The path had opened to pockmarked pavement scattered with ruined barricades and overturned cars on low ground. Gunfire rattled, and mortars boomed in the distance. Smoke and dust settled as the wind died in the road around them, coating them in a layer of thin red dust. The hot noon sun dipped behind a large cloud, casting them into the growing shadows of taller, dilapidated apartment buildings framing the road on either side.
A hailstorm of lead tore through the air. One bullet ripped into Aaron's arm. Lille shouted, yanking Aaron into the safety of an overturned conex box as bullets pelted the thick metal box. She kept them against the back as the gunfire quieted once more. Lille sent a pulse of energy through the ground, using her magic to retrieve an image of their surroundings who dwelt within the buildings that loomed over them. She frowned as the only building that structured into her mind's eyes was the large apartment building to their right and the corridor they had to travel — she should've been able to catch other buildings too. She gauged the distance, 200 yards, two football fields to get to safety.
Aaron's body felt heavy, and the body armor was heavy. He marveled and cursed the timing of being wrapped in flesh. He had waited for this day, and now, he had to race against time. His arm was bleeding, but it was a distant sensation as she focused his energies towards seeking out the concealed soldiers lurking in the upper floors waiting for them to emerge once more.
"Ten in the building on our three o'clock. I can't see the building at 9." Lille watched the people inside the building move between floors; not all of them appeared armed, but she couldn't just take the building down and make the rendezvous. "What do you think? Can you catch the other building?"
"I can sense a handful in the other buildings on the roofs and the upper floors." An orb of violet energy gathered in Aaron's palm. "I'm going to cause a distraction."
Lille nodded, her body tensing as she waited for Aaron to release his spell. It was too quiet. She sensed that they were waiting for her to make a move. She didn't like to work magic when she was under this much strain and observation, but she wanted to clear the box. "I'll boost our speed. Get ready."
The orb shot up into the air like a roman candle and exploded into a cloud of thick grey smoke. Lille tapped Aaron's shoulder and time sped up.
"Now!" Lille ordered, bursting from cover as a hail of gunfire rained down from the rooftops above them. Aaron followed, recognizing what she had done with her magic. He swelled with pride, the spark of creation had woke inside of her, and she was using it as Iehan would.
"Go!" She fired off a couple of shots from her rifle, the bullets moving in slow motion as she wove through the patches of cover, mindful of the trajectories.
Aaron fired at different targets, feeling the lag as time threatened to catch up. They crashed into cover at the end of the road as lead whizzed through the air, tearing through stone, metal, and embedding in the pavement around them. The noise thundered in Aaron's ears as his arms throbbed from the delayed recoil. He watched the bodies fall as time caught up with a grin. She had a talent he wanted to nurture further.
"Halfway there, half out of ammo. On three, we get to the end of this corridor." Lille panted, sweating beneath her kevlar. With only one hundred yards separated them from freedom, their ammunition would carry them through.
Aaron nodded. "I'll cover you." He made a shooing gesture. He saw her eyes through the tint of her goggles narrow into a glare. She wasn't used to being disobeyed. "Lille, I'll be right behind you."
"...On three. If you can't keep up, I can't come back for you," Lille hissed. Her body tensed as she identified the path that'd afford her the most cover in the sniper's trajectory. "One."
Aaron grinned as he quickly formed his plan.
"Two." Lille's voice grew softer as her posture shifted. Aaron gathered heat from the air as he watched Lille shift her weight to run.
"Three!" Lille ducked and burst from cover, sprinting in a zigzag through the broken terrain, sliding into a hole in the asphalt as bullets raining down upon her. She returned fire before scrambling ahead, leaving Aaron to cover her however he saw fit.
Aaron emerged from cover and identified the origin points of the offending barrage, ignoring the ones that tore past him. He was hiding from watchful heavenly guardians, and he didn't care what the mortals thought. The only limit he had on his power was the danger using too much destructive magic would have if debris fell on Lille. "I should be able to handle this much."
Smoke and fire laid ruin as Lille sprinted towards the end of the road. Aaron grinned as he ran after her, firing rounds to draw fire away from Lille and towards himself. He'd figure out the limits of this body later; for now, he'd endure. He released the heat from his grip, the magic manifesting as rockets shrieking from the sky and bombarding the sniper positions on the rooftops. The enemy soldiers searched for the source of the air assault, shouting through the fire and smoke.
Black helicopter blades beat the air in a small clearing beyond the corridor.
Lille cleared the last hurdle and veered towards the promise of safety. Aaron was a few seconds behind her, bleeding but pleased. Lille signaled to the helicopter crew as she glanced over her shoulder. Lille grabbed Aaron's hand and pulled him on board as it lifted off. She'd have to report the rockets later in the debriefing, but she didn't have to explain away the magic for now.
One of the five waiting soldiers pulled the door shut as Lille and Aaron situated themselves in the passenger seats. Clothed in black tactical gear with their faces covered, Aaron couldn't distinguish between the figures or if they were male or female. One wearing a patch that read "Doc Johnson" on his vest pulled Aaron into a bucket seat and began treating his wounds.
It was too loud to have a proper conversation, and they were too exhausted for it. Doc kept his questions on whether Aaron could move and what unit he'd been with. Aaron's responses were vague in a way that suggested some form of shock.
Lille collapsed into a seat as the others fist-bumped her. She winced as she saw her calf was wet with blood originating from a tear in the middle. She groaned as she reached into her first aid pouch. "Damn, I got winged after all." She slipped a pad of cotton over the wound and wrapped it with gauze.
She tilted her head as she listened to the drone of the cockpit and the whir of the engine. Below, she saw people scrambling and running inside the buildings. With a shake of her head, she released the image to recover some of her energy.
Her helmet thudded against the wall as she closed her eyes and tried to calm her nerves. She had always wondered what having a second magic user in a firefight would feel like. It was sloppier than she preferred, but it was a start. Maybe their rebellion would gain ground after all.