Eternity's War (Books 1-3) (Eternity's War Boxsets)

by Ruben Stelliswolfe

  “There's a keypad here,” she said.

  He examined what she was referring to. “Ren, are you able to override this lock?”

  “Show me. If it can be accessed remotely, then yes. I need the equipment identity.”

  There wasn't a second to lose. Skye pressed a button on his comm and held it close, sending a live feed to Ren.

  “Can you see it?”

  “Yes, but you'll need to keep it still for a moment. I'm trying to read the numbers.”

  Skye's heart pounded. “Tango, Echo, are you alright?” he asked while he waited.

  Seconds passed before Tango responded. “Yes, but you need to hurry!”

  Skye breathed quickly. “Ren, we need to get inside,” he reminded her anxiously.

  “I'm working as fast as I can.”

  Sierra looked up at Skye. “Do you think he'll be inside?”

  He nodded. “Why else would Night guard it?”

  The keypad light turned green, and a loud bolt was heard unlatching from the inside.

  “I've overridden it. Get inside, now!” Ren commanded.

  Skye wasted no more time. He grabbed the handle and pulled the heavy door open. Together, he and Sierra raced inside.

  The entrance room was dark, as black as the forest outside. They descended countless stairs before arriving at another door with a beam of light visible from the crack underneath.

  “The light's on in the next room,” he whispered.

  “Be careful,” Ren instructed. “Remember, kill the president on sight. We can't risk Nikolai finding out you're there, especially if Night already knows. We don't have much time.”

  Skye placed his hand on the metal handle of the next door.

  “Ready?” he asked Sierra.

  “Ready.”

  He pulled the handle down and pushed the door inwards.

  The room was fully lit. It took their eyes a moment to adjust.

  They were standing in what resembled a large warehouse, not unlike their own. Crates and boxes lined the side walls, along with dozens of bottles of water and canned goods.

  On the other side of the bright room sat Archibald on a leather couch. His jaw dropped when he saw the pair enter the room. He was alone and defenceless against the two. His eyes widened with fear.

  Skye let out a quiet snigger, a little surprised at how easy it was to find the most protected man in the country. There were no members of the Guard here whatsoever. Nikolai had obviously employed himself and the rest of Black Dawn as the president's primary protection. He had probably assumed no one would be able to find the bunker.

  But this time you've lost, Nikolai, Skye thought to himself. “It's over.”

  He threw his sword with all his might from where he stood. A non-elite would never be able to make the distance, but Skye held it up with his mind. The blade flew across the room, accelerating with each metre. The president gaped in horror, waiting for his impending death.

  As fast as it had been thrown, a dark shadow appeared and caught it. It was Nikolai. He stopped the sword mid-flight, holding it expertly by the handle.

  Skye was taken completely by surprise. He jumped back in shock as he watched his nemesis materialise out of nothingness. “No.”

  For the first time in quite a long while, Nikolai was not happy to see his old friend. “Not this time,” he breathed, both enraged and relieved. A single second of time was all that separated him from success and failure.

  Skye's face fell with exasperation. He tried to will the blade forward, fiercely striving to complete the seemingly endless mission, but Nikolai held it firmly. Sierra fired a bolt straight at Archibald, but this too was caught by Nikolai with his other hand.

  “I don't know why you bother,” he said profoundly. “You know you can never harm me. Or perhaps your vain attempt was merely out of desperation?”

  Skye let out a long sigh. “Ren,” he stuttered, “Nikolai's here.” Ren cursed loudly on the other end of the headset.

  “That was far too close,” the powerful man admitted. “How typical of Ren to find my bunker. I had gone to the ends of the earth to keep it a secret, but clearly I was outwitted. It just goes to show that you have a fighting chance after all. All the more reason to press onwards.” He turned and faced the petrified Archibald. “How does it feel to come within one second of death, Your Excellency?”

  The old man said nothing, sinking lower into the couch, petrified.

  Skye glared at Archie. He raced forward and tried to run around Nikolai, but his speed was outclassed. Nikolai leapt in front of him and gave Skye a gentle shove backwards. Sierra held her bow upwards, ready to fire again, but Nikolai appeared in front of her, dropping the bolt and roughly grabbed her forearm.

  “Why do you even keep him in this bunker? Wouldn't he be safer with you?” Skye asked, trying to distract him while also trying to think of a contingency. The greatest opportunity he'd ever had to kill Archie was right in front of him. The old man was completely vulnerable and exposed, but he knew it was virtually futile to find a way to circumvent Nikolai face-to-face.

  “Perhaps, but perhaps not. Frankly speaking, I do not yearn for him to be in close proximity with the Tianzu. I don't trust any of them.”

  Skye's weary eyes watched Nikolai. “I'm amazed that we almost managed to kill him tonight. For a moment I thought maybe you'd purposely led us here for fun again. After all, it's always a game with you, isn't it?”

  “Of course! Life should be fun and grand!” Nikolai admitted, walking back over to Skye and placing his arm around his old companion. “But no, I didn't coerce you into coming here. As much as I love watching you waste your time trying to assassinate Mr Denning, I have neither the time nor the patience to leave an infinite number of intricate clues to my whereabouts, especially not hours before the inauguration. I suppose you could blame your luck this evening on the ever-erroneous Tahlia.”

  Skye shook his way out of the friendly grasp. “Well, you can understand why I'd think it was staged. You admitted that East Tower was a setup.”

  “Oh, of course I did,” Nikolai exclaimed happily, handing over the sword. “I knew that Ren would hack her way into the president's itinerary, and I also assumed you'd be resorting to desperate measures in these dying hours, so I deemed it necessary to distract you in any way possible. As long as you were at bay until the inauguration, all would be well.”

  The towering man walked back over to Archibald and picked him up like an infant.

  “Millions of yuan well spent, I suppose,” Nikolai smiled as he surveyed the bunker. “It has kept my mind at ease during these recent times.” He looked down at the president, who clearly hated being confined to the steel prison.

  Skye glared at Nikolai. Seeing how close he was to completing the mission and ending the madness was infuriating. Once again, it was just beyond his reach.

  “Perhaps then, I'll see you at dawn,” Nikolai called over. “I have no doubt you'll try to kill him on live television. After all, what have you to lose? Although I don't think the Athenians would appreciate that. And without my puppet here, I'm unable to protect you from the authorities.”

  Skye looked about himself helplessly. The fail-safe idea of a public assassination was terribly cumbersome and perilous, but White Shadow had run out of both time and opportunities. He tried to shake the image of the deadly skirmish from his mind.

  “Nikolai,” Skye called back, “what would you have done if I had have killed Archibald just now?” he asked curiously.

  The great man smiled broadly. “I would be devastated, yet jubilant. Death is nothing less than what this man deserves.” His gaping sockets stared back down at Archie. “But if my plans were indeed ruined, I would simply urge myself on to my next project. As I've always said; where there is failure, there is opportunity.”

  Nikolai and Archibald disappeared.

  Skye let out a fatigued moan. It took him several seconds to regain his thoughts and compose himself. “Let's go. We need to help
the others.”

  Thirty-six

  Tango knelt on the ground, sucking in deep breaths of air. The attack had been endless, and a seemingly infinite number of severed heads and limbs lay scattered on the forest floor, encircling the group. Skye and Sierra emerged from the darkness, racing into the light. Tango looked up, relieved to see the arrival of his companions.

  “We were too late,” Skye murmured, although aware they would have heard the discussion through their headsets. He looked around and surveyed the group. They all appeared to be in good health, and there were no more hostiles nearby. “Are you all okay?”

  Juliet and Romeo nodded, wide-eyed and shaking on the ground.

  “We're fine,” Tango laughed with exhaustion, pleased with his and Echo's efforts. Their enemies had been unique ones, unlike anything they'd ever encountered in their lives, but they had managed to fend them off. “Thank you for the lend.” He threw the blade back to Sierra, who caught it and returned it to its scabbard on her belt.

  “I like your sword, Skye,” Echo said, holding the weapon out to its rightful owner.

  Skye stepped forward to reclaim it, too discouraged to thank his friend for the compliment.

  “Don't,” Sierra said as she grabbed Skye, preventing him from retrieving the sword. She roughly pulled him back.

  “What? What is it?”

  Confused, he looked up at Echo, who was covered with blood and decayed brain matter from the corpses. The tall and usually friendly man stared back, but with noticeably vacant eyes—the same barren and inanimate eyes they'd seen all around them.

  A horrible realisation dawned on Skye. “No,” he whispered.

  Tango stood up and stared at his comrade in disbelief.

  Echo rotated the sword and held the tip of the blade to his own throat. “I warned you to leave this place,” he spoke in a rasping voice.

  “Night, stop!” Skye pleaded. “We didn't kill Archie. Nikolai has taken him.”

  “Then I would advise you to leave this place immediately and not make any attempt at locating me,” Echo stated with a sadistic grin.

  Skye started to tremble, all too aware that the sinister Night could, and would, kill Echo without question. “Alright,” he negotiated in an easy tone, cautious not to startle the dangerous enemy. “We'll leave.”

  Echo smiled. “Thank you.” He dropped the sword to the ground and staggered backwards into the trees. Within seconds, he was out of sight.

  Skye used his mind to pick the sword up. His head was spinning from the sudden shock of seeing Echo possessed by Night. He looked at the others, who were just as alarmed as he was.

  “Echo ...” Tango stuttered with disbelief. “He's gone.”

  “Skye, what happened?” Ren demanded.

  He took a defeated breath, not wanting to admit it aloud. “Night took control of Echo.”

  The forest fell silent. There was nothing to be said. The group stared at each other, none of them knowing what could be done. Only minutes earlier, they were fighting as a unified contingent. But in an instant, White Shadow had been ripped apart. Night's intentions weren't clear, and there was no known way to save their friend from the perverse man's manipulation.

  “Come back to base,” Ren ordered, weakness and concern in her voice.

  Skye removed his mask and crouched on the ground, attempting to process what had just happened. The evening had taken a terrible turn, and the situation was now worse than ever.

  “We should unlink his comm,” Sierra said. “Otherwise he can still hear us.” She tapped her wrist, removing Echo from the conversation. “Let's go,” she said, eager to leave and resume the hunt for Tahlia. She began walking back down the dirt path without a second glance.

  Tango stared blankly into the distance, his eyes wide with shock. “He's gone,” he whispered again.

  Skye rose to his feet and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. “We'll get him back,” he promised, although doubtful of himself. The only presumptuous method of saving Echo would be to kill Night, but the man was unable to be tracked.

  Tango started deliriously trudging his way through the forest with Skye alongside him. Juliet and Romeo quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.

  “What do we do now?” Romeo asked, still trembling from the limitless wave of corpses. A frightened tear fell down his cheek.

  “I don't know,” Skye murmured with a sombre inflection.

  Thirty-seven

  “That was too close!” Archibald screamed at Nikolai with clenched fists. His entire body shook with every beat of his heart. “You're going to get me killed!”

  “Temper, Your Excellency,” the great man warned. He was standing by the window again, gazing upon the dark ocean in front of him. “You were advised long ago that you faced external threats. It's too late for you to decide you don't want to have a giant target on your back.”

  “But you knew they were coming, and you purposely waited for them to attack!”

  Nikolai appeared in front of the old man, inches from his face. “I did nothing of the sort!” he roared back, towering over the impish man. “You can thank Tahlia for putting your life in danger.” He pointed a long finger in her direction.

  Archibald placed his hands against Nikolai and tried to shove him in a fit of rage, but only managed to push himself backwards and into the wall. He picked himself up and stood defiantly, trying to compose himself enough to justify his anger. Staring into enraged eye sockets was beyond intimidating, but he felt he could no longer go on placing his life in the hands of the reckless Nikolai. “From now on I want the Guard around me at all times. I'm not taking any more risks. I won't die before my campaign begins.” He tried his absolute best to keep himself in control, aware that he was trembling noticeably. He turned and stormed out of the suite, slamming the door behind him.

  “Your campaign?” Nikolai muttered to himself.

  “Do you want me to bring him back?” Tahlia asked, trying to be helpful in the hope that her senior would quickly forget her detrimental mistake.

  “No, just leave him be. If having the Guard around makes him feel more comfortable, then so be it. I don't want him to be dishevelled before the inauguration.” He walked over to his large armchair and slumped into it. “He probably won't even realise they're dead,” Nikolai laughed to himself.

  The others lazed comfortably about the room, awaiting their final orders before the momentous morning ahead.

  “I must admit,” Nikolai continued, “running this campaign has been one of the most challenging things I've ever done.”

  Tahlia smiled with pride. “You've done very well.”

  He held a hand up to dismiss the compliment. “Keep your flattery to yourself, my dear. It would be in your best interest to put yourself to good use tomorrow. You've made one mistake after another today.”

  She rolled her eyes. While Nikolai was tolerable at times, one could never truly feel safe around him and his oddly sporadic behaviour.

  “On second thought, perhaps we should keep an eye on him. It wouldn't surprise me if he tried to escape and bring the entire military back here. That would not end well for anyone.” He turned and faced the silent Sabina and Aurelius. “Go and babysit him, if you would.”

  The pair rose and exited the room without question. They seemed to lack both personality and opinion, but were loyal and subservient to Black Dawn.

  “The hardest part about this campaign was keeping Archibald in check.” Nikolai turned to the three Tianzu, rambling on once again. “I tell you, if I could kill the old fool and run for presidency myself, I would. But I don't think the voters would be partial to having an eyeless man run their country!”

  The Tianzu stared at him, unamused. Nikolai laughed manically to himself at his own sense of humour.

  Thirty-eight

  Ren splashed cold water across her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. The mission had reached a dead end, and she felt completely helpless. It was only months ago that Arch
ibald Denning had resurfaced after keeping himself in hiding. White Shadow had then shifted their focus back to finding the elusive man, who quickly became a national hero to the people with his promises of fixing the nation. In just a matter of hours, he and Nikolai were to be the rulers of Athenia, and Ren had no way of stopping them.

  She looked into her eyes, wondering if she was doing what was right. When she initially started White Shadow with the others back in Alexa, her credo had been one of justice. They sought to help those in need and put an end to corruption where possible.

  But the last three months had been tumultuous. The group had been split in different directions, and she lost sight of what righteousness was. She tried to be a great and caring leader for her group but was, more often than not, blinded by the greater good. She sometimes questioned her actions, but deep down knew that, in times like these, there was no right or wrong.

  The sound of an engine interrupted her thoughts. She walked back into the open room of the warehouse just as the others entered. It was unmistakable that their morale had been completely shattered.

  “Are you alright?” she asked, unsure if she was sounding caring or stern.

  “Not at all, Ren,” Tango growled, devastated that his dear friend and training partner had been taken from him.

  “We lost someone tonight,” Skye spoke, stating the obvious. He sat at the table, exhausted.

  “Do you really think we can get him back?” Romeo curiously asked. He wanted to ask back in the van, but no one had uttered a single word during the return trip. He felt it best to wait until the others were speaking again.

  Tango slammed his fist into the table, splintering the polished wood. “Of course we'll get him back,” he declared in a low voice.

  Ren was surprised by his optimism. She didn't feel the same way herself. “He'll be with the president. After you take out Archie, you'll need to find Night and kill him.”

  Tango's eyes shot up. “Absolutely not!” he dismissed, his mood and enthusiasm suddenly changing. “If we go anywhere near Night, he'll kill Echo.”