Sham-Bon sat his drink on the balcony railing saying, “I couldn’t very well have left it all to chance with the odds of all that political nonsense working out being slim to none. The plan I devised took years, and it is because of that planning that my family’s name is about to return to its rightful legacy. Now I think I’ll put an end to you, before you try doing something stupid.”
The next few moments seemed to go by in slow-motion. Alfred turned to look behind him as something crashed through the glass wall. There was someone lying on the floor- it was Marcie! He saw Pink walking menacingly towards her.
“Marcie, are you al--” Alfred’s cry was cut short as Sham-Bon attacked him quickly with his back turned, stabbing a longsword that gleamed with a red hue through his chest so that it stuck out the other side.
“ALFRED NO!” Marcie’s scream echoed around the king’s office.
Sham-Bon flashed his sinister smile and wickedly announced, “Welcome home my child.”
14 ON THE FRONT LINES
Aaron Flux thoroughly enjoyed being a Rift Resolver. It was an independent job where most of the time the Resolvers would be sent on solo missions. Never before had he been in anything close to an all-out war, and he had certainly never been in charge of leading the rebellion against a royal military’s forces. But despite all this, he believed in Al Moreno. Flux had joined the Society a year before Alfred turned eighteen and was eligible to sign up. Even so, Moreno had been able to surpass him in all of his training and even received his Rift Blade a few months before Flux got his. Alfred had escaped from gods, taken his rift mission far beyond the call of duty, and risked his own life countless times for the safety of a planet he knew almost nothing about. If Al could do all that, Aaron thought, the least I can do is buy him some time.
The battle wasn’t looking good for the village of Bratvia. They had managed to hold off the first squadron of soldiers until now, shooting at them from behind the cover of the North wall. Flux ducked down for a moment, catching his breath and trying to think of a plan of action. He watched in horror as a villager beside him fell with a thud to the ground. Flux crawled over to him, careful to keep his head out of gunsight.
“Hey, hey! Where are you hit, talk to me man!” Flux was searching frantically for the entry wound, but the man could say nothing and only made an eerie gurgling noise as if something was bubbling up in his throat.
Flux noticed the man had his hand clasped tightly against the side of his neck.
“No, damn it!” Flux yelled as the man’s hand fell limp and the light left his eyes.
Another villager crawled quickly to his side shouting, “Sir we’ve got to move. Now! They’re clearing way for the tank.”
Flux glanced at the dead villager beside him once more, his heart filled with guilt and sorrow. Then he remembered he had a duty and turned to the others around him.
“Everyone get back! Off the wall now, they’re gonna blast it down! Push back to the sanctuary, we have to defend it!” he yelled to anyone left that could take heed of his directions.
The remaining dozen or so men leaped and crawled to the rope ladders. Flux made sure they had all gotten down safely and then followed after them swiftly. He ran after the group of villagers racing for the sanctuary’s doors on the opposite side of the compound. The man who had warned him about the tank was running just ahead of him and Aaron forced his legs to pick up the pace to catch up with him.
“Any news of Lornan?” he asked in between catching his breath.
“No sign of him yet.”
Aaron shook his head. He had sent one of them, a man named Lornan, to try to get help from the closest village. It was a larger compound called Granderfall in the Eastern section of the forest. The man had taken Ardmon’s motorbike and the roundtrip could be made in a few hours, but there was no telling if he had been able to avoid the Huck men on his way.
“You guys must have some sort of radio or something we can use to contact the other village, don’t you?” Flux asked hopefully as they arrived in front of the sanctuary along with the other men.
“I’m afraid it’s no good sir. Ardmon has been trying to reach Granderfall all morning and it seems that the airship is sending out something that blocks our radio signals.”
“Damn it, can I have nothing?” Aaron said angrily to himself.
The men had spread out around the front side of the building forming a blockade. The doors to the courtyard opened quickly and Ardmon ran out before they shut back behind him. He ran up to Flux and was about to say something but all voices were lost in the sound of a massive explosion. Aaron looked to the North wall and saw a massive chunk had been crumbled to bits by the tank’s round. Huck men were already beginning to climb over the rubble, breaching the compound.
“Ardmon, get all the men inside the sanctuary. Have them climb on the wall of the courtyard and get all the civilians in the main lobby. We need the higher ground. Give them hell.”
Ardmon nodded and went to gather the villagers, leading them through the gates into the courtyard. When the last one had safely made it through Ardmon called out to Aaron, who was still outside of the building.
“Hurry, come on! They’re getting close!”
“I’m staying here. I’ll take out as many as I can and I’ll fall back to cover when I need it. Do not open those doors, no matter what!” Flux demanded.
Ardmon looked as if he were about to argue but the Huck army was now in full view. Soldiers filled the main road as far back as the eye could see, and more were still coming in through the wreckage of the wall. The sturdy man dipped his head to Flux and disappeared into the courtyard, the gates closing firmly behind him.
Alright, Aaron thought, now’s my time to do something. Flux stood alone in the center of the road. The remainder of the fighting villagers had climbed onto the walls around the courtyard and sat on top of them- aiming down with whatever weapons they had left.
Flux dropped flat to the ground, momentarily out of view of the oncoming men. Hurriedly, he reached for his Rift Blade and took a strange looking gun from his side holster. It had every component of a normal handgun, only instead of a barrel there was a holding contraption on top. Flux took his blade and set it in the gun, tightening the sides of the contraption until it held the Rift Blade steady in place. He pulled the trigger in ever so slightly and the tip of the blade began to glow bright purple. He released the trigger and stood up.
“Over here, fuckers!” he screamed his own personal version of a war cry.
The Huck men who were closest to Flux were now made fully aware of his presence. Seeing this, he began to run away from the sanctuary, ducking quickly behind a plasti-crete building as bullets hit the dirt where he had been standing moments before.
“Hey, there’s one over there! He must be crazy or something telling us where he’s at. These stupid savages.” one of the men who had seen Aaron yelled to the others.
Most of the men in the first squadron were now running in the direction of Flux. Aaron stepped out into a second road between the buildings, while further up ahead several dozen men ran towards him. The first row lifted their guns, firing round after round of energy ammunition directly at the Rift Resolver. Flux was quicker though, pulling the trigger of his Rift Blade gun all the way in now- sending out a blast of purple beam which swallowed up all the bullets that headed for him. The beam continued to travel out toward the first dozen or so men that had shot. Aaron aimed the gun from side to side, forcing the ray of rift portal to cover up a larger area. It sucked up every last trace of the men and their weapons.
One of the Huck men who had been fortunate enough not to be in the line of Aaron’s shot called out to the others in a panicked voice, “Go back to the main road, he’s got some kind of death-ray!”
“Death-ray, yeah you wish buddy. I’m sending you guys all to a creepy island full of possessed Russian nesting dolls. Waaaay out on the edge of the galaxy.” Flux laughed to himself as began to run after where the men ha
d headed back to the main road.
It looked like there was now a great deal of confusion going on amongst the royal military. The second squadron had started to enter the battlefield. However, the men in the first group were now running into them in an attempt to get away from Flux. The Rift Resolver paused for a moment behind the cover of a building. Combining so much of himself with the Divine Energy was beginning to take a toll on his stamina. He wouldn’t be able to do that big of an attack again for a while. Aaron looked around the corner and saw that the men of the village had begun raining arrows and energy bullets at the enemy. Taking advantage of their confusion, he pulled the trigger in once quickly and shot a rift into the middle of the street and then another smaller one directly in front of him. Pulling a regular gun from his right-side holster he fired all the rounds in his first clip into the smaller portal. Then he took off running behind the larger one in the street. The men who saw him had no chance to shoot for they were now receiving Flux’s gunfire that emerged from the portal in the road.
Aaron tried to make for the door but was met by another group of Huck men cutting off his path. The villagers were too tied up to notice he was trying to get back into the cover of the sanctuary. He knew he didn’t have enough energy to muster an attack on the men. So Flux did the only thing he could think to do- he shot himself in the chest with his Rift Blade gun.
Aaron had only ever experienced being shot by that particular gun one time before. It was when his personal mentor in the Society had first given him the weapon. The man had invented the contraption himself and had decided to pass it on to Flux when he graduated from training. His mentor had shot him once and teleported him across the room, making sure he knew the pain the gun inflicted when it transported its target. Aaron once again felt that gut-wrenching pain, right in the middle of his chest. He got to his feet slowly and found himself inside the walls of the courtyard.
“Ugh...remind me to aim for the foot next time.” he groaned as he climbed up the front wall and found himself beside Ardmon.
“You don’t. Look so. Good.” huffed the man.
“Speak for yourself there wheezer. Need to lay off the cigarettes, eh?”
“I’ll never smoke another if we make it out of this alive, hell- maybe a cigar instead!”
“You got a deal there.” Flux replied in agreement.
Just then, a chunk of the wall they hunkered below blew to pieces, taking a hit from an energy round.
Ardmon jumped back down into the courtyard followed by Flux.
“That was a close one.” Ardmon commented.
“Let’s just be glad they haven’t managed to get that tank in here yet.” Aaron shot back.
The two men made as if to head up the other side-wall but were stopped by a shouting boy with a bow. It was Jashi.
“Lornan...Granderfall…” the boy was completely out of breath and could hardly be understood in between his gasps for air.
“What? What are you saying- what’s happened to Lornan?”
“No...they’re coming...haven’t stopped running- met Lornan leading a group of villagers here. Shouldn’t be much longer...South Gate.” as the boy finished he collapsed to the ground, passed out from exhaustion.
“This kid’s going to be a hero when this is all over with. Take him into the main lobby and get him checked out by Mother Via. When those men reach the South Gate, lead them back around the side of the compound and try to get behind those bastards. And watch out for that tank!” Flux directed.
Ardmon nodded and scooped Jashi up in his arms, carrying him quickly toward the lobby’s doors. Flux headed up the wall that the front gates were set in and climbed onto the ledge. He peeked his head up over the wall and blasted a beam of rift portal on the men who had tried to intercept him as they were firing rounds into the doors. The Huck men disappeared in screams of pain and agony. Aaron ducked back down quickly as he heard bullets whizz past him.
“Alright Moreno...I’ve bought you some more time. Now hurry up already!” he yelled out, raising back over the ledge and firing both his guns into the never-ending streams of the Huck military.
15 OVER THE EDGE
Alfred’s body began to convulse, and he forcefully coughed up mouthfuls of warm blood that seeped from his mouth onto the cool white floor below. He fell to his knees as his attacker slid the sword back out of his chest. Alfred looked at Marcie who was desperately scrambling to her feet in an attempt to help him.
“No... Marcie, stay back.” Alfred managed to choke out as he pushed his arm down onto the floor, using it as leverage to get back on his feet.
She ignored him, reaching him quickly and helping him to stand.
“How interesting, I must say I wasn’t expecting this. I’d love to hear how my Altarian Rue Longsword hasn’t killed you, Rift Resolver. That was a fatal blow for the average man.”
“Well,” Al began to explain, “maybe that’s because I’m not average. And hell, maybe I’m not even a man. I really don’t even know or care anymore- but I am going to kick your ass.”
Henry lit up from inside Alfred’s pocket and said hesitantly, “Sir, you probably could have phrased that differently…”
Pink had now walked up and stood a little ways behind Marcie and Alfred. He laughed at the A.I.’s comment before saying to his boss, “Can I kill these two yet?”
“Kill the girl, she is a traitor afterall. I’ll take care of Mr. Moreno here.” the king ordered his guard.
“Alfred what do you mean? You’re not human?” Marcie looked at him, startled.
“No time now, can you handle that guy? Henry, help her out as much as you can.” Alfred grabbed the egg out of his pocket and set it on the floor.
Pink was now rushing at Marcie from behind, but Henry had lowered out two sets of small tires- turning himself into a mini egg-shaped tank rolling speedily around the floor. He flashed his high beam golden lights into the eyes of his friend’s attacker, causing him to miss Marcie and crash head-first into a nearby bookshelf.
Marcie shot a vein-chaser into Sham-Bon, who had once again lunged at Alfred with his sword. It distracted the king for a moment. Even if it couldn’t kill him, it was still tearing through his skin causing extreme pain and messing with his aim.
“Me and Henry can handle Pink. Alfred I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’d do anything for you. Now it looks like that giant highlighter is getting back up- tear him apart!” Alfred exclaimed ardently.
They held one another’s gaze for a moment longer, a glance that could only be understood by two individuals who truly loved one another. Then Marcie ran back toward Pink who had regained his bearings, followed by Henry zigzagging all over the ground behind her.
Alfred’s attention was instantly refocused on Sham-Bon, who was ripping the vein-chaser out of his chest as it neared his heart.
“What’s the point in ripping it out? I never took you for one to have much of a heart.” Alfred gibed.
“Seems like yours can take quite a piercing.” Sham-Bon spat back, seeing the wound he had inflicted in Alfred’s chest had sealed itself back up.
Alfred swung a right-handed punch at the king’s face, but Sham-Bon dipped to the side at the last moment causing Al to slide past him and run into the balcony railing. The king wasted no time and leaped onto him, forcing him hard to the ground. Something shiny fell out of the Rift Resolver’s jacket pocket and went skidding across the floor. It was the Crystal of Gosia.
Sham-Bon made the mistake of glancing at the crystal and in that split-second Alfred grabbed his Rift Blade and sunk it deep into the king’s side. But something strange happened. Sham-Bon released his grip from pinning Alfred down and fell beside him, clutching where the blade had struck him, obviously in pain. Alfred got to his feet while Sham-Bon struggled to do the same. When they had both gotten up the king removed his hand- behind it a gaping hole had appeared, showing through his body and out the other side.
“What have you done to me?” he asked f
uriously.
“Well I gotta say, I tried to send your entire body into the ultimate abyss but it seems as if only a part of you has gone.”
“Ultimate...abyss. What is this you speak of?” Sham-Bon was trying to stall as he steadily became more use to the hole in his body. It must have hurt like hell, but he was regaining his strength bit by bit.
“The Place of No Return, as the Rift Society calls it. A portion of your soul has been completely destroyed- it is in a place of utter nothingness. For this reason, it is a tactic only used by Rift Resolvers on the foulest scum in the Universe. An honor I’ve bestowed upon you.” Alfred took a mocking bow.
Sham-Bon looked as if he were about to ask more but Al charged at him now, wielding his Rift Blade in his right hand.
“I know you’re buying time old man, but I thought I’d at least let you know where your soul will be lost to for all of eternity.” Al spoke through gritted teeth, his blade meeting the king’s sword.
***
Meanwhile, Marcie had her hands full dealing with Pink. She didn’t dare try to catch a glimpse of how Alfred was holding up, but she could hear the sound of his Rift Blade hitting against Sham-Bon’s Altarian Rue sword. Damn I want that sword, she thought, while dodging one of Pink’s punches- kicking out with her shielded foot and landing a kick in his groin.
“Ow! Damn, I may be immortal but take it easy on the sensitive spots will ya?” the man complained.
Marcie said nothing and continued her assault, sending an onslaught of throwing stars into the man. He was on the defensive, and dove to the side to avoid the stars, only one sticking into his leg. But Marcie knew she had only needed one to stick. Yes- she was on him now. In the swift moment while he was distracted in an attempt to pull the star out of his leg, she sliced through his outstretched arm. It fell beside him, amputated. Pink managed to land a blind kick on Marcie that sent her flying back. She got to her feet to see him standing- but his arm hadn’t regenerated as she suspected- the wound had merely sealed itself so he wouldn’t bleed out and die.
Al Moreno And the Crystal of Gosia Page 13