“Are you abducting me?”
He laughed through the chaos, "Do you want me to?"
A pulse cannon detonated somewhere deeper inside the Temple. Dust rained from the vaulted ceiling. The rebel pulled me hard against his side just as another group of temple guards surged toward us.
“Move!” someone shouted behind him.
His brethren formed around us instantly, disciplined despite the chaos. Not soldiers exactly. Survivors.
I could see it in the mismatched armor and exhausted eyes. These were people who fought because they had no other choice. The rebel fired twice more with terrifying accuracy before steering me toward the destroyed entrance hall.
“You should probably duck,” he informed me casually.
I opened my mouth to ask why. Then an explosion obliterated the upper balcony above us. I ducked in time. Barely.Crystal shards rained across the chamber while screams echoed behind us.
We ran through the ruined corridor at full speed. Temple alarms shrieked overhead now, bathing the white stone halls in flashing crimson light. More rebels flooded inward while terrified priests fled in the opposite direction.
For the first time in my life, the Temple looked vulnerable. Mortal. The realization sent a sharp thrill through me. The rebel glanced down at me suddenly.
“You’re enjoying this far too much.”
“I really hate this place.”
A startled laugh escaped him before he caught himself. We rounded another corridor hard enough that I nearly slammed into his chest. Outside.
Stars.
I stopped dead for half a heartbeat. The Temple of Ascension rose behind us in shimmering gold and white against the black desert cliffs, beautiful even while partially burning. And waiting beyond the outer gates was a ship. Not a polished Sythari vessel. This thing looked brutal. Scarred metal plating. Heavy weapons mounted along the sides. Engines glowed bright blue beneath the gathering dusk. A rebel ship.
Freedom.
The thought hit me so suddenly it almost hurt. The stranger tugged me forward again. I should have been afraid of him. But I wasn't. I couldn't help but feel that this was all part of a bigger plan and that I was finally going where I was always meant to be. Not in a golden cage waiting to be bred, being forced to share my visions and predict an unpredictable future. No, where I was going, I would be anything but sheltered. I would receive scars like the unknown man next to me sported. My expression would harden like his. I would see and do things I might or might not be proud of, but they would bemychoices.
The Sythari told me I washonored.Revered. That I was someone to beprotected,cherished,and used to their liking. They promised a long, pampered life for as long as I did as they bid and shared my visions with them. Visions that should only belong to me. This man wasn't promising anything, but there was a glint in his eyes that I wanted more than anything else. A glint that said he was proud and free, and that he only lived to make his own choices.
“You coming, Prime Luminae?” He asked.
"Naeris," I corrected.
He grinned. "Naeris. You coming?"
I resisted just enough to make him look at me. “What if I refuse?”
His silver-streaked brow lifted slightly. “You won’t.”
The certainty in his voice startled me.
“Very arrogant.”
“Very observant.”
Blaster fire erupted behind us. Temple guards were pouring out of the shattered entrance now. The rebel swore sharply. Then, without warning, he hauled me fully into his arms.
I yelped. “What are you?—”
“Saving time.” He laughed.
“You could have warned me!”
