Crimson Judgment

by Robert Lyons

  Then one day, Noxeus went missing. After a weeklong absence, he returned with two matching golden eyes. From then on, he only spoke when it was absolutely necessary in order to get his point across.

  He became a full-time listener. Once he demonstrated his ability to lead, the other tribes of Chroma were emboldened, uniting under his headship. He led his newly allied army with prodigious strategy. The revolution was one day to the next; the Chroma under his command granted him a greater respect once they saw how much their leader had changed. Noxeus brought about a worldwide terror against humanity once the tribes ceased their quarrels and integrated. In the year 2035, the world learned the terror of being hunted. That day became known as The Cataclysm.

  “It will be done.” Kayto hung up, slipping the phone back into the pocket of his torn jeans. During the short duration of the phone call, Lume still hadn’t regenerated a new arm. Even if she wasn’t able to regenerate cells to block the excessive bleeding, the internal parts of her body should have been replenishing enough blood to keep Lume alive.

  A distinct sound met his ears. It was the high-pitched screech from a length of metal being struck by another piece of metal.

  The sound was a voice, speaking a language that no ordinary ear could discern.

  The golden-eyed Chroma arrived at the edge of the clearing, keeping himself partially hidden from view. He didn’t want to make his presence known yet.

  “If I strain too hard, their sensors will pick up on me … This is a perfect opportunity.” Kayto grinned. Interlocking his fingers and hoisting his hands above his head, he executed one last stretch. Some of his joints popped, jostling back into place. “Time is short. I can’t keep Noxeus waiting, especially when it’s about Rori.”

  The Chroma began to chant a series of phrases. The speech sounded like a long line of incomprehensible jargon to the human ear. When the incantation was finished, Kayto’s expression contorted, revealing a menacing grin.

  “My dear child—show yourself!”

  • • •

  The ground shuddered as if the earth’s foundations were fracturing. The epicenter of this sudden earthquake was located directly below where Night Hawk 3, transport for the military-side attachment, was hovering.

  Kayto. Lume opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She was simultaneously shackled with excitement. I thought you abandoned me!

  Columns of dirt erupted from the ground into the sky. The pillars of loose earth slammed against the aircraft’s body. A low, bone-rattling groan rang out of from the frame.

  “Contact! Left, right side!” one of the soldiers shouted, readying his weapon.

  The helicopter’s hull was heaved onto its side by one of the pillars. As the aircraft leaned into the ground, the revolving rotor blades sliced into the mud, leaving giant gouges in the earth before splintering into thousands of pieces.

  “Night Hawk 3 is hit! Repeat! Night Hawk 3 is hit!” an urgent call came over the radio before the communication channel fell silent.

  Night Hawk 3’s pilot was violently smothered as a black appendage broke through the windshield, crushing the entire head of the pilot into dark-red paste.

  Lume continued staring at the sky in silence, but this time, she was hushed from the overwhelming fear growing in her.

  Zoe “Hellcat” Arsenault threw a glance over her shoulder to look at her wingman assisting Field Officer McBride. She was still standing by the downed purple-eyed Chroma while the chaos unearthed itself and consumed the chopper. Her defense was nonexistent and she was caught out in the open.

  There was no time for the finishing move. Zoe pulled out the sword and bolted in the direction of her comrades, who were making a hasty retreat, hopping across the ground that was breaking apart and exploding. It was as if a geyser field suddenly came alive under their feet.

  A black, wet appendage four inches in diameter burrowed out of one of the giant holes in the earth, smashing into the body of the helicopter. The men on board Night Hawk 3 were in a panic-fueled frenzy, opening the side doors and shooting at whatever had dug its body out from the depths.

  Steeljaws glanced over his shoulder as he assisted Jim across the turbulent ground, spotting his wingman in the distance.

  Rushed for time, Zoe committed a mistake. She had come under a spell of tunnel vision, failing to utilize her peripherals. After Night Hawk 3’s fuel lines leaked most of the tank’s contents, a spark ignited the volatile liquid. The dark forest lit up from the blinding explosion. Due to her close proximity to the blast, Zoe was caught up in the powerful shockwave.

  The short sword flew out of Zoe’s limp hand as she was thrown against the ground, bouncing twice and rolling to a stop. Her motionless body laid out flat.

  “ZOE!” Steeljaws screamed.

  All the while, Kayto leaned up against one of the many hundreds of pine trees, eyebrows raised to convey his amusement. The golden-eyed Chroma smirked.

  “One down. One to go.”

  3.

  About half a continent away.

  The Fifth Force’s Heavy Ordinance team was finishing up their hunt.

  They were tasked with taking out five purple eyes that laid siege on a small, backwater town in the woods. The Chroma’s end goal remained unclear at the moment, but the HAWK intervened before any civilian casualties occurred.

  Fifth Force Captain Shawntece Portner called in someone who she had complete confidence in destroying the Chroma while minimalizing human casualties. Had that someone not been available the moment the task was assigned, the Fifth Force may have sustained fatalities and depleted far more resources than necessary. Fortunately, Captain Portner had nothing to worry about. Her men were in good hands—if not the best hands.

  The purple eye who led the siege was down on his stomach, reinforced fetters fixing his wrists and ankles together, making escape impossible. He snarled, kicking up dust as he writhed on the ground. The fighting spirit in him couldn’t be broken. He longed to spill more blood.

  “If he hadn’t showed up, you all would be dead by now,” the purple eye spoke his native tongue, glancing at the humanoid that was standing off in the distance from the Fifth Force’s elite team.

  When he took a step forward, the four other Chroma found it impossible to mask their fear. The humanoid looked like an average human from all matters pertaining to physical appearance. His black, curly hair was fairly short, with a face structure that suggested he was a descendant from the northern countries, except for his dark-toned skin. His eyes were ice blue, thin lips shaped to convey a frown. He exhaled through his nose, taking a long look at the captured Chroma.

  “If it wasn’t for your precious Wielder, this would’ve been a lot different,” the Chroma growled. “Isn’t it a bit overkill to send a Wielder all the way out here? Perhaps this means the HAWKs haven’t tapped into the last of their reserves after all.”

  “You made a poorly calculated move.” The Wielder’s voice was cold as his eyes as he rebutted in the monster using the Chroma’s language. “For that, I’m going to make an example out of you.”

  There was an awkward pause as the Chroma realized that he was understood.

  “Oh—I remember you,” the humanoid picked back up in English. “You were the one to lead the counter on our global attack, two years ago! You’re that Wielder named Jason!” The Chroma grinned, brandishing his blood-coated, shark-like teeth.

  Used to be. The Wielder hesitated, keeping the comment to himself.

  “You mock the HAWK for having limited resources, but you’re experiencing the very same problem. There has to be a reason why you were sent out here.” Jason kept his cool, not allowing his emotions to play into his speech.

  “Capturing us was a waste of your time, Jason. We will never say anything.” The Chroma grinned.

  Jason waved his hand. “We’re done here.”

  “Understood.” One of the members nodded, Heavy Ordnance in hand.

  Jason stepped away from the captives, allowing the advancin
g group to close in and slaughter the captured Chroma. Placing his hand up on smooth chin, Jason began to analyze all of the clues he had collected.

  The last five months had an overall five hundred percent increase of Chroma activity around the globe. The recent onslaught is what forced the UN to recruit the help of the different nations’ militaries and law enforcements to support the HAWK.

  “Why are they ramping up? The Chroma haven’t made any more strategic moves when they first appeared sixty years ago, so why now? What are they looking for?” Jason rubbed his temples as if a simple massage would bring about the answer he wanted to know for so long.

  Not only had the Chroma’s activity spun out of control, their unpredictability factor had also skyrocketed. New Chroma tactics were being used in recent days, and most of them had no effective counterattacks developed.

  Jason placed his hand on the nearby trunk of a massive oak tree, softly running his hand down the age-old, weathered bark. The Chroma were gearing up to achieve whatever goal they had in mind. The HAWK had to mobilize to their full combat capability, even though their manpower was slowly growing weaker day by day.

  “I can’t take the random attacks at face value,” Jason sighed. “If I do, then I’ll be the one who is thrown off course. Yes, they are making moves; however, it would be a mistake to predict their next attack based on the patterns.”

  The shrill screeches nearby alerted Jason that the Chroma were in the process of being disposed. He began to walk back to the gathering area; all the while his boots sank into the muddy ground with each step he took.

  “Hey, Jason, they went down pretty easy.” One of the HAWK members ran up to the Wielder with Heavy Ordnance in hand. It was a sort of short-handled hammer with several projections that ran down the hilt. “Nothing like the other purple eyes we dealt with on the previous missions a couple of weeks ago in Brazil.”

  “That’s good. Of course, that’s because I softened them up for you guys.” Jason winked.

  “You saved our skin, again. You weren’t assigned to the mission, but you still showed to back us up. Thank you.”

  Jason switched subjects without acknowledging the appreciation. “How are the people who were under siege by the Chroma?”

  “We’re still gathering reports…” The HAWK member paused for a moment, touching the communications device that was in his ear. “…It looks like everyone is okay. Just a lot of scared civilians.”

  “I can’t blame them,” Jason lowered his head, eyes searching the ground for something that couldn’t be found. “I can’t imagine how it would feel to be absolutely defenseless against something that sees you as food.” His hand tightened into a fist. “As soon as everyone is accounted for, I want this squadron to return to base and submit our report on this group of Chroma. We need to stay ahead of their game.”

  “Understood. I’ll go assist the others.” The HAWK member nodded.

  Jason walked by the site where the captured Chroma were slaughtered. He was making his way back to the transport that was heading to the Fifth Force’s base.

  “Y-you’re going to l-lose,” a mutter, barely above a whisper, came from one of the Chroma. “No matter h-how many a-allies you get t-together…”

  Jason slowly turned, his ice-blue eyes shooting a glare that had the potential to freeze anything in his line of sight.

  “I’m sorry?” Jason breathed out what seemed to be poison instead of words. “Did you say something?”

  “You might h-have the humans fooled … but as a Wielder … y-your foresight is telling you that this is all for n-nothing! Your side will l-lose!”

  “You could say that.” Jason shrugged indifferently. “The future is open…”

  The Wielder then turned around and squatted down so that he was inches away from the Chroma’s face. He leaned in to make sure his dying enemy could hear him. A pair of scaled horns began to sprout from the top of Jason’s forehead. The intimidating bone spikes extended out over ten inches in length, the tips curving forward and away from each other. Scales, colored from a light gray to hues of blue and some intermingled black, began to sprout along the sides of his face.

  “…But as long as there is one Wielder fighting, there is hope—!”

  The Wielder cut himself off in mid-sentence.

  Pain shot through Jason’s chest, spreading into his limbs. A cool sensation overtook him by storm.

  He wasn’t the only who was experiencing the variation in the atmosphere. There was also a shift in the air, in the light and the darkness.

  “W-what is this? What’s happening?!” the Chroma cried out, stricken with fright. After the outburst, Jason stood back up, bringing his boot down with a thunderous boom. The high-powered stomp broke right through the Chroma’s ribs, crushing all of the organs inside of the chest cavity into a black paste.

  Jason wiped the corner of his mouth and stared up into the sky, heart racing in his chest. He felt this jolt so many times before, but this particular one was matchless.

  This can’t be! This is the Guardian of the Omnigate … Rori!

  The sound resonated Jason’s body. Only creatures tuned to that specific wavelength could hear its terrifying volume.

  It was the roar of a Krotoni—the great, reptile-like creatures that humans had dubbed as dragons for centuries.

  “So she finally came out of hiding?” Standing back up on his feet, Jason threw his arms into the air, scales sprouting all the way down to his hands, covering his arms like sleeves. “No defector would knowingly out themselves out like this! I’ll be damned!”

  Unleashing a victorious laugh, Jason spotted the subtle, cyan waves of color shimmering across the night sky like the Aurora Borealis. “Maybe Rori isn’t the traitor the others made her out to be!”