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Chapter 45- Breaking And Entering
Part 1- Pinned Down
A small bullet came shooting by toms face, slamming into the wall behind them. The group quickly ducked down behind the lip of the building to get out of sight.
“What the hell was that,” Alex exclaimed.
Tom popped up quickly from behind cover to look around. He noticed a series of small glints of light coming from various rooftops in the surrounding area.
“Looks like our friend with the snipers back, and he’s brought some company.”
“What are we gonna do, there’s no way we can get to the other side with all them out there.”
“Well…,” Tom said, trailing off into thought.
The group sat in silence broken only by the occasional sound of gunfire as Tom continued to figure out their next move.
“I’ve got nothing, looks like we’re just gonna have to take our chances and hope they forget how to aim.
Alex nodded in understanding.
“I can make us an energy shield but I'm not sure how long it will last under all that fire,” Alex said.
Liz popped her head out of cover to look across at one of the buildings. One of her eyebrows raised as she noticed a figure moving across the rooftop towards one of the glints of light. The light suddenly disappeared and the sound of gunfire echoed out over the landscape. A few seconds of silence passed before the figure reappeared holding one of the snipers over his shoulder. He chucked the body off the side of the building sending it crashing down to the ground. Liz squinted her eyes and leaned in closer to try and make out the figure. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was.
“Looks like we might not have to risk it after all,” Liz said as she turned to look at the rest of the group.
Tom and Alex popped their heads out of cover to look at the figure. Standing on the distant building looking back at the group was Edgar.
“Edgar? What is he doing here?” Alex questioned confused.
“Must have had a change of heart,” replied Liz.
Without warning a volley of bullet fire was launched towards Edgar. He quickly lifted his arms up forming a blue energy shield in front of him. As more bullets made contact with the shield more cracks and dents began to form in it.
“Crap, he’s not gonna last long,”
Part 2- An Open Invitation
One of the snipers let go of his weapon and raised his finger to his ear. He pressed the button on his headset.
“Sir we have a problem, someone new has shown up and he’s taken out Andy,” The sniper said into the microphone on his headset.
“Then take him down with the rest of them,” a voice spoke into the man's ears.
“Yes sir, but we’re almost out of ammo and his shield are proving pretty tuff.”
“Hmmm… very well then, if they insist then let's let them in. Oh, and be sure that your men are ready to great them.”
“Yes sir,” The man said before tapping the headset twice. “ Everybody move out, we have new orders. Make your way back to headquarters immediately,” the man said as he stood up, grabbed his weapon and walked off.
Part 3- Reunited
The gunfire began to slowly die down before completely disappearing altogether. Liz, Alex, Bip, and Tom all popped up out of cover simultaneously to look at what was going on. Edgar lowered his arms causing the shield surrounding him to dissipate into the air.
“Look’s like their running off scared,” Tom said, an air of arrogance coming over him.
“Don’t get too cocky yet,” Alex replied
Edgar waved over to the rest of the group once again drawing their attention to him. He gestured towards the Ora building before running towards the edge of the building and leaping off of it. He smashed into one of the windows of the Ora building sending glass shattering down onto the horde of creatures bellow. Tom stood up fully and made his way to the rope connecting the two buildings.
“Looks like we’re making our move,” Tom said as he reached the rope.
He grabbed onto the rope and began to slowly and carefully shimmy his way across the rope. Alex and Liz walked over to the rope as well and waited for Tom to get far enough across before joining him on the rope. After a few minutes of shimmying, Tom reached the other side of the rope, stopping as his path into the building was blocked by the window. Alex and Liz caught up with Tom.
“I got this,” Alex said.
Alex carefully removed one hand from the rope. His hand began to fill with smoke that soon solidified into his blade. He pulled his arm back before sending it flying forward, launching the blade towards the window. The blade made contact with the window shattering it to bits instantly. Tom hung from the rope and swung himself into the building. On the other side of the room that the group found themselves in stood Edgar facing away from them with his arms crossed. Liz and Alex swung themselves into the building and Bip flew beside them. The group walked over to Edgar who turned around to face them as they grew closer. An awkward silence came over the group as they reached Edgar.
“What made you come back?” Liz said after a few seconds breaking the silence.
“Believe me it wasn’t my choice. It was Calems idea,” Edgar grunted in reply.
Edgar looked off into the distance as he began to think.
Edgar placed Calems unconscious body down on the ground as Ryan, Brett and Emily all surrounded.
“What happened,” Brett said in a slightly panicked inflection.
“He was bitten by one of those things. He’s lost a lot of blood and has been in and out of consciousness since last night,” Edgar said.
“Damn it,” Emily grunted. “We have some medicine that might be able to help, we lost a few people in an attack yesterday so there's enough space for you to stay for a while.”
Edgar nodded in understanding. He felt something grabbing at his arm. He turned to see Calem once again regaining consciousness.
“E…Edgar… where are we?” Calem muttered.
“Calem,” Edgar said as he cradled his friend in his arms.” We’re at the survivers camp.”
“Wh… what? We need to get back out there,” Calem said as he went to stand up.
Edgar put his hands on Calem's chest, toping him from standing up.
“Hang on, you’re in no condition to fight. Anyway, why would you wanna help those guys, it’s their fault you ended up like this.”
“What are you talking about. We’re the cleaners guild… and this has to be one of the biggest messes there’s ever been. If we turn tail and run then it’ll bring dishonor to the entire guild. We have to get back out there now.”
Edgar looked down at Calem, understanding his point. A wave of shame hit him as he realise what he had done. Calem fell back into unconsciousness as Brett came running towards the pair holding an array of medicines. Edgar stood up.
“Sorry Calem, don’t worry though ill go protect the honor of the guild,” Edgar said as he turned and walked towards the exit.
“Take good care of him while I'm gone.”
Edgar looked back to the rest of the group, a slight smile forming across his lips. He walked passed the rest of the group deeper into the facility.
“Come on let's get moving, we’ve got a job to do haven’t we,” Edgar said as the rest of the group turned to follow on behind him.
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TO BE CONTINUED
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thanks you for reading Chapter 45 of Mage. If you like what you see please consider dropping a Kudos and maybe checking out the rest of my work. Also for any updates or if you just wanna see my cosplay adventure please consider follwing my tumblr here https://www.tumblr.com/blog/50funny and until next time have a good one.