by Unknown
Lucin called with his mind and a weapon leapt from the table nearby to his waiting hand. His power had definitely increased. Lucin pulled the weapon from its sheath, watching the reflection of the metal as the light played upon its surface. The surges in power he felt were quite real and very deadly. The Barudii he hunted would not survive their next encounter. The king among these men would be struck down as a dog before him.
The thought occurred to him just then, that perhaps with his own power growing and the entire host of fallen Mithri residing on Draconis, he had a greater army than this human one waiting for him to arrive and lead them. But would the Mithri receive him in this man’s body. If they will not, he thought, then I will battle my Mithri brethren until every last human under my will has fallen…but cunning is a far better weapon.
If he could merge these great armies of fallen Mithri and men, then nothing would stand in his way of total domination. Lucin tapped the intercom panel on the wall next to him. “Commander, how long until we reach Draconis orbit?�
“Two hours, sir.�
“Have all squads prep for a full offensive upon our arrival. We will deploy outside of Sector City,� commanded Lucin.
“Yes, sir, preparations will be made.�
Lucin tapped the switch again and looked out the view port toward the stars beyond and said, “You have made your throne in Mithrium, but I will yet establish my own.�
The_Chronicl-_Rise_of_Lucin
THIRTEEN
They came to an underground hangar of some sort, ancient in construction, but very recent in use. Tiet liked the air quality better in here. A breeze circulated through a network of vent tunnels in the walls and ceiling of the cavern.
“Jayce, where are they?� Tiet asked.
“It looks like they’ve gone on a raid.�
“Raiding what?� Wynn asked.
“Agonotti outposts—we rescue slaves.�
Emil looked puzzled. “Slaves?�
“Many people are forced to work the fields. The Agonotti use men like cattle,� explained Jayce. “Alec--that’s the leader here—he says those devils are breeding their own food supply.�
The group looked solemnly at one another. “That would go along with the deal the Guardians had with them,� Kale said as he tapped on his forearm computer display. He scanned the integrity of the huge underground chamber.
“But they can’t just feed without replenishing their resources,� Wynn said. “They’re breeding men like cattle for the slaughter.�
“That wall over there,� Emil said as he walked past them glancing down at his own computer display. “There’s a very strong reading of temporal displacement throughout this entire side of the cavern.�
“These readings look just like the kind of residuals a transgate leaves behind,� Kale said as he joined his friend in his survey.
“There’s a whole network. That’s how they get from one base to another and make their strikes,� Jayce explained.
“How extensive is this network, Jayce?� Tiet asked.
“We have a number of bases all over the continent.�
“Sooner or later, the Agonotti will figure out a way to infiltrate your network and once they gain use of your transgates then you will have no place to hide,� Wynn said.
“How many rebels are there?� Tiet asked.
“I’m not sure, maybe ten thousand. Plus, there are the people we’ve been able to rescue, but many of them are women and some of them are with child,� Jayce said.
“And where are those women?� asked Mirah. “Do they have any medical care?�
“I’m not sure Ma’am. I don’t see them very often, but I think they’re hidden away together somewhere. I’ve heard Alec talking about them a little.�
Tiet glanced at his wife just behind him. She remained ready to care for the hurting. She could never be relegated to a mere female. In the most difficult situations, she always stood to the task as a physician first—her confidence always unwavering and he loved her more for it.
“This is going to be difficult,� said Tiet. “I’d say they already outnumber us, just by the Agonotti we saw when we fled the planet a few months ago.�
“With the right strategy, sometimes numbers don’t always mean victory,� said Wynn, scratching his short white beard.
“—and in this situation?�
Wynn looked right at the king and said, “I have no idea how we can overcome what we are facing.�
“Pajet—�
The rest of the group turned to Kale. He looked over the cavern wall next to Emil, still tapping on his display. Kale looked up wondering at the sudden silence. “The Pajet—we have committed ourselves to Elithias and he will guide our steps,� he said matter-of-factly as though it should have been obvious to all of them.
Wynn smiled and looked at Tiet. He knew Kale was right and they should have known that fact already. Kale returned to his computations. He really is unconcerned. Tiet marveled at the faith of his son and realized at that moment that Kale was much stronger than he had ever been. When leadership had been needed against the Baruk he had resisted. When forgiveness had been asked by his brother, he had withheld it until the man’s dying moment. Even when Elithias had revealed himself through Aija’s preaching, he had hesitated.
But Kale was not that way. He remained steadfast and sure, not only in his own ability, but in his unshakeable faith in Elithias. That was the key. Kale would be a much greater king than he had ever been, because he believed beyond the present circumstances in The Eternal One who holds all things in his grasp.
Suddenly Tiet felt peace in his soul like he had not known since kneeling with Aija in the assembly hall back on Kosiva. Whatever must happen, Elithias remained in control and they were safe in him forever.
☼
VOCK cast a cold glance toward his Agonotti brothers standing downcast before him. “You left your post and we lost a hundred breeders.�
The Agonotti warriors said nothing and did not meet his gaze. “What do you say for yourselves?� asked Vock.
Out of five, one spoke up. “We only meant to respond to the attack back at the compound.�
“What you meant to do is exactly what they wanted you to do. They meant to rescue some of their own by creating a diversion.� Vock stood right in front of the Agonotti warrior that had answered. “And you were diverted, weren’t you?�
“Yes, sir.�
“Humans outwitting a great host of Mithri—this must stop now!�
He looked up to see his scouts returning to the front of the main group in the arena. “And, what have you learned?�
“The mountains to the northeast—they retreated into a large passage there. When we followed, we found only rock.�
“That’s where we shall attack.�
“But, sir, we—�
“If they flew ships in there, then they have a way through somehow and we will put every effort to discovering it,� said Vock, “We will make crushing this rebellion among the humans our highest priority for the moment.�
The Agonotti present in the arena nodded their approval of their new leader. Vock was very wise and cunning and they all knew it from his days when he had counseled Lucin—only the forces of The Eternal One had been too much for them.
“I want those of you guarding the fields to remain at your posts this time. Our brothers from the four corners are yet to arrive to celebrate our coming together in unity under one leader,
but we will go on without them and squash this human rebellion before it causes us any more problems,� said Vock.
And with that, Vock surrendered his physical form and rose up with the others. They became a mass of suspended molecules and the Agonotti cloud took form again. They moved away quickly from the arena and compound area, heading northeast. Time to deal with the lower order of creation, once and for all.
☼
THE wall flashed with light and the hum of engines began to rise. They could feel the reverberations as ships came into view in the transgate portal.
“They’re returning!� said Jayce.
Tiet turned to catch his son’s eye—Kale took the cue and signaled the same cautious intent wordlessly to Emil. In a moment the boys were already gone; hidden away in the hangar somewhere—just in case.
Tiet and the others cleared away from the landing area of the hangar floor. Within moments the rock wall was penetrated by a number of large ships coming through the gate, followed by nine smaller fighter craft. The howling of the turbines was amplified a hundred times over in the cavern. The wind whipped up into miniature whirlwinds all across the hangar floor as the freighters extended their skids and settled down quickly onto the pavement.
When the side doors slid back, a man and a woman were behind the first with weapons trained on Tiet and his group. Jayce stepped forward quickly with his hands up telling them, “These people are with me, don’t be alarmed.�
Tiet noticed more people gathering from the other ships with their weapons at the ready also. They were being encircled quickly. The boys were still out of sight. They wouldn’t move unless absolutely necessary. Tiet wondered how well he would be able to fight right now if he had to—his injuries were still limiting his activity quite a bit.
Wynn noticed the ships carried quite a few unarmed women as well. Some of them were with child and all of them looked like they had been laboring somewhere. Grass and dirt matted the fronts of their long skirts right where the knees would have pinned the garments to the ground beneath.
Wynn felt confident. He felt limber and ready to defend the king if necessary. But he didn’t perceive any unwarranted hostility among these rebels. They were conducting rescue raids and surely their small group didn’t appear to offer much threat if these rebels were fighting the Agonotti.
“Alec, this is King Tiet Soone of the Barudii,� said Jayce to the first man that had gotten off of the transport ship.
“King? I didn’t think there had been a king since the betrayal of King Isic before we were all born.� Alec appeared cynical rather than glad to see them and said, “I thought all of the Barudii were dead, along with all the others left fighting the Vorn on Castai.�
“We’re from the twin Castai,� said Tiet. “We came from across the rift where my father Kale Soone was the king before me.�
“The king has ruled on the Castai on this side of the rift for fifteen years now,� interrupted Wynn. “There was peace between Vorn and Castillian clans all that time during his rule.�
“Peace—with the Vorn?� said Alec with a cautious glance at Merab’s dark skin.
“Yes. The Vorn military was defeated as well as the Baruk who came to their aid,� said Wynn. “We had peace until the infiltration of another being, believed to be the Mithri Lucin himself in some physical manifestation.�
“What?!� Alec was taken aback by that possibility. The name of Lucin was well known as the enemy of Elithias—he was the Fallen One. The others with Alec were all looking very puzzled by the tale. “Why should we believe any of this?� asked Alec.
“A prophet of Elithias, Aija, told us of these prophecies from the Logostus,� interrupted Kale as he appeared from behind Alec. “Now, you will understand, sir, that if I had wanted your life, I could very well have had it. My father, the king, has come to help you. He has been sent by the prophet to lead you against the Agonotti and Lucin himself.�
“Are you completely mad? Fight against the slanderer himself?� said Alec.
“Elithias is with us,� said Emil as he appeared from behind another group of the rebels.
“The boy is right,� reiterated Tiet. “The Lord’s prophet of the last days has commissioned us by the prophecies to lead the people of Draconis against these cursed spirits. They indwell the physical forms of the Agonotti, because of the curse of Elithias upon them and they can be defeated in those forms.�
Tiet stared directly into Alec’s eyes. This man was obviously leader among the rebels and his concern for them and the people they had rescued was genuine.
Tiet stepped up to the man, ignoring the rifle barrel that almost touched his chest. “Alec, you don’t know me; I realize that. You really may not understand what it is we are telling you—believe me, until we were faced with the prophecies in the Logostus, we didn’t understand any of this either. Nevertheless, what we’re saying is true and we need your help to fight them.�
Alec looked nervous. He eyed his compatriots around him. They seemed as puzzled as he was and they were looking to him to make a decision. He stared back at the king again. This Barudii exuded power he could feel and strangely he wanted to believe him.
Tiet reached a hand out for Alec to take it. After a moment more of indecision, Alec’s gun barrel fell and he clasped the Barudii king’s hand in agreement.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,� said Alec.
“So do I, my friend, so do I.�
☼
VOCK watched the horizon as a human ship made its way closer to the mountain. His preternatural eyes could make out the details even from this distance. It was a smaller troop transport—the ship could only hold about fifty people at its limit.
Vock turned to his warriors and said, “I have chosen you three for this because you are quick and brutal; proven warriors. I want you to remember our former glory and reach within yourselves for the power that is growing inside us again. Use it well and spare no one. At least one of you must find us a way in. I want access to these rebels. They must be crushed once and for all.�
“But how do we—�
“They’re hold up inside of a mountain. They still need fresh air to breath and that comes in somewhere, and so can we.�
“Yes, sir,� they said in unison.
“Go in with that ship covertly and find the rest of us a way.�
The Agonotti warriors dissipated before him and their mist like forms whirled away together toward the place where the human ship appeared to be headed for on the mountain’s face.
Vock and the others would wait and let them do their work. Then when an entrance was revealed, he would move in and gain access to the rebel’s network and destroy them utterly.
☼
AS the transport approached the face of the mountain, the Agonotti intercepted the ship as a mist and clung to its surface. The rocky cliffs came up to meet the transport fast and then with a flash of light they were entering a large underground cavern.
It was lit across the ceiling with the landing pads marked out across the smooth concrete floor. Other ships were already docked inside with quite a few people congregated near the ships sitting nearest to the entryway.
The three Agonotti warriors took form fast, leaping away from the surface of the transport ship. They each landed on the hangar floor ready for battle. Armor plating and weaponry materialized from their molecules as they tore into the people before them with all of the fury they could muster.
☼
TIET hesitated only a moment; a sort of shock to his mental faculties as pure power flashed into being inside the cavern in the forms of the Agonotti. The Dra
conin rebels were unaffected by it. Their pulse weapons blazed to action against the Agonotti assuming form before them.
The flashing muzzles painted stop motion shadow portraits across the walls as the three warriors became a blur of motion. One of them was right on top of Tiet before he could react. One of the rebels was still firing his rifle as the Agonotti cut him down with a pair of massive tri-bladed claws morphed from his molecular structure. Tiet pulled his blade, but he was back handed before he could activate it.
He fell to the ground as more rebels engaged the Agonotti nightmares. Tiet could sense the others of his party—his son, Wynn and the others all moving in various places within the massive hangar as they fought with the Agonotti warriors.
Was this his fate, he wondered? To lie by the way as others fought the battles in his stead—a half crippled king without a kingdom? No! He fought the pain of his injuries and used his kinesis to get back in the fight.
People were screaming everywhere. Tiet spotted Alec moving some of the rescued women toward a portal at the other end of the hangar. It was a transgate arch embedded in the rock wall. Alec activated the gate as the battle raged and began to move the women through quickly.
The Agonotti were so fast he could hardly keep his eyes planted on them as they shredded through the rebels that were laying down a steady stream of laser fire against them. Kale was trying to fight against one with dual kemsticks whirling in a continuous onslaught of strikes, but he couldn’t manage to land anything solid. The amazing thing was that the dispersion field was only doing minimal damage against the Agonotti armor. They were now completely different in their fighting style and ability as compared to the previous encounters a few months before. These fallen Mithri exuded the power implied by what they were.
