by Unknown
Vock and Teran were drawn into the battle away from their conversation as the first Agonotti lord began to disintegrate upon the battlefield. “Only four of them left,� Teran said.
“Yes, only four…� Vock leaned back against the pylon with his arms folded pretending to take interest in the fight. Teran continued to watch and then turned back to Vock. He leaned in toward Vock this time and said, “Alright, what else is there?�
“Mithrium.�
“Mithrium? Now, I know you’re crazy,� Teran said. But Vock’s smug look said he wasn’t joking in the least.
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Oric-tal moved on to the others as the battle for supremacy continued. He took on two opponents at a time as they joined together to overcome him. Rane and Palice exchanged blows with their powerful Agonotti brother. Oric morphed his mace into a whip and snapped it around Rane’s arm. With as much force as he could muster, Oric sent him flying into Palice as he charged. They tumbled across the ground trying to recover as Oric pounced on them and dispatched both without mercy.
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“Haisn is the only one left with Oric,� Teran declared.
“And Haisn will lose,� Vock said confidently.
“So why do you seem so happy? You said Oric was a fool.�
Vock leaned in again, speaking quietly as he looked on at the two contestants about to square off on the battlefield. “Watch Oric.�
Teran watched as Oric-tal huffed and gulped at the air while stalking toward Haisn. His whip morphed into a great battle axe in his hand.
“What about him?�
“He’s fighting in a physical form and subject to its infirmities.�
Teran studied him again. “He’s getting tired.�
“Exactly.�
The two Agonotti lords, Oric-tal and Haisn, charged at one another. A fierce exchange followed. Haisn struck furiously at Oric, but could not drive him back.
“And—� Teran baited.
“And, he’s going to win, but before Oric can proclaim himself the new leader, a challenger is going to come forward according to our right,� Vock said.
“And that challenger will be fresh for the fight?�
“Exactly, my friend.�
“But can this challenger beat him? Oric is quite fierce.�
“What no one seems to realize is that we have been getting stronger, but not in the physical—in the spiritual. I can’t explain it, but I have been experimenting. Our former glory, in part, is returning.�
Teran looked stunned.
“Now, Teran, do you suppose our brothers would follow such a one that brought them this revelation?�
“Oh, they would indeed.�
Oric and Haisn grappled below them on the arena floor. The entire crowd of Agonotti warriors cheered for their respective favorite to come out the winner. Then the two toppled to the ground each struggling to get the dominant position. Oric got it and he used it quickly. He plunged a weapon into his foe and Haisn moved no more.
Oric-tal got up from the ground leaving his Agonotti brother to disintegrate behind him as he presented himself before the crowd as the winner.
“Now is the time.� Vock stood to his feet and stepped out from where he and Teran had been sitting. He looked back at Teran. “If you trust me, brother, and still desire the old glory, then back me up when the time seems right.�
And with that, he turned and walked down through the cheering crowd of Mithri in their cursed physical forms and proceeded onto the battlefield toward Oric-tal. Oric had not noticed Vock approaching yet.
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Oric waved his hands in victory toward the crowd, but the cheering turned to murmuring very quickly with fingers pointing into the arena. He turned to find Vock approaching him from behind--unarmed, but still daring to approach. The council members designated to judge the contest, and representing all of the five groups of Agonotti on the planet, stood as they recognized him. He had reputation and respect among many, but he had never acted so aggressive.
“What are you doing, Vock?� Oric shouted as he turned to point his weapon.
Vock did not speak to him. Instead he addressed the council above them. “I claim the right to challenge!�
Oric’s faced burned with fury. “Do you think you can actually win? Turn around now and walk away. I may show leniency toward you when I am Leader.�
“I claim the right!� Vock said again to the council.
They looked at one another, considering the request. Oric watched them half hoping they would consent to it. He still thirsted for a kill.
“It is your right!� the head of the council proclaimed at last.
Oric immediately rushed Vock before he could morph any weapons or armament from his form. But when his battle axe found its target, it split only the wind. Oric had charged right through him. Vock reintegrated so fast that he was able to smash his locked fists across Oric’s back as he passed.
Oric stood stunned. None of them could do that; at least not that fast. Oric charged his opponent again, swinging as he approached, but Vock pulled away through the air, his feet hovering elegantly just above the ground with a confident grin on his face. He remained just out of reach as Oric ran at him swinging wildly.
“How? How are you doing that?!� Oric shouted as he halted in frustration.
“You aren’t worthy to lead this great host, Oric,� Vock said as he touched the ground again.
Oric shouted a cry of war as he thought to charge again, but it was cut short. Vock thrust his hands into the air at his Agonotti brother. A force unseen smashed into Oric and yet held it him in his place. With a thought, Vock caused the ground to erupt before his rival. The rock thrust upward and pounded Oric’s stunned physical form. He reeled away landing in a heap twenty feet from where it hit him. His eyes remained open, but he didn’t move again. Soon Oric-tal’s physical form vaporized like those felled by his own hand.
No one spoke. Vock did not wait for the stunned audience to cheer him or the council to proclaim him the victor.
“Brothers, we have been changing in recent days, but we have been very unaware of it! What you have witnessed here today is part of this change. I believe it may be a return to some of our former power and glory!�
A pin could have been heard hitting the old stone comprising the arena floor as he paused. “We are not meant for this,� he pleaded as he pulled at his garments. “We are nobler than these physical forms we have been confined to.�
A positive reaction swept noticeably through the crowd. “We still have power. We still have some means to get back what we have lost,� Vock continued.
His pleading turned almost to accusation. “Is this all you desire? Have you not longed for the power—the glory we once knew before the worlds were?� The reaction gained strength, turning toward resolution, and then to desire unrealized as an evil hope sprouted among the words he spoke.
“Follow me!� he commanded. “I will lead you back to the glory we once knew—glory and power that are already beginning to return to our kind. We just haven’t realized it.�
The crowd of Agonotti before him erupted into cheers. Now, he could put his plan into action.
The_Chronicl-_Rise_of_Lucin
TWELVE
The dank atmosphere in the caves almost choked them. Taking a breath seemed like drowning. “Do these people actually live in this environment?� Emil asked.
“It’s just this area. We’re near hot springs that run through these mountains,� Jayce said from up ahead.
His lantern lit the way to guide them. Tiet
found it more difficult to maneuver than most. The contorting to move around in the tight spaces rekindled the pain of his injuries. Mirah remained faithfully at his side helping him. Occasionally he had to pause to catch his breath.
Kale looked back at him—watching his father panting for breath. He felt a pang of guilt. He had been the cause of this. Lucin had used Kale to bring his own father to this state.
Tiet caught his stare and appeared to shrug a little with a quiet smile as he gulped in air. Kale turned back quickly to the path and caught up to the others. What could he say?
Tiet looked at Mirah the light began to fade from her face. “He’s still letting this eat away at him.�
“What do you expect?� she whispered. “You would worry the same way if you were him.�
He nodded. She was right. He straightened up as much as possible in the cramped quarters and went after the others with Mirah following.
“I guess its easier being a kid for this kind of stuff,� Jayce said as he paused to make sure the king was still with them.
“He’d be ahead of all of us, if it weren’t for me,� Kale said.
“Kale, that’s not true,� Emil said. “I was there and you had no control over what happened. It would have been the same for any of us.�
Jayce’s interest in the full details of the story peeked, but this wasn’t the time to ask questions about the king’s injuries. He continued on through the winding passages like one who had made the journey many times. “It won’t be much longer; maybe an hour more. The air gets better up ahead,� Jayce said.
The rest of the children under Jayce’s leadership had remained with the Equinox. Grod and Jael had stayed with them, just in case. They had taken the precaution of moving the ship into an area of dense foliage and then had set about covering it as much as possible with vegetation.
Tiet might have stayed as well to keep healing up, but stubbornness prevailed. If he was to lead the underground movement into an attack on the Agonotti then he had to be present to meet and negotiate with them. Anything less would be perceived as weakness.
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CHLOE inched nearer to the woman working next to her. She glanced cautiously at the Agonotti guard posted over the field. He wasn’t looking at them. She moved closer and the other woman moved closer to her as well.
“Ramah?� she whispered. “What’s happening? I heard the shouting and cheering from the arena.�
“I didn’t get that close. It sounds like they have all shown up for something important though.� She continued to dig and seed the ground as she darted between the guard posts with her eyes. “They seemed very excited about something that’s happened there.�
“Excited?�
“Yes, some of them were actually smiling when they began to leave the arena.�
“I’ve never seen any of them do that.�
“Neither have I. Whatever is going on, it’s not going to be good for us.�
The Agonotti guard turned toward them from the short tower between fields. They dug again, looking only at the ground, not at him and not at each other. They began to inch away as they continued seeding the ground on their knees. Ramah’s back ached from the constant hard labor.
The guard stepped down from his perch and began to walk slowly in their direction. The women didn’t dare raise their heads to look at him, but they saw his feet shuffling the dirt—definitely coming toward them.
The Agonotti guard stood there, staring down at them both for a moment, but did not say a word—they rarely did speak to humans. The women continued with their work as though nothing were amiss. Terror raced through them both.
Then the Agonotti guard snatched Chloe up by her throat and hoisted her into the air. Ramah became still, her hands still covered in dirt and a digging tool in one. She thought of using the tool as a weapon. But that would get both of them killed for sure.
Chloe struggled in his grasp, trying to breathe. Her hands wrapped around his wrist trying to support her own weight and prevent her neck from breaking. As the guard lowered her to eye level she looked into his face. He had the look—the nightmarish look of a predator about to tear into his captured prey. She saw no mercy in those black pools, no regret, not even a notion of afterthought; only bloodlust.
An explosion shook the ground. They turned to find several fireballs rising above the area near the ancient arena. Within seconds each concussive aftershock reached them in the fields.
The guard tossed Chloe aside without further consideration and shot away toward the battle, faster than any mortal. Ramah went to help the young woman as she groaned from the fall. At least she was alive. She saw several small fighters diving in and around the warehouse area. Tendrils of dark vapor rose to engage the attackers. The Agonotti cloud grew quickly as more fighters buzzed in from the hills beyond the compound.
“What’s happening?�
“I think the rebels are attacking,� Ramah said.
“I’ve heard of some who were fighting the Agonotti, but never have seen any of them,� Chloe said rubbing her throat.
A low hum quickly grew in intensity coming up from behind them. They turned to find ten larger transports flying in low over the fields. The side compartment doors slid back revealing armed men and women motioning with their arms for the women in the fields to hurry to the transports.
“They’re coming to rescue us!� Ramah shouted. “Come on!�
The two women ran as hard as they could, their bare feet slugging through the loose soil of their planting. Women swarmed in from every area of the fields trying to reach one of the nearby ships.
Desperation overpowered every ounce of pain Ramah felt. Her legs and her back ached, but she did not care. If it killed her to reach one of those ships, at least she would die among people, free from her murderous captors.
Ramah heard explosions bursting back at the compound area behind her. She didn’t have time to look. Her only hope hovered about four feet off of the ground in front of her. Other women climbed in ahead of her—would there still be room? There would have to be—she would cling to the landing skids when it took off if she had to.
When Ramah got to the ship, she pushed her way through several other women, all of them trying frantically to get onboard. One of the men grabbed her and hauled her up into the transport bay as another fired the gun turret. The available room grew smaller by the second and Ramah saw the Agonotti running back toward them.
The Agonotti carried human weapons and fired them at the transport ships as they approached. There had no more time to rescue anyone else—the Agonotti cloud closed on them as well.
Ramah saw small groups of women groping after the ships as they began to lift off, carrying as many people as they could. Beyond the open door and the turret gunner, Ramah saw Chloe clamoring for the hull as the ship rose beyond her reach. Her heart sank as her friend clawed the metal hull—screaming for them to wait. Ramah hear her voice above the other pitiful cries as their hope slipped up and away from their grasp.
Shots clattered around inside the cabin as the men tried to get the compartment door shut. One of the men was hit and fell forward to the ground below. A woman next to Ramah was hit then spun in a daze with blood streaming down her face and neck. She collapsed into a heap at Ramah’s feet. The women cried and screamed as they tried to duck down inside the compartment to avoid the gunfire chasing them into the sky. The men shouted orders at one another.
Finally they got the door closed. More shots clanged into the metal hull, but none seemed to penetrate. The pilot whipped the ship around, throwing the passengers to the deck that weren’t holding onto the stability handles dangling by cables from the ceiling.
He pushed the throttle hard and the transport engines groaned carrying them away from the Agonotti’s slave fields.
The gunfire dissipated and some cheered as they blasted away from the former danger. Ramah sat quietly. She closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. Chloe was still back there. If she was lucky, they had killed her and the others quickly for trying to escape. Otherwise, only day to day terror remained for them.
Ramah listened to the engines as the whole ship trembled with the force of them. It was like being cradled in a strong father’s arms as far as she was concerned. Ramah’s exhaustion quickly caught up to her and for the first time in many months, she felt like she might actually be able to sleep soundly.
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LUCIN requested again for the computer to lower the temperature in the cabin. It was already registering fifty six degrees and his breath had begun to hang in the air. He had not been able to pinpoint the cause of his temperature increase, but his host body was definitely changing and becoming stronger.
Lucin also felt his spiritual power returning in part. He posed in front of the mirror, observing his own movements. He struck at the air with several lightning fast flurries—his movements barely perceptible as blurs. Was it their approach to the planet Draconis? He couldn’t be sure yet. But he knew it as the keeping place for his fallen brethren.
He and they were more powerful together than apart, but not quite powerful enough to overturn the council of The Eternal One. No measure of power could ever compare to the infinite, but there were other ways of fighting—smaller victories could be gained apart from the war itself. There were many places under Mithrium that might be his to control.