by Joel Stewart
Serenis took one step forward when a ball of fire engulfed her. Without a scream she silently focused on her body, making it glow bright red for a moment. The flames immediately went out. She looked over and saw Jesse trembling. That fireball took all the courage he could muster, and under the weight of her deep red gaze his knees gave out and he fell to the ground. An energy beam originating from inside the building lanced out toward Serenis. She held out her hand and blocked it, but the beam did not recede. Lena was channeling this energy and she was not letting up. Serenis saw the blond man jump back inside the bus while the big dark man ran toward the two airship pilots. The fools, they cannot escape me, Serenis thought.
“Who should I kill first Lena? Maybe the blond one? What was his name . . . oh yes, Cliff.” Serenis mocked. She held out her hand that was not blocking Lena’s beam toward the bus and released a powerful shockwave from it. As the bus was crushed and pushed through the building’s interior, the blond one jumped out from behind some other rubble firing a high-powered rifle. One bullet hit Serenis in the shoulder, knocking her back slightly but not doing noticeably more damage than the firearms they had used previously. Fortunately for Cliff, he was not expecting it to. Serenis looked down at the sight of motion in her peripheral vision and saw two grenades that had been rolled under her feet. They seemed to stare at her ominously for a moment that felt like hours. Somehow, they had tumbled in before she put up the fully spherical shield that now encapsulated her.
The grenades exploded with the full force trapped inside of her shield. Smoke plumed into the air as Serenis dropped her shield and the smoke slowly streamed away. A light breeze blew the smoke, revealing an angry demon who now had no shoes or pants remaining from the knee down. The rest of her was a complete mess. Sweat-streaked black soot covered her face, hands, and legs.
In a rage Serenis bolted at Cliff with speed and power that dwarfed his own. She landed a punch on his face that launched him into the air and followed it up with a blast of energy that tossed him like a ragdoll into a neighboring building. The blast continued after glancing him and left a 4-foot round hole in three buildings before it dissipated in the planet’s upper atmosphere. She turned toward another barrage of bullets as they hit her in the side. The perpetrators were the two airship pilots, firing at her with their pathetic handguns. She held out her hand to destroy them when Davis slammed his fist into her gut. In his opinion he had used his best form yet, and Serenis yielded under the weight of his blow. She staggered backward and into a wall. Before he could even smile she dashed back at him and landed a blow of her own in his stomach. Instead of sending him into the air a large plume of dust blew out of his clothes and he slumped over on her hand. She had directed her energy into him, almost completely liquefying his internal organs.
By this time Lena had recovered enough to do more than fire an energy blast out of a hole, and she dashed out just as Davis fell. The look of horror on Lena’s face was priceless to Serenis. She smiled a wicked smile. “Two pets down . . .”
Hoping to catch her off guard, Jesse launched another fireball—he had apparently mastered that power—but it was to no effect. Serenis effortlessly put up a shield, blocking it, and then sent a weak but huge energy blast down the street where the ball came from. She kept her eyes locked on Lena as she did so. The attack did not directly hit anyone, but the fringes of it knocked Jesse and the two pilots into different walls before boring a hole as wide as the street halfway through another building. All three of them fell over on the ground after it passed, apparently unconscious. “Three.” She taunted.
Her frustration was slowly dying down and she was starting to enjoy herself again. Fatigue was setting in, but she still felt confident she could easily win this battle. Besides, Lena looked angry. She liked that. With a primal roar Lena threw herself at Serenis. Blow after blow was blocked and parried but Serenis was beginning to slowly walk backward under the weight of the assault. As she raised her arm to block a backhand, a flaming sword materialized. The backhand quickly became a slash at her chest. Serenis did her best to redirect the blade but it still made contact with her ankle, cutting off one of her bare feet. Serenis went down, but as she fell she put her hands together and unleashed a terrible red blast back at Lena. The blast hit Lena square in the chest, sending her back into the building, impaled by the bus.
As she lay on the ground she looked regretfully at her lost limb. It was a bloodless red lump. She focused hard and a new foot slowly grew in its place. The new foot looked odd when compared with the rest of her. Pale white skin in contrast to the dark soot that covered the rest of her. There is one more, she thought. This one will be special. She looked toward the building that had the bus lying at its heart. She slowed her breathing and concentrated on her senses. The moments of silence passed with building frustration, her need for blood building, but then she heard it. A rock fell somewhere inside the building to the right of where the bus had initially crashed. She waved her hand and an invisible projection of it smashed out the side wall of the building. Out of the hole spilled all kinds of office debris and one, small girl.
“There you are.” Serenis gloated. “I’ve been looking for you.” The girl got up shakily—she was so scared she could barely move a muscle. The terror was plainly written on her face. Serenis could just imagine the thoughts going through her mind. She had probably watched it all from that building. Her friends, her protector Lena, all gone. Just her against the demon. The fear on the girl’s face shifted to hopelessness, and this made Serenis smile in satisfaction. She reached out with her hand and an invisible projection of it clasped around her helpless victim. The girl jerked as she was suddenly torn from the earth and lifted into the air. Then she felt it. Something was wrong . . . her grasp was . . . slipping? What was this girl doing? Her face looked different, was she . . . praying? Serenis felt her grip sever and the girl fell several feet into a heap on the ground.
Materializing out of the air around the girl, an outline of a dragon formed. It had a semi-transparent, wispy body, but it was definitely a dragon. Frustration, curiosity, awe, and a prickle of fear washed over Serenis. In all her years of battle with the angels she had never seen anything like this. She fired a small energy blast at the dragon, but its wings absorbed it. “Curious creature.” She muttered. “But what kind of creature are you?”
The response to her question caught her by surprise as the wings unfurled and the dragon lifted its head into the sky. It looked strange like that. Teeth, scales, wings, all transparent. The only thing Serenis knew for sure was that it was protecting Alex. The dragon glared at her with piercing blue eyes. It definitely saw her. Its head reared back and then lurched forward. Serenis knew this motion well but the strange nature of this dragon left her too deep in thought to react properly. A ball of blue flame left its mouth and barreled toward the demon queen. Thinking quickly she raised a shield to block it, but a wisp of flame from the front of the fireball ended up on the inside of the shield.
The burning substance, just as transparent as the dragon, splattered across the right side of her face and down her neck. The pain was excruciating! She wanted more than anything to just unleash her Darksphere and annihilate everyone and everything, but she knew if she did so it would undermine her greater plan. She tried to suppress the fire the same way she suppressed other dragon fire, but it would not go out. She glared at Alex with one open eye, the other seared shut. She was getting weak from fighting, and these dragons were new to her. Who knows how much power this girl might wield? A slight tremor shook the ground under her feet causing Serenis to look around warily. Before she put together what was happening, the ground beneath her feet gave way and an enormous burst of energy blasted her up into the air.
Lena bolted out of the ground, passing by the disoriented Serenis, and laying a drop kick on her chest that sent her rocketing back into the ground. Lena landed in front of Alex. As she looked behind her to get a better look at the dragon it faded away as quickly as it had
appeared.
Serenis flew away from the crumbling buildings and looked down at Lena and Alex. If she focused on Lena she had no doubt she would win. But what of this other girl? She didn’t look like a threat, but . . . Serenis raised her hand and rubbed the charred skin on her face and neck. The injury was still resisting regeneration. She thought about her remaining strength, she knew she had enough for Lena, but if Alex turned out to be more than just a marginal threat she could end up getting sealed away for another extended length of time. Her burning red eyes dimmed and a sour frown crossed her face. “Next time Lena, you won’t be so lucky.” Lena did not respond. She just stared at her coldly. Without another word, Serenis flew off toward the sea.
Chapter 12
Lena watched intently until she was sure Serenis was not coming back. “That is twice we survived when I felt for a certainty we were doomed.” Lena muttered. She looked over at Alex, shock was written plainly on her face. Behind Alex she saw Jesse stirring. At least he is OK, Lena thought. Stirring on the other side of the street drew her attention to the two pilots. They were alive as well. Then she remembered. Davis. She ran as fast as she could to the site where he lay. He had stopped breathing. She laid her glowing hands on his chest and pumped as much spiritual energy into his body as she could, but it seemed to be in vain.
“What happened to him?” Jesse asked. Alex had put her arm around him and was helping him limp to Lena’s side.
“Davis has been mortally wounded beyond my ability to heal.” Lena replied. She looked up at Jesse with a tear in her eye. “Only you have the power to bring him back from this.”
Jesse’s face looked dumbfounded. He had never liked Davis, but he did not wish him dead. If his compassion was not strong enough to heal Cliff the last time, how would it work out better for someone he didn’t even like? He stood helpless, surrounded by a storm of doubts. But he knew the risk. If he could not heal Davis now, the world was likely to fall to the demons. The fate of the world was resting on his shoulders. He lurched free of Alex and collapsed to the ground, unable to hold up his own weight. He put his hands on Davis’s chest, almost as much for support as healing. He focused on healing, he focused on relieving Davis’s pain . . . but he was already not breathing. He could almost feel the life force of Davis slipping away under his fingers.
He thought about all the ways he had been mistreated and mocked by the man. The thoughts of jealousy and rage coursed through him. But there was something else there as well. He did not want him to die. They needed Davis . . . He needed Davis. Without him they were incomplete. Creator . . . he prayed to himself. I don’t know how to save my friend. Show me . . . show me how. Tears began to fall, and Jesse broke down crying. He laid his head down on Davis’s chest, the pain was too much for him to hold it up any longer. He had never felt so helpless. He couldn’t do anything to stop Serenis, he couldn’t do anything to save Davis. He just . . . couldn’t do anything. “Don’t let him die.” He muttered, finishing his prayer. He didn’t even notice when his hands started to glow. The energy poured out of him and into his dying friend. With a gasp, Davis contorted and started breathing again. Jesse did not have the strength to move off of him, but as the rhythms of breathing moved his head up and down, he smiled. “Thank you.” He whispered as he drifted off into a deep, fatigue driven sleep.
Kurt and Cassandra just stared at the sight. They had just watched a man heal another who was not even breathing, but after everything they had seen during the battle with Serenis this did not even surprise them. “I realize that I have no idea what is going on anymore,” Kurt said absently to Cassandra. She didn’t reply. They looked over at Lena who was nodding approvingly at Jesse and Davis. “Is there any way you can fill us in on what just happened?”
Lena opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Alex. “Wait, where is Cliff?” She said frantically.
“I know where he is.” Lena responded, shifting her attention. “Alex, talk with these two about the nature of this new war we find ourselves in. I will go get Cliff.” She bolted into the air without another word and headed toward the building he was last seen entering. When Lena returned, she had Cliff’s unconscious body slung over her shoulder. “He is OK, just unconscious.” She reported. Alex rushed over worriedly and quickly began checking him over. “We lost our transportation as well.” Lena muttered.
“We may be able to help with that.” Kurt responded. “If what Alex Reminir has been telling us is true, we would like to put you in contact with Alex’s father and get the might of our military behind your mission.”
“That is . . . complicated.” Lena replied. “Alex’s father might not be the best contact.”
Kurt and Cassandra looked confused. “What do you mean?” Cassandra asked.
After a brief explanation by Lena that was obviously painful for Alex to hear, the airship pilots lowered their heads like a great weight had been placed on their shoulders. “And for those reasons I am nearly certain that General Reminir is possessed by a demon and working to destroy the nation of Denoria from within.” Lena looked back toward the sea as if expecting to see Serenis return but she did not.
“I find it hard to swallow.” Kurt responded. “I know . . . after what I have seen here . . . there is truth to your words. I just cannot imagine General Reminir betraying his country.”
“This battle for Jorgen is far from over, and if it were to come to its natural end, Chengar could lose.” Lena responded. “If I am right, I can almost guarantee that Reminir will be issuing a retreat order as soon as Serenis gets to a ship with the capability to contact Reminir and give him the command.”
“Well there is an easy way to test out that theory.” Cassandra replied. She pulled a handheld radio out of one of her jacket pockets and turned it on. The battle chatter was thick, and she tuned it to the encrypted frequency used for the Dragonsbane squadron.
“ . . . given the order to retreat.” Commander Turner’s voice echoed through the streets from the radio.
“But sir!” Protested Cartright. “We are on the verge of turning this battle in our favor!”
“I understand that Cartright, but orders are orders. These came from Reminir himself and he can see the whole playing field.” Turner said in a frustrated tone. He apparently didn’t like the retreat orders any more than Cartright.
“Sir.” Cassandra spoke into her radio. “This is Rothburg and I am here with Cerigan.”
“Cass! Kurt!” Turner exclaimed. “Boy am I glad to hear you are alive!”
“Sir I implore you, rescind this withdrawal order.” Cassandra said. “It’s a Chengarian trick, I can’t say more over the radio, but I can fill you in at the Jorgen Command Post.”
“I can’t rescind an order from General Reminir any more than you can.” Turner responded. His voice sounded concerned. “But I will meet you at the command post, if nothing more than to pick you up. We are pulling out of Jorgen and there is nothing you or I can do to stop it.”
Chapter 13
Bridge of the Crippled Chengarian Flagship
CS ‘Denof’
Serenis stormed through the doors of her flagship’s war room. Admiral Bentler looked up and was completely taken back by the woman standing before him. The woman looked like Serenis, but there was charred skin covering half of her face and neck. Her hair, normally long and mostly straight, was sticking up and out in every direction, much of it burned or singed. She wasn’t wearing any shoes and her pants were burned off to the knees while both legs were dirty and soot covered, and one foot was mysteriously clean. The remnants of her pants above the knee were ripped and burned. The bottom half of her black leather shirt was also torn away with the remains of it also in tatters like her pants. Her cloak that she always wore was just . . . gone.
“What are you staring at!” Serenis snapped. Admiral Bentler snapped out of his stare and remembered that every word with this woman was life or death. He dropped to his knees.
“Pardons my Queen.” He gro
veled. He had never seen Serenis even flustered, and this was beyond belief. Even so, the furious red glow to her eyes spelled death for any and all provocations, no matter how minor. This he had learned. She turned to a random sailor on her right and held out her hand. An energy blast erupted from it and nailed the sailor square in the chest. The force of the blow flung the man with such force that he slammed through a solid wood table, splitting it in half, and then smashing him into the steel bulkhead. His body sagged to the ground like a slow-moving trickle of melted sugar. This random killing seemed to calm her a bit, but she repeated the process on the other side for good measure. As two innocent men lay dead, she finally calmed down.
“What is our status.” She growled in a frustrated tone. The fiery glow in her eyes had dimmed somewhat.
Admiral Bainard stepped beside the groveling Admiral Bentler and responded. “We have lost two-thirds of our fleet to these Denorian torpedo cruisers. We are not sure how they are doing it, but each torpedo is definitely locking onto individual targets and hitting them with incredible precision. We have diverted a large portion of our air power south to stop these attacks, but this has left us lacking air superiority over Jorgen itself. Our ground troops have occupied the northeastern one-third of the city. They have been stalled citing intense resistance and building to building fighting.”
“You have failed me admiral.” Lena responded. “Lucky for you I have more resources at my command.” She walked over to a nearby secure phone line, picked it up, and said “Initiate Operation Wildfire.” Before putting it back down. She looked back at the groveling admiral, still on his knees. “Unlucky for you I don’t abide failure.” She raised her hand and a small blast erupted from it that took off Admiral Bainard’s head. His body fell forward motionless. “Congratulations on your promotion Admiral Bentler, you are now in command of this invasion.” She said to a short stocky man who was kneeling next to Bainard’s corpse. He was wiping remnants of Bainard’s head off of his face with a handkerchief. “Keep pushing the attack, victory will be ours shortly.” Serenis thought for a moment. “And get Admiral Stenman up here, I have more important work for him than cobbling together the fleets of Scera and Brendora. He is to oversee the next phase of this invasion.”
