Chapter Eighteen
~
The Clock Tower
Suspense ate at Sven’s stomach as well as the others’, impatient in the back of their minds to know what became of Cinder-if she lived, dreading the future if she didn’t-all the while, fighting against the followers of Ardara.
This time, the opposition did not falter. No, this time, the Enma were the outmatched ones.
It was just as Orphenn and Cinder flew up over the cliffside that the White Herons began to realize this.
Sven’s summoned wooden mallet dispatched two soldiers in succession as he spun around to face them. “I knew you’d make it, Princess!” he called to Cinder.
The fight did not go well.
“Herons!” Celina cried. “To the Day Star!” After a slight scuffle, she shouted, “Jeremiah! Can you barricade the city?”
“I can try!” he loyally complied. His diamond armor crackled as it formed around his body.
“Jay, no!” Xeila snarled, her claw stopping him before he could rush away.
“I must.”
His determination enchanted her.
“Don’t die. I‘ll kill you if you die.”
“You have my word.” He smiled. He kissed her, and with that, he dutifully ran toward the heart of Denoras. As the others retreated to the airship, he reached the palace at twice the speed of any other. By the time the Herons had taken shelter inside the Day Star, they witnessed through the windshield when Jeremiah took a mighty bound, soaring into the air, landing perched on the palace’s highest clock tower. His crystal armor gleamed in the moonlight. He held his arms out, palms turned up.
“Will he be able to sustain a barrier of this size?” Orphenn motioned around them to the city of Denoras as Xeila took the Day Star in to the city, extending the landing gear inside a courtyard, just beside the palace.
No one replied, for no one had the answer.
Jeremiah took one deep breath, just as Ardaran airships surrounded the capital. As he exhaled, a shell of crystal began to form, high above his head.
An awe-inspiring sight, to witness Ardara’s bombs crashing against his barrier, exploding upon it only just as it was formed, red clouds against the stars, warped through the sheen of the crystal.
“Yeah! That’s my macho man!” Xeila cheered.
Jeremiah stood tall, and mighty atop the clock tower, his strength never wavered. He held his position. Ardarans were being beaten against the barrier’s walls when they attempted futilely to escape. Those trapped inside the barrier were quickly eliminated and taken care of. They stood no chance alone against these mutants. Those who waited outside the indestructible force field could only stare at the slaughter.
“Celina.” Sven said with a serious tone. But she had already seen it.
“I know.” She said.
A brawl was playing out beside the Day Star, on the tiled roof of a palace gondola, just above the vessel’s deck. A clash, between a swift and talented Enma, and a deathly determined Dacian. The mutant had likely stopped him on his way to harm Jeremiah, steadfast on the clock tower.
“You forget,” Dacian grumbled, “look at my eyes.” He grabbed the other’s face and glared him straight in his green and brown eyes, brandishing his one red iris with contempt. “I’m just like you.” He parted his lips and allowed a black poison to mist out of his mouth. The toxin invaded the other mutant’s lungs. It stained his mouth and lips like tar. To seal the deal, Dacian twirled his toxic lance before stabbing it deep into his enemy’s abdomen. The Enma collapsed, and slipped off the roof to descend lifelessly to the cobblestones far below. Dacian sheathed his lance, looking down on his fallen enemy. “Just like you.” He repeated.
“You’re wrong, Dacian.” Came the call of brave Orphenn. He stood on deck, staring fixedly at the traitor on the roof.
“Is that a challenge I’m hearing, boy?” Dacian mused.
As response, Orphenn spread his wings big and wide, a heroic span of fifteen feet across.
His gaze narrowed. “You tell me.”
Dacian leapt from the gondola and onto the deck, landing at a kneel beside Orphenn.
The boy backed away and took his guns from their holsters, aiming both barrels at the Ardaran as he rose, giving barely a sideways glance to the teenager.
“You are not just like us.” Orphenn said. “It takes someone very different to follow in the shadow of Ardara.”
Dacian struck, but using the long gleaming barrels, Orphenn blocked the lance’s blow with his pistols and kicked Dacian to the side, his boot against his ribs. The man hunched over, but lashed out, the rod of his lance knocking Orphenn’s heels out from under him. Orphenn fell back, thankful that only his gold pistol flew from his grip and slid across the deck when his back hit the metal.
Dacian, with cruel precision, jammed the altered blade of his lance into Orphenn’s wing with the strength of both hands, pinning him like a pathetic Biology butterfly.
Orphenn reacted with a cry of pain, and two shots from his silver pistol.
Celina gasped and whimpered from the helm.
Dacian’s eyes went wide, and his heart thumped in his ears, as if it were a siren sounding at the bullets lodged in his chest.
That second, Sven was there, with a steel broadsword sparkling in dust, and in one swipe, sliced Dacian’s lance in two, tearing his red-black uniform open shoulder-to-shoulder. A wide gash corresponded with the ripped leather, a red crack across his chest.
Dacian toppled, ebbed against the deck rail. Sven met him there, leaning into him with the tip of his sword at his throat.
“Give me one good reason not to make you the world’s fastest sword swallower.”
Dacian gulped. His life was slipping. Red colored the corners of his mouth.
Orphenn painfully pulled the severed lance blade from his wing, blood staining his golden feathers. In his prone position he saw Jeremiah standing high above. The super-human’s resolve was beginning to wane, his strong stature wavering. The weight of the bombs bursting against his barrier was becoming cumbersome.
“Sven, no.” Orphenn stood, lopsided, his wounded wing drooping low.
Sven raised an arched eyebrow.
Orphenn gestured above to the clock tower. Sven’s eyes followed his pointed finger. Then he looked to the helm. Celina was frozen there.
He released the traitor. The scene unfolding before her eyes must have been traumatizing for the Supreme Commander.
Orphenn also realized this, and made a choice to make it easier on Celina. Someone his dear sister loved so deeply would not die on his watch, no matter which uniform he wore.
He limped to the deck rail, and with a scowl of disgust, Orphenn slapped his palm to Dacian’s chest, wet and sticky with blood.
Dacian grimaced, drained of the energy to do anything else.
“Don’t make me regret this.” Orphenn threatened, though he knew he would probably rue this day, regardless. He then exhaled, and a white glow shone beneath his palm. It spread up Dacian’s chest, illuminating the space between them. When Orphenn lifted his hand, the light was gone, and so were Dacian’s wounds. The silver bullets plopped into his palm. Then Orphenn spotted the slash on Dacian’s upper arm. He remembered Eynochia’s words. I slashed the traitor and jumped out the window. “I think I’ll leave this one.” He decided. “Just to remind you of the wolf that bested you.”
“Why?” Dacian growled. “Why did you heal me?”
He felt a push in his mind, someone trying to reach him. Master.
Before Orphenn could give an answer, Dacian had back flipped off the rail to flee, heeding Ardara’s call. It took him a while of running across the white cobbles to notice that he still grasped the useless blunt end of his lance before he discarded it.
In that moment, Cinder and Celina ran side by side onto the deck, Just as Jeremiah’s barrier shattered and evaporated. The exhausted man wavered, eyes half lidded in weariness. His legs gave out, and he slipped dizzily from the clock tower, fainted. The two sisters unfurled their feathers and soared to him in haste. They caught him in air before he could plunge, and carried him back to the ship, where Xeila waited anxiously.
When Jeremiah woke, it was still dark. He lay in his quarters aboard the Day Star. Judging by the surrounding drone, he could tell they were in flight.
He shot upright.
He was pilot. Who was flying this thing?
“Whoa there, Sonner Boy.” Came Sven’s calming voice. “Not so fast, you’ll give yourself whiplash.”
“Where is my Xeila?”
“Poppet’s flyin’ us outta here. Don’t worry, Celina’s watching her close. She’s actually pretty good for a first-time flyer. Er…second-time.” Sven sat in an arm chair beside Jeremiah’s bed.
“What happened, Pops?”
“We had to evacuate the city.”
“Because my barrier failed…”
“Don’t you say that. Failure had no part in that battle for us. You saved many lives with that barricade.
“Now we’re leading a few other squadrons to an encampment site.”
“Where?”
“It’s close to an Ardaran camp, just off the capital province border. We may be able to send in a spy.”
“Hopefully more successful then our last undercover venture, eh?”
“Hopefully.”
The two gazed out the porthole at the passing stars.
The same stars that Cinder gazed at from the balcony. She leaned her elbows on the railing, the wind tousling her hair.
Celina stepped out to join her.
“Cinder?”
“Hey, sis.”
“Are you alright?”
Cinder wasn’t certain of the answer. It showed clearly on her features.
Celina came to lean close beside her.
“Something on your mind?”
Cinder hesitated, but replied, “I never thought I’d live to fight one war, let alone two. The world is nothing but a big stupid quarrel anymore. I look around, but nothing holds beauty anymore. Not that I can see.”
Celina gave an understanding nod. “Do you remember Mother Sun?” she reflected. “Do you remember how beautiful she was?”
Cinder’s fists clenched. “All of this is her fault. If she hadn’t ‘gifted’ us, we would be on Earth right now. Living out our lives like humans. She could have chosen some other poor children to mutate, and save the planet. If it weren’t for her, Cira never would have gone insane! We would still have a sister! Mom and Dad would still be alive! If we would’ve just gone home earlier, that day at the park…We would be normal! There would be no Enma, no war, no Ardara! None of this would have happened if it weren’t for Mother Sun.”
“If you think a little further…” Celina spoke slowly, “It was the Day Star’s fault. The supernova. She was the one that put Earth in danger. And if you think even further…It was Earth’s gravity that pulled her close. We can hardly blame this on anyone. Besides, Cinder. If it hadn’t been for Mother Sun, there would be no Earth. We would be dead. Blown into oblivion by an angry supernova.”
Cinder sighed. “Why must you always make so much sense?” After a pause, she added, “That’s why you are Supreme Commander, Celina. And not me.”
And with that, she retreated inside, just as the dawn began to lighten the sky.
Night had fallen once again by the time they found the camp. They were welcomed warmly, and hospitably.
“Where is Eynochia?” Orphenn wondered.
When the only answer he received was a shrug, he set out to search for her. He didn’t enjoy the knowledge that an Ardaran camp was close by, and worried for her safety.
He found her, just outside of camp, sitting in the grass, staring off absently.
“I’m sorry, Orphenn.” She said, immediately upon seeing him.
He came closer. “For what?”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t out there. On deck with you when you fought Dacian. He hurt your wing, and-”
“It’s fine now. I healed it. Everything’s okay. Don’t apologize.” Orphenn pulled her close and hugged her.
Eynochia hugged him back. “I’m glad you saved his life.”
He pulled away to give her a quizzical look.
“Celina would have been more hurt than you know, had he died.” She clarified.
He nodded. “I’m just surprised he didn’t kill me as soon as I healed him. It must have been powerful, whatever urge compelled him to run away like that.”
“Cowardice, my best bet.”
“No…No, I don’t think it’s quite so shallow as that. He was a wonderful man once, you said so yourself.”
“True. But people change. And not always for the better.”
Orphenn brushed hair from her gentle face with the back of his hand. “I feel bad for Jeremiah.”
They both looked over the wide expanse of lake water at the city of Denoras, shining white in the distance. The tallest tower was clearly visible against the night sky.
“It must have been like holding the world on his shoulders when he stood on that clock tower.”
“I envy him.” Eynochia confessed. “I’ve always dreamt of standing on top of that highest clock tower, even as a little girl. But now I’m scared that I’ll never have the chance.”
“Why’s that?”
“I just know that tower will fall. Before I ever get to stand on it.”
“You think it’s going to fall?”
“With my luck, yes.”
“’With your luck’?” He mocked.
“Well,” she considered, “I guess I’m not that unlucky. I mean…I have you, don’t I?” Her black and green irises eyed him adoringly.
Orphenn’s red and blue eyes seemed to glow more than usual at her words. He thought nothing could be any more beautiful than this moment.
“You sure do.”
There by the lakeside, where the moonlight poured down in shafts and glistened on the water; would have been the place of a brilliant first kiss, had Jeremiah not appeared from the camp before their lips ever touched.
“Eynochia.” He beckoned. “Xeila needs you at the ship.”
And so, they bid their farewells and good-nights, clueless as to what the morning would bring.