Just then, a ‘boom boom’ like distant explosions rocked the room, even from their location so far underground.
From the cameras, they could see the cars outside sway from the sudden force. Car alarms went off everywhere, which caused the monsters outside to shriek in displeasure at the blaring noise.
“Missile fire.” Mic looked up at the ceiling as if he could see through rock and stone to the world above.
Atreus nodded absently. “Not too far off if we can hear it from down here.”
“Stef?! I want answers!”
One of Mic’s soldiers came up beside Leta with a quick bow of his head, “You’re Majesty, come with us. Your safety is our top concern.”
Leta turned back to Atreus with a sharp look, “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“You’re a Queen.” He hissed through gritted teeth. “Our job is to ensure you survive this fiasco. Get to the back and-”
“I am not a Queen!” Leta shouted back, her blue eyes snapping with the promise of thunder. “Not right now. Not in a fight when our lives are on the line. I’m a weapon, so bloody use me. Why are you fighting with bows and arrows when you’ve got a missile in your arsenal?”
Leta could tell that Mic looked shocked at her outburst, but her focus was solely on the tick in Atreus’s jaw as he restrained himself from thrashing her for confronting him in front of everyone.
When Leta spoke next, it was calmer but no less authoritative, as if she were the general giving directions. “A trap that we know about is no trap at all. That isn’t a blocked exit, that’s a bottleneck. Have you ever heard of the Battle of Thermopylae?”
“Need I remind the archeologist that the Spartan-led army was wiped out in that battle?” Allister, who had been listening to the conversation, chimed in with a raised eyebrow as he plucked the string of his bow with his thumb.
“Only because the Greek city-states were outflanked.” Leta pointed out, “There’s nowhere to outflank us here, and that bottle neck means that their numbers count for nothing.”
She took a step towards Atreus, her recent growth now putting her nearly at eye level with the stormy-eyed general.
Her words were both earnest and almost bloodthirsty as she said, “We’ve got to try. Let me loose upon them, Atreus. Put me in the front and set me loose. I can give Hayato the time he needs to make the gate.”
Atreus’s lips pressed together, his gut telling him that this was a Queen in front of him and it would be suicidal, both literally and figuratively, if he were to let the most important political figure in front of their ranks to be ripped apart.
But the flicker of lightning in her eyes gave him pause.
This was not the half-scared young woman from earlier full of piss and vinegar, thirsting for vengeance she had no chance of achieving.
He sighed a curse and nodded his consent.
Truly, what could he do to stop her?
Before him was a Fury of legends - a mythical creature born of tragedy and struggle who had survived trial after trial and come out the other end of something else.
Something that wasn’t mortal.
Something that he’d begun to suspect wasn’t even Arisen.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Leta’s smile was nothing short of radiant. Recovering quickly, she gave him a pleased nod that soon fell away as one of the Chosen shouted, “Second gate has fallen!”
Mic growled in annoyance, “So what then? The city is under attack as we speak.”
“We run like hell.” She answered smoothly, watching the rest of the Chosen prepare out of the corner of her eye.
It was like a sea of modern knights kitted in futuristic armor as they formed ranks like a well-organized regiment. The four hunters had lined up in front, bows and arrows at the ready. Close behind were several individuals who seemed to stand without any form of weapon until she noticed faint, silvery strands like spider silk clenched between their fists.
‘Weavers.’ She thought to herself.
Behind them were the rest of the brawlers, including John, who had managed to find his massive pick axe weapon and was gripping it in his massive paws with an almost beastly excitement.
Mic’s shout of “Stef!” brought her back to the present as the woman who had escorted them in spoke up from the command center.
“The Sofia and Istanbul Sects are en route!” She pulled the phone from her ear to shout her response. “Naples and Tirana have been deployed. Alexandria’s naval fleet is on the way, but they’ve hit a Blessed embargo in the Med.”
The person next to her pulled off his headset to add, “Reports are coming in on the military frequencies of Costezian missile strikes on the port and outside of Athens International Airport. Social media is showing at least three buildings have been hit with an apartment building completely collapsed. Reporting bombardment 15 kilometers north of this location. Multiple casualties confirmed.”
“That’s the E75.” Allister looked to Atreus with horrified eyes, “Right during rush hour when people are going home.”
Atreus looked at the satellite map of Athens on the screen. “They’re boxing us in.” With one finger, he pointed to the locations that had been hit. “North, east, and west. They’re going to drive us south to the sea.”
“They’re going to drive everyone to the sea,” Hayato spat, his distaste clear in his expression, “Over 600,000 people in this city, more if you count the tourists. All of them will be panicking and screaming as they try to escape, and we’ll be powerless to effectively combat the Blessed when we are surrounded by so many Mundanes.”
“Third gate is about to fall!”
On a monitor screen, CCTV footage showed the subbasement right above them as the dark-haired warrior woman and the blond alchemist male fought a losing battle.
She killed two Loupgarou before an Aigamuxa came out of nowhere and tackled her to the ground, its thick claws like kitchen knives dining through flesh and bone as its wide jaw bit into her face.
The Alchemist was quick enough to create one last potion before slamming the vial against his own chest.
His back arched as the veins beneath his skin lit up like rivers of magma, wisps of vapor coming off his skin until, in a blinding flash, he detonated like a bomb. A loud boom shook the wall monitors as they watched in the explosion engulf several creatures before taking the camera as another casualty.
“Holy…” Leta exhaled before springing into action as she pushed past Mic and Atreus towards the front of the formation.
Allister broke protocol to call out after her “Leta!” as the warriors in front of her parted with her approach.
“Chosen!” she bellowed with the authority of a war lord. “Ranks as close to the Vault and away from the sides! The storm is as potent as it is wild. Too close and you may get hit!”
A small voice in the back of her mind was wondering why it felt so natural to take charge and issue commands but was quickly silenced by it was quickly smothered by the feel of pressure beneath her skin like a gathering storm cloud as she drew energy into herself.
As one, the formation clapped their weapons together or put a fist to their chest mail, creating a cacophony of ringing steel.
They did not see the gathering storm clouds that thrust the panicking city further into a frenzy as lightning cracked and the air filled with the scent of ozone, but they could feel it even so far down beneath the surface.
It started as a sudden drop in temperature that sent shivers up their spine, followed by the sound of buzzing like they were too close to a live wire.
In front of them, Leta’s fingers splayed wide as small arches of lightning crackled between them, their frequency increasing as she drew in more and more energy. The lights in the room flickered as the runes and sigils on Barzal glowed blue-white and the monitors flickered to white screens as Leta’s feet left the ground.
She hovered above the ground as the buzzing increased until it sounded like a swarm of locusts. Thick ropes of lightning were arching up her arms and around her body, some twisting through her dancing hair to accumulate into the corona of energy that seemed to occur whenever she was about to do battle.
She could hear the beasts coming.
Bug like chattering and the scrape of claws against stone growing louder and louder as the horde scrambled like starving beasts towards their location.
It sounded like there were hundreds of them, all pushing and shoving forward with the same purpose.
Kill.
Eat.
Savor.
“Shield eyes!” Leta shouted a heartbeat before the doors burst open.