“What do you mean gone!?” Johnny demanded. “Did a hotspot hit the city? Are you sending reinforcements? That place is well defended, but it might need–”
“No!” Dane cut Johnny off. “I mean it’s gone, gone. It disappeared. Like someone pulled the curtain away and whoosh, no more city!”
Johnny fell silent, attempting to wrap his head around what had been said. “The city… Disappeared? What did it?”
“You tell me!” Dane snapped. “My scouts reported a blinding light covering every inch of dirt in the area. Then a massive wall of wind supposedly surrounded Flarepoint, keeping all of the civvies inside, and then… nothing. I lost contact, went to go check it out, and bam! No more city. Not even a ruin. Just dirt, rock, and air.” Dane glared at Johnny. “Hey! Are you even listenin’ to me?”
Johnny, however, was lost in thought. He was muttering to himself, “Wall of wind… wall of wind…” The lights came on in Johnny’s head, and he turned to the rest of the group and shouted, “This is it!”
Dane continued yelling at the screen. “Dude, what the hell are you talkin’ about!?”
“We’ve been striking back at the demons, Dane,” Johnny revealed. “And now we’re going after one of the big ones, one of the monsters that’s responsible for hemorrhaging humanity. I think you just gave us the lead that we needed.”
Dane was completely taken back by Johnny’s answer. However, he continued to listen, this time taking notes on his clipboard.
“One of the violent weather patterns,” Johnny began, “has been the massive windstorms we get on a daily basis. We found out that these were not just random, but they were purposefully caused by some of the demons that had found their way to Earth. I’m willing to bet that wind-wall was caused by one of them. Unfortunately, they don’t spend much of their time on our planet. Fortunately, I’ve found a way to get to theirs. Now, we haven’t been able to locate one yet, but I’m willing to bet I can track whatever showed its face at Flarepoint.”
“Can you get the city back?” Dane was furiously writing notes, completely overwhelmed by what he was being told.
Puck stepped forward. “We’ll ask the bastard when we see him.” He turned to Johnny. “You really think you can track the sucker?”
Johnny shrugged. “Probably. Regardless, it’s the first real lead we’ve had in months.” He turned his attention back to the screen. “Dane, we’re going to need some help. By my best guestimate, it’s going to take the four of us to bring down whatever this thing is. I need people to guard our encampment while we hunt our target.”
Dane stopped writing and sighed loudly. “We just lost a city, and the result has been chaos! People are scattered, and I don’t have any men to spare.” He thought long and hard about Johnny’s request. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Whatever you can muster, Dane.” Johnny thanked him. “Is the Flarepoint outpost still there?”
“It was far enough outside the city, so yeah.”
“Good,” Johnny remarked. “Tell them we’re heading over right now.”
“Can do,” Dane responded, and he flipped the switch to cut the transmission off.
Johnny turned to the rest of the group. “I would say grab your gear, but seeing as how we just got back, that’s a moot point.”
The four friends dusted themselves off and prepared for another walk through the portal. Tired or not, this was the first chance they had been given to pursue their main goal. None of them wanted to miss it.
•—•
Dane wasn’t kidding. The Flarepoint outpost was in chaos. The guild members were rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off. It was impossible to tell who was helping refugees, who was packing their bags to leave, and who was running around without a clue. The disappearance of the city had struck terror into the entire organization but being so close to ground zero had made this specific base worse for wear.
Because of the circumstances, it had taken Johnny and Puck an hour to requisition an armored truck to take them to the city of Flarepoint. Johnny’s irritation toward the wasted time was obvious, as he did not want any traces or leads to have time to fade, but it had also given time for the others to prepare themselves for any oncoming dangers. Karrel would not admit to it, but he was thankful for the extra chunk of rest.
One short drive later, the armored vehicle finally arrived at what was supposed to be Flarepoint. Stepping through the sliding doors, Karrel found his feet landing upon the broken asphalt. He looked down. The road ended abruptly. However, it was not broken or decayed. The route simply ended, like that was what had been intended all along. It was as though someone had taken a sharp knife, precisely cut the road in two, and made the other half disappear. In front of him, as far as he could see, there was nothing but rock and dirt. The city had quite literally, disappeared.
Johnny immediately sprang into action. He reached for his belt and grabbed several of the chrome polyhedrons that were attached. Tossing them into the air and fiddling with a few of the lights on his arm, the shapes reorganized themselves into a buzzing cluster of miniature floating spheres. They swiftly dispersed, flying to all parts of where the town should have been, and Johnny began to chase after them.
Karrel, with Angel and Puck behind him, hopped the short few inches down from the street. He inspected what was now the end of the road. Something seemed to be off. There was a slight curvature in where the road was separated. He began to trace the arc, as though it continued past the road. Consistently, through several minutes of inspection, there was a clear separation between the rock and dirt that lay where the city was supposed to be, and the rock and dirt that lay outside the city limits. Karrel thought himself to be crazy, or maybe he was just tired, but the longer he inspected the ground, the more it looked like someone had drawn a gigantic circle around the city limits.
“Angel, can you fly up and look down at the ground for me?” Karrel asked.
Confused, Angel nodded. His body unsolidified as he thrust himself into the air, leaving a trail of black smoke behind him. A minute later, he returned. “There’s a few pipelines and building foundations leftover, but other than that, bubkis.”
“Anything strange?”
Angel thought for a second. “I don’t know if it helps, but the ground seems fairly fresh in and around the city limits. And when I say around, I mean around.” Angel used his finger to draw a large circle in the air.
Though it was nice to hear that Angel was seeing the same thing as him, Karrel still had no idea what it meant. Why would a city disappear, leaving nothing but a crop circle behind?
“Hey guys!” Johnny called out from a distance.
Angel, Karrel, and Puck ran to Johnny’s position. He was standing out in the open, with nothing around him but a group of his flying, metallic MAITs. However, he had an enormous grin wrapped around his face.
“Observe,” Johnny gestured toward thin air. A group of the floating, chrome balls began circling around each other. They all seemed fixated on a specific point in the air and were flying in formation around it. Simultaneously, a few small sparks began to shoot out of the tiny robotic spheres, connecting with each other. Three brief seconds later, a tiny orange flash appeared, and quickly dissipated. The spheres continued to shoot what looked like sparks at the same location, and the orange flash would reappear for a microsecond each time.
Karrel understood what was happening immediately. “Is that– Is that a tear?”
Johnny nodded his head. “The city didn’t disappear… It was stolen.”
Silence encapsulated the group. “You’re kidding…” Puck’s breath escaped him.
“It’s the only reason why I was able to trace this,” Johnny pointed to the orange flashes his MAITs were surrounding. “They opened an orange tear large enough to encapsulate the city. The amount of energy required… It’s unfathomable.”
“Can you track where it was taken?” Angel asked.
“It’s going to take me a day to be su
re,” Johnny began fiddling with his wrist console once more, “but I might be able to salvage their coordinates from the energy remnants. If I can do that, our portal can teleport us to Flarepoint’s position. Unfortunately, I’m willing to bet that’s somewhere on Infernum.” Johnny’s demeanor began to sulk. “All of those people… its improbable they’ll be able to survive a day. But, if one of our targets is still there, then it will have been worth the trip.”
Karrel recognized a problem with Johnny’s plan, and he was afraid to hear his response to it. “Without the stabilizers, won’t the Portal close after a short while?”
Johnny let out a deep breath. “Yes. We’ll only have a few hours. Otherwise, we’re going to have to make it back to our encampment on foot, regardless of how far away we are… I’ll precalculate the coordinates to our encampment before we launch ourselves into Flarepoint. Someone will have to flip the switch, after we leave, and defend the Infernum-side portal, though. Just in case we stir the hornets’ nest.” Johnny rubbed his chin while he thought. “Hopefully, the girls will be willing to help us out with this one, even though it means that they’ll be going home for a short time…”
“Maybe we don’t have to huff it,” Karrel smiled. He pointed to the armored vehicle that had taken them to their current position. “Will that thing fit through the portal?”
Johnny smiled. “I think I can make that work.”
“So, is this it?” Puck asked. “Are we finally going after one of the big ones?”
Johnny nodded his head, continuing to grin. “Prepare yourselves gentleman! We’re in for the fight of our lives.”
Chapter 25
More than they can Chew
Did it really matter what he wore? Karrel riffled through his closet, unable to make a decision. Krystalyn had compiled all his attire into a fashion she had deemed acceptable, so the choice should not have been hard. Yet, he had moved all his clothes back and forth a thousand times, unable to pull an outfit out. In the back of his mind, he knew what he was doing. Busy work. Wasting the last few minutes away until he had to take a trip toward certain death. No matter what he chose, the clothes would most likely be rendered unusable after the battle. So, as he finally grasped one of the hangers from his closet, he asked himself again, “Does it really matter what I wear?”
Dressed and ready, Karrel knew he still had a few precious minutes before he had to head to the portal room. Johnny had been able to extract coordinates from the remains of Flarepoint city, and the group would be initiating their plan to hunt down one of the demons responsible for the violent atmospheric conditions assaulting the Earth and blockading humanity’s ability to rebuild. He laughed to himself when he thought about it. They would be putting their lives on the line to stop some bad weather. How heroic… However, with how many times his skin had been sliced open by an unlucky wind-flow, Karrel knew all too well how important their task was. He still didn’t like to think about it and began tidying up his room to keep his mind settled.
Admittedly, he had a bad habit of leaving clothes on the floor, rather than putting them into his hamper. He began tossing whatever he could find into the large basket, while his mind wandered. It took him a full minute before he realized that some of the clothes he was throwing did not belong to him. He sighed, noting that he would sort that problem later, and his thoughts returned to the mission at hand. Merely mentioning that Johnny might have located the “wind demon” had put their female companions on edge.
From what the girls knew about their target, Puck, Angel, Karrel, and Johnny would have their work cut out for them. They would be facing one of the more intelligent demons of Infernum. It was capable of conjuring massive windstorms and using the very air itself as a powerful weapon. After all, it was the creature responsible for the constant hurricanes that plagued the Earth, and it had apparently stolen an entire city. There had been mention of a certain pet that tagged along with it as well, which had made Johnny swear up, down, and every other direction. The girls had dropped several hints that they did not want this hunt to ensue. It started as sly, shaky remarks about how unlikely it was that they would find their mark. It then transitioned into bribery, with suggestions of alternative activities that would make for a much more entertaining day. Inevitably, the hints disappeared, and Krystalyn had openly requested that Karrel convince the others of how suicidal this mission was. It was that last request that had shaken him. She and the other girls obviously knew what they were going to be going up against. How they knew, he did not want to know, but with how hard they had been protesting the mission, he could not help but feel his confidence drain away.
It had been difficult enough to convince the girls to let them go. Convincing them to help out, had been a crucible in and of itself. They were needed to help defend the portal on the other side, which meant they would have to travel to Infernum. Though they would be barely stepping a few feet back onto their homeworld, they protested as though their lives were on the line. They were furious. Karrel did not understand why they were so petrified of returning home, even for such a small amount of time, but he could understand their anger. Their original arrangement with the group was that they’d be kept hidden, and in exchange they would provide what support and information they could against any threats that came their way. Asking them to return to Infernum, the one place they were running from, was in direct violation of their deal. Fortunately, after a private conversation with Johnny, Jessica came around and was able to convince her sisters to help. A lot of groans and ‘just this one time’s’ followed, but the boys had won over their support.
Regardless of how hard they had to fight for their assistance, Karrel was impressed with the selflessness of the girls. They had never been unwilling to help, but this request was different, causing them to put themselves out in the open for whatever it was that they were hiding from. It had made him think back upon how he used to be. He used to only care for his own survival. He had avoided comradery like the plague and put himself above all others. It had been lonely, but it had also kept him alive. Now, here he was, about to put his life on the line not only for friends, but potentially for every living being on the planet. Not that they would know about it… Hell, just to think, he had almost gone his separate way from the group. If he had done that, he would not be charging head-first into his own demise. Karrel clutched his chest, his hand clawing into the area where his heart would have been, had he not lost it. He had already died once for this cause, what was to stop it from happening again?
Shaking his head, he pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. No, we’ll get through this like we have everything else, he thought. The busy work was done, and it was time to face what was to come. He called his green book off of the bed, grasping it from the air and pocketing it as he exited his room.
One long walk later, and Karrel stood outside the portal room’s door. With a heavy sigh, he entered. Almost immediately, he felt a heavy slam connect with his body. The surprising assault nearly knocked him off his feet. A perfume that smelled of gears and gunpowder, yet was still surprisingly delightful, enveloped Karrel as two arms wrapped themselves around his back, and a familiar voice filled his ears.
“’sup loser!” Kailey teased. “Been waitin’ for you. What took you so long?”
Standing before Karrel was the brown-haired, cargo shorts-wearing, badass of the Survivor’s Guild, Kailey. She was wearing one of her infamous shoulderless crop-tops, though it was mostly hidden underneath a bulk of military-grade equipment. Her hair was still kept short and tidy. As always, even though she was donning heavy armor, her beauty remained unconcealed. She enjoyed showing the world that she could kick ass and still look good doing so.
“I couldn’t find the right suit to wear,” Karrel joked.
“It seems like you’re still searching” Kailey gestured to his apparel.
“I remembered I don’t own a suit…”
Kailey playfully slugged Karrel on the shoulder. “Don’t promise a girl
black and white and show up in pocket-shorts!”
“Hey!” Karrel protested. “You’re wearing them too!”
“Yeah,” Kailey took a step back and struck a pose, “but I make them look good!”
Karrel could not help but laugh. He had been on quite a few missions with Kailey since the fall of Sinwatch, and on every single one, he had become more and more impressed with the soldier he had come to call a friend. He had also grown to fear her slightly, as when the group discussed Karrel’s last name being leaked, she fiercely insisted that she had kept her mouth shut, threatening to pummel them all into the ground if they ever doubted her again. He had always wondered how she stayed so confident and cheerful living in this bleak world. But, as Kailey grasped her twin-pistols, loaded two fresh ammo clips, checked her sights, and strung the weapons across her waist all in the span of half a second, he was reminded of how. Needless to say, she had become a reliable friend over time, and Karrel was glad to see her happy face once more.
“Dane said he couldn’t make it himself,” Kailey continued readying her equipment, “so he sent me instead. My opinion?” She smiled. “You got the better of the two.”
“There’s no doubt about that,” Karrel chuckled.
Kailey lowered her voice so that no one else could hear. “Hey, I can’t just let the one Kerstabest heir go and get himself killed. I’ve still got plans for you,” Kailey winked at Karrel. She then gestured to the rest of the room. “On a separate note, I do have to say, this is a pretty tight place you’ve got here. Very defensible, what with it being so far underground, so it’s got my stamp of approval. Hell, it’s even got my boys’n’girls spouting their praises, which is a helluva feat.” With her thumb, she pointed behind her to the armored truck that was sitting in the middle of the portal room.
Four hardened, young soldiers, two males and two females, were sitting around the combat vehicle. Each of them wore a Survivor’s Guild armband, with the red symbol of a juicy hamburger proudly being shown. They were all donning the same combative equipment that Kailey was, though rifles seemed to be their weapon of choice. Each of the crew members were in the process of maintaining their gear. As they sat idly, they reminisced about past missions and all of the previous blunders that they had gotten themselves into. It was a contest to see who had saved the others more times, and it was apparent that no one would be crowned the king or queen.
Kin of Exile Page 33
