Fire Child Part 22

Roars of freedom began filling the air as Aeon frantically rushed forward.  He crushed the wall in a single blow and tossed aside two gigantic handfuls of rubble before unearthing the sanguine crystal.  Only after he had wiped away the dust and dirt did he perceive the humanoid figure inside.

  “I suppose I should not be surprised,” said Aeon as he clutched the crystal between his forefinger and thumb.

  One of the escapees rushed over.  “We are free!  Just like you said we would be, is that him?”

  “Yes, circumstances forced him into this form, but he is undoubtedly the Fire Child.”

  “I’m sure none will oppose your proposal now.”

  “That is talk for later, first we must escape this place.”

  “You know of a way?”

  Aeon reached backward and wedged the sanguine crystal between the unci on his back.  “Follow me.”

  “This way,” shouted the youngling to the assembling crowd.

  The durandal horde followed Aeon like a stampede of buffalo, decimating everything between them and their leader until he finally stopped at the pen’s easternmost reinforced steel wall.  Before anyone could make any kind of inquiry as to the reason, Aeon released a thunderous blow against the wall.  The steel screeched and the shock aggravated the laboratory’s decline into ruin, a few durandal were forced to dodge massive boulders that were shook loose in the attack.

  “Oh dear,” said Aeon as he stared at the dent in the wall.

  “What?” asked the eager youngster.

  “That blow had sufficient strength, they must have collapsed the tunnel as well,” said Aeon seemingly to himself.

  “What?”

  “Quiet, I need to concentrate,” said Aeon as he retrieved the sanguine crystal from his back and reached out with his mind, “Zendrius, can you hear me?”

He could feel a consciousness but it seemed far removed.  “Zendrius, you need to wake.”

  There was a loud screech of metal, continuous snaps followed by deafening groan and Aeon knew that the laboratory was on the verge of collapse.  “Wake or we are all going to die!”

  The crystal returned to flame so abruptly that Aeon nearly dropped the disoriented Dannar.

  “Ow, migraine, what’s going on?”

  “They were thorough, they collapsed the tunnel in addition to sealing it off.  You need to burn us a way out,” shouted Aeon over noise.

  “The heat won’t hurt me but I can’t say the same for all of you.”

  “We’ll regenerate.”

  “Which way?”

  Aeon pointed to the reinforced steel wall and without delay intense heat emanated from the sanguine flames, singeing most of the nearby durandals before they had the chance to retreat.

  The flames bore hungry through the six foot thick steel wall and into the rock behind it in a matter of seconds.  The temperature rolling off Zendrius was so immense that the collection of durandals, Aeon included, continuously backed away from it despite the looming danger of the collapsing laboratory.

  There was a sudden ear-splitting crack and Aeon shouted, “Forward!”

  The horde rushed forward into the magma-laced tunnel, ignoring any and all injuries they sustained.

  “Forward!” repeated Aeon as the entire roof gave away.

  Despite the impressive size of the tunnel, a few of the escapees at the rear were crushed while the horde funnelled into it.  Every durandal felt the loss, but they all knew they had to press on.

  Aeon found himself slightly in awe of the speed by which Zendrius was carving the spiralling escape tunnel, but what really astonished him was that he knew the flames only hinted at the power the boy truly possessed.

  The smell of burned flesh hung heavily in the air as he forced himself closer to Zendrius.  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine,” said the young Dannar before looking up.  “I’d say we are just about there.”

  “You know the way?”

  “Of course, up right?” said Zendrius with a smirk.  “Don’t worry, I know where we are going, it’s a Dannar eye thing.”

  “Very well then, I’ll leave it to you,” said Aeon as he turned back to the group, allowing the flesh that had been seared from his face to regenerate.

  The durandal horde timidly followed Zendrius for hours when he suddenly stopped.  “We’re about to break through to the surface, get ready to exact your revenge.”

  Some in the horde voiced their enthusiasm while others silently nodded, but they all lusted to tear into the SAINTs waiting above.

  Zendrius punched through to the surface and rays of artificial light stung his eyes.  “Go!  Have your revenge!”

  Aeon was one of the first to rush through the portal to vengeance when he stopped in his tracks.  He wasn’t outside the structure, but inside of it.  Strange flora was all around him and at the rims of the vast circle of plants were human structures, their occupants staring at him in mute astonishment.  “What – what is this?”

  “Retribution,” said Zendrius as the durandal horde tore into their ripe and vulnerable prey.    

Fire Child Part 20 & 21

“Now”
Zendrius released his flames, liquidating his metallic shackles almost instantly. To his surprise he found that the explosion had also rendered the contents of the room to nothing but smouldering debris. “Well that was effective,” he said to no one in particular as he regarded the melted cameras.
“Stop dawdling,” commented the voice in his mind.
“Good point,” said Zendrius as an alarmed echoed throughout the building.
He quickly ran over the door that had been dislodged by the force of the explosion and was about to make his first left in the series of directions Aeon had drilled into his head when he stopped.
“Why have you stopped?”
“That’s my armour,” said Zendrius as he skipped over a table towards a glass case.
“Did I not impress the importance of haste enough when I relayed the plan, Zendrius?” asked Aeon agitated.
“It will only take a moment,” replied the young Dannar before punching the case. Instead of shattering glass the only result was a dull thud from the case and a surge of electricity travelling up his arm. “Ouch! Damn it!”
“You are wasting time,” urged Aeon.
“Give me back my armour!” roared Zendrius as a wave of sanguine fire enveloped the case. After a few seconds there was a hissing sound and the magnolia armour fell from the melted case. The armour was donned and fastened before he passed the charred threshold of the first door.
“Hurry,” pressed Aeon as Zendrius navigated his way through the corridors, ripping doors from their frames with raw explosive power.
“You know the security here isn’t what I’d expect for a facility in lockdown. I mean where are all the blast doors, automated turrets, genetically engineered ninja mice?” commented the young Dannar as an explosion of sanguine fire tore out another door.
“It has been omegia since there was last an incident in the laboratory, the placidity has caused them to grow both arrogant and complacent.”
Zendrius rounded a corner and was met by a platoon of paladins, instinctively he sent forth a wave of flame but not before they opened fire. Most of the small metallic projectiles melted as they passed through the sanguine flames but the few that didn't, struck him fully in the chest. The impact of the shots send him reeling backwards as his flames washed over the squad, searing through their golden trimmed armour as if it were made from paper.
Zendrius brought his hand to where the rounds were imbedded in the magnolia armour as his torso throbbed with pain. “Thank you uncle.”
“Make haste, lest you be overwhelmed.”
“Yes I get it dammit, I have to hurry,” said Zendrius annoyed as he dashed onward.
“Stop,” said Aeon suddenly after a few minutes.
Zendrius skidded to a halt. “What’s wrong?”
“Too many of them have already passed through the teleportation device, you will be overwhelmed if you continue. My plan won’t work, go to the sealed off subterranean tunnel without me, you may still have enough time to escape on your own.”
“Like hell! I’m not just going to leave all of you here.”
“We do not have time to argue, go!”
“No,” said Zendrius before shifting his vision.
There were almost a hundred dull red energy signatures spread amongst the rooms adjacent to the walkway that lead to the teleportation pad. Zendrius reminded himself of everything these people had done and would do if he left now and felt his outrage intensify with each passing second. The sanguine flames instantly responded and by the time he was ready to release his wrath his surroundings had already sprung aflame from the heat.
“What are you doing?! You have to escape!” insisted Aeon frantic with worry for his dear deceased friend’s son.
“No! I will not leave you here!” bellowed Zendrius in an eruption of sanguine death.
He guided the flames towards their dull red prey and as he snuffed out the last blotch from his perception a sense of satisfaction swelled within him. Everything in sight was charred, scorched or melted as he proceeded on toward the teleportation pad, once there he found that not only was the pad ruined but the entire walkway had collapsed to the pens below.
“Very impressive Zendrius but I’m afraid you have also severely weakened the structural integrity of the laboratory with that display of power,” said Aeon with both a sense of relief and worry.
As if to attribute authentication to the comment the floor beneath the Zendrius’ feet began to give way under his weight, providing the young Dannar more than enough incentive to hurry. He raced through the corridors almost recklessly as walls started to topple, floors collapsed and rocks started to spill through the tears in the earth overhead.
“This is so not safe,” said Zendrius as he began to make his way down the stairs.
“You are almost there,” said Aeon encouragingly after a few minutes.
“Um, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“I can’t go any further down, the stairs have collapsed.”
“Are you sure?”
“What do you mean am I sure? Of course I’m fucking sure!”
“You have to jump Zendrius.”
“Are you crazy?! It’s almost a five story drop not to mention all the debris, I’m not particularly fond of the idea of getting impaled by a piece of scrap metal.”
“Use your fire to melt the debris, as for the fall . . . you should be able to survive it.”
“Should? Seriously?!”
“It’s the only option available, you either jump or we all get buried alive,” stated Aeon evenly.
Zendrius tried to send forth his flames when he realised that he had never recalled them after killing the paladins. Everything everywhere seemed on fire due to their heat and their static location was more than likely to blame for the laboratory’s current condition, the fact that their current predicament was due to negligence and not from a fit of rage was something he now kept as far from his mind as possible.
“Something wrong?” probed Aeon.
“No nothing, I just have to wait for everything down below to melt,” said Zendrius as the sanguine flames finally caught up to him.
“Good luck.”
Not giving his mind the chance to wander, Zendrius jumped the instant the debris was cleared, falling into a pool of molten metal instead of directly on the hard concrete. He quickly dove down to reach the door but despite his attempts, couldn’t manage to open it, finally relying on his flames to melt it away. The wave of molten metal pushed him through the doorway and a few feet down the corridor before he found his feet.
Zendrius ran to the room where Aeon had told him the master console was located but froze in his tracks when he entered the room. The north wall was dominated by a large window through which he now saw it. The durandal on the other side of the windowpane was more than thrice the size of all the others he had seen when they had dragged him from the teleportation pad across the walkway. It was a tetrapod and each limb ended in a strong seven-fingered hand. Man-sized pointed navy blue unci dominated its back which in combination with its muscular body, wolf-like head and pale grey eyes made it an unnerving visage.
“Finally we meet in person, it seems you did not exaggerate, you really are trapped in a minute form,” said Aeon genuinely surprised.
“Yes, yes I’m small and your gianormous, can we move on now, you know before this whole bloody place collapse on top of us?” said Zendrius as he made his way to the master console.
“Enter the following code: Z12O581MFO-BWP482XHLS-TC501OMV6C-P1OQHD30VF-9YPSH7QBA4-820XPB3UY0-K5N10ZOQE3-A720BQXO87-XO01NV7SUQ-M47G5FT9ON-W38H7COXN6-COQ85BWE1V-UOSBY3V4NA-D7GVW3XYU6-Z8XEY9LKBC-HQBZ72O13N-TXA38202B1-Q4KJOVNXAW.”
“Holy hell that’s some password,” said Zendrius as he punched in the last combination.
“Please stand by,” announced an electronic voice.
Aeon’s massive frame stirred and the rods instantly reacted with a high charge of electricity. “The code comes from back when they still moved us between outposts. It was the authorisation code of the first Duke of Area 31, however by the time he was succeeded it was no longer necessary to move us. No one even knew of the code’s existence, except the duke, and so when the first duke abruptly died in an accident, it was lost to all but I.”
“Code verified, preparations made, waiting for final confirmation,” Zendrius pushed the appropriate button and the electronic voice continued, “Confirmation procured. Annulling safety protocols. Disconnecting current. Detaching ATLAS.”
“There we go, now let’s g –” started Zendrius when suddenly he heard a loud snap.
“Zendrius!” roared Aeon as the small room’s roof collapsed.