Book 5 - Chapter 56 - There You Are (2/2)

The thousand warships deployed to the fortress arranged themselves to meet the attack. As they swung into formation the glittering light of their energy towers shone through the shadow. Before the front lines of beasts and beastriders could reach the stronghold gates, they came under fire.

The sky came alive with the angry flash of energy weapons, like dazzling and deadly fireworks. The marked the true beginning of this war.

A once gloomy sky roiled from the glare and the world descended into chaos. The sun’s light had been swallowed up making the warriors feel like they’d been swallowed into a sinister purgatory. All at once, reality became nothing but blood and the threat of death.

“Aahhh!”

A soldier screamed as he was dragged off his feet by a two-headed hawk-like beast. The rider on its back fired his machine gun wildly into the soldier’s body. Even sturdy Elysian gear couldn’t completely stop bullets point blank, so the unfortunate solder was left in a mangled and unmoving heap.

Another beastrider dropped a cluster of grenades form above. Fire and shrapnel erupted among the Elysians.

A rider clinging to the back of a wolf charged through the ruined portion of Sanctuary’s wall wielding an electric saw. He brought the spinning teeth of the saw down on the nearest soldier which produced an ear-piercing scream of metal on metal and the sparks to match. Rhino’s laden with rocket launchers charged in behind and release rocket-propelled grenades into the clusters of troops.

But the Elysians were not green recruits. Hundreds of bolts from rapid-fire crossbows answered the creatures charging through the breach. Meanwhile streaks of energy were cast down unto the enemy from the walls. When the streaks of electricity found a target they exploded in a mess of blood and bone.

“Kill them all!”

“Make these Elysian swine see what wastelander strength is!”

The barbarian hordes were unflinching in the face of death, like a pack of rabid beasts. In the face of this hysterical charge the Elysians bore down, more determined than ever. They weren’t fighting for survival or resisting some tyranny. They fought for an ideal greater than themselves, honor for their realm – something they were just as willing to give their lives for.

Hammont drew his sword when he saw the battle had joined. Now wasn’t the time for high-brow worries over justice and evil. There was only one thing in his mind at the moment, and it was the words Governor Arcturus had told him:

“Remember. Everything we do, we do for the millions of Elysian citizens.”

“Brothers! These despicable brutes are here to sully the brilliant light that is Skycloud! Show them our strength and pride! To the front! Press the attack!”

Hammont’s soldiers yelled in response. Their blood boiled in their veins fro they were soldiers! Battle was their life! Their enemies were fierce but Elysians were not cowards!

“Chaaaarge!”

Hammont led his troops from the front. With a flash of his sword he cut the head from a giant wolf that had gotten too close. Next he killed its rider who tried to slip in an attack. His Corps of a thousand strong cut their way into the heart of the conflict.

As the war spread to the walls of Sanctuary, the battle in the sky was reaching a fever pitch.

An oval-shaped flying ship dashed through the battlefield with surprising grace and speed. What powered its attacks were unclear, but searing lasers shot out from every inch of it and wreaked havoc on the enemy.

Those lasers carved through armor like it was hardly there. The sturdiest composite alloy peeled back like the skin of a fruit. The Elysians had no means of protecting themselves.

Elysian demonhunters attempted to answer with cones of flame, blades of wind and spikes of rock. Energy towers measured their attacks to deliver a persistent onslaught. However the unidentified flying weapon either dodged the threats, or its shields rendered them harmless. It continued to press through the enemy lines toward the heart of the fortress.

Its primary target was the cluster of leaders hiding there.

Woosh-woosh-woosh!

Three angry red beams of light shot forth!

An elder by Arcturus’ side shot to his feet. He was a man of station, headmaster of Skycloud’s demonhunter university. Although past his prime, the headmaster was counted among the strongest.

He raised his hands and from them was summoned a half-shell of protective energy. The lasers swept across the shield’s surface leaving angry welts in their wake.

Arcturus narrowed his eyes. His body suddenly exploded in electric light. All of that energy rose into the sky and condensed into an enormous blade of thunder!

It roared through the air with a chorus of thunder, cutting the flying saucer in half as easily as though it were a duck egg. There was no resistance at all to Arcturus’ strength.

The frightening wasteland machine ended its reign of terror with an explosive display.

A handful of figures could be seen darting from the wreckage. The first among them was covered in sleek, black armor and a mask that completely covered his face. His eyes flashed red, and in each hand was a blade composed of purple light.

The violent explosion seemed to have no effect on him. He raced across the sky, legs pumping against invisible terrain as he charged at the heart of Sanctuary.

Arcturus Cloude’s eyes were fixed on the masked face. Somehow it was as though he could pierce the mask to see beneath, and peer into the man’s soul.

“There you are.”

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