Shadow Seed (8 page)

“I just want the girl,” Leon said. “Give her
to me, or I kill all of you.”

With the snap of a finger, several fists shot
out of nowhere, bashing Leon across the body.

It was difficult to block or counter a half
dozen moving body parts that would disappear and reappear.

Leon grabbed the next hand coming after him
and pulled, immediately impaling the Koiga that came through.

With lighting speed, Leon dodged several
fists and stabbed an incoming foot, holding it in place as the
attacker screamed in pain.

A blood glaive flew off Leon, finding the
foot's owner and lodging itself into his head.

Leon caught the black Koiga trying to get the
drop on him from behind. He swung his sword and hit the Koiga's
arm, but it was like striking granite.

The black patches acted like an automatic
defense mechanism, instantly flowing across the skin and hardening
into plates of armor.

A boot kicked Leon in the back of the knee,
making him buckle and giving the black Koiga a chance to punch him
with a rock-hard fist.

Leon recovered quickly and ran full speed
around the pillars, slashing the last red Koiga across the
stomach.

Another blood glaive leapt off Leon and went
after the black Koiga, only to shatter on contact.

Leon attacked with his sword as fast as he
could, but the patches did their job well.

The black Koiga stood there laughing.

Frustrated beyond belief, Leon stopped,
picked the Koiga up with one hand and threw him violently into one
of the pillars, the impact achieving what his blade couldn't.

Alarm bells began to rouse the rest of the
fortress.

Looking at the yellow Koiga, sadness overcame
Leon as he realized he might never see Sara again.

The same raven from earlier flew into the
arena, landing a short distance in front of Leon to get his
attention.

As an orange portal flared into existence,
the raven cawed and flew through.

Leon didn't want to go. He stood there for a
moment afraid of maybe leaving Sara behind, but that gut feeling he
rarely got kicked in.

The portal vanished as several Koiga entered
the arena, only to find dead soldiers.

In the Netherworld, Leon was in a lavish room
with windows on all sides, and two sets of large opulent doors
sitting opposite each other. The view outside gave him the
impression that the room was suspended or hanging in midair amongst
the clouds.

Lilith walked in, with a table and two chairs
sprouting in the middle of the room. Taking a seat, she invited
Leon to join her.

“Been watching me lately?” Leon asked as he
sat.

“I've always had an eye on you,” Lilith
answered. “But aside from that, I hear you're looking for
someone.”

“I would say that's a good guess.”

Lilith made another chair emerge from the
floor. “There's not much that gets by me. Leon, right now most of
my people are fighting the Pelasgians. Rhea is in danger of being
wiped out, and you're chasing after a human girl.”

Leon folded his arms. “I'm sure most of Rhea
can handle itself.”

“Is she really worth it?” asked Lilith.
“Others may not see it, but I do. You have feelings for Sara.”

“Maybe I do,” Leon admitted. “It's amazing
how strong she is in spite of her frailness. Makes me wish she was
a Vesuvian, but then I don't think I would like her as much.”

Lilith stared at the empty chair. “Do you
trust me?”

It was an odd question until the doors behind
Leon opened and Eris entered.

As soon as Leon could raise his sword, Lilith
paralyzed him from the neck down. “What are you doing?” he
asked.

“I need you to listen,” Lilith said.

Leon struggled hard to free himself. “We
can't trust her!”

“Please,” Lilith begged. “I am asking you to
trust me, and hear what she has to say.”

Leon could only think of how close he came to
killing Eris, and failing. Now here she was again, and there was
nothing he could do. “Fine,” he said, before hearing a female’s
voice inside his head.

“My name is Eris,” she said
telepathically.

Lilith released her hold on Leon when she
sensed him calming down.

“What do you want?” Leon asked.

Eris slowly moved closer to Lilith, making
sure to keep her distance from Leon. “As Nibiru's quest has been
one of seeking immortality, mine has been to find that which will
destroy him.”

Leon sat back down. “And you know what that
is?”

“Yes, you know what I speak of.”

“I wish I had the same confidence,” Leon
said. “What makes you so sure?”

Eris stood behind Lilith, not trusting of
Leon. “One is easily betrayed by his emotions. And it seems Nibiru
is no different. He is blind with desperation. Even now he seeks to
manipulate you through your friend.”

“You know where Sara is?” Leon asked.

“I can take you to her,” Eris said. “But you
must not confront Nibiru. Not yet.”

“Believe me, I don't plan to.”

Eris came out from behind Lilith, taking a
step toward Leon. “The time will come when you will have no choice
but to face him, and it is then you will be able to save not only
Rhea, but everyone.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Richard led the way through the forest. His
comrades were close behind, moving as fast as they could without
tiring themselves out. But the long run was beginning to take its
toll.

Thomas fell against a tree, vomiting and
bringing the group to a halt.

“Are you okay there?” Jacob asked, wiping
sweat off his forehead.

“I'll be fine,” Thomas answered. “I just need
a minute.”

Arthur sat on a broken log. “We could
probably walk from here. Richard, how far do we have to go?”

The broken log and two oddly misshapen trees
gave Richard a clue where they were. “Two or three minutes, but I
don't think it's a good idea to stop, or walk. The Pelasgians are
probably not far behind.”

“Not far behind?” Thomas said in disbelief.
“We've been running ahead of them the whole time.”

“If they have a fast moving forward element
they could be a half hour away, less even.”

Jacob sat next to Arthur. “Do you think
William made it back?”

“He better have,” said Arthur. “It's the only
way New Haven will be ready.”

Richard took a deep breath. “That smell keeps
getting worse. We should move. It's not much further.”

Knowing New Haven wasn't much further made it
easier for the men to carry on. When the city finally came into
view they got a second wind.

The gate began to open with William on his
way out and spotting his incoming friends. “Oh, this can't be
good.”

“Thomas,” Arthur called. “You and Jacob
report to the Marshal. Stock up and regroup. Richard and I will
handle things here.”

“What happened?” William asked.

“Pelasgians are on their way,” Richard said
as he ran by. “You may want to brace the gate.”

Inside the city, Thomas and Jacob borrowed a
couple of horses from the soldiers and quickly rode off.

“Sound the alarm!” Arthur ordered, as he and
Richard jogged down the street.

As several flares were fired off in
succession throughout New Haven, thousands of soldiers rushed to
defend the wall or prepare siege weapons.

Arthur and Richard entered a pub that had
been converted into a makeshift command post. They found some
soldiers going over maps of the area with several of his
Captains.

One of them, an older man with a scar running
down the left side of his face, looked up. “Back so soon?”

Arthur went over to the table. “General Ward,
bad news. The Pelasgians are heading this way as we speak.”

“How far,” Ward asked.

Richard came forward. “Half hour, maybe
less,” he said.

Ward went back to his map for a moment before
addressing his men. “It looks like the fight is coming to us. You
all know what to do. Carry on.”

“General, my men and I can help,” Arthur
said.

Ward motioned for Arthur and Richard to sit.
“Everyone knows you guys know how to fight. Heck, I don't think
anyone will argue that pound-for-pound you're the best. But armies
fight wars. So I'd prefer to keep your men in a support
capacity.”

Richard wasn’t thrilled with the idea of
taking a backseat in the fight. “With all due respect, General,
there may not be many of us, but we're much more mobile.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Ward said, rifling
through some papers until finding several sketches of Pelasgians.
“Is there anything you can tell me about these guys the Rheans
haven't? Anything at all?”

“No,” Arthur answered. “We did locate the
main camp and I can assure you that those drawings don't do justice
to the actual thing.”

Ward studied the sketches. “I can believe
that an invading army threatens our interests here in Rhea, but I
have a hard time believing where that army comes from.”

Arthur began to feel precious time ticking
by. “We've verified the Shadow Realm does exist. I can’t vouch
enough for the person who-”

“Yes, I read Sara's report,” Ward said. “But
do you trust the Rheans? Are we sure they are telling us the whole
story?”

“Sara thinks so,” Richard answered. “She's
spent some time with them, especially the Vesuvians.”

“We can trust them,” said Arthur. “The Rheans
have been very forthcoming with requests for information regarding
the size and location of their armies, a few of which were already
known to us or have been able to verify.”

Ward reclined in his chair, mumbling. “It's a
good thing you feel that way.”

Arthur wasn’t sure how to take that.
“General?”

Leaning forward, Ward picked up another
sketch and studied it. “In Gaia, we received the Consular's letter.
Do you know what that letter said?”

“No,” Arthur replied.

Ward laughed. “Neither do I, but whatever it
was, it wasn't nearly enough to convey the magnitude of the
situation. Had I known! I would have requisitioned...oh, I don't
know... maybe forty percent more men and materiel. Then again, I
could've dragged every man, woman and child from Gaia over and it
still wouldn't have been enough.”

Arthur knew better than to try and allay
Ward.

Richard didn't. “Um...General, I know the
situation may seem dire.”

“Do you know the situation?” Ward asked
calmly.

Arthur grabbed Richard by the wrist
underneath the table, telling him to stop before he could speak any
more.

Ward tossed the sketch and sat back. “A short
time ago, a Vesuvian courier arrived. She told me that almost every
city in Rhea was under threat of attack. Do you know how massive an
army would have to be in order to do that?”

Even Richard had nothing to say.

“As it stands,” Ward continued, “our best
hope is that the enemy is spread thin. Otherwise, I'm willing to
bet whoever is in charge of the Pelasgians has the muscle to back
these numbers up.”

Arthur and Richard waited until they were
dismissed by the General to join William at the main gate. As they
waited, Thomas and Jacob soon returned and an army rumbled
closer.

General Ward was busy barking orders at his
men.

Everyone could hear the footsteps of the
terrosaurs, and the breaking of the trees they knocked over.

“Get your bows ready,” Arthur said.
“Concentrate your fire on any airborne mounts.”

The Pelasgians emerged from the woods,
marching at a steady pace. As they came within a hundred yards of
New Haven, Erinies and Corinthian's on their griffins circling
above swooped down on the humans defending the wall.

Several dozen soldiers were killed in the
initial exchange.

One Corinthian was thrown from his injured
griffin to his death on the other side of the wall, and an Eriny
was brave enough to try taking on a cadre of soldiers.

Arthur and his men managed to quickly kill
three Corinthians and two of their griffins, with the third griffin
landing inside the city and going after some soldiers.

Richard jumped down and landed on the
griffin, killing it with his talons to the back of its head.

Archers and catapults stood ready to shoot as
the terrosaurs came closer.

“Fire,” Ward cried.

At once, thousands of arrows and dozens of
boulders went hurtling through the air. Many Pelasgians were able
to protect themselves with their shields, though quite a few were
injured or killed.

Most of the boulders crashed through the rank
and file, decimating columns of infantry. Only a few of the
terrosaurs were hit, with the worst only being staggered a bit
before continuing on.

The humans on the wall fought desperately to
hold their position. If it wasn't the size and weight of the
griffins, it was the Erinies’ long reach and speed overpowering
them.

Arthur and Jacob barely managed to avoid an
incoming Eriny that landed between them. As the Pelasgian tried to
take off, both men jumped on to hold him down.

The Eriny was strong enough that it began to
carry the men with him, until Thomas leapt on as well, causing the
creature to spiral and crash.

The surrounding soldiers immediately jumped
in and killed the Eriny.

William checked on the soldiers from the
wall. “You guys okay?”

“Look out!” Richard cried, shoving William
just in time to avoid the end of a terrosaur's tail that came
crashing through the wall vertically.

Now on opposite ends of the ruined wall,
Richard and William scrambled to get clear of the next hit.

William ran into a tower, as Richard took a
shortcut by jumping down into a pile of hay.

The terrosaur took another swing at the wall,
knocking down a sizable section.

Arthur and his men regrouped with a company
of soldiers falling back to the next street. After the wall took a
third hit, the humans found that there was now little between them
and the enemy.