Page 178 of The First Spark
“The goddess Azura has spoken! Zander Wells, champion of Princessa Kalista Hannover, has triumphed!”
A pulser blast wailed through the air. Someone shrieked.
Kalie whipped around, eyes wide and heart pounding, as the Speaker crumpled before Calla’s ancient throne. Choking on a cry, Kalie staggered away from the railing. Scarlet blood spread across the Speaker’s beige robes and oozed across the marble tiles. Her head lolled to the side. Sparks of purple light shot from her body, whistling towards Kalie, and the pulsing violet glow of her gemstone necklace winked out.
Kalie screamed.
The platform erupted into chaos. Iliana ran, with Selene hot on her heels. A hand closed around her arm. Kalie thrashed forward, breaking free of the legionnaire’s grip.
Pulsers fired. She hit the ground as red blasts soared above her.
A pulser landed a few feet away. Lunging for it, Kalie wrapped her hands around the grip and squeezed the trigger. A legionnaire collapsed. She fired again. The red blast tore through his gut, and blood splattered across the tiles.
Lasers screamed overhead. As legionnaires crumpled, a body landed on her legs.
Kicking it aside, Kalie crawled towards the throne and sank behind the cover of the high-backed chair. She couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t she breathe?
A sharp crack rang out as a red blast ripped through the royal seat. The ornate wooden carvings on the back splintered, raining down on her. Kalie threw her arms up to shield her head.
Mira emerged from the chaos. Rage warped her face and blasts shot from the barrel of her pulser. Time slowed as she raised a gray sphere to her lips, yanked a pin out, and lobbed it over the throne.
She slid into a crouch beside Kalie. A thunderous cloud of fireand smoke erupted in the midst of the legionnaires. Screams rang out; Mira popped up, and her pulser rained lasers down on the flaming tangle of bodies. Acrid fumes and the stench of burning flesh slammed into Kalie. She gagged and swallowed convulsively.
“Go!” Mira roared. “I’ll get to Zane!”
At the sound of his name, Kalie’s chest caved in. She could see it—his pale, lifeless body in a pool of blood. Pulsers wailed around her and shrieks pierced the night sky. Her muscles tensed, and her mind screamed to run, but she couldn’t move. Zane wasgone. How was she supposed to do this without him?
Mira shook her. “Dammit,go!”
Veins strained against Mira’s flushed skin. Rage burned in her eyes, and her lips were pulled back, showing teeth. Blood spatter caked her leather jacket, and Kalie clung to the sight of the legionnaires’ blood, blood Mira had shed in revenge.
She couldn’t help Zane, but she could avenge him.
Kalie bolted to her feet and ran for the door, ducking blasts as they soared overhead. She burst inside and sprinted through the grand chamber. Selene was gone. Iliana neared the end of the long marble hallway, glanced over her shoulder, and hobbled around a corner.
Lasers sprayed towards Kalie, and she lunged behind a cabinet. Legionnaires loomed at the end of the corridor. Volleys of red bolts soared towards her.
Ducking behind the cabinet, she gasped for air. Blasts screamed overhead, ripping scorched holes in the walls and ceiling. A chandelier swayed, clinking like a windchime. She held her breath and willed it to steady.
It plummeted to the floor and struck with a deafening crash.
Glass shards blasted outward; Kalie cried out as a fragment ripped open her cheek. She pressed her hand to her stinging skin, and her fingers came away covered in blood.
Gods, what was she doing? She wasn’t a soldier.
But she had to end this. She couldn’t let Iliana escape.
Jumping up from behind the cabinet, Kalie fired. Her hands shook, and the shots missed their mark. She crouched behind cover, clenching her teeth.
She was going to kill them. All of them. For Zane.
She popped up and squeezed the trigger. A blast grazed a legionnaire as he took cover. The other two hid behind a toppled bookcase, and as red lasers shrieked towards her, she dropped behind the cabinet.
“Down!”
Kalie ducked as something soared overhead. A shrill explosion thundered down the hallway. Low ringing filled her ears, punctuated by shrill screams. A cloud of smoke and dust blew outward as Aquisians and rebels stormed into the corridor, firing into the carnage where the legionnaires had been.
“More coming! We’ll hold ’em! Run!”
