by N. I. Snow
“It wasn't hard to put you two together. Is the Light really worth your daughter's life?”
Emma jumped out of her seat as Salianos leapt over the table towards her. His muzzle was furrowed with rage, revealing rows of sharp fangs. His violet eyes burned like twin suns. He made not even the slightest effort to hide the fury in his voice, “She betrayed me, just as Umelia was planning to do. I gave them both the chance to rule at my side, but they tossed me away like a mongrel begging for scraps.” Recomposing himself, Salianos straightened his back with his tail stiff behind him. “I was not about to let them come between me and my destiny, nor will I allow you.”
Lutianist's head jerked up and he peered over at Emma and Salianos from his seat. The Elder tried to rise from his chair before the girl could speak, but he was too slow. Despite having the blazing, violet eyes burning into her own and her captor’s warm breath hitting her, Emma's voice was heavy with disdain, “You are nothing but a tyrant. You destroyed Kahluna and Umelia out of greed. You twisted the will of the Ancients to fit your vision. You want to know why your parents’ skeletal forms haunt you? It's because you have disgraced them with your lust for power.”
This time the High Elder gave no warning. In a flash he held the unfortunate girl by her throat nearly half a meter off of the ground. His powerful clawed hand threatened to choke the life from her. She gasped for air and tried with both hands to pry Salianos’s grip from her neck while kicking her feet. Salianos wasn't about to let go. His gaunt snout has hardly a hairsbreadth from her face, and saliva dripped from razor-sharp fangs, as his violet eyes burned deep into hers.
“High Elder.” Lutianist called to Salianos, “Stay your claws. She is valuable.”
Salianos released his hold on the girl. She fell painfully to the floor as the High Elder unleashed his rage on the unfortunate Elder, “The cub is wasting precious time, Lutianist.”
“We are doing what we can to find clues as to the Light's location, but we cannot predict which relics will tell us what we need,” Lutianist spoke calmly despite having Salianos's violet glare on him, “You must be patient, Salianos. We have waited this long for a chance to decipher the relics. The Gaia can wait a little longer.”
“You have had five standard months as it is, Lutianist,” Salianos growled. “I will allow you one week to find even the slightest fragment of an idea of the Light's location. If after that week you have found nothing, the girl will be handed to Tarline. You have been too soft on her. Tarline will ensure she finds my answers.”
The High Elder gave Emma one last cruel, threatening look before leaving the study. The girl's mind spun from what she had heard. One week! What was she going to do? She couldn't tell Salianos what Alekia told her, but she knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from screaming it out in Tarline's hold.
Lutianist walked over to Emma and gently lifted the girl to her feet. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Go, get some rest, little one. You have been through enough for one day.” The Elder's whispering voice spoke calmly to her. “Do not worry about what Salianos said. You know I have a plan.”
Emma nodded silently to the Elder. Walking numbly over to the bed, she lay down in her dress heedless of crumpling it. It was unimportant compared to what was happening to her now. As Emma lay there she thought she would never be able to fall asleep. Her mind was racing. She hoped desperately that Lutianist did actually have a plan. Yet despite her worry, Emma's eyelids closed and she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
With a heavy weight in his chest, Lutianist watched as Emma slept. He never could have predicted Salianos to have lost his patience that quickly. He had to get Emma off of Tazal, and he was glad he wasn't alone with the idea.
“Hey, lizard brains, where you headed to?” A bald-headed man shouted after the dark-blue-scaled Tazalian.
Vemque ignored the man as he crossed the Neapolthian base. The bald soldier blocked the Tazalian's path, “Didn't you hear me? I asked where are you headed?”
“That is none of your concern, hetral,” Vemque growled at the man. This wasn't the first time the dark-blue Tazalian had had a run in with this human. Despite having been warned off several times by Connell, the human still continued to harass the Tazalian whenever possible. Today was no exception.
The man gave Vemque a look of mock indignity, “That wasn't very nice. I thought we were friends.”
The stump of Vemque's lost tail twitched as he growled, “I am no friend of yours.”
Vemque pushed the man aside and moved to walk past him. As the Tazalian passed him the man turned and unstrapped his rifle from his back. With a heavy swing he landed the butt of the weapon against the back of Vemque's skull. Stars shot across the reptilian soldier's eyes as he collapsed to the ground. The human soldier stood over the felled Tazalian, a cruel grin playing on his face.
“Sleeping on the job now, eh?” The man aimed the rifle towards Vemque's head. “You know what we do to lazy people?” He placed his index finger on the trigger. “Do you?”
A gunshot echoed across the base. Vemque braced himself for a death that never came. Turning his head he looked up to see blood spouting from the human soldier's chest. About two meters away stood Lieutenant Connell holding a still smoking rifle at the dying man. The lieutenant's normally calm eyes were ablaze with anger.
“Don't you know what happens to those who don't follow orders?” he asked in a harsh tone as the man's body fell to the ground.
Vemque gazed uncertainly at Connell as the human lieutenant walked over to him. When Connell reached down to help him up, Vemque spoke, “Never thought you would kill one of your own.”
Connell grabbed hold of Vemque's clawed hands and pulled him up. “I gave Maldin fair warning of what would happen if I found out he attacked you.”
Vemque pulled his hands from Connell’s and gave this rescuer a dark look, “Could have let him kill me, end my misery.”
“Misery? You are hardly even a prisoner. I practically let you free roam the base. Besides, can't have you die yet. I still need your help. Today we attack Dohma and grab us a warship.”
Vemque shook his snout, “I still do not like your plan. Too much reliance on your fellow humans.”
Connell inspected the rifle still in his arms, “My men know how to do their jobs. I'm more worried about boarding a warship based on an untested theory.”
“The vessel I picked out should still be harboring prisoners. Your scent should go unnoticed,” Vemque replied coolly.
“Well, anyway, we still only have only one shot at this. If we achieve destroying Dohma, it will bring hope for the Western Quadrant.”
Vemque rolled his eyes and did not reply. He still could not understand what the human hoped to gain out of this mission. Should he succeed in destroying Dohma, the other three automatons would still be roaming Earth and would have to be dealt with. What did he plan to do if they did manage to board a warship? In order to take over the ship, they would have to find their way to the bridge and kill the commanding officer, not to mention nearly two score of highly trained Tazalian soldiers, who would be on board. Should the soldiers catch scent of Connell, they’d never even get to bridge; and even if they did manage to kill the commanding officer, both the human lieutenant and he would be killed on sight.
Connell walked past Vemque, heading for their hangar. The Tazalian watched him briefly with a cold look in his golden eyes before following after him. Although most of the military base had taken damage, many of the hangars were still in shape to hold a jet or two. Even so, few housed any ships or shuttles at the current moment, which enabled Vemque and Connell to work on their Tazalian fighter jet unbothered.
When they reached the hangar, Connell motioned for Vemque to enter first. As the dark blue-scaled Tazalian disappeared through the hangar doors, Connell looked over the base property line to the smoldering wrecked city beyond. Somewhere in the depths of the ruined forest of buildings, his prey awaited. He gave a small smirk, time to go snake huntin
g.
Metal scraped along metal as the great serpent automaton Dohma, dragged its body through the ruins of Neopalthia. Low metallic growls escaped its monstrous muzzle. Its robotic eyes scanned the surroundings for its next fleshy meal. It had been nearly a week since its steel teeth tore through the body of a human.
Suddenly Dohma's head reared up, jaws open. Ahead stood a lone bedraggled man. Letting out a loud gut-wrenching roar, Dohma shot towards his intended victim. At the sight of the charging serpent, the man took off towards a debris-filled clearing. When the robotic serpent tore into the clearing, it found not only the man it was chasing but also a dozen hovertanks and nearly fifty heavily armed men.
The humans immediately opened fire at Dohma, which had already calculated that it had been lured into a trap. The automaton reared its body up and opened its mouth. Before it could release a stream of flames, it was set upon by a wave of fighter jets. Changing its focus upward, Dohma released torrents of fire at the jets as the ground forces fired on the robot from the ground.
Dohma swung its tail towards what remained of a still standing building. Soldiers dove out of the way as rubble began falling around them. The tanks continued their attack on the metallic monstrosity. As the human jets turned to make another wave of attacks on Dohma, the automaton caught the readings of a familiar fighter. Its creators were sending reinforcements to aid it.
As Dohma raised its head for another strike, a blast at its exposed neck nearly sent it reeling. It hardly had time to process what had happened when a Tazalian fighter jet circled back towards it. Dohma let out an agonized roar as the jet fired another plasma missile at it. The metallic snake let out one last weak roar before its head fell to the ground. The force of its landing nearly knocked the nearby soldiers off their feet. Before the red lights of its eyes faded, Dohma watched as the Tazalian jet flew away. Even as its processors began to shut down, Dohma was still trying to compute what had happened.
Inside the cockpit of the Tazalian fighter, Connell looked with amazement as the holoscreen in front of him showed the group of soldiers gathered around the terminated Dohma. Sitting in the co-pilot seat behind him, the dark-blue-scaled Vemque matched the human Lieutenant's expression. Despite having planned the attack for months, neither of them could believe what they were seeing. The plan had worked!
Connell shook away the shock and quickly turned the jet toward one of the larger warships hovering above the city. “Get ready to work that Tazalian charm of yours, Vemque. I'm flying us towards the warship.”
Vemque pressed an image on a holoscreen beside him. Connell listened closely as Vemque spoke to another Tazalian. Though he could not understand much of what either of them was saying, he still listened for any signs of suspicion from the other party. Although he could hear nothing that would prove that Vemque had betrayed him, that did not mean Connell trusted him. If the Tazalian had warned the others, the lieutenant had a trick up his sleeve. Should the Tazalians attack him, he would at least cripple the warship before he was destroyed himself.
“We can board.” Vemque spoke from behind him.
“Good. Then get ready for a reunion, Vem.” Connell replied as he flew the jet towards the welcoming hangar doors of the warship.
Carefully Connell maneuvered the fighter into the hangar. Finding an open space near a group of Tazalian jets, he landed his own fighter next to them. The hatch opened to let them exit the hanger as Vemque ordered the engines to shut down. Connell waited for the Tazalian to peer out of the hatchway. He checked to be sure there were no other Tazalians roaming the hangar. Once Vemque gave him the signal for all clear, the human lieutenant climbed out of the Tazalian jet with Vemque following after.
Standing in the hangar Connell examined his new surroundings, “Looks like a hangar on one of the cruise shuttles that flies to the off- planet resorts. Let's get to that bridge before we get spotted.”
Connell, however, only made it two steps before a hard object slammed against the back of his head. Vemque watched as the man's unconscious body crumpled to the ground, his right clawed hand still balled in a fist. His golden eyes glistened like ice, “Don't worry, Connell. We will reach the bridge, but this time you are my prisoner. I knew very well that you would listen for any deception over the holocom, so I waited. My fellow soldiers will not see me return as a prisoner of war, but as a hero who captured the elusive Lieutenant Connell.”
Vemque looked up as another Tazalian soldier walked towards them. Vemque called out casually in his native tongue, “You there, help me carry this human to the bridge. Commander Comäk will be pleased with who I caught.”
The jade-scaled Tazalian walked over to him but not without questioning his fellow soldier first, “And just who is that?”
Vemque gave a cruel, fang-filled smile. “The human lieutenant who has faced both our High Elder and the Death Shadow. Comäk should enjoy having him as prisoner.” The golden-eyed Tazalian gave the human one last, cold look before grabbing one of his arms and signaling the other soldier to help. The stump of his tail twitched; attacking Connell was satisfying revenge for the humiliation the human had put him through.
Sixteen
Emma jumped as a soft, clawed hand shook her awake. Heart pounding she looked up to find Lutianist standing over her. Running a hand over her eyes, she looked over at the timekeeper to find that it was an hour before sunrise.
“I doubt Salianos will be very happy if you take me to go watch the sunrise.” Emma looked up at the aging Tazalian.
Lutianist shook his head, “There will be no sun gazing today. We are leaving.”
Emma shot up like a rocket, “You really have a plan.”
The Elder nodded as he helped her gather her slippers, “Indeed I do, but we must hurry.”
Emma quickly put her slippers on and stood up. Lutianist placed a small disk on the bed. When he tapped a claw on it, a life-like image of Emma sleeping appeared. Then he quickly turned and walked towards the doorway with the real Emma in tow.
When they reached the door, the ancient Elder stopped. “Come stand in front of me, little one.”
Emma did as he told her. When she was in front of him, he shuffled as close as possible to her. “Now place your feet on top of my own.”
The girl did, though curious as to why. Carefully placing his arms around the girl's waist the old Tazalian drew her close to his body. Emma's breath caught in her throat with surprise. Though he was gentle, she could feel just how strong the Elder could be. With her back against his stooped chest, she could feel every strong muscle move with his breathing. It was then she caught sight of the two daggers hanging from either side of Lutianist's hips. Before she could ask if they were the same as the ones in the carvings out in the hallway, her world went dark. At first she thought the lights had gone out, but then she realized that Lutianist had merely covered his body and hers with his long cloak.
Emma crouched a bit so that the cloak would cover her more. From the outside eye, Lutianist appeared as he normally did, a stooped- over, elderly Tazalian with a cloak covering his body to keep him warm. The cloak was long enough to even hide Emma's feet standing upon Lutianist's.
“Ready?” Lutianist asked her.
“Yes,” Emma replied.
Balancing herself with Lutianist’s every slow step, Emma felt her heart race. From outside the recess of the cloak she could hear the door of Lutianist's room open. A few steps later she heard it close, and now she imagined herself standing out in the hallway filled with carvings of the Elder's past glories. With every step she wished that she could at least have one last look at them. However, as the hum of the power generators drew closer, she hoped that Lutianist's idea worked. Freedom was at their fingertips.
Two shadows raced across the city of Xempor. None of the shopkeepers appeared to notice the shapes as they prepared their wares for the day. The shadows quickly made their way to one of the entrances to the underground city. As the smaller of the two shadows slipped quietly into the tunnel,
the taller one paused briefly before following after.
Inside the catacombs, the larger shadow took lead once more. The smaller figure kept close while still maintaining its silence.
Kahluna was proud of the boy. He was doing well to keep silent as well as moving quickly. A few times he scuffed the ground or kicked a rock, but nothing to worry about, that is, as long as they did not run into another Seeker or, though she highly doubted it possible, Soforin. Even the smallest of noises would send the insane Elder into a frenzy.
When the pair reached the staircase leading to the depths of the city, Kahluna stopped and whispered, “This is it, young one. Once we begin the descent there will be no turning back. Are you ready?”
She could sense Jonah nod and began the climb down. Behind her she could hear him struggle to move silently. After a few stories, he managed to quiet his footsteps. When they reached the base of the stairs Kahluna gave him a moment to catch his breath. Once the boy was ready, she led him through the dimly lit tunnel into a large opening, where she senses Jonah stopping. She turned and saw awe lighting up his face.
All along the room ran rows upon rows of doorways, stairways, and balconies. Behind each door was a Tazalian citizen’s residence. Kahluna had informed him that they would first travel through the residential area and a hangar bay before they reached the central hub of Xempor. She had chosen this route due to its being the less guarded; and should anyone manage to catch sight of them, they would not question the pair of Seekers. For all any Tazalian cared, they could be on their way to the hangars for a ship. However, the pair was after something much more precious than a ship.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Lutianist made his way down the ramp ways of the central hub. At his current pace he would reach the hangar at the same time as Kahluna and Jonah. He had known of their plan long before they arrived on Tazal and thanks to Abilasso's protest against the Seeker guards, Lutianist was now able to aid in Emma's escape. With Tigret gone there was no one to stop them, he hoped.
