I shrugged, “yeah, I definitely need more practice.”
She laughed, then we fell into an eerie silence. Listening intently for the impending doom coming our way.
We sat behind our crates for a lot longer than I thought we would have to before we heard anyone else come through the doors. One good thing about our defense was that it only had a narrow approach to us, so only a couple of Fystr could get through at one time. I didn’t think practically that it would do us any good, but we had to hope for these little advantages.
Thankfully, Mick had stopped bleeding. He and Gus stayed where they were. There weren’t really any other options for Mick, and Gus wouldn’t leave his side. Me and Ember climbed back up onto the shelves.
“Humans. Show yourselves!” came a deep, resonating voice. I was surprised he didn’t call us primates or monkeys. Obviously, we didn’t reply again. It was worth a try.
“We don’t know what skills you possess, but you’re obviously more powerful than we anticipated. You’ve managed to kill two of our number. We know there are only four of you, and we are all here now. That’s eight highly trained Fystr against four humans. No matter how skilled you may be, this will end in only one way.
Now, we are going to come down there and collect you up. If you resist, you will all be killed. There is nowhere you can hide. You have been very lucky for primates, thus far.”
I don’t know why, but when this guy said primates after avoiding using that term for the first part of his little speech, it pissed me off so much more.
“You are trying my patience!” he shouted. “If you surrender and we will take you as prisoners. We will find out how you’ve become so powerful in such a short span of time, and it won’t be pleasant. I understand that this would sound like an unfair proposition, but your options really are limited to that experimentation and torture or death.”
“How about box number C,” I shouted, then cringed at my gaffe. I couldn’t wait for Ember to take the piss about that one later. Not willing to be perturbed by my own idiocy for long, I continued. “How about you just let us fucking go. We’re not doing anything wrong. We haven’t done anything to you, and really don’t want anything to do with you. We’re just innocent bystanders in this shitstorm. Everything you’ve got going on, we don’t want to know anything about!”
“You have killed two Fystr, fool. There is no possible way, no scenario in any world, galaxy, or universe, where you walk away from this. Killing a Fystr, even if you were ignorant to who or what they were, is the worst offense you could possibly commit in the whole of the galaxy. Now, the time for your prattling is over. Surrender or die.”
We heard cautious footsteps move deeper into the room.
“What shall we do?” Gus whisper-shouted, “definitely going to die if we try to fight.”
“We’re definitely going to die if we don’t try to fight,” I replied.
“We could stall?” Gus said meaningfully.
“Fuck! I forgot about the bombs!” I said back to Gus. Then I shouted back, towards the ever encroaching footsteps, “We have this whole place rigged to blow up. If you try to take us, I promise you now, one of us will trigger it and blow this whole storage room to smithereens.”
“You try to trick us with lies, human. We do not believe you have any explosives here,” came an extra deep voice. I reckoned it was Gigantor with the axe.
“I thought you guys were supposed to be clever! Why the fuck would we not have this place rigged to blow?” I shouted back. “This was our last stand. Our last defense against you dickheads. This whole supply room’s filled with all the bombs we could find. I can’t believe you don’t think we’d use such a final option.”
“You would die too. Why would you even contemplate such a thing?” said the first voice that had spoken.
“You really are stupid,” I shouted. “If we let you take us, then eventually after all the torture you will kill us. Now, if we blow this joint, at least we take you motherfuckers out with us.”
That was when I felt the first mental attack. My legs went dead. Luckily, I was already lying down. I quickly went to my Mindscape to discover Gigantor was there in my nerve control room. He had his back to me, and I could make out the beautiful, deadly axe on his back. I got the sense it was looking back at me, which was of course ridiculous, but I gave it a little salute anyway. Why it had become such an obsession for me? I clearly had my hands full just trying to staying alive.
He must have sensed something as he turned to face me, surprise registering on his face. “You have transcended? Very interesting for an animal,” he boomed out in his crazy-deep voice.
“Aren’t all humans descended from you asshats? I thought we were only limited because you jackasses made it that way?” He walked towards me as I talked, and I walked backwards.
I mean, this bastard was huge. Like maybe, seven and-a-half to eight-foot huge. If he weighed less than five hundred pounds, I’d be shocked, and there was no fat to be seen on him either.
“You aren’t worthy of such power. Your ancestors proved this thousands of years ago. Your transcending is a mistake. One which I will rectify now.” He reached over his shoulder for his axe, pulling it forth with startling speed, and in that same fluid motion swung it at me in a tight controlled arc. The range was terrifying. I didn’t think he’d reach me with it, but he more than did.
I dodged under the blade and somehow survived. Though, I felt the air pressure change as it passed over my scalp. The Fystr’s face showed that he couldn’t believe I dodged. I didn’t think the surprise would slow him, though, so I threw myself as far back as I could out of his way. It was completely the right move as he reversed his sweep and came straight back in with another vicious cut.
I figured I had seconds left to live and was just about to leave my own Mindscape when I saw Ember appearing from out of nowhere behind him, new sword in hand. Without hesitation she stabbed it into his neck. His eyes closed and I expected him to dematerialize, but he didn’t. Ember brought the sword up for another attack. He tried to bring the axe up but couldn’t. She hit him hard in the arm.
I tried to imagine my axes as I approached him, but they didn’t appear. With nothing else to offer, I jumped forward, and in mid-flight used a push kick on his elephant-like knee. It gave me trajectory, pushing myself further into the air and I managed to get another kick off to his head. I felt like Van Damme when I landed, and he went over like a felled redwood.
Not taking any chances, I dove on top of him and grabbed him round the throat. I squeezed for everything I was worth until he finally stopped moving. Ember touched me on the shoulder. “He’s done, Shaun. Come on. Let's go.”
I was shaken, but I had enough of my wits about me to try and take the axe with me. Grabbing it, I felt a surge of joy. We both quickly returned to our normal state. I was devastated to find the axe hadn’t come with me.
“How have you done this!” a voice screamed, almost hysterically, from the doors. You could hear there was a definite loss of composure. “Was it Ogun who made you capable of this? No matter. Surrender is no longer an option for you. Jotun was a shining light of the Fystr race. Your stories end here.”
“Who gives a shit? You need to back the fuck off now and leave us alone. We’ll blow this place. That much I promise you,” I shouted back.
“That is never going to happen. Though I won’t risk more of my people on some fool’s errand. Let this room be your tomb. Here you can stay until you starve. If you do try to leave this room, fear not, we will be waiting for you. Sarius, lock this door.”
A moment later we heard those same doors close with finality. Ember waved her hand to get my attention and whispered over to me, “I can’t believe that bloody worked!”
We both climbed back down to congratulate Gus on his crazy plan coming to fruition.
On the second day Gus managed to get the doors open. Somehow, the Fystr were all waiting. None of us were stupid enough to be standing in front of the
m, so an easy kill for the Fystr wasn’t in the offing. We had to retreat back to our little base. Sitting, hoping, and praying.
By the next day we were on our last legs. Hunger was bad, but it was always the dehydration that would get you first. As big an issue as it was for us, poor Mick had already lost a lot of blood. He was in a really bad way. If I had to put a number on it, I’d give him a few hours at best. Gus couldn’t even cry over him, on account of how badly dehydrated we were.
On the fourth day of the siege, all of our prayers to our various unknowable gods were answered. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, delirious, or whatever. But Ember, who always seemed to be the most alert of us, confirmed what I'd suspected. There were the sounds of fighting coming from behind the door. We were all far too weak to go over and join in. That was assuming, Ogun and the crew had arrived.
No more than five minutes after we heard the fighting, it fell silent. We heard the storeroom doors open and all our hearts were in our mouths. Apart from Mick who was unconscious.
I cannot describe to you all just how grateful I was when Ogun, a bloody Astrid, and some other crew members appeared around the corner to our aisle. It had to be the happiest moment of my life. I hugged Ember next to me, no tears of joy forthcoming. I didn’t go in for the kiss either. It would be like a cracker sandwich.
Then, with the knowledge we were safe I fell asleep, or more likely, passed out.
C7
New Friends
I came awake with a sudden jolt. A doctor came rushing over to me.
“It’s okay, Shaun. You’re okay. You are back on the ship and safe,” he said, in a calming voice.
“Ember?” I croaked, “is Ember okay?”
“Ember is fine. Do not worry. Now, if you could wait there patiently, I’m just going to call Ogun. He wanted to be informed as soon as any of you came round.” The doctor went off to speak into his comm.
Moments later, Ogun came through the medical room doors. He came straight over to me. “Shaun! You’re awake! I thought you’d be out for another day yet, at least.”
“How long have I been out?” I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes.
“Barely a full day. The others are still unconscious. We will probably keep Mick under for a few days to make sure, but he’s going to be okay.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear.” I didn’t even ask how he was.
“Let me guess. The first words past your lips were, ‘Is Ember okay?’”
I blushed a little and shrugged in response.
“Now, are you feeling up to a couple of questions? The whole ship is itching to hear how you managed to kill three Fystr, including the great Jotun himself. I must admit to being rather curious myself! Jotun is one of the oldest, most ferocious Fystr there is. There will be absolute uproar at his death.”
“Yeah. He was a scary bastard. I’m sorry about Cassia, as well. She was a good woman, despite our early clash.”
Ogun nodded sadly. “She will be missed. How did it happen?”
“We were hiding when one of the Fystr found us. They said we’d be killed if we didn’t surrender, so we did. Cassia was in the lead, as we walked toward the Fystr. Without warning, the bitch just threw her sword using her power to speed it up and control it. It went straight through Cassia’s neck.
“I attacked with my axes, but the Fystr fought on two fronts. She attacked my mind whilst fighting me with her sword. What she didn’t expect to find was Ember protecting my Mindscape. Ember distracted her internally, so I was able to kill her.”
“Amazing. Simply amazing. They will never believe you have a friend so casually running around in your Mindscape. It is unheard of, even for married couples,” Ogun said, shaking his head.
“To be honest, they seemed continually surprised by us. For such advanced people, they behaved pretty stupidly. I mean, we killed Jotun similarly. He attacked me with his axe in my Mindscape, so Ember appeared behind and stabbed him in the neck. Then we beat him until he died. I don’t know why he didn’t just leave. I know I would have.”
“Pride, if I had to guess. Although it is very strange. There was no real reason for him to stay and die in your Mindscape. Perhaps there is something we’re missing?”
“Mmh. Don’t know what it could be,” I said, as I thought about it. Nothing came to mind, so I continued. “Anyway, Jotun was the third one we took out. The second guy we killed took all four of us working as one. Gus and Mick were firing on him, while I dove from the shelves to attack with my axes. I thought he was distracted, but he saw me and managed to raise one of his swords. I would have been skewered if Ember hadn’t thrown her sword. She used telekinesis to guide it, and it hit his upraised sword arm allowing me to remove his head.”
“Fascinating. Do you realize you are famous among our ships now?”
“Ships?”
“Yes. We managed to rendezvous with Rufus and the people from the Ukraine base when we escaped the supply station. It was their arrival that allowed us to defeat our pursuer. We have also taken control of Jotun’s ship. Anyway, I won’t regale you with everything right now. Better to wait until Ember and Gus are back in action.”
I wasn’t particularly bothered to be honest. Something else was on my mind. Now I knew Ember was safe, there was one bit of information I needed to know.
“Okay, then. I’ve another question. The huge guy, Jotun. The one with that crescent axe.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have his axe?”
“Yes, we have the axe. There are currently four people competing against each other for the honor of possessing it. It’s a masterful weapon, famous among our people for the enemies that it has slain.”
“Yeah! Well, they can fuck off. It’s mine. I killed the bastard, with Ember’s help of course.”
Ogun laughed at that. “How diplomatic of you. Well, you have my blessing, for you do indeed deserve the axe. However, it’s not my axe to give, nor my place to handle such disputes. I am trying to maintain a meritocracy here. You will have to stake your claim with the others competing for the axe.”
“They should’ve checked with me because if it’s here, it’s mine.”
“What if I had taken possession of it?”
“Then you’d give it to me for services rendered, I imagine. There’s no world where that axe doesn’t belong to me.”
“You are a strange man, Shaun,” Ogun said, looking at me oddly. “I remember when you were first brought to me. My patient criteria was for desperate addicts who wouldn’t be missed. Dr. Sans told me that you fit the bill. I was really surprised when I met you because you came across as funny and endearing. You were sad, very sad, but not a social reject as so many of our others were. You really did give me hope of a successful soldier for my little war. And here you are now. I’m very proud.
“Now rest. We will have a further discussion when you’re up and about. I will inform the others of your claim to the axe and no decision will be taken until you are fit and able.”
“No way, Ogun. I need to see Ember. And I need to go get my axe.”
Again, he gave me a strange look. “Very well. Come on.”
He offered me an arm. I took the help, feeling like a deflated balloon. He walked me into the next room to where Ember was sleeping. She was well out of it. I kissed her on the forehead and noticed just how emaciated she'd become. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek at the sight of her like this. There was nothing I could do here, and she was in the best of hands.
With a deep breath and a quick wipe at my face I turned to Ogun and muttered, “Right Ogun! Let’s go and see about my axe.” I didn’t understand where this obsession came from, but as shitty as I felt, this needed to be done.
Ogun led me to the training room. The four would-be competitors, three big men and one very big woman, were doing an assault course.
“Hey, guys!” I shouted. “I hear you're competing for my axe!”
They stopped and dropped from their various apparatus.
<
br /> “Not your axe, noob. Now, fuck off back to bed in your nightie,” the biggest of the men said. He had a short, barely groomed beard and a very aggressive demeanor.
“You tell him, Thor,” said another of the male competitors.
The axe stood in the corner of the gym against the wall and I began to walk over to it. The four of them raced over, blocking my path to defend it. I looked over to Ogun. He shrugged with a small smile on his face. It didn’t look like I was going to get any help from him. The others noticed, too. I was still happy that he came, but felt it was odd he didn’t back up my claim, meritocracy be damned.
I turned back to the meatheads arrayed in front of me. “You heard I killed the owner of the weapon, right?” I stated.
“You didn’t claim it. You’ve lost any right,” the woman who must have been over six-feet, snarled in an Eastern European accent that I couldn’t place. She was possibly more intimidating than Thor. With a short, back and sides haircut and a deep, old scar running from the side of her mouth across her cheek. I wasn’t impressed with this whole debacle. Nor the aggression that was on display.
“I couldn’t claim it. Do you have any idea what we went through?”
“We came and saved your asses. Did you forget about that?” Thor said.
I thought, fuck this! and reached out in my mind to the axe. My intention was just to move it over to me with telekinesis. I knew these guys probably had much better skills in telekinesis, but once I had it, I knew no one would be taking it off me. But I must have made a mistake as I entered its Mindscape. Essentially, a corridor with one room. The door was open, and the axe was leaning against a wall. Now, this surprised me. I didn’t know that weapons had Mindscapes? But apparently this one did.
Then it only bloody spoke to me, “Hello Slayer. Have you finally come to claim me?”
“What the fuck! Dude, how are you talking?”
“Oh, it’s quite simple. I am sentient.”
“Yeah, but how are you sentient? I’ve never heard of such a thing, though I’m majorly ignorant on pretty much everything going on at the minute.”
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