"Sorry, Arus," she said, shaking her head emphatically, "but you don't know F'Ledro like I do."
They came to the lift just as the doors were closing. Arus frantically tapped away at the call button. "Come on, come on! They're getting away!"
"They won't escape," Kitreena assured him. Her hands quivered, and she could almost feel the sweat trickling down her back. She wasn't going to be able to remain in her Morphed state for much longer. "They still have to get to a ship, power it up, activate the hangar doors, and complete the departure process. It won't take us that long to get down there."
They stood in relative silence beside the lift, and Kitreena turned her focus toward maintaining her transformation. The energy within burned with every heartbeat and pulsed with each motion, rolling about within as though her veins were filled with nothing but magma. Making matters worse, each searing wave of pain served to increase her anger, and she found herself blaming F'Ledro not only for the loss of her parents, but for the very pain she was experiencing from having Morphed. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in this agony right now. If it wasn't for him, I never would've learned to Morph, and I wouldn't have to suffer like this. But soon, he'll suffer. Soon, he'll know what it is like to live in undying agony!
Arus watched her nervously, his mechanical eye emitting a faint electronic buzz with each movement. He only wanted what was best for her, and she understood that, but he didn't have to see the universe through her eyes. She was proud of him for having learned to have a positive outlook on life—and envious, in many ways—but it didn't change her own perspective of things despite how much she wanted to share his view. Changing one's perception of life was no simple matter, and it was proving to be a challenge that she just wasn't ready to face. I'm sorry, Arus, but I just can't let him survive. I'll never be able to live with myself. Please don't stand in my way. I don't want to think of what might happen.
The lift doors startled her when they opened, but she was all too happy to join Arus inside and get moving again. He drew his sword, and Kitreena glanced at the whip in her glowing hands. She seemed to remember the weapon being transformed along with her when she'd last Morphed, but now it remained in its natural state. Still another aspect of her abilities she had yet to understand.
The hallway that connected the lift to the hangar was barren, but the nearby whine of starship engines told them that the Kyrosen were well on their way toward escape. Kitreena sprinted alongside Arus down the short corridor and around the corner where the corpses of the guards they'd earlier been forced to kill were still lying in motionless heaps. To the far left, a Vezulian transport ship was beginning to descend through the floor to the departure bay, and Kitreena could clearly make out Olock in the pilot's seat. With no time to spare, she unleashed a white burst of flame upon the control panel beside dock, demolishing it in a massive burst of sparks and fire. The transport stopped midway through the floor.
"Nice work," Arus said as they ran toward the ship.
The side door was already opening, and the two Kyrosen guards climbed out of the partially descended floor. "You've made a big mistake by following us here," one of them grunted. A thin man with arms that looked a little too long for his body, he brandished a knife in one hand and a Vezulian rifle in the other. Beside him, a shorter man with a bowl of brown hair atop his head scrambled up with no weapons at all, suggesting he intended on using his Kyrosen "gifts" to fight.
"By order of the Aeden Alliance," Arus began, readying his sword, "you are all under arrest."
Kitreena could hear F'Ledro and Olock arguing inside. "How am I supposed to fix it when the terminal is fried?"
"I don't care how, just do it!"
"But I don't have the supplies to—"
"Don't argue with me, F'Ledro, just do it!"
Her attention refocused on the Kyrosen before her. "You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into, boys," she heard herself say. The power within seemed to leap for joy. Moving like a bolt of lightning, she shot forward and drove a fist into the face of the armed soldier. His body tumbled backward like a rolling log, weapons clattering across the floor on either side. Somehow, she sensed the manipulation of fire coming from the second man just before he threw a powerful blast toward her, and she countered it with a precisely aimed streak of lightning. The bolt literally cut through the fireball, disintegrating it before striking the soldier's chest. He was thrown into the departure bay, where he lay in a motionless pile beside the transport.
Again, she sensed the manipulation of fire, this time coming from the cockpit. Arus' sensors must've picked up the energy buildup as well, because he threw himself onto her as a blinding bar of red exploded through the ship's forward viewport. They crashed to the floor just as the energy beam sailed over their heads, heating the air with a thunderous crackle before it crashed into the far wall in a rolling plume of smoke and fire. When Kitreena opened her eyes, F'Ledro was already on the move, scurrying toward one of the Aeden starfighters. Olock was climbing through the jagged hole in their starship's viewport, that small black case under his arm.
When she rose to chase him, Kitreena expected to hear protests from Arus. Instead, he simply stood and said, "Be careful."
For a moment she simply looked at him, staring at her glowing reflection in his eye. She'd never seen herself in her Morphed state before, but the vision was enough to chill her to the bone. Despite the blinding light that encompassed her, the amethyst light coming from her eyes made her look almost . . . demonic. "You be careful, too," she finally said.
She couldn't feel her feet against the floor as she raced after F'Ledro. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she was running or gliding. Regardless, it took mere seconds to intercept him, and he came stumbling to a stop when she stepped between him and the Aeden craft. Fire engulfed her whip as she cracked it above her head, and crimson flames left a brief trail behind it. A quick lash knocked the pistol from his hands—shattered it, actually—and another left a blackened scorch mark across his chest where his shirt and vest had instantly dissolved in the heat of the flames. F'Ledro screamed and turned to run away once more, but she wrapped her whip around his ankle, and a sharp tug sent him crashing to the floor. He cried out in pain as another snap seared a burnt swath through the back of his vest, and still another cut a slash through his thigh. "This has been a long time in coming, F'Ledro!" she growled in fury. Another snap, another burn, another scream. "You deserve all of this and more for what you've done!" she shouted, cracking her whip against his body again and again. His screams echoed across the hangar bay, and he rolled onto his back, open hands raised as he shook his head.
"Please, no more!" he begged, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm begging you, no more! I'll do whatever you ask! I surrender to you, please!"
She whipped him twice more across the chest and middle before his words registered, filling her with a mixture of both compassion and rage. He surrendered. I should take him as a prisoner. The energy in her body swelled, driving her anger to new levels, and she suddenly found herself kneeling beside him with her hands wrapped around his throat. But I want to kill him! I want him to suffer like Mother and Father suffered! I want him to feel the pain he's left me with for so many years!
"I'm sorry!" he choked, trying to pry her hands away. She hadn't realized she'd been screaming those thoughts, but the reverberations of her voice were still repeating across the hangar. "I'm sorry! Please, I'll do anything you ask! Just don't kill me!"
Across from her, Arus and Olock had crossed swords. But while his attention seemed to be completely focused on the duel, Arus was clearly aware of what was going on. He's surrendered to you, Kit. Please, stop this madness. Don't be like them! Don't do it!
"Why should I show him mercy?!" she shouted. Tears of her own were rolling down her cheeks, now. "He's never shown an ounce of mercy to his victims!"
Surprisingly, it was not Arus' voice that replied, but Mateo's, echoing the words of advice he had given her in the Fourth Dim
ension. Do not let anger and hatred drive your strength anymore; replace such feelings with hope and love. Show mercy on those who would show you none, and love those who hate you. These are the greatest weapons of all.
It was all too much to handle. The wiry man continued to struggle under her grip, desperately gasping for life. Her feelings raged like the energy within, a battle of her desire to do the right thing against the pain that had dictated her actions from the moment her parents had left her. Though she knew it was wrong, she wanted nothing more than to strangle the man until his lungs collapsed upon themselves. But that would make her no different from him, no kinder, no wiser, no better. I can't do it! I can't let myself be like that! I won't allow it to happen! I won't accept it anymore!
And for the first time since the day her parents died, Kitreena chose compassion over anger. Mercy over revenge. Love over hate.
The flow of energy within her doubled, bursting through her body in brilliant streams of white light that cut through the air like spotlights in a starless night. She felt her body lift into the air, arms and legs extended as the pain turned to comfort, anger to compassion, darkness to light. A soothing warmth encircled her in a whirlwind of energy as her body transformed once more, becoming something like her human form yet capable of wielding more power than she'd ever dreamed. When her feet once again touched the ground, she was a new being, herself yet stronger, Morphed with a power not seen in generations. Light of the purest white shed from her body like smoke from kindling fire, intense streaks of lightning slithered around her form with sharp crackles, and her eyes were blue as ice. The power of the elements was at her fingertips.
Her transformation was complete.
F'Ledro stared at her with eyes wider than dinner plates, his body still as a statue. "By the authority of the throne of Aerianna, the Light of Lavinia, I am placing you under arrest, F'Ledro," she proclaimed. "You will be handed over to the Royal Guard of Aerianna, and they shall decide what to do with you from there. I have little doubt that you'll find a noose around your neck soon enough, but that is not for me to decide."
To her surprise, the little man merely nodded. Across the way, Arus was focused on his fight with Olock, but Kitreena knew that he was fully aware of what had happened. Good job, Kit, he said telepathically. I knew you had it in you. I'm proud of you.
*******
Arus twisted his body in mid-air as he flipped away from Olock's sword, his own weapon creating a streak of silver around him. Blades clashed once more the moment his boots touched the floor, and Arus moved with the fluidity and expertise of a battle-tested warrior. Olock had certainly underestimated his skill—that much was evident in the Kyrosen's expression—but then Arus himself had not anticipated such a struggle. There was no doubting that Olock had been holding back during their initial battle on Terranias, a duel which had been Arus' first real fight, one that set a chain of events into motion that had taken the young man to places he'd never imagined. As a boy, he'd dreamed of nothing more than joining the Keroko Militia and defending his village. Now, that goal that somehow seemed meager in light of everything he'd been through. A tiny drop of paint on a much larger canvas.
"Give it up, Olock," Arus said sharply, twisting his sword in a high parry. "You can't win."
Blood dripped from Olock's mouth where an earlier punch from Arus' cybernetic fist had split his lower lip wide open. Despite the crimson streaks running down his chin, the Kyrosen actually smiled. "Do you honestly think I would surrender to you? I am a Kyrosen, Arus." Their weapons connected again, hairs away from Arus' neck. "You have improved, I'll give you that. But beneath that implant, you are still the nervous little boy I encountered in Keroko."
Across from them, Kitreena's whip snapped over and over in a deafening sequence of cracks that split the air like thunderclaps. Arus spared a brief glance in her direction, and his heart sank. F'Ledro was lying on the floor, writhing in agony as Kitreena lashed away at him with her weapon. He was screaming apologies. He's surrendered to you, Kit. Please, stop this madness. Don't be like them! Don't do it!
"Why should I show him mercy?!" she screamed without looking up. Her cheeks glistened with tears. "He's never shown an ounce of mercy to his victims!"
It was all the attention Arus could afford to spare. Olock pushed harder, and the dull edge of Dayne's sword brushed against his throat. "You fool!" the Kyrosen taunted. "If you had embraced the fighting techniques and styles that Truce and I programmed into the implant, you'd be able to defeat me without sweating a bead. But you foolishly chose weakness over strength, and that weakness will see you dead today!"
Arus grinned as he put his weight behind the mechanical arm and pushed as hard as he could, throwing Olock onto his back. He swung his sword around his body in a grand flourish as the Kyrosen scrambled to his feet. "Weak, you say? If you ask me, sitting back and letting a machine live my life for me would be weak. I would rather be my own person than a slave to the implant. Besides . . ." He slammed his sword down on Olock's, this time pressing so hard that the Olock nearly collapsed to his knees. ". . . I happen to believe that I've improved a bit since we last fought."
The Mage dropped onto his back and kicked both feet into Arus' chest, knocking him back a few paces. "Perhaps," Olock told him, rolling backward into a crouching position, "but my talents still surpass yours by far!" He clasped both hands around the hilt of his weapon and closed his eyes, funneling a concentrated stream of fire into the blade. "Let's see you match this kind of power!" The weapon whirled in a wide trail of crimson flame as he leapt into the air.
Arus couldn't help but grin. With both arms raised above his head like that, Olock's middle was wide open for attack. A quick slash of his sword could certainly spill the Mage's innards all over the floor, but Arus instead took a quick step back, rotating his body sideways. He threw his foot out in a high thrust as Olock came down, kicking the Kyrosen in the throat with such force that his body was sent sprawling across the floor of the hangar. As he rolled onto all fours, a blanket of white ensconced them both, accompanied by sharp tremors in both the floor and walls. Instinctively, Arus raised his arms to shield his vision, but his sensors told him where the explosion of energy had originated.
There was not much time for him to look toward Kitreena. As soon as the light had died enough for silhouettes to become visible, Olock lunged again. Arus' sensors drove him to react, deflecting strike after strike as he tried to see Kitreena through the fading shroud. A sharp jolt along his right shoulder where Olock's blade made contact forced him to refocus on his fight, but it wasn't long before he heard Kitreena's voice like a chorus of trumpets. "By the authority of the throne of Aerianna, the Light of Lavinia, I am placing you under arrest, F'Ledro. You will be handed over to the Royal Guard of Aerianna, and they shall decide what to do with you from there. I have little doubt that you'll find a noose around your neck soon enough, but that is not for me to decide."
The words brought a smile to Arus' face. Good job, Kit. I knew you had it in you. I'm proud of you.
The announcement startled Olock enough to draw his eyes. Arus drove his steel fist into the Kyrosen's temple the moment his head was turned, and leapt on top of him as his body hit the floor. The Mage's sword clattered away and fell into the departure bay with the half-descended transport. "Surrender, Olock," Arus growled, resting his blade against the Kyrosen's flesh. "It's over."
For a moment, it almost looked as though the exhausted Mage might comply. In Arus' experiences under Truce's control, Olock had always been the more sensible of the two. Still, he was a Kyrosen at heart, and his blood flowed with the pride of his people. "I will never surrender to you," he said, his voice steady and firm. "I am sorry, Arus, that you were drawn into this. And I will admit that I never really agreed with the implant project, myself. But what's done is done, and it boggles my mind that you can possess the unimaginable potential of the device and yet refuse to embrace it. How can you live with one of the most powerful inventions ever known
to the universe at your fingertips and not take full advantage of it?"
"Because, unlike you, I do not embrace the ideals that this device was designed to further," he answered, just as calm. "Violence, anger, hatred, conquest; they're all characteristics of the Kyrosen, and I'll have no part of any of them. This implant could program me to be the perfect fighter once again, I know. But I would rather be an imperfect human than a perfect machine."
Olock's lips curled into a snarl. "Then you choose mediocrity over greatness."
"Some would say that my father, Dayne Sheeth, and my mentor, Eaisan Lurei, were mediocre. They were both farmers, swordsmen, and soldiers. They embraced honor and nobility, defended decent morality, and gave their lives in defense of those principals. The Kyrosen would call them mediocre. But to me, they are the two greatest men I've ever known, and I hope that one day I can live to be a quarter of what they were."
A deadly gleam came to Olock's eyes. "I'm sorry, Arus, but I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen!" As he spoke, he pressed his hands against Arus' chest. The implant's sensors flashed a warning, and Arus rolled away just as a thick bolt of electricity shot from Olock's hands. The resulting thunderclap so intense that Arus thought the entire hangar bay was going to rumble apart. Olock was on his feet before the tremors had even begun to die down, and his hands crackled with electricity.
"Arus!" Kitreena was running toward him, her form now visible through a constantly regenerating outline of white light that rose from her body like wisps of smoke from a freshly extinguished candle. Olock turned his hands toward her, slithering crackles of light intensifying. Arus reacted out of desperation.
"Kitreena, look out!" he screamed, lunging in a panic. His sword went right through Olock's back and burst through his stomach, drenched in crimson. The glimmers of electricity vanished, his arms fell, and he dropped to the floor, clutching his middle while his eyes settled into the distant stare of death. Arus immediately retracted his sword with a silent curse, grinding his teeth in anger. "The bloody fool! I gave him every chance to live! I didn't want to have to—"
Eye of the Tornado Page 19