Chapter 62- Drake Lightheart

Chapter 62

 

Drake Lightheart

 

           

            It was raining bombs and debris as the three airships collided in combat. The Red Sun was singlehandedly fending off two of Maximillian’s airships while the third was advancing towards Eden itself. Any sense of order within the white ring had been obliterated. Once again, there were White Coats murdering White Coats with hardly any real distinction between friend and foe. Talahad took lead from the other True Believers outwardly rebelling and joined them. Meanwhile, Drake was still half conflicted, but at the very least not for where his allegiance stood.

If Drake helped reestablished order within the white ring and fended the rebels off, the Fuhrer would have to acknowledge his accomplishments and make him Judicium’s Sun for sure. On the other hand, if Maximillian was already attacking, it could mean that those plans were no longer on the table.

            A soldier came running towards Drake in panic. “General, what do we do?”

            “Help the wounded and gather the men in formation,” ordered Drake. “The white ring must be maintained at all cost. Now more than ever.”

            The soldier listened and started giving out commands. Drake continued to wander, where exactly he wasn’t sure, but he wandered. He came across two soldiers murdering a defenseless one while accusing him of being Godless. Drake froze, unsure how to act. The Loyalists who witnessed it weren’t as conflicted. Three of them shot the two True Believers dead. In the end, Drake decided to walk away from the scene rather than get involved.

            He ignored countless other similar incidents as he passed them. No matter how bad he felt he should, he could not bring himself to kill any True Believers and he certainly could not kill a man being loyal to his duty under his command. Unlike Edgar, these were not men consumed by paranoia to the point of madness. They were just men defending themselves and killing the enemy. The enemy that by oath was also Drake’s enemy.

            There was a huge explosion near Drake that sent him rolling away. When he opened his eyes, the blown off head of a Rat was sitting next to him. Poor fool, he didn’t deserve such a fate. But as Talahad had said, this was war. This was not the place for the weak minded and soft hearted. This was a place where men killed and died for what they believed in.

            Amidst all the noise, Drake heard the galloping of horses. Off in the distance, he caught sight of Cynthia with a platoon of soldiers behind her, all riding. Drake looked for the nearest horse, mounted it, and started chasing after her. By some fortune, the horse he picked was a quick and sturdy one. In seconds, he managed to catch up to the divine daughter.

            Cynthia looked to the side without stopping her horse. To his surprise, she didn’t look scared at all. “Any idea what the f**k is going on?” she asked.

            Drake glanced back at all the men behind her that would kill him the instant he aimed a gun at her. “I haven’t a clue, but their intent is clear.”

            “Indeed. I’m going to need you to hold down the white ring, Drake.”

            “You actually trust me?”

            “I assume you got your reputation for a reason. You wanted command, I’m giving you command.”

            Of course you would, now. “Where will you be?”

            “I need to inform my Father so he can dispatch the Final Judgment,” she answered.

            “So you’re running away,” accused Drake.

            “No. I’m saving our asses and putting an end to this.”

            Drake ran passed her and blocked her path. “If the men see you running, we will lose all control of the white ring.”

            “Get out of my way!” she commanded. “Look around you, Drake. No one will notice. Besides, the men respect you, right? Show them what a great leader you can be.”

            You conniving b***h! “I appreciate the sudden change of faith, but I can’t do it on my own. The white ring is too big and with you gone we will be a General and Sun short.”

            “I have the utmost faith in you and Talahad.”

            “Me and Talahad? Where is Henry?”

            Cynthia pointed at Yggdrasil in the distance. “He departed with a large portion of our men to save Eden before that airship beats him to it and takes the credit. The last thing we need is for the people to see the rebels as the heroes.”

            She acts quickly. Perhaps she’s not as incompetent as I thought her to be. “You should still remain here for morale. You’d be surprised what it can do both positively and negatively.”

            “You’d be surprised how quickly we might put an end to this if you stopped delaying me.” She kicked the sides of her horse and took off. “Don’t disappoint me, Drake!”

            Drake watched her speed into the distance, contemplating if he did the right thing by letting her get away. I wish I knew what the f**k was really going on.

            Drake returned to the battlefield within the white ring. The scale had expanded and now there was a clear division of sides. On one side, Talahad was shouting orders to a group of soldiers that had all discarded their coats. You’re a fool Talahad! Across from them, there was a near endless amount of Loyalist that now knew who their enemies were.

            The firefight was progressing terribly for the True Believers, as was expected. Suddenly, bombs started dropping over the Loyalist and their whole formation fell apart. Drake looked to the skies in wonder of Maximillian’s creation. The airships were smaller than Judicium’s airships but held formidable artillery nonetheless. That wasn’t the mesmerizing part however. His airships appeared to be running on steam, not crystallite. This must be his new energy source.

BOOM!

There was a large explosion on one of Maximillian’s airships. Flames burned from half the ship as it came crashing down into the ground, stealing countless lives in the process. The Red Sun then started moving in on the other airship, unleashing another heavy assault. Debris was flying everywhere. Drake decided to leave before he too became the victim of another crash.

He rode his horse all the way back to his tent where he met with Sky.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Maximillian Osgia is attacking,” he answered. “My guess is he came to rescue Jeshua from Yggdrasil.”

“What are you planning on doing?”

“I was going to stay and maintain my cover but I’ve changed my mind. If I play Shadow any longer, I will suffocate. I’ve already chosen to fight for Caelum Infinitum so that’s what I intend to do. Gather your belongings and let’s go.”

Sky looked at him, concerned. “Where exactly? Isn’t Charles destroying Eden at this very moment?”

“Talahad and the airships that remained here will only be able to hold off Judicium for a while. Maximillian will not make a stop here for my sake. If we want to get out of here we will need to reunite with Jeshua.”

“So we’re going to Yggdrasil?”

            “If we can reach it in time.”

            Drake left the tent and mounted his horse again with Sky right behind him. Together they rode off from the white ring and into Eden. Seeing it up close was much more devastating than seeing mere lights from the distance. The city was a wreck and still very much in absolute chaos. Watching the Black Coats struggle to control the situation made Drake want to help but there was no time for hesitation.

Drake galloped as fast as possible towards Eden but it was by no means a short trip. By the time he finally arrived, Maximillian’s airship was already resting at the top of Yggdrasil’s branches, which mean there wasn’t much time left. At the base of the sacred tree, he saw a disheartening amount of White Coats keeping guard around it. F**k, I forgot about Henry.

“Wait here,” he ordered Sky. Drake dismounted the horse and walked up to the mob of White Coats and asked, “Where is Henry?” One of the White Coats led him to Yggdrasil’s main gate where an injured Henry was sitting on the ground. “What the hell happened to you?” asked Drake.

Henry looked up at him, confused. “What the hell are you doing here? You should be at the white ring.”

“That’s under control.” Unfortunately. “Cynthia ordered me to come help you.”

“Good luck. We saw the Prophet and their false Messiah racing towards the top but couldn’t stop them. We’re crippled inside. Inside holy grounds, there’s not much we can do.”

“What about Charles? I’m sure he has no qualms about spilling blood in holy grounds.”

            “I’m not sure. We didn’t get very high up. There’s a chance he may still be delaying their escape.”

            “You say it like Charles is on our side,” commented Drake, disgusted.

            “He is not. Yet neither is Caelum Infinitum,” argued Henry.

            I need to catch up with them before it’s too late. “I’m running inside.”

            “Alone? You can’t stop them by yourself, they’ll kill you.”

            “Someone needs to try.” Drake didn’t wait for a response before running inside. He wished he could’ve taken Sky with him but there simply was no time.

            Drake stepped inside Yggdrasil for the first time in his life. It certainly wasn’t the scenery he was expecting. The inside was a decoration of limbs and broken furniture. Though Drake was accustomed to the scenery, never had he seen one of this scale inside holy grounds. Only Charles would have the audacity to commit such blasphemy.

            Drake saw a pair of stairs from which he heard fighting up above and ran for it. When he reached the next floor he saw White Coats engaged in combat with the Holy Army. Judicium’s Light had them outnumbered but were reduced to fighting with the blunt sides of their weapons. The Holy Army in the other hand was using their halberds with the full intent of killing their enemies and were succeeding at it. Drake decided to avoid the fighting altogether.

As he was running for the next set of stairs, a knight stood in his way. The knight thrust his spear point at Drake. Drake slipped passed him and reluctantly slit his throat. There were a lot of horrified glances aimed at Drake from both sides but none enough to stop him. I’m an Archangel, I have this right, he wanted to shout out loud. But the words could not come out. He didn’t have the courage to announce his betrayal to the men that looked up to him.

            As Drake came upon the next floor, he felt a hand grip his ankle and trip him. Drake lashed his rapier back on instinct but stopped an inch before killing the culprit. “Raziel? What the hell are you doing here?”

            Raziel was leaning against the wall, covering a wound near his rib. “I could ask you the same.”

            Drake considered going to his aid but remained distant instead. “I came to run away with our Savior…”

            Raziel smiled with his teeth painted red. “Those a******s left me. Said my job was to remain with Judicium.”

            Does that mean I’m also supposed to remain with Judicium as well? “I thought they chose war.”

            “We’re still more use to them on the other side. Problem is, Judicium already knows all of our identities.”

            “What?”

            Raziel laughed. “Yep. Liana told the Shadow in the Light everything before she died. I would’ve told the Prophet and the rest of them but they were in too much of a rush to stop and carry me, so I figured, f**k em.”

            Drake wanted to stab a hundred holes through Raziel. “F**k them? Are you mad! That could’ve been the difference between them stopping to rescue us and leaving us behind.”

            “Please, as if they cared. We’re dispensable, it’s why no one gave us the memo.”

“Believe what you want. I’m going to the top and getting the f**k out of here.”

“You’ll never make it in time. Our only chance is to go back down. As of now, probably only a handful of people know who we are. That means you’re still a General and I a Mentor. If we act now, we can run away before they arrest us.”

            “We? Why should I help you?”

            “Because I just helped you. I’m also more informed than you. Not to mention, unlike you, I’m not a public figure. I can actually move around without drawing any real attention. Chances are you and I will be on the run for a while. You know I can be of help.”

            I should let you f*****g die. “Fine,” agreed Drake. “But while we’re together, I’m in charge. That means none of your sadistic theater s**t.”

            Raziel clapped, lazily. “Whatever. Just f*****g get us out of here alive.”

            Drake handed Raziel his gun. “I want you to take my gun and shoot anyone who tries to kill us.” As soon as Raziel took the gun, Drake sheathed his sword and picked him up over his shoulders. “Don’t make me regret this.”

            “If you haven’t already regretted joining Caelum Infinitum, I doubt I can top it.”

            “Shut up…” 

Author's Note

Just give me your thoughts and predictions on the chapter :) I'll be reviewing the next chapter and posting that one as well shortly.

Reviews

[Dark Rider]

I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing me say this, but I will mention it again: I'm sorry for such the late review. I've been really busy with school and whatnot.
Now, to the actual review. Even though it's been a while since I last seen Drake, I can definitely tell there is a change in his personality. I'm not sure how big that change is, but it definitely noticeable. Though, I'm not sure if he has moved up on my list of favorite characters. I may need a little more convincing before that happens, lol.
But, like always, I loved this chapter, even though there wasn't a whole lot going on. You still managed to make it interesting, and I was able to picture everything, the landscapes and the people, so clearly. I still don't know how you do it, but whatever you're doing, keep at it. It's working. :)