The Witch; Stronghold; Underworld

by Ky Tyrand

  “Ooh, look at the spider!” muttered Petch.

  The boy was right: it looked like a giant metallic spider. And if there was one thing Ki’ara hated, it was spiders.

  The static field that had made her striped locks stand up dissipated when the orb’s feet touched down. But the goosebumps made her hair feel like it would remain up on its own.

  All eight slender legs began to move.

  Ki’ara turned and ran when the object’s limbs immediately propelled it forward. “Shoot it! Shoot it!” the Princess shouted, as she darted back into the Library with Petch bouncing on her back.

  While it had made no noise when it hovered, the sharp tips of its feet clicked as they skittered across the floor, charging after the Princess with surprising speed.

  Je’nna fired her rifle twice as Ki’ara slid by.

  The blasts sent the mechanical creature tipping up on only four legs, but it quickly regained stability. Waves rippled across the metallic surface where Je’nna shot it, not unlike a pond absorbing tossed pebbles. With such a practiced understanding of her weapon’s capabilities, Je’nna was expecting the level of power she released to have destroyed the robotic spider. It was barely phased.

  This was no random monster.

  It was a weapon of the New Gods.

  Je’nna took one last shot before kicking the door shut and throwing the latch.

  The Library was silent. Even the shooting from the Guardsmen had stopped for some reason.

  “It got quiet in here,” Petch whispered.

  Once again, the boy’s observation was spot-on. You could hear a pin drop.

  And then… Thunk! – the door rattled violently.

  Even Je’nna jumped.

  Thunk! Thunk!

  Splinters flew from the door as two conical claws jabbed through the hardwood, one after the other. Based on how far they protruded, it seemed as if they were each at least half a foot long, silver like the spider’s body and legs.

  Now it was Je’nna’s turn to back away, as the spear-like claws withdrew, leaving large holes in the wood.

  Thunk! Thunk!

  The claws burst through the door in two new places.

  Are they getting longer?

  “Uh…” Je’nna shuffled back until she was beside Ki’ara and Petch. “How about we go a different way,” she suggested.

  “You mean, like, up the stairs?” Ki’ara didn’t mean to sound snarky, but that’s certainly how it came out.

  “Yup!” said Je’nna, turning her attention back to the center of the Library as she hustled down the aisle with Ki’ara in tow. She had her gun up when she neared the end of the aisle, though the shooting from the Guardsmen seemed to have eased. Why?

  Thunk! Thunk!

  The sounds behind them were terrifying and relentless. Every strike punctured farther into the room, decimating the door two piercings at a time.

  Four of the guards were lying unconscious near the end of the aisle. Victims of Je’nna’s gun.

  Soldiers were surely waiting, most likely ready to snipe the Princess and her friends the moment they stepped out from the protection of the bookshelves.

  Je’nna crouched, scanning the area. “I don’t see anyone,” she said.

  “The guards?”

  “Yeah. It’s like they just… left.”

  “Why would they do that…?” wondered Ki’ara. She dared look over her shoulder when the rhythmic wood-stabbing missed its beat. She wanted to urge Je’nna onward when she saw how little was left of the door.

  The claws that had repeatedly punctured through the hardwood were curled out from the tips of the spider’s long front legs, which were now fully through. They reached forward, probing. One caught hold of a bookshelf, while the other dug into the floor.

  Matching barbs hooked through the openings in the door; more legs working their way in. Splinters and loose wood fragments fell or gave way as the mechanical monster’s claws pulled its round body into the opening. The green light under the silvery surface once again locked onto Ki’ara.

  And then its round body popped through.

  9

  “Uh, Je’nna?” Ki’ara nudged the other girl before releasing her hands from Petch and lighting up her own weapons.

  Je’nna spun and fired as the giant spider stormed up the aisle.

  The mechanical creature now seemed incredibly agile, dodging from side to side – even springing up onto the bookshelves. Je’nna fired repeatedly, getting frustrated by the monster’s sudden movements and rapid reflexes. And, like before, the shots that did hit seemed to absorb into a liquid surface, barely slowing the scuttling bot.

  Ki’ara threw one of her Niksuru, but the spider was too fast. It sprang to the side at the last instant before jumping at the trio.

  Surprised by the creature’s sudden leap forward, both girls dove in opposite directions. Je’nna rolled over her shoulder and came up with her rifle in hand, while Ki’ara – with Petch flying wide-eyed on her back – slid across the floor on her side.

  The spider landed firmly where they had been standing. All eight of its pointed feet touched down at precisely the same instant; every one of the barbed tips burying itself into the solid hardwood floor. For something that was hovering weightlessly only moments ago, the metallic monster seemed to have packed on an unfathomable amount of mass.

  One pointed foot at a time lifted from the floor, each pulling fragments of wood as it separated itself from the hard planks. The glowing green eye swiveled around the sphere, passing under the robot’s own legs as it turned and once again locked onto the Princess.

  Ki’ara scrambled to her feet as the spider accelerated toward her. She could see Je’nna behind the mechanical creature, unable to take a shot for fear of hitting her and Petch.

  She could feel the boy on her back, shifting about. With the G.R. opened wide, he was no burden. But his leaning was throwing her off; messing with her balance. Not to the point of knocking her over, just enough to make her movements sloppy and unsteady.

  “Hold still, Petch!” Ki’ara shouted over her shoulder. She had one Niksuru in hand, and was in the process of drawing the second back to her when the eight-legged bot pounced.

  After witnessing the round body absorb Je’nna’s gun blasts, Ki’ara had no idea what her Niksuru would do to its silvery metal. But it was all she had. There was no way her second device would make it back to her in time. As eight spearheads came down on her at once, her lone blade of blue plasma suddenly felt very small.

  At the last instant she dove to the side, nearly forgetting Petch was on her back.

  CHUNK!!!

  Again the monster’s feet landed in unison; eight razor sharp daggers hammered into the floor as one.

  With Ki’ara and Petch out of the way, Je’nna opened fire, moving to the side in an attempt to keep a safe angle. But the mezzanine wasn’t wide enough to circle around the silver bot. She was already pressed against the railing, risking her own exposure as she blasted away.

  The spider didn’t pay much attention to her. It seemed solely focused on Ki’ara – first with its green eye, and then with its pointed legs.

  Claws ripped out of the floor as the monster turned and nailed a single leg down at the Princess, who had yet to get to her feet.

  Ki’ara rolled – right over her friend’s chest – as the conical point punctured into the floorboard. The bot’s foot made the same sound as when it had been chiseling into the door, which instantly made Ki’ara envision a second attack.

  The girl immediately rolled back as another claw spiked into the wood, grazing her thigh. Ki’ara found herself facing the first leg with her Niksuru in hand.

  She didn’t hesitate to take a swipe.

  Blue Energy seared into the strange metal, sending an explosion of sparks into the air, and strands of electricity dancing over the bot.

  The limb dropped. No longer smooth liquid-silver, the severed metal darkened and clanked to the floor.

  It had worked.
Her Niksuru cut the robot as easily as it did anything else.

  But this was just a leg.

  Ki’ara rolled and swung for another.

  Not fast enough.

  The spider leapt back. Its seven remaining legs tramped and danced, as if protesting the loss of the first.

  Well, that made it mad.

  With Petch on her back, the Princess sprang to her feet. Refocusing her attention on her second Niksuru, Ki’ara used her mind to follow the connection of energy strands straight to it. She located the device down the aisle, near the door that the spider had clawed through. Ki’ara sped up the Blue Energy particles and pulled, drawing it straight back to her. She hoped that the books in its path weren’t terribly important, for the weapon burned through not one, but two aisles of tomes on its diagonal trajectory toward her.

  Ki’ara wondered if she could get an angle on the spider that would put it between herself and her returning Niksuru. The deceptive trick had turned the tides in their battle against Sirona. She had to try…

  The spider didn’t give her a chance.

  It leapt through the air, and for the first time Ki’ara noticed how the creature drew its legs up – similar to the wings of a bird taking flight – and then whipped them down at the last instant, like several spears being thrown at once.

  Barely able to dodge the attack, Ki’ara was knocked to the side as the monster’s feet pierced the floor with a precise but destructive impact.

  Across from her, Je’nna continued to fire at the mechanical beast whenever she had a clean shot. The spider’s bulbous body was like a sponge for the energy particles emitted from her rifle. So she began targeting its legs instead. Though they absorbed energy in the same way as the torso, at least it messed with the bot’s speed and stability, even making it stumble a time or two.

  Ki’ara’s second Niksuru clapped into her hand. She spotted the effect Je’nna’s blasts were having, which offered a sense of hope. Together they could bring this thing down.

  But, after raising her Niksuru up to throw, Ki’ara hesitated, feeling something warm and wet on her wrist. She pulled her eyes away from the spider just long enough to see that something was not right…

  Blood was running down her arm, dripping from the tip of her elbow to the floor.

  10

  Ki’ara couldn’t tell where the blood was coming from. She had armor protecting her…

  “Ouch,” Petch whispered in her ear.

  Oh no.

  “Petch? Are you okay?” Ki’ara tried to look back, but couldn’t see a thing.

  “I think I’m bleeding…” he muttered.

  The spider’s green eye spun at Ki’ara. Two of its side legs snapped at her, making her jump back and squeak.

  She wanted nothing more than a timeout to check on her friend.

  But the mechanical creature would have none of that. It was lightning fast and suddenly skittering toward her.

  She couldn’t even look Petch over without getting skewered. Hit with a wave of guilt, Ki’ara didn’t know what to do. She had armor and a helmet. The boy on her back did not.

  And, like everyone who was trying to help her, Ki’ara knew this boy’s life was in danger because of her.

  She had to protect him.

  The Princess needed to get him away from here.

  Somewhere safe.

  Her eyes went up, across the foyer, to the rows upon rows of balconies stacked above her.

  Ki’ara knew where to take him. She just needed to get there.

  Letting one of her Niksuru fly at the spider bot, the Princess turned and bolted.

  In a matter of three steps, she was up on a chair, hopping onto a table, and leaping off the railing. So much for keeping Petch out of harm’s way, Ki’ara thought to herself, as she looked down at the open lobby below.

  They were on the third floor. With her Mu’turi body armor, Ki’ara was certain that a fall from this height wouldn’t harm her. But it could kill Petch.

  She heard the boy gasping in her ear, and the spider scrambling to give chase behind them. As expected, the arachnid had dodged her weapon and was hot on her heels.

  The Princess tightened the grip of her Mu’turi on Petch’s hands, arms and torso. Her G.R. wasn’t calibrated to lift them both. But it lightened the pair enough that they didn’t plummet. Ki’ara had gotten a good push off the railing, and now stretched with everything she had.

  The inter-dimensional tech was just enough to carry the two of them all the way to the middle of the room, to where one of the cross-bridges wrapped around a central column.

  Ki’ara let out a breath when she felt her hands close on the railing. Her knees bumped into the hardwood uprights as she scrambled for a foothold.

  Not a perfect landing, but it would do.

  She glanced over her shoulder in time to see the silver bot sailing toward them.

  The monster was low, but its legs were long and raised high.

  For a moment it looked like the vicious creature wasn’t going to make it across. Ki’ara hoped it would crash into the landing below – and it looked like it might. But at the last second, one of the bot’s thin legs shot up, making Ki’ara jump as it speared into the wood at her feet.

  The spider swung its weight on the single claw, disappearing under the floor, before swooping back like a pendulum. Another pointed foot probed for purchase on the ledge.

  But not fast enough.

  From the top of her wrist, Ki’ara’s Niksuru lit up.

  With one hand on the railing, and Petch on her back, the Princess twisted and crouched.

  The robot’s supporting foot came off in a single swipe, as sparks showered down, bouncing off the liquid metal body before falling to the floor below.

  Its other legs kicked frantically, but couldn’t catch hold. The mechanical monster fell, recoiling off the railing beneath it before plunging all the way to the lobby floor.

  Ki’ara was hoping for a splat that would finish it off. But no such luck. The spider somehow landed with its six remaining legs underneath, absorbing the impact in a way that made the monster look as light as a feather.

  “Petch, where were you hit?” asked Ki’ara, desperately trying to look him over without setting him down. There was blood everywhere, but she couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

  “My arm…”

  Ki’ara spotted it. The outside of his left upper arm, right below his shoulder. The spider’s claw must have grazed it. Ki’ara didn’t have anything to doctor him with, apart from her Niksuru. She’d cauterized wounds with it before, but there was no way she would put Petch through that. If she had time, she could use the boy’s sleeve to tie it off…

  One look down at the spider told her that the bot wasn’t finished.

  The green light swiveled around, straight up off the top of its domed back, until the eye once again locked onto Ki’ara.

  And it wasn’t the only green light shining up at her. The Princess spotted another, appearing from under the second floor mezzanine. An additional silver spider, identical to the first. But with all eight legs intact.

  Ki’ara took a sharp breath when she saw a third metallic bot, creeping from an aisle near the others.

  How many are there?

  Je’nna’s voice crackled through the communicator. “I see four.”

  Ki’ara found it unnerving how Je’nna always seemed to know exactly what she was about to ask. It was as if the girl could read her thoughts. The Princess looked up to see Je’nna leaning over the balcony that Ki’ara had just jumped from. Her rifle was unfolded, the long barrel trained on the lobby below.

  “Five,” corrected Je’nna.

  Unlike the wooden decks of the upper levels, the floor in the lobby was made of stone, which made a clicking sound under the spiders’ thin feet as they edged toward the middle of the room.

  Ki’ara hadn’t mastered drawing the Mu’turi off her body very far. But if there was a time, it was now. Not only did she need to hang on to
the boy on her back, she also had to prevent him from losing more blood. So she focused her thoughts on the Mu’turi.

  With some adrenaline enticed concentration, Ki’ara was somehow able to stretch the mysterious energy particles all the way over Petch’s arm, which was already tight to her shoulder. She’d never tried anything like this before, but it was working. The textile film extended around him, binding his upper arm to her neck, and cinching him down everywhere that it could.

  Petch made a weird sound as she tightened the Mu’turi’s hold.

  “You okay?” Ki’ara asked over her shoulder.

  “I am oh-kay,” Petch drawled.

  If he was in any pain whatsoever, the boy wasn’t letting on. Ki’ara had no idea what Petch had been gassed with, but in his current state it seemed that he wouldn’t care what kind of injuries he sustained.

  “Good,” said Ki’ara, as she watched the group of bots congregate around the six-legged monster that had attacked Ki’ara. Green lights wobbled under their liquid metal surfaces, until every last one was locked onto the girl.

  Time to go.

  “Top floor!” Ki’ara shouted to Je’nna.

  The other girl nodded, folding her gun and locking it over her shoulder in a single fluid movement, before flipping the Land Mag tech from her wrists into the palms of her hands. She grinned within her helmet, and then hopped onto the railing and shimmied up a post.

  With the L.M. disks adjusting themselves to the energies of the wood, Je’nna didn’t even need to find finger holds in order to lift her body up. With her light weight, and powerful upper body strength, she was up to the next level in no time at all.

  She looked across to Ki’ara, who was climbing straight up as well, utilizing her G.R. to support the weight of herself and the boy on her back, whose head swayed with every movement as he looked around the chamber in a daze. His spaced-out expression sure gave off the vibe that he was a halfwit, but Je’nna was pretty sure it was just the sleeping gas making him so goofy.

  On the ground below, the mechanized spiders danced about, trying to get underneath Ki’ara. And when they did, the robots began to hop.