The Esoteric Design Read online

  “And you can honestly say that your world is any better?” a foreign, deep male voice sounded within the cabin.

  Dovian froze, eyes wide, as he registered the vocals. Hands gripping the chair, he struggled to catch his breath. “Euclid…” Dovian’s voice was nearly above a whisper. The said man seemed to materialize from the shadows in the back of the Hawk. He was adorned in cobalt robes very similar to Dovian’s. His long raven hair flowed over the right side of his face, cascading over his shoulders. A sharp light flickered in his eyes, matching the blue tattoos lining his eyelids and left cheekbone.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Troy tried to aim his rifle, but Euclid beat him to the punch, swatting the item from the man’s hands and tugging him from his seat. He wrapped an arm around the soldier’s torso and placed his long fingers around his throat, digging his jewel and gold-encrusted claw rings into Troy’s flesh.

  “Troy!” Aria stood, her rifle aimed at Euclid. Dovian had risen by this time and had his staff pointed at the assailant as well. “Don’t even think about hurting him,” Aria growled, pulling back the charging handle of her 36C.

  “My, my…somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Euclid smirked.

  “I assume you’re involved somehow with these attacks?” Dovian’s voice lowered in tone.

  “You seem surprised!” Euclid laughed; his pale-blue eyes glimmered with amusement.

  In an instant, Dovian lunged and tugged Troy from the man’s grasp, clamping a large hand around Euclid’s throat. “Do you mind telling me how that’s possible?!” Dovian snarled viciously. Their noses were almost touching as Dovian pushed against the man, but Euclid was still much taller. Laughter fell from the raven-haired menace’s lips, only angering Dovian more.

  “All things are possible if you make the right kind of deal,” Euclid replied. Dovian’s face paled. With his laughter rising in volume, Euclid shouted, “What’s wrong Dovian? You act like you’ve seen a ghost!”

  Giving a violent shove, Euclid sent Dovian flying up toward the front. Aria opened fire. The rounds disintegrated before ever hitting the man’s body. He turned his cold gaze toward the woman. “It’s going to take much more than that to stop me, love.”

  Dovian sprung back toward Euclid, but the man had sidestepped, grasping Ivory’s wrists and unbuckling her with ease. She cried out in fear as the cruel man held her to the side, dangling her body outside of the helicopter.

  “No!” Dovian froze, hand out.

  “Oh?” Euclid smiled. “You want her, Dovian?”He shook her, causing her to yelp.

  “Your quarrel is with me, not her,” the Sorcēarian’s voice wavered nervously.

  “Is it?” Euclid tilted his head to the side and, without a moment’s hesitation, released the young woman.

  “Bastard!” Dovian cursed and dove out the side of the helicopter, charging after the falling Ivory. The helicopter was silent as Euclid turned his eager gaze toward the two militants.

  “Now that that little problem is taken care of let’s do something about you.” Euclid brushed his hands against his robes.

  “You son-of-a-bitch,” Troy cursed, gripping his weapon.

  “What are you going to do? Shoot me?” Euclid taunted, laughing at the two soldiers and their guns.

  “Somethin’ like that,” a voice said from behind the wicked man.

  Euclid turned to find Gavin holding a grenade launcher. With a pull of the trigger, one massive explosion burst against Euclid. The violent force sent the enemy over the side of the cabin. Gavin promptly dropped the weapon and stared at it with unease.

  “Alright!” Troy cheered. He patted the stunned pilot on the back. Gavin swallowed thickly. He had never shot a man before.

  The celebration was cut short, however, as the Hawk jerked violently.

  “Shit! What was that?” Gavin rushed to the cockpit.

  “Don’t ask us that! You’re the one who knows how to drive this thing.” Troy followed his friend to the front, looking at the countless gauges with a face of confusion.

  “What’s going on, Gavin?” Aria asked.

  “I, I dunno. She was fine yesterday.” Another jerk occurred, and the two soldiers were shuffling for balance. “Oh, damn!” An alarm began to sound; tiny, red lights blinked in alert across his panel.

  “What?!” Troy gripped the metal frame beside him.

  “The rotary blades! The wiring has been snapped on one side! Those damned things must’ve sabotaged the Hawk before they attacked!” Gavin flipped and pressed a multitude of switches and buttons. “We’re using only two blades! We have to land now!” Another jerk sent everyone struggling to the side as an explosion boomed overhead. “Guys, get your chutes! We need to bail!”

  “We’re bailing?!” Aria shouted.

  “I can’t save her! Either you get out now or we’re all dead!” Gavin pushed the two into the back of the cabin toward the parachutes. He handed one to Aria and then another to Troy.

  “Gavin…” Aria fiddled with her pack, “there’s only two.”

  “You guys put them on! Get out, now!”

  “But what about you?!” Troy shouted.

  “Don’t worry about me! I got my ejection seat!” Gavin rushed to the front, buckling himself in. The Hawk dropped, this time not lifting. “Get out, now!” He tugged on the aircraft’s throttle, trying to gain a bit more air.

  “I’ll help,” Euclid’s voice suddenly rang out.

  Aria quickly buckled her pack to her body as Euclid’s large hands sent her flying over the edge. A kick sent Troy spiraling out of the aircraft, parachute flying from his hands. Euclid watched a moment before turning to the pilot, revealing his torn open torso damaged from the grenade blast.

  “Later!” Gavin waved, activating his ejection seat. Up and out of the cockpit he soared, the seat releasing its own chute.

  “Think you can get away that easily, do you?” Euclid leaped from the side of the Hawk, eyes on the pilot. Giant, dark wings burst from his dorsal side. With a flap or two, he was near Gavin’s side, vibrant eyes glaring.

  “Oh, shit! You can fly, too?” Gavin shouted.

  Euclid collided with the man, sending Gavin’s parachute in disarray. Strapped to the seat, Gavin began to tumble through the air. The pilot reached inside his pocket for his military knife.

  “You made a dire mistake, boy,” Euclid hissed. He gripped Gavin’s hand firmly. Slowly, he forced Gavin to cut at his own straps to the parachute. The pilot, using his free hand, grabbed Euclid’s hair and tugged. Releasing his safety buckles, Gavin slid from his pilot’s chair and wrapped his legs around Euclid’s middle. The two struggled momentarily in the air, Euclid trying to fly away, his wings flapping erratically. Gavin pulled back and inserted the knife in-between Euclid’s shoulder blades. Euclid cried out, trying to detach himself from the pilot.

  “Always,” Gavin strained with the other man, “preferred to fly.” Tilting his head back, hair blowing in the wind, Gavin watched the nearing earth.

  Aria landed roughly onto the hard, desert ground. Dust swirled around her as she rolled to her feet. She quickly unstrapped the pack on her back and immediately looked to the sky. Troy was falling slowly a few meters away. His arms were wrapped clumsily over the cords of the parachute, never having the time to strap the item onto his back. He landed hard but was capable of standing.

  “Troy!” Aria shouted, rushing to her partner.

  “Where is he?” Troy gasped for air, looking toward the sky for Gavin.

  A whooshing sounded beside the two; Dovian had neared with Ivory in his arms, both thankfully unharmed. With a couple of flaps, he landed next to Aria and Troy, pulling his white wings backward into himself once again.

  “There!” Aria called out, pointing at the dots in the sky. Her heart skipped a beat once she processed the sight before her. “Oh, God!”

  “This mission is FUBAR!” Gavin called out through his mental chip.

  “Gavin! What happened?!” Ar
ia mentally screamed at the man. There was silence for a second.

  “Aria, baby. Sorry, I didn’t get to take you on that date like I promised.” Gavin’s voice was dark, the tone like Aria had never heard before.

  “No,” she whimpered aloud. “No! Gavin!”

  Troy, listening in on the conversation, stared upward, ignoring the tumbling parachuted seat and watching the two large dots: Gavin and presumably Euclid.

  “I’m taking this bastard out with me.” Gavin’s voice began to cut out. The Hawk 90 shattered against the desert floor, a giant explosion following.

  “Gavin! No! There’s got to be some other way!” Aria held a hand over her mouth with a finger pressed behind her ear, tears welling in her eyes. She watched in horror as the two dots neared the horizon.

  “Troy.” Gavin’s solemn voice echoed in their minds. “Take care of her for–” Everything fell silent as the two silhouettes made impact with the dry earth. Far away, a dust cloud kicked upwards from the collision.

  “GAVIN!” Aria screamed. It was a horrible, terrified scream.

  “Fuck!” Troy kicked, chasing after Aria as she sprinted toward the wreckage.

  “No!” Dovian followed after the two. “No!” The Sorcēarian grabbed the screaming Aria; she kicked wildly, shouting obscenities alternating with Gavin’s name. “You cannot go!” Dovian said through closed teeth, his mouth next to Aria’s ear.

  “Aria, don’t,” Troy warned the woman. “No.”

  “Let me go!” She flailed.

  Ivory stared, wide-eyed at the scene before her. Everything had turned into a nightmare.

  “You cannot go!” Dovian shoved the hostile woman onto the ground.

  Her hands gripped at the rocky earth, squeezing the sand as she continued her rant. Dovian quickly began to trot away. Troy followed closely after. “Don’t!” Dovian turned toward the man.

  “I am going with you!” Troy argued.

  Dovian stepped up to the militant, moving his face centimeters close to Troy’s. “You do not want to see what’s out there. You do not want to see your friend. You know very well at the height and speed he was falling,” Dovian glanced at Aria and lowered the volume of his voice, “there isn’t going to be much left of the man.”

  “You can’t say things like that!” Troy shouted. His eyes were bloodshot, his face dirtied from sweat and dust.

  “You can heal him. You can heal him like you did for me.” Aria stumbled to her feet and rushed to Dovian’s side, clutching onto his arm.

  Dovian lifted from the inside of his robe something that looked similar to an optical camera. He placed the item over his ear; a holographic screen covered his right eye. The Sorcēarian peered through it, searching for life signs. His frown only deepened, confirming what he already knew. Hard eyes looked down at the desperate woman.

  “You can’t heal what’s already dead. Trust me, I’ve tried,” he spoke softly.

  Aria stared at Dovian. Her face held a look of shock, her eyes wide, and tears streaming freely down her face. Her mouth was wide open, twitching as she gasped for words.

  “Stay with her. I will check out the scene and deal with…everything else.” The Sorcēarian gave a quick pat on Troy’s arm and quickly made his way toward the wreckage nearly eight hundred meters away.

  “No,” Aria murmured a whisper. She slowly walked after Dovian.

  “Aria,” Troy grabbed the woman’s shoulders.

  “No!” she screamed, trying to pull away.

  “Aria!” He tugged the woman into an embrace as she fell to her knees, crying. Troy rested on his backside, pulling her against his chest and rested his chin atop her head. “I’m sorry, Aria. Damn it! I’m sorry!”

  Ivory stood back, watching the chaos. She sniffled to herself, tears falling down her cheeks as well. She may not have known Gavin very well, but these people were all she knew. She woke up to a world caught in an unknown war and had no memory whatsoever of anything else. Slowly, she approached the two, kneeling beside them. Troy lifted an arm, letting the pale woman cry beside Aria.

  The three had waited like that for roughly twenty minutes before Dovian returned. The look on his face was more than dreadful, it was downright murderous. He stood before the hunkered group, eyes blazing. Troy lifted his head. It seemed Dovian was mentally fighting with himself. One second his expression was insane, the next calm. He spun a moment, hands on his hips as he looked at the wreckage once more before facing the group again.

  “Mind telling me why the HELL you didn’t mention Euclid to me?!” Dovian shouted, causing the two women to jump.

  “What?” Troy moved to his feet. “Excuse me?!”

  “Euclid! The man who killed your friend! Why was I not told that he was involved in all of this?!” Dovian stomped toward Troy.

  “How the hell was I supposed to know that you had connections with that sick bastard?!”

  “All you mentioned were monsters. You said nothing of a man named Euclid, nothing of a man who strangely resembles a Sorcēarian!”

  “What?” Aria lifted her head. “Euclid’s a Sorcēarian?”

  “How? I thought you said you were the only one that survived.” Troy glared at the taller man.

  “Yes, I was. I am the sole survivor!” Dovian shouted.

  “Then tell me, what the hell was that then?! We have two corpses out there, and one of them wasn’t supposed to exist in the first place!” Troy pointed toward the dark smoke on the horizon.

  “No,” Dovian growled.

  “No?” Troy lifted his eyebrows.

  “Euclid was not at the wreckage. All I found was–” Dovian glanced at Aria. Seeing the horrible expression on the woman’s face temporarily softened the Sorcēarian. “…your friend.”

  Aria howled quietly to herself, covering her face. Ivory patted the other woman’s back softly.

  “What do you mean? Gavin had that bastard! I saw it with my own eyes!” Troy hollered.

  “Euclid has the capability of teleporting. That’s how he was able to just appear out of nowhere. He’s not there. I checked all over. There is no sign of him. The only possible solution is he had gathered enough strength to teleport himself, probably through the use of your vibration shields that seem to be equipped on all these demons!” Dovian’s face was centimeters from Troy’s. The two were fuming at each other.

  “Okay. So one of your so called Sorcēarians just killed my best friend and now he is nowhere to be seen. You said you’re the only survivor, so what the hell is that?” Troy shoved Dovian out of his face.

  “I have no idea how it’s possible. Euclid should be dead. He is dead. There’s no way he is alive,” Dovian spoke slowly, trying to keep himself under control.

  “Well, obviously, you are wrong.”

  “No, I killed him myself.”

  “Aren’t Sorcēarians immortal or something?” Troy asked sarcastically.

  “We live endlessly but are nearly as frail as you. Our abilities allow us to heal quickly, but sudden deaths come just as easily, like Euclid’s.”

  “Then you screwed up, didn’t do it right, and now he’s out to kill all of us!”

  “I didn’t screw up,” Dovian growled.

  “The hell you didn’t!”

  “I decapitated the son-of-a-bitch!” He stepped forward again, vibrant eyes narrowing to slits as he spoke slowly and with a deathly tone. “The day I killed my entire race, I unhesitatingly cut that man’s head clean off. One swipe was all it took. There was barely a speck of blood, and I watched it roll away from his body. THAT one does not heal from. We do NOT grow back appendages.”

  “Okay,” Troy took a step away from the irate sorcerer, “so something else is going on.”

  “Something very bad is going on,” Dovian confirmed.

  Silence consumed the group, leaving them all to their private thoughts. What more was to be said? Only hours ago the whole group was together joking and laughing. Now, everything had taken a turn for the worst. Aria and Troy had lost comr
ades before but nothing quite like this. The last people Aria had lost who were close to her were her parents when she was only nine years old. Troy could say the same; his father had died when he was eleven, his mother while he was still a baby. Losing people in battle is expected, but it never makes it any easier to lose a best friend or loved one. With Gavin gone, the war had suddenly gotten very real and very personal.

  “How could you fail?!” Sapphire shouted in her shrill voice.

  “I had her in my hands one second, and I should have gone when I had the chance. I’m sorry.” Euclid bowed before the small child, his fingers pressing against the deep laceration between his shoulder blades.

  “You decided to play games and failed. You do not play games with me, Euclid! I am not playing games!” The little, blonde child rose from her makeshift seat of boulders within the dark cavern.

  “If I had known that old bastard, Dovian, would be there I would have been better prepared,” Euclid groaned, struggling to heal the wound on his back. “Besides, I don’t know how he’s survived for this long. I figured he would have killed himself long ago.”

  “It was because of Dovian you lost at your game. If you had done exactly as you were told, we would have her by now.” Sapphire gave a seething stare at the man crouched before her. Even when kneeling, Euclid towered over the child. He shifted his eyes to meet her chilly gaze. “I am not happy with you, Euclid.”

  “I also wasn’t expecting that bastard of a pilot to blast me away like that,” Euclid growled, pressing against his abdomen, trying to heal his wounds simultaneously. “He got what he deserved.”

  “Excuses!” Sapphire shrieked. From the dark shadows surrounding the two, piercing cries sounded from Sapphire’s multitude of hideous pets.

  “If your disgusting animals were more efficient at their job, they would have easily disposed of those militants!” Euclid snarled.

  “I’ve had enough.” The girl’s voice lowered in tone.

  Euclid froze, his right arm pulling out to the side of its own accord. He gasped and looked upon his stiffening appendage with frightened eyes.