Chapter 14

That howling arose as that storm cleared the battlefield of anything which stood in its way, engulfing the terrain in a sea of lightning and flames.

"He thought his Storm wiped out my defensive wall of tentacles Rode", Vage said, "not knowing that I had to call for retreat using the explosion to mask the whole scheme."

Rode gave an approving growl, his golden eyes glistening with anticipation to battle.

Calk's fists tightened, he still couldn't understand how Vage had been able to take down his army of cosmic beasts with just one shot from that cannon, it unleashed the destructive energy it possessed, courtesy of the cosmic arcade.

"Vage !" Calk growled. "Cosmic beasts !"

Sending his entire army of cosmic beasts charging towards Vage's ship, Calk stood in fury and anticipation, anxious to see the Talon blow up into pieces. This wasn't the first encounter he had had with Vage, and Calk knew about his cosmic beast Rode - that annoying pet of his. He always wondered how could a being like Vage place his chances of victory on a single cosmic beast, no matter how powerful. A bit perplexed about Vage's delay in sending Rode into battle, he hoped to stirr Vage into releasing Rode by unleashing his entire army of cosmic beasts.

"Untame Rode Vage," Calk whispered mischievously.

Closing his eyes and concealing his vision and mind from the ferocious stare which Calk's cosmic beasts bore, Vage sank into the subconscious depths of his mind. Taking the air deep into the lungs, that feeling although stable was fiery within, it awakened a seventh sense within Vage, that sense which had always guided him from boyhood till he became a cosmic pirate, long before he was able to tame Rode as his cosmic beast. It was that supernatural sense of a higher order that had always guided him through every phase of his life, strengthening him against every foe he came across, whether a cosmic feudal lord or an army of cosmic beasts, it was the heat of battle.

The astral heavens began their turbulent transcendence and a molten whirlpool took form enacting that blackhole at its core. Those pillars of lightning came crashing down, sending this cosmic plain into a chaotic state of stellar vibrations.

Rode rose on all fours, his golden eyes becoming enflamed and his fangs and claws bore themselves out, the turbulence above had already created a resonance within his being and so was Vage whose entire being steamed of fiery vapours rising from his armour. Those cracks etched themselves all over his body, originating from the side of his closed eyes, trailing down his jaws they spread across his neck, infesting every corner of both his mind body and soul. Tearing apart, his eyelids unveiled a depthless sea of flames burning within Vage's now golden eyes.

"Cosmic Rode", Vage ordered, "soar !"

Rode roared to the skies, his voice tearing through the distance, it shattered the ether into vitreous shards. Soaring to the skies, his hides and fur became enflamed, and like a halo he tore into the depths of that blackhole, immersing itself into its titanic waves.

That sea of flames and lightning rose higher, its waves towering like mountainous fingers, gripping its cosmic its cosmic energy and drawing more into its core from the unknown and it was unceasing, infinite and unending.

"Roooarrr !"

This time it came from the depths of the quaking soul of a now evolved cosmic beast, piercing farther into this cosmic plain, making the battlefield quiver and quake. The massive and vivid vibrations erupting from that cosmic whirlpool blew past Calk's fleet, creating a storm which pulled him backwards making him strain to keep his footing, as it blew in it's heated rage.

Another roar erupted, creating and even greater sea of vibratory turbulence, now a force of nature risen to an altitude, a higher cosmic peak of existence, making this astral plain quiver under its dominance

Calk crashed to the steel floor of his battlecarpet, the cosmic waves blowing past wiping out most of his flanks and ranks of the attacking cosmic beasts. Their howls screeches and moans made this chaotic sea even more sunken in its turbulence. Anarchy within anarchy, balance within imbalance was indeed true mastery.

The battle hadn't even begun and they were already getting crushed by the cosmic energy of a beast yet to surface, only heavens knew what would happen when Rode finally descended. Time was at its last grain, Vage grinned, now was the start of war.

"Cosmic Rode", Vage summoned, "gore !"

Rode descended, his coming heralded by those enflamed pillars of lightning originating from the blackhole, they struck through Calk's army of cosmic beasts wiping out his foremost ranks. Rode's golden fangs and claws glistened like fire as they seared through the hides if any beast which stood in his way, he was fire and lightning, the very essence of battle, the apex of evolution.

Ramming his armoured and fiery being of energetic waves, he tore into the heart of Calk's army. His fangs and claws sinking into scores of beasts with every bite and slash he made, he was a leonine warrior, paving his way with fury and skill, like a cat he was fluid, taking shape and form at unexpected angles, he took his opponents by surprise driving them straight to their deaths. His will was unbending as that of his master, and Rode would never be satisfied until he had served to the fullest, by destroying anything that was meant to bring harm upon Vage.

They had come a long way, their story as master and cosmic beast was something that had begun centuries ago, and that bond was now a universe of its own, ever expanding, ever growing, stronger and fiercer with each enemy they faced.

Calk was seething and furious within, he still had a card which he hadn't doled out, an ace which could be a game changer in this battle. But what he had seen - that display - the turbulence that came with Rode's evolution, he had become sceptical about this ace of his, but he couldn't go down without fighting either. Calk didn't want to lose, but if he did - and from the look of things he was going to - he was bent on leaving a mark on Rode.