by Dale Furse
‘Let’s go,’ Nadar said.
‘Look at that,’ Sam said. Nell dragged her eyes of the crash site. ‘Why the hell is the palace lit up like a Christmas tree,’ roared Sam. ‘Don’t they bloody well know the lights make a nice easy target for the Yexers?’
Tanat and Nadar stopped moving towards the fallen ship and gazed at the palace.
Nell was about to agree when she spotted something—a lot of somethings—heading toward the palace. ‘Tanat. Look to the East,’ she said, pointing.
‘Yexers?’ he said.
‘Uh huh,’ Sam said. ‘They’re skarks. The Yexers are coming in from the west.’
‘Nell,’ Deesc said. ‘I sense Cay-Meka in the woods outside the palace grounds.’
‘Blast,’ she yelped aloud, searching the woods for a sign of her brainless cousin. Using her enhanced vision, she scanned every centimetre of ground between the trees. ‘There! Look.’ Nell pointed to the woods. ‘Mekie’s down there.’ She shifted to Eldorap and disappeared.
***
‘What the hell is Mekie doing there?’ Sam wanted to know, his eyes raking over the leafy woods. ‘I can’t see her.’
‘None of us can see that far,’ said Nadar.
Kale stepped forward as if that would give him a better view. ‘I see a glint of white. It could be Nell’s Eldorap form.’
The skarks began firing yellow lasers on the spot Kale pointed out. Sam’s eyes followed what looked like blasts of sun rays from the skarks to the ground. Is that where Mek and Nell were? he wondered.
‘We’ve got to go back,’ Orenda said. ‘Compore will need us.’
‘No,’ said Tanat. ‘We need those Stons if we’re going to have a chance of fighting them. Here comes the other one.’
‘Are you all right, my betrothed?’ the prince asked Orenda.
‘It will be difficult without Nell’s help,’ she said, out of breath from the effort. ‘Do not be alarmed. I am all right.’
Sam was too busy staring at the damage the skarks had made to the spot where Mekie and Nell might have been. The trees had disintegrated from the barbs. All he wanted was get to the palace to make sure his they were safe. A flash of yellow light lit as the ground crackled and split beside him. He threw his head back and looked above. ‘More skarks!’ he shouted, and dived for cover, landing on his stomach and knocking the air out of his lungs. He came to rest on thick exposed tree roots. He rolled over onto his back, holding his waist with his knees pulled up to his stomach.
Three skarks flew overhead. They turned as if they were spinning tops and hovered above the trees where the second Ston hung in the air ready to attack.
Back to back, Orenda and the prince manoeuvred up and down, side to side, and round and round sending out mind energy barbs to block the yellow laser fire from the skarks and the orange from the Ston. Orenda dropped a body’s length below the prince. He grabbed her and pulled her back into position.
‘Stay close,’ he yelled above the noise.
Sam wished he had a surface to air missile as he huffed to his feet.
‘To the ston,’ Tanat shouted. ‘Now.’
Glancing first at the Wintar’s determined face then back to the Grarls, Sam didn’t know what to do.
‘Sam,’ screamed Tanat.
Realising he didn’t have a choice, Sam ran to join Tanat and Nadar. Without Nell there, the Grarls had no chance of fighting that lot off. They had to get the ston under their control. Tanat roared a Wintar war cry as he stormed through the gaping hole that was once the ship’s door. Kale and Nadar kept up with him.
Sam stopped and picked up a bar of metal that must have come off the broken door. He juggled it in his palm. It was as heavy as gold, but being okfor, it was a hell of a lot stronger. He smiled at his weapon as he stepped through the hole and onto the bridge.
Tanat threw himself onto the nearest console operator. The mad eyed Wintar pounded the Corl’s face with his fist. Brown blood covered the Corl’s cream skin as he sagged in Tanat’s hands. He dropped the Corl with a thud. A grey Corl stood with his back to the middle console and aimed his blower at Tanat’s head. The Wintar stalled.
Sam darted around him, tipped forward and, using his full body weight, tackled the pilot who doubled over onto Sam’s back as his momentum smashed the Corl into the console. Sam backed up, hoisted the bar over his head, and crashed it onto the pilot’s wrist. The Corl let out a cry as bones cracked under the flattened bracelet. He fell to his knees.
Sam knew enough of Corl technology to know the bracelet was attached to those bones. ‘You will pay,’ the Corl grated through his clenched teeth. Sam struck at the bracelet again to make sure it was disabled. The Corl’s hand collapsed and hung from his arm like a dead squid.
‘Get up,’ Sam hissed, as he pulled the moaning pilot up and past Tanat and Nadar toward the doorway.
Tanat’s Corl still had his bracelet and he used it to disappear. Nadar and Kale stared at the bloodied wrist of Sam’s Corl.
‘Yeah, it’s a bit gruesome, isn’t it?’ Sam said, as if it was an everyday occurrence. With his foot against the soldier’s butt, he shoved him out of the ship. ‘Get out of here, you creep.’ Darting back to the flight console, he tried to work out the buttons and levers.
Nadar nudged him out of his way. ‘Leave it. I’ll look after the ston. You and Tanat man the weapons.’
Sam scanned the bridge. ‘Okey, dokey. Where are they?’
Nadar already had the ship in the air and Tanat was firing his weapon by the time Sam finished speaking.
‘There,’ said Nadar, pointing to the console. ‘Near me. The green lever aims and the red button fires.’ Sam held the lever and poised a finger over the button as Nadar punched a clear button at the back of the weapons console. A screen lit up. It had crosshairs on it. Sam smiled. It was just like a computer game.
‘Got it,’ Sam said, and searched the screen for any sign of the attacking ships. ‘Stupid gun can’t move.’
‘It can move up and down and side to side,’ Nadar said.
Sam tried it. ‘Yeah, but not by much.’
‘It will have to do,’ Tanat growled.
‘Just look at your screen,’ said Kale as he moved beside Sam. ‘It’s automatic. Get the crosshairs onto your target and the system will take over. Fire when ready.’
Sam poked his tongue out at the little Corl, but did what he told him to do. The first thing he saw was Orenda tumbling to the ground. The prince darted down to her and stood over her. The skarks fired their laser blasts. Sam chuckled. The prince must have put a shield over them because the blasts deflected in all directions before it got to the Grarls.
Sam targeted a skark and pressed the button. His shot rebounded off his target. ‘The skarks have force shields,’ he said. ‘How do I increase the fire power?’ Sam asked Nadar.
‘Kale, you show Tanat what to do,’ Nadar said, as he leaned around Sam and tapped away at the console. A red bar appeared on the side of the screen. Red filler moved up by increments with each of Nadar’s taps until it reached the top level. ‘There, it’s done.’ Sam moved to take up his position. ‘Wait,’ Nadar said. ‘Leave the skarks to Tanat, the other ston has come around. It has a clear line to the Grarls.’
Thinking about how the Grarls brought down their ston earlier, Sam said, ‘Nadar, bring the ship around so that my weapon’s in line with the ston’s bridge door.’
Nadar complied. Tanat called out, ‘I’ve lost the skarks.’
‘Hang on a tic,’ Sam said. He trained his weapon on the large ship’s door seals, the only apparent weak area, and fired. The laser penetrated the metal hitting something inside. The door exploded outwards flinging multiple pieces of metal in all directions. Smoke billowed from inside. Shit. The laser had hit something on the bridge. ‘I hope that wasn’t anything vital,’ Sam said. ‘We need that ship.’
The ston spun downwards to the trees. Huh, Sam smiled. The pilots were trying to go for a soft landing. They managed to straighten the
ston briefly before it plunged into the canopy of trees. ‘Another one down. Nadar, get us back to those skarks.’ Sam glanced around the bridge. Kale wasn’t there. Where the hell did he go?
The prince, still stopping what he could, was sprawled on top of Orenda facing the attacking force, which had increased to six skarks that Sam could count. Fan-bloody-tastic. Using all his gaming expertise, Sam plugged at the red button as fast as he could.
***
Nell ducked, sending gusts of mind energy up to block the blasts of yet another group of skarks above them. She yelled at Mekie, ‘You’ve got to get back to the palace. Let go of the tree. Let go.’ She kept her mind focused on the skarks as she tried to yank Mekie away from the trunk of the tree. Nell should have been able to dislodge her easily, but Mekie’s adrenaline gave her increased strength. She had wrapped her arms around the tree and chained her fingers together on the other side. Every time Nell was close to prising her cousin’s fingers apart, Mekie tightened her grip. ‘You’re being stupid. Let go.’ As if she couldn’t hear Nell, Mekie’s whole body trembled as she hung on.
‘Nell,’ Deesc said from beside her. ‘We can’t make unwilling people travel.’
‘Great. And you didn’t think to tell me that sooner?’
‘I was busy.’ He threw shards of light to meet the shots above. ‘Now calm down and gently persuade her to go with you.’
Nell gritted her teeth and in a tone her father used often with her, she said in Mekie’s ear, ‘Hey, Mek, we’ve really got to get out of here. The skarks are aiming better. If you’re worried about going with me, you don’t have to be. I’m really good at travelling. Come on, Mek, do you want to see your mother and Sam again? You know they’ll be worried sick about you. Sam will try to find you if you don’t go back soon.’
Mekie gazed up at Nell. ‘Sam?’
‘Yeah, Sam. You know what he’s like. He’d die trying to save you.’
Loosening her grip on the tree, Mekie sat back. ‘You are right. He wouldn’t even think of the consequences of coming out here.’ She wiped the tears from her face. ‘I suppose I didn’t either, did I?’
‘It doesn’t—’ A ball of fire hit the tree next to them. ‘Yexers,’ Nell gasped. ‘Quick, hold on to me.’
Mekie did and they landed with a thud in the palace’s foyer.
‘Sorry about that,’ Nell said. ‘I guess I do need a little more practise.’
Mekie shot her an angry look then laughed, and hugged Nell. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome and I won’t even charge you for saving your life again,’ Nell said. ‘Now tell me why you were out there.’
‘I wanted to help you and Sam.’ She began to cry.
Nell sighed. ‘Go find your mother. I have to get back to the others.’
Before she had the chance to head to the mountain, explosions sounded above her head. She travelled to the roof of the palace.’
Compore’s army had grown in numbers. Amongst the many Corls were a few Grarls. Nell shifted from Eldorap and Compore ran along the parapet to where she stood.
He said, ‘Our Grarl friends found some weapons including the Grarl choders. They’re not much, but they’re all we’ve got.’ He gazed out over the city and pointed to the west. ‘We’ve been watching the mountain. Two stons and a few skarks have rejoined the bulk of the army. They seem to be working with the Yexers.’ He nodded to the north. ‘More stons are coming from there.’ He looked gravely at Nell. ‘I expect it won’t be long before their entire force attacks the palace.’
‘Can we evacuate?’
‘By my calculation we will be obliterated before we’re half way through an evacuation and I never counted all the survivors who might be out there.’
‘So, no then.’
He shook his head. ‘No. However, I have asked the Corl physicians and nurses to take the weakest Grarls to Mink. The nomads are friendly neighbours. Everyone in the palace has a choice to leave or stay and fight.’ He returned his attention to the attacking forces.
Placing her hand on his furry shoulder, Nell sensed his insides were as knotted as his mucky fur.
The first Yexer attacked, mouth splayed, exposing the growing fireball within.
‘Choders!’ Compore commanded.
A Grarl aimed what looked like a long-barrelled laser gun from a science fiction movie at the Yexer. The molten ball erupted from the Yexer’s mouth. Heat seared Nell’s face. The Grarl fired and a white glob instantly consumed the hot projectile, extinguishing it. Globules of the white ammunition sloshed into the Yexer’s still open mouth.
The Yexer lurched back and, coughing and spluttering, it crashed to the ground.
‘Wow,’ Nell said. ‘What a great little gun.’
Compore nodded. ‘Long before the Grarls’ attained their powers, they used it against the Yexers, driving them to the mountains and from there, off Grarlon.’
The Grarl who had fired on the Yexer said, ‘Once the Yexers were vanquished, we were free to explore our own planet. That exploration included the forested mountains hitherto unseen by us. Grarls were forever changed by the magical ancient trees.’
Nell smiled. He didn’t have to tell Nell all that, but she was glad he did. ‘How?’ She often wondered how the Grarls had evolved into such a potent species. The Grarl gazed at his choder. ‘You can tell me after all this is finished,’ Nell said.
Deesc was looking over the edge of the parapet. Nell bent forward and gazed down at the fallen Yexer, said, ‘It’s dead.’
‘No,’ said Compore. ‘Unconscious. The choders can’t kill them. They can only disable them for about an eighth of a day.’
Deesc sighed.
‘You were worried about it,’ Nell said silently.
‘I can’t condone killing sentients.’
‘So, that’s another reason you won’t help us.’
‘Yes, Nell, and I hope you feel the same. I don’t want you killing either.’
‘What about Dad? What about and all the other victims of Varlor and the Yexers? What about all the dead Grarls? Do you condone that?’
‘Of course not. However, no one deserves a death sentence, not even Varlor. He does deserve your anger though. He has enlisted the Yexers in this war and I doubt they were a willing force.’
Before Nell could ask Deesc to explain, Compore interrupted. ‘It seems the first Yexer was here to determine our defence,’ he said, his eyes fixed on the sky and the advancing Yexers.
Skarks moved to fill the gaps in the Yexer’s ranks and two stons flew high above them.
‘That’s a lot of fire power,’ Nell said, swallowing down a shiver.
‘Yes,’ Compore said. He jumped onto the ledge at the back of the parapet and shouted for all to hear. ‘Listen to me my brave companions. We are clearly outnumbered and out armed so again, I implore you to leave Grarlon while you can.’
Shakes of heads and squeaks of ‘no’ and ‘never’ swept through the defenders.
Rubbing his eyes, Compore called out to his men, ‘Be alert and be safe, comra—’
Nell had yanked him down just as a skark’s shot lit the sky above them. The laser beam struck the edge of the centre tower. Chunks of brick broke away with the impact. A Grarl screeched in pain from the other side of the palace roof.
Compore gave Nell a nod of thanks, and yelled to his small army, ‘Take arms.’ Grabbing his own weapon, he shot at a skark’s underbelly.
The impact didn’t mark the okfor, but it did push the ship enough that aim was lost. The blast from its weapon exploded into the woods to the east.
Fireballs from Yexers and laser blasts from skarks bombarded the palace. The defenders fired what shots they could, but had to fall behind the wall for cover too often and for too long. Varlor’s homicidal army was getting closer by the second.
Nell moved to shift.
‘No, Nell,’ Deesc said. ‘Not as Eldorap.’
‘Huh?’
‘If you fight as an Eldorap you will be unwelcome on
Eldorapal.’
‘Great.’ She blocked an attack. ‘They’re not very understanding, are they? Fine.’ Her wings erupted behind her. ‘This better?’
He looked away. As she took flight, he called after her, ‘Please don’t kill anything.’
Her heart stung at his earnest plea. She understood his turmoil. He wanted to help her, protect her, but he had to stay out of the war. Nell had no such turmoil. She would do everything within her power to stop the carnage and Varlor once and for all.
Yexers and skarks pelted the palace with fire and laser. Screams hung in the air as more and more defenders fell. Nell gazed down at the suffering troops as Deesc shifted. Now Wexkian, he joined in the fray, diffusing fireballs and expelling blasts. Even his power couldn’t stop every shot from finding its target and still more defenders were killed or maimed. He gazed up.
‘Concentrate, Nell, and try not to kill the aggressors.’
With her focus on Deesc, Nell misjudged her ascent and flew right in front of a skark. It altered direction and rounded on her. ‘Uh oh’, she gasped. It fired. She darted under its belly as another skark exploded behind her. ‘That wasn’t my fault,’ she sent to Deesc.
Two stons flew above the skark. Instead of firing on the palace below, they were harassing the skarks. Most of the stons’ shots missed, tearing up the city, but a few met their targets, sending the skarks spiralling down to ground.
Nell bolted to the nearest ston. Without shifting to Eldorap, she couldn’t board the ship. Ah, a viewport. Matching the ship’s speed, she looked inside. Sam! Grinning, he saluted her. His mouth opened as he yelled something. Tanat and Nadar peered over his shoulder. Not knowing what else to do, Nell waved. She flew to the second ston, but could only see the prince. His dull eyes seemed to gaze at her without seeing.
‘Where’s Orenda?’ she asked with a thought.
‘In the restoration,’ he said, turning away. Firing three shots, he downed two skarks and, ignoring Nell’s presence, flitted to another console on the starboard side. Again, he sent shots at the enemy.