Zaid turned away and walked to a nearby pipe that overlooked the salient. He sat and gazed into the distance. “You know why I am here?”
Terra remained silent.
“I am here because I failed. All my men died because of betrayal. Because I let my guard down.”
“So is that how the Legion found you? All your men were wiped out but you?”
“I was a slave.”
Terra paused before looking away. “I'm sorry.”
Zaid shook his head. “I am a Mamluk. Property. However, we had more rights than many free men. I trained in academics and the ways of war since I was a child. My skill earned me a position commanding the personal guards of Sultan Qutuz himself.”
“How can you be a slave and a soldier? I don't see how that works.”
Zaid shrugged. “It is not so different than what the Legion does. They find people who are not loyal to local lords. Outsiders without ties to the established structure. Such people will not betray you to their family or tribe. So long as they are treated well, they will not try to flee. My life as a Mamluk was quite good for that time. At least until the hordes of the east came.”
“Who?”
Zaid's expression darkened. “Mongols. They rode out of the east. They did... unspeakable things to the people they captured. My Sultan marched against them at Ain Jalut and we won.”
“You don't seem very happy about it.”
Zaid turned away. “We won. We sacrificed everything, risked all and our reward was betrayal. On our return home to Cairo, we were betrayed by our own allies. They were likely political rivals of Sultan Qutuz. Since he had defeated the Mongols, they must have felt he had no further purpose. I failed to protect my Sultan and he was killed. I survived and fled for my life.”
Terra wondered if he had ever told anyone else this story.
Zaid stood and faced her with his fists clinched. “You are right to not trust me, though not for the reasons you think. I am a failure and I wish to atone. I am sorry that I failed you. Still, it is little excuse for leaving the others behind.”
Terra stood silent for a long while and considered Zaid's words. “I believe you. I suppose I trust your word over Roland's. Speaking of which, I haven't seen the rest of our strike team.”
Zaid shook his head. “Neither have I. That is why I am waiting out here. The rest of the strike team leaders have already come up with a plan. We will sortie in a few hours towards the center of the salient.”
Terra turned to look at the center of the salient. A thick green fog shrouded it.
Zaid frowned. “I am worried about this salient.”
Terra turned back to Zaid. “Because they unlocked our aeon edges?”
Zaid nodded. “Yes. They gave us something. Also, this salient is too quiet.”
“You are right. The Labyrinth never held back in the other trials.”
“Which is why we should take advantage of it,” came a familiar voice.
Terra and Zaid turned to see Roland saunter out into view with a faint smile. He turned to Zaid. “Zaid. I must admit, that was a cold betrayal. I applaud you for it. You are indeed a worthy Turk.”
Zaid scowled. “I can ex–”
“No need to explain,” Roland interrupted as he held up a hand. “I have dealt with Turks before. However, the artistry of your betrayal was impressive. Most Turks I know would have been content with a knife in my back, but not you Zaid. No. You had to leave me stranded in the hands of a savage enemy. Truly a masterstroke of spite. I salute you for such dedication.”
Zaid sighed.
Roland grinned. “I tried to find you during the Trial of Blades, but I had no luck.”
Terra looked at Roland's aeon edge, noting the lack of a safety lock. “How did you get a key?”
Roland spared his aeon edge a brief glance. “The key? I waited until two tirones finished dueling for one and then defeated the exhausted winner.”
Terra glared at Roland. “You vulture!”
Roland raised an eyebrow, looking at Terra's aeon edge. “Where did you get yours?”
Terra sighed before looking away. “I had to fight Hikari for mine.”
Zaid and Roland exchanged looks. Before anyone had time to ask Terra further questions, the other strike teams moved. Zaid and his team joined them though he regretted not having time to find Hikari. Each team kept in line of sight with the others as they moved forward.
Zaid looked at his shieldwatch and then activated his cipher. “The closer we get to the center, the more toxic our surroundings. The gate has be in the center of the salient at the toxin's source.”
“I think you are right,” Tacitus said over the shieldwatch. “Whatever is making this poison is at the center of the salient.”
“And it's probably guarding the gate,” another added over the cipher lines.
After hesitating, they walked into the miasma. Their shieldwatch stasis shield protected them from the toxins. As they drew further in, the green fog grew thicker and Terra could see more and more growths of strange bio luminescent plants. The plants grew bigger and thicker as they neared the center while the metal pipes became more corroded. Small creatures scuttled amongst the plants.
Terra felt her skin crawl at seeing the strange bug-like creatures moving all around them. Her Sped vision saw the full extent of their crawling motions, that made them no less creepy. The monsters grew bigger the further into the miasma they walked. She worried that the small versions she could step on now would soon threaten to step on her.
A tiro leaned in close to inspect a dog sized creature. It had a thick carapace with a cluster of eyes on the front and a dozen legs propelled it forward. He drew his aeon edge and poked the creature. It hissed and sprayed something at him before he could raise his stasis shield. The force of the spray was enough to push past the weaker environmental shield, which could only filter radiation and gasses.
Everyone stopped when he screamed. He waved his arm frantically. Terra's face went pale when she saw a mass of small creatures from the spray burrow into his arm. The creatures ate into his other hand after he tried to pull them off. He then used a Restore that erased all the parasites which were simple enough creatures that the shieldwatch could remove them.
Zaid cursed. “No one touch anything. We are not here to explore. We are here to find the gate and get out of this horrible place.”
They continued on with more caution this time. The creatures grew bigger the deeper they ventured. Now the creatures stood as big as the tirones while green growths obscured the pipes completely.
“There!” Zaid pointed to a clearing ahead.
Tacitus motioned for his strike team to halt and crouch. The other teams followed his lead.
With a few quick hand motions, Tacitus's strike team split up and disappeared. A few moments later they returned.
John moved up to Tacitus. “Looks strange to me. Critters got a nest there, a big nest built around the gate and they are crawling all over it.”
Zaid moved up to Tacitus along with the other strike team leaders. “Ambush?”
Javed looked at the clearing. “The creatures may become hostile towards us.”
Zaid thought for a long moment. “How about we all advance and surround the nest. Tacitus, your team holds center and secures the gate. Javed, your team acts as a screen to intercept anything that tries to crawl to the gate. Nergüi, you wait in reserve in case anything big attacks the gate. My team will hold the nest itself and keep it occupied if the swarm there moves.”
They all looked at Zaid with doubtful expressions.
Zaid sighed. “Look, this uses everyone's strengths. Tacitus has discipline so his team should hold the objective. Javed has the largest team, so they should be at the front. Nergüi has the most skilled members, but her team is small, so they should engage powerful specific foes.”
Nergüi raised an eyebrow. “And you?”
Zaid grinned. “My team is the most balanced. We have skill, talent, and determi
nation in equal parts. That's why I gave us the hard task.”
Javed shrugged. “Unless there is another plan?”
There was a moment of silence before the strike team leaders nodded.
They all advanced towards the nest that surrounded the gate on three sides. Terra could see it from here. It was huge, like a bee hive the size of an office building and it pulsed with a sickly green glow. Things crawled all over it and out of numerous burrows on the nest's surface.
Things. That was the best word Terra could find to describe them. Each creature had a different form though they shared a few traits. Thick armored carapace protected the creatures' bodies. Green glowing eyes regarded the approaching tirones while the creature's bodies had patches and stripes of neon green bioluminescence. Many had rows of razor sharp teeth while others had crushing mandibles and claws. A few scuttled on the ground with crab like legs while others had no legs at all and instead writhed on the ground in worm like bodies. When the tirones drew closer, the creatures' mouths watered and fangs dripped with venom.
Terra remembered a lecture she had in class. At one point there was a plague that spread across Time. A single spore could multiply into an entire hyper adaptive ecology that threatened to displace every native species across Time. There was something else in the center of it that controlled the other creatures. She tried to recall the details, but she found it difficult to remember every enemy and monster the Legion had faced in the past.
“Don't charge,” Zaid said under his breath as though addressing the creatures. “Look at us. We are not easy prey. Just stay in your nest.”
The creatures advanced slowly at first. Terra noted that at a distance the monsters looked menacing, but up close they looked terrifying. Even the smallest stood a few heads taller than her. They hissed and growled while many stamped their feet or claws.
Roland's knuckles turned white while he gripped his aeon edge. “They are going to charge.”
Zaid readied his aeon edge. “Right. Draw them to the sides if you have to. Try to keep them away from the gate.”
Everyone set the aeon edge to the lethal setting.
The creatures charged.
To Terra's surprise these monsters were not as difficult to fight as she had feared. They were scary, but had no sense of coordination or tactics. They snarled, they hissed, they snapped, but were easy to out maneuver with a shieldwatch and a quick strike from an aeon edge would sever limbs and carapace. Terra marveled at the deadliness of an aeon edged weapon. Every slice through an armored foe was comparable to swinging through air.
Dead creatures piled around them. Terra found that the corpses were more of a threat for when she stepped on one, a parasite tried to bore through her boot. After that, she gave bodies and limbs a wide berth. As glowing neon green blood splattered on the floor, the creatures fled from the nest. They ran to the edge of the outer growth and hid themselves.
The tirones advanced over the nest, nearing the gate.
Zaid tensed. “I don't like it.”
Roland frowned as his gaze searched the area. “I have to agree with the Turk. Too easy.”
The other tirones continued towards the gate and walked over the now vacant nest.
Terra still tried to collect herself, but agreed with the others. The Labyrinth didn't pull punches. There must be another beast here. But where? Her eyes went wide as she looked at the nest. It wasn't a nest.
The mound shifted. Plants and growth fell away in chunks as a creature rose. It towered over Zaid and his tiny strike team. A few of the other tirones who stood on it stumbled and fell the ground before scrambling away. It stepped forward as more growth fell away to reveal long stripes of glowing green bioluminescence that illuminated its full form.
The head was like a large armored shield that extended over its body, guarding much of its front. Embedded on either side of the head were six sunken shell like eyes that glowed bright green. Behind its head were rows of sharp spines around its neck like a lion's mane and each tip glistened with poison. Armored overlapping shell carapace protected a long insect like body with small gaps hosting more poisonous spines. Each step it took with its six long crab like legs shook the ground while a long segmented scorpion tail rose above it. Two huge scythe shaped claws protruded near its head.
There, the tirones dressed in pearl white armor stood before a massive dark green monster three stories high and eighty paces long.
The other tirones stepped back upon seeing the monster.
Zaid gritted his teeth. “Hold! It's still a mere beast!”
The Manticore turned its head towards Zaid. “Mere beast?” it said in a slow, deep, monstrous set of voices that echoed in the salient. “I possess the collective memory and knowledge of all my progeny and of my ancestors.”
“What are you?” Zaid asked.
“Your hunters named me Sero to sate their fear. Instead I took that name and made it so soaked with their blood that the name itself became fear. Fear of my kind imprinted scars upon humanity's memory. The monsters of your myth are merely an echo of your fear of us. Names to give fear form. Dragon. Hydra. Orochi. Quetzalcoatl. But your Legion called us something else.”
“Manticore,” Terra said as she remembered. “I don't suppose we could reason with you?”
The Manticore named Sero turned to Terra and regarded her with its glowing green eyes. “Reason is an unnatural deviation. Something unnecessary to survival. There is only change and the strength it brings. I will devour each of you to claim your flesh and the changes it brings as my own. One by one I shall...” Sero trailed off. It stopped before sniffing the air. As it smelled, it lifted up its front body, showing off a large set of crushing mandibles below its head. “That reek across time. I smell Silverwind. One of you has been close to her!”
Terra glanced back to the other strike teams. They had regrouped, but looked near panic.
Sero smashed the ground and growled as it recoiled from the tirones. “Vile! Poison! I will find and kill them!” it roared as it charged.
It moved fast, smashing aside pipes and boulders that stood in its path. Zaid and Roland dodged Sero's scythed claws while Terra scrambled out of the way, but the attack left them scattered. Javed's team fared little better as it swatted them aside. Tacitus ordered his strike team to hold the gate. Their formation crumbled when Sero jumped and landed in their center and shattered their cohesion.
Nergüi's strike team moved to attack, using an aeon edges burst against Sero before it knocked each attacker back with its tail. The burst engulfed Sero's side, severing car sized limbs. Neon green blood now soaked the floor as the creature paused while still standing over the gate. Sero held still for a moment before new limbs sprouted from its body and a thicker layer of armored carapace grew over its damaged side.
“That's right,” Terra said, remembering the class on the Manticores. “Manticores can regenerate. They are from a hyper adaptive ecology that was the result of a Biological Singularity. It will just keep changing the more we hurt it.”
The creature turned in place and regarded the circle of tirones. “None of you will escape! Every drop of blood will be taken!”
Javed motioned to the Manticore. “Everyone attack! Overrun it and chop it into pieces too small to heal!”
Everyone charged. Zaid cursed, but ordered his team to charge too. This isn't a strategy, Terra thought. This is a mad charge against a monster.
As the tirones charged, Sero turned its armored front to the largest group of them, lifting up part of its front head carapace to expose hundreds of small holes. With a powerful, muscular motion the Manticore shot hundreds of spines each the size of a pool cue. The razor sharp spines pelted the area around them as the tirones hid behind their shieldwatches. The land in front of them turned into a pincushion.
Terra thought Sero's attack futile until she lowered her shieldwatch and saw the charge had staggered. Now half of the tirones reached the Manticore, but it pushed them back with powerful claw stri
kes and knocked them all out of the battle. Now only Zaid's strike team remained standing.
Zaid gathered his strike team. “Everything has fallen apart. We have to stop it ourselves!”
Sero charged again, but another tiro jumped out of the darkness in a flash of motion, slicing off one of its large claws. It roared while taking a single step back. Terra then saw Hikari standing in front of it.
“Orochi?” Hikari asked as she jumped back from the monster.
Zaid, Roland, and Terra ran up to join Hikari.
“About time,” Zaid said.
Hikari kept her eyes on the monster. “I waited for it to leave an opening.”
A cracking noise echoed as Sero regenerated the lost claw.
Zaid recoiled from the monster. “Maybe we should retreat?”
Terra shook her head. “It has limited energy. If we hurt it enough, its regeneration will slow. We can beat it.”
Zaid nodded and made a series of quick hand motions. They charged. As they drew close, Sero faced them. Terra felt herself go cold just looking at those six glowing green eyes.
Sero jumped forward. Terra had to Speed her vision just to see it. The counter attack disrupted Zaid's charge and scattered his strike team. Terra realized that Sero dominated the flow of battle. It could think and use strategy to disrupt any attempt by the tirones to gain momentum.
Zaid grinned as each member now stood at a corner of the beast in a rough square. He made a quick series of hand signals and Terra understood. They had formed a perimeter around the creature. She smiled when she realized that Zaid had used Sero's strategy of disruption against it. Now Zaid's strike team could attack it from multiple directions.
Sero turned to Zaid, but stopped when Roland charged. It faced Roland only to have Hikari attack one of its legs and slice it off. The Manticore roared as it swiped at her with its large, barbed tail. Terra then attacked, aiming for the tail, but Sero jerked away before her aeon edge connected. Surrounded, Sero flung spines all around its body. Venomous spines fell like rain around them as Terra hid behind her shieldwatch.
Aeon Legion: Labyrinth Page 37
