by David Beers
His Whip cut through it, breaking its momentum and sending the resulting pieces flopping to the ground. Obs screamed as the net fell on him. His hair was aflame, and he snarled as he bit the burning wires trapping him.
Another net was already flying at Prometheus. He spun, his Whip three strands now, and cut the net into multiple pieces. He rushed the soldiers, hearing more killers coming in behind him. His body did its magic, cutting the two assassins to the floor in moments. His head whipped toward Obs, but the drathe was free from the net, his hair burning, and his flesh singed. He was leaping on the first attacker to have entered.
Alistair turned all the way around, barely batting away another one of those nets, and fired his appropriated rifle with his left arm. The net exploded and zeroed in on the second attacker. It landed on him, burning through his gear and into his flesh. The man dropped to the ground screaming, trying to use a laser knife to cut through the net.
Pulses, beams, and screams could be heard from the other rooms. Prometheus knew he had to get there and fast. He moved to the downed soldier and dragged his Whip across the man's head, separating it from his body.
Obs looked up from the man beneath him. Blood covered his jaws, and madness filled the creature's face.
"GO!" he shouted at the drathe.
Obs understood the others needed help and bounded through the membrane separating their room from the next.
Pro was seconds behind the giant animal, entering Servia and the AllMother's room. Servia was badly burned. Two soldiers lay dead, and two more had her cornered. Her weapon was on the floor somewhere, and her SkinSuit revealed bleeding flesh.
The man on the left raised his rifle slowly like he was going to enjoy killing Servia.
The second killer went down under Obs’ tremendous weight, causing the first to forget his objective.
Pro launched his Whip through the air. It flew true and plunged through the man's back, coming out his chest. Blood exploded from his mouth, and he wobbled for a second like a drunk trying to figure out which way was home.
He collapsed to the floor. Obs had taken out the throat of his opponent and was bounding to the next room. Pro ripped his Whip from the man’s dying body and looked at Servia. "You good?"
She nodded.
Prometheus didn't wait.
He kept moving to the third room.
Relm was on his back with a creature that looked more like a giant than a man atop him. There appeared to be no one else. Obs was on the assailant’s back, ripping at him with his teeth but causing no harm. The huge man had a laser knife and was forcing it to Relm's neck with his right arm, his left holding him up.
Prometheus darted forward, his Whip moving for the easy kill.
The giant flung his left arm up as Prometheus brought the weapon down and rolled, sending Obs flying and catching Pro by his shirt. He flung him against the wall as if he weighed little more than a pillow.
Prometheus hit the wall hard, and the wind was knocked out of him. He slid to his ass, his hand barely hanging onto his Whip.
The giant rolled quickly to his feet and stared at Alistair. "He's in here." His voice was deep, a bass drum that moved through all the rooms.
A second giant came from the final room, blood covering his hands and opaque face shield.
Prometheus saw no sign of Faitrin.
He struggled to his feet, noticing for the first time the broken brick and dust on his boots from where he'd hit the wall.
Relm was on his feet too, breathing extremely hard. "I had him right where I fuckin' wanted him, broth. You had to ruin it all."
"Certainly looked like it." He couldn't consider Faitrin right now. Obs was hunched on the other side of the room, waiting for his command. The animal was smart enough to know his teeth weren't doing much. The second giant walked into the room, his laser knife stretching to dagger length.
The creatures were even bigger than the Myrmidons. They had to be modified, though he couldn't tell because of the dark face shields.
"FAITRIN!" Relm shouted, terror in his voice as he realized the woman was missing.
Servia walked in from the opposite direction.
"FAITRIN!" Relm screamed again.
"Calm," Pro instructed. The two giants were assuming strategic positions. They knew this was the person they'd come for.
Relm's MechPulse had been broken in half, and the pieces were on the floor. He wasn't screaming anymore, just ripped a StarBeam from his belt. He held it up with both hands and fired.
The laser ricocheted off a transparent field that lit up for a second when the beam hit it, sending electrical sparks across the shield. The laser hit the wall and burned through to be lost on the other side.
"Well, that certainly changes things," Relm said, lowering the weapon before he took off his own head.
"You didn't hit 'em with your pulse when they came through?"
"Not sure if you noticed," Relm responded, "but they're sorta fuckin' fast."
The giant on the left moved then, his speed almost a match for Prometheus'. He didn't know if his Whip would work, only that the man’s dagger was about to slice his body open. Prometheus swatted at the giant's hand with his arm, and it felt as if he'd hit a metal beam.
The dagger caught Prometheus on the side and burned into his flesh. He hissed and barely dodged as the giant's other dagger came for his head.
He ducked, simultaneously spinning and letting his whip spray out. The giant easily jumped over the strands and stabbed again, this time cutting the back of Pro's left shoulder.
The second giant was coming in now too. Relm pulled a laser knife from his waistline and darted forward, but the beast threw a hand in his direction. Relm hit the ground and slid until he ran into Servia, who still stood holding a useless StarBeam.
Prometheus backed up quickly, putting space between him and the creatures.
"You are the one to fear?" The giant on the right laughed.
"You are puny. Human and nothing more," the one on the right agreed. Their language was stilted, but Prometheus could understand it.
Was that what they thought of him? A puny human? He didn't know what these beasts looked like under their face shields, but he'd let them see who he was. His hood retracted into the neck and he straightened, rising to his full height. Blood dripped from his shoulder and side. He lifted his Whip and held the hilt with both hands, the strands twirling in front of him.
Obs was circling behind the two giants, not sure when to make his move.
"I am Alistair Kane, Prometheus, bringer of fire. I serve the AllMother, and my quest leads through the two of you." He reached down and wiped the blood from his side, then spread it beneath both eyes. "I bleed now so that I will not later."
He closed his eyes and felt the giants’ movements, the air patterns giving them away. The first one sliced from the right, and Pro moved his neck back just in time. The second went for his gut, and he broke from both forms. There was no name for what came next, nothing his teacher could tell him, nor anyone else across the galaxy.
Relm's jaw dropped, as did Servia's, neither of them able to believe what they were witnessing.
The giants came at him with unbelievable speed, and Alistair used his left hand to slap them away while his right danced with their daggers. He feinted forward, then dodged back, his eyes open but his body acting as if it knew what was coming. He was looking at the giant on his left when he stabbed through the one on the right. His Whip, combined with Pro's strength, smashed through the invisible shield and into the giant's neck. Keeping it lodged there, Prometheus spun around the man, cutting his head off and ending up on the other side. He launched his foot forward and connected with the second beast's chest.
The giant flew across the room and hit the back wall.
Prometheus rushed forward, Whip in front of him, and stabbed the man through the right shoulder, pinning him to the wall. He didn't look away but said, "Relm, check on Faitrin.”
Relm snapped out of
his awe and rushed to the other room.
Pro held the Whip in place. The man wasn't struggling or making a sound.
"She's alive!" Relm called. "She's hurt bad, Pro! We gotta get her help."
"I can help." The words weren't strained, nor did they show any pain though they came from a man with a triple laser through his shoulder. His voice was deep, as if the monster spoke from inside a well.
Prometheus gritted his teeth. "How?"
With his right hand, the giant slowly removed his helmet. The face beneath it was different than anything Prometheus had seen. It looked like something created from a mountain cliff. It wasn’t the oval shape of a human face, but a squarish thing. The hair on the creature's head was long, falling to his armor. He looked humanoid but not Earthborn or like anything from the Solar System.
"What are you?" Prometheus asked.
"There isn't time. I can help her, but I must go now," the giant responded. He, it—whatever the thing was—was injured. Why this creature would help the people he'd come to kill, Prometheus didn't know.
"RELM!" he shouted. "You hear him?"
"She needs help, Pro! Bad!"
Prometheus glared at the block-headed creature. "Move an inch in the wrong direction, and you'll be like your partner there on the floor. Got it?"
"I understand."
Pro pulled the Whip out, and the giant in front of him didn't even grimace. The Fallen Titan stepped back to give the beast some room. Obs was growling where he stood next to Servia.
Prometheus followed him into the other room. Relm moved out of the way but remained next to Faitrin, hovering around her head. Pro could see her breathing, shallow as it was, and blood was leaking from her mouth. There was a large wound in her stomach, a gaping hole where it looked like one of the giants had worked their laser knife in.
There wouldn’t be any saving the pilot, not without a medbay in the room, and even then, it would be iffy. Pro's Whip hung from his hand, ready to decapitate this creature if needed, but he couldn't take his eyes off Faitrin. She was dying.
Servia, the AllMother, and Obs walked in.
Obs made his way to Faitrin and laid next to her. He rested his head on her hand, his eyes distrustful on the giant who knelt on the other side.
The giant removed the armor on his right hand, revealing a fist that looked like a boulder. Pro stepped behind the man so he could kill him if necessary. The giant seemed not to notice but stretched that huge hand over Faitrin's stomach. She looked tiny in comparison, like a doll.
The giant's hand hovered over her stomach, blocking anyone from seeing what was happening. He closed his eyes, and a grimace appeared on his face. A sound filled the room, very low at first, then louder.
"What are you doing?" Prometheus asked. He shoved the Whip forward, the three strands coiling around the man's neck without touching him.
The giant did nothing, only knelt with that pained grimace on his face and his hand hovering over Faitrin's stomach.
Long moments passed, then the giant closed his hand into a fist, his knuckles turning white as he squeezed it shut.
Prometheus stared at where the wound had been. Tiny insects walked across her, creatures the size of ants, except Pro knew the things weren't organic. They were robotic, and they were inside the wound as well.
"What did you do?" he whispered.
"They will heal her," the giant said in his stilted language. "That is their job. To heal."
Alistair uncoiled the Whip from his neck. Relm's ear was at Faitrin's face. "It sounds like she’s breathing better."
"She will be okay," the giant assured them. Slowly so as not to be a threat, the giant turned. He was still on his knees, now facing Alistair. "I serve you now, master."
Alistair took a step back. The giant's hand was still clenched in a fist, and he covered it with his other armored hand. There was no threat coming from the man; whatever he was, he was fully at Pro's mercy. He bowed his head, his long hair falling over his massive ears. "You may kill me if you prefer. I did this to your other servant."
The Prometheus persona slowly slid to the back of his mind, allowing Alistair to take over. He flashed his eyes at Relm, who could see more of Faitrin's body than he could. "What's it looking like?"
"Whatever those things are, they're working, broth. They're patching her godsdamn flesh right in front of my eyes."
Without looking up, the giant said, "Will you let me serve, or will you have my life?"
"Who are you?" Alistair asked.
"Those who serve have no name," the giant responded. He still stared at the floor.
Alistair didn’t understand, but from what he could see, the giant was sincere. Still, he'd been sent here to murder everyone in these rooms. Alistair examined him: the blocky, brick-like head, the body that was even bigger than his own. "What are you?"
"I am one who serves, master."
Alistair stepped to the side of the giant so he could see Faitrin. Her eyes fluttered open as he did, and the wound on her stomach appeared to be almost closed. Alistair couldn't know for sure what was going on. He didn't know what was happening other than a giant pledging fealty and Faitrin now looking at him.
"I think they got their rooms mixed up," the pilot whispered with a slight smile.
Alistair looked at the giant. "Why aren’t you still trying to kill me?"
"I serve strength," the creature answered in that deep voice. "You are the strongest human I have met, so now I serve you."
Alistair's eyes narrowed. "If you find someone stronger than me?"
"I will serve them if they will have me."
"The other one in there that I killed? Who was he?"
The creature was silent for a few moments, his face full of confusion. "I do not understand."
"Was he your brother? A family member?"
Again, a confused look. "I do not understand, master."
Alistair looked across the room at the AllMother. "You got any idea what this is about?"
She shook her head. "I've never seen anything like him."
Alistair shook his head, exasperated. "Stand up," he told the giant.
The creature did as he was told, showing no signs of aggression. "Go sit in the furthest room in this row. Wait for me there."
"Yes, master," the huge creature said. He kept his eyes down and walked through the doorway, those standing around it having to move to the side.
Alistair waited until the thing was two rooms over and couldn't possibly hear them. "Do I fucking kill it or what?"
Relm was holding Faitrin's head in his lap. "Kill it or I will, Pro. Whatever it is, it's deadly, and it's lying."
Servia nodded. "Agreed. You’ve got to kill it. Right now, it could be relaying where we are to someone. You were naïve when it came to Hel. Don't be naïve about this, Pro."
Alistair looked at Obs. The drathe padded over to his side and sat down, then licked Alistair's hand and then laid on the floor, showing no signs that he was scared of the giant. With raised eyebrows, Alistair turned his eyes on the AllMother. "You going to tell me it's my choice?"
She nodded, smiling.
He dropped to his knees and looked at Faitrin. "How do you feel?"
"A little bit better than if I'd been stabbed in the stomach," she answered.
He looked her up and down. Her wound was nearly healed, and the little robotic insects had died once their job was finished. Some remained on her stomach, still working on the wound, but most had fallen to the ground and were no longer moving.
Alistair stood and marched through the hotel rooms. He found the giant standing in the very last room. His head was up, and he was looking at Alistair.
"Get on your knees."
The creature did as he was told without a word of protest. The Fallen Titan had retracted his Whip into the hilt, but he unleashed it once again, turning it into the sword-like shape. He put it at the creature's neck, the laser burning flesh. The giant was staring up at him and once again showed no si
gn of pain.
"You'll let me kill you right now?" Alistair asked. He needed someone to bring him to that Manius character, but this monster? Maybe they were right. Maybe it wasn’t worth the risk.
"I am yours to do with as you desire."
"Until you meet someone stronger?"
The giant nodded, his neck touching the laser as he did. "I serve the strongest."
"Why did you save her after trying to kill her?" Alistair felt anger running through him; Prometheus, his alter ego, wanted to step forward.
"When you killed the other servant, I understood my path was tied to you. I had no choice but to help if you permitted it. She is also your servant, and to help her is to glorify you."
Alistair gritted his teeth and gripped the Whip's hilt harder. He held his breath for a long moment, then he decided. Naïve or foolish, maybe, but he would not behead someone who had put himself at his mercy.
More, they needed the beast, and that was what no one else recognized in their fear of him. They needed this monster to get them to Thoreaux.
Alistair remained standing above him, but he withdrew the Whip into its hilt. "If you betray me or anyone you think serves me, I will end you."
"I understand, master," the giant agreed.
"Stand and come with me." Alistair left the room and headed back to his reduced council.
Chapter Fourteen
“It is a brutal life they live, but it is also a brutal universe.”
—The Orion Corporation
They moved hideouts, as was necessary.
Faitrin healed quickly. She was able to contact Jeeves, who arranged the next spot, and then travel to it.
The night would be at an end soon, then they would have thirty-six standard hours of daylight. They traveled the streets in silence, Faitrin leading them to the place Jeeves had set up.
The giant walked behind Alistair at a safe distance. He seemed to understand he wasn't trusted and didn't want anyone to feel threatened, yet he wouldn't let Alistair's back go unwatched.
Finally, Relm got sick of the creature being at Alistair's six. Holding a StarBeam, he walked over to him. "You get up front. I want you where I can see you."