“What the,” Ari whispered. Then she looked up. Into the eyes of a dozen black cloaked figures that had green glowing eyes.
Kirian drew her sword. Quick as a flash, she dispatched two of the demon-eyed figures, which fell to the floor.
When they fell, Ari couldn’t believe it. They weren’t real. They weren’t people, anyway. They appeared to be mechanical creatures in black cloaks. As soon as Kirian sliced them in half, they fell to the ground and the green eyes stopped glowing and faded to black. The creatures were smaller than they appeared to be because their bodies didn’t go all the way to the floor. Now Ari could see that the ones that were still alive were hovering more than walking. There was also a faint buzz. What the hell were those things?
Four more replaced the two that Kirian destroyed. Kirian’s sword went up again, but Ari held up a hand to stop her. “Why are we suddenly being attacked by weird ghost drones?” She stepped in front of Kirian. “What do you want with us?”
“It’s the Staar creature,” a drone in front said in a metallic voice. “You will come with us. The Devourer would like a word with you.”
“Yeah,” Ari said. “I’d like a word with him too.”
“Kill the rest,” the metallic voice said.
Kirian’s sword went up again.
“No!” Ari yelled. “No killing. Take all of us, alive, to The Devourer, or she’ll kill me and ruin your plan.” Ari gestured to Kirian to hold the sword to her throat, which she did reluctantly.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Kirian whispered. “Do you think they will buy it? That I’d hurt you? And do we really want to talk to this Devourer guy? Isn’t that what we were trying to avoid. We could fight our way through this.”
“There are too many of them. I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed,” Ari said. “And I don’t have any other ideas at the moment to keep the rest of you alive. Chime in any time you want.”
“We wouldn’t have waited this long to leave if it weren’t for you insisting on staying,” Ray hissed.
“Yeah? And where exactly would we have gone that a bunch of ghost droids wouldn’t have found us?” Ari hissed back.
Ari and Kirian scanned the eyes of the ghost drones, trying to figure out what they would do. They were silent.
Were they stuck? “Well?” Ari asked. “Are you going to bring us to your leader or what? Because she’ll kill me if I tell her to.”
Kirian shot Ari a look but didn’t say anything.
Another several seconds went by as the figures hovered silently. “We have no choice, then. In order to fulfill our task, we will have to take them all.”
6
Ari wasn’t finished celebrating her short-term victory of persuading the ghost drones to not kill them yet when something bumped into her back. When she turned to see what was going on, she could see that the ghost drones had made it down the main hallway. They were surrounded. She didn’t feel particularly good about the situation, but they were alive. And judging by the number of drones, she knew there was no other choice.
Ray held his hands up. “I’m not sure this is a better plan than just putting on the stupid ring I gave you, Ari.”
“Shut up, Ray. I’m sure Vega isn’t faring any better than we are.”
The ghost drones were pushing all of them now.
“The dice said it would help,” Ray insisted.
“Ari, why didn’t you listen to the dice?” Fleek asked.
Just when Ari was about to make a snide comment back, he yelped.
The demons were getting pokey and injurious. The group was herded back down the main hallway and to the elevator. Then out through the lobby and front door.
As they approached the glass front doors, Ari could see into the courtyard. Other ghost drones were massing, and the crack in the sky was still there. And unless she was hallucinating, there was now a group of weird looking goth space Vikings, hats and all. They stood tall, even among the droids. The sun had come back out and was glinting against their polished hats and silver armor. They wore black cloaks that whipped dramatically in the wind, and their faces were deathly pale. There were fifty or so Vikings in all.
There was one particularly large Viking in the middle, wearing a primitive looking red circle necklace. Ari stared at him. He had impossibly blue eyes and an overly muscular build like his body didn’t fit somehow. Something about the whole thing seemed off to Ari, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
The group was pushed into the square until they were right in front of the Vikings.
The situation angered Ari. She took a further step forward toward her new foes. “Goth Vikings and ghost drones? What is this, Halloween?”
“Who are you?” the oversized Viking in the middle asked.
“I’m Ari. Arcturis Overlord Candidate. And who might you be?”
The Vikings laughed at her. Her face got hot. Then the big one turned to face her again.
“I, little one, am Darduk The Devourer. I’m here to suck this galaxy dry starting with the Staar creature, which I presume is you. Frankly, I expected more. Sometimes the universe makes it easy. Then we’ll loot, pillage, and take everything we want before we blow the place up and move on.”
The other Vikings laughed even harder at that. In fact, they weren’t really paying attention to Ari at all anymore. None of them were, except Darduk. The rest of them were eyeing the shops, restaurants, and hotels like they were scouting the place out for a smash and grab.
“Why would you presume that I’m the Staar creature?” Ari asked, using the same term he did, trying to play coy.
“Because you’re in charge,” Darduk said. “And also, because you’re glowing.”
Ari looked down at her body, which was in fact, glowing, even through her clothes. Drat. It was a dead giveaway. That’s when she began to rethink the Halloween crack.
“So what happens now?” Ari asked.
A twisted smile played across Darduk’s lips. “Now I kill you. The others don’t matter, but they’ll also be dead soon enough.” He turned to his men. “It’s almost looting time.” He took a step toward Ari and held out his arm toward her, but didn’t touch her.
Ari felt a searing pain rip through her head. Her eyes hurt, and her skull felt like it would explode. She tried and failed to move. The only thing she could do was to focus her eyes straight ahead where Darduk, much to her horror, was physically changing in front of her eyes. His head elongated and got bigger. Jagged teeth formed on the outside of his mouth. Ari couldn’t look away even if she had been able to move. In fact, something in the horribly mutating mouth caught her attention. It was shiny and appeared to be glowing, lighting up the rest of the mouth full of teeth that looked like they had spent years crying out for a dentist. She knew instantly what it was, and she couldn’t believe it. Darduk The Devourer had a magic ring. She wondered why it was in his mouth. Why hadn’t he placed it on his hand like everybody else?
“I hope I’m hallucinating, but if I’m not, then what the hell is that thing doing?” Fleek asked. His voice was shaky.
Ari wondered if those poetic words were the last she’d ever hear.
Darduk took another step toward Ari, who still couldn’t move. His plan looked terrifyingly simple. He would take one more step and those jagged teeth and monstrous mouth would eat Ari whole. She was going to get eaten by a mutant goth Viking monster.
“Right,” Kirian said. In a flash of movement, Ari could see her Stingr Sword light up.
There was a swish of light and Kirian severed Darduk’s arm.
The moment she saw Darduk’s arm hit the ground, her head felt better. She struggled to her feet, hoping that they could all make a break for it in the ensuing chaos. She glanced around to make sure that the rest of her group was on the same page when she heard a laughter building from the Vikings.
She turned back to Darduk to see that he had somehow scooped up and reattached his arm.
He flexed his muscles, turning the new limb ove
r and inspecting it.
“That’s not possible,” Ari said.
Darduk’s gaze went from his arm to Ari. He raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re surprised? What kind of Staar are you, anyway?”
Kirian took a step back. “Ok, Ari. I’m officially freaked out. What do we do now?”
That’s when it hit Ari. What it all meant. The ring she’d seen in Darduk’s mouth. It explained everything. The interdimensional travel, the horrible body shape-shifting, the limb regeneration and the bad teeth. Unfortunately, it left her with only one choice.
“Fleek!” Ari said. “We need a seriously powerful, magic killing fractal, now.”
“Um. I thought we went over this already. No fractals. I’m cut off, remember?”
Ari closed her eyes and concentrated. She needed to conjure just enough magic for Fleek to form a fractal. She had no idea what she was doing, but that had never stopped her before. “Try it now.”
Fleek showed he was ready and waiting.
Ari turned to Kirian. “Okay, the minute that fractal pops out, you use your Stingr Sword to cut a path through the ghost drones to the portals.”
Fleek’s fractal sprang to life. It was incredible, easily his best. Just like the first alien invasion, it seemed to freak out and slow down the Vikings. And the drones.
Kirian took off, clearing a path three wide through the ghost drones.
“Let’s go!” Ari yelled. She hated to even admit it to herself, but what she saw inside of Darduk’s mouth combined with the fact he probably couldn’t be killed in his current form had changed her mind. Now there was a new plan. A new, horrible, awful plan. Ray’s plan. She needed that ring. The only chance they had was to fight magic with magic. “We’re going to Vega.”
“I knew it!” Ray yelled. “We’re going to get the ring.”
“Yes, Ray,” Ari said. “We’re going to get the stupid ring.”
Fleek’s fractal wouldn’t last long, but it was working. Kirian was making her way toward the portals and the closer she got, the fewer ghost drones there were. And then they were through to the Arcturis Portals.
They made their way to the sphere on the right, the one that would take them to Vega, but Ari stopped them. She turned to Ray and pushed him back against the cement wall.
“What the hell?”
“You lied to me Ray. When were you going to tell me? After I put the ring on?”
“What are you talking about?” Ray asked.
Kirian drew her sword and eyed the doorway to the portals. “Ari, whatever this is, I’d get to the point if I were you. I don’t think we have very much time. You know they will follow us.”
“You said the ring would change me, but not into something I wasn’t supposed to be,” Ari continued.
“Yeah, and?” Ray looked confused.
That wasn’t a good sign. “When that thing tried to eat me, I saw something, Ray. That Devourer guy has a ring. And he’s not even remotely human anymore, he’s some weird mutant. Is that what will happen to me?”
The conversation now had piqued everybody’s interest.
“I don’t know,” Soda chimed in, “you could do with a few mutant touches, maybe it would make you more interesting.”
Ari wheeled on Soda, who held up a few tentacles.
“Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Please, continue yelling at Ray in the middle of the alien invasion. It sounds productive.”
Ari turned back to Ray and fixed him with a stare. “I’m going to get answers and I’m going to get them now. I don’t know what’s waiting for me when I put on the ring.”
Ray’s expression softened. “It’s possible. Merging organic creatures and magical items is not an exact science, and it’s incredibly rare. Sometimes it doesn’t take.”
“Be very specific, Ray. What are my chances here?”
Ray cast a worried glance at the portal door. He talked faster. “Okay. It’s like me and the dice. There’s a pairing process, to make sure that the two are comparable, me and the dice. There has to be mutual respect, the two of you have to figure out how to communicate and get along, otherwise-“
“Otherwise what, Ray?”
“Well, otherwise, that.” He indicated outside at the mutant space Viking. “If the living host can’t handle the magical item for whatever reason, then the magic can take over.”
“One more question, how do I avoid that fate? Once I put it on, how can I keep it from taking over?”
“Look, it’s going to try to work with you, Ari. I know that it’s meant for you. I know it, the dice know it, and I get the feeling Darduk knows it too. It’s our only chance. And I’m pretty sure that the ring can get the magic turned back on. It might even restore communications through the blockade.”
Ari figured that would have to do for now. “They’re looking for me, which means they’ll probably follow me to Vega. I’ll draw them off. You guys double back to the Galactic Ambassador and see if you can find Froggy and Floyd. I’ll get the ring and come back.
Soda nodded. “Okay. I’ve got to head back anyway and find Drexyl. I’ll sneak them back in.”
“You don’t know what’s going on in Vega,” Kirian said. “I’m going with you just in case.”
“And don’t think you’re going to Vega without me,” Fleek said.
“Fine,” Ari answered. There was too much going on to argue with him. With a nod to Kirian, she took a deep breath and led the smaller group through the portal.
7
Ari blinked into the sunlight and chaos on the other side of the portal. Normally, the portal to Vega exited next to the beach, leading to a very peaceful and satisfactory half mile walk to the Regal Hotel where her apartment was. Not today.
Laser fire blasts echoed, and people were running through the streets. There were ghost drones everywhere. Kirian grabbed Ari and pulled her back out of the street.
“There’s a lot of armed drones between us and Regal,” Fleek said. “What are we going to do?”
“Harry!” Ari said. She tried to call him and got a busy signal. Weird. So she texted him. “It’s Ari. I’m at the portal and I need to get to you.” Luckily, the text went through.
A second later, she had a response. “Sending someone now. We got attacked a few hours ago, but once the attack started, we weren’t able to get any communications through to Arcturis.”
“What did he say?” Kirian asked.
“He says somebody’s on their way to help us get through. And that when the city came under attack, communications were knocked out.”
The group knelt just out of sight for a few minutes. The faint sound of footsteps sounded behind them. Kirian drew two swords and waited for the attacker to appear.
Then Ari heard a familiar voice.
“Well, you lot are the last people I expected to see here in Vega. And you’re just as jumpy as we are. Good. Otherwise, you’d all be dead by now.”
Ari turned and then broke into a smile. The muscled and serious looking gangster with the fin on top of his head then bent over. He was breathing heavy. “Carpe! I’m glad you’re okay. Did you run all the way here?”
He took a few breaths. “Yes, I ran here. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re under attack.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Ari said. “How is Regal holding out?”
“Oh, you know Harry. He’s going down fighting. He’s coordinating with the other families trying to clear a perimeter. Right now, Regal is the only building not under enemy control. You need to go back to Arcturis. You need to tell them we need help.”
“I can’t,” Ari said. “Arcturis is even more overrun than you guys are. Besides, I have to get to Regal. There’s something I need.”
Carpe shook his head. “There’s no way, Ari. I barely made it here alone, and the enemy units are massing in the path that I used to get here. My orders are to go back to Arcturis with you and see do what I can on that end.”
“I’ll save you the trouble, Carpe,” Fleek said. “
Things are bad on Arcturis. Ghost drones and aliens are streaming through the portals. There’s an interdimensional rip in the sky. Can you believe that? Do you guys have an actual rip in your sky?”
Carpe wiped his face with his hands. “Not that I know of.” Then he pushed everybody back into the Vega portal station.
“What are you doing?” Ari asked.
He put a hand over her mouth and kept shoving until they were all the way in and in a dark corner. After a few minutes, he let go of her mouth and whispered, “That was a patrol. Those ghost drones, as you call them, make a humming noise as they approach.” He sighed once the danger had passed. “I don’t know, Ari. Harry’s plan sounds better.”
Ari shook her head. “Carpe, I’ve got to get into Regal. The fate of the galaxy could rest on me getting to my apartment.” Ari felt stupid saying it even if it was true. She didn’t like being so dramatic. And she couldn’t believe she was here getting that stupid ring.
“Why?” Carpe asked. “What’s so important? Is there an ancient relic in the basement? More palladium? Or the cool ancient murals? What’s your plan for saving the world, Ari?”
Fleek butted in, “She has to get a Christmas present that Ray gave her.”
Carpe tried to stare a hole in Fleek’s head for a moment before his gaze swung back to Ari. He wore a scowl. Then he exhaled, realizing he’d been had. “Ok, I get it. Fleek’s on drugs, always has been. And you guys are a breath of fresh air. Everything’s been so serious and awful here. And then you guys show up talking nonsense as usual, which is way more fun than trying to stay alive for ten more seconds. A Christmas present.” He chuckled softly. “If I survive this, then I’d like to hit a bar when all of this is over and laugh about that. So, what’s the real story?” He exhaled and waited.
Ari shook her head. This whole situation was getting frustrating. “I’m afraid Fleek’s right. But it’s more complicated than it sounds, trust me. The long story short is that Ray’s dice said that a magic ring of power he gave me could be the key to surviving this weird alien invasion. The invasion itself is being led by some kind of mutant goth Space Viking.” Ari held up a hand. “Honestly, Carpe. Regal honor. This ring could mean the difference between the life and death of the galaxy. All of us. And no, I don’t understand exactly how. I’m sort of taking Ray’s word on this one.”
Overlord Alliance: Book 2 of the Neon Octopus Ally Series Page 4