by A A Warren
“Avra,” Talon shouted. “Look out!” His axe blazed to life, casting a dim orange glow across his face. She stared back at him with wide-eyed surprise.
“Talon," she gasped. "What are you—"
He charged towards her, swinging his fiery weapon at her legs.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Avra gasped as Talon lunged towards her, his fiery blade slashing down towards her legs. Before she could even move, the plasma axe tore through a thick, pulsating vine that curled around her leg. As the writhing vegetation fell away for her, she saw bare, bloody skin exposed on her ankle. The twitching suckers on the underside of the vine hissed as they secreted a green, bubbling fluid…
“That sap… it's some kind of acid!” she shouted, drawing twin blades from her harness. “It burned through my clothes!”
Talon hefted the axe and continued charging down the trail. “They have Orvane,” he bellowed. Swinging the axe left and right, He cut a path through the leaves that grasped at them from the shadows. The plants seemed to be flowing towards them like a rushing river. A tide of pulsing, glowing vegetation crept around them from all sides.
Avra snapped her curved daggers open. She spun in a circle, slashing through the gasping leaves as they draped across her body. She leapt into the air and spun, throwing the blades at a cluster of vines snaking down the path. The weapons buried themselves in the soft earth as she landed on her feet.
She raced after Talon, drawing her pulse pistol from her belt as she ran. Twin explosions erupted behind her. Green sap sprayed through the air, covering her hair and shoulders with a glistening layer of slime.
Talon swung his axe, severing a huge clump of leaves that fell across his path. As the foliage fluttered to the ground, he saw Orvane, kicking and struggling against the glowing vines. The snake-like tendrils dragged him off the path, pulling him deeper into the brush.
Bellowing a war cry, Talon leapt up the embankment and dove into the plants. His shoulders bulged, and cords of muscles popped along his arms as he swung his fiery axe back and forth, mowing down the writhing leaves before him.
As he cleared a path through the dense plant life, he raised his axe again, preparing for another swing. But something tugged at his arms, checking his attack. He could not break free to swing the blazing weapon. In the dim orange glow of the plasma blade, he saw a web of pale, luminescent vines, coiling around his wrists and forearms. A burning numbness crept through his skin. He struggled to pull away, but the tendrils sapped the strength from his muscles. He felt weak, nauseous…
He fell to his knees. His head lolled, and droplets of blinding sweat stung his eyes. His vision went dim.
ZARK!
A glowing pulse bolt tore through the vegetation. The vines around his arms withered away. Talon felt an arm loop under his shoulder, helping him to his feet.
“No time to rest, big guy!” Avra shouted into his ear. She fired again, blasting more of the scurrying plants in their path.
Talon shook his head, clearing the fog from his vision. He looked down at Avra and grinned. “Just a quick nap. I knew you’d be by to wake me.”
“HELP!” A high-pitched voice screamed. “Help Mrrpgh—” The muffled cry of terror echoed through the shifting sea of plants.
“Was that Orvane?” Avra fired at another clump of writhing vegetation. “I can't see anything through these damn leaves!”
Talon chopped down another swath of plants, swinging his axe overhead as the severed fronds fluttered to the ground. “Then it’s time to forge a new trail. Stand back!"
He hurled the axe forward. The weapon made a humming sound as it spun through the air, slashing through dozens of the undulating plants. Talon clenched his gauntleted hand into a fist, twisting it to guide the weapon’s path of destruction.
“So that’s what the lifter field attachment was for,” Avra noted. “I thought it was just getting too heavy for you to carry.”
The weapon tore a spiraling path through the plants, clearing a circle around them. Then it flew back into Talon’s grip. He held the weapon up like a torch, casting a flickering orange glow over the new clearing.
“Orvane!” he shouted. “Where are you?”
They spun around as something moved towards them, rippling through the mass of vegetation. Avra aimed her weapon at the trail of shifting leaves. “I can’t see… is that him?” she hissed.
Talon peered into the shadows. “I don’t know. Hold your fire!”
A figure shambled into the clearing. It lurched free of the plants, and stood before them, half cloaked in shadow.
It was not Orvane.
The figure stood about six feet tall, and appeared to be a human male. His right arm looked mechanical, cybernetic. He clenched a wicked, curved dagger in his metal fingers, and a pulse pistol hung from a low-slung gun belt. A helmet covered his face, and a long, leather duster coat flared up in the wind behind him.
“No…” Avra whispered. “It… it can’t be.”
Talon glared at the man as he shuffled towards them. “Avra, who is it?”
Her hand shook as she raised her pistol. “Stay back!” she shouted. The man, whoever it was, took another step towards her. He raised his mechanical arm. The serrated blade of the dagger shimmered in the glare of the plasma axe.
Avra steadied her hand and fired. The pulse bolt tore through the man’s chest. Green, pustulous fluid gushed from the wound. But he did not stop moving.
More rustling came from the foliage on their right. Talon shot a quick glance over his shoulder. Another figure lurched into the clearing.
Its armored body cast a long dark shadow over Talon. The new enemy stumbled towards them, footsteps thudding against the soft earth. Its eyes were twin pits of red fire, glowing in the darkness.
“Volonte!” Talon shouted. Charging towards the armored mech, he raised his axe over his head, then swung down with all his strength. The mech raised an arm to fend off the blow, but the fiery plasma blade melted through the armor plating, lopping the limb clean off. Talon spun around, and buried the blade in the mech’s chest.
Green fluid exploded from both wounds, dousing Talon in a thick coating of slime.
The mech growled and swung his remaining arm. The powerful blow knocked Talon through the air. He grunted in pain as he landed on his back. The wind exploded from his lungs, and his vision went hazy.
He heard Avra fire again. “Die, damn you! Die!” she screamed in rage. The high-pitched whine of her pulse weapon rang out twice more. Talon turned his head, watching as the barrage of glowing energy bolts thudded into her attacker. The man lurched backwards, then continue staggering towards her. Fountains of the sticky green liquid poured from his glowing wounds, and trailed across the ground.
Talon heard footsteps thudding towards him. He rolled sideways as Volonte slammed his armored foot down into the clay. The blow barely missed his head. Leaping to his feet, he swung the axe again, slashing through the mech’s torso.
Roaring in fury, Talon pressed his attack. He drove Volonte backwards, striking him with the fiery axe again and again. The hulking mech stumbled back with each blow, as more green blood spattered his chest and arms.
Grunting with exertion, Talon swung the axe up, cutting another savage wound across his enemy’s chest. Using his momentum, he spun his body around and slashed horizontally with the blazing weapon. The plasma blade swung in a wide arc, severing the mech's head from its body. The glowing red eyes dimmed as the head bounced to the ground near Talon's feet.
Volonte fell to his knees, then collapsed. Smoke and viscous fluid seeped from the gashes in his body’s armor plating.
Talon spun around to help Avra. Before he could get to her, the warrior woman ducked under a slash from her opponent's blade. She drove a knee into his chest, then wedged her gun under his chin.
“Eat this!” she hissed. She pulled the trigger.
A glowing explosion filled the gaping mouth of her attacker. His head exploded in a mass of gre
en blood. Then he, too, fell to the ground.
Avra stood over the smoking corpse, panting for breath. Talon stepped over to her, keeping a wary eye on the shifting shadows in the clearing.
“Avra, are you all right?”
She nodded. “Yeah… Just… This must be some kind of nightmare. That was a face from my past.”
“Not a friend, I take it.”
She shook her head. “I told you about my life before the Sorari. How I grew up scared, alone. A runaway.”
Talon nodded. “I remember.”
“My home world was a war-torn slum,” she continued, glancing down at the corpse. “And he… His name was Jakhal. He was the leader of the biggest scav gang in the system. They raided our settlement at night. Killed, pillaged… hunted. He was a monster. And I…”
Her voice trailed off. She squinted at the glistening green blood that stained the ground. The corpse began to thrash and writhe. Talon hefted his axe, but Avra rested a hand on his forearm. “Wait,” she whispered. “Look!”
The body rapidly decomposed, sinking into the soft, gray earth. Within seconds, a withered mass of desiccated vines and leaves was all that remained.
Avra glanced around the clearing. More plants rustled in the distance. Another wave of color flowed across their leaves. Talon looked over his shoulder… The body of Volonte was gone as well, reduced to a similar mass of rotting vegetation.
“What the hell are these things?” Avra whispered.
Talon lowered his axe and examined at the wound on his arm. The weeping sores where the vines had touched him seemed to pulse and swell, almost as if they were alive. He winced and staggered forward. Pain shot through his temples.
“Talon,” Avra gasped. “Your eye… it’s glowing.”
He shook his head, fighting to clear the haze from his thoughts. “Dark energy,” he muttered. “Those plants… When their vines touched us, they used dark energy to form a bond. These creatures attacking us… they’re part of them, somehow. The plants stole our thoughts.”
Avra glanced up at the mass of vines. “Not our thoughts. Our fears. That scumbag made my life a living nightmare. He was my greatest fear. Volonte must be yours.”
Talon shook his head. “No… Volonte beat me, but I still live. The battle is not over. He is not my greatest fear.”
“Then what is?” Avra asked.
Talon looked her in the eye, but said nothing. Then he turned away, peering into the shadows. “We should get moving. We have to—”
“Help! Help me, please—”
Talon ran to the edge of the clearing. “Orvane!" He turned to Avra. "The sound came from this way. Stay close to me. Don’t let those vines touch you!”
Avra shuddered. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
She holstered her pistol and slid two more of her curved daggers from her belt. Snapping them open, she followed Talon into the brush. Sweat glistened on his arms and shoulders, as his blazing axe tore a path through the quivering plants.
They pressed on, cutting their way through the foliage into the sweltering darkness beyond.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Talon and Avra panted for breath as they slashed their way through the dense foliage. Every touch of their blades sent great patches of the flat, oval leaves fluttering to the ground. Their skin was flushed from exertion, and a sheen of sweat and green sap covered Talon's chest.
The heavy air was thick with pollen, and carried a sickly sweet smell to their nostrils. It was back-breaking work. The pair said little as they hacked their way forward.
Suddenly, Talon halted. He held out his hand, stopping Avra as she mindlessly chopped at the leaves with her blades. At his touch, she froze. Her eyes focused on a dark chasm that gaped before them. The vast gorge tore through the soft ground and plunged down into shadow, as far as the eye could see. The opposite end of the canyon was several kilometers away, its faint embankment barely visible in the mist-filled air.
“Oh no… Do you think he fell in?” Avra asked.
Talon knelt down, touching the soft ground with his fingers. “Maybe. But I see no tracks here. Let’s try further down.”
Resuming their grueling trek, Talon took the lead as they followed the canyon north. Finally, they came to an outcropping that was clear of the quivering plants. The narrow platform of flat, gray rock jutted out over the canyon for about thirty meters. In the center of the stone slab, a statue rose up, surrounded by a circle of towering rock pylons. A trail of small footprints led from the edge of the gorge to the statue.
“This must be it,” Avra panted. “The oracle he told us about.”
Talon eyed the statue with suspicion. “Perhaps… or at least, we are meant to think so.”
Avra gave a tired shrug. “Only one way to find out.”
She stepped onto the outcropping, following the tracks into the circle of stones. Talon followed her, glancing left and right as they moved between the massive rock pylons.
They approached the statue. It was about twice as tall as a man, and humanoid in shape. As they crept closer, they could make out more details in the soft, flickering glow of Talon’s axe.
It was a sculpture of a woman. She was bare chested, with a shawl or robe of some kind draped over her shoulders. An intricate design adorned her stone chest… a jagged reptilian claw that swept down her abdomen and around her back.
She held a sword before her, and one of her eyes glinted in the shifting light… it was a crystal, set within the smooth, carved features of her face.
“Talon,” Avra gasped. "This statue… it’s No’varran! Your people must have built this.”
Talon approached the alabaster woman. Her smooth, sculpted features had a serene, noble appearance. He felt his skin tingle as he drew closer. He reached out, as if to trace the lines of the tattoo carved into her skin. But he stopped a few millimeters away from the chiseled lines. His eye pulsed with crimson light.
Avra chuckled. “Should I leave you two alone?”
“This place,” he said. “It’s bathed in dark energy. I can feel it in my eye, my skin… It’s radiating from this statue.”
Avra glanced at the stone pylons surrounding them. They were flat and smooth, devoid of any symbols or markings. “But if this is the oracle, where is Orvane? And what are we—”
A sudden tremor shook the ground. The rustling of the leaves grew louder. Talon spun around, peering into the darkness. Another thundering footstep echoed from the foliage.
Something was crashing through the leaves, heading straight for them. Something big.
A shadow fell over the circle of stones. Avra whirled both her blades through air, hurling them at the dark shape lumbering towards them.
Twin explosions lit up the darkness. Talon glimpsed a face in the fiery glow. Dark eyes stared back at him, perched above a long snout with a wide nose. Four curved horns protruded from a broad, fur-covered head. One of the horn's tips was broken off, replaced by a gleaming metal blade.
It was only a brief flash, but he recognized the features at once.
“No,” he gasped. “You cowardly vermin! I’ll send you all to the Haunted Stars for this!”
Avra drew her pistol. “What is it? What did you see?”
“Orex Griff… my old battle instructor. Those plants have taken on his form.”
Suddenly, a massive arm crashed through the circle of stones. Shards of rock flew through the air, as the pylon before them burst into rubble.
Moving on pure instinct, Talon slashed down with his axe, splitting a massive shard of rock as it flew towards them.
Avra opened fire with her pistol, sending a barrage of glowing pulse bolts into the thing’s chest. Fountains of green sap gushed down from the wounds. The giant simulacrum lumbered closer. A low, angry roar rumbled through the air.
The thing’s massive fist streaked towards them, plucking Talon up from the ground. He felt the wind rush through his matted hair, as the creature swept him up towards its fanged maw.
<
br /> “You think you know me?” he bellowed. “You think you know my fear? You’re not fit to wear the face of Orex Griff. I’ll tear it off your rotting corpse!”
He swung the axe one handed, burying the plasma blade in the creature’s wrist. The giant howled and opened its massive hand, as though it meant to drop Talon to the ground. But the warrior grabbed hold, and scrambled up onto the thing’s wounded arm.
With a fierce battle cry, Talon leapt into the air. As he flew closer to the creature’s snout, he plunged his axe into its monstrous face. The blade caught hold, and Talon dangled from the shaft as the creature thrashed its head left and right.
The massive thing’s gyrations caused the axe to slide down, cutting a long gash down the its neck and chest. A fountain of putrid green fluid gushed to the ground, as Talon wrenched the weapon free and landed on his feet. Without missing a beat, he pivoted and slashed sideways with the axe, tearing open a wound in the creature’s flailing arm.
As the beast retreated from the burning weapon, it slammed into more pylons, smashing them to rubble. Avra dove to the ground, dodging the shrapnel as best she could. She rolled into a crouched position and opened fire. Three glowing holes burned into the thing’s face.
“So let me get this straight,” she shouted. “Your battle instructor was thirty feet tall? No wonder he’s your greatest fear!”
Talon leapt back as the giant pounded the ground with its fists. Cracks radiated through the stone, and a crater ruptured the ground where he had been standing.
“No,” Talon gasped. “I don’t fear Orex. He was like a father to me!”
The thing stomped though the rubble, stalking closer to them. It wailed in fury, as Avra sent two more pulse bolts into its chest. But it did not stop its relentless advance.
“If you don’t fear him, then why did—” Avra began, as she aimed another burst.
Talon slashed with the axe, driving the thing’s hand back as it reached out for them. “I fear… failing him!" he replied, grunting in between his attacks. "I thought he was dead. Now I know that isn’t true. When he needed me, I wasn’t there.”
