Vice and Virtue

Chapter - 12

We waited for it to begin on the rooftop of the rogue division itself that Kai was generous enough clear of our not so friendly.  It didn’t take long for the storm clouds to reach the capitol from the ocean. The day lost its light in progression with the strong winds and leviathan announced its presence with a loud bellow. A storm brewed in the skies above the capitol and every human and Cyan, strong enough to sense danger knew that it was the onset of something that would change the terrain once again. Atop the central high-rise in front of us stood the Order’s strongest trio, looming down on us but they locked their gaze on leviathan. Its shadow painted the clouds and parts of it were visible, highlighted in blue and black, when lightning struck. Close behind it were a couple of black dragons, in descent but still on its trail. They sliced through the violent gust but maintained a steady pace, dodging currents and the occasional lightning strikes and perched alongside the triad.  

‘Herding something this massive is hard enough as is, why did you let things complicate on the ground too, Tricia’ Theo was scratching the back of his head as he stared at all the damage done below by us. ‘You think you’re worthy enough to ask me that, serf’ she spat at him. ‘What’s done is done my friends, let’s just focus on the future for now’ Harold interrupted them. ‘And what do you mean by our future, Mr.KnowItAll?’ Max chimed in. ‘It means exactly what it is’ at this Theo and Tricia stared at him, appalled by his unyielding sense of his own delusional justice in the face of all the things happening in front of him. ‘My bad for asking you about it, for now hurry up and start having some fun will you?’, ‘Yes, I’ve been waiting for this, pardon me for I’ll take my leave for now’ with that he shot into the sky, towards leviathan, building up his speed as he air-walked. ‘I know I’m new at this but is it a good idea to let Harold rampage by himself?’ Jason looked a bit perplexed as he stared at the now midair Harold. ‘He won’t die so easily and it’s better for him to go wild then for us to be dragged into the mess he creates’ Tricia answered him.

‘Are you guys absolutely sure about going against the Triad now?’ I asked them as we stood witness to the absurd conditions above us. ‘It’s a bit too late to ask that of us, you know’ Renae was still being a bit cold towards me. ‘My only concern is to get out of this one piece and I mean it more ways than one’ Kai backed her. ‘I know I’m asking a lot but bare with me for this one last time before we all-’ a sharp pain traversed from my shoulder to my teeth, ‘If you insist on playing dumb even at this point, I might just kill you myself Ryan, so stop being all melodramatic and for once in your miserable life, believe in us, your family’ Renae snapped at me. I couldn’t utter a single word in my defense, so I stayed silent and nodded in agreement. ‘Should I start following Harold then?’ Kai asked me as he started to manifest his wings. ‘If it’s not too much to ask’ I slightly bowed to him. Renae was staring at me as he took off, waiting for me to say something but I didn’t know if I could, still I figured I had to do it at some point. ‘Renae...’ I started, her eyes turned sharp and serious, full of hope and expectations. ‘I know I’ve been trying to bite a bit more than I could handle and I know the pain I’ve caused you, but let me do this for one last time. It’s a risk I’m willing to bet my life on and if things go the wrong way, I don’t want to leave things unpleasant between us’. I took a deep breath and sighed and then she quickly pulled herself close and kissed me. On her toes and her eyes closed, she held my face in both her hands and softly touched hers to mine, gently moving hers over mine. I responded by grabbing her by the waist and when I felt her open slightly, I caressed her soft lips with my tongue. Under the pinkish sky from the nearly set sun and on top of a high-rise with the cool winds blowing through our air, I wished for this moment to never end but like how all the good things end I had to let her go for we the time was now to heat things up. I took a step back, close to edge and slowly let my arms slide away from her. Her eyes were filled with conviction and that was enough for me to feel confident about what I’m about to do. Then I took another step and let gravity do its work, she smiled, ever so slightly but enough for me to notice it. I felt the wind as I sped up and positioned myself for the drop. Arms close to my body and a full on straight stature, accelerating with every second, I closed my eyes in anticipation of the impact. Just as I closed down to the ground, Renae jumped off behind me and opened a portal right in front of me. I opened my eyes as soon as I felt the pass through her portal and spread my arms to catch hold of the one in front of me.

Kai tackled Jason off his dragon from behind and both of them took to the air as they fell of the high-rise, catching the rest off guard. Renae appeared in front of Tricia and Max, stopping them from reacting by using her telepathy and I tackled Harold from his stride, shooting us straight towards Theo. Jason and Kai struggled in their freefall, each trying to incapacitate the other for their own survival. As Jason kept up his struggle to get free, Kai left him midway and increased the distance between them. He manifested his wings and claws and zoomed back toward Jason, who was adjusting his stature and preparing to break his fall. He wasn’t exactly being violent but not exactly being gentle either. Obviously, the plan has already derailed, every one of us got driven by our emotions and went after the wrong person for the wrong reasons. Since Kai went after Jason from the start, we had no option but to keep the others in check. Kai flew Jason towards the Rogue division, isolating him from the rest but midway he started to dwindle and his altitude dropped significantly. From what I could observe while trying to hold down 2 of these monsters by myself, all I was able to see was them crashing into the side of the building.