BLINKET. THE ADAPTABLE MAGI. BLINKETS HAVE A UNIQUE QUIRK THAT PREVENTS THEM FROM BONDING MULTIPLE SOULS, LIKE MOST NEXOCITE WEAPONS. RATHER, IT GAINS TEMPORARY, POWERFUL SPELLS AND STATS FROM CONSUMING SOULS. THE SOUL IS BURNT OUT AFTER A SHORT TIME. THIS, PAIRED WITH THEIR INNATE ESCAPE ABILITIES, CAN MAKE THEM AN UNPREDICTABLE AND UNSTOPPABLE FORCE OF DESTRUCTION. HOWEVER, THEIR DOCILE NATURE MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO TRAIN FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE.
As I held Stella, parsing the information, King tried to lick her. But, as his Stella-sized tongue lashed out to slobber on the new hatchling, she squeaked, and closed her eyes. Then she was gone with a little pop. Panic seized me. “Where’d she go?”
Luke, stood up and spun around like a top. Horrified, he rushed to the turtle shell over the fire. He let out a relieved sigh. There was a clatter. Stella was dangling from Lukes net, hanging on with tiny hands. She looked scared. Suddenly, she slipped. I dove to catch her, and she popped away again. I slammed into the tools with a clatter. I turned just in time to see Stella appear above Balors hands, who was also moving to catch her. She landed in his open palms. This startled Balor, and he screeched in surprise, throwing the Blinket into the air. Balor then screeched in alarm and horror at what he just did.
Stella gave a tiny scream as she flew. She blinked again. Her momentum was preserved and she continued to fly through the air, screaming. Repeating the same movement, tumbling out of control. King was not helping, barking and getting in peoples ways as we tried to catch her. She blinked a second time in air, this time her momentum slowing enough for me to jump and catch her like a football. Carefully, I opened my hands, cradling her like the fragile little creature she was. She was panting in fear, looking around wildly. “Shh… its ok girl. I’ve got you.”
Luke looked as stressed as I felt. “How do you know she's a girl?” he snapped.
“I don’t know. Vibe? I don’t think the nexos have a gender. Her egg was from a plant.”
“Nexo?” We both slumped back down.
“Sure, why not? I don’t really feel comfortable calling them weapons.” Luke shrugged.
“So… is she already bonded to you? She seems to relax in your hands.”
“Yeah, the thing said it was a 100% bond. Which SOME OF US need to work on.” I gave a pointed look at Balor, who huffed. Our bond had been steadily increasing. It had doubled since I bonded him, now sitting at 30%. King and Is bond was stalling around 87%.
“Where did you get that soul, by the way? If we can get more, and another egg, it would be a lot safer than trying to bond a wild one.”
“King had it. I don’t know where he got it. Besides, I don’t really want to hike all the way back to the skelky tree to get more.”
With that, we wound down for the night. Stella wouldn't leave my side. The one time I put her down she immediately climbed into my lap. Luke had a comfortable looking bed set up, but it was only big enough for one. As the fire crackled softly, I lay back, feeling a rare warmth settle over me. Stella curled up in my arms, her tiny breaths tickling my hand, while King laid his massive head across my legs, his eyes half-closed. Even Balor settled a short distance away, keeping his customary watch. I just met Luke, but the presence of another human was a comfort. For the first time in days, I felt almost... at home.
When I woke up, Stella was gone from my arms. I panicked for a moment, before spotting her across the cave, pinned under King's massive paws. His tongue was lolling out, leaving her fur soaked and matted. Stella’s expression was a mix of annoyed and resigned—until she blinked again, appearing directly on my face. She squeaked happily, nuzzling my cheek, while King bounded over for his morning licks, not about to be left out.
“Morning.” Luke said as he came into the room. I grunted in greeting. He went to inspect his tool wall. There was something we needed to talk about. I couldn’t put it off.
“Luke.” I said, gently.
“So, we have a few options for a weapon.”
“Luke.” I said more firmly. He made a strangled sound, and grabbed the back of his head.
“Ugh, I know that tone. Do we have to? Let’s just… go. Right? I am really not fond of heavy conversation.” He didn’t think alien gods was heavy conversation?
“Yeah, We have to. We have to know where we stand.” I stood at my full height, and crossed my arms.
“Fine,” he relented, “Say what you have to say.” He looked at me, and had a pained look on his face. He REALLY didn’t like confrontation. That… wasn’t a good trait to have out here.
“Look, we have mutual… friends. That’s great, it is. But, we don’t know eachother. There are at least three other people out there. Maybe.”
“Get to it, Kae. Can I call you Kae, yeah I’m gonna call you Kae. What’s the issue.” Fine, he didn’t want to tiptoe around it. Best say it straight out.
“Are we a team? I need to know if I can count on you, and you need to know if you can trust me. I know you’ve spent most of your time here in the cave. It is NUTS out there. Neither of us can afford a half-assed alliance.” Luke hesitated.
“Yeah, man. Of course we are going to team up. We can’t go at this alone forever. Well, I can’t.” He glimpsed at Balor, who has not yet to look at him with anything but hostility. “So, are we good?”
“Not yet. I need to understand what you want. Survival, sure. That’s a given. But last nights conversation… you sounded like you had a plan.” Luke deflated, and took a seat on the floor. We sat there in silence for a while.
“I… get carried away sometimes. My mind races and races. Connecting dots and solving puzzles others didn’t even know were there.” He smiled sheepishly. “Humble, I know. Thing is, I can’t not see all the webs that connect everything. Hidden in the shadows of social networks is this shadow web of conspiracies, greed, corruption… I can’t help but see it.” I sat down as well. “I had to do something about it. I found out about this nexocite by chance. Immediately, I knew someone had to stop the bad guys from getting it. Childish, maybe naive. I know. But, no one else knew about this stuff. So I made sure I could get here, at the center. Kae, I can’t let this stuff get into the wrong hands. That’s what I want. And like an idiot I threw myself here with half a plan, and its already fucked.” He lifted the stump of his missing arm.
I absorbed what he said. “So, you… what, want to destroy this place?”
“What? Hell no. Man, look at your nexos. King, Stella, even Balor. They are amazing. They deserve to live like anyone else. I just… want to cut it off from the universe. Or maybe destroy whatever lets us control them. I don’t know, but I need to do it before it gets out of control.” I was satisfied. This guy was crazy, no doubt about that. But, there was a sincerity in what he said. “Ok, I spilled. Your turn. What do YOU want, aside from, you know, not being torn in pieces.”
I took a deep breath. I’ve been thinking of this a lot. “Every man in my home village is either dead or was imprisoned for treason. Our only crime was being too poor to afford our protection fee. When they attacked, we fought back. What else could we do? We only wanted to be left alone and to live.” Stella had hoped onto my lap. I scratched her behind an ear. “What I want… What I NEED… is to tear down those responsible. For now, I want to figure this shit out. Baby steps.” Luke listened in silence, nodding.
“Fuck yeah, dude. I’m with you. Screw those guys.” He stood up. “So, are we working together?”
“Yeah. Let’s figure this out, cut them off, and fuck them up.” I stood and reached out a hand, holding stella in my other. Luke grasped it. Surprisingly, Balor threw a hand atop ours. We both looked at him, shocked. Balor huffed air, then walked away as though we annoyed him.
“Fuck YEAH, Dude. Hey, what happened to his eye. I thought it was natural… but the balance is all off.” We broke our grasp. King stood next to me, protectively, pointed at Luke like an arrow.
“I stabbed it out with a knife.” I said, distracted. I glanced at Balor, surprised. He’d been hostile to Luke this whole time—now he was acting like a part of the team. Was he just mimicking us, or did he really understand what was going on? I realized, maybe for the first time, that Balor was more complex than I’d thought. This gesture… did Balor have a goal of his own? I wished I could talk to him.
We briefly discussed how to get Luke a weapon. There were a few options ahead of us. We could try to make it back to the jungle, which I was most familiar with. There was also a beach not far from here where Luke gathers fish, he mentioned there is always a monster or two there, along with the remnants of them fighting. We could simply wander, see what there is to see. Another thing that bothered me was the soul gem. Where HAD King got it? I scratched behind his dome and asked, “Hey bud, do you think you can take us to where you got that gem?” He barked happily and wagged his tail. Well, lets start there.
Before we left, I decided it would be best to prepare as much as possible. While Luke was packing some supplies, the healing sprays and some essentials, I approached.
“Hey, Luke. Those blade things… can I use them?”
“Sure. I got those from the beach. Feel free.”
I approached Balor. “Balor, can I borrow your broken spear?” He held the two halves to his chest and screeched. “I promise I will give them back, but better.” Hesitantly, he handed the sticks over. I set to work. Using Lukes tools, I started to work the blades into the stick halves. As I worked, Stella and King ended up playing. At first, she was alarmed by the large beast, but after a moment her pips of fear became excited chirps. He chased her in the small rooms, clumsily. Occasionally she would pop across the room. Luke was fussing with his metal plates, tools, and anything else the two knocked over. Even Balor was hovering around, worriedly following the two. I suppressed a laugh, he looked like a worried mother hen. It reminded me of the chaotic mornings back home, with all my siblings crowding around the kitchen table. I thought I’d lost that forever. But now, as I watched King, Balor, Stella, and now Luke, I realized I’d found something almost as precious—something worth fighting for. Suddenly, I realized I had a big grin on my face.
Soon, I had finished my project. It didn’t take too long.
“Balor, here.”
I tossed him the weapons. Two of them. I tied the blades to the sticks, sticks acting as handles. It was awkward making them straight, so I fashioned them in sickle like shapes. He grunted and then swung them, testing their weight. His satisfaction was apparent by him holding them close to his chest. The third blade I made for myself. I didn’t have a handle for it. So, using the hatchet I, with effort, punched a hole through it, wrapped it in some cloth from my tattered shirt, and tightened it with more cord. The effect was like a small, oddly balanced sword. But it was something. I tried to offer it to Luke, who turned it down.
I could smell rain. I glanced out of the cave, into the darkening sky. This moment of peace wouldn’t last. There was too much out there waiting for us—too many threats, too many unknowns. If we were going to survive, we’d need every bit of strength we could muster.