Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Eight

Alex saw little point in trying to run, but was not willing to give up. She was a fighter and if she were to go down, she would fight until the bitter end. She gripped her machete tightly and bravely stood in defiance at the massive force coming at her.

Just before the inevitable death blow, the beast's entire body went limp like a marionette with cut strings, and it face-planted into the dirt. Its weight and momentum carried it forward before skidding to a stop inches in front of her. She was now closer than ever to it and was able to fully appreciate the enormity and diversity of the creature. She had seen exotic animals before, but nothing that even remotely compared to this.

The beast was not dead, but it laid paralyzed at her feet. Even standing in front of the enormous mass of muscle and protruding horns was scary. It looked up at Alex angrily as it snorted vehemently. Her initial assumption had been that she had unintentionally poisoned the beast with the leaf, but that theory was now being challenged.

Gripping her makeshift blade, Alex could sense she was not alone. Looking around at the million potential hiding spots, she felt exposed and vulnerable. Just as she was about to turn tail and run, she was confronted by a humanoid figure standing in her way. She nearly tripped over the beast as she stumbled backward in shock. She wasn't sure who or what it was, but it definitely wasn't her father. It seemed more like a soldier in some futuristic military, and in all likelihood it was mechanical. Dressed head to toe in black armour, the figure stood still, holding some kind of advanced weapon. Its face, concealed behind a matte black mask, provided no indication that it was a biological lifeform. In that moment of pure terror, it occurred to Alex that whatever this thing was, it must be what her father had tried to warn her about.

The two stood in awe of each other, both sizing up the other before combat. Alex began to twirl her blade in a way that the android-looking figure interpreted as a threat. Her intensity grew and soon her weapon was moving with such speed that it created a circular blur. Over her head and side to side; her technique rivalled master martial artists. Then, with a forceful halt, Alex stopped and was now standing in a battle stance. She held her blade firmly down the side of her outstretched leg. Her wide stance and fierce eyes suggested she was just warming up. With a slight panting breath, Alex tried to ignore the burning sensation in her lungs. The air in this new environment was slightly different and her body had yet to fully acclimate. Her arm still hurt, but the adrenalin was now doing its part to mask the pain.

Accepting the challenge, the droid holstered its firing mechanism and withdrew a long sword from behind its back. The sword didn't look like anything she had seen before. It too was all black and looked equally as futuristic as the armour. Instead of having a broad blade it had two long thin blades that ran parallel to each other. With the activation of a switch, the blade hummed as if it were powering up. This made Alex even more nervous than she already was. She had no idea what she was up against.

Matching Alex's demonstration of weapon proficiency, the droid showcased its skills. As the large sword twirled around, it whizzed through the air with a distinct yet unfamiliar humming sound. Then, without warning, the droid charged at Alex. Gripping her stout blade, Alex quickly moved out of the way, dodging the oncoming blow and delivering a counterattack of her own. She hacked at the armour, but it did not appear to have any effect. Again, the droid repositioned and came forward. With its unusual sword, the droid swung at Alex. This time, Alex raised her machete to block, but the droid's sword sliced right through the metal like it was paper.

Alex was shocked by the power of the droid's weapon. In one swipe, it left her holding nothing but the handle and the short end of a now useless blade. Alex tossed the blade to the ground and processed what to do next. She was clearly up against an advanced humanoid species or some kind of alien race of bipedal robots. She was lucky that there was only one of them — for now. There was no telling how many of them would suddenly come charging from the trees and overwhelm her.

Realizing quickly that she was outmatched, she wisely chose another approach. As she turned to run, the droid flipped over her head and cut her off. Alex followed the trajectory with her eyes all the while being amazed at the acrobatics. The droid landed in a crouched position a few feet away. Before it could stand, Alex made a split-second decision to charge at it. She took a few hastened steps and then leapt through the air. When she landed, she delivered a powerful kick right to the head of the droid. There was a loud crack and the droid fell to the ground. She was unsure whether the impact caused any lasting damage, but regardless, she used it as an opportunity to escape.

Weaving in and out of trees in an irregular pattern, Alex sprinted through the forest. She was without a weapon and had lost her sense of direction. Her main focus was staying alive. In the distance, she could hear the increasing sound of a kind of whirling energy. As the sound grew closer, she ducked. Overhead, she heard something whiz by her and then carry off in the distance, slicing through the soft leaves and small branches. She didn't see what it was. Alex kept moving without bothering to verify whether she was still being pursued. Running as fast as she could, she was trying her best not to trip or get jammed up by the sprawling plant life.

One foot after the other, her feet kept a furious pace. Snapping sticks and brittle leaves crunched beneath her feet. Her pace had slowed considerably as fatigue sapped her endurance. She stopped for a moment to scan the jungle behind her. It didn't appear as though anything was after her.

Carrying on, she walked briskly toward the sound of rushing water, using the time to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. When the trees thinned out, she could see that she had hit a dead end. In front of her was a large cliff that allowed her to overlook the valley below. It was the first time that she gained a proper context of her environment on a macro level. She was on a plateaued mountain near the shore of an ocean.

Alex stood in awe on a precipice, overlooking the most breathtaking landscape she had ever seen. The setting sun glowed as it cast an array of colours across the valley below. To her left, several hundred feet away, the tallest waterfall she had ever seen spilled into a meandering river that had carved a path in the rocky surface. She watched the water plunge into the misty river and get carried out into a massive body of water.

Marvelling the rare view that only a privileged few were likely to have seen, she remained tethered to that moment until the sun disappeared over the horizon. In its wake was a magnificent constellation of stars and a moon that was even more beautiful than she remembered. It was only after the chilling cold set in did she realize the extreme predicament she was in. She was by herself in the middle of an alien jungle, facing unknown elements and unforetold dangers. Not only did she lack the proper clothing to endure the night, but she also did not have any tools, weapons, or shelter. Even with her survival skills, the odds were severely stacked against her. Indeed, it was going to be a long night.