Obliteration

by Zoe Parker

  In my memories she sees herself as I saw her. This bright light in endless darkness—she was all I saw, all I see. Her big, haunted eyes forever branded into my memory. The curve of her smile a beacon for me no matter how far away I go. The first time her hand touched me, and the realization of how significant a simple touch from her is to me.

  She steps forward and touches her lips to mine in a whisper of a kiss.

  This is our stolen moment in a time of death and strife, our mark we’ll leave burned into each other’s memories for all time. No matter which road we travel, there will always be this moment. I’m old, I’m powerful, but this woman can bring me to my knees like no other.

  She is my heart and as long as she graces my existence with her presence—a creature like me can know what it is to be loved.

  15

  We had a wedding. I’m still absorbing the reality of it. Dad pulled the hotel staff in to give us guests and witnesses, and we’re now officially, Mr. & Mrs. Phobe Black. He took my last name, since he doesn’t actually have one. The look he gave the preacher man still makes me smile. For a split second he considered eating him because of how annoying filling out the paperwork was.

  Our honeymoon involved the hot tub. Well, there was a hot tub. I’m pretty sure it’s in ten different pieces now. We may have gotten a little carried away. Okay, a lot carried away. Somehow we broke the wall too. The room next to ours didn’t appreciate us watching them get up to go pee at seven a.m. either.

  And what Phobe shared with me in his shadows still takes my breath away. My eyes drift down to the wedding band on Phobe’s finger. He had one in his pocket when we wed… something I’m still in shock over. I’m actually married. Me. It’s incredible and… I think I’m still digesting the entire thing. I do know I don’t want it to end, and have kicked myself mentally in the ass a dozen times for not realizing how I felt sooner. I was so hung up on the past that I almost missed out on an irreplaceable moment in my life.

  Unfortunately, while we had our night of peace, the world kept moving. That’s why we’re in the truck instead of our super comfy hotel room. The Schoth have increased their numbers, and people all over the world are starting to panic. The military is now out in full force, patrolling the roads and towns that border any active Schoth bases. The ones we took down have already been cleaned out and reoccupied by humans. Jarvis at work. He called me first thing this morning and informed me that we’d be one of the few people allowed through the barricade heading south. We need to get to Las Vegas to check in with everyone and taking a plane is out of the question for me. I have a thing about being confined, and I’d rather not fall out of the sky while on fire—that shit will hurt—with a hundred other people screaming their heads off.

  There are more camps now; several dozen more, just in the US. Those are only the known ones. No one knows how many more are hidden. At first, I was all for continuing on our path, but after both us getting a bit damaged last time, we decided to regroup first. There has to be a more solid plan than zerging individual camps.

  “I need to go somewhere when we get there,” Phobe says, briefly looking at me with a smile on his face. Both of us are like two teenagers with their first crush—it’s great. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

  “Okay, gonna tell me why?” He’s been a lot more forthcoming lately, and I’d rather he keep it that way.

  “Life wants to talk to me.” My mood sours a little.

  “What does that prick want?” Okay, to be fair, he’s done a few good things, but none of that outweighs the prick factor. He did good things that led to bad things, too.

  Phobe chuckles. “He said it was important and had nothing to do with the prophecy, so I opted to speak with him. He might have an idea on how to get through this without all your Feyrie dying.” I don’t miss the fact that he left me out of that scenario.

  “Are you saying that because you have faith in him?” I doubt it, but I have to ask.

  Phobe’s laugh is sharp and cold. “No, but there’s a chance he knows something we don’t.” He’s not wrong, so I don’t argue. Life seems to have a fountain of knowledge even if he doesn’t always share it. If anyone has a solution, he does.

  “True enough. Do you have any suspicions?” If he doesn't, I'd be surprised, Phobe is good at guessing about people. Except maybe me, and that’s because I don’t always know what I’m going to do, let alone be consistent enough for people to accurately guess.

  “I figure he wants to talk about Light. There’s nothing else we’d need to speak about.” He turns back to the road, minus his smile. Once again, he didn’t mention me. I think I’ve corrupted Phobe into the river of denial. I suppose I could give him a floaty.

  Change of subject incoming. “Was that a damn tank?” I turn in my seat to watch the large, lumbering metal contraption through the back window. “I didn’t know they moved that fast. In the movies they’re always going slow,” I muse.

  “We’re coming up to a checkpoint. Put your seatbelt on and be prepared, in case we have to fight our way through,” Phobe cautions, rolling down his window. I put the seatbelt on and roll my own window down. Like a dog, I hang my head out to stare at the groups of soldiers as we pass.

  Jarvis said we’d have no trouble getting through and it looks like his words are coming true. Although we’re getting lots of looks not a single person has tried to stop us, and this road is full of military. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen a single civilian since we started driving this morning.

  A horrible screeching noise comes through mine and Phobe’s phones. I look and see an Emergency Alert requesting everyone to stay in their homes, armed. A foreign power has invaded US soil. This isn’t good. Something is changing. My phone rings and I answer it, knowing the blocked number is Jarvis.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “Something big has come through a portal, our drones are showing us thousands of troops. Maybe tens of thousands. This has become a worldwide crisis now and no one thinks it’s manageable anymore. The president has issued a national emergency and activated the National Guard and the draft. We’re prepping for a war that we have no idea how to fight… can you help us?” For the first time, Jarvis sounds afraid and asking for the help I mentioned to him months ago.

  The itch to say ‘I told you so’ is strong but I keep it to myself.

  “Keep your men at a distance and don’t engage them. Evacuate whoever you can in the outlying areas but the ones inside the shields are lost… for now, maybe forever. We’re on our way to Las Vegas, let me meet up with my people and see what we can do. And Jarvis,” I look at Phobe and know that he’s not going to be happy with what comes next. “Send me the location of the portal with the army.”

  “Iza,” Phobe says. Saying a million different things with one word.

  “On it’s way. Any other suggestions?” Jarvis asks.

  A movie I saw on TV comes to mind and the idea takes root in my brain. “Do you have a way to make non-metal guns?” Plastic isn’t a natural resource, an elemental mage can’t destroy them the same way they can metal.

  “Yes, why?”

  “The mages can’t touch plastic guns.”

  “I’ll get right on it. About before… I’m sorry that we hurt you and your people, we were simply trying to prevent something like this from happening.” He sounds genuinely apologetic so I let that grudge go. Humans are dying left and right at the hands of those worse than any scientist.

  He gets it now.

  “There’s no way humans can prevent this. Just make sure we can get to vegas unhindered.” With that said I hang up the call. Nothing else that I say will reassure him, because it would all be bullshit. That’s not going to stop me from trying to fix the bullshit problem. I only need a plan.

  Phobe looks at me and with a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel, pushes down on the gas pedal. Our time just ran out.

  Ten hours later a tired Iza is standing before her mismatched group of Feyrie. They
all look as tired as she is and none of them are feeling optimistic. She’s leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a small frown on her face—watching everyone who’s watching her. Before our arrival we got word that the Guide has come back to the Earth realm. That means Light isn’t far behind. They’re preparing a full on invasion and this world has no defense against them.

  Except us.

  As it stands, I can’t fight him and win. I might slow him down, I might even injure him but it won’t take him out of the fight. However, it will take me from it. That will leave Iza completely vulnerable and this time she won’t survive. No matter how strong she is—and she’s incredibly so—going against Light isn’t something her strength will matter in. Light Magiks, and even Blood Magiks, are her biggest weaknesses. Light can wield them both with

  Power and skill that Iza can’t combat.

  My doubts about meeting him equally, my doubts about her survival—simply piss me off.

  “I guess I’m supposed to give you some bullshit speech about us overcoming all odds and killing all the bad guys. Maybe even saying we’ll get a parade and some fucked up statue to commemorate our victory in the town square,” she says, looking at each individual person in the room. “Well, I can’t.” There’s a collective gasp and she straightens from the wall to pace in agitation in front of them. “The prophecy is bullshit, the enemy is damn near invulnerable and we don’t have enough people to fill a stadium, let alone a battlefield. But,” that gaze pans around the room again. “We’re still going to try.”

  “What do you mean invulnerable?” someone asks from the crowd of faces.

  “Our enemy isn’t just the Schoth, there’s a hidden one—the one who took over Nika’s body and corrupted Ruthie. The one who killed Rido and Val and the other Feyrie. His name is Light, and essentially he’s a god.” She’s not holding anything back from them anymore.

  Watching the emotions flit across her face, pisses me off even more. I don’t need to be in her head to know what she’s thinking. Iza is still going to fight but she’s going in there with the acceptance that they’ll lose. That takes me from pissed off to infuriated.

  “The Light? The one who created Schoth?” that same voice asks in disbelief.

  “Yeah, that’s him. He’s a nasty fucker too,” she says, her eyes finally landing on me.

  “How can we fight a god?” that voice asks again.

  Iza turns her head to the side, contemplating me. I can almost hear the gears in her head turning. Iza has an idea. One I’ll explore when I return. Walking through the door, I open a portal and step inside. Life has invited me to the world of one of his more mundane creations. I step out into a perfect sunset, coupled with white sandy beaches and crystal clear water as far as the eye can see. Life is standing close to where the waves lap at the sand with his back towards me. Walking towards him I wait for him to speak, because he will speak. Life has always been talkative and can beat Iza hands down in a chatter match.

  “Did you know,” and it begins. “That the brain can exist with only half of itself intact?” I say nothing knowing he’ll continue whether I speak or not. “Not every creature can exist with half their brain but some do and not only exist but excel at it. Amazing that.” He turns to face me. “Iza is angry with me and refuses to see me.”

  I shrug, falling in beside him when he starts to walk. “You shouldn’t have meddled in her life.” I finally say.

  “The things you see in hindsight… even if someone can see the future.” For a while we walk in silence, then he starts talking again. “I’m not omnipotent, there are rules that I have to follow. It’s what keeps me from fixing my mistakes. The higher power deems it so.” I’ve always suspected the something who created us was cognizant, and hearing it out of Life’s mouth gives me a faint sense of satisfaction. The next question is, how did he find out about said rules? No one has ever come to me and said I had to follow guidelines to exist.

  That’s something I’ll explore another day.

  “Those rules are why a big change is coming in my—no, our futures. One I can’t meddle in or control in any way. I do ask, however, that you tell Iza I send my sincerest apologies. Out of anyone I’ve spent time with, she will always be the most endearing.”

  “What does this higher power plan to do with me?”

  “Nothing. You’re on a different level than I, or even Light.” He holds out his hand and on it is an amulet made from white metal, infused with Life’s Magiks. I can see them swirling around the dark jewel in the center. “This will protect you from those nasty devices Light has given those parasites.”

  “Why not give it to Iza?” Her mortality is in jeopardy and she needs protection more than I do.

  “She can’t handle this kind of power, it will kill her within minutes. This is some of my Magiks in its purest form and only one made from the same star dust as I, can wield it.”

  “This means Light can as well?” That will make this ‘gift’ useless.

  “No.” He doesn’t explain further and I don’t ask. He’s worse than I am about giving vague or non-answers. He’s got no reason to lie about it either. This amulet will help out quite a bit when it comes to the mages Light has armed with them. They won’t kill me but they slow me down, and this enables me to remove them instead of putting Iza directly in the line of fire because I can’t touch the fucking things.

  I open my mouth to thank him but he stops and my words cut off.

  “When the battle seems hopeless, then I can help you.”

  “Why not now?” More prophetic bullshit. Doesn’t he ever tire of it?

  “I have a few things left to do that I can’t leave undone. I’ll be waiting when the time comes.” With that said he disappears and all that’s left is the sound of the waves lapping on the shore. Is this what I do to Iza when she wants answers?

  I’ll have to remember that because now I understand why she threatens bodily harm.

  Opening a portal I return to the hallway outside of the conference room. Iza isn’t talking anymore; instead Adriem and Jameson are on their phones calling in the rest of the Feyrie. Her mind is open to me and I see that she’s leaving only a few to guard the children and summoning the rest. For once, she’s taking something seriously.

  I just wish it wasn’t her dying. Again.

  16

  Watching the news doesn’t put me in a better mood. The military is taking a semi-distant, cautious stance with the Schoth. They’ve lost thousands of personnel to them in less than twenty-four hours and now they’ve lost entire states. Missouri, gone. Indiana, gone. Just to name a few. Thankfully, Jarvis listened to me and they managed to evacuate quite a few humans before the Schoth got to them. The ones behind lines… there’s no hope for them anymore. The Schoth will have already killed most of them, if for no other reason than they can.

  People all over the world are freaking out and rightly so. It’s not just the U.S. affected by these unwanted, homicidal guests; entire countries have gone dark. Completely dark. Any attempt to contact them is met with outright hostility from the Schoth. Not every country has the manufacturing capabilities of the U.S., they can’t make the plastic weapons.

  The only positive in this—for humans, at least—is that the plastic guns do work, but they’re temporary. They wear out after only a few shots, but those few shots have saved lives. I’m glad that I watch TV.

  Wanting to see how bad things really are, I go the Tube. I type in 'alien' and hundreds of videos pop up. All of them of Schoth. Watching the first few makes my heart crack a little. Whoever took the video is quietly crying while an elemental mage dissolves the bulk of a tank—their hope of rescue—and watches it blow away in the wind. Children are screaming in the background, everyone is screaming in the background.

  Video after video of the same thing. Death.

  Turning it off, I flick the news back on. The monotone voice of the newscaster is much better than the screams of a dying child. On so many different levels.
Gritting my teeth, I watch them map out the Schoth’s progression. They’re heading east, towards the seat of power for the U.S. They’re going after the orange guy, and in their wake they’ll leave nothing but a wasteland.

  Gods, we need to do something soon, before this war is over before it begins.

  Frustrated, I shift around in my seat. I’m waiting on Phobe to say something about his visit with Life. So far, nothing, and he’s sitting on the couch next to me, absently twiddling the amulet around his neck. Of course I noticed it the minute I saw him; it’s shiny and new—I always notice shiny things. Feeling my eyes and thoughts on him, he turns to look at me.

  “It allows me to touch the amulets and kill the assholes attached to them.” One brief explanation down. “Life says he’s sorry for being an asshole.” I raise an eyebrow and he mirrors me. He’s sticking to that story. I imagine Life said something more complimentary to his person than that, but I’ll leave it. Phobe nailed the truth of it more accurately anyhow. “He said when the battle seems hopeless he can help us.”

  That’s stupid as fuck. “It’s already hopeless,” I deadpan. It figures that he won’t do anything until there’s no other options. I wonder if being cryptic all the time is hard on his back? Carrying around that load of ‘Omnipotent prick’ has to be heavy.

  “I’m not sure what he thinks he can do in that situation that he can’t do now.” Hearing Phobe unsure about anything doesn’t comfort me in the least.

  “Do you think it’ll be before everyone dies?” I ask sarcastically.

  Phobe shrugs and says, “It can go either way. I’m not counting on it making a difference.”

  An idea strikes me as I’m watching grenades ineffectually go off on TV. “Jameson?” He pops his head around the corner of the doorway. “You know that collar you made?” He nods. “Can you make one that’s specific to Light Fey?” He frowns and taps his bottom lip with his finger.