by Ross Buzzell
“Because, he is bigger and stronger than both of us combined. If he gets in trouble, he is better equipped to handle things by himself.”
“Oh come on, don’t try to make me feel better, admit it, you pity me.”
Disa’ani exclaimed. Konner turns to his friend. Self-doubt was not tolerated in his division. Konner’s voice, while hushed, is sharp and commanding as he addresses his friend’s doubt:
“Imagine this. You are an enemy combatant and you scout ahead, or are a century to your base. You see an unidentified coming. What do you do?”
Disa’ani answers.
“Sound the alarm, then take the unknown into custody.”
Konner nods:
“Good, now imagine he is Man’Sanfur’s size. What do you do?”
When put into prospective Disa’ani realizes what Konner is trying to say. His eyes widen in understanding and Konner nods as Disa’ani responds:
“Tactical retreat to gather our forces.”
Konner is pleased:
“Exactly, it’s nothing personal so stop feeling sorry for yourself and help us finish this game!”
Konner’s patients with Disa’ani had worn thin of late. Unlike most other Boronian cadets who were growing stronger and more confident, Disa’ani seemed to be going the other way. His gift for spear fighting had developed far beyond what anyone had anticipated but that was it. He always second guessed himself and hesitated which would have resulted in him being dropped by the Academy. Caring too much for his friend, Konner kept him close and made him second in charge of his unit. Konner trained him and helped him develop his fighting skills to a level sufficient enough that his lack of confidence could be overlooked for his skills with a weapon. Konner turns and begins to continue his approach on Zeta Squad’s base, crouching behind another boulder; Konner focuses his eyes into the hypnotic nature of the mist. He looks into and even beyond the fog. As he does it all melts away into serene blackness. In the distance, Konner sees a thermal image of Man’Sanfur as he makes his way around the edge of Zeta base. He walks on the white outlines that are the stone floor. Inside the base, Konner sees two thermal signatures through the black veil that is clearly the Zeta base hall. Konner’s thermal vision gives way to his regular sight. A bolt of lightning shoots across Konner’s brain with a shocking spike of pain, the young prince winces; he closes his eyes and gently grips the ridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. Konner feels Disa’ani’s hand on his shoulder accompanied by his voice that is hushed into a whisper,
“Are you okay Konner?”
Konner nods as he blinks the lightning headache away, leaving only a dull throbbing pain behind his eyes, and answers his friend.
“I am fine. It is just a headache.”
Disa’ani’s voice breaks through the silence once more, lined with a hint of accusation:
“You did the eye thing again, didn’t you?”
Konner nods as he keeps his eyes forward. He does not even look over his shoulder as he speaks with his friend.
“There are two in the base, one on patrol and another by the flag. I can only assume that is Jil.”
Konner moves to a crouched position and begins to scurry across the field of stone as he moves in on Man’Sanfur’s location. Disa’ani quickly mimics his commander’s movements following in complete silence. Konner drops to a knee once more as he crouches behind another protruding stone. Disa’ani stops behind him and once again the cadet’s voice breaks the silence.
“When did it start?”
“A few months ago. Be quiet.”
Konner snaps back as they grow ever closer to Man’Sanfur and Zeta base. Disa’ani ignores Konner’s as curiosity is too much for him.
“What’s it like?”
Konner spins and looks at his friend. Konner’s eyes were wide with frustration, both from Disa’ani’s unwillingness to be quiet and the remaining throbbing at the back of his eyes. While words may not have held sway for Konner’s young friend the look on the prince’s face did what no command could. It shut Disa’ani up. After a moment of silence, Konner turns back around. Returning to a crouched position he moves forward to his scout Man’Sanfur. The giant sixteen your old’s silhouette could be seen long before he himself was visible; Konner approaches and comes to a stop next to his friend. Disa’ani slides to a stop as well. All three boys kneel quietly next to a tall smooth wall made of black stone, unlike that from the monoliths surface. Man’Sanfur has his eyes shut and his hand on the wall. Konner observes his friend’s focused demeanor noting that he was focusing his heightened sense of hearing to listen on the inside. After a moment Man’Sanfur opens his eyes and looks at Konner. Konner notes the sly grin that forms on his allies face:
“Jil’Thorin and Bara’Helor guard the flag. No word from their people on capturing ours so we are still good.”
Konner thinks for a moment as he focuses his mind. A strategy begins to form and a grin tugs itself into existence on Konner’s lips.
“Bara’Helor has a thing for you Man’Sanfur. Use it, get in there and distract her.”
Confusion forms on Man’Sanfur’s face as Konner tells him to use Bara’Helor’s affection against her.
“How?”
Man asks.
“You are smart. You will figure it out.”
Konner says:
“Disa’ani, you will go in with Man’Sanfur and locate the flag. This is important. Make sure Jil does not see you. She will rip you apart. She is still upset about that little stunt you pulled, so leave her to me.”
Disa’ani nods in the realization that it probably would be a good idea to leave Jil’Thorin alone due to the failed prank he had pulled. Konner pulls a small strip of fabric from the side of his suit and gently places the sticky fabric onto the wall. All three take a step back. The fabric begins to vibrate rapidly and in moments the wall silently has a hole disintegrated into it. The three enter the base, met by a fork in the corridors, Disa’ani and Man’Sanfur turn left, Konner moves right.
Silently Konner moves throughout the tall, dark corridors of Zeta base, coming to an intersection Konner crouches. The prince reaches to the waist of his suit and peels off two more strips of cloth. He presses the two together and both rapidly expand creating the hilt of a weapon. After the hilt forms Konner stands back up. He rounds the corner cautiously and continues to make his way down the base’s corridors. The young prince keeps his senses sharp as he feels the air flow in the base keeping attune to how it dances past him and into a wall. Feeling the slight shift in air movement Konner turns and faces the wall, he leans forward and observes it closely. There was something off about the wall. A soft yellow glow begins to shine through the dark wall, the prince turns to face it as the glow grows brighter it is accompanied by a soft hum. Konner’s eyes widen as he leans to his right as hard as he can, a hard-light hologram arrow bursts from the back of the holographic wall dispelling it to reveal a corridor to the center of the base. The arrow skims right past Konner nearly nicking him before shattering into a thousand light shards as it collides on the wall behind Konner.
Konner pulls his focus forward to see a young woman about his height sporting a strong build and holding the same holographic weapon projector in her hand that Konner does. Two long curved arms form up and down from the projector and are connected by a string. The tactical suit’s onyx shade contrasts starkly with her porcelain skin. A strong jaw clinched as she holds another arrow drawn back, aiming down the sight with a mahogany eye, the other shut. Her burgundy hair flows down her shoulders, back and chest. A sickly yellow stripe divides the two sides of her hair from left to right, straight down the middle. Konner shrugs with a smile as he looks at Zeta Squads leader. A nervous laugh escapes his lips:
“Jil! It’s good to see you. What are the chances?”
Konner’s voice is light and comedic as he grows a little nervous. Although he would never confess he was self-admittedly partially responsible for the large, horrible, streak of yellow that divid
ed her beautiful tendrils and she knew it.
“Rather high.”
Her voice is cold and angry as she aims her arrow at Konner.
“Still mad about the whole hair thing huh?”
Jil releases and fires the arrow at Konner once again and again he dives out of the way narrowly dodging the hard light projectile. The look of anger on her face so clearly answers Konner’s question.
“I take that as a yes.”
Jil puts four fingers on the arrow string; drawing back three hard light arrows slowly form.
“Of course I am, it won’t go back!”
she roars angrily, Jil relaxes her fingers allowing all three arrows to fly at once. Konner looks at each of the three as they leave the bow. Processing their flight patterns in the span of an eye’s blink, he activates his hard light holographic sword. Konner knocks the first arrow from the sky with a hard swipe left; he uses his momentum to spin and rotate his blade to a reverse grip. With a swift and decisive downward strike, Konner knocks the second arrow from the sky before he draws up and across his body deflecting the third.
“If it makes you feel any better I think it doesn’t look half bad.”
Konner’s cavalier attitude toward the standoff visibly upsets Jil’Thorin even further. In a fit of frustration she charges Konner while screaming in agitation unleashing a volley of arrows as she does. With his quick reflexes and gift of heightened perception, Konner is able to knock most of the arrows from his path and dodge the rest. Konner dances amongst the volley of arrows with fluidity; he deflects almost every one with smooth spins, strikes and blocks. The sound of Jil leaping off the ground echoes through the hallway. Konner looks up as he dodges the last of the arrows to see Jil soaring at him. Her bow’s limbs both change to long straight blades. Konner kneels to brace for the impact and lifts his yellow blade in defense. He holds it at an angle, Jil makes contact with Konner’s’ blade which causes it to slide into the ground.
Konner uses this tiny window to roll behind his opponent who spins and swings her blades at the prince once more. Konner ducks, dodging the first and blocks the second with a mid-block, face to face with Jil; Konner stifles a chuckle as he notes the ripples of anger that cascade over her face.
“It looks horrible!”
she screeches before she lifts her foot and delivers a powerful kick to Konner with enough strength to fling him back into one of the corridor walls. The kick itself did not hurt; a slight rattle reverberated throughout his tactical suit, but the contact with the wall Konner felt. A mild shock jolted throughout his system as he looks up at Jil. She stands before him, her hair billowing and frizzy from the rapid, powerful, movements she had just exerted.
“Careful, that almost hurt.”
“It’s supposed to!”
she yells and sprints at Konner. Konner looks up and sees a ledge three meters directly above him. Waiting for Jil to close in, he leaps with all of his might and flips backward. Konner lands on the ledge and looks down just as Jil strikes the wall with such force it shatters one of her hard light blades.
“I’d love to stay and chat but Disa’ani and Man’Sanfur could probably use a hand getting your flag.”
Konner teasingly salutes her as he turns and skips into a run down a narrow corridor that opens up into the main lobby. Jil’Thorin’s voice echoes down the corridor in unbridled rage.
“He’s here! I’m going to kill you Konner Lorian!”
As Konner gets to the main lobby entrance, he calls back to her as loud as he can to ensure the echo reaches her.
“It was Disa; I really had nothing to do with it!”
As Konner spins to drop into the flag’s proximity, a sphere the size of a basketball attached to a long cord flies past Konner’s head and slams into the wall. Konner leans to one side, dodging the attack and looks back at the hard light mace head. The wire goes taught as the weapon is yanked back to its wielder. Konner follows the weapon and sees Bara’Helor, a slender teenager with yellow hair and eyes to match hold the cord to her holographic weapon. She spins the sphere next to her to keep momentum flowing. She has her eyes locked on Konner and a smile on her face. Konner lets his shoulders drop in disappointment.
“Seriously guys? You had one job.”
Bara throws the weapon at Konner once more and he barely dodges it. As the weapon’s heavy end embeds itself into the wall once more, Konner grabs the cord. The hard light hologram is warm to the touch and solid as a real cord. Konner yanks the cord and the hologram grows taught as Bara resists Konner’s pull.
“Brave move coming to capture our flag by yourself.”
Bara calls out with playful jest as they engage in a tug of war; Konner looks around confused as he sees a yellow flag standing erect from the ground on a silver pole, alone in the dead center of the massive room.
“I didn’t, you haven’t seen any of my team yet?”
Konner wraps his hand around the cord and gives the cord a tug. Bara stagers forward for a moment but then catches herself; sidesplitting laughter erupts from Bara and echoes throughout the lobby like the cackle of a hyena.
“Your team got lost? That is hilarious!”
Her laughter subsides into a chuckle as she gradually regains her composure. She looks up to Konner. She spins her arm around the cord, wrapping it around her limb. She spins which wraps the cord around her thin, firm waist. Bara lifts her powerful, slender leg and slams her foot down on the cord which jerks Konner forward with enough force to pull him from the high ledge. The jerk catches Konner off guard. He stumbles forward and falls the three meters to the ground. Konner lands with a firm, loud THUD on his back. His hologram weapon shatters upon impact. The prince groans and slowly turns to his side to get back to his feet. Bara’s ball and cord slide back toward her as she unravels herself from the hologram. Konner quickly shakes off the stun; he ignores the mild throbbing discomfort that reverberates throughout his body from the fall. Slowly he pushes himself off the ground and onto his knees as he catches the breath that was so forcefully pushed from his chest. A gust of wind blows past him. He looks up to see Bara, cord in hand, spinning the massive energy ball in a gradually increasing circle over her head.
Konner moves to reactivate his weapon; sparks fly from the hilt. The fall had broken it. Konner looks up; Bara’Helors concentration is so focused on Konner that it is painfully clear that she is developing what is known as tunnel vision. An idea gradually begins to form in Konner’s mind. The idea translates to a cunning grin forming upon his lips. Bara swings her weapon at Konner who rolls and dodges the attack; his movement visibly breaks her tunnel vision slightly. Noticing this Konner throws the hilt of his broken hologram weapon at Bara which finds its mark just above her right eye, her dominant eye. The impact causes Bara to stagger back a few steps and to close her eye due to the discomfort of holding it open, the attack further angers Bara and she begins to flail her weapon wildly around the room in a desperate attempt to strike Konner and get him out of the match. With her concentration broken and her dominant eye shut, her attacks are far less precise and much easier to evade. Konner rolls from an attack and tilts his head listening for his friends. He hears their footsteps in an all-out sprint heading straight for the flag room. Konner proceeds to dodge Bara’s barrage of attacks. He moves to align Bara’s back with the corridor where Disa’ani and Man’Sanfur are sprinting down. Konner stops for a moment and takes a few breaths.
“I’ve tried to tell you Bara. You let your emotions rule you too much in battle, they cloud your judgment and you get tunnel vision.”
“It’s called focus!”
she barks in a frustrated voice as she swings the massive orb at Konner once again. He dodges it once more by leaping over the attack.
“Focus helps you hit your target.”
Konner looks behind her; he sees the glow of Disa’ani’s spears and Man’Sanfur’s great sword.
“Tunnel vision, Ja’Sanfur could land her dragon behind you and you wouldn’t notice.”
Konner moves from his defensive position and stands directly across from Bara’Helor. He peers over her shoulder; Disa’ani prepares to throw his spear as Man’Sanfur continues his charge. Disa’ani releases his spear as he hurls it at Bara’Helor. The flying weapon soars past Man’Sanfur’s head as it closes in on its mark.
“I am so focused I am completely aware of everything around me.”
Bara’s voice brimming with pride as she clearly lines up her shot, unaware of Konner’s team closing in on her, Konner nods over her shoulder.
“Even them?”
Bara turns around in just enough time to lift the cord and deflect Disa’ani’s spear. The weapons collision shatters into a bright light temporarily blinding the cadet to Man’Sanfur. Her vision is returned to her just as the giant teen slams his blade into Bara’Helor. The weapon shatters on her, not harming the cadet but disabling her weapon. A horn echoes throughout the monolith and a voice booms following the horn.