by P R Glazier
~
Nar’Allia stood upon the course heather; all her gear about her person. A chill wind tousled her hair. She reached up and gathered the wayward fronds and tightened a clasp to hold it in place behind her head. JDC stood by her side ri’fal in hand. They watched grimly as Deanola led Amndo and Jonas away into the mist towards the rift. She hoped that she would see them both again. Deanola had survived the spiritual battle with the dark elf mage, the Gatekeeper. She had recovered from Amndo’s potion quite quickly; they had fooled the Gatekeeper into thinking she was victorious. Now she hoped they were not going to pay the price for their deception. She stared after Deanola and Amndo, one part of her wanted to go as well, but they had agreed to keep the party small in an effort to avoid detection. JDC had suggested that the two of them, Nar’Allia and JDC, return to the leviathan, she was glad he had, she felt she needed of some distraction to stop thinking the worst. It had taken two weeks for the eastern men to gather what strength they had from amongst the clans, fully a little over five thousand had gathered and swelled Deanola’s tiny encampment. They all knew what may be in store for them, for it seemed impossible that the dark brethren where not aware of their gathering force. But they waited in anticipation none the less. Nar’Allia tried to keep her friends in view, not wanting this to be perhaps the last vision she would have of them, but the mist had swallowed Amndo and Deanola. Nar’Allia turned and looked at the army of the eastern men. They looked like a ragged collection, but she was in no doubt of their courage and honour, she was proud to be a part of their legion, she felt their determined spirit.
She walked over to where Alonso stood in front of the lines of easterner warriors, “you are clear then on what is to happen?” She asked.
“Aye, I am. I will watch for your signal to attack, I will not move from here until that signal comes.”
Nar’Allia nodded in satisfaction, she clapped him on the shoulder and gave a slight smile, “the Makers protection be upon you,” then raising her voice she shouted, “upon you all.” Then she turned and walked away with JDC at her side.
They reached the Leviathan. It remained where they had left it when they first arrived. Jonas was there waiting. Nar’Allia grasped the humans hand. “No heroics please Jonas. The lady Solin will never forgive me if she is left without her beloved house master.” She smiled and winkled at him. “Remember you are a diversion, not an invasion force?”
“Aye, look after yourself my friend,” said JDC. He then looked at the ri’fal and taking it handed it to Jonas. “Take it for me. I know you prefer that meat cleaver slung over your back, but this will do more damage and may buy you some precious time.” JDC smiled as he also handed over the canvas pack in which he kept the ri’fal’s ammunition.
Jonas shouldered the weapon and the pack and nodded. He turned and went back the way they had come. Nar’Allia wondered if that was to be her last view of the man. She hoped he would return to Amentura, to carry on as house master to Solin’s mansion and ensure that his sons did the same. She wondered if Jonas had any sons, she wanted to run after him and ask, for she suddenly realised that they had been travelling for months yet she never found out much about Jonas the real man and his private life. But then maybe it was better that way.
Nar’Allia turned and strode through the heather until both she and JDC stood just beyond Amndo’s ward; she Held a small black stone Amndo had given her. She extended the hand grasping this stone towards the ward. Her finger touched the ward and she pushed gently until her hand was enveloped by the blue energy. When the black stone touched the energy the ward began to collapse. To her great relief the ward could be seen sliding back across the hull of the leviathan machine but this time downward as if a silk shift was sliding off a courtesans’ shoulders, not that Nar’Allia knew of such things, she thought it an odd analogy for her to make, a slight smile on her lips. They watched as like a shimmering curtain its outer edge, bright vivid blue, slid down towards the ground.
Out of the corner of her eye she perceived something bright; she stopped and looked in that direction. To her horror an already enormous ring of bright red light had materialised some distance away, it was dissipating the mist that hung in the air, so it appeared to grow in brilliance even whilst it grew in size. Nar’Allia felt the energy rising around it, felt her hair attracted to the energy, even while a wind rushed past her as it was forced away from this glowing thing. Deep down a realisation was dawning within her mind, she shouted at JDC, “there is a gateway opening; something large is coming out of the deeper shroud.” She pointed to where the giant red arch had now stopped increasing in size, she gasped as something enormous and long seemed to pass through, whatever it was its form was shrouded, camouflaged in some way. Soon it was through and increased in speed, it disappeared into what remained of the morning mist.
Nar’Allia was filled with dread, for the next instant figures, marching figures could be seen coming through the portal, many abreast they marched out onto the moor, but it was their appearance that pierced her heart with fear the most. “Startmektoken.” She watched as many metal soldiers came through. But then there was a gap in their ranks and another army started to appear. This one was wholly different for she recognised the designs of the armour, the styles of the weapons they carried. But instead of shining white armour, adorned with the colourful badges of regiment and discipline, the armour she was used to seeing in the history books, the armour of the T’Iea Legions of the Wind, these T’Iea wore black armour. Her heart missed a beat and she felt a deep dread come over her as the black soldiers at the front of the column turned towards them and un-shouldered their weapons.
Suddenly a dark shadow came over them at a great speed, it stopped rapidly and what sunlight did penetrate the mists was cut off and it seemed like dusk was falling. Nar’Allia felt herself being shoved forward, she lost her balance, but not enough to stop her reflexes from making her jump over the last few feet of Amndo’s ward that now was almost to ground level and dive for cover beneath the body of the Leviathan, JDC did the same. At almost the same time she heard a deafening rattling noise from above, she got up to a sitting position from where she lay and looked out from underneath the leviathan’s hull, the heather around the machine seemed to be exploding into the air. Mud, earth and shredded plant growth were all being flung upwards all around the machine, it looked like heavy rainfall, no heavy hail. The machine shuddered above them; it shook and started to slowly descend downwards. Then JDC had her hand and was trying to drag her towards the opening in the hull. Something switched her muscles back on and she stood and ran with JDC for the small opening in the underside of the machine where the spiral stairway was dropping down, lowering to grant them access. They climbed through and JDC slammed the button that would close the hatch once more. They ran up to the control room, explosions could be heard detonating on the outside of the hull. The Leviathan shook and vibrated, it was taking a terrible beating. But true to what they had suspected it seemed that these machines were designed to resist the fire power of similar such machines. For they had guessed the identity of their attackers, it must be the first Leviathan, the one stolen by Tezrin.
JDC was uttering many expletives in his own language as he worked to get the leviathan operational. Luckily the battle plating was already down over the glass portals; the downside was that neither of them could see the cause of the cacophony of noise outside. Nar’Allia rushed to the viewing screens that suddenly sprang into life, she looked at one after another until she came to one that gave an upwards view. There above them a great shape loomed, every now and again, flashes and sparks of light could be seen from the underside of the shape. The sight confirmed to Nar’Allia what she already knew.
“The dark bretheren’s leviathan, it’s right above us.”
“Aye, and firing everything it has at us to,” JDC was madly pushing buttons, “right let’s get them off us shall we?” He pushed the navigation engage button and the deck jerked below them as their leviat
han moved directly upwards increasing its velocity by the second.
“Hold onto something Narny, quickly!”
Nar’Allia leant back onto the guard rail that ran behind the screens she was watching, her eyes wide in fear as the monster above them seemed to be coming down upon them at an increasingly frightening speed. She closed her eyes, immediately there was a sickening crunch and the sound of screaming tortured metalwork, Nar’Allia and JDC where both flung to the floor. The leviathan after its initial acceleration now stood still, but slowly its upward momentum returned.
“That’s m’girl,” said JDC smiling as he slapped the deck in an affectionate manner beneath where he lay. There was a loud scraping and screaming as if something vast and unmoving was sliding across the hull above them. The deck where they lay started to tilt alarmingly. Nar’Allia increased her hand hold on the railing as her legs started to swing around sliding down the now drastically angled deck, she was in great fear of falling, ending in a heap on the far wall which could very well become the floor if this carried on. But all of a sudden the loud screeching noises and shuddering stopped and the deck righted itself in an instant. “Right that’s gotten them off our backs,” said JDC in triumph. Then with a rather mischievous smile on his face he said, “now. Let the battle commence.”