Warden's Fate

by Tony James Slater

  Junk.

  She tossed the scarred metal housing into the forest.

  Edged weapons it is, then.

  A fresh insight came to her, not that it helped her much; no wonder that worm’s so tough, if it lives in Razorwing Central.

  It was a sobering thought. She was already running out of weapons. If every creature she encountered was more dangerous than the last…

  I’d better pray I don’t meet something that eats those worms.

  She looked at the beacon, and wasn’t surprised to see it tracking a signal ahead and to the right of her. The smaller of the two trails led conveniently off in that direction, and she was too tired to second-guess it. Sighing, she stuck the device to the empty clip on her damaged thigh armour and headed off.

  Her sense of time was completely out of whack, but it can’t have been long before she realised that the jungle had gone ominously quiet around her. When had that started? She’d been focussing all her mental energy on putting one foot in front of the other. She could feel the poison pulsing through her veins now, burning like ice. She threw her mind wide, hoping the Gift would catch something, but even the omnipresent tide of wildlife seemed to have receded.

  It didn’t matter; it was obvious.

  She was being stalked.

  Taking a stance, she lifted her swords. The hilts felt like lead weights in her hands. Turning slowly through a full circle, she studied the foliage around her. Not as dense as it had been, but still thick enough to mask any number of predators.

  The attack could come from any direction, or none at all.

  No. It would come.

  One thing she’d learned about this planet; its natives weren’t shy.

  A sudden blur of motion was her only warning. The thing was clever enough to wait until her back was towards it. Diving aside, Kyra rolled and came to her feet facing it. Revealed in the dappled light was something vaguely feline; squat, powerful and black as space. Six sinewed legs pawed the ground as it circled her, teeth bared.

  Two could play at that.

  Kyra turned, keeping the cat in front of her. It didn’t appear to have an armoured hide like the worm she’d faced; one good slice ought to end it. Then again, she’d been underestimating the creatures on this planet ever since she arrived…

  Keeping her swords low, she waited for the thing to make the first move.

  When it came, it was blindingly fast. Mid-stride, it launched itself at her with a bestial snarl.

  Kyra’s swords came up, her reflexes slowed by the poison, but honed from decades of combat. The Arranozapar obeyed her commands, becoming stiff and sharp as she swung at the creature.

  The impossible happened; she missed.

  The cat hit her with the full force of its leap, bearing her to the ground with its claws raking down her chest armour. Impacting the ground drove the breath from her body; it also relieved her of the Arranozapar. The great black head darted in, teeth snapping. She pulled a knee up to her chest, keeping the creature’s jaws from reaching her head. It roared at her, and she felt the blast of fetid air on her face. It lunged again, and she managed to twist beneath it, getting her shoulder up to take the brunt of the attack. Sharp fangs penetrated her ruined shoulder armour and Kyra cried out in pain. She threw an elbow, hoping a blow to the nose would dissuade the thing, but it reared back out of the way. Her free hand was groping along the ground for the hilt of her sword, and her fingers touched metal — but it was too late. In that strange split-second of time that stretches infinitely out, she realised the creature’s next bite would land. Even as her weakened fingers clawed the smooth handle, she saw the jaws open wide for the attack.

  Then a different sound cut the air. A piercing scream, it chilled Kyra’s blood — and the head of the cat snapped around, seeking the source.

  It was just what she needed. Her hand wrapped around the Arranozapar hilt and the blade, reacting instantly to her desperate command, shot out and impaled the creature through the throat.

  The great black head sagged to the side, the creature dead before it had time to process the fact.

  Then it collapsed on top of Kyra, driving the air from her lungs again.

  Her head hit the dirt hard enough to make her see stars. She kept her grip on her sword this time, but barely.

  The weight of the dead thing on top of her was immense. She pushed against it one-handed, not wanting to relinquish her weapon. But the thing weighed easily twice what she did, and in her weakened state she had no chance of lifting it that way.

  That scream sound again, a hideous sound like the death-throes of a demon. Louder and closer than before…

  Kyra dropped her sword and put both hands to the carcass. Straining gritting her teeth with the pain and effort, she raised it enough to let her lungs fully inflate—

  And the scream came again.

  This time, it was practically on top of her.

  A scaly crest bobbed into view, followed by a lizard-like head. Kyra froze. The thing was staring right at her, and it was huge. Eyes like hatch covers set beneath bony brow ridges, in a green and black head the size of a fighter cockpit. Legends about such monsters having existed on ancient Earth came flooding to mind — not helpful right now, but enough to send a jolt of fear through her. Again she felt around for the sword, but she couldn’t take her eyes off that reptilian snout. It split wide, displaying teeth like daggers, and Kyra willed the thing to carry on past.

  It didn’t. Throwing its head back, it uttered the tortured scream again, before advancing towards her. She felt the impact as it fastened whatever it had for limbs in the flesh of the cat above her. A sickening squelch suggested the lizard had pierced the cat’s hide, and then the weight shifted marginally.

  It wants the cat!

  Kyra pulled both arms in, curling herself underneath the dead animal as best she could. Her heart was pounding, making the blood roar in her ears. She would have only seconds to make her escape.

  When she felt the weight on her start to ease, she was ready. As soon as she could raise her shoulder she flung herself sideways, rolling under the corpse and out. Grabbing her sword, she glanced around for the other, spotting it on the far side of the cat. She was torn; going back for it would greatly improve her chances of survival…

  But it would probably be the last thing she ever did.

  With a silent plea for forgiveness she staggered off, aiming for the nearest unbroken patch of jungle.

  Behind her, that shriek sounded again. She risked a glance over her shoulder just in time to see the massive lizard toss the cat away like a rag doll. Then it fixed its sights on her and started forward, each stride covering a horrifying amount of ground.

  “Come on!” she yelled at her legs, trying to force the muscles to move by force of will.

  She slashed a hole in the jungle and limped through it, picking up speed as a fresh burst of adrenaline flooded through her.

  The lizard followed, crushing the foliage with huge, clawed feet.

  Kyra hurtled on at a dead run, ignoring the smack of leaves and branches as she concentrated on pumping her legs.

  It was no good.

  The thing behind her was closing, she could tell by the noise. It moved upright, on two scaled legs each as long as she was tall. There was no way she could outrun it; even in flat, open ground it would be faster. Here, in its natural element, it would overtake her in seconds. The last thing she’d see would be its shadow looming above her, as it ducked down to bite her head off.

  Shit! She had one chance; the Arranozapar clutched in her right hand. Even big as that thing was, one good slice should disembowel it. Assuming it was vulnerable to her blade…

  Only one way to find out.

  She had to time it exactly right.

  Trees and branches crunched and cracked behind her.

  She clutched her remaining sword hilt in preparation.

  She saw those terrible jaws in her mind’s eye, closing in on her.

  Three heartbe
ats… two heartbeats… one…

  Then a last thicket of vines parted before her like curtain, and she sprinted out into open ground.

  Pounding along at full-tilt, she made it several steps before she noticed.

  Her first thought was of the ground; skidding to a halt she glanced down, bracing herself to leap away from whatever came out of it.

  But there was nothing. Surrounding her was a meadow of strange yellow flowers. Impenetrable jungle rose again like a wall just a few hundred metres away, leaving this little oasis drenched in sunlight.

  An ugly shriek pierced the air and Kyra spun to confront her adversary. The lizard-thing had come to a dead stop at the edge of the clearing, perhaps fearing them for the same reason she did. Wrenching its heavy skull from side to side, it turned and began to prowl around the edge of the meadow. The implication was clear; it could wait for her to come out.

  But it wasn’t coming in… Kyra glanced again at the yellow flowers.

  Something’s not right here. No way a monster like that is afraid of a few daffodils.

  Whatever the reason, the giant reptile continued to stalk around the perimeter, clearly not daring to enter the meadow.

  Shit… maybe it’s allergic?

  By some miracle, the trail Kyra had made had so far avoided the flowers. They were clustered more thickly in some areas, but it was still possible to step between them. For a human, at least…

  Maybe that’s it? Dangerous flowers…?

  She couldn’t imagine anything being more dangerous than the fifteen-foot tall saurian that was eying her with evil intent from the shelter of the tree-line.

  Belatedly, it occurred to Kyra to check the beacon on her thigh. She had no way of knowing how far off the intended course she’d gone, but the locater pointed squarely ahead — right through the middle of the meadow…

  She sighed. Might as well give it a go.

  It wasn’t like there were a lot more appealing options.

  Treading carefully, she set off.

  She didn’t know if a simple touch of a flower would reveal some undreamt-of nastiness, so she placed her feet as far away as possible. She had to step right over a few, but most of them were only knee-high.

  Halfway cross the meadow, a trail of untouched flowers in her wake, she started to get her breath back.

  I can do this! She clenched her free hand in triumph.

  The lizard-thing seemed to have given up, she noticed, vanishing back into the jungle with a last spine-chilling shriek. She was past the midpoint now, and picking up the pace as she got more confident.

  Then a wave of pain washed over her, and she staggered.

  There was nothing she could do to stop it; almost in slow-motion she saw herself fall, her left knee contacting the furled yellow petals of the closest plant, bringing it to the ground and crushing it beneath her.

  A puff of yellow pollen burst from the broken stem, billowing up into the air around her.

  Oh… crap.

  There was nothing else for it.

  Giving up all pretence of being careful, she ran like hell towards the far side of the meadow. Blossoms exploded all around her, even ones she didn’t touch; hitting the first one had triggered a whole bunch, and suddenly she was racing through a fine mist of floating yellow particles.

  She tried not to breathe, tried not to think about anything but reaching safety.

  If that damn lizard was waiting over there, she was screwed.

  But she was in luck; she threw herself towards the blanket of glistening green leaves and was through it into the shade. She landed with a crunch in ankle-deep leaf litter, and leant against the trunk of the nearest tree to breathe.

  But the tree seemed to weave out of her way, shimmering like stardust, and she fell sideways on the ground. All around her the jungle twirled and shifted, sharp edges glowing brightly and leaving trails as they moved. Fingers of light danced across the trees, rippling like wind on a lake.

  No! No, no no…

  Kyra had felt like this before. Light-headed and giddy. Relaxed… already she could feel her focus slipping, as sparks of light and shadow called out to her to investigate. She’d experimented with a few banned substances in her first years away from home, seeking to drown the thoughts of what she’d been through. Hallucinogens came in all manner of forms, from the mild to the potent; judging by how quickly this one was acting, it fell into the latter category.

  Leaves waved above her, their edges gleaming. Every move of her head brought new bursts of colour, new waves of delight that threatened to engulf her in happiness.

  NO! Clamping her eyes shut, she forced herself to her feet. Pain cut through the mental fog for a second, but the visuals continued behind her eyelids in a kaleidoscope of swirling flashes.

  Feet… my feet are under me… shoulder? Hurts… focus on that…

  She wheezed and staggered forward, daring to open her eyes just a slit. It wasn’t the first time Evie had deployed drugs; only this time it was Kyra’s fault for charging into a toxic environment without her helmet.

  Helmet? She couldn’t remember when she’d last thought of it. Her fingers closed on empty air beside her hip; the helmet had also been a casualty of her frantic flight.

  Although honestly, her hands didn’t feel strong enough to put it on.

  She pushed off from the ground, gliding through the trees like a ghost. Then she slammed into something hard and tasted blood; one of the trees had moved in front of her…

  She backed up, pinpricks of light flickering around her like miniature fireworks.

  Follow the lights!

  She glanced at her wrist instinctively. Lights? Lights! She pulled the console from her hip and saw the light on the display, blinking endlessly.

  It was so pretty it was mesmerising.

  So she followed that.

  8

  Strobing skies greeted Kyra as she limped from the jungle. Buildings loomed ahead, all hard angles that slipped and shimmered. Doggedly she pressed on, certain that whatever it was she sought, it could be found inside. Great metal gates swam into view, the bars gleaming brighter than the sun. She squinted against their brilliance and slipped between them, finding herself in a wide, walled square.

  And she wasn’t alone.

  Standing in the middle of the square, her black silhouette drinking in all the light around her, was someone she recognised. Someone she didn’t like much…

  No. Someone she hated.

  Pasty-faced and scrawny, with a cruel edge to her smile.

  The name came to her. Evie.

  Kyra’s fists clenched involuntarily. A shred of lucidity wormed its way to the front of her mind. Evie had stolen something from her…

  And then, the huddled form next to Evie resolved into a familiar figure.

  Sharki.

  The man was fastened to a chair, his head slumped forward. Unconscious…

  Or dead.

  A new wave of alertness washed through Kyra as panic clutched her thoughts.

  She lurched forwards, a single sword almost forgotten in her hand.

  Evie strode to meet her, the assassin’s outline flaring and blurring as she moved.

  “Aww! How cute!”

  The mocking tone cut Kyra like a blade, though she didn’t know why. Her eyes travelled down the filthy, battered armour that had once been so pretty. Sparkles still winked here and there, capturing her attention for a second.

  “So,” Evie continued, her voice laced with sarcasm. “I’d say you’ve had a few encounters on your way here. What have we got, now? Bliss Blossom, judging by that vacant expression. And a good mauling by a Feliforma, no doubt. Too bad; I rather expected you’d have been dinner for one of the larger carnivores. No matter.” She spread her arms. “What do you think of the place?”

  Kyra found just enough focus to respond. “Like you. Needs pest control.”

  “Ah!” Evie seemed delighted by the reply. “So you’re fighting it, even still. Very impressive! I have
to say, I’m amazed that you made it this far. Thrilled actually; it saves me from having to go wandering around the jungle looking for your head.”

  Kyra tapped her temple. “Got it right here. Keep trying, bitch.”

  “Now, now! Is that anything to call your host? You know, I’ve done you a favour. No outsider has laid their eyes on this planet in a hundred generations. It’s a training world, used exclusively by the Priesthood. Used for graduations, in fact. Ella and I, we came up together, and this place was where they sent us for our final exam.”

  “Tough… school…” Kyra managed. She was struggling to follow the conversation with all the waves of colour flowing off Evie in every direction.

  “You have no idea,” the assassin drawled. “Do you realise, you’re less than five miles from where you landed? Five miles… and look at you! I’ve been watching your progress. You came here with all your weapons, all your Gifts… and you’ve barely made it through an afternoon. When they dropped Ella and I on the far side of the continent, we were naked. We had one small knife each, and nothing else. No food, no water… it took us weeks to make it this far.” Her voice had gone wistful. “Out of our entire graduating class, only one other girl made it here alive. Though she died of her injuries before the invigilators came to pick us up.”

  “Sounds like she… got the best deal.”

  Evie nodded. “Perhaps. You’ll have to ask her for me. Oh, but first,” she gestured back at the huddled man, who was sagging so low he’d have fallen off the chair if he wasn’t fastened to it. “I thought you might like to pay your last respects.” She shrugged. “I tried to keep him for you, but I’m afraid you’re late. You’ve just missed him.”