Blaze (The High-Born Epic) (28 page)

             
Dispersed among the trees, he could see overgrown ruins of some kind.  He saw a few more and after the seventh one, he finally realized that the relics were very old houses.  The shrubbery and trees surrounding them was so overgrown that he had to look very close to even tell they were there.

             
In the distance, he could see a large circle carved out of the trees.  It almost looked like the spokes of a wheel.  He realized that it was a settlement that was nearly identical to Foxx Hole.  It even had a large mansion overseeing it.  He squinted, and looked all around.  He could see a large expanse of treetops, and several rivers and lakes, and more of the old asphalt and gravel roads.  Spread out near and far, he could make out many more communities just like Foxx Hole, all of which had their own mansion.  In the confines of his helmet, Harold scowled.

             
Then he began to notice other formations, near and far, that confused him.  He and his High-Born pilot were a fair distance above the ground, so he wasn’t sure at first what the massive green squares were, but he pulled on his fire.  One of the large patches grew in his vision as he focused on it.  It was a huge field of corn, and there was a large metal cylinder circling around the field from a central point.  He could see water coming out of it.  He looked around, and found several more fields as well.  Some had corn, turnips, and others had plants he had never seen before.

             
Many of the fields were as large as the entirety of Foxx Hole.  Some were larger.  Harold realized in that moment that the High-Born farmed their own food in addition to taking their food.  It didn’t make any sense: they could’ve fed not only themselves, but also all of Foxx Hole without any problem, yet they preferred to let Low-Born squeak by on nearly nothing.  Apparently, taking food had become too tame for them because now they wanted children too.

             
Harold’s fire began to burn within him.  He no longer felt fear when he thought of the High-Born and their strength, speed, and weapons.  All that he now felt was a desire for battle.  And a war is what the High-Born were going to get until he was dead or until he found the children.  Though he seemed to be by himself in the coming fight, he knew that he wasn’t alone. 

             
Fire itself was coming with him in all of its dreadful glory.

             
As they continued flying, Harold noticed that the High-Born would occasionally press a button on his controls.  Though he was succeeding in being subtle, Harold knew that he was up to something.  That was fine as far as he was concerned because Harold’s want for battle had been replaced by something else.  It had become more than a
want
, it was beyond that.  It was now a
need
for battle, and Harold nearly felt outside of himself as if something that had been with him all along was beginning to surface from deep within.

             
On the horizon, far in the distance, he could glimpse a large city.  It had two skyscrapers that had to be massive because he could tell that it was quite some distance away, and he could see them easily.  They completely dwarfed the buildings around them.

             
“Do you really think that you’re going to be able to free the children?” the High-Born asked, almost condescendingly.  “What are you going to do if you do free them?”

             
“How much longer until we get there?” Harold asked.

             
“When we get to that city,” the High-Born smirked.  “You’ll get what you want.  But what do you really expect to accomplish with that sword?”

             
“It’s a good sword,” Harold replied.

             
The High-Born rolled his eyes and said, “I don’t think you have any idea of what you’re going to be up against.”

             
Harold laughed, “I think it’s you and the soldiers you have waiting on me who don’t know what they’re up against,” his eyes glowed from within the darkness of his helmet.  “Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure you’re around to see it.  Now, shut your mouth and fly.”

             
The High-Born gave Harold a nervous glance and looked back ahead of them.

             
Then they just flew in silence for another half-hour as the buildings in the distance got ever closer.  The scenery never really changed that much as they traveled:  a seemingly endless floor of treetops around the ancient road, and abandoned houses up and down it with villages and farms interspersed here and there.

             
As the buildings got closer, Harold could see various air-taxis in the distance zipping to and fro as they made their way across the sky.  Harold noticed dozens of odd structures beginning to appear below him.  Interspersed among the treetops, he could see ruins.  He looked to his right and left.  For miles, seemingly in a circle, around the newer buildings were hundreds of structures in various states of ruin and disrepair.  A variety of trees surrounded them, and from the growth and size of the trees, Harold gathered that the buildings were probably well more than a hundred years old.

             
Harold focused his vision on one building in particular.  It had a very wide base, but there were only about three levels of windows on it.  It was easy to see that it once was a very large building of some kind.  He could see tons of wreckage around it scattered throughout the forest.  Something had caused the building to collapse long ago.  Harold looked at another set of ruins and could see large holes in it and large black marks beneath the vines that crawled up it.  He looked at many of the other buildings, and they all displayed the signs of an Old World battle.

             
Finally, they began approaching the newer part of the city, and Harold could feel the air-taxi slowing down, and green text appeared on the windshield.

             
“
Welcome to City-Nav-Link, and Elevation Contro
l
,” a female voice that sounded mechanical said. 

             
The voice came from all around Harold and slightly startled him.  He could see several numbers with letters beside them appear on the screen. 

             
“
Please select an available elevation from the list provide
d
,” the voice said. 

             
The High-Born looked at the vertical list of numbers seeming to float on his screen.  Harold saw numbers as large as 2,500 m’s and as small as 8 m’s.  The High-Born pressed the set of numbers on the bottom, and the air-taxi lurched forward and headed toward the ground.  After several moments of rapid, but controlled descent Harold felt the air-taxi level off and they were not very far from the ground at all.

             
“
Desired elevation level attaine
d
,” the mechanical voice said. 
“
Elevation level is now locked, and traffic safety protocols are now engaged.  There are currently forty-two travelers on your elevation level within the city limits.  Do you wish to engage auto-pilot to your desired destinatio
n
?”

             
“No,” the High-Born replied.

             
“
Thank yo
u
,” the female sounding voice answered. 
“
You will receive a visual notification on your windshield if another traveler comes within 100 meters of your location.  In the event of an emergency, or in the event that you come within ten meters of another traveler, safety protocols will activate, and your vehicle will be momentarily commandeered.  Is there anything else I can help you wit
h
?”

             
“No,” the High-Born answered.

             
“
Thank yo
u
,” the computer system replied. 
“
Have a good da
y
.”

             
“Take me to the children,” Harold said.

             
“You got it,” the High-Born smirked.

             
It was only about another minute before they entered the seemingly massive hallways created by the buildings.  Harold could see many High-Born walking below, but for such a large city, the walkways seemed relatively empty.  He found it odd, but the few dozen High-Born he saw were not wearing battle gear.  They wore odd-looking clothing unlike anything Harold had ever seen.  The clothing looked very comfortable, and the shirts fit close to the skin.  The material itself seemed to flatter their muscular figures.

             
As they continued down the streets, Harold noticed that the High-Born was taking him to the center of the city.  He looked in the windows of the buildings and could see High-Born on the other side of the glass.  Some were walking back and forth, and others were sitting at desks with data-panes in front of them.  Harold could see a few talking into earpieces similar to the one that Colonel Foxx used to talk to his pilots and soldiers.

             
Harold looked at his High-Born driver.  He had a barely-noticeable grin on his face as he looked toward the center of the city.  Harold understood that there would be no way out once he was there.  He would be totally surrounded, and, as far as the High-Born was concerned, entirely alone against an army of armed giants with weaponry that Harold could only imagine.  But what the High-Born didn’t know was that Harold was bringing more fire to this city than they could imagine.

             
Harold could see a building farther down the street that had a military look to it.  He knew that was where the High-Born was taking him.  Harold began pulling on his fire, letting it flow through his muscles, storing its powerful energy within them, strengthening them, and giving them endurance that the High-Born couldn’t understand.  He pushed it into his eyes, and ears, so that he could see and hear things that others could not.  He took a deep breath as he glared at the compound.

             
“Fly around it,” Harold said, his voice had suddenly become very deep and authoritative.

             
The High-Born’s eyes opened wide at the sound of it, and he nodded his head like a child that had just been scolded.  Then he flew around it as Harold studied the guards posted around it.  They were lackadaisical and surprisingly few.  He realized that they had long ago come to the conclusion that no more threats to their power existed.  Their arrogance would be their undoing.  He could see several unmanned gunships sitting around the perimeter, and even a tank.

             
Harold had him fly around the building twice, and he was satisfied that he had learned everything he could about the outside of it.  Harold tightened his hand around his sword.

             
Flames crackled to life around him, and he said, “I am Sir Harold, The Blazing Knight, and with all of my heart and soul, I shall fight the battles that others cannot because that is the destiny of my power.”

             
Fire seared down the length of his blade as he seized the High-Born, and they both disappeared in a flash of flame.

Chapter 25

              The Blazing Knight thundered into sight about thirty feet above the lead guard shack with a screaming High-Born in his arms.  He dropped the High-Born, and air-burned toward an empty gunship to his left, and appeared inside of it.  As the High-Born crashed down onto the top of the hut, the knight appeared inside of the gunship and furiously slashed its control panels with his flaming sword.  After a few deep cuts, he was sure it was incapable of being flown, and he thundered towards another one. 

             
Flames blinked inside of it… and then suddenly in another one.

             
The guard in the hut ran outside to see what was shouting on the top of his shack.  An explosion sounded to his left, and he watched as a gunship burst into flames and he noticed fires within two other gunships around the plaza.  He looked up to see another High-Born clutching his left ankle, and wailing in agony.  The guard flinched as the tank on the eastern side of the courtyard detonated, and he heard a loud pop above him.

             
Standing on top of his shack was a man-shaped blaze of blue and red flames with glowing orange eyes set deep within a dark helmet.  He held a flaming sword in his right hand, and flames crackled in the palm of his other hand as he stared down at him, stepping on the screaming High-Born beneath him.  The guard drew his pistol, but watched as the flaming man vanished before his eyes.  The guard felt something hot hit him in the back and he looked down to see a flaming sword poking out of his chest.  As darkness began swarming his vision, he saw the fiery man reappear on top of the shack, and grab the other screaming High-Born only to see them both disappear in a flash of flame as he fell to the ground.