The Deian War: Conquest (8 page)

   “Always,” he answered. “My forces are in position. Tacitus reports my legion’s vanguard are incoming, their arrival imminent. We can do this, Novus. We can repel the enemy like we have done before a hundredfold.”

   Phoenix knew he was right, but she couldn’t help but wonder at what cost victory would come to them now. “I believe you, Oz. Let us be the rocks their waves will crash and fail against.”

   Without further word, she closed the channel and heard Akurei approach. “My Grace, the retreating remnants of our legion are close. Tens of thousands of Phantoms pursue them. Command us, and we shall follow you”.

   Phoenix nodded solemnly, mentally preparing herself for what was about to happen. “We lead from the front, Akurei, like our duty demands us. We fight with honour and nobility” she replied and left the bunker to join those legionnaires in the trenches outside. She was an Apostle and she belonged in the thickest of the fighting, no matter how much peril that presented. She had spent too long hiding away in that room of darkness, too long letting her legion fight without her.

As she watched for the approach of the enemy waves, she saw thick plumes of smoke as phantom weapons-fire struck buildings that had previously been out of their reach. Here and there from the streets in front of the trench line Guardians were starting to come into sight. It was clear the legionnaires were battle-hardened, yet they showed little sign of fear. Phoenix was proud to lead them.

   As Akurei joined her at the lip of the trench, the rumble of the retreating Warhounds and infantry now an ominous cacophony of noise, she stood close to the Apostle and admitted, “It will be good to fight again, my Grace. I have missed leading the legion directly.”

   Phoenix nodded in agreement and watched as the vanguard came closer. It didn’t go unnoticed by her that every legionnaire in sight was looking at her, waiting for her to do or say something that would steel them against the enemy. When the battle cries of the Phantoms filled the air, carried by thousands of monsters and beasts, the men and women that would have to face them were visibly affected.

   Phoenix could feel the shockwave of doubt ripple amongst them. They had all heard the news about the enemy leaders. They had all heard the rumours, each tale exaggerating or distorting the truth. With the heavy retreat of the vanguard, seeing those same stoic men and women they had so much respect for turned into prey, they were starting to lose hope. Phoenix didn’t think that was even possible for a Black Guardian, but perhaps she was wrong.

   Suddenly she burst into flame, both in an act of defiance against the enemy’s strength and as a distraction for her legion in the trenches. With their attention back on her, she looked up and down the line and spoke, her voice carrying over the sound of the approaching forces. “Legionnaires of the 77th, hear me!”

   All eyes were on her. “We find ourselves in a war against complete evil; unadulterated, uninhibited…and powerful. Many would ask why we do not flee, why it is we do not run in the face of such odds. ‘How can you survive against such endless foes?’ they would ask if they saw us now.

   The answer is simple
. We are equipped not only with the technology of the gods, but with their hearts and their courage also! The odds are not stacked against us, but against
them
. They think us weak, that they can overwhelm us…but we are the Fireblades…we are Black Guardians…and against these monstrosities we will prevail!
Retyr Auranair
!”

   Her bellow briefly drowned out the other sounds
of the battlefield and her cry was picked up by her legion, now refurnished with conviction and determination. The flames of her body burned brighter than they had done for months and she felt certain of their victory.

The Phantoms were now rushing through the streets towards the trench lines, a host of mismatched monsters and beasts that would paralyse a human army with fear. The Guardians met the sight of them with grim determination as their fellow legionnaires began to filter into the safety of the trenches.

As the vanguard all finally crossed the line, the Phantoms hot on their heels, the Fireblades opened fire and decimated the front waves of the enemy. Battle was joined.

LUPUS SLEPT FOR two full days after he fell unconscious in the woods of Fernus. During all that time, Calla never left his side. She still wore the same white armour that had protected her in the battle, its gleaming plates splattered with her enemies’ blood.

She
in a medical tent sat on a stool by the bed that she, Gaia and Sabre had carried him to. It had taken all three of them to bear his weight up onto the spartan frame and it groaned under his mass. Since then, the Commander and her sister had come and gone; only checking on him at first then urging her to take rest when it became obvious she wasn’t going to look after herself until he woke up.

   “Even
we Apostles need sleep, sister. I would have thought he would have shown you that by know” Gaia said, nodding her head towards Lupus’ unconscious form as she came into the expansive tent. Calla allowed herself to look at her, though she had rarely ever taken her eyes off of her sleeping beloved’s form unless fatigue got the better of her and forced her to nap intermittently.

   “It is only right and natural that I look after him, Gaia. You of all people should understand the way things are supposed to be” Calla replied. She was getting irritated at the way her sister tried to tell her what to do. Even her own legion Commander had tried persuading her to leave Lupus and
rest properly. How could any of them think she would do anything of that sort?

   Gaia
hummed, accepting what Calla said. She brushed a green hand through her dark hair, the small flowers and buds rippling like waves. She sighed and sat on the other side of Lupus. “There has still been no change?” she asked softly.

   Calla shook her head. “None…” She looked at Gaia, her eyes pleading for knowledge. “How can this be? What can fell the strongest of us?”

   “Only the Corruption” was the answer she received, but not from whom she was expecting. There was a new voice in the tent, one that she hadn’t heard for over a year. It was the only thing, bar the awakening of Lupus, that could have made her leave her seat and his side.

   Calla threw her arms around her true sister and embraced her like never before. “Raina…” she murmured. “I’m so glad you’ve returned”.

   When she pulled away, Raina smiled warmly at her. The royal blue of her armour was emblazoned by the brazier in the centre of the tent, the gold trimmings flashing brilliantly. She looked for all the world like the demi-god she was and Calla realised how proud she was of her.

“I have news, though it appears the person I am t
o deliver it to has at last fallen ill” Raina said, breaking the atmosphere.

   Calla realised
that what her sister had said before implied she knew something about what could have harmed Lupus. “Sister, later I will hear about why you have come back, but you said something when you arrived…something I know my ears did not deceive me of. You really think the Corruption is to blame?”

   Gaia winced at the word, knowing the full extent of its meaning. In many ways it was the antithesis of her powers; where she was nature, the Corruption was death. Where she knew joy and life and love, it was the embodiment of hate, evil and despair.

   Raina nodded solemnly. She had come inside without her helmet, the white of her long hair falling across her shoulders. She looked deadly and threatening despite her beauty, but for all her martial splendour, the ugly meaning of her response escaped none of them. Though she would be the first to admit she didn’t have the fondest of feelings toward Lupus, even she regretted what she thought to be true.

   “It
is
possible…” she began. When she saw her sister look at the sleeping form of the man she loved, Raina held out a hand to hers. “Calla, you must understand…the Corruption claims those whose emotions run too high. Emotion is energy and energy can be manipulated; I would know, wouldn’t I? Lupus is too involved in this war…and with you; mentally and emotionally. You know his heart is his strength, but it’s his greatest weakness also.”

   Calla sank back onto her seat. Though her spirit denied every word Raina spoke with vehemence, in her mind she knew her sister was right. They had all received copies of the texts by Seraphim. They had all been made aware of the knowledge he had found in the caves of Apollia
; his home world and the birthplace of Vermillion. It was after the fall of Pheia that the secrets had been found, locked away in the mountains where only by chance had an exploratory team of legionnaires stumbled upon the cave entrance. Since then, the Twelfth Apostle had been arming himself and the rest of the Chosen, with the knowledge that Vermillion left behind for them to discover.

   “But…why
now
? We’ve fought for three years already…” she wondered aloud.

   Raina approached her, kneeling down at her side. “War takes its toll
on us all eventually. Perhaps he’s fighting a battle not just against the Phantoms, but a part of himself too…part that the Corruption seeks to claim”.

   Gaia shared a knowing look with Calla, one that Raina spotted straight away. “What is it? What happened?” she demanded
from them.

   Calla began to answer, but Gaia took the chance from her. “When we destroyed the
last Phantom camp here, we thought the battle was over. He knew differently though,” she said, looking at Lupus. His chest rose and fell, giving him an appearance of unusual peace from the world in his unconscious state. “He delved into the dark woods alone. By the time we joined him, he had encountered a new kind of Phantom. One that none of us could comprehend or anticipate. We’ve fought so many battles that by now we should have seen them all and known the whole face of the enemy…but whatever it was, it was new and it was deadly, even to him.”

   Raina was paying attention to every word, but she still wasn’t being told what she asked for. “But what actually
happened
?”

   “I was injured by
devii fire. He shielded me, like he always does, but it pained him to see me wounded. Then the Phantom played on his pride, teasing his anger out of him…” Calla confessed.

She was slowly realising the role she may have played in his downfall.
Her worried eyes bore into Raina’s suspicious own. “Am I to blame for this? Did my carelessness allow him to become vulnerable?”

   Neither Raina nor Gaia would answer her. She looked at them both in turn, begging them for an
indication of her part in it all. When she was given none, she turned her attention to the only person in the room that she felt would have told her, if he was awake and able to do so.

As if given a cue, his eyes finally opened.
“What…” Lupus whispered. “What happened?”

  
He looked around the room, getting his bearings, a confused look on his face. When his gaze settled upon Calla, he refused to look anywhere else. “Calla? What am I doing here?”

   She would have leapt out of her seat, but she felt so guilty
now that she was almost too scared to touch him. Instead, she rose more slowly than she wanted to and went to hold his hand in hers. “You blacked out, Lupus…you’ve slept for two days since.”

   “
Two days
?” he echoed. “I have never slept for so long…What made it so?”

   Calla looked to Gaia for reassurance. The latter nodded slightly,
suggesting that she should tell him the truth. She looked down at Lupus, her brown eyes full of a care and affection that was born out of a deep history of mutual protection and love. “Lupus, we…we think the Corruption was able to affect you…But it is only a theory and there are other explanations we haven’t yet pursued” she tried to smile, but she knew it wasn’t convincing enough.

   Lupus closed his eyes in resignation. He dreaded the answer she gave, but he had been expecting this to happen for months now. Every time he engaged in a battle, the
higher his emotions would boil in the heat of it. Whether it was anger towards the enemy or love and concern for her, his feelings were increasing in strength with every conflict he fought.

   Suddenly he noticed a difference in the room. He couldn’t see her because Calla was standing in the way, but he knew someone else that could influence his heart and mind was present. As though knowing this without asking, Calla moved aside and showed him what he
already knew; Raina had returned from Gothica.

   “Well, now it makes sense why I awoke so abruptly…” he
laughed awkwardly, leaving the rest of them confused about his conclusion.

RAINA AND GAIA left the tent upon Calla’s request. Outside there was rain pouring over the forest canopy and falling on them profusely through the gaps, but neither of them seemed bothered. Where Raina used the bare minimum of her psychic power to create a layer of energy around her to shield herself from the downfall, Gaia let the water soak into her skin.

   They stood together and watched as the assembled legions practiced drills and carried out various training
exercises to keep them alert and ready for the next battle, wherever that would be. Gaia was the first to break the silence, feeling the tension seething from Raina.