Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic

by Adam Sipperly

  The Firemen first nominated Flee to go, but he declined. He asked they nominate someone else, as he wished to stay and watch over his people. In his place, they nominated Nevo as their representative. Three of the four Petros decided to join. Gabbro, Eclogite, and Gneiss all stepped forward with Tuff staying behind to learn more about those they now traveled with.

  With all of that said, a small group of sixteen quickly came together to start exploring Venus. There were three humans, four Martians, four Plutonians, three Petros, a fireman, and an iceman.

  While their numbers were small, their resolve and determination were that of a thousand. And with that, they knew they were ready to take on Flaca’s entire army.

  ◆◆◆

  VIII: Queen Dionaea

  The group had decided to split up, with each leaving from a separate end of the clearing. Patrick traveled with Roger, John, Flupotia, Yuzar, Bruish, Frize, Gabbro and Eclogite. It was slow going for the group as they pushed their way through the jungle. Thick vines, heavy leaves, and wide mud pits made the trek increasingly difficult. Each and every soul in the party did their absolute best to remain silent, but there were several ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ as they fell, stumbled and bumped their way forward. With each sound made, the rest of the group would tense up. Everyone was incredibly on edge, waiting for a brithog, a horde of soldiers, or some other unknown danger to present itself.

  For Patrick, it seemed like they had been going in circles for miles and miles. The only thing that kept him from losing his mind was the new sights and creatures that lurked around each corner. He was happy when they stumbled across a small village of Pintlupus’ at one point. They watched silently from the hollowed-out remains of a great tree that had fallen and was now their home. There had also been a large round creature that deeply intrigued Patrick. It had a spiral design of jet black and cobalt blue circling its body. Five long, black legs stretched from various points, digging furiously at the ground. It had paused as they passed, raising itself on its hind legs to reveal an eerily human-looking face on its underbelly. Once they had passed, it returned to digging.

  While Patrick was fascinated with the creatures, Flupotia was more interested in the views. There were dozens of sparkling waterfalls, some large and others small. Each of them cascaded silently into clear pools of water. They passed a handful of active volcanoes with rivers of lava gushing forth. These proved to be difficult for most of the party to cross, causing them to change course more than a few times.

  It was Eclogite who first heard something unnatural and out of place. Certain she was hearing voices, she paused and held her right hand in the air forming a closed fist. Everyone stopped and held their breath, straining to hear what she had. It wasn’t long until the air carried the sounds of shouting to their ears.

  Following the sounds of commotion, the small group came across a clearing that was not much smaller than the one they had set up camp in. However, this clearing did not appear to be a natural one. Instead, it appeared that the Plutonians had made camp here for themselves. Large tree trunks littered the area with tall piles of sawdust surrounding them. The feat was impressive itself, given the sheer size of the trees they had felled.

  Hiding in the camp were ten large ships similar to the ones Patrick and his army had been flying since Earth. While the ships surrounded the perimeter of the camp, there was still enough of a gap between them that you could see what the soldiers were up to. There was a line of prisoners chained together under heavy guard. Many of the prisoners had gags stuffed into their mouths, their faces covered with looks of exhaustion and defeat. Taking full account of the scene before him, Patrick raised his left hand and with his pointer finger made a circle. The group paced backward away from the camp and deeper into the woods.

  “Time for a plan, if anyone has any ideas?” Patrick looked around the group, hoping someone else would take the reins from him, just once. “Going forward, I really hope we have more time to plan our attack strategies. But if I’m being honest here, those prisoners don’t look so well. I’m worried if we head back to camp for reinforcements, they’ll be off-planet by the time we get back.” He paused, giving anyone a chance to jump in. “So I ask again, ideas anyone?”

  He scanned the group, receiving nothing but blank stares in return. He rested on Flupotia and screamed in his mind for her to help.

  “I think the best bet is to split up.” It was Frize who spoke up when nobody else did. “I think Flupotia and Yuzar should sneak into their base. I know it’s risky, but if you can get on a few of the ships we may be able to take them by surprise.”

  Nobody spoke for a second, all eyes were on Frize. “And us?” Gabbro surprised everyone by speaking up, her voice deep and low.

  “The rest of us need to spread out and be ready to attack from all angles. Make it seem like there’s more of us than there really is. We currently have the high ground, so as long as we can take them before they try to fly off, we should be able to have this over pretty quickly.”

  Thank you Frize. Patrick said to himself, but to everyone else, “I like the plan a lot. I can head for the ridge on the other side, draw the fire as much as possible. Give the rest of you a chance to get close.”

  There was no objection, only silent agreement. Wishing each other luck, the party split up and everyone took their position. Frize joined Patrick on the ridge while John left with Roger for the opposite edge. Bruish, Gabbro, and Eclogite held the current position.

  As they broke apart to their ranks, Yuzar grabbed Flupotia and held her back for a second.

  “Are we really doing this?” He looked out to the field full of soldiers and prisoners. “Those are our people out there.”

  “Why the sudden cold feet?” She looked at him, slightly taken aback by his sudden aversion. “I recall a very different temperament when we were boarded in space.”

  “That was different. We were protecting ourselves. This just doesn’t feel right. Are we just going to kill without remorse or thought? There could be good people out there. Friends, family.” He looked back over his shoulder and through the trees to the soldiers bustling about.

  “Ahh,” Flupotia said as she finally understood. “And who is it that you know out there?”

  “I can’t be sure, but I thank that’s my cousin.” Yuzar pointed between the ships to a shorter soldier who was currently tying her black hair into a bun.

  “Look…” She let out a low breath. “I won’t make any promises I can’t keep. But I will tell you we will try our best to move forward with as little life lost as possible. That’s the goal here. And I hope we’re able to save your cousin and many others in the process.”

  Yuzar bit his bottom lip and looked to the ground in front of him.

  Patrick had now made his way to the top of the ridge on the other side of the clearing. It was by far the highest ground for the battle to come. Both him and Frize lay low and inched close to the edge of the cliff. From there, Patrick could see everyone in their positions. Roger and John were poised and ready, weapons already drawn. The Petros and Bruish were crouched low behind some bushes, ready to charge in. And then he saw Flupotia and Yuzar not yet in position. What is taking them so long? Patrick watched what appeared to be the end of an argument and the two made their way into final positions.

  Once there, it didn’t take long for the two of them to slip from their cover of the jungle and fall in line with the other Plutonian soldiers. They blended in as well as they could given that none of the other soldiers were carrying similar weapons and their uniforms were far different. This didn’t seem to worry the Plutonians in the slightest, however, as they continued to load the prisoners onto their ships. Flupotia and Yuzar made their way to the prisoners who were all lined up and kneeling on the ground.

  The prisoners were largely all the same. The creatures had dull green skin with thick brown hair that almost looked like vines. Flupotia made it to the prisoners first and slid her arm beneath the armpit of one of the females. N
either said a word as they fell in line with the other soldiers loading prisoners.

  Yuzar stopped at the next prisoner in line and lifted him up in a similar fashion. As Yuzar fell in with the soldiers, he waited until the last second to break formation. With confidence, he made his way onto a different ship. A few eyebrows were raised, but with the General still barking orders, there wasn’t much time for anyone to question Yuzar’s actions.

  “Play along,” Flupotia whispered into the ear of the prisoner she was leading forward as she broke rank within the ship.

  She knew exactly where she was going as the layout of all the ships was the same. She snuck into the armory with ease where she untied the prisoner.

  “Who are you?” The Venusian looked to Flupotia, her head cocked to the side. “And why are you helping me?”

  “There’s no time to explain now. We have to free as many of your people as we can without letting anyone outside know what’s going on.” Flupotia turned to a nearby locker and pulled out a pair of handguns. “Do you know how to use these?”

  “Yes. I’ve seen them used enough that I can figure it out.” She took the guns from Flupotia. “You’re not with the desert King then?”

  “Who?” Flupotia stopped for a moment, wondering if she was referring to Flaca.

  “The King of the desert. Your kind, with the pink skin,” she pushed Flupotia’s sleeve up and pointed at her arm. “I believed you were his people, here to take the jungle. But you’re not, are you?”

  “No, I’m from somewhere much further away.”

  “I knew these technologies were too advanced for him. That the ocean would never turn on us. I’ve been so foolish.” She hung her head.

  “Look, whatever happened here, now is when we start to set it right. Can I count on you?”

  Flupotia placed a reassuring hand on the Venusian’s shoulder. She refused to lift her head.

  “We’ve all made mistakes,” Flupotia continued. “Don’t let that be what defines you. It’s how you fix your mistakes that define who you are. So let me ask you,” she lifted the Venusians' head, “how will you fix your mistakes?”

  The Venusian nodded and smiled at Flupotia.

  “I like you. What’s your name?”

  “Flupotia. And you are?”

  “My name is Dionaea.”

  “It’s great to meet you Dionaea.” Flupotia let her hand fall from the Venusians' face. “Now, I’m setting the weapons to stun only. We don’t want any more bloodshed. Agreed?” Dionaea nodded in agreement. “The gun is fairly silent on this mode. Should allow us to move through the ship quickly and take out most of the soldiers inside before we storm the rest of the camp. Are you ready?”

  Flupotia looked at Dionaea with her eyes wide as the question hung in the air between them. She didn’t know Dionaea from any of the other inhabitants of this planet. But she had a good feeling from her, similar to the ones she had felt towards Patrick when they first met. Dionaea nodded and the two took off in opposite directions to take the ship as their own.

  While Yuzar was busy going through a similar process on his ship, everyone else was waiting on the edge of the clearing with bated breath. Minutes ticked by and nothing happened. Then, just when Patrick was about to break from his cover a dull popping noise was heard from one of the two ships. It was rapidly followed by several others.

  “Prisoner escaped!” A Plutonian soldier came running from the ship Yuzar had entered, firing his gun randomly behind him.

  This caught the General's attention who finally stopped barking orders. After a brief moment of confusion, he gained control of the situation

  “Get over there and help him!” He hollered at a small group nearby who were loading large crates onto the ships.

  They dropped their cargo and pulled their weapons out, racing across the clearing to support their comrade. Now! Patrick thought as he jumped from the jungle and called on his new firepower. He sent a large blast in front of the ship which was being attacked, giving Yuzar a moment to recover and figure out his next steps. He then turned his attention on the remaining ships, raining down balls of fire to keep anyone from boarding.

  It was then that everyone else came crashing out of the jungle throwing the Plutonians off their guard even further. Many had been so focused on hiding from the fires that they hadn’t anticipated the attack. Bruish and the Petros began battling their way through a crowd armed with heavy broadswords and pistols. The pistols were near useless in close combat, most Plutonians instead unsheathing their swords for the attack. John and Roger were standing on the opposite ridge of Patrick and Frize, making their own slow progress. Patrick watched as Flupotia rushed from her ship with a group of the green creatures behind her, each one armed to the teeth. They forced their way across the battlefield to the prisoners and began releasing them as quickly as possible. Each prisoner released jumped into action and joined the fight.

  It was clear that the Plutonians were surrounded and in trouble but the General continued to holler at them to fight while he retreated towards the ring of ships. Half of the ships were now engulfed in flames while the other half remained untouched from the battle raging around them. One of the Petros was the first on Patrick’s side to fall. A Plutonian had gotten behind Gabbro and with one swiftly placed blow severed her head. Eclogite had seen her companion fall and turned on her attacker with surprising force. She cleared the distance between them in five quick steps and funneled all of that momentum into contact. The soldier took flight and launched clear of the battle. He slammed into a tree trunk high above their heads with a loud thud before falling to the ground. Eclogite was now on a rampage charging through groups of Plutonian soldiers. Some were thrown into the air, some were knocked over and others were trampled.

  The battle was tightly packed now and Patrick was no longer able to assist from his vantage point. Frize and Patrick jumped from the ridge they were on, landing in a small pool of water beneath them. Dragging themselves to shore they were met by a small group swinging swords. Patrick managed to unsheathe his sword in time to deflect one attack while blasting another Plutonian with a ball of fire. Frize wasn’t as lucky as a soldier made contact, their sword burying itself just beneath his hip. Frize pushed through the pain and continued to throw small balls of fire at those who continued to attack.

  Frize then did something that even Patrick had not expected. He pulled on both his powers of ice and fire to control the body of water behind him. Through the use of both powers, he was able to control the movements of the water, freezing and evaporating it in rapid succession. The water bent up around him in a large wave and crashed down on a large group surrounding him. He then released all of the heat from the water, causing it to freeze the Plutonians in place. He smirked at another group as if daring them to come for him.

  With that Patrick took off, knowing Frize was more than capable of handling his own against their enemy. He fought his way across the battlefield, taking down three Plutonians but earning his own wounds in the process. He had a small cut across his left shoulder and a bullet lodged in his right calf by the time he reached Flupotia and the remaining prisoners. With his help, they quickly finished releasing the Venusians and turned back to the battle. But it was over. The General was no longer barking orders and the soldiers had recognized they had been outmaneuvered.

  The clearing was now littered with bodies, both living and dead. Most were still alive and were groaning loudly in pain. There were still several unlucky enough to have not survived. On Patrick’s side, Gabbro and Bruish were the only two casualties.

  Patrick had not seen Bruish’s last moments but knew they must have been heroic. There was a fatal wound across his lower torso and another to his neck. Surveying the carnage around him, Patrick was just glad it was over. It was then that the ship behind him roared to life. He saw the eyes in front of him grow wide and everyone raised their weapons without order and began firing.

  Patrick turned to see the ship hovering just above the gro
und, turning on its axis until the cannons were pointed at the entire group, Plutonian soldiers and rebels alike. Patrick sent a fireball and saw it slam into the side of the ship along with the other attacks, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Patrick began to call on a flame as large as the one he had used on the brithog. His body grew weak as the flame grew and he knew he didn’t have enough time. The inside of the cannon was beginning to glow as it spooled up a missile.

  Climbing the back of the ship was Dionaea who refused to watch those who had just fought for her perish. Once on top of the ship, along with several other Venusians, she began to send her hair spiraling out. The once thick vines grew thin as they raced along the surface of the ship and wrapped around the cannon. With the cannon fully wrapped, each of the Venusians tightened the grip and watched as the outer casing crumpled inwards. Dionaea was the first to release, signaling to those around her to follow. She ran for the front of the ship as her hair tightened back up.

  The others followed and all leaped just inches above the command center window. As Dionaea spun in the air she made brief eye contact with the General who was sitting at the controls grinning like a fool. He had already pressed the button to release a missile and she smiled at him coyly as she fell by the window.

  The missile was released and began to propel out of the cannon. As it made contact with the crushed walls it blew prematurely. The explosion rocketed back into the ship where it quickly consumed the remaining arsenal of missiles. The ship was engulfed in flames as the group of Venusians fell from the air. The force of the explosion rocketed them forward and vines flew out in every direction as they all grabbed onto various tree limbs to break their falls.