by D C Tullis
Suddenly, Ellie shouted from behind me, “Look out, J!”
I didn’t even have to react before I saw the wounded beast lunge for my neck. However, seconds before my neck was snapped in two I heard another sound.
Buzz-zap it went.
A tree right next to me exploded in a cloud of silvery flame as a ray of golden light sliced the mid-air beast in two.
✽✽✽
A rustling shook the brush and then a moment later out from a deep overgrowth of trees burst an armored figure. The figure was more than six feet tall and clad in an armor of alien silver resembling most closely the appearance of a medieval knight. That was, except for its headpiece, which was definable by none other than the term “science fiction”. It could best be likened to a motorcycle helmet with light-pumping tubes weaving in and out of it on each side, and circles of pure pantone blue light illuminating the eyeholes. The figure was humanoid but exceptionally tall. Its stature was imposing and must have been a tad bit over six and a half feet tall. It vaguely resembled the outfit of one of the people I had seen in the photo from the room that I had cleaned.
“Are you okay, walker?” it asked in a synthetic voice with a posh English accent.
“W-What the hell are you?” I asked it.
“I repeat, are you injured?” it called as it pulled a tube from its side pouch that immediately extended into a staff.
The staff was a frankensteinian creation mixing wiry technology, glowing wisps of light, and transparent glass.
“Yes,” I replied.
“You are humans, yes?” the figure asked as it came ever closer.
“Yeah,” I once again said, entirely bewildered.
The figure paused for a moment after closing the distance and then withdrew the helmet from its head. Long raven locks flew down passed her shoulders and hung in a wild tangle. Beneath the armor, the figure was a woman, and not just any woman- a strikingly beautiful one. Her skin was of the palest of creams, and her eyes were kind yet oddly large.
“I am sorry I did not arrive sooner. I saw your landing but was uncertain of your intentions at first, so I merely observed,” she spoke.
She looked down at the creature still hanging onto my leg. She then shook her head in a dissatisfied fashion and wrangled the creature from my leg with the tip of the staff.
“Damn that burns,” I grimaced as she removed the creature.
“Hush, child. You are safe now,” she replied.
She moved her gloved hands onto my leg and then began to move them up and down. Moments later, a golden glow emerged from her hands, and I felt a slight burning sensation on the wound.
“My name is Irithril, and I must say it is very uncommon to see walkers on this world anymore,” Irithril said.
“A walker?” Ellie asked.
“You do not know?” she inquired with a confused expression.
“No,” I responded.
“A portalwalker. You are one of them. They are nearly the only contact we still have with the human realm,” she declared.
“Wait... so there are people who can do what we just did?” I asked.
Irithril laughed.
“Of course there are. Beyond occasional visits by our cultural historians, they are the only contact we Fae have with the human world.”
“Fae…?” Ellie asked her.
Irithril shot her another confused glance.
“My apologies for all of this. You two clearly know nothing of what has happened,” Irithril said.
“No. Not a clue,” I declared.
“Well then, where to start? I must keep our speech short for our time here must be limited. The Fae are a far older race than you humans. We were once subservient to beings that brought us to your world. Little of our recorded history describes these ancient and powerful beings, but they found use in us as slaves. When they finally left, they abandoned many of us on Earth. We remained stranded for thousands of years until we sensed your Earth was destined to enter several cataclysmic changes. As the tales go, we certainly had not let this time go to waste. In fact, we had reverse engineered nearly all of the technology they had left behind - including a gate. From there we spread throughout many worlds,” she said.
“So this world is where you Fae live?” I interrupted.
“Not quite, walker,” Irithril replied. “This is one of many and certainly not our main station. Unfortunately, this is a dying world, and those who remain here are stranded.”
“Why, what happened?” Ellie asked.
“Many things. The cruelest being the Eldritch. A violent primordial mass of chaos. They live to consume. This world has been under siege by one of their many lesser gods which brings me to why we must leave. We must leave at once!”
“What, why?” I asked.
Irithril stared at me for a second, clearly frustrated with my resistance.
“Time is slipping away rapidly, human, but if you insist then I will elaborate. The Eldritch are psychically linked beings, and I promise you that your arrival has not gone unnoticed to them. I sensed it. Any Fae lurking in the area sensed it, and the Eldritch certainly sensed it. Their arrival is only a matter of time, and I find it highly likely that you do not wish to meet them. Come now, children of the original Earth. We must make haste,” Irithril said.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To safety. At least temporary safety,” Irithril replied.
She pressed a button on the side of her belt and suddenly an object came rushing from the brush. It was a floating platform of some sort of alien metal. It raced to her side, and she hopped on in one graceful move. She pressed another button on her side, and two side wings shot out from the base.
“Climb aboard,” she said.
“That is so rad,” Ellie mumbled under her breath.
We climbed onto opposing wings of the craft and immediately felt our feet pulled to metallic plating which made up the vehicle’s deck.
“You may wish to hold onto me,” Irithril declared as she lifted her helmet back over her head and snapped it in place.
I almost considered asking her why until the craft lurched into gear. It shot past the varied terrain easily at what must have been thirty or forty miles per hour. The winds whipped past our faces as we zigged and zagged over hills and through valleys embedded within the emerald and orchid landscape. Ellie struggled to contain her excitement as we dashed over walls and eventually through the rubble of destroyed rural settlements. I, however, was immersed with absorbing the environments in all of their glory. The world was clearly alien, yet it gave glimpses towards the landscapes of home. Swamps, canyons, and distant mountains all were visible through gaps in the ruins. It seemed all too easy to imagine living here with the exception of those large wolf-alligators things. Those seemed like they just might be a bit of a deal breaker.
“Where are we going?” I shouted loudly over the whirr of the wind and the purr of the engine.
“Away from them,” her synthetically modified voice replied through the helmet.
I shot her a look of confusion until she pointed, and what she pointed at could have made even a brave man terrified. Beyond the hill we had been climbing with the hoverboard sat a sprawling, walled-off city. It’s architecture looked to have once been stunning, but now lay in ruins along with almost all else in its confines. What still stood told tales of a massive city adorned in teal and lined with a glorious golden hue. The city was built with nudges towards the aesthetics of the classical Greeks, yet fused with towering utopian statues, sprawling garden temples, and elevated roads. Alas, it’s days of glory had come to an end for what was once a testament towards ingenuity and beauty lay destroyed on the ground below.
Irithril wasn’t pointing at the city though, she was pointing at what lurked within its streets. Around one of the skyscrapers a cluster of twisted, ugly figures swarmed as a pack. They were scavenging from the buildings for unknown reasons.
“Take this,” Irithril said as she handed me a small lens of glass.<
br />
“What for?” I asked her.
“Just look through it, young one,” she replied.
I was getting real fed up with her bullshit about young one, child, and walker, but she seemed as if she wasn’t the type of person I really wanted to piss off. And so, I did as I was told. I raised the glass lens to my right eye, and it immediately zoomed in to get a better look at the opposition. It was a mixed group. Some appeared to be battered Fae somehow coerced into helping the Eldritch, whereas others were unmistakably of foreign origin. Their putrid and terrifying faces were long and slimy, almost like squids. Their bodies were armored and insectoid in structure. Just their sight made your eyes wish to crawl back within your skull. It was an unpleasant combination to behold. Many were painted with the blood of fallen creatures. Possibly Fae. Although all I was seeing was fascinating and exciting, I quickly wished to look no more, and so I handed the glass to Ellie and instructed her to do what I had done. Her reaction was much the same as mine. I had never seen anything like these creatures before. Just the sight of them made my stomach want to crawl up into my lungs to hide. I was now oh so glad we had followed Irithril’s instructions to leave when we did.
“What the hell…,” Ellie choked out underneath her breath.
Despite the sounds of the rushing wind, Irithril heard her fear and confusion.
“I can only imagine what taking this all in must be for humans, but this is our wor…,” she stopped for a moment. “...Was our world. There is only theory and conjecture as to why they arrived, but many Fae believe they noticed us some time after we began mining the outermost bounds of this solar system. The Eldritch soon began to flock to our planet. We stood no chance against these monstrosities. It was a bloodbath. Some of us were physically consumed. Others were… mentally taken. Those who were became different. Animalistic even.”
Irithril chuckled at this, but there was an underlying pain within her voice.
“We are nearing our destination. I must inform you now to act civilly when you meet my comrades. You are now my property,” she announced.
I turned to exchange confused glances with Ellie.
“Wait, what?” I asked her.
“Did I say something unusual?” she replied. “I know not of how it works with humans, but on Aos you are seen as of the same stock as wild beasts. I placed you under my ownership when I saved your life.”
“That doesn’t just give you the right to declare us as your slaves,” Ellie snapped.
Irithril chuckled.
“Maybe on your Earth. However, if you wish to leave Aos or even survive for that matter you will comply,” Irithril replied.
“Well that’s just fucking great...,” I whispered to Ellie.
“I don’t like it, but maybe their culture just sucks like that,” Ellie replied.
I shot Ellie a surprised look. This wasn’t like her at all. She was usually a firebrand too, yet maybe she was right. We didn’t have much choice at a time like this. Run freely on a foreign world with no knowledge of how to survive or escape, or stay with a trained fighter and tracker. Shit, maybe she really did have a point.
“Fair enough,” I sighed.
“One question?” Ellie asked Irithril.
“Go on, child,” replied our captor.
“How did you find us? The chances of you just being in the area seems unlikely,” Ellie inquired.
“I am one of the two scouts for my group. Khail and myself search for supplies and lost Fae. There is not much to tell. I had heard of a compound 3 melikkers from where I found you, but my plan was quickly abandoned once I saw the purple flash in the sky caused by the activation of your gate,” she responded. “At any rate, I must once again remind you to be respectful as we are approaching my camp.”
She tapped a crystal lodged with the armor of her arm and a subtle ping slashed out.
“The area is clear,” she declared after a moment before suddenly bringing the flying glider to a halt.
We had stopped at a four story building on the farthest outskirts of the city. Part of the building lay in ruins alongside its base. From the looks of it, the roof had collapsed at some point and fallen onto the poisoned ground below. The rest of the building was hardly reminiscent of the rest of the city. It was not monumental like the statues or skyscrapers as it was a bland ashen grey all the way through. Cracks lined the walls of the dilapidated structure, and the entrance had caved in to the point where it was impassable.
“The perfect place to hide,” Ellie muttered.
I nodded in agreement.
✽✽✽
Irithril slowly removed her helmet, releasing a flicker of light as she did so, and beckoned for us to follow her. She lead us around the back of the building into a pile of garbage and metal. She then dug around for a moment before eventually gripping a handle. She pulled it lightly twice but appeared to face resistance. She waited for a moment and then pulled again. With one strong tug she opened the hatch that been hidden under a variety of gravel which was acting as camouflage, and then once again beckoned us to follow her as she made her descent down the ladder.
Ellie and I climbed down after her, closing the hatch on our way. A loud click echoed on our way down into the darkness. The ladder descended on for quite a ways as it was easily two stories deep. The air down there felt dry and the lingering scent of something that smelled like chlorine burned at my nose ever so slightly. When we finally reached the bottom below, we walked down a lengthy metal hallway for a good minute before we finally reached a door. Though not large in stature, the metal door appeared thick in proportions, like a hatch on a navy warship. Whoever had built the facility had clearly wanted to keep any uninvited guests out.
Irithril paused in front of the door, ran her fingers along the handle, and muttered, “Edr.”
Suddenly, a floating golden bubble reminiscent of a Christmas ornament emerged from thin air. Its radiance was overwhelming and iridescent. I struggled to keep my eyes off of it.
“Hey scaleskin, open the door,” she grumbled.
I traded glances with Ellie, until suddenly the orb began to glow so brightly that it was near blinding. And then without a moment’s notice it vanished. Seconds later, the door slid open silently.
“Welcome to the Deryn Underground Testing Lab, children of the first Earth,” Irithril declared. “Here is where we tested weapons of destruction many years ago.”
“Why did you guys need weapons if you hadn’t encountered the Eldritch yet? I mean, was there some kind of like war between factions here?” Ellie asked.
Irithril smiled.
“There have been many ‘disputes’ between factions, but we Fae prefer to settle conflict with diplomacy. We are not animals after all.”
Goddamn that sounded pretentious, but I kept my thoughts to myself.
“We did however have a scourge from below to deal with. The Jao-kahn were a threat we once faced. These vicious beasts lived within deep subterranean caverns. We punctured too far once beneath the surface and unleashed their swarm. Their strikes caught us off guard and they slaughtered many of our miners.
“So, they were just like rats,” I asked.
“Rats?”
“Shit…um... how do I explain this…,” I went.
“I’m kidding, human. Yes, they were giant, slimy rats. We gassed them into the next life. The damaged minerals and temporarily unbreathable air were but a small price to pay in our act of vengeance. It would have been dishonorable to let them live without punishment.”
Footsteps began to emerge from within the facility and gradually they neared. Moments later a rather gruff looking Fae appeared from beyond another door.
His face was long and chiseled, and he was big. At least six and a half feet tall. A heavy blonde beard hung from his jaw, and his cold eyes radiated methodical violence. Despite this, his appearance was well kempt for what limited resources scavengers would be able to obtain. None of that was what truly stood out though, for the most peculiar featur
e of the Fae was his right arm. It appeared natural at first glance, but open a closer look one could notice it was anything but. Three subtle, indigo crevices ran down from his shoulder to his palm. Further, six lines pushing up from under his skin circled around his shoulder and ran up into his armor plated vest. His arm appeared to be some form of badass biotechnology. It was just like something out of Terminator.
“Who are they?” he asked Irithril.
“My captured underlings,” she replied. “Meet Khail, children of Earth.”
His eyes grew wide.
“Humans?” he asked her.
“Not just humans,” she responded. “Walkers.”
His eyes remained locked in an expression of surprise.
“Magdar’s grave, Irithril, where did you find them?”
“I saw their descent on a large hill about two melikkers from here. I was unaware that a gate had been built there.”
“Must have been a ruin,” Khail said.
“A functioning ruin,” she furthered. “At least from their end”
“So it seems.”
He surveyed us for a moment, before releasing a shrug and turning around to walk back. He stopped though and whispered something to Irithril. Her face lit up like a shopping mall Christmas tree.
“We’ve finished our preparation. We were just waiting for your arrival to finally convene.”
“Convene?” Ellie asked.
“Yes, human, we’ve been preparing to acquire the requisite power supply. It’ll finally let us leave this blasted place.”
“So there is a way out of here?” I asked Irithril.
She was caught in thought when I asked her the question. It didn’t appear she heard me until I asked her again.
“Yes, child, it’s what we’ve been working for. We rescued an engineer aware that his previous place of work had at least two functioning power cylinders. They are all we need to activate the gate on Mt. Estellus.”
She turned to face Khail again, “How do you know the Eldritch won’t be scouring the area?”
“We can’t be sure, but Eldevui has been tracking their patterns of migration and they have almost certainly flocked a melikker to the east. This seems like an optimal time to risk it while they are preoccupied with looting the last sector they haven’t completely crushed.”