Argonaut - The Apprentice (Part II)

Chapter 8 - Throes Of Perdition

“Twins!” Cassius yelled, blasting the jet forward towards the falling aircraft.

“We’re on it” they responded in sync, disappearing instantly.

As the Argos shot underneath the Providence they reappeared, Sebastian had Athena and Niccolo had Belisarius. While the massive falling ship descended into the murk below Athena looked a little shocked that her vessel had been taken down so easily. As the moment passed she pressed one time on her device. The sky roared as a blinding light flashed far below, illuminating the colossal silhouettes of the Stygians.

“Die” I heard Cassius whisper to herself, “Just fucking die.”

We banked wide, joining the other jets to observe what could possibly remain of the beasts. A low, rumbling chuckle echoed as the light faded, dark shapes shifted everywhere below us.

‘Know us and despair’ the voices seemed to shout and whisper at the same time, ‘For we are the end of all things.’

A single boulder exploded out of the veil covering the torn up mountain, tearing across the sky and slamming into the Recro. As the rear end burst into flames Cassius yelled into her device.

“Recro, Recro are you still alive?”

When nobody responded she turned to Serena who shook her head sombrely, ‘They’re dead.’

Cassius swallowed, composing herself, “We’ll mourn once we’ve beaten these things.”

“-Negative Argos-” the captain of the Eripio said over the comms, “-The Council wants everyone out of here; they need firsthand information about these things and we’re it.-”

“So what; just leave these things here?” the captain demanded, “If we do that there’s no telling what they’ll do!”

“-Captain, this is not a request.-” A powerful male voice came on the line. I recognised it as Solomon, the unofficial head of the Council. “-Your determination is commendable but you know you can’t kill them, you’re just putting your team at risk. Pull out now!-”

She roared in frustration, tipping the Argos down into a dive under a Stygian that leapt high off the ground in an attempt to grab us out of the sky. The massive form blocked out the sun as it sailed over us, peppering the side of the jet with small rocks.

“Solomon” she snarled, “With all due respect, fuck off. These are the Stygians! If we don’t stop them here we’ll all be doomed. I’m sorry, but I have to do this.”

“-I’m sorry too Cassius-” he replied, “-But I can’t lose any more people. You’d do the same in my position.-”

The controls suddenly shot to the left, sending the Argos lurching to the side and away from the battle.

“No!” Cassius yelled, pulling back on them desperately, but to no avail. “No, no, no!”

“What happened?” I asked once Cassius had finished cursing.

“The Council took control, I can’t do anything!” She tried pressing every button and switch on the console, but none of them responded.

Deep, menacing laughter shook the sky behind us as the two black planes shot off, involuntarily leaving Ragnarok behind as the Stygians howled their victory into the sky.

“There” Matthew said, pointing to a building not far from the car, “That’s the recruitment centre. Welcome to Baltimore Ren.”