Those of Fate

Those of Fate: One

The frigid air resonated with the shrill sound of a scream.

Casey was frozen in the moment. She could feel the hairs on the nape of her neck stand like tiny acupuncture needles, as the icy air brushed against her olive skin.

The air was not the reason her pores raised the way they did, however. Her pupils dilated at the sight of blood, albeit greenish-blue, unlike a human’s. Her right hand gripped the dagger tighter, her fingertips tingling with the flow of adrenaline.

I haven’t killed in a long time… she thought, a thought that put her in a grip of excitement that almost made her forget why she was there in the first place.

Another scream came, but, unlike the first, it did not come from the Ythanian on the ground in front of her. He was dead.

The scream was Claire’s. Casey knew that they’d come looking for her, they said they would. Of course she’d gotten out of the house in time. Of course Claire would return home moments after she had fled. Of course they’d take Claire if they couldn’t get her.

The bloodlust within her withered quickly. Her motive- save Claire at any cost, even if she was the cost.

Claire had never been a part of it, the bouncy, blonde airhead. Casey wondered if she’d ever even known, well, before she got kidnapped, that is.

She wondered, had she known, would she have still given her a ride to work every day? Would she have made them both breakfast every morning, to be sure that Casey didn’t go to work hungry? Would she have stayed up all night with her while she cried? Would she have cared so much, without asking for anything in return?

Would she have even wanted to be her roommate?

Casey wasn’t sure of the answers, but at that point, she didn’t care. Claire was all the family she had, and she wasn’t ready to let go of that, especially knowing it would be her fault.
If they pulled Claire into the rift, she would jump in too.

The rest of the team of Ythanians had already started toward the right, through the dense brush. They were stealthy; it was difficult to keep eyes on them as they maneuvered the terrain. They’ve clearly sent skilled ones, Casey thought, forcing her eyes against the shadows under the pale moonlight.

“You have to get to them, now!” she heard Zepp shout from further down the slope.

She didn’t think he should be involved, but he already was. The shockwave of the rift opening had attracted him, being the proxy designated to controlling the rift spawns and alien crossings in that region. It was dirty work, but Zeppelin was fit for it. Had it been her job, she would have been there for an entirely different reason.  Her designation, however, was different.

She had no choice but to accept the help; he wouldn’t give her the choice. She dashed through the brush as one of Zeppelin’s Xythlons swooped low over her head, violently snatching into its massive beak one of the death- hounds, of a pack of at least ten.

Casey called them death-hounds, not because that was their actual name, but because of their uncanny resemblance to wild dogs, though much more sinister and gruesome, and certainly not of this world, or this dimension, for that matter. Their talons tore through the earth as they sprinted toward her and Zepp, dead set in their intent to rip flesh. The eerie yellow glow of their eyes seemed to leave a phosphorescent trail as they ran. They were no match for the Xythlons, though. Raised by Zeppelin as hatchlings, they were trained to be colossal, feathered killing machines.

She glanced at one of them crushing the neck of a death-hound in its massive, scaly claw, the Xythlon seeming almost amused as it stared down at the thrashing, dying creature.
Guess you enjoy it too, Casey thought, bemused.

He focus wasn’t on the fight, though; Zepp and his trio could’ve dealt with that. She had to reach Claire before the Ythanians reached the edge of the rift. She was positive that it was what they’d wanted- for her to follow them to their world. Claire was just bait, but damn had they chosen good bait.

The light emanating from the rift was enough to illuminate the earth for meters ahead of it. The light was unnatural, bluish, as its origin was the raw energy generated by the rift itself- a giant fault in space and time, linking two dimensions.

In the eerie light, she could see Claire being dragged by her hair, now obviously gagged, trying to pry herself from the strong grasp of slender, shiny black fingers. Casey felt the rage well up within her. At first, it was just fear entangled with determination, but the sight had made her blood boil.

She was closer to them now, but she couldn’t just attack. The Ythanian dragging Claire would rip her up like a paper shredder if she did. She stopped in her tracks, crouching behind a large bush for cover, contemplating her best move.

Kei had always told her that she should rationalize with people, so she decided to try that. In the Universal Language, she shouted from behind the bush, “Hey! I want to make a deal, for my friend!”

The group stopped, right at the mouth of the gaping rift. She had clearly gotten their attention. They stood like looming, sharp-edged shadows, the blue light reflecting off the edges of their black exoskeletons like shining oil.

She stood slowly, arms over her head submissively, and stepped out from behind the bush. “Stay there,” the Ythanian in the middle acknowledged her, in Universal Language, “Shall we release her and have you, instead?”
She knew it would never be that simple, not with that species. She would say yes, they would kill Claire since she was a witness, and then they’d take her, their true bounty. The rage grew tenfold.

“How about you let her go, alive, or I kill every last fucking one of you?”
The Ythanian who had previously replied seemed almost to grin at her. His face was a silhouette, but she could see a row of jagged, sharp teeth gleam in the light. “The Council would have your head, and obliterate your world,” he replied, the statement gritty, his voice toxic.

She knew he was right. Ythan was a rugged planet dominated by a violent superior species. If the Royal Council got word that she had killed one or more of their top soldiers, they would send a fleet of battleships through interdimensional space, and have planet Earth for dinner.

How would they feel knowing their top soldiers were doing something like this, though? she pondered. But, there was no time for thoughts of politics.
The bounty on the head of a dynamic proxy was unfathomable, and the team wanted it dearly.

“I’m not asking again,” she growled through her teeth, dropping her arms. She could see a faint, white wisp glide over her shoulder, and another materialize and dance in the air around her left hand. Her body began to feel lighter, as the power welled up from the soles of her feet. Don’t make me do this, she thought, not in front of-

Her thoughts were broken by the agony of a talon slicing her upper left arm. A death-hound had snuck up behind her. Its pounce felt to her like an anvil had been dropped onto her from a few stories above, and she curled into its grasp as it tumbled with her to the ground.

Teeth came at her from above, and she reflexively stuck her lower right arm horizontally into its mouth, breaking its jaw at the hinges with blunt force. Her arm was unharmed- rather, since it was an intentional move, sheer, whitish protective scales materialized over the length of her arm, the instant she’d raised it,  to protect it from being pierced. The same couldn’t be said for her bleeding left arm, though; she was caught off guard.

“Conversation’s over,” she barely heard the soldier say above the growls and screeches of the death-hound she was wrestling. She heard the faint sizzle of transferring matter, and she knew that they were gone. Claire was gone.

The rage within her reached maximum threshold. She summoned one of her daggers to her injured left hand, and with a lightning fast swing, dismembered the offending creature. It riled up in anguish, releasing its grip on her with its right claw, watching as its left forelimb fell onto the damp earth.

She kicked the creature away, swiftly got to her feet, and released a shockwave of power in all directions that shredded through anything softer than rock within a few meters, including the creature.

As the flash dissipated, she looked down at the scattered death-hound parts, then forward at the open rift.

They were gone.

She instantly recalled that morning, how Claire had laughed at herself so heartily for leaving a small pot of water to boil out until it was dry, because she for distracted hunting for Casey’s birthday present online.

She had to jump into the rift.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Jakarta!” she heard Zepp shout from behind her. His voice seemed to travel from galaxies away.

“Fuck…” she said under her breath, and stepped towards the glowing anomaly. Hearing her code name sent ripples through the pool of her mind, which quickly settled. In the still water, she saw herself, and remembered who she was.

I’m not a fucking jumper for nothing.
She heard Zeppelin protest again, but this time his voice seemed to stretch and trail behind her, fading with the fabric of their own dimension as she crossed the rift, not knowing, or caring of, what lay ahead.

She thought, If I don’t die out here, Kei's gonna kill me…
CL