Chapter 29

The Hunted

Oh this is exhilarating. I am being chased down by several of queen Ragna's elites. I was holding one of her precious gemstones, one that glowed purple, so I knew that this was a shadow gem. If I could make it through the gate, the energy that the gem harnesses is mine. I was being shot at often as I was frantically jumping from ledge to ledge, and off of cliffs. Heck, the structure itself was a mountain on its own. It was already high enough to be peaking over the clouds, and the cold weather was almost unbearable. I withdrew my gun after I shot three bullets at the elites heads, but those bullets proved useless.

The guards were all trained in the most rigorous terrain that I ever saw. Once they qualified, they were given armor that had a helmet that could flash its eyes like a flashlight with its own personal HUD, and interface. The armor was like a dragon's scales, as it was sought to be a bad idea, but when it proved it on the battlefield, those theorists ate their words. The armor was white, and could change to black depending on how they choose it. Their weapons range from a very hazardous knife, that is tipped with corrosive acid that was extracted from our stomachs. We never knew how the knives would actually take the corrosive well. They also have a multipurpose pistol that can become a sniper, and a full auto sub machine gun. It looked like a very oversize looking pistol, but when flipped and with the right triggers, it can become a very variable weapon that is versatile and deadly.

I saw the edge of the cliff coming, as I prepared for a very unpleasant landing, but as I can imagine, I will probably not escape this one if I do, since these highly ranked guards have jet boots that they can use to lighten their fall. I took a deep breath and when I felt my feet being half on and half off, I jumped while spreading my arms and legs out to slow my fall. I fell through the clouds, finally being able to breathe fully again, and then I saw my demise in a few seconds. I tried to back up to the point where I could land within a wagon full of hay before I kill myself from falling. If the people were wondering why I could not absorb the gem right now, its because the shadows have to personally come to you itself. At the way I am running, I have to be so focused and being slow while being chased by them. It was a very risky move. Soon they landed with the pistol and flung the gun forwards, making sure that it would turn into a long range sniper rifle, and when it shown, I was running for my life.

They began shooting at me, as I dodged each bullet that seemed to nearly hit my ear each time I ran, because I was going in a zig zag motion. I was panicking so much that I forgot to tightly grasp the loot that I collected. I sped up, panting like it was no tomorrow, and quite frankly, there could be no tomorrow. As I was about to turn the corner, I felt a shock at my legs, and soon my legs were tied up and then once they caught up, they beat me with their bare hands.

They took me by the arms, and carried me up to the citadel for questioning. They activated their jet boots, at they were speeding up into the sky without anything bothering them with my weight. It was like they could take on anything, but we all know somebody has a weakness to something. When we got back up to the balcony of the citadel throne room, I was let go and was forcefully shoved into the hall. The door opened and torches were lit on fire, filling the room with a strange scent of ashes and a weird smell of rotten oil.

"We caught him red handed with your purple gem your majesty." The elite said.

"What was his name? Oh yes. Azain." Another elite stated.

"What a foolish decision. You just squandered your whole life for a shadow gem." Ragna responded. "Next time, if you even escape and get back in here, I suggest you do not touch my s***." She angrily stated. "You can throw him in prison, and maybe kill him if you hate him that much. Do as you please."

One of them, first plucked the gem from my hand, and threw it to Ragna who was furious at my attempt. They gone to pick me up and haul me over to one of her dungeons where she would put the most hated prisoners and or targets that have bounty, and people are waiting to kill or pick up themselves. I was very regretful for that decision, and I was begging for my life, but then she denied each and every one of my requests, knowing that it would end in betrayal.

Down there, they put a knife to my neck and one right behind me, so that if I made a attempt, I would surely die from the knives. So far, last time I remember, I was almost wanted in every part of the alliance. The Lunar surface on the moon of Ceres, Solstice on Ceres, Quele from Pluto, The Kano from Neptune, even the Sevawings from Jupiter want me dead. Sevaeric however wanted deals from me, and they got all the guns on them now. When that empire was the biggest, they controlled each and every one, Aseem, Quele, Solstice, you name it. They were stopped by a weird black dragon that had a mind of a human and inherited the warpriest's abilities.

They forced me in, and slammed the bars shut, before I sat down and pondered some things. Soon, the lights gone out and I was left all alone, hearing the yells and loud conversations between the cells. All of it got louder as I shoved two of my fingers inside my ears so that I could stop hearing the irrelevant conversations going on. Do not worry... I can escape easily by this laser they never knew I had. If they took it however, I could simply just dig a hole to the gate and climb the ladder. So I woke up and grabbed for the laser. However, the laser was not there, and I silently said no under my breath. I then gone and with my strong arms started breaking the ground under the uncomfortable bed that I was given. It might of not covered it completely, but it had to work, since it is at least somewhat concealed. I kept on going and tried to go up to the surface. I began hearing the cracking go hollow, and soon I was buffeted by a bunch of dust that led me blindly to a drop so high that I thought I was going to throw up. I began running towards the ladder at the wall, and with ease managed to get through the first rotation of guards terrifyingly patrolling the streets.

I sighed for a second and then kept on moving until I got to the wall, and there was a ladder that extended almost to the top. There however was a few problems, as a couple of guards were standing there seeing over the wall while I have to work with a creaky wooden ladder. I decided to climb it, and with the loud high pitched noises, I was afraid they were going to kill me on sight and know that I was here. When I got up, I saw them with their knives in their stance being flawless. I gone and tried to disarm one of its knives, and when I hooked my right arm around his arm, it cracked and I took the knife while I was dodging the other guard. I then stabbed the vulnerable spot between the chest piece and helmet for both of them, and they became limp. I decided if I wanted to try and survive out there, a little protection wouldn't hurt, so I put each armor piece on, as I felt my body getting very heavy and all of them did fit for my size. I felt like a cyborg, that just was manufactured, and very slow. I first turned on the interface, making the helmet take the commands from my movements. I tried out the stomping and my boots were ignited, raising me up into the air after I quickly stole a Aseem elite pistol. I looped around and sped through the air with a high speed. I did not think I was spotted yet, but I knew there were some people outside the city as well.


Next morning, I woke up being encased in dirt and sand, as my boots stopped working for now. I began running through the desert, hoping to see a ally around, but there usually wasn't. The sand was blowing around, messing up my respiration system, and the heat was almost unbearable. Sweat dropped down like rain as I took each step, being one step closer to getting dehydrated. When the sun gone up to the top of the sky, I noticed that I have walked a whole mile without complaining. That was a relief, since I did not want to be giving off my position, and also dying from the inside. Although a oasis would be a nice thing if Saturn even had one.

I found a cactus springing up from the sand, as it was prickly as usual. I pulled up my knife and weakly sliced it, as the knife cut through it like paper. The results were amazing for a knife that is corrosive. I then drank the cactus juice and felt myself feeling a bit drunk for a second, although without the whole disease thing to it. I then realized if I took this with me, then I would have another thing to drink just in case I need it. So I sliced the other half and carried it with me while proceeding in my current direction.

Even with the heat, it is still good to know that I do not have a waiting charge on me, saying 'Certain death in 3... 2... whatever'. That would be horrifying spending your last moments before someone slowly kills you, and you can feel the stinging pain that makes you go limp. There was nothing but sand, the sun and about two cacti per mile, and the timing is outrageous to cross. I was beginning to hallucinate and I thought I saw some obelisks in the distance, but when I took a drink from the cactus arm I sliced earlier, things began fitting in like puzzle pieces, as the image was starting to become more clear, and the clarity improved and improved some more. There was really a whole temple just sitting here in the middle of the desert.

When I finally reached it, it was over me as a pyramid in the center of the ring of obelisks, as the light began arcing to the tip of the pyramid, and then a door opened near it. I was hoping that it would not be too hot in there, as the armor was making it worse. I climbed up, being unwary of what I might face in this strange structure in a dangerous land. When I climbed up, the obelisk shut down the interface while at it, and almost made me completely immobile. I was struggling to move each piece of armor up the stairs of the pyramid, when suddenly the rockets on the boots propelled me up high enough so I could travel down with ease. I sighed while drowning in my own sweat, as the sun's heat pounded on me like a drum. I was so desperate so I jumped into the pyramid, and for some reason the room was dark, sometimes showing a bit of symbols in neon. I could feel the air rushing aside me. The wind was already cooling the suit down and my body, and I was beginning to feel a tad better than before.

It became cold a few seconds later when I was falling for 16 straight seconds, and it was terrifying. Things were whooshing near my ears and the speed startled me, as I knew something was in there that was going to take me to my maker. The armor then disconnected and I fell straight into a puddle of water as the interior was pitch black. I backed up, feeling the cold, crisp air, and soon i bumped into a pillar that was very rough. My hands were already starting to feel numb as myself climbed out of the water and gone forward. I began bumping into many objects and when I was turning around to go around it, it was beginning to feel like a pattern. Interesting... Its like a game of dodge the bullet. Except bigger bullets. I thought to myself.

After carelessly walking into a few more objects, I finally crashed into a very rocky nest, that was sharp and rusty. I stumbled back and lights turned on one by one, like it remembered me. All over the place there were wires of synergy running throughout the place. They were orange this time, compared to the other times being red, purple or green. I do not what I just triggered, but since I could not see over the nest, lets climb one of those pillars. I gone up to the pillar, carefully placing my hands, securing my grip and placing my feet onto steady edges. I looked over, and saw a very large dragon sleeping inside the pyramid, and it was tied down by the Synergy virus. If I want to get out of here, then I am going to have to free this place of this corruption.

I noticed that there was a few platforms suspended in midair, since of the apparent magic in this building. Soon everything was covered in rocks, and the synergy virus. This made it look like the cave it was. Some signs of the Synergy were pulsating, but were like pods growing on the surface. One even appeared right in front of me, and I sliced it with the knife. People were most concerned with the Synergy virus when it came from Saturn originally. It was a new way of life, or speculated to be, until someone hacked it's primary function, and made it so that it would turn the people into corpses, and zombies within a few seconds of being touched. So far most of the low ranking guards are searching for this virus, and so far, none of them returned.

This group however, was not the kind of aggressive one, it was more like a deceiving type. I continued forward, and I hit a spring that was loaded into the pyramid. However, instead of flinging me out of the pyramid, it only made me smack directly into the rock ceiling over me. During flight, I accidentally cut a wire of the Synergy, as I knew that this wouldn't end well. It's blood splattered over me and started to corrupt me slowly. Thoughts in my mind were instantly manipulated, and were focused on trying to make me give in. I quickly wiped it off and continued to try and destroy the pods that the virus was connected to. I noticed that the top of the cave was gleaming orange, having spikes that could kill people or convert people within a quick moment. The hard part was crossing the bridge while each slab was independent from itself, and doeskin connect to anything, plus it is narrow. I gone and hopped on each one, but then the slabs were tipping over, and each jump I made made me almost hit the spikes on the ceiling. Each leap of faith was literally meaning either life or death, as each slab fell. When I made it to the fourth jump in the lit pyramid, the slabs began toppling on one another. Somehow, they were all bent on killing me, by sending its broken shards bouncing and aiming for me at the same time. I was dodging each of the jagged rocks, and when my foot finally landed for the 15th time, I passed the chasm.

The pod of the virus showed up, and I sliced it in total agreement. With that gone, the ceiling was free of the virus itself, as we got to a point where a whole chasm was ripped open again, and the tentacles of the orange virus were trying to restrict me from continuing any further. They had almost familiar voices, and with each word tempted me further.

"How are you, my son?" One tentacle softly said.

"Wait what the hell? How-" I terrifyingly asked.

"We are your parents, of course." One tentacle explained. "It would be rude to walk by and never mention, right?"

"You are not. You are not the virus, you killed them. Do not try and fool me, I already know the truth." I responded.

"Oh well, then it is time for you to suffer the same fate as them." Both of them said in unison.

I ran and jumped on a nearby cable that led to the next node, as the wires were struggling to catch up to me for the first five seconds. I desperately swung from the cable, evading their lunges. As they reached the cable, it spread onto there, and made it electric, thinking that they could make me drop and then use me from there. Although thanks to this armor and the gauntlets, I was impervious to shock for now. I slid my fingers quickly so I could try and increase my momentum as I was escaping from the two tentacles chasing me. The virus was most likely in full biological form now at this point, and whoever was down there, they would have to resist with the hardest effort they could. I finally made it around the curve and came across an ancient temple that was holding in a artifact within it's orb. There was a nice spiral looking crystal in there, but what was around it was one of the biggest pods I have ever seen. Within seconds, the tentacles began guarding it, and some lashed out on me. I jumped over a leg swipe over one side, and on the other crouched the high kick. Once they sensed that I was not one of their victims, they were going berserk, and trying to endlessly maim me and start whipping me everywhere. The armor that I had on though protected me from the virus itself. However it was not going to last very long, as each whip left a mark on the elite's armor. I struggled to reach out, but when I ran towards it, whilst dodging each tentacle that tried to smack me and disarm me. I was at a point where each one was wrapped around my wrist and ankles, removing me from it, and then trying to disarm the armor by scratching it rapidly. While groaning, I threw the blade to the pod, as one tentacle was reaching for the blade, but then it failed to catch it while it was in flight. I hoped that it would actually cut the pod. As the knife flew and turned like it was on a table, it sliced through the bottom of the pod and cut it off as one tentacle was going to inject the virus into my neck. Each and every tentacle shriveled up and turned into nothing as a voice cried out; "Azain help me!". I knew that you couldn't rescue people who had been consumed by the virus. They would be bones and be decomposing inside of the pods anyway. Gasping for air I ran and picked up the knife before the rock walls retracted from their original position.

I fell from the rock slipping through under me, as I fell with a painful thud. I was holding the relic after it dropped into my hands, declaring it was choosing me. I grinned for a second, and then a slot appeared from the ground. It looked like a bio hazard sign that was being supported by radiation, as fog steamed up from around it, I ran to it and placed the relic inside the slot. Then I heard roaring from behind me, assuming that it was the sleeping beast.

"Tresspassers... It is now my duty to erase you from existence."

I tried to dodge his tail swing as his thin tail whipped me across the legs, rendering me crippled, and then he slapped me with his claws, with slashing my helmet as well. The claw tore a eye piece off the helmet, and it allowed me to see through again, but then He forced be back and breathed a torrent of freezing winds that completely broke my armor as he got closer to me. He noticed the eye I had, and then he cracked the ice, thinking that he knew me.

"Huh. Lets see if you are really him." He said. "The one destined to defeat the Templar Nesc."

(Enter Azain and Arianas. It now leads up to the badlands and the sentient tower. If you read up to this part, I thank you for doing so. Want to read the next? Wait tomorrow, there might be another one that might go to another scenario.)