by R. J. Batla
The Dwarf pulsed his earth power right on cue. “Earth Roll!” he said, waving his arms like he was shaking out a rug. The ground all around Royn performed the same motion, rolling on itself, knocking a mass of monsters off their feet and clearing the path for Royn. “Stalagmites!” Troup said, the Dwarf raising his hands and skewering those left on the ground.
“Good job,” Royn said, teleporting in front of the advancing horde, then spun his arms. “Tornados!” Five whirling winds of destruction dropped down and covered the width of the canyon, making a wall of wind the monsters couldn’t penetrate. The dumber ones threw themselves at the tornados, and they were instantly whipped up into the air and out of sight.
The tornados took up a lot of energy, and the air in the rest of the canyon stood still. Within thirty seconds, Royn felt his energy dip. He dropped to a knee, gasping for breath, but still poured energy into the wall of tornados. If he didn’t hold it, too many would die. Too many families would be affected.
Royn had to give them time. The walls of the canyon on either side of him, he looked over his shoulder to see the new wall being built three miles away. Dust stung his skin, kicked up from the tornados. All his allies had vacated the area, and the only living things around him were enemies. The creatures were picked up and thrown by the mighty winds. He heard nothing but the howl of the mighty currents of air violently sucking creatures from the ground.
After a minute, Royn sunk to both knees. At a minute and a half, a hand dropped to the ground. At two minutes in, both hands were on the ground. After two and a half, he was lying on the dirt. But he still kept the winds going.
At three minutes, Royn was reaching his limit. His breath was ragged. His heart rate was soaring, missing beats every now and then. His head pounded. He knew it was time.
Eyes slipping closed, he reached out with his senses, felt the power stored on his wrist — one of the several power storage devices he kept fully charged — and emptied it into himself. The air in the canyon immediately started moving again, his lungs found breath, his heart steadied, and he rose to his feet.
The next two minutes were less stressful as Royn dispatched the few creatures who made it through the tornados, then teleported back behind the wall.
“Let’s go Troup,” Royn said. He grabbed Troup’s shoulder, let the power go, and the tornadoes started to die down.
The world turned blue, and then they were on top of a much bigger wall that had been erected farther up the canyon, with the Trinity River being directed by Reka around the edges of the wall, then back toward the middle in front of it like a fast-moving moat, before it continued on down the canyon to the sea.
General Falenlief joined them with a smile. “Your time was not wasted, my friend. We can hold this position for a good long time. Troup here was invaluable in the design.”
They all looked to the south and watched as the tornados finally fully came apart without Royn’s power sustaining them. They cyclones had pushed the enemy three miles away down the canyon, giving the Senturians the precious space and time they had needed. The seemingly unending horde of bodies flooded into the now vacant space.
“With their speed, the fastest will be here in three minutes,” Royn estimated, as a few dots distanced themselves from the main line. They had used all of their defensive strategies and traps to keep the invaders back, so the only thing that stood between the two armies was the flat bottom of the river canyon.
“One minute too late,” Falenlief said, as they all grew silent and waited. Thirty seconds went by before he added, “Royn, I’ve never seen such a display of power. Conjuring that many tornadoes and sustaining them! That would have killed most people!”
He shrugged. “I guess I’m not most people.”
“What the hell is that noise?” Troup said.
A low rumbling, almost like a small explosion, split the air behind them. The sound grew, like a sustained volley of thunder.
Royn smiled. “I believe that’s the cavalry!”
The noise grew with each second, until they were all holding their ears, and at the prescribed time, they looked up.
Twenty flying machines roared over their heads, diving toward the canyon floor ahead of them. They had a cylindrical body with two pairs of square-ish wings jutting out either side, with super-heated flames coming out of the bottom and back of the contraptions. That must have been the source of noise. Heath had called it a “squadron.”
“What’s making that noise?” Troup said.
“The engines,” Heath Goodrich said in their earpieces. “Aeren compress air inside the engine housing, and a Phoenix ignites it, creating a powerful jet of hot air that propels the craft forward.
As Royn watched, each of the aeros – Heath’s word from before – dropped a series of...something, as they flew up the canyon, then banked up and over the north mountains, presumably going back from whence they came.
“Duck and cover!” Heath said in their ears.
Everyone else got the order as well, for as one, the entire force ducked behind the newly erected wall.
And the canyon lit on fire. Burst after burst of concussive explosions rocked the very ground around them, each punctuated by a flare of light and a blast of fire and heat.
“Clear!” Heath said, and they looked over the wall.
The ground was scorched black and craters littered the once-smooth floor of the canyon where the bombs had impacted the earth. Scorched and bloodied bodies were scattered everywhere.
Heath came back over their earpieces. “Area is clear. A small group of enemy soldiers escaped the bombing and are evacuating back to their front lines. There’s a lot of activity amongst the enemy, though the aero scout team can’t tell what they’re doing. Either way, it looks like we bought you some time.”
Royn said, “Affirmative, Heath. But this battle is far from over. When can we use the aeros again?”
There was silence from the other side for ten seconds. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to. These were built in a rush, and I’ve just got word that the deign was flawed. Several exploded prior to getting back to the landing zone, killing the crews, and at least a dozen crash landed. I don’t think we will be able to use them any time soon.”
“Damn. It would have been nice to have that kind of support. I guess we’ll have to make do with what we have. Royn out.”
Chapter 55 – Jayton Baird
“GOOD MORNING, BEAUTIFUL,” I said, waking with Leona in my arms the next day, giving her a squeeze and kissing her neck.
“Hmmmm,” she said sleepily. “Good morning yourself. Five more minutes?”
“Ha!” I said, squeezing her tighter. “All right.”
She was instantly asleep again. Two piles of clothes were next to the bed and our weapons were lying next to each other. I smiled. I remembered her changing armor, which had turned into that black dress from last night...
Huh, hadn’t given it much thought before, but our arm guards looked very similar. The size of the stones, the shape, everything. Who knew were we so compatible that even our accessories matched?
I woke her after the five minutes, and she grudgingly got up, though not without a heavy dose of kisses and hugs.
Suddenly she jerked upright. “Jay, I’ve got to go change!” Bending over for one more kiss, she said, “I’ll be back shortly, love. Don’t run off!” She gathered up her clothes and was out the door.
A grin was plastered on my face as I swung my feet to the floor and tried to loosen my muscles. Looking down, my smile widened: in her haste to leave, Leona had left her black underwear on the floor next to the bed. That brought a whole flood of memories.
Anton busted through the door, startling me. “Hurry up, sunshine,” he said. “Team meeting in five.”
Hastily, I kicked the underwear under my bed, but Anton caught my movement and he smirked.
“Well, I didn’t know you were one for black lace.”
“Shut up, Anton.”
He laughed
. “Hey man, who am I to judge what color underwear you’re hiding?” He laughed again. “Either way, hurry up, and try to wipe the grin off your face, Jay.”
“Not likely, Anton. Just keep this on the down low for now, would you?”
He nodded as he exited, still chuckling to himself, and I speed-dressed in order to get to the lobby in the required five minutes. Royn hated it when people were late to meetings, especially me, since, you know, most of the time the meeting was about me these days.
I arrived third, so I sat on a couch and waited while the others filed in. Anton kept giving me knowing looks, and I did my best to ignore him. Leona was the last to arrive, her hair wet like she just stepped out of the shower – which she probably did. Unfortunately, the couch was full now, so she had to find another chair. Anton gave us both knowing looks, so much that Katy noticed and must have put it together, given the growing smile on her face. Anton, that traitor.
Royn leaned on a table, both hands on top of his head, which hung slightly. With a deep sigh, he began. “Everyone, first, thank you for everything you’ve done to get Jayton this far. He’s done fantastic and I know he couldn’t have done it without your support.
“With that being said, we’re at a crossroads. Despite all our effort, including some of the most brilliant minds back on the East Side, we cannot figure out a way for Jay to beat the Uland.”
You could have heard a pin drop, then everyone started talking at once. “What about...?” or “What if we try....?” Each time, Royn replied with a “We’ve thought of that and here’s why it won’t work.”
“What about the Morsenube?” Euless said.
All eyes went to him. He shrugged as he sat relaxed in a chair. “What? No one else has suggested it?”
“No way,” Josey said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“What else is there?” Troup said. “Royn just said they hadn’t found another way. Morsenube can penetrate anything and you’ve all seen what it can do when Jay’s used it before. I think it’s an option.”
“We’ve thought of that too,” Royn said. “While you’re right, Troup, we agree with Josey. It’s too dangerous on a number of levels.”
“Plus, who knows if in that environment he could control it,” Celeste added. “He has the tattoo, but that’s no guarantee.”
Leona said, “I think he could control it, but if he did lose it, that’s a lot of people in the arena that we’d be putting at risk.”
“Yeah,” Gilmer said, “and if it doesn’t work, and he loses control, we won’t be able to get to him in time to stop him. If we even could stop him.”
“So, wait a minute,” I said. “Why can’t we use it?”
“Jay,” Sonora said, “were you not paying attention? It really boils down to risk and probabilities. There are way more bad things that can happen by using it than good. It’s that simple.”
The room grew silent as everyone thought to themselves.
Finally, I took a deep breath, and said, “While I don’t disagree with any of you, here are some things I know. One – I’ve learned to control the Morsenube for the most part, as long as I don’t use too much.
“Two – it’s probably the only thing that can beat the Uland: I don’t think the Fire Eyes by itself can even do that – at least not when we were training back on the East Side.
“Three – this is the fate of the world we’re talking here. If it’s a choice between dying and a chance at saving the world, I’ll take that chance.”
“But Jayton,” Katy said, “it’s so risky and we don’t even know if it’ll work!”
I nodded. “Agreed, but I don’t see that we have another option.”
Chapter 56 – Jayton Baird
SEVERAL HOURS LATER, everyone was in the living room when Royn burst out of his room. “Leona! I’ve got to go the Wall. Who’s going with me?”
She powered up and activated her Amplify and Guide powers, her eyes pulsing with energy. She looked at me. “Me.”
“Then let’s move, Ranger.”
“Be careful,” I said to her, mouthing “I love you” to her.
“I will,” she said, then mouthed the same to me. “I’m ready, Royn.”
She joined him close to the door, and they disappeared in a flash of blue.
Leona Orchard
THEY EMERGED AT JUMP Point Eighteen, the last jump point in front of the Wall, just outside the first – and last – defensive ring.
Exiting the door, both were instantly attacked by ogres and orcs at the base of the steps. Leona shifted her armor into a heavier type while stabbing the first in a throat, then used a backhand slice to take the head off another. The last remaining defensive ring stood behind them, the looming Wall behind that. And that final ring was being overrun with the enemy, red blood of humans and the blackish-gray blood of the orcs covering the metal and wood structure. The stench of the ogres and orcs assaulted her nostrils as she stabbed another enemy. The ground was slick with water, from either rain or water Senturians, and her footing was unsure.
“Air Ram!” Royn said, pressing out with both hands. A condensed column of air shot downward, bowling over creatures for a dozen yards before it dispersed, giving them precious space to work.
“Why did we come here?” Leona asked between sword strikes and energy bursts.
“Heath didn’t tell me the jump point had fallen,” Royn replied. “Grab on and we’ll get to safety!”
Leona grabbed his outstretched hand as he teleported them to the top of the last ring’s wall, and they stared at a swirling mass of enemy flesh.
“This is bad, Royn,” Leona said.
“Who’s in charge here?” Royn shouted, and a general popped their head out of a group of Phoenix fire-blasting a troll who’d emerged at metal railing that ran along the crest of the defensive ring.
“I am, Ranger, General Kirby Manor,” he said. “We’re about to be overrun on our last ring, and after that, we are back to the Wall.”
“Understood,” Royn said, surveying the area. “Leona, what do we do?”
“We need earth attacks there, there, and there, freeze attacks there, there and there, and a fireball dead center,” she said. “Then start pulling back all the people you can and still hold. The ring will fall within an hour.”
“You heard her. Do it!” General Manor screamed and people moved, many toward the Wall.
Dozens of rocks flew into the enemy, crushing anything they encountered, and stalling an enemy advance that no one had seen coming.
Freezing water erupted from their right, stopping a horde of ogres that just topped the wall. Then right down the middle, a huge ball of flame engulfed a troll that came over the top.
“Royn, that’s still not enough time.” Leona pointed at the opening in the Wall, through which hundreds of soldiers were streaming. “We need to be there or many will die.”
In a flash of blue, they were there, the Senturian army retreating around them. The Wall loomed behind them and stretched out as far as she could see in either direction. She couldn’t help but feel like an insect next to its mass, the gray stone seeming to shine in the moonlight.
Pulling herself back into the moment, Leona said, “Wait for it,” transforming her sword into an energy bow, her blonde hair blowing in the wind. Royn readied air slices.
Below them, the ground rumbled, and suddenly a dozen mole-like creatures the size of small horses with overlarge teeth burst from the ground. Five were severed in two with air slices, another five were riddled with energy arrows. The remaining two were quickly beheaded by Royn.
Leona said, “We should be good now. Those moles would have disrupted the retreat. Now let’s get out of here.”
They watched as the last of the army went through the gate. At the same time, dozens of creatures emerged over the dilapidated ring of defense.
“Good job, Ranger,” Royn said, grabbing her hand before they disappeared in a flash of blue. Royn plopped them down several hundred feet above their last po
sition, on top of the Wall, where the commanders had all gathered. Royn shouted, “We’re the last ones!”
Nodding, General Manor said, “Seal it!”
A big Dwarf next to him said, “Aye!” He placed his palm on a stone pad which turned green, and they all rushed to the battlements of the Wall to watch.
Previously invisible seams along the enormous Wall popped into view vertically a hundred yards on either side of the main gate. Something large thumped, and the top half of the section between the seams slid down over the bottom half, slamming into the ground with a huge whomp that shook the whole area.
Another thump and the section of stone that was now bare was pushed out, once again making the Wall seamless, this time with no access to the gate. With a bright light, the seams disappeared.
They’d just cut off the West Side of the Breaks from anyone but a teleporter. A cheer resounded from around them as the creatures below slammed into the Wall with no success. Some tried to climb but were unable to find purchase on the stone, partly due to its smoothness but mostly due to the ward that had been placed on it. Some of the soldiers started picking off the enemies with energy arrows, and within a few minutes, the creatures withdrew to a safe distance.
“There’s no way for them now,” Royn said beside Leona. “The Wall will hold. No way they could get around it.” He smiled at the younger Ranger. Looking either way over the Wall, there were miles and miles of seamless stone, all with the same anti-scaling and anti-penetrating earth powers embedded in it. They were safe. For now.
With nothing left to do, Royn teleported himself and Leona back to the Bowl.
Jayton Baird
LEONA AND ROYN POPPED back into view with a bang and a flash of blue, right in the living room. And I was sitting there waiting on them. I’d been worried about her. When her eyes found mine, her dirty face broke into a smile. Moving to me, she was in my arms and kissing me deeply before I thought about it, right in front of Royn.