Battle for Keltorea:Sun Warrior Chronicles Book 2

Chapter 8:Skirmish

Jukira's and Lumaira's battle groups departed Vanraael, and flew north. They were reinforced by a portion of the Vanraael defense fleet. Their target was the air base for Mandraesyr's fleet.

They caught their foes unprepared. The Keltorean capital ships unleashed their fighters, and the battleships and cruisers attacked Mandraesyr's dreadnoughts, while the zeppelins, frigates and corvettes fired on the base. Jukira and Lumaira led the Keltorean Air Corps in a strike on the Delmar ground troops.

Two Tearia met the Sun Warriors. Jukira drew her pistol, and shot several Delmar soldiers, and unleashed a volley of energy balls on the Tearia before her. Her foe repelled the projectiles with its hand, and retaliated with a torrent of lightning. The black lightning overwhelmed her blue, but the Sun Warrior caught the rest on her Sunspear, and spun the weapon, redirecting the energy back at the Tearia. She called down lightning from the sky, and channeled it through her weapon, pummeling her foe's defenses with a continuous stream of energy. At last, the Tearia broke away, and attacked with its Darksword, which she met with the Sunspear.

The two warriors were evenly matched, neither able to penetrate the other's defenses. And then, the Tearia struck her with earth, disrupting her concentration. It pushed her into an earth wall with a telekinetic wave, and tore the Sunspear out of her grip. Jukira drew her pistol, but the Tearia destroyed it with a ball of dark energy, burning her hand and wrist. Jukira hissed, cradling her hand, and barely evaded the following torrent of fire. She coated her healthy hand with lightning, and caught several Darksword strikes, with difficulty. She channeled lightning through the ground, stunning her foe for a moment. She retrieved her Sunspear, and swung, aiming for her foe's neck. With only one hand, however, she could not utilize the weapon to its full extent, and the Tearia easily repelled her attacks, before skewering her to the earth wall with its thrown Darksword.

Jukira released a blast of lightning and telekinesis, but her foe repelled the attack once more, though with some difficulty, and retaliated with fire and ice. Jukira could barely summon the energy to shield herself. But the Tearia's next attack broke through, and it withdrew its Darksword. Jukira crumbled to the floor, her legs too weak to support her weight.

Lumaira's Sunsword fell out of her hand, as the Tearia pushed her to the edge of the platform they were fighting on. The Tearia grasped her by the neck, and pushed once more. She felt her footing disappear, but, as the Tearia pushed her off the edge, she pulled it down with her. She maintained a grip on the edge, while the Tearia held on to her arm. It raised its free hand for the deathblow, but Lumaira kicked it in the face, and unleashed a burst of lightning, throwing it off. She got back on the platform, and retrieved her weapon. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jukira, crumbled against a wall, with the other Tearia approaching her, Darksword raised for the deathblow.

Lumaira rushed to her side, and as the Darksword descended, she batted it to the side and sliced through the Tearia's wrists, before impaling it through the heart. She knelt next to Jukira, and focused on the more life threatening injuries.

"Did you kill the other one?" Jukira asked, her voice weak, her words barely audible. "I threw it off the platform, but it probably survived."

As if in confirmation, dark energy flashed, as the second Tearia appeared. "Nice try, Sun Warrior. But not good enough", the monster said, and attacked. Lumaira sidestepped its heavy blows, and locked its arm. She grasped its throat, and unleashed lightning. Her foe returned the gesture, but it was too late. Lumaira burned through its neck, and her foe collapsed, never to rise again.

Meanwhile, the Keltorean warships had destroyed the defense fleet, and much of the base. The Air Corps had routed the ground troops. Their heavy weapons took had taken out many of the xyras and other monsters, and severely injured many others. In turn, they had lost 4 battleships, 3 cruisers, several frigates and corvettes, and around a fourth of the fighter fleet. Of the elite battle groups, 5 zeppelins and 22 fighters were left. And of the 4000 Air Corps, just under 3400 soldiers were left.

Jukira and other survivors were given urgent medical attention, and the fleet returned to Vanraael. The relief of their triumph swiftly turned to shock, as they saw the city under assault by the rest of Mandraesyr's fleet.