Read Online Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux by Randy Blackwell - Free Book Online

were fumbling in
the dark. He knocked them out with ease. Their bodies were so frail.
    He ran out of the tunnel into the middle of a very large city. He
could smell the salty air of an ocean nearby . I must get to a ship. Myles
tried to imagine himself at the distant docks but it still didn’t work. In
fact, it seemed to gain him attention, instead. There were guards
coming towards him who wore sharpened metal armor with spiked
helmets.
    The Knife Guard. Sapphira, the Gauntman Magi, had said that
she’d been a part of the Knife Guard. They were skilled warriors trained
to use their entire bodies like a knife. Myles had only been able to best
Sapphira one-on-one in sparring a few times; now he could count about
ten of the Knife Guard. He tried again desperately to imagine himself at
the docks, but his nose started to bleed like when he overexerted
himself. Something was blocking him. Luckily, Myles remembered that
he had the invisibility device that Omar had given him. He activated it
and smiled when the guards stopped approaching in shock. He didn't
have time to celebrate, though. In unison the Knife Guards reached up
to touch a button on their helmet visors and all eyes focused on Myles
again.
    He shrugged, tipped his hat, gave the guards a mischievous
wink, and ran for it. The guard closest to him jumped forward putting
his hands flat together in front of him and pointing his toes as if he were
a thrown knife. He sailed through the air towards Myles faster than he
thought possible. The sharp gauntleted hands hit Myles in the shoulder
blade. It was as if he had been sliced by a sword leaving a big gash on his
shoulder. The pain sent a wave of weariness through him. No, I must
keep moving, or I will collapse .
    The fear of being in that cage again sent another surge of
adrenaline through him. Remembering his training with Sapphira, he
knew some of the moves to expect. Every move the guard made was
graceful yet precise. He blocked a few chops and butterfly kicks but
Myles had a hard time blocking full body strikes. For being so thin, the
guard was really hitting with a lot of force. Myles shuddered to think
how many stitches he would need.
    He ducked and rolled out of the way of another full body attack
as the other guards started to surround him. As another came at him,
he grabbed the guard by the feet and thrust him towards three others
knocking them all down. That created a gap for Myles to run through. It
wasn’t in the direction he wanted to go but he had no other choice.
Myles would have thought they would be faster runners because they
were so thin and their fighting style was so fast but he pulled ahead of
the guards out-sprinting them.
    As he surveyed the city for shadows and good places to hide, he
tried not to be taken aback by the super advanced technology. The
island city seemed to have very little foliage. It was made up of metal
and glass. There were domes of glass supported by metal frames and
large curved sky-scrapers that looked like buildings of residence. The
buildings had tracks that led from one building to the next, carrying
glass tubes full of people. There were also flying shuttle craft that
buzzed about the city, but from Myles’ vantage point he could see that
none of them left the city limits.
    The highest building that Myles could see was in the center of
the city. It looked to be made of white sheet metal and glass. It was a
tall cylindrical building that ended in a loop at the top where Myles
could see greenery where he guessed a garden was. Upon the building
was what looked to be a sigil or stately symbol. It was a butterfly with
eyes in its wings. There were people dressed in fine shimmering cloth
like the other noble and Gauntmen wearing tall hats with the butterfly
symbol on them that looked to Myles like priests heading in and out of
the building.
    I bet whoever leads this place lives or works at the top of that
building. Myles turned towards the building