by Joel Stewart
Lena looked around and was relieved to see no more dragons were coming. The smoke from the previously destroyed rows of cars had obscured her actions from the main force doing battle over Jorgen. She put her hands to the ground, a subtle energy pulse emanated from them into the dirt. Moments later the platform fell back into the earth, the sides of the hole began falling in on itself and covering the glowing platform, but not the dragon in its entirety. She nodded and flew back to the bus.
“What did you just do?” Davis asked quizzically. The others looked just as eager to hear the answer.
“Michael the Archangel gave me the means to seal demons in the last days of the Great War, it was a way to stop Serenis for good.” She replied. “As long as the table that I summoned from the spiritual realm is not destroyed, the dragon will remain there forever, not alive nor dead. As we have discussed before, killing the dragon will not help in the long run.”
“We should turn around.” Alex said worried.
“I agree with you Alex.” Jesse added from the driver’s seat. “But one thing we didn’t mention in our last discussion was that we are almost out of gas. There are no stations for leagues the way we came and the ones on the outskirts that I can see are completely destroyed.” They still had a pretty good view of the Jorgen Valley from the hill they were heading down. “If we turn back now we are either going on foot or taking a vehicle from one of these fleeing families.”
“We are going forward.” Lena reiterated. “That wave of torpedoes that destroyed most of the southern blockade gave us an exit and we are going to take it as long as that sub is operable. If it’s not . . . we will have to improvise. I have a few ideas but hopefully we won’t have to use them.”
Davis looked over the battlefield confidently. We can do this, he reminded himself.
Chapter 11
East of Jorgen
Serenis watched the battle intently from the cruiser deck of her flagship. She watched the small Denorian squadron streak across the sky and stop her numerically superior force from descending on a pack of cruisers that seemed to turn and run after the battle. It was hard to make out details at the distance she stood, but the agility of these new attendees to her party caught her attention. Airships should not be able to move like that, she thought. She watched them take out three of her dragons equipped with the new dragon rider arsenals and worry began to itch in the back of her mind.
The airships continued to work their way toward the center of the city, Chengarian airship and dragon alike fell before them and the remnants of the Denorian airship fleet rallied behind them. She could see her forces, with the exception of her dragons, begin to break and run. Her dragons did not seem to fare better by staying to fight, however.
She suspected her dragons were probably too injured to fly, but not yet dead, and that the city below was good cover against airships . . . but she did not want to lose them. “I can always possess a human with my demons, but until I can get this new airship technology from Reminir these dragons are my most versatile weapon.” She muttered to herself. “And if they die there are no replacements.” She looked down at her pale hands that showed no signs of blood flow and smirked. “I find I am strangely sentimental as well sometimes.” She made up her mind and flew up to the window of the flagship’s command deck. She flicked a window with her finger and glass shattered into the room. “I am going out for a stroll, Admiral.” Her eyes began to glow a deep red. “You have command of this invasion until I come back.”
“Yes my Queen!” The Admiral replied with a snappy salute. After she left he began picking glass shards out of his skin and clothes. One piece almost hit him in the eye. I hate that woman, he thought.
Chengar had not been very successful over the last several years in getting their hands on Denoria’s top secret weapons programs, and they had no idea the ML-7 torpedoes even existed. They had no countermeasures in place for them. As Serenis flew off the flagship, a torpedo slammed into its side and it began to sink. Hundreds of similar explosions were seen down the southern line of her blockade and dozens of ships sank or broke formation, floating along with the current. She looked around wildly for the threat, confused as to what was happening. Then she saw it.
A long cylinder in the water beneath her was heading directly for another ship in her blockade. She beamed the water with an energy blast and the torpedo exploded, sending plumes of water high in the air. Then she remembered the cruisers that seemed to flee the battle leagues down the coastline not an hour before. They weren’t fleeing, they were releasing a payload and returning to their base, she realized. Then she remembered the airships that thwarted her fleet’s efforts to destroy the cruisers. “I’ll make them pay for this.” She muttered, her eyes glowing a brighter red. She scanned the water for any further torpedoes and spotted two more. She destroyed them in the water and, after a second look that turned up empty, she redirected her sight to the city. She tracked the airships as they flew into the heart of the raging warzone. They seemed untouchable. She flew like a rocket, her eyes glowing brighter with each passing moment as the anticipation of killing these humans grew in her. As her forces saw her approach they backed off, and as they backed off so did the Denorian forces. The twelve airships she had come to destroy stayed closer than the others, but still at a distance as if pondering what to do.
They recognize me, she thought. Some of the rats did escape my trap. She remembered a few airships ducking out of view before she ran out of strength and released her Darksphere—what the angels called her most powerful attack during the Great War. She liked the name and adopted it. The Darksphere became a hallmark of hers as its power and devastation could not be matched. The angels, if they were all together, could sometimes slow or limit its destructive power a little, but not much. Good, they are afraid. Let’s validate that fear. As if taunting her, the twelve airships she had come to kill suddenly launched an all-out assault.
Serenis laughed as she held out her hand and the torrent of bullets ricocheted harmlessly off an invisible shield. “It will take more than that!” she yelled in defiance. As if in response, the Denorian Firehawks that were keeping their distance began launching unguided rockets. They were not very accurate, but since she wasn’t moving, most hit their mark. She laughed even louder as they also exploded harmlessly. Her eyes were burning such a bright red it almost looked as if there were red wisps of air coming out of their edges.
She held out her other hand and energy blasts beamed out from her palm, knocking several Firehawks out of the sky. She tried to shoot down a few of the new airships in the same manner but their unpredictable and highly agile movements were actually dodging her attacks. Her smile quickly turned to a frown as her attacks missed their marks and collided with the buildings below. A few that were aimed more horizontally seemed to float through the air with a large bright ball at the front and a comet light tail in the back until they collided with the slopes of Mount Brenta.
“I will kill you all!” She screamed as she intertwined her fingers in front of her like she was giving them a stretch. She violently flung them apart in a semicircle. A huge directional shockwave ripped from her fingertips as her hands moved. The almost invisible distortion rippled across the sky, catching one of the Dragonsbane airships as well as several dozen ships from Denoria and Chengar and two dragons in its wake. The waves slammed into the farmland surrounding Jorgen, creating eight huge trenches in the ground around the city, one for each finger. A horrible grinding sound filled the air as the top of a skyscraper slipped diagonally off its base. It has been in the way of one of the energy waves and the force sliced through it like a knife. The section of building fell into the streets below with a thunderous crash.
Using both hands for an attack forced her to drop her shield momentarily and allowed several airship cannon rounds to hit her in the chest. These bullets were a much higher caliber than the pistol that had shot her on the ship, but the result was very similar. She reacted to the collisions and quickly pu
t up her shield to block the torrent of fire. The bullets that had found their mark slowly worked their way out of her midsection and fell uselessly to the bottom of her shield, floating in midair. Red gaping holes marked the points where the bullets had struck her, but they soon closed up. These bullets would have ripped a normal human in half, she thought.
Keeping her shield up this time, she moved horizontally in the air and arched her back, creating a C shape with her body. Energy channeled from the shape creating a distortion in the air that looked like the wake left in the water as a high-speed boat tore through it. The ripples expanded as a boat wake would, decreasing in amplitude but spreading further and further. Two more Dragonsbane airships were caught in the distortions and went down. The remaining nine airships rallied on the side of Serenis facing the sea. Serenis smiled as she watched her remaining quarry group up in one place. She held a second hand out to join the first one, a huge surge of energy flowing from them as they came together.
The base of her palms was together and her fingers contorted to make a shape as if they were reaching for something. Red wisps shot from them in a snaking pattern, each of the ten wisps moved as if independently controlled, and each surging for a different airship. The extra wisp teamed up on the airship she suspected was the leader. Her wicked smile returned as the airships panicked and broke formation, desperately trying to evade her grasp. Just as she thought she had them, they kicked in their afterburners and bolted down the coast toward the southern mountain range.
Anger flared up in her as she had not felt in a long time. Forget suffering. Forget the fun she would have torturing its residents and mentally corrupting its populace. She would unleash her Darksphere on this city and it would be no more! As the thoughts rolled through her head she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Those other airships . . . they had been . . . a diversion? She turned and tried to throw up a shield to block a swarm of rockets from the Firehawks behind her, but she didn’t have enough time.
Her shield cut through one of the rockets, igniting its payload inside. The explosion broke her concentration, shattering her shield, and causing the six other rockets behind it to explode where they were. The combined explosive force of the rockets sent her hurtling like a meteor to the ground.
She overcame her disorientation while plummeting and did her best to slow her decent but couldn’t do enough. She threw up a shield behind her to cushion the blow and braced for the imminent impact with a nearby skyscraper. She crashed through one side of the building and was spit out the other, creating a huge hole through its core. She exited the building and slammed into the ground. She tried to send an energy burst into the ground behind her to slow her momentum at the last second, but the blast served more to blow out the foundation of the next building than to slow her. She crashed into the adjacent weakened structure. With half of its foundation compromised, the skyscraper screamed and groaned, slowly tilted, and then fell into the building next to it. The two buildings fell in a giant heap on where Serenis came to rest. The smoky debris billowed through the streets, coating everything in a white powder.
Serenis lay under the structures for a moment, fuming. Her shield blocked the falling debris, but she was completely encapsulated. She looked down at her tattered clothes. Her cloak seemed OK—she wore one at all times as she thought it added mystery, another method to build dread and fear among humans. She did so love torturing humans. Her black shirt and pants were torn and burned. Her hair, normally smooth and straight, was a soot covered mess. Some of the ends had been burned off by the rocket. Words could not express the rage she was feeling inside. The intense red glow of her eyes grew stronger until she just let it all go.
The debris from the buildings blew out from where she lay with incredible force. Steel I-beams rocketed into the sky as projectiles and destroyed several more airships from Chengar and Denoria that were circling overhead looking for some evidence of what had happened to her. Concrete boulders slammed into the neighboring buildings leaving gaping holes in their wake. The rubble of the two thirty-story skyscrapers was completely cleared from its foundation and Serenis alone remained. She calmly stood in the center of the blast zone she created and looked around. Rage and fury roared through her, suppressed only by thoughts of revenge. She had rethought the use of her Darksphere—it would be too quick a death for these humans. They needed to pay . . . to suffer. The desire to make humans suffer and the counter-desire to seek swift revenge on her enemies often caused her to change her mind midbattle.
Serenis walked forward through the wreckage while pondering how she should exact her revenge, but her thoughts were interrupted by a couple of humans stumbling into the street a block away. They were in airship flight suits and had pistols drawn. “Fallen pilots hoping to finish ME off? That’s rich.” She scoffed out loud and to herself. They recognized her and leveled their weapons. The bullets sunk into her chest, legs, and arms. One even hit her cheek, but she just laughed. The two pilots looked at each other confused as the bullets worked their way back out of her body and fell to the ground. The red holes they occupied quickly filled in and her eyes glowed with a sinister red light. She held out her hands, palms together. A massive burst of red light shot from her hands that filled up most of the width of the street. The pilots lifted their arms to shield their eyes awaiting their imminent demise. But it never came.
As the beam hurtled toward them, a bus careened through the streets at what was probably the vehicle’s maximum speed. It was a complete surprise to everyone involved when it happened to burst from the cross street between Serenis and the pilots and even more of a surprise when the beam collided with the bus and sent it hurtling into one of the buildings nearby. The frustration built in Serenis as she prepared to fire again, but her frustration was quickly replaced by cautious curiosity. The small bus had lodged itself in a nearby building . . . but it was more or less intact. That attack from her should have obliterated the bus, the pilots, and the building that lay at the end of the road several blocks down.
Her curiosity did not translate into a defensive stance, and before she knew what was happening a powerful beam of white light erupted from the bus and slammed into her chest, sending her flying past the wreckage of the building she initially landed in and into the building behind it. The debris from when she had angrily cleared the wreckage of the previous buildings had weakened this one, and the impact of her arrival coupled with the force of the white blast caused it to crumble and collapse on Serenis. Once again, she found herself buried under building debris. Fires seemed to spring up all around from the heavily damaged buildings.
“Enough!” Serenis roared as she blasted away the wreckage of the third building. Several of the other buildings around began to groan from the second wave of debris impact damage. She’s here, Serenis thought angrily. Her red eyes looked back and forth before fixating on the bus. To the left of the bus stood her old rival, the silver-haired Lena. The two pilots were trying to talk with her, and she was shaking her head no to some question they had asked while peering warily through the cloudy debris field.
“Lena . . . what an unfortunate coincidence for you.” Serenis said coldly as she walked out of the second pile of rubble. Her voice seemed deep and it reverberated between the buildings. Three other men jumped out of the back of the ruined bus and lined up behind Lena. “And look, you brought pets.” She quickly noted that the body Ariel had possessed previously was not flying. Strange . . . but good. I can handle Lena if Ariel is somehow not in the picture.
“They are creations, just like you.” Lena yelled back at her, but Serenis just laughed.
“Just like me?” She mocked. “Just like ME!?” She repeated with a maniacal voice. Her glowing red eyes increased in intensity as she raised her voice. “They are nothing like me!” She roared. She reached out and made a gripping motion, the invisible projection of her hand wrapped around Lena, crushing her in its grip. Lena managed to wriggle an arm free and shoot an energy blast back at her,
forcing her to drop the hold and defend. “They are weak! Pathetic creatures! The favor of the Creator is wasted on their miserable existence!” Serenis ranted. She did not often share her true feelings with her underlings, but Lena had a habit of bringing out this side of her. “Lucifer was right to rebel. How could he favor these humans as he does? As the Creator wielded his power over us, I wield my power of them. I will kill your pets and make you watch!”
Serenis launched herself at Lena. She was in such a fury that she was completely blind to everything else happening around her. Lena formed her Sword of the Cherubim but Serenis knocked it aside with a glowing arm. Lena and Serenis exchanged a powerful series of blows. For a moment it looked even, but only for a moment. Serenis quickly took the upper hand, ending the duel with a kick to Lena’s stomach that sent her hurdling through the building right below where the bus impaled it. No sooner had she landed her blow, than a shot rang through the streets. Several dozen more followed as Cliff and Davis unloaded their weapons into the enraged demon. She was so angry she did not even try to defend herself, she just stared at them. The first shot had blown off the tip of her nose, revealing a dark red chasm beneath. The rest of the bullet holes revealed a similar dark red structure, but there was no blood to be seen. As she glared at them, the bullets worked their way out of her body and the wounds closed behind them. The tip of her nose grew back right before their eyes. She was going to kill them. Every last one of them.
