Haven

by Vincent E. Sweeney

  The humans raced along the open field, screaming with anger, fighting the battle that would determine their existence. Not far away, the aliens continued their charge. They did not scream like their enraged opponents, but rather stayed calm and quiet as they moved. In the mind of each man, an undeniable rush of intimidation swelled, but they continued to charge anyway - screaming with a passion spawned by hatred.

  In the midst of the running mass of human warriors ran Stephen Carlisse, his feelings of solitude and fear stifled by his rage against the demons he and his fellow humans were now combating. The anger and despise Stephen felt were not released with battle cries like his fellow warriors, but rather with the swift motion of his feet racing across the battlefield. All the while, his heart pulsed in his ears like a beating drum.

  As the distance between the two conflicting armies diminished, Stephen raised his armlets to stomach-level, preparing for attack and death. The swords and blades of the hundreds of warrior-humans did not glisten on the overcast battlefield, but still, they seemed to shimmer from within - undimmed by the dreariness. The separating gap had almost completely closed when Stephen finally saw the aliens clearly for the first time.

  Clad in some sort of leather loincloths, the paunchy creatures carried about them a gait of pure evil, seeming to lunge with each stride of their very long legs. Their legs were pale as a corpse’s and grossly thin from such lean muscle. The long, stringy gray hair of the beasts flew wildly in the air behind them like flowing clouds of doom in their wake, and their faces had no features. There were no ears or noses or mouths to be seen anywhere on the creatures’ heads. There were only the huge, dark eyes of the animals that never once seemed to blink.

  Stephen could not imagine what sort of evil force these beasts could possibly have been spawned from. The closest thing he could picture were the hellish entities of his childhood nightmares, now returned to haunt him in reality.

  With only a few meters separating the two armies, the faceless beasts drew their weapons, most all of which were identical to one another: a straight, metal shaft about two meters long, topped with a pronged spear-head for one end, and a sharpened stake as the other. Some others carried highly specialized tools of murder: spiked clubs and jagged blades, huge picks and battleaxes - all uniquely lethal and wickedlooking.

  The first row of charging humans met with the anger of the monsters. Swords clashed, metal sparked, and cries of anger were replaced by terrible screams of pain as the humans were quickly and brutally slaughtered under the agony of the aliens’ weapons ripping at their flesh.

  Stephen’s speed continued to increase as his anger was amplified by the sound of his friends and fellow men being massacred.

  Next, the second row of humans met the attackers head-on, and again, the humans were either slashed open or speared through by the unrelenting waves of evil beings. Cries of human pain continued to fill the air, but just before the final human in the second row was slashed to death, a strange, unearthly cry replaced the screams of the slaughtered humans.

  A low, gruesome bellow echoed horrifically over the landscape, and the humans’ intimidation was partially replaced by relief as the last warrior in the second row ducked underneath the swing of an alien sword, and then retaliated with a swing of his own weapon. This thrust buried itself deep within the stomach of the attacking alien, sending out cries of deepest agony from its unseen mouth.

  The final warrior was none other than Dylan Hamish who had been passed by his soldiers during the charge. He continued to swing swiftly and deliberately, barreling through the enemy lines.

  The humans were now driven by the knowledge that these things could indeed be killed. Such was the motivation of the third row, whose members attacked ferociously and successfully. This time, an even number of human and aliens fell, and the humans were finally engaged in the battle without the handicap of fear. However, some of the monsters still were not screaming, even though they were being mutilated.

  In the midst of the mixture of screams, Stephen finally realized which alien was going to be his attacker. With only a few more strides to go, the creature raised its primitive sword overhead for a straight-on attack. Instantly, Stephen could tell that he would not be able to dodge the blow, so he raised his arms up and overlapped his blades to form a cross in front of his face.

  Stephen jumped over a large stone in front of him, and met his attacker’s blow head on. The swing was blocked, although the force of its impact knocked Stephen quickly off his feet. He landed hard on the ground and smashed his head against the upraised stone he had jumped over. The alien that attacked him did not stop to confirm Stephen’s demise, but rather kept on running in order to engage another human in battle.

  Stephen’s vision clouded, and he drifted in and out of consciousness from the pain of the bleeding wound on the back of his head. His old cut had been reopened and worsened. Unable to rise, he rolled sporadically around on the ground as the battle ensued around him, infuriated that he could not fight.

  Stephen yearned to rise up again quickly and lash out with all his might at the enemy, but he had already been disabled, and for that he cursed himself. His eyes became completely blurred and dark, and he had no choice but to lie back down on the ground.

  More humans and aliens fell nearby, but even in his disoriented state, Stephen could clearly tell that the humans were still losing the battle pitifully. Blood and bodies began to cover the green field that had, only moments before, been a beautiful landscape of natural imagery - now turned into a plane of misery and gore.

  Still groggy and blinded, Stephen stumbled to his feet, only to fall down again from his pain and loss of balance. He knew that he would have to wait for his disorientation to subside before he would be able to fight again, and so he lay motionless in the grass, listening to the battle around him. He only hoped that one of the aliens wouldn’t take the trouble to kill a human who wasn’t fighting. Stephen vaguely heard the sound of the shuttle, returning for another bombardment, before his body gave way to unconsciousness.

  4

  “To the trees! Into the trees!” Dylan Hamish yelled at the top of his lungs. He could see that there was enough time to lower his weapon and wipe the spattered blood away from his eyes, as the alien he had just slashed squirmed helplessly on the ground with his innards spread out around him.

  Dylan took no time to look at the pain-stricken foe before him. He quickly raised his sword again as another alien began ferociously charging him, with a spear held up to chest-level. He stared into the large, dull eyes of his attacker as it thrust the spear forward. Dylan swiftly sidestepped and spun his body around, moving down the length of the spear as it slid harmlessly past him. It was then no effort at all for him to swing his blade downward and decapitate the beast, sending thick red blood flying. The headless form fell to the ground and began to twitch mechanically.

  A sudden explosion nearby almost knocked Dylan off his feet. He looked to the sky and saw the shuttle hovering overhead in only one small area. Dylan then realized that the two armies had mingled almost beyond distinction, and the bombers were having trouble picking enemy targets with no nearby allies.

  “Into the forest!” Dylan yelled again. This order then resounded from all the men around him and eventually spread all across the field.

  The tired humans, who still remained fighting, began moving, ever so carefully, to the edge of the forest. Dylan then saw an opening beginning to form in the massive crowd of warriors, leaving him a path to the trees. He quickly ran through the opening, towards the haven of the woods. He stopped only once along the way to swipe at a spear jammed in the ground.

  The shaft which Dylan sliced at was easily cut in two, allowing the human mounted on top of it to fall to the ground, slightly easing the immense torture he was experiencing.

  The human army, now diminished to almost half its original size, began retreating into the woods, hoping that the forest would be able to provide them some protection from the
ir assailants.

  When the aliens noticed the humans turning to the left, they too changed their straight course, turning to the right to form an L-shape that led them straight into the darkness of the forest. Without a second thought, the dead bodies of valiant warriors and heartless beasts were left behind to rest on the now-deserted field as the battle continued to rage on within the cover of the trees.

  Stephen opened his eyes and tried to focus. He could feel sporadic droplets landing on his pupils, and he closed his eyes again, squeezing out the rain. Stephen had been asleep for a few moments, but he instantly remembered what was happening, and he sat up straight. A sharp pain stabbed him in the back of his head, and he lay back down quickly.

  “Not now!” he shouted at fate. He remained motionless for a moment more, hoping the agony would subside. It was then that Stephen realized he couldn’t hear the battle. Had it ended? He became suddenly afraid of getting up.

  A horrible chill swept over Stephen’s body, and he thought that maybe the battle had already been lost. He became furious and stood up. The pain returned violently, and Stephen grabbed the sides of his head and winced. But he stayed on his feet, fighting the developing nausea. He opened his eyes and saw only a cliff-face before him, and Kirin’s sword swaying at its top.

  “Surely it’s not over yet,” he thought aloud. Then he realized he could hear his own voice and became afraid. Where were they all? Stephen looked around quickly and was horrified at the sites nearby. Bodies lay everywhere, strewn with blood and guts, some still slithering about with life. He saw many alien corpses lying motionless on the field, but saw many more humans dangling sickeningly from spears in the ground.

  Suddenly, one of the alien creatures leapt to its feet with life and began swinging malicious claws at Stephen’s face. He jumped back quickly and raised his blades up, blocking the creature’s next swing.

  Stephen hurriedly thrust his left arm at its face, piercing the animal’s throat with his blade. Warm blood shot out of the wound onto Stephen’s arm and chest, and the beast let out a sickening gurgle as it fell to the ground, clutching its gushing throat. It soon stopped moving, and Stephen stepped back in awe. He had never killed anything before, but he wasted no time dwelling on emotions. He knew there were many more alien beasts nearby.

  Then, Stephen picked up on the sounds of battle. They were faint, but seemingly near. He listened closely and finally realized they were coming from the forest straight ahead. He ran as quickly as he could towards the commotion, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head.

  When he reached the forest edge, Stephen pushed down a shrub blocking his view and was amazed to see dozens upon dozens of small fights ensuing. In many pockets, two or three humans had ganged up on one or two aliens and were beginning to overpower the beasts. However, Stephen watched many poor humans snatched into ghastly clutches and thrown around like rag-dolls, smashing into trees and fellow fighters.

  Stephen leapt over the shrub and lunged at a nearby beast with its back turned to him. He jammed his blades into the alien’s side and produced a terrible shriek from the creature. The beast turned around quickly and slashed at Stephen’s face, knocking the boy to the ground and leaving several deep cuts along his cheek. Stephen rolled twice and looked back at his foe to see it charging after him. Before it could strike again, one of the humans jumped onto the creature’s back and slit its throat from behind. It stopped instantly and swung around, tossing the human away. Then, another human appeared and suddenly thrust one of the alien spears into the beast’s ribcage, forcing it down onto the ground, where it rolled about aimlessly. The two humans nodded at Stephen and then rushed off to face another enemy.

  Stephen rose to his feet and searched the vicinity for another alien to attack. He then saw one of the military men running as fast as he could into the heart of the forest. One of the creatures was trailing close behind him, lunging with each stride of its long legs and creating a deformed-looking gait. But it was quickly gaining on the poor soldier.

  Stephen reached to his side and swung down his grappler. He switched its safety off and raised the stock to his shoulder, taking care not to cut himself with the blades strapped to his forearms. He lined the beast up in his sights and squeezed the trigger. Stephen buckled slightly under the kick of the gun and then quickly side stepped to put a nearby tree trunk between himself and the running beast. The grappling hook shot through the creature’s torso, and the brake was instantly engaged on the cable.

  Stephen was yanked off his feet, and the alien stopped its advance in mid-air. Its members were flung forward like a dummy’s, and its body flew backward slightly, landing hard on the ground. Stephen felt his courage mount after slaying his second beast. He worked the controls on the grappler’s stock and the hook instantly folded up and began retracting. As he waited for the rope to finish rewinding, Stephen surveyed the area for his next target.

  Kirin held her hand over her mouth as she watched the carnage before her. One after another, the gladiators were stabbed, gouged and sliced. Blood seemed to be flying in all directions. She felt her body trembling as she watched, but she could not turn away.

  Suddenly, an alien beast rose up in front of the camera with a screaming human in its grasp. It lifted the man easily over its head, and then threw him at the tree on which her camera was mounted.

  The image blurred briefly and shook from side to side. She knew that the camera, even from its position near the base of the tree, had been jostled from the impact. She did not want to imagine what the man looked like after the crash. The alien then lumbered out of site, and she could see nothing in view nearby.

  Kirin looked up into Byron’s eyes, which were as sad and terrified as her own.

  He shook his head at her and returned his attention to his own monitor.

  Kirin rose and walked over to see what Byron was seeing. She stayed a few steps back though, to ensure she did not get in his way. He was watching a group of three aliens running swiftly toward a small band of humans in the distance. Up in front of the aliens stood a large tree with a white “X” and a number painted on it. In the center of the “X” was a small black box tied to the tree. When the aliens were only a few steps away from the tree, Byron’s eyes grew wide.

  “Fire number twenty-two!” he shouted.

  “Firing twenty-two!” came a reply from the other side of the room.

  The screen went suddenly white and Kirin was forced to squint from the bright explosion. When the blast settled, she could briefly see a mass of alien body parts flying in all directions.

  “You got them!” she cheered.

  Byron smiled. “Yep, I think these charges are going to work!”

  “Fire fifteen!” came another shout from one of the technicians.

  On the battlefield, two more aliens were destroyed by an unexpected blast from some of the charges mounted on the nearby trees. Stephen was surprised for a moment, but then remembered Byron’s idea that he had approved - to attach numbered charges to several marked trees, as a surprise for the aliens when they came near.

  Stephen ran as quickly as he could toward Dylan, who was fighting off two aliens at once. His sword was spinning much too quickly to be seen, but occasionally, one of the beasts would sneak around out of its reach and strike at Dylan.

  Stephen charged through the bushes nearby and quickly thrust his blades, one after another, into the thick flesh of one of the aliens’ backs. It remained silent as it fell to the ground.

  The second alien, distracted by its comrade’s demise, never saw Dylan’s blade coming, as it sliced open the creature’s belly, spilling its entrails out onto the ground. The beast moaned pitifully and fell to its knees, holding its intestines up in astonishment. Dylan screamed furiously as he kicked the beast in its face, knocking it over on its side.

  “Thanks!” Dylan shouted.

  Stephen smiled wryly. “Don’t mention it.”

  “Look out!” Dylan yelled.

  Stephen spun around and
barely dodged the spear being thrown at his head. It flew promptly into a tree trunk nearby and stuck in place, wobbling slightly back and forth. Stephen turned around and saw one of the aliens, rearing up with its arms over its head, preparing to clobber him with enormous fists.

  Suddenly, Dylan leapt at the animal’s legs and tackled it. It fell to the ground and tried rolling over on top of him, but Stephen was immediately on top of it, forcing his blades into the creature’s heart over and over again until the body moved no more.

  “Byron!” shouted one of the technicians in the control tower.

  “What is it, Dan?” he replied.

  “You better take a look at this! We have an object moving rapidly towards the battle. It’s coming in from the northeast at about twenty kilometers per hour. And whatever it is, it’s big!”

  Kirin and Byron ran over to the technician’s console and stared in amazement at the glowing blimp that looked like a mangled bird on the radar screen.

  Stephen and Dylan stood back-to-back in a small clearing of trees as three aliens moved in on them from different sides. The men were nervous, but confident they could survive if they stayed together. The first alien lunged at Dylan and was soon joined by the second. Dylan was forced to jump forward and get between the oncoming blows in order to avoid them.

  Feeling his partner leave, Stephen charged the remaining beast and ducked as it swung its spear at his head. He came up from under the creature’s weapon and slashed at its face. The alien stepped back and faltered as it dodged Stephen’s swing, and Stephen seized the opportunity to check behind him. To his horror, Stephen saw Dylan fighting with one creature while the other rose up behind him, preparing to impale him.

  Stephen quickly pulled up his grappler and squeezed the trigger, praying the projectile would reach its target. Much to his surprise, the hook blasted the monster’s head to pieces and its decapitated form fell to the ground, twitching like a crushed spider.