by James Somers
Hundreds of people ran in every direction, mirroring the situation they had encountered when they first arrived. But the sheer number of attackers had to be tenfold what they had faced before. Emil dogged Tiet's steps as they made their way through the horrific scene played out around them. The vampiric attackers were took in the precious life blood of their victims-draining them dry and heaving the bodies away to go after the next.
Emil drew his kemsticks and dispatched some of the Agonotti along the way. Emil struck the ghastly humanoids with their victims in their clutches and both predator and prey fell together.
Tiet remained on the mental scent of his son searching through the crowd like a living divining rod. Tiet saw his son up ahead. Kale stood locked in battle with the Guardian leader, Elam.
Tiet watched Kale's kemstick knocked from his grasp. He fell back to the ground with Elam coming in fast for the kill. Tiet reached back to the scabbard on his back. With one quick snap of his arm, he pulled his blade and flung it away toward his son's aggressor, willing the weapon to ignite as it left his hand. The weapon seemed to be suspended in time as he ran behind it on its way to the intended target, its revolutions seeming to last minutes apiece.
He had to be on time, had to be there to save him, to do what he had not been able to do for Dorian or for Orin. He couldn't watch his own son die like they had died, only moments before he could arrive to save them.
0
Elam brought his blade down and expected the boy to use a mental attack to knock it away in time-he held the weapon loosely to make it even easier when the lad's mental defense came. But as he looked into the Kale's face, he noticed him glancing away at something behind them and a look of horror coming over his face. At that moment, Elam sensed an attack and turned instinctively to face it.
The Barudii blade twirled through the air ever so elegantly with its blade shining like a shooting star racing through the sky. Elam tried to defend himself, but there was not time.
The blade struck Elam's weapon as he turned around. It flew out of his hand and he fell to the ground disarmed. Tiet's weapon ricocheted up and away and hit one of the Agonotti that had been observing the fight, severing one of his arms.
0
Tiet ran up right behind the blade-strike and went immediately to his son's aid. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Father," Lucin said with Kale's voice.
Tiet helped Kale to stand and the boy leaned on him. Elam started to recover from the hit and Tiet drew a kemstick from his thigh-clip with his other hand while helping to hold up Kale around his waist. Elam sat up slightly, looking at them and trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Now, Guardian, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Tiet said as he held onto his son and ignited his weapon.
0
Emil had fallen behind and ran hard to catch up. It looked like Kale had been found and saved from the Guardian commander. He ran to catch up and watched his back for Agonotti who were gathered all around, watching the drama unfold.
Emil watched Tiet stare at the Guardian and dare him to stand and fight. Then he looked at Kale, his lost friend. He looked weak from the fight, as though he could hardly stand without his father's assistance. Their eyes met as Emil ran toward them and suddenly he felt a chill wash over his senses.
The eyes seemed black as midnight. A feeling so familiar and terrifying overwhelmed him. It felt the same as when the little girl in the wilds when she went berserk under symbyte control and he remembered then that Kale also carried one of the parasitic organisms inside him. The beast was in control.
Emil tried to shout a warning, crying out, "No!"
But it was too late. A laugh tried to escape Kale's pursed lips as Lucin looked away from Emil to the man who was Kale's father. Tiet looked away from the Guardian leader, Elam, still lying on the ground, and into his son's face. For the brief moment he was allowed, Tiet saw someone else looking out through his son's eyes and regret filled his soul-regret for what his son was going to do.
Lucin summoned Kale's energies and quickly thrust his hands upward into Tiet's torso releasing a kinetic burst that sent the Barudii warrior's body up into the air limp like an old rag doll. He landed in a heap, nearly fifteen feet away, gasping for his breath.
Emil leaped at his symbyte controlled friend and engaged him in hand to hand combat. Emil didn't want to have to kill him. Then he remembered the med-kit. He had one of the injection cylinders given to them by Mirah in his own pocket. I've got to get it out and inject Kale with it before he gets his hands on a weapon. When they had sparred hand to hand, the odds had been more even, but when Kale had a weapon in his hands he had no equal.
Emil grappled with Kale and blocked several well placed punches and kicks that could have paralyzed with proper contact. The symbyte isn't as good a fighter as Kale on his own, he thought.
Emil whipped the metal injection tube from his pocket trying to keep it concealed. Surprisingly, Elam had not engaged in the fight. The Guardian leader had his weapon in hand again, but remained clear, apparently waiting to see who would win out in the struggle.
Another quick flurry of punches and kicks passed between the two adolescents with Emil being the slightest bit faster. The last kick made contact with Kale's ribs and it felt like a solid hit. The symbyte boy gasped for air and Emil followed quickly with a forearm smash to the side of his friend's face that bloodied Kale's mouth and nose and buckled him to his knees.
He seized the moment and brought the injection cylinder up and plunged the tip down into Kale's shoulder near the base of his neck. Kale jerked the cylinder away, but the payload had already been delivered. Fury passed over the possessed Kale's face and he acted as though he would now explode upon Emil, but the elixir began to take effect.
Kale's body seized and he fell back to the ground gasping and writhing in apparent pain. The Agonotti still kept their distance, allowing the winner to be announced before they made any move to interfere. Thousands of others still pillaged the city and preyed upon its inhabitants as they moved out further into the rural areas in search of food. The city of Odem was already doomed, no matter what.
Elam figured out his accomplice was defeated and blasted at Emil kinetically. He defended himself with a counter that knocked them both backward. Emil retrieved his kemsticks and joined them to form a staff. He ignited it and moved in toward the Guardian leader, meeting Elam's every strike with careful spins and flourishes.
"You're not going to win this, boy!" Elam shouted.
But Emil never answered him a word. He had always been taught never to engage the psychological tricks of an opponent. Ignore the rhetoric and concentrate on the fight. Many a battle had been given up due to emotionalism and he needed all the help he could get in this fight.
Elam pushed hard against him and drove him back with his attacks. Emil sensed Elam trying to get through with a mental attack as well. Elam's mind probed all around the boy like obscene tentacles searching for a weakness to exploit.
Kale still lay on the ground and had apparently slipped into unconsciousness. His body trembled as Lucin's symbyte form fought for life, awash in the antibody injection concocted by Mirah.
Tiet attempted to crawl towards his son. He groaned as he tried to get to his knees. Several of the Agonotti attempted to move in on him-they enjoyed the weak-anyone who couldn't defend themselves.
Tiet pulled another kemstick from its clip and positioned it between the predators and him. Fortunately, they seemed unsure about moving in while he was armed. The boy moaned as he crawled to him. The Agonotti hovered in the near vicinity, watching him for a moment's lapse in his defensive posture. Emil kept Elam occupied, but how long could he keep it up. Emil allowed himself to be driven back again and again by the Guardian leader.
Kale suddenly sat up and Tiet almost brought his kemstick around to defend against his own son. Kale jumped to his feet and grabbed Tiet's weapon as though it were being offered to him. "Thanks, Father."
<
br /> He leaped away with the ignited weapon. Apparently the serum Mirah had developed had worked and Kale was once again in command of his own faculties. Kale attacked the Guardian from behind and the tables almost instantly turned as Elam began to give up ground to the young man. "Emil, help my father!"
The young Horva complied and headed to the defense of the king as the Agonotti moved in closer, seeking a prey in him. They began to morph weapons from their forms. Their fear was retreating and their confidence growing.
0
Kale advanced on the Guardian leader, steadily pushing him back as Agonotti warriors parted to allow the battle to continue. Kale decided to up the intensity. The kemstick he had used previously to strike down the Agonotti leader while under symbyte control still lay in the dirt twenty feet away. He called it to his hand. Elam's blade, a well crafted piece bearing crests for his family heritage, was longer than a kemstick's reach, but it made little difference to Kale.
He launched a furious barrage of strikes at the older warrior, but Elam still matched him blow for blow. The Guardian's offense turned to pure defense and the strain of the fight began to show on his face. He had not expected the boy to be so good, even after facing him briefly back at the Olson farm.
Kale sensed the uneasiness of the Agonotti around him. They were just waiting for the right moment to strike. Knowing what Elam had told him about his relationship to the Agonotti and their arrangement to terrorize and capitalize on the people of this planet, he was unsure why they had not already come to his aid. Time to put an end to this fight, he thought.
Kale flipped back away from Elam to gain the proper distance for his tactic and then he flung both of his kemsticks at the Guardian commander. As they flew away, Kale quickly pulled his second pair from the clips on his legs and ignited them. The first pair struck at Elam's defense then rebounded under Kale's mental control as he threw the second set of weapons at the man. A lightning fast series of rebounds and throws exchanged between the Barudii warriors.
One blade against four, it was simply too much even for a seasoned swordsman such as himself. Then it happened. A kemstick blade whirled past Elam's defense, severing his right arm at mid-humerus. Another second later as he screamed for the arm and his blade lowered in the left hand, another rebounding kemstick blade struck him in the sternum and a third followed, whirling across his shoulders, removing his head.
Kale stood with the fourth weapon still in his hand as his opponent slumped over to the ground. The Agonotti cried out for the man. Kale wasn't sure whether it was in victory over him or in mourning, but he doubted the latter. The cry washed through the onlookers quickly then they drew their weapons for battle.
SIX
A wave of laser fire suddenly erupted into the streets of Odem. The whine of thruster engines closed in on the masses of Agonotti congregated in the small town. Kale recognized the ship as soon as he saw it.
Elam's personal command shuttle strafed Agonotti warriors as its flight path brought it up to the market area where its owner had just met his demise. Kale called his kemsticks away from around Elam's body and replaced the extra pair on their clips while keeping a pair at the ready.
The mounted guns hanging from the under portion of the wings made the ship look more like a fighter craft than a shuttle. They blazed a trail through the predators which took their attention off of Kale, Emil and Tiet at the moment. The cloud still hung thick over the town and many of the Agonotti dematerialized as the laser turrets blazed through their ranks.
The shuttle came to the place where Tiet and the boys huddled together and landed beside them while the Agonotti scattered. The boarding ramp extended as the shuttle door opened and Kale expected to see Elam's personal escort emerge, but instead Juli ran out the door to meet him.
"Come on, Kale, we've got to get you out of here!"
The Agonotti cloud grew in size again as the individual warriors dematerialized, looking like statues of loose sand torn down by a mighty wind. Kale was so happy to see Juli alive. Looking through the pilot's view port, he saw her father Olson at the controls.
The boys helped Tiet get to his feet and assisted him into the shuttle. He groaned under the pain of his internal injuries. Kale looked at his father and felt sorry for having unknowingly been the cause of his pain for the second time now.
After strapping his father into a flight chair, at the rear of the main compartment, Kale made his way to the cockpit. Juli shut the main hatch again as the cloud of Agonotti swirled around the ship. Kale walked right up to the girl and hugged her so tightly her feet lifted off of the compartment floor. She returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around his sweat soaked head during the brief moment. Kale let her down and for a lack of words he just held her arms smiling like he had just been given a fortune. He looked beyond to the cockpit where Olson and his wife, Aylah, were seated in flight chairs.
"Good to see you well, Master Kale," Olson said as he powered up the thrusters and took the ship skyward again.
"You don't know how good it is to see all of you safe. I thought Elam had killed you all in the explosion."
"We weren't in the house," Juli said. "Father took us to the bunker he built beneath the house. The tunnel goes all the way back into the mountain."
"How did you get this ship?"
"Well, when I came back out of the emergency entrance on the hillside I saw what was left of the house. You were there at the shuttle with Elam," Olson said. "When you got on board with him I wasn't sure if he had captured you, so I shot the hull with a tracker pin."
"Good thinking."
"By the time we caught up with the ship, only Elam's pilot was inside."
"And we got rid of him pretty easily," Juli said.
The shuttle continued to rise through the storm of the Agonotti.
"What course, Master Kale?" Olson asked.
Emil interrupted. "The signs in the place where we came through said Sector City. We have a recall gate that will appear there if we can get to it."
"Take us there, Olson."
The shuttle burst away from the ghastly scene in Odem as the cloud of beings took up the chase. The storm of creatures willed their immaterial forms to follow the craft and they were keeping pace with it. Obscene appendages of the gaseous formation launched outward to caress the small shuttle in flight, but had no substance to hold it with.
The adolescents made their way back to check on the king. Tiet remained only half conscious. His breathing was noticeably labored.
"What happened to him?" Juli asked.
Kale looked at Emil, "It's a long story. I think he may have broken ribs and a pelvic fracture, maybe even some internal bleeding. I've got to get him back to my mother-being a doctor, she can help him."
"I've already activated the recall on the transgate," Emil said. "I don't know how long it will take to transmit the signal all the way back to Kosiva and put a new portal in place.
"Sector city is only about twenty minutes of flight time from Odem," Juli said.
Kale looked out of nearby port holes, on either wall of the craft, and saw the swirling mass trying to overtake them in flight. "I hope we can make it."
0
Wynn sat at the computer station in his room going over records of the nearby planetary systems when an alarm sounded. The alarm had been programmed to interrupt his current information on the computer screen. A recall signal had been issued. They were coming home, but did they have Kale with them?
Wynn stood and ran down the hall of the ship to the transgate chamber. When he entered, the alarm flashed at several stations inside. Wynn keyed in his own password for the system and the alarm silenced. The computer brought up the relevant data-definitely a recall signal.
Wynn set the calibration and launched the gate immediately. Within twenty seconds, a wall of light burst into view within the gate aperture. Everything was ready. Wynn waited for his comrades to come through, but no one appeared. It was the nature of the field that one could not m
ake out much of anything on the other side unless you were close to it. He saw vague forms of buildings, but no people.
He tapped the communications panel and called overhead for all members of the team to get to the gate room immediately. If Tiet and the boys had activated the field then surely they would be close by to make it to the jump point.
Within moments, Grod, Mirah and then Merab and Jael all came running through the auto doors.
"What's going on?" Mirah asked as she scanned around for her husband and son.
"The recall signal has been activated," Wynn said, "I've already put a gate in place, but no one has come through yet."
"Maybe we should go through and make sure they are able to get to the gate-they may have run into trouble," Grod suggested.
"That's not a bad idea. At least we could guard the gate from the other side to prevent anyone else from coming through," Wynn said.
"Wynn, you and Grod go," Mirah said. "We'll stay here to make sure the gate is maintained."
She didn't say it, but she obviously wanted the two most experienced warriors to be the ones going through after them. Nothing would put her mind at ease though, except seeing her husband and both of the boys coming back through the gate safely.
Wynn and Grod looked at one another and immediately left the room for the armory in the ship. If they were going through then they would be going fully armed and ready for anything.
0
Sector City appeared on the horizon. The ominous Agonotti cloud continued to track with the shuttle trying to overtake them somehow. The sun diffused through the mingled forms of thousands of the immaterial creatures.
"We're almost there!" Olson shouted to those in the rear compartment.
Tiet moaned from his injuries. Guilt flooded in on Kale as he tried to make his father comfortable in the shuttle while it rocked and reeled from the pressures being exerted on it by the cloud.