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KALON
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Chapter Fifty-Four: Gita Uluk Vitar
Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant
Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation
Solar System: D-447
Planet: Ora
Location: Planet's surface
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The light is nearly gone, less than an hour remains, and the city is nowhere to be seen. Am I going the right way? Have the stars misled me? No, trust in your training. Doubt will not serve me here. My legs stumble as I pass an embankment of ice, I am almost too weak to stand again. Have faith. Continue. My mind fills with thoughts of the box, there is an ache in my bones to touch it again. Almost like it is calling me. The words written upon it linger in my thoughts. As does the exchange between the beings in my dream. That is all it was though, a dream. The blue-haired woman must have taken it with her. There is another tinge of bitterness as I think about it. She was right to leave me, do not dwell on it.
As I crest the next hill, hope rises and falls in a single moment. I see the city on the horizon. It is so far though, I will not make the journey before the night falls. Not as I am. Even uninjured, I do not think it is possible. Maybe with a sled and a chute with favorable winds. I have neither. A sigh falls from me as I kneel in the snow to catch my breath, wondering if I should still try, I am too far from the ship to walk back, not that it would provide much protection anyway. I will not give up without a fight though, the remnants of my pride will never allow me to admit defeat. Despite reality.
“There you are.” A voice says from behind me.
My eyes blink three times as I turn and see the blue-haired woman. She carries a makeshift backpack, tied together using the remnants of clothes from the man who grumbles no more. His frozen blood flakes off as she adjusts the bag on her shoulder, sprinkling the ice.
“You searched for me?” I ask her, confusion spills onto my brow, though she cannot see it through my mask, nor can I measure her face through hers.
“Why would I leave you?” She asks shaking her head, now grasping my arm and slinging it over her shoulder “Who would abandon a person who has helped them?”
Her words sting without meaning to. Thoughts of Nekam and Nevari abandoning me fill my heart. There are many who would, so many that in my mind the question should be reversed.
“You will not make it to the city before the night comes if you take me.” I say, turning to look at the distance “You should leave me, it is foolish for both of us to perish.”
“We will make it.” She says resolutely. There is a confidence in her voice that was not there when I met her in the market. Something has changed with her. Emboldened her.
My jaw flexes as I feel her carrying more of my weight. Being so helpless makes me feel uneasy. Her pace increases after a few minutes. Dragging me harder as she does. My feet scrape the ground every other step. I cannot keep this pace.
“You must leave me.” I say to her, my head hangs lower “You have done more than enough.”
“I said we will make it.” She protests, dragging me fully now as she increases the pace again.
Twisting my arm off her, I roll to the ground, smashing through the ice. I will not be the reason she dies. I will crawl to the city without her. Regardless of the danger.
“Do not dishonor me by dying in vain.” I say to her, pointing to the city “One can survive, not both.”
“Do not dishonor me by dying.” She says, grabbing me by the coat and pulling me into the air.
She is so strong that she needs only one hand, like I am a child in her palm. Who is this woman, why is she so strong? I do not even feel the Maka swelling in the air, this is her body's strength, I am sure of it.
“Hold on.” She says, flinging me onto her back and gripping both of my arms firmly.
My fractured arm howls in pain, but I bite my lip. Her pace explodes, and the ice cracks as her boots slam until her stride is more of a cantered leap. My eyes do not understand as she moves across the land faster than any person should be able to. Let alone with me upon their back. Sekat, is she some kind of monster? A demon perhaps? Even the Shulka cannot fit this much strength in such a frame as hers. She is nearly as tall as me, her body does not look oversized, it is trim and fit, this much I can see even through her spacesuit. How is it that she can exert such force? My legs dangle in the air as she pulls me. As though the gravity of my world is but a suggestion for her body.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The suns begin to set now, light spilling from the horizon as dusk’s shadow creeps across the land.
“You will not make it!” I yell over the heavy winds “Discard me!”
As all the others have, save Arrum.
She does not respond, somehow, she presses faster still. It is only now that I feel the Maka vibrating in the air. The response is less than it was before though, as though she is unable to draw as much. I see light flickering from her helmet's crack. Blue mixing with red. She is going to go Netheric if she continues.
“You must leave me!” I yell as the guilt rises, who is this woman and why does she give so much for me? Why does she not throw me aside like so many others would? I have given her less than a fraction of what I gave them.
“We both live, or we both die!” she yells back, and her pace pushes faster again. Steam flows from the crack in her helmet.
Her determination stuns me, her willingness to help me more so. If she dies from this, the shame will follow me to the afterlife. If we survive this, I do not know that I can repay such a debt.
“Almost there…” she says, I can barely hear it over the wind.
My eyes behold the great doors of a Kuwathi city in disbelief. We made it, she made it. The twin suns hang on the horizon, and nearly all of their light is gone. The light runs towards us across the land as the shadow engulfs it. She collapses as we arrive at the doors. Sending us both into a tumble. How she managed to get us this far is beyond me. Mustering all of the strength I have, I drag her now to the door's entrance. My hand drops hers as I see the door though, it is marked Ula. Death. A skull is drawn upon it.
“Open it.” She pants, trying to get to her feet.
My eyes trace to the display pad in front, a spear sticks out from it, and a person’s skull hangs from the tip. Hope relinquishes my heart as despair rises. The doors will not open. Shrieks fill the dark of night that fast approaches.
Think. There must be a way to get inside. My eyes trace over to the panel. It is my only hope, the doors are too large to open even for her. My blade finds my palm as I pry the panel off. The insides are charred like someone has fired upon it with an energy weapon.
“There is no time.” She says, stumbling to her feet.
“I will…” I begin.
She grips the edges of the door, and light blossoms through the holes in her garb. I hear the metal groan… impossible. Even with Maka and her strange body… impossible. She manages to get the door open slightly. Collapsing to her knees, she pulls from her pack a rod of metal, stuffing it in the door, so as to pry it. The metal groans again, even though the door's mechanism is not locked, the sheer weight of it. She is stronger than five men, perhaps more. How can someone be so strong yet remain so compact?
Red light storms from the crack in her helmet as she pants against the strain. It is just wide enough for us to fit through. Again she has done the impossible. All while injured. All while exhausted. She is formidable. Of this I am certain. My eyes peel towards the noise of shrieks coming from behind us. How will I close the door, does she have the strength to…
She groans loudly as she heaves the doors closed. A resounding thud as the dust and frost scatter from the doors. This is not the time to be impressed. I must find the locking mechanism and engage it. The woman groans as she plants against the doors, holding them closed. She seems to understand that I must lock it so the Shulka do not follow.
My eyes trace over to the chains and my eyes blink twice, one of the links is broken… she broke it. The metal is still warm to the touch. Looking over at her, my eyes are wide. She could break me with a single hand. I should not cross this woman. Yet, I do not feel wary of her somehow.
Grabbing the bent metal rod she used to pry the door, I place it between the links and jam it into a gear. It will have to do. I do not think the Shulka will be able to open it. Relief washes over me as I put my hand on the large metal chain. Perhaps I am blessed, finding her, helping her, all because of the Sage’s words. Perhaps they were not just the musings of an old man.
“You…” I begin, unsure of how to put it “Gita Uluk Vitar.”
She slides down the door, resting her back.
“What does that mean?” she asks, but her voice is distant and weak. She clutches her side, where she was wounded the night before.
“The translation is rough.” I admit, walking closer to her “But its meaning is something like, Strength greater than a mountain.”
“Is it a compliment?” she asks me, coughing roughly as she laughs weakly.
“Yes,” I reply.
“Well, thank…” she begins, but she does not finish, the cough takes her voice.
Worry rises in me as I move towards her. Kneeling next to her. I can feel the Netheric Maka resonating inside of her. She has pushed past her limits. Sekat. I will have to find her some Etherium.
“I need to rest.” She says, gripping her chest as she coughs louder, rolling to her side on the ground, she looks at me, still I cannot see her face through the mask, nor she mine.
“I will try to find some Etherium,” I say.
She nods, curling her body and focusing on her breathing. Her breath is raspy. I need to be quick. As I look around, my gut turns into knots. There is no one here, no guard as there would be in my city. Only blast marks and imprints of heavy boots on the walkways. What happened here? How can an entire city be so quiet? Surely there is someone here still. Removing my glove to test the air’s temperature, I feel that it is much warmer inside. The network of geothermal pipes must still work then. A good sign.
As I round the corner, my feet stop, and a chilling scene lies before me. Numbers of dead, their bodies decayed in the warmth of the city. Skin sunken and stiff. Looks of horror written across their faces. More inspiration for my nightmares. It will haunt me, I am sure of it. They line the walkways, and each of them has multiple scorch marks from an energy weapon where their heart used to be. Whoever did this, did not want them to turn into Shulka after their death. My hand traces the melted metal of the city's wall, judging from the angle of the shot, there were many who fired. Each of them has different heights. Why would they leave the bodies here? Where are the living?
The city is similar to my own, so I follow along the pathways. There is little light, only the emergency red remains. The main power system must be down. I should go there. Perhaps there are some answers and more importantly, Etherium.