Of Myths and Legends (Emerilia Book 9)

by Michael Chatfield

  “That looks bad ass.” Looking like a god of destruction, Dave admired the fit of his armor and tossed his cloak behind him.

  He ran through the apartment, to see how much his cloak would pick up, and jumped around a bit. Realizing how it must look, he slowly stopped, looking around to see whether anyone had seen his actions.

  Finding himself still alone, he cleared his throat and walked out the door of his apartment.

  Wonder what Deia’s expression will be seeing this? Dave tapped his chin in thought as he walked through the halls.

  People stared at him with odd looks. He looked like a god of destruction, but his pose made it seem as if he were debating what he was having for dinner later that night. It made more than one person frown in confusion at the scene.

  Dave quickly located Deia across Ice City. His heart warmed as he saw her with Koi while talking to her father, who was looking after Desmond.

  Dave disappeared, his steps not pausing as he appeared outside of the balcony and stepped onto it.

  Deia readied herself; a sword appeared in her hand as Mal circulated his Mana, both of them putting themselves in front of their children.

  “Nice threads, right?” Dave reached up and pulled his hood down, revealing his face.

  “Dave!” Deia said, her voice filled with outrage as she pouted at him.

  “Was worth the look on both your faces.” Dave smiled.

  “I take back what I said about your husband being smart.” Oson’Mal relaxed his circulating Mana.

  Koi started to cry, being jolted awake from her post-feeding nap.

  “Oh honey, everything’s okay. Daddy’s here.” Dave moved to Koi, who Deia was now trying to soothe.

  Deia passed Koi over to her father. Her eyes thinned, reminding him that Dave had caused his daughter’s cries.

  He smiled sheepishly, taking Koi and comforting her.

  “So now we know what you’ve been up to the last couple of days,” Oson’Mal said once Koi’s crying had come down in volume under Dave’s comforting words and actions.

  “Yeah. It took a bit longer than I thought and a lot more energy than I was expecting. I call it Lux,” Dave said.

  “Lux?” Deia asked.

  “As Abscondita meant hidden or shadows in Latin, Lux meant light or bright, something that was to be shown, not hidden. We have been hiding our abilities, our strength, and trump cards for too long. With this armor and our coming actions, we are telling the rest of Emerilia and the universe that we will not take it anymore. We will show them our true strength,” Dave said. His voice was level and called forth the fighting spirit within him as well as Deia and Oson’Mal.

  “And we’ll show them some of that strength when we destroy the Xelur forces in the Densaou Ring of Fire and push them back into their portal,” Deia said with finality.

  Dave and Deia shared a look, understanding each other completely.

  ***

  Lox and Gurren stood on the battlements of Citadel One.

  “Looks like it’s happening,” Steve said beside them. “Think it’s going to be magenta?”

  “Why, oh why, do you ever open your mouth?” Gurren shook his head.

  Steve just grinned as the citadel started to shake. A rumbling noise came from the walls and the ground. One by one, the citadels around Goblin Mountain also started to shake and rumble.

  The walls shifted slightly as in different parts they changed from polished stone to polished metal. The stone structure of the citadel changed, the rock making shifting noises as its inner structure was changed from stone to metal. The gray stone was replaced with silver-gray steel.

  All around, the walls were increasing in strength; new magical circles started to cover the different layers of the castle. The farther inward, the higher the buffs were.

  The walls glowed with magical inscriptions, the power held within making those within the citadels feel their scalps tingling.

  The citadels kept their original structure of the main castle and the two outer walls but now all of the walls and the castle had been turned from stone and armored areas into a fully metal construct, with the armored areas improving in thickness and better cover.

  The magical circles pulled in power from the surrounding areas, overlaying the magical coding that had been integrated into the castle and adding their effects to those that had already existed with the runic lines that ran over the walls and the grounds.

  Even as the stone turned to metal, the soul gem construct that had been interwoven into the walls and ground of the citadel was left undisturbed, as if the citadel knew that it was a strengthening measure and didn’t wish to break it or force it from the walls.

  “Well, that’s better than I hoped. I thought that it might not work at all or that it would change in a way that we would need to change out tactics for dropping,” Lox said, relieved.

  “Armor upgrade, nice,” Steve said.

  “Well, now onto the second part of today—moving time,” Gurren said.

  Lox transmitted orders to the citadel group leaders.

  The citadel group leaders were in command of eight citadels. The citadel wings were four of them and citadel pairs was just two. Each had a different commander who was also in command of their own citadel.

  “Understood, Mister Lox. We will check our castles and be prepared to fly within fifteen minutes. With the stone changing to metal, our weight has increased but thankfully our balance hasn’t been altered,” the citadel group leader for the Goblin Mountain citadel group transmitted.

  “Good. I’ll let you get to it then.” Lox ended the party chat and then opened another to Party Zero’s private party chat.

  “Anna, how’s it going over there?” Lox asked.

  “We’re on the move. Crossing over Heval right now. We’ll be there in three and a half days, though with the flight, the captains are pretty sure that they can speed it up,” Anna said. She was with the Gudalo citadel group near Kogar.

  “Not a lot going on, and they know what they’re doing over here. We’ll move to your citadels soon enough,” Suzy said. Induca and Lu Lu were also with Anna. Induca had been assisting with training while Suzy worked with Florence to get the citadels stocked with all the supplies that they needed. The Kogar citadel group didn’t have drop capabilities but they had ranged fire power and could support the Goblin Mountain citadel group at range.

  “How did the upgrade go?” Induca asked.

  “Everything went well. We got an armor upgrade instead of the citadel expanding. The captains are changing their lift plans but we’ll be moving soon,” Lox said.

  “See you there,” Anna said.

  Lox muted the party chat and looked out at the citadels. Only Citadel One was floating, serving as a test for the citadel upgrade.

  “Brace for lift!” the captain of Citadel Two of Goblin Mountain citadel group called out. Their voice linked to the commander channel for the Goblin Mountain citadel group chat.

  Gravity runes lit up as a number of people held onto grab bars that had been added into the citadel for extra safety.

  “Lifting in five, four, three, two, one.” The flight officer’s countdown ended. Citadel Two shook as it freed itself from the ground; dirt and debris fell from it as it ascended into the sky.

  Lox looked around. In that early morning light, citadel after citadel rose from the ground, their soul gem islands that they were rooted into revealing themselves as they rose randomly. They held their breaths, looking at the powerful sight of those citadels rising from the ground—behemoths rising from the depths, ready to fight those that had disturbed them.

  “Move into triangular flight formation,” the Goblin Mountain group leader called out once all of the citadels had reached their holding height.

  The citadels’ move created a triangle in the air, ready to defend from attacks in any direction.

  “Move out! Destination—Xelur portal at Densaou Ring of Fire!” the citadel group leader said.

  The fly
ing citadels pushed forward. The creatures hiding in the wilderness of Ashal looked up at those citadels with fear in their eyes, sensing the bloodlust and fighting intent of the thousands who had been training for months for this moment.

  “Check gear and all of the drop mechanisms,” the citadel group leader called out.

  Lox smiled to himself.

  “Looks like we’re not needed anymore,” Gurren said, a proud look in his eyes.

  “Seems that way,” Lox said softly.

  They had trained these people as best as they could, working with those who would drop on platforms and with their packs. Their knowledge with the Devastator armor and its ability to fly put them in a good position to talk to the dwarves who would be dropping and get them used to dropping and getting into battle.

  Now they stood on the top of Citadel One as they surged forward. Within those citadels, the different groups checked their equipment. The flying citadel would take two days to reach the Xelur. This wasn’t their top speed, but it would allow everyone to get used to flying and also allow them time to adjust any plans they had instead of just rushing into battle.

  “Move out, aerial scouts,” the group leader said.

  Aerial forces that had been waiting in the main castle’s towers now jumped into the slip streams and launched into the air. The various aerial forces spread out to create a net around the flying citadel formation to catch anyone that might try to attack the citadels.

  The automatons and their repeaters scanned the sky and the ground.

  Dwarven artillery checked their gear with a few crews on duty in case they were needed.

  The mages and ranged groups were resting or sitting in waiting areas, ready to move up to the battlements at a moment’s notice in order to deal with any potential threats.

  They moved through the sky, ready to deal with anything that dared to block their way.

  Even the high-leveled creatures of the Ashal wilderness that could fly didn’t try to antagonize or attack them, scared that they would fall under the flying citadel’s group.

  Quickly, they left behind the citadel that had been built outside of Goblin Mountain. Those within the citadel could only look on in awe.

  ***

  “The citadels have begun to move,” an aide said into Esa’s ear.

  A cold smile spread over her face as she looked over the hellish scene that was the Xelur portal. They had been able to hold onto their castles but only just. The Xelur’s continuous reinforcements wore on the defenders.

  The Xelur held the southern and western castles around the portal, as well as the southern outer castle.

  They had all gone through their first citadel upgrade except for the eastern citadel that had changed owners twice, resetting it twice.

  The Xelur weren’t as simple as they looked. They had brought out powerful arrays and totems that they used to gather ambient energy to increase or restore their power at a high rate, as well as arrays that created Mana barriers and shields around the citadels to protect them from the aerial bombardment as well as the ranged spells and artillery fire.

  Even now, shields flared on both sides from impacts of the Xelur’s ranged arrays or their personal-ranged soul beams or the Terra Alliance’s ranged attacks.

  The Xelur seemed to be content with skirmishing every now and then to keep the Terra Alliance off-balance. However, they hadn’t showed any more Grand Demon Lords since the Alliance had taken the eastern castle.

  Esa hadn’t been feeling comfortable as these powerful masters hid, growing their strength and waiting. She knew that they were planning something and had feared that it would come to fruition before the flying citadel groups could support them.

  In three days, they would begin their campaign against the Xelur and all of the other portals.

  “Deia, Malsour, Dave, Jekoni, and Jung Lee have entered the castle through the ono,” another aide said to Esa.

  “Very well. Have them come and join me,” Esa said.

  The feeling of unease over the past couple of weeks was replaced with confidence. She had now gained the power she needed to clear out this Xelur invasion.

  Chapter 19: Flying Citadel’s Might

  Anna felt the slight wind that passed over the citadel. They were moving at a fair speed but runic lines created different barriers to decrease wind resistance and to allow a part of that wind to wash over the citadel.

  She looked over the eight flying citadels that crossed over Emerilia. Below them was the sea that separated Opheir and Heval. She could see Opheir in the distance with her vision.

  “It’s time that we met up with the others,” Anna said to Induca and Suzy, who were eating their breakfast on a storage crate of grand working shells for the nearby artillery cannons.

  “Okay,” Induca said. Suzy put her hand over Induca’s and squeezed it. The two of them shared a look and smiled at each other.

  Anna pretended to not notice. Her hand moved toward the necklace that Alkao had given her after she had caved in and finally agreed to go out with him. A smile flourished on her face as her stomach dropped. She wanted to just leave this all behind to stand with Alkao, walk around Devil’s Crater, to talk, laugh and play around. Her duty and her conscience wouldn’t let her leave her friends behind or avoid this duty that she had placed upon herself. Even as she longed for that, she had to fight now. If she didn’t, then she wouldn’t be able to attain that freedom.

  She tucked the necklace into her armor.

  Induca stood. A powerful aura came from her as she motivated the dragon bloodline that ran through her veins. Mana surged around her as her face became solemn. Suzy rose from her seat, pulling out her staff of Hecate and touching it on the ground. Lu Lu flew in from where she had been flying around the citadel, changing her size from the size of a small truck to a housecat as she landed on Suzy’s shoulder, her eyes cold as lightning sparked over her body.

  The corner of Anna’s mouth rose into a cold smile. Her eyes turned white as the air seemed to gather around her, called to her command. She flew over the battlements, dropping from the tower.

  Fire curled around Induca as Suzy’s Air creations appeared from her bag of holding. The two of them also rose over the walls and dropped.

  They reached an impressive velocity before their speed started to slow. They landed on the castle that lay at the bottom of the tower. Here, multiple dwarven artillery cannons, casting platforms, and repeater batteries were located. They walked lightly into the castle and through to the central area that lay underneath the tower.

  Anna activated the ono from a control panel. It took but a moment before the ono connected to Terra. They stepped through the ono, into Terra.

  “Citadel One Goblin Mountain Group,” Anna called out to the teleport pad controllers.

  “Dialing Goblin Mountain Group, Citadel One!” the controller confirmed as the event horizon closed. Runes started to move on the ground, changing into a new formation.

  It had barely stopped when power surged through the teleport pad’s runes. As it reached the central runes, the teleport pad connected to the ono that was their destination.

  Anna led them through the ono.

  People were moving from their barracks to their ready positions. A tense feeling filled the air; few people talked as they moved.

  Anna continued onward, out of the castle. She rose up into the air, propelled toward the walls that surrounded the inner castle.

  Induca and Suzy followed.

  They looked over the battlements. Instead of the sea, they now saw the foreboding mountains that made up the Densaou Ring of Fire.

  There were dark clouds in the sky, even in the early morning sunlight. The clouds reflected the reds of the magma that flowed from the Densaou Ring of Fire and flashed with lightning occasionally.

  This was a powerful place.

  In the distance, another kind of light illuminated the sky. This was not a light born from nature, but the light and sounds of battle.

  The
flying citadels were moving in low and fast, the bottom of their soul gem islands just meters above the tree line.

  Anna’s face was an unemotional mask as she heard the unnatural rolling thunder that was a dwarven artillery barrage, the impacts of soul and Mana fueled spells striking barriers and walls.

  The misses left deep craters and gouges in the ground.

  There was the sound of whistling wind as Deia, Dave, Malsour, Jung Lee, Jekoni, Steve, Lox, and Gurren all landed on the battlements. They didn’t need to say anything as they stepped forward, in line with Anna, Induca, and Suzy.

  Lu Lu, sensing the oncoming battle, let out a cry to the heavens.

  Other beasts roared, and let out their own war cries.

  “Move to attack positions!” the group leader said.

  The final safety measures were removed from different weapons as people moved to their ready positions. The citadels that had been acting as a rear guard at the bottom of the triangle now folded outward, lining up with the other two sides of the triangle.

  Magical formations and runic lines started to glow as Mana surged through the citadels. In this desolate land, the citadels glowed with clean, pure, and untouched power. The soul gem islands beneath started to glow as their power increased dramatically.

  “Raise to drop height!” the group leader commanded.

  The citadels rose; as they did, they became visible to the Xelur forces.

  Fighting seemed to stop for a moment.

  “Ranged weaponry, prepare to fire on your preset targets!” the group leader barked. The distance from the oncoming castles decreased rapidly.

  “Citadel One, your target is the southern citadel!” the captain of the citadel yelled.

  Artillery cannons were dialed into their targets as aerial forces rushed out of the tower’s exits like a swarm of locusts. They turned, creating a cloud around the citadel.

  Dragons let out their roars, shaking the sky as they soared above their citadels.

  The Xelur, sensing the danger that these citadels represented, quickly changed their targets from the citadels on the ground to those in the sky. Arrays that they had been holding in reserve unleashed their attacks.