The Forgotten Paladin

Chapter 24: Trapped

In that moment, when the alarms blared, when his ship looked over us, a memory came to me. A strange one, but something in me knew it was my own. Not someone else's.

I couldn't see his face, but he was holding me, gazing at me, pride filling every corner. His gentle voice reached out to me through the haze of darkness.

"You'll grow up to do amazing things my little one. I'll make sure of it." He gently placed his finger on my head, I watched as the symbols over my body shone brightly.

I must've been just born in this memory, I have no memory of this man...but he seems so familiar...

I snap back to reality and the intensity of the situation floods through me like wild fire.

ALLURA: "Zarkon! How did he find us?"

KEITH: "His commanders must have radioed him from Olkarion."

SHIRO: "We need to wormhole, now! Everyone to your stations. We've got to put some distance between us and Zarkon. This could be the fight of our lives."

HUNK: "That's sure a lot of fighters."

SHIRO: "Allura, can you evade these fighters? We can't have them following us through the wormhole."

ALLURA: "I can try." The castle starts swerving away from the steady stream of galra fighters.

SHIRO: "Keith, Lance, let's lay down some covering fire."

They start shooting the fighters, but the steady stream of them never ceases or depletes. 

Y/N: "Shiro, what can I do?" 

SHIRO: "There's nothing you can do, we have to trust that Allura will get us out of here." His face is stern and reassuring but I can see in his eyes that he's afraid, guilty and concerned.

Y/N: "Shiro, we'll get out of this, don't put the blame on yourself, it isn't your fault he found us."

He seems taken aback, but his expression softens and he sighs. 

SHIRO: "You always seem to know what to say Y/N, thanks." 

I smile at him, and the tension of the battle eases, we both know that we aren't fighting this alone. We're a team. 

SHIRO: "Keep calling out those fighters, Pidge, Hunk, how are the defences holding?"

HUNK: "I don't know, ten percent? Fifteen maybe? Everything's a blur. I've been up too long. I have tired eyes!" He groans, rubbing his droopy eyes. 

It reminds me, I don't actually remember the last time I slept... a few days ago? Weeks ago? It's not the time for those concerns though. 

SHIRO: "I know we just came off an intense battle, but we've got to stay focused, just until we jump."

KEITH: "And when is that?"

CORAN:" They're still too close. We need to gain more speed!"

I feel so useless again, the paladins, Coran and Allura all have their jobs, it just feels like I'm always watching. Just like when Sendak took the castle, I couldn't help... 

ALLURA: "I've got an idea! Hold on!"

PIDGE: "Allura, what are you doing?"

ALLURA: "I'm going to use this moon's gravity to gain speed and put some distance between us and Zarkon."

We steer towards the moon nearby at full speed, the trail of fighters falling behind but relentlessly chasing us. Tearing through the wormhole, the fighters are out of sight, relief fills our chests.