Chapter Fifteen: Ensnared
Over two hundred men and women stood surrounded by the ruins of Inchkieth Island, the wind mixed with the salty sea that was carried along with it rubbed into unseen wounds as they stood in silence dressed in traditional Arturion funeral attire. The robes of two hundred or so souls blew with the wind, the flapping sounds they gave away was the only form of noise to be heard from miles around. Up ahead of them a great pyre had been constructed from trees that had been cut down on the far side of the island, it stood ten foot in height and led at the top were what remained of Argus and Yalaria. Taylor was stood wearing the funeral robes that were passed down to him from Arturios, he hadn't forgotten the last time he'd worn them and it seemed fitting as he'd honoured those who died on the very earth beneath his feet.
The room the sleeves gave allowed Taylor to hide his clenched fists, he still felt frustrated by their deaths even though he knew it wasn't his fault. He tore his mind away from his own inner battle instead he focused on the faces of the men and women lined up before him, one caught his eye in particular Braius. He'd been Argus' second in command on Inchkieth and had been away on an assignment at the time of his passing, he was just glad he didn't witness his reaction to the news which had supposedly been troubling to say the least.
Behind Taylor stood Mylar, Ryne, Joseph, Einrove and Urson who despite being a godly man had dressed appropriately for the ceremony. They were all that was left of the Arturion leadership, they were losing more people every day, ten minutes before they departed they received a report that a few Arturion's in hiding had been gunned down by police in Wales. The prime minister had been true to his word, and it was the last thing that they needed on their plates with everything that had happened. Words bubbled in the back of Taylor's throat as he built his courage up brick by brick so he could begin to address the crowd, the weight of his words needed to be felt and he needed his people to believe in him in such a dark time.
"Two days passed, we lost two people. Now I know you have had your reservations about who and what Yalaria was but she went into hiding because she betrayed her own people. They may be our enemies but to betray your own is not something should come easily. So please mourn her as one of our own and do Argus proud" his words struggled to find their way to the back of the crowd over the howling of the wind and the words lacked conviction with many shaking their heads in disapproval.
"Now all of you know where we stand, and who died on this island. Too many have died as a result of this war and I have had enough! I have had enough of spilling blood and charring flesh, now I know this may sound hollow to those who have fought this war for countless years. I honour your courage to be able to do that and not to stay true to what we are doing, unlike myself who abandoned you. All I can do is throw myself to your mercy and hope that you accept my offer of penance; from this day forth I will do everything within my power to end this war and bring Noran, Kirill and Marcelo Cunha the heir to Culhuthe to their knees! I am your king so I ask that all who wish to follow me raise your fist's to the air and pledge your allegence" roared Taylor his voice louder and full of the conviction he previously lacked, tears pricked at his eyes as he raised his fist to the sky.
A united roar erupted from the line of leaders behind Taylor and he looked back to have his heart warmed by the sight of all the generals with their arms raised to the sky, white flames burst forth from their fists sending five jets of fire into the sky. Taylor sent his own flame into the sky, its sky blue far outshining that of the five behind him as it reach to the very heavens. The two hundred Arturion's before him had followed suit and as one they gave Argus and Yalaria a worthy send off, and as an army they were finally united.
The Outskirts Of St Mary's Asylum, Cyturion Base
Jamie, Meinhard, and Darrell who had been drafted in last minute for his unique abilities had spent most the morning nestled amongst a grouping of trees, looking down on the complex known as St Mary's Asylum. Throughout the day they'd seen countless Cyturion's coming and going carrying out various duties, there seemed to be an unreal number of them within the complex from what they had seen but their calculations were limited to their view.
"It's a shame about Argus and Yalaria, and to think Yalaria would have been perfect for this" whispered Darrell who had a small pair of binocular's glued to his face scanning the buildings.
"Why do you say that" asked Meinhard gruffly, he was already becoming irritated with the assignment given to them.
"She had the ability to become invisible. Along with what I can do we could've easily just strolled in there and have the place scoped out in no time" he said stopping his binocular's at a certain place drawing his attention away from the topic.
"Have you seen something?" quizzed Jamie who had been nestled against a tree with his back propped up straight.
"Yeah. It's Noran and Kirill, they're being briefed by a Cyturion scout I think. Looks like they've found out some interesting information by the pure look of glee on Noran's smug face" his voice was laced with poison as he looked at the man in disgust.
"Once their clear I think it would be a prime opportunity to grab that scout and have ourselves a little chat. Any objections lads?" asked Jamie, already knowing what their answers would be.
Both Meinhard and Darrell couldn't find any reason to so they resigned themselves to waiting for the opportune moment. It didn't take very long, after a few minutes the two leaders of the Cyturion's departed from the scout and retreated within the complex. The scout on the other hand went around the right hand side of the complex where there were no patrol's present and there was also a tree perfect for an ambush.
"Wait here" said Darrell followed swiftly by a flash of white flames as he vanished and reappeared in the distance perched perfectly in the tree with ample time for his target to arrive.
They watched with baited breath as the scout strolled directly beneath the tree, and without even knowing what had happened was struck on the head with Darrell's knees as he was descended upon. They watched in horror as they saw a patrol coming up to the corner of a nearby building which concealed Darrell and his captive from sight but they were steadily getting closer as he began to haul the unconscious man over his shoulder with great effort on his part. They were about to round the corner when Jamie and Meinhard realized that he was going to be spotted and without a word to each other they went to the aide of their comrade.
Their appearance before the two man patrol caught them off guard which made them easy targets. Jamie lunge forward with a short sword in his left hand and a small circular shield in the other, his sword found flesh in the form of a throat which he tore out with ease. He saw Meinhard dispatch his opponent with a pair of fiery white punching daggers, he drove the blades directly through his eyes which elicited a scream from him before he passed on. Unfortunately for them another patrol was circling around the complex from behind them and they came running at the sound of the scream.
Balls of obsidian flame came crashing down on them, Jamie just barely deflected one with his shield but Meinhard wasn't so lucky and took one directly to the chest knocking him flat to the ground. Jamie ran to him grabbing by the arm as he did so, and looked over to Darrell who was still carrying the scout.
"Let's get out of here now" he roared then vanished behind a vortex of white flame. Jamie did the same using his own flame to transport an unconscious Meinhard with him and back to Peak Cavern.
Peak Cavern, Arturion Base.
When the flames had faded away the three young men and their captive were met by a crowd of people gathered in the main area to the cave, and they all had perplexed looks on their faces. At the front of the crowd stood Taylor with Kimiko by his side, and still dressed in their white funeral attire as they looked at the returning Arturion's.
"You mind telling me who that is?" asked Taylor, walking forward his eyes transfixed on the Cyturion scout.
"Cyturion scout, he's got information that's most likely of interest to us. Get Joseph over here now quick while the bastard is out cold" huffed Jamie then turning his attention to the wounded Meinhard and using the glow of his healing powers to work on mending his burn.
"Kimiko hurry and get Joseph I think he was further back talking with Ryne and Mylar" his request was quick and demanding but Kimiko didn't seem to mind and was swallowed by the throng of the crowd as she hurried away.
"What happened to him?" he nodded his head to Meinhard who was under the caring hands of Jamie and his unique ability.
"During our capture of the scout a Cyturion patrol caught me, and those two swooped in to take them out. But others were alerted during the fighting and he was hit by a ball of fire, we got lucky in all honesty. We didn't get an exact number of troops present but it's a lot Taylor, different people were coming and going constantly that entire complex looks like it's filled to bursting" replied Darrell dread laced in his words.
"I never assumed this was going to be easy. What made you think he knows something so important as to risk getting yourselves killed?" his eyes drifted to the unconscious man sprawled out by Darrell's side.
"I saw him giving a report to Noran and Kirill, and judging by the look of utter delight that took over Noran's face it's not something to be taken lightly" he said, there was a grunt from next to him and the eye lids of the Cyturion began to flutter. They were quickly stopped by a fist smashing in between his from Darrell, knocking him out again.
The scuffle of footsteps and voices echoed throughout the cave as behind them a path was made for Kimiko and Joseph who was also followed by Ryne and Mylar. Not even needing to be told Joseph was knelt next to the unconscious man with his hand wrapped about his forehead, and his eyes were wide open reduced to thin white slits similar to Mylar when he bulked up. A few tense minutes passed as they watched Joseph in awe, his head twitched a few times followed by sharp intakes of breath as he sifted through the layers of the man's mind, until finally his hand jerked away from the man's head and his eyes grew back their original size. His head instantly snapped toward Taylor and his eyes were wide with fear mixed with disbelief.
"They've found Marcelo Cunha" whispered Joseph.
"You're with me Joseph, and Ryne go get Urson he's coming as well" ordered Taylor pulling off his white robes and handing them to Kimiko who had been stood by his side.
"You aren't in any condition to be going after him, you're still recovering from your fight at the church" Mylar protested profusely.
"This is our best chance of getting to him before the Cyturion's do and we can't let them get him on side, it's bad enough that he's out for my blood let alone allowing Noran to persuade him into killing for his own gains. This discussion is over" he snapped.
"He's right Mylar, I'll go as well so he won't even know we're coming for him" Darrell spoke up joining by Taylor's side. Taylor looked to his right to see that Kimiko was clearly concerned by the troubling turn of events.
"I'll be careful I promise, but this is just something that has to be done it's now or never" he said placing his hand over the right side of her cheek, the warmth it radiated filled him with the confidence he needed to back his words.
"Just don't take unnecessary risks, after what happened to you the other day I can't bear to see Mylar carrying you back. Next time you might not be so lucky" she said her voice cracking toward the end of her last sentence. He leaned in close and locked his lips with hers, holding them captive for the longest time before releasing them.
"It won't come to that, nobody is going to be carrying me anywhere" he said.
Urson arrived from amongst the crowd with a look of disaproval evident upon his face, but Taylor didn't care and merely ordered his men to retrieve the location they needed from Joseph. One by one he placed a hand on all of their heads, until he finally came to Taylor as the warmth of his palm rested on his forehead a flurry of images rushed into his mind all of them a blur but one. It was as if he were seeing through the eyes of another person as he watched with strange eyes as in the distance he watched Marcelo walking into a derelict office block, but as for where it was he didn't know but as long as they could see where they were going it didn't matter.
"Okay let's get moving" he said and not even bothering to wait for any kind of response from the others he was gone behind a curtain of dazzling blue flame.
Swindon, Wiltshire, England.
Flames fell which was swiftly followed by the flood of sunlight through the windows of the office buildings, the bustling streets outside and their noise came crashing to their ears as they materialized into existence. Taylor actually recognized the street the moment he looked onto it, and felt stupid for not remembering what the building looked like. He'd been on the street before a year or so ago when he was dating a girl, and it seemed as though the little street in Swindon hadn't changed much. None of the others seemed to have much of a clue as to where they were except Joseph who knew the place from his mind diving but could only share images it seemed.
"The last place I expected to find him was in Swindon. Darrell I hope you've got us covered" said Taylor from over his shoulder to him on his right.
"Yeah I did it right before we left" he responded.
"Well he's definitely here, damn his power is unbelievable" uttered Ryne as he shifted his feet awkwardly.
"Find exactly where he is and let's end this now. We need to kill him quickly, it's risky enough fighting him so close to civilians" urged Taylor.
"He's on the roof" said Urson who was looking directly upward.
"Good. Remember don't take risks, he's incredibly strong and skilled he even beat Mylar in strength so don't be the hero" said Taylor and vanished along with a whirlwind of blue flames.
Marcelo stood on the roof awaiting the arrival of his prey and much to his delight he heard the whoosh of flames roaring up from all around him. They stood at five in total and all of them men, he couldn't detect their powers for some strange reason, but it didn't appear to concern him much. He was met with cold glares as he looked over them; there was one in particular that caught his eye, Taylor Roth.
Taylor analzyed him for a moment, his hair had been cut short from the unruly black mess it had been the last time they'd seen each but he had gone unshaven with stubble spread across his face. His eyes were a flame with rage as they burned into Marcelo's, no words exchange between them and before anyone knew what was happening two terrifyingly quick flashes of blue lit up the roof despite it being the middle of the day.
Marcelo looked up to see his opponent descended from the heavens with a pair of short-swords forged from the same blue flames that coated his arms. He only smiled, it was a smile that frightened all those around him it was the reason behind the smile that scared them and they soon found out why. A great explosion of black vortex's appeared upon the roof, and out of them stepped Noran, Kirill and a group of at least fifteen Cyturion's one of them being Frederick. Noran had materialized in front of Marcelo; his eyes met Taylor's for the briefest moment before his whips flew out and latched onto his wrists pulling him down to the ground smashing his body into the concrete.
Taylor had managed to twist his body so his right side took the brunt of the fall instead of his head, it still hurt like hell as the ground scraped away at the flesh beneath his clothes despite his valiant effort. Pushing the pain to the shadows of his mind he focused on breaking contact with the blackened whips laced about his wrists, he let more power surge through his veins doubling the thickness of the flames around his arms until they were powerful enough to disintegrate the obsidian tongues from his flesh. They'd left burns covering the circumference of the skin running around his wrists allowing the pain to momentarily came cascading back only for Taylor to put it away from his thoughts yet again.
He surveyed the scene around him, what he saw wasn't the most comforting. All of his men were outnumbered but they seemed to be holding their own well enough and none of them had been hurt yet, which could be taken as a good sign.
"I would focus on your own fight, little king" Marcelo purred his accent if it wasn't coming from a mass murderer would have been considered as charming. Taylor rotated his head back to Noran and Marcelo shocked that they hadn't attacked him with his attention elsewhere.
"Get out of the way Noran, I'll handle you later. There's no need for you to be so eager to die" sneered Taylor and in a flash of blue he was upon them.
He slammed a flamed fist to the concrete creating a wall of devastating fiery fury that rolled directly toward Noran in hopes of occupying the man for a few seconds so he could attack Marcelo. He dove forward with both of his blades leading only to have them parried by a pair of curved blood red daggers, they both felt the shockwave of power that bounce back from the attack as their flames connected which momentarily staggered all of the other fighters around them. His next attack came quicker than the last; he materialized to his right swinging his right Gladius in a horizontal slash for his throat to have it blocked. He continued his onslaught by appearing each time going faster with every strike and with every slash and stab it was becoming harder for his opponent to defend himself against his attacker.
Taylor finally got lucky and was able to score a hit, he came in for a lunge with both of his Gladius' ,Marcelo was only able to block one before Taylor shifted his footing so he was in a position to plunge his left blade into his opponents left flank. He quickly dashed away in anticipation of his counterattack which came in the form of both daggers being stabbed together like pincers where Taylor's neck had been. Out of the corner of his vision he saw that Urson had engaged Noran, he'd wondered what had happened to him after he'd knocked him away with his wall, it was a shame that he hadn't been seriously wounded.
"Say goodbye to this city, little king" spat Marcelo. Taylor caught off guard by the comment turned to where his enemies gaze was drawn to. That was when he felt and heard the boom, off in the distance only a mile or so away a gigantic ball of obsidian black flame had risen up then expanded consuming everything in its path. That was when it dawned on Taylor that they had been lured into a trap and they had been foolish enough to fall for it.
An urge filled him that he had no problem in reacting upon instantly, which was to run but instead he knew that he had to stop the destruction before it spread any further and it would likely result in his death. Sky blue flames shot up around him, and within moments they'd fallen to show a tidal wave at least thirty feet high made up purely of deathly black flames. Just before it crashed down on Taylor he built up all of the power he had within him into his fist, then with a deep breath he drove them into the road beneath his feet. From them exploded a wave of blue flames that twinned in size with the black of the one bearing down on him and his surroundings.
The contact of the two titan like forces sent a shockwave for miles around shattering windows and triggering car alarms, however he couldn't hear any of it all he could hear was the roar of the flames in his ears as he gave everything he had into holding the explosion back from the rest of the town. He could feel his knees shaking from the strain and knew deep down that they were going to give way at any moment; a thought struck him immediately afterward. There was a chance it wouldn't work but not trying would have a result that would be far worse than the one he feared. Concentrating he thought back to his fight with Caius and how he'd been able to absorb his flames into his own and bit by bit that's what he did.
Through squinted eyelids he watched as small portions of black merged with the blue of his own, it felt as though it took a lifetime but after a few minutes the fire gradually began to shrink revealing the carnage that it created in its wake. Buildings had been levelled over a mile radius at least, cars had been charred and melted into nothing, and as for the fates of the people on the other side he didn't want to even think about it but hope they died quickly.
The last of the wave had been contained within his own and with that much power it just wasn't possible for him to contain it, and he reshaped his wave which was a strange mix of blue and black into a large ball of fire. His muscle's and his mind screamed at him not to do what he was about to do but he had to, with all he had he launched the sphere into the sky propelling it over a hundred foot into the sky where it was safe to detonate it.
One last shockwave rocked the town of Swindon, and Taylor felt consciousness slip from the grasp of his mind as he fell into a well-deserved slumber.
AN: Well I genuinely didn't plan on having a chapter ready so soon after the last one, but I had such an urge to crack on with writing the last few days. I have to say in terms of action I absolutely loved writing this story as I really wanted an event that was going to make serious waves in the war and with any luck you guys enjoyed this one :).
As always please vote/comment, it all helps me keep my current ranking!
All The Best FN.