by Ky Tyrand
Yes, it was – a person, crumpled in a fetal position!
The next time it flashed, the outline was green, with the name ‘BOSS’ spelled across the bottom in bold letters.
Darius!
33
Ki’ara’s heart leapt almost as fast as her feet, as she jumped up into the air. Without even considering her options, she caught hold of the knot of … whatever it was, and sliced through the cables that held it with a single pass of her brilliant blue blade of light.
Despite opening her G.R. as far as she could, Ki’ara was caught off guard by the weight, and dropped to the ground along with her heavy load.
Perhaps she slowed its descent, Ki’ara wasn’t sure. Either way, she was on the ground with the pod, scrambling to get her feet under her as pink gel spilled out around them.
She’d cracked the egg.
Ki’ara went straight to work cutting into the shell of woody vines, carefully avoiding the precious contents. She pulled a large piece of the husk aside, revealing a pink-coated helmet. The girl didn’t have a clue what the gel was, but it was everywhere. With a grimace, she wiped it off the face of Darius’s mask. It was difficult to see inside the dark visor, but she could tell that his eyes were closed. He was either unconscious, or dead.
“Darius,” she whispered, opening her own helmet and catching a whiff of strange odor. She assumed it was emanating from the pink gel. The girl continued to tear pieces off the CST-1 leader, ignoring the slippery slime that spilled with every pull.
He was all but free, yet didn’t move from his curled positon.
“Darius.” She shook him.
The boy’s eyes shot open. His entire body jolted, and he straightened.
Ki’ara let out a breath when he sat up.
Darius glanced from side to side, and then back to Ki’ara. His helmet opened. “What’s going on?” he coughed.
“We’re in a cave. You and you’re friends were captured.” She pointed to the other pods above them.
Darius followed her finger to where the egg-shaped knots dangled, trying to make sense of what was going on. He got to his feet when he identified the pods as being the same material as the shell cut open around him. “They’re in there?” he asked.
Ki’ara hadn’t even had a chance to check. “They must be,” she said, closing her helmet and trying to focus her visor on the next pod. The information registered. “Snapper.”
“How did you get me down?” asked Darius, looking for a way to climb. He spotted his assault rifle next to his feet, picked it up and pointed it at the cords above.
“Wait,” Ki’ara put a hand on the barrel of his gun, pushing it down. “Like this…” She jumped, sliced, and tried to slow the descent.
Darius dropped his gun and helped catch the egg. He looked at Ki’ara – who made a much better landing this time – before glancing up at the other two pods.
They didn’t need to say any words. Reading each other’s thoughts, they quickly cut the others down before Ki’ara began carving into the wooden shells.
“That’s amazing,” muttered Darius, watching Ki’ara work.
“Do you remember what happened?” asked Ki’ara, as she carefully cut sections away.
“The jungle,” he said. “It just came…”
“Alive,” she finished his thought.
Darius nodded, while helping her pry sections of the woody cocoons apart.
Ki’ara kept cutting, and one by one Darius’s teammates emerged, confused but alive.
Four pods. Four soldiers.
Darius noticed Ki’ara’s eyes searching the cavern. “What is it?”
“Je’nna,” Ki’ara frowned. “She was captured, too.”
“What the CRAP is this?” thundered Boomer’s voice, as he sat up and grimaced at his slime covered hands. “It smells like … FEET!”
“Shhh,” hissed Darius, before turning back to Ki’ara. “We’ll find her,” he assured her. “I promise.”
Ki’ara nodded and continued helping the others.
Kai’ji looked terrified when he came to. Ashley was furious, cursing Sirona and vowing to shoot the woman on sight.
“Please don’t,” implored Ki’ara. “I need her … services.”
Ashley glared at her, checked the charge in her assault rifle before trying to wipe the slime away. She looked to Darius. “What’s next, Boss?”
“The Mission is still active,” said the boy. “We find Sirona, and Je’nna, and we bring them back.”
Everyone nodded, checking their gear and wiping away pink goo.
Unsure of where to search, Ki’ara scanned the cavern for other exits. She spotted several. How big is this place? There was movement on a ledge at the far side of the cavern. “Look…” she pointed.
A dark figure stood on the rocky platform.
Sirona.
Had she been there all along?
The woman didn’t make a sound; just stood, watching the Tanglewood column in the center of the cavern, and nothing else. She didn’t appear to notice Ki’ara and CST-1.
Sirona’s arms went out to her sides an instant before the strike team had their weapons raised, targeting her. Their armor had changed color, now camouflaged, just like Ki’ara’s.
For an instant, Ki’ara feared they might shoot – killing her only hope of saving Sir Grue’gan. But, they weren’t firing – they were on the move. She wanted to shout at them to wait, but the soldiers were already gone.
Ki’ara followed as CST-1 swiftly but silently made their way across the cavern. Darius was first, with Ashley directly behind, followed by Kai’ji, and then Boomer. They covered one another from every angle, pointing their guns around obstacles as they leapfrogged along. Every movement was smooth and precise, as if rehearsed a thousand times over.
When Boomer saw that Ki’ara was following, he waved her forward to get in front of him, while tapping his forehead with his knuckles.
Was that the CST-1 gesture for putting a helmet on? Ki’ara closed hers, and Boomer nodded. “Uh, Darius?” she whispered, wondering if he would be able to hear her through the suit’s built in communicator.
“Yes?” his voice echoed in her helmet.
“Sirona seems pretty powerful. Are you sure you should be sneaking up on her with weapons drawn?”
“She is powerful,” he replied, “That’s why we’re sneaking up on her with weapons drawn.”
“Should we maybe try to talk to her before pointing guns at her?”
“We’ll talk to her, Ki’ara,” said Darius. “But our guns will be in hand. She tried to kill us out there.”
Nobody could see Ki’ara frowning in her helmet. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well … you’re all still alive,” replied the girl. “Why?”
Darius didn’t reply.
“If she’s powerful enough to control the jungle,” Ki’ara went on, “surely she could have killed you, had she wanted.”
“She could be right.” Boomer’s deep voice made Ki’ara jump.
“So, what are you suggesting?” asked Darius.
“Let me go talk to her,” said Ki’ara. “I could explain why we’ve come for her…”
“No,” said Darius, without a hint that he might reconsider. “No way. Too dangerous.”
Ki’ara could see the CST-1 leader shake his head as he continued his push around the perimeter of the cavern.
“You shouldn’t be here, Princess,” Ashley’s voice chimed in.
Under Ki’ara’s helmet, her eyebrows narrowed, and her face reddened. “If I wasn’t here, you would be curled up in pink yolk right now,” she reminded the other girl.
“Hah!” Boomer’s deep voice chuckled. “I’m glad you’re here, Ki’ara. This big body wasn’t meant to be stuffed into places like that. It was meant to be out in the open for all to see and admire!”
“You better hope that it doesn’t get seen by Sirona,” the ever so serious voice of Darius warned.
Up on the ledge, Sirona’s head was tipped back, her arms lifted to the sides. She wore a flowing red cloak that spread out to the sides like wings under her arms. Her hood had fallen open, and long, raven-black hair poured out. But it didn’t hang as normal hair should. Instead, it seemed to float, swirling around the woman’s head as if she were swimming underwater.
If Sirona looked down, surely she would see the combat team edging their way around, despite the camouflage. But she was lost in concentration, or a trance, or … something. A spell, perhaps? She seemed so focused that it appeared someone could march straight up to her, banging a drum, and she wouldn’t notice.
“What’s she doin’?” asked Boomer.
“Magic,” said a voice that Ki’ara didn’t recognize.
It took the Princess a moment to realize who it came from, but Darius confirmed: “You sure, Sparky?”
No answer.
Her hair’s floating, Ki’ara wanted to point out, but didn’t. Of course it’s magic!
There was movement on the ceiling and floor near the central woody column. Thin vines, like the ones that had pulled Je’nna into the ground, emerged and thrashed about. And, from the hollow core of the Tanglewood pillar, pink ooze appeared; bubbling, rising up the tube, while somehow not spilling through its many gaps.
Whatever spell Sirona was casting seemed to be drawing the slime upward, filling the hollow core nearly halfway to the top, to where Ki’ara could now see a large opening in one side.
As she and the soldiers came around, they had a clear view of the cavity, from which translucent pink gel began to drip – along with what looked to be a body!
Ki’ara’s heart leapt as she recognized the combat armor.
Je’nna’s lifeless form spilled out of the opening. For an instant it looked like she would fall, but the tentacle-like vines whipped around her, suspending her in the air high above the cavern floor. They appeared to be carrying her across the divide between the root column and Sirona’s ledge.
Despite her own suggestion to use prudence, seeing Je’nna captured and unconscious was too much for Ki’ara. She acted without hesitation.
“Ki’ara, NO!” Darius’s voice shouted in her ear.
But it was too late. The Princess had already committed herself to the jump.
34
She flew at Je’nna, catching her friend by the waist as her Niksuru sliced the vines that bound the girl.
Sirona twitched. Her head came down and levelled on Ki’ara, just as the last cable was cut.
There was only a moment of eye contact before the girls dropped.
Far lighter than the CST-1 members in their pods, Je’nna came down in a much more controlled descent. Ki’ara was even able to land softly, carefully setting her friend on the stone floor.
“Je’nna!” she shouted, smearing the pink slime from the girl’s visor. “Je’nna!”
Her eyes were closed. She wasn’t moving.
Ki’ara looked up, and Sirona was there, standing right beside her. How she’d suddenly got down from the ledge was a mystery.
Blades of blue plasma came to life in Ki’ara’s hands as she leapt to her feet and faced the woman. “What did you do to her?”
Sirona was beautiful in the same ageless way that Mother was. But, unlike the leader of Sanctuary, this woman was tall, and towered over Ki’ara. Her raven-black hair still swirled and floated, for an instant revealing a decorative golden mark on her forehead. Yet, it wasn’t the unusual symbol or weightless hair that held Ki’ara’s attention. Sirona’s irises and pupils were so light they could hardly be distinguished from the whites of her eyes, giving her a demonic appearance that replaced her beauty with something terribly sinister.
“How are you here?” The woman’s voice seemed to fill the cavern, echoing between the walls. It was deep and unnatural, not at all what Ki’ara had been expecting. Though her eyes made the woman look possessed, her voice sounded downright evil.
“I’m here for my friends,” said Ki’ara, taken aback by the voice, and not understanding the question. “Why have you done this to them?”
“They trespassed on my lands.”
The woman’s voice made Ki’ara want to tremble, but she stood defiant. “They came here seeking your help.”
“Why.” Sirona’s voice thundered. It seemed more like a statement than a question.
“I was told you were a great Healer,” said Ki’ara. “That you could help save my Guardian.”
“I have no interest in saving the life of your Guardian,” said Sirona.
Ki’ara spotted CST-1 out of the corner of her eye. Their guns were levelled on Sirona as they approached smoothly and silently. She knew that any one of them could pull the trigger and end Grue’gan’s only chance of survival.
At her feet, Je’nna moved; coming to from whatever sedative effect the pink gel imparted. Ki’ara let out a breath when she realized her friend wasn’t any more harmed than the members of CST-1 had been.
The panels that made up Ki’ara’s helmet retracted, and she faced Sirona eye-to-eye. “Please,” she said. “He’s a good man, and you’re the only one who can save him.”
Upon seeing Ki’ara’s face, something seemed to change in the woman. Her eyes altered, darkening to how normal eyes should look. The swirling black hair that spiraled around her head dropped like a blanket of silk.
“You are of the Old Blood,” she said. The deep, echoing voice was gone, replaced by one far friendlier and more suited to the person that produced it.
Ki’ara was completely taken aback by the sudden turn, and even felt a sense of hope that Sirona might not be as lost as it first appeared. “Yes,” she said, retracting her blades of Blue Energy. “My name is Ki’ara, and my Guardian…”
“Sir Grue’gan,” the woman inserted.
“Yes,” said Ki’ara. “How did you …”
“He is of the Old Blood as well?”
“Well … yes.” Ki’ara could not be more confused. Is she reading my mind?
Sirona stepped to the side, and CST-1, with their twitchy trigger fingers, snapped to attention. If the woman noticed, she didn’t seem to care.
She was watching Ki’ara in a way that did not make the girl feel the least bit comfortable. Slowly Sirona circled around, eyeing the Princess from head to toe.
“Please,” Ki’ara repeated, breaking the awkward silence. “I could take you to him.”
“Where is he?” asked Sirona. Her voice was friendly and light, almost musical.
“He’s back at…”
“Ki’ara!” Darius cut her off, making her jump. The girl looked over at him. His helmet was off, and he shook his head ever so slightly.
Sirona gave Darius a sharp look, but smiled when she saw his face. “He’s at your precious Sanctuary,” she confirmed.
Darius hid his eye behind the scope on his assault rifle.
“What would it take to convince you to help my Guardian?” Ki’ara asked her.
Sirona continued her drawn out loop around the girls, ignoring the guns aimed at her. She seemed to be considering, perhaps trying to think up a price. Rather than answering, she asked, “How many Descendants are there in Sanctuary?”
“I…” Ki’ara looked at Darius, as if he might field the question. When he remained silent, Ki’ara admitted, “I don’t know.”
“You could bring your Guardian to me,” she said. Once again, it was not a question.
Ki’ara shook her head. “He needs doctors … an operation. They have medical facilities…”
Sirona responded with a laugh. “I don’t need doctors, or an infirmary. I have everything I need to heal your Guardian right here.”
“But…” Ki’ara’s heart was thumping with hope, but Sirona didn’t even know what was wrong with him. “He has a bullet lodged…”
“In his spine,” Sirona finished her sentence. “Bring him to me, Little One, and I will heal him for you.”
Ki’ara smiled and looked to Dariu
s. She was prepared to run straight back to Sanctuary and bring Grue’gan back by herself. But it would be much easier if CST-1 were to help her.
Her heart sank when she heard Boomer’s voice. Even without the communicator it was easy to make out – “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I,” whispered Darius. “Something’s not right, Ki’ara.”
The girl frowned. She’s offering to help me … To help Sir Grue’gan. Turning back to Sirona, she asked, “What’s the price?”
“No price,” said Sirona. “But your friends must stay.”
Ki’ara’s eyebrows narrowed. “Why?”
“Because that is my offer.”
“You want me to carry him by myself?”
“I don’t care how you get him here. Bring more Descendants to help you.”
Why? Ki’ara hated that there was a catch. Like all things that were too good to be true. She wondered what would have happened to CST-1 had she not cut them down. Why was this woman keeping them alive in those pods? “I’m not sure why you want them to stay,” said Ki’ara, folding her arms across her chest. “But I can assure you that every one of these people will be coming with me when I walk out of here.”
Sirona chuckled at the boldness of the girl, not convinced that she was serious. “You would not trust me with them in return for the life of your friend?”
“I don’t understand why you want them to remain.”
Sirona didn’t respond.
Ki’ara glanced up at the hollow column of gnarled tree-parts. The pink gel had receded all the way down to the base. “Where are the Royal Guardsmen that followed us here?”
The woman shrugged. “What do you mean?”
“I heard their screams. They were captured by your … jungle.”
“They were,” smiled Sirona. “But they are not of the Old Blood. They are of no use to me in here. However, that does not mean that they don’t have a place.”
Ki’ara’s eyebrows went up. “Okay, what does that mean?”
“It means that their lives are already forfeit. They have joined the ranks of my own guard, protecting my lands from those who would dare approach.”