Redemption (The Alliance Series Book 1) (26 page)

              I made my way to the top of the building. Standing near the edge I stood next to the zip line.

              The zip line had been built by some of the older kids. They had been bored and wanted something exciting to do.

              Peotr came up with the idea. He let them string a cable from the Compound to an open area near the garage.

              They loved to come up here and zip down. I had planned on using it to get to the cabin in a hurry if needed.

              They had believed that the Col. would concentrate his attack from an unexpected area by coming at us from our flanks. That’s one reason why we had worked on shoring up the Compound and built that damn wall.

              I guess he didn't think he needed to pussyfoot around. He was going to come in from the front, in a display of force. Take out the cabin and make his way inward.

              Not if I had anything to say about it.

              I grabbed the binoculars and started scouting the distance for any signs of attack.

              I nearly fell off the edge when I heard Miss Jones crisp accent, "Mr. Adams, I was sent to fetch you. You're needed at the cabin."

I began to say something back when I heard the deafening sound of a dragon’s roar.

              I instantly turned back towards the sound. I saw over the treetops as the green dragon that had attacked me in Chinatown slowly began to gain altitude.

              He was terrifyingly beautiful. The sun gleamed off his green scales and I could see the light shine through the translucent membranes of his wings as he made his way into the sky. I reached out with my lightning and shot a blast towards him.

              I didn't expect it to hit him, but it did get his attention. It's not every day you see an amber lightning bolt shoot from the roof of a building.

              I was sure the dragon was holding a grudge and I figured if I could keep him away from everyone else, I might have a chance to take him out.

              I was proven right when the dragon saw me and bellowed again, clearly turning in my direction.

              "Miss Jones, there's a pretty good chance I won't survive killing this scaly bastard. Honor a dying man’s wish. Please, what is your first name?" I asked smiling. Knowing she couldn't resist my honorable request.

              She looked at me for a second, a smile of her own showing more in her eyes than on her mouth. "Don't be so melodramatic, Mr. Adams." She said with a hint of humor in her words.

              She appeared to have come to a decision. She looked at me and said. "You are willing to die fighting to protect the innocent and to uphold your honor. That is enough for me. My name is Cynthiatelethiousanthenioum. You may call me Cynthia." She said with an air of ceremony.

              I felt as if something profound had happened. I didn’t know why but her name seemed to come with a kind of weight. There seemed to be an air of importance around it.

              So I said, "Cynthiatelethiousanthenioum? What were your parents, hippies?" smiling mischievously.

              She looked directly at me, with a look of amusement, as if I had asked something only she knew the answer to. A golden radiance began to glow from her as she slowly started to shift form she said. "No, Mr. Adams, they were Gryphons."

              With that Miss Jones completed her transformation. She stood on all fours, stepping out with one of her eagles’ claw foot she gripped the edge of the wall and leaned forward, opening up her powerfully curved beak she answered the call of challenge the dragon had issued.

              Once again, the control of my bladder was tested. Once again, I can say with pride I passed the test. Once again, it was a close thing.

              Cynthia spread her wings and beat them powerfully, creating a wind that nearly knocked me off my feet. I watched as the sun shone off her feathers. Her power and speed were evident as she quickly met the dragon and began an aerial battle. She deftly veered him away from the Compound and the dragon took chase. They soon flew away from the battle, exactly as Cynthia had wanted.

              I stood there for a few seconds. My mouth seemed unable to close. I remembered where I was and focused on the task at hand.

              With the dragon out of the picture I could concentrate on my assigned role.

              Kill the intruders. As I began to strap myself into the zip line I heard Nathan’s disembodied voice in my head as if he were beside me.

              "John! We need you at the main entrance. Simmons is leading a unit of something and they are beginning to break through my defenses."

              I started my slide down to the melee, talking as I went, knowing Nathan could hear me. "I'll be at the landing site in ten seconds." Hoping I wasn't already too late.

Chapter 24

If I wasn't heading towards a war zone the zip line ride might have actually been fun.

              I quickly gathered speed as I left the building behind. I entered the woods and followed a path that had been cleared of all tree limbs ten feet wide.

              I traveled about 300 yards when I exited the woods and began to see the layout of the battle that was already underway.

              A casual observer might have had a hard time defining what was going on as a battle.

              Stationed on the roof of the cabin were men with rifles. They were calmly aiming and shooting towards the cabins gate. Carefully aiming with their scopes and periodically pulling the trigger. I could clearly hear the report their discharge was making.

              I landed on a spot of ground whose grass had been trampled and was mostly dirt. Disengaging myself from the harness, I sprinted towards the control center.

              I made my way around the garage and up towards the cabin from the back. Passing the garden and entering the house, I began to run into traffic. There were groups of men, two’s and three’s, making their way towards their assigned positions. They didn't have the desperate look of men who knew they were going to die, but instead looked determined not to. I liked that look.

              Entering the foyer I saw Nathan and Peotr standing around a table. A map of the cabin and its perimeter layout was spread out in front of them. There were ink markings and symbols showing bunkers and defensive positions. Nathan was pointing to a point on it emphasizing something when I looked up to the big window that was a focal point when approaching the cabin from the driveway.

              The window had a large depiction of the front gate where it should have shown the sky. Nathan, using his magic, had been able to create a movie screen and was using it to keep a tab on the gate.

              What I saw there explained why we were still in the fight and not already retreating.

              In front of the gates there appeared to be about ten men in combat fatigues moving in slow motion. They were lined up in a row all with their arms held in front, pointing towards the gates. Where their hands should have been there appeared to be large barrels. Out of these barrels, flying slowly through the air, were grenades they had launched from their wrists.

              If it wasn't for the containment wards that Nathan had placed on the gates, slowing the grenades, the heavy artillery would have already been savaging us. The men would have been unable to get to their positions without being under assault and we probably would have lost most to the attack. Whoever survived would have been easy pickings. Thankfully, the slowdown allowed Peotr to activate the home’s own defenses and let the Alliance to get into position.

              The men were big. They easily averaged over seven feet. They were upgraded to allow them to carry large payloads. They appeared to be the heavy munitions squad. Their backs looked distended, larger than average. Maybe that's where they held their grenades? They had the face camo that always made those who wore it look deadly. Dressed in battle fatigues and combat boots they looked every bit the soldier. Their heads were all shaven. Every one of them had an absence of expression on their face. It was as if there was nothing behind their metallic eyes. People always made some kind of small movements. Unconscious tics and small adjustments in balance give everyone a sense of constantly adapting to their ever-changing environment. These things did none of that. They didn’t blink; they didn’t twitch their noses when a fly landed on them. They stood there with unreadable faces waiting for the next order. It was creepy as hell.

              Behind them in a well-defined formation was nearly a hundred more manufactured monstrosities. Consisting of four platoons, standing side by side, each platoon had twenty- four enemy soldiers, four squads, standing one behind the other contained six killers per squad. The overall impression from seeing almost one hundred altered super soldiers standing in a rectangular formation in front of our positions awaiting orders to kill us was extremely imposing. All seemed to have modifications of some sort. Every one of them held that same blank expression.

              The Col. had sent a battery of killing machines to eradicate the Alliance. What a swell guy.

              I could tell from the view at the window that our men were shooting towards the advancing troops.

              The problem was that they weren't effective. The rounds seemed to keep encountering a form of shielding that was different than what Nathan uses. Where each round hit there was a concentric ring of red waves of energy that moved like ripples on water when a rock is thrown into a pond. The rings went out in all directions, ended at the ground, and showed a definite half arch that only covered the front and heads. It wasn’t an all-encompassing shield.

              That was good.

              I went to the map and asked, "How much longer will they hold?"

              Nathan looked up at me calmly. "About five more minutes. As long as we keep firing, their shield generators can’t let off and they won’t be able to rush around their own men. Once the containment fields go their grenades will come in and quickly dissipate Peotr’s own shield, then the cabin will be destroyed. We don't know if their shields can protect them from magical assaults."

              "So far my constructs have had no effect at getting past their shield so I have pulled them back until it is down." Peotr added.

              "Then I need to get down there, see if they can withstand magic. Take out the shields and keep the grenadiers from destroying the Compound in one fell swoop." I said, stating a fact.

              "Tell your men not to shoot me." I said to Peotr.

              He nodded talking into a radio unit, relaying my message to Roberts.

              "When I get the shields down have Peotr direct his constructs at the battery behind the first squad. Hopefully, they can keep them occupied long enough for me to take out the big nasties before they blow us all up. I'll need cover fire to get back in one piece." I finished.

              Nathan looked at me. Determination shone clearly on his face. "Give em hell."

              I began the run down the driveway towards the gates. I had to swerve around the barricades that had been erected, eliminating a direct line to the cabin.

              I was in good shape and the run gave me a chance to focus my thoughts for what was in store. I also started gathering energy for my attack.

              Nathan was great at defense, but this was my forte. 

              As I got closer, I saw the overwhelming numbers that were before us. It was intimidating, but I didn't swerve or slow. In fact, I sped up. I was going to need a lot of speed to pull off what I had planned.

              I made note of the positions I ran by on either side of the road. Men and some women huddled in their foxholes, periodically firing at the invaders. Conserving ammo but still keeping up the need for the shield.

              As I came to within fifty feet of the gate, I reached out with the energy I had gathered and this time made a ramp of my own. I lifted a patch of driveway two feet wide and just long enough to angle it over the top of the gate and near the oncoming enemy. I could clearly see the top line of the shield and used that as my reference of clearance.

              I dipped into the bandolier and pulled out a large amount of stored energy, releasing it as I was midway to the top of the ramp.

              The grenadiers were still trapped but they had seemed to have made some progress from earlier. The placement of the grenades that were in midair was about five feet closer than before.

              I held both arms out and down towards the shield. The amber blast I let go raced into the shield and quickly followed it, showing the shield in its entirety.