“Security teams to battle stations,” a voice crackled over a speaker. “We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack. This is not a drill. Potentially, multiple hostiles.”
He could hear people running down the hall, shouting various orders, and the knight stood there, just listening. He focused on his surroundings, feeling the air and heat around him for several moments.
Then, he air-burned, aiming for several stories below…
…Concrete and steel fell around him as he thundered into existence. He looked around, and about ten yards to his right was a squad of High-Born who began turning on him. Suddenly, everything around him shook, and both he and the enemy squad facing him stumbled. They opened up with their rail guns and spikes ricocheted all around. He found his footing before they did and he air-burned towards them.
He appeared in the center of them, and two of them half-disintegrated, apparently caught in the wake of his air-burn. He swung his flaming sword to the right and left, and two more fell, armor and flesh shredded. He spun, stabbing one and kicking the other in the chest. As the one he stabbed fell, the other one flew backwards and crashed into a wall. Before he could slide to the ground, The Blazing Knight appeared in front of him, sword already slamming through his chest armor.
The knight yanked his blade out of the lifeless High-Born, and he fell to his knees, and then crumpled to the ground. He heard something coming from his enemies’ helmets and focused on it.
“All units,” a voice said. “We have a confirmed location on the hostile. Western end of the building, Level Five.”
The knight looked at the door down the hall, and it read: Basement Level 1. He squatted and listened intently. He could hear rail gun reports coming from their helmets as well as muffled reports from above him.
“The spikes are just bouncing off of it!” echoed through the headpiece.
“Arrrghhh!”
“Pull back, pull ba—,”
He felt the building slightly rumble, and a loud pop came from the helmets of the dead squad at his feet.
“Gunships, provide air support,” a voice said. “Take the shot if it presents itself.”
He heard more gunfire and screams.
“All units, interlink shows that a squad is down on Basement Level 1, eastern end of the building. Multiple attackers confirmed. I repeat, multiple attackers confirmed. All basement level squads, eyes sharp. I’ve pulled the feed from the downed squad. The second hostile appears to be a mech of some sort. Orange eyes. Dark metallic coverings. Its weapon appears to be... an energy lance of some kind. Proceed with extreme caution and utilize superior position. Its speed is incredible.”
The knight smiled beneath his helmet as he walked toward the metallic door. It didn’t slide open when he walked up to it, and he noticed that the grid next to it had turned red.
“Basement Level Security teams,” the voice from the helmets said. “Second hostile is in section ten, basement level one.”
The knight felt the building shake again, and dust roused from the walls and the ceiling around him. The pops of rail guns and the screams of dying High-Born sounded from above him. He looked around and after a few moments he found what looked like a camera. He raised his hand and a jet of flame melted it.
“All units, the mech also appears to be equipped with a plasma thrower. Extreme temperature capabilities,” the voice from the helmets said. “I have lost visual.”
The knight focused on the air several feet below him and air-burned towards it. He appeared in mid-air, and he felt himself falling, and he saw that he was about fifteen feet above a concrete floor. He quickly air-burned again and landed on the ground with a light clang. He hurriedly looked all around him.
He was in the center of a very a large room. There was all manner of machinery scattered throughout it. Gunships, tanks, and even some sort of hydrogen-powered vehicles littered the hangar. Most of the equipment had missing parts and panels with exposed wires visible. His ears picked up something ill defined, but he knew it was the prelude to a High-Born attack. He air-burned to his left and watched as rail spikes splintered and churned up chunks of concrete where he had just been standing.
He focused on the air just above his armor and poured heat into it and flames covered him. He had enough time to realize that the shots were coming from two booths at opposite ends of the room. The knight thundered towards one of them.
Glass shattered and steel bent around the High-Born guards as the fiery creature appeared in the midst of them. It moved with deadly precision, and raw strength as its sword slashed armor and bone. Back and forth, the knight swung his blade amid the group of falling and shouting High-Born soldiers, and in but a few moments, none were alive. Before the last one had crumpled to the ground, he thundered from sight.
The air rippled and wavered as he blasted into the other guard booth. The High-Born giants fell one after the other before the smaller, but infinitely more furious thing assailing them. Their weaponry was of little use to them in the close-quarters combat. Their enhanced muscles failed them when they tried to kick it away, and their skin sizzled in the immense heat that the knight brought with him. As the fray ended, the knight looked around and saw that eight more High-Born had fallen.
He knelt down, and focused on their helmets.
He could not hear anything for several moments, but he could feel ever so slight rumblings from above him. Had it not been for his enhanced hearing, he wouldn’t have been able to detect the muffled sounds of gunfire above him, but it was faintly noticeable.
“All units,” a voice different from the one before called. “Primary Command and Control is inoperative. This is Colonel Foxx. I am assuming command. All remaining units, rally to Basement Level Three. Reinforcements will be here within the hour.”
The Blazing Knight stood up and looked out of the glass at the wall.
Basement Level 2: Retrofit and Repair.
He walked out into the hallway, and looked at the wall to his right. It looked like a massive door and he assumed that there was an elevator that went to the outside through which they brought in more equipment. He heard something to his left.
He looked back down the hallway, sword raised to his shoulder. He could see a double door and above it was two arrows. One pointed up and the other pointed down. The down arrow was green. Suddenly, both doors were blown from their resting place and rocketed down the hall, bouncing and skittering off the walls as billowing smoked raced down the hall.
A High-Born soldier in full battle armor soared through the air. The knight noticed that something else had thrown him because he was limp as he hit the ground and bounced. The smoke swirled and black blur zoomed out of it, and he barely recognized that it was a person running towards him with a speed greater than a High-Born.
He took it in so quickly that it was almost confusing. Whoever he was, he was wearing a tinted helmet that resembled a High-Born visor, and he had some sort of makeshift armor covering his chest and legs, and a long sleeve shirt with metallic gloves. The knight barely had time to sidestep him, and he felt a tremendous wind whip by as the newcomer ran by him.
The strange warrior spun and reached out with his right hand and made a motion toward the knight. One of the vehicles leapt off the ground and smacked the The Blazing Knight with such force that he was driven backwards, but he air-burned through the vehicle back towards the mysterious fighter.
The knight emerged from the air, swinging his flaming blade.
Sparks flew and thunder boomed as the sword struck the blocking arm of the black-clad warrior, and he staggered backwards as fire flashed over him, but he was unharmed. Then, he gathered himself and launched a furious series of punches and kicks at the fiery thing in front of him. The knight stepped back, using his armor and sword to parry the assault. As the blows struck his sword, he expected pieces of the warrior to be falling to the ground, but that did not happen. Instead, he could see that his sword was stopping a little more than an inch above his sle
eves, and his fire was just wrapping harmlessly around an unseen barrier that gave it a visible shape.
The knight air-burned far across the room to give himself some time to think, but the fighter in black spun his helmeted head, and found the knight almost immediately. With a shout, he brought both hands together, and the knight saw two vehicles skipping and bouncing through the air towards him. Just before the two massive pieces of machinery sandwiched him, he air-burned back towards the warrior, and appeared in front of him, furiously swinging his sword. He slashed and battered with all of his might, adding his fire to his muscles and increased the heat around his blade.
The black-clad fighter grunted as he focused on stopping the flaming sword. The knight spun and twisted, his sword tracing a flaming arc as it rapidly struck the warrior’s blocking arms. He attacked high and low, and he managed to push the fighter backwards. His flames were beginning to have an effect on the strange shield that covered him, and the warrior seemed to falter, but a massive burst of wind came from nowhere and lifted him off the ground. Both of his feet struck the knight’s chin, and the fiery knight went tumbling head over heels through the air as the fighter in black nimbly landed on his feet.
The knight caught his balance in mid-air and somehow managed to right himself, and landed sloppily on his feet, lurching to finally catch his balance. The warrior in black was swatting at a fire that was burning his sleeves. Before he could fully recover, the knight air-burned towards him and leveled a blow with all of his strength to the helmet of the warrior. A bright light flashed and a loud pop bounced off the walls as the sword jarred the knight’s entire body, and he himself staggered backwards. The warrior in black stumbled away from him and was forced to catch his balance with his hands.
As he quickly spun, pivoting on his right palm, he turned his head back towards the knight. Part of his helmet fell, revealing the left side of his face, a strip of whitish-blonde hair, and a piercing blue eye. The warrior grabbed the remnants of his helmet, and tore it off. But the warrior was not a he.
He was a she.
And she let out a feral shriek as she zipped towards the knight with her fist pulled back and her nearly-white hair trailing beautifully behind her. In the split-second it took for her to cover the distance, the knight noticed that her feet were not even touching the ground, and that she was not running.
The wind itself was carrying her.
A thunderous crack cascaded and a blast of air shook the equipment around them as she leveled a ferocious punch to the knight’s chest that sent him flying. He sailed through the air and crashed into part of a gunship, creating a deep hole in it. Metal bent, ripped, and clanged as the knight shouted and furiously thrashed his way out of the wreckage, and he glared at the girl. A white light momentarily flashed in her eyes and tears of rage streamed down her face.
“Where Are My Brothers And Sisters?” she screamed.
She reached out towards the knight and closed her hands. The young woman raised her clenched fists and the knight struggled against an invisible power that lifted him off the ground. He could feel incredible pressure, and it would soon crush him. He thundered out of existence, and she stumbled forward.
“We’re on the same side!” the knight shouted from across the room.
She bristled and reached out with her hands again, but he disappeared before she could seize him.
“We’re on the same side!” he shouted again from the opposite side of the room and doused his flames.
She flicked her hand and a smaller vehicle jumped towards him, but he vanished again.
He reappeared about twenty feet in front of her with his hands up, and as the vehicle bounced across the floor behind him, he dropped his sword.
“They took my family too,” he calmly said and took off his helmet.
The girl raised her hand, but stopped before she closed it into a fist. Then, she regarded Harold. Then, she looked around, almost paying him no attention.
“You’re the one who crashed the gunship into the side of the building, aren’t you?” she finally asked.
“Yes,” Harold smiled. “I am.”
“That was a good start,” she replied as she seemed to relax.
“I thought so,” Harold looked at her, and despite the seriousness of the situation, he was absolutely taken aback by her beauty.
“Do you know where they are?” she asked.
“Yes,” Harold said as he put on his helmet. “They’re on the level below us, and I was heading there,” he said as he retrieved his sword. “Would you like to join me?”
“Do you have any more tricks?” she smiled.
“Oh, yeah,” he smiled. “I’ve just gotten warmed up.”
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Harold,” he replied. “The Blazing Knight.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” she raised her eyebrows. “The Blazing Knight?”
“It’s a good name,” he said.
“Well,” she half-smiled. “I was beginning to think that you were a hottie, but you’ve completely ruined it now.”
“I’m plenty hot, girl,” he replied with a wry grin. “Now tell me your name so we can get on with this.”
“I’m Aireon,” she held her head back proudly. “But my real name is Gabrielle Ella-Victoria Clark, but my friends just call me Gabby.”
Harold raised his eyebrows and half-laughed, “How many names do you have?”
She smirked at him, “Just call me Aireon.”
“Fair enough, Aireon,” Harold said. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from the community of Marksville,” she replied. “We’ll have time to talk later, hottie. You go in first and distract them. I’ll blow the doors after you begin your attack.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” he smiled. “Are you ready to get the kids back?”
“It’s why we’re here,” she smiled.
Then, she turned and walked towards the elevator, and Harold fell in behind her.
Chapter 27
A blonde little boy with a black and swollen left eye stood up in his dirty overalls. He walked to the bars of his cell and grabbed them. He pushed the injured side of his face against the bars so that he could get a better view of the commotion at the guard station. He watched as High-Born soldiers ran back forth, taking up positions at various corners, and behind large objects.
He looked across the hall of cells and saw a little girl in a pair of dirty overalls holding an even younger girl with a torn scarlet-colored dress. The older of the two little girls was sitting with her back to the wall while trying to comfort the little girl in the scarlet dress. The smallest little girl was resting her head on the other girl’s shoulder and was sucking her thumb. Her crying had now become a slight whimper, but the older girl patted her back in a motherly fashion like she used to pat her own little ragdoll.
The little boy could see other little boys on his side of the hall doing as he was and many of them were looking out into the large area. On the opposite side of the hall were the girls, and some of them were even beginning to look down into the hall. For the past several minutes they had heard the noise of battle above them, but at the moment, everything was surprisingly quiet.
The blonde little boy turned to the other boys in his cell. Some were white, some were black, and some were from a race of people he had never seen. He looked at them, and could see that they all had marks and scrapes similar to his, but they were all sitting down. A bright smile came over the little boy’s face.
“This is just like when the Golden Samurai and the Emerald Knight busted into the dragon’s lair.”
The other boys looked at him attentively.
“They couldn’t nothin’ stop ‘em. That’s ‘cause they knew fire magic. And they fought fire with fire, and that dirty dragon roared, and fought, but the evil dragon couldn’t do nothin’ to ‘em. And all that racket that you been hearin’.”
The blonde boy motioned up and around them.
“That’s my friend, and he’s in my secret club. We stick together. And he’s comin’ for me, and his little cousins. And if the Golden Samurai and the Emerald Knight and Tiger-Man and Wolf-Man all teamed up, they couldn’t stop him ‘cause he’s Sir Harold, The Fiery Fire-Man!”
An explosion sounded outside and gunfire opened up, and the little boy grabbed the bars of his cell and shouted. Strangely, his voice seemed to be louder than the mayhem that had just broken loose in the large area down the hall from him.
“That’s ‘cause he’s a knight! Y’all hear me, y’all bunch of dirty snakes! Y’all can’t do nothin’ to stop him!”
The clanging of metal on metal and the roar of fire could be heard amidst the shouting of the High-Born soldiers. A cacophony of gunfire echoed as one of the other little boys stood up and looked at the blonde boy.
“That’s ‘cause he swore to be loyal to the powers of good! That’s ‘cause he don’t shy away from the forces of evil whenever and wherever they assail him!”
A strange wind began howling and the building rumbled around them. More explosions mixed with the gunfire, and the shouting of the High-Born had become wails of terror.
Another little boy stood up in the cell.
“That’s ‘cause he pleads the plight of orphans, widows, and the poor! That’s ‘cause he feeds the hungry, and ‘cause he defends the helpless and innocent from the powers of tyranny!”
Runnels of wind ran down the hallway and a series of lights flickered across the little boy’s face as fiery explosions came from the open area, and dust fell from around his cell.
As more gunfire erupted, two more boys stood up.
“That’s ‘cause he defends the honor of his lady and his family!”
The screams of the High-Born were now louder than the gunfire.
The little boy was just grinning fiercely as a group of High-Born ran into the hallway and stopped in front of his cell. The soldiers pointed their guns at several of the cells, training them on many of the children.
Blaze (The High-Born Epic) Page 20