The temperature changed. I also let myself hope for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
Was this the aid we so much needed? Was it also already too late?
The gunman's finger closed on the trigger. One could not stand the stress.
"Thorne! " Lyra shouted, but the sound of the bullet smothered her voice. Or was it? The shadows ate everything as the globe whirled. Was I too late to save us both, or would I have made it alive?
I sensed the air change once more, harsher this time than in the prelude of a storm. Though the tension in the air was choking, the sound of the gunshot never arrived. My heart hammered in my chest, every pulse a dire cry to action.
"Thorne!!" Lyra cried once again, her voice above the turmoil. "Get down!," exclaimed Her hysterical and terrified remarks startled me out of the frozen period I was caught in.
Nevertheless, it was insufficient. There was a flaw. Thus, incorrect. The idea that the worst was still to come, that this was only the quiet before the actual battle started, would not go away.
I fixed my eyes on the masked shooter and watched his firearm. In the low light, the barrel glinted menacingly, and I felt terrible awareness of how near it was to bring about all ends.
But before I could respond, behind me a thunderous collision. The power pushed everything in its path and resembled a shockwave ruffing the air. Turning naturally, my breath caught in my throat.
From the shadows emerged a figure that moved too rapidly and too sloppily to be human.
The air changed once again, cooler now, charged with another sort of energy. There was a deep growl, something raw and ferocious. The shooter in mask stopped, his finger hanging above the trigger. The other forms stopped as well, their gaze darting to the darkness in search.
"Move, Thorne". Get her out of here," a deep voice screamed with resonance that chilled my spine.
The man emerged totally from the shadows, standing forward—not just any man. He was black, strong, and deadly. His eyes shone faintly, not human at all, and every stride he made seemed to skew the air around him.
Startled, the shooter retreated; he did not lower his firearm. With a rather shaky voice, "What the hell are you?" he shouted.
The guy grinned predatorily, curving his lips. "You'd wish you never asked," he replied, his voice dark and full of dread. He lifted his hand, and I sensed great energy in the air.
He reacted suddenly, his hand a blur as it flew at the gunman. The masked man was propelled backward in a flash, slamming into the stone wall behind him. His weapon lay useless on the ground.
I had no time to digest what had just transpired. Adrenaline shot through me, and I grasped Lyra's arm to draw her near.
"Stay behind me," I said, voice harsh yet forceful. "We must relocate."
But the air turned colder before we could get a step. The shadows all about us appeared to be living, longer and deeper. And far away I heard the distinct sound of other footsteps approaching quicker, stronger.
The man who had assisted us ignored us; his whole attention was on the other people. "You really believe you can win this, don't you?" His voice low and menacing, he teased them.
Rising among the masked people, the tallest one cursed and advanced. "This is not quite over." You are making a mistake believing you can stop us; you are outnumbered.
The stranger—that one who had rescued us—only laughed darkly. "You obviously don't understand what you're up against," he remarked, his voice tinged with contempt. You will learn just enough soon enough.
Then all of it occurred simultaneously. The loud blast came suddenly, then the crisp crackling of something shattering followed. I turned to see Lyra holding her shoulder falling to the ground. Blood stained her garments as it leaked through her fingers.
Lyra!. My heart falling into my gut, I yelled.
Her face white, eyes wide with astonishment and anguish, she raised her head toward me. "Thorne...," she whispered, her voice only a whisper. "This is... Too late.
The stranger moved nearer, his eyes closing to evaluate the circumstances. Here are them. And they already have cemented our doom.
Footfall noises become louder and more plentiful. The figures in masks came to bring this end, not only to terrify us. To bring their beginning work to completion.
"What is the count of them?" Panic building in my chest, I asked.
The stranger gave no response right away. Rather, he fixed his eyes on the distant slits, reducing his sight. Then he spoke, his voice a whisper, yet in my head it seemed like a thunderclap.
"There are too many," he observed. "And you know something else as well. Something I wanted to keep from you.
With their chilly fingers encircling us and dragging us farther into the storm ready to burst, the shadows seemed to push in near proximity.
"What do you mean"? Panic slinking into my voice, I asked. Now I was clutching Lyra's hand, drawing her right toward me. Her cut was severe, and I realized we had little time.
The visitor moved one cautious, deliberate step toward me. "You have no notion what they are truly pursuing; you believe you are the ones in peril. Her true aim is what?
His eyes fixed Lyra, and for the first time I could see a flutter of doubt in them. "You don't even know who you really are, do you?" He murmured, his words more to himself than to everyone else.
I paused. "What are you discussing?" Trying to catch up to the terrible significance of his words, my brain was racing.
Lyra gazed at the stranger, fear gradually seeping into her expression as her cheeks lost color and her eyes became wide in understanding.
" What do you mean?" Her voice shook as she whispered.
The guy stepped back, darkening his eyes with something I couldn't quite interpret. His voice was cold, "You'll find out soon enough." But right now we have to migrate. Time is running short for you.
Before I could respond, above us a loud, startling smash was heard, then a deep, mechanical hum. Looking up, I saw a huge, armored truck headed at us from the rooftops, its engines booming and its goal obvious.
One of the traps. They would have laid a trap.
My heart hammering in my chest, I threw Lyra behind me and turned to face the approaching tempest.
The stranger said urgently, "We don't have much time!" "If you wish to survive this, come along. now.
But we were no longer alone as I turned to seize Lyra's hand.
From the shadows, a man taller than anything I had seen before surfaced.
And my blood froze as the man entered the light.
Arriving now was the real adversary.