Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Fifty-Five

The battle zone laid waste to mounds of fallen bots. Some smoking, some still in flames, but all blown to bits. The flaming rubble had littered the landscape so much that it was becoming a hazard in and of itself.

Kyodin battled through fatigue as he swung his sword around with reckless abandon. It was his only weapon as he was still waiting for his blasters to power up. At the present moment, his hand-held blaster only had enough juice for one more blast so he wanted to make it count.

Encased in his force field, Kyodin could be effective with his strikes while avoiding the counter attacks, but even that too was powering down. He could only do so much before the robot army got the better of him. It was inevitable. The bots were plentiful in numbers and relentless with their attack. Kyodin had to change his approach and find a strategy that would tip the odds in his favour.

Looking around, he saw a forest about a kilometre away. He disengaged his force field so that he had enough power to rise off the ground and glide toward it. Racing through the smoky sky, he glanced at his power reserves. It was low despite already being conservative by not enabling his invisibility, and using his flight and force field only when necessary.

"How are you doing, Kyo?" Alex asked.

"It's tough to say really," he replied. "I'm still here, but I'm not sure for how much longer. These stupid machines... there are just too many of them. I've destroyed a good few on my own though."

"Hang in there okay, this will all be over soon."

At about the three quarter mark, Kyodin's suit was giving off all kinds of warnings signals as it was running dangerously low on power — far too low to sustain flight. As he was making his descent, a blast hit him in the back and caused him to lose his balance. He spiraled out of control before slamming into the ground. The force of the impact nearly knocked him unconscious as he face planted into the dirt at high speed. His momentum caused him to tumble violently about, further rattling his brain. While his armour protected him from scrapes and breaking any bones, he was severely shaken up and disoriented.

As Kyodin was coming to, he could feel the ground rumble as a stampede of bots were running toward him. Still collecting his wits, he rose up and positioned himself on one knee. He searched for his sword, which had been dislodged by the fall, but could not find it anywhere.

Since he was slow to get up, it allowed the bots to close the distance. By the time he realized it, it was too late. Kyo turned his head just as one of the megabots slammed into him at full speed, sending him flying through the air. Kyodin felt like every bone in his body had cracked and become separated from their joints. Again he came crashing into the hard ground before skidding to a stop. He moaned in agony and was badly hurt. He could hardly move and the bots were only seconds away from killing him.

Figuring it was about that time for him to transport, he initiated the transportation protocol... but nothing happened. Kyo frantically tried again, but had the same result as the last time. Just then, the 5,000 kilogram megabot stepped on Kyodin's leg, shattering his bones into tiny pieces and pinning him to the ground. Kyodin screamed in agony and nearly passed out from the pain. He had never experienced anything quite like it. He knew he was going to die and did not want the megabot to have a victory over him. If he was going to die, then he was going to bring the megabot down with him.

The megabot stood over Kyodin with its sabre held high and was about to drive it right through his chest. Using his last bit of energy in his blaster, Kyodin contemplated blasting the megabot to bits. He then heard Alex's voice in his head — 'Don't give up, there's always a way out.' Instead of exacting revenge, he transferred the remaining power from his blaster into his transporter just as the sabre came down and punctured a dinner-plate sized hole in his chest. Kyodin's eyes went vacant as blood splattered out and soaked the dirt around his body.