Nyteria Rising (The Thirteenth Series Book 3) Read online

  “Halt.” A voice from outside her helmet called. Val’s heart signal went through the roof as she turned to see a soldier pointing a weapon at her. He started to walk towards her. She raised her hands in the air. Surely that was the ‘done’ thing on any planet if you were going to surrender. “Number?”

  “Twenty-three thirteen,” she said automatically.

  “Throw your weapons on the ground!” he barked at her.

  “Well you see that’s a little difficult as I don’t really have one.” Damn stupid uniform was going to get her killed.

  He moved closer. “You expect me to believe you have come here and you have no weapon?” He waved his gun at her. “Get your weapon out now!”

  She had failed already. No one had ever been this close to killing her. She couldn’t do anything. “Look, I have no weapons.” She lowered her arms towards the soldier who moved forward to restrain her. To their mutual surprise her sword shot out. The soldier grabbed at it in self-defence, which was a huge mistake, and was on the ground in the blink of an eye. Val stood motionless over his body for a moment, making small murmurs of thanks for being alive, as her sword retracted. She reached down and felt his pulse; he was definitely still alive. She felt better. “Red dot.” She reminded herself why she was there. Just one more corridor and she would arrive. She picked up her speed, time had been lost.

  Turning the corner she saw the doorway leading to the Warden. It seemed like just another doorway, nothing special, not somewhere you would hide the most precious bargaining chip in the galaxy. Val looked at the outside it was security locked. How was she supposed to get in? “Boden, I’m here but I can’t get in,” she said.

  “Hadwyn cleared the corridor for you. I’ll send you the access code now.” She could hear shots in the background as he spoke. She was tempted to tell him that he had missed one, but it didn’t matter now. Her screen started to bleep and a six digit number flashed up on the left hand side. “Thanks.” Quickly she punched in the numbers. To her utter relief there was a clicking sound and no alarms. She reached out and touched the handle tentatively, pulling her fingers back sharply just in case this thing electrocuted her. Nothing happened. She touched again repeatedly until she could bring herself to stop tapping and grab hold. Pushing the metal down she held her breath, waiting for the worst, but it simply lowered and the door started to open. ‘Now would be a good time to get your sword out,’ she thought to herself, but fear had a hold and she just pushed the door as she made her way in.

  In the centre of the room, in what looked like a glass box, sat the Warden. Badly bruised, his forehead had clearly been bleeding and was now dry and crusty. Val’s heart rate was showing a warning signal. She wasn’t surprised. She could feel it jumping around in her skin-tight suit. She cautiously made her way over to stand in front of the Warden. Placing her hands on the glass she tapped gently.

  Slowly he looked up and she saw that his snowy white beard was matted with blood. Gradually, his eyes focussed on her, but he seemed unsure how to react.

  “Helmet off,” Val said and the helmet retracted, allowing the Warden to see who was before him. “Hello I’m here to save you,” she said hoping he could hear her through the glass.

  He whispered an almost inaudible response, “Run.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Trapped

  Val didn’t get time to run as the Warden had instructed. She didn’t get time to do anything. A blinding light flashed in her eyes. It was so strong it made her stumble back from the Warden’s cell. She staggered for several paces before she hit something solid. Her hand reached down to get her balance as she tried to cover her eyes with her other arm. Then the light dimmed, but she was still blind. She turned and held onto the solid object, it was that or fall down. “If you stand still it‘s easier,” a male voice spoke into her ear.

  She tried to move away, but she was now being held by two strong hands. “Who are you, what do you want?” she said, still unable to open her eyes.

  “I want you to stand still like I ordered.”

  Val knew she had no choice; she was in no position to argue. “Fine.” She held out her hands touching what must be the stranger’s chest. She felt plaiting, possibly a uniform. “Now what?”

  “Sit down on the floor.” He pushed her to the ground. “Someone will be here soon to find out who you are and how you got in here.” The figure moved away and Val sensed a barrier coming between them. Her bet was she had been left in a glass box the same as the Warden’s. She reached out her hand and felt the solid sheer cold. Great! Now Boden was going to be disappointed and Hadwyn would laugh his face off, if they were still alive.

  “Val.” She heard a familiar voice.

  “Sorry about this,” she turned her head towards the direction the voice was coming from.

  “Why are you here?” the Warden asked.

  Val blinked a few more times and rubbed her eyes. She was starting to get her vision back. The Warden was now a silhouette. “Well, it turns out I’m a Magrafe, and Wendy had a vision that I would save you. Which, at the moment looks a little incorrect.” She shrugged her shoulders.

  “You’re a Magrafe?” There was a pause for thought. “Well, I’m proud to say they made an excellent choice.” She could hear it in his voice; he was just trying to make her feel better. “What was this vision?”

  “Funny really, I never bothered to ask. I thought I was going to have dinner tonight with Wendy and she would tell all, but as it goes, it looks like it’ll be just me and you.” She could now see the lines of his face, his mouth, nose and beard. Then, from the other side of the room, she heard a door opening and footsteps coming across the darkness towards her. She turned to try and focus on the silhouette, then froze with fear.

  As the figure came into the light, she instinctively knew he was the leader. His presence filled the room. He walked towards her confidently and placed his hand on the glass. Val wondered if he was going to break it, but to her shock and horror he walked straight through it into her cell. She scrambled backwards into the corner. As he got closer she got a better look at him. He wasn’t like the sand men. He was blue.

  “Mark my words if you hurt her!” the Warden bellowed from his cell.

  The man ignored him. “Welcome to Nyteria. I see the Prison has sent a little girl to free their most precious possession. Seems a little strange don’t you think, girl?” He was now kneeling next to her.

  “No, I’m as good as any of their Guards,” she replied.

  “Are you now?” he sniggered. “Are you here alone?” he asked staring into her eyes.

  “Yes.” She tried not to blink or look left or right, she wasn’t sure which one gave away the fact you were lying.

  He was now inches from her face, he smelt her cheek. Val pulled away, but she was stuck between her cell and the blue man. “You smell of fear. Why would the Prison send only you?”

  She replied, her voice trembling, but what had she got to lose? “Because I’m special. I caught one of the most dangerous prisoners in the galaxy and I’m going to free the Warden.”

  The man let out a hearty laugh, and in front of her eyes his vibrant blue started to fade. In seconds he was the same colour as her. “You are stupid and brave, but I need information. I want to know how many people are here. Now, I will ask you one more time. How many of you are there?”

  “Just me,” she said again. In a single swift movement, he pinned her arm against the wall. She could feel the pain, but the suit she was wearing seemed to be protecting her from some of the force.

  “You have five minutes to think about what you are going to tell me when my soldiers come for you, because what we are going to do then will hurt.” He stood up and started to walk away from her.

  “Are you Nathan?” she asked, her voice a timid whisper.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Why are you doing this? Is there no other way?”

  He stopped. “I’m surprised you ask that. You have come all this way, you’
re going to be tortured and you don’t know why?” He frowned. “My people are dying. We have no power to run our cities, we are at the end of our time, our planet will cease to exist and the Prison has the means to save us. We just want what is rightfully ours. We gave them the technology and they have repaid us with nothing.”

  “That’s not true, Nathan and you know it!” The Warden’s voice shook with anger.

  “Then why are we about to destroy you?” Nathan changed his direction, marching over to the Warden’s cell, changing from flesh coloured to a deep red in three strides. “You,” he pointed at the Warden, “came here and took what you wanted. You left us to slowly die. You knew we would run out of energy and yet you were happy to let it happen.”

  “We borrowed your technology. That doesn’t mean we have to sustain your planet.” Nathan and the Warden were now face to face through glass. “Step into my cell.” The Warden provoked him. Val could see that even though he was the worse for wear the Warden had power, and enough to keep Nathan on the other side.

  “The ships are ready. They are positioned on Alchany’s borders and we will attack and take back what is rightfully ours. No one can stop this.”

  “Nathan,” a soldier entered, “we have another one trapped.”

  “Good. Seems our little friend was lying after all and we have more intruders. Deal with them. I must prepare to join my ship.” He left them.

  Val sat in the corner of her glass box trembling inside her suit. How had she managed to get into this mess? This wasn’t like home where she had her friends to help her. She was alone on an alien planet, stuck in a cell next to one of the most powerful men in the galaxy and he couldn’t get out. What had she been thinking? Nothing sane, clearly. To be following the vision of a Witch who had had two decent visions in her career was not a clever move.

  The door opened and two large soldiers entered, carrying between them the body of a Magrafe. The helmet was still in place so Val couldn’t see who it was. They threw the body to the ground and a glass cell shot up around it. She wondered if he was dead. He hadn’t moved. She looked more closely. He wasn’t one of her group; he wasn’t tall enough to be Boden or Hadwyn. That was if it was a he? She just stared at its chest, trying to make out the rise and fall of breathing. Then it dawned on her! It still had its helmet on. She concentrated and in a flash her head was covered by her own helmet. Lights flashing, she could see her heart rate was down.

  “Hello, can you hear me?” she waited a few seconds. “Hadwyn, Boden can you hear me?” still no answer. They must be out of range. She looked across the screen and saw the time. The hour for their escape was almost up. She knew there was no way out now. “Helmet off.” It followed orders and sprang back. “We’re running out of time,” she called over to the Warden.

  “You were very brave back then, Val. I and Nathan both knew you were not alone.” The Warden acknowledged her act.

  “Well, it’s what they do in the films on Earth,” she smiled. Then the figure on the ground started to stir. She knew they had sent in more Magrafe, but she didn’t know them. “Hello.” She moved over closer to the new cell. “Wake up,” she called again. The body was moving now and pushing with its arms, trying to lift itself up.

  It fell back and settled into a kneeling position. She waved a little. “Are you ok?” What a stupid question she thought, as it escaped her lips.

  The helmet shot back and to Val’s shock there sat Sam. He took several deep breaths.

  She was now grasping at the glass. “Sam! Oh my God, it’s you. Why are you here? You’re a Judge. I’m so pleased to see you. I got caught, obvious really. Are you hurt? When did you arrive?” Then she stopped, realising how much she was jabbering at him.

  He opened his eyes and looked around. “Hello Val.” A smile crossed his lips. He turned to the Warden and bowed his head. The Warden returned the gesture. “Hadwyn, are you here?” he looked around him.

  “He’s not here. Are you delusional? Maybe you banged your head?” Val was worried. Then, in the corner of the room she saw movement: a shimmer that formed a body, a helmet was opened and Hadwyn appeared. He walked over to Sam. Using his watch he started to scan the cell.

  “Hadwyn!” Val was so pleased to see him.

  “Seems to be a continuous stream cell. It will take me a few minutes to unlock you.” He headed off towards the wall, and then stopped and came to face Val. “You were fearless. I won’t forget that.” He tapped her glass with his gun.

  She knew it meant something and he walked away shimmering once again out of sight. Sam was pulling something out from his suit. She saw it was a small electronic map. “What’s the plan?” Val asked.

  “We’ve missed our rendezvous time and so have you, so both groups are stuck here. We need to find a safe exit to a portal bay. Everything will have been closed down, so we need to make sure it’s near a source of energy and the closest one to us is here.” He pointed to a small room on the map.

  “Can you walk?” he asked the Warden who was already standing, although shakily.

  “Probably,” he replied.

  “Are you ready?” Sam glanced at Val who was also on her feet. “Now,” he called out into the dark and the cells shut down. Sam ran to grab the Warden as he stumbled slightly. Throwing his arm around his waist to support him as the alarms started to sound. Val was running once again, but for her life. She saw the Warden getting invisible support from the other side. Hadwyn was also there. The door opened and in rushed five soldiers. Val had no choice at this point and her sword extended from her suit reaching out in front of her. She stood ready to fight. Two men moved forward, she struck the first and he dropped, just like the one she had tazered by mistake, unmoving on the ground, stunned insensible. The second one fell as swiftly, but she could see that there were too many for them to deal with.

  Still she surged forward, and then they seemed to stop, before turning in retreat. She heard a noise coming from behind her and then saw flashes of energy from Boden’s Bow. She struck another soldier from behind as they climbed indiscriminately over the bodies of unconscious soldiers. She followed the Warden, Sam and Hadwyn towards their only chance to escape.

  “We’re going this way,” Sam called, leading the group with Val and Boden as their backup.

  “I’m pleased you could make it,” she said to Boden.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

  “Well, you never know.”

  They saw another two figures ahead, both standing very still. They slowed and Val and Boden moved forward. One figure waved, and as they approached they saw their uniforms. These were Sam’s Magrafe. That made six of them. They must be able to get away now Val prayed. They grouped together and followed Sam’s directions. Sirens had started ringing out now and Val thought her ears would explode if this carried on. He pointed to a final doorway. “It’s in here!” They pulled the Warden to one side as Boden fired at the key pad. The door flew open and they all barged in. Brave as they were, the reality was that they were heavily outnumbered.

  Val looked around. There was a massive computer table, but it had no lights, no power. They were in a lifeless room. “Sam, how do we get out of this?” She looked around but found no windows, no other exit. This was a dead end.

  “Drake, look for the energy sources in the area.” A young man’s helmet shot back revealing bright red hair and a rather rosy complexion. He started to scan the area.

  They lowered the weakened Warden onto what looked like the top of an electric cooker.

  “Sam what should I do?” she asked feeling a little useless considering she was the one who was supposed to save them.

  “Just stay with the Warden for now,” he dismissed her. “Boden, how long will the door hold?”

  “Four, five minutes, if that.”

  Val sat down next to the Warden. He was very warm and she could see how unwell he was. “Why doesn’t Sam teleport us out?” she asked him.

  “If there is no connection to the Prison, th
en no one can teleport in or out. I think on Earth you take control of the skies. Well here it’s planets. So we can’t teleport without permission or a portal.” He tapped the ground under him.

  There was a large bang on the door. Boden turned and seemed to talk to himself. “We need to block this with something Hadwyn.” Val wondered how he knew where Hadwyn was when he was invisible. Then another huge bang rocked the door.

  “We’re running out of time - come on, Drake.” Sam urged.

  “I can’t find anything. There’s no energy line in here anywhere.”

  “But on the map it showed one here.” Sam placed the map down on the ground.

  Drake shook his head. “Well it’s not here now.”

  Val could feel a knot building in her stomach. “The only energy here is coming from her.” He pointed at Val with his watch. “Why does she have all that energy?”

  Sam looked thoughtful. “Because she’s special. Val, listen to me, I need you to help us.”

  “Firstly I have no idea what you’re talking about. Energy? What energy?” Her eyes were filling up, flitting from one Magrafe to another.

  Sam held her hand as another strike bent in the centre of the door. “One more blow and we’re finished,” Boden called.

  “Val, if they get in here do you know what they’ll do to us?” Sam moved kneeling down by her feet. “They will kill us all. Not only that, they will torture us. Then they will take the Prison over and your family will be left exposed to Lailah, and they will all die.” He placed his hand on the side of her head. “I’m going to show you what I need you to see and I’m sorry.”

  To Val it felt like a bolt shooting through her head. She felt the pain of torture, the anguish of losing the Prison, of losing Sam and Wendy. Then the terror her family and friends would suffer if she failed.

  “Please Val.” Sam knew if he could cause her enough pain she would have the power to get them out. He had been witness to what triggered her power. “She’s done things like this before,” he said to the others, removing his hands. He put one hand out to the Warden. “Give me your bracelet.” The Warden did as Sam asked and he put it gently onto her wrist where it automatically resized next to her own. She was blank for a moment. No expression, just tears falling down her cheeks, dripping onto her uniform and rolling onto the concrete floor. She stood up and Sam could feel the friction as the air around her bounced off her body. He knew that this was it. He called to the others to join them. They all pulled in close encircling her.