Editing City Series:Volume6a Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

Berger tackled Hazel out of the way of an explosion that was really more just a shockwave and noise and she crashed into the wall next to the bed.

“Ow!”

A portion of the wall opened like a narrow door to swallow her up just before the underground room truly exploded and collapsed. The noise seemed to push her on through the darkness and she reached out her hands in a panic. They found a cold mossy wall on either side of her.

…''A passageway?

Then she began running as if pushed on by the blast behind her.

“!”

An oddly warm wind caught up to her and she had trouble breathing from the dust and smoke.

She shut her eyes and kept running forward and up until she crashed into a solid board.

“––––!?”

The impact made an impressive noise and she felt excruciating pain, but she also felt the wind and heard a powdery sound similar to crumbling stone.

She rubbed her aching forehead and opened her eyes to see light. The darkness ahead of her was cut away by an opening as wide as the passageway and nearly as tall as her. There was a slight space and then a wall beyond that.

This led outside.

She stepped out to find a small stream of water running along the wall at her feet.

“This leads into the side of a ditch. Watch out or you’ll hit your head.”

“A little late for that warning. And you should have told me in advance if there was a secret exit.”

She had her say when she heard Berger’s voice behind her, but she squared her shoulders and did not turn around to face him.

She stepped out into the ditch. It was also used as a waterway, so it was a yard across and about two yards tall. The water level was low, so it did not even make it up past the bottom of her sandals.

She looked up to see the night sky between the two sides of the ditch.

She sighed and looked back down.

…''This has not been my day.

“He even saw me naked…”

“Hey, don’t just bring that up out of the blue. It’s not like being seen harmed you in any way, so don’t cry.”

“I-I’m not crying.”

“Good, good. If you can snap back at me, then you’re doing just fine. Now, take a closer look at the sky.”

Berger stepped out of the hole behind her and she looked up again.

She could see the narrow strip of the night sky restricted by the sides of the ditch.

When she did take a closer look, she noticed the sky was tinged faintly blue. The moon was out and it was nearly full.

She bristled when she realized that.

“The moonlight is said to be the source of a Heidengeist’s power. Gods and demons are equal in its shine.”

His voice rang horribly cold in the air and she reflexively felt a chill.

She held her shoulders and looked his way to see him standing in the moonlight with that long box under his arm. The moonlight cast some bluish shadows across his face, but there was nothing there to make her feel chilled.

…''What a strange person.

He pointed up with a carefree expression that did not seem aware of her thoughts.

“This isn’t a great place for a chat, so let’s head out to the road. We have much to discuss, and…”

With the box under one arm, he placed the other hand on the road above and pulled himself up. Hazel was left speechless by the nimble action, but then she came back to her senses.

She rolled up her large wide sleeves and placed both hands on the unseen road above the side of the ditch.

“Um, you could lend me a hand, you know?”

She lifted herself up much like doing a pull-up and sat down on the ground.

The chilly winter wind could reach her now that she was in a wide open space. She recognized where she was. This was where Bergstrasse ran in front of a cemetery in southern Berlin. She could see fire and smoke beyond the row of homes here.

…''Is that from the explosion?

Her thoughts were cut off by a deep voice she did not recognize.

“You seem to enjoy creating unnecessary excitement, Dog Berger.”

She looked up in honest surprise and saw Berger’s back in front of her.

Beyond him, she saw a group of people illuminated from behind by the fire.