Terrineia

by Brian Whiting

  “How are we going to pass all those people?” Corbin asked.

  “No doubt with the use of your skills, my young friend.” Tashini stated.

  Alex looked upon the city gate and wished they could simply ride up to it. But the refugees they had passed on the road all spoke of the general rule that no one enters the city.

  “Look over there!” Deetur said.

  Alex looked towards the south. The nearest village began to raise a large plume of smoke into the air, something very large was on fire. But at their distance they couldn’t make out any details.

  “The king knows no shame.” Alesti said calmly.

  “So what’s the plan? Tasadi asked.

  “We will go in and kill the king.” Alesti replied as if it were so easy.

  “It’s a valid question, what is the plan, Alex?” Deetur asked from the far end of the group.

  “Do you know of any secret entrances to the city?” Alex asked Alesti.

  “There are none that are outside the walls.” She responded.

  “I’ve got one idea, but it’s not without risk.” Alex said with confidence.

  “Alex, I do not have any ideas. There are far too many soldiers between us and the entrance, so I am eager to hear yours.” Deetur said.

  “I am going to try and put a hole in the wall.” Alex said as he jumped off his juntard. He got comfortable laying prone on the ground while holding the handheld weapon firmly with both hands and aiming down the sight towards the wall far behind the tents and clusters of buildings. He set both weapons to the highest setting and waited patiently while they charged.

  “Alex, we do not have any reason to believe that the round will even reach the wall from this distance, it could easily fall within the buildings and kill innocent people.” Symboli said.

  “We have no reason to believe it won’t reach either.” Alex replied with a whisper.

  A couple minutes later both weapons indicated they were ready.

  “Cover your ears!”

  On the far right side of the city from their vantage point was the gate they couldn’t clearly see. The gate was integrated with the city wall which surrounded the newest sections of the city. Alex targeted the far left side of the wall that was closest to him.

  Pushing down the trigger caused a most unpleasant boom to go off. So loud was it, that every farmer and solider within eyesight looked around to determine the cause of the booming sound. After a few heartbeats the wall disappeared in a cloud of dust that quickly expanded, debris zipped away at dangerous speeds.

  Horns blared across the landscape, soliders and field workers began to run towards the explosion or to their homes.

  Alex placed the weapon he had fired on the medium setting and decided to keep the other one on high.

  After remounting his juntard, they began to ride calmy towards the entrance. The soldiers had reduced by more than half, as most went to check on the explosion by the wall. The dust still blocked a good view of the wall, they were all curious as how much damage had been done to it.

  Large groups of soldiers in tens, fifties and hundreds were all on a fast march towards the explosion.

  Alex and his group reached the front gate at about the same time the soldiers would have reached the site of the explosion.

  “Sound the Alarm! Forex soldiers approach!”

  A horn began to blare in a certain melody as soldiers began to line up in front of the gate.

  “We did not come to fight!” Alex yelled.

  “You are not Forex,” the garrison commander stated with clear confidence.

  “No, I am not.”

  “You’re the God that fell from the sky and brought destruction upon us.” The commander said looking upon Alex.

  “Uhhhh… well… no. Actually technically you’re wrong on both counts, but this is fun too.” Alex replied smiling.

  “Capture them,” the commander shouted.

  “Ummm, no that’s not right either. See I have come to seek the King for conversation.”

  Alex looked at his group of men behind him they all appeared nervous as twenty or so death singers pointed arrows in their direction. Just as Alex was about to offer another useless, but witty remark, the sound of screaming all caught their attention.

  A woman’s scream from the distance directly south, in the direction of the burning. The screaming got louder and more intense as other voices joined in the screaming, and people began running in all directions from the tents nearby.

  “There!” One of the random soldiers in the crowd said pointing towards the south as people emerged from the tree line at a dead sprint.

  Alex looked and his heart sank. There approaching them at near juntard speed was one A.I. spider bot. The unexpected fear was immobilizing.

  “One did survive the crash.” Symboli said.

  “That’s what’s been causing the havoc.” Alex mumbled.

  All the nearby soldiers stopped giving Alex and his group attention and they refocused their attention to the odd but seemingly dangerous menace heading towards them at a reckless pace.

  Corbin was the first to sound the note. An arrow streaked across the sky at an unbelievable distance. The arrow didn’t appear to affect it.

  The bot was less than a hundred meters away when it crashed into a group of soldiers holding spears. The bot was quick with a sweep of its leg, several stabs with another leg killed most of the soldiers in just a few moments. Blood covered each leg and most of its assembled chassis.

  The bot was making quick work of all the soldiers. It was clear the iron weapons were no match for its metal alloy exterior. Alex pointed his charged handheld weapon at the bot and fired even though it was in the middle of a fresh group of soldiers.

  The boom was loud and unforgiving, most stopped and held their ears though it was far too late to prevent the ringing. The round struck the bot in one of its six legs, blowing it clean off. The explosion itself forced the bot into a group of tents. It took only moments for it to recover. Despite its new handicap it still managed to kill a few soldiers in its close proximity with no apparent loss of lethality. Without delay it rushed towards the city wall, climbed and disappeared behind it.

  “I need inside, only my weapon can stop it!” Alex shouted towards the guards who had watched a whole company of solider fall to the beast as if leaves in the wind.

  “Open the gate!” The commander yelled over and over again. A few the commanders men waited to rush inside the protected city as the doors slowly opened. Most seemed hesitant to the idea. The moment the doors cracked open the screams of those inside of the walls carried on the wind. People ran out of the city gate like a burst of flood water.

  The bot made its way towards the gate as it killed indiscriminately those attempting to flee the area. The screams were dulled only by the sound of musical notes and arrows pinging off like rain on a metal roof. Alex watched as the arrow harmlessly bounced off or scratched its metal exterior. Standing about five feet tall and perhaps weighing a ton, the A.I. seemed unstoppable.

  Alex looked down at his weapons, one was charging for the strong setting and the medium stood ready. Taking quick aim Alex fired off seven rounds at the bot. It didn’t seem to do any damage but it certainly did affect the bot in some way as it stopped killing and scaled the nearest building and made its way towards the center of the city.

  Dead and injured bodies littered the gate entrance, they had to carefully walk their juntards thru the bodies, some screaming for help, and those that continued to flee the city. All the while the bot was causing more and more death and destruction.

  Once inside the city they rode at a more steady pace towards the palace. Once or twice Alex glimpsed the bot among the buildings.

  “What do we do? You’re the only one that can stop that thing!” Alesti asked hopping off her juntard handing it off to a family of three that was fleeing.

  Alex too stopped his juntard and got off as well, the throng of people was getting too thick. He took
Alestis example and disconnected his supplies, passing his juntard to a random female running with two kids in her arms. “Take it,” he said as he dragged Symboli’s tank with one hand and the rest of his gear in the other towards a nearby stable and a pile of hey next to it. He covered Symboli in the pile of hay.

  Deetur and the rest of his men all tied up their Juntards to the empty stables.

  “One of you needs to stay and protect the Juntards from theft.” Deetur said looking at his men.

  “I’ll do it.” Galvolesti said.

  Alex wasn’t sure if Deetur hesitated or not but in the end the group proceeded on foot leaving Galvolesti behind. All the while Alex wondered if he should trust Galvolesti with Symboli.

  Almost at once the flow of traffic against them dwindled to nothing, leaving an unobstructed path towards the palace. The first few soldiers they came across didn’t seem to react at all to their presence. That is until they got about half way towards the palace and a group of maybe twenty rushed onto the path seemingly unaware of the groups approach.

  “It’s the Forex they have invaded!” one of the soldiers yelled, four arrows were loosed, one striking Bradas in the shoulder. Corbin was quick and with unnatural speed released arrows into the on comers, that, combined with another seven shots from Alex’s weapon, managed to kill or disperse the remainder of the group before spears or swords swung.

  Deetur broke off the arrow leaving some of it in Bradas’ shoulder.

  Again, Alex had to impatiently wait for his weapon to reload. The occasional scream would signify where the bot was located. Deep within a large cluster of buildings. They continued to approach the palace. Thirty or so death singers protected a large entrance.

  Corbin began loosing arrows from a maximum distance. Some arrows missed but a number of them found their mark. Which was amazing due to the distance he fired from. A few guards tried to fire back but their arrows were wildly off mark. The guards dispersed after the fifth or so death among their group. Alex thought they looked rather young to be guards as they ran away. Screams from the nearby buildings were getting louder.

  “The enemy or the king?” Alesti asked Alex taking his attention from the now open entrance.

  “Alex, you should eliminate the bot before it kills too many of those who might otherwise help you leave this place.“ Symboli said with that calm voice Alex always depended on.

  “Deetur, we need to kill that thing now, once it’s finished here, it will move onto Forex, it won’t stop until everyone is dead.”

  “We can not fight that thing!” Deetur said while holding a sword out in front of him as if it was useless.

  “Alex, Deetur would be fodder and useless to you. He is correct.”

  “Fine you go on and kill the king, I will go and take care of the bot.”

  Deetur and his few men took off towards the palace entrance.

  “With them or you?” Alesti asked holding her own death singer.

  “Them.” Alex said knowing she wanted revenge for the death of her family. He turned to face the not so distant screaming and sounds of things breaking and crumbling.

  It took several minutes but he finally was able to determine which building the bot was in. Both weapons were recharged once again. From outside he watched the bot exit out a new newly created opening to make its way towards the roof. Alex fired a heavy round missing the bot by mere inches and striking the upper part of the opening. That whole part of the building collapsed bringing the bot with it. The air filled with dust and debris, for an instant Alex thoguth it might be over. However, It only took another moment before the bot was up and climbing an adjacent building.

  Alex ran up a set of steps on the same building, which led straight to the roof. The moment he was on top, he fired seven rounds into the body of the bot as it was traversing onto another roof. It lept off the building onto the path below and made a straight shot towards the front gate at what he imagined was the bots current top speed.

  After reaching the ground again, he ran as fast as he could, trying to catch up with it. He recognized the familiar places on the path he had once recently passed by, then he noticed he was starting to breathe on his own automatically, his body couldn’t keep up with the modified CO2 exchange via his skin any longer. Despite fearing he was going to trip over his own feet he continued at a reckless pace, trying to catch up. It took some time but eventually Alex reached the front gate as the bot disappeared behind a cluster of tents and people ran screaming in all directions in a mass panic. Breathing heavily now, Alex continued sprinting, but his pace began to slow. Alex was completely winded as he reached the outer edge of the tents, more dead bodies of soldiers and citizens littered the area. The bot was seen heading on a straight path towards the mountain ridge in the distance. At a range of perhaps almost two kilometers Alex fired his strong round anyway at the mechanical devil, figuring he had nothing to lose with the attempt.

  It was a miss, the round struck a tree about a hundred meters before it reached the bot. The tree exploded sending branches and shards of wood flying in all directions. Alex put the weapon away and leaned against a standing wooden board, the purpose of which he couldn’t have guessed. Alex felt the board give way a bit as he leaned against it.

  All this is my fault, he thought to himself. I must stop this thing. If I can’t destroy even one, how am I suppose to destroy a legion of them?

  His body recovered from being winded remarkably fast having achieved a completely resting heart rate in just under a minute. He dwelled on his body modifications as he walked back into the city.

  “We must make destroying that thing a priority.” Symboli said.

  “I know, we also came to see the fallen chariots right?” Alex recalled.

  “Yes, but that will take time, and the bot will continue killing.”

  “At the moment the A.I. is long gone, let’s finish our job here and then we will continue the hunt.” Alex said as he continued walking and, since it was on the way, he figured he would stop and check in with Galvolesti. Turning the corner where Symboli was hidden he saw several juntards just lingering around like they normally do, but Galvolesti was nowhere to be seen.

  “Alex.” Symboli said.

  “I know.”

  Alex rushed towards the pile of hay where he hid Symboli. Symboli was gone.

  “He has taken me!” Symboli said with a bit of exaggerated suprise.

  “We need to put a tracker on you, this is twice now.” Alex said angrily as he kicked and walked through the hay to make sure Symboli wasn’t there. “Didn’t you feel him moving you?”

  “He must be nearby as I am still in range to communicate with you.” Symboli said.

  “We don’t know that he intends to steal you, I’m not sure he even knows what you are. He could have moved you to keep you safe.” Alex suggested.

  “How do you reach such an improbable conclusion?” Symboli asked.

  “I remember this guy everyone thought was guilty of something he didn’t do, eventually his innocence was proven. Its hard to imagine living a publicly ruined life because of something you didn’t even do.”

  Alex was about to walk out of the little tucked away corner of the city but then at the corner of his eye he noticed something odd. A juntard was standing on something that looked like it didn’t belong. Alex walked over and tried to push the juntard to move off the object, but it refused to budge. So he walked up to its head and touched its ear lobe and it walked forward several paces, revealing a wooden circle flush with the ground. With moderate effort he removed the wooden lid which revealed a larger than expected tunnel.

  His weapon indicated his heavy round was once again ready to fire. Instead he switched it to the lowest setting and descended down a wooden ladder into the tunnel system. By the time he reached the bottom the indicator read thirty-three, the other was still showing seven.

  Alex waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark tunnel. The sound of a crash of some sort caught his attention. The sound
itself was disorientating as it sounded like it came from both directions at the same time.

  “Which way?” Alex asked.

  “Left, is the direction towards the palace.” Symboli said.

  In his mind he oriented the direction of the palace with his decent down the stairs and agreed with Symboli, he went left and began to follow the tunnel at a hunched but steady pace. At the few intersections that existed the ceiling height raised and Alex was able to stretch and work out the kinks in his neck and back before he reentered the cramped space of the tunnels. At some point they noticed there was light coming from the far end of the tunnel.

  As he approached the light source, he noticed a collection of lit torches. With a wide open area illuminated, Alex could see many footprints in the sand going every which way. “I don’t see drag marks on the ground, perhaps this isn’t the way.” Alex asked trying to figure out which way someone might have taken Symboli.

  “If someone were dragging me I would notice those kinds of acute vibrations. I suspect I am being carried by hand.” Symboli said.

  Looking around the large well lit room there were three new directions to choose from. Each direction was the opening to a slightly larger tunnel that was equally illuminated.

  The sound of something heavy falling onto the ground, like a large stone. Bounced off the walls of the room. Alex couldn’t tell where it had come from.

  “Alex I think I was just dropped.” Symboli responded.

  “What’s happening now?”

  “I do not know, Alex. I don’t have eyes you know.”

  “Can’t you feel anything?”

  “No... I do not, and I do not question you as to why you cannot feel the flutter of a birds wings in the sky, when the compression of air should—“

  “Shhhh.” Alex responded.

  “Alex, do I have to remind you that only you can hear m- “

  “Quiet.” Alex whispered as he approached one of the tunnels. This tunnel was a bit short in distance, perhaps twenty meters away was another large room which seemed empty.

  Alex walked to the center tunnel and stood at the entrance, listening carefully for any kind of noise that might indicate the correct choice. Looking down the tunnel he couldn’t see the other side. It curved slightly about a hundred or so meters away.