As another rumble shook the ancient cavern, the creature on the platform screamed, its back arching at an impossible angle. Kaihautu Yugha stared in disbelief, refusing to accept what his own eyes were showing him, even when Srijan’s body spasmed uncontrollably as Aleph activated its final directive. His face twisted into a violent scowl as he watched his dreams of ultimate power disappear, slowly turning to face the one responsible for shattering his dreams of greatness.
“You,” he rasped, his eyes filled with madness as he glared at the Knight, reaching for his weapon.
Despite her shouted warning, Velsa froze, so the Knight forced the issue by grabbing her arm and yanking her away from the dais. The nurse stumbled, only catching herself at the last second as Blye dragged her towards the elevator. Another seismic shudder deep beneath the cavern floor brought her out of her reverie, the two women lurching as they struggled to retrace their steps.
“What’s happening?” Velsa screamed, panic filling her voice.
“Nothing good!” Blye predicted, wishing she still had her eyes. While she didn’t know for certain, it seemed likely Aleph had smelled a rat, despite the Kaihautu’s best efforts, and was making its displeasure known. She had no idea how it would express that disapproval, but if those tremors were any indication, they needed to get out of here now.
The ground beneath them heaved, throwing them both to the floor. A loud crack echoed throughout the cavern as something gave way, crashing onto the polished surface below. Velsa screamed once again even as Blye hauled her to her feet, the pair leaning on each other for support as they tried to escape.
With a roar, Velsa was torn from her grasp, cast aside like so much refuse. “Where are you going?” the Kaihautu thundered, as Blye scrabbled back away on her hands and feet, before grabbing hold of her staff and leveraging herself back up. Rocks were starting to rain down from the cavern's dome, crashing all around her as she made for the elevator. The nurse screamed once again, forcing Blye to change direction as she attempted to follow.
Blye felt something tear past her, missing by mere inches, as an all-too-familiar whine-crack assaulted her ears. It only took her a second to place it; with the jangling throb of her nerve endings and the scent of ionized ozone filling her nostrils, it could only mean she’d somehow dodged a pulse weapon’s particle beam. She threw herself flat as another blast whip-cracked above her head, log rolling away in what she prayed was a safe direction.
“Do you know what you’ve done?” the Aggaaddub commander roared, throwing yet another shot at her, though thankfully the unsteady footing spoiled his aim once again. “You’ve ruined everything!”
It was more likely he was the one at fault, but now was not the time for debate. She and Velsa had to get to the elevator and return to the surface before Aleph brought the entire facility down on top of them… but as long as the Kaihautu was still shooting at them, they’d never make it.
Which meant the only way they were getting out of here alive was if she disarmed him.
… Blind.
… In a subterranean vault that was tearing itself apart.
“Holy Mother Terra, grant me strength,” she prayed feverishly, before gripping her quarterstaff tight and pushing off as she charged the alien warrior. Yet another shot grazed her cheekbone as she closed in, but when she swung her staff at the Troika officer, it sliced through the air without hitting a thing. Blye recovered, readying herself for another attack… only to be sent flying as a scaly fist knocked her off her feet, smashing her down to the ground. Blood poured from her nose and mouth as she struggled to find her feet, only the blow had left her reeling. Desperate, she held up her staff to ward off another strike, only to have it ripped from her hands and tossed aside, clattering to the floor several meters distant… too distant to save her.
“Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” the Kaihautu snarled, driving his boot into her belly and launching her across the deck. Blye woofed as the air was driven from her lungs, landing with a crash as she felt a stabbing pain in her ribcage. Struggling to her hands and knees, she started to crawl, trying to put as much distance as she could between her and the Aggaaddub commander. The sound of heavy footfalls motivated her to scrabble even faster, though sadly not fast enough, as another kick slammed into her chest and sent her flying. Blye screamed in agony as she crashed into a bulkhead before falling limply to the ground.
She felt hands pulling at her. “Get up, get up!” Velsa howled, trying to pull her to safety, only to cry out as the Kaihautu backhanded her and knocked her aside. Massive, scaled paws gripped Blye's collar and yanked her off her feet, leaving her dangling as she gasped for breath.
“You insignificant bug,” the alien officer gnarled, “you worthless nothing! You think you can oppose me and not suffer the consequences?” He drove his fist into her face, rocking her head back, and then again, and again. Her head lolled as she hung limp, hovering near unconsciousness, her nose now broken as she gurgled over shattered teeth. Kaihautu Yugha grabbed her by the belt and lifted her above his head, an absurdly effortless task given his superior strength, before hurling her across the cavern.
Blye landed in a heap with every nerve ending shrieking in pain, swooning on the edge of blessed oblivion. It would be so easy for it all to be over, to just let the madman finish her. She’d given everything to this camp, to the refugees, and to her clan, and what had she gotten in return? Nothing but pain and heartbreak.
She reached out to the darkness, and let it embrace her.
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She awoke beside a small pond, fed by a burbling spring. Songbirds high in the trees sang their merry tunes as the sun’s warmth seeped into her weary bones. Blye sighed as she lay against the soft grass, more comfortable than any bed.
I wish I could stay here forever; she thought.
The sound of water pulled her from her reverie as she looked back toward the pond. Emerging from the pool, a familiar blue-white dryad appeared, rising from the water like Nimuë before Arthur. Blye sat up as the creature approached, gazing at her as they bent down to cup her cheek.
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“You cannot stay here,” they cautioned. “It is not yet your time.”
“Check your records,” she said bitterly. “The Kaihautu is going to kill me.”
“Only if you allow him to,” the Precursor answered. “Your contest is not yet over.”
“You’re mad,” Blye argued. “He’s bigger, stronger, armed, and he can see,” she snapped. “The next time he grabs me, it’s finished.”
The nymph gave her a pitying look. “Then all those you have fought so hard to protect will be lost,” they informed her. “Your enemies will slaughter them and leave this world in ashes.”
“Why me?” she pleaded. “Why does it have to be me? Why can’t I just rest?”
The dryad smiled, rising to their full height. “Because it is your destiny,” they said, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. From out of nowhere, they produced her quarterstaff, pressing it into her hands.
“Now take up your staff, and fight,” they urged her, as the vision faded back into darkness.
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Blye groaned, the blood still dripping from her face as she struggled to push herself off the floor. The ground shook yet again, harder this time, sending more rocks cascading down all around them. She stretched out her arms to steady herself, gaining a moment of leverage… as her fingers landed upon the familiar contours of her staff. Gripping it tightly, she used it to stagger back to her feet, swaying unsteadily as she held it pointed towards the lizard-like alien.
“Foolish Terran,” he snarled, “playing with sticks.” He reached out to snatch it away from her as he had before.
Only this time, as she felt the Aggaaddub grab her staff, Blye twisted her wrists and pulled, freeing the katana hidden within. Raising the sword to the kasumi no kamae guard position, she waited for the Kaihautu’s response.
“You think you’re an Ixian?” he sneered. “You’re nothing but a pathetic Terran. Your kind are the vermin of this galaxy, and the sooner we’re free of your disgusting race, the better.” She heard his fist slamming into his open palm as he moved forward. “Starting now.”
She tracked the sound of his footfalls as best she could against the chaos all around them, forcing herself to wait as she picked her moment. Too soon, and he’d brush her attack aside. Too late, and she’d be dead. Trusting her instincts, relying on sound instead of sight, Blye wasn’t sure how she knew when the moment came. She just did… lunging forward as she dropped below his line of sight and drove the blade into his flesh.
The Kaihautu roared as her steel struck home, driving his fury beyond madness as he gripped the blade and pulled it from his body, before batting it aside. “Do you think a mere scratch will stop me?” he bellowed, resuming his attack.
“No,” Blye said evenly, standing her ground, “it’s not just a scratch.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Empty words that mean nothing,” he told her, starting forward once more as Blye slashed at him, but the attack failed to connect. She fell back, stumbling away from the Troika officer while keeping the raised sword between them, warding him off.
“There is nowhere to run, little Terran,” he hissed, before reaching out and snatching away her sword, flinging it aside. “And you are all out of surprises.”
Kaihautu Yugha lunged for her, but as she darted out from his grasp, the massive reptilian stumbled, his vision blurring as he staggered and fell to one knee. “... what?” he said, confused as he struggled to regain his feet. Falling to the deck a second time, the confusion vanished as he snarled with naked fury. “You… what have you done?”
“One last surprise,” she corrected him as his body started to convulse, “... poison, on the blade.” Her voice was filled with regret while Velsa gathered up her courage and staggered over to her side. Whispering orders to her, the Ksot nurse quickly retrieved Blye’s staff and sword, holding onto the first but carefully passing over the second. The Knight warily circled the stricken Aggaaddub warrior, still crawling towards her even as his nerves and muscles betrayed him. Collapsing face-first to the ground once more, he stared at her with pure hate.
“... you think you’ve won, you Terran bitch?” he snarled. “My ship will annihilate this world, even as the Troika eradicates your entire misbegotten race.” He started laughing once more. “I’ll be seeing you soon… Chevalier Tagata.”
As he blustered, Blye drew closer, using the sound of his voice to pinpoint his location. She loomed over him as he issued his final threat, before raising the katana high.
“No… you won’t,” she whispered, bringing the blade down in a single fluid motion, his head falling from his shoulders as he jerked once and went still.
Velsa stared down at the Kaihautu‘s body. “I’m not sorry to see him dead, but when the Troika learns of this…”
A heavy quake rocked the facility, as more rocks plummeted from the cavern’s dome. “Hurry!” Blye shouted, lumbering towards the elevator. “Before this place destroys itself!”
The two women raced for the platform, lurching as the tremors and falling debris threatened to hinder their efforts. Arriving at the controls, she wiped the blood from her face and smeared it across the panel. “Pray it holds together long enough to get us out of here,” she snapped, as the ancient machinery activated and began the long ascent towards the planet’s surface.
A massive boulder broke free from the vault and plunged past them, impacting the surface below and rocking the elevator in its mounts as it shattered. “Hold on, just hold on,” she prayed, willing the device to move even faster while the facility tore itself apart. Blye and Velsa locked arms and gripped the control panel tight, anchoring themselves as best they could to ride out the storm.
A massive fissure appeared in the rock face, widening rapidly as the Ksot nurse screamed. For the first time, Blye was actually glad she was blind; what she could hear and sense all around her was already bad enough. The elevator hiccupped for a moment, grinding to a temporary halt before the backups kicked in to resume their ascent. Until now she was certain this ancient piece of Precursor technology had never needed backups, considering how well they built. It had easily survived this planet’s plate tectonics and weathering for a billion years, only to fall at the hands of a madman.
Goodbye, Aleph, she thought, as tears filled her eyes. You didn’t deserve this.
She almost barked out a laugh when she realized she was mourning a machine. It had never been “alive” in any genuine sense, nor could it claim the self-awareness of Artificial Intelligence. It had just been a computer, and not even a very bright one at that, despite its vast databases. It simply had done what it was programmed to do, nothing more.
But it had also sat in the dark for a thousand million years, waiting without complaint until it was needed. It had been helpful, and patient with her, at least as far as its programming would allow… like a big friendly dog that never does master the game of fetch. Even though it’s an idiot, it doesn’t stop you from loving that mangy mutt.
Or so she imagined, since she’d never owned a dog herself. They were rarer than hen's teeth among the Clans, as only a handful had been with Task Force Odin when Earth was destroyed. During the lean years, it had been hard justifying keeping a pet when humans were starving. But some had survived.
The elevator clanked to a halt as they arrived at the surface; the platform starting to sway as the supports were slowly torn from their mounts. “Go, go!” Blye shouted, the pair racing for the entrance as the cavern collapsed. They burst out of the vault and into the rain as the structure caved in, belching out dirt and debris as it flung them both clear, the pair bouncing and tumbling before finally coming to rest. They staggered to their feet, supporting one another, as the terrain over the vault dropped with a massive tremor, leaving a shallow crater in its wake while the dust slowly settled.
“... it’s gone,” Velsa gasped, “all that knowledge…”
“It’s for the best,” Blye said quietly, still lamenting Aleph’s loss. “At least this way, the Troika won’t get their hands on it.”
They silently regarded Aleph’s tomb, until Velsa asked, “What now?”
Sighing heavily, she turned to face the nurse. “Take me to the others,” she said.
“... this fight isn’t over.”