Golden Dawn

|Chapter 6 ~ A Race To The Unknown|

"WHAT?! " I screamed as Albert hurried to the door.

"Hurry Artemisia, we cannot stay here much longer!" He yelled back as he kicked the door open, Gandila right behind him. I stood frozen in place, confused and very, very  terrified.

The Deathtreaders are here... My heart was pounding so hard, I thought I would faint. 

We're going to die.

It was that sole horrified thought that built pure terror inside me. The greatest fear during my hiding, was to be seen by the bloodthirsty soldiers that were under direct control of the Government. Deathtreaders were the most brutal and inhuman of all the Government's military and the lone force that could wipe out an entire nation on a lone order. I glanced down and realized my legs were shaking. 

When a Deathtreader hunted for you, the pits of hell would be a more pleasant fate.

"ARTEMISIA!" Albert yelled, much louder than before and immediately snapping me out of my horrified state. His eyes were hard with nerves.

"Listen. Now is not the time to be afraid. There are Deathtreaders outside who will break through the tunnel anytime now. I don't know how they found this place, but they did and that means we need to move!" 

"IMMEDIATELY." He added with grim desperation.

I nodded, my heart racing. I wanted to throw up, but ran after Albert and Gandila anyway. Our feet were hard on the pavement of Albert's facility. The terrible sounds of machinery breaking through the walls above us - the explosions, made me run even faster.

Albert hurried over to the large control panel in the corner of the facility. His fingers danced over the board with swift accuracy and then he closed his hand over a lever. He pulled it down in one quick motion - one that seemed almost practiced. The floor right next to Gandila made a groaning noise as a hidden passageway opened to reveal a flight of stairs. The tunnel disappeared deep into the ground and the smell of mold and dust tickled my nose. Albert pushed me down the stairs after Gandila, since I was too dumbfounded to move. The passageway closed behind us, engulfing us wholly in darkness yet again. That was however, until Albert pressed another mechanism on the wall that enabled us to see. The horrible noise of blasting echoed through the tunnel as we ran down the moist stairs. I had to concentrate not to slip while we ran deeper and deeper into the underground, my legs shaking so hard I was careful not to fall.

"Artemisia, I need you to listen very closely." Albert suddenly said as we finally came to a stop in front of a metal door. Slight rust patches covered the ancient material and I could just barely make out the faint lines of a strange red symbol imprinted on the door.

"We will now enter the room that holds my greatest secret, Artemisia. I kept this room secret from my closest friends, even family members whom I dearly loved so I need you to understand what this room means for our future. You can NOT  speak about this room... ever !"

I only stared at him. My mind so scrambled with thoughts, I couldn't form coherent words. The rumbling above us was getting louder by the minute and we both knew our time was running out.

I took a deep breath. Albert was entrusting his biggest secret to someone like me - a strange, young woman he barely met a few weeks ago. Somehow that single realization made me feel both proud and very confused. My heart hammered against my ribcage and cold shivers of adrenaline shot through my body.

Pull yourself together! What other option do we have?!  My consciousness screamed at me. I shook my head in order to focus and looked back at Albert, this time with grim determination. A loud eruption blasted right above us and the tunnel shook, dust raining down.