by Kira Wilson
David relaxed his grip, and called over his shoulder. "Clyde, you okay?"
Analara helped Clyde back to his feet. He rubbed his throat and avoided looking at Thomas. "I'll live," he replied stiffly.
"Good. We're going to need everything we've got in order to destroy the gateway."
"That's the plan?" Lucas asked.
"It's the only way to truly end the threat to Phoenix."
Thomas waited, but Analara said nothing. Her face was set in a mask of determination.
Clyde tapped a sequence of commands on his computer, and Thomas felt a surge of strength flow through him. "With the weakened protocols in the system, I've amped us all up as much as possible. We're as powerful as we're gonna get."
David nodded. "Let's hope it's enough. Time to go." He turned and headed for the staircase, and one by one the rest of the group fell into step behind him. Thomas brought up the rear, and his blood raced in anticipation of the coming battle. The aliens would pay. He would have vengeance for all that had been taken from him.
They arrived in the mirror chamber, and David reactivated the portal. Thomas didn't wait for an order to be given; he charged through first.
***
Analara passed through the gateway with one thought on her mind: find a defensible position with a view of the battlefield. She dashed along the wall and ducked into the entry corridor, fitting an arrow to her bow. Thomas's enraged cries rang throughout the chamber, followed by screams of pain as Siathrak warriors fell before his onslaught. Her heart shook with fear, but she forced herself to focus and draw the arrow back.
Totarakh was clearly visible at the far end of the chamber. Five elite warriors protected him, their karta swords drawn and ready to face anything that threatened the High Priest. The evil aura around their blades indicated that Totarakh was channeling power through them. Totarakh himself poured streams of energy into a gaping tear in the far wall.
Stay focused! The others need help.
Lucas, now wearing the form of a female warrior, fought a group of soldiers, but one slipped behind him and raised his spear to strike. Analara loosed her arrow, and it pierced through his shoulder. Lucas turned and slashed the warrior with his sword. "Thanks, Annie," he called out, turning back to the fight.
Analara surveyed the scene, searching for a new target as she reached for another arrow. David had changed from his plated armor into heavy robes, and was surrounded by a ring of Siathrak. She felt her heart leap in alarm. Before she could fire, he raised a staff above his head, and glittering blue light engulfed him. The air chilled, and a ring of icy blades thrust up from the ground around him, impaling several soldiers and hurling the rest backward.
Satisfied that David could take care of himself, Analara drew and fired into a cluster of warriors surrounding Clyde. One fell, and she drew again. Clyde hefted something upon his shoulder, and a trail of smoke shot out in front of him. A great blossom of flame roared up, and Analara covered her ears against the awful sound.
=Geez man, watch where you point that thing!=
=Relax, sweet cheeks, I was aiming for the gateway.=
Analara shook her head, trying to clear the strange pressure of the voices in her mind.
Don't fight it. Open yourself to it.
Analara relaxed. It was almost like the voices of nature back home.
=Hello?= she sent.
=Analara?= David's thought filled her mind, reflecting his surprise.
=How am I doing this?=
=Cut the chatter, folks,= Clyde sent. =Harris, we've got a problem. The bio-virus won't even scratch the gateway. We have to clear the room and get everyone on this thing if we want to have even the slightest chance of shutting it down.=
Searching for a new target, Analara spotted trouble. Thomas had carved his way through the main group and was advancing on the elite guards near Totarakh. They attacked with trained precision, quickly surrounding him. His heavy sword struck and wounded one, but the remaining four launched a furious assault before he had a chance to recover. Their strikes rang out as blade met armor, and Thomas staggered.
Analara took the shot. She launched another arrow as the first buried itself in a guard's chest. The following shots were aimed lower, striking ribs and legs. Thomas cleared his head and engaged the two standing defenders. They fell quickly to his sword. Analara aimed for Totarakh's throat and fired.
His hand lashed out and melted the arrow just before it struck; his laughter filled the chamber. "Foolish infidels," he growled with primal fury. "Did you truly believe you could oppose the will of a God?"
Thomas raised his sword to deliver a fatal blow. Totarakh spun around, and a spear of green energy tore into Thomas's chest. With a cry of pain, the knight stumbled, clutching at his breastplate.
With a shout, Lucas charged across the room, knocking Thomas to the floor. A sizzling bolt flew through the air just above them. Totarakh cackled madly and began to throw bolts of energy randomly around the room. The explosions gave the chamber a sickly illumination.
Analara's heart pounded with dread, but a thought echoed inside her. =Everyone, fall back,= she sent, and dashed into the open. =Fall back to me!=
David reached her first and sent flames leaping at a pair of soldiers trying to cut Lucas and Thomas off. "What's wrong?" he shouted.
Analara shook her head; she didn't have time to explain. "Stay close to me."
Lucas collapsed at her feet under Thomas's weight. The fallen knight's face dripped with sweat, and he seemed to be on the verge of passing out. One of Totarakh's bolts detonated over their heads.
Clyde was standing still, an expression of frustration on his face. =Shit. We've got incoming, people.=
A fresh wave of Siathrak warriors came streaming through the gateway, forming tight ranks a dozen yards away.
"Clyde, run," Analara shouted. She dropped to her knees, and her mind emptied of thought. She felt the calm beating of her heart, and something within her surged. White light pooled in her palm, bathing the group with a soft glow. Clyde fired another blast at the newly arrived soldiers and dashed to her side.
"Your lives are mine," Totarakh roared and launched a bolt of flickering energy straight at them.
Analara jumped to her feet and raised her hands above her head. A dome of blazing light flowed down around them. The bolt struck the barrier and fragmented. She reeled from the impact. The shield held, but she didn't know how long it would last. Totarakh's laughter echoed all around them.
Chapter 27
Clyde slowly uncovered his head and looked at the barrier surrounding them. Totarakh screamed and fired another blast, only to have it deflected. Analara winced at the impact, but she stood firm in the center of the dome, a grim but determined look on her face. Another wave of Anrathians marched in through the gateway and surrounded the group, but there was nothing they could do to reach the party.
They were safe, but for how long?
"Thomas?" David whispered. Thomas tossed and turned, his eyes squeezed shut. His face was pale, and sweat covered his skin. Clyde rubbed his jaw, still aching from the punch, then gave a disgusted sigh. Kneeling down beside Thomas, he activated his wrist-scanner.
Low-level viral saturation. On a biological target it was behaving like an extremely fast-acting dose of radiation. Painful, but treatable. Clyde loaded an anti-virus into a bandage sheet and handed it to David. "Put that over the entry wound," he said stiffly. "He may be a jackass, but he is pretty good with a sword."
David accepted the bandage with a nod. Clyde rolled his eyes, and he moved over to Analara. She seemed to jar slightly with each of Totarakh's attacks, but she held the shield in place. He gave her an impressed nod and took a scan of the barrier, as another bolt struck above. Dimly he could hear Totarakh snarling with fury.
"How are you doing this?" he whispered. "I've never seen shielding this strong."
Analara closed her eyes as Totarakh launched a fresh barrage. "Would you rather I keep it going, or answer the qu
estion?"
"Point taken." Clyde studied the readouts, watching as the energy bent and deflected the viral assaults, and a thought struck him. He gave a bitter laugh.
"What is it?" David asked.
"I've got an idea. We should be able to clear the entire room in one shot!" Clyde started keying in commands, interlacing his force shield with her barrier. His fingers danced across the keys, and he eyes flashed with excitement; this was going to be extremely tricky. He didn't fully understand what Analara was doing, but if he got the calculations right… "Okay, I think it's set. Brace yourselves, this might sting a little."
"Just do it," a voice growled. Thomas climbed to his feet, still looking haggard, but color had returned to his face.
Clyde grinned evilly, and he eyed Totarakh. "All right, you walking corpse. Give me your best shot," he shouted.
Totarakh howled with rage and sent a blast streaking toward them. Clyde tapped a key just as the energy hit the shield. His own force field leapt out and trapped the bolt between the barriers. Analara gave a cry and fell to her knees, buckling under the enormous strain. David wrapped his arms around her and watched as the energy fields merged above.
The milling soldiers drew back in confusion, and Clyde saw Totarakh's eyes narrow to hateful slits.
The glowing wall of energy bulged outward and exploded like an over-inflated balloon. Waves of amplified viral code ripped through the core, disintegrating soldiers on contact. It raced toward Totarakh, who snarled something at them and vanished.
"All right, boys and girls, this is our chance." Clyde strode toward the gateway and loaded his rocket launcher with the most powerful ammunition he had.
David switched to his detective character and drew his pistol. Thomas's blade began to shine with energy, and Lucas pulled a glowing handaxe from its holster.
Wordlessly, they commenced the attack. The barrage was immense. Clyde and David pounded the code foundations of the gateway while Lucas and Thomas directed their force at the stabilizer fields around the door's edge. The raw force, free from all constraints, sent shockwaves rippling across the chamber. The air screamed with concussions and explosions. Clyde kept his scanner running, watching for any changes. Their attack was powerful, but the gateway remained untouched.
"Damn it!" Clyde lowered his launcher. "It's not even showing signs of stress."
The others followed his lead and halted the attack. David shifted into the Wraith and glared at the link between Phoenix and Analath. "There has to be a way to seal it."
"Forget it, Harris. We threw everything we had, and it didn't even blink. No force inside V-Net is powerful enough to disrupt this thing."
"We can't just give up," Lucas cried. "They'll be back. What else do we have access to?"
Clyde rubbed his hands through his hair, growling in frustration. He wracked his brain, but he had already tried every weapon and resource he had access to. With the Crash Storm still locking down his mainframe, he was at a loss on what to…
His jaw dropped. "Holy sh—"
A spear flew past his head.
"Incoming," Thomas roared and raised his sword. The group broke apart as a new torrent of Siathrak warriors charged toward them. Clyde lost sight of the others, stranded in a field of white-garbed soldiers. He threw the launcher at a nearby warrior and loaded a pair of energy maces. Charging in the direction of the castle portal, he ducked spear strikes and sword sweeps, lashing out with his weapons at every opportunity. The sounds of cracking bones and wails of pain filled the air, but he received several slices and cuts in exchange.
Clyde's foot caught on someone's ankle, and he fell. He heard a triumphant shout as an Anrathian lifted his spear to run him through.
A glowing shield covered him, blocking the strike. The Siathrak stumbled back in surprise, and the barrier faded. Clyde rolled away and jumped to his feet, smashing his mace into the warrior's forehead. He could see Analara near the portal, and he ran to her, ducking behind the shimmering mirror. "You can direct those things?"
"Only for a short time."
Clyde clapped her on the shoulder. "It was enough for me. You strong enough to do a large field again?"
Analara nodded.
=Guys, fall back to the castle gate,= Clyde called. He could barely suppress his maniacal glee. =Time to share the local terrors with our foreign friends.=
Slowly, the others disengaged, and ran toward them. Clyde waved them behind the portal, leaving him with a clear line of sight to the gateway. "All right, Analara. Now!"
The golden barrier flared around them. Clyde keyed in a final command and grinned as a second gateway opened in front of the castle mirror. A furious crack of thunder resounded from the new portal.
"Oh no," David yelled.
Oh yes…
Flowing from its confinement, the freed energies of the Crash Storm broke over the Anrathians like the wrath of the gods.
***
"David?"
The sweet voice calling his name lifted David free of the blackness. He blinked and winced at the headache that was using his brain as a drum set. Jessica gazed down at him anxiously… no, not Jessica.
"What happened?" he rasped.
Analara smiled and helped him sit up. "Look."
The command core was in shambles. The computer terminal lay shattered and lifeless. Heaps of charred ashes were the only evidence of the Siathrak invasion. David looked toward the center of the chamber and gave a sigh of relief. The gateway to Analath was gone.
Someone groaned beside him. David turned and helped Lucas pull himself up. "You all right, bro?"
"All right?" Lucas laughed blearily. "I'm not dead, if that's what you're asking. I'd say that's a lot better than those poor saps." He pointed at the piles of ash.
"Speak for yourself," Clyde muttered. He lay still on his back and flinched every time he tried to move. "Harris, next time I have a bright idea, shoot me."
Thomas was already awake, leaning against the wall and staring at the space the gateway had occupied. His face seemed calm, but David noticed that he still had a firm grip on his greatsword.
"Is it over now?" Lucas asked.
With Analara's help, David got to his feet, testing his body for injuries. His head still throbbed, and he ached in a dozen different places, but a sense of relief poured through him.
His heart sank when he saw a flicker in the corner of the room.
It was a hole, rimmed with green energy, and it opened into pure blackness. "That's the portal that Totarakh was trying to open," David said, confusion and dread filling him.
"Oh shit," Clyde said, his eyes going wide.
"Clyde." David was very calm. "Where does it go?"
The words were barely out of David's mouth when the floor bucked. The chamber filled with the sound of a woman crying out in pain. The others were on their feet in an instant, weapons drawn and searching for the source.
=The enemy has breached my mainframe!=
David reeled from the voice in his head.
=You must come, or else the network faces annihilation!=
The terror passing through the link was nearly overwhelming. David tried to clear his mind. "Who is—"
"It's VERA."
David turned to Clyde in shock. Totarakh had invaded the sanctum of humanity's guardian, and threatened to destroy the heart of their world.
VERA.
The chamber rocked again.
=You must come now!=
The presence faded, and David's mind was calm again. "Totarakh's in the mainframe! If he brings VERA down—"
"The entire system will fall. Atmospheric stabilizers, food and energy production, medical services. The end of our civilization," Thomas finished for him. He had already started to move toward the green portal.
David glanced at Clyde as they ran and noted the troubled look in his friend's eyes. He wouldn't actually help Totarakh destroy her, would he?
The gateway brought them to an enormous rectangular chamber. A soft bl
ue glow shone from seams in the black walls and from slits in the massive, dark pillars that lined the room on either side. The energy pulsed with a rhythm almost like a heartbeat. The mainframe core towered like a monolith in the center of the hall, and in front of it stood a tall woman garbed in silver with an aura of blue light around her. A blast of green energy streaked toward her, but she lifted her hand and deflected it. She fired a blast of her own, and Totarakh scoffed as it bounced harmlessly away. He reared up and fired again, and this time the bolt clipped her leg. The woman retreated with a cry, and Totarakh laughed.
"Mierva," Clyde shouted. David looked at him in confusion, and Totarakh whirled around. He stared at the group and gave a cruel chuckle.
"Your powers wane even within your own stronghold, demon. You summon children to protect you. Now they shall face the purging flames of my wrath!"
The woman drew herself up defiantly, even as her aura flickered. "We submit to none, invader. Underestimate humanity at your own peril." A stream of brilliant blue energy leapt from her hand. Totarakh's glowing taint swirled and obscured his figure, swallowing the beam. From out of that cloud the high priest sprang, one hand outstretched like a claw.
It plunged into her midsection. The woman opened her mouth to scream, but the sound lanced directly into David's mind. Totarakh roared in triumph and raised his arm, lifting his victim off her feet as his corruption began to spread. Green veins stood out on her cheeks, and she continued her soundless scream. All around the chamber, the blue lights shifted to and from a pale green. The pulse of the pillars began to slow.
David heard Clyde snarl and load the rocket launcher. "Let her go!"
With a cruel chuckle, Totarakh tossed the woman's body away. She struck the core and slid to its base. Suddenly Clyde's rocket was in the air, streaking toward the high priest. Streams of energy lashed out and detonated it harmlessly. Totarakh's aura flared.
"Look out," David yelled, jumping away just as a blast hurtled toward them. His friends all scattered. He unsheathed his sword and kept his eyes trained on Totarakh.