Chapter 96

• Xavier turned to the last two jets, now being ordered to escape. Refusing to let his prey get away, Xavier fired two lasers from his eyes and cut them in half. Down below, Helena watched the battle progress in utter shock. The idea of those pilots being killed was abhorrent to her, but she could not ignore her amazement at the sight of such one-sided destruction. To say it was impressive would be an understatement. His power was equaled only by his agility in the air, zooming back in forth in all directions and in tight turns with nothing but flaps of his wings. More and more jets showed up to shoot him out of the sky, but all met the same fate.
• The next challenge came after they passed by Cyprus. The United States Sixth Fleet had been gathered, including two destroyers and an aircraft carrier, as well as at least twenty other ships. It was as large a force as could be gathered in so short a time. The armada had formed a blockade floating between Xavier and Helena and Israel, and neither of them could help but wonder if those soldiers had actually been told what they were up against. Once again, Xavier dropped her off at a safe location, this time on a nearby sandbar. The sky above the fleet was filled with jets, launched from the aircraft carrier and buzzing in circles like wasps.
• Spreading his wings to their maximum length, Xavier gave a thunderous roar, and from the black membranes, a volley of black spheres were launched, like rounds of buckshot from a rack of automatic shotguns. Made of pure dark energy, the barrage rained down on the swarm of jets, knocking them out of the sky like they were nothing. Everyone in the fleet watched in horror as the sky was seemingly set ablaze from every jet simultaneously exploding and raining down in a hellish mess of steel and fire.