by Thomas Fay
‘We’ve got a hull rupture in the cargo area. Cassandra, can you find us somewhere to land?’ Vorn said.
‘Give me a moment,’ the human-form Elemental replied. Scrolling through a series of data on a side display unit, she said. ‘There. Large landing pad, directly in front of us. Can you make it?’
‘Only one way to find out.’
Grabbing the controls, Vorn accelerated forward. The ship responded despite the damage it had sustained. As they moved past a particularly tall jade coloured glass structure, another wave of ships appeared in front of them. Hovering in mid-air, they opened fire. A series of projectiles accelerated towards them at frightening speed. Striking the Valiant Crusader, they penetrated its shield and struck the hull beneath. The force of the impacts sent them sprawling.
Struggling to his feet, Izikiel was vaguely aware of a series of persistent alarms blaring throughout the ship. Almost all of the red icons had stopped blinking and turned black. He watched as Vorn and Cassandra desperately attempted to manoeuvre the heavily damaged ship to the ground.
‘Oh no...’ Izikiel whispered.
The interceptors released another salvo of projectiles. Izikiel instinctively knew that they wouldn’t survive one more direct hit.
‘Cassandra, drop us to the ground now!’ Vorn shouted.
‘I’m trying but it’s not responding. I can’t -’
Izikiel watched the projectiles expand in the view screen. There were so many of them. Despite Cassandra’s warning, he reached out with his mind. Just as he was about to destroy the projectiles, a single word resonated in his mind and everything changed.
(‘Porro’)
SEVENTY THREE
Izikiel stared at the view screen unable to comprehend what he was seeing. A moment ago, it had shown a futuristic metropolis, its metal and glass structures gleaming in the light of Tellus’ sun. There had been thousands of ships and people moving throughout the city and air above. The city had stood as a true testament to the golden age of humanity.
Now, the view screen showed a bleak and desolate landscape. The skeletal remains of buildings, with blackened and cracked support beams, clawed at the sky. There was no sign of people or vehicles of any kind. It was also dark as if the sun had been eclipsed by a veil. This was a dead world, one which was unlikely to support any life.
‘Where are we?’ he whispered.
‘It looks like Tellus but...’ Vorn began just as the ship lurched violently. The few remaining icons began to glow red as the alarms screamed throughout the ship.
‘Status?’ he asked.
‘Not good. We’ve lost about ninety percent of our thrusters and the quantum-helix drive is damaged,’ Cassandra said as she read the display. ‘We’ve also got a dozen holes in the outer hull.’
‘Damn it! We’re dropping like a rock. Find me a place to set down.’
‘I’m having difficulty scanning the surface. For some reason the sensors are unable to get an accurate reading.’
The ship dropped sharply again as the view screen showed them getting closer to the devastated remains of a twin tower. Gigantic support beams loomed dangerously close to them.
‘Vorn!’ Izikiel shouted.
‘I’m working on it!’ the captain yelled back as he fought desperately to stabilise the ship. ‘Cassandra, give me something.’
‘I’m sorry, the sensors are useless.’
‘Alright, we’ll have to land blind then,’ Vorn said. ‘Everyone, grab onto something as this is going to be very rough!’
Izikiel lay back on his acceleration couch as the ship again dropped sharply. This time it continued to fall as the view screen showed a series of blackened building remains directly in front of them. Izikiel felt his stomach rise up as the world spun before his eyes. Forcing himself to concentrate, he reached out with his mind.
Nothing happened. Frowning, he attempted to reach out again. This time, he felt the faintest spark of light at the edge of his expanded awareness. He held onto it, focusing his entire attention on it. The ship continued to shake violently around him but Izikiel didn’t even feel it as he brought his entire being to bear on that tiny ray of hope. As he concentrated, Izikiel felt the familiar touch of the Eternal Flame within him. It was faint, a barely perceptible increase in temperature. He was having great difficulty holding onto it. He realised that something was very wrong.
Finally, the heat expanded and he found himself floating outside the ship. Looking around, Izikiel was stunned by what he saw. The incredible metropolis that he had witnessed in the past had been reduced to ashes. The blackened and charred remains of buildings, parks and vehicles were scattered as far as he could see. A dense veil of darkness hovered over everything. Looking up, he could not find the sun. All that remained was a faint sliver of light seeping through the darkness.
Turning his attention back towards the ship, he saw that it was barely holding in the air. It continued its destabilised dive towards the ground. Plumes of white gas vented from a dozen points around the hull as the engines sputtered intermittently. With a sinking feeling, Izikiel realised that they had run out of time.
He expanded his will further. Again, he felt only the faintest hint of warmth. It was like a whisper carried on a gale force wind. Concentrating even harder, he felt something reaching out towards him in turn.
(‘Who are you?’) a hollow voice spoke directly into his mind. It too was faint, barely perceptible. Yet there was something strangely familiar about it.
(‘I am Izikiel, disciple of the Eternal Flame.’)
(‘Izikiel? You are here? Then there is still hope.’)
Looking out across the landscape, there was only one question on Izikiel’s mind.
(‘What happened here?’)
(‘The Void Lords returned to Tellus. They defeated the true believers and destroyed what was left of humanity. Their victory complete, the Void eclipsed the Galaxy. But there is no time. You must use the power Izikiel, save yourself and those with you. Then there may still be hope.’) Izikiel felt the warmth increasing within him to a level where he knew there was enough for him to do what he had to. Looking back at the ship, he thought for a moment. Recalling all the times that he had used the power of the Eternal Flame, he realised this was going to be the hardest. Pointing at the building remains in front of him, he unleashed the power.
(‘Aduro’) Blue sheets of flame exploded against the blackened remains melting them down. Within seconds, a pool of black metal had formed. It bubbled and flowed across the scarred ground. Thinking back to his time on the glacial world of Aurora, Izikiel transformed the heat into a chilling cold.
(‘Algor’) White sheets of ice erupted from his outstretched hands and enveloped the lake of molten metal. Clouds of steam billowed upwards as the metal cooled rapidly, melting the ice in the process. Pulling back, Izikiel felt his strength waver as his connection to the Eternal Flame grew weaker. Forcing himself through it, he uttered a final word.
(‘Aquilo’) Taking control of the air and steam, Izikiel moulded it around the ship. As the Valiant Crusader continued its rapid descent, the air around it became thicker. Then it hardened. Izikiel felt a blinding flash of pain explode across his vision as he exerted himself to breaking point. Holding onto the rapidly fading warmth, Izikiel lowered the ship to the frozen lake of metal. The moment the metallic hull touched the ice, he let go.
The world spun before his eyes as he fell off the acceleration couch. He landed face first on the floor. He could taste blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth as patches of black colour swam before his eyes.
‘Izikiel!’ Te’Anne cried out.
He felt a pair of hands turning him over. Looking up, all he could see were a series of swirling shapes of different colours.
‘Are you alright?’ Vorn asked.
Slowly, the shapes stopped moving and solidified into the faces of Te’Anne and Vorn looking down at him in concern.
‘I’ll be ok,’ he replied.
Coughi
ng several times, he wiped the blood away from his mouth. Sitting up with their help, he looked around. The control room appeared to be intact. There were a few small sparks here and there but no major damage. Then his gaze fell on Cassandra. The human-form Elemental stood motionless, staring at the view screen.
‘Cassandra? What is it?’ he asked.
She didn’t reply. He was about to repeat his question when a cold chill passed through his entire body. The scene outside showed the blackened remains of several skyscrapers. Pieces of stone, metal and concrete rubble were scattered throughout the remains. But that was not what drew his attention.
Moving between the remains of the once great city were dozens of shadowy figures. Izikiel could sense what they were without asking.
‘We’re surrounded,’ he said.
SEVENTY FOUR
The Valiant Crusader shuddered one final time before its systems shut down completely. The last few red icons stopped blinking and the air became stale. The ship was as dead as the world on which it had come to rest. No, not dead Izikiel thought with a bitter sense of irony. It was crawling with hundreds of void spawn. He could sense the dark creatures gravitating towards them. Watching the view screen, he realised that their luck had finally run out. They were stranded on what was now the domain of the Void.
‘What is it?’ Te’Anne asked.
Izikiel felt her arm on his shoulder as he continued to stare at the approaching void spawn. There were even more of them now, crawling over the remains of the ruined skyscrapers. Izikiel pointed at the view screen.
‘Beloved Serafine,’ Te’Anne whispered.
Her hand closed tightly around his. He reached over and put his arm around her shoulders. He felt the warmth flowing between them. It was a small comfort given their situation.
‘I don’t see anything,’ Vorn said.
Izikiel pointed once more.
‘I still can’t...wait, I can feel them. There are hundreds of them!’
Izikiel was slightly surprised at Vorn’s ability to perceive the void spawn. His powers as a true believer were increasing rapidly. It was a shame that he’d never get to develop them to their full potential. Izikiel turned towards the human-form Elemental.
‘Is there anything you can do?’ he asked in a solemn tone.
Cassandra slowly turned her head to look at him. Her eyes burned with an intermittent fire as she looked at him.
‘I can fight them,’ she replied. ‘Although I fear that the power of the Eternal Flame grows fainter with every passing moment.’
‘I’ve sensed it too. We will not last long against so many.’
‘No. But at least the power of the Flame will shine brightly one last time before this world falls into the Void.’
‘Let’s get to it then,’ Jonas said.
The two ex-security officers stood at the rear of the control room. Both wore their full body armour and hefted double barrelled energy weapons.
‘Glad to see you two made it,’ Izikiel said.
‘Barely,’ Xavier replied. ‘That has got to be the roughest landing I’ve ever experienced.’
Izikiel nodded.
‘I hate to think of this ship becoming a derelict on this dark world,’ Vorn said. ‘It’s been my home for the past ten years and seen me through a lot. The thought of those things crawling all over it just doesn’t seem right.’
Xavier walked over and placed his armoured hand on the captain’s shoulder.
‘That won’t happen. Jonas and I have rigged the nuclear flare bombs to explode all at once. That should be powerful enough to destroy the ship and most of what remains of this city.’
‘Thank you,’ Vorn said.
They moved silently out of the control room. Passing through the main chamber, Izikiel caught a glimpse of a void spawn through the aft view port. It reminded him of the fall of New Babylon. He had vowed to avenge the deaths of its citizens. Now it seemed that he would end his days on a strange planet far in the future. Talk about the path less travelled, he thought.
Reaching the rear hatch, Vorn opened it. A blast of icy cold air blew across Izikiel’s skin. He barely felt it as he surveyed the devastated landscape. The frozen landing pad that he had created stretched out towards a series of support beams and broken pieces of concrete. Charred stumps, the remains of great trees, were arranged in neat rows were a park had once stood.
Dozens of black humanoid shapes were arrayed around the ship in a roughly circular pattern. Izikiel could sense their wills encroaching on his. He could feel the dark veil materialising around them. He turned towards the others. There was nothing left to say. They all knew how this would end.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
Jonas and Xavier lowered their dark visors as their weapons glowed with pent up energy. Te’Anne and Vorn both drew twin hand weapons as Cassandra’s eyes erupted in flame. The little girl stood behind them, watching with a strangely expectant look in her eyes.
‘Now!’
As one they moved out of the ship. Izikiel reached out towards the Eternal Flame just as the void spawn rushed towards them. He could feel Cassandra channelling its energy as sheets of orange flame peeled out from her body. Dozens of dark blue energy blasts struck the line of void spawn as the others opened fire. Izikiel raised his arms.
‘Aduro’
Waves of blue flame tore into the void spawn forcing them back. Then another wave appeared. And another. Hundreds upon hundreds of dark oily shapes clawed across each other to get to them.
They began to fall backwards towards the ship. Still the void spawn continued their advance. They began to rush forward. Izikiel could see their glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth. Stepping back inside the ship, they continued firing. Their combined efforts were having little effect now as the mass of void spawn was so great.
Then the dark veil materialised around them. The energy blasts became ineffective and Izikiel was unable to maintain his connection to the Eternal Flame. Slowly, the blue flame died down as he turned to Xavier. The large man nodded as he pulled out a hand held device.
‘Do it.’
Xavier pressed the button. For an instant everything stood still. Then the nuclear flare bombs, the most powerful weapons ever created by mankind, exploded. Izikiel felt the extreme heat building all around him. He saw the little girl smile. Then a single word resonated in his mind and everything changed.
(‘Antequam’)
SEVENTY FIVE
Blinking, Izikiel looked up at the sun. It shone with a bright yellow light through layers of white clouds floating in a sea of blue sky. Gleaming towers of metal and glass stretched up into the sky. Neatly trimmed trees and shrubs grew all around them. People, hundreds and thousands of people, moved throughout the city as air borne vessels flew above them. The air was warm and fresh.
‘What the...? What happened?’ Jonas asked.
His body armour glinted with a silver radiance making him appear like a knight from ancient fables.
‘We’ve travelled back in time again,’ Izikiel replied.
‘How can you be so sure?’
Pointing up at the sky, he replied, ‘Because those are the same interceptors that shot us down.’
‘Oh, right.’
A dozen of the small interceptor craft hovered in front of them. Dipping forward, their nose sections folded down and they descended to the ground. The moment they came to rest, their hatches peeled open and a swarm of armed soldiers came racing towards them. Their dark blue armour had a series of black attachments which Izikiel guessed were weapons. As they got within a dozen paces of them, the soldiers stopped and drew those weapons. Aiming directly at them, they waited.
After a moment of silence, one of the Tellusian military personnel stepped forward. They took off their composite helmet revealing long black hair and a youthful face. The woman’s violet eyes radiated authority as she spoke.
‘I am commander Alesia of the Tellusian planetary defence forces. Drop your weapons.’
&nb
sp; Jonas turned to the others with a grin on his face.
‘Well I for one think we should do what she says.’
‘I tend to agree with you there,’ Xavier said.
Turning to Vorn, Izikiel whispered, ‘What are they likely to do with us?’
‘I’m not sure but I’d say given all the damage we caused in orbit they’ll take us directly to the Matriarch,’ the ship captain replied. ‘Or they could just lock us away in some holding cell indefinitely. Even odds, I’d say.’
‘That’s comforting,’ Izikiel said. Turning to the dark haired commander, he said, ‘We surrender under one condition.’
‘You are in no position to negotiate,’ the commander replied.
‘You’ve seen what our weapons are capable of. If you do not take us to see the Matriarch then we will detonate the rest of them here on the ground.’
The commander seemed to consider her options for a moment.
‘Alright, I accept the terms of your surrender. We will take you to the Matriarch.’
The Tellusian soldiers moved forward and disarmed them. Escorting them out of the ship, they were led across the plaza towards a nearby landing pad. Glancing backwards, Izikiel saw that the Valiant Crusader was sitting in the middle of a large open air plaza. The ship appeared to be in poor shape. Its hull showed numerous signs of blast and impact damage, while the forward section was covered in black dust. He still could not fully comprehend how they had survived and found themselves in the past once more. There was one thing that was becoming apparent to him. Whoever was controlling their movements through time was deliberately keeping them from the present.
‘Who is this Matriarch?’ Te’Anne asked as they were ushered onto the landing platform.
‘The Matriarch was the head of the most powerful family on Tellus. The Calligrates family ruled over Tellus for over two millennia, up to the encounter with the Void Lords. Even in our time their descendants still retain many positions of authority within the city,’ Vorn explained.
