Bonus Chapter 2

A Warrior’s Death

Jessica Childers (15th Universe, currently unmapped)

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.

High caliber beams of laser energy fire out, only to get magnified with intensity and power, thanks to Jess’ Phantasmal powers over Illusions. The bright rays of the enhanced laser beams illuminating the predawn sky, causing her vision to slightly blur as it tried to get readjusted to the fluctuating levels of light. With those three enhanced bursts, she took out the impending wave of Prolaxian monsters that sought to come in from the left flank.

BOOM!

Bursts of energy first slam into, and then tear through row after row of monsters, until finding a building and tearing holes out of the long-abandoned office building. The world was dead. The universe was dead. The fucking president was dead, no he was never truly alive. He was and always had been a monster apparently. They were set up to die, to be crushed.

Two years.

Two years of constant fighting of constantly being pushed back. The Endarians and their world tree were the last bastion of protection. But even here on Endar, where the tree’s power is at its peak, it wasn’t enough. Nothing was ever enough to win.

There were the victories, battles where the monsters were killed to the last. But that only served to delay the inevitable.

“So, fucking long. I waited so damn long to be useful.” Jess said out loud to herself. As she turned and fired more and more shots at the monsters coming in from her right flank.

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.

As she fires the three Phantasmally enhanced bursts, she begins flapping her wings to take an aerial view of the invading force. When she rose into the air, what she saw made her heart stop for a moment. In that one moment, all heat left her body, leaving her with nothing but ice-cold sludge in her veins. Still, she didn’t let this stop her.

She was a guardian now. The sacred tree of the Endarians had seen her and accepted her into their ranks. Sure, she had gotten scoffed at by the pure blooded Endarians, but those that scoffed at her are all dead now. Everyone was dead. Everyone, but the tree, her one final companion in all this.

Seeing the newly advancing army, it was clear that the forces in Thessia also fell. That or the monsters somehow managed to produce a second legion overnight, knowing the enemies either was possible.

“Die!” Jess cries out, as venom and pain fill her words. She has nothing left to give, but the anger she has been harboring for the past few years, ever since he died.

“You are doing it again.” A calming motherly voice interjects. This is the voice of the world tree. Normally she would be out in the galaxy fighting for the tree’s behalf. At least that was what all the other guardians had done. That was how they got Rayquel, or the Iron Butterfly. She was out and got ambushed. That was the day they made their move.

“Doing what, exactly?”

“Talking angrily to yourself.” The tree answered.

Hearing that Jess just shook her head, as she turned and fired more and more enhanced burst shots at the incoming enemies. At first Jess thought her Mage class of Phantasmal Lord was a joke, a complete waste. It wasn’t until the war broke out with the universe enders, that she learned the true value of her powers. Only now did she see how her class that focused on manipulating light waves was perfect for empowering laser beams being fired from her weapons.

While Jess couldn’t create the light, at least not create light and then immediately manipulate that same light. Light was too quick, too elusive to both create and then manipulate. She could only do one or the other. If only there were two of me, Jess often thought to herself.

“Yeah, well, it is not like anyone is around to hear.” Jess said, her eyes readjusting to find targets. Targets that she quickly fired three quick bursts, enhancing each as they left her barrel. Then she turned her head to find yet more targets. There were always more targets.

Silence.

The tree is increasingly worried about Jess’ mental health. This reminder of her talking angrily to herself is likely why she is left to defend the western flank by herself. Well, that and anyone around her would just get in her way.

If they were guys, then they would inevitably try to hit on her. If they were females, well those were worse as they tried to befriend her. But they weren’t true friends, never true friends. They could never be equals, not with everything she has done. Even those who come in without truly knowing her, all gawk in awe at the end. Then it is worse, as they no longer just want to befriend her, but they idolize her.

They idolize a broken, disgrace of a warrior. One who was manipulated out of the only love she had ever had.

“Time?” Jess asks. As she fires more and more shots. She knows her rounds are running low. She has been fighting all night, and with solar recharging panels, there is but one real way to recharge her rounds. Once each night she can cast a spell that gives her a brief time to recharge, but that isn’t enough.

At first it was more than enough, but the monsters always increase in number and potency. She is always finding ways to dig down, to dig deeper, to pull off one last miracle to save the night.

“One minute.” The world tree states.

With that, up from her floating vantage point, Jess sees the light of the star rising. It is a beautiful sight. Somehow just seeing the tiny ball peak its way over the horizon is enough to set her soul ablaze.

Click.

Jess fires a shot, only to find that her batteries are drained. There is no extra power to pull from.

All she can do now is wait. There is one minute. One minute that the monsters must unleash vengeance against the lands. Against the world tree and against this planet that dares to continue to eek out a pitiful existence in this world.

Hovering in the air, wings flapping wildly she stays up a butterfly who learned to float as high as possible to greet the sun first.

She didn’t know if she was always meant to be a guardian, or whether she just fell into the role. A combination of need of a valid candidate, along with someone who could handle the pressure and responsibility.

This time, the monsters coming see that they have an opening, that the once relentless force that had been firing at them constantly finally stopped.

With their path wide open, the monsters begin to shamble forward, clumsily at first. Each step taken, is performed with caution. They are ready to retreat back at the slightest provocation. If Jess had one last round she would use it right now, that might be enough to give her some time. But there were always more and more monsters and less and less time.

Of in cases like this, more time when all they could do was sit back and wait.

The sun was rising, once it was higher Jess could wipe out the army before her like she always did.

If she was younger, she would have gone down and fought with the monsters in the streets, but she would have to then jump back up in the air a few seconds later and by that point she would be swarmed by the monsters.

No, this was for the best. This was her now daily routine. Fight all night, then wait for the light to come. For the sun to rise high enough over the horizon to send out beams of light. Beams, that could then be refracted down with her powers. Beams of light that could be enhanced to burn through buildings and monsters alike.

Then once the sun got even higher, she could use the light and natural heat of the sun to burn away all traces of the monsters. But for now, she would have to wait.

Each second a moment of eternal agony. Each second, her heartbeat as she wondered where and how this would all end.

Once the first few monsters are up and feel confident, they can move forward without harassment, stronger faster units charge forward from the packs. They surge forward, these running monsters are nothing major and compared to the speed of light they are nothing. But right now, while Jess is left weaponless. As she is left without a chance to defend herself or the tree she has grown to love, all she can do is wait. Wait and watch.

The monsters are about halfway down the street. Still plenty of time for the sun to come up. Time for the sun to come up, and her to smite these monsters.

“AHHH!”

The sacred tree and protector of the world cries out. With fear, Jess turns around to the tree. Only now does she realize that the southern wall has fallen.

Heat.

The immense rays of the morning sun hit her and fill her with warmth. She is struck so suddenly by the different stimuli that she almost misses her moment. Still her training takes over and she is already halfway through doing what she needs to do before she realizes.

Holding up her hands, palm out. She takes in the light, then Refracts the light into its more powerful form.

Instantly bright rays of golden light illuminate the sky, as Jess creates searing lights that burn every Prolaxian that comes in its wake.

Still, it is not enough, nothing is ever enough.

If only she could go back in time, but that never works. Her Psychic abilities deal with time. She supposedly can go back in time. At least the Tree has mentioned it to her in passing.

“Guardian. I release you from your oath.” The world tree says, pain evident in the old tree’s voice.

“What? NO!” Jess screams.

This is a mercy of the tree, for if the tree dies, the guardian should also die. This is the way of things. For what is the point of being a guardian, if there is nothing to guard, after all?

So much is going on. So many things are breaking down.

“I release you from your oath to me, and instead bind you to another!” The tree says.

“What? What other tree? Your children they are all dead? They all perished?” Jess says, her words stammering as she feels her last shred of resolve fraying away. The tree had been her one beacon of light in this whole dying universe. Her one beacon, and now with it gone, there was nothing?

She had nothing.

She was nothing.

A floating, aimless butterfly on the burning winds of change.

The tree had enough energy to cast a barrier spell. That was the plan, that was always the plan. So why didn’t the tree save itself? Why did it choose to die, here and now?

“I will send you back in time. When you can once again make a difference.” The great tree said.

“Back in time?” Jess asked, not quite wanting to get her hopes up.

“Yes. You will be sent back in time, or maybe across time is a better word. Our universe is slightly ahead of theirs in terms of plot progression, after all.” The tree said.

“What?”

Once again, the tree seemed lost, that or its thoughts and concepts that it held were not enough.

“I can feel my kind. Children of mine calling out now. There is hope in the universes. Hope that a few bastions of peace can be saved.” The great tree said.

With that, she felt her connection to the great tree cut away.

Badump.

Her heart beat once, then stopped beating.

In that moment she stopped, all time seemed to stop, as all she felt was pain. Soul jerking pain as part of her soul felt like it was being ripped out and left to bleed wildly.

“Go little one. There is still some fight left in you.” The tree said, then with that, the world around Jess began to fold inward. She was in a tunnel of immensely bright light. For a moment Jess wondered if she could manipulate that light, to turn it to her will. But then felt all the power in her body get drained, as she was suddenly far, far away, even without having moved but a single inch.

She appeared in hell. There was no other way to describe the place she was summoned to, the place where her tunnel ended. She was on a mountain of dead Prolaxians. All different kinds littered the ground she was on. So many that when she tried to move, all she did was fall down the giant hill.

Then a strange thought hit her, as she slid down the clearly dead Prolaxians, maybe this isn’t hell after all. Maybe this is heaven? Or the only form of heaven I am going to be offered?

This was a fair trade off, she didn’t deserve heaven. Not after what she had done to him. That was why she fought so hard, why she always kept rising to meet the same fate over and over. She had betrayed the only man she could ever love. Worse, she was mentally forced to do so, but still she had done it. She had betrayed him, and now he was dead. There was nothing that could change that. Nothing that could…

“Cease fire!” A voice called out.

Badump.

A voice that now even haunted Jess here, at her final resting spot.

Footsteps approached, their combat boots making wet slogging sounds as they charged through the piles of bodies.

“Someone is here?!” A painfully familiar voice called out, to no one in particular.

Hearing that voice, tears formed in Jess’ eyes. So this is Hell? Jess thought to herself, as she realized how cruel this life was.

Strong hands grabbed her body and began moving her around.

“She’s alive. She’s alive!” That voice, that same stupid voice called out.

Opening her tear-filled eyes, Jess looked up to see a face that she could now only see in her memories. On instinct, her hand rose and reached to touch the illusion, as if to break its form. This wasn’t always successful, but it worked on most people’s illusions, all but her own.

Touch.

Her hand met the soft contours of smooth flesh. He was young, far younger than he had any right to be. Also, his eyes and hair glowed. At least that is what Jess thought she saw, but her eyes were still having a hard time focusing through the tears. She was also tired, so tired. Whatever had just happened, seemed to not only sap away the rest of the tree’s energy, but also her own as well. Though this should be expected for she was the tree, and the tree was her.

“You fool. You messed it all up.” Jess said, speaking to the tree that had sent her back in time. But even at this point, if this was the time, she thought it was, then they would still be too late. They would need to go back even earlier.

Maybe this is Hell. Getting sent back in time, only to fail again. Is this how they break your spirit?

With that, the world went dark, and Jess let her consciousness fade. Even if this was the end, she would still have to try. For at least he was still here, and that meant there was still hope.