I felt whatever was blocking me from my power flow away and I could feel the Sri pounding through me. But I didn’t act. Sumahon was right. What was I going to do in the face of such odds? I would stand up and defend a people I barely knew and then die. I had just been born and already I was going to die.
No.
I’m done. I’m leaving.
Tears dripped down my face as I turned away and began moving back the way I had come. A sudden thump followed by a sickening squish made my chest tighten.
I was no hero. I am a failure, and I would die a failure, just not today.
Chapter Fifteen
“What are you doing?” Sumahon asked again.
I shifted around in the giant puddle of mud I was laying in, not wanting to think, speak, or live. Finally, after several hours of resting, I decided to answer.
“What is the point of all this?” I asked Sumahon.
“All what? The invasion? I have a few working theories but no hard evidence and many holes in motive.”
“The point of life? Born to a dying people on a dying planet. Make a friend, then they die. Everyone I’ve ever known besides you is probably dead now. Am I expected to just push through, and if I am, what do I do?”
“Those are some heavy questions you are throwing around,” Sumahon said, “Perhaps we should narrow the scope a bit. Let’s start with ourselves. We are alive and you are not seriously injured.”
I interrupted his analysis of the situation with a dry chuckle. Not seriously injured? The pain all over nearly every inch of my body said otherwise.
“We will need food soon, and we will need shelter. Let’s focus on that first and deal with the existential crisis tomorrow!” Sumahon continued to speak ignoring my thoughts of complaint.
I did feel hungry. Maybe that would help. I will just focus on one thing at a time and see if it gets me to tomorrow.
“I’m going back to the village,” I announced, rolling myself clear of the mud. Somewhere distant in the back of my mind, a voice complained about how filthy I was, but I pushed it down and focused on walking.
“I’m sure we can find food elsewhere,” Sumahon said, his voice seemed to waver as he spoke. I guess he didn’t agree with my idea.
I didn’t care though, I knew where food was, and I would go get some. A thought did occur to me as I walked.
“How did you stop me from using my Sri?” I asked Sumahon.
“Aw, yes, about that. Uhm, yeah, sorry. I’ve been working on something, and I tested a theory I had. Turns out, I can re-branch your lines of power at will with the right amount of effort. I think that with a little wor-“
I took the book out and threw it aside.
“Goodbye, Sumahon,” I said, and kept walking.
I had made it roughly thirty feet away when I heard him speak.
“You can’t leave a part of yourself behind. That isn’t how this works.”
“Watch me.” I thought back.
I felt something in my hand and looked down to find Sumahon pressed firmly in my hand. What the?
“No, you don’t understand. Turn your display on and read.”
I reluctantly willed the display back on and read the newest word blurb to show up.
-According to legend, Erusha and Seinkah share a soul. Part of that bond is displayed in the physical realm whenever an Erusha is separated from their Seinkah; they will be rejoined. With practice, this ability can also be used to recall a Seinkah that has been forcibly taken from their Erusha.-
“You see! You can’t leave a part of yourself behind.”
“How did I end up with the only Seinkah that speaks and annoys their Erusha?”
“Because you were lucky!”
“I don’t like that you can control me, and I’m not sure I can forgive you from stopping me.”
“I did what was in the best interest of our survival, and I would do it again.”
We walked in silence for the remainder of the way back. It wasn’t far, but I wasn’t pushing myself to go at a good pace either. I knew what I would find when I made it back to Aetex’s, and I wasn’t prepared.
“I’m not sensing anyone or the lack of anyone near the edge of the blight. However, be warned that I can detect a cluster of Ki’darthians towards the center, all in one place.”
I heard Sumahon speak and although I was grateful for the info, I did my best not to let the thoughts cross my mind. He had been wrong, and I wasn’t ready to speak with him.
I neared the crater and forced myself to look at where Aetex had fallen. To my surprise instead of a mangled corpse, there was a line of four evenly spaced mounds of dirt.
I willed my overlay to turn on and focused my mind on displaying all the information. My vision lit up with data. I could see the group of energy signals that Sumahon had said were Ki’darthians, I even noticed several blank spots in the distance. They appeared on my overlay as black spots of nothing.
Confident that no one still remained on the edge, I circled around the crater and made my way towards Aetex’s home, avoiding the piles of upturned dirt.
As soon as I crossed the threshold into the village, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The air smelled sweet, the grass beneath my feet sent shivers of pleasure throughout my body. Even the sunshine here felt warmer and more comforting.
It had been just days in the blighted lands, but feeling life beneath me again, I realized how hard it was to feel normal out there.
“I’m sorry, Sumahon,” I said aloud. My voice cracked while I spoke, and I realized how dry my throat had gotten, “I’m just overwhelmed with everything. You did the right thing, we weren’t powerful enough to fight back, but I promise you that we will be.”
“An inspiring speech, and to that end, I have a few ideas that will get us to that point! Let me first talk to you about the nature of S-“
“Not now,” I said, switching to mental speak, “First things first. We need food, supplies, and a way to fight back.”
I found the food easily enough and ate with reckless abandon. All the while my eyes watched my overlay screen, making special note of not only the blips that represented the Ki’darth but also the strange holes in my overlays vision. I was lucky as they seemed to be staying in one relative spot, with the exception of one Ki’darth signal.
“One of the Ki’darth might not have been captured,” I said to Sumahon, “see that one in the center of the village?”
“I see it,” Sumahon responded slowly, “you aren’t planning on doing anything stupid are you?”
I just might be, I thought to myself, trying not to focus on the words too hard, hoping that Sumahon wouldn’t pick up on them. Before I could try to be the hero, I needed to get cleaned off. My grumpy mood had mostly passed and I was becoming more and more aware of how filthy I was.
It didn’t take long to peel my clothes off, wash, and change. I had grabbed a spare bag and filled it to the brim with supplies that I hoped would be useful, as well as a large water canteen. After getting myself prepped, I did the one thing I had been avoiding, I made my way over to the mounds of dirt.
My feet padded against the soft grass that was so common in the village. A sudden breeze from the middle of the village brought sweet scents to my nose, and I took a moment to enjoy the peace of it all. It might be the last time I could feel this calm, so I wanted to enjoy it, despite the insanity that was going on around me.
My injured arm began to itch, and I was pulled from my trance and brought back to the harsh reality of life. Looking down at the freshly bandaged arm, I couldn’t help but feel grateful. The wounds appeared to be healing rather quickly, despite the near-constant itch. A prompt flashed over my screen and I read it.
-Ki’darthian physiology is uniquely suited for harsh environments. As a species, only the Velruokuo are more adept at regeneration.-
I
wondered how many of these prompts I missed by keeping my overlay off the majority of the time? I wouldn’t waste any more time worrying about it. I was here.
Four small mounds of dirt lay in front of me, each with an item laying atop it.
The two to the left held the odd gadgets that I had seen the lizardmen use, except that both were mangled and broken almost beyond recognition. I held back a desire to reach out and take them, they had proven to be powerful weapons, but I wouldn’t have any idea of how to fix them.
Another mound had a pair of golden shining gloves.
-Combat Gauntlets: traditionally made from a flexible material that would wrap to the elbow with hard metal inserts in the knuckles.-
This one didn’t appear to be traditional, though. The entire thing appeared to be made of metal and the knuckle part contained spikes, one for each of the three Ki’darth knuckles.
Above this mound, that had clearly been Narth’l’s, was a neatly folded brown cloak. My eyes lingered on the cloak for a moment before I turned to the last mound.
Aetex.
“I’m sorry,” I said, kneeling down before the grave of my master, “I keep telling myself I had no other choice but to flee and that it wouldn’t have been what you wanted, me dying needlessly, but I honestly don’t know.”
A slow-moving tear moved down my cheek and tickled my mouth. I quickly wiped it away and stood.
Aetex’s staff lay atop his grave in two pieces. Whether his weapon was broken in battle or deliberately after his death, I couldn’t be sure, but seeing it broken hurt me. I reached down and lay my hand on his Seinkah.
My hand jerked back from a sudden feeling of pain. It wasn’t a sharp pain, but it was unexpected.
“There is still power left in his Seinkah,” Sumahon said, “From what I can understand, a part of Aetex’s soul remains and it is in terrible pain.”
“Can we do anything?”
“Nothing that I know of, and I’m afraid damaging it further would just draw out his anguish.”
Just another problem without a solution. I stepped away from the mound of dirt and reached down to grab something else.
I unfurled the brown cloak that had belonged to Narth’l and shook it out. I couldn’t see any blood and so I threw it over my shoulders and raised the hood. This cloak was too good of a disguise to pass up for when I will return to the blighted lands.
I stepped away from the graves and began to walk toward the center of the village.
“What are you doing? Shouldn’t we be going the other way?”
“No. We are going to go see if we can save the person who has evaded capture so far. And before you tell me it is too dangerous and try to mess with me, here me out. Whoever this person is, they’ve avoided being captured so far so that means, as long as we stay out of sight, we can do the same.”
“And if they are discovered before we can get them out, or us rescuing them gives us away somehow? You haven’t thought it out as well as you think you have, meat bag.”
I ignored Sumahon as he continued to complain in my head. I found that if I focused enough, I could almost block out his words, almost.
My eyes scanned my overlay as I walked, and I hoped that the pair of missing spots that had just popped into my path would soon change course.
I was just outside the center of the village hidden among the dense bushes that adorned most of the spherical huts. The hut in the center of the city was something different altogether. Instead of being a one-story circular hut, it had to be tall enough to fit at least three stories.
I could see windows higher up on the top floor and began to form a plan.
“What do you think our chances of not being seen would be if I flew to the top of the building and through one of those windows?”
“Zero.”
“That’s not helpful,” I shot back, “I need to figure a way inside, but those lizardmen have started patrolling and the entrance is facing the building they are all gathering in, but there has to be a way.”
“There isn’t, you will just get us nearly killed again.”
I exhaled and began focusing my power.
“Don’t do it!” Sumahon warned, “You might not remember, but what you call flying isn’t exactly a quiet thing. If you go for that window, We. Are. Dead.”
I heard a faint creak of something moving on hinges ahead and snapped my eyes down towards the door. Someone was leaving the center building, it was Ah’can! He walked low, still covered in an assortment of colored paint. He stood out like a sore thumb and needed to hide quickly if he was going to get away. He clutched a small sack of something in his arms as he ran towards the building where everyone was being held.
“Ah’can!” I said, trying to both whisper and yell at the same time. Unfortunately, he didn’t hear and quickly moved out of earshot. I followed slowly through the bushes trying to get close enough to him to warn him. But I was too late.
Two blips of nothingness intercepted him while I was cutting behind a building to stay out of sight.
I heard yelling and hurried to get into view. Several booms echoed through the peaceful village and the yells stopped. I slumped to the ground and let out a quiet moan.
“I told you.”
I resisted the urge to throw Sumahon as I stared into the amber sky. What could I do now? I can’t match their weapons. I can’t save anyone here and I don’t even know where any other villages are.
Wait, that wasn’t entirely true. I had seen several green spots while flying over the blight. Perhaps one of them hadn’t been visited by the cruel invaders yet?
No.
Of course, they would be, and even if they weren’t what was I going to do.
“We could leave. I have patched together more information from the fragmented ancestral knowledge banks.”
“Go where? This planet is dead, and soon it looks like all the people will be as well.”
“Time for a history lesson. I will explain, but let’s talk while you walk.”
I absently shook my head in agreement and began slowly making my way back to the edge of the ring of life.
I was about halfway to the edge of the blight when it happened. All at once, everything was different. The village died. I wasn’t sure how or what had caused it but I knew it more than I knew anything.
The birds stopping chirping and the eerie quiet of the blighted lands settled over the village. The sweet smell and scent of life faded away and a stink began to crawl into the green, consuming the life. I felt all of this, but then I saw it.
From the center of the village, that same building Ah’can had been inside. The green ground turned a dark, ugly blackish-brown. Like fast-moving tentacles of death, it stretched forth and reaching to connect with the blight.
Then I heard the shouts of alarm. I ran from the blight and soon entered the blighted lands beyond the ring of the village.
My cloak flapped around me as I kept running, unwilling to stop. Afraid that whatever was spreading from the center of the village might merge with the blight and create a super blight. However, that didn’t seem to be the case, I looked behind me several times and saw just the usually dead ground.
Letting myself relax, or as much as I could relax while inside the blight, I began walking.
“Okay,” I said to Sumahon, “Tell me how we are getting out of here.”
Chapter Sixteen
Dead vegetation crunched beneath my feet as I walked, and a sudden breeze brought the scent of the dead to my nose. I’d been walking towards the cave for nearly an hour now and so far had been lucky. Not a single lizardman, beast, or flying creature to be seen.
I walked parallel to the road but did my best not to actually walk on it, fearing that would make it too easy to get caught.
Glancing down to Sumahon strapped to my hip, I pulled my borrowed cloak
close. It was getting cold for the first time since I was born, truly cold. The twin suns ahead were hidden under a cloud layer that threatened to bring more wretched rain, but still, I pushed on.
“Are you ready to tell me how we are getting off this planet?” I asked Sumahon through our telepathic link. I could feel his hesitance to respond in my mind, but I wasn’t going to let him keep quiet forever.
“I am still waiting for a key bit of information, but I guess it won’t hurt to tell you what I know so far.”
He sounded much more hesitant than he had been when he was convincing me to flee the village, and I knew part of that had been his own fear that we would die. Because if I died, he died. A fact I was growing tired of hearing from him.
“Just tell me already,” I said aloud. Sumahon made a series of frustrating sounds in response to me speaking aloud but said nothing intelligible.
“Okay, fine. Just stop talking aloud, unless you like the idea of us being killed.”
I stopped walking and found a larger stone to sit on. With the cloak wrapped around me like this, anyone that saw me from a distance would assume I was just part of the bolder beneath me.
“Okay,” Sumahon made a point to make sounds as if he was clearing his throat. I wasn’t amused. “Neak’o, turn your display on, and I will try to project some visual memories to accompany me.”
He knew very well my overlay was on and that I had barely taken my eyes off it since fleeing. I had hoped that it would give me clues or at least a heads up when the lizardmen grew close, but so far, it has provided nothing but the occasional name of half-dead vegetation and insect species groups.
“A long time ago, there was a race of technologically advanced humanoids who enslaved an entire sector of the galaxy. They were known as conquers, masters, and bastards by most, but you know them as Ki’darthians.”
“What are you even talking about!” I said, frustrated, “Just skip all this and tell me how we are getting out of here and leaving the planet.”
“What I am saying is important!” Sumahon said firmly, “So as I was saying, your people were cruel overlords who probably deserve all th-”
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