The Esoteric Design Page 25

  “Wonder what caused it,” Troy said.

  They were answered by a deep, low hum, a sound that mimicked high-voltage electricity. A few meters away stood a massive beast, its black, beady eyes glaring as it bent forward, its clawed hands touching the rocky ground. It was taller than the other creatures Troy and Aria were used to and a bit more bulky in musculature. The talons were wider and greater in length, too, making it an even deadlier foe.

  Click, click, clickity, clickity.

  The talons snapped together, creating a quick and ominous sound as the hum rose in volume. The clicking merged from singular taps to nothing but an oscillating, metallic clang, like fan blades turning against small pebbles. Hissing, drool slipping from the creature’s massive teeth in generous heaps, it raised its arms and quickly threw them down, sending a shockwave toward the two combatants.

  “Get down!” Aria shouted. She shoved hard against Troy, pushing away at the same time to separate. She hit the ground hard, a transparent wave of destruction passed right between her and the man. Turning her shocked gaze back toward the creature, she saw that its arms were raised again, the terrible noise already commencing. Aria quickly pressed to her feet, her boots nearly slipping on the rubble. She tucked and rolled just as another shockwave was sent her way, demolishing everything in its path, turning solid marble and stone into powder.

  ‘So that’s what happened to the bodies.’ She thought morbidly about what could possibly happen to her if she hesitated one more moment.

  Gunfire was ablaze, Troy having enough time to take aim on the beast before it turned its attention to him. Falling to its knees, the slobbering beast screeched, ignoring the onslaught of miniature explosions traveling up its spine. Its body was steaming at the wounds, cauterizing them as quickly as the bullets were inserting into its flesh. Hot blood plopped onto the dusty ground. And then it was tearing after Aria, claws digging into the earth as it pulled viciously toward the woman. In less than a second, it was upon her. She barely had enough time to open fire as she toppled over, the pointed claws digging deep into the stone beside her head. Fighting with the beast, Aria pressed her feet against its abdomen and pushed hard, separating their bodies just enough so that when it snapped its toothy jaws at her face, it only missed by a few millimeters. Grimacing, she pushed against the creature again, finding enough space to twist her wrists and raise the barrel of her ECRG. Pulling the trigger, she blasted into the monster’s chest. It screamed horribly, shaking violently as it fell to the side. Aria quickly rolled to her feet and aimed down, firing nonstop, not giving the thing a chance to breathe a single breath. She could feel the heat of its insides as it soaked her clothing. At close range, the bullets were burrowing deep; it didn’t stand a chance. Steam pooled out as the convulsing beast shrieked to its death, talons clicking violently against the ground.

  ‘Finally.’ Aria sighed, reloading her weapon.

  She turned to find Troy, who was busy handling a small group of the beasts himself. His bullets, this time, were taking down the creatures effortlessly. Aria looked back at the brute she had just killed. So, this was a roided-up version of the other guys. What exactly were these things? Were they monsters? Were they really simply animals that lived underground? Aria doubted that. Or were they something more? Something she didn’t yet understand. The thought made the woman shiver.

  Aria turned to join Troy’s side. Taking one step forward, she ran into an invisible force. One hand gripped her shoulder and another snagged a wrist, keeping her from raising her weapon. She gasped as the figure fizzled like static, a quiet drone buzzing. In a flash, the body materialized, revealing long blue robes and a smiling face half-covered with raven-black hair.

  “Euclid,” Aria choked out.

  A deep chuckle resonated within the massive man and he turned her, locking her arms in place.

  He whispered in her ear, “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast....” He pressed her wrist against the DNAIS chip, the woman reflexively dropping her weapon. “...And them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

  Aria gazed at the monster before her, staring at the beryllium-bladed talons and the hot, sulfuric blood pooling out beneath it.

  “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” There was humor in his voice.

  Aria squirmed under his grip. “What are you saying?”

  “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

  “These…these were people once?” Aria asked.

  “This is what happens to a world that is forsaken by their God,” Euclid snarled harshly in the woman’s ear.

  “No,” Aria said. “You, you made these things. You brought them here to wreak havoc.”

  “Are you sure about that?” he laughed. A mocking gasp escaped his lips. Pinning both of her hands together, he trailed a golden clawed finger across Aria’s cheek. “He comes.”

  “Euclid!” Dovian’s voice boomed.

  “I’ll see you later,” Euclid whispered, “Gavin says hi.” And he was gone.

  Aria stood, chilled to the bone. What did he mean? What was he talking about?

  “Did he hurt you?” Dovian gently grabbed the woman’s shoulders, temporarily uncloaking himself.

  Aria stared at nothing, lost in her own thoughts, eyes wide and quickly brimming with tears. Euclid was wrong, wasn’t he?

  “Aria?” he asked more sternly.

  She turned her gaze toward the Sorcēarian. Slowly, she shook her head.

  “What did he say to you?” Dovian asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “N-nothing. Nothing. Just some psychobabble.” And just like that, she turned off her emotions and rushed toward Troy’s side. Dovian hesitated but followed after her, knowing full well that Aria was lying, and he had a pretty good idea of Euclid’s intentions.

  “Good, you’re still alive,” Troy uttered, never once pausing in his constant barrage of gunfire. “These damn things just keep coming.”

  “That last one was a big one, stronger than the others.” Aria joined in, taking aim at a predator that was trying to carry away a Cherno soldier. “Keep firing your EMPs!” she ordered the men.

  “Who the hell is that?” one Cherno asked another.

  “I don’t care, as long as she is on our side.”

  Creeping through the doors and windows of the convention center, more and more of the disgusting creatures filed out. There was no way into the building. The monsters were exiting two to the one killed out on the streets. It was impossible. More soldiers needed weapons like Troy and Aria’s. They needed more soldiers like Dovian, more Sorcēarians.

  “We won’t last long at this rate! The Chernos aren’t holding up well at all!” Troy shouted.

  “Dovian! Is there a way you can send an electrical burst big enough to knock them defenseless?” Aria called over her shoulder. Dovian was busy taking on a dozen at a time. The beings inevitably found him the greatest threat.

  “Sure, let me get right on that,” Dovian muttered sarcastically.

  “Whenever you get the time,” Aria responded, trying to take the nice approach.

  Two of the massive brutes, in a side-by-side formation, noisily exited the front doors of the building, their eyes already plastered to both Troy and Aria. Without hesitation, they simultaneously began clicking their talons. With double the force, the two could do some serious damage. Undoubtedly, the loud explosions that started the fiasco were caused by these types of beings.

  “Troy,” Aria called out with warning in her voice.

  “I see.”

  They bot
h took aim, opening fire. The first couple of rounds bounced off the brutes’ shields. Unconcerned, the two creatures lifted their arms and swung downward, sending a massive explosion toward Aria and Troy. The transparent frequency distorted the plane as it ate and tore away the landscape, funneling directly toward the two soldiers at an unreadable speed.

  ‘Damn,’ Aria thought, jumping out of the way.

  She and Troy both missed the brunt of the blow; however, pieces of glass and metal spiraled from the destructive force, cutting their bodies. The ear-splitting clatter was continuous, and the beasts followed through with another blow, one after another. Troy made his way over a broken wall from a nearby shop that was previously obliterated. Landing on his stomach, he covered his head as the surface shattered into a thousand pieces behind him, covering his form. Aria rolled, pulling herself up and around a nearby traffic post. The blast was tearing after her, the earth crumbling behind her feet as she sprinted toward a wrecked vehicle. Hopping over the car, she dropped and tumbled to the side behind a nearby garbage canister. A horrendous crunch sounded as the vehicle split into two pieces, electrical current crackling from the severed lines and wires. Aria didn’t stop moving. She made her way around the dumpster, keeping out of the vicious brutes’ sights. Running along the side of the building, Aria dodged the flurry of gunfire from the last remaining Cherno soldiers and the other beasts swarming from the convention center. She heard it, another blast coming in her direction down the whole length of the building.

  ‘Keep running; just keep running,’ she mentally repeated.

  Her hair stood on end as she heard the sickening plop of the wave hitting the soldiers behind her, cutting them to pieces, cutting even the enemy monsters into pieces. The brutes didn’t care; they only wanted destruction and annihilation. The ground trembled beneath her footsteps. It would only be another second or two before the blast caught up with her, and she was running out of road. Before her, a giant pillar of the convention center had broken off, blocking the entire pathway. It was too tall. She wouldn’t be able to climb it in time, and monsters were funneling out of the cracks toward her, too. She was surrounded with nowhere to go.

  Invisible arms grabbed the woman, and she was spinning around, facing the obliteration that soared toward her. It exploded against her and a hidden force, blue light flooding around her in a spherical shape. As the energy concentrated toward the blast, scarlet robes appeared before Aria, blocking her view. Dovian pressed against the violent energy, his powers focusing on only the one task at hand. He groaned, white teeth gritting, as he gripped his staff. The crystal ball on top beamed with bright light, slowly eating away at the invisible detonating wave.

  Aria lifted her weapon, firing at the other, more manageable, beasts around. She could at least fend these things off while Dovian worked with the large, angry ones.

  “We are going to have to figure out a better way of destroying these things,” Dovian groaned. He finally expelled the destructive energy but looked a bit wornout. “I can’t keep this up for long.”

  “Close range,” Aria said. “The bullets are deflected easily from a distance, but if you can get up close to those things, you can get deep penetration to where the wounds won’t heal instantaneously.”

  “But that still leaves the problem of getting close. They have a way of pushing the enemy back.” Dovian joined her, expelling a few monsters. His blue eyes glared at the brute nearly fifty meters away. It was hobbling slowly toward them, black eyes staring. Dovian readied his staff but halted. The second brute also rounded the corner, joining the other’s side. “This is not good.”

  Aria turned her attention to the two massive enemies. They each brought their arms into the air, talons clinking together. Definitely not good.

  “Dovian,” Aria whimpered.

  He didn’t respond, but gently pushed her behind him. She was sandwiched between the downed pillar and Dovian’s tall form. He held out his staff and mumbled in Legacy, the low tones bringing out more of the blue light from his staff. What was he going to do? He could barely manage one of those blasts a moment ago, how was he going to take on two?

  One of the brutes’ head unexpectedly exploded into a morbid mess.

  Ba-Doom!

  It was a deafening sound that immediately followed. The creature’s arms dropped, but not a single burst of energy dispelled. It plopped heavily to the ground, its rot-smelling blood soaking everything. The second monster watched, lifted its head, and shrieked angrily.

  Sending the second creature’s skull into a thousand pieces, another boom occurred.

  Ba-Doom!

  Aria watched, amazed. The sound was very surprising, but also recognizable.

  “Ivory!” she shouted, turning her gaze toward the rooftops a couple blocks away.

  “Seems she has figured out how to use the weapon,” Dovian murmured. His eyes were nearly as wide as the woman’s beside him.

  Loud shrieks and cries sounded from all around as the remaining monsters quickly scampered back inside the building. More thunderous shots erupted, and Ivory continued her assault on the creatures. Aria instinctively covered her head, lowering toward the ground. Dovian joined her side.

  “Seems she’s got a violent side to her,” he chuckled quietly.

  Aria sighed, her nerves not yet calmed. From the two brutes that had attacked her and Dovian, the second one had previously been against Troy. Where was he now? Was he hurt? Was he alive? Aria quickly pressed against the node behind her ear.

  “Troy! Are you alright?! Where are you?”

  “I’m on the east side of the building! What is that noise? There're monsters falling left and right over here!” Troy shouted back, much to Aria’s relief.

  Aria eyed the walls of the building. The beasts were clambering back inside the structure in a frenzied panic.

  “Ivory. Looks like she’s scaring away the enemy. They are finally retreating,” Aria said.

  “Yeah, same on my side,” Troy replied.

  “Do you have a clear path to the building?”

  “Yup.”

  “Okay. Get inside. Dovian and I will meet you on the opposite side; maybe we can corner Euclid and find out what exactly he’s doing here.”

  “Ten-four,” Troy confirmed.

  “Got that?” Aria asked Dovian.

  “Ten-four,” he replied humorously. Aria lifted her annoyed gaze to the sky.

  Stepping cautiously over the fallen bodies, Aria and Dovian neared the side of the building where the pillar had been blown away from the foundation. A massive hole lay within the wall above the broken marble. Dovian hoisted the woman up onto the huge rock. She kneeled, peering slowly into the large opening, weapon ready. After a moment, she turned back to Dovian and grabbed his hand, helping him up to join her side. Carefully, they slipped inside the building, Dovian lowering Aria to the floor before he silently dropped in behind her.

  The convention center was in ruins. The tables and booths were strewn all over the floor, some bent and broken to pieces. Hundreds of scientific devices were crushed or overturned, the owner’s bodies scattered and broken in a similar manner. In the center of the building was a massive stand, labeled with ‘Elixis’ across the top. There, dozens of the nasty creatures were standing and watching as Euclid stood with hands in the air, murmuring quietly.

  “There he is,” Aria whispered. “What do you think he’s doing?”

  Dovian’s hands eagerly gripped his staff. “Opening a portal.”

  “A portal?”

  “A means of transportation. That device beside him must be of some interest.”

  Directly beside Euclid was an enormous machine. A poster stand was knocked over. The words, ‘Electrostatic Frequency Tuner: Not just top-of-the-line defense technology. Potential time machine? Journey to other dimensions? The merger of realms?’ were scrawled on the surface. The message only made the machine seem foreboding.

  “That looks like something similar to a Faze Shield,” Aria murmur
ed.

  “A really big Faze Shield,” Dovian agreed with a nod.

  Across the way, Aria spotted a shadowy movement–Troy.

  “In place. I have a view of the bastard,” he called over his mental chip.

  “Stay cool. I don’t want any of his pets getting in the way,” Aria replied.

  A loud pop sounded, and a distortion materialized above Euclid near the vaulted ceiling. Everything spiraled toward the center, and a wormhole opened up. From it, a large object began descending out of thin air, nearing the floor.

  “What the hell is that?” Troy asked.

  A cylindrical tube sandwiched between two metallic plates spewed from the hole. Inside the glass container was an enormous electric-blue orb; a loud, groaning buzz resonated from the pulsating ball. Rods from the plates sent energy waves back and forth, feeding into the sphere. Aria’s eyes widened.

  “Oh, my God…it’s a reactor core,” Aria gasped aloud. “He’s going to nuke Cherno,” she called out mentally.

  “I’ve got a clear shot! Let me take it!” Troy mentally exclaimed.

  “I thought your people put an end to nuclear weapons,” Dovian said through gritted teeth.

  “We have. We only use nuclear energy in some city-states. However, they still meltdown when taken from their reactors. Cherno, however, is a particular city-state that banned any form of nuclear energy due to the massive amounts of nuclear waste and radiation buried deeply beneath our feet. If that bomb goes off, he not only blows Cherno to oblivion but potentially the whole damned planet.”

  Euclid opened a second portal, quickly consuming the Elixis machine.

  “Take the shot!” Aria ordered.