Ardent

Chapter 8.2

"Your presumption is incorrect," one of the robed figures spoke, with little emotion in his monotone voice. It was impossible to tell which one it was. "You address the Chair of Alendor, Master of the Bastion."

Alex blinked, stuttering his next words. "You have my deepest apologies, your Eminence." He knelt on the ground, glancing back to Corin and Lillian with a sharp glance. They followed, albeit clumsily, coming to the ground behind him.

Tyr Logan shook his head, gesturing for them to stand. He let out a long sigh, a sad smile on his lips. "It's not yet official. Get off the ground. There is no need to kneel. You know little of Alendor, as kneeling is not customary. Besides, I'm not so sure I'm ready for the title either."

The crew rose, brushing themselves off as they looked forward with a touch of embarrassment in their expressions. They knew little of Alendor, only going on what was written in books and spoken in stories and legends. Even on Earth, they had little contact with officials or dignitaries from Ohatior. They had no idea how to act in the presence of such a title.

"Where is Captain Flynn?" Tyr asked, his eyes lit with curiosity.

Alex exhaled, his expression darkening. "That is something we need to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Tyr inquired, raising a sharp brow.

"The captain fell ill a week ago." Alex swallowed; the words were thick in his throat. "Something strange attacked her while we docked aboard the Lunar for some mechanical work on the ship."

"The Lunar? That is that small human space station near Jupiter, yes?" When Alex nodded in confirmation, Tyr continued. "I see. What is it that attacked her? She is still alive I'm assuming?"

"Barely. Our doctors have been able to keep her stable this long, but she remains unconscious." Alex folded his hands behind his back and paced back and forth across the room. "Someone who infiltrated the ship to send information from our systems attacked her. We're still unsure of who or what he was communicating with. When I caught him, he took off, escaping onto the Lunar. After quite the search, Aliyn—Captain Flynn—and I found him in the cargo bay. He was no longer a man; he was a corpse, covered in strange black veins. His hand latched onto Aliyn's leg, passing the infection onto her. We are unable to remove the hand, and we are not sure how far the infection has spread through Aliyn's blood."

Tyr's eyes widened momentarily before narrowing in thought. He folded his arms and tapped his chin, spending this time in silence.

"No. It can't be." Tyr muttered, turning his troubled gaze to Alex.

"What? What is it?" Alex questioned.

"It seems these events are connected, Commander Cruz—your captain and the fall of the Bastion. I fear whatever this contagion is, it has spread further than we realized."

"What do you mean connected? I thought the Bastion was attacked?"

"It was," he explained, turning his tumultuous gaze to the ground. "Whatever attacked us left the same contagion amongst our people, killing almost everyone in the city. It left the same web of blackness over their skin as you describe, however, no one on our end survived. Damien and I didn't make it in time. They were all dead by the time we found them." He glanced back to Alex. "I suggest we be on our way. If this is the same contagion, your captain has little time left. We can talk about this in more detail later."

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere, Chair," one of the robed attendants murmured robotically, pulling the hood from his head, revealing the threads of contagion spiralling in the man's veins. They poked up just past his neck, but not yet reaching his face. The other attendants in the room mirrored his action, each revealing their pale and diseased complexions. Slowly, their feet scraped along the floor, heading right towards the Chair.

"What is this?" Corin shouted, pulling the pistol from his waist and pointing it at the nearest robed figure.

"Worry not, human." The attendant looked at Corin with empty, unseeing eyes. "We may let you and your crew survive if you allow us to take the Chair and something that you have that belongs to us."

"What the hell do you want?" Lillian roared, pulling her pistol from her waist and spinning to face the oncoming attendants.

"It's simple," one of them hissed, his tongue protruding strangely from his lips. No matter which attendant spoke, it was the same dark voice that echoed in the room. "Give us the book and your captain, and we will let you go. She's dying anyway; she's of no use to you now."

"Like hell, I will!" Alex bellowed, shoving his leg forward until his foot connected with the kneecap of the nearest figure. A loud snap echoed through the room as the bone gave way, causing the attendant to stumble. "Over my dead and burning body you scum!"

The robed figure smiled at him with eerie black lips, regaining his balance and shambling along despite the broken and deformed leg. As the creatures closed in on them, the faint smell of the same taint that afflicted Aliyn stung Alex's nostrils.

Alex felt warmth near him as a flash of silver sped by, nearly blinding him. The smiling face fell to the ground, the head severed cleanly from the body. Tyr stood, sword in hand, looking down at the face in unrestrained fury. No blood wept from the wound and the detached head continued to smirk as it spoke.

"We all die, Chair. Whether the contagion eventually gets us, or something kills us, we are still organic. But, know this, our consciousness is eternal. We are one; we all speak with the same voice, and you will never escape us. Every living thing with conscious thought will fear us. Nothing is hidden from our gaze, and we will take as many of you as we need. Even the captain of the Ardent is one of us now, and she too will speak for us. If we must infect the entire galaxy to take back what was stolen, we will."

Tyr grunted, shoving the tip of his blade into the smiling face, halting its speech with a crude twist. He looked to Alex and snapped. "Run! Get on the ship. We must go now. Do not let them touch you!"

"You heard him!" Alex called to Lillian and Corin, who were trying to fight off the creatures. "Back to the Ardent, then we blow this hunk of metal to pieces!"

They regrouped and headed towards the entrance of the room, sprinting down the corridors as fast as their legs could carry them. The sound of the scraping feet of the attendants followed them, mixed with their terrible and shrill laughter. The sound was unbearable. It seeped into their minds, blurring their vision and staggering their balance.

Corin struggled through his distorted vision to touch the com at his neck.

"Open the doors now!" he screamed, blinking his eyes against the stinging tears that filled them.

"We can't hold them off much longer!" Lillian called back, unloading her firearm into the oncoming storm of brown robes. Some fell in the wake of gunfire, but many kept coming.

"Now would be a good time!" Tyr hissed, relieving one attendant of his head with a long stroke of his weapon. He moved in a blur, the blade dancing around him like a ribbon.

"Open the doors!" Alex slid against the door beside Corin, bashing his fist against it frantically.

The arms of the horde reached towards them, black-veined fingers longing to sink into flesh.

"Please!" Corin slid to his knees, hammering both fists onto the door with as much strength as he could muster.

Still, the door did not open.