FF Chapter 34

Luck's plan comes to a head, and the city trembles.

Chapter 34

      Staring at the swamp that used to be her base, her rage grew. As it boiled over she vented her frustration to the cautious Deese. “All I wanted was a nice coup, maybe kill a king and rule the city, but they couldn’t let me have that, could they? Everything that is about to happen is on their heads. By my master, if we can’t have this city, no one will!”

 

      In a secluded alley outside the casino, Malent and Jack sat in silence, each trying to figure out what to do next. Suddenly the ground beneath them began to violently shake.

      Jack looked at Malent, who shrugged “It wasn’t me.”

      Suddenly, not ten paces from them, a hole opened up in the ground and what looked like a giant beetle emerged. It had a black shell, curved claws, and rounded heads at either side of its’ cylindrical body.

      “What is that?” Malent cried.

      “Some new kind of Dan’darun?” Jack guessed, and his suspicions were confirmed when dralgs emerged from the tunnel behind the strange beetle.

      The time for brooding was over; they defended themselves as the dralgs charged.

 

      On the other side of town, Future and his allies were encountering the new menace. The dralgs were quickly dealt with, but the new creature warranted some examination. Future tangled it with a vine and flipped it over, allowing Erald to finish it off.

      “What do you make of it?” He asked Winchester.

      “It seems to be some new kind of Dan’darun.”

      “Armoured shell, and curved claws for tunneling-”

      “But soft underbelly.” He poked it with his cane.

      “Living battering rams?”

      “I think ‘siege engines’ would be a better description.”

      “So this was the ‘ace’ Luck had up her sleeve. She’s always full of surprises.” He grumbled.

      Before they could say another word, a black horse rode up to them. Evil took one look at the carcasses around them and said “I take it you’ve met Luck’s new friends too.”

      “Yeah.” Future kicked the armoured husk.

      “Seems like she’d rather destroy the city now.” Evil said casually.

      “So it seems.” Future sighed. She never made things easy.

      “The king is worthless if the city falls.” Evil locked eyes with his brother.

      “…agreed.” Future relented. “We have to put protecting Gaius on hold. Protecting the entire city is a priority.”

      As they spoke, more rumblings were heard. They were coming from the east.

      “Oh what now.” Evil rolled his eyes and got to a high vantage point.

      From his spot he could see a giant head peek over the city walls. Absolutely flabbergasted and speechless for what might have been the first time in history, Future walked up to him and said. “Oh, Goren made it, good. They’re just in time.”

      “You, you know that thing?” Evil asked.

      “Of course, he works for me. His name is Goren and his beast gift allows him to grow gigantic. It’s great for demolition and transportation.”

      “Well, since I doubt you’re planning to demolish the city…what could such a giant be transporting that would make you so giddy?” Evil wondered aloud.

      Future smiled at him knowingly. “He’s carrying my ace.” As he spoke, men jumped down from the giants’ shoulders and onto the walls, pushing through any Dan’darun or enemy soldiers that crossed them. With the front gate secured, they opened it wide and more men poured in.
      “The Brig soldiers!” Evil realized.

      “Yep. They’ll help me secure the city, meaning you’re free to head west.”

      Evil smiled, and wheeled his horse around. “I’ll try to find where these tunnels start and stop them at the source.” Evil stretched his arms. “I guess there’s no reason to hold back. I can’t remember the last time I let loose?”

      “Probably right before the Makuta Mountains became the Makuta Valley.”

      “Oh yeah, good times.” Evil reminisced.

      “That’s exactly why I want you and your forces out of the city. We need you clearing the wastelands to the west or more dralgs and…whatever these things are…will pour through.”

      “Consider it done.” He smiled with anticipation, and rode off. Once he was gone, Future and his group left to meet up with the Brig men. The counterattack was about to begin.

 

      The Brig wardens were a motley crew. They wore no uniform, so each had a distinct style brought from their homeland. The only thing each man had in common was the seal of Brig displayed proudly somewhere on their outfit. The seal had a white background, and displayed a hilltop fortress between a hammer and talon, representing Brig as a barrier between the working people and the monsters that would plague them.

      Although, now they were joined by several of the civilians they would normally be protecting.

      “Commander Grant!” Future called out to the leader of the Brig wardens, and a large man with broad shoulders and a bald head walked up to them.

      “Lord Future.” He saluted.

      “At ease commander. There seems to be an unusual amount of civilians with you. What happened?”

      “Sorry we’re late sir, but the town nearby was being attacked, so we stopped there first. After the skirmish, several of the students and teachers from the nearby Academy came out to meet us. They intended to join the fight whether we escorted them or not.”

      “So, these are students from Yanus Academy.” Future looked over the crowd before turning back to the commander and whispering “and what about the VIP’s?”

      “Safe and secure. I left them back in the town.” He whispered back.

      “So they’re in Sanel, good.” Future nodded.

      As they talked, a young Caniko walked up to them. “Sir.” He bowed to Future.

      “Neki, good to see you again. What do you have to report?”

      “A few of the teachers from the academy wish to speak with you.”

      He turned to Commander Grant and said “I don’t know how long this will take, but divide your forces and clear out the city, standard ‘search and destroy’ pattern. Lo, Erald, you two join them. Focus on blocking the tunnels first, then clear out the stragglers.”

      As the commander started barking orders to his squads, Future turned back to Neki and motioned for him to lead the way. As he did, Future asked him to grab his partners and stay behind; he had a special assignment for them.

      Mr. Forester and Ms. Kyuu were at the head of a large group of students, coordinating with Grant and trying to organize everyone.

      “Lord Future.” Mr. Forester greeted the Hand in his usual boisterous manner. “Ms. Jensing decided to declare a state of emergency, and sent the trained and capable to aid you…and Gale.” He mumbled her name as a reluctant afterthought. The botany teacher, despite lacking a beast mark, had joined the group, unwilling to pass up any chance to see the men of Brig in action. She was currently enthralled, reconnecting with a few of her old students.

      “Very well, just keep a close eye on your students. Grant!” He called the commander over. “Grant, see if you can get these children some beast marks. I think there’ll be more than enough to go around.”

      Many of the students overheard this, and became very excited. Mr. Forester turned to his class and announced “Did you hear that kids? Looks like graduation came early this year! Come on!”

      With that the combined forces from Brig and Yanus departed. As the crowd dispersed, Future called Winchester over. Together they looked for Neki and his two teammates, Dran and Gungin, when he spotted a familiar face beside them.

      As the Hand approached, Neki and his squad stood at attention. “Oh, Sir, this is my cousin Ana-”

      “Anastazia,” Future interrupted. “We’ve met before. She’s good friends with my son.” He smiled.

      “I-Is she now?” He rubbed the little girls head lovingly.

      “Yes, I almost didn’t recognize her without her hat on.” Future joked.

      “I left it back at school.” She timidly replied.

      “Well you look better without it.” He winked. “Now, about that mission. I can only be in one place at a time, so I’ll need you guys to be my eyes and ears. Dran, you can use your dragon wings to fly, Gungin can look through the eyes of the birds, and Neki will act as my personal messenger.”

      Winchester spoke up. “And what about me?”

      Future turned to Winchester and put a hand on his shoulder. “You know Winnie, Evil was right. There’s no point in holding back; now is not the time for subtlety.”

      Winchester smiled, and looked at his cane. “Very well.” He sighed. Flexing his arms, the power of his beast mark pour through him. He activated his beast gift, telekinesis; the art of moving things with only your mind.  He turned his power in on himself, and was lifted into the air.

      Now hovering, he beamed as his cane fell to the ground.

      Ana stared. “Wow, he can fly?”

      “Of course.” Future smiled. “How else would an old man with a cane shelve so many books, or reach the high shelves. Winchester, you’ll work with Neki and find out who needs your help the most.”

      As they prepared to leave, Future warned them all. “Now Luck might try and use her lightning to shoot you out of the sky. Should you spot her, DO NOT FIGHT HER! Report back to me immediately. Only Evil and I stand a chance against her.”

      As the three fliers split up, Neki was hesitant to leave his cousin alone.

      “It’s okay.” Future reassured him. “I’ll look after her.”

      With reassurance from Future himself, he ran off towards the different squads, ready to report back anything he found.

      Anastazia watched her cousin run off, as Future put a hand on her shoulder.

      “I-I want to help!” She declared.

      “I know.” Future smiled.

      “I-I want to help…Alex.” She admitted, and Future paused for a moment, suddenly aware that he had no clue if Alex was in the library or not, or if Eira was still Luck’s prisoner.

      He shook such questions from his head and put on a smile to reassure the girl. “I know he’d love to hear that, but for now, let’s see if we can get you some more beast marks while we’re here.” He led her towards the library, picking off any monsters they met on their way.

 

      The battle raged throughout the city, thanks to the tunnels there was no single line of battle, but uncountable pockets of action all across the city. Civilians stayed indoors, but the dralgs weren’t interested in them. They’d been ordered to get rid of any opposition first, and that’s what they tried to do.

      From her perch atop the city wall, Lo sniped Dralgs off the sides of buildings with energy blasts. The new species, however, was proving much more difficult for her to deal with. Its armoured hide was laughing at her shots. Thankfully Erald and the more physical members of their team were able to dispatch them.

      As the large sentry approached an entrenched position, he called out to the rebel guards. “By a show of hands, how many of you think you can best me in combat?” They looked around at each other, but no one raised their hand. Erald smirked “That’s what I thought.” Without any more banter, he proceeded to break their defences, and clear a main pathway for the rest of the group to use.

      Winchester, for his part, was flying as fast as he could toward the eastern part of The Capital. Negi had just told him about a group of Brig soldiers escorting Yanus students that were being overrun near a tunnel. As he arrived, a few of the students groaned.

      “Aw, we wanted Erald or Lo, not some old geezer.” He heard one of them whine.

      Winchester glared at the squirts. “Would you kids like to know how many beasts I killed before I became ageless? Seventy-three; one for every year. This means that, in terms of strength, I surpass Erald, Lorane, and any from Brig. I suppose what I’m trying to say is-” Without turning he raised his hand and fired a blast of energy down the hole that the Dan’darun were crawling out of. The red beam tore through the dralgs at the opening, and in the distance a beam of red light shot out of the tunnel’s other end. As the dust cleared Winchester turned to the stunned students and finished imparting his advice. “-respect your elders.” Without missing a beat, he addressed the men from Brig. “This tunnel’s clear, move onto the next one.” He then floated away towards his next assignment.

      From his vantage point he saw hundreds of small skirmishes breaking all out over the city, and couldn’t help but spare a thought for his friends. Whar would be fine, he was riding with Evil and their army, but Deese was another story.

 

      The butler stood in front of the casino. He wasn’t exactly sure where his mistress had gone, but he would defend their base until told otherwise. As he batted away one of the brig soldiers with a disabling series of quick blows, he spared a thought for his friends, and hoped the oath they swore wouldn’t be put to the test.

      Despite his vigilance, however, he failed to notice one presence.

      Jack slipped around the watchful Deese, but the butler had no way of knowing Jack’s unique ability. A while later he emerged, cloaked once again, and returned to Malent with two large sacks in his hands.

      He smiled at her, and opened the bags to reveal a pile of gold and treasure. “I know where they kept the vault.” He explained with a fiendish smirk.

      “Jack…” Malent stared at the haul. “I take back everything I ever said or thought about you, except when I called you a cheat.”

      He shrugged. “Well I wouldn’t expect you to take back the truth. Here,” he handed her a bag. “This one’s yours.”

      “Really…thanks.” She looked inside the bag and asked. “I’m not complaining, but why are you giving this to me? You could’ve just left me here.”

      Jack couldn’t look her in the eye as he explained “Well, the way I see it we both got cheated by Luck; this is just compensation. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting out of here.”

      Malent thought for a moment, before looking around at the city. “Yeah, there’s nothing left for me here either.”

      The two thieves sat in the alley, hiding from the war raging around them, deciding exactly what to do next.

 

      Alex and his friends had managed to get to the castle, but the reunion between Gaius and Eira was short lived. As monsters burst out of the ground, and more guards turned traitor, the group quickly came under attack. They eventually fell back to the throne room, the children doing everything they could to protect the king.

      Eira and Alex had managed to get swords from guards Frey had disarmed, while Indol fired energy blasts and fashioned makeshift explosives from anything she could find. With a beast mark of her own, she didn’t have to rely on anyone else to charge them for her.

      They managed to fight off a few waves, getting a handful of beast marks each for their trouble; then things got quiet.

      Through the main door stepped Captain Johnathan, fully armed and armoured. He smiled at them.