Rachel woke with a banging headache and a stiffness in her jaw. Her cheek felt swollen and bruised. She winced when she raised one hand to touch her face, glancing at the blood and dirt on her fingertips. Slowly her memory returned.
She had vague recollections of a fight but she was in little doubt that she hadn't won. She had met Rackinun twice in the short time that she had spent in the Blasted Lands, and she considered herself lucky to be still alive.
As the mist cleared from her thoughts, she realised that she was surrounded by hundreds of clerics. A few lords were standing nearby too. She had a feeling she might be looking at the first wave of Malkor's army. They were busily preparing for something, clearing large areas of sand near the Dome Shield. She didn't know what they were doing. She was just relieved that, for the moment, they weren't interested in her. Maybe they thought she was still unconscious?
Rachel took the opportunity to try to teleport away. Nothing happened. Had she already forgotten the technique that her daughter had taught her? No. She had done it right this time. She tried again until she heard someone grunting behind her.
When she turned, she saw a big round cleric standing over her, holding her twin bone staffs in his hands. His face was wide and wobbly, with many chins, and his eyes were at different levels, giving his face a lopsided appearance. When he barked again, staring down at her with bird-like eyes, she had no doubt that he was the one who was preventing her from teleporting. Now that she thought about it she could feel some kind of invisible wall between her and the place she wanted to be. She focussed on a different destination and tried again with the same lack of results.
Another cleric stepped closer, swinging his foot into her face. The impact made her head spin and when she pulled away he caught her again in her already painful ribs. Cowering on her hands and knees, she glanced around to see where the next blow was coming from.
'Don't make it worse for yourself,' a lord said, standing nearby. He was thin and weaselly, his teeth arranged in a poor imitation of a smile.
It wouldn't be long before something bad happened. She could feel it in her bones. She wasn't sure whether her premonition related to herself or the Orange Zone, but either way, she had to warn them somehow. If she couldn't enter the Dome Shield herself, she would have to find some other way to give them a message.
Up ahead she could see Lord Rackinun talking to more lords. He turned and gestured towards her and the others nodded before looking into her eyes. She didn't like that look. They were going to do something to her. She didn't know what it was but she intended to fight them at every step.
A wave of desperation flowed over her. When she reached over her shoulder she remembered that the bone staffs weren't there anymore. The cleric had taken them from her. She had nothing to fight with but her own abilities and she was surrounded on all sides.
It didn't look good. She had to be realistic about her chances. There was far more than her own life at stake now. She couldn't afford to take chances like she had in the past. This could be her last chance to warn her friends in the city before something terrible happened.
With few other options, she focussed all her energy on locating the towers of Central Command. She couldn't see them from outside the Dome Shield. She had to search for them until she felt a familiar sensation tingling at the back of her mind. It was the Heart. She was sure of it. She realised now that she had always been able to feel it. It was what had drawn her to the towers in the first place - what had made her join the Security Forces to work for Central Command.
She didn't know whether her plan would work. She was too far away and the clerics could be blocking all of her abilities, even this one. She hoped they hadn't thought of it or didn't think she was powerful enough to attempt such things.
On a whim, she turned and fired a wave of air into the cleric's face. He stumbled, losing his balance and she teleported away while he was distracted. She appeared in front of the Dome Shield, several hundred metres away. She was close enough to touch it, if she wanted to, but the shield would kill her if she tried, so she shouted instead, but not with her mouth, using the power of her mind instead. The message got through. She was sure of it. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
'You shouldn't have done that,' Rackinun said, appearing behind her.
Rachel turned to face him, launching a wave of air towards his smartly trimmed beard but she wasn't fast enough. He teleported towards her, grasping her by the neck with his arm as his momentum carried her along beside him. Her head jerked back, making a nasty cracking sound. She tumbled to the ground surprised to be still alive. Her hands rushed instinctively to her neck, feeling for any signs of damage.
Rackinun didn't wait before setting upon her once more. Something green appeared in his hand. It was a rock of some kind, glowing with an unnatural light. Rachel's gaze followed it as he thrust it towards her in slow motion. She kicked out, striking him in the knee as he approached, and he grunted, twisting sideways before slapping her across the face with the rock held tightly in his hand.
Her head snapped back, the green light still glowing before her eyes. He struck her again and she fell sideways, shuffling through the sand on her hands and knees. She didn't know where she was going. She just had to keep moving, hoping she could turn things around.
Reaching down, Rackinun grabbed her by the back of her combat jacket, tearing it as he flung her several metres across the ground. She rolled through thick sand until she came to halt nearby but Rackinun wasn't finished with her yet.
He shifted towards her, using his momentum to slam his knee into her side. Rachel cried out, feeling several ribs break before her body rolled across the sand.
'You should never have come here,' Rackinun said. 'I'll show you what we do with your kind.'
Rachel raised her hands to protect her face, waiting for the next blow. She had sent her warning. She just prayed it would be enough. A doubt rose in her mind. Would her friends in the towers have to fight this battle without her?