“You must only use your gifts to aid those who cannot aid themselves. You cannot use them for personal, or selfish gain. You must keep your identity a secret. This is mainly for your benefit. Advice if you will. For once you are known, your life as you know it will be over. You will find peace to be rare. Your help will not be asked for but it will be expected. You will be criticized for the things you cannot stop and the people you cannot save. You are virtually invulnerable, but not even your shoulders can hold all you will wish they could. Your speed is unmatched. As you may have deduced from the memory I have shown you, you can manipulate the element of fire. This does not mean that water is your enemy though your strength is greatly reduced underwater.”
“Why do I need the armour if I’m already bulletproof?”
“Because your helmet conceals your identity and your voice. But this battle, your first will not be won on the ground. It will not even take place on the ground. Thankfully, for that isn’t where your strength will eventually lie. You are a warrior of the sky. And the chest piece grants you your greatest gift. Your wings.”
“My…whoa…”
“The choice is yours, Alexandra. I understand the burden this is. Truthfully, I would like to rid you of it. Powers or not, life challenges each of us. Yours is the fact the city is doomed without you.”
“What if…what if I win? What happens to the armour? My strength?”
“Should you succeed, the path forward is unclear. There will always be another battle that humans cannot solve themselves and you must be ready. As long as the strong prey on the weak, as long as the innocent are at the mercy of evil, you will always be needed.”
Alex turned her face towards him. “I…if I put it on, what will happen to my memory?”
“It will return. Though there is no set time. By wearing the suit, you make a choice and accept the truth of who you are. Therefore, the truth will be revealed to you completely. Though, I warn you, there is much sorrow buried within the mystery you seek.”
“Yeah. So I’ve been told.” Alex took a deep breath. “I want in.”
“Then approach.”
Alex moved forward, preparing to kneel and silently asked if that’s what she was supposed to do.
“No,” Masonian said, taking her hand gently. “I will look you in the eye as an equal. Alexandra Hensley, there are darknesses in life and there are lights. There is honour undermined by the selfish pursuit of power, but there are those that are willing to stand for the sake of others. To put their lives on the line for justice and freedom. The road is long and treacherous, but we walk it together. We are called Draco Knights. Rise, Alexandra Hensley, and join us.”
Alex was about to reply, to ask what he meant by rise when she wasn’t kneeling, when she let out a gasp. Her clothes were sizzling off her body, and she rolled her head back, giving a soft moan as the warmth spread over her every limb until, finally, she was at ease.
Alex looked down to find herself wearing the suit. She guessed the warmth was the effect of Masonian moving the suit from the now empty alcove to her body.
“A perfect fit,” Masonian muttered with a small smile.
A piece of ceiling fell and smacked in between them. Alex looked up and around. The cave was starting to crack. The piece that fell left a huge hole in the ceiling. It was big enough for Alex to see directly up.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s happening…” Masonian replied.
“What is?”
“The end…”
Rise…so that’s what he meant. “Ok…I’ve gotta do this…ok…” Alex felt herself levitate, her wings expanding unsteadily, lifting her, rising and shaking, towards the hole. The helmet fell from her grasp as she was swept up into the air in a rush. She held her arms close by her side. Just as she came out the other side, she was knocked sideways to her back and surrounded by what sounded like a dozen hurricanes bearing down on her. It crushed her body flat against the mountain. Alex fought to get even semi-vertical, but the cliffside was so steep that Alex slipped and slid her way down the mountain. She looked up as tendrils of smoke reached down from the sky and grabbed her wrists to hoist her in the air. She couldn’t break free. She screamed and fought but it was no use. Her wings flapped but with no strength. She was going nowhere except higher up into the cloud. Suddenly, she felt gravity catch up to her. The tendrils had let go and she plummeted back down, and directly onto the top of the cave. She hit the rock with a crash and fell straight into the blue water below as debris of smoking rock fell down around her.
Chapter Thirty-One
The End Of The World
Dante looked out past his front lawn. Traffic had stopped and people had abandoned their cars, such was the torrential downpour of hail pelting everything. Dante spotted more than one body in the road, blood pooling around the head from being struck. Car alarms were going on and off, people screamed as they ran.
“This is it, isn’t it?” Melina asked, coming up behind him.
“I would say so…” he replied as huge balls of ice crashed around them.
“Alejandro, come away…”
“Do you think Nicholas got out?” Dante asked, not acknowledging her advice.
“I
