The Shadow Sovereign: Level Up from the Dirt

Thirty Seconds to Zero

The silver drone spun its blades up high, lifting Kemi further into the dark shaft.

Ding.

Warning: High-density mana bomb detonation in 28 seconds.

Escape the blast zone immediately.

"Zane, don't worry about the countdown!" Kemi called down. She was hanging completely upside down, her hair falling over her face, but her eyes were still burning with that red light. She did not sound scared at all. "The drone's wireless receiver is open on the bottom plate. The local network connection is weak down here in the tunnels. Break the antenna!"

Chairman Femi’s voice came through the speaker again, low and smooth. "You are out of time, little rat. The bomb will wipe out the entire market sector above you. You cannot save her."

"Watch me," I thought, my mind locking onto my remaining three shadow soldiers. "Jump! Tear that machine to pieces!"

The three black figures made of thick smoke launched themselves upward from the stone ground. They climbed the concrete walls of the shaft like spiders, their blue eyes trailing dark lines through the air. The first shadow grabbed the metal cable holding Kemi’s leg. The second and third shadows threw their smoky bodies directly onto the flying blades of the drone.

Metal parts snapped loudly. The drone shook violently in the air, its internal stabilization system failing as the black smoke clogged its intake pipes. The red speaker crackled, and Femi's voice cut out into static.

"Tariq, help me!" I said, running toward the open doorway.

The old hunter did not waste a second. He threw the bleeding, unmoving body of Ifunanya onto the stone floor near the scanner and lifted his massive shotgun with his blue mechanical arm. He aimed straight up into the shaft.

"Get ready to catch her, boy!" Tariq said.

He pulled the trigger. A massive blast of iron pellets exploded from the barrel, hitting the main engine plate of the drone. The silver machine burst into bright blue sparks. The metal cable snapped instantly, releasing Kemi from its grip.

She fell straight down. I lunged forward across the concrete floor, sticking my arms out. Her small body crashed into my chest, the force of the impact knocking me hard onto my back. The pain in my ribs flared up again, but I held her tight, rolling over to shield her as the broken pieces of the silver drone rained down around us like hot metal hail.

Ding.

Mana Level: 35 / 150.

Warning: Detonation in 8 seconds.

"Move! Move!" Tariq roared, his mechanical arm sparking wildly as he grabbed my collar and yanked me up. He pushed both of us through the massive iron doorway into the vertical concrete shaft.

We ran past the open door just as the countdown hit zero.

A blinding yellow flash filled the underground base behind us. A wave of pure heat slammed into the back of the iron door. The thick steel bars groaned and twisted under the pressure as the mana bomb destroyed the old military post, sealing the tunnels forever. Dust and hot air shot through the cracks, throwing us onto the concrete floor of the vertical shaft.

The iron door held. The thick lead-lined walls of the shaft protected us from the full force of the blast, but the tunnel we just left was completely gone.

I sat up, coughing hard as white dust filled the air. I looked down at Kemi. Her skin was still extremely hot, and the red veins on her neck were pulsing faster now. She looked at the small wrist-pad she had stolen from the guard, her fingers moving quickly across the cracked glass.

"Ifunanya is still on the other side of the door," Kemi said, her voice small but steady. She did not show any regret for leaving the woman who had betrayed us. "Her bio-signature is gone from the local network. She didn't make it."

I looked back at the twisted iron door. Ifunanya had helped Femi steal my sister's core, and in the end, her own boss had blown her up to hide his tracks. That was the reality of the Island. The rich people used everyone until they were no longer needed.

"We have to keep moving," Tariq said, leaning against the concrete wall. His blue metal arm was completely dead now, the light turned off. "My arm is out of juice, and the noise from that blast is going to bring every automated patrol boat in the lagoon to the top of this shaft. Where does this path lead, girl?"

Kemi stood up, using my shoulder to balance herself. "This shaft leads to the old intake pipe of the Island's primary water treatment plant. It is right beneath the boundary wall. It is the only place where the physical security sensors are broken because of the constant chemical rust."

She looked up at the dark ladder leading into the upper darkness of the shaft.

"Our mother is not on the Island anymore, Zane," Kemi said, turning her red eyes toward me. "The transfer log shows she was moved to a private transport ship called the Sovereign's Pride. It is docked at the luxury harbor on the north side of the upper city. The ship leaves for the deep ocean sectors tomorrow morning at dawn."

My teeth ground together. "Then we are going to that harbor. We are getting her back."

"We cannot just walk into the luxury harbor," Tariq said, shaking his head. "The security there uses genetic scanning. Only the top board members and their invited guests can even cross the bridge."

"I know," Kemi said, a cold, sharp smile touching her lips. "That is why we are going to use the drive I took from the hospital. It contains the private financial records of the Vanguard Guild's vice-chairman. He has been stealing money from Femi for three years. We are going to blackmail him into giving us an invitation."

I looked at my little sister, amazed by how deep her mind went. She was already three steps ahead of the billionaires.

We began to climb the long iron ladder, moving slowly through the dark shaft. After twenty minutes of climbing, Tariq pushed open a round metal grate at the top, and we crawled out onto a narrow stone ledge right above the black water of the lagoon.

Directly ahead of us, towering thousands of feet into the night sky, was the great golden wall of the Island. It looked like a giant mountain of glass and steel, separating the rich from the poor.

Suddenly, a loud searchlight cut through the darkness from above, pinning us against the stone wall. A deep horn boomed across the water.

"Halt!" a voice shouted from a loudspeaker above. A massive armored warship, five times larger than the patrol boats, emerged from the shadow of the golden wall. Its giant twin cannons turned slowly, locking directly onto our position.