Rebecca Newton and the Last Oracle

by Mario Routi

  She scrutinized her surroundings in search of anything that might help her to formulate a plan. There was little in the way of protection and the few spear launchers they did have were made of wood. The problem with having enjoyed so many years of peace was that they had allowed their defenses to grow weak and now there wasn’t enough time to develop new strategies to defend a kingdom that had for some time believed it was immune to any more wars.

  “If the shield breaks we will have no choice but to lead the rest of our forces into the fortress as well,” she said eventually. “They can’t defend themselves effectively if their opponents have free range of the sky. The wall archers could eliminate the first few waves of attack but there is no telling how long they would be able to hold out. We need to bring the army inside the walls and bottleneck the enemy forces. The wall archers can provide protection from the top of the tower. Gather the rest of your Amazon archers, Nemesis, and begin putting the caltrops in place. They’ll buy us some time.”

  As Nemesis left to do her bidding, Rebecca went in search of Turgoth, who was helping the fighters recover from the shock of the surprise attack.

  “Turgoth,” she said when she found him, “we need to go to the headquarters for a War Council. Once the shield breaks we won’t be able to handle attacks from the air.”

  Turgoth raised an eyebrow at her. “Just because the Chimera is on the loose, that doesn’t mean that we need to assume the shield will break.”

  “We cannot take that chance. We need to make decisions with a view to losing the least number of lives possible. Once reinforcements arrive from the other kingdoms and the Earth, we’ll be able to push the invaders out of Utopia, but until then, we can’t handle a flying army from the ground.”

  Turgoth thought for a moment and then nodded his agreement with what she was saying before beginning to gather everyone for a march towards the castle. They needed to make sure that everyone had a chance to make it back alive. Rebecca looked at Leylah, wondering if her daughter would be able to handle everything that was likely to be thrown at her in the coming days. At the moment it looked like she was coping well; she appeared strong and confident and not fearful in the least. Rebecca felt a warm glow of pride.

  During the slow march up to the fortress, Rebecca could still hear the sounds of the Demonic army bubbling angrily in the background. She grew so used to the sound that it was actually a shock when it suddenly stopped. Alarmed by the sudden silence, she scanned the horizon. The demons were still visible, so why could she no longer hear them? The answer came with a thunderous boom which spread all the way across the sky. Everyone both inside and outside the fortress, stopped dead in their tracks and looked up. The Chimera had arrived sooner than expected. Rebecca whipped into action, urging everyone to move faster towards safety.

  “Open the Gates! Everyone move into the fortress before the shield breaks,” she yelled.

  Looking behind her, she could see that Nemesis had just come into view. At this rate they wouldn’t be able to set up their defenses properly and they would be at a terrible disadvantage.

  Another loud shock made their ears vibrate and Rebecca’s heart stopped for a moment as she heard a sound like the collective shattering of every piece of glass ever made. Looking up, she saw the shield shiver and crumble into a shimmering cloud of particles. Her heart was pounding now as a mighty bellow rose from behind the fortress and Bitho’s massive form took to the air above them. The Chimera sped in at blinding speed but Bitho was there to meet her. With a quick turn, Bitho maneuvered around the Chimera’s back and the beast screeched as Bitho grabbed her wings, pulling her towards the ground like a dead weight.

  Even before they had crash landed, Rebecca saw the demon army take advantage of the shattered shield, rise up and fly over the wall. Nemesis was still far behind when Bitho and the Chimera hit the ground together. The Chimera let out an ear splitting scream as Bitho ripped her wings off. In a display of triumph and passion, Bitho raised his head and sent a towering column of fire into the sky.

  Rebecca fixed her eyes on the castle and they hurried inside while Felicia held the door open. Glancing behind her she saw the Amazon archers holding true to their name and making quick work of closing the distance. Nemesis was in the rear, firing volley after volley of arrows to slow down the hordes of Demons that were following them.

  “Is everyone inside?” Rebecca asked Turgoth.

  “Once Nemesis and the Amazons come, that will be all of us. Currently we have sustained no losses.”

  “Okay, it seems Bitho can handle the Chimera without assistance. It appears that the Titans have sacrificed the creature in order to break the shield. That was her mission and probably the only reason they set her free,” Rebecca said as she turned to watch the mythical beasts continue to struggle on the ground.

  To her horror she saw blood bubbling up and spilling out of Bitho’s mouth from the Chimera’s bite. His strength began to waver as the Chimera’s poison worked its way into his system. Bitho sprayed molten fire over the Chimera’s body but she seemed undeterred and sunk her beak deep into his neck once more.

  Rebecca ran back towards Bitho, feeling secure in the knowledge that nearly everyone was now in the fortress. Leylah watched in horror as her mother raced to the monstrous, thrashing beasts, thinking that she must have lost her mind. Rebecca charged in, sinking her sword into the armpit of the Chimera, which she knew from her studies was her weakest spot.

  The Chimera screeched in pain and took a wild swipe at the princess, knocking her off her feet. Bitho took advantage of the momentary distraction to sink his teeth deep into the Chimera’s neck, spewing out molten fire. She let out another wail of pain which subsided into gurgling sounds. As Rebecca pulled herself shakily to her feet, she saw the Chimera’s neck melt in Bitho’s mouth, disintegrating into putrid, stinking lumps of burnt flesh.

  A noxious gas leaked out of the open hole as the Chimera’s glands were still producing liquid poison while her body thrashed around in its final death throes. The liquid met with Bitho’s flames and exploded into a ball of foul smelling fire. The smoke and fumes and gases combined in a toxic cloud that enveloped Rebecca. Her vision blurred and her body lost its motor function. The Chimera had died, but now Rebecca was fighting to stay upright and stagger away from the fumes.

  She felt a strong grip beneath her underarms as Bull supported her from falling. “I’m here, Princess,” he reassured her, taking her weight as she limped her way back to the fortress. Even through the daze of pain she could hear the sounds of the Demon army launching a fresh attack, roaring in collective pain as they stepped on the spikes of the caltrops lying half buried in the ground.

  Leylah watched her mother limp past them and followed her, along with Felicia and Alexander, to a table where Bull laid her down. Her breath was dragging in her lungs and her body had become too heavy for her to move even a finger or an eyelid.

  “The Chimera’s poison is working fast,” Bull said, “we have to inject the Flame directly into her bloodstream.”

  “Here, take this!” said Nemesis, who had just made it back. Bull looked down at her as she pulled out a small kit of syringes and vials. “Doctor Afterland gave me this supply in the event of an emergency - in case the Amazons ever did something they couldn’t recover from on their own.”

  “Speaking of which,” Felicia said, looking around as Bull injected Rebecca and she began to stabilize, “where is Doctor Afterland? I haven’t seen him since the battle began.”

  “He said that something didn’t seem right to him and ran off into the forest,” Turgoth said.

  As Leylah looked around, she also noticed that Larisa was nowhere to be found. “Nemesis...” she said, “where’s Larisa?”

  Nemesis waved a dismissive hand as if to say that it didn’t matter.

  Leylah shot a look at her mother and saw that she was looking back
at her. Both of them grinned, knowing exactly what the other was thinking, and Leylah could tell that her mother was already recovering her strength.

  “Okay, so let’s see where we stand,” said Felicia. “It seems as if the caltrops and arrows have prevented the Demons from coming any closer for the moment. The dead bodies are also making it harder for their army to approach across the open land. Reinforcements should arrive soon. I doubt our forces will need more than a day to help the Earth at this stage.”

  “How is Bitho?” Nemesis asked.

  “He’s unable to fly or walk because of the poison, which means that the Flame is temporarily unguarded,” said Rebecca.

  “I’ll go protect the Flame,” Alexander volunteered.

  “I’ll come with you!” said Leylah.

  “No!” Rebecca and Turgoth both exclaimed simultaneously.

  “I’ll take care of her, don’t worry,” Alexander assured them.

  Seeing their daughter’s pleading eyes, Rebecca and Turgoth exchanged a glance and then nodded reluctantly. The battle was still far from the Flame and the Dragon was alive, even if injured. If Rebecca felt that the Flame was in imminent danger she would ask Bull to take over.

  Leylah and Alexander were about to take off and fly when Nemesis stopped them. “Whatever you do, don’t attempt to fly or you’ll distract the Amazon archers.”

  “Go through there. It’s safer!” Bull pointed to a doorway which had been blown open by the force of the arrows hitting it during the battle.

  “Being outside is going to be dangerous,” Alexander said, “with all the firestones flying over our heads, not to mention the arrow barrage.”

  Leylah turned to Bull. “What if we climbed down the back of the main headquarters, from the second floor? Would that work?”

  Bull nodded. “Grab the rope from the curtains and you should be able to make it.”

  They darted over to the curtain nearest them and ripped it down. Gathering up a rope each, they ran to the staircase. Leylah glanced back at her mother, who was still lying on the table. Her father was tenderly holding her hand in one of his own and caressing her hair with the other.

  “Don’t worry about your mother,” Felicia said, “she’ll be fine. We need to make sure that the enemy doesn’t approach the Flame. Bull will be joining you soon, if needed.”

  Alexander and Leylah clambered up the stairway towards the sound of the archers. Leylah saw the light ahead as Alexander glanced back at her.

  “When we get to the Flame,” he said, “I want you to stay behind me, okay? Your mother would never forgive me if something should happen to you.”

  “Don’t you worry about me,” she grinned. “Just get to the Flame and I’ll protect you instead.”

  Alexander laughed. “I doubt that very much, young Princess.”

  They ran out to the second floor among the archers firing endless volleys of arrows at the Demons who were attempting to fly to the Flame. Leylah could see that the Demonic army had a head start on them. Alexander threw his rope off the side and Leylah swung down it once he had secured the end.

  She was tying her piece of the rope together with the other piece as Alexander started his descent above her. The minute they reached the ground, a couple of flying Demons buzzed past, having managed to sneak away from the Amazon archers.

  “Shoot them down!” Leylah called to the Amazons.

  A few Amazons looked over the wall to see Leylah pointing to the Demons that flew towards the Flame. They quickly drew their arrows and fired. Leylah didn’t bother to wait and see if they had found their targets; she simply ran as fast as she could in the direction of the Flame.

  The run was a long one as they headed up the side of the hill, occasionally passing Demons as they climbed. Leylah ignored them, knowing that she and Alexander would make it there before them. As long as the Flame was so close to them, they had nothing to worry about since its power would keep them alive and make them stronger.

  Finally reaching the Flame, they turned around to face the Demons that were close to them. Leylah spun her staff around her body, piercing it through those nearest to her. She then took off into the air just as a column of molten fire washed over the ranks of Demons on her tail. Looking down she saw Bitho was not far behind them, swerving along the pathway, unable to fly in his weakened state but still able to turn Demons into charred piles of bones.

  As he reached them, Leylah could see that he was already recovering from the poison the Chimera had injected into his system during the fight. He looked at her and then at Alexander and snarled as the fire built up in his throat.

  “Bitho! Easy now. We’re protecting the Flame!” Leylah yelled at him to no effect as the angry dragon shot another column of fire at Alexander.

  Alexander moved past the flames and, with one swift blow, raised his sword and pierced Bitho’s skull with the full length of the blade. Leylah stood, frozen in shock, trying to work out what had just happened.

  “Why did you...” she was unable to finish her sentence as Alexander withdrew his sword from Bitho and plunged it into her stomach.

  “Because, Oracle, the dragon’s blood would have sped up your healing and most importantly,” General Varta sneered, “he would have been able to chase me back to Tartarus.”

  Leylah looked down at the blade still lodged in her stomach and saw her blood spilling out around it.

  “If only the real Alexander had been here too, then I could have killed off the Orizon Kingdom’s bloodline for good,” Varta crowed as Leylah slid into unconsciousness.

  48

  A few hours earlier

  The enemy has arrived, Doctor Afterland thought as he watched the surprise attack exploding out of the forest. He had been feeling uneasy about the way things were going ever since Leylah had come back from Earth and what made things worse was that Alexander didn’t seem to be acting like his normal self.

  Instead of running to face the enemy, however, Doctor Afterland made his escape into a part of the forest that the Demons weren’t invading from. He noticed that no Demon changed direction in order to chase him, as all their energy was focused on heading straight ahead to face the Utopian forces. The entire thing seemed strange to him but he doubted Princess Rebecca was going to have time to analyse the situation while she concentrated on protecting the children and getting everyone back into the fortress.

  A week earlier, when they were preparing for the mission to go to Earth to save Leylah, Doctor Afterland had noticed that Alexander and Larisa had headed in a completely different direction from where their spaceship was waiting to take off. Wanting to see why they were making their way towards the smithy area instead, he had followed them.

  He had slowed down as he approached the smithy, all his senses on high alert. He could hear mighty roars accompanied by what sounded like a gigantic beast slamming into the door of a cage or a prison cell. At first he had wondered if it might be some secret weapon that the Demons were holding back as a surprise for their enemies, but then he thought he recognised the voice.

  “Where are you Larisa? What’s going on?”

  It was Alexander’s voice echoing from somewhere underground. Further investigation revealed that the blacksmith’s door had caved in and more rocks were tumbling down with each thunderous slam. Doctor Afterland had scrambled to pull away the boulders that had fallen in front of the entrance. He eventually made a gap when a dust-covered Alexander stepped out into the fresh air.

  “Are you all right, Alexander?” he asked. “What happened?”

  “Everything is okay, Doctor, please don’t worry,” General Varta said, smiling through the face of Alexander. The doctor heard a movement behind him and swung round to find Larisa standing there.

  “Ah, there you are, Alexander,” she said, ignoring the doctor. “I was beginning to worry that something ha
d happened to you.”

  “I’m fine. It’s time to go to Earth now to save the Orac... I mean, the young Princess.”

  “But... but how did you...” Doctor Afterland said, trying to make sense of everything he was seeing.

  “There’s no time for buts and long explanations, Doctor,” Alexander said, “and it’s not important. I am Hercules’s grandson, am I not? We need to go. Come on, Larisa.”

  They had then sped off towards the spaceship, which was firing up its engines in preparation for its rescue mission to Earth, leaving the doctor standing alone, trying to put the pieces of the jigsaw together in his head.

  A week later Doctor Afterland was running back to the same site and found the rocks piled high in front of the entrance again. Fearing the worst, he set to work once more to remove them. This time it took him a long time and he was exhausted by the time he had cleared a large enough opening to be able to get into the cavern. The first thing he saw as his eyes grew accustomed to the dark was the body of Alexander stretched out on the ground. He knew that any normal human would have died from the lack of oxygen, food and water, but Alexander was an Orizon as well as being Hercules’s grandson; he had Ichor running through his veins instead of blood.

  The doctor took out the lantern with the Sacred Flame that he had been carrying in his rucksack and shook Alexander by the shoulders, trying to jolt him awake as he held the Flame close. Seconds later, Alexander’s eyes opened.

  “Doctor Afterland,” he said, struggling to focus, “what’s going on?”

  “Alexander, there’s war in Utopia. A few hours ago - as soon as the Orizons left to help Earth - the Demons launched a surprise attack from the forest.”

  “Why did the Orizons go to Earth now? They weren’t supposed to leave for several days.”

  “Alex, you have been trapped here for a week. That’s how long it’s been since Leylah was ambushed in London!”