The dark figure seemed unimpressed. Finally, he said, “So, that explains a lot about the fate surrounding you. Lohil.” He smiled.
Ray watched the aliens vanish from sight before he turned to face the bald figure. It was impossible for him to make out what the man was thinking from his soulless stare.
“The shamans were right after all, the key was here.” The man looked at the frozen, bowed figure beside Ray. “And since you revealed me yourself, as a prize, I will give you the chance to die fighting.”
“Revealed? What are you talking about?” Ray had expected alarms sounding, soldiers rushing into the temple to kill him, not this sign of compassion. The Baeal near Ray flickered and disappeared in mere moments. The bald figure saw Ray’s perplexity and his smirk grew wider.
“For millennia, in your understanding of linear time, we have searched for the next Savior,” the Baeal spoke. “The stones have always been here or there, in this galaxy or another. It was the key I was after, the next Lohil, and you fell right onto my lap. I did not hope to find the key here, in this time and plane. For eternity, my people searched for salvation and you, a puny human, have brought it to our feet.”
“Salvation?”
The Baeal sighed, “Mr. Harris, your kind is not an enemy. It is a…” he searched for the right word, “…an obstacle, like the races before you.” His eyes focused on Ga’an. “We, Baeal as you call us, were stripped of our right to rule, our right to exist. We are simply here to take it back. This plane was and will be our home. It is our promised land, free of the taint. Untouched by Her.”
“Right to rule? Home? What does that have anything to do with us!”
“With humans? Nothing. You are caught in a war unrelated to your existence. We are meant to exist and this time and plane is the means to sustain that existence.” Baeal shook his head. “You, on the other hand”—he smirked—“you are the key to make certain the survival of my race.”
“Me?”
“You are a beacon, Mr. Harris. You are the harbinger of doom. A key to open the doors of destruction.”
“A destruction of what?”
“You are calling for Her. Every second you breathe is a risk. She cannot be allowed to drawn to you. She cannot be allowed to find us in this plane. You are a threat. The Lohil is a savior for some and the name of destruction for others. Now, I know what I am looking for.”
Ray realized his mouth was open.
“Your friends. Me. Your kind and mine. Everything caught in between you and Her will perish. Even if you are not hearing the call now, soon you will. I cannot allow that to happen. Not again. As long as there is a Lohil, She will be awake and She will hunt. We tried to be here once but we failed, thanks to your friend there. This time, there is no room for failure.”
“Buddy, you’re crazier than the Cavils. I have no idea what you are talking about but I’ll stop your kind. You said it,” Ray shrugged, “I’m the Lohil.”
“Do you even know what it means to be the Lohil?”
“It means I’m about to put you back to the chocolate box you came out!” He reached for the Mara’tthane again but a sudden shockwave threw him meters away, smashing him into a nearby statue.
“Watch your hopes die, Mr. Harris.” The figure pointed at the statuette and said something inaudible.
The pedestal glowed in red with the alien’s command and the Arinar melted before Ray’s eyes. Time stopped for Ray. The stone flickered, dripping slowly. Ray felt a scream in his head, a call for help. Is it the stone? He tried to stand up and pull the Arinar from whatever was melting it but something prevented him from moving. Reverend Marcus’ words echoed in his head. The stones need the Lohil and the Lohil needs the stones. In a matter of seconds, Ray watched the hope of humanity disintegrate into nothingness.
“Go back to your friends and prepare yourself, Mr. Harris,” the tattooed Baeal said, “for your parents are coming home.” This time, there was no mockery in his layered tone and Ray felt the hairs rise on his neck. The apparition disappeared as fast as it had come and Ray was left staring at the remains of the charred Arinar.
“Raymond Harris!” Ga’an’s voice snapped him out of the shock of sudden defeat. “We have to go!”
“I…” Ray turned slowly, staggering before the overwhelming reality. The hall looked more like a battlefield with smoke rising from every corner and piles of rubble.
He saw Colonel Pats leaning against a column near the entrance, panting. His face was covered in blood and he held his stomach to keep his bowels from coming out. The man was still alive but it was a matter of minutes.
Lieutenant Holmes’ desecrated body stared into nothingness, his open eyes telling the terror he’d faced in his final moments. The man was missing both of his arms and a leg. Beside him lay Sergeant Johnson’s body, a nasty claw wound on his back. The blow had probably paralyzed him, making him easy prey for the beast.
Two privates; Wilma and another one Ray couldn’t remember the name lay near where Ga’an stood with big holes carved onto their chests by staff weapon’s blasts. Ray found a bittersweet joy in seeing his friend alive.
“Come on!” someone grabbed his arm, catching Ray off guard. “They’re coming!”
Captain Samir half-ran, half-hopped with a twisted ankle, but otherwise unscratched. “Ga’an, move!” he yelled and didn’t look twice, rushing to get Colonel Pats. Any second wasted here meant death.
Ray shook his head to clear his thoughts. Later there would be a time for damage assessment. Now, they needed to leave the planet in one piece, starting with escaping this godforsaken temple. He took his weapon and ran to help the captain carry the colonel. Ga’an was right behind them, with a staff weapon he’d taken from a fallen Baeal.
“Leave me!” Colonel Pats screamed in pain. Even if they could carry him back to the Fox, the facilities on board the smuggler ship wouldn’t be enough to fix him up and he surely didn’t have time to reach the Deviator.
“With due respect, shut the hell up, Sir!” Captain Samir barked. He and Ray pulled Pats as fast as they could through the corridors, each holding him by one arm. Captain Samir had loosely patched Colonel Pat’s wounds with cloth ripped from the man’s uniform but they were already soaked red, dripping a haunting trail behind the survivors.
As they turned the second corner they bumped into two guards. Ray fired his gun instinctively and shot the right-hand guard on in the neck. The alien fell to the ground, holding his wound. It tried to scream in protest but could only make a guttural groaning as he choked on his own blood. Not that their language sounds much different.
The Baeal on the left raised his staff weapon, but he hadn’t been expecting an armed group and his shocked delay earned him a staff blast in the face from Ga’an, exploding his head. The ancient used the weapon swiftly, easily adapting to its size.
“Quick!” Samir said, “There are probably more!”
Ga’an took point after the encounter with the two guards. In the next corridor, Ray held his breath when he saw four orange orbs glowing before his face, but the beast screamed in agony as Ga’an smashed its neck with his powerful arms, throwing his newly-acquired weapon aside. Another one blocked the stairs near the big archway but Ga’an had already spotted the animal. The beast screamed and jumped but was pushed back midair as if it hit an invisible wall. Its terrorizing scream turned into a wail. Shortly after, the beast lay dead, smoke rising from a big burn on its left side.
“Come on!” Samir yelled again. They were out in the open again behind the huge temple. Ray saw the guards rushing toward them from the front—at least a hundred, accompanied by their pets and covering the ground quickly with their tall legs. The building was huge but the distance not enough to feel safe.
“We’ll never make it in time!” Ray said, reaching for his communicator attached to his ear. “Sarah!” he barked, hoping to reach Sarah this time.
“Ray? Where the hell you’ve been! What’s going on, did you—”
�
��Get us out of here!” Ray interrupted, trying to avoid the rain of staff blasts.
“There!” Samir pointed to a large rock to their left, “Behind that!”
They rushed to the stone, pulling Colonel Pats all the way while Ga’an returned fire as best as he could.
“Captain Samir, we will be overrun.” Ga’an fired his weapon non-stop.
“I’ll be damned if I go without a fight!” Samir leaned the battered colonel against the rock and turned back to fire his weapon. “Take out as much as you can!” More guards poured from the far end of the temple.
“We really stirred the hornet’s nest, eh?” Pats whispered, hardly keeping awake. “Give me that.” He pointed at the claymore bag Samir carried.
“Sir?” Samir asked, “No need to be a hero.”
“That wasn’t a request, Captain,” he half barked, half coughed the words.
Ray and Ga’an fired madly at the horde of soldiers, dozens of them falling dead, but sooner or later, their luck would run out. The pet beasts were already clear of the building, passing the back entrance of the temple, and would reach them in a matter of seconds. Ray couldn’t count how many beasts were after them with them being cloaked but when he afforded a quick glance at Ga’an, he saw defeat in his face. The man was making his final stand.
“Run back into the woods, Captain,” Colonel Pats ordered. “I’ll hold them as much as I can.”
“But…” Samir objected but the colonel stopped him with a stare.
“I’m already dead,” the man whispered, coughing blood. “Now leave before I change my mind!”
Captain Samir looked at the man with watering eyes and saluted. “All right you two, we’re pulling out!” He reached for the Pats’ tags and the seasoned colonel let him take them.
Ray shot a glance at Colonel Pats and gave a curt nod. Ga’an was already on his feet, retreating into the forest.
“Mr. Harris,” Colonel Pats grabbed Ray’s leg, “Win this war,” he whispered, blood coming from his mouth, and pushed him away, straightening himself as best as he could and started firing.
Ray followed Ga’an and Samir, hearing Colonel Pats cursing and mocking, firing his rifle non-stop. “You want more! You want more!” the man’s coarse voice rang in his ears. Ray heard Pats laugh right before a massive, deafening explosion sent them all flying into the woods.
He heard Captain Samir whistle in admiration a moment later while Ga’an grabbed his collar and helped him to his feet. Dozens of bodies lay on the smoke filled ground and body parts were still falling off the sky like a sick rain. The sight was satisfactory, albeit symbolic. Colonel Pats’ sacrifice had stopped the first wave but now, hundreds more poured from the far end of the huge rectangular temple.
“I think we woke the neighbors.” Ray nodded at the dark shapes running toward them.
“We fought well, Raymond Harris,” Ga’an said. “We will die a glorious death.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel exalted.” Ray frowned and took position behind a tree.
“They’ll be in range in a minute or so,” Captain Samir observed. “At least we—”
An abrupt, loud whooshing made them hit the ground and the Fox hovered right on top of them.
“Need a ride?” Sarah’s voice echoed through the communicator, opening the ship’s cargo ramp. “I suggest you move fast, gentlemen!”
“I love you!” Ray rushed out of the trees. The group ran toward the ship and Ga’an pushed Ray and Captain Samir up the ramp. The Fox armed its huge Gatling turrets with a loud mechanical noise and rained death, taking Baeal out by tens with each blast.
“We’re on board!” Ray yelled over the communicator, running to the bay door controls and closing the ramp.
“Hold on, this’ll be a really bumpy ride,” Sarah yelled.
The ship turned, its turrets continuing their barrage and Sarah hit the throttle. A few staff blasts landed on the plating but the armor was too thick for a hand weapon to damage the hull.
Ray and the others ran to the bridge, stumbling, taking their seats near their savior.
“The others?” Sarah asked.
Ga’an kept his silence but Captain Samir shook his head.
“All right, I’m taking over.” Ray switched controls to his console and raised the nose of the ship for an accelerated ascendance. The sudden push of the twin engines plastered them to their seats.
“Boogies!” Sarah warned from the radar screen. “Seven, twelve…Boss, they sent a whole wing!”
Purple beams rained over them, their pursuers closing in. The Fox had a custom shield modulator and ceytelium armor plating—not easy to find, even on the black market—but Ray didn’t know if that was enough to keep the fighters at bay.
One of the craft passed the Fox, maneuvering to take them head-on, not caring for the heavy turrets of the smuggler ship and blasted into pieces after a few direct hits by the auto-targeting computer.
“At least we can damage them!” Sarah yelled over the engine noise. “What’s with this insectoid look! All their craft look disgusting.”
Two main wings curved frontward like a crescent moon and two smaller wings stretching backward like reflections. The Fox’s fire hit the alien fighter’s left wing, causing the pilot—if there were any—to lose control. It circled to its damaged side and then exploded.
“It looks like a stone crab,” Captain Samir said.
Ray cut them both off. “I don’t care if it looked like my mama’s raisin pie! I don’t think we can outrun them all the way to the Deviator!” Ray shouted over the engine noise that was becoming unbearable. He pushed the Fox to its edge, diverting all unnecessary power to the shields and engines. Sooner or later, the engines would overheat and he’d have to slow down, which meant certain death.
“There!” Sarah pointed to a canyon formation. “We can ditch them there!”
“No!” Ray argued, “They’re both more agile than us and smaller, we’d be signing our own death warrants!”
The Fox trembled with a loud cracking, followed by thumb sounds.
“What was that?” Ray looked frantically at the damage control console.
“Containers in the cargo hold, we’re shaking like a cradle!” Sarah caught Darty by pure reflex, holding the cat firm. The cat looked around in horror with wide eyes, digging its nails deeper into Sarah’s arms with each blast.
“I don’t think we’ll slip through the net this time,” Captain Samir said.
Ga’an grunted. Ray couldn’t tell if he agreed or was angered by not being able to die clashing fist-to-fist. The Ancient had a strange sense of honor.
Another explosion blew the Fox rightward with a powerful force, and the cockpit computers flickered.
“What now!” Sarah shouted over the fuzz. “It was outside but the turrets didn’t do it!” She hit the radar screen, fiddling with its controls. “This thing’s dead!”
“I don’t know!” Ray said, glancing back at Captain Samir and Ga’an. The ancient looked fine, although he wore dried blood from himself, his enemies and Colonel Pats, mixing the blue with red. Captain Samir looked he was about to pass out; his body wasn’t handling the constant maneuvering too well.
“Thought you might need a hand,” a friendly voice boomed through the communicator. “We’ll try to hold them off, hit the throttle and make a run for the fleet.”
Ray raised his head and saw the owner of the voice; five Avatar fighters were clashing right on top of them with the crab-shaped enemy ships. They were outnumbered four-to-one but the Baeal were so focused on catching the Fox, they hadn’t realized they were flanked until it was too late. Before they could react, they had lost eight craft to the fighter wing’s salvo.
“You heard the man!” Ray shouted, shifting all systems’ power except life support to thrusters, jolting the ship. He visibly contracted his muscles, trying to stay conscious against the force.
“Only…a few more…seconds!” Ray snarled, fighting against the counter-force with e
very word. Perhaps shifting power from the inertial dampeners was a bad idea.
The struggle lasted for another ten seconds and then the jarring ceased as the Fox exited Pendar’s atmosphere. Ray pushed the engines for another minute, making sure they weren’t followed.
“All right, drop power to three quarters,” Ray said finally, allowing himself to breathe again.
“Is everyone all right?” Sarah unbuckled herself and let go of Darty. The cat ran into the hallway in fear. “Captain?” she addressed Samir, who was waking up.
“Are we dead?”
“No,” Sarah chuckled, “We’re clear of the planet.”
Ray saw the man relax visibly, sinking back in his seat, mopping his sweat with his shirt.
Ga’an unbuckled his own belt and grunted.
“You all right Ga’an?” Sarah asked.
He looked at Sarah and then turned back to the window.
Sarah patted the Ancient in the shoulder. “You’ll be all right.” She nodded to herself. “We’ll be all right.”
“Captain, we will escort you back to the Deviator,” the same friendly voice radioed in.
“Probably the best news I’ve heard all day long,” Ray answered in sincerity. It truly was the best news he heard in a long while. “How are you holding up?”
“We lost three and these two are in no shape to fight,” the pilot said, “but we will be all right.”
“The three pilots?”
“One ejected safely. One of the evacuation shuttles will pick him up shortly. The other pilots are dead.”
“I see. Thank you.” Ray let himself calm down, rubbing his face. His hands were covered in dried blood and he had cuts and bruises all over his arms. His uniform had been torn apart and he suspected he’d feel an awful lot of pain in the morning. He hoped Reverend Marcus and Brother Cavil had had better luck in finding answers about the other stones.
“Deviator, this is the Fox, we’re coming home,” he hailed the flight control as they neared the fleet.
Shadows Bear No Names (The Blackened Prophecy Book 1) Page 26
