by Sam Ryder
It wasn’t stupid anymore.
Like I was some kind of a trained assassin, I roped one of my thick arms around the creature’s neck, clamped down hard, and then twisted with everything I had.
SNAP.
The sound was like that of a brittle branch breaking underfoot.
Except it was the Viss’s neck.
Its body went rubbery in an instant, head flopping like a ragdoll. It toppled over. Yay for me.
Except for one thing:
I’d forgotten about its companion pretending to be a cheerleader standing on its shoulders. Thus, when the bottom Viss fell, the top Viss lunged forward, landing right the fuck on top of me. Which hurt quite a lot. Because it was heavy. And because at least six of its sharp-as-hell claws pierced my armor and jabbed me in various spots. These creatures were turning out to be pricklier than porcupines.
So here I was, laying on my back with a monster on top of me weighing in at one thousand pounds plus. The monster in question’s face was inches from mine, which meant I got an unfortunate whiff of its stank breath, which wafted out like the fumes from a sewage treatment facility. A line of drool oozed from its lips and I turned my head just in time to avoid inadvertently drinking the stuff. Still, it splashed on my face, burning my skin like it was some kind of poisonous material.
I’d lost my hammer on the way down, but I couldn’t have used it in such close quarters anyway. Instead all I could do was grip the Viss’s shoulders and use all my strength to shove it away from me as it snapped at my face, trying to play a real-life version of “got your nose.” I really didn’t want it to get my nose, or any other body part.
Unfortunately, my strength was slackening under the formidable girth of my attacker, my arms starting to wobble as I tried to bench press it off of me. It released one of its keening cries so close to my ears that everything went quiet for a moment, like how sound was always muted after attending a rock concert. Then it redoubled its efforts, snapping at me again and getting so close that one of its front teeth scraped against my bottom lip. Oh fuuuuuuuu—
Just as I thought this might be the end, one of its eyes exploded as something silver seemed to grow out of it, coming to a point.
A blade. But not just any blade, one I recognized all too well. Another blade burst from another of its eyes. Then, as swiftly as they’d appeared, both blades vanished, only to reappear from other eyes. The Viss knew it was in trouble now, and it began to buck like a bronco at a rodeo trying to dislodge its attacker, who, of course, was Vrill. She hung on tight and continued to hack away. Finally, the Viss got smart and rolled forward, throwing her off.
Fortunately for us and unfortunately for the Viss, the damage had been done. The creature staggered under the weight of its injuries, seeming disoriented now that it only had two or three eyes rather than a dozen. It crashed into one of the walls and then stumbled back toward the other wall, tripping on its fallen comrade. The moment it hit the ground, another three Lri Ay raced forward and fell upon it, hacking and stabbing with their own weapons. Another classic case of overkill. Not that I blamed them; I’d seen enough horror films where everyone thinks the monster is dead only to find they should’ve stabbed or shot it a few more times just to be sure. That was not the case here. They killed it and rekilled it and then killed it again for shits and giggles.
I looked over at Vrill, who looked dazed after her fall. “You okay?”
“Never better,” she said with a wry grin. Man, my sarcasm really was rubbing off on her. I liked it.
“Me too. We should do this more often.” I grinned back.
Eve, still clutching her damaged arm and dripping blood from her face, was the voice of sanity. “Come on! We’re almost there!”
I wasn’t sure what ‘almost’ meant, but her encouragement snapped me out of my silly mood and I hauled myself to my feet, grabbing my hammer on the way up. I ran over to Vrill and assisted her to her feet, and then turned, pulling her after me up the slope. Technically we were supposed to fall back and let others fight for a while, but if we really were close I wanted to ensure we didn’t fall just short of our goal.
We must’ve run for almost a hundred yards uphill without coming across a single enemy. It was the best feeling in the world, rounding each curve and bend in the road and seeing nothing but a few lanternlights and an empty tunnel ahead. I knew it wouldn’t last forever, however, because I could still hear our enemies’ eerie keening.
Then again, it sounded different right now. Less excited and more angry. Or maybe even frustrated. It’s hard to explain.
In any case, we were uncontested for the last portion of the tunnel, all the up to the open portal. Which was clogged. With Viss! This explained the change in the sounds they were making. Apparently in their haste to breach the Lri Ay city gate they’d had trouble waiting their turns. At least three had tried to enter simultaneously, and now they were jammed in the hole like a Twister game gone wrong, claws and beaks and back-bent appendages sticking out at all different angles. It would’ve been funny if not for the horrific nature of these monsters of death and destruction.
Okay, okay, it was still funny. A little bit.
Still, it put us in a tough position. Because the portal opened outward. Which meant we needed to clear the space so that someone could press down on the close button and let the portal slam shut.
As we stood there contemplating the situation, Eve and several of the others caught up to us. Everyone stopped short, staring in awe at the three Viss tangled in the opening. I jammed my hammer into the ground and said, “Everyone, take turns stabbing the Viss. We go two at a time. Be careful not to hit each other. Cut off limbs if you can. I’m going to hang back as you work. When there seems to be a little give in the pile, pull back immediately and I’m doing to blast them out of there. Then someone will need to press the button before the bastards can charge back in. Understood?”
I got plenty of nodding heads, which was good enough for me. Two of the Lri Ay stepped forward without being asked, glancing at each other to silently coordinate their efforts. Then they fell upon the Viss, who, even in this precarious position, were deadly. Especially once they felt the sting of blades on their flesh. They began to thrash their limbs wildly. One of them got lucky and poked one of the Lri Ay in the eye, which forced him to stumble back to get medical attention from Delaqua, who had also caught up to the main group.
However, we had plenty of willing volunteers, and another immediately took his place. The Lri Ay were nothing if not courageous, fighting for their city without regard for their own individual lives. It was inspiring.
One of the Lri Ay warriors managed to slash off one of the Viss’s arms. A hindleg broke free as well. The Viss’s keening great more frantic. Stab, stab, slash! Stab, stab, slash! The two current fighters got into a nice rhythm until they grew too tired and then fell back to let others replace them. Blood was everywhere, pouring from the Viss’s wounds.
I had been hoping they would pull themselves out of the portal under the onslaught, but instead they seemed willing to take the abuse. Which meant as they slowly died, they sagged inward rather than out, unable to hold up their own weight. In short, they were getting more jammed into the hole.
It was my turn to play. I whistled long and loud to get the attention of the two warriors currently slashing. They turned and I gestured for them to step aside.
I dug my toes into the ground like a defensive lineman at the line of scrimmage preparing to time the snap and take the quarterback’s head off. In my mind, the football was snapped. I exploded forward, hammer pumping at one side while my opposite arm dangled listlessly. I charged right at the portal, lowering my shoulder and silently thanking the Lri Ay warriors who’d managed to reduce the number of claws I was dealing with.
When I hit the mess of flesh and bones I was running at full speed and the impact was somewhere between a car crash and a wrecking ball toppling a building. It jarred me to the core, the breath leaving my lungs and m
y body shivering. Luckily, I had found a spot that had a bit of give to it, otherwise my own bones might’ve broken in the process. Instead, I powered through one of the Viss, which flew backwards and into the open air. I followed shortly after, a waft of fresh air battering my face. What I saw horrified and amazed me in equal measure.
Hundreds upon hundreds of Viss filled the crater and the area beyond, thousands of eyes glowing like fireflies in the Lri Ayem night. It was horrifyingly beautiful.
It also lit a fire under me and made me forget about how my body ached and how I couldn’t seem to get a breath into my lungs. I grabbed one of the other two Viss that had clogged up the portal opening and tore it away, shoving it into its friends as they tried to clamber onto the platform. They toppled over in a gaggle of hideous arms and legs and beaks. The final Viss blocking the portal from closing was injured badly, so I simply stomped on its back and made it fall inside the hole. I was about to leap in after it when the portal door made a whirring-hissing sound and whumped shut.
Which would’ve been a good thing.
Except I was still on the outside.
With hundreds of the Viss.
Who I’d pissed off, royally.
Yeah. Not good.
I turned to face them, not scared exactly, but more prepared to take as many of them with me before I died.
The portal door hissed open, which made everyone freeze for a second in surprise. Including me. Until Eve shouted, “Get the fuck inside, Rider!”
I got the fuck inside just as the rest of the Viss released their keening sounds and threw themselves at me. Vrill was too quick, however, slamming her hand down on the button. The portal door slammed shut once more, dulling the sound of the Viss as they clawed and stomped and keened their frustration and anger.
“I think you need to upgrade your security system,” I said.
“I think so too,” Vrill agreed.
I turned to Delaqua, feeling so much warmth beneath my armor I might’ve been in a jacuzzi. I knew it was the copious amounts of blood that had already poured and was continuing to pour from my numerous wounds. “I’m ready for all that pampering now,” I managed to say just before my head spun and I lost consciousness, the world turning to gray then fuzzy black then complete black.
The complete darkness was the last thing I remembered. It reminded me of nighttime on Tor. Home sweet home.
ELEVEN
NEW DESIRES
When my eyes cracked open, I felt discombobulated. Which was a funny word. Funny to say. Funny to think about. “Discombobulated,” I murmured, enjoying the way it tickled my tongue.
“Sam?” a voice said. Vrill’s. I loved the sound of her voice, a mixture of sultry and raspy and the pureness of a woman who was the definition of good. My friend. My lover. My savior in so many ways.
“Hullo,” I said. “I feel discombobulated.” That was meant to explain things, but only seemed to confuse her more. Because it was an Earth word that would sound as meaningful as gobbledygook to her. Or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. More fun words to say. I could be her teacher of all things nonsensical.
“Mother, I think he’s injured his brain too,” Vrill called out.
Which made me giggle. Like a schoolboy. Because I was hanging out with an alien and her mother on an alien planet after fighting a bunch of alien monsters. Which was weirdly normal to me these days. And, oh yeah, I’d recently had an epic threesome with said mother and daughter. Also somewhat par for the course in my new life which involved more pleasure and pain than I could’ve ever imagined a life could contain.
“My brain was injured a long time ago,” I said. “Honestly, I feel pretty much fine.” I stretched out my limbs and the fuzziness in my brain began to dissipate. I was no longer wearing armor and I was pretty much naked, except for several bandages wrapped tightly around various parts of my body. No blood was leaking through them, which I took for a good sign.
“You saved us,” Vrill said. “My people. My city.”
Though she was paying me a nice compliment, something about the way she used ‘my’ in association with the Lri Ay and Dahl Mar gave me a sinking feeling. Like she was reclaiming them for her own. “You’re not going to leave with Eve and I when we go, are you?” I said. I was no longer discombobulated, my mind sharpening over the facts. Of course she wasn’t going to leave. Could I honestly say that if I went back to the normalcy of Earth that I wouldn’t want to stay? None of us chose to go to Tor to fight monsters, after all.
“Sam,” Vrill said, using my name in that way that made me want to hold her and not let go.
“Vrill, you don’t have to explain. I understand. I won’t fault you for staying. I’ll never forget you. Neither will my heart.”
“I wasn’t going to explain,” Vrill said. She took my hand and I frowned, not understanding. “I was going to ask you to stay here with me. We don’t owe the Three or Tor anything. We deserve to create a new life for ourselves. The people here love you now. You are their hero. You would be accepted. Hell, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Eve could stay too, regardless of her charges. She could be a free woman. She’s more than made up for her crimes.”
“Vrill.” It was my turn to say her name in a tone filled with a thousand underlying words. “I can’t.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off else I lose my resolve. “This isn’t about the Three. This is about promises I made to the other Warriors, to Beat and Millania and, yes, even Lace. Silk too. And what about Mrizandr? You are bonded with him.”
She blinked. She’d forgotten about the dragon, which seemed to shock her. Her homecoming had been more overwhelming than I knew. Which I guess made sense. “I—I could be happy here, I think. We could be happy here.”
I smiled at her. “I know we could. We could be happy anywhere. But I cannot stay. But you should. You should stay.” My own lips were offending me, the traitors, but I knew I couldn’t ask her to leave her home again. That would be far too selfish a thing to ask.
She stared at me, a subtle frown sinking into her delicate features. “I don’t know what to do.”
I kept the smile on my face, because I felt at peace with this. Not because I wouldn’t miss her, but because all I ever wanted for her was for the shadow of darkness to lift off of her soul. “You should do whatever brings you happiness.”
“Happiness?” She spoke the word like it was another human word, one that she couldn’t comprehend. Had her life really been so devoid of such an emotion that she couldn’t decipher the meaning?
“Yeah, you know, the part where you laugh and smile and feel the warmth inside of you that tells you you’re alive and you want to be?”
“I—I—thank you, Sam.”
It was my turn to frown slightly. “For what?”
“For being,” she said. “For coming into my life.”
“Well, it’s not like I had much of a choice, but…you’re welcome?”
She laughed, and it was great to see. Her entire face lit up. It gave me hope that she could, one day, remember happiness and experience it for herself.
Eve chose that moment to entire, stopping short when she saw how close we were sitting. “Oh,” she said. “Sorry to disturb. I’ll wait until you’re finished.”
“No,” Vrill said. “It’s okay. Come in.” That was about as nice as I’d ever seen Vrill be to Eve. For some reason, seeing the two women be cordial to each other made me feel warm inside.
Eve hesitated only a second, but then entered. “We need to head back to Tor soon,” she said.
I knew she was right, but it felt too fast, especially since we’d be leaving with one fewer than we’d arrived with. “How soon?”
“Depends on what you think the chances of the Morgoss attacking are,” she said. “Plus Vrill and I will need to rest up before we Find again.” An uneasy silence spread its wings. Eve looked at me, then at Eve, then back at me. “What?” she said.
“It’ll just be you and me for the return trip,” I said.
Eve didn’t look shocked at all, but not because she realized Vrill would be staying on Lri Ayem. “Vrill,” she said, facing Vrill directly. “This is your first time Finding. I know how it feels. You expected to come in here and convince everyone to return to Tor. Unfortunately, this gig is not that easy. Trust me, staying a few more days won’t change peoples’ minds.”
“She’s not staying a few days,” I said. “She’s staying permanently.”
Now it clicked. Eve’s mouth opened slightly, but not to say something. She closed her lips. Nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I do not fault you for this decision. Sometimes I wish…I wish I had a place to return to. But my only home has been Tor. That is why I must keep fighting to restore it to what it once was. I wish you well.”
“I’m not staying,” Vrill blurted out.
Now it was my turn to say, “What? You can’t mean that. Just five minutes ago you were trying to convince me to stay here with you.”
I watched as Eve processed this new information, her mind whirring over the fact that Vrill had tried to convince me to abandon everyone back on Tor, including her. I saw the moment it clicked—that I had chosen to return to Tor. The edge of her lip curled up in satisfaction, like I had chosen her over Vrill. But I hadn’t. I simply thought of Tor as my home now, and, like her, I wouldn’t abandon it to the monsters.
It was Vrill who spoke, however, responding to my statement. She turned toward me. She cupped my face in her soft hands, causing a shiver to run through me. “You told me to choose happiness,” she started. “The truth is, I was never happy here. That was why Eve preyed on me in the first place.” I noticed Eve stiffen at the word choice, but she didn’t object. She couldn’t deny that she had once been more a hunter than a Finder, seeking out those on the Eight planets without anything to live for, the Outcasts, and bringing them back to Tor to be transformed into Warriors. That’s exactly what she’d done with me.