Dragon Falls (Indigo Apocalypse Book III)

Chapter Forty-Four: Warning, You Are About To Swim In An Ocean Of Death, Caution

THIRD PERSON:
Asia ran through the tunnels, following that tug that pulled her along. Troy and Maria called after her, Alex running along side them with Michael. "Where is she going?" Asked Alex in annoyance. "This is so not Asia." Diving ahead of her friends, Asia couldn't explain why she was even doing this. Why she was even flying ahead of her friends, following something she couldn't even explain. Some tug of something bigger, larger than she was. No, there was absolutely no way for her to express that even she had not a clue why she was running in this direction. No idea what so ever. But she couldn't deny it, couldn't turn away from it. She just had to keep going, keep running, keep following the trail. Asia rounded a corner, and saw something glistening and lashing around ahead, something deep blue. Without hesitation, she kept running. When her friends rounded the corner, they shouted in surprise, then fear as she ran, and flew headlong into the portal.
When they exited the portal they slid, skidding across loose shale as they tried to stop, to absorb what they were seeing ahead. Line after line of scorpions, front halves lowered to the ground in in, in, surrender, in, in what? Troy had no idea, but he did know that Asia was staring at them, staring, as if she knew them, or, felt, a, kinship, something to them. "What the fuck?" Asked Alex. "Maybe if we don't pay them attention they'll go away?" No one answered Alex's idiocy. Suddenly, the scorpions separated, and a dark skinned woman stepped forward. Or, she would've been a woman, if it weren't for the red eyes that glowed in the light of a blood red sun, or, what might have been a sun, if a sun roiled and lashed like the thing way up in the sky did. She wore archaic looking clothes, and had three chains dangling from her shoulders, and the middle of her back, three chains with spiked balls on their ends. "Oh God." Murmured Asia. "Oh holy God." The woman, female, thing, smiled down at her. Asia was, kneeling,, was fucking kneeling. Troy couldn't get past that idea. Asia, who was wild and terrifying. Asia, who they joked about was a vampire girl, all cold and vicious, bloodthirsty and reckless. She, was, fucking, kneeling. "Look lady," snapped Alex, stepping forward. "I don't know who you are but—"Ah yes, who, I am. You know, don't you girl?" The woman, creature, thing, completely slid over Alex's words like soft sands. "I, I, a scorpion queen." Troy stared, stared at what he was seeing. Scorpions the size of dogs, horses, cars, trucks, Asia kneeling. This, woman, creature, thing, queen. "I don't know your name, but, it was you, wasn't it, you who called me here?" "Indeed I did. As his goddess called him here. As his god called him here." She gestured to Troy and Alex. "As her god called her here." She gestured to Maria. "Say what now?" Asked Troy as Alex snapped, "I call bullshit." Maria said nothing. "You know it's true girl, don't you?" Said the woman, thing, creature, to Maria. "I, well." She shook her head. "No matter if you believe me or not isn't the case. You know it's true." Maria shook her head. "It—it can't—"Debating this will not solve anything." Said the woman. "At the moment, your kind is fighting to save everything you hold dear. There will be a new dawn breaking, and history will be written anew, and you have a choice. Stay in the human world. Survive as you have been. Stay within the unknown, hidden away, remain in hiding. Or, fight now, fight, and preserve what you love, what you believe is your rights." She stared at one girl, a girl who was silent all throughout the encounter. Pandora looked down, her blonde hair hiding her face. "Her kind will come to light, as many of the other key players will come to light." "What are you talking about?" Asked Maria, wrapping an arm around Troy's baby sister. "The different races of the dragon are coming out of hiding, as are many races who may seem to be superfluous. Many races are coming together to fight the darkness. To fight the demons and monsters they fear. Her race will come for her, as they have for the others. You will not be able to protect her for long boy." Troy bared his teeth, his fangs elongating as his face grew more wolfish. "If you don't start making sense—"You'll do what?" Asked the woman. "Who I am doesn't apply. Know I am a protector of the realms, I want the realms to survive. And as of late, your help is needed, as is the help of others." She turned away, and a path appeared in the lines of scorpions. "My scorpions will escort you there. "I will see you, on the field, of battle."
    She knew battle, of course she knew battle. She knew blood, knew gore, knew pain, knew terror. She'd felt it, felt it all her life as the others had. She'd ended monsters and had almost been ended herself. She'd watched fellow indigo die, and never wanted to be in battle again. Yet here Vera was, side by side with Alexandra, as their armies clashed with the Ragni Di Morte. When Kitana had called the charge, terror had gripped Vera by the throat. As if something was throttling her. Terror had done that, had done that, and she'd almost balked. Almost turned tail and ran deeper in the army, in their army. Or she could've just stood there, stood there and let the army pass around her. Hell she'd wanted to. This was no place for her, none at all. What had she been thinking, agreeing to come here? What had she been thinking, truly joining this? Why didn't she stay home, stay where it was safe, where she could be safe? She'd known this wasn't for her. Vera had known battle and bloodshed wasn't for her. That's she'd get herself killed out here. Yet here she was, racing along side her comrades, running full tilt toward the Ragni Di Morte, ready to face them down. Her friends running along side her. Alexandra keeping pace with her as they ran together, as they'd always been, as they'd always done. Always done everything together, from within school till now. Them, and Wenzi. Now the three of them reached godhood, and now they were in battle. The, battle. The sound the two armies had made, the sound they had made when they'd clashed together, when they had collided. That was a sound she'd never forget. Dragons roaring, dracons screaming, Kitana's war cry, Lucy and Kupoa's call, werewolves howling, indigo screaming, Camille's shrieks, even Jeffry's ridiculous catchphrases.
    No, Vera would never forget the sound the two armies had made as they had collided together. Vera slashed with a sword, defending herself with her indigo shield as she fought, steadily making her way into the Ragni Di Morte force. Carnage lay all around her. She slashed with her sword. It bounced harmlessly off the hide of a spider. It's eyes glittered as it knew it's armor was thicker, as it knew she must feel cornered, feel fear. Behind her mask, her eyes did widen, but she didn't display any fear. Instead, she slashed for it's fangs. The Ragni, consumed by the idea of it's assailant being afraid of it's hide, had no time to defend itself. The pincers came free with one swift slash, and she lifted them as they shifted into long thin daggers. Sheathing her sword, she slashed with her knew daggers, clawing deep gashes in the hide of the new Ragni Di Morte. She turned, ready to shout the oder that the new Ragni were there, but Vera got a look of just how far into the enemy force she was. At her back, lay a path of absolute carnage, of absolute destruction. Deep within the enemy force, Vera could only stare at the death she'd caused with deft efficiency. She turned, and stared ahead, ahead at the seething mass of bulbous abdomens all around. At the werewolves who drooled for a fight, the vampires who took flight and fought against the dracons in the sky. Vera ducked as a leg whipped out of nowhere and nearly took her head off. She retaliated with a slash of a Ragni dagger and took out the spider attacking her by slashing across it's leg, hitting an eye. She stabbed into it's football shaped eye and drove in deep. Screaming like Kitana, like Holly, like Kendra, like all her friends and allies, she dug in until the spider fell to her feet. Taking a breath through her mask, she dove deeper into the enemy force.
    Overhead the sight of the army was a truly detrimental image. As if a painter took memories of war he and or she long since lived and took brush to canvas. As if a veteran spoke of his and or her long since time on the battlefield. As if a dark worshiper took all the dark thoughts in her's and or his head and painted it across canvas. The roiling comet gave the entire scene of battle an even more gruesome sight. As the two armies fought, many dying on both sides, it was nearly impossible to tell who was truly winning, or, if anyone was even winning at all. So early into the fight. When the seething mass of bats and half human bats lifted into the air against the flying dracons, surprising many of them. Wenzi lit herself up like a blazing star, lashing with flames, she lashed a huge burst of flames against the flying vampires. The devils she had never thought in a million years she'd ever actually see. She saw their vivid red eyes as they died. Saw the hatred, the resentment, the fury that would never be abated, even with her slaughtering them. When they rose to fly against the flying dracons, they had nearly faltered, nearly, yet they'd held together at the final moment, held together, and fought back. Under them, still dancing in tandem, Luna and Joy lashed stars into the army before them. Their power blossoming strong in their veins. Their power blazing furiously as they fought side by side, as they were meant to. They sailed ahead, lashing great gaps in the Ragni Di Morte force. They kept fighting, kept lashing those great gaps in the army, causing Ragni to scatter, "REFORM," shouted one werewolf. "REFORM RANKS REFORM—" he screamed as a fireball, lashed down by one of the Molten dracons, sent him ablaze. Screaming, he fell to the shale. Yet another Ragni Di Morte took up the shout. "FORM RANKS." Luna spun, almost delicately, and a city bus sized star lashed from her, slaying a great number of spiders and vampires alike. Yet, more, just, kept, coming. More who were rested, more who were ready to spill indigo blood, and die doing it.
    Kitana lashed out, her blade of death snuffing the lives out of the Ragni Di Morte. Behind her, wolves came in, claiming the fangs as rewards, rewards, and to slay the oncoming hoard of stronger Ragni Di Morte. On either side of her, Amala and Kamala stood as close as they could, their howls and snarls almost muted by the din of war. Kitana breathed, and a great section of Ragni fell, dead. She breathed again, and more spiders fell under death's breath, under the breath of the Uccisore Della Morte. Of the slayer of death. Kitana continued to breathe, continued to slay spiders with her power, to slay vampires, turncoat werewolves, to slay the enemy. To slay them, to buy time, because, she knew, knew this was only to buy more time for Huntor and Sydney to finish the deed. This whole war, the whole bloodshed was to defend their home, defend what they knew, to defend, and holt the Ragni Di Morte army, so Huntor and Sydney could return, and destroy the Dark Queen once and for all. Yet, as Kitana spoke, "Die," she wondered where the other enemy was, wondered just where they were. Would they come up from behind, box them in in this canyon? Did she miscalculate that? Did she miscalculate the other enemy they had to face? The clouds still roiled overhead, lightning lashing within their depths. They closed the world from the great comet, the huge comet that turned the sky all different shades of red and golds, with stars flaking off it of all different colors. "Die," said Kitana. Another hundred of Ragni Di Morte before her fell. Werewolves and vampires alike falling in their wake. Thunder boiled, green lightning lashing about. Yet there was no sight of Leia, of Sarah. For that matter, there was no sight of Reina either. No stomp of the earth, of the ground they battled on. Thunder boiled again, and the scent of salt grew on the air once more, mixing with the acrid scent of blood and gore, of the dying, of the dead. The ground within the Forbidden Kingdom became a field of death, a sea of death, an ocean of death. An ocean of death, an ocean of blood and gore, an ocean of flesh and muscle, of bone and brain matter, of agony and hatred. As more and more of both armies fell, as their bodies lay dead or slowly disintegrating.
Thunder boiled again, green lightning lashed downward, vaporizing five hundred spiders. Five hundred spiders along side the wolves and vampires, blinding several hundred more for a few moments. Joy and Luna took advantage of this, vaporizing more with their stars as Vera lashed through them, slaughtering her way deeper into their force. Arrows still sailed over the armies from both sides, arrows shot from archers that were still on the outskirts of the fight. Diana stood among them, her auburn hair tied back and her mask immured her face. Her voice carried as she called archers, as she called them to draw, as she called them to loose. Arrows of all kinds flew over the heads of the Indigo army, and into the ranks of the Ragni Di Morte army. "KNOCK," shouted Diana. "DRAW," arrows were drawn to cheeks. "LOOSE." Shouted Diana. Arrows sailed overhead, flying up up up up up up into the air, over the Indigo army, underneath the two battling forces in the sky. Black arrows sailed from the other side, by archers hidden away within the Ragni Di Morte force. Archers that couldn't b seen because of the seething mass of black bulbous bodies. Thunder boiled again, and another lash of green lightning came slashing down like a great godly sword. Cleaving spiders apart as it slashed through their forces, vaporizing them as it drew through their ranks like a pen over paper. Like a painter's brush over the canvas. Diana lowered her silver bow for a moment, staring at the ocean of death that was before her. Staring at it, her face immured by her mask, hiding her expression, her expression of human terror, of terror, at the sight of what they were truly doing. Taking a breath, she raised her bow again, reaching for another silver arrow, from the quiver that would never be diminished, from the quiver, gifted to her so long ago, from another time, from another place. She loosed arrow after arrow, watching as her comrades did the same, as arrows of pure indigoism were sent flying, vaporizing Ragni and werewolves, vampires and monsters alike. Thunder boiled, green lightning lashing. Yet there was still no sight of Leia, of Sarah, of Reina. Diana loosed arrow after arrow, arrow after arrow, arrow after arrow, arrow, after, arrow, arrow, after, arrow, arrow, after, arrow. Before her, before the archers, the ocean of death grew and grew, grew as the flesh of comrades was shredded, as blood became a river, as indigo and Ragni were forced to swim through the waist high ocean of death. Were forced to shove their way through desiccated slaughtered corpses. Forced to shove their way through slowly disintegrating corpses of Ragni Di Morte. As the ocean of death filled the Forbidden Kingdom canyons.