Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny's Call ❯ Entry the Seventh ( Chapter 7 )

Entry the Seventh

*notes:

Please note that there are two stories by me referenced in this chapter, Dreams of the Soul, and Legacy of the Winds. Both are unfinished, but reference the complete saga. Both are published, the complete parts I have written thus far, on media miner, by Me, Leo Half-Banchou*

 

As Walker ran over to us, some of the others came out of the school, and the guards moved out to search for anything still alive and kill it. Walker arrived in shortly, panting a little, and grinning. He was followed by a man dressed in full US army reserve combat gear.

“hey, don't I know you?”

“maybe. Name's Corben Cypher. Thanks for the assist Walker.”

“You're welcome. Hey, how'd you know my name?”

“I told you, maybe you do know me. Welcome to the Celtic Resistace.”

“Hey, you guys got this place secure? We've got 2 vans and another Hummer of survivors parked about two blocks away. They should be fine for now, but obviously we can't live out of vans under these conditions.”

“Call them in, we've got space. So, can I get an introduction?” here I indicated the man who had come up with Walker. They were dressed similar, but Anthony didn't have military fatigues. Just a Coast Guard shirt. Ah yes, Walker was our other us service academy pursuer. Kevin was getting into Annapolis, Walker into the coast guard academy. It made this scene rather fitting, somehow.

“This is Major Gilter. There are five other army reserve and a Marine on leave with us, plus 12 civilians. Those vans are rather stuffed.”

I snapped off a salute, despite not being military. “Major, good to see you, and welcome aboard. I'm the official “leader” of this group, over here is our administrator, Reggie, and the school's Principal, Mr. Bowman. Our Combat leader and our resident marine are inside. If you can leave things to the other men with you, I'll explain the current situation and conditions to you both inside.” I swept my hand toward the building to indicate where I meant. I looked over at AA. “Finish securing the Perimeter, then come inside. Reggie, with me. Mr. Bowman, if you please.”

We went straight inside. Tarius was right inside the doorway. “you can stay here or come with us as you like.” I said to him as we headed for an empty classroom. As various of the students recognized Walker, they said hi, some hugged him, others simply cheered and called his name. He was an instant celebrity. We reached the classroom quickly, when I realized I'd forgotten something. “Logan! Tell them outside the field is still down. Come get me when the rest of Walker's group arrives, I'll raise back up. until then, triple guard postings. I don't care if it is the middle of the night.”

“In here please.”

“Hey, isn't this Martin's room?” Walker asked.

“yep, thought it might be a little more relaxing. Anyways, have a seat and we'll get started.” As they took their seats, one of the student council members came in. I smiled and motioned for her to take a seat. “right, welcome to Our Highschool. I'm the guy in charge of all operations. Reggie here handles interior administration. Tarius is our resident mechanical inventor and takes equal responsibility for training the guards with Sergeant Hikeman, who was our first refugee leader. He's been here nearly since things started.”

“Shall we start with basic operations?” here, Reggie took over.

“We ration the food, we used perishables first. People can have up to 2 pops a day, but only those on guard duty get any of the Gatorade. We only have so much of it, and pop isn't as good as water, but it tastes better, so we get for something to enjoy. The water, we stockpile, and everyone gets two bottles a day of that. 3 if you need it. We're nearly out of pop, and Corben doesn't want it restocked.”

“water is more necessary, so our forage teams focus on that and all non-perishables or sealed food items.”

“oh yeah, the Forage teams. We send out 3 teams a day, with fliers informing any survivors where to go. We haven't been to worried about giving away our location to those creatures, they've known where we are for forever it seems like.”

I picked up. “except for guards, meals are served at 7, 12, and 7. lunch is extremely light, but we always have a good breakfasts. We used to have bacon, but we've run out. We get meat for dinner, usually, because those crocodile things, cooked through, are pretty good well done. We once tried serving them less than charred black, and we had a lot of sick people, the meat's still good, juicing, and semi-tender when charred, we don't know why. Anyways, food isn't a problem. The forage teams also bring back any useful items. We've got tons of coolers, flashlights, generators, batteries, phones, clocks, and tons of various other mechanical stuff. Everything but the first 4 on that list don't get used though, well, and clocks. We usually scrap it for parts.”

“I'm in charge of that.” Here Tarius interjected. “I've been coming up with various stuff. We've got a working broadcast radio.”

“yeah, we heard the message.”

“so that's how you found us, cool, glad it did its job. I've also upgraded some of the car engines, and armored some of them. We have various weapons and stuff from gun shops, and homes in the area that had guns. Found some interesting ones.”

“like those weird crossbows? Or those beam guns?”

“The crossbows and beams, are, a longer story.”

I took over there, explaining and retelling the story thus far, including about powers. The major wasn't entirely convinced. Rather than bother demonstrating my fields, I looked up. “Leon, I'm willing to bet several million dollars you're up there, come down. And show yourself.”

Something landed next to my chair and Leon turned himself visible. The major and Walker both jumped out of their seats. “Woah, that's cool.”

“I can create defensive fields that can stop anything. Stone can heal most injuries.”

“Stone?”

“I'll show you. Tarius here, ah, don't ask, he's Tarius, just stick with it Walker.” He'd been about to ask for an explanation on that one. He closed his slightly agape mouth and retook his seat. “Leon here can camouflage himself, blend in with his surroundings almost perfectly, even when moving. And his body adapts itself to both environments and situations. Tarius here, well, if it's mechanical or electrical, he can make it, beat it, improve it, deconstruct it. Chris the Tank is well, practically a walking tank. He's immune to blunt force impact, partially immune to sharp edges, and he's way too strong for his own good. Picture him sending a raptor flying twenty feet with a punch, a light one. Or smashing a concrete wall, without getting a scratch. And AA, if you saw, well, I think there might be something up with him too.”

“you can meet Stanetly later. But first, can you explain what you lot have been up to? How did you meet, and how did you survive?”

Anthony started. “I skipped school that day, and was driving on the freeway when the whole freeway got attacked. My car got ruined, but I hid out, and eventually found my way to the nearest Army reserve center, not that I was trying to. I met the Major and the other army reserve there. They were the only ones to make it there. Some of the equipment was missing, so we've assumed the on duty staff all headed out to battle, we don't know what happened to them. We've been using the two hummers since, we picked up the truck when we found our first pocket of 3 survivors. We've loaded up on weapons and ammo. We started to use the vans for those who didn't fight once we found the rest. Our Marine friend, well, that's another story. But it has some good news.”

“Jacob was with a platoon of marines and a platoon from the army. They were sent into to try and clear a path, go in, and search for survivors, and find out what's happening inside, because all contact has been cut off. But there was a hitch. They thought they'd got in unnoticed, but they were caught by the blockade. We were close by, this was shortly have we encountered Walker here. There were 3 marines and 3 army left by the time we got there. When we were done, one army was dead, the other 2 had fatal wounds, and so did two marines. Jacob was the only man with non-fatal injuries. He spoke enough to tell us why they were here, who sent them in, and that everyone outside the blockade was in the refugee camps. He hasn't spoken since. I don't even want to guess what got to a marine so bad he won't speak.”

“so, there is something on the outside? People are out there, there's even a refugee camp. That means we might be able to get everyone out!”

 

“Get past something that took out two platoons of armed and trained soldiers? Hah.”

 

“we've survived here, haven't we? And you haven't even seen half of what we can do. For starters, Leon here could probably get outside the blockade easily to make contact. I bet Tarius can come up with something to get someone else through. And if we can organize this properly, we could so pull this off.” I stood up as I spoke.

 

“Dude, Corben calm down, you sound like a little kid.” Walker motioned for me to retake my seat. “relax and think about this.”

 

I sat down for a minute, then said, “Sorry, got overexcited there, but I still think we can do it. Leon is completely invisible to those things.”

 

Walker looked at the Major, who looked back, then both looked at Leon, then Reggie, then me, then back at each other. “He can actually get past them?”

 

“Easily.”

 

“Maybe this can work, but you'll need a hell of a big piece of the military. I'll write a letter, it might help.” The major pulled out pen and paper, apparently from his vest or something, and started writing on the desk.

 

“Corben, before we go do anything else, can you explain what the hell is actually happening? I don't exactly get everything about these, fakes as you called them.”

 

 

I looked at Walker. “I'm not going to tell you. I've got someone else to do that. His name is Stanetly, he's the one from the story. He's one hell of a warrior.” I looked over at Reggie. “Reg, go get Tarius. Tell him he's got some work to do.” I was about to head to the door, when the major stopped me.

 

“wait, here.” he handed me the letter he'd written. “this might help.”

 

“Thanks.” I walked out, Anthony right behind me. the major walked out a bit later. Anthony wanted to talk to me. “So I think I've figured it out.”

 

“I was wondering when you would. Did hanging around Reggie give it away?”

 

“It helped. But man, you've changed. You aren't fat anymore, well, not like you were.”

“Thanks, I've been working on that. Using my power consumes extra energy, so I burned my fat fast, plus I've been working hard, eater better, and eating less. Combine them, you get a leaner, fitter, faster, fighting machine. Still not what I could be though.”

 

“Keep this up and you'll be there.”

 

“Right.”

 

I went off to the “lab” which Charlie had claimed to work in. Matt was there assisting, as he had been for a while now. They got along pretty well while they worked, and Tarius liked the extra set of hands. That, and Matt was about the only person who actually understood what Tarius wanted done when he tried to explain what he saw in that head of his.

They'd already collected a number of parts. Wheels, handles, lots of steel, even some titanium, for the outside and the framework. Tarius was working on a very unusual looking motor, while Matt was assembling pieces of the wheels. Parts of the shell were already assembled.

 

“How's it going?” I looked around some more at some of the other stuff Tarius was working on. Weapons, crystals, cloaks, etc all lay around on the tables and hung from the walls.

 

“Damn, I've gotta get me one of these,” was all Tarius said as he continued working on the engine.

 

I walked over for a look. “What's with the weird engine?”

 

“Waterpowered. If I do this right, it can get about 1000 miles to the gallon.”

 

“Say what?”

 

“Since the idea is to split the water into hyrdrogen and oxygen, then use the combustion of recombining them to generate power, the tank will recycle the `exhaust' aka just more water. But it won't be perfect, you'll lose just a little everytime, so eventually you'll have to refill. I'd say you can get about 2000mi before refueling with a 3 gallon tank.”

 

I blinked. “2000? But you said it got 1000mi to the gallon.”

 

He looked up at me. “I know. But it needs about a gallon of water to generate enough power, so you have to still have about 1 gallon left to run this thing.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Hey, whoa, what are you guys building?” Walker stepped into the workroom.

 

“Transportation, for me. In anticipation of an attempt to get out of here, and scout what's left of the world, I needed something small, highly versatile, and extremely fast.”

 

“What are those orbs?”

 

Matt explained this time. “the beginnings of the wheels. Once they're done, they'll be able to move in any direction, and rotate the bike. Once we get it working, it'll be an ingenious system, but be far harder to handle than a normal bike. We can't use an ordinary steering system, so Tarius had to design it from stratch. Took him, oh, about a minute.”

 

“Nice. Can I get one?”

 

“Orders are stacking up. if we survive this, you could make zillions Tarius. You're probably designing in minutes what has taken most people decades.”

 

“I know. It's rather fun actually.”

 

“Did you need something Walker?”

 

He looked up from examining the table. “yeah, I talked to stanetly, freaky lizard guy he is, and he said he'd tell me what I wanted to know, but with questions stacking up, he'd rather we all gathered together for it, everyone who wanted to hear. And, the others have arrived, their inside school grounds, and the guards are holding the perimeter so you can reestablish the barrier.”

 

I nodded. “right, lets…”

 

“AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH! What the he . . . !” I looked at Walker, then dashed out into the commons, to find quite a sight. AA was beating up one of the guys who'd only recently come here. he'd been training as a nightguard.

 

I dashed forward and fielded AAs next punch, grunting at the loss of energy. “AA, stop it! What the hell do you think you're doing?” I then saw his face. It looked enraged, but with tears.

 

“He called me a piece of shit, then insulted my Dad. Said my idiotic attitude musta come from him. I don't care so much he insults me, but nobody insults my dad when I don't even know if he's alive.” Few of us put things so bluntly about what we faced.

 

I looked at the man, his face black and blue, looked like his collar bone might have broke. Possible some fractures, definetly a broken nose. “you're an idiot to say those things… no dinner. AA, same for you. You should know better than to react like that.”

 

“I'm just getting sick of this whole damn thing! Sick of it I tell you! Why the hell are these things doing this… what's going on with this shit. I haven't said anything, but, well, I just can't hold it back any longer!” His dark face was red with anger.”

 

“right, you're coming to. According to Walker, who just spoke with him, Stanetly is offering to tell all of us everything he knows. Anyone who wants to hear is invited. AA, you get no choice, you're going.”

 

He wiped some saliva from the edge of his mouth, spit no doubt, and said, “fine with me, when is it?”

 

“I'm making it now. Go into the gym. I'll be right there with Stanetly.”

 

I walked to the front door, and walked out. Stanetly slipped from 100 hall and followed. “you expect me to tell the tale in front of so many?”

 

“yes, I do. We all need all the information about this we can get. We will not merely survive, we will thrive. We will not merely win battles, we are going to win this war! There is no other option. We have only one choice, and to fulfill it, we need everything you've got locked in that head of yours Stanetly. So you're going to have to spill the beans, got it?”

 

“Yes, High Guardian.”

 

“Good. Go ahead, I'll be just a minute, or stay if you like.” I snapped the field into place, then turned to the guards. “come inside. All of you. Tell the others. Our other Reptildra friend will stand watch… the rest of you have a story to hear.”

 

I walked into the gym, took a chair next to the Huge Reptildra, and said, “So…”

 

Stanetly's tail included the different Orders of the Reptildra, and their advance in technology as the various separated tribes, after the Demon incident, and the Return of Storm, a greater Dragon long thought dead, and the coming of the electrode, and also the saving of their homeworld by a group of warriors weildings swords the were like keys. One of those warriors was named Musouka, which means Dreamer in Japanese. His story is not this one, though, not yet. His story is “Dreams of the Soul” and will not be retold here, but something must be told. His keychain was a ring, and it was, this ring, identical to my own. Which explained some things. The Dragon upon both our rings was of utmost significance, as Stanetly soon explained.

 

“The Very purpose for the Existance of the Reptildra people, was in the beginning, to serve the Dragons, the True dragons, the Greater Dragons as they are now called. It remains the highest and most powerful of our orders, in anticipation of their return. Thus, Because one half of the warrior Musouka is the true essence of a Greater Dragon, the Reptildra do their utmost to assist him. Because Corben bears the same ring, the previous High Guardian felt that perhaps destiny had led him to find the successor, and the one capable of saving humanity. I will not claim to know he was right, but certainly, Corben is a vital piece. Afterall, from all outside reports, this is the only stronghold within this conquered city to have never fallen. Indeed, you have not even known death among you yet. That is a spectacular accomplishment.”

 

“Our servitude to the Greater Dragons was complete and utter devotion. But then the Great Dragon Wars started, with those called “Evil” Dragons fighting against those called “Good” dragons. It decimated their race, and yet we simply served them, fighting our brothers as soldiers in their wars, even assisting in the deaths of other dragons. For this, we were severly punished by the Creator, a being whose power is beyond even those of the Greatest of the Greater Dragons. I believe you know him as God, or “I am” or “Jesus Christ.” We were stripped of our right to serve the dragons, and we lost our positions and power.” He sighed at this point, lowering his head

 

“With the Greater Dragons nearly destroyed, the survivors eventually created the Lesser Dragon races, in an attempt to continue the war. We now serve also these creatures. Extremely powerful though these beings were, they were not those we once served. At this point, we now had two Orders. It was also at this time we created the position of “High Guardian” whose mission was to guard all Dragons, and our own race. He was the greatest and wisest warrior and sage of our people, for our people value knowledge and wisdom as highly as fighting prowness in a warrior. He was our Leader.”

 

“He made the decree, that we should serve all reptilian species, to attempt to atone for our failures, for all reptilian species descend from the Greater Dragons, or so it is recorded among us. For some species, their power was so great as to rival the Lesser Dragons, who include some of those creatures you call dinosaurs, such as your Tyrannosaurus Rex, an amply chosen name by the way. These Creatures had their own orders. Serpent, and Raptor. The Raptors included a large range of different creatures, from what you know as Velociraptors, to IceRaptors, Blade Raptors, Sky Raptors, and several others.”

“The serpents were an accursed race, afforded a lowly place by the Creator for their part in the downfall of the Creator's other great race, Humanity. You know that story. Though much of their former power was stripped, they are still fearsome. However, the true purpose of the Order of the Serpent, of which I am its greatest warrior, is to guide the serpents to redemption, if that is possible. They are so closely related to the Greatest Demon though, they are nearly bound in servitude. I myself have been forced to slay more than a few of them. We are the only order permitted to do so.”

“Other species fell into large groups, which required a specific type of care. Greater Reptile. Lesser Reptile. Amphibian. The order of Amphibians have become Amphibians themselves, in a way.”

“After our reconnection, and attempted revival of our deteriorating people. Some among us thought that the coming of Musouka, and the Dragon Storm, was a sign that perhaps the Greater Dragons would return. Members of the order… renegades, broke the sacred Laws of our people, and delved into Necromancy. But the people supported them in their endeavors to Raise the Greater Dragons. The then High Guardian, who is buried in your tiny garden out back of your school, seeing that the will of the people was with the renegades, stayed silent. I believe that if he had had the support of the greatest hero in of our people, who was of the order of the Lesser Dragons and his brother, he could have stopped them. For the personal attendant of Jetstone.”

 

At that name, I gasped. “Wait, did you just say…”

 

“Jet Stone.” Stanetly looked at me curiously.

 

“Jet Stone, the Largest black sand dragon in the species history, descendant of the last great Earth Dragon, who is one half of the West Wind, who takes a part in the story of the “Legacy of the Winds”? That Jet Stone? Then you're talking about Chrystalis.”

 

“how do you know this story?” Stanetly looked extremely shocked.

 

“I wrote it. Just like I wrote the story about Musouka. I… I have them on my flashdrive… Chrystalis is a Ringo of the West wind, and thus the most powerful warrior out of your entire species. I wrote down the general details about the orders that you talked about, though I didn't know the whole history behind your people. Well, I knew them, I'd planned them out, but I never got there…”

 

“This is most, unusual. More and more, you are connected with things beyond your wildest imaginations. And yet, it seems you've imagined them. Or been given them to know, unknowning of the true source. Yes, Chrystalis is a Ringo of the West wind, and he thus will not leave the side of Jet Stone except by direct order from him or his partner, who is as equally Sand Dragon. And yes, he is the greatest warrior of our people. He was not there, could not be there, to quell the troubles, for his home is isolated, and nearly inaccessible save for a small few and the Winds and their Ringos. But the Ringos will not leave the Winds. So the high guardian remained silent, and thus came our doom, and the possible doom of this world.”

 

He sighed once more, and it was another minute before he spoke again. Yet, no one spoke, no one whispered. Some did figet.

 

“The Renegades found a way. Using the very bones of the Greater Dragons, they hoped to bring them about to true resurrection. But what they created, were terrible, cruel, evil, imitations, mutated and corrupted versions, who had one sole purpose. To subjugate and destroy the universe. Perhaps all universes. The laid waste to our home, but our most powerful spell weavers, warriors, and the highest mages of our orders united to seal them into our homeworld. Our people became scattered, but the high Guardian sought to reunite us. However, the False creatures, the “Anti-Dragons,” found a way to free themselves. They created false versions of other reptiles from other orders. You've seen them. The creatures you call crocs, and raptors, those Giants, that smaller giant, all imitations created by the ADs to serve them. Raptors, Crocs, False Sand Dragons, komoto “Dragons.” No doubt, soon they will raise up creatures of this world, your ancient Dinosaurs, as false creatures to serve them. It seems, they may even have corrupted…” I was the only one who heard him say, “Humanity.”

I could hear whispers among the listeners. “what did he say?” “I don't know, couldn't tell.”

 

“They bound the ones who created them, the renegades, to serve them, and made use of their intellect and power, for once bound, they must serve them fully in whatever endeavor the ADs make. They can't even die befittingly to erase their shame.”

 

“the ADs are apparently not able yet to cross the boundary that sealed them in our home, they can only open small rifts through which they send their servants and some of their power. But, usings colossal numbers of “free” sacrifices, that is, those who still retain some measure of freedom, who are not bound or enslaved, they can overpowere the seals binding them. But each AD will need a separate sacrifice to cross through, and they must concentrate their power for now, they have not yet mastered it, nor are they as powerful as a true Greater Dragon. I would say, a city of some millions, some 10s of millions, hundreds of millions, would do the trick for the larger ADs, the smaller ones may only need around 100mil.”

 

“Ho… how do you know all this?”

 

“The High Guardian kept tabs on the ADs and we captured a renegade, promising him the death he so greatly desired, if he could manage to tell us all he knew. He told us this. I do not know how the ceremony is performed, but I believe I can still solve one mystery no doubt still burning in your minds.”

 

He looked straight at me, then AA, then Tarius, then Chris, the Stone, then Leon. “The strange abilities, these “Beyond” human powers you 6 posses, I believe that for 5 of you, it is a connection to the 6th of you, and the influence of the vast magical forces permeating this world, and the huge disruptions in the stability of this world, plus a certain amount of Divine Intervention, as you phrase it, that is granting you these abilities. As for you, Corben Cypher, it is some small measure of connection to you that is choosing the individuals to be gifted. But you, you are directly gifted for Reasons I can't begin to comprehend. You are connected more deeply to this story than I can begin to fathom. Remember that. I have nothing more to tell.”

 

Leon summed everyone's feelings up in one sentence. “The Hell?”