Cutlass Sharpened

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  “The Mole has a similar smell to a woman I met near to giving birth. I think the male took the deer to feed her.”

  “Correct. You do have a natural knack for hunting Beasts.” Scythe clapped the dirt from his hands. “You may not remember, but your instincts are keen. Indeed there is a female. Signs of recent animals vanishing by Mole holes in this area support your deductions. This female will become a queen if left to claim territory so close to the village. Now comes the part experience plays. It won’t be in data files, Brother, but from hunting many Moles. Instead of crawling through the tunnels they left, I can tell you that we must go in that direction.”

  “Why?” Oliver asked as he looked in the direction the man pointed.

  “Look close at how the ground rises gradually. Mole nests are often situated in a hill. When the rains come, their tunnels will flood, but their nests remain nice and dry as most of the water will run downhill. Find the peak of the nearest and largest hill, find the nest.”

  “But don’t Moles hunt at twilight?” Oliver asked as he looked to the fading sunlight peeking between the dense, humid jungle.

  “Precisely.” He turned. “Young Ones, make a triangular pattern and climb the trees to gain the best vantage a half kilometer that way. Brother Oliver and I will deal with the Moles, you watch. Learn.”

  “Yes, Elder.” They all said and jogged in a triangular formation into the brush, weapons ready and crackling with blue-white around the sharp ends.

  Oliver decided to hang back and take in all the nuances Scythe displayed. Taking a few steps, pause, kneel, brush grass aside. As they kept going further and further into the foliage Oliver found it harder and harder to hear the man in the brush. Without keeping eye contact, he would swear Scythe was no longer physically there. Oliver took the strange way he moved and his own sounds dampened more and more. He began to see tiny sticks that would break under his weight and turned an ankle just enough to avoid stepping on it and alerting his position. He no longer stepped down on grass, but pushed it forward with a foot and laid them flat. No crinkling. It took some practice moving, but Scythe paused and turned his head to offer a proud smile as Oliver successfully masked his stalking through the jungle and made no sound.

  The change from day to night also made a new sound with the insects, as if the heat of the day made them more active at night, which also meant louder. Oliver knew he would be miserable without his armor. It prevented insects from attacking his body. After a few annoying bites on his neck, ears and face, his full mask solved the problem. Mosquitoes abruptly stopped buzzing in his ear and left as if he had gone invisible to their senses. Oliver was grateful. But even with the mask that covered all but his eyes, he could still smell and breathe as if nothing was there to block.

  In the final seconds of sunlight Oliver caught the minor silvery reflection on newer Hunter armor and found one of the girls up a tree, in position.

  “Elder Scythe,” Oliver whispered with all quietness and the man paused, pointed ears hearing the tone of warning loud and clear. “I’m smelling the Moles coming from all around us. I think their scent is seeping up from the ground itself. I believe this is their home.”

  He spoke just as quietly and Oliver heard without having hearing augmentation. “Then we must be extra cautious. They will be awake and hunting at this hour. Do you see any rocks near the size of your fist?”

  “Just one. I’m coming to you.” Oliver picked it up and stealthily came beside the helmeted man. He passed the stone and Scythe tied his grappling hook and string around it. As he worked, Oliver noticed a rather small clearing several meters ahead completely empty of grass. The ground looked newly tilled like the first hole found.

  Scythe took the rock and spun it around and around before sending it up over a tree limb. It landed loudly with a thump. “Now to lure them out.” He whispered.

  A gentle tug made the stone thump the ground in a way that spoke of a large, wandering animal. Apparently it was too good a chance to pass and after several fake animal steps the ground began to shake just barely. Oliver drew his blade, but Scythe held a hand over his left, a gesture to wait. The man paused and the ground too stilled. After a pause, he tugged on the line again. The ground shook. Pause of rock paused the ground.

  At the edge of the clearing when the rock made it, Olive saw a pink star shaped Mole nose barely poke from the ground. It didn’t move and Scythe drew the walking rock across the ground. Right as the would be animal would have been over it a thick spitting sound launched an ominous violet, vile liquid up into the air before a large, pink body behind long yellow teeth shot from the ground intent to catch prey.

  Once again Scythe held Oliver back. It became clear why after a few moments when a second, lager male followed the other out. They made spine tingling screeching sounds, but then the hand let go. Each was three times that of a man, hairless and had weak, beady yes, but had a strong sense of smell and felt the subtlest vibrations.

  Oliver salivated as he sprang out from behind the cover of trees and swung his sword just as the two spit their venom right at him. A slicing wave flew from the sword just as it did with the Salamander. Two Moles were sliced horizontally as if nothing was there. The wave’s energy dissipated before reaching the other end of the clearing. But the spat venom was too much and widespread to completely avoid.

  Dodging landed him back as violet bubbles down his right arm, leg and over the cape, but as with the blood from the Stingray, it gathered in a nasty ball in his left hand to drop onto the ground.

  “We need armor like yours, Brother.” Scythe quietly stated. “No longer will we need to wash our armor from venom or other toxins.”

  “Give me some time to figure it out and I may be able to see if the nanites can clean rather than just repair your armor.”

  “If it is possible, I will be in your debt. As will all our brothers and sisters, but right now we have one last Mole to slay. If she is not heavily pregnant she will come. If not, we must draw her out the hard way.”

  Turns out she would not come up like the two who finally stopped twitching. After an hour Scythe said “Hard way it is.” He and Oliver went to the edge and looked down the hole. The experience man held his hands over it and faint sparks arched between his fingers. Deep below there came an indignant screech. In about a minute the largest Mole yet was telekinetically lifted out and still had a deeply swollen and writhing belly. Scythe moved her aside and as she dropped he drew an axe and beheaded the foul creature.

  “Scythe, you mind if I have a quick bite. You can keep the meat.”

  “You needn’t my permission to take from you own kills. Young Ones, come down now.” He raised his voice and sounds of shaking leaves told of swift descent.

  Oliver’s sword made for quick access through skulls and he pulled out whole brains and ate as if it were glazed hot buns. Scythe and the three stared as he ate food raw. Eating brain that was too toxic for them to ever consume. He sat down to enjoy the meal and when Scythe regained composure the four of them quickly butchered the Moles and wrapped the meat in large bags. Oliver also lifted a share of the weight before leaving as the blood would attract more Beasts. More deadly Beasts.

  Chapter 7

  Returning to the village was no large fanfare as before. The three youth had taken the meat to a wounded Hunter family to help him recover. The teens thanked the elder for another valuable lesson and went to their own homes, as teenage Hunters live alone rather than with parents. Being independent was natural. Nighttime in the village was just as active as daytime. On the way back to the elder’s lodge Oliver spotted Stone lounging by the stream with a round faced woman in his lap with a lazy smile on her lips. But other Hunters relaxed and spent time talking of exploits and travels and sights never seen before.

  Eventually Oliver and the elder returned to the only building situated above the cliff and cleaned up in the showers. They left and went back to the meeting cabin with the central fie showing new wood in the recess. Only the wo
lflike elder was present, the others already retired or did other things.

  “Ready for your lesson, Brother?”

  “Yes.” Oliver truly was rather excited.

  “Then sit facing me in only your small clothes. Boxers, briefs, it matters not.”

  “Why?” He asked as he willed the armor to strip down to a pair of comfortable boxers. The rest getting absorbed into the vambrace.

  “You saw the youngest children wearing little, no?”

  “I thought it was just a way to cool off in the hottest part of the day.”

  “Hardly.” The wolflike elder chuckled.

  “What our brother means is wearing little greatly helps learn how to feel Psionic energy. Sit.” As he did, Scythe removed his sleeveless shirt and pants, wearing boxers as well. He mirrored the dark skin man in sitting with his legs comfortably crossed like a pretzel. Hanging from the man’s neck was a single Piranha fang from his first kill long ago.

  “As with all children, I will first teach the basics. Psionic energy is by far the only means of defending ourselves from Beasts and other alien races. Old Earth weapons did more harm than good till the Geo Record’s discovery. Bullets were chunks of metal fired by gunpowder or a magnetically charged railgun. Missiles were chaotic explosives and lasers were not strong enough in time sensitive battles. Average Beasts skin is too tough for most bullets. They were unable to pierce deeply enough.

  “But psionic energy allows us to shock, cut and burn them. Psionics are in essence concentrated electricity. But to harness it one needs focus and an affinity. There are three classes of Hunters, but twelve for psionic strength. To be a class one Hunter you must have first a psionic class of seven. To move objects like I did with the Mole earlier this evening. I personally am an eight.” Scythe volunteered.

  “With psionics, not all can bring out an external representation such as electrical arcs. Those that cannot may still use what they do have in a weapon. The best are in blades, but the military employs blasters that fire miniature kinetic blasts with different settings. But only the military can carry a blaster. Blades might be for close combat, but with distance comes the degradation factor.

  “The further the target is, the less impact it delivers.”

  “I’ve found that true when I make a slicing wave. The furthest I can reach is nineteen meters.” Oliver followed along.

  “But like all things, there are limits. Contrary to beliefs, people are not all the same. There are strong individuals and weak. Through hard work and dedication we can better ourselves and sharpen our skills, but true prodigies can never be exceeded if they put forth the same quality of effort. Some are born with power and others are not. But within strong psionic people, their offspring often have a high probability to pass along their gifts, such as the one you are infatuated with.

  “Still, there are rare cases of people becoming stronger. As with a muscle, the more you work out psionically, the stronger it will become.

  “To start, all children are taught in a similar way as we will do. To harness the electrical power of our minds and focus it to a point within our bodies, we must be shown how it should feel correctly verses incorrectly. Now close your eyes.” Amber irises vanished behind the lids. “This is the correct way.”

  Oliver at first felt exactly as he always had, but then began to notice a very mild tingling sensation flowing from the crown of his scalp and work its way down over his face gradually till his whole skull vibrated pleasantly. Yet it continued down his neck, over his shoulders, arms, back, chest, groin, buttocks, legs, feet and toes. Soon his entire body hummed in perfect synchronization. It then changed as the sensation began gathering evenly in the palm of his hand. It didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

  He opened his eyes, expecting to see electricity zipping around, but beside from an arm loaded with goose bumps there was no outward change. It then eased to nothing. Oliver did though see Scythe’s open and stiff palm sizzling at him with dozens of thin blue-white arcs of electricity. He then dropped it. “How did you do that?”

  The elder smiled as any man who is master of his craft is to teach a successor. “I merely sent a fraction of my power into your body enough that could be felt. Too much and you’ll jerk from being shocked. Using your own psionic ability won’t trick your muscles into contacting, but mine will without defense. Psionic defense will come later so you are not incapacitated by someone of ill intent. It is why I had you be mostly naked. Clothes would not allow for accurate sensation.” He held his palm again. “Close your eyes and feel the wrong way.”

  He did and instead of starting in the crown it was all over. There was no gradual flow like a gentle stream. It was a storm.

  “Stop! Please!” Oliver called out as he jumped two meters straight up and rubbed his body.

  “What happened?” Scythe got up and looked in concern as the pupil shook all over as if hypothermic. His color paled and looked ready to throw up.

  “Please…” Oliver’s teeth chattered. “Do as beforrr…” he shook violently. “Hurrry…”

  Quicker than last time, but just as smoothly the tingling sensation suffused and at once the shakes stopped. “That was awful.”

  “Brother, that never happened before. Explain.” The wolf man was on his feet as well.

  “Well it did feel wrong. I mean very wrong. Like I was about to collapse from cold. I can’t explain it better. Thanks for fixing it.”

  “Do you wish to stop?” Elder Scythe was greatly concerned.

  “No. The feeling passed.” He took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Let’s keep going. Now how do I do it?”

  The two elders looked to each other and silently communicated for a moment before the furry elder shrugged but sat behind Oliver. “You simply imagine it is you doing it and becoming accustomed to the feel. I will keep making you feel the sensation till your own psionic prowess asserts itself. And when you are not with me or another helping, practice on your own at every available moment. In time you will be capable of doing it. When you pass the first trial, we start on defense, blocking others from disabling you and even end mind reading.”

  I like this feeling. Oliver thought, not for the first time as hours flew by. He enjoyed the gentle hum his body vibrated at, as if being beat all over in a warm shower. He carefully followed along and was asked to do it and see if he learned as fast to harness as in learning. No such luck.

  As the midnight chime went off Elder Scythe said “This will be all for today, Oliver. I must attend Elder Javelin as promised. Please, I’ve allowed you the first spare bedroom for yourself. Take it and practice if you will, but get some rest. I will wake you at daybreak and see about tracking the fruit thief.”

  A yawn broke through Oliver and he let it happen. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on it.” He got up and went to the simple bedroom. It really was simple. A single large bed was all there was in the glossy gemstone room.

  Soon the door closed and it was dark. So dark only the hilt of his sword gave off any light. He could smell the room had seen plenty of visitors and plenty of sex. Nevertheless, sleep called and he laid down.

  Sleep didn’t come till he decided to settle the nerves.

  “Renee, are you busy?” he called via the com implant.

  Renee too laid wide awake in her bed on the Dorgenox, unable to sleep. “Not at the moment, Dimwit. You in trouble again?”

  “You know me so well.” He chuckled, staring at the shifting surfaces his sword created. “Actually I was wondering how things are going over there.”

  “Better than yesterday for sure. No one died thankfully. If not for the nanites clotting abrasions and internal hemorrhaging my patients would have been in greater risk. Abdul landed us in a relative safe area close to the village we headed for anyway. The hull is fully repaired, but the gravimetric strip needs a good week to fix itself. The worst issue are the engines. They’ll take three weeks minimum to get us off this hot rock of a planet. On the plus side the Hunters made i
t here and are watching over us. The crash could have been far worse.”

  “I’m just glad you are still okay. Before we left, Stone told me you punched someone, why?”

  “Moron had it coming.” She snorted and chuckled at the memory. “He came to me with a tiny little knee scrape while I was dealing with broken bones and critical injuries. So I punched the asshole in the throat and told him I’m not his spineless mate who would kiss and make it all better. If he wanted a wound I’d give him one. He left right away holding his throat and forgot all about the scrape.”

  “So it’s not just me you kick around?” he teased.

  “My philosophy is to nip stupidity in the bud with a hammer.”

  “Just as I’d expect.” They laughed.

  “Tell me what’s going on. Papa told me all the Inferno Fruit just disappeared from the entire area.”

  “It’s true and there are no definitive clues other than faint tracks. I’m going out first thing to put my nose to work. But today I told my story to some elders, hunted down some Moles and had my fist lesson in psionic use.”

  “Stars! I feel sorry for whoever your trainer is.”

  “I’ll let that slide, Red. But I need to ask a medical question. Earlier I was shown the right and wrong way to do it. Go from the head and let it flow down… then experienced the wrong way and something happened.”

  Renee sat up in her dark room out of habit. “What? Spit it out.”

  “Well I had sickness symptoms. I suddenly got very cold, clammy and it felt like my stomach was about to turn inside out.”

  “Please tell me someone immediately was there to do it again the correct way!” there was a hint of concern.

  “Yes, I had the elder do it again, but he didn’t know what happened. I felt better instantly though.”

  ‘Ha.’ She released a sigh of relief. “Whew. Oliver, never let anyone do it to you again. What that was is psionic sickness. It affects those with high psionic compatibility and sensitivity. I’ve never heard of a class one being sickened… That is more associated with elevens and twelves. I’ve felt it too and I understand how terrible it is. Traditional methods work well, but no more full body activation. The sickness can, and has, killed. You need to learn fast how to shield your body from outside influence or they can induce the sickness.” She came to a decision. “Damn it! I can’t leave you alone for two seconds before you fuck up my happy go lucky life.”