by James Somers
to the air, bouncing off the top of one of the suspension mechanism’s curved pylons toward the Horva. Several crimson laser shots cut the air as Tiet sent his bare foot into the face of one of the men. The soldier tried to defend himself with his metal Bo staff, but Tiet’s powerful kick snapped his neck and dropped him to the ground. Tiet snatched the weapon from the soldier’s hand as he fell and launched himself back into the air.
The clones tried to track the blur only to miss again and again. Tiet landed among several clones bunched together—more blaster fire. Tiet dodged. Clones shot each other in the confusion. Tiet parried and smashed a laser weapon, along with the man’s hands with the Bo. The other end quickly followed into the soldier’s head.
Tiet whirled, blocked strikes from two more Horva and then spun downward under their weapons, sweeping their legs out from under them. They fell backward hard. Tiet struck one in the head, but was forced to evade more blaster fire before he could hit the other. The soldier tried to roll out of striking distance as Tiet pulled a knife from a sheath on the Horva’s leg and hurled it back at the other clone with the pulse rifle. As the knife did its work, Tiet dropped the Bo and caught the man’s rifle with his mind. He laid down a steady line of fire inside the dome. There was nowhere for them to run. Tiet stopped, waited. Both he and the gun barrel exhaled. What would happen next?
☼
The dome around Tiet split across the top. Two equal halves separated and rolled back into the floor. Beyond this stood another larger domed room. Within this dome six battle robots stood twice the size of a man. They were armed with cylindrical rapid-fire laser cannons. Tiet’s laser rifle buzzed and shutdown, the power supply run dry. So that’s how it is, he thought. The clones weren’t going to allow him any advantage in this blood-sport.
Tiet retrieved the metal Bo staff. He raised it into the air with his right hand and spun it rapidly. The battle robots raised their weapons and locked on target. Tiet sent the spinning Bo into one of them like a buzz saw. The laser cannon, which made up one of the robot’s hands, was smashed to pieces. The Bo ricocheted into its head, sending metal shrapnel in all directions.
The others opened fire. Tiet only had time for an instinctive move. He charged the air with his mind. A rapidly vibrating air bubble repelled the blasts from the robots. A firestorm raged against his mental shield, yet he remained untouched.
☼
The robots continued to fire, trying to penetrate the mental defense. Grod looked on with intense pleasure. He had not expected the Barudii to have this much power over the elements. He knew of no such incidence recorded about the Barudii of old times. This display was better than he had expected. His eyes fixed on the young warrior through the wobbling refraction of light the charged bubble created.
☼
Tiet wouldn’t be able to maintain the shield for long. An advanced technique such as this was an intense drain on one’s strength. Tiet caused the bubble to explode outward with such intensity that each one of the robots slammed into wall of the dome crushing their exoskeletons. Once again, Tiet Soone stood alone within the arena.
☼
“Impressive power, is it not? I really wasn’t expecting him to survive the battle robots,” Grod said leaning forward in his chair.
“Shall we open the last dome with the teragore, sir?” asked one of the control techs.
Grod punched a key pad on the arm of his command chair. “Varen, do we have a viable sample of the boy’s DNA?”
“Yes, General. The samples we extracted should work well for what you have requested,” a Vorn scientist said.
“Very good. Proceed according to schedule. And Varen…remember your family.”
“I understand, sir.”
Grod tapped the communication switch and turned back to his technician. “Golon, retract the last dome!”
The clone technician did as he was ordered. The last dome wall began to retract.
☼
Orin tried to follow the loudest sounds he heard. Orin came to a branch veering off to his right. The sounds were definitely coming from somewhere off this branch. The shaft narrowed considerably, but he got through on his belly. He crawled for another fifty feet until he came to a side vent with more light coming through it. Here, the noises intensified.
Orin crawled up to the vent screen and peered through. He saw a massive creature standing fifty feet high. Tiet was held inside an arena of sorts. The reptilian beast had four stubby, powerful legs. A long, thick tail with a cluster of large spikes on the end curled around the animal. The head was fierce with swords for teeth. The hide of the animal was multicolored and paved with row upon row of tough scales.
Tiet did not seem to acknowledge the presence of the beast in the outer dome. Scattered around him were several smashed robots and a number of Horva bodies. It looked like some deadly sport.
☼
Then the dome around Tiet folded down into the floor. He watched in horror as the beast regarded its new prey. The massive beast stepped toward Tiet and lunged with its long neck, propelling the deadly head and teeth right at him. He got out of the way fast, taking to the air. The creature lunged for him again as he landed. He threw out his hands and sent a massive kinetic blast at the predator’s incoming face—knocking it away.
The beast reeled for a moment then regained its composure with more fury. A chemical spray issued from its mouth, ignited in the air and became a peel of flame. Tiet formed another protective bubble trying to repel the deadly fire engulfing him. The flame was disrupted, but not the heat. It was too hot to protect himself this way. Tiet blasted the creature again with his mind. But the animal only became more enraged by his counterattacks.
The teragore opened its great mouth again and a long whip-like tongue shot out toward Tiet. He flipped over its strike, as the beast tried to catch him. The sinewy tongue darted back and forth after its prey as Tiet continued his acrobatic evasive maneuvers. He jumped and flipped away from the obscene appendage. The teragore grew more impatient for its meal.
Tiet heard Orin cry out and tried to locate the voice. He saw Orin’s hands come through the vent in the dome wall. Orin pulled a kemstick from his thigh clip and brought it through the vent space with his hand, as Tiet tried to evade the whipping tongue of the teragore.
“Tiet! Take it!” Orin shouted.
Tiet saw the weapon and leaped after it. The kemstick flew out of Orin’s hand to meet the young man in the air. He caught the weapon just as the tongue of the teragore found purchase around his legs. The beast slammed his body into the ground. The impact knocked the breath out of him and the kemstick out of his hand.
The huge writhing tongue retracted quickly, dragging Tiet toward the beast’s mouth. He realized the kemstick was not in his hand and reached out with his mind to retrieve it as he was pulled across the ground. The kemstick obeyed and rolled after him, leaping into the air to find his hand as Tiet was lifted upside down toward the gaping mouth of the creature. He caught the weapon as the teragore pulled him inside and the jaw closed after him. The teragore raised its great head and swallowed the young warrior whole.
☼
Grod grabbed the armrests, sitting on the edge of his seat as the lump of flesh began to slide visibly down the creature’s throat. Suddenly the lump stopped its descent within the teragore’s throat. An adomen rod erupted from the creature’s neck, whirling around in a great circle from within. The teragore’s head pitched forward, separated from the rest of the animal’s body. The young Barudii warrior leaped out of the orifice, landing near the severed head. He was covered in the creature’s vile secretions.
“Unbelievable!” Grod said.
He was out of his chair, on his feet in amazement. “I have never seen such a display of power and skill!”
☼
Tiet sprang into the air and caught a hold of the vent where Orin was.
“Get back!”
Orin slid backward making room for his protégé. Tiet stabbe
d the kemstick into the armor-plated grating and cut through it—a hot knife through butter. The piece fell out and landed on the floor of the dome as Tiet crawled inside.
Orin backed his way out of the vent shaft with Tiet following him, both on their bellies.
“I should have known you’d be along to rescue me,” Tiet said.
“Quickly, put this on. It will hide you from their scanners.”
Tiet pulled on the Barudii cloak and the pair crawled back down the main shaft on their knees the way Orin had come in.
☼
“Where did he go? And how did that weapon get into the arena?” Grod growled.
“We’re searching, sir,” said the technician. He’s gone into the main ventilation system but his life signature has disappeared from our scans.”
“Find him and kill him,” Grod demanded. “I have to be in Baeth Periege soon to meet with our brothers there. Once the city is broken, the Barudii’s DNA will fuel our transformation. I don’t want anymore loose ends hanging about like the last time.”
DE