Kindles of War

by Nicol Terra

  “Miss!” They both said.

  “Status report.” She said. The men pressed a button, the room windows sinking inside the ship, revealing eight large airships in front of her and three next to her to own. The balloons were the largest devices used by the modern military. They were miles long, often the size of a small city and can hold a legion of over two hundred thousand soldiers. The airships were all various colors, with the balloons being a solid blue, red or yellow.

  The noble gas lights were cycled with Air, and they helped distinguish which side was which. The few mile longships had roughly three parts. The balloon had a large metal room that was monitored, steered and controlled by a Holocube. The Lower Basket that held the soldiers can hold hundreds of Airsails or Floatboards. Combat in the Sky was the most crucial advancement in warfare since the invention of the Aircraft Carrier. The mile-long airships were called 'Behemoths,' and with their ability to wipe off Agall and Erus in one blow with a charged blast makes them dangerous in the sky and land.

  “Mysen and Maplesworn are fighting against us hard; they are keeping us in the skies.” One of them said, then a blast of fire came towards her ship. She smirked, creating a yellow energy field around the ship as the fire veered to the side.

  “Split up my legion, send Regiments five to ten to man this ship and the cannons. The other half will man the Airsails; we got to blast those smaller ones out of the sky," She said, rubbing her chin. She was outnumbered ship to ship, but she could outflank them. “Also, give me a visual on Ryunsun.” She said.

  One of the Commanders pressed a button on the deck as a cube popped up from the deck and showed an image of Ryunsun. The back of him had an open door, with hundreds of men rushing behind him. He stumbled, the lights going out behind him.

  “Looks like you are getting hammered hard.” She said.

  “Good to see you too, got any ideas?” He said another stumble as the lights beneath him. She looked to see his ship in front of hers, being blasted by three more.

  She walked over to the cube on the deck, swiping through names on it, pressing both Yuki’s and Shojis.

  Shoji came up first as his ship was bare with only himself in the room. Shoji had a leather coat on, with light green slacks on his pant legs. He also had a blue crystal dangling around his neck. The room behind him was closed. Yuki came up afterward, the door behind her was open with a similar state of chaos, soldiers rushing back and forth, trying to operate the ship.

  “Let's route them, back up Ryunsun’s Ship,” Yukari said.

  Yuki raised a brow. “And risk the chance of wiping out all our ships? No thanks.”

  Shoji shook his head. “I have an Idea.”

  “What's the idea?” Yukari asked

  “Do you need a distraction?”Shoji asked. Both Yuki and Ryunsun raised a brow as Yukari shrugged.

  “Well, it would be nice,” Yukari said

  He smirked, stepping back a few feet as he sprinted through the screen as something wiped his visual out. Yukari looked at the sky to see a small man, creating a tunnel of wind to blast through a ship. One airship stumbled as Yukari shook her head.

  “Well, that is a distraction,” Ryunsun said.

  “You are right, that is… a distraction.” Yukari said

  Yuki bit her lip. “What are your orders?”

  “Let's split our battalions to man the cannons, the other half will man Airsails to knock ourselves a path.” Yukari said.

  Both Ryunsun and Yuki nodded. “Agreed, routing the order.”

  Both visuals cut off, Yukari turning to the two Chief Commanders, both saluting.

  “Relay that order; I will man a float board.” Yukari said.

  “And do what?” One of them said.

  She sighed. “Well, apparently to save someone.” She said. “Alica, you are in charge of the Legion while I am away. Luna, you direct the orders.”

  They both saluted as she rushed out of the room down the hallway. She looked to see many of the rooms open, their lights flickering and stuff scattered on the ground. She sighed- Looks like many panicked and just left the lights on. The rooms were all panicked with some even having meals still warm and wafting in the air.

  She rushed to the back of the ship, grabbing a float board, opening a door. She pressed the button on the board; the wind brushing past her face and jolted outside on the board.

  The battlefield was chaotic, hundreds of Airsails were fighting and blasting each other out of the sky, cannon fire was shattering the sound itself. The bolts of magic rushed past her as she darted from side to side. Their magic cannons were far too slow. She then saw a flash of lightning rush at her as she deflected it to the side with her right hand, knocking it to the ground below. She looked down below to see a vast open green plain- Siphor. She smirked, the board bolting sound itself as she rushed towards the Airship sinking. She gave off a Yellow Flash and saw a premonition of her being knocked into the ground below. She sighed, charging a beam of energy and blasted it left. The airship cannon was stopped midfire, blowing up half the ship, sinking it in half. She smirked.

  “Gonna have to try harder than that.” She said.

  She broke through the glass of the other airship, most of the ship on fire as she saw tens of Elves and Faeries pointing guns at her.

  “Freeze!” All of them said.

  “Damn Shoji, can’t even do your job right.” She said, creating a red energy ball and shooting it at them, knocking them all aside and killing them. She walked forward, stepping on arms, legs, and backs. She gave off a Yellow Aura and grabbed through a wooden door. She turned to see an elven man, trembling. She ripped the man through the door and knocking him aside. The man shook his legs, piss running down his pant legs.

  “Disgusting.” She said. “Leave now before I change my mind.” She said.

  The man bolted the other direction as she gave off a devilish smile. “Those who don’t need to die only need to know the fear of death.” She said to herself, grabbing her sword as she rushed forward to the docking room.

  Shoji knocked most of the men forward unconscious, many of them with no visible wounds. Many more weren’t even injured as they rattled back-and-forth mumbling to themselves. She cursed to herself.

  She rushed to the dock, Shoji the only inside. The room was completely cleared, the window not even open yet. She raised a brow.

  “I thought this was too easy. Where are the Chief or Legion Commanders?” She said. Shoji shrugged.

  “Not sure.” Shoji answered.

  “Well, easier for us. Maybe they are on the ground below?” She asked she pressed a blue button on the dock as a blue cube came up. She slid the window panel open, a smile overcoming her face. Most of the ships now next to her were falling, with Ryunsun’s, hers and Yuki’s smashing the defensive line in half, knocking off the ship after ship into the ocean.

  “Well, I will forgive the action of leaving your own.” Yukari growled.

  He shook his head. “I had a good excuse.”

  “What was it?” Yukari asked.

  “Sounded more fun to be here.” He said. Yukari felt a vein pop in her head. “Such a lack of discipline.” She thought.

  She rolled her eyes, her finger digging inside his coat. “You are a Legion Commander, one with over two million men under your belt. Act like it.” She said. He blinked once and reached inside his coat pocket as he pulled out a pink tablet. She smacked it aside.

  “Do I make myself clear?”She dug further in his shoulder.

  “Who died and made you the queen?” He said. Then a beeping sound came from inside his coat as he pulled out his Holosphere. An image of a female soldier, with a gun strapped to her back and green armor, greeted them...

  “Yo Vice General Aguni.”Shoji answered.

  “I am on your ship, where are you?” Aguni said.

  She smirked “Busted.”

  He rolled her eyes. “I saw a future where I needed to smack myself inside here.”

  “Well, float downward.
We have an army down here, and I need your men down here.” Aguni said.

  “How many legions?” Shoji asked.

  “Four. With the split and the causalities, we can muster three.” She said.

  She shrugged. “I will be down there in a minute. What are my orders?”

  “Yukari should ideally lead her two legions and try to rout them. Their morale is weak; we got them on the ropes.”

  Yukari nodded as the image faded away. “I guess we are meeting Aguni down below?” Shoji inquired.

  Yukari sighed. “Looks like it.”

  “It would be easier if I levitated us down, wanna try?” Shoji said.

  She rubbed her chin and smiled- she was never floated down with magic before.

  “If it's faster, let's do it.” Yukari nodded in agreement.

  Shoji created a small tornado in his right hand and threw it outside to the broken glass. In less than an hour after the battle started, seven Behemoths were sunk, and the eighth is about to be meeting the seven. Shoji and Yukari floated down to the ground below, the gust of wind dropping them. The crisp ocean breeze and the gentle wind felt new to her. In less than a minute, Yukari and Shoji floated down behind their army. The plain was an open green; not even a single tree-lined their way. The only thing visible were hundreds of thousands, clashing steel to steel or bullet to bullet. He rushed forward. “All right, lets split this army.”

  She turned up to the airship above as she felt red energy overcome as she swung her sword. A giant slash came from the blade, incinerating the balloon with one shot. She turned to Shoji, his face ghost white, his head shaking.

  “I can see why they call you the Tainted Knight.” He said, rushing the left as she rushed to the right. Luna and Alice greeted her, both in the middle of a few hundred men, lining shots of crystal magic at Elves and Faeries. She looked to see the Elves and Faeries slowly backing away. She smirked.

  “Luna, Alice. I will need your help.” She said.

  “Sure, what do you need?” Luna said.

  “Let's smash through them now. Rally the troops. I am leading the charge.” She said she was going to pull a page from Shoji’s book. She rushed forward, giving a green streak of energy as she bolted through five miles in less than a millisecond, slicing through fifty men with her blade in an instant. She stopped, analyzing her surrounding. There were hundreds of Faeries and Elves, most pointing their guns at her.

  “Shoot at the Tainted Knight! She is their Legionnaire!” They said. She smirked- Oh how she loved being the center of attention.

  She bolted from side to side, dodging hundreds of blasts of fire as she gave off a white energy field. She looked at all of them with a demon-like smile.

  “Try again in a hundred years.” She said. She created a ball of fire with her left hand, many of them stepping back. She strapped her sword to her side and waved at them.

  “Bye-bye.” She said, throwing the flames at them as she created an explosion over three miles wide, swallowing up thousands of men and vaporizing them instantly. She didn’t even need to use one-hundredth of her power. The remaining men charged at her, thousands coming her as she raised her blade and pointed at them.

  “Push them back!” Yukari shouted. Thousands of her men came forward to clash at them, sword to sword, gun to gun. She then gave off a purple aura as she bolted to the side. She saw someone with a magic weapon pointed at her, Faerie. She had white wings with a small cape and cap. She smirked.

  “A commander?” She thought to herself.

  She then saw the barrel gave off a new color of light, a yellow-white as she shot a bolt of light from the barrel. Yukari tilted her head and dodged the bolt a few dozen centimeters before it hit her. Then, another flash of light rushed at her as she rolled a few feet forward. She rushed forward as the Faerie used her gun to block. Yukari slashed at her rapidly, the Faerie blocking each blow effortlessly as she rushed behind her.

  “Quick, but I assume you can’t take the output you generate, that is why you use a gun.” She said. Her face turned ghost white, Yukari raising her sword and slicing through her. She coughed up blood as she fell backward a few dozen feet.

  “Commander!” They shouted. Dozens dropped their guns and sword and ran towards the city itself. Of course, they would run, Legion Commanders were enough to stir fear inside them. She looked to her left, many thousands more doing the same. She walked forward, strolling past Faeries and Elves as they rushed to the wall. She was alone, and then a few seconds later, she walked to the walled gate, a force field of Water formed around the city.

  She waited as both Yuki and Ryunsun ran over to her, confused and their faces angry with her.

  “Why did you let them escape?” They both asked. She smiled, her grin gaping as she turned to the wall. She felt the wooden gate brush across her fingers. It smelt of oak and magic as she created a red ball of energy. The gate was probably two miles tall, a mile long and over a hundred inches thick. Her, it was old, it was built nearly ten thousand years ago. Each time cities grew more prominent, people would often lift the walls into parts and assemble them again. Cities have built walls because everyone lived in cities. This city hasn't been touched by an army in twenty-five thousand years.

  “You see it is not about winning a war.” She said, rubbing her hand across the gate. She charged a ball of Red Aura all of her power into the wall, smashing through the gate and turning it into dust in less than a second. “It is about telling the world the strength of Zynthia.” She said. Moments later, the forcefield was dispersed as the city was now completely defenseless.

  Corpses, the front of the wall had burnt bodies or leftover remains of clothes. The people screamed, rushing past each other and running far into the city itself. The smell of fire and oak was prominent in the air as Yukari looked at her right fist, not a single scratch.

  Yuki stomped away as Ryunsun sighed, raising his hand at his legion and pointing at the gate. Behind them were thousands of men rushing forward, guns and swords in hand. Ryunsun walked past her, stopping for a moment.

  “I will see you inside.” He said, quietly making his way inside the city. Yukari sighed. “You don’t have to like my methods Ryunsun, but I am sure the state appreciates them.”

  Tina looked at the roof, unable to fall asleep. It was early morning, the bell that woke everyone up crackled through the air. Everyone put their clothes on, Erudite always being first to put on her clothes and giving her report to the commanding officer. She sighed, she couldn’t help think about her mother. No matter how she looked at it, she was afraid about what may happen to her. Poorman's disease took its course in two years, and it has been three years since she was diagnosed with it. She felt a hand slapped on the arm softly; it was Erudite.

  “Get up. We are doing duels today.” She said Tina nodded. She grabbed the blue dress Erudite gave her and slipped it on, it shimmering silk sliding on her entire body. Tina fluttered her black and white wings, flying outside with the rest. She then felt Erudite grab her shoulder as she jolted up.

  “Are you okay?” Erudite asked.

  “I am now.” She lied and forced a smile. Erudite nodded. Erudite knew that was a code word for "Leave me alone for now."

  The hallway always never ceased to amaze her. Each day, they added a new ball of light that floated gently below the rough. Each ball of light was designed to count the number of days they have been here, training. Also, each new ball of light scrambled Holonet Access, so anyone who wanted to use their Holosphere for anything other than buying things or as a map, the balls of light formed a straight beam of yellow light that shined across the hall and around the building. Then, the light created such a stream.

  "Uh-oh," Erudite said. Tina turned to see a young Faerie trying to call with his Holosphere, only for a few soldiers to pull him aside to take his Holosphere. When he returned to the line with the rest of his Squad, they laughed and mocked him.

  "Aww, poor Jimmy misses his mom-" Someone started, until Tina froze time, grab
bing a nearby rubber ball and throwing it at the kid. When Time began again, the bully was smacked upside the head as Erudite let out a small giggle and then rolled her eyes.

  "Oh no, you aren't supposed to do that." Erudite cooed. Tina smirked, now she was feeling better.

  "Oh hush, let me have my fun," Tina said. She saw Robin and Eve outside, their blue wings fluttering a cloud of blue dust as they ground beneath them froze. The other squads diverted across the field into other directions, east, west, north or south. Tina's Squad got the big field today, and since it is sparring, that was a luxury. She then winced. "I haven't dueled anyone in six months." Tina thought to herself. Robin and Eve flew over, their jaws wide.

  "Wow, I saw that! That ball appeared and knocked him in the face?" Robin said

  "Did you do that?" Eve asked

  "Almost got us in trouble too." Erudite sighed.

  “You guys seem excited.” Tina changed the topic. Robin gave a confident grin, with Eve sighing in response. Her eyes suddenly became droopy.

  “Eve said if I can kick her ass in a duel, she will buy lunch.” Robin said.

  “Fatass,” Erudite said, Tina gave a small laugh, now she felt better. Even Eve couldn’t help but giggle.

  “I only ate three lunches yesterday!” Robin protested, Eve raised her in finger in the air to object.

  “Only after you realized you ran out of Berries to pay!” Eve added.

  Robin glared at her, as the commander shouted at the top of his lungs, everyone ordering themselves in a straight line. Tina stood rigid, ready. The commander gagged and spat out a piece of leaf. Someone set the ring up for magic duels, about a square kilometer in the area in front. A bubble of magic was supposed to keep the damage inside the bubble, but this was not always the case. Sometimes, people on the outside can get hurt. Heck, even Commander Jay was a good few meters away from the bubble like the rest of us. He coughed and spat out another leaf.