by Max Jager
Suddenly, the door that led into the alternate control room slid open. Beyond it was this brilliant bright light. Alerius shielded his eyes. The light was so bright he had to take a step back.
Then, something stepped through. A white Korzen. The door closed behind the Korzen and now the room was back to normal illumination. The Korzen stood poised as if ready for something to happen. Alerius just starred at the animal as it starred right back.
Suddenly, this voice filled the room. It seemed to echo throughout the room and was very powerful. Alerius's gut instinct told him that the Korzen nor the voice was harmful in anyway. In fact, maybe even aiding. "Hello Alerius."
Alerius upon hearing his real name acted immediately! He dodged over to one of the display cases and punched right through the glass! He tore two huge, heavy machine guns from the case and aimed them right at the Korzen! "You've got five seconds to tell me who or what you are!"
The Korzen walked closer to him, "I knew you'd be comfortable here."
"Your down to two!" Alerius's gut instinct was telling him to stop what he was doing right now but he always second guessed his instinct. It came from a deeper rooted reaction. Training.
The Korzen just pricked its ears and began panting as though it wanted him to shoot. Suddenly, this loud bark came from the Korzen's mouth and Alerius pulled both the triggers back! The guns laid down a heavy rate of fire as the blasts from both were bright and deafening! They were both like small AA guns and were pumping out about 6000 rounds-a-minute!
Only thing was they didn't seem to be hitting anything! Not the Korzen, not the wall, not the floor, not the ceiling, nothing! It was like the guns were firing but nothing was being fired! Alerius stopped the barrage of air and lowered the guns to his sides. He dropped them down on the floor and this time in a more panicked and concerned voice asked again, "What the hell are you?"
The Korzen walked over to were the holographic display should have been, right in the middle of the room, and that voice came again. "I am a Leyline Alerius. Nothing you need to fear I assure you."
Alerius thought for a bit. "Lire?"
The Korzen's ears pricked up and it began panting again. "You know my name?"
"Of course. You were one of the major Oadin destroyers about fifty years back. Wartime history is full of your battles."
"I was just surviving and protecting Aurela at the same time."
"Aurela? I take it you're the one who put her in the cave on Scalobore?"
"You catch on quick Alerius."
"Shouldn't you have already known that by now!" Alerius said sarcastically.
The white Korzen growled a bit. "This is no time for that! You must take Aurela to Traxus."
Alerius cocked his brow. "I have had enough of swampland okay! I'll take her to planet Whitmore."
"That ship you're in will not make it and you know that! The calsins will have a ship that is much better then that piece of space junk your piloting right now."
"Calsins? Nobody has seen them in over fifty years! What makes you think they will have anything for us?"
"Because they know your coming. They know your plight. They know you need help. Question is will they?"
"I don't need help and I don't need a ship provided by those little neutral monsters!"
"Yes, you do! Without that ship you'll never make it to your 'true' destination."
Alerius rolled his eyes. "Listen Lassie, been fun, but I'm out of here." Alerius started heading for the door. He tried to open it but there was no switch or button to open it.
"You can't leave Alerius until I say you can."
"Stop calling me that! Open this door right now, nobody owns me!" Alerius was about ready to pick up the guns again. Not that they would do any good.
"Right now, I own you!"
Alerius grunted as he walked away from the door.
Lire followed him, "You listen to me Firius and listen well!"
Alerius folded his arms and motioned Lire to continue.
"Aurela is the only Leyline left!"
Alerius's went from pretending to actually paying attention.
"She is the last. I am dying. The other is already dead."
"How?"
"That doesn't matter, what matters is that you protect Aurela!"
Alerius looked down at the ground for a minute and then back at Lire. "Of course I'm going to. That's my mission."
"Its not your mission. You're doing it because you want to."
"That's not true."
"So you don't want to protect her?"
"Well yes, of course I do! I want to…" Alerius stopped himself right there because he felt himself slipping back into his old emotions. He was not about to let himself do that!
Lire had this sly look about him. A look that no dog or Korzen could make. "To love her."
Alerius shot an evil look at Lire. "NO! Your crossing your boundaries Lire."
"Its okay Alerius, give into your heart."
"No! I don't love her! I don't!" Alerius screamed out.
"Who are you trying to convince here Alerius? Because it's certainly not working on me. I can see into your heart. You want her badly."
"Is that all you Laylines talk about is sex?"
"You still don't get it do you Alerius?"
"Stop calling me that! Right now!"
Suddenly, the whole ship around Alerius dissolved and the white Korzen disappeared. Alerius was now hovering in space. He felt alone. All he could see was the starlit universe. He tried to yell out to Lire but nothing came out of his mouth! He could feel himself talking, he could feel his lips moving, and his muscles in his throat working but there was just no sound. As though he had been stricken deaf!
Then, a huge amount of fire blasted in front of him! It raged about twenty feet from him and it was as big as a skyscraper. He wasn't looking up at it though, he was looking directly at it. It was just nothing but a wall of flame. Burning out in space with nothing to burn from.
It began to move. It turn and twisted and began to take shape. Alerius was a little more then intimidated. It roared around itself like a discombobulated twister. The form of the fire then began to become something recognizable. It was a Korzen's head. The fire burned bright.
This fiery Korzen's head was Lire, Alerius knew it too! Alerius figured that Lire was pretty upset with him to pull this off. He didn't really care the he was but this was creeping him out!
Suddenly, Lire's voice filled his head only it was more powerful this time and more devastating. "ALERIUS! YOU LISTEN TO ME!"
Alerius tried to fight back with his own voice but nothing was coming out! Either there was sound and he couldn't hear it or there was just no sound period!
"You must give into your heart! You must be reasonable! It is the only hope for the universe left! You must be reasonable!"
Alerius tried to argue that he was about the only reasonable one around there! Again though, nothing came from his lips.
"Only then can the prophesy truly be full-filled."
Alerius was hardly even listening. He was still trying to voice out against Lire. He threw his arms about and kicked his legs almost as if he was an angry infant held by some invisible embrace.
"Only then will the war finally come to an end! Only then will every creature throughout the universe know peace once again! I can linger no longer! You must give in to your heart! Because no weapon or mission will win this war! Not for us! Remember all that you have heard and seen. Take it to your grave!"
Suddenly, the ship he was piloting before came back into view. He was wide awake now and the dream was over. Off in the distance he could see planet Traxus. Alerius rubbed his eyes for a second and grabbed the control sticks. He began heading there. He was about to make an entry into the swamp infested lands of Traxus.
Planet Traxus: The Welcoming Committee
Traxus. Home of the reptilian race calsins and God knows what else. It was an extremely dangerous land! Not safe for either force. That's why it hadn'
t been assaulted yet. Neither force could probably handle the overbearing force of the monsters and creatures that lived there. Which made Alerius feel a hell of a lot worse about his situation.
He looked over at Aurela who was still asleep. She had this strange smile on her face as she slept. He then turned his focus back onto Traxus.
"The mission. The mission. The mission." He kept repeating to himself. He still had that thick-headed mindset still. He was not going to 'give into his heart'. He had a mission to do. He had to protect Aurela at all costs! Not love her, not have sex with her, not marry her, not grow old with her, and certainly not have any kids with her. There was the mission, that was it. Nothing else. He had to stay loyal to the mission for the sake of all humanity and the rest of the universe. Or so he kept telling himself.
Alerius piloted the ship right into the atmosphere of Traxus. The ship became a ball of fire as it entered into the planet. Alerius was having a hard time controlling the ship. It was burning up quite a bit.
In the fight to keep the ship steady he noticed that Aurela had awoken. He looked at her a couple of times as she began to realize their inescapable predicament. She was frightened at first but then became at ease and put her hand on Alerius's. That cooling sensation came to his hands once again just like back on Scalobore. It wasn't as bad this time because this planet was not in disarray. This planet was not about to be eaten by a monstrous sized demon.
However, the way the ship was acting, there was no way he would be able to make an exit in the thing. It would be burned to a crisp by the time they broke through the planet's barrier. Alerius figured that he would have to take that okren ship after all.
They broke through and the ship was still on fire. A warning alarm sounded and a red flashing light went off in the cabin. Alerius was still in bad control of the ship. He burst through a few clouds before finally seeing ground. The ship rattled and rocked as it approached the surface of Traxus. Alerius finally lost his grip on the controls and they were sent in a downward spiral towards the ground!
Aurela latched onto Alerius and Alerius embraced her back wanting her to at least feel safe. She seemed to nudge into his arms feeling safe and secure. He figured he had to play this game so she wouldn't feel scared or nervous.
Her skin was softer then silk and more smooth then lotion. He rubbed her a bit wanting to kiss her and make love to her but as the ship plummeted down to the ground these feelings were in the far reaches of his mind. Nevertheless, they were there.
Suddenly, the ship crashed onto the planet surface and both Alerius and Aurela were sent headlong right into the ship's console. They both hit and the ship came to a rocky halt. It left a trail of blown up dirt and debris for about half a mile or so. Both Aurela and Alerius though were unharmed but both had hit their heads pretty hard.
Alerius was the first to regain full consciousness. He opened the glass canopy and stepped out of the ship. He looked around scanning the landscape. Traxus was a planet known for two things. Wide-open swampland and very violent inhabitants. Either side knew not to come to this planet without sufficient firepower and Alerius had no firepower whatsoever! He was weaponless!
The land of the planet had a very yellow and green tint to it. It was splotched about with shading of green and an off-color yellow. The two colors did not go well together. Also, there were a few trees but the land itself was almost completely barren. Cracks in the surface were strewn all over the place where lakes and pools had dried up. All that remained now were big puddles of dark green muck that bubbled like heated tar.
Alerius knew that hardly nothing lived above the planet surface. Most of the wildlife of this planet was underneath the surface. In a way, that was a plus. Alerius figured that they wouldn't have to deal with too much resistance from the planet's "inhabitants".
Alerius had heard stories of beautiful underground glass, crystal, and diamond cities made by the calsins. Nobody had seen the calsins in over fifty years and anybody who did go looking end up missing. Most of them were people who wanted to pillage their cities for diamonds. What they got was etched into the history books as dumb looters who had come to Traxus unprepared.
Most of the stories though had come from soldiers who had been helped by the calsins to defeat the hellion forces. Now though, with no sign of the calsins in over fifty years, the planet was declared neutral and was considered extremely hostile to both sides. Alerius was more then nervous for the both of them.
Aurela had finally gotten her bearings down and was trying to get out of the ship. Alerius helped her out and held her close as he continued to look for some sign of a direction to start heading in. Aurela was comforted by his touch and leaned into him. Alerius's first reaction was to shove her away but he need her to stay close to him. He couldn't. He just had to fight these feeling back he had for her. However, he was really fighting a losing battle.
He took her by the hand and started to walk in a direction. He figured that the best way to go would be away from the trees (what little there were) since trees couldn't grow if diamonds were under ground. So he assumed. He really had no idea, he was just making this up as he went along! He was actually hoping he would get lucky and stumble across a cave, or a hole, or something.
Alerius and Aurela walked for about twenty feet when Aurela said, "I'm hungry."
Alerius just gave her a small, harsh look and said, "I am too. We'll eat when we get there."
"Get where?"
Alerius stopped. He looked around a bit with a hopeless look to his face and said, "God, I wish I knew!" He continued on with Aurela in hand.
They walked for about half-a-mile when they came to this big open wasteland. The ground was squishy with the water underneath. They were close to water. Alerius started heading in the direction of the water. As he walked the land got more soaked, and as he progressed; he could see a small watering hole with about five dead trees around it.
He walked right up to the edge of the water and Aurela was about five feet behind him. He looked at the water as a good sign but something was wrong. It seemed as if the watering hole was drained out. The height of the water level should have been higher. The hole seemed to be higher then the water which meant something had drained the water. From the condition of the trees it had been like this for a very long time. Maybe decades. It was wrong. Something had been draining considerable amounts of the water for quite some time.
Alerius backed away from the water's edge. That's when he noticed the cracks in the ground. Most of the time during a drought, when water evaporates, cracks in the ground spread out. Like the cracks he had seen earlier from hundreds of years of dry weather drying out what little water was underneath the planet surface. This was different though. There was too much water in the hole for that. These splits had been made by something else. Something underground.
Alerius felt a tremor underneath the ground. Then he felt another. Suddenly, it became almost like an earthquake and began to rock both Alerius and Aurela! Alerius held onto Aurela. He watched as more cracks split into the land. Something was heading their way.
He saw big cracks make a trail right their way! They went right under both of their feet and right to the watering hole. He watched in unknown terror as the water began to churn and splash about.
Suddenly, this creature blasted out of the water! It was mammoth in size, at least forty stories tall! It had the body of a snake but it was more shaped like a scaly worm! It wriggled about out of the hole which barely circled it. It made this horrible scream and sounded like a high pitched lion. The head of it though resembled a dragon. It had sharp teeth and had a pointed snout with these yellow like reptilian eyes. It suddenly looked down at the both of them and growled at them hungrily. Alerius shielded Aurela and waited to see what this huge predator was going to do.
It bound back like a snake ready to strike and Alerius muttered out one word to Aurela before they were both engulfed by this giant underground monster. "Run!"
Aurela took off a
nd the monster came down on Alerius! Alerius bounded out of the way and rolled three times to get out of the way. The creature bit into the ground and came back up with a mouth full of dirt. It spit it out and set its sights back on Alerius.
Alerius was knelt on the ground wishing he had a gun. The thing again launched and again got a mouth full of dirt. It spit it out and growled menacingly at Alerius. He looked all over the landscape but nothing even remotely resembled anything sturdy like a club or a rock. Nothing. Alerius was in deep trouble!