It took the little soldier into both of its hands, not wanting to risk hurting her further with the smaller, armored limbs. Her body limp, covered in crimson blood and the black blood of the hladrun. She stared wide eyed up at the valkyrie, a shaking hand reaching for its chest. Head to toe, her frail body was lacerated and punctured. Only bits and pieces of her suit pasted to her body due to the fluids. Her breath was short, whistling with each inhale.
The lights on Fenris’ armor reversed to flow downward, its lower jaw quivering. It could see her life fading. The light of her soul darkened as it trickled out of the meaty shell like embers flickering from a fire.
Jackal was first on scene, running as fast as his aching body would let him.
Fenris crouched down as it turned to face them. Its hands lowered to the ground to gently lay her.
Jackal fell to his knees, his breath catching in his throat.
“No...No...No. No. No.” His lips trembled, hands unsteady. He touched her head and shoulder, looking her body over.
She took in a short, sharp breath. Those dark green eyes looked up to Jackal. Begging for help.
“Stay with me.” Jackal said, squeezing her hand. He brushed the hair from her face. “Breathe. Breathe.”
A medic was next on scene. When he saw Sparrow, he dropped the med-kit and backed away.
The others soon arrived, all sharing the same reaction of horror and disbelief. Reaper grabbed Jackal’s shoulder, biting onto his own lip.
“No...Sparrow...No…” Yaaranam touched her mouth, opting to hug herself as she stepped back.
Mjolnir could barely look at her. That was not how he wanted to remember the little soldier. How would they tell Ruby? Who would tell him?
Jackal took her into his arms and held her. How could he let this happen? She should not have been in the gunner’s seat. He should have made sure she was inside the truck. He should have done something more to save her.
The light faded from her eyes. Her last breath barely came through.
“God, no.” Jackal said, squeezing her. He watched as her head fell backwards and her hand dropped from her waist. “I’m so sorry.” He swallowed. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t have done more.”
Jackal adjusted his weight to stand up with her in his arms, but Fenris put its hand between them. It shook its head.
“What do you mean, no?” Jackal said, his voice cracking. “She’s coming with us.”
It pointed to the black blood seeping into her wounds.
“Not safe.”
“We can’t leave her here.”
“What are you saying, Fenris?” Vactubstein stepped up closer, patting Yaaranam on the shoulder.
“Infested.” It tilted its head.
“She’s dead,” Vactubstein stated, “There is no danger with infections.” He would have gone on, but Fenris stopped him.
“Soul...crystal...lizing.” It said it as if it were unsure of the words. “Eos take. Spread.”
Reaper looked up to Vactubstein, a brow raised.
“Wait. What does that mean?” Yaaranam asked.
Mjolnir stepped closer, looking to Fenris, then down to Sparrow.
“She’ll turn into one of them.” Jackal said, glaring down at her body.
“We can’t let that happen.” Mjolnir looked at the valkyrie. “How can we stop it?”
It shook its head. “Fenris can...not.” Its larger claw reached up to pick at a tooth. “Hilor….” Another shake of its head.
“The source of the infection is her soul, unless we have the right tech, there’s nothing we can do.” Vactubstein stated. “I can’t say whether it has been known in the past, or if it is entirely new to our kind.”
“We could wait for the soul to crystallize completely.” Reaper said. “Take it out when it does.”
Fenris’ head tilted to the other side. “Sparrow eos.”
“I’ll do it.” Yaaranam said. “I’ll watch her and take out the orb when it’s done. It’s just the core of an eos, right?”
“Fenris, could that work?” Jackal asked.
The valkyrie shrugged. “Eos soul take shell.”
“Captain Reaper, are you sure this is worth the risk?” Nostradamus asked, a question mark displayed on his face. “This concerns many issues on ethics, morals, and health. A human turned eos could provide many dangers to the people.”
“If we could bring her back, then it’s worth the risk.”
“What about the others? Everyone else who died?”
“It’s...probably too late for them. Had we known sooner.”
“We’re doing it.” Jackal stood up, cradling Sparrow’s body. “Yaaranam, you’ll watch her?”
“I owe her one.” She smiled.
“What about Ruby?” Mjolnir asked.
“I’d want to have her back, too.” Jackal grumbled, walking to the back of his truck.
FIFTY
None were sure of Fenris' words. They did not fully understand what it was trying to tell them. Nostradamus volunteered to stay with Yaaranam and watch over Sparrow’s body so he could study it. Perhaps he could figure out a way to reverse the effects, or to stop them from happening on the next to fall.
Sparrow had been strapped down into the bed of one of the trucks where Yaaranam and Nostradamus sat. They watched her intently. Watching her skin pale as her blood cooled. Black tendrils slowly surfaced first at her chest, then crept up the neck to the head where its presence was more prominent in the softer parts; eyes, lips, eyes, and nose.
Nostradamus scanned her all the while. He watched as what made her body human and made her uniquely Sparrow was eaten and taken over by foreign matter. He reckoned it was the eos DNA that evolved to such a degree, it consumed foreign material and used it to power reproduction of cells.
Alas, he knew there was nothing he could do to save her body. He feared he could do nothing to prevent it from happening again. He could not see what Fenris saw. The crystallization of her soul as it flicked from her body. Each little flake of solid soul was sucked back down to the whole in the center of her chest. She would be forever trapped in a crystal ball in the body of a monster.
The smell of the ocean hit them hard as they came over the top of a hill. Down below as the grass rolled, they spied the edge of a cliff that dropped straight down into the water smashing into the face and roaring up over the edge in pink mist.
Fenris stood at the edge on all fours, its front limbs digging into the stone to help keep its balance. Its larger hands rested on the ground at either of its sides, letting it peek further over the edge.
The others left the trucks to join it on the cliff where pillars of purple tinted basalt crowded against the cliff. These pillars stretched in both directions, hugging the cliff for stability. One side stretched on endlessly, following the coast until they could see no more. The other, while it did not end, broke open abruptly into a crevice digging far into the cliff face. The ocean water rushed into the opening, splashing up along the basalt walls before draining back down.
The water was eerily clear. Even through the foam and mist of the waves, their eyes could see only as far as the stars' light let them. There was no bottom. No shallow end of the pool. The basalt pillars were like steps down into the abyss of the sea. They could not even see plant fauna, or fish. Perhaps the waters were too rough against the coast.
Fenris looked towards the cave down below. The water almost glowed upon its entry, beckoning them to come inside. The issue was climbing down. The basalt was unevenly grown, and wet from the waves. Its smooth surface would give them no traction and no safe way down.
They stuck to the grass to move closer to the cave below. There Fenris lifted its body off the ground a couple of inches by way of its wingarms. It could sense the artifact inside. Hear its call. Yet the valkyrie was hesitating. Its lower jaw softly clicked against the upper, cracked eyes staring at the endless ocean.
“We don’t all need to go in,” Reaper stated. He looked the team over and poin
ted at each one he saw with injuries greater than scrapes and bumps. “Stay with the trucks,” He ordered. “Keep them running, keep gunner’s up. If you see anything, use the radio.”
While Fenris watched the cave entrance, Jackal, Vactubstein, and Reaper got their things ready. Flashlights. The last of the ammunition, salvaged from spare rifles and ammo cans. Reaper brought a flamethrower. Donning the helmets of their suits for personal oxygen supplies, they returned to the waiting Fenris who still looked unsure of heading down.
“Watch your steps,” Reaper said. Jackal started down first, taking a small path he could hug against larger pillars. Half way down, Fenris finally snapped back to reality. Using its wingarms, it climbed down towards the entrance, keeping its body up off the ground and away from the brunt of the water.
The others were washed in the waves, causing them to slide around.
Jackal had slipped down to his rear, barely catching a tiny hold on one of the pillars. He took a deep breath and picked himself back up as the waves pulled away. He moved down further, pulling his way into the cave. He turned his flashlight on and waited to help Vactubstein and Reaper around the pillars.
The mouth was still uncomfortable with the waves crashing in. Boots soaked in the salt water, they moved further in. The water rose with each step, but it drastically calmed down. Now it rippled and splashed to their feet. Fenris held itself up over the ground, its wingarms supporting its weight by bracing on the walls.
“Your wolf friend seems to dislike water.” Vactubstein pointed out.
“I don’t blame him.” Jackal huffed. “It’s cold as balls!”
Reaper laughed. “You never liked the cold.”
“It’s even worse when it’s wet.”
“Your suits are not insulated are they?” Vactubstein asked.
“Not these old things. Not for this kind of range.” Reaper said, shining his light into the darkness.
After a few minutes of walking, the water seeped under a floor of stone. They made their way onto dry land where Fenris lowered itself to stand properly, those wingarms hung down behind it like broken wings. No light from outside seeped in this far. That did not stop life from showing face. Here in the darkness, the minute creatures lacked much sight and their bodies glowed in the dark a great variety of colors. Most leaned towards shades of purple, with a rare few a brilliant white.
Yet deeper into the silence of the dark they could hear the sounds of bigger creatures scurrying about. Quietly, they sounded off to one another with high pitched shrieks, like out of tune trumpets and flutes.
The cave twisted and turned every which way like a winding serpent. It dipped further into the ground and rose back up. All of it curling into itself. Small pathways broke off here and there, lined in bone like spikes, similar to that which gave the cave a natural support of ribs. Even metal sprouted from the stone, at times replacing the bones, and others holding openings to other paths.
“Topside,” Reaper said into his radio. “Topside, this is Reaper, do you copy?”
No response.
“Topside, this is Reaper, do you copy?” He said again, more stern.
Still no response.
“We might not be able to get a signal through.” Jackal said, peering down one of the pathways.
“Fen, do you still have that cartographer?” Reaper asked.
“No.” The valkyrie picked itself up over a small stream cutting from one wall to the other. “Skaginvar...ate it.”
Vactubstein shined his light up onto the ceiling. There, he spied something. Clung upside down, a turkey sized creature scurried from stalactite to stalactite. Piercing yellow eyes gazed at him before it darted from the light.
A loud clack sounded from the dark, followed by a sharp call. Other calls sounded out, some much closer than they realized.
A dozen or so yellow eyes flickered in the shadows, darting around them. A brief stop let the creatures analyze them before darting to a new location. More little eyes peered out, kicking up loose pebbles and splashing through the puddles.
Fenris spat out a ball of khexide at the ceiling, its crimson lights reflecting from the icy fire. Several eyes disappeared.
The little creatures pounced onto the valkyrie’s back, digging sickle-shaped claws into its armor. A single one crept from the shadows taking a nip at Reaper’s rear. He spun around, hitting the switch on the flamethrower to launch a ball of flames. The wall lit up briefly in orange, showing the turkey sized creatures moving in for an attack.
Like birds they cawed and hopped around. They used their numbers to swarm and bring down larger prey, often jumping unto them from all sides until their combined weight pulled it to the ground.
The fire kept them from Reaper, but they changed their target. They jumped on Jackal, bringing him to the ground face first.
Reaper hit their backs with the fire, burning the metallic feathers right off. They squeaked and scurried back into the shadows.
Fenris started to exude more gas aiming to flood the cave system in khexide. Any little creatures it could snatch up went straight down the gullet whole. One of the taller creatures stopped in the middle of the path. Gave a chirp and fired an egg shaped dispersing canister. On impact with the ground among the team, the canister burst into a green smog.
Fenris swiped the creature into the wall and kept the team moving forward. Reaper pulled up the rear with the fire keeping the beasts pushed back.
They soon crossed their last extra pathway and were funneled down a steep slope before all the ground disappeared. Fenris’ wing arms gripped the ground and wall so it could perch on the wall. Bony spines pointed down from the ceiling. The ground was replaced with cold, crystal clear water. A single blue light shined down from an opening above, lighting up a shrine on a stone island out in the middle of the cavern. A pair of smaller islands plotted the path. Anything that bridged the gap between them was long gone.
Even with the use of its wingarms, Fenris could barely reach from point to point.
Come to me…
A voice called from the aether.
“Did anyone else hear that?” Jackal asked.
“Strange…” Vactubstein said, approaching the edge.
Come to me…
Fenris paced on the edge, wanting to reach across, but having the sense of something lurking below in the shadows of the pool.
Everyone had grown used to the sense of impending doom that seemed to follow their valkyrie friend. This space brought it back to life tenfold. They should not be here. What lurked beyond was incomprehensible. The walls felt to close in on them, the water rise to fill the cavern. The creatures returned to nip at their heels.
“Someone has to go across!” Reaper said. “If Fenris won’t go for it, Jackal, you go!”
“There’s a reason he won’t go!” Jackal said.
“We’ve come too far to turn back now!” A burst of flames pushed the creatures back.
“Fen,” Jackal grabbed its arm. “What’s the problem?”
It pointed down to the water.
“There’s nothing there. It’s just water.” He said even though he wasn’t entirely sure of it himself. “Fine, if you won’t do it, I’ll go for it.”
He backed up from the edge to get a running start. He leaped across the pool to the first island. He barely kept his balance on the landing. The wet surface caused him to slip down to his knee.
Fenris jumped around on the edge, watching him. It wanted to come across as well, but still lacked the courage.
“Fen, give me a hand, will ya’?” Reaper backed up closer to the edge.
The valkyrie turned, jutting a wingarm into the crowd of little eos. It blew a wall of khexide, pushing them back and keeping them away. Those who dared to come through the black smog quickly succumbed to the poisons.
Liam, come to me.
The voice called.
Jackal made his way across to the next island. The voice called for him again. Beckoning him closer. The blue light
around the artifact shimmered brighter.
Take it. Come, Hero. Take it.
He jumped across once more. This time his body moved on its own. Ethereal strings tugged on his limbs, forcing him into slow, steady steps. The light seemed to concentrate on the artifact, a blackened diamond spinning slowly like a top, suspended over the conjoined rib cages of twin serpents encased in stone, forever known by their skeletons.
The statues made up the entire shrine. Their tails made up the steps and platform which Jackal stood. Their chests twisted upwards, entangling their bodies into a protective nest. Their chests pushed into one another, necks tugging backwards and up into graceful bends to bring their open mouths close over the top of the artifact ready to bite down at the unsuspecting hands that reached for it. Their bodies were not entirely bones. No, what looked to depict cybernetics littered their bodies, giving them extra structures like fins and spikes.
Come to me…
The voice called to him. There was an unnatural beauty to the crystal. Its blackened surface was lit from the inside out with hundreds of pale blue lights streaking up and down, carrying on into infinity towards the center. He got the sense that the lights were something more than simple aesthetics. He reached with both hands towards the crystal. His fingers trembled at the thought of touching its smooth surface.
His muscles suddenly pulled in the other direction. Hands pushed into the eroded stone of the shrine. Every fiber of his being wanted that crystal. Wanted to touch it. To hold it. Its voice echoed in his mind. Calling him to it. Beckoning him to take it. Luring him in with the sense of being a hero for it. That only he could do it.
“Take it!” Fenris called from across the water. “You must take it!”
Jackal reached up for the crystal again. Something stopped him yet again. Like an invisible barrier around the crystal, a magnet shoving his hands away.
The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) Page 43