by Unknown
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It’s going to be a hot day, Tiet thought as they continued their jog toward Kale. The night before Kale had seemed so distant from them, but now it was as though he were just over the next rise.
Tiet and Emil had gotten up before dawn as planned and had gotten an early start back on the hunt. Emil picked away at the last of the previous nights meal as he ran beside Tiet, tossing away small bones along the way. A small road intersected their path and soon they found themselves running along it. They passed a sign as they jogged along that read, City of Odem: 2 miles.
Tiet suddenly stopped and Emil, over shooting him a little, stopped and came back to him asking, “What’s wrong?�
“That city up ahead, Odem, I think Kale is there!�
“Great! Let’s go!�
“Wait, something has happened.�
“I don’t—� Emil paused mid-sentence as he noticed something approaching from the east. “What is that?� A massive black cloud that looked like death itself moved, not far above the tree tops, toward the city ahead of them. A great shadow covered the land and the cloud seemed to swallow up the sun itself from where they were standing. The wind increased by ten fold from the cool breeze that had been blowing.
Branches snapped as the trees waved together in the wind like great hands coming out of the ground to worship the Eternal One himself.
“I feel like it’s alive.� Emil muttered.
“It is!� shouted Tiet as the wind blew stronger. “It’s those things we fought before, back in the city—only a whole lot more of them!�
The maelstrom moved over the town ahead.
“We’ve got to get to him! Hurry!� Tiet shouted.
The pair broke into a sprint up the road. Tiet mumbled a prayer under his breath as he ran, hoping that Elithias would give strength to them against their enemies today. Otherwise, they might be about to breathe their last.
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The ominous fog descended on the town of Odem and dwarfed it in size. Agonotti warriors began to drop out of the vortex on top of their prey as they took form from the elements of the dark cloud. The civilians of the city ran frantically through the streets trying to find shelter from the onslaught, but there was no place to hide.
Elam couldn’t believe the sheer number of warriors coalescing from the Agonotti matrix—and more than numbers the fact they were armed for battle. They hadn’t come to feed, but to wage war.
Elam knew it would not take long for them to telepathically inform Dirge of his presence and he was right. Within moments he saw the Agonotti leader form in front of him along with several others who appeared to be acting as bodyguards. Elam determined not to be intimidated by the power play. He kept thinking to himself, you may be alone here, but this Agonotti is about to be dead.
Dirge arrogantly pointed his finger at Elam’s face and began his rhetoric as he approached. “Why are you here?� he demanded.
“I have every right to be here,� Elam said. “Why have you gone against our agreement and brought all of these warriors to destroy Odem?�
“We have to feed.�
“This isn’t a culling, it’s a massacre!�
“It’s our business Elam, not yours!� Dirge shouted. “We are through taking orders from you! For far too long, we have bowed to your terms like lap dogs. We Agonotti have been the element of fear that has kept your greedy extortion enterprise profitable all this time.�
Elam became infuriated and would have probably taken action himself, had there not already been another plan in place. Instead, Elam calmed himself and let the Agonotti leader ramble on. He wasn’t even listening anymore. Instead, he watched for the boy who he supposed should’ve already been here by now.
Dirge continued his ranting as the noise of the feeding frenzy continued around them. The screams of hundreds threatened to drown him out, but he stepped closer into the Guardian leader’s face to punctuate what he had kept pent up for so long.
A yellow spire suddenly burst through the Agonotti leader’s chest, silencing him in mid-rant. Kale withdrew the kemstick and struck down Dirge’s guards before they could react. As he cut a great swathe between the bodyguards he finished the arc of his attack just above Dirge’s shoulders, catching the Agonotti leader as he sank to his knees from the first strike. Dirge’s last look at Elam ended as his head left his body.
Elam stood stunned by the speed and efficiency of the boy. It was time for the ruse to play out. Elam quickly pulled his own weapon and ignited the blade. “Let the show begin,� he said to Kale.
Elam struck at the boy and found him more than able to keep up a convincing part of the charade. They dodged, parried and struck at each other over and over again. With Dirge’s destruction, they had the full attention of many of the Agonotti warriors now.
While the attack on the town continued, many of the Agonotti moved toward the ensuing battle between the boy and the Guardian leader. Their own leader, decapitated along with his guards, disintegrated as his molecular life bond gave way.
Was Elam really the enemy as Dirge had declared or was he fighting to kill Dirge’s assassin? The battle turned to Elam’s favor as he made a subtle move that kicked the boy’s weapon out of his hand and knocked him backwards to the ground. Elam rushed over the boy with his blade raised for the deathblow.
☼
Tiet and Emil ran hard toward the town of Odem. The cloud had already touched down in the valley where the city was located. They heard distant screams growing in number as they approached. They ran into town on the main road.
The city didn’t look very big at all—Tiet supposed maybe a few thousand residents at best and the housing all appeared to be rural with a main city square in the middle. He sensed Kale very strongly now near where most of the attack on the city had concentrated.
Hundreds of people ran in every direction, mirroring the situation they had encountered when they first arrived. But the sheer number of attackers had to be tenfold what they had faced before. Emil dogged Tiet’s steps as they made their way through the horrific scene played out around them. The vampiric attackers were took in the precious life blood of their victims—draining them dry and heaving the bodies away to go after the next.
Emil drew his kemsticks and dispatched some of the Agonotti along the way. Emil struck the ghastly humanoids with their victims in their clutches and both predator and prey fell together.
Tiet remained on the mental scent of his son searching through the crowd like a living divining rod. Tiet saw his son up ahead. Kale stood locked in battle with the Guardian leader, Elam.
Tiet watched Kale’s kemstick knocked from his grasp. He fell back to the ground with Elam coming in fast for the kill. Tiet reached back to the scabbard on his back. With one quick snap of his arm, he pulled his blade and flung it away toward his son’s aggressor, willing the weapon to ignite as it left his hand. The weapon seemed to be suspended in time as he ran behind it on its way to the intended target, its revolutions seeming to last minutes apiece.
He had to be on time, had to be there to save him, to do what he had not been able to do for Dorian or for Orin. He couldn’t watch his own son die like they had died, only moments before he could arrive to save them.
☼
Elam brought his blade down and expected the boy to use a mental attack to knock it away in time—he held the weapon loosely to make it even easier when the lad’s mental defense came. But as he looked into the Kale’s face, he noticed him glancing away at something behind them and a look of horror coming over his face. At that moment, Elam sensed an attack and turned instinctively to face it.
The Barudii blade twirled through the air
ever so elegantly with its blade shining like a shooting star racing through the sky. Elam tried to defend himself, but there was not time.
The blade struck Elam’s weapon as he turned around. It flew out of his hand and he fell to the ground disarmed. Tiet’s weapon ricocheted up and away and hit one of the Agonotti that had been observing the fight, severing one of his arms.
☼
Tiet ran up right behind the blade-strike and went immediately to his son’s aid. “Are you alright?�
“I’m fine, Father,� Lucin said with Kale’s voice.
Tiet helped Kale to stand and the boy leaned on him. Elam started to recover from the hit and Tiet drew a kemstick from his thigh-clip with his other hand while helping to hold up Kale around his waist. Elam sat up slightly, looking at them and trying to figure out what had just happened.
“Now, Guardian, why don’t you pick on someone your own size?� Tiet said as he held onto his son and ignited his weapon.
☼
Emil had fallen behind and ran hard to catch up. It looked like Kale had been found and saved from the Guardian commander. He ran to catch up and watched his back for Agonotti who were gathered all around, watching the drama unfold.
Emil watched Tiet stare at the Guardian and dare him to stand and fight. Then he looked at Kale, his lost friend. He looked weak from the fight, as though he could hardly stand without his father’s assistance. Their eyes met as Emil ran toward them and suddenly he felt a chill wash over his senses.
The eyes seemed black as midnight. A feeling so familiar and terrifying overwhelmed him. It felt the same as when the little girl in the wilds when she went berserk under symbyte control and he remembered then that Kale also carried one of the parasitic organisms inside him. The beast was in control.
Emil tried to shout a warning, crying out, “No!�
But it was too late. A laugh tried to escape Kale’s pursed lips as Lucin looked away from Emil to the man who was Kale’s father. Tiet looked away from the Guardian leader, Elam, still lying on the ground, and into his son’s face. For the brief moment he was allowed, Tiet saw someone else looking out through his son’s eyes and regret filled his soul—regret for what his son was going to do.
Lucin summoned Kale’s energies and quickly thrust his hands upward into Tiet’s torso releasing a kinetic burst that sent the Barudii warrior’s body up into the air limp like an old rag doll. He landed in a heap, nearly fifteen feet away, gasping for his breath.
Emil leaped at his symbyte controlled friend and engaged him in hand to hand combat. Emil didn’t want to have to kill him. Then he remembered the med-kit. He had one of the injection cylinders given to them by Mirah in his own pocket. I’ve got to get it out and inject Kale with it before he gets his hands on a weapon. When they had sparred hand to hand, the odds had been more even, but when Kale had a weapon in his hands he had no equal.
Emil grappled with Kale and blocked several well placed punches and kicks that could have paralyzed with proper contact. The symbyte isn’t as good a fighter as Kale on his own, he thought.
Emil whipped the metal injection tube from his pocket trying to keep it concealed. Surprisingly, Elam had not engaged in the fight. The Guardian leader had his weapon in hand again, but remained clear, apparently waiting to see who would win out in the struggle.
Another quick flurry of punches and kicks passed between the two adolescents with Emil being the slightest bit faster. The last kick made contact with Kale’s ribs and it felt like a solid hit. The symbyte boy gasped for air and Emil followed quickly with a forearm smash to the side of his friend’s face that bloodied Kale’s mouth and nose and buckled him to his knees.
He seized the moment and brought the injection cylinder up and plunged the tip down into Kale’s shoulder near the base of his neck. Kale jerked the cylinder away, but the payload had already been delivered. Fury passed over the possessed Kale’s face and he acted as though he would now explode upon Emil, but the elixir began to take effect.
Kale’s body seized and he fell back to the ground gasping and writhing in apparent pain. The Agonotti still kept their distance, allowing the winner to be announced before they made any move to interfere. Thousands of others still pillaged the city and preyed upon its inhabitants as they moved out further into the rural areas in search of food. The city of Odem was already doomed, no matter what.
Elam figured out his accomplice was defeated and blasted at Emil kinetically. He defended himself with a counter that knocked them both backward. Emil retrieved his kemsticks and joined them to form a staff. He ignited it and moved in toward the Guardian leader, meeting Elam’s every strike with careful spins and flourishes.
“You’re not going to win this, boy!� Elam shouted.
But Emil never answered him a word. He had always been taught never to engage the psychological tricks of an opponent. Ignore the rhetoric and concentrate on the fight. Many a battle had been given up due to emotionalism and he needed all the help he could get in this fight.
Elam pushed hard against him and drove him back with his attacks. Emil sensed Elam trying to get through with a mental attack as well. Elam’s mind probed all around the boy like obscene tentacles searching for a weakness to exploit.
Kale still lay on the ground and had apparently slipped into unconsciousness. His body trembled as Lucin’s symbyte form fought for life, awash in the antibody injection concocted by Mirah.
Tiet attempted to crawl towards his son. He groaned as he tried to get to his knees. Several of the Agonotti attempted to move in on him—they enjoyed the weak—anyone who couldn’t defend themselves.
Tiet pulled another kemstick from its clip and positioned it between the predators and him. Fortunately, they seemed unsure about moving in while he was armed. The boy moaned as he crawled to him. The Agonotti hovered in the near vicinity, watching him for a moment’s lapse in his defensive posture. Emil kept Elam occupied, but how long could he keep it up. Emil allowed himself to be driven back again and again by the Guardian leader.
Kale suddenly sat up and Tiet almost brought his kemstick around to defend against his own son. Kale jumped to his feet and grabbed Tiet’s weapon as though it were being offered to him. “Thanks, Father.�
He leaped away with the ignited weapon. Apparently the serum Mirah had developed had worked and Kale was once again in command of his own faculties. Kale attacked the Guardian from behind and the tables almost instantly turned as Elam began to give up ground to the young man. “Emil, help my father!�
The young Horva complied and headed to the defense of the king as the Agonotti moved in closer, seeking a prey in him. They began to morph weapons from their forms. Their fear was retreating and their confidence growing.
☼
Kale advanced on the Guardian leader, steadily pushing him back as Agonotti warriors parted to allow the battle to continue. Kale decided to up the intensity. The kemstick he had used previously to strike down the Agonotti leader while under symbyte control still lay in the dirt twenty feet away. He called it to his hand. Elam’s blade, a well crafted piece bearing crests for his family heritage, was longer than a kemstick’s reach, but it made little difference to Kale.
He launched a furious barrage of strikes at the older warrior, but Elam still matched him blow for blow. The Guardian’s offense turned to pure defense and the strain of the fight began to show on his face. He had not expected the boy to be so good, even after facing him briefly back at the Olson farm.
Kale sensed the uneasiness of the Agonotti around him. They were just waiting for the right moment to strike. Knowing what Elam had told him about his relationship to the Agonotti and their arrangement to terrorize and capitalize on the people of this planet, he was unsure why they had not already come to his a
id. Time to put an end to this fight, he thought.
Kale flipped back away from Elam to gain the proper distance for his tactic and then he flung both of his kemsticks at the Guardian commander. As they flew away, Kale quickly pulled his second pair from the clips on his legs and ignited them. The first pair struck at Elam’s defense then rebounded under Kale’s mental control as he threw the second set of weapons at the man. A lightning fast series of rebounds and throws exchanged between the Barudii warriors.
One blade against four, it was simply too much even for a seasoned swordsman such as himself. Then it happened. A kemstick blade whirled past Elam’s defense, severing his right arm at mid-humerus. Another second later as he screamed for the arm and his blade lowered in the left hand, another rebounding kemstick blade struck him in the sternum and a third followed, whirling across his shoulders, removing his head.
Kale stood with the fourth weapon still in his hand as his opponent slumped over to the ground. The Agonotti cried out for the man. Kale wasn’t sure whether it was in victory over him or in mourning, but he doubted the latter. The cry washed through the onlookers quickly then they drew their weapons for battle.
The_Chronicl-_Rise_of_Lucin
SIX
A wave of laser fire suddenly erupted into the streets of Odem. The whine of thruster engines closed in on the masses of Agonotti congregated in the small town. Kale recognized the ship as soon as he saw it.
Elam’s personal command shuttle strafed Agonotti warriors as its flight path brought it up to the market area where its owner had just met his demise. Kale called his kemsticks away from around Elam’s body and replaced the extra pair on their clips while keeping a pair at the ready.
The mounted guns hanging from the under portion of the wings made the ship look more like a fighter craft than a shuttle. They blazed a trail through the predators which took their attention off of Kale, Emil and Tiet at the moment. The cloud still hung thick over the town and many of the Agonotti dematerialized as the laser turrets blazed through their ranks.