Chrysalis

by Kayne Sampson

  The soldier folded his arms, unfazed by the weapon. How brazen was this man? “Perhaps. But is that not how you win in war. You use every advantage.”

  Tianna was in no mood for a lecture. “Enough of this. I am Tianna of the Imperial Generals. As you have failed to heed my warning, I have no choice but to use force.”

  “Ah, how fitting. My name is General Ivaldi. Come, let us begin. I warn you though, you won’t be able to hit me with that weapon of yours.”

  Tianna reached out with her senses. Keta was getting closer to Delta. If he was able to reach her comrade, she had no doubt that the swordsman would defeat him. She had to deal with this interloper immediately.

  ***

  Erisda surveyed the battlefield. The Xegin had outplayed him by hiring a mercenary to occupy him. With a stroke of luck, Keta and his companions had come to his aid. And Ivaldi had just arrived, with his old lieutenant Bakuya moving to reinforce Giselle. Things were looking up.

  That was assuming he survived his current battle, of course. His opponent was Xuan Barakan, who was lauded as the mercenary famous for never failing a mission. He was also a master of the sword.

  Luckily, Erisda was not afraid of Demons. His own sword training had pitted him against many such opponents. Even so, this enemy was something else entirely.

  Erisda raised his shield to deflect Xuan’s thrust, but before he could counter with his own, the Demon swung the blade sideways, pushing him off balance. Clever kid, Erisda thought to himself.

  Erisda dropped the shield, and gripped his sword in both hands. He wasn’t going to win this by playing defensively. Xuan smiled when he saw this. “Good, I was worried I’d be facing a rank amateur.”

  Erisda did not return the gesture. He was not fighting for fun. “Looks like you still need to learn how to take things seriously. The folly of youth.”

  The Demon was unfazed by this. “Come on, lighten up. At the very least, you should appreciate a good battle when it comes along,” Xuan said, running at Erisda.

  Erisda rolled his eyes, but he was determined to not let this upstart get the better of him. And so the two began testing each other, trying to break the other’s defenses. This only went on for less than a minute before the two broke away, stunned looks on their faces.

  “Well, this is awkward,” Xuan spoke first. Erisda had to suppress the urge to laugh at the situation himself. It hadn’t taken the two long to realize that they possessed the same sword style.

  The Demon was clearly baffled by this, but Erisda knew better. Of course, it made sense. After all, Xuan had once been a member of Sanction. It was only natural that he would fight using the Sacred Dragon sword style.

  Memories flooded Erisda. His own master had utilized the style, and had passed it down to him. A part of him welcomed the thoughts of the past. But the sting of what came later was still bitter, and he shook the thoughts from his head.

  “Hey Human, how do you know how to fight like that?” Xuan asked, as he began to walk in a circle, keeping an eye on Erisda.

  Erisda responded with an arcing cut. The Demon blocked it with his own sword, and smiled. I’ve got to end this quickly and get to that weapon. I need to save Silvia. Keta, please...hold them off a little longer...

  ***

  Keta made it up the hill to see the monstrosity that was looming over the entire battle. According to Erisda, that was the thing that had blown a hole in the Imperial Gate. If it could do that to the fort, he could not let it be used against the city.

  There was a man waiting for him. He wore the gleaming armor that identified him as one of the Imperial Generals. Four soldiers stood at the ready near the doomsday device. Keta could pay them no heed. This man’s intense presence was demanding his attention.

  “Keta Night. I expected that you would be here. But I did not anticipate that you would best the others. Tianna or Sephiel should have defeated you, according to my calculations,” the Xegin said.

  Keta could not see the man’s eyes through the helmet, but he stared into it nonetheless. “It looks like you thought wrong,” he said defiantly.

  Curiously, the Xegin chuckled. “Thought? I do not think. I calculate. The data I extracted for this operation was deemed to have no chance of failure. The Demon mercenary for General Erisda Walker, the advance force arriving with the Destroy cannon. All of it.”

  The Xegin pointed at him. “Even you. When Tianna spoke of you in her report, I ran all the simulations. Even should you have defeated Tianna, which was highly improbable, Sephiel was by far your superior. The numbers all added up to victory for my forces.”

  “And yet, here you are.”

  Keta frowned. The Xegin were ultimately a people ruled by logic. But some things just couldn’t be accounted for. “You can’t predict everything,” he pointed out.

  The soldier was silent for a moment. “Or perhaps...I had not properly estimated your threat level. Allow me to retract that conclusion. And deal with this threat with the appropriate force required.”

  The soldier raised his hand, and it was only Keta’s instincts and a sense of impending danger that he managed to jump aside to avoid as a bolt of energy whizzed past him. He rolled and returned to his feet.

  Something wasn’t right here. The Xegin had no weapon in his hand, standing unarmed. Where had that shot come from? “Who are you? Why are you doing this?” Keta shouted, keeping his wits about him in the case of another attack.

  The mechanical soldier pointed at him. “Everyone seems to know you, Keta. But you never seem to know anyone. Allow me to introduce myself. I am General Delta, one of the Imperial Generals of the Xegin army.”

  So this was the General Delta he had been told about, the calculated military leader of the Xegin army. His armor showed his regal bearing, and he stood with an air of superiority.

  This was the cold hearted warrior that had destroyed the gate and with it, the Human soldiers within. And now...he had the weapon aimed directly to wipe out every human in range.

  “Have you gone mad? You have that weapon aimed at a city,” Keta shouted, walking towards Delta in a rage. The Xegin soldier calmly lifted his arm as if to stop him. And then the hand began to glow. A bolt of energy erupted from the glow.

  If Keta had not reacted in time and leapt aside, he would have been decimated by that attack. What the hell? This man did not need a gun at all, Keta thought. Was the armor a weapon itself? Confused, he darted for cover, as more energy blasts erupted in the spaces he had been. There was only a few boulders, leaving his options limited.

  “Tyrannes was weak. He allowed Humans to come to this, our grand new world. Teforia, the land of peace. It was to be glorious. And he allowed Humans, the ones who screwed up the old world, to taint it.”

  Delta was speaking like a warlord.

  “Everyone deserves a second chance. You can’t blame all Humans for the actions of some. Otherwise, you are no better than the Brotherhood of Shadows,” Keta yelled from behind cover.

  The Xegin fired at him again. “They have the right idea. Sometimes there cannot be peace without a little sacrifice. These Humans made their choice when they attacked those who granted them amnesty.”

  The machine was humming loudly, as it continued to charge itself. Delta would not let Keta approach easily. Everyone else was busy fighting somewhere else. If he was going to stop the general and save the people of the city, he would have to do so on his own.

  “You are always sticking your head in things that don’t concern you, Night. You are neither Human nor Xegin. Just...disappear!” More explosions. It was now or never. He heard the sound. The weapon was charged. If he didn’t do something, they would all die.

  If you don’t let me out, we can’t stop him, a voice said to him. Keta was hesitating, leaping to avoid Delta’s assault. The voice was getting louder and louder. He stopped behind a rock to try and gather his bearings.

  Why was this happening again? He needed to fight clear headed. Why was he doubting himself? He was faster t
han the Xegin, and his Master had taught him how to fight against people who used guns.

  And so, he leapt from cover and made a dash for the machine.

  “Give it up. You cannot stop me any longer. What can one man do against an army?” Delta shouted, taking aim.

  And there, he saw his chance. Delta wasn’t aiming at him, he was aiming where he would be. Tianna had mentioned that the Xegin were highly advanced. Perhaps they had some sort of target system.

  But it didn’t matter. Keta knew he could win. “Right now, I don’t see an army. It’s just you against me. And you can’t beat me alone,” Keta pointed out. The Xegin took aim, and fired an energy blast from his arm weapon. Keta preemptively lifted his weapon, holding the flat of the blade outwards to divert it’s path.

  The Xegin and their energy weapons were able to be reflected by metal weapons. It was a useful tool he had learned years ago. Keta had guessed correctly that the soldier was aiming at his vitals and was able to guard them properly. Taking giant strides, he reached the Xegin general, whose face now turned to terror.

  One attack and it would all be over. Keta’s mastery of the sword was second to none. Abyss quivered in his hand, aching to deliver the killing blow, pleading to him. But Keta was no killer.

  Keta stopped his blade inches from the Xegin’s neck. He held it there, and stared into Delta’s blank helmet. “The fight has been decided. I don’t want to kill you. Call off your soldiers and retreat,” Keta said, his eyes never breaking their gaze.

  “You’d ruin everything, Keta Night? This was the swiftest path to peace!” Delta said, his voice still as composed as ever. “My calculations were perfect. This all could have been over now.”

  “Then your calculations weren’t perfect, were they?” Keta quipped. He knew that would goad the Xegin. He had already disabled the soldier, so he was in no hurry to do anything. Well, perhaps stopping Xuan from trying to kill Erisda.

  “You think you are so self righteous, that you can just stick your nose in anybody’s war? What gives you that authority, that only you can decide what is right and wrong?” Delta asked, oddly calm.

  “If that war involves destruction like that weapon you were attempting to use, then yes, I will intervene,” Keta said. Something was bothering him. He needed to end this quickly. “It’s over. Deactivate that weapon and fall back.”

  A laugh. “Not very bright, are you, Night? You think I didn’t have a backup plan? You see, the thing about us Xegin is that we are weapons of mass destruction on our own. That weapon is bound to me. So long as I live and breathe, it will remain operational. And this whole banter you and I have been having…”

  Keta realized immediately that he had been played. He turned and managed to guard a sword strike. Panic rising, he saw that he was being attacked by a Xegin soldier, though this one was outfitted more like Tianna than normal soldiers. Elites, perhaps?

  And to top it all off, he saw that the three others were approaching close behind. “Should have killed me when you had the chance, boy,” Delta said, and he reached back to punch with an armored fist. Keta pushed his attacker off him and tried to defend himself, but the strike came too quick.

  Keta felt his left arm go numb from the impact, and he had to grit his teeth and leap away to get clear of the melee. The elite soldiers began to charge with him, and he was very aware that he was in control of only his right side.

  Keta whirled around to see that the weapon was still humming. He should not have underestimated the soldier. Perhaps he should have destroyed the weapon first.

  “When Tianna brought news of you to us, I realized that the only way to assure victory was to take matters into my own hands. After all, the stories always said that you refuse to kill. So what if I took the victory condition for you completely out of the equation,” Delta said smugly.

  Keta cursed inwardly. The Xegin had maneuvered him into a corner. Delta knew that Keta would not seek to kill the man outright, and was staging a last stand. He was calling Keta’s bluff.

  “You cannot defeat me, Keta Night. You are but a single man, what hope do you have to defeat the collective will of the Xegin. You’ve accomplished nothing!” Delta said. The weapon was now glowing with excess power. “After all, we Xegin were created to be weapons by Humans. It’s only fitting that we be their demise.”

  Keta was failing everything lately. It was Tianna and Sephiel who had stopped Celran. Pent had defeated Dranon and Warren. Max and Luna had stopped that warped Demon beast. Keta had done nothing. And now the Humans were about to be destroyed.

  He started to panic. He could make a rush for the weapon and try to destroy it. But that would expose his back to Delta, who could destroy him from behind with his weapon arm.

  Are you an idiot? There’s an easy out to this, came a voice from his head. What was that noise? Who was talking to him. It was distracting. He had to think.

  If he ran for the weapon, maybe there was a chance that he could make Delta fire his arm weapon at him, and he could dodge it and cause him to blow it up. No, that wouldn’t work. I’m too close, there’s no chance I could evade from this distance.

  The others were busy down below. Pent and Max were engaged with what he assumed to be Imperial Generals. Erisda was being pressured by Xuan. In desperation, he sought out Giselle, but she was pinned down under cover.

  Why do you resist?

  Keta shook his head. Tianna was over there, and she was fighting against some other Human with a mask that he’d never met before. Keta’s face exploded in pain.

  Delta had hit him in the face with an armored gauntlet, splitting skin on contact. Keta had been so focused on the cannon that he hadn’t registered the movements Delta’s other hand. And now his world was spinning. He had fallen at some point, and he tried to push himself off the ground.

  He was failing again. Keta grunted in pain as he was kicked in the stomach, flipping him over on his side. He tried to rise, but an armored boot crashed down on his chest, pinning him to the ground.

  “You should have stayed out of this, Keta Night. Had you not interfered, I may have let you live,” Delta said, leaning down. “But no, that is false. The forecast for the future was clear. At some point you would have had to been eliminated. You see, our ideals fundamentally differ.”

  Keta tried to struggle, but Delta held firm. “But I shall spare you the dialogue. With this move, I shall claim victory.” And the Xegin lifted his cannon arm and pointed it at Keta’s head.

  Time slowed down for Keta, as a wave of realization washed over him. He could not beat this man. Delta was a soldier, and an augmented one at that, outfitted in a technological marvel of armor. His body was designed for battle, and he had the assistance of his mechanical mind.

  And he was a seventeen year old cloned copy of a Kitaan. An abomination, Sephiel had called him. He couldn’t do this all alone.

  I need more power, Keta thought. He couldn’t do it himself. There was only one other option. He had denied it ever since the strange voice had begun calling to him, coaxing him with a soothing voice. But...Keta no longer had any choice.

  Keta heard soft laughter. At last you realize. Come, let me show you true power.

  An explosion of purple light erupted around Keta, pushing Delta backwards. The Xegin general’s reaction was too slow and when he fired his arm weapon, Keta lifted Abyss...and the now glowing sword absorbed the blast.

  “What manner is…augh!” Delta started to say, but cried out in pain. Keta had rushed forward before the Xegin could do anything else, and severed the general’s weapon from his arm.

  What unremarkable power! Keta said. Except the words did not come from his mouth. Then he realized that he was not able to speak. But it didn’t matter. Keta had tasted the power during his fight against Tianna. Delta couldn’t defeat him now that he had the upper hand. Perhaps now the Xegin would listen to reason.

  But his hand moved without his input.

  “I...didn’t think you had it in you, Night…” D
elta said slowly, as if in pain. Keta looked at the Xegin confused, until he realized what had happened. His sword had been plunged into the general, piercing his chest armor.

  Keta blinked, and he was once more in control of his words. “What...but...how?” Keta stuttered.

  Delta began to fall forward and Keta caught him, horrified. He pulled his blade from the Xegin, grimacing as blood poured from the open wound. Without thinking, Keta laid the general down and pulled his vest off. He needed to stop the bleeding.

  The other soldiers that had been with him had stuttered, and then powered down. It seemed they were linked to Delta. But if that was the case...

  “Haha...what are you doing, Night? This is a fatal wound..my armor’s internal mechanisms are screaming at me right now. It’s over. You have won.”

  “Delta. I didn’t mean for this to happen…” Keta said, holding his vest down on the wound, desperately trying to apply more pressure. He needed to stop all the bleeding. Why was there so much blood?

  “What are you talking about? This is what happens...when you fight in a war. You are a swordsman...the very nature of that weapon you carry...is to kill. But regardless, the Humans will come for you. And they will destroy...everything you hold dear. One day...you’ll have to make a decision.”

  And the Xegin general took his last breath. Keta continued to push down on the man’s chest for a few seconds before that fact came to him, and he saw that the man was no longer in the realm of the living.

  Keta broke down into sobs. He had never killed anyone in his life. And now, he was responsible for this man’s death. “Oh god…” Keta whispered, dropping his vest and backing up. “Oh no...please no…”

  His eyes were wide, and he looked down and saw that his hands were red. His hands were stained with blood. And his breathing became fast, and ragged. Why was this happening.

  Why do you fret? We have won. And now his blood is ours.

  And he knew it now. The voice in his head, the loss of control he had experienced...it had been Abyss.