by Corin Cain
That Scorp claw whistles through the air beneath me – slicing through the space my dangling leg had occupied just moments before.
And then I’m safe, back on top of the roof. Darok drops me to the ground and I see the horrified faces of my four orphans staring up at me – catching their breath at my narrow escape.
I feel terrible - their faces are like ashen masks; dulled from the long horrors of the day. I only hope we’ll be able to rest soon.
Looking past them, I gasp in relief as I see Forn up on the roof, too. He’s covered in even more brutal bruises and deep cuts, but miraculously he’s still alive.
Alive – and then some! Despite his injuries, Forn’s eyes burn a bright, venomous green and I know that stinging himself with the Scorp barb – plunging the venom deep into his veins – is somehow the only reason he’s managed to make it this far… for now.
But at what cost? There’s no humanity left in Form’s grimace as he barks something at me in his strange language – words that certainly don’t sound like ‘thank you’.
There’s no time to be offended, though. From our vantage point on the roof, I can look down across the entire city and truly take in the devastation for the first time.
Barl used to be a city teeming with life.
Now it teems with death.
Huge, organic Scorp ships – that resemble disgusting, yellowish insect eggs – litter the streets and skylines all across the city. Some of them engulf whole buildings, while others have fallen in clumps near houses and apartment buildings.
I can only imagine the horror of hiding beneath your table and looking out of the window to see the membranous thickness of an egg sac right outside; bulging and squirming with the mass of creatures within.
Scorp warriors have torn their way out of eggs sacs all across the city; flooding the streets and alleyways with the huge, nine-feet-tall creatures. With inhuman purpose they’ve started to assemble in the streets. They don’t run, as before – skittering and snapping and fighting to establish a foothold on this world they’ve been thrown onto.
Instead, now, the Scorp warriors walk methodically from building to building – and I gasp as they start to break down the doors and smash the windows as they come to them.
They’re going for the survivors of the initial assault now – picking them off after crushing any initial resistance. I wish I could go down there and help the people of my city – but I know it’s already too late. The only ones I can still help are Tod, Stacy, Tyler and Runner.
Forn looks up at me with deep respect. The huge Aurelian is dripping blood from his countless wounds, but in his fiery green eyes I see a reluctant acknowledgement that the only reason he’s still alive is because of my brave – if foolhardy – rescue.
I realize that, astonishingly, Forn now sees me as an equal – not just another weak human to protect, but as a warrior. It fills me with a deep sense of pride.
Now we have a moment’s respite, I start to question everything I don’t yet understand about this situation. Where did these beastly, powerful aliens even come from?
The three of them are nothing like the gossip and rumors I’ve heard about Aurelians. Everyone here on Barl describes them as practically emotionless. Proud, haughty, and arrogant. Yet the way this Aurelian looks at me is primal, full of protectiveness and possessiveness; yet also a deep and natural respect.
But there’s more – there’s also desire there. It makes me squirm to see the heat in his gaze; and I realize he wants me in a way I don’t think I’ve ever been wanted before.
As I look at him, I see the fiery green glow fade from his eyes, and Forn’s shoulders gently slump. It appears he’s shaken off whatever rage caused him to bark at me, and now he’s just pausing for a moment to catch his breath.
I watch his massive chest expand as he fills it with air. A shiver runs down my spine as I imagine what it would feel like to be alone with this immense warrior. Hadone and Darok stare at me with the same needy longing as Forn does; and suddenly I imagine all three of the warriors actually touching me – teasing me, taking me...
What the fuck!
I shake my head, ashamed at the random heat of my wicked thoughts. What had inspired that?
My adrenaline is still pounding, and I struggle to push the lurid thoughts out of my mind. I rationalize to myself that I’d come so close to death so many times today that my body is merely responding to the joy of remaining alive… for now.
The four children rush to me, wrapping their tiny arms around me and crushing me in their embrace. It’s a welcome distraction from that sudden moment of eroticism.
“You’re so brave,” says Stacy, crushing her head to my chest.
Brave? Ha! I’m still terrified – and I know that I’m not truly brave. Even when I jumped down to try and save Forn, I’d thought I was going to die. I’m still somewhat astonished we’ve made it this far. I’m certainly far from sure that we’ll actually escape.
But I have to pretend though – for the sake of these four children. I have to swallow my doubts and fears and work to get us out of this deathtrap of a city.
Still locked in the kids’ embrace, I look over the edge of the building – and my eyes widen as I witness the Scorp warriors start to clamber up the external walls. They slam their sharp pincers into the very brickwork and use them to haul their massive weight up, higher and higher.
Fuck!
This means I don’t even have time to use the last of my medical supplies to help Forn. We have to get out of here – now!
But go where?
Below us, the Scorp continue to slam their pincer claws right into the stone and brick walls, make footholds and leverage points to clamber up the building.
Walls are no defense against them…
Or, are they?
I suddenly get an idea.
With a shout, I point – and the three Aurelians nod as soon as they see what I’m pointing towards.
Beside me, Forn straightens up. For a second, he looks like he’s about to pick me up and throw me over his shoulder, but I shake my head. Up here, on the perilous rooftops of Barl’s old buildings, I don’t want to be the reason he loses his footing and plunges us both down to our death on the streets below – especially if we climb even higher than we are now.
Plus, despite how proud the warrior is, I’m not certain he has the strength to carry me right now.
I point again to the edge of the city. That’s where the walls stand tall; even after proving useless against aerial attack of the Scorp egg sacs. But while the walls couldn’t keep the Scorp warriors out…
Perhaps they can keep them in; even if just temporarily.
The periphery states, like Barl, are the poorest on the planet – and the poorest areas of Barl itself are on the edges of the city. I never thought I’d be so glad to be living in the poor outer sections of the city, but it’s a twist of fate that might have just saved our lives. Miraculously, we’re only three blocks away from those towering city walls; and the potential safety that lies beyond them.
I turn back to the devastated city and I feel a pang of guilt as I stare down at the streets below. I look in the direction of the chop-shop – watching a wave of Scorp warriors methodically scuttling towards it. I know Edgar is still holed up inside, clutching his rifle – but he’ll have no chance against that wave of deadly, monstrous warriors.
My heart tightens in my chest, but I know there’s nothing I can do. The man made his choice – and he did so knowing that this might be the end result.
I ask myself the same question he’d repeated so many times:
Where are the damn reinforcements from the Capital?
Leaving that mystery unsolved, our small group starts to make our way from building to building – climbing over the rooftops as fast as we can, before the Scorp can finally clamber up to the higher stories and corner us.
It’s a terrifying trip. At one point, Tod shrieks as a rotting piece of wood snaps beneath his ni
mble feet, but Darok snatches out his huge hand and grabs Tod’s arm before the boy can plummet to the streets below. Darok swings Tod to the safety of the next rooftop, while below us even more Scorp warriors flood the streets.
We’re trying to move fast, but also quietly – knowing that if the Scorp hear us, or look up, they’ll know where we are. Then the sheer mass of their numbers would overwhelm us, as they start clambering up towards the rooftops in all directions.
Ahead of us, a Scorp warrior has made its way to the rooftops – but before it can let out the terrifying scream and alert the others of its kind, Forn throws both of his twin daggers through the air – right into the Scorp’s glowing, red eyes.
The scuttling creature falls instantly, and Forn yanks his deadly weapons from its shattered skull. If nothing else, the Aurelians can certainly make short work of even these monstrous creatures.
But, once again, where the hell did they come from?
Don’t they know that Aurelians are banished from this sector? And have been for three decades? Don’t they know that if the Capital’s troops catch them, they’ll be executed, shot on sight, or worse?
Even if we do make it out of Barl, I realize it’s going to be just the start of our problems.
We approach the towering walls. The city gates are supposed to have guards stationed there, with rifles – but they were either taken by the Scorp already, or abandoned their posts and fled the moment they saw the huge, organic ships plummeting down across the city.
I have the sickening suspicion it was the second option. Who could stand to defend themselves against such vicious creatures, when the freedom and safety of the empty plains beckoned just steps beyond the walls?
The Aurelians would stand and fight – that much they’ve proven to me already.
The walls of Barl are where the poorest of the poor live – who dwell in miserable shanty towns erected from scrap, right up against the city walls. Every few months the government comes and bulldozes the structures, but they’re generally rebuilt by the very next day.
There’s a certain irony to it. The poorest of the poor were treated like scum in Barl, and yet they were the only ones close enough to the city gates to escape the city.
As we reach the walls, I clamber down the side of the lopsided buildings, helping the four children as we descend.
They’re even more nimble than I am, but we still have to be careful to avoid falls and injuries. I still have my med pack, but supplies are dangerously low – and we’re running out of time.
Where do we even go once we escape? Aurelians are lucky if they aren’t killed on sight.
My gut is telling me to head towards the Capital. It’ll be the safest place for the children – but the most dangerous for the Aurelians. If a Capital patrol saw us as we approached…
…would the patrol wait long enough to let me explain that these Aurelians saved my life? The lives of the kids?
Or would they kill us all on sight?
The city walls now stand before us, eerily empty. I point through the southern gateway, not knowing where else to send us, and together our little group walks through the empty, swinging, totally unguarded city gates.
As we step outside the city limits, I think about what strange company we make: The burly, tattooed Aurelians – who can’t even speak their own damned language and are clad in loincloths, like a bunch of savages.
Then there are four dirty children, with scrapes on their knees and determination in their eyes.
Finally, there’s me – just a girl trying to keep my sanity in a world gone increasingly mad.
I take one last look behind me, nervous that Scorp warriors are in hot pursuit. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to the godsforsaken city – but it’s not just the Gods that have forsaken it now.
There are no Scorp, at least. I guess they’re all busy in the city streets, tearing through homes and dragging out the last of the screaming survivors. It’s a grim thought.
If the Capital doesn’t send troops soon, there’ll be no one left to save.
We walk away from the city – marching for an hour in complete silence. Each of us is processing the horror of what we just survived in our own, individual way.
Eventually, we draw closer to a forest in the distance. As we approach, I realize it might give us shelter for the night.
Yet, even as I’m thinking we’ve reached temporary safety, Forn stumbles ahead of us, falling to the dirt without a sound.
I rush to him, but before I can reach the fallen warrior, his two battle brothers are already kneeling next to him. They pull a flask from their belts and give him a sip of water. Forn takes a draught – and then coughs violently, choking.
I suddenly realize how weak he truly is. Forn has taken all of the blows, and that gunshot wound would have already proven fatal if I hadn’t used a charge of the sealant gun on it.
“He’s dying,” says Stacy ominously.
“Good,” replies Runner, and I gasp at his tone of hatred.
“Runner! He saved your life!”
“Aurelians are evil inc-arn-ate,” he growls, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.
I know Runner must have heard his father say that Aurelians are ‘evil incarnate’, and is merely repeating it. Hearing the words of his prejudiced father echoing through his abandoned son makes me sick.
Prejudiced father? Who am I kidding? I cursed the Aurelians myself when my damned wrench broke earlier today. Maybe I, too, have misjudged the species. These three Aurelians went with me to save Runner and Tyler when they could have left just the city and avoided all this danger completely.
I run my hand over Forn’s sweating face. His eyes roll back until I see the whites of them, and Hadone points to his battle-brother’s thigh; at the small wound where Forn plunged the barb of Scorp-venom into his leg.
I nod, understanding instantly. Forn is in a deep, feverish state from an overdose of venom. Somehow, these Aurelians are able to survive the poison – but it affects them in ways I still don’t understand.
Good. Think critically. Think like a nurse.
It’s hard to look at Forn’s hard, muscled body and think clinically. I know I should be thinking about his recovery, but instead I just keep imagining how good it would feel to run my hands across his lean, impossibly muscular body.
Clinical, Tammy! Think clinical!
Forn tries to get up, and I lightly press against his shoulders to keep him down. I shake my head. He’s my patient, like it or not, and there’s no way I’m going to let him continue on. I saw the way that Hadone looked at a massive army of Scorp warriors, before diving in to fight them. These aliens clearly have no concern for their own wellbeing; and I know Forn would happily march himself to death if he thought it was a worthy sacrifice.
I can tell these Aurelians are going to make very frustrating patients!
I point to the nearby grove of trees, where we can at least find shelter. The night sky is clear, so when the Capital eventually sends reinforcements – if they send them – I don’t want them to see the three Aurelians out in the open.
At least, not before I can try to explain all they’ve done for us first.
Not that it might make much difference. The armies of the Capital are famously known for shooting first and asking questions later; if at all.
I pantomime picking up Forn, and Hadone and Darok look at each other, obviously talking with their minds. Then, as one, they follow my instructions and gently pick up their leader. Somehow, I know that Forn is the one who is in charge – the one who guides this triad in battle. With him nearly passed-out from his wounds, I wonder how decisive the two other aliens will be.
But Forn is tougher than I thought – and he’s soon able to lightly walk towards the trees himself, albeit with most of his weight supported by the other two Aurelians.
We finally enter the thicket. I glance for a place to set up camp – but, truth be told, I have no idea what I’m even looking for. I might have grown up i
n a farming community, but I’m resolutely a city girl at heart.
Before I can make a decision, though, Hadone and Darok take Forn’s twin Orb-Daggers and make short work of the trees all around us.
They work like machines, and I realize I was wrong to doubt that they could be decisive without their leader. Within minutes, the bare bones of a primitive structure have been constructed. Darok swings his huge Orb-Sword, chopping down a thick tree with a single blow, and uses it as a ridgeline to form a roof for the makeshift building.
I can’t help but be awed at how efficiently these Aurelians work – using forked branches to set up a leaning, free-standing structure that the thicker tree is pressed against. That forms the structure of the shelter.
The night is growing colder, and Darok and Hadone work faster – gathering thatch and leaves and covering the shelter with a fine lattice of thin branches.
Stacy stands beside me, watching with the same wonder as I do – and then she starts helping the Aurelians by grabbing more dirt and leaves and following their lead in covering the structure with them.
Tyler and Tod soon follow suite, too, and soon only Runner stands alone. He just glowers at the Aurelians, arms crossed and a stern look on his boyish face.
There’s nothing I can do, so I join the others – and together, we quickly cover the entire structure with a thick mound of leaves.
We all stand back proudly and view our handiwork. It’s astonishing – from even as close as just ten feet away, we’ll be completely camouflaged.
A harsh wind picks up, and now I’m glad we have shelter. The sky opens into a persistent drizzle as Hadone and Darok pull Forn into our temporary new home.
The structure is huge – especially considering how quickly the Aurelians built it – but it’s nevertheless going to be a tight squeeze to fit all of us inside it, given the huge size of the three warrior aliens.
But I don’t think any of us care – except Runner, perhaps; and I imagine even he’s glad to be protected as the elements grow harsher.
Darok motions for us to join them, and we all gather in the shelter.