by Corin Cain
No, it’s her spirit. She could have escaped the city with us, and instead she chose to remain to save two more children. She has a heart as lustrous as her body – and a bravery worthy of a warrior. Tammy will indeed be the finest mother of my children I could have wished for – once we mate, cementing the Bond, she will live thousands of years to bear us many, many sons.
But for now, we must pay the price for her love of these little human children.
The Scorp will be back soon, and every second we delay decreases the odds that we’ll make it out of this huge, towering village alive.
“We must go,” I order, and the small human boy looks at me with anger. I have done nothing to him, but he hates me. He could be a problem. I’d never hurt such a small being, but I will not underestimate him. He runs as quick as a hyena, and while physically he could do very little to harm me, I know how dangerous it is to underestimate small things. Take that fat, old human who nearly killed Forn, for example. If the small child could somehow find a weapon similar to the old man’s, he too could end our lives.
I glance over to the leader of our triad. Forn doesn’t want to show his pain, but I know his wounds are bad. Despite my suspicion of the woman, it is true that Tammy healed the gaping wound in his chest.
When he’d fallen to his knees, I’d feared for a moment that Forn had been killed. I was horrified to think of my blood-brother dying in such an inglorious way – to be put to death by a fat, old human, using the weapons of a coward. The shame would be eternal.
Yet, thanks to Tammy, he lives. Even now, Forn limps towards me, his green blood coagulating from the wound on his leg. He’s lost too much blood already from the wound on his chest wound, and now I fear he’ll be a liability in combat – just like this woman, and her four unrelated children.
To care so much for those not bound by blood, nor the warrior bond? Surely, she is a generous specimen – not a creature from the void.
I shake my head. The elders of our tribe have told me tales of void creatures. They masquerade as something – anything – else, creating for themselves the form of the most alluring creatures possible.
I snarl impatiently. Tammy has returned with the two missing children. Now the time for thoughts and planning is over. I cannot hear the scuttling of Scorp warriors, but I know they’ll be awakening soon.
Looking over at them, I see that Hadone and Forn are grim. They, too, know that it was one thing to survive a wave of the deadly creatures when we were holed up inside one of those human settlements – with only a small doorway acting as a choke point. Now, we’ll have to navigate through this maze of confusing, twisted streets; risking attack from any direction.
I motion with my head to Tammy. She understands us a little too well, despite not speaking our language. When I was telepathing my thoughts to my blood brothers, it almost felt as if she could read my mind.
Can void creatures read our minds?
The small one who runs quickly has found himself a sharp shard of wood. It isn’t much, but jabbed into my Achilles heel while a Scorp attacks, it could prove deadly. I step towards him to take the makeshift weapon from him, but Forn gives me a warning look.
“Take that from him, and we will never earn his trust,” he telepaths to me, and I grit my teeth. He’s right, dammit – as he usually is. Forn is a born leader. I can fend for myself in a battle, but commanding others and planning ambushes was never my strong suite.
Impatient, the building grows claustrophobic around me. I lead the way towards the exit, opening the door and letting the moonlight flood inside.
Not that its much of a flood. Even the stars are weak on this planet, polluted by the artificial lights of this huge settlement; which sits like a scar on the land.
Back home, our homes are intertwined with nature, not dominating it.
These ugly streets are empty. Too empty. In a city built like this, the humans must teem like ants. There’s no way that even this infestation of Scorp could have killed them all – yet not a man defends the streets. They cower in their homes, praying for salvation.
With a snort, I tighten my grip on the hilt of my Orb-Blade. There is only one salvation – the strength of your sword arm, and the sureness of the blow you strike with it.
Suddenly, three Scorp appear at the end of the street.
I rush forward, my feet pounding the pavement. Strangely, the first warrior doesn’t try to engage me – instead, he throws his reptilian head back and screams the call of the Scorp; a blood-curdling sound that travels down my spine like icy fingers.
I reach the creature and slam my blade into its throat, but it’s already too late. The Scorp did not care for defense. He wanted only to alert his beastly brethren.
The second Scorp is battle-minded. He lurches forward with his razor-sharp claws, and I twist, feeling the bony carapace of his pincers barely brushing against my skin. One inch to the left, and my entrails would have been spilled across the street. Instead, there’s a satisfying crunch as Hadone slams the butt-end of his war-hammer right through the Scorp warrior’s chest.
Forn moves like lightning, his twin daggers making short of work of the last Scorp. Forn always like to get in close to his victims, to let them have a chance to best him before he slays them. In circumstances like that, I can actually see the utility of weapons like the one that the old man used to injure Forn.
In a graceful, dancing movement, Forn drives his weapons into the beast’s heart, cheating death once again as the Scorp’s pincers snap and snap inches from his throat…
Then, Forn stumbles.
His leg gives out, and he falls. I rush to grab him and pull my blood-brother away from the dying Scorp, but it lashes out with its claw in a final death blow, slicing a fresh, new cut across Forn’s chest. More fresh blood gushes out, and I feel the surge of pain through our Bond.
The Scorp warriors have fallen, but my most trusted friend has lost too much blood. He blinks, confused, as he falls to his knees. Whatever unnatural medicine Tammy used on him, it only healed him on the outside. It did not replace his life blood.
Forn growls and grabs the Scorp barb he severed back at the hospital from his satchel. I know what he’s about to do, but there’s nothing I can do to stop him. I reach desperately forward, but I’m too slow.
“Wait!” I yell, but it’s too late.
Forn plunges the venom into his thigh. Hadone rips the jagged barb out, but we both know it’s already too late. The venom is already pulsing through his veins.
“You damn fool,” curses Hadone.
“I won’t be the reason the rest of you don’t make it out,” growls Forn, pain flooding through the bond and flaring up in his aura.
From a young age, all members of our tribe are given minute traces of Scorp-venom to grant us resilience and strength. It allows us to procreate with females, something impossible for a non-Scorp-blooded Aurelian.
Our non-blooded Aurelian brethren are infertile, unless they mate with a specific, ‘fated’ partner; genetically and telepathically bonded to them, with DNA compatible to that particular Aurelian and his triad.
For members of our tribe, exposure to Scorp-venom occurs again when we come of age. Our tattoos are inked in a mixture of pigment and Scorp-venom; and through this agonizing ritual we gain great strength and speed. Yet, it comes at a cost. No Scorp-blood Aurelian is left unchanged by the venom coursing through our veins. No man keeps his innocence. We take strength from the Scorp-venom, but the Scorp take part of our soul as recompense.
Tammy screams out as Forn plunges the barb into his leg. She stands with her jaw hanging open, horror in her eyes.
Plunging a barb into your leg is a desperate measure. The venom will pulse through Forn’s veins at a high potency. Like the strange, healing beam that Tammy used, the Scorp-venom will not heal the root cause of Forn’s weakness – but for hours, though, the leader of our triad will feel artificially beastly and strong; and his appetite for violence will only increase.
The venom pulses through his veins. They bulge out, green and glowing. I notice Tammy staring at Forn in shocked horror. She can’t hide her surprise, her eyes wide. To her, it must seem like suicide. Tammy cannot possibly understand that our tribe have made ourselves practically immune to the lethality of Scorp-venom, at least in lower doses.
I say that, but right now it looks like the venom has killed Forn; and a demon as taken his body. His lips pull back in a bestial snarl as he staggers to his feet, totally unaided.
I feel the change in him through our bond. His aura is more primal, his reason muted, and his personality dwindling beneath the current of violence that grows within him.
“Move,” Forn growls, and sets the pace moving forward. I suddenly hear the sounds of hard footsteps behind us, and Tammy starts to run in pursuit of Forn as a wave of Scorp warriors appear behind us.
I grab two of the small children, knowing they’ll never be able to keep up with us. Forn grabs the other two. The small one that runs quickly smacks his hand against my shoulder as I lift him up, and I’m suddenly very aware that the boy is close enough to jab that sharp shard of wood right through my eye if the mood strikes him.
But what else can I do? The choice is between leaving him to die, or picking him up and risking his attack.
I remember words of wisdom a tribal leader once offered me – that the best way to gain a stranger’s trust is to give them your own. I hope that advice holds up, as I carry the two children in pursuit of Forn and the others.
11
Tammy
I stare with horror at the insane Aurelian, as he plunges that Scorp barb straight into his thigh. I know how terrible death by Scorp venom is – and yet, somehow, he manages to stand right afterward. Clearly in agony, yet stronger and more resilient than ever, Forn struggles to his feet. His green veins bulge even brighter, as if they’re pumping with the same lethal poison he just plunged into his flesh.
How can this alien stand? Surely, he’s lost too much blood. First the gunshot wound, then the splinter through his calf, and then the slash across his chest.
The bullet wound was the worst of it – and I thought I’d sealed that wound, but now he’s bleeding out from his chest anew; the blood bright, green and glowing.
I bite my lip, more concerned about him than the Scorp warriors dying and twitching on the ground. I grab my satchel. I’ll have to use another charge of the sealant gun or Forn might bleed out again right now.
How is he even standing? He’s lost enough blood to fill a damn elephant.
And yet, he does stand – tall and proud, while green venomous blood drips down his chest.
Pounding thumps come from behind me, and the biggest wave of Scorp warriors we’ve encountered yet come charging towards us. I can’t tell how many there are - dozens, or perhaps hundreds. Just wave after wave of pincing claws, barbed tails, and blood red eyes; all staring at us with ravenous hunger and malevolent rage.
“Run!” I yell – but before the word even leaves my mouth, Forn and Darok snatch up the orphans and break into a sprint away from the surging wave. I can’t even protest when Hadone sweeps me up in his huge arms and throws me over his shoulder – hefting me like I’m a sack of flour.
There’s no room for embarrassment, though. Terror fills me. Slung over Hadone’s shoulder, I can clearly see the wave of Scorp warriors chasing behind us, surging forward as the Aurelians flee with their human cargo.
Hadone is sprinting faster than any human athlete ever could, and yet the Scorp are still so close behind I can see the battle wounds in their carapaces, and the blind anger in their glowing red eyes.
The nearest Scorp warrior leaps forward, and his long, barbed tail whips at me. Adrenaline pulses in my veins and it’s as if time slows. I watch as the deadly barb darts me in slow-motion, the green venom glistening from the tip.
I swing desperately with my wrench, slamming the venomous barb aside as it barely grazes my cheek, just pricking my skin as I’m rushed toward safety by the powerful strides of Hadone’s long, powerful legs.
I reach my other hand to my cheek, gasping as I feel the miraculously unmarked skin of my cheek. Mercifully, the barb didn’t draw blood. Even if these Aurelians can apparently survive the Scorp-venom – perhaps through some strange medical phenomena that explains their green, glowing veins – I know for a fact that even one drop of venom would turn me into twisted ball of screaming pain for what remained of my short, agonizing life.
The thoughts come analytically. Medically, I’m already thinking of myself as a patient. The prognosis is bleak if we don’t get out of this city, and quick.
I twist my head, trying to look ahead of us, to see if the path is clear and whether or not the bulk of the Scorp warriors are behind us.
They aren’t.
More warriors pile up ahead, blocking off the only other way out of the street.
We’re trapped!
“Tammy, look!” Stacy’s shrill voice catches my attention, and I see her pointing frantically at a building to our right. I see the ladder of a fire escape, as Hadone sets me down, drawing his war-hammer.
Forn drops Stacy and Tod, pulling his twin daggers from their sheaths and snarling in anger at the onrushing hordes.
There’s are too many Scorp - and yet the Aurelians charge fearlessly into battle the moment they set the orphans down against the ladder. Fear grabs me, and I wish I had the bravery to stay and help fight – but I know my little wrench can do nothing against those huge, disgusting monsters. My only value in combat is to be able to heal the Aurelians if they get wounded again.
I grab the ladder and start half-helping, half-throwing the four children up higher and higher, while sweat drips down my forehead and clouds my vision. The instant the four kids start climbing on their own, I start to ascend myself. I feel a wave of guilt as I abandon our Aurelian protectors, but I know that if I try to fight the Scorp, I’ll just end up another lifeless body lying on these blood-soaked city streets.
Down below, the two waves of Scorp crash against the three Aurelians; like two tidal waves of pincers and barbed tails coming together in unison.
The three warriors stand like boulders against the crashing waves, dancing in violent beauty as they weave and parry between the slashing claws and darting tails.
Their motions are incredible – the three warriors move as if they’re one being. The three of them work in total synchronicity; their blades whizzing inches from each other with lethal precision.
I turn back to the ladder and continue clambering higher and higher.
Above me, Tod screams as a rung in the old ladder breaks. He falls downwards towards the battle. I frantically grab his hand, clutching desperately to it as I pull him up to safety.
Once on top of the roof, I stare down beneath me. I’m shocked that the Aurelians are still alive. The bodies of Scorp warriors are twitching and bleeding all around them, and as soon at there’s a momentary break in the teeming wave of onrushing aliens, Darok and Hadone leap onto the ladder and start clambering up. Forn stays behind, guarding their escape from beneath them.
He’s going to be overwhelmed.
A huge Scorp leaps through the wave of claws, overpowering Forn and crushing him down to the ground. I can’t believe the Aurelians are leaving their friend behind!
I can’t let him die!
The dour Aurelian, Darok, has made it up to the top of the roof, and as he emerges from the fire escape, I point desperately down towards his fallen comrade. Darok shakes his head, his eyes fierce. I finally understand - Forn is sacrificing himself for us; and to honor is sacrifice, doing anything but escaping would dishonor him.
And yet, I don’t care about honor.
With a yell, I jump down from the roof. It might seem like I’m making a gesture as suicidal as that of Forn, but I aim my body carefully - crashing through the awning of a fruit stand beneath me to cushion my impact.
Ripe melons explode under me and I hit the ground hard. I’ll ha
ve bruises all over my body, but I nevertheless stagger to my feet, knowing there’s no time to waste.
Ahead of me, the horde pile onto the spot where Forn was thrown to the ground – crushing him beneath their oncoming mass.
I scoop up an overripe melon from the ground and toss it toward them. It explodes across the back of a towering, ten-feet-tall Scorp warrior – the biggest of the species I’ve ever seen.
The mass of writhing, snipping, snarling Scorp piling on top of Forn all turn as one – as if they share a single mind with the Scorp I just assaulted with that melon.
Oh, fuck!
This was as far as I’d planned ahead.
I mean, I’d got what I wanted – the mass of Scorp warriors to be distracted from the dying Aurelian and chase after me instead. I’d just not bothered to consider what might happen after that.
That moment, the huge mass of fearsome, snarling creatures turn and rush me. Fear overwhelms my senses. I bolt for it, fleeing as fast as an athlete and turning into an alleyway behind me.
The narrow alley is filled with trash and junk too worthless for even the desperate street urchins and homeless of Barl to have wasted effort rooting through. The alleyway ends in a wire fence. I rush it without thinking – leaping and clambering up the rattling mesh as the first of the Scorp warriors catches up to me.
The skittering, snapping monster swings its huge pincer claw beneath me, ripping apart the fence as if it was made from tissue paper. Miraculously, my fingers curl around the lip of the building’s roof as the fence collapses beneath me, and I try to pull myself up with all my might – but I’m too weak. My body’s got nothing left to give.
I look down at the mass of Scorp, snapping their pincers and snarling beneath me. They were just waiting for me to fall – where I’d be cut to ribbons in seconds.
One of them jumps, swinging his claw towards my dangling legs…
…and then I’m suddenly lifted into the air.
I look up in shock, and see Darok reaching down from the roof above, stretching out his arm to pull me up to safety.