Alliance

by Andrew Stride

  “Okay. There’s a metal ladder that descends. I’ll see you at the bottom.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ll be right behind you. I need to close the hatch.”

  Without too much difficulty he was on the ladder and moving down into a dark void and he was wondering how long it must have taken the humans to excavate this hideout in the middle of nowhere. If the female was to be believed, there were other places like this one, scattered about the desert.

  There was a clatter, which suggested the Shamozolt had reached the bottom of the ladder.

  “Stay put and I’ll sort out some light when I get down there.”

  A few moments passed and at last the place came to life and Boroc recognised the layout. It was one of the old mining buildings, but it must have been buried a good thirty feet. He looked around and couldn’t help but be impressed; this was home from home to Boroc.

  Bunk beds scaled one wall to maximise the living space, which was divided up three ways. At one end was a small mess, while at the other, Boroc could see had been left for storage. A communal mess divided the two and this was scattered with a few makeshift tables and chairs.

  While Boroc stood there with his mouth open, the female entered the mess and was busy with something. She continued her task and felt the steel floor flex as Boroc come over to see what she was doing.

  “The bunks aren’t made for your frame, so I’ll pull down a few mattresses for you shortly. We’ve got fresh water and I’m just heating some for a hot drink. I don’t know what you’re used to, but we’ve had time out here to experiment with a few ingredients.”

  Boroc sat down on a storage box and continued to watch the female. “You lit a fire in here?”

  “No, we have this rock; it gets red hot when it comes into contact with water. We don’t know how it works.”

  Boroc had never heard of such a thing and within a few minutes, he was holding a piping hot beaker. He smelt its contents suspiciously and couldn’t place it, but it tasted good, maybe even better than granin.

  Three mattresses had been laid out in the storage area and the female walked back into the mess and picked up her beaker.

  “If we move off in two hours, we should make the outpost by dawn.”

  “Fine. I’m assuming this outpost is located at the next Awang?”

  “That’s right. Do you have a name?”

  “Boroc.”

  At first, she thought he was clearing his throat, then realised, Boroc was his name and he seemed in the mood for a chat.

  “You said something, back at the outpost, about this human.”

  “I did? What did I say?”

  “When I mentioned he came from Earth, you said something about a prophecy.”

  “Yes, I did. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but we have always held on to the belief that someone would come and set us free.”

  “So that’s all it was?”

  “Despite our isolation, we have learnt much about this planet and some of us have spoken with higher beings that have imparted knowledge. This knowledge assisted us and that is how we thrived.”

  “You speak of the Lumsulu and Ammarla?”

  “To an extent, yes, but we have also been guided by something else.”

  “Something else?”

  “Yes, it’s hard to explain,” and she clearly didn’t want to say any more.

  “Okay,” said Boroc, a little unconvinced.

  “I’d like to rest for an hour or two, if that’s all right?”

  Boroc nodded.

  “By the way, I don’t mind you calling me human, it is what I am and I’m proud of it. But since we will be in each other’s company for a while, my name is Sha.”

  Boroc watched the female scale the wall and make herself comfortable in one of the bunks and despite having a lot running through his mind, he rested back on the mattress and soon fell asleep. It was a short sleep, but they both needed it and when Boroc opened his eyes, he saw that Sha was already up.

  She glanced over at him. “Just about ready, fresh water and a few provisions, all we need to reach the next outpost.”

  “How many outposts are there?”

  “There are six; we take turns, about a month at each before returning to the main settlement.”

  “Is that necessary?”

  “We think so. You see, we’ve never felt completely safe and wanted to be prepared in case anything like this happened.”

  “So you think your chances are good?”

  “If these Squalvolvans think they are here for an easy fight then they will be disappointed. They caught us off guard back there, but that won’t happen a second time. Okay, are you ready to leave?”

  Boroc nodded and they scaled the ladder and stepped out into the night. They both felt refreshed after their short break and Boroc had lost his limp and was setting the pace. Sha was doing a pretty good job at keeping up, for a human and these tests revealed as much about her as they did about him. They were both competitive and stubborn, neither wanting to show the other any sign of weakness. Boroc had some advantages, but Sha had no doubts about her ability, she was a first born after all. The first generation to be born on Shalasing.

  Her mind was focused, but in the stillness of the desert, she was thinking about her strange new companion and the fact that he had been in direct contact with a human settlement in the south. Were these the humans from the lost ships and had they been hoping for the impossible, just as they had. That one day they would be reunited. What had life been like for them and how had they survived these Shamozolts?

  She would have asked Boroc these questions, but she was happy to wait just a bit longer, to find out directly from one of the survivors. It couldn’t have been easy. She knew from her own experiences here in the desert that it was a miracle they survived at all.

  The humans here had seen their fair share of hard times and Sha had grown up quickly. She had developed her survival skills and knew many of the desert’s secrets. A knowledge that one could only learn through the tests and trials of everyday living in such an environment. She’d grown up dreading the return of the Shamozolts and yet here she was working with one. She knew that a lot of the first ones would struggle with this arrangement and Boroc had certainly made no excuses for his previous actions. He’d spoken about a common enemy and Sha was keen to find out more.

  It was a sensitive subject, but through gritted teeth, Boroc offloaded what he knew. This race of Formless Ones belonged in a nightmare, not in real life and Boroc wasn’t holding back in his description of them. Soul snatching manipulators on a mission to eradicate all life. Sha shivered and had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t seen Boroc pull the Zolt-Arc slowly off his hip and aim it into the sky. It was only when she looked over at him that she saw what he was doing and what he was aiming at.

  “Put that damn thing away. They can sense hostility.”

  Boroc lowered his weapon and together they stood and watched a small group of Balacobacks fly over. They were just distinguishable against the backdrop of stars and the only sound was from the beat of their huge wings.

  “How did they get this far north?” asked Boroc.

  “They used to come and go with the seasons, but after our discovery, we noticed that some of them remained here.”

  “Discovery?”

  Sha chose her words carefully. “A coincidence perhaps. We felt a deep tremor below our settlement.”

  “And this tremor led to a discovery?”

  “Yes.”

  Sha knew that Boroc wanted to know more, but that was as much as she was going to say and this resulted in another quiet spell and it didn’t lift until they saw an orange glow in the distance.

  “Oh my god,” said Sha.

  Another fire raged and Sha had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what was going down. Boroc had warned about the likelihood of these Squalvolvans moving at speed, using fire portals and it appeared that he might be r
ight.

  It took them over an hour to reach the Awang and there it was, a huge fire set in the entrance. Swarming around it was an army of Squalvolvans, too many to count and the sight of them stopped Sha and Boroc in their tracks.

  They stood there watching and Boroc’s suspicions were confirmed as more Squalvolvans materialised from out of the flames.

  “That’s what I’m talking about.”

  “How is that possible?” asked Sha.

  “We can see it with our own eyes and that’s enough confirmation for me.”

  “We have to stop them.”

  Boroc’s dagger was in his hand and Sha reached up and retrieved a long bladed weapon that had been concealed behind her left shoulder. Boroc was impressed because up until that point he hadn’t realised she was armed.

  Weapons drawn, they charged across the sand and if the Squalvolvans weren’t aware of them before, they certainly were now and a handful of these fearful looking creatures broke away from the main group and were headed their way. Tooth and nail were no match for the sharp edge of a blade, but maybe these creatures were just pawns in this game.

  The few Squalvolvans that sacrificed themselves had successfully delayed Sha and Boroc from reaching the Awang and those that remained near the fire were disappearing fast.

  “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

  “Quickly,” shouted Boroc.

  They ran towards the Awang, but it was too late. The fire erupted with a loud boom, an explosion that shook the ground and sent boulders flying across the sand, cloaking the area in a cloud of thick black smoke. The smoke dispersed quickly, revealing the entrance to the Awang or what was left of it.

  “No,” screamed Sha.

  The sound that came out of the human’s mouth put the hairs on the back of Boroc’s neck on end.

  The Awang had been reduced to a pile of rocks, an act that put paid to any assistance they could have given the outpost. No further proof was needed. It was obvious these animals were systematically shutting the humans down and as optimistic as Sha had been about taking the Squalvolvans on, she was beginning to realise that her confidence may have been misplaced.

  Chapter Fourteen

  destination unknown

  The dark figure came in strong, lunging through Laja’s defences, confident that it was about to claim its first Lumsulu. Laja was all too aware of its strength and had given up most of his, just to stay on his feet. His human form was faltering, but the Formless Ones overconfidence left them vulnerable and Laja seized the moment and struck into the heart of the beast. Laja had never tried such a move in a form other than the one he had been born into and by doing so he risked everything. The gamble paid off and he watched the dark figure stagger backwards from the blow.

  The darkness lifted rapidly, only Laja knew the fight was far from over and he raced to assist his human companions. Even with the illusion weakened, they were still very much under the Formless Ones spell and Lim, Clom and Joeum were struggling to remember why they were here. This kind of mind control is commonplace on Earth and known as neutralisation. The results of neutralisation could be seen everywhere and what better way to achieve this, than through addiction, the spiralling path of self-destruction.

  “What are we doing here?” asked Clom.

  “The portal. Come on, we need to move,” shouted Laja.

  The lighthouse was nothing more than a pointed, hexagonal turret and at the top of each face was a rectangular opening. It looked to Clom like a classic looking rocket ship, but rather than some space age alloy, it was built from stone.

  “That thing is never going to fly,” said Clom.

  “Wait, I think I’ve just seen Miar,” said Lim.

  There was a dark opening at the base of the lighthouse where a door had once been and Lim thought he saw movement and there it was again, as if someone was inside waiting for them. Could it be Miar?

  “That’s it. Quickly. We need to get inside the lighthouse,” said Laja.

  The lighthouse was still a hundred feet away and everyone was starting to hallucinate, how else would you explain what was happening here. Weird images invaded Lim’s mind, hell-bent on driving the sanity from his grasp and replace it with the horror on which the Formless Ones thrived.

  They were so close, but the strength of the Formless Ones was returning. Time was running out and a number of black twisted forms dropped from the stormy clouds, coiled themselves around the lighthouse and looked intent on ripping it from the ground.

  Laja was doing all he could, but they needed more and quite suddenly, Miar appeared to them. A beacon of light standing in the doorway. The bond that existed between her and Lim was far greater than anything the Formless Ones could throw at them and once their eyes met, the Formless Ones didn’t stand a chance.

  The group experienced an influx of energy and were pulled towards the doorway and in the blink of an eye they were inside its dark interior, but there was no sign of Miar.

  They stood in a dark and unimpressive circular space with an earth floor, trying to piece together their rather fragmented minds. Thanks to the Formless Ones they all felt pretty confused.

  Having gathered his thoughts, Lim’s hands moved feverishly over the lighthouse’s rough walls, hoping to find a concealed passage, door, room or wherever it was that Miar was hiding herself.

  “Where is she?”

  “We are experiencing the same thing as we did back at the Demituva Station, just before we teleported. Miar is here, but there are forces outside of our control that has rendered her invisible to us.”

  “I saw her, we saw her.” Lim continued his search, which was becoming more frantic.

  “Stop it, Lim, Listen to Laja,” said Joeum.

  “We’ve got to stick together,” said Clom.

  Clom was right. The more fragmented they were, the more susceptible to an attack they would be, but it did seem calm in here considering what they’d experienced outside.

  “We are safe for the moment,” confirmed Laja “We have Huey to thank for that; he’s doing all he can at his end.”

  “If this is the portal, then why are we still here?” asked Joeum.

  “This is an active portal, but the Formless Ones have successfully closed off this end,” said Laja.

  “Can’t Huey help us?” asked Joeum.

  “He is helping us by keeping our exit point open on Vulsumar, but as soon as the Formless Ones realise this, we’re in trouble.”

  “How do we open this end of the portal?” asked Lim.

  First, they had to take control of it and to do that, Laja was going to have to change into his Lumsulu form and he couldn’t do that from in here. He needed a body of water.

  “And you couldn’t have done that when we were close to the sea!” said Clom.

  “I could have, but we would never have got here if I had taken my Lumsulu form back in town.”

  All was not lost. Laja knew there was a pond close by.

  “You’re going back out there!” said Lim.

  “It’s the only way. The three of you will stay here. You aren’t completely untouchable, but I’ll be back before you know it.”

  “What about you?” asked Joeum.

  “I have something of a gauntlet to run. Once I step outside, the Formless Ones will do all they can to stop me.”

  “What if you don’t make it back?” asked Clom.

  “I have to make it back. No matter what happens, do not follow me.”

  When Laja left them, he really left them. As soon as he stepped through the doorway, he disappeared entirely and although he hadn’t told them this would happen, they kind of understood why it had. Laja was on his way and once he’d distanced himself from the lighthouse, things looked almost normal. There was even a couple up here walking their dog, but appearances can be deceptive.

  Laja was running, closing in on the body of water and yet no one had asked him how he knew it was here. Like all elements, water could be used as a tool for transformatio
n and water just happened to be the Lumsulus' chosen element.

  The couple and the dog had disappeared, replaced by three shadowy forms and they were heading in his direction. Laja could hear their chatter, the craziness of their tormented souls and perhaps during their earthly existence, they had been driven to commit suicide, the ultimate sacrifice that would guarantee a rebirth as a Formless One.

  The first strike was brutal and he was doing all he could to keep this human form moving. There was something wrong with his right leg and he guessed it must be broken. The pain was excruciating, but he was determined and with his one good leg, he staggered forward.

  The shadowy forms circled him, punctuating their strikes with verbal torments in an effort to wear him down. Their efforts were wasted, of course, he was a Lumsulu after all and they would have to kill him if they wanted to stop him. Stopping him was their main objective, but they also wanted his soul. Now that would be a prize.

  Laja’s mind was strong enough to tune out the pain and the torment and that was just as well. Another blow knocked him to the ground and he was unable to get back up. Neither of his legs were responding and it felt like a weight was pinning him down. His clothes were bloodstained and torn and there was the slightest suggestion that he might not make it. A suggestion was enough to excite these tormentors and they watched his broken body squirm in agony.

  A flash of sunlight focused Laja’s attention away from Formless Ones and through his one good eye; he noticed a vehicle approaching at speed. The sunlight bouncing off its windshield had found its way to him through the dust it was throwing up. Laja was lying in its path and he wasn’t sure he had enough strength to get out of its way.

  The vehicle was almost upon him and it skidded to a stop on the loose gravel track, just metres away from where he was lying. The driver’s door flew open and he immediately recognised the person running towards him.

  It was Frank and there was the look of sheer horror on his face. “My god, what happened?” “Don’t move, I’ll call an ambulance.”

  “We don’t have time for that,” said Laja, half choking. “You should go; they’re here, the Formless Ones.”