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The low and thunderous blasts from the Virtuuce cannons shook Good King Laexor, Queen Myra, and his boy Raktor where they sat, the beam-like projectiles ripping through the dragon that hunted them. From his window, Laexor watched the creature, reduced to tattered flesh and scalded bone, fall shrieking down to the city below. Cory Rockhart’s voice reassured him and his family that the dying dragon was the last of them—that they were safe. Laexor could feel the relief those words brought Myra and Raktor, and he could see the relief in the way that they relaxed back into their seats, Myra patting Raktor’s hand, trying to reassure the boy, but Laexor knew the pats were more from her own fears than Raktor’s. The RAM had made quick work of the beasts, but contrary to Rockhart’s comforting words, they certainly were not the last of them. The Black Maw was still out there, vaporizing his people more efficiently than a man swatting a fly. He admired his late brother for facing off with the nightmarish and apocalyptic beast, risking his life and dying in agony to protect his loved ones. As Laexor sat next to his lovely wife and young son, as he looked into their eyes, as he caressed Myra’s fingers with his own, Laexor allowed himself to feel the total weight of his love for them. Invasive images swarmed his conscious mind of Myra and Raktor suffering the same fate as his younger brother. This terrible imagery, coupled with his despair over his inability to fight off The Black Maw, terrified him over his family’s safety. The ambassador elf had been right–he lacked the cunning to win this war.
Or did Traelic say that humans lacked the cunning to win this war?
For the life of him, he couldn’t remember what the little monster had said. Laexor rubbed his forehead, prompting a look of concern in his direction from Myra. The meeting with the warmongering elf had only been a short time ago, but it felt as though it had happened ages before this moment. Laexor clenched his jaw and looked out the window again, searching for any indication of where the fallen dragon had landed when, from the northeast, a large group of mounted elves entered the city limits. The purple pulses from the unicorns had attracted his gaze to the encroachment. He hammered his fist on the window, helpless as his people were killed mercilessly by the beasts. He jumped from his seat and hammered on the pilot’s cockpit door, “Rockhart! Open this cursed door at once! Rockhart, do you...”
He was cut off by the door slamming open against the wall, an irritated and very stressed and exhausted Cory Rockhart standing in the doorway. “My King, what is it? I must return to the column.”
“The northeast border has been breached; we must help our people.”
Rockhart’s breathing was short and shallow and swift. “I will issue your command to the militia in that city sector immediately.”
Laexor clenched his fist in frustration, “By the gods, man, there is no time for that. In order for our people to have a fighting chance, we must intervene with the RAM.”
Cory shook his head, “I will not put you and the Royal Family in danger. Let the Militia do their job.”
Laexor jabbed a finger into Rockhart’s chest, “If you believe you can coerce me out of helping our people, think again. Husbands and wives and sons are getting massacred as we speak!” He gripped his sword and pulled it free from its sheath, the blue sapphire flashing as he did so. The blade was on Cory’s throat before the experienced military man could react. Cory’s eyes contorted with his fury.
Through gritted teeth, with crazed eyes, he sputtered out his response, barely maintaining control of his killing instincts. “We have been flying for hours. Our Virtuuce Canister reserves are low. If we enter a sustained firefight, we will run out of fuel and die.”
Laexor gripped his sword tighter, the blade only a hair width away from his trusted pilot’s throat, “So be it.”
Rockhart froze, then with two cautious fingers, he pushed on the sword’s pommel, moving it far enough away from his throat so he could nod. Laexor made to put his sword back at his side, but stopped when Rockhart grinned maniacally and gripped his King’s shoulder. “I would be ready to use that sword if I were you, my King. If we land for any reason, the Beasts of Rhea will try to overwhelm us. Only cold Damascus Steel can stop them.”
Laexor nodded and headed back to his seat next to Myra. As soon as he sat, the fear of what he had just asked for took hold. Myra quaked next to him, her breath short and rapid, her mouth agape, with Raktor pulled to her bosom.
Her voice was nigh above a whisper, barely audible amongst the whimpering from Raktor. “Laexor, please. The execution of the elf was one thing. But putting our son in harm’s way is inexcusable. Please, land us in the Eternal Tower, refuel, then do whatever stupid thing you wish.”
Laexor breathed deep, fighting through his fears so he could comfort his crumbling wife. He stood beside her, sword in hand, placing his other on his wife’s slender shoulder, looking into her eyes. “My beloved Myra, the more people we save, the more people who will be willing to do the same for their peers. Bravery is contagious, and one must not let the fear of death keep them from the right path.”
Cory Rockhart turned the RAM from the tower, the hum of the Virtuuce Cannons rising as they charged with energy. They rapidly approached the northeast border, and Laexor knew he only had seconds before war enveloped them. With his free hand, he gripped Myra’s neck and turned her to him, firmly guiding her lips to his own. Her tears wet his face as his lips glided across hers, his tongue darting into her mouth and flicking the tip of hers, her teeth playfully biting his bottom lip in response. Their relationship was one of magic—a magic that no god or goddess could urge into being. Their love was a tangled web of sacrifices and gifts, both interchangeable in their eyes.
When they separated from their loving embrace, tears glistened in Laexor’s eyes as well. “I love you, Myra.”
She pursed her lips, fixed her hair, her cheeks glowing, and nodded. “I love you too, Laexor.”
The RAM went into a nose-dive, making Laexor press his feet into the floor to keep him in his seat. He turned to his window to see the beams of power erupt from their cannons, landing directly in the middle of the street below, engulfing the entire area between the buildings in a magical flame. The elves and unicorns that were pushing forward on that street were obliterated, with no time to pulse to safety. The RAM pulled up, gained altitude, turned wildly in the air, and then unleashed another blast, killing more of the monsters.
A blood-curdling roar erupted from the sky above them, and the massive figure of the Black Maw blocked the smaller sun. A firestorm erupted from the monster as it turned to circle the city, melting a group of mechs that had been defending the southern city border. The RAM then fell rapidly, landing roughly on the cannon-scarred street below. Then Cory was out of the cockpit, a new miniature Virtuuce Cannon in his hands. The cutting-edge weaponry had a metal barrel down the center, with the canisters used to power the weapon extending out from both sides of the barrel in a “T” shape, resembling a crossbow.
“Be ready to fight, my King. With any luck, the Black Maw did not spot us. But the remaining beasts that made it into the city will have surely seen us land.”
As though the beasts had heard him, an arrow pierced the door to the RAM, and sounds of the cockpit windows being shattered by additional arrows filled the air. Cory reached into a small side compartment, one that was not visible by passersby, and pulled out two black shiny bundles of what looked like wads of chain. Cory noticed Laexor’s inquisitive look and answered the unspoken question, “Virtuusian chain-mail. Strong enough to protect you from an arrow.”
The men pulled the shiny black chain-mail over their heads, draped it across their chests, and let it hang loosely down past their waists. The material was extremely light, strong, and extremely rare.
Laexor gripped his sword in both hands, assuming a fighting stance. “Well, Rockhart, if history is to be made, it might as well be made by us.”
He hammered his chest with a closed fist, his low voice a growl. “Yes, my liege. It is an honor serving with you.”
Cory Rockhart pulled the latch on the door, and Laexor, after a quick glance over his shoulder towards Myra, who noticed his eyes were engulfed in ice blue, kicked the door open.
The second sun shone in his eyes. An arrow hit his chest, cracking a rib. Then Laexor dove from the RAM, rounding around a shattered pillar, swinging his sword upwards into the ribs of a unicorn and elf. He heard Rockhart’s Virtuuce cannon sounding as he ripped his sword free, the pommel flashing a brighter blue, then he brought the blade round and ended the elf along with its mount. Another arrow hit his chest. This time, the force was not great enough to break bone. By the time Laexor found the creature who had fired upon him, a beam from Rockhart had obliterated the mount and rider, the gore of which was incredible.
A unicorn pulsed directly in front of Rockhart while his cannon was recharging, the horn from the beast hitting his chest with such intensity that he flew backward into the fuselage of the RAM. Pink flame was erupting from the unicorn’s eyes. It was kicking its front legs high into the air when Laexor flanked the beasts, cutting through the creature’s back legs in one blow, the other blow taking the elf’s head clean off.
The pair was bathed in shadow as the massive figure of the Black Maw flew directly over them, low enough for them to see its eyes. Eyes rippling with a purple energy. Myra was at the door, shouting to Laexor, something, something he couldn’t quite make out. Then Raktor was shoved from the RAM, and Myra was slamming the door closed, and the engines were charging, and then it took off. Cory screamed in fury, Laexor shielded Raktor, and Myra flew the RAM skyward.
Cory turned to Laexor, “My liege, my aerial mech is docked in the Eternal Tower. If I can make it there, I can try and distract the Black Maw from the Queen.”
The Beasts of Rhea seemed to have retreated from the area now that the Black Maw was on the hunt, so Laexor agreed. Cory flashed away into the destruction of Atlantis, moving with speeds that did not match his size, bounding and leaping and sprinting towards the Eternal Tower.
“Nurtia guide me,” Laexor muttered to himself as he tousled Raktor’s black hair. That was when he noticed the pommel on his sword glowing a constant sapphire blue, and his hourglass pendant was glowing with the same intensity. Up the street, a centaur sundered into view, swinging his war hammer around his head, scanning the area for humans to kill. It did not take long for the creature to spot the King and his boy, and with a bellowing laugh, the centaur charged them both.
Raktor screamed, and in an attempt to slow down the centaur’s advance on his son, Laexor shoved the boy as far away from him as he could. “Hide in that shop, Raktor! I will deal with this monster.” The hammer from the creature smashed the ground next to King Laexor, barely missing his head. The centaur put his shoulder into the King’s stomach, knocking his feet out from under him and sending him flying and crashing into the ground.
Heavy hoof beats headed his way; Laexor rolled behind a nearby pillar, then jumped to his feet. The hammer shattered the post just above his head, and Laexor struck like a coiled viper, cutting deep into the centaur’s side. The creature bellowed in pain and dropped his hammer, which crushed the cobblestones as it fell to the ground. Laexor ripped his blade free, then slit the creature’s throat, the blood falling to the ground in a waterfall of death.
The shadow from the Black Maw came again, and Laexor watched as its flame hit the ground in front of him, melting everything to liquid. The wind pressure from its massive wings forced him to the floor as it beat the air for altitude. Laexor, panicked, looked to the shop where Raktor had sheltered, joyously finding it intact. An eruption from the RAM Virtuuce cannon sounded from behind Laexor, and the beams of light struck the Black Maw in the wing, which buckled but, with a roar, was snapped back into place.
Laexor watched from below as Myra piloted the RAM in pursuit, firing the cannon into the Black Maw’s back, forcing the creature lower in the sky. Myra yanked the yolk back and forth as she, completely inexperienced as she was, chased a creature with godlike power, trying to lure the beast away from her Laexor and little Raktor.
If I can just stay behind him, I can keep him from cooking me alive.
The virtuuce cannons signaled that they were fully charged, and Myra fired on the dreadful beast again, landing this blow on the nape of the Black Maw’s neck. The dragon spun, tucked in its wings, and dove towards the earth. Then it unleashed its awful flame behind it as it spun, creating a blazing twister that heated the front of the RAM red hot with a single touch. The instruments on her panel went wild, and she lost control of the RAM. The Black Maw somehow knew of its success, as it extended its wings again and fell back behind her. Myra panicked, pulling on the yolk this way and that, smashing buttons, flipping switches, all of which yielded no effect. She had completely lost control.
The Black Maw roared from behind her; then he engulfed the RAM in flame.