Lost Planet

[rayman112]

Chapter one: The nest.


The tunnels were humid and dark; matching scenery for the feelings of self blame that weighed our hearts. Our escape had been by the skin of our teeth and in the process we'd lost a valuable comrade. For awhile we marched through the catacomb's deep chambers without a word. The small scuttling sounds of the cave critters echoed all around as they watched us, observed us, like eager spectators watching some kind of sport. I couldn’t see them…but I could feel them, their yellow almond shaped eyes. Watching us, mocking us, blaming us…

“Sweet Jesus…Commander you need to see this!" Bomber, our heavy gunmen, had just stopped in his tracks. He was at the head of the group, his body was a shadow compared to the brilliant beam of light that shone from his flash light. His beam was now focused on a cave entrance not too far from us. Even the flash light’s beam could not cut through the ominous darkness this new entrance withheld.

"What is it?" The Commander asked as he caught up to Bomber leaving Tye and me behind with Conner.

"What-do you think’s-happening,” Conner rasped. His skin had turned pale and his eyes were bloodshot. The damaged soldier was not doing well.

"Maybe we should take a rest." I said, motioning for Tye to help me carry him over to a patch of rocks where we could lay him down. Even though Tye and I had carried him on a stretcher for most of our journey after we escaped the Roxia, the gash on Conner's leg had still managed to open up again. Grimacing slightly-with the help of Tye-I began to undergo the task of flipping the wounded soldier onto his side to check on the wound. Tye unwrapped the bandage while I un-hooked a flash light from my belt.

“Make sure the leg is elevated,” I added. Tye nodded before promptly propping Conner’s leg on a rock. I aimed the flashlight’s brilliant beam at the soldier’s leg and leaned forward. Blood still seeped through the wound making the actual wound its self difficult to see. I nodded signaling for Tye to wipe the wound then looked back for a better view. A vertical gash ran along the leg of the soldier-just below the knee and stopping before it reached the ankle. The wound on his leg was deep, without proper care he could go septic. If we didn't get this guy back to the colony soon it was obvious that he'd die.

Tye was the first to notice Commander Zaff approaching and tapped me on the shoulder. The two of us immediately stood at attention in the presence of our leading commander.

"At ease, gentlemen."

"Yes, sir" we said as we sat back down awkwardly. It was amazing how the Commander could hold such a stoic expression while we had the odds stacked so high against us. We were in the middle of uncharted territory. Until just recently we had no idea this place existed. Even though our current location appeared similar to the tunnels we normally tracked through, there was a distinct difference. There was liveliness in the air…almost like an electric buzz. It almost seemed that the very air was telling us that we didn’t belong here, that we’d overstepped our bounds…

"What I came over here for" he continued “was to borrow your observation skills."

"But, Sir, are you sure?" I asked "I'm just a medical tech-"

“And you are also our only scientist, and cave specialist we have.” Not sure what to say I glanced over in Tye's direction then down at the wounded Conner.


"It’s cool" Tye interrupted a reassuring smile on his face "I've been watching you treat him. I think I can handle things"

"Well, soldier there you have it. Come with me." Zaff said as he turned and started back the way he came. I sighed then fell instep beside him.

In a matter of minutes we were standing beside Bomber at the cave entrance, his light cut into the cavern’s darkness to reveal a white glistening surface seemingly working as a membrane that blocked the entrance to the cave. Or maybe…it was protecting it. I reached out and touched the glossy surface. It was flimsy, and sticky, like a web.

“May I?” I asked, as I retrieved a pocket knife from my belt strap. The Commander nodded and raised his arched his eye brows as if to say ‘You didn’t even have to ask.’ I stabbed my knife into the tough polymer and there was a soft ripping sound as I cut a wide gapping hole into the web. Soft blue light leaked out of the cavern and into the dark tunnel. Each of us stared into the hole with quiet amazement. I knew what I saw was impossible, yet there it was. The cavern was field with hundreds more of the strange white strands all zigzagging throughout the cavern, dividing it into complex maze of twists and turns.

"I've never seen anything-" I started to say but stopped, because it was obvious this was exactly what the other two were thinking.

"This is definitely not Roxia technology." Bomber commented.

"Then who do you think built it?" I asked "It certainly wasn't any of our people." Suddenly, I remembered what the old senior in the village told me…

"This planet was never ours from the beginning lad." I shivered.

"There’s no way all of this just sprang up out of no where." The Commander said, looking surprised for the first time.

"Maybe," I started not sure of what I was saying "maybe it wasn't made by humans."

"You think this was made by some kind of monster" Bomber criticized. I shrugged.

"There’s no such thing as monsters" The Commander stated, his complementary stoic face returned (eyes cool and calculating) “The catacombs are the only place on this planet that is warm enough for life to exist. Other than our current threat known as the Roxia, we are the only intelligent life forms down here.”

Bomber shrugged. “I don’t know sir, God works in some mysterious ways. Maybe, this is his way of proving that, man does not know as much as he think’s.”

“I liked you better when you didn't believe in God." Zaff said arching his eye brows slightly with his complementary "no it all" look.

"I just don't think it’s a good idea for us to go that-" I started to say before the Commander cut me off.

"Regardless we need to press forward. Conner's not going to last any longer out here, and there’s no other way for us to go. Back tracking would be suicide there’s a whole army of Roxia behind us." With that being said The Commander started back towards the others leaving Bomber and me behind. I sighed and hurried to fall in step behind him. I had a bad feeling about the Commander’s choice. Even though what the he had said was true I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to pop out of the shadows at any moment…

Moments later we entered the cave with Bomber in the lead followed by Tye, Conner, me, and Commander Zaff. Tye and I were still carrying Conner on the stretcher and Zaff covered our flank. We found that the web inside the cavern was some kind of strengthened polymer stronger than steel. Not even our laser saws could cut through the toughened strands. We also noticed bright blue spheres protruding from some of the web walls that seemed to be the source of the cave’s light.

"Hey, Conan what do you think those are?" Tye asked after passing by a particular batch of the spheres.

"I'm not sure." I said stepping closer to one of the spheres to get a better look.

"OUCH!" Conner exclaimed. I hadn't been paying attention to where I was going and Conner's stretcher bumped against the web. Tye hadn't been ready for the collision and almost dropped his side of the stretcher completely.

"Hey, watch it.” Conner griped.

"I'm sorry-," I started to say but The Commander interrupted.

"Here, you stand guard. I'll take him," he said taking the stretcher handles from my grip. I wanted to argue but I bit my tongue. It wasn't my place to disagree with the squad leader's orders; especially, if we were in a battle field.

Zaff handed me his battle rifle and I fell instep with Tye at the rear, and contented myself with scanning the surroundings. I wasn't too happy with myself because of how I seemed to look like a screw up in front of the commander. If I was going to change his opinion of me I had to do my best at every job I was assigned from then on. Then suddenly I remembered something the commander once told me my first day starting as a soldier…

*********************


"Is Conan Ryles here?" General Sandra Ellings had asked as she paced back and forth in front of her line of cadets.

"I-I'm here." I replied from the very far end of the line. The Vice commander walked over to me and eyed me suspiciously; her dark brown eyes seemed to stare straight through me, past my heart and into my soul.

"Ryeles,” she said after a moment “why is your hand up?” My skin immediately turned hot and I brought my hand down. I looked away from her eyes, avoiding any further eye contact with her. Instead I contented myself with staring at my shoes.

“Do you have a problem, Mr. Ryeles?!!!” she continued, her dark eyes still staring bullets into my soul “Look at me!” In all honesty, I had wanted to but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I could already feel myself visibly shrinking.

“Look at me now cadet or I will immediately kick you out of this academ-!”

“Give him a break Sandy!” All of the students (including me) looked into the direction from which the voice came from. Commander Zaff had been leaning against one of the nearby cabins when he made his interruption. The way he started walking towards General Ellings, he could have been a super hero facing up against a dragon. Ellings, however; had recovered from her first initial shock.

“How dare you, disrespect me in front of these cadets! Especially as I was dealing with a certain rebel (she looked in my direction when she said this)”

“Oh please Sandra, that boy wasn’t disrespecting you. I mean honestly, he's a fourteen year old and you’re a hott older chick. How can he possibly take you seriously?” Ellings seemed to be taken back by this comment.

“I-I still think-.”

“Let me handle this, Sandy” General Ellings seemed to resemble a dear caught in a headlight, her eyes were so wide. Her only response was a slight nod and she quickly stormed off in the direction of her office. The Commander smiled, he seemed to be pleased with her reaction. After a moment he looked at me.

“You’re that Ryles kid huh?” I nodded.

“Come with me,” he said then turned and started off back towards the cabins. Not feeling I had any choice I fell in step behind him.

“Wait, what about us?” asked one of the other cadets. Zaff turned to consider them.

“Duh, you stay at attention,” he said as if the answer was so simple. The other cadets immediately did as they were told, probably not wanting to test their luck any further.

“Coming?” Zaff asked motioning for me to follow him once more. I nodded and did as I was told. The Commander led me past the cadet cabins, up the main road, and past the Cafeteria to the section where the commanding officer housing was. The Commander unlocked the door to one of the houses and led me into the living room. He offered (commanded actually) for me take a seat on one of the couches and he took a seat across from me.

I looked around me. The living room was basic. It had a couch, two chairs, a T.V., and a coffee table. But still it was better than the cadet cabins which were merely bare rooms with beds aligned across from each other on both sides of the cabins.

“Wow nice place. Is it yours?” I asked, hoping to make conversation and to become friends with my most recent savor.

“No, it’s the janitor’s I just occupy it so he can clean up after me- of course it’s mine.”

“Oh right…” Zaff looked at me quizzically as if he was searching me for something.

“I’m here but I’m not really here. What am I?”

“What?” I asked, not sure what he was getting at.

“Just answer the question.”

“Ok, ok,” I said. “You are what I make you…” I thought out loud.

“Well, do you have an answer?” Zaff asked, impatiently. I smiled slyly.

“I guess the answer is mirage or more accurately illusion. Both seem to be there but really they’re not..” The commander nodded, and twiddled his thumbs as he rocked back on the two back legs of his chair. After awhile he sat forward, allowing the front two legs of his chair to fall to the floor.

“You’re wrong.”
“What?” I said befuddled confused “my answer makes sense.”

“Your answer is crap. It’s too easy." he paused for a moment, looking at me with that same searching look as before "The reason I brought you here is because I knew your father and to be honest, I hated him. He was the only person I knew who’s problem solving abilities surpassed mine. But I’m going to train you. I’m going to sharpen that mind of yours so that you can gain reasoning abilities that soon surpass your father.”

“Thanks! I-I’m honored!”

“Don’t thank me,” Zaff said leaning back in his chair; his expression became stoic as he stared out the window. The artificial sky generated dark grey clouds. Thunder echoed and it began to rain. “It’s the least I can do…He saved my life.” For awhile I sat quietly observing Zaff. He seemed just like his riddle, there but not there.

“So what is the right answer?” I asked. “To the riddle I mean.” Zaff turned to consider me. Lightening cut across the artificial sky and blue light lit his face and faded away.

“The answer to the riddle is…”

******************************

"Did you hear that?" Tye asked suddenly stopping in his tracks.

"W-What did you hear?" Conner asked with a trembling voice.

"Shhh!” Zaff warned, Bomber kissed the cross on around his neck and whispered a quiet prayer to him self. Silence, filled the cavern as all of us listened intently for the smallest sound.

"I don't here any-" Tye started to say, and then I heard it, A soft scuttling noise at our left flank. I immediately focused my gun's light in that direction. But only the web's illuminating surface could be seen in the beams of light. A second later Bomber heard it and he pointed.

"Over there!" I shined my light in the direction but nothing was there.

"Alright," Zaff said leaning his side of the stretcher down and motioning for Tye to do the same. I handed him his battle riffle and pulled out my own shot gun from its holder on my back.

"Everybody, surround Conner!" he ordered and we all moved quickly to make a tight perimeter around our injured companion. For a moment there was only silence, the only sound that could be heard was the water dripping from the stalactites. Shadows seemed to close in on us from all directions. Lord only knows it was the most horrifying moment of my life! There’s nothing worse than the apprehension that something bad is about to happen. Horror movies are good examples of this. I’ve always hated horror movies. It wasn’t that I was afraid of what actually happened. Oh no, in all actuality seeing a leg get cut off, is no where near as scary as the moment before. The victims screams, the crazed maniac’s smile as he lifts his axe…Nothing’s worse than the wait for something bad to happen. It didn’t take long before I was ready to burst. To just scream bloody murder just so the silence would end, but thankfully the commander was the first to break the silence.

"Ok, whatever it is it seems like it’s gone," he said moving from his most recent post at Conner’s right flank. Tye, Bomber and I relaxed and let down our guard. The next few moments that went by happened fast. A giant eight legged creature jumped down on us from the cave's ceiling. The creature had to have at least been five stories high. Its hairy legs stretched out two times the size a human body and terrible fangs extended from its small head. It had no eyes either. Its need for eyes in the dark catacombs had obviously been dubbed useless by evolution long ago. Saliva slid down its fangs only to fall to the ground and make slight hissing noises on contact as it burned into the rock. We were all too surprised to react at first. Tye was the first to recover from the shock.

"Fire!" he yelled unloading several rounds into the beast's left flank. The rest of us also lifted our guns and began to fire madly at the creature. But its guard had already been raised and it began jumping acrobatically from wall to wall avoiding bullets. A stray bullet flew into one of the blue spheres protruding from the web wall and an explosion occurred. All of us were suddenly knocked off our feet and flames began to climb across the walls.

"We need to get out of here!" Zaff yelled picking up his end of Conner's stretcher. Tye copied him and picked up his own side.

"This way!”,Zaff yelled running back towards the Cave's entrance. Bomber and I followed. We ran through the cave’s twisting pathways all the time avoiding the exploding spheres. To my left I noticed one peculiar sphere and I stopped. Bomber ran up beside me and grabbed my arm.
"Come on lets go!" he yelled while pulling me off in the opposite direction.

"Look!" I said pointing to the strange sphere. It turned from blue, to light purple, to light pink, then to dark red, and it popped. Letting loose a whole batch of tiny eight legged creatures much like the larger one we had faced earlier.

"I'll be damned." I said not sure of how to react to what I was witnessing. "It’s a nest.” Bomber unloaded a round into the hatchlings killing a couple of them before pulling me by my arm roughly until we were in a fast run In pursuit of the others.

Meanwhile, more eight legged hatchlings began popping out of the spheres in close pursuit of us. In a matter of Minutes we caught up with the commander and Tye carrying Conner in the stretcher. Tye glanced behind us, yelped and turned back around.

"Friends of yours?" he asked as I came up beside him. I shook my head and kept running.

"We're nearing the entrance." Conner reported after awhile. And right he was.
Three yards or two away I could see the small gap in the cave that was the entrance. But, what I also saw was something so terrifying it made my heart skip a beat. The flames that the explosion had started had collected on the web above the entrance.
But that's not what caught my attention. It was the small spheres protruding from the web above the entrance that bothered me.I stopped in my tracks.

"Wait a minute." The others stopped and looked at me.

"What in the Lord's name is wrong with you man?! We don't have time for this!" Bomber yelled pointing at the eight legged hatchlings closing in on us.

"Look!" I yelled pointing at the flames on top the entrance. In a matter of seconds they'd consumed the entire web above the entrance including the purple sphere and seconds later there was an explosion. Suddenly a ton of rock and in-flamed web fell to the ground blocking our one and only exit.

"What now guys?” Bomber asked.

[rayman112]

Chapter Two: Phoenix Queen.

Before anyone could reply an explosion from above rocked the very ground beneath us. The world suddenly lit up in a dazzling display of light as a hole in the ceiling revealed itself beneath a rain of dust and debris.

“What the hell was that?” someone asked, I couldn’t tell who because of the dust rain clouding my vision. I looked up at the hole through the cavern’s ceiling, rays of light filtered through the dust rain. The fire that had once occupied the web wall had been smuggled out by the surplus of dust.

The mixture of smoke and dust made it sting every time I took a breath. Next to me Tye coughed and spluttered gasping for air. I couldn’t catch any sign of where the Captain and the others could be and as the dust cleared I realized the horrifying reason. The debris from the explosion had caused a hole in the cavern’s ceiling and crushed the web wall causing a huge domino affect. All of the web arced above and around us came crashing down, piling in around us in a huge semi circle that reached high up and touched the rough of the cavern…or at least what was left of it.

The Captain and the others were no where in sight, which only left the possibility that they had been crushed as the cavern collapsed.

“No…” I muttered, hardly able to believe what I was seeing.

“Conan,” Tye said pointing at the hole in the ceiling…or more like what was coming down from the ceiling. Dark figures slid down from the hole on ropes. I slowly edged towards them, not truly aware that I was doing it. I didn’t know who they were at first. They wore dark suits and masks that I’d never seen anyone wear except…Roxia. I staggered back wearily as one disembarked from his rope and stood before me with a blow gun held firmly in his hands. I raised my hands in the air using the universal sign for surrender.

That didn’t seem to be enough. The masked man blew into the small tube. Fum! I felt a small sting own my shoulder and looked down. Two darts protruded from it. The world seemed to melt. My mind was retreating into a gray cloud. The physical world melted away…
****************************

I didn’t have any dreams at first. I read some where that that was normal when one’s been injected with sedatives. The gray cloud seemed to relent some and physical sensations slowly returned to me. I felt as if I were floating. I was lying on my back but, I still felt the sensation of moving. That’s right I must be floating, I thought…I was on a cloud and I was floating. That seemed to be the only explanation at the time.

The world was still in a blur. I turned my head and noticed that Tye was lying next to me. He was still knocked out. I tried reaching out my hand to nudge him but my arm wouldn’t move. It no longer belonged to me. I heard a murmur from some where to my right. I couldn’t understand what was said. It was in another language. I felt another sting. This time it was on my arm. The grey cloud returned and I accepted it with open arms…

****************************************************

This time as the grey cloud returned it brought images, illusions, and memories. The next thing I knew I was sitting in the Commander’s office. At first I wasn’t too sure until the walls and furniture finished fizzing into view. Or maybe fizzing into being was a better term for it, I thought. Yes, my surroundings seemed to start as bubbles that floated up from the ground and form the interior of the Commander’s office. I was sitting in one of two of his leather chairs right across from him. His desk was the only thing between us. One couch sat against the wall to our far right and a lamp stood next to it, warm light flooded out from beneath the lamp shade.

Behind the captain there was a large window. I could see the whole village behind him. In the distance the great wall rose over the village. It was the only protection that kept out the Roxia. Beyond it there were no clouds and no sun. The sky above us was only a hologram meant to give the villagers the feeling of being on the surface, when really they were several thousand feet beneath the ground.

“It’s been four years” the commander said “ Four years since you joined this academy at the age of fourteen, and now you sit before me…as a legal adult eighteen years old. I took you under my wing and you’ve graduated from the academy, become a more than acceptable medical soldier and now you sit before me.” He paused, allowing what he said to sink in.

“I’m going to add you to my team” he said, placing a badge out on the table before me. I reached for it but he pulled it back.

“First, I want you to answer my riddle,” he said. “I exist but I don’t exist. I am only what you make me. What am I?” I paused to think before I answered.

“The clock’s ticking,” he said pointing to his watch.

“There isn’t an answer,” I said finally “Or, more appropriately there are too many answers… Am I right?” The captain handed me the badge, before getting up to leave. He stopped when he reached the door.

“I’ll see you bright and early soldier,” he said before exiting the room…

The world seemed to melt away. The walls deconstructed and fizzed away into small bubbles as the grey cloud receded. **********************************************

When I awoke I sat up quickly and immediately felt light headed. My vision staggered and quickly began to grow dark to the point where I had to lay back down. As my vision returned I noticed Tye lying next to me. We were lying on a pallet made from dirty brown rags. The material was rough and itchy.

I sat up again (this time slowly) and took in my surroundings. We were in a small room barely large enough for two people. If any one else tried waling in it’d be uncomfortable. The ceiling was high enough for me to stand at full height which was a relief. I noticed a small opening at the other side of the room. Lasers barred the opening and I realized that we weren’t in just any room. This was a prison cell.

Behind me I heard a muffled sigh and I turned just in time Tye waking up. “Where are we?” he asked while stifling a yawn.

“I’m not sure, but I bet we’re about to find out,” I said motioning towards the masked figure standing at the door. But something was strange. He seemed to be standing up side down. He typed something in a control panel to his right and suddenly the world turned upside down.

Both Tye and I yelled in surprise as we fell to the floor that I had originally believed to be the ceiling. The matt that had once been our bed, stayed where it was on the ceiling that had once been the floor. This side of our prison seemed to be larger than the previous side. Four guards came in and dragged us out before we could completely get our bearings.

The guards seemed to be in a hurry the way they came in and pulled us out. They didn’t even give us a chance to walk. Our feet were dragging against the ground as they pulled us along. Another thing I noticed is that the guards holding us were tall. Even if we stood at full height we’d lack a couple of inches compared to them.

Each of the guards wore bright red armor and white masks that depicted animals. The guard to my right’s mask depicted a tiger and the one to my left’s depicted a dragon. I tried turning my head to see the masks designs on the guards holding Tye but the guard to my left (dragon face) pinched my neck warning me not to turn around.

The tunnels that they dragged us through were dull. Every tunnel we turned through looked exactly like the other one. It was hard to tell if we were making any progress at all. After what felt like an eternity we stopped at a large metal door which stood out awkwardly compared to the natural rocky surroundings of the tunnel. Two gurards were standing at their posts on either side of the door. The one to the right had a dog face mask and the one to the left had a cat face.

Both guards bowed at our approach and tapped the door with the ends of two long poles they each held. They then tapped the same ends against each other and an electric pulse bounced from each pole into the door. There was an electric buzzing sound as the door split in half and opened inwards to reveal a wide throne room.
A lot more care had been put into this room than any of the one’s I’d seen so far. Blue designs pulsing with the same electric light that I had seen the guards use on the door etched all across the room. They traced out intricate patterns that encompassed the floor, walls, and ceiling. Jeweled drapes hung on the walls on either side of us and they too were covered with the blue designs. At the very end of the room was an immaculate golden throne decorated with the same designs seen on the floor. I wasn’t sure what it was at first but there was something strange about the designs other than the pulsing light flowing through them.

In it sat a white haired woman with tan skin. Her body, also decorated with the same designs that covered the whole room, was slender, yet shaped appropriately. Her figure seemed so tender yet, chiseled out of rock at the same time. Her facial features contained the angelic appearance of a goddess. In other words, this woman was gorgeous.

However, the one thing I found it hardest to look away from was her electric blue eyes. Strangely enough they seemed to match the pulsating light that flowed through the designs on the floor.

Next to the woman on either side were two guards. There armor was the same color red as the armor on the guards next to us but their armor included the intricate pattern of the blue designs. They both had the same animal depicted on their mask. A phoenix…That’s when realization hit me, the whole room was a mosaic. All of it, the designs on every wall, ceiling, and person traced out a picture of a phoenix.

Tye whistled. “Wow,” he said “This place is nice.” One of the guards holding him, this one’s mask depicted a wolf, growled and kicked him to the ground before the queen.

“Hey guys, play nice. I mean we’re all friends’ right?” I said to the guard. Dragon face at my right didn’t seem to like this comment either and threw me down next to Tye.

“loveir colrao seveda” said the Queen. I knew it was her because of the way her voice had a melodic ring to it. Unfortunate for us, neither of us understood what she said. Tiger face of whom was at my left nodded and retrieved a small block-like device form within the folds of his armor.

He placed the device on the side of my neck and it sent a shock through my body and I screamed in pain. Tears swelled up in my eyes. With a monotone beeping noise the device finished by attaching to my neck. To my left I noticed that they had done the same to Tye also.

“Perfect, now we can understand each other,” the Queen said, a sly smile forming on her lips. That small movement alone sent a chill up my spine.

“What is it you want from us?” Tye asked. The Queen shook her head clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth before saying “Tsk Tsk.” As if taking the que, the guard with the wolf depicted on his mask, wolf face, retrieved a small stick barely longer than a pencil from within his armor. He pressed a switch on it which allowed both ends to shoot out so that it formed a small staff. The guard jammed the staff into Tye’s back. At once a jet of blue light traveled along the stick and emptied out into the place where Tye had been jabbed.

Tye let out a strangled cry and fell over onto his hands. The Queen’s resulting hysterical laughter was enough to make me hater her. Her astonishing beauty seemed to no longer matter. All that was left beneath was mud.

“Your people are all the same. Thinking you can make demands,” she said venomously “Your attitude is no different from that Commander Zap or whatever his name-“

“Zaff!” I yelped suddenly. The others must still be alive, I thought. The Queen leaned back against her throne a bored look settled upon her elegant features.

“What of it?” she said “it’s not like it matters. They’re going to be executed any way…and so will you.” Tye and I sprang immediately to our feet.

“Tell us where they are!” we yelled in unison. Dragon face and Wolf face immediately moved in to apprehend us, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Tye spun around just as the approaching guard reached him and grabbed the shock staff. Even though the guard obviously had more training with the weapon Tye still had the element of surprise on his hand. Plus, being a medic, he knew how to move his body and how to constrict the movements of others. Using his momentum he grabbed the guard’s staff and twisted it from his grasp. In the same fluid movement he spun the stick and swung it low, sweeping the guard off his feet. He kicked wolf face in the head to make sure he was knocked out before throwing the shock staff in my direction. I had managed to wriggle free from dragon face and caught the pole. I then spun around and conked dragon face in his temple. A bolt of blue light shot from the pole at the same moment sending dragon face sprawling across the floor dead.

Quickly, I turned to face the other two guards rushing in to back up their fallen comrades, but before anything further could be done, a yell from the Queen’s side fo the chamber made everyone freeze.

“Enough!” she commanded. Both attacking guards had stopped immediately. Tya and I slacked our guards a little too, but only a little.

“If you want to see your friends again I suggest you stop,” said the Queen her tone returned to normal, but still I could see a flash of interest or amusement in her electric blue eyes. “I can have them killed just by snapping my fingers so I suggest that you give in.” Tye and I exchanged glances before completely relaxing. What the Queen said was true. We really had no chance of winning that fight. The odds were against us.

The two remaining guards stalked towards us cockily, and they had every right. They had us. There was nothing we could do.
“No hard feelings?” I asked tiger face hopefully. Then something un-expected happened. When tiger face replied it was in a woman’s voice.

“That guard you just killed” she said “Was my brother.”

“Oh…” that was all I could get out before the blow came. Tiger face punched me square in the jaw. Everything went black…

[rayman112]

Chapter three: The False Prophet


The only light that could be seen in the dark confines of our prison cell was the dim blue glow given off by the cell’s laser bars. The world seemed to elude me now as it hid beneath a thick veil of darkness. Almost as if it were playing some sick game of hide and seek.

At first Tye and I talked to pass off the time. We talked and reminisced about anything that came to mind. But eventually we ran out of stories and just stayed silent.

Any sense of time I had withered away like a dying flower. I soon came to the conclusion that the world had dried up, and steamed away into nothing. The pool of darkness was drowning me. I could hardly breathe or think. Sometimes, I even wondered if I was dead. I could have died in my sleep and have not been aware of it.

After awhile, I deemed my hypothesis impossible because if that were true, it would mean that when one dies, they live an eternity in dark nothingness. Suddenly, images, memories possibly from my past flickered into my mind like the sudden flickering of a TV when you press the “on” button. Everything seemed to come back to me like a bad nightmare…

I was a kid, four years old; a woman was holding me tightly in her arms. Her breathing came out in harsh gasps as she walked. The cold bit at my skin, through the covers she had wrapped tightly around my body. As for her, she only wore a leather jacket and blue jeans which was hardly the best gear to wear when walking several inches of snow. Her arms were bony and pale, and her body shook feverishly, as she marched through the decayed city. The wind didn’t blow but I could feel a steady cold like someone was holding a block of ice against my body and refused to lift it. I let out a small whine and burrowed my head underneath her arm.

“It’s ok, it’s ok,” the woman said, raking her cold shaking hands through my hair.

“I’m scared,” I whined, but the only sound that came out was a muffled cough from under the woman’s arm, but she didn’t seem to notice and continued raking my hair with her hand.

“It’s ok, it’s ok,” she purred over and over. Then suddenly snow began to fall and deranged howls echoed from across the desolate city. The woman stopped, listening to the howls. They were becoming louder and more distinguished and soon heavy foot falls could be heard, along with vicious snarls and yelps of pain.

The woman began moving faster now. Her easy stride turned into a half jog. The howls were nearer. The sounds of the heavy foot falls had revealed themselves as harsh gallops. Judging by the growling sounds whatever was chasing us was down had just turned on our street. I tried looking up but the woman put her hands over my eyes, and before I realized it she’d stuffed me underneath a car.

“Stay quiet,” she whispered before leaving me and running further down the street. Obediently I sat quietly underneath the car where she’d put me and watched as the woman’s legs slowly moved out of…
(TAP!)
…view. Seconds later, a group of dark figures, shielded by the heavy snow fall run past. The only details I could make out of them were their in humanly grey legs and tattered…
(TAP! TAP!)

…clothes. All was silent. Then suddenly an ear splitting scream cut through the air. My heart raced and tears ran down my cheeks, because I knew that scream had come from the woman. Horrifying hoots and hollers… (TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!)

…from the woman’s attackers raped the air, and I was forced to cover my ears. But try as I might I couldn’t block the sound out. A second scream joined them and suddenly I realized it was my voice…

****************************

I sat up with a jolt, eyes blinking at the sudden darkness. I rubbed my eyes hoping that I was still dreaming but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t rub the inky blackness away. I looked around wearily; a strange sound had been what woke me up…
(TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!)

…There it was again, I thought, while sweeping my eyes around the prison.

“Did you hear that?” Tye asked. He was awake now also, sitting up on his side of the bed. I nodded then remember ethat Tye wouldn’t be bale to see my gesture in the cell’s darkness.

“Yea,” I replied. Both of us sat quietly for a second, listening, for the smallest sound…
(TAP! TAP!)

….The sound was coming from the prison entrance. I looked up , and surely enough there was an upside down masked guard standing at the entrance. The guard must have been satisfied after getting our attention because soon after I looked up they put in a code on the control panel next to the entrance and the world flipped over. Suddenly, the top of the cell was bottom and the bottom was top. This time Tye and I were prepared and landed on the floor a lot more gracefully than last time.

As I found my focus and took a better look at the guard standing before me I realized who it was. Tiger face. Subconsciously I reached up and touched my jaw in the spot where she hit me.

“What do you want?” Tye asked accusingly, even though we were obviously the ones in her mercy. I noticed that held firmly in her right hand was one of the shock staffs Tye had been previously hit with.

“If you want to escape and save your friends, come with me.” Tiger face harshly replied before leaving the room. Tye and I exchanged looks.

“Should we trust her?” he asked. I shrugged.

“What choice do we have?” I then stepped out the prison cell into the tunnel. Warm, comforting, fire light poured against my light deprived skin the moment I stepped out of the cell. Not too far ahead of me Tiger face had already started down the tunnel.

“Hey!” I yelled to her as I fell in step behind her, with Tye following not too far behind me.

“Why would you want to help us after I killed your brother?” I asked Tiger face. She didn’t reply, and instead seemed to focus on the path before us. I started to ask again but stopped when I noticed she’d stopped moving. She was staring intently at a part of the rock wall, almost as if she were solving a jig-saw puzzle.

“What are you doing-?” Tye started to ask but before he got through mid sentence she pressed a rock in triggering the whole section of the rock wall to split open, revealing hidden entrance.

Without hesitation she entered the room with Tye and I, lost for words, following behind her. The room we entered was similar to the throne room, because of the same pulsing designs that covered every stretch of the room. The only difference was the arrays or weapons stacked in racks on every wall in the room. To my right I noticed a large rack filled with staff like weapons similar to what Tiger face currently held. There were other weapons also. Blow guns, swords, spears with high intensity laser blades on the ends, and even laser lassos. There was enough weapons in this place to supply a small army, and for some reason I couldn’t doubt that was what this room was for.

However, one thing I didn’t expect this room to have was sitting on a table at its very center. Tye and I quickly rushed over to it. All of our gear, all of our weapons were sitting right there in front of us on the small table. I had expected our equipment to be destroyed after we were captured, but fortunately I was wrong.

“Ok, why are you doing this?” Tye asked suddenly turning on Tiger face.

“We’re not going any further until you tell us,” I warned. Tiger face didn’t reply, but instead she lifted her mask off her face to reveal dark brown almond shaped eyes, silky black hair, and light brown skin. I stared at her unable to find my voice. Next to me, Tye was as speechless as I; as a result Tiger face was the first to break the silence.

“I’ll explain to you in time, but for now we must move. We don’t have much time,” she said “it won’t be long until the Roxia discover your absence.” Her eyes wondered down to the pistol I held in my hand and she added, “Also, you’ll need to conceal your weapons; otherwise you’ll blow our cover.” Tye and I nodded and both of us stuffed a pistol into the side of our pockets under our shirts and headed towards the exit but she didn’t follow.

Instead, she was looking at a small table nearby with an array of black rectangular devices occupying it. Hesitating only slightly before picking one up, she marched over to me.

“I need to get rid of the tracking devices,” she said before pressing a button on the device and aiming it at my neck. Next there was an electric hum and a flare of pain shot along the side of my neck as a square black object fell from it and landed on the floor at my feet, a small wisp of smoke drifting up from it. I gasped in pain rubbing the side of my neck. Tears swelled into my eyes.

“What the hell was that?!!” I griped. Tiger face didn’t seem to here me and continued on to do the same to Tye who responded with a similar reaction to mine. Tiger face motioned for us to follow her out the room. Tye and I complied, still rubbing our necks. She led us down a three more tunnels; at least I thought they were different tunnels. They all looked the same. To be honest, In those few moments I felt as if I was no longer in charge of my life. This was Tiger face’s show, all Tye and I could do was nod and follow her commands. Because she disarmed our translation devices we couldn’t understand her but she seemed well versed in army sigh language; waving her hand when she wanted us to move and holding out one finger when she wanted us to stop. In fact, she commanded in a way that was a lot similar to the Commander which made the answer answerable questions in my mind even more confusing. Why was she helping us and who was she?

I didn’t have much time to ponder any further because I noticed Tiger face’s (I really need to find out her name) signal to stop. The tunnel we stood in was like a tributary into another much larger tunnel, Tiger face had her back pressed up against the wall and motioned for us to do the same. I followed the instructions dumbly, not sure what was happening, until I heard it…the footsteps.

Judging by the sound it was a group and surely enough seconds later a large group of soldiers walked passed us; all of them in the same red armor that Tiger face wore. Majority of them held weapons of the same sort, blow guns, a few laser spears, and of course the shock staffs Tye and I had unwillingly become accustomed to. After the parade of soldiers finally passed each of us exhaled. If we had been caught; it would have been game over. We waited until we were sure the guards were gone before entering the tunnel. Tiger face led us all the way down it in the opposite direction we saw the soldiers take.

We took a right down another tunnel before stopping at yet another hidden passage within the wall, similar to the weapon’s room. This time as we found ourselves in a small rectangular closet I immediately realized why we were here. All around us there were varying sizes of armor like we had seen the guards wearing. All of the equipment was there except for the masks.

Tiger face picked out two pairs of armor; one for Tye and one for me. She then signaled for us to stay and left the room. Tye and I exchanged glances then quietly began the task of dressing ourselves in the dark, cramped closet (not to mention that we had to stuff our boots to make up for the lack of height which was not very comfortable). Neither of us seemed to be in the talking mood, or at least I knew I wasn’t. Too much was circling through my head at the moment. I ended up thinking back to the choices we’d made and how they got us into our current situation. For a second I wondered if we’d made the right choice in trusting this complete stranger. Could this all be an elaborate trick in order for us to walk right into our demise? Suddenly, the door to the closet slid open and Tiger face was standing at the entrance.

She pulled off her mask to reveal her face, flushed and sweaty. I could tell she’d been in a fight; there was a bruise on her cheek. She held up two masks, one in each hand, a snake and a raven. I took the snake and Tye grabbed the one left over.

Tiger face repositioned her own mask back on her face and we followed her out of the closet; fully dressed with our pistol safely secured under the flaps of our armor’s breast plate. She led us into another tunnel where we eventually found two bodies of unconscious soldiers. Like the all of the Roxia we’d seen so far these men were tall and buff. I was surprised she was able to take them on by herself. Tiger face quickly retrieved her staff from a nearby wall before helping Tye and I drag the two soldiers all the way back to the closet where we tied them up. After the making sure the entrance to the closet was shut and secure we followed Tiger face into another adjoining tunnel where we eventually met up with a group of soldiers as they were just getting into formation.

The one in charge, at least I guessed he was in charge because he was the one shouting out commands, marched over to us. One thing I noticed about him immediately was that he didn’t have a mask. He was a large and broad shouldered fellow with bright blue eyes, but what caught my attention the most was he had a tattoo of a phoenix in purple squiggly lines on his head where his hair should have been.

“SanJosè,” Tiger face said as she bowed before him leaving Tye and me standing dumbly as he approached. SanJosè must have noticed this because his face contorted into an angry snarl as he turned to us. Tiger face noticed this and pulled at my sleeve and catching the hint I came down to kneel beside her and Tye copied. SanJosè, or tattoo boy as I liked to call him, barked something at us that I couldn’t understand but I figured what he said probably meant something along the lines of: “What are you three doing out of formation?” Tiger face eyes directed at the ground and replied “Sovale, Beinde Luegna.” Which was probably akin to: “I found these two. They had gotten lost so I showed them the way here.” Tattoo boy seemed to except her response because he nodded his head and walked back to his soldiers. Without missing a beat we followed him and joined the formation at the back of the line.

From here we started down the tunnel, this time in formation with a group of enemy soldiers. Despite the fact that this was the closest we’d gotten so far, Tye and I were able to blend in quite well, and from here on things went pretty smoothly.

Our troop marched on through the tunnels and eventually our troop became a crowd as more soldiers joined our ranks. We all seemed to be heading in the same direction. After a while we reached a large metal door that was too familiar, and my heart immediately sank. We were standing before the entrance of the Queen’s throne room once again.

I looked from Tye and then to Tiger face. For a second, I began to wonder if she really was going to betray us. The two guards on either side of the door placed their staffs against the gleaming metal door that separated us from the Queen’s domain. Immediately an electric current traveled up the staff’s shaft and into the door. There was a loud Crack! And the door split in half and opened inwards revealing the decorated interior of the Queen’s domain.

A crowd of soldiers had scattered into the room. There were hundreds or maybe even thousands, all kneeling before their queen. Our group was the last to march into the room and kneel before the queen. The doors closed behind us and all was silent except for the electrical hum that seemed to be coming from the pulsing mosaic that encompassed the room.

The Phoenix Queen sat on her thrown. A large fire blazed behind a caged chamber adjacent to her, stretching across that side of the chamber horizontally like a veil. The dancing red fire light seemed to twinkle maliciously in her eyes as if giving a temporary window into the deep dark pit of her soul.

There was a clamor as two soldiers, carrying a large cup, marched towards the Queen. A black fire burned inside the cup which confused me at first because, I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things clearly but I realized that what I was seeing was reality. Inside the cup there was a black fire burning, but what was most tantalizing of all was that it seemed alive!

The closer the guards got to the Queen the more lively she seemed to become, and when they finally reached her throne she looked akin to the expression “as giddy as a school girl”. Each guard bowed once before walking past her and towards the large bonfire behind her. The Queen didn’t seen to notice, the whole time her eyes were locked on the black fire and its glowing embers.

When the guards finally reached the bright red flames they reverently poured the black fire into it. Immediately the flames responded as sparks flew everywhere and the bright red flames turned from orange, to yellow, and then finally green. The now bright green flames became extremely vibrant as the whole room was basked in there glorious green light. The cage that had once withheld became nearly nonexistent as it melted away into little more than small stubs of metal, allowing the brilliant flames to go out of control. They shot across the curtains and ceiling with amazing speed almost as if the room had been filled with a small explosion that seemed to rock the throne room off its axis. Cracks formed in the walls above the fire’s temporary domain and across the floor stopping only feet away from the Queen’s chair. Then suddenly just as fast as the explosions had started the flames retracted like smoke being sucked into a vacuum. All of the flames imploded into one spot with a great BOOM!

Smoke and debris billowed across the chamber, but strangely none of the soldiers broke their ranks (I really had to admire their diligence.)

“What is this?!!” I yelled to Tiger face, completely forgetting the language barrier between us, but too my amazement she actually responded.

“I don’t know we’ve never had something like this happen before!” she yelled back, and then her eyes suddenly widened, and I knew the same question was on both of our minds. How could she understand me? All around us the none of the soldiers seemed to be paying us any attention, they all had their eyes focused on the spot where the fire had imploded; right in front of the Queen’s throne. Slowly the smoke began to clear and a dark silhouette came into view.

At first I couldn’t tell if it was male or female but as the grey smog of smoke and debris finally cleared I realized that the “it” was actually a “he”. The man was short, unlike most of the Roxia I’d seen, and he had a pale sickly body and strangely the last of the black smoke seemed to move of its on accord and form a dark cloak around his body. Rocks and dust from the ground began to gather up at his feet and mold together in the air, forming a grey staff, the same color as the dust it was made from, that had a glowing green jewel encrusted on its head. After taking a deep intake of air the man exhaled as he opened his bright green eyes, which resembled the flames that had given birth to him, and looked around as if he were seeing the world for the first time.

I looked over to Tiger face and judging from look in her eyes she seemed almost as surprised as I was. Then man continued to gaze at the crowd of soldiers that kneeled before him, and even though I knew it couldn’t be possible, his eyes feel right on mine and looked onto them. His gaze seemed to cut through me like a knife. It was almost as if he were reading into my soul, and my mind. I looked away. He knows who I am, I though. He knows that I’m a tress passer. I ducked my head towards the ground hoping that I was wrong. Then suddenly the man spoke.

“Welcome, all of you. I am Romnus and I am grateful you’ve come,” even though I knew he couldn’t possibly be speaking the same language as me I could some how understand him. Part of me suspected that it had to do with the glowing green flames and the pulsing jewel on his staff, “I have been sent here to tell you all, that you are the chosen few who have been selected to leave this underworld and join your masters your god’s on the surface.” He paused as a round of applause erupted and the soldier and guards alike hooted and hollered. Moments later Romnus held up his hand and the applause died down. “Your loyalty flatters me but I am simply an angel, a messenger to you the people. I am only here as a representative.” A spark of green flames flashed in Ramnus’s eyes. Despite what he claimed I knew he was no angel. If anything he was an angel of death… a false prophet.

“I have come here to offer you peace and prosperity,” he continued “but even as I speak evil ones are seeking to destroy me…in fact those very evil ones exist in this room.” Gasps echoed throughout the room. Soldiers turned their heads as if they were suspecting the evil one’s to be the people right next to them.

The false prophet smiled, and I was disgusted. A flare of hatred filled my body as I realized that while everyone in the room looked for the evil one’s the evil one in fact was him. Again our eyes crossed paths, but this time I couldn’t look away and uncontrollably I stood up. Tye noticed and punched me in the side, but my gaze didn’t waver and my movements didn’t slow. My body was out of my control. It no longer seemed to belong to me.

Romnus moved his hands in a rising motion, and Tye and Tiger face were suddenly standing up beside me. I realized then that they had gone under the same trance as me. I had to get control of my body back, but I failed to come up with any ideas on how to do so. I tried my hardest to force my already rising arm down but it seemed to gain a mind of its own and I was forced to lift my mask off revealing my face. Next to me, Tye and Tiger face were doing the same; they seemed to be going through the same inner struggles that I was currently experiencing. Romnus smiled victoriously as the whole room seemed to turn its attention to us. The Queen stood, her eyes focused especially on Tiger face standing on my right.

“Nati, my own daughter…A traitor!” she yelled, fury obviously swelling with in her as her eyes narrowed. Both Tye and I looked from the Queen and then to the Tiger face or who we knew now as Nati. Romnus smiled, he seemed to be enjoying the moment’s twisted irony. The Queen turned to Romnus, her expression was suddenly soft and somewhat pleading.

“Allow us to use this traitor,” her eyes darted quickly at her daughter “and these prisoners as sacrifices to show my people’s love and loyalty to the god’s.” Romnus smiled.

“The god’s will be pleased,” he said, and then speaking more to the crowd than to her he continued “they shall be sacrificed tomorrow in exchange for your enlightenment!” The whole chamber was filled with sound as the crowd roared with applause.