Kwai kwai nidobak! Our heroes have finally made it to the Sleg castle and are on their way to rescue Awehsohs. This story is very close to the end now. I hope you readers enjoy this story's final chapters. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 26: The Path to True Purpose
Siômo and Reptantis rushed down the dark tunnel with the single flashlight providing the only source of light. They could faintly hear Xea smashing itself against the stone door at the entrance and they were thankful that their attacker couldn't get in. They didn't recognize that form it was in, but they both knew that the brutish creature was in fact Xea.
The two companions didn't want to take any chances fighting Xea in it's brawler form and simply ran down the dank tunnel. Discluding the banging that the shadow Assassin was causing, the only sounds that could be heard was their footsteps and heavy breathing. As they sprinted however, the sound of the heavy thuds and banging grew more and more faint. Finally, they couldn't hear those sounds at all, much to their relief.
"I think... we can stop running... now." Reptantis commented in between heavy pants from their sprinting.
Siômo nodded in agreement and they both slowed down to a slow paced walk. The two men panted as they walked forward and they could both see that the tunnel came to an abrupt stop a little ways ahead. At first, they thought that they reached a dead end, but they soon identified the "wall" as a door.
"I told you that the Sleg castle held hidden tunnels in case of emergencies." the Sleg commented with a small smile as they drew closer and closer to the door, which looked to be made of some kind of metal.
"My apologies for ever doubting you." the bearded native commented and he took that moment to reload his plasma cannon. "So, where does this tunnel lead to?" he asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Reptantis replied with a shrug and he shined his light on a hand scanner that was meant for Slegs.
The Skræling raised an eyebrow when he saw the scanner. He recalled seeing similar devices at the Sleg base back in the Lost Land jungles around the time he first came to this strange land. So far, only his Sleg ally has opened doors with these hand scanners and he wanted to try it himself. he placed his hand on the scanner, but the hand print changed from a green tinge to a red tint.
"Only Slegs can open these doors." Reptantis commented as he lightly pushed the human's hand away and placed his own three fingered hand on the scanner.
The scanner's handprint went back to green and it beeped before the door began to slide open. Siômo just rolled his eyes as his Sleg friend chuckled. They both then peeked their heads through the doorframe to see what looked like an empty storage closet. There were dusty crates and cobwebs everywhere, showing that few people went in there.
"Well, this is not a bad start." the Skræling mumbled as they both walked through the doorframe.
The door slid closed behind them and they turned to see that the other side of the door looked like a regular wall. They were both impressed at how well hidden the tunnel was, but they quickly focused on the matter at hand.
"So, where so you think Awehsohs would be kept?" Siômo questioned while he replaced his plasma cannon in favor of his bow.
"Well, prisoners are kept in cells in prison areas, but for someone like Awehsohs, he might be being kept in a more inconspicuous place." Reptantis replied as he looked around the room. "If it were up to me, I'd put him at the top of the tower or somewhere around that area." he added.
"Then we will make our way to the top of the tower. That should be a good place to start at the very least. We should try to keep quiet though. Setting off the alarm would not make things easy for us." the native commented with a serious expression
"Don't worry, the flechette gun doesn't make a noise in it's primary firing mode." the Sleg assured as he gently tapped the barrel of his heavy weapon with his hand.
Siômo nodded and they both made their way towards the storage room's door, which opened by itself when they got close enough. Reptantis slowly stepped out with his weapon at the ready and he immediately spotted a Sleg guard walking down the hall away from would've been caught if thy came out any earlier.
Not wanting to test their luck, Reptantis took aim and squeezed the trigger. A single flechette flew through the air and stuck into the back of the soldier's head. There was so much force in the shot that the soldier's head was almost torn off.
The soldier slumped to the ground with a thud once it was shot and the back of its head was bleeding. The two companions came out into the open and the Sleg commenced to drag the dead body into the storage room to hide it. He came back out after a few short moments and they cautiously walked down the hallway together.
They took a few random turns and looked into some of the rooms as they moved. Some of the rooms had Sleg or Dinosoud guards in them, but they were easily taken care of thanks to Siômo's poison arrows. After awhile, they came across a room with a rectangular staircase that would lead them several stories up the castle's tower.
Before the two men even thought of climbing these steps, they took cover behind nearby crate. They did this because a few patrols could be seen on some of the steps and the amount of soldiers seemed to increase around the last third of the stairs.
"How are we supposed to sneak past those guys?" Reptantis questioned with a very quiet tone of voice.
Siômo rubbed his bearded chin in thought before he got an idea. He slung his bow over his shoulder and reached into one of his leather pouches. He pulled out a flat box shaped object made of metal.
"I will use the spider mine to take them out." he whispered to his Sleg companion as he dropped the unactivated mine on the metal floor.
"Smart." the Sleg murmured as he watched the human take out the spider mine's controller.
The Skræling pressed a button on the controller and the metal box began to transform so it was in the shape of a four legged spider with a tiny camera on the front. As it stood on it's four legs, the screen on the controller began to show the mine's point of view via the camera attached to it. Before he had it go anywhere, he scrolled through the settings until it was set to "word."
Feeling like it was ready, Siômo controlled the spider mine to run over to the stairs and it began to quickly clime the steps. It was able to move past many of the Sleg patrols and it finally stopped going up the stairs when it was about halfway up. The native then pressed the trigger button.
"This way!" a prerecorded male voice shouted out from the spider mine's tiny speakers. The voice echoed throughout the area and anyone on the staircase could hear it.
"What the fuck was that?" the two companions heard a guttural voice say from a few floors above them, almost causing them to laugh.
Conveniently, there was a mouse hole right next to the spider mine and Siômo had the mine rush into it.
Over half of the Sleg soldiers made their way to the origin of the shout and when they got their, they just looked at one another with confused expressions. The Skræling quickly set the mine to the "gas" setting and willed the spider mine to crawl out of the mouse hole. Before any of them could notice it, the mine began to emit a yellow-green gas that quickly filled the area around them.
The Slegs' eyes widened when the saw the gas and many of them already knew it was too late. Many of them began to choke on the poisonous gas and two of them even threw up. After only seconds, all of the soldiers fell over and some of them rolled down the stairs. None of them survived the gas' affects.
The screen on the spider mine's controller only showed static and Siômo stuffed it into one of his pouches before he took out his plasma cannon.
"Lets go before the other guards realize what has transpired." he whispered before they moved out of cover.
With Reptantis leading the way, the two men made their way up the stars at a slow pace, not wanting to alert the survivors. One of the guards, who was going down the stairs to check on the now dead Slegs, spotted the companions. Before it could react though, Reptantis shot it in the head three times with his flechette gun, causing it's head to completely explode in a mist of blood and gore. The headless corpse slumped to the ground and fell down the stairs, almost tripping the two men in the process.
Unfortunately, a skinny Sleg holding a rifle witnessed this happen and began to open fire. The two companions quickly ducked down to avoid the gunshots and Siômo shot it in the chest with his plasma cannon. The weapon was set on the third firing mode, so the plasma bolt also electrified the Sleg, who soon fell over.
"That'll alert some people." Reptantis growled as the barrel to his flechette gun slid back and the tripe barreled minigun slid out.
With that said, they both began to run up the stairs and a loud alarm could be heard throughout the castle. There were also flashing red lights turning on all over the place, signaling that the alarm was not a drill.
Siômo and his Sleg ally did their best to ignore all of this as they gunned it up the stairs, going to steps at a time. They began to hear shouting at the bottom of the stairs and the sound of multiple people were beginning to climb the steps after them.
Having an idea, Reptatis took out a few spiked grenades and threw them over the railing. They detonated after about two or three seconds and cries of pain could be heard below.
"That should slow them down for a bit!" he shouted to his human ally as they finally neared the top of the staircase.
Once they reached the top if the stairs, they spotted a metal door that opened by itself when they were close enough. Before the two companions could enter the next room however, several gunshots whizzed past them and they took cover behind the doorframe. Once they were in cover, the rapid gunfire stopped.
"You take care of whoever's in there! I'll cover our rear! Hurry up though! I'm runnin out of ammo!" Reptantis shouted before he used his minigun to mow down some Dinosoids below who were climbing the stairs.
Siômo sighed quietly and peeked out of cover to see two hulkish Slegs standing in front of a metal door. They were both armed with miniguns and their muscular bodies were partly covered in black armor. Those two Slegs seemed to be guarding that door and the human hoped it was because that was where Awehsohs was being held.
The Skræling put away his plasma cannon and took out his bow again. He glanced at his Sleg ally for a moment, seeing that he was still shooting at various Dinosoids trying to make their way up the stairs.
'I should hurry.' the bearded native thought to himself as he pulled an explosive arrow out of his leather quiver.
Siômo waited a few short moments before he peeked out of cover with his bow string pulled back. He the released the bow string and the arrow flew through the air. Before either Sleg could even open fire, the arrow hit the one on the left in the leg.
The explosive arrow detonated upon impact and the explosion caused both off it's legs to be blown clean off. The Sleg that was hit died immediately while the other one simply fell to the floor with a pained grunt. Before the hulkish Sleg could stand up, the bearded native took out his pistol with his right hand and shot the Sleg in the head two times, killing it.
Once the two hulkish Slegs were dead, Siômo tapped his Sleg friend's shoulder with his hand and they both rushed through the doorway. The metal door slid closed behind them, but they could hear a large amount of rushing footsteps on the other end. Before anything happened, a deep, guttural voice spoke up from the what sounded like a PA system.
"Attention all personnel; this is Lord Dominus speaking. It has come to my attention that the Son of Stone and the traitor have infiltrated the castle. The intruders are to be left alone... I will deal with them myself." the voice spoke before going silent.
All of the footsteps from the other room stopped and the two companions looked at one another with surprised expressions. They weren't expecting this at all.
"At least we know we're going in the right direction." Reptantis grumbled as his minigun shifted back into it's primary firing mode because he ran out of ammo for his minigun.
Siômo remained silent and they both approached the metal door on the other and. The Sleg placed his hand on the scanner next to the door before the door opened with a mechanical hum.
Once the door was open, they both walked into the new area and the door closed behind them. They found themselves to be in Lord Dominus' living quarters and they looked around the fancily decorated living room. One of the doors opened and the two companions pointed their weapons at the person at the doorframe.
Lord Dominus himself stepped into the room and his crimson red cape was covering most of his body. The only part of his body that could be seen was his head and the sharp nails of his toes. He glanced at the two intruders with his reptilian eyes before he stared directly at the Skræling, who was glaring at him.
"Where is my brother?" Siômo demanded angrily as he readied his bow with a normal arrow and aimed at the tall Sleg before them.
"In the room behind me." the very intimidating Sleg answered emotionlessly. "I will allow you both to live if you surrender now." he stated as he took a few steps forward.
"Siômo, be careful. A single arrow won't kill this guy." Reptantis warned quietly, but he still kept his flechette gun trained on his former ruler.
"I would listen to the traitor if I were you. Now... will you surrender?" Lord Dominus questioned, sounding more stern now.
"No! Give me back my brother!" the Skræling shouted furiously as his right arm trembled lightly from holding the bow string back for so long.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Son of Stone..." the intimidating Sleg replied coldly.
All of a sudden, Lord Dominus rushed forward and roughly grabbed both the bow and arrow that Siômo was holding. He pulled the arrow away and threw it to the ground before he shoved the tan skinned human to the ground. Reptantis was about to squeeze the trigger of his flechette gun, but the taller Sleg speedily kicked him in the gut and threw him to the ground too.
"Are you sure you don't wish to surrender?" the black scaled Sleg questioned calmly. "I will allow you to see Awehsohs if you do." he added.
"No... we are not surrendering and we are taking Awehsohs with us." the Skræling replied with a heavy frown as he slowly stood up and he slung his bow over his back, feeling like he wouldn't need it for this.
"I won't surrender so you can jus kill us later. We will leave this place wth that poor kid you keep locked up here." Repantis added as he too stood up and he put away his flechette gun before he pulled out his combat knife.
"What a shame... have it your way. I have no choice other than to kill you now." Lord Dominus stated as he moved his right arm out of his cape and unbuttoned it from his neck.
The intimidating Sleg's red cape fell to the floor once it was unbuttoned, exposing his muscular body and black scales. He brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles as he glared at his two opponents.
Reptantis growled and rushed forward to stab his former leader, but Lord Dominus quickly grabbed his wrist with one hand and lifted him up but the neck with his other. The smaller Sleg started choking as his legs flailed around in the air.
Siômo gasped and unsheathed his double edged tomahawk. He raised his weapon to strike, but the tall Sleg simply kicked him away without releasing Reptantis, who let out noisy choking noises. The human grunted as he fell on a table and it collapsed under him. He slowly rose up again however and took out his Viking sword with his freehand.
Lord Dominus noticed and dropped the smaller Sleg at that point, making him fall to the floor and gasp for air. The black scaled Sleg then rushed over to the the Skræling. He hissed in pain and backed away however when the tan skinned human cut his arm with the sword.
Siômo flicked his sword so the blood would get off the blade and he glanced at Reptantis to see him stand up and pick up the knife he dropped while being choked earlier. The green scaled Sleg then made his way to the door where the taller Sleg came from, most likely to get Awehsohs.
'All I need to do is distract this guy and keep him away from Reptantis.' the bearded native thought to himself with a frown.
The Skræling took a deep breath before he lunged forward and swung his double bladed tomahawk in a horizontal motion. Lord Dominus jumped back to dodge the attack however and he glared at the human with a toothy frown.
The black scaled flinched when he heard the door behind him slide open and he looked over his shoulder to see Reptantis enter his bedroom. He was about to rush after him, but he growled in pain when he felt a burning pain along his lower back. Siômo sliced at his back with one swipe from his tomahawk while his opponent was distracted.
"You little maggot!" Lord Dominus snarled as he whipped around and swung his fist towards the smaller human.
Siômo quickly jumped back to avoid the hit and chopped at the Sleg's upper shoulder. The black scaled Sleg tried to dodge the attack, but the tomahawk blade managed to skin some of his scales.
Lord Dominus instinctively pressed his three fingered hand over the bleeding wound and fell to one knee. He quickly looked up to see his human opponent raise his tomahawk to deliver the killing blow.
"Stop!" a very familiar voice screamed from behind him.
Siômo slowly turned around to see three people standing by the now open door, which led to the Sleg leader's bedroom. Reptantis could be seen holding the hand of a young child, who was none other than Awehsohs. The third person was Vitam, who was resting her hand on the child's shoulder.
"Brother... please don't kill him." the young Skræling practically begged and Lord Dominus eyed everyone in the room, wondering what would transpire next.
No one spoke and there was a deathly silence in the room. The only thing that could be heard was Lord Dominus' pained panting. Slowly, the adult Skræling sheathed his weapons and walked over to his younger brother, who released Repatnis' hand. When they were close enough, they hugged one another.
"Kwai... nijia. N'wigôwzi namiômek kia mina. (Hello... my brother. I am happy to see you again.)" Siômo spoke softly on the Abenaki language as he gently rocked the younger child back and forth.
Awehsohs smiled at this and hugged him more tightly, happy to be with his brother again. After a few moments that seemed like an eternity, the two siblings pulled away from their warm embrace. At that moment, the older Skræling looked at the only female Sleg in the room, who was helping lord Dominus stand up at this point.
"Who are you?" he questioned with honest curiosity.
"I am Vitam, Dominus' wife." she answered as the couple looked directly at the Son of Stone.
"She's gravid, Siômo." Reptantis informed as he walked over to the adult native's side.
That simple fact changed things. Siômo didn't want to be responsible for a child growing up without his or her father. Kling Lord Dominus could easily end the long lasting war between the Slegs and humans, but the simple fact that he was going to be a dad soon made things more difficult.
"I refuse to kill you, Dominus." Siômo stated as he rested a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"I am sorry, but I wish to go with my brother..." Awehsohs added, feeling kind of bad for rejecting their offer to adopt him.
Lord Dominus and. Vitam looked at one another for a moment. It was as if they were having a conversation even though no words were spoken. After a short while of silence, they looked at Siômo, Awehsohs, and Reptantis again.
"Very well, you three may leave. My men won't stop you." Lord Dominus stated with what sounded like emotional hurt in his voice, yet understanding could be detected as well.
"I hope I can see you two again someday..." the young Skræling commented quietly.
The two married Slegs actually smiled from this and Vitam nodded. Without another word, Siômo led his brother and Sleg friend out of the room. He had finally rescued his brother.