Shadow Seed (5 page)

“Leon,” Marus called. “You're just in
time.”

“What are we up against?” Leon asked.

Marus looked down the street. “It's rather
odd. There's a few dozen just beyond the lookout. The portal closed
a second ago, so it doesn't look like a major attack. Could be a
probe, but that's suicide. Too bad for them.”

Leon unsheathed his sword. “I'll hold the
line here if you want to blindside them.”

“I wouldn't have it any other way,” Marus
said. All at once, he and his Turin melded with the earth.

Throughout the city, the streets were quickly
becoming deserted.

Sara wondered around trying to find her way
back to Leon's house. “This is ridiculous.”

A man covered from head to toe in a robe
approached from behind. “You must be Sara.” he said.

Sara turned, a bit startled. “You Turin
really need to lighten up.”

“Leon sent for you,” the man said. “Please,
come with me.”

“Good,” Sara said, following along. “I don't
know why Leon is so protective. He knows I can handle myself.”

At the outskirts of the city, a Minotaur
riled up the Pelasgians with a loud roar and sent them charging
down the street.

Leon and the Liros calmly waited.

When the Pelagians were about halfway, the
Turin burst from the ground swinging short swords and staffs tipped
with sharp metal.

Many Pelasgians were cut down before they
could react. The air was quickly filled with spurts of blood and
limbs.

Leon and the Liros ran in to join the
fray.

Sara was growing anxious. “Can't we take one
of those towers? The war is gonna be over by the time we get
there.”

From across the street, a Doran woman noticed
Sara with the stranger and knew something was wrong. “Hey, human,
who is that?”

Sara stopped with some confusion. When the
stranger tried to grab her, she punched him in the face, knocking
his hood back and revealing a man with no hair whatsoever and skin
that was white as snow with red patches.

Another Vesuvian in the street instantly knew
what the man was. “A Koiga!”

Before Sara could do anything else, the Koiga
threw a sleeping powder at her face that instantly put her out.

Hoisting Sara over his shoulder, the Koiga
took off running.

Vesuvians gave chase when they realized what
was happening.

But the Koiga was impossible to catch. He
repeatedly teleported several yards down the street as he ran,
covering a lot of distance within seconds.

Even a Remian had trouble keeping up.

Leon and Marus had made short work of the
Pelasgians.

The ground was littered with bodies.

“That was a little too easy,” Marus said,
before noticing that Leon was in the middle of receiving a
telepathic message from the Kanara.

“The Koiga took Sara,” Leon said as he came
to. Looking at the dead Pelasgians, he realized, “This was a
distraction.”

Marus was perplexed. “Why would the Koiga
help the Pelasgians?”

“Never mind that,” Leon said. “Why would they
take Sara?”

“There's only one place they would take
her.”

“I know!” Leon said walking towards the
city.

“Want help?” Marus asked.

Leon looked back, waving a finger before
running off in the blink of an eye.

“No need to beg!” Marus said poking at a dead
Pelasgian with his staff. The sound of another portal opening got
his attention, and he didn't have to look to know it was a big
one.

CHAPTER EIGHT

On the mainland, Melkor's house was part of a
large complex forged into the ground. Aside from the children, it
was a quiet area strictly for homes.

Inside, Gillan and Caycee waited as Melkor
came down a flight of stairs.

“How’s Kemik?” asked Gillan.

“He's a strong kid,” Melkor answered.

Caycee reached out with her abilities to
sense Kemik's feelings. “He's so sad, but…he'll be fine. He has
Kamala's courage and your sense of honor.”

Melkor nodded with satisfaction. “Thank you,”
he said. “Gillan, I'm afraid I can't go with you to see the Chiefs.
I must stay here with my son.”

“We understand,” Gillan said. “We'll check
back with you when we're done. Right now we need to get to Central
fast.”

“Wait, did you hear about the Pelasgians seen
in Rhea?” Melkor asked.

Gillan thought he felt his heart stop. “No,
this is the first I've heard of it. The only ones we saw were in
the Shadow Realm.”

“The Vesuvians informed us, but all they said
of you and Kamala was that you had gone with several others.”

Caycee’s head began slowly moving around as
if she were slightly dazed and confused. “Then the Chiefs already
know everything.”

“You may still have to see them,” said
Melkor. “Just as a formality. At least now you know they know.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Gillan said. He
then noticed Caycee staring blankly ahead. “What's wrong?”

“I'm not sure,” Caycee answered. “I just got
this bad feeling, like I need to get far away.”

“Why?”

Caycee held her head in frustration. “I don't
know. It could be anything. Maybe there's gonna be an attack on the
city, or maybe there's some place I need to be.”

“Rest assured,” Melkor said. “Any attack on
this city will be met with severe retaliation.”

“Don't worry,” said Gillan. “You're safe
here.”

Caycee glanced around in paranoia. “I wish I
felt that way.”

Gillan lightly tapped Caycee's back. “Just
relax, okay? Let’s see the Chiefs. I think we’ve kept them waiting
long enough.”

With a Leviathan controlling the water, the
trip to Central Island was short. Compared to the housing complex,
the smaller meeting hall at the promenade was noisy and packed with
people. Simply trying to stick together was a chore for Gillan and
Caycee.

They eventually found the Chiefs waiting in
the main chamber.

Gillan greeted them, placing his fists
together close to his chest and slightly bowing. “Thank you for
coming. I'd like you to meet Caycee,” he said. “Caycee, meet the
Chiefs. Jesca, Varak, Nasia and Salacia.”

“Welcome,” Jesca said. “I would tell you to
enjoy your stay, however, minutes ago the Draco spotted an army of
Pelasgians advancing on the city.”

“I knew it,” Caycee whispered, fidgeting
nervously.

Nasia bowed to Gillan. “Forgive me for making
a hasty departure. The Typhon must be ready for battle. Speak
quickly.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Gillan said. “I was unaware of
the Vesuvians who came earlier, so I'm sure by now you've all heard
of Kamala.”

“About Kamala-” Varak began to say.

“I accept full responsibility,” Gillan
said.

The Chiefs looked at one another for a
moment.

“Take care,” Jesca said taking a bow and
leaving with Nasia.

“You don't want to carry that,” Varak said.
“Kamala's loss is tragic, but she knew the risks. I respect that
you came here to bear the burden.”

“Thank you, Varak,” said Gillan.

Salacia placed her hands on Gillan's cheeks.
“Being good friends with Kamala isn't the only reason she took you
along. She saw it in you. You care more for others than you do for
yourself. You take responsibility. Those are powerful traits of a
leader. Now, all you have to do is learn how to deal with it.”

Gillan felt some comfort, but couldn't hold
back the tears that fell with the thought of Kamala.

Salacia bowed slightly to Caycee. “It was
nice to meet you,” she said. Two Leviathan warriors quickly
escorted her out as Tiamat's warning horns began blaring.

When Gillan and Caycee exited the building
they noticed black clouds rolling in like a bad storm.

Perak landed with his wyvern in front of
them. “Gillan, we've got Erinies and griffins coming in. It doesn't
look like they're worried about the defenses. Any words of
wisdom?”

“They may look crazy, but they’re not
stupid,” Gillan answered. “Watch each other.”

Perak smiled mischievously. “Yeah, watch
carefully. Do you remember that little maneuver the Draco practice
from time to time?”

Gillan’s jaw dropped. “You’re actually going
to try that?”

“Fight well!” Perak said as he took off.
“It’s gonna be a party.”

Caycee held her head as collage-like visions
of the fight ahead flashed in her mind. “I hope you guys are as
powerful as I’ve heard.”

Gillan watched as the Khothu around him began
scrambling in preparation for the attack. “Me too,” he said.

Thousands of Dracos gathered at a nearby
grouping of mountains with huge swaths that appeared to have been
carved out of the sides.

“Form up!” Perak ordered.

A female Draco landed next to Perak. “Sir,
the distraction teams are already on their way.”

“Good, I’ll make this quick then,” Perak
said, moving his wyvern to the front. “A lot of us never thought
we’d live to see this day, but it’s what we trained for. It looks
like we have our work cut out for us, so use the wind to pick your
targets. And remember, we stay airborne until we've won, or we’re
lying on our backs dead. Now let's fly!”

Within a minute, the sky was filled with
wyverns and their riders climbing higher and higher.

In the fading visibility Perak could see the
distraction teams engaged with the Pelasgians. He pulled out a pair
of retracted chain whips, a dual-purpose weapon that could serve as
a short sword, or a whip with razor-sharp sections of blades.

Leaning off his wyvern, Perak went headfirst
into free fall.

With their ability to manipulate the air, the
Draco had a great degree of control as they fell. Their exposed
arms and legs along the openings of their attire had small,
wing-like appendages they could extend to guide themselves.

Rapidly closing in on a Corinthian and his
griffin, Perak righted himself up and unfurled his chain whips.
Colliding feet first, he knocked the Corinthian off and snared the
griffin's wings with his whips as he clutched the underside of the
creature.

The griffin squawked and spun wildly trying
to buck Perak, but this only caused more pain as the whips cut into
it.

With a strong push off his feet, Perak tore
the griffin's wings off and went back into free fall. He instantly
spotted a pair of Erinies in his path. At the speed he was going,
his whips easily ripped their heads off.

Perak's wyvern swooped in for him to land
on.

Making a rapid ascent through all the madness
in the sky, Perak looked down, picked a target, and dove again into
the mayhem.

CHAPTER NINE

Between kills, Kamala would catch a glimpse
of people being taken away by Pelasgians. At one point it was just
gut-wrenching.

Darek caught a Corinthian trying to get the
drop on Kamala. “Behind you!” he cried.

As the Corinthian was about to toss a slime
net, Hurok quickly tackled him and tore the Pelasgian up with his
claws.

“This isn’t going well,” Kamala said. “We
have to find Arloff.”

Hurok was bewildered. “In all this?” he
asked.

Darek stabbed a Corinthian. “As big as he is.
Can't be too hard to find.”

Hacking and slashing through some Pelasgians,
Kamala spotted Arloff at a distance, punching and stomping anything
in his way. She screamed his name, but there was no way he was
going to hear her over all the screaming and weapons whacking away
at armor.

Several Centaurs and Satyrs caught both of
Arloff's arms in slime nets. They wrangled for a few seconds before
Arloff, becoming angrier than he already was, spun wildly, taking
the Pelasgians for a ride that sent them crashing through the
crowd.

Kamala narrowly dodged a Corinthian's sword.
She swung her axes in turn, one smacking against the shield, the
other finding the enemy's shoulder.

Darek was knocked down from behind. He rolled
over to see a Satyr pin him to the ground with a spear through his
midsection.

As the Satyr moved on, an Eriny landed and
grabbed Darek to carry him away.

Hurok jumped up in the nick of time, slashing
the Eriny's wing off. When the Pelasgian hit the ground, Stig, Rona
and Doradus quickly hacked him up.

Darek pulled the spear out and picked up a
sword. When he saw Kamala nearby fighting with a Minotaur, he ran
up swinging his sword up into the creature's stomach.

“Thanks,” Kamala said, before seeing a
Corinthian too late as he lopped off Darek's head.

Hurok jumped forward, slashing the
Corinthian's sword hand off with his claws.

Again, Stig, Rona and Doradus closed in to
finish the Pelasgian off.

Hurok picked Darek's head up.

“He'll be fine,” Kamala said.

Arloff was now a little further away.

Unable to reach the Promethean, Kamala threw
her axe and struck Arloff directly in the chest, finally getting
his attention.

Arloff pulled the axe out, and saw Kamala
jumping up and down. He battered everyone out of his way until he
was standing in front of Kamala. “What?” he asked.

“We need to regroup,” Kamala said. “At this
rate, everyone is gonna be taken.”

Arloff laughed. “Are you crazy?” he asked,
grabbing a Satyr about to attack and squeezing him to death. “It’s
impossible. They’re pressing us too hard.”

An arrow struck Kamala from behind in the
shoulder, though she hardly reacted. “Don’t we have backup?”

“If we did, they’d be in the city,” Arloff
answered, pulling the arrow out.

Kamala was about to speak when she noticed
Lilith standing next to them.

Several Prometheans, including Elsa and
Lugos, formed a circle around them for protection.

Kamala couldn’t believe Lilith would take
such a risk. “How did...never mind. It's dangerous here. You could
be taken.”