“Stop the fucking fire!” I shouted, while managing to kill another three more through a combination of Havok’s skill and Ember’s sword, which provided both wounds and distraction.
The last two fell to a combination of William and Roger and some invisible knifework, but it hardly mattered as more and more Fystr flooded the bridge. Twenty of the bastards managed to get a foothold on the bridge before one more of the bastards dropped down. He was unlike any Fystr I’d seen before; he wasn’t massive, maybe Calparr’s height, and was quite lean too, showing none of the bulky muscle that Jotun had carried. And where all the Fystr, including myself, normally looked about 29 to 30 years old, he only looked about 20. Yet he was bald as an egg. His armor was next level awesome: ornately carved but not gaudy and with no epic intimidating protrusions like that of Jotun and his crew. No, this was functional. But the most disconcerting thing about him among the flames, death, and carnage, was his smile. There was nothing fake or forced about it. Even though we’d killed ten Fystr, this fucker was genuinely happy to be here.
“I have to offer, it’s an honor thing, but please do say no,” he said, before clearing his throat. “If you agree to surrender and come peacefully, we will refrain from killing you all,” he said, like he was offering us all a refreshing beverage. “Or we can just kill you all outright. But you.” He pointed at me. “There is something decidedly different about you.”
“There's something odd about you too, you bald grinning freak,” I replied.
His grin grew wider, and his eyes glittered in the firelight as he brought an impossibly long sword from his back. It was surprisingly slender, but it emanated its own threatening aura. It moved suspiciously like Havok would, and my heart, which was already on the bottom of the ocean, managed to sink further as a chasm randomly opened up. I spun Havok around as if he was weightless and smiled back like I didn’t give a shit.
“Interesting. Jotun’s axe, if I am not mistaken!” he acknowledged, then without taking his eyes from mine, spoke to his troops. “Everyone, backs against the walls.” He rolled his neck and did a few experimental sword swings. “Tell your other ship not to attack, or we will kill you all immediately. Fight me, and your people may yet live another day.”
“It’s a trick, Shaun! They’ll kill us anyway,” Ember shouted.
“That just isn't true.” He feigned mock offence in Ember’s direction. “But even if it was, you have nothing to lose by trusting me when death is your only option.”
“Do it, Ember!” I called out, then spoke to her mind. “It’ll buy us time if nothing else.” She did as asked, but had to scramble to a few different terminals to find one that still worked.
“So, Human, do you know who I am?”
“Not a fucking clue, mate. Do you know who I am?”
“Shaun from Earth, apparently. Do ask your people not to interfere in this or they will be killed.”
“They know not to interfere.”
“Good, you can be trained at least. So we each have a living weapon. Yours taken from Jotun, no less. Are you the one who killed him for it?”
“No, I beat him in a fucking tickling contest,” I said with contempt, meeting his unyielding stare.
“You are impudent! Before we start, you should know my name is Zarime.”
“Thanks for sharing. I don’t know how I’d sleep at night without knowing the name of the baldy Fystr I killed, just like every other Fystr I’ve ever faced.”
“Does my name really not mean anything to you?” he asked, the smile dropping from his face for the first time. He seemed genuinely offended.
“I mean, it’s a bit feminine. I wouldn’t pick it for any of my kids.”
He shook his head, the smile returning to his face. “What an unusual specimen,” he said, bringing his sword up ready to fight. He must have finally had enough of my shit.
“I just want you to know that the mischief you have caused has presented you with the very great honor of being killed by the heir to the Fystr throne. I’m as close to a god as you will ever meet with a fully realized Potential of 95 percent.”
“That’s some scary shit, I must admit. You see, I’m so scared I’m bloody rhyming!”
“Finally, you understand your predicament.”
I gave him a long look. “95 percent and you can’t tell that I’m taking the piss? The only thing I’m scared of is that this might actually take a few minutes, rather than the few seconds I thought it was gonna take to kill you.”
“Enough!” he roared. I’d finally gotten under his skin. As always, it was too easy with these dickheads. I felt I’d managed to keep him prattling on for a good while. I just hoped it was enough for the Haven to get its ass over here. Otherwise, we were completely fucked.
He came at me so fast I could barely follow it. Luckily Havok did, and blocked his blow. I just shit myself, metaphorically.
Zarime raised an astonished eyebrow, but didn’t stay surprised for long as he came at me with renewed vigor, pushing me backward with his onslaught. It was an unpleasant awakening to find out that Havok and I were seriously outmatched for the first time ever. He did not let up, striking high, then low, left and right, without any obvious pattern, but with blinding speed and skill.
Ember cried out when she thought I’d been hit. The truth was that I had, but I pretended that he’d missed. When he paused to study me in wonder that I was still standing, Havok swiftly healed me, and I didn’t hesitate to lunge forward with my first attack of the fight.
We, that is Havok and me, lasted two seconds before we were on the back foot once more. We had no answer to his skills. He hadn’t even attempted to attack my mind, though I think we both knew he didn’t need to.
He pushed me backwards, getting into a rhythm of ever more skilled and intense sword work. Cuts were opening all over my arms and legs as he bled me like some kind of sadistic butcher. I felt the final blow coming. A wicked slash at my head. For a moment I thought luck had saved me again, as I tripped falling backwards, narrowly avoiding the cut. But he spun his sword in a tight circle and plunged it down through my chest, pinning me to the floor below.
Blackness clouded my world. Fuck.
Chapter 26
Dental Work
It just didn’t seem possible for Shaun and Havok to be so comprehensively outclassed. My heart screamed to do something, anything. But I was hamstrung by the 20 Fystr guards with orders to kill us all if we interfered. My only hope was that they could hold on long enough for the Haven to arrive.
Seconds later I thought it over, as Zarime made an impossibly fast cut at Shaun’s head. His attempt to avoid the insane longsword resulted in him falling backwards, inadvertently saving his life. It was a short reprieve. An involuntary scream escaped my mouth as I watched the lethal seven-foot sword of Zarime change direction so swiftly I could barely comprehend what had happened. All I was aware of was that the sword was now buried through Shaun’s chest and into the floor below. Havok attempted a final attack on Zarime, who lithely shifted to one side. Managing to catch his handle, he slammed the huge axe into the deck with astounding force. Then, arms outstretched, Zarime began slowly turning, like a victor in the Roman Colosseum for the benefit of his people.
My own life suddenly didn’t matter anymore. Without Shaun, what was the point? If I could kill this grinning fucker, then I’d at least go out with some small comfort. I screamed again, this time out of pure rage as I hurled my sword, propelled with all the telekinetic force I could muster. I followed the throw up by charging him, vision focused with fury despite the tears that poured freely.
A small shield flared to life over his hand as he batted my sword with contempt, followed by a backhand that caught my face and shoulder like a wrecking ball. I flew across the bridge like a ragdoll, in a spray of blood and teeth, to land on my now dislocated shoulder in a barely conscious heap of failure, misery, and pain. The only reason I was still alive was because his sword was still embedded in Shaun. A problem he was abo
ut to address. From my position, I watched as he held his hand out for the sword to come to him. All traces of his annoying smile vanished when it didn’t come. Walking over to Shaun’s lifeless body and placing a foot on his chest, he then took hold of the sword. With a sharp yank, he pulled it free. A small fountain of blood shot forth, spattering on his armor. He looked down in disgust.
“Now for head collection. Don’t worry, young lady, I’ll take yours next,” he said, looking across the bridge at me before raising the sword above Shaun’s head. His expression suddenly changed into one of pain and surprise. “What was that!” he roared. He swept his sword around himself in a wide arc but found nothing to hit. He was facing away from me now, and I saw two heavy streams of blood flowing down his back. He roared again, still looking around for what had caused the unexplained attack. It must have hurt him more than I’d have expected, as his sword now looked unwieldy. “Kill them all,” he screamed.
“Fight!” I tried to shout from my spot on the floor. It came out as a ragged, garbled mess, but my friends needed no instruction as the room erupted into chaos, flames, and shrieks. The guard nearest to my position turned to face me with a sneer. Moving closer, he raised his sword to finish the job Zarime had started. His arm suddenly dropped as he winced in pain and shock. He looked around to find the cause, blood now flowing freely from his armpit. I took the only chance I had and attacked his mind. His defense was almost nonexistent as he dealt with the surprise, pain, and blood loss. Appearing in his Nerve Center and immediately grabbing all the cables that I could get my arms around. With an effort of concentration, I locked the bastard up. I could feel his mind begin to shut down. Leaving a tendril of my consciousness holding on to his nerve bundles, I left his Mindscape to find him writhing on the floor before he stilled, and I regained the part of me that finished the job.
It was hard to make out how anything in the room was going, other than flames and death. My heart broke a little as I saw Roger going down, his body cut almost in half from the neck down. William stood over his body, trying to defend his friend futilely. It was no good, we were done. Our insane journey had finally come to an end. I supposed it was remarkable we’d made it this far.
Another Fystr approached me, axes dripping with the blood of one of my friends, as I sat propped against a bulkhead, broken and all but finished. A desperate attempt on his mind was futile. His defenses were solid. In the few seconds I had left while waiting for the inevitable blow to land, I wanted my last sight to be of Shaun, not this fucking bastard. I looked over to where his body lay. Useless anger filled me as Zarime stood over him, sword raised to remove my love's head. I watched, transfixed in horror, as it began to descend, when I saw Shaun’s eyes snap open and Havok broke free of the floor, shooting into his hand the exact second the blow landed. Despite everything that was going on, I couldn’t help but think, Lucky bastard! A smile played on my lips. Now I was going to have to find a way to survive.
Chapter 27
Be My Frankenstein
Ember’s screams, Havok’s screams, rang in my head, but they were growing increasingly distant by the millisecond. I was dying, and quickly. They're all going to die, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. I’ve failed them, I mourned as my consciousness faded.
A mocking female voice replied, pulling my consciousness back from the spiral of despair. “Of course you failed, pitiful human. Zarime is a god amongst you and with me at his side there is nothing we can't accomplish.”
“Who is this?” I asked back.
“I am Lorelei, the sword that has taken your life, and even now I am drinking all of your beautiful essence. You are brimming, my master will be delighted,” the sword taunted, so pleased with itself as it presumably drained my Omni Energy reserves. She’d fucked up though. Her words prompted a glimmer of hope for me. With Havok, I could sense his energy and we could transfer it between us. Could I sense hers? Reaching out toward the voice with my mind, I searched in the darkness. Suddenly joy filled me as I found the warm glow of Lorelei. I must only have been able to reach her because she was buried in my chest, but I could feel her energy swelling as she sucked me dry. I mentally put a stop to it.
“How?” she asked in surprise. I didn’t answer, because I wasn’t finished yet. I began pulling the energy back out from her. She howled in terror and despair. “How are you doing this? Stop!”
I felt a light resistance on the flow, but it was negligible. “Are you trying to stop me, Lorelei? You must have forgotten, you're just a sword. You might be sharp and pointy, but you're no match in a mental battle against me.”
She continued to scream in anguish as I drew the power out from her faster and faster until suddenly the flow dropped to a trickle. I could sense there was some remaining, the reserve locked away deep within the sword that gave it life. I fucking wanted that too. Forcing my way through whatever barrier denied me, I continued to pull out every last drop of the sweet energy. Her screams in my head suddenly stopped as she ceased to exist as Lorelei. Only a sword once more.
Satisfied with my work, I still had a problem. While I could heal myself with the energy I had available, there was no way to heal around the damn sword in my chest, and it was the blood loss that had caused me to lose consciousness. I only existed in this small place in my mind. I reached out to Havok. “Can you hear me, dude?”
“Shaun?” came his voice, so faintly.
“Yeah, man, I'm still alive, but only just. I can't heal with this sword stuck in me.”
“I… I can’t help. I’m wedged into the deck of the bridge. I’m so sorry, I’ve failed you,” he replied, sounding heartbroken as he spoke.
I was about to reply, put his mind at ease, but I became vaguely aware of a change. I may not have been aware of the physical world, but I could feel that the sword had been pulled from my body. I quickly focused on my Holistic repair; it was so much more effective with the excess Omni Energy I had.
“Havok!” I shouted. “I’m gonna try to free you in a second, once I'm healed. Then I need you to get your ass over here.”
“Fuck yeah, Shaun! Come and get me.”
I continued to repair the wound in my chest. I still couldn’t reach Normal-State though. Not enough blood. The Omni Energy seemed to understand the problem instinctively, and I felt as it began breaking down muscle and body stores, enough to replenish the blood I’d lost. Miraculously, my ability to reach Normal-State returned. My eyes snapped open. Zarime stood above me, ready to bring the sword down. I pulled on Havok with telekinesis, and he used his own abilities to position himself where I could snatch him from the air. Which happened at exactly the same time as Zarime’s blow landed. The timing couldn’t have been tighter. Zarime’s eyes widened in amazement as I rose to my feet like I’d been lying on a coiled spring. Havok deflected another blow from Zarime while I came fully to my senses. Then the fight really began again. It was notably easier when he no longer had Lorelei helping. It appeared that a large percentage of the skill he’d displayed earlier had not been his own. I knew all about that. While Havok deflected the next two moves, I scanned the room for Ember. My heart broke as I saw nearly all of our crew dead or dying. Ember lay slumped against a bulkhead, still alive, but only just, a Fystr approaching her with deadly intent.
Not on my fucking watch! With Havok’s help, I smashed Zarime’s sword to one side and with a roar of rage, I punched the dickhead in the face, hard. He staggered back, reeling from the sudden turn in our battle, and while I was far from 100 percent health, between me and Havok, we were more than a match for him. I couldn’t follow up the punch though, as Ember needed me now. I flew across the bridge, levitation moving me far faster than my legs would have. Omni Energy flaring repeatedly, protecting me from the incoming mental attacks and leaving me free to concentrate on cutting Ember’s attacker clean in half as I came to a stop.
I offered her a brief, bloody smile, before turning back to face the room. “Let’s fuckin’ have it then,” I roared at th
e remaining Fystr. My Omni Shield continued to flash, much to the confusion and amazement of those now surrounding me. Somehow, William and Calparr still stood fighting grimly back-to-back like absolute heroes. A distorted voice sounded in my head, at least I thought it was in my head. When it spoke again, judging by the response of the Fystr, I had been mistaken.
It was Ogun’s voice, over the comm, “Repeat, Uprising! We are on our way. ETA 30 seconds. If anyone yet lives, hold on!”
Zarime snarled at me, “This is not over, Shaun of Earth. You, and all of your traitor friends are going to pay. That much I promise you.” Then the baldy bastard levitated into the tunnel, followed by his friends. It may have been petty and dishonorable, but nonetheless I attacked the tail end of the departing Fystr, to Havok’s delight. With their backs turned as they fled, it was as easy as slicing bread.
“Calparr! Torch the fuckers, if you can,” I yelled, pointing to the tunnel. He staggered over, bleeding from everywhere. How he was still standing, I had no idea, but he followed my orders and pumped a torrent of flames up into the tunnel, hopefully burning a ton of the horrible bastards. His flames lasted for around ten seconds before he passed out falling to the floor unconscious.
With no enemies left to kill, my attention was refocused by the groans among the bodies covering Uprising’s bridge. To my disgust, on closer inspection I saw that all of the humans that had lost their lives had been beheaded. Ember was barely conscious at my feet. I suddenly felt very alone, the weight of those who still lived on my shoulders. It was a huge relief when Elyek and Yolek appeared next to me, unharmed except for a few scratches. Another woman, from William’s crew, called out from the wreckage of the bridge. She ran straight over to William, who, like Ember, was only barely conscious.
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