A Rising Tide

by Ross Buzzell

  With that Konner and his team move from a kneeled position to a crouched and begin to quietly approach the camp. Konner feels a strange distortion envelope his body as if he were a piece of flimsy metal being warped. Konner ties to focus forward but a soft glow from his bracer catches his eye. He looks down and numerical glyphs begin to count up. Confusion strikes Konner 95, 97, 100, 108, 115, the bracer rapidly charges higher than 100%. Konner looks at his team with concern. He whispers to himself before addressing his team.

  “The field, everyone spread out and take cover. The field is coming down.”

  The distorted view of the forest that could be seen from the middle of the cloaking field begins to dissipate rapidly as Konner’s team takes cover. Trees and bushes are replaced by huts and lanterns. Konner’s bracer beeps quietly at him, he looks down, 200%. The bracer had syphoned off all the energy Konner’s body had absorbed and stored it within itself. Konner ducks behind a nearby hut. Disa’anis’ voice echoes over the closed link communications.

  “What just happened?”

  “I just absorbed the radiation that generated the cloaking field.”

  “Then why can I still see you?”

  Konner looks at his bracer which blinks 200%.

  “My armor syphoned it.”

  Konner looks ahead. The purple skinned townspeople stand with their hands tied behind their backs. Their bright blue eyes are filled with fear. Children stay close to their mothers while the men are held separately. The light from the dancing flames illuminates their nose-less faces, hairless beings with salamander like skin and pointed ears, Konner had never come across any such beings in his studies. He cannot help but note their beauty.

  Behind them, however, is a different story entirely. Broad beings that stand only a few inches taller than the natives, with orang/red skin and almost twice as wide, these walking brick walls stand heavily armed. Some have a single massive gun supported by four arms just as large, which protrude from the mercenaries’ bodies, others holding one gun in each hand. Konner does a quick count.

  “I count twenty weapons, Man’Sanfur, you are the distraction. Get their attention. Bara’Helor, your job is to ensure the townspeople get to safety. Disa’ani, Jil’Thorin, you two flank after the distraction. I will get Na’era.”

  “What about the other teams?”

  Bara’Helor asks with concern. Konner looks at the map, they are not moving; he activates a communication device inside his bracer that opens a channel to other Energynium wielders.

  “Cryptea Lorian to Cryptea special ops, come in special ops do you read me?”

  Nothing, Konner tries again to no avail. He quickly closes the channel.

  “We are either being jammed or they do not hear my hails. We do this alone. The Cryptea are well enough trained they can move in and aid without co-ordination. Man’Sanfur you’re up.”

  Man’Sanfur nods; he turns and quietly ventures away from his squad. Konner moves forward before looking over his shoulder. He nods at Bara’Helor who breaks off the opposite direction. Konner’s eyes lock onto his enemies. The three wielding the heavy weapons stand in the center with Na’era. The center of these is clearly the leader due to the very visible and bulky armor he has adorned. The other four hold a perimeter. The prince slowly makes his way forward with Disa’ani and Jil’Thorin right behind him. His heart steady and senses heightened, Konner takes in his whole surrounding’s, adrenalin courses through his body. Utilizing his training, Konner focuses the mad rush to maintain his calm. Konner’s eyes scan the horizon in search of Man’Sanfurs cue, after a few brief moments he spots it. The soft glow of Borons’ blue day sun cascades in the darkness down the length of Man’Sanfurs weapon before meeting at the tip. A single, brilliant, blue beam of energy blasts from the weapon. The projectile rips through the air. It distorts the soft quiet sound of the forest with an echoing ripple as the first round finds its mark square into the mercenary leader’s chest.

  The leader staggers back, an embering hole leaking melted metal glows in his chest. With a monstrous roar he screams an order in a language not familiar to Konner but the intent is painfully obvious. The other six mercenaries form into a line and begin to fire at Man’Sanfur’s position. Konner sees Man’Sanfurs shield go up as beams of light whistle and pop around his team member. The heavy weapons fire large, glowing, metal slugs that melt upon impact and burn through anything they touch. This gives Man’Sanfur’s shield a molten glow.

  “Hold.”

  Konner whispers as he sees Disa’ani flinch to move in. Out of the corner of his eye Konner notes Bara’Helor in position behind the mercenaries. The clear crack of the Boronian rifle rings out a few more times as Man’Sanfur fires through his shield with flawless precision. His shots wiz mere centimeters away from the civilian shields to nick and burn the mercenaries; Man’Sanfur’s shield begins to flicker as his voice comes over the closed circuit communication inside Konner’s mind.

  “My shield is failing but I have their attention. Ready when you are sir.”

  “Copy that.”

  Konner nods, with a flick of his wrist a portal opens in front of Jil’Thorin. Through it the mercenaries can clearly be seen from the opposite side of the village. Disa’ani looks over at Jil. He nods to her and both take off in a sprint. The two pass Konner who has kneeled to the ground as he holds the portal open in front of him and off to the side a few meters. Jil’Thorin leaps into the air. She raises her rifle, Konner sees the familiar glow of the weapons discharge from both the corner of his eye and through his portal on the far side of the village. A beam of light leaves Jil’Thorin’s weapon and enters the portal before her. In a flash of blue light her shot rips through one of the lower arms of a mercenary. Jil disappears through the portal as well in a matter of moments; Konner closes the portal as Disa’ani begins to fire, removing one of the mercenaries’ arms as well.

  “Eighteen weapons left, Bara move in!”

  The young blond soldier rushes into the flank of the enemy positions. By this point they have almost completely abandon their captives in favor of a full defensive position as they are being bombarded from three sides. Bara’Helor sneaks in undetected to the fire fight; Konner notices her grab one of the locals and lead them to safety only to be followed by others. One of the mercenaries sees Bara and holds up his heavy weapon. A single round of bright blue energy rips through his chest, narrowly missing his heart; Konner quickly yells to Disa’ani.

  “Watch your fire. We need them alive. They can still talk if they are maimed.”

  “Copy that!”

  Jil’s voice is crystal clear.

  “Checking fire!”

  Man’Sanfur is as well. Disa’ani stays quiet. He takes a few more shots disabling another mercenary with near lethal placement. His voice echoes over with disappointment.

  “Complying.”

  As the last of the civilians get clear, Bara’Helor lifts her weapon to close in the kill box. Konner stands up and is hit by one of Jil’Thorin’s rounds. The blast knocks the young prince back a few steps with nearly no jarring effect. His bracer beeps.

  “205%”

  The shot had charged Konner slightly with no harm. The act of being hit by his own man is still agitating.

  “Watch your fire!”

  Konner opens a portal near Bara and steps through the dark, timeless void between space and back into the firefight. He reaches out and grabs Bara’Helor’s weapon.

  “I need this avenue open. If I open a portal to get Na’era out, I could rip them in half and we need them to talk. Stay with the locals.”

  Bara nods; Konner crouches and begins to swiftly move in on the mercenaries’ positions. Quickly, one by one, Konner’s team shoots off the arms of the mercenaries until the only one left truly standing is the leader. Before Konner has a chance to get close enough to grab Na’era, who has been crouched in the tall grass and out of view for the duration of the fight, the leader grabs her and places his gun to her neck. Konner’s team im
mediately stops firing and aims their weapons at the ground; as he pulls her into view. Konner sees the princess for the first time since he was a child. She had grown to be a strong, beautiful young woman with dark hair to match his-own and near glowing almond eyes. Her pail skin reflects the light of the camp fire. No fear can be seen on her face. The mercenary leader begins to scream at all of them in his foreign tongue until he sees Konner. The leader turns toward Konner gradually. He points his weapon at the prince, Konner’s hand moves to the hilt at his side as the guttural growl of a threat is thrown his way.

  “Enah fa-halla, bik fan tok. DU SKA DOR FUR DEN SECLUTION!”

  He fires his weapon at Konner. The young soldier draws his hilt from its resting place at his side. The giant molten projectile moves toward Konner in a manner perceived to be incredibly slow. The fire sends off licks of flame. Na’era turns toward her captor as, from the hilt, a straight beam of solid light forms into a straight sword. With a single flick of his arm his blade finds its mark and slashes the projectile in two; this causes it to tumble out of the air and into the ground as it spurts glowing hot molten metal in all directions. Konner puts up his arm to protect his face as molten droplets of the projectile rain into him. His armor protects him but some of the oozing substance hits Konner in the neck. A quick flash of heat flairs through Konner’s neck as a remnant of the molten projectile sears his skin. Quickly the young soldier pulls the piece from his neck and tosses it to the ground.

  Konner looks up to see the mercenary leader unconscious on the ground, his weapon bent in half in the hands of the beautiful princess. Konner approaches Na’era as the rest of his team exits their cover and begins to process the mercenaries. Konner gets on his communication as he closes the distance between he and the princess.

  “Package is secure and targets are ready for extraction, immediate pickup requested.”

  “Copy that, extraction inbound, E.T.A. two minutes.”

  Konner closes the gap between himself and Na’era; she bows before him. This stirs a heavy discomfort deep within Konner’s gut.

  “My prince. Thank you for your rescue.”

  Her voice is soft like silk. It floats through the air as a feather on a cool summer’s day. Konner gently places a hand on her shoulder and pulls the princess to an erect stance.

  “I only do my duty. Please do not bow before me.”

  Konner looks down at the bent weapon. Clearly there is more to this princess than meets the eye. Na’eras voice brings Konner’s attention back to the Boronian beauty.

  “You are my high prince, soon to be my king. I owe you…”

  Konner cuts her off; his voice soft, not forceful or harsh, but re-assuring.

  “I am a servant of my people, nothing more. It appears you are quite capable of handling yourself m’lady. How were they able to capture you?”

  Na’era looks over Konner’s shoulder; Konner turns to see the locals coming out of hiding and moving back in toward the center of the former conflict.

  “I was bringing aid to these people. They were captured first. These mercenaries threatened to slaughter them all if I did not comply, so I did.”

  The soft hum of the drop-ship begins to fill the air as it gets closer.

  “Are you aware of what they wanted?”

  Na’era has a look of genuine confusion stitched across her smooth skin, she shakes her head slightly.

  “All I could make out was something about a ‘light’ for the Secluded One.”

  Konner looks over at his squad. Disa’ani, Man’Sanfur and Jil’Thorin restrain the mercenaries with large magnetic clamps.

  “Do they need any medical attention?”

  Konner enquires as he takes his eyes off of Na’era for a moment. Bara’Helor is crouched. She observes the wounds inflicted by the OWS while Jil’Thorin pulls up the holographic map to observe the other Cryptea teams. Bara’Helor’s voice cuts through the cold air as she calls out to her commander.

  “They all look good sir. The rounds seared the wounds shut so no risk of bleeding out, they are in shock, however, so they will be unconscious for the next few hours but their vitals look strong.”

  “Copy that.”

  Konner complies with a nod. He moves to approach Na’era to escort her to the small evacuation zone his team had formed a few meters away. When Na’era is safe in the extraction zone, Konner turns to Jil.

  “Hold this position. I am going to retrieve my helmet. I will be back in a moment.”

  Konner turns to move back into the jungle to retrieve the piece of armor he had left behind as Jil’s voice catches his attention. Something unsettling is in it, the tone tugs at Konner’s gut. Something didn’t feel right.

  “Sir, they are moving, the other Cryptea squadrons… They are moving to surround sir.”

  Konner quickly jogs over to Jil’Thorin. She waves her hand over Konner as he approaches. A chart with fluctuating lines forms on the screen.

  “That’s not all sir. Your Cryptea channel, not only is it open, it’s active. They’ve been listening this entire time.”

  Konner looks at the map as he places himself next to Jil. Nothing about the chart or the map seems right to him. Konner shakes his head.

  “Something is wrong, Bara, circle everyone up. Get them here. The drop-ship will be here in less than a minute.”

  Bara nods. She jogs off toward the villagers who peer at the team standing in their village center from the edge of their huts. Bara begins to escort the group of natives toward Konner; the soldier prince pulls up hales through his Cryptea channels. He feels Na’era’s soft hand touch his shoulder. The tension between his team is tight, like a rubber band wrapped around too many fingers. It is almost suffocating.

  “Cryptea teams, this is High Prince Konner Lorian, the mercenaries have been immobilized and the package is secure. Drop-ship is inbound to get us off this rock. Report.”

  Konner releases the communications glyph, silence, nothing comes through. Disa’ani and Man’Sanfur look at each other.

  “Something’s not right Konner. Port us to extraction site B.”

  Disa’ani’s voice is steady but a hint of worry is evident. Konner looks up at the locals as they grow closer. A bright light shoots down from the sky and illuminates Konner and his team as the drop-ship arrives. Konner opens his mouth to speak but his words are drowned out by a high pitched squeal that grows deafeningly loud. Konner gets on his communications and screams an order that is drown out by the sound but it is not fast enough. A deafening ‘BOOM’ followed by immense heat engulfs Konner and his whole team. The night sky lights up as if the sun is at its peak for a brief moment. Konner looks up as metal rains down around him; each member of the OWS holds their hands up generating a singular low light energy shield as pieces of the drop-ship bounce off of it. Konner’s heart stops in his chest for a moment as he looks in horror at his teams’ means of extraction goes up in flames and careens out of control and into the woods. As the ship slams into the ground; a massive explosion shakes the earth around them followed by a procussion blast that nearly knocks Konner off his feet. Jil swiftly turns and scans the crash site as Bara and the locals begin to sprint toward the now tightly knit defensive square that is Konner and his team. Whistles of unseen projectiles fly past the team followed by the loud cracks of their impacts against the ground; Jil calls out to Konner as Bara puts a shield up behind the locals as they try to run for Konner’s team.

  “I’m not getting any life sign readings sir. What is going on?!”

  “I don’t know! Shields up! We are going to have to fight our way out of this!”

  Konner forms a brilliant azure blue bubble around his team. Bara’Helor gets closer as she brings up the back of the group who by now have wedged their way in the middle of Konner and his team behind their backs. As Bara is about to reach the safety of the shield a gut wrenching sound fills Konner’s ears, that of ripping and tearing followed by an exhale of agony. Konner looks up to see Bara’Helor collapse to the g
round. One of the dark rounds has punctured her right shoulder blade and exited through her chest.

  “OPEN FIRE!”

  Konner roars as he dives forward and exits the safety of the shield. Projectiles wiz by Konner’s head as he slides to the ground next to his downed soldier; he feels the air displacement of each shot as they narrowly miss him. Blue beams of light begin to soar out in all directions from Konner’s team as he observes Bara’s wound. The soldier is face first on the ground. Konner presses his fingers to her throat; he feels it move just barley under his fingers. “Good, still alive.” Konner thinks to himself. The prince reaches down to his wounded soldier and presses a few glyphs on his bracer. A small energy field forms in and around the wound bringing the hemorrhaging to a stop. Konner turns Bara over. She is caked in her own blood. Her eyes roll from side to side as she tries to remain conscious. Her hand still firmly grips her gun. As Konner picks her up, she cries out in pain.