Lydia
I take in a slow breath and let it out as I point the pulsar pistol at the Sarkarnii warrior in front of me. His shoulders heave up and down, his breath coming in ragged waves. He looks unwell in a way I’ve never seen a Sarkarnii look unwell.
Sarkarnii are always the very picture of health, but this one has greying scales and an unhealthy sheen of sweat all over him.
In a lightning flash, one I’ve had a million times in my dreams, I see another warrior. Not this one, but another Sarkarnii, twisting in a cage next to me, agony coming from him before my own consciousness is stolen by pain and fear.
This is what I saw. This is what has been tearing at me all this time. These memories, funneled into those from home, into the reason I was always running, never in one place, no friends, no family, nothing. Only a victim for those off world to take and use.
My heart turns to steel. I have been the mouse for the last time. I have Deus to look out for. I have my friends, my good friends who will always stand beside me.
“I need to know where the gas is coming from,” I say, forcefully. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Can’t. Hurt. Me,” he says through gritted teeth. “No pain.”
His eyes, as dull as his scales, are filled with the pain he says he doesn’t have.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
But I let my guard down, and he reaches out, lightning fast, grabbing for the ray gun. My instinct kicks in, and I jump back, out of his reach, but not before one of his claws catches the skin on my hand, ripping into it.
“Nothing is wrong,” he growls. “I am the Sarkarnii I was meant to be.”
In front of my eyes, he seems to morph in shape.
Not in the same way as when the Sarkarnii turn into dragons.
This is something far, far removed from the simple swirling of shapes to become something much, much larger.
This looks as painful as it is possible to be, bones crunching within him as he grows larger, wider, with more teeth.
“Run, little female,” he says. “Before it is too late.”
“What?”
“I said…RUN,” he roars.
I don’t need another warning. I don’t need to see what else happens to him. I absolutely do not ever need telling twice when it comes to running from a male.
My feet slap on the bare metal of the neutral zone.
I’m skidding around the corners of the maze-like structures, and yet he’s still gaining on me, still hunting me.
My rabbit heart is beating out of my chest. My hand throbs at me, the blood wet and slippery down my hand and onto the floor, leaving scattered scarlet dots no matter where I go.
He will find me.
I have to get back to Deus and hope beyond hope he has not been left insensible by the gas which filled the hangar. The gas which must have been used to subdue him at the cabin originally.
The next corner spits me out into a much larger open area, near the clan hall if my recollection of this place is correct. On the other side, I see a group of warriors, but from the way they are standing, I instantly get a bad feeling about them.
Behind me, there is a long, low howl. All of the warriors’ heads snap round in my direction. Once again, even at a distance, I see how they are changing, becoming something other than Sarkarnii.
Even with my ray gun, I know it’ll only hold them off for a short time, and even then that’s on the basis I’m assuming I can actually hit them with it.
I don’t hold out much hope that I’m a great shot.
Which leaves me with few options, the main one being to get to the clan hall and somehow barricade myself inside until Deus comes for me.
And that’s presuming he hasn’t been affected by the gas. There are more screeches and roars as the warriors start to run across the open area, and I speed up, flying towards the clan hall entrance in the vain hope it is open and I can do what I want to do.
I hit the doors with some force, nearly winding myself.
“Please, let me in.” I scrabble at them, and in a stroke of luck I didn’t think I had left, one of the doors clicks, and I’m able to slip inside as the horrible noises get closer. I shove at the door, but it doesn’t want to budge.
“Close, damn you,” I growl, but it remains stubbornly open.
Through the opening, I can see flailing limbs, and I know there’s no point staying where I am. I fire a couple of ray gun shots through the door, but I doubt they do anything as I flee down the wide open passage, all subtle lighting and soft underfoot.
All of the doors into the various ante chambers are closed, and none of them open when I attempt to gain entry. It looks like the last option is the chamber itself.
As the grunts and growls get louder, echoing down the passage, I stand in front of the door. With a whoosh, it spirals open to allow me entry.
“Please close,” I beg as I turn to see the no longer Sarkarnii warriors thumping towards me. “Please.”
The first one, the one which started all of this, has his hand outstretched, reaching for me as the door closes with a metallic slicing sound.
And a hand twitches on the floor.
I back up, bile rising in my throat. I don’t even know why I took this stupid ray gun as I don’t have the lady balls to shoot it even when I’m about to be devoured or ripped to shreds by whatever the warriors have become.
There is the obligatory dip in the floor where the warlords like to lounge, and the entire place smells of something akin to cigar smoke, warm and somehow comforting.
A crash reverberates as the door is hit by something heavy, and I shudder violently.
I can’t stand still. For all I know, they could be through the door in moments.
I pull out my comm device and frantically type a help message to my friends, my hands shaking so hard I’m not sure I’m even able to spell correctly.
Hep
He
Help
Kerra
Lydia! Where are you?
Cln hall
Clan
Kerra
Clan hall?
Yes
Things trying to get in
Kerra
We’re on lockdown, but I’ll get a message to Darax
Lockdown?
Maggie
Things are trying to kill us too
Another huge crash has me backing into the furthest corner of the hall. I’m absolutely sure the warriors will be through any moment. I don’t think I have long.
Tell Deus I love him
“Little ember, you can tell me yourself.”