Under The Devil’s Sky

Post-Earth. Date unknown.

The sky was wrong.

It wasn’t blue. It wasn’t even night. It was an unnatural shade, the color of an infected wound. Ribbons of sickly green and violet twisted through it like living veins that resembled what the old world used to call the aurora borealis. 

Mortar rounds thumped in the distance, their detonations rolling across the valley like thunder. Trees splintered. Earth vomited dirt. And under that cursed sky, men were dying.

Captain Max Rogers and his squad sprinted through the shattered woods, his lungs screamed for air. His squad followed behind—exhausted, broken soldiers caked with mud. 

One soldier, sixteen at most, stumbled and went down hard. Max didn’t hesitate. He pivoted, scooped the boy up, and kept running.

The radio in his ear crackled to life.

“Incoming!”

Max heard the whine and threw himself and the kid into a shallow ditch as the sky screamed open from a cluster bomb. Hundreds of small explosive bomblets went off in a deafening curtain of fire and fragments. 

Dirt and shredded bark rained over them. When the smoke thinned, Max was already moving again. Blood trickled from the kid’s temple, but he was still breathing.

At the rally point in a muddy ditch was packed with the last scraps of their resistance group. Less than forty, bloodied, hollow-eyed men wearing mismatched camo and tactical gear. 

Max lowered the boy, Tommy, gently to the ground. The kid’s eyelids fluttered.

“It’s okay, Tommy,” Max said, forcing a grin. “Everything’s okay.” He gave the boy’s cheek a gentle slap. 

Max turns to the group of men. 

"Is this it? Who's in charge here?"

After a long, ugly silence, Sergeant Erickson hobbled over, leg wrapped in a bloody field dressing.

“Sergeant Erickson, C-Company. Mitch confirmed you’re the last group that made it.” Erickson’s voice cracked. “They got division HQ. Captain… we’re it.”

A crazed soldier nearby clawed at his own face, eyes wide with animal terror.

“I saw it! I saw it! It can’t be killed… Ate everyone!”

Murmurs rippled through the ditch. Some men silently cried. Others stared at nothing. Then—

“Contact front!”

Max reacted instinctively and barked orders.

“Squad on line! Suppressing fire!”

Rifles cracked. Light machine guns chattered. Shadowy figures in matte-black armor darted between the trees, returning fire with disciplined bursts. 

Max spun to Erickson. “You—take the wounded and get to the ERV. We’ll be right behind you.”

He pulled a map from underneath his plate carrier and shoved it into the sergeant's chest. “QRF should be waiting here. Move!”

Half of the men peeled off with the wounded. Max turned to the rest—now barely platoon strength—and roared, “HE downrange, now!”

Two rocket soldiers rushed forward with recoilless rifles. Twin explosions ripped a tree in half and scattered the black-clad enemy. Silence fell, thick and unnatural.

Max wiped sweat and blood from his eyes. “Everything’s going to be fine. In a moment we’re bounding back to the extraction zone and—”

He stopped.

The sky had changed.

The reddish aurora was now the color of fresh arterial blood. The clouds themselves had twisted into monstrous faces—leering, haunting, hungry. The air grew heavier, colder, like the planet itself was holding its breath.

Then came the screams.

From the direction Erickson’s group had fled—blood-curdling, inhuman shrieks mixed with desperate gunfire. An inhuman roar tore across the valley, so deep it vibrated in Max’s teeth. The crazed soldier broke completely.

“Oh my God we’re all going to die!”

“360 security!” Max barked, voice steadier than he felt.

The men spread into a desperate circle. Rocket teams fumbled to reload fresh rounds. Everyone was shaking. One soldier started reciting the Lord’s Prayer in a trembling whisper. Max closed his eyes whispering his own silent plea, then— 

whooosh

Something massive passed overhead—wings, a shadow, and a gust of foul wind that smelled of sulfur and rotting meat.

“Holy shit—did you see that?” a resistance fighter gasped. “It’s a demon lord! We’re screwed, man!”

Tommy, pale but conscious, pushed himself up. “Captain… what’s going on?”

Before Max could answer, Erickson staggered back into the group—uniform shredded, deep claw marks across his chest and throat still pumping blood. He reached out, mouth working soundlessly.

“Erickson, what the hell hap—”

The second Max’s hand touched him, Erickson’s body simply fell apart. Arms, torso, head—separated into wet, gory pieces that hit the dirt with meaty thuds. Tommy threw up instantly. The men screamed.

"Black magic..." Max muttered to himself. He couldn't dwell on it, more pressing matters were at hand. 

“Everyone stay together!” he shouted. “Mitch—raise the QRF, tell them we’re in a bind and need help!”

The radioman pressed the headset to his ear, then slowly shook his head, face pale. “They said they won’t come.”

Max’s jaw tightened. Those cowards. Those no-good mercenary sons of bitches...

Tommy’s voice cracked. “Captain, what are we going to do?”

“You stay right there, Tommy. Mitch—give me the comms!”

“I don’t want to die!” Tommy wailed.

A sword the length of a car plummeted out of the bloody sky and impaled the boy straight through the chest, pinning him to the earth. The blade glowed with molten fire, bubbling like lava. Tommy’s eyes went wide, then empty.

“TOMMY!” 

Something else crashed to the ground. Dust and debris exploded outward. Max shields his eyes trying to make out something in the settling dust when he sees it— 

Two burning eyes—literal torches of hate—stared down at them from a silhouette too tall, too wrong to be human. The men stare up in horror, unable to move. 

───────────────────── >>> ☠ <<< ───────────────────── 

On a nearby ridge, heavily armed mercenaries watched the slaughter through thermal scopes and drone feeds. Their leader, Russ, shook his head. The desperate screams and gunfire peaked on the radio. 

He raised a gloved hand. The unit turned and melted back into the trees without a word.

Max’s voice echoed across the valley.

“This is your fault! I know who you are! You traitor!”