Page 163 of The Cerulean Sister
All but Selene. She stands with the other commanders, raising her arm and sending a powerful gust of wind to pair with the barrage of gunfire.
The shadow figure dissipates into thin air as if he were never full and opaque in front of us.
There is no time to ask what that thing was, if it was human at all. But I know for certain I have seen one just like it before . . . on Frith.
I can feel 99 confirm the same thought through our tether.
Another bright light comes in from the stained-glass windows around us, like a strange sun illuminating. The sound of the Estate being struck comes after it, a crushing, shaking explosion.
"There is no other way," I say, pointing in the direction that leads to the grand hall where most of the chaos echoes from.
The closer we come to breaching the corridor, the more my stomach twists.
The two commanders in front turn back, signaling to 99 an updated status of the path across the balcony ahead.
"Listen for me." He nudges our tether.
He stalks to the front of our group, leaving the commanders around us shuffling tighter around Selene and Leema.
"It will be ok. I promise," I say to Leema, but she looks so terrified, shut down and barely speaking.
We are ushered forward as if we are a single organism moving in unison. The commanders around us follow the subtle instructions from their 99th Commander.
The sounds of the grand hall in an all-out frenzy blend together in a deafening buzz.
Light streaks across the last archway in the hall we slowly travel down, 99 and two others moving with careful precision, leading us at the front.
The moment 99 steps out of our safe hallway and into the brighter torch light of the grand hall’s open-air balcony, he raises his weapon.
The two guards on either side of him emit a stream of light from their guns as they move into position farther down to the next set of pillars.
They press their backs against the carved stone, waiting for the deadly reply to their presence to subside.
Chunks of the stone behind 99's back chip off as the First Son’s weapons are unleashed at him.
I watch the almost synchronized back and forth of both sides trying to catch the other off guard.
99 pauses and aims down into the open space below like he will never tire.
"There are priestesses down there," Selene says to me.
I can hear them too, screaming to each other, to the Viathans they fight next to, and the sounds of them succumbing to First Son’s weapons.
99 calls more Viathans from our group to help in their effort to clear the way, thinning our layer of protection.
It does nothing, the barrage of both sides continuing. My heart pounds into my left breast so hard that the sound of gunfire in my ears fluctuates from muffled to crisp and all-consuming with each beat.
He calls two more guards over, gesturing with his hand when it is clear, then a flat palm for someone to wait.
"Ferren, come now!"he says into the tether, making me jump.
I run toward him as they all open fire onto the story below, covering my movement. I keep going forward until I almost crash into 99's body positioned behind a thick stone pillar.
He lowers his weapon and tucks me in closer, pressing my back against the stone. There is not enough room to stand side by side, so he stacks us, determined to cover me.
"We cannot safely move! The platform by that large painting—" he says.
"Yes." I know which one he is speaking of without looking.
