Tempest

42. The Bell Tolls

Noah watched with a desperate eagerness that he could not control. Everything was going well. He had had close to a century to plan all of this and he was so excited that everything was going well. He looked at Natasha, saw her floating above the floor, her decaying flesh barely attached to her frame. She had never looked more beautiful to him.

One of his seers had been able to project what was happening in the Lycan Kingdon to his room, where he watched everything with Natasha. He watched eagerly as the creatures he had created marched into Tristan's territory like they owned it. There was no way they would lose. They were almost indestructible killers with no consciousness. That had been removed from them the moment they had been turned.

He watched the fighting that was going on, paying close attention, relishing in that his warriors could not be hurt. He had to give his scientists a huge bonus after all of this was done. They had greatly deserved it.

When he was satisfied that the job he had sent them to do was being done, he prepared to move onto the next part of his plan. He told his team to be ready to send the next batch to the Werewolves and then the other supernaturals.

He looked at Natasha, urging her to start opening the portals so that his fighters would go out. Go out and kill and maim. Destroy every supernatural creature and leave the world free of every last one of them. They all deserved it. All of them.

As the portals opened and they started walking through them, he felt his heart fill with pride. He would forever be known as the man who cleansed the world of the vermin. He would never be forgotten.

He felt the smirk on his face grow as his heart continued to expand almost exponentially.

That was before he realized that something was wrong. Something was very wrong and he needed to fix it.

"Where did all those portals come from? Who opened them?" he asked, turning to Natasha.

Natasha was watching the whole thing with a frown on her face. She studied what was going on and the frown grew.

"Close the damn portals," Noah snapped, his lips curled into a snarl. "They are going to mess up everything.

"Dragon Rocks," Natasha told him. "They are being used to redirect the portals. I cannot do anything about it."

Noah punched a wall and he screamed in rage, his fury knowing no bounds. When he stopped he was breathing hard, his hair dripping with sweat, his face red. He took a deep breath and walked to the door. "Come," he said to Natasha. "It's time for Plan B."

*

Galan knew that this shitfest was going to get so much worse than it had been before. As his people raced to fight Noah's modified supernaturals, it started to get bloody in a hurry. There were just too many of them. He saw Tempest to his left and was glad that she was still alright. Adria fought beside her, as fierce a warrior as Tempest had said she was.

He saw the people he loved going at it against these intruders who were fighting them because their free will had been taken away from them. They had been wrenched from their families and experimented on for decades, their lives ruined because one idiot had decided to change the world he had grown up in. To eliminate all that he held dear.

He could feel the rage that simmered within him radiate and spread across his people. There was a palpable tension that filled the air as the smell of death filled their noses. There was no coming back from this. The inevitability of death was finally here.

As claws and teeth ripped flesh around him, Galan fought with the same ferocity that those around him did. Around him, the Lycans shifted and the bloodfest continued. The gear that had been synthesised provided some measure of protection to them in their Lycan form but the fight got bloodier and bloodier.

They were losing.

And then, just as he was sure there was nothing more that could be done, more portals opened. As he paused to see what would be coming out of them, he took a deep breath and let it out fast.

Finally. Reinforcement.

Damien came out first, his huge dragon form shooting fire at Noah's army. Other portals opened up around them and other supernaturals came forth, warriors from other kingdoms that had been scheduled for attack As planned, the Dragon Rocks had diverted the imminent attacks and brought the rest of Noah's army here. The next part of the plan was to bring reinforcement from those same areas here as well.

It had worked. The fight would only be in the Lycan Kingdom. Nowhere else. One after the other, portals opened and other supernaturals came out from across the different kingdoms. Came to fight with them, to even the playing field.

In addition to Damien, weres, Ogres, Sylphs, Witches and other supernaturals flooded the area. The Ogres' massive forms rushed through the portal, their green bodies and long, thick limbs carrying large clubs and spears. Samual fought shoulder to shoulder with another Ogre who was just as big as he was. Behind them a hoard of other green giants fought behind them with the same ferocity that they did.

The weres came through in their shifted forms, their large furry bodies rushing through different portals. They immediately attacked as another portal opened. Through this third portal Sylphs, with their wings and light blue bodies flew in, using the wind to push back the attackers, allowing the other beings to attack them.

Damien flew over the war zone, lifting creatures and throwing them far and wide. He threw fireball after fireball, hitting them hard and pushing them away from the center of the fight. His large form flew around, helping those who were being overwhelmed by Noah's army.

Galan looked around and swore he saw Daniel and Samantha. His shock was short lived as he fended off another attack. Just as more portals opened, allowing even more supernaturals through from different areas across the world. They attacked immediately, knowing that there was too much at stake for them to lose

Limbs were torn from bodies as blood flowed, turning the earth red. Blow after blow was exchanged as kin fought against kin, family member against family member. This went on for what seemed like hours, neither side willing to back down.

Then Vivian arrived.

She walked into the battlefield and the effects of her power were felt immediately. As she passed the attackers, she flexed her fingers and their shadows stopped moving. As their shadows stopped moving, so did their bodies. She continued to walk through the war zone, she stopped all the creatures around her in the same manner, giving the supernaturals a reprieve against this impossible enemy.

When the attackers froze, everybody else stopped and looked around. Dead bodies littered the ground and the blood and gore around them was hard to stomach. The attackers growled as they stood still against their will in the midst of the carnage.

Vivian, her black hair tied in a long plait down her back marched past everyone, her dark skin and blazing brown eyes not missing anything around her. She weaved her powers around the fighting bodies and effectively froze everyone she wanted to.

From where he stood, Galan could see the effort it was having on her. A thin sheen of sweat beaded on her forehead and her muscles started to visibly shake. Holding onto two thousand strong, genetically modified supernaturals was no small feat.

As she strained to hold them, two things happened at the same time. The first one was that the creatures started to moan instead of growling as subtle changes started to take effect on their bodies. They twitched and their bodies seemed to be in flux as they slowly changed.

The antidote was working. They slowly started to change back and when they fell to the ground after Vivian released them the second thing happened.

A portal opened and they all watched as a tall man walked through it, wearing all white. Beside him stood a floating corpse-like creature with red matted hair and rotting flesh.

As the portal closed behind them, the silence that filled the Lycan Kingdom was surreal.

Then, the man spoke.

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27 December 2020

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