Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Oscar

 Oscar wanted to fall asleep in the snow when he was knocked to the ground by Major Lawson, but he knew that if he stayed outside at night for too long, he would freeze to death. It was even colder in the Snowlands at night, but it didn't surprise him.

"Come on, Oscar," Major Lawson urged. "Get up."

"Fine," Oscar whined, pulling himself to his feet, and raising his glass training blade. He's been training not to attack his enemy first, but he always did, and always ended up on the ground. This time, he was more patient and waited for Major Lawson to strike first. The Major must have expected Oscar to attack instead. Suddenly, Lawson made a swing with his green, glowing blade. He was much faster than the troll Oscar faced, but he managed to block the attack with his glass blade. Major Lawson then swung at his legs, and Oscar thrust his blade downwards in front of him, blocking the attack.

"Good," the Major complemented. "But why didn't you attack first?"

"I'm learned not to," said Oscar.

"Oh, so you're patient and quick to learn," added Lawson.

"I aim to please," said Oscar.

"I can tell," agreed Major Lawson. "You're learning faster than anyone I've seen." Oscar wasn't surprised by his ability to learn quickly. He was fast to learn how to use an assault rifle, and he was just a few months, he would be able to use a lightsword, and not just a glass training blade.

"Come on," said the Major. "We're done for the day, so go get some dinner and rest." Oscar went to sleep a bit easier than his previous nights at Ice Spear. He had gotten used to the cold in a matter of nights, and the hearth in the recruits' barracks helped. The cold from the northern winds would always make a loud scream against the leaves of the conifers outside the barracks, but they were louder tonight. Yazmin, Michael, and everyone else was asleep, but the winds kept Oscar awake for a few extra hours. Over the sound of the wind, he suddenly heard the noise of rapid clicking outside the door to the barracks. A shadow projected from the fire in the hearth of a humanoid figure with a triangular shaped head. It quickly sank beneath the shadow of the wall. Footsteps were heard outside of the door, along with the clicking. Someone or something had managed to sneak into Ice Spear with no one knowing. Oscar carefully stood from his bed, picked up his glass sword and pistol, and stepped outside. Whatever was there was gone. He took a look around, and in the snow, there were footprints with three, pointed toes. Whatever made them was bipedal, and the trail led to Ice Spear's Great Hall. It must have been fast to find itself all the way at the Great Hall so quickly. Oscar followed the trail to the Great Hall and found the gates slightly opened, just enough to let the light from its hearth shine out.

"What are you?" Oscar whispered. Suddenly, the clicking sound was heard again. It sounded like a sound that a cicada made, but quieter. Whatever had snuck into the Great Hall must have been a bipedal insectoid creature capable of standing on two legs, like a human, but nothing like that could survive in the frigid northern region. When he peeked through the large door, there was something walking in front of the fire in the hearth. It had a tall, slim body, with what looked like large armor plating as part of its arms and legs, and a triangular head with antennas, and globed eyes like that of a fly's. Oscar quickly pulled his pistol and fired a bolt of white plasma at it, but the only thing the shot seemed to do was make it angry. It turned to him with large mandibles at the bottom of its head, making the same clicking noise with them.

"Okay," Oscar muttered, drawing his glass blade. The insectoid creature made a loud screech as it lashed out at Oscar with hands like large blades of chitin. Oscar raised his sword to block the attack from the creature's hand blades and struggled to keep them from cutting his face. He kicked the creature in the chest, but it seemed untouched. The strange creature quickly lashed its blades again, and Oscar blocked another attack. The insect attacked faster and faster with each hit that landed, and Oscar began to lose the grip on his blade. The creature attacked faster and faster, until Oscar's blade flew from his hands, and stuck into the stone wall of the Great Hall. The strange insectoid made one last swing and ran one of its blades straight through his armor, cutting through his chest. Oscar could feel himself bleeding from his chest, and he felt blood coming from his mouth. The insect kept its blade in Oscar's chest as he fell to his knees, and its mandibles opened to bite him. Before it could, Oscar pulled out a knife with a silver blade and stabbed it through one of its eyes. It dropped to the ground, and Oscar screamed as it dragged its blade out of him. His eyes closed as he felt something warm touch his forehead, and he took in a huge breath of air, widening his eyes as he jumped to his feet. It was General Blackburn.

"Looks like I got here in time," he said. "Are you alright, Oscar?" Oscar was at a loss for words. At his feet was a monster that resembled an insect that walked like a man.

"What is that?" Oscar managed, with dread.

"It's called a snow trikeen," answered the General. "They're these bug people that live in hives in deep caves, sort of like bees. You're lucky this one was just a forager."

"Just a forager, General?" asked Oscar. "What does every other type look like?"

"You don't want to know," the General assured. "What were you doing here, anyway? It's past midnight."

"I just heard something outside the barracks, I went outside to see what it was, and I found these weird footprints in the snow and followed them here," answered Oscar. "What was it doing here?"

"The foragers just look for food for the hive," said General Blackburn. "It must have smelled the fireplace."

"Or the kitchen," suggested Oscar.

"There must be a hive nearby," said General Blackburn. "We'll have to clear it out before they hurt someone else."

"Oh, so they're actually dangerous?" asked Oscar.

"Oh, yeah," answered Blackburn. "They're one of the most dangerous things you could find in the north. Now, go get some sleep. You've earned it."