Maitho tasted dirt. Rocks scratched against his skin. Despite the discomfort he was feeling, his mind immediately shot him a mental notification on what he should be doing next. Staying still meant increasing the possibility of taking a bullet in the back. He rolled over to the side, the movement causing him to hear the gunshot from one ear and the echo from the other. The bullet thudded into the ground beside him, right where he had been seconds ago. He looked down the way he had come from to spot a guard who had taken up position on top of the entrance. They hadn't seen the second guard, but that meant that he had been somewhere within the prison and close enough to the entrance to make it there at a short notice.
This wasn't a situation he wanted to find himself in. It was too early to be pushed into a corner and forced to use one of the weapons that he had taken from the Celtic base. He had no choice. It was a matter of life or death. He slid out the stun grenade from the pouch on his bulletproof vest, his other hand prepared to remove the pin. Even though his reaction was quick, he could see that he was too late. The guard had taken up a sniping position by getting down on one knee. The muzzle of the gun was pointed at Maitho.
Then there was a flash.
The gunshot happened a split second before a horse appeared in front of Maitho and instantly turned into mist, neighing as it disappeared out of existence. The guard had lowered the sniper rifle. Even from this far, Maitho could see the look of shock on his face. Every second mattered, and lying on the ground was not making the best use of the time that was given. Maitho was on his feet. Instead of running away however, he faced the guard. He raised his chin and stared defiantly. Deep down, he realized he knew what the guard might be thinking.
There was the shock of seeing a ghostly horse appear in front of a bullet that was meant for a fallen man. Never in wildest imaginations would the guard have predicted that to happen. His rational mind must have taken over, trying to prevent his mental stability to freefall into madness. It might try to rationalize what it had seen. Perhaps it had been a trick of the eye. Maybe he might have imagined the whole scene. Through all of the chaotic thoughts, his training might have been pounding at him to become aware. Lift up that weapon because the target was still alive.
Maitho saw the guard lift his gun and point at him. He didn't move. The guard aimed at him for a few seconds, then lowered his gun, as though unsure of his actions.
That was when the sound of bricks exploding and the cracks of thunder reached Maitho's ears. Somewhere on the other side of the prison, Raiden had made his way into the walled compound. Arcs of lightning flashed into the sky. The combination of the unexpected sights and sounds caused the guard to turn around.
Maitho heard the sound of hooves come to a stop next to him. He turned around to face Epona.
"A canae summon another horse right now," said Epona, her voice tight with tension.
"We don't need another horse," said Maitho. "We use yours." He showed his hand and Epona gripped it without hesitation.
Using her grip as support, Maitho jumped off the ground and hoisted himself on the horse. His movement was bereft of practice, which almost caused him to slip to the other side. His instinctual reaction to hold on to Epona's shoulders was what saved him from toppling over. Epona clicked her tongue twice and the horse took off. Maitho's hands were around the woman's waist. If they weren't, the bolt of sudden speed would have been too much for his balance. Even with two riders, the horse moved as fast as though it had been carrying no one on its back.
"Were ye standin thare tae challenge the guard?" Epona shouted over her shoulder.
Maitho nodded reflexively, knowing that she wouldn't be able to see his reaction. "I wanted to show him that if he fired again, then nothing would happen to me. A horse will appear as a shield."
"A juist told ye that ah couldnae summon more horses."
"Yes. He doesn't know that."
The horse continued to follow the perimeter. Maitho expected more guards to look their way. At that moment, it seemed only the entrance guard and the one above the first watchtower had noticed their presence, the former probably left shaken while the latter was nowhere to be seen. Maitho kept watch on the outer wall, his eyes counting the corners to compare with the layout of the map he had memorized. He knew that the next corner would get them to their destination, at which point he hoped that Raiden would have shut off power to the prison. More arcs of lightning shot into the sky. When the horse turned the corner, Maitho spotted another tower, but the guard inside was looking the other way, into the prison. His sniper rifle was balanced on the tower's perimeter fence. He fired. Other shots rang out from farther away, indicating that more or all guard towers were now focused on Raiden.
Epona passed by the wall they were supposed to enter. She didn't say anything. Maitho understood why. No point in speaking out to announce their presence. She also brought the horse to a gentle trot, maintaining the speed so that she didn't have to turn the next corner.
"No guid," said Epona. "Whit is takin him sae long?"
Maitho looked up to see that the flood lights were still on, indicating that the power was still fed into the prison's many electrical systems. They were almost at the corner. "Let's not forget that he's facing off against several guards," he said. "The entire prison is going to be on him in seconds."
"Well let's hope he gets tae his destination within those seconds."
"Without getting injured in the process, you mean."
Epona grunted. Maitho noticed her reaction, but chose to not make a comment. It wasn't the time. She turned the horse around right before she reached a corner. Which was probably what saved her. A shot rang out, the bullet chipping away a piece of concrete instead of Epona's head. Neither of them had even noticed the guard above the tower they had passed focus his attention on them. He had already fired the second shot even before they could react, but the horse beneath them reared its front hooves up. The animal took the bullet and dissipated into mist. Maitho felt himself land on his back, but immediately rolled back into a crouch. A bullet struck the ground where he had fallen.
They were too exposed. All Maitho could do was hope that he would be able to see the pull of the trigger, or even the jerk of the gun, before the bullet was fired. It would help him move out of the way of the incoming projectile. He was well aware that he wasn't faster than a moving bullet, but if that was the only move available for him, it would be the one he would gladly take.
That's when the lights of the prison went out.
Maitho scrambled to his feet and ran towards the wall, pressing himself to its surface to minimize exposure to the guard. He felt Epona run up to attain a similar position beside him. Something struck the wall from within the prison, causing cracks to appear and for the surface to leak trails of sand. The sound of thunder followed the attack. Maitho heard some of the grains of debris land on Epona's shoulder. They looked at each other and as though they had sent a message telepathically, began sliding along the wall to add as much distance between themselves and the center region of the wall. Maitho thought it would take a couple more strikes to form any visible effect. He was wrong.
There was the sound of thunder, but this time it wasn't just a single crack. The noise was continuous, like a stream of energy flowing into the wall. It was like hearing popcorn go off, except this was loud enough to probably turn someone deaf and the sound didn't stop. The wall began to bulge outwards, like a bubble on the surface of water minus the same tension levels. Before the surface could bend outwards anymore, it exploded. An arc of lightning that was thicker than the trunk of a tree broke free, blasting its way over the open field. bricks were ejected out of their foundations like missiles. Sand, cement, and dust blossomed outwards, creating ablanket of debris smog in front of the wall. Raiden had finally created a point of entry.
Epona took the opportunity to summon her horse. "Climb on," she yelled, probably due to the fact that her ears might be ringing from the sound of Raiden's power.
Maitho was already on his feet, feeling the ringing in his own ears slowly fade away. Epona was already on the horse and just like before, he grabbed her hand before lifting himself onto the animal. This time, he managed to maintain his balance better. Without providing a warning, Epona charged the animal towards the still hovering cloud of dust. Maitho had this odd sensation that it wasn't the horse moving toward a curtain of white, but it was the dust that was moving towards them. He bent forward, closed his eyes, and covered his nose with the crook of his elbow before millions of particles began pelting his skin.
He held his breath as the painless barrage continued. Thankfully, it lasted for a few seconds before Maitho felt a cool breeze wash over him. He opened his eyes to see that they had crossed into the prison. They were nearing a single storeyed building. Epona brought the horse to a stop, allowing Maitho to instantly dismount and move with stealth. He knew that the guards would be converging on their location. It was best to enter the building as quickly as possible and as noiselessly as they could.
In the map that he had seen, there were two entrances to the building that was shaped like an L. One was close to a cell block of some kind, while the other was at the end of a hallway. This allowed for two entrances to the cell block as well, except that one of them was closer to the weapon's room. Maitho had intentionally chosen a specific wall of the prison to break through. It would place him close to the entrance that connected to the hallway that led to the armory.
The door would be unlocked. After all, this wasn't someone's house where they lock their doors up at night. Maitho entered the hallway beyond, knowing that they didn't have long before the emergency lights came back on. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark. Yet he didn't rely on them to give him the best information about the space. Instead, he allowed his ears to pick up any sounds that were cause for concern.
It was because he was paying attention that he heard the guard's footsteps in front of him, the man's shoes tapping against the marble floor. Maitho moved and in a few seconds, had his arm around the guard's neck to limit the flow of oxygen to the brain. When the guard's movements came to a stop, Maitho instantly let go and deposited the unconscious man carefully on the floor.
"Juist drop him," said Epona as she walked past him. "If ye start bein that nice aw the time, we might run oot o tim." She pointed her shotgun in front of her, ready to take on any threats that came her way.
"He was just doing his job," said Maitho. "Besides, it's already over. No point talking about it. Let's keep moving."
From what Maitho had seen in the plans, the weapons room could only be accessed from within the security room. He knew that it wouldn't be just a simple matter of opening a door and gaining access to shelves of weapons. He checked the unconscious guard and retrieved a keycard. After entering the security room, he checked the display panel that was pushed against a window with bulletproof glass. The panel featured several buttons. Behind him was another panel placed against the wall and below a row of television screens that were probably for the cameras in and around the building. Though without power, they offered no help. But he didn't need them. His eyes were locked on to a keypad next to a door set in the remaining wall. That would be the access to the armory. The mechanism stood lifeless, dead without power surging through it. Maitho's heart began to pump harder. The backup generator hadn't turned on and they were running out of time. Beyond the walls of the building, he heard the sounds of destruction continue. Even though Raiden had volunteered to distract the guards, Maitho wondered what the Guardian was up to.
That's when he heard footsteps. It sounded like a large group of people were making their way down the cell block arm. From where Maitho was standing, he could see the bend in the L shape of the building by leaning against the window of the security room. He spotted flashlights slide in and out of view, a sign that whoever was heading towards them were probably armed. Which meant more guards.
The power still hadn't come back on, and they were running out of time.