Lucifer's Legacy: Book 1 of the Heaven's Insurrection Saga

by Joel Stewart

  “Cliff!” Alex yelled bursting into tears. “Cliff!” There was no response—not that she would be able to hear one even if he did respond. Lena pushed the group a little faster to reach Cliff’s location, but when they got there he was gone.

  Cliff darted back and forth dodging the ever-collapsing ceiling. The sound of the impacts kept getting closer and closer, forcing him farther and farther into the cave. What is going on here? He wondered as he used his enhanced agility to keep one step ahead of the falling rock. When is this gonna end? His supernatural speed had kept him out from under the stones to this point, but he was beginning to slow from fatigue and the cave in was getting nothing but worse.

  A much more powerful impact hit overhead and sent a shockwave straight down through the ceiling. Soon, similar hits were blasting through the ceiling all around him. Another round unexpectedly hit above his head and knocked him to the floor before he could get completely out of the way. His leg and arm got hit pretty hard with flying debris.

  “Ahhh! . . . man, this isn’t good.” He said out loud as he lay on the floor for a moment. The cave around him was all coming down. Another hit directly above him sent a massive amount of stone his direction. “Move Cliff . . . Move Cliff . . . MOVE CLIFF!!!!” He screamed as he finally got himself back on his feet. The pain in his leg severely hampered his movements. Have to get deeper . . . Have to get deeper . . . Have to get deeper . . . He kept saying to himself over and over as he now clumsily tried to dodge the hits and find his way farther into the cave.

  Due to his injury he could not dodge like he was at first and soon any nearby impact was knocking him over and causing further injuries. He came to a turn in the cave and a blast overhead knocked him into the wall and he slumped over. He gathered enough strength to get up and stumble around the next corner. What he saw before him was a short corridor, and one last dragon. Beyond the dragon was the end of the cave—it didn’t go any deeper. The dragon looked a little larger than the others, but this didn’t seem all that important to Cliff as he hobbled over to it.

  “It’s just you and me buddy. It’s been a fun run, but this is the end.” He looked over at the peaceful face of the sleeping dragon. “You know, I have one regret . . .” He said as he limped over to the dragon’s head and slumped down to the ground, leaning against its neck. “This looks like the end . . .” He said between heavy breaths. Blood was flowing down his face and arms. There were several large blood stains on his legs and shirt. “And at the end . . . all I can think about . . . is her . . . THE WORLD IS GOING TO END! . . . but instead . . . of thinking about that . . . I just . . . I just . . . want to see her . . . one last time . . .” He looked at the face of the dragon with his one eye that wasn’t overrun with a stream of blood. “We can’t die here—” Before he could finish his sentence a round landed right above them. The last thought he had as he slipped from consciousness was the sight of Alex’s smile after he woke up just moments before. She was so beautiful.

  “Cliff! Cliff!” Alex kept screaming.

  “You can stop that already.” Jesse muttered halfheartedly. “He can’t hear you through these explosions, not to mention the fact that the cave no longer exists.” Jesse and the others were staying inside Lena’s shield and jogging forward. Lena was blasting a tunnel out of the earth in front of them as they jogged. She could feel roughly where he was, but the feeling was getting weaker.

  “We have to hurry,” Lena said as she picked up the pace. “We are losing him.” Upon hearing that, Alex began to cry as she ran and screamed his name louder. Davis joined in yelling for Cliff. “There!” Lena yelled as she blasted away the earth to reveal a portion of the cave that had not yet completely fallen in. They ran into the open area. The ground rocked back and forth as the bombardments momentarily got a little more intense. Lena picked her feet off the ground and began to fly while holding the hands of Alex and Jesse so they could balance on her. Davis ran under her and grabber her arm as well. “Over there!” Lena yelled as she headed toward a bend in the cave. A shell landed right above the bend, collapsing it, but Lena blew it right back open. They came out on the other side to find Cliff with a dragon, both half-buried from cave-ins.

  Alex and Davis pulled Cliff out of the dirt and rocks. Alex ripped a sleeve off of her shirt and wiped the blood off his face. “Cliff! Stay with me Cliff!” She said to him as gently as she could, dusty tears streamed down her face.

  “He’ll be OK, we made it in time. We will stay here until this bombardment stops.” Lena said to Alex reassuringly. Lena raised both hands in the air and increased the size of her shield to encompass the dragon. Beads of sweat began to drip off Lena’s chin as she strained to keep the area from collapsing in. “I hope this doesn’t last too much longer.”

  Chapter 4

  Eastern Denoria Air Base, Kenfar

  Kurt Cerigan felt dead inside as he walked into the airship hanger to debrief their commander. I was the flight leader. He thought, They are all dead because of me. It was my responsibility to keep them alive and I failed. He looked over at Cassandra Rothburg and saw the same bleakness on her face as he was sure was on his own. “You OK, Cass?” Kurt asked. He knew she wasn’t, but he cared for her and couldn’t help but ask the question.

  “I’m alive. That’s more than I can say for the rest of our shipmates.” Cassandra replied.

  Lieutenant Cartright, the other surviving pilot, entered the hanger with a smile on her face. She is just happy to be alive, Kurt thought. I know I am feeling the responsibility for the deaths of our friends, and Cassandra is feeling the same for her Knight Squadron, but this girl is just happy to be alive. I wish I had never taken command.

  “How are you holding up?” Cassandra said, interrupting his thoughts.

  “I . . . I don’t know how I’m feeling to be honest.” He replied. “I’m a bit numb.”

  “Same here.” Cassandra admitted.

  “I keep wondering what chance we have when Chengar has access to technology of that caliber.” Kurt said as they walked into the briefing room. “I still can’t figure out how they developed it without our intelligence finding out.”

  “Good question!” Came a voice from behind them. They turned around to see their commanding officer, Commander Turner. Though Kurt hoped to take the title from him, he was known as the best pilot in the Denorian Air Navy. Commander Turner stood about five-feet ten-inches with a medium build and a touch of silver to his brown hair. “I have reviewed the footage shot by your ship’s cameras; that was some amazing flying, all of you.” Commander Turner looked down at the ground and then back up at Kurt and Cassandra. “That weapon . . . That was something else.” He turned on the television in the briefing room to show a live camera feed of a cruiser that was hovering over the crater. “You could fit all of Dengrin City inside that crater, including the outskirts. I don’t think Chengar was planning on using that weapon today, so it might be that the deaths of the valiant men and women that fell out there today was not in vain.”

  It was plain that everyone there was fighting back the emotions that wanted to overwhelm them, all but Lieutenant Cartright anyway. “These are the sacrifices we must make in war.” Cassandra spoke up. “Let’s find out what this weapon is and how to beat it, that’s the only way to give our fallen peace.”

  “That woman,” Kurt said with a blank expression on his face. “That woman did this. I saw no equipment on them, nothing that could cause destruction of this magnitude. But that woman . . . her eyes were glowing, I swear they were! She is the weapon, I am sure of it.”

  “We are looking into that.” Turner responded. “The video does show her eyes glowing red, so it is entirely possible she is not a human at all, but some kind of machine made to look human. But that is for the Intel guys to figure out. We are going to be standing up a new squadron with the completed X-5 prototypes, and the three of you are all being assigned. We have termed the X-5 prototypes the Dragonsbane, and our primary mission is to engage and destroy these drago
n creatures wherever they pop their ugly heads.”

  “The X-5 is ready?” Kurt interrupted. His previously stoic state was gone as his excitement bubbled over. “I thought it was still in development?”

  “The governing circle started throwing money around and, as a result, a small fleet of porotypes will be delivered tomorrow morning. If you see anyone from TechnoVelor, you can thank them for working around the clock to make this happen.” Turner continued. “We think we will have the best luck working in small four wing squadrons, so you three will be my wingmen. We will be the vanguard of the squadron, the best of the best. We have twelve prototypes coming, so we will have two other squadrons with us.” Cassandra and Cartright stared at him with a disapproving look. “Oh right . . . you are my wing . . . persons? Sorry, I don’t quite have a grip on the new social norms. No offense.”

  Cassandra’s face finally broke into a slight smile. “None taken sir.”

  Chapter 5

  Dengrin, Capital of Denoria

  “Reports are now coming in that it has been confirmed. The Governing Circle has been assassinated. General Reminir has assumed sole control of the Denorian government as its last remaining member. He has instituted martial law across the country in response to what he says is a pervasive Chengarian militia organization that has been, quote ‘Built in the Shadows’. He cited military action that has taken place in the city over the last week, incidences that, to this point, had been given a No comment response by the government.”

  Alden Foren turned off the television in his apartment as he contemplated. What do I do? General Reminir himself said that the entire council was in the room with him when he was shot, how can he think that I’m dead? And General Stovak isn’t even in the city! Alden remembered the reports of the fighting by that Sanctum compound. The military action was actually Chengarian men using military equipment stolen by several deep cover operatives. This news report made it seem like the Chengarian agents were our own and the Sanctum compound was the cell. “Let’s go Luke, I’m going to find General Reminir and get to the bottom of this. He never struck me as the kind of man to make a power play like this.” Alden had been going over the proposed technical changes to the X-5 airships and had not slept at all the previous night. He finally succumbed to fatigue and fell asleep around the time Reminir summoned the council to meet.

  “Roger that sir.” Luke Kes replied. Luke had some military training but quickly distinguished himself for his mind over his muscles. He got out after his first tour and earned a degree in business administration. After several years working for TechnoVelor—Alden’s corporation—he was selected to be Alden’s aide when he decided to get into politics. Luke opened the door and followed Alden through it. When they exited the tower where his bedroom was located he felt immediately that something was off. “Stay vigilant.” He told Luke. “This doesn’t feel right.”

  Luke nodded and followed silently behind Alden. There were so many new faces neither of them had seen before. When Alden reached for the door handle that opened the way into the council building he was knocked to the floor as General Reminir himself shoved the door open. “Out of my way, peasant!” he yelled as he stormed off with an entourage of people swarming behind him. Reminir had looked right at Alden when he spoke but there was not a glimmer of recognition in his eyes.

  Luke helped Alden to his feet. “Sir, I think we should go.” He whispered.

  Alden nodded, but then continued into the council building. He did not recognize any of the personnel in the building—all the regulars had been replaced. There was a lot of chatter, but most of the voices carried accents. “Follow me.” He whispered back to Luke.

  Chapter 6

  Chengarian Flagship CS Denof, Farasi Ocean off the Coast of Jorgen

  Serenis focused on the water intently. The fog around her armada was starting to lift and needed a new surge of her power to strengthen it. Her flights between this armada, the Chengarian capital of Chentar, and the Denorian capital of Dengrin, were sapping her power. Regardless, this was no time to slow down. The government of Denoria was now in her hands, but she could not use them to subjugate the people. Even if she could, she wouldn’t. She despised this land and everything it stood for. She wanted them to suffer. She would destroy them, city by city. She would use her newfound power in the government to prevent significant opposition to her advancing forces, and she would not stop until every citizen of this foul country was crushed under her heel. With the fog renewed for another day she turned to face her four generals.

  They were still in a miserable condition from their battle with Lena and Ariel. She reached out toward Bren and made a fist. “What did I tell you Bren?” An invisible hand clenched around him, breaking several of his ribs in its grip. Serenis then lifted her arm high above her head and threw it forward like she was throwing a ball. Corresponding with her movements, Bren lifted into the air and then flew back against the wall. He crumpled over on the ground in pain. The impact with the wall broke an arm and a leg to go with his ribs. “You can’t complete one simple task! They were weak and pathetic, and you still failed.”

  With Bren unable to speak, Menor spoke for him. “We were unprepared for their weapons, it won’t happen again.”

  “AAAARRRAAA!” Serenis screamed as she violently waved her arm in front of the other kneeling generals. A shockwave slammed into them, knocking the lot of them through the air with such force they punched holes in the steel bulkhead behind them with their bodies. “I know you won’t,” she responded with a sneer. She looked over at Captain Chenok who was standing behind her. “I will be taking care of the assault on Jorgen. Take these pathetic wretches from my sight and train them. If they fail again I will hold you personally responsible for their failure.”

  “Understood, my Queen.” Captain Chenok responded.

  Chapter 7

  Dengrin, Capital of Denoria

  Cliff slowly opened his left eye. His right eye was still swollen shut. He was in too much pain to move. His eye panned back and forth trying to take in his surroundings. He was still alive. He was still in the cave. He . . . He had Alex’s head lying on his stomach. It had blood all over it. He couldn’t see the rest of her unless he moved . . . but moving was so painful . . . Ariel could move if he were in this body right now . . . he thought. I have to be stronger . . . Alex needs me . . . Slowly but surely Cliff began to move his arm up and placed it on Alex’s head. It was warm! She was alive!

  “Good to see you’re finally awake!” Came the voice of Davis from behind Cliff. He spoke excitedly but quietly. “I don’t want to wake her just yet, she has been holding you crying for hours, she just finally fell asleep a little bit ago. We didn’t think you were going to make it.”

  “A . . . Ale . . . Alex . . .” Cliff tried to speak but he couldn’t, it was too painful.

  Lena moved herself around into Cliff’s field of vision. “I’ve done everything I can for you. Overall you should be OK in a few days.”

  “Cliff is awake!” Exclaimed Jesse as he jumped to his feet. He had been sleeping using the tip of the dragon’s tail as a pillow. The noise startled Alex and she looked up to see Cliff looking back at her.

  “Cliff . . . I was so worried . . .” Alex said, crying again. As she moved around Cliff could see that the blood on her face must have come from him. She moved closer and ran her fingers down the side of his face.

  “A . . . Alex . . . There is . . . some . . . something I have to tell you.” Cliff said as he struggled to speak. It was evident that talking was causing him a great deal of pain. Alex put her finger on his lips.

  “Shh . . . rest for now, tell me later.” She said. Then she snuggled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Just don’t worry me like that ever again.” Alex’s head on his shoulder was causing Cliff so much pain, but the feeling of her embrace was equally euphoric. Cliff suppressed the pain.

  “Lena healed you Cliff,” Jesse said, a relieved expression on his face. “You would
have died.”

  “Jesse will be much better at healing than me once he begins to understand himself.” Lena chimed in. “He needs to harness the emotions of love and compassion the way he harnessed anger in our last encounter with the demons.”

  “I tried to heal you.” Jesse confessed. “It didn’t work. Just like in that last battle, I was pathetic.”

  “You overcame your fear.” Lena corrected. “That is the first step to unlocking your power. Don’t get frustrated, you need only strive. With dedication you will see your power grow.”

  “Cliff should be well enough for us to move him now. Davis, can you carry him?” Lena asked.

  “Yeah, hold on buddy, this might hurt.” Davis responded. Alex let go of Cliff for the first time since they found him here. Cliff was relieved to have her weight off him but sad at the same time. Davis picked him up and put him on his shoulders.

  Cliff grit his teeth through the pain of being moved. He wasn’t sure Lena was right about it being safe to move him, but he thought if he opened his mouth he might scream or worse—start crying uncontrollably. I need Alex to see me differently, he reminded himself. Bear it like a man.

  “Be careful with him!” exclaimed Alex. She saw the pain in Cliff’s face as Davis picked him up. “Cliff, when we get back to the castle I’m going to cook you up a fantastic meal!” Cliff gave a weak smile and an even weaker thumbs up to Alex.

  “Sounds great . . .” Cliff muttered under his breath so it wouldn’t hurt as much.

  Davis knew Alex couldn’t hear cliff’s painful mutterings. “He said it sounds great Alex.”

  Alex was about to say something else when Lena cut her off. “Let’s get going. Cliff needs to rest, and we need to get out of here.” Lena looked around the cave. She stabilized the cave roof around their area, but they were completely buried. “I think the fastest way out is this way.” Lena raised her arm toward the back of the cave behind the dragon and let loose an energy beam. The beam cut through the rock and hollowed out a tunnel. “Let’s go.”