The Fifth Layer (4)

Before entering Snoid's soul transportation machine, Luo and Jenna may have been good fighters, but they weren't on the same level as Ejiro, an expert-ranked mage. 

Luo was a fire mage, one of the most common elements, and Jenna didn't have magic powers. If it weren't for her plasma daggers, she wouldn't have even been able to fight.

However, that all had changed inside the STM. Luo could make blue fire now and fly. Jenna could do much more than levitate. Her soul manifestation was both an angelic protection and a great weapon.

Stephen looked at the high ceiling. "You're not the same pilots from two months ago. Leave that spot for people without talent for magic who are much more courageous than me, who's always in hiding."

Jenna Angel and Luo Ren didn't know how to argue against him. Not everyone could be professional pilots, but fewer could be expert mages, and mages were what they needed right now.

Stephen continued. "Have you ever seen someone shoot out blue fire before? Only one species could make fire that hot, and the last living one's bones are in Ejiro's sword. And Jenna, you have unique powers now, and they are magical."

Bryan Moon joined the conversation, wanting it to end quickly. "Unlike pilots who get paid in silver, mages are paid in gold. Especially unkillable battlemages. Make it out of this mission alive, and you'll be set for life."

Luo shook his head. He looked around. Everyone was averting his gaze, all but one, Jenna.

"Luo, I don't see a way out of this."

"It's not a suggestion. It's an order," declared Rack.

Luo turned around abruptly to face him. "Well, our contracts in the air force were terminated when we were presumed dead. We don't need to take orders from-"

"But we'll do what you tell us, so long as we get paid as engaged mercenary mages instead of contracted mages." Jenna interrupted him.

"What about the werewolves and Seth's soldiers? What's their role?" asked Ejiro, changing the subject.

Stephen walked to the middle of the room and spoke up for everyone to hear. "A big portion will be fighting at the gate. We need Seth to open it for us. The attack will begin in three days. As for the rest, they will join the rebels and werewolves in the West to prevent the Topaz reinforcements from breaching the Third Layer."

…

Lycanport, 1 pm.

Aaron, Isaac, Gabriella, Christopher and Anne were at the reptoid detection device. A stressed-out blonde-haired rebel walked up the stairs, keeping her head low.

The young rebel put her arms inside the two holes and closed her eyes. 

Everyone's eyes fixed on her as the machine made a strident beep and glowed red.

Her human body started transforming into a reptoid but strangely halted mid-way through. She had both reptoid and human parts. Brown scales and pale, hairy skin. A reptoid eye and a human eye. Human eyebrows and sharp fangs. Her thumbs were of a human, while the rest of her fingers were ones found on a reptoid.

"So you're a crossbreed." Gabriella squinted her eyes.

"What does that mean?" asked Aaron.

Christopher crossed his arms. "She's both a human and a reptoid."

"Then what should we do with her?" Aaron took a step forward.

The woman limped away, fear overtaking her strange legs. "Please! I'm not like them. I didn't enroll as a spy!"

"Then why did you hide your true identity?" Gabriella threatened her with her black vampiric eyes.

The young rebel didn't know what to say. In her mind, she had always been the human her mother had raised. She had never known her father, a reptoid disguised as a human who had left her mom long before she was born.

'She shouldn't have joined the rebel ranks while hiding her identity.' Anne sympathized, but everyone had to obey the rules. "Why don't we lock her up for a time? She didn't fight like the others, but we can't let her go either."

Gabriella turned to the line of rebels below. "Who else would like to be spared here and now? Reveal yourselves."

Two more people, reptoids, stuck out of the line. "Alright, put anti-magic handcuffs on them."

The werewolves brought them to their temporary cells, intending to transfer the reptoids to the Dissension Penitentiary with the others.

"There you are," a man with a bent back and a metal staff arrived under the platform. It was Seth Rayn.

"Stephen would like to see all of you in person. Leave what you're doing to someone else and get ready to go to the Fourth Layer."

…

After four long hours, they drove through Torque's gate and walked toward the Fifth Layer's gate.

 "This is Torque?" Gabriella was shocked. "It's been ravaged."

"I can see that. The buildings are all empty, and the streets are dirty. Do you see that skyway?" Isaac pointed pointed ahead.

Anne squinted her eyes and tried to find what he was pointing. She approached him, thinking she had a wrong angle. "Isaac, you're just pointing in the void."

"That's right. Because there's no skyway anymore."

"You visited this place before?" Aaron asked Isaac.

"Yes. Gabriella and I travelled all over the Fourth Layer when you were gone."

As they approached the gate, the city became more populated, not with citizens but soldiers. Humans, vampires, and even some werewolves were there.

"How many people are there?" Christopher Fireblood was looking around, uncomfortable because of the lack of werewolves by his side.

They arrived at a crossroad and followed the main road leading to the Fifth Layer's gate. There were cannons and movable towers all around the resurfaced asphalt road. Stephen Cure was up front, hidden between the soldiers and, alongside Sophie, making preparations for the battle.

Seth shook his hand. "Hey, Stephen."

"Welcome to Torque. We will attack the Fifth Layer from here in three days, or precisely 65 hours."

Isaac looked at the massive double gate. "Three days? That's sooner than I thought."

Stephen also stared at it as he sighed. "The Seats might be playing on the defensive right now, but that's because they are waiting for reinforcements from the West. It would only take them around a week to get here from the First Layer, as we had to let go of the first two layers in the Northwest."

"Ha! I doubt they'll get through my territory. It's impossible to get past an army of werewolves."

"Actually, we did escape from one back in Carnoth City when we eliminated the previous alpha."

Christopher frowned. "Shut up, Gabriella. If I had been there-"

"I'll ensure the rest of the Western Army gathers here within 48 hours," Seth told Stephen.

"48 hours? The werewolves will be here tomorrow." Christopher said with an eager smile and narrowed eyes.