Burning Ashes - Chapter 8

Burning Ashes: Fiery Steel, Crashing Rain

The Chevalier shook as the world around the large aircraft warped and shifted into a constant stream of blues, greens, and pale yellows. Panels along the back folded downward and hugged the aircraft, allowing for a faster travel through the wormhole. The powerful engines roared as the six thrusters pumped out a constant flow of bright blue energy. Silver tried his best from barfing up the contents of his stomach, as the aircraft seemed to pick up an immense amount of speed upon entering the wormhole. He seemed to be the only one affected by the transition of speed, as all the angels in the cargo hold seemed to be fine and all sat upright. Swallowing the acid in his throat, Silver turned his attention to the static that started over the intercom.

“Alright, we’re going to be transitioning out of warp in a few minutes. This is a recon mission, but considering the recent ambushes on ‘recon’ missions, we’re going to play this as safe as possible. We have an unusual energy signature in the mountain ranges, but we cannot warp out near it because it is in such a confined space. Once we get near by, you all will drop off, but make it quick. We don’t know what will be waiting for us. We’re far from human contact; so do not worry about needing to hold back on any magic or combat. The Chevalier will provide support as best as possible, but I would assume all of you would like a ride back.” The pilot’s voice was laced with occasional static over the intercom, but his voice was clear enough to understand with ease. All the angels nodded in response, then called out a short “yes sir” in response.

“So, there have been more ambushes than just on Ravir and I?” Silver asked the angel seated next to him.

“Yes sir. They’ve all been recon missions except for one, but that mission ended up having incorrect reports of enemy numbers, so our five dropped soldiers were outnumbered 1 to 20. Only one made it out, and he won’t ever see the battlefield, or his right arm, ever again.” The angel answered quickly in a monotone voice. The angel was about to continue, but the pilot’s voice sounded on the intercom.

“Exiting warp in three… two… one…”

The shift in speed once again nearly forced Silver’s stomach out on to the floor. Just as Silver started to sit up, a loud clap of thunder nearly deafened him, and a swift banking of the aircraft slammed him into his seat.

The Chevalier swerved to avoid a lightning bolt that nearly took out the aircraft’s right wing. However, that was only one of their worries. The large aircraft was flying in near-zero visibility as it had warped out directly into a thunderhead cloud. Rain and wind shook the aircraft as it soared through the air, banking to avoid the rapid lightning strikes that lit the air. The pilot knew if they stayed in the clouds any longer, they were bound to be struck by lightning sooner or later. He dove the Chevalier down into a steep dive, making sure to watch the altimeter. As the large aircraft broke through the black and purple cloud cover, an enormous cliff stood in its path. The Chevalier jerked to the right, its thrusters aiming downward and its lower thrusters igniting, keeping the carrier craft from slamming into the solid surface. With a burst of energy, the Chevalier flew parallel to the cliff before pulling back, leveling out, and cruising in a deep valley.

Thunder still shook the Chevalier, but since the aircraft was lower than the valley peaks, lightning was a minimal threat. The pilot let out a relieved sigh, and then reactivated the intercom.

“Well, wasn’t that fun?” He chuckled; knowing the occupants of the cargo bay did not share his sense of comedy on the matter. Silver’s eyes darted to the intercom, narrowing as he tried to regain his sense of horizontal alignment. Even the angels seemed disoriented, some shaking their heads and others readjusting their helmets. “Anyways, we have to lay low, and we may have to do a drive-by drop off. The lightning was unexpected, as our long-range scanners can’t detect weather as well when it’s not enormous, but it’ll cause a problem if we’re standing still for too long.” The pilot paused, and faint beeping could be heard in the background of the intercom. “The energy source is just around the corner and at the end of the valley.”

The Chevalier banked left, adjusting its thrusters for an easier and tighter turn. The end of the valley was about a mile or so away, but the valley clearly connected in a U-shape. The energy signal appeared to be coming from the peak of dead end, and was constant in its energy level. From the magnitude of the readings, it appeared to be a fairly sizeable force with formidable powers. The Chevalier slowed its pace a bit; cautious of what could be ahead. The pilot could not make out anything definitive at the current distance or visibility from the rain and wind, but spotted a very faint red glow near the top of the valley.

Silver felt an odd chill run down his spine. He had assumed it would end up being more than they had been told, but he had a feeling something worse was in store, but he shook it off as paranoia from being ambushed last time. He quickly corrected himself, coming to the conclusion that it was not paranoia, but warranted worry. Silver jumped a bit in his seat as a heavier static buzz broke out on the intercom.

“...Worthless, all of you. You are all pathetic little ants in the wake of the true King.” A heavily corrupted voice spoke over the intercom. The connection was crude and unstable, the volume and quality rising and falling randomly. The angel beside Silver looked around, expecting one of the angels to know what was going on. They all shrugged as the voice continued. The voice sounded familiar to Silver, but the static hindered Silver from recollecting where he had heard it before. “…Silver, I know you’re on there. I can feel your energy. Time for you to fall, and my lord to overtake your pathetic lineage.” Silver’s eyes widened as he shot up out of his seat. He realized that the voice over the intercom was Suleyk’s voice.

“All angels prepare for combat!” The angel who was sitting beside Silver called out as he too leapt to his feet. However, the static picked up again and Silver felt another worried wave shoot up his spine.

“Your time is now, wretches!” Suleyk’s voice roared out before the connection shut quickly.

Silver was nearly sent headfirst into the hull of the Chevalier as a powerful stream of red energy rushed towards the aircraft’s dual left wings. The pilot dove down and hugged the Chevalier to the mountainside, increasing thrust to charge passed where the blast of energy had come from. Rapid blasts of energy soared towards the Chevalier, but were easily dodged by the swift banking side to side. As the aircraft neared dead end of the valley, it pulled up from the mountainside, avoiding another blast as it hit the mountain and spit up shards of dirt and stone. The aircraft zoomed passed Suleyk’s position, pulling away from him and making a sharp U-turn.

As the Chevalier rounded about and pointed directly at Suleyk, two pairs of panels unfolded on the nose, and two barrels extended out. A series of panels unfolded and constructed a stabilizing system that hooked on to the opening where the barrels had emerged. Energy began to gather at the front of the barrels before unleashing a barrage of light blue blasts of energy at Suleyk. The bursts of energy impacted the mountaintop, kicking up a cloud of dirt and shattered rock shards. The Chevalier pitched up and began to round about again, charging up energy at the front of the twin barrels.

Suleyk’s voice roared once again on the intercom, “Long live the king!” before a pair of powerful energy beams shot out of the dust cloud. The pilot attempted to yank the Chevalier out of the path of the blasts, but the surprise attack only gave him so much of an opening. As the large aircraft banked left, one stream struck through both right wings of the aircraft while another pierced through the center of the Chevalier’s core.

A plume of fire engulfed half of the angels in the Chevalier as the red beam pierced the hull of the aircraft. The entire shook violently as shrapnel rocketed out from the wings and inside the cargo bay. The remaining angels and Silver all gave each other quick and worried looks as one of the angels kicked open the metal door on wall. As the heavy metal panel was ejected from hull of the aircraft, another blast tore through the main part of the core separating the cockpit and the main cargo bay. Time seemed to slow as Silver watched the red beam carve the angel who had kicked open the door in half and shortly after be engulfed by a wave of fire that rushed towards the rest of them.

The Chevalier’s core erupted in flames and hunks of fiery metal as Suleyk fired another blast directly down the center of the plummeting machine. The main cargo bay became fully engulfed in flames as the thrusters caught fire and quickly exploded. Suleyk grinned at his work, retracting his arm-mounted cannons back to his wrists.

A burst of dark energy caught Suleyk’s attention as what remained of the main cargo bay was pushed apart, and Silver and three angels soared through the falling wreckage and fire.

As the fourth shot had been fired into the Chevalier, Silver had thought fast to protect him and the remaining angels. He had constructed a crude barrier with his dark energy as fast as he could, shielding himself and anyone behind him. However, the fires had still broken through at certain points, scorching his clothes and arms where the fires had broken through. The angels had been struck by flaming shrapnel from behind as the first pair of blasts hit, their armor blackened and broken along their backs.

Suleyk’s eyes narrowed as he quickly extended his arm-cannons again, letting loose a series of blasts in the path of the survivors. Silver and the angels all split up, forcing Suleyk to split his attention and divert both of his cannons in various directions. The three angels all converged on Suleyk as Silver took the opportunity to flank him, ducking below the valley peaks and soaring as close to the mountainside as possible.

The first angel swung his yellow energy-coated broadsword at Suleyk, who quickly shifted one of his cannons into a great sword. A stream of red and orange flames shot up from his wrists, coating his blade in energy as he blocked the incoming strike. Suleyk flicked his wrist, staggering the angel before he pointed his cannon directly at the disoriented angel’s head. He fired off a powerful, focused burst that took the angel’s head clean off and sent his body spiraling to the ground. The second two angels rushed at Suleyk, but split off in opposite directions to either of Suleyk’s sides. As both angels attempted a pincer attack, Suleyk shifted his other cannon into a great sword and coated the blade as he did his other sword. He leapt into the air, leveling himself with the advancing angels, rotating once as the angels neared. The impact of his momentum-aided counter sent both the angels back, sending painful ripples up to their shoulders. The angel to Suleyk’s right continued his assault first, followed shortly after by the other angel in an attempt to knock off Suleyk’s timing. However, the trained general folded his wings and slammed on the ground, kicking up another cloud of dirt. The dust obscured the two angels’ visions just before a piercing red beam illuminated the dust. The angel on Suleyk’s right crashed to the ground, a gaping and smoking hole in his torso. The second angel attempted to dive down and attack Suleyk, but he was met with a heavy swing from Suleyk’s great sword that cleaved him directly down the middle.

As the dust settled on the drenched ground and on Suleyk’s shoulders, the dragon’s eyes darted side to side in search of Silver. He heard the sound of feet skidding on stone and he whirled around, only to be sent flying backwards by a blast of dark energy directly in his chest.

Silver ignited a burst of energy behind his feet and extended wings, propelling himself towards the disoriented Suleyk. As Silver poised his sword to swing, Suleyk swung up from his right to counter Silver. Having seen the power of Suleyk’s energy-coated sword, Silver hastily attempted to recreate the effect, focusing his energy to his blade mid-swing.

When their blades collided, the conflicting energies sizzled and crackled, sending off plumes of black and red smoke. Suleyk swung swiftly in an attempt to break Silver’s guard, but Silver pumped his wings forward, backpedaling away from the sword as it cut through the air. Silver pumped his wings back heavily, stopping his backward momentum, but he quickly slammed his wings down as Suleyk fired off a stream of energy that would have stuck Silver dead-on. Silver was forced to roll to the side as another blast rushed his way, nearly clipping his wings that time.

Suleyk snarled as his shots were evaded. He propelled himself forward with a blast of fire, his great swords poised to slash Silver at the end of his swing. Silver knew he could not evade in time, having just rolled away from his previous attack. The boy swung his sword in the path of Suleyk’s blades, but he had a plan to knock Suleyk back and give him time to retaliate. As their blades collided, Silver released his focus on the energy coating his blade mid-swing, hoping to explode the energy out in a concussive blast. The effect, however, was much more interesting.

An arc of dark energy followed Silver’s swing, and when he reached the peak of his swing, the arc surged forward, breaking Suleyk’s guard and digging into his torso. The powerful arc of energy sent Suleyk rocketing towards the mountainside rapidly. When Suleyk impacted the mountain cliff, the arc of energy erupted outward, scorching and expanding the fresh gash in his torso from the initial attack. Suleyk’s battered body dropped from the crater he had created upon impact, and a dark red and black portal opened up beneath him, which he fell through and quickly shut after he passed through it.

Silver eased himself to the ground, touching down at the crash site of the Chevalier. He hoped there was some way to communicate with someone, because he had not other method of doing so, nor did he have any way to get to the dragon kingdom on his own. Careful not to touch any red-hot metal, Silver rummaged through the wreckage for any sort of communication device. He spotted what he assumed were the remains of one of the angels, and he spotted a compartment on his charred leg that seemed broken open. Silver reached inside to find a fragile-looking device that was folded up. He flipped open the device and tried to figure out what it was. When a holographic list of names appeared along the side of the device, Silver assumed it was some sort of portable headset. Silver dialed the first name that had the word “Commander” in it, and hastily spoke into what he assumed was the microphone.

“Hello! Can anyone hear me? This is Prince Silver! The Chevalier has been destroyed and the squad I was transported with is dead. I need a ride out of here now!” To Silver’s relief he got an instant response.

“Prince Silver? Are you alright?” The voice asked, sounding worried and rushed.

“Yes—I have a few burns and cuts, but the threat is dealt with. I want to get out of here as soon as possible, though.”

“Understood. We’ll get an evac team out there ASAP.”