Legacy's Ghost

Episode 40: Weapons of War

My breathing turns shallow, and my heart hammers in my chest. I glance at Edmond without moving my head. He appears calm. For the second time today, I'm thankful my hood covers my expression. I'm sure Magnus would be laughing at how freaked out I am right now.

"Okay," is all I can squeak out.

Magnus grins again and nods, amusement flashing in his eyes. "I've heard that you killed an entire company of Swarm the other day. Is that correct?"

"Company, sir?" I ask.

Magnus clears his throat. "That's more than two hundred aliens, boy."

I resist the urge to cower. Magnus is so. . . big. And I'm tiny. He could snap me like a twig. But I must appear strong. Even if I don't feel it. So, I keep my back rigid and my chin held high.

"I'm not sure how many I killed. I passed out while it happened." I turn to Edmond. "Do you know?"

Edmond inclines his head. "The total count we came up with was two-hundred and fourteen. It's hard to be sure because there was chaos in the caves and many of the mounds of dust were disturbed."

I turn back to Magnus. "That's correct."

Magnus grins again. Well, at least I'm entertaining him. He probably won't snap me in two if I keep him grinning.

"How did you kill them?" Magnus asks, raising his brows.

I gnaw on my lower lip, hesitating. Finally, I say, "I don't know."

Magnus's brows shoot up. "Do you remember anything about what happened?"

"I remember the Swarm attacking," I say slowly. "Then I go blank."

I glance at Edmond. He's staring at me, his face completely blank. Edmond's command, "You must speak of what happened to no one. And I mean no one" echoes through my brain. Is Magnus who Edmond meant?

So, I stay silent. If Edmond thinks it's important, he will say something. I hope.

Magnus is quiet for a few a while, almost as if he's waiting for me to say more, but I keep my mouth shut.

He nods. "Okay. So, you killed an entire company of Swarm, but you don't know how you did it."

"Correct," I say, holding my breath. Please don't get angry.

Magnus runs his hand down his beard then straightens with a sigh. "Well, that complicates things, but it doesn't make it impossible."

He leans closer, leaning his elbow on his knee with a clack as the armor from his arm hits the armor on his knee. He seems to notice the food in the plate in the throne next to me, and snatches a couple grapes, popping them in his mouth.

"Listen, I'm going to be honest with you because. . ." He chuckles, shaking his head. "Kid, whether you like it or not, you're stuck in this monastery for the rest of your life. There's no way in hell we can let you out in public. Not without your own contingency of warriors around you."

He straightens and his nostrils flare as he pinches his lips together. "If the colonists don't mob you, the Swarm will somehow catch wind that you didn't die in the caves and will come for you. And I can tell you from experience the Swarm don't give up. Ever."

Magnus shakes his head, running an armored hand over his short hair. "There are probably five thousand Swarm for every one of our soldiers. This is why they're called Swarm. If they ever decide they've had enough, they'd just have to overpower us with sheer numbers. We don't have enough firepower to kill them all."

He stands and paces in front of me, frowning. "But you. . ." He whirls around and shakes his finger at me. "You somehow singlehandedly killed more Swarm than our regimen did in our last two engagements combined. We're in a losing fight and you're the answer to turning the tides. To getting the Swarm to back down. Or better yet, completely eradicating them from this planet."

My eyes widen and I stare at him, dumbfounded. Edmond was right. Magnus wants to turn me into a weapon. To wipe out an entire species.

"B-but I don't know how to do it," I say, leaning away from him.

"We'll figure it out. If it happened once, we can make it happen again. We just need to figure out the right trigger. I think you bought us some time. But we need to start now. I don't know how much time you bought us before they attack again."

Magnus pauses his pacing to stand in front of me. He lowers back into his seat and leans closer. "Do you know how many colonists died in the caves that day?"

Memories of the chaos appear in my brain. The screaming. The terror. The way I could almost taste the fear in the air. My hands shake and my heartbeat thunders in my ears as tears sting my eyes. I shake my hooded head.

Magnus swallows. His rock-hard jaw ticks until he grinds out, "Sixty-one women and children. The worst in decades. You saved it from being a complete massacre down there."

He reaches out and grabs my arm, squeezing it in some sort of death grip to the point of being painful. Then he says in a gravelly voice, "My sister and her children were in those tunnels. You saved all of them. Thank you."

My mouth drops, and I gape at this giant man whose eyes are shining, gripping my arm, and thanking me.

Me.

The pigmentless boy that Cook used to starve, beat, and neglect because she thought he was a worthless pile of bones is being thanked by a member of the Trinity.