The Joining: The Saga of the Shards Book One (The Cycle of the Shards 1)

by Chris Stephenson

  "I'm tired of this human shell. Tired of hiding what I really am. I AM A MARCONIAN!" Pt'ron yelled to everyone, but seemingly mostly to himself. "All I see around me is the meek. The pitiful. I will show you what a God looks like!" He then spread his arms wide, and Critock closed his eyes, letting out one horrible Marconian curse, not caring how much it hurt his throat.

  The human body that Pt'ron inhabited seemed to fold in on itself, and blue electric arcs began to mix with the red emitted by the Shard's power. A large blue and white light seemed to begin at Pt'ron's stomach and spread out until his entire body was no longer visible. There was a terrible scream from Pt'ron himself, and then a brighter light that forced all watching to turn their heads, as though a nuclear bomb had gone off right in the room with them.

  When the light faded, they first saw Daniel's lifeless body fall to the ground next to a giant black leg, three claws on the bottom holding it to the floor. The leg was thin but wide, and stretched up and up easily twelve feet in the air, eventually connecting to a thin circular flat orb, only with the thickness of a full school backpack, but as wide as a human body laid flat. In front of the orb, There was a single red eye, incased in a shiny coating. Two slightly smaller appendages, the ones that more resembled spider-legs and had been responsible for ending the lives of Travis and his fellow bullies, extended out from both left and right front sides of the orb, and on the back of it were two more. Finally in the middle of the opposite side of the orb there was another leg just like the first that extended down and terminated with another three claws.

  Critock took a step back as Shanna screamed and the others looked on dumbfounded. This was what he had always jokingly referred to as a Marconian's 'battle form', something that most Marconians never transformed into in their entire lives. The amount of energy expended must have been insane, and yet here it was. Unstoppable on most planets, invincible here even without the Shard, which still was contained within the pocket of Daniel’s jeans.

  "YOU SEE, HUMAN..." There was no visible mouth but every one in the room could hear Pt'ron speak. "YOU ARE WEAK." He moved a mighty leg forward, and Shanna tried to run away, but Critock knew she wouldn't get far. How could anyone? He muttered a ”God damn it." And then ran at the being. All hope was lost, but he could save her from a horrible fate at Pt'ron's monstrous claws.

  It was doubtful that he could have done anything anyway, but Pt'ron knew he was coming as he opened another eye on the side of the orb, one that was fixed right on Critock's approach. He stopped mid-stride, steadied himself on one leg, and then swung his claw leg back. Critock never had a chance. He caught the leg dead on in his stomach. While he was fortunate that the giant claw never hit him which would have stabbed or sliced him in half, he was still sent flying through the air from the impact, and directly into the closet that Shanna and he had hid in previously. The force of the impact caused the surrounding brick and construction to fall down, effectively creating a makeshift tomb, trapping Critock inside.

  "HAHAHAHA!" Pt'ron laughed, his voice distorted and almost mechanical. "THERE WILL BE NO SAVIOR! MARCONIA WILL FALL! THE EMPIRE WILL FALL! THIS IS THE FATE OF ALL THAT FACE ME!" Forgetting the unretrieved Shard for the moment, he made two quick strides and stood above Shanna, who, looking up fearfully, realized that she never told her mother how much she loved her, despite their differences.

  "AND YOU, MY DEAR...WILL DIE." He began to lean down, eager to grab her body with the two pincer-like legs in his front, when he heard a noise. A muffled yelling, and then a thump. The thumping grew louder, and Pt'ron swiveled around, looking for the source of the noise. The thump became a pound, and the vibrations from it were causing dust to shake off of the various trophy cases and displays throughout the room. Pt'ron's eye narrowed as he realized that the sound was coming from where Critock had been thrown.

  Immediately after his realization, the rubble that had fallen in front of the closet erupted outward, and a single red-and-black striped leg stepped out, followed by its connecting head and other leg. Kyle's unconscious body lay on top of the creature, which carefully reached up and prodded the body to the ground. Satisfied that Kyle was unharmed physically, the creature took another step forward, facing off with Pt'ron, his form a solid black with no stripes of any kind.

  Critock stood, fueled with the residual power of holding the Shard, and said a prayer to the Five. Then he attacked.

  36

  Two giant creatures, the likes of which had not been seen on the planet since the advent of the Dinosaurs, came together in a crunching sound as Critock launched himself at Pt’ron. He had quickly decided to sacrifice any sense of finesse and strategy in favor of brute force, hoping to catch his enemy off guard. Pt’ron would most likely be completely out of practice when it came to an actual fight, especially one where he didn’t have his precious Shards with him, still held by Daniel’s unmoving body. Pt’ron staggered back, teetering before he caught himself with his back appendages. Critock kept the attack up, punching and clawing with every available bit of energy he could summon.

  Pt’ron was indeed surprised by the attack, as he maneuvered to block Daniel’s body, along with the precious Shards. But the surprise didn’t last long. As he had fallen back, he had reached back with his left clawed leg, and found a wooden board that had not broken from his earlier assault. As Critock paused briefly to strike with his right claw, he was instead caught from the left by the plank, slamming into his orb body and sending him flailing, more shocked at the unexpected attack than hurt.

  Critock hit the ground hard, but quickly rose to his ‘feet’, helped by the extra appendages that moved in conjunction with each other. He saw Pt’ron come towards him, swinging the board he still held between his claws, and quickly moved out of the way, finding a loose board of his own as he clambered over it. Quickly grabbing it, Critock lifted it up, pointing it directly at Pt’ron’s eye, which narrowed from its vantage in the middle of the orb body. Neither moved for a moment, until almost simultaneously, both letting out an unearthly roar, they began to come at each other, each swinging their board.

  Together, swinging, dodging, and grunting from swings that found their mark, the pair danced around the room, narrowly missing and in some cases actually hitting and bouncing off the largely decorative pillars. There was nothing else to them, no shards, no people, no planets, only millions of years of Marconian instinct working in concert against an enemy they had to defeat to reach their goals. Only one thing stood in their way: each other.

  As the fight went on, a rogue swing from Pt’ron succeeded in knocking over a heavy stone pillar that would have fallen directly on Mr. Phelps if not for Shanna breaking from staring at the unworldly fight in shock to notice it teetering and pushing him out of the way. The force of the push sent both of them directly underneath what their minds could only process as ‘creatures’, who seemed to have forgotten that they were even there. For a few terrifying seconds, as Shanna clutched Phelps’ arm with one hand and Claire’s with the other, everywhere they seemed to move was blocked. A clawed leg here, a dangling appendage there, everything seemed to thwart their attempts to escape the field of battle that used to be their school. Finally, Critock moved a giant leg to sidestep an attack, and Shanna saw her opportunity. Grabbing Phelps and Claire with one hand each, she pulled them under Critock, oblivious to the teenagers and the teacher, and made a mad dash towards the exit door. Not stopping, she threw her weight towards the push bar on the door. It swung open with the force, and they made their exit without looking back. Shanna hoped Critock could defeat Pt’ron, but she knew there was nothing else she could do. They were on their own.

  Out of the corner of his one gigantic eye, Critock noticed the light from the outside door as it closed, and realized that the humans had escaped the arena. Knowing that they were safe, at least for the moment, seemed to feed his energy, and he began striking with newfound vigor, swinging his board, occasionally connecting, and driving his enemy back. Knowing he didn’t have the a
dvantage any longer, Pt’ron attempted to roll past Critock to try and get to Daniel’s body. To regain his Shards, and end this pointless exercise. Critock was ready for him though, having kept the location of Daniel at the front of his mind as they moved around, and Pt’ron’s move caused his guard to be lowered just for a moment. This was the moment Critock needed. He blocked him with a swift kick from a clawed foot, slicing across Pt’ron’s eye. As a bellow came from the Marconian, Critock struck next with the board, slamming it into his body, and with the weight of the strike Pt’ron flew across the room, crashing painfully into a wall, on the other side of the lobby from the Shards.

  Critock advanced on Pt’ron, anger and righteousness showing across his body, a look that would be imperceptible to any other race. He was ready to end this quickly, knowing that if he turned his back to reach the shards he would lose the momentum and let his guard down. Pt’ron, who had a death grip on his board, picked himself up to face his enemy. Seeing Critock begin to swing his weapon, Pt’ron swung his as well, and the two wooden boards met as though in a swordfight. The strength of both of their swings destroyed the boards entirely in an instant, and their bodies continued the follow-through. Pt’ron managed to think quickly and pull up a back leg, supporting himself entirely on his appendages while he kicked at Critock. The bounty hunter wasn’t expecting an attack, even a weak one, and fell back with the hit. Now knowing that he didn’t have the advantage, his last fight having been hundreds of years behind him, Pt’ron knew his only hope was to change the venue. Trusting that the Shards were safe for the moment, with the humans having run for their lives away from their only hope of salvation, Pt’ron chose not to advance on Critock, who was even now back on his feet and advancing. Instead, he jumped backwards, his giant legs moving back behind him, and their claws imbedding into the wall. He then began climbing the wall, his orb body moving around, keeping an eye on Critock, who had stopped, watching his enemy defy gravity and climb up the side of the wall towards the ceiling. After a moment, Critock jumped up, sank his claws into the wall as well, and began to chase Pt’ron.

  The two enemies met again in a clash that was more calculated but no less explosive and dangerous on the side of the wall directly above the gymnasium doors. They held on to the wall precariously with one imbedded claw apiece as they used the other leg and claw to swing and stab at the other. They alternated each leg in and out as they moved, desperately trying to gain advantage and neither finding one. Soon they were completely upside down, so absorbed in their battle that they didn’t notice their altitude, now above the staircase, above the second floor. Pt’ron swung a claw and missed, but it was sharp enough to find the one thing that could be damaged, the chandelier that had seemed so out of place. It fell to the ground, thousands of dollars destroyed in a crash of glass and anger. Neither of the two cared.

  Making his way to a window facing the rear of the school, Pt’ron swung wildly at Critock. The swings seemed without any kind of strategy and thus were unpredictable, and Critock kept his distance for a moment. Seizing his chance to change the location of the battle again, Pt’ron quickly released his appendages from where they were clutching tightly onto the wooden beams. With just one claw imbedded, he swung backwards, impacting with the window. The glass was strong, made to repel bird impacts and strong weather, but it was never intended to withstand a one-thousand-pound being that should have never existed on this world. It shattered, cutting Pt’ron, and causing blue blood to begin to seep from a dozen small cuts. He didn’t feel the pain, even as his free claw impacted the side of the building from the outside, digging itself in. Once he had hit his goal, he quickly released the leg still inside, and began crawling quickly up the side of the building, hoping to get out of sight of Critock, and get back into the building to recover the Shards. He wasn’t worried about Critock taking the chance of letting him get away in order to collect the artifacts. If he had learned anything, he had learned that Critock would be singularly focused on him.

  He was more right than he realized, as Critock quickly moved out the window behind him, moving much faster and would soon overtake him.. His plans dashed, Pt’ron clambered as fast as he dared, knowing that falling off the building, while likely not fatal or even very damaging, would expose him to Critock and certain doom. He reached the roof and turned upright, and as soon as he was able retracted his claws and leaped towards the other side of the roof, narrowly missing being swiped by Critock. He landed on the ledge overlooking the parking lot, as Critock moved steadily up the roof, stopping at it’s peak to look down.

  At first Pt’ron thought he was looking at him, and wondered why he wasn’t resuming the attack. Then he heard screams, and realized that it wasn’t just automobiles that were in the lot. With a quick glance behind him, he saw them. The entire assemblage of the high school had gathered together at the front to await police and fire officials, who in the scant few minutes since being contacted had not arrived. Right now, every single one of the teachers, students, and workers had their eyes skyward, staring at the two monsters on the roof, a wave of fear and confusion spreading through them.

  This wasn’t Pt’ron’s original plan, but it was even better. It would keep Critock busy, unbalance him, and give him the advantage. He knew why Critock had stopped now. He hadn’t been here long enough to learn to despise humanity yet. He hadn’t had to wait thousands of years for one moment, having to hide amongst the rabble for that long lest he be noticed by an authority on high, whether it be Marconians or the Mandragora or anyone who would know that Pt’ron’s continued existence meant the Shards still existed. The moment had arrived, and Pt’ron had no problem taking his anger out at these primitives. He looked back at Critock, frozen and waiting for his enemy’s next move, and let out a quick yet sinister laugh. Then with a yell, he launched himself off of the roof, directly towards the crowd below.

  The two missiles were still far away from their destination, at least in terms of miles or any other human designation. But in the terms of distance that they were designed for, they were nearly to their targets. The missile designated to strike the first Shard slowly began to edge ahead of the other one, in case the second Shard was destroyed before the first and the planet could still be saved from its Armageddon. Soundless and with no way to halt their movement other than the disappearance of the radiation emanating from the Shards, The missiles continued to move in tandem, though no longer in parallel, as they gained their first sight of their last landmark; Earth’s Moon.

  If the situation wasn’t so insane Shanna would be very amused at the attention that Claire was getting, both from her brother and her once-suitor, as they took turns hugging her. The blonde girl accepted the embraces but did not return them, as she was still in shock both from finding out the truth about her loving boyfriend, and then him becoming a giant murderous monster. Jim understood the shock, so despite his curiosity, he didn’t press her or Shanna, who hadn’t offered up any details. Phelps had went off to the other teachers, trying desperately to get them to move their students away from the school, but was having a hard time convincing them of what he had seen.

  John was not as observant about Claire’s state, and while he was inwardly scared about what he imagined was happening in the school, he couldn’t stop a rapid barrage of questions. “Seriously? Giant spider aliens? Both Kyle and Daniel? How big are they? What are they doing now? Can Kyle beat him? Has he always been an alien?” Tears streamed down Claire’s face as her mind moved a million miles a second trying to process all of this.

  “John…” Jim attempted to warn him off.

  “Well for Christ’s sake! Can you blame me!” John waved his arms around frantically, yelling loud enough to get the attention of a close by class. “There’s two monsters in there tearing each other apart, and we’re out here scratching our butts! We gotta find out what’s going on, so we can…”

  “So we can what.” Shanna whirled around, her red hair whipping around with her and in front of her eyes slig
htly. “There’s nothing we can do! We had a chance to stop this before it started…” She turned back at the school. “…And we screwed it up.”

  Just then, both John’s questions and Shanna’s self-loathing were interrupted by Claire starting to scream loudly and in an extremely high pitch. The group, and the students and teachers surrounding them quickly looked at her, then followed her gaze up to where she had caught movement where nothing should be at this time, on the roof. There she, and now every individual standing outside where they had escaped for safety, now saw the source of every rumor that had sent them running in the first place. The giant spider-like monster stood still for a moment, looking both at them and at something else on the roof. Then it jumped.

  It seemed to hang in the air for a moment, its split legs spread apart and slightly bent to absorb the impact from the landing on the concrete below. It hit the ground with a light sound, and the orb’s one red eye seemed to stare straight down, as though recovering from the jump. Then it looked up suddenly, its legs straightening. A growl emanated from the creature as it looked at the assemblage, still shocked from the sudden appearance. With sudden unexpected speed, it rushed forward, which triggered instant uncontrollable fright from everyone. The creature slashed at the students, its massive claw raking across the back of two very unfortunate freshman, who let out loud but horrifyingly short yells from the pain as they fell.

  “YES! RUN!” Students and teachers followed Pt’ron’s command as he bellowed, scanning the backs of the humans for a very specific feature: Red hair. He located Shanna, running alongside John and Jim as they each held tightly to one of Claire’s arms, almost dragging her away from the true image of her now ex-boyfriend. “I SEE YOU, SHANNA! YOU WANTED TO PLAY WITH ALIENS? HERE I AM!” She had turned her head at the loud call of her name, then turned back to the front and ran faster, but suddenly to the left of her friends. She wasn’t going to see anyone hurt because of her.