1

Eagle Strike

ByDallas Hendrickson

Dedicated to Cady Crosby, For inspiring a dream to words

2

Prologue

On February 4th 2007 I awoke at 4:00 in the morning, I had had the strangest dream I could imagine, it had been about a 14 year old kid named Aaron, and about a race of beings that lived amongst humans. The race of Neamodians. This book isn’t separated into chapters because I want the reader to truly feel what I felt as I dreamt this, there was no break in the dream, no going to get a glass of water in between chapters. So here entails the epic fantasy by Dallas Hendrickson of the dream in which took me all over the world. When I decided to begin a writing “career” I knew what I would write, I wouldn’t write some tortoise and the hare… no, I would write a dream. And so thus entails an epic fantasy of a dream put into words. Eagle Strike.

Eagle Strike

Swiftly, silently, and carefully, I scaled the tall building in the center of town, it was the courthouse, I probably shouldn't have been climbing it, but risks were the one thing I was addicted to... And then what I had come to the building for happened... A wave of darkness hit the land... Screams of pain and fear echoed in my ears, reverberating off the walls of the building... Windows

3

shattered, car alarms blared... The world had fallen into chaos... Then from behind me a sword was drawn... And I felt the blade stab through me… It was over…

"Aaron! Get up! You’re going to miss breakfast!" fourteen year old Aaron Brunaz rolled over in bed, "five more minutes!" I mumbled, I heard the ice machine rumble from upstairs, giving an exaggerated groan I rolled out of bed, the year was 2012, the tall dark blonde haired figure of Aaron stumbled up the staircase, flopping down into a chair at the carved oak table the family said a quick prayer then began the luxurious meal of eggs, toast and ham. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I was a single child and was an addict of dangerous scenarios, I loved to free climb buildings, usually stayed on the right side of the law, and had a straight “A” average in school... At least that's what I told my friends. Truth be known I was homeschooled and I was an incredible fighter due to the years of arduous training in a Karate Dojo. I had gone through dozens of gymnastics classes and was getting quite good at it. "It’s Wednesday Aaron, once your done with taking out the garbage you can go to the skating rink." Mentally I was celebrating, the first Wednesday of every month, a few friends and I would go to the skating rink. After quickly wolfing down my food I gathered up the garbage, dumped it into the cans, and pulled it up the slanted driveway, a light frost coated the ground on the chilly spring day, I pulled the garbage can up next to the mailbox. Then stopped. A scream? I could have sworn I had heard it; I lived on a lake so it was normal to hear kids out wakeboarding letting out a scream as they landed. A scream of joy... This was the opposite... A scream of terror... Of fear... I scanned the woods across the road like a hawk, then turned and looked down the road. Nothing. I dismissed it, and went back down the driveway.

4

"Hey Aaron!" came a voice from a booth near at the side of the rink, the slim form slipped inside the building, I recognized the voice as that of my best friend Jack; Jack was a brown haired fifteen year old, he had a strong built and could hold his ground if he had to. I strapped my skates on, rolled my foot around, adjusted the strap, and then flew onto the rink. Jack quickly caught up to him, "So what's up man?" he said as we came around the corner."Nothing..." I replied, still a little curious about the scream earlier. "Come on Aaron, we both know how boring your life is, what's going on?" he said sarcastically. I mumbled an excuse and he let a grin slip past his mask of a grim face, we sat on their beds for hours practicing being able to keep a straight face at everything. Yes it was pointless, but what else does a 14 year old do in his spare time?"And now we’re turning the lights down for an all skate!" came a voice over the loud speaker. The disco lights turned on as the bulbs turned off. Vanessa flew past me, she was one of my friends for as long as I could remember. "Hey Aaron!" she said, her blue eyes scrutinizing my every move. She whipped her long blonde hair around. "What’s wrong?" she asked. That caught me off guard."What do you mean?" I asked."You just seem..." she began, then smiled, "never mind." She let out a cheery smile that could have lit up the entire room then returned to talking with one of her friends.Click."What was that?" I glanced around, Jack raised an eyebrow,"What was what?" he asked."That click..." I said."Gosh man, you’re jumpy, you need to just cool it." he said patting me on my shoulder. Click, click."That’s it!" I exclaimed agitated. I spun around, now skating backwards, and then saw it; a man in a black mask wearing all black clothes held a gun pointed directly at Vanessa.

5

I spun around and flew forward knocking her off her feet landing on top of her just as the gun fired; the bullet hit the wall in front of her head. Before I could move she was on her feet, moving with lightening speed toward her attacker. Three more gunshots were fired, all missed, I stared wide eyed as the girl I thought sat in a rocking chair knitting all day long, flipped over her attacker slamming her fist into his back. He spun around facing her, she had slipped off her skates, the attacker wore shoes. Spreading her hand flat she slammed it into his neck directly above the collar bone forcing him fall forward sputtering and coughing. With a ballistic force she slammed her fist into the back of his head sending him sprawling to the ground. Immediately she was upon him,"Who sent you!" she screamed, now mask off the figure smiled "Zerka will have a special treatment for you, and As for the boy..." the figure grinned then looked at me "he'll be dead before he figures it out..." then the form turned to dust...

What was I doing? I had found myself running out of the building and into another. I ran up several flights of stairs and was now at the edge of a skyscraper, where hundreds of feet below sat the menacing earth, taunting my every motive. "I’m not going to stop you Aaron," I heard Vanessa's voice from behind me. "This war is going to be a heck of a lot harder without you though..." her voice trailed off. "What do you mean...?” I said, now edging toward the air that lay beyond. "No matter what you tell yourself, you are one of us... You are the "the one" who will destroy Zerka..." her voice trailed off "if you don't believe me... Then jump... You'll see..." she said, her face was grim. I'd have a lot worse death if I didn't just do this now, with that thing after me... With that I took my final step, arms spread, I fell down... Farther and farther I plummeted toward the earth... Then as I neared the earth I curled into a crouch position and slammed into the earth... Car alarms blared, horns screeched, and dust engulfed me... I wasn't dead...? Was this heaven? I didn't

6

exactly want to think of the alternative... I felt the ground. An imprint of the impact was embedded in the ground... I hadn't felt a thing... I stood up."See?" came Vanessa’s voice from behind me; she had just landed next to me. I was wide eyed "what else can I do?" I asked excitedly, she smiled, "with time you'll be able to do practically anything, but for now, we need to "leave no trace" that we were here.” I raised an eyebrow and then the ground beneath me turned back to the normal position, the car alarms turned off and I found myself atop the building once more. "Like that," she grinned. "You there! This is a restricted area!" came a voice from behind us. We spun around to see a policeman with a gun at the ready. I glanced at Vanessa, then flipped off the ledge with her right behind me, but this time something different happened, she swooped down grabbing my wrist and pulling me up... Up? What was going on? As we plummeted up she dropped me on the roof of the next building. Landing beside me she dropped to her knees. Head slumped down, "he's here..." She said then fell over.

Everything was happening so fast, I had no idea how to use this newfound power. "Concentrate..." I said it over and over again, then turning around to my mere horror I found the man in black clothes who was at the skating rink. A wicked smile creased his face. "What have you done to her?" I made it more of a statement than a question."Only fulfilled my promise..." he smiled. I clenched my fists, focused my thoughts then flew forward seething with rage. I slammed my fist into his gut, surprised by the sudden attack he sprawled back quickly recovering. Opening his palms face up toward me I felt an unstoppable force throwing me back over the ledge. Grabbing the edge with lightening speed I pulled myself back up. How had he done that? I opened my palms like he had and focused my thoughts on a visual image of him being thrown back. Nothing. The figure in front of me laughed,"You are weak, chosen one!" he mocked. And then it clicked... I knew how to do it... I didn't know

7

how I knew it, I just did. I closed my eyes, focused my energy... Lifted my hands... Then pushed... A wave of energy picked up the figure, sweeping him backwards off the edge.Vanessa slowly got to her feet, staring at me in awe she began to fill in the details of what was going on."We are Neamodians, a race set here by the creator to keep the world in balance; we've been there in every war fighting alongside the soldiers. War hero’s such as George Washington, and Napoleon, were all Neamodians. However Napoleon fell to the power of Zerka." Seeing the question begin to form on my face she continued. "Zerka is basically our arch enemy, he and his followers plan on destroying the human race, to do that, they need to destroy us." She paused then continued, "then we get to your powers, it'll take practice, but all you have to do is visualize what you want to have happen, and if you do it right, it'll work." she stopped once more, still hesitant to tell me everything that I can do. "Now that you know how to use your powers you can get a HUD that you can see through your eyes." "HUD?" I asked with a raised eyebrow"Heads Up Display, it tells you what's going on around you and your current state of health." "All of this is controlled with a single thought.""Sounds like a video game," I mumbled"Many of the worlds conveniences have been taken from us. Zerka knows who you are now, he won't stop until your dead, people you know will die because of this... Time is something we don't have, but for now... You need your rest." And with that she vanished into the air that flowed around us.

On the walk home I began testing my newfound abilities. Turning on my HUD I was greeted by a voice inside my head. "Ah, I see you have discovered your powers Aaron, I'm Rex, your HUD Advisor, and I’ll be in contact with you throughout your whole life and can supply you with resources and advice." I smiled, then a thought crossed my mind, "how do I reply?"

8

Then the voice came again, "you just did, I can read every thought you think. In the left side of your peripheral vision you will see a green stat menu." Looking straight ahead I saw a green symbol appear. What was going on? My brain was working like a computer and my eyes projected the screen. "That is correct," replied the voice"This is really getting annoying," I mumbled."If you'd like this to disappear, simply say HUD off, and HUD on to make it reappear. "How do I activate the menus," I asked, realizing he could hear what I said."Simply a thought," he replied. I smiled, maybe this wasn't so bad after all."I'm now activating all your menus, good luck! Let me know if you need anything!" Immediately my head began to throb for a few moments then it was gone and my peripheral vision was filled with numbers and menus.

A wry smile touched my lips, my mom always dropped me off at skating which meant she had no idea of what had happened, I sometimes caught a ride home with Jack's parents, which would explain why I hadn't called mom about picking me up. After finally reaching the house I slowly stepped onto the front porch. The silence of the house was welcoming as I stepped inside I heard my mother in the kitchen, I slipped downstairs to my bedroom, I picked up my cell phone and saw a new voicemail, it was Jack. I hit the '2' and the message began to play. "Aaron! I've been set up! The cops think I killed you! A body was found on our porch it looked identical to you! They have me in some sort of prison holding cell and this was my one call. Get lawyers or something! Get me out of here!" The line went dead. "To save this message press 1, to replay--" I slammed the phone shut and threw it across my room. A clone... This thing cloned me and killed the clone making it seem like Jack killed me... I slumped down on my bed... What was I going to do?

Two hours later I found myself on a rooftop just outside the jailhouse that he was being kept in. "You sure you want to do this?" came the voice inside my mind. “This is all I can do,” I replied. I had decided to get Jack out of there without a lawyer; I'd do it on my own... The hard way... I jumped off the building landing on the ground in front of the door. I

9

wore dark sunglasses and black clothes. I stepped inside to find myself greeted by a clerk. "Can I help you?" came the voice of a young man; he seemed to be in his early twenties. I turned toward him, "Actually… You can…” my voice was dark as I began to visualize the desk he sat behind fly forward pushing him back, then with a quick rush of adrenaline, I felt the power surge through my body as the defying force of the desk slammed the young man against the wall.Shouts rang out from the adjacent room, turning; I met face to face with two shocked police officers. Visualizations flew through my head as the officers slammed together with a thud and a

crunch of bones. Rage seethed through me as I stepped past their crumpled forms.

I quickly found my way to the holding cells; the world was a lot crueler than it had been merely five

years ago. A new world leader had made prisons Hell's lair, and this one was no exception, a rat

scurried between my legs. Mold coated the dimly lit walls, prisoners moaned. I walked slowly down the isle of metal cages. Nearing the end I turned to see Jack, slumped over on a bench. Laying my

hands on the bars, my mind began to visualize a scenario, then putting it into action I yanked on the

bars pulling the door right off its hinges. Throwing it behind me I stepped inside, the withered

form of Jack slowly looked up at me... "Aaron...?" he croaked, rage coursed through my body at his

current state. Lifting him up, I threw him over my shoulder and began to run out, being stopped by a

small army of police officers, I soon managed to collapse a wall onto them and moved on. I

ran out of that God forsaken place visualizing myself being propelled up onto a nearby

rooftop I felt an irresistible force throw me upward. 

After quickly laying him down, checking his vitals, I made my way back to his house. 

I gently laid his withered form down on the porch, rang the doorbell, and ran.

10

I found myself sitting at my desk, papers scattered the top and around the ground, drawings

of body armor, cloaks, and symbols scattered my floor. The doorbell rang, I heard voices

downstairs as my parents talked with whoever was at the door, I heard the quick patter of

someone coming up the stairs, being that the study was dimly lit it took me a moment to

recognize the slim form of Vanessa. I made a failed attempt at a smile, she glanced around

at all the papers. 

"And this is...?" she asked, expecting me to finish the sentence. I indicated the clothes I was

wearing, 

"If I'm supposed to be this thing you’re talking about, these clothes are going to be pretty

lame." The ever present frown creased my face as she sat down next to me.

"There’s something more... Isn't there?" she said as if reading my thoughts. Slowly I let the

whole thing with Jack spill out, in hindsight; I now realized I had used my powers against

innocent people... I slowly closed my` eyes, my head throbbed with thoughts.

"Neamodians live by somewhat of a code," she began, "killing a human is something we try

not to do, they are defenseless against us," "also, if you are angry, never use your powers,

or you will be twisted into something terrible, your powers will betray you, this is no joke, if

you screw up this time, there's no going back."

It was obvious what she wasn't saying, the obvious truth that neither of them wanted to

hear, if he did mess up, and use his powers like he had just done, he would become Zerka's

slave, a mere implement of evil. 

"What about this one?" she said, I raised my head, she held the pencil in one hand, and in

the other she held up a picture of a form in a black trench coat, a low hanging hood, and

dark undergarments. We both smiled and I began to visualize the picture in my mind, then

in a sudden instant, I was wearing it, the hood hung back, and the trench coat hung open.

"There’s still one thing I'm missing..." I whispered.

New York City

5:47 Pm

11

I stood atop a huge skyscraper; hundreds of meters below stood the menacing earth. Beside

me stood Vanessa, she wore a tight violet suit, she wore a belt of things she called "secret

weapons" but she refused to give their true identity. I wore my long black trench coat, but

now, two swords formed an "X" pattern across my back, unlike a normal sword, these ones

were green, and surged with electricity. Far below, sat a bank, not expecting a sudden

attack from a street gang. But we were. A gunshot rang out and a faint echo of shouts could

be heard. I turned to Vanessa, "Good Luck," I mumbled.

"I don't believe in luck," came the muffled reply as she jumped. I was merely a step behind

her, for a few seconds... There was nothing... Just the wind flying past our face, then landing

directly on target we slammed through the glass on the roof of the building, slamming to the

ground violet crystals covered the floor.

"So that's her power..." I mumbled. As visualizations flew through my mind, bullets bounced

off the bullet-proof plating I wore under the trench coat. Both swords flew off my back into

my hands, spinning them around slamming the flat edge against the head of one of the

thugs, then slamming the butt on top of another.

The yells of surprise could be heard from the thugs as the police arrived seeing their job was

done, not one was killed, and soon the entire gang was in custody.

We now found ourselves atop the large building once more, discussing the events of the

day. 

"Well, I think we've done a good job," stated Vanessa.

Of course, always wanting to contradict, I was beginning my argument on what we had

messed up on, until Rex -the little voice in my head- cut in, "I don't mean to interrupt... But

we have a slight issue," I glanced at Vanessa; she seemed to be getting a message from her

"guardian" as well. 

"It seems Zerka has come out of hiding and is near your position, Aaron, kill him no matter

what the cost." I nodded then looked at Vanessa.

12

 "Did you hear that?" she nodded, then stood up, brushed some dirt off her violet suit and

nodded in the direction of another building.

"He's over here."

Within a minute I found myself now staring down to where a figure in metal armor, wearing

a long brown cloak, with a metal mask was parading the streets, throwing people up against

the wall with a mere thought, leaving a wave of destruction in his wake.

"Ready for this?" she asked. I nodded, speechless at the power being performed by this

individual. Without further contemplation, we both flew off the building, plummeting toward

the earth.

Landing with a thud, the figure turned. Dark red eyes seemed to see into my very soul. "How

kind of you Vanessa, to bring ‘The One’ directly to me." said the figure, his voice cold and

hard? Then in an instant, a lamppost flew out of the ground flying toward me, I flew to the

side dodging just in time, then with the willpower of my mind I threw it back at him. A deep

evil laughter came from beneath the mask as he easily dodged. Then to our mere surprise...

A storm came... Lightening streaked the ground around them, and rain began to fall. And

from out of nowhere, a figure in white garments flipped down, landing directly atop Zerka,

the warlord skillfully threw the form off, but the warrior was quick, lightening surged out of

his hands slamming into the metal of Zerka's suit. In obvious distress, Zerka threw the figure

back against a wall, rendering him unconscious.

Thrashing with rage as Zerka turned back to us he thrashed his fist into the air.

"Let’s finish this..." he said I looked at Vanessa, and then smiled at the metal form.

"Agreed." Then using all the strength I could muster, I visualized something, something

terrifying, something that couldn’t be stopped, something that would bring death to anyone

in its wake. Something I would never want to see...

In a volcano of sparks, fire and screams, the building beside us exploded into flames. Fire

erupted from windows as clouds of black smoke billowed out, and the building collapsed... It

13

fell directly on top of us... No matter what the cost... Was the last things that went through

my mind.

Dust began to settle as I slowly regained consciousness. I groaned, slowly opening my eyes,

my HUD had fizzed out and was now just a blur.

Debris covered my crumpled form, part of a desk that was in the building trapped my arm, a

man's body lay beside me, slowly breathing. I could hear faint sirens. Then my senses

returned and my mind began to race. Where was Vanessa? Was Zerka dead? Would the

authorities think of him as a criminal? And who was the mysterious figure who had bought

them enough time to make this... Disaster... He let the last word linger in his thoughts for a

moment.

After slowly pushing off the debris I moved to the man next to me.

"Sir, are you alright?" I asked checking his pulse.

"I think I've broken something," came the gasp, his suit and tie were stained with blood and

his leg was flattened up against itself. I grimaced at the sight then tried to visualize taking

away his pain, but my thoughts were too clouded.

"Stay here, I’ll get help." I said no knowing how he would even plan on doing anything else.

Swiftly I climbed to the top of all the debris, screams of terror and shrill cries for family

members rang out over the sirens and shouts from the police. I brought my hood over my

head, checked to make sure my swords were still in place, and went off after Zerka.

I didn't get much farther before a white shadow flew past my vision; my sword flew from its

scabbard colliding with my opponent's. A white cloth wrapped around his head leaving his

eyes open. Question shrouded the dark eyes of the mysterious figure. He stepped back, and

let his guard down; his sword went down to his side.

"Why are we fighting?" he made a motion with his sword hand. I grinned for a second; I

wasn't exactly expecting that from an enemy. "We’re both after Zerka, we’re both obviously

Neamodians, and yet we’re still fighting..." a smile slipped past my shadowed face. I

extended my gloved hand.

14

"Good point," I smiled, he grasped my extended hand and we shook hands. Then he nodded

toward the rubble Zerka had disappeared under. An eerie smoke had gathered around the

area and fear showed my mind, after slowly pushing past the mental barrier I turned to the

white figure,

"Shall we?"

The smoke swirled about our feet leaving small eddies as we passed by it. As the two of us

slowly climbed over rubble we finally reached the spot we had come to see and slowly

uncovered the debris.

"See anything?" asked the form behind me, I was silent as I stared in mock horror at the

sight. All that remained of the Neamodian warlord was the metal mask.

"You two there! Hands in the air!" the shout came from behind us. We both spun around, I

now held the mask in my hands. A police officer had a gun pointed directly at my head. I

slowly set the mask down and raised my hands as I climbed back atop the rubble.

"Is there a problem officer?" I asked then immediately regretted it as Rex -the little voice in

my head- started ranting about the "problem."

"Yes Aaron, of course there's a problem! You’re standing on the remains of a building! If

that's not bad enough, the sword on your back really isn't getting you kudos with this guy!" I

grinned, he had a point. The officer made a dumb expression then mimicked me, "Is there a

problem? Yes! There is a problem!" he yelled, "now get down here before I blow your head

off!" I nodded patiently; he obviously wasn't having a good day. Slowly we climbed down,

my mind was racing but I really didn't need trouble with the authorities.

"Hey you!" a woman's voice rang out from the crowd, the cop turned as his superior came

up.

"Don’t you know who these men are?" she said shoving his gun down. "They are members of

an F.B.I. Team! You should show them a little more respect!" shocked, the man gave a

painful look, apologized, and ran off, as soon as he was gone, the form ahead of us began to

change, it started with a small, unnoticeable difference, such as a freckle, or a wrinkle, then

15

the nose began to change, and the eyes changed color, and the figure shrunk a few inches,

then within seconds it became apparent as the figure morphed into Vanessa.

"Ya'know, I really thought that whole F.B.I. thing was really cheesy for an actual cop..." I

mumbled, she glared at me then motioned toward the figure beside me.

"Who's he?" the white figure stepped forward

"Drake."

"To be quite honest, I'm pretty new to this whole saving the world thing, would you mind

explaining what is going on?" The three of us were sitting on a rooftop that looked out

toward the statue of liberty. Vanessa began to explain everything she had told me, leaving

out the "how to use your powers" speech. She had obviously guessed by the little display he

had put on earlier, that he already knew all of that.

"Ok so let's get this straight." Drake said after Vanessa had finished, "you’re saying, that

there's like a thousand of these Neamodians out there trying to kill this one guy?"

"Zerka," Vanessa corrected, he nodded then pointed to me

"And he's basically our leader?"

"Not a leader, were all merely tools being used to protect the humans, terrorist attacks, murders, robberies, there's only a limited number of us, so we try to stop as many as possible... Unfortunately, some have gotten past us.""Is there a base where all the Neamodians report to?" he questioned. Vanessa nodded,

"Florence Italy." As she said it her clothes morphed back to street clothes,

"And now that I think of it," she said as she checked her watch, "we need to give a report on

this fight."

Florence Italy

2:30 PM

16

Skillfully I glided across the close rooftops of Florence; my eyes scanned the ground for any

sign of a drain. Was this some sort of joke? A Neamodian base in a drain!

Supposedly, Drake and Vanessa were already there, I was just a little late due to an issue

with the police. A smile slipped past my lips. I had been running through the streets and

they thought I was "suspicious" and asked me what I was doing, I promptly decided after

that to use the rooftops being that there would be no police up here.

Florence had become a dangerous place to live; if you got to popular you could be found

with a bullet through your head. The police were on the watch for assassins that were

hunting their prey and I was no exception.

I had hidden the swords, but a trench coat made me look too suspicious. I grinned at what

they would think if they saw me on the rooftops. Then as I thought that, shouts rang out

from below.

"Assassino! Assassino!"

The French word for assassin just so happened to be close enough for me to figure out the

resemblance.

Frantically I glanced around; police that had been patrolling the streets were already

climbing ladders leading to rooftops. One of them pointed a gun at me and yelled something

in French.

"You know, I really don't like your attitude..." I smiled. The officer spat

"pathetic English foreigners!"

That's when I saw it, a small drain pipe in the ground probably fifty meters away.

"Hands in the air!" he yelled this time in English, with lightening speed I side flipped off the

building landing with a thud on the ground. Shots rang out as I ran toward the drain, speed

defying reason, reason, defying logic. I flew down the streets, shoving people to the side,

quickly visualized the drain cover being thrown off, and I jumped inside. Once inside I used

the last of my energy I pulled the drain cover back on, and then fell to the ground.

17

The stagnant air nauseated me and only added to the throbbing head ache. Attempting to

press my pounding temples I felt the restraint of cold metal hand cuffs clasped around my

wrists.

"Ah, our patient is awake." A mysterious voice said. The voice was cold and dark; a dim light

lit the room.

"Thank you for returning my mask, you know how hard it is to go without..." the voice trailed

off as I began to see other forms in the room.

"Zerka." I spat the word now realizing who this was,

With a mere thought I had accessed the menu in my peripheral vision and had turned on a

kind of night vision.

Across the room sat Vanessa, tied and gagged, on yet another wall drake sat in the same

way.

"So if a building can't kill you what will?" I asked, there were ways out of this situation, but

they weren't guaranteed to work, my best bet was to stall him, and hope the police saw me

go in the drain.

The room was cluttered with equipment, computers, papers, and tables.

"I'd think that by now your little purple friend over there would have told you that I can't be

killed." He let a smile go over his lips, but of course, I couldn't see it because of his mask.

A crash sounded from outside the small room, shouts rang out and boots sloshed through

the small layer of water I looked around the room frantically... A lever? Right above me was

a lever that was up against the wall. Quickly I visualized a message being sent to my

comrade across the room, telling them to be ready, and then visualized my bonds coming

undone.

"Well Zerka, I must give you credit..." I began as the metal form turned toward me. "You

sure know how to keep a hostage..." then in rapid succession I was on my feet and pulling

the lever, the dark form started toward me, but it was too late, sounds of running water

became louder and louder until the wail of death finally surged into the room devouring all

18

the tables and equipment. Shouts and screams rang out from the other room as the police

were drowned within the waves of sewage.

Blades appeared in both of Zerka's hands as he made his way forward toward me. I flicked

both of mine out, inclined my head in a gesture that said "your move" then began wading

through the murky waters. On the other side of the room, Drake and Vanessa both watched

in stunned silence as they awaited the coming battle.

Then in a series of blows, the shadowy figure flew forward raining down upon my swords,

ringing as they collided, sparks ignited, falling down into the water that was now waist deep.

"You'd better kill me quickly or we'll both drown," I said with a grin, the series of blows had

no effect on my impenetrable defense. Now we moved in a circle, taunting the other to

make a move. The metal mask nodded and the voice in my head yelled, "look out!" as Zerka

sent a table flying up from beside me to knock me off my feet. I dropped down not paying

attention to my surroundings and going under the murky water. I came up gasping for air as

the warlord ran forward twirling swords around hitting me at all angles. I made a sloppy

attempt to block now having trouble moving my arms that the water was at chest height.

Then in an instant, the shadow turned and darted away, out the hallway toward the ladder.

Vanessa and Drake were close behind him and I quickly followed.

Climbing out of the drain, light flooded in warm on my stone cold face.

“Spara! Spara I’assassino!” the words reverberated in my ears, the voice once more

appeared in my head “our language translator is just letting you know that their saying

“shoot the assassin” So I recommend you run now,” I grinned, good idea. I had no idea how

strict these police were, but they seemed trigger happy and had obviously closed down the

area being that no civilians were around. Swiftly I flew down the abandoned streets.

“Blackout is reading that Zerka should be very close by.”

“And what’s blackout?” I asked no one unparticular

“A tracking system, I can bring up maps in your HUD if you want,” I grinned,

“I’ll pass,”

19

“Well he’s right above you if you’re wondering…”

I spun around to see the metal form land right behind me as its sword flew from its back-

scabbard coming down in a fatal blow; I dodged to the side visualizing my sword appearing

in my hand as it did. The metal form spun around propelling its foot into my chest sending

me slamming against a stone building quickly recovering I jumped over the form who

seemed shocked at how fast I recovered, and landed behind him as our swords collided in a

scream of metal that shook the earth, raising my hand I sent the form flying back into a wall,

expecting it, he bounced off the wall slamming his sword against mine, as we went into a

rapid succession of heavy battle, swords were knocked from hands and then turned into a

fistfight, knocking his feet out from under him things seemed to be going in my favor, I

visualized my blade once more then brought it down on the defeated form of Zerka, and

with a clash of metal, realized he had blocked it with a metal arm plate. Then immediately

his sword was in his hand and he was driving me back against a building, he stepped back

surveying his surroundings.

“You know nothing of what you fight for you wishful child.” Stated the dark figure “you’re

trying to win a war you can’t win, its time you see what’s really been happening your whole

life.” I slowly let my guard down as I listened to the dark form’s words “if you want to know

the truth, you’ll be at the “H” in an hour” and with that the form turned to dust.

“Rex, let’s get home…” I said to the voice as I began to disappear into thin air, the last thing

I saw was Vanessa and Drake running up to me.

Seconds later I was in New York City, Vanessa and Drake sat beside me on a rooftop.

“So what’s the “H”,” I asked them both, Vanessa looked up from a stain she was cleaning

from her armor.

“An old abandoned Neamodian meeting site… why?” I shook my head

“I can’t say, where is it?” she looked at Drake then back at me,

“The “H” in the Hollywood sign…” she said, a worried look in her eye, I nodded, “you guys

can’t come with me this time, I’ve got to do this on my own.” They both looked at each other

20

about to contradict me, but reason stopped them and slowly they both nodded. So with that

I visualized the Hollywood sign as the air around me began to dissipate… then vanish…

Tap…Tap…Tap… the sound of two sets of boots thudded slowly against the stone floor…

“He’s only a child; I can deceive him into joining us…” Zerka’s masked form spoke to a dark

hooded figure of his master.

“Time is running out, tomorrow I will begin the attack, if you don’t make him join now, we

will go on without this child you call ‘the one’,”

“Yes master,” the tall metal form made a slight bowing gesture as he whispered an

incantation and disappeared from his master’s presence.

A crunch of rocks and the swirl of dirt from behind me made it obvious my target had

arrived. The metal cloaked form began to form out of the dust around him he motioned for

me to follow. The, we now walked slowly away from the Hollywood sign, the area was

covered in small scrubs and the dry climate let the dust come up in choking storms. Moving

off the trail the dark form moved some scrubs aside to reveal a small pipe just big enough

for his muscular form to fit in. he glanced back at me, now came the dilemma, neither of us

trusted the other not to close the lid of that tunnel on the other, so neither wanted to go

first. The form nodded, he may have had a mask, but it was obvious he was grinning. Then

with a mere thought the metal lid flew off its hinges flying several yards away, he motioned

me in, I hesitantly obliged. The tunnel was somewhat of a small slide, it let do an

underground area that was obviously abandoned, and the only inhabitants were rats and

spiders. Seconds later the metal form slid down landing with a light thud. “Well Aaron,

welcome to the ‘H’.”

“What do you think?” Drake asked looking up from a notebook, they were sitting in

Vanessa’s bedroom, her bed sat on the other end of the room, the two of them sat around a

desk, Drake wore a plain white trench coat, the rest of his armor was stashed away, Vanessa

21

had changed into street clothes before going back home, they now sat, drawing body armor.

She glanced up at the drawing Drake held up, it was a black suit with a type of carbon steel

plating, a dagger at the boot, and two swords crossing the back, there was no helmet, no

need for a helmet, Aaron didn’t like helmets, which was who this suit was for. “It’s a

Neamodian Alpha-16 suit.” She nodded, and then stopped, Rachael, Vanessa’s Neamodian

guardian, also known as the voice in her head. Usually Rachael was just chatting, but this

was different, this was a warning… “Did you get that?” she asked as her face turned pale.

Drake nodded, and then stood up, “let’s get this suit made,”

Zerka moved to a chart on the wall, “the Neamodian race has been around since the third

century… we have been there for everything, we have been assassins, spies, warriors,

soldiers, we fought in wars, we were scientists, and we were leaders. But you know what we

weren’t? We weren’t human, in the 13 hundreds the creator foresaw great war, and that the

people of this earth would quarrel in many wars as they found the new world, and as tyrant

leaders took leadership. So the Neamodian race was created, a race that would kill and have

no second thoughts, a race that would do his bidding, but he was a corrupt leader. He tried

to make us kill our leaders, our families, and so we turned on him. Some of us who still had a

free mind fled. Those who had become corrupt and joined with him, still fight on his side, as

his slave, an implement of evil. That is what he is using you and your friends for, I can help

you though, I can bring your powers to a new level!” I closed my eyes,

“So your saying that I should turn on my friends because people like Napoleon and Cesar

were right in what they did?” the metal form made a nodding movement with his head. “I

refuse to believe that,”

“Then you are as ignorant as your friends,” he said as I smiled, “war is coming, a war only

you can stop, you must join forces with me to stop it, the war will destroy the earth…” when

he finished I nodded, accepting the information, “and I plan on stopping it, but not with

you.” I then closed my eyes, and opened them to find myself in front of the Hollywood sign,

why was I here? I had teleported to Vanessa, not the Hollywood sign… I spun around to find

22

Vanessa standing next to me. “What are you doing here!?” she mumbled something I

couldn’t hear then tossed me a backpack.

“We got you a new suit; our guardians said war was coming, let’s get ready.”

The Pentagon2:30 PM

“Sir, an unknown person just faxed this report to us.” The Secretary of Defense for the

United States looked up from the papers scattered about his desk, nodded, then took the

paper from his secretary. He scanned through the documents then turned to a red phone on

his desk. Picked it up, and the line was immediately answered. “Mr. President, looks like the

Neamodians are at it again.”

“You are Delta! Not girl scouts! I want fifty more pushups!” drill Sergeant Dave Pennington

felt a gloved hand rest on his shoulder. “Are these the men?” he turned to see a hooded

face, the face however, rested in the shadow of the hood, a long trench coat draped down

around his body just touching the ground, across the figure’s back, swords crossed in an X

pattern. The figure wore black carbon steel plate armor under the trench coat. “You must be

ShadowBlade?” the form nodded. It was the name I had taken to disguise my true identity.

He gave a tight salute then stepped back, “Yes Sir, these are your men!”

“No need to yell Mr. Pennington,” I said with a short smile, “I can hear you quite well,”

“Yes sir,” he said now in a more reasonable tone. Then turned to the soldiers “This is

commander ShadowBlade! Show him your respect! You take orders from him now!”

whispers began to arise about the figure in front of them known only as ShadowBlade.

“Attention!” yelled the sergeant as they all quickly went back to an orderly manner. I

stepped forward. “Go home, get some rest, return tomorrow and you’ll be in for the fight of

your life. None of you have to come, but if we lose…” I let the alternative hang in the air “we

23

won’t lose!” one of them shouted out, I smiled at his bravery, “tomorrow, you will see things

no human should be able to comprehend, ungodly forces, death, destruction… all of it will

be for power… you are here to stop that. Rex cut in, “repeat what I say,” he said. “Si vis

pacem, para bellum… if you wish for peace… prepare for war… therefore, he who wishes

peace should prepare for war, he who desires victory, should carefully train his soldiers; he

who wants favorable results should fight relying on skill, not chance.” Shouts rang out as

adrenaline rushed through every soldier’s skin. “and that is why you are Delta… and that is

why we fight a war that in fifty years from now… will never have happened…” then to the

raw horror of the soldiers, the figure in front of them disappeared into thin air, leaving them

alone once more, in fort Bragg, North Carolina.

A day later, the President, Secretary of Defense, two Deltas, Vanessa, Drake and I all sat

around a table. A map of the U.S. sat in the middle of the table, lines had been drawn all

over it, and words were scribbled around the sides. And now the seven of us sat in silence.

The Government had always had close relations with Neamodians throughout all of history,

we had warned them of wars, and helped plan the defense of countries. Identity was no

secret in this company. The two Deltas were General Williams, and Commander Conrad,

both were one of the nation’s best soldiers. Conrad finally spoke up breaking the silence.

“Zerka’s forces will be upon us within an hour, what are your orders sir?” all eyes turned to

the president “send a squad of delta with the Neamodians, set the rest up in major cities

and put seals on the coastal cities…” he then checked the map again. “Keep the Air force in

the sky, navy in the ocean and marines in major cities.” He then turned to the three

Neamodians, “and what do you call your team?” I glanced over at them, they both sent their

idea’s through a type of telepathy Neamodians tended to use quite a bit, and I then turned

to the President. “Mr. President, we have agreed to be known by our names and no squad

name.” the president made a sarcastic gesture “we have to be able to call the three of you

as a group by something,” I looked back at them and both of them shrugged, it was

obviously up to me. I turned back to the leader of the United States and simply said, “Eagle

24

Strike,” he nodded, and made a dismissing gesture and the six of us stood up and left the

room leaving the president alone to his thoughts. Then there was a knock on the door and

the room was crowded with F.B.I. “sir, we need to get you to the safe house.”

Six deltas’ and I stood in New York City, Vanessa and Drake were in Chicago. “Stay here,” I

said as I approached the building I had come to see. The courthouse.

Swiftly, silently, and carefully, I scaled the tall building in the center of town, it was the

courthouse, I probably shouldn't have been climbing it, but risks were the one thing I was

addicted to... And then what I had come to the building for came... A wave of darkness hit

the land... Screams of pain and fear echoed in my ears, reverberating off the walls of the

building... Windows shattered, car alarms blared... Then the déjà vu hit was this a dream? Or

real? Or a reality of a dream? But knowledge overrode reason and in a slick movement my

sword was in hand spinning around making a ringing sound as it slid up the blade of the

metallic form of Zerka. Flicking my blade around I slammed my fist into his face, he

staggered back, and then charged forward.

Commander Conrad stood at the foot of the courthouse, car alarms rang out, fire erupted

from buildings, screams echoed in his ears, children’s cries, and what was he doing? He was

standing there with a look of shock on his face, he knew he should’ve expected this, this was

exactly what ShadowBlade had spoken of the day before, but it all seemed so much more…

real… this time… he grinned then rebuked his thoughts; this time it was real. “Three of you

head to the other end of the building, I want this place locked down!” he yelled as three

Deltas darted off, screams rang out as families ran out into the streets, “Everyone inside!”

he screamed firing three bullets into the air, and then it came… the enemy he had been told

he would face…

25

Drake let out a grunt of pain as he lost his footing and slipped just barely able to grab a

cable antenna before slipping off the roof, hundreds of meters below, car alarms were

blaring and windows shattered. “What are we doing up here Vanessa?” he said pulling

himself back up. She ignored him as she slipped to the next rooftop, he let out an

exaggerated moan then flipped onto the roof, then out of nowhere, particles of the air began

to blur. “Drake! Hurry!” Vanessa screamed slamming her foot into the blur of air which when

attacked revealed itself to be some kind of cat creature that stood on two feet. The white

form of Drake flicked out his Katana lopping off the heads of three of the beings then flew to

the next building. This building had a small rooftop parking place with an elevator in the

middle. Vanessa darted toward the elevator, pressed the button under the sign which read

“Property of Chicago Power supply, Authorized use only” slowly the door began opening, as

Drake began to catch up to her and the two jumped inside, the door slowly closed as they

struggled to keep the unearthly beings out. Drake brought the white neckerchief that

disguised his face down. “What were those!?” he exclaimed, they had momentarily stalled

the elevator to catch their breath. Vanessa dropped to the floor of the elevator, her arms

folded across her chest. “Those were Neamodians…” she whispered still in shock, “morphed

from evil they had turned to monsters…” Drake turned the key and the elevator continued

down the shaft, “so what’s the plan at this building?” he asked going off the topic of the

creatures. She looked up then smiled, “we shut off the power,” he glanced down from the

little meter above the door indicating what floor they were on. “And what will that gain us?”

he asked,

“Total chaos.”

My sword flicked around in an X motion, Zerka had an incredible guard, I had taken several

fencing lessons, but his skill was beyond my comprehension. Then without a movement on

my part, I was lifted off my feet and thrown back. I landed in the middle of the road; an

indent from where I had landed was set lightly on the surface of the asphalt. I twirled my

26

sword around brandishing the blade, and then made a dismissive gesture toward the Delta,

signaling them not to attack, then out of nowhere, parts of the air began to blur. “It’s time

you met your ancestors Aaron!” he yelled down at me, the Delta glanced over at me taking

note of my name. The figure stepped off the edge of the building landing with a slight thud

as he hit the earth. “Long ago, Neamodians were a primitive race. Halflings, neither man nor

beast. He flicked his blade around colliding with mine; our blades slid together locking at the

crosspiece as we fought through strength for the upper hand. “And now I’ve made an army

from the grave…” his words were like fire as they pierced my ears. Anger welled within me

as the dam holding back my rage threatened to break out upon this dark figure. We both

spun back disconnecting our swords. “Would you believe that?” he asked making a motion

with his sword toward where a Delta was engaged in full on combat with one of the

ancestral creatures. Then the dam broke. “Taste my blade you devil,” I screamed as I flew

forward.

Screams echoed through the town as the power slowly died off, “and what will chaos gain

us?” Drake finally asked as they both leapt out the high window onto the busy street below.

She motioned for him to be silent as they landed on the street with a thud. She reached into

the pouch she had always said held “super secret stuff” and pulled out a small memory chip.

“Keep me covered,” she said turning to a building and running inside. “Right…” Drake

mumbled, pulling his neckerchief back up, he drew his Katana and quickly followed. Merely

seconds after stepping inside a dozen Neamodians appeared out of nowhere, a diamond

sword appeared in Vanessa’s hand as she spun around decapitating one of the creatures

and wounding another as she quickly moved on. Drake flipped forward slamming his sword

into one of the creatures while kicking another back. He quickly pulled the pin and dropped

a grenade one of the Deltas had given him, and then ran after Vanessa.

I flew forward raining blow upon blow down on the metal form, his guard slowly weakened

until finally I began scoring hits on areas, my blade only hit his metal armor, but it was a

start at area’s that weren’t protected by armor. I closed in, our blades locked, and my left

27

hand reached out grasping his hilt. Pulling it aside I slammed my knee into his stomach, now

both our hands were clasped around our swords pushing against each other trying to steal

the other’s ground as we held up against each other. He then looked up into my eyes, the

eye slots in his mask seemed joyful as he let out an evil laugh… then a switchblade in his

boot shot out and he slammed the tip deep between one of my carbon fiber plates. I

screamed in pain as I staggered back. He retracted the blade from his boot as he stepped

back. I fell to my knees doubled over in pain. “It’s sad really… I actually thought you were

‘The One’ for a moment there, but now I find that your just like all the rest… a pest trying to

make his way in this world… a pest that needs to be exterminated... he slowly walked

forward as I looked up, I felt unable to move… this was the end… I knew it, in the menus at

the edges of my peripheral vision I noticed all my health was at critical. Zerka now raised his

sword up for a killing blow… I closed my eyes… then heard a shout. “Give’em Hell Delta’s!!!”

bullets streamed down like rain overhead as the metal figure was pummeled back. I opened

my eyes as bullets streamed past my form, three Deltas ran forward two grabbed my arms

and hoisted me up while the other gave cover fire. I pushed them back, “He’s not done yet,”

I said as I limped forward raising my hand for cease fire. With a mere thought my sword

appeared in my hand, I twirled it around experimentally as I winced at the pain at my side.

The masked figure nodded a few times as he turned to me. “Maybe you are who they

thought you were…” he said then turned to his creatures and held his hand for them to stop

the attack… the showdown had begun…

Vanessa set the microchip down in the corner of the building, checked a few things, and

then nodded in satisfaction. “Perfect, now we just need to draw a few more of those things

in here and we blow up the building!” she said with a wry smile. The two of them ran out of

the building as Vanessa slammed her hand into the ground turning it to a pink crystallized

color. The few creatures that didn’t jump in time had their feet trapped beneath the crystal,

the ones that didn’t ran directly toward the two figures. “OK that should be enough,” she

said with a worried look as some fifty Neamodians came charging after them. Drake nodded,

28

“yeah, let’s run now…” he said with a worried grin and the two of them bolted back into the

building. As they reached the top floor where the bomb which appeared to be a microchip

was located, they heard the patter of paws on the staircase. “So if were blowing up the

building… how do you plan on getting out?” Drake asked looking around the room, it was an

office building, and large glass windows that went from the ground to the roof ran all the

way around the building while the inside was covered with desks and office spaces. She

nodded toward a window at the far end. “Some farmer has a truck full of hay parked just

below that window over there; we hit the button, and get the heck out of here.” He nodded

then glanced at the staircase just the first Neamodian popped up, “that’d be now!” he yelled

as she hit the button and the two ran across the building. Fire spurted out from behind them

as the screams from outside died away in the roar of the explosion. Heat scorched their

faces as they hit the window, the glass shattered cutting their faces and exposed skin,

Vanessa let out a scream and Drake tried to look over but as he did he slammed into the

hay in the bed of the truck… then blacked out…

We moved slowly in a circle for some time, matching our footwork as we tested the other’s

endurance, and the endurance of the soldiers watching. Then in a lightning fast motion

Zerka flew forward colliding blades with me, I spun around keeping my blade in contact with

his but now coming around behind him. my left hand slammed into his metal face as my leg

stuck out behind him knocking him off his feet, he slammed his booted foot into my shin as I

fell forward bracing myself into a pushup position, I was quickly on my feet as I kicked off

the facemask that kept his identity concealed. To my astonishment, Zerka appeared to be

human, he had long dark hair and a nose that had obviously been broken many times and

badly reset. A scar ran down his right cheek and the left side of his face was distorted and

looked almost inhuman from how many scars coated the skin. His booted foot flew up hitting

my stomach where I had the knife cut. I stumbled back screaming as he regained his

footing, he was an aged man, in his early forty’s but from my frequent conversations with

Rex –my Neamodian guardian- I knew he was much older. He surged forward slamming his

29

sword against my now incredibly weak guard, I quickly blocked but my wrist was bent back

by the jarring blow. Then Rex cut in, “This is your last chance Aaron, you defeat him, or you

die, if you die, he will destroy the world… you only have one choice here… now go show him

who you are.” I felt renewed energy as Rex finished. I stepped back from the approaching

figure. “Your time has come Zerka, may Abbadon take you to your resting place…” I

whispered, he seemed to have heard me because he let out a small chuckle, and then

looked me straight in the eye, “and I’m taking you with me… kid…” we both then flew

forward swords colliding into a series of blows, the battle was even for several minutes.

Offence switched to defense, defense to offence. Several hits were scored until we both

moved back exhausted. “Well Zerka, it seems obvious were both equally challenged with a

blade… but what about without?” I asked as I tossed my blade to the side, the dark figure

grinned then nodded as he tossed his blade to the ground. The two flew forward, fists

pummeling each other; visions flew through our minds as we were tossed back and forth. It

seemed no one would ever gain the upper hand until finally as the battle moved toward a

building I threw Zerka into the glass front. He fell to the ground regaining his breath for a

moment. Within seconds I was upon him, a makeshift glass knife in my hand. Held up to his

neck, I shook my head, “you’re pathetic,” I whispered, “leave and never return.” I stood up

then began to walk away, I heard a soft chuckling from behind me, ahead of me shocked

faces of military and Neamodian stood together as their enemy and leader lay defeated.

Commander Conrad flew forward with lightening speed as he yelled out my name. He had a

large knife up as it collided with Zerka who had come at me from behind. My sword

appeared in my hand as I spun around slamming it into his gut, the bloody tip punctured

through and the figure let out a grunt, then fell to the ground. Zerka, bringer of death, and

feared by all… had been defeated…

“Cor blimmy mate! What the cabbages are you doing back here!?” came a shout as Drake

awoke, his eyes slowly fluttered open to find a farmer in a straw hat looking down at him.

30

Drake could’ve sworn there was three of him, and that he had fewer teeth than there were

copies of him, but he soon swept the thoughts from his mind. He slowly sat up rubbing his

head; beside him Vanessa was still unconscious. Drake frowned “it’s hard to explain,” he

mumbled to the awaiting farmer,” after a few seconds he climbed out of the bed of hay as

Vanessa began to awake. Drake pulled down his neckerchief and pulled back the hood.

Orange rays of sunlight seeped into his skin as he looked around; he was on a farm, the

wide eyed farmer now walked over to him. “Ye’ don’t plan on stealin’ any of me’ chickens do

ye’?” “Did Blart put ye’ up to this?” He began to question how that Drake was fully awake.

Drake let the whole story spill out as the wide eyed farmer began laughing then chuckling,

then snorting, then noticing Drake was completely serious, finally stopped and asked what

he wanted. Drake quickly explained he didn’t want anything and within a few minutes the

two Neamodians were walking back on a dirt road, and only seconds later, I began to form

from a blur, to a figure beside them. “What happened!?” Vanessa exclaimed as she brought

him off the road to a rocky outcropping that overlooked the countryside. I related the whole

story of defeating Zerka, and that the Neamodians had simply surrendered when they saw

their leader defeated. I sighed “He’s finally home,” I grinned. Vanessa glared at me, and

then shrugged, “I guess you’re right.” She mumbled then the three of us sat in silence as we

watched the sun set on the day… the day the world needed a hero… the day the world…

Needed Eagle Strike…

31

Epilogue

“Hey Aaron! Want to race?” I looked up, it was Jack. I was slowly making my way around the

skating rink, I had been thinking of the events through the past month. I shrugged, “sure… I

guess…” we both moved to the red line that went down the center of the rink. “On your

mark… Get set… Go!” Jack said as he shot off around the rink, I was close behind him when I

slammed into someone, the figure didn’t move as I slowly got back to my feet. “Sorry about

that, are you OK?” I said then noticed this wasn’t a child, as I looked up at the figure in a suit

I found the grim faced figure quite frightening. He handed me a letter then nodded. “The

President needs your help with something, I cannot give any more details.” Said the figure

as he stepped off the rink and disappeared through the double doors. I heard a laugh from

behind me, “aww come on! Did Aaron crash?” Jack teased he saw me starring at the letter, it

had the President’s unbroken seal on the front. “What’s that?” he asked. “Oh nothing,” I

mumbled as I hid it. He grinned, “Alright if you say so, I’m going to go get a drink, want

something?” he asked, I shook my head as my eyes scanned the rink for Vanessa. As I laid

eyes upon her I found her starring right at me. Had she seen the letter? I nodded toward the

roof and she smiled. Seconds later we found ourselves on the roof of the facility opening the

letter, she grasped it from my hands and read it aloud:

Written From the Oval Office,

32

Addressed to Aaron Brunaz – Neamodian

An Important matter has come up and I

require your assistance, it seems that a

neighboring country is plotting against the

United States. I need someone who can fit in

and do things a spy cant. I need a

Neamodian.

President Smith

“Sounds pretty important, are you going to go?” Vanessa asked, I pondered it for a

moment, and then shook my head. “I’m not a police officer, or a Delta for that matter, the

only time I’m going to answer one of his cries for help is if it’s something humanly

impossible…” I trailed off as I looked off into the horizon. “There’s only one thing I wish he

would understand…” I mumbled. Vanessa looked over at me with a questioning look in her

eye. “We are always here, in this world we will become no more than a myth or legend… but

we will still be here, defending the people, fighting for good… Were are here… And we are

waiting.”

33

About the Author

Dallas Hendrickson was born in 1997 and has been a musician and writer his entire life. He has completed several books including Juno and the Deliverance series. He is a part time music instructor and author whenever he finds time at the computer. He has devoted his life to Boy Scouts, Music, and Writing and currently lives in the Northwest with his family.