Altiris Knights:The Fall

Chapter 13:Recovery

Pyros sat by the fire, watching over the land below the ridge, and occasionally turning to the sky. For the past few months, the uriaks have been launching attacks, getting closer every night. Now, they were a mere mile away. He, Kyma, Merela, Raelin, Heogarma, Deila and Exaera had tried to fix their ship, but with little success. Their attempts to contact the others had failed, as well. And they were running low on supplies.

A branch snapped. Pyros got to his feet, and raised his sword. He clenched his fist, and felt electricity spark. Ever since Raelin stripped him of his lightning powers at Angver, he had shut down all of his attempts to regain even a fraction of his lost power. However, over the years, the electric void within him had allowed weak static electricity to develop. Not enough to attack with, but just enough to provide very light protection and to fuel his physical attacks. He was no longer completely powerless, but the level of his power was too low for another lightning wielder to bother stripping him of it.

Another branch snapped off to his right. He spotted the uriaks moving in slowly, and two more from the left and from the back, respectively. Pyros coated his hand in a thin lightning shield, and as the uriak at the front jumped at him, and sidestepped its attack and seized it by the throat. Normally, such a weak burst of electricity would barely even faze, at such close distance, it was quite lethal. He threw the corpse at the other three uriaks, knocking over one of them. The other two continued their attack, ignoring their fallen comrade.

Pyros blocked one's sword with his armored forearm, and wrapped his elbow around the creature's neck, while simultaneously warding off the other. He kicked the second uriak in the gut, pushing it back, and tightened his elbow, snapping the first uriak's neck. He then unleashed a flurry of heavy blows on the other, breaking through its defenses and ended it with a vertical cut through its head and chest. The surviving two uriaks attacked yet again, one sword high, the other low. Pyros channeled what energy he could into his sword, and spun in a circle, weaving his body along with it, evading the uriaks' swords, and landing his own strikes. One of them staggered, and collapsed, a deep cut in its chest, through the heart. The other sustained a wound to the gut, followed by a thrust to its heart.

Pyros channeled more lightning into the sky, allowing him to see better. A large group of uriaks moved through the darkness, and another off to the side, positioning themselves for a pincer attack.

"Everyone up!" he called, augmenting his voice with lightning. Kyma, Merela, Raelin, Heogarma, Deila and Exaera joined him, and they formed a closed semicircle, just as the uriaks charged. Raelin released a torrent of green lightning, and Deila and Exaera reinforced him with light beams. Exaera followed up with earth stumps, and Deila and Heogarma released air waves. The elemental blasts destroyed the first wave of uriaks, but the rest closed the distance, forcing them to resort to their weapons.

Heogarma crushed the trachea of one, and crushed another into a pulp with an air grip. Deila burned through another with a wave of light, and cut several more into pieces with her bronze energy blade. Exaera slammed the butt of her energy pike into one's trachea, crushing it, and skewered several more through the heart. Beside them, Kyma and Merela cut down another four, though they sustained light wounds in the process. Raelin unleashed another storm of lightning, electrocuting many, but more replaced them. Gradually, the seven fighters were pushed back. There were just too many for them to deal with.

"To the ship. We will be overrun otherwise!" said Raelin, as he blasted a row of uriaks, clearing a path to the ship. They rushed onboard, and sealed the door, before any of the creatures could get inside. "What is the closest planet to here?" asked Merela. "Kaeltos. But without our lightspeed drive, we are as good as stranded", Deila replied. "Let's just get off this rock. Anywhere but here", Kyma said.