Relic (Awakened Chronicles Book 2), page 18
In the next moment, Monica wasn’t so lucky. The bolt struck her obelisk dead center, shattering it and sending her flying, then skidding across their small circle to land at the base of Mac’s tower. Cut and bloodied like she’d been caught in a shrapnel explosion, she wasn’t moving, but Mac could see she was still breathing.
Another bolt landed exactly between Noah and Mina’s obelisks, setting its energies into both towers, delivering a powerfully tortuous jolt that had the two calling out as if in searing pain.
“NOAH!” Liam called out. “ARE YOU OKAY!?”
Noah was trying to shake off the last of the painful shock. Jesus that hurt! He looked up at Liam; his normally lavender eyes had taken on a deep red glow. “DO I LOOK OKAY?!”
Liam’s face now showed concern. “Not really.”
Like Monica’s, one of the blasts raining down now hit one of their towers dead center—and exploded.
All of their eyes were now wide as Hope rolled across the stones looking worse then Monica. She wasn’t moving. Her wounds weren’t healing.
“HOPE!!” Noah screamed from his obelisk. He struggled in vain to free himself to get to her. Another bolt stuck her lifeless body, drilling an eight-inch hole clean through her side. The reign of terror was coming down harder now. It would only be a matter of time. Liam shook his head.
Noah’s tower took the next hit, and burst into a powerful explosion of shards that sprayed all of them with sharp pieces of glassteel. Liam looked away. He couldn’t bear to see his friend gone. He waited for when his tower would be next. But then Liam heard is name being called out. It sounded like Xias.
He looked up. Noah looked terrible but he was still moving toward Hope. And healing quickly. By the time he reached her he looked nearly healed. Then one of the bolts tagged Noah in the back. The bolt ricocheted from his skin and struck close to Mac’s tower, drilling its typical hole into the stone, only this time at an angle.
Mac didn’t look all that good either. After Noah’s tower had exploded, he’d been cut in a hundred places and was leaking blood profusely from all over his body.
“Hope—” Noah lifted her body into his arms. Another bolt struck him squarely and then reflected off into the jungle.
Noah lifted his eyes to the sky, bawling, sobbing. Holding her, rocking her in his arms. “Hope—!” he cried.
But Liam was suddenly not looking at Noah as another bolt from above ricocheted off of him, narrowly missing Xias’ but striking his tower. Xias cried out in pain as the energies tortured him without mercy for long moments until they dissipated. He wasn’t looking at Xias either.
Hope’s wounds were getting smaller. Even the ugly hole in her side was healing so fast it wouldn’t even be able to be seen in another few moments. But Noah hadn’t noticed her closing wounds. He laid her body on the stone and looked up into the clouds. He raised his fingers to the sky—“STOP!”
All at once the bolts ceased raining down. Liam looked up. They were still coming down all around the courtyard, and getting more and more intense by the moment, but within their circle of obelisks, the bolts simply reflected off of something unseen.
“We’re registering shield hits, Commander.” One of the warriors reported.
“Oh, someone shooting back at us? From El Dorado?”
“Apparently,” the Lieutenant smirked. “Small reflex weaponry. Not unlike our own.”
“Very well. Give them something to worry about, Lieutenant. Energize one of the forward cannon. Target their ion reactor. This will be over quickly.”
Liam was still struggling against his restraints, but at least it wasn’t raining hell like it was out side of whatever umbrella shield Noah had erected. He was still looking up into the sky; now both of his hands extended skyward, Liam could see the shield building, expanding. Then something bright lit up their courtyard. It looked as if Noah were straining under some kind of weight, but he easily kept his shield in place.
The frigate shook with something like thunder.
“Report!” the captain ordered.
“Our forward weapons array was just attacked; they matched our shield frequency exactly. Several forward cannon are offline and unresponsive.”
“Impossible!”
“Captain,” an avatar of the goddess Athena appeared on his bridge. “Stand down your battle frigate. Captain Reeh will engage the mining vessel.
“Immediately, my goddess.”
The star destroyer moved swiftly into position with a barrage of heavy cannon fire.
All around them huge explosions were detonating against a reflective barrier that Noah was having a very hard time keeping in place.
“NOAH!” Liam called out, seeing the barrier beginning to fracture.
“WHAT?!” Noah turned to look at him, his face annoyed. His eyes were pupil-less and red with anger.
Liam said nothing, seeing his friend.
Noah then whirled, pointing his finger toward the sky—“STOP!”
Something like lightning shot from his outstretched finger, bolting into the sky with a clap of thunder.
The lightning stuck the shields of the massive destroyer but did little else.
“What the blazes was that?” the captain ordered.
“Lightning bolt, Captain.”
“We’re in the vacuum of space!? There’s nothing to ground to!”
“Aye, Captain. A respectable voltage too if I may add.”
“Respectable. Indeed.” The captain scoffed taking his command chair. “Like playing patty-cake with children. Plasma torpedoes—”
“Armed and ready Captain,” the weapons officer affirmed.
“One, two and three, Commander. Ground zero. Fire.”
Liam looked up. The clouds above them were getting brighter and brighter. He looked again at Noah who’d dropped to his knees under the heavy barrage of what now seemed like heavier weapons. Liam couldn’t read Noah’s mind but he could now see something his mind could not believe. Was Noah getting—bigger? He was getting bigger! And with his size the shield above them was no longer fracturing, but thickening and spreading!
Noah was still kneeling, still growing when something bright and powerful exploded in yet the most powerful of blinding light Liam had seen.
Yet, they were still all together. Whatever had exploded or detonated above them had set the surrounding forests on fire, but nothing had touched any of them in the fortress.
“Report, Commander,” the captain observed trying to see through the smoke and devastation of the surrounding miles and miles of rain forest now ablaze.
“Direct hit—on—” the commander paused.
“On?” Captain Reeh raised an eyebrow.
“Bio-energy field, Captain.”
“Bio?” The captain stood up from his chair.
“Aye, spanning three mile radius. And growing.”
“Three mi—? What kind of psionic generates that kind of field?!”
The commander looked up from his console. “Not one I’d want to mess with in person, Captain.”
“NOAH! STOP!” Liam called out as the kneeling Noah was still growing and topping the twenty feet of their obelisks.
He looked down at Liam. “I can’t let them win, Liam.” Noah’s voice boomed.
“You can’t destroy yourself either!”
Noah nodded. Liam could tell he’d stopped getting bigger. At least for now.
“You can’t keep throwing electricity at them,” Liam glared.
“What then?”
“You’re the warlock. Fucking think of something!”
Noah looked up, his mind drawing on his mystic ability. “Of course. The power of the ancients—it is mine to command.”
Noah stood, lifting his hands. The ground beneath them trembled as if a gentle earthquake were taking place. Three crystalline pillars shot forth from the ground just outside of what remained of their glassteel obelisks. Faceted in beautiful scintillating and breathtaking sheen, the crystal pillars rose quickly hundreds of feet taller than the near sixty foot Noah now stood.
The city of El Dorado deep beneath the ground shook as violent tremors rang out, crumbling some older and taller buildings, and causing fissures to open up in the streets. Jungle trees fell but the vessel itself, and its massive reactor, withstood the violent shaking.
In the above ancient city the same violent quake could be felt.
“NOAH!” Liam’s pillar shook, but after losing half it’s height, all it did was shake. Both Xias and Mina’s obelisk’s toppled against each other’s while Mac’s toppled into Noah’s knee. Noah gently laid Mac’s pillar onto the ground. “You’re going to destroy the city beneath us!”
“Liam! I’m not doing anything!”
“Where is that quake coming from?” Carson looked at Julia.
“Its epicenter is about four hundred miles east-north-east of El Dorado.”
“Then, El Dorado isn’t causing this?”
“No—oh my god. Carson! The jungle!”
All around the epicenter the floor of the jungle fell, hundreds and hundreds of feet. Rivers now splashed and poured into the sinking ground that was hundreds of miles long as well as across.
“It looks like something was buried there!”
Julia’s fingers danced over sensor consoles as Jericho’s continuum fed information into her mind. “Whatever it was, it’s big, and it’s not buried there now.”
“Commander! Something just did a space fold into the middle of the Aquarian armada. It’s—the Ganymede.”
Both Carson and Julia looked at each other as the color drained from their faces.
With its forward cannon still blazing, something hot, blue and massive shot from the surface of the Earth. The heavy blast pierced the shields of the star destroyer, sinking into its forward hull. For long moments the blast continued to pour into the fifty-mile-long vessel until it exited the rear of ship’s engine assemblies. Moments later, the mammoth ship erupted into a brilliant small sun that expanded to engulf dozens of smaller vessels positioned too close to the epic destroyer’s igniting cores.
“What the hell was that?!” Carson looked across the orbital battle field as one of the frigates limped away on fire from the fading remains of the still sun-shining star destroyer.
“I’m not sure—whatever it was has a bio signature.”
“Are you telling me that blast was psionic?” Carson’s brow lifted.
“Yea,” Julia nodded. “That’s exactly what it was.”
“No newblood has the ability to generate that kind of power.”
“No. You’re right. But something just did.”
46
T he fleet looks like it’s retreating.” Julia noted most of their vessels pulling back.
“That’s not a retreat, Julia. It’s a fortification around the cruiser.” Carson spread his hands over the console. “It’s a prelude to an attack. And probably not a small one.”
* * * * *
Tori moved through the vessel undetected with her psionic cloaking. No one bothered her as she searched almost in vain through the huge destroyer. She looked out of one of the observation windows to see the most massive ship she’d ever seen yet moving into some kind of formation with the rest of the fleet.
She now moved more quickly along the outer corridors of the vessel until she found what she thought she was looking for. Her Ra was still a little rusty, but she was pretty sure the tiny pod would get her back to Earth. Inside the pod the controls were simple. She took a seat, set the course for Zuruahã territory and pressed the palm-sized launch control.
The pod quickly and silently left the destroyer. She relaxed now in her chair as it moved her fully cloaked away from the battle and toward the jungles of South America.
Her danger senses suddenly flashed. She spun around in her chair to see Roberts sitting in one of the lounge-like couches that ringed the escape pod.
“Abandoning ship so soon?” Roberts wore a battle armor flight suit that had kept her from both seeing and psionically noticing him. He also already had a Reflex pistol in his hand.
“I have to help Liam and Monica. You said you’d help me. You lied.”
He shrugged. “Never trust a pirate.”
“What are you going to do? I thought you were fighting for the Seven?”
He chuckled. “You don’t honestly think I’d be stupid enough to hang around the kind of battle the Seven are about to wage with the Sentinel gods? Rule number one, Tori, never bring a knife to a gunfight. Those Zuruahã crews are so green you and Liam could take them out.”
Their pod began entering the outer atmosphere.
“Liam needs me! And so do the rest of my friends!”
“Liam. Ha. Liam doesn’t need anyone, except himself—well, and maybe a fuck now and then with Noah. That’s his new squeeze in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“It’s just attraction. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Yea, you’re right. I don’t. But I do understand one thing about you people. I’m definitely attracted to you, Evenson. And I’m about to use you to make myself, one of you.”
“You’re not touching me. Again.”
“Yea, well, we’ll see—” Roberts pulled the trigger, heavily stunning the newblood goddess but good. “—about that. Pleasant dreams.”
* * * * *
Medusa sat back in the command chair deep within the Ganymede, surrounded by several of the gods of old who’d taken command and control positions within the heavily protected battle bridge.
“Open psionic cannon.” She commanded.
“Fully charged, your highness,” one of her commanders informed.
“Excellent.” She beamed. “Fire at will.”
Noah all at once looked up in surprise. The shield that had been all but ignoring the bombardment from the ships above began to buckle under an unimaginable weight. He—he couldn’t hold it up any longer. Even with his immense size the pressure of the new weapon taxed his incredible strength. The shield began to crack, and then fissure.
With his hands outstretched and the three crystalline pillars enhancing his will beyond belief, still he dropped to one knee in tremendous effort to keep the shield aloft.
A massive blue wave of pure psychic energy shot from the surface of the blue world. It washed over the shields of the Ganymede.
Medusa laughed. “Is that really all the warlock can summon?”
“Perhaps he strains under your assault, highness.” Another commander offered.
“Obviously. Fire another cannon and shatter the barrier.”
Noah was down to both knees now. The tall crystalline towers that surrounded him grew too bright to look at as he resisted the psionic onslaught of the vessel in high orbit above them. Liam could see cracks no appearing not just within the shield, but the crystal towers themselves.
“Liam—” Noah called out. “I’m sorry. I—I can’t—”
One of the crystal towers shattered and fell into shards all around the courtyard. The other two then detonated with force sending crystalline shards flying everywhere. The huge barrier above them now also dissolved, disintegrating into nothing.
Noah fell prone onto the circular stones.
“NOAH!” Liam yelled, still fighting his bonds for freedom. But all of them were still held fast.
“The barrier is no more, my queen.” Medusa’s commander informed.
“So I can see. And those would be the newbloods I was told about.”
“It would appear.”
“That one is very attractive.” Her view of Liam drew near.
“Shall I capture him for you, my queen?”
“No. Pity though. They are far too dangerous. Is the weapon ready?”
“At your command, highness.”
“Very well. Destroy the warlock.”
All of them looked into the sky. Liam, Xias, Mina, even Mac, although painfully. For long moments all of them stared.
“Well—?” Medusa’s gaze fell on the commander. “I gave the order to fire, did I not?”
“You did, my queen, but the weapon—it refuses.”
“What do you mean it refuses?! I AM CAPTAIN OF THIS VESSEL!” she reminded the system intelligences that surrounded her and her crews.
Monitors and control systems all over the bridge began fading out into standby.
She stood from her command chair.
Suddenly dozens of Dominion guard mass teleported onto her bridge. Their Reflex weapons began firing and killing many of the old gods loyal to the Seven who had been manning the bridge.
“AND I AM HIS ADMIRAL!” Dark’s weapon pointed directly at her.
She glared at him. “Mitchell Dark. I should have known you would be skulking about.”
“It’s over Medusa. Give it up.”
“Please,” she chuckled “I do not take orders from half-breed rabble.”
“No? Then maybe you’ll take orders—” The bridge lit suddenly with a bolt of golden light that seemed to splash and then instantly form into—
“RION!” the startled goddess took a quick step back, her helm’s tentacles all focused on the illuminated skin of the Sentinel. “I should kill you now, where you stand!” Medusa’s tone grew angry; the disintegration weapons embedded within her tentacles energizing as each took aim.
“Take your best shot, bitch!” Kari stepped up beside Dark, her reflex rifle suddenly re-energizing with an ominous deep hum and its business end pointed directly at her.
“Yea, you know, you might want to think twice about that, since you sort of pissed off my boyfriend and all,” Savannah stepped up next to the other side of Rion in her glassteel battle armor. “He rarely misses at this range.” Gage’s Kir rifle also re-energized as he moved beside Savannah, not only his weapon but every sensor at his disposal aimed directly at her.
