Part 2

  Screams.

  "THE DRAGON-BORNS ARE COMING!!!"

  Panic.

  "WE NEED TO RUN!!!!"

  Various piercing screams and loud yells rang out as everyone was in a panic.

  It was overwhelming for the small child as he was running, having his right arm pulled by his mother.

  Everyone was running.

  The child's short stature made it difficult to see what the commotion was about.

  Everyone was running in masse.

  People were running into each other, some being knocked into the ground before being stepped on by others.

  Everything around the black-haired, blue-eyed child.

  In this panic, the child turned and raised his head, looking for any comfort from his mother, but there was none.

  On the mother's face, there was nothing more than fear. In one hand, she was pulling the child along by his wrist; in another, she was holding an infant to her chest.

  ".... Mother."

  "Do not stop running."

  In the chaos, that was her only reply.

  The child looked around.

  The sound of screaming started to overwhelm the small child.

  And then-

  A loud sound broke out that rumbled in the sky and sounded like thunder.

  A growl.

  A loud growl made everyone who was running panic more.

  A dark shadow quickly moved across the ground as something flew above them in the sky.

  Whatever it was, it kicked up a huge gust of wind that trailed behind as it flew by, shattering windows, buildings, and monuments and blowing several people into the air.

  The child, for a brief second, saw it as it flew by.

  It.

  Black and orange

  Large.

  Four wings.

  A pair of larger and smaller wings

  A long tail.

  A beast.

  A beast his mother always told him about.

  A beast he was hoping never to encounter.

  A dragon.

  The creature dove towards the ground.

  Suddenly, the dragon flapped its wings down, slowing itself.

  The force of the wings created a large shockwave of wind in all directions that enveloped the area and fleeing people.

  Within the smoke, various screams were heard as the debris from buildings and the wind tore into their bodies.

  The dragon hovered over several destroyed buildings, flapping its wings.

  Slowly lifting his head, the child saw that the dragon began to descend, landing on a building monument with its tail wrapping around the stone statue.

  The dragon slowly raised its wings up into the air. As its wings began to glow a bright orange, dimming the sky.

  In a quick motion, the dragon brought its wings down, slamming them on the ground.

  There was a quick flash of orange light that swept across the ground in the area.

  Nothing.

  The child watched as nothing happened.

  Then suddenly-

  There was a large shockwave.

  The surrounding area near the dragon started to be blown away, with the dragon at its epicenter. From its wings, orange waves of energy started to blast out, further destroying the area, tearing into the ground, and destroying several buildings with an unrelenting force.

  Noticing that she could not outrun what was about to happen, she quickly moved behind a destroyed building, pulling the child along behind her.

  Now behind the rubble, she quickly pulled the child and infant in front of her, holding them tightly on her knees.

  ".... Mother"

  "Don't move, alright."

  The child did not reply, only watching as his mother tightly closed her eyes.

  Suddenly, the outline of her body and, by extension, the two she was holding began to glow white.

  Her hair started to sway.

  She pulled the two closer to her chest.

  She tightly closed her eyes as she heard the dragon wings slam into the ground.

  The ground began to tear, flashing orange.

  There was a huge shock wave that hit the trio.

  Then everything went white, followed by a scream from the mother.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Manhattan.

  The sun was rising into the sky.

  The time was 6:48 a.m.

  Early morning for most of the population.

  It was a building in NEO New York City.

  Its exterior was white and nothing special, so one would not blame you if you lost track of it among the myriad of other buildings that surrounded it.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  One of NEO New York City's biggest attractions was its skyline, so the building was there, so it did nothing to stand out or draw attention, nor was it hideous or out of place for one to question, "Well, this one building ruined the scenery.”

  It was a building that was just there.

  What was outside was not important, but rather what was inside.

  There were two people, or what could be considered two people.

  “Is there really no other option going forward? A voice spoke out.

  Alistair Michaels and-

  “The situation has changed regarding the intruder and the weapon in his possession; because of the nature and randomness of his attacks, it was hard to pinpoint a motive beyond him. Everything was too much of a coincidence to ignore. By our constant pressure on him, we manage to mitigate the loss and damage he has done to the mana zones within the city, but the longer that weapon is here, the threat will not dissipate.”

  Raziel, the founder of this vast metropolitan city,

  Both men stood in a large, empty room.

  Alistair dressed in his school uniform, and Raziel in his baggy white clothes.

  The aura in the room was tense.

  “But an all-out war with Russia”

  Raziel walked to a monitor displayed on a nearby wall. After pressing a few buttons on the screen, he spoke.

  “War is never a first option of mine, but given the circumstances, it cannot be ruled out either. Through the intelligence gathered, we know that he is working with a group of rouge magicians; our mana zones are stabilizing, and if that collapses, it leaves us at the mercy of any other countries that wish to join and attack.”

  “Russia is no joke of a country; the nuclear arms in their possession are only rivaled by the United States and China. Given the treaty the city has with the United States, they will join in any military action the city conducts, and most likely, the European Alliance will join in as your allies. Given Russia's own allies, this could spiral out into a world war."

  “It very well may,” Raziel said nonchalantly, without a hint of concern in his voice as he typed away on his screen.

  “A battle between two nuclear superpowers will only result in a nuclear Armageddon.”

  Raziel did not reply.

  “And you are saying you are okay with the fallout of that.”

  “While I appreciate your concern, it is most likely that nuclear weapons will not be used in this conflict if we strike first and intelligently.”

  Alistair stared at the man before his eyes widen.

  “You don’t mean”

  “That is correct. If an ultimate weapon is going to be used on their side, then the least we can do is use ours.”

  NEO New York City was nothing more than a small city-state of 8.2 million. Within that number were eight of the strongest reality warpers, and within those eight were two of the strongest individuals in the world, whose very powers ignore the fundamentals of reality.

  “Those two,” Alistair gritted through his teeth.

  The two Crystal Guardians.

  “You're thinking about bringing them into this.”

  “Of course, their powers are far greater than any nuclear arms any country possesses."

  “And you still want to go forward.”

  Once again, Raziel did not reply.

  Alistair did not know how to react.

  Right now, war was closer than he ever thought—the very thing he spent his life in the shadows and committed a fair number of atrocities to prevent.

  But-

  “You create dozens, if not hundreds, of plans regarding situations; this one is no different. Every one of those plans can’t end in war.”

  “Of course they don’t. A few of my plans avoid war altogether with either the weapon or the individual, being the casualty or both.”

  Alistair clenched his fist.

  “And those plans cannot be taken into consideration going forward.”

  Raziel swiped the screen.

  “The risk is far too great to ignore. At noon, I will contact the President of the United States to notify him of the city’s plan going forward, and by 3:00 p.m., we will begin the process of declaring war with Russia.”

  Wait.

  Alistair paused.

  “By 3:30 p.m."

  “Yes, for the first time since our founding and independence, we are actively engaging in war on our own accord, so we have to prepare for this thoroughly. If our mana zones collapse completely, our military and those two will be the only thing that saves us in the long run.”

  “And if we manage to deal with the individual before that time, what happens then?”

  The question was simple, but it was enough to cause a slight hesitation in his typing. Raziel lowered his hand to his side.

  “If the individual or the weapon is neutralized before my declaration, then we can cancel the plan for war. If you believe that you can take care of this individual, then I will neither condemn nor condone your efforts. Do what you wish.”

  It was a chance.

  A small chance to avoid the war and death that followed.

  “Very well,” Alistair said as he began to walk away.

  The two doors began to slide open.

  “But I want you to know that as you attempt your efforts, I will be moving forward along with mine, and I will not cancel those very same plans should you fail." Raziel said this as Alistair stepped out into a white hallway.

  “I won't,” Alistair said, not turning back to face the man in the room.

  The doors began to slide shut.

  “We’ll see”

  The doors closed with a loud thud.