CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: ESCAPE
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Svald stood alone in front of the huge black stone. His followers waited silently at the door of the room. 'The Guardian, isn't it?' He thought with a mocking smile. It had worked as a portal through which the Seraphs had once communicated with the Humans. Even though they didn't interact anymore, the Guardian still had its use and Nana was the only person who had the knowledge of its working. But Svald had little hope of getting any information from her voluntarily.

'That little fool!' Svald grinded his teeth in rage. "Keeping secrets from the High Elder! She'll have to pay for this.'

Standing in front of the massive block of stone, Svald pulled out the diamond ring from his finger. The huge sparkling stone was already covered in patches of scarlet, indicating a significant shortage of energy in the system that ran Anakra.

'Damn it! I'm already late!' He thought bitterly, "Chronar?"

A tall, lanky man came forward and bowed to him.

"Prepare to activate the space barrier. It must be there as soon as I give the command."

Chronar nodded and went back to stand at the entrance of the room. He brought out a small metal tablet from his backpack and held it cautiously in his hands.

Svald stood still for a moment; then swiftly unsheathed the sword that hung at his back. Its silver blade flashed twice and two blinding rays of white light crossed the Guardian diagonally. In an instant the massive stone block shattered in millions of tiny, dazzling pieces and melted in sheer golden light. The men behind Svald cried out in pain and bewilderment as the sudden flash of light seared their eyeballs and blinded them temporarily. Only Svald and Chronar remained calm and unaffected. As the golden light flooded the room millions of arrows of green light shot out from the stone tablet held in Chronar's hands. They spread in all directions and covered the room like a mesh, ensnaring the golden light emanated from the broken pieces of the stone. The four walls as well as the floor of the room melted away completely, encasing Svald and his men in a ball of golden light.

Svald had stood petrified all this time. The glaring light dimmed rapidly and darkness engulfed his vision. Slowly his eyes became accustomed to it and he saw that he was standing on a vast plain. The dark sky leaned over his head. In the faint starlight he saw his men lying on the ground, as if sleeping peacefully. His eyes searched for Chronar among the sleeping men. It didn't take long. But before he could call his name, Chronar opened his eyes and looked at him with a bewildered look on his face.

"W-What happened?"

"You were dizzy from the shock, but I guess it's alright now."

"Where are we now? What is this place?"

"As far as I know, it's Cellessia. The land of the Seraphs."

"Land of the Seraphs? So the portal really did transport us here?" Chronar's voice was full of excitement as well as apprehension.

"It seems so." Svald sighed. "Now all we need to know is to find out what help we can really find from them."

For a moment, Chronar looked uneasy. "Respected High Elder!" He said hesitatingly, "What will happen to those in Anakra? By now the power supply must've been completely destroyed there!"

"We can't help but leave Anakra to its fate." Svald replied coldly. "If we can find help here one day we'll be able to go back there, but let's not think about it now."

Chronar suppressed a sigh and stood up. All his life he had trusted and followed his High Elder, but his heart was full of uncertainties now.

 

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Inside her locked room Nana felt a slight tremor which shook the floor for a brief moment. 'It can't be earthquake!' She thought apprehensively. Suddenly the lights went off and the temperature started to fall rapidly. Her heart trembled as she groped through the dark towards the door. She found the doorknob and tried to push it, but in vain. All on a sudden, a ray of blue light flashed in the middle of the room and a man materialized from it. Nana gasped as she saw the man.

"What is this? Who are you?" She asked, surprised. "Wait! Aren't you Gailar? How come you're here?"

Gailar flashed an innocent smile. He didn't pay any heed to the barrage of questions directed at him. He strode towards Nana.

"My apologies for sudden intrusion," he said rhetorically: "But you need to leave this place at once. I've come to help you."

"I-I don't understand," Nana started speaking, but Gailar didn't let her finish what she was saying.

"We don't have time to talk now. Let's get out of this place first."

"But how?"

Even though the words tumbled out of her mouth involuntarily, Nana had understood how Gailar had been able to appear out of the blue inside the closed room in the first place. It seemed as if a cloak of a of faint blue light was wrapped around him. It was almost invisible to the naked eye.

'Probably a transportation capsule', Nana thought. 'But how was he even able to lay his hand upon one? Wasn't it a rare and expensive object?' She was not sure what to think about it.

"Come on! Hurry!" Gailar was impatient now.

"How am I supposed to go? Do you have another transportation capsule?"

"No, I don't." Gailar chuckled. "Just hold me tight. Mine can accommodate two if we huddle together."

Nana was speechless. Was this man joking or was he serious? But she didn't get further time to reflect upon her situation. The floor below her feet started to shake violently. She lost her balance, but Gailer reached out and gripped her shoulder firmly. Swiftly, he drew her close so that the force field from the transportation capsule could cover them both and activated the capsule. They vanished in a flash of blue light, just as the floor caved in, revealing a gaping dark hole. The walls and the roof of the room tumbled into it like a house of cards.

 

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