Chapter Thirty: Command and Control
We limped back to Oeilvert, at barely one third speed. Fortunately Yugami had been able to govern the prisoners effectively, tying them up and making three genomes guard them in front of the hole in the bridge. She warned them that one false move and she would push them over the edge.
I admired her technique and began to wonder if I was losing my touch.
I shook my head as I turned the manual override to the hatch leading to the port wing, I wished to inspect the damage from the outside, attaching a rope to the bar running along the corridor wall I kicked the door open which swung around on its hinges and smacked into the side of the hull, seconds later the passing wind tore it off and sent it flying.
I braced myself and stepped out onto the wing, almost losing my footing as the full force of the wind hit me. I looked down and saw we were over the sea, with the Forgotten Continent on the horizon to my right. Inching forward carefully I got almost to the end of the wing, which I noted had been torn off during an impact with something. I then turned around to look at the ship.
“Shit.” I muttered as for the first time I saw the external damage.
The engine which was directly in front of me in the large blue bulge was damaged and still on fire in some places, smoke streamed out of the engine outflow pipe and I mused that it was a miracle they hadn’t exploded yet. Looking towards the front I saw that the long nose section had been almost completely torn off and what was left had been caved in badly.
No wonder the bridge has a missing front section I thought
Closer towards me, between the front and the port wing, was another gaping hole through which I could see the corridors within.
That must have been where I was walking when we got hit I thought to myself.
I sighed gently as I looked at the wreck of a ship and compared it to when we had left Oeilvert.
“Dammit, why does every ship I try to use fall apart.” I muttered with a grimace.
Pulling my way back towards the door I saw Kitiara standing in the doorway, her sword drawn.
“Ok Fury, start answering questions and answering them now.” She hissed.
I drew Surrelus and then considered my situation, she slowly lowered her sword to the rope and smiled.
“First question…why did you bring me over to your side?!”
“Because,” I paused, not liking being the one out of control “Because, I saw a use in you.”
“A use? Like a tool…like the genomes?”
“Yes…NO! I mean, you are useful to me as a leader…”
“A leader of what?”
I sighed and sheathed Surrelus, pretending to give up when in fact I was summoning a fireball behind my back.
“My army.”
“Is that it? Just your army…nothing useful other than that?”
I flung the fireball spell at her, dropping to the deck as she cut the rope just before the fireball struck her and knocked her backwards into the wall.
Without the rope to support me I quickly slid backwards but slowly I crawled back towards the door, the wind threatening to drop me into the sea at a moments notice, but, at last I made it. Just as Kitiara was getting back up, I kicked her back down again.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t throw you off the side of this ship?!” I yelled at her over the sound of the wind whistling through the door.
“Because that didn’t work for Domino either.” She said
I kicked her again, making her yelp and glare at me.
“Not good enough! Dammit, I’m surrounded by fools, I should kill the lot of you. Kitiara, I made you…I can just as easily break you.”
I grabbed her by her arms and pulled her to her feet, she started struggling but I hit her over the side of the head making blood drip down from beneath her hair line. Then with one hand I grabbed her face and held her eye to eye.
“One more time Kitiara and I swear…I will kill you.”
I saw slight fear in her eyes but that was made up with determination, much like Xola.
I wondered for a moment whether the two could be sisters by birth, not just by blood but decided now was not the time for such musing and pushed her forwards towards the bridge, she glared at me and then walked off.
As I watched her go, I decided that perhaps it was time to strike some fear into my companions, let them know that Fury was a force to fear…not to annoy.
It was time to make an example.
Fury walked onto the bridge a few minutes after Kitiara, he looked annoyed and yet happy, almost as though he was planning something, we all found out what a few moments later as he stood in front of everyone on the bridge.
“It has come to my attention that things are getting somewhat lax around here…let certain people,” He angled a glare towards Kitiara “Have grown to regard me with contempt rather than fear…This is not acceptable and in order to return things to the correct balance of power, I am making an example.”
Everyone looked at each other, except the genomes who just stared blankly ahead
“Observe my power.”
He pointed towards one of the genomes who turned to look at him, a puzzled expression on her face. Then suddenly she doubled over in pain, her hands on her stomach, then she fell to the floor writhing in agony. Blood spurted from her nose and mouth as she screamed over and over again. I tried to look away but couldn’t, an unseen force kept my head in the same position as I was forced to watch the genome thrashing about in pain.
“Stop it! Stop it please!!” she cried
“Stop it Fury!” yelled Rhiana.
“Why…have you learnt your lesson yet?” he said “I think not.”
Walking over to the genome, he used some sort of telekinetic power to lift her up into the air, she was still writhing in pain as her blood dripped to the floor, then with her in his control, he walked towards the hole in the bridge and brought her with him.
He moved her so that she was dangling over the edge of the ship and smiled.
“Do you know fear genome?” he asked, it seemed that he was in a world of his own, focused on the sickening torture he was inflicting on this poor genome.
The genome didn’t answer, just kept panting with the pain she must have been feeling.
“No? Then perhaps you know pain?” he said, moving his hand slightly.
Again the genome began crying in pain as Fury broke both her arms and legs with a telekinetic field, then with a wicked smile, he broke her tail in several places.
The genome cried again, panting and begging for mercy, even though she was not to get any. Fury moved her away from the edge of the drop but hovered her over a jagged piece of metal.
“No…Fury, please don’t.” begged Rhiana.
“Horror brings discipline.” He replied “And discipline is life.”
He dropped the genome onto the spike, it didn’t pierce any vital organs and therefore didn’t kill her instantly. Instead he just left her there, metal protruding from her chest as she tried to free herself with her broken arms and legs and failed miserably.
“There…and I promise you worse if you should fail or annoy me.” Said Fury as the genome gasped for life and groaned with the pain which racked her body.
Then Fury turned and left the bridge, flicking his cloak behind him as he stalked through the double doors with an evil chuckle.
Steiner was badly hurt but not as badly as I thought, his armour had borne the brunt of the particle blast and had saved his life. Some of his companions in the Knights of Pluto had not been so lucky.
“To think that Thunderchild could be capable of this,” Muttered Beatrix, her uncovered eye clouded with rage “After all that we have done for him.”
I shook my head
“It isn’t like that Beatrix…”
She stared coldly at me
“Well, that’s what it seems like. After all, what am I to tell the families and parents of the people slain?”
“He isn’t Thunderchild any more. The man you know died in the Invincible…think of it like that. It’s the poison…or whatever has control of him, it’s warped him, twisted him so much that he can do these things with no conscience.”
Beatrix sighed and rubbed her temples.
“Well…whoever or whatever he is, when I catch up with him…” her voice wavered slightly with emotion.
I put a hand on her shoulder.
“Peace Beatrix, all will turn out as it should.”
She just stared at me and turned away.
“Anyway, now that I have healed Steiner, I must leave with Doctor Tot at once.”
Beatrix sniffed and crossed her arms.
“Yes, of course. Do what you must.”
I shook my head, dismissing the human emotion of anger and made my way out of the room, standing outside were Mizrah and Snikity.
“Is he gonna be ok?” asked Snikity
I nodded
“He’ll make a full recovery, it may not be speedy but it will happen.”
Mizrah ran a hand through her black hair and straightened out her clothing.
“So, what next?” she asked
“Well, now I must go to the Twilight Forest…I will have to leave you here in Alexandria, you will be safe here. Stay with Alex.”
“Heh, I bet they thought Treno was safe too.” Said Snikity quietly.
I ignored her and continued speaking.
“I shouldn’t be long.” I promised.
“So…how are we going to get to the Forgotten Continent Jara?” I asked
She smiled and tapped the side of her nose.
“I’ve got it planned…I take it you’re coming then?”
I nodded, it wasn’t everyday you got together with an old work colleague you had thought dead, and so I was determined to make sure Jara stayed alive this time around.
“Well, you’d better get your stuff ‘cuz we’ve got a tight schedule to keep.” She warned.
“Okies.” I replied, running back into the cave to collect my dagger and backpack, I passed Charlie on my way out.
“Where you going?” he asked
“I’ve gotta go in a trip with an old friend. Tell Alex if you see her that she’s in charge!”
“Who’s in charge now?” asked Charlie.
I paused in mid-run and turned back to him, shrugging I replied:
“I guess that’s you! See ya!”
Jara was still waiting outside, her hood back up, throwing her face into darkness. I could see now that she also carried a wooden stick with a crystal on the top of it, it came to about shoulder height and the crystal glowed with a blue light.
“That’s nice.” I commented as I walked over to her.
“It is isn’t it? I found the crystal in the Twi…”
“In where?” I asked
Her eyes avoided mine for a moment.
“It doesn’t matter.” She quickly added, with a look that suggested that the topic of conversation was closed permanently. I could see where Domino got her temper from, behind those tranquil hazel eyes of Jara’s I could see a fierce storm raging within, just waiting for an opportunity to unleash itself.
We walked away from the caves and up further into the hills around Treno, away from the direction of the Forgotten Continent. I ignored the strange choice of direction for a moment to focus on talking to Jara.
“So…where have you been?” I asked her
She shrugged
“Oh, here and there.” She said dismissively.
I sighed.
“What are you keeping back Jara?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Just stuff that I can’t talk to you about.”
“Like…?”
“Sam, there are many things the people of this world, or indeed our world, don’t know about…things we’re not meant to know. Some people hunger for knowledge, but knowledge can be a deadly thing, a very deadly thing…and so can pain.”
I frowned, trying to see what she was getting at.
“What do you mean?”
Jara stopped and turned around to face the smoking wreckage of Treno, the sun was just dawning now on a new day, the fingers of light pushing their way through the starlight sky.
“Look down there Sam, what do you see?”
“Carnage.” I admitted
“Carnage caused by one man knowing more than everyone around him. Sam, I can’t burden you with the knowledge I have, it’s not fair on you or the people around you. But suffice to say, there’s been a lot of changes in my life…and I think I’m changing.”
“For the good?”
She shrugged
“I hope so…I really do…all I know is that I’m here to make a difference to what I can. Yissan saved me, and now it’s time for me to help save him.”
I looked over the ruins of Treno again.
“You really think you can do that?”
“For Gaia’s sake Sam, I hope I can.”
We barely made it over the cliff tops surrounding Oeilvert, already the fleet was in the valleys below us, refuelling and repairing. We docked at the top of the castle and I watched as Kitiara and Yugami supervised the unloading of the prisoners.
First time I’ve seen them co-operate I thought to myself with a slight smile and a chuckle. I wondered who out of the two would win in a straight on fight and decided that my money would probably be on Yugami, although Kitiara would put up a fierce fight.
Perhaps one day I will put her to the test against one of those genome copies Lawrence made…I dare say he’ll have one left.
As I thought of Lawrence, the damned fool arrived, walking up the stone platform and eyeing over the Invincible as he did so.
“Have a spot of trouble?” he asked with a smug grin on his face.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” I replied, shooting him an evil look. “Anyway, I hope you’ve been busy while we’ve been away.”
“Of course…it is ready to go. Just give me a destination and half an hour.”
“Very well…your target is the plains to the north of Lindblum. I think Lindblum will be the first to hear Fury knocking on their gates.”
“Very well…I’ll let you know when the device is ready.”
“Yes, you will.” I replied and walked away, eager to get out of the presence of that loathsome individual.
But I gained a smile out of the knowledge that as soon as his device was ready, Lawrence would die a very slow and painful death. I would make sure of that.
As I walked down the stone platform and into the castle a genome was waiting for me, I recognised him as the one who was in command of the Lindblum raid. A couple of other genomes were standing around him.
“The raid went well?” I asked
He nodded
“Yes Lord Fury, the target was reached and bombed successfully…but…”
I frowned and reached out and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him over towards me.
“But? I don’t like hearing ‘buts’ genome, so this one had better be good.”
“We…we…were followed!” he stammered in fear.
I paused.
“Followed…who by?”
“A L-L-Lindblum ship sir, we only noticed it when we were getting ready to land, the cannons scared it off but didn’t destroy it…s-s-sir!”
I put the genome down slowly and let him breathe a sigh of relief.
“That’s all well and fair…” I said slowly
The genome was more relaxed now.
“FOR A BUNCH OF IDIOTS!!!” I yelled, catching them all off guard.
“You lead the enemy right back to our main fortress…what this says about your intelligence is worrying…I don’t need stupid people. I need people I can leave to do a job properly and you’re not that!!”
I drew Surrelus and stabbed the genome in the stomach before kicking him over the edge of the platform. I didn’t bother to look at his descent, it was nearly a twenty storey drop after all.
Then I looked up at the other four genomes, too scared to run, too helpless…too irresistible.
A few minutes later they joined their captain at the bottom of Oeilvert, many of them were dead beforehand but a couple managed to linger on before they were smashed into oblivion by the hard stone foundations surrounding the Terran outpost.
“Damn fools.” I muttered, stalking into the castle and slamming the doors shut behind me.
We reached the top of the hill after a short while and stopped.
“Well Jara, I hate to bring this up…but the Forgotten Continent is a long way in the other direction.” I said, a little out of breath.
“I know, trust me I know…I tried to destroy this planet once, remember?”
I nodded slowly, and turned around…
Coming face to face with a Silver dragon. Yelling I backed away and drew my dagger, before I could stab the creature though I suddenly became paralysed.
“No.” said Jara, stepping between me and the dragon, the crystal on her staff burning brightly.
“But it’s a Silver dragon Jara, it’s gonna kill us and eat us!” I protested as the dragon nuzzled Jara gently.
“Not this dragon, or any of the Silver dragons, not if I have anything to say about it.” She promised.
I felt the paralysis disappear as the glow of her crystal faded and lowered my weapon.
“You can control a Silver Dragon?” I asked in astonishment.
She shook her head.
“Oh no, no, no…I can’t do that, I don’t think anyone can…but, they listen to me. Really Sam, dragons are wonderful creatures, I’ve discovered that lately. You’ve just got to listen to them.”
I paused, looking at her stroking the dragons chin.
“So, let me rephrase the question….You can talk to a Silver Dragon?”
She shrugged slightly.
“I think everyone can but they don’t know how…I discovered it by chance.”
I shrugged as Jara climbed up on the back of dragon and held out her hand.
“Coming?” she asked
I took her hand and clambered up the side of the dragon and onto its back.
“I must warn you though,” I said as I sat behind her “I’ve never travelled by Silver Dragon before.”
“That’s alright,” she replied “This is only my second ever trip.”
As my eyes widened with horror, the dragon beat its large feathered wings and we rose upward and forward into the dawn sky.