Unforgettable
Nubian Dragon © 12/2009 (11/2012 revised)
-o-o-o-o-Chapter 2-o-o-o-o-
Into the Temple
Time.
Space.
Matter.
Energy.
When would they exit the pyramid?
Lex had been running for almost an hour.
Her watch with the compass was broken, but she did have a sense of time and it felt like the big alien had her moving for about an hour. She measured time by the pyramid shifting. Six times it had changed and they encountered nothing. She felt like they were not getting closer to the surface to escape, but instead, running deeper into the recesses pyramid. Going to a place she very much did not want to go. She wanted to leave. Get as far as she could from the black creatures and she needed the huge alien in order to do it.
Suddenly, the big alien stopped and Lex felt like she had run into a brick wall as she fell to the ground in a loud thump landing hard on her rump and losing her shield and spear in the process. Holding her middle and trying to catch her breath, she looked up to see the huge alien staring down at her. There was irritation in his tone as he growled at her then turned his attention back to what had made him stop in the first place.
"A'ka-ad, Stupid, ooman," Jaque'Su Knau growled, "…watch where you're going and don't be so loud," he continued as he stared down at the small irritation on the floor in front of him. He knew she couldn't see his eyes behind his visor, but his body language was speaking volumes to her.
I don't know if this was worth my honor, he thought doubtfully as he shook his head in disgust.
He didn't want her ruining his hunt, he didn't want her around, but honor wouldn't let him abandon her. If she got herself conveniently killed, then all his problems would be solved.
Turning back to the corridor's intersection, he adjusted his visor from infrared to ultraviolet, there were three possible corridors to choose from and he wanted to make the best choice. By using ultraviolet he could track the hardmeat better. He knew that the heat signatures of the la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro, kiande amedha, would be long gone, but with his ultraviolet vision he could follow them. He could see any trace of the creatures having been in the immediate area by tracking the chemical signature from their appendages and the drool that fell from their lethal mouths with ultraviolet setting on his visor. The chemical signature was not visible to normal vision or infrared, but could be clearly seen in ultraviolet. The darker the blue, the stronger the trail, he would follow the strongest trail to get him to the closet hardmeat. His luck was turning around and now he was ready to collect trophies.
Slowly he began to turn as he looked at the floor, walls and ceiling tracking the kiande amedha trail in ultraviolet. The signature in ultraviolet said they had been there. He could see their tracks, but he wasn't sure how many or how long since they crossed the intersection. The walls, floors and ceiling were heavily marked with the kiande amedha's chemical signature and drool. Jaque'Su Knau clicked and growled pleased with the discovery. Soon he would have trophies.
This must be a major intersection, he mused nodding his head, they must past this way at some point, but I will not wait, I will take the fight to them, he thought to himself.
He remembered that the corridors and chambers shifted in the temple adding to the intrigue of the hunt, but not the intersections. The intersections were havens and places of rest, if one had opportunity. Jaque'Su Knau was not ready to rest, this was the beginning of his chiva. He was full of life, energy and bloodlust for the la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro, kiande amedha. Carefully he continued to turn, surveying in ultraviolet when suddenly his vision was obscured by something rather large. Instinctively he hit the thing hard with his right hand and he protracted his wrists blades as he took a defensively step back.
"No… wait…don't…" he heard a voice wheeze and he recognized the ooman.
"Dumb, a'ka-ad, idiot," he growled in his own language, "…I could have killed you."
He finished upset as he retracted his wrist blades. Reaching a taloned hand to his visor and switching the vision back to infrared, the ooman's form came clearly into view. She was lying on the floor in front of him. He heard the female's heavy breathing and he smelled her fear. The strong scent said she was terrified and he had no sympathy for her. It was obvious, she had brought the assault on herself by getting in his way without identifying herself; had she not been there, he would not have not hit her.
Maybe next time you will be more careful he thought maybe you will stay behind me and out of my way.
Not wanting a repeat of what just happened and wanting to keep her from under foot, he knew he had to communicate with her what he wanted her to do. There had to be an understanding between them, or at least she had to stay out of his way.
It was obvious she could not speak or understand yautja and he could not speak ooman. He could not speak ooman, but he understood it. He could understand the things that she was saying because he had only half paid attention to his studies of ooman language during his training as a youngling. During his preparation for chiva he learned what was necessary to survive and succeed in the hunt, to understand what was being said by the ooman. Ooman was worthy prey, high on the level of intelligence and their cunning nature made them more dangerous than any other prey that was hunted by yautja. Because of this, it was important to understand their speech. As he studied the ooman prey, all he felt he needed to know was what the oomans were saying. There was no need to actually communicate with them because he would kill them and take trophies. Why would you need to speak to them when you were killing them?
Think, think, his mind began, how can I tell… show the ooman that she should stay behind me?
"I've got it!" he chirped and trilled at the same time as he reached out a hand to the small female on the ground in front of him.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
After dusting herself off and picking up her shield and spear, Lex stepped back and watched the huge alien. He had said something to her in his growling voice and although she didn't know what it was, she didn't think it was too nice. He seemed to be annoyed with her for some reason, but she couldn't see why. She'd done nothing to him and she hadn't even said a word. All she had done was run behind him trying to keep up so he wouldn't leave her. She cringed at the thought of being left behind. The way he ran through the corridors, she felt like he was trying to leave her or lose her in the process of running to god knows where. All she could do was trust him to lead her out of the temple with her life, if she could truly trust him.
Watching him, she noticed that he had touched the side of his visor and he seemed to be looking at something or listening for something. Lex looked and she saw nothing so she listened. She strained to hear what the alien was hearing, but the junction and the corridors were silent.
What is he looking for? She thought to herself as she began to look around the open area also.
She knew he was looking for the black aliens, but why?
Why would he want to meet up with those things, all they wanted to do was kill, she thought.
She had seen how one had taken Sebastian away from her while she was hanging over the ledge. He was so close, and then he was gone. The screams, she heard his screams, he was calling her name, but she couldn't do anything for him. Helpless, she couldn't do anything for herself, just hang on the ledge and hope the thing didn't come back for her. Sebastian was gone and so were the others in her group. She had watched others die at the hands of the huge aliens, and she was sure that others were taken like Sebastian had been taken by the black serpents. Her heart sank. Now she was forced to rely on an enemy to help her get away from another enemy.
He's looking for the black aliens, she told herself, because he is a hunter.
He was a hunter and the black aliens were his prey. Sebastian had told her what the markings on the walls were. They told the story of the alien hunt, and who all the players were along with the role each played. It was their right to be in the hunt, but it wasn't hers and she wanted no part of it. Fate would have it that the Weylan team would unwittingly stumbled upon the hunt, now she was a part of the hunt whether she wanted to be or not. It was not her hunt, but she knew would take part in it. The hunter would hunt and she would make sure she stayed alive.
Watching the hunter, Lex noticed how he carefully continued to turn.
He's definitely looking for something, she thought to herself.
Surely he can see that the black aliens weren't anywhere in the corridor and there was no sounds being made, just the gentle movements made by his own feet. So why was he acting like he was on to something.
Strange creature, she thought waiting for the hunter to start moving again.
In silence she watched him as he turned a 360 degree circle searching up and down for something. Suddenly he stopped in front of her within arm's reach. Without warning, the hunter struck her across her chest as hard as he could which sent her flying to the opposite wall of the intersection.
Lex could feel the air leave her body and when she crashed to the ground she thought she would never breathe again. God have mercy, her mind screamed because she could not say a word. Holding her chest and looking up at the hunter she saw the hungry dangerous blades spring out from the back of his powerful hands and lock in place at his wrists as he took a defensively step back preparing to attack.
Oh shit! she thought, now he's really going to kill me, she continued to think as she swallowed hard trying to suck in as much as she could. He was getting ready to attack and she had nothing to defend herself with.
"No… wait…don't…" she wheezed hoping to distract him. It hurt like hell to speak. She felt like her chest would explode, but she had to stall him.
If she could distract him, then maybe she could move out of his killing range so she wouldn't get hit with his first strike.
The large muscular alien stopped and stared down at her as if he didn't know it was her on the ground.
How can he not know that he just hit me, she protested, he nearly bashed my chest in. Thank God for my snow suit or he would have succeeded. She breathed in again thankful he hadn't hit her a second time.
Being around him was proving to be just as dangerous as being by herself, but she didn't think she would last too long without him even though she had a spear and a shield. She needed him and would have to be more careful around him so she wouldn't die prematurely.
She heard him growl something again at her and again the tone of the growl was not nice, which made her think that he had something personal against her.
How can he not like me, she thought, I haven't done anything to him. Mr. Weylan's team took his weapons, but I gave it back to him, why is he still upset with me.
She didn't take her eyes of the big alien he was too unpredictable for her. One minute he's trying to kill her, next he's making weapons for her and letting her come with him, now he's trying to kill her again. She didn't know what to expect, but one thing she knew was that he was very strong and she didn't want to die by his hands. She wasn't fond of death, she didn't want to die at all, she just wanted to get to the surface and get out of this nightmare.
Cautiously she watched saying nothing more as he cocked head to the side to stare at her, then she heard metal moving across metal. She sighed in relief when she saw the blades at his wrist retract. There was nothing she could do if he wanted to stab her.
At least he wasn't going to gauge me with his blades, maybe he will just snap my neck and be done with it, she thought. A quick death would be more preferable than a slow torturous one.
She was ready to die. Knew that there was a strong possibility she would die that day. Death was all around her. Death had claimed most, if not all of her party and now it was toying with her. She did not want to die, but she was making peace with the fact that she would meet death like the rest did.
What is he doing? she thought as she watched him reach a taloned hand to his visor. Oh no… he's going to blast me with his cannon, she thought as her mind panicked.
Lex began to breath heavy; she was afraid, very afraid. She knew what that cannon could do, she'd seen him pick the black aliens off one-by-one and they had a fighting chance. She, on the other hand had nothing. She didn't even have the strength to get off the ground. Lex closed her eyes and waited for death to take her, but it never came.
A series of chirps and trills sounded in front of her and Lex opened her eyes, and saw the hunter as he reached out a hand to her. Suspicious, she looked at the huge taloned desert colored hand that was mottled with various sized blotches, which varied in shades ranging from light brown to a charcoal black.
Was he helping her?
This is some kind of trick she thought not wanting to be caught in the snare and she continued to look at the hunter's hand as if it were a viper ready to strike her.
He took a step closer and became more insistent by putting his hand inches away from her face. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the hand. Lex knew he wasn't going to remove it until she responded to it.
Lex felt her body be lifted from the ground and was glad until she felt the weight of her own body. She felt like she had a 200 lb weighted vest strapped to her torso. A 200 pound vest that threatened to squeeze her to death.
"Holy shit!" she swore when she felt a shooting pain in her side.
Her side hurt like hell and she felt like she had just been run over by a truck more than once. She wanted to scream out in pain from the wicked torment that was attacking her side, but she was too afraid. She didn't know if the big alien would hit her again or if her screaming would attract the shiny black creatures. Either way, she didn't want either thing to happen. She had to suck up the pain and hope the big alien didn't kill her before they left the pyramid.
I hope he didn't break my ribs, she thought as she began to clutch her pain. The alien looked at Lex and made a move to touch her and she backed away.
"I'm okay… I'm okay," she lied as she fended him off.
She didn't want him touching her, he had done enough damage already and if he didn't touch her, he couldn't hurt her anymore than she was already hurt. In silence, she'd deal with her pain as best as she could. She didn't want him giving her any unwarranted attention. All she wanted was for him to get her out of the pyramid alive.
The hunter cocked his head to the side and stared at Lex curiously, and then he went to retrieve her shield and spear. She watched him as he quickly collected her things, which didn't give her much time to massage the pain at her ribs. From the way she hurt, she knew she was bruised, swollen or both. He waited for her to attend to her pain and then he gave Lex her weapons. He growled something at her and she looked at him like he was speaking Greek. She could see that he was frustrated because she couldn't understand what he was saying. He just stared at her and she at him.
This is getting old, she thought.
Next, he did the oddest thing; Lex thought he was trying to communicate with her through sign language. At least he was smart enough to try to communicate. It was apparent they would get no where if she kept getting in his way by accident and he kept hitting her. It would be best for him to kill her out right than to keep getting struck by him repeatedly.
They must have simple minds, Lex thought, that's probably why he can't express himself any better, she continued to think as she watched him make the basic hand gestures and movements.
Watching and getting the basic gist of what he was doing, she could see he wanted her to do something. Hand movements were crude signing, but Lex got then general idea of it. He wanted her to stay behind her.
"You want me behind you," she said looking up at the alien and he just stared with his head cocked to the side.
"Stand behind you," she said as she made the motion of pushing something behind her.
She needed to be safe. Now was not the time to take chances or make mistakes. They could prove to be quite costly and she would be the one paying the price.
"Behind you," she repeated and the alien began to nod slowly. Lex nodded also knowing that if she was behind him then he wouldn't be able to hit her or mistake her for one of the black aliens. Being mistaken as a black serpent could be a painful miscalculation which she would defiantly end up having to suffer. He nodded again and Lex cautiously moved to stand behind him.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Time was escaping him and the ooman was proving to be more trouble than he wanted at the moment. Jaque'Su Knau's patience was growing thin and his prey was probably getting away from him. He was on chiva to hunt kiande amedha, prove himself and amass trophies, not look after the safety of prey. Live or die, in truth the ooman was not his concern. Both he and Paya knew he was wasting time with the ooman. If he did not have her following him, he would be further ahead in the hunt. He wanted to abandon her especially since she was acting like she didn't want his help.
If she doesn't want my help, then I will retract it, he thought, let her help herself, he continued to think wanting to finish his ultraviolet scan and find a good trail to follow.
He wanted to do something his conscious was not going to let him do, leave her where she stood.
But what of your honor, came another thought, and Jaque'Su Knau sighed.
Knowing truth, he rumbled to himself. He had to keep his honor and do what was right regardless to how he truly felt. If he had no ziahk'var, honor, he was nothing. The female was annoying him to no end, but his honor superseded his distaste for helping her.
Jaque'Su Knau knew he had to convince the ooman to get up so they continue the hunt. He would tell her what he wanted, she would do it and his hunt would continue. Taking a moment, he thought, then he acted. In the least intimidating way he knew how, he extended his hand to her and waited for her to he respond.
Take it… take it and get up, he thought, he wanted to roar at her, but he was sure it would get him nowhere and delay him even further.
She looked at him as if he would bite her, but little did she know he would not waste his time and effort on sinking his fangs or teeth into something so pitiful and unworthy. After a few moments, the female reached for his hand.
Finally, he thought glad this little episode was coming to an end.
The clasp she offered to his large hand was feeble and weak, but he expected as much from ooman, especially female. The weight of a pup was what she felt like when he was handling her. As he slowly lifted her from the ground, she felt like nothing.
"Holy shit!" he heard her say as well as saw her grimaced as if she was in grave pain.
I must have hit her too hard, he thought and he knew he had hit her very hard.
At first response, he thought she had been kiande amedha trying to creep up on him. The reaction was to kill first and take trophies second. For the brief moment, he had forgotten she was with him. He was in chiva and all was enemy and prey until he exited the temple with his trophies.
He hoped that he hadn't broken anything inside her, if he had, then she would begin to become slow. She would become a liability that he didn't have time for. Her weakness would force him to kill her honorably or leave her to face her death alone. There was no shame in dying alone especially if you died fighting. Knowing she was weak and pathetic, her end would come swift. She would fight feebly until she died which would give her honor.
She would not die now, so long as she was able to move on her own.
I must check her injuries, Jaque'Su Knau thought, if she is not salvageable, then I will know how long she will live before she becomes a burden.
He made a move to touch the ooman and she backed away.
"I'm okay… I'm okay," he heard her say as she tried to fend him off.
She lies, he thought as he looked at her body in infrared.
He could already see the bruise he had given her. The size of the bruise was larger than his hand and covered most of her left side. She was strong for an ooman female.
The pain, she takes it well for a weak female, he thought as he tucked the information away.
He continued his scan of her and was satisfied that he had not broken anything or damaged any of her internal organs.
She is durable, she will survive for now, he thought and he moved to retrieve her shield and spear.
As he returned he noticed that she was rubbing the damaged side of her body to soothe it. He knew she was in no condition to move with him and keep up so he would allow her a moment to recover.
I'll give her some time, if it will help her, he thought as he waited for her to attend to her pain. Time passed too slow for him, after a couple of minutes he gave her weapons to her.
I must tell her, her place, he thought to himself, but will she understand, this one is too dense and it will probably take a while, precious time that I do not have to spend on instructing. Oh Paya! Why me, he continued to think and he groaned.
"Behind me," he said as he looked at the ooman, but she didn't understand.
This is not working, he thought and he tried to think of another approach she might understand. He needed her to understand what he was saying and he needed her to know sooner rather than later.
She doesn't seem to be too intelligent so, I will communicate with her as if she were a pup, something simple and basic; he continued to think to himself hoping that the most fundamental of communication the ooman would understand.
Turning slightly to the side he brought both of his large hands together and made a slight pushing motion as his hands moved behind him, then he stopped and pointed to her. She just looked at him and he repeated the gesture and turned to face the space behind him and pointed to her and then to the empty space behind him. Slowly she began to nod as if she understood him.
"You want me behind you," he heard her say as she looked up him.
Maybe she's not so dense after all, he thought to himself, at least she has the understanding of a pup, he continued to think as he cocked his head to the side.
"Stand behind you," she repeated as he watched her make motions as if pushing something behind her.
Yes, he continued to think, she has the understanding of a pup, so I will communicate with her as if she is a pup.
"Behind you," she repeated a third time and Jaque'Su Knau began to nod slowly.
The ooman nodded confirming she understood where her place was. Jaque'Su Knau was satisfied, now he could resume his tracking of the kiande amedha. He heard the female move quietly, he didn't want to startle her, but he wanted her behind him. Being compliant she moved to a safe place at the rear of him and he was pleased. Wanting to know if she would continue to obey him, he smelled what she would not speak, truth. Inhaling the air around her, he could smell that her fear had subsided to some degree, but she was still in pain from the blow he had given her.
He groaned at the thought injuring her and reminded himself that she had caused the accident and not him. Her ignorance had caused her injury, again, it wasn't him. Satisfied that she was safe he switched his vision to ultraviolet and started moving towards the darker markings of blue on the walls and floor.
He rumbled low to himself.
They all so confusing, he thought, referring to the trails of the kiande amedha. As he followed, all seemed well; for a moment he would think that he had a good trail then it would suddenly grow cold.
For several minutes he tracked, then suddenly he heard a shrill scream in the distance and he snapped his head in the direction of the sound.
"Kiande amedha," he growled as his ṃờn·ʃ·air*r*, bloodlust, began to rise. Anticipation began to consume him as his adrenaline increased flowing through his body. Moving on instinct, he spared only a moment to look back the ooman before he broke into a vigorous trot.
She better keep up if she can, he thought to himself as he listened for another clue and then it came.
Pushing on, he ran to a second intersection not as large as the last where he had began tracking. As he paused, he heard another la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro, kiande amedha, screech to his left. As if being drawn to the sounds on instinct, Jaque'Su Knau's body willed him to go to the sound. It was louder the second time which meant he was getting closer to the source. A couple more turns and Jaque'Su Knau knew that his prey was yards away.
Listening to the kiande amedha's screeching, he wasn't sure of the size, but he knew that there were at least two hardmeats for him to kill. Two trophies for his collection.
Turning, he looked for the ooman and was surprised that was had kept him in her sights even though she was at the other end of the corridor. Using sign language he motioned for her to move quietly towards him, but she stopped.
Softly shaking his head in frustration he groaned inwardly, oh Paya, he thought, why have you cursed me with a dense one he continued to think as he turned back to look at the female.
As if in a daze, the female just stood like a statute unmoving. Slowly he beckoned for her to come towards him and she did, thank Paya, he thought, at least she learns quickly.
He put his hand up to the mouth portion of his visor hoping she would understand that he wanted her to stay quiet and he also motioned for her to follow him. He could smell her fear, it was strong and he knew that she was afraid of the kiande amedha.
The fear she displayed through her scent suggested she probably realized that he had found his prey. Cautiously she obeyed him moving towards him as if she was walking on air. Listening, he heard more screeching of the kiande amedha glad they were too involved in what they were doing that they did not think about anything else or realize that he was stalking them.
Quickly, he prepared a battle plan for himself on how he would kill both hardmeats so he would be able to get his trophies with speed and accuracy. He would kill the first one swiftly with his shuriken then, he would kill the second in combat; both kills should end up being clean and he would be able to collect two rewarding trophies.
Stealthily, Jaque'Su Knau moved into the next intersection. Escalating as he moved, his ṃờn·ʃ·air*r*, bloodlust, was elevating and his adrenaline was kicking into high gear. Confidence was strong with him, he could taste his victory and it was so sweet.
As he passed the third intersection, he used walls of the short corridor as cover to get him close to his prey without being detected. As he reached the end of the corridor that opened up into a medium sized chamber he saw his prey. Vigorously his blood began to surge through his veins with a force that over took him and propelled him into action.
Seeing his first kill, a medium-sized drone, he took out his shuriken flipping his wrist twice in a cocking motion which extended the blades of the shuriken to its full length. With death precision he threw it with speed and accuracy at the drone to his right as he let out a roar of death to his prey.
All his senses told him the second kiande amedha was also in the chamber, but he wasn't sure where the hardmeat was. The scent of his prey told him it was also in the chamber, somewhere to his left. As the shuriken cut through the drone's left front hand appendage; it let out a high-pitched scream of horrid pain and agony. To his left, Jaque'Su Knau heard movement and he looked in time to see the largest la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro ķpỉ-orr, warrior kiande amedha, he had ever seen.
Two drones he was prepared to fight, but not a la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro ķpỉ-orr, warrior kiande amedha. Especially since he had only wounded the first śorạ, drone.
"C'jit!" he swore when he realized that he had to change his battle plans.
The warrior was moving towards him and the drone he had injured was also moving towards him. At that moment he wished he had one of his hunt brothers at his back, but he didn't all he had was the female ooman and he was sure she was cowering in a corner somewhere with her fear waiting for the kiande amedha to take her.
Thinking quickly, he caught his shuriken and threw it deftly at warrior slicing into its thick amour. The creature screamed out in pain and annoyance, but Jaque'Su Knau knew the blades had not severely injured the creature. The blow would not kill or impair the warrior, but it would buy him some precious time. Making the attack on the ķpỉ-orr, warrior with the shuriken was only a distraction for him to contain the smaller hardmeat.
Jaque'Su Knau was aware it would be a gamble, but at the moment he had to improvise and he had to do it quickly. Dexterously, he took out his net gun and maneuvered swiftly to a position on the side of the drone away from the warrior and he released the constricting net gun. The aim of the net gun was true. The smaller la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro, kiande amedha, screamed as the net began to tighten around it. Death was certain for the śorạ; the more the creature struggled, the tighter the net wrapped itself around the hardmeat's body.
Moving deeper into the chamber and away from the warrior, Jaque'Su Knau, made sure he kept his distance from the struggling drone. He didn't want any of its acid blood to get on him, nor did he want the creature to attack him while he was battling the warrior.
Angry, the ķpỉ-orr, warrior, screeched at Jaque'Su Knau, in hatred as it ripped the shuriken from its metallic hide and threw the damaged weapon to the ground. In its rage and need for revenge against its attacker, the warrior charged across the chamber towards Jaque'Su Knau. Now the hunter was ready and welcomed the challenge of the warrior. With his own battle cry, the large hunter roared out in pre-mature victory as he charged at the warrior kiande amedha.
Slamming into each other, the large aliens locked up in battle with each trying to gain the advantage over the other. Jaque'Su Knau proved to be the stronger of the two as he forced the warrior backwards several feet, then gave the alien a power-packed punch that sent it railing backwards. The hardmeat screeched and screamed as it struggled to get up before Jaque'Su Knau made a second assault. Jumping from its prone position the floor several yards from the hunter, with little to no effort, the warrior was ready for more combat. Once on its feet, the black alien quickly whipped its lethal tail at Jaque'Su Knau in several attempts to stab the hunter. For his large size, the hunter proved to be very fast, with proficient agility. The hunter dodged the flailing tail as he made plans to grab it and swing the kiande amedha like a hulking mace.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Slowly creeping down the hall at the hunter's beckon, Lex quietly made her way down the dark corridor she knew there was danger up ahead, but she also knew that the hunter was in front of her too. Hearing the screeches and screams of the black aliens made the hairs on the back of her neck stand erect. The sounds terrified her and she wanted no part of them, but she wasn't going to be stupid enough to hang back in the corridor by herself.
Her heart started to pound in her chest. It felt like it would jump out her throat and choke her to death. The growing dread of facing the black serpents made her forget about the excruciating pain that had been in her side.
Oh shit… Oh shit! She thought as she moved closer to the loud sounds.
She gripped her shield and spear tighter as if just holding them tight would miraculously protect her in some way. Protect her from the impending danger she was going to face.
I can't do this, I can't do this, she began to thinking knowing she was so out of place and what was happening shouldn't be real, and it was a nightmare. A nightmare that had forced its way in her waking life.
Get yourself together dummy or you're going to be dead, her brain yelled. The screaming in her brain was right, she could die if she didn't play her cards right and stick with the big hunter. He was he only way out of the pyramid and for the most part her only opportunity to survive.
Stopping, she held her breath not wanting to breathe. Not wanting to move, all she wanted was to disappear and be gone from that place, but it wasn't going to happen.
Just keep walking, she coaxed herself and she did.
One foot in front of the other and don't think what was around the corner was what she had to do. Whatever was around the corner, she would have to fight and she would have to fight it fast and hard.
As she eased around the corner that led to the place where all the screeching and growling was taking place, she froze. Shock squeezed her and she couldn't believe her eyes. In front of her she saw one of the black creatures slithering down wall at the other end or the corridor. It was watching and waiting.
Shit got real for Lex. If she didn't do something, her only way out of the pyramid was going to be dead and he wouldn't know what killed him until it was too late. She had to preserve herself. She wasn't to lose her only way out.
Fuck, Lex thought, the hunter doesn't know that thing is out here.
Looking beyond the black alien waiting in the hall, Lex could see that there was another one that was caught in some sort of net. It looked like the same kind of thing Max was caught in before the other alien hunter stabbed him with his spear.
Nasty, she thought as she tried to shake the image of the dying man from her mind.
Suddenly the hunter and a black alien that looked twice the size of the others rolled into view. They were punching, kicking, and clawing at each other; like they were in some kind of WWF tournament. It was real and this was no TV show, but a fight to the death and Lex hoped that the hunter would win.
A movement occurred at the entrance of the room where the titans were battling and Lex turned to see the black alien at the entrance starting to creep in to attack the unsuspecting hunter.
Two on one, she thought as she realized what the smaller creature was going to do, I don't think s. You're not going to kill my only way out of this hell hole.
Stepping out of the shadows, the woman made her presence known.
"Hey! Shit head," Lex screamed and the black shiny creature turned to face her. "… fair fight ass! You want be sneaking up on him today." She yelled as she started to run towards the creature with her spear hand out stretched and her shield protecting as much of her body as it could.
Realizing the threat behind it, the drone turned to face Lex as it let out a dangerous hiss.
"Fuuucccckkkkkkk….." Lex screamed as her adrenaline began to pound through her and she sped up her charge.
The alien let out its own high pitched shrill as it started running towards Lex. When they impacted, Lex continued scream as she forced the creature backwards and into the room where the other two aliens were fighting. The alien was clawing at Lex trying to scratch and claw at her but it could not reach her because of the length of the spear.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Jaque'Su Knau released the warrior kiande amedha and watched as it slammed into the far side of the wall. Turning his head to his right, he saw the most amazing thing. The small ooman was forcing a drone hardmeat backwards as she impaled it on the spear that he had made for her. As soon as he made eye contact with the pair, the kiande amedha dislodged itself from the ooman's spear and charged him. When the smaller drone was in striking range, Jaque'Su Knau punched the creature so hard it sailed across the room in the direction it had come.
"Don't you run from me, motherfucker," he heard the female shout as she ran towards the drone that he just punched.
Before he realized it, he felt himself move backwards as a sharp pain assaulted his midsection, he looked up and realized that he was on the ground and the warrior was running towards him, he had just a moment to turn his head to the side before the dangerous kiande amedha's tail stabbed down to where his head had been.
Quickly he rolled twice, away from the warrior, and then he jumped to his feet ready for the next assault. When it didn't come quickly, he looked and saw the warrior struggling to get his tail out of the stone floor. Taking the opportunity to attack, he charged the warrior and the hardmeat skidded across the floor and crashed into the wall. Immediately Jaque'Su Knau began relentlessly pounding the warrior without mercy as the other creature kicked and scratched at him while it was on its back. The immobilized kiande amedha screamed and screeched while the hunter roared and growled as he continued beat ruthlessly the downed warrior.
The warrior kiande amedha was down, but it still had some fight in it. The fight was that of live or die and each combatant was desperately trying to kill the other.
Finding a footing, the battered warrior was able to stand.
From the pounding he gave the warrior, Jaque'Su Knau could see that he was causing damage to the hardmeat and he was ready to end the fight. Taking a reflexive step back, he flexed his muscle, protracted his wrist blades. With one clean swift move, he severed the head of the warrior not giving the other creature an opportunity to react. The large, metallic head flew off the left of Jaque'Su Knau while the body crashed heavy to the ground, immediately the acid blood along with the creature's toxic innards spilled to the ground eating away at the stone beneath it.
"Die! Die, motherfucker, die!" Jaque'Su Knau heard the ooman say and he looked around the room to see her stabbing at the first kiande amedha he had trapped in his net gun.
The ooman was in ṃờn·ʃ·air̥r̥, Jaque'Su Knau could see. The only focus she had was killing the hardmeat in front of her. Knowing there was a third kiande amedha. He looked around for the hardmeat. Scanning the chamber quickly, he looked for the hardmeat she had attacked when she entered the chamber. The hardmeat was on the far side of the room. The hunter saw drone laying still several yards away from her; she had killed it.
"Die! Die, motherfucker, die and go to hell," he heard her repeat as she continued to stab the already dead kiande amedha.
As she kept stabbing the hardmeat, he realized that she was unaware of the acid blood that was beginning to seep towards her feet. Thinking fast, he rushed to the ooman and snatched her away before the acid blood touched her feet in the process she dropped her shield and spear.
The female began to scream and struggle in his arms as if she had gone mad. The hunter felt the small woman's strength and heard her struggling with life. She was breathing hard as if each breath would be her last. Her chest struggled as did her entire body. For such a small thing, she was difficult to hold on to, but Jaque'Su Knau did.
It took him a few moments but he safely pinned the female to the ground with the weight of his body. In her panic, she continued to breath heavy and struggle. Calm was needed. She needed to be brought from the place she was at and he began to purr. At first it seemed as if the soothing was not working and she wasn't hearing him. He would not relent, he needed to bring her back to him, the purring continued.
After several minutes he felt her body begin to relax under him. She relaxed, but her breathing was still labored. He felt her small body tremble under his larger one. She shuddered beneath him and he felt wetness at his chest. When he rose off her he saw that she had unrestrained amounts of moisture seeping from her eyes. The moisture flowed but no sound came from her.
How strange, he thought and he smelled her as he continued to purr to her.
She had a confused scent. The scent the enveloped the female was a combination of fear, shock, hopelessness and triumph touched with madness. The ooman was becoming hulij-bpe, crazy.
Never had he imagined in all his life he would have an encounter such as the one he was having in his chiva. Prey had preserved his life. The strange small female he was holding in his arms had protected him and fought by his side. It was because of her he had not met Cetanu. She was worthy. Now, he would have to give her the respect that was due a warrior.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
In disbelief, Lex saw the black alien remove itself from the end of her spear as if it were a fish that had just wiggled off the end of a fishing hook. Her jaw dropped as she watched the thing run away.
What da fuck, she thought, that bastard is getting away and it's not dead, I have to kill it, I have to kill it, she thought.
"Don't you run from me, motherfucker," she screamed as she turned to run towards the black alien, but stopped when she saw it airborne sailing across the room back towards her.
The alien crashed into a heap a couple of yards from where it had got off her spear.
Rushing to the twitching alien that was trying to stand up and fight some more, Lex screamed out again, "…die, you fuuucckkk… she said as she began stabbing the black creature with a fierce passion.
Every time she stabbed the alien with her spear it screeched out in tortured pain. Its screams was a confirmation of life and Lex wanted to make sure that the thing had no life in it so, she continued to stab it punctuating each jab with the word die. She had to make the thing be quiet and stop moving so she stabbed it until it was silent and unmoving.
Her adrenaline continued to rush through her and she moved on to the next alien she would stop moving and screeching. The alien caught in the hunter's net continued to struggle although it was not screeching, instead, it hissed wickedly at Lex giving her an idea of what it would do to her once it was free from the confines of the netting that was cutting viciously into its hard armored body.
"You want me," she accused, "…you want to kill me, you fuck…" she cursed at the alien.
The black creature hissed at Lex and tried to feebly swipe its restrained claws ay her.
"You can die to and go to hell, motherfucker," she spat at the alien as she stabbed it with her spear. The alien hissed dangerously at Lex and twitched; for its efforts, the net tightened around it.
Lex's anger began to rise and so did her adrenaline she wanted to kill and she was going to kill the second black alien that was trapped in the net.
"Die! Die, motherfucker, die!" Lex yelled through clenched teeth, stabbing the creature with each word she spoke.
She continued to stab the creature as if it was the only thing that was real. Stabbing and jabbing, stabbing and jabbing as her adrenaline and blood rushed rapidly through her body as if she would explode. All she knew was death. She was committed to kill all the black creatures because she knew she would not be able to leave the pyramid if they lived. Death would take them all so she became Death's handmadien as she continued stabbing and jabbing, stabbing and jabbing.
"Die! Die, motherfucker, die and go to hell," she repeated as she stabbed and jabbed, stabbed and jabbed.
Mindlessly she continued stabbing the creature not realizing that it was already dead. The acid blood of the creature began to leach from its lifeless body towards Lex.
Feeling something wrap around her and lift her from her feet, Lex began to struggle and in the process, she dropped her shield and her spear.
Oh shit, it has me, she thought as her mind panicked in fear.
She knew she was going to die, but she was glad and proud that she had done her share of killing. She wouldn't let the alien take her easy so she continued to struggle and felt herself crash to the ground and a heavy weight fell on top of her.
Her struggle continued and then she heard something, it was a cat. No, it was purring. The purring grew louder and Lex began to feel at ease with the purring. She let the strange comforting sound soothe her and she began to calm down.
Please God get me out of this nightmare, she prayed. She felt incredibly weak, weak and fragile.
Her body trembled as she began to cry in silent despair. The soothing purring continued and she felt a pressure lift from her body. When she opened her blurry she saw a metallic face looking down at her. The hunter's long black locks curtained her, shielded her from the outside that she knew was real.
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Vocabulary/translation
(Have fun with these words and translations… I did… feel free to use them)
a'ka-ad idiot, stupid
c'jit shit
Cetanu God of Death
hi'ans-ftiats huntlust
hulij-bpe crazy
kiande amedha xenomorph
ķpỉ-orr warrior
la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro kiande amedha
la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro śorạ drone kiande amedha
la·ʃ·es•ġae t•đaệro ķpỉ-orr warrior kiande amedha
ờn·ʃ·air*r* bloodlust
ooman human
Paya Yautja female god
Softmeat another word for human
śorạ drone
ziahk'var honor
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Please review this chapter. I would love to get your feedback.
I look forward to hearing from you!
From The Author