The sound of thunder wakes me. The windows shatter as I get to my feet. A cold wind wraps round my body and an awful sound rings in my ear. What is this? Is this the sound of an explosion? The feeling of my world being torn, the world coming to an end. It certainly looks that way. I run to my now shattered bedroom window and have a look, the broken glass cutting my feet to pieces but I ignore the pain and blood as I look out to see everything I know and love burning. The whole city is on fire, the sky glows orange as it's darkened by the thick black smoke, people fill the streets screaming and crying, some are even praying while others trample over their kneeling bodies. I don't know what is happening, all I know is that my world has become only fire, death and destruction. I look up at the sky and see them, the destroyers. The ones that were meant to save us, the ones that betrayed us. At first everyone loved them but then they turned, no one knows why but they all turned from our savours to our destroyers overnight. Now it's over, I am watching mankind's last city burn as the inhabitants are mercilessly cut down.
"Captain we need to go now!" A young man shouts barging into my bedroom his voice full of fear drawing my attention to him and away from our destruction, he's not a man he's a boy. He looks like he is barely twelve but already he bears the rank of an officer and his youthful face scared by this war, he's the perfect example of the desperate state mankind is in. on the verge of extinction forced to use children because all of the adults are dead, there was no way kids could win this war for us. We all knew this but refused to accept it, we sent thousands of kids to their deaths, wasted the youth trying to prevent our end. Now one of the lucky ones that somehow returned is stood before me, I have to look away I can't meet his eyes knowing what he's been through. "Come on we haven't got much time"
"I'm coming" I tell him running towards him ignoring the pain as I drive the glass in my feet deeper into my flesh.
"Follow me" He says as he starts to run leading the way, I could out run him if I wanted to but I have no idea where we are going.
"Where are we going?" I ask him as we run, through the rubble filled streets that's stained with blood and light up by the inferno around us.
"To the lab" He answers as we jump over a burning tree trunk which has collapsed and is now blocking our path. "We are going to use it"
He doesn't need to explain any further, I know what he means. He means we are going to use some sort of machine to end this war before it can begin, to send me back in time so I can stop our destroyers from becoming our protectors. It has to be me that goes, I am the only one that can do it after all. I am Sara Stewart, the last of the witches. At one point there was many of us but this war have killed every one of them but myself, friends, squad mates sisters at arms have all died in front of my eyes. Even my little sister and the love of my life perished trying to stop the destroyers, I couldn't save even them and watched them both burn to death in front of my eyes. I still see them in my sleep, if I am lucky they are alive and well but most of the time they are burn and screaming for me to save them. I can't, everything I try always fails. At least now I can save them, I can stop the destroyers that ended their lives from ever exciting. I may not see them again after this but whatever happens I will be happy knowing they are alive and safe, even if I die I'll still go smiling as long as I succeed in this task. No one knows what will happen if I compete my task, all we know is that I will be trapped in the past. But everyone agrees with the plan, to save humanity it must be done.
"We are almost there" The boy says pointing to a large dome that looks like it's taken a real beating, part of the roof has caved in and fire is poking out of the hole but it's still standing and in our hands. Tracer fire sprays in every direction from the anti-aircraft guns dotted around the building and muzzle flashes appear in several windows. "It's…"
The boy doesn't get to finish, one of the destroyers spots us and fires. Its's shot lands just next to the boy and explodes engulfing him and a fire bull and tearing the limbs off of his body, I'm not lucky enough to be spared. I am thrown through the air and land hard on my shoulder, I feel the bones in my arm shatter as I land on the ground and can't stop the scream of pain leaving my mouth. The pain is so bad that it is a hundred times worse than the pain in my glass filled blood soaked feet and makes my eyes water. All I can do is look up and see all of mankind's hope about to be blasted away as I see the destroyer that just killed the boy charging his weapon preparing to finish me off. I always had nightmares about being where I am right now, it's just the same only this time I won't be waking up. Its white body covered in thick armour that is tough to beat, to knife like arms forming a red beam between them that can destroy anything with a single hit, four jet engines as feet and a pointed head housing four machineguns that can tear a person to shreds in seconds.
The destroyers are deadly war machines meant to protect us, when they were still called Warlocks they did but now they turned becoming the destroyers and about to wipe our species off of the face of the earth. All it will take is for it to fire, to engulf my body in a red beam that will leave no trace of me behind and destroy the last hope us humans have for salvation. But it doesn't fire, a rocket slams into one of its arms exploding within the charging beam causing its most powerful weapon to backfire blowing the Warlock to pieces. Whoever shot that rocket performed that shot just like we were all taught during basic training. "The easiest way to destroy a Warlock is to use its beam against it" My drill instructed always said. I'm still watching the Destroyer fall to the ground in tiny flaming pieces when someone runs up to me, it's another child soldier who's had their childhood taken away from them to be replaced by this blood and flames. She's a young girl who looks like she just hit puberty, she has shoulder length blond hair that is soaked with her own blood on the left side from a large gash in her forehead. She has bright blue eyes that shine even though the smoke has blocked out the sun, cute young face that looks tired and terrified.
"Are you ok?" The girl asks as I slowly get up holding my broken arm feeling the bone poking through my skin.
"Yes" I wince in reply not very convincingly, the girl looks me over looking worried at my condition so I give her a smile to try and prove I really am ok. "I need to get to the lab" I tell her nodding to the dome as it takes another hit, a beam blows another hole through the dome's roof and starting another fire. "It's time to use it"
"I'll get you there" The girl says knowing that it is important I reach the lab, everyone here knows only I can us it. "Follow me I'll protect you"
"Lead on" I say hating a kid has to protect me, every instinct in my body is telling me switch rolls and protect this girl. I am seventeen at least four years older than this girl so I should be leading and protecting her, the loss of my little sister still fresh in my memory only reinforces that belief.
We run the hole way killing my feet as the glass is shattered and grinded into my feet, guards meet us at the main door and let us in. The girl leaves me here to re-join the fight, I want to stop her and take her somewhere safe but I can't. I have to reach the machine and use it, the only way I can truly protect her is to complete my mission and stop the Warlocks from ever being created. I run down the stairs to the bottom level of the building and into a large room where several scientists are frantically doing their work. The room is a wide open room with a chair attached to a giant machine in the middle and a large generator in each corner to power the machine, control panels and wires fill the rest of the room and computer monitors cover every wall. I quickly run over to the two people stood by the machine, the two most important humans left alive right now. The first is an old lady who is the lead scientist working on the machine, she is a mean lady that shouts at people over the smallest things, she has long grey hair, grey eyes and is covered in burn scares. The second is a man in his late twenties, he is kinder but still not a nice person. He has short brown hair nearly shaven off completely, green eyes that are dull and lacking any warmth, scares all over him and his right arm has been blown off from the elbow down. He is the leader of wants left of mankind, the last leader if I fail my mission.
"Get in the chair we haven't got much time" The man says in his normal cold heartless voice. I comply without a word and climb into the chair, the women straps me in place tightening straps around my wrists and ankles before attaching some kind of metal ring with wires contacted to it to my head. Needless to say my broken arm is screaming in pain when the doctor mercilessly tightens it over my broken bone, but the women doesn't show any concern as she tightens it further forcing tears out of my eyes and painful whimpers leave my throat.
"Remember when I tell you to use you magic" The women says as she and the man backs up, they both sound like they are more machine then human. "It will give the machine the boast it needs to work" With that she presses a button which starts aloud hum to vibrate through the room, she presses another button and now the chair feels like its full of electricity but it tickles more then it hurts. "Ok Sara now" The women says so I activate my magic causing the humming to get louder and a white light to envelop my body. I have no idea what happens next, all I can see is whiteness and all I know is that I feel really, really tired. I can't keep my eyes open, I let them close and fall asleep feeling that I failed and mankind will be whipped out because I couldn't stay awake.