The Stormbringer by Archita Mishra

Author:Archita Mishra
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Panicked screams pierced the air and bounced off the cavernous walls. Sections of the wall parted and formed doorways to passages. Children ran helter-skelter, their fear enunciated in their silvered eyes. The braver ones stood with their swords drawn, hiding their fear behind a cracked mask of vigilance, while the others pushed and shoved each other in order to make it to the numerous passageways that had sprung up in the walls.

Surazal strode around the room barking out orders, guiding the young Invisitae into the passages.

“Follow the passageways. They lead straight to the sanctuaries!” he cried out.

Elijah. Sapiens’s voice boomed in his skull, drowning out the frantic cries. You must not be discovered. Have Sebastian escort you to my quarters. It is the only place safe enough for you.

Elijah scoured the room for his adversary and found him making his way towards Elijah.

“Come on,” Sebastian said tersely. His looked tense, with no sign of the hatred of a few moments ago. He strode on further and ran his hands along the stone wall until he found a loose fragment. Sebastian nudged the stone deeper into its socket and, much to Elijah’s surprise, the shards around it began undulating and receding. They seemed to be forming an ordinary passageway, but Elijah knew better.

Sebastian turned around, motioning for Elijah to follow him. Elijah took one last sweeping glance around the room and stepped into the corridor. The hole in the wall behind them folded in on itself, obscuring the panic from view.

“Hurry up!” Sebastian hissed. Not for the first time, Elijah wondered whether trusting Sebastian was indeed the wisest course of action. But before he could ponder that, the older boy grabbed his arm and began running.

Sebastian navigated the bends and curves of the passage with the sureness of a veteran, Elijah trailing behind him. His heart thumped wildly against his chest as it tried to keep up with his frantic footfalls. They passed by several branching passageways which carried ominous echoes to Elijah’s ears. Once, he thought he heard the scuffle of boots against the stone floor and swerved around to ascertain the source but his eyes met an empty passageway. Wait, he thought, was that a cat?

A rough hand on his shoulder jarred him back to the present, and the weight of what he’d done settled on him.

“What were you thinking, stopping like that? You’ll get us both killed!” Sebastian hissed.

“I thought I saw—”

“NO TIME FOR THAT!”

He has an uncanny ability to scream softly, Elijah thought. They hastened, and soon came upon a fork in the underground passageway. Sebastian sped up.

“Go left!” he said.“Don’t stop for anything or anyone. As much as I hate to say this, you getting caught could be disastrous for us, so you must make haste.”

As he spoke, his eyes seemed to melt and his form rippled dizzyingly. Elijah watched Sebastian with a queasy feeling in his stomach, but he couldn’t look away. With a start, he realised Sebastian was turning into an exact replica of him.

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