by Joel Stewart
Chapter 14
West of Jorgen
Lena looked over her angels. Jesse, Davis, and Cliff all lay sound asleep in the bed of a troop transport Kurt Cerigan managed to flag down on its way out of Jorgen. They looked so peaceful sleeping. She looked up at Alex. Her eyes were glossed over. Probably thinking about her father . . . and her injured friends I suppose, Lena thought. The hidden military base called the Jorgen Command Post was coming into view. With the battle going on there was no hiding this location now, the military traffic in and out was thick. If I can cobble together parts of the Denorian military to work with me outside of the purview of the General Reminir we might actually have a chance. She looked back at Jorgen. The Chengarian forces were moving forward slowly, giving ample time for Denorian forces to withdraw. I know I don’t swear allegiance to any nation, but this sight is still sad. She mused. The Creator must have a plan . . . he must.
Kurt climbed out of the front of the transport to join the rest of the group in the rear, interrupting Lena’s train of thought. He held a headset in his left hand. “I have a call for you from one of General Stovak’s aides. Says her name is Riley?”
Lena took the headset and put it on. “They are safe for now.” She responded to a question no one else could hear. “No, you do your best to bring Stovak to the Jorgen Command Post alone. Tell Arelia I need her south with the Ice Nomads, she knows what to do.” There was a pause as a few more words were spoken through the headset before Lena took it off and handed it back to Kurt.
“Ice Nomads?” Kurt queried, “Why would anyone who is not a fame-seeking biologist want to go there?” The north and south of the planet had large ice-covered continents inhabited by highly tribal nomads. In addition to these hearty survivors, there were also large populations of native wildlife that were unbelievably odd. Most of the yet-to-be-discovered animal species lay in The Shattered Lands, Ardia, or one of the polar continents. Since exploring Ardia or The Shattered Lands was likely to result in the biologist getting eaten by cannibals, braving the frozen reaches of the poles was the logical second choice.
“The Ice Nomads remember history. They stood with us long ago against this demon, and I believe they will stand with us again.” Lena responded.
“Their technology is pretty far behind.” Kurt said doubtfully. “I’m not sure how much good they do.”
“Perhaps.” Lena replied with a smirk. “But I have been working with the southern Ice Nomads for several years now on basic defenses. While they might not add much, it might just be enough to tip the scales in the end. This battle was just the beginning. Serenis has consolidated her power to the east in Chengar and to the west in Ardia. Our allies mostly lay to the south, and with war coming to us on two fronts we will need all the help we can get.”
“If Reminir really is sabotaging our military response to this invasion he will likely turn down help from our allies.” Kurt looked down, his face drawn. “I honestly don’t know what we can expect to do.”
“For today we are alive, that is better than most that have been left behind in that ruined city. Tomorrow holds no such promise for any of us.” Lena looked sad as well. She looked south toward the Brentaran mountain range where she knew she had just sent Arelia on a perilous journey across half the world. “Till we meet again, dead or dying . . .”
Davis coughed and pushed himself up on his elbows to look at Lena, pain and determination were clearly written on his face. “Show ’em what hell’s like.”
Epilogue
Underneath Dengrin Castle
Alden Foren looked over his newest report with growing disbelief. Reminir had inexplicably retreated from a winning battle, giving Chengar a beachhead on the Denorian mainland. He tapped his fingers on the top of the commander’s desk, a seat that would normally be filled by Reminir in this situation. The Emergency Command Center was located over a dozen stories below the Castle Dengrin in the heart of the mountain. The last time it was used was over fifty years ago during the last war with Chengar and emergency procedures mandated its use by the governing circle during a war. So far he and Luke were the only ones to show up, another fact that baffled Alden. Despite its lack of use, it had been updated over the years and it was completely functional.
He could see the tactical overlays of the battle for Jorgen in real time and computer screens were constantly scrolling down battle chatter and official message relays. The new airships performed flawlessly, the torpedo grid was more effective than they had ever dreamed, Chengar barely occupied a third of the city and was on the retreat, and the order was given for Denoria to withdraw.
On top of this conundrum there was the fantastic tale Luke had been spinning him. Alex and her security force had been missing, a fact that had him pacing back and forth for the better part of two days. The immediate worry was that something had happened to Alex and this was something he couldn’t shake even though Luke kept telling him that she was fine. He began by saying he was part of a secret military wing of the Sanctum and that Alex and her team were with them for protection. Later he started talking about how she had an angel sleeping inside her and that her whole team was the only hope the world had. How was a man of science supposed to believe that? Finally, he said that the Sanctum now believed Reminir had been possessed by a demon, the most absurd postulation of all! Now, he wasn’t so sure.
The first piece of evidence was the dragons, obviously. Where did they come from and how could such numbers go unnoticed for hundreds of years? The second piece of evidence was the woman that left that giant crater over the eastern forest. He was positive that only a massive explosion or perhaps a meteor strike could cause damage on that scale and yet they had it clearly on video that she caused it. The last piece of evidence was the pile of dragon bodies found under the mountain that Reminir had inexplicably bombarded. The mountain happened to be a Sanctum stronghold and the dragon remains found inside it were not mechanically modified like the ones they had done battle with. There was an unbelievable number of them—hundreds—and none of them had even tried to escape. It was as if they were all in some sort of suspended animation or hibernation.
Reminir wasn’t necessarily possessed. If Alex had been captured, they could be using her as leverage and his standoffish act could all be a way to protect Alden and encourage him to create some sort of shadow government. He couldn’t believe that he would put his daughter before the entire country, but this hypothesis would account for the withdrawal at Jorgen as well.
Alden sat up straight as a new report came in from the Jorgen Command Post. Alex was there, and safe. The report was written by General Stovak and sent directly to the Emergency Command Center and addressed to him. It was titled “Reminir Compromised.” Somehow, Stovak knew Alden was in the command post and that Reminir wasn’t. Stovak wanted him to use the ECC to coordinate with Denorian forces across the continent and keep Reminir out of the loop until he could be deposed.
The castle was completely under his control and Stovak wanted to avoid a civil war at all costs. Reminir was a well-loved general and loyal troops would follow him to the grave. The only way to avoid civil war was to have Alden coordinate the real military movements and have Stovak and his officers send false reports to the capital from the field. Alden smiled broadly. Alex was safe, and he had a job to do. A job the future of Denoria was depending on.
To Be Continued . . .