At first Alex was elated to see what looked like a temple carved into the wall of the nearby cliffs. It would be cool to explore it a little bit and there had to be somebody nearby.
The carvings depicted neither the Saxans nor the Zotari, but another race entirely. The race depicted had humanoid features but had the head of cobra. The etchings were worn way past legibility even with Alex’s translation skill. There were two gigantic cobramen both at least thirty feet tall, sporting spears and shields, on either side of the large entrance. Pillars rose up to support an outcropping of stone that had long since broken and was now a jagged ruin of what once was a pavilion for the entrance to the ruins. Broken stones larger than cars were strewn about all over. The entrance had likely been carved right out of the cliff side, a feat that would take years just for the entrance.
There was a small opening in the middle of the large entryway that led into the cliffs. Alex cautiously walked forward, surveying his surroundings. He arrived at the opening with no issues. He was glad that he still had some P.E. because he could see in the dark cavern.
Columns of red stone stretched out in all directions, about one hundred feet away from each other. Alex whistled in amazement and the whistle echoed for a long while. It was truly an architectural marvel that many on Earth would pay a lot of money to see. Alex didn’t know how old it was, but he did know that whatever civilization had built this was talented. There was hardly any decay in his field of view. Some things were broken and the etchings in the stone had been worn down by years in the desert winds, but this had likely been built an extremely long time ago. Alex got an almost palpable impression of antiquity.
He continued forward, not seeing anything immediately alarming. His light from the suit was not as strong as it had been a while ago. He hadn’t received any blows in a while and therefore his ‘internal battery’ was not running at full capacity. It was enough though, for Alex to continue forward.
He started to feel a little uneasy after walking for about twenty minutes, however. At the very end of his light, he felt like something was watching him. He even saw shadows flicker in the obscure cavern.
You’re just imagining things. It’s like when you’re a kid and you make things up in the dark because you can’t see anything clearly. Alex thought to calm himself.
He finally made it to the end of the cavern and into another doorway. When he crossed the threshold he was amazed to see an even larger cavern than before. This one, encircled with large statues depicting the same race as he saw outside, confirming to Alex that this was more than just illustrative freedoms taken by the sculptor. This was likely what the members of this race looked like.
There were large chests all around the cavern. Alex could only see money bags as he looked around. He remembered watching movies with ancient tombs filled with riches and he lost himself for a moment. He swiftly moved towards the closest chest, and with a great heave, threw off the lid.
“Gross!”
Alex had forgotten that in these tombs there were also dead people. That’s why they were called tombs after all.
A seven foot tall skeleton laid inside, what Alex now realized was, a coffin. The anatomy of it was much like Alex would have expected. Nearly human bones in the lower part of the body and a long neck with the classic hood of a cobra at the head. In the casket, the cobraman did not have anything else. He was alone. Well not alone. There had to be at least fifty thousand more sarcophagi scattered through the underground chamber.
He gave the tomb a closer look now that he was further inside. He could see that in another hundred feet there was a staircase that led upward. What was on top he had no clue, but he was going to find out.
He climbed the steep steps to their end. When he crested it, he saw more sepulchers and more stairs. He continued forward, climbing three more flights of stairs, each with a large number of dead, before finally seeing something different.
A large opening and one item in the middle. Another sarcophagus. This one adorned much more ornately than the ones he had seen through his climbing over the last half hour. Even through the passage of time, carvings were still visible. The entire thing was traced with a beautiful, dark metal that almost seemed to be flowing across the surface of the stone. Actually, it was flowing. Alex got closer and could see for a fact that the metal was moving. He went to touch it and it avoided his finger, flowing away in all directions. He pulled his finger back and the metal returned to its previous location.
It was mesmerizing to watch. So mesmerizing that he hadn’t looked up for quite a while. When he did, he saw what he missed. There were images in the walls. A cobra king stood at the head of a large army. He led a crusade against what could only be described as dragons. Large winged serpents flew across the skies raining down terror on the cobra kings army. The dragons didn’t blow fire as Alex would have guessed, but sand. The paint around the sand was red so Alex guessed that it was still hot sand, but sand was the main ingredient.
It was unclear why the cobras were attacking the dragons in the first place, but Alex could tell, they hadn’t won. He was standing in the proof of their defeat. This large army was probably the large quantity of dead down below and that meant that the king was right before him.
With palms sweaty with anticipation, Alex removed the lid from the sarcophagus housing the king. The metal had retreated from his touch, just as before and when he removed the lid, all of the metal coagulated together on the kings head. It still appeared to be moving, but it now formed a crown. Alex was reaching out to grab it before he came to his senses. This time the metal not only didn’t retreat from his fingers, they latched onto them with haste. Alex tried to recall his hands once he saw the metal extending toward him, but he wasn’t quick enough. The metal grasped onto him and began crawling up his arms.
“AHHHH!” Alex screamed while slapping at the living metal like he was on fire. It did nothing except give the metal more surface to grasp onto. Now both of his arms were starting to get coated in the dark alloy.
Alex panicked. There was nothing he could do. He tried closing the lid again. Nothing. Tried scraping his arms against it. Nothing but scraped arms. He began hyperventilating. Why did he just go to grab it? He saw the movies with the mummies. They always had treasure, but it was usually cursed also. His brain had just conveniently left that part out. While he had no idea what this metal would do, the feeling in his gut was foreboding. Alex was unsure if his gut feeling was a good or bad indication of things to come.
Should I just do the opposite of what my gut tells me to do? It hasn’t had a very good track record, especially lately. I mean I guess sometimes it works out to listen to my gut. I could feel that David was a jerk right away and that had been right. So, I should listen to my gut sometimes. But, how do I know when to listen to my gut? I guess I’ll just listen to my gut. This is probably a bad thing. Alex groaned at the circle of logic he had just made.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He struggled to think of a way out. The metal had made its way up to his upper arms.
“This thing is eating me alive!” Alex screamed, then stopped as he had an idea. He pulled up the description to see if it would work.
Symbiotic Biomechanical Armor (Uncommon)
Armor that fuses with the host at a genetic level. Composed of organic matter. Upon binding, armor attaches to host’s neural pathways enabling cohesive movement between host and armor. Due to its biomechanical nature, science is melded with body fluidly. Enhances innate abilities of host through the armor. Armor is considered the users own flesh. When damaged, armor can self repair using host’s vitality. Armor can be retracted into storage ring that must remain on host at all times. Removal of ring results in a loss of symbiosis. Loss of symbiosis will result in the destruction of armor. To improve symbiosis further, armor can be given compatible organic material.
Highly upgradable.
+5 Durability
+5% All stats
+5% Absorption of Energy
The description stated that he could improve it by giving it compatible organic material. Metal was typically categorized as inorganic, but this metal was abnormal in every way. It seemed to be eating him, literally. It also moved and reacted to the environment. To Alex, those were things that organic materials did.
With nothing else to do, he tried to prod his armor into action. At first nothing seemed to happen. The metal continued moving up his arms at the same rate it had been moving before. With a little more urging, he started to see a change. The metal continued on its same trajectory, but his suit began to interact with it. It was if the suit and metal formed chemical bonds together. Drops of his armor came up and mixed with drops of the metal. The two material were dark, but the combination was distinct. The drops merged and the two shades blended together, somehow forming an even darker solution. The entire thing looked like when you add a drop of dye into liquid. It begins to disperse until eventually it is one compound.
The metal did not like this change of events. Proving it was more than a somewhat special inorganic alloy, it began to race up his arms at increased rate. Alex assumed it had felt threatened by the impending assimilation and decided to increase its timetable.
“You are no match for the might of symbiosis,” Alex said in a heroic tone.
His elation turned to despair as he realized the assimilation was not occurring quickly enough. The metal had spread to his neck already and was beginning to trace up his jaw and face. Panic returned. The armor had absorbed most of the metal on his arms but the stuff on his face was able to move freely. It reached his mouth and he could taste the sharp, unique flavor of it. It crept even further up his face. When it reached his eyes, something changed. It dug in and started to reach for his brain. His vision shifted. He was no longer in the tomb fighting for his life, but on a great battlefield.
----------------------------------------
He looked up and saw the green skies. A sight he had grown used to. This was home. His home. His people’s home. They had built much here and under his rule, they had reached far greater heights than ever before. He would be remembered for centuries to come. He was not satisfied. He wanted immortality. Not in the literal sense. He knew that one day his time would come. The sands of time didn’t wait for anyone, they continued shifting endlessly. But through the sands of time, he wished to be remembered. This was true immortality, to never be forgotten. King Nagaar.
King Nagaar knew of only one way to do this. It was something that would be heretical to some. He needed to slay the last of the Sand Drakes. They were considered gods. They were worshiped. Even more so than he was. They had achieved a level of reverence that King Nagaar only dreamed of. Worst of all, they didn’t do anything to do deserve it. At least, King Nagaar didn’t think so.
They were essentially the overlords. They were apex predators. The drakes didn’t build anything, they only destroyed. They were respected by Nagaar’s people only because they were feared. Fear at such a high degree, they were idolized. King Nagaar would remove them from their pedestal and take their place. He would become god.
That was his intention. Reality was a bitter mistress. He had grown exponentially and had decimated the Sand Drake’s population. A race that was normally secluded, banded together in their desperation.
During his campaign, he had come across a true natural treasure. He had called it Eonsteel. It was amorphous unless you concentrated your will on it. Initially it had terrified him. As soon as he touched it, it had crawled up his body and had fused with him. He had not seen any afflictions from the Eonsteel only benefits. It had augmented his already growing strength. Since it was amorphous, he could will it into whatever shape he chose. When not in battle, it was fitting for the king to wear a crown and therefore this was the form it took most of the time. Now, it formed an armor around his entire body.
He had yet to come across anything that could pierce through the armor directly. That is except for the sand breath. It didn’t puncture but wore at the armor, filing it away from his body in chunks. The shreds of metal would fall to the ground and slowly return to his body. He never lost any mass to the powerful Eonsteel, but if it was ground away, he would be vulnerable for a while.
King Nagaar’s army made their move to the Sand Drake stronghold in the cliffs. They liked to live in the caves that formed from years of wind eroding away at the rocks. The king estimated that there were only seven drakes left in existence and today would be their final day. His army prepared their war machines. Nets fired from ballistas would ground the drakes. Once down, they were much easier to handle.
The battle began and the kings army was winning. Already, four drakes had fallen to his power. Only three left until he reached his goal. He had suffered great casualties throughout the years long offensive, but it was all worth it. He would pay this price ten times over to make his goal a reality.
Another drake fell, then another, then the final one. Nagaar’s army had been nearly entirely decimated, but he had done it. The Sand Drakes were no more. All around, cheers and yells of relief and pride swelled. His men looked to him with adoration. He had taken down the gods. He was not to be surpassed in the annals of history. He was finally immortalized. Having finally achieved his purpose, King Nagaar relaxed. The army set up camp right next to battlefield, too tired to begin the long trek back home. After hours of resting, a loud shriek slaughtered the silence.
All the soldiers ran from their tents in varying degrees of alertness. Some were barely clothed and others had the sense to put on some armor. They all looked up in absolute horror.
One more Sand Drake remained. It was larger than any of them had seen before by a large margin. It instantly struck at their war machines, decimating any chance the king’s men had to mount any sort of offensive.
After that, the end of the battle was inevitable. Screams of agony filled the air as soldiers all around were blasted to shreds. The sand propelling from the drakes mouth was a spray of death and carnage. The soldiers turned to a mist of blood whenever they made contact with the zephyr of extinction.
King Nagaar looked around him in defeat. His army was disappearing before his eyes. So was his dream. There was nothing he could do against such overwhelming force. His men looked to him for orders. Nothing came and they died in despair. The king had been mostly protected by his armor thus far and soon, he was the only one remaining.
“How fitting,” he scoffed.
The drake hovered in front of him, eyes full of unbridled anger. The king channeled all of the metal into a crown. If he was going to die, he would do it as a king. He would be remembered, just not for the reason he desired. He would be the king that doomed his kingdom. This was worse for him than dying. He closed his eyes and lifted his arms, welcoming the impending wrath of the drake in front of him. The drake complied and unleashed a ruinous blast of sand at the king. King Nagaar was no more.
----------------------------------------
Alex was whipped back to his own body and mind. He was lying on the ground in a cold sweat. He lifted his hands to his face, but found everything to be in order. The metal, Eonsteel, was no longer crawling up his body. Alex was still himself. He exhaled in relief. He sat in silence for a second.
In his mind, he heard a deep laugh followed by a hissing sound. He began sweating again.