CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The Second Battle of Red Leaf

The video quality they could see was poor, some sort of interference kept the screen from being crystal clear, but there was enough that Taryn could see the dozens of winged creatures flapping about the warehouse; or rather, where she assumed the warehouse should be.

“What is that?” she asked.

“I’m not sure.” Bengal grimaced, staring at the screen. Sweat beaded his brow as he tried to make sense of what was in front of him. “It seems like a black hole has swallowed the warehouse and put…that in its place.”

That was a shimmering, crystal palace of sorts. Made, seemingly, of some black obsidian material. Jagged towers surrounded a central pinnacle upon which a black form, dimly seen, stood on a red platform like a king directing his monstrous, evil troops.

“Well, it looks like they’ve managed to upgrade the slums.” She joked nervously. “I expect the rent is going to increase.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll move into that place.” Ben said dryly. “The neighbors aren’t much to talk about.”

Taryn laughed, feeling some of the nervousness vanish. They all looked at the image on Bengal’s laptop again, then over the truck hood.

They’d set up their position not too far from the hospital, overlooking the main artery out of town. The road was jam-packed with cars, trucks, vans and RV’s snaking their way as far as possible from the upcoming battle. The news had spread very rapidly over the Emergency Broadcasting System, on every radio, CB, and Television channel. In less than an hour, people had started to leave however they could, and Ben had coordinated with several of the local prisons to use their busses to ferry those who didn’t have vehicles or were caught in accidents out of the expected combat zones.

In two hours, helicopters had started appearing in the skies overhead; troop transports disgorged National Guard units while attack choppers circled overhead.

Taryn eyed them, frowning.

“Why aren’t we using the attack helicopters now?” she asked.

Bengal replied. “Because we aren’t sure about the abilities of the griffins and those flying…monsters, just yet.” He explained. “If they don’t have magic, then they should be easy to take out, but if they don’t, then there is too much of a risk of them flying the coop. As long as they stay where they are, then we won’t bother them until we are ready to attack. The attack choppers will keep them confined, and then when we’re ready, the Air Force will tear them a new…one…and the attack helicopters and the ground units will sweep in and mop up.”

Taryn thought it a good plan, as far as it went, but she wondered at the stuff they couldn’t predict; and what of Jacob? Would he be affected by bombs and bullets, or would his very formlessness give him an unparalleled advantage over his enemies?

“What of Jacob?” she asked.

Ben shrugged. “He’ll likely be incinerated by the blast, or destroyed by the implosion of air that accompanies bomb blasts.” He suggested. “Or, he’ll likely be so scattered in such tiny molecules, that he’ll never be able to get his act together again.”

Taryn glanced at him sharply; for a moment she’d thought he’d been making a joke, but he’d already turned away from her, working on a map marked with pins and sharpie lines, talking in his radio as he worked to coordinate the evacuation.

Realizing that she wasn’t being much help there, Taryn tried to figure out what she was supposed to do; that she was meant to do something, she didn’t question. She knew it deep in her bones that she had a role to play in the upcoming fight. Hopefully, one where Sylvie’s vision of her dying wasn’t true.

The only way that I can keep from dying, though, is simply to run away, she thought with a grimace, But that would only delay the inevitable. I will not die like some hunted beast, cowering in a hole waiting for death. Let me run out and meet it head on, with my spear in my hand and my magic…magic!

She could have kicked herself; she should be preparing to engage the creature with magic. Quickly she walked away from Bengal and Ben, towards the end of the roof. Their command post had been placed on the top of, of all places, the jewelry store. It wasn’t the tallest building in town, but it was tall enough that they could look over most of the city, and featured high walls surrounding them so they would be shielded from blasts and debris.

From where she stood, she saw the forest in the distance, and a high, lonely pinnacle of rock jutting high above. At its base, she knew, sprang a strong stream that flowed into Luna Lake, and from the Lake came the river that flowed past the town and out towards the sea; a natural wonder of constant renewal and beauty.

Taryn cast her arms wide, tilting her head up so her face bathed in the light of the sun; feeling the warm rays caress her eyelids. A warm breeze sprang up, tugging at her hair and tail, bringing the smell of springtime to her nose, though it neared the end of summer. It was the promise of a new beginning, but of what she could not yet say.

Taryn began to chant, the words and teachings of Running Water coming clear and strong to her mind; how Earth and Sky worked together in harmony, and the unique power they shared with their sister Water, and their Brother, Fire, creating the world for their children and their children’s children to live in. She spoke of them, about them, and to them, the words flowing clear and strong to her. Unnoticed, her necklace blazed, shining like a star that has fallen to earth and been bound in imperishable crystal and set on her neck.

Ben and Bengal stopped talking, their eyes blinded by the light of the centaur standing just a few feet from them. The light shone off her speartips, like flames of white fire, and her voice carried a strange weight and power to it that they’d never heard before. Like a lighthouse, she shone, and the people on the streets looked up and thought an angel had come to earth.

Her voice carried on the breeze, and those that came from the far side of town later said that they heard it, chanting a strange language they’d never heard of, but they felt at once its gentle power. To the town and beyond, perhaps, the wind carried her words, but Taryn couldn’t say, for she saw none of it and heard nothing but her own voice in her ears, and in her mind the picture of the young woman from the hospital, smiling at her.

A mother’s duty is to care for her children, Taryn thought to herself. I have none yet, though if I did I would want them to grow up in a world free of danger, to care for them and love them. If I cannot, then let me protect those who can, no matter the price.

A feeling stole over her, of gentle courage and pride. A soft touch took her hand, and she knew without looking that her mother had come from the hospital and stood beside her there, on the roof.

A second voice joined hers, though it spoke not to the Native Great Spirit, but to Mother Mary and the Saints, asking them for help and aid.

Somewhere in the distance, a church bell tolled, its note different then the sound of alarm it had spread earlier.

As if in answer to the light, a black cloud issued from the castle, its creeping mass stretching long tendrils towards the sun, blocking its light and dimming the land below, but the star shining from the building top kept the darkness at bay.

The shriek of a jet ripped the silence apart. All eyes broke away from this strange marshaling of power in time to see fully two dozen jets race through the clouds and charge towards the warehouse.

“What are they doing?!” Ben cried in alarm. “The civilians aren’t evacuated yet!”

Bengal snatched up his radio.

“Flight Leader, Flight Leader, this is Ground Control, abort, abort, I say again Abort! The civilians haven’t finished evacuating yet! Abort! Abort!”

“Negative copy on that. Did you say abort?” came the rough reply.

“That’s affirmative.”

“Negative.” Came a new voice over the radio. “Our sensors just spiked with massive radiation, and its spreading. Destroy the target, I repeat, destroy the target immediately. You are weapons free to engage.”

“Who is that?” Bengal muttered distractedly. “It’s not the Director, or General Solcom.”

The pilot came back over the radio; “Sir, there are still people evacuating the area. Request permission to wait until zone is cleared before engaging.”

“Negative.” The voice came back, harder than before. “Ranger One, do your duty! Take out that radiation source now!”

“Affirmative.” The voice said heavily.

The radio crackled with a new voice, (Taryn thought it might be one of the other pilots) “God forgive us.”

The jets, which had turned and circled the city once while they spoke, abruptly wheeled in and streaked towards the warehouse once more.

Taryn felt a thrill of danger; something was terribly wrong, and she knew it. Abruptly the sound of the voice came to her, and she realized.

“That was Jacob!” she shouted, running towards the surprised men. “He wants the Air Force to fire on him!”

“What! That’s crazy!” Ben gaped at her. “Why would he want someone to shoot at him?”

Above she could see the jets pull upwards, releasing large bombs that fell a thousand feet towards their target.

“They aren’t going to hurt him!” she said urgently. “They…”

She didn’t get a chance to finish. Two dozen thunderclaps could be heard, and the city shook underneath the blow. Fire spalled across the surface of the crystal tower, but did no damage to its surface. Foiled, the blast wave spread outward in a great ring, shattering windows and brick, bending steel and setting ablaze anything it touched. People fell to their knees, their voices temporarily lost in the roar.

Taryn reacted without thinking.

“Air!” she commanded in the Cherokee tongue the moment the bombs had been about to strike.

The blast waves struck an invisible shield and bounced back, towards the crystal palace that absorbed it. People got to their feet shakily and stared at the line of destruction that stopped, abruptly, at the place where a girl, small and young, about kindergarten age, dressed in a blue skirt to match her red hair and blue bow, had lain. Her mother yanked her to her breast, running down the street as fast as she could in her work shoes, her black skirt and white blouse billowing with the speed of her passing.

Taryn felt the spell leave her momentarily weak, her strength draining with the effort of throwing a shield out that far from the building.

“Are you all right?” her mother asked in alarm, coming to her side and bracing her. It was then that Taryn noticed that she was trembling.

“I’m fine, mom.” Taryn assured her. Indeed, she could feel the power of the gem around her throat thrumming in her veins. “But you need to go with the others, help Missus Mathison with her husband and Sylvie. We will need her before this is over.” She finished quietly.

Overhead the jets were coming back, likely to make another strike, but this time black lighting smote them and sent them ablaze, the canopies flying off as one by one the pilots ejected. The source appeared to be the platform of the black tower, and Taryn stared at it angrily.

“This is only just beginning.” She growled.

Taryn raced along the avenue, her spear in hand as she cut down a Manticore that was about to tear apart a prostrate soldier. The man was unconscious and bloody, with great talon marks along his face. The rest of his squad had been nearly destroyed by the beast, and only one stumbled from the wreckage of their Humvee, a soaked bandage around his head and his helmet missing. He bent to help his comrade off the street as Taryn and Josh set off.

Ahead they could see a monumental fight on a street corner between three dozen or more soldiers and five chimeras. The great lion heads held razor-sharp teeth more like a rodent, and from them dripped drops of a foul poison that choked those nearest to it with toxic fumes, and paralyzed completely any who got so much as a drop upon their skin; the other heads were much worse. A great snake head on the right that could lunge further then it’s counterparts upon its scaly neck, quicker than thought and crush any unwitting victim in its jaws, or swallow them whole, though that would take a few moments of its time in which it was out of action. On the left was a goat’s head, but with green eyes and great curled horns upon which sprang, like a strange rose stem, great thorns that could pierce even mild steel armor of whatever it bumped into, and from its mouth green flames issued like volcanic vents on the sea floor.

Fortunately, all three were facing away from the charging centaurs, confident that their Manticore companion would be more than enough to defend their rear.

Taryn took full advantage of their distraction; hurling one spear as hard as she could, she struck the lion head of one where the head met the neck and it collapsed like a marionette that had its strings cut. The other two heads writhed and screamed in agony, trying to work the main body, but it was hopeless, and they were unable to work their magic while the body lay dead.

Wielding her second spear like a lance, she rammed the point deep in the flank of the one trying to turn to meet their charge, the goat head spewing flames in her direction. They came close, but its aim was off and the street popped and fizzed when the flame passed over the surface like soda pop just poured. Such was her strength and speed the entire creature came off the ground with a loud cry like the death scream of lion and snake and goat, and slammed bodily to the earth, pinned by the spear.

Josh rolled into the other with his heavy iron bar, swinging it like a mace. The goat head received the first blow. One horn broke right off and fell to the ground, the head lolled, dazed but not dead. The other two tried to turn on his flank, but he danced lightly around its blows, hammering constantly with his weapon until the lion head had become a misshapen, lumpen thing on the end of a neck, and the body fell. But the snake head had seized the bar with a lightning strike of its fanged maw, and Josh set his feet to tug it free. The paw swept out and hooked his front legs, pulling him down with a huff of surprise.

The snake threw the iron bar away, into the stomach of a soldier who bent over and collapsed. It reared its head back to lunge at Josh again when Taryn drew close and thrust her spear into its head. The snake twisted in agony for a moment, then went limp.

“Thanks.” Josh grunted, getting back to his feet. His black hide was scratched and bruised, and he moved now with a limp from his front leg. His clothes were torn and his face was set in a grim mask.

“How are you doing?” Taryn asked, hearing the steel in her own voice, despite the weariness that she felt. Never had she been as weak and tired as she had now, not even when Nightshade had made her do three shows in a single day, plus the training before that! For the first time in her life, she blessed Sandra and her hard training; she didn’t think she would be able to have lasted nearly this long without it.

“I’m fine.” Josh said stubbornly. “Just a couple of scratches is all. It’s you I’m worried about.”

“I’m fine.” Taryn said in a tone that told him that the conversation was at an end.

As they spoke, the soldiers came out of the buildings and behind the ruined vehicles to stare in wonder at them. Taryn was used to it by now, and she nodded at the one that seemed to be in charge, judging by the number of stripes he had on his sleeve.

“Where are you headed?” she asked.

“Up to the financial district,” He told her. “We’ve got orders to reinforce Charlie Company there.”

“Charlie Company fell back twenty minutes ago.” Taryn told him. “There was fierce fighting there, and most of the men were injured or killed. They’re falling back to the law offices. You should try to hook up with them there.”

“All right.” He said, glancing curiously at them. “But where are you going?” he asked.

“We’re heading for Eighth and Main.” Taryn told him. “We’ve received word that a large group of Griffons have appeared there, and we need to take them out before they head for the sky again.”

“Just the two of you?” the sergeant said in astonishment.

“Yep.” Josh nodded. “Got no choice.” He added. “We’ve got no one that can keep up with how fast we’ve got to go and run!”

“I think we might be able to.” The sergeant said defiantly. “And with Charlie Company safe, then we’ve got no orders that say otherwise. You’ll need the help.”

“Probably.” Taryn agreed. “But we’ve got to go fast, and we can’t carry more than two of you.”

“We’ll scrounge a couple of vehicles.” The sergeant turned to shout at one of the men.

“No! No vehicles.” Taryn said urgently. “The noise warns them that we’re coming, and they will likely take to the sky to attack. We need to go on foot, and there I think is the crux of the problem.”

“Not really.” The sergeant said stubbornly. “You’ll need the help, and we’re fresh. We can run for quite a while.” He said, ignoring the sweat and tired faces of his men. They took a better grip of their weapons and nodded firmly.

“Really, you’re offer is good.” Taryn said, “but we will have to move swiftly. If you think you can keep up, then run! Run as fast as you might, and stick to the cover as much as possible. When you caught up then you’ll have to attack as best you see fit, but until then, good luck!”

And before he could say anything, they took off, running hard and fast. In moments they’d left the soldiers far behind them.

They reached the corner of Eighth and Main in fifteen minutes, seeing no other units or fighting along the way. They slowed to a stop and peeked cautiously around the corner.

Twenty or more griffons strode along the street, smashing into store windows and pulling whatever goods they could get their claws on out into the street and rummaging through the piles already there.

Taryn had always assumed Griffons to be noble beasts, probably from the fanciful tales she’d read as a kid, but these were nothing like what she’d expected. Their heads weren’t eagles, but huge dirty crows, though they had sharp and terrible beaks and fiery red eyes. Their feathers were black, changing to a dark brown, darker than tawny for their lion hides. Around their necks was a black mane of hairy feathers, and their front legs were crow’s feet with long, wicked nails. Their back legs were great lion legs, with huge sharp claws on their feet that looked more like talons than claws. All together, they were likely the ugliest, meanest looking creatures she’d yet faced.

“What are we going to do?” Josh asked quietly. “We can’t take all of them on at once, like the Sergeant said. We’ll be torn to bits when we got in it.”

“We’ll do what we can.” Taryn said stubbornly. “We’ll kill some of them, but I’m sure most of them will likely try to escape once they realize they’re under attack. They’re not fighters, look at them! They’re just bully boys looting the stores and places where the fighting has died down. I’ve no doubt they’ve got courage when they outnumber their enemies or when facing the helpless, but we’re a long way from either.”

“I’m not so sure about the numbers thing.” Josh muttered. “But I’m with you, no matter what.”

“Well, I didn’t say we’d go in without an edge.” Taryn said, rubbing her necklace.

“Be careful with that!” Josh said in real alarm. “You keep using that thing and it keeps wearing you further and further down. You can’t take them all out with magic and expect to stand on your legs!”

“No, but I can provide ample distraction.” Taryn said.

She leapt into the street before he could say anything more, her spear upheld in one hand, the other holding her buckler forward, its symbol on the front as she shouted in Navajo, “Desert Wind, blow these creatures back to coyote!”

The griffons finally noticed their attack, turning upon them savagely with croaking, the malice shining in their eyes.

The malice turned to fear as a hot, dry wind tore down the street, spinning cinders and smoke. It caught the griffons by their great wings and hurled them off their feet, spinning and disoriented. Their cries of war turned into shrieks of pain and fear. They flew thirty feet or more until they smashed into brick and glass.

Before the griffons could even regain their feet, Taryn and Josh fell upon them like roaring waves in a tempestuous sea. Taryn’s spear took one in the throat, Josh’s iron bar clove in another’s head. Taryn pricked another through its shoulder; it hopped away with a hoarse scream. With a reverse stroke, she rammed it down the throat of another. Josh smashed wildly around, seeking to stun as many of the griffons as possible.

Eight lay dead and four more seemed stunned, but the others regained their wits and fought back. They slashed with their talons, tried to leap on top of them to put their deadly rear legs to work, or tried to attack them with their beaks.

The only thing that saved them was their maneuverability. Taryn realized that they’d had much longer to become accustomed to the way their bodies moved and reacted then these people, whoever they were; like a wolf in its prime versus an oversize puppy, they held the advantage against these foes, and they exploited it savagely.

But even the wolf can be brought down by aggressive puppies if there are enough of them. They were pushed back into the street, out to where the wings of the creatures could come into better play, and soon one and then another took to the sky, wheeling and trying to get behind them.

“Watch out!” Josh shouted, seeing one diving.

Taryn ducked immediately, feeling the wind from the talons closing just shy of her neck. Rough paws landed on her back, but the griffon had misjudged its strike, tumbling forward off her as they went down in the street.

Josh leapt to her and swung his club, keeping the others back as she tried to regain her feet, but more were coming at them now, and she prepared another blast of magic to hurl them back, still weak from the last spell she’d done.

Rat-tat-at-tat!

Taryn looked back over her shoulder, seeing the helmeted heads of the National Guard units just above debris and ruined cars, the muzzles of their rifles blazing. Behind them, coming up the street at full tilt, barreled an M1A3 Abrams tank, its own guns chattering as the muzzle of the main gun pointed straight ahead.

Taryn suppressed the urge to duck and hide, she felt certain that the tank commander knew better than to shoot at her, but it was still an eerie feeling, seeing that huge bore come charging at her, knowing that at any moment, and she’d never know when, it would spew flames and death at her; would she even see the round as it came for her?

The Griffons had enough. With shrieks of terror, they launched themselves back into the sky and tried to claw their way back towards the safety of their master. One tumbled and pinwheeled in the air, crashing back down to the earth as the Guardsmen focused their efforts on him, but the rest fled.

“Thanks for the help.” Taryn said to the same sergeant as before, as he hurried up from the tank. “It looks like you found your ride after all.”

“Lucky thing we did.” He grunted, looking around the battlefield. An impressed look came to his eye, and he turned back to them with new respect. “It was a close thing.”

“Agreed; It was great timing on your part at least.” Josh nodded. He grinned. “And at least I can say my bacon was saved by an actual tank!” he looked eagerly on the armored beast, its engine purring contentedly as if it recognized the compliment, the commander sitting up out of his hatch now grinning broadly as he patted the metal turret fondly. On its side (counter to every regulation that Taryn was aware of) were written the words “Rolling Thunder” with a smiling pin-up above the words, holding a tank spewing fire and hate at some unknown enemy.

“What’s the latest word?” Taryn asked the sergeant. “Have you been in contact with Ben and Bengal?”

The sergeant shook his head.

“HQ went dark about an hour ago.” He said. “No further communications have been heard from them since, but the last call said they were being forced to relocate.”

“Do we know where?” Taryn asked.

“Mandy’s Salon.” The sergeant said in baffled tones. “But we can’t seem to find it on a map.”

“It’s okay.” Taryn laughed. “I know where Mandy’s is. Follow us close, and keep an eye on the sky! We’ve got to get a clearer picture of what’s going on.”

The tank commander nodded and spoke down into the hatch. A moment later the tank began to move with a loud roar and squeak of its road wheels. The soldiers fell into formation behind while Taryn and Josh went a little ahead, their eyes searching for any sign of ambush or danger.

Mandy’s had undergone a huge change since Taryn had been there last. All her chairs and dryers were pushed into a corner, out of the way, or tossed into the street to make room for the dozens of men and women that filled nearly every available space. The large mirror that she’d had behind the checkout counter had been torn down and a huge map of the town with all kinds of positions marked on it now hung in its place. Other maps decorated table tops and counter spaces, as well as communication equipment of various sorts.

Ben looked up as they walked in with the sergeant. (The rest of the squad waited out by the tank, gathering what ammunition they could from the nearby stores and helping the crew refill the gas tanks).

“Taryn! Josh! Am I glad to see you!” Ben said in relief. “Your mom is going crazy at the hospital worrying about you.”

“I figured as much.” Taryn said quietly. “But there’s nothing for it right now. I can’t stop now. What’s it looking like out there?”

“Like a Goddamned nightmare.” Bengal snarled. His face was streaked with soot and sweat and his arm hung in a sling. “We have contact nearly everywhere, and some squads have gone completely dark. I can’t tell what’s happening anymore; our communications have been fuzzing out all day, we’ll get a short window and then something closes it off again. We’ve searched for the jammers, but so far, nada.”

Taryn nodded, and closed her eyes, thinking.

“It’s likely a device of Jacob’s.” she mused. “Probably intended for this exact thing; he’s well trained in the art of modern warfare, and he’d know that hamstringing an enemy’s communication is critical for success. Look what he did with the planes!”

Bengal nodded. “Yeah, well it’s making it damned difficult to tell what’s going on out there. We’ve got the civilians evacuated except for the hospital. For whatever reason they’re trying very hard to break through there, and they’ve cut off all access out of the city for any type of medical convoy; not that we could risk it while they still held the air.”

Taryn nodded; the griffons had proven surprisingly capable of bringing down airplanes; they somehow would disappear from wherever they had been and reappear on top of the airplane, shredding the thin skin with their claws and tearing apart the canopy and cockpit. With the cockpit damaged, the pilot would normally be forced to slow down and be easy prey, or eject and fall to earth, popping their chutes at the last possible moment, as if they didn’t get to ground quickly, they became hanging food for the hungry predators.

I wonder why they hadn’t shown that disappearing/reappearing ability on the ground, she thought.

Ah, she nodded in sudden realization. It’s probably not them that’s doing it; I guess it’s something of Jacob’s craft, putting his soldiers in the right position to do damage to the aircraft no matter the cost to themselves, knowing their magic would probably heal them fast, or helping that along himself.

She didn’t have a clue how to stop such a thing from happening, and she focused on the rest of Bengal’s words.

“They’re after Sylvie.” She guessed. “Perhaps because she escaped them last time, or maybe they still want to sacrifice her.”

“That won’t happen.” Ben assured her.

“I know that.” Taryn said. “But I think that’s what they’re after. It might be an advantage if we could figure out how to use it.”

“Well, I’m not entirely sure…” Ben began.

The building shook like a ship in rough seas and people screamed. The lights flickered, died, came back on, and then died for the last time. Not even the emergency lights were working. Taryn could feel an enormous evil presence nearby.

“Jacob!” she shouted, running to the door. “He’s here!”

They burst out into the street into midnight. The lights of dozens of guns firing in many directions could be seen, as well as other men cowering behind the tank named Rolling Thunder.

“Hey!” Taryn shouted, running up to them. They looked at her with wide, frightened eyes.

“I know this is scary.” She said, looking at each of them in turn. “But we are going to get through this. We need to get through this; too many people are counting on us to. This?” she gestured around. “This is only the beginning. Yes, it’s my home that’s burning now, but soon it will spread, going from town to town, city to city, county to county. Jacob won’t stop unless someone stops him now. He wants to burn our homes and kill our friends, our family, simply because it will make him laugh, because he will like it.”

She shook her fist at the sky, and thunder rolled angrily back at her. “We…will…not…let…that…happen!” she shouted, putting emphasis on each word. “He will come at us with everything he has to stop us, he will feel unstoppable and confident that his minions hold us in terror and we will be defenseless before his onslaught. We will prove him wrong!”

She patted the tank in front of her, as the soldiers, people of all races and creeds, men and women, stared at her in awe. “Rolling Thunder is this tank’s name; it’s a good name, whether chosen by Fate or Destiny I don’t know, but it will live up to its name today! Rolling forward amid the thunder of its guns, we shall follow with it and blow a hole through those minions to the Black Tower! Jacob will feel the power of our guns and feel the heat of our wrath, and his minions shall crumble before us! Everyone!” she pleaded, her arms outstretched now to beseech them. “This is our moment, our time to decide if we shall fight for everything and everyone; or let the darkness take us; if we will vanish in the night as if we’d never been here. What is our answer?”

There came a roar, from every throat of the soldiers that gathered around her. It spread, until the entire square rang with their shouts.

The feeling of unstoppable doom lessened and a feeling of surprise and uncertainty seemed to grow; why was its enemy cheering?

Rallying, the soldiers formed behind the tank as the men of Rolling Thunder began to move, the turret swinging back and forth as it sought its enemies eagerly, the men moving at a steady trot.

Taryn went with them, a spear in her hand and her charmed buckler in the other, the paint scored and marred but the shield remained unbroken.

Bengal strode with her, despite being in a sling. His face was grim under the brim of his ball cap and his hard eyes glared in his strong face. In his free hand he held a handgun of some sort. Taryn thought it might be a 1911, or possibly a Ruger, though she didn’t know much about guns.

“Why are you here?” she asked. “You’re wounded, and should be back at the command center.”

“Not much of a command center left.” Bengal replied. “The Chief went to the Hospital to try and bolster the reserves there with some of his remaining patrolmen, so I thought I’d tag along with you, since you’ve managed to inspire some folk to follow you.” He said disbelievingly.

“If you wish.” Taryn said, subdued. She had a momentary flashback to Sylvie’s vision, describing her lying in a crater while Bengal stood above her, trying desperately to fend off the enemy, Sylvie and Josh nowhere in sight.

They’d gone only a short way when someone noticed their approach and sent warning. From the belly of the clouds came griffons, crowing doom as they dove on the soldiers. Rolling Thunder pushed on undaunted, the machine guns on the upper turret blazing as, with a puff of air, canisters spewed on either side of the tank and erupted. Thick smoke obscured Taryn’s vision of her men, and she realized the tank commander had launched its emergency smoke canisters to try and cover the troops from the aerial attack until they made it under cover of the buildings, where the griffons would have to land to come at them.

Taryn thought for a moment, then shouted, “Push up! Push up! Don’t let them slow you down! They are trying to hold us for their friends to come at us from the sides and rear! Push up!”

“Good thinking.” Bengal grunted. “And I’d say you’re right, but we don’t want to keep moving in an exposed manner; now’s the time to move up cautiously.”

“No, if we do, then we’ll lose the advantage of speed.” Taryn shook her head, peering through the dense mist swirling around them. “I know it’s hard, and it’s going to be messy, but we have no choice, we can’t afford to get caught up in a slugging match with all the creatures left, we’d be overwhelmed.”

“It won’t do us any good if we get in to the tower, only to have to turn and face enemies behind us.” He argued.

“No.” Taryn agreed. “That’s why we’ll have to be swift; we must outrun our opponents to the tower, and Jacob. It’s our only chance.”

“And what are you going to do when you get there?” Bengal asked quietly.

“I have no idea.” Taryn admitted as ahead of them the smoke lit up as Rolling Thunder barked with its main cannon, shooting at some distant target in front of them.

They charged from the smoke, relieved to find most of the griffons had turned and left once the smoke had appeared, withdrawing to await another opportunity to strike. The soldiers broke into a trot, and then a jog, as Rolling Thunder moved faster up the road, straining to reach the tower before anything else found them.

Streets echoed with the sound of nearby combat; the sharp bark of guns, the boom of tank cannons and the shuddering whump of mortars and exploding shells, mixed in with the roaring shrieks of Manticores, Griffons, and other dark, twisted, beings that the powers of Jacob had been amused to turn his followers into.

They drew close to their goal; the tower loomed high above them like the finger of a blackened skeleton pointing straight up into the heavens. Its top was wreathed in black smoke, and Taryn felt a moment of panic as she realized that Jacob hadn’t yet taken to the battlefield.

There came a crash of thunder; the earth shook; a sound like a hundred jets taking off at once squeezed her ears and made her whimper in pain and shock. When she recovered she saw that around the base of the tower there now stood a large army of beasts; all the remaining members of his cult must have been summoned all at once with Jacob’s magic.

That’s going to have cost him dear! She realized in a blaze of hope.

“He’s going to have expended his energy! Now’s the time! Push forward!” she shouted, waving her spear energetically. Lunging forward, she charged the enemy, screaming her warcry.

Rolling Thunder lunged forward as she passed, its blackened muzzle blazed as the machine guns chattered wildly. Hoarse shouts and cheers echoed off the burned buildings loud enough to be heard over the sound of battle. The exhausted, yelling soldiers ran forward like maniacs, shouting and pulling the trigger at any enemy in front of them, the bullets whining amid startled cries of the monsters ahead.

For a moment the enemy wavered, they hadn’t gotten over the shock of being summoned so, and then to be instantly under attack was more than some could bear. A few retreated to the tower only to be struck by black lightning, leaving their blackened corpses to fall to the street below.

Those with stiffer dispositions or more zealous in their devotion turned to give battle, loosing their own battle cries in new, strange tongues.

The two forces met with a crash, and Taryn began to lose track of things as she fought with all her skill and magic power to cut her path to the tower. Around her the men of her band of soldiers fought with guns, bayonets, knives or even their bare knuckles as they grappled with their foes. Rolling Thunder spewed hatred as it rolled unstoppably forward, crushing a Manticore that had foolishly tried to bar its path.

Another rose before Taryn and she rammed her spear through the throat of the lion head. The other heads lunged for her, fire already belching from the goat head. She bore the brunt of the attack on her buckler, her spear darting around to blind the goat whenever it paused for breath. The serpent tried to grab the shield from her, but she cracked it with her own skull, and it whimpered in pain. She felt like she’d run head first into a brick wall! Dazed, she still retained enough wit to crack it with the steel shod spear.

The Manticore fell, to be replaced by one of the twisted griffons. They fought for a while, its wings buffeting her as it countered her strokes with bats of its front feet, its beak jabbing for her throat or stomach but foiled by her shield.

A quick jab finished him, but there came another and another. One lion’s head managed to shatter one of her precious spears, and another she hurled at a griffon that had been about to tear the throat from a fallen soldier, his limp body partially buried in debris. The throw had been poorly aimed and took the beast in the hindquarters. It screeched in pain and flapped off, leaving her with only one spear left.

They neared the bottom of the tower, and she could see that there were great black gates there, their huge doors shut.

She ran to Rolling Thunder and banged on the hull.

“Shoot the gates!” she screamed as close to the metal as she could, hoping the men inside could hear her.

If they heard her, or if the commander had seen the need himself, Taryn couldn’t say; but the muzzle turned to bear on the gates and for some minutes it struck the gates hammer blow after hammer blow, but they did not seem to do much good. The door chipped a little, but that seemed the extent of the damage.

The time lost however, had been enough for Jacob to renew his strength. He dove from the top of the tower, a heavy cloud racing to earth instead of sky. From it sprang black lightnings that struck earth and flesh with equal abandon. The tank took several hits, and it jumped on its sprockets, a black smoke began to belch from it, but the rounds continued to fire without pause until the flames raced up to consume every possible escape. Taryn thought she could hear the screams inside and she wept bitterly at their loss, shaking her final spear at Jacob in hatred and defiance.

She found herself nearly knocked flat as the tank fired one last time; the round struck the exact middle. There came a rending crash and boom, and the doors fell slowly inward, their mechanisms destroyed.

Jacob shrieked in wrath. His black lightning struck wildly, leaving no soldier the chance to even crawl from cover; except Taryn.

She stood just in front of Rolling Thunder, using her magic to quell the flames. Hatches popped open and a blackened and burned figure appeared, whimpering in pain. He pulled himself free, then reached back inside to pull another two men out of the dead tank. Their hair was gone, as was their eyebrows, their flesh was blackened and sizzled, a light smoke coming off one of them, and their eyes were hazy with pain, but they struggled down off the tank and pulled and stumbled their way towards one of the buildings.

Taryn could do nothing more for them, for Jacob had noticed and now sent bolt after bolt towards her. She raised her buckler, chanting protection spells and the lightning struck her shield, both physical and magic. She felt her strength leave her; it was like trying to hold back the fall of snow in the mountains as it rolls unstoppably forward.

With supreme effort, she lifted her last spear, aiming for the exact center of the mass.

“Give me strength.” She whispered, not even sure who she was beseeching anymore, perhaps all of them and none of them. The light leapt to her spear tip, it glowed in the dim light leaving a ghostly white fire as she hurled her spear with all her might.

It raced up high, high into the air, shining as it flew true and disappeared inside the smoke. There was a flash of light and a shouted cry of pain, but nothing else.

Taryn sobbed in her throat; that had been her last hope, there was nothing else to give now. She cast her eyes down and saw the creatures of Jacob advancing on her, sensing an easy target. She readied her shield to do battle.

Suddenly there came a roar from above and she looked up just in time to see her own spear arcing towards her! She gaped in astonishment at the sight of it, the head black now as if it had been thrust into a fire just hot enough to scorch it.

Agony! She screamed in pain and surprise as the spear struck her in the belly, passing almost cleanly through! She took one step, then another, and collapsed into a small crater.

A loud voice spoke.

“Kill her.” It said maliciously.

Taryn saw the many bestial faces lick their lips as they approached. Drool formed at the corners of their mouths or dripped from their fangs.

Before they could close on her, blood spurted abruptly from the nearest one and Taryn dimly realized that they were being shot.

A figure hurtled her prone body and stood in front of her, firing with his left hand as his right was in a sling. Taryn tried to realize why that was important, but couldn’t. As she placed her cheek on the cold, gritty ground she could dimly see, as if through a white veil, other figures crouching, standing, shooting towards the creatures.

My men; they’ve survived, she realized dimly through her darkening conscious.

Her world went black.