by Jason Wilcox
James gave him a nod.
Looking back towards the wall, Tagen squinted. “I only see one.”
“That can’t be right,” James grumbled. “This is too easy. There’s no way they would’ve all cleared out by now. They should still be there investigating, repairing, searching for us, or something. We just dropped the bombs a couple of hours ago, and you’d think by the way it’s being treated, that the wall’s been blown to pieces for years,” he grumbled and went on. “It has to be a trap!”
“Maybe, or maybe they’re going to leave it for the night.” Caden pointed to the horizon but kept close to the ground. “The sun will be setting in the next hour.”
“That’s ridiculous, and you know it.” James flicked sand at him. “You never bought into situations like this back when you were my boss. You always saw the traps, and I think this is a trap.”
“Okay.” Caden sat up and looked over to Tagen. “Tagen, how about you go and scope the area out. Let us know if we’re headed for a trap.”
“Me?” he hissed. “No, no. I’m doing fine here.”
“He’ll think you’re one of them.” Caden shifted more to look at him.
“With these white spots on my skin?” Tagen growled. “They’ll know I’m not one of them.”
“They won’t be able to tell if you’re in shadow form,” James joined in the conversation.
“And how would you know…” Tagen’s words trailed off as James tapped his glasses. “Ah, yes.” He looked at the wall and back to Caden. “Okay. I’ll go.” Shadowing, he jumped up and moved quickly, looking back only once.
Oddly, the man didn’t pay much attention to Tagen as he approached. He just kept playing with his gun. Caden loved the glasses that James had given him. Before when Tagen would go into shadow form, it was always frustrating not being able to see what he was doing; now he could.
“Can he not see him?” James asked. They both noticed that Tagen was almost on top of the guy, and he still paid no attention.
“Maybe he isn’t wearing a lens.” Caden tapped James’s glasses.
“They stole that technology from us.”
Tagen waved his hands at the man, but nothing. He looked back at them and shrugged. Caden, with a wave, tried to encourage him to look around, but Tagen misread the signal and came out of shadow form. The man almost fell off the wall as he pointed his gun at Tagen and shot. Moving at an incredible speed, Tagen shadowed, spun around and took the gun, breaking it in half.
The man ran, yelling as he went, but Tagen grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Once again, Tagen came out of shadow form. From where they were, Caden could hear voices but couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Should we go down?” James asked while looking back at the troops patiently waiting.
“No, not yet. Wait for Tagen.” As Caden spoke, Tagen got off the man and looked around. The guard slowly got up and looked right at James and Caden. Both of them smashed themselves into the sand, trying to hide.
“Did he rat us out?” James snapped quietly.
“I’m not sure.” Caden kept an eye on the situation. The man looked back over to Tagen and said something. They began talking again, and Tagen motioned for them to come down. “If it was a trap, we’ll be walking into it now,” Caden stood as he spoke, the sand soft under his weight.
“Do you think he’s consorting with him?” James pushed up on his arms but didn’t completely get up.
“No matter what he’s doing, we won’t know until we get down there.” Without further discussion, Caden walked down the dune, his feet sinking with every step. Behind him, he could hear movement of multiple men. James must’ve decided to follow.
Once again, the man below seemed unconcerned as they made their way down. As Caden grew closer, he pulled up his gun.
“Wait one minute mister,” the man said, but his voice and how he spoke sounded odd. “This black thing told me you won’t kill me. He promise.”
As Caden got closer, he could see that the man had a lot of facial hair and was very unkempt. The only thing that was even slightly kept was his armor, but even then, it was rather beat up. His hair was frizzy and clumped in some places. While looking him over, Caden finally figured out the man was a vagrant, not a guard.
“No, I won’t shoot you,” Caden said with a chuckle he couldn’t hold back. The man was skin and bones and had a number of missing teeth. “So, what are you doing here old man?” he asked with a more serious tone.
“I live here.” The man quickly ran up the rubble and stood on top of it. He gave a bow and smiled. “Where is me head. Welcome to my home.”
Seeing the conversation wasn’t going anywhere, Caden turned his attention back to Tagen who was sniffing at the air. “What’s your assessment?”
Tagen shifted in the sand and looked at Caden. “According to that odd human, this place has been vacant for a long time, but by the way he described it and the smells in the air, I’m thinking possibly a month since guards have been here.”
“We bombed an unguarded wall?” James asked as he walked up with all the soldiers following.
“It appears that way,” Tagen began. “That scavenger was pretty excited that you built a new entrance for him so he could get his hands on new possessions like that armor and his gun.” He looked over at the vagrant who had a big smile on his face, looking pleased that they were talking about him. “He said that he normally walks along these walls and begs to the guards for food and supplies, but they all disappeared.”
“And blessings fall on me,” the vagrant said as he jumped down. “Blacky tell me you two make this hole. Thank you.”
“Why do you think they’ve all left?” James asked, ignoring the homeless man.
“They’re getting ready for a war,” Tagen didn’t hesitate with his response.
James looked past Tagen, off in the distance, in the direction they needed to go. They had a long trek ahead before they reached the city. “Let’s move out.” He waved to the troops that gathered around.
“Can I come? I’d be huge help,” the vagrant spoke up, bouncing around Caden.
“Not this time old man,” Caden said as he stepped away from him. “You’ll get yourself killed.” The man pouted and walked back to the pile of rubble.
“We need to move quickly, so let’s pick up the pace,” James yelled. The ground changed from soft sand to dirt and rocks, making it easier to walk.
They marched quickly, hoping to see the city, but it stayed hidden past the horizon. The farther they pressed on, the more the ground became rockier. However, paths were starting to form in the rocks from continuous usage. One of the well-worn paths led to a large hole in the ground with a ladder that stuck out of it.
“Shall we check it out?” James asked, stopping at the fork in the path. “Or do you think we should press on to the city?”
Caden looked down both paths. He thought back to the prison cells that were in tunnels and got them to where they needed to go quicker. “I think we should check it out. It might be a shortcut to the city.”
James nodded and they walked over to the cave. Sniffing, Tagen backed up. “We don’t want to go down there,” he hissed.
“No, I think it’s a good idea,” Caden said, not interested in Tagen’s assessment.
“There’s dark souls down there, and lots of them,” Tagen said, sounding more aggressive this time. “Don’t go down there.”
“If there are lots of dark souls down there, then we’re heading in the right direction.” Caden grabbed the ladder and started stepping down, not waiting for the others. The others quickly lined up to join him, James being the first.
“Mauldrin, we’ll be slaughtered,” Tagen pleaded. He danced around on the large rocks that lined the edge of the cave.
Beginning to get impatient with the dark soul, Caden looked down into the darkness. “Then stay here Tagen, and keep an eye out.” As he spoke, a number of men chuckled.
“I’ll do that.” Tagen plopped down on the rock
. “It will be nice to have some freedom again.”
Caden ignored him and climbed to the bottom as quickly as possible. The longer it took, the more likely someone might catch them on the ladder unprepared. It didn’t take long to find the bottom. Smooth rocks made up the floor, with a light layer of dirt. He moved out of the way, stepping cautiously in the dim light.
Once James was out of the way, he pulled out what looked like capsules made of glass. He pressed firmly on them and tossed them into the darkness. Clinking echoed down the passageway followed by a bright light that illuminated the cave as if it were noonday.
“Those are cool,” Caden said as he rubbed his eyes from the brightness. “Why didn’t you throw them down in the first place?”
“A certain someone appeared to be a little too excited about jumping down a hole and didn’t give me a chance to drop them down here.” James smiled and handed some to Caden. They felt like a soft egg with a clear outside and a small black bubble in the middle.
“Is this another piece of equipment that the General introduced to you?” Caden asked as men poured down the ladder.
“You better believe it,” James smiled. “He had a lot of gizmos and gadgets that have been very helpful. However, there are things that I wish I still had from SDS as well. We had amazing equipment too.”
“I agree.” Both Caden and James stepped down the tunnel, allowing everyone to come down. “Shall we move onward?” Caden held out a hand, suggesting they walk down the cave.
With a nod, they started down the rock-ridden cave. The tunnel stayed straight for a while, but the light was beginning to dim the farther they went.
“Go ahead and light that one up,” James said after he tripped over a small rock.
With a quick squeeze, the small capsule lit up with a pop. Immediately, light flooded everything. Caden was surprised by the amount of heat that came from it, giving the sensation that it was going to burn his hands. Not wanting to find out if it could, he tossed it. As it hit the ground, they could hear something move ahead but didn’t see anything. The light revealed that the tunnel turned to the left not too far ahead.
As they moved forward, dripping was heard echoing down the cavern, and a terrible rank smell began to fill the air. Caden was beginning to feel uneasy, since the noise and odor reminded him of a different cave he had been in. A quiet growl came from around the corner as they approached. Both of them readied their guns. James gave a sign, with a fist in the air, for everyone to stop. They slowly went around the corner.
Light seemed to stop right in front of them, swallowed up by an unseen force. The odor was terrible. Crunching, as if someone or something was eating, came from a little ways ahead.
“Why isn’t it charging us?” James asked. Caden realized James had the glasses on. Caden didn’t like to wear them unless he had to, because they caused his head to hurt when he wore them too long. He felt for them in his pocket and put them on. Everything became brighter. A small dark soul stood about ten feet away hunched down and chewing on something. Black oily liquid covered the walls and floor, dark matter. The edge of it seemed to stretch outwards, reaching for him and James.
Grabbing James, Caden pulled him back, to get him away from the dark matter. “Don’t let that stuff touch you.” Moving farther back seemed to discourage the substance from moving towards them. The dark soul gave a quiet growl in response to Caden talking. It reminded Caden of an animal telling another to stay away from his food.
“What is that stuff?” James asked, pointing to the black liquid.
“Dark matter. It’s what did this to me. So, don’t get in it.”
“Look at that dark soul. There’s something strange about him,” James said, while taking another step back.
“He’s a youngling,” Tagen said as he stepped up to them.
“You decided to join us?” Caden smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
Tagen ignored Caden’s response. “Be happy he has food in his hands or he would be attacking you right now. He’s very young, maybe a week out of his cell. I doubt he can even say one word yet. But his primal instincts to kill and eat will be very strong.”
“If he charges, I’ll shoot him dead,” James said.
Again, the dark soul growled, but this time it sounded a little more threatening.
“If you shoot him, you’ll be swarmed with dark souls.” Tagen lifted his hand and pointed to the walls. “Do you see all those indentions in the dark matter?” There were more than they could count. “Each one of those is either a cell or a cavern where there could be any number of dark souls, and by the smell of things, there are a lot. With the odor so strong, I would guess they are younglings. Be grateful they don’t know we’re here yet.”
“We’ll shoot them down,” James said.
“I don’t think you’ve ever dealt with younglings.” Tagen moved a little closer to James. “They’re extremely vicious and move fast. If they swarm this area, they’ll slaughter all of you. They have the advantage in this tunnel. I’m sure you’ll kill some, but they’ll be all over you and your men in seconds.”
James chewed on his lip for a moment and then lifted his gun. “We’ll see about that.” The tip began to glow, causing the youngling to growl even more. Caden quickly pushed the gun down.
“Whether Tagen is right or wrong, we can’t go farther down this tunnel with dark matter.” Caden looked back to the men that were waiting for further orders. “I say we leave and head back up. Let’s proceed with the mission and leave these dark souls alone. No need to waste lives here.”
“Good point.” James turned and waved with two fingers and the soldiers began heading out. He passed Tagen without even looking at him. Caden worried that James’s dislike of Tagen was affecting his decision-making abilities.
Caden and Tagen brought up the rear behind James. Every third step or so, Caden would hear a tapping noise from behind. Each time he turned to look, there was nothing. The noise was getting to his nerves. As they arrived at the ladder, the tapping was followed by a quiet growl. Again, Caden looked, but nothing.
“The youngling followed us,” Tagen said softly. “I’m hoping this is as far as he will go. He wouldn’t be interested in attacking this many men without the others, so we should be safe, but…” he paused for a second. “He is very young and when they’re that young, they can be unpredictable.”
“Great.” Caden wished the soldiers in the front would hurry. The line moved slower than he wanted. Once there was only a handful left, the dark soul grew braver and stood in the middle of the tunnel, staring at them.
“If that thing comes any closer, I’m going to shoot it,” James remarked to Tagen while patting his gun.
“Your turn.” Caden put a hand on James’s back to motivate him to get out of the tunnel away from the youngling. Just as James took hold of the ladder, the youngling let out a scream that made Caden’s blood stop. James was one beat faster than Caden. They both pulled guns and shot the creature, knocking it backwards with their bullets.
“They know we’re here now,” James snapped.
“Let’s move.” Caden pushed him, trying to get to the ladder. Tagen dove over both of them and was up the ladder in seconds. Their feet clanked each step as they moved to get out of the cave. From behind, screams echoed down the corridor. They were coming.
Once they were up, James waved to his men. “Prepare yourselves. Dark souls are coming. Make sure you have your glasses on and weapons ready,” he yelled while moving to get in a better position. Caden stayed right behind him. Everyone was lined up in a half circle around the cave.
A scream came from the hole. Caden turned and pointed his gun, ready for dark souls to come out. He could hear guns clicking ready to be used. A dark soul popped out in shadow form. With the glasses on, it looked like a dark shadow or spirit, translucent.
The creature barely climbed out and screamed when shots were fired, which knocked the dark soul back into the cave. As he fell back, Caden could s
ee his skin melting with a green substance from the bullets eating the flesh away.
More screams echoed from the hole in response, and before Caden had finished taking a breath, hundreds of dark souls came pouring out at an amazing pace. It was like watching a nest of enraged ants climbing out to kill their aggressor.
Caden squeezed the trigger as fast as he could, but even with everyone firing at once, the younglings were spreading out and attacking too fast. The creatures were strong. Even with the bullets eating at their skin, they wouldn’t stop with one shot; it took six or seven to drop them. More and more of them poured out of the cave.
“We have to get out of here,” Caden yelled to James. Screams of pain from soldiers being attacked began to add to the chaos with the dark soul screams.
“You’re right.”
A dark soul dove at Caden, and he let loose a bullet that hit the creature in the middle of the forehead.
“FALL BACK!” James yelled. He took something off his belt and with a click, Caden watched James throw a grenade down the hole. However, in that moment a dark soul dove at him and knocked him down, biting his shoulder.
Yelling in pain and anger, James punched the creature in the head. Caden swung his gun around to shoot the thing, but Tagen jumped into the fray before he could, ripping the youngling off James. He threw him to the ground and screamed before he bit into him. Caden never got used to the rancid smell of their blood.
An explosion shook the ground and sent dark souls flying as James’s grenade went off. Many of the dark souls close to the cave were down and moved slower as if they were trying to shake off the confusion. The others who were still attacking, were quickly shot down, even the ones that had infiltrated their line.
Everyone kept moving back, and with the break in intensity of dark souls, they were running faster to get out of there. The younglings were coming onto them quickly. A humming was heard among the soldiers, and their speed increased tenfold.
Caden struggled to stay with them, but so did the younglings. However, the dark souls were starting to thin out as they were slowly being picked off by flying bullets. But that was just the closest group. Back farther by the cave, the desert was almost black with younglings pouring out. Caden was in disbelief about how many there were. Tagen was right about there being a lot.
