Black Dawn Page 26

  Mr Black, his flunkies and the Arcadians were sitting ducks, all they would have to do would be to launch a missile and blow it up the moment it launched, boom, dead Arcadians everywhere.

  But Yasmin had insisted that they wait and watch, leaving Angel here before Yasmin disappeared somewhere for a better view. She wasn’t sure where Yasmin was right now, but given her interest in this affair, she doubted she’d be far.

  The fight had been good, she’d enjoyed that, and turning the tables on Mr Black had been a moment of great satisfaction for her. She’d grown bored of her mission with the Syndicate anyway and wanted to return to her own businesses. She didn’t feel totally comfortable siding with the Arcadians, but Mr Black's plan did have some merit, and there had always been at least the tiniest possibility that it might have succeeded. She had no desire to have any of the Archons destroyed by a Mortal, so needs must she supposed. But now that the threat had been averted, surely the time had come for them to deal with these Arcadians.

  What was it about this Amanda that had Yasmin acting so strangely? What kind of hold did that red-head have over her? She wished she knew. She hated Yasmin. She had tortured her and forced her to give her allegiance to Yasmin’s banner after all, that wasn’t an easy pill to swallow. So she followed orders, outwardly at least, but deep down, she nursed her hatred of Yasmin and hoped to express it one day in a glorious act of revenge.

  Angel stood there and pursed her lips. She chafed under Yasmin’s orders and hated having to do her bidding the whole time, especially when those orders made no sense or were contradictory to what Angel thought they should be doing as Nomads. Sure, Yasmin probably had her reasons, but it just didn’t sit well with her, and this was one of those moments.

  She looked round the side of the Conning Tower at the beach and saw the Arcadians going about their cleaning up and dealing with Mr Black’s forces. She looked to her left at the open missile tubes, and then at the closed ones with their nuclear payload still sitting there, waiting to be deployed by someone with the balls to do so.

  ‘Fuck it,’ she said to herself. She’d had enough of Yasmin’s shit, she had a chance here to strike a huge blow for the Archons, and watching it slip through her fingers was something she could simply not do.

  She climbed back inside the Sub, sliding down the railings of the ladder into the belly of the beast. She thought better than to Port inside. She believed she could be just as discrete about using Magic as Yasmin could, and doubted she would be noticed, but she thought it would be better to be safe than sorry. Before all this had kicked off on the Island with the Arcadians showing up, Angel had found time to locate the Missile operators, pull all the information she needed from their heads and procure the keys she would need to launch the Nukes.

  Once in the Missile control room, she went to work preparing one of the Missiles for launch and setting its target so that it would detonate seconds after its launch. Moments later, with everything set and her Aegises up to full strength, she placed first one key, then the other in the control panels, and with a bit of Magic, turned both at the same time.

  ‘Fuck Yasmin’s rules,’ she said to herself.

  Amanda wandered over the beach, turning the strange looking silver key over in her hand as she approached her friends gathered nearby.

  ‘How did it go?’ Maria asked as Amanda reached them.

  ‘As well as could be expected, he ended up being quite forthcoming in the end, and I believe he was being truthful to me, even though his story turned out to be a little crazy.’

  ‘We’re stood on a deserted atoll with Magical Nukes, we’ve fought sea monsters and Werewolves, and I think that’s a time machine over in that rock, I think I’d be surprised if his story wasn’t a little crazy.’

  Amanda smiled at Maria, her comments putting into perspective what had been a messed up morning. ‘You’re right,’ she said.

  ‘What’s that you have there?’ Liz asked.

  ‘It’s the key to that device,’ she said, indicating to the doorway in the nearby rock. ‘I thought it best if he didn’t have it anymore,’ she said.

  ‘Good idea,’ Liz answered.

  The explosion of sound from the ignition of the Nuclear Missiles boosters took Amanda by complete surprise, she flinched, ducking as if something had been thrown at her before she turned to the atoll’s lagoon and saw the explosion of smoke from the top of the submarine. For a second or two, all she could do was stare at the huge plume of smoke that rose from the boat, when suddenly the missile rose up from its tube, it’s boosters shooting flame and smoke from its rear end as it took flight, slowly at first. The shock passed and Amanda became intensely aware of the danger they were all in should that thing explode here and now. Within a fraction of a second, she weighed up the options and thought better of fumbling about trying to disarm or get rid of the missile when it could explode at any moment.

  ‘SHIELD!’ Amanda shouted, and concentrated on her Magic. An Aegis, maybe thirty meters across sprang up around them that covered her friends and the members of Mr Blacks party. She pulled on as much Essentia as she could and forced it into the shield, her friends helping her and strengthening their protection as much as they could.

  A couple of seconds later as the Tactical Nuclear Missile streaked upwards, it exploded with a blinding flash of light. Amanda had already crouched down and covered her head and face with her arms, but the light seemed to pass right through her, lighting her up. The noise from the blast blew out her eardrums, sending her deaf as blood leaked from her ears while the world around her shook as if from an earthquake.

  Her Aegis strained from the force and power of the nuclear reaction, and it seemed like there was some kind of Essentia element to the blast as she realised her shield seemed to be suffering as well. But she continued to force more energy into the shield, and she could sense her friends doing the same, keeping the Aegis from failing altogether.

  The chaos seemed to last forever, as if the most powerful and destructive storm the world had ever seen had been centred on the island, ruining the landscape around them.

  Amanda stayed crouched on the sand, having no idea about how much time had passed, but slowly, as she healed her ears and the sound of the thunderous explosion faded, she sat up and brushed the sand off her that had been thrown around inside the protective shield.

  The scene that greeted them looked deceptively calm at first, with a circle of almost untouched beach, maybe thirty meters across, all about them that included the forces of Mr Black, the Tine device and most of the Warheads. She realised that one had been caught outside, and Amanda understood now why her Aegis had almost failed during the blast. Had it not been for her friends, things might have been much worse.

  Beyond the few included palm trees and beach, the world outside of the shield appeared to be obscured by a misty grey and tan haze, like a sandstorm had been kicked up all around them. As they watched, the cloud of debris, dust and dirt started the fade and settle, revealing the decimated landscape.

  Their shielded circle of calm sat in the center of a huge crater formed by the nuke that for the moment appeared to be nearly devoid of water. But as they watched, the sea started to pour back in over the sides of the crater wall and fill this new lagoon. Looking around, Amanda noticed that one of her quick thinking friends had somehow managed to Teleport the unconscious crew of the sub, which had apparently disappeared or been destroyed, onto the beach inside of their shield.

  Amanda started to stand, and looked over to Mr Black, and suddenly realised that he wasn’t there. She looked about her, but it seemed like he had disappeared. All around, her friends started to pick themselves up, with expressions of shock and almost hysterical sounds of laughter from Liz as she realised they had just survived a Nuclear Bomb.

  Feeling confused and unsure as to what to do next, Amanda only just registered the sound of another explosion, like a sonic boom that came from above. Amanda looked up in time to see a bright and powerful golden light,
like a lightning strike that seemed to be growing in size and noise, when suddenly it passed through the Aegis, apparently unhindered by it, and struck Amanda on the top of her back with a strength that threw her to the floor. The pain felt intense, beyond anything she had ever felt before as this energy bolt arced from the heavens and seared her back in a torrent of light and energy and fire that had her screaming in agony.

  Liz fell on her rear as the golden lightning blast threw Amanda to the floor and continued to surge down onto her mentor from the heavens above. The sustained stream of energy seemed to be burning Amanda’s back and caused Liz to hold her hands up to her face to keep the intense light from her eyes as her friend screamed.

  ‘Amanda!’ Liz shouted in vain.

  Liz felt helpless, she could only watch as this powerful force pummelled Amanda to the ground as if it was trying to kill her.

  She could see some of her friends had a similar reaction, looking on in both horror and fascination at what was happening. She saw and felt Maria try to work some Magic, but the winds that flew out from this energy just blew the Magic away, like a strong wind would do to smoke.

  Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, the last of the energy bolt flowing into Amanda’s body and everything falling into relative silence again.

  All around them, the new lagoon continued to fill up with sea water while the winds made the palms trees sway lazily.

  Liz looked around her at her friends and back at her mentor, wondering what she should do. Steam rose from Amanda’s back, obscuring Liz’s view, but she could see with her Magical sight that Amanda had survived, that her heartbeat remained strong and vital.

  Liz gave a sigh of relief. She didn’t fancy losing more friends.

  ‘Amanda,’ she called, but her mentor didn’t move. Liz looked about her again and slowly came to her feet, brushing the sand off her. Gentle Water and Maria were fairly close by and they also stood up, looking at Amanda and at each other in fear and wonder.

  ‘Do you think it’s… safe?’ Liz asked.

  ‘I think so,’ said Maria. ‘But I’ve never seen anything like that before.’

  ‘Any ideas what it could have been?’

  ‘Your guess is a good as mine I think,’ Maria said.

  Liz nodded and started to walk over the sand and approach her mentor where she lay. As she neared her, the steadily rising steam had started to fade, and what Liz saw made her catch her breath as she noticed Amanda start to stir.

  I must have passed out briefly, thought Amanda as she woke up with her face in the sand, it’s gritty salty taste in her mouth. She could make out voices, someone called her name, might that be Liz? She coughed and tried to move. She felt stiff and ached all over as if she had just spent an entire day in the gym working on every part of her body.

  Then she felt the burning pain, her mind suddenly registering the sensation that her brain seemed to have been hiding from her. She pulled herself up to her knees, pushing up with her hands and grunted from the feeling of fire that covered her back. The skin on her entire back and upper arms felt taught and tender like she’d been badly sunburnt. She remembered the bolt of energy that had hit her and while that explained the pain, she wondered what on earth it had been and why it had hit her.

  She sat back on her feet, kneeling on the sand as Liz and Maria appeared in her field of view, followed by Gentle Water just behind them. She had to blink a few times to bring her vision back into focus so she could see them properly.

  ‘Amanda, Amanda, are you alright?’ Liz asked.

  ‘I’m, grand. A little groggy and I feel like I’ve been burnt to shite, but I’m good. Is everything okay? What happened?’

  ‘We’re fine Mandy,’ Maria said. ‘But take it easy, we have no idea what just happened to you.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Amanda answered.

  ‘Um, best you look for yourself,’ Liz answered and pointed to Amanda’s upper arm.

  Amanda looked down and had two surprises as she did so. Firstly, she realised she was topless, her vest top had been burnt off her and she sat there with her chest exposed to the world. She quickly put her arms across her bosom, and immediately noticed the strange flowing black tattoo-like markings on both of her upper arms.

  They wrapped around her arm, about halfway between her shoulder and her elbow on both sides and flowed up and over her shoulder onto her back. She couldn’t see much more but it looked like it grew into a huge design all over her back. She could see parts of it spilling around her ribs to the sides of her breasts and over her hips as well.

  ‘What in the bleeding hell?’ she said as she pulled on her Magic and created another set of senses that he used like a camera hooked up to her brain to look at her own back more clearly. The tattoo covered her whole back, from shoulder to shoulder, up to her hairline on the back of her neck and down to her hips and the top of her bum. It looked to be made mainly in a flowing tribal design of black lines that circled about each other creating spirals and graceful points. In the center of it, though, surrounded by the tribal pattern and covering about half her back, were several circles that interlocked and looked like some kind of Magical summoning circles, these circles were filled with curious looking runes, like writing, but in a language she had never seen before.

  She cancelled the Magical effect, and paused suddenly, concentrating. She felt different. Somehow, more connected to the ebb and flow of Essentia and as she pulled at the threads of the Magical energy again, she found she could direct it more easily. It responded to her and did her bidding like it had never done before. She thought about some Magic and knew that she had suddenly jumped in her skill rank as well.

  She looked at her hands, forgetting her nudity for a moment, fascinated with the ease at which Essentia would flow about them with hardly a thought at all. ‘What’s happened to me?’ she said.

  ‘What is it?’ Gentle Water asked.

  ‘I’ve…I mean, I think I’m more powerful, I can pull this Essentia about like it’s nothing… and, I think I’ve gone up a rank in skill as well.’

  ‘From Knight to Sage,’ Gentle Water said.

  Amanda looked up. ‘Yes, I think so,’ she said in a whisper, seeing Maya, Yoh, Orion and Xain gingerly approaching her.

  She sensed the quick Magical effect that Gentle Water used, knowing he’d just changed his perception.

  ‘Your Aura’s changed too,’ he said.

  ‘How?’ Amanda asked as she watched Liz and Maria look at her with the same effect Gentle Water had just used, and saw their expressions change, looking surprised and confused in equal measure.

  ‘Your Aura has a mottled effect of both a golden and a deep violet colour, the colours of a New Born and of someone on the edge of death. The colours of life and death.’

  She saw realisation pass over the face of Maria, but Amanda still felt confused, as did Liz from the looks of things.

  ‘Meaning?’ Amanda said.

  ‘It’s the Prophecy, the Prophecy of Helene. It’s you,’ said Maria.

  Amanda covered her nakedness again, feeling suddenly exposed. She didn’t like this talk of Prophecy, it put her on edge, made her the center of attention, made her feel like people expected something from her. She stood up and with a quick working of Magic made a brand new fitted crop top appear on her body.

  ‘We’ll talk about this later,’ she said, wanting to change the subject. She looked about her, ignoring the looks of concern on her friends faces, and realised she still couldn’t see Mr Black, or Roxanne or Echo. ‘Has anyone seen Mr Black?’ she asked.

  Angel stood on a rock as the sea surged past her, into the new lagoon with the small island in the middle where the Time Device and the Arcadians were. A new atoll had been created by the nuclear blast, the circle of islands formed by the raised ridge of the crater. In the center of the new lagoon on the small island there, the Magi Angel had wanted to kill had managed to survive the Nuclear blast.

  Angel felt a little cheated, but hav
ing just watched the strange energy that had flowed into Amanda and marked her, Angel didn’t feel too bad. At least some interesting information had come out of this that she could use. She could hear the voices of the Arcadians as they talked to Amanda, and could hear their discussion of Prophecy. There would be plenty of people who would be interested to hear of this, and she would be sure to let them know.

  With a smile, she worked her Magic and Ported from the island.

  - Nowhere

  Alicia laughed hysterically as she swung the dagger again and again. Blood from the corpse flew with every strike, and as she calmed down and looked down at the remains, she noted with fascination that you really couldn’t tell who this had been just an hour earlier.

  These past few days Yasmin had given her a couple of new playthings every day, asking only that she amuse Yasmin. Alicia knew what that meant, and she had come to enjoy what she did. As long as her mistress was happy, she was happy.

  Today's had been a beautiful teenage boy, innocent and scared, and Alicia had made sure to string this out to give her mistress as much amusement as she could. These shows of loyalty always had to come to an end eventually, and Alicia wanted to end it on a high note, so she really went for it, going a little crazy as she hacked this boy into tiny pieces.

  She turned her naked body, covered in blood that dripped to the floor and tasted salty in her mouth, towards her mistress, who sat nearby with a huge grin on her face.

  ‘You’ve done well Alicia, I’m proud of you,’ Yasmin said.

  Epilogue 1

  Reawakening

  The Atoll, Pacific Ocean

  Dec 4th