by L. S. Mercer
A strange trill came from above them, on top of the Eradicator. Everyone quickly turned, guns pointed in the direction of the sound, but there was nothing in sight.
“I see nothing.” Whispered Draxis.
Helen ignored him, desperately scanning with her human eyes to try and find even the slightest of movement.
Finally, Draxis switched from a movement tracer to a radar and noticed hundreds of dots surround them. He raised his rifle in case something were to jump out at him and searched his mind for a way to see the creatures. A thought came into his mind, what if he were to use his power to cause an electric field, that might work to break stealth. He tested his theory, and all of a sudden there were tons of strange, winged monsters surrounding them. They had teeth that looked as if it could break through the metal of the Eradicator itself, meaning that human flesh would be nothing in comparison.
The troops immediately began to fire in a panic at the creatures, causing them all to rush the small platoon with their teeth out and ready to shred. Draxis fired with deadly precision and mixed his power with his good aim, effectively taking out at least twenty at a time.
“Forward!” He ordered to the troops.
They all did as commanded, moving straight and carving a path through the creatures, who seemed to be ready to flee at any moment.
It was a false assumption, they all took flight and began to circle the small party, diving down to take a bite every now and then.
“Come on.” Draxis thought, scanning around to see how many there were.
It seemed as if they were multiplying, but it was hard to tell even for a computer. His vision wasn’t like that of a human, everything had a blue tint and when there were many in one spot it was almost just a large blob of blue. He basically couldn’t see a thing.
“Stop!” He roared.
Everyone stood still, firing randomly at everything in sight.
“How long until morning.” Asked Draxis.
Helen looked down at her watch.
“A couple of hours until Ostillion sees the sun.” She replied.
One of the strange creatures flew down and nipped at Helen’s arm, tearing it open and causing her to cry out in pain. Draxis, immediately seeing what had happened threw his hands up in the air in hopes that something would happen.
A ball of bright blue electricity shot from his hands and surrounded the party in a dome of energy, blocking out any of the creatures from being able to get anyone else. They continued to try but to no avail, the energy would zap them like a bug zapper the moment they touched it.
“Are you okay?” Asked Draxis, his energy draining from his body and causing him to feel tired.
Helen looked up at him as her officer wrapped her arm in gauze.
“I’m fine.” She replied.
Draxis immediately returned his attention to the shield, he knew that he couldn’t hold it forever since all energy becomes used energy eventually. His only concern was that if he used it all, he didn’t know if it would return and all of his plans would be dashed. Then he remembered that his body required power to sustain itself, meaning that if it didn’t return, it would kill him and the entire trip to Ostillion would’ve been a pointless waste of time for everyone.
A loud, echoing screech filled the air as Draxis’ power began to fade. The creatures all screamed as if they were burning alive and began to fly away. The shield became weaker as he fell to his knees, exhausted. The screen became fuzzy as if it were running on some sort of low-quality backup card. Suddenly, his entire system shut down, and he became limp on the ground next to his followers. The only thing that seemed to remain was his fuzzy vision, staring up into the Ostillion sky as it became a lighter shade, indicating that the sun was finally coming around their side of the planet.
* * *
Although he couldn’t tell what was happening, Draxis knew someone was moving him about. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t move his head to see who it was. Strange, scratched voices could be heard, but since his systems were so damaged, there was no way of telling who or what they were.
The upwards visual that he had quickly turned to a darker lighting, making him think that they must’ve entered some sort of building or cave. Draxis begged the energy to come back, to power him once again as it had before when he was dying. Nothing was working, he feared that it may actually be the end before the beginning for the Ostillion Empire ere he even had the chance to do something for his people.
“This isn’t what I had in mind.” Mocked the mysterious man’s voice in Draxis’ head.
“Laugh it up.” He growled in response.
The man chuckled and whispered something that Draxis couldn’t understand. Without warning, he was in a completely different place. The abrupt change had caused him to feel a bit discombobulated, forcing him to forget his anger and focus on rebalancing his mind. Scanning around, he realized that everything had normal color, just like he’d remembered. The walls were vibrant and decorated in the common crystals of Ostillion while the ground was a soft soil, which he could feel underneath his toes.
“Wait.” He thought as he looked down to see his bare feet in the soil.
“What is this?” He asked.
Draxis hadn’t been this pleased in what felt to him like ages, he actually felt like himself again.
“This is my world.” Replied the man, he seemed to be pleased with Draxis’ happiness.
Draxis looked around again before admiring all of the other parts of his body that he’d secretly been missing.
“This is, incredible.” He gasped.
The man smiled again and removed his own suit of armor with a flick of his wrist.
“Here you can do anything.” Said the man, sounding as if he were in his own thoughts more than speaking to his student.
Draxis watched as the man walked about the room, redecorating it to provide more light instead of the semi-pitch black that it had been. The man seemed normal to him, nothing out of the ordinary aside from a deep scar crossing his entire face, making him look quite sinister in his opinion.
“The scar?” Asked the man, pointing to his face. “Let’s just say my transformation wasn’t as effortless as yours.”
“Not as effortless?” Asked Draxis in his mind.
There was nothing effortless about what he’d endured in the pulse chamber; it had to have been the most painful experience he’d ever had in his life.
The man summoned a table with two mugs of tea already prepared for the both of them. Draxis, having not had anything to drink in ages, sat down immediately and began sipping away at the mug.
“My name is Sylaris23.” Said the man.
The name caused Draxis to almost move into a panic. Sylaris was a myth. Throughout his life, he’d constantly heard tales on Ostillion of the dark lord who’d almost successfully conquered the galaxy and then mysteriously disappeared. He couldn’t be the same guy, but then again, he was pretty powerful and extremely mysterious.
“It’s true.” Whispered the man, almost sounding happy about Draxis’ fears.
Draxis stared at the man with an unchanging, serious expression, however on the inside his entire body was screaming with dread. He knew that Sylaris could sense everything about him, but he continued to put on a brave face; That’s what Sylaris would want.
“The reason I had ended the galactic invasion was due to my weaknesses.” He continued. “I was weak because I trusted others who were weak. They betrayed me at a moments notice when they figured out that I wasn’t as strong as I used to be.”
Draxis couldn’t help but allow himself to smile at the thought of Sylaris being weak.
“That is why I’ve filled you with an undying rage.” Said Sylaris, returning the smile.
“So that I will not suffer the weak?” Asked Draxis.
His master nodded at him as he took a sip of his tea and sat beside him.
“You see that gem on the dresser over there?” Asked Sylaris, pointing to the object.<
br />
Draxis followed the finger to a large, red cardis crystal. It was odd to see colored cardis crystals, so he turned his head back to his master and nodded with a look of confusion.
“It has been imbued with my power.” He said.
Draxis’ eyes went wide as he thought immediately about snatching it and running away. He quickly realized that this was all an illusion and he’d get nowhere, causing him to chuckle to himself.
“You have the right idea, even if it is in a foolish way.” Whispered Sylaris.
“What do you mean?” Asked Draxis.
“I want to combine powers.” He said, not hiding his malicious excitement as he spoke.
“How?” Asked Draxis.
Sylaris put out his hand and the crystal flew towards him with a speed that Draxis could never accomplish. It landed perfectly within Sylaris’ fingers.
“It will save you.” He whispered.
The words echoed in his brain as if he were flying through a corridor as his master spoke to him.
“All you need to do is consent.” He said.
Draxis stared at Sylaris for the longest time, wondering if this man was truly good willed in this plan of his. The temptation to refuse the offer was strong, but his cravings for power were much stronger. He nodded at his master.
Sylaris smiled.
“This is going to hurt!” He shouted.
The crystal began to hiss loudly as it took the shape of what resembled a dagger. Sylaris lunged forward, grabbing Draxis by the shoulder and plunged the dagger deep into his heart.
The pain from the stabbing was dreadful, causing Draxis to produce a high pitched scream that he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to accomplish if he’d wanted to. His insides felt as if they were all twisting in a hurricane within his stomach and chest. The vision that Sylaris had created was no more. Everything had become a blind blackness as Draxis drifted off into the abyss of what he could only imagine as death.
23 Sylaris- Sill-Arris
Chapter 14
Damon could already see Drago’s goons awaiting him in the hanger as his ship locked into place. He glanced over at Sam, who seemed to be genuinely nervous about being on Kharan.
“Anything else I should be worried about?” Asked Damon.
Sam gave him a faint smile and shook his head.
“I just don’t like the idea of being on this planet is all.” He whispered, his nerves eating through the false confidence.
“Well, we aren’t even on the planet that you need to be on.” Said Damon, as he laughed a little.
Sam gave him an irritated stare.
“If three planets are connected, they are one planet.” He grumbled.
Damon raised an eyebrow and nodded.
“Never thought of it like that.” He replied.
Sam smiled.
“From what I’ve seen Damon, you don’t think of a lot of things.” He retorted as he stood up from his seat.
Damon wasn’t phased by the comment, he knew that it was just Sam’s odd sense of humor. At least that’s what he was hoping.
Sam walked out of the cockpit and Damon followed closely behind. It was half to keep an eye on the spy and half to prepare for his awkward conversation with the big bad boss. As he grabbed his gun, he noticed that Sam was noting where he was keeping his guns. Damon assumed, that it was just out of habit, but just the fact that he’d caught him doing it made him excessively uncomfortable. Sam must have found it amusing, smiling and giving him a wink before arming himself with a plethora of different sized blades.
Gerrig came bouncing out of the right turret room, already prepared as well. When he saw that Damon was still on the ship he froze.
“Going somewhere?” Asked Damon, smiling at the puffy Kharan.
“Uh, no.” Replied Gerrig.
“Bad liar.” Thought Damon as he mentally giggled to himself.
He tied his holster to his leg to allow for quicker drawing, just for extra measure. Motioning for Sam to follow, he walked down the corridor to the exit and waited for his crew member to get out of earshot of the Kharan.
“Take it slow, and make no gambles.” He whispered.
Sam nodded, smiling at Damon.
“You know, after this, I might just stick around.” Replied Sam.
“Joy.” Joked Damon, making a pretend look of inconvenience. “Good luck Sam.
“Be safe.” Replied Sam.
Without another word, Damon pushed the button to open up the exit ramp. The two remained in an awkward silence as the door slowly opened up. It seemed like forever. When the door finally finished lowering, Damon couldn’t wait to get off, even if he was most likely headed to his ultimate demise.
As he stepped out, the Kharan goons nearly swarmed him like a criminal. Granted, to the Kharan he was definitely a criminal, so he couldn’t really blame them. They grabbed him as roughly as they could and slapped shock rings across his arms. Even if he’d wanted to escape, he definitely wouldn’t have had a chance.
“Right this way Blackwing.” Growled the commanding officer.
“Oh yeah, no problem.” Replied Damon.
* * *
Slamming him through the doors, Damon entered the royal palace. Val’Drago was waiting in his shiny golden throne for the poor smuggler to return to him. He was more than pleased when he saw whom it was coming through the door in cuffs.
“Damon!” Shouted Drago with feigned excitement.
Damon smiled at him as the guards shoved into his back.
“Been a minute yeah?” Asked Damon when he regained his footing.
Drago ignored him and stood up from his throne. He walked as slowly as possible down the steps to come eye to eye with his former employee.
“Did you bring me what I asked?” He asked through gritted teeth.
Damon grinned.
“Have I ever not delivered?” He replied.
This comment must have angered Drago to no end, he immediately stepped back and threw his fist into the side of Damon’s face. The punch was so strong that it took Damon off his feet, his legs sprawling out as he landed onto the tiled flooring.
Damon began to laugh, blood dripping from his teeth and onto the ground as his mouth opened up.
“Val, come on.” He jested. “It was only a joke.”
Drago knelt down next to Damon and grabbed his shoulder.
“I’m going to ask you again. This time I want a better response.” He said in a quiet tone. “Did you bring me those plans?”
Damon hesitated, he wanted to make another joke but wasn’t sure if he’d survive it.
“Yes Drago, I got them.” He whispered through his bloodied lips.
Drago clapped his hands and stood back up.
“Now that’s a delivery!” He shouted.
The guards all laughed in unison as if they were trained to find the king funny. He snapped his fingers and they all became silent once again.
“Where are they?” He asked, looking back at Damon again.
Damon rolled onto his side and gestured down to his coat pocket.
Val’Drago immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out the falsified documents of the battle plan. Looking them over, he appeared quite pleased with the legitimacy of the plans.
“Thank you, Mr. Blackwing.” He whispered.
Before Damon could make another snide comment, Drago snapped his fingers and the guards lifted him onto his feet.
“You’ve done your part, Damon.” He said with a grin. “Now let me do mine.”
Drago turned to the Kharan guards.
“Take him to the dungeon, and give him those annoying things back.” He growled.
Damon’s eyes went wide.
“Wait!” He exclaimed. “You promised!”
Drago laughed maniacally.
“I promised you’d be back together. I never promised that you’d be free!” He shouted as the Kharan dragged Damon away.
Damon kicked and headbutted, but it made no difference. He w
as just a small boy compared to the size and muscular ability of the Kharan.
“I’m going to kill you!” He screamed.
The door to the dungeon closed in front of his eyes and Drago was gone, only the sounds of his laughter filling Damon’s ears as he was dragged away into the darkness.
* * *
The dungeon was dark, with not a soul anywhere near him. Damon could hear every tiny sound as it echoed through the empty halls. A pebble falling down the grate from the buildings above, and what sounded like Fhara skittering across the floors in almost every direction possible. Knowing that the Alliance wasn’t going to fail him, he wasn’t really worried. Copper and Alloy would soon be with him, and they’d all get saved during the attack. There was no reason to fret, all he had to do was wait.
Kicking his legs up on the dusty old sandbed, he began to whistle a tune that he’d made up on the fly. The whistling ended abruptly when the sound of the giant dungeon door roared open. Damon crept up to the corner of the cell to watch as the guards came by. He assumed it was probably the Eyres, at least he hoped that it was. The quicker they got into the cell with him, the safer they were for the attack.
The guards were slow, but he could hear Copper’s signature growl as they moved closer, he must have been giving them a hard time. That made Damon smile, he’d always liked Copper’s outbursts.
“Come on you little bugs!” Roared the Kharan guard as his torch lit up the wall next to Damon’s cell.
“Come on you little bugs!” Mimicked Copper.
The Kharan yelped, making Damon laugh aloud at the image of Copper or Alloy biting him in the leg.
The metal door clicked and flew open, the Kharan tossed the two Eyres into the cell and slammed the door back shut before they could get another bite in. The Eyres looked at each other and began giggling hysterically with each other, Alloy even falling down mid-laughter.
“I see you two are having a blast.” Remarked Damon.
The laughing immediately ceased at the sound of their master’s voice. The two let out excited shouts in unison and ran over to hug Damon’s legs. Damon chuckled and patted them both on the head.
