Child of Terrin
Chapter Six
A/N: well, this is where things start heating up for our friends.
The four warriors moved through the shadows swiftly and silently, searching for the scent of their target. There were many human scents, most of them faded, but suddenly they came upon a fresh scent… it was one of the hunters. They hissed with animosity at the scent of their enemy and hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. This was their enemy, in their Queen's territory…no. the Queen had given them orders, and they came first. They continued on their search until they found a trail of human scents, fresh ones, and among them, the scent of their target. They hissed in excitement and picked up speed. They would soon have their prey.
XxXxX
Keriwyn looked around uneasily. Tyger and herself had returned to the rest of the group and Tyger was now leading the party deeper into the dense forest, finding hidden trails and paths as if she had been to this place many times before. Her brothers, noting the change in their sister glanced worriedly between the young girl and their queen and spoke between themselves. They knew that something was wrong, and it put them on edge. The rest of the group, sensing something wrong, were quiet, each lost in their own musings. Keriwyn herself was unnaturally tense, though she tried not to show it. She was panicking. She felt with every step closer to their destination that they were going to find something very bad when they reached it, and the closer they got, the stronger the feeling became, until she was ready to scream. Instead she caught Mark's eye and motioned him closer.
"Mark. I need you to do something for me." Mark glanced at her and she looked away. She could not see the horror in his eyes. "If something goes wrong, I want you and the rest to get back to the city."
"What?"
"I mean it Mark. I want you to get back to the city as fast as possible. No heroics, no arguing. If I give you the order I want the six of you gone. Got it?" she looked at him then, and what he saw in her eyes shocked him to the core. She was expecting danger, danger she might not be able to handle. He had never seen that look in her eyes before. He looked at the rest of the group, who were watching the two of them anxiously, wondering what was going on, and then back at Keriwyn.
"Very well." He said in a small voice and moved away from her again. He trusted her with his life, and it hurt him that she wouldn't tell him what was going on, but he would abide by her wishes. Unless he thought that she was wrong.
Keriwyn moved to the head of the group where Tyger rode with her head down and her hair hanging over her face.
"You know he's not going to listen to you." Came Tyger's voice from beneath the veil of hair.
"How do you know?" Keriwyn asked with a frown. There was something different about Tyger's voice. She couldn't place it.
"I just know these things." Tyger replied, looking up and Keriwyn blinked in surprise. Instead of the dark teal colour, Tyger's eyes were a bright green, and the expression on Tyger's face was one of fierce concentration.
"Dear Gods." Keriwyn breathed, and Tyger looked forward.
"You see. I'm not normal either." She stated, flicking a glance at Keriwyn's back. "I know things that others don't, and I sometimes hear things. I always have. When I was young, my parents used to just say I was lucky, and that I had a good imagination, but then when I got older it worried them, so I stopped telling them. My brothers know, and they help me hide it, but It's not easy."
"So that's how you knew about Din. But why are your eyes green?"
"My brothers tell me that they flash green when I sense or hear things, but when I'm focussing on my ability, like I am now, they stay green. Sometimes, If I use a lot of energy, I black out or don't remember what happened. But that only happens really when I see things."
The young girl's tone frightened Keriwyn enormously. How could someone so young sound so grave? But then, hadn't she sounded like that the day she'd taken over Dreyone in her father's absence? Her frown deepened as her thoughts drifted back to the past, and she pushed the thoughts away forcefully. This was not the time to dwell on events from over a hundred years ago. She had to focus on the problems at hand, most important being the fact that her tension had only increased during her conversation with Tyger. They rode on in relative silence for a while more, the only sounds being the soft plodding of the horses and the occasional soft trilling and clicking of their invisible companions.
Suddenly Tyger stiffened and turned to look at Keriwyn through a mass of orange curls.
"Something's wrong." She hissed, her eyes flaring a bright chrysoprase as her expression became very alarmed. "Something's very wrong. We need to move. NOW!" she let out a small cry and urged Jelica to move forward at a gallop. Keriwyn followed immediately while the others took a moment to figure out what was going on as their horses instinctively bolted forward. They galloped for no more than ten minutes before Tyger pulled on Jelica's reins, causing the poor mare to skid to a stop, but Tyger was already dismounted and clambering through the thick foliage on foot. Keriwyn took only the briefest moment to wrap Jelica and Charm's reins around a branch before she was off after the girl, catching up to her easily.
By the time the rest of the group got to the horses, there was no sign of the girls, as they ware bolting through the foliage. Suddenly Tyger skidded to a halt, and then quickly took a few steps forward and falling to her knees in front of a HUGE figure.
"FATHER!" Keriwyn didn't know the language of the cry that came from behind her, but she understood it all to well as she looked at the still figure on the ground. The tall Yaut'ja warrior was paler than his son, and his dreadlocks were a lighter grey and adorned with many silver clips, his armour was pitted and scarred in many places, as was the flesh beneath it, as if this warrior had seen many battles, which, judging from the sculls that hung across his chest and were fixed to his armour, he had. Finally Keriwyn looked at his unmasked face. His mask had been taken she realised, as it was no-where in sight.
She looked into the agony-glazed amber eyes and noted recognition there, but her view was blocked as Ruhi knelt down by her father's side.
"Father, where is Zek'haru? Who did this?" Ruhi asked urgently, and her father gave a dark chuckle, bright luminescent blood bubbling from his mouth and covering his mandibles.
"I should have seen it sooner." Was all he said before turning his gaze to Keriwyn again. Zek'haru was a fool for babbling about their plan with pride before leaving him to die. "He will come for you next ooman. His loyalty was never to me, but to the one you have insulted by surviving." He coughed and wheezed before continuing. Before turning to Din, who was now standing beside Keriwyn. "I may have been Blind, but I am not a fool. Guard the ooman. They have forgotten about her, but they… will soon… realise… she still… lives." Din nodded and his father lay there as Keriwyn unconsciously counted the seconds between his breaths until he arched off the ground and was gone.
XxXxX
Kenda'zu led the team into the hive alert for the slightest sign of movement. There was nothing, not even a drone moving in the shadows, and she began to feel uneasy.
"This feels like a trap" one of the men hissed almost inaudibly. Loath though she was to admit it, she agreed. There should have been some sign by now. She knew that the hive was large enough to introduce a new queen, so there had to be some Kainde Amedha lurking nearby, and yet she saw nothing. She flicked once more through vision modes and still came up with no sign of them.
They continued warily for a while before hell broke loose. They heard a screech from deep inside the cavern and then they were surrounded by Kainde Amedha. They attacked ruthlessly and in a few minutes only three of the marines were left standing, but there was a large pile of steaming Kainde Amedha bodies surrounding them. There was a crackling hiss and the ground gave way under their feet. The two yaut'ja, thinking almost as one, rolled as they hit and were on their feet again in moments. The oomans were not so lucky. The fall was long enough to break bones and they lay there, crippled or screaming in agony.
Kenda'zu looked at Zek and gave a cold laugh before they began running for the queens chamber. The time for subtlety was over. They made short work of finding her chamber, blasting any Kainde Amedha they came across before they had time to attack. Once inside the queens chamber, their job was simple. Kill her, and send out the ready signal so that the new queen could be inserted.
They circled her, dodging attacks skilfully and two well-placed shouldercannon shots severed her tale and left her without her main weapon. They watched as she grew more and more agitated, then as one attacked from both sides, starting the fight in earnest.
XxXxX
The Queen kept her children away from her chambers. She would fight these enemies on her own. She knew that they were not really attacking her, and it infuriated her. They enter her chambers just to toy with her? No, they were wearing her down. She was no longer young. Her crest was already scarred and beaten, she had deep scars from old battles that never truly healed, and now, with her tail gone she knew that she was defenceless. One last cry she launched herself at the stronger and larger of her opponents.
XxXxX
Kenda'zu watched the Queen rage towards her and opened fire, Zek doing the same, their plasma casters were modified and more efficient and the queen was cut down by a volley of blasts.
She moved over to the queen and the large creature screeched, but the screech was cut off by six shots straight through the base of her crest.
Kenda'zu activated her communicator and contacted her father.
"It is done" she said simply and her father nodded.
"Very well. Get back to the ship."
XxXxX
Throughout the hive the Kainde Amedha hung in the shadows, unsure of what to do. Their queen had told them that another would take her place, but they wanted revenge. Still, even in death they obeyed her last command and they waited. A few of them attacked the enemies as they made their escape, but most waited.
The four warriors out in the forest heard their Queen's last defiant screech, but they continues their hunt. The old queen had wanted the human for a reason. Perhaps the new queen would too. It would be a gift to honour her, they thought as they hastily followed the trail.
XxXxX
MERLA: Oh Kami… I hope I don't see where this is going….
UNI: O.O… you made the queen seem so…
MN:Human?
UNI: yeah. Why?
MN: Sympathy.
MERLA: WHAT?!?!?!?! You're kidding right? You want us to feel sorry for the big bad alien?! You're outta your tree!
MN: -shrugs- do you?
MERLA: why you little…
UNI: uh……
