Enchained WATTPAD VERSION [Inter-Universal Protectors: Book 4]

4

Amneris and Xix rode across the barren Earth landscape, the lights of their hoverbikes showing the way. Ruined buildings scattered the landscape of what used to be a city on a large, old landmass in the Northern Hemisphere. The ground itself was scorched black with burnt trees scattered here and there. Everything was covered in a layer of dirtied permafrost and ice; the Sun of the system having died long ago. There was nothing left to melt it. It was impossible to tell whether or not it was day, though that didn't matter anymore. Few stars dotted the sky though there appeared to be a build-up of cloud along the horizon. No doubt an acid rainstorm was on the way.

'Which building?' Amneris asked.

Xix's voice buzzed in her earpiece. 'Some form of skyscraper.'

'Skyscraper,' Amneris said, eyeing the tall but crumbling buildings around them through her visor. 'Can ya vague it up any further?'

'If there is a power source here, we should be able to sense it with our own powers.'

'Oh, yeah. Let's pull over.'

The two stopped. Pressing the sides of their head, their helmets folded down into their respective full-body armours.

Amneris closed her eyes, raising her hands to either side of her head. Xix watched in amazement as a white-blue glow surrounded her sister's form. Amneris' eyes opened. She spun on the spot, pointing at a half-crumbled building towering above the rest.

'That one,' she said. 'There's a very strong energy coming from that building.'

'And it fits the skyscraper category,' Xix said, turning her bike.

'Agreed. Let's move.'

The two women pressed their temples. Helmets wrapped around their heads. Together, they took off.

* * * * * * * *

From the outside, the only way to describe the skyscraper was apocalyptic. One side slowly crumbled, two others barely intact, and the fourth having been melted at some point in the past. At the bottom of the skyscraper was a barrier of glass, steel, and stone having fused together to create spikes and flats in a seemingly unnatural pattern. All was covered by grey permafrost. From their position on the ground, it was impossible to tell how the skyscraper looked from above, if it still had its roof.

Xix frowned at the sky as the stars vanished. 'If we want to avoid the rain, we should go—'

A grunt from ahead. Xix turned her attention to where Amneris stood waving, holding up what used to be a door she ripped straight from the hinges. She grinned at her sister.

'—inside,' Xix finished with a sigh. She raised a gloved hand to her head, gripping the bridge of her nose for a breath, before making her way through the ruins to where Amneris waited. 'You do not have to destroy everything, you know.'

'I know,' Amneris said. 'But it is fun.' She tossed her long auburn-gold braid over a shoulder. 'Come on, baby sis.'

* * * * * * * *

The two, lit by the light of the torches built into the hands of their armour, moved cautiously through the ruined skyscraper, making their way up and up and up. It was a slow trek, the skyscraper crumbling and shaking with every step. The walls, concrete and glass alike, were covered with cracks, stairs were missing steps. They dared not go near where elevators once ran.

Xix turned one of her hands, the beam of her torch lighting up the wall beside them, covered in peeling white paint. She scratched the wall with her other hand, rubbing the remaining pain between gloved fingers as she walked. 'The condition of the building, all things considered, as amaz—ahh!'