Galactic League (On Hold)

Chapter 4

Fang hid behind tall ferns in the woods of his home planet Avatar. At least this part of the planet hadn't died yet. The trees were thick, rising high. The bark had bioluminescent veins, each type having a certain color. The veins in the leaves had always been green. Ferns of course had green veins that glowed only at night. Thick, tall grass covered the floor of the woods, glowing a light green when the moon was out. Mushrooms of every color glowed day and night, their size large enough to be a chair. Flowers of every shape, size, and color glowed at dark their veins as clear as glass.

The air was usually filled with noises of nature. Not today. No, today the birds had flown away, insects had gone underground in a scurry, butterflies were blending in with flowers.

Residents of this planet were either hiding, fighting, or dead. Avatar had been attacked only this morning, no warning at all.

Fang and his companions had covered miles of territory, striking down men in black armor and masks the color of liquid silver. Though the humans were much smaller they had been trained in combat.

Avatarians could only be killed one way: beheading. They could regrow limbs within seconds, their skin able to heal itself from a cut or jab. Their height was two, sometimes three times the size of the enemy.

And yet they were losing. Perhaps it was the poison that the enemy was spraying from fighter ships. Almost half of the planet had been destroyed already. It was only a matter of time before all of Avatar was gone, along with its inhabitants.

Fang wouldn't cower, it wasn't in his character. He would fight to the end with is squad.

They were still hiding behind the ferns, waiting for any sign of the enemy. Too much time had passed already. They men in armor wouldn't have fled, not when they were winning.

The snap of a branch caught Fang's attention. He stiffened but readied himself. But only too late did he realize it was the snap of a branch high up on one of the trees.

He looked up. "Take cover!"

His squad ran for cover of trees instead of ferns. The whistle of a bomb was heard as they dove behind trunks. No sooner did they duck and a fire erupted where they had been only moments ago.

Then the enemy came barging out of the thicker part of the woods. They held guns instead of spears or swords.

Fang led his squad to the fight on ground. They took down the enemy one by one, yet they were still being overrun. Poison darts. That's what the guns had shot out, tiny darts dabbed with a deadly poison. As the battle continued, Fang noticed some of the enemy taking out syringes and drawing blood from the dead. He wasn't sure why but he thought that to be a little dumb if the bodies had been contaminated with a poison. Maybe the poison took some time to cover the entire body.

Fang dodged the darts, swung his sword every chance he got, and sometimes broke the enemies' bodies with his own two hands.

On and on the fight went, until this group of men were lifeless on the ground. Only Fang and ten other members of his squad had survived this one. How many more battles could they fight until they were all dead?

"Fang!" yelled an older Avatarian. It was Fang's father, running up to him in a panic. "Son, you have to get out of here."

"What? No, I'm not leaving my squad. I will not be a coward."

"Fang, listen to me, you must leave Avatar. Leave Neon Galaxy if you have to but get yourself out now."

Fang shook his head. "I don't understand."

"They are taking blood samples because they want to combine it with theirs. It's an experiment to see if they can transform into one of us. But only your blood works because you are a half breed. We can't let them find out who you really are."