The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 204

Part 28

Four and a half months after The Tournament of Governors, in the middle of the night in Hilia, a frantic psionic call was sent out that was heard by the entire world. It came from Zarkog.

“They have stopped! The demons have stopped! Emergency Command meeting! Prepare for an attack!”

So strident was his call that almost all of The Assembly of The Just Alliance along with their senior commanders and those of The Triax had joined him in The Hall before he’d finished Speaking the word ‘attack’.

“How do you know they’ve stopped?” Somonik immediately asked. “None of the other astronomers have reported anything.”

“And why is it such a problem?” Gvetwa added.

“I know they’ve stopped because the frequency of sunlight reflected from an object that is approaching is higher than one that is still in relation to us, and theirs has dropped in pitch by an amount consistent with their having stopped!” Zarkog barked in anger, still Speaking psionicly to have it done as quickly as he could and save as much time as possible, his fear almost palpable in the air.

“And it is a problem for two reasons; the first is that the deceleration was absolutely instantaneous, and the second is that there was no deceleration energy expended at all as far as I can detect! The momentum of an object that size moving as quickly as it was represents a colossal amount of energy! Since they didn’t stop by countering their momentum with an opposing force, they must have transduced and used that energy somehow! That is enough energy for a completely devastating attack! The energy is equivalent to their mountain-range-sized lair impacting Kellaran at undiminished interplanetary speed!!!

“We must attack them now, before theirs strikes us!!”

“I agree!” Mark psionicly barked as he cast the Command Link. “Activate the civil defenses, evacuate the non-combatants to the safe locations, and let’s hit them with everything we can use at this distance, right now! And let’s get some information on them while we’re at it!”

“We will seek information as our first priority.” First Mauve volunteered on behalf of The Triax.

Everyone took Mark’s words as an order, and a blink later the great room was almost completely empty.

All the gods of the grand alliance appeared around the demons’ nation-sized rock and all but nine of The Triax gods attacked it with everything they had. In a fraction of a second it was absolutely destroyed in a single blazing flash of light, even before the Strike Wizards had Translocated in.

“What the hell just happened?!!” Povon demanded in confusion as she instinctively fanned the rapidly-expanding cloud of rock powder away with her wings. “It couldn’t have been that easy, could it?!”

“It wasn’t.” Mark growled in anger, having already received First Mauve’s report. “Everyone get back to your defensive positions immediately, and get ready! We’ll explain when we’re back.”

In the next moment they were fully deployed all over Kellaran and in the void and moons above it.

“There were only a relative few greater demons left on their vessel when we arrived.” First Mauve reported from her people’s largest vessel, Speaking only to the members of The Assembly and the pantheons. “We had time to Read them thoroughly. Part of why they had been left there was for that very reason, so that they could be Read by us, and we would be filled with fear when we learned the truth. And I am indeed filled with fear. They knew they were about to die, they knew they had been sacrificed, and I am certain that their memories were not false. Some information was withheld from them so we could not learn it from them, such as the location of their homeworld in relation to here.