Chapter Twenty-Eight

A Twist in the Tale

A revolution doesn't die with a soldier's death

Vasilias

Earth/Inferna (Mount Tenebra) EarthYear 999

People came closer to the Iron Cage to have a close look. Soldiers had annihilated all the fleeing Soulments and now a deathly silence had replaced the dreadful commotion.

Vasilias didn't stop to see what was happening behind his back rather he concentrated on his mission. He had to find the root of this evil and uproot it from its origin.

Vasilias's army cautiously moved deeper into the enemy territory. They had been inside only for a couple of minutes when a raging fire engulfed the last lines of his troops. Sherwin sprung into action. He closed his eyes and grunted. A heavy shower swept across the field and doused the fire. However, a few seconds were enough for those violent flames to turn twenty men into ashes.

"No time to mourn the dead. We keep moving," Vasilias shouted. They had to get close to the mountain. A sense of despair clutched their souls as Tenebra loomed over them. Their hearts felt heavy, their brains became numb. One second they thought they had reached the base of the forlorn mountain, but the other moment Tenebra seemed far away in some other world. The fire that had consumed their brothers froze their blood and the rain that had extinguished those flames burned their skin like drops of acid.

The whole area near the mountain was flooded and the horses had to wade through streams of water. A strong gush of wind made them shiver. Their horses stopped moving as the water around their legs froze.

A thick fog came rushing toward them. It looked like one giant cloud but tens of demons had joined their forms to turn into this poisonous fog. This time Baelor and Gilbert were ready for the ambush. Baelor tapped his foot and everything, including the fog, stopped moving. This small time freeze was enough for Gilbert to show his prowess. He was here, there, and everywhere.

Gilbert dashed between his troops and targeted the demons' hearts with his soldiers' weapons. When Baelor let the time go, their arrows, spears, and blades pierced the dark shadows. The rogue Soulments were confounded by this sudden twist and even the soldiers had no idea how their weapons turned in their hands to stab the attacking demons.

"That was impressive work." Vasilias nodded in appreciation.

Gilbert was panting from all the effort. "They are doing much better than we anticipated."

"And they have more numbers than expected," Baelor noted.

A bright green bird came and sat on Theoreous's shoulder. "Drox says a small crater to our right is buzzing with energy."

"Why is your Guardian in his birdy form?" Gilbert asked.

"This provides him with a good disguise when he is spying. Not a soul can recognize him."

Vasilias and his armies turned their horses towards the crater. An unimaginable dread kept crushing their hearts with every step forward. They saw a large fire burning in the center of the crater when they finally reached there. Although no one was visible, some overwhelming presence hung above them.

A flame burned in their eyes and filled their hearts with anguish and hatred. Their enemies were right there, in front of their eyes. The treacherous demons. What were they waiting for? They had to kill them all. The soldiers raised their swords and attacked.

Vasilias came back first. He snapped his fingers and everything froze.

"Baelor help. I can't hold for too long," Vasilias pleaded to his friend.

Theoreous was the next to return to his senses. "Look away from that fire. That is messing up the brains."

Vasilias's soldiers were attacking one other. Their swords hung in the air, ready to chop off each other's heads. Vasilias lost his control over time but Baelor took over, just in time.

Theoreous closed his eyes and reached out to their brains. "Turn away from that cursed fire."

Before soldiers could turn their heads or lower their weapons Baelor's hold snapped. The morbid sound of multiple swords simultaneously cutting through human flesh entered their ears. Tens of heads flew in the air as their headless bodies fell from the horses.

***

Mysha

Earth (India. The Wall of Freedom) EarthYear 1999

A hundred army trucks milled out of the Wall and spread in different directions. There were five assault teams, each helmed by a Poten, connected through the Potens-Mind-Network.

The surprise charge had the desired effect. The Soulments were confused by this sudden change in tactics. All the ongoing battles in the field paused for a moment.

"Well, whoever sees Hubberts should pass the message. Don't take them on alone," Mysha ordered her friends on PMN.

Max was in the front vehicle. "Okay okay. Stokes says there is a lot of disturbance near the Red hills. I will check that out." His truck, and the others following him, swerved to the left.

"Hello Hello, network testin'. Can ya guys hear me?"

"I can't believe this. Brendon this isn't a microphone. We can hear you loud and clear and others can even see through your mind if they want. Please don't let your mind drift to other things."

"Don't worry sweetie, I'm fully locked on the war."

"You idiot, so stop replaying what happened last night between us." Tri's embarrassment was pretty clear even in her no-voice communication.

"Tri, leave it," Mysha chipped in. "I won't come near that drain even if my life kind of depended on it."

"Good Heavens! But I like spicy scenes. Let me check that out."

"Ryan, believe me, I will fry your brain if you dare try that," Tri shouted into the voice-less network. "Guys! we have a situation here."

The five search parties had taken different routes. Tri's path was blocked by a wall of burning trees. Hubbert, surrounded by thick black smoke, was standing in the middle of the road flashing his customary blood-curdling smile.

"Are you looking for us?" he asked, loosening his tie a little. "You chase us so badly it wouldn't be wrong if we assume that you have fallen in love with one of us."

Tri jumped out of her truck, pointing her gun at Hubbert's head. "Honestly your main problem is that you are anything but one. How many of you are floating around in this world?"

"You know nothing Tri, you know nothing. Although we are many, we are one. And you people still don't know the meaning of being One. Anyway, hasn't your dear friend, Harbux the traitor given you our count? You must be checking us off your list one by one"

"Seriously cut the crap and tell me why all of you are hiding on the big night. You don't care about annihilation, do you?"

"Not us but rather you who should be fearing for your lives."

"For God's sake Tri, what the hell are you doing? Get back into the truck. I told you not to engage till we all reach there," Mysha shouted on PMN.

"Something tells me he isn't going to kill me."

"Holy Angels, now you can read the devil's mind? Tri, step back right now."

Hubbert smiled and then everything happened in a blur. Shards of ice pointed like spears appeared in the air and zoomed toward Tri. Tri's soldiers fired their guns at Hubbert, but they were too late. Icy spears were already on their way to shred her into pieces.

Tri was no Max who could whoosh away from danger. She had made a big blunder and it was time to accept her fate. Inferna was inches away from her. She closed her eyes and waited for death.

***

"Can someone tell me what made her think that Hubbert wasn't going to kill her?" Max shouted at the top of his voice. No one had seen him explode like that but Tri knew she hadn't just crossed the line, she had willfully jumped into a death trap. "If I was a second late someone would have been chopped by knives of ice, you know."

There was no need to tell Tri what would have happened to her if Max hadn't saved her. She had felt the chill of those icy spears on her skin just before Max grabbed her and teleported. "Thanks, Max. Honestly, I was an idiot to not expect the unexpected from Hubbert."

"First, thank the Almighty that I had memorized this terrain by heart or else someone was gone for sure. Then thank your boyfriend who gave me that extra second to pick you up from your suicide spot. Can someone tell me what made her stand in front of a Hubbert for target practice? Did Hubbert suck the brain out of the Brainsucker? And someone is burning like hell. She must not overuse her powers. It is affecting her body and clouding her brain."

Max was furious and Tri didn't stop him from venting out his frustration. She was more annoyed with herself. She couldn't think of any logical explanation for her utterly illogical move. Jumping in front of a hungry lion thinking it wouldn't eat her was acceptable with Brendon but very unlike Tri. Maybe Max was right, overusing her mental powers was messing up her thought process.

Mysha saved Tri from more verbal lashing. "Well Max, your travel ports are getting harder to track so leave a better trail," she said appearing at Max's side, holding Ryan around his waist. "And for God's sake, next time you carry this baby giant. I can't lift a mountain while teleporting."

"Why can't girls stop complaining? For someone's information, I didn't come here directly. I had to make a stop to pick up your beloved friend, who was about to star in the late-night episode of The Direct Road to Inferna with Hubbert. And let me tell you, I carried two people at once."

"Mister I-Think-You-Must-Thank-Me-Because-I-Saved-Your-Friend, that is kind of your job. You are the Mover. No one brags here after completing his basic task."

"Demon's curse! Save your little love squabbles for the bed and look there," Ryan said pointing toward Hubbert.

This time Hubbert didn't disappear when the soldiers fired at him. He stood his ground and the bullets hung mid-air in front of him. Frozen in time and space. Hubbert, who wore the look of a child bored of playing the same video game again and again, nonchalantly jerked his head. The hanging bullets turned on their heads and flew back to hit the soldiers who had fired them.

Mysha's jaw dropped. "These bullets are made from the top grade Anti-Soulment metals. How the hell can he control them?"

"Hubberts never cease to surprise, you know. Okay okay, we need to act before he lays more of our men to waste."

Max was right. Hubbert was in full form. Ice shards, acid fog, venomous snakes, blazing fires, and bullets going haywire, he created utter chaos wherever he turned.

The Potens sprung into action. Bren applied his freeze but Olivia's glow had turned into blood red by now. Ryan's Wavey was more black than blue by the time he extinguished the fires and melted the ice shards. Max-Dash took care of the snakes, but Stokes was a pale yellow towards the end of this dash. However, Mysha and Harbux hardly broke a sweat diverting stray bullets toward the Soulment hearts.

Hubbert was all alone when Brendon finally let the time move. He was surrounded by Potens, like a cornered beast, yet his sardonic smile never left his face. "You guys are back. We missed you. This is no fun without you guys."

"Your fun is about to end, you know," Max shot back, clutching his side, trying to get his breath back. "It's curtains for you."

"This show must and will go on till the last of us walks the surface of the Earth. A revolution doesn't die with a soldier's death," Hubbert said and stamped his left leg. A shockwave emanated from him that knocked everyone off their feet. Earth shook violently, threatening to cave in and consume them all. Ryan grunted and punched the ground with his right hand. The Earth once again stood still.

Brendon lightly tapped his foot whilst Max and Mysha pounced on Hubbert at once. Max drove one of his daggers through his heart, whereas Mysha stabbed him from behind. Just like his brothers, this Hubbert too quietly accepted his fate. His eyes burned with fury but no sound came from him. Hubberts never gave their vanquishers the pleasure of victory.

Tri jumped into the endless abyss of his eyes. Those deep green voids had once threatened to drown her, but today she had to dive into them. Hubbert flinched, he wanted to look away but Tri overpowered his waning strengths.

"Mysha, help me go deeper," Tri called out to her friend.

Mysha grabbed her hand and a current surged through Tri's body. Tri went deep and again got lost inside Hubbert's mind.

A fire was raging in the woods. The ground was shaking. Balls of fire were raining from the skies. A volcano was spewing out ash and lava. Tens of dead bodies were lying in a field. Many injured humans were writhing in pain. Hundreds more, bound in chains, were cowering on the ground.

A large iron gate slid open and a thick dark smoke moved toward it. Hubbert, walking in the middle of this smoke made up of thousands of Soulments, was dragging a portly little man by his long hair. Tri was sure that this Hubbert was the real flesh and blood one because his twenty or so brothers were marching alongside him.

Hubbert closed his eyes and muttered a few words. The volcano behind him erupted with a deafening explosion. The thick black cloud engulfed him but when he opened his eyes the landscape around him had completely changed. A large valley now lay in front of him.

Tri dragged herself out of the abyss. "The Valley of Reckoning!" Tri cried. "They don't want the Indian valley. This battle is nothing more than a diversion. Mount Tenebra has fallen and Hubberts are at the Valley's entrance."

The dying Hubbert had a contented smile on his face. His form was dissipating but he looked as calm as a dying person who had seen his paradise before his final breath. "You can do nothing now. The Valley is ours."

Brendon picked up his gun and blew up Hubbert's smoky head. "Nah, humans won't fall. Earth's our home n we'll never let demons rule over us," Brendon cried out loud, but his roar ended with a violent bout of cough.

The Battle of Nox had to be fought all over again, but Brendon wasn't sure whether they had enough left in their tanks

***