’s face. Her family history dated back to the time of Winderall. Two-three hundred years may not seem like much. But so much can be lost, misconstrued, or outright forgotten. I could only the imagine at the past wonders of Winderall, and shake my head.

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked her after a moment of thought.

“Because I’m taking to meet the Sisterhood,” she replied and turned the wheel.

“Sisterhood? sounds like a cult,” I noted and smiled lightly when she laughed.

“Oh it is,” she assured me unhelpfully. “The sisterhood was founded around some twenty-five years ago, before the sinking of Preyta. Its where we were originally based.”

“And why are you taking me there?” I asked cautiously, my hand flexing on the interior door handle.

“Because…” she drawled, “for some unknown reason. The Unbound are allowing you a measure of your leash, for which to run around with.”

“That Devotee guy did mention something along the lines that Harry had been ordered to leave me alone,” I reasoned thoughtfully. Accidentally letting slip the fact that I was present of mind during her confrontation with the two Unbound.

I looked sideways at Karen to see if she’d noticed my blunder. But apparently she had not, because she was nodding at my words.

“So why’re you so important then? they must be so sure of themselves, thinking that you’ll join them,” she noted, and side eyed me for a moment.

“I wouldn’t anyway. Even if I did agree with their reasoning – which I don’t – I couldn’t. I have my mom to think about. If I joined them, there but be repercussion’s for her. And I don’t want to drag her into this.”

“You just don’t want to be a part of this at all, is that right?” Karen mused as we began to enter inner Idrasa city proper. “Maybe Andrew was right about you.”

I knew she was taunting me. Bating me to snap at her. I didn’t take the chance. She was right in a way. I didn’t want anything to do with this. But I also wanted answer’s to a great many things.

Karen’s family legacy and her spear alone, gave me more insight into Winderall than I had discovered in my last eight years of studying. Arium was originally named Delvos sap, and it came from a tree...

If that information was true, then it was possible that people were potentially using it long before Dr. Matan Aranian supposedly discovered it.

My curiosity was getting the better of me I knew it. But to simply turn back now. After the last few days, would seem a waste.

“How many of you are there in this Sisterhood?” I asked instead of falling for her taunt. She was Andrew’s girlfriend, after all.

“They’re four of us at the moment. Our fifth sister has been missing for the past few months.”

“Oh, uh, sorry to hear that,” I hazarded.

“Oh, she does this quite often. Finds some poor rich idiot and haunt’s his bed and credit cards. She’ll likely return within the month, with brand new accessories and expensive cars and clothing,” Karen sighed and slowed the car as we came to a junction. The traffic lights’ blaring a stark red light.

“So she’s a gold digger?” I stated, already disliking the sound of her.

“Hah! and more so. She’s an extremely powerful Runecaster and Summoner,” Karen informed me, and flicked her indicator’s on.

“I never heard of those before,” I mused as I tried to recollect the few known Super power that were displayed in the academy archives.

“You wouldn’t. Apparently she’s the only one. Came from some place called New Eden city, but I’ve never heard of it. Likely on Winderall is my guess.”

“On Winderall? but wouldn’t that make her something… like… three hundred years old?” I creased my brow and shook my head.

“O-oh g-god,” Karen tittered at me. “I forget how little those born today know of about Super genome. Beside people still do live on Winderall.”

“Wait. What do you mean, how little we know?” I asked her, but she simply shook her head amused at me.

“Not now. We’re almost there,” she informed me. I frowned but kept quiet. Looking out into the side mirror, I watched as a Helio-jet swept in behind us and slowed down. The craft hovered some three blocks to our rear.

“Uhm, Karen?” I said nervously as the craft lowered, and people started to exit their cars behind us and watch.

“What is it?” she replied, just as four Sentinels dropped from beneath the Helio-jet and slammed into the ground in a crouch. As they stood up, I saw that their weapons were already drawn up and they were advancing purposefully along the road and between the cars towards our position.

“Argh, Shit-fucking-cum-slut,” she swore and looked at me in horror.

“What do we do?” we both asked at the same instance.

“ELIAS ZACHARY THOMPSON!” boomed a voice from the Helio-jet and I flinched at the sound of my own name.

“Me?” I squeaked in surprise and looked at Karen in betrayal.

“I didn’t sell you out,” she hissed at me in surprise. They were steadily advancing on us.

“I mean they could just be here to ask me questions… about the attack on Bysons,” I reasoned in a panic. “And the attack on the school.”

“They don’t send four Sentinels and a fucking Helio-jet to ask questions,” Karen cursed. “Just who the fuck are you and why’re you so important?”

“Oh god, I’m gonna go to jail,” I almost cried out and watched as the Helio-jet slowly crept above and behind us the Sentinels advanced. Two blocks remaining.

“ELIAS ZACHARY THOMPSON, RESPOND OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO EXTRACT YOU PHYSCALLY,” the speaker voice boomed once again.

“Does extract me physically, mean shooting?” I asked Karen a second before the rear window of Karen’s car exploded in a shower of fragmented glass.

“WAIT, DAMN IT. CEASE FIRE,” bellowed the speaker, but I was too busy screaming, ducking, and cursing. More fire lit up the car’s rears. The sound drowning chaotically through the interior.

“My fucking car!” Karen screamed. I wanted to tell her that it was alright. That whatever was happening was sure to make an improvement on her gaudy-ass choice of a vehicle. Except I was trying desperately to not shit my pants.

“I blame you for this,” Karen growled, ducked her head up, cursed and pulled me by my shirt bodily on top of her. Then the entirety of the left half of her car ignited in a hail of gunfire, ripping it to shred’s

In my jumbled tangle with the pretty blonde-haired woman, my hand found the driver’s door release handle. I pulled and we both tumbled out onto the bare road.

“Shit, look out,” Karen shouted in my ear and kicked the open door shut. The Sentinel that appeared on the other side of her car, scanned, and spotted us falling out. Its weapon raised immediately and began firing on us.

Luckily, Karen had kicked her door shut, providing us enough cover to scramble to our feet.

“Run!” I called out to her and we started sprinting. “Go for the crowds, they won’t harm innocent people.” But that proved false, the second we ran passed a vehicle with a family inside. The Sentinels didn’t stop an ounce of their trigger-happy firing. They tore the poor family to shreds. Riddling them with bullet fire.

“No!” I screamed and twisted around to watch in horror.

“STAND DOWN!” called the speaker. I wasn’t sure who he was ordering, but I was rocketed off my feet by Karen as a volley of gunfire whizzed past my head.

“We need to keep moving. Our hideout isn’t too far away,” she shouted into my face. But all I could see was the parent’s, their frightened eyes as we ran past them. Their scared kids in the back.

“Snap out of it!” Karen growled and slapped me across the face. Tears were streaming down my cheeks I realised. Why was this happening to me?

“Are you coming?” Karen asked, but didn’t wait for a reply. Instead she took off running. Staying low and moving behind vacated vehicles.

With a deep trembling breath I climbed to my feet and chased after her. People screamed and ran in the mad chaos. The Helio-jet external speaker bellowing for the Sentinels to stand down, droned on. But they didn’t stop. They just kept chasing us, firing at every slim sight of me.

“How far is you hideout?” I panted out of breath, as I came to a stumble beside Karen. The pretty blonde peeked up to gaze down the road towards the advancing Sentinel’s.

“Two block’s up the road, we take a right and run through the alleyway beside the Milton Pawnshop. That’ll take us to the next street over. There, there’s a bar called the Witching Cove. Our hideout is beneath--”

“At a bar?” I groaned in disbelieved. My guts clenching, as I tried not to vomit my lunch and asshole up.

“Not the bar, you idiot. Beneath it,” Karen hissed at me. “You really shouldn’t blame—oh shit! move, move,” she pushed at my chest and spun me around and to dive on top of me. A wave of force slammed into the side of my sprawled form, and heat thumped into me. My ears rang, deafened. My vision wobbled unsteadily. The car we had been hiding behind. Was now flipped over on the opposite side of us.

Had they thrown a fucking grenade of some sort at us. “Karen?” I asked worriedly and shuffled weakly. Her body still lay across my back pinning me down.

“Karen! Are you okay?” but my voice was far away and muffled to my own hearing. I twisted around and grabbed at her as she began to slide off of me. Her eyes were barely open before they rolled white as her head lulled onto my chest.

“Shit-shit-shit!” I hissed, and with a groan I managed to pull myself up and grab under her arms. I got to my feet and began pulling her behind me, her legs trailing out. I just hoped she didn’t treasure her boots or the rest of her clothing. As it was all scuffed-up.

“Elias?” she drawled dazedly.

“Karen? Karen, stay with me,” I said as calmly as I could manage. Of course I had to pick that moment to look up just in time for a single Sentinel to hop on top of the over-turned car behind us. It pointed it guns at us and I froze, my mind whirring.

Then it clicked distinctly empty. The robots boxy machine-gun was then slung aside to bash onto the floor, and suddenly the Sentinel pulled out a sleek machete from god knows where.

Slim veins of yellowish green amber laced up the short expanse of the wide blade. It was Arium laced. They were seriously out to kill me. I blinked and started pulling Karen faster as I stumbled backwards. But it was futile. Sentinel’s stomped over to us purposefully and swept its machete’s blade out for my head.

“Oh, shit!” I squeaked rather ladylike in surprise, and dropped Karen as I ducked the swipe. But the Sentinel kicked out and slammed its heavy metal foot into the centre of my chest. I felt my sternum and possibly several ribs crack as was I slammed backwards.

I rolled ass over kettle and bounced into the side of a car. I could hear more gunfire distantly. But all my swaying vision could focus on as I wheezed, was the Sentinel storming towards me. Its machete raised high and ready to cleave. Beyond it, still on the ground where I’d dropped her was Karen.

Then my eyes alighted on her choker and the silvery adornment. I could take my own collar off. But I imagine passing out and floating around as a projection wouldn’t be super helpful fighting two tons of Arium equipped robot.

“Braken!” I shouted desperately remembering Karen’s name for the spear. I scrambled to my right to avoid the machete’s chop. The blade slammed into the car behind me, and cleaved in by about three inches. Narrowly missing my shoulder.

I kicked out with both feet and planted them firmly on the Sentinels chest. I heaved with all my might. But I might as well had been a toddler combatting this thing.

Its machete blade scraped loudly as it slid roughly free from where it was wedged in the car’s frame. It stumbled backwards as the blade dislodged from the car and my feet fell flat. Without even pausing it rushed forward to hack at me once again. The long wavy two-foot blade of Karen’s spear burst through the centre of the Sentinels chest.

A Roaring-mad blonde-woman screamed, as she held onto the spear and rode the Sentinels back. Its free hand reached back to grasp at her, but she kick it away with enough force to snap the limb in two. The broken portion hung off the end of the elbow joint.

It rushed forward and slammed its bulk into the hood of a vehicle and Karen jumped back her spear bursting free with her. She hit the ground and skittered a few feet. As the Sentinel twisted to regard its attacker, Karen gave it no other thought and flung her spear straight for the Sentinels red beady eye.

Her spear punched home and burst through out the other end by half a foot. I gawked in amazement and stared at the bedraggled blonde-haired woman. I scrambled to my feet and coughed roughly as she rushed over and grabbed her spear.

“We need to get going,” she urged me, as she ran over and supported me under my arm.

“Good to see you’re okay,” I grunted and heard more gunfire. I peeked my head up and looked back in the direction the Helio-jet still hovering about four-five(ish) blocks down the street. Actual SPBI agents were fighting the other three Sentinel’s.

“Rogue Sentinel’s,” I murmured in confusion and shook my head. My chest hurt fiercely. My head was ringing a high pitch whine. And my lungs felt as if it they had been compressed a thousand times over.

“Shush,” Karen mumbled to me and helped to drag me into an alleyway. People were stood far off away from us and the action. Their camera’s and wrist-phones filming the whole thing.

Shit. I might just make the news.

Though if they knew about me, or suspected me of something. Then they would’ve likely already spoken to mom.

She was going to be pissed about this. I could tell.

I looked down at Karen to see that her spear was no longer in her hand. Instead it was once again miniaturised and fashioned as a choker accessory.

“Thank you,” I wheezed to Karen as we shuffled out through the opposite side of the clear alleyway.

“You fucking better be thankful, mister. And worth it as well. I liked that car,” she grumbled at me. But I saw the blush staining her slightly freckled cheeks.

“All the same,” I coughed as I saw the Witching Cove bar across from us. We rushed across the street going straight for the front door. The closed sign shown plainly on the glass front.

“Come on- come on- come on, Ophelia!” Karen murmured as she tapped rapidly on the door. She kept glancing behind us nervously. I heard the door unlock a moment later and possibly the most stunning woman I’d ever seen in my short life opened the door. Her appearance was dishevelled as if she’d just gotten out of bed.

“Karen, you can’t keep coming here during the day—” her voice broke off as she took in appearance. My mind was loss in the sweet soft song of her voice. Her feature’s twisted with worry, as her eyes darted from Karen to me and all around. Seeing the worry on her face, made my insides feel dreadfully sad.

“I know, and I’m sorry but this really important—” Karen began regretfully.

“Come in quickly,” the stunning woman cut her off and gently rushed us inside.

I took in more of her as we swept past. Her coffee fragrance was almost palpable in the extend that it swallowed me up. My head lifted up and was gently laid down like I was lying on a cushion of clouds.

I realised that I was actually laying down on two connected tables in the middle of a bar. Soft angelic features hovered in and out above me. I reached out and gently touched the angels face.

“Rest,” she commanded me gently and I did so without hesitation. My worries bled away as sleep overtook me and I shut my eyes.

Only to wake up in my Projection form.

This novel is the work of Rhys Thomas. If you are reading this and it has not been published by Rhys Thomas, then this work has been stolen. Please report this to Amazon and me at email: [email protected]