“Me too,” Soda said, crossing her tentacles.
Ari caught movement out of the corner of her ring vision. She pointed to the left.
Soda turned and saw what Ari saw, a horde of ghost drones coming in fast. “I gotta say, Ari. It’s SO creepy what you’re doing right now. Running around directing everything with a bandanna on your face.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Ari said. “It’s time to run!”
Ari turned to the right and sprinted. She was leading them even further away from the square. Soda was keeping pace as they turned down Metal Garden Street.
Soda was out of breath now as she slithered up next to Ari. “Has your ring vision cut out or something, Ari? If we keep going this way—”
Ari cut in. “Then they’ll have a perfect route down Analog Place to cut us off.”
Soda balked. “You mean you’re running us into a trap on purpose?”
“Yes. You’ll be able to teleport us back to the square, right?”
“Yes. It takes a lot out of me, too,” Soda said. “When this is over, you will owe me boxes of junior mints. And a bunch of drinks too.”
“If we survive this, I’ll make all of your drinks doubles.”
“Deal,” Soda said. “Here we go.”
The two of them turned the corner into a new mass of ghost drones. “Holy crap,” Ari said. There were hundreds.
“Are those things getting faster and smarter or is it me?” Soda asked.
“I think you’re right. They must have some Artificial Intelligence built into them,” Ari said. “That means our time frame and our margin of error just got a lot smaller.” Ari got closer to Soda as the drones closed in. they were surrounded now. Ari couldn’t even see the buildings anymore. She hugged Soda. “Now!”
Ari and Soda re-materialized in the middle of Arcturis Square again.
Ari looked around. Ray was right. The square was almost deserted. Okay, time to get down to business. She stood still and tried to listen to the ring. It didn’t take long. The ring zeroed in on the location of the treasure like a GPS in her brain. She ran over to the center of Arcturis Square, where there was a statue toppled over.
Soda followed her. “Malthassar. She/he was my favorite, you know.”
“I’m not admiring your statue, Soda. Underneath.” Ari pointed. “It’s here. What we’re looking for.” She got down on her hands and knees to dig, but where the statue used to be was a ten foot base layer of cement. Her mind raced.
Froggy! Froggy and his robot. “Where are you, Froggy?” Ari was screaming now, she knew time was running out and the cement in between her and the object was a problem.
“It’s about time you two came back.” The voice came from behind Ari. It was Fleek.
Ari turned to him to see that he had two shovels, one in each hand. He looked even better than the last time she saw him. Ever since he became one with the fractals, his physical appearance had gotten better and better. How odd was that?
“How in the hell were you two going to get that thing out of the ground once you found it?” he asked tauntingly. “Were you going to dig it out with your bare hands?”
“I wasn’t going to,” Soda said. “I’m leaving the digging to you two.”
Ari ran to Fleek, whose golden Mohawk was perfect. “Where’s Froggy? There’s a layer of concrete. We don‘t have time to dig around it.”
The sound of whirring metal echoed around the square. “I see you guys can’t go ten minutes without good old Froggy,” he said.
“Hey, over here!” Ari yelled, pointing at the ground beneath her. “We need a missile right here. To break up the concrete.”
“I can do that,” the speakers on Froggy’s robot said. “But first maybe you want me to blast them?”
Ari turned to see where the robot was pointing. Damn. The drones were coming back. “Soda, text everybody and tell them to get back out here and cover for us. Froggy, never mind them, blast this block of cement right now. Please.”
“Right now, right now? Because you people are literally standing there. And you’re still wearing that bandanna? I gotta say, that’s pretty badass, baby.”
Ari backed up and gestured for Fleek and Soda to follow her. “Okay, Froggy. You can blast it now. And never call me baby again.”
There was a brief second or two as Ari, Soda, and Fleek stood there and stared at the cement slab was about to be destroyed by missile fire. Then Soda grabbed them from behind with her tentacles and dragged them all backward.
“What are you doing?” Ari protested.
“You’ve seen Froggy aim those missiles, right?” Soda replied. “You may as well be firing them with that bandanna on your face; before you got your magic ring.”
Oh yeah, thought Ari, just as the patch of earth they had been standing on blew up, sending chunks of grass and earth into the air.
“Sorry,” Froggy said. “Hang on, I’ll try again.”
“Over there, Froggy!” Ari screamed. “We really don’t have time for this.”
Froggy sent out another missile barrage. This one hit the target, sending grass, dirt, and chunks of concrete up into the air. A chunk hit Ari right in the face. She could feel the impact and the pressure through the bandana, but she didn’t feel any pain. She felt her face with her hand. It was bleeding. It still didn’t really hurt though, so she did the only thing she could at the moment. She grabbed a shovel from Fleek.
“Help me,” she told Soda, running over to where the ring said the location of the item was.
“Um, you have something on your face, Ari. I think you might be injured,” Soda said.
“I’m okay. And we don’t have time. Help me dig,” Ari answered. Luckily, the broken up ground was giving way easily around the chunks of concrete. She brushed some debris out of the way. Then she got up and put her foot hard onto the shovel. The ground gave way. As she moved the earth to the side, though, she saw red dripping down into the earth. Oh no. She really was bleeding. But she felt nothing. There was no pain, so how bad could it really be?
“Okay,” Soda said, “but I’m telling you, you will want to have that looked at later.”
Ray and some other Regal guys came streaming out of the Galactic Ambassador to battle the incoming ghost drones, which were massing quickly now. Fleek dropped his shovel and sauntered casually over toward the battle to help. He didn’t look worried. He looked calm, happy even.
“How do you do it, Fleek?” Ari called after him.
“Incoming,” Froggy yelled.
“Do what?” Fleek asked.
“Believe,” Ari said. “How is it you always believe? And that it always works out for you?”
Fleek was getting farther and farther away. Without turning around, she heard his voice. “You have to make your peace with it, Ari. There’s no other way.”
Blast, Ari thought. I don’t have any peace.
Then he turned and sprinted back to her so fast that she thought at first that his aim was to knock her over. She took a step back. She stood up and dropped her shovel.
“Look,” he said, as he rapidly approached. “You’re going to have to figure out how to let go, Ari. These trust issues you have, well, they’re not just going to get you killed, they will get all of us killed. There’s an entire world you’re missing out on because you won’t believe. And another thing—” He stopped talking and froze. “Oh, my god. What happened to your face?”
The look on Fleek’s face worried her more than she wanted to let on.
“We have to get you to a hospital. Now,” he continued, trying to make sideways eye contact with Soda. “I think you can take that bandanna off too. You proved your point, Ari. Now you look like a creepy, bloody showoff.”
Ari looked from Fleek to Soda. She knew she didn’t have time for this. She needed to keep digging, but the looks on their faces. It wasn’t good. They looked worried. She peeled off the bandanna. She could feel that it was wet, soaked through, presumably with blood. A chunk of concrete must
have hit her face when Froggy blasted the concrete statue base. She hated it when Soda was right. She got it off and opened her eyes. The world disappeared. She closed her eyes and everything came back. She tried peeking. Nothing. “Why can’t I see anything?”
“Ew.” Soda made a face. “Well, sweetie, one of your eyes is, um, well, missing. And the other one is swollen shut. Pirate treasure feels entirely appropriate right now because when this whole thing is over, you will need an eye patch and probably some plastic surgery. But hey, you weren’t a knockout to begin with, and surgeons can do wonders these days.”
Fleek covered his face. “Put the bandanna back on, Ari.”
“Yeah,” Soda agreed. “That’s probably best right now. You should put it back on. It’ll keep from distracting us, and at least it’ll stem the bleeding a little.”
Ari tried to process the information. No. No way that happened. And she didn’t feel it. Had she really lost an eye? It was all too much. Her world was crumbling around her and right or wrong, she decided that she simply wasn’t going to deal with it. She had to focus on something, anything. “Look, guys. I know that you’re only looking out for me, but I’m not doing this right now. I can’t. So, help me or don’t, but I have one thing to do and I will do it. No matter what.”
20
The one thing real to Ari right now was the buried treasure. She could feel the pull. She tried once more to see and failed. Then she wrapped the bloody bandanna back across her face to keep her eyes- or eye according to Soda, from trying to pop open, blinding her.
That done, she picked up her shovel. It was much easier to see with the bandanna back on and she knew just where to dig. She could sense and hear the ghost drones closing in and she didn’t care. She dug faster. The others weren’t helping her dig, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t busy.
She could hear weapons fire and blows. The fighting was all around her. They were covering for her so she could find it. Fleek shrieked, cursed, and then several ghost drones went flying. She could hear grunts coming from Soda.
She moved the earth faster, dug into the earth deeper, and put her weight into it, tossing the earth aside. She got into a better rhythm. Her shovel hit something solid. She knew it was what she was looking for.
That’s when a demon drone hit her with something. It sliced into her and knocked her down. The drone stood over her, weapon poised at her head. Ari held her hands up. Then a tentacle came from her left, wrapped around its neck and squeezed.
“Oh boy. Sorry about that, Ari,” Soda said. “You will feel that later I’m afraid.”
Ari turned her head to see that Soda was missing at least two tentacles and was bleeding.
Fleek was limping and pulling additional laser guns out of his jeans pockets.
“I found it,” Ari yelled, getting back up and grabbing the shovel again. “Just give me one more minute.” Whatever new injury Soda was talking about, she didn’t feel that either. Maybe it was just as well. She cleared out the dirt around the solid item she had hit with her shovel. It turned out to be a box. She felt something hit her from behind on her right shoulder. She ignored it. She dug into the hole with her fingers until she pulled out the box.
“Brave.” The word rippled across her mind.
Ari immediately knew it was meant for her. That the ring had spoken it. That nobody else could hear it.
Ari smiled and turned back to the box. It was a small, old-looking green metal box and reminded her of an army supply case. It had latches on either side that came off easily. And then the box popped open. When it did, a light came out of the box. The light blinded Ari. Shit, she thought, I already can’t see with my physical eyes, or eye as the case may be. Now what am I going to do?
The blinding light was only temporary, though, thank goodness, and when it had dissipated, she saw what was inside. It was a marble. All of this for a marble? She picked up the small red and white swirled stone and held it in her hand. It was heavier than she would have thought. She held it up to the light and stared into it.
The ring. It was happy with her. It told her to put the orb in her pocket, which she did. I did it; she thought. She stood up.
“A good sign, that is.” The voice was physical, and it was so close it almost made her fall backward. As she did so, she saw that it was Demon Yoda.
“Are you serious right now? Sneaking up on me like that?” Ari asked. “Because if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were literally trying to kill me.”
“Holy shit,” Demon Yoda said. “You look like hell. And, um, nice bandana.”
Ari got up and dusted herself off, which was superfluous really, to knock the dust off your backside when your face is dripping blood. “What happened to “oh, it’s such a great sign”?” Ari asked. “Just for the sake of asking, it’s such a great sign I found what the ring was looking for, right?”
Demon Yoda shook his head. “No, it’s a good sign that the ring called you brave.”
“You heard that?” Ari asked.
“Yes.”
“Did everybody hear it? It didn’t sound out loud to me, it sounded… different.” Ari felt stupid asking, but she had been through enough to lay it all on the line.
“I only heard it because I have my own magic. Nobody else on this planet could have possibly heard it. Not even Ray or Fleek. And impressing the ring is invaluable. Magic rings are like people. They have their own intelligence, personality, and background. No two are ever alike. And they seek their own hosts for their own reasons.”
“Okay,” Ari said, “you seem to have all the answers. What’s the orb for?”
“I don’t know,” Green Demon Yoda answered. And then the ghost drones closed in and he disappeared.
“Really?” Ari screamed to Demon Yoda even though he was gone. “It’s going to be like that? You could help us, you know.” Her words disappeared into the air.
“He seems like an ass,” Soda said. She was nearby, battling ghost drones. She was losing. “But he’s right. I didn’t hear the word brave. By the way, what was worth dying for? What was in the box?”
Ari decided not to lie to Soda. Not now. They had been through too much for that. “Um, it was a little marble.”
“Fantastic,” Soda said bitterly. “Glad you could add to your collection. Is this marble useful in any way?”
“It wasn’t my idea,” Ari lashed out. “And I don’t know if it’ll help. I do know we’re in trouble. Right now.”
Ari looked around. The good guys were in bad shape. Everywhere she looked her friends were getting beaten down. Ok, ring, I gave you what you wanted. We now have the orb. Now help me. She made a wish. Really it was more of a request, of the ring.
She closed her inner eyes so she was in total darkness. All she could hear were the sounds of fighting going on around her. Missiles, weapons fire, screams, humming, and yelling. She held her eyes shut tight, and after a moment, even the sounds faded away. “Look ring,” she said, or rather she thought inside her mind, “If we’re really in this together, then I will need a little help, ok? And not Demon Yoda help either. Real help. I don’t want to lose myself, but I don’t want to die either. And I don’t want my friends to die.” Based on the looks she was getting, she wasn’t so sure there would be much of her left to save. “Please,” she told the ring. “Help them. Get them far away from here. Away from the demons and out of the blockade.”
“Selfless,” the ring whispered.
She sort of hoped that her friends wouldn’t disappear even though she wished it. She didn’t want to die alone. But she was now prepared to fight for her friends and for her own life. The fact that she could open her eyes, that she was still here at all was incredible. And that was thanks to Soda, who had battled everything facing herself and everything facing Ari, giving her time to interface with the ring. Now that she was finished interfacing with the ring, though, the surrounding noise had gone silent. All of it. She was afraid of what she’d find when she opened her eyes. She opened
them anyway.
The courtyard was deserted. Except for her friends. A cheer rose. They were hurt and exhausted, but a quick glance around revealed that they were still alive. All of them. And they were now alone in the courtyard.
Ari breathed a sigh of relief. Then she felt stupid for wishing her friends away instead of wishing away her enemies. In her defense, she had been under a lot of stress lately. And apparently she had lost a bunch of blood. “Thank you, ring,” she whispered.
“What was that, Ari?” Soda asked. She was holding a severely injured and bleeding tentacle. “I need a Band-Aid over here.”
“Nothing,” Ari said.
“What happened?” Soda asked. “Where did all the ghost drones go?”
Ari took another breath. Everything seemed quiet, for the moment, but she knew it wasn’t over. “Did anybody see exactly what happened?” She was curious about how it all went down, since she didn’t see it herself, she only made the wish.
Soda went over to her. “Well, let me sum it up for you. First, you were kneeling over there, taking a break. While I was over here, killing myself trying to cover you. Then something happened. There was a light, kind of like that time with the star slug in Vega. Only this time the light came from you. It took out all the ghost drones. Cleared the whole courtyard. At least that’s what it looked like. So what did you do?”
“I made a request of the ring,” Ari said. She frowned but nobody saw it under the bandanna. “That wasn’t what I asked for, though.”
Kirian came running over. “This is great, Ari. What could you have wished for that’s better than this?”
“I wished you all gone,” Ari said.
The Overlord Candidates had gathered. By the looks on their faces, they were less than happy with her answer.
“Why?” Kirian asked sadly.
“So you guys could live, so you would be safe. Out of here. Away from ghost drones and blockades and extinction wave alien invasions. This sucks and you guys don’t deserve it.”
“What about you, Ari?” Soda asked. “You don’t deserve it, either.”
Overlord Alliance: Book 2 of the Neon Octopus Ally Series Page 13