CHAPTER SEVEN
Two hours later Joey dropped next to Tylin on the grass, his face bruised and one eye puffy and purple. Joey’s body ached all over, and he doubted that any of Lezura’s healing could get rid of the pain.
Tylin sat with her legs folded underneath her, taking deep breathes to cool down. She hadn’t gone completely unscathed. There was a long but shallow cut on her thigh were Joey had gleefully made his mark.
Surprisingly Joey didn’t see her sweating that much, but her breath was actually coming out in a shimmer like heat.
“You okay, teach?” Joey said, gesturing to Tylin with a hand at his mouth. “It looks like your goanna breath some fire or something…?”
Tylin smiled, her chuckling sent out more plumes of heat. “I’m fine,” she said, “That’s just how my body works to conserve water. My people evolved on a world with fifty three percent land, most of which was covered in desert as a result of it being so close to the sun. My body has naturally been programmed to conserve water, so I do not sweat that much…”
“That’s neat,” Joey said.
Tylin put a finger against Joey’s forehead, allowing a droplet of sweat to roll onto it. She held it before Joey’s eyes, and he saw the drop of water sink into her flesh.
“What did you just do?” Joey said excitedly, he sat up and forgot all about the pain.
“My skin can absorb small doses of water?” Tylin said, dropping her hand. “It comes in handy when there’s no water around but the air is still moist.”
Joey’s mind was racing with possibilities of what the various species of aliens here could do. With it he wondered what he could do that others here couldn’t.
Joey touched Tylin’s skin on the upper arm. “No disrespect,” Joey said, “but for a woman your skin’s really tough.”
Tylin said, “It helps against ninety miles an hour sandstorm that could otherwise peel the flesh off the body of other organisms; like you, nycarmans, lazhinians and orderrans.”
“Damn,” said Joey, “why I don’t I have any of this?”
Tylin stifled and laugh and shook her head.
“So how did I do teach?” Joey said, desperate to hear some good news.
“…You did fine, for your first try,” said Tylin.
“This sucks,” Joey said, “I wanted to try out that Bluebolt today, but I can barely move my body. This is your fault…”
Tylin ignored Joey’s complaints, taking the advice from Lezura. She said, “Just rest up for now. Honoi is not the most important power.”
“Then what is?” Joey said, wondering what could be more awesome than blowing stuff up with energy shot out of your hand.
“You are,” said Tylin.
Joey pushed himself up onto his knees and looked at Tylin. “Me?”
“One’s own inner strength and the ability to learn from past mistakes,” said Tylin. “That is what determines whether you are strong or weak.”
Joey thought about it. “Nah,” he said, “Honoi’s way cooler.”
Tylin whacked Joey upside the back of his head.
Joey rubbed his head, and said, “By the way, Tylin, you know anything about a girl named S’us? She dropped off lunch for me and Lezura a while back.”
Tylin nodded. “Yeah…” she said, “what about her?”
Joey looked away for a moment. He grimaced to hide his smile, even though his cheeks were flushed.
“Are you fine, Joey?” said Tylin, “You look constipated.”
“No its nothing,” said Joey, “It’s just that I find here interesting—with the sock-puppet sister complex and all.”
A shadow of gloom passed over the fields of Tylin’s features for just the briefest moment. She hung her head briefly before looking in Joey’s eyes and saying, “She’s not a crazy girl.”
“Of course she’s not,” said Joey, “I use to have an imaginary friend too.”
“No, Joey,” said Tylin impatiently, “you don’t know anything about her. S’us actually had a sister named I’us.”
“What happened to her?” said Joey.
“S’us only told us that she lost her sister I’us when they were fleeing from the orderrans from her country,” said Tylin.
“Shit…” Joey said, “You mean like, she lost her sister and couldn’t get over it, so she made her sister from a sock to because she was in denial?”
“That’s how Clastaan puts it,” said Tylin.
“A good girl like didn’t need to be messed up that way,” Joey said.
“Do not feel sorry for her,” said Tylin. “She hates when people give her sympathy. She says its lazy, untalented nobodies that want others to pity them.”
Joey winced. “Damn,” he said. I guess I can’t tell her a sob story so she’ll sleep with me, he thought.
Joey heard someone approaching, and saw that it was Lezura. She knelt next to Tylin, who stood up and said, “Well, I will be leaving you two now. Keep practicing your slashes, Joey.”
“Will do,” said Joey.
When Tylin left Lezura said, “She really kicked your bottom, Joey.”
Joey said, “So? I get my ass kicked all the time. But I always come back knocking them down. Anyway… about the Bluebolt…”
“We can do that later, Joey,” said Lezura. “You need to regain your strength. You must know that some honoi techniques require the user to have a sturdy body—as was when you tried to use the Hiradokou. Plus your Blueburst is not powerful enough.”
Joey frowned. “Whatever…”
“And you have to know about honoi-fatigue,” Lezura said.
“What’s that’s?” Joey said, his interest piped.
Lezura said, “Honoi fatigue is when your body stops itself from using too much honoi, usually in the form of a jolt of pain in the head. This is to prevent a person from going over the limit of the amount of honoi they can use, as if they do, they would be seriously hurt, left unconscious, or even die.”
Joey winced. “Yikes.”
“But toss that out of your mind for now,” Lezura said, sniffing Joey, “time to get you freshened up.”
So Lezura and Joey went to the nearby stream with a new set of clothes given to them by S’us.
S’us got Joey and Lezura the cleanest clothes that she and the others had made; a silky brown shirt with dark brown hems and ropes tied across the neck to loosen or tighten the collar. And grey trousers.
“You’re doing okay, S’us?” Joey said, looking nervously at S’us.
“Yeah…” said S’us as she handed him a scrub-pad made from dried vines a bar of yellow soap. She turned her head and gave him a suspicious look. “Why are you asking?”
“…N-no reason,” said Joey. “Um, say, can you use honoi?”
“Not to any extend,” S’us said, walking over to Lezura to give her her clothes and bathing implements. She approached Joey and said, “But I can do this…”
S’us took a small scroll off her waist, opened it and exposed a weird inscription in the center of the white parchment. She held it up to Joey, her face tightened with focus as what little honoi he had she channeled into the paper until the symbol sparked orange-red light.
“Release,” S’us said.
And a hose of water blasted from the paper into Joey’s face. Joey dropped his things and retreated, shielding his face and spitting out water.
“What the hell?” Joey said, wiping the water off his face.
“Magnificent!” Lezura said.
“What was that, S’us?” said Joey as he squeezed the water out of his shirt.
The symbol on the scroll vanished and S’us put it away. “That was released water sealing,” she said.
Lezura added, “Inscriptions, called runes, are used to store matter in another space separate from where the user exists. S’us, can you also store organic matter?”
“No,” said S’us. She produced the sock puppet, and I’us said, “But I can—at least with plants! I just need to get back my old body.”
Joey’s smile slackened a little, he rebounded by quickly saying, “That was really neat, though. What’s the limit to how much you can seal?”
“It depends on the strength of the honoi user,” said S’us.
“The stronger your honoi, the deeper you are able to make the seal and the more mass you’re able to seal away,” said I’us.
“You’re really cool, S’us,” said Joey.
Lezura’s lips tightened and she glanced at Joey.
I’us said, “Hey, don’t you see me here too, yah big dummy?”
“Y-yeah,” said Joey, “you too, I’us!”
S’us shook her hand. “Sister you really do not have to be so blunt.”
S’us rotated her wrist, the equivalent of I’us rolling her eyes, and I’us said, “Whatever?”
S’us frowned. She put up I’us in her pouch and said, “Well I’ll leave you two. See you back at the camp.”
“Thank, you,” said Lezura, and when S’us was out of sight she turned to Joey and said, “Do you think the others are aware that she might have a mental condition?”
Joey gave Lezura such a horrid scowl that Lezura recoiled slightly.
“She’s not stupid!” Joey snarled. “Not because she’s not some know-it-all means she’s crazy!”
“I never meant it like that, Joey…” Lezura said, “There is no need to get so upset!”
Joey relaxed, and rubbed his messy hair. He said, “Sorry there, Lezura. I…Just kinda lost it.”
So Joey explained to Lezura what Tylin told him.
“Oh dear,” Lezura said, “It must really hard for her to get over it.”
“See, she’s not crazy,” said Joey. “And don’t feel sorry for her either. People like us already have our talent and skill, that’s our ticket to fame. We’re just the same, she and I…”
Lezura examined Joey cynically and said, “Really? You two are just the same?”
“Yeah,” said Joey.
Lezura said, “So that explains why you two are crazier than everyone else?”
Joey went from smiling with his hands on his hips to gritting his teeth and squeezing his fists. “Just go take a bath already you sweaty old lady?”
Lezura chuckled. At least so far Joey wasn’t discriminating against anyone with afflictions such as S’us. She thought it was good that he was able to at least ty to understand people.
But he is still crude and ill-mannered, though, she thought.
Lezura walked along the water around a bend. “When you are finish let us meet up at the tent for dinner!” she said.
As Lezura disappeared from his sights Joey wondered how he could woo S’us over. He didn’t want to get close to her with sympathy for her condition; that would just be disrespecting her. Probably he could take the straight-forward approach. Even though S’us didn’t have to huge breasts liked, she had some curvy hips, and she was good looking even for someone not human!
The thought got him giddy, and he started to panic. He didn’t know one thing about having a girlfriend!
Joey calmed himself. He took off his clothes and went to stream to have his bath. Once he soaped up with the foamless bar of soap, he scrubbed the muck and grime off his with the pad.
When he was finished he dried himself with a piece of cloth for a towel and dropped on his clothes. He put some leaves over his feet and put on his Converse sneakers so his feet didn’t get swellings in the shoe.
Joey took up his baseball bat and made a few swings. He did them as how Tylin had instructed with his sword, and he was pleased with himself that he never left his silver bat back on Earth.
As Joey was about to make his way back to the tent, an idea sparked in his otherwise blank mind. He never saw a naked girl before, and right now there was one bathing just down the stream from him. He grinned and said, “Oh yeah, Lezura. I’m goanna peak on all your little alien goodies.”
Joey put the bat in the sheath on his back and snuck around the edge of the stream. Next to him in the shallow water he saw long fish with iridescent red scales constantly shifting their tone in the sunlight. Their size caught Joey’s eyes, being six feet long with round silver heads and large orange eyes. He stopped to look at them. Then his brain sparked and he remembered what he was supposed to do and moved on.
He hugged the bushes, gently pulling them away to reveal a wide stretch of the stream. There in the center of the water he saw Lezura. His smile was huge and drooling. Oh yeah! Alien boobies!
Lezura was completely naked, but her back was turned to him and the water rose just above her hips. Her long hair cascaded down her back like a golden waterfall, the sheen so bright it competed with the sun.
But Joey realized she wasn’t moving, just standing there. He wondered if she had heard him coming, or if she was in some kind of faery-trance and was connecting with nature. But then he heard something, like soft sobs.
Is she actually crying?
It soon stopped and Lezura moved. She took her hands off her chest and washed herself.
Joey was relieved that the action had started now. He saw Lezura move her hair to scrub her back, and something unnerving met his eyes.
There was a section of flesh in the middle of Lezura’s back that was discolored, twisting and netted, consistent with a burn mark.
“Shit, Lezura,” he said.
Lezura’s ears twitched and she suddenly stopped. Joey held his breath, his guts caved in. Lezura covered her chest and turned around. Her eyes looked even more insane than the gufders’.
“Joey…?” she said.
“Shit!” Joey said. He turned and ran. He heard the water splashing behind him as Lezura sprang into action.
“You little rascal!” said Lezura.
Joey heard her footsteps behind him. “What the hell!” he said. “This chic is too damn fit, yo!”
Joey whimpered and barged his way through the bushes, sending tapikes and other small creatures scattering.
He took a glance behind him—and saw Lezura right on his tail with the towel drape around her and one of the big fishes in her hand.
“Holly shit Lezura!” Joey said. “How the hell are you carrying that—”
The first whack out of the fish sent Joey staggering forward. “Ouch!”
“How dare you try to peep on your Chevalier while she is taking a bath?” Lezura said, giving Joey another blow.
Joey took out his bat and swung it blindly behind in hopes that it would stop Lezura. He felt the bat hit something. He stopped, turned and saw Lezura holding her forehead.
“Oh crap…” Joey said.
Lezura dropped the flapping fish on the ground, and clenched her fist.
Back at the camp things were flowing as usual—that was until a loud shriek ruptured the stable minds of the people. The fighters drew for their weapons and searched for the source of the horrid noise.
“It came from the stream!” said a man.
S’us heard, and said herself, “Oh no,” she raised her voice; “The Rakai and the nycarman woman are down there!”
The armed men made their way down to the stream.
S’us took up a small dagger from the stump covered in scrolls that she was seated around and followed closely, her childish frame dwarfed by the huge men, and all the way she wondered what terrible things could have befallen Joey and Lezura.
And they go their answer.
They saw Joey blazing towards them with his hands covering his head and his feet moving like a blur. Behind him was Lezura with the bat raised above her head and her feet looking like shimmering heat.
They blazed pass the people with a tailwind that slapped debris all over them. They shielded their eyes and turned around to follow the Rakai and his Chevalier.
S’us was already ahead of them, watching Lezura chase Joey around in a circle until they reached inside their tent; where it bulged and bounced until there was a loud whack and a scream, and everything went still and silent.
The men looked around at each other. They all shrugged and went back to their business. But S’us and I’us were curious as to what happened.
“What were those two doing?” said I’us’ voice in S’us’ head
“That’s what I would like to find out,” said S’us.
She went in the direction of Lezura and Joey’s tent, but she was stopped by a glitter of light in the sky. She looked up and saw a serpentine creature in the air with a white body. Its four wings were like an insects, but with swirls glowing blue. It twisted between two trees, reappeared in the open. S’us saw more of the creatures, slowly looming over the place like ghosts. They disappeared back into the trees.
“Oikumi?” she whispered. “But that means…”
She already knew what the rest of it meant. She ran back to the camp site.
“I’m really sorry Lezura,” said Joey, rubbing a lump on his bed. “But you didn’t have to hit me so hard.”
Lezura was seated on her bed in a new set of clothes she got from Tylin. “You should be lucky I did not step in your groin,” she said. “You little pervert.”
“Hey! I aint no perv’,” said Joey. “I was just looking for something I lost…”
“Obviously your sense,” Lezura said.
The curtain to their tent blew open. In rushed S’us. Joey was about to greet her but her expression told she was far from pleasantries. She turned to Lezura and said, “Come here, both of you!”
Lezura and Joey looked at her, and at each other.
“Quickly!” said S’us.
Lezura got up, judging by the tone in her voice it was a dire situation. “What is it?” she said as she put on her sandals and took up her spear. She could hear a rising commotion outside.
“Nartha came back,” said S’us, her feet jittering to go back outside. “He found trouble!”
Joey sprang to his feet and took up his bat. He followed Lezura and S’us outside.
In the middle of the camp they spotted Nartha and some other men, surrounded by the people. Lezura immediately realized that out of the four men that went with Nartha only two came back. Lezura looked for Tylin, but she spotted her first.
Tylin motioned for them to come over and Lezura, S’us and Joey hurried.
They squeezed their way to the front of the circle. Joey saw red blood on Nartha, and what looked like a gunshot wound in his shoulder, though he didn’t seem perturbed by it. He also had a small rifle in his hands instead of the crossbow Joey saw him with the first time.
“What happened guys?” Joey said. He had in his translator and was ready to hear the news.
Nartha assumed Joey asked him what happened, and said, “My patrol team and I found orderrans. They killed two of us.”
“No shit…” Joey said with a grimace. He felt a gloomy cloud over him. This is it, he thought. This is where shit starts to get serious.
“How many were there?” Lezura said.
Tylin answered, “Nartha saw eight soldiers, including a patrol Dawhawk.”
Podge was staring at Joey like he was a leper. Joey caught his gaze and Podge looked away. Joey didn’t need anyone to tell him whose fault it was the orderran came here.
Lezura grabbed Joey’s hand so suddenly that Joey flinched. He looked into her eyes.
“It is not your fault Joey,” she said.
“Of course it is,” Joey said. “Two people are dead because of me!”
“No,” said Tylin. “The orderrans were bound to come here eventually. They’re trying to extend their territory.”
“And it is wise we do not be in their way once they come here,” said Clastaan, who had been silent and unseen up until now.Apparently for a huge man, he could hide himself quite well. Clastaan stepped in the circle and faced Tylin. “Tylin, how many of your troops can you spare?”
“As much as you need,” she said.
“What are you going to do?” Lezura said.
“We are going to hold them off while we let the people escape,” said Clastaan. “We need time to get some distance between us.”
“I’m going,” said Joey. He turned to Lezura and said, “Don’t try to talk me out of it. I’m pumped up full of honoi and need to let all out.”
Lezura said, “I was going to say that you will need a weapon instead of that ridiculous bat you have there.”
They both smiled.
“Lad,” said Clastaan, “I think it is wise if you come with the rest of us. It is pointless to die here while you have a much greater role to play.”
“My role’s saving people,” said Joey. “That’s what my ass is here for.” Joey saw S’us smiling at him, and nodded in her direction.
Lezura wondered if Joey was doing this to impress the people, but her thoughts ended when Nartha said, “We need get moving quickly. They are heading this way as we speak!”
“All right, my good people!” said Clastaan. “Let us leave this place now. Pack up your things and get moving!”
The people dispersed, and after clearing out their belongings pulled down their tents and packed it on their carts with the rest.
Tylin pointed to Lezura and Joey. “You, come with me,” she said, and led them to her tent.
While the people loaded their carriages, others went to the stables and secured the greshkues. Inside Tylin’s tent she went over to a corner and produced two swords. She tossed it to Joey, who caught it much more smoothly this time.
She handed him and Lezura a dagger and a grassy, leaf covered cloak. Tylin snatched up a pale green, oval refile next to her crossbow and slung it over her shoulder.
It was a rapturan model assault rifle, the Raurus Assault Rifle, or RAR as it had been abbreviated. Its barrel was short and silver, the trigger-guard curved forward. The iron sights bore a resemblance to the plates on the back of a stegosaurus, and the weapon had a round capacity of 44, 11mm rounds.
Back outside the greshkues were being tied to their respective carriages. Tylin, Joey and Lezura witnessed Clastaan hurrying through the busy place, clutching scrolls against his chest and under his arms, and there was a data-pad hanging out of his mouth.
“Move it, professor!” said Tylin.
Clastaan bumped his toe and nearly fell. He took the data-pad out his mouth with the tip of his claws and said, “I left some equipment back in my tent for you to use!” He turned and ran backward as he spoke to them. “Zap-dust is in the brown jars! Magnet-power is in the slender grey ones—”
Clastaan bumped his foot on a stone and fell with the items crashing upon him.
Nartha came up to Tylin, saying, “I have the twelve men prepped and ready.”
“And my brother?” said Tylin.
“Don’t worry,” said Nartha, putting a hand on her shoulder, “he’s all set.”
Tylin exhaled and her shoulders slackened. She said, “Follow us…”
Inside Clastaan’s tent they found the jars he specified lying in a corner. Lezura pushed herself forward and snatched one of the grey ones up. She opened it and studied the glittery silver-blue dust.
“What does magnet-dust do?” she said.
Tylin handed two of the brown and grey ones to Nartha who left to distribute them. “Mix it with zap-dust and imbued it with your honoi and you have a magnet.”
“Impressive,” said Lezura.
Joey, Lezura and S’us carried out the rest of the jars to the men. By the time they got out there the carriages were already leaving. Tylin gathered everyone around in a circle and began to devise a plan.
“What kind machines did they have, Nartha?” she said.
“They were travelling in a Droch with the eight armed men,” he said. “I can only assume that the Dawhawk will be for support.”
“Okay,” she said. “We will need to take out their machinery first, so we will have to create a rune circle with the magnet-dust and zap-powder. They will follow your path here, so we have to move fast.”
“What should we do?” said Lezura.
“Stay hidden,” said Tylin.
“Ah man…” Joey groaned. “I wanted to be a part of the action.”
“You will be,” Lezura said.
S’us took Joey by the hand and led him into the bushes. “Come!” she said.
Lezura followed them.
“All right people,” said Tylin, “we only have a few minutes, so let’s get to work.”
The Droch followed the trail left by the greshkues onward. The orderrans could still smell the scent of the aliens lingering in the air. They speculated an ambush, due to the escape of the survivors. But captain Nal wasn’t worried, not when he had the support of the Dawhawk above to spot out the potential ambush.
Nal pressed a button in the side of his helmet and said in the speaker, “Captain Nal to scouting-ship, proceed ahead to the location of the enemy.”
“Copy that, Captain,” said a voice. “The scout-ship is now proceeding to the target zone.”
Nal turned off the channel and looked ahead at the path. The Droch climbed into a gopto tree and a sinni and descended back on the path.
The way Nal saw it, these bandits must have encountered the two aliens at some point, and either they killed them or captured them for their own purpose. Either of which didn’t matter. He had orders from the Viceroy to find and exterminate any settlers in the forest to make way for expansion.
The Dawhawk flew over a clearing in the forest that seemed large enough for a group of people to settle. One of the two orderran pilots inside zoomed in on the ground, maintaining an eye on the trail of the bandits.
His red eyes studied the path going in a straight direction. When he zoomed out he saw that the direction was in the said clearing up ahead.
“There,” he said to the other pilot. “That must be where they headed.”
“Yep,” the other pilot said, and flew the airship closer.
The first pilot looked back in the Dawhawk. The ten soldiers inside were prepped and ready.
The Dawhawk hovered over the clearing. The push from the antigravity orbs stomped the top of the trees into a submissive bow. It was fourteen stories down, and they couldn’t see anything. Thermal wouldn’t be of much use here in the sunlight, and—
“What’s that?” said the second pilot, leaning forward to point at something on the screen.
The first pilot looked closer. After some thought he said, “It looks like a circle…”
And before any of them could react, the circle shone white; so did the runes and inscription inside it.
The controls and electronics in the airship went haywire. Both pilots checked all the monitors, buttons and switches on the touch screen to try and get things under control, but the persistent whining of the siren in their ears told them things were beyond their control.
“What the hell’s going on?” said a soldier from the back.
“The systems are failing!” said the pilot.
They all felt the Dawhawk falling, being pulled against its will be some otherworldly force, and without the systems on to help, they couldn’t fight back.
“Can’t you fix the damn thing?” said another soldier, sounding agitated.
“No…” said the other pilot. “Brace yourselves—we’re going down!”
When they had finished creating the rune circle, Tylin and her troops hid themselves in the bushes. Their leafy cloaks offered some camouflage, but this was only for eyes in the distance, up close anyone could make out that the leaf patterns were fake.
Joey hid with Lezura and S’us. Though Lezura’s mind was focused on protecting Joey and the key, she took a moment to study S’us. The young woman was completely alert, not a single ounce of apprehension was visible. While Joey on the other hand, was sweating. His eyes moved with a nervous pace.
But Joey suddenly turned to Lezura and said, “Couldn’t we call Donnowarru to help us?”
Lezura said, “He does not like fighting, plus his annoyance would get in the way…”
“That guy’s really useless…” Joey said.
“Who?” said S’us.
“Our pet wizard,” said Joey.
“Really,” said I’us’ voice in her sister’s head, “they have a pet wizard?”
“Pipe down,” whispered S’us.
Lezura scowled. “Who are you talking to?” she said.
S’us glared at Lezura and said, “My sister of course…”
Everyone from their hiding place all saw the Dawhawk hover over their heads.
Tylin gave the signal, a loud whisper. She, along with her brother, Nartha and a Lazhinian man named Tet, could use honoi. And from the circle was a line leading to all four of them. One they got they signal they put their hands on the end of the line before them on the ground, and surged their honoi into it.
Like a lit fuse the blue light changed to white as it reached the circle, so fast that it was lit within seconds.
The light of the circle grew more intense, and shimmering faint beams lanced upward to the airship. The Dawhawk descend in an awkward swaying motion and fell straight down.
“We got em!” Joey said.
But Lezura knew better. These weren’t stupid robots screaming at each other. These were flesh and blood orderrans.
When the Dawhawk reached low enough to the shorter trees, the forces on the ground saw the unthink