by A A Warren
Avra fired again. More gushing holes exploded in the giant’s body, but they did nothing to slow it down. They retreated further, pressing their backs up against the statue. The giant face of Orex glared down at them, as it slammed its fist and roared.
“Maybe the plants got it wrong,” Avra shouted. “But either way, we’re running out of options. That thing is still coming!”
Before he could answer, Talon felt a burning sensation crawl across his skin. He snarled in pain, as a starburst of white-hot agony exploded in his head. Falling to his knees, he clenched his skull. A blinding glow emitted from his crimson eye… a light matched by the crystal in the statue, with even greater intensity.
Avra shielded her eyes as the two crimson orbs pulsed brighter. "Talon, what are you doing? Are you all right?”
A column of white light exploded from the ground, engulfing Talon and the statue. Avra reached towards him, but stopped before her hand entered the light. Sparks crackled across the surface of the beam, and she felt intense heat emanating from within.
The towering creature roared again and reached for Avra with its bleeding fist. The fiery-haired woman hurled one of her daggers, but the giant swatted it from the air. Its massive, gnarled claws grasped for her with terrifying speed.
“NO!” A woman’s voice reverberated through the columns. “You do not belong in this place. Crawl back to the depths of space from whence you came!”
A bolt of energy shot out from the column of white light. It struck the towering beast, throwing it backwards into the crumbling stone pylons. The thing howled in pain as it toppled to the ground. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the stones. Avra stumbled as the ground trembled beneath her feet.
More bolts of energy arched across the creature's body, as the white light bombarded it. Its limbs flailed as it disintegrated, shriveling smaller and smaller until it withered away into a pile of charred, smoking leaves and vines.
The blinding glow receded. Avra’s panicked eyes darted left and right, searching for more enemies.
“Talon, that voice! Was that…”
She spun around… Talon, and the statue were gone. She was alone in the shadows of the crumbled stone pylons.
“Salena?” she muttered, finishing her sentence. There was no reply. The only sound was the wind, and the soft rustling of the plants in the distance.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
For a brief moment, Talon felt like he was adrift in an endless pool of shimmering white liquid. The pain faded from his mind, borne away on the sea of energy that engulfed him. But then he felt the gentle, insistent tug of gravity, pulling his feet to solid ground. He was standing now, the warm light all around him, blinding and yet soothing at the same time.
He squinted as a pair of figures emerged from the hazy glow. Their footsteps echoed towards him. One was a woman. She was tall, slender, and moved with exceptional grace. The other figure was short and squat. He trundled alongside the woman like an excited puppy.
A voice called out. It was soft at first, but its echo seemed to grow louder even as it faded away.
“Hello, my warrior.”
Talon could not believe his ears. He rushed towards the figures as they came into view, emerging from the curtain of light.
“Salena! I must be dreaming!”
The tall, lavender skinned woman smiled, and her eyes glowed with an intense blue light. She laughed. “I am no dream, Talon. Feel for yourself.”
She wrapped her arms around him. At the touch of her skin, he felt a familiar crackle of energy. He remembered the spark that had formed their dark energy bond, long ago.
“It really is you!” He hugged her back, lifting her feet off the ground. “I thought I was going mad! So much has happened… We defeated Daizon, then I was stranded in the Consortium! I’ve been trying to get back to the Dominion, to find…”
Salena laughed again and rested her hands on his chest. She peered into his eyes with her glowing blue stare. “Talon, I know. I was with you the whole time, remember? The bond was never broken. Even here, in the Gyre, I am still a part of you.”
Talon felt a tug on his leg. He glanced down and saw Orvane, pulling at his breeches. “How are you here, human? You know purple lady?”
Salena gave Orvane an affectionate pat. “Talon is not like most humans, Orvane. We share a special bond, just as you do with your bother.”
Orvane’s lips curled into a frown, and the orange glow of his eyes dimmed. “When… when will I see brother again?” he asked in a quiet voice.
Salena gently pulled away from Talon, and kneeled before the tiny alien. “I am sure you will see him very soon, Orvane. It takes time. But like Talon and I, your bond will be strong.” She placed her hand over the alien’s heart. “I am certain it will never fade.”
Talon glanced around… all he could see was featureless white light in every direction.
“Where are we?” he asked as he turned his gaze back to her. For the first time, he noticed her clothes… she was wearing a polished gold breastplate, and a girdle inlaid with precious gems. A white silk loincloth fluttered between her legs. “And your clothes… those are No’varran garments, like those worn by the temple guardian.”
Salena smiled at him. “I am now a guardian of R’Kur, the dragon god of earth and sky. That was the sacrifice I made, to maintain our bond.”
Talon stared at her. His crimson eye pulsed and glowed, reflecting the bright white light that surrounded them. “But… your family. Your children. If you are in the guardian’s realm, does that mean you can’t…”
Salena bowed her head for a moment, then looked up. “I will be with them soon enough. Were it not for my sacrifice, their memories would be lost, along with the rest of the galaxy. I did what I had to. As will you.”
She looked him in the eye. “Volonte Er’Gosi must be stopped, before it is too late. As I said, a great darkness is coming. Shadows surround us, even as we speak.”
Talon narrowed his eyes. “Volonte… I have faced him once. Who is he? What is he? I’ve never seen a mech fight like him.”
Salena raised her arms and hovered within the brilliant light. She murmured ancient words of power, sending whispered echoes through the energy walls around them. Glowing blue symbols spiraled around her hands, and wind gusted though her hair.
A circle of blue light opened before her. Talon stepped closer… he could see images moving within the portal, almost like a holo-display. He watched as a mechanical foot stomped into the ground, smashing the spine of a charred, blackened skeleton. A towering, broad shouldered figure came into view… it was a mech, with glowing red eyes and a hulking, armor-plated body.
“Volonte,” Talon hissed.
“His people were known as the Zedrakon,” Salena replied. “They were the first to follow the path of R’Kur.”
“But I thought the No’varran—”
“R’Kur embraced all who valued life, and fought against Daizon’s corruption. But when he welcomed your people to his tribe, some of the Zedrakon grew jealous. Their high priests coveted the favor of the Great Dragon God for themselves. A civil war erupted among them. The high priests’ holy guard wiped out all who opposed them. Then they launched a crusade against the No’varran, vowing to eliminate them from the galaxy.”
Talon watched as more figures clambered over the scorched rocks… more mechs, each one identical to Volonte. First there were dozens, then hundreds… then thousands.
“Iberon’s harem,” Talon gasped. “There are so many. Zedrakon… I’ve never heard of them before now.”
Salena gestured with her arms. The image grew larger, as the glowing disk rippled and expanded. “R’Kur grew angry at their bloodshed. He banished them to the Crimson Maw. But when Daizon was imprisoned there, the barriers were weakened. Some of the Zedrakon were able to escape. Their time in the dimensional prison made them paranoid, xenophobic… their minds were warped beyond repair. The No’varran people were weakened from their battle with Daiz
on. The Zedrakon struck from the shadows, without mercy…”
Talon watched as Volonte lifted a skull from the shattered pile of bones. He held it over his head, and his metal mouth twisted into a grim smile. He bellowed a savage war cry. At the sound of his voice, the army of mechs surged across the ridge, firing their pulse cannons into the distance.
“This place…is this your home world again? Did the Zedrakon destroy your planet?”
“Oh Talon, no,” Salena said. Her voice was tinged with despair. Her eyes glowed brighter, as the circle continued to expand. “You don't understand. This is not my home world. It is yours."
Talon stared back her in surprise. "What?"
She turned to Orvane. “I must show Talon something… something personal. You will be safe here. Nothing can harm you in this place, I promise.”
Orvane nodded his head. “I wait… come back soon. It is lonely here.”
“Yes,” she said. “It certainly can be.”
She gestured with her arms, and the circle grew wider. It rushed toward Talon, and for a moment, he couldn’t tell which was moving… the glowing disk, or his own body. He felt a sickening sense of vertigo, and the wind grew stronger, whipping his hair across his face. Then he was falling, tumbling deeper and deeper into the cerulean abyss.
Talon opened his eyes… The circle of light was gone. He was surrounded by thick, smoky mist and blackened rocks.
He felt a touch on his shoulder and he spun around, his mouth twisted into an angry snarl. He raised his axe, only to find his hands empty… his weapon was gone.
Salena stood before him, a sad smile on her face. “Through our bond, we have shared many visions… but you still have not learned. Nothing can harm you here. You need no weapons.”
“Forgive my caution. Moments ago, Avra and I were nearly devoured by those alien plants,” he growled.
Salena’s smile turned to a frown. “Yes… those abominations were carried to Phantar by an asteroid. A fragment of ice and rock that fell from the heavens. It nearly destroyed the oracle, and it scattered the seed of those cursed plants everywhere. But they are nothing compared to the darkness that is to come… Look.”
She pointed to a ridge in the distance. Talon watched as a Volonte’s army of mechs surged over the rocks. Pulse blasts from their cannons lit up the night sky, as explosions mushroomed into the clouds behind them.
A row of men in scorched battle armor struggled to hold their position as the mechs pressed forward across the hazy battlefield.
Talon observed the warriors’ armor and weapons. “Those are my people,” he growled.
“This planet was colonized by the No’varran, eons ago,” Salena said, her voice tinged with sadness. “You were born here, and raised to be a Claw of R’Kur, a guardian of the Great Dragon God… Until the day the Zedrakon attacked.”
Talon watched as one of the warriors fell to the ground, a glowing hole burned in his chest armor. He caught of a glimpse of the man’s face beneath his helmet. A gleaming crystal filled the socket of his right eye, reflecting the fire of the raging battle.
“Volonte led the assault against this world. The No’varran fought valiantly. They tried to hold back the Zedrakon forces, protect the fleeing civilians. But their enemy was too powerful. In the end… this planet was reduced to a barren wasteland. And had your mother not shielded you in a bunker, hidden deep within a nearby moon, you would be dead as well.”
Talon turned away from the carnage. “But what are they? I’ve fought mechs before. Volonte is different. The way he moves, and speaks… He doesn’t fight like a machine. He fights like a man, flesh and blood.”
Salena nodded. She raised her arms, and more swirling blue symbols appeared. Talon felt his feet lift from the ground, and the two of them hovered closer to the battle.
“Volonte is no ordinary machine,” she explained. “His kind are known as golemechs. They are abominations of an ancient time.”
“Golemechs? But what are—” Talon’s voice trailed off, as he watched the devastation below.
“During their exile, the Zedrakon High Priests learned new ways to manipulate dark energy. They became masters of forbidden arts, techniques long since lost to more civilized races. Using this vile power, they were able to fuse a living soul with the body of a machine. They took their greatest warriors, and trapped them inside invincible metal shells. The devastation wrought by their golemech armies was unthinkable. Many worlds fell beneath their feet.”
Talon glanced down as they flew over the crisscrossing bolts of glowing energy. Beneath them, the battle raged on.
“A man trapped within a machine? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
The glowing symbols swirled around her arms as she guided them to a towering rock plateau, overlooking the devastation. “The Zedrakon’s power was great, but their time in exile had wiped out large numbers of their people. When the No’varran fought them to a standstill, they were in danger of being revealed to the galaxy. And that was something they could not allow.”
“So Volonte destroyed my homeworld?” Talon snarled, glancing down at the smoke and explosions below.”
Salena shook her head. “Not Volonte. His Zedrakon masters. The golemech armies were created in secret facilities… gigantic space stations, hidden within asteroid fields or clouds of stellar debris. They were known as Soul Vaults. As the battle raged on, the No’varran sent a strike force to destroy a vault near this system. And destroy it they did. But their victory came at a great cost.”
She lifted her eyes and pointed to the horizon. “Look there… you see the distant light? The glow on the horizon?”
Talon followed her gaze. A line of liquid fire seemed to flow across the distant mountains. The sky grew brighter as it lit up the heavens. “Aye, just like my vision… what is it?”
“The attack on the Soul Vault triggered a weapon,” she said in a quiet voice. “Some kind of failsafe device. A massive energy collector appeared in orbit around the planet’s sun. It accelerated the star’s fusion reactions, creating massive solar flares. And it focused that energy into a single, devastating beam.”
The light grew brighter, blinding. Once again, Talon witnessed the burning wall of fire, scouring the planet’s surface. “Orion’s blazing bow!” he gasped. “What kind of weapon could cause such destruction?”
A soft orange glow lit up Salena’s face, as the wave of energy rushed closer. The men on the ground struggled to flee the destruction. But there was nowhere to run… men and mech alike were incinerated, as it tore across the battlefield.
“Somehow, Volonte escaped before the devastation struck,” she said. “The golemech process was meant to be temporary. The souls of the Zedrakon warriors should have returned to their physical bodies after the battle. But rather than risk discovery, the high priests retreated once more into isolation. They used their powers and technology to hide the remaining Soul Vaults. And Volonte has been trapped in his mechanical shell ever since.”
Talon put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Salena… when we fought, Volonte told me he would reclaim what was taken from him. Is that what he meant? Is he seeking one of these Soul Vaults?”
A hot wind blew through Salena’s hair. The light below grew brighter. As it loomed closer, the wall of fire stretched up to the heavens, engulfing entire mountains as it surged towards them.
“You must stop him,” she said, watching the inferno rush closer. “If anyone other than a high priest enters the vault, the failsafe systems will be activated. More worlds will perish. Millions, perhaps billions of people will be annihilated.”
Salena’s body became translucent. She was fading away, like a ghost, backlit against the burning sky.
“Salena, wait!” Talon shouted. He reached out to grab her arm, but his fingers fell through her insubstantial flesh. “Where is the Soul Vault? Where is he going?”
“Listen to Orvane… follow the trail.” Her voice echoed through his mind, as the blinding light surged over
them. The pale, glowing phantasm of her silhouette vanished in the sea of fire. “The past always leads to the future… You must stop him, Talon. Before it is too late!”
She screamed, as her ghostly body exploded into a cloud of ash. Talon clutched his head… her final wail of agony overrode all other sensations. He felt the crystal in his eye burning white hot, searing the flesh of his skull as it reflected the wave of energy sweeping towards him.
Then he too was lost in the all-consuming fire. He could hear nothing but the roar of destruction, as it carried him into a glowing oblivion.
Talon gasped for breath and staggered on his feet. He felt clumsy and weak, as if he had just risen from a deep slumber. He could barely balance on his own two feet. His flailing arms grasped the statue, and he braced himself against it. Shaking his head, he forced the cloud of pain and disorientation from his mind.
“Hey there… I was beginning to feel left out.”
He looked up and saw Avra, leaning against the remains of a shattered pylon. She was sharpening one of her folding blades with a small glowing tool. She flipped the weapon closed and slid it back into her belt. “You OK? You look like a starship just ran you over.”
A low moan rose from the ground. Talon looked down and saw Orvane, sitting on a pile of rubble near the statue. The alien rubbed his furry head and frowned. “Ow, my head hurt. Your bond… so strong!”
Avra walked over and helped him up off the ground. Talon stepped away from the statue. His foot kicked a metal rod, lying amidst the crumbled stones. He bent down and picked it up… it was his plasma axe. He grunted and examined the shaft for damage. Then he turned to Avra. "We must leave this place at one. We’re running out of time.”
Avra brushed a light coating of dust off Orvane’s shoulders. “Running out of time for what?”
“We have to find Volonte. He’s searching for something called a Soul Vault. And if he finds it, innocent people will die. Including us, most likely.”