Chapter 24: Nazz

WE ... ARE ... HORDE.

“Oh, shit baskets,” mumbled Ryan, holding Éclair tighter as the reincarnated Parasite Queen loomed over them.

“YOU SSEE,” said the newly revived Horde Mother, her faceless face rippling with pleasure. “YOU CANNOT KILL USSSS. WE ARE INFINITE. SSO LONG ASSSS OUR CHILDREN EXISSST, SSO DO WE. THISS ISS THE ULTIMATE FORM OF LIFE!”

There’s no way we can win ... no way to escape, thought Éclair, watching in despair within Ryan’s protective arms as her greatest fears became realized. I’m going to die here. Ryan is going to die here, and it’s all my fault. I should’ve never forced him to come. I should’ve come alone. We failed to save Grafael, and only got ourselves killed for our efforts.

Éclair gripped Ryan around the neck tightly as he backed away from the Horde Mother. “Ryan, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I led you to this,” she said wanly.

“Don’t be,” said Ryan with a strangely peaceful smile on his face beneath his visor. “Dying with you in my arms ... that doesn’t sound so bad to me.”

“Indeed, my friends,” said Grafael solemnly as he put a hand on Éclair’s and Ryan’s shoulders. “Though it pains my heart that you came here only to meet this end, let us make it such an end that these foul beasts will not soon forget.”

Even while standing at the brink of death, the resolve of her two warrior friends filled Éclair with a sense of serenity. At the very least, I’m glad we’re all together ... here at the end.

Éclair put a hand on Grafael’s scaly wrist and smiled up at him. She then moved her legs out of Ryan’s grip and stood unsteadily between him and Grafael. She squeezed Ryan’s shoulder affectionately as he held her around the waist to steady her. More Parasites closed in ranks around them as the pirates drew closer to the Elementals. The Horde Mother approached unhurriedly, confident that her prey could not escape. The three friends stood resolutely in front of the pirates before the object of their demise, facing their fate.

Just as Eclair charged up what remained of her psions for a final attack, something happened. A large silver circle of light appeared between them and the Parasite Queen. At first, Eclair was tempted to think that Zanderius had returned. But the silver light seemed a little different from his white light. Éclair soon recognized the phenomenon as a newly formed Gateway.

“Back, you blaggards!” cried a dainty voice from the door of light.

Then flames shot out of the silver Gateway and bathed the advancing Parasites in heat, melting ten in a single blast. Shortly after, Tork the Dragon flew out of the opening wearing a personal orange glowing shield that protected him from the gas like the one Éclair gave to Grafael. The golden-scaled reptile soared over the Parasites on his leathery wings breathing a steady stream of orange flames all while hacking and slashing with his baton sword and buzz saw shield. The energy shield surrounding him didn’t seem to hamper his fire breath. His chest was bare as usual, and his legs were covered in armored, metal skirting. His black mane seemed longer since last she saw him, his white horns a little bigger, and he appeared more confident. Even Tork’s face had changed as his golden eyes shined bright and his long snout seemed broader and stronger in a fashion that resembled Grafael’s chin. Tork gnashed his long fangs viciously at his enemies as he batted them away with his long and powerful tail.

Tork wasn’t alone. A figure in dark Psionic Armor and robes jumped out of the Gateway wielding twin purple glowing Psionic Swords that changed shape to resemble fans on occasion. The man wore full-body armor like Éclair and Ryan, with a black helmet hiding his face, embroidered with dark feathered wings sticking out behind it. Purple glowing runes went down the length of his black armor which fitted perfectly to his lean form. His armor seemed a medieval design at the leggings, torso, and shoulder pads. His black cape almost resembled wings while they fluttered behind him as he moved with unbelievable grace and speed. From the man’s swords came gusts of wind, and Éclair’s heart almost stopped when she realized who it was.

“Leon,” Éclair whispered wistfully.

More friends from Squad 99 soon joined the fight against the surprised Parasites. Rachel came out wielding her steel nunchucks which crackled with yellow lightning. Rachel wore full-body red Psionic Armor of the Fire Ministry, the golden images of the Lion and Dragon emblazoned on the medallion that hung across her neck. Her long brown hair with blonde highlights appeared at the back of her helmet the same way Éclair’s did. She had a red cloth skirt around her legs parted at the middle with red metal leggings. Rachel was perhaps a bit taller than Éclair, though not quite as well endowed. Éclair had missed seeing her stepsister’s brown eyes and pretty features, and hoped she would get the chance to do so again.

Torsha was there as well, followed shortly by the other recent Werewolf addition, Mozar. Blonde-furred Torsha wielded two short staves that had white glowing blades on each end. Corrucks, the weapons of Light Monks. She wore the traditional white robes of the Monastery, appearing in more conservative attire than her usual toga-styled outfit. Gray-furred Mozar wielded a golden spear with blades that fired blue glowing energy blasts from the tips. He wore only black pants and a dark brown cloak around his powerful frame. He was much larger than Torsha at almost seven feet tall while the younger Werewolf was perhaps shorter than Éclair, but they seemed fairly equal in terms of physical abilities. They appeared as anthropomorphic wolves with mostly humanoid bodies save for their bushy tails and dog-like snouts. Torsha appeared more human-like than Mozar with her delicate features and mane fashioned into a girl’s style of haircut. Neither of them wore shoes, revealing their dog-like feet. Torsha and Mozar worked in tandem, sometimes dashing about the battle on all fours and rising only to lay low the enemy. Torsha would dismiss her weapons briefly in flashes of white light to run on all fours, and Mozar would toss his golden staff in the air, which would continue to follow him like a drone.

Kormal, the Telepathic Sage, appeared as well, bare-chested with the arcing, white glowing tattoos woven throughout his gray skin. A long blue coat cascaded down his shoulders and covered his arms. A blue hood shrouded his tattooed face and huge, black eyes. He wore black pants and went barefoot like Mozar. Kormal wielded a small knife in each hand. But these weapons only served as a precaution since his true weapon consisted of a storm of small spinning silver knives that floated around him, shielding him from harm and attacking the enemy at the same time. Kormal, just like each Squad 99 team member, had a pendant projecting a shield around his body. The only members without pendants were Leon and Rachel who wore Psionic Armor.

As Ryan watched his Sage friend fight with his flying knives, he heard Kevla touch his thoughts from within Kormal’s subconscious. I know we don’t have time to talk, but it’s good to touch your thoughts again, Friend Ryan.

Ryan smiled. It’s good to touch your thoughts too, Kevla.

I’ve been so worried these past few months while we searched for you, Kevla went on in Ryan’s head, her emotions rising as she alternated her mental energies between aiding her father in battle and speaking to Ryan. When this is over and we get back home, please come visit me in my holochamber.

Ryan gave a small laugh. I will. Just don’t sic your make-believe Dragon on me again.

No promises.

A newcomer also filled in the ranks. A strange man with dark skin, a long leather coat, and sunglasses came flying in riding on a blue and green glowing rectangular hoverboard. Éclair had no idea why the man would be wearing sunglasses, especially considering how dark the pit was, but it seemed to be more of a fashion statement than anything else. He had mid-length black hair with a ponytail at the back of his head, and a young, handsome face with a small goatee on his chin, but no mustache. He wasn’t powerfully built like Ryan, nor was he tall like Leon, but he did seem fit.

The pirate man wore a white T-shirt under his leather jacket and camouflage pants, as well as steel-toed boots. He also wore an old-fashioned rapier strapped to his belt, but he used twin pistols while fighting. Each pistol had two barrels as well as small knives that served as bayonets for close-quarters combat. One gun glowed with a green light, the other glowed blue. The man sailed gracefully through the air whooping loudly as he peppered the Parasite hordes with rapid fire of green and blue energy blasts from his guns. Like the others, he wore a pendant that produced an energy shield even though he was clearly not affiliated with the Ministries. What Éclair found more strange than the hoverboard was the fact that she couldn’t sense any Elemency from the man, but he charged an army of Parasites seemingly without fear.

As the man zoomed by Éclair’s group, he called out, “Hey, sis!”

“Jimmy?” said a stunned Sharon from behind Ryan.

“Is that your brother?” asked Éclair as she turned to Sharon.

“Aye, and he’s our cap’n, too,” said one of the pirates before cheering, “Oy! Good on ya, Cap’n!”

The flying pirate was soon followed by a squad of a few dozen Fire Elementals in red Psionic Armor and gold capes. The Fire Elementals seemed to be a good smattering of Seconds, Thirds, and a few Fourths wearing capes. They laid into the Parasite forces with flaming swords and spears, sending waves of orange flames that roasted the enemy ranks by the dozens. As the Fire Elementals advanced on the Horde Mother, she hissed like a frightened animal and took to the air by pulling herself up with some of her hair tentacles. As she retreated, she sent out a wave of poison from her mouth which thickened the already vaporous chamber and hid her behind a smoke screen. Éclair could still sense her nearby, but the advent of their allies seemed to have spooked her, so perhaps she would lie low for now.

The Parasites, though initially dispersed by the newly arrived allies, had now recuperated and fought back against the Elemental forces with newfound fury. As Leon passed nearby, soaring through the air at phenomenal speed, he withdrew a satchel from his back and threw it at Éclair. She caught it to find more Sun Gems inside. A good acquisition considering that she and Ryan had both run out. There were also three micro-boxes in the bag appearing as small, shiny cubes, a solid indication of weapons. Éclair handed Ryan a Sun Gem and withdrew energy from one herself. After her tussle with the Parasite Queen and that last improvised attack she used to kill dozens of Parasites at once, she was still pretty winded. The Sun Gem soon disappeared, and Éclair felt rejuvenated. Éclair then withdrew one of the micro-boxes and activated it. In a flash of blue light, a blue glowing silver bow appeared in Éclair’s hands. It didn’t come equipped with blades like Éclair’s old bow had, but she could tell that it had been designed to be used specifically for Ice Elemency. One of the micro-boxes quivered, as if resonating with the first. Éclair withdrew it, and it turned into a metal quiver with silver arrows. Ryan took the last micro-box and soon held a flaming short sword almost identical to the one he used to have.

“Sweetness!” uttered Ryan triumphantly.

Appraising his new weapon, Ryan gave it an experimental swipe. As he swung the flaming sword through the air, an arc of red fiery energy raced from the blade and decapitated no less than three Parasites in a single swipe. Éclair could sense that Ryan’s power had at least doubled now that he wielded a more familiar weapon set.

Ryan turned to Éclair with his helmet still transparent and gave her a mischievous smirk, the ghost of a challenge in his voice as he said, “Beat that!”

Feeling her own competitiveness coming to the surface, Éclair returned Ryan’s smirk in kind. She hooked the quiver to her belt and notched an arrow, drawing back the string of her new bow. Like her old quiver, a new arrow immediately materialized within the new quiver, replacing the one she removed. As long as she had psions, the quiver would never run out of arrows. Blue glowing energy filled the tip of the arrow as she held it, imbuing it with Ice Elemency. Eclair took aim and fired, sending out an ice-powered arrow with a wave of cold swirling behind it. The arrow froze half a dozen Parasites in their tracks as it wheezed by, finally lodging itself into the opened mouth of a roaring Parasite and crumbling it to frozen pieces. Éclair turned back to Ryan, beaming proudly at him through her helmet.

Ryan laughed merrily as he said, “Showoff!”

Éclair laughed too, happy beyond belief to have a bow in her hands again. She felt even happier to be standing on equal footing with Ryan at last. Her psions seemed to have gotten stronger. She hadn’t been able to kill a Parasite with a single shot so easily when she first encountered the creatures.

Leon led the Elemental Guards in a circle formation around the Gateway and the surviving pirates. The Elementals then stabbed their swords into the ground, creating barricades using walls of orange flames similar to the one that Ryan created on the Parasite colony world, though not quite as tall as his. Half of the Elementals focused on the wall while the other half stuck their long spears through the flames to potshot any approaching Parasite. While the Elemental Guard kept the outer Parasites at bay, Leon and the rest of Squad 99 helped the pirates finish off any surviving Parasites that remained in the circle of fire. The fire circle was blazing hot and taller than most trees, but at least it gave them a little breathing room. After blowing back a couple of charging Parasites into the flame wall, Leon leapt in a backflip which brought him face to face with Éclair.

“Leon,” gasped Éclair, surprised and confused as she processed this unexpected reunion with her ‘kind-of’ boyfriend.

“Éclair,” whispered Leon, throwing his swords to the ground and grasping hold of Éclair’s hand. “I’m so sorry! So very sorry that it took me so long to find you! If I had known you’d be in this much danger, I never would’ve let you go on that mission! I ... I...”

Leon exhaled sharply as he leaned his head down into Éclair’s shoulder. Éclair had never known Leon to act this vulnerable before. He was usually the one who held it all together. Éclair didn’t really know what to do, never having been in a situation where she had to comfort Leon of all people. The shrieks of Parasites and the roar of Elemental fires pierced the air while Leon stood there shivering against Éclair.

Responding instinctively, Éclair patted the back of Leon’s head. “It’s ... it’s okay, Leon. Really, it’s not your fault.”

Leon then grabbed hold of Éclair’s wrist and pulled her in close for a rather forceful hug. “I’m so glad you’re alive! I’m so glad!” he said against her shoulder. Éclair could only stand stiffly in stunned astonishment at Leon’s actions.

“Ahem,” coughed Ryan loudly. “I survived, too. Thanks for noticing.”

Leon withdrew from Éclair as quickly as he had embraced her to scoff at Ryan. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s good to see you too, Uruks.”

“How are you here?” asked Ryan, his tone becoming somewhat grouchy as he glared at Leon through his helmet.

“Ryan,” scolded Éclair. “Don’t be rude. We haven’t seen each other in nearly half a year. The least you can do is thank Leon for rescuing us.”

“No, I’m serious. How is he literally here right now?” persisted Ryan, pointing at the ground. “And why wasn’t he with Grafael? I thought they were on the same mission together.”

Oh! I should’ve thought of that when we got the transmission from Grafael in the first place.

“The Minister let us search for you after we finished our mission on Nirvana. Though we never expected to find you here of all places,” explained Leon. “After we got the message from your probe, she followed the distress signal from Grafael’s ship and figured that’s where you all must be. She’s orbiting the planet now in her capital ship along with the Fire Fleet and the Militia. Thanks to your warning, we’re conducting a full-scale campaign against the Parasites before they can spread any further.”

“WHOO-HOO!” shouted the Pirate Captain as he zipped over their heads on his flying surfboard shooting Parasites mercilessly.

“And the surfing pirate dude?” asked Ryan, gesturing with a finger.

“A companion I met on my mission. He’s called Captain James Morgan,” answered Leon, his dark cape flapping from the wind draft caused by James’ flight. “When news reached us that you two had gone missing, Grafael went ahead with a contingent of James’ crew to search for you. I should’ve come myself ... I know I should have, but the mission seemed so important at the time. Please, forgive me!”

Leon bowed his head in shame. Éclair quickly brought his head back up with a hand under the chin of his helmet. “Now, now. None of that. Let’s just focus on getting out of here. I assume that Gateway goes both ways.”

“Yes, but it’ll only take a few at a time and it won’t last forever. The interference this fog is giving off is too great. We barely had the power to teleport down here.”

“Then we better get a move on,” said Éclair, notching another arrow to her bow.

Just as the Parasite numbers began to thin outside the fire barricade, a large gathering of Infected Zombies swarmed from the tunnel at the edge of the pit. The larger Parasites stood back and watched as their Zombie slaves threw themselves against the flames, creating mounds of bodies that snuffed out the fires. Their encirclement looked like a tiny island amidst a sea of the undead.

“How about you two save the jabbering and time-wasting until after we deal with that?” grouched Ryan, taking up position in front of Éclair.

“I never jabber, Ryan,” said Leon as he stepped in front of Ryan. “And I never waste time. I just needed a little preparation before I could do this.”

Leon picked up his swords and stored them within himself in a flash of purple light, then raised his hands. As he did, the green mists swirled around him like a vortex. Then all at once, the green vapors dispelled, spreading away from their encirclement to the farthest edges of the large pit. Leon had created a bubble of clean air around them in but a few seconds. The Infected outside of the green mists started wheezing and coughing as they curled up on the ground and went still.

“Leon ... how ... how did you...” started Éclair as she deactivated her helmet, relieved to breathe in clean air again after the stifling facemask.

Leon deactivated his helmet as well, revealing his elegant, pale face, dark eyes, and short, tastefully combed hair. Even beneath his helmet, he still wore his neatly polished glasses. “My abilities in controlling the atmosphere have improved since last we met. I’ve even adapted several Poisoner techniques in order to manipulate toxic environments such as this one.”

“Why are they dying?” asked Ryan. “They were able to survive outside a poison cloud when we first met some at the colony.”

“I suspect it’s due to dependency,” explained Leon. “They’ve lived so long in Parasite toxins that their bodies have become addicted to it. It feeds them, provides them nourishment, and makes them stronger. However, if they spend too long within the cloud, they can’t adapt when suddenly forced into clean air.”

“But it didn’t kill the carriers,” observed Éclair as several large Parasites crawled out of the mists and sniffed at the dead bodies of the Infected.

“The larger ones are more resilient than the Infected or the young. They’re genetically designed to be able to explore outside of the green mist and go hunting. However, I do think it might still weaken them ... make them slower and duller. They’ve spent too long within their familiar atmosphere to not be affected.”

Sure enough as Leon predicted, the few Parasites that left the safety of the cloud appeared sluggish and uncoordinated as they launched weak and sporadic attacks against the fire barrier. Most of the Parasites watched from within the clouds while only a few assaulted the Fire Elementals.

“Okay, Captain Exposition. I’ll admit It. That was kind of neat,” said Ryan as he deactivated his helmet to rub the back of his head.

“I can only hope you’ve maintained your own skills in my absence,” said Leon with a grin. “I’d hate to think of you falling even further behind.”

“Your face is falling behind,” grumbled Ryan under his breath as he turned away from Leon and crossed his arms.

“Um, excuse me,” said a timid voice behind them.

Éclair spun in confusion. She hadn’t even noticed the young pirate girl sneaking up behind them. True, there was so much going on, perhaps even too much for Éclair’s enhanced senses to take it all in. But it still gave her pause to think that someone could so easily sneak up on her.

There’s something strange about this girl ... something off. I’d best be keeping an eye on her.

“So, we can only send a few up at a time?” asked the girl.

What’s her name again? Sharon, I think it was. The captain’s sister.

“That’s correct,” confirmed Leon. “We can only send four ... maybe five at a time, depending on body weight.”

“Then I respectfully request that you take me crewmates up first,” asked Sharon, indicating the fifteen or so remaining pirates who helped the Fire Elementals defend the flame barricade.

“I’m sorry, but my primary mission is getting Lady Éclair and her companions to safety.”

“It’s alright, Leon,” said Éclair, putting a hand on Leon’s arm. “Those brave men have suffered enough on our account. I’m willing to let them evacuate first.”

“Éclair, are you sure?” asked Leon, adjusting his glasses in his habitual manner.