Triberias: Mark of the Called

Captive

III

A Captive.

BETHESDA, ELYDRIAN CONTINENT.

420AA, After the Great Ascension.

Killion sighed at the memory. The memory of that day that was the beginning of everything. The beginning of his journey of becoming a soldier and his journey to becoming an officer at the great Hub of Bethesda.

It was after that night that he had finally made up his mind that he would finally do something about the worsening situation that was happening all around him.

Something had to be done about the curse. A curse whose beginnings they all knew quite well, but whose end they were yet to figure out.

I will find a way to fight this curse, he promised himself and even though at the moment the curse appeared too strong for him to conquer, he knew that there must be a way. There had to be and they would find it.

He had vowed to never give up. Him and the rest of the soldiers, his colleagues who had all vowed that they would gladly give their lives if it meant a better future.

The struggle would always continue. The struggle to ensure that tomorrow was ever brighter. For what point was there in going down without a fight? If they were to die anyway then, there was no point in dying a dog's death. For at least, dogs did fight back when they were attacked and yet, they were better than dogs. They were soldiers who would die for honour, for tomorrow and for a better life and at the very end of it make sure, that the perpetrators of this curse knew that even they were not a people that could be trifled with.

With new resolve in his eyes, Killion looked up once again, and for what seemed like the millionth time in his short lifetime, the sun set over the western horizon unleashing with its departure a deep darkness and gloom that brought back the dark terrors from the previous night.

It was always the same thing and no matter how hard they fought back the terrors continued to wreak havoc in the world below.

Was it really there?

Was there really a paradise beyond those great white clouds hidden within a seemingly blue sky? He stared out from a balcony, watching intently as the sun disappeared beneath a reddened horizon.

All around him silence reigned.

The same thing as every other day at that time between dusk and the first appearance of the terrors. It happened every single day, at the same time and regardless of all their efforts and all their relentless wishing, nothing seemed to ever change. It was all the same. A daily occurrence of the same ordeal night after night.

They would continue to fight anyway for there was nothing else to do. This was the way of life that they had been forced to accept. Not just the soldiers, but the people as well. The men, women and children who were also the residents of the small port town of Bethesda east of the Erydrian continent.

Darkness finally settled in and like clockwork, a dark silhouette moved in to cover the entirity of the night sky. The silhouette shadowed him and the entire building that was around him.

Killion took a step backwards into the room that was a part of a cloaked building that was behind him. If only we could do this for the entire town, he thought even as several other silhouettes joined in and completely darkened the night sky before lighting it up, a fiery bright orange.

"You'd think they would hate fire with how much they despise the sunrise. " he muttered even as a roar erupted from the maws of the very first shadow, one that was echoed by more roars that went off all around it.

Their evening song. The herald of doom and the storm that would soon be rained down upon this town from that very same sky.

"If only we could cover the entire town." he spoke aloud his earlier sentiments his moods souring at the thought of his family cloistered by the edge of the town on the western side of the city. "If only..." he trailed off just as another roar erupted from the maws of the chief of the monsters and a dozen heads lifted up, sending out balls of orange flames that filled up the darkened sky with an eerie glow.

It had begun. He let out a tired sigh before dropping down the visor to his black helmet.

How long had it been? Eight? Nine years? So much time had already gone by and yet there seemed to be no end to this hard struggle. Of course with time, things were bound to change. For one, their technology had developed in reaps over the years even as was evidenced by his dark armour and the newly invented cloaking device that was sitting atop the tallest structure in the Hub. Of course, there was also the endless array of weaponry that their factories spewed out every day and yet, none of them was yet to work against the ever relentless and unchanging menace that plagued them.

Killion sighed. Once again, he looked down at his black armour and shook his head. It was a glistening masterpiece, made up of a conglomeration of nanoparticles and carbon fibre that was programmed to take up his body shape for maximum agility and protection. The suit had pockets and concealed sections as well. Pockets that hid his weapons and sections that carried his tech gear. He was going to need all these in combat. To fight and to keep in touch with his team and the Tech people who were monitoring everything from the Hub.

Killion's suit went all the way to his feet and there, it culminated into a pair of high suction soles that allowed for a tight grip on walls, fitted with rocket thrusters that allowed him to make high jumps and possibly fly if it ever came to that. The nature of their fight would eventually require it, he knew and the visor, though darkened it contained an advanced kind of software that could be found nowhere else in this country other than the military Hub of the seemingly little sea port town of Bethesda. All in all, his suit was a work of genius. A fully impervious skin that enhanced his skills and powered his moves, containing an ablutions module while at the same time, it acted like a life support system that preserved him in case of any injuries to his body.

Killion was well prepared. As prepared as one could be in this age against those things that never seemed to get a hit.

He picked up his weapon and turned it over. It was their newest technology. A newly formulated directed energy weapon that shot out a particle beam so strong that when it was tested, it disintegrated a building with just one blast. It was perfect to say, if only their enemy was a building which they were not. Instead, they were as big as buildings and he could only hope that this time, this weapon would finally be the one to work.

"Okay! Gentlemen, and lady..." the young soldier turned around to face his team who until then had been gathering silently. "I guess it's time to suit up and get going. These monsters won't slay themselves however tiring it may seem to even attempt it."

An "Aye aye sir" and a chuckle here and there were the only responses thst he got even as their little group of five swiftly dropped down their visors and descended from the balcony, five storeys up to a cobbled path on the hard ground below.

With their suits this feat was rendered possible.

As always the soldiers quickly drew out their weapons and melted into the shadows, camouflaged by the dark coloured suits that also served to dampen theur thermal signatures. It was the same cloaking technology that was now being used to cover the entire Hub and its inhabitants and yet, they could still not use it extensively to protect the lives of the rest of the residents.

Hence, as fast as the wind, Killion and his team advanced forward, taking the same steps that they took everyday towards the terrors and specifically, the same group of ten winged shadows that had congregated around a two storey apartment that was quite near the tip of the Fyerian peninsula.

"There seems to be people out there! " One of his men, a junior lieutenant with a black tablet in his hands said. Of course, why else would they congregate there? The terrors seemed to be drawn to life in the same way as they seemed to cower away from the source of it. The moon itself they could withstand, or so they thought. However, their scientist were yet to uncover the reasons behind the dark clouds and the evil pressure seemed to precede them wherever they went. Could they control the clouds or was that phenomenon as unnatural as the terrors themselves? Killion could still not tell.

"How many?" the young captain turned to his lieutenant and asked even as he began to formulate a solid plan of action.

"Two on the ground floor and three on the first floor." the lieutenant said . "One of them is a child." He added just as he finished scanning the rest of the area within a one kilometre radius around the Ervana ocean front using an amplified infrared heat sensor and a little tablet that captured the images.

"That's a total of five. " the captain said as he watched the monstrous maws pouring out fire upon the building's rooftop even as their claws ripped the asbestos tiles apart, piece by piece in order to reach their victims. Of course it should have been easier to just smash the building if all they wanted was to kill the victims, but for some reason, these monsters usually enjoyed capturing their victims alive, toying with them to the point that they were so consumed with terror that it ripped their hearts apart. This behaviour was something that was very much unlike any other predator that they knew of, hence the term terror.

"We will have to split." he finally said after studying the images that had been sent to the group. "You three try to save them. Get them out as fast as you can. I'll go yonder and act as a decoy. Connors will cover me." he smiled as he turned to the young lieutenant and the rest of his team. They all knew it. That there was a possibility that they would never see each other again and therefore, every time they did this, they made sure that they parted in smiles, so that the memories that were left behind would always be bright and bring hope to those that succeeded them.

"Hopefully, this time, this baby will work..." he added as he gently patted the new weapon that was slung heavily across his right shoulder. It was a good plan, Killion was sure of it and in any case that it failed, he could at least be assured that his team would be safe and that the victims would still have a chance. With this, there was no need for plan B. It was either do or die and no regrets.

"But Captain! That is suicide!" Barrageway, the only female in their group finally protested. I should have known, he thought to himself. That she would see through my plan, but Killion was tired. Tired of seeing the young ones die. What future were the fighting for if there would be no one left to see it? The children had to live and in that way their dreams would still live on.

"There is no other way around it Sergeant and I would rather it were me rather than any of you. Now, get going and bear in mind that that is an order." with that he turned around and ran into the path of fire. A sea that was burning bright orange with the same relentless flames that the monsters were issuing out from their huge dark maws.

Satisfied that he was far enough from the rest of his team, Killion turned off the shield that had been cloaking his thermal prints and as expected, one of the shadows reared up its three horned reptilian head to train its huge red irises right on him. Without intending to, a shiver racked through him body and for a moment, a chilling fear gripped him.

What am I doing? He surmised to think to himself even as his self preservation finally kicked in and he was tempted to turn back. After all, it would have been so easy with his suit and all, but where would he go back to? How would he live with himself knowing that he had turned back after he had finally made up his mind? They were all depending on him. His crew and the civilians that were promised that they would come. No, he pushed those thoughts aside and forced himself to stand his ground.

Killion unhooked his weapon from his shoulder and turned it around to face a now alert lindworm. The wyvern looked at him and turned its chameleon head from one side to the other, glaring at him as if daring him to take a step forward and challenge it.

There was no time to think about such things. What needed to be done had to be done and swiftly, he decided.

"Okay...lets see what you can do." he heaved out a heavy sigh and reached out to pull hard on the gleaming new trigger. The weapon kicked back and released a thick beam of high particulate energy that flew out from the nozzle straight to its target. The blue beam flew up and hit the monster right in its face before dissipating back into black nothingness and as he watched, he sadly realised that it had not left even a scratch on the scales of the montrous creature's armoured head. Instead, his attack had only served to annoy it and the creature whose anger was now fueled, reared up its ugly head and released a loud roar that alerted its fellow dragons.

Nine reptilian heads swerved around to face him. Red gleaming orbs that pierced through his dark armour, shaking him to his very core. He was done for, he realised it too late that he peed on himself.

Thank goodness for an ablutions module, he managed to laugh despite there being nothing good about his present situation. What was wrong with me? Is that all I can do? He swallowed down a huge gulp of air and with it the fear that was once again snaking down his spine, causing him to tremble deep within the confines of his armoured suit .

Another angry roar and for a moment, he thought that maybe, just maybe he had wounded it despite the obvious lack of evidence. However, with next series of roars that was echoed by the lindworm's kin who had now all turned way from ravaging the apartment's rooftop to glare at him, he realised that it was a battle cry. An alert to the entire horde to cease their ravaging and focus all their attention on him.

"Thank goodness for narrow mindedness!" he smirked even as he realised that his distraction had actually worked and why wouldn't it when he was such an obvious and easy target? But at what cost? the female sergeant must have wondered even as Killion geared himself to finally find that out.

Another gulp of air and with it, the remnants of his fear. Despite this, he could not stop his feet from trembling. In fact, the only thing that was holding him up were the reinforcements in my armour that had been designed for this very purpose.

The wyverns moved forward, smoke issuing out of their nostrils as they left their rampaging to stalk their new insolent prey. In response, the captain took a step backwards as one by one the wyverns that he had feared for most of his life stretched out their huge leathery wings in order to pursue him.

"This is hardly fair." he complained in his mind even as he turned around to flee from an oncoming onslaught of orange flames and glimmering sharp claws. On the side he could see the blasts of blue that had to be Connors, but they could not sense him and the fact that they hardly stopped to search for him convinced Killion that the energy blast from these new weapons were also utterly useless."On the plus side though, the distraction worked." he chuckled just as he jumped up in the air and rolled out of the path of a huge ball of orange flames. Did they hear me? he sobered up even as another angry roar filled up the night sky with the sound of its tumults.

"Have you moved in?" this gave him time and he finally managed to communicate to his team. As he awaited a response, he chanced a glance behind him only to find that his pursuers were still hot on his tail, roaring out in anger or excitement? He was really not sure which. However, with the sadistic hunters they were it had to be the latter, but then again he had been the one to seek them out. To challenge them and thus anger could also not be entirely ruled out from the equation.

Enabled by his nanosuit, Killion quickened his pace and rushed out towards that part of town. The ghost town that had no residents living within it that had to be the best play ground for the coming showdown.

Showdown? He snickered at that. That was hardly accurate for he was vastly outnumbered and outmatched in both strength and in callousness and there was also that small fact that he had just proven. That his weapons however flashy, we're still utterly useless.

I will be lucky to escape here alive, but hopefully my sacrifice is going to buy them enough time to evacuate with the victims to a safer zone. He thought with sadness as he reminisced a certain end.

Suddenly, there was a blast of wind upon his back and he quickly crouched down in order to escape one of the monsters that swooped down to capture him. But just when he thought he had managed to escape it, another dragon swooped down and captured him in its talons.

At first Killion was so shocked that for a moment he did not comprehend what had just happened. His sensors reported that his altitude was increasing and a sharp pain had began tearing through at his side. He winced out in pain and turned, trying to have a look at it, but the pressure of the dragon's talons on his torso beared down on him. Its sharp claws continuing to pierce through his armour, digging deep into his flesh even as thick sulphuric fumes enveloped his visor.

"Captain! Killion! " a feminine voice called out from within his earpiece.

"Barrageway..." he croaked out, the pain proving too much for him to bear. "Have you managed-" he began to say but his speech was cut short by a low growl that had erupted near his ear and the captain turned to stare deep into the crimson eyes of the very same dragon that he had once thought that he had wounded.

Another groan escaped his lips followed by a humourless chuckle at the thoughts that were now drifting through his mind. Thoughts of how he could possibly be more concerned about his blaster not working, rather than the perilous state that he had now found himself in.

"Killion? Killion!" his earpiece shattered with the screams of the concerned woman, but he paid no attention to it. What was the point now?

"I must be going into shock." he laughed even as he felt the warm liquid dripping down his skin and pooling within the cavity that was between it and the armoured suit.

"Killion Dammit!" the Sergeant cursed as she heard his words and his sick laughter.

As if sensing his humour, the wyvern that had captured him pressed down harder. It exerted more pressure on the claws that were gripping him and the claws dug in deeper. Killion groaned and then chuckle.

This is one vengeful bugger, he thought amidst the cacophony of noises that was surrounding him. Calla in his ear and the wyvern that had now bared all its teeth before letting out another ear splitting roar that shook him to my core. All around him, the other dragons answered its call and for the first time that evening, Killion finally realised the graveness of his present situation.

I just hope that they managed to save them. He smiled back, thinking back to his team and the civilians. "If this is how I die, I want to know that it was for a worthy cause. At least, I won't get eaten up for nothing." he added with another smiled.

"No Killion!" the woman screamed in his ears. No one else in his team was saying anything, but he knew by their silence that they were also listening.

"Have you?" he questioned them but still, no one answered. "Connors? "

At first there was silence. Then a sad boyish voice responded to him. "Yes sir, we have evacuated all the civilians and taken them to a safe zone. They are all safe and unharmed thanks to you..." his voice cracked at the end of the sentence and the captain smiled again. Didn't that voice bring back so many memories? He had been three years younger than Connors when he joined the force and how many goodmen had they lost until now? He was merely a statistic but either way he knew that he had still made a difference. Because of his sacrifice, another family would live to see another sunrise. A child would live to see another day and take a step closer to that brighter future.

The sulphur around him grew thicker and the concrete structures beneath him shook as the other dragons moved in end him. "This is the end," he thought again as he closed his eyes and prepared himself to be mawed alive. As he did so, multiple beams of blue light filled his vicinity and the dragons let out roars of pain or anger? he could not tell which, even as beam after beam of high particulate energy hit their bodies from every angle. "What are they doing? " he feared for his crew, but their attacks did not ease up and then, suddenly, the leading dragon let out a loud roar and launched up higher into the sky, taking him mangled body with him, still attached to its sharp right claws.