Joorir had arrived back at camp nearly a full day after her terrible altercation with the humanoid monster. She had taken a circuitous route that had taken her much longer to arrive at camp than it should have. She was only a couple hours away, but she was hysterical. It is hard to concentrate when even your own shadow appears to be a demon ready to pounce on you and bash your head in. When she finally arrived in camp, she wasn’t much better.
“Black and blue. Too strong. Everyone’s gone. Black and blue. Those eyes. Too fast. Much too fast. I can feel him staring at me,” this and many other mutterings crossed her lips during the hours following her return, most of it incomprehensible by those caring for her. The only thing they heard consistently was ‘Black and blue’. It was utter nonsense to them, but it was clear that whatever she had seen had rattled her to her very core.
She was extremely dehydrated after roaming the desert for hours on end. The Zotari were not nearly as resistant to the arid climate as the Saxans were. Zoorir was currently lying in a metallic tub full of a white liquid. She had been in it for more than an hour. That was significantly more than the twenty minute treatments most patients received. Then again, most patients are only treated for a couple of hours of heat exhaustion, Zoorir looked like she had been in a dead sprint the entire time she was missing.
The alarm had been sounded almost immediately when the supply camp had been raided. Reinforcements had been sent in minutes and within an hour, they had arrived to see…an absolute massacre. They counted the dead bodies and found one missing—Zoorir’s.
Originally, they had thought that she was responsible. It seemed odd that she would turn in her squad like that, but they did know she had survived the altercation with that Sand Drake. Traumatic events triggered weird responses in soldiers. This theory just didn’t hold much water though. There was no way a fresh recruit could have wiped out this many of their warriors. She hadn’t ever exhibited that kind of strength before. On top of that, the corpses they had found were utterly ravaged. She had definitely never shown that kind of strength. The Saxans were capable of that though.
They had investigated the surroundings and didn’t find evidence of a large army storming their supply camp. Granted, the ever shifting sands changed the landscape frequently and that made it hard to get an accurate picture, but there weren’t nearly enough tracks to explain the devastation that was caused. They had tried questioning Zoorir the moment she returned, but all they got in return was incoherent babbling. Now that she had recovered a little, they tried again.
“Zoorir. We are glad that you have returned and that you are ok. We have some questions we need to ask you if that’s alright,” one of the Zotari captains asked.
The only response they got was Zoorir’s lips opening and closing a few times, the white liquid slowing into the edge of her mouth and then dripping back out. With no sudden outburst, they continued.
“We need to know more about the attack. It was obviously well coordinated and they moved with extreme care as they hardly left any trace of their presence in the camp. So, we need to know, was this an elite squad? Have the Saxans hired out a mercenary group to help finish us off? How many were there?”
They had been waiting a long time already to ask these questions and the captain had grown impatient, throwing out too many questions all at once. Zoorir got physically disturbed thinking about the attack again. She began thrashing around, splashing the liquid all over the black walls making it look like a Jackson Pollock painting of disturbing origins. She was moaning and muttering, but didn’t give any discernible answer to any of the many questions. The captain looked Zoorir dead in the eyes, holding her face so that she had to focus on him. Her eyes rolled around for a while before locking on his. He seized the brief moment of focus, asking only one question to hopefully get a direct answer.
“How large was their squad?” he said calmly and slowly.
“Two eyes! Two eyes! One!” she screamed before entering a state of delirium.
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“IT’S GOOD!”
The rock Alex kicked went straight through the two upright spires of rock he was passing by.
“This is so boring,” Alex groaned.
No matter how far he walked, the landscape never seemed to change much. There was hardly any vegetation in the sand and the red was really starting to strain his eyes. He just wanted to be back on Earth. He missed green, and lakes, and people. Well human people. They were much friendlier to him. He had been on this planet about a month and he had already put himself at odds with virtually every living creature here. He was feeling a lot more isolated than he had been when he first arrived here. He had started to get in good with the cafeteria workers and he felt they were so close to giving him extra helpings, but then the stupid snake had gone and ruined it all.
I should be coming up on the spot they marked for me.
He turned past an outcropping and he saw a cave in cliff walls in front of him. He had found it.
Finally.
He started forward, but his leg stopped responding to his brain. He strained to lift, veins popping out all over his neck and face. Nothing. It didn’t even budge.
What the heck?
He turned back and his legs worked again. He turned toward the cave, nothing again.
“You shouldn’t go that way,” a deep, hissing voice said in his mind.
“Look who’s back. Why does it feel so random when you decide to pop up?” Alex asked him.
“I have been adjusting. I had been severely weakened after years of being in a dormant state and then you nearly finished me off. Luckily, this armor of yours seems to want to strengthen itself otherwise, I would likely already be dead,” he said.
“The audacity. You know, you’ve really screwed me. Now everyone on this stupid planet wants me dead. Including that big worm you couldn’t beat.”
“It’s actually a wyrm, not a worm.”
Alex couldn’t hear any difference between the two words and had no idea how the cobra had.
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“I can sense the intention in your thoughts. Don’t ask me how. It likely has to do with the connection I now have with your armor and by extension you. I could tell you meant the right wyrm, said the wrong one,” Nagaar explained.
“Well that hurt my brain. I’m not even going to try to understand what that actually means. Why don’t you want me to go that way exactly?”
“I believe you are being set up. I know you have seen into my mind. Does this not look familiar to you?” the king asked.
He looked around. Before, he had been too focused on the map to take it all in, but now that he did…
“Not really. No. It looks just like the rest of this desert.”
Nagaar laughed. “Just my luck. I am bound to a simpleton.” Alex was going to protest, but the king continued. “This is where I made my final stand. This is the lair of the last Sand Drake.”
Alex stood there, his mouth agape. He looked around again, and still nothing.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Do you think I would forget my life’s greatest failure?”
“I mean no, but they told me this would be a good place to camp. It just seems weird to me,” Alex said while scratching his head.
He looked down at the map. He was at the place that had a huge red circle on it. It was obvious this is where they wanted him to go. He moved his thumb slightly and instantly felt his stupidity showing again.
Did I really put my thumb on this same spot every time I used the map?
Under his thumb, another area was circled. This one was in black ink. It had the words ‘camp here’ written above it.
“Well that’s dumb. Why did they make the red circle so big, but this other one could be covered by my thumb?” he asked with exasperation.
“Maybe they expected you to have more sense. I don’t know why they would assume something so inconceivable,” the king chuckled again.
“I don’t think I like it when you laugh, especially when it’s at my expense.”
“I will try to contain it. For your sake.”
Alex wasn’t convinced. He was going to argue more when he heard a familiar shriek. He dove behind a rock for cover. The Great One was nearby. He looked up, surveying the sky to locate the Sand Drake. Another screech helped him pinpoint its location. It was still far away, but headed in his direction. He didn’t know how long he had, but he didn’t want to be anywhere near when the Sand Drake decided to land. He knew that he would need to kill it eventually, he just wasn’t anywhere close to being able to yet. Right now, he would be an afternoon snack. The most he could do to affect it would be a little indigestion on the way down, if he was lucky.
“I need to get out of here. Where should I go?” he asked his new snake friend.
“How should I know? Find a hiding spot. Quick!”
So helpful. Alex scoffed.
He wanted to stay out of the Sand Drake’s field of view. There was no way to know for sure how far it would be able to see or smell him, so he just needed to get as far away as quickly as possible. He walked in the opposite direction the Sand Drake was coming from. The canyon its cave sat in, snaked around like a meandering river. He followed the narrow passageway, using the cliffs as a shield against the predators gaze. After another ten minutes of walking, another screech sounded closer. Much closer. Alex quickened his pace. A few minutes later and he could hear the flapping of powerful wings.
The Drake has landed. I repeat the Drake has landed.
Alex kept running. Fortunately, this canyon lead in the general direction of where he was supposed to camp out.
It’s almost as if the Saxans had planned an easy route for me to take into lair of the beast. Almost. Nobody had that much foresight. Right?
With no time to dwell on it, Alex shelved that thought. He had to focus. Alex was terrible when it came to staying on task. He often found his thoughts straying. It made his job extremely difficult. He could hardly get anything done as he was always trying to remember what he was trying to do before he lost his train of thought. A roar sounded that snapped his attention back.
He sounds angry. Did he see me? Did he smell me? I should move faster.
And move faster, he did. He was running at a breakneck speed, literally. He was slightly afraid that if he tripped, he would actually break his neck. He wondered how easy it would be to break his neck now that he was insanely durable. Not that he was going to test it out. That was a question he had no issue leaving unanswered for the rest of his life.
The canyon began to open up to a large desert. Right at the mouth of the opening, Alex saw a small cavern that would be the perfect spot to lay low for a while. It should be far enough away from the monster’s den to be safe, but close enough to hopefully deter any Zotari from tracking him down. Plus, it should offer some protection from the constant wind and occasional sandstorms. His suit filtered out the small particles, but it was still annoying.
He started to set up camp. He set his supplies out. He had received a backpack and a rucksack full of various items. In the rucksack, he had found an odd metallic plate the size of an average dinner plate with a small button on it. He clicked the button and pieces began folding out of it until it was about two feet in diameter. Once the plate reached that size, a semitransparent barrier went up about six feet and sealed itself. Alex touched the barrier and it felt like glass and cool to the touch. There was a piece that stuck out on the side of it with two metal caps with a space in between them. Alex wondered what could fit in that slot.
He searched through the bag. There were a lot of pockets, so it was hard to find anything, but finally he did. There was a small vial about the size of the small opening between the caps. He brought it over and placed it inside. The vial snapped into place as if there were magnets on the ends, strong magnets. It flew out of his hand and into the slot. The vial started to glow a greenish-blue and the container began to fill up with a clear liquid. A few minutes passed with Alex in awe at the entire thing. When the liquid filled the container, a ding sounded. He stepped closer.
That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. What is it?
He walked around the tank, wondering what it was and why they had given it to him. There was only one thing on the barrier—a spigot. He went back over to his pack and pulled out a cup he had seen earlier and filled it from the spigot.
Only one way to find out what this is. Bottoms up!
He tipped his head back, downing the entire cups worth of the mystery liquid. After the fact, Alex realized that he should’ve probably had a sip of it first to see if it was safe or not, but it was too late now. Besides, he recognized this liquid. It was water, and a lot of it. The tank was huge and, he had at least thirty more of those vials in his bag. He wouldn’t need to worry about searching for water anytime soon.
He laid out the rest of his supplies. He hoped that he would find more cool gadgets like the water tank, but had no such luck. He took stock of everything. It was a lot, but it wouldn’t last him forever. It probably wouldn’t even last him until he finished his mission of the killing the Great One.
Is it considered genocide if I kill the last of a species? I feel like it shouldn’t. The king did most of the work. I’m just killing off a Sand Drake that is targeting me. I don’t want to kill the last one. It just happens to be the sole member of its race.
“You are vile. You are going to kill off an entire race. They have been on this planet for millions of years. Some postulate that they were of the first creatures to exist here, and you are bringing their existence to an end. You are basically my disciple. You are fulfilling your master’s ambition in life. I’m touched,” the snakes hissed in his head.
“Yeah I wasn’t asking for any input. Feel free to keep your thoughts to yourself. I can’t because you have a really bad habit of listening to everything I say and think. Sometimes though, you can just listen and not give any input. I would appreciate that.”
“That doesn’t sound nearly as entertaining to me. I have been dormant for too long. I was not asleep. I was aware the entire time, just unable to do anything. Now I am able to interact with the world again, at least partially. I am going to take full advantage of that. I’m sorry to inconvenience you,” the king responded.
Alex didn’t feel like he was sorry at all. His tone didn’t indicate that in the slightest. He sounded more appalled that Alex had deigned to give him a command at all.
I guess it makes sense. He was used to giving the orders, not receiving them. He is a king after all. Or I guess, was a king is more accurate to say.
He could feel the king’s disapproval at the sentiment. Alex smiled.