Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Heroes Rising Fiction: The Jinn Chapter 8





Chapter 8: Untold War

Two months passed as the Ottoman Empire marched across Europe. Cities and villages were sacked, legions of European warriors slaughtered by the blades and guns of the Ottoman Empire. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers poured across the landscape, breaking down walls and destroying everything in their path. These Ottomans were unlike any force seen in history, their blades blazed with magic, their eyes were unyielding.
Rome was ablaze, every precious remnant of antiquity fell to the flames of war. Citizens dashed through the streets, screaming in fear as the Ottoman warriors flooded every corner of the once proud city. A woman led a large gathering of women, children, and elderly men toward the docks.
“COME! THEY ARE GETTING CLOSE!” She screamed.
Two older men ran past her with small children in their arms. One stopped, “They cut off Delilah and her husband as they tried to get to the underground escape.”
“Oh God, are they...”
“No, Marcus has barricaded the people in his home and they are hiding.”
“They won’t last long, I have to go back.” The woman ran but another person stopped her.
“It’s too late. You won’t make it back to them. We have to get to the docks and hope we can get away from their forces.”
“What of...” Her question was cut short when the screams of terror rang out from their group.
Bursting around a corner came a hoard of enemy warriors, blood stained blades swinging wildly.
“RUN! RUN!” The woman pushed the men ahead of her and then grabbed a small girl in her arms and ran.
“THEY ARE ON US!”
Just then someone jumped down from a building and used shoulders and heads to run across the fleeing crowds. He flew through the air and landed between the refugees and the approaching enemy.
Nova used a long blade with extreme skill, cutting down soldiers two and three at a time. He dodged blades with incredible precision and killed five men before they had a chance to respond to his attack. Finally, he had the space to pause long enough to yell, “STOP!” a wave of energy burst out of him and the Ottoman soldiers all stood still, their eyes glazing over.
Nova turned back to the fleeing refugees only to find them transfixed by this strange act. He commanded them, “KEEP GOING!”
Without a question, the people took the order and continued their flight toward the waiting ships.
Nova had only just turned back when the warriors were already going after him again. He dodged two blades, deflected another, and then spun into a wall, jumped off of it and flew right over the enemy. Landing in the middle of the fray, he executed a large sweep of his blade and seven men fell. He was now in the middle of this legion. They were no longer chasing the defenseless citizens, but he was overwhelmed.
At the moment he was going to lose this fight, an egg came out of nowhere and hit an enemy in the face. It exploded with a large flash and the people all stumbled back. Seven more eggs were sent into the group and these created colorful explosions of smoke.
A small creature landed on Nova’s shoulder and threw two more eggs that burst with a splattering of extremely smelly goo.
Nova struck down three men and then said, “I was wondering when you guys were going to show up.”
The Easter Bunny laughed and produced an egg the size of a watermelon, he lobbed it at the enemy and it created a magical explosion of purple fire. “Sorry, we had to discuss how to deal with this. COME ON!” EB jumped off Nova and launched himself into the air, right over a building.
Nova dashed for a pair of confused soldiers and sprung off of them, onto an overhang, ultimately landing on the same building. He looked back at the fleeing citizens, “Good, they’re far enough away they will make it.”
EB looked back as well, “They will be some of the lucky few.”
“How bad is it?” Nova asked.
“As far as we can tell, over ninety percent of this country is either dead or in chains.”
Nova looked across the burning city, plumes of smoke everywhere. The Colosseum collapsed in on itself, becoming nothing but a smoking pile of rubble. “What of the other countries?”
“Everything east of Italy is under their control. The Ottoman warriors are also coming up from Africa. They’ve completely destroyed Spain and are heading into France.”
Nova looked down at the shimmering blades of the enemy, “Is this as we feared? I tried using my power on them, it barely worked. They are...enchanted.”
“Yes. We weren’t certain at first. But, the magic couldn’t be hidden forever. Jinn has used his power to enhance everything about the Ottoman Empire and turn it into a war machine. The cost of lives is...unimaginable.”
“What of the others? Did they just send you?”
EB smiled, “Not in the least. Look for yourself.”
Nova looked up and saw a large Asian dragon swooping over the city. Next to it was a sleigh being pulled by eight reindeer. Santa came down and hovered next to Nova, “Good, you’re already here.”
“I’ve been here all along. I’m the only one who could contend with them.”
“Not anymore.” Santa said and then pointed, “EB and I will ensure that the enemy armies are occupied. Lord Dragon has requested that you go with him to confront Jinn.”
Nova shook his head, “I don’t know. Jinn is powerful, one of the strongest I’ve ever seen. Even up against Lord Dragon and myself he will be difficult to defeat. We need help. We need Lady Phoenix.”
Santa shook his head, “She is needed elsewhere.”
“Where else could be more important than stopping Jinn?”
EB said, “Trust me, she is important. But, I can’t tell you. We have to keep our plan as secret as possible.”
Just then they all jumped when a loud boom resounded across the city. Looking back they could see Lord Dragon slamming into an invisible barrier. He reared back and unleashed a fury of flames at it.
“Looks like Jinn has set up some precautions. Go!” Santa commanded and then turned his sleigh back toward the advancing armies.
“Good luck!” EB dashed away in the same direction as Santa.
Nova bolstered himself and ran toward the place where the Dragon currently attacked this magical barrier. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he deftly avoided the throngs of warriors spilling over the streets. Just before he reached his target, he jumped down to the street and cut down three warriors looting a tax collector's body. Grabbing their glowing swords he burst into a great speed, jumped off of a fallen wall, and then up to the highest point he could muster. Just as he got to the barrier he thrust both enchanted swords into the air and stabbed the invisible force. The energy around the blades crackled and sparked. He tumbled down and landed on ruins of a building.
The Dragon flew directly at the swords and unleashed a blast of flames. Nova had to cover his face due to the intense heat. The Dragon continued to approach as it belched out this torrent, then it slammed fully into the barrier. It’s body contorted on impact and destroyed the building Nova stood on. He jumped in time to land on the Dragon. The barrier exploded and the Dragon continued forward toward Jinn, with Nova riding on its back.

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