by Jason Wilcox
One of the younglings dove at Caden’s side. He didn’t see it until it was just about too late. That was the problem with the glasses, they had blind spots. Trying not to trip while running, Caden brought his gun up, but Tagen took care of it.
From out of nowhere, Tagen snagged the youngling in mid-air. He sliced into the creature, but Caden wasn’t able to watch. More dark souls were moving on top of them quickly. A dark soul screamed and hit Tagen from behind. Another came at Caden, but he smashed him in the face with the butt of the gun.
Dark souls were everywhere. Two more jumped at him. He nailed the first with a shot to the chest, but the second one clipped him, causing him to fall. A bullet hit the creature, knocking it to the ground. Caden looked in the direction where the help had come from.
It had been James. Caden realized they were in bigger trouble. Dark souls had cut them off. There must’ve been another entrance to the cave. The creatures were everywhere and the battle was ensuing. James was in trouble himself.
Caden quickly jumped up, but more younglings were there, including the one that just got shot, ready to attack. “TAGEN!” Caden yelled, hoping he was close by. He let multiple bullets fly as he ran backwards.
Through the number of younglings, he spotted Tagen. Dark souls had surrounded him. He fought with incredible skill, killing them left and right, which caused the creatures to back up. “TAGEN!” Caden yelled again, needing help. Somehow, a dark soul got behind Caden, and hit him from the back. As he went down, he saw Tagen act oddly. A blank look came over his face and he slowly sat down, closing his eyes. Dark souls blocked his view, and he couldn’t see what happened after that.
Knowing he had to stay focused, Caden pulled a knife before he hit the ground and slammed it into the dark soul’s side. The creature screamed in pain.
CHAPTER 26
Younglings were swarming the soldiers as they retreated across the rock-ridden land. Tagen stayed behind Mauldrin, who wasn’t moving fast enough. A youngling dove at him, and Tagen slammed into the creature, stopping the dark soul. There were so many of them coming, and fast, that Tagen decided to only hurt the dark souls enough to slow them down. There was no time to kill; there were already dark souls on Mauldrin.
Another dark soul hit from the back, knocking him to the ground. Tagen grabbed the dark soul from over his shoulder and threw him. By the time he got up, dark souls were all around him.
“TAGEN!”
A number of dark souls charged right then. It was time to make an example of the creatures so the others would back off. Tagen slashed at them and bit some of the others. He needed to kill one, it might deter them.
A larger, older youngling came at him. Tagen bit into the creature’s neck, and dug claws into its chest. It only took a second before the youngling was limp in his hands. He took another bite and chewed, showing his aggression. The other dark souls stayed back, screaming at him.
“TAGEN!” Mauldrin yelled again.
Tagen could see him through the dark souls. He wasn’t in a good position. He had to get to him and quickly, saving his friend was necessary. As the thought entered his mind, a strange feeling overcame him, running through his muscles and mind. He became weak and everything began to spin. A white light grew in his vision, and he sat, unable to stand any longer. Closing his eyes, a strange darkness seeped into him and everything around him disappeared only to have a new chaos develop.
“Captain Blayth!” A man completely suited in metal armor, yelled and threw a sword at him. The man had one knee on the ground and looked wounded.
Tagen was once again in a human body that he couldn’t control. In front of him was a very large red demon, one of the biggest he had ever seen. He had no tattoos or markings like the demons Tagen was familiar with.
A large axe flew at him, aimed for his head. Tagen’s instincts kicked in, and he tried to duck, but the human that he was in, had slower reactions and he barely made it.
As he ducked, he saw a sword on the ground broken into a number of pieces. It must’ve been his sword, the reason he needed another thrown to him. Not being in control, Tagen felt his arm push forward and cut the demon’s leg. With the speed and strength of a demon, his opponent took off into the air, wings flapping.
Once the demon was in the air, Tagen got a good look at his surroundings. Men and demons fought on a battlefield, most wounded or dead. By the looks of the trees that towered over them, Tagen believed they were on his old planet, Triaad’s home.
The man that Tagen resided in began to run forward with great speed for a human. It was an odd move, and Tagen wasn’t sure why he would start running like that, especially when a demon was in the air.
He dove, and rolled once, coming to his knees, his sword in the air. A loud clang rang out and he could feel a blow hit the sword that shook his whole body. The man had known the demon's next step, and Tagen was impressed. It’s rare to meet anyone that can fight demons, especially a human.
“Cut him down Blayth.” The man from before was now leaning against a tree, and didn’t appear to help the situation, only make it worse.
A huge kick from behind knocked him to the ground. With great dexterity, he took the blow and did an odd flip only to slice backwards as he came to his feet. Another clang rang out as his sword connected with the axe. The demon was right on top of him, giving him no room to get in a good fighting position.
The axe blade swung past his face, missing by centimeters. Tagen could feel the air from the blade as it swung by. The man caught the demon by the wrist, but his strength wasn’t enough, and the man was thrown backwards.
Another, smaller, demon ran at him with a sword and tried to stab him. But Blayth bent backwards, and ran his sword through the demon’s throat. Tagen was in shock that the human could fight so well. Normally humans lose because demons are too powerful.
Whoever Blayth was, he wasn’t to be messed with. The larger demon attacked him again. The large axe barely clipped the armor on his back as he dove to the left.
The demon growled at him and dove into the air. A shadow could be seen on the ground from above. Blayth, once again, sprinted forward, running straight at a tree, but at the last second, he diverted his course and ran behind it. Almost falling from loose leaves on the ground, he gripped a branch of the tree and swung around with great momentum.
Surprisingly, Blayth flipped on top of the branch, going over the top of the demon. With his sword in hand, he jumped down and cut one of the demon’s wings off. Tagen was impressed. The demon screamed in pain and carelessly swung his axe, which slammed into the tree.
Using the moment to his advantage, Blayth sliced his sword through the axe handle. The demon, in response, smacked him in the face knocking him to the ground. Fortunately, he held on to his sword.
The demon followed up his attack by diving on Blayth, slashing his claws across his face. Even though Tagen couldn’t control what was happening, he still felt the pain. Again, the demon came at him with claws, but Blayth pulled a small knife from somewhere and stabbed it into the creature’s arm.
With his large hands, the demon pulled the knife and tried to stab Blayth in the chest. The knife sparked as it hit metal armor, smashing the armor into his chest. The armor protected him, but Tagen could feel pressure from where the knife hit. He wanted to take over the fight. The situation was stressful. The human was moving too slowly and making too many mistakes. He fought to take over, but it was no use.
Again, the demon tried to stab him, but this time Blayth brought his sword up and cut a couple of the demon’s fingers off, making him drop the knife. Again, the monstrous demon screamed in pain. Blayth kneed him in the back while stabbing his sword into the creature’s shoulder.
The demon’s black eyes appeared to grow darker as he grabbed Blayth by the head and tried to bite his face. Moving quickly, he nailed the demon in the face with an elbow and pulled the sword out. He brought it around and put it against the demon’s neck, causing the demon to pause.
The man that threw the sword to Blayth, pushed himself over and picked up another sword. He held it at the backside of the demon’s neck while Blayth was speaking. Others gathered around. Some had arrows pointed at Hermue, and others had swords.
With a growl, the demon spoke, “Hermue go.” As he spoke, he put his hands where they could be seen and started to stand. Blayth followed him up, with his sword right at his throat.
“What others are left?” Blayth asked the other warrior without taking his eyes off the demon.
“We don’t know, sir,” the man said, with a weakened voice. “I did my best to gather who I could to help you with Hermue.”
The demon snorted as his name was spoken. Blood trickled down his side and dripped off his hand.
“Any of you have shackles?” Blayth asked. A yes came from behind. “After Hermue is shackled, get him bandaged up. We don’t want him to die while we transport him.”
“Azgiel will be pleased that you have captured Hermue,” said the warrior that held the sword to Hermue’s neck. “If you don’t mind me saying Captain, I do believe you’ll be known for ending the demon war and stopping Hermue’s rebellion.”
Tagen was in shock. The demon war was long, long ago, before he was ever created. So all of his visions with this man Blayth, were from back then, and were glimpses into his life.
Voices began to mute and senses dulled as the vision disappeared.
A dark soul screamed in Tagen’s face as he came to. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, but from the pain that shot through his body, and the dark souls that were all over him, he wished he hadn’t come back. They were biting into him and tearing his flesh. He tried to move, but there was so much pain. From the feel of it, even though he couldn’t see, he worried some of his limbs could be gone. There was loud noise in the distance. Yelling, and what sounded like engines and dark souls screaming, filled his ears.
The dark soul in his face screamed at him again and opened his mouth readying to bite him in the throat. Knowing there wasn’t much he could do about it, Tagen closed his eyes and succumbed to the inevitable.
Something made a high-pitched noise, which quickly changed to a low tone and shook the ground. The intense sound stopped the dark souls from their attack and they began screaming. Tagen was still trying to come to his senses but found it more difficult with the noise. It made his brain feel as if it weren’t able to hold a thought. The vibrations were immediately followed by an odd electrical sensation in the ground, and then a blast hit. All of them went flying, and the last thing Tagen remembered seeing was the blue glow from the blast. His body was smashed across the ground, landing against a large boulder, and then he was out.
CHAPTER 27
Caden couldn’t understand why Tagen sat down and closed his eyes, but he didn’t have time to ponder it. After the dark soul jumped him, he stabbed the creature in the side, and another youngling grabbed his arm and bit into it.
More dark souls joined the fray. Even with his fighting, he wasn’t able to stop them, there were just too many. He used every free limb to hit and kick the dark souls that charged. His blows had little to no effect. The whole situation was becoming frustrating. Pounding from his heart began to fill his mind, and he could feel the intense beating and pumping in his veins.
Another dark soul screamed in his face. Moving quicker than the creature, Caden used his free hand to grab him by the neck. The dark soul seemed stunned by Caden’s movements and sat there for a moment in his clutches. Caden didn’t know what his next step should be; he just wanted it dead.
Before the dark soul or Caden had a chance to move, a low humming was heard and felt in the ground. Both of them looked in that direction. In shock, Caden let go of the dark soul. There were three large vehicles hovering off the ground. They were solid black with no labels. Their lights illuminated the area as night approached. From where he was standing, Caden thought they looked like a spacecraft.
A high-pitched tone rang out causing everyone, including the dark souls, to cover their ears. Everyone stopped fighting in response to the terrible noise. The second it silenced, a very low pitch noise followed, shaking the ground and sending dark souls into what seemed like neurological shock. All of them were on the ground screaming, covering the small holes where their ears would be.
Platforms came down off the crafts and robots, along with humans in robotic armor, came out. One person from each ship carried a large metal cylinder about five feet long. Caden shifted his weight, keeping careful watch of every movement of those around him.
With dark souls flapping around and screaming, it gave the strange metallic men time to put the large cylinder on a small stand. A flap was opened and within seconds the cylinder, which Caden realized was a gun, shot out basketball sized spheres that glowed blue. Bolts of electricity zapped through the balls of light, striking the ground and flashing into the sky.
As the bullets of blue light struck the ground, a blue blast knocked everyone back, followed by an electrical current that moved across the dark souls but not the humans. It quickly passed by leaving dark souls lifeless on the ground.
An awful smell rose into the air, and Caden covered his nose while getting to his feet. The dark souls appeared to be dead and the troops alive, unharmed by the strange explosions.
“Caden?” James yelled. “Are you okay?”
He turned to look at James where soldiers were gathering. Almost all of them had guns in hand as they stared at the robotic humans who were taking down the five-foot guns. The low toned noise stopped.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Have you seen Tagen?” he asked as he looked in all directions.
James made his way to Caden. “No, I haven’t.” As he approached Caden, he touched his arm. “Are you sure you’re okay?” his concerned tone caught Caden off guard.
“Yes, why?”
“Your skin, it’s smoking.”
Caden looked down at himself. It was true. His skin, even though it looked unharmed, had smoke or steam coming off it. “I’m not sure what that is, but I feel fine.” He looked in the direction where he had last seen Tagen. There was a large pile of dark souls. “Help me find Tagen.”
“I’m not sure he made it.” James gripped Caden’s arm firmly. “I think we need to focus on matters at hand right now. We don’t know who or what those humanoids are or if they are friendly.”
“You figure that out. I’m looking for Tagen.” Caden pulled his arm out of James’s grip. “I’m assuming they’re good by the looks of things.” With that, he pushed past James and headed for the pile of dark souls.
The pile of dark souls smelled horrible as he began pulling bodies off. After lifting two of them, a youngling dove out of the pile and attacked him, diving claws into his chest. Caden hadn’t expected the attack and was knocked to the ground. Pain drove through his heart and lungs as blackness pushed to take over his vision. Knowing he needed to act quickly, Caden, using all the strength he could muster, hit the youngling in the side of the head, knocking it off him.
The black, oily dark soul screamed. Part of the youngling’s face appeared to be burned. With a leap, the creature came back for another attack. Before it reached Caden, a shot rang out and the creature was sliced in half. The terrible smelling black blood sprayed Caden.
Caden turned to look. One of the strange humans, who had shot the dark soul, lowered his gun. He gave a nod, which Caden respectfully returned. He noticed James wave at him to come over. It would have to wait until he found Tagen. After wiping blood off his face, he got back to digging in the pile again.
After pulling numerous bodies off, Caden finally found Tagen at the bottom of the mound. He was chewed up badly, and Caden saw why Tagen hadn’t come to his rescue. Looking closer, he noticed Tagen h
ad no burns, the blast hadn’t reached him. The dark souls that had been piled on top protected him like a shield. He took hold of Tagen and picked him up. Tagen was still alive, barely breathing.
“Caden,” James called out. Caden ignored the call. It didn’t sound urgent, and he was busy at the moment. “Caden,” James drew closer as he spoke. “I don’t know where you met these creatures…”
“What are you doing, Mauldrin?!” a deep voice cut James off, a voice that Caden recognized, “Put that filth down.”
Spinning around, Caden found himself face to face with the white dragon. The same one he had seen with Domblin the night of Bridget’s death. So Caden assumed he must’ve been part of the plan to kill Bridget. James stood to the right of the creature, as if he were some kind of a tourist guide.
Moving cautiously and slowly, Caden lowered Tagen to the ground, never taking his eyes off the dragon. James stood quietly, seeming unalarmed at the beast next to him.
“Good,” the dragon said. Caden could feel his blood pumping and his breathing growing faster. Revenge was at hand. “What happened to you?” as the dragon spoke, he turned to look back at someone shouting behind him. Caden took the opportunity.
Caden’s fist connected hard against the dragon’s face, causing him to make an odd humming growl. He dove at the creature, wrapping his arms around the dragon’s neck, and squeezed as tightly as he could.
The dragon opened his wings and flapped backwards. He hopped up and came slamming down with his front feet, almost knocking Caden off.
“You’ll pay for what you did to Bridget,” Caden snapped. His rage increased his strength and he squeezed harder. “I’ll kill you and Domblin for what you’ve done.”
Throwing himself forward, the dragon slammed Caden against the ground. Dirt and rocks cut into Caden’s skin, but he wouldn’t let go. An unfamiliar, almost uncontrollable anger ran through him. The dragon let out another humming roar.