Convict Fenix

by Alan Brickett

  “Hello,” he said softly.

  He watched for a reaction and was rewarded by all four eyes momentarily focusing directly on him before they resumed their staggered observation of the surroundings. What good aim this creature must have, able to focus and work out lengths and distance to a target from four angles at once.

  He tilted his head slightly to one side and observed that the beast mimicked him.

  “I do not know if you can understand me. But I wanted to make myself known because I brought you here. Do you remember that?”

  It tilted its head to the other side, by the same degrees but now opposite to what it was before. Its eyes were all focused on him and stayed that way.

  Respect where it was due.

  “I think you are magnificent, a pure breed, an apex of your kind, and likely whatever world spawned you. A certain predator and beautifully prepared to kill. I hope you have led a good life here because what must be decided next between us will tell whether your life continues or mine.”

  It straightened its head, then tilted it back to the other side. Nonplussed at his tone or his words, but he did have the distinct impression that it was listening, closely.

  “I will give you one day.” He pointed up at the sun; two of its eyes followed the gesture and then centered on him again.

  “Then I will come to kill you. I apologize for this, but I do not feel guilty, it is a matter of my survival. Yours will depend on you and if you can kill me first.”

  He waited; it straightened its head and gazed at him levelly. He got the impression that it understood before it let out a whuff and started to walk toward him. He didn’t test it or assume, he just stepped calmly to one side and let it go past. Prepared for any action but not really expecting it.

  The beast took slow and measured steps to about fifty feet along and then broke into a casual run again, quickly opening up distance between them. Before it turned out of sight along the gulley it twisted its head back at him, its eyes clearly met his own before it went on to prepare itself for tomorrow.

  **

  He kept to his word the rest of that day and all night; only when the sun was high in the sky again the following day did the hunt begin.

  He had given it the advantage of choosing the time and place, at first impression, it may seem strange that he would allow it to select where he would be able to find it. The when came from how much hiding it would choose to do.

  But he understood a predator, and he could relate to something as magnificent as this creature.

  Fenix needed the beast for its skull, that didn’t mean he was going to hunt it for sport or food, not in his character. It would have been difficult for him to explain to anyone, but he had a need to treat this differently to other assassinations and killings, he usually did so precisely and with the best chance of success.

  Here he was throwing caution and ultimate survival away just so that the beast could put up a good fight.

  His drive to escape had not abated, nor had his desire for survival and to grow stronger. Indeed, his capacity to plan out and take every advantage against a mighty opponent was still an intrinsic part of his being. And yes, he did feel that he was more powerful than the beast, even as smart as he knew it was and with the capabilities described in his notes.

  But that superiority did not translate into a simple hunt and kill for him, he had put the creature here. The course of its survival had centered on him since he had found it in a part of his life he did not yet remember. He had placed it in an environment and controlled its survival to suit his purposes, and perhaps that was why he gave it leniency now.

  He knew what it felt like to exist for someone else, from birth and living to what should have been his end, Aurelian had owned him entirely. In a way so too did he own this creature, and he would not treat it the way he had been.

  So he gave it notice, warned it before the slaughter that he was coming.

  Would it really make a difference? He wondered.

  But then it wasn’t about whether the beast would have better odds, it was to salve his sense of rightness in the greater chances of evolution and being superior. Or was it?

  Perhaps he had simply boiled it down to allowing the right circumstances to prevail in either of their favor. He would walk away with what he needed, or it would defeat him and live on.

  That was always the way of it, in the wild, in life. Had he actually changed anything?

  Fenix tracked the beast over the dry terrain, through the grasses and clearly enough toward the large lake area. It didn’t take him long, in fact, it was quite deliberate in leading him that way, and he was sure. No hiding, no skulking or double backs, no tricks to lure him out. No, it knew where the terrain would suit itself and made no attempt to lead him anywhere else.

  It felt like it had the best chance there, and it was prepared to face him head-on. Ironic.

  Perhaps he would come to understand his feelings about the situation after he killed it; they had been in some turmoil since more of his memories had returned. The things he had been through, all for Her, and look where it had gotten him.

  Twice over.

  He shook his head to rid it of the distracting thoughts, his mental discipline closing like a shell to bring focus for what waited over the next hill. As he topped the rise, he once again readied for a life and death battle.

  On the other side, a blue water expanse stretched away, gentle ripples on its surface from the wind that bent the grasses toward the southwest around him. The beast waited for him along the lakeshore, where the exposed rocks glinted in the sunlight.

  The grassland gave way slowly to the drier sandy ground that in turn had been swept clean by the lapping waters of the lake exposing a gravelly surface beneath. Pristinely clear water showed the shallows protruded a few feet into the lake and then dropped away where the sunlight couldn’t penetrate what seemed to be great depths. There was enough to see the dark shapes of the underwater plants poking small bushes up above the surface, like tiny little trees with colorful flowers of red and yellow.

  Broad leaves dotted the surface of the lake closer to the shore as well, interspersed among them were the small flowering plants. They all floated quite serenely, as calm as the creature waiting for him. He imagined it might even have prepared itself; a dunk in the lake had cleaned its fur that spread gloriously over the lean and powerful body.

  He had approached the area directly, not exactly downwind but flurries over this terrain would carry his smell, which he was not hiding, over to it much as he could smell the fur and musk of the creature ever so slightly. When he entered full view, the predator spread its legs and bugled a challenge. The roar could be heard for miles, an ululating cry with a bass depth vibrating down to his bones.

  Truly a sound to suit its majesty.

  Fenix took off at a run, angling down the hill toward the lakeshore at one side of the beast. He had his bow in hand and drew then nocked an arrow to it; drawing to fire on the run, he had an excellent view as the creature fired its own volley first. Its head lifted, all four eyes trained on him and a glow swept through under the fur and in from either side of the hammerhead skull.

  The energy gathered quickly behind the mouth. Sharp teeth set in the pair of half ovals that opened wide. Seen from the front, it was a circular hole lined by vicious rending bone. A bolt of searing energy came forth, golden light mixed with orange; it impacted with a dull thud, spraying loamy soil and burning grass just behind him. The creature’s aim was acute, he had sped up to avoid the shot just after it fired, and the next was already on its way.

  He had to alternately protect himself with a magical shield and dodge the incoming hail of blasts as he wove back and forth down the side of the hill. Craters were staggered along the side, great furrows of singed ground permeating the air with smoke and the recognizable scent of burning plants.

  When he did take a substantial hit, he could tell the power of the energy it expelled; it would have staggered a normal m
an, and he expected it wasn’t the full power it could let off in a single strike.

  Fenix was impressed and enjoying himself immensely.

  Whenever he had the chance, he fired an arrow at it, with its justified arrogance the creature didn’t even dodge. Every solid hit bounced from the metallic fur, and any volley he sent at the softer areas or its eyes was countered by a blast of energy that disintegrated his arrows before they landed.

  Even closing the distance and with the speed of his archery, it was able to both fire at him and defend itself with pinpoint accuracy.

  So he fired an enchanted arrowhead, pushing some extra energy into the steel since he wouldn’t be getting it back regardless. And if this all worked out, he wouldn’t need arrows with the new bow anyway. He fired and changed direction to chase on directly behind the arrow’s trajectory.

  The beast responded as before and fired at the incoming silvery blur, but when its hit and the arrow’s enchantment combined, the resulting explosion was magnificent.

  A roiling mass of blue fire, lit up with scintillations of orange and gold power, evaporated the moisture from the air at the leading edge that blew a considerable hole into the ground. Through the conflagration that dissipated out widely to all sides leaped Fenix, with magical fire behind the force in his legs he gained height and distance rapidly to surprise the creature from above.

  Interestingly it must have been able to see in multiple ranges of light and possibly even magically because as he came through the smoke and swirling energies, he found it looking right at him!

  After the massive energy output of the strike itself, the coronal glow of another bolt followed, and he was forced to ward it off. But not before he fired two bolts of his own, with his bow tossed aside his hands were free to send a pair of sapphire orbs streaking past the incoming orange one.

  The mid-air collision, even with his protective shield in place was stunning. The blast wave thundered him down into the ground off at an angle from the point of impact, although he took little resultant damage because of his superior reflexes and knowledge of how to fall. His two strikes were almost entirely dodged; the predator saw them coming and leaped to one side, where sudden plumes of gravel were blown into the air beside it.

  Scorching on the metallic fur showed that at least one of his bolts had been a near miss, and able to hurt it. Something that the creature also understood all too well because it turned and ran for the lake. Fenix wondered at the tactic, but followed after it, quickly building into a sprint to keep up with the beast’s pace.

  It was fast when it went all-out!

  To his great surprise, it then jumped, a graceful leap taking it out over the shallows to land on one of the giant sized leaves that floated on the surface. The stem of the plant, and perhaps a good deal of buoyancy meant that it dipped only slightly when the creature landed on it. And then it leaped off to another over a dozen feet away.

  Of course, the beast would know the terrain best, having lived on this lost plateau its entire life, but he had expected it to use caverns or gorges, perhaps even run along the mesas. But this was entirely novel and very entertaining, so he followed with a boosted jump to one of the floating pads and then on to the next.

  His direction shifted to intercept the creature’s path; it looked back over its shoulder steadily to watch him coming and would change its own course.

  It was an exhilarating chase.

  His instincts screamed at him that this was not all there was to it however, the beast wasn’t just trying to get away or lose him on the lake. It wasn’t in any particular advantage on the surface over him, a fact he reminded the beast of by firing the occasional sapphire bolt.

  The return volleys also sent plumes of water up around where he leaped through the air, ripples disturbing the surface of the lake and lapping up against the now bobbing leaves.

  Its aim degraded when it was in a rush to stay on the move and fired by turning around quickly to let loose. His aim was marginally better, but then he did have more practice at shooting in diverse situations. His shield absorbed more impacts while the beast got more and more lines of scorch marks across the orange and blue fur, several leaving deep furrows that boiled the thick leathery hide beneath.

  He was just about ready to assume that it was trying to wear him down and risk being worn down itself when it played its trump card. It had led him past many of the little trees and their surreal flowers, but through constant attack and counterattack, he noticed that he was jumping over a particularly larger one when instead of firing at him the predator shot the tree instead.

  Fenix was mid-air above the suddenly blasted and soot darkened stump when the underwater creature reacted.

  **

  The creatures underneath the lake were like whales but with teeth, although they were amphibian and not mammals or fish. With an internal bladder of air that kept them buoyant while they floated beneath the surface and the capacity to wriggle about on land for short periods, depending on how long it took to subdue prey.

  Their particular method of enticing food close enough to eat was with the flowering trees, or at least what looked like small bonsai trees.

  It was, in fact, a small growth from the skin, like a well-shaped wart or mole, the branches and leaves were all bait. The flowers were a byproduct of the gaseous exchange that took place under the skin and then secreted outward in an oily substance that changed the cells.

  Much like a pimple, disgustingly enough, one that gave off a sweet scent and looked enticing compared with the tree look alike.

  The entire organ was extremely sensitive, able to react to ripples in the water and motion through the air, but particularly to touch. Usually, the whole growth served as a lure, like fish deep in chasms underwater that made a light and then ate anything that came close enough.

  In this case, it would immediately lurch up out of the water, cavernous jaws open wide and lined with sharp teeth like a shark, ready to devour whatever was above it.

  Except for this time, this amphibian was trying to devour Fenix, and he was not quite prepared to be a quick snack today. Lightning reflexes took over, and a blast wave of solid heat was pushed down into the creature by a maelstrom of blue flame. Instantly cooked and then boiled from the inside out, it exploded in a flash of evaporating blood, water, and gooey chunks of flesh. Incredibly, the pressure wave of air rushing to fill the vacuum caused by the fireball also pushed the explosion outward in a ring centered on the still floating Fenix.

  Bits of the unaware amphibian rained down outward to almost a mile all around, causing many others of its kind including the much smaller ones to lurch up and all grab a chunk. The impromptu cannibalism didn’t bother them much, a good meal was hard to find on the lost plateau after all.

  Fenix was revising his tactics, not because of the danger these underwater lurkers would pose to him, but rather what would happen if one did catch his beast before he could.

  The Beast had made its fatal mistake.

  He did not relish the thought of any damage being done to its skull before he could remove it for his own purposes. As smart as the beast had been to get him onto the lake where it was more dangerous and created other obstacles, it put an immediate end to the hunt.

  Now Fenix needed to finish this as quickly as possible.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, quite sure that the creature he needed would hear him.

  He had wanted to do this without involving the power he could use, another strange thing, just killing it outright with overwhelming force would have been an insult. Probably still was, but his needs would always ultimately come first.

  Fenix kept himself aloft, the fire and heat byproduct of the magic he’d used creating a faint ripple over the water. He held one hand above the other, fingers curled and palms facing; a glow formed and grew into blue light, another ball of fire, but this time also filled with floating glyphs wrapping the sphere of flame in a corona of intangible mesh, like spider webbing.

 
When it was ready, he threw his hands forward and with the motion flew the ball, into the water and under the surface, with barely a hiss of escaped heat when it hit the water. Then he dropped down and took off again, leaping from leaf to leaf and being aware of the small fronds of fake trees poking about above the surface.

  Beneath, the sphere of sapphire flame was almost invisible as it curved through a trajectory that quickly met that of the beast still racing about ahead.

  It was eager to stay away from the shore, keeping its options open by leading him among more of the lurkers. With a shake of his head, remorse for the change in circumstances, Fenix sent the bewitched globe of fire right up under his prey and let it loose.

  The conflagration lit up even underwater, as planned the superheated liquid evaporated immediately in a growing expansion wave of steam that blew up in a column right underneath the beast and the surrounding lurkers.

  Air was sucked from their lungs, the beast and the underwater creatures alike, flame followed much later, after the initial blast wave. First, they lost oxygen, then they were blasted unconscious by the force before they were roasted and cooked while being held almost motionless within the rising columnar mass of dense, hot vapor.

  Aside from the energy expenditure, he was unhappy to do this because it had deserved an even fight. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, and he won; he was always going to win, likely he would never surrender to death, even with a fair fight.

  But he had been willing, hadn’t he?

  What did that mean for how he was feeling?

  **

  Fenix retrieved the skull of the beast from its desiccated corpse, the Vitae of it and the other creatures readily available among the floating bits. The prison’s effect didn’t even leave the charring to seep into the lake; the corpses all turned out the same and degraded quickly.