Reflecting Equation - 9. By Any Means Necessary

"Jesus fucking Christ!”

Ryan rolled back on his mattress, doing this backward flip so he came up to his feet in a crouched stance. I blinked at him posed in the middle of his bed in nothing but a pair of old lounge pants and white undershirt.

I slowly raised my hands. “I definitely told you I was coming. I didn’t imagine that, right?”

Ryan rolled his eyes and dropped to the mattress. He sat on the edge and grabbed the blanket from where it had fallen on the floor. Ryan wrapped it tight around his shoulders and head. He glared at me through a tiny gap in between the fabric folds.

“You sent a text. And all it said was I’m coming over later,” he said, his voice muffled by the blanket covering his lower face. “I didn’t expect you to teleport in my bedroom at nine in the morning.”

I wagged my finger in front of his face. “Uh uh. That text said ‘I’m coming over. Later’. Later, as in goodbye. Come on, Ryan, keep up.”

He sighed loudly. “Fine, whatever. What are you doing up so early anyway? It’s a faculty planning day. No school. I figured you would be dead to the world until late afternoon.”

“That was the plan,” I started to say and then trailed off. Frowning I tugged the blanket from his head to reveal his face. “Um, have you been crying?”

Ryan looked away, eyes red-rimmed and slightly puffy. “No.”

He scratched at the patchy, almost but not quite five o’clock shadow on his face.

“You have a sad beard and you’re totally clutching that depression blanket like a teddy bear,” I pointed out much to his silent glower. “What’s wrong?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ryan said blandly.

For the first time, I noticed that his TV was on and its speakers were blaring some seriously intense music. On the screen a man declared he’d written some sad face girl for every day a year. She looked shocked and it was raining and seriously dramatic. A loud sniffle broke my concentration and I slowly turned around.

Ryan gestured wildly at the TV and fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. “It’s sooo sad!”

I blinked. “What’s going on? I don’t understand.”

Ryan ignored me. “Why can’t you see that he’s only ever wanted you! Nobody else matters!”

I looked at him with disbelief. “Are you crying at The Notebook?”

“You are ruining this for me.” Ryan glared. “I have feelings. Don’t put me in a box.”

“Ruining what for you?” I asked, feeling a little terrified and confused.

“I’m trying to explore my internalized feelings.” Ryan gestured at his chest and then the TV like that explained everything. It didn’t.

“Okay, that’s cool,” I said quickly, still spooked. “Look if you need to talk...”

I looked away from his tearful face and my eyes fell on the bedroom corner filled with balloons. Like a lot of balloons, an insane amount. And taking up a majority of the space was a giant teddy bear with a red heart in the center of its massive belly.

My lips twitched at the sight of the huge Care Bear and I put two and two together. “I take it Killian has been by.”

“That moron has been harassing me non-stop,” He grumbled. Except for the way he said moron was too fond, almost warm and it made me smile.

“You miss him.”

Ryan wiped his eyes shrugging. “Yeah... no.” Then he sighed, frustrated. “I don’t know. I was trying to get over him and move on. Then he almost set Lacey’s hair on fire in Chemistry and nearly had her deported from the country. Did you know she's Canadian?”

“Checkmate.” I smothered a smirk. “Atlanteans were always kind of territorial.”

“I haven’t gotten over him,” Ryan reluctantly admitted. His lips turned down in a hard frown. “But I’m not going to run into his arms like some Disney princess whose prince just rode up on horseback.”

I automatically giggled at the Disney reference. Focus, Chad. Right. “Well, he really misses you. He told me himself. We talked about it civilly and everything. It was all very chick flick.”

Ryan looked at me all pale and sleepy-looking, dark circle under his eyes. “Did he-” He shook his head like he was suddenly angry with himself. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

I reached out to touch him, heart lurching out how ghostly he looked in the dark room. “Ryan, come on. Talking helps.”

“If I talk about it I’m going to cry like a baby,” he said very softly, but resolute. “It’s just all too much in here.” He tapped his heart and then his head. “I just need some time. I don’t know.”

I wanted to make it right for him but I couldn’t. It’s not in my power to magic this all away. All I could do was be there and hope they worked it out.

“So why’d you come over?” Ryan asked firmly.

Subject change noted. “There’s a file in the command database that’s corrupted.”

“Wait, what?” Ryan said quickly, looking more like himself as the problem put him in his element. “Corruption of Atlantean software isn’t impossible. But it’s rare for it to happen within the command database.”

“I tried to repair it, but it’s a little out of my league. Writing programs into crystal tech was always your forte.”

Ryan nodded absently, thinking. “The operating systems were generations ahead of anything humans have come up with. In the rare event a corruption occurred specialists just coded a patch over it, a sort of workaround. There never was really a need to develop a method of repair, since it was never needed.”

My shoulders sagged with mounting disappointment. “Does that mean nothing can be done?”

He shook his head. “I can try at least. I would have to develop a repair program from scratch and then test it. Then there’s...” Ryan caught sight of my face and stopped mid-ramble, blushing. “Got carried away. It’ll take a while.”

“How long are you thinking?”

Ryan shrugged. “A month, maybe. I’m really not sure.”

“Listen, there’s something about that entry-”

I didn’t get the chance to finish as his bed started to vibrate. Or rather the phone on his bed silently vibrated with a long continuous buzz. Ryan scooped up the phone, then held it aloft as the screen light up. Killian’s face appeared on the screen first, then shifted as half the screen split vertically to show Adam’s face. This was followed by both windows moving up as Nathaniel took up the bottom half. Their expressions were identical. They looked worried. Not a social call then.

“What’s going on?” Ryan asked.

Nathaniel looked away from the screen for a moment and then said, “You haven’t seen the news yet then.”

I grabbed Ryan’s hand and turned it so the micro camera embedded in the casing could capture us both. “What’s on the news?”

“Chad?” asked Adam. “I’ve been trying to call you for like twenty minutes.”

I shrugged. “I left my phone at home.”

“A forest outside of San Francisco is on fire,” Killian said, getting straight to the point. ”They’re talking about evacuating the immediate area because they can’t contain it.”

“We can help but that’s not really our area,” I started to say, but stopped noticing their drawn faces. “What else?”

Nathaniel frowned. “It’s the fire. It’s spreading too fast and the flames are blue. Not red or orange, but bright blue. They’re saying it’s some type of gas anomaly. But...”

“It’s cursed fire,” I finished. “No one has enough juice to pull off this type of elemental spell on such a destructive scale. Besides me.”

Ryan looked at me and nodded. “It’s Cobalt. The Power Rangers are back.”

 

The globe of hardened light descended through acrid black smoke. Killian took us down into a clearing that was a quarter of a mile from the nearest blaze. We fanned out as Killian collapsed the bubble. I tried my best to block out the choking scent of smoke, but it kind of just swirled around in my lungs and made my eyes water.

“Scanning the area now,” The Executioner said, holding his phone to the air.

I was drawing in the dirt with my hands, digging up the soil as quickly and neatly as possible. I didn’t stop until a character formed in the ground dark with newly turned earth. I conjured a blade and then nicked my fingertip. A few drops landed on the sigil and the air hummed with new energy. Placing my hand on the sigil I whispered a word and willed the magic to take form. Invisible energy cascaded through the area. I could see the raging fires change from unnatural blue to orange, then slowly but surely the flames began to die altogether.

“Nice one.” Omega came to stand at my side. “What was that sigil?”

I watched the fires die, relieved. “Soaring Net of the Titans. Protection ward. With my power and blood backing it up it should keep this whole forest secure.”

The Executioner made a surprised noise. “I’m getting some weird readings here.” He pointed at a pair of trees. “There.”

Omega observed towering redwoods. “They look normal. What kind of the readings are you getting?”

“It’s coming from the space in between the trees.” He paused to explain, “Between the trunks is a portal to a region of phased reality.”

Solaris cracked his knuckles. “I bet that’s where we’ll find them. I’m so ready to slap someone’s face off.”

“Not my face please,” I smirked at his crestfallen expression. “Cobalt and I have unfinished business.”

I stepped through first with the others following closely behind. There was a tickling sensation like tiny feathers running over my body before it passed. We were still in a forest, but it was a much different place now. Golden barked trees with arched boughs were taller than any trees I’d ever seen. The leaves glinted purple and indigo in the sun and sounded like wind chimes as the breeze blew.

“It’s beautiful,” Adam murmured.

I couldn’t agree more. The Executioner reluctantly tore his gaze from the otherworldly forest and turned to his phone. “I was right. Those trees were anchors for a portal.”

“Where are we now then?” I asked quickly.

“We’re on Earth still...” said the Executioner, eyes glued to his phone. “This entire land is a tiny little region of specifically tuned space rotated ninety-one degrees out of phase with reality.”

“A pocket dimension?” My eyebrows went up. “So something wants to stay hidden.”

“But what? And what are the clones up to?” Omega asked. He closed his eyes and went still as he opened his telepathic senses. “There are lots of voices crying out, all at once.” He whipped his arm through the air as his eyes snapped open, steely determination shone something fierce. “That way.”

We took off through the trees and into the forest. An unearthly howl pierced the air and we faltered in our steps. It came again sounding like something from the darkest nightmare.

“I have a bad feeling,” muttered Solaris.

The Executioner stiffened suddenly. “Duck!”

In a blur of black, he dove for the champion of light. They fell in a tangle of limbs as a misshapen creature jumped from the bushes. I was able to glimpse an ape-ish monster with sloughing gray skin that looked diseased before it turned to me and lunged, chartreuse eyes bloodthirsty.

“Son of—”

It tackled me to the ground. Stars exploded behind my eyes as my head struck a rock. Spit splattered against my face as the ape-thing growled at me, its jaw snapping at my jugular. I wrestled with it and the damn thing was supernaturally strong. It had no trouble matching my attempts to overpower it.

I wedged an elbow under its chin and slammed my palm against its snarling face. “Die!”

There was an explosion of mystic energy as ruby light flared. Brain matter and bone sprayed as the energy blew its head apart. My breath left me as its body fell against my chest, a literal dead weight.

The others fought the ape-things as they swarmed our position. The horde was tough but they fell one by one to both fist and celestial power. But more kept coming. And coming.

From the southeast a war call went out, and men and women in sparkling silver armor charged into the fray, wielding shining curved swords of deathly promise.

With their aid the fight couldn’t even be called that as we outnumbered them five to one. The resulting bloodbath was something I haven’t been apart of since my days as Prince Emrys. My Chosen were still at my side, always, but my army was long gone.

At last it was over and we had a chance to gather our bearings. We looked upon those who came to our aide. One of the soldiers stepped forward and my eyes widened. The tall soldier was a woman of incredible beauty. Her hair was Crayola red and solemn green eyes stared at us curiously. Her silver armor glowed softly with an inner light of some kind of charmwork that was impressive but so very familiar. My eyes then landed on her pointed ears.

“Faerie,” I stated unintentionally.

She nodded slowly continuing to watch us strangely. The group of twenty five soldiers appraised us in the same way. Their blatant curios expressions bordered on disbelieving.

“Roghnaíodh,” she whispered in awe, like she was seeing a miracle. “You are Chosen!”

With that said the soldiers behind her watched us with unabashed wonder. The Chosen traded looks amongst ourselves. Okay, that was...unexpected.

“Was it you who stopped the hellfire?”

I nodded. “I only wish I had stopped it sooner. It’s been many years since our two people were friends,” I said, unconsciously slipping into Emrys’ lyrical cadence. “It does my heart good to see that you still remember us.”

“I’m Princess Aerulan, heir to the Equinox throne of Faerie,” she inclined her head in greetings. “Forgive me, but I have never laid eyes on your kind. Only the eldest of us have and their stories are cherished. Although recently...” she shook her head and refocused her thoughts. “You’ve come in our greatest hour of need. Our realm is under attack and our great city of Heresiarch has fallen.”

I gestured to one of the dead monsters. “What are these creatures and who is attacking you.”

“A terrible enemy that the forest whispers at being false shadows, real but not real,” she pursed her lips, troubled. “They’ve gathered the restless, savage fey the ones we call Wyldfae under their banner. Together they laid siege to our city. They kill without mercy and their powers of destruction eclipse our own except for my royal parents and their guard, and they’re the only reason we haven’t all perished.”

Ice chilled my veins and I said with complete remorse, “I’m sorry this happened. The ones attacking you wear our faces, but they’re evil itself and created only to bring suffering.”

“They wanted us to submit but we would not. Faeries are a proud people and will die first than willingly serve such vile creatures,” she said furiously.

The clones wanted to rule as gods. This was only one of their stops on their lets rule the world tour.

“We won’t let them get away with this,” I promised, meeting her green eyes dead on.

“We make for Aegis Lux. The King and Queen and their guard will make their stand there. Will you stand with us?”

I nodded sharply. “Whatever powers we possess we’ll use to defend your home. I swear it.”

Princess Aerulan’s smile hinted at vengeance to come. “Then let there be a reckoning.”

“What about your city?” asked Solaris.

Her eyes dimmed. “Our unit was sent to gather survivors while the rest of the Royal Guard attended to my parents. We found none. The city is in ruin. What is left of the Equinox fae lie within the mighty walls of Aegis Lux.”

“Then let’s be on our way to protect your people,” I said.

The pace the unit set was fast and relentless. The power armored troopers jumped over fallen trees, over streams and through brush without stopping and never wavering in speed.

We burst through the border of the forest and sitting in a grassy field of the greenest grass was a massive coliseum of shimmering crystal: Aegis Lux. Rising to surround it in a protective dome was a luminescent fuchsia shield of energy that rippled like the ocean’s heartbeat.

Aerulan beckoned us to follow closely behind her. “Come. Since the palace was destroyed the well of power has dried up. My mother is fueling the shield by her own power. It will recognize my blood so stay close lest you be obliterated.”

“Can do,” said Solaris.

Omega walked closely at my side with Solaris and the Executioner taking up the rear as we followed the princess and her guard through the barrier. It reminded me of going through the portal into this realm. Tingly but otherwise I didn’t feel a thing.

Let’s just hope the King and Queen was as kind as their daughter, and didn’t hold a grudge at us for our doubles destroying their kingdom.

 

The massive coliseum appeared bigger in the inside than it appeared from the exterior. It was simply one of the most gigantic structures I’d ever seen. There had to be at least forty-thousand people moving under the domed crystalline ceiling. It sparkled like diamond and reflected the sky outside creating a beautiful display.

Slowly but surely the crowd steadily lessened as groups of people dived into the large pool that took up residence in the interior’s center. It glowed with eldritch energy that made the liquid shine crystal blue with power. As people sunk beneath its waves there was a flare of light and they didn’t swim back up. Soldiers and officers commanded order through the crowd as they kept the line moving orderly.

“They’re evacuating,” said the Executioner, the first to realize what was going on. “The pool is a portal.”

“It’s both deeper and wider than you can imagine,” said Aerulan, eyes glued to somewhere other than the line of refugees. “We must seek asylum within the realms of the Radiant Sun and the Silver Moon. It’s been a long time since all three faerie courts have banded together in such a way.”

Omega cleared his throat. “Princess if we may speak to your parents we can formally offer their majesties our help.”

Princess Aerulan opened her mouth to reply but the sky through the crystal dome lit up and an explosion rocked the building. The fae, much to their credit, didn’t scream or panic. In fact, they increased their haste in making evacuations.

“Protect the light,” Aerulan ordered.

Her soldiers saluted and made their way through the crowd. I followed their progress as they took up positions within an already established ring of heavily armored guards. These soldiers were armed to the teeth with swords, shields and spears. Their gazes stared straight ahead, still as statues and ready for danger. I realized I was looking at the complete Royal Guard.

Behind the wall of elite soldiers was their prize. Two faeries stood tall, side by side, decked in garb that befitted only a king and queen. They were utterly enchanting with their timeless faces and blond hair so pale that it was white. The King and Queen of the Equinox court of Faerie stood motionless with their hands clasped before them in silent prayer. Their auras were two bright suns. The King radiated a strong blue and the Queen was a shining fuchsia of rolling power.

The Queen was powering the shield protecting the coliseum, and the King was fueling the portal leading to who knows where in the realms between the material planes. They stuck out like two sore thumbs once I opened my senses. They were throwing out enough power to twist my stomach into knots.

“They seem kind of busy,” said Solaris hesitantly.

The Executioner looked up from his phone, awed. “That’s a lot of power they’re using. Some of it’s their on life force.”

Omega looked at Aerulan quickly. “They can’t use their life force like that for long. It’ll kill them.”

“Their duty is to the people first,” said Aerulan evenly. “They’ll have it no other way.”

We made our way to the immobile wall that the guards formed. With no command the immovable wall of steel and armor parted before the princess of the crown. Past the ring of guards were a number of advisors, officials and officers. Princess Aerulan led us to the queen and king and we all halted in an abrupt dead stop, startled.

“The hell?”

Standing before the royal couple was two familiar figures. I barely managed to pick my jaw up from the floor. “Ian? Isabella?”

They stared at us with quiet confusion, but they weren’t struck dumb like we were. The twins were decked in light armor that was all flowing lines and shining silver, works of beauty and art. On their brows was a single thin jewel of beautiful sapphire. In their right hands were huge crystal claymores. The swords looked heavy but their owners gripped them with surety.

“You’re here?” asked Isabella, her melodious voice ringing with surprise and joy.

I stared at her disbelieving. “And you’re dead.”

“I have a pulse and everything, thank you very much,” said Ian sending me a light smirk.

I was in too much shock to form a witty comeback. Instead I was gaping at the twins like they were ghosts. I realized now how the faeries felt when they looked at us.

“You died,” said Omega, eyes wide with surprise. “You were killed. How’s this possible? You didn’t resurrect when Heaven’s Trumpet cleansed the world.”

“My children even being only half fae are still part of the Equinox court,” said Aerulan, smiling gently at Ian and Isabella who beamed at her in return. “Unless our kind is felled by silver we shall always resurrect within the well of power in Heresiarch. Alas, the city is gone now and so is the well. Those lost today are truly gone.”

Her sadness was palpable and I pitied her. The pieces lined up in my mind and realization dawned with startling clarity. “You’re the faerie princess that fell in love with the Black Pope. You were resurrected here when he killed you?”

“The price we pay for resurrection is our ability to walk the mortal planes like the humans. We can only live within the borders of Faerie thereafter,” she explained. “Otherwise I would’ve brought my precious children home.”

“This is incredible,” whispered Ryan. “We’re talking spiritual energy anchored to an artifact of power that bypasses the laws of space and time to successfully initiate a reincarnation event--”

I elbowed him lightly. “Ryan,” I hissed. “Not the time.”

“I’m glad someone understands the complexities of tuning spiritual energy in tandem with manipulation of twelve dimensional physics,” said the King, opening his eyes and turning a kind smile on our assembled group. Even then it was apparent he was still heavily focused on his current task.

“Bragging, my King,” said the Queen fondly before turning her attention on the group for the first time. Her benevolent smile warmed my heart. Part of it due to faerie allure, but mostly it was all her. “Chosen, you were known to me the moment you stepped through the shield. I look upon you and smile that fate has blessed us with allies of the ancient days.”

“My father King Cassius, and my mother Queen Elara, rulers of the Equinox court of Faerie,” Aerulan said, and though her speech was formal, the warmth in her voice was the sort one usually reserved for family. “The Chosen have offered their assistance.”

I stepped forward to address them. “We will protect your people and the crown from this enemy. You have my word.”

“The Magic Prince of fair Atlantis my people once called you,” the faerie queen said softly still in her meditative trance. “We welcome your help, Prince Emrys.”

Omega smiled kindly, stepping to my side. “We’re glad to offer it, since two members of your family helped us once when we needed it most.”

“And I’ve never forgotten that,” I said with honest feeling. I looked at the twins and smiled with everything I felt. “I really am glad you’re alive. Without you two we might all be dead.”

“If you want to kiss me to express your gratitude that would not suck,” Ian said with a wicked smile, then winked at Adam.

My eye twitched. “Unbelievable.”

“I’m going to have to pass on the offer,” Omega said, blushing at the blatant flirtation. He ran gentle fingers between my shoulder blades. “I’m quite attached to this one.”

“Our attackers have your faces, but there was no warmth. No real heart. They were clones weren’t they?” Isabella asked, worrying her hands. “This is my father’s doing.”

Ian frowned deeply. “Trust the old man to be a pain even in his grave.”

“Isaac Graison was as brilliant as he was deceitful,” Aerulan said, her beautiful face darkening. “He deceived me for many years, but this reeks of his hand. This I’m sure of.”

Solaris let out a gruff sigh. “This is his backup plan. They’re his last act of vengeance.”

“They won’t be able to breach the other faerie realms as easily,” King Cassius said in a somber tone still heavily tied up in powering the gateway. “The ways to Otherworld have been sealed. This way will be closed as well once we’re through.”

So once it was closed it was closed. Period. I nodded absently. If the King said it he meant it. We just had to make sure these people made it through the portal before trouble came a knocking.

The faeries were making ample progress in their evacuation. The crowd of evacuees was made up mostly of creatures from lore. There were sprites, fairies, satyrs, centaurs, nymphs – yet there were also the tall shining ones. They were more human-like in appearance than the mythical beings around them and unearthly beautiful. These were the Sidhe. They were the nobles of the faeries.

Their ears were pointed like leaf tips and their bearing was proud even in the face of such adversity. Most wore their hair long and they came in shades of snow-white, green, red, winter-blue, and black, unnatural colors that fitted such mesmerizing beings.

A jolt raced down my spine and I gasped as a staggering amount of power rolled over me. I straightened suddenly just as advisors and officers rushed over to the King and Queen. Their faces were pale with fright. They felt it too.

“Something’s coming,” whispered the Executioner.

I nodded and then snapped my head to the crystal ceiling. “Shit. They’re here.”

At that same moment lightning fell from the sky. The shield flared bright fuchsia as untold amounts of magical lightning slammed into the barrier. The coliseum rocked as lightning and electricity washed over the shield lighting up the ceiling bright blue.

“Omega heal the wounded, there’s going to lots of them. Use your TK to protect the faeries till they gate out,” I said quickly as the lightning doubled in intensity. Cracks started to form in the shield like spider webs. “Executioner you’ll be on me. Solaris you have free reign. If something looks at you funny, kill it.”

“Yes, Prince.” They replied as one.

The lightning increased tenfold and the ground shook throwing people off their feet. Queen Elara let out a choked cry as the entire sky lit up blinding white through the ceiling. There was a deafening crack and the shield collapsed. Screams filled the air as the ceiling blasted apart. It became chaos.

The sky opened up and lightning fell into the open coliseum. Each fork of lightning deposited swarms of huge beasts that looked like orcs but were bigger and meaner than the creatures of fantasy. These were trolls. Not the fairytale kind but the real versions. Four hundred pound monsters with enough strength to pick up a car with one hand and just enough brains to eat, fuck and kill.

The chaos increased as confusion and panic spread rampant. The trolls numbered in the high hundreds. Faeries could only watch as people they knew and loved were picked off as the horde of trolls tore through the crowd. The trolls had brute strength on their side and one punch was enough to tear clean through a man’s insides. It was vicious and quickly turning into a bloodbath.

The armored soldiers moved through the crowd immediately combating the trolls crude bone weaponry against faerie steel. The more magically inclined fae threw spheres of what looked like tightly compacted electricity and lances of orange fire at their savage enemies. It didn’t do much good. The trolls had some kind of natural ability to resist minor magic. They shrugged off the attacks and it took half a dozen faeries in plated armor to take down even one beast.

The royal guard evened the odds as they actively engaged the threat. The slower trolls were easier to overcome and they met their deaths by brilliantly glowing swords and spears that spit lances of deathly enchanted flame.

Great wreaths of azure fire poured from my hands and annihilated a squadron of thirteen trolls in sentient flame. No matter how hard they tried to put it out the living fire burnt through skin and cooked their insides till they were black and smoking and dead.

The twins protected their grandmother as their claymores impaled the flood of trolls entering their perimeter. They were beautiful as they fought together. Sword in hand Isabella wasn’t her usual gentle self. She was cool, calculating and focused on the enemy. Ian dealt the most devastating blows, swinging hard and wide. He had a tendency to leave himself wide open when executing big attacks. Isabella kept him covered and her timely interventions prevented him from getting his sides hacked open.

I hefted my arm back. “Soul Reaper Reprise!” I snapped.

A three meter wide ball of garnet energy slammed into the trio of trolls on the Executioner’s blindside. The champion of soul spun around to watch the concentrated limbo atmosphere obliterate the internal organs of his attackers. Hearts exploded inside their monstrous bodies and flesh rapidly decayed leaving behind dead husks.

He winked at me and then his eyes widened. “Duck!”

I didn’t ask questions. I rolled to the ground just as his axe flew over my head. The Black Iron axe imbedded itself in the head of a massive troll. Its eyes rolled back in its head and the monster fell over. I roughly kicked away its twitching body. I rolled back up as more of its buddies joined the party.

I waved my arm wide. Beams of scarlet energy howled the distance between the trolls and I. Their insides spilled free as abdomens split open energy tearing clean through flesh.

I slammed my foot against the ground. A torrent of crystalline lava burst from the innards of the earth. The molten spray burned through a swarm of trolls closing in on a group of fleeing satyrs. The chasers melted into liquid goo leaving the half-goat fae free to flee through the portal and to safety.

Omega knelt at the side of a little Sidhe child with his hands pressed to the boy’s bleeding torso. The faerie boy’s flesh quickly knitted back together under Adam’s healing power. The child’s father waited anxiously as Omega saved the boy from death.

Omega’s eyes flashed and his head snapped up just as he finished his healing task. He whipped his arm up and a large chuck of rock stopped midair. The rock’s targets evacuated through the portal without a backward glance. And with a thought Omega sent the rock suddenly rocketing back to its thrower. The rock might as well been a meteor with the force behind it. The troll was dead a fraction of a second after being struck, turned into a smear at the bottom of cratered earth.

Pain exploded in my back I stared shocked at the long length of steel protruding through my shoulder. The blade turned sharply and I cried out as my attacker shoved the blade further into my back. The tip glistened wetly and my knees buckled as the sword went deeper.

A fist caught me in the temple and my head exploded. Stars filled my vision and I threw my hand out instinctively summoning forth power. There was a sudden drop of air pressure and lightning blasted from my hands. My vision was blurry but I was able to see a trio of trolls get demoleculirized by enough voltage to power a city block.

I struggled to get on my knees. With shaky hands I grabbed the handle of the blade and pulled it from my back. I screamed. Oh God how I screamed. Pain like I couldn’t imagine shot through my whole body. The air grew chilly and I climbed shakily to my feet. My shoulder hurt like a bitch but it wasn’t going to bench me from the fight. I grit my teeth as the chill turned my stomach and an otherworldly feeling of despair blanketed the battle.

Spectral beings floated from the shadows cloaked in long dark hooded swaths and they looked like grim reapers come to collect. My eyes widened.

“Wraithreapers,” I hissed.

The Executioner was moving before anyone else. He intercepted the swarm with lightning speed. In a running leap he grabbed Ian’s shoulders and used the makeshift vault to catapult himself high in the air. He performed a tricky flip and landed right in the middle of the thick of the numbers.

“Greater Dragon Destroyer!”

Executioner took a knee and slammed his hand on the ground and the earth exploded beneath the swarm. Huge chunks of stone and earth blasted upward as white spirit energy exploded from below. The flying stones speared the wraiths. Not killing them, but the delay was their undoing as the geysers of spirit energy caught some of them unawares and they were ripped apart by the ethereal power.

I kicked at a troll and it flew backward into another one. They fell over and the armored guards converged on them. They took their lances to the fallen with no mercy, ruthlessly stabbing them over and over till they were long dead.

I spun around on the ball of my feet and vanished in a blur of blue. The Executioner blinked surprised as I stepped out of his shadow. I grinned at his sour muttering of cool powers and show off. I opened my mouth and fire blasted forth from my jaw that would’ve made a fire-breather proud. My circus trick was the real deal however. An unlucky troll got its face melted by the flame, and a wraithreaper almost got away but the fire caught the edge of its cloak. That was all it took. The fire ate through the cloth and grew in intensity consuming the dark faerie in unstoppable flame.

A sword swiped at my stomach. I winced as the blade ripped through my armor and left a deep swipe across my abdomen. Shit that hurt. I winced. Faerie craftsmanship was stronger than I remembered. Gold energy swirled around my hand and howled the distance separating me and the ugly troll foolishly closing in for a kill move. The blast ripped through his upper body tearing through its chest cavity. Where its heart and left lung should be there was now a gaping hole. It was dead before its body fell over.

“Remind me to never get back on your bad side,” the Executioner whistled as I took down another line of trolls the exact same way.

“Well, what can I say–-” I started to retort, but trailed off at the look on the champion of soul’s face. “What?”

The boy’s eyes widened suddenly, grabbing my hand and taking us into a desperate sprint. “Let’s go!”

I didn’t need to be told twice. Behind us two thick beams of brilliant yellow light fell from the sky. I risked a glance to see the light burn right through whole hordes of trolls, vaporizing both flesh, breast-plate and crude bone armor in a split second. The beams left scorch marks in the earth as they dragged wide freaking incinerating the trolls like ants.

“Is that,” I looked up for the source.

“That was Solaris,” Executioner said proudly, I noted, pointing up. I tore my eyes from the trolls as they rallied together when their superior numbers decreased.

The beams cut off but I found their source easily enough. It wasn’t hard to spot the long figure hovering at high altitude throwing balls of yellow fucking plasma into the horde. It was like a rain of fatality as the destructive balls were a promise of death.

I was impressed and I couldn’t keep it from my tone. “He’s gotten stronger.”

“We all have.” The Executioner shrugged, swiping his hand through the air and unleashing a crescent shape blast of spiritual energy, taking out four trolls with one strike. “Finally noticing?”

I smirked at his blatant teasing. “And you guys complained that all that training was pointless.”

“Bitch, bitch, bitch,” he retorted fighting to keep a straight face, even as he was raining a flurry of blows down on a troll three times his size.

I caught his teasing wink and then frowned at the sight to my left. I turned and unleashed a pair of high yield fireballs down range for heavy fire support. The fireballs destroyed the charge the trolls tried to steamroll over the Crown’s elite guard. The rest fell under the fire line the soldiers held.

Executioner and I fought side by side, moving steadily closer to the twins and their mother. The four of us with the armor of the crown flanking formed a protective shell around the fleeing survivors and the gate.

I closed ranks with Ian at my right side. I clapped my hands together and gold light whooshed forward in a thin line cutting through a swath of trolls.

“It’s never dull whenever you’re around,” Ian muttered, aiming his sword at a troll and unleashing a ray of dazzling white light from the blade’s tip. The beam struck the troll right between the eyes killing it instantly, the energy boiling his brains as it burned right through his skull on both sides and back out again.

I raised both eyebrows. “Nice.”

“Blade dancer,” said Ian, like that explained it. It didn’t. He shrugged. “It’s a faerie thing.”

I nodded. “Like how the Power Rangers went Zeo.”

He stared.

I stared back.

Finally he cracked a smile. “Your weirdness is oddly comforting. I can see why you keep it up. Makes me think we’re not all going to die here.”

“Mission accomplished,” I said, swinging swiftly around to yell, “Champion Chain!”

Five trolls went down as the golden whip lashed out. I flicked my hand and it whipped again lashing another four trolls. The trolls were pressing our defense but the Royal Guard was as fierce as they were deadly. They poured constant fire into the mass of dark creatures, taking out trolls left and right as we kept it from descending into total chaos.

A roar unlike anything I had ever heard swear shook the air. Its wings were long and membranous, easily the length of a city block. Smoke curled from its nostrils. Its slitted eyes promised suffering.

“That is not a dragon,” I said with forced casualness. “Please tell me that’s not a fucking dragon.”

“It’s not a dragon,” said Executioner like one would say to a child who just discovered the answer to a particularly difficult problem. He glared at the dragon as it came closer in range, surely ready to dart into thecoliseum through the open ceiling.

Omega stepped into my line of sight. He stared into the sky with determination. His hand flexed and a blade of light materialized without its usual sword hilt. I narrowed my eyes.

“Adam!” I called as he disappeared into the sky in a black streak.

The dragon opened its mouth with fire gathering within its gullet. There was a flash and the dragon howled as white light pierced its chest and extended five meters from its back. The speared creature howled its pain to the heavens and its mighty wings shook and went limp as it fell to the earth, dead.

“Score one for the home team!” I beamed, pumping my fist.

Ian frowned grimly and pointed. “Oh no.”

One, two, four, thirteen, seventeen, twenty five. I swallowed at the dots in the sky that were growing bigger as the seconds ticked by. Of course there wouldn’t be just one.

“I had to go and open my mouth,” I moaned. “I jinxed us.”

Executioner nodded mutely. “I won’t disagree.”

“That was a young dragon,” said Princess Aerulan somberly. “A foolhardy one to leave its number so quickly. These ones will be harder to kill. Older and much more formidable.”

Great. I made a note to never call on her highness for an uplifting speech.

Solaris and Omega dropped into the ranks as the soldiers of the crown continued to unleash magical devastation at the mass of creatures. There was only a little over a couple hundred survivors left to flee through the portal. All we had to do was hold this line for a little bit longer. Problem was the dragons would be here long before then.

“They’re less than a kilometer away,” said Omega darkly as the dragons filled the sky in staggering numbers. He turned to me and frowned at the blood covering my uniform, eyes lingering on my hand pressed to the wound on my shoulder.

I shook my head as he reached out. “Don’t waste your strength healing me. It’s not life threatening. Just hurts like a bitch.”

He nodded jerkily, clearly displeased at my decision. I took another look at the sky. If I used a Hell Ground Zero now I wouldn’t be strong enough to take on Cobalt when he finally showed his mug. But that was the only option we had. The faeries didn’t have enough firepower to spare to deal with a legion of dragons right now.

A hand settled on my shoulder. Startled, I looked at Solaris and his face was schooled into hard determination. “I got this.”

“What?” said the Executioner before I could. Ryan gripped the blond’s forearm. “Solaris what are you talking about?”

His words were rapid as desperation seeped into his voice. Solaris winked. “Chad ain’t the only one with a Hell Mary up his sleeve. I’ve got a little something I’ve been saving for a raining day. And right now it’s about to start raining fire.”

Executioner’s eyes went wide. “Killian what–-” He cut himself off at lose for words. He looked hard into Killian’s eyes. “Come back to me.”

Killian’s whole face lit up. His cheeks turned red as a slow smile spread across his face. Without warning he leaned forward and kissed Ryan. He kissed him like it was his last time, fast and hard, and then it transformed turning gentle and sweet, slow.

He leaned back and grinned at Ryan with fondness lighting his eyes. “I’ll always come back to you, darling.”

Then he was gone with that proclamation, shooting into the sky in a yellow-orange streak of light. We watched him rocket toward the dragons and we didn’t-- couldn’t say anything.

Solaris hovered in the horizon lit up in an aura of bright yellow. He faced the incoming dragons without faltering. He raised his arms and his aura suddenly grew alarmingly bright.

“SUPER...”

I threw up my hands as Solaris became as bright as the sun. His skin turned bright yellow and his hair threw a trail of fire behind him as the wind exploded outward from his power up.

“NOVA...”

My mouth gaped. Killian wasn’t just channeling power from light. He was calling on power from the depths of the sun itself. White-hot liquid fire covered him as he became a living entity of solar energy and fire.

“OBLITERATION!”

In a burst of fire and light Solaris unleashed the fury of the sun. The power of a nuclear bomb lashed out from his body. Jets of plasma and bolts of sunlight exploded outward washing through the air in waves of superheated solar flame. Any dragon less than a quarter mile from ground zero was instantly turned into fine dust as waves of plasma tore through the monstrous tide. Yellow bolts of solar flares followed the wave of plasma, carving through their forces in depth.

Solaris brought his hands together in a clap and there was a thunderous boom of sound and the world went white as a spectacular explosion illuminated the sky. The detonation shook the earth with so much force that even the Chosen were thrown off their feet. I snapped my head up staring at the dispersing cloud of yellow energy.

“He killed all of them,” said Princess Aerulan awed.

Isabella stared with much the same wonder. “There’s not one left.”

Executioner gasped and was gone in the next instant. Not gone, but out of sight. I looked up to see his power jump carry him over seven meters straight up and away from the destructive firepower at ground level. He dropped back down in a low crouch.

And cradled in his arms was Solaris. My heart grew still in my chest. His skin was pale and his lips were tinged blue. His eyes were closed and his breath was so shallow I initially thought he wasn’t breathing at all. I unleashed a duo of obsidian beams into the horde to give us some breathing room.

“Is he...”

“No,” said the Executioner interrupting Adam. “He’s not.”

Killian lay still on the ground and his upper body rested in the circle of Ryan’s arms. I touched my fingers to his skin and hissed.

“He’s cold,” I said, looking over his deathly white skin. “He threw too much of his own life force into that attack. He’s barely alive.”

White light ignited around the Executioner. He pressed tiny kisses against Killian’s cheeks and the glow spread to the body nestled in his arms. Killian took a sudden shuddering breath then gave a loud sigh. And when he started to breathe again this time it was much more apparent that it was with less difficulty.

“I’ve stabilized his life force,” said the Executioner, his tone was shaky but filled with relief. “I have to keep our auras synced till he’s out of the woods. Right now we’re sharing life force.”

Amazement made me lose all words. There was a first time for everything. Manipulation of life force on this scale was very advanced. It could be done, but usually by the most adept healers. I didn’t even know Ryan could do that. And the fact that he accomplished it intuitively –- he’d practically tethered Killian to his soul and snatched him from death’s door. And done by instinct alone. It was remarkable.

Ian sprinted from the rear formation and past the royal guard and to the royal rulers. He said something to the King and Queen and after a brief council, Ian ran back to our position. We stopped our offensive, looking upon him with worry. His answering smile was tired and he looked ready to fall over, but his eyes shone with triumph.

“All civilians are clear through the gate,” he said. “The King and Queen have ordered the soldiers and us to evacuate. They’ll be last. Then the gate will be closed for good.”

I looked past our protective shell. The nearly empty gate was clear of civilians. We did it. Even now the armored troopers were mowing down the last of the trolls and wraithreapers unleashing their full ordinance into the fray without fear of civilian casualties. They went all out and dusted the area as they retook the offensive.

Senior officers began giving orders for the withdrawal to the evacuation gate. I added my support to the armor troopers line of fire as they pumped out lethal blue bolts from enchanted weaponry.

“Not too much longer,” Omega muttered, deploying a telekinetic blast with a wave of his hand, bisecting a bulky troll messily as it tried for a kamikaze run.

A shaft of pure sunlight shot down from the heavens above and slammed into the dais near the melee. I turned quickly to Princess Aerulan.

“Princess everyone needs to get through that gate. Now.”

She heard the urgency in my tone and nodded without comment. She barked orders for a full evacuation through the gate and soldiers immediately started to abandon posts. Those in the front ranks laid down cover fire as they peeled off to flee.

“Call it six minutes,” said an officer to the Princess. “The last are almost through.”

Aerulan nodded. “The Crown’s own will leave with my parents. The Equinox lord and lady will go through now. All orders will come from them till I and my parents arrive.”

“Yes, your Highness,” he said with a bow, turning sharply to return to tending the evacuation.

I moved closer to the Executioner and Solaris. He was looking healthier but he was no way out of the woods yet as Executioner continued transferring energy, leaving him in a semi trance like state. He would be okay soon but it was time we didn’t have.

“Photonic displacement field. That’s a technique installed into Solaris’s bindings,” said Omega regarding the sunlight beam tensely. “They’re almost here.”

“Go on, children,” directed Princess Aerulan to the twins. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Isabella looked reluctant, but Ian voiced his own hesitation. “Mother we can’t leave –-”

“Ian,” Aerulan said cutting off the boy’s rant abruptly. “Take your sister and go. We don’t have time for this.”

Isabella grabbed her twin’s arm and he shot her a glare. She ignored him, eyes solely on her mother. “Be careful, mom.” Then she faced me. “Thanks for helping. I don’t know if it’s the last time...”

I touched her arm gently. “I’m glad I got to see you again.” I looked at Ian. “Both of you.”

Omega laid a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “We’ll handle this now. They’ll be alright. I promise.”

He trained a steady gaze on Adam. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Without another word he let Isabella drag him away from the melee and into the gate. They slipped through the waters of the pond with an accompanied flash of light beneath the depths.

The sunbeams thinned out and disappeared. In its wake it deposited two familiar figures. My fists clenched involuntarily at the sight of Korbin and Axel. I looked at the clones of my boyfriend and Killian with a calm detachment. They might share a face, but these clones weren’t my friends. They were the enemy and I was going to kill them.

Reece looked around with a bored look. “Oh look they’re all gone. And they screamed as pretty as they looked.” He frowned. “There goes my fun.”

Korbin smirked at the King and Queen, both still tied up with holding open the gate. “Your Majesties,” he said mockingly. “Did you think we wouldn’t find you?”

I stepped forward into their line of sight. “Funny. I could say the same to you.”

Korbin’s smile fell. “Seriously? You assholes again. I swear, every time we try and have a little fun the man has to go and try to hold us down. Conspiracy.”

There was a shift in the air, subtle but powerful. My eyes widened. “No!”

I jerked to the left and my arm swept out in a blur sending out a blast of magic. Princess Aerulan and her parents burst apart into tiny globes of light that simultaneously went zooming into the gate’s waters.

Not a second later the spot the royal family occupied was scorched earth. Korbin lowered his arms and glared at me. “Now why’d you go and do that?”

Behind us the pool’s maelstrom of esoteric energy cut off. The waves ceased as the glow within the water’s depths disappeared. It was done. The gate was closed.

“The faeries are gone,” Omega’s stare promised retribution. “It’s only us now. And we owe you one.”

Reece cracked his knuckles. “This will be fun after all. I like breaking the tough ones.”

“Looks like dumb and dumber are out,” Korbin’s witty retort was focused at Killian’s fallen form with Ryan protectively hunched over him. “Well there goes a fair fight for you.”

“Two on two is a fair fight, asshole,” I snapped, reorganizing my magic for heavy offensive usage. Blue sparks rained from my twitching fingertips.

Korbin rolled his eyes. “You four against us two would be fair.” He smirked. “Just you two against us is child’s play.”

“Bitch, please,” I said and a bolt of shimmering blue streaked from my hands and detonated in a violent explosion. Before the cloud of dispersing energy could dissipate another bolt of red jutted through the cloud, expanding the explosion to epic proportions.

As the dirt and smoke cleared, the devastation was apparent. Deeps trenches from the beams were carved into the earth and a sizable portion of the coliseums formidable walls behind them was completely gone, vaporized under the combined fire.

Pain exploded through my skull. I went falling to the ground in a daze. I glared up puzzling out what happened through the storm of pain. Korbin dropped me with a perfectly executed roundhouse. I could still feel the boot against my temple as he eased out of his crouch the move landed him in.

“Come a little harder next time,” Korbin taunted, his aura lighting up gold-yellow. He brought his left arm to bear on me. “Your boyfriend’s putting up a good fight though. Good for him.”

I was too tired for this shit. The shaking earth and flashes of light in the corner of my eyes was telltale signs of how Adam was doing. I narrowed my eyes at my would-be killer.

A two meter wide ball of energized photonic energy hovered obediently above Korbin’s palm. His eyes lit up and bent at the waist, listening. “Are you praying? Hoping your soul is the Lord’s to take.”

“...invested in me. In thy great name. Amen."

He let out a strangled curse and threw the ball.

“Hell Ground Zero!”

It was too late. A black and red sphere of absolute rage and dark magic swallowed the ball of light energy and continued its momentum. Korbin didn’t have room to dodge or scream as the Hell Ground Zero detonated against the clone at point blank range, flashing crimson and deep black as its energy potential was released. The concussive wave destroyed everything behind it and my body was lifted up and blown away as the resulting half gigaton explosion consumed the landscape.

My ears were ringing. There was nothing else that I registered but the pounding in my head. What I wouldn’t give for some advil. I tried to get up and hissed taking catalog of my stinging palms. They were burned, badly. I stared numbly at the blistered and reddened skin, wincing at the worst parts where it was already swelling painfully.

I was damn lucky to be honest. The backlash of energy could’ve killed me.

I looked through the dust cloud. There wasn’t a trace of Korbin left. Only the crater marked where he once stood. I tried to call for Adam but all that came out was a strangled moan that left my throat sore.

“Be okay, please baby.” Adam dropped to my side.

My hands tingled as his hands touched mine. Warmth coursed through the deadened nerves as they healed up under Adam’s touch. I gripped his hands in my now whole hands.

“I’m okay, where—”

A malevolent grin appeared on Reece’s face as he walked from the dust cloud. “Now I won’t have to split Europe with him. Thank you.” He opened his hands and sabers flashed into existence. “While I do appreciate you taking out the competition, your intestines on a stick would be awesome.”

Orange orbs suddenly flashed right between us and Reece, coalescing into Ryan and Killian. Light’s champion looked a little pale, but he was standing on his own and appeared ready to fight to the death if need be. An unyielding expression of complete purpose was on the Executioner’s face. And his eyes promised death if the clone even blinked funny.

“You’re outnumbered and we already took out your friend,” Solaris acknowledged with forced evenness. “Give us a reason.”

A slow and malicious smile came over the clones face. And he said quite calmly. “A reason? Oh, you mean like the fact that while you’ve been dicking around with the faeries... Cobalt’s summoned Voidwalkers from the Outland dimensions. Centennial’s in ruins. The rest of the world’s next. We’re taking over. The time is ours.”

Reece waved jubilantly and performed a mocking bow. He touched a hand to the bracelet around his wrist and he removed himself from sight in a pale flash of light.

Omega looked at me panic in his eyes. “Do you think he was telling the truth?”

An awful feeling settled in my gut. Without a doubt, I believed him. I met eyes with all three of my friends. “We need to get back to Centennial. Now.”