by Joel Stewart
“Having fun my Queen?” Came a deep voice from behind her. She turned to find Bren, one of her four generals kneeling before her.
“We have to do something for fun on this forsaken world.” Serenis replied. “Tomorrow I will parade the poor, hopeless masses of this land into the capital. I will shower them with gifts. Food, money, possessions. I will invite them to the greatest banquet this country has ever seen. There I will put this man at the center of the celebration. I will declare his crimes. They will watch while his family cooks his remaining leg and eats the meat while he squirms. Every time he moves the lances that will be put through him today will tear fresh wounds, and he will begin to bleed out. Before he is unconscious we will cook the rest of him and give rewards to any who desire to have a taste. He will be heckled and jeered at while I am praised, and thus will begin the creation of New Ardia. These people are so desperate from living under their oppressive leaders for so long that their minds are impeccably conditioned to accept my will. They will be remade in my image, even more perfectly shaped than the Ardia of old. The Creator valued forgiveness in his creations, I value contempt. He valued meekness, I value unbridled power. He valued mercy, I value cruelty. He valued long-suffering. I value . . . suffering. The minds we attempted to mold when we created Ardia were strong, these are weak. I will be their god and they shall worship me.” She motioned for him to rise. “Report.”
“I bring mixed tidings.” Bren replied. He had a short cut beard and short blond hair that seemed to naturally stick up and wave in the breeze. His chiseled jaw sat on a strong neck and shoulders that, in turn, sat on the large frame of his six foot, three-inch-tall body. He still wore his chainmail, more because he liked the look than anything else, with a brown trench coat over the top of it. Had a large sword strapped to his back over the trench coat.
Being a Cherubim he could summon a flaming sword from thin air, but as his strength was not that of Lena’s, it came to a mere 4 feet in length when hers came to over five. To counter this imbalance he carried a five-and-a-half footlong double-bladed longsword that he would imbue with his flame when he needed to do battle with Lena. It was a contingency weapon, as battling Lena alone was an impossible fight for him to win, but on the rare occasion it did help even the odds, if only just a little.
“We did not succeed in killing the angel-spawn—” His sentence was cut short as a pulse of energy erupted from Serenis’ palm, knocking Bren back into the door of the throne room so hard it broke once again. Anxious repair men swarmed around the castle entrance waiting for Bren to move. Serenis did not handle failure well. Bren slowly staggered to his feet. That was another reason he wore his chainmail—it didn’t help much, but sometimes every little bit of protection helped. He coughed and continued as if nothing had happened. “The second part of our plan was executed perfectly. We are in position.”
Serenis smiled. “Excellent. Tomorrow I will leave after the festivities to oversee my part of the next phase. You should gather up your generals and head for Denoria to right your failure.” She held out her hand and once again sent Bren flying into the castle door, this time crushing two workers and causing the door to fall over on him. Then, the heavy door began to move as Bren worked his way out from underneath it. He looked up at Serenis confused. “My agents inform me that your last strategy for killing the angel-spawn could have killed the one angel we actually need. Capture the lot of them if possible and kill Lena if you can.”
Bren wiped blood from his mouth. “Understood my Queen. I will handle this personally.”
“And Bren . . .” Serenis called after him as he walked away. He turned around and knelt once again awaiting instruction. “This should not be a difficult mission for you. You four will be facing Lena, and the angel-spawn will be the prize. Do not completely underestimate the humans. They may be young, inexperienced, and practically powerless, but you and your generals are not at full strength yet. Chenok also reports that the one known as Benjamin Davis is a capable fighter using this age’s technologies. If I hear that you have failed again, you will not get off so lightly.”
“Understood my Queen, we will depart on our fastest airship for the King’s Revenge anchored off the Denorian coast. We can be at their compound by late morning.”
“Good. I will be close behind you as I can make better time on my own. There are a few things I need to attend to on the way as well. If you think you need my help you should wait for me to join you.” Serenis waved Bren off.
“I am sure that will not be necessary, my queen.” Bren rose, bowed, turned, and walked away to gather the others. They had angels to hunt.
Chapter 7
Dengrin, Capital of Denoria
“I still can’t do anything!” Jesse yelled in frustration. He grabbed a door close by and slammed it shut to add another outlet for his frustration besides screaming. To his surprise there was a charred handprint where he touched the door. He squared up to the door, motioned his hands behind his head, took a deep breath, and pointed both hands at the same time at the door while yelling “Except on accident!”
“What else is new?” Davis chided. Jesse and Lena both glared at him.
“Have patience Jesse.” Lena encouraged. “Once your power is needed I believe you may have the easiest time of all your friends in using it.”
“At least you have a power.” Alex said patting Jesse on the back. “I can command an army of dragons who won’t wake up. Not all of us have it as easy as Davis.”
“Davis still has much to learn. His skill is the easiest to pick up but the hardest to master.” Lena had been trying to ease the spirit of competition between the men since they first started but it seemed a hopeless fight. “If you would all stop trying to outdo one another and focus on what I have been telling you, you would all be picking this up much quicker.”
“I’m getting faster.” Cliff noted. He had clipped one of Davis’s hip holsters to his waist and was whipping the gun out and putting it back impossibly fast.
“Is that so,” Lena said calmly. She picked up a rock and hurled it at Cliff’s chest. He tried to jump out of the way, but he was not fast enough. In a last-ditch effort to avoid a direct hit he blocked it with his palm to redirect it to the side of his body. The rock shattered against the wall of the cave.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Cliff yelled in alarm as he got back to his feet. His palm was ripped open. A medic Lena kept in the room during their training sessions quickly began sanitizing his hand and wrapping it in bandages.
“Your hand will be fine within the hour. Now that you have been awakened you will find your natural healing abilities to be dramatically improved.” Lena responded coldly. “You will need to learn to handle pain if you ever hope to win a battle against Serenis and her generals.” The mention of battle drew worried expressions from Alex and Jesse who looked at each other hoping for some sort of emotional support from the other. “The Creator is on our side, all we need do is the best that we can and leave the result to him.” Lena said hoping to alleviate their fears. “Alex, try to pick up that stone again.”
Alesia had incredible strength in addition to command of the angelic army. Lena had thought Alex would gain this strength as well but so far it was not showing. Alex strained to lift the huge rock, but it didn’t move at all. “It’s useless.”
“I want to try another approach to this,” Lena said while motioning to one of the Sanctum guards. “Take her to the gym and start working her out. Start out with low weight and cycle her through the muscle groups. When she finishes a cycle, start over at the beginning with a heavier weight.”
“Understood.” The guard replied. He motioned Alex toward the door. “Right this way.”
“I’m . . . I’m not dressed for this!” Alex stammered in protest.
“You will find exercise attire in the locker rooms.” The guard responded.
Splinters slammed into the door the guard was holding open. Davis was standing 20 feet away with a big grin on his wide
face. There were two sanctum attendants holding separate sides of a board lying on the ground to each side of him. The shockwave from a punch had shattered the board and knocked the both of them to the floor. “I think I am finally getting the hang of this!” Davis said with a cocky tone. His smile quickly faded when he saw Lena’s face—he remembered what had happened to Cliff the last time he had boasted.
“If you have mastered your technique then block this attack.” Lena said coldly. She held out her hand and a beam of light shot from it toward Davis. He held up his hand to block it like he remember from his dream with the tank but it wasn’t enough. Davis was thrown back against the wall. His whole body ached except for a small area around his outstretched hand. He crumpled to the floor and struggled to regain the breath that had just been knocked out of him. “When you are truly ready you will be able to completely deflect an attack ten times more powerful than that. Right now you can barely block the small area around your palm. Remember that your whole body is a weapon and you must use it as one.”
Jesse couldn’t help but smile watching Davis get put in his place. “Guess you aren’t picking it up that much faster than the rest of us eh, Davis?” He gloated. Davis did not respond—he wasn’t sure he could talk at the moment even if he wanted to.
“Stop it.” Lena snapped. “Focus on what you need to do.”
Cliff closed his eyes, concentrating, then ran at the wall. He ran up the wall six steps and then pushed off, doing a backflip onto his feet. He then did it again, and again, until he looked like a looped video. He eventually got dizzy and fell over. “Think I will be able to fly someday?” Cliff asked Lena from the floor.
“I do,” she replied with a smile.
Their training continued long into the night. Alex found surprising success at lifting weights. Each time she started a new set of heavier weights she found she was able to tolerate it, although she still was not able to lift the boulder in the training room. Cliff and Davis made some marginal advances in their training, and Jesse found himself more frustrated at the end of the night than at the beginning. Excited but exhausted, they all decided to take one last walk through the dragon caves before bed.
The sight of the dragon cave was just as awe inspiring the second time as it was the first time. The immense cavern sloped down in front of them, lit by thousands of lights that had been bolted into the ceiling. Covering the ground as deep as they could see were hundreds of dragons. Great beasts, each at least 50 feet long from head to tail. They all stared over the expanse, allowing that space between sleep and wake, exhaustion and exhilaration, to leave them speechless. Davis punched a rocky outcropping in the wall. Using his new abilities he shattered the rock, sending the debris skittering across the floor and breaking the others out of the trance.
“Knock it off Davis.” Jesse muttered. “With how clean this floor is I bet there will be ten Sanctum agents in there tomorrow cleaning the place for the better part of a day.”
“Sorry. I was just thinking . . . How is it that these things can be called ‘as nothing’. One bite could tear a man in half with the smaller ones or swallow him whole with the larger.” Davis said somberly.
“I don’t think any of them could eat you whole.” Alex chided trying to lighten the suddenly serious mood, but no one laughed. She walked over to one of the dragons and leaned on its chest. “It’s not even breathing.”
“Yeah, Lena said that the angel’s power was sustaining the body.” Cliff commented as he leaned back next to Alex on the dragon. He frowned as she got up almost as soon as he planted himself next to her.
Alex walked down the length of the dragon, running her hand down its neck and across its enormous head. “They seem so gentle like this.” She mused.
Jesse turned around and grabbed the door handle. “I’m going to bed.” He muttered groggily. Alex yawned and headed toward the door as well and Davis soon followed.
Alone, Cliff stood up and slowly headed toward the door. “Alex, I love you.” He said to the empty cavern. His voice echoed for a few seconds before silence returned. “Now that wasn’t so hard was it.” He chided himself out loud. He grabbed the door handle and joined the others.
The next morning Cliff fell out of bed as an alarm started blaring. He looked at the clock and saw he had almost slept till noon. He was still wearing the same clothes as the previous night. He tripped on his blanket as he tried to get to the door. When he did so he wrenched the door open and found Davis there. He had just entered the hallway as well except he was wearing his guns and looked ready for battle.
“We have problems, grab your weapons and meet us by the entrance to the house above!” Davis ordered as he ran toward Jesse’s and Alex’s rooms.
Several Sanctum agents ran by Cliff before his morning brain fog wore off and he ducked back inside the room. He put on his double vest holster, slotted his guns inside, and ran for the exit. He met up with Alex, Davis, and Jesse on the way and found Lena heading up the stairs. “Stay here!” She commanded. “You’re not ready!”
“The hell we will!” Davis yelled back as he followed her up the stairs. Cliff looked at Jesse and Alex briefly and then followed Davis.
Alex and Jesse looked at each other, sighed at the same time and carefully inched their way up into the house. They poked their head around the corner of the tiny hallway between the staircase and the bathroom and had a clear line of sight out the front door. Cliff and Davis were on each side of the door, backs pressed against the wall. Lena was standing alone on the front porch. Alex was amazed at how quickly they had repaired the house after rockets that had torn it apart just a few days prior, but this fleeting thought was quickly replaced by fear when she saw the people standing in front of the house beyond Lena.
The man in front was tall with short but wavy blond hair. He had a chain mail vest with a brown trench coat flowing behind him. To his left was a man with a darker complexion. He had a short cut beard and mustache with long dark curly hair that fell below his shoulders. He, too, had a chain mail vest, but he also had two swords clipped to a thick belt at his waist. To his right was a short, burly man with a mop of red hair and a long red beard. The one in the back was a tall, slender female with pale white skin and short spikey white hair. She was wearing what looked like a loose dress with a black slash across the chest, but Alex could see folds that indicated it was used for more than looks. The pale woman had a staff balanced casually between her arm and shoulder.
From what Lena had described to them she thought she knew who these people were: demon generals. Serenis did not seem to be there, but she bet the one in the front was Bren, the one on his left was Ridone, on his right was Menor, and the one in the back was Frostiene. Alex could understand why her nickname was Frost—the Ice Nomads had a cold-looking completion and her icy glare only added to her chilling presence.
Bren pulled the longsword off his back and the blade ignited in wreaths of flame. “Lena,” he said in a confident sneer. “It is time for you to be repaid ten-fold for what you did to us.” He held out his arm, pointing the tip of his sword toward her. “Your faith in the Creator will be found misplaced this day!”
Chapter 8
Jorgen Command Post
General Reminir looked in the mirror at himself one last time. It was strange, looking in a mirror and not recognizing your reflection. The last day he had played at being sick, using the time to familiarize himself with his surroundings, but now was the time for action. He walked out of his quarters and into the command center. The lights and displays surrounding him were still foreign and he didn’t know what almost all of them were for. He did his best not to look dumbfounded.
“On the mend I see!” Came a funny looking man in a Denorian uniform. “That’s great sir!” Reminir ignored the man, not realizing this kind of talk usually required a conversational exchange. The man’s face gained a concerned expression. “Are you sure you don’t need to rest a little more?”
“I’m fine.” Reminir replied coldly.
“Take me to those in charge.”
The funny little man didn’t seem to know what to say, but after a moment responded. “You are in charge sir, do you mean for me to take you to the governing circle?”
Reminir looked perplexed. “Ah . . . Yes. Sorry, guess I am still under the weather, but I need to go nonetheless. Have the council assembled when I arrive.”
“Roger that sir, just head for the cruiser pad and I will have a pilot meet you there in just a minute.” The man walked off radioing for a pilot, leaving Reminir to look around himself for the cruiser pad.
Reminir quickly got frustrated looking for the pad and pretended to fall due to illness. Another officer nearby caught him. Before the officer could speak, Reminir cut him off. “I’m OK, just a little weak still. Please just help me to the cruiser pad.” Following the officer’s lead, he slowly made his way to the surface of the underground base. When he finally reached the cruiser pad it was already powering up. There was a pilot up front, two guards, and a woman in the back. He climbed up into the cruiser and was surprised to see a familiar face staring back at him. “My . . . My Queen!” He stammered as the cruiser lifted off. After uttering the words out loud he looked around frantically to see if anyone had heard him.
Serenis touched his arm softly. “Relax General Reminir. We are all friends here.” Reminir calmed down and turned back to Serenis awaiting new orders. “You have executed your orders perfectly; the governing circle is gathering as we speak. Listen carefully to your instructions, as you are about to hand me the victory that has eluded us for so long.”
