Predator - The Banished

Chapter 30 - part 2 of 2

Kyrum awoke on a battlefield. Fire burned around him, as sparks flew and warriors screamed. He did not know this place, this memory. It was completely unfamiliar. 

He looked down, and realized that he was nude, save for a loincloth around his waste. Was this his eternal resting place, Kyrum thought? Had death finally taken him? Perhaps the gods had chosen his fate among the fallen, never to be forgiven. 

But then time seemed to slow, and Kyrum's surroundings changed. Now he was in a dimly lit temple, constructed of stone, facing a throne of skulls. Upon the throne sat a figure cloaked in shadow, and unmoving. 

Kyrum hesitated, but then spoke. 

"The war outside...what was it? Who were those soldiers, ripping each other apart?" 

The dark figure did not reply or move. It remained fixed to the throne like a statue, silently judging the Yautja standing before it. Kyrum once again spoke. 

"Why do they fight?"

And at last, the dark figure answered the question in an old, ancient voice that echoed around the temple, seeming to originate from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

"Those are the souls of the damned, cursed to everlasting combat against themselves. They chose their own fate." 

The figure then rose slowly from its throne, revealing glowing red irises. "Traitors. Abominations. Disgraces to the Yautja species." 

Kyrum watched curiously as the looming shadow before him stepped into the light, displaying chalk-white skin, brown armor composed of bones, and leaning on a bone-tipped spear. It was another Yautja, a very old one too. His dreadlocks were also white and lengthy with age, and veins were visible against his stretched skin. 

This ancient hunter stared at Kyrum, seeming to stare right through his soul with those bright red eyes. 

Kyrum suddenly realized who was before him and fell to his knees, fist over his heart. "Ancestor. I am not worthy of your presence." 

Kaail smacked Kyrum with the blunt end of his staff, and Kyrum sprang to his feet. Then the Alpha Predator spoke again: "These wounds inflicted upon you indicate great courage. A warrior's mark." Kyrum didn't move, not sure what to say. 

"Some wounds are earned through the hunt, but these were given to you by something much more painful...or someone."

Before replying, Kyrum carefully chose his words. "My old mate. She has gone mad with power and lust. Forsaken me and my...my son." 

Kaail slowly tapped on his primitive wrist computer, and a blue hologram sprang to life. It was a feed of a young blood Yautja, facing off against a lone Xenomorph drone in an arena surrounded by other hunters. He fought bravely, but was deadlocked against the bloodthirsty serpent before him as both fighters failed to outmaneuver the other. 

"Your spawn fights well. Like his parents," said Kaail proudly. Tears came to Kyrum's eyes as he laid eyes on his son for the first time in almost a century. But he had to ask. 

"Great ancestor, I must know. Does my child know anything of me or T'Nira?"

The Alpha Predator gazed at the hologram briefly before deactivating it. "His elders informed him that both his parents were killed on the hunt shortly after his birth. That is all." 

Kyrum sighed in relief, but a small part of him felt a stabbing pain that his own son knew nothing of his parentage. Of their struggle, their pain. Kyrum could only hope that his child would never experience those feelings of his father. 

"Tell me, young one, why do you think that you cannot defeat T'Nira?" Kaail asked. Kyrum had to think for a moment to find a suitable answer. Something that did not sound cowardly. 

"My body betrays me. My blows are held back. Through all this time, some small part of me still wants to love her as I did so long ago. I cannot break through the barrier that my mind has created, telling me that she can be redeemed or saved." 

Kyrum felt foolish after stating his feelings, but did not let his guilt win. This was a place to learn, to grow, to eliminate flaws. Kaail considered his descendant, and then spoke once more. 

"Your hate has made you powerful. Let it fuel your hunt for revenge. Take back the honor that your enemy has so selfishly stolen from you. Rip her apart limb by limb. Like the bones that I wear, parade your loathing for her across the stars." 

The ancient hunter's words echoed around the temple as Kyrum swelled with vengeance and roared with bloodlust, hungry to put an end to the one who had ruined his life. His chains were broken. He was finally free.

Kaail then turned and sat back down on the throne of skulls as the temple began to vanish around the two hunters, his eyes glowing menacingly. 

"Remember who you are, Kyrum. There is no victory or defeat, there is only the future that you shape..."

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Kyrum awoke suddenly on the medbay's table, gasping for air as the echoes of his ancestor's voice faded. He looked down, and saw that his body had been healed completely. Like the scars from the previous battle had never been there in the first place. 

Had the meeting been a mere dream or hallucination? A cruel trick of the mind? Kyrum didn't know what to think, but deep down he knew that what he experienced was real in one manner or another. 

He felt stronger now. Like a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders. The gods had decided that he would not die today after all. But suddenly another thought flashed through his head: 

Where is Samantha? Is she safe? Is she alright?