Elementis 1: The Heir to the Stone

by Jonathan Wedge

  The Zohr spoke to Mutus. "Kill them all," he ordered.

  Mutus walked back to the entrance, firing on further attacks from the Guard and killing one with every shot. He removed a handful of metal balls from his armour and rolled them inside the entrance of the headquarters. The balls took on a life of their own rolling around corners and spreading themselves out around different sectors of the building. The Zohr and Mutus walked away into the city as the building behind them imploded and collapsed in a cloud of smoke.

  Dust filled the air. Hawk coughed out a mixture of blood and phlegm as he regained consciousness. He tried to get up but stopped himself after feeling a sting in his shoulder. He composed his pain with a yell and rolled onto his back getting to his feet. The air cleared enough for Hawk to see that the headquarters was now almost nothing more than a mound of rubble. He rushed across to where the building had once stood, clambering over stone, glass and metal, sifting through the debris with his good arm as he went. He cried out in shock, revealing Witakker's body which lay half under a large beam. Hawk sunk his face to the ground, his mouth drooped open. Saliva dripped from his gums as his breathless stomach let out a cry of pain as he tasted the dust of war on his lips. A single tear cleaned a pathway of skin down the dirt on his face. He picked up an abandoned weapon nearby and got on with the battle.

  Chapter XVI

  Loss

  The Zohr's determination to destroy the race which had constantly halted his rule only grew with malice when he learned that the Elementis was no longer under the protection of Uly. The stone was hidden, and its whereabouts may well have died with the king, but the Zohr had found it once on the remote planet of Lapia and he was certain that he would find it again during his endless rule. As much as he wanted it now, he still knew that with the cythereans powerless, leaderless and having hidden the Elementis from their own weak minds, there was now nothing that could stand in his way.

  The fantoms continued to crush the city and the surviving cythereans retreated to a stronghold in the south-west corner of Enterra. For now, they managed to stem the enemy advance with heavy armament and anti-aircraft lasers.

  Hawk felt dazed and weak with blood loss as a squadron of medics who scoured the area taking in the wounded carried him into a medical tent within the stronghold. A nurse took Hawk by the arm and sat him on the side of a bed.

  "Let’s take a look at you," she said, removing Hawk's dented shoulder-pad and surrounding body armour.

  Blood and sweat stained a large patch of his under clothing. The nurse cut into his shirt, tearing it apart, placing a clean white patch hard onto the pouring blood to stem the flow. "I'm not sure how you're still alive," she said, pushing more pressure on the patch.

  Hawk grimaced. "It's just a scratch," he managed, composing his pain and taking over pressing the patch for the nurse.

  She turned away to pick up a hand-held skin-sealer, glowing with blue at the tip. Hawk pulled the patch away as she ran it across the four-inch tear between the top of his chest and shoulder. The sealer soothed his wound, regenerating the skin as a final squirt of blood emerged before his nerves cooled with the sensation of fresh skin cells growing around his burn.

  "Do you have any communications working around here? Anything at all?" Hawk said to the nurse through a grimace as the pain of the healing wound dug in for one last attack on his shoulder.

  She turned to a male medic across from the next sickbed, "Hey Sigo, any comms working? Captain Hawk needs some, pronto."

  Sigo looked up from shining a torch into the eyes of an out-cold guard. "Give me two minutes," he said, pulling a cover over the soldier's face and sliding the small torch into his pocket as he rushed from the tent.

  Hawk looked up at the nurse as she wrapped a bandage under his arm and around his shoulder. "Captain Hawk?" he said, speaking clearer as his pain faded.

  "You are a captain right? One of the king's protectors?" she asked.

  Hawk looked into the comforting eyes of the nurse. "The king is dead. As it stands I’m highest in command. I must reach Prince Jonas," he told her.

  "Are we all going to die, commander?" she said, not wanting to know the answer.

  "Not at the hands of that metal brain!" Hawk promised.

  Sigo ran back into the tent carrying a mobile telecoms unit with a built-in transmitter and receiver. "It's the last one we've got," he said, placing it on the bed beside Hawk.

  Hawk began to program in the frequency for Obitrum, ready to transmit. "I just hope he gets the message!"

  *

  The junior Guard sped through space with uncertainty flowing through each of their young minds. Jonas and his protectors knew that it was too much to ask of these children to fight; as Dog-Star had so rightly said, they were not yet ready. But as the Guard on the ground would now honestly profess, there is no being ready when confronted with all-out war.

  Spectrum's data-screen informed him as to their location. He pressed his communications button. "Approaching Aquilla. Decrease energides to one, zero, five," he ordered, adjusting his own speed to the given number.

  Goldheart's voice came over the radio. "We have an incoming transmission from home, Jonas. All to receive?"

  "All to receive," said Jonas.

  Hawk's voice came through into everyone's receivers. "Jonas, this is Hawk. I don’t have much time. I am sorry, the Zohr has killed your father. Enterra is falling and quickly. We’ve lost the trade moons. The Elementis was a decoy. You must go to Mercron and find Calyx. He will know where the real Elementis is. By the spirits, find it. We must use it against the dydrid or we will all die."

  Planet Aquilla came into view in front of Jonas's windshield. He stared at the green orb. The man responsible for killing his family roamed free somewhere down there planning the killing and enslaving of innocent beings. Jonas suddenly realised that the cause of every last bit of sadness in his life had stemmed from this one man. Oreaus had created men and women unequal in strength. The women of the dydrid could rarely live through the birth of a child, so it was Oreaus who was responsible for killing his mother, not him. And now his father was gone too, and no doubt poor old Witakker and countless of other lives were lost. All that remained of his family was the shell of his brother, though how much was his brother and how much was something else now he did not know. With every waking moment of Jonas's new-found life he grew to hate Oreaus more than he imagined he could hate anyone.

  Spectrum's voice came into Jonas's cockpit. "I am sorry, Jonas."

  "He was a great man," Menace added.

  Jonas kept an intense stare as the planet grew bigger in the space outside his window. The green magnificence of the Aquilla reflected with revenge in his eyes. He pressed his communications button. "Everyone," he said, "Let's spill some metal!"

  The dekapods burst into the atmosphere of Aquilla. A thousand orange glowing dots streamed with a white, smoking wake into the skies above Enterra. The swarms of shadow-walkers and bombers still droned above the city, and from high above the enemy, the junior Guard prepared for their ambush.

  "Goldheart, Cortex, squadrons 6 and 3—take down every bomber you can see," said Jonas.

  "Where do you want me, Jonas?" asked Twain.

  Jonas knew exactly what Twain's strengths were. "You’re in command of the entire flight squadron, Twain. Your orders are to destroy and drive the shadow-walkers out of Enterra airspace."

  Twain smiled. "I can do that!"

  Twain directed his orders to the fighters, commanding a split into four groups, one group to attack from above, the other two to attack from the flanks, and the fourth from underneath. The dekapods broke into formation. Every kid knew what they had to do and followed Twain's plan to perfection. Jonas watched the boxed-in dydrid panic and scatter in surprise. The dekapod missiles and cannons sent shadow-walkers spiralling in black smoke, colliding with each other and their own bombers. The dydrid air force was ten times that of the junior Guard which only spurred the children on to celebrate every hit
with a scream of triumph. Every pilot did as Twain requested. They flew without fear and they flew with such skill and cunning that they downed enough fighters to drive the shadows from the airspace of Enterra.

  *

  The air attacks did not go unnoticed by the thunderous face of the Zohr who watched the battle in the skies as his armies continued to trample the city. He wasn't troubled by the minor setback of his air force. He didn't, though, want these nuisance dekapods attacking his soldiers on the ground. The moons had already fallen, and reinforcements at the edge of the planet were ready for further battles.

  "Bring the Nangus to the shadows, have them re-energized for further attacks," the Zohr ordered to General Mutus, who gave the usual preordained lowering of the head.

  *

  Hawk's voice radioed into Jonas's cockpit. "Welcome home kid! That’s what I call flying!"

  "What’s the situation, Hawk?" asked Jonas.

  "We’ve got one last stronghold, Jonas. We need the Elementis to win this war!" Hawk said.

  "How many survivors?" Jonas asked.

  "Less than a million, at a push. The Zohr has taken the civilians from the undercity," Hawk warned him.

  "Twain’s mother?"

  "All of them, kid."

  "Get us a transport, we’re going into the caves and then onto Mercron," said Jonas.

  "Jonas, the Elementis is your priority," Hawk advised.

  "I need to help a friend first!"

  "Very well, I'll send you a transport for Mercron. Jonas. Your father. I’m sorry."

  "Let’s worry about that later, Hawk. Like you said, the Elementis is my priority now," Jonas said, blocking out the emotions of his father's death.

  Twain, Jonas, and his protectors left the junior Guard patrolling the skies and set their fighters down outside the caves of Subterennea. Twain's heart pounded seeing the thick smoke that bellowed out from the burning homes inside. He struggled from the tight straps secured around his chest. Scrambled down the side of his dekapod and ran towards the smoke, sealing his helmet's visor as he ran into it with the press of a button.

  Jonas opened his pilots hatch. "Twain, wait!" he called after the boy. Twain was already half-way home, he ran so fast.

  Jonas hurried out of his fighter, turning to Spectrum who was just unstrapping. "Stay here! Hawk is sending a transport," he shouted up. Spectrum nodded in agreement, and Jonas ran into the smoke.

  Jonas ran out of the opening where Twain and he, had not so long ago, stood admiring a city full of life. There were no longer any recognizable buildings. The tree roots clinging to the ceiling above no longer glistened with the light of flourishing algae and the colourful skin of glowing worms. And it was clear too, that Twain's mother no longer dwelled in peace where Twain had grown from a baby to a boy. The ground smouldered with an evil glow of red heat. Twain removed his helmet, slotting it under his arm. Saying nothing, he stood as still as a corpse. His eyes burned with smoke, his eyes burned with thoughts of his mothers suffering. Jonas released the seal of his helmet, his visor shot up revealing his face, and he placed a comforting arm around Twain where they would stand in silence for as long as the young boy needed.

  The floor of the cavern crackled and spat molten flames into the air from explosions of oxygen trapped in the burning woods and metal. The land of burning spirits itself would not look so cruel, Jonas thought. And the Zohr would never stop. He wouldn't stop until every world looked this way, until every being alive lived within his dead soul. Jonas's thoughts were disturbed by a noise behind them, a clanging in one of the caves. It grew louder, closer.

  Jonas and Twain turned and raised their blasters, pointing them at the many exit holes from the cave. The noise got louder still.

  A familiar voice called out. "It’s me, my serdar, it’s me!" said Lynk as he limped out of the cave.

  Twain ran across and hugged his creation. "Lynk!! Am I glad to see you. Where’s mother? Is she alive?"

  "They took her," Lynk sighed.

  "Where? Was she hurt?" Twain pressed, almost shaking Lynk by the shoulders.

  "I do not know, my serdar," he said, ashamed that he couldn't answer.

  Jonas stepped over to Twain and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking sincerely into the troubled face of his friend. "We’ll find her Twain, I promise! We’ll find her!"

  Chapter XVII

  Necrofac

  Goldheart gripped his hands around the unfamiliar controls of a dydrid transporter. Everything stunk of the dydrid. Cold to touch, sharp metal finishes everywhere and even the black dash and bright-red data-displays resembled the beastly red eyes of the dydrid emblem. It made him feel sick just to touch anything. The passengers were less wary about the feel of the ship and more worried about what was approaching outside of the windshield. Jonas, Twain, Lynk, Menace, Cortex and Spectrum all glared out of the window, watching Mercron draw closer as the tree tops whizzed beneath the ship.

  "It’s way too quiet around here," Cortex noted, seeing no sign of movement.

  As clever as Twain was, even he had underestimated the vastness of the Zohr's empire. "I didn’t realise it was so big," he admitted, as he studied the five towers.

  One of the red data-displays flashed up on screen. Goldheart fiddled with a few buttons. "We’re being pulled in!" he announced, letting go of the controls.

  They watched the smooth silver surface of Mercron consume them as they were sucked in towards the clawed fortress of the damned. A landing bay door slid open half way up the main middle claw. The crew comforted each other with silent smirks, all too aware of the risks that would come once the landing bay door closed behind them. The ship floated inside and settled down with an echoing clunk. The bay was glum and cold and empty. Goldheart released the ships ramp while they armed their weapons and aimed through the gap of the opening door. The ramp clamped to the ground. All was quiet. Spectrum led the group out with his blaster held ready to attack. The others did likewise behind him. The landing bay was empty, no sign of anyone, just an eerie echo of silence filling the height of the hangar.

  Jonas lowered his weapon and stood up straight, relaxing from the tension of his attack position. "Goldheart, Menace stay with the ship and keep her ready," he requested. "Everyone else, let's find Calyx and get the hell out of here!"

  Jonas, Twain, Lynk, Spectrum and Cortex hurried across the metal deck and through a door leading out to a corridor. The quietness of Mercron heightened their anticipation. Jonas looked both ways, each direction looked the same, one long corridor of darkness.

  "I can’t believe they sent every soldier to fight," said Twain.

  A voice came from their side. "I can," said Willow, emerging from a shadow. "My grandfather displays far too much confidence."

  Jonas stiffened, thinking that it was by no coincidence that Willow had fled from Enterra before it was ransacked. "Willow," he said, greeting her coldly.

  "Jonas," she returned, bowing her head a little with an unblinkered stare.

  "We’re here for Calyx," Jonas advised.

  She pierced through the lenses of his pupils with green eyes that sparkled even in this darkness. "Follow me," she said, turning to walk on. Jonas would have preferred to find his own way but he had little choice. He could either roam the walkways of Mercron for hours trying to find his brother or he could follow the temptress with caution, and hope she would take him to his brother and waste no more precious time. He nodded to the others to follow, but not without keeping a firm finger over the trigger of his blaster as he walked behind her.

  Having walked some way and turning several times down replica walkways, Willow broke the uncomfortable silence. "Your father was far more prudent than I gave him credit for, Jonas," she said, turning to look at Jonas for a couple of paces. She turned back to face forward. "Not prudent enough to stay alive, unfortunately," she remarked.

  "I thought of you as a friend, Willow," Jonas said.

  "You do not trust me, I know," she responded, stopping dead, causing th
e others to shuffle to a halt. "You have made that very clear!" Willow waved a hand across a sensor, sliding a metal door open.

  "Perhaps my helping you might change your mind?" she said, gesturing for Jonas to enter.

  "Ladies first," Jonas insisted, heeding the advice of his father and treading with much more caution than he had done so before.

  Willow took that as Jonas still not trusting her and she entered the room; Jonas and the others followed inside. Jonas looked around at the lavish quarters. Silk sheets lay softly on a grand, round bed, and deep lounge chairs and a fire-place were decorated with gold trim. The reason for the luxury was all too obvious; the Zohr did nothing from the kindness of his heart, he was trying to win Calyx over. The prince wasn't in the room. A fleeting thought shot through Jonas's mind that Calyx may already have been killed. If the Zohr knew that he had sent Jonas a warning message about the war and knew that Calyx would never join him, he would have had no more use for the boy. Willow moved to the balcony door, which slid open with her approach. She went outside without a word, leaving everyone to wonder whether or not to follow. Jonas and the others looked at each other in counsel. Spectrum shrugged his shoulders and Jonas took his own judgement stepping through the balcony door after her.

  Calyx was still alive. He stood facing the forest. The city of his father, and of his people smoked in the distance. The city that he had spent every day of his life learning to protect was now nothing more than burning ash and the ruins of a once glorious civilization.

  Calyx did not turn to see who had joined him on his balcony. He knew who had come. "My brother, I have watched our city fall while I could do nothing. Why have you come to me when it is too late?" he said, with a sense of anger.