by T. S. Hall
Lucas’s patronizing tone further exacerbated Milly’s rage. She stood rigid, with fists clenched around her weapon, waiting for the moment to strike.
“Ah, ah,” Lucas said, carefully slicing through Bell’s skin and leaving a trail of blood that trickled down her neck and onto the ground. “I wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt this one.”
“Stop,” Allora yelled, moving with her palm outstretched. “All right, I’ll surrender. Just don’t hurt anyone else.” She turned to Milly. “No one else is going to die.”
“Allora, no,” Milly pleaded. “I didn’t fight this long just to see you give in to this maniac’s wishes.”
“I can’t watch him hurt anyone else I care about.”
“And what about the millions of humans and Sonorans who will be affected by your capture? You don’t fully understand your importance.”
“And what about your real daughter? What about Bell?”
There was no answer to that question. Milly’s mouth opened and closed without a sound. Allora took the steps forward, giving in to Lucas’s demands. Three more skippers bounced down from the tree line, stopping at the edge of the confrontation. Tanner, Katie, and Dax got off their hovercrafts and moved toward the group. Jenny and Brandon followed reluctantly, standing a good distance behind.
Allora held up her hand, seeing Lucas’s blade inch closer to Bell’s jugular.
“Stay back,” Allora screamed.
“Allora, what are you doing?” Tanner asked, holding onto the hilt of his sword tightly.
“What I have to.”
Allora stepped forward as Lucas pulled out metal cuffs that looked like a figure eight. She hesitated, causing Lucas to tap his sword on Bell’s shoulder. She extended her arms, and Lucas placed the cuffs through her hands and around her wrists. A gel exploded around her fists, securely locking them in front of her body. She tried to focus hadrons, but the gel kept the energy from being pulled in.
“I’ve waited a long time for this moment,” Lucas said. He pulled up his communicator and said, “Package secured. Kill them all!”
“What?” Allora said, her eyebrows raised. She violently struggled against the cuffs as Milly ran forward. The army surrounding them advanced as Lucas threw Allora to the ground and sent a burst at Milly, who easily struck it down with her sword. Allora watched from the ground, unable to move as her friends were overwhelmed.
Then a booming growl blew through the field, followed by a wave of warlocks and giants launching trees into the army of royal guardsman that advanced on the group. Bod and Mot came out of the forest, violently swinging their clubs as soldier after soldier screamed at the brute force of the weapon knocking them into the lake and field. Sas, Yeti, Abe, and a few more warlocks came flying at the group that surrounded her friends, sending bursts of light knocking the royal guard off the cliff. Milly was swinging at Lucas, who was far inferior to the maddened mother. Her violent screams chilled everyone in the area as she kept swinging her blade, taking out the group of surrounding royal guardsman who were trying to protect their commander. Allora almost started laughing at Lucas’s petrified look as he crawled backward, slipping over his feet as Milly kept advancing toward him like an Amazon warrior. Shots of yellow bursts exploded into the advancing army as she continued her rampage toward the retreating commander. Seeing the battle momentum changing, the cruisers above began a salvo of fire raining down on the small group of rebels as they fought the overwhelming forces.
One of the cruisers suddenly exploded in a full show of fire and light. The cruisers above stopped firing on the ground and readjusted their aim toward a distant group of battle carriers heading their way from the shadow side of Mt. Hood. Just then a voice came onto their communicators. “Did we miss the party?”
It was Captain Theus. The rebel carrier force moved in and launched a full wave of skimmers and skirmishers. The sky above erupted in an epic light show as numerous ships were destroyed in the head-to-head battle. On the ground, Tanner ran toward the edge of the lake, slicing through two soldiers and making it to Allora’s feet as Bell was coming to. Dax and Katie stood guard, as Brandon and Jenny huddled behind them with guns shaking in their grasps.
“You really know how to make things interesting,” Tanner said, totally out of breath.
“Shut up,” Allora replied. “Now get me out of here.”
Tanner tried pulling at the cuffs and sparking them, but they wouldn’t budge. Dax and Katie kept fighting off the advancing army, helped along by Sas and Yeti.
“You trust me?” Tanner asked, pulling Allora to her feet and raising his sword above his head.
“Oh God,” she replied. Sticking her hands out in front of her, she turned her head and closed her eyes. He swung down hard, lighting his sword blue with as much energy as he could muster. The cuffs shattered when struck, leaving only bruised wrists.
“Now what?” Katie asked.
Allora grabbed the bow from around her back, placed her sword in the sheath hanging diagonally from her quiver, and pulled an arrow out, placing it in the ready position.
“Now we fight,” Allora said, pulling back the bowstring and launching an arrow at a man who was about to strike down on Milly. The purple arrow struck the soldier, launching him into a tree. She fired off numerous missiles, which hit their targets every time. Above a skimmer was struck and careened toward the field, exploding in a ball of fire as it barreled toward the battle. Allora barely escaped a metal wing as she rolled away.
Then the shields of one of the cruisers dissipated, leaving it vulnerable. Seeing an opening, one of the battle carriers launched all of its fighters toward it, followed by its own barrage of hadron missiles. The cruiser erupted in fire and exploded in its forward compartments as its ammunition room took a direct hit from a hadron missile. The ship lost altitude and crashed into the lake. A wave of water engulfed the field, knocking most off their feet. Allora sloshed around in the muddy water, grabbing her sword from its sheath and splashing toward Milly, who was taking on three soldiers. Allora pierced the back of one of the royal guardsmen. The sword penetrated the battle suit, pushing through the soldier’s abdomen. Another cruiser took extreme damage and pushed away from the battle as the rebel carrier group gained air space from the royal guard.
Just as they thought they were winning, three more dragon-class cruisers ported into the area, followed by ten trolls that burst out of the forest to take on the giants and warlocks.
Exhausted, Milly limped over to the edge of the water and pulled out a metallic orb from a pocket on her chest.
“Those cruisers are inhibiting any porting from this position, and they are surrounding the area,” Milly said between breaths.
“What are you saying?” Allora asked.
“This is a keeper key,” Milly said, sparking the object and revealing a series of markings that littered the exterior of the object in glowing lines of ancient text. “We are going to Sonora. It’s our only way out.” She turned on her communicator, pinpointing Theus’s receiver, along with Sas’s and a few others’. “I need to get Allora out of here. I’m opening the gateway and sending them through. I need you to hold them off.”
“Roger that,” Captain Theus said.
“Then I want you guys out of here immediately. No heroics. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Commander,” Sas said as he clipped a soldier in the chest with a burst of hadrons.
As Milly read off the inscription on the orb, five trolls ran toward the group at the edge of the lake. Allora, Tanner, Katie, and Dax stood, defiant but scared at the large creatures running at them.
Just then Captain Theus sent his entire force through the center of the cruiser group, targeting a few ground units. The five trolls took a direct salvo of hadron missiles, knocking them down and sending them barreling past the group and into the lake. It was a devastating blow that caught them off guard, but it left the main front force vulnerable to an exacting hit, wedged in between two of the cruisers.
Milly kept reading the inscription as the front carrier took a barrage of hits, erupting in flames and dropping into the forest at the lake’s edge. Milly’s heart sank as she read off the last of the inscription, watching as the reinforcement sent their entire squadron of skimmers toward the depleted rebel carrier group. The key glowed, dropped into the lake, and sent a spiral flow of water upward.
“Theus!” Milly screamed into the communicator. “Get out of there now!”
A scratchy voice came onto the intercom. “Milly, it’s been an honor to have served with you. I love—” The voice got cut off as the carrier that Theus was commanding exploded. The force of the explosion crippled the exterior shields of the two other ships, leaving them open to crippling blows from the remaining skimmers and skirmishers.
The sky was lit with carnage and death as thousands of men lost their lives in an instant. Allora dropped to her knees, fighting against the pain she felt in her heart and cringing at the thought of those who had perished. There was no time to mourn as another group of drow elves burst from the forest’s edge, descending on the remaining rebels.
“You’ve got to go now!” Milly screamed through the reverberating booms of exploding armaments, bursts of hadrons, and clashes of steel.
“What about you?”
“I’ll hold them off,” Milly said, gently touching her cheek. “I’ll meet you on the other side.”
“What do we do when we get there?”
“Just stay put, and the gnomes will find you.”
Then Milly took off toward the advancing drow elves.
Katie and Dax helped Brandon and Jenny to their feet as they clutched the only weapons that they had.
“We’re going into that?” Jenny asked, completely terrified by everything that had happened.
“Would you rather face the alternative?” Dax asked, looking back at the others as they battled against the royal guard.
“Good point,” Brandon said, getting into a track start position. “Let’s get out of here.”
Allora helped her sister to her feet and readied herself to jump into the spinning cyclone of water. As they prepared to jump, the ground next to them exploded, forcing them backward in a circle around the charred dirt. Lucas had jumped across the field of battle, dropping down on top of them.
“Not so fast,” Lucas said, holding a dagger against Bell’s throat and backing toward the swirling water cyclone. “You really think that you can beat me?”
Lucas was bleeding from multiple cuts on his arms, chest, and face. His striking good looks were now scarred by Milly’s sword. Bell whimpered under the sharp pain of the knife at her neck.
“Don’t do it, please,” Allora pleaded, tossing her sword on the ground at the look of rage and fear in his eyes.
“Allora,” Bell screamed, choked back by the strong arm of her captor.
“I’ll go with you. Just don’t hurt her!” Allora held up her hands, inching toward them as they backed up toward the edge of the cliff that led into the swirling gateway. It sparked lightning above, thundering from both the ending air battle and monstrous storm that surrounding the swirling gateway. Allora watched her sister’s terrified eyes as Lucas stopped at the edge of the cliff. She kept watch on the blade at Bell’s throat, waiting for her moment to strike. The others inched closer, getting behind Allora.
“You shall watch as I take this life,” Lucas said maniacally.
Jenny had gotten her blaster from behind her back, and from a kneeling position, she shot Lucas in the leg. The pain of a shattered kneecap sent a shockwave up through Lucas’s nervous system, causing his arm to spasm forward and out from underneath Bell’s chin. Allora grabbed her sister’s arm and shot a burst into Lucas’s stomach, launching him into the swirling cyclone. Just as this happened, a drow elf penetrated the defensive line and ran forward with something glowing in both palms.
Milly screamed at them as the elf ran forward. Allora put Bell behind her back as the ball of glowing light in the elf’s hands grew. The light fully engulfed the creature as it got closer to the group on the edge of the cliff. Katie pulled out a knife and threw it quickly at the advancing enemy. The elf stopped, but it was too late.
“Jump!” Allora screamed as the light imploded on itself.
Allora, Katie, Tanner, and Dax turned and put a shield out in front of all of them, as Jenny, Brandon, and Bell ran toward the swirling water tornado. The glowing light exploded outward, forcing them into the air. The entire area was flattened as everyone tried to flee from the suicidal elf. The last thing Allora saw was the spinning lights of the stars as she was pulled downward, through the planet, into the center of the gateway, and finally out of Earth.