“This girl tried to assassinate the president,” a civilian called back, pointing a frightened finger at Juliet. The crowd grew with every passing second.
“That order was rescinded by the minister of defence yesterday,” Two dismissed. “You're all to disperse at once,” she warned.
“She's an enemy of the state!” another civilian screamed, walking defiantly up to Guard Two. “You need to arrest her!”
Juliet looked up at the angry mob with terrified eyes as she began to panic.
“I already told you—this girl is no longer classed as an enemy. You all need to move along!” Guard Two barked back sternly.
Juliet screamed as she felt herself being grabbed roughly by two bystanders. Others in the group joined in and held her pinned to the ground.
“Enough! Release her at once or you'll be arrested!” Two screamed as she held up a black submachine gun. While her primary duty was to protect the president, she was also obligated to keep the peace where possible. Her soldiers joined her and raised their weapons high.
Tension filled the air as the crowd stared back at the Presidential Guard with anger and bewilderment. Romeo's jaw quivered with fear as he watched the scene unfold around him. Tango remained on the ground, oblivious to the conflict.
“Allow us,” a woman's voice suggested.
Two turned her head to see Tahlia push her way through the horde. She recognised the insignia on her suit lapel. “Madam counsel,” she saluted obediently.
Tahlia grimaced upon being greeted with such prestige. “The girl can come with us,” she said with a smirk as Sabina and Aurelius appeared behind her. In her left hand she held Skye's retracted sword.
For a brief moment, Two contemplated the odd order, especially as the affair had nothing to do with the president's staff. She suppressed her suspicions—her job was to maintain the security of the president and the state. The duty of the Guard was one of honour and allegiance. “As you wish. Hand her over,” she said to the mob.
Tango slowly raised his head up. He saw Tahlia standing metres away from him. He stared into the eyes of Black Dawn, the group who had just brutally murdered Echo.
A final tear fell across his cheek before Tango leapt up and lunged at Tahlia, throwing his arms wildly. She saw the sudden attack and gingerly stepped aside. His fist instead connected with Sabina, slamming her down to the ground. Aurelius reached for his weapon, but Tango had already driven his elbow into the large man's upper arm, delivering a sickening crunch and knocking him over.
Tango turned his attention back to Tahlia, his eyes dark with fury and blind rage. He charged forward once again, only to be stopped by her raised knee. It thrust itself deep into his chest, knocking the wind from his lungs as he sank to the ground. Tahlia raised her free arm up high. A black ball of energy began to form in the palm of her hand. The crowd screamed at the sight of the altercation and began to flee.
It took Guard Two several seconds to react to the violent battle taking place before her very eyes. Something deep within told her that these people were exceedingly dangerous. Choosing to listen to her instincts, she turned to her fellow members of the Guard. “Get these people to safety immediately!” she ordered loudly. “Evacuate the area!” As the police, military, and Guard ushered the terrified civilians away, Two held her submachine gun high and pointed it at Tahlia's head. “Get down on the ground!”
Tahlia turned her head and frowned at the threat. She swung her leg up and delivered a powerful kick to Two's jaw, knocking the soldier to the ground.
Tahlia turned her attention back to Tango. Romeo jumped to his feet and ran into the back of her before she could shove the ball into Tango's face. She stepped forward, off balance, and then turned around furiously. Her gaze became fixed on Romeo, the young man standing helplessly.
“Juliet, run!” he called as he stood face-to-face with the black energy.
Tango knelt up and grabbed Tahlia roughly around the torso, overpowering her and throwing the woman down to the ground. The ball of energy evaporated, narrowly missing Sabina and Aurelius, who had since climbed back to their feet.
Juliet grabbed Romeo's arm and the pair started running, with Tango not far behind.
“Skye, Tahlia's here! We're heading back to the gardens. You need to meet us there immediately!” Tango shouted.
“On our way,” Skye replied through exhausted pants. “Just hold on.”
Tango caught up to the other two instantly, his speed far greater than theirs. He remained behind them to offer protection from the offensive Black Dawn. He turned around to see that Aurelius and Sabina were sprinting after them, quickly covering the distance.
“You need to run faster!” Tango warned the duo.
Juliet pushed herself to her limits, anxiously gasping for air. Panic infiltrated every cell in her body as she fled from her assailants. The image of death flashed in her mind and slowed her down. Tears streamed down Romeo's face, who was now more terrified than ever. Around them, frightened civilians were evacuating the area, running for their lives from the threat. The exterior of the convention centre had become chaotic.
Tahlia watched the chase from afar. She knew better than to expend her strength by pursuing them. Once her prey had collapsed with exhaustion, she would transport herself over to them to finish the job. That is, if Sabina and Aurelius hadn't already done so.
She suddenly fell to the ground, groaning with pain. She looked down to see that her hands and arms were melting away like burning rubber. A wave of dread coursed through her body. Her eyes widened as she watched herself disintegrate.
“You call yourself a warrior,” Daye's voice said to her, “yet you stand by and let others kill for you.”
A lone tear streamed down her face as she tried to fight the horrific illusion. “Get out of my head,” she begged. “Why are you always protecting them?”
“You're little more than a coward,” he spoke calmly. His body appeared, standing over her. “Please leave them be; none of them deserve to die.” He wasn't overly fond of his actions, but would do whatever it took to prevent unnecessary killing.
Tahlia gasped for air as she watched her body dissolve. She knew that her mind was trapped by Daye's unique ability. “Is this your revenge?” she asked through panicked sobs. “Is this what I deserve after what I did to your people?”
Daye's face fell. “I don't believe in revenge. And while I was horrified to learn of what you had done to my kinsmen, they're not my people—all humans are my people, and I'll do my best to protect them. All of them.”
Tahlia began to choke, her body unable to breathe. Her window to escape grew more narrow by the second. She concentrated as hard as she possibly could in her weak condition.
Daye watched the woman suddenly transport her body away from the illusion. There was no reasoning with Black Dawn, just as there was no reasoning with White Shadow or the remainder of the Tianzu. It seemed every faction was just as corrupt as the next, all vying for control and attempting to implement their respective ideologies of a perfect society. It's unfortunate, he thought to himself, that they all failed to see that a truly perfect world was one based on peace.
Fifty-nine
“This is bad,” Skye said as he watched the pandemonium in the streets. Countless people were backing away from the convention centre, all confused and frightened, and uncertain why they were being ushered away at such an important moment. Sierra had to carefully drive around them as they ran across the road.
“Skye,” Ren began, “kill them all. Kill Nikolai and Black Dawn,” she muttered, her voice bitter.
“I'll try. My main focus is to protect the others.”
Sierra sped up again once there were no more pedestrians. She turned sharply to the right as they began to drive alongside the gardens. “There they are,” she said, pointing to White Shadow running for their lives with Sabina and Aurelius following behind. She hit the brakes hard, causing the van to slide to a sharp halt. It was terribly damaged from
the earlier collision into the villa gates.
Juliet pushed her body as hard as she could, desperately trying to create a space between herself and the two ominous figures who were rapidly gaining on them.
Tahlia appeared in front of them and raised her hand up, creating another ball of black energy. She threw it at the trio, missing them by mere inches. It hit the ground and melted the grass around it. She raised her hand up again, but stopped when she saw the battered van out of the corner of her eye.
“Let's finish this,” Sierra said, already climbing out with her curved blade in hand.
She flew across the open gardens with tremendous speed. She held the blade outward, slashing wildly at her foe. Tahlia skilfully dodged the attacks, and kicked her in the chest, sending her backwards. Skye entered the battle, using his mind to hold Tahlia back. His attack was ineffective; he was exhausted from the battle with Night. She stepped forward, grabbed his arm roughly and began to summon dark energy in her palm, burning into Skye's skin. He shrieked as he felt the darkness sear his forearm.
Juliet and Romeo turned and started running to their left, avoiding the fight as much as possible. Tango continued his course, jumping high over Skye and removing his dagger from its small scabbard. He swung his blade down, aiming for Tahlia's arm. He narrowly missed as Tahlia released her grip on Skye and jumped backwards, evading the attack.
Skye saw his sword handle in Tahlia's left hand. He used his mind to press the small release button on its side, forcing the blade to shoot out and slice Tahlia's leg in the process. She howled with rage as the cool steel cut her skin open. Skye nimbly jumped forward and ripped the handle from her grasp, then swung the sword at her neck. She fell backwards and narrowly avoided decapitation, kicking Skye in the jaw as she landed flat on the ground.
Sierra heard footsteps rapidly approaching. She turned around in time to see metal fly toward her. She ducked down low as Aurelius' chained sword flail flew past her. With her cat-like reflexes, she stabbed her blade upward into one of the chain links, then spun around and drove it deep into the ground, pegging the chain and sword down.
Sabina threw four small knives at Sierra. She dodged them with ease. Aurelius pulled hard on the chain and ripped the sword from the ground, sending Sierra's blade high into the air. Sabina threw more knives at Sierra, trying to eliminate their largest threat by far. Sierra moved quickly, grabbing one and using it to knock the others to the ground. She threw the knife at the defenceless Sabina, then jumped up and grabbed her blade as it began to fall back down to earth. She was about to throw it at Sabina, who had narrowly avoided her flying knife, but Sierra stopped herself when she saw Aurelius' chain sword flailing toward her. She held her weapon outward and swung it at the oncoming metal, only barely managing to knock it from its deadly course.
Skye threw his katana down at Tahlia, trying his best to fight her off with his remaining energy. She clasped her hands together and caught it. Skye used his mind to rotate it backwards, slicing her hand as it did. She let out another scream as it carved a deep wound into her flesh. Tango saw his opportunity to attack and lunged at her with his dagger. She was too quick—with her uninjured hand, she pushed herself up and summoned a long stream of black energy, slicing his small dagger in two. He dove to his left and stopped himself from running straight into the beam.
A high shrill caught Skye's attention. He spun around to see a small throwing knife from Sabina hurtle straight for him. He stepped backwards, watching it fly closely past his ear. It continued piercing the air and flew toward Tahlia. She dropped back to the ground and shot Sabina a menacing scowl for being so reckless.
Sierra landed gently on the ground and fired two bolts from her crossbow at Tahlia, then turned and fired two more at Sabina and Aurelius. Tahlia rolled to the side and roughly escaped death. Sabina flipped backwards and did the same. Aurelius growled as the bolt tore through his right bicep.
Sierra ran forward with her blade held outward and dove at Tahlia. Skye joined her, recalling his sword. He gripped its handle tightly and swung down at the woman. She held her beam of energy up and defended herself skilfully, deflecting both attacks. She jumped back to her feet and swung the beam again, aiming for Sierra's unguarded legs. Sierra raised her blade and smacked the beam away from her, then fired her crossbow again. Tahlia flinched and held her arm up, catching the bolt before it ripped through her eye.
Tango screamed as a knife embedded itself in his shoulder. He turned just in time to see Sabina jump on top of him. She grabbed his head with one hand and pressed a knife to his throat with the other. He grabbed her by the wrists and lifted her high, then slammed her to the ground with a sickening thud as her ribcage cracked. She shrieked, but leapt back to her feet without hesitation, removing two knives from a holster on her back. Before she could make her move, Tango reached behind him and painfully pulled the knife from his shoulder, and threw it at her abdomen. Her reflexes were quick—she saw it and knocked it downwards. Tango roared with agony as metal sliced into his lower back. He dropped to the ground defensively and turned to see Aurelius eagerly swinging his sword flail.
Tahlia gasped when she sensed a threat from behind. She had been too distracted to realise that another enemy was now present. Skye turned and saw that Kai and Hana had arrived. He felt his life force being sucked from his body by Hana. He grabbed hold of his sword tightly and threw it at her. Kai stepped in the way of it with his long, whip-like stream of golden energy and deflected it. Skye didn't give up—he grabbed the blade again with his mind while it was still in the air and sent it flying back at Hana. Kai saw the attack again, and wrapped his stream tightly around the blade. In one quick movement, he pulled the whip wide with both hands and watched as the katana fell to the ground in two pieces.
Sierra jammed another cartridge into the top of her crossbow and fired several shots at Kai and Hana, who dodged them effortlessly. She turned her attention back to the careless Tahlia and waved her blade. Tahlia turned at the last second and kicked Sierra's hand out of the way.
Skye ducked for cover as Aurelius swung his flail. Sierra turned and jammed her blade into the chain once again, but this time spun around and swung it back around at him. The sword flew toward him from his left. Sabina raced to his side and grabbed the chain before it pierced his skin, then threw the large weapon back at her foe. Sierra fell down to the ground and watched as the sword flew toward Kai. The man grabbed the sword before it made contact and yanked hard on the chain, ripping it from Aurelius' hands, pulling him down to the ground. Kai swung the sword at Tango, who crouched down low. Tango sucked in deep gulps of air, struggling to take on so many threats simultaneously. Sierra ran in front of the giant blade and grabbed it.
Tahlia swung her dark energy stream, first at Skye, who flipped backwards to avoid it, and then at Kai, who also managed to evade the beam. He flung himself back as the black stream crept past his face. Sierra threw the sword with all of her might at Hana. Kai watched helplessly as the steel ripped through the air with incredible speed and flew toward his wife. Not making the mistake of falling victim to Sierra again, Hana gracefully dodged the blade, which flew into the distance.
Kai's eyes filled with fury. He roared as he swung his energy whip at Sierra with immense force. Sierra dove forward, avoiding certain death. The energy continued forward toward Sabina, slicing her in half before she could react. Her severed body fell to the ground in lifeless clumps.
Kai turned his frantic rage back to Sierra, throwing a glowing ball of gold energy toward her. Skye deflected it with his mind just in time, sending it crashing to the ground in flames. Tango dove out of the way to avoid the dangerous embers.
Tahlia summoned her own ball of energy and threw it at Skye, who ducked at the last second. The ball flew into the distance toward a man in a blue shirt. It went straight through him as though he wasn't there.
Raien ran over to the fighting group. He bolted past Hana, grabbing a piece of Skye's fractured sword from the ground and slici
ng it at Tahlia. His movements were quick—she could barely dodge the attack. Sierra fired a bolt at Raien, not wanting the man to kill her nemesis on her behalf. The projectile went straight through him yet again.
“Enough!” Raien shouted angrily, and held his free hand outwards toward Aurelius.
Skye and Tango turned their gaze to Aurelius and watched in horror as blood began to pour from his chest, as though he was melting from the inside. As his life left his body, Aurelius let out a choking sound and fell to the ground, his liquefied organs oozing out onto the grass.
The man in blue appeared beside Kai and Hana and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
“That's enough for today. Let's return home,” Raien suggested to his companions.
Hana frowned with confusion. “Let us eliminate them now while we're here!”
Raien shook his head. “No, we must retreat and meet up with the remainder of our clan. That will be all for today.”
“Raien!” Hana screamed at her leader. “Our enemy is right in front of us! Why would you want to let them live?”
Raien appeared inches from her face, his eyes dark. “I said that will be all,” he hissed, then turned and began walking away.
Hana and Kai exchanged an aggravated glance. Their leader's contradicting orders were frustrating at best.
“We should go,” Kai said to her.
“But our enemy is here,” she whispered. “Our obligation is to protect the people of this world.”
“I know,” he agreed. “I don't know why he's acting this way. It's almost as though ...”
They looked into each other's eyes, both thinking the same thing. Against all their instincts, they walked away from the battle.
Sierra turned to Tahlia and jumped toward her, ready to resume the fight. Tahlia twisted her gaze and saw her enemy flying toward her. Knowing she was now greatly outnumbered, she wisely used her remaining energy to transport herself to safety.
Eternity's War (Books 1-3) (Eternity's War Boxsets) Page 42