PART 1
The battle of Riqun raged on.
Tearing her gaze from Lamir, Yvlana whipped around in time to catch a Thrak lunging at her. Catching it by the throat, she stared down the gaping mouth, its skin around its head stretched open, trying to bite at her helmet. Its long claws swiped at her armor but it bounced off her energy shield harmlessly.
Squeezing, Yvlana crushed its throat and it writhed a moment longer before dying in her hand. Flinging the dead body to the ground she readied herself for more as they rushed her from all sides.
Yvlana sliced Thrak left and right, cutting them down like flies. A constant horde flowed over the walls into Riqun. With her brother to her left, they slaughtered the aliens by the dozens. Their armor sustained numerous blows but their shields held out.
F.S.A.P. suits held a charge of energy shield, protecting against any and all projectiles or melee. If their shields depleted their frostrium armor could withstand an incredible amount of beating before breaking.
Lamir 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. His brute strength and skill worked well with her style.
Yvlana preferred to dance around her enemies whereas Lamir attacked head-on. It also helped that these Thrak were less evolved than the ones on Votis. The Thrak on their homeworld were far stronger and faster. Here on Isulia, they seemed small and frail. Their skin wasn’t coated in black armor hides like the ones they were used to fighting.
It was a good thing too. If they were evolved, this fight would already be over.
As if on cue, several male Thrak lowered their heads, bending to the ground. Tiny spines shot at her from their backs, peppering her armor plating and nano-gel suit with tiny bone projectiles. It didn’t damage the frostrium steel but they punctured her shield and nano suit, deep enough to poke her skin. They felt like needles piercing her, drawing tiny droplets of blood. Her suit quickly disposed of the bone projectiles. With wounds of such insignificance, her suit was also able to heal her almost instantly.
What surprised Yvlana the most, however, was that the projectiles went straight through her energy shields.
“That’s new.” she thought.
Maybe Isulia caused them to evolve in a different direction due to their environment. Whatever the case, the Thrak had surprised her with that and now she wondered what else they had up their sleeves.
“They have spikes now!” Yvlana yelled to Lamir. “From their backs. Our shields have no effect against them. Be careful.”
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, but only managed to slow them down.
After three thousand years, she wasn’t surprised the Thrak had evolved in different ways. The male Thrak had developed the ability to shoot spikes. This made her worried. If the males could do it, then the females most certainly could too but at a much greater level.
“How are you doing?” she breathed heavily through her com-link. “I haven’t seen any females yet, have you?”
“I can do this all day!” Lamir responded with vigor. “These Thrak are weak compared to the ones we normally fight. But no, I haven’t seen one.”
From the tone in his voice, Yvlana could tell he was smiling behind that helmet. He always did enjoy fighting.
Sliding to the side, Yvlana cut upward, severing a Thrak in two, and immediately mimicked the same action. Dodging the other way, Yvlana rolled and crashed into the stone wall, doing her best to keep them at a distance.
Raising her L.E.C. pistol, she shot two quick blasts, instantly killing them and brought her sword up, and cut the head off of another.
Each shot from her L.E.C. pistol disintegrated the small males, but the power level was quickly draining. It needed to recharge soon. The L.E.C. was a prototype model, which came with perks and disadvantages. The benefit, unlimited ammo. The drawback, it had a limited amount of energy before needing to recharge. Given the time, the power banks within the gun itself would so on its own.
A surge of Thrak leapt at Lamir and Yvlana covered his flank. He fought like a madman, intensifying his onslaught of aliens. Before she knew it, something else had changed, but she couldn’t put a finger on it.
The steady flow of Thrak abated and it took her 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! The females!”
It was too late, Lamir had no time to react as he was still focused on several Thrak before him. Three female Thrak crawled silently on the outer wall and lowered their heads at Lamir. They raised their hind legs to shoot. Yvlana shot three bolts of energy and her aim was true but the last shot hit its mark a moment after the female fired. Six spikes shot through the air, heading straight for her brother.
An instant before they hit, Lamir jerked to the side, trying to dodge them.
He managed to get both arms up in time to block two spikes and two missed, however, the other two landed squarely on his stomach, sending him flying. He slammed into the wall behind him, the force of the impact cracked the stone and his body was embedded 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 but unlike the males, these were as long as her arm.
His shield absorbed the impact against the wall but hadn’t deflected the bones. Somehow, the projectiles could get through their shields, which posed an even greater threat to them, now that females had arrived. There were numerous areas on their body that weren't protected by the steel.
The nano gel that was their interior armor did much to protect them from normal blows but Yvlana knew if they had hit Lamir where his armor wasn’t, she could have been looking at a dead brother rather than a momentarily stunned one.
Yvlana ripped her attention from her brother, forcing herself to focus on the threat. 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 lunged to the ground and behind cover 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.
“Well, that’s new.” Lamir mirrored her same thought from earlier. Sliding to the ground beside her, he coughed and felt his stomach, which would be bruised and perhaps ruptured an organ or two. “I’ve never fought Thrak like that.”
“I know. I don’t think anyone has.” she took a peek over the ledge and saw another volley of bones spray toward them. “Are you okay?” she shouted over the noise of hundreds of bones shattering overhead.
Yvlana glanced at her brother, noticing his shields were depleted. “It HAS been three thousand years. They’ve evolved into something different this time. Just like before.”
“Any ideas?” Lamir asked as spikes continued to shatter against stone spraying them with bits of bone. “The females are a bit smaller but those spikes pack a hell of a punch.”
“I saw.” Yvlana flinched as more projectiles cut away at the wall they hid behind. “My pistol is out of energy.”
“Those spikes will tear through this wall in no time,” Lamir shouted over the noise. “And my shields are down from a direct hit like that.” He pulled the two bits of Thrak bone from his stomach, thankfully his armor had taken little damage, the frostrium steel still as strong as ever.
“Our shields don’t stop those bone spikes,” Lamir commented. “I’m sure you noticed that already.”
“I did. We’ll just have to rely on our suits to deal with the damage.” Yvlana bit her lip. “We can’t fight like this. We need to get in close.”
The Thrak on Votis started to seem like a better choice all of a sudden. At least they could face their enemy head-on. Enough time had passed and the Thrak had slowly changed into more ranged attackers rather than up close killing machines they were accustomed to. But one thing hadn’t changed, the females controlled the battle and sent the males in as cannon fodder.
She couldn’t help from being impressed at the speed at which they could replace their spikes. It was incredible. Bone constantly slid out from their bodies like the animals on earth. Porcupines, they had called them. It seemed they had unlimited ammunition, however.
“We’re sitting ducks,” Yvlana yelled. “We have to retreat with the humans.”
“Agreed! But they need more time.” Lamir barked, the cracking 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 a few minutes to recharge,” 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.” he chuckled at his own joke.
The severity of the situation was drowned out, however, as growls and screeching told them the males were eager to jump back into the fight. That was one blessing out of all this, the males couldn’t attack as long as the females kept shooting.
Yvlana took a peek of her own and saw dozens more had joined the firing line. “Yeah… I think we’re making progress,” she said sarcastically. “We can’t stay here. Getting into those small hallways will be our best bet now.”
“No.” Lamir protested. “The humans will die if we do. They still need more time.”
Yvlana groaned inwardly, “We should save ourselves.” she thought. Without Erik or Henry, she knew finding Kaladin would be a taxing one. Maybe saving the humans was their best option.
Though she had doubted it from the start, Lamir was set on helping them and they needed time to escape through the tunnels in the caves.
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, 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 thick 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 though, each soldier pushed forward with more shields and tilted them at an angle so the spikes bounced off rather than taking a direct hit.
Their determination and bravery momentarily caught her off guard. “Perhaps not all humans are cowards.” she thought.
Taking the opportunity that the humans provided, 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, kicking its legs out from under them. She knocked Thrak into the air. Reaching two females, she boosted off the ground and came crashing on top of them, cutting one in half and punching the other in the face. The blow shattered its skull, crushing its jaw inward and flinging it over the wall into the oncoming horde.
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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, in reach. Four shield men stood to either side of the archers, protecting them from any attack but fortunately for them, Lamir was holding off the left 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.
Out of nowhere, a volley of bones sprayed toward Lamir and the soldiers. Two of them ducked under their shields but the others weren’t fast enough. Her brother leapt in front of the incoming attack and blocked the shots from killing the humans.
As he was hit, his body was flung into them and they all crashed against the wall.
For an instant, her heart stopped, fear for her brother overtaking her for a single moment. Blessedly, he hopped up, quickly carrying two men in his arms, and charged up the stairs away from the Thrak. The others trailed behind him.
The archers retreated the instant she ordered but the shieldmen stood their ground hesitating as the Emarine before them, barked commands.
“Go!” she ordered.
With that, they broke formation and backed inside the door. The shields blocking the spikes were starting to break and Lamir ducked under them, dropping two bodies to the ground.
They were still alive but severely wounded. The humans quickly yanked them inside, staying low to the ground. Bone ricocheted off the shields and spattered against the walls above them. Some pierced into the shields, embedding themselves through the steel and through the wood. One almost poked Lamir in the head but stopped an inch from his helmet as it was stopped by the barricade.
“Those men…” Lamir trailed off as he took a quick glance behind him. “I couldn’t save them.”
“They should’ve stayed inside,” Yvlana said blankly. “It’s their own fault.”
Lamir looked at her but his face was hidden behind his helmet. Yvlana guessed he didn’t approve of her callus comment. “I assume they’ve had time to retreat?” Lamir asked, ignoring her previous statement.
“If they haven’t then I don’t know what they’ve been doing with the precious time we bought them.” Yvlana huffed.
They slipped inside and slammed the metal door shut.
“Even though there are only two of us, we kept them at bay far longer than I expected,” Lamir said. “If we had come sooner, perhaps this battle would have had a different outcome. We could’ve saved many more.”
The banging and clanging of metal rang loudly through the door and echoed into the stone hallways.
“You did what you could, brother.” Yvlana softened her tone. “Don’t let it bother you. They aren’t our responsibility.”
“I made a promise,” Lamir said sternly. “And so did you.”
“What has gotten into you?” Yvlana asked, annoyed.
Her brother didn’t respond, only pushing past her.
“Let's go,” Lamir mumbled. “The castle hallways will hold them off for a while and the doors will bar their way giving us enough time to escape.”
Yvlana hesitated, glancing back at the metal door as claws scraped and banged, denting it inward.
Their bodies hunched over in the cramped space, Lamir, and Yvlana reached another room, where five humans waited.
“After you.” Lamir gestured.
“Always the gentleman.” she rolled her eyes.
Lamir followed behind her and slammed another pair of doors shut. A soldier quickly slid a metal bar between the handles, keeping it from being pulled open. Immediately two of the humans Lamir had saved started stacking tables and furniture in front of the door.
“How do we get out of here?” Yvlana asked the room.
“This way!” a man with dark hair responded. He was tall for a human but she still stood over him.
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, waving her hand in his direction.
The four soldiers took the lead as the archers had already fled and taken the wounded. The tall man took up the rear after Yvlana and Lamir.
“Are you in charge?” Lamir asked casually. “What’s your name?”
“This isn’t really the time,” Yvlana said as she deactivated her helmet.
Lamir did the same and the metal plating folded back into the neckpiece in his suit perfectly.
“Kyburn,” he replied, his breathing uneven as they ran down hallway after hallway.
“You did well to defend as long as you did.” Lamir complimented. “Thank you, Kyburn for coming to our aid. 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. I should be thanking you. If you hadn’t come when you did, we’d all be dead already.”
“Yes. You would be.” Yvlana replied, her irritation still evident.
“What happened to your hand?” Lamir looked at his bandaged fingers.
Kyburn frowned at Yvlana, obviously taken aback by her hostility but Lamir seemed more level-headed at the moment and appreciated his question. He looked at them in both bewilderment and fascination. This was the first time he had seen them up close and Yvlana couldn’t really blame him. Emarine must be intimidating to the humans as they were small and frail compared to them.
“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.”
Periodically they would slam metal doors behind them. Each time Kyburn would stare at them, watching their movement closely.
“Where is Xer?” Lamir asked. “Is that a city?”
“No, it's my country. It’s behind enormous walls that will hopefully keep the Thrak out.” Kyburn replied. “Trygve has already sent word to his people to either flee to Xer or head for their capital.”
“Are there many humans in these lands?” Lamir asked. “You don’t want to get trapped by the Thrak.”
“Yes. But anyone south of Yidor is being instructed to retreat to Dragonhead Pass,” he informed them. “It’s a heavily fortified area.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Yvlana mumbled under her breath.
Yvlana hadn’t the slightest idea where Yidor was but continued to jog behind the four humans. They were slow but she needed them to get 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 named Kyburn and one other 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. “We just found you. I’m not going to risk losing you now.”
She sniffed, irritated, and walked toward where Lamir was shouting to Pilgrim.
“Pilgrim!” Lamir called. “Open the armory door. Quickly!”
A large panel slid from the wall, revealing rows of small cylinder metal pieces. Some were different shapes and sizes but Yvlana rolled her eyes at his one-track mind but realized the necessity as well.
“I detect alien lifeforms near here,” Pilgrim warned mechanically. “Thrak signatures detected. Would you like to activate defense protocols?”
Reaching Lamir, Yvlana grabbed several of the sticks, as many as she could hold as Lamir did the same.
“No Pilgrim,” Lamir replied. “We need to leave this place. Once we leave, I want you to shut down all non-essential functions and wait for our return.”
“Human,” Yvlana shouted.
“Understood.” Pilgrim chimed obediently.
“Carry these.” Lamir tossed several L.E.C. sticks at Kyburn.
“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.” her brother said, still tossing several more.
“Would you like a container 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 and nano-gel.
“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. weapon into it. Grabbing the ones Kyburn held, he whipped it onto his shoulder, “Let's go. We don’t have time to get the E.E. grenades, unfortunately.”
“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 panted 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 ten humans waited for them. Three of which were, Erik, Henry, and Trygve, the older man who had told them of the horses. “Why are you waiting?” Yvlana asked in annoyance.
“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 nearly 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. He flinched in pain as his hand was still wounded but he ignored it.
“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 Kyburn warned 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. 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 was 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, his helmet up.
She activated her helmet and their conversation was hidden from keen ears.
“Sister. You need to keep your anger in check. It is showing too much.” her brother said. “I know you don’t like them but they did help us. And they fought a Thrak army with mere bows and arrows. That is impressive.”
“I know. I know.” Yvlana grumbled. “There’s no point in running though. Eventually, we all will die here. I just hope I can see Kal before then.”
“There is still hope,” Lamir said optimistically but Yvlana didn’t believe his sincerity.
“The humans were slaughtered. They lost.” Yvlana started.
“So did we.” Lamir interrupted her. “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.”
“How do you think they can shoot through our shields?” she questioned. “I’ve never heard of anything like it other than technology. Which they don’t have.”
“My best guess would be that they adapted to the natural resources. Frostrium steel is immune to shields. Perhaps, in their slumber, they brought on the metal properties. But 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.”
She paused.
“What is it?”
“I wonder what happened to Kal,” she said over the com.
“I don’t know.” Lamir sighed. “I took you to safety. And that’s the last I saw him.”
She cleared her throat, “I wonder how far our technology has advanced now that all this time has passed.” Yvlana changed the subject. “And why no one came back for us.”
“There are too many variables as to why.” Lamir huffed. “But one thing is for certain, we will be sorely under armed when we find our way back to our people.”
“Our tech is outdated.” Yvlana sneered. “We can’t keep up with the evolving Thrak.”
“I’m not so sure. Outdated yes, but no less effective, yet.” her brother commented. “Their skin is different, more flesh than the thick diamond hides on Votis. It’s more resistant to laser energy. Whereas the ones here are extremely vulnerable to laser blasts.”
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 said sarcastically. “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 planet 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 would we leave this place? And why would we if we can liberate Isulia?”
Yvlana didn’t answer her brother, he made good points. Points she didn’t like to think about or wish to review.
Lamir didn’t push her further. She was just glad they escaped. Perhaps Lamir was right. Isulia could still become their home. With Kaladin’s help, she was sure they could free Isulia from the Thrak.
But so much was relying on a big if. She sighed, taking in deep breaths as she ran at a steady pace. Yvlana wished she could be on Votis again. She missed her home. Their home.