Zein: The Homecoming

by Graham J. Wood

  Tyson waited as he felt a strong surge of power in the magics and a quick glance at Wernion confirmed that he had felt it as well. It was menacing, not as dark from what Tyson had felt from Zylar but twisted, unrelenting and with a stone cold certainty to it. Tyson felt intimidated for the first time since he had experienced the magics affecting him. He wanted to run away but the strong arm of Wernion held him in place. Tyson felt the flare of the magics grow in him and his hands began to emit the comforting blue glow. The force-field wrapped around his arms and lazily travelled up his forearms. Wernion’s arm was beginning to struggle to hold the power in his grasp. Tyson felt Wernion’s fear at the strength of the magics inside his human companion.

  The raiding party stepped into the cross section. Tyson heard Wernion gasp and he followed his gaze to the strange creature that stood regally at the front of the small group. He was a man but not like any other Tyson had seen. The flickering light of the torches caught his unusually coloured eyes, which shone in the semi-darkness.

  Tyson drew in a deep breath as he remembered the Fathom clan members in the Core and their blank white eyes. His dread dissipated quickly. This was different. He felt an attraction, caused by the magics, to this powerful figure and the magics were also present in the other, similar creatures, he was with. He noted the different coloured tunics of the soldiers and there was a beautiful young woman talking in whispers to a vain, sallow looking man. A couple of the soldiers carried rucksacks that clinked with whatever was within them.

  It was not Tyson that gave up their pitiful hiding place. Wernion suddenly pushed Tyson away and charged towards the commanding figure at the head of the raiding party. Tyson picked up what Wernion must have felt that this creature had come to destroy the Pod; the magics could not hide the drive and ambition of mass death which flooded the pores of this creature.

  The Changeling, though initially shocked raised his trident and used it to blunt the attack and force away the charging Wernion, flinging the creature away from him onto the floor. Wernion was swiftly back up on his feet, the previous injuries forgotten; before he could charge again the sallow faced Blackstone attacked him with two extremely long seckle type weapons. He was ablely supported by the beautiful young woman.

  Tyson knew Wernion would not survive a double attack for long. He threw his body into the space between the girl and Wernion and used his now activated seckle as a block. The girl’s eyes widened in surprise and Tyson used this element of surprise to throw her to the ground. Behind him, the man was trying to bring his weapons to bear but Wernion was fast and he came in close to the Blackstone man, nullifying the threat. His claw caught the man on the shoulder, ripping into his skin, the force causing one of the weapons to fall from his hand. Wernion was not interested in the Blackstones and he rushed towards the Changeling.

  Jaida lay breathless on the floor with the shock of the power from the man supporting the Pod.

  He is a Blackstone!

  Shrugging aside her surprise, if he was a friend of the Pod then he was no friend of hers. She struggled to kneel up and before she could re-join the fight, an enraged Taio leapt at the strange man with his one surviving weapon.

  Tyson tracked the move in slow motion and knew his magics were formulating. He confidently saw the attack and anticipated the blow. He didn’t want to hurt the man so he ducked the offending blow and used a quick spurt of power from his hand to send him clattering into the wall. Then the girl was upon him and she was quick. He blocked blow after blow, keeping in the corner of his eye that Wernion was now wrestling with one of the Changelings. Eventually he was able to make enough room to send a force-field shock that knocked her own force-field out of commission and allowed him to thrust her hard against the wall, where she crumpled to the ground, dazed.

  Taio saw the woman he loved collapse of the floor and rage took over. He swung his seckle viciously at Tyson but it bounced off the force-field easily.

  Wernion charged Myolon, who changed into a colossal reptile with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, a Xonian! He caught the young Pod by its scale covered muscular arms and in one fluid motion he threw Wernion into one of the walls were he lay unmoving, Myolon then moved in for the kill.

  ‘Myolon!’ The voice rang out with power and command. Myolon, with spittle spilling from his reptilian mouth, stopped in his tracks and smoothly turned to face his new opponent.

  The rescue group had made good time with a transport dropping them close to another of Zebulon’s secret entrances. Once he had gained entry they had moved swiftly, guided by the majesty of Zebulon. As they had entered the intersection, Amelia had gasped as she saw Tyson. He is alive! Her heart jumped in excitement and it was only the restraining arm of one of Zebulon’s guards that stopped her running into the midst of the fight happening before her.

  ‘Zebulon, so nice to see you,’ said Myolon, his harsh rasp escaping his Xonian snout. Myolon saw the rest of the party and his eyes ran over the companions as he changed back to his Changeling form and reached out to one of his followers for his trident which he had dropped and one of his guards had retrieved.

  ‘Tyson,’ shouted Amelia and, pushing away her guard with surprising strength which even took the experienced warrior by surprise, ran to Tyson’s side, throwing her arms around his neck as his force-field dimmed. Tyson was pleased to see her and returned the hug before gently disentangling her from him as he became acutely aware of the power building in the room between the two Changelings.

  ‘Well, dear brother, long time no see,’ smirked Myolon as he twirled the sinister looking trident, ‘What do I owe this pleasure to?’

  ‘I am here to stop you releasing that liquid,’ said Zebulon, pointing to the rucksacks that the cowering Blackstone troops held.

  ‘Why so caring for the Pod, Zebulon? I remember a time when you embraced their extermination. You have gone soft!’

  ‘I came to my senses, brother. We were wrong all those years ago and you are wrong now. I will take the serum and destroy it safely,’ said Zebulon, seeking the residue of any goodness left in his sibling.

  ‘I can’t let you do that, Zebulon,’ said Myolon, as he squared up to his older brother, ‘I am no longer in your shadow, you left our people just when they needed you, now I am going to put right what you got wrong!’

  ‘If you release that into the Mygolwich the entire Pod will die. I can’t let that happen.’

  ‘You could try to stop me but I am too strong for you.’

  ‘We will see about that Myolon.’ Zebulon pulled his cloak off and the fine clothes under the cloak were impressive.

  ‘You dress well, Zebulon. Like your new tailor.’

  There were shouts down the corridors with the Pod patrols, hearing the commotion, making their way through the tunnels to the disturbance. The two parties eyed each other distrustfully but also glanced down the four main corridors of the intersection nervously. This was not a place you wanted to fight a pitched battle in.

  Pounding footsteps materialised into squads of the Pod defence patrols in each tunnel. The soldiers and Changelings put aside their distrust and took up position at each entrance.

  Zebulon just smiled and with an outstretched hand sent a beam of blue light to two of the entrances. Myolon glowered at his brother, and not to be outdone he did the same to the other two entrances with the beams of energy slowly working down the entrance until a force-field was formed. The Pod ran into the force-field, which, with a flash, threw them back. The angry creatures hung back away from the painful light and shuffled back and forward, waiting for their opportunity.

  ‘So, brother, your powers are fully developed, I notice,’ said Zebulon. He saw Tyson and then looked across to the winded Wernion and tasted the vortex of magic in the air.

  ‘Met my human friend, I see?’

  ‘Yes, so much raw power but I sense an uneasiness in its use…you are becoming sloppy…I thought you would have tamed this creature a little more?’ said a mocking Myolon.

 
‘I can’t let you release that liquid,’ said Zebulon, turning his attention to the matter at hand and reiterating his position.

  Myolon leapt at his brother swinging his trident viciously at his opponent’s head and Zebulon effortlessly shimmered and moved his body away from the blow whilst at the same time drawing his short sword from its scabbard. He swung the sword and caught his opponent’s trident in mid-air. There was an almighty clash of steel, forcing Myolon to tighten his grip to prevent losing control of his weapon. Zebulon then leveraged his sword so he was pinning Myolon’s trident to the floor using the strength of his massive shoulders. He then released the trident and thrust the sword at Myolon’s head. Myolon saw the attack and rolled away and the sword blade hit the floor rather than the flesh. Myolon sprang up, sweat pouring from his pores at the exercise, and he brought his trident up in front of his body.

  ‘Nice try, brother, but you are still soft,’ said Myolon with a grin which slowly disappeared, turning into a gritty and daggered look. ‘Now that is going to get you killed.’

  The two brothers breathing hard stood transfixed, they knew this was a fight to the death. The rest of the group stood in silence, mere bystanders to an epic contest.

  Tyson regulated his breathing as Amelia held him close, both stunned by the fight evolving in front of them. Something told them that the future of Zein rested on the outcome of this battle.

  Chapter 19: Defence

  ‘I am going to be Joined with him,’ snapped an angry Belina.

  Since she had broken the news to Bailey, who had disappeared to lick his wounds, the relationship between Belina and Tate had swept the populace of the Aeria Cavern. Tate was their saviour, their hero and now one of the strangers was laying claim to his heart.

  ‘A Blackstone has never Joined with a Malacca in the history of our people,’ said Kabel, visibly angry that his twin was now causing an issue he hadn’t expected.

  ‘Do you not think, Kabel, that if there had been more Joinings between our two clans, we may have prevented the Quadrant Wars?’

  ‘Rubbish, Zylar just used that as an excuse and you know it!’

  Belina slowed her breathing as she felt her magics trigger through the emotion she was feeling. She walked to a table that had a jug of water resting upon it and poured out a glassful.

  Kabel was still pacing back and forth. She saw the additional stress lines on his face that had developed with his new responsibility as Lord Chancellor for the Aeria Cavern. In the last couple of days Kabel was everywhere, meeting all the senior royals of the clans, the people on the street, and reviewing the defences with Tate and General Corder. He looked tired and Belina regretted that she had added to his worries. However, she was clear in her own mind that the feelings she had for Tate were special. She sipped her water and sat down on the comfortable chair that was placed near the table.

  ‘Kabel, I am sorry to bring this worry to you, but I cannot ignore my feelings just as much as you can’t ignore your feelings for Gemma.’

  Kabel paused in his pacing and sighed. ‘Maybe you’re right Belina and it is me who is wrong. Everything is so mixed up and I have to admit my experience with the Malacca clan is not a good one,’ Kabel conceded. ‘Can we agree to discuss matters once we have finished the review of the defences?’

  Belina smiled and placing her drink back on the table gave her brother a quick hug before leaving the room. Kabel walked to the balcony and looked out upon the bustling settlement. From his advantage point he could see the West, South and North Gates in the distance, the large gates reaching up high until they met the ramparts. The gates, ramparts and barricades bristled with new weaponry brought from the ships, with thousands of men and women manning the gates. Outside the gates the captains were setting up three rows of troops, first rank on the floor with rifles propped against their cheeks, second row kneeling and the final row standing.

  Inside each gate ranks of troops were put through their paces. Numbering approximately two thousand per gate these would be the next line of defence if the gates and other defences were breached. They would stand behind the weak Outer Perimeter Barrier which glimmered behind the main gates and also the Inner Defence Wall a further short distance behind the Outer Perimeter Barrier. Everyone knew the sheer numbers of attackers would break though both these defences without much delay. What Kabel decided to do was prepare a workable fall back defensive position.

  The soldiers were broken into columns, taking the lead from Napoleon’s approach to battle as his French columns used the tactic to smash through the enemy. Kabel had studied hard in his history lessons, now he was putting it into practice. He saw Kron line up the troops in the columns behind the South Gate and other defences. The four columns would be five abreast and one hundred deep, marching side by side with enough gap for the enemy to be sucked in down the sides. Behind the columns would be another hundred troops dispatching any of the enemy that made it past the heavily armed troops. Further troops were strategically placed to support an orderly retreat, if required.

  The general population, who were not manning the entrances, were moving to the central area and into the Central Zein Transportation and Royal Council buildings. They carried cherished belongings and worried young children. Remembering how the Pod scampered over the buildings, every building had troops behind makeshift bunkers to blunt any attack and Kabel had also impressed Tate by setting a ring of steel and bullets around the central area, to act as the final defensive position. If the Pod breached that then the city was lost.

  All in all they had nearly seventy thousand troops across the settlement. Kabel crossed his arms and shuddered, the picture of the Pod swarming over the buildings still haunting him. Seventy thousand or not he still felt threatened.

  Near the South Gate, Kron was barking orders. ‘Keep your columns tight, if those in front of your fall walk over them; think of a hammer blow that is what you are doing. This is an offensive not defensive approach,’ said Kron and then pointing to his head, ‘Think, and keep your nerve.’

  The gates were open and Tate was with the troops outside. Hechkle and Bronstorm were near him chatting with Gemma.

  ‘Where’s Bailey?’ asked Hechkle.

  ‘At the North Gate, he didn’t want to be near Belina and Tate,’ said Gemma, taking in the preparations.

  ‘Poor lad,’ said Hechkle, gruffly. He exchanged glances with Bronstorm, who understood immediately. They both knew that Joining was hard to resist but they felt for Bailey.

  ‘Be careful, Gemma, stay inside the gates with the troop columns and Kron,’ said Hechkle and then he rubbed his chin, ‘Apart from Remo and Cronje, I don’t think I have seen a harder man than Kron.’ Their eyes followed Kron, as did the troops, fear and respect in their expressions.

  ‘Where are you going?’ asked Gemma.

  ‘Off to the North Gate,’ said Bronstorm. Gemma smiled and said a silent thank you.

  ‘We will look after him, no worries,’ said Hechkle, with the emotion catching him unawares. As they moved off, Belina walked past them to Tate and Gemma couldn’t hide a little resentment at the woman who had broken her brother’s heart. If Belina’s magics read the thought, then she did not display it on her face.

  Not long after Belina passed by, Kabel went to find Gemma. He and Tate had agreed that Tate and General Corder would command the external forces, and Kabel with Kron, those inside the settlement.

  ‘Everything all right?’ asked Kabel, as his eyes swept the area.

  ‘If you mean everyone is running round looking both important and terrified, then yes,’ said Gemma, as she checked her blaster for power. Kabel smiled grimly and walked out of the gate. Gemma found that she was still confused about her feelings for him and was left wondering whether Zebulon had found Tyson. Did she love Kabel?

  General Corder climbed out of his jeep. Behind him one of the levitation tanks swivelled its turret as it took up its pre-planned position at the side of one of the pill-boxes. He waved on the other three tanks
sending them to the other gates. Each tank was supported by three thousand troops, split evenly by US and Malacca forces. He had wanted more tanks but Koshkov had argued that in such a confined space they would be a hindrance and he could ready a fast reaction force in the case of attack. Corder had seen the sense of the discussion and relented. The troops were the first additional contingent and more were to follow in the morning. The soldiers disappeared down their respective tunnels to the other gates following in the wake of the tanks.

  He turned his attention to the South Gate defences. The Expeditionary Force soldiers were already patrolling in front of the gate and up the tunnel. He and Kabel had positioned soldiers on the ramp-way to provide an early warning of any attack. All those in the Aeria Cavern lapsed into a strained silence as the day wore on and night descended.

  Lieutenant Morrison was at the entrance to the surface and marvelling at the stillness of the evening, when he heard thunder.

  ‘What the…?’ The sound grew and the soldiers around him became uneasy, the noise grew to a crescendo and then over the hill hundreds of amber lights could be seen in the blackness of the night. The amber lights were bouncing up and down and the hundreds, turned into thousands. Morrison gasped in disbelief, his stomach churning with fear with the realisation that the amber lights were eyes and those eyes were attached to the most ferocious animals he had ever seen.