by M. A. Owens
“Use the cart thing,” I said.
“That’ll be a rough ride,” she replied.
“And? He’s not a weak pup like me. He said so. Should be nothing for him. Isn’t that right, Link?”
Link smiled, resting the hammer on his shoulder again. “Sure your ride can handle it? I weigh as much as the bike.”
“Is that… Who is that?” Kerdy yelled.
“You know who it is, wildcat. I guess it’s true what they said about you, huh? You really are immortal.” Link said, with a laugh.
“I told you not to go after him. When you get back, there are going to be consequences.”
“Sorry, Kerdy,” I said. “If we live long enough for there to be consequences, you don’t have the right to give them.”
Silence on the other end.
“Be here in two, or don’t bother coming,” Kerdy said.
Nightshade sighed. “Music to my ears, Commander.”
She slapped the bar on the side of the bike, causing the bar to extend and widen itself into a cart that followed behind the bike. Meant for cargo, it would not be comfortable at all, but should be sturdy enough. She grabbed her backpack and was about to put it on.
I shook my head. “No. Let him wear it.”
Nightshade eyed me with obvious skepticism. “What? But why? Are you sure?”
“They give these to the strongest warriors to wear. Don’t you think Link deserves it more? Besides, it’ll just impede your riding. I need to squeeze behind you, remember?”
“The strongest warrior, huh? Then neither of you deserve it. But, if I can only wear one, I’ll take this one here,” he said, grabbing it from her and fitting it on his back.
I smiled, and nodded to Nightshade, who still had no idea what I was doing. At least she had enough faith in me not to contradict what I was saying.
“You two better hold on,” Nightshade warned. And as soon as we were secured, the reason for her warning was clear.
She rolled out, and the engine made a high-pitched hum. We were definitely moving much faster than before, and I struggled to breathe, even with my helmet on. Link gripped onto the sides of the cart, clenching his teeth, holding on for dear life. Even a braggart like him had their limits. Not to mention he looked so old he could turn to dust at any moment. At this angle, I could see how gray his eyes had become. This dog had to be ancient. The only other dogs I’d met with eyes like that were so old they could barely get out of bed. But him? He was more machine than dog. He was sewn together like a doll that had been ripped apart far too many times, each one holding together a shorter time than the last. For his sake, and for ours, I really hoped he could hold it together one last time.
Arriving back in just over two hours, I rolled off the bike as soon as it came to a stop in the camp, finally losing the breakfast I’d fought so hard to hold on to. Link did the same. Nightshade, on the other paw, looked like she’d just woken up from a refreshing night of sleep. She could’ve pushed it that hard this morning, but she must’ve slowed down out of respect for me.
Kerdy strolled over to the bike, looking absolutely enraged. She was wearing a giant suit of armor that made her head look comically small, and an oversized sword on her back, the shape of a hook. Sharpened to a razor’s edge on the inside of the curve. Some kind of rope wheel was mounted to the chest of the armor, and a helmet resting under her left arm. She walked past Nightshade and I, then kicked Link on his metal side, sending him rolling across the ground. This must have been one of those power armors I’d heard about. It was a relief she had one.
“Hey, Kerdy! We just got him back. You mind not hurting our allies with the doomsday machine approaching?” I yelled, using the bike to steady myself.
Ignoring me, she continued walking toward Link, who stood up with an enormous smile on his face. He began walking toward Kerdy. Once the two were close enough to touch, they stood and stared for a moment, both seemingly in disbelief at the sight of the other. They were both frozen in time. For Link, it must have felt like the world picked up right where it left off, seeing a cat who looked as though she hadn’t aged a day.
The two clutched paws and smiled. “My old friend. Welcome back,” Kerdy said.
“Thank you, cat leader, for a proper welcome. I’m glad to see not all have fallen into trembling weakness. Though, I am disappointed to hear about my people. Come, let us share a drink and you can catch me up on everything I missed.”
“You heard the part where the thing will be here in an hour, didn’t you? Some of our comrades have already died to slow it down.”
“Your comrades, not mine,” he corrected.
“Yeah, and all of yours are going to die if we don’t hold the line, Link. Your lineage will end, and your people will go extinct. Sound much better?”
Link weighed her words in a way he hadn’t done for anyone else. “No. I suppose it doesn’t. Ten minutes then, for old time’s sake?”
Kerdy nodded, and the two walked away toward her tent. I started to follow, but she stopped me.
“Trigger, you are to report to Morel. I’ve instructed her to brief you on your task and equip you properly. You too, Nightshade. You two will have one more assignment as partners.”
Nightshade threw her arm over my shoulder. “Well, I guess that’s that, partner. I could think of worse company to die next to.”
“We aren’t dying,” I said. “If I was going to die, I wouldn’t need Morel’s help. I can jump into Arc River just fine on my own.”
“Okay. Sheesh. I stand corrected. Let’s go get our instructions on not dying, then. We’ll definitely need help with that one.”
We made our way to Morel’s tent, where we found her pacing outside. She looked at us, alarmed.
“Nightshade! Where is the other cloaking device?” she scolded.
Nightshade shrugged. “Ask our genius guest here. He handed it over to the old dog and made up a story about it being a symbol of the strongest warriors. Now the big guy’s wearing it and hasn’t taken it off, even though it makes him look like a complete dork.”
Morel eyed me, suspiciously. “Explain yourself. Do you know how hard I worked on those? He’s not a scout. It’s going to get destroyed.”
“Glad you asked, Morel. You see, our dog friend there is basically a living weapon. I saw him send one of those machines to the moon with one swing of that hammer. A hammer that I couldn’t even lift one end of. He said our cloaking was cowardly. Imagine if a warrior like that was invisible in a fight.”
Nightshade gave me a hard shove. “You tricked him into giving himself a tactical advantage he wouldn’t have agreed to. Wow!”
I held my paw to my mouth. “Quiet. If he figures out what he’s wearing, he’ll throw it away immediately. But yes, I tricked him, and Kerdy probably suspects as much too. That’s why she didn’t say a word when she saw him wearing it. Hopefully she won’t tell him.”
Morel shook her head. “He’ll get one, maybe two attacks before the colossus adjusts and begins predicting his movements. That’s something it can do. Maybe this version can see through the cloaking entirely. Though, I commend your idea. For what I have planned, you’ll only need one anyway. At the distance you’ll be from the battle, your cloaking will be effective for much longer. It will be much harder to overwhelm the device from afar.”
“Wait, you want us to fight alongside Kerdy and Link? Won’t we just get in their way?”
Joy stepped out of the tent, with a smile on her face. “We equipped a certain someone with a device that will give us a visual of the battle, so we can provide support and instructions.”
“Wait, you mean my eye?” I asked, surprised. “You mean you’ve been spying on me with this thing the whole time?”
“You better believe it!” Joy said. “I have, at least. Now everyone will be, so I hope you don’t have stage fright.”
“And with the world’s greatest rider, we can move it all around the battlefield, capturing every angle possible while staying out of d
anger,” Nightshade said, nodding several times.
“Here you go taking one ride in that thing after Moss upgraded it for you, and now listen to you. You already sound like him! You’re like his second daughter, you know that?”
“I see him as my father in the same way, and that makes you like my mother, Morel.”
“Hmph!” Morel grunted, turning her head to the side. “Well then you better not disappoint me. You better not either, Trigger, because I have a gift for you. I got permission from Mira to remove this rifle from inventory and make some very special upgrades. You won’t need sights. All you need to do is think it, concentrate, and your eye will zoom on its own. You can be a long way from the fight and still place accurate shots.”
“Yeah, only one slight problem,” I said. “I have no idea how to use one of those things.”
“If you shut your mouth and listen, I can teach you in twenty minutes, tops. Moss was already on his way to Nightshade’s bike to install balance compensators. So, when you make the shot, your suit will absorb the recoil of the gun, and the compensators will absorb the recoil you transfer to the bike. Can’t promise shooting it off the bike won’t rearrange your insides. I gave it a pretty big upgrade in power, but now it’s basically disposable.”
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t understand any of that. All I know is I trust Nightshade with my life, and that’s all I need to know. Show me how to use this rifle and tell me what to do. I’ve got places to be.”
Joy tilted her head. “Let’s just hope it isn’t six feet under the ground.”
18
After a crash course from Morel, and one test shot, I was confident I could use and fire the rifle well enough to be of some use during the fight, beyond being just an observer. That’s an idea I couldn’t stomach, so I was thankful for the opportunity to do something, even if it was just to humor me. Morel made it clear the rifle would do nothing to the colossus’s armor where it was undamaged, and my only chance would be to aim for vulnerable spots. If Kerdy and Link could not stop the colossus, and they almost certainly wouldn’t be able to, then Nightshade and I were to ride ahead of it to Arc City and organize an emergency evacuation of the Black District. We had to choose just one and leave the rest to draw the colossus long enough to allow some to escape and make it beyond the colossus’s reach.
Turns out that was my true role from the start. Kerdy wanted someone the citizens of the city would trust to evacuate them. It couldn’t be a stranger from the outside. It had to be someone they knew and trusted. Maybe she never believed I could help defeat the colossus. She just knew how I’d react if she told me the truth. Thankfully, Joy had no problem telling me the truth. No wonder she didn’t want to go along with any of my plans. She needed me to be alive on the big day. She’d planned to lose this fight a long time ago and sacrifice herself to give Arc City a chance to live on for at least a few more decades. Until the next attack. Link, at least, didn’t seem to accept anything other than an absolute, overwhelming victory. Arrogant as the old dog was, I hoped he could get through to Kerdy in their short meeting, and fire her up again. No one hated this thing more than Kerdy. She just needed to be reminded of that again. She needed to remember all her lost friends and not become sad. Now was the time to be angry. Now was the time for payback.
A siren blasted through the air, as Morel pinned the radio to my coat.
“All channels are limited to top, essential personnel. The rest are to listen only. Obey your commands at all times, and… good luck, Link and Kerdy, Trigger and Nightshade.”
Kerdy spoke up. “All warriors are to spread from the camp and hold off all machine scouts that attack behind the colossus. We must not be interrupted during our fight with it. I’m counting on everyone. We only have one shot at this, perhaps for all time. The lives of one, maybe even two species rest in the paws of each one of you. Nothing is forever, and someday our people will become extinct. But it will not be today. Today, we’ll make history for a different reason. This will be the first recorded battle where we fell a steel colossus. The lives lost to it today will mean something, because they will be the last. The dog hero Link has risen from his long rest to join me in protecting our people. Together we will smash this giant into scrap! Is everyone ready?”
The radio erupted into almost inaudible cheers, blending into each other like white noise, louder and louder, until there was nothing else. It gave me chills. Nightshade, Joy, and Morel all joined in, and I couldn’t help but join myself. This was it.
Nightshade smiled at my rifle. “Sniper role suits you, Trigger. I’ll try to get you the best shots I can. That siren means it’s minutes from the camp. Let’s join the battle. We’ll ride around the hills that overlook the field Link and Kerdy will fight in. We’ll keep moving to make our cloaking last as long as possible. Ready, partner?”
“You know, I never wanted a partner, but these past few years I’ve had some good ones. You’re definitely up there with the best of them, Nightshade. It’s been a pleasure.”
“Oh? Glad to hear it. Maybe next time I can join you instead, solving one of those high-profile cases in the city. I think I’ve earned it, don’t you?”
She handed me my helmet, a smile on her face.
I returned the smile with one of my own.
“Yes, ma’am. I believe you have. It’s a deal, then.”
I took off my hat and put it into the basket on the side of the bike, slung the rifle over my shoulder, and secured the helmet.
In seconds, we were moving at high speed away from the camp, and found ourselves atop a tall cliff, overlooking two figures below I assumed were Kerdy and Link. I did as I’d practiced with Joy, concentrating on what I wanted to see, and my eye zoomed in on them. Made it seem like they were right in front of me.
“I’m seeing what you’re seeing, Trigger,” Joy reminded me. “Look in the direction they’re looking. I want to see the colossus as soon as it enters the clearing. Our sensors have picked it up moving through the camp, but we’re nowhere near it at the moment. We left as soon as you did. Also, I’m going to patch you in with Kerdy and Link, open radio. You’ll hear everything they say. They’ll hear everything we say. ETA is thirty-seven seconds.”
I took several deep breaths, trying not to lose my cool.
“I’m scared too, Trigger,” Nightshade said, trying to reassure me.
“Your opponent can feel no fear, so neither can you,” Link’s voice said. “You and I are the only hope for our people. Every dog in Arc City, all of your friends, don’t let them down like I did so many years ago. Push your fear deep down. Think only of destroying our enemy. Think of your desire to end it. Your hatred for it. That is the only thing that exists now.”
Nightshade opened her mouth to speak, ready to defend my normal reaction, but I placed a paw on her shoulder and shook my head. He was right. At least, that’s what I’d convinced myself of for the few seconds leading up to the next moment.
A sound came through the trees, like nothing I’d ever heard before. An echo, that almost sounded like a scream. The sound of trees falling accompanied it, and that’s when I saw them.
Two piercing red lights were visible before anything else. They were ten times brighter than the machine we’d encountered earlier, sweeping the area, searching for life to destroy. No wonder Link wasn’t afraid of the smaller one. If he’d seen this thing. Fought it, even. There’s no way he’d fear something so small by comparison.
First a giant leg stepped into the clearing, then another, and then the rest of the giant became visible. It looked like a colossal version of the armor Kerdy was wearing, looking almost like a dog or cat, but bigger. Was this a helmet it was wearing, or its head? It towered above everything except the trees. It was at least thirty feet tall, maybe taller. Maybe a lot taller. It was impossible to tell.
“Remember, Trigger, you are to take no shots until obvious weaknesses present themselves, and certainly not until it engages with Kerdy and Link. With the improved power, that rifle
can only handle a dozen shots at the most before it becomes scrap metal, and probably not even that many. Treat each one like the only one. The rifle may be too hot for you to even make those last few shots before it falls apart. Understand?” Joy asked.
All things I’d heard already. “Yeah, Joy. Got it,” I replied.
Link took several steps forward, taking his hammer off his shoulder and holding it in the ready position. “Remember me, rust bucket? I see you no longer wear the blood of my people, but I remember. I will etch it into my mind until you are a pile of scrap!”
Link raised his hammer in the air, and barked a deep bark, like I’d never heard before. It was so loud I could hear it without the radio.
The colossus’s glowing red eyes shot toward him but didn’t fixate on him. Instead, they darted in several directions, before moving to Kerdy, who held her sword above her head. Her anger was different. She was beyond speaking to the thing. She clenched her teeth and seemed to stare right through it. This was a hatred that ran deeper than any of us could ever know. How many times had she stared this creature down, only to be forced to retreat, returning later to count the bodies and say goodbye to friends she’d seen grow from kittens to adults. Many times over. I could see it, but I could never understand it. And somehow, I suspected… not even Link could.
An artificial scream erupted from it, and I instinctively threw off my helmet to cover my ears. How could anything be this loud? Maybe they could hear it all the way in Arc City. It must’ve been some kind of auditory attack.
Kerdy did little to acknowledge it. Instead, she held her sword high in the air, growling, spitting, and hissing. Then, she secured the helmet on the armor, and looked little different from the colossus itself. Only much, much smaller.
“If you can’t see me, creature, then my hammer will stir your memory!” Link shouted, running toward the colossus. Kerdy followed, but quickly passed him moving much faster, leaping through the air with the sword held high above her head.
