Page 27 of Only Rogue Actions
Water sprayed everywhere, and chips of stone cracked off the fountain, zipped through the air, and stung my head, face, neck, and hands like angry wasps.Between the two blaster nozzles, I was in danger of being pinned down, something I couldn’t afford with Roderick still clutching his hammer and creeping closer.
“What’s the matter, Kyrion?Did you really think I was going to play fair?”Roderick called out in a mocking voice.“A hunt would only be fair if the hunter gave the animal a weapon, and we both know that’snevergoing to happen.”
Anger sizzled in my chest, but it was quickly extinguished by cold, ruthless determination.Roderick didn’t need to give me a weapon.I was an Arrow, an assassin, and one of the best warriors in the galaxy.I had spent years surviving one battle after another, whether it was a physical fight against Techwave soldiers or a psychological duel against Callus Holloway, who never failed to twist a verbal knife in my gut.
I didn’t need a weapon—Iwasthe weapon.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
Blaster bolts kept streaking through the air, obliterating more and more of the fountain.I couldn’t stay here.If the bolts didn’t kill me, then Roderick would with his hammer.I needed to get out of this biodome and find Vesper.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
Another round of bolts slammed into the fountain.The instant they stopped, I surged to my feet, snapped my hands up, and grabbed as many chunks of rubble as I could with my telekinesis.Then I flung my hands and my power out and sent all those pieces hurtling toward the blasters.
Crack!Crack!
Crack!Crack!
The chunks of stone slammed into the blaster traps.One nozzle exploded at the impact.A ball of fire streaked upward, and the surrounding honeysuckle vines smoldered, adding an oddly sweet perfume to the ozone stench in the air.
A chunk of stone clipped the edge of the second nozzle, making it spin in the opposite direction.
Pew!Pew!Pew!
This time, Roderick was the one who had to duck blaster bolts.He cursed and threw himself down onto the ground behind a castle statue, despite the armor he was wearing.
The bolts kept zinging in Roderick’s direction, pinning him in place.I whirled around and sprinted for the nearest path, heading away from my enemy and into a different, unknown section of the maze.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
VESPER
Stillclutchingthetrident,I quickly climbed the spiral stairs.Any moment, I expected an enemy to pop into view, but no one appeared, and the only sounds were my raspy breaths and soft footsteps.
I reached the door at the top of the stairs and tugged on the handle.To my surprise, it was unlocked.I waited a few seconds, but when no alarms blared, I opened the door a little wider and peered around the side.The corridor beyond was empty.No one realized I’d gotten out of the maze and up to the control level.Good.
I stepped through to the other side, put my back up against the wall, and sidled down the corridor.I glanced up at the ceiling, but none of the security cameras tracked my movements.Judging from the lack of red lights burning on the devices, the cameras had been turned off.Of course they were off.Whoever was behind this wouldn’t want a recording of themselves going through the facility, just of Kyrion and me being attacked in the maze.Anger sparked in my chest, spurring me onward.
I moved from one corridor to the next, hugging the walls and keeping my steps as silent as possible.Given the late hour, most of the lights had been dimmed, probably thanks to an automated system designed to save electricity, and I stayed in the shadows.
Finally, I came to the junction where the corridor flowed into the main, wide space that led to the locker room, the armory, the infirmary, and, most important of all, the control room.Up ahead, around the corner, a series of softtap-tap-tapsrang out.Someone was typing on a holoscreen.
My fingers tightened around the trident.I tiptoed up to the edge of the junction, then crouched down and peered around the corner.
Unlike on the rest of this level, which was cloaked in shadows, lights blazed in the control room at the far end of the corridor.Jeffrey, the House Battis technician, was still ensconced in front of the main panel, swiping through holograms and looking at one monitor and camera feed after another.
“Where is she?”he muttered.“Where the fuck did she go?”
Jeffrey kept looking at the feeds, which showed different sections of the maze.Off to his left, two holograms flickered in the air.One was a tall, hulking figure in red armor I didn’t recognize, but the other was clearly Kyrion, who was running through the maze.
My heart squeezed tight, but I pushed my worry aside.I couldn’t help Kyrion right now, but I could help Siya and Asterin.
The two women were standing behind Jeffrey.Cuts and bruises crisscrossed Siya’s face and her knuckles, while Asterin’s lower lip was split and her long black hair was half in and half out of its ponytail, like someone had given it a vicious yank.
Siya was positioned on one side of a table, while Asterin was on the opposite side.Wide metal cuffs circled their wrists, and a thick chain shackled their hands together in front of them and then down to the table.Red lights also burned on the cuffs, indicating that they were equipped with psionic power dampeners.
Four House Battis Hammers, two men and two women, were guarding Siya and Asterin.All the warriors were carrying lunarium war hammers.My silver trident might have let me kill the Black Scarab in the maze, but it was no match against the other warriors’ weapons.I needed my stormsword, but it was still in the locker room, and there was no way I could creep down the corridor and slip into that area without the Hammers seeing me.
