Demon Hunter preview prologue.
Prologue:
For eons, mankind has told stories of great battles between the heavens and the netherworlds, stories that leave the Earth stranded in the middle as a battle ground for these great Titans and heroes. Stretching to the farthest reaches of human civilization, these fables can be found everywhere. As millennia passed like grains in an hourglass, truth became legend, legend became myth, and myths became unbelievable fiction. As humans developed more and more technology to explain the world around them and reveal to them the science of life, they demoted religions to pillars of bureaucratic control, succumbed to greed, war, decadence, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and who controls that knowledge. In this quest for scientific understanding, mankind developed the technology to open doorways to other worlds and realms, unknowingly opening Pandora’s Box in the process.
For two thousand years, old gods and other dark forces have laid in slumber from wagering each other’s balance of power in this Universe over the forces of Light. Until now, mankind was guarded by faceless and nameless heroes who had sacrificed everything to protect Earth and its inhabitants, and each were erased by time as truth became fable. Now, in the early 21st century the sleep of these ancient dark forces has been interrupted and now intrepid and courageous young heroes must be chosen once again as their awakening begins…
24 September 1992 13:05:00.0
The searing desert heat rolled across the valley floor of this barren stretch of Nevada like an invisible sheet of boiling air. Translucent heat waves radiated off not only the local dried out foliage such as ancient Joshua trees, cacti, and rolling tumbleweeds, but also an enormously long convoy of military vehicles racing into the vast emptiness at an alarming speed. Painted in the interlaced colors of tan, brown, and black of desert camouflage, ‘deuce and a half’ troop carriers, Humvees, jeeps and trucks all stamped with a stenciled triangular ‘Gen-Nasa’ logo on the side doors were following a single, all black armored vehicle at the head of their convoy. Overhead, two deep olive green military helicopters rushed past the convoy and circled their target: a massive mushroom cloud emitting from a cavernous crater in the middle of the desert. The cloud stretched thousands and thousands of feet into the sky, and the helicopters started to take a wide birth around it to avoid the massive radiation the cloud emitted. The crater the cloud rose from was three miles in diameter at the surface, however, underground the originating blast had solidified a mass of nearly one hundred square miles of desert rock into solid diorite and diamond glass.
The soldiers in the convoy as well as their superiors were hoping that “The Hammer” mine had done its job, and sealed the Gate forever. The Gen-Nasa lab coats told them that 90 megatons would’ve been enough. The convoy reached its destination outside of the blast and soldiers in thick, armored radiation shielding protective gear disembarked from their vehicles, their weapons at the ready. The sleek, black armored van at the head of the convoy was specially protected against even the heaviest amounts of atomic radiation. The van approached the edge of the blast crater and its back doors swung open. A ramp deployed and several scientists and two armed guards exited in very heavy radiation protection gear. They less resembled people in standard hazardous material suits, and more bulky machines; their grey steel encased suits shielded them against the deadly radiation of the blast, insulated them from the still broiling heat, and would give them ample armored protection against practically anything. They were also equipped with camera units so the mission commander could see what they saw from his remote location miles away, and deep underground. The team approached the lip of the crater and looked down into the chaos. A human figure emerged from the billowing black abyss of the radioactive blast cloud and pockets of drifting fallout. Dr. Julien Kraiovska could not believe his eyes. Through the glow of the heads up display, or HUD, of his suits face screen, he could clearly see the entity within the crater was not only giving signs of life and was walking towards his team as. As it came closer, his HUD illustrated the figure’s outline digitally. It was impossible. There was nothing on this Earth that should have survived that blast. If Kraiovska hypothetically were to exit his protective suit this close, he would’ve been killed instantly. He activated his suit’s communication device and asked the mission commander what to do next. He was clearly starting to become nervous. The being was indistinct from all of the smoke, but he knew it had a vaguely human shape from the suit’s HUD. It also appeared to be carrying something in its right hand. He could not make out what it was.
“Sir, are you seeing this?” Through his thick Russian accent, the mission commander he spoke to could sense his fear. “Wh-what should we do?” Kraiovska started to walk backwards as did the rest of his team as the entity start to ascend the crater. He fell to his hands and knees as the being cleared the crater’s lip and walked towards him. His heart started to lump into his throat; he started to scream over the communication channel. The armored guards started to fire at the creature jamming the radio communications with barked orders, screams, and deafening gun fire. “WINGS!” He screamed, “WHY DOES IT HAVE WINGS!” His communication ceased abruptly while the gunfire became increasingly sporadic and too ceased abruptly.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON, REPORT, REPORT!” yelled the mission commander. Silence was his only reply.
“Sir, whatever it is, we cannot drop it, it just keeps coming!” screamed one of the field soldiers through the communicator. “Our convoys are pulling out, you need to hit it again! It just flipped Kraiovska’s van like a Matchbox car, melted his entire team. This winged motherfucker won’t stop! I repeat we are pulling out!”
Melted? He thought. Winged? He could feel his stomach sink. It was then he knew what they were up against. He knew that eventually no matter what they did, these beings would find a way here. Hitting the site once more was the only way to stop this one; no matter the cost it had to be done. Through the haze of radio chatter with intermittent gunfire he called the order to drop the second and final “Hammer”. The remaining soldiers boarded the convoy trucks that were left and they sped away from the blasting area as quickly their engine’s could take them. High above, a solid black bat shaped B-2 Stealth bomber circled the entire scene. Like a predator bird targeting its prey it sailed out from behind the first blast cloud ready to drop a final decimating attack.
“Command this is Black Eagle One, we’ve got eyes on target. Deploying Hammer Two on your command”. From his altitude the pilot could not see exactly what his target was, all he could see was the tall, slender, seemingly winged figure walking away from the crushed, flaming, and bloodied wreckage of Kraiovska’s team. He readied his instrumentation in the cockpit to lock on to the creature. “We got a lock on, repeat, ready on your command.”
A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead from under the mission commander’s United States Navy cap. He knew that if this did not work, then nothing would, then it would be proven these creatures could not possibly be stopped by anything human kind possessed. Nervously, he gave the order. “Do it”, he said over his radio to the pilot. A hush fell over the previously boisterous command center as all eyes were focused on the center’s main view screen. “Launching”. A single word was all that preceded the fall of the final Hammer mine. Only a few seconds passed before a blinding white light, brighter than the light of a thousand suns filled the desert and scorched the sky. The B2 accelerated away from the blast as fast as it could fly as giant ball of burning hell fire started to rise from the desert floor. It evaporated the clouds, rained heat lightning from the sky and started to flush the valley with a massive shockwave as the crushing and deafening sound of the blast nearly shattered the eardrums of the nearby troops. The shockwave sent the convoy trucks almost rolling to their sides as their passengers dived out to avoid being crushed. Once again a massive mushroom shaped cloud of radiation and fallout arose and a massive silence descended upon the desert. “Remaining convoy, report; has the target been destroyed?”
Most of the soldiers were still getting their bearings and getting back to their feet. Once they had, they readied their weapons again, and proceeded forth. Cautiously, they made their way through the settling dust as the winds started to sweep it all away. In the HUD of their suits visors, they could see what remained of the creature. They lowered their weapons, and one radioed back to the commander.
“We got it, it’s done,” he uttered brokenly and distorted from interference through the command centers radio. Displayed on the center’s main screen were the remains of the entity. A being nearly nine feet tall, solidified completely into rock. A long sword hung from its right hand as its left hand reached upwards to the sky in gnarled grasp. It was frozen solid in a standing pose of agony, its jaw agape and left screaming, its features twisted. Solidified remains of long hair stretched past its shoulders. On its back stretching fourteen feet both left and right were the remains of feathered wings. They had been burned into glistening, diamond like rock, never to move again. They shone brightly as the afternoon sun illuminated them. Pieces of the wings had broken off and lay strewn aside the statue like carcass. This is the last one. Please let this be the last one, the commander thought to himself…
Hope you guys enjoy this. Still going to put it through some more edits/revisions, but I figured that you’d all appreciate a sample. Let me know what you think, if there’s anything I might need to improve on, and if you’d like to see more previews!
