by Greg Dragon
He swung and slammed his sword into the Twilight Sword and it shattered like glass. Alysia felt her body weaken, as if a part of her had been removed. She screamed and scrambled for the blade. She was sure that all hope was lost now that he had taken the weapon needed to free the earth.
“BASTARD!” she screamed and scrambled for the pieces, but the warrior merely sheathed his sword and paced the field as if he was thinking of what to say.
“Alysia, my child. I haven’t been there, and I wasn’t there for your poor mother or the struggles you faced in this harsh human world. It was forbidden. Our war has rules, but you must believe me that I have watched you with love for all of your years, and this is why I’ve come.” He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, then unlatched the sword and set it on the ground. “The Twilight Sword, accompanied with lies, is the reason why Chaos’s army is unstoppable.”
Alysia looked at him. She got to her feet and walked over to where he knelt and picked up the sword. She was surprised at how light it was to the touch, and as she held it, a euphoric feeling came over her. Something about it felt right, and she gripped it with both hands and closed her eyes. It shuddered and popped audibly as spikes ejected from its hilt, into Alysia’s hands.
She screamed loudly as it mixed with her blood and when she was so out of energy that she couldn’t stand, she fell to the ground and passed out. When she awoke, the sword was a replica of the Twilight Sword but instead of the image of her mother reaching down, it now bore a symbol of a knight handing a sword to a kneeling woman. She looked over at the man who claimed to be her father, and he looked weak, as if he was dying.
“I have to go, Alysia. It is unnatural for me to be here. I just needed you to know the truth of your role, and to give you a weapon that Chaos cannot corrupt,” he said.
“What is my role? Who is Chaos, really?” she asked, and he looked around as if he was trying to determine how much time he really had.
“Chaos is a warmonger, a world conqueror, and a tyrant. He has invaded many realms throughout the centuries in order to grow an army strong enough to take over the world of Yalem,” he replied.
“But how, if he’s having me kill them? How is he growing an army when he’s influencing us to help him kill all of them?” Alysia asked.
“Chaos plays the long game; an immortal has no use for time. He sends in savages to ruin the lands. This is the first step towards finding the ones that are strong enough to resist when their worlds fall to ruin. He then indoctrinates them, gives them lies about a greater good, and then he uses the warriors of that very world to join his Bloody Garot, his usurper corps,” the big man said as he stood up and gestured with his hands. “I have to go,” he said finally, and the world began to become colorized once again.
“Lancert! One more question,” Alysia said as the silver knight began to fade with the change. “What am I supposed to do ... about Chaos Lord?”
“Follow your heart, my beloved daughter. Follow it and save your world. He has already taken thirty years from you. Do not let him take any—” and he was gone before he could finish.
Isobel and Jasmine looked at Alysia and nodded. They seemed unaware of what had transpired and were eager to pick up the pace to find her father.
“Wait,” Alysia said. “Not so fast. I need time to think before we catch up, so let’s slow down and enjoy the walk.”
“Okay, CeeCee,” Isobel said, but kept staring at her as they walked. “CeeCee is free,” she said under her breath and Jasmine turned pale and refused to look at her. “I am happy that it is you,” Isobel kept on. “You are strong enough to save us, and I know that you will.”
“How, Izzy, how can I save you?” Alysia asked, and Isobel shrugged and skipped on ahead.
And Then There Was Hope
Chapter One
The bunker was empty; they didn’t know what they expected to find when they pulled open the heavy lid, but there was nothing inside but the stench of the dead. James Knight looked into the deep recesses of the blackness and wondered how long the inhabitants had been without power. He powered on his watch and descended the stairs, and Tracy stayed close to him with a watchful eye for anything that could be considered hostile. Jaime and Koko had been left on guard duty, so there would be no immediate help if they were to get jumped by a horde of demons.
They got to the bottom floor and James waved the light around. There were red eyes peering out at them from numerous places around the building. It seemed that the entire community had been converted into demons, and the thought of it brought James to an extreme sadness.
“We need to back out, Trace. Move out now!” he whispered, as he turned to sprint up the steps. He cleared the entrance and backed away with his gun out. “We got us a fight, people!” he shouted and Jaime ran up with a shotgun drawn.
The demons poured from the entrance like uncorked wine, and James and company began to fire at them, forming a wedge to strike out at three angles. Koko unlatched her silver sword and dashed past them into the fray. She slashed and thrusted like a viper provoked and when her blade touched the demons, they exploded into ashes. After a while it became worthless to fire in on the horde. Koko was amongst them with little care for her life, and James and Tracy didn’t want their bullets to hit her.
When the last of the demons rushed out to get killed, Koko walked to the far side of the lid, flipped it shut, and looked at the group as if she were disappointed.
“What did we expect to find in there?” she asked, sheathing her blade and stepping over the rocks that bordered the bunker.
“Our friends,” Jaime said, sad at the thought of Angelica and Maria being turned into demons. “I’m sorry, Tracy,” he said, and walked over to Koko. “I hope they made it out okay. There’s no proof that those things are the people we knew.”
Tracy nodded her head and fought back the urge to lash out and cry. She didn’t agree when James said that he wanted to come back to the bunker, knowing that it would only be pain and hopelessness there, but he had insisted. Now with the sight of the demons that littered the bunker, it made her feel low, like she had betrayed them by leaving when she did.
“We could have taken them with us, Jimmy. Out here, to survive. But we left them alone, and now… well, you saw it. We lost ‘em all. We lost … oh my god,” she said and then fell to her knees crying.
James bent down to comfort her and she grew quiet. A chill wind blew in from the tall, bordering trees and with it came a song that was produced by old leaves, positioned in such a way that they whistled a tune. It was an ominous sound to go along with the death, and while Koko thought it foolish for them to hang around the bunker, she kept this to herself, letting the red-haired woman get her crying done.
Isobel and Jasmine stepped out from the trees and walked over to them with their faces looking long. Koko ran up and hugged them as they spoke in hushed tones and Jaime looked back at the forest, wondering where Alysia was.
“You guys left CeeCee?” he asked in surprise.
Jasmine walked over to them. “Something new has come up,” she announced to them, and Tracy stood up, dusted herself off, and stepped in closer to hear what it was. “She got your letter, Mr. Knight, and it made her very sad. She made to chase you but she was stopped by a powerful Ert.”
“What the hell is an Ert?” Tracy asked, and James held his hand up for her to be quiet.
“An Ert is similar to your armored warriors. Knights? Is that what you call them? Well, they’re dressed like that, and this Ert happened to be CeeCee’s father—” she began, which made James Knight grunt with frustration.
“Jimmy is Alysia’s father. What do you mean?” Tracy said.
“James Knight is Alysia’s father, yes, but she was born from an Ert. It is why Chaos chose her … why we must protect her. She is to be a general in the war for Yalem.”
“The hell she is,” James said. He looked around. “Where is she now?” he asked.
Isobel touched Jasmine’s shoulde
r as if to signal that it was her turn to talk. “A major V’Kosha, a lost one, showed up on the other side of the world and Alysia went to go and destroy it,” Isobel said proudly.
“All by herself? Are you nuts?” James Knight said, but the girls didn’t seem concerned by it.
“Alysia Knight is no longer with the lord of Chaos. He cannot see her now that the Twilight Sword has been destroyed. She must hunt on her own to close the gate, and then she can face him to get the answers that she seeks,” she said.
Tracy rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. “I don’t know about you guys but I’m kind of over it with the helpless, bystander act. Alysia’s on a suicide mission, humanity is dead, like – what’s even the point anymore? Can any of you tell me?” She looked around with a look of exasperation on her face but nobody answered her.
“Well we found what we came looking for,” James said. “Death, desolation, and all of our friends lost to the demons.”
“So what now, Mr. Knight?” Jamie asked.
“The bunkers are bound to have supplies left over from the time when we were there. Hard rations, heat, shelter. The only thing preventing us from getting it is the demons we saw down there. If we can clear out enough of them to get below, we can be good for a few days, at least until CeeCee returns. What do y’all think?” he said.
“I think I am ready to stop standing by the wayside in this messed up reality of ours,” Tracy said.
“We should go back to the shelter,” Jaime said finally. “Alysia had the right thing in mind when she had us camp out there. It was safe, too high for us to get jumped, and we had lots of supplies there, heat—”
“And beds!” Koko chimed in with an uncharacteristic smile as she glanced at Jaime.
Tracy looked at them, nodded, and then took James by his arm and walked him back towards the trees. “He makes sense,” she said. “Plus … you know I can’t keep moving around. I’m gonna eventually have to prepare for …” She sighed and James took her hands into his own and kissed her.
“For the baby?” he said, and Tracy nodded and touched her stomach out of habit.
“I know you wanted to wait to tell the rest of the gang, but with me getting sick in the morning and…well, y’know. It doesn’t take a scientist to figure it out, Jimmy,” she said, appearing as if she wanted to cry.
“We’ll go back, Trace, back to the camp. I was thinking we could try to use that old house again. It was fine until Chaos came in and wrecked the place, but we could clean—”
“Jimmy, you’re forgetting that we just lost thirty years. The city is in ruins; that house is not going to be there. Let’s just grab what we can and make the trip back. It was only a couple of days, and when we’re there, we can wait for CeeCee to finish her missions and then come home to be with us,” Tracy said.
James wanted to do everything he could to keep Tracy healthy, and though he hated the idea of making the long march back through the ruins of the city, he knew she was right about their safety. He took her hand and led her back to the rest of the company.
“Look everyone,” he began, “Tracy is pregnant. It has become my number one priority to get her to a place where she can get ample food, rest, and fluids so that she and the baby can remain healthy throughout her term.”
“Congratulations, Mr. Knight,” Jaime announced with a smile, and when Tracy looked at him questioningly, he winked at her and nodded his head.
“Oh, shut up Jaime!” she snapped at him. “Keep going the way you’ve been going and I’m sure that Koko will be right behind,” she said to him and Koko dropped her bag, glanced around quickly to see if Isobel and Jasmine had heard, and then ran back into the barracks when they stared at her.
“Damn it, Tracy! Why’d you have to do that?” he whined and then chased after Koko to rectify the situation.
Tracy shot James a wicked grin when Jaime was out of sight.
“You play too much,” he said to her. “Let’s prepare a camp over there in the barracks and we can head out tomorrow to reach the city.”
They cleared out the main area of the barracks and began to set up the necessary traps and weapons needed to keep them safe. Tracy found a room with a large gaping hole in the roof and she started a bonfire in the middle of it.
She set up chairs around the fire while James and Isobel covered the windows with tarp they found rolled up near a corner of the wall. When Jaime and Koko returned an hour later, they helped with securing the perimeter. Then they rolled out the rest of the tarp, cut it into squares, and made makeshift beds for everyone. It would be cold and uncomfortable when they slept that night but they were all used to it, having had to make do as they traveled.
~ * ~ * ~
The company of survivors slept soundly and stiffly on their tarps while Jaime, who had taken first watch, paced the rooms, peeking outside of the windows periodically to make sure nothing approached them. He thought about what Tracy had said to set Koko off and it upset him. He walked over to where everyone slept and saw that she was sleeping next to James, securely protected by his big arms and positioning.
Even if he wanted to wake her to confront her, he would have a gun in his face as soon as he got close enough to be a threat. Jaime had learned a while back that James Knight slept with one eye open and his mind barely in and out of consciousness. He didn’t know if it was due to him being a light sleeper or if it was something learned as a Navy Seal. All he knew was that it was a frightening addition to the big man’s already frightening demeanor. The sad thing was that it added to Tracy’s bravado, and she was already cocky as it was.
He shook his head and walked past their bodies, observing the unique quirks they all had. Koko lay with her sword unsheathed, though she slept so deeply it didn’t matter at all. Isobel, whose entire being seemed to be about staying cute, curled up like a cat in the corner, and Jasmine snored loudly, which contradicted everything assumed when he first met her.
Are we the last of the living in the world? he thought. Wouldn’t that be something if we were?
Jaime walked out of the room and into one of the outer areas of the barracks. He shifted the tarp to the side and peered out. A dark tree line was visible, silhouetted beneath the moonlight, but there was nothing else. He wanted to sit down and relax, but experience told him that doing so would put all of their lives in danger. He stepped over the tripwire at the front door, pushed it open slowly, and then walked out into the night air with his gun ready. A little stroll around the barracks will cure my boredom, he thought, and stepped over another tripwire as he started to make his rounds.
“Human?” a voice whispered, and as he spun to raise his gun at whatever it was, he heard the clicking of safeties being taken off multiple weapons.
In front of him was a muscular, brown-skinned woman, who looked like the stereotype of every female lead he knew from action movies. She had long, black, curly hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a red bandana to hold it back. Her vascular arms were sweaty and slick and she stood confidently in a black tank top, baggy black cargo pants, and military-issue combat boots. The weapon she held pointed at him was similar to the one that James Knight used. It was a massive magnum pistol, the kind that would take his head off completely if she squeezed the trigger.
Behind her were men and women dressed in the black uniforms he recognized from the bunker when they first defended it against the demons. There were eight of them, but she was the only one unmasked. He dropped his weapon and held his hands up and she walked forward, placed the magnum on his chest, and shoved him back towards the barracks wall. There was something strangely familiar about her but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
She was older, hard to tell her age, but she could have been forty. She wore sunglasses, which made no sense since it was nighttime, and her skin held numerous scars from what must have been a lifetime of hardship.
“How many?” she grunted at him. “HOW MANY?”
“Wh-what? How ma
ny, what?” he stammered as she gripped his collar tightly and moved the gun up to his forehead. Her mannerisms indicated to Jaime that it took a lot of effort for her not to shoot him.
She knocked his leg to the side, spun at an angle, and slammed him so hard into the grass that he thought his windpipe would never open up as he struggled for breath. While he fought to regain his breathing, she turned him over and placed her knee in the middle of his back.
“So-sorry, I’m sorry,” he gasped as she put the gun to his head. He could feel the loose strands of her curly mass of hair on the side of his face as she loomed close to him.
“How many of you are in there?” she asked, and he could hear the hint of an accent in her voice.
“There’s si-six of—”
“Six of us in here, but only one matters if I pull this trigger, right?” a voice said from some distance away. “How about you let the man go, drop the gun, and act like a human being?” As Jaime looked back at where it came from, he could see a small red light dancing around – a light that he knew came from James Knight’s rifle.
The woman got up off him and stood up as her men shifted their focus out to the light. Jaime got up and placed his hands on his knees, coughing helplessly as he recovered. A sudden movement came from behind them as Koko flew into their midst. She grabbed the woman by her hair and placed her sword at her throat. It was so fast that Jaime made an audible gasp, and to a man, the darkly clad soldiers began to lower their weapons.
“Okay, okay, okay, you all made your point,” the woman said. “We don’t need to kill one another. We’re all human here, right? We were just being cautious. Come into the light, my friend. Let’s talk it out, okay?”
James Knight appeared and shone the light of his watch on the woman and her troops. He walked over, took her gun, and examined it. He looked up at her with surprise, then snatched her collar and pulled her in close.