by Ben Hale
A captive.
Chapter 24: Last Resort
"The line has fallen," the president said to Jack. "All units on the east have withdrawn to a safe distance."
"What about the fleet in the gulf?"
The President's expression was pained as he shook his head. "They held out until dusk."
"They saved us all," Jack said, and then closed his eyes. "Launch the nukes."
The president turned away and began to issue the orders. "Notify all nuclear commands, they are cleared to fire. Authorization code is Alpha, Tango, X-ray, seven, nine, one."
One of his men opened the briefcase, and the president placed his hand upon the scanner. He bowed his head as it beeped.
"Firing codes have been sent," Iris said quietly. "I'm ensuring their delivery along with the correct targeting coordinates."
"Prepare the western withdrawal," Jack said to Iris. "As soon as they are clear, fire the second salvo."
Jack didn't know what to feel or think. He just felt numb. The airstrike would create a line of radiation and fire that would slow the Twisted down, but it would require the entire United States complement of nukes. He passed a hand over his face. They had defied Alice and survived the day. Without weapons, manpower, or defenses, they would not last another. Then Gerik raced into the room.
"The dark elves just arrived."
Jack rotated to face him, and Gerik's smile widened. It was the look of a man in despair who caught a glimpse of hope. "The dark elves have joined us. They are assisting with the withdrawal, and have already saved countless teams."
Jack should have been surprised that dark elves even existed, but the emotion did not come. "I will need to be briefed on what they can do," Jack said. Then he turned to Iris and prepared himself for the answer. "What's our casualty count?"
Iris's expression fell. "Forty million dead or missing. Twice that are injured."
The words came like a hammer blow, and the blood drained from Jack's face. The casualty list from the withdrawing forces defied belief, and yet he could not doubt them. The combined forces of Earth had guarded over three thousand miles. Half of their force had been injured or killed in a single day.
New York may have been the largest breach, but it had not been alone. Already the entire eastern front was retreating to the barrier at the Stacks. Construction crews had been working to frantically finish bunkers and barricades. He turned to the president and Gerik.
"High Chancellor, make sure the dark elves don’t get caught in the blast radius. Mr. President, fire the second salvo as soon as the western line is clear."
"I never thought I would order our nukes to be used on our own soil." The president's voice echoed hollow.
"We have no choice," Jack replied. "It will slow them down enough that we can regroup."
"How long until they reach the Stacks?" the president asked.
"Our forces will be in position shortly after midnight," Jack replied. "I expect the Dark to reach it by morning."
The president took a step closer. "How long can we last?" he asked quietly.
"We spent three weeks preparing the coastal barrier, and we held out for twelve hours." Jack's voice was somber. "By the time the battle starts again the Dark will surround us, and our fortifications will be far weaker." He turned to face him. "Three hours . . . at best."
After a moment the president asked, "Why did Alice wait to send in her generals? Both clearly have the power to breach our defenses."
"She doesn't want to risk losing them," Jack replied. "Intel is fairly certain that her two generals control the Twisted when they are outside the Dark. Losing Ducalik or the Aspect would be catastrophic to her."
"But even the Halo couldn't harm the Aspect."
"Everything has a weakness."
He'd learned that lesson from years as a soldier and an intelligence officer, but for the first time he felt a sliver of doubt. Their foe had the magic of luck and commanded a force thousands of times their own. If that wasn't enough her two generals were almost as powerful as she was. If they had a weakness, he did not know how to exploit it.
"We have until morning, gentlemen." He raised his voice so every general could hear him. "Make sure every unit gets into place, and put everything we have into strengthening the secondary line. We have nine hours before we make our last stand."
He paused, and his gaze swept the room. Generals from all the nations looked at him with fear in their eyes. To withdraw meant they had lost, and they knew it. His throat tightening at what he was about to say, Jack forced the words out.
"We will be surrounded, and much of our force is gone. We have nowhere else to go, so inform your combat troops to rest as much as possible."
The generals turned to pass on the orders, and Jack went back to looking at the map. The eastern edge of the map was already darkening. Dragged by the billions of Twisted, the Dark had covered everything to the north, and would soon seal off the south. Then they would be in a rapidly shrinking hole of light.
He closed his eyes, his heart yearning for news from Tess. The weight of the clock surpassed even that of those who had died. If Tess failed, those who lived through tomorrow would be slaves to Alice. Freedom on Earth would end.
Turning on his heel, he strode from the room. The moment he entered his office he closed the door and slid into the chair at his desk. Numb, he stared at the wall until the door opened. Forcing an alert expression, he turned to find his wife closing the door with a foot. In her hands were two plates of food.
"You need to eat," Kate said.
"I don't think food is going to help me," he said, but accepted the plate she offered him. She took the seat opposite him.
"How bad is it?"
He met her gaze. "I just ordered nuclear airstrikes across the United States."
She winced. "Want to tell me why?"
"The radiation will feed the Dark, but the Twisted will have to advance through it. It will slow them down a few hours." He passed a hand over his face, fighting the cyclone of emotions. "We lasted twelve hours on the front line, but it cost forty million lives to do it. We might have been able to last longer except for Alice's generals. The Aspect of Justice decimated New York City in a matter of minutes. Ducalik forced Breaker to kill his own men, and you know how strong he is."
"So what now?" Kate's voice remained quiet.
He took an apple from his plate and examined the skin as if it contained the answers he sought. He did not feel hungry, but took a bite anyway. The sweet texture of the fruit reminded him of life before the Dark, and his heart constricted. Would apple trees even exist anymore?
"I don't know." He nearly choked on the words. "We have a few hours of respite while our forces withdraw. After that . . ." He shrugged in defeat.
"I'm proud of you."
The simple statement shocked him. "How can you say that?" he demanded.
"Alice said we would surrender by sunset. The sun is setting now, and I call that a victory. I know you will find a way to endure."
Jack couldn't help it, he laughed. Her words were so absurd and yet said with such earnestness that it was evident she believed them. Kate merely smiled.
"You don't believe me?"
"I haven't told you the worst of it."
"So tell me."
"It took everything we had to build the coastal barricades and organize units to man them. The second line is not yet finished, and after our losses there's no way we could fill it anyway. Texas is littered with holes. If I had any more nukes I would use them."
"So call on the mages."
"What can they do? Burn Colorado? Or Texas?"
"Why not?" Kate asked. "They've proven resourceful before. Tess caused a volcano to erupt, and Hawk was just as powerful."
He sat back into his chair. "I don't know how much they can do. They've lost just as much as we have. Breaker just informed me that a quarter of the entire mage community has been killed. What would you have me do?"
"You're the
brilliant one," she said with a smile. "I'm just a shooter."
Jack let out a slow breath. "I don't think I can do this, Kate."
She got up and came around the desk, dragging her chair. Placing it next to his, she sat and took his hands.
"You don't have to win," she said quietly. "That's our daughter's role. You just need to hold your ground."
He looked to her. "What if I can't?"
"Do you doubt Tess?"
"Of course not."
"Do you doubt me?"
He frowned. "I know better than that."
She flashed a smile at his tone. "We feel the same about you. I know you can do this. As much as Tess was born to be the oracle, you were born to do this."
"What do you mean?"
Kate sighed and leaned away. "When we met, you were on the fast track to being the Secretary of Defense. Then we got married, and you sidelined your career so you could focus on our little family."
"You gave up being a marine," he pointed out. "And you always said it was your second love. Was it worth it to change diapers and teach the second grade?"
She laughed easily. "Do you remember how Tess used to hide broccoli in her clothes so she wouldn't have to eat it? Or how she would track mud into the house and then paint with it? I remember wondering where her streak of willful disobedience had come from."
"She wasn't our daughter," Jack said quietly.
"No," Kate said, her voice just as sober, "she wasn't—but she did become ours."
"What are you saying?" Jack asked.
"We raised her to be our daughter, Jack, and she knows how much we love her—and how much we sacrificed for her. We gave up our futures for Tess," Kate said. "Now our futures are being thrust upon us."
He sighed, and murmured, "I'd never be anything without you."
"So find a way to hold out," she said. "I know you can, just as I know that Tess can end it."
They looked up as the door opened.
"I'm sorry, Jack," Iris said, "but you need to see this."
Jack nodded, and they returned to the map room. Instead of standing at their stations, everyone in the room stood in front of the main techno wall. Jack strode to join them, but it took a moment for him to recognize what they were looking at. Then his blood ran cold.
The image was of South America—or what was left of it. Instead of vast jungles, forests, and countries, the image displayed a single circle of land. The Dark had swallowed everything for hundreds of miles, leaving only a fraction of the continent free. A smattering of whispers seeped from the crowd of generals.
"The Dark stopped advancing."
"They must have surrendered."
"How many do you think died?"
As if the last statement was heard, a line of text appeared on the screen.
A hundred million died before they accepted their fate. How many will perish until you accept yours?
The words drew a collective gasp as everyone realized who was speaking. Jack took a quick step to the front before anything else could undermine them.
"Why are we looking at this?" he demanded.
Iris didn't take her eyes from the screen. "Someone connected the threads to an auren satellite. The image just appeared."
Jack's lips tightened and he made a cutting motion to Iris. Her eyes wide, she did as he requested. As the screen died he turned to the group. He made a mental note to address their security and then spoke to the group.
"She wants us to give up," Jack said. "She wants us to be afraid."
"We should surrender," someone called, and the comment elicited a whisper.
"Before it's too late."
"You will be slaves." Jack bit each word off. "Or you will be dead. Do not forget what happens if we give in to Alice's demands. The Dark will remain at our feet, and it will kill us if we intend to break her laws."
His challenging gaze swept the crowd, and many eyes turned to avoid it. Jack knew that many—if not all—came from governments filled with corruption. They needed to remember that if they surrendered, they were just as likely to be killed.
"We have ten hours until the battle starts again," he said. "Make sure we're ready. A lot of lives depend on us."
Murmuring to themselves, the crowd of generals and aides dispersed. When they were gone he turned to his wife. Her expression rigid, she continued to look at the dark screen.
"Thanks for dinner," he said, but she did not respond to his attempt at humor.
"I need to go."
"I thought your shift didn't start for another hour."
"It doesn't," she said, "but there's something I have to do."
He frowned at the tension in her tone, but nodded. "Be safe."
"I will," she said.
Jack watched her go, concerned. Her shift in attitude could be explained by the intrusion from Alice, and yet he sensed something more. He'd known his wife for many years but had rarely witnessed fear on her features. Then he recalled that she was never afraid for herself.
She was afraid for him.
Chapter 25: A Daughter Grown
Encased in a goliath charm, Breaker anchored the line on the beach in California. After twelve hours of combat his arms felt like anchors, and only his will kept him fighting. In spite of the losses, Breaker's remaining men continued to fight on the threshold of the water.
Six inches of solid stone covered every inch of his body. Like a rock giant of old, he reached the first fiend and crushed it. Others turned on him, but their claws and fangs could not penetrate his scratched and dented armor. Any that drew near were left bloodied and broken.
"For the Prime!" Ivan bellowed, and the other mage soldiers echoed the battle cry.
Breaker recognized the call as an attempt to rally the flagging strength of the soldiers around him. The sun had set against the Dark hours ago, and each passing minute the darkness deepened.
Wave upon wave of Twisted had crashed against their defenses, only to be slaughtered by Breaker's handpicked force. Forty thousand aurens and mages had died guarding this single break in the cliffs.
In spite of the casualties, Breaker held a grim smile on his face as he fought. As if Ducalik had taken their resistance as a personal affront, the Twisted came at four times the normal density. Breaker could almost feel Ducalik's anger as they continued to hold their ground. The Twisted still far outnumbered them, but they were losing the elements that made them strong.
Throughout the day Breaker had noticed a decline in the number of greater fiends. In the beginning they had been thrown at Breaker's army without regard for their numbers. Now only a handful of Twisted tigers or lions had appeared. Every passing moment Breaker drew strength from the Dark's failure—yet dreaded Ducalik's return. Discarding the brutal memory of their encounter, Breaker crushed a pair of Twisted and charged a knot nearby.
The Twisted poured from the Dark in another surge, attempting once again to break them. Weary battlemages and soldiers called on their magic and struck back. Wolves of fire knifed through the dark creatures, tearing them down and incinerating their prey. Piercing resonak curses shattered blood and bone alike, while water mages used the ocean itself against their foes.
Water hydras climbed out of the ocean and sent blasts of concentrated water at the line of black creatures. They froze the Twisted where they stood, creating crowds of ice encrusted creatures. One by one they shattered as auren snipers targeted them, and the frozen shards of their bodies floated on the incoming tide.
Flyers soared on air boards above. In tight formations they assaulted the swarms of screeching bats that appeared. Gravity blades, blasts of fire, and tornado hexes tore into the flying creatures, sending their bodies splashing into the surf below. Bats dived for the flyers, attempting to tear them apart with their oversized fangs. Few attempts got past the repelling cloaks the flyers wore.
Breaker caught a glimpse of Shorn. Holding the right wing of a quartet, he cast curses like a veteran, protecting his team and killing the enemy. A swarm cam
e for them, but they banked together and cast a combined cyclone hex that ripped through the swarm. In spite of himself, Breaker's respect for the boy rose. Then a Twisted drew his attention.
Breaker bared his teeth and caught it trying to sneak past him. Lifting it high with one hand, he crushed its skull with the other. Then he launched the corpse into the next charging at him. They went down in a heap, and a nearby flyer blasted them both with fire.
Breaker released a bellow of triumph, galvanizing his diminished company into action once more. He sensed their despair and mounting fatigue and willed them to continue fighting. Then his nexus charm activated and the order to retreat came.
"Lance," he barked, "get things into motion. We've got twenty minutes before this beach is hit by an auren missile."
Lance dodged to the left flank while Breaker moved to the right. The order to retreat spread fast, and the line of mages began to withdraw. His gaze swept the distinct units, searching for any hint of them breaking.
The flyers had lost half their number but still managed to keep the swarms of bats from reaching those on the ground. The fire mages cast a series of fire golems to take the brunt of the attack from the horde, allowing the rest of the ground force to retreat. Next to them, the water mages called forth torrents of water and walls of frozen aquaglass. Then Breaker spotted his daughter.
Riding a personal wave, Rox darted between Twisted like they were standing still. Needle charms flew from her nimble fingers, taking them down before they'd even registered her presence.
His anger flared at her disobedience, but it mingled with a sudden burst of pride. He'd made certain she had orders to remain at the rear of the conflict, yet she had somehow joined the forefront of the battle. The water mage unit had suffered severe losses throughout the afternoon, and he guessed she had convinced her commanding officer to use her. With her hair billowing behind her and magic flying from her fingers, the girl reminded Breaker of Rivena the day he'd met her.
"Lance," he barked into the nexus charm, "keep them moving."
