Heroes Rising Fiction: Mythic Chase part 8

The battle was won, but the war is far from over.

Part 8

Chase dashed across an open field, she threw knives at incoming arrows. The arrows exploded in a puff of gray smoke as they met the knives. She reached for another blade but found her supply empty and an arrow was sure to come toward her.

“WATCH IT!” A red-headed woman landed and used a magic barrier to protect them from the arrows.

“Thanks,” Chase said and dashed to where some of her blades were on the ground.

Hundreds of heroes had converged in the open plains of Oklahoma, all fighting one man. It seemed impossible that he wasn’t a smudge on the ground, but he was fending them all off with efficiency. Thousands of arrows blasted out from his position. Each time a person was unlucky enough caught by one, they would hit the ground and lose all sense of urgency. They would wail and cry, lamenting everything in the world.

Just then several energy beams hit the enemy and the ground beneath him exploded. This threw him and he rolled across the grass. He came to his knees just in time to continue his onslaught as the heroes got closer.

Chase ran toward him, only two knives left. She would blind this monster once and for all. She smiled and threw. With a snap of motion, he turned toward her and fired. Two arrows were all it took to end her attack. A third was shot right at her. She didn’t have time to avoid the hit, but it missed when she was pulled up into the air. A man with red wings carried her a few feet and then dropped her.

She grabbed a stone and flipped around, throwing it with the same precision she had with any blade. The remaining heroes fired, screamed, and blasted at the man. This time the eruption divided the enemy and his weapon.

Chase stopped, not sure what would happen next. She had never fought like this before. Her bones hurt from all the running, jumping, and tumbling. Was he really down for good? The dust settled, and the heroes waited for the next arrow, but it didn’t come.

“GET TO HIM NOW!” The red-headed woman yelled out.

The heroes dashed at the enemy, one picked up the bow while several converged on him. The red-headed woman trapped the man in a magic field, suspending him mid-air.

Chase arrived and smiled at their prisoner. “Someone find me a couple knives, I have a promise to keep.”

The man laughed, “Oh, you want revenge. Trust me, you haven’t the power to truly harm me.”

“Shut it!” The red-headed woman clenched her fist. He strained as the field squeezed him.

He looked over, “Oh, do I sense fae magic?”

“The names Krystal Fae.” She stopped, “Wait...do I sense magic as well?”

“Oh, good. You’re slightly smarter than the rest of these neanderthals. What I have is so far above your pathetic magic that it isn’t even amusing.”

“Enough!” Krystal lifted him higher.

The red-winged man came over with the bow, “Is this it?” He asked Chase.

She put a hand on it and closed her eyes. Traveling back she found it in the hands of the same man she saw on a rampage in those monitors at BADGE. “Yes. This is the real deal.” Opening her eyes she looked back at the cloaked man, “It’s over, now tell us who you are and what you’re doing this for.”

He laughed, “This is far from over. I have what I came for. It was a fun little party, but I suspect you have another fight ahead of you, one that you’ll most likely lose. As for me, I have only begun.” With a puff of black smoke, he was gone.

“WHAT!” Krystal let go of the magic and looked around. “This isn’t possible. No one could escape that trap!”

“Help!” A woman yelled.

Chase ran over and found a woman cradling a whimpering man. “What’s wrong?”

“He was hit by one of those arrows and went down. I can’t get him to shake this. It’s like he can’t hear me.”

“There’s more.” Heretic, the red-winged man flew up slightly and gestured to the field.

Dozens of heroes laying on the ground in a state of despair. Some wailed, others cried. A few were calling out names of lost loved ones.

Chase frowned, “What’s happening?”

Just then several dozen communicators went off and a single voice boomed out of all their speakers. “This is Nova, Report!”

Krystal Fae grabbed hers and spoke first, “Sir, we have obtained the bow but lost the villain. He escaped…somehow.”

“Half a victory is enough. We need that bow. Get back to BADGE HQ on the double, things are getting worse.”

Chase spoke into her comm, “Nova, we have several hundred heroes out here who are not acting right.”

“Gather them and bring them here. They aren’t alone. Now, move it! Nova out!”

The heroes rounded up the despondent people and moved them to the landing craft. After everyone was inside a lander or sky-born, two heroes summoned portals and transported everyone quickly.