Zaid gave another hand signal to attack, but Sero turned to Zaid and locked its six glowing eyes on him. “A smart bit of flesh,” Sero said as it charged at Zaid.
Zaid's eyes went wide, not expecting the creature to target him alone. Hikari jumped on to the beast's side and slashed at the carapace while Roland sliced off a front claw. Terra struggled to keep up with the monster as it ran away from her. Sero ignored the damage as it rampaged towards Zaid and lifted up its front carapace again. It sent another wave of spines at Zaid.
Zaid held his ground and kept his shieldwatch raised. All the spines froze in place, impacting on his shieldwatch's stasis shield. It was then Terra saw it. The spines were a ruse for when Sero drew close, it lashed out with its tail under the cover of the hail of spines. Focused on the spines, Zaid failed to see Sero's stinger tipped tail curve behind his back and strike.
Terra froze when Zaid fell to the ground, stinger piercing his heart. Sero then ejected the stinger that remained lodged in Zaid's chest to prevent him from Restoring.
With Zaid fallen, Sero turned its attention to Hikari and threw her off its carapace. Roland charged in behind, but Sero swatted him aside with his long scorpion like tail while the stinger regrew. Roland flew back, hitting a wall so hard that blood came from his mouth. A Restore ring ran around Roland seconds later, but Roland did not stand again.
Terra shook herself out of her shocked state and ran towards Zaid. If she could remove the stinger, then Zaid could Restore himself. The stinger was too large a living organism for the shieldwatch to erase with a Restoration.
Hikari continued to duel with Sero, alone. Sero regrew its lost limbs while attacking Hikari. She blocked hundreds of spines while dodging a flurry of claw strikes. Neither gave ground to the other until Hikari's shieldwatch beeped.
“Shieldwatch power critically low,” came Minerva’s voice from Hikari's shieldwatch. “Shutting down non essential functions.”
Hikari cursed and retreated while Sero turned to the last tiro standing.
Terra stopped when Sero jumped between her and Zaid. It shook the ground with its weight upon landing. She pointed her aeon edge at the monster. “You are in my way!”
Everything slowed around her as Terra Sped her movement and reflexes. If she didn't do something now, Zaid would die. Terra tried to weave around the creature, but it was too fast even with Speeding time. She slashed at it when it drew close, but it proved agile enough to dodge her blows with ease. When Terra felt suddenly off balance, it pierced her shoulder with the tip of its scythe and smashed her into a nearby wall.
Terra screamed. The taste of blood filled her mouth. She thought with bitter irony that she was about to be squashed by a bug. Then she forced her panic away and everything slowed while she Sped time around her so she could think.
No, she thought. I won't die here! Time is mine! It's a part of me. There must be some part of time I can use to survive this.
It was in that moment, just when the cold of the wall behind began crushing her, that she felt her connection with time strengthen. Terra bent time to her will, focusing on the pain and damage to her back. She felt the force of the blow, the waves of energy rippling through her. She took that energy and Slowed it to a crawl. Gradually, she released tiny pockets of the kinetic force of the blow, allowing her body to absorb the damage.
Terra became like iron, smashing through the thin layer of organic growth before crashing through the stone beyond that. The monster stopped when Terra hit the iron pipe hidden by the stone and pulled its scythe back. When the scythe withdrew from her body, Terra Restored herself.
Sero turned after having smashed Terra into a wall as it was under the reasonable assumption that she was dead. It paused upon hearing Terra's footsteps echo on iron. She walked out of the rubble without a single scratch on her.
Terra turned to the still wounded Zaid who lay in a pool of blood. She closed her eyes and bit back both despair and worry before turning to face the Manticore. She readied her aeon edge and took a deep breath which let her emotions bleed away.
Terra attacked. Sero whirled to face her. When Terra drew close, it unleashed its scythes, claws, and tail against her, slashing and stabbing. Terra weaved around the blows, drinking in her powerful connection with time. She could feel time flowing around and rippling through her. The monster seemed stuck in time, fighting against it rather than with it like she did. It used its carapace to shield itself, whereas Terra was now armored in time.
She dodged another strike of its tail before slicing off the tip. The Manticore roared and fell back. It attacked with its claws again and Terra sliced those off as well. Two more strikes to its sides sent the creature scurrying back even further as it tried to regrow the lost limbs. Sero's bioluminescence grew dimmer as it fought.
Green blood glowed on Terra's aeon edge as she dueled with the monster. She had driven it far away from the gate, but she didn't care. This monster had hurt her friend! She felt a cold hate enter her chest. That cold hate almost made her miss the drop in shieldwatch power and her aeon edge expended its next to last stasis cell.
The monster recoiled from Terra as it huddled between two pipes. “You reek of blood and death!”
Terra paused. She was almost out of energy and doubted she had enough to kill it, as much as she wanted to right now. Closing her eyes, she fought down her hatred. The main point was to buy time for them to open the gate. Maybe they could get Zaid help. Her eyes opened again. “What are you talking about, monster?”
Sero shifted and faced Terra again. “I can smell it on you. That and Silverwind. How I despise her and any she would call companion.”
“What did any of us ever do to you?”
The Manticore tilted its head. “We did not hate before Silverwind found that squire. He did this to us! Reivair made us hate with his curse.”
“Curse?”
“Before the curse there was only change and the strength it brought to us. The flesh of those called humanity was but a relic to be replaced by our flesh. A united flesh. No longer would there be individual life in ecological systems. We are a higher form of life. A sentient ecology all built around what you call a Manticore. All other flesh is inferior to us. All of your technology is worthless against our adaptation.”
“Yet the Aeon Legion stopped you!”
“No!” the Manticore said with venom in its tone. “They failed. We spread unchecked through Time when the Aeon Legion's hunters fell. The Legion was broken then before Lycus and Reivair reforged them. To stop us, accursed Reivair poisoned us with a toxin that eroded our will, leaving us unwilling to take our birthright! Even now I feel the poison pulling at my mind, trying to corrupt my will. But I am stronger than the others. I will show them that we can break free of that curse and claim our birthright.”
“Wait. How did he poison you? Manticores are immune to poison and toxins.”
“It was a sinister and subtle poison. Reivair offered his flesh to us and we took of it eagerly. However, he gave us more than just his flesh. With his flesh came his memories and experience. After we had devoured him, our minds fully awoke to true sapience rather than the high sentience we had before. After that, the others spoke of consequences and morality. They abandoned the doctrine of domination and cast aside their biological imperative to seed the entirety of Time with our flesh.”
“He gave you a conscience.”
“A vile perversion of true nature. Both nature and history are marches to dominate and survive. Those who do not adapt die and are replaced by those who can. Your Aeon Legion is doomed. They do not adapt. They sit upon Time and call themselves its master. Yet all those around them change. Eventually, someone will change in a way that lets them destroy this monument to stagnation.”
“Terra!” Roland yelled in the distance.
Terra turned. Sero kept its distance as its limbs regrew at a slow rate. She looked up to see Lycus standing on a distant pipe. Then she saw his terrible wolfish grin. Lycus was not watch
ing her, Cerberus was. Cerberus nodded his approval to her before turning to go.
“You will die!” Sero said in a quiet voice so that only she and it could hear.
Terra regarded the Manticore with a sidelong glance. It recoiled at her gaze.
“They all die!” Sero said in a harsh tone. “Silverwind's squires all die. If she has chosen you, then you are marked for death!”
Chapter XXIX
Trial of Storms
I see it now, Alya. For the first time in centuries, I am afraid. Sero may not have been the only monster unleashed in the Labyrinth. She has passed Cerberus's trial, but I wonder. Will she pass the Captain's?
-From the personal logs of Praetor Lycus Cerberus
They all saluted her when she faded into the next salient. Terra ignored them and searched for Zaid.
Hikari walked up to Terra. “How did you do that?”
Terra turned to Hikari. “Where is Zaid?”
Hikari went silent. After a moment she pointed to where several optios had gathered.
Terra tried to run, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned to see Roland who shook his head. When Terra glanced back to the optios, she saw them carrying Zaid's body in a stasis field. One of the optios closed his eyes before taking the body away.
A Restore ring then ran around each tiro and the optios inspected the area.
“All contaminants clear,” came Minerva’s voice over their shieldwatches.
An optio approached each tiro and handed out two stasis cell clips. “Hurry to your next trial. From here on, you are on your own.”
Another fadeline appeared. The tirones walked towards it.
Terra stood in place, still gazing at where Zaid had lain.
Roland stayed. “Is this first time you lost a friend?”
Terra shook her head. “I couldn't save him?”
Roland stood for a long moment while Hikari walked into the fadeline.
Terra continued to hold still as she bit back her despair. Fatigue made it difficult to keep her emotions in check.
Roland turned to go, but stopped before he stepped into the fadeline. He turned and took Terra's arm. He tugged her into the fadeline.
Terra shook her head. “I don't want to go anymore. I can't finish this.”
Roland began to fade. “Then finish it for him.”
Terra stared down as a new salient faded in. Her shieldwatch beeped, but she didn't bother to read it. Rain fell in sheets as a cold gust pushed against her. There was no one else there. She stood alone.
Terra wandered while stumbling in the rain and wind as she tried to find shelter. As she shambled through the storm, she realized she was on a high mountain when she almost walked off a high cliff. A flash of lightning illuminated a windswept mountain range for an instant.
Terra took cover behind a boulder. It gave her no protection from rain, but at least shielded her from the wind. She wanted to cry, to just let herself mourn. The rain soaked her and the cold wind made her shiver.
Terra shook her head. She had to keep moving to escape this storm.
Thunder boomed while lightning cracked the sky. Another loud rumble approached. At first it was a low sound, but grew louder. Another flash of lightning illuminated, for an instant, the avalanche sweeping towards her.
Terra didn't have time to think. The storm limited her vision, but she still had her connection with time. She Slowed gravity around her and jumped above the tide of stone. The cascade of earth passed below her before she settled on the ground.
As the rumbling quieted, Terra stood near the peak of the mountain. Lightning flashed again and Terra Slowed her vision, closing her eyes to avoid the flash. As the flash subsided Terra opened her eyes, her Slowed vision giving her a good view of the surroundings. The storm was powerful enough to obscure her view of Saturn City above, though she could see a bright pillar of light just beyond the salient walls. She was near the center of the Labyrinth now. In the distance, she spotted a towering mountain in the center of the salient where the stormed raged at its most intense.
That's it, she thought. That is where the gate is.
Terra marched against the storm with grief stalking not far behind her. Soon she stood at the base of the tallest mountain and began her ascent.
The cold winds swept downward as if trying to drive her back. Terra endured the cold wet storm and pushed forward. As she continued her climb, the rain turned to ice. The trek became slippery. Still Terra pushed on, walking in places while climbing in others as she tried to reach the peak.
As she struggled, her thoughts turned to Zaid. It had been so fast it didn't seem real. He had a shieldwatch. People with a shieldwatch shouldn't die that easily.
She felt her eyes tear up, but stopped herself from crying. Terra made a promise to herself. Stone doesn't cry. Yet this storm chipped away stone.
Ice pelted her as it stung her skin. Terra used her shieldwatch to halt the hail in front of her. Moving forward proved difficult now.
Should she even bother to go on? How could she be a heroine if she couldn't even save one friend?
Terra continued to climb. Zaid wouldn't have wanted her to stop. He was the first person to have faith in her. Her hands gripped the ice so hard it cracked under her grip. She grimaced as she thought about how unfair it was.
Her anger grew worse with the storm. The mountain itself became steeper, like it was trying to throw her back. It made Terra hate it even more.
Another stupid attempt to kill me, Terra thought.
The rage and despair churned in her chest as storm battered the mountain. She thought of Zaid again and felt her anger turn on him now. Why did he abandon them? He failed again. It was a betrayal in a way. Zaid had let death make him abandon his duties. Why didn't he move faster?
Terra then remembered. Zaid practiced the least. He had spent all his time trying to lead them. Guilt entered Terra's storm when she remembered how much he had helped her. The study sessions, the practice.
Tears swelled in her eyes again, but Terra forced them back and did not cry. A desire to quit crept back into her. Then piercing fear cut through her emotions and made her chest feel cold. She could die just as easily. Now it seemed more real to her.
A loud crack came before another low rumble in the distance. Soon the ground shook as a tide of stone slid towards her.
Terra gritted her teeth. Her shieldwatch was almost out of power now. She couldn't jump over the tide again. Her emotions cleared. All the death, all the pain and suffering would be for nothing if she gave up here. If Zaid had fallen for his ideals, then Terra would carry them on for him.
No more of this, she thought. No more of these stupid tests and trials. This is enough.
Terra drew her aeon edge and faced the wave of rock roaring towards her. She slashed at the stone and pulled the trigger. A wave of blue energy burst from the aeon edge and turned the stone tide into dust. The burst cut through the tide and revealed an opening in the side of the mountain.
Terra walked to the opening to find a cavern that led into the heart of the mountain. When she walked inside, she found the cave warmer than outside and lit by a faint ambient glow.
She progressed through the cave, noting large formations of rock crystal in the walls. Other crystal formations dotted the area and reflected the dim light in a variety of colors. She would have admired them more if she were not so tired. It had been four days since she had entered the Labyrinth.
Her shieldwatch beeped. Trial of Storms complete was displayed on the holoface. She didn't care at this point.
Ahead an iron bridge crossed over a ravine. On the other side was the gate. She almost sighed in relief until she saw a figure guarding the bridge.
Terra did not try to approach unnoticed. She was done sneaking around and she didn't have the energy left for it regardless. When she drew close she saw a familiar sight. The man who guarded it wore a Kalian mask, one with a wing emblem. The Captain, or rather one of Lycus's persona, stood in th
e center of the iron bridge with his hands resting on the pummel of his aeon edge Cerberus. He held his blade in front him with the tip touching the ground like a staff.
Terra stopped in front of Lycus. “You are in my way.”
Lycus stood, unmoving. “As well I should be for this is the Trial of Worth.”
“Worth? Haven't I proved my worth many times over now?”
“Maybe to your friends and instructors. Maybe to Cerberus during the Trial of the Beast, but not to the Captain.”
“The Captain? You mean your character?”
Lycus looked at his three core aeon edge. “Lycus, Cerberus, and the Captain. These are my three faces. When I slew the Kalian who wore this mask on the battlefield, his noble act of protecting the innocent poisoned Cerberus. His blood stained my hands and infected the beast. That blood became the seed of my reawakened conscience. The fruit of regret and guilt it bore became a new face. Now the Captain gets to choose who becomes a member of the Aeon Legion. Not the beast Cerberus, nor the scholar Lycus. So now, Terra Mason. Why should I let you past this point? Are you truly worth anything or are you just another monster?”
“I don't think I am threatening enough to be a monster.”
Lycus's eyes narrowed from behind the mask. “Don't be so certain, Terra Mason. I saw what you did in the Trial of the Beast. Iron awoke in you and iron is a step towards cold steel. I witnessed the birth of a new blade there. What I saw was savage and driven by hatred. Time whirled around you like blood in a stream. If you were any more skilled, the Manticore would have died and you would have been the most dangerous beast in the salient.”
Terra clenched her fists. “That monster deserved to die!”
“Because it killed Zaid?”
Terra averted her gaze. “Because it killed my friend.”
“You best steel yourself for more of that as you will lose more than friends if you cross this bridge. You talk a lot about wanting to be a hero, but those in the Aeon Legion are soldiers. They fight when ordered and die on command. Are you going to let one death turn your dreams into blood soaked revenge or will you let that death poison you with doubt and cowardice?”
Aeon Legion: Labyrinth Page 38