Chapter 197 Volume IV - Chapter 42: Running for Survival
I just stared at the armored group of dwarves in front of me while sun was shining behind them, dazzling my eyes. And they also stared at Dorhud, Ezareth, and me blankly… clearly not expecting us.
Then, suddenly, as if they finally managed to understand the situation, the barrels turned on us. It all happened so suddenly that I found myself the target of a hail of bullets in an instant.
'Watch out Aiden!'
Sith literally screamed in my mind, and I tried to throw myself back around the corner we had just passed, but I couldn't move as fast as I needed to. Dorhud was the one who saved my life.
When he grabbed me by the shoulder and threw us both back, the bullets flew past me. Even then… two of them, I think, went through my left shoulder and began to burn intensely there.
"Run, boy!"
My eyes widened, then time finally began to flow as it does.
"Ah..."
I turned the way we had come in an instant, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. Ezareth was already gone, she had activated her camouflage stigma and I had no idea where she was.
I started running, with Dorhud at my side.
'Sith, you can use all my mana. Block incoming projectiles.'
I didn't stop there, I also activated the Mana Barrier, which I would normally keep hidden.
Sith and the Mana Barrier deflected most of the bullets coming at me. The ones that weren't likely to hit me in the first place didn't seem to bother me at all as they passed me by, causing me to inevitably tense up.
I heard the people behind me start running around, saying something about support, which was an added bonus.
I cursed my luck, again and again. As the bullets whizzed past me, I thought about the Mana Barrier, rebuilding it over and over again because it had been broken several times.
I have to stay calm, if I don't… then I won't achieve anything, I shouldn't act like an idiot.
What is the sensible thing to do in this situation? What should I do?
Nothing came to my mind, I kept running. Finally, before I knew it, we reached the part where umbanth corpses were everywhere. The wide-open door was right in front of us.
A bullet grazed my hair, the Mana Barrier broke again and I quickly rebuilt it.
I would have closed the door if we had time, even tried to lock it back, but we didn't have that much time. The men were right behind us and I wasn't sure if the locking mechanism would ever work again.
So we burst in, past the body of the umbanth we had killed and back in through the holes he had made.
There was still no sign of Ezareth. Dorhud was only running a little ahead of me. His armor was all around him again, strengthening him.
"What do we do?!"
In response to my question, Dorhud spoke without taking his eyes off me.
"We'll be he-"
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
Something suddenly came between us and cooled the whole sound. My eyes widened as I realized what it was.
It... was a fucking rocket.
"Wa-"
The rocket suddenly exploded. I felt something comforting surrounding me, a different barrier. It was created by the Sith.
The flames enveloped my body, trying to break through the barrier of wind but failing. At least not to a certain degree.
The flames slightly burned my skin, discolored my clothing and even charred it in some places. Still, I did not suffer any extremely serious injuries.
Finally, when the explosion ended, I was on the ground, Dorhud crouched down like a turtle and positioned his armor to shield himself from the blast. Yet he did not stop. He kept moving forward during the explosion, he didn't stay where he was like me. His armor looked even more damaged than before.
That's why there was a considerable distance between Dorhud and me.
My eyes slowly shifted behind me to see the state of the corridor. It had literally exploded, and the soldiers had caught up with us.
Dorhud wrapped his armor around his body again. Then he stood up and ran with all his might. In the meantime, he gave me a brief look.
That look said too many things at once.
I can't save you, I'm sorry... and much more.
If he tried to lift me up, he would lose too much time. He wouldn't have attempted it.
Still, he didn't leave me here completely. I could see a gleam in his eyes telling me to hurry up, screaming at me to run.
I gritted my teeth and poured all my mana into my body, swirling it around inside me. My mana bubbled as if it was boiling. I forced myself, stood up, and started running.
Dorhud had already disappeared. He had turned one of the corners of the corridor and I couldn't see where he was, so I followed the trail through the crumbling dust particles of the bunker. I ran, bullets continued to be fired behind me, but almost none of them were aiming at my head or torso anymore.
They were aiming at my limbs. They were shooting at my shoulder, at my non-vital organs. So I was a little more relaxed, but still, Sith and I continued to do what we could to block the shots.
I turned a corner to the right, then to the left, and kept running, jumping over a few short steps, and then I came to a door, Dorhud had entered this room. I could see his footprints.
The door was an electronic door and it was open. Dorhud probably left it open for me. He had gone ahead, but he really wanted me to survive.
As soon as I entered, I looked at both sides of the door and noticed a button on the right side. One that should normally be hidden, embedded in the wall, but was now exposed, with a lock mark on it.
I pressed the button and a slight noise suddenly echoed. Then the door slammed shut. Countless clicks filled the room and after only two seconds it was completely locked, eve sealed.
I drew my sword, filled it with mana, and thrust it as hard as I could into the switch. Sparks flew out of the button and spread around, and I repeated the same thing twice more, finally, after making sure that the mechanism had completely screwed, I waited briefly and focused.
It must have been well insulated because I couldn't hear any footsteps or bullets behind it.
I sighed deeply, turned around and quickly looked around the room.
It was a big, spacious room. There was nothing inside, not even the door, which under normal circumstances should have been camouflaged by the rocks that made up the walls of the room. Over the years, this mechanism had also worn out and the door was barely visible, if noticeable.
Apart from that, there was another door on the opposite side of the room, just like the one on this side, left slightly open.
'I think we survived.'
A smile appeared on my face at the Sith's words.
No, I wasn't, there was probably a life waiting for me outside this door where I would have to hide for a while. I would have to slip away from Caleuche and the countless soldiers who had come with it, to meet Dorhud again, to reach the North Holar.
Still, these were things I would have to think about later.
When I felt a little relieved, I noticed the pain in my shoulder, which was throbbing slightly from the bullets.
I didn't have time to deal with it though. It wouldn't be too much of a problem as long as I supported it with mana.
When the throbbing in my shoulder subsided, I walked toward the door, just as clicks echoed around the room again.
I looked back at the door, sparks flew on the button where I had inserted my sword, and the clicking was suddenly interrupted by an intense noise. There was a sound like something snapping, followed by what sounded like some metal falling to the floor.
The mechanism was completely broken.
Still, the other side had no intention of giving up. I heard a loud knock on the door, the door suddenly rattled and I squinted.
I don't know how much time they have, but I'd better be quick.
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