The Grey Chronicles Part Two: Under Siege.

Chapter 15: Dare Not Dishonor the Dead.

Monument to the Fallen, capital city of Machinae One, August of 8096 AL.

Briarios walked through the massive double doors, examining the marble walls he had seen a thousand times before. The walls were adorned with crossed swords, among other weapons, and tapestries bearing the insignia of the UCAM; a shield with the image of an upside-down triangle inside of a circle of planets, a sword and spear crossed beneath them. Screens were built into each wall, showing pictures of each fallen soldier's body just before their burial. There were images of pale men and women, others were unrecognizable; just a ravaged corpse in a clean uniform, these gruesome images were reminders of the cost of war. Children often were not allowed in the monument, Briarios hadn't set foot inside until he was nearly nine hundred.

His footsteps echoed on the marble floor, the tablet of granite towered above him, its tip almost grazing the highest point of the domed ceiling, where a skylight allowed the sun to shine down onto the tablet. Millions of names were inscribed on it, each a soul lost to the Colonial Wars. There was another monument on the other end of town, this one honoring those lost in the first Liberation War. Briarios had visited that monument many times, seeing his great-grandfather's scarred visage playing across screens.

With a deep sigh he looked upwards, his eyes falling on the name that had meant everything to him so long ago; row seventy-three, column twenty thousand and four, "Orion Grey, June 17th 7434 AL. Calx Urbs."

"Hey, Orion," Briarios looked back to the ground, "Dad is in trouble, I'm going to help him. I...I don't plan on coming back. Without you, it's just gotten so much harder over the years. I thought I was okay, I thought I could do it, but..."

He trailed off, noticing a familiar sound in the distance. He turned around and stepped back to the door, looking over the city. To his right he saw the wall that ran all the way around the city, beyond which was the coastline. Between the half-kilometer wall and the hill on which the monument stood there were several buildings; a hospital, a school, and a parking garage. He knew that behind the garage there were skyscrapers, and behind them the bridge leading to the castle. To his left stretched an expanse of flowers, green grass and blooming orchids dotting the landscape for several hundred yards before the concrete jungle took root again. A cluster of buildings and a road stood there.

His ears tracked the source of the noise to the hill directly in front of him, where the other monument stood. Even over the hustle and bustle of the city he made out helicopter blades chopping the air. Sirens sounded to his left, and his eyes picked up a group of men at the bottom of the hill. In the same moment, his ears picked up two distinct and alarming sounds; gunfire, and the familiar whistle of a falling mortar.

Something exploded behind him, his ears rang as he was thrown several meters down the hill and tumbled several more. Briarios rolled onto his belly and stood, turning to face the monument. To his horror, Briarios found that the roof had collapsed partially. He sprinted back through the double doors and dropped to his knees at the sight of what had happened.

The tablet of granite, once standing eighty feet tall and a quarter as wide, was now barely half of that. The mortar had broken through the glass dome at the top of the monument and collided with the side of the slab, destroying the tablet. The top half of it lay in shattered fragments where it had fallen, breaking through the wall and almost toppling the entire side of the building opposite of him. His hands scrambled through the rubble until he found it; a piece of stone, several inches long and an inch wide, with "Orion" inscribed along its cracked surface. Briarios felt several emotions at once; despair, horror, pain, anger, disbelief. Briarios couldn't understand why this had happened, until he thought back to the men standing at the bottom of the hill. He hadn't noticed in time, but it had finally registered; the creatures standing there were Nephilim, monsters he had only read of in the past. Following this realization, his heart and mind finally agreed on one feeling; uncontrollable rage.

He stood again, turning slowly then sprinting out of the monument. He tore down the hill towards them, barely noticing when his hands caught fire as he channeled his rage into his extremities. Four monsters stood around a smoking mortar tube, each laughing maniacally until they noticed Briarios. He saw their grins, he saw their swords and axes. He didn't care.

The first Nephilim ran forward to meet him. Briarios saw his arm swing back and dashed forward, smashing his palm into the creature's grimy throat. It dropped its sword and its hands flew to where Briarios held him. He tried to pull away Briarios' hands to no avail; the flames dancing across his fingers melted skin, burned flesh, and cracked bone. The Nephilim coughed, where blood once would have erupted came charcoal. His throat melted shut, he couldn't breathe.

Briarios dropped him and stepped over his writhing body, as he struggled for air. The others were no longer confident, but they tried nonetheless. Two of them rushed him at once, one with an ax and another with a javelin. The beast wielding the javelin thrust his weapon at the man with the flaming hands, only to find it deflected. He stumbled past the man and felt as though a hot iron had been pressed to the base of his skull. Briarios ended him quickly, surprised at how easy it was to wrap his fingers around the creature's spine. His blazing fingers turned the Nephilim's flesh to ash, the bone began to crack under the heat. Briarios set his free hand on the back of the monster's head and pushed, ripping the spine out of its back with a sickening crunch.

He tossed the dripping spine aside and grabbed the blade of a swinging ax. It melted under his touch, the Nephilim wielding it shuddered as he made eye contact with the Machinae Prince. His father had ensured them that the slaves would cower before them, how had Ugin lied to him? How had the Titanus general been so very wrong? As his victim questioned everything his leader had told him, Briarios shoved his other hand into the beast's gut, burying it up to his elbow. He was surprised to find these monsters did in fact have hearts, and that they shriveled and burned as easily as the rest of their bodies. Smoke poured from the creature's mouth as his insides turned to charcoal. The fourth Nephilim decided to run as Briarios set his gaze upon him. Though he made this decision, he had no control over his own fate; a bolt of white hot flame caught him in his lower back, melting his spine and rendering him paralyzed. He collapsed but did not cease his attempt at escape, choosing to crawl desperately away from the fiery foe behind him.

With almost no effort Briarios took the monster by the back of his head, turning him over and kneeling on his chest. Briarios held his victim's head in both hands, squeezing as hard as he could and channeling every ounce of rage within him into his victim. The Nephilim's last thought was inquiry; how could the eyes of a man who wielded fire be so cold? His vision turned red, his skin turned to coal and his flesh to ash as his veins filled with the same fire that engulfed Briarios' hands. It ran throughout his body, burning every molecule until only dust remained.

Briarios stood and clenched his fist, wondering if he should hide his power.

I should, he thought, But I don't care. These monsters attack my home, they will feel every thread of wrath at my disposal, they will not take my home from me.

He listened. He heard gunfire, helicopters, and sirens in the distance. Screaming sounded above all of it, as well as the roaring of flames and of tanks' engines. He heard something else, something closer; the hospital, screaming came from the direction of the hospital and the school. Briarios turned towards the sound of the screams and started running, intent on burning every single monster to ash.