Cans of biopetrol lined the right hand wall, so I knocked them over and they toppled like dominoes one after the other, the stoppers coming undone and spilling the biopetrol all the way to the empty hovs.
“Are you both ready to race out of here?” I asked.
They nodded.
“Then say goodbye, because you’ll never see this institution again.”
No one would.
I dropped the match onto the biopetrol and ran. Niva grabbed her mother’s wheelchair and dashed out of the basement, feet pounding the floor, not looking back, and we all headed straight to the lift that she’d already gained control of.
If we weren’t in a rush, I might’ve noticed the absence of the wardens we incapacitated earlier, almost as if Galton had swept them up when he left, but that thought was interrupted just as the lift came within arm’s reach.
The ground shook as the cans burst into flame one by one, the sound of the explosion hitting like a tidal wave that knocked us to the ground and set off the blaring alarm.
Niva was the first up, making sure her mum wasn’t hurt before helping me to my feet. She shouted something, but the only sound I could hear was the ringing in my ears.
Luckily, ‘get the hell up and moving’ was an easy gesture to understand.
I brushed myself off and followed her, pushing Ramya in her chair to the lift. Dust and smoke almost blinded us but the lift glowed violet with electromagnetic energy, our beacon at the end of a dark tunnel.
Niva slammed the open control panel, and we packed in, escaping the rubble of the basement loading chamber.
The doors opened onto the ground floor and we raced into the reception, not losing a moment to escape.
The receptionist had disappeared, but Daniella’s lion pin lay right in the middle of the floor, the light bronze glinting against the cobalt blue carpet. A good sign or bad? I couldn’t say.
Boots scuffled outside, and on instinct we ducked behind the front desk, but they faded away as quickly as they came.
“Probably checking the source of the explosion,” Niva muttered.
I nodded towards the main entrance and we hurried away from the burning building.
Outside, night had fallen across the moors, and the entire side of Vocafeum’s central building was on fire, a glowing orange beacon against the navy of the night, blocking out the stars.
All three of us gazed in wonder at the blaze that had spread so quickly, at the smoke billowing into the night sky.
The Vocafeum Institute of Relegates reduced to cinders before our very eyes. The same place Relegates had been beaten, starved and tortured, my whole life until a month ago, was about to suffer its final fate.
“Damn.” Niva gaped. Yeah, that just about summed it up.
We watched from the top of a hill as flames engulfed the final remnants of my old life, of Ramya’s. Watched as the buildings were gutted by fire, broken down until the ashes were light enough to fly away on the wind.
We couldn’t have been there for much time judging from the lack of approaching sirens, but it was long enough for me to confirm Vocafeum’s death, to confirm it would not recover anytime soon.
Good riddance.
The bushes rustled beside us, and the Banavans both aimed their guns.
Three figures crawled out from the overgrowth.
“Not the face!” Briar exclaimed with his hands in the air.
“We did it!” I cried, rushing to hug Niles, then Briar. Daniella opted for a pat on the shoulder.
“You certainly sent a message,” she noted, waving a hand at the desolation, “I don’t know how the Estate’s gonna spin this but at least it can’t be ignored. I take it that means the Relegates are saved.”
“These ones are anyway.” I told her, not willing to think about the cost just yet. If my face gave anything away neither she nor Briar mentioned it. But Niles must’ve read something there, because he wouldn’t stop staring at me.
Everyone turned as thousands of feet marched onto the hill from behind, some observing the burning cage of Vocafeum while others huddled together, unsure of what would happen next. They were unbalanced with their new freedom, and nervous, but at least all of them would figure it out together.
Niles threw a soft smile to the gathering Relegates.
“Are you going to tell me how you pulled that off?” He inquired.
“I made a deal with Galton,” I replied, more flatly than I meant to.
He lowered his head, half of it shadowed by the other half lit up by the blaze, as if he understood the weight of those words, perhaps remembering his own encounters with the doctor. Even though he didn’t know exactly what I’d exchanged, he knew the price was steep, and knew not to pry further. If a chance at peace could be called a steep price to pay, which we both believed it could.
“So what happens now?” He asked instead.
“The base is big enough to house everyone, if need be,” answered Daniella.
Niles and I shared a look.
“Are you sure you know what you’re signing up to?” I asked, “Some of these people require round-the-clock care, medical supplies, doctors…”
Nicer ones, preferably.
“We’ve been stocking up for an event like this since the Lion Legion was formed, and while it happened a bit earlier than I’d like, we’ve got everything you need. The Relegates of Vocafeum are safe.”
I heaved out a breath. Safe was a word I hadn’t heard in a very long time, and something I hadn’t felt in even longer, but I allowed the warmth of it to grow in my core and spread to my heart.
Niles felt it too, although he found it elsewhere, as I followed his gaze to Niva, who simply glared at him, but as he turned away, busying himself with an invisible stain on his shirt, a small smile crossed her face.
“The Estate guards will be here soon, we should get moving,” suggested Briar.
Niva looked at her watch. “Our ride should be coming right about… now.”
The air began to swirl in a vertical circle, blue mist crackling as a figure stepped out. Elian.
Our eyes met for a second before Daniella caught everyone’s attention.
“Alright everyone, the Lion Legion is here to provide protection for all of you. The choice is yours. Step through this portal and live a life without the fear of being beaten, starved, experimented on, or stay here and let the Estate guards transfer you to yet another prison when they finally get here.”
Murmurs buzzed throughout the thousands of people on the hill as Elian pressed some buttons on his controller, and images of the Lion Legion’s base swirled in the mist.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
A young brown-haired man hobbled forward, leaning on two canes to support his bowed legs.
“Three cheers!” He called out. “For the survivors of Vocafeum!”
The moors shook as thousands of voices roared the same.
“For the survivors of Vocafeum!” They echoed over and over again, and once they were done, the man bowed his head, still loud enough to be heard.
“And for our brothers and sisters who didn’t make it to this day.”
Everyone repeated it, although slightly quieter, bowing their heads as they marched in hordes through the portal, climbing the grey boulders that poked out through the hill for the opportunity to escape.
Groups of people disappeared into the spiralling portal, into the light, through to the unknown at the opposite side, but it was a good unknown, a kinder one.
Niva’s watch beeped with an alert.
“What is it?” Asked Daniella.
“I set up an alert for news mentioning institutions or Relegates and… well, see for yourself.”
She thrust her watch in all of our faces.
Against the navy of night, orange flames licked the skies, shadowing the stars. The institutions were on fire. All of them.
Relegates from across the country were fighting wardens, smashing windows, breaking chains.
It was destructive. It was intense. And it was beautiful.
“The other institutions copied us.” I gasped.
“News travels fast.” Daniella shrugged.
Briar and Niva absentmindedly fiddled with their watches.
The screen of Niva’s watch went blank, and a message scrolled across it.
Breaking News: The Chancellor has been murdered by the Lion Legion who have also planned vicious attacks on all the institutions of Saxanglain, places designed by our beloved Chancellor to protect our most vulnerable. As a result, the following are wanted for his murder as well as many other violent crimes; Daniella Cowick, Briar Cunningham…
Briar gave Niles a high-five, who accepted it awkwardly.
…Niva Banavan, Ramya Banavan, Niles Levin, Ayla Pickering, and anyone else found to be connected to the Lion Legion. If you have any information, do not hesitate to contact the Estate. Now please stand by for a Special Announcement from the new Chancellor, Elian Endavell-Alvidrez.
At least they were finally using our names.
Elian’s face flashed up on the screen but Niva switched off her watch before the recording even started.
“The Chancellor can tell us himself, eh?” Briar looked to Elian, who smiled weakly, his full lips distracting from the dark circles already starting to form under his eyes.
“Oh, it’s just the usual. Keeping up appearances, how terrible the Lion Legion is, how great my father was and how affected we all are by his loss. My mother particularly enjoyed writing that part.” He sneered before putting on the mask of neutrality again. “I’ll try to get support for your message but I’m afraid the country will never love the Lion Legion now.”
Briar waved a hand.
“Pfft. That’s only ‘cause they can’t meet us in person. One day they will.”
Daniella rolled her eyes at him.
“Thank you, Chancellor. We appreciate all the help you’ve given us. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for your loss. Briar, get the team ready.”
He raised his hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Well everyone, it’s official. We’re wanted criminals, so let’s get running!”
Briar lead a mass of followers quickly through the portal.
“Through time and space,” I sighed.
“Precisely.”
It was the first word he’d spoken directly to me since he’d arrived.
Elian stepped forward, taking my hands in his, and the others suddenly found themselves busy, slowly walking away to oversee the exodus.
“It’s a good job you’ve got that machine because you’re not gonna have much time to yourself now,” I told him.
“I’m happy to stay busy for a while. It’ll take my mind off things,” he replied and took a shuddering breath. “I’d hoped for a better setting, but I can’t let you go without telling you…” He held on tighter, bringing me closer to him. “These few weeks have been… a lot, and you might think you’re useless, that the only way you can be worth something is by sacrificing yourself, but look at everything you’ve done. Because of you, my eyes have been opened to what really goes on in this country, how to fix it. Because of you, Ramya and Niva are reunited, Relegates are rebelling, everyone from Vocafeum is free. All the times you could’ve broken, could’ve given up, yet you stayed strong because you believed in better. You used your pain to take a stand, to fight harder for others. Not everyone would do that, Ayla. The world is a better place with you in it. My world is better with you in it, and I couldn’t let you leave without knowing that.”
For a moment I’d forgotten this journey was one I’d be making alone.
“Elian…” I started, my heart thumping so loudly it could overcome the roaring of the wind across the moors, “Thank you. For everything. I’m not going to say goodbye, mainly because I don’t know if I’ll be able to without becoming a crying mess. But we’ll see each other again, you hear me? There is nothing, time or space, that’s going to keep me from you, as long as you want me.”
“Likewise. Once things are stable here, laws, my mother, and Ariadne be damned, I’m coming for you Pickering.”
“Bold of you to assume I won’t find you first.”
We both smiled. He looked at my lips in a way no one had before and I fixed my eyes to the floor to stop myself kissing him. There’d be time for that. I couldn’t imagine a world where there wasn’t.
“It’s been an honour, Ayla Pickering.” He pressed a kiss to my knuckles, sending shivers down my spine. “Until we meet again.”
I finally plucked the courage to look him in the eyes again.
“Elian Endavell, Chancellor of Saxanglain. I’m sorry for what it cost you but I think you’ve achieved your goal of making a difference in this world. Good luck, stay safe until I get back.”
He stepped away with a nod, and bowed his head to Daniella, exchanging words I couldn’t hear, before she switched on the controller, and changed the portal’s destination to the Estate. He stepped through with a two-fingered salute, and disappeared in the swirling mist of blue. I shook my head. The man was unbelievable. How dare he copy my thing.
“Is everything alright little butterfly?” Asked Daniella, arms crossed over her chest expectantly.
“It will be,” I replied, “So Captain, where are we travelling to?”
“We need to split up. Even if Elian’s going to destroy the time-machine on the other side so they can’t follow us, we need to be extra careful. So me and Briar will be travelling to the 2340s, Ramya, Niva and Niles can go to the 1590s, and you can go to the 2010s.”
“I literally don’t know anything about that era. Is there a thought process behind those specific years or are you choosing them randomly?”
“Of course there’s a thought process behind it. You’ll be fine.” Daniella tried to reassure me as one of the Lion Legion members handed her a massive black rucksack. “Here’s a pack with supplies to last you a month. You’ll be back before you need more, don’t worry. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but we’ll get you when we need you.” She tossed it towards me, and I managed to catch it without falling to the ground, despite its hefty weight.
Ramya rolled up to me, “Make sure you stay away from trouble.”
“Come on, when have I ever found myself in trouble?” I laughed.
Niva tilted her head, “Besides, it’s part of the adventure, isn’t it?”
I hugged everyone in turn, then walked up to the portal, turning back one last time to see everyone waving me off, as the scene in the blue mist changed to that of a blue sky, and a black path on the ground with yellow stripes.
On my own for a month. It should’ve terrified me. No safety nets, making my way purely by trial and error. But I’d been through worse. There’d been so many opportunities to bend and break, so many times when the sweet lull of giving up tempted me more than the pain and anguish that came with having to keep going, and yet I’d never yielded to it. I stood here, where the world tried to give me its worst, and I was unbroken. More than that, I’d taken the worst the world had to offer me and made it better. I was steel forged in the fire of the mistakes I’d made and the horrors I’d endured, a blade made not for killing but carving out the good from the bad. And I would not break for the things that haunted me, no matter what ghosts the world conjured up.
I took a deep breath, and stepped in.
The portal stretched out, turning the green landscape blue, little tendrils of energy pulling me further in, hugging me with their warmth, and like kneaded bread, stretching and folding me until I reached solid ground.
I stumbled backwards, tripping off a step into the middle of a black pathway, smooth under my feet.
A bright red hov screeched its brakes as I fell in front of it, stopping inches from my face. Except it couldn’t be a hov, because it drove on the ground and its shape was completely different.
A woman and a girl about my age rushed out.
“Oh my God, are you hurt? You came out of nowhere, I’m so sorry.” The woman crouched to inspect me.
“What-what year is it?” I asked, looking up at the woman.
She dusted me off and searched for injuries.
“How hard did I hit you? Do you know where you are?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
“This is London, remember? And the year is 2015.”
“Right, of course it is.” I nodded, but couldn’t help giving a laugh. It started as a snort, then grew into a snicker until I broke out into a full belly-laugh.
Exhaustion brought me to lie down on the road that was not a mag-road, laughing like I never had before.
This was going to be my life for a month. In London, wherever that was, in 2015. Hundreds of years in the past. And that was meant to be a break before the real work began.
“Mum we should get her to a hospital,” advised the daughter.
The mother shared her concern, agreeing with a hum.
A hospital was better than an institution at least, so once I stopped laughing long enough they picked me up and led me to their hov that stayed on the ground.
“Come on, love, let’s get you checked up, do you have anyone we can contact?”
I dug around in my Lion Legion goodie-bag and found an ID card, emergency contacts, medication, and other supplies.
“Yes, I just need to borrow a cyb, if you have one.”
“Do you mean phone?”
Yeah, I had a lot to learn, but it didn’t seem so daunting. I wouldn’t be going it alone anymore. Not really.
In the bag, my hands closed around another precious gift the Lion Legion, or rather one of its members, had left me.
One of Elian’s electronic butterflies. The bottom half of its right wing had snapped, microwires poking out slightly, but I still clicked the button on its underbelly as I sat in the car.
The butterfly was battered, wires exposed, and not entirely there, but even in its rough state it managed to hover above my hand, flying through sheer determination.
Finally free.
