Eternally Bound: Part 21
----- Confrontation -----
Harid halted at the edge of a slope , surveying the situation. A large group of golems marched around the entrance of the lab
He glanced to his daughter, saw her trepidation, then nudged her. "Game plan?" he asked encouragingly. While the young woman had mastered rallying the troops and coming up with strategy beforehand, she seemed lost, undoubtedly worried and anxious with horrors her overactive imagination about what they may see in the lab as they got closer.
"I... Uh..." Paige took a deep staggered breath. She was still weak from the previous encounter, and only had just begun to move of her own accord. After a pause and a deep breath, she spoke with words directly from her thoughts. "We don't know if Kievaa is in there, if Lennk is in there, and if any Numbers are in there; but I would say that we held our own against one already. I think the reason it wasn't a flawless operation is because we were taken by surprise and really didn't work together. Let's face whatever we find in there as a cohesive unit, like we did with the champion golem."
"I'm new under your lead, milady, but I shall follow you; you have my pistols!" Sylas pledged.
Paige smiled at the woman's enthusiasm, reminding her of her own youthful spirit, which felt so very far from this moment. "Your pistols won't be needed; I will personally guard you. What I need from you, Sylas, is those skills as an engineer. I knew Lennk and Kievaa will be expecting us now. There's going to be defense systems in the lab ahead. I need you to disable them." A quick glance at the ready troops which had made it around the golems before the firewall solidified the woman's resolve. "My father and the rest of you will be needed to destroy the hordes of automatons; these golems are bigger than the ones we just fought; I'm going to need you all to keep them off of me and Sylas."
"And what of me?" Ember asked as she strolled up. Her armor was back to its normal tone; her hair resumed its previous black with a white streak. "If you think I'm going to fight golems while my loves are in there being experimented on…"
"Oh no, Ember. I don't want you to fall back; I want you in there with us stopping Kievaa. Fifteen has probably already recovered. We need you to fight her, and not hold back. I have faith that you will control yourself as not to fry us all in the process!"
Ember raised an eyebrow, never stopped watching the golems pacing in front of the lab's entrance. "Shiera. That's her name. Fifteen is Shiera. We've met before, back when Valandra took me."
"Then maybe we can reason with her; make her see-"
"I tried it that way. She was… she was absent, like she'd been blanked out." Ember paused a moment, a terrible thought occurring to her. "What if… Kievaa's done that to them?"
Paige exhaled a disheartened sigh. "Valandra and Demitra are powerful. Let's hope powerful enough to resist Kievaa. First chance I get, I'll grab the bracers and the sword and use the sands to portal out. Keep Fifteen… Shiera… occupied long enough for me to rescue them. Okay, captain?"
Much to Paige's chagrin, Ember nodded absently. The noble hoped she'd gotten through to the headstrong woman. With such a critical juncture, she couldn't afford for Ember to go off half-cocked. But, to her captain's credit, she hadn't raced down fool heartedly, and seemed to be receptive to her orders, if not preoccupied. If, however, Ember had tried diplomacy when she fought Shiera, then Paige had to acknowledge the woman's progress, and was humbled that her example may have been the cause of it.
"My soldiers can go first; make an opening for you all." Harid spoke up once he was certain his daughter had finished. After a nod came from her, he called forth his group leading them down the incline yelling loudly, "For House Dejarin!"
Swords, axes, and gunfire echoed in the lab as Paige, Ember and Sylas made their way through the corridor created by the troops and arrived within. What they saw within shocked the women to their core.
The small asura, Kievaa, stood in front of a pedestal with a soft glowing pink and green mystical flame under it. The top of the platform seemingly smoked with the same colored balls of energy. Within, floated gauntlets, smoke billowing from them in both directions. On the left was a cloud of purple and white smoke, along with sand which intermixed and separated as it flowed around the form of Demitra. The right cloud of mist mirrored the other, only instead of purple it was blue and frosty snows along with the white smoke, flowing around Valandra. Kievaa hummed as she pressed a button on the panel beside the central pedestal. At once, both women screamed in agony as they began to fluctuate, changing into their Djinn forms, then returning to normal, before swapping places with the other and repeating the cycle. "Won't be long now!" Kievaa giggled.
Paige covered her mouth, unable to speak at the atrociousness.
"Let them go!" Ember wailed as she leapt toward the asura, her fist of fire ready to strike; her flame sword ready to impale. Merely feet from Kievaa, Ember slammed into an invisible wall which sent her flying backward. She landed in the lab floor with a resounding crash. "Dammit!" she yelled, hoping back to her feet. The invisible wall fluctuated a hexagonal pattern of orange energy before it disappeared again.
"I've seen this kind of shield tech!" Sylas said, tapping Paige's shoulder. "Get me over there, and I'll see what I can do to bring it down," she said in low tones, gestured to a small console at the base of where the shield emanated.
Paige snapped out of her shock at the woman's touch. "Then come on; we got a job to do! We gotta save them, both!"
Kievaa raised her hand as if swatting a fly. "Fifteen Omega, take care of these pesky bookah; especially that damned fire-bookah!"
At her command emerged Fifteen Omega, Shiera. The woman's helm remained off, her eyes now covered by a visor with a glowing red central eyepiece, the same Ember had seen her wear during their first encounter.
Fifteen held up the blue sword of cold flames, which crackled like ice. She tilted her head up at it, as if taking in the power it contained.
Kievaa groaned. "Would you stop showing off and just kill her already?"
Without hesitation, Shiera jumped, landing in front of the fire mage, her sword on a downward slope to Ember's chest. So fast was the action, Ember barely had time to get her own magical artifact up to block it. Red and blue energy shot outward as the swords clashed a loud boom shaking the walls of the facility.
Sylas huffed in frustration as she fought against the rumbles created by it. Paige erected a wall of sand to shield them from the blast, her attention both at the fight transpiring and at assisting Sylas as much as possible. To say it was difficult for her to not focus Demitra and Valandra was an understatement. The woman's logic, however, helped her stick to the plan: disable the tech, grab Demi's gauntlets.
Ember roared as she used heat to propel her, forcing Fifteen back. She roared and pounced in an attempt to gain the upper hand, but her efforts were squashed by the woman, as she took the full blunt of an electrified fist. "Hand over the damned sword!" Ember screamed as her flaming fist slammed into the Fifteen's side, where her ax had penetrated. Shiera hunched over, but brought her sword up, slashing Ember's armor, instantly forming a layer of ice upon her breastplate. Ember roared as she lifted her hand, send a half-solidified, half-lava rock at the Number. "Damn it; I promised to free you and I still will! But you gotta stop fighting me before I kill you!"
"Kill you," came the ghostly echo of the woman's voice. A sudden blast of air shoved Ember back. She lost her footing, fell and slid on the lab's floor. Before she knew it, Shiera was on top of her, sword again clashing with Ember's own. The shockwave sent out from the artifacts hit the shield, illuminating the area in an orange glow.
Paige was almost knocked down from the impact upon her own magic. "I don't know how much longer I can hold this," she confessed.
Sylas nodded. "I'm trying. There doesn't seem to be a way to completely overwrite it. I'm going to have to do it sequentially to keep it from reactivating as I go."
"Sometimes the best way to go about solving a maze is to trace the walls, but that doesn't mean you can't run while doing it! Try to hurry your efforts, Sylas, please," she encouraged, but a look to Ember with Fifteen on top worried her. Ember was pinned, struggling to defend against the Number's sheer power. "Ember! Do it… Unleash!"
The words hit the woman's ears and a quick glance to Paige confirmed it: to win this fight, she would have to go nova. She quickly wrapped her arms around Shiera, pulling her into an embrace with their swords still locked between them. The amount of power from the cross, almost too much to bear. She channeled and gathered her magic, her entire body was glowing embers as she ignited with the fires of a dragon. She shouted from the power, shouted for her lovers, shouted for having let the damned asura escape; she shouted for Paige and the house she had grown to love and for all those friends lost during the war. She shouted and went nova.
In her wake, were shards of Valandra's decimated sword, her vessel shattered.
Paige regained her footing, surveyed the outcome, and immediately welled up at the sight. Valandra's artifact - the very thing they needed to separate her from Demitra - was destroyed. "Wh-What have we done?" she gasped.
Her words were echoed by a frustrated asura. "Damn it! I'm going to have to completely revive her again! Stupid fire bookah!"
Lennk's voice came from the shield generator. "Shields seventy-four percent." A monitor fizzled on. "Looks like your little pet failed, Kievaa. You want to see what my ingenuity has achieved? Let's make this more fun, shall we?" Laughter continued as the monitor shut off.
Behind the group, tucked away by the entrance, was a cylindrical tub filled with robotic machined arms used for constructing. A female, dressed in the same form-fitting asura tech suit Shiera and Ember had once been in, stepped out as the door of the equipment when it opened with a hiss. The outfit matched the same red lava-like lines as Fifteen's, yet this one had bits of blue, purple, and brown swirling within, the diamond ocular device on the helmet mixing and fluctuating between the colors. Neither hand held a weapon, but the clenched fists practically vibrated with energies, shifting from one element to the next.
Kievaa folded her arms, unconcerned with the shield buzzing that it was down another ten percent. "Well? Go on, Lennk's pet, show me why you're so damned special," she scoffed at the newcomer.
Paige's eyes grew wide. "It's another Number!"
Obeying commands, the Number was in the air, held aloft by wind as lightning crackled around her. The multicolored diamond pierced through Ember's cooling armor, found the heartbeat of the small woman, and dove toward it, with a fist of electricity.
"Ember! Move!" came the voice of Harid. He leapt in front of the fire mage, holding a magically enchanted shield which repelled the Number backwards. The woman's feet hit the ground, and almost instantly, the flooring and gravel beneath began to break apart in a low rumble. Earth rose, was sent flying from her to Harid, who hunkered down, braving the pelting. Without letting up, the woman slammed into his shield, sending sprays of fire and rock from the collision. The blast ignited something in the lab which promptly exploded, downing several of the man's soldiers.
A deep and thick growl came from Harid as he stood upright and used his shield to upper-cut the Number. She staggered backward only for a moment, then sent a rock-encased fist at the shield, shattering its magical barrier upon the strike. Harid struggled to keep his footing, then used the momentum of the impact to spin around and send a fist hurling at the woman's helmet. The blow connected hard with pieces of asura tech flying from it. Then it was returned by the Number's own punch. Again and again each blow landed, only to be matched by the other combatant.
Paige took a few steps toward the fight, pulling her scepter, worried her father was getting hit far too often. Between blows, Harid manage to hold out his hand, silently commanding Paige to halt her advance.
"I need a second set of hands here for this one, milady," implored Sylas, still busily navigating through the mess of pathways in the magitech shield emitter. Paige reluctantly turned from her father to assist.
A ping came from the panel with Lennk's metallic voice. "Shields forty-seven percent."
Kievaa wobbled over to where Paige and the engineer continued about their business, pressed another button on the console beside them with a wink, then hummed purposefully loud as she came to stand at a machine by the pedestal. "Extraction process commencing," Kievaa's voice buzzed from it as small robotic tentacles attached themselves to the suspended bracers.
Both Djinn screamed in agony saying in unison, "Killing us... separating from... vessel..."
Ember winced at the cry, but her eyes were locked onto the asura before her; the only thing standing between her, her Djinn lovers, and her former captor was a diminishing shield. The small woman picked herself up, took a few steps closer to the barrier. She ignored the fighting around her, ignored the cries of pain from various soldiers fighting golems outside the facility, ignored Harid and his chivalrous act. Her eyes, her focus, everything she was, stared at Kievaa. She began to pace, running her sword along the barrier causing a constant stream of sizzling sparks. "I told you I would find you. And I'm going to kill you, you little piece of-"
Kievaa laughed maniacally, turned to adjust her machine. One tentacle had detached itself from the bracers, having siphoned as much energy as it could. She glanced back to Ember, who was still pacing, scowling, and spitting at the forcefield. "Almost time," the asura said in sing-song.
"Almost time for you to die," Ember retorted.
Harid and the Number momentarily broke their standoff. The man wiped blood from his mouth, observed the crushed helmet the occupant wore. "Bet you can't see in that thing, can you?" he taunted. His goal had been the same advice he'd given Ember when she first battled Fifteen: remove the helm; expose the flesh underneath.
"Visual acuity compromised; seek replacement-" A hiss came from the visor as the Number reached up and unlatched it from her armor, pulled it off and tossed it to the ground.
The man's eyes grew wide. Standing before him was a young woman, her head shaved, her face bloodied from his own fists. His heart stopped at the sight and he could barely utter the name of the recognizable girl he had rescued long ago. "S-S-Six?" As the words left his lips, so did the man's resolve. Six raised her arms outward, as if to embrace the man. He took a few steps forward, his brow furrowed in confusion, when suddenly he was propelled forward from a spell she'd casted behind him. Six caught Harid by the throat and squeezed, as winds lifted them both off the ground. The man struggled within Six's strong grasp, choking and gasping for air. He clawed at the glove, kicked wildly to free himself.
Paige was in shock, her attention now squarely focused on her father's predicament. She was paralyzed with fear, couldn't break herself from the worry that enthralled her. Her father was a strong man, but had been through a lot of battles; he'd gotten older, slower, and softer - especially when it came to Six. Six had been like the sister she never had to Paige, and was practically adopted by her father. She couldn't help but think that the man was incapable of fighting her.
To her horror, Harid's hesitation cost him dearly. Like a puppet on strings, Six raised her hand to the man she cared so deeply for and unleashed a torrent of white-hot superheated plasma which smothered his shoulder and arm. The man gritted his teeth, tried to mask the pain, but finally let out a wail of agony as his flesh boiled and the unmistakable stench of burnt flesh permeated the air.
Paige screamed, "Father!" Fighting through tears, she clasped her scepter and torch together, again calling upon the necrotic spell she'd weaved earlier. As expected, putrid remains of bone and flesh crawled their way out of the ground, solidifying in several masses of morbid monstrosities. "Attack!" Paige yelled. At once, they obeyed galloping to Six. Most were taken out by the mere heat of the site; one got through and leaped at her head, promptly bursting in a violent explosion. Had it not dazed Six and caused her to drop the man, she would have killed Harid.
"Shield stabilized at twenty-two percent. Deploy repair drones to maintain cohesion."
"Arg!" Sylas groaned. "The next sequence is asuran. I can't tell which comes next," she admitted, attempting to ascertain the complex symbols. She sighed, looked up at Paige. "Milady, the console changed languages! Please tell me you read asuran?"
Paige reluctantly looked away from her father and down at the engineer, then nodded and squatted to observe the monitor. She had a hard time not fearing for her father and was chewing on her lip, but she resolved to stay on task, not daring to look away from the flowing asuran script dancing across the screen. After a few minutes, she started inputting commands. Within seconds a lowkey omnipresent hum began to fade.
"Shield levels at fifteen percent. Cohesion power generators have failed; seek immediate repair of-"
"Barrier's almost down, you vile bitch; when it is, I'm going to gut you… nice and slow." Ember barked, then flashed a crooked smile. "But remember, we care," she mocked.
Ember laughed out loud. "Looks like they refuse to be taken again."
The asura bent down to detach a small glowing cylinder from the base of the platform, from where the detached tentacle-hose led. Inside the small vile was a mixture of purple, and blue smoke. She shoved it into her satchel, then turned and shrugged at Ember. "You really are an idiot, indeed, fire-bookah! If you'd just let me finish the procedure, both Djinn would be separated - under my control, to be sure - but both could co-exist. You all think you're the heroes; you think you have the upper hand," she said as she strolled toward Shiera's corpse. "But now look at what you've done," she gestured to the line of shard which was once Valandra's artifact. "You idiotic, insignificant fire-bookah, instead of saving them both, you've doomed one." She paused a moment, tapping her chin in thought. "Well, then, I guess that means you're going to get one back, but the question is which will you choose? Which will you kill? Your lover or your wannabe lover?"
The rage inside Ember would have exploded, had her magic not been still recovering from the previous blast. "I'm going to kill you first, and you'll die screaming."
"Shield levels critical; barrier at ten percent."
"Almost got it," Paige yelled. "I'm on the final sequence."
Sylas had made her way to Harid, began dragging the downed man away from Six, pelting the Number with magical bullets. Six made no further move, as if the puppet was told to stay put. The puppet master, as it were, took cue and came on the multitude of displays scattered around the lab.
"Ah! Well, well, well; not just one Dejarins, but two!" Lennk's voice boomed, echoing in the complex. "And, here I thought this would be boring!"
The asura's voice pierced the veil of sleep which threatened to take Harid. It was like an arrow that instantly woke him. He sat up with assistance from Sylas, peered at the nearest monitor. "Release Six!" he bellowed.
Lennk chuckled wildly. "Release her? Harid, my dear boy, she never was out of my control. My claws are dug in so deep, she can never divorce herself from me. Now, Six, be a dear, and end him. Sorry Harid, hate for it to end this way, but you had your chance."
Six raised her hand for the killing blow, about to deliver a plasma blast fused with electric magma. She pointed her charged up palm to Harid and Sylas to unleash the full blast, when a skeletal hand grasped onto her arm, pulling it from its target. Six turned to see a large bone minion holding her. On command from its master, the corpse promptly exploded, encasing Six in toxic gas. She staggered backward, crashing into a screen with Lennk's scowling face.
Paige let out a pent-up scream. "Get away from him, Six!"
A voice arose from the magitech armor. "Filtration system deactivated; seek replacement helmet for respiratory cohesion."
Kievaa's voice came from the suit, but it was Lennk who was yelling from the monitors. "Six, dammit, get back here so we can get to work on a more sustainable suit. Retreat now! Kievaa, get the damned batteries."
Kievaa looked up at the monitor. "Yes, my love. I have one; these damned fookah interrupted the-"
Lennk let out a disingenuously annoyed sigh, which loudly drowned the asura's response.
"Shield levels critical; collapse imminent. Barrier at four percent."
Kievaa bent down, opening a small compartment upon Shiera's disabled armor. She flipped a small switch which made the entire outfit glow. At once both the corpse and the asura began to fluctuate and glow the same vibrant red. Ember had seen this technology before: when she was in the suit, within the lava; Kievaa had used the same technology to teleport her out.
"No! Dammit!" Ember yelled, striking the weakening barrier. It rippled and cracked, but remained solid. "You won't get away! I'll hunt you! I'll kill you! I'll…"
"Good luck with the choice; I shall enjoy watching you make it, and seeing which one you decide to kill," Kievaa's voice echoed until both her and the corpse vanished.
Six took one last look at Harid, a sorrowful and unbelievably hurt buried deep in her eyes. She pressed a button upon the suit, then faded from the lab.
"Shields deactivated, have a nice day."
Paige let an exasperated breath at Lennk's automated voice, then turned to the live asura on the monitor. "You see Lennk? I've been trained by the very best, and I'm… I'm smarter than you!" The woman wasn't used to boasting or taunting, but for all the monster had put her family through, the words spewed from her like water from a leaking pipe.
Lennk chuckled. "Smarter? Oh, dear child, I think not. Let's look at the current predicament, hmm? Your father is nearly dead, I have my Six Alpha, and you have… Well, why not see for yourself?" He stepped back, folding his arms with a wicked grin. Several of the Twelve surrounded him. Behind the asura, a roaring blaze, along with several explosions within the inferno that was the mansion and vineyard of House Dejarin.
Lennk leaned into the monitor, sneering. "Now, who is the smart one, child?"
[To be Concluded...]
