by Kelly A Nix
What about Schinn? Did he see it? He didn’t mention it. Maybe he was being polite.
“I…I…” Atae tries to find the words to explain her miserable performance in the face of fear. Does Solum think she is afraid of battle beasts? Surely not. She has proven herself numerous times against multiple battle beasts. Why would Sloan scare her? But what other explanation could he find? Solum would assume she feared Sloan, not the phantom creature that haunts her dreams.
“I’m sorry,” Atae says. Avoiding the disappointment and shame she expects to see in her father’s eyes, Atae slows her pace to fall behind. As Jeqi passes her friend, the blonde reaches out with her tail and tugs on her Atae’s arm. She leads the blue-haired youngling down the hall a few steps behind Solum. The soft touch of Jeqi’s furry tail comforts Atae and reminds her of their recent trek down the dark path to King Uta’s tomb.
“What do you plan to do?” Jeqi asks Advisor Solum. They round another corner, and a large high-security door comes into view.
“I have decided on a way, or a training exercise, to rid Atae of this unfounded fear of that beast.”
“Really?” Atae twists her face into a frown, crestfallen by her father’s abhorrence of her apparent fear of battle beasts. It was one battle. Sure, it was a horrific mistake that would have gotten her killed in the Gridiron, but usually, he just lectures her to do better. As far as Solum knows, the throne room was the first incident of her showing any type of fear for a battle beast, right?
“Let me guess, it’s going to involve one of us bleeding,” Jeqi says. She cradles her nose as they reach the high-security door. Solum smirks and presses his thumb against the security pad until the door beeps and slides open.
“We are Kaji,” he says.
Solum wipes the blood from his thumb, and Atae’s eyebrows rise at the high-security clearance. The royal advisor leads the two younglings through the door and into the navigation room, a small, barren room with no windows. The smooth walls reflect the single light source in the center of the ceiling. To the right of the three Kaji, Solum accesses a small control panel using his visual visor. He selects a few options, and the control panel beeps in confirmation. Then the door slides shut behind them with a tone of finality.
The entire room quivers, and the two younglings grab each other for support. As the navigation room descends below the palace grounds, they relax and watch the wall above the control panel flicker into a viewing screen. At first, the three Kaji only see dirt and the structural workings of the palace as they leave it behind, then the soil and rocks give way to a massive cavern. Jeqi and Atae step closer to peer down as they descend upon a maze of metal cubes and energy fields. Jeqi wraps her tail around her waist for safekeeping and regards Solum.
“This is the palace dungeon.” When Solum nods in confirmation, Jeqi continues. “This is where all the most dangerous criminals are housed.”
“And prisoners of war are held and…interrogated,” Atae says. She remembers the carvings on the walls at the entrance and watches the compound as it draws closer. She wonders if Solum brought Sloan here to calm down and shift back to his original form.
Is that the exercise? A second chance to face a battle beast? Maybe a criminal? That would be cool.
“So what are we doing here?” Jeqi asks
The navigation room slows to a stop at the bottom of the cavern and maneuvers between other cubes. Atae watches as large and small cubes fly by at incredible speeds. Curious, Jeqi uses her visor to access the control panel.
“Fear is a pit, and it grows deeper and darker the longer you dwell in it. Shine a light on it, and you’ll find it’s just a hole to be climbed,” Solum says.
Jeqi and Atae glance at each other, then at Solum. Before either has a chance to question the older warrior, the navigation room jolts to a stop. Jeqi grabs Atae to keep from toppling over as the momentum pushes her to one end of the room. Solum steps around them to activate the control panel, again. The younglings watch the viewing screen above Solum as it displays the outside of a nearby large, metal cube. Upon Solum’s command, the room shifts closer to the hub until it bumps against it. The viewing screen flickers to reveal the inside of the cube. But it’s dark inside and appears empty.
“Father, what’s going on?” Atae asks.
Jeqi tries to peer through the darkness, but her night vision doesn’t work through video. Solum slips both hands onto his daughter’s shoulders and meets her gaze with a furrowed brow.
“Atae, I need you to understand that your mind and fear can make simple obstacles into treacherous feats,” he says. His intense, black eyes burrow into Atae’s soul, and she drops her gaze as shame crawls into her chest.
“I’m sorry about the way I responded to Sloan’s battle beast. I won’t let it happen again. I was just surprised.”
Solum studies Atae while she struggles with her inner doubts, and he nods his head with a deep, resonating sigh. The royal advisor straightens to submit another command to the control panel. With a beep, the wall next to the viewing screen slides open into the dark cell. A fowl stench escapes the dark room, and Jeqi backs away from it, covering her nose. She reassesses the control panel, hoping to determine the contents of the cell without suffering the stench of it. Curious to see her father’s plan in action, Atae wrinkles her nose, but steps closer. She swivels away from the open door to face her father when he speaks to her in a grim voice.
“You’re in a pit. And it’s time for you to pull on the strength I know you possess. You have to stand firm against your fears and climb out,” he says.
Atae frowns and sighs. I can’t believe Father actually believes I’m afraid of battle beasts.
“You are going into that cell, and you are not coming out until you are no longer afraid of that beast,” Solum says. “I don’t care if you have to kill him to make it happen.”
“Really?” Atae’s eyes widen in surprise. Is she allowed to kill some random criminal? The thought of doing so creates a knot in her stomach, so Atae decides that won’t be necessary.
“Atae, no,” Jeqi snaps her eyes up from the control panel. “That’s Kandorq’s cell.”
Motivated by sheer terror, Atae lunges away from the open door. She’s certain that the creature from her nightmares will reach out and pull her into the dark abyss. Solum snatches Atae by her uniform and drags her back to the open door. Jeqi lurches into their path and hisses, startling Solum. He hesitates long enough for Atae to pry at his grip and bite his arm. He growls in frustration and swings Atae like a club against Jeqi. The hybrids crash against each other, slamming Jeqi into the metal wall, while Solum holds tight to Atae. The blonde crumbles to the floor with a painful cry. Undeterred, Atae continues to bite and scratch at Solum’s arm and hand until he smashes her back into the viewing screen and pins her against the shattered mess.
“Stop. You will do this, or I will leave you in that cell to rot,” he says
Atae is back in the forest and trapped against the rock face. Tears well in her pleading eyes.
“Please, don’t do this,” she says. Solum flinches from his daughter’s cries, and upon his hesitation, Atae believes he’s going to release her. A wave of relief washes over her, only to freeze into an icy chill as Solum steels his resolve.
“You are strong. You are Kaji,” he says. Then with a quick lurch, Solum tosses her into the dark cell. She skids across the floor until she crashes into the far wall of the cell. Atae jumps to her feet and dashes for the open cell door, but it slides shut as Solum watches his daughter scramble in fear, and Jeqi screams at his back.
“What have you done?” Jeqi runs to the control panel and commands the door to open. When nothing happens, she swirls to him, and he slides to the floor with his back against the closed door. A tingling numbness washes over him as he processes the last few moments.
What have I done?
Atae begged him not to do it, and still, she beseeches. Solum cringes at his daughter’s sobbing and banging through the door.
His body jolts from the reverberating metal of each strike, and he clings to the painful feeling.
“Open it,” Jeqi demands. But Solum just stares at the wall across from him as Atae continues to hammer on the door. She begs and sobs to be let in, and he hangs his head in his palms. When his hands find moisture on his cheeks, Solum wipes the tears from his eyes and stares at his fingers in horror.
I’m crying? When did that happen?
Solum remembers the last time he allowed tears to wet his face. It was when he lost Roga. A familiar pain attacks Solum, and he forgets how to breathe. Jeqi twists her face into a scowl at the royal advisor, and she shakes her fists him.
“Do you hear her? That’s your daughter, begging for you to help her.”
Still, Solum says nothing. He drops his hands and presses the back of his head against the metal door. He grimaces as though in pain but doesn’t move from the door. Furious, Jeqi kicks and punches at the royal advisor with as much strength as she can muster. At first, Solum lets her assault him; he deserves punishment. But after a few painful strikes, he grabs one arm in mid-attack and pushes her down to the floor. She struggles to pull away but stops when she notices the tears streaking down his face.
“Why are you doing this?” she asks. Her stormy blue eyes of rage and fear glower over her bruised nose and into his black abyss of pain and loss.
“I’m helping her,” he whispers.
Atae’s banging and pleading stops, and an eerie silence falls. Jeqi stares up at the door, terrified of what the silence means. Hoping for peace, Solum embraces the deafening silence until the attempts to escape renew with more fear and panic than before. Solum groans, and Jeqi struggles out of his grip.
“You call this help? Throwing her to that creature?” Jeqi says. “If you won’t save her, then I will.”
Chapter 29
Atae slams into the closing door as it latches shut. She bangs on it and pleads to be let out.
“Please don’t do this. Please let me out. I promise I’ll do anything you want.” Tears stream down her cheeks, and blood drips from her raw fists.
“Please, Father. Please, help me. Don’t do this.” She whispers through the sobs with her face pressed against the door. The irrational fear of something stalking her in the dark cell terrorizes Atae. The dread that at any moment Kandorq will snatch her up from behind threatens to overwhelm her. Her heart races, and the roaring of blood and adrenaline drowns out everything around her. Blinded by darkness and deafened by panic, Atae’s fear heightens further, and her rational thought slips away. Insanity settles into the crevices of her mind.
When a shadow moves at the other end of the cell, Atae freezes. Too frightened to look, Atae stares at the door with her back to the impending shadow. She imagines Kandorq striding toward her with his evil, red eyes and anticipatory smirk. She can smell the foul stench of his breath and his thick tongue on her cheek. When she hears his chuckle emanating within her mind, she panics.
“Open the door, please. Please. Don’t let this happen. Father, please.”
When the rustling noise is upon her, Atae swivels to see an indistinct figure in the darkness reaching toward her. She falls to the ground to avoid his grasp and backpedals until the wall stops her with a hard thud. Through the black void, Atae can only make out Kandorq’s large frame, but her imagination fills in the gruesome details.
“I remember you,” he whispers through the dark. “I knew you’d come back to me. They always do.”
He twists his gruesome mouth into a smile and licks his lips, imagining all kinds of terrible things for Atae as his red eyes roam over the youngling. Atae shivers at the violation and wraps her arms around her upper body. She closes her eyes and shields her face.
“Hmm. I can smell your fear. Delicious.”
Terrified, Atae presses one side of her face into the hard wall at her back as he leans down to her and strokes a finger across her cheek. She wishes she could dissolve into the wall to escape the vile creature as his breath, foul and disgusting, whispers against her ear.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Please, please. Help me,” Atae says to anyone who will listen.
As the fear-driven irrationality drowns her mind, Atae slips into a mental void that pulls her deeper into delirium. Her chest tightens, and she stops breathing. The darkness swallows her whole, and she no longer has the strength nor the will power to stop it. With the pressure of fear and panic seizing her mind, something deep within Atae breaks with an audible snap that echoes through her soul. Silver fog bursts from the echoes, and Atae is forced to let go.
Enough.
Beast steps forward out of the silver smoke and pushes Atae’s quivering presence aside with disgust. Beast opens her fuchsia eyes and drops her arms to grip the floor. She swivels to face the creature that dares to threaten Atae. Beast feels the solid wall at her back and the damp dirt under her palms, but not the fear and vulnerability that plagues Atae. No, Beast is strong and brave, and she knows what to do.
With a thought, Beast’s eyes shift to activate her night vision. The dark cell transforms into a grimy, blood-covered box with a small bucket in the corner. Beast sniffs and confirms, smiling when she recognizes the scent of Kandorq’s dried blood on the walls. Turning to see the Gortox approach, she frowns in disappointment.
Kandorq isn’t bent over her as Atae imagined but still struggling to find her in the dark. He stumbles toward Beast with a single incomplete hand that reaches out in front of him. Someone amputated each finger on the outstretched hand, leaving only twitching nubs. His other hand and lower arm are missing past the elbow. The torturer stitched close the amputations and left them to rot with infection. As Kandorq reaches Beast, she sidesteps him and observes the rest of his status. Infected from lack of care, the sockets that used to contain his eyes now seep black and green goo. Kandorq’s tormentor removed his horns, teeth, and tongue, from the look of his gawking mouth. The Gortox gurgles as he stumbles into the wall where Beast stood.
Atae stares at Kandorq through Beast’s eyes, and relief washes away her fear and panic. Amused that Atae would be frightened by this pathetic creature, Beast snorts. The noise draws Kandorq’s attention, and he lurches in her direction.
“Peh, kah meh,” Kandorq pleads as he stumbles closer to her.
Death would end his suffering, Beast says to Atae.
He doesn’t deserve mercy, Atae says. She reminds Beast of Kandorq’s offenses with memories of his attack. Beast bristles at the images and growls at Kandorq. His face, dark with pain, lightens at the sound and hopes for a quick end, but Beast has another idea. As his outstretched hand comes close, Beast calls her blades forth, ignoring the slicing pain as they erupt from her forearms. With one swift motion, Beast cuts off the Gortox’s remaining hand.
Screaming, Kandorq drops back and flails his arm as blood spurts all over the room. When it sprays across her face and neck, Beast revels in his pain and enjoys the feel of enemy blood on her skin. Still screaming his tongue-less ramblings, Kandorq stumbles and falls on his back. Beast jumps on to his chest and smiles at the crunching and snapping of bones under the impact. Beast crouches down over Kandorq’s face, pressing into his damaged ribs. She watches him gurgle blood, and Beast smirks in satisfaction as Atae cheers in her mind.
Relishing the sounds of Kandorq drowning in his blood, Beast slips gentle hands over his smooth head. Careful not to touch the seeping remains of his horns, Beast caresses his sweaty cheeks. Soon Kandorq stops struggling and lies back to accept his fate. Atae whispers to him. She knows only Beast can hear her, but she still savors the satisfaction and strength the words give her.
I know you remember my face. It was the last thing you saw. I never want you to forget me. I never want you to forget what I'm going to do and that I'm the one that did it. All because you were too weak to stop me.
Grinning at the irony in Atae’s silent words, Beast calls upon her claws. She slips her fingers over Kandorq’s bald head an
d digs her talons into his skull as he struggles and screams. The deeper she penetrates, the more he cries until she hears a loud crack and brain matter squeezes out under her nails. Kandorq’s body spasms and lurches, then it falls still. Beast pulls her claws from the Gortox’s skull and smiles as Atae dances across her mind.
I am strong. I am Kaji, Beast says.
After a moment of mute celebration, Beast regards the sealed door, prodding Atae for information on how to escape. Then Kandorq gasps for air, and Beast spins to face the corpse. When she finds it sitting up and watching her, Beast steps to the side, and Kandorq’s eyeless sockets follow her. Disappointed that her initial attempt to kill the pathetic creature failed, Beast surges forward and slices Kandorq’s head off with one mighty swing. The detached head rolls into a corner facing away from Beast, and she snorts in satisfaction. Atae urges Beast to watch the head to be sure the deed is done, and she complies.
When both are certain of the kill, Beast turns away only to be drawn back by sounds of the skull retching. The decapitated head rolls around to face Beast and meets her gaze with its puss-filled sockets. The skull opens its mouth to speak, but tongue-less, it gags.
What is it? Beast asks.
I don’t know. Ask it.
Beast snorts at the ridiculous idea of using Atae’s mouth to speak.
Then I’ll do it, Atae says.
And leave you to defend us? No
I am perfectly capable of defending us. I’ve gotten us this far.
No, you were cowering in the corner. Beast sneers at Atae.
Before Atae can respond, the gurgling, bodiless head screeches, and Beast jumps back. Then both Beast and Atae scream as something tears at their mind. Atae can feel claws ripping at her existence and pulling her apart. Beast falls to the ground, shifting back to her first form, as all of her effort and concentration falls onto the mental trespasser.