by Jason Wilcox
Tagen was quiet which Caden thought was for the best. He looked over at James and noticed his unique armor hanging on the wall. “One quick question. When we were heading out to fight, you were moving at a fast pace. How?”
James smiled. “It’s in the armor. We don’t go into dead time any more, but we still use it in a roundabout way. The armor moves us in and out of dead time quickly. With that moment of stopped time, it allows us to move at an incredible speed and often have the upper hand with our enemies.”
“I’m impressed,” Caden said as he stepped closer to look at the details. A patchwork of metal plates covered the outside, but inside he could see electronics.
“Now if you’re ready…” James held a hand out towards the door.
“Yes. Let’s go.” There was a lot Caden wanted to say to the General.
“By the way. Some of your blood work came back,” James said as he walked towards the door. “They told me that your blood is one of the strangest things they’ve ever seen. There is a tar like substance intertwined with your blood cells. They’re not sure what the implications are, they’re still testing it.”
Caden stood there for a moment. He wished he hadn’t allowed James to take the blood. What if they find that I’m turning into a dark soul, then what? Will they kill me? He looked at Tagen, and then back to James. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine, so let’s get to this meeting.”
A look came over James’s face, which Caden struggled to read. It was a look of sadness mixed with frustration.
Everyone stayed quiet the rest of the way to the conference room. James kept to himself, appearing to be lost in thought. Tagen, on the other hand, actually walked quietly the whole way without going into shadow form. In fact, he had been extremely quiet since the fight that morning with the other dark souls. After he had eaten one of the dark souls, he had an extra spring in his step, like a hint of arrogance.
Even though the silence was awkward as they walked to the room, it was better than what awaited them. As James opened the door, a dark soul screamed. Both Tagen and Caden moved to better positions to fight.
“It’s okay,” James said. “I forgot to tell you they have a captured dark soul in here.” He waved for both of them to follow, which they reluctantly did.
“Traitor!” The dark soul screeched as he saw Tagen walk in. He screamed a long drawn out scream as he watched Tagen follow Caden and sit next to him. Tagen gave no heed to the creature and only looked at the General who sat at the end of the table. The dark soul pushed against the netting that held him trapped and secured to the floor in the corner.
A number of other men sat around, many who had been in the battle earlier. They gave a welcoming nod to Caden, and surprisingly, to Tagen as well. Never did Caden think anyone at the base would ever acknowledge Tagen, but they were, and he was shocked. They must’ve seen Tagen in action on the field and seen him eat his own kind, helping them feel more confident in the dark soul as an ally.
“Thank you for coming,” the General spoke up. “And thanks for calling this meeting James, it is definitely needed.” He patted James on the back, while James took a seat next to him.
“We’ve been attacked, and we were definitely not ready for it,” the General continued as he stood up and walked to the back of his chair. “The dark souls…” He looked over at Tagen, checking to see if he said it right. “…found some way to get through the barrier, and we’re pretty positive it wasn’t the boulder, but we still don’t know how…” The dark soul screamed again. One of the guards walked up to him and poked the creature with a prod that really made him scream, but in pain.
“Now, like I was saying. We’re trying to get information out of the dark souls we captured about how they broke the barrier, but nothing yet. Engineers and workmen are frantically trying to get the wall fixed before another attack.”
“The letter.” The General lifted a hand, and one of the men sitting at the table hit a switch, bringing up a picture of the letter on the sidewall. “The part about our weapons being useless, we believe refers to this interesting wire they are now wrapping around their bodies.” The same man that turned on the slide placed the wire on the table for everyone to see.
“This wire sends out some type of electrical pulse that neutralizes our guns. So we have to get the wire off before we can attack.” The General pointed to the material on the table. “Now we’ve come up with different ideas with grenades, bigger bombs when they’re farther away, and a sword or dagger for close combat. All of these are ways to hopefully break the wire and give us the upper hand.”
Annoyingly, the dark soul in the corner kept staring at Caden, causing him to want to throw something at the creature.
“The second part of the letter, we’re still unsure about,” the General continued. “They want something from us, but we’re not sure yet what they want.”
The dark soul squirmed in his net and was about to say something, but was quickly dealt with by the guard, causing it to scream in pain.
Caden knew they wanted the sword back, but Tagen had a point. If he spoke up about it, they might take it. His sword needed to stay in hiding for now. “I think we need to find out how they’re getting through that barrier first,” he said, hoping they’d follow the direction in conversation.
“We can’t get him to talk to us.”
“I can get it out of him,” Tagen said with his hissing voice. People began to whisper around the table.
The General lifted a hand and everyone quieted. “If you think you can, then be my guest.”
Tagen walked towards the dark soul, which began to hiss and scream. He bent down by the net and the dark soul gave a nasty growl. With a quick movement, Tagen pushed his right hand through one of the holes in the net and dug his claws into the creatures black oily chest.
With his black teeth and claws, the dark soul tried to bite and scratch at him. A strange pulse, that could audibly be heard, jolted the dark soul and he calmed. Something began to glow around Tagen’s hand, a dark colored glow. It began to spread across the dark soul’s body like a network of veins. Uncontrollably the dark soul gave a halfhearted scream.
Tagen let go, and the dark soul fell to the floor, practically lifeless. “He doesn’t know how the barrier was broken,” Tagen said as he turned to face everyone. “He wasn’t there to see it.”
The General leaned over the table and looked Tagen over. The lines in his face grew as a concerned scowl came over him. “And how do you know that?”
“It’s complicated.” Tagen smiled and began to walk back to his seat.
Leaning back in his chair, the General scratched his chin. It was obvious the General had a new appreciation for Tagen, possibly trust. “Did you get anything else out of him? Anything that could help us?” the General’s tone was respectful towards Tagen.
“He used to be a guard on the back end of their city,” Tagen began, while flopping down in his chair. Caden was surprised by the way the dark soul was acting. There was a little bit of a bounce to him, like he was soaking up the attention. “On the back end of the city is a desolate sandy desert, where a wall stands that is barely guarded.”
The whispering began again, and the General stood and walked to a large map. Caden also got up and walked over to the map, next to the General.
“Are you having a change of mind? Are you ready to attack, while they aren’t expecting it,” Caden spoke up while looking at the map. The desert behind the city was massive, but had always been there. It was Solva Desert, home to nothing.
Letting out a sigh, the General turned and faced everyone. Silence filled the room.
“General, if I may?” James began and got a nod from the General. “With this attack, I agree that it might be time to listen to Caden and plan an attack.”
“Yes.” The General leaned on the back of his chair. “I think maybe we should try, but I won’t put all of our resources into it. I’ll let Caden and you put a team together of those that w
ant to go, but only enough to fill two jets.”
Caden jumped at what he said, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “We can’t pose any kind of threat without a full army. We’ll be slaughtered.”
“Then don’t go. James will set up the party without your help,” the General said softly. “I’m not going to change my decision. I can’t sacrifice everyone.”
Caden started to interject, but James spoke first, “Thanks, I’ll get right on it sir.” He stood as he spoke and looked out at everyone. “We’ll be heading to the jets and suiting up. If any of you or your men want to join us, please have them report immediately with their gear and ready to go. We’ll be setting a course to fly over the ocean and land in the Solva Desert, entering their base from there.” Without another word, he looked at Caden with a look that said ‘follow me’. Both Caden and Tagen followed.
Before James walked out the door, the General spoke one more time, “James, be safe and return home.”
“Will do, sir.”
Once they got into the hall, Caden spoke up, “What are you doing, James? We can’t do this even if we pull everyone together.”
“I told you I would support you on this plan. I think it’s a good idea,” James said as he kept walking.
Caden clenched his fists. “This isn’t my plan. We need more men for this kind of fight.”
“I have a plan,” James sounded bothered by Caden’s attitude. “Trust me, but for now, let’s get out of here. We can talk about it on the way. The General never gives permission for these types of missions, and I don’t want to stick around in case he changes his mind. We just need to get going.”
Knowing there was nothing else to say, Caden shut his mouth and followed along. James called his men to get their gear and meet in the hangar, pronto. And before Caden knew it, they had three teams loaded on to two jets. They were only supposed to hold one team each, but James packed them on.
The jets were fast, faster than what Caden was used to. The General must’ve made modifications to them. Once they were up in the air, James pulled Caden aside to review charts and photos of the enemy’s city. Caden was flabbergasted by how much information he had gathered.
James laid out a detailed plan of attack. His focus and objective was to get Hermue. The plan was actually good and well thought out. Caden began to speculate that James had it planned a long time ago but kept it to himself because of the General being so cautious. At one point while he talked about the plan, he even pointed out the different locations and what they were. Caden began to wonder if he had been used by James to get this mission put together and approved by the General.
While James rolled up the maps and charts, Caden looked around. They stood in a navigation room with screens and radars. One of the screens showed where they were and another showed a video of what was below them.
Caden knew where they were. His heart pounded as he stared at the screen. They were going over the house he had grown up in, his adopted parent’s house. All he could see in his mind was his father’s face and the pain he caused. If only he could be dropped off for a moment, he would love to start the home on fire and burn it away.
“Caden?” James spoke up after putting the last chart away. “You okay?”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” he cleared his throat and turned away from the screen, trying to shove his emotions away, but it was difficult. “Actually, does anyone live in the homes?”
James looked over at the screens. “No. After the war started, everyone that could, fled to other countries or joined Hermue or us. The rest were slaughtered or taken away by the dark souls. It’s vacant down there. However, farther south past our base, there are places that are still inhabited.”
Caden wasn’t really listening. There was no one down there, that’s all he needed to know. Anger came over him, fueling him with a strange energy. He could feel a rush flowing through his veins and pounding in his heart.
“Does this jet have a weapon system?” Caden smiled and looked back at the screen.
“Yes of course.”
“I want to drop a bomb on this location.” Caden grabbed markers that were on a white board and wrote down coordinates. “We’ll be passing over, or close to it, in a couple of minutes.”
“What…?” James looked confused. “What gain would that be for us? We need to keep our missiles for anything that might go wrong.”
“Please don’t question me, just do it.” Caden could feel the rage, and it felt strangely good. “We’re still a ways away from Hermue, so it wouldn’t impair our mission.” Both of them stared at each other in silence. “For old times’ sake.”
Rubbing his hands together, James kept looking from Caden to the screen. “Okay Caden, but at least tell me what we’re doing this for.”
“Don’t ask. It wouldn’t make sense.”
Running his hand over his mouth and chin, James gave Caden a stern look. He bit his lip and held a hand out, slowly laying it on Caden’s soldier. “No, Caden. I’m sorry…”
“James,” he pleaded, but with a tone that caused James to pull his hand back. “For old times’ sake.”
The humming of the monitors and the low rumbling of the engines was all that could be heard as James stared at Caden. He let out a deep breath. “Okay, Caden. For old times’ sake.” He walked towards the door. “Stay here, I don’t want this attributed to you.”
After James left, Caden sat down on the small table in the middle of the room and watched the screens. The plane began to shift to the left and Caden knew where they were headed. Tagen appeared on his left. “Strange request.”
“Stay out of it.” Caden didn’t even look at him; he kept his eyes on the screen that showed the video of what was below them.
“Can you feel it? Because I can smell it.” Tagen got a little closer and sniffed. There was an odd smile on his face.
“I don’t feel anything,” he snapped.
“The darkness in you has increased.” He gave a strange smile. “Your dark soul powers are flowing strong. Something has you heightened.”
Caden stopped talking. The plane was moments away from the house. His breathing grew faster along with the beating of his heart. Lines came on the screen with a target displayed on a house. Missiles entered the camera’s view, a quick explosion, and the house was gone. His right eye twitched and a slight shake grew in his hands. If only his adopted father had been in there, if only that awful man that called himself his father had been in there!
“What’s it like?” Caden asked, his tone more friendly.
“What?” Tagen asked.
“Going into shadow form?” He turned to look at the dark soul.
“Why would you ask me? You experienced it earlier today.”
Caden didn’t say a word. He just lowered his head and gave him a stern look.
Tagen shrugged. “It’s no different than being out of shadow form, except people can’t see you and you can go through things.”
“What about everything losing color and things slowing down around you?”
“When shadowing?” Tagen tilted his head and lowered an eyebrow. “Was that what it was like for you?”
Before Caden could answer, James walked back into the room. “We should be there in about another hour, so you might as well take a seat.” His tone was a little distant and calloused. He didn’t pay attention to Tagen, but normally didn’t anyway. Without another word, James turned and held out a hand for them to leave.
They both walked out, and James closed the door after they left. Caden wanted to say thanks, but he figured he better leave things alone.
The rest of the trip went by quickly, and everyone left Caden and his dark soul companion alone. He wasn’t a dark soul, but most treated him like one with his dark soul characteristics.
A click could be heard as the missiles launched. James’s plan had begun. He was going to blow out the outer wall in two different places, make it look like a fly-by bombing. After the bombing, they would find a go
od location to land where they wouldn’t be seen, move in on foot, and watch the dust settle. Once things cooled down, they would get past the outer wall and move into the city. The outer wall was built much farther out from the actual city.
An explosion was heard which silenced everyone. It wouldn’t be much longer before they would land, another click, followed by another explosion. Caden wasn’t looking forward to the hike through the evening desert.
CHAPTER 24
Bridget slowly opened her eyes to fresh, cool, crisp air and the sound of chirping birds. She could hear footsteps as well as the crackling of fire. Her vision was cloudy and her mind foggy. She couldn’t remember where she was. Closing her eyes again, she heard a voice, but it was in a language she couldn’t understand.
“Merz…Raestal.” She quickly sat up and looked around. A sharp pain shot through her stomach. She was on a bed made of blankets and furs; another bed a little ways from her was empty. Looking around, she noticed she was in a small hut made of wood. The floor was intertwined sticks that had been smoothed out, and the roof was made out of large plant husks that were taller than her.
Everything that had happened began to come back to her. She looked down and felt where she had been stabbed. It was still very sore, but the wound was healing.
More voices could be heard. Without Raestal there, she began to worry.
A large figure pushed open the large cloth that hung over the entrance to the hut. Bridget could feel her muscles tighten until she recognized it was Raestal, and then she let out a huge sigh. “Where are we?”
He didn’t answer at first, instead he made his way to her, carrying a bowl of something that smelled good.
“We’re with the demons,” Raestal said as he handed the bowl to her. “Eat up, you’ll need the strength.”
“Are we prisoners?” she whispered. Inside the bowl, there was an assortment of small round blue fruits, meat, and what she assumed were reddish eggs.