The Reckoning

by S. L. Morgan

  To Reece’s horror, Mordegrin was not dying with the strength she was using to crush his neck. His eyes reopened, and without blinking, they were on their feet again.

  “Please, tell me how you plan to torture me?” he said as the stone illuminated brightly.

  Reece reached for it, but a jolt of energy surged through her so sharply that she jumped back instead. Frustrated, she gazed down at the stone, willing it to give her the power to finally end the threat of Mordegrin.

  Mordegrin inhaled deeply. His eyes and the stone shone so vividly that Reece was forced to shield her eyes from them. She bit down hard on the corner of her lip, trying to plan a way to stop this exchange of power Mordegrin was receiving from the stone.

  I have to get that stone, she anxiously thought.

  Mordegrin started chanting words Reece couldn’t make out, and she felt her body draining of its energy. “NO!” she screeched as the stone’s power slowly left her body. She was lightheaded, and her arms became limp. Her legs became so weak that they started shaking violently. Against her strong will, she collapsed onto the sandy ground.

  Mordegrin glanced down at Reece, who looked up at him helplessly. “So this was your plan? This is why you didn’t flinch when you knew I planned to kill you.”

  Mordegrin knelt and ran his leathery fingers across her face. “Once I took possession of this stone, I used it to bring you to me. Why do you think you were so driven to find and destroy me?”

  Reece coughed, dust filling her lungs. “You may kill me, but—”

  “Kill you?” Mordegrin grinned. “Why ever would I do such a thing when I can leave you to live in a barren world with no powers, no lover boy, and no food? You are simply a regular human who is prey to all of those who will obey my commands.” He stood. “Besides, I wouldn’t want you to miss this.”

  Reece looked up into a starless, black sky, seeing the planet Mars so close to Earth that she actually believed the planets would collide. As the red planet spun and tilted, her mouth dropped open when she saw three identical pyramids like the ones they were in front of lining up to face them.

  A neon green beam shot out of the pyramids she sat in front of and pointed toward the ones on the planet that faced her.

  He’s opening another portal, she thought as she struggled to get up.

  Mordegrin was engrossed in the beam of light that was darting off into another direction when the pyramids—both on Earth and on the red planet—started glowing in a brilliant gold color. She dug her hands into the ground and forced herself to stand. As she leapt to rip the stone from Mordegrin’s hand to stop the portal, he caught her arm.

  “Not a wise decision,” he sneered, looking deeply into her eyes.

  “I will get that stone back, and I will destroy you,” she said, jerking away from him. “It’s a matter of time before you’ll slip up.”

  “Is it, now?” Mordegrin smiled darkly at her. “Then I believe I should fix the very problem that would assist you in destroying me. It was lovely playing along with you and your kind,” he said as he crushed the stone with his hands.

  “NO!” Reece screamed as she watched particles of the stone sifting through Mordegrin’s fingers.

  “You were saying something about killing me? Torturing me?” Mordegrin looked back at the pyramids. “Now that I have all of the stone’s powers, including the power you possessed with it, nothing can destroy me. All that I must do now is wait. These pyramids will bring the most powerful beings to my kingdom. They will kill for me, they will discover more galaxies for me, and I will be the ruler of every planet in every galaxy in existence.”

  Reece felt her heart racing, realizing all was lost.

  Mordegrin eyed her wickedly. “Oh, forgive me. I forgot you were standing there. I have no use for you now. Be gone!”

  After he had spoken the words, everything around Reece went black.

  Hooves resonated through the dark forest that surrounded the mob of Guardians who fled for their lives. More and more portals were being opened, and the skies were being darkened by an influx of different alien species that soared through the atmosphere and crashed into the planet. More than once, the charging horses had leaped over groups of humans that had been changed into one of Mordegrin’s beasts. Howling and squealing sounds followed in their wake as the Guardian horses, once again, saved their masters from being attacked by human-creatures.

  “Faster, Areion!” Levi boomed, knowing his horse was at full charge and suffering to give him more.

  Arrows whistled around them as Diexz and Oble’s armies were directly overhead, trying to destroy the enemies on the ground, as well as the ones in the air.

  Levi, we must split up! We must find a way to confuse these creatures! Harrison telepathically advised him.

  Levi’s mind remained focused on outrunning the enemy sent to destroy them and ignored Harrison’s mental intrusion. One glance over at his father made Levi realize that they could only run from this enemy for so long before finally being overtaken. Even with Oble, Diexz, and Rei’s armies assisting them, they were severely outnumbered.

  It wasn’t long before the worst outcome of all had taken place: Oble and Diexz’s armies became mentally persuaded to turn on any being that was against Mordegrin’s commands.

  Large rocks and caverns were to their left, and Levi instantly responded. The arrows that were once protecting them had begun to pursue them, thus forcing the Guardians to seek shelter and hide.

  They raced through the protection of the large rocks, now shielding them from the enemies in the skies.

  Levi, I have Movac with me. He has assured me that he can cloak us once we stop these horses, Harrison telepathically called out again.

  We will not stop until I am assured we no longer have enemies pursuing us. If we stop now, we die! Levi telepathically returned.

  A lion-like creature bounded into the air and stopped in front of Levi, forcing him to aggressively pull back on Areion’s reins and halt the charge that seemed to go on since Reece disappeared with Mordegrin.

  Rei was soon joined by his army, all of them wearing wild expressions.

  Everything around them grew quiet, except for the heavy breathing of the horses and the snarls coming from the beasts that Rei’s armies rode.

  “Quiet them!” Navarre shouted.

  “If you can cloak us all, do so, Movac!” Levi called out.

  Rei looked around and nodded. “The shield that is concealing us is successful.” He dismounted the beast. “With the trap we created from behind your racing horses, we have successfully destroyed the dark forces that were sent to kill us.”

  “We cannot stay in this hidden location for long. We must find a way to counter these attacks. How were you able to destroy those beasts?” Navarre asked.

  “It was merely by chance, Emperor,” Rei returned. “We chose to separate from your group, outrunning any enemy that followed us, and used the Prytheans—” He ran his hand along the fur of the massive lion-creature he rode, acknowledging the beast. “We used their predator stalking nature to trail the enemy that was pursuing you. After their leader was destroyed, the rest of their kind fell dead at that moment.”

  “Excellent strategy,” Navarre returned. “We are indebted to you.”

  “With all due respect, Emperor.” Rei looked around the area. “We are all in this together. There is no need to feel indebted to our kind.”

  Levi glanced around him, seeing that only half of the Guardians were with them. “We have lost men,” he started as he looked up into the skies. “With their minds unprotected from mental intrusion such as all of ours are, we have lost allies.” He exhaled. “Oble and Diexz are now our enemies. We must form a new plan until Reece destroys Mordegrin and ends this.”

  “I am unable to cloak all of us while we are in motion,” Movac informed the group. “We must be stopped for my shield to protect us.”

  “That is not going to work,” Levi returned. “We either stay in this location and starv
e to death or meet our demise by fighting these armies.”

  “Your gratefulness is appreciated, Guardian,” Movac grumbled.

  “Silence!” Navarre shouted. “We must unite all of our abilities somehow to get out of this situation.”

  Levi sighed. “Movac, you have the powers of mental persuasion. Can you use them to override Mordegrin’s hold on Oble and Diexz’s armies? We need their air support!”

  “I may have that power, Guardian,” Movac started. “But I must make contact with them in order to achieve it.”

  Harrison rolled his eyes. “I should have left you on the jackass!”

  “Harrison!” Navarre scolded his nephew. “Right now, Movac has offered us a moment to think without our enemy finding or locating us. It is best to keep your insults to yourself.”

  The men grew quiet, listening to the chaos that filled the air outside of their location.

  Areion shifted his weight and grunted from underneath Levi. The ground began shaking aggressively, and a crack started to split the ground beneath them. The quake prompted Rei’s lion-creature to use his razor sharp teeth to latch onto his master and toss him overhead, landing Rei safely on the beast’s back. Instantly, the groups of warriors began racing out of the location, horses jumping over falling boulders and rocks exploding into dust from behind them.

  They were drawn out into an opening, no longer cloaked from any enemy’s protection. During their charge through the barren fields, Levi became concerned when he noted that the creatures of the skies and the ones on the ground closing in on them suddenly lost interest and ended their pursuit.

  They halted their animals at Navarre’s command. “Movac, did you find a way to cloak us while in motion?”

  “No,” Movac answered in a questioning voice. “However, I am cloaking us now.”

  Levi studied the dark sky above them, watching fiery creatures soaring through the air with flames shooting from their wings, incinerating not only Diexz and Oble’s armies, but the fire-breathing dragon beasts as well. Like lasers through the sky, each enemy turned into particles of flaming dust before their eyes.

  Once the sky above them was cleared of the enemies in and throughout it, and the enemies that surrounded them on the ground had fled the area, the fiery winged birds turned and rushed toward where Navarre and the rest of the group stood.

  “We have no other option but to hope that Movac’s cloaking abilities will work against this new threat. Warriors, draw your bows in case I am wrong!” Navarre boomed.

  With a rush of heated winds burning Levi’s eyes at that moment, the birds of prey were upon them. Levi inhaled deeply. When his eyes reopened, thousands of these flaming birds landed all around them, razor sharp talons digging hard into the ground.

  Each Guardian instinctively reacted and shot their arrows at the fiery bird approaching them. The flaming bird turned into a bright ball of light before turning into embers of ash on the ground where it was attacked.

  Before the Guardians could attack, they watched in amazement as all of the birds turned into the same ash.

  “It must be the same with these creatures,” Rei firmly intoned. “If you destroy their leader, they die.”

  Levi went to respond but was silenced by the sight of an entity being constructed from the ashes of the decimated firebird.

  A woman grew up out of the ashes, glimmering feathers covering her head, eyes brilliantly orange and flickering as flames licked her incandescent face. Her body was covered with shimmering scales and feathers, shifting in a multitude of brilliant colors. If it weren’t for the bird-like appearance covering her body, she had the appearance and body of a human.

  “What is this creature, a phoenix?” Harrison questioned.

  “It would be wise not to harm those who seek to protect you,” her harmonic voice called out.

  “How do we know you are no enemy of ours?” Navarre returned cautiously.

  “You would have been burned where you sit on your beasts if we had sensed you were a part of the Great One’s army,” the woman responded as iridescent, neon wings fluttered from behind her and all the creatures of her kind now surrounded them.

  “The Great One?” Navarre questioned.

  “It is how he referred to himself when he chose to foolishly open the portal to our galaxy,” the bird woman responded. “I am Celosia of the Zylone worlds. My people have no masters. We were forced into this galaxy and wish to return home. We shall fight, protect, and help you to destroy The Great One. Now tell us, who among you has this power that can destroy him? The woman has similar powers to The Great One. The woman is the only being we cannot destroy.”

  Reece! Levi thought, prompting the woman to bring her fiery eyes directly to his.

  “Reece?” she answered. “She is the one we seek. Where is she?”

  Levi swallowed hard. “The one you refer to as The Great One has taken her. We are searching for her now.”

  She read your thoughts! Harrison mentally spoke to Levi.

  “Yes,” Celosia responded sternly to Harrison’s telepathy. “There are many things we can do. Now, let us work together and heal those who have fallen victim to The Great One. We must find the woman who can destroy him.” She looked at Navarre. “You command this group. Will you join in our cause?”

  “I would happily oblige, but we know nothing of your kind,” Navarre responded firmly. “How are we to know that you are not a trap sent by Mordegrin, The Great One, himself?”

  “If we wanted you dead, you would be dead,” she said as she eyed everyone in the group. “Now, you will help us to destroy him, or we will kill you. You have a decision to make. We will extinguish you for not trying to help us return to our home, or you will be extinguished for failing us in our mission. Either way, if The Great One is not destroyed, you will be exterminated by my people.”

  “Great,” Harrison growled. “Resistance is futile.”

  The woman smiled. “Precisely.”

  Movac charged over to the bird-like woman. The heat in her fiery red eyes burned so brightly that her eyes turned vividly blue as she scowled at Movac’s hostile approach.

  “Movac, stop!” Navarre ordered.

  “I will not be governed or threatened by any beast,” Movac roared. “Find your alliance someplace else.”

  A wicked smile drew up on her lips as she reached out and touched Movac, igniting his body into flames and turning him into a pile of ash before he could cry out in pain.

  Levi glanced back at Harrison, but both men kept their thoughts to themselves, knowing Celosia could read them. Harrison looked over at Angeline to see his wife’s hostile expression.

  “Angie,” Harrison softly called out.

  She turned to Harrison, her grave expression unchanged.

  “Clear your mind. We will—”

  “Female!” Celosia screeched, bringing Angeline’s fierce expression back to her.

  “Leave her be!” Navarre called out, stopping the woman’s approach toward Angeline. “She answers to me. The creature you killed was a leader of his own kind, and he was not under my command.”

  Celosia darted a deadly gaze toward Angeline so lethal that Harrison believed she would turn Angeline into burning ash with the stare alone.

  “Angeline Oxley!” Harrison said in a commanding tone. “Look at me this instant!”

  As Levi backed Areion protectively to the other side of Angeline’s horse, Harrison sighed in relief when Angeline looked back at him, and her expression softened. “That’s my girl,” Harrison forced himself to say in a humorous tone. “Unless you want to get barbequed like Movac, I need you to relax.”

  Angeline’s jaw loosened as she conceded with a nod.

  “Angeline Oxley,” Celosia proclaimed. “A woman governed by a man? How very quaint, and quite unfortunate.” Her iridescent wings shimmered brilliantly when she studied both Harrison and Angeline. “However, it is advantageous for you that you heed his advice at this time.” She glared at everyone around her. “S
hould any of you seek to go against my will or harm my people, you will meet the same fate as the beast I just destroyed.”

  “We will lead you to the woman who holds the power to destroy Mordegrin,” Levi called out. “I suggest you return to focusing on your mission to return home. Harming our people will bring you nothing but imprisonment on our soil.”

  Celosia had studied Levi before an odd smile drew up in the corners of her mouth. “You are a wise one,” she added as she stepped toward Navarre.

  Navarre locked eyes with her. “Given that all of our lives are threatened, I must request that we urgently form our plans.”

  “I will happily grant you that request.” She eyed the group. “Follow me. I have an excellent location for us to strategize.”

  With no other option, Navarre nodded and signaled for the group to follow the winged creature to the site she wished to go. The disadvantage they were at was frustrating, but all Levi could focus on was ensuring that they found Reece and Mordegrin’s whereabouts to help her retrieve the stone from him and destroy all of these threats once and for all.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Knowing that this creature could read minds, Harrison restrained from communicating his thoughts about the situation to Levi. He also forced his angered thoughts from his mind, knowing that even though this creature was trying to work with them, they were at her mercy. He focused on the glimmering wings of the foreign army leading them to the location they were to use to make their new plan of action and erased any other thought from his mind.

  Once they were stopped under the shelter of large trees that surrounded a pond, Harrison jumped from Saracen’s back to assist Angeline from her horse. Once their masters dismounted them, the horses meandered toward the water. Rei’s lion-beasts remained with each of the warriors, watching the bird creatures carefully.

  Navarre led the group to a seemingly comfortable spot, and they sat in a circle formation. The lions followed Rei and their men and sat protectively behind their masters. Harrison looked over at Angeline and followed her eyes where they were watching the bird creatures bound into the water as if to bathe themselves.