Apocalyptic Fears II: Select Bestsellers: A Multi-Author Box Set

by Greg Dragon

  “Your people robbed you of thirty years,” he corrected her.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I mean that the earth fought back, and the lost couldn’t evolve. We kept you all frozen until the major demons were in place, but that took thirty years. Thirty years of war and destruction to break the human spirit, thirty years of recruiting more like you to make sure that your world could be saved,” Chaos replied with a sad expression on his face.

  “Maria, the little girl who was with us; I know you know who I’m talking about. Is she one of yours? Is she like me? A girl trying to right the world under the illusion that she is our only hope?”

  “Yes,” he said finally and took a long drink from a wine glass as if he wanted to drown the memory. “But Maria, or Hope as we named her, was filled with much hurt, pain, and anger. You fell to the Erts because they planted one of their own into the life of your mother so many years ago. They knew my pattern well, and prepared for me through you.” He sighed and drank again. “But Maria was different; she was taken by the lost.”

  “What happens when I kill her?” Alysia asked.

  “The lost will return to Yalem,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Leaving our world decimated, with people dead and everything wasted? How in the hell is that even fair? We were so advanced … the things we were doing with technology, medical, transportation. We advanced for thousands of years only for a bunch of infighting demons to run us over in their crap. No, that cannot be it. God would not do this to us. This can’t be it. You have to tell me that you can take it back, that you can … I don’t know, reverse time or something and put things back where they were before.”

  “Time travel?” Chaos chuckled.

  “That’s not funny. How is it far-fetched when you can move between realms, heal wounds through creature blood, and magic up some armor to protect yourself? Don’t act like what I’m asking is far-fetched! The whole world, and this whole lost thing, is far-fetched! So tell me, what’s the big prize in the end for me, for slaying the last master and proving myself the best? Offer up a real reward, or I won’t do it. I swear to God, I won’t!”

  Chaos stared at her and clasped his hands. He sat like that for an extremely long time, considering his options and thinking on what to do.

  “Silly girl, think about what you’re asking. If I were allowed to manipulate time, I would simply go back and steer you away from the Ert who changed you. There is no time travel; the wheel only spins one way and if it can be reversed, well, that would be the gift of gods, now wouldn’t it?” Chaos said.

  “So we’re stuck, then? Is that what you’re telling me? Stuck in a broken world, brought on by your stupid war and your stupid ambition. How is that even fair? Why can’t we humans go to Yalem and destroy the place then? How would you like that?” Alysia replied, raising her voice without fully realizing it.

  “Alysia, the lost were coming regardless of anything me or your Ert father could do. It was written in your destiny. You got far in your advancements as human beings, but so have other races. Whenever this occurs, the powers greater than all of us find a way to reset things. You will not lose everything, since people like you and your father will remember, but it will be difficult.” He stood up and walked over to his throne. “New monsters will appear once the lost have left, but they won’t be as vicious or as plentiful. You will rise as a hero to humanity, but your Kingdom will be built out of rubble and bones.”

  “What of the war, your war? Will you lose now that you don’t have me?”

  “This is where I ask you to rejoin me, Alysia Knight, because our interests do align. See, I aim to destroy the lost, to prevent any more worlds from being destroyed like yours. You could join me, become my warrior, and once I’ve won, you would become a hero of Yalem. You could bring your family there and live a rich, bountiful life.”

  Alysia smiled at the thought, “You sound like the devil, making promises you’re barely intent on keeping. Did you make the same promise to all your generals?” she asked, and he stared at her, wondering if her question was serious.

  “Anyway,” Alysia said, “I need to get back and complete the circle. The sixth demon has my people held hostage and they need me.”

  “Will you think on it?” Chaos asked, “Yalem needs you more than you know.”

  “I will think on it,” Alysia said and then pressed her hands together to bring on the blackness.

  ~ * ~ * ~

  The pyre of corpses was covered in orange flames that climbed so high, they nicked the wings Maria used to fly over them. Everything was ablaze: the bodies she had meticulously collected to make the sacrifice, the corrupted corpse that at one point had been her mother, and the trees that bordered it, those sacred trees. The fire would eventually reach the clearing. It would burn up the lost soldiers that had followed her and move on to the barracks, the bunker, and even more.

  She landed on a treetop and wept for a time. She had sold her soul to the dark one in exchange for her mother’s soul, but now it was lost; James Knight had seen to that. She retracted her singed wings and walked back through the trees towards the barracks. She would make him pay for what he had done, and then she would take his baby and bring it before the dark one. Maybe there was another way to get her mother back, and a brand new human child might be it.

  5

  Alysia Knight opened her eyes to find herself back in the forest where she had been shot as she knelt down next to Isobel’s dying body.

  Bearing down on her was the dark-haired woman who Isobel called Hope. She shifted her position to hide behind a tree and the woman marched past her as if she hadn’t seen.

  Alysia moved quickly to get behind her and applied a chokehold, pulling her back. The demon was strong and before long they were crashing into trees and rolling on the ground as Alysia kept it locked and Maria fought to pull her off.

  When she finally pulled away, Maria rolled to her feet. She dug out a handgun, which she then leveled at Alysia as she, too stood up from their scuffle. But Alysia rose with her hand on the hilt of Euphoria, and the armor slid up her arms rapidly and covered her entire body, including her face. The bullet from Maria’s gun ricocheted off its surface, and Alysia brought her sword up, then down, knocking the gun into the air and cutting Maria on the wrist.

  Maria recoiled from the cut and pulled out a crimson sword. It looked like an Egyptian Khopesh, its half-moon blade ending in a straight line that met the hilt, giving it the appearance of a question mark. She spun with blinding speed and hooked the back end behind Alysia’s leg, causing her to lose her balance. But Alysia bounced back up when she fell, raising her sword above her head, and then walking in a circle to use the trees as extra cover.

  They feinted in and out between the trees as they moved back and forth, trying to cut one another. Maria got frustrated, being used to fighting opponents that would stand toe with her, while Alysia used her environment and various other tricks to make things more difficult.

  She dashed in at one point, swinging her sword as she aimed to remove Alysia’s head, but she met air as the limber girl hopped backwards, dove past her body, and left a cut in her side that she hadn’t anticipated when she swung.

  She reeled and swung low, then high, each being countered by Alysia’s blade. She was being outclassed in their swordfight, so she spread her wings and made to take to the air to find Tracy and James Knight.

  Alysia saw what she was doing and dashed in to feint a thrust, Maria swung low and Alysia spun behind her while swinging, and managed to cut one of her wings off. Maria screamed and fell to her knees and Alysia hacked the other one off with one swing of her sword.

  Maria swung the hooked blade to get Alysia to back off, and stood up to face her as the blood poured from her wingless back. Her eyes grew red with anger and she rushed in on Alysia, pressing her attack with brutal strength. Alysia avoided her attacks by stepping behind the trees and jumping clear; she decided against using her armor in order
to keep herself fast and loose. Maria pressed for several moments, and Alysia kept herself defensive, waiting for an opening to present itself.

  When Maria fell victim to a well-timed feint and swung prematurely, Alysia brought her sword down with everything she could muster. It shattered the blade and caught Maria’s shoulder. The woman fell backwards, holding her wound, too exhausted to stand again.

  Alysia looked down at her. It would take a single blow from Euphoria to drive her from the world. The lost would be routed and they would take their leave immediately; at least that was what Chaos wanted her to believe.

  “I want to kill you, Maria. I want to take your head for killing Jaime and Koko the way you did. Every ounce of me wants to cut you right now, but I need to know why. Why did you turn into this?”

  Maria sank back down into the brush, feeling her strength fade with every passing minute. “I did it for my mother,” she finally said. “They promised me I could have my mother if I did this.”

  “You’re a fool,” Alysia said in reply. “You murdered innocents and betrayed your friends all because a demon told you that it would bring your mother back.”

  Maria didn’t say anything for a time and then looked up at Alysia angrily. “I’m not the only fool being led around like a puppet by a demon. Look at you, adorned from head to toe in their gifts. Do you think you have those toys for free? Do you think your hands are clean?”

  “I don’t fool myself for a second that my hands are clean, Hope—isn’t that the name they gave you? Maybe I should call you Hopeless. I know what I am, and I know who and what I have killed. But the difference between me and you is that I did this for humanity. You did it for a selfish dream, and the blood on your hands will never dry.”

  She stepped forward and drove Euphoria into her chest and held it there, letting the blade absorb the darkness and the shadow that had given Maria the strength and power to lead an army of demons. Maria screamed, and fought to remove the blade, even going so far as to touch its naked edge to try and pull it out of her. But Euphoria was like a vacuum for the darkness as it cleansed Maria’s body and nothing she did could remove it as it drained her quickly of her power.

  “WHY DON’T YOU KILL ME?” Maria screamed, so loudly that everyone within their vicinity heard it. Alysia could feel the heat of the forest fire getting close as she held the blade firm, wedging its tip into the ground to disallow Maria from escaping it.

  When the cleansing was over, she withdrew Euphoria and wiped the edge. She flicked the blade around, then touched the tip of her sheath, ran the back of the blade against it to feel things out, and leaned forward to sheath it fully with an audible ‘click.’ She then stood up and offered a hand to Maria.

  “Why did you save me?” the tired woman asked as Alysia led her down to the barracks where a loud raucous could be heard.

  “I saved you because you could be saved. I’m not a murderer, and I am no longer a puppet to Chaos and his games.”

  They broke through the trees to quite a sight. There were demons exiting the bunker and walking back into the trees towards what used to be the city. In the sky, the bat-things were flying in that direction also, and as dawn broke through the sky, Alysia could see that Chaos had not lied about the departure of the lost once the sixth of the major V’Kosha—who turned out to be Maria—was no more. She closed her eyes in a silent prayer, thanking God for granting her the strength to carry it through.

  When she opened her eyes and looked around, she noticed that her father was with Tracy by the barracks wall, and Isobel was looking after Jasmine. Isobel saw them approaching, squealed, and ran over, hugging Alysia tightly as if she refused to let go. She flashed a surprised look at Maria, bounced back and drew her sword, but Alysia stopped her and turned to face Maria.

  “The demon that was Hope is dead. Izzy, this is our Maria. She was corrupted for a long time, with a noble mission to save her mother, but it turned her into the thing that killed our Koko. I made her human again, despite my anger, so we must forgive her, Izzy. Chaos is the one to blame for Koko,” Alysia said while looking into Maria’s eyes.

  “You can do that, CeeCee? You can turn back the lost?” Isobel asked.

  Alysia pulled out Euphoria and showed Isobel the blade. “With this sword, an Ert sword, I am able to drain away the darkness, and if a person is still alive beneath all of it, then yes, I can turn them back.”

  Isobel nodded and then touched her own sword reassuringly. Alysia noticed she had shrunk back from the blade of Euphoria and she wondered what it would do to her friends if she tried to turn them.

  “Maria, I think that you should go,” Alysia said suddenly. “It will be hard enough convincing Isobel here that you deserve your life, but my friends and family may not be convinced so easily. Go, and get your life back together, and do what you can for anybody you can find. When things settle down perhaps I will find you. I have plans you will be able to help me with, but that will be much later on.”

  The women clasped hands and nodded at one another, and then Maria turned towards the forest and walked back through the trees, away from the fire. As if on cue, it began to rain, a thick, heavy, downpour that came with a wind that threatened to blow everything away. Alysia and Isobel ran inside the barracks where James Knight held the door open for them, and then locked it once they were in.

  He walked over to Alysia and hugged her tightly, noticing for the first time the changes that had been done to her body. She was muscular, more than she was before she left, and she had a confidence he could feel just by being around her. Jasmine came up and got her hug and Alysia could see that she was healing from a deep cut.

  She looked over at Tracy, who hung back as if she were embarrassed, so she crossed over to her and hugged her close, feeling the tiny bump that was her stomach when she did.

  “I know that I have a brother or sister growing inside of you, Tracy. You don’t have to worry about it,” Alysia said. “I haven’t been the biggest supporter of your union, for obvious reasons, but it’s the biggest sign of hope that there is a baby being born out of so much death and destruction,” she said.

  “Hope,” Tracy spat, and then turned her head. “So many lives lost to this mess. I saw the demons were in full retreat; does that mean that it’s over?” she asked, looking at Alysia with big blue, hopeful eyes.

  “It is over for our world in terms of the invasion, but I was told that other things will spawn so we’re not totally out of the woods yet. The positive thing is that demons turning us into them and corrupting our loved ones are a thing of the past. Mankind as a whole can start the process of healing and rebuilding, and we have become one of the realms that survived the demon invasion.”

  “What about you, CeeCee? What does this mean for you?” Tracy asked, and Alysia looked at her father and wondered if she should tell the truth or give them a palatable lie.

  “You all won’t like this, but it was my choice, something I committed to do in order to save our world. There is a war about to take place on Yalem, the realm of the demons, and I must return there to fulfill my duty as a warrior.” She kept on looking at her father to see his reaction but James Knight merely smiled.

  “I wish that you could take me with you, CeeCee. Take all of us, to stay together as a family. Things won’t be the same without your face, and life will be empty knowing that during my peace time, my daughter will be in another world fighting for a bunch of strangers,” he said.

  “I won’t be fighting for a bunch of strangers. I will be fighting for Isobel and Jasmine’s freedom. I will be fighting to avenge the death of Koko, and I will be fighting to make sure that no other woman or man has to have their life destroyed by the raiding force of Chaos’s lost.” She looked at Isobel to let the words sink in.

  “It was him, Izzy and Jazz. It was your lord Chaos that brought the lost here to my world. He did this to recruit survivors like me and Maria, to pit us against one another to see who would be strongest. It is why we must go back and d
estroy him. The Knights of Ert have given me their power and I want to use it to eliminate this would-be usurper to the throne.”

  Isobel looked at Jasmine and then at Alysia. “But CeeCee, we are not free; he can pull us to his side at any time. It would be better for you to kill us, or chain us up during your attack. I don’t want to betray you but the blood of Chaos flows through me and I am his slave.”

  The winds blew the tarp from the window and through the glass they could see the trees dancing from the thunderstorm. The fires that threatened to consume them all had been reduced to thick black smoke, and Alysia wondered if Maria had found shelter during it all.

  “Come here Izzy, Jazz, come stand next to me,” Alysia said.

  The girls stood next to her, and she pulled out Euphoria, ran her palm down the edge cutting her hand open, and then motioned for them to grab the hilt with her.

  “Whatever happens, Dad, Tracy, let us suffer. And girls, no matter how much the Chaos blood fights back, hold on to the blade and don’t let go,” she said.

  The two girls gripped the long hilt of the sword and Alysia’s blood coated their hands. The sword vibrated, confused by the touch of enemy hands and the evidence of pain within its true master. The spikes shot out into the three hands. Alysia was used to it so she merely closed her eyes, but Isobel squealed and Jasmine tried to yank her hand back. But the spikes were in and she could not take her hand away.

  The fire of the transformation burned Isobel and Jasmine internally and they wailed a cry of pain and suffering that was almost unbearable as James Knight and Tracy looked on in horror. It looked as if Isobel’s brown complexion had turned blue; Jasmine was a pretty purple, and Alysia was all silver from the armor that had taken to her body.

  “That is wild,” James Knight said as he hugged Tracy close. She couldn’t talk as she observed what she could only describe as magic come over the young girls as the sword grew black from whatever it was that was being drawn out of it.