I Am Warrior

by M E Williams

This made all the K’LM take notice. Where it once before seemed hectic, it seemed like everything stood still. In a way, with this body, time did move a little different. The humans around me seemed frozen, and not in fright; it seemed more like there was a lag in time.

  I kept my head down as members of my LBK began to recognize me in this human form.

  “WK-NN-’LBMHSK-MDNW?” I asked them with obvious concern. Had the mission changed? I admit, I was also concerned for the few friends who would be affected.

  “NTH-’LBMHSK-HSRA’ATNT.” They replied as if life and death here was of no consequence. I looked to Oya and steadied myself so time could take on a normal human pace.

  “Oya, they are not attacking here. They are preparing,” I told her. It would be hard to believe with so many already dead.

  “Preparing for what, Mari?” She kept her head down but spoke with the authority I was used to hearing from her.

  All of the screaming from before had calmed down a bit. I was able to look around and see most of the humans left alive had their heads down and eyes closed—until I saw one in the distance, paused. Her head was held high with a cloth covering her eyes.

  “Oya!” Queen Lisa yelled.

  “I am here, my Queen.” She began to make various bird noises so the Queen could find her way to her by relying on all senses except her eyes.

  When Queen Lisa made it over to me and Oya and the group behind us without even one trip, she stayed standing.

  “Mari says they are not attacking us, my Queen. She says they are preparing.” Oya relayed the information I told her to Queen Lisa.

  “Mari,” Queen Lisa put her hand on Oya’s shoulder as a way of now taking command of the conversations, but started to address me at the same time. “What are they preparing for and why are my people dying if they are not attacking?” I knew the answer to the first question, but I had been here too long to address the first question without again asking them. I had a gut feeling, but wanted to confirm before telling the Queen.

  “A’ABM,” they answered before I asked the questions. They could understand them as much as I could when I first arrived. The humans just could not understand us.

  “TV-WBK!” I said, very surprised and looking all the way up for the first time. I did not ascend. I was able to tolerate looking at them, perhaps because my inner self was also K’LM ‘KM. I had no time to think of it now. How much timed had passed, I didn’t know and wondered if I had failed my mission.

  “Mari?” The Queen cut into my musings.

  “The…” I trailed off. I did not know how I would continue to explain this without the proper words.

  “Mari, try your best. The words don’t have to mean the same thing as long as the understanding is there,” the Queen urged me in a gentle manner, considering the situation.

  “The Great War between good and evil is here. This planet ‘ND…” I paused to think of the wording again. “Earth… Yes, Earth has been the chosen location for a stand.” I translated as best as I could, given the barrier.

  “So, we are simply caught in the middle of a war?” The Queen tilted her head up a bit, but not enough to peek under the cloth. It seemed like she was in disbelief.

  “O’IDN.” I slipped and reverted back to my native tongue before catching myself, “Yes,” I said.

  “Aren’t there other places for this battle? Down, several miles, is much better battleground with—” I stopped the Queen, something I would not do under any other circumstances.

  “My Queen, the battle will take place all over this Earth.” It seemed like she did not understand so I tried to better explain to her the way we viewed things.

  “Queen Lisa, image Earth as just formicarium.” I heard the people in our immediate area gasp as if something had been revealed to them. I tried to rush my words. “I do not mean disrespect. We have researched and went through many… planets. If Earth should perish, it would be of no consequence.”

  “An ant farm!” one of the warriors in the group said loudly in disbelief. She began babbling about everyone dying. It started to make some of the others in the area unsettled as well. She began talking loudly about how everything was useless, before the Queen had had enough.

  It did appear the Queen was about to put a stop to the charade. But out of nowhere, the woman was hit squarely in the face.

  “Snap out of it!” the woman next to her said immediately.

  Now things appeared to be settling again with those in disbelief, Lagelica took the time to speak up. It did surprise me. I thought Oya was also taken aback; the warriors had so much more discipline under normal situations.

  “Mari, how do we help fight?”

  “You cannot. The best thing to do is go underground until it is over,” I told her with all honesty.

  It was the Queen’s time to take her command back. “We will not cower while our fate is being decided for us.”

  “You do not understand, Queen; it has less to do with your fate and cowardice, and more to do with the battle itself and your limited capabilities.” It seemed as she would demand to fight and I began a quick shortlist of weaknesses.

  “You cannot look at us, or you will die.”

  “You are too slow.”

  “Our WBM are stronger than any weapon you have and are also our natural defenses.”

  “We can communicate as one and all at once.”

  “We do not need additional weapons to kill you.”

  “Should I go on?” I stood my ground with the Queen. She looked thoughtful about what she would say next.

  They interrupted the Queen’s thoughts with a warning. “JKNW.” I nodded with understanding and addressed Queen Lisa.

  “Queen. Take your people to safety. You can rebuild, if…” I let the rest linger.

  “Oya. Start getting people underground. Ask for volunteers to aid in this fight.” She thought for a second. “Only warriors and survivalist Oya. Everyone else underground.”

  “Queen—” She put a hand up and stopped my protests.

  Oya began fulfilling the request of Queen Lisa. There were a lot of bird calls, horns, and other wordless orders given about the compound. Not only that, my KGNRV had not stopped with preparations and determining the perfect conditions to ready themselves for A’ABM the entire time I was relaying the message from them to the Queen and explaining the exact nature to the Queen.

  “Mari, we will fight. They must have a weakness.” The Queen finally turned her attention back to me while the others left to put her commands into effect.

  “Yes, we all have the same weakness, but you will not be able to get close enough; you cannot see—” She interrupted me again.

  She chuckled a bit, “I know, I know, we are too slow, we don’t matter.” Her humor was not lost on me. When she was done making light of the grave situation of humanity, she turned serious again. “We may not able to use our eyes, but you can.”

  I had not thought of this, but now I had questions of my own, “It seems, for a short while, you wanted me dead, my Queen.”

  “Yes, I thought you were a threat to my people and our way of life,” she stated simply and unapologetically.

  “You are right about something. I cannot help my KGNRV in this form.” I frowned deeply. If they were insistent on fighting, they might be of help. “We could use all the lights and as many weapons as possible to temporarily stun them. When they attack, it will be like a swarm operating on the same frequencies…” I paused to think of a plan.

  “So, we jam them.” She said it as if it would be that easy.

  “Yes, but we do it with our own sounds. It is a defense of ours against them. It will also cause you all to become temporarily disoriented and rendered useless.”

  “But we would be expecting it, and would recover more quickly than they would, hit them with everything we got then retreat underground.”

  I did not like this plan. But I relayed the humans’ plan to the K’LM ‘KM. They agreed the little help might give us the sli
ght advantage we needed over A’ABM in order to defeat them once and for all. We also all knew I would be of little assistance and would command the humans.

  The humans around the compound set up blinding lights, shields, and weapons all around the compound, mostly in locations easily accessible to hatches leading underground. Some of the braver ones were in locations along the walls and would most likely die. There were even suit wearers, who were already at a disadvantage, electing to fight above ground to help aid the battle.

  I was running from one end of the compound to the next to make sure things were in order and everyone knew the plan. Of course, they were ready, each person with their eyes covered, listening intently to any last-minute instructions or tips I may have had.

  On my way to still another person I saw moving with discomfort, I noticed Rance.

  “I just wanted to thank you for the note and letters. They kept me company all those days and nights I spent alone,” I told him and was about to continue moving to the next person before he stopped me.

  “Is it okay to see you one last time?” he asked me directly.

  “No, you never know if you might catch a glance of any K’LM.”

  “Eh, it was worth a try,” he laughed.

  Then, there were multiple screeches and the sky went dark.

  “JKNW.” They said very calm because they expected the attack.

  “Here they come!” I yelled as loudly as I possibly could.

  CHAPTER NINE

  There was an all-out war happening. Both RZN and A’ABM all but ignored the presence of the humans altogether. I did not think you could even consider them an afterthought. I would alert them with the battle horn that was sounded when the time was right. I stood alone at the highest walls of the compound so I could clearly see the best moment for them to attack and just as easily withdraw.

  There were swarms everywhere like wasps defending a nest. They outnumbered us, but they always did. We all stood firm and waited for the one chance. They began to take down several of our ‘JHS. That was when I saw it, a moment when they had to regroup and appeared to be receiving new orders.

  I blew into the trumpet with as much air as I could. I had never tried before and when attempting to get last-minute directions on how to operate it, the holder yelled, “just blow it!” It actually would have been funny if the situation hadn’t been so dire. I blew into that trumpet until I ran out of air. Then, I heard several other sounds and voices ringing out throughout the compound.

  My collective KGNRV and I together used our loudest attack voices. To the human ear, it would sound like a high-pitched screech for miles and miles. The swarms dropped to the ground almost instantaneously, the humans also looking like they were in pain. They all reached for their ears, some dropped down to the fetal position, and others screamed with pain.

  Once it looked like the swarms were temporarily disabled, all at once the humans rose, recovering before the swarms.

  “Fire now! Everything you have!” The K’LM began using their WBM for defense. The weapons could not penetrate or hurt them but caused a great deal of damage to the swarm who still appeared in a state of confusion. Guns seemed to ring out, hardly hitting their goals, but doing just enough. An arrow whipped past my face, and I’d figured I should finally take cover. They used anything they could get their hands on as a weapon as well and used slingshots to hit their new enemy.

  When I saw the swarm beginning to recover, I blew the trumpet again, grateful I was able to generate just enough will to signal over my ever-tiring body. Again, sounds reverberated throughout the compound. The K’LM stayed in a cocoon-like protective shield around themselves so they would not accidentally be grazed. Lights from everywhere started shining on the slowly recovering swarm, leading to further disarray.

  The humans used this time to begin their retreat underground. The A’ABM swarm was blinded by the lights and began attacking them outright. The attacking of the lights was just what some of the humans needed to escape underground. Some were not so lucky. The swarms broke off to smaller swarms to try to expedite destroying the lights, and some of the humans got caught up in the attacks and were mercilessly murdered.

  I used this time to tell the K’LM that now was the time.

  “‘LBMHSK,” I said to them.

  And in sync, they all opened their WBM and began an all-out assault. Some of the swarms were slow to change the course of their attack and were destroyed. When I thought all was well, something told me to look in another direction. Off in the distance, I saw Zander losing her footing to get underground. I noticed she was injured and probably would not make it.

  While the swarm was being temporarily distracted and attacked, I ran to assist Zander. I almost did not make it. I was about to be pinned and possibly end up dead by the swarm when, one of my LBK came to my rescue. I continued my mission to Zander. It appeared somehow, one of the bullets had hit her in the knee, effectively slowing her down.

  “Go ahead, leave me here,” she said in a matter-of-fact manner. She seemed to be giving up.

  “No way, we are close,” I said back to her but with ragged breathing.

  Even with my help, we were moving too slowly so I put her down.

  “Sit down,” I practically yelled at her.

  We had no time to discuss and she followed my orders immediately. I got behind her and cupped my hands under her armpits and began dragging her to the nearest hatch. I looked up and could see the swarm previously going after her become victorious and once again free to pursue us.

  I doubled my efforts. It paid off. We made it to the hatch, opened it, and I pushed Zander so she would go with no argument.

  “Thank you for saving my life before,” I said quickly.

  I closed the hatch. There was no time for a lengthy discussion. If the swarm made it underground, then all of their efforts would have been in vain. As soon as I closed it, I felt a pain in my left arm. Looking down, it was no longer there; my whole arm had been removed by the swarm with their scissor-like attack.

  I looked around to find where they’d gone and if I could make a possible escape. They stood just above me, mocking me, waiting. There was nothing I could do. I spread myself out wide, my one arm open, leaving me wide open and unmoving.

  The swarm came directly at me. It felt like a million tiny razors gutting me little by little. Whatever I’d thought death was before, I certainly knew the truth of it now. They took me in the air with them as they prolonged my death. But they continued to nick and cut at me until I was bleeding from what seemed like every inch of my body. They dropped me in the air, and midair formed a swarm ripping my body apart.

  EPILOGUE

  Now you know how I died, maybe I should tell you how I returned to be amongst you again?

  My name is ‘JHS and since you are reading this, I am dead. I was sent to ‘ND to do reconnaissance for the TV-WBK between my home NGNBM and a neighboring planet. NGNBM is a place mentioned in your Bible. But it is nothing like the paradise of which you dream. It does not matter anyway.

  A day or a century from now, humans were never meant to last as long as you did. And after the war is over, the BM’M, might forget about you all again or just maybe start over as has happened many times before.

  Dying was far more painful than I had been led to believe, and I felt the pain the entire time I was ascending. When I finally did make it back to NGNBM, it was in a large body of purifying water and gel; it felt like I was suffocating and dying again before I finally emerged, taking large gulps.

  It was not until I was completely out of purifying that I realized, here, I did not have to breathe; I did not have lungs and was back in my form. It did feel good to have my WBM. I stretched them wide.

  While examining myself, the BM’M came to me with another mission. They would first grant me powers to return to ‘ND with the mighty light in the form of a sword, shield, and armor. I would be armed with the HR to throw down the A’ABM, the darkness and swarms. My other mission
would be revealed depending on how successful I was with the first mission. If I failed, everything would fall.

  I returned to the planet ‘ND the same way I arrived the first time: a ball of fire. The first time had been an accident. This time was controlled, right into the center of the compound. I was sure the people underneath felt a large crash and the ground shaking like a quake.

  As soon I broke through the atmosphere, I was able to link with my KGNRV. I began to attack individual swarms until they began to connect after realizing I was the biggest threat. They came at me with everything they had but my shield now protected me. When the time became clear to take the final stand, I held the sword directly in the air.

  Each K’LM-‘KM stood in front of me to defend me while I was harnessing the power of the BM’M-HR-GNWM. The swarm made it midway through my protectors, killing and injuring most of them.

  With a scream, a burst of light came out of each piece of my being. I held the sword firm. Soon, I was no longer a K’LM, but the messenger of light itself. The sword became an extension of the light I now was.

  The swarm of A’ABM coming toward me paused, as if it had a moment of intelligent thought. I went full force toward it and knew I would not falter or fail. And on impact, the sun went black.

  I continued to shine bright enough for the world. As I went through the swarm, they would drop. I still felt some of the piercings get through my armor here and there. The pain was just as excruciating as it had been when I was in human form, but I knew there would be an end to the swarm and I would have to press on. I could make it.

  When I felt like I would give up, I pressed forward, reaching the end. I looked back in a daze. The light coming out from me began to fade away as the sun began to shine again. It seemed almost in exchange.

  RZN, A’ABM, and K’LM-‘KM alike were all on the ground. Some K’LM-‘KM were regaining strength and ascending now the battle was over. I dropped. I could not see but felt surrounded by an awesome power.

  The power told me I was to stay on the planet ’ND to act as primary messenger. I was not told the message or what duties I should perform while waiting; I just knew when I came to it was because of the excruciating pain I felt.