章節 8: Defend
Raehla grabs a less excited guard and we learn that Gli forces have blasted through the city wall near the supply yard. A second Gli force is elsewhere in the barracks. This seems to be a co-ordinated attack launched from the river.
Raehla tells Lissa and me to follow her. We run through damp tunnels, up a staircase and along corridors to a balcony overlooking the supply yard. Sure enough, we see the wall breach surrounded by rubble. Through the hole scramble Gli warriors easily identifiable by their exposed dark skin, horn buds, colourful loincloths and single pauldron.
They have formed a well-organised work chain carrying sacks on their smooth backs. Other Gli are man-handling crates through the broken supply store doors and towards some barges in the river.
This close above them I fancy I can just make out the thin black mist the Gli are said to perspire.
Above the hole in the wall the defence platform is in flames. More smoke pours in over the top of nearby buildings. A scream and the half-sounds of fighting tumble out through doorways into the yard.
Disoriented, I am relieved we have remained unnoticed on the high balcony. I wonder if my pants would act as camouflage if I had to jump.
Raehla crouches and turns to me. "Try connecting again," she says quickly, pointing at my hands. I'm surprised to see that I'm still holding the relic. I blink dumbly at her, and look down at the Gli invaders.
"Jak! Calm your mind! Close your eyes and connect just as you did before. Lissa, locate a target and get ready," directs Raehla.
"Yes, ma'am!" Lissa turns aside to study the yard and the hole in the wall.
I take a deep breath and re-clasp the box as I did before. The sounds of death, anger and the smell of fire wash around me, so I try to concentrate on the memory of that previous warmth. Again, Lissa's hair and face intrude into my mind's eye, and as the battle sounds fade away...
I feel warm. My skin tingles.
Excited, I concentrate on the feeling. It is a wellspring of heat within me. My eyelids are closed, yet somehow my mind's eye is being dazzled by this... something.
I have a sensation of a power well beyond my reach. But the warmth keeps rising and I start to feel full now, strangely agitated and feeling the onset of vertigo, as though I were slowly becoming aware of falling from a great height.
"R-Ready!" I stammer through gritted-teeth.
I'm really hot. All sounds are muffled. I can't open my eyelids to see what's going on and I feel like I will burn up soon or something.
Suddenly I feel Lissa behind me, her hands around my hands around the relic. It's unexpected, and amazingly pleasant. I still cannot open my eyes. I feel and smell her hair on my neck as she lifts my arms and gently rotates me. The heat within me intensifies and I feel an overwhelming sensation that I'm just about to dissolve.
Lissa breathes into my ear, "Ignite."
I let the heat pour through me. The agony is insane.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票