He closed the folder and got to his feet, crossing to the window. He stood looking out over the parade ground, hands clasped behind his back.

“You push, and we push back harder.” He watched a storm rolling in from the west for several more minutes before hearing his computer ping with a message. He turned back to his desk, and sat down reading the new data, and watching the new satellite feed.

He grunted. “One last loose end to tie off.” He placed a headset over his head and prepared to initiate the order.

*

The huge figure lumbered toward the ancient city of Misrata in Libya. It joined the masses of humanity heading in toward the busy coastal city, once called the Riviera of Libya, now just another boiling pot of sectarian violence.

The figure was bent under the weight on its back, but it still towered over the people around it. The giant plodded on, unfeeling, uncaring, and unswerving in its allotted task. A cowl was pulled forward over a heavily scarified face.

A man fell in beside it to its left, and the giant ignored him. Another fell in to its right. This one was also ignored. The behemoth plodded in, its designated target – Rome – all that mattered.

Eyes watched from a thousand miles overhead, and single word was spoken into the ears of the men on each side of the hooded figure. Immediately, long knives were drawn, and in a single sweep the large head was removed from the body. The two attackers didn’t stop, slashing at the shoulders and removing both arms to the horror of those who watched. The massive drum fell from the torso to thump on the dirt.

The two then didn’t stop their hacking until there was nothing but chunks of flesh, some still twisting and writhing at their feet like small animals.

A covered truck slid to a stop, and small crane swung out to lift the large package into the rear. The driver jumped free with a canister, pouring gasoline over the remains, and then igniting them.

In another few seconds, the truck, and the attackers, had vanished, leaving a trail of greasy smoke rising into the air, the only remnants of the magic and monstrosities of the world’s last great alchemist.

About Kraken Rising: Alex Hunter 6

The Arcadian returns to the dark ice in a reprisal of one of his first and most deadly missions. But this time the stakes couldn't be higher.

In 2008, a top secret US submarine went missing on its test voyage off the coast of Antarctica. After years silent, its emergency beacon is suddenly activated, but strangely, the beacon is emanating from a point miles below the ice sheets of the frozen continent.