by Apryl Baker
The war drums still came, reminding Val that her time for any kind of pep talk was short.
“This is it!” Val lifted her sword in her right hand. She used her magic ability to cover her weapon in a sheet of green flame. “Nothing else matters but this moment and what we do right here, right now!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ya-You lifted his jug into the air and let out a battle cry, and others started to join in. “Ahru!”
“Fight for your homes!” Val screamed.
“Ahru!” her army shouted so loudly now it drowned out the sound of the war drums.
“Fight for your families!”
“Ahru!”
“Fight for each other!”
“Ahru!”
Val turned to face down the enemy, Tobias on her left and Ya-You with his machine unit on the right and just behind her.
The coming Titans were no more than fifty yards from their position now. Val began her run forward that soon turned into a sprint. She charged the enemy lines like a demonic wraith with bloodlust on the mind.
As she moved forward, she pushed everything from her mind. Her heart was beating as loudly as the war drum in her own ears. Her eyes were alive with the mania battle brought.
Val, Tobias, Ya-You, and the machines behind them slammed into the front lines of the Titan force like a massive battering ram hitting a wooden gate.
Chaos was the only word to describe what happened next. Val had been in plenty of battles, some even large enough to include dozens of combatants on each side. She had never been in a war, one that was waged with fifteen-foot machines on one side and augmented, giant soldiers on the other.
Val slashed out with her sword covered in fiery green magic, doing her best to strike with killing blows. She had seen firsthand how much punishment the Titans could take. She had to be smart about where she placed her sword.
The sound coming from the battle as weapons struck one another, armor and flesh, was nauseating. Val’s ears rang with the cacophony around her as she stayed in constant movement.
At one point, she caught Ya-You to her right. She had to do a double take as the medicine man jumped onto the back of one of his machine warriors and struck a thick match. As soon as the flame came to life, he filled his mouth with the alcohol he carried and blew it out through the flame and at a group of Titans below.
Three of the massive soldiers caught on fire like they were made of kindling.
Their dark armor blazed with red, orange, and yellow fire.
Val hacked away her clothes covered in black blood and gore the Titans spewed from their wounds. Val had the upper hand in the fight. Not only were her machines larger, but they were capable of taking more damage than the flesh-based Titans.
Val found herself fighting back to back with Tobias as her grandfather sent bolts of green fire into the ranks of the Titans, beating them further back.
She was about to yell something about victory being close when an unnatural scream ripped the air apart. It sounded part enraged feline, part angry bird.
Val looked up to the roofs of the buildings around her. What she saw turned the blood in her veins into ice. A dozen or more monsters stared down at her with unnatural eyes. The creatures had two heads, those of a lion and an eagle. The bodies of lions connected to wings and a tail that ended in the head of a snake.
The beasts were as large as her machine units. On the backs of two of these creatures rode robed women Val guessed were lieutenants in Hera’s army.
Without warning, the creatures pounced on Val’s units on the ground. One of the creatures came for her with outstretched paws the size of her chest. Val drove her sword into the bulk of the beast. Absorbing the brunt of the force, the wind was knocked out of her as she was buffeted back.
Val hit the hard ground with enough power to knock the air out of her lungs.
On your feet, get on your feet, Val screamed at herself as she regripped her weapon and stood back up. This isn’t over yet!
A rain of arrows ripped through the sky. Steel barbs buried themselves into the flanks of the winged monsters. Serath had formed a shield wall in front of the rest of her unit that now fired arrows at the creatures swooping and diving around the battlefield.
The tide of battle had definitely shifted in the favor of Hera’s forces, but Val didn’t count herself out of the fight yet. With a roar, she stoked the fires of her magic, sending a fiery green beam into one of the winged monsters carrying a rider on its back.
The blast caught the creature in the chest. With a crash, the beast fell to the ground, crushing its rider.
A cheer erupted from the Atlantians as they witnessed one of the monsters fall from the sky.
“We can still do this!” Tobias yelled as he ducked under a strike from a Titan. “We can still win!”
The constant movement was exhausting, but Val fought on. The steady flow of adrenaline coursing through her veins spurred her forward. For the moment, the two sides were locked in a deadly struggle.
The remaining enemy rider turned her winged creature toward Serath and her unit of Atlantis soldiers sending arrows into the air. She shouted something Val couldn’t understand.
At once, the streets that had become the site for the bloody conflict for the throne were filled with more soldiers. Hera had apparently decided to now send in the Atlantian militia that had once served Kronos and Ajax. These warriors were less bloodthirsty than what they currently faced, but as hundreds of these men and women raced into the street, hope began to die in Val’s heart.
The new force went after Serath and her unit of warriors. They clashed with shields, spears, and swords.
“We have to do something!” Val screamed to Tobias and Ya-You. “Keep fighting!”
What had started as a conflict in a single street that lead to the palace had now spread to an engagement taking place over multiple city blocks.
Blood was being spilled so heavily it ran in the gutters. Val was having a difficult time finding sturdy footing because of the carnage that lay in the road.
To her right, a mechanical unit went down under the attack of two of the winged monsters. To her left, Ya-You set another handful of Titan soldiers ablaze with his impromptu weapon.
The sun was sinking overhead, the top of the orange orb barely visible past the edges of the buildings.
Val would never allow herself to admit defeat, but something had to be done. Between the remaining Titans, the newly arrived chimeras, and Hera’s foot soldiers, they were outnumbered three to one, maybe more.
“What’s the plan?” Tobias spat blood from his mouth as he made his way to his granddaughter. “I’m with you to the end. Where do you need me?”
Val took a moment to think on her grandfather’s offer. How much had they both changed to share this moment? The woman who only wanted to find her home, and the man who had abandoned his, now willing to die for it.
“Perhaps I can be of assistance,” Arulian said, appearing out of thin air to Val’s left.
Val jumped and cursed under her breath. “Don’t do that. And where have you been?”
“Coordinating with the Dragons and your ship, of course.” Arulian said the words like Val was supposed to immediately understand what she was talking about. “Hope is on the wind.”
“What?” Val felt a headache coming on with Arulian’s cryptic message.
“Look.” Arulian pointed to the eastern sky. “Hope.”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Stephen nearly fell at the sight of the bloodshed below him. The Atlantians had been slaughtered, thanks to Hera’s monstrous creations. He could barely make out Valeria, staring up at the sky. He saw an expression of hope on her face, and he vowed to give her victory this day.
Ryder let out a roar so loud it startled him once more into almost falling from her back. He sat between two of the spikes that rippled along her neck. She spread her wings and roared again, and this time, the other three Dragons crested th
e sky behind her, their answering roar massive enough to make the creatures below them pause.
The king Dragon and his two brethren broke off and started charring the creatures overwhelming Val and her troops, while Ryder flew past the conflict and toward where Lukas and Ileana were fighting Hera’s magicians.
The magicians of Atlantis were not easily snuck up on, and more dead than Stephen had seen in his lifetime littered the streets. Ileana stood with Lukas fending off what she could, but humans were no match for magicians.
“We take out the magicians first, and then link up with Val,” Stephen said, leaning down to shout into Ryder’s ear. He couldn’t be sure she had heard him because the wind was whipping past both Dragon and rider so fast.
Instead of words, Ryder nodded her thick head and turned to the other confrontation taking place blocks away from Val and the bulk of the army.
As much as Stephen wanted to go lend aid to Val and the conflict below, he would have to trust that Kelestion and the two Dragons under his command would do enough to tip the scales of war.
Alongside Ryder, The Emerald Queen was also making its way into the port of Atlantis. The flying ship led by Marm and Jacoby sailed through the air to help Lukas and Ileana.
Stephen searched the battlefield for a place they could do the most good. Lukas and Ileana, aided by the Thieves and Merchants Guilds, were fighting guerilla tactics against Hera’s stronger magicians. The dark robed magicians stood out in the open as they fought their more elusive foes down alleyways and on the tops of roofs.
The fighting had spread out multiple blocks in every direction. Buildings were being destroyed from rogue energy blasts from the magicians, although they didn’t seem to care what they ruined in the process of killing Hera’s enemies.
“There.” Stephen leaned low on Ryder’s neck. He pointed with an outstretched finger to a slim figure dancing between magical blasts. “That’s Ileana.”
Ryder dove down to the ground, sending a blast of flame that started from deep inside her throat. She covered the two magicians who cornered Ileana in a wave of flames. Their robes ignited like kindling. After a brief moment of flailing, they were reduced to smoking corpses on the ground.
By now, other magicians were realizing they weren’t the only heavy hitters in the fight anymore. They began ducking for cover and sending red blasts of magic at Ryder.
“I had them right where I wanted them,” Ileana shouted. “But thanks, anyway.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Stephen shouted to her in return. “We can clear a path to the palace along with The Emerald Queen. Stay behind us.”
“Understood!” Ileana gave Stephen a thumbs-up before rushing off to relay the information.
Ryder flapped her giant purple wings higher into the air, doing her best to avoid the blasts of crimson magic, but still being struck by bolts. Lucky for her, her Dragon scales were thick enough to turn back any blast of magic that hit her.
Ryder rose into the air and banked to their right. The Emerald Queen came up beside them, its massive frame cutting through the air not as menacing as a Dragon, but just as deadly.
Stephen caught sight of Marm at the helm.
“Follow us, and keep your altitude. Ryder’s hide is impervious to the magical blasts, but the ship will take damage,” Stephen yelled over the sounds of battle below. “We’re going to clear a path to the palace!”
“Lead on!” Marm turned the large wheel at the helm and shouted orders to her acting first mate, Jacoby. “Prepare the cannons and get the crew their long-range rifles.”
“Aye, Marm.” Jacoby ran to obey her orders.
Ryder took the opportunity to lower herself once again into the fray. She hovered over the city, sending fire blasts at any position that sent up red magical bolts.
The magicians were hiding now as their dominant position over the battlefield had changed, and were now forced to fight from cover. Over and over again Ryder lit them up with fiery blasts.
Ryder touched down on the ground a block further up the street as she and Stephen found Lukas in the middle of a fight with a rather large magician who used his magical ability to channel magical swords in each of his hands.
Lukas was sweating, his right side cut open from a slash. As Ryder moved in to help, Lukas took his opponent by surprise, and with one long strike, severed the magician’s head from the rest of his body.
“Good to see you,” Lukas shouted up at Stephen and Ryder. “Stephen, I think that’s the first time I’ve said that to you and meant it. We’re only a few blocks away from the palace now. I’m sure Hera has a surprise for us there. We should link up with Val before we enter.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Stephen motioned to a rifle and a bag of ammunition laying in the street beside Lukas. “Throw me the rifle, and I’ll see what I can do from the sky.”
“Just don’t shoot me in the butt.” Lukas grinned as he found the rifle and ammunition and threw it up to Stephen.
“No promises on that one,” Stephen said with a grin.
Ryder rolled her eyes and shook her head at the two men.
“All right, all right,” Stephen said, checking his weapon’s sights. “Follow us.”
Stephen and Ryder stayed on the ground level, Ryder’s massive bulk filling the street. Between Ryder and Stephen cleaning up the magicians on the street and Marm and Jacoby firing rounds at the magicians from above, Hera’s forces didn’t stand a chance.
Even with his moving position on top of Ryder, Stephen picked off the magicians who hid in doorways, windows, and alleys with perfect accuracy. The rifle he had been given by Lukas wasn’t one he was familiar with, but it was doing the job.
The weapon’s iron sights were honed with precision. There was only a slight hitch of recoil when he pulled the trigger, and the ammunition was housed in a square cartridge right in front of the trigger.
Magicians fell with headshots right and left of the street. Whenever one of them targeted Stephen, Ryder would shield him with her wing from the oncoming blasts.
“I owe you one, or two, or three when this is all over,” Stephen said to Ryder as she shielded him from another onslaught of enemy fire.
Ryder turned her head to look at Stephen and gave him a nod as if to say, “Yeah, you do.”
Leading the way to the palace gates with Marm and Jacoby high in the sky, and the combined forces of the Thieves and Merchants Guilds at their back, Stephen and Ryder finally made it to the palace gates.
Stephen knew he should have been happy, but the fact that the palace gates were wide open, and a thick fog made looking into the courtyard impossible, sent a chill down his spine.
“Come in,” said a female voice Stephen guessed was Hera. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Tobias stood at the entrance to the palace alongside Stephen, Lukas, and the other warriors who had fought and bled that day.
Once the Dragons had entered the fight, the tide had turned. The chimeras and the rest of Hera’s forces had fought like demons from the abyss. In the end, they were overpowered with Dragon flame, but Val’s side had lost far too many men.
How many were too many? Were a hundred deaths acceptable, a thousand, ten thousand? Tobias found his mind wandering to the thought as he contemplated how his answer to this question had changed over the years.
As a young man, he would have shrugged. He would have written off all the deaths as a necessary part of war. As a grandfather looking at his only living heir and family member in Val, he understood a single life was precious to someone.
“What is it?” Val spat blood from a cut on her lip. She motioned to the tall open gates of the palace courtyard where a wall of mist billowed. “Hera’s magic?”
“I suspect so.” Tobias looked up as Ryder and the other three Dragons lifted from the ground and beat massive wings at the billowing fog. “It won’t do anything. This mist doesn’t obey the laws of nature.”
As he pre
dicted, the strong gusts of wind pushed forward by the Dragons struck the wall of mist but did nothing to encourage the fog to dissipate.
Tobias gathered himself for what he knew was coming next. His left arm was numb from a strike he had taken at the hands of a Titan. His skin had not broken there, but he felt like something had fractured inside. On the right side of his face, blood fell from a wound he received near his hairline. Only instinct had saved him from being beheaded by a swooping chimera.
“We go in and stay close,” Tobias said to Val. “Expect anything. Hera will not go down easily. Leave her to me.”
Val ran her tongue over her cut lip and nodded along with Tobias’s words. “Everyone is to stay together. Tobias and I will take the lead.”
Tobias brought the magic to life in his hands, and a fiery green staff exploded to life.
Entering the fog felt like being wrapped in the embrace of a long dead corpse. Visibility was near impossible. Tobias could see Val beside him, Lukas and Ryder in her human form behind them, and that was it before the fog enveloped the rest of the army.
“Hahaha.” Hera’s voice echoed into the mist from nowhere and everywhere at once. “I knew you fools would come.”
“Ahhh!”
“Ughhh!”
Tobias looked around to see where the screams had come from. The cries came through the fog muffled, almost sickly.
“Something’s pulling the men into the fog,” Lukas said, gritting his teeth. “How can we fight an enemy we can’t see?”
Tobias did a complete circle, looking through the fog to Val and the portion of the army he could see, and back into the fog once more. A faint glimmer caught his eye to the left. A rustle of robes, red eyes.
Tobias took a step in that direction to get a closer look. Two figures emerged from the white, swirling mist—Hera and a version of Kronos Tobias couldn’t imagine even in his most nightmarish dreams.
Hera stood next to a resurrected Kronos, an abomination brought back from the dead and controlled by Hera herself.
