Yahtai bowed. 'You as well,' he said.

And with a final nod to one another, they went their separate ways.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

The weapon created is not always the tamed beast anticipated.

March 20, 997 R.E.

'Get behind us!' yelled Adonis, his shield ignited against the Alliance attack.

The giant white sphere flared brightly in the orange dusk, missiles and gunfire all being repelled or disintegrated upon contact.

As they had said they would, Adonis and Blair accompanied the band that had chosen to go north to fight in Corsec, and now the two Daijuarn sentinels protected the people from an ambush. If not for Blair's quick reflexes, there would have been hundreds of casualties already, as a missile had been launched at a group of trucks. There was no panic among the people of Waikor or Ceahlin, the Daijuarn shields having a calming effect on them as they positioned themselves to return fire. All that could not fight were retreated while those with weapons were brought forward. Much of the military apparatus had been kept at the back of the travelling band, as they had anticipated being quite far ahead of the Alliance forces, so if an attack was to come, it would have been from behind them. But this was not a full Alliance force, and they had somehow managed to flank them without detection.

'Return fire when ready,' said Blair.

Yahtai nodded. If there was more time, he would have asked why this sentinel seemed to encourage murder. It was against their code. Instead, he gave the command to his men and within seconds the trees and hills around them became a mass of fire and shrapnel, causing the Alliance forces to scatter to avoid the Waikorian strikes. The Alliance returned fire, but Adonis and Blair made sure that nothing of harm was able to pass through their shields.

The Alliance then started to move around the travelling band, as they knew that two sentinels could not defend an entire line of people. It was now a race to see who could get position first. The people of Waikor and Ceahlin needed to get as close to the Daijuar as possible, while the Alliance needed to get to the end of the line where there was no protection.

Alyssa ran with Vacarlo toward some families that were standing in one spot, watching as everyone else passed. Unlike those near the Daijuarn shields, the people here near the back of the line were panicking. They scrambled the best they could to get out of the way so that the tanks could be brought forward, while Waikorian artillery kept the Alliance distracted, sending shells high over the Daijuarn shields. The blasts were deafening and caused many of the people to feel ill and weak at the knees, but Alyssa kept her calm and ran straight for the children she had spotted.

'Come with me,' she said, as loudly but as softly as she could manage. She did not want to frighten them any further.

She bent down, allowing a small boy to get on her back so that she could carry him. The boy was too small to keep pace.

'Where are we going?' asked the mother.

'To the shields,' said Alyssa, 'we're not safe here.'

The mother nodded and grabbed the hands of two other children. 'Come on, let's go,' she said to the others, and all the families began to follow.

Vacarlo offered to carry another of the smaller children and then quickly joined Alyssa in the lead. 'We need to get to the other side,' he said, 'I hear gunfire. Stay behind the tanks if you can!'

The people had formed two lines either side, allowing a wide path in the middle for the vehicles to pass through unhindered. This created a danger as they were moving quite quickly. If the families were to make it across to the other side, they'd need to time it perfectly or at least wait for a big enough gap. Alyssa acknowledged the situation and then began checking over her shoulder every few seconds. She spotted a break between the tanks and launchers shortly after and ran through, the boy on her back clinging tightly as she did. She was then joined by the others and they all continued on their way. But now they were in the thick of the people moving forward, and their pace dropped considerably.

'Should we stay this side?' Alyssa asked, realising how slowly they were moving now.

'It's safer, at least we have cover,' said Vacarlo.

'I hope you're right.'

Not far ahead in the distance, Alyssa watched as several of the Waikorian launchers lifted their arsenal, pointing it up and toward the Alliance forces.

'What are they doing?'

'They're returning fire. They're going to try to kill as many of them as possible so that the Daijuar do not have to work so hard.'

Alyssa nodded but somehow felt there was something not quite right about this strategy. The Daijuar were powerful, it would have made more sense to just fire from within the shield, as they were doing now.

As the launchers became ready to fire, all of the people in the vicinity stopped, forcing Alyssa, Vacarlo and the families to do the same. They watched in awe with their hands over their ears as the missiles were shot high, their fiery tails being hidden by the huge clouds of dust being blown into the air. Moments later they heard the sounds of impact, the explosions loud even at such distance. Some of the children began to cry, and Alyssa began to hurry them all forward once again. But they could barely see through the dust, many were bumping into one another and the very real danger of being trampled became apparent. Vacarlo lost his footing as he sidestepped a fallen child and ended up crashing into Alyssa briefly before taking down two others. Alyssa hastily put down the boy she was carrying so that she could help Vacarlo up.

It was then that she realised what she didn't like about the strategy. Firing from so far outside of the Daijuarn shields and with this many people around was only going to draw attention to them. The Alliance now knew how far the line stretched back and exactly where they were.

Before the dust had cleared there was an explosion behind them, and soldiers as well as civilians all cried out, many of them wounded, others already mourning the dead. A second strike came just ahead of them, so close that it shook the ground beneath their feet. The dust then cleared and Alyssa looked up in horror. She saw five missiles all heading toward her, Vacarlo and the families. She didn't have the chance to help them up. It almost seemed as if time had stopped as the last moments of her life were before her. There was a whisper somewhere hidden in the wind then, speaking words she could not understand.

'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.

Adonis and Blair turned to see Vacarlo.

'I have news,' he said. 'I was with Alyssa during the attack, we almost died. I counted five missiles heading straight for us.'

'You are still alive,' observed Blair.

Vacarlo nodded, 'I think she saved our lives.'

'How?' asked Adonis.

'The ground rose up after she did something, I don't understand how. It blocked the missiles. Is this what you were talking about? Is this what you wanted me to watch out for?'

The Daijuar turned to one another and bowed slightly. Instead of answering Vacarlo, they then turned around and headed straight to the travelling band.

When they spotted Alyssa, Adonis made one endobrace light with energy and he shouted, 'protect yourself, Virtuarn!'

He sent a pulse of blue energy at her, but Alyssa's eyes simply went wide with shock and she cowered, turning her back to Adonis. All the people around had gasped and looked stunned at what seemed like an unprovoked attack. But the energy was harmless and did no damage to Alyssa or the people. Adonis stood staring at her for a moment, then without word, turned and headed away, with Blair walking beside him.

'She did not defend herself,' said Blair.

'Perhaps she is not the one with power.'

'If not her, then who?'

'Jaden was near,' Adonis concluded.

'He does not possess such ability.'

'Only Noviahn has shown potential. There could be others.'

'Could he have shown Jaden how it's done?'

'We must find out,' said Adonis.

'A new question is posed. If the Alliance is successful in taking Corsec, will we follow Noviahn?' asked Blair.

'He may reveal himself to be a fool,' said Adonis, agreeing that this was indeed an issue of concern.

'Or the champion he claims.'

'Many of the others trust him,' added Adonis.

'But he is not one of us. He does not share our vision.'

'What of the young one?'

'Do you believe he has fallen?'

'He has lost his love, grown in power and used it for revenge.'

'I agree,' said Blair. 'He should not be trusted. We defend at Corsec until more answers are given.'

'What of the girl?' asked Adonis.

'Her memory is failing, perhaps not only from the fall.'

'She could be affected by the essence.'

'She is unique,' said Blair thoughtfully. 'There is something in her that Jaden sees that we do not.'

'His desire is more than love.'

'They share a bond.'

'Vacarlo will need to keep a closer eye on her.'

The two sentinels became silent as they walked, glancing over their shoulders from time to time, making sure that the people were now following them in the darkness. They lit the way a little with their endobraces but left most of the lighting to the vehicles behind them. They had a long journey ahead of them to get to Corsec city, where the true battle between the World Protection Alliance and the United Resistance would take place. They did not know what would happen or how long the battle would last, but they knew it would not end well for either side.

Chapter Twenty-Nine.