Chapter 95: Chapter 95
674 castes had embarked on the three frigates. We were therefore very cramped, not to mention the crew members who added to this number. One more boat wouldn’t have been luxury, but it was difficult for us to quibble with regard to the enormous service rendered to us by Admiral Souchet, close to General Tavel, with whom we had negotiated, and for whom some of our castes had been working for almost a year. General Tavel and Sam had arranged everything so that so many of us could come and in the greatest secrecy. Every crew member on all three ships knew the importance of this mission, though the details hadn’t been revealed to all of them. Admiral Souchet commanded his forces himself and he knew the threat well. Althea had wiped out a city to impress our people, and it hadn’t escaped the British special forces organizations, of which Sam was a part, that the disaster was far from having been caused by a natural phenomenon, unlike the version delivered to the media.
We were only a few kilometres from our point of arrival, very close to the island of Eos. Carmichael and I stood side by side on the bow of the ship, which sailed in the middle of the other two. Little by little, the castes appeared on the bridges, and each posted themself with their comrades on the mission. The telekinetics had joined us all, separated into four groups. Ours had only seven: Carmichael and his sister Prisca, Marion Stanton, his assistant, Henry Capshaw, Sonia Akhem, Amelia and myself. The second group consisted of a dozen castes and had to cover our backs. It was the group of Thomas, Chun, Caleb, Salomon, Jorge, Mike, Allyson and Adam. The other two groups were the most numerous.
We were only minutes away from the onslaught. I grasped Carmichael’s hands. This gesture attracted the curiosity of the audience, obviously wanting to know everything about the nature of my relationship with the king, after my exploits in the video. Because it was obvious that each of them had been looking at us.
“We are going to win, aren’t we?” I asked Carmichael as my eyes scanned our allies.
“Of course,” he said with a smirk.
That smile warmed my flesh. His gaze locked on mine for a moment. He was about to say a word, before being interrupted by an angel’s voice.
“I’m sure you’ll be victorious, Everliegh,” Abi said in my earpiece.
“If you could see it in one of your visions, it would reassure me.”
“We don’t have that level of control yet,” said Nicolas.
“I sincerely hope you’ll get it soon.”
The island of Eos was within sight. It was time.
I knew that, in this battle, I was going to have to push my powers beyond my limits, but at this moment, I felt more than ready, I was even impatient to do battle. I closed my eyelids for a few seconds in order to capture the necessary concentration, and control it sufficiently. I feared that breaking through their defences would cost me considerable energy from the start, but, alongside forty other telekinetics, I knew I could control it. Moreover, I had never been in better shape since my death. I didn’t seem to have suffered from fatigue after the attack on Paris. Since my death, the energy seemed to circulate in a direct current in each of my veins.
When I opened my eyes, the spectacle fascinated me. 672 other castes floated in the air. Many of them fidgeted, looking frightened by the void, but calmed down as soon as they felt safe. I raised my hands and everyone levitated a few metres higher, in front of the dumbfounded eyes of a few handpicked sailors, all held to the strictest secrecy. It was time to take action. Carmichael and I turned together in the direction of the island, the telekinetics joined us, and our forces came together in unison. The castes were now flying behind us at mind-boggling speed.
We were still three kilometres from dry land when Nicolas Hanlon whispered in our ear.
“They are aware, they’re waiting for you!”
“There are at least four hundred posted on the beach!” Abi shouted the stress in his voice palpable.
Mid-flight, Carmichael and I exchanged glances. We had suspected that our attack would not be a surprise, and that is why we had to carry it out as quickly as possible. If castes of the castle had knowledge of certain information about the inhabitants of the island, then those of the island necessarily had information about those of the castle. The bonds woven between some of them hadn’t been broken by the choice of their rulers, and yet they were going to have to fight against each other. This thought sent me a shock of anger which I used to concentrate my power on the waters of the sea. The first stage of the plan began right now. Carmichael and I left the other castes to transport our fellows, while we channelled our wills on the waves near the beach. We didn’t know if we would be able to achieve such a miracle, but we had to try everything.
I was reassured when I saw the waves leave the coast. Pulling them towards us as if we had caught them with a net, a huge wave formed against the current. My concentration was at its peak when, in a roll, it grew another few metres in height, then still others. We were approaching. I could see in the distance multitudes of little black specks moving at the bottom of the mountain. Our enemies. We were moving a little further when, at the last second, I saw a projectile on my right heading straight for us. It exploded upon encountering the invisible shield that I had reflexively erected. The blast pushed me back a few feet and ejected Carmichael much further. I now felt that I was alone in controlling the wave which was almost level with me. So I closed my eyes, then my fists. The huge wave began to reverse and picked up speed. Carmichael resurfaced beside me and with tremendous momentum, the wave swelled to soon reach fifty metres in height. It raced towards the island, unstoppable. The angry wave, hurled at the speed of the wind, swept down the mountain and all its attackers in seconds.
As soon as we were within range, gunfire greeted us. But the forty telekinetics immediately erected a shield in front of our entire army. My strategy against the missiles had marked the spirits, and none of their bombs, bullets or any projectiles managed to pass our wall. I realized, however, that the Five were better armed than expected, and maintaining a protective barrier was going to cost my kin a lot of energy. Defeating the false gods as quickly as possible became the only way to get everyone to agree to throw down their arms.
When the shots began to be spaced out and our enemies got tired of emptying their cartridges for nothing, each group went to land at the planned location. A hundred below the mountain, from where the waters had withdrawn, the majority in the middle and the most powerful at the foot of the temple, protecting our rear. I felt a pang of concern as I made out Thomas, who was landing. He immediately had to fight, because telekinetics had just encountered opponents and could no longer maintain the shield that protected them. I had to tear my gaze from the scene to complete my own mission, and when I looked up at the top, I discovered, amazed, Soban and Thelion. The destructive onslaught of the wave had knocked them out of their lair. Behind them stood a veritable army. Soban opened his arms. A hundred more guards emerged from the trees surrounding the steps of the temple. My group landed about thirty metres below, on the huge staircase, our eyes still directed towards the two youngest brothers.
“We have to immobilize them.”
Carmichael nodded and waved at his sister. I lifted my arms, and the ground surrounding the steps of the temple shook. The earth sprang up in a curtain of several metres, thus protecting us from the gaze and the instruments of combat of our assailants. They unloaded all their weapons trying to penetrate this wall made up of dust, earth, tree leaves and rocks. The bewildering noise of the phenomenon and the uselessness of human weapons must have struck the two brothers, as they tried to retreat. Soban barely had time to break free of Prisca’s grip and fled, but it was too late for Thelion. Carmichael had captured him. I joined him to prevent Thelion at all costs from following his brother and I read, satisfied, in his features, the terror he felt. My concentration peaked, Carmichael lending me a hand, my wall of dust formed a whirlwind that hurtled straight in his direction, while the rest of our group protected us from the guards. Thelion managed to protect himself on the first charge, on the second he showed signs of weakness. I walked up the stairs, Carmichael still at my side, Prisca behind us. By the fifth charge, Thelion was still struggling, struggling to maintain his protective shield. I moved forward, and a fleeting vision of my enemy stabbing Eric flashed through my mind. Rage coursed through my veins, and on the seventh charge, he took the tornado full force. His body was nothing more than a wound, he was screaming. On the eighth, my concentration was pushed to the extreme, the whirlwind had become so fine and the wind so powerful, that it cut off his head with a single stroke. One less. We could now call them: the Four.
Carmichael picked up Thelion’s head, clutching his hair. This gesture must have reminded him of a time when the guillotine was cutting with a vengeance because he executed it without batting an eyelid. Having less experience in this area, I suppressed an urge to vomit but quickly regained my senses in front of the temple entrance. I already felt very clearly the presence of Althea a few steps from us. Carmichael went first, Thelion’s head hanging from his arm. Prisca stood beside him, Henry, Sonia Amelia and Marion just behind them. I closed the march, and the hurricane of dust transformed into a cloud that I kept suspended behind us. We finally entered the darkness of the temple.
The first torch was about ten metres from the entrance to the Nave of Statues. Going deeper, we then stopped in front of the monumental white wooden doors. With an effort of concentration, they exploded, the debris projecting inside the great hall. The statues, more than ten meters high, stared at us as if we had disturbed them in their tranquillity, forming a corridor to the end of the room where, on a marble platform, sat the thrones of the false gods. This is where I saw her. Alongside Prima, Soban, and her sister Ludmila, Althea’s horrified gaze never left the head as Carmichael threw it at her feet. I took my eyes off her for a minute and was surprised to see the absence of Magnus, my mother and my brother. Connor was right behind them.
She fixed her gaze in my direction, her hatred was palpable. Her brother’s head lay before her eyes, and her expression told me she realized her mistake in strategy at that moment. Her pride had isolated her from her entire guard, who was now fighting against carefully prepared troops. By leaving countless of her best warriors to be swept away by a tsunami, she had allowed her brothers to separate from her to lead the defence when it was obvious that together they were untouchable. There were four left, I thought again. Now was the time to find out where Connor’s loyalty really lay, and what my mother and brother would do to help us if they could. As for Magnus, I already knew the answer, but he was absent, which intrigued me.
Althea took a step forward. A grimace then distorted my features, and by thought, I called my cloud of dust, which, in a deafening crash, enters the temple at an impressive speed. Bypassing my allies, it raced straight between the statues and headed for the false gods. An invisible wall came to stop it a few metres from Althea. Priam by her side, her brother and sister just behind her, they together formed a protective barrier. The whirlwind kept clashing with their shield, as a dozen of our telekinetics burst through entrances I had discovered during my scouting. Their presence meant that the fighting outside was turning to our advantage, and the thought sent a breath of hope through me. With them to lend us a hand, we took a step forward. Then my brother and my mother suddenly appeared and separated to each position themselves so that we formed a semi-circle around the Four.
“You’re here, sister,” Ethan said in thought.
I saw his swollen face and understood that he must have suffered some punishment in retaliation for my escape. The relief of knowing them both alive gave me a new dose of energy that strengthened our positions. I took another two steps forward.
“I’m here, brother,” I replied with a smile before my eyes met Althea’s again.
My mother called for fire from the braziers still burning in the room, and a column of flames slammed into the Four’s shield. I knew now that if Connor decided to help us, then we had a chance to beat them. Surrounded, they would all be trapped. But he didn’t, for his face changed from thoughtful to frightened. He howled.
“FATHER, NO!”
“Behind you, Carmichael!” cried Nicolas in a hoarse voice in the headset.
But it was too late. My head spun around and I was horrified to find Magnus right behind Carmichael, the latter frozen by his father’s mighty powers. Magnus touched his son’s forehead, and he fell dead to the ground. A beastly howl erupted from my throat as Prisca lunged at her father. He ejected her with such force that her bones cracked as they hit the ground. The Four took a step forward. We were losing strength, and it was impossible for me to intervene against a man as strong as Magnus without releasing my pressure on an even more powerful enemy. Tears welled up in my eyes, and my breath hitched.
Althea had taken advantage of this moment of weakness to take control over me. Her power became frightening, but it was nothing compared to my terror when I saw Magnus leaning over Carmichael’s body. I guessed his intentions perfectly. His hatred and jealousy towards the son who had betrayed him could be read on the distorted features of his face. He wanted to grind him to dust. Henry also understood this and tried to approach him, but he failed. Amelia then rushed at Magnus, but he had already pierced her defence shield. She levitated, holding her head as if a vice were tightening on her skull. Magnus held her and then snapped her neck.
And that’s when my mother called her column of fire, like a fiery nebula coiled around her. The phenomenon was striking. Flames surrounding her body, she took the first step. Her grace, at that moment, was breathtaking. Suddenly, she launched herself at breakneck speed and managed to slip right behind Magnus. He didn’t have time to protect himself as her speed had surprised him. She gripped his neck with a fiery hand. Magnus howled.
“My children I love you, be as happy as possible.”
“MOM!” Ethan mentally shouted.
I was so terrified that the words stuck in my throat as well as in my thoughts. Not releasing her grip around Magnus’ neck, she lifted him up. Her dress was on fire and we could already smell the odour of burnt flesh.
“Stop her!” Abi shouted into the headset.
But it was too late. My mother had already rushed towards the wall of dust, which she crossed in one breath. As she stood in front of the Four, she spoke her last words to us.
“My time here is over. But him, I take him with me.”
And that’s when the youngest sister Ludmila broke away from her siblings and clenched a fist. Her gesture fanned the fire with such force that, the next minute, there were only ashes of the bodies of Isabelle Castellane and Magnus Burton Race. The whirlwind carried them away.