Our Legacy - Episode 5

"Alright, listen up!" Twenty-nine soldiers assembled in front of the earlier picked Mission-Captain. The Demigod was in his twenties as a human but had more than fifty years of experience in the military. A blond man with a fine jaw but crooked nose. Many people called him 'The Dutch' even when he had more Russian lineage in him but the nickname arose due to his heavy accent. Everyone always joked about not being able to understand his English.

"We'll try our best, Cap!" said a big man at the back. Every team always needed a giant. They helped instil fear in the enemy.

The Captain placed his hands on his hips, looking irritated.

"Our target location is the town of Nemours just south of here." He studied his comrades from left to right, making eye-contact with each one of them. "Distance is an estimated eighty kilometres. We aren't taking any transport vehicles. Now, if we had walked, it would take us around sixteen hours to our destination but we're Demigods.... so we're jogging."

"Cap, some of us can fly..."

"Achterlijke man. Those who can fly are allowed to fly... We must be there in four hours, assess the situation, report back and wait for our orders. Is iedereen blij?" He looked around as if waiting for a question. Keyla raised her hand and the Captain nodded.

"I don't believe everyone here can understand Dutch, sir." she innocently asked.

"But you do, Verbeke."

"Yes, but..."

"Translate then... for anyone who wishes to understand. But I do believe everyone gets the gist of what I'm saying when I say it in another language. Besides, I wouldn't give out critical orders in a language not all understand."

"Of course, Captain."

"Ok. Does anyone else have questions? No? Then let's move!"

The giant at the back quickly made his way next to the girls. Maha and Keyla looked up at him.

"You two are the big up-and-comers, aren't you?" he asked. He was wearing an armoured vest over his black uniform, carrying several hand-grenades.

"I suppose," Keyla replied.

"I'm Klaus, and the Cap is my big brother, Wauter." Klaus was, as all other giants are, massive enough for everyone in close vicinity to have neck pains when staring at him. Maha was already massaging the back of her neck. "You girls need anything, I'm your man. Originally, I was promoted to the role of Captain of this team but I declined."

"Why would you do that?" Maha asked, eyes glaring at him.

"They don't let Captains run into battle," he said with a big smile while giving a thumbs-up.

The team of thirty Demigods were picking up the pace. Klaus kept running up ahead and scouting the areas while the rest caught up. Maha and Keyla were in the middle of the group as they ran two-by-two with a few meters distance from each pair. It was a multilingual group, everyone speaking their native language when they could. They were all unique in their own way, in race, colour and power, and together they were a force to be reckoned with.

The ladies smiled as they jogged past several buildings. Civilians were waving at them, cheering them on. Then they saw a scene that made the whole team laugh. Klaus had run up far enough to order food from a bakery and was sitting outside with a drink in one hand and crumbs of whatever he ate in the other. He was dusting off his uniform once they came nearer and pulled off a smile with a mouth full of food.

Captain Wauter raised a fist in the air, ordering the team to halt. They had just done two hours of jogging and halfway to their destination. Klaus was up ahead radioing in something to his brother.

"There appears to be have been a bombing run two kilometres from here." said the captain, looking back at the team. He stood silent listening to his earpiece and nodded after a while. "Understood. "We're clear to move forward." They began jogging after Captain Wauter and soon saw the carnage they heard about. An entire village had been destroyed. Bodies were everywhere, either burnt to a crisp or blown to pieces.

They quickly made distance between them and the village but a pair at the back of the group began to shout at the Captain.

"What's going on?"

"A green aura, sir!" one of them yelled, a woman with a large afro. "It wasn't there before." Everyone stopped to look. A mist of vibrant green hovered above the village, swirling and growing in size.

"Is this a weapon of the Humans?" Captain Wauter quickly started searching for Klaus. It seemed that Klaus had already moved on to the next area. "Klaus, where are you!?"

"I'm about five kilometres ahead. Is something wrong?" he radioed back.

"We've got some strange activity going on here."

"Green clouds?" he said, his tone answering more than there was asked.

"You saw it?"

"I'm seeing it now yeah, but I'm not looking back at the village." There was silence for a while. Everyone was looking at each other, trying to understand what the green thing was. "Klaus, where is it you're looking?"

"Little brother, there's green mist everywhere from now on southwards."

"You!" the Captain pointed at Keyla, "Fly up and scout the road ahead. I want to know what's going on and how much of it." Keyla nodded and shot right up into the skies. "We need to know if its poison or something else. I need someone to report our findings back to headquarters."

The green mist suddenly sprouted tentacles of smoke and plunged them into the earth.

"Standby!" The captain roared. Keyla quickly landed back in a hurry.

"It's not safe up there! Something is happening!" she panted.

"UUUURRRRRAAAAAHHH" a heavy voice erupted from the village. It was deafening and horrific, sending shivers down everyone who heard it.

"You hear that?" Klaus radioed in.

"Yes." the captain replied.

"I don't know what you're seeing but... *static* getting up and it's... *static* FUCK!  *static* coming!" The radio cut off. Screams erupted from the village now. A fog was blurring out whatever was going on but multiple shadows began to appear within it.

"This is the Necromancer's work! It has to be!" Captain Wauter yelled.

"UUUUUUUURRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH" The voice boomed again, trembling the earth beneath them. The shadows began to move closer and out of the fog. Demigods, those who had died in the bombing, those who were burnt and those who had lost arms and legs, were somehow up and charging full speed in their direction.

"Are they friendlies?" asked one from the team.

"Friendlies don't charge!" the captain yelled. "Defensive positions! I want shields at the front. Rangers start firing. If they come close we push them back with shockwaves! We keep them off us as much as we can before going into full combat!" Maha ran in front of the group and summoned a shield along with six others. They combined their powers and created a white silhouette wall. Keyla touched two Demigods with ranged powers, copying their abilities, and flew above the shields and started firing at the incoming hostiles.

The Captain stomped on the ground and sent an earthquake towards the raging Demigods. There were ten at first but more were coming. It was an entire village of risen Demigods charging towards them.

"Klaus! If you can hear me, we need you back here right now!"

"This is happening further south too?" yelled one of the soldiers.

"We'll never make it! We have to call for back up!" yelled another over the sounds of combat.

"Radio is down!" Captain Wauter roared. "We're on our own! Hopefully, someone else will see what's going on and call for aid!"

The closest risen Demigod got shot in the knee. With his momentum, he tumbled down but travelled several meters before coming to a halt.

"Thankfully they're dumb like zombies in movies are!" a soldier laughed. The risen Demigod looked at them with mean eyes. He was on his hands and knees, staring at them like a hungry lion and then suddenly sent a deafening shockwave from his open mouth. The shields withstood the blast but more risen were coming in.

"They can still use their powers? How is that possible?"

A series of lightning bolts rained down upon them. Maha and the rest of the shielders had to extend the size of their shield to cover their heads. The shield glowed each time it was struck.

"We're fucking outnumbered!" one of them said. "We need an offensive before we get surrounded!"

"Agreed!" The captain nodded. "Here's the plan! They're about ten times as many as we are! We need to get them all grouped up and rain down hell upon them."

"How do we do that?!"

"We need to push them with shockwaves and lure them in."

"UUUUUUUUURRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH" The voice boomed, this time crumbled the village to dust. Everyone, including the risen Demigods, lost balance and collapsed. The earth was shaking violently. Some were holding their ears. The voice was deafening. The shields were down but it didn't matter, the enemy was also down.

Maha tried to stand up and quickly summon a shield but was disorientated. Her shield was constantly breaking. The area was silent too but soon filled with muffled running. The risen were on their feet again and charging. All sorts of powers were being thrown in their direction. Everyone hit the ground, holding their heads as balls of fire, spears of lightning and ice, and shockwaves shot past them.

Suddenly, a loud thud came from behind them. Maha's heart stopped when she saw what it was. Keyla had been hit and fell from the sky. She quickly looked back at the small army heading their way. This was supposed to be a small side mission but what she was looking at was annihilation waiting to happen. They couldn't withstand the fury of so many enemy Demigods. Her eyes filled with tears. She wasn't ready to fight this... but she wasn't ready to give up either. And then it happened again... The voice...

"UUUUUUUUURRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"