Reality's Plaything 5: The Infinity Annihilator
Page 25
Bannor didn’t think he’d get lucky again. This next assault would do it. She would most certainly hit something vital with another pass. He couldn’t adequately guard the door and focus on her at the same time. There was an entire pack of angry monsters in front of him, and only one behind.
Sarai, Gaea, he said to the voices demanding and pleading with him. If you keep at me, I know for certain I’m going to die. At least let me focus. Give me a chance.
They both went silent.
When Bhaal lunged, his mind was quiet, he saw her movement out of the corner of his eye. He knew there was no way to avoid her, he simply had nothing left.
Bhaal came for his heart. His left shoulder and arm were bound inside the shield which was receiving the relentless pounding of the enemies outside. To hit that target she had to come close to the bunker wall.
Rather than try to block or deflect the strike, he let the mass of his metal-like body do the work, he leaned in, smothering her against the wall. The weight and drag of mashing the female against the hard surface brought her claws up short, even as they tore through the plates of his armor and gouged the skin below.
He grunted, actually feeling pain as ultra-sharp nails ripped his flesh.
Bannor tried to smash her against the wall, but Bhaal spun away before he could get a solid grip on her. She crouched on the ground panting.
He faced her, knowing that to kill him all she really needed to do was wait a little longer. The wounds would do the job for her given time.
Somehow he didn’t think patience was a Lokori virtue.
Bannor knew he should be dead. He’d already gotten lucky two more times than he should have. He wondered now if Wren and the others hadn’t already been killed. He didn’t feel it happen, but then he couldn’t feel much now.
The room flickered and his knees started to buckle. Damn, he couldn’t give up. He needed to last a little longer.
Bhaal tensed and sprang. As the claws came for his throat he took solace in the fact it would only hurt for an instant…
The Lokori’s hurtling body jerked to a stop in mid-air then did a savage left-turn straight in the bunker wall with a thud.
He heard Daena growl, her voice echoing with immortal force. “Get away from him, you witch!”
They weren’t dead.
Good.
The auburn haired ascendant thundered to his side. She was in battleshape as well. Her armor and skin looked like a mongrel’s chew toy. She grabbed hold of his shield with one hand and slammed a punch into it with the other. The ether and air around them pulsed and the Lokori swarming all over his shield exploded away from the blast of nola force.
Daena pulled back from him and saw the streaks of black down her front. “Oh spit, Bannor!” She turned to look down the corridor. “Wren, hurry the frell up!”
“That’s what I’ve been saying for—” He coughed. “—For a while now.”
“Damn, damn, damn,” Daena mumbled. “Those warriors will be back any moment. Give me the shield.”
“Xersis,” he murmured to the weapon. “Allow her to hold you.”
He staggered against the entrance way and slid the shield off. The bodies of more than a dozen dead Lokori lay sprawled around the threshold, killed by their own comrades in their frenzy of trying to break through his barricade.
Daena’s glowing green eyes went wide as she saw the carnage, and she paled a little. She took the shield from him and slid it on her arm. The normally impervious metal was gouged and scratched by power of Lokori claws. Daena closed her eyes and her shape shifted with slurp of transforming flesh, she grew taller and thicker and the metal underfoot creaked as she gathered mass. She gently shifted Bannor out of the way and arranged herself to hold the door.
“Lean on me if you need to,” she said. As she finished her words, a strike hammered against the shield. The girl winced but didn’t move, as several more hits began vibrating the metal. “Spit—how do those little bodies hit so hard?”
Bannor wanted to sit down but knew if he did he wouldn’t be able to stand up, and no-one would be able to get him up. He took Daena’s suggestion and leaned into the curve of her now larger body.
The girl put an arm around him protectively. “Gods, you’re a mess.” She looked back down the corridor. “We have to get you out of here to a healer.” The shield continued to rattle as more hits were laid against it. “Where the frell are they?! I would have sworn Wren was right behind me!”
A movement in the corridor caught Bannor’s attention. He focused in that direction and saw Bhaal’s body twitch. As hard as Daena mashed her into that solid metal wall and the Lokori had only been stunned.
An icy sense of disquiet shivered through him as the Lokori shook her head, tremors going through her lithe body.
Stay down. Please, just stay down.
“Gack,” Daena murmured, rocking her head. “Sarai is madder than a wet wyvern. She calmed down a little when she realized that you aren’t dead and that I’m holding the shaladen… but she still wants to chew someone’s tail off.”
He sighed. “My heart is beating, but I am dead—” He groaned. “Sooo dead.”
Daena gasped as something exploded against the shield making the both of them shift forward a bit. “Spit! What was that?”
“Don’t look,” he said with a cough. “If you—if you show enough of your face to see, you’ll lose your head.”
Bhaal pitched over to hands and knees, shoulders shaking. Daena was focused on the narrow door opening and hadn’t noticed the movement. Bannor hoped they were out of here before the Lokori recovered. Vicious or not, enough of their ancestors had died already. If Daena hit her with another blast she probably would die.
He kept his eye on the female as more hits battered the shield held by Daena, making the two of them shake with the force. Like him the young savant was forced to dodge claws swung around the edges.
The main difference was Daena had energy left—energy she put to use. She drew a breath. “This is going to hurt them a lot more than us.” The atmosphere shuddered under the impact of her nola being unleashed.
Lokori erupted away from the opening as Daena took control of the metal in their bodies and flung them away.
The corridor behind them flared bright, illuminated by a blaze that rocked the structure. Out of the bright light pounded Azir, carrying a shielded container under each arm. Behind him Wren was also carrying two containers. Ziedra and Senalloy, swords out and hands upraised were firing spells into the corridor behind them.
“What the hell happened to you?” Daena demanded. “Bannor is almost dead!”
“I’m not—” Azir panted as he skidded to a stop. “Not feeling—so good—myself.” Like Daena and himself, Wren’s brother was in battle shape and he looked like some giant cat had been using him for a scratching post.
Wren slid to stop next to her brother panting. The normally impervious savant of forces looked like she’d been swimming through a briar patch. “Bannor!” She gasped as she slid to a stop. “When Zee and Sen get here, pull us all out, there’s a frelling army of Lokori chasing us!”
With an effort that made his whole body creak, he reached out and touched the shaladen.
He sighed. He looked around. “Make sure everyone is touching either me or Daena.”
Wren took one of her containers by the handle and held the other under her arm, then took hold of his belt. Her brother did the same, touching Daena’s shoulder.
Bannor looked down the corridor as Senalloy and Ziedra raced toward them. He’d never seen the Baronian woman run so fast.
“Grab hold—we’re gone!” Wren urged as the two rushed up.
He felt Senalloy take his arm and saw Ziedra slide up and grab Daena’s belt.
jump as a silhouette launched toward him.
Bannor felt something hit his neck even as the power of the shaladen engulfed them and yanked the group into the void of transition space…
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* * *
Chapter Seventeen
How does metal flesh hurt? Very well,
thank you…
—Bannor Nalthane Starfist,
Prince Conjugal of Malan
The disorienting trip through nulltime made lights spin in Bannor’s vision, if anything, being in battleform made the transition worse. His metallic body felt like it was being ripped open as they were thrust out of blackness and back into the familiar surroundings of the council chambers.
The details of the room did not get a chance to come into focus for him because the shock of being pulled through the shaladen hit him as though he’d been pounded in the stomach with a mattock.
He heard Wren and the others in battle form make similar sounds of distress but focused on his own discomfort that caused him to drop to the stone floor with a thud, clutching his stomach.
As he dropped, he was vaguely aware of motion and excitement near him. Gasping for breath, it took an instant to realize that the silhouette he had seen coming toward him back at Starholme came with him when Sarai transported the group.
Livid glowing eyes stared at him from beneath a furrowed brow. Fangs bared, the female Lokori had one hand around his throat, free hand talons out and poised to kill. Only the surprise and disorientation of being yanked through space had kept her from landing the finishing strike.
“Oh ow, wha—whoa!” Daena’s disoriented complaint turned into surprise as she realized that they had inadvertently brought a hostile with them.
In his line of view, Bannor saw the normally impassive Eclipse and Quasar curse and jump back, yanking out weapons.
“My One, I—” Sarai stopped as the Lokori who was within arm’s reach of her let out a snarl.
“Spit,” Wren uttered, dropping her canisters on the floor and taking a fighting stance.
Bannor’s already racing heart seemed to shudder. He recognized more than a dozen figures in the room. If the Lokori went into a frenzy, she could kill more than half of them before anyone even recognized the danger. He thrust his hand out and grabbed her by the throat.
That snapped her attention away from Sarai. With a yowl, she plunged her claws for his chest.
“BHAAL!!!” A female voice burst out, making the whole room quiver with its force. The sound made the Lokori cringe and clutch her ears.
Growling, she sent a glare toward the emanation. Gaea stood only a short distance away, green skin glowing and jewel eyes shining. The all mother’s glistening mass of dark hair stirred as though in a strong wind. Her round face, normally open and inviting, was set in an angry scowl that made a stab go through Bannor’s chest.
The Lokori moved as though she might break away and start causing havoc. He tightened his grip on her throat.
The pressure made the blue-haired female let out a guttural sound. She gripped his arm and brought her claws around.
“BHAAL!!!” Gaea boomed again, storming forward.
The female Lokori reeled back and gripped her ears, shaking her head and writhing like she was hurt. With an animalistic snarl she fought through it and aimed her claws at him again.
“BHAAL!!!” The last word was accompanied by a back-hand that knocked Lokori woman sliding across the floor to slam into the wall. The green mother brushed back her hair and glared at the creature with hands on hips. “Never have I ever had such a stubborn child. LISTEN!”
Shaking her head, Bhaal got to hands and knees and focused burning eyes on the all-mother.
“Gaea, you can’t reason with a dark-blasted Lokori!” Eclipse shouted in a voice more emotional than Bannor had ever heard it. The sight of Lokori had shaken both him and Quasar.
The goddess stabbed a finger at the Kriar warrior. “You will be silent.”
Bhaal shifted forward, gaze darting to the King, Queen, Janai, and Ryelle on one side of the room, Wren’s parents, Loric, Cassandra, Megan, Octavia and Wysteri on the other. Bannor sensed her selecting a path, and knew wherever she went, death would follow. Even if he wanted to do something, he could barely keep his head up. Daena was all that kept him from falling in a heap. In the stoic silence of the room, he heard a dripping sound. He looked down and saw black fluid pooling on the floor around his knees.
Gaea sniffed. “Bhaal, I swear if you so much as twitch from that spot you will rue your creation.”
The Lokori scowled at her, gaze continuing to dart around the surroundings.
Gaea glanced back to him then to the two Kriar healers. “Octavia, Wysteri, attend Bannor immediately. I will ensure you are not bothered.”
Gazes locked on Bhaal, the two mecha ladies rushed over to him and crouched down. Red-haired Octavia made unhappy clucking sounds as she probed his body with her strange rainbow eyes.
He winced as the healer started disentangling the mangled mess of his shredded armor and clothing. Sarai knelt down at his side. His wife-to-be sucked a breath. “Lords…” she murmured in empathy, biting her lip. She touched the top of his head, one of the few parts of his body that wasn’t injured.
“We can’t have him revert,” Wysteri murmured. “The shock will kill him before I can get a stabilizer in him.”
“Bannor,” Octavia said after a few moments. “I think this body is a loss. I think we’ll have to stasis it, and transfer you to a new one.”
“You mean,” he coughed. “I’m done—I’m dead?”
“You will be if you don’t get out of that body before it expires. It’s too heavy for us to get you in a transformation chamber in time. You must immediately disassociate your tao. I must stasis the body to preserve your core.”
He shuddered. It made sense. He closed his eyes and focused down into himself. He hoped there was enough of his tao left to make the transformation. As he focused down into himself, he realized there was a great deal more of his tao essence left than he had possibly hoped. The massive battle as Gaea’s avatar had strengthened his crippled tao considerably. Feeling his battle form going still around him, he turned his will inside out and freed himself from the body. He felt himself emerge into the air above his body.
It felt cold. It never felt cold before. He realized his body had only instants to live. The icy sensation started growing worse.
The mecha nodded and beam of greenish light flashed out of her eyes and engulfed the bleeding metallic form.
The chilly sensation remained, but stopped growing.
“My One?” Sarai said looking up at him.
“Dead men don’t talk,” Wren remarked. “You’re just corporeally inconvenienced.”
“Bannor, be still,” Gaea growled. “You didn’t die. I did not give you permission to die.”
He looked toward the all-mother. The statement would have been funny if she had not been so serious. Past Gaea, crouched on the floor Bhaal’s snarling visage had gone from one of rage to one of awe. She stared at him as he hovered over his collapsed body.
“He is prime kaa!” Bhaal let out in a raspy voice. Her speech was perfectly understandable! The accent was strange and thick but otherwise clear. The soul-speak wasn’t as limited as Senalloy had thought. They simply hadn’t chosen to communicate.
Gaea rocked her head back. “Fool Daughter, what has he been saying all along?!”
The Lokori female drew back, arms crossed in front of herself. She made a whimpering sound. “Then you are really…???” The Lokori’s face bleached out as the realization struck home. The goddess, the one that they worshipped, had been yell
ing at her. She cast her eyes down. “Followers of false kaa speak only tainted jhin,” Bhaal murmured. “Their ways of deception are many, they cannot be trusted.” She raised glowing eyes to Gaea, lower lip trembling. “You said so.”
Gaea’s shoulders rounded down, suddenly the goddess looked very tired. She massaged the bridge of her nose. “Bhaal, we named the true names, spoke the word. What more proof did you need!”
The blue haired female swallowed and shook her head in bewilderment. “You said trust nothing, only accept those whom you told us to accept. Those words our written in the stones…” Her lip quivered. “Were written.”
“I couldn’t send, I—” the goddess clenched her fists in frustration.
“Mother,” Wren said, walking up and taking her shoulder. “It’s okay, it was a mistake.”
“Daughter, this was far more than a mistake. It was a travesty. My own children killed each other trying to carry out orders I gave them a thousand millennia ago.”
“So, like what are we going to do with her?” Daena asked looking up at his floating form. “She killed Bannor.”
Gaea raised a hand. “Stop. Just—stop.” The goddess’ voice lost its powerful echo. She rubbed her temples. “Bhaal.”
The Lokori blinked glowing eyes at her. “Yes, Mother.”
“Stand up.”
The blue-haired creature looked around and straightened into a standing position.
“Sheath your claws.”
The female raised her chin. She looked at Gaea for a moment. With a rasp the shimmering aura around her hands and body flickered out with a snap.
“Bhaal, you are forbidden ragi unless I expressly grant it. You may not ragi even if you are challenged. Your claws shall remain sheathed unless I so grant. Do you understand?”
The Lokori gripped her chest like a boulder was coming to crush her. “Mother?”