The creature, The Child of Curses, or Apicem, whatever Cai should be calling it, sure seemed to be in a better mood now that he was willing to talk to it. The childlike disguise was currently balancing itself on a hand railing with only one foot, arms spread out to act as counterweights. It was still a strange sight, seeing as how there was no gravity, but Cai had gotten a little used to the Demon’s childish antics, and knew to ignore them for the most part.

His watch was nearing its conclusion. After twelve hours of monitoring various screens and instruments most people would have all but exhausted their concentration, yet Cai felt strangely fit and focused. It was as if his body was on constant high alert, keeping him wide awake as long as the Demon was nearby.

He still felt the telltale signs of fatigue, which were hardly surprising after the restless night he’d had, but the feeling of tiredness was distant and easy to ignore.

Speaking to Apicem was less like a conversation and more like asking questions when he could in hopes of getting a response. The Demon dematerialised every so often, or phased wordlessly into another chamber, or simply became unresponsive. All of which served to turn Cai’s plan to pry information from this Child of Curses into a frustrating ordeal.

Even when the Demon was listening to him it was just as likely to respond with a question of its own, not answering Cai in the process.

Cai had asked about the Demon’s origin, how it had breached the Veil, what its intentions were, and what his own significance was. None of which he had gotten a concrete answer to.

They were blunt and direct questions, especially compared to the Demon’s sharp and insidious tongue, Cai was well aware of that. He intentionally kept his questions as simple as possible, knowing that if he played into the hands of such a manipulative being he would for sure be left in the dust.

Not only that, but Cai was also determined to stay as untainted as possible. If the Demon wished to act cryptic and illusive, he would be to the point and honest in response. That way, he hoped to keep his hands clean of the Demon’s metaphoric stench.

Cai turned his head to face the ancient horror. It had taken on one of its alternative forms, appearing now as a slightly older boy with narrow eyes and black, short hair not unlike Cai’s own. During these transformations the Demon went unresponsive, not speaking and not listening. Cai had already made a mental note of that, and used the downtimes to double-check his instruments.

He checked the EMAS screen and overlaid it with the Nebula’s situational overview. He could see beyond the hull of the ship, allowing him to get a clearer picture of what was happening outside.

Not even five percent of an AU away, the swirling maelstrom that was the Baknian wormhole loomed ahead, lightning forks of sharp purple racing across the baleful sphere’s surface. The artificial wormhole was a little over thirteen-hundred kilometers in diameter, making it as large as a small moon. It was but one of three subspace tunnels, each of them anchored to a planet’s third libration point.

Cai felt a little uneasy with how close the aliens were to him. Close enough that he wouldn’t have time to react even to ballistic weaponry, should they start firing at him from beyond the wormhole..

Not that that would, or could, happen. The wormhole was still incredibly unstable. Voidships, solid munitions, asteroids and even non-exotic particles would be torn asunder by the affront to the fabric of space which drifted through Sindrion’s heliosphere.

That instability wouldn’t last forever, though. In another three days from now –give or take– the energies which now acted so destructively would align, allowing Baknian vessels to cross the distance between their point of origin and Sindrion nearly instantaneously.

It was an effective way of travel, though a not so effective way of invading another system.

In the three previous Baknian incursions, the Runora had had ample time to mobilize, redeploy, and fortify in preparation for the attack they knew was coming. This attempt would be no different. The forty or so watch-vessels stationed around each wormhole were simply there as a precaution, making sure that the Baknian didn’t have any other tricks up their slimy sleeves.

The swirling energies started to sting at Cai’s eyes, even though he only saw it through a camera’s view. There was just something so malevolent and alien about them that Cai couldn’t stand to watch any longer. He shut the situational overview down and redirected his attention to the Demon on the bridge.

By now, Apicem had morphed back, appearing once more as the child Cai had come to expect.

“Why do you do that?” He asked, feigning disinterest.

“Do what?” Apicem responded, then crossed his arms and leaned against Cai’s armrest, peering at the same screens Cai was monitoring.

“Change what you look like, y’know? Turn into a different kid every so often?”

A frown crept over the boy’s face and he tilted his head like a confused puppy. “I do what now?” He asked, then brought one hand to his face and traced it past the contours of his jawbone to check if everything was still in place.

Cai’s eyes narrowed a little in contemplation. Were the transformations an exploitable weakness, perhaps? Or something more insidious? If the Demon truly wasn’t aware they happened, which Cai doubted, it didn’t seem too concerned about them. If anything the boy appeared intrigued by this development. Cai decided to pry a little further.

“You don’t know where you got all those other faces? Because I highly doubt you came up with them yourself.” He asked, looking for even the slightest hints of lies in the creature’s response.

“No clue.” The Child of Curses responded coolly, then sat down on thin air and spread his arms to underscore the statement. “I don’t even know what these different kids look like, much less why I change into them. Your dumb Essence construct doing funky stuff would be my best guess.”

“Yeah, right." Cai scoffed. “Chances are you murdered all those kids yourself.”

“ I did.” A rasping voice came from behind him. “I slaughtered them all.”

The sudden stench of burnt meat and sulfur saturated Cai’s nostrils and he turned around, his stomach turning as he already knew what he would face.

The Demon consisted once more of black, mismatched body parts assembled in a way which roughly matched a boy’s physique. Centipede-like forms studded with spikes wrapped around its body, twitching sporadically and cutting into its non-flesh, shedding yet more of the liquid gold Cai had to assume was the Demon’s blood.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“You… what?” Cai asked, having to put the shock of the Demon’s appearance behind him to be able to interpret its words.

“I killed them, tore them from limb to limb. I was their predator, and they were my prey.” It said, its lips parting to reveal the unnaturally large, cruel grin Cai had seen before.

For the briefest moment, the Demon’s features smoothened out and assumed a different hue, forming yet another child’s face. Another girl, looking up at Cai with her face contorted in pain.

Cai could see the terror in her eyes, the hurt, the helplessness. He realized with a shock that this must have been her in her dying moment, right before Apicem snatched everything away. A sizzling sound arose from the false skin as it started to bubble and boil, melting down into the golden demon-blood to reveal the still grinning face of Apicem underneath.

“You’re sick.” He spat at it, his tolerance for the Demon melting away as quickly as its mask had. “You’re nothing but a remorseless monster. I never should have spoken to you. Even if you kill me, even if you kill my crew, I’m going to call you in.”

He looked away to pull up the vessel’s communication systems and selected an emergency transmission format, expecting Apicem’s claws to tear him asunder at any moment. An amber light blinked on on his armrest and Cai’s finger hovered over it. All he had to do was press that button, and his voice would be broadcast to every listening ear in the Sindrion system. The Demon would be exposed, hunted down, and hopefully destroyed. Whatever its plans might look like, they would be foiled, and the Runora would have the time to prepare if another such incursion happened.

All he had to do was press the button. Press the button and tell his people the Veil had been breached. It would be a more heroic death than Cai could have ever dreamed of.

Yet he hesitated.

He blinked, and the Demon appeared in front of him. Its monstrous form was gone again, and the Child of Curses flashed him a smug smile.

“I know you won’t.” It proclaimed, confidence dripping off its every syllable. “You won’t, because you have more to lose than just yourself.”

“They… they’ll understand…” Cai spoke softly, his outstretched arm trembling slightly. His finger was mere centimeters away from the button, but the little orange stub might as well have been far out of his reach.

“They won’t be given a chance to understand.” Apicem whispered. “They’ll be lynched as soon as word comes out. Who knows how far my corruption has spread? Everyone you know is a liability. A risk the Oracles won’t allow to persist when the entirety of your species is in danger.”

“But… you’ve only just breached the Veil…” Cai tried. “You couldn’t have corrupted my parents, or my neighbors, or Noah…”

“And you are sure of this?” Apicem asked, his face set in mock compassion. “You are blinded by what you think you know. Even if you no longer call yourselves Ruvos, you are easily as arrogant as your ancestors.”

Cai had none. He scarcely understood what was going on or what this fiend was capable of. Whatever he tried to do, it would likely result in a loss for him. His finger twitched, moving a millimeter closer to the button.

“You’re strong, Cai." The Child of Curses said with a surprising softness, gently yet firmly pushing his arm away.

“Your sacrifice would be a waste of potential, and change nothing in the grand scheme of things. You fear me, and you are smart to do so, but my options are limited as long as the Veil stands. I need you as a friend, and to that end I’m willing to help you.”

Cai took a deep breath and shook his head to clear his mind. He didn’t want to believe the Demon. He didn’t want to trust it. But somehow, he still did. There had to be a trick behind that, right? Had his memories been altered, his emotions manipulated?

“Help me how?” He finally asked. “You haven’t exactly been very cooperative so far.”

“Well, I can tell you this. Without my help, you’ll be dead in less than five minutes.” The Child spoke, a mischievous twinkle appearing in his eyes, one which vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.

“Is… is that a threat?” Cai asked, feeling a wave of dread wash over him.

“Nope!” Apicem exclaimed, then broke into a giggle. “I just think you’re doing a really bad job here! You’re supposed to watch out for those Baknian buddies, ain’tcha?”

“And you’re saying I’m not?” Cai asked, taking another look at his screens. They showed nothing unexpected. In the direct vicinity of his ship was only the unstable wormhole, the other watchships, and a small cloud of micrometeorites. Even the infrared blurs he’d seen before had completely resolved.

“Oh wow, you really don’t see them, do you?” The Demon asked, perplexed. “I thought you had some kind of counter-trap set up for them.”

“Set up for who?” Cai asked in confusion, checking his screens again. They were still clear.

“I almost feel bad for spoiling their plans.” Apicem said and stretched his limbs with a yawn. “Those squids are pretty clever. They would have gotten the drop on you if not for me running my mouth. Maybe you should remember that the next time we talk.”

“Wha— wait, where are you going?” Cai asked, his thought processes running aground as he tried to focus on both the threat the Demon had hinted at and the threat of the Demon itself.

“I’m getting tired” The Child responded. “The illusive one won’t leave me alone, so I’m gonna get some rest. I’ll be back in a few hours. Hopefully you’ll still be alive by then.”

With that, the Child of Curses dissolved into a pool of liquid gold and seeped through the floor, leaving Cai completely alone.

He swallowed, then directed his attention to the myriad of consoles and monitors surrounding him. The all-clear signal still persisted, but the empty screens now carried a sense of eeriness with them.

Cai hesitated for a moment longer, then reached for the same dials Apicem had messed with earlier and began manually adjusting the search patterns.

He bit his lip as he broke the situation down, separating the things he knew to be facts from things he could only assume.

“What I know for sure…” He murmured, moving the electromagnetic searchlights of the EMAS across the wormhole in broad sweeps. “I know for sure that the Baknian will attack, and according to Apicem they’ll do so very soon…”

“If I can’t see them so soon before the attack, I won’t see them until it’s too late. Whatever they are doing, they’re doing it well…”

The cogs in his head went into overdrive as he considered a hundred different battle plans the Baknian might have formulated. The wormhole was very well guarded, so even if they managed to stabilize it sooner than expected it would be too risky to try and enter through there.

“They’ve done the same thing… three times in a row…” He muttered, putting his hand to his chin. “Failing every time. So naturally we expect their fourth incursion to be no different, especially because so far everything has gone exactly as we thought it would.”

He clicked his tongue, looking at the purple tear in reality that was the wormhole. A distraction, he now realized.

“Be wary of an incompetent enemy, for incompetence is the ultimate way to hide your true intentions.” He whispered, quoting a passage in the tactical handbook he’d spent years learning from.

Cai reached a decision and punched in an override on his weapons console, loading three fusion bolts into their launchers. With a shuddering thud, the Stiker Nebula hurled the missiles into the void, and Cai watched as they speared away on plumes of plasma.

Nuclear armaments were not nearly as devastating in the vacuum of the void as they were in atmo, but there was a secondary effect to their blast which was often overlooked, even by Cai’s fellow cadets.

A flash of X-rays saturated Cai’s sensors as the first warhead detonated, bouncing off of every object in a considerable range no matter how well hidden they were. The nuke was like a flashlight shone into a dark corner of an abandoned building, revealing all the little critters hiding in the shade.

Cai squinted and lowered the brightness of his monitors, then gasped as he made out shimmering, crude forms on his sensors which definitely weren’t there before.

The Baknian were exposed, and after a brief moment of everyone figuring out what exactly had just happened, the two armadas started firing at each other.