The Battle for Allegra: Fireworks

Season Two: Episode Eighteen

Caleb Fast

Copyright © 2022 Caleb Fast

www.calebfast.com
First Published in 2022 by the Author on Amazon
All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.
For information regarding permission, please email the author at calebfast@calebfast.com Please direct all further inquiries to the author at calebfast@calebfast.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real-world people, events, or locations are entirely coincidental.

Chapter One

Horton’s Haunt, Allegra

The initial salvo catches Matthew by surprise, even if he knew it was coming.

The sheer scale of the dozens and then thousands of rounds popping off, explosions roaring to life, and of things crashing shakes the building that Matthew is in, and it seems to shake his insides even more.

After the first major barrage ends, the sound of gunfire and explosives dies down to an only marginally duller din and comes from isolated areas from seemingly all directions.

“Come on, Mudskipper!” Louise calls above the background noise of the fighting around them, “It was your idea to look around, let’s finish what we started.”

Matthew turns his attention back to the large lab area that they are in, and he frowns. There isn’t a lot more looking around to do here. Shrugging, he repositions his hands on his rifle and heads back for the ramp that would take him up another level.

“Matthew!” Marie calls after him.

Matthew stops and turns, “What?”

“Don’t you realize how exciting all of this is?” Marie asks as she motions to her surroundings, “There’s so much stuff in here that the Dawns will love. I love so much of it.”

“I’m just going to check out what’s above us,” Matthew says.

“Isn’t this exciting for you?” Marie presses.

Matthew isn’t sure what Marie is being so insistent about and he takes a few moments to pick up on what he thinks she is getting at. Doing his best to sound authentic, but knowing that he is falling far short of that, Matthew says, “Yeah, it’s super neat. Why don’t the rest of you go on and clear the upstairs while—uh—while Marie and I look around the lab more.”

Judging by the look on Marie’s face, this was the right course of action for Matthew, but he can tell that she isn’t thrilled by his sub-par delivery.

“I guess we can clear the rest of the building then,” Louise grunts, “Keep your heads low, there are a lot of windows in here.”

At that, Louise, Alois, and Rav’ian clear out and make their way up the ramp to the level above Matthew and Marie.

“What is it?” Matthew asks Marie once everyone had left.

Marie looks at Matthew with pursed lips for a moment before she says, “I’ve been meaning to say this for a little bit now.”

His head cocked slightly, Matthew cautiously asks, “Say what?”

Marie frowns slightly and says, “Well… I know this isn’t the best time to say this, but I just couldn’t keep it from you anymore. The Dawns have a way of communicating with your homeworld and your hometown.”

“Marie, that’s great and all, but I’m sure it can wait—”

“Well, that’s not it,” Marie interrupts, “They were able to get some… information about what’s going on there.”

“Information?” Matthew looks around for a moment to ensure that he isn’t in view of any windows that he can get shot at from before he asks, “Why’d you say it like that?”

Marie swallows and looks off into the distance for a moment, and then looks Matthew back into his eyes, “It’s your girlfriend, Dixie. She’s not doing too well—”

“And why are you choosing now to tell me this?” Matthew cuts Marie off, his voice quivering as a shiver runs down his spine.

No number of times of being told to keep his head in the game during a fight could keep him focused if he knew that he had to worry about Dix and everyone else at home. Sure, there was the constant level of worry of if the Coalition or the Beats went to Sinclair, but that could be pushed down. Having to worry about Dix? That was another matter entirely.

“I’m sorry,” Marie shakes her head before she lets it drop slightly, breaking her eye contact with Matthew, “I was trying to not tell you, but it’s been eating at me. I knew it would distract you, it’s just… I couldn’t not tell you anymore.”

Matthew shakes his head and holds up his hand, “Don’t tell me anything else, we have to focus here.”

“I’m sorry,” Marie apologizes again.

Sighing, Matthew changes gears, “Don’t be, I get where you’re coming from, and thank you for telling me, but it has to wait.”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking this whole time, but I’ve never had a good opportunity to say it.”

“As soon as this is all over, then we can.”

“There isn’t anything better to do right now…”

“We could be scouting the building, looking for places to—”

“Matthew,” Marie interrupts once more, “This is serious.”

“And I’m being serious! I could get shot if I’m not paying attention because I’m too busy thinking about—”

“Matthew, they think Dixie is going to die.”

“Die?”

“Yes.”

“How? Why?”

“Her hand got infected because they didn’t have the antibiotics on hand to treat it right. They talked about cutting it off, but she wouldn’t let them. Now they think it’s too late.”

“When did you find out about this?”

“Not too long ago…”

“Marie, why didn’t you tell me?” Matthew’s legs are about to give out, so he lowers himself to the floor where he sits, dazed and confused.

“I didn’t want to see you like this…”

Staring straight at the nearest wall, Matthew huffs as a thousand memories flash through his head. Every memory is of him and Dix, of their time together, of their best moments, and a few of their worst.

But the plainest and easiest thought to return to is Matthew’s newfound need to talk to Dix and to seek revenge for her.

Even if she pulled through, the man who did this to her would have to pay with his life.

Not just the man, but the whole of the Coalition as well.

The greatest issue for Matthew now is that the man who did this to Dixie is now his general. It would be nearly impossible to get to the man as things stood right now. Killing him would be even more difficult.

Despite the difficulty of his newfound mission, Matthew can’t help but feel a steely resolve wash over him. In an instant, he feels something freeze over his heart, much like how ice used to form on the lines and chains of the ship he fished on when the weather turned.

Where water had once flowed off those ropes and chains, ice crystals formed. At first, it wasn’t much of an issue, but then the ice continued growing thinker and thicker. Before long, it became a problem, since it stopped the required movement from happening, which made breaking the ice a matter of life or death in many scenarios.

Swallowing, Matthew realizes that this ice that had formed over his own heart now could very well pose a serious risk to his own life. The thought that it could risk the lives of his team just made him angrier about the whole situation.

“Marie,” Matthew says after a long silence.

“Yes?” Marie responds, her body shaking slightly.

Gritting his teeth, Matthew’s mind momentarily wanders to one of the days that he and Dixie had snuck onto his father’s ship after everyone had left. Once they had done so, they set off and enjoyed the privacy of being far from the town that seemed to always monitor their every action, every breath, and every thought.

It was during that night that Matthew had been able to truly bare his soul to Dixie, and she had been able to do the same. It was one of the moments in life that felt just as significant in the moment as it did in its memory.

Once the hours-long conversation ended between Matthew and Dixie, Matthew remembered going fishing for their quick dinner. They had eaten it, chatted some more, and then went home. It was perfectly mundane from the outside looking in, but it wasn’t at all mundane for Matthew and Dix.

Dixie and Matthew never spoke of that night again, but he knew that it had changed her just as much as it had changed him. Everyone around them could see the difference as well. It was after that that Matthew knew that the two of them were destined to be together.

But then this war happened, pulling him away from her.

And now it looked like he was about to lose her entirely.

“What is it?” Marie prods after a few seconds.

Shaking his head, Matthew answers, “I’m going to have to kill Nelson.”

Marie’s expression doesn’t change, “And how do you suppose you could do that?”

Shaking his head once more, Matthew shrugs, “I don’t know, all I know is that I have to do it.”

Marie doesn’t say anything, she simply nods for a few beats.

“And I have to talk to Dixie.”

“I know.”

“Do we…” Matthew trails off. Looking up at Marie, he clears his throat, “D—do we know how much longer Dix has left?”

Marie purses her lips and shakes her head, “We can’t be sure of anything. I’d estimate that she’s got less than a week left, from what I heard. I’m sorry.”

Standing suddenly, Matthew starts pacing the room. After his third time crossing from one side to the other, he suddenly stops, “Why’d you wait this long to tell me?”

Marie makes a face, looks around, and then slowly says, “I was… I was hoping that she’d improve. I told the people on the other end what they could do to try and save her. I just heard back that her condition was only getting worse. They haven’t been getting the medical supplies that they’ve been requesting from the Coalition since you and the others were taken, and that’s just made things harder.”

Matthew looks around frantically, as if he could find something that could save Dixie in the room he is in, but he sees nothing of the sort. A few moments pass before he replays one of Marie’s last lines in his head and notices something odd. There was something very strange about some of the words she had been using lately. Looking back at Marie, Matthew asks, “You ‘just heard back’? What do you mean by that? Are you talking to them right now?”

Marie nods once.

“On your headpiece?”

Again, Marie nods.

“The Dawns have you patched through?”

“Yes,” Marie whispers.

“Can they patch me through too?” Matthew asks, his voice straining due to all of the emotions that he is trying to force down at the moment.

Marie nods, but is quick to add, “Are you sure you want this?”

“Yes, I’ve never been more sure about anything,” Matthew answers on an impulse.

Yet one more time, Marie nods. Turning from Matthew, she whispers a few things into the microphone on her headpiece. Turning back to Matthew, she says, “You’re in. Your mom’s on the other end.”

Matthew nods and he hesitantly starts, “Mom?”

“Hello, Matthew,” Matthew’s mom sounds, just a marginally higher level of emotion in her voice than the otherwise flat and uncaring one that Matthew had grown so used to.

“Where’s Dix? Where’s dad?”

“Your father is out fishing, and Dixie is sleeping. Are those fireworks I’m hearing? It must be lovely out there on Allegra.”

Matthew frowns and shakes his head. As if his mother’s usual distant nature wasn’t enough, her inability to understand anything and everything that Matthew had ever gone through just added to their strained relationship.

A moment passes and Matthew considers setting his mother straight and telling her that the explosions she is hearing are from the fighting going on outside. He considers telling her that he was in mortal danger at this very second. He considers reminding her of all the people who had been killed, of the things he had seen, of all the things he had killed. And then, after all those thoughts, he reminds himself that doing so wouldn’t achieve anything.

Swallowing his pride and his anger, Matthew flatly says, “Yes, mom, they’re fireworks.”

“They sound lovely.”

“How is everyone?”

“Things have been difficult for everyone since you and the others left. Do you have any news on them? How are the others? Mrs. Halladay is asking about her daughter Tiana in particular—”

“I don’t know where anyone else is, mom,” Matthew interrupts. He seldom interrupted his mother before, but between how much he had changed and the dire straits that Dixie is in, Matthew can’t help but feel like he didn’t have any time to waste. Swallowing, he adds, “Can I talk to Dix?”

“She’s sleeping,”

“Mom, I really need to talk to her…”

“We haven’t been able to wake her for the past day or so.”

This statement catches Matthew off guard, and he can’t help but take in a short, small gasp.

He was too late.

“Mrs. McNeil would like to speak to you Matthew,” Matthew’s mother says after a few tense seconds pass.

“Put her on,” Matthew requests. He notes that his voice isn’t as friendly as it ought to have been, but he didn’t care at this moment. His mother wasn’t the person he wanted to be talking to—if anything, she was one of the last people he wanted to talk to.

“Matthew?” Mrs. McNeil’s voice sounds.

“How’s Dixie, Mrs. McNeil?” Matthew repeats the question that he had asked his mother.

“She isn’t well, Matthew,” Mrs. McNeil answers. Matthew can hear her take in a gulp of air before she continues in an emotional tone, “She said… she said that she didn’t think she was going to make it before she fell back asleep…” Mrs. McNeil lets out a soft sob before she continues, “She had me write out a note for you, since she knew you’d try and talk to her as soon as you could. She and I had both hoped that what your friend Marie had told us would help her pull through this, but—” Mrs. McNeil lets out a louder sob this time, followed by the sound of her blowing her nose, “But it doesn't look like that’s going to happen now.”

Matthew looks up to Marie with an inquisitive look.

“I’ve been talking to them for a couple of days now,” Marie tells more of the story, “I had hoped that you could call home under better circumstances, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have waited all that time! I—”

“Thank you,” Matthew breathes to Marie, relief and thankfulness washing over his body. Despite everything else that Marie and everyone else was going through on the front, Marie still made a point to try and save someone she had never met, even if it couldn’t be in person.

“Matthew, how are you?” Mrs. McNeil asks, acting as caring and loving as she always had been.

Matthew swallows and he contemplates whether he should answer honestly or lie. A moment passes as his mind races, and he remembers just how good things had been as of late, here on the front. If it weren’t for the news about Dixie, he wouldn’t have anything to worry about at all. With a nod, he answers, “I’ve been alright, things have been getting better and better here on the front.”

“Are you safe?”

“As safe as I can be,” Matthew shrugs, “How is my family?”

“They’re well, your father is always going on and on about how much he misses you,” Mrs. McNeil laughs before she finishes, “He says he can’t find good help and that no one pulls their weight like you do.”

Choking on his emotion, Matthew says, “Sounds like dad.”

“And your siblings all miss you, but they’ve been keeping themselves distracted by picking up the slack around here.”

“How’s everyone else?”

“As your mother said, things have been difficult for everyone here. But we’re managing, you don’t need to worry about the rest of us. Just come home, you and everyone else. Bring our children home, Matthew.”

“I’ll do everything I can, Mrs. McNeil.”

“And Matthew?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Those aren’t fireworks we’re hearing, are they?”

Matthew sighs and looks out the nearest window. Outside, smoke is rising from all over and is collecting over the light screen at the top of the bunker. The cloud of smoke is distorting the color of light in the cavern, casting a greenish hue over everything, a hue which seems to agree with the smell of sulfur and fire that had risen thanks to all the gunfire and explosions.

Matthew shakes his head, wipes his face with his sleeve, and then he answers, “No, they are not.”

The words weigh heavily on Matthew, and he knows the reason why; Mrs. McNeil was the mother that Matthew never had. Breaking the news to her that he was in the middle of a warzone was something that he knew would weigh heavily on her, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie.

“I was afraid of that, Matthew,” Mrs. McNeil sighs, “Just know that we’re all praying for you back here. We all pray every day for all of you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. McNeil,” Matthew smiles, “We need it.”

“That Marie girl told us that we’ll be able to be in contact with you now, thanks to some of her friends.”

Matthew looks over at Marie, who nods. Nodding back, he says, “That’s what it sounds like, yes.”

“We’d love to get updates on what all is happening, no one else is telling us anything.”

“I’ll be sure to keep you all informed,” Matthew pledges, “If not me, then someone under me.”

“Speaking of that, I heard you’re in charge of a whole bunch of people now! That’s amazing! I’m glad they’ve seen your worth.”

Matthew chuckles before he responds, “Yeah, I’m in charge of a whole garrison. By the sounds of it, I’ll keep getting promoted for a while.”

“That’s lovely to hear,”

“Mrs. McNeil?”

“Yes?”

“What’s on the note Dix had for me?”

Mrs. McNeil takes a slow breath before she eventually says, “I can’t read it to you quite yet. Not until Dixie’s—not until—” Mrs. McNeil breaks off and Matthew can hear her cries on her end of the communique.

He knew exactly what Mrs. McNeil was unable to say.

She couldn’t read the message to Matthew until Dixie died.

“Well, I’m sure you need to get back to it,” Mrs. McNeil says after a long silence, “Be safe, Matthew.”

“I will, Mrs. McNeil,” Matthew chokes.

At that, the feed goes dead.

“I’m sorry, Matthew,” Marie apologizes yet again, “I shouldn’t have waited so long to tell you—”

“Marie, stop it,” Matthew cuts her off, “Don’t blame yourself, I understand why you did what you did. I don’t blame you, and I’m sure no one else does either. Alright? You got that?”

Marie simply starts crying, rather than answer.

Not even thinking, Matthew closes the distance between him and Marie and he wraps his arms around her in a hug. Pulling her close, he feels her gentle heartbeat against his chest and feels her warm breath against his neck. In short order, her weak sobs stop.

However, they don’t break the hug.

For Matthew, the need for a hug becomes abundantly obvious for him. He needed the close contact after hearing the news about Dixie. He needed to know that there were people out there who cared about him.

And, as the hug continued on, Matthew begins to realize that there seemed to be a little something else scratching its way into his psyche.

Despite his best effort, he had fallen for Marie over the past month or so of being on the front.

Chapter Two

Horton’s Haunt, Allegra

“Listen, I hate to ruin a moment, but Hamilton has been trying to reach you, Mudskipper,” Louise says from the ramps.

Matthew snaps back to reality and looks over at Louise. A second passes before he realizes that he is still holding Marie, and he lets his arms drop, trying his best to be casual.

Despite his attempt to look and act casual, Matthew’s eyes drop, and it is then that he sees that his headset had fallen off at some point during the hug. Marie’s had as well.

“Well, what does he want?” Matthew asks as he picks up and dusts off his headset.

“He says now’s our chance to get one of the robots,” Louise answers, “One of them is coming our way.”

“How long until it gets here?” Matthew asks before he slips on his headset.

“A couple of minutes, maybe,” Louise answers.

Matthew nods to Louise before he turns away and speaks to Hamilton, “I’m here, what do you have for me?”

Not even a second passes before Hamilton’s voice comes in, “Get movin’ we need y’all on the west side of the buildin’ you all in.”

“On it,” Matthew says with a nod. Looking up at his team, he barks out some orders, “I need everyone on the west side of the building, we have incoming. Louise and Alois, you two man this level. I’ll man the top floor. Rav’ian and Marie, you two take the bottom floor.”

“Yes, sir,” Marie says with a slightly excessive salute before she lowers her head and makes her way past the twins without making eye contact with them.

“You got it, Mudskipper,” Louise nods before she points some things out to her brother and whispers a few things to him as she does so.

“I’ll be curious to see how these guns work for us,” Matthew says, largely to himself as he handles the weapon that Hamilton had given him. He had never shot something with a bullet this large, so he couldn’t help but feel wary of the kick that it might have.

Nodding in thought on how he was about to take down the robot, Matthew makes his way toward the ramp that would take him to the upper level that Louise and the others had scouted out while he talked to his mother and Mrs. McNeil.

“Mudskipper?” Louise whispers to Matthew as he walks by.

Matthew stops and looks at Louise for a moment before he asks, “What?”

Louise makes a discontent face before she says, “I hope you know that getting in a relationship with someone in the middle of a war isn’t always the best course of action. Besides that, there are rules about this.”

A hundred thoughts rush through Matthew’s head all at once. Thoughts of what could happen to him if he and Marie became a thing and either of them got hurt. Thoughts of his and Louise’s accidental kiss a few days back. Thoughts of Dixie. All of those thoughts come in the span of a few seconds, but they all culminate in one line, I can’t handle any more of this.

With Dixie on what could very well be her deathbed, Matthew can’t help but think about what it might do to him to see her go. He had already sworn to kill Nelson over this, so what else could he do if she died?

Worse yet, Matthew can’t help but feel guilty for developing feelings for both Marie and Louise in the time he had been on the front. Both women had saved his life on several occasions. Both were beautiful. Both seemed to take more than just a passing interest in him.

And all of that happened while he was still supposed to be faithful and focused only on Dixie.

The thought of seeing Dixie die and immediately rebounding to either Louise or Marie made Matthew slightly sick to his stomach. He didn’t get sick because he didn’t like the idea of calling either woman his wife, he got sick because he knew that he was more than willing to do it. It all felt like he was betraying Dixie, even as she clung on to, and fought for her life.

“I know,” Matthew says after a few more seconds.

Louise makes another face, but Matthew can’t make heads or tails of this one. Before Matthew can say anything, Louise says, “But we both know that we aren’t keen for following the rules. And, if you and Marie get together, I’ll be with you. You two would make for a… good couple.”

Matthew looks Louise in her eyes, and he can see a dull ache in them. He can tell that the words hurt Louise to say. At that moment, his list of woes adds yet another thing. If he was about to decide between either girl, it could hurt the other one.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet,” Matthew hears himself saying before he can think of a better response.

In many ways, he did mean what he said, and the words were a reflection of what he was feeling. In another way, the fact that he had said it cut straight through him like a good knife through a fish as one butchered the creature and removed the meat from the guts.

By saying what he said, he was all but accepting Dixie’s death.

Provided, there were plenty of other people who had already accepted that Dixie would die, if Mrs. McNeil and his mother’s tones were any indications. That left Matthew as the last person to be fully convinced.

“We need to get in position, Mudskipper,” Alois says when no one moves for a few moments, “And I recommend the northwest corner on the level above us for you to shoot from as well, Mudskipper.”

Matthew snaps out of his trancelike train of thought, and he nods to Alois. Without another word, he slips by the twins and makes his way up the ramp to the next level.

Now alone, Matthew makes his way over to the corner that Alois had recommended. Looking out the windows there, Matthew eyes the robot that he and his team were to take down.

The robot is clearly damaged, and a few smoking bits on it are enough to tell Matthew everything he needed to know about the machine.

Hamilton’s team had clearly opened fire on it, done a number to it, and had somehow herded it this way in the middle of the broader fight.

Now the nearly crippled bot is walking into the trap that had been set for it.

All Matthew and his team had to do was not mess things up.

“Stay out of sight,” Matthew says over his headset to his team.

At that, Matthew drops to the ground and curls up into a ball in the corner that he is in. His knees pulled up to his chest, Matthew rests his head on them and lets out a long, loud sigh.

“Dixie,” Matthew whispers, “I’m so sorry.”

With that said, Matthew finally allows the tears that had been aching to emerge to flow. They drip down his cheeks and wet his knees as he silently cries.

Matthew knew full well who was to blame for everything that Dixie was going through. Contrary to what Marie thought, she had nothing to do with it. The people who were to blame were Nelson, Nelson’s men, and him. Nelson’s men, like Matthew, had allowed Nelson to do what he did. If any of them had intervened, Dixie would be alive and well right now.

Instead, the inaction of all of them left Dixie with some sort of infection that she wasn’t expected to recover from.

Without thinking, Matthew sits up, spots a nearby piece of rubble and then throws it for everything he is worth at a nearby wall.

The crumbling piece of stone shatters on impact, sending small pebbles flying in all directions and letting loose a large cloud of dust that slowly drifts toward the ground. As Matthew watches the dust fall, he can’t help but think about how much the dust looked like drops of blood mixing with water.

“Awe, Dixie, I’m so sorry,” Matthew whimpers as he lets his head fall back to his knees, “How could I have let this happen? Why didn’t I try to contact you? Why couldn’t I at least say goodbye?”

As those words spill out of Matthew’s mouth like fish from a full net, Matthew’s mind begins to move on to what he would do to avenge Dixie.

He had already made up his mind on the need to make Nelson pay for what he had done, but Dixie’s current condition simply furthered that resolution. While Matthew knew that Nelson and everyone else involved had to die, he wasn’t sure just how he’d do the deed, or how he would get the opportunity to do it.

Still thinking about who all had to die in order to avenge Dixie’s suffering, Matthew suddenly realizes something that further complicated his efforts.

Not only did he have to do all of his revenge killings secretly, which he already knew he would have to do in order to maintain his cover and stay alive. He would have to do all that killing while still keeping everything in the Bulwark in check while also finding out where exactly all his targets were.

“Not impossible, but it’s anything but easy,” Matthew breathes.

Shaking his head, he thinks about how hard it would be to even find someone who would have access to the information he needed. What would be harder still would be finding out how to get that information out of said person.

Resolving that the plans for revenge could hold off until after the robot outside was dead, Matthew peeks out of his window and sees that the bot is a lot closer now.

“Do all of you have a shot?” Matthew asks over his headpiece.

Everyone affirms that they had clear lines of sight.

“Do any of you see any weapons left on that thing?” Matthew queries as he examines the damaged bot. It was clear to him that the robot was once a threatening piece of machinery that likely could have destroyed all of Crail on its own back in its heyday. It was even more clear that the robot’s heyday had passed long before the Dawns had forcefully stripped it of its weapons in the firefight.

“Negative, Mudskipper,” Louise answers, “But I must point out that I’m not too sure about tripping it.”

“Why’s that?” Matthew asks as his eyes fall from the top-heavy torso of the bot where all its weapon systems had been attached, down to the two strong legs that it walked upon.

“Because we don’t have anything to trip it with,” Louise answers simply.

That hits Matthew like a ton of bricks.

“Oh,” is all Matthew can muster.

Without a second thought, Matthew rips his pack off and dumps out all its contents. He hadn’t filled it, one of Hamilton’s people had, and that meant that there had to of been something for them to trip the robot with, otherwise Hamilton would have given them some sort of heads up.

Not even a second passes before Matthew’s eyes lock onto a spool of paracord, which he immediately grabs.

Raising a finger to his headpiece, Matthew whispers in order to ensure the robot outside couldn’t hear him, “Guys, we’ve got paracord in our packs, grab everything you’ve got.”

“I’ve checked Alois and my packs, we’ve got nothing,” Louise sounds.

“Rav’ian has a spool of it. I don’t,” Marie reports.

“Oh,” Matthew breathes to himself. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped.

With a disbelieving shake of his head, Matthew wonders, Why didn’t we check for this earlier? Why didn’t Hamilton give us some kind of heads up? Why didn’t he ensure that we had what we needed before he sent us out?

Shaking his head yet again, Matthew proceeds to lay out his new orders, “Rav’ian, I need you to run out of the building and start circling the bot’s legs as soon as we get our distraction going. Marie, Louise, Alois, I need all of you to pepper the robot with whatever you can to keep it distracted.”

“What’s your role in all this, Mudskipper?” Louise asks.

Tying off one end of his paracord spool on a nearby bar, Matthew chuckles, “You’ll see.”

With that, Matthew then tightens the strap on his rifle to ensure it doesn’t fall and then he leaps out of the window onto the bot outside.

Matthew’s jump takes him about four meters out from the building he had been in, and he slams into the roof of the robot with a hard crash. Despite his preparations, the rifle falls off his back and clatters over the edge of the robot’s small, flat roof.

Undeterred, Matthew grabs the paracord that he had jumped out of the building with, and he quickly looks for something to tie onto.

He didn’t expect to be able to stop the robot with this tiny anchor, but he did hope to slow it down long enough to give Rav’ian a chance to stop it.

“Shoot! Shoot now!” Matthew shouts into his mouthpiece once he finds a spot to tie onto.

The roar of gunfire from the rifles of the three remaining people in the building is enough to send a shiver down Matthew’s back while also causing him to freeze momentarily. As he freezes, thoughts of the last gunfight he had been in and had been shot at flash through his head.

Matthew doesn’t let his mind dwell on his faceoff with the Fulcrum people and James long. Snapping out of it, he forces the thoughts out of his head long enough to tie his paracord off in a few more spots on the robot. Thanks to his experience tying knots on his fishing boat, the mechanical sway of the robot’s walk doesn’t slow Matthew down.

“What are you doing up there, Mudskipper?” Louise’s voice sounds over the popping off of rounds and the pinging of the bullets against the robot’s hull.

“Doing what I got to!” Matthew shouts back. Taking a deep breath, he confirms that his knots will hold for what he is about to do next, and he calls out to Louise and the others, “Hold your fire for a bit!”

Matthew doesn’t wait for the others to stop shooting and he runs, paracord in hand, over the edge of the robot’s roof.

Once off the flat top, Matthew slides down the pitted, slated hull of the bot perhaps two meters before tightening his grip on the paracord and coming to an abrupt stop.

Matthew looks off to his left and then right in search of something else to tie onto, which he quickly finds. Using his legs and arms in a strange, uncomfortable version of acrobatics, Matthew uses a mix of swinging and climbing to get over to the outcropping and ties onto that.

Dropping over the edge of the slanted section of the bot’s hull, Matthew is now dangling, and he eyes the upper section of the robot’s legs near its upper set of knees. The double-jointed legs are still pressing ahead despite Rav’ian’s tangle of paracords and the line that Matthew had tied onto the building. Matthew quickly looks back to the window he had come from, and he sees that there is still some slack in his line, so he would have to wait to see if it would do anything to slow the robot down.

Still hanging from his paracord, Matthew starts pumping his legs, building up enough momentum to swing on over to the upper portion of the robot’s legs. If all went well, he would be able to trip the robot there.

As he swings, Matthew passes along an order he knew would be terrifying, “Open fire! Be sure to give Rav’ian and I plenty of space!”

Immediately, Louise and the others begin firing.

A few moments pass before Matthew finally reaches the robot’s legs and he is able to grab on. Now holding onto the robot, Matthew lets out a sigh of relief because he was no longer in as much of the line of fire for the others.

Matthew allows himself to slide down the leg until he is riding on top of the round joint that made up the robot’s upper knee. Looking down, he can see that Rav’ian is still racing around the robot doing her absolute best to try to keep up with it while also weaving between its legs and avoiding being stepped on.

Despite all of that, Matthew sees that she still hasn’t made any progress.

With one arm wrapped around the robot’s leg in an effort to keep from falling, Matthew pulls out enough paracord to reach the robot’s other leg and then come back to him with a little wiggle room. Satisfied, Matthew can’t help but nod confidently and then he measures out that same length two more times. Tying off a few spots, Matthew then gives the lines a few twists and he checks its length.

Confident that it is still long enough, Matthew proceeds to tie his sidearm onto one end of the line and he throws it around the other leg. The paracord rope goes exactly where it was supposed to, thanks to Matthew’s time of working with ropes while fishing, and it swings on back to Matthew.

Catching the pistol and paracord with his feet, Matthew smiles and then finagles his foot up and he passes the impromptu grapple into his hand.

And, hoping against all hope that this plan would work, Matthew ties the one end of the cord to the other, timing things just right so that the robot’s two legs are at their closest.

The next thing Matthew knew, he is flying through the air.

Slamming into the odd colored grass, Matthew lays there in a daze for a few seconds before his brain is able to catch up. By the time his brain catches up, Matthew is dodging the robot’s legs, which are now flailing around in an effort to get up.

“Rav’ian, get those legs secured!” Matthew shouts as he rises to his feet.

Racing over to the paracord he had used to trip the robot with, Matthew grabs his remaining cord and uses it to ensure the robot wouldn’t be able to work its way out of the snare he had made. Knowing that this wouldn’t be enough to keep the robot down forever, Matthew starts looking around for something long and firm that he could use to tighten the circle of paracord like a tourniquet.

And that’s when his eyes lock onto his rifle, which is hanging on a wrecked piece of the robot’s hull. At first, Matthew is confused about how it got there, but he realizes that it must have gotten caught when it went skittering over the edge.

Shrugging slightly, Matthew chooses to not question his luck and he makes the most of it.

With all his effort, he reaches over to the rifle, doing his best to not let go of the rope he still had in one hand.

Taking hold of the gun, Matthew tries to tug it toward himself, but he can’t get it off where it is caught.

“Can anyone give me a hand?” Matthew calls out without looking away from the rifle, which he is desperately trying to shake loose of where its strap is caught.

“I got you, Mudskipper,” Louise’s voice sounds friendlily from behind.

Matthew spins around and he sees Louise is carefully trying to make her way over to Matthew without getting hit as the robot writhes, tosses, and turns about.

“Throw me your gun!” Matthew orders as he lets go of his rifle and reaches toward her.

Louise gives her rifle a good toss and Matthew catches it, despite the robot’s thrashing around. Again, Matthew can’t help but feel thankful for his sea legs and how used to constant moving he had become.

Rifle in hand, Matthew threads the rifle between the robot’s legs and in the middle of the circle of paracord that he had made. With that done, he starts twisting it around, drawing the robot’s legs closer and closer together as the circle of cord is drawn tighter and tighter.

After a good three minutes of grueling effort, Matthew stops, satisfied that his work would hold and was enough. Tying off the rifle, he allows himself to take a deep breath.

It is then that he realizes that the bot’s movement had waned greatly.

Looking back at the robot’s feet, Matthew sees that the others had finally lassoed and tangled that part of things well enough to ensure that the robot wouldn’t be walking any time soon.

“I guess we make a pretty good team, huh Mudskipper?” Louise asks, beaming.

Nodding slowly, Matthew can’t find his voice.

Tripping one of the War Maker robots was a whole lot harder than he had expected.

“You know, that line of paracord you did between the robot and the building was totally useless,” Alois says with a chuckle, “It snapped like it was only a thread.”

Nodding, Marie chimes in, “When I saw that, I was afraid what you two were doing wouldn’t be enough.”

“But we did it,” Matthew finally says, his voice strained and quiet.

“By the sound of things, the Dawns did it too,” Alois points out, “The shooting has died down a lot.”

“Good,” Matthew coughs before he drops to the ground from his spot on the squirming robot. Walking a few paces away from the machine, he allows himself to collapse to the ground. Turning over so he is facing up, Matthew gasps, “I’m ready for a break.”

Louise, Alois, Marie, and Rav’ian all join Matthew in the grass not far from the robot, sharing short stories of what they had done and what they had seen during their brief spurt of action.

“Matthew, your headpiece,” Marie says as she hands Matthew the small electronic.

Nodding, Matthew thanks her and notes that it must have fallen off at some point during his struggle. At first, he is about to not put it in, but something tells him that he needs to. Taking a long, slow breath, he eventually does.

“Hamilton, how are things looking?” Matthew asks rather casually.

“We’re conductin’ cleanup roun’s right now,” Hamilton reports, “Looks like y’all made quick work of your bot.

Matthew chuckles softly and remarks, “Yeah, that was anything but easy.”

“But it’s done,”

“That it is,”

“Brandon tells me y’all ‘re spent so I’ll leave y’all be. You got twenty minutes.”

“Copy that,” Matthew says with a nod. Pulling his headpiece back off, he rests his head back against the ground and steadies his breathing. A few moments pass before he tells the others, “Hamilton says we’ve got twenty minutes to rest up.”

“Is it safe for us to wait out here in the open?” Louise asks.

Matthew does his best to shrug while staying on the ground, but that doesn't really work. Realizing that, he answers, “I don’t know, but I don’t feel like moving.”

“I do not either,” Rav’ian chimes in.

“Hamilton says they’re running cleanup right now, so I’m thinking that means they’ve got most if not all of the bots,” Matthew eventually adds.

“Copy that, Mudskipper,” Louise says with a nod before she too drops to the ground.

Several minutes pass before Alois speaks up, “You know, I think this place should be our new vacation destination.”

Chuckling, Matthew can’t help but agree. The War Maker bunker was very calming and, despite the fight that had just happened, it seemed very safe and peaceful as well.

Chapter Three

Horton’s Haunt, Allegra

“Matthew,” Marie says as she gently shakes Matthew awake, “Matthew, wake up.”

“What is it?” Matthew asks with a yawn. He could tell that there was an urgency to Marie’s voice, but it didn’t sound like they were in any mortal danger, which was a nice change.

“It’s Dixie,” Marie breathes, “I’m sorry.”

Matthew gives Marie a curious face and he takes the headpiece that she is offering him. Nervous, Matthew speaks into the microphone with a semi-shaky voice, “W-what is it?”

“Matthew?” Mrs. McNeil’s voice comes in. He can tell that she had been crying, and it wasn’t the kind of crying that one could easily recover from.

Gleaning everything he needed just from Mrs. McNeil’s voice, Matthew lets out a loud, low groan. Dixie was dead. He knew it. Contrary to everything he had once thought, his life somehow continued almost unfazed despite her passing as well.

“I’m sorry, Matthew,” Mrs. McNeil continues after hearing his groan, “We did all we could…”

Matthew shakes his head, scowls, and he barks into his microphone, “I’ll make them pay for this.”

Without waiting for Mrs. McNeil’s response, Matthew throws the headpiece as far from himself as he can.

Rising to his feet, Matthew starts off in the opposite direction of where he had thrown the headpiece and he shoves his hands into his pockets. His newfound scowl doesn’t leave his face all the while.

A good ten minutes pass before Matthew’s mind kicks back into gear and he can formulate a thought, but nothing meaningful arises. All Matthew can concoct are half-baked jumbles of words and images that have no particular meaning. At first, Matthew tries to untangle them but he eventually gives up and allows them to race through on their own accord. Whatever his brain was up to seemed to be something that it needed to be doing without his direct interference. While he hadn’t ever had something like this happen before, he wasn’t about to intervene because it confused and scared him.

Instead of trying to wrestle back control of his mind, Matthew turns his immediate focus onto his feet. Onto one step and then the other. As he steps, he considers how the grass had been down here all these years, on its own, untouched, unbothered, and un-killed. Without thinking, Matthew grinds his heels into the grass and digs his toes into the turf, kicking up and killing some of the ancient grass as he walks. For some reason, causing destruction like this felt soothing. It helped take his mind off things.

Matthew continues on like this for another five minutes before he comes across one of the broken-down tanks that littered the bunker. Stopping at the base of the tank, Matthew lets out an angry, confused sigh and he lightly kicks at the derelict hulk for a few beats.

Nothing made sense.

Nothing made Matthew feel anything.

Nothing felt right.

And somehow all of those things were happening at the same time inside of Matthew.

Somehow all those things coexisted, and that coexistence just confused Matthew even more.

“I don’t get it,” Matthew eventually grunts to himself. Shaking his head, he repeats, “I just don’t get it.”

Matthew isn’t entirely sure what he is or isn’t getting right now, but he does realize that his mind is slowly coming back into his control and his thoughts are making more and more sense.

The realization that everything is returning to normal for Matthew this quick makes him feel sick for the briefest moment, but then that too goes away.

Despite everything that had happened to Dixie, Matthew can’t seem to summon the will to be angry or sad about it now. It is as if he had lost the ability to feel at that very moment.

This part of the whole stages of grief, or what? Matthew wonders to himself. Shaking his head, he turns, lowers himself to the ground, and then sits with his back to the dead tank.

That’s when he sees Marie standing not too far off.

Perplexed, Matthew waves her over.

Matthew watches as Marie slowly makes her way over to him, but he isn’t too phased by her slow progress. Something about watching her gentle walk soothes Matthew, which just clouds his mind with even more thoughts.

Every thought that is racing through Matthew’s head is immensely unlike the other, but it carries the same general message. That message is that Matthew isn’t sure what’s going on still. He can’t make heads or tails of what he is thinking or feeling.

“Care for some company?” Marie asks with a compassionate, friendly smile when she is close enough to speak softly.

Matthew nods and he begins to wonder why he can’t bring himself to cry at the news about Dixie.

“I don’t get it,” Matthew eventually says.

“Get what?” Marie asks.

Matthew shrugs and sighs, “I don’t feel.”

“You don’t feel what?”

“Anything.”

“About?”

“Dixie. The fighting. This war. I feel…”

“Empty?”

“Yeah,”

“That’s totally normal, Matthew.”

“I don’t like it.”

Marie lets out a small laugh before she sobers up to say, “You’re not supposed to like it.”

“But it really is normal?”

“Sure. What, did you think that you’re some sort of non-human monster?”

Matthew offers Marie a half shrug and grunts, “You’d be surprised what I’ve thought since getting here.”

“Not as surprised as I have been on seeing who you’ve changed into.”

“I’m not sure if it’s for the best…”

“I talked to Dixie before she died… She liked the man you’ve become from what I was able to tell her about you.”

“Yeah?”

“She thought you sounded like quite the hero.”

“Well, you were just cherry-picking stories to make me sound good—”

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Belittling yourself and what you’ve done.”

“What?”

“You always do that. Just accept that you’ve done some great things since you got here.”

“I’ve done some terrible things too—”

“You saved me, is that terrible?”

“No, but—”

“You rescued a bunch of space marines, is that terrible?”

“No—”

“You’ve single-handedly turned things around in the Bulwark and now people aren’t dying all the stinking time, is that bad!?”

“No,”

“Then it sounds to me like you’ve done some pretty great stuff.”

“I guess,”

“Dixie thought it was amazing everything you’ve done. Everyone else back in your hometown that heard the stories did too.”

“But you weren’t even there for most of the stories.”

“No, but I am good at listening. I’ve heard all of what happened from you and the others. Even random people in the Bulwark talk about what you’ve all done. You’re a hero.”

“For everyone but Dixie.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

“Wrong? How? I was able to save everyone else but her.”

“As I just told you a little bit ago, she thought you were a hero. She said as much. Even if you weren’t able to save her, she still knew the truth.”

“Some truth,” Matthew chuckles dismissively.

Marie slaps Matthew before she says, “It’s the truth regardless of what you think.”

Matthew frowns and shrinks slightly away from Marie before he grumbles, “I’m sorry, I just don’t know what to think now.”

“You can think about what you’re going to do next. How you’re going to honor Dixie’s memory. How you’re going to be a better man. All those cliché things people say and do when someone dies.”

“Cliché things?”

“Yeah, it’s what everyone always says. It’s a little annoying, if you ask me, but it helps them cope, I guess.”

“Well, I’ll be hunting down and killing Nelson and everyone else who went to Crail to conscript us…”

“Not what I had in mind,” Marie eyes Matthew.

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about since I heard about Dixie,” Matthews shrugs yet again, “I was thinking a little bit about it earlier too, but now I know I’m going to do it.”

Marie sighs and says, “Well, that was technically on the docket when you said you were going to fight to free Allegra from the Coalition then, huh?”

“It was,” Matthew nods.

“Are you going to let that absorb you though?”

“What?”

“Your vendetta?”

“No,”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know… it’s just, well—”

“A lot of great men become bad ones just because they can’t move on after something like this. I don’t want to see that. The twins don’t. Rav’ian and Jane don’t.”

“Well, you don’t get—”

“Dixie told me she wanted you to be able to move on with your life. She made a point of telling me that.”

“She did?”

“Yes.”

Matthew looks Marie in her eyes and that’s when the first tear finally is able to work its way free. As it falls, Matthew’s entire consciousness focuses on its descent as it slips down his face and finally off his chin. His voice quivering, Matthew asks, “W-what el-else did she say?”

Marie offers Matthew a heartfelt smile and she softly answers, “She had a whole lot to say for you.”

At that, Marie carefully pulls a few pieces of paper from her pocket, and she carefully unfolds them. Looking up at Matthew for a brief moment, she then turns her attention back to the first piece of paper and she begins reading it aloud.

Not even three words in and Matthew knows that the words came straight from Dixie’s mouth.

Despite all her pain, everything she had been through and was going through at the time, the same, thoughtful Dixie showed through her words.

Matthew lets his head lull back and rest against the tank’s hull as Marie reads Dixie’s farewell to him.

And, his head leaned back like this, Matthew finally feels the torrent of tears flow and they stream down the sides of his head as he looks up into the sea of aqua light above him.

•••••••••••••••

“Is that it?” Matthew asks dryly when Marie stops, quite some time after beginning Dixie’s monologue. Everything that Dixie had passed along for Matthew to hear had left him feeling utterly emotionally spent. For some reason, that felt like it was exactly what he had needed somehow.

“That’s it,” Marie affirms.

“That was… beautiful.”

“From the sound of things, it sounds like Dixie was the most amazing woman in the galaxy.”

“She was,” Matthew agrees with a sad sigh.

Marie’s breath catches, but she doesn’t say anything. She then tries to act casual and takes a seat beside Matthew.

“What?” Matthew asks after a few beats.

“Nothing,”

“Seriously, what?” Matthew presses, “I know you have something else to say.”

Marie frowns and relents, “Well, there was one last thing…”

“Tell me,”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s the best timing…”

“Please,”

Marie purses her lips, and she says in a rush, “Dixie said she approves.”

“Approves of what?”

“Us.”

“‘Us’?”

“Like you and me.”

“You and me what?”

“Dating, marrying, and having a family.”

Matthew doesn’t say anything, instead, he studies Marie, searching for anything that might provide him more clues.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t ask her to say it, I wasn’t even hinting toward anything, I was just telling everyone in Crail the stories, telling them how to take care of Dixie, all that sort of thing, and then Dixie asked to speak to me privately. She had me write out all of that,” Marie points toward the papers and hands them off to Matthew, and then continues, “Once she finished, she told me she approved. I was just as confused as you were, but she insisted.”

Matthew lets a few moments pass before he quietly asks, “Well, what do you think about that?”

“About us?”

“Yes,”

“I haven’t… well, I haven’t thought about it a lot.”

“Hmm,” Matthew nods slowly.

Marie reaches over and gently traces her finger along Matthew’s arm as she mumbles, “I mean, I guess I’ve thought about it more than I should have, but…”

“What?”

“I don’t know, I guess I just told myself that it couldn’t happen and that usually was it for me.”

“But then Dix.”

“Yep.”

“She was something else, huh?”

“She was. I wish I could have met her in person.”

“You would have liked her.”

“Tell me about her,” Marie requests, “I didn’t get to hear very many stories about her specifically. All the ones I heard were about the two of you.”

Matthew smiles and chuckles softly as a million memories race through his head. After a few short beats, he settles on a story. Looking over at Marie, he can’t help but see the care in her eyes. Without another thought, Matthew wraps an arm around her, and he proceeds to tell the story about how he and Dixie met.

Chapter Four

The Black Forest, Allegra

“I reckon y’all need to get back to base to rest up,” Hamilton says as he stops in front of Matthew and the rest of Matthew’s team, “We’re shapin’ up to take off.”

Matthew can’t help but look at the rest of Hamilton’s team who are all sitting calmly in their respective places on the benches that line the dropship that they are in. As he looks at all of them, he suddenly thinks, How are they so calm after everything? How am I so calm? How can we go from all of that shooting and having our lives on the line like that and then end up like this? As those thoughts pop into Matthew’s head, he sees a few of Hamilton’s people sleeping soundly as they sit bolt upright, and he feels a pang of envy at their restful slumber.

“Yes, we could use some sleep,” Alois answers for the team.

“Want me to set ‘er down near your bunker, Mudskipper Matthew?” Hamilton asks.

Matthew shakes his head sadly, “No, they’re not ready for it up there just yet. I don’t want to think what might happen if someone sees your ship and reports it to the wrong people.”

“Then I’ll arrange a ride for y’all,” Hamilton nods, “Y’all can sleep on the ride back.”

“Thank you, Hamilton,” Matthew nods appreciatively at Hamilton before he rests his head against Marie’s, which is on his shoulder. After the hours of them talking, Matthew had a newfound appreciation for Marie, and he knew that what he had with Dixie he could have with Marie as well. The thought, plus Marie’s never-ending kindness, did a lot to melt the icy heart Matthew had feared could kill him just hours ago. While he knew he wasn’t quite whole just yet, Marie somehow seemed to fill a large part of the void that had formed.

“There’s somethin’ else,” Hamilton says to Matthew, “I reckon you don’t want me sayin’ it in front o’ everyone.”

Matthew nods slowly and he takes in a deep breath. Fortunately for him, Marie wakes up at that and Matthew whispers to her that he would be back in a little bit.

“Can I come with you?” Marie requests.

Matthew looks at Hamilton, but he can see that the message is meant for him and only him. Turning back to Marie, he shakes his head and says, “Sorry, no. Maybe next time.”

“Okay,” Marie nods tiredly.

Matthew follows Hamilton out of the staging area and back into the briefing room that they had been in on their way over to the Black Forest all those hours ago.

The moment that the doors slide shut behind them, Hamilton dives right in, “I reckon you understan’ what you’re gettin’ into, right?”

“What do you mean?” Matthew asks, startled and confused.

Hamilton makes a face and then takes a seat in one of the chairs in the room. Motioning toward another seat for Matthew, he continues, “You and Her Majesty Marie Dawn.”

“What?”

“I know you got the hots for her. She’s got ‘em too.”

“And?”

“And she’s a royal, kid. You know how things are with that.”

“Oh, right,” Matthew nods, thinking that he is finally catching onto what Hamilton is getting at. He knew, thanks to all the books that he had read, that commoners like him weren’t supposed to get with princesses like Marie—even if said princess didn’t know she was a princess when they first met.

“Well?”

“What?”

“What’s your play, Campbell?”

“My play?”

“What you goin’ t’ do?”

“Well, I don’t know… I don’t think I’ll just go and leave her just because of some dumb rule though.”

Hamilton chuckles and shakes his head, “You ain’t followin’, are you?”

Matthew eyes Hamilton once more, but he isn’t sure just what to think. After a few beats, he requests, “Can you just fill me in on what I’m missing?”

“Course, kid,” Hamilton nods, taking a deep breath, he dives right on in, “There ain’t no rules about royals and commoners gettin’ hitched no more, not for the Dawns, at least. They figured all that was useless old rules.”

“Oh?”

“Aye, I ain’t rightly sure where they came up with that rule change, or when, but it ain’t a thing no more.”

“Alright, so what about the plan you keep asking me about?”

“Well, you’re a smart kid, I’m sure you ain’t just chasin’ Her Excellency for no good reason. You got yourself an angle.”

“An angle?”

“What’s your play? What do you want t’ gain? I can pay you off if money’s your thing. I can move your family out of Coalition Space. I can make things happen right quick, if that’s what you’re in this for.”

Matthew chuckles and shakes his head, “Now I think you’re the one who isn’t following along.”

“Enligh’en me,”

“I’m not chasing after Marie just because she’s a princess—”

“That there is exactly what I wanted t’ hear,” Hamilton interrupts. Smirking, he jokingly adds, “But don’t you go on thinkin’ I’ll treat you like no royal until you done and married the girl.”

Smiling right on back, Matthew can’t help but laugh, “Dually noted.”

DESPERATE PLEA!

Thank you for exploring the future alongside me!

I’d love to hear what you think about my book!

Please drop an honest review of what you thought about it on Amazon or Goodreads!

Thank you so much!

Caleb Fast

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The Story Continues,

The Black Forest has beasts within its borders, as the stories warned. It also has potentially untold riches.

Will Matthew and his teams find it?

Read on the see what happens in the war for Allegra!

The Battle for Allegra Episode Nineteen:

Available 2022

Other Books By Caleb Fast:

The Battle for Allegra Series:

Season One:

Conscripted (1)

First Kill (2)

The Hunt (3)

Relegated (4)

Retrieval (5)

Sanctuary (6)

Secured (7)

Harborage (8)

Revelations (9)

Promotion (10)

Season Two:

Awakening (11)

Arrival (12)

Dawn (13)

Fortify (14)

Black Forest (15)

Seeder (16)

Warpath (17)

Fireworks (18)

The Limit of Infinity Series:

Renaissance: The Limit of Infinity

Escapade: A Price to Be Paid

Overcomer: No Man Left Behind

Wayward: Long Way from Home