by J. C. Diem
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Keeping our distance from the fray, we watched as the four warships circled their target. Painted light grey, they looked like bath toys beside the immense black alien and that was with most of the creature still hidden below the water. The first shot was fired and exploded against a tentacle. The octosquid flicked the appendage in annoyance and a large wave sloshed over the ship, causing it to rock alarmingly.
More shots were fired and they lit up the night sky in orange bursts of light. Still nowhere near full after devouring an entire city, the octosquid sank lower beneath the water and ignored the barrage. The top of what would be a head on any other creature dwarfed the attacking vessels.
All firing ceased as the captains of the warships presumably conferred. Changing their tactics, they all aimed at the same spot in the centre of the black mass and fired together. Ripples spread out as the alien flinched from the impact and a small crater appeared in its hide. It was proof that the weapons could at least inflict some damage, even if it was minimal.
Roused to anger, the beast surged upwards until it towered over the warships. Slow and cumbersome, the vessels didn’t stand a chance of fleeing. We watched helplessly as a tentacle whipped out and sent one of the warships into a dizzying spin.
Sending my consciousness out, I found the sailors of the crippled vessel in a panic. To abandon ship and try to escape on lifeboats would be suicide. Staying on the ship would also result in their deaths. None of the other ships could come to their aid, since they were currently being buffeted by the enraged alien.
With Geordie’s accusing gaze still haunting me, I made a snap decision. “I’m going to try to help them,” I told my friends and teleported onto the sinking ship.
Still mostly in particle form, I appeared in the cockpit. Grief stricken that he was about to lose both his ship and his men, the captain was frozen in indecision. He focussed on me and superstitious dread washed through him. “Have you come to take my soul to the afterlife?”
“No. I’ve come to take you and your men to safety,” I replied in his native tongue. “Tell your men to gather on the deck.”
Succumbing to my unholy allure, the captain woodenly gave the order through his radio. The milling mass of doomed sailors changed direction and gathered at the back of the ship. I was sure it had a more technical name than that; stern, aft, bilge or whatever, but I frankly didn’t care.
The sailors made way for their leader when he appeared on the deck and I followed him in an almost invisible cloud of molecules. Only when the men had crammed together did I re-form my head and hands. Whisking the men to the nearest Russian shore, I left them in a state of utter confusion and returned to my friends and the bait that we’d gathered.
“Did I miss anything?” I asked when I appeared amongst the bobbing humans and vampires.
“Not much,” Ishida responded. “The ships have given up their attack and are on the run. The jellyfish appears to be toying with them.”
Sure enough, the gigantic black tentacles were teasing the three warships as they attempted to outmanoeuvre the alien. All three had been rounded up and two were in danger of ramming into each other. The other had a gaping hole in its side and was listing dangerously. Far more decisive, the captain of the damaged ship had ordered his men into the lifeboats. Some were in the water and were frantically rowing for safety. Tiny with distance, their screams floated over to us as a tentacle reared up and came slashing downward.
I was on the move before I’d fully formed the intention of going to the rescue again. I reached the flimsy rubber lifeboat a bare instant before the tentacle could crush them. The sailor’s cries of terror were piercing as they covered their heads and cowered in the bottom of the boat. I teleported them to safety and left them, boat and all, beside the still confused group of sailors from the first warship.
It took me several trips to scoop up the sailors in the lifeboats, then a few more to rescue the rest of the crew from the doomed vessels. Still too enraged to realize the tasty treats had been evacuated, the octosquid gave up its game and opened its maw. All four warships were sucked inside then swallowed, disappearing into the stomach of the leviathan. They’d soon be eroded by its digestive juices alongside the hundreds of thousands of civilians that it had already consumed.
The activity had done more than just stir the creature’s anger, it had also roused its hunger. My catch of bait might be small, but I hoped it would be tempting enough to lure our prey towards a confrontation with its closest rival.
Sensing the gargantuan turning back towards land, I shifted my bait to its far side then prodded its mind. As I’d hoped, I drew its attention. Seeing a free and easy meal, it surged towards us. I teleported the group a safe distance away, but remained close enough to entice the target to follow.
Frustration warred with anger as the octosquid pursued its prey. The rage the warships had stirred within it escalated. Propelling itself to its fullest speed, it surged through the waves, intent on devouring the appetizers that continued to elude it.
Splitting my senses, I kept one remote eye on the creature that had eaten LA and steered the rival towards it. We were moving far quicker than any seaborn vessel could hope to match as we remained just out of reach of the black tentacles that strived to grasp us. As we crossed the invisible line between one octosquid’s territory and the other, the second monster was roused from its sleep deep beneath the waves. The close proximity of an intruder alerted it that its domain was under threat.
Once allies, if not friends, the two aliens became instant enemies. Speeding towards the surface, the defending leviathan roared a challenge at the interloper when it surfaced. Immediately losing interest in us, the creature that we’d lured across thousands of nautical miles went on the attack. Using the speed that it had built up in pursuit of us, it rammed the defender. Purple blood flew as their tentacles grappled. Ever biting, the multiple mouths chewed through flesh and severed appendages flopped into the water.
My friends watched in awe as the two Goliaths battled for supremacy. Like the two biggest hippos in the universe, they tore at each other’s flesh, gouging out holes as they strived to reach the nerve centre hidden in the depths of their enemy’s body.
Both aliens were strong from their feasts of humans and neither were about to concede defeat. To do so meant death. Their struggles became slower and more calculated as they began to tire. The water around us turned lilac from the amount of blood that had been shed. Severed tentacles drifted, whale sized or even larger in some instances.
Making a last ditch effort, the defender reared up and slammed down on top of the interloper. Flattening itself down to absorb the blow, the trespasser wrapped its tentacles around the body of its enemy and drilled deep inside, searching for a weak point. Thrashing and bellowing in agony, the defender reciprocated. The ocean turned a darker shade of purple as fresh blood sheeted from their wounds.
Probing deep inside the body of its adversary, the interloper’s tentacles located the brain and tore it to shreds. Weak from loss of blood, it wearily pushed the corpse of the fallen away and sank down out of sight, too tired and in too much pain to celebrate its victory.
“Is the octosquid as grievously wounded as it appears to be?” Gregor asked. Even drenched in sea water with his hair slicked back, he was the picture of elegance.
Still mostly in particle form, my head nodded. “Yes, but it’ll start to heal pretty quickly.”
“Perhaps we should strike while we have the chance,” the most crafty of our kind suggested.
“Good idea.” I liked the way he thought and went into action.
I whisked everyone back to the Russian town that we’d snatched the humans from and found Kokoro dressed in a different outfit of jeans and a t-shirt. Her leather suit lay neatly folded on the ground beside mine. She held out a bundle of clothing to me. “In hindsight, the suits aren’t very practical for wearing into battle with sea creatures,” she said.
My smile was grateful
as I took the bundle. I’d had practice at pouring my molecules inside my clothing and became solid in seconds. I was dressed nearly identically to Kokoro. Ishida took Geordie aside for a private chat as my men prepared for the fight ahead. Sidling over to me when Ishida had filled him in on the action he’d missed out on, Geordie shamefacedly held out my twin swords that I’d left with the red suit. “I hope you can forgive me for doubting you, chérie.”
I donned the sheaths so they were crisscrossed on my back then took Geordie’s hand. “You know, I’ve been thinking about why the six of you survived our trip to Viltar and the reason why you were turned into immortals.”
Watching my face cautiously, still expecting anger, the teen grew hopeful that I wasn’t going to berate him. “What conclusion have you come to?”
“It’s obvious to anyone who knows me that I’d fail if I tried to figure all this out on my own.” Gathering around, none of my closest friends argued with me. “I think you were all picked for a reason.”
Gregor looked at me thoughtfully. “You believe that we all have certain skills or attributes that will assist you to perform the tasks that Fate has set for you?”
Ishida flashed a grin of amusement. “What skill did I lend you, Mortis?”
“You have helped me in two ways,” I told him seriously. “Your greatest warrior taught me how to fight, but you taught me how to be a ruler.”
Ducking his head almost shyly, he offered me a bow. “I am honoured.”
Bowing in return, I shifted my gaze to Kokoro. “I’d be lost without your kindness, wisdom and insight.”
She also bowed and Ishida allowed her to pull him to her side. “It is we who are grateful,” Kokoro said on their behalf. “Without you, our entire nation would have been destroyed. While there are only the two of us now, our history will not be forgotten and we will always remember our people.”
Wearing an ironic grin, Igor raised one eyebrow in challenge. “What possible use could you have for me?”
“That’s easy,” I grinned back. “You’re the practical one of our little family. You keep us on track and you don’t let us lose sight of the current objective.”
The Russian gave me a salute of acknowledgement of his skills. “That is true. You are easily distracted.”
It wasn’t necessary to spell out why Gregor was so invaluable but I did so anyway. It was time I let everyone know just how much I needed them. “Gregor, you’ve orchestrated most of the battles that I’ve fought. If I didn’t have you on my side, I’d stumble around without a clue of what to do.” Every time I’d gone out on my own, I’d ended up embarrassing myself horribly. Thankfully, nearly everyone who’d ever witnessed my bumbling antics had died at my hands.
“In all honesty, I haven’t had this much fun in all of my three thousand years,” he replied. “At one time, I was an advisor to a king and helped him to conquer several neighbouring countries. That pales in comparison to aiding Mortis.” His dark eyes twinkled in merriment but I sensed he was deadly serious.
I turned to Luc and his lips twisted briefly in a wry smile. I caught a flash of why I was important to him. Sliding my hands around his waist, I tilted my head back and forced him to look me in the eye. “You have been my protector from the beginning. You found me in the mausoleum in Brisbane and took me under your wing, knowing who and what I was. You’re the bravest, most loyal and honourable man that I’ve ever known. You’re my strength, Lord Lucentio. Without you, I wouldn’t be Mortis, I’d just be Natalie, the clumsy and inept vampire.”
Geordie tried to giggle but it transformed into a sob when I turned to him. “You do not need to invent a reason why you keep me around,” the teen said. “Everyone knows that I am not important.”
After more than two hundred years of being ridiculed by the courtiers he’d once served, his self-esteem was understandably low. Even after all we’d been through together, he still didn’t realize how much he meant to me. “You might be the most important friend I have, Geordie.”
Astounded, he lifted his eyes to mine. “Why?”
“Because you are my conscience.” Confused, he turned to the others and received nods of confirmation. “You’re the only one who can stop me from turning into a heartless monster,” I told the teen. “I need you, Geordie.” A lump tried to form in my throat and I swallowed it down. “I need all of you. I can’t do this job without you. I won’t do this job without you. You’re my family now.”
Bottom lip quivering, the teen wrapped his skinny arms around me and sobbed on my shoulder. “I love you, chérie,” he whispered. Luc’s arms came around us, wordlessly telling Geordie that he was cherished by us both.
I wasn’t used to professing my feelings out loud but the kid was French and it seemed to come naturally to him. “I love you, too, kiddo.” He was nearly two centuries older than me, but he’d always be an adolescent and he would always need someone to look out for him.
Igor blinked hard a few times and tried to pretend he wasn’t close to breaking down. He was more than Geordie’s mentor, he’d been his pseudo father for all of the teen’s existence. He sent me a grateful nod that I returned with a smile that trembled a little.
Once Geordie had regained control, I held him at arm’s length. “Are you ready to kick some alien butt?”
Nodding, he deftly caught the gun that Ishida tossed to him. “Let’s do it!” His voice only wavered slightly as he replied. He might be a teenager on the outside but on the inside he’d become a warrior. A small part of me mourned the mischievous soul that he’d once been and wondered if he’d ever be as carefree again. Will any of us ever be the same again, my inner voice whispered. Somehow, I doubted it.
·~·
Chapter Thirty
With Shadow currently out of commission, we were without transportation. Well aware of the contents that were now floating around in the octosquid’s stomach, I transported my army onto the wreck of one of the warships that had so recently been swallowed. Once again, the bodies of townsfolk bobbed in the noisome stomach juices nearby. They were mostly skeletons and even the bones were dissolving in the stomach juices.
Whole buildings were crammed inside the alien’s gullet. A quick search of my senses found no survivors. The air inside the beast’s belly wasn’t breathable, so anyone that might have survived the trauma of being swallowed wouldn’t have remained alive for long.
Luc accompanied me when I teleported to the membrane that protected the octosquid’s brain. The rival alien had dealt out some damage of its own and the protective sack had been ruptured in several places. Huge tunnels had been bored through the light purple jelly. The damage was already starting to be repaired but the gargantuan had subsided into a semi-coma while it healed.
It wouldn’t be necessary for us to carve our way to the centre of the brain. Enough damage had been done that we really just needed to finish off our target. I left Luc behind and was back with the rest of our troops before he could even begin to miss me.
Shouldering our weapons, we fired at the already mangled purple jelly-like substance as we worked our way to the cortex. There was too much damage to the rest of the brain for the creature to become frenzied once we destroyed its central thought processing area. I fired the first volley into the darker purple mass.
The octosquid expired without a fuss and much more quickly than the previous deaths that we’d meted out. Splitting my consciousness, I checked on the reaction of the remaining extra-terrestrials and found no trace of suspicion towards the humans this time. While pretending to mourn their fallen brethren, their secret wish to reign supreme swelled even further.
Whisking my army back to dry land, we retrieved the life jackets that our bait had deflated and had then stacked into neat piles. I released my hold over the humans and silently ordered them to return to their homes. Unaware of the events that they’d been a part of, they drifted away in a daze, shivering from being immersed in cold seawater.
We returned to Owens to drop off the life
jackets. His hypnotism had worn off enough that he was able to follow current events and ask questions. Enough bamboozlement remained that he couldn’t even contemplate the idea of trying to turn on us. “How many aliens still remain?” he asked.
“Five,” I said wearily. I’d used a lot of energy to lure the two beasts together and needed either sleep, a snack or both.
“I’ve heard rumours that the world leaders no longer want you to destroy the creatures,” the commander said with a hint of anger. “I’ve seen their attempts to stop them and it’s obvious they’re going to fail. We might not like it, but it’s up to you and your men to save us. If there is anything I or my sailors can do to help, let me know.”
Skimming his thoughts, I saw that his offer came honestly and not from the spell that I’d put on him. “Thank you, Commander. For now, my men could use a meal.”
He nodded briskly and came close to saluting me. “I’ll see to it.”
“Only half of the jellyfish are left now,” Geordie said in wonder as Owens used his radio to round up his men. “Do you think we will be able to use this same tactic again?”
“I’m not sure,” I replied honestly.
“If we attack them directly, more cities will be destroyed in retribution,” Igor pointed out. “We must decide whether it is worth the risk, considering that the beasts will eventually head for land no matter what choices we make.”
I turned to Geordie. “What do you think we should do?”
His eyes went round in surprise. “You’re asking my opinion?”
“You’re my conscience, remember?”
Disturbed at being singled out, he sought assistance from the others but didn’t find it. “I don’t want to be responsible for anyone’s death,” he said in a small voice.
“I’m not trying to lump responsibility on you,” I said and hugged him to my side. “I just want to hear your opinion. No deaths are going to be on any of you.” They’d be on me. I was Mortis, after all.
