Harbinger: The Downfall - Book One by Travis I. Sivart Read Free Book Online Page A

all around him. He felt helpless and small. He felt violated as these insect horrors devoured man, woman, and child alike. Some small part of him realized he did not see any chains on these people who were slaves, but he would not fully realize that until later when he went back to look at the nightmarish memories. It was the hope from others that drove him forward. It was hope that came to him again and again. Hope from the people around them as they fought on, inspired by the man he followed.
    He was not sure when it happened, but he knew it was there fully when he saw Rogen slip under the charge of what was almost humanoid ant creatures that stood higher than Cite’s knee. The advisor with the shaved head, save for a dark ponytail, charged in to save his master. The insects swarmed over him. The bite of their mandibles caused his flesh to swell, and he began to choke as they cut into flesh. That was when Cite found glowing silver daggers in his hands. Cite pulled away from Sybia and flew at the monsters as he saw Rogen go down under their organized charge. An unseen force threw the beasts back. Cite was upon them, and swung wildly, the creatures went stiff each time he struck at one, and Cite turned away to the next one before the first had fallen to the ground.
    Calleus, Taktak, Sybia, and Talidon saw something very different. They saw a madman rush over their fallen leader as the small insects flew back. As the ant creatures charged again, the man in white robes swung his empty fists, and without even touching the creatures, they would fall over dead. One person saw the truth though. Rogen, from his place on the ground, saw the silvery aura burst from Cite and the ant men thrown back as an almost solid wall of force exploded outward. He saw the silver daggers light the night and stab repeatedly, though clumsily, into the triangular heads of the creatures. No one saw Rogen smile.
    Rogen was back on his feet yelling for Cite to run again. Yelling for all of his people to run. An invasion was a situation that had been planned for, though one of insects had never been considered. All knew there were places to regroup outside the city. They followed the last command many would ever hear from their leader. They ran.
     
     
     
    Rogen walked southeast. The others plodded in silence behind him, Cite leaning heavily on the staff, He almost ran into Rogen as the shorter man stopped. Cite looked up and saw the sun cresting the eastern horizon and dark green leafy ground brush around them. The air was dry and crisp. A few insects could be heard, and a lizard scuttled for shelter in nearby rocks. The rising sun showed a small, capped well with sand bags around it stood in the center of the tiny oasis. Though they had lost Talidon in another attack outside of the city, they had arrived here with a dozen others that had joined them in the night’s march.
    Rogen turned and looked back towards the city that he had ruled for almost half his life, a city he had helped build, a city that had his blood and heart in it. He loved what he had built, and cared for the people as he would for his own clan. He was tired, tired of building something only to lose it. He sighed. The city was little more than a dark rise in the distance. He could still see a dark cloud above it, but couldn’t tell if it was the hell-sent bugs or smoke from fires. Rogen turned to a young officer next to him that had joined them in the night.
    “Corporal Enneick, return to the city when it looks safe,” Rogen said to the man, who nodded. “Till then, circle the city, checking the oases and safe caves, and find others who survived. I must get this boy to a safe place. I do not think it is a coincidence that those things arrived so soon after Cite. I will rest here, and leave with my councilors after the heat of the day has passed. We will take him south and gather more information, and decide what to do there.”
    The others unpacked the little they brought with