Blaze (The High-Born Epic) (43 page)

             
“You call
that
holding on to me,” she said as she pulled him closer to her.

             
Aireon smiled as Blaze tightened his grip on her waist and they disappeared in a flash of fire...

             
...Aireon gasped but did not scream when they appeared in mid-air several hundred feet above the ground, and they began falling straight down towards the city below, but flames flashed again...

             
...And they were standing on top of the High-Born building.

             
“You can open your eyes now,” Blaze said.

             
Aireon opened one of her eyes, and took a deep breath.  She looked Blaze in the eyes for a moment, and then slowly let go of him before stepping away.  They both looked around, beyond the outskirts of the city.  All around them was a dense, green forest that extended for miles.  Extending out from the ring of ruins around the city were the nearly indiscernible ancient, asphalt paths winding their way into the distance.  As they continued peering beyond the ruins, Blaze noticed something peculiar.

             
“Do you see those dips in the terrain?” he asked as he pointed at a barely noticeable slump in the trees.

             
“Yes,” Aireon answered, and pointed to another.

             
“That has to be where some kind of bombs hit all those years ago,” Blaze said.

             
“They must’ve been very powerful to move that much dirt,” Aireon replied.

             
Blaze nodded silently and they both turned their attention back to the city.

             
“I’ll go ahead and come at them from the other side,” he said.  “I’ll make a good show and then you smash the front.”

             
“Sounds good to me,” Aireon replied as the dim white light within her eyes grew in intensity.  “Let’s go pick a fight.”

             
Blaze studied the city from atop the building, and chose a set of building tops that led to the military compound.  He made a rapid series of air-burns from building top to building top that carried him across the city until he was standing atop a building beneath one of the flashing billboards.  He looked over the ledge at the military compound just below and began calling on his fire.

             
Aireon began running and gathered a burst of air behind her, snatching it to her as she leaped off the building.  The concentrated gust of wind jetted her skyward and she easily sailed over the gap in between the two buildings.  She landed and rolled on her shoulder to compensate for the extra momentum before fluidly rising into a full sprint.  She hit the next gap and made another incredible, wind-assisted jump, sliding and rolling as she landed only to rise into a dead run. 

             
After three more leaps, she was standing on top of the building opposite of Blaze and she nodded to him...

             
...And he flashed from view...

             
Blaze appeared in the cockpit of the lead gunship.  He wasn’t surprised to find it empty, and his flaming blade slashed through its control panels several times before he air-burned to the second gunship, making sure to leave a small fire inside of it before he flashed to the third gunship.  After he had finished ruining its controls, he enveloped himself in fire and appeared in the center of the roof.  As he raised his hands, his head looked to the sky and his eyes glowed furiously.

             
Aireon watched as three gunships detonated, and their flames washed over Blaze, enfolding him in their terrible glory.  She watched as the High-Born patrols began running in all directions, taking cover anywhere they could find.  Then she saw Blaze stalking through the uncontrolled fire to stop at the edge of the building.  A billowing wave of flames raged down upon the tank on the western side of the plaza, and then amongst the scattering High-Born grunts.

             
The air around Aireon began shimmering and she reached towards the ground with her right hand, snapping it to the sky before she jumped off the top of the building.  She fell with outstretched arms and legs into the waiting grasp of a rising current of wind that slowed her descent to that of a drifting leaf.  She lightly landed, and glowered at the running High-Born who were beginning to take up fighting positions.

             
She stepped towards the compound, shouting, while swatting her hands from side to side.  Powerful gusts of wind began slamming into the lead guard shack, and after just a few seconds, it was torn from its foundation.  The High-Born inside was caught unaware and he went flying across the plaza along with the other debris before he could even fire a shot.

             
Loud pops sounded and Aireon turned to see three High-Born firing their rifles at her, but the spikes were deflected by the shimmering air around her.  She stepped towards them, striking with her palm, and they were hurled vehemently through the air where they smacked into the walls of the compound.  As they fell to the ground, there were large cracks and pockmarks at their impact points.

             
A second group of High-Born began firing at the flaming monstrosity atop the building, but Blaze disappeared as the spikes streaked harmlessly into the sky.  He appeared amidst the four soldiers, and his flaming blade moved swiftly and efficiently through the giants before they even had a chance to react.  And Blaze thundered out of sight.

             
On the other side of the outer grounds of the compound, High-Born were rocketing through the air.  Some were flying, completely out of control, out into the city because of a small whirlwind that was rapidly moving across the courtyard.  Others were firing at its center where Aireon stood.  But the spikes had no effect, they simply bounced off, striking the surrounding buildings, knocking chunks of concrete to ground.  Runnels of air sped out from the whirlwind, almost seeming to grab the High-Born and then throw them into the buildings.

             
Aireon stood in the eye of the small tornado, and squatted.  Her arms moved back and forth, and up and down as she looked at the remaining tank.  A gust of wind hit it, and it noticeably rocked.  Aireon stepped forward and lowered her head while extending her arms toward it, and the gust became a sustained current of wind.  Aireon began grunting with effort, and slowly, the tank began scraping across the concrete.  Then Aireon dipped low, and shouted as she flung her arms to the sky.  The tank flipped into the air, soaring from the ground and smashed into the side of the compound, tearing a huge hole in the concrete wall.

             
She heard something behind her and she turned.

             
From within the small, but furious whirlwind, she looked out across the street.  Dozens of High-Born dressed in their strange, everyday clothing were beginning to crowd the streets.  She saw many of them reaching to their hips where pistols were holstered.  They all began taking up positions behind various corners and trained their weapons on her.  Her flashing eyes glared at them, and she stepped towards them, smirking. 

             
Then… she raised both of her hands and motioned for them to come to her.

             
Blaze blasted into an empty hallway.  He could hear the shouts of High-Born all around him, and running footsteps thudded all over.  From the sound of things, he would have a few, uninterrupted moments.  Blaze focused on the fire that covered him and began flinging it in all directions.  The walls erupted into flames, and water mixed with white foam began pouring all over, but it did little to slow Blaze’s destruction of his immediate surroundings.  Only after the fire was completely out of control, did he thunder away to the floor just above him.

             
He appeared in another empty hallway, and he began stomping the floor.  After several hard, and loud thuds, he fell through to the inferno beneath him.  He stood only for a moment and reached to the fires around him and sent them up to the fresh air above him.  A small explosion sounded as it hit the air and it rushed all over despite the water and foam. 

             
He air-burned to several more spots in the building, and in short order, it became a rabid fire that was hopelessly out of control.  Satisfied that it would soon burn to the ground he thundered from view...

             
...To the courtyard where a raging tempest was stirring up so much dirt and dust that he found it hard to see.  In fact, he raised his sword high into the air and plunged it into the ground and used it as an anchor just to keep himself from being blown away.  He looked down the city streets to see High-Born running in every direction away from the military compound.

             
Aireon herself stood at the eye of the fierce wind, shouting at the top of her lungs and flinging her arms around.  Powerful gusts of wind and concentrated patches of blurry air flew in all directions from her.  Buildings rocked and shuddered from the tornadic winds and their walls cracked as her blasts hit them.  High-Born were being flung all over, some bouncing and skipping across the pavement.  Others leveled pistols at Aireon and fired shots that had no effect on her.

             
Blaze watched for nearly a minute as Aireon released the full measure of her powers against the High-Born and their structures.  Soon, all of the threats had been thrown down the street, and her winds began to slacken.  In another few moments, there was not even the slightest breeze.  Blaze doused his flames and pulled his sword out of the ground as he stood.

             
Aireon turned as he walked towards her.

             
“You think they got the message?” she asked.

             
Harold looked at the flashing billboard, and saw the advertisement for Maronea’s Jewelry.  Then he looked at Gabby who was smiling.

             
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Harold asked.

             
“Oh yeah,” she smirked as he grabbed her hand and blasted to the ledge of the building just beneath the center of the billboard, and they both looked down upon the High-Born scurrying in the streets.

             
“I am Blaze!” he shouted for all to hear.

             
“And I am Aireon!” her voice called out.

             
The image of the High-Born Dragon appeared on the screen.  Hundreds of High-Born in the streets were looking up at them with horror on their faces.  Blaze flashed from one support pillar to another, slashing through them as the image of the fighter jet zoomed around.  Aireon raised her hands as the High-Born Dragon diverged into two separate men.  The High-Born in the streets were all shrieking in rage.  Suddenly, a massive gust of wind tore the billboard from the building top just as he became four men.

             
High-Born began screaming and running in all directions as the billboard crashed down the side of the building, tumbling end over end, shattering glass and spewing chunks of concrete as it fell to the city streets.  It boomed on impact and dust rushed out from it as it became a heap of wreckage.

             
The High-Born in the streets then watched as Blaze and Aireon joined hands.  While they looked down on the giants with their terrible glowing eyes, they slowly raised their hands above their heads, holding on to one another.  The High-Born below them watched as they swept their eyes back and forth.  Many of them began pointing things at them that Blaze and Aireon recognized as cameras.

             
Blaze poured his fire into his voice, and when he spoke, it was frighteningly deep and incredibly powerful, echoing across several city blocks.

             
“The Time Of The High-Born Is Coming To An End!”

             
Then, Blaze and Aireon disappeared in a flash of fire and a tremendous clap of thunder.

Chapter 38

              Harold looked around and could see only a dark and shadowed forest.  He was still and just listened.  He couldn’t hear anything.  Then he began walking while continuing to listen.  He could feel a terrible unease, and felt as though he was in great danger.  Suddenly, he felt a light tremor in the ground followed by a moment of silence.