The Winds of Time

Chapter 28

Swords Drawn, Shields Raised

The sun crawled up from the eastern horizon casting its pale light across the tall buildings of Angel City and turning the dark of night into long morning shadows. The relative stillness of the early morning air was broken by a distant rumbling that grew steadily louder - a din of cries and heavy footfalls from the approaching horde of pokemon making their way into the city.

Three towering horned pokemon strode at the head of the multitude, their breath blowing great steaming puffs from their nostrils into the cold dawn air. Their feet fell heavily upon the asphalt surface of the street as they walked, heralding their approach like the beating of drums of war.

The Swords of Justice had arrived in Angel city.

"Be ready," Cobalion said, his great, horned head swiveling about as he surveyed his surroundings. "We may have circumvented the humans' greatest forces by traveling through the forest, but we shouldn't let our guard down."

"I can't believe they killed Orion," Terrakion said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, I had looked forward to speaking with him personally," Cobalion said. "It was my hope that he would've come to understand our cause and perhaps even join us."

"At least we were able to give him a proper burial," Virizion said, her tone low and melancholy.

"And now we shall avenge him," Cobalion declared. "Him and all the others who have died at human hands."

"His wounds didn't look like they were made by human hands," Virizion remarked.

Terrakion snorted. "His lair reeked of humans. No mistaking that."

Cobalion's eyes snapped forward. "Enough. Enemies ahead!"

Ranks of black-clad humans dashed out from side streets into the intersection ahead, barring their way.

"Behind us!" Virizion exclaimed.

More of the black-garbed humans appeared directly behind them in clusters, each group arriving from bubbles of unfolding space.

Cobalion's mouth pulled into a toothy snarl at their appearance, his flaring anger only mildly adulterated by the faintest twinge of admiration of how neatly they had simultaneously arrested their forward progress and cut them off from the bulk of their forces to the rear.

A nice trick, but they would soon learn how futile such tactics would be against them.

One of the black-garbed humans - a young woman - stepped forward from the group in front. Standing near on each side of her, much to Cobalion's surprise, were two pokemon - a pangoro and a greninja.

One of the humans with her leaned in close, Cobalion's sharp ears picking up the words he clearly intended for only her to hear. "Is it wise to bring pokemon to this fight, Nightshade? The Swords may be able to exert some influence over them."

"I trust them more than I do you, Whisper," she replied, making no effort to conceal her words. "And I told you to call me Kimmie. No one cares about that codename crap anymore." She then turned to face Cobalion, her mouth twitching into an insolent smirk. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist leading the attack yourself. You fell right into our trap."

"It is you who have fallen into our hands, human," Cobalion spat. "Now you shall pay for your crimes against our kind."

"That old, tired rant again?" Kimmie said, rolling her eyes. "Is that all you have to say for what you've done to Gateway City, you pompous, self-righteous ass?"

"You ask what I have to say?" Cobalion's seething glare bored into the human standing before him. "Only this:"

Cobalion glanced at Terrakion on his right and Virizion to his left. They nodded in silent response, then the three of them arrayed themselves in a line, standing tall and proud.

"I am Cobalion..."

"...Terrakion..."

"...Virizion..." each of the three declared in turn.

...of the Swords of Justice," Cobalion continued, his booming voice echoing from the buildings surrounding them. "Today, we bring the light of justice to the darkness before us. Look upon us, evildoers, and despair, for the vengeance of the righteous is upon you!"

With that, the horns atop the heads of each of the Swords of Justice burst into radiance, illuminating their stern features in a harsh glow and banishing the early morning shadows surrounding them. In unison, they each let out a roar that echoed across the streets, then charged forward for the attack.

Terrakion surged ahead of the others, his great, broad horns lowered at the largest group in the fore with the impudent girl who had hurled insults at them.

Kimmie turned to the man at her side. "Whisper, barriers now!"

The black-armored man raised his hands and broad planes of shimmering psychic force appeared layered one after another in the air between his group and the approaching Swords. Terrakion slammed headfirst into the layered barriers, each one shattering in a shower of coruscating psychic energy as he blasted through them in succession with the force of his charge. Each barrier, however sapped some of his momentum until, as he struck the last one, it bowed but held, bouncing him backwards to land on his haunches.

Terrakion shook his head, partly to clear the last bits of dissipating psychic barrier clinging to his horns and partly in surprise that anything a human could produce could manage to halt him.

Cobalion and Virizion, already in motion, sidestepped around Terrakion, pressing their own attack. Both being veterans of countless battles, each had already picked out their targets. Cobalion arrowed toward a cluster of the humans who had foolishly foreshadowed their attacks, his keen eye spotting ice crystals and bubbling venom forming in their hands - practically harmless to him but deadly to Virizion. At the same time, Virizion spotted the ground rippling at the feet of another group whose earth powers would be no match for her own verdant mastery, zigzagging toward them with breathtaking speed. Though briefly stunned, Terrakion - with the hardiness of the earth itself - quickly recovered and charged toward another group of humans. The dancing flames and roiling winds gathering in their hands would do little harm to him while his own powers of earth and stone would, in turn, make short work of them.

As Cobalion reached his group, his glowing horns tore through them in a broad, arcing sweep. But instead of the impact he expected, his horns slashed effortlessly through and the humans dissolved into wisps of insubstantial shadow. The sound of a guttural howl of dismay off to the side made him turn toward Terrakion whose scything horns thrashed vainly through the evaporating images of the humans he had charged. A quick glance toward Virizion revealed that the razor-edged leaves she had shot toward her targets simply passed through them, trailing smoky tendrils as they exited the insubstantial images.

A short distance away, the girl and her group reappeared, the cloaking illusion that had shielded them from his eyes evaporating in a shadowy haze.

Cobalion's eyes flicked down at the smoky tendrils of illusion dissipating before him then over to where the girl and her group now stood revealed, his mouth pulling into a snarl. "Your dark powers will not save you, witch!" he hissed through bared teeth.

"And your arrogance won't save you," Kimmie retorted.

With a sweep of her arms, waves of darkness billowed out from her, solidifying into great curtains of shadow, walling off the three Swords from one another.

From beyond the umbral barrier, Cobalion heard the girl quickly barking commands to the other humans with her, arraying them for battle. The sounds of battle cries and heavy footfalls against pavement rushing toward him told him his attackers would soon be upon him.

Cobalion, however, would not be fooled by the same tricks twice. Ignoring the sounds, he rushed toward the curtain of darkness and swept his horns, glowing with radiant power, through it. The dark barrier parted at the touch of his luminous horn-blades, dissipating in an instant.

Just as the darkness cleared, a blazing orb struck him in the face, exploding in a fiery burst that flooded his senses with searing heat and blinding light. He staggered backward a step but quickly recovered, shaking the dying embers from his face. Before he could press a counterattack, a curtain of fire roared to life before him, spreading rapidly to either side, cutting him off from the other Swords.

As some of the humans surged forward, another bolt of fire burst against Cobalion's flank, drawing a hiss of pain from the embattled pokemon. Cobalion's finely honed battle reflexes, however, responded immediately. His metallic hide rippled from the fire's point of impact as a Metal Burst counterattack flung metallic shards back at his assailant, blasting him off his feet.

Cobalion's eyes turned toward another human who rushed in close, his hands glowing with fighting energy, who apparently thought to press the attack while he was distracted by the fire-wielder. He lashed out with a hoof, catching the man across the chest and sending him flying into another pair of the black-clad humans.

"Keep your distance, you idiots!" the girl shouted. "Aura Blasts and barriers, just like we drilled. Now stay in formation unless you all want to die!"

As the girl arrayed her forces, Cobalion was already in motion, rushing toward his next target with a speed that belied his impressive size. Lowering his head, he drove the points of his horns at another of the humans whose hands began to gather a roiling, luminescent power. Cobalion's mighty horn-thrust was aimed expertly at the man's chest - a death-blow fit to pierce even an armored pokemon's heart.

But rather than skewering the human's fragile ribcage, his horns slammed into a psychic barrier that flared into existence mere moments before impact. Even so, his thrust pierced the barrier, shattering it and sending the human behind it sprawling. The barrier, however, blunted the strike, turning the death-blow into a mere bludgeon.

Two blasts of energy burst against Cobalion from opposite sides, the twin impacts ringing loudly against Cobalion's mettalic hide. Cobalion grunted in pain, leaping backward to dodge another blast. Cobalion glanced back and saw that his armored exterior was dented and cracked at the points of impact.

With a cry of rage, Cobalion surged forward again, striking at his attackers - now arrayed in pairs - with incredible speed and ferocity. His horns, blazing with radiant power, wove a luminous path among the gathered humans in a dance of death. Each strike, however, found purchase only against more psychic barriers hastily erected by one of the humans in the pair while the other lashed out with blasts of fighting energy from behind the shield's protection.

Cobalion's agility allowed him to quickly sidestep most of the counterattacks, but even his formidable battle prowess couldn't allow him to evade them all. Worse still, the humans were slowly closing in around him, giving him less and less room to maneuver. After another flurry of attacks, Cobalion hopped back, putting what distance was left between himself and his enemies.

Cobalion looked about, his chest heaving in exertion, his breath blowing great billows of steam in the frigid air. He gritted his teeth against the pain as the cracks in his armor had now been widened into deep fissures.

Cobalion was a proud warrior and loathe to let mere humans get the better of him, but he was also wise in the ways of battle and knew that his current position was untenable. His enemy had numbers on their side and it would be foolish to fight on their terms. He needed reinforcements to level the field. Despite his grim situation, he almost smiled. It had been long indeed since he felt as sorely pressed as this.

Cobalion's eyes darted about, taking in the battlefield in a moment. There, in the rear, toward where his own forces should be advancing, he saw the wall of fire was the thinnest. He turned, charging toward that spot in the fiery wall, trampling aside several more Prometheans and taking a couple more glancing Aura Blasts as he charged. He leapt high, and though his mighty leap allowed him to clear the worst of the flames, the wall's terrible heat still scorched him, its blistering heat penetrating into the cracks in his metallic hide.

He landed safely on the other side, panting in pain and exhaustion. But as he lifted his eyes, his breath caught in his throat.

His vanguard, the mightiest of his forces, were beset on all sides by the black-clad humans. Half of the pokemon lay defeated upon the ground while the other half were locked in desperate combat. And losing.

Behind him, Cobalion saw the wall of flames part and the humans who were harrying him began to advance toward him through the gap. Cobalion turned slowly and faced them, every movement of his ruined form sending lances of pain through his body. However this was about to end, he intended to meet that end as a warrior.

Just then, a high-pitched cry cut through the air. A colorful blur streaked from behind, lancing through the humans closing in on the last of the vanguard, then skidded to a halt next to Cobalion.

"Keldeo," Cobalion breathed as recognition quickly dawned. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to be guarding the rear."

"The humans are too strong!" Keldeo exclaimed. "They fight like pokemon with powers like our own. Our lines are collapsing. We can't hold our position. What do we do, Master Cobalion?"

Cobalion felt the ground tremble beneath his hooves and as he looked about, he saw that the aggron and magmortar that he'd left with Keldeo as his personal guard were advancing, engaging the humans in a holding action, though it was apparent they wouldn't be able to hold out for long. There was but one option left, though it grated him to say it.

"Put out those flames," Cobalion said, motioning to the wall of fire, "then organize a retreat. The rest of the Swords and I will cover you. Leave none of the fallen behind!"

Keldeo nodded. "Understood, Master."

Keldeo sped forward at terrific speed, propelled by jets of water blasting from his hooves. Cobalion stamped a hoof against the asphalt, pulverizing a patch of it into rubble, then kicked the rocky fragments into the advancing humans like buckshot. The humans raised their arms to cover their faces against the spray. It was but a momentary distraction, but a moment was all that was needed to let Keldeo slip by, his own watery blasts knocking several more humans aside as he passed.

Keldeo dashed along the fiery wall, the water jetting from his hooves dousing it as he went. A few moments later, the wall of fire was out.

Now Cobalion could see his comrades once again, though it seemed that Terrakion and Virizion were faring no better than he. "Swords, to me!" Cobalion called out to them.

At once they turned from their battles and headed straight for Cobalion. Virizion leapt lightly around and over her attackers while Terrakion merely lowered his great horned head and plowed through.

Terrakion turned toward Cobalion, blood dripping down his face from a gash on his forehead."What now?" he asked.

"We must retreat." Cobalion replied. "Keldeo is organizing the withdrawal. We shall cover him as they fall back."

"Very well," Virizion said with a weary nod. Cobalion saw that her own verdant form was marred with scorch marks and patches of dripping toxins.

"And be sure to gather the fallen as we go. I'll not leave a single one of our brethren to the clutches of these humans," Cobalion said, the last word spat out with obvious contempt.

The Swords of Justice gathered around one another, moving back in a fighting withdrawal. Each covered the other as best they could, managing to keep the humans at bay while Keldeo zigzagged the battlefield, harrying their attackers and gathering the fallen alongside his personal guard.

It was a grim day for Cobalion and the Swords. Every step of their retreat cost them in pain and blood. On their backs, each of them carried a heavy burden of fallen pokemon they had scooped up along their way. But to Cobalion, even heavier was the burden of their failure.

# # #

Kimmie watched as the last of the pokemon fled or teleported away, with the Swords of Justice following close behind.

"Should we pursue?" one of the Prometheans at her side asked.

"No," Kimmie replied. "They're in full retreat. Pursuing them will gain us nothing and only add to our losses."

"But weren't we supposed to kill the Swords of Justice?" the man asked.

"We were to kill them if possible. Now that they've escaped our trap and are fighting as one, it would be suicide to press an attack, even injured as they are."

The Promethean nodded, his face unreadable behind his mask. "Understood."

Kimmie turned toward the pangoro and greninja at her side. "I'm sorry you guys got dragged into this mess. The whole point of this was so you don't have to fight anymore."

The pangoro leaned down, laying a huge paw on her shoulder, rumbling a soft note of concern.

"Thanks, Chop," she said, looking over the smoke rising over the city. "I'll feel better when all of this is over."

Kimmie turned as a tall figure approached her. His inhuman appearance made him unmistakable even from a distance.

The man towered over her as he stopped in front of her, folding his blue scaled arms across his broad chest. "Lieutenant Nakamura, report," he said.

"The enemy is in full rout, Commander Sardis," Kimmie said. "The Swords of Justice are gravely wounded but they managed to escape. I'm sorry."

Commander Sardis waved his clawed hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You've done your part. My men and I have slaughtered the main body of the attacking forces in the northern quadrant of Angel City. The city is now ours and the Swords have suffered heavy losses. We can now pursue them at leisure and cut them and their forces down in detail."

Kimmie simply nodded in response. The glance that the Promethean Commander gave to her pokemon as he turned and left sent a chill down the back of neck. As soon as he was gone, she hastily returned them to their poke balls, gripping each one tightly as she hung them on her belt.

# # #

Later that morning, the news broadcast a recording of the CEO of Xenon Technologies, Simon Vanderburg, who announced that Angel City had been saved by Aureus' newest protectors – the Prometheans – who were Xenon's response to the rogue pokemon threat. He promised that the Prometheans would stand vigil for humanity and ensure that what happened to Gateway City would never happen again.

The response was immediate. The citizens of Angel City almost universally praised the Prometheans and their efforts, for while Angel City did suffer some damage, it remained mostly intact. Videos of the heroic Prometheans driving off the Swords of Justice and their terrifying pokemon army spread like wildfire across the internet. And the Pokemon League, already embattled over the fossil pokemon incident, looked even more weak and ineffectual for having done nothing to curb the threat.

In his office, Simon Vanderburg leaned back in his chair and smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.