PART 1

Yvlana sliced Thrak left and right, cutting them in two. A constant horde flowed over the walls and into Riqun. With her brother to her left, they slaughtered the aliens by the dozens. Their armor sustained numerous blows but the shields held out.

F.S.A.P. suits held a charge of shield surrounding them, protecting against any and all projectiles or blows. Once the energy shield failed, their frostrium steel plating could not be penetrated by any known weapon. However, if they became overwhelmed, the Thrak could tear the armor pieces off which looked to be the case soon.

Lamir, her brother plowed through the Thrak like a monster on a mission, his large bulky frame was more than a match for the aliens. It was always a comfort to have him by her side.

Suddenly, the male Thrak lifted their backs at them and shot tiny spines from their backs, peppering her shield with tiny bone projectiles. It did little damage but her shield took a bit of damage.

“They have spikes now!” Yvlana yelled to Lamir.

Yvlana switched to using one hand and pulled her L.E.C. pistol from her hip, whipping it out and blasting Thrak from afar. She tried to keep them from pouring over the walls, which was little help but managed to slow some down. After three thousand years, the male Thrak had developed the ability to shoot spikes, which was previously limited to only the females.

“How are you doing?” she whispered in her com-link.

“I can do this all day!” Lamir responded with vigor.

Each shot from her L.E.C. pistol nearly disintegrated the small creatures, however, the power level was quickly draining. She would need to recharge it soon.

The steady flow of Thrak abated and it took them too long to notice as they fought off a dozen or so still on the wall with them. Yvlana glanced down to the main wall where hundreds of Thrak waited, unmoving. A sliver of fear crept down her spine, “What are they doing?” she thought.

Then she saw it, her eyes widened, “Lamir! It’s a female!”

It was too late, Lamir had no time to react as he was still focused on two Thrak before him. Yvlana shot a full charge at the female but it wasn’t in time. It raised it’s back legs and shot six spikes from her back, flying straight for Lamir.

Lamir managed to get both arms up in time to block two spikes and two missed, however, the other two landed squarely on his lower body sending him flying. He slammed into the wall behind him, the force of the impact cracked the stone and embedded him a foot into the rock. Bits of stone crumbled around him, but he wasn’t moving. The spikes were thin shafts of bone produced from the backs of Thrak and these were as long as her arm. Lamir had blocked two with his arms, deflecting them upward, shattering them to a million pieces above him, whereas the other two spikes hit his stomach and splintered and embedded into his armor plating.

Yvlana ripped her attention from her brother, forcing herself to focus on the threat. She had landed her shot but a dozen more females poured over the walls. Taking aim, they lifted their hind legs into the air and lowered their heads, and released a volley of deadly projectiles. She flew to the ground and behind the stone as the bones peppered the stone above her. Their focus on her gave Lamir a moment to recover and he pushed off the crumbling wall and knelt down.

“That’s new.” Lamir slid to the ground beside her. “They’ve grown much stronger the last time we fought them.”

Yvlana glanced at her brother, noticing his shields were nearly depleted, “It HAS been three thousand years. They’ve evolved. Just like last time.”

“Any ideas?” Lamir asked as spikes continued to shatter against stone spraying them with bits of bone. “The females are much bigger now too.”

“My pistol is out of energy.” Yvlana flinched as more projectiles cut away at the wall they hid behind.

“Those spikes will tear through this wall in no time,” Lamir shouted over the noise. “And my shields are low from a direct hit like that.” he pulled the two bits of Thrak bone from his stomach, thankfully his armor had taken little damage, his shield taking the brunt of the impact.

Normally, their suits could hold out from shots like that for hours, but enough time had passed and the Thrak had slowly evolved into much more of a danger than previously. Their females had developed a much stronger bone, it seemed, and the speed at which they could replace their spikes was incredible. Bone constantly slid out from their bodies like spines, giving them more ammunition.

“We can’t fight them like this,” Yvlana yelled. “We have to retreat with the humans.”

“Agreed! But they need more time.” Lamir barked, the crackling of bone shattering constantly made it hard to hear. “I’ve still got my L.E.C. pistol. I’ll pick some of them off.”

Lamir pulled his L.E.C. stem from his hip and activated his weapon. As it unfolded, he poked his head over the wall and took two shots then ducked again. “Got one.” he sounded happy.

“Mine needs ten minutes to charge,” Yvlana reported. “We can’t hold out like this much longer.”

Taking a deep breath, Lamir jumped up and took three quick precise shots but was grazed by a spike in the process making him miss his third shot. “Two more down,” he announced. “Ten million to go.” from his tone, Yvlana knew he was smirking and enjoying the thrill.

Yvlana took a peek of her own and saw dozens more from previously, “Yeah… I don’t think we’re making progress.” she joked. “We can’t stay here.”

“No.” Lamir protested. “The humans will die if we do. They still need more time.”

Yvlana groaned inwardly, “We should save ourselves.” she thought. “I can’t find Kaladin without Erik and Henry though.”

Before they came out of the castle to help fight, Erik had told them they could flee through the mountain and escape from the opposite side. The plan was sound but the Thrak would catch up to them quickly. That is when an older man had slammed on the door, which was opened to him and he devised a plan to escape with horses. According to him, he called himself Trygve, there were hundreds of horses based behind the mountains for this very occasion. All they needed to do was hold off the attack for them to get a head start from the Thrak.

“Let's split up,” Lamir suggested. “You draw their fire while I take out the females.”

“On it.” Yvlana already began to crawl away.

Before she could draw their fire, however, Yvlana noticed the doors to the castle open, “No! She yelled. “Go back!”

A dozen human soldiers burst from the door carrying thin wooden tables over their heads. At first, she thought they would die immediately but quickly realized the wooden tables were lined with large metal shields over the wood. “Smart.” she thought. “But foolish.”

The Thrak focused their attention on the humans however and spikes slipped through the small cracks slamming into the frail bodies. Two soldiers were hit and the bone flung them backward pinning them to the walls. This didn’t stop them however, each soldier pushed forward with more shields and tilted them at an angle so the spikes bounced off rather than taking a direct hit.

Taking the opportunity, Yvlana leapt down a flight of steps and rushed the Thrak on the lower walls, where she confronted them with her Frostrium steel sword. Cutting through five aliens with one swipe, she kicked another to its death over the cliff. To her right was a plunge where nothing could survive from that height, and below that was the ocean. Ducking under claws, Yvlana bent below the swing and swung her feet, knocking the Thrak into the air as their feet slid out from under them. Reaching two female Thrak, she boosted off the ground and came crashing on top of them, cutting one in half and pushing the other in the face. The blow shattered its skull, crushing its jaw inward and flinging it over the wall into the oncoming horde.

It looked like a dance as she bobbed and weaved through the Thrak like a cat, unable to be touched. Not one attack hit her, she was too fast for them, her F.S.A.P. suit boosting her strength and speed.

Lamir blasted three more females in front of her but realized he had run out of energy in his L.E.C. pistol. She quickly backed away as more females charged up the wall. Two shot at her and she flipped into the air spinning her body, dodging each spike then landed gracefully. Sprinting back up the stairs she saw the humans had brought out archers and they fired at the mass of aliens crawling everywhere.

They stood behind the wall of shields, arrows carefully placed behind them by squires. Four shield men stood to either side of the archers, protecting them from any attack but fortunately for them, Lamir was holding off one side singlehanded, whereas Yvlana was forced to retreat.

“Back inside!” she yelled. “Lamir!” she addressed him over her com-link. “There’s too many, more females are coming.”

She saw him glance to the wall and he killed three more Thrak, then retreated up the stairs, staying in front of the shield men.

The archers retreated the instant she ordered but the soldiers stood their ground waiting for them.

“Go!” she ordered.

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With that, they broke formation and backed inside the door. The shields blocking the spikes were starting to break and Lamir ducked under them anyway. Bone ricocheted off the shields and spattered against the walls above them. Some would pierce the shields, embedded themselves through the steel and through the wood. One almost poked Lamir in the head but was stopped an inch from his helmet as it was stopped by the barricade.

“I assume they have had time to retreat?” Lamir asked.

“I don’t know but this is hopeless. Two of us can’t take that many by ourselves.” Yvlana spoke loudly. The banging and clanging of metal rung like bells. “If we had come sooner, perhaps this battle would have had a different outcome.”

“Let's go then.” Lamir shrugged. “The castle will hold them off for a while and the doors will bar their way giving us time enough to escape.”

Yvlana hesitated, glancing around the shields and saw the males were preparing for an attack as the female spikes didn’t seem to be working.

“After you.” Lamir gestured to the door.

“Always the gentleman.” she chuckled.

Lamir followed behind her and slammed the doors shut. Immediately the four soldiers started stacking tables and furniture in front of the door. One quickly slid a metal bar between the handles, keeping it from being pulled open.

“Where is the way out?” Yvlana asked.

“This way!” a tall man said with dark hair.

He was one of the soldiers they had saved on arrival. He looked to be in charge, though he looked different from the rest of the humans. Paler skin, similar to Erik.

“Lead the way,” she said as if it weren’t urgent.

The four soldiers took the lead as the archers had already fled. The tall man took up the rear after Yvland and Lamir.

“What’s your name?” Yvlana asked casually.

“This isn’t really the time,” Lamir spoke into her com-link.

“Kyburn.” he replied, his breathing uneven as they ran down hallway after hallway.

“Thank you Kyburn for holding off as long as you did.” Lamir complemented. “And those shields with the tables. Was that your idea?”

“As a matter of fact, it was.” Kyburn huffed. “To be honest I’m still in quite a shock at seeing you two. Not to mention the army of Thrak outside.”

“What happened to your hand?” Yvlana looked at his bandaged fingers.

“That’ll be a story for another time.” Kyburn turned the corner behind them. “Everyone is already underway. Most of the troops have started riding hard for Unari. Our best hope is to get behind the walls of Xer.”

“Are there more humans in these lands?” Lamir asked.

“Yes. But anyone south of Yidor is being instructed to retreat to Dragonhead Pass,” he informed them.

Yvlana hadn’t the slightest idea where that was but continued to jog behind the four humans. They were slow but she needed them to get them back to the caves. Any thought to rush ahead and leave them behind was squashed as she knew Lamir would protest at the idea.

Finally, after four minutes and several pauses to secure more metal doors behind them, they reached the cave entrance.

“Does anyone have a bag?” Lamir randomly asked.

The humans looked at him, flabbergasted. “Back in the castle.”

Lamir cursed under his breath then swerved to the side. “Go on ahead.” he sprinted past them, turning into the bunker instead of going for the exit.

They hesitated at the door but Yvlana waved them along, however, the human, Kyburn, remained at the door with her.

“You should go,” she said to him. “You’ll only slow us down once we leave.”

“You’ll need me to get out of here.” he countered.

She struggled and walked toward where Lamir was shouting to Pilgrim.

“Pilgrim!” Lamir shouted. “Open the armory door. Now!”

A large panel lid from the wall, revealing rows of small cylinder metal pierces. Some were different shapes and sizes but Yvlana rolled her eyes at his one-track mind but realized the necessity as well.

Reaching him she grabbed several of the sticks, as many as she could hold as Lamir did the same.

“Human,” Yvlana shouted.

“Carry these.” Lamir tossed them to him.

“What are these?” Kyburn asked, perplexed. “Do we really have time for this?” he stumbled with four in one hand and dropped the next one that was thrown at him.

“Weapons,” he said, still tossing several more.

“Would you like something to carry your equipment?” Pilgrim asked.

“Yes!” Lamir pounced on the idea. “Why didn’t I ask her?” he questioned himself aloud.

Another small panel slid from the wall revealing a large bag covered in tiny slivers of metal, protecting its contents from fall damage.

“Pilgrim.” Yvlana addressed the A.I. “Once we leave, commence protocol #90-67.”

“Confirmed.” Pilgrim chimed. “Initiating lockdown protocol. Have a safe journey.”

“Kyburn?” another human came running back around the corner to see them, “We go now!”

Lamir snatched the bag from the wall and stuffed every L.E.C. pistol into it. Grabbing the ones Kyburn held, he whipped it onto his shoulder, “Let's go.”

“Who is he?” Yvlana pointed her chin at the dark-skinned man.

Kyburn trailed behind them as they ran, directing them down to the right as the door to the bunker closed behind them.

“This way.” the human pointed.

“That would be Hazam,” Kyburn mumbled as he followed.

After several minutes of running, they reached the exit to the cave, Kyburn lagging behind, heaving and out of breath.

Dozens of riders rode off in the distance but about ten humans waited for them. Three of which were, Erik, Henry, and Trygve. “Why are you waiting?” Yvlana looked annoyed.

“We aren’t going to leave Kyburn behind.” Henry bounced back. “Here sir, a horse ready and waiting for you.” he gestured to the horse at his side.

“Um, can you two ride horses?” Trygve stuttered.

They were easily a foot and a half taller than the tallest man, Lamir standing nine feet tall, whereas Yvlana stood at eight. Their towering forms loomed over the horses and she shrugged.

“Your animals are too small for Emarine.” Yvlana said.

“Do not worry,” Lamir interjected. “We can run.”

“Faster than your animals too.” Yvlana bragged. “We don’t need your horses.”

Erik and Kyburn squinted in annoyance at her tone but ignored her. Kyburn jumped up beside Henry, grabbing the reins from the boy.

“We will follow you,” Lamir said.

“We head for Unari then,” Trygve said. “I hope King Xerath gets my letter in time.”

PART 2

Yvlana ran alongside the humans through the country, glancing behind her often as she suspected the Thrak would be on their trail sooner rather than later.

Lamir glanced at her, he too was worried the Thrak army would be following close behind them. Their pace was mediocre but Trygve insisted it was as fast as the horses could go without killing themselves. If the horses dropped dead from exhaustion then so would they if the aliens caught them.

Either way, it annoyed Yvlana, traveling at such a slow pace. Humans had to rely on beasts for simple travel. Their technology was primitive at best. The humans used to be as advanced as the Emarine but here they were, back to the stone age. Her resentment for the lesser beings could be seen from her face but she tried to hide her dislike for them in vain.

Erik and Kyburn were sharp, not much would go unnoticed by them. However, the boy wasn't catching on as well from her attitude. “I better play nice.” she thought. “I won’t be able to find Kaladin if I don’t. As if Lamir was reading her mind, he spoke to her over their com-link once again.

“Sister. You need to keep your anger in check. It is showing too much.” her brother said. “I know you don’t like humans but they did help us. And they fought a Thrak army with mere bows and arrows. That is impressive.”

“I know,” she mumbled. “They lost though.”

“So did we.” Lamir pointed out. “The Thrak have adapted after the blast. They are growing stronger. Who knows what else they can do now that three thousand years have passed.”

“Did you see the males?” Yvlana asked. “They can shoot spikes as the females could back then. Eventually, they will be strong enough to cut through our armor, let alone our shields.”

“My guess it will be some time before the males are as strong as the females were today,” he said. “Though it is troublesome to see they are adapting to our tech.”

“Our Frostrium blades still work just fine.” she smiled behind her helmet. “I was thinking.”

“What is it?”

“That shield wall the humans used. If we could mine more Frostrium steel we could have any bunker forge us shields of our own,” she said over the com. “You are right, our tech is outdated.”

“Our weapons are less effective against them as well.” her brother commented. “Their skin has changed too. It’s more resistant to laser energy.”

They jogged on, keeping pace with the horses, their private conversation continued as they looked across the land.

“This place is barren. It used to be lush and full of life.” Lamir sounded broody. “What happened to the wildlife?”

“A bomb will do that sometimes.” she joked. “What did you expect?”

“I don’t know. I guess I hoped we would have rid the Thrak of this planet and saved the surface but…” he trailed off. “Everything we sacrificed…”

“I know.” Yvlana felt ill at the idea too. “We did what we could with the resources we had.”

“They are relentless.” Lamir shook his head. “Sucking the life out of each planet. I wonder why this Isulia is still alive after all these years.”

“Maybe they went into hibernation after the blast.” she guessed. “Who knows. The only thing that matters to me now is getting Kaladin back and getting off this planet.”

“What about the humans?” Lamir asked.

“What about them?”

“You would leave them to die?” her brother asked.

“I don’t care. As long as I have you and Kaladin.” Yvlana frowned, unsure if she believed her own words. “They’ve lived this long. They can survive without us.”

“Perhaps.” Lamir shook his head again. “But we don’t have a ship and we lost communication with the other colonies. How do you think we can leave this place? And why would we?”

Yvlana didn’t answer her brother, he made good points. Points she didn’t like to think about or wish to review.

“Is that the wall?” Yvlana pointed. This time addressing the humans.

“That is the Xerian border, yes,” Kyburn shouted over the galloping horses.

“Will he let us in?” Trygve asked him. “After all these years of silence and contempt, I’m not sure if Xerath will look kindly upon another nation flocking to his borders.”

“If you don’t, all your people will be hunted down and slaughtered,” Lamir said.

“Well… that is a pleasant thought,” Trygve said sarcastically.

“I think we have another problem!” Henry yelled over them. “Look!”

All heads turned, immediately turning into stunned and worried faces. A massive army of Thrak was following them. As far as the eye could see. Yvlana stopped for a moment, taking in the sight, fear crept to the back of her mind. “I have to see him again before I die.” she thought. “This can’t really be the end.”

“That is a problem,” Lamir mumbled, standing next to her. “If we can get to that wall, and with the humans' help, we can defend ourselves.”

“I hope you're right,” Yvlana whispered. “Cause if you aren’t… we’re all dead.”