I took a deep breath. It was as if I was free falling because once I made this decision to go, there was no turning back. Adam and Carmen, also known as Komodo Dragon and the Jade Magician ran beside me. We were heading towards the battle that everyone was dreading. With the decision to fight against an unknown opponent, going by the name 'God of Wind', and his small battalion of demons, the lives of hundreds rested on our shoulders. The responsibility weighed heavily on me. I felt as if an anvil had fallen from the sky and landed on my chest. Fear was Wile E. Coyote, and I had turned into the Road Runner. Only this time, I wasn’t too sure if the Road Runner could escape its fate.
“Once the dimension doorway appears, I, and the other witches, will attempt to seal it back up,” said Carmen. This job made Carmen the primary target for annihilation. She would be in the most danger. “If something goes wrong, will Lynashia be able to take over?” I asked her. Lynashia is a witch trapped inside of Carmen’s necklace. Lynashia’s job was to guide the Jade Magicians. You see, Carmen is not the first Jade Magician to exist. I am not the first Goldenflame, Adam is not the first Komodo Dragon, and Liz was not the first Illusionist. Like all of the Chosen Angels, if Carmen were to die in this battle, her soul would be reincarnated into the next Jade Magician. Lynashia would then go to Carmen’s reincarnation: the future Jade Magician. Lynashia was much stronger than Carmen, so it really drained Carmen’s energy when Lynashia took over her body. “I can hold Lyn for up to an hour, but I am only using her as a last resort,” replied Carmen. The remaining Fighters’ job was to protect the witches. We had various Fighters of all shapes and sizes stationed throughout the city prepared to face whatever came out of that doorway. The Chosen Angels consisted of Adam, Carmen, myself, and our beloved friend Liz, who had died in a previous fight. The three of us felt anguish over the fact that we were unable to protect her. The wound of her death was still fresh in our hearts. In a way, this fight was for her. We would avenge her short life.
Based on the information we received from Ulrica, also known as Wolvina when in her wolf form, the dimension doorway would appear right above our heads, but for the moment we simply stared into empty air. I supposed this must be the calm before the storm. It was eerie that tonight was such a beautiful night, and it killed me to think that it would be ruined soon. Somehow the Reciliux was able to evacuate the city, so all we had to do was contain the battle to within city limits. “Here it comes,” said Adam. The night air began to feel warmer, and into the empty sky a small bright light emerged. Slowly it got wider and wider, and I realized the light was actually fire. It looked as if the portal to hell had just awakened.
The small amount of troops we managed to gather, including Adam and myself, dove towards the swarm of invading demons. Some demons died simply by the fall to Earth, since the dimension doorway was in the middle of the air. I sliced and diced flipped and flew. For the moment, our side was on the offensive. The smaller demons were defeated quickly; the bigger demons were a bit more difficult. I found myself fighting head on with what looked like a rock demon. No matter what attack I used, I could not pierce through his external defense. I realized the monster was toying with me. This made me angry. I held my staff in front of me for protection and braced myself for the creature's attack. The sound of its blows against my staff rang like a bell. A gravely noise escaped what I assumed was its mouth. Was it laughing at me? My eyes widened in revelation. That was it! I could pierce through its mouth! It was the only part of the monster that was not covered in stone. How do I get close enough and could I make him laugh again? He may be covered in rock, but I was encased in armor. After his next strike against my staff, I took advantage of the monster’s slow speed and lunged for his vulnerable spot. Good fortune must be on my side because as I did this, its mouth widened in shock. I grinned to myself as my staff impaled its skull. My rejoice in victory was short lived for a great explosion landed mere feet from where I stood. Fireballs of immense proportion were falling from the sky, destroying buildings and taking the lives of our allies. The screams of pain made me shake with…fear? Sadness? Anger? I wasn’t quite sure. The only truth I knew was that I had to concentrate on my goal to protect Carmen and the other witches. They hovered above the chaos, their arms stretched out with palms open facing the portal. They released their magic and hit the edges of the doorway. Their magic looked like blue lightening. This kept the doorway from growing, but was it strong enough to close it altogether? Then I saw it. A creature with wings was headed straight towards the witches. I quickly leapt into the air; landing on my staff with agility and grace, flying to protect them. I was able to control my golden staff with my mind and was gifted with incredible balance making it easy to use my staff to fly. I was also able to encase myself with armor. These were the powers given to a Goldenflame, given to me. I was almost there when I was whacked off my staff. I hit the ground hard but felt nothing thanks to my armor. A groan still escaped my lips due to having the wind knocked out of me. The witches were unaware of the danger so near to them. All of the witches’ attention was being put into closing the dimension doorway. “Jade Magician!” I screamed, but my cries were futile. I was being overwhelmed by demons. I kicked and punched in what felt like every direction just to hold them at bay. Even with the amount of demons surrounding me, I sent my staff to the witches’ aid. My anxiety was through the roof. I couldn’t concentrate…so many demons…I wasn’t going to reach her in time. I was going to lose another friend.
I laughed in relief. Wolvina had somersaulted into the air and destroyed the winged beast in one fell swoop of her claws. “Stop worrying about others and focus on yourself,” said Adam. He had maneuvered his way into the circle of demons surrounding me. Adam was a reincarnated Komodo Dragon skilled in the ninja arts. His most powerful weapon was his dragon sword. We were now back to back, fighting for our lives. “You know better than to just throw your weapon away like that,” Adam chided. “Call it back so we can start having some real fun,” he ordered. I grinned, brimming with confidence. Now that he was by my side, we could win this I told myself.
It had been six hours since this campaign began and I could feel my body starting to slow. It rejected my urgency to keep moving. The swarm of demons just kept coming. Fighting them and dodging fireballs called me to rely solely on instinct. I didn’t have time to think; I could only react. I was having trouble breathing, also. My helmet was suffocating me. I evaded the swinging tail of a snake demon only to back into the flames of a recently fallen fireball. I noticed I wasn’t the only one slowing down. Fighters all around me were succumbing to their pain and fatigue. Two of the witches had already fainted. “Komodo Dragon!” I called over my shoulder to Adam. “Yah?” he grunted. “I think it is time for the second wave,” I told him. He nodded in Agreement.
I managed to get the attention of Tio, formally known as Master Tio, of the Reciliux. The Reciliux was an underground organization dedicated to enforcing supernatural law. Tio was a tall woman with blue scaly skin and small white horns protruding from her forehead. Gliding on my staff, I reached my hand out to her and yanked her out of the chaos. I went to the middle of the city, and Tio shot three white sparks into the air that looked like fireworks.
After our troops witnessed the signal, they fell back and retreated to the underground tunnel system created by the Reciliux. The second wave of troops replaced us which gave us a chance to attend to the wounded. I noticed that Carmen had not moved yet, so I flew up to see her. “Carmen, you need to rest let the other witches take over,” I told her, however she did not respond. I waved my hand in front of her face, but got nothing. I sighed; the only thing keeping this girl up was shear will power. “Stubborn witch,” I muttered. As soon as I placed her arms at her side she collapsed instantaneously. I carried her on my back to the main base.
Reciliux underground base was filled with wounded soldiers. I set Carmen down on one of the medical benches, and with some rest she should be fine. She had a bit of a fever, so I took her green cloak off of her and placed it under her head for her to use as a pillow. “Goldenflame, you are wanted in the conference room,” a saluting foot soldier in a black cloak and defensive padding reported to me. I had him lead me to the conference room. Once there, I found Tio, Adam, Dane, and three other men I was not yet acquainted with. Dane was Ulrica’s second in command and life mate. “Where is Wolvina? Shouldn’t she be here?” Dane only growled at my question. “She is in critical condition at the moment,” answered Tio. “Goldenflame, we need your input,” continued Tio, changing subject as if it were nothing. The conference room was large but dimly lit. The walls were bare the only thing the room contained was a large table in the center. On the table was a large map someone had drawn up of the city and the dimension doorway. “Our first priority should be stopping those fireballs. You have a weather sorcerer, correct?” I asked Tio. “Yes,” she responded. “Good, ask him to make it rain. That will extinguish the current fires at least.” I told her. One of the men I hadn’t met before began to speak, “The fireballs are coming from inside the portal,” he pointed to the map they had laid out. “I suggest sending a small group of soldiers inside to neutralize the fireballs,” he said. “If soldiers are sent inside the dimension doorway, they take the risk of never returning if the witches manage to close it,” added Adam. “But if we do not infiltrate the doorway, this fighting will only continue,” said Dane. “Are you suggesting we could stop it from the inside?” asked Tio. “There must be magic based demons preventing the witches from closing the doorway,” another of the men who I did not know had joined the discussion. “Then it is decided,” they all looked at me. “The Chosen Angels will infiltrate the portal and stop whoever is behind this. The sooner we end this the more lives will be spared. It is the Chosen Angels’ duty after all,” I told them. There was silence for a few minutes, but I got no arguments. “I will send three Fire Eaters to assist you,” said Tio. I nodded in thanks. The remainder of the conference consisted of contingency plans for if the mission failed and dispatching quicker medical teams. We must have been in there over an hour, but I only heard half of it. As I was leaving, Dane shoved his way past me in a rush. He must be going to check on Ulrica, I thought to myself. I should go, too.
Since we were underground, the stone walls were cold, making me shiver. Dane must have been going pretty fast because I had already lost track of what direction he was going. I stopped a medical ninja passing by. “Hey, can you tell me where those in critical condition are being kept?” I asked him. “Straight down the hall, and take the first left,” he replied, not even looking at me. He was too busy reading a medical chart to bother. When he looked up he immediately looked frightened. I raised an eye brow at him in confusion. “I’m sorry for my rudeness, Madame Goldenflame,” the medical ninja bowed. “Forget it,” I mumbled. I kept walking and sure enough there was another corridor on my left. I found Dane leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette beside a closed door. Only Dane would be blowing out toxic fumes in a medical ward. I inwardly rolled my eyes. “You love her, don’t you?” I inquired to Dane. He stood and glared at me, then went back to leaning against the stone wall exhaling the cigarette smoke as if defeated. I wondered what he would look like if I could see past his glamour to look human. Would he have sharp claws, a tail, ears, fangs, and would his eyes change like Ulrica’s did? Maybe he would be hairier since he was male. His arms were folded across his chest. His brown leather jacket made his arms look strong and powerful. Dane was highly attractive. He was tall, broad shouldered, with light blond shoulder length wavy hair and an Australian accent. “I’ve only been with Ulrica for a few hundred years, but I never want to leave her side. For as long as I have known her, she has been cold and withdrawn. An icy fortress enraptured her heart, but I accepted that it was impenetrable. I didn’t care that she was cold and unfeeling. I told myself that as long as she allowed me to stay with her that was all I needed.” There was a sadness in his eyes as he told me the story of him and Ulrica. Then he turned to me, “One look at you, and that fortress shattered,” he spoke bitterly, “Her heart began to beat again.” He stepped closer to me using his height to appear imposing. “Love is not a game, Goldenflame. You don’t love her, so don’t lead her on,” a low growl escaped his lips and with that he walked Away.
Dane was right. I do not love Ulrica, but she is my friend and I needed to thank her for saving Carmen’s life. I knocked, and then smacked myself on the forehead. She is probably unconscious. Why was I knocking? I pushed the door open and entered a small room full of monitors. There was Ulrica; she was laid out in the center of the tiny room in a rolling bed. Ulrica once told me that she preferred to fight naked. A wolf’s fur was like their armor but Ulrica relied more on speed so in order to increase her speed she wore very little of it; just enough to cover her chest and rear end. When she wakes up, I’m going to tell her if she’s not fast enough to dodge shit, then she needs more fur, I told myself. Her left side was bandaged up and her forearm had third degree burns that would probably scar. At the moment she was unconscious. I wasn’t worried though because she looked at peace. I scooted a chair to her bedside between Ulrica and the monitors. I had read somewhere once that even when a person is unable to respond, they can still hear everything that is going on around them, so I started to talk. I stared at my feet twiddling my thumbs, “I am sorry you are in this mess.” I shook my head, “I am sorry all of us are in this mess.” I was so tired of my friends getting hurt around me, and me being unable to stop it. I felt helpless. “I wish I was stronger, Ulrica,” I said to the air. I glanced up; Ulrica’s breathing was steady. I noticed that stitches ran across her forehead. I had the sudden urge to touch them. I reached my arm out. My fingers were inches from her face, but I stopped myself short. She must be incredibly sore it would be mean to poke her stitches. Her face was battered, and yet her beauty had not diminished. I could not help but think about the day we had first met. She had walked into the Teen Center looking for a job. The Teen Center was a club that Carmen owned and where we spent most of our time. Ulrica had such poise, and I hated her instantly. She was so beautiful that all the guys could not help but stare. I was envious. Then she bought me ice cream and we became friends. I smiled at the memory. The fastest way to my heart had always been through my stomach. My thoughts wandered to a not so distant past away from this hell hole.
“Emma, is that you?” Ulrica’s wolf like
eyes blinked up at me.
“Silly wolf, don’t you know better than to
get yourself hurt,” I teased.
“Am I dead?” she asked.
I could not help but giggle at her question, “I sure hope heaven doesn’t look like this dump,” I told her.
She smiled, “The view is not so bad.”
“You are in the recovery room of the Reciliux underground base. We just sent out the second wave of attacks. I wanted to thank you for saving Carmen.” I stood ready to leave now that I had said what I came here for. “Now do what this room is meant for and recover,” I ordered.
“Wait, stay,” her weak body tried to sit up, but it only managed to re-open the wound on her side. I placed my hand on her shoulder to prevent her from getting up. “By the way, Dane came to see you, but you were asleep so he left,” I told her.
“Why did you come?” she asked me.
“Adam,” I said thinking out loud. She looked at me confused. “Adam’s sword has the power to heal. I’ll go find him, and we will have you fixed up in no time,” I was almost out the door but stopped at an afterthought. “Don’t move till I get back,” I instructed as she had already started trying to sit up. Adam was currently in the medical wing using his sword to heal the injured soldiers. Unfortunately there were so many injured that I had no clue where to start looking.
“Ow,” said Carmen as she sat up. “Where am I?” she wondered. “You are in the medical wing of the Reciliux underground base,” Lynashia spoke from inside Carmen’s head. “You have been out for a good hour,” said Lynashia. Carmen was surrounded by rows upon rows of medical benches with people and magical beings scurrying like rats in a cage. Cries of pain surrounded her along with doctors barking orders. “I should give this bench to someone who really needs it,”
Carmen thought to herself. She tried to stand but her legs wobbled and her head spun forcing her to sit back down.
Carmen spotted me from across the room. I was turning my head in every direction hoping to find Adam.
“Looks like she’s looking for something,” Carmen thought to herself. “Goldenflame!” Carmen screamed across the roar of noise and waved her arm at me frantically.
“Was that Carmen’s voice?” I turned towards the direction in which I thought it came from and smiled. Yup there was Carmen, she was awake and waving her spastic arm at me. I began weaving my way into the crowd to her.
“It still amazes me,” said Lynashia to Carmen. “What does?” Carmen questioned. “Emma’s soul.” “Wait…wait…you can see souls, and didn’t tell me!” Carmen was yelling in her head. She was hurt that Lynashia had held back information. “It is not something that can be taught. I was born with it,” Explained Lynashia. “And what is so great about Emma’s?” Carmen asked. “It is a bright white light full of fierce determination; so great it radiates off of her like her body can not contain it. Adam’s is a fiery red. He is filled with warmth and kindness. His nonchalant apathetic attitude is a miserable front. It is his soul that makes me believe he is the strongest Komodo Dragon yet because the Komodo Dragon’s power comes from the heart. And Adam and Emma’s souls are drawn to each other like moths to a flame,” said Lynashia. “You mean like… soul mates?” asked Carmen. “Yes,” answered Lynashia. “I had always thought a soul mate was just a nice concept. I never thought it was real,” admitted Carmen. “It is rare, but it happens, so when it does, I feel privileged to see such a sight. I think souls are like puzzle pieces. People get aggravated when they can’t find the right piece so they pick one that almost fits and are content with that,” said Lynashia. “But Adam and Emma are not puzzle pieces they’re soul mates, so that means they will end up together, right?” Carmen knew it was a rhetorical question, but she decided to ask anyway. Lynashia’s response surprised her. “Fate may be pre-existing, but it’s the choices a person makes that decides the future, just because souls gravitate towards one another doesn’t make it certain that they will live happily ever after,” said Lynashia. “Well that just sounds depressing,” grumbled Carmen.
“You have an awful pondering expression on your face,” I told Carmen when I reached her. “What are you thinking about?” I asked. Carmen smiled at me, “Nothing. Lyn was just explaining some things to me,” she said. “Wanna go for a walk?” she asked. “Sure, but I have to find Komodo Dragon. I was hoping he could heal Ulrica,” I scanned the room for him one last time before we left the medical wing. I think walking helped to ease Carmen out of her nauseous state. “Goldenflame, I am really worried,” Carmen had a serious look on her face. “We are ignorant,” she told me. “Information is power and we have zip. We don’t know what abilities this enemy has, what he looks like, if there are more than one, what resources he has at his disposal…NOTHING!” Carmen was really freaking out her face was a canvas of worrisome thoughts. “We are fighting blind and we are going to lose,” she told me.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, “Ok, I am the reincarnation of a warrior through many generations; I just need to tap into my warrior instincts and listen to what they are telling me,” I thought to myself out loud. I opened my eyes. I poked my head into the room across from us; it looked to be set up as a research area. “Perfect,” I walked in and grabbed a large scroll of paper and found a black marker. “We need to start with what little information we do have,” I told Carmen. I wrote “Flame Guy” at the top of the page. 'Flame Guy' was a demon we had caught a few days ago that we interrogated for information. We had stopped him from burning downtown Pleasantville, New Jersey. After interrogating Flame Guy, he started talking about the 'God of Wind' and how he had been under orders to attack our town, so I wrote “God of Wind” beside Flame Guy. “Yeah, but Tio had told us that the God of Wind was dead, so this guy must just be imitating the real God of Wind,” interrupted Carmen. “Don’t forget about the lizard demons that kidnapped your brother,” Carmen told me. I wrote them on the paper, but I wasn’t sure how they were connected. “How did they know who I was?” I questioned out loud. “The lizard demons also mentioned that they were under orders,” I reminded Carmen. “What about that creepy hobo that knew about our past lives before we did?” asked Carmen. “I don’t think he has anything to do with this. Honestly, it doesn’t fit the profile,” I thought out loud. “Tio seemed to know about it. We should go ask her more questions,” I picked up the scroll and headed towards the conference room where I knew I would find Tio. We found her huddled over a desk going through some papers. Carmen and I sat down across from her. “What is it?” she asked without looking up at us. “We want some information. What do you know about the God of Wind?” asked Carmen. Tio looked up at us, “History says he was killed in a battle with Orion the Fierce. This happened long before the Chosen Angels were even created. In his human form he would be about six foot with dark skin and a strange accent. The history books don’t have a description of his true form,” she told us. “Why did he and Orion fight?” I asked. “Oh, something about the Wind God wanting to have his own planet, but Orion thought he was childish and wouldn’t take care of it. You see the Wind God was known for cruelty, and Orion was known for his wisdom and would not let the Wind God’s cruelty spread to an entire planet,” explained Chosen Tio. “Didn’t you kids ever go to school?” she chided us. “Um yeah, we go to a human school and learn about human history,” I told her. Then something occurred to me, “Did the God of Wind ever go by a different name?” I asked her. She leaned back in her chair to think, “Yes he did, it’s on the tip of my tongue... hmmmm... what was it?” She snapped her fingers in triumph, “Fugin, his name was Fugin,” she told us. “Does that name sound familiar to you?” asked Carmen. “You don’t think...?” I asked. “Oh, I think,” she responded. “I think the God of Wind is alive and that we are not dealing with an imitation. I think that he was masquerading as “Fu,” Liz’s boyfriend. Think about it, Goldenflame. That’s Chosen how the Lizard Demons knew that Brody was your brother and that is how they were able to kill Liz because she had her guard down!” Carmen was so furious she couldn’t sit still she started to pace around the room. To think the enemy had been so close to us made my skin crawl.
Tio’s face had grown pale, “Are you all right?” I asked her. “If this really is the true God of Wind, then we are doomed,” she told us. “If we fight we die, if we surrender he will just kill us, and there is no negotiating with Fugin,” in one moment of realization, Tio had resigned herself, so I slapped her. “Are you a General of the Reciliux armed forces or not!” I screamed in her face. “You are pathetic, giving up before even trying,” I scoffed at her in disgust. “We are not dead yet,” I glared. The fire in Tio’s eyes had not returned, but there was a slight spark and she wanted nothing more than to slug me. “Fugin is after the entire world, and yet all of his attacks have been centered in New Jersey where the Chosen Angels just happen to live. Fugin is after the Chosen Angels, he is after us,” I looked at Carmen. “Yeah, one down three to go,” she mumbled. “Right now we are the only chance Earth has in preventing human genocide. We can’t give up,” I told them. “And what do you suggest we do?” questioned Tio, who was still seething from my earlier comment. “I need you to tell me EVERYTHING you know about Fugin. I want abilities, fighting strategies, personality, weaknesses, anything you can think of,” I ordered her. “History class was a long time ago,” she told us. I didn’t respond. I just looked at her, waiting. Tio stared in return then let out a sigh, “Just as his name states he can control the wind, he can fly, create cyclones, tornadoes, you name it. He does not have any known weaknesses. He is famous for being merciless, and in his arrogance has never turned down a challenge. Also, of course, he hates humans,” said Tio. “How was Orion able to defeat him?” asked Carmen. “Good question,” answered Tio. “You mean you don’t know?” I asked. “History was vague on the details, but Orion the Fierce was the King of the Gods. His strength is self explanatory,” she told us. “But why is he after the Chosen Angels?” wondered Carmen. “My guess is revenge. After all you were created by the sons of the God who nearly killed him,” said Tio. “If he wants revenge, why doesn’t he just go after Bishamon, Chokaro, and Fukurokuju?” I countered. Those are the names of the three Gods that created Carmen, Liz and I. They are the sons of Orion the Fierce. Adam was created by a Servant God. “Lyn and I have a theory,” said Carmen. “Orion nearly killed Fugin, yet Fugin is just now showing himself after all these years. I am assuming he was recuperating from the fight with Orion. If he is going after the Chosen Angels instead of Orion’s three sons, maybe that means he is still not yet strong enough to take them on,” said Carmen. “You have a point,” I told Carmen. We looked at Tio to see if she had anything else to add. “If this is true, do we have a chance?” I asked her. Tio looked down, “No,” she told me. “You have been Chosen Angels for less than a year and have already lost one member. No matter how much Fugin has weakened, you are still no match,” said Tio. I stood to leave the room, but before exiting I stopped to turn and face them, “I am not giving up,” I declared.