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KAHARI

Page 11

by Dean Kutzler


  “You see, it is beyond comprehension just like your perception of time, which is not quite what it truly is, it is so much more. If I could share my understanding with you, you would understand the things that construct your world are not what you thought.

  “In your world, as holds true for every world in all the dimensions, reality can never be—nothing. Nothing is a physical and metaphysical impossibility that does not exist. There must always be something.”

  Saren began to sense his reluctance to answer her question was from guilt.

  Why?

  “Faelar? The blackness.” She pointed to the dark Omphalos of Hotomkan inside the Kek Ring. “Is it the dark chaos?”

  He nodded, clicking his eyes shut.

  “And is it also the fate worse than death you spoke about to Daxton?”

  He nodded again.

  When he opened his eyes, he said, “The Omphalos of Hotomkan is the precious souls of the beings which die here on Kahari, to answer your question, Saren Thorn. Each soul is thrust back into the chaos from which it was born, unable to find peace after knowing the freedom of life was within their grasp and they let it slip away. That is a fate worse than death, to exist forever in a state of remorseful regret.

  “Life is a gift, Saren Thorn. You, James Brody, and the creature up above do not belong here. This is the reason why you are not drawn to it like Daxton Stone. It is a connection to the Omphalos of Hotomkan created the moment the unspeakable crime is committed.

  “His fate is what brought him here regardless of the circumstances. He has forgotten who he is, and I do not know why. He will return to normal once he has passed through.”

  Saren knew what having something so vital within her grasp unsuspectingly taken away was like, but, if she annihilated the Scarab would she then belong here on Kahari?

  It was a sacrifice she was will to make for the greater good of the universe.

  “You said no rules—only one ruler per Ring?”

  “That is correct.”

  Saren had an idea which might leave the Kractorian beat if he didn’t agree with her plan, but that was his choice to make.

  “Okay, Faelar. I’m ready. What do I need to do?”

  “Just let go of Daxton Stone and follow him in.”

  She released Daxton’s arm, and he immediately slipped into the pitch, the outline of his body rippling in the wake.

  She looked at Faelar one last time, who was looking down and said, “Thank you, for answering my question.”

  “You must go now,” he said, unable to meet her eyes.

  She stepped into the darkness.

  ***

  “I’ll crack that blue fuzzy face of yer’s ye Gobshite looking Mother Fu—“

  A rock sailed through the air and hit Ensign Brody on the cheek, literally knocking the curse word out of his mouth. He stumbled backward with the rod clutched tightly in his hands as he fought for footing on the rocky terrain.

  His foot found purchase, and he righted himself, spitting a wad of blood and saliva onto the ground.

  “Who Gobshite now?” the beast roared in a deep, gruff voice.

  Ensign Brody’s face turned red.

  He charged the beast holding the rod high in the air.

  “So, you do speak, you fuzzy shite!”

  The beast bared its sharp, pointy teeth, digging in its heels and raising its arms, ready to defend the blow.

  Ensign Brody smirked, ducking and rolling to the side of the beast, whacking it in the kneecap with the rod.

  “OWWWWW!” it howled, dropping to the ground and cradling its knee.

  “You be the Gobshite, ye Gobshite!” Ensign Brody laughed.

  He hopped to his feet and lunged at the beast with the rod.

  It stopped howling and let go of its knee.

  In one powerful move, it snapped its legs in the air, hopping on its feet.

  “Oh,” Ensign Brody said, quickly changing course and making a U-turn in the opposite direction. A glance over his shoulder confirmed the beast was right at his heels.

  “Ye may be bigger, stronger and fuzzier, ye Gobshite! But I’ll always be smarter, faster, and better looking!”

  The beast stopped running and bent down, picking up the biggest rock it could lift with one hand. He leaned back and hefted the rock at Ensign Brody’s back.

  “Didn’t I say, smarter?” Ensign Brody hollered, tucking in his shoulder and rolling on the ground.

  The rock missed him by mere inches.

  “You be none of those things when I rip you limbs and face off,” the beast yelled back, charging faster than before.

  “Oh shite!”

  Ensign Brody had underestimated the beast’s speed, and it was gaining on him.

  The strange table that had killed his commander and Daxton reappeared with the black box on top.

  The beast was almost close enough to grab him, so he changed direction, heading for the table. At the last moment, he dropped the rod to the ground behind himself, tripping up the beast, and dove for the top of the table, mimicking the move he’d seen Daxton do earlier.

  He grabbed the black box resting on the table as he slid across and down the other side.

  The beast scrambled to its feet and hit the table, trying to knock it over onto Ensign Brody, but it held fast to its surprise.

  Ensign Brody popped up from the other side of the table, and said, “That’s right—ye fuzzy bitch! If I’m gonna meet me maker, I’m taking ye Gobshite excuse-o-flesh with me!”

  He aimed the box at the beast’s head and clicked the button, closing his eyes. He would die with pride knowing he did everything he could to save Commander Thorn.

  The beast flinched, ducking its head and turning to run.

  The box sprang from Ensign Brody’s hand, clacking and unfolding, and the table flattened into the ground.

  The symbol covered walls unfolded and dropped down over Ensign Brody and the beast, encasing them inside.

  The beast hit the wall, hard, whacking its head, and bounced back, landing on the floor.

  Ensign Brody stared down at the beast and backed up as far as the wall would allow.

  He was prepared to die instantly by the box, not by being slowly ripped apart by an enraged Kractorian.

  The beast shook its head and started getting up.

  Ensign Brody felt something tickling his back and turned to see what it was.

  “A button?”

  Maybe it opens the box?

  The beast was on its feet, stalking Ensign Brody with saliva dripping from its teeth. “Now we see who Gobshite.”

  Ensign Brody pressed the button and prayed. “Oh Hail me Mother Mary, full-o-grace, the Lord is with ye; hear me prayer—“

  The glowing symbols on the walls stopped pulsating and turned red.

  The Kractorian stopped advancing on Ensign Brody and cocked its head toward the wall. “What is this? What did you do?”

  Ensign Brody shrugged, fearful to answer. He really didn’t want his face ripped off today.

  “You do this? You do this…”

  So much for that.

  “Well—technically,” Ensign Brody said softly. “I did press the button, but I just thought it would crush us. Oh—”

  Wrong thing to say.

  The beast’s brow lowered down over its eyes, making them half blue-moons.

  It took a step forward when suddenly the floor felt like it had dropped out from beneath them.

  The Kractorian staggered backward, fighting for balance as Ensign Brody immediately shot up off the floor. He hit the ceiling on his back and stayed there as box plummeted, watching the beast below.

  He was out of the Kractorian’s reach, for now, and for once, being the smallest guy had worked in his favor.

  IT'S ON—BITCH!

  SAREN’S body came in contact with the black chaos of souls swirling within the Kek Ring, and everything went dark. Intense despair immediately welled up inside her, and she no longer felt her body or anything
physical. The black Omphalos of Hotomkan had transformed her into pure thought.

  The significant presence of a significant number of souls was touching the very ethereal essence of what made Saren’s consciousness unique, and the feeling was overwhelming as they kept probing her in ways she couldn’t describe, trying to tear her uniqueness away.

  She pushed back, willing her consciousness to remain singular and stop the souls from the intrusion, but the pull was too strong—there were so many. The souls sensed something special about her, and she didn’t understand. She was a bad-ass bitch, but that meant nothing to them. When she sought out what the souls were trying to take from her, and they turned vicious, blaming her for their fates.

  The empty hollowness of despair crept in from the intrusion, and she understood how there could be a fate worse than death. The souls they would experience the feeling for eternity. It was maddening, threatening to unhinge her sanity and take it away.

  She reached out, searching for Daxton and suddenly he became apparent among the other souls just from the mere thought of him. He was different, too, like her, but the others couldn’t sense it. When she reached for him, he tore into her soul, clawing like the others and trying to take away what made her special.

  In a flash of light, everything returned to normal, and she was stepping outside of the Kek Ring. The despair desperately clinging to her in the black tendrils touching her back grew in intensity before snapping back into the darkness and releasing her.

  She shook her head, clearing away the awful sensation and glad to be out of the muck.

  Her hand reached up to her cheek touched wetness.

  Was I crying?

  The orphanage was the last time that happened, and she swore to herself then that it would never happen again. She worked hard at becoming tough and strong, needing no one but herself.

  She batted the tears away, angry they had fallen.

  The inner calm she relied on to get her through dangerous situations was returning when something pinged off the chest of her body armor, and she remembered Faelar’s warning.

  Saren thrust her elbows together in front, protecting her face and dropped into a squat over her right knee—left leg to the side.

  She chanced a quick peek around her arms to access the situation.

  A bullet shot out from behind the right side of a large stone, hitting her in the left arm, while another followed from the left side of the rock, zipping past her leg.

  Two shooters—one rock.

  Not very smart, guys—shoulda spread out.

  She waited a few more seconds to see if any more players were in the game and two more shots flew out from behind the same rock.

  Nope.

  Saren turned to the right, swiveling her left leg beneath her body and shifting her elbow over to protect the side of her face while she surveyed the area, getting ready to sprint.

  The rocks lining the outside of the Kek Ring were battle worn, deeply pitted from projectiles weapons, and blackened by repeated plasma blasts. The area had been designed with tactical battles in mind with the same varying sized geometric rocks as above, littering the scene.

  She quickly chose the biggest rock with the best advantage point for targeting the shooters and drove her left foot into the ground, launching herself toward the cover keeping her arm at the side of her head. With no way to recharge the wristcom, she needed to avoid using the personal force field it generated for extremely dire circumstances.

  Bullets peppered the ground near Saren’s feet as she ran. Daxton would be coming through the Kek Ring any second with no protection, and he would need covering.

  The last few feet before the rock Saren tucked her head into her chest and lunged downward kicking her feet off the ground. She spun in the air and hit the ground, rolling to a squat behind the safety of the stone with her wristcom looking for the shooters.

  Two more pings hit the body armor on her left leg, and she rolled to the right onto her stomach.

  Not that easy, boys.

  She raised the power on the wristcom and shimmied on her elbows for a clear shot. Taking aim, she sent a plasma bolt into the large sphere-shaped rock both fools were hiding behind.

  The rock vaporized into blue dust and rained down over two species she didn’t recognize with twisted, humanoid features made of liquid metal. They looked at each other in shock, then scurried for the closest cover.

  Saren reset the wristcom and sent a plasma bolt into one of the creatures. It stopped short writhing in pain before it burst into molten metal and splattering to the ground.

  The other creature screamed a high-pitched whining sound and unloaded its gun in Saren’s direction.

  Bullets pinged off the back of her body armor, and she rolled to her feet, running for a square-shaped boulder. She quickly reached the rock and sidled her back against it, edging toward the corner.

  She glanced around the corner, and there was no one in sight. The entire place was nothing but rocks of different shapes and sizes with pathways in between. Opponents could be hiding anywhere.

  Why had there only been two?

  Neither of those idiots could be the ruler of this ring.

  Since the rulers had the tactical advantage, Saren must have offered them some real competition they hadn’t had in years, and with no rules, they probably formed gangs.

  They were just the goonies, huh?

  A minute had passed, and Saren risked another glance around the square rock.

  Not a ping.

  She must have scared him after she made droplets out of his partner and ran back to inform the ruler.

  Good.

  Bring it.

  It’s on—bitch!

  Where were Daxton and the others? They should’ve come through, by now.

  Unless the ruler of the Inner Ring were as dumb as his soldiers, she would have to seek him out, and that was fine by her.

  The Kek Ring wavered for a moment drawing her attention, then Daxton came rolling out of the blackness and landing on his back.

  In a crouched run, Saren shuffled over to him and positioned her back against the Kek Ring, scanning the area before lightly slapping his cheek.

  “Daxton! Get up!”

  When he didn’t respond, she slapped it harder.

  “Daxton! Get up, now! Come on—snap out of it!”

  She wanted him away from the Kek Ring before the other two came through. Hopefully, Ensign Brody didn’t come through in pieces.

  Daxton rolled onto his stomach, shaking his head. “Wha—where—“

  “Hey—flyboy! It’s me, Saren! You gotta get up!” she said, hooking a hand under his arm, hauling upward. “Let’s get you to cover.”

  Shaking his head a few more times Daxton pushed off the ground, letting her help him up. Once on his feet, she grabbed his hand and ran him to cover until the effect of the Kek Ring wore off.

  “I think we’re safe for now, but not for long. The ruler of this Ring thought we were going to be a piece of cake and sent a couple of goons instead of making an appearance.

  “I blasted one of them to bits, and I think the other ran for help. They were shooting at me with one of those old metal-throwing weapons.

  “Probably saving the better weapons they scavenge from the ones they kill for bigger purposes,” he said, rubbing his temples.

  “What did you see in there? Are you okay?”

  His eyes widened.

  “I—I don’t know. All I remember is that I couldn’t wait to get in like it was a never-ending orgasm. Then, I—I don’t know. I was all alone and felt like I had to get something. Something I lost. It was fuckin’ weird. I’ll tell ya that. And that god-awful feeling—“

  “It’ll wear off in a sec,” she said. “You’ll be fine.”

  Why didn’t he remember the souls as she did?

  She neglected to share they were the black stuff and what Faelar had told her about dying on Kahari. It would only ruin his focus, making him constantly worry that he co
uld spend eternity in chaos.

  And, what did he lose?

  Faelar had mentioned something lost to Daxton—something he had forgotten.

  “Wait,” he said, sounding normal again, the effect of the blackness gone. “You’re telling me they’re slingin’ guns like Hoss and the wild-wild west on old Earth?”

  “Hoss? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but, yes. They were using powerless guns that rely on an explosive substance that propels metal projectiles at their targets,” she said, shuddering. “Very ineffective—nasty business, to say the least.”

  “Yeah,” he said, drawing his pistol. “Until we see what they’ve done with all the real weapons.”

  He stepped around the rock.

  “Whoa!” she said, pulling him back. “We should stay behind cover until Mr. Brody and the Kractorian, come through.”

  “Do we have to?” Daxton said, rolling his eyes.

  “Listen to me. Here’s the plan, flyboy: I think we have to fight our way to the top and rule that Outer Ring. If there’s any chance of getting out of here, being top dog is the only way I see it. There’s strength in numbers.”

  “You’re in charge, Boss Lady. I’ll do whatever gets me outta here. Come to think of it. I wonder who’s the ruler of the Outer Ring?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know. It did seem like a civil community for being filled with unspeakable criminals like someone was picking and choosing who got to stay there. The place was almost normal.”

  “And I know some of those people couldn’t have fought their way through this. Something ain’t right here.”

  “I agree.”

  “So—what now, Boss Lady?”

  “We wait here until they come through and convince the beast it would be in his best interest to work with us on getting out of here. Then we work our way to the top and see what options we have.”

  “And if the Kractorian refuses to help?”

  She changed the wristcom setting, and said, “Then he stays here forever.”

  “Now that’s something I can align with.”

  “You saw those Rings we passed by—the demon with a hard-on for you?”

 

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