The Ghost

Chapter 11

Catherine's fall causes a dramatic and instant effect in the battlefield:

The Ghost soldiers start to forsake their swords everywhere I look, they drop their energy rifles as well and then, falling pray to terror, they begin to escape from the battle in total disarray.

It is clear now that we were already winning the battle, and the death of their commander was simply the last blow for the demoralized Ghost forces... Claire is commanding the desperate retreat as best as she can, yells of victory and euphoria erupting from the McKinley forces everywhere around me.

Jab Scryer leads the final charge to chase the beaten invaders, many of them falling under our wrath and our terrible vengeance...

I have slain Seeker Catherine, the enemy has been annihilated and our victory is complete, but right now a celebration is the last thing roaming in my mind:

"Traveler!" I scream, trying to find my friend between the escaping Ghost soldiers and the Agents that are charging after them- "Traveler! Traveler!"

The fear grows in my heart while so many terrible things flash through my mind, she must be dead, but I cannot accept it, Traveler cannot be dead!

"Natalie!" Jeremy yells somewhere nearby, and then, together, we find our Ghostly friend at last:

Traveler is lying on the red snow between countless dead bodies, her blood flowing from a hole in her chest as she cries and gasps trying to draw breath...

"Stay with us!"

Traveler's glowing red eyes meet my own and, for a second, a soft smile illuminates her face. Jeremy is holding her hand and caressing her hair, and we cannot do anything but to try and comfort her as she leaves this world behind...

"At least, I die knowing that I fought..." Traveler gasps, looking at the stars- "For the world that I decided to call home..."

"You cannot die, not now, this is the start of a new world!" I scream, witnessing how her eyes are quickly losing brightness- "Traveler, stay with us! Somebody, help! Please, help! Help...!"

Jeremy covers his face with both hands, my heart is breaking and I look up at the stars...

After the battle, Anchorage became the first Ghost city ever to fall at advancing human forces. The McKinley armies captured the entire military complex, the Northern Star Command escaped and very soon we started to bomb the remaining Ghost troops before they could organize a counter attack.

Alaska was completely ours, a perfect scenario to communicate with other secret bases all over the world. We started to share our advanced technology with all of them, and a few weeks later, the second Ghost War broke out.

This time, it was the Ghost cities and not ours that were getting evacuated, bombed and destroyed.

The Ghosts had never imagined that so many human forces remained ready to strike back, waiting patiently for a spark that Traveler and I created together...

The war was very harsh for both sides, a type of suffering that the Ghosts, unlike the righteous inhabitants of Earth, had never experienced before. The invaders realized that they were taking hundreds of thousands of casualties, and perhaps, just perhaps, the planet was not worth it anymore.

Winter came together with a slow but effective ceasefire, and one day of December, the fascinating red sparks began flying back to the sky...