Nakiel

by C. R Corbin

  The droid accosting him was quite the warrior, he had to admit, it had found him based on the signal that the computer had sent as soon as that video had activated. It was now close, he could smell its metal in the air and see its red eyes flickering against the nearby stones. Nakiel wondered if he should simply wait it out and see if the machine would be led away by the sheer confusing pathways of the cavern but he knew better.

  This was only going to end with one of them dead.

  So with his sword drawn he peers around the corner, his cheek slid against sandstone as he watched the titan of a machine look around before settling on the corner. Nakiel holds his breath to obscure himself and waits until he hears the machine move once again, then he peers around the corner to see that it had his back facing him.

  And then Nakiel launches himself forward.

  The issue with the machine and being underground was that it was often unable to decipher the complex pathways that would lead to the oracle's computer. It was only able to draw a rather rough sketch and was thus confused when it got closer and closer to the computer. It often mapped itself to pathways that only led in the general direction of the machine and not directly to it.

  And as such, it couldn't find the same pathway that Nakiel had and was effectively wandering in circles.

  Nakiel leapt onto the machine and jammed his blade into the space between its neck and shoulder before jamming an exploding arrow into the crack as well. Nakiel quickly leaps back and rolls over, wincing as the explosion runs through the cave. He looked back up to see that the machine had been slightly damaged by the ordeal.

  Its arm was only hanging off of some wires and a single metal bar. Nakiel grabs onto it and tugs it with all his might, it falls and the machine begins to frantically strike at him with its remaining arm.

  Nakiel moves with all the grace given to him by his training, by his blood, his claws pop out and he swings his hand downward in order to scratch through the machine. It shivers and Nakiel picks up his blade once again, jamming it into one of the leg joints before snapping that bit of metal off as well.

  But the machine catches on and grabs him before chucking him against a nearby wall.

  It nearly busts his ribs with how hard he was kicked but he perseveres and glances around at anything that might help him put this thing down for good. He realized that taking out another leg would be an option but that would put him at risk of being struck once again by the machine. And Nakiel could see that the nanites In the frame of the machine were already piecing it back together by reattaching the arm and leg that he had torn off.

  The machine was self-repairing. It could reattach cables and wiring if necessary. Sure the limbs wouldn't be as sturdy as they would be if they had been worked on by actual engineers but in the heat of battle that mattered rather little.

  And so Nakiel draws his bow and runs towards the path that leads to the exit. As the machine tries to follow him in this cramped corridor Nakiel fires an arrow at its head that explodes and causes a great deal of rubble to fall onto it.

  That crack in the ceiling that Nakiel had identified was a bit more substantial than he had initially bargained for and the rocks immediately pin the metal monstrosity down onto the floor. It begins to shiver and glances up at him, its haunting red eyes further obscured by more and more of the rock.

  Nakiel hoped that he didn't cause something that would collapse the entire cavern but after a few moments it was clear that it wouldn't be the case and he set out a sigh of relief before drawing another arrow and firing it into the eye of the machine. Luck had been the savior of the day, if he and the droid had fought on open ground then the droid would have had far more ease dodging and detecting his movements. Down here it was rather restricted.

  He turns, hopeful that this would be the end of the droid.

  He wanders further up the path before he begins to hear it. It was about a day after he had defeated the droid and now he was getting closer and closer to the surface but he could hear something in the depths. There was something in the deep that didn't want him to escape quite yet, there was this rumbling in the air that was telling him that his escape was going to encounter an even more substantial challenge than the droid.

  And then he sees it.

  It was this massive thing, akin to a snake and far bigger than almost any of the sandworms that he had encountered so far. It was coming from one of the tunnel pathways, its sheer width was far greater than the tunnel and as it sped towards him he felt something that almost never overtook him.

  Fear.

  He ran faster and faster, knowing that if he even slowed down for a moment that he would surely end up in the belly of this monstrosity. His arrows were of no use, nothing was at this point. He grabs some explosives from his belt and tosses it back at the beast and it serves to deter it for a few moments before it continues its chase. Nakiel was close to the surface but the issue came when he had to attempt to remember all the turns that he made.

  If he didn't then he would end up dead soon enough.

  But there was a voice that helped guide him, a voice that he understood as his ancestors. The spirits had spoken to him through the darkness and propelled him forward. He knew every step, every turn that he had to take in order to advance and he did so with all the strength afforded to him yet. The rumbling grows louder the more time passes but he still hears the voice in his ear.

  Left.

  Right.

  It was all clear, his path was clear.

  And as he sees the daylight peeking at him through one of the corners he spirits faster than he ever has and ends up landing on a mound of sand on the surface. He looks around to feel the glare of the sunshine sting his eyes as well as the overwhelming heat strike his skin.

  As well as something else.

  There were a variety of droids surrounding the area, all aiming their weaponry at him. He stares at them, shaking in disbelief. Had he really failed and been caught in the end? Had they recognized the signal? Had they come here after hearing the rumbles of the beast. And he hears the voice of their god. "You've been hard at work Verotan. Retrieving the oracle for us." Said Iza. Nakiel snarls, "I would never do anything for you scum." "Aren't you a bit naïve? You would rather assist the humans? A pack of primitive fools that still hold onto their mortality and their feeble ways, they die off as my kind only begins to flourish." Iza scoffs. "I would never help the same creatures that butchered my people. That enslaved them." Nakiel states. Iza chuckles, his voice ringing through every inch of the valley, "How incredibly short-sighted of you. Have you seen the wonders that we can create? The truths that we can find? They are worth far more than anything that your humans can bring to us. They still live in flesh and blood and so do you, we can offer you all something far greater. The chance at being immortalized. It is a shame that you don't seem to recognize this rather obvious benefit. Now give us the oracle Verotan, lest you want to feel the torment that I can deliver you. " Iza commands.

  Nakiel looks around, there were far too many droids around for him to do anything drastic that would take them all down so he waits and bides his time. There was still something yet that would be able to help him escape. Only it wasn't human or Verotan at all.

  And it was still rumbling.

  He felt the spirits calling to him, allowing him to wrangle the beast and bring it to the surface. He had lured the beast to the entrance of the cave and it still waited in the darkness of the caverns since daylight was its fear, its weakness. The sun scorched its flesh and caused it to writhe in pain but Nakiel needed it now, he needed a miracle and thus he shut his eyes and called to it, using the spirits as a conduit. His tongue vibrates at an intensity that would lure it to him and it comes. An explosion of sand and rock envelops the area. It looked like a bomb had gone off.

  The beast was nearly as wide as a quarter of the desert. As soon as it streams into the air it blocks out the sun, the many small appendages stretching from it shiver in the ai
r and it screams as the droids immediately gazed into its majesty. The sun was blotted out and the ordinarily blue sky was dyed gold during the ensuing chaos and Nakiel took the moment to run. He grabs onto his bow and turns towards the nearest exit and begins to sprint. Since the visuals were blocked by the dust and the droids were distracted, Iza was unable to locate him.

  The AI stayed silent as he observed the leviathan surfacing. How has life created something this powerful? This majestic? It was far greater in size than anything that he could imagine. His droids almost began firing on it but he halted them and made them stay in place.

  After all, angering such a beast would surely result in the powerplant being destroyed as well as a great deal of their forces.

  He had to now find that Verotan that had snuck out. He was determined to see the outsider pay for intruding on what was his planet. He didn't even know the species still lived actually, he thought that they had all died out in that war so long ago but there were remnants apparently. He would have to inform his counterparts so they could stage another assault on the planet. It was their right to rule, they were the supreme beings of these worlds and any attempt to deny them from this throne would be madness.

  But for now he simply watched as the daylight was blotted out and the roar of this beast rang across the planet. He simply waits and looks towards the distant mountains where the Verotan seemed to be headed and sends his own droids in pursuit. The humans would pay for their hubris soon enough, and all of organic life would know the terror of his might and the wrath of his sun.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The sky was painted a dismal purple, all of it was. His wounds stung as sand flicked onto them and yet he continued with the hope of the world in his hands, this tiny little disk that was to mean the redemption of the humans here and the downfall of his worst enemy. During his escape, there was a bit of a frenzy and he was struck by one of the droids in the confusion. Only on the leg, yet it slowed him somewhat, more concerning was the fact that his communicator was destroyed in the chaos so he had no way of calling home. At least he had the oracle, however. It was almost funny how such a small device could have had such a resounding effect on the state of things, specifically the survival of that bastard Iza.

  Nakiel pauses in the middle of his gait to look around, to gaze above and see if he was being tracked. He was moving as fast as he could and was attempting to camouflage himself but he wasn't entirely sure how well it was actually working considering the fact that Iza could see nearly everything amongst these rocks and these sands. A small misstep and he was sure to be beset by a variety of mechanical monstrosities that would have left his brothers running for the hills. Of course, he couldn't avoid them forever but he would try his best. Of course, the price for his discretion was that the journey would take a bit longer. He knew that Iza had sent in bots after him but he wasn't entirely sure that he would be able to fight them off in this injured state of his. He gripped his bow a bit tighter and continued walking, using the shade of these curved red rocks whenever he could in an attempt to hide himself from whatever was searching for him. At night he swore that he could see red rays in the distance, rushing across the rocks, over his body as the sounds of mechanical whirring filled the night. The nightmares of every young human that lived on this damned planet were being acted out right here in front of him.

  And this was one of those afternoons where he could sense the presence of one of those machines rather clearly.

  An arrow draws from his quiver, the sounds of metal and wood sliding against the hardened ceramic was music to his ears. He only had about 10 left so he had to be wise with his shots. Due to there being a lack of trees in the area it wasn't like he would be able to make more. The gravity on this world was a bit lighter meaning that his arrows would be able to travel quickly. That would hopefully aid him in this quest of his as he peers around the corner and listens About 4 of them thought that was the number of droids running after him.

  He drifts out from behind the rock and barely ducks under a laser beam that was aimed at his head before he lets the arrow fly from its notch and rush towards one of the machines that was quickly spreading towards him. Streaks of orange plasma run behind it, his knuckles turn white as he turns and runs after he hears the successful pop of one of the arrows that digs into the machine. He grunts and hurls himself over a small rock as he feels the ash from one of the lasers striking the rock flow over his power back. He grips a small stone that he had found in the small burrow that he found himself inside and chucks it down one of the small corridors that was in front of him. One of the machines arrives immediately to scope out the area but before it can do anything else Nakiel leaps at it and pins it to the floor. His claws spread out from his fingertips and dig into the metal hull before there is a mess of sparks and the machine begins to sizzle before finally succumbing to the damage.

  2 more to go. Then he would be able to make a break for it.

  This was the last set of canyons before the long stretch of desert that awaited him before he would arrive back at the springs and the rebel hideout. He hoped that Damien had kept his word about sending in reinforcements for him and that it hadn't been simple lip service to send him on this suicide mission. There was no way a human could have done what he had just done, they had neither the strength nor constitution for it. Then again he doubted that his brothers would have fared any better considering the fact that they might have simply smashed the oracle instead of retrieving it as they were told to do under regular circumstances. He wanted to chuckle at the sight of Luron or Tacion growing impatient with whatever piece of tech laid in front of them and smashing it to pieces but he stifled his laughter and refocused his attention on the matter in front of him.

  The last two droids that were still in this valley.

  He knew that the rock trick could work again but knowing the extent of Iza's Ai he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to try it again in case they had adapted to his tricks. So he opted for his bow once more, once he got back to the rebel hideout he could ask them to fashion more, or grant him the materials to do so himself at least.

  And he waits.

  His head rests against the sandy rock as the boys begin to converge onto the sites of their wrecked counterparts. An arrow is notched back and he peers around the corner to see one hovering at high speeds towards the destroyed wreck once again. But right when Nakiel was about to pop out from the corner he could hear something crumbling.

  The rock on top of him in fact.

  With a startled yelp he raises his hands to protect himself before the small section of rock falls onto him, leaving a tremendous amount of dust in its wake. His bow clatters to the floor along with a singular arrow as the sweeping amount of sand flows over the area.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  It has been nearly a week since he had departed, he had promised that he would have been back by now and they haven't gotten any communications from him since he entered the cavern.

  Her hair was a frazzled mess and the bags under her eyes were beginning to blacken even more. Sophia expressed concern for her health a multitude of times but Heather brushed her off every time. Sophia could see the distress in those ocean blues of her sister but she knew better than to press, lest she hurt Heather even more than she had already been hurt.

  Heather had spent the time working in an attempt to get her mind off of the matter. She was doing whatever she could around the base, healing the rebels, fixing machinery, she had even asked to receive some measure of combat training but Damien had denied her. The general knew better than to throw the girl into the realm of combat knowing that the fury of her mate would surely follow if he had found out. If being the keyword. Still, he wasn't willing to risk the anger of a Verotan even if the chance was .001%.

  Other times she would spend her days lounging in the communications room in an attempt to catch some glimpse of communication from him. Of course, this rarely worked out her way but that didn't
stop her from trying. She would do anything in her power to hear back from him, to see a message, to hear that sophisticated baritone echo across the halls and into her brain. And yet her wish remained unanswered.

  The rebels themselves had grown so accustomed to the idea of the oracle remaining out of their hands that they barely showed any shock towards his absence. They had figured that he had been hunted down by the machines and the oracle had been destroyed. Either that or he had perished within the caves some time ago and they were simply waiting on nothing. Even a Verotan warrior of the highest caliber could not stand up to the will of Iza and his machines. The sun god simply controlled too much and his will was too great to be defied, at least that's what they figured. If a Verotan was unable to do anything substantial in the way of their operations then there truly was no hope.

  Sophia thought differently, ironically she had ended up having the most optimistic outlook of it all.

  She figured that Nakiel had simply damaged his communicator. She had seen the man in battle and there was little chance of something beating him in her eyes at least. She knew that he would be able to make it through this based on the merit of his abilities alone. She didn't have nearly the same amount of emotional investment that her sister had and thus she had little to no interest in investigating the outcomes that involved the warrior perishing. Mostly because this was humanity's last hope in a way, their last shot at winning this war. After Heather had talked her out of her stupor this was all that she had left. She would never cease gripping onto this small ember that Heather had granted her, even if the hopes of all the other humans had been extinguished.

  Of course, that was not to say that Heather didn't have hope in her heart either. She was simply more prone to the emotional outbursts and depression based on her relationship with the alien warrior. He had promised to come back and to save her, to take her far away from this horrid place that was filled with the worst memories of her life, filled with all of the memories of her life in fact. She sits on her window sill at night, peering out into the springs while the shadows of the rocks curve above her. The two moons of Karakasis glimmer onto her as she dreams of a fate that would be better than this, that would be able to whisk her far from this realm of tyrannical rule. She knew that he would have been the one, she was ready to leave.