Ziana
Five minutes earlier
"Damn it all!" David growled as we ducked behind a wooden crate to hide. "They were supposed to have a transport ready for us! Not another war zone!"
I peeked over the top of the crate and looked at the state of the docks. There was fire everywhere, corpses of soldiers lying every which way, soldiers from multiple nations screaming and running blindly while they fled from one of the two terrors that has caused all the devastation.
The cause of all this destruction were two creatures, too powerful and intelligent to be called evos. Even Chase's evos. The masterful way they commanded the battlefield and cut off any hope of reinforcements or escape was too coordinated to be anything but crystal fused beings like Chase was during his duel with the Egyptian queen.
"We need to get out of here." I told my father-in-law. He looked at me frantically then motioned to the chaotic scene before us.
"And go where? In case you haven't noticed there are no warlords, zee-waro's or anything in the docks. And even if there were neither of us are splicers so we can't control them!" David spat.
I tried to remain calm despite the situation but my father-in-law had a good reason to be frantic. Regardless of that if we stayed in the harbor with those crystal fused beings we were more likely to be killed by a stray bullet or spell than a targeted attack. Taking a calming breath I looked around the harbor for any route we could take to get out of there. The fact the harbor was in the center of a natural cove did not help prospects.
"Do you know where the American's are keeping the aerial evos they brought to sell?" I asked. David frowned but nodded.
"Yes, on the cliffs not too far from here." He replied. "But how would that…"
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening with realization.
"The Arc-Aviard! They were designed to be riden by normies and splicer alike." David exclaimed, sounding hopeful. "We gave most of them to the splicers to help take down Chase but we kept some in reserve in case of heavy losses."
"I think this counts as heavy losses…" I said, casting a quick glance at the carnage around us.
David stayed crouched and started creeping along the remains of a nearby port office as he made his way towards the mouth of the docks. I followed him, moving as his did while doing my best to keep my hear from beating out of my chest. The sounds of battle and death were still ringing in the air around us.
To my right I saw one of the crystal merged beings; the humanoid fox looking one; stabbing a soldier through the chest with a crystal rapier while another identical one slashed the arm said soldier was using to cast a spell sigil. I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from screaming and hurriedly followed my father-in-law.
We were close to the mouth of the docks now, unfortunately that was where the fighting was the most intense. There were at least ten of those fox crystal merged beings fighting with a detachment of French soldiers and reinforcements from China and Scotland. However the ten crystal merged beings were more than a match for the fifty or so soldiers and they were slowly chipping away at their numbers.
David and I crouched behind a half collapsed wall and watched the battle, David's expression was blank and unreadable. His eyes were sharp though, seeming to take in the whole battlefield and picking apart everyone's actions and reactions. After a few moments of watching soldiers getting slaughtered almost effortlessly he sighed.
"A handful of fighters against more than three times their number…such a ferocious technique you've released into the world, Chase…" David said softly. I said nothing and instead looked for a way to avoid the fight while getting out of the docks.
"That fallen section of the wall, leading into the village, can we get out through there?" I asked, pointing to the section of the wall I was referring to. David looked in that direction and frowned.
"It's very close to the fighting, we could but we would need a distraction to keep from getting seen." David said
At that moment the moon above; which had been glowing it's pale light down on the island; was suddenly enveloped by a pillar of rainbow light for several seconds before bouncing off the moon's face and rained down on the island. All fighting stopped, everyone's attention turned to the moon and Rainbow waves that were raining down. While the waves didn't land close by, I could see the light they gave off getting closer to the docks with each second.
I suddenly felt a hand grip my forearm tightly and pull. Startled I almost screamed but managed to keep the reaction down and looked to see my father-in-law was the one that grabbed me.
"Everyone is distracted! Lets go!" David hissed in a hushed tone. I nodded and followed as we all but ran towards the hole in the wall. We weren't seen thanks to everyone looking at the rainbow pillar and less than elegantly climbed over the rubble of the wall and quickly rushed up the hill towards the village.
Once over the wall we both broke into a full sprint, neither of us daring to stop until the docks were nearly faded behind us. My lungs burned and my body screamed for me to stop but it wasn't until I felt a wave of nausea so strong wash over me that I fell to my knees mid-step and threw up on the ground. David stopped once he noticed I'd fallen and quickly rushed to my side.
"We can't stop here." He said coldly, rubbing my back in calming gesture despite his tone.
"Sorry. I'm not used to running…" I apologized, my hand coming up to my belly instinctively. "…Hope this isn't what morning sickness is like…its much too early for that…"
David stilled, his hand hovering over the center of my back. I gasped and covered my mouth as I realized I'd just carelessly revealed my suspected pregnancy to one of the last people I should have. Being an American and seeing the potential that Chase held I couldn't be sure David would be welcoming of more splicers added to his bloodline.
I looked up at David and his expression was unreadable again. It stayed that way for several moments before his eyes sparkled with joy.
"You're pregnant?" He asked. It would have been smart to deny it but I had already admitted my suspicions to Logan, if he made it back then there was no doubt in my mind that his dad would be the first he told.
"I believe I am…" I admitted. David hugged me tightly for a moment then let go.
"As happy as I am to hear this we need to get to the Arc-Aviard storage site." David insisted then rose to his full height. He held his hand up out for me and I took it, allowing him to help me to my feet. With that we kept moving and I discreetly wiped the remains of vomit from my mouth.
We passed through the gate leading out of the village, having slowed to a light jog now that the docks were far enough away. I followed David's lead as we hurried down a dirt road along the coast, neither of us said anything for the longest time.
"Does Logan know?" David asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes, I told him before he left to fight." I replied softly. David nodded approvingly.
"He has something to fight for, he'll make sure to come home." David said assuredly. My eyes darted to the waves of rainbow light that were still approaching. They were much closer now, flowing over the ground like water and bathing everything in rainbow colors.
"Those waves aren't natural." I said, changing the topic. David looked in the same direction as me and nodded.
"I feel like Chase has something to do with that…" David said with a measured tone. "That weird wave will reach us before we get to the Arc-Aviard's. Who knows what it does?!"
"Where are we going?" I asked. David pointed to a lone warehouse that bordered a cliff up ahead.
"Up there. The Arc-Aviard's need space and isolation to make sure they don't accidently bond with someone." David replied.
I started to ask another question when I heard a strange sound coming from behind us. I glanced over my shoulder and that a rainbow wave had washed over the village and dock we had just left and was now coming our way. The sound however wasn't the rainbow wave moving, it sounded like a faint voice almost.
"That wave is heading this way!" I exclaimed.
"Sooner than I thought…" David growled and broke into a full sprint. I sped up to keep pace but my stomach was still tossing and turning from throwing up earlier. I groaned and grabbed my belly instinctively as it threatened to make me throw up again. I had to slow down.
"I'm going to be sick again…" I whimpered and covered my mouth. David stopped and looked back at my slower form then clicked his tongue and rushed over to me.
"Now is not the time!" David hissed then scooped me up into a bridal carry and started running again.
"Sorry…" I apologized softly.
"Pay me back with strong grandchildren!" David replied. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the rainbow wave was nearly on us.
I could hear the noise much clearer now. It was definitely a voice, a soft and melodic, coming from the rainbow waves. It was someone's singing voice.
"Wait… is that…?" David muttered, seeming to slow down slightly.
The rainbow wave overtook us in that moment. David crumbled to his knees, dropping me as he grabbed his head. I fell to the ground and rolled several times, grabbing my stomach to protect it as a voice echoed into my head.
"…so high in this dark and lonely sky, this ocean of obsidian tangled in your light…" The voice sang. Each note booming into my skull like a haunting refrain.
"SO LOUD!" I screamed. David rolled and thrashed along the ground, suffering from the same power as me.
I felt a slight stinging pain in my stomach, and instinctively knew that it was my babies. While they were little more than barely developed fetuses at this stage but I knew they were reacting to this rainbow wave. I felt a white hot burning sensation spread from my belly through my limbs before finally collecting in my chest. The heat grew hotter and hotter until it felt like I had the sun closed in my chest then it vanished all at once. Once the heat vanished I realized that the singing had vanished as well.
I sat up and placed my hands on my belly. The pain was gone which sent alarm bells blaring off in my head, fearing for the health of my babies.
'Did that I lose the babies?' I thought but no soon had I finished the though did I feel a sense of serenity and certainty. 'No…they're alright. They protected me…protected us…so young and so powerful…'
"The voice is gone…" David said as he too sat up. He took a quick look at our surroundings, his eyes locking on the rainbow waves that were nearly covering the whole island, his expression turned grim. "…that was Chase's voice, singing that song his grandmother always sang for him."
"So Chase is behind this?"
"Undoubtedly…we need to get off this island." David said then stood up. He held out a hand for me, helping me to my feet for the second time.
"We're not that far from now. If that attack scrambled others as much as it did us then our forces will be made short work of." I observed.
"The same could be said of Chase's people." David said as we headed towards the Arc-Aviard's storage.
***
"Finally! We're here!" David exclaimed as we reached the doors of the cliff-side warehouse. I glanced at the immediate area then frowned.
"No guards?" I asked, suspicion thick in my voice. David paused and glanced around, his eyes taking on a suspicious gleam.
"There's supposed to be a couple here to keep an eye on things…strange." David said then pulled the door open a crack and peeked inside. He was quiet for a moment then slowly closed the door fully again and looked to me. "The guards are inside, but they're unconscious it looks like. The Arc-Aviard's are just standing in a circle looking up at the ceiling."
"Strange…" I said, copying David's earlier sentiments.
"Stay here, I'll check if it's safe." David started to open the door but I grabbed his arms to stop him.
"You can't go alone!" I hissed.
"I can't ask you to go with me. You're pregnant with my grandchild. Logan would skin me alive if something happened to you." David retorted. I frowned at that declaration.
'Logan would be angry now…but how angry would he be once he finds out our children are going to be splicers….'