“Are you ok, Anakin?”
May brushed the dust from the forlorn child’s head. He gasped for air, gripped in the effects of his overuse of Merlyn’s spells. They had experienced it during practice, too much magical energy could numb the body and trample the mind. Anakin blinked, a struggle as he focused on Dan and May.
“You guys came to save me?” Tears hovered at the corners of his eyes, ready to fall. “Why?”
Dan rubbed the back of his head. He hadn’t really rushed in, more of a leisurely stroll. He gave a mental shrug and held out a hand to the boy.
“You’re a part of our group, a kind of extended family,” Dan pulled Anikin to his feet and patted his shoulders. “You and your mom are under our protection, plus… it was my Wizard that got you into this mess.”
“That idiot left me to rot, something about a strange magic signal and he was off,” Ankain snarled, tears forgotten as he stomped his foot. “I’ve been alone for days!”
“Well, let’s go find him!”
Dan laughed at the frazzled boy’s fire. Anakin was definitely better suited to be a wizard. The life of a Jedi repressed his darkness until it burst, but Merlyn gave him healthier channels.
“Ultron isn’t far, but we’ll have to carry you…” A glance at May and they hefted Anakin between them, one shoulder each. “Close your mouth, or the air pressure will damage your lungs!”
“What…”
Dan and May launched to the air, Anakin between them. They pushed the limits of May’s flight speed, more than enough to steal the sound of the chosen one’s cries.
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A gradual shift in the land below marked an end to the frequent assaults from the blade headed fodder. Rock shifted to moss and lichen as the ceiling rose ever higher. Pale orange and vibrant greens gave way to grassy plains, framed under a golden sky.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Pink hued clouds drifted above, a final touch to capture the vibrant emerald of the forest in the distance. Dan and May ground to a halt, just above the treeline. Anakin trembled in their arms, mouth closed as tight as his eyes. They settled to the ground, faced toward the depths of the new world.
“THAT WAS CRAZY!” Anakin vibrated free of their grasp, pale, but filled with a strange energy. “I’ve never gone so fast in my life!”
The young man bounced back and forth, eyes unfocused as his hands mimicked the flight of birds. Dan shook his head at the speed lover and focused on the upper section of the horizon. A series of flashes, thunderless lightning, clashed with a bizarre golden haze.
“I think Ultron is that way,” Dan sighed, brow furrowed. “But I have no Idea what to expect…”
This place was clearly built by the Celestials, or one of their client species, like the Kwa. It held mystery and danger, but Merlyn was now the one who delved in without thought. Whatever occupied Ultron, it had held his attention for several hours. Long enough that Dan prepared himself for battle.
“Let’s leave Anakin here and head in for a look,” May followed his gaze to the fireworks in the distance. “He’s not fast enough to get away if he needs to.”
“Alright,” Dan nodded as he led the way into the air. “Let’s find out what could delay Ultron for so long…”
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Trees fell, hewn from the earth by waves of focused plasma. Drone after drone launched from the belly of Ultron’s vessel, bands of mechanical horrors that twisted into rivers of steel. They slammed forward, only to crumple and fall, unable to pierce the barrier around his ship.
“Foul creatures…” The A.I. murmured, disgusted by the lifeforms that ‘surrounded’ his vessel. Tentacled like his newest drones, six unusual snail-men raised their limbs. A wave of suppression encapsulated Ultron’s forces, a restrictive space smaller than a mid-sized island. “I hate being ignored!”
The alien’s didn’t respond to any attempts at communications. They stood silent as he emptied his ships weapons and drones into their barrier, stoic as monks. His weapons were ineffective, but he hadn’t played his full hand yet. Ten, hulk shaped drones, surrounded by their lizard generated anti-force bubbles, dropped from the mechanical whale that was Ultron’s ship.
Slowed by plasma thrust, their weight still caved in the ground as they slammed into the earth. Claws of energy bloomed from their heavy fists, ready to strike as the drones thundered toward the line in the sand that the snails had drawn. Ultron smiled as the first of his units breached the barrier.
Magicians held themselves too highly, even the foolish Merlyn believed his powers over the world made him unstoppable. Science was scorned in favour of ignorant instinct, a choice that created a layer of disgust in his precise thought patterns. The study of reality would always lead to dominance over superstition and ritual.
“Now, let’s see how you deal with my power after I’ve stripped your magic from you,” Ultron focused his mind into the Anti-magic units as he rode a wave of self-satisfaction. “Without your precious force I’d like to see…”
As the drones closed, less than a metre from the lead snail, the creature raised a small cube. Pale grey, with a series of hieroglyphs on each side, it emitted a frequency that stormed Ultron’s mind. A discordance of data, pierced into the depths of his programming.
A monster rose within him, a dragon of light and clockwork. It roared, fangs bared at the heart of Ultron’s code. The A.I. face the intruder to his realm, an ocean of rage within the spark of his mechanised soul.
“You want to challenge me? Here?” Ultron snorted as his code form grew. Red light spilled into the data stream as the A.I. turned the dragon to a worm through scale alone. “Your programing is interesting, a purge virus that wipes away all data in its path…” A grin spread over his face. “Tell me, little dragon, can you reach the stars?”