Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Nineteen ~ The Start of a War

A crowd gathered outside in the rain as Millicent led the group out of the inn. Everyone out there looked at them with concerned expressions. Garen and Lenora exchanged glances and grabbed each other's hands as they walked. "We're gonna be okay," Garen whispered to Lenora. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you." Lenora nodded and tightened her grasp on Garen's hand. Millicent approached a woman clad in armor with a cloak on that bore the Royal Family's insignia: a crescent moon with a heart in the open space of the moon and two crossing swords behind them, and began to speak to her.

"Is the station ready for use, Rin?" Millicent asked. The armor-clad woman, Rin, stood with tall posture and saluted Millicent.

"It is indeed, milady," she replied. "And the soldiers are prepared for deployment at your command."

"Soldiers?" Peter gasped. "This is one guy we're talking about, and you're all preparing for a battle!?"

"Yes..." Rin began, "but that 'one guy' is our enemy, Bartholomew Cadence. He's no mere man. We've been at war with him for a long time."

"Why would he go under the name John Sleadd, though?" asked Lucius. "That seems a bit strange."

"Not when you know who it is," said Millicent. "John Sleadd is a teacher, musician, writer, and pastor in the Capitol. A respected figure, and Bartholomew wanted to ruin his good name. Bartholomew is a mystery to us, but he's caused nothing but trouble to us for almost eighty years." Everyone was stunned, but Millicent left it at that and turned toward Rin again. "Lead them to the station, and I'll tell the soldiers to gather at the front gates. Make sure they leave the village alive, okay?"

"You got it, ma'am," Rin replied. She turned towards Garen and co. and gestured for them to follower her away from the crowd. "The station hasn't been used in a long time, but now, our target's in sight."

"What exactly is the station?" asked Lucius.

"It houses unique vehicles unlike anything else you'll find in the Oregon Province," Rin answered as they walked quickly. "We even have war machines we intend on using against Bartholomew. There's one in particular we've been waiting to use for quite some time, and that's the one we'll be using." She went silent, and as they walked, the group awaited in suspense before Peter finally decided to acknowledge it.

"Can you at least tell us what it is?" he asked. Rin chuckled a bit.

"Oh yes! Perhaps I should, shouldn't I?" she led them down a flight of stairs behind a tall, brick building that led into what appeared to be an underground bunker. "We call it the Black Falcon. It's an Airship, finely crafted by our blacksmiths here in the city. Not too large, but sturdy enough to withstand battle. It should get us to the Capitol in nearly no time, and far away from Bartholomew." Rin led them into the bunker and flipped a large switch. Almost immediately, multiple lights on the ceiling came on, revealing multiple machines and pieces of technology Garen and co. had never seen before. As soon as the multiple people in the bunker saw Rin, they stood and saluted her, and Rin saluted them back. "We're deploying the Falcon today," she told them. "It's time. We need to get the Princess back to the Capitol safely, then we have a battle against Bartholomew ahead. Go open the hatch ahead of time—we can leave faster that way."

Garen watched the others hurry further into the bunker and was finally able to process everything. Despite its peaceful appearance, Eugene was a city that had been through this before. They had fought this Bartholomew before and they were clearly prepared to fight him again. Is he this much of a threat? Garen thought to himself. Enough to where an entire city has to prepare for battle?

"Alright, everyone get in," said Rin as she approached the Black Falcon's entrance. It was a large vehicle, but not too large. Garen, Peter, Lucius, and Lenora got in, followed by Rin. The ceiling of the bunker began making metallic creaking noises, and to the surprise of the group, it began to open up, like very large, metallic double doors. As soon as they opened up all the way, Rin began to start the engines of the Black Falcon. It roared loudly until it was finally off the ground. "Alright, we're taking off," said Rin. "I hope none of you are afraid of heights."

Garen and Lenora still held each other's hands as they watched the Black Falcon take liftoff. They exchanged glances and gave each other slight smiles in hopes of instilling courage into one another, but they were both terrified of what was going on. The further up they got into the air, they saw the people below. The crowds that had gathered dispersed, and in their place were soldiers, heavily-armed with weapons unlike any of them had ever seen. That peaceful city was about to become a battlefield. Garen and Lenora quickly went into an embrace. Lenora kept her eyes closed as she tried not to cry. "It'll be okay..." Garen whispered. "I promise. It's going to be okay, Lenora."

"This does not look good," Lucius whispered as they began flying over the northern gates of Eugene. "Oh no, this is not good at all." Garen looked at Lucius and he let go of Lenora, but they still held each other's hands as they walked over to the edge of the Black Falcon along with Peter. Down below, they were absolutely terrified at what they saw. The Bishop, or Bartholomew, stood at the gate with his sword. The blade was no longer silver—it was black with a red serpent-like stripe running down the middle of each side of the blade. Behind Bartholomew was a legion of demons, of all different sizes, shapes, and appearances.

"God save them..." Rin whispered with sense of desperation in her voice as she flew above all of them.