Chapter Four
The journey from the doors of the building to the transportation bay changed from controlled to chaotic in seconds. They were moving through a small courtyard behind the laboratory building when several of the hooded creatures stepped out of the shadows and came toward them. In an instant the group fractured, spreading out across the open space to fight. Bannack looked up and saw Azrael soaring in the air above them. He reached into his bag and pulled out a blade.
“Azrael!” he yelled.
The Eteri man looked down at him and Bannack tossed the weapon up into the air. Azrael dipped down and caught it before swooping back up so that he could evaluate what was happening below. He dove down suddenly, bringing the blade back and burying it in the back of one of the hooded beings. The creature fell instantly, his arms falling away from where they gripped Ty. The Denynso drove his own blade into the creature’s throat, finishing him, and kicked the body aside. Bannack took his own weapon into his hand and surged forward into the fray, forcing himself between the creatures and smaller members of the group that they were attacking. He heard a scream behind him and turned to see the hybrid woman who had told Pyra she would come with them, being dragged away by one of the other hooded creatures.
Rilex seemed to see the situation in the same moment and they both ran for the woman. Bannack leapt toward the hooded person, knocking the creature to the ground as Rilex swept the woman into his arms and pulled her away. Bannack could hear the woman’s frantic breaths, but when he looked at her, there were no tears on her face.
“You,” the creature hissed at her, trying to scramble away from Bannack. “You are a traitor. Traitor!”
Bannack stomped down on the man’s throat, silencing him instantly. He looked at the woman.
“Are you alright?” he asked the hybrid woman.
She clung to Rilex, but nodded, glaring down at the body of the creature on the ground at Bannack’s feet.
“I have her,” Rilex said. “I’ll make sure that she gets to the shuttle.”
Bannack nodded and ran back toward the rest of the group. Azrael had lifted another of the hooded creatures into the air by its throat and Bannack watched him pull away the hood that covered its head. A sickening creature that looked like a grisly blend of Klimnu and Covra hissed at him.
“I should bring you back to Ryan,” it said in a voice that made Bannack’s skin crawl. “He could restore your wings. He could give you your strength back and make you more powerful than you could ever have imagined.”
“I don’t need Ryan,” Azrael said through gritted teeth. He rose up higher into the sky until Bannack could only see the dark shape of them against the sky. “My wings don’t need restoration,” Azrael said. “Each wound has only made me stronger.”
Azrael took his other hand and grasped the creature’s head. There was a chilling crack and the hybrid fell from Azrael’s grip into a heap on the ground. The winged man looked down at Bannack for a moment before flying away again. Bannack felt someone pull on his back and turned to see Loralia.
“Come on,” she said. “The hybrids and Valdicians are under control. Pyra wants as many of us as possible to continue toward the transportation bay. We need to find a pilot and get into the shuttle. Can you carry one of the women?”
“Of course,” Bannack said.
They ran across toward the others that had separated out from the main conflict and Bannack scooped one of the women onto his shoulders so that they could move more quickly. They had run a few yards when he reached down and swept Loralia up as well, holding her close so that he could both protect her and make sure that she got to the transportation bay as quickly and easily as possible. Behind them he could hear the sounds of the final gasps of the battle. He wondered how many of the hybrids had escaped and what would happen to those who survived.
Clouds had started to roll in, obliterating the glimmer from the stars so that they moved through almost complete darkness as they approached the transportation bay. When they finally reached it, George input his code into the keypad and they waited, barely breathing, until the click within the door told them that the code had worked and the lock had released. The human man pulled the door open, washing them with light as if the building itself were reaching out to protect them.
“Is there anyone here?” Zsilvia asked.
“There are always people here,” George told her. “Shuttles and experimental ships leave and arrive at all times, and they need maintenance day and night. At this time there will only be a skeleton crew, but there has to be someone who can help us.”
They streamed into the building as quickly as they could and as soon as the door closed behind them, a wave of relief passed over Bannack. It wasn’t over. He knew that it wasn’t. But they had survived the laboratory and made it to the transportation bay. They were closer to leaving Earth behind. George led them down the hallway toward the bay where they had left the shuttle when they first arrived. That felt like a lifetime ago. He could barely remember the sense of excitement and energy that had filled them when they first got off that ship. Now it seemed like they had always been embroiled in this horror.
In sharp contrast to the crowd of people that had greeted them when they arrived, the bay seemed empty and silent. The same shuttle that they had ridden to Earth was still sitting in its place. It looked larger and more beautiful than when they had first seen it and Bannack couldn’t wait to get inside again. He saw George looking around, rushing through the expansive bay looking for someone who might be able and willing to pilot the ship for them. The original pilot who had brought them to Earth wasn’t there and none of them had the skills necessary to bring them on this mission, and their only hope was that they would find another pilot who would be willing to go against regulations and head out on a mission that was both dangerous and unpredictable.
Behind him Bannack heard the door to the bay open and the rest of the group rush inside. He turned and saw Pyra carrying a hooded creature in his arms and another of the warriors supporting another as they came inside. Rilex and the hybrid woman came in last and Bannack could see the worry etched on her face.
“We need to get them inside,” Pyra said.
Bannack rushed up to him.
“Are these…” he started.
“The Valdicians were trying to drag them back to the torture chamber,” Pyra said. “These were slaves. We freed them.”
George finally reappeared with a man behind him.
“Pyra,” he said. “This is Fredrick. He is willing to pilot the ship for us. He doesn’t have full licensure from the University yet, but he knows how to operate the ship.”
“And he understands what he’s facing?” Pyra asked.
“I do,” Fredrick said.
“Very well,” Pyra said. “Thank you.”
Within moments Fredrick had opened the shuttle and they were inside, storing the supplies they had brought had aboard and choosing the passenger rooms where they could rest. Frederick had headed for the control room and everyone rushed to get into their pods for the ascent. Bannack could hear the various systems of the ship starting up and closed his eyes, awaiting the sinking feeling of the massive shuttle rising up off of the ground and soaring out of the bay.
The wait for the pods to open was excruciating. Bannack knew that he didn’t have much time and as soon as the lid to the pod lifted, he climbed out. Loralia stepped toward him and he rested a kiss to her lips.
“Wait here,” he said. “Take a bath. Rest. Have something to eat. I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
He shook his head at her, a soft smile on his lips.
“I’ll be back,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
He gave her another kiss and left the passenger room, heading directly toward the room where he had seen Samira and Ty go when they got inside. Ty was coming out of the room as he approached.
“Let’s get started,” Bannack said.
“Does she know?” Ty asked.
“Not yet,” Bannack said. “I want it to be a surprise. But the trip will take less than a day. We don’t have much time to get everything into place.”
Ty grinned.
“I can handle the food. Let me find the kitchen and see what is available there and in the rations that we brought with us.”
Samira came out of the room and took Ty’s hand beside her.
“I can work on decorations and getting a room set up for you. If it’s alright with you, I can tell some of the other women and we can work together to set it up and then get Loralia ready.”
Bannack nodded.
“Thank you for your help,” he said. “I want this to be as perfect for her as possible. I know that this won’t be anything like what she would have imagined when she was younger, but I want to do everything that I can to show her how much I love her.”
“It will be amazing, Bannack,” Samira said. “What will matter most to her is that you even thought about her and want to do this for her.”
She smiled at him and hurried away. Bannack took a breath.
“I’m going to go talk to Azrael,” he said. “I asked his permission to have the ceremony.”
“Why?” Ty asked.
“He’s her father,” Bannack said. “I know that he never got to see her until now, but he has been thinking about her since then. I’ll never have the opportunity to meet the man who raised her. The least I can do is show respect to the man who’s the reason she’s here.”
“That’s true.”
“Now I need him to tell me about the ceremony and what I need to do to prepare for it.”
“Good luck,” Ty said. “I’ll do whatever I can with the supplies that I find.” He started in the direction of the ship’s kitchen and then turned back toward Bannack. “Do you know if there would be a cake at the celebration after the ceremony?”
He looked so hopeful that Bannack couldn’t help but laugh.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But why don’t you go ahead and make one? This isn’t exactly a traditional ceremony, so I think that it would be alright to have a few unique things just for us.”
Ty smiled again and turned away, walking faster as he made his way back toward the entrance to the ship so he could find the kitchen. Bannack drew in a steeling breath and made his way down the hallway, hoping that he would find Azrael. He finally found him standing in one of the lounges, staring through the window at the sky as it zoomed past them.
“Azrael?” he said, hesitating at the door to the lounge.
Azrael turned to look at him and gave a faint smile that didn’t extend to his eyes.
“Hello, Bannack,” he said. “Please, come in.”
Bannack stepped inside and walked up to the winged man.
“I wanted to say thank you for giving me your blessing to have the tying ceremony with Loralia,” he said.
Azrael nodded.
“Of course,” he said. “I am so happy to know that my daughter has found love. I can only hope that she has the lifetime of happiness with you that I had hoped to have with her mother.”
“I do, too,” Bannack said. “And I don’t want to wait any longer, which is why I need your help.”
“What can I do for you?” Azrael asked.
“I want to have our ceremony before we reach Penthos,” Bannack said. “I know that it’s very short notice and that it won’t be everything that it could have been if we took longer to plan it, and maybe did it when we get back to Uoria, but I don’t want to go to sleep again without doing this for her.”
This time Azrael’s smile reached his eyes and they brightened. He reached out and took Bannack by the shoulders, staring into his face as if memorizing his expression in just that moment.
“I will do anything that I can to help you,” he said. “Aside from the time that I spent with her mother and bringing Loralia into existence, it will be the greatest honor of my life to give my daughter to you and create one family.”