Night Ride
Once again she was flying through the night with her Skybike. It was one of the newest hovering motorbikes on the market. Usually she would not be allowed to take it on a ride, but this time it was important. She was following a limousine. One of many. Four limousines to be exact. All four were on the road right now. Where the other limousines were, were not of any interest to her. The only thing she was looking forward to, was to drive around the city and to feel the wind on her face.
“Come on, you are driving like a lunatic. Be more careful! I could fall out of your pocket.” Kiara complaint.
Kiara was looking out of a pocket. All you could see was a head of a little mouse.
“I am careful. But the driver of the limousine is in a hurry. So, go and complaint to him. Just get back into the pocket where you are save. Oh and before I forget as a mouse you can look so cute.” Aurora was grinning at Kiara.
Kiara was a shapeshifter. She was an animal which could change her appearance. The best as per Aurora was that she was able to speak. Once a shapeshifter has found a human with whom they want to live, they even can speak through a mindlink. That was still something Aurora and Kiara use rarely. For Aurora it was amazing that Kiara had choosen her to be her human. That helped her to not feel so lonely most of the times.
“How much longer do we need to be driving around in circles?” Kiara asked.
“If I would know. I would prefer to drive directly to school. But you heard Arthur.”
Aurora remembered vividly how nervous he was before they took off. He, the giant was walking up and down in front of her. His hand was going through his hair constantly. He knows her since she was a little kid which was why he was so concerned. Since then she was always getting into trouble.
“So Pharao is assuming that you will be in one of the four limousine …”
“So therefore I am driving on one of the Skybikes, following one of the limousine. I will be acting normal like all the other security. I will adapt to them. And we all hope I will be arriving in one piece at school.” Aurora was bored and interrupted Arthur.
“This is not a game Aurora. This is your life. Are we clear?”
Aurora was saluting “Yes Sir, Corporal Keene Sir.”
Arthur was groaning and his hand flew to his face. Rubbing his chin. He was taking a deep breath to say something, but Aurora was interrupting him again before he was able to speak.
“Arthur, you have talked me through the plan four times. I really do not need to hear it a fifth time. I will be careful that Pharao will not see through it. I am save in school. Grandpa has one of the best security systems known to man kind. As long as Pharao has not turned out to be the best hacker of the world, I will be at the savest place ever. And the best is, you can still be my bodyguard, if you wish.” She was grinning from ear to ear at him, as if this night was not dangerous at all.
He sighed “Ok, you will manage. And I will be with you the whole time, following the same Limousine. And just to be clear, to be your Bodyguard is not a walk in the park. Why do you have to be Princess Aurora from Elmina? Couldn’t you have just been a daughter from a millionaire? You wouldn’t be as exhausting as you are! I guess I have to try to get used to it, even if you can be a little bitch some days.” With a big grin he turned around and left her speechless but with a little smile too.
A little later the trip started as planned.
“Hey you are hurting me. Why are you biting me?” Aurora complained looking at her mouse “What is going on?”
“Did you look on the road in a while? We have lost the Limousine! Great Aurora! Really great! No we are driving through the middle of the night. Do you even know how to get to school?”
“Lets frist try to get in touch with Arthur and if not I can still turn on the GPS. Ok?”
“Sounds good.”
“Arthur? Arthur can you hear me?” but the only thing was white noise through the intercom “That is weird. We should be able to speak to him. They usually can detect each other within a radius of 100 km. Shit.”
“Did you consider that this is Pharaos doing?”
“This asshole, if …”
“I think that is not enough.”
“I think we have other problems right now then to discuss the curse word which is best to describe him.”
Just in this moment she had to break harshly and the bike was gliding a few meters more before it finally came to a full stop.
“Oh for gods sake Aurora, do you really had…”
“Stop it Kiara, if you would have fallen out you could have changed into something that can fly. So stop complaining. I cannot activate the GPS on full speed.“
Aurora was just about to activate the GPS, when a Skybike was passing her and she heard a very familiar voice.
“Aurora? Aurora where are you? For Fuck sake Aurora, I should have …” the the intercom stopped and she could only hear white noise again.
She started the Skybike right away and followed the other one knowing that this must have been Arthur.
“Hopefully I can catch up with him.”
“Probably best if you constantly speak into the intercom, so he can hear you if he is close?” Kiara suggested.
“Oh my god and this is a suggestion coming from your lips! Usually I should be quiet when things like this are happening and now you are telling me I should be talking all the time?”
“Just start talking into the intercom!” she groaned.
“Hey Arthur, here is your most favourite job in all the world. Did you even noticed that you have gained a few pounds in the last couple years? I thought you should know that you are getting closer and closer to resemble an elephant. Oh and Arthur, what I always wanted to tell you for a very long time …”
Just in this moment a Skybike driver reached her and was speeding along her. She had a feeling that she knew who this should be but could not be sure.
“Did you swallow your tongue or do you like the rest?”
The Skybike driver was lifting his visor and she could see it was Arthur who looked amused and happy to see her
“Well … I guess … I mean … How should I tell you this actually …”
“Well, we’ll talk about your accusations again later, but I don’t think the idea of talking is actually that bad. But everything else ...” He couldn’t talk any further, because at that moment something exploded in the other part of the city.
“Damn it. We have to hurry.”
Quite unsettled, Aurora asked “What was that? I hope not one of the limousines.”
But when she looked at him, she saw in his gaze that this was the case. Oh my God, people may have died just for her to survive. That’s not fair. Aurora began to tremble.
“So, Aurora, just so you know, Pharao already has taken three limousines down and one is still on the way, and I think he knows you’re not in one of the limousines. So, we’re going straight to your grandfather.”
Then they drove on in silence. In this silence, knowing that three limousines were supposed to be gone, that was unimaginable. But Pharao was a cruel man and he would do anything to get his hands on her and she didn’t even know why.
Something irritated her. She didn’t know what, but then she saw a group in the distance blocking the road. Aurora and Artuhr stepped on the brakes. That’s when she recognized the men in the black suits, and she knew it could only be Pharao’s entourage. But one of the men was moving towards her. The others aimed laser guns at both.
The person stopped and began to speak in a raised voice.
“Hello Princess Aurora. You have little entourage with you. It can’t be that you are left almost unprotected here in the middle of the night. That can be dangerous.”
“Just leave her alone or you’ll have to deal with me.” Arthur barked, but before he could continue, Aurora put her hand on his arm. He looked at her irritated and then she spoke.
“Hello Pharao we have not spoken for a long time. But I have to say what a nice welcome.”
She was thinking about how she and Artuhr could get out of here. Then the solution came to her. Next to Pharao was a small alley and with the skybikes they could easily pass through it. Pharao wouldn’t shoot at them, because he wanted her alive and the massive cars blocking the street right now, wouldn’t get through the alley. But how does she make Artuhr understand her plan? At that moment, Kiara had changed into a snake and was moving over her arm to Artuhr. Luckily, she still had her hand on his arm. She just hoped that Kiara tells him quickly and persuades him to follow along her plan. Now she has to buy time so that she and Artuhr can get ready.
“And how are you doing?” Hopefully he doesn’t notice anything.
“Thank you for asking, excellent actually. How could I be in a bad mood in your company.”
“I wouldn’t be so happy, you don’t know me well enough to know what I’m like.”
“I don’t care, because you’ve been what I’ve been imagining for the last… 2 decades… yes I think I wished for you for over 2 decades. And now you’re here and I’ve got you. How can I feel bad about it.”
“Why did you want me so badly? Surely not just because I’m Princess of Elmina, right? That wouldn’t make sense, because then you could also chase after my sister.”
“No, that’s cute.” He said in a slightly amused tone, “You don’t even know why. Artuhr, I’m disappointed. I thought she knew. So let’s get started. There is a great power, the power of the Ring of Fire ...”
He agreed, she heard Kiara in her thoughts, and she no longer heard what Pharao was saying to her.
So here we go.
She released her hand from him and put it on the steering wheel. Artuhr did the same.
“What are you doing?” Before Pharao knew what was happening to him, she and Artuhr fired up the machines and whizzed past him, but he was fast enough to shoot with his gun. Aurora felt a stinging sensation in her back, but that didn’t matter right now, because she had to go to her grandfather’s school first.
“Follow them. NOW!” he shouted at his men, but by the time the engines were started of the cars, the distance was too great to catch up with Aurora and Arthur.
Artuhr and Aurora drove as if they had been chased by the dogs, but honestly they were. Then Artuhr saw a limousine. It was the last one that had not fallen into Pharao’s hands. It was still a good kilometer to school, but this kilometer was not been handed to them. Pharao pursued them with a helicopter.
They were shot from the helicopter with lasers. He mainly shot at Aurora’s surroundings.
How did this devil know who of the five skybike riders I was?
But that wasn’t so important now. It was more important to arrive at school safely. She would be safe for the time being.
Suddenly one of the Skybike riders was hit and he flew off the bike. The bike slid on its side a few meters further. The issue was that this driver was driving right in front of Aurora. She tried to dodge him, but she didn’t quite succeed. With the rear wheel, she slamed into the broken down Skybike. Her bike began to rotate on its own axis.
“Help, I can’t get the machine under control.”
Frightened, she searched for Artuhr, who flew towards her at that moment and threw his bike against her Skybike. Putting her in a stable position. This is how she managed to get the machine under her control again.
“You can thank me later. And now step on the gas.” Artuhr growled.
With a roaring engine they had made it and she would have liked to see Pharao’s face that she had escaped him. Once again.
But at that moment Pharao swore “We will meet soon again Princess Aurora of Elmina.” And the helicopter turned and flew out into the night.
Aurora enjoyed the short drive through the woods to the main gate of the school. When she arrived, a few people rushed towards her, including her grandfather.
He, at 65, was actually quite young to be a grandfather, but he was. He was tall, had black gray hair, blue eyes that everyone in her family had and he already had wrinkles on his face, but that didn’t change anything about the authority he radiates.
Artuhr was already off the Skybike and on his way to her grandfather.
He was very muscular, had black shaggy hair and dark eyes. At 32, he wasn’t very old for a bodyguard, but Aurora didn’t want someone else, because she had known him since she was little. And despite the eight years of age difference, he was the best and only friend she ever had.
Then the door of the car sprang open and an illusion of her got out of the car. Her grandfather looked around, frowning, causing his wrinkle to deepen even more.
“Where’s Aurora?”
At that moment, she got off the skybike, took off her helmet and her long, fiery red hair poured over the dark blue suit. She beamed at her grandfather from her deep blue eyes and took him in her arms.
“Thank God nothing happened to you.”
“Oh, with that bodyguard,“ pointing to Artuhr, “nothing will happen to me anytime soon.”
She gave her grandfather a kiss and kept smiling at him. He towered over her by almost a head, just like Artuhr.
“You absolutely have to tell me everything and ...”
But Aurora didn’t listen, because she saw someone standing at a window watching her. Who is that, she wondered? But wait, there are moving a few more behind the window. Is she being watched by a mob? But that slowly became irrelevant, because her vision was slowly getting smaller and turning black.
“Grandpa, I can’t tell you this tonight, tomorrow, when I’m rested. Okay?” But before her grandfather could answer, she fainted and luckily was caught in time by Artuhr.
“What is with her Artuhr?” He looked at him with a questioning look.
“I don’t know, sir. Perhaps the night was too much for her, sir. Or ...”
Both were surprised when the mouse Kiara became the panther Kiara, which she prefers anyway.
“She was shot by Pharao and has already lost a lot of blood.”
Kiara looked anxiously at Aurora as far as a panther could look anxiously. Then everything happened very quickly. They immediately took her to her room and they took care of her wound. Kiara watched the whole time that no one hurt Aurora, if she did, she hissed at them.
