The Fifth Layer (10)

The Bone Mother had turned into a violent monster. One of her tails dug into the ground and the other cut the air with a deafening noise.

The first to die were the soldiers caught in the earthquake. The vampires tried flying away, but many failed to escape the storm. 

"Retreat! Go back to the gate!" Voices echoed throughout the plains as a million soldiers ran to Torque for shelter.

Many missiles exploded on the Bone Mother, yet a blue translucent layer wrapped around her body blocked all attacks. Two of her heads turned towards the gate accompanied by a furious shriek. 

Christopher's werewolves passed by Aaron, Gabriella, Anne and Isaac. The red magician stopped in his tracks. His body levitated high above ground. A grin appeared across one of the Bone Mother's heads.

They made eye contact. The head opened its mouth, widening its smile. It had no teeth, no nose, and a large flat forehead.

"How interesting." The Bone Mother's soft voice reached him.

…

Sophie rose from her seat, fidgeting as she looked at her screen in horror. People gave her a questioning look.

"There's an emergency on the roof as well!" She exclaimed. Their eyes widened.

"What? You found Zephyr?" Stephen asked.

"No, it's much worse! The Topaz Guild's reinforcements have come! They passed on the roof undetected and are above Sanguine City!"

A cold chill spread across the hidden strategy room. The reinforcements they had kept out of the Third Layer thanks to numerous soldiers on the eastern side had suddenly appeared.

Micky coughed. "How did they get all the way here?"

"We have mana sensors and satellites," Scott said, " There's no way we would find out until now."

"That's what I thought too, but someone must have tempered with them. I'm not lying. We have footage of the roof. Look for yourself."

Sophie projected the live footage on the bottom of the room's large screen. It was true. There was an army marching on. There were soldiers in bad clothing and darker outfits, from the Obscure Guild. But the ones who stood out the most were the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in blue, Topaz uniform.

Scott was sweating. "That's not possible… The only ones who can control the satellites are…" 

"The Democratic Alliance. There's a traitor." Stephen sighed.

"Can we bomb them?" Scott asked Micky.

"No, it's too late for that. Even if we somehow managed, that would mean killing people below. They're right above Sanguine City."

Hesitating, Sophie proposed, "We should retreat. This will no doubt result in a big loss on our side. Seeing the 'Bone Mother,' I'm not sure we can even win."

Scott frowned. "We can't retreat! That would trap our best mages in Sanguine City."

"Then what do you suppose we do? There are people above and a giant monster below, we're outmatched! The city's done for!" Someone else said.

"They've extended their power further than we imagined," Stephen raised his tone, "But we have to keep cool. Send the soldiers at Torque's gate on the roof, and every mage at Sanguine who's still up should fight the Bone Mother. Meanwhile, we need to figure out a way to kill it."

Micky was perplexed, "Kill that thing? How? Our bombs aren't making a dent in its shield!"

…

"Isaac! What the hell are you doing?!" asked Aaron from below.

Gabriella turned around. Isaac was about to launch an attack on the massive skeleton. "Isaac! Do you wanna die?!"

The red mana accumulated in his hands. He winced. 'I need to put everything into this attack! Come on!'

"Get out of my sight." The Bone Mother's voice resonated.

-PANG!

-Keuh!

"ISAAC!"

As he was about to fire, the beast's tail struck him, propelling his fleshy body faster than the speed of sound. He crashed into the wall near the gate, leaving a giant crack in the concrete.

"Is he…"

"Isaac..!"

"No. No!" Gabriella flew off.

The Bone Mother's tail pursued them. Aaron and Anne swiftly evaded her, Gabriella was already long gone. Christopher who had realised what had happened met up with them.

They arrived at Isaac. Gabriella was already there, putting him against the wall. Many of his bones had shattered into bits. His back was a bloody mess, and the blow had squeezed his belly inside out.

Gabriella Rivampe was crying. "He's okay, he'll be fine… he heals even quicker than vampires."

He looked dead. Only one of his lungs was working.

"Ye… I'm fine. I can still fight!" He spat out blood as he tried speaking. Gabriella wiped her hands on the grass.

"Isaac, focus on recovering," Aaron pitied him. "And don't ever do something so stupid again."

Christopher carried him in human form as they rushed toward the gate.

Aaron glanced back. 'Can they really fight this thing? I know Seth and Ejiro are strong, but… Dammit. It's no use worrying.'

"The Topaz Guild is on the roof! Follow the line, quickly!" The word spread between soldiers at the Torque's gate.

Christopher frowned. "The Topaz Guild? They had reinforcements?"

The soldiers who had just run away from a traumatizing enemy were running toward more danger. "I heard the army's led by a single boy!"

"Really? Let's go teach them a lesson!"

'A boy?' Aaron halted in the middle of the crowd. "Rico!"

A soldier nudged him. "Follow me! Another war waits for us above! We will defend this city at all costs!"

"You guys go up first," Isaac coughed on Christopher's back. "Find your brother, Aaron. I'll catch up."

"Oh no!" Anne shouted fearfully as she looked back at the gate. The Bone Mother had covered the opening with a blue barrier, preventing anyone from getting in or out.

The swarm of soldiers squeezed against the translucent wall. Shortly after, it turned into a bloody sea. There were gruesome deaths everywhere. 

…

Jenna, Luo and Ejiro gathered behind Seth. They faced the Bone Mother's colossal form.

Trembling, Ejiro was holding his sword. "Isn't that thing bigger than a dragon? Do we even have a shot at this?"

Seth nodded. "It's time to prove you're worthy of the Dragonsword, Ejiro."

"We're all spent already, I don't think we should engage in a fight," Luo kept his eyes down.

The Bone Mother's third head smiled, threatening everyone below with its giant jaw.

"WATCH OUT!" Jenna activated her spirit manifestation, protecting them in a yellow glow. The Bone Mother's front leg struck at the golden figure violently.

Jenna fell on her shoulder, but the others were fine.

"Follow me, Ejiro!" Seth and Ejiro grabbed onto the monster's leg and soared into the sky.

"Take my hand," Luo helped her get up. So many people around them were rushing to the beast. They were tired, exhausted, weakened, and injured.. but didn't care. The soldiers ran without looking back. Some of them were trampled by the beast, cut by its tails or worse. "Are all these mages suicidal?"

Luo stared at the scene in shock. So many people died, yet a few managed to evade its attacks. But even they couldn't penetrate the blue barrier protecting the skeleton. He was sweating.

"Hey!" Jenna pushed him forward. "Sure, it may be a slightly riskier business than piloting jets, but our purpose remains the same."

Luo facepalmed. The air suddenly grew hotter as blue flames surrounded him, yet they didn't burn anything. He had total control over his fire.

"You're right. We protect regular people, no matter how hard that is. To the death."

Jenna nodded and started to float, everything spinning around her. The grass withered below. "To the death!"

Luo laughed. "Alright!"

Together, they flew toward the Bone Mother, but not as pilots: as mages.