Page 46 of Truth
They stood next to each other, the tension in the air nearly suffocating as they pulled the earth’s energy into their bodies before pushing it out in unison, striking the same bar causing sparks to ricochet off the metal, pelting everything close by, while pieces of the rock walls and ceiling slowly dusted down on them. My pulse was pounding, anticipation high as I walked toward the bar to inspect it.
I swallowed hard, trying not to choke. “Nothing. Not even a dent.” I looked to the nearest man, “Are they under a spell?”
“Three minutes.” Oak shouted.
“Are they under a spell?” I asked again, my voice panicked, and I knew they could feel the urgency, hell they could feel it themselves. The desire to be free after so long had to be intense. The need for fresh air and the wind against their skin probably rivals the need to breathe.
“I-I don’t think they are under a spell, but the components are nearly indestructible.” The man answered, his voice shaking.
“Aim for the rock!” Liberty demanded, as she took her stance, aiming all her power at the rocks above the bars while Oak aimed his power downward, at the floor where the bar disappeared into. They poured energy into it, causing more rocks around us to fall to the ground, more dust to litter the air, but the bolts they sent bounced off, landing in every direction haphazardly before the energy dissipated. They kept their aim, pouring all the energy they could into it until they both were heaving for air and sweat dripped from their temple.
Oak’s energy stream finally flickered, and he bent at his waist, putting his hands on his knees. “It’s not working.”
His voice was breathless, his breathing labored. Liberty finally let her energy flicker, “How much time?”
He brought his watch up, his face paled as he read, “A minute and nineteen seconds.”
“We have a minute and nineteen seconds.” She repeated his words.
“Twelve.”
“Twelve?”
Oak’s eyes flickered to the bars, “Well, now seven seconds.”
Michelle stepped toward them, releasing the fire she held directly at the metal. The fire morphed and warped, growing in size until the flame engulfed the bar, turning and twisted, wrapping itself around the metal in flames of blues, yellows and oranges. She poured all she had into the fire and when she had nothing left, she fell to her knees at the ground, her palms falling to the dirty cobblestone.
“It’s red.” Liberty observed the bar.
“That’s what happens when you heat metal.” I answered.
“No. But before, the magic wasn’t touching the metal. It would bounce off, but this – the fire, the fire penetrated it.”
She was right, the fire accomplished what nothing prior had. I stepped closer, examining the bar, watching as the nearly invisible waves of heat rose from the glowing structure. “It definitely is hot. Can you hit it again?”
Michelle was barely able to pull herself to her feet before letting the fire leave her palm, the flame weak compared to the previous blazes. It hit the metal with little affect before it frizzled out. “I can’t do it. My reserve is gone after holding a flame to light down here for so long.”
Liberty was nearly doubled in half, an arm wrapped around her stomach while her other hand clawed into Oak's bicep. “We have to do this, Oak. We have to.”
He reached toward her, pushed a strand of hair behind her ear before he leaned in and kissed her. “We will.”
I admired how they both are always so unwilling to admit defeat, how the world was crashing and burning, literally crumbling around them, and not a single thing detoured them. We all knew the facts, that if in less than two minutes those bars weren’t removed, we had to leave. We had to sentence these people to death as the cave that harbored them crumbled down and stole their life force.
“Time?” Her voice was pitiful, the sorrow consuming it.
“Eleven seconds.”
Liberty screamed her anguish, the sound echoing through the space right before ice shot from her palm, nearly missing me on its way to the destination. Her normally deep blue eyes nearly frosted over as the ice consumed her body, turning her eyes a pale blue. The bar that the ice hit, frosted over, ice forming against the metal as the material gave. One by one they snapped and the moment the bars broke, people flooded through them, rushing toward us.
“One.” Oak stated proudly, right as the stone around his neck glowed.
We hadn’t planned for the portal to be here. We had assumed we would get them out to land before it opened, but now we had no choice. The surrounding rocks rumbled as deep black and purple swirl formed in front of us, growing deeper and solidifying as each second passed.
When it stabilized, I grabbed the first person I could, a woman with long auburn hair and brown eyes, “GO!”
I didn’t give her a choice, I pushed her through and prayed that this portal would hold long enough to save us all. One by one, I pushed them through, some single, some doubles, some carrying children. Babies cried, people screamed, and sobs of happiness and disbelief overshadowed the sound of the earth falling around us and the violet quakes of the ground as the cave grew angry and unstable.
“You need to go!” Oak shouted to Liberty.