The Heir

The silver disc of the moon was standing silent and pale in the dark sky. A black roof discontinued by thin blue lines.

A primitive roar thundered in the quietness.

Goosebumps.

Tense skin.

An earthquake was shaking the ground and the hearts.

Whiskers and Hummingbirds stopped fighting. The sound of sharp paws was penetrating their hears.

The ones who were close to the breach looked beyond it.

A grey welter was approaching them.

Fast.

The Supreme Leader was watching it from his metallic throne. His allies were speechless.

The brothers and their armies felt it too.

Only the Shaxes Elders knew about it.

A force who stood in the shadows for too long reveals itself under the plumbeous rays of their white empress.

The loud and messy chattering was making the men willing to fight again.

Different points of view, different opinions, and a weak volition to compromise.

Kurban didn't want it. He didn't even expect that the truth would have created a rift among the people of Rocabarra.

Meanwhile the Chief was looking at him.

He was confident in his stand. It looked like he was certain that Kurban's chances were thin.

The soldier beside him was waiting for instructions.

Then Kurban's eyes brighten up.

He inspired, expanding his chest.

"People of Rocabarra" said him with a firm and clear voice.

The crowd started to calm down.

Then he paced among them, till he reached the Chief, at the other end of the square.

"The truth is in your hands and now I'm asking you to take a choice"

They were hanging from his lips.

"You can decide to stay here and do nothing, as your Chief did so far"

"Or you can decide to act and get out. You can decide to accept the truth and fight for your real freedom. You can decide to go back to the city where your ancestors were born. You can reclaim the surface back"

"You can reclaim this planet back"

"If you decide to come with me, I don't assure you that you will make it back. I can assure you that there's more than you ever imagined out of Rocabarra"

"Something worth fighting for"

He took some time to breathe.

Some of the people in front of him were moving closer to him.

Others were standing still, watching their loved ones approaching Kurban.

In their eyes there was hope.

"Lud gave you a second opportunity for a reason. He died to free us. It's our time to honor his memory"

Someone in the crowd was shaking.

Others were trying to contain the elation.

"Are you with me?"

The transceiver buzzed.

The Elders looked at Gluskap.

Malsumis tried to understand that exchange.

It buzzed again.

"I think that you should pick it up, brother" told him Malsumis

Gluskap moved his hand toward the object. Then he turned it off.

"Whatever is happening upstairs is not our concern."

The veins in the Elder's neck started pulsing. The other of his kind started moving.

The Elder threaded to Gluskap's side.

"My kings. I thinks thayt wey shoulld…"

"No, we can still get through it unscathed. I still believe in my brothers' intelligence" said him.

A pure sound came from Malsumis' rear.

"Is that the elevator?" asked Gluskap

Malsumis shrugged.

The Whiskers in his army were budging by the sides of the huge room.

Meanwhile, the 'Birds started whispering excited. They were talking fast and their faces were frowning.

Then it emerged from the crowd of soldiers.

She was like a ghost. She was a reaper. A shadow among the light.

Usually, she would've projected his powerful aura of charming terror over everyone but now, now she was different.

She was shaking. Her veil wasn't as tidy as usual.

Her posture wasn't firm and elegant but unsure and despicable.

Everyone knew who she was.

Only the Shaxes didn't recognize her.

The silence plumbed on the room.

Gluskap had tears in his eyes.

Malsumis was burning like a greenwood ablaze.

She was brought between the two factions.

All the eyes were on her.

The mother of all.

The savior.

The enemy.

Lady Gehenna.

Tithon was looking at it. The grey bulk which was advancing in the city. Unstoppable.

He was shivering as it was coming closer to him and Fanon, who was trying to reach his men on the field.

The transceiver kept buzzing, like the ones on the other side were all dead.

"What is attacking us?" asked Tithon

"I…I don't know, sir"

The buzzing continued.

"Gen…here…monsters…overwhelming…marching…"

Tithon ripped it off Fanon's hands.

"Stand your ground, they don't have to reach to Tower" shouted him

"Tithon…Supreme Leader, we should fall back and recover our strength"

"No, Gluskap's allies are strong, but my army can't lose. We should deploy the Dragonflies"

"Are you mad, do you really want to fire on our people?"

"It seems like the only choice right now"

"But…"

"We just must be sure that these monsters haven't reached the Academy yet. How many are aircrafts are stationed there?"

"Not enough. The ones which survived the revolt"

"Give me a number"

"Less than ten"

"It's enough"

Fanon was going to his one when Tithon stopped him.

"Don't. I can't lose you too" stated the Supreme Leader

Fanon looked surprised.

He didn't know if he was saying that because he genuinely cared about him or because his plan was failing.

"I command you. Stay."

The streets of Haguel were being overran by the 'Birds and the Shaxes.

The people were rushing inside houses and shops. Some of them were unable to get to safety and were waiting on the street's sides, trying to protect themselves from the fury of the fight.

To the Whiskers astonishment, they weren't being even touched by the invaders.

The young ones were in tears and calling for the Supreme Leader intervention, others were simply trying to shut out the noise.

The Whiskers was on his knees.

Especially the ones which were defending the Academy and its six Dragonflies. It looked like the bulk of the enemy's army was there.

They noticed that the few 'Birds among the monsters were giving the orders and moving the flock around.

The youngest recruits were being forced to take part in the defensive block, slaughtered with ease by their more experienced and fiercer counterparts.

There was just a little host of men able to fly in the Dragons and most of them had already been killed or were busy fighting. Others were unable to do it. The fear in their hearts was blinding their ability to reason.

"We need to go" shouted one of the few left.

"I…. I…" said his fellow soldier

"You two, start the engines, fast"

The ones which had been interpellated by the soldier did as told while lingering a little.

He jumped in too.

Then they noticed that the Shaxes were starting to filter through the blockade.

The Whiskers on the ground were firing at them.

The blockade was sagging.

The engines started grousing.

The Whiskers which were standing beside it got in. The others stood down to cover them.

The monsters tore apart the defense and were racing in all forces to them.

"Take off, take off " said the Whiskers while pulling the knob in front of him.

The Dragonfly started its ascension, followed by the one beside it.

Meanwhile, the others on the ground were being attacked and shredded without mercy.

Only two Dragons of the entire fleet, what was left of it, were in the air.

Then the pilots in both aircrafts pushed a button and bullets rained over the crowd on the ground.

Shaxes, Hummingbirds and Whiskers were being annihilated without hesitation.

The blood flood the ground, creating a gigantic scarlet pool.

In death, they were all the same.

Weak, hopeless, and miserable.

The intervention of their allies restored the Hummingbirds's hardihood. The Shaxes, far superior in number, were overpowering the enemy.

Their progress in the city was unstoppable.

"Let's reach the Tower" shouted one of them and all the others beside him repeated those words

A euphoria which lasted for a while because two Dragons flew over them, firing at will.

The squad quickly found a place to cover themselves. A building which had a huge front porch with some shops under it. It was the tallest of the block.

Unfortunately, not all of them were able to make it, as bullets went through their bodies.

They waited.

The chaos was persisting.

"Do you think that we're safe?" asked one of them, the youngest.

One of them detached and tried to observe the sky above them to see if there were any of those flying monsters.

"We're clear but I have an idea"

"What do you mean?"

"Follow me" told him while trying to take down the door.

"Why would you go inside it? There're scared families in these building"

He stopped forcing the door then fired at the lock.

"We need to take those down; we need to get to a decent height"

"We're not going to harm the people in their houses, are we?"

The man nodded than pushed the door and went in.

They called the two elevators standing in front of them and got in.

The one which was now in charge of the little squad selected the last floor.

As the elevator started moving, a silly song started playing.

One of them chuckled.

"Is that the kind of bullshit they listen to now?" joked him while the others followed

Not much more was said during the ascension.

They were trying to focus on what was going to come.

The elevator halted.

They rang at the only door which was standing in front of them.

No one came.

They did it again.

"Well, that's awkward."

"Just wait"

"Who's out there?" asked a feminine voice on the other side of the door

"Please, open the door. We need your help. We won't hurt you"

"How can I trust you?"

The 'Birds didn't know how to answer that.

"We are people of this city like you. We just want to reclaim what is ours"

A muted murmuring.

The sound of released locks.

The door opened and a woman was standing in front of them. Beside her there was an old woman.

"Thank you, miss" said each one of them after walking in and greeting her.

"Cover every window and balcony. Keep eyes on the two Dragons and prepare your hooks" ordered the one with the highest rank.

"You…you're the Hummingbirds" said the old woman

The captain nodded.

One of them went top a door but the young woman stopped him.

"Please, don't go in there"

"We must check every spot. I'm sorry but you have to move." Stated the 'Bird

"Please, I beg you"

The captain nodded toward his man, and he threaded away, annoyed.

"If I may, what is in there?" asked him to her

"It's…It's…come with me"

They went inside the room.

It was dark. Only a few LEDs were making it less creepy.

On a bed there was a man.

He was set behind a transparent curtain of plastic on a white bed.

His body was deformed. It was like it was corrupted. The captain noticed that his skin had the same color as the Shaxes.

"What…what happened to him?"

She had glossy eyes when he asked it.

"My Lady, I thought that you were dead or worse" stated Gluskap

"What the fuck are you doing here? You were supposed to be with Tithon" said Malsumis

She was still silent.

Gluskap went beside her.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, he merely threatened me"

Malsumis noticed a different tone and a different posture.

"He, your Supreme Leader, sent me down here. He thought that I would've been killed in the crossfire. Such foolishness…"

"You knew about the passage, don't you?" asked Gluskap

"Yes, and you had everything to open it"

"You lied to us, again?" said Malsumis while looking at her with disdain

"It was necessary, I can't let more people die. Not now that we have lost what kept this planet going"

"What are you talking about?"

"The most important part of this city has always been the lab. Without it they're going to bend us to their will or worse, erase this planet"

"What? Who are they?"

Everyone was confused.

"The Empire. I managed to keep them far from us by giving them the only thing which made this planet worth to them"

"Wait, why didn't you tell it to us from the get-go?" asked Malsumis

"Because…we don't have the resources to face them"

"I think that it's bullshit" stated one of the Whiskers

"Yeah, I call it too. You're just saying that to save your ass, don't you?"

"I've never wanted to hurt any of you. This planet was supposed to be free of war, a place to rebuild from the rubbles caused by the Empire and Darkstar"

"Who is that?"

"It's a…it doesn't matter. What I'm saying right now is that we must stop this war. We have to gather together and get ready"

"Them"

"So, what, do you expect us to forget about all the hardship you put us through?"

"I've tried to do what's best for you and our planet"

"You gave us eternal life and eternal damnation. Most of us are Guels who struggled under you. Everyday the same shit, for what? This isn't even true immortality" said one of the Whiskers

"Yeah, at least under Tithon we're free to choose how to use our time. There's no poverty. We can do whatever we want"

"Did he give you a purpose too?"

"Yes, destroying the Hummingbirds"

"And we were supposed to took you down" said one of the 'Birds

"And after it, you kill each other. What purpose is left for you?"

No one answered.

"When I chose you, I asked you to trust me no matter what. I don't know what went wrong"

She paused for a while.

"After I sent him to them, something changed"

"Who?"

"The one I let go long ago"

In the darkness of the room the synthetic sound of singing birds and water streams started suddenly.

The shutters faded and revealed the emptiness of space. Stars, clusters, far exploding supernovas and nebulae.

He woke up and rubbed his eyes.

Then he went to the mirror and stood there, amazed. Everything, almost everything, in front of him belonged to Agaklythos, the Undying Empire.

His pale, almost grey skin was reflecting on the glass. He used to hate it when he used to be ignorant about the reason behind it.

He turned.

On his bed there was his wife. He went beside her and kissed her on the head.

He went to the bathroom and washed his face.

That look. Every time he saw his father in it. He despised it.

He moved back to the room and put on his uniform.

Pristine.

Perfect.

He looked at his partner then left.

He walked through a giant restroom and then through a long corridor.

At last, he arrived at a door protected by two guards who greeted him. They looked like the same person.

He went past them and threaded into an elevator.

It went down and after a while it stopped.

A clatter reached his ears quickly.

As soon as he put his foot in front of him, everyone stopped and greeted him in a firm and steady stand.

He looked at them than nodded and everyone got back to what he was doing.

While he was going to his place, he saw, as he did every day, the hologram of his late father standing in the middle of the room. The General Timur Amin I was still looking over him with his taunting sight.

"General, the people of Slaaf knows. Rocabarra is being mobilized and the scientist is…"

The General brought up his hand and stopped him.

"Good job. You can go now" said him with a calm and reassuring tone.

He went to his throne and appealed to his men.

"Our asset is doing his job perfectly. We just need to give him time"

They looked all the same too. He found it disgusting.

"I think that it's time to give the people of Slaaf a taste of their worst fear"

"Sir, if we use it now, we won't be able to use it again. The chip can't sustain that kind of frequency again. Not after last time"

He stood silent.

"Then use it. Use it today when the time will be right"

"Sure, Commander Amin"