Chapter 6
The Flight
Every pore on Meredith’s body was screaming for her to move. Her mind was the same. Every step of the Reaper, however, prevented that from becoming a reality. Windows in the homes around them were shut, and those citizens that were in the streets locked up, pushing themselves against the walls of houses, hoping to become invisible. Her companions were still locked down, the oppressive air wafting through their senses.
For the Reaper was as death, their ebony robe fluttering in the wind, tattered, and their face concealed. They approached the teens, slowly and with purpose.
Move, Mera…move…! she begged of herself, but her body would not listen. Her throat went dry, and the Reaper approached. The churning of souls inside them, wailing and screaming, made the tears flow faster. There was one that stood out, the familiar soul of the craftsman, Silva, and it brought Meredith back to her last encounter with Reaper. Back then she had been frightened, too, unable to come to grips with the fact she was afraid. There was hope that maybe, just maybe, she had grown since then, but confronted with the enormity of the souls inside the Reaper, she knew she hadn’t grown an inch.
“How convenient for you to have three Weapons,” they spoke, their voice echoing along the street. It was distorted, but the intent was clear as their hand reached out. Meredith found herself able to breathe again, but it was in short gasps as the Reaper got close to her without her noticing. Unbidden, her legs found the strength to stumble backwards, out of their reach. “You hear them, don’t you? The cries of their souls, longing for a better world.”
“What…what would you know…about a better world…?” Eddie gasped out. He had fallen to the stone, crawling across it to reach Meredith, throwing himself between her and the Reaper. His act, shaky in every aspect, allowed her to regain some semblance of mind and defiance. Her fingers tightened on the weapons in her hands. The Reaper paused, tilting their head in interest towards Eddie.
“It is not what I know, but what this world demands. A savior, guiding them to the next world. Who better than one who can hear the voices of souls?” It made no sense; not to Meredith’s mind. The Reaper, who sowed death and destruction where they walked, preaching about being a savior. All because they had Soul Magic. She shook her head. “Yet yours is one I cannot hear, child…why is that?”
“Leave her…alone!” Emil and Vivian shouted. They were slipping over themselves, but tried to act in defense. The Reaper paid them little mind.
“You already know…because…we’re the same…” she managed to choke out. The Reaper stepped back, contemplating the weight of her words.
“Yes, I’m aware. Then I must ask why you stand in opposition to a better world. A world free of all that is burdening it…corrupting it…like your precious Corps.” The Reaper was on the move, and Eddie pushed Meredith back. Her body was rooted in place, except for Vivian and Emil, taking her arms and attempting to drag her away. Eddie’s hands glowed, preparing an offensive. All it did was offer the Reaper amusement. “How blind you are to vision. Just like the Corps to lead the sheep, and think nothing beyond their little bubble. Why are you here, collecting the Weapons?”
“To keep them away from people like you! Viv, Emil, take Mera and run!” Meredith wanted to open her mouth, to tell Eddie to stop. The Reaper couldn’t be fought. Couldn’t be reasoned with. There was nothing they could do. Vivian and Emil tried to drag Meredith away, but her body resisted, even if she didn’t know it.
“Damn it, Mera! Move, already!” Vivian said, her voice straining as she tried to pull her. Meredith couldn’t.
“Run away already! Get to the Defender!” Eddie shouted, and then he struck. Wind and flame combined in a twister that pushed Eddie down the street, ripping up some stones before it blasted into the Reaper. Meredith shook her head, knowing it wasn’t enough, and the flames parted, billowing into some of the buildings and setting them ablaze.
“Force.” The Reaper’s chilled voice only furthered the sudden pressure felt around the area. The three teens felt themselves pushed to the ground by the invisible hand, while Eddie was thrown against a stone wall, the leader of the Order approaching him.
“That’s…Gravity Magic…” Emil identified. He tried to get up, using his own gravity, but was barely able to bring them to a stand. Meredith could do naught but watch in horror, the visage of her nightmares ever closer to her best friend.
“Ed…die…move!”
Meredith, you have to stand. Get up! Move forward! Terrill yelled. She knew. She knew she had to do it, but everything was an effort. Her foot scraped on the ground, her torn knee scraping with pain. Meredith plunged the staff into the ground, using it as a crutch to stand.
“You’re quite the curious one. Multi-Element Magic, is it? The ability to switch at will. Even with all my souls, I can’t manage that,” the Reaper said. Their hand twitched as they reached for Eddie. Meredith found herself back on her feet, clasping the staff and pointing it at the Reaper. “How fascinating. A soul of strength and immense magic power…of support…of understanding.”
“No, I don’t understand!” Eddie shouted, even as he struggled to move under his own weight. “I don’t understand you at all!”
“Soul…Scream…” Meredith groaned out, the Violent Staff glowing an angry red. Violet and her joined, the heat coming into her once again. It coalesced in the staff, and Meredith tapped it down. A circle of orange fire appeared beneath the Reaper. “Crowning Flames.”
They erupted around the black-robed cultist. Eddie fell to the ground, his limbs milling this way and that to reach his friends. Meredith was huffing, her magic feeling a drain on itself, but her eyes remained fixed in horror. The Reaper walked out, brushing off their shoulder. Even if she couldn’t sense their soul, she didn’t need to, for every step they took closer held frigid fury.
“Bind.” Her limbs snapped together, still holding to the Weapons, and the Reaper approached. “I’ll take the Weapons now.”
“Mera!” The shout of her friends did nothing, particularly as the Reaper snapped their fingers and the three were bound, themselves, tossed amidst the ashes now encircling the air. All the citizens had fled, leaving them in a town ablaze, alone and helpless. The Reaper bent down to Meredith’s figure, and she struggled. Struggled against her bindings and the fear inside, only to look into the Reaper’s pitiless, masked face.
Meredith, use our souls. Break free!
Meredith! Violet’s plea went unheard. The pressure of all the souls held within the Reaper was brought to bear, and Meredith could feel herself drowning under their pressure. They stretched out, their hand touching to the wood of the Violent Staff. She wanted to scream. Wanted to kick and get away. Yet she couldn’t. The Reaper would not be denied their prize. Terrill, I have to act!
The Violent Staff began to burn in Meredith’s hand, so caustic that she was afraid it would burn her arm right off. She looked at it, and could swear to see a smoky hand arising from it, one that could be felt, only for it to be yanked inside, vanished in a haze of white.
All else disappeared but for Meredith, the Reaper’s cacophonous souls, and those two inside the Weapons. Terrill had his hand on Violet’s wrist.
“Not now, Violet. Not ever.”
“But if we don’t take action now…If I don’t defend myself, who will?”
“Would you risk it? Would you risk losing your very self?!” Terrill roared. It was the angriest that Meredith had ever seen him. He was adamant, and there was little doubt that Meredith was witnessing something she needn’t have witnessed, or that he didn’t want her to. “I nearly lost my will when I broke my blade. Would you do the same? Would become nothing more than a tool? There’s no going back from that. Not until our task is done.”
“Terrill…”
They were brought away, Meredith coughing as the Reaper fell backwards. It was odd, seeing them flounder for even a second, but it was something they hadn’t seen coming. The souls they hadn’t expected seeing, drawn into the Soul Realm together. They recovered, and then a new sound invaded. One of rumbling and rushing water.
Her vision snapped free and she saw the rolling waves coming down the street, right for them. Two were riding atop it. Meredith struggled, and in a last-ditch effort to free herself, she connected her soul with Violet’s and burned her bindings off. The wave hit, sending them into a free-flow. Meredith crashed into her friends before the water subsided, making them all splutter. She found her head spinning, the dizziness making her fall on her butt before she could look up and get new sights on the area.
The houses were doused, their flames put out, but the people that had been left in the streets were exhausted, unable to move. Meredith tried to stand, but her wooziness, and the others’, made them collapse into each other. Bit by bit, however, her vision cleared, and revealed just who had arrived.
“Are you kids all right?” The blue hair of Unda was starkly recognizable amidst everything else, and Meredith found herself nodding her head.
“If by bruised and coughing up water…yeah, we’re all right…” Emil gasped.
“Oh, grow up, Emil…”
Vivian’s snappish remark was tossed by the wayside when Unda stood, and revealed the second person in the street, his sword out and fury sparking from his own body. The Reaper took notice.
“Captain, it’s been a while.” Raymond lifted his sword with both hands, held even with his shoulder. The fangs of his transforming blade were leveled against the Reaper, who took the threat with nonchalance. “I can see your fury. But is that also doubt? Can you really be an appropriate Guardian if you are so saddled with doubt?”
“There will be no doubt remaining when I remove you from this place, Reaper, and put an end to your wicked schemes.”
“Wicked?” The Reaper’s fingers were curling and Meredith could feel the mounting tension forming a pit in her soul. Power radiated, and Unda could see the same, staring across at the Reaper. Her lips transformed into a thin line, and a nod of resolve. She turned around, and Meredith could see the decision in her eyes, knowing it before it could come. “Is wishing to change what’s wrong so wicked?”
“That still makes you no different from Rico and his band of Renegades!”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Unda looked to Raymond, quirking an eyebrow, but just as soon looked back, placing her hand atop the Violent Staff. “Run, Miss Childs. Bring the Violent Staff to the Corps. It is no longer safe here.”
“But-”
“No arguments. Your brother and I shall contend with the Reaper.” She stood, her robes flowing like the water she commanded. Raymond sent a shot of lightning searing for the Reaper as a warning, but it elicited no emotion from the robed figure.
“Listen to her, Mera. The four of you get moving. Have Kenny and Sal pick the others up, and then come back for me. We’ll hold them off! GO!” As if the Reaper sensed they were going to lose their prey, their hands snapped out. The souls churned, and from the Reaper flew black tendrils. Raymond stabbed the ground with a spear, the lightning shooting out to cut away the offending attack, tearing along stone walls and houses. “I won’t tell you again, Mera.”
“Hm…stone. And wood.” The Reaper clapped their hands together. The nearby houses broke apart, the wood and bricks that constructed them whirling around in a tornado that the Reaper sent for their foes. Meredith knew they could no longer avoid running.
“You guys can move?” she managed to say, her mouth dry. Her friends nodded, and taking each other’s hands, they turned their back to the battle raging behind them to dash for the area where they last remembered the Defender. A burst of moisture hung in the air from a globe of water crashing into the street. Some of it spilled over, rising to their ankles, but Meredith refused to look back. Even as the Reaper fired something red into the air, she refused to do so. She decided to trust in her brother, and it was clear that his subordinates did the same.
“There you four are! We’ve been unable to get in contact with the captain or the others. What’s happening in town?” Sal yelled from the ramp. Vivian led the charge up it, dragging Eddie and Emil with her, but Meredith stopped to address the pilot and mechanic.
“Get the skyship moving. We have the others to pick up before we grab Ray. Then it’s time to get out of here. Captain’s orders.” Sal didn’t even bother deliberating. She trusted Meredith implicitly, snapping her goggles on her hair and pushing the girl inside. The ramp closed up, and all five made way for the bridge.
“Fire the girls up, Kenny. We’ve got a squad to save.” Kenny gave an affirmative, and the engine throttled. Meredith felt her stomach lurch, unclear if it was from the situation or Emily’s spell wearing off. The Defender shook, rising into the air, when an alarm sounded around the cabin.
“Seems we have some company…” Kenny grunted. “Can I shoot ‘em down?”
“Not yet, Kenny. Wait until we’re free of Lacardia airspace.”
“I don’t think they’ll wait for that,” Emil said. He pointed through the glass, and Meredith followed his finger. She just wanted to sit down, but the sight of the two rusty skyships outside commanded her attention. Fighting the nausea, she ran to the dashboard.
“Those are old models…used to be in use by the Corps. I remember servicing them from time to time when Frost Squad would visit Lumarina’s platoon before they retired from skyship usage…How did the Order get their hands on those?” Meredith asked. Their own skyship leveled out, just above the town’s surface. Sal pushed on the throttle, and they glided through the air, looking for their battling companions. The beeping through the bridge indicated pursuit.
“Kenny, they’re locked on. Keep ‘em back with the concussives.”
“I’m on it, Sal. You four, stay back.” The whirring indicated a turning of the cannons, and Meredith backed off to join with the others. Now that they were out of the Reaper’s presence, they could breathe, but Meredith still found her stomach clenching in worry for her brother when lightning flashed from the street.
Water followed, and a parting of the waves. The three dots on the streets below showed Raymond and Unda dealing with their enemy in silent volleys of spells. Meredith held a hand to her chest, remembering the compression she felt around them. Hope for her brother’s safety, and fear over everything else intermingled while the Defender passed over the houses. Citizens had fled, pooling in the marketplace, like an angry mob that was confronting the trio of Emily, Bruce and Trent. The skyship dipped low, firing another round of cannons that missed their pursuer. Sal tapped a couple buttons, and the ramp extended. Meredith ran for it to call them in.
“What are you guys doing? You’re wrecking our homes!”
“What’s the status at the Academy?”
“We don’t have all the answers to your questions, but as soon as we-” Something hit Emily in the face mid-sentence. The crowd was getting riled up, their emotions running high in the devastation their country was facing. Emily wiped the offending substance and noticed the skyship. “My apologies. But I promise, we are resolving this issue. Our absence should help.”
“Damn right, it will!” an older man shouted from within the crowd, carrying the sentiments rather well. Emily offered a sigh, and before any of them could turn further, she jerked her head to Bruce and Trent, bringing them on board the ship.
They had barely stepped in when a shot from the Order’s skyship pierced the hull. They pitched to the side, with Bruce and Trent landing against each other. Emily gasped, but it had nothing on the shout from the bridge. The redhead stood as the Defender started to nosedive, and Meredith noticed that she had a burn on her shoulder. It didn’t stop her from leading Meredith back to the bridge, the girl closing the ramp before she followed.
“Sal, you all right? Kenny?” she asked. It was clear the two were not all right, pieces of the windshield shattered. Vivian and the others were huddled in a corner, while Sal was groaning, thick gashes on her arm, coupled with burns.
“That thing’s fast…” Kenny coughed out. He tried to move his arm, but the glass shards embedded in them gave him little movement. “She just keeps taking a beating…”
Another shot rocked the ship, and Meredith could see them in a freefall, their already low altitude becoming deadly. They weren’t going to stay in the air much longer. Emily knew it. “Take a break. We’ll handle things.”
“You don’t even know how to fly, Em,” Sal chuckled out. She tried to re-engage her flight, but her fingers slipped off, more cuts along them.
“No, but I know how to heal.”
“I can fly.” Vivian’s response was confident, standing tall. Meredith would have argued, that they didn’t need someone inexperienced in such a situation, but when she and Vivian exchanged glances, she remembered. “I used to own a skyship, myself. I can fly it.”
There was a pause, then Sal laughed. “All right, Lacroix, give it all you’ve got.”
To aid her in her endeavor, Emily pulled Sal from her chair while Kenny fell out of his. Another shot came out of nowhere, the enemy skyship trying to make damn sure to bring them down to their last vestiges. That all changed when Vivian threw herself in the pilot’s chair, looking the controls over, and then pulling up on the throttle. The Defender jerked, and Meredith almost fell into a wall, sliding across the bridge to a door that came off its hinges a little too easily, revealing the engine room inside, working overtime. A quick overview told her there was something wrong, but Vivian was more focused on bringing them back up above the town, clipping a building while she did so. A grimace formed on her face, but she kept going, even as Bruce and Trent joined her to man the weapons.
“Only one side is operational, lieutenant.”
“I’ll fix it!” Meredith announced. “Emil, your help would be appreciated.”
“Whatever you need.”
“Montgomery, you head on to the observation deck. Deflect what shots you can on our dead side while Childs gets everything running smoothly. You two stay still, I’ll heal you,” Emily instructed to her squad-mates. Once she got the affirmative for them, she looked to Vivian, jerking the ship to the side to avoid fire that exploded a nearby café. “Lacroix, keep that ship steady and head for the Academy. Jay should be there. Be quick about it.”
“Yes, sir!” Vivian responded. She breathed in, steadying her own thundering nerves to turn the Defender without sending everyone else tumbling. Eddie clapped Meredith on the back, running for the observation deck while she slid into the engine room.
There was a large hole in the center, showcasing the streets of Lacardia below, but after a check around that area, Meredith was grateful to realize how lucky they were that the shots hadn’t pierced the engine. Unfortunately, the cannon controls on the other end were smoking, parts dislodged. Meredith wrinkled her nose, looking them over. Mumbling rose from her mouth while Emil stood around, bracing himself as the skyship rocked with each movement. “Okay, so they need to come together…and then I’d need to free the debris of the shot and restore movement…but without easy parts on hand…”
“Mera, now would be a good time for some orders…”
“Push the control consoles together with magic,” she snapped, still working out the conundrum inside her head. Emil followed orders, but she didn’t watch him do so, closing her eyes. The skyship whispered to her, speaking of their inanimate soul. “Metal…I need you to move for me…”
It felt odd, speaking to it like a person, but it obeyed under her touch, the deformed shapes reforming into functional cannons, cleared of blockage. She huffed a bit, the drain on her magic evident, and thanked the silent souls to go back over to the consoles. With a crack of her knuckles and swipe of the wrench and screwdriver nearby, she set to work repairing everything that was smoking, pulling out wires and reconnecting them, tightening the nuts and bolts until the console lit up. The automatic movement of the cannons told her she was successful, just as she felt the skyship dip down to pick up Jay.
“Emil, I need you to keep holding those together until we’re out of this firefight. Can you do that for me?”
“Whatever time you need.”
Meredith dashed from the room, jumping over the hole in the ground. Back on the bridge. Bruce and Trent were yelling as they fired the cannons like madmen, and through the shattered glass, Meredith could tell they were on the lawn of the Academy, picking up Jay. Hardly one to wait for orders in the crisis, Meredith changed direction and ran for the observation deck to join Eddie, jumping each stair two at a time until she banged the door open.
The whistle of a missile heading right for them was heard, and then an explosion in the air when Eddie deflected the fire of it. Another came, but he wasn’t as fast. Meredith acted with this, pointing the Violent Staff in the air. Violet whispered a magic in her ear. “Flame Shot!”
From the staff shot three fireballs, each impacting with the magical barrage. Eddie whipped around, but took her appearance in stride, placing their backs against one another. Inside the staff, Violet clapped happily. That’s my dad’s spell. What did you think?
Not now, Violet…Terrill chastised the woman. She pouted. The Defender began to rise, clearing the roof of the Academy while it swung around. The wind core was functioning again, and the students and teachers had disappeared inside to safety. Meredith could swear she saw Felix and Autumn against a window, itching to get out, but bound by the ropes of their teacher. With another streaking assault, Meredith tore herself away, both her and Eddie using their magic in tandem to blow the projectiles apart.
Vivian increased the speed on the skyship, as the best friends nearly found themselves falling back. When they stopped themselves, Meredith could see why. The girl was aiming the Defender right for the Order’s skyship, forcing it to move out of the way before it could be ripped to shreds, the derelict vessel groaning while they zipped past. Meredith huffed, wanting to yell at the girl, but being in no obvious position to. The whine of the other engine indicated their enemy turning around for another volley, though not visible from her side of the observation deck. The Defender’s cannons fired, anyway.
“I think they can handle it while we get your brother,” Eddie said, hands on his knees. He was tired, his overuse of magic causing him to stumble. Meredith grabbed on to him, and was about to set him straight when her soul clenched. Power thrummed in the air.
“No…There’s another!” She didn’t need to look, as the sun was blotted out for her, a skyship manifesting in the air as it decloaked. The cannons instantly sensed its location and turned, but Meredith couldn’t believe what else she was seeing.
The Reaper was aboard, their hand twisting as spikes appeared.
Meredith’s breath slowed, as did everything around her. The Defender dipped, going for Raymond, who was watching the new skyship with disdain from a roof. The other skyship barreled in the air, intercepting the shots meant for its leader, becoming a burning hunk of metal that spiraled for the sea. Every breath in and out saw a new action, and Meredith watched the Reaper as they sent the spikes flying, angling downward. Eddie stepped up, pushing both palms into the air and creating a barricade of wind. The magical collision sent a rumble cascading, and below, Meredith could sense her brother jumping on board.
So, too, could she sense the Reaper preparing another volley.
Every soul was suspended as Meredith pushed against the deck, standing. It felt as if the other souls that supported her were operating with her, helping her to move. The cannons were wild, not hitting their mark, and Meredith knew she was their last chance. Eddie’s attack failed, and he fell back, the spikes continuing their assault as the Reaper fired a crackling orb of dark energy. Meredith stood strong, fighting down her fear as she crossed both Earth-Splitter and Violent Staff. Both of their souls screamed within her, coalescing with her, and her body shined with energy before she pointed them at the Reaper’s skyship.
“Soul Scream: Blast Line!” A guttural scream tore from her lips as she thrust both weapons forward. In midair, matter was created, becoming a stone drill. It whirred, its thin, conical shape streaming for the skyship as flame and steam hissed from within. The Reaper appeared surprised at this, and didn’t erect any shield as the attack clipped one of their vehicle’s rotors, and let off an ensuing explosion, followed by more in a chain that sent them veering well off-course.
Meredith fell, collapsing on the deck, her magic drained.
Her soul, however, calmed. The Reaper had been sent away, and when the Defender sped up, blowing its way past the wind wall of Lacardia to safety, Meredith let out a breath. They had made it.