Legends of Amacia Rise of the Caverias
Chapter 25: The Dark Riders

Back in Acheron, Joshua, Harry, Xavier, Amelia, and Corso stood atop the walls at the main gate looking out over the city. The reinforcement of their perimeter was going well. The expansion of the perimeter into the city bit by bit continued without any complications. They looked off to the southwest and Harry asked, “How are the fortifications coming, Joshua?”

Joshua turned and scanned the city, saying, “They’re coming along good. A few more days and we’ll should be ready to meet anything that comes.”

Xavier looked over the city. “I don’t like this business of waiting for something to happen,” he stated soberly. “It invites trouble.”

Joshua sighed and replied, “We have little choice. We must wait for them and carry out Hanna’s orders until she returns.”

“You mean if she returns,” Corso commented in a melancholy tone. “Antilla is not a place that people have been known to return from.”

“Don’t be so quick to dismiss Hanna,” Amelia declared, “She did escape from the Emperor and survived her wounds. She’ll return just as she said.”

“Amelia’s right,” Harry replied. “Hanna will come back. It makes no difference whether she’s a woman or man. She doesn’t know how to fail. Her stubborn refusal to give up even when everything is against her will bring her back. You’ll see. She has yet to welch on any promise she’s made.”

Just then, an alarm rose from the forward watchtowers erected outside the city walls on the ridge immediately south of the city were the river ran into a canyon. A great horn rang over the city and everyone turned to the source of the sound. “What now?” Joshua asked with some irritation as they saw a messenger on horseback approach from the south. “Come, let’s see what going on,” he ordered, leading them off the wall. They reached the gate roughly the same time the messenger did.

The messenger reigned back on his horse and said urgently, “Joshua, we have flyers approaching from the south.”

“Are they friendly?” Joshua asked.

The messenger shook his head as the horse fidgeted and stomped nervously. “No, they are not. We suspect they are Dark Riders,” the messenger replied darkly as Magnus ran up in time to hear the report.

“How many?” Magnus asked before Joshua could.

Joshua turned to Magnus in anger as the messenger said, “We’ve seen only three. But they’re riding on strange flying beasts unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”

Magnus asked again with growing concern in his voice “What do they look like?”

“Very ugly and menacing beasts,” the messenger reported. “They look like a cross between Argus and the reptilian flyers that we know; however, they are not nearly as big as Argus though they have a wingspan that rivals Argus and appear to be as fast as a caronadon.”

Magnus cursed as Joshua realized the Magnus knew what was going on. “Well, what’s the problem?” Joshua asked pointedly.

“You need to get the people under cover,” Magnus said urgently, “And quick.”

Harry looked at Magnus and demanded, “You know something. Spill it.”

Magnus sighed and said, “The creatures that approach are indeed part of the Black Eleven. They ride on the genetic creation of the Cadre: the weracks. The beasts are fast and lethal, capable of great speed and distance with a sonic scream that can crumble stone and a neural-toxic venom. Only the Rakshasar uses them because only the Rakshasar are strong enough to control them. In tandem with the Black Eleven, they’re a powerful and fearsome team. They allow the Black Eleven to go anywhere they wish and since it seems that they are truly loose, I must reiterate, we must take cover. They are scouts on a mission. They obviously are here to find out Hanna and to take her or her head back to the Emperor.”

The messenger added, “They were coming up very fast when we spotted them. They came out of nowhere.” A roar echoed through the city as one of the Riders flew overhead.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” Joshua replied, pulling his sword.

Everyone else readied their weapons and Magnus urged, “Get the people out of the way.”

Joshua started to protest when Magnus glared at him with his cybernetic arm morphing into a large strange energy weapon resembling a plasma cannon. “This is no time to argue, Joshua! Get going! I’ll try to hold them off. Be sure to keep Nicodemus under cover and out of sight. He may be a target too. Go!” he barked, pushing Joshua toward the city with his organic hand.

Everyone heard a second roar and the crowds began to panic as the second Rider flew over the wall. Magnus opened fire with the plasma cannon his arm had changed into moments before. A few of his shots hit the beast and it shrieked. Magnus ran after it and the rest of them immediately went to get the people out of the way. People were running for cover and the soldiers were firing their arrows and blasters at the flyers.

In a matter of minutes, the city was in chaos. Magnus took to the one of the high buildings to get a good shot at the beasts. The beasts roared repeatedly at the direction of their Riders, emitting directed sonic blasts that crumbled stone and blasting sizeable craters in their targets. They hit buildings and streets filled with people. Magnus continued to fire on the flyers, eliciting a fierce response from the black-shrouded Rakshasar. One of the Riders swooped in and jumped off its werack mount with a massive blade drawn. The Rider tackled Magnus to the ground and instantly went about trying to remove his head. Magnus gave him a full-force discharge from his arm-mounted plasma cannon, sending the demon Rider hurtling back to the edge of the building as the werack circled, diving and attacking Magnus at will. It knocked him to the ground and pinned him as the Rider got up. The beast looked Magnus in the eye as it tried to bite his head off. Magnus called upon all his strength and cunning and with one mighty heave, tossed the beast off himself. As he did, he burned a hole right through the chest of the monster, though it wasn’t lethal to it. It shrieked and staggered back off the side of the building as the Rider rushed Magnus with his weapon ready to strike. Magnus switched his plasma cannon to a blade for he drained his cannon when he shot the werack. He blocked the Rider’s blade with his and kicked him away. The Rider growled in a guttural manner, saying, “Eai se garip eli.”

“Not today you won’t,” Magnus countered viciously, “Go back to the dank abyss that spawned you, assassin.” The Rider rushed forward and clashed with Magnus. The Rider, which stood as big as Magnus, was evenly matched with Magnus as they fought viciously. Sparks and fire rained from their battle as it raged from rooftop to rooftop over the whole city. Finally, after a half hour of battling the Xenian, Magnus kicked the Rider off the edge of a building, who was caught by his werack and they flew away with the other two.

Magnus dropped to his knees, panting and wheezing from the terrible fight. He propped himself up with his blade as Corso and Liu got on the rooftop with him. They approached with a grim look on their faces. They looked at Magnus with a new respect as they ran up to him. “Are you all right?” Corso asked.

Magnus nodded as he managed to calm himself. “I’d forgotten how tough they were,” he said as he looked at the ground in front of him.

Corso reached down and helped Magnus to his feet. “I have misjudged you, Magnus,” he admitted. “We all saw you take on the Rider and his mount. Can you forgive me?”

Magnus looked into the face of Corso and said, “There is nothing to forgive, friend. I did what I had to, like everyone else.” He then noticed the grim look on Corso and Liu’s faces and asked, “What’s wrong? Who did we lose?”

At this point, Liu spoke, saying, “We tried to stop them, but couldn’t. A Rider took Nicodemus prisoner.”

Magnus growled deeply, and then uttered a roaring cry that echoed through the whole city. “Damn them. Damn them to hell!” he cursed after uttering his cry. Just then, Joshua, Harry, and Xavier ran up.

“Was that you?” Harry asked Magnus as they arrived.

“He heard,” Corso said glumly.

“This is indeed a dark day,” Joshua said ominously. “We all saw your loyalty, Magnus. You alone were able to stand against the Riders. We lost many today and Nicodemus has been taken, but even with that, many more were spared because of your actions. Thank you for standing with us.”

Magnus was downcast as he said, “This is only the beginning. These three were scouts. They were after four things: whether we were here, my head, Hanna’s head, and Nicodemus. It looks like they accomplished two of their goals. Be forewarned, they will return and when they do, everyone that’s here will perish. Hanna needs to come back as soon as possible.”

Joshua shook his head sadly, saying, “That she does. We have dealt with the Riders before, but they have never been this strong before. We need her leadership more than ever now that Nicodemus is taken.”

Amelia walked up as they were talking and overheard what they were saying. “Have faith, friends. Hanna shall come back,” she said calmly.

“She’s right,” Harry agreed as he leaned on the handle of his hammer. “We just have to be patient.”

“Well, while we wait for her, we’re dying,” Liu retorted. “This was a costly skirmish. How many are dead from this attack: fifty, a hundred?”

Joshua shook his head and said, “This is no time for incriminations. Come on, we have to tend to the living.”

“Well said,” Magnus agreed. “Well said indeed.” At that, they went from the roof to assess the damage three Rakshasar caused.

As they left the roof, Amelia said to Magnus, “We saw you fight with the Rider. Everyone saw it. I think you have proven yourself to these people despite the fact that the Riders got away with at least part of what they came for.”

Magnus smiled a little and said, “That’s of little comfort knowing I still wasn’t able to protect Nicodemus. He’s my friend and I wasn’t able to protect him, nor these people.”

Amelia patted Magnus’ organic forearm. “You try too hard,” she replied. “You can’t protect everyone all the time. You did your best and that’s all that matters. Besides, when Hanna returns, she’ll know what to do.”

Magnus sighed, saying, “I hope so, Eris. We surely could have used her guidance here.”

Amelia smiled at the Xenian saying, “I know. Just have faith, my Xenian friend. Justice will be served in the end. The Emperor will pay for his evil. That is a promise.”

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