Shadow Seed

by Jose Rodriguez

CHAPTER NINE

  Between kills, Kamala would catch a glimpse of people being taken away by Pelasgians. At one point it was just gut-wrenching.

  Darek caught a Corinthian trying to get the drop on Kamala. “Behind you!” he cried.

  As the Corinthian was about to toss a slime net, Hurok quickly tackled him and tore the Pelasgian up with his claws.

  “This isn’t going well,” Kamala said. “We have to find Arloff.”

  Hurok was bewildered. “In all this?” he asked.

  Darek stabbed a Corinthian. “As big as he is. Can't be too hard to find.”

  Hacking and slashing through some Pelasgians, Kamala spotted Arloff at a distance, punching and stomping anything in his way. She screamed his name, but there was no way he was going to hear her over all the screaming and weapons whacking away at armor.

  Several Centaurs and Satyrs caught both of Arloff's arms in slime nets. They wrangled for a few seconds before Arloff, becoming angrier than he already was, spun wildly, taking the Pelasgians for a ride that sent them crashing through the crowd.

  Kamala narrowly dodged a Corinthian's sword. She swung her axes in turn, one smacking against the shield, the other finding the enemy's shoulder.

  Darek was knocked down from behind. He rolled over to see a Satyr pin him to the ground with a spear through his midsection.

  As the Satyr moved on, an Eriny landed and grabbed Darek to carry him away.

  Hurok jumped up in the nick of time, slashing the Eriny's wing off. When the Pelasgian hit the ground, Stig, Rona, and Doradus quickly hacked him up.

  Darek pulled the spear out and picked up a sword. When he saw Kamala nearby fighting with a Minotaur, he ran up swinging his sword up into the creature's stomach.

  “Thanks,” Kamala said, before seeing a Corinthian too late as he lopped off Darek's head.

  Hurok jumped forward, slashing the Corinthian's sword hand off with his claws.

  Again, Stig, Rona, and Doradus closed in to finish the Pelasgian off.

  Hurok picked Darek's head up.

  “He'll be fine,” Kamala said.

  Arloff was now a little further away.

  Unable to reach the Promethean, Kamala threw her axe and struck Arloff directly in the chest, finally getting his attention.

  Arloff pulled the axe out and saw Kamala jumping up and down. He battered everyone out of his way until he was standing in front of Kamala. “What?” he asked.

  “We need to regroup,” Kamala said. “At this rate, everyone is gonna be taken.”

  Arloff laughed. “Are you crazy?” he asked, grabbing a Satyr about to attack and squeezing him to death. “It’s impossible. They’re pressing us too hard.”

  An arrow struck Kamala from behind in the shoulder, though she hardly reacted. “Don’t we have backup?”

  “If we did, they’d be in the city,” Arloff answered, pulling the arrow out.

  Kamala was about to speak when she noticed Lilith standing next to them.

  Several Prometheans, including Elsa and Lugos, formed a circle around them for protection.

  Kamala couldn’t believe Lilith would take such a risk. “How did...never mind. It's dangerous here. You could be taken.”

  “Not a chance in this world.” Lilith smirked. “I'm quite safe. It's you who are in danger, and that's why I'm here. A little birdie told me you have some ideas to win this.”

  “Not sure,” Kamala said. “Maybe we can save what’s left of us.”

  “No,” Lilith snapped. “This is it. This is our last line of defense. If we lose here, we're finished.”

  Kamala's mind ran a million miles, thinking of what to do. “We have to gather everyone we can and retreat to the ridge over there. Arloff, no matter what, we hold that line. Hurok, take all the Fenrir. Fall back and circle around to the Pelasgian portal. No one gets through. Lilith, what do you have in the city?”

  A portal opened next to the group. “This way,” Lilith said, stepping through.

  “Elsa, Lugos,” Arloff called. “Do as Kamala said. This battle ends today.”

  Arloff and Kamala entered the portal and emerged on a high platform overlooking a massive town square filled with people.

  Lilith grabbed Kamala and pointed to the crowd. “This is my army or most of it. I need you and Arloff to take these people and destroy the Pelasgians outside the city.”

  Kamala felt like a ton of bricks landed on her. “No sweat.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Lilith.

  “Sorry for saying this,” Kamala said. “But this isn't an army. I mean there's hardly any organization here.”

  Lilith was halfway offended. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said with a hint of sarcasm. “No one told me about an all-powerful, intergalactic, superbeing that could open portals and assimilate entire worlds.”

  Kamala was baffled. “Inter…what?”

  Lilith chided almost like an uptight aristocrat. “Small mind…”

  Arloff could hear the battle outside the city. “Maybe if we could see what's happening, we can come up with a counterattack.”

  “Easy,” Lilith said, with a small-scale, phantom image of the battle appearing in front of them. “It's a top-down view of the fight. Our people are the red ones; the Pelasgians are blue.”

  Kamala closely examined the image.

  “The line at the ridge is holding well,” Arloff commented. “The Fenrir need to move faster.”

  “Give them a minute,” Kamala said. “They'll flank any moment. If only we could surround the Pelasgians.”

  Arloff tapped Kamala on the shoulder. “Portals?”

  “Yes!” Kamala said. “We can use them to get in the perfect position. Send reinforcements to the Fenrir. We need to blockade the Pelasgian portal.”

  “Who flanks?” Arloff asked.

  Kamala pointed to a spot on the image. “You flank from here. I'll take whoever is left and hit the center.”

  Arloff cracked his knuckles. “This is going to be fun.”

  “Are we ready?” asked Lilith.

  “Wait,” Kamala said. “I should address the people first. They need to know what’s about to happen.”

  Lilith held her hand out, inviting Kamala to the fore of the platform. The sight of the throng below was intimidating.

  “Will they be able to hear me?” Kamala asked, noticing that her voice boomed like an echo in a valley.

  Everyone below stopped and looked up.

  Kamala waited a moment, thinking of her son before speaking. “We believed we would find peace in death. And there are those who say we have no future. Now, as awful as it may seem, we face an enemy that is determined to consign us to a horrible fate. And that means we have only one option, fight.”

  The crowd screamed with enthusiasm.

  Kamala continued. “But this fight isn't just about our freedom. The fate of our legacy, in Rhea, depends on us. To lose this fight, seals theirs.”

  On the platform, even Lilith could feel the electric vibe coming from the people.

  “We will have peace!” Kamala declared. “That is our future. And today, we go forth to ensure that of both worlds.”

  The roar from the people reached a fever pitch.

  “Very inspiring,” Lilith said.

  Kamala stepped back. “Let's hurry. We’re not giving the Pelasgians a chance to escape.”

  “I'm counting on you,” Lilith said, as Kamala and Arloff stepped through separate portals.

  Kamala emerged near the city's gate. In front of her was the army she had riled up. Behind her, the entire wall quickly disappeared into the ground.

  The Pelasgians were not far, and Arloff was already closing in.

  Kamala pulled her weapons out and looked back at her eager army before running fearlessly headlong toward the enemy.

  No one thought twice about following Kamala's bold lead. The collision between both armies was a visceral mash of skin and steel.

  From her platform, Lilith could hardly watch as it was now out of her han
ds and in those of her people.