D. MacHale - The Pilgrims of Rayne

There wasn’t time to debate. Loque took off again, running along the wall until he found another doorway. He jumped inside. We followed. It was a small room with no light and no exits. If the Flighters found us, we’d be trapped. But there was no turning back, because the Flighters had entered the cathedral.

Siry jumped behind the wreck of something that might have been a cabinet. Or a desk. Loque and I followed, trying to make ourselves invisible. I got down on my belly behind the ancient piece of furniture and found a small opening to peer through. I had a perfect view out the door. No sooner did I settle in, than I saw several Flighters running through the cathedral to the far side. It looked like our plan had worked. They thought we’d kept going. But there were a lot of them. They could have spread out to search the cathedral. We had to be absolutely sure before moving.

It was burning hot in there. Sweat poured down my face. I was about to reach up and wipe my nose, when a shadow crossed the doorway in front of us. I froze. A Flighter crept past silently, on alert. They were searching for us. I didn’t even want to breathe, for fear he’d hear me. I didn’t put my hand back down either. That’s how nervous I was about making the smallest sound. The Flighter barely glanced into the room and kept walking. I kept still. Good thing. Right behind him was another guy who poked his head around the corner and looked directly into the room. Could he see us? Did it matter?

Not if he called a couple of his scurvy pals to come in and turn the place inside out. I mentally prepared myself for that, imagining them entering the room and calculating the best moment to leap up and attack.

The Flighter took a step inside, scanned around, then stepped back out, and kept walking. I figured those guys weren’t all that brave on their own, that’s why they traveled in such big packs. I didn’t dare look to either side to see where Siry and Loque were, for fear I’d make a sound. Another Flighter stalked quietly past the room, glancing in. Then another. I saw several more Flighters in the middle of the cathedral, searching for us. My hopes started to rise. If they hadn’t come in this room yet, they might not at all. As the minutes passed, I saw fewer and fewer of the grungy guys walking by the door or out in the atrium. Still, I didn’t dare move. For all I knew they were waiting together outside the door for us to stupidly walk into an ambush. Without saying a word we all knew we’d have to wait long enough to make sure they were gone.

Time passed. Five minutes. Ten minutes. I lost track. After not seeing or hearing a Flighter for the longest time, I finally risked turning my head to look at the others. Siry was a few feet from me. He wasn’t even looking out the door. He sat with his back to it, his legs curled up. He hugged his knees tightly, staring ahead, unseeing. He looked bad. Not scared, but worse. He looked stunned. I could guess why. His glorious quest had turned into a terrifying odyssey. Twig had been captured. She was probably the must vulnerable of the group. Now she was in the hands of the Flighters. It was anybody’s guess as to whether or not she was still alive. Were the Flighters that evil? Would they actually kill someone in cold blood?

I felt someone touch my shoulder and nearly yelped in surprise. I sat up fast and hit my head. It didn’t hurt, but the sound seemed as loud as an explosion. Did anyone hear? It was Loque. We sat there, frozen, waiting to see if the Flighters had heard. A few minutes passed. Nobody showed up. It actually gave us more confidence. If nobody heard that loud bang, they were probably gone.

“I’ll take a look outside,” Loque whispered. “If it’s clear, I’ll signal, and we can start out.”

I nodded. Siry didn’t move. Loque gave me a quick smile. “Don’t worry, we’re going to get out of here and get Twig back.”

Siry didn’t respond. Loque gave me a worried look and quietly left. He was the perfect person to go. Judging by our earlier stealthy jaunt through the jungle, Loque would be able to make this a quiet scout. I’d probably trip over something and make a huge crash that would bring the Flighters running back.

“You okay?” I whispered to Siry.

He stared ahead, unseeing. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he said softly. “I know.”

“I’m not leaving this horror city without Twig,” he added.

I didn’t argue with him. What for? Events would tell us what to do. Hopefully that would include rescuing Twig. As much as I wanted that, I was smart enough to know it wasn’t a lock. One thing at a time. I left Siry and snuck to the doorway. Kneeling down, I cautiously peered out to the cathedral. I scanned the whole floor until I saw Loque creeping along the wall to my right. He moved quickly through the piles of junk, making himself nearly invisible as he surveyed the vast space.

Siry joined me, kneeling down and peering out from the other side of the door. We made eye contact. He gave me a nod and a reassuring smile. He looked like a scared little kid, which meant he looked like I did a few years back. Or now.

Loque skirted the immense room, moving closer to the wall that was made entirely of stained glass. The huge mosaic started at the floor and stretched all the way up until it joined with the massive, glass-domed ceiling. It was beautiful. I felt a sudden rush of sadness for the loss of an entire city and its people. This was Veelox. Saint Dane had beaten us here. Were we in the future of that time? Was this what happened to a territory when Saint Dane won? There were so many questions, but they would have to wait until we were safely out of there. Hopefully with Twig.

My eyes traveled over the incredible, huge mosaic of glass. I couldn’t say if the artwork was a masterpiece. I’m no judge of that. But the fact that it took up an entire wall that was half the size of a football field made it seem pretty impressive to me.

Loque was halfway along the base of this massive wall. My confidence grew with each step he took. The Flighters were gone. They were looking for us elsewhere. Or maybe they’d lost interest and sank back into whatever rat hole they came from. I didn’t care. All that mattered was that we had dodged a pretty huge bullet. But we weren’t safe. We still had to find our way back to the ship and decide what to do from there.

Loque stood about eighty yards away from us. He looked so tiny beneath that gigantic wall. He stood up, took one more look around, then waved to us. All was clear. He wanted us to follow. I looked to Siry. He was already getting to his feet. I stood to follow… and saw something that made me freeze.

“Wait,” I whispered harshly.

Siry stopped. I stood and looked at the giant mosaic. It may have been a wall, but it was still made of glass. I could see through it. Something was moving outside the building. Something big. It was impossible to tell exactly what it was, because the colored pieces of glass camouflaged things pretty well. It moved slowly from left to right. Whatever it was, it was solid. I didn’t see any natural movements. I pointed to it, trying to get Loque to take a look, but he wasn’t watching me. I didn’t want to chance screaming at him. It might have been nothing, and I didn’t want to risk giving ourselves away.

The sun grew brighter. The detail of the strange shadow became clear. The object was taller than Loque. I made out a slender, horizontal streak that seemed to float in the air. It was a silver streak that might have been mounted on something vertical. The horizontal line pivoted, making the sun reflect off its surface. That’s all I needed to see. In one horrifying instant, I knew what it was.

“Get away!” I shouted to Loque, running to the center of the cathedral. I no longer cared about getting caught. “Get away from the window!” I waved my arms frantically, trying to get Loque out of there.