by Joel Stewart
A few minutes later they emerged from the side of what used to be a hill. They looked in bewilderment at the charred and pitted Earth. “I never thought I would see this here. Not so close to Dengrin. Who did this?” Alex pondered out loud.
“That second wave of bombardment had to have been the Denorian Army’s new ground penetrating shells. That and the fact that nothing else is damaged except for the hill makes me think that our own military did that.” Davis stated.
They all looked around for a few more minutes until Jesse broke the silence. “Serenis broke radar cover with her dragons when she left the hillside. Someone in our ranks must have come to the conclusion that enemy dragons were operating out of the hill and decided to have it leveled.”
“That makes sense to me, sort of.” Davis responded. “Still, with this level of devastation something is not adding up. I can’t see the governing circle authorizing this kind of operation inside the city.”
“There is more going on. I can’t put my finger on it, but something isn’t right.” Lena agreed. “First we need to head back to the city and resupply. After that we need to head to the port at Jorgen. I have contacts there that can get us a commercial submarine to take us to our next location.”
“I want to swing by the castle and make sure my father knows I am OK.” Alex said as they walked. “It would only be a short stop. He isn’t even in the city anyway, I just want to leave him a message.”
“I want to see my boy before we leave as well.” Davis said grimly.
“Are you sure?” Cliff whispered to him. “You know what happened.” Cliff coughed, racking his body with pain. “You know what happened last time.” He finished.
“Yeah, I’m sure Cliff.” He responded quietly. “Let’s spend the night at my house and let Cliff rest up, it’s outside the city not far from here.” Davis offered in a louder voice.
The others nodded but Lena shook her head no. “We will need to leave as soon as we can. I can pick up a travel bus from the Sanctum that has beds in it for you all to rest. I will drive through the night and hopefully we will make it to Jorgen by tomorrow afternoon.” Lena stopped walking and looked back at the ragged group. “In fact, you all stay here, I will return with the bus to pick you up.”
Davis slowly put Cliff down on the grass and Alex quickly cuddled up next to him. Cliff smiled through the pain. It was worth it. Jesse and Davis laid down on the grass next to him. From their position on the grass they could see the tourist tower that used to be on Lena’s hill. Half of it was gone now, the other half sat there smoking, promising to fall in on itself at any moment. A short bus pulled up on the road next to them after what seemed like only minutes. Lena picked Cliff up and carefully laid him on a bed in the back. “OK, let’s go to the castle first, then we can see your son.” Lena told Davis. The decision made sense to Davis since the castle was basically on the way.
When they arrived at the castle Alex was surprised to see a new gate guard she did not recognize. She hopped out of the bus and approached the gate, but the guard held out his arm to stop her. “The castle is closed to the public.” He said in a tired tone. Alex got the impression that he had made that statement a lot today.
“I’m not the public, I am authorized to be here.” Alex responded in an agitated tone. It had been a long day and this guard was gearing up to be on the receiving end of some pent-up frustration.
“I’m sorry.” The guard replied in an equally agitated tone. “I have very specific instructions.”
“What do you mean you can’t let us into the castle?” Ranted Alex. The guard looked at her blankly. “I live in the castle, I am General Reminir’s daughter.” Alex tried to explain.
“I received my orders directly from General Reminir.” The guard replied angrily. “And he didn’t mention any daughter! I can’t let you through!”
Alex simmered in her anger for a moment, unsure of what to do next. When she was about to unload another verbal tirade at the guard she spotted an old guard that she knew exiting the gate. “Jim, can you tell this guy that I live in here and to let us in?”
Jim walked over to Alex, leaned over, and whispered into her ear. “I can’t, I just got transfer orders. This place has gotten really weird. Everyone on the Governing Council except for your father has been assassinated. To respond to this inside threat General Reminir has ordered a complete swap out of all the guards and personnel in the castle. Something isn’t right with these new guys coming in, I think some of them even have a Chengarian accent. If I were you I would steer clear of this place for now.” The guard stood up and continued to walk down the street.
Alex stood frozen. The governing circle was assassinated? That meant . . . Alden was dead. Something wasn’t right with the people replaced by her father and her father being in Dengrin and not making arrangements for her at the castle gate. There was a thought nagging at her . . . but she dared not think it. She walked back to the bus looking dejected.
“You’re not going inside?” Jesse asked from inside the bus as she approached.
Alex didn’t respond. When she stepped in the bus she collapsed on the floor in a stupor. By this time Cliff thought he was starting to feel a little better as his angelic healing did its work. He quickly jumped off his bed to go see what was wrong. The beds were located above the bus bench seats and were suspended from the bus roof by chains, and unfortunately he had not healed as much as he thought. When his legs hit the ground they gave out and he collapsed right beside her. Alex put her arms around Cliff and just laid there. “The governing circle has been assassinated. I can’t get in.” She muttered. “My father is the last remaining member, he survived.” She could not bear to tell them the rest, they might come to the tentative conclusion she was resisting. If he was . . . the bombardment of a hill inside of Dengrin city would be explained . . . if he was . . . She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. “The castle is locked down. I can’t get in. Let’s just go.”
“Then we are leaving,” Lena said as she started up the bus. The mood on the bus was heavy. What is one to think when they find out their entire government structure has all but been shut down?
“You know Cliff . . .” Jesse said with a smirk on his face, trying to lighten the mood. “You look kind of like a pirate.”
Cliff gave a weak laugh from the floor. He didn’t move though. He didn’t want to move. Alex was holding him, and that was enough. He made his best impersonation of a pirate to humor Jesse. “Aaarrrrrrgggghhhh!!!!” It came out weaker than he wanted and accompanied by more pain than he wanted, but it made Alex briefly smile, and that was enough for him. He felt guilty inside. If the governing circle was dead, that meant Alden Foren was out of the picture. This made him feel relieved, and guilty for feeling relieved.
The drive continued in silence as everyone coped with the news they had just heard. Evening traffic was heavy, and travel was slow, but eventually they made it to the home of Davis’s ex-wife. He got out of the bus and walked slowly up to the door. He hadn’t seen either of them in over two years. He knocked on the door and a man opened it. “I’m . . .” Davis was caught off guard. “I’m looking for Shandra.” Davis finished.
“What do you need my wife for?” The man inquired. His neat pressed pants, collared shirt, tie, plaid vest, and white skin was almost a complete opposite of Davis.
Davis thought he was going to be sick. How could Shandra be married? And how can this guy not know who I am? He thought. “I am her ex-husband . . . Benjamin. I need to talk to her and my son.”
The man looked perplexed. “You think after what you did to them you can just walk back into their lives? I think you need to go.”
He’s bold, Davis thought angrily. Davis towered over him by at least a foot and weighed at least twice as much. “I’m not here to argue with you, or to defend my actions. But I need to speak to them. Are they here?”
“I don’t think they are.” The man replied.
“Who is it honey?” Came a female voice
from behind him. When she poked her head over her husband’s shoulder and saw Davis her smile dropped into a frown. She pulled her husband inside and sent him away, then stepped outside, closing the door behind her. “What do you want Ben.”
“I know you hate me . . . and you have every right to.” Davis struggled for the right words. “I . . . I have a new mission, and I don’t think I am coming back from this one.” Davis didn’t mention it to the others, but he knew exactly how outmatched they were when they faced the Demon Generals. He was a highly trained special forces operative that had been blessed with enhanced strength and abilities, and he had been tossed aside like a child.
“It’s always about the mission isn’t it,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m not here to fight.” He repeated. “I just wanted to let you and Junior know that I have always loved you. I’m broken, I know that. I wasn’t the husband you needed, or the father little Ben deserved, but I do love you.” Shandra looked a little concerned but her body language was not changing. “When I fight this last fight, I want you to know that I am doing it for you . . . and Ben.” His son was Benjamin Davis Junior. When he left his family, the pain was deep he could not even bear to hear his own name as it reminded him of his son. This is why he insisted everyone call him Davis. Shandra did not say anything. “Can I see him?”
“No.” Shandra replied coldly. “You’re not his father anymore Ben. And I don’t want him any more confused than he already is. Just go.”
Davis was crushed. He didn’t know what he had expected, but it wasn’t this. She was married? Little Ben had a new father? He couldn’t even see him? His shame and anger grew in equal parts and he couldn’t get any more words out. He lowered his head, turned, and walked back to the bus.
After several more hours of traffic, Lena had almost navigated the bus out of the city. She sat at a traffic light waiting for the color to change when a gigantic cargo truck stopped in the middle of the intersection in front of her. She looked around warily, expecting some sort of trap. Confirming her suspicions another cargo truck plowed through three cars to block off the left side of the bus, and another was already behind her. It had been following her for several blocks. With a building blocking her right side her vehicle was trapped.
“Trap!” She yelled to those in the back as she opened the door and flew up onto the roof. She made a shield around the vehicle while looking around for potential threats. A crowd gathered with cameras drawn. Seeing a woman fly onto the top of the bus was not a common occurrence. Lena felt lucky that the big trucks had blocked most from seeing her. The awestruck crowds began to flee in terror when Davis jumped out of the bus with a combat rifle. The moments felt like hours, but the attack came quickly. Rockets flew from the roofs of the adjoining buildings, their ordinance rendered useless as they exploded against Lena’s shield. “Jesse, take the wheel, we are getting out of here.”
Being a tour bus driver, Jesse was more than comfortable behind the wheel of a bus. “I’m ready!” He yelled back. “Make me a path!”
Lena unleashed a powerful energy blast at the cargo truck intending to knock it out of the way, but it had been filled with powerful explosives. The blast knocked out the sides of the surrounding buildings and all the windows for several city blocks. Lena was barely able to maintain her shield, leaving a small crater surrounding their bus. There would be no driving out of this one, but in the chaos Jesse hit the gas anyway.
The bus flew off the 2-foot drop and hit the bottom of the crater with a crack and a bounce. The front end of the bus was ruined but this particular model kept its engine in the rear of the vehicle instead of the front. With the axels still intact the bus continued toward the other side of the crater. The opposite side did not have such a steep drop off as there was no shield redirecting the explosion, but it was still steep. With speed the bus almost got out, but the undercarriage caught on the lip and front wheels of the bus were left dangling in the air. Rockets continued to crash into Lena’s shield, reducing their visibility and causing an enormous sense of pure chaos. Lena was forced to direct her shield toward the rear of the bus to continue to undermine the ambushers, but as soon as the shield lifted in the front of the bus dozens of cloaked figures poured in from the surrounding buildings.
“We have contacts!” Davis yelled back to Lena as he dropped one cloaked man after another with precise shots from his rifle. I really hope these are all hostiles, he thought. He was fairly certain they were, but they had yet to fire back at him. As if in answer to his question, the cloaks dropped away to reveal a series of grotesque human figures. They seemed to have metal plates and mechanisms grafted into their bodies. Bone was showing in strange places that showed intentional disfigurement. One man held out his arm that a gun permanently grafted into his forearm and Davis put a bullet in his head. Ardians, he thought in disgust.
“Cover me!” Alex yelled as she opened the rear door of the bus.
Cliff grabbed a rifle and hobbled to the back of the bus. His accelerated healing now afforded him some semblance of movement. Cover her? He thought. What can she do? Davis was doing a good job covering the right side of the bus, but men were swarming the left side as well. Cliff situated himself with his body half hanging out the back door with his rifle pointed to the left. A man came screaming around the corner and Cliff fired. The bullet flew true and nailed the man right in the forehead. He fell back limply.
Alex, briefly startled by the man, fell back onto the ground. After seeing Cliff kill him she quickly got back on her feet, adrenaline flowing. She grabbed the back of the bus and pushed as hard as she could. To Cliff’s surprise, the bus lurched, and he tumbled out the back. The impact of falling was painful and reminded him how damaged he still was, but this was no time to be out of commission. He rolled over onto his belly and started putting down suppression fire to keep the Ardians away from the back of the bus. He briefly saw another Ardian drop his cloak before ducking behind cover. When his cloak fell away it revealed that his left arm had been completely replaced by a rocket launcher.
Who are these guys? Cliff wondered. This is sick. His thoughts on the nature of the Ardian warriors was overcome by the realization that his arm was a rocket launcher for a reason—he meant to launch a rocket at the bus from close range! Cliff grit his teeth. This was going to hurt. Fueling himself with adrenaline, Cliff launched himself from the ground toward the debris at the front of the bus. He saw an Ardian pop a grenade out of a compartment he had situated between his ribs. Cliff was amazed, he must have intentionally removed two ribs at least to create that pocket. The man lobbed the grenade, but Cliff had now forgotten the pain and found himself moving faster than he ever imagined. He leaped into the air and grabbed the grenade, throwing it back at the man. He refused to look where it landed, he did not want to know what remained after the grenade exploded and the screaming stopped.
Then he saw him, the man with the rocket launcher. He was about to fire, and Cliff was too late. The rocket was loosed. Acting on instinct, he ran toward the rocket. Using his newfound speed he managed to grab the tail end of the rocket and hold on to it for just long enough to redirect it over the top of the bus and into the building across the street. He had saved Jesse from a grim fate, but the price he had to pay was severe burns that stretched down his arm to his chest and neck. He collapsed to the ground in shock. Davis whirled around the front of the bus and dropped the Ardian with rocket launcher using his rifle.
Jesse scrambled out of the bus and tried to pull Cliff inside, but he was just not strong enough. Moments later the bus lurched, and the front tires fell to the ground. Alex had actually succeeded in pushing the bus out of the crater! Lena had begun firing energy blasts at the surrounding buildings where she had seen rockets originate and, in this brief moment, they found themselves free of the attack. Alex ran around the front of the bus and grabbed the shaking Cliff. She threw him over her shoulder and hoisted him into the back of the bus while Jesse jumped back in the driver’s seat and Da
vis climbed back up the exit stairs. Lena remained on the roof as Jesse continued on through the now empty street.
After a few minutes, Lena flew back in through the back of the bus and closed the door. “I think we are clear for now.” She looked down at Alex’s worried face and Cliff’s burned body. His clothes were still smoking. “Let me have a look at him.” She told Alex, motioning for her to move. Lena’s hands began to glow, and she slowly rubbed them over the burned areas. At a remarkable pace his skin began to smooth out, and his previously scorched skin just looked bright red. “He will be avoiding hot showers for a while, but he will be OK.” There was an audible sigh of relief from Alex who gingerly held Cliff’s hand.
Cliff opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling. He didn’t speak, he didn’t move—if he were not breathing they would have thought him dead. Alex peered down at him. Even her touch and smile did not warm his heart. “I just killed two men,” he said in an emotionless tone. “I just ended their lives.”
“Better them than you.” Davis remarked. “But I remember how hard it was for me the first time too.” Davis looked down at Cliff with kind eyes. “I hate to say this, but we are at war, and not only that, we are at the forefront of it. We are all going to have to get used to killing if we are going to get through this. It’s not personal, it’s survival. Besides, I don’t know if I would call those things human. They were Ardian and they have about as much in common with us as we do with monkeys.”
“So those were Ardians.” Jesse muttered. “I had heard stories but had no idea.”
The conversation continued but Cliff still did not move. If I did not do what I did, Alex and Jesse would be dead. He told himself, but it did not take away the guilt, the ache, or the empty hole he felt in his gut.
