Authors: Ben Bequer
“We’re not going to make it.”
I strode to Cool Hand, “You get her on the next harness over, understand me?”
He nodded, “What’s going on?”
“Just do it,” I said and looked over at Haha, who gave me a nod in approval.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she asked, grabbing my shoulder.
“I’m going to buy you some time,” I said and shrugged her off.
“Don’t be stupid,” she said, grabbing me again. “We can make it.”
Satisfied he had a sufficient force to massacre us; the commander ordered his troops forward and led them himself. I couldn’t see how in the world we were all going to get away.
“It’s my one good deed for the day,” I said, grabbing her shoulder and bringing her closer to me and kissing her deeply. She was shocked and didn’t respond, nor did she push me off. I released her, smiled, but her face was replete with concern and pained anguish.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I know,” I said, and ran off.
“You’ll get yourself killed!” she yelled, but I was well on my way, limping towards a nearby rocky outcropping, high enough that the enemy commander could see me. I climbed up and unleashed the bow. It was as painful releasing as it was wrapping itself into my arm.
They were already in range, and in fact, their archers went to work on me, shooting arrows and quarrels at me. One thing I noticed was that the army was coming for me, all of them. They were unconcerned with the others.
For now.
It was a strange, idyllic moment, standing atop the rocky outcrop and watching the approaching mass of raging warriors. I had a moment to take in the alien landscape, the low rolling hill down to the open fields beyond, pristine save for the massive dark scar where the behemoth had torn through the earth, the swirling saturnine skies that surrounded the shattered planet, and the irenic tower of silver and gold that seemed to glower over the rest of this world. I had so many questions about who these ‘Lightbringers’ were, why they had created this place, and most importantly, what their intentions were for Earth.
But now was no time to sightsee. The closest edges of the rushing formation were within my range, and now I was going to give them reason to remember this day. Those that would survive would recall the dark man raining fire and death from the sky. I dug into my arrow bag for the heavy hitters, the high-explosive arrows, my grubby blood-stained fingers feeling the tell-tale notches on my arrow shafts, braille-like markings that allowed me to quickly identify one arrow from another in the middle of a fight.
I found the HE row, nestled along the back of my arrow bag, and drew the first one, setting the nock on the string, wrapping the index and middle finger of my left hand around the string, and drawing back, then firing in one smooth motion. There was no time to aim, nor to care, I was firing for a spot, not a particular man in a formation, and the arrow soared through the sky, its aim true. Without pause I drew the next arrow and sent it after the first, then another and another until all six of the HE arrows shared their parabolic arc, each to land a few dozen yards beside his brother. The ground shook where each of the arrows struck, blowing tons of rock and dirt into the air, and the dismembered bodies of my enemy, and cutting down the entire first few ranks of the massed formation. After that, the incoming army was in disarray, almost half their number dropped in one volley. I looked back where Haha and the others were and saw Cool and Haha struggling to wrap Apogee in her harness.
Of my remaining power arrows the strongest were two concussion arrows. I used them against two nearing worm riders, and to my surprise, the concussion effect basically pulped the worms and riders, bursting them into a fleshy discharge.
Next were a dozen fragmentation grenade arrowheads. They were smaller devices than the HE, designed to be for anti-personnel, but one last cavalry rider was coming too close, so I brought down his mount with a well-placed arrow that exploded the creature’s face. The rest of them, I aimed towards larger concentrations of enemies, devastating small clusters of soldiers coming towards me, saving the last for the commander, catching him as he trudged through one of the gaping holes caused by the HE arrows. The arrow exploded a few feet from him, stitching him from head to toe with thousands of tiny metal shards that killed him and his closest warriors.
A dozen yards from me, one of the worm riders struggled to his feet, covered in worm goo. When he saw how close I stood, he charged at me and I was forced to fire a normal arrow at him. It impaled him in the chest and dropping him dead at the base of my rock.
My remaining arrows were more trick ones than anything, but two were sleeping gas, so I fired those at other clusters of soldiers. Two more were lachrymatory, and I fired those at the ground between me and the nearest soldiers.
They were close now. Some bloodied, others badly injured, but mass of soldiers was inching closer and closer. I had whittled their number down considerably, and many that were standing were dazed from explosions, or walking dead with wounds that would soon kill them. Still they came, the few remaining horsemen sitting back barking orders at the onrushing foot soldiers. Several archers fired at me with bows and crossbows.
I fired a sound explosion arrow at a trio of soldiers that were dangerously close, dropping them to the ground in screaming agony as blood seeped from their ears. Then I shot my last goop arrow, gluing a pair of soldiers to each other, and to the rocky ground, leaving them immobilized.
I had a dozen or so normal barbed arrows left, and took my time dropping the soldiers closest to my vantage point. But they were so many.
Far too many.
My arms were tired and sore, and I was starting to feel the pain from an arrow jutting from my knee, but I fired and fired.
Soldiers dropped from arrows that stuck from their heads and chests, but still more trudged towards me up the hill and to my rocky castle. Now they were coming in groups of dozens, swarming around my rocky base, readying weapons and jostling with each other for the honor of the kill.
They took cover behind rocky outcroppings, timing my shots, but still I fired.
I shot a final glance back at the device, and saw Haha alone. Apparently, the others had made it safely across. He waved at me and I nodded back. He understood there was no way I was going to make it to him injured as I was. Haha engaged the device and sped across the chasm towards the safety of the other island.
And then I was alone. It was silent then, despite the raging of aliens near me, despite the arrows and quarrels bouncing near and around me. It was an odd feeling, being only aware of my breathing, of the throbbing at my temples, of the icky dripping of blood from my leg wounds.
I picked up a damaged arrow on the floor and fired, killing a soldier that rose before me, rearing back an axe to take out my legs. The arrow had so much force than it flew through his body and into that of the nearest man behind him. I scanned the ground for more errant missiles I could use, but every arrow near me was shattered or broken. One stuck out of my thigh, and I pulled it, hoping the head wouldn’t be barbed and fired at the next nearest soldier.
In my arrow bag were two arrows. One, the last barbed-head, the other, the headless shaft, who’s payload had been The Nuke. The deadly arrow head still resided in one of my pockets and for a second, I thought of slipping it on and firing at the base of my outcrop, going out in a maelstrom of fire. But I had no time, even to dig the head out of my pocket and engage it by hand.
And besides, I wasn’t done. Not by a damn minute.
The last remaining manta rider flew past me barking orders at the surrounding mass of soldiers. He was the remaining lord that had seen me kill Dethregas. I recognized him from the distinctive armor he wore. It was as marvelous as his dead companions, but no two were the same.
Below me a pig-grilla soldier was at my feet, and I fired the last broad head arrow into his face. He grasped his mortal wound and reeled backwards. I slammed my boot down on his chest and sent his body into a few others that were clambering up the rock.
And that was it.
I drew my last arrow, the headless shaft, and fired it up into the sky, feeling hands, tentacles and claws grasping at me, dragging me down from my perch. I fell without any grace to my feet, but I grabbed one of the soldiers, a multi-legged sort with strange chitinous armor, and swung him like a weapon. Unfortunately, he burst into a few pieces with one blow and they were all upon me. It was too close to swing weapons, but their hands and claws tore at me, their fangs and teeth scowled with alien threats.
The bow collapsed on my arm and with the jutting spike I punched one of their faces, feeling the bone structure collapse under my blow, and swung an elbow onto another, almost decapitating the fellow.
But they were too many, too angered, for me to do much more than beat the odd one that got in front of me. My hands were soon pinned behind me, held by dozens of strong arms, and I felt a few grabbing me by legs, trying to lift me into the air.
Then a blow came past my face, into the head of one of the lead pig-grillas, and there was a thump-like explosion of purplish power that tore through that man and several others beside him, clearing my whole side.
I looked back and saw Apogee, slamming her rapid fire fists at another one, turning his face into a bloody pulp of bone and blood.
“No!” I screamed.
What the hell was she doing here? All of this had been to give her time to get away and now she was here, in the middle of this shit. I felt a blood-curling rage well within me, a horrible, tooth-grinding anger, like a wave of cold water washing over me as I saw her take a blow, then another. An enemy punched at me, slamming the hilt of his weapon in my face but I felt nothing, and my roaring blow impacted him so hard he flew fifty feet in the air. Another grabbed my arm and I picked him up and threw him into several of his friends, so forcefully, their bodies were dismembered by the impact.
“No!” I screamed, feeling tears streaming from my face as more joined the fight.
Apogee said nothing, unleashing her powers with horrifying effectiveness, but she was being swarmed, and channeled away from me. I tried moving in her direction but turning away from some meant giving them a clear target, and before I knew it, I couldn’t even see her.
“No!”
I grabbed one by the leg, using his body as a weapon, and felt a tug as his torso separated at the hip. Wielding his leg as a weapon, I went to work, dropping one, then another enemy before the stump broke off at the ankle, useless.
At my feet were several dozen Mist Army soldiers, dead or dying, but more and more came, and the struggle was hopeless. More hopeless because it was wasted, now that Apogee would also die.
I released myself to the blinding rage and I fought on, punching in every direction, kicking at every new enemy, fighting with my last remaining breath. The bodies of the dead were now in my way, making me stumble and fall.
“Apogee!” I shouted, turning and picking up an injured soldier, hurling him a hundred feet in a random direction.
But they had channeled me back towards my rocky vantage point that had served me so well to fire the arrows. I felt something hit me from above as several soldiers dropped atop of me. I lost my footing, feeling the ropes forced on me, pressing me back into the rock. I put my foot onto the rock and pushed back, my strength alone pressing a hundred soldiers on their heels.
I swung with my right, but the arm was pinned, so I threw my left, crashing my first into the skull of a soldier, exploding his head into blood, bone and brain.
Then I saw them lift up Apogee, her body battered and bloodied.
She looked dead.
“No!” I yelled and lost all control.
My pinned arm came free, and I grabbed back, picking up one of the solders and slamming my head into his. The front of his skull gave way with a loud crack and he fell dead. Another’s arm came around my shoulders and I bit into it, drawing an explosion blood across my face as I tore half his bicep off the bone. The soldier recoiled, nursing his bleeding arm, and I rushed him, grabbing his head and biting into his throat, ripping off the blood-spilling cartilage and spitting it back into his dying face. I felt several soldiers scrambling beneath me, grabbing at my feet and I stomped on one, feeling him go limp.
My upper body was overwhelmed with the sheer mass of enemy soldiers, but my rage would not be swayed. I kicked the soldier in front of me, crushing his chest, then slammed myself into another, dropping my shoulders to tackle him.
A small room opened up and I grabbed the soldier I had knocked down and threw him at his mates, but more jumped atop of me. It was like a tsunami of flesh and I was completely overcome, and all I could do was roar in anger and move the pile of bodies a few feet in each direction. Now immobilized, I felt metal chains, tying at me, tearing into my skin as the soldiers worked to permanently restrain me.
I struggled one last time, lifting the whole throng off the ground a few inches, but was rewarded with sharp blows to my face and groin.
Once I had given up, a loud cry of victory rose as the different aliens roared, squelched and wheezed in success. The mass of bodies opened up before me up and though I tried moving forward, I was held back by several dozen soldiers manning the chains, now crisscrossing my whole body. I heard a scream behind me, and a few grunts and several soldiers pulled back on the ropes on my legs, bringing me down to my knees.