‘Please,’ she said softly, tears welling in her eyes as she reached down to the ground, as if she were going to lift an invisible hatch to a bunker underneath.
There was a blinding flash as she pulled away and an explosion so loud that it seemed all five missiles had hit the same spot at once. But instead of a large crater there was now a three storey high cliff. The tanks that had been in front of her had all rolled down the other side of the slope and the missiles struck the raised earth seconds later. When the dust had cleared, the soldiers scrambled out of the tanks like ants forced out of their nest. All eyes were turned on Alyssa, but she ignored them as she helped Vacarlo to his feet and allowed the small boy to climb up and hold on around her neck. She set off at a quick pace, running straight past the Waikorian launchers as they readied to fire again. Vacarlo and the others all fell into line behind her, and together they all raced toward the Daijuarn shields once more.
After an hour of fighting, many of the people were safe behind the shields, but Adonis and Blair were growing weary of how long the battle might go on.
‘You need to ensure victory soon,’ said Adonis to Lendon.
‘We’re doing what we can, they’re tough to defeat.’
‘We have defended you long enough.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Lendon.
‘We are required in Corsec, we must conserve our strength,’ Adonis explained. ‘If you do not achieve victory in the next ten minutes, you will be on your own.’
‘You can’t do that!’ Lendon protested. ‘You would be condemning the lives of thousands of innocent people!’
‘We do what we must, that is all.’
‘We just need another hour, please, listen ... they are slowing their fire, we will find a way!’
‘Ten minutes,’ repeated Adonis, and Lendon shook his head slowly.
‘I have heard stories of your ways,’ said Lendon, his tone now of bitter acceptance for the selfishness of the Daijuar, ‘but I never believed them to be true. Well, Sentinel, I thank you for your shield, without you I am sure many more would be dead. No doubt this is why you are still highly regarded, despite your decisions to abandon hope. I will not pretend to know what advice to give you, but from my eyes, I see a man who does only as much as he needs to survive. So I’ll leave you with a question … is this the world you wish to live in?’
Before Adonis could respond, Lendon walked to the other leaders and informed them of what needed to be done. Adonis and Blair looked to one another through their shields and nodded. Their shields would now remain up for fewer than 10 minutes.
Lendon was right, the Alliance fire was indeed slowing, and when the ten minutes were up, Adonis and Blair had only blocked three missiles. Their shields disappeared and the people gasped, wondering what would come next. But there was silence. Had the Alliance given up? Had the travelling band achieved victory? Or had the Alliance known the shields would disappear?
The answer soon came with the loudest explosion yet, but it was not in the travelling band, and no missiles had been launched by the Ceahlin or Waikorian people. Several tanks and launchers flew high into the air from the Alliance lines, some landing close enough for the travelling band to see. The huge machinery crashed into the earth heavily and tumbled out of control, coming to a stop shortly after, broken, lifeless and lit with fire. The dark of night was no more as the land became lit with red, the brightest area being at the Alliance lines. Men screamed, gunfire began to ring out again, as well as missiles being launched. It almost seemed as if the Alliance was now fighting itself, but it soon became apparent that they were concentrating their fire on a lone entity. It moved through their lines with great speed, causing its surroundings to erupt in giant pillars of flame. But there was something more to these explosions than sheer weaponry, and the Daijuar became concerned.
‘Something is using the essence,’ said Adonis as Blair approached him.
‘Yes, but what?’
When all went quiet, save for the raging fires left behind, they spotted a figure dressed in white running up ahead.
‘The young sentinel?’ asked Blair.
‘What has he done?’ asked Adonis, agreeing that it was indeed Jaden they had just seen.
‘He’s saved us,’ said Yahtai, walking past the Daijuar. ‘Something you should have done hours ago.’
The sentinels ignored the comment and began walking up ahead.
‘Should we follow him?’ asked Blair.
‘Why did he do this?’
‘Protecting one he loves.’
‘He knows she’s here,’ agreed Adonis.
‘Sentinels,’ came a young man’s voice from behind them.