Song from Previous Chapter
"When it Falls"
Artist - Jeff & Casey Lee Williams
When we've lost all hope,
And succumb to fear,
And the skies rain blood,
And the end draws near...
"Hmm...hmm,hmm,hmm..." CC hummed to himself as he flew over the grymm towards the tower and entered said tower. He flew up the central column and fired a small red laser at a monitor, the flashing red ceasing briefly, but continued. "That's not right." CC fired a stronger laser at the monitor, the red flashing continued. "That definitely isn't right."
CC hovered back and fired a laser, destroying the concrete pillar and exposed the wires within. He moved closer and fired a weaker beam, destroying a couple of wires, but the monitors continued flashing red. "Darren, what did you do?" CC hovered back again and fired the stronger laser, tearing through all of the wired and through to the other side of the pillar. The monitors still flashed red. "That shouldn't be possible. This shouldn't happen, the tower should have stopped."
"I can't stop this."
THE XIAO LONG CHRONICLES
VOLUME 3 - EVERYBODY LIES
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DAY 49
CC went to fly off, but a loud alarm went off through the tower, the monitors flashing red.
"What's going on?" Anna asked.
"The signal in the tower has been flipped, it's drawing the grymm towards us. Your lightsabre caused a signal and the tower replicated it. Darren planned this to happen." CC told them. Outside, they heard the walls creaking and bending. David picked Anna up bridal style and ran to the door, Alex just behind as they saw the walls collapsing, the grymm storming into Cydonia. The citizens were screaming as they ran to their homes, but the grymm grabbed many of them, tearing them apart limb from limb. David looked down at the helpless citizens, horrified at the people being torn apart before his eyes.
"David, what do we do?" Anna asked. David looked at the army of grymm, heading towards them.
"I don't know." David whispered, grymm beginning to climb up towards them. He looked around desperately, thinking of anything for a shot of survival, and felt the lightsabre attached to his belt. Carefully, he put Anna down so she stood on her own and held the lightsabre. "I know what to do."
"What?" Alex asked.
"The grymm are attracted to the lightsabre when it's activated. I'll draw them away while you get yourself and Anna to the hospital, and lock the doors. Once you're both fixed up, figure out a way to get the grymm out of Cydonia, or run." David ordered them.
"No, that's suicide." Anna objected. "There are hundreds of grymm out there, and you want them to chase you while we run?"
"I will come back, but once I've drawn them away, I need to find Vanessa and Noir, they're still out there." David told them as they grymm got close to them. "Now go, while we still have a chance." Before David could go, Anna hugged him tightly, giving him a quick kiss.
"I'll see you soon." Anna told him, letting go. David activated his lightsabre, the grymm growling louder and stumbled towards him.
"I know." David ran away from Anna, Alex and CC, the majority of the grymm following him.
"Now we just need to get from here to the hospital." Alex reminded, looking at the hospital on the other side of Cydonia, a substantial amount of grymm between them.
"Alexander, I have plotted a route to the hospital which will avoid the most grymm and the highest success rate of reaching our destination. I recommend using your daggers to increase our success rate." CC told them both.
"I never would have thought of that. Thanks." Alex said sarcastically, and took out his daggers. "Lead the way." CC flew ahead of them while Alex trailed behind, keeping an eye on Anna as she followed behind the two of them.
John fired his assault rifle down at the grymm entering the community, splattering blood all over the ground as their bodies slumped and fell, dead again. He held onto the railing on the tower as the grymm began to push and shake the tower. John reloaded and fired downwards at the grymm, splattering guts over the support beams and floor as more and more grymm moved towards him. "Damn it." He muttered, reloading again.
"That ain't gonna work." John turned to see Indiana and Kiley crawling up the tower on the opposite side he was shooting from. They climbed into the tower, holding their weapons. "Gunfire attracts them, you'd get overwhelmed."
"If it's drawing them to us, others can get away. I'm just low on ammo." John explained.
"The don't spray and prey." Indiana told him, handing him a few more clips of ammunition.
"Short controlled bursts, more effective kills while still drawing them away. One person can't do that effectively, but we can help." Kiley cocked her sniper rifle to emphasise.
"The let's kill some grymm." The three of them took different sides of the tower and shot down, killing more grymm and attracting more.
David sliced another grymm head off, kicking it's body back and knocking down a couple more grymm. "Vanessa!" David called out, backing away from a grymm and sliced the grymm down the middle, splitting it in half. "Noir!" Another grymm lunged at David, who sliced it's head in half across the eyes and telekinetically pushed it back, along with a dozen more. "Vanessa!"
"David!" Vanessa called out, firing her revolver that pierced through several grymm skulls. "Where's Anna? Alex?"
"They're heading to the hospital." David answered, tripping over a grymm and stabbing it through the eye. "Where's Noir?"
"Don't know. She took off, kept taking about the sky." Vanessa told him, throwing one of her knifes at a grymm, pulling it back telekinetically.
"It's too dangerous to go find her, she'll be fine on her own." David assured, deactivating his lightsabre.
"We need to get to the hospital." Vanessa told him.
"Right, but first, we need to go to the blacksmith, got to pick something up. Come on." David began running to the blacksmith, Vanessa following just behind her.
"Get in!" Emily yelled as Alex, Anna and CC entered the hospital, Alex helping her to move a table in front of the door as the grymm pressed up against it. She entered the next room where Doc wrapped bandages around Anna's stomach, CC floating nearby. "What is that thing?"
"I'd prefer not be referred to as a 'thing', I'm an Artificial Intelligence, or an AI, called Crimson Cube, or CC-"
"CC. Shut up." Alex cut him off, annoyed.
"Shisno." CC muttered.
"Alright, you're all fixed up." Doc told Anna, who pulled down her vest and got to her feet.
"We need to go get David." Anna told them.
"You're in no condition to even move. It's a miracle you're on your feet at all. I'm sorry, but you can't even leave this room." Doc informed her.
"I'm fine." Anna assured, and reached for a katana, only to realise they were gone. "Fuck."
"Anna, I hate to admit it, but he's right. You're stomach just got sliced open, you can't go out there. I'll go." Alex told her.
"And you're not going either, Alex. You've been shot, you could tear open your wound." Doc told him.
"If you're all done arguing, I would actually like to leave and go reverse the towers signal to force the grymm away and save everyone in Cydonia. If you're not too busy." CC spoke up.
"That's it. I can't stand you anymore. Go." Alex pointed to the door, CC hovering away and exited the hospital. "Thank god. He's such a pain."
David hopped over the counter in the blacksmith, Vanessa following just behind, kicking a grymm back. She took out a knife and stabbed another, kicking it back and entered the blacksmith, slamming the door shut. "Great, now we're trapped. Any more bright ideas?" Vanessa asked David sarcastically.
"We can't draw the grymm away, so we're going to fight them. Anna has no weapon, I asked William to make one, and he has. Where is he, by the way?" David asked her.
"One second." Vanessa started searching the building, opening the back closet to find it empty. She walked up the stairs and opened the door, and gasped in shock. In the corner of the room, a grymm ripped out Williams stomach and was eating a chunk of meat, oblivious to the human behind it. Vanessa took out a knife and stabbed it in the side of the head, throwing the body aside. She looked down at his blood soaked hands, which held onto a sharp, freshly made katana. Cautiously, she took the weapon from his grip, holding it in her left hand and stabbed William in the head with a knife with her right hand. Vanessa attached the knife to her belt and walked down the stairs.
"What'd you find?" David asked, opening another draw. He pulled out a sheath, but lacked the katana.
"William's dead. He tried to make a stand, but he must have got overpowered." Vanessa explained, and held out the katana. David looked at it briefly and took it. "We got what we came for. Now what?"
"Now, we regroup at the hospital and deal with these monsters. Then, I don't know yet. Let's focus on the now." David stated, taking out a dagger and holding it in his right hand, holding the katana backwards in the left. He ran up to the door and kicked it open, knocking back a few grymm. Vanessa raised her arms and lunged them forward, all 16 daggers flew ahead and killed a dozen grymm, returning to her. They took the opportunity and ran out of the blacksmith.
"Hmm...hmm,hmm,hmm..." CC hummed to himself as he flew over the grymm towards the tower and entered said tower. He flew up the central column and fired a small red laser at a monitor, the flashing red ceasing briefly, but continued. "That's not right." CC fired a stronger laser at the monitor, the red flashing continued. "That definitely isn't right."
CC hovered back and fired a laser, destroying the concrete pillar and exposed the wires within. He moved closer and fired a weaker beam, destroying a couple of wires, but the monitors continued flashing red. "Darren, what did you do?" CC hovered back again and fired the stronger laser, tearing through all of the wired and through to the other side of the pillar. The monitors still flashed red. "That shouldn't be possible. This shouldn't happen, the tower should have stopped."
"I can't stop this."
"He's coming!" Anna yelled, looking out the window. "We need to open those doors." Anna ran towards the door and started pushing the table out of the way, moving it away from the door before Alex could get the chance to help and opened it, David and Vanessa running in. David held out his hand, moving the table back, along with several other heavy items to keep the doors shut.
"Anna, are you okay?" David asked. Anna answered by kissing him, hugging him tightly. "Right, that's a yes. What about you Alex, and don't answer with a kiss."
"I'm good." Alex told him. "Now that we're all here, what now?"
"Whatever CC has tried to do didn't work." Anna told them. "He would have done something by now."
"We fight the grymm, force them back." David told them.
"Just four of us? Against hundreds of them?" Vanessa asked, unsure.
"They're slow, we can beat them. Anna this is yours." David held out the katana and sheath, Anna accepting them. She strapped the sheath to her back, and sheathed the katana. "I asked William to make this, it was the last thing he made before he died."
"I'll make sure not to waste it." Anna said with a smile.
"So, we're really doing this?" Alex asked.
"What other choice do we have? Run? Hide? Wait it out?" Vanessa asked. "We have to fight."
"And we will." Anna agreed.
"Alright, let's go kill some grymm." David told them, and telekinetically moved the objects away from the door, kicking it open and activated his lightsabre. Anna unsheathed her katana and spun it forward. Vanessa raised her arms, all her knifes floating above her and Alex unsheathed his knifes, holding them in a ready stance. The grymm turned to them and started approaching them.
THUMP!
The ground shook, knocking David, Anna, Alex and Vanessa back and almost off their feet.
THUMP!
Another shake, Vanessa tripped and fell to the ground.
CRACK!
The floor just ahead of them exploded upwards, Sky jumped out of the hole and landed on the ground just ahead of them.
"Sky?" David asked. She ignored him and gritted her teeth angrily. She fell to her knees and slammed her fists onto the ground.
THUMP!
All of the grymm's legs snapped, the living dead bodies falling to the ground as they crawled towards them. Sky slammed her fists on the ground again.
THUMP!
The grymm's bodies crippled against the ground, bones smashing and flash getting ripped apart. Sky yelled angrily and slammed her fists on the ground again.
THUMP!
The grymm crushed against the ground, dead.
Cydonia was safe again.
"I don't believe it. They're dead." Alex muttered, shocked.
"Yeah, she did it." David said, equally surprised. "Why is she even out here?"
"I saw the future." Noir spoke up, walking towards them. "She is the one who saves Cydonia, not any of you. You would have all died."
"Alex, get Sky into the hospital, what she just did could have done a number on her. I'm going to find Linda." David told them, running towards the castle.
Indiana groaned as he got up from the floor of the tower, having being knocked down due to seismic quakes, and not knowing what it was. He got up and turned to Kiley, who was getting up slowly, and over at John, who was looking out of the tower, surprised expression on his face. "What is it?" Indiana asked.
"They're dead." John answered quietly. "All of them. They're dead." Indiana walked over to the edge of the tower, Kiley joining them as they looked down at the hundreds of squished dead bodies on the ground, blood staining the floor as far as they could see.
"What could have done this?" Kiley asked.
"Someone, or something, with great power. Whatever it is, it just saved Cydonia." Indiana told them.
David opened the doors into the throne room, walking across the large room to find Linda sitting at the base of the throne, crying. He approached her and knelt down, sitting next to her.
"I'm a failure." Linda muttered. "So many people, they've died because I can't protect them."
"You know that's a lie, there is nothing any of us could do. Hell, I couldn't do anything, and all I could do is run." David told her. "The grymm are all dead."
"Who killed them?" Linda asked, wiping her eyes.
"Sky. She busted up through the ground and altered their gravity, crushed them all to piles of bones. Seems that she did the right thing." David explained.
"Sky, she shouldn't have even been here. When Miranda told me and Lexus about her, I wanted to let her go, she's just a scared kid. But, if she wasn't here, she couldn't have saved us." Linda told him. "I can't lead these people."
"You don't really have a choice. We all have to do things we don't want to do." David said to Linda.
"What do you do, that you don't want to do?" Linda asked.
"I don't want people to trust me." David told her. "When people trust me, it puts more pressure on me to keep them safe. Today, I don't know how many people have died, but I know that Joshua died because he was murdered by Darren, I didn't even suspect him. "
"Nobody suspected him. It wasn't your fault." Linda defended him. "Alexander is one of the best people in Cydonia, and I trusted him with being the scout because he can read people and judge whether or not they should come here. Alex and Darren were partners, and Alex saw nothing, had no idea what Darren really was. David, I can't fight, I'm too old and I've never trained to be a hunter. You, you can fight, that's why I made you the constable. I trust you, and so do your friends."
"Thanks." David thanked. "You need to talk to the people, let them know they're still safe, that we can recover from this." Linda thought about it for a moment, and smiled a little.
"You're right." She got to her feet. "It's about the people. Come on." David got up and followed her out.
A few hundred citizens of Cydonia all sat around outside the castle, all doing various jobs. Alex and Indiana picked up another grymm body, carrying it over to a large pile of other grymm bodies and threw the body onto the pile. Anna paced along the grymm bodies, stabbing any in the head that may have survived. Vanessa and Xander were helping those who had been injured and Kiley was on lookout for any grymm that may enter the community. Alex sighed tiredly as they walked over to another body. "Fifty down, five hundred or so to go..." He complained.
"Hey, you wanted to help move these bodies, don't complain for something you wanted to do." Indiana told him, rolling him metal arm.
"Well, I've got to do something, sitting around isn't going to do anything." Alex muttered. "And, you know, David took off."
"And I'm back." David said, shocking Alex.
"Whoa, where did you come from?" Alex asked.
"I was nearby, listening to you complain about moving bodies. Sometimes, you just have to use your skills to help." David said, raising an arm and lifting some bodies, moving them over to the pile.
"Show-off." Alex muttered annoyingly. Anna walked over to them, flicking her katana, blood flying off it and onto the floor.
"We're all clear, no grymm left." Anna assured.
"That's a relief. Feeling better?" David asked her.
"I'm good, stomach doesn't hurt that much anymore." Anna answered, sheathing her katana. "I'm just glad we're all okay."
"Yeah." David agreed, pulling her into a small hug, kissing her on the head.
"Everybody, may I have your attention please." Linda spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "As you are aware, today we have suffered great losses at the hands of the grymm. They broke down the walls that we all believed would keep us safe, but they didn't, because someone who has been living among us sabotaged the tower to draw in more grymm. Darren Hunter, one of our scouts, changed the tower's frequency to draw in more grymm. He killed Joshua Wayne and severely hurt Anna Kyle and Alexander MacFarlane, and killed many more, but he's dead now."
"He was sent by the White Fang." Anna told her. "Adam Taurus sent him to destroy Cydonia."
"Darren was killed by David Xiao Long. He managed to save his friends and help save Cydonia, but he wasn't the one who did. There is a young woman, Sky Breaker, who none of you have heard of. King Taub saw fit to lock her in a prison behind the castle because he believed she was dangerous, but she saved us all. And for that, we owe her our lives." Linda stopped briefly, looking at the citizens of Cydonia, all with scared expressions, still unsure whether they were safe.
"I can assure you all, we will not make these mistakes again. The walls, they'll be stronger, more supported, they won't fall down as long as we stand together. We'll recover from this tragic day for a new tomorrow, and we will all survive. We will all be safe." Linda finished as the crowd cheered in agreement.
David groaned as he collapsed onto one of the sofa's in his house, lying on his back as he rubbing his eyes tiredly. He would have easily drifted off to sleep right there, had he not been woken up by a weight on his chest. He looked to see Anna straddling his chest, she leant down and he hugged her closer.
"Hey, what's going on out there?" David asked.
"Some guys are setting up temporary walls while John and Kiley stay on lookout during the night. You could go and help them." Anna suggested. David groaned.
"No, I'm too tired." David said annoyingly. "It's been a long day for us. All of us. Heck, we both almost died again."
"I guess we've got a death wish." Anna joked. They remained in content silence for a moment until David spoke up.
"How's the baby?" He asked.
"Doc said that the cut won't have been deep enough to hurt her, and that there won't be any permanent damage in the future." Anna told him.
"I'm sorry, 'her'? You mean 'him'." David corrected her.
"Nope. It'll be a girl." Anna disagreed.
"Boy."
"Girl."
"Fine, if it's a girl, I get to name it." David relented.
"Agreed, but if it's a boy, I get to name it." Anna said with a smirk.
"Fine." David said begrudgingly. Anna laughed a little and leant down, kissing him. They kissed for a while longer until they both needed to breath.
"I love you." Anna told him, snuggling next to him.
"I know." David knew, and both passed out from exhaustion.
I may fall! But not like this – it won't be by your hand,
I may fall! Not this place – not today,
I may fall! Bring it all – it's not enough to take me down,
I may fall!
So, that was a thing. Cydonia is now safe from the grymm and will now rebuild. David and Anna's relationship remain strong with their baby on the way and the citizens of Cydonia have new found hope of survival. Will it last? Will they all survive? Will they stop the grymm?
And will their baby be a boy or girl?
Only time will tell...
Just a note, I have created a wikia based on this universe that you can use to find out about the characters, locations and most importantly, physical appearances.
The website is: the-xiao-long-chronicles .wikia wiki/ Main_Page
And remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and I'll see you all in chapter twelve!