"By the darkness, stars are revealed."
~Evette Carter
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Lilly

Our group moved swiftly and silently through the halls, all of us on edge with the exception of Shane, who acted much too glib despite the circumstances. Cole leaned and whispered, "Seriously, what is wrong with him?"

"Don't get me started," I muttered, staring at the back of Shane's head. It turned a little at our voices, and I had no doubt in my mind he'd heard us. I'd have to work with him on his people skills if we survived this because his were apparently rusty. That, or he just didn't care. To be honest, I leaned more towards believing the second option.

"Do we know where we're going?" Ismelda demanded, glancing briefly over her shoulder.

"Mostly," Shane said nonchalantly, "but if you feel you'd be better off going your own route through a Malkan infested ship, then please, be my guest."

"What did you say your name was again?"

"Shane Calhoun."

"Shane Cal-" Ismelda's eyes widened, and she stopped dead in her tracks. The rest of us followed suit. "You're Shane Calhoun? The Shane Calhoun?"

Shane rolled his eyes. "No matter how many times you say my name, it's not going to change it or who I am."

The others slowly skirted behind Ismelda, lifting their hands up as if preparing to fight us. I stepped between them and Shane, saying calmly, "I know what he's done, and you do too, but he's here to help us escape."

"For all we know, he could've gotten into your mind," Cole said, pointing an accusatory finger at me. "For all we know, he's controlling you!"

"I can promise you that he's not." Turning to look at Shane, I ordered, "Show them your ankle."

"Ooh, scandalous!" he exclaimed, smirking.

"Shane."

"Fine, fine." He lifted his pant leg, showing the group his ankle monitor. "This here is a device created by Caleb Queen to prevent me from ordering you simpletons around."

I sighed in aggravation. "Must you insult them?"

"Yes, because they're holding us up. I don't know about you, but I'd very much like to get off this ship. Now, can we please just-" Shane motioned at the never-ending hallway.

"You try and double-cross us, I'll kill you myself," Cole warned.

"Don't kill Lilly, and we'll have no trouble."

"What about yourself?"

"Oh, I don't care about me," Shane remarked, continuing on his way with us at his heels. "The world would probably be a better place without me. The world needs Lilly, though."

When the group looked at me, I shrugged, just as confused as the rest of them at his words. But, unlike them, his statement created concern. How suicidal was Shane? Or did he really have no sense of life and death? Of mortality?

Not the time to think about this, Lilly!

"Let's avoid any more hiccups," I insisted, hesitantly lowering my hands. "Any arguments, we'll save for later. The sooner we're off this ship, the better off we'll all be."

Surprisingly, no one argued, but the other Vasileians kept a careful eye on both Shane and me. I could understand where they came from, though.

We made our way through the ship without encountering any Malkans, which, truthfully, set me on edge. Surely there were more than the few hundred we saw in the dining hall? If there were more, they were nowhere to be seen. I couldn't help but wonder if they were tracking our every move via hidden security cameras, waiting to strike us down.

Shane held up his hand, halting us. He peered around the corner and swiftly retreated. Turning to me, he whispered, "To our left is a window. I can see the corner of Vasileia, which means we should be able to see Caleb's ship from it. Unfortunately, to our right and quickly approaching are thirty armed Malkans. They're certainly going to be equipped to take you out, Lilly, since they know of your power. They've also probably figured out we've released the prisoners and will be armed to take them out too. The only wild card is me. I say we use that."

"How?" I asked, my heart pounding wildly in my chest as I could hear the approaching footsteps.

"First, they don't know we're here, so Lilly, I need you to create a thick ice wall blocking them from reaching us. Hold onto it as long as you can so I can transp-"

"There they are!" A voice hissed from behind. We all whirled around, narrowly dodging three blasts aimed at our heads. Shane, eyes alight with fury and enjoyment, stood up and shot his hand. Black tendrils erupted from his fingertips, whistling towards the Malkans and impaling them in the stomach. Their weapons clattered to the ground. While they struggled to stay alive, I took the opportunity to create the ice wall after hearing the other Malkans shouting in response to their comrades. At the same time, Ismelda, Rubea, and Cole darted forward, grabbing the Malkan weapons and brandishing them with skill. They hurried back to my side with Rubea ordering, "Make three holes in the wall for these babies."

Obeying, I created three openings for them. Cole, Rubea, and Ismelda rested the weapons in there and repeatedly fired into the ranks of Malkans.

"We have incoming!" Jonas shouted, sending a sonic blast at the advancing Malkans. "I think they found us."

"Shane, lead the way and get everyone to a safe spot!" Cole commanded, lifting his weapon and taking aim at the enemies. "Jonas, take Henrikson. Ismelda, shut any doors behind you. I'll hold them off and catch up."

I started to argue, not wanting to leave Cole behind, but Shane grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the scene with the others. We moved to the window. It brought us into a hallway, which seemed to stretch the entirety of the ship's length, meaning I could see the rest of the Malkans approaching us in the distance.

"Lilly, think you can create two ice walls on either side and hold them off while I shut these doors?" Ismelda asked, already rushing away.

"I got it!" I responded, thrusting out my hands and letting the ice erupt from my hands. Walls six-foot-thick formed on the other sides of the doors, and I could already feel the toll the action took on me. I didn't know how long I'd be able to hold the two walls up once the Malkans started attacking them. Meanwhile, Ismelda worked furiously to shut the doors. How she managed to get the first one done in under ten seconds both intrigued me and thrilled me. I released my hold on that ice wall, leaving it be just to cause an additional headache for the Malkans. It cleared an immense amount of pressure off of me, and I already felt stronger. Ismelda hurried to the other door and repeated the same process.

"Cole, come on!" She barked, placing her hand on the door's control panel. He started backing up, shooting into the ranks of the Malkans, which had broken through my first ice wall. Not many remained, but there were plenty to still take us on.

The doors started shutting, and we all shouted for Cole to hurry. Reluctantly, he tossed his heavy weapon down and sprinted as hard as he could to the door. Despite his impressive stride, I knew he wouldn't make it. Ismelda couldn't stop the door once it started to close unless she wanted to open it all the way again. Doing so risked letting some Malkans through, and our group was struggling enough.

I can stop it temporarily, maybe...

Focusing on the rapidly closing space between the door and the floor, I created two ice blocks, giving enough room for Cole to slide underneath without allowing for Malkans to come through. The moment the door hit the ice, an immense strain overcame me as I struggled to keep the ice blocks from breaking.

Keep holding on... wait for Cole... you can do this!