The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3)

by Kocho Trajchevski

  As he said that he pointed towards the fighters that were circling above.

  “It’s good that they can’t see us here. If they did they would surely kill us.”

  Ristarion just nodded. He knew that he was right. But he also knew that the humans did the same thing that he would have done. And they deserved this victory.

  “You are right. But they fight well praetorian. Remember that.”

  “Yes my lord. They will be a worthy enemy just as you said.”

  “Praetorian I’m dying. When I pass in the afterlife you will have command. You must hide and survive till the fleet arrives. This disk contains the information they will need. You must survive and give it to them.”

  “Yes my lord. It was an honor serving with you.”

  “The honor was mine Pran al Mon.”

  The praetorian saluted and went to the other legionaries and gave them instructions to spread out.

  Ristarion noticed the Sicarian watching him. He could see in his eyes that he knew he was going to die. As he looked in to his black eyes he noticed that he smiled. The sharp bones that all Sicarians had on their hands were removed. It was a precaution. He noticed that as Huron came to them the other wounded Sicarian stood up with effort that caused him great pain. He stood up and bowed to the other Sicarian. Then he fell on his knees and turned and looked at Huron and nodded. Huron bowed and then looking straight in to his eyes took the kerasa sword from his belt and plunged it in to his chest. The Sicarian didn’t even utter a scream. He just watched Huron’s eyes and fell dead. As he did the other one kneeled as well. As Huron prepared to kill him Ristarion raised his hand and stopped him. He pointed to him to bring the Sicarian to him.

  Huron nodded and said to the tall slave to stand up.

  The Sicarian stood up and slowly with a face showing his huge pain, came to him. Huron came after him.

  “What do you want Dacarian?”

  Ristarion looked at him.

  “I want to know your full name Agnail, to know it so that I can pay my respects. Mran told me that you were a great warrior.”

  “I don’t need your respects Dacarian. I just need my faith that one day you will fall. And now I know you will.”

  As he spoke blood rushed from his mouth. He coughed and wiped the blood.

  “How do you know that?”

  Agnail smiled.

  “This battle showed me. My race is old Dacarian. We were there when you fought the Alterans. And now I know that their legacy has not been lost. Their blood runs in the veins of their descendents. You came here looking for slaves but you will only find death.”

  Ristarion looked at him and then looked at the landscape and the sky.

  “You may be right Agnail. But neither of us will see that day. What lies ahead is for the others to see now. And this is a beautiful day and a beautiful world to die.”

  The Sicarian looked at his rival. And for the first time he smiled.

  “Yes it is isn’t it?”

  “We are both dying Agnail. And I know that you know. You know that I never showed you disrespect and treated you well. In the name of your honor I ask for your name.”

  The Sicarian looked at the blue sky and then at the green forest that surrounded them.

  Then he kneeled and looked into his eyes.

  “I’m Agnail Makon Curas son of Great Dean Curas and general of the imperial army.”

  Ristarion looked at him and smiled showing his sharp teeth.

  “It was an honor to know you Agnail Makon Curas… and … it will be an honor to die with you.”

  As he said that he took out his sword. The Sicarian bowed and looked in to his eyes. Ristarion stabbed him in the chest and looked as his eyes dimmed. Then he pulled out the sword just before he died. As the Sicarian’s eyes expressed surprise he pulled him and said.

  “But you won’t die that easy. I know that this wound hurts. I want you to die slowly and painfully. Like all your generals did.”

  Agnail just smiled with a pained expression on his face.

  “I knew you would do that Dacarian. But know that I will die with a smile on my face.”

  As Huron dragged him the smile never left his face.

  As he came close to the place where the object fell he slowed down and took of his knapsack. Then he slowly started walking towards the wreckage. As he was walking he noticed two hunters about a hundred meters upfront. They were pointing toward the wreckage. He picked up his pace and tried to warn them. Before he could, he noticed three large creatures dressed in black armor approach them from all sides. The creatures looked like reptilians with round heads covered with gold helmets and they were tall. All three were over two and a half meters. The hunters tried to talk to them but before they could one of the aliens raised his rifle and fired. One of the humans screamed and fell on the ground. The other human raised his hunting rifle and opened fire. One of the reptilians clenched his chest and fell on the ground. He uttered a strange scream and then fell silent. It was clear that he was dead. The hunter tried to fire again but before he could the other alien moved with incredible speed and plunged a large sword in to his chest. The hunter collapsed on the ground dead.

  Fillip crouched on the ground and started moving towards them slowly. If he had any doubts before now there were none. He stopped and surveyed the crash site carefully hiding behind the trees. He picked up his mobile and looked at the coordinates it was showing. Then he dialed.

  A woman’s voice answered him looking for his password and serial number.

  “Tango…Sierra…255567321.”

  He dictated his serial number.

  “Colonel Stefanovski what can I do for you.”

  “Connect me with headquarters and trace this call.”

  A minute later he heard the voice of general Stojanovski.

  “Fillip what are you doing calling this number. I don’t have time, we have an emergency.”

  “Does it involve aliens and a crashed ship?”

  The voice went silent at his comment. He heard him yelling to someone to trace the call. He smiled.

  “How do you know this colonel?”

  “Because right now am looking straight at them sir, I’m sending you the coordinates. How long until the teams reach this position? ”

  “Our team will need about fifteen minutes. There are US rangers coming as well from Camp Bondsteel.

  How many of them are there? Can you give me a correct count?”

  Fillip looked at the aliens. It took him a minute to count them. As he was doing that he noticed one of them being stabbed and then dragged and left near another body. He noticed that this one looked different from the others. He was a little taller and a lot tinier and had just torn white garments on him. He also had blue skin and cone head. He counted thirteen together with the wounded. He noticed that one of the other aliens was also wounded.

  “There are thirteen of them sir. But I believe one of them is a prisoner and I believe that their commander is dying or at least he is gravely wounded.”

  “Ok stay there and wait for the cavalry to arrive.”

  “Yes sir. Sir they just killed two civilians. And I believe that more are in danger. The crash was pretty loud and there were a lot of hunters and hikers on the mountain today. And I believe that whoever noticed will surely come here.”

  There was no answer from the other side and he thought he heard a sigh.

  “The Americans said that their armor deflects lightweight ammunition. Be careful Fillip. Apparently the bastards destroyed half a dozen ships in the Aegean Sea.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Then he hanged up. He silenced the phone and looked at the aliens. He thought the one that was shot by the hunter died but he saw him slowly walking around the perimeter near him clinching his chest. He looked at his gun and then at the alien.

  “Only head shots will work obviously.”

  As the alien approached him he slowly backed up and hid in the bushes. He took out the knife and prepared.
As the alien passed him he came out quickly behind him and with a master stroke stabbed him in the neck. The alien turned and looked at him with surprised eyes. He tried to yell but Fillip slashed with the knife across his neck. Black blood started flowing from the wounds. The alien clinched his neck and fell on the ground. In couple of seconds he was dead. Fillip looked at his equipment. He noticed the sword. He picked it up and looked at it. It was half a meter long and it reminded him of the roman gladius sword. He touched the edges. The sword was sharp. As he was surveying it he heard a sound behind him. He turned quickly and noticed another of the aliens looking at him. The alien raised his rifle. Before he could fire Fillip threw the sword at his chest. The sword passed through his armor easy and buried itself in his chest all the way to the hilt. The alien looked at him with look that showed surprise and fell on his knees. Before he could get to him to finish him he yelled something. Fillip slashed with the knife across his neck but it was too late. Shots came from the other aliens that started running towards him. Only three remained by what he supposed was their leader and only because they didn’t have guns.

  Fillip backed up and pulled his gun from his belt. He took aim and started firing.

  Ristarion turned his head toward the place from where the shout came. The Praetorian, Huron and the other legionary that helped him on the bridge remained by him while the other legionaries ran toward there. Couple of minutes earlier the legionaries killed two humans. He assumed that they found others as well. As he did that the first shots came. He watched in fascination as the legionaries started falling. He noticed that whoever was shooting was aiming at their heads. The legionaries spread out and tried to protect themselves but it was to no avail. Whoever the shooter was he knew his business. As he watched from the six legionaries that started running toward the shooter five fell on the ground dead. The sixed hid behind a tree. As he was trying to find the shooter the human came from the side and without thinking shot him twice in the head. Then he turned towards them. He aimed the gun at them and yelled something in his language. As he came closer the three remaining legionaries drew their swords and rushed him. He fired two shots at them before ducking away from the thrown sword from the Praetorian. As he ducked Huron reached him first and tried to slash him. The human stepped to the side not even looking at the other legionary that came from that side.

  As Ristarion looked he noticed why. The legionary’s body was literally moving on inertia. Black blood fell from his head. As he came to a meter from the human he fell on the ground clearly dead.

  As the human stepped to the side he caught Huron’s hand and dragged him forward and with the knife he pulled from the belt he stabbed him in the neck. As he did that Huron dropped his sword. Blood sprayed from his wound. The legionary knew he was dead. He turned toward his master and slowly started walking toward him.

  The Praetorian slammed in to the human as he stabbed Huron and both he and the human fell on the ground. The human was thrown almost two meters away from the stroke. But he wasn’t surprised. Both he and the Praetorian rolled and stood up. Both stood their ground and just looked at one another.

  Pran looked at his rival. The human looked small compared to him but he proved his skill. He was about six feet tall. The torn shirt showed muscular body that had a large tattoo on the left shoulder. The human had short black hair, full leaps and black eyes. And from his look he was clearly well trained. He knew that it will be hard to surprise him.

  At the same time the Dacarian was looking at him Fillip was looking at him as well. The hit tore his shirt to pieces. The alien was more than eight feet tall and had a massive and well developed body. He noticed that his skin was a mixture of green and gray under the torn armor. He had sharp teeth and big yellow eyes.

  As they were measuring themselves Huron slowly came to Ristarion. He couldn’t utter a word because of the wound to his neck. Instead he took the medallion Ristarion gave him and returned it to him and touched him on the shoulder. After that he fell on the ground and looked for the last time in to the blue sky. Ristarion looked at him and closed his eyes.

  “May your journey to the afterlife be good my friend. And wait for me. I will join you soon.”

  As he said those words he noticed that the Sicarian was still alive. He was breathing slowly and watching the human. He wasn’t smiling anymore and his face showed the huge pain he felt. Ristarion couldn’t feel anything else but admiration. He wanted to see him suffer but what he saw told him that he did a mistake. He turned his gaze toward the two combatants.

  As he did that he noticed that the Praetorian stood still and then bowed.

  Fillip watched in amazement as the alien stood still and bowed. And he was even more shocked when he spoke.

  It took him just a second to understand the language the alien was speaking. It was Latin.

  “It is an honor to meet you Alteran. You are a great warrior and give credit to your race.”

  Fillip didn’t answer anything just bowed and smiled. He could see that the alien knew that he understood him.

  The alien smiled showing his sharp teeth and then attacked.

  He tried to use his greater physical force and bigger body but Fillip was expecting that. He blocked the strikes with an effort and then stepped aside. As he did the alien turned and tried to deliver a strike to his head. Fillip blocked it and delivered a strong strike to his neck. The alien backed up surprised. As he did that Fillip moved forward and started delivering strong strikes at what he supposed were the withal points of his body.

  In less than a minute he hit the body of the Praetorian in his chest neck and head more than a hundred times. The legionary felt his body growing weaker with each strike. He knew that his opponent was the better fighter and he knew that he will die a worthy death. In a last effort to disable him he tried to grab his neck. As he did that the human delivered several powerful strokes to the weak spots of his hands and two powerful strokes to his neck.

  He felt his neck braking just before he fell dead on the ground.

  As the last combatant fell to the ground Fillip turned toward the last alien that was sitting by the stone. He guessed that he was the leader. The aliens face showed that he was in great pain. Blood flowed from his mouth and a huge wound was visible on the left side of his stomach. His armor was torn and bloodied. The alien smiled.

  “I know that you can understand me human. I can see it in your face.”

  “Who are you? Why did you come here?”

  The alien coughed expelling blood.

  “That is the question isn’t it? Why are we here?”

  “You are dying a painful death. I could make it easy for you if you give me an answer.”

  The Dacarian looked at his enemy. He knew that this was the enemy that his race feared and at the same time respected more than anyone else. And his clan respected them more than any other.

  He remembered a story that was passed from generation to generation. A long time when the Farsians still ruled a Dacarian soldier was the last one standing in a long forgotten battle and he faced eight Alteran soldiers. He was wounded. And he knew that he is going to be killed by his masters even if he lives. He asked them to give him an honorable death. To his surprise they agreed and one of them stepped up and fought him. He lost the fight but instead of killing him they gave him medicine for his wound and transported him close to the dacarian lines. And when he asked why, they told him that it was because he showed mercy towards their deadly wounded friend and killed him quickly and because he fought with honor. Before he died that dacarian soldier managed to tell the story to his son. That soldier was a member of his clan.

  And now he knew that he can ask that from this human as well.

  “I don’t fear death Alteran. But I want to die with honor. And I want a promise from you.”

  “Tell me the answer to my question and I will give you your honorable death.”

  Ristarion took the little medallion and handed it to the human who took it.

&nb
sp; “What is this?”

  “It is something that a long time ago an enemy soldier gave to one of my ancestors before he died. And it is handed from father to son ever since in his honor and memory. In the name of the honor that exists even among enemies. One day a fleet of ships will come to your world. There will be a war. I don’t know what the future holds but if you survive wear that medallion. If you ever meet my father or a member of my clan give him that and tell him how I died. Tell him that I died with honor under a blue sky. Promise me that you will tell him that and I will tell you how long your world has to prepare.”

  Fillip looked at him and nodded.

  “You have my word.”

  “Thank you. You have twenty nine of your months. In twenty nine months our people will be at war once again.”

  The human looked at him with look that told him that he knew that he was telling him the truth. But he showed no fear.

  “Tell me human, do you know how a legionary dies.”

  The human just nodded and picked up his sword and stepped behind him.

  “What is your name?”

  “I’m Fillip Stefanovski.”

  “I’m Ristarion Al Mach son of Arios Al Mach. Remember that name Alteran.”

  “May the gods be with you Ristarion.”

  When he said those words Fillip trust the sword downward just below the neck all the way to the hilt. The alien’s body twitched just as the sword pierced his body and then relaxed.

  Fillip then turned to the last surviving alien. The alien black eyes were watching him with admiration.

  He went to him. He noticed dark red blood flowing from a massive wound to his chest.

  “Do you understand me?”

  Agnail looked at him. His eyes were hazy. He knew that he was dying but he knew that thanks to the dacarian his death was going to be painful. He could barely speak. But he knew that he had to make the effort.

  “I do human. I do.”

  “You were their prisoner. I saw when one of them dragged you here.”

  The human looked at the other body beside him.