by Greg Dragon
Hope was all they had at this point in the war, and the Erts’ presence did not make them feel any better about their chances. Amarah got to the elephant and smiled up at Alysia, but the dark woman’s face was a passive mask and she merely nodded at her old friend.
“Come on up, Amarah,” she said nonchalantly, and then set her eyes forward to observe the battle. “You three, stop playing with those spawns and work your way to that giant. Cut it in the Achilles, the way I taught you, and bring it down before it gets wise and runs over to our machines.”
The Garot saluted to her as one and did as she said, and Amarah’s face took on a look of surprise. “I didn’t realize how long it has been,” she muttered as she climbed the elephant’s legs up towards Alysia. When she got to the top, she sat facing her friend and reached up to touch her cheek gently.
Alysia had styled her hair back in an elaborate way, and cornrows ran back into a braided tail with silver spikes fanned out like a peacock’s tail. The young woman who had once been so innocent looked hardened and somewhat disturbed. Lines of worry creased her forehead, and the slight hints of the demonic taint were now pronounced. Small horns jutted out from her temples and her brown pupils blended in with the red of her eyes.
Amarah looked as if she was ready to cry, and Alysia furrowed her brow since this really confused her. “What’s wrong, Amarah? Is there something on my face?” she said, her voice just as sweet as it had been when they’d gone into the cave together.
“I just feel like I’ve failed you. Time slipped by us, CeeCee, we … we stayed with Orwan. He was in a bad way for a long time.”
“Why didn’t you come get me? I care about him too. Couldn’t they have permitted me there, since I technically was from there as Ambriel?”
“They don’t see it that way. It’s a bit complicated, but in my mind it seemed to be a short time, maybe a day or so. Time in Yalem is splintered, it’s unpredictable and wild. I am sorry, CeeCee, I really am. I never wanted you to turn into whatever this is that Chaos—”
“I did this,” Alysia snapped. “Chaos doesn’t control me like you all think. I tamed this beast, organized the Garot, and I am going to pull out that elite myself. Chaos was the start to this, but I will be the end. You were gone for almost a year Earth time, Amarah. I stopped waiting for you and it allowed me to get better control here.”
Amarah mulled over what she said, and glanced behind her at the ongoing fighting. An arrow whizzed by her, too close for comfort, but Alysia didn’t seem concerned by it. “I’m warded. It’s okay, they can fire away. As long as you’re with me up here, they cannot hit you.”
“Seems like you have it all figured out, CeeCee,” Amarah said, but Alysia picked up on her tone.
“I don’t have it figured out, but I want to go home, and when they tell me that winning this war is the key to going home, then I am going to make sure that we win.”
Amarah nodded. “You’re still my, CeeCee,” she said with a smile, “but you’re a lot gloomier than I remember. I may be late, but I come with good news. Cyrio and Bortex have taken Lancert into the cave. They have brought the fight home to these wicked creatures. Any day now, your elite will run out. I’m not sure if you’ve seen a pissed off angel, but the V’Kosha are seeing it now, and they will want to leave their hole.”
“Lancert is helping?” Alysia said quietly. “I feel so terrible now for the way I’ve treated him.”
Amarah chuckled and slapped the saddle. “Don’t feel bad. He’s stubborn. For all I know it is your anger that drove him to actually do something!”
The ground shook violently, and the elephant stopped. A silence went across the battlefield as if everyone stopped to listen. It shook once again and then the front of the cave exploded. Several giants, impressively armored, ran out into the open, swinging their swords. The frightened Garot turned and ran, but then Lenorela’s giant roared. She leapt from his hand and slipped into the ground, but didn’t immediately appear afterwards.
The giant roared again and stormed forward, crushing any V’Kosha in its way and closing the gap on his fellows. The first giant met him with a swing of his blade, but Lenorela’s pet hopped back from its edge and placed a fist on his jaw. The giant reeled back, stumbling from the blow, but his attacker grabbed him from behind and swung him into the others.
Like a giant heavyweight boxer with a dancer’s grace, this near naked giant made short work of the others. Their armor and swords couldn’t fend off his blows and he kept them off balance by throwing one into the other.
“What are you all doing?” Alysia screamed. “Press the attack and help him out!”
The Garot turned back and rushed the entrance, and Amarah rallied her Erts to do the same. More giants escaped the cave only to meet their doom, but Alysia wondered where Lenorela had gone. She kicked the sides of her elephant and he galloped forward, crushing V’Kosha demon spawns as he made for the cave.
Ballistas found the giants but their number only grew, and Alysia saw Lenorela’s pet get hamstringed and beheaded before the new army of giants started in on her Garot.
Still she drove her mount forward, urging it to go faster. They collided into the mass of giants, goring two and bowling over a third, and Alysia Knight threw herself off and pulled Euphoria and Bliss for the first time in months. The elephant bucked and stomped while she landed near it, cutting at legs and feet. The Erts joined her side, all silver and awesome, and the giants found themselves on the retreat.
When Chaos joined the push, they broke their lines, and it seemed as if the V’Kosha cave had exhausted all of its troops. Then the elite appeared. A fiery devil, he was the size of a giant, but his skin was like a dragon’s and orange flames danced on the surface of his black skin, their brilliance only secondary to his hot white eyes.
He ran from the cave with wicked speed, shaking the ground as he moved. His lance found Alysia’s elephant which he tossed into the Garot, killing plenty and wounding more. The speed at which he moved was just too much to deal with, and the space around him emptied as V’Kosha and Garot alike moved to get away from his cloven feet.
“ALYSIA KNIGHT!” the beast screamed across the battlefield, and Alysia froze at the mention of her name. His voice sounded as if it came from multiple sources, and it was the same voice that had screamed her name that fated night in New York. She had killed a demon maiden alongside her father as they fought to save the refugees in the bunker where they lived. It had screamed for her then, when she was merely James Knight’s daughter, and it screamed for her now as a warrior of Yalem.
She walked forward towards him, past all of her friends, and though they called back to her, she kept on moving. “Here I am, demon,” she said to the elite, and he threw back his head to laugh. When she saw an opening, she ran with her blades to either side, but he saw her coming and swung a lightning fast cut, down to where she was. Anyone else would have been severed into fiery halves, but Alysia jumped to the side and rolled to safety.
She was back up running again as the demon pulled back his sword, and had cut off one of his toes before he could strike again. Slipping between each of his legs, she let Euphoria and Bliss do their work, but this wasn’t a mere demon that she fought. The elite regenerated his toe, and swung close enough to disarm her of Bliss.
Throwing care to the wind, Alysia dove for her sword. The elite demon saw her mistake and reared back his head before smothering her with flames. It was then that Lenorela appeared to her, and shielded her sister from the fire. Alysia collected Bliss and made to strike again, but Lenorela grabbed her arm. “When I vanish, you must strike, sister. Strike with the magic that I taught you. Do not hesitate, do not mourn, just strike, CeeCee, and end this thing.”
Before Alysia could retort, Lenorela tightened her grip and slipped the rings—ruby and dragon—onto her fore and middle fingers. “But Lenny, what about you—” she started, but the witch vanished, and a new scream bellowed from the demon’s mouth.
In that instant Alysia saw Lancert emerge from the cave, limping and hurt. Bortex and his brother held him up, and he waved at her before disappearing into a beam of light. The demon kept screaming and as Alysia stood up, she could see what was happening to cause him pain. Lenorela was on his back, her teeth in his neck, her white hair whipping about with a life of its own. Her magic froze the elite while she drained him for sustenance and her words came back to Alysia clear as day: “Strike, sister. Strike with the magic that I taught you.”
Reaching into the fabric of magic that Lenorela had shown her, Alysia raised the swords. Time seemed to freeze and they began to vibrate and blue fire ran along their blades. She barely saw the demon rip her friend from his back and throw her into the air, and she barely saw Chaos leap from his horse to catch Lenorela’s broken body. Everything was rage and blue fire now, and she slashed the air vertically, releasing it all at the demon.
The slashes produced lines of force outlined in blue flame, and they formed an X that went through the elite and hit the cave’s entrance, causing it to collapse. The elite looked at her, his white eyes gone black as his life force escaped. His body split where the force struck him, and he collapsed into a mountain of ash.
Alysia Knight collapsed as well, and the world grew dark where once it had been a bright orange sky. Am I dead? was her last thought. Then everything went black.
~ * ~ * ~
It was a brilliant day in New Jersey, and the sky was a cloudy, baby blue. James Knight, clad in a tank top and shorts, was in his garage beating the stuffing out of a heavy bag. On his phone he had the music loud, blaring out the angry guitar and percussion of a band whose name had slipped his memory. It was loud enough and angry enough to keep him in the zone, so he rained punches and kicks into the bag, each a loud echo against the garage’s walls.
He threw a strong roundhouse that shifted the bag’s base, then slid to the side to hook a punch as the bag swung back. He heard his name but he brushed it aside and sent several jabs into the surface, followed by another hook punch that jumped the bag off the chains.
“What a piece of sh—” he began till he noticed his wife at the door leading into the house.
“Babe, there’s someone at the door. Do you mind?” she said, showing that her hands were dirty from the garden.
James was annoyed, so he grumbled under his breath, “It’s probably those kids. I told you just to run them off the first time they came by here.”
“Don’t be a jerk. They’re doing it to raise money for their school. I swear you’re getting grouchy in your old age.”
He grabbed a towel and dabbed his shoulders before walking through the kitchen to gain the door. On a little table near the door was a photo of his family. It was he and Kendra posing with their little daughter, Hope. She was only thirteen years old and was due back from a slumber party at her friend, Penny’s house. He wondered if this could be them, but normally Hope would call first.
When he looked at the monitor that showed outside, he saw that it wasn’t Hope or the kids. He touched the lock panel and slid open the door, crossing his arms in preparation of telling the solicitor to scram.
At the door was a pretty young woman in a brown blouse, with blue tights and tall leather boots. Her style was funky as well as her hair, which was a naturally curly afro with red highlights. There was something familiar about her but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Her brownish red pupils gave an alien quality to her already quirky look.
When she saw him she grew excited and flashed a beautiful smile, revealing a set of sharp eye teeth which set off alarms in his head. Reaching back, he gripped the handle of the revolver that sat in the small of his back. The woman had something wrapped up and tied on her back, which had to be a rifle or some sort of weapon. “Yes?” he said, his fingers twitching. He scanned the area behind her to make sure that she didn’t have any friends with her.
“Dad,” the woman said, and James’ eyes grew large. “Dad, you’re not going to believe this, but I am your daughter, Alysia Knight.”
James felt his wife come up next to him just in time to hear her words. She gave him a look of confusion, mixed with a bit of disappointment. “James, you didn’t,” she began and he immediately understood.
“No. There’s absolutely no way, Kendra. I don’t know this girl.”
Kendra Knight pushed past her husband and stared at Alysia closely. The girl hugged her tightly and began to cry, and James began to wonder if he was being pranked. “Daughter, you say, Miss …? What’s your mother’s name?”
“Her name is Kendra, and she always gave the best hugs,” Alysia said, causing Kendra to step back and glance at her husband as if he could help.
“Come inside, young lady, let’s talk this through,” she said.
“Baby, that’s not a good idea—” James began, but she held up a hand to stop him.
“Jimmy, it’s obvious that this woman has gone through a lot to get here,” she scolded him as she led Alysia into the house.
“You have no idea,” Alysia said as the door slid shut behind them.
Knights and Demons
The Complete 10 Book Series
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About The Author
GREG DRAGON has been a creative writer for several years, and has authored on topics of relationship, finance, physical fitness and more through different sources of media. In particular, his online magazine has been a source of much pragmatic information, which has been helpful to many. As a result, his work continues to grow with a large and loyal fan base.
This Florida author brings exciting action and drama to his written work. His storylines keep readers engaged with characters that come to life from the beautiful celestial scenes of science fiction, to the gritty world of urban drama.
See Greg’s author page at gregdragon.com or keep up with his latest books and appearances through email.