Copyright 2024 -- Daemon D. Hart
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The Human Bearer
Riordan jumped over the dead guard's body and landed quietly on the other side. At least, some of the things he had learned living on the streets came in handy now. How many times hadn't he had to sneak about only so that he could steal some food or move through a crowd of unaware victims while he picked their pockets? His step was light and following the young Xenos towards the door at the end of the hallway was easy now.
The door should have been closed completely, Riordan thought, as he noticed a thin line of light on one side. He touched his breast and felt the vials in his pocket. One wouldn't hurt. He uncorked it and swallowed the content quickly, trying not to dwell on the mind blowing sweetness. It wasn't cloying like some sweets he had tried on Earth, it was more, and because Cario had used a method to extract the essence from sangar as the Xenos knew how to make it, the kick was almost physical. Riordan stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. Was something going on already? A tingling sensation spread through his body, and he flexed his fingers, gripping tightly the staff in his hand. He could tell the sangar was working already; everything felt lighter, and he himself tighter, firmer, stronger. That was one hell of a drug Cario had come up with.
"They're waiting for us," Lakni whispered.
"How do you know?" Riordan asked in a hushed voice.
"Lakni can feel other Xenos like no one else does. And that guard was supposed to give the `clear' signal. That's why he left the door like that," Blaise explained quickly. "Riordan, you better stand back. We'll deal with them. The next room cannot hold more than fifty able bodies, guards and Xenos."
"They won't be that many," Lakni said. "Frontis."
The third Xeno knew what to do. He slithered in the front, as invisible as before. Even so, he needed to open the door to get to the other side. There was no way he could sneak through that thin line of light that was letting them know something waited for them on the other side.
"Down," Lakni said sternly.
Riordan barely had time to make himself one with the floor, because the door blasted open and the sound of multiple weapons being fired at once ignited the air around them like a blaze.
Weapons? Riordan wondered. Fire weapons? But the lizard guards--
"Looks like Gamni loves irony," Blaise whispered. "This welcome is for you, Riordan."
To kill him with Earthian weapons? Or some upgraded version of them? Riordan slinked along the wall, following Lakni's tail, without raising his head. Who was shooting at them? How would Gamni even know--
Frontis's laugh startled him. "Only guards!" he announced to them.
Riordan jumped to his feet, his staff pointing forward. Inside the room, guards armed with what looked like Earthian weapons, indeed, were falling like blades of grass under a sharp sickle. He moved quickly, shooting at whatever target happened in his path, body after body collapsing under the attack.
It all must have taken less than a minute. The room, its white walls made of a special metal combined with plastics, as Lakni had explained it to him while talking about the structure of Galatea, those walls were painted with red. Riordan felt a sense of foreboding rushing over him and he looked at his feet. Those were guards... but they weren't lizard guards. They looked... human. He crouched and removed the helmet from one of the dead guards' head. His stomach turned into knots and he pushed himself up to his feet.
"They're humans," he said to no one in particular.
"Earthians, it seems," Lakni confirmed. "What the hell is Gamni playing at?" he murmured.
Riordan felt the back of his neck prickling. No, it wasn't some sensation triggered by his own emotions. He touched it and felt something slimy. As his eyes moved slowly to the ceiling, he recalled Blaise's words from earlier. Lakni could feel other Xenos like no other.
And those Xenos were coming fast at them from the ceiling. Riordan barely had time to use the staff in his hands as a defensive weapon as he was kicked on his back and the thin item acted as a barrier between him and the snakeman attacking him. He pushed against the snakeman with all his strength, as his open mouth, showing a bifurcated tongue and rows of sharp teeth, saliva dripping from them, tried to reach for him and bite off his face.
What kind of Xenos were these? Riordan was certain something was wrong with the hateful face at which he was staring. It was nothing like the beautiful features he had noticed in Xana and other Xenos. It had the sickly greenish pale complexion of a drowning victim, and the eyes were dark and liquid, no way to tell the difference between the pupil and the sclera. And his teeth... those weren't teeth, they were sharp fangs and they snapped shut right in front of Riordan's face, a breath away from his nose, trying to eat him. And there was no sign of the usual long beautiful hair all Xenos seemed to prefer as a style shared across their species.
Riordan brought one knee up and pressed against the muscled half snake body. His resistance seemed to take his attacker by surprise and he managed to push the Xeno away and even kick him in what had to be his stomach. In the blink of an eye, he was on his feet and shot at his attacker. The blast send the strange snakeman several feet back, only the back wall stopping his trajectory. He fell to the ground with a loud thump.
Around him, his companions were fighting similar attackers. Frontis was dealing with two; it had to be him because the air was vibrating around, and those weird creatures were snapping their horrible mouths seemingly at random, while trying to fend off their attacker.
Blaise was punishing other two attackers with his tail turned weapon. The thin sheets of metal moved, parts of a deadly choreography, cutting through arms and tails, spreading droplets of blood everywhere.
Lakni was pressed against the wall by the largest of the bunch. Riordan hurried to his help. Lakni was a great navigator and had his perks, but he was not as great a fighter as Frontis and Blaise. Riordan shot his staff at the back of Lakni's attacker, making a blast of darkened skin appear. The creature turned and set his liquid eyes on him. Riordan dropped the staff and reached for his backpack, his hands already trained to move efficiently. Just as the horrible would-be Xeno dashed to him, he opened the spikes on his chosen weapon, and his attacker's body impaled in them, the strength and speed of his own attack working against him.
Riordan pushed him away with one foot, making the snakeman drop to his feet. The others were still fighting, Lakni rushing to their aid. That moment, the entire ship seemed to shake, making them all lose balance for a moment.
"No time to lose!" Lakni shouted. "The ship is preparing for blast off!"
The hell, Riordan thought. He hurried towards the door. He needed to find Xeus. If Galatea disappeared, there was no way of telling how long it would take Tu'lek, a considerably heavier ship, to find the quick battleship in the vast expanse of space. And that wasn't the biggest worry. There were on enemy territory, and Riordan knew now what Gamni was capable of. His mind could stop time for everyone and conjure physical things. He wasn't an enemy he could overtake just like that.
"Run, Riordan!" Lakni ordered him. "Only three mature Xenos left that I feel, except these ones!"
Riordan grabbed all the vials in his pocket and emptied them in his mouth. For a moment, he felt dizzy. Three Xenos, only one of them Gamni. He could take them. He would take them. His feet were so light, he was flying over the long corridor opening in front of him. The rest had to fight and eliminate those assassins, because that was what those weird Xenos had to be.
He cut through the air, realizing only dimly that he was moving fast, faster than anyone could possibly move. The ship continued to shake as it seemed to turn. Was it a premature order on Gamni's part? It could be.
His own breathing was loud in his ears. His lungs stretched, expanded, filled with air. They were helping him float through the air like that, without a doubt. More, more, he needed to push more.
Doors opened in front of him, and he found himself in the middle of a circular room. In front, close to the large screen, there was a single navigation pod. The thing turned and Gamni stepped out of it. Riordan's heart stopped for a moment. The general held Xeus in his arms.
"What an odd stubborn creature," the general commented. "Well, that gives me more hope, in the most surprising manner, I admit, regarding the special abilities that can be cultivated in this one." He stretched his arm and Xeus wrapped around it, crawling back to the general's shoulder, hiding his small face.
"Give him back and I'll let you live," Riordan said, moving cautiously towards his target.
"Oh, how generous of you. I have no intention to give anything to you. This young one belongs to me now. He recognized the superiority of our species right away." Gamni seemed completely sure of himself. He was probably expecting his other two acolytes to make an appearance any moment now. Riordan knew that time was running out, but he couldn't risk the general doing something to Xeus.
All his senses were heightened, enhanced. He could see the way the general was swallowing, even the blood under his skin, the heart beating in his chest. Gamni Gafilos was still a living, breathing creature. That meant that he could be killed.
To taunt him, Gamni turned his head towards Xeus and seemed to communicate with him. Then, he rested his hand against the navigation pod, and the Xenolite slithered from his arm inside it. Still, his dark head popped out and he seemed to be looking at Riordan, with eyes wide and full of fear.
"Do you wonder why he's looking at you like this? For him, you're the enemy," Gamni said with a sneer.
"That's a lie," Riordan shot back at him. "But thank you for putting him out of harm's way." Without hesitation, he reached for another weapon and fired it at the general, who, under the force of the blast, fell on his back and was sent flying several feet away.
Xeus cried out in a high-pitched voice and crawl from his hiding place to where the general lay.
"Xeus," Riordan called softly. "Please, come to me."
"That name means nothing to him," Gamni mocked and pushed himself up as if he hadn't just been shot at.
Riordan aimed at him again. Maybe he couldn't kill him but he could put him out of commission long enough to grab his Xenolite and run. The weapon flew out of his hand, although he hadn't seen the general moving at all.
"Oh, yes," the general said mockingly, "it's a bit of a pleasure to fool you into believing you could hurt me."
Riordan steeled himself. The power he felt growing inside him was only getting stronger. Now he could see right through Gamni, all the blood vessels running through his body.
"Then let me try again," he said and rushed to the general, this time with his bare hands.
Gamni's eyes grew wide as Riordan's squeeze on his throat increased. That couldn't be an act anymore. Riordan could clearly see the windpipe giving in under his squeeze.
And then, he felt a sting through his arm. It was the boy, his boy, trying to bite him, while tears poured down his small face. Riordan loosened his grip. Was his son supposed to witness only murder from the first days of his life? He wanted to comfort the little one, but as soon as he dropped his guard, Gamni pushed him away and soon the tables were turned. Riordan was on the ground and Gamni held him down, his long tail wrapping around him and squeezing.
"How come you're not dying?" Gamni said through his teeth. From his shoulder, Xeus peered down at the scene, his eyes wide and wet.
Riordan hadn't prayed in a long time. He didn't believe in higher beings. But this time, he prayed for Cario's sangar to do the magic it was supposed to do. His muscles bulged and steeled themselves, going against Gamni's impossible squeeze.
"How is this even possible?" he heard Gamni talking.
"I'm just that stubborn," Riordan replied and lunged at him again. "Xeus, my child, this isn't your parent. I am!"
This time, he steeled himself against the boy's crying, as well, as tears flew freely down his face, too. His grip on Gamni's throat increased. He was close. Soon, the general would give his final breath.
At first, it felt as if a fly was trying to get in his ear. But then, it was an entire swarm. Riordan flinched, tried to ignore the sensation.
Do you really believe you can defeat me, human?
"Yes, I really do," he said through his teeth and closed his eyes to focus on nothing but the grip on Gamni's throat.
Was the sangar wearing off? Cario had no way of telling him how long it would last. Maybe he had been too hasty. He only needed one more second, and another, and another... but Gamni's body was healing him continuously and Riordan could tell that the damage he was doing was losing ground to how fast the snakeman was repairing it. Was this it? Was this really it?
Gamni pushed him away again. "So feeble, so useless," he said and this time, he lifted Riordan off the floor, squeezing him hard. He brought him close so that their eyes could meet.
Riordan struggled against the hold, but there was no use. The sangar was losing its effects, and this was him, in his feeble, useless human body.
"Come closer, my son," Gamni said. "Come see how we deal with traitors."
Riordan looked straight into his son's eyes, eyes he had seen so many times staring back at him in a mirror. It was so strange to see himself in that small Xenolite. How much could he really understand?
"Close your eyes, Xeus. You won't see this."
"Stop telling him what to do. You're nothing to him," Gamni taunted.
Riordan used all the reserve of strength he had to move as close to Xeus as he could. His lips touched the small forehead briefly. "I love you, my child," he said tenderly. "Now close your eyes."
He hoped Lakni and his friends had enough time to leave. He hoped that those assassins hadn't gotten the better of them. Although, with two other able bodied Xenos on the ship, their odds couldn't be good.
That was all that he had left. Hope. No one would hold it against him that he counted on just a useless desire as his seconds were numbered.
"Enough of this," Gamni growled.
Riordan gasped as he felt the sharp tip of the tail cutting through his suit, touching his skin, going in. And then, the sensation disappeared, and he fell to the floor. He was bleeding, he was sure of it, but there was something heavy pressing on his chest. Was this how dying felt? But no, as he lifted one hand to touch his chest, he realized that there was something there.
A dark haired head appeared before his eyes. Xeus was curling himself on his chest.
Da... da...
His tears were hot, leaving small frissons in their path as they ended entangled in his hair. Xeus pressed his face against his, cheek to cheek.
"I will not tolerate this disobedience," Gamni hissed above them.
Riordan wrapped his arms around his son and rolled on one side. The thing cut through his side now, pinning him to the floor. But his baby... his baby knew who he was... even if it was too late, and he wasn't good enough.
"Forgive me," he just whispered without letting go of the young Xenolite, who continued to curl against him, as if he was trying to hide himself inside his parent's chest.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the end. Was Gamni going to let him bleed there for as long as it took? And how come he wasn't prying Xeus away from his hands?
"Another in search of his demise," he heard Gamni talking, and he was pretty sure the Xeno couldn't mean him.
A swishing through the air followed and, when he turned again, with Xeus still in his arms, Riordan could swear that he was seeing another snakeman fighting Gamni, taking him down to the floor.
"You have no chance against me," Gamni spat in disgust.
Riordan forced himself to his knees. The loss of blood had already made him weak.
"Riordan, to the left. Down the corridor to the end, then left again," the newcomer ordered in a strained voice, while forcing Gamni down. "You and the boy, save yourselves."
"Xana?" he whispered. "Is that you?"
The eyes of the one he loved set on him briefly. "I can't live without the two of you. So, I don't mind dying." The last words were said to Gamni, not him. "Go, Riordan, now!"
He struggled to get up, holding Xeus tightly.
"No one can escape Galatea," Gamni said smoothly. The ship shook again, and the general laughed. "If you're wondering, my ship just got rid of the parasite trying to burrow itself into her skin. In other words, your escape ship is gone. And I don't mind killing all of you."
tbc
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