by Phoebe Nix
“That hallway,” she gestured behind Fareej, who immediately turned around. “That’s where the spaceships are. And they’ll teleport us to the battlefield at the speed of light. Which, is of course, as you probably know, is really superfast, but there’s a problem.”
Fareej furrowed his brows. “What is it?”
“The problem is, Fareej, I need to trust you, and I don’t know if I can do that now. This moment decides our future together, and now you must promise you will not betray me.”
“Of course,” Fareej nodded.
“You don’t understand,” Jocelyn shook her head. “For safety, humans made these switches manual. Which means that I need to keep my finger on this switch to keep the door open. Luckily, you can open the door to me from the inside with a similar switch you will find on the wall.”
“I can do that,” Fareej confidently said.
“But again, the problem is, I will have to trust you. But I suppose there’s no time to think about that,” Jocelyn said, hovering her finger over the switch labelled Dis. 4.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Do it,” Fareej snapped.
Jocelyn nodded, pulling up the switch. The whirring she had heard before sounded again, Fareej quickly following the sound to search for the room, disappearing as he flew down the hallway. After turning all the other switches, Jocelyn darted to the hallway on her right, running past all the display rooms with the drones and stopping at Area. 24, where a round black aircraft the size of a studio apartment shone under the fluorescent lighting.
“You little brat!” Fareej bellowed as he whipped his wings hard, seconds away from toppling her over. Jocelyn quickly slipped into the display room, the door automatically sliding closed behind her.
She could see Fareej mouthing insults, but could hear nothing. Jocelyn raised her hands in a comforting gesturing, trying to explain that this was an accident. She stuffed her hand into the pocket of her robe, as though trying to search for a key, sliding out her hand with the most satisfying middle finger she had ever given.
Before Fareej flew to the control board to find his way in, Jocelyn rushed to the spaceship, frantically looking for the entrance.
“Where the fuck is the door to that thing?” she shouted in frustration
“Voice commands: activated,” a robotic female voice sounded.
“Uhhh.”
The doors to the display room slid open.
“Fuck!”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t process this command,” the voice replied.
Jocelyn rolled her eyes. “Open!”
The furious whipping of Fareej’s wings grew louder, closer.
A dilating entrance spiraled open, Jocelyn leaping inside.
“Close!” she shouted.
Fareej’s furious face disappeared behind the black metal door spiraling shut before he launched his attack, like an iris shot in a vintage film that made Fareej seem like a cartoonish villain.
“Welcome on-board the Weaponry. How may I help you?” the voice said.
Chapter 24
A Vogel head rolled next to Karlol as agonized screeching split his ears.
“I must say, Prince,” Lia said. “I have been thinking a lot about what you said.”
Karlol was still on his knees, Lia’s sword to his nape. She pressed it harder, the warmth of his blood running down his back.
“You’ve once challenged me to a duel,” Lia continued. “You asked me to untie you and try to fight you, claiming that I couldn’t.” She leaned down to his neck and took a deep whiff. “I could easily kill you right now, but not before I prove you wrong.”
She pulled her weapon away. “Get up!”
Karlol rose to his feet, his eyes wandering around the battlefield, dozens of Vogels ruthlessly killed before his eyes. He slowly turned around, his expression completely stoic. He saw Lore and Darneel descend and gestured for them to stay where they are. He had already risked their lives many a time.
“Karlol!” Lore shouted.
“Stay back,” Karlol ordered. “Save the rest of them.”
Darneel nodded, taking his sister by the hand and flying back to safety. A whistle sounded and only a dozen or so surviving Vogels joined the guards.
“Come on now. Aren’t you excited?” Lia taunted. “When was the last time we had a duel?”
“I should have killed you when I had the chance,” Karlol spat.
“Now, now. There’s no time for regrets. We sent for backup, and there will soon be a lot more of us than,” she paused, looking up. “What? Twenty of you could take us?”
Karlol drew his sword slowly, aiming it at his opponent.
“That’s better. Now I recognize you,” Lia said through a menacing grin.
She let out a cry as she launched toward him, Karlol’s sword clashing against hers as he blocked her blow to his torso. Lia cartwheeled backwards, then slowly walked around Karlol in circles. The Prince didn’t move, his wing twitched as he followed the padded sounds of her steps against the moist grass.
He spread his wings and whipped them hard enough to make her sword swerve before it could pierce through his back. He turned around, and struck her with his weapon strongly enough to stab her muscles. She groaned in pain, grabbing her bicep.
“You will never live to see yourself be crowned king,” Lia breathlessly said.
“You will never live to see the light of day again,” Karlol retorted with a glare that pierced through her.
Her confidence was visibly shaken, but even as she struggled to catch her breath, she staggered toward him, waving her sword at him to distract him from an unpredicted blow.
“For years, humans had thought that beheading was the only way to kill a Vogel,” Lia shouted. “And I was one to find the secret to eliminating hundreds of you with our most rudimentary weapons.”
Karlol was silent, barely moving as he watched her struggle to form a sentence without pausing for breath.
“You’re a pest to this planet,” she continued.
“It’s not Vogels who managed to destroy this planet in such little time,” Karlol said, leaping to the left to dodge another attack.
Lia pulled her weapon up, swinging it down at Karlol’s arm, but his maneuvers were too swift for her.
“You’re not as good as you used to be,” Karlol taunted her, scanning her figure. “Have you aged? Slowing down. Is that it?”
Lia’s brows knitted in a frown. She let out a groan and aimed the tip of her sword at Karlol’s eye. The Prince wrapped his finger around her weapon, drops of blood oozing from his hand as he locked his eyes with Lia’s. She panted heavily, letting out frustrated moans as she tried to pull the sword from his grasp.
She gave up, letting go of the hilt. “This is not over,” Lia said. “We’ve already killed most of you. Surrender and we may spare your life.”
Karlol tossed her sword in the air, grabbing it by the handle. He dug the weapon in the ground upright, with the blade tip pointing to the sky.
Lia glanced at her sword, confused by the gesture. Before she rushed to collect her weapon, Karlol dashed toward her, scooping her up and flying skyward. Lia looked beneath her. The sword looked like nothing but a sparking dot.
“No!” she screamed.
“How do you kill a Vogel?” Karlol asked, his wings beating as he vertically flew higher.
“Put me down right now and fight me like a soldier, you coward!” Lia hollered.
Karlol loosened his grasp on her, letting her fall. Her limbs flailed as she screamed. He turned over, tucked his wings back and dashed to pick her up before she fell to the ground. He pulled her arms behind her back, his breath beating down on her ear.
“Answer my question and I may spare you,” he mechanically said, pulling her hair.
Lia groaned.
“How do you kill a Vogel?” he repeated.
“You sever its head,” she moaned.
“Are there any other ways?” Karlol whispered.
Lia wailed as
she realized where this was going. She shook her head. “No. There are no other ways.”
Karlol tugged harder on her hair, her deafening scream growing thinner from strain.
“That sounds like a lie,” he bellowed.
“You stab it in the eye,” Lia stammered.
“That’s right,” the Prince said.
“You say you would spare my life. Stick to your word. Please!” she begged.
Karlol grinned. “I only said I may,” Karlol loosened his grip, watching her plummeting to the ground as he descended to watch her demise.
The trip of her sword pierced through her eye, penetrating the back of her skull. Karlol landed beside her, watching her muscles twitch as she wheezed for her last breath.
He kneeled beside her. “It’ll only take a minute to die. You’ve discovered how to kill a Vogel, and now you know how it feels to be one.”
The Prince rose to his feet, the twins and the rest of what remained of the battalion landing behind him. They were now completely surrounded by the human army.
A slow clap sounded, Narmer stepping his way through the human soldiers. “Great performance, Karlol,” he derisively said. “Only took you about thirty minutes to kill one of us. Now you only have to go through a thousand more.”
Jocelyn’s heart pounded in her chest. Fareej was outside the spaceship, slamming his fists on the door as he spewed threats and insults.
She turned away from the door, her jaw dropping at the number of weapons she saw before her eyes. Metal racks were screwed to the walls, filled with what looked like machine guns as well as hand pistols. Jocelyn couldn’t recognize some of the weapons.
The vigorous knocking on the door stopped.
“Jocelyn,” Fareej softly said. “I’ll forgive you and we can go back to our plan if you agree to let me in. I only wish to speak to you. I’m old enough to be your father. Do you think I would harm a woman in your youth?”
She ignored his plea as she walked toward the racks, not realizing that her mouth was hanging open until she felt her tongue was dry. Moistening her lips, she reached for what looked like a machine gun.
It was heavier than she had expected.
“I thought I’d never see one of these bad boys again,” she whispered to herself.
“If you refuse to come out, I suppose I’ll have to compel you,” Fareej continued.
Jocelyn could hear his grin through his voice, which made her wince.
“Karlol, you see, was sent to an ambush,” he guffawed. “There had to be a better way to crown me as King than kill him. I surely want the best for this planet, and I’m willing to make sacrifices, but I couldn’t possibly kill Karlol with my bare hands. Why, that would be savage. I would never live with it.”
Jocelyn firmed her grasp on the gun. “What the hell have you done?” she shouted.
“I made a deal with Lia,” he said after a pause. “I warned her about the conflict, seeing as it breached the treaty. I begged her to spare my life when they defeated the Vogels.”
Although the walls of the room were thick, Fareej’s laugh still managed to pierce her ears and make her twitch.
You son of a bitch.
“I care about Karlol deeply, but I care more for the good of my Kingdom. Even if it means sacrificing the Vogels I cherish the most.”
“You care for nothing but the throne! How can be so cruel that you send your own people to their deaths?”
“Our army is always prepared for death. You’re thinking of it from a human perspective. You would understand if you were a more sophisticated species,” Fareej said.
With her gun aimed at the door, Jocelyn took slow steps as Fareej continued.
“But you see, now that I’m left to think about it, I’m worried about the battalion he took with him. The plan only needed one person dead. It would be such a tragedy to lose more.”
Jocelyn pressed her ear to the door. “You’re a sick bastard.”
Her throat bulged as she gulped her bile, her hands shaking from the fury that ran through her veins. “If anyone deserves to be dead, it’s you. Open!” she hollered, the door spiraling open.
Jocelyn’s brows furrowed when she didn’t find Fareej outside the door. She took slow, careful steps outside, turning around when she heard the flapping of his wings behind her.
Before Fareej could swing his claws at her neck, Jocelyn clamped her eyes shut, firing the machine gun and flinching at how unexpectedly loud it was. She opened one eye, witnessing Fareej lying prostrate on the floor. He groaned in pain, but quickly pushed himself back up.
Go for the head, Jose. Fucking aim.
As he trudged toward her, she aimed between his eyes but missed, and the bullets hit one of his eyes.
Fareej collapsed, his whole body twitching before he lay still.
Chapter 25
Karlol’s whole world felt as though it came to a halt as he watched his soldiers lining up ahead of him for execution.
Speeches were being made, human soldiers were cracking jokes, some of them admitting they had enjoyed watching Lia suffer.
Ahead of him, Lore stood still with her head held up high, her wings restrained with a metal chain, and her wrists tied to her back. He was prepared to lose his own life, but he didn’t wish to see his men brutally tortured before they died before his eyes. And as he glanced at Narmer, he could tell that his execution was not going to be swift, especially after the stunt he had pulled with Lia.
“I’m sorry,” Karlol muttered. “I should have seen this coming.”
“It’s not your fault Fareej is a traitor,” Lore calmly replied. “We were in this together, and we’re always prepared for a loss before we fly into battle.”
“I knew Fareej was acting weird lately, ever since Jocelyn came. But I couldn’t put my finger on it. I should have sensed something was wrong when he refused to lead the battalion.”
“He had always been a peculiar man. There was no way for you to predict this,” Lore consoled him. “I’m sorry you have to watch us all die. Let’s only hope we don’t suffer and that our men and women back home receive the news before it’s too late.”
“Has anyone been sent for help?” Karlol asked.
“I sent Layees, but I believe he was shot down before he even left the battlefield. Your father will eventually sense something is wrong and find a way to keep our people safe. I’m sure of it,” her voice faltered.
Karlol had a strange feeling that the battle wasn’t over. He would have thought that Narmer was going to execute them the moment they were restrained, but the humans all sat in the shade cast by the trees, drinking and guffawing.
As the Prince watched the humans celebrate with contempt, his gaze met Narmer’s who shot him a grin.
“What’s the matter now? Are the chains around your wings too rusty for a Prince?” he taunted him, the soldiers laughing. “We asked the King for silk restraints, but this what the only kind we were provided,” he said sarcastically.
“Do you think we should behead him with a gold plated sword?” one of the soldiers joined.
“No,” Narmer briskly replied, his eyes fixed on Karlol. “And who said we’re beheading him? It’s not up to us of course. When the King arrives to watch the show, he’ll decide how it goes. But I will definitely suggest performing something as impressive as what he did to Lia.”
“Bitch had it coming anyway,” one of the soldiers faintly said, which was met with a glare from Narmer. The soldiers suddenly quieted down.
So that’s what the wait is for.
“The King likes his shows,” Lore scoffed.
“He sure does,” Karlol nodded. “I’ve never been afraid of death, but I hate the suspense.”
“I can’t disagree,” Lore said. “But somehow, it gives me hope. Maybe it won’t be us to survive, but if they’re taking that long to execute us, that might buy our people time to prepare for an attack.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“And I have a confession
to make before you watch my head flying across the field,” she mechanically said.
“Please, don’t say that,” Karlol sighed.
“Jocelyn is not so bad. I really do believe she’s the savior. She’s nothing like these people and she’s here for a reason. Maybe that’s what’s keeping me calm. We may not make it, but I know for a fact that our people will be okay. She’s back there with them. Maybe she’ll find a way to convince these monsters to stay away.”
Karlol took in a lungful of air, his heart tearing at the thought of not seeing her again. He’d give anything to feel her in his arms again. “I just wish I lived to see it.”
“When we were kids, you said you believed in reincarnation.” Karlol could hear her smile through her tone. “So I guess you just might. I just hope you don’t reincarnate into a human.”
Karlol stifled his smile, lest he taunt Narmer for an earlier death. “That would be painfully ironic.”
The Prince’s senses sharpened as he heard the sound of distant galloping. It seemed like the King was already here, likely eager to watch the Prince’s execution, if he didn’t insist on doing it himself.
Narmer turned to face the rider, who clearly wasn’t the King. The two of them exchanged a few words discreetly and the way Narmer smiled with his eyes fixed on Karlol sent him a shiver down his spine.
“Men of Lookar,” Narmer cried with a smile, addressing his soldiers. “The King is grateful for our efforts, and in return has allowed us to keep these bounties to ourselves,” he declared, gesturing to the restrained Vogels.
The soldiers rose to their feet and cheered.
“And because I’m proud of each and every one of you, I’ll allow you to vote on an execution method,” Narmer continued.
Although the news was disturbing, all the Vogels suddenly seemed distracted, exchanging glances and humming amongst themselves. A distant whirring could be heard, and it was only growing louder.
“What is that?” Karlol asked Lore.
“Whatever it is, it’s getting closer,” she replied, looking at the sky.
