Chapter 38

Zalee crouched behind a mossy ridge, monitoring the activity inside the Terovian war camp. The rain fell in sheets as the Terovians moved about, oblivious to the conditions, positioning weapons strategically between the shuttles and probes. Zalee whistled. An instant later, an owl landed beside her.

“Seba,” she whispered. “I need you to-” The little owl cut her off, cooing and chirping.

“Norm?” Zalee’s eyes widened, the owl hooting and whirring. “He did not.” Zalee shook her head in disbelief. “Seba, you must find Lyca and tell her the rescue will proceed as planned on my signal. I will find Norm. Light guide you, Seba.” The owl cooed and flew obediently into the storm.

Zalee moved steadily closer to the camp, graceful and silent. She blended in to the foliage, camouflaging with the surroundings, making her, as Lemurians are, undetectable.

A pair of guards lingered near the shuttles, patrolling the area in front of the entryways. She edged around the perimeter of the camp. A loud crunch of metal echoed inside the closer of the two vessels. Zalee slipped through the shadows to get a better view when she overheard the familiar guttural growl of the large Terovian.

“Nothing! I will crack its armor if it destroys me!” Vorgan stormed from the shuttle, the guards parting, keeping their distance. He chose a massive, clawed hammer from the rack and returned to the shuttle. Zalee assumed he meant Alaris’ Praesidium armor, and the hammer, his next implement of destruction. After a few seconds, a crunch of metal. The shuttle rocked to one side before another crash knocked it back the other way. Zalee winced and decided it was crucial to rescue her first. She eyed the edges of the camp, hoping her troops were in place, when Seba returned, chittering in her ear.

“Thank you, my friend,” she whispered and nuzzled the owl. “Now, up to your position, little one. It is time.” Zalee knelt and hummed a low, alternating drone. The uncanny tone vibrated the air, the falling droplets and even the mountain itself.

The bustling Terovian camp prepared for reinforcements to arrive. A group of Raiders pulled a triple-barreled cannon on wheels when it suddenly stopped.

“What’s the problem?” A raider called. He stopped short, catching sight of the saber-toothed cat sauntering cross their path. “What is that?” The great cat sat directly in front of them, licking its paw.

“Move! Out of the way!” The raider waved his hand and drew his weapon. Before he could take aim, the prehistoric feline effortlessly bounded up the slope, disappearing into the trees.

“Those fangs, they would make a worthy prize.” Another raider said, pulling his blaster, looking for approval from the others who had already drawn their weapons.

Pressed by an internal drive, the alien pirates pursued the great cat into the woods, like a mountainside fox hunt. Blasters fired wildly into the night. The Terovians spotted the tiger sitting behind a row of rocks fifty feet above them.

“He’s mine!” the raider started up the hill when another grabbed him.

“Craven’s orders were to stay within the perimeter.”

“We’ll bring him its head,” he laughed and yanked through the other’s grip. The other raiders followed, unable to resist the thrill of the hunt. The tiger effortlessly leapt over a ridge and dashed into the woods.

Zalee hummed, her purr blending with the storm, rumbling earth shaking even the largest trees. The echo roared through the darkness like a freight train.

“What is that?” The sound grew louder, violent tremors raging within the thunderous crescendo. The Terovian tried to dive clear as a massive boulder rolled over him.

“The mountain is falling!” More boulders shot from the trees. Raiders scattered, the rockslide crashing through their ranks like bowling balls, when a loud crack reverberated beyond the shadows. The tree hovered above, wooden fibers snapping ominously before collapsing on a row of cannons. Tree after tree fell like dominos, crushing shuttles, hover jets and half of the camp’s lights. Before the last had fallen, the giant beavers, mammoths, and mastodons charged through the perimeter. The stampede overwhelmed the Terovians, trampling everything, everyone in their path.

Craven slipped and fell awkwardly down a muddy slope, the stampede rumbling at him. He squirmed behind a shuttle for cover and felt the hot breath on his neck. Slowly, he turned. Growling. Snarling. From the corner of his eye, a row of glistening ivory spikes, all the better to shred him with, “No!” Lyca clamped down on his skull and spun the Terovian commander to the mud before sinking her over-sized fangs into his arm. He screamed.

Despite the anarchy, Vorgan emerged, unfazed, an apocalyptic warlord, complete with shoulder-mounted cannon. He locked onto Craven’s voice and fired. Sparks and burnt fur. The wolf howled and retreated. Disoriented, Lyca limped into the trees before he could fire again.

“Vorgan!” Craven wiped the blue blood streaks from his face. “The blood-gutters. Release all of them.” The giant raider sliced through the melee, blasting a mastodon and a mammoth on his way to a clutter of metal boxes, knocked over like oversized children’s blocks. A saber-toothed cat charged him. Vorgan released a latch and dove to safety as the first blood-gutter sprang out like a sack of snakes. The saber tooth skidded to a halt, buzzing tentacles flailing in its face. The big cat sidestepped warily and pounced, tooth on metal screeching.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Amid the commotion, Zalee snuck into the unattended shuttle. With only a dim, hazy light from the instruments, she saw the crumpled shadow motionless in the corner. A flash of lightning illuminated the outline of the Praesidium Knight’s armor.

“Alaris.” Zalee rushed to the fallen warrior. “Alaris, can you hear me?” The crystal clad warrior, limp, unresponsive. Zalee tried to lift her, but her armor was heavier than she expected. She dragged the knight to the entry and whistled into the night. Lyca appeared only seconds later, charred blood stains on her side.

“You’re hurt.” Zalee examined her wound. “Can you run?” Lyca growled and snorted, ready to fight. She pulled Alaris over the wolf’s back, balancing her, and found a pliable cable next to the shuttle. Using a Lemurian web-knot, she bound Alaris firmly to Lyca’s broad frame.

“I’m sorry it’s so tight, my friend. Quickly, to the south tunnel. Take her to Ra’Nelle. Now!” The wolf vanished into the shadows, striding gracefully down the mountain, the Praesidium tied firmly across her back.

Zalee crept toward the other shuttles. She scanned the area. Five blood gutters and at least ten raiders mounted a defense on the far side of the camp against the mastodons, trampling their hover jets.

She peeked into the largest shuttle. The chamber was well lit, more spacious than the other. Norm hung by his wrists; thick clamps bound to a beam against the back wall. “Zalee!” he blurted. “I was hoping the ruckus outside was you. Sorry, I screwed up your plan.”

“This may not have been the plan,” she said, working to unlock the clamps, “but Alaris is free. Now, if I can only get you free.”

“Just leave me.” Norm sighed and shook his head. “Save yourself.”

“Norm, I did not come-”

“Sorry, I just always wanted to say that.” Norm grinned, more than a little proud of himself. “The locks are magnetic. There’s gotta be a switch or button somewhere.”

“I should leave you here for joking at a-” Zalee found a control panel near the entrance. “This must be it. Be ready to run.” She pressed the first button. Darkness.

“You might wanna push that one again.”

One by one, Zalee pushed them all, activating monitors, rear lights and the door to a sleep chamber before deciding she needed to be more comprehensive.

“Wait here,” she slipped into the shuttle’s cockpit.

“Well, I was gonna go grab a bagel.”

Rows of blinking, glowing lights lined the panels in front of her. She ran her hand over them, hoping to find some sort of power control, when an animal shrieked. A series of blasts struck the shuttle. There’s no time for this. Frustrated, unable to read the Terovian symbols, she jammed her staff into the panel and stabbed at it repeatedly until the lights flickered and died. “Oh, what have I done?” Zalee’s shoulders sank, smoke pouring from the controls.

“You’re a genius, Z.” Norm appeared behind her, his wrists still clamped at his waist.

“You’re free.” Shocked, she hugged him. “Thank the light!”

“No, thank you. You figured it out.”

Zalee smiled. “I got lucky.” She caught sight of what appeared to be a timer on the far side of the panel. A sequence of Terovian symbols changing, accompanied by an escalating beep. “We have to go.”

“But I lost my-”

Zalee shoved Norm out of the shuttle. The timer beeping. Higher, warning. The explosion catapulted them into the center of the camp. Zalee landed hard but tumbled to her feet. Norm, his arms pinned, crashed into the wet earth.

“Little help here,” he mumbled, half his face covered in mud.

The blood-gutters drove the animals back as the raiders continued to regroup. Zalee whistled for her pack to retreat. The prehistoric beasts stopped where they stood, as if someone suddenly hit the off switch. Turning south, they trampled a path down the mountain toward the tunnel. With no choice, Norm and Zalee sprinted through the middle of the camp.

“The Scion’s accomplices!” A raider spotted them.

Terovian blasts exploding around them. They crouched, scurrying from one cover to another.

“That noise-” Two blood-gutters buzzed though a wall of debris, shrapnel flying like machine gun fire.

“Octo-freaks!” They dove behind a trampled cannon. The blood-gutters split, surrounding them.

“Norm! We have to fight!”

“I can’t see a thing and my hands-” Norm thrust his thick metal restraint, blocking the blood-gutter’s shredder-laden tentacle. Sparks flew, the metal-on-metal screech reverberated through the storm. Zalee spun her staff gracefully, deflecting, dodging both weapon fire and tentacles.

“We need to move-” A tentacle coiled around her ankle, yanking her feet from under her. Slamming her into the mud. She kicked and freed herself, another tentacle on her back, metal shredders digging into her flesh. She arched, consumed by pain, when a light shimmered and popped. The spinning blur struck the terrapin’s shell. Its tentacles shook and dropped, lifeless.

Norm backpedaled from the blood-gutters assault, sparks flying like a metal shop. Another light, whirling, smashed the blood-gutter’s shell. Norm squinted, unable to make out the figure without his glasses.

“The Menehune usually say, thank you, fat one.”

“Zucchini!” Norm erupted. “I thought I smelled something. And thank you a thousand times.”

“You lost your eyes,” Z’Keni held out his hand.

“Yeah, I lost them up-” Norm stopped. Z’Keni held the glasses close to his face. “Those are my- how did you? You rock, Zuchs. I’d put them on, but I uh…” Norm held up his clamp. Z’Keni smiled and pressed his staff’s crystal against the clamp. It brightened for a second, then popped the restraint open. “Zucchini, you really are awesome! I don’t care what Zalee says about you.”

“Zalee, she needs our help. Now.” Z’Keni handed him his glasses and put them on just in time to witness an army of Menehunes coordinating a counterattack. More tiny men than he could count blinked in and out of the air, striking the raiders from every angle, and flipping the stunned blood gutters onto their backs. They made their way to where Zalee lay, face down.

“Zalee!” Norm gasped when he saw her wound.

She struggled just to turn her head. “Leave me.”

“No way, girl. Sorry.” Norm rolled her to her side.

“I always wanted to say that.” Zalee smiled weakly as they helped her to her feet.

“Dylan has no idea how lucky he is.” Norm said, more than a little proud of Zalee. “Zucchini brought reinforcements.”

“Gotta love home-field advantage,” she said, standing with the help of her staff. “I owe you a debt, Z’Keni.”

“These nothings killed Su’So. My brothers, who did not wish to help, were more willing after- Su’So.”

“Perhaps this will work towards mending old wounds.” Zalee winced in obvious pain.

“Perhaps. You are a sister to the Menehune… always.” Z’Keni smiled before his familiar frown returned. “That way, go now. We must avenge our brother.” He said and bounded back into the Melee.

“C’mon Z, let’s roll.” The Menehune blitzkrieg diverted the rest of the camp’s attention, allowing Norma and Zalee an escape route. They only made it a few steps when the world went cold. The rain, wind, and the air vanished. The hiss, like a jet engine. A billow of smoke blooming into the giant void that was Bane. Zalee and Norm gasped and fell to the ground. The Menehune, Terovians and blood-gutters fell, flailing like fish out of water. Within seconds, all life belonged to it.

“Necromanos flows within me.” The creature wailed, growing, sapping the life from everything near it. “Diobal is upon us… and all will perish in my hate.”