by James Somers
“And where are those women?” asked Mirah. “Do they have any medical care?”
“I’m not sure Ma’am. I don’t see them very often, but I think they’re hidden away together somewhere. I’ve heard Alec talking about them a little.”
Tiet glanced at his wife just behind him. She remained ready to care for the hurting. She could never be relegated to a mere female. In the most difficult situations, she always stood to the task as a physician first—her confidence always unwavering and he loved her more for it.
“This is going to be difficult,” said Tiet. “I’d say they already outnumber us, just by the Agonotti we saw when we fled the planet a few months ago.”
“With the right strategy, sometimes numbers don’t always mean victory,” said Wynn, scratching his short white beard.
“—and in this situation?”
Wynn looked right at the king and said, “I have no idea how we can overcome what we are facing.”
“Pajet—”
The rest of the group turned to Kale. He looked over the cavern wall next to Emil, still tapping on his display. Kale looked up wondering at the sudden silence. “The Pajet—we have committed ourselves to Elithias and he will guide our steps,” he said matter-of-factly as though it should have been obvious to all of them.
Wynn smiled and looked at Tiet. He knew Kale was right and they should have known that fact already. Kale returned to his computations. He really is unconcerned. Tiet marveled at the faith of his son and realized at that moment that Kale was much stronger than he had ever been. When leadership had been needed against the Baruk he had resisted. When forgiveness had been asked by his brother, he had withheld it until the man’s dying moment. Even when Elithias had revealed himself through Aija’s preaching, he had hesitated.
But Kale was not that way. He remained steadfast and sure, not only in his own ability, but in his unshakeable faith in Elithias. That was the key. Kale would be a much greater king than he had ever been, because he believed beyond the present circumstances in The Eternal One who holds all things in his grasp.
Suddenly Tiet felt peace in his soul like he had not known since kneeling with Aija in the assembly hall back on Kosiva. Whatever must happen, Elithias remained in control and they were safe in him forever.
☼
Vock cast a cold glance toward his Agonotti brothers standing downcast before him. “You left your post and we lost a hundred breeders.”
The Agonotti warriors said nothing and did not meet his gaze. “What do you say for yourselves?” asked Vock.
Out of five, one spoke up. “We only meant to respond to the attack back at the compound.”
“What you meant to do is exactly what they wanted you to do. They meant to rescue some of their own by creating a diversion.” Vock stood right in front of the Agonotti warrior that had answered. “And you were diverted, weren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Humans outwitting a great host of Mithri—this must stop now!”
He looked up to see his scouts returning to the front of the main group in the arena. “And, what have you learned?”
“The mountains to the northeast—they retreated into a large passage there. When we followed, we found only rock.”
“That’s where we shall attack.”
“But, sir, we—”
“If they flew ships in there, then they have a way through somehow and we will put every effort to discovering it,” said Vock, “We will make crushing this rebellion among the humans our highest priority for the moment.”
The Agonotti present in the arena nodded their approval of their new leader. Vock was very wise and cunning and they all knew it from his days when he had counseled Lucin—only the forces of The Eternal One had been too much for them.
“I want those of you guarding the fields to remain at your posts this time. Our brothers from the four corners are yet to arrive to celebrate our coming together in unity under one leader, but we will go on without them and squash this human rebellion before it causes us any more problems,” said Vock.
And with that, Vock surrendered his physical form and rose up with the others. They became a mass of suspended molecules and the Agonotti cloud took form again. They moved away quickly from the arena and compound area, heading northeast. Time to deal with the lower order of creation, once and for all.
☼
The wall flashed with light and the hum of engines began to rise. They could feel the reverberations as ships came into view in the transgate portal.
“They’re returning!” said Jayce.
Tiet turned to catch his son’s eye—Kale took the cue and signaled the same cautious intent wordlessly to Emil. In a moment the boys were already gone; hidden away in the hangar somewhere—just in case.
Tiet and the others cleared away from the landing area of the hangar floor. Within moments the rock wall was penetrated by a number of large ships coming through the gate, followed by nine smaller fighter craft. The howling of the turbines was amplified a hundred times over in the cavern. The wind whipped up into miniature whirlwinds all across the hangar floor as the freighters extended their skids and settled down quickly onto the pavement.
When the side doors slid back, a man and a woman were behind the first with weapons trained on Tiet and his group. Jayce stepped forward quickly with his hands up telling them, “These people are with me, don’t be alarmed.”
Tiet noticed more people gathering from the other ships with their weapons at the ready also. They were being encircled quickly. The boys were still out of sight. They wouldn’t move unless absolutely necessary. Tiet wondered how well he would be able to fight right now if he had to—his injuries were still limiting his activity quite a bit.
Wynn noticed the ships carried quite a few unarmed women as well. Some of them were with child and all of them looked like they had been laboring somewhere. Grass and dirt matted the fronts of their long skirts right where the knees would have pinned the garments to the ground beneath.
Wynn felt confident. He felt limber and ready to defend the king if necessary. But he didn’t perceive any unwarranted hostility among these rebels. They were conducting rescue raids and surely their small group didn’t appear to offer much threat if these rebels were fighting the Agonotti.
“Alec, this is King Tiet Soone of the Barudii,” said Jayce to the first man that had gotten off of the transport ship.
“King? I didn’t think there had been a king since the betrayal of King Isic before we were all born.” Alec appeared cynical rather than glad to see them and said, “I thought all of the Barudii were dead, along with all the others left fighting the Vorn on Castai.”
“We’re from the twin Castai,” said Tiet. “We came from across the rift where my father Kale Soone was the king before me.”
“The king has ruled on the Castai on this side of the rift for fifteen years now,” interrupted Wynn. “There was peace between Vorn and Castillian clans all that time during his rule.”
“Peace—with the Vorn?” said Alec with a cautious glance at Merab’s dark skin.
“Yes. The Vorn military was defeated as well as the Baruk who came to their aid,” said Wynn. “We had peace until the infiltration of another being, believed to be the Mithri Lucin himself in some physical manifestation.”
“What?!” Alec was taken aback by that possibility. The name of Lucin was well known as the enemy of Elithias—he was the Fallen One. The others with Alec were all looking very puzzled by the tale. “Why should we believe any of this?” asked Alec.
“A prophet of Elithias, Aija, told us of these prophecies from the Logostus,” interrupted Kale as he appeared from behind Alec. “Now, you will understand, sir, that if I had wanted your life, I could very well have had it. My father, the king, has come to help you. He has been sent by the prophet to lead you against the Agonotti and Lucin himself.”
“Are you completely mad? Fight against the slanderer himself?” said Alec.
“E
lithias is with us,” said Emil as he appeared from behind another group of the rebels.
“The boy is right,” reiterated Tiet. “The Lord’s prophet of the last days has commissioned us by the prophecies to lead the people of Draconis against these cursed spirits. They indwell the physical forms of the Agonotti, because of the curse of Elithias upon them and they can be defeated in those forms.”
Tiet stared directly into Alec’s eyes. This man was obviously leader among the rebels and his concern for them and the people they had rescued was genuine.
Tiet stepped up to the man, ignoring the rifle barrel that almost touched his chest. “Alec, you don’t know me; I realize that. You really may not understand what it is we are telling you—believe me, until we were faced with the prophecies in the Logostus, we didn’t understand any of this either. Nevertheless, what we’re saying is true and we need your help to fight them.”
Alec looked nervous. He eyed his compatriots around him. They seemed as puzzled as he was and they were looking to him to make a decision. He stared back at the king again. This Barudii exuded power he could feel and strangely he wanted to believe him.
Tiet reached a hand out for Alec to take it. After a moment more of indecision, Alec’s gun barrel fell and he clasped the Barudii king’s hand in agreement.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” said Alec.
“So do I, my friend, so do I.”
☼
VOCK watched the horizon as a human ship made its way closer to the mountain. His preternatural eyes could make out the details even from this distance. It was a smaller troop transport—the ship could only hold about fifty people at its limit.
Vock turned to his warriors and said, “I have chosen you three for this because you are quick and brutal; proven warriors. I want you to remember our former glory and reach within yourselves for the power that is growing inside us again. Use it well and spare no one. At least one of you must find us a way in. I want access to these rebels. They must be crushed once and for all.”
“But how do we—”
“They’re hold up inside of a mountain. They still need fresh air to breath and that comes in somewhere, and so can we.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Go in with that ship covertly and find the rest of us a way.”
The Agonotti warriors dissipated before him and their mist like forms whirled away together toward the place where the human ship appeared to be headed for on the mountain’s face.
Vock and the others would wait and let them do their work. Then when an entrance was revealed, he would move in and gain access to the rebel’s network and destroy them utterly.
☼
As the transport approached the face of the mountain, the Agonotti intercepted the ship as a mist and clung to its surface. The rocky cliffs came up to meet the transport fast and then with a flash of light they were entering a large underground cavern.
It was lit across the ceiling with the landing pads marked out across the smooth concrete floor. Other ships were already docked inside with quite a few people congregated near the ships sitting nearest to the entryway.
The three Agonotti warriors took form fast, leaping away from the surface of the transport ship. They each landed on the hangar floor ready for battle. Armor plating and weaponry materialized from their molecules as they tore into the people before them with all of the fury they could muster.
☼
Tiet hesitated only a moment; a sort of shock to his mental faculties as pure power flashed into being inside the cavern in the forms of the Agonotti. The Draconin rebels were unaffected by it. Their pulse weapons blazed to action against the Agonotti assuming form before them.
The flashing muzzles painted stop motion shadow portraits across the walls as the three warriors became a blur of motion. One of them was right on top of Tiet before he could react. One of the rebels was still firing his rifle as the Agonotti cut him down with a pair of massive tri-bladed claws morphed from his molecular structure. Tiet pulled his blade, but he was back handed before he could activate it.
He fell to the ground as more rebels engaged the Agonotti nightmares. Tiet could sense the others of his party—his son, Wynn and the others all moving in various places within the massive hangar as they fought with the Agonotti warriors.
Was this his fate, he wondered? To lie by the way as others fought the battles in his stead—a half crippled king without a kingdom? No! He fought the pain of his injuries and used his kinesis to get back in the fight.
People were screaming everywhere. Tiet spotted Alec moving some of the rescued women toward a portal at the other end of the hangar. It was a transgate arch embedded in the rock wall. Alec activated the gate as the battle raged and began to move the women through quickly.
The Agonotti were so fast he could hardly keep his eyes planted on them as they shredded through the rebels that were laying down a steady stream of laser fire against them. Kale was trying to fight against one with dual kemsticks whirling in a continuous onslaught of strikes, but he couldn’t manage to land anything solid. The amazing thing was that the dispersion field was only doing minimal damage against the Agonotti armor. They were now completely different in their fighting style and ability as compared to the previous encounters a few months before. These fallen Mithri exuded the power implied by what they were.
Wynn and Emil were engaged with another of the three Agonotti warriors in a different area of the chamber as the rate of gunfire became slower and more exact—it just wasn’t penetrating their armor.
Tiet launched out against the remaining warrior, almost catching him off guard as he slaughtered more of the gun toting rebels. Tiet struck at the creature, but was blocked by the horrible mutated claws covering each fist. As Tiet fought the creature, he roamed across its form with his mind, trying to discover any weaknesses. There, in the joints between the armor plates.
The warrior forced Tiet back and moved toward the return air vent in the wall behind him. Tiet moved in and struck at him again, but the creature wasn’t interested in a fight anymore. He forced Tiet back again and jumped to the vent. His form began to shift again. Tiet hurled his Barudii blade at the target but it sank blade first into the wall behind as the Agonotti became a mist that blew right into the return vent.
Tiet recovered his blade from the wall and looked for the others. Then it occurred to him that the warrior had not been running from him. If he followed the vent out then the other Agonotti, still waiting on the outside of the mountain, could follow it back in. It’s a diversion!
“Hurry!” he cried out to Alec, who was still moving escapees through the portal. “They’ve found a way to get in! The others will be here soon!”
Alec nodded as he urged the women on through at a faster rate. “Everyone evacuate!”
Then, Kale got through with a strike to the armor joint of the Agonotti he was fighting against. The Agonotti warrior howled in agony. Kale followed with a quick set of strikes to other weak spots that were now accessible.
“Father, help the others get through the gate,” instructed Kale as he joined Emil fighting the last Agonotti. Wynn joined Tiet as they helped some of the pregnant women through. As the two warriors followed the women through the portal, another underground base was suddenly the setting. Mirah had already come through the gate and she was looking to one woman that had apparently gone into labor during the attack.
“Are you alright?!” Tiet shouted to his wife from across the room.
“Fine. Get the boys through safe!” Mirah said as she continued with the birthing.
Alec came through as Tiet returned to the portal. “That’s all of the civilians. Your young men and a few of my men are still fighting the last of them,” said Alec.
Tiet ran to the portal and started through. As he appeared on the other side, a huge spiked mace on a serpentine cord swung across his path crashing into the gate control board and one side of the transgate arches. Tiet jumped back refl
exively as the weapon nearly tore through his upper torso.
The portal of light blinked once and was gone with Kale and Emil still on the other side with the Agonotti. He screamed to them, but they could not hear.
ARMADA
The ground vibrated with the low hum of the Vorn attack cruisers hanging in the sky overhead. Lucin watched as hundreds of transport pods landed in the valley around him. They carried his precious army of symbyte infected hosts—humans with just enough of him implanted around their brain and spinal cord structures to bend them to his will. Tendrils coursed throughout their bodies and some were specialized; able to emerge through the skin and infect other hosts.
Thousands of humans from the Vorn and Castillian clans back on Castai had been transported with him to Draconis—nearly the entire population of the twelve cities once ruled by Tiet Soone. But that kingdom was over. As soon as Lucin could bring his fallen Mithrial brothers back under his leadership, he would be as Elithias—ruling both a host of Mithri and humans. With his great army he could then move on to conquest of the remaining humans clans on their respective worlds.
Zurig’s body had changed somewhat in appearance with his increase in power. It was stronger, faster and Lucin was beginning to see mental powers emerging. In fact his former Mithrial powers were merging with his host and almost nothing seemed to be left of Zurig at all—this was Lucien’s body now.
His army was assembling before him; thousands of them, all willing to die for him. Confidence swelled up within Lucin and that sin of sins, responsible for his fall, pride. His power was growing from within and without and all in spite of the will of The Eternal One.