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#2
JUL 14 |
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“Storm of Steel”
The ship was a mere plaything in the hands of capricious gods as the storm raged out of control. As dozens of men rushed about frantically, trying to keep from capsizing, none noticed the two scared boys huddled beneath the aft stairs.
Stinging rain and enormous waves drenched all on board and sent many to a watery grave below. Scott clearly remembered the wind most of all; it sounded like screaming. A massive wave nearly knocked the ship on its side and sent Scott and his younger brother Alexander tumbling from their hiding space.
“Scott! Alexander!” cried the strong voice of their father from above.
He descended from the sky like an angel, hanging by a loose rope from the rigging. Captain Christopher Summerset...Scott's hero. Now that their father was with them there was no way anything bad could happen to them.
“Boys, where's your mother?” he asked anxiously. An adult would have seen the fear in Christopher's eyes but the eight year old Scott only saw his powerful father.
“I don't know, Papa,” said the elder boy.
“Where's mama?” cried Alex.
“Shhh it's going to be ok, son.” He placed a reassuring hand on Alex's head. “The Corsair's seen worse storms than this.” He exhaled a sigh of relief when he saw his wife stumbling across the rocking deck. Scooping up his sons beneath each arm the captain ran to his terrified wife.
“Thank the gods you're all safe. I was worried sick.” Even soaking wet and afraid Katherine Summerset was a vision. Christopher kissed her like he would never see her again. Scott didn't realize it until a lot later that he probably thought he wouldn't.
“This storm came out of nowhere, Katherine, there's something…unnatural to it,” the concern was clear in his eyes if not his voice. “I need you to keep the boys safe while I try to save this ship.”
“Be careful,” she kissed him one last time and took the boys from his arms.
“Captain!” cried a sailor in the crow's nest. “Whirlpool, dead ahead!”
The color drained from his father's face; a ship could ride out a storm but if a whirlpool had you in its clutches there was no escape.
“Get somewhere safe, I love you all,” and then he was gone; shouting orders, hauling rigging, trying his best to keep everyone alive.
Scott could feel the ship begin to accelerate rapidly as it was caught in the whirlpool's current.
“Mama, are we going to be all right?” asked Alex timidly.
“Of course,” she crouched down and held both boys so close they could smell her hair. “Papa will keep us all safe.”
The next few moments were so traumatic that Scott couldn't remember them for many years after. A gigantic wave struck the ship, nearly toppling it and washing many brave men overboard. The powerful wall of water knocked the woman and her two young sons from their feet and carried them across the deck. Katherine was big enough to be stopped by the rail but the boys were not. Scott hung on to his mother's arm for dear life while Alex hung onto him but the force of the water was too much for his little arms and they were torn from their screaming mother.
The look of anguish on his mother's face would forever be burned into his mind as the trashing waves took them away. To this day he couldn't fathom how he had survived the ocean and made it out of the whirlpool's clutches to land. He didn't care though, that fateful day he had lost everything that meant anything to him; his parent's went down with the ship while Alexander was lost somewhere in the ocean and likely drowned.
Now it was all happening again. The town of Nabras, where he had lived from the day he washed up on the beach, was burning. He looked on in horror from his hilly viewpoint as plumes of smoke rose from many points around the town.
Was this his doing? He wondered. He remembered the onset of his abilities had caused a fire in the stables and immediately blamed himself. Logic quickly prevailed though and he realized this couldn't have been the result of the stable fire a day ago. The stables were well separated from the rest of the town, reducing the likelihood of the fire spreading.
He scanned the town more closely and saw a point where the town wall had been knocked down. Only something as powerful as a catapult or a dragon could knock down that wall. Was this an attack? Straining his hearing he could detect the faint calls of voices yelling. Guilt immediately flooded over him; Nabras had been attacked and he hadn't been there to defend it.
The sound of hoof beats behind him broke him from his thoughts. He spun around and reached for a sword that wasn't there before realising he didn't need it. His hand rushed up to remove the glasses containing his power when he realized who was approaching.
“Easy there, kid,” said the man named Logan. “You got Xavier worried; the old man thought you ran away.”
“How did you find me?” demanded Scott. Logan merely tapped the side of his nose, but the squire didn't understand the gesture.
More hoof beats broke the evening as Hank rode through the woods, followed by Lady Jean riding side saddle. A sudden gust of wind picked up through the woods and the lady named Ororo descended from the sky.
He had not had a chance to meet Ororo in person yet. She had been a part of the duo that saved his life the night before, but due to being knocked unconscious and leaving Greymalkin not long after waking up he had not seen her again. She was a beautiful young woman with the type of light brown skin he had seen on many traders from across the sea. More interesting though was her pure white hair, not the gray of old age but a snow white color with oddly seemed to compliment her dark skin quite well. Although the squire couldn't help but find the woman attractive, yet the fact that she could fly so effortlessly and command devastating lightning bolts from the sky frightened him.
“Scott, thank the gods you're ok,” Jean jumped down from her horse and ran to the squire. “Stepfather sensed you were heading straight towards great danger,”
“Well, I appreciate you coming to my aid, my lady, but I'm safe,” said Scott, more than a little surprised that Jean seemed so concerned. “I cannot say the same for my town though...it looks to be under attack!”
Logan shifted in his saddle and sniffed the air loudly. With his thick fur cloak, rough hair and unshaven face he gave Scott the impression of an animal in a man's skin. “This place's got the stink of Raven and her cronies all over it,” he stated.
“Raven…the elf who tried to abduct me last night? Didn't you capture them?”
“Nope, the sneaky she devil and the others escaped,” replied Logan. “You see, we were a little more concerned with this idiot who went and fell on his head.”
Scott ignored the barb. “What could she possibly want with Nabras?”
“Perhaps the Brotherhood of the Chosen has decided to make a show of power?” suggested Hank, who looked awkward in the saddle with his ape-like physique.
“Then we better go find out,” said Jean.
“Are you sure you're ready, Jean?” asked Ororo. “You have never seen battle before.”
“I'm ready,” her voice strong with determination.
“Charles will not like it,”
“Well it's about time stepfather realized I'm not a child anymore and I want to do my part for the knights.”
“The knights?” asked Scott.
“The Knights of Greymalkin,” explained Jean. “It's what the townspeople have been calling us. I kind of like it.”
Without a word Logan started off down the hill to Nabras, leaving the others behind. Scott hurried to Jean's horse and leapt into the saddle, he reached out to help the lady up but she ignored his hand and pulled herself up with little effort.
The trio took off on horseback after Logan while Ororo took to the air, buffeted but strong currents of wind.
“Don't you think it would be wonderful to fly?” asked Jean in his ear as she looked up at Ororo.
“Don't you think it's kind of…unnatural for a man or woman to fly?” replied Scott.
Jean laughed in reply. “Scott, your eyes can knock down walls, and I can move things without ever touching them...nothing about us is natural or normal,”
He didn't reply; she was right but he didn't want to think about how different his life was going to be.
Logan had already arrived at the town wall and hitched his horse to a small tree. Nearby, the town gates were wide open and there were no guards in sight. The trio caught up to the feral man and tied their horses to another tree.
“You shouldn't run off ahead like that, Logan. We're a team and we should stick together,” admonished Hank.
“While you were all busy playing friend with the page boy here people are dying inside those walls,” replied Logan tersely.
He stalked along the wall to the open gates and signalled for the other three to remain still. Crouching down, he touched the dirt then sniffed his fingertips and grimaced.
“The stink of that fat ogre's all over the place, along with Raven and the toad.” He sniffed some more. “The witch was with them too.”
“What about Magnus? Any sign of him?” asked Hank with a hint of nerves.
“Can't smell him or his boy, doesn't mean they're not here though. Swift moves so fast he barely leaves a scent, and Magnus can float right over all this like the god he thinks he is.”
Ororo chose that moment to descend to the ground beside them and report, “It's chaos on the streets; they're killing them like cattle! The town militia is fighting valiantly but they're no match for the Brotherhood.”
“Who did you see in there, ‘Ro?” asked Jean.
“All of them bar Magnus himself,”
“Good, we can take the rest of that scum,” stated Logan. “Let's go.”
He led the group in through the main gates and down an empty street. Scott was shocked to see this street he had traversed for over a decade was now in ruins. Igan's bakery was aflame and the cobbler's shop was smashed beyond repair; it broke his heart.
“Where'd you see them, Ororo?” Logan asked.
“Three streets over, near a large open area with a fountain,” she replied.
“Elan's Square, it's the marketplace,” Scott replied. “Follow me.”
The young man, knowing his town quite well, took the group on a tangent down a narrow alley and onto another street. Quickly they hurried across the cobblestone street and into another alley. This time the alley brought them out in a dead end lane, but Scott was not worried. He led them to the end of the lane and to the door of a nondescript house. Without knocking he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Not knowing what was going through Scott's head, the others followed. The house was currently occupied, but Jean could sense no-one was home.
“Don't worry, this is Yon the tailor's home,” said Scott calmly. “He lets me cut through here all the time when I'm doing my errands for Lord Essex.”
The squire paused for a moment when he realized he should have said when he used to do errands for Lord Essex. Another reminder of the life he had left behind.
Through the kitchen was another door, this one sealed shut with a hefty bolt and large padlock.
“Dammit!” cursed Scott. “We'll have to go back.”
With a grunt Logan pushed past Scott and extended the claws on his right hand. Clearly he planned to try and break the lock, but before he could even try the locked mechanism clicked open and fell to the floor.
Logan looked over his shoulder to Jean and said, “He could've bought a new lock,”
“But this is the nice thing to do, Logan. You remember nice, right? You should try it,” smiled Jean.
Logan simply grunted in the way that was fast becoming typical for him and opened the door. The sounds of combat quickly assaulted their ears. The door opened into a small nook between other two houses and from it Elan's Square could clearly be seen.
Elan's Square was a large area, about a hundred spans a side near the heart of the town. It was commonly used to host markets and other festivities, but today it only hosted a slaughter.
Dozens of the town's militia lay dead or injured in the courtyard and dozen's more surrounded a handful of figures standing by a large fountain.
Surely those five people could not have caused all this damage, thought Scott.
“Raven,” said Logan, practically in a guttural growl. Scott was starting to get the impression there was some sort of history between Logan and the elfmaid; a history that had spawned a deep rooted hatred.
The wild looking man was right; Raven and her allies were standing at the heart of the square. They must have more allies in the town, because surely five people couldn't cause so much harm.
“You already met Raven, Toad and Dook,” said Hank, referring to the blue skinned elf maid, the goblin and the incredibly fat Ogre, “and the two humans, the man and the woman, are Magnus' own children, Petros and Wanda...although they prefer to be called Swift and the Scarlet Witch.”
“She's a witch?”
“We're not entirely sure,” replied Hank, “though I suspect the god's have blessed her with the power to wield incredible amounts of magic,”
“What about the man, Swift?” As a knight in training Scott knew it was best to know as much about your enemy as possible before a battle.
“His name's Swift...what do you think he can do?” Logan rolled his eyes and made his way out of the house and the others quickly followed.
As they drew closer to the scene, Scott could clearly see that the militia were headed by Lord Essex himself. The man sat regally about his chestnut stallion with his armour gleaming. Scott was relieved to see that Essex's horse had survived the stabled fire he had inadvertently started.
Essex was a commanding presence at all times, most of all in the heat of battle, and this occasion was no different. “Surrender, demon spawn, and I assure you a quick and painless death!” shouted the Lord.
Raven was a fool to disobey; her vile quintet must have had at least a dozen arrows trained upon them. Still, the elf maid merely grinned cockily. “As tempting as that offer is my Lord, I must sadly decline,” with that she hurled a dagger at Essex and leapt aside as the arrows let fly. Thankfully the blade bounced off the Lord's cuirass but it was more than enough distraction for the Brotherhood.
Arrows rained upon the villains but oddly enough none hit their intended targets, instead injuring other militiamen. The woman Hank had called a scarlet witch stood with her hands extended radiating crimson energy.
“She defies the Goddess by using such corrupt powers,” exclaimed Ororo before flying into the air on a powerful current of air.
“What–?” started Scott, but both groups were already leaping into action.
Toad leapt from Dook's shoulder's and landed a devastating kick to a nearby militiaman, whilst extending his tongue and whipping another in the face. Meanwhile the ogre laughed as swords and arrows bounced off his seemingly impervious skin.
Scott was quickly beginning to realize how such a small group could cause so much damage. The man named Swift was exactly as his name suggested; he moved so fast it was difficult to see him. The Scarlet Witch didn't really seem to do anything; she just stood there in her red gown, but who ever tried to attack her wound up hurt. Men tripped and impaled themselves, crossbows jammed, knee joints gave out or worse. The closer people drew to the witch, the worse the effects were; one man leapt towards her, swinging his blade, only to suddenly explode in a violent shower of blood and organs.
It was definitely time for the Knights of Greymalkin to step in.
Hank dove into the fray, leaping over soldiers like they were a waist high fence. He tackled Toad in midair as the goblin was about to strike a guard from behind.
“Good day, my agile friend!” cried Hank jovially as the pair rolled across the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.
Ororo sailed overhead, pelting the group with sleet and hail, but the assault as inaccurate and struck just as many soldiers as Brotherhood. Several began to cry ‘witch’ and turned their arrows to the bizarre woman above.
“We're trying to help you, fools!” cried Logan in frustration as he knocked one archer out with a punched to the back of the head.
This act of irritation attracted the attention of even more soldiers and soon the angry man was surrounded by five soldiers. Logan didn't bat an eye lid, instead extending his claws and slashing at the nearest target. Before any of the other soldiers could respond though, they were all hurled backwards by an unseen force.
“We're here to fight the Brotherhood, Logan, not these soldiers!” yelled Jean, over the racket.
“Tell them that!” replied the clawed man, before charging at the Scarlet Witch. As he passed Essex's horse, the animal suddenly kicked wildly, knocking Logan into Dook's gelatinous gut. The massive folds of fat enveloped the man completely.
“Heh heh, me think this time my tummy's aching you,” laughed the ogre.
“Good one, Dookie!” replied Toad as he kicked Hank off him with his powerful legs.
Scott felt ashamed for not acting sooner; the whole scene had just been so alien to him. He reached to his enchanted glasses and removed them, releasing the fill force of his eye blasts directly into Dook's face.
“Ahhhhh my eyes!” cried the ogre as he clutched at his face. “I'm gonna eat you, you human piece of scat!”
The squire suspected that while his fat proved as an impenetrable barrier his face might be vulnerable, and he was right. The rotund ogre was now blinded, possibly permanently, and distracted enough for Jean to reach inside his fat and pull Logan free with her mind.
Being enveloped in Dook's fat had starved the man of oxygen and he now lay on the ground panting as Jean ran to his side. Toad took the opportunity to take a flying leap at the distracted woman but thankfully Hank intervened; grabbing the goblin by its snakelike tongue and hurling him into a nearby wall.
Two down, thought Scott.
Meanwhile, Ororo had been focusing her attacks on the witch named Wanda, whilst simultaneously trying to avoid the arrows of the town's soldiers. Her wind, hail and lightning seemed to have very little effect on the witch, but thankfully the strong vortex of wind she'd created around herself provided protection against the arrows.
Almost all the soldiers were down now; Swift was just too fast for them and most went down without ever seeing what hit them. Petros turned his attention to Jean, who was helping the prone Logan to his feet, and before Scott could cry out a warning the man had already struck her down with a blow to the cheek.
Swift moved so fast he was seen only as rapidly moving blur. Scott tried to strike him down with the eye fire but he only succeeded in destroying a nearby cart. By the time his hellfire blasts reached their target, Swift was already long gone. Being well trained in strategy, he watched the man's movements as he took down the last of the soldiers, and formulated a plan of attack.
Instead of trying to strike where the man was he should have been aiming for where the man would be. The only soldier remaining stood by Lord Essex's side but instead Swift turned towards Hank and Logan, who he must have seen as more of a threat. Both men were fast but there was little chance they could react in time to Swift's assault.
Scott took steady aim, removed his glasses and blasted the ground in front of Petros. Cobblestones exploded in the man's face, sending him stumbling forward and slamming face first into the ground. As tried to get back to his feet, Logan extended both his outer claws to either side of Petros' neck, but kept the middle claw sheathed.
“Just try and get up jackrabbit, try it,” stated Logan, with poorly concealed rage.
“May father blessed you with those claws, animal, show some respect!” spat Petros.
“Blessed? BLESSED!?” Hank had to restrain the man before he butchered their captive.
The witch still stood, looking cold and wet but otherwise unharmed, and Mystique was missing. Essex and another soldier stood off the side of the courtyard, looking rather stunned and confused.
Since no one else chose to speak, Scott felt it was on himself to speak to the witch. “You have been defeated with stand down and you have my word you will have a fair trial,”
She seemed to think it over for a moment, and in that time Scott noticed how attractive she was; long black hair, crimson lips and eyes as blue as crystal, all wrapped in a deceptive red gown. The strategist in him saw that there was more to the gown than looking alluring; slits up the side revealed red leather pants, for easier movement.
“You seem earnest, squire, but I cannot trust these small minded fools,” she gestured towards Essex. “You fought well today, it's a pity you've chosen the wrong side.”
“Don't be a fool, you're all alone. If you don't surrender now they'll kill you.”
The witch merely smirked, as if she was in on a joke no one else knew about.
“What–?” Scott started to ask but he was interrupted.
“Scott?” asked Lord Essex as he ran over to the squire, the lone soldier left to lead his horse along behind. “I couldn't let myself believe it was you.”
The young man was at a loss for words. Even though he had originally returned to Nabras to face Lord Essex and Emoyen he had no idea what he was going to say to them. “L…lord Essex, I'm sorry, I have shamed you,” said Scott humbly.
“Indeed you have, squire, you fled without an explanation. Do you realize you've been accused of being a hellspawn. Both my nephew Derek and the stablemaster's daughter claim the fires of hell burst forth from your eyes and burned down my stables. I thought it was a mere excuse created by the two to cover their own incompetence until I saw it with my very own eyes just now.”
“My lord…I…”
“Not a word, boy!” Essex suddenly exploded. “You've opened the gates of the Void into my home. These despicable creatures have burned a third of the town and killed or injured most of my best men. Each and every one of you is going to burn at the stake!”
A knife blade suddenly appeared before the lord's throat; the lone soldier stood behind him, a look of pure hatred painted across his face. Quickly the soldier's appearance changed to that of Raven.
Scott cursed himself for not considering the possibility that Raven was hiding in plain sight. He had just assumed that she'd fled at the first opportunity she got.
“Stupid small minded mortal!” spat Raven. “Too imbecilic to see past your own inadequacies!”
“Who...who are you?” asked the lord.
“Lady Mys'tique of the Darkhome at your service, but you can call me Raven,” she replied, with false politeness.
“Let him go, Raven,” ordered Scott sternly as he reached for his glasses.
“Not so fast, squire. You've only had your powers for a day; how sure are you that you can hit me without taking your former master's head off too?”
She was right. His hand dropped back to his side, defeated.
“And get the weather witch down here on the ground; don't want any sudden hail storms, do we? And we'll be taking Swift too.”
Ororo did as she was asked, dropping out of the sky beside Hank and Logan, who was very reluctant to let Swift go. Once Logan sheathed his claws the super fast man raced away, collected Toad's prone form and returned him to Dook's arms.
One oversight had turned the tide of the entire battle. Raven held all the cards now, as there was no way Scott would let her kill Lord Essex, which meant he would do anything she asked.
Raven began to back away slowly, dragging Essex along with her. Without warning though, the knife blade was suddenly pulled from her grasp by an unseen force. Nearby stood a woozy looking Jean, holding the blade high.
Reacting quickly, Essex elbowed Raven in the ribs and pulled away from the elf maid. At the same time Scott jumped forward and punched her square in the face, knocking her off her feet. Swift was on him in an instant, shoving him backwards and helping Raven to her feet.
Swift was about to continue his attack when he suddenly stopped. Something changed; they could all feel it in the air, like a charge of power. The blade Jean held was suddenly yanked from her hand and flew up into the air. Every other blade and arrow floated after it.
Above them, floating above the plaza, was a man. He wore a full suit of maroon colored plate mail armour, which must have weighed as much as a grown man, if not more, and yet he stood suspended in mid air. A dark purple cape billowed out behind him as the dozens of blades and arrows circled him like a school of hungry fish.
He held Raven's blade. “This was a gift Raven, I trust you'll take more care of it next time.” He sent the blade floating back down to the elf maid.
“Yes, Magnus, my apologies,” said Raven humbly.
Magnus, the Master of Metal, whose name sent a shiver of fear through all the Knights, even Logan.
Scott backed away slowly until he stood with the rest of the group. “How much of a danger is this man? Could we beat him in a fight?”
“Scott, my friend, I'd say our chances are about as good as Gilgamesh had of defeating the Deviant hordes at Themopolese,” said Hank grimly.
“That means it's bad,” translated Jean.
Magnus turned his attention to the Knights. “Scott Summerset, I extended the hand of welcome to you once and you rejected it in favour of Xavier's traitorous brood. I offer you one last chance to join with the righteous Brotherhood of the Chosen and pursue your true destiny.”
He didn't even need to think it over. “Rot in the Abyss Magnus!” yelled Scott. “There's no way I'd join your murderous pack!”
The armored man clenched his gauntleted fists in anger and levitated closer to the group. Scott could now make out his features clearly; surprisingly, he looked to be in his late forties yet strands of white hair could even be seen peeking out below the madman's helm.
“You reject the path the gods have so clearly laid before us, boy?” asked Magnus from above.
“I don't believe for a second my path lies with an honorless son of a curr like you!”
“Honorless!” boomed Magnus. “How can I be without honor when I put the needs of my kind above all else?! It is despicable, bigoted fools like him who are without honor!” He gestured towards Lord Essex and in an instant the man was pulled into the air. Magnus was controlling his armor.
“Put me down, sorcerer, or so help me the full might of the kingdom will come down upon you!” yelled Essex.
“Sorceror?” Magnus laughed. “Foolish man, my gifts are divine. The gods have judged and found you unworthy.”
With another mere gesture the lord's armor began to constrict until it was crushing the life out of him. “No!!” cried Scott as he heard his former teacher's bones snap. In less than a minute it was over, Essex was dead. Magnus let his corpse drop to the ground with a sickening thud.
Seeing his mentor of more than a decade dead at his feet drove him into a murderous rage, pulling off his glasses he unleashed all the power he could muster at the villain. Magnus was caught by surprise but still manage to erect a barrier of pure energy to block the blast.
“You're dead, Magnus, you hear me?” cried Logan from behind Scott.
“Oh please,” the master of metal didn't even have to move an inch and Logan was hurled backwards across the plaza and through a nearby wall.
“Logan!” cried Jean.
“I put the animal out of its misery Lady,” said the fiend smugly. “Now I shall do the same for every other pathetic mortal in this pigswill of a town.” He levitated higher into the sky, hands extended like some kind of messiah.
“What's he doing?” asked Ororo.
“I don't know, but now would be a good time to hit him with some lightning,” replied Scott.
“Goddess guide my strike!” The sky above turned black and boomed with thunder, before a monstrous bolt of lightning burst down directly towards Magnus. The bolt was stopped short by the dozens of floating blades and arrows, which formed together above Magnus to form a large shield.
The blades and arrows began to swarm around the madman and more and more metal items joined them. All around the plaza pieces of armour broke free from unconscious or dead soldiers and shot up into the sky. All around the city they could hear glass breaking and tiled rooves shattering as every metal item imaginable joined the growing swarm in the sky. Knives, forks, wagon wheels, armor, doorknobs, even a blacksmith's anvil rose into the sky.
Thousands of pieces of metal surrounded Magnus like a gigantic swarm of bees. Quickly the metal swarm began moving faster and faster, clattering off each other and creating an awful cacophony of noise. Faster and faster the metal swarmed until it was a veritable storm of steel.
It took a moment for Magnus' intentions to sink in and another moment for Scott to act. “Get down!” he cried and dropped to the cobblestones.
The other followed suit and not a moment too soon; Magnus' storm of steel erupted forth through the city, destroying everything it touched. A hurricane of metal struck homes, battering them to pieces. Quickly the cries of terror and agony rose forth; people who had been hiding in their homes were ripped to shreds or battered to death by the steel swarm.
The noise grew steadily louder as the murderous swarm came their way. “Don't worry, I have us shielded!” yelled Jean over the noise.
Blades, cups, hammers and a thousand other items flew past them, many bashing against Jean's mental shield. The shield was only visible whenever an item struck, which was quite often, and it generated an almost pretty pink glow. It became evident fairly quickly that the assault was causing severe strain on Jean, as soon she was crying out in pain every time something hit the shield. Blood began to run from her nose.
“I…don't think I…can hold on much longer,” said Jean in gasps.
Scott reached for her hand and squeezed it tight. “You can do it Jean, you have to.”
Across the square the Brotherhood stood unharmed; the Scarlet Witch's crimson glow apparently provided them all protection.
It seemed like an eternity before the carnage stopped. Everyone's ears were ringing from the constant barrage of noise and Jean collapsed from the strain of shielding the group. From what they could see the town looked like a warzone; houses were missing walls, fires rages, and pieces of bodies lay everywhere.
Magnus still floated in the air above the square, seemingly immune to the sheer horror he had unleashed below. All the metal of the swarm was once again drawing towards him. This time though the metal was merging together into something massive; a gigantic ball of metal.
“By the gods!” gasped Hank as he held Jean in his arms.
The ball of steel and copper and iron was bigger than a house. It looked like a shiny moon floating over the keep.
The keep! Essex's keep still stood, whilst the rest of the town was destroyed. With a casual gesture of his hand, Magnus' iron moon crashed down into the keep with tremendous force, shattering the fortress. The building collapsed within itself, tossing up a huge cloud of dust and debris.
“You murderous bastard!” cried a survivor. It took a moment for Scott to realise it was him.
Magnus glanced their way. “Are you insects still alive?” he asked; sounding almost bored. “I guess I'll have to squash you myself.”
He drifted down towards them, with his gigantic metal moon hovering over his shoulder menacingly. Scott tried once more to blast him but once more they proved futile against his shield of energy.
The moon hung over them, blocking out the last rays of the setting sun and they saw their own imminent deaths coming.
“The world was yours!” exclaimed Magnus. “The gods chose you as its inheritors and you rejected them. Now taste divine punishment,”
“Rrrrrrargggh!” Logan leapt from the rooftop of the building he had been thrown through, tackling Magnus in mid air. He managed to get one good stab into the madman's shoulder before he was hurled to the ground.
Scott saw his opportunity and he took it. Once more he fired a blast at Magnus and this time it struck true, taking him square in the chest and sending him hurtling backwards.
“Now we can take him!” yelled the squire.
“No, idiot, now we run!” Logan grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him along until he started running of his own accord. “Ororo, give us some fog!” yelled the wild man.
A thick fog of almost soup like consistency suddenly developed, obscuring them from vision. The quartet, with Hank carrying Jean, ran through the demolished city as fast as they could. Magnus's cries of rage and frustration filled their eyes, which only sped their steps.
They continued running until they reached their horses and rode to the relative safety of the nearby forest. From the hill where he had first looked upon his burning town just a few hours ago Scott could now clearly see the widespread devastation that had been brought upon his home. It was little more than rubble now, all of its inhabitants surely dead. Emoyen must have died during the blade storm; he never even got to explain his abilities to her…or to tell her how he truly felt.
Tears welled in his eyes and for the second time that day he was thankful his glasses hid them. Ororo said what sounded like a prayer in a language he did not understand, while Hank tried to mutter something reassuring about survivors. It was all background noise to him though; the only thought that raged through his head was that they had failed. They had failed to protect the innocent, the primary duty of any knight.
For that Magnus would surely pay.
Logan placed a hand on Scott's shoulder; he of all the Knights understood loss. “Welcome to the Knights of Greymalkin kid, hope you survive the experience.”
To Be Continued...
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