Chapter 329

329 Desperate

The way to the ‘Hell Fields’, as Gavin liked to call them, took a good forty minutes on foot. Amara knew that they were already pushing at the limit that Skye and Tidas could be gone. The other RMC members might start to venture out in search of their Commander and General if they didn’t hurry.

Not seeing another option, Amara stopped at a few random houses, and asked if they could borrow their bikes. It was shocking for two of the three to see their High Councilor going door-to-door asking for anything, but they complied.

The second house also gave Skye a loaf of bread with jelly to eat after hearing her ask if they had time to grab a snack. Her magic was already running a bit low, and she didn’t want to risk running out in the middle of fixing the reactor leak. After thanking the nice people, they moved on to the next house as Skye munched away.

The third house’s owner was a regular at Mead Hall, so Amara’s antics didn’t surprise him. After talking a few moments about random things, she got the last two bikes from him, then they all took off towards the Barrens.

When Skye and Tidas were given their bikes, child-like excitement covered their demeanors as they hastily climbed on. They each rode around for a few minutes, getting the feel for it again. It had been years since either of them had ridden a bike, but still quite easily remembered what it felt like once they got going.

As the royal couple acted like a couple of kids, they laughed and messed with each other. Attempting tricks and psyching each other out the entire ride. Gavin and Amara watched them with nostalgic smiles as they recalled days of their youth together.

Gavin’s heart ached whenever he saw the tinge of sadness Amara got any time her first husband was brought up. The three of them were best friends growing up, and stayed close even after Amara married Reggie.

He was like a brother to Gavin, and he truly loved Amara as much as she did him. It hurt, but his love for them outweighed his jealousy. There were times that he had to step back, of course, but he never left their life completely.

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Gavin Bruce had been an extremely eligible bachelor all his life. No woman he’d ever met had measured up to Amara, so he’d spent the majority of his life without a partner. He’d have the occasional fling, but it never lasted past a month or two.

.....

As they talked about the good old days, Gavin asked; “Was there ever anyone else in yer heart? Aside from Reggie?”

Amara took on a contemplative expression; “Well, there was you when we were brats, but no one else-”

“Are ye bloody serious?! When was that?!” Gavin had nearly run into her as he bellowed.

“Don’t ye be playin’ dumb wit me, Gavin Bruce. I knew of yer fight with Reggie over me,” Amara chided, but had a smile on her face as she spoke.

Gavin wanted to talk more, but the had arrived at their destination...

************

Skye stared up at the enormous lead doors in front of her with awe. They looked to have been closed for decades, and a thick layer of dull grey oxidation covered them, and left it feeling porous and bumpy. As she examined the door; Amara, Gavin, and Tidas stood back at a safe distance.

Skye could heal herself of radiation poisoning easily, but the others could become severely damaged if they tried to accompany her. A geiger counter was built into the side of the door, and rigged with an alarm system. If the radiation on the other side became too strong, an alarm system would go off throughout the Highlands.

Amara explained that if Skye wasn’t careful, a fail safe system would activate, and lock her inside. Tidas had immediately gotten angry that she hadn’t mentioned it before they’d gotten there. Nearly yelling that he didn’t want Skye to risk getting locked in.

“Oh quiet down, will ye?! Ima tryin’ ta work! And Ima bloody Earth mage; I canna get locked in, remember? I can just make me own way out if it comes down to it,” Skye said half-admonishing, half-reassuring her husband.

“Aye, but I know you won’t if you think escaping will lead to the radiation leaking again. I don’t like this, Skye..”

Removing her hands, Skye walked over, kissed her husband’s cheek, then said; “I’ll be fine, love. See ye three in a wee bit.”

Tidas wanted to protest, but had no real reason to, other than the twisting feeling in his gut.

“Even wit radiation suits, we wouldn’t last long in there. Yer wife is the only one capable of doin’ this.. Ye ken that, yeah?” Gavin stated, although it sounded like a question.

Tidas nodded; “Aye, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it..”

As Skye built up her magic around the door, Amara added; “She’s the most capable Mystic I’ve ever seen. If she says she can do it: I believe her.”

Tidas didn’t like the way Amara had worded herself, but she was right. Skye was the most incredible mage he had ever met. Her powers weren’t limitless, but often seemed like it at dire times like this. Whenever other people’s lives or well-being were on the line, Skye had never failed.

She had saved countless people since she’d awakened her Shaman magic, including him. Whenever Skye put her mind to something, she always came out on top.. ‘So why are my senses screaming at me right now?’

Before he could answer his own question, Skye announced that she was ready to go in. Gavin had asked if she wanted a radiation suit, but when he’d described it, she turned him down.

“I’ll make it too hard ta move around easy, and I don’t completely know what’s on the other side yet. Just what I can sense through the ground. I canna risk the hindrance.”

After Gavin told her what he knew of the layout, he and Amara pulled a couple of keys out of thin air. The door had a redundancy lock, and required two keys for it to open. After they walked over to opposite sides of the door, they opened two smaller ones that each looked like regular rock.

Putting in the keys, they timed down from five, then twisted the keys...

The doors had only opened enough to let Skye slip inside. As soon as she was inside, Amara and Gavin twisted the keys again, and lock the door behind her...

************

A few minutes after she’d gone in, Tidas began to pace as he said; “Do you really think she’ll be okay? I don’t like this..”

Amara flashed him a sympathetic smile; “I think she’ll be fine. Even if she were ta have a bit of trouble, tis not like she’s a weak wee lass. She’ll be fine.”

Seeing that he needed a subject change, Gavin asked; “So how long havenye two known each other?”

Upon hearing the question, Tidas’ demeanor became more relaxed. As he told them stories of their childhood together, the tension all but drained from him. He still kept looking back at the lead door, but at least he’d stopped pacing.

They talked about Skye, the Fae, and what’s it’s like to raise a sassy dragon for almost two hours before the prince started to pace again. They had no idea how long it would take, but since the other field had taken her so little time, they didn’t think it would be more than an hour or so.

Murdoc had shown back up after about an hour and a half, surprised that she was still inside. When Tidas’ anxiety shot up again, Amara and Gavin glared at him for riling up the Alconian Prince again. Pulling him back into another conversation, Tidas calmed down again until they passed the two hour mark.

As the second hour turned to three, Tidas was nearly in a panic; “It shouldn’t be taking this long.. Something’s wrong. If she’s not out in the next ten minutes, I’m going in after her-?!”

Right as Tidas finished speaking, the ground beneath their feet shook violently. Stalactites shook and fell to the ground, sending chunks of rocks scattering everywhere. As the shaking increased, a loud, piercing alarm rang out across the Highlands..

As soon as he’d heard it, Tidas ran over to the door, and started to bang on it. He called out Skye’s name, but heard nothing over the blare of the siren. Tapping into his magic, he pounded on the door, but left nothing more than a few dents.

A single lightbulb above the door turned red, then a thick, massive door slowly started to descend from the top of the arch over the other. Amara ran over to the key holes, and tried to open the main door back up, but it didn’t work.

As the extra door came down, Tidas pounded on the original with a desperate fury that the other three had never before. As it neared the bottom, the alarm stopped, but the door kept closing..

Tidas railed against it with everything he had, but all that did was create a bigger dent. ‘The Blast Door’ as Gavin called it, was a solid chunk of lead, and was at least four feet thick. It would take Tidas days to beat his way through, and his hands would be in no shape to do anything afterwards.

As it locked into place with a loud thud, Tidas yelled out so loudly that Amara thought that her ears would bleed. A massive surge of magic began to build up within him; the likes of which Tidas had never felt before. Realizing that the door would never budge, Tidas shifted his focus to the rock wall..

Seeing his intent, Murdoc called out to him; “If ye do that, you’ll kill us all!”

Watching him head over to the wall anyway, Murdoc tried to grab ahold of Tidas, but he grabbed and flung Murdoc like a rag doll instead. As soon as he released him, Tidas started to pound away at the wall..

“STOP TIDAS! I Don’t want ta kill you!” Amara screamed as she readied her Fire magic.

Tidas didn’t hear her as he hammered away. His fists were bloody, but he didn’t even feel the pain.. ‘Have I been sitting around as Skye died? No! She CAN’T be dead!’

‘Did she call out for me? Why did I even let her go in the first place?! I knew this would happen! It’s all my fault! She CAN’T be Gone!’

Chaotic thoughts fueled Tidas’ sorrow-filled fury as Amara readied to kill the Alconian Prince. She kicked her heat up to it’s maximum as she screamed; “PLEASE don’t make me do this! Please Stop!”

Tears flowed from Amara’s eyes as she arched her back, and readied her throw. Murdoc called out to Tidas as he got up and started running at him. Gavin was frozen as he tried to figure out what he could say or do..

Right as Amara was in the process of throwing her fireball, they all heard a familiar voice cry out; “Tidas Stop! Ima here!”