The Cyber Chronicles Book II: Death Zone

by T C Southwell

  "They're catching up. It's time to pick a spot." He walked on, scanning the terrain, and stopped where the gorge widened into a flat gravel area. His glance at the stream reminded her of his aversion to water. He hid the packs amongst the rocks, took out the sword and sheathed it in the scabbard strapped across his back.

  She said, "I'm glad you're going to use the sword this time."

  "It will come in handy to ward off his weapon, and perhaps a few non-lethal cuts will deter him."

  "It would be a lot easier to kill him, wouldn't it?"

  He nodded. "Sure. Killing's easy."

  "Why do you risk your life to save his? He's trying to kill you, so you have every right to kill him."

  "I'd rather not kill anyone if I can help it." Sabre pointed at a dense stand of stunted pines on the downstream side of the clearing. "You hide in there, so you'll be behind them."

  With a worried glance at him, she clambered in amongst the trees and settled down to wait. Sabre went over to the rocky slope and climbed up it to a twisted pine tree that leant out, where he settled, hidden by its trunk.

  Time dragged past. Tassin caught herself chewing her nails and clasped her hands together. Only the gushing river and an occasional bird singing amongst the trees disturbed the gully's quiet, and various parts of her anatomy grew numb from her uncomfortable position. She squirmed to ease them, and her hands crept into her mouth again. She fondled her dagger's hilt to occupy them.

  A flitting grey shadow entered the makeshift arena. The wolf circled it, nose to the ground, following their trail. She held her breath and willed him to move closer to Sabre's hiding place. The wolf stopped and raised his head to look around, then lowered his nose to the ground again, trotting towards her. He halted again, encountering another track, which he sniffed, then turned back, heading for Sabre's ambush.

  As the wolf neared the slope where Sabre hid, some sixth sense must have warned him, for he leapt away as the cyber jumped. Sabre landed close to the animal and lunged, catching his tail in spite of the speed with which he tried to flee. The wolf yelped as Sabre dragged him closer, then a flash of green light arced across the clearing and hit the cyber on the arm. He dropped the wolf, which fled, and looked up at the black-robed mage who walked up the stream bank towards him. The giant sauntered beside him, hefting his massive sword. Sabre inspected his arm, which was unharmed, and the mage and his companion stopped a few paces away.

  "I'm Murdor, champion of the arena, and this time, I'm goin' to kill yer," the giant stated in a thick, gravelly voice.

  Sabre regarded him with flat eyes, reminding Tassin of when he had been controlled by the cyber. "It's a pity you don't have the guts to fight me without the help of magic."

  Murdor growled, glancing at the wizard, who shook his head and said, "You use magic too; this only makes it fair."

  "Enough talk!" Murdor roared, striding towards Sabre.

  Tassin's hammering heart tried to crawl into her throat as the giant closed with the cyber, and Gearn folded his arms. Evidently he was not going to use his magic right away. Sabre stepped back and drew his sword with a hiss, then spun and leapt. The weapon sliced into Murdor's jaw, jerked the gladiator's head around with a spray of blood and made him stagger sideways. Sabre lunged and thrust his sword at Murdor's thigh, but the gladiator raised his weapon in the nick of time and turned Sabre's blade aside at the last moment.

  Murdor swung his sword, forcing Sabre to jump back as the giant charged, trying to impale his elusive opponent. Sabre moved in a blur, avoiding the blade. As the sword skimmed past him, he gripped Murdor's wrist and twisted, throwing his weight behind it. The gladiator yelled and dropped his sword, his arm bent at an ugly angle. The magician raised his arms and began to chant, his eyes closed in concentration.

  Tassin crawled from her hiding place as Sabre staggered back, clearly blinded. Murdor gave a triumphant bellow and charged again, but Sabre dived aside and rolled away as the giant thundered past. Murdor swung around, skidding on the gravel, and flung himself on top of the cyber before he could scramble out of reach. Tassin gave a cry of anguish as Sabre was crushed beneath the gladiator. She struggled to extricate herself from the tangled branches, the sharp twigs scratching her arms. She ran towards Gearn, drawing her dagger.

  Something grey and hairy hit her from the side. She fell, grazing her palms when she flung out her hands, and the dagger skittered away across the stones with a tinkle. Teeth sank into her arm, and she yelped, beating at the wolf. He growled, tugging at her arm, his teeth tearing her flesh. Her puny blows made no impression, and she glanced around at Sabre, who had dropped his sword and was locked in a gargantuan struggle with the giant gladiator, matching the huge man's strength.

  Pinned beneath him, Sabre gripped Murdor's wrists to prevent him from gouging his eyes. Cords stood out on the fighters' necks and blood vessels bulged on their temples. The magician chanted, undisturbed. Sabre slowly pushed Murdor away, lifting the giant despite his enormous weight. Murdor threw himself against Sabre's arms, causing them to give under the strain. Rearing back, the gladiator drove his knee into Sabre's belly, but the cyber's abdominal muscles were iron hard ridges. Murdor ground his knee into the cyber's solar plexus and heaved on his arms, striving to overpower him. Sabre was tiring, and Murdor forced the cyber's arms down to the ground, holding him spread-eagled.

  To Tassin, he appeared to be helpless, overpowered by the behemoth of muscle that crouched over him, and perhaps he was. Murdor seemed to think so, for he grinned, staring into Sabre's blind eyes, then raised his head and jerked it down in a savage head butt intended to crush the cyber's face. Tassin shrieked, but Sabre tucked in his chin, and Murdor's forehead hit the brow band. He rebounded, stunned, and Sabre freed his arms with a quick twist, then punched Murdor on the jaw, making him reel further.

  Murdor swung a fist, almost in reflex, which hit Sabre on the side of the head and smashed him back onto the gravel. Tassin tore her eyes from them and looked at the wolf, her other hand groping for a stone. The gravel around the stream was useless pebbles, and she glanced about, spotting a larger rock just out of reach. Gritting her teeth, she crawled towards it, dragging the wolf. The animal deduced her intention and pulled back with a jerk that sent fire lancing up her arm, making her cry out. Darkness threatened to engulf her, and she stopped, glaring at the wolf. Her eyes flew back to the struggle.

  Sabre knelt, his wrists gripped in the gladiator's hands again. His eyes were closed, and the mage chanted on. Murdor rose to his feet and dragged his opponent towards the stream. Tassin realised his intention, and her heart contracted with a spasm of pain. Sabre clearly could not free himself from the gladiator's powerful grip. Not only was Murdor twice his size, Tassin suspected that his strength had been magically enhanced as well. Perhaps Sabre had underestimated his opponent when he had stated so confidently that he could kill him easily, not knowing the extent of Murdor's strength.

  Surely he was not still trying to cripple Murdor? By now, he must be aware of his danger, or was he unable to see the stream with only the cyber's sensor data? Sabre kicked Murdor in the gut, making him grunt and stagger, but the cyber's proximity to the giant did not allow him to use his full strength. Sabre twisted his arms, trying to break Murdor's hold, and kicked his legs in an attempt to break one, but his lack of depth perception obviously hampered him.

  The giant bellowed and lurched, even though Sabre had only landed a glancing blow, then lifted the cyber and hurled him into the stream. Flinging himself on top of Sabre, Murdor forced the cyber underwater. Cold terror chilled her blood. The water roiled as Sabre struggled, but the stream was more than knee deep here, and clearly he could not push himself to the surface while Murdor held him down. The gladiator pushed down harder, intent on drowning his opponent.

  Sabre's hands slipped on the streambed's stones, foiling his attempts to push himself away from the giant's merciless hold. Murdor's strength matched his, something he had discovered too late. The water cushioned his
blows, preventing him from hitting Murdor hard enough to do any real damage. Panic surged through him, and he tried to pry Murdor's hand off the back of his neck, but the awkwardness of his position made that impossible. Murdor put a knee in the small of Sabre's back and pinned him to the streambed. The shock of being hurled into the icy water had forced much of the air from the cyber's lungs, and his struggles were rapidly using up what little remained. Even the ten minutes he was able to survive without air while exerting himself did not seem like long now.

  Tassin crawled towards the rock again, and the wolf tugged, almost making her cry out. Sabre's struggles weakened, and the gladiator grinned as bubbles rose. Tassin dug in the pebbles, scraping her fingers and tearing her nails. She uncovered larger stones, but continued until she found a rock. The wolf jerked on her arm, and she groaned, grimacing, then lifted the rock high. The wolf released her and jumped back, and her stone smashed down on the gravel, bruising her fingers.

  Tassin stood up, nursing her injured arm. As she stumbled towards the wizard, he lowered his arms and opened his eyes, turning to face her. Murdor lifted Sabre by the back of his harness and waded ashore. Hot tears flooded Tassin's eyes, and the mage smiled at her. Murdor dumped the cyber and limped over to Gearn. Tassin stared at Sabre's still form, desolate. The mage bowed, his small green eyes glinting.

  "Your Majesty. You have an appointment with King Torrian, at the altar, I believe."

  Tassin threw the rock at him, and it bounced off his bony chest with a hollow thud, making him grunt and step back.

  "If you take me back to Arlin, you're condemning Torrian to an ugly death, for I will find a way to kill him," she said.

  Murdor stepped closer, but she ignored him, refusing to twist her neck to look up at him. Gearn scowled. "That's his problem. I was ordered to bring you back, that's all."

  "Do you really imagine I'll go with you?"

  "You don't have a choice in the matter, Your Majesty. If you choose to be difficult, Murdor will carry you."

  "And when I tell Torrian that your man mistreated me, he will have him executed."

  Murdor glanced at the magician, who shook his head and smiled. "I doubt Torrian will care, since you've caused him so much trouble."

  "You underestimate your king. He'll be only too pleased to have an excuse to be rid of this monster and save himself the expense of paying the reward you have undoubtedly promised him. Especially if I agree to be a dutiful wife in return for his head. I may even ask for yours as well."

  The mage looked uneasy. "Torrian is an honourable man; he'll not go back on his word. Rather, he will reward us richly for bringing you back to him."

  "You, he might spare, but do you really think he'll want to pay a huge reward to this muscle-bound moron?" She shot Murdor a scathing glance. "He's a dead man if he returns to Pradish."

  Murdor growled, and Gearn turned to him, making a soothing gesture. "He'll pay the reward, never fear. She's only trying to confuse you, Murdor."

  "What she says makes sense," the giant rumbled. "Once he's got her, why should he pay me?"

  "Because he's an honourable man."

  Tassin snorted. "You know he's not."

  "It's you who don't know him, Queen Tassin. He's a man of his word."

  She turned to Murdor. "What did you ask for? Castles? Women? Gold?" He nodded, and she snorted again. "I doubt Gearn even told Torrian of your demands, and he certainly will not pay it."

  Murdor scowled at Gearn, who shook his head, looking flustered. "Of course I told him, and he agreed."

  "You're lying," she said.

  "No, I…"

  A wheezing cough made Tassin look around, and her mouth fell open in astonishment. Sabre pushed himself up on his arms, bowed his head and coughed again, foam oozing from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. He raised his head, his skin ashen and his lips flecked with foam, then rose to his feet. Murdor also gaped at the cyber, and Gearn lifted his arms and chanted again. She hunted for a rock, but the wolf padded closer and bared his teeth. Murdor walked towards the cyber, who stood perilously close to the stream, facing the approaching giant.

  Sabre stared through Murdor, the brow band ablaze with red and green sparkles. Tassin frowned. The cyber band had not had that many green lights in it since it had lost control of him. A sob closed her throat. The diagonal line of lights on the right hand side of the control unit was green, the top two flashing. It was not Sabre. The cyber was in control again.

  Sabre ignored Gearn’s spell casting, took a few light steps towards Murdor and leapt high to drive his foot into the big man's stomach. The cyber was clearly not blinded by Gearn's magic. The giant grunted and staggered back. Sabre leapt again in a high spinning kick that smashed the gladiator sideways. The mage raised his arms higher, and his chant increased in tempo, becoming louder and a little frantic. The cyber smashed his fists into Murdor's gut, bringing him to his knees.

  Murdor tried to retaliate, but Sabre blocked the blow with a savage counter-punch, and the gladiator's forearm broke with a dull crack. Murdor roared and swung his other fist, and Sabre swayed aside. Gearn stopped his chant and waved his arms. A flash of green light struck the cyber in the chest, but he ignored it. Tassin knew the green light was an illusion, just like the one that had tricked Sabre into dropping the wolf, but it did not fool the cyber. Murdor regained his feet and backed towards his sword, holding his broken arm. The cyber followed and leapt again, drove his foot into the gladiator's solar plexus and hurled him backwards.

  Gearn shouted a string of arcane words, and a huge serpent appeared in front of Sabre, poised to strike. He walked through it. Murdor's face twisted with superstitious dread as he crawled away, and Gearn yelled another chant, gesturing. Fire sprang from Murdor's skin, so realistic that the gladiator bellowed and beat at the flames before he realised that it did not burn.

  Sabre reached through the fire and gripped Murdor's neck in a stranglehold. The gladiator groped for his sword, finding the hilt as his eyes bulged. He brought the weapon whistling up towards Sabre's neck, and the cyber raised an arm in an automatic defensive response. The sword hit his forearm with a terrific clang, cleaving through the flesh to glance off barrinium-plated bone. Sabre released Murdor and seized the weapon, wrenching it from the giant's grip with a vicious twist. Flipping it point down, Sabre thrust it into Murdor's chest.

  The gladiator writhed as the blade pierced his heart, shuddered and went limp. The cyber stepped away and turned his head in search of the white-faced mage, who gave a cry of fear and made a peculiar gesture while he jabbered a string of harsh words. His form shimmered and twisted, swelling as scales appeared all over it. A fierce head rose from it on a sinuous neck, its jaws armed with gleaming white teeth. A true dragon crouched before Sabre; a creature of legend, aglow with colour, its scales shimmering green, blue and gold, banded with red. Huge leathery wings unfolded to block the sun, and the dragon reared back and engulfed Sabre in a blast of fire.

  Tassin flinched, retreating from the heat. No warrior could hope to defeat a magician, and Gearn was obviously powerful. The cyber walked through the fire, emerging unscathed. The dragon backed away and exhaled another searing conflagration that enveloped Sabre, but again, when the fire abated, the cyber was untouched. The dragon turned and leapt into the air with a sweep of its wings, rising on powerful strokes that lifted its vast form with deceptive ease.

  It soared above the pine trees, dwindling as it flew higher. Sabre stared after it for a moment, then turned his head to seek his last opponent. The wolf fled, but the cyber scooped up his fallen sword and flung it. The bounding grey shape collapsed and rolled to a stop with a rattle of pebbles, the sword protruding from its flank. Sabre walked over to it, pulled the blade out and wiped it clean on the animal's fur, then sheathed it. He turned to Tassin, his blank eyes staring through her.

  The brow band still blazed red, sparkling with green. He walked up to her, and she forced herself to stand still when she wanted to flee too. This was the k
illing machine of which Sabre had spoken. A cold, inhuman cyber-bio combat unit. Sabre might think he was as good a fighter as the cyber, but his compassion prevented that.

  The cyber knew no mercy and gave no quarter, nor cared much about the injuries its host sustained. It was without remorse or fear; it merely killed. He was expressionless, without even a flicker of pain, although blood dripped from the deep wound in his forearm. When he reached her, he dug in his medical pouch, took out an ampoule and injected himself in the arm, then awaited instructions. Tassin searched his face for a sign that Sabre still held some sort of control, but found none.

  "Cyber."

  "Yes?"

  "I order you to release the host brain."

  "Order not understood."

  "Relinquish control of the body to the host brain," she commanded.

  "Unable to comply. That is counter to cyber programming."

  "I don't care about your damned pog - progamming! I have issued an order, you must obey!"

  "Unable to comply."

  She tried to think of a way to make it release Sabre. "Cyber, you are damaged; you must switch yourself off."

  "This unit is functional."

  Tassin cursed, running out of ideas. She needed to think about it. "Bring the packs and follow me."

  At the cave, she ordered him to find food and build a fire, then went to the stream to wash her injured arm. Sabre returned with two fat pheasants, which he plucked in a cloud of feathers, gutted and spitted over the fire.

  While they were cooking, she ordered him to kneel before her, and examined his injuries. The scalp wound seeped blood, although the stitches were intact, and the side of his head was red and swollen, with some deep scratches. Considering the blows Murdor had landed on Sabre's head, she was surprised the skin was not more broken. Red marks covered his torso, arms and legs, and a swelling on his cheekbone partly closed one eye. She lifted his arm and examined the deep cut, biting her lip.