Gloom Rising (The Book Wielder Saga 1)
Page 26
Olex clanked and steamed along until the Gloom equivalent of the World GOVT building came into view, and Winston was surprised to see that it had once again been altered. It was now a magnificent white and light grey tower tipped with four stone prongs that reached for the sky like a hand without a thumb, and near the top, a big mask was carved out from the stonework in the image of Omniosis’ primary face. As he got closer to the tower he could see that the mask was repeated on each of the building’s four sides. The Archmage’s old dragons circled in the sky above, and some perched peacefully on the larger windowsills. The gardens in the courtyard were vibrant and colourful. The statues were now fully intact and all of Omniosis, and the fountains sparkled with clear enchanted water.
The Mayor, DVAF, a group of needle maidens, and Omniosis were gathered in front of some freshly made Gloom troopers.
“Ah, Winston,” Omniosis began as Winston jumped off Olex to join them. “Here to see the finally preparations, are you? We are all already for the merger tomorrow, if you still are?”
“Yeah,” Winston replied dozily. “All good at my end. I just couldn’t sleep, and then I came up with an idea that might help things run smoother tomorrow.”
“You’re always coming up with good ideas. That you are!” the Mayor said happily. “But first, what do you think of the new recruits?”
Winston looked at the terrifyingly altered Inquisition troopers. Some were male and some were female, their power armour was in good shape as they had surrendered after the World GOVT building had been taken, and their guns pulsed with green Gloom magic energy. They all stared blankly with their new cold black eyes.
“I made the guns work!” DVAF said excitedly. “They should do some really horrible damage!”
“Nice work, DVAF,” Winston said, and DVAF giggled happily after receiving the compliment.
“Mortissa and her needle maidens should get a thank you, too!” the Mayor boomed. “Her work was delightfully terrifying as ever, indeed it was!”
Winston turned to the group of maidens. They parted, and at the heart of their group stood Mortissa Aurorana, but he was looking at Marissa Aluniana’s face and hair. The part-Alternative part-Demon had transferred the poor dead songstress’ face and scalp perfectly onto herself with only a small amount of stitch work visible. She had even taken a white corset with black filigree, a short pleated white skirt, and a long elegant white fur coat from Marissa’s wardrobe. Her collection of sharp needles, pins, scissors, and knives had been attached or slotted wherever she could put them.
“Thank you girls,” Winston said hesitantly.
“You’re welcome,” Mortissa said in her creepy distorted voice. She smiled as she sensed his horror and discomfort.
“Oh, Winston,” DVAF cut in. “The Foreman sent over some troops, explosives, and Spidertanks!”
“And snooty-pants supplied us some of his riflemen! That he did!” the Mayor added enthusiastically.
“I am sorry Winston, we’ve gone a bit off track, haven’t we?” the Archmage cut the others off politely. “What was this plan of yours?”
“Well, I was thinking that we could dress some of your people in clothing from my world,” Winston began, “and then I could sneak them across before the merger even begins. Then when our enemies try to stop us, we’ll have more forces ready to strike back.”
The Archmage clapped his hands together. “Brilliant as always, Winston.”
“Good thinking, my boy! Good thinking indeed!” the Mayor began. “When are you bringing us your world’s strange clothes?”
“I was thinking we could get them now,” Winston said with a smile. “If you come with me and bring some helpers, I can open some portals from here directly into some clothes shops.”
“We’re going stealing together!” DVAF cheered, throwing his mechanical arms into the air in celebration.
“Indeed we are DVAF, indeed we are,” the Mayor said merrily as they followed Winston’s lead.
Chapter 13:
The End of the Beginning
The Central Tower control room was a hive of activity. Both holographic and physical touch screen monitors displayed wave upon wave of flowing information, the middle of the room had a circular map of the world built into a large platform, and Inquisition staff dressed in white and black uniforms listened to the radio transmissions being broadcast from their airships, movingly light blue holographic symbols of the forces on the map accordingly. The plans had been drawn up, the forces selected, and now Alice listened in helplessly to hear the outcome of the world.
She had wanted to lead the attack herself as it was her divine mission to find Winston and stop his current course of actions by informing him that he was being used, but General Wallace and Azalea had talked her out of it. Instead, General Kevin Wallace was overseeing the mission personally aboard his prototype heavy airship.
A new set of transmissions came through, and the Inquisitors in the control room grouped two sets of little triangles together, with one larger red triangle at the front, north of Central Isle not far from Galleon Anchorage on the continent of Rura.
A young male Inquisitor Lieutenant wearing a headset approached Alice. “Ma’am, General Wallace has just reported in. His airships have joined with General Azalea’s and they are now heading for the Capital.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” She saluted and he went back to his station.
Alice stared at the map. She felt ill from the overwhelming sense of anxiety, dread, and suspense that weighed on her mind. The feeling of helplessness felt far worse. She wanted to help, to do something, anything, but all she could do was wait, pray, and hope for the best.
- - -
It was a cloudy damp morning in Imperia City. The Capital was peaceful, calm, and quiet, and a thin layer of mist veiled the rural land beyond the walls leading up to the thick dark forests. The weather was forecasting heavy storms later in the day and for once the forecast would be highly accurate.
“Congratulations, Winston,” Lucius said, raising a glass of champagne in a toast.
“Yeah, congrats man,” Lewis echoed, doing the same with his glass.
“I wish you two all the best,” Xavier added finally, raising his drink.
“Thanks guys,” Winston said, embarrassed.
“Yeah, thank you all,” Veronica said kindly, and they all gently tapped their glasses together before drinking.
The five were in Lucius’ room. They had decided to take the time for a little celebration on behalf of Winston and Veronica’s engagement, and they had agreed to throw a bigger celebration when the rest of the guard were back. It was a pleasant friendly atmosphere, but they could all sense the shift in the weather. The winds of change were starting to blow.
Alexander and Brooke were out patrolling the walls with the MPK’s and other Supernaturals that excelled at ranged combat. Lynette and Kavarne were still on the way back from Greg’s, and by the sounds of it they’d been partying a bit too hard. Winston was still well guarded though, as Lucius had called in Shadow Circle gang members from the surrounding towns and cities, leaving enough of them behind to guard their territory if the Trinity got brave again. Everybody had been on guard since the attempt on Winston’s life but nothing else had happened as of yet. Everybody knew it was only a matter of time before they tried to attack the Shadow Circle again. Winston felt safe nonetheless, as the MPK’s were effectively his and Lucius’ now, and he also had his Alternatives in the city.
He had spent a lot of time in the Gloom that evening robbing clothes shops, dressing Alts, and then issuing them instructions on how to act ‘normal’, where to patrol, blend-in, and hide within the city. Winston got back to his bed and cuddled up with Veronica in the early hours of the morning, and although he had barely slept he felt wide awake. The anticipation, adrenaline, and a good few coffees were fuelling him nicely.
One of Lucius’ guards walked in the room. “Sir, the Governor wants to see you.”
“He’s here?” Lucius asked, surprised.
“Yeah, he’s right outside,” the guard replied. “Shall I let him in?”
“Yes please. I wonder what he wants.”
“Maybe he wants to lay low here again,” Xavier suggested.
“Or he’s run out of booze,” Lewis joked.
The Governor waltzed in the room with such an air of confidence that the whole group was speechless. He was in his finest suit, he’d slicked his thinning black hair back smartly, and he smelled like expensive aftershave rather than sweat and alcohol.
“Mr Governor,” Lucius said baffled, “what can we do for you?”
“I just thought I’d give you a rundown of the goings on in the city,” he began in a big cheerful voice. “I took it upon myself to close the city gates and get my boys and girls to keep most of the civvies off the roads and streets. That I did! There’ll only be the bare minimum of people about... to help you lot blend in.”
The group were stunned before, and now they were completely gobsmacked.
“...thank you Mr Governor,” Winston said slowly.
“Yes, thank you,” Lucius added.
“Oh, and I thought you ought to know,” the Governor said sadly. “My boys and girls in Galleon Anchorage have spotted Inquisition airships on their radars. They’ll be here in a few hours.”
- - -
Inquisitor General Kevin Wallace stood on the bridge of the Arbiter, his own prototype airship, and surveyed the Nation of Imperia below him as he scratched his thick ginger beard. He was a stocky man, not overweight but thick with strong muscles. In addition to his orangey beard he had a very short ginger military style buzz cut and small stern looking green eyes. He was not an aggressive man, but his natural demeanour commanded both fear and respect to the men and women that served under him.
Kevin felt a great sense of unease about leaving the remainder of his forces on Industria. In the past few days the Supernaturals, who had apparently been living in the shadows for the duration of the world’s civilised history, were now openly causing mayhem and havoc at random. It seemed as though there was several rivalries going on; bike gangs and other Supernaturals were fighting with the trouble makers. Alice had spoken briefly of an arrangement with the creatures who were supposed to be in charge, so they could have been them, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. They were all enemies in his eyes.
In addition to the foul unholy beasts of the night, the MPK’s had been acting up. It was nothing as bad as on Imperia, but Kevin knew it wouldn’t be long until they used the pandemonium to their advantage. But Alice assured him that the cause of the world’s problems resided in Imperia City, so Imperia City he would take.
The twenty-one airships that he was now commanding, which was the majority of the Inquisition’s fleet, had just flown over Galleon Anchorage. There was a little bit of resistance from the harbour town. The ships anchored there had opened fire with their anti-aircraft missiles but his airships had shot them down easily as they flew overhead. A few stray missiles had caused glancing hits, but it was nothing that the vehicle’s thick underbelly armour couldn’t shake off. They had not retaliated against the ships as they hoped to reclaim them from the renegade Military Peace Keepers after they’d dealt with Capital.
A slight drizzle started to hit the main cockpit window as they flew over the pleasant mist-shrouded grassy meadows, small towns, farms, villages, and deep woodlands, to the corrupt and vile heart of the continent of Rura.
Kevin thought to himself as he played with his beard that it wouldn’t be long now until everything was back in order – it wouldn’t be long at all.
- - -
Winston and the gang had not wasted a moment of time since they’d heard the news. Lucius and the newly upbeat Governor were busy finalising preparations for the impending Inquisition air raid while Lewis, Veronica, Xavier, and himself had made their way to the underground garage.
They had selected an armoured truck with the thickest armour and left the Hotel Noir with an escort of MPK jeeps and smart black Shadow Circle cars. They rode in silence in the back of the truck. Veronica held Winston’s hand tightly in her cold one, Lewis was smiling to himself, and Xavier checked his pistols thoroughly. The roads were clear apart from their patrols, and the streets were quiet apart from MPK activity. Only a few people loitered here and there, and Winston knew that most were actually Alts in hooded casual wear. They still remained vigilant for a last minute Trinity attack. No one knew just exactly how many Catacomb portals they had, but the one they did know of in the Archivist’s Capital Library was under even heaver guard than it was before.
They arrived at the World GOVT without incident and Winston was escorted inside. The building was ghostly silent, as they had put the order through for it to be emptied except for authorised personnel in the know. Winston, Veronica, Lewis, and Xavier got in the elevator and headed for the top floor, for Winston needed to get there to access the roof, whilst the others that had escorted them spread out. Some stayed put and guarded the bottom floor entrance, and the others, mostly Supernaturals with good ranged magic, headed for higher floors in case of the very probable chance of an airship attack.
From the top floor it was only a short journey through a maintenance door, up a spiral staircase, and through another thick metal maintenance door, which they had to blow off its hinges, to the large flat roof. The rooftop was barren except for a tall metal radio mast that had some Inquisition tech built into it. Soft rain fell upon them, and the wind blew hard and cold.
“Nice weather today,” Lewis joked sarcastically.
“Always the joker,” Veronica sighed.
“Lighten up, V. It’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything...” Lewis chuckled.
Veronica shrugged and Winston prepared himself, reaching into his jacket and pulling out his book and quill.
“Could someone take care of that antenna, please?” Winston asked nervously. “It’s in my space.”
“Sure thing, fiancé,” Veronica said. She strained and motioned with her hands until her telekinetic powers cracked the concrete and plucked the radio mast upwards like an uprooted tree.
Lewis hurled some force magic at the mast, smashing it into smaller pieces, before Veronica scattered the pieces and discarded them below.
Breathing deeply, Winston took his place in the dead centre of the roof. He called upon the vast, almost ungraspable knowledge in the back of his mind, and willed with all his might for Imperia City to merge with Gloom City. His book and quill began to radiate a golden light, and then he thrust the quill upwards towards the sky.
Lewis, Veronica, and Xavier stepped backwards as Winston became shrouded in the same golden energy as his book and quill. Power emanated from him in powerful waves and a beam of white and black magic shot upwards from the quill, piercing the clouds like a bolt of lightning in reverse.
Dark clouds curdled and stirred from the beam’s entry point. Winston continued to send the magical energy upwards, and soon swirls of dark purple began to appear, until a disc of dark grey and dark purple hovered above the city. He struggled to control the massive influx of power, but he knew it would be over soon; he only needed to hold on for five or ten minutes maximum.
As Winston looked to the horizon past the dark clouds his magic was creating, he could see the fleet of Inquisition airships heading for the city.
- - -
Wallace and his people watched the strange energy shooting into the sky above the World GOVT building. They knew time was of the essence and that they had to act fast.
“Goddesses above,” one of the pilots said, “I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“That’s our target,” Wallace said gruffly. He started tapping commands into the nearest monitor, and soon he was broadcasting live to the whole fleet. “All Inquisition forces, this is General Wallace. The main target is atop the World GOVT building. I will lead the main attack with a fe
w others. Everyone else attack the enemies on the walls and in the Capital. I will transmit the details shortly. It is imperative to the future of the world that we succeed here today, and we must do so at any and all costs. If we must die to protect the innocents and the faithful in the world, then so be it. But if you all keep your heads screwed on tight, and remember your training and your faith in the Twin Goddesses, you will live to fight another day.”
Wallace cut the transmission and began quickly assigning orders and targets to the fleet.
- - -
“Wow, that’s a pretty big airship,” Alexander said to Brooke. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Brooke and Alexander watched the fleet drawing closer from the top of the Capital’s walls. The biggest airship was at the front of the Inquisition forces. Like the others it was triangular in shape and had silver and white coloured armour, but where the others had one hover rotor at their rear section, the large one had two. It was bulkier too, with several smooth-edged rectangular sections obtruding from its side.
Brooke said nothing as she lined up a shot with her anti-material rifle. She had selected one of the standard airships’ plasma-blue hover rotor as her target, and now she was waiting patiently for it to come into range.
The Military Peace Keepers on the wall didn’t know which way to look. The clouds above them were dark and going crazy, white and black ‘light’ was surging into the sky from the World GOVT building, and there were a fleet of Inquisition airships closing in on them. The gang members around them stayed calm and collected. The MPK’s knew they were different and had abilities, but they didn’t want to lose their composure in front of them, so they snapped their focus away from the strangeness within the city and readied the anti-aircraft weaponry.