Defiant - Chapter 7
Rydian woke with a scream still on his lips, only to cut off as sense returned to him...
On the wild planet of Talamh, humanity thrived...
...until the alien Alfur conquered their world.
Now, defeated and broken, humanity serves their immortal overlords.
And pleads to the stars for a hero.
Rydian Holt is nothing, nobody. Just another human from the streets of Talamh. Or at least, that’s what he thinks—until his mother is caught up in a fledgling resistance group. Branded a traitor and sentenced to fight in the arena, now Rydian must face hardened gladiators in single combat. To survive and advance through the ranks, he’ll need the help of an enigmatic weapons master—and more than a little luck.
But after a lifetime of servitude, survival is no longer enough for Rydian. He seeks a way to fight back— not just against his fellow gladiators, but against the Alfur themselves. If Rydian can uncover their greatest secret—the truth about the mysterious Light that powers their world—he might just win his freedom.
Become a paid subscriber to access this entire series from the start, plus many of the other series I have written! You can even take a free 7 day trial to see if my books are for you. You can find my other books on my website.
Rydian woke with a scream still on his lips, only to cut off as sense returned to him. Groaning, he lay back on the hard surface, struggling to recall where he was, what had happened. Dimly he was aware of a terrible pain, a searing agony, as though his insides were being boiled. But as he reached down to touch his stomach, he found himself whole, unharmed beyond the dull aching of his muscles.
Finally, he opened his eyes. Light was all around him, and it was a moment before his surroundings came into focus. He frowned, surprised to find himself in the transport room of an Alfurian ship. He lay across three seats, awkwardly strapped in by several belts. He unclipped each belt until he could sit up. As he did so, the aches in his muscles redoubled and he struggled to stifle a moan.
Memories slowly filtered back to him and he glanced quickly at his hand, but found his Manus reader dull once again.
“He’s awake!”
Rydian looked around as the slender form of Falcon slid into one of the chairs across from him. Despite the past months of coldness from the Goman champion, the woman now wore a broad grin on her face.
“That was some fight, Mouse!” she said. “We all watched on the Lightscreen. Can’t believe you actually pulled it off! You cost me a fair few credits, you know!”
Rydian frowned, struggling to wake, to piece together her words. Lightscreen? Yes, he’d fought Geitsen, killed the brutish gladiator, and then…Rotin!
“What happened?” he whispered. “With Rotin?”
The woman chuckled. “I knew the bastard was intimidating, but I’ve never seen someone pass out just at the sight of it.”
“I didn’t…” He trailed off. If the Alfur thought he’d simply passed out, that meant the malfunction in his Manus reader hadn’t been discovered. Then he frowned as another thought occurred to him. “Wait, you bet against me?”
Falcon only grinned at that, then raised her hand and gestured at someone behind him. Another of her gladiators appeared, bottle in hand. This one only appeared to be water and Rydian accepted it with a nod of thanks.
“Don’t worry, Mouse, I won’t hold it against you,” Falcon said as he drank. “Your win gained team Goma a fair few credits anyway, so we’re even.”
Rydian blinked. “I…you’re welcome?”
“You’re okay, Mouse,” Falcon said with a grin. “Shame about the others, but you’re okay.”
Rydian’s heart lurched at her words and his head whipped around. His vision spun and stars danced before his eyes, but he forced himself to search the rest of the craft, struggling against the brightness of the Light. There were some five rows of seats in the Alfurian ship, and with the gladiators of Goma spread out through the chamber, it was a moment before he spied any of his companions…
He let out a sigh as he found Hazel and Johanas moving towards him, but quickly continued his search. Rydian’s heart began to pound as his gaze swept over his fellow Gomans, taking in scarred faces and retreating hairlines, broad grins and harsh laughter, but…
Ruby and the others aren’t here.
Rydian saw it in the faces of his friends, in the way their eyes did not quite meet his, in the slump of their shoulders.
“Did…did any of them…?” he couldn’t finish the question.
Lips pursed, Hazel shook her head. She had obviously won her bout, but the others, Kelvin and Caleb and Ruby…
He scrunched his eyes closed, recalling the way the young woman had looked at him, how she’d believed him, when he’d told her not to lose hope. He’d seen the fear, the terror in her eyes and tried his best to give her something else, some small measure of joy. In the end, he’d thought she was ready. There had been a silent determination in her eyes that morning, a quiet courage. And now…
“Oh don’t look that way,” Falcon interrupted his grief. “They were trainees. They never last long—you three being the exception of course. Come on, victory needs to be celebrated!”
Rydian stared blankly as the Goman champion gestured to one of her companions. The man rose with a grumble and pulled upon a hidden compartment in the wall of the ship, retrieving several bottles of amber liquid.
“You’re in luck,” she continued, not noticing Rydian’s look. “The Alfur like to keep an iron grip on their cities, but they’re generally happy to turn a blind eye on us gladiators. So long as we keep the crowds entertained.”
Rydian wordlessly accepted the bottle she passed him, not quite sure what else to do. How could this woman be so unphased by all this, by three young lives so brusquely extinguished? He watched as Johanas and Hazel accepted bottles of their own, seeing his own grief reflected in their eyes.
“To life!” Falcon said, raising her bottle to the three of them.
“To death,” Rydian added, then took a swig that emptied half his bottle.
Settling back in his seat, he stared at his hands, still barely able to believe what had come to pass. Thanks to Aureli’s teachings, to the weeks of training, he had found a way to defeat Geitsen. But…how then had they so failed the others? How could Ruby…
For the rest of the journey back, Rydian sat slumped in his chair, the rest of his drink forgotten. His heart ached and he found himself replaying the last month, searching for something he could have done differently, some way he might have saved them. He recalled that first day beside the forest, when he’d spoken to Ruby of his fear. Had that been a mistake? Was there something else he could have offered her, some other guidance that might have saved her?
He couldn’t think, couldn’t know. It was too late now anyway. She was already gone, her body laid out on a cold slab of stone, lost, forgotten to the world. Dead.
And Rotin was alive.
One day… he promised himself.
Rydian was shaking by the time they reached the complex. He didn’t rise when the ship touched down—only when Johanas laid a hand on his shoulder did he finally stir. He was glad the giant gladiator had come, even though the man hadn’t fought this games. Rydian resolved to do the same when their positions were reversed. The other gladiators said little as they disembarked, and Rydian sensed a similar depression among his Goman comrades. Together, they plodded back to the barracks.
There, Falcon’s attempts to cheer her team soon had the men and women of Goma lifting their drinks in salute of their fallen comrades. Rydian went along with the celebrations, but standing in the growing gloom of the mess hall, he found himself unable to join in, to celebrate the fleeting joy of his friends’ survival, of own victory. Other thoughts intruded upon those memories, of Ruby’s eyes as she smiled, of Geitsen’s scowl as he stood over Rydian on the practice field, of Aureli’s eyes as he refused Rydian’s pleas, the unknown fear Rydian had glimpsed there…
Shivering, Rydian snapped himself alert. It must be nearing midnight and most of the room had already passed out or retired to their bunks. He hadn’t seen Aureli all night. Surely the man would want to know, to find out what had become of his students…
Unless he already knew.
Rising, Rydian went looking for the Goman weapons master.
Stepping out into the night, Rydian left his friends and the other gladiators behind. The world outside was pitch black, and opening his palm, he coaxed life into his Manus reader. Its Light seemed dim now after what he’d glimpsed in the stadium, but at least it was enough to see by. The path through the complex was familiar now and he wound his way through the buildings to the central training complex. He still had not found Aureli’s quarters, but he knew the ex-gladiator’s habits by now, and thought he might find the man in the practice arena, despite the hour.
It was a surprise, then, when he found the training courtyard empty. Frowning, Rydian stepped out onto the sands. There was no sign of Aureli, though as he paused, a distant sound carried to his ears. His blood ran cold as he realised it was…barking. Swinging around, he tried to pick a direction to run, nightmares from his childhood coming rushing back. What would happen to the complex if a pack of hounds invaded? He knew some of the gladiators had knives, but with only practice blades to defend themselves…
He stood there listening in the darkness, the pulse of his Manus reader growing brighter, before dimming again. Finally he exhaled. The sound didn’t seem to be coming closer. A pack in the forest, perhaps? He hoped whatever defences the Alfur had on this place would be enough to keep the creatures at bay.
“Rydian?”
He spun as a voice called his name from the shadows. It was a moment before his heart slowed enough to recognise Hazel as she stepped onto the sands. She wore a frown on her lips.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you went to bed?”
A sigh slipped from Rydian’s lips and he shrugged, turning his eyes to the sky. The stars stretched overhead, but looking upon their expanse, he no longer felt the same sense of majesty as before. Aureli had spoken of the infinite possibilities they represented, yet in the face of Ruby’s death…that possibility seemed infinitely smaller now.
“I was looking for Aureli,” he said at last.
“Why?” Hazel asked as she joined him in his contemplation of the stars. A sliver of light on the distant horizon marked the rising moon, soaring upwards to join its sister’s glow high above.
“I don’t know,” Rydian admitted. “It’s just…”
“I’m sorry about Ruby,” Hazel said when he didn’t finish. Gently, she reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “She…fought well.”
Rydian swallowed the lump that rose in his throat. “That’s just it though, isn’t it?” he rasped, his voice coming out harsh. “It doesn’t matter how well any of us fight. In the end, we’re just kids. What are we doing here, Hazel, fighting people who are not our enemy?”
But Hazel said nothing, only crossed her arms, eyes to the sky and lips turned down.
“It’s not right,” he added finally.
Hazel snorted at that. “Not right?” she asked, turning to him and raising an eyebrow. “Rydian, of course it’s not right! What do the Alfur care about ‘right’? This is their planet. ‘Right’ is what they say it is!” She paused, turning her eyes back to the stars and wrapping her arms tighter about herself. “That’s…that’s why I fought, why we fought.”
Rydian frowned at that. “Fought?”
“The Alfur,” Hazel replied. The sand whispered as she shifted to face him. “You asked me once what I did, why they used their Manus readers on my brother. Well, that’s why. We were part of the rebellion.”
An icy cold settled over Rydian at her words, but eyes to the ground, Hazel went on.
“It was just little things at first,” she said, kicking a clump of sand with her boot. “My brother and I stole a few things from merchants, like you. Then the rebellion found us—or found my brother Solomon, I guess. He was always the more ‘rebellious’ one. We soon found ourselves going on bigger missions, searching for more important targets, ones that might finally upset the balance, tip the scales back towards humanity.”
Rydian’s stomach churned as he watched her, knowing what was coming next but not wanting to believe it, to hear the truth. Silently he closed his eyes, wishing he could block out her words, could run away from the past that still haunted him. This day had already claimed the budding hope he’d shared with Ruby. He could not lose his friend as well.
“We attacked the Alfurian temple,” Hazel continued. “It seemed like it was going well, but…we were betrayed. One of the leaders, Jasmine, she turned us in.” Her voice broke, as though she could hardly get the words out. “I saw her…saw her stab my brother, the moment before the Alfur burst in and…and unleashed their Manus readers.”
A roaring was sounding in Rydian’s ears, a terrible pounding against his temples, and there was a void in the depths of his chest. He wanted to scream at Hazel, to tell her she was wrong, that his mother would never do such a thing. It couldn’t be true, had to be wrong somehow…
…yet looking into his friend’s eyes, he could see the truth there, the pain that haunted her, of loss, of betrayal.
“How…” he rasped, struggling to swallow the lump in his throat. “How did you survive?”
“I was a coward,” Hazel croaked, her eyes shining with unspilt tears. “I…watched my brother, others, disintegrate before my eyes and…and I threw myself on the ground, cowered while the last of my friends tried to fight.” She swallowed and straightened somewhat, as though she had forced the grief back down into its prison. “I was only seventeen. The Alfur didn’t know what to do with me, so they put me in a room, one of their Light cells for months. Until finally…finally my eighteenth birthday came, and…” She trailed off, eyes falling to the ground once more.
“…then they put you on a ship and sent you to become a gladiator,” Rydian whispered.
That was why she didn’t know. After the Alfur had announced his mother a hero, images of Jasmine and her family had been shown on Lightscreens everywhere. By the end of the week, there had hardly been a soul in Goma that did not recognise the son of the traitor. But Hazel had been confined in a Lightcell, isolated from the world, not knowing the truth about the one who had betrayed her. He swallowed, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder.
“Hazel, I—”
“What are you two doing out here?”
The pair of them leapt as a voice called to them from the shadows. Spinning as one, they watched as Falcon emerged into the moonlight. The woman froze as she stepped onto the sands, lifting her head and turning to stare into the distance. A frown creased her features.
“Is that…Princess?”
Before either of them could respond, the woman set off for a nearby door. Rydian and Hazel stood staring after her for a moment, before the sounds of barking carried again through the night. A weight settled in Rydian’s stomach as he realised the woman was right—the barking had to be Princess, Aureli’s own hound.
Shaking off their hesitation, they followed Falcon, re-entering the building and racing along a corridor Rydian had not visited before. His heart raced and he reached for his belt, but he wore no sword now. The sound of barking was clear now and he fought the urge to turn and flee. The beast sounded out of control, as though it had finally given in to its true nature, to the madness that claimed all animals on Talamh. If that were true…
Before he could contemplate that fate, Rydian found himself coming to a stop outside an open door. There was no doubt now—the barking came from within. Though…it changed suddenly to a whimper as Falcon disappeared into the darkness. Rydian exchanged a glance with Hazel, but if the hound had truly gone feral, Aureli could be injured…
Together, they followed Falcon into the unknown.
Then staggered to a halt as an awful stench struck them like a blow. Gagging, Rydian quickly covered his nose with his shirt, struggling to breathe in the putrid air. Beside him, Hazel retched, doubling over as the colour drained from her face.
Heart pounding, Rydian lifted his Manus reader. Its light remained dim, but it was enough to illuminate the foul chamber in which they’d found themselves. Discarded clothing and dirty dishes lay strewn across the room, many growing a foul-looking purple mould. Shadows shifted amongst the piles of trash as mice fled the Light, and in the corner something larger shifted.
He exhaled as the glow of his Manus reader revealed a cage. The hound, Princess, sat within, still whimpering as it watched them with its overly large eyes. It only took a moment to confirm the creature was confined. Looking back over the room, Rydian saw no sign of Aureli, though…several open bottles on the table revealed what the man had been doing.
Falcon plucked up one of the bottles and took a sniff, then wrinkled her nose.
“Damn,” she murmured.
“What is it?” Hazel asked, recovering from her sickness. She crossed the room to join them, nose pinched between two fingers.
“Looks like he fell off the wagon,” Falcon replied. “Wonder where he even found the good stuff. The old bastard better not have gotten into my stash!”
Rydian swallowed, looking from the woman to the filth, trying to process her words. There was weeks’, if not months’ worth of garbage built up in the corners of the room, though he noticed there were no bottles other than those on the table. How…how had Aureli lived like this, returning to this…warren every night after their training, to sit here alone amongst the refuse? How had they not known?
“Where…where is he?” Rydian murmured, still struggling to process their discovery.
The champion gladiator offered a shrug. “He’s probably gone to walk it off.”
Rydian began to nod his agreement, but his gaze was drawn back to the hound. The creature paced back and forth in its cage, giant eyes on them. Every so often it would pause and scratch at the ground, whimpering all the while.
“I was afraid this would happen.” Across the room, Falcon was still focused on the bottles. “He’s been off the drink for years. I told him it couldn’t last.”
Beside Rydian, Hazel frowned. “Didn’t you try and get him to drink with us after the last games?”
Falcon chuckled. “Of course! I consider it an insult I haven’t managed to crack him. Who knew all it would take was a few idiotic trainees getting themselves killed?”
Anger stirred in Rydian’s stomach at her words, but before he could reply, the hound gave another whimper. Rydian swallowed, pushing down his grief for the moment, and crossed to the cage. Wherever Aureli went, this beast was never far away. Even blind drunk, why would the man have locked the creature in a cage?
“I hope he hasn’t done anything…stupid,” Hazel murmured.
Rydian hesitated, looking from the hound to his friend. Still holding one of the bottles, Falcon frowned, leaning her head to the side.
“Well, it has been a while.” She held the bottle up in front of her, as though to inspect its contents, though Aureli had left only drops. “But…back in the day, there were a few times we had to tie him down.” She hesitated. “He kept…kept wanting to go to the forest.”
“What?” Rydian and Hazel shrieked in unison.
“Relax, Gods below!!” Falcon cried, raising her hands as though to fend them off. “I doubt he could even make it to the boundary if he finished both of these himself!”
Rydian did not reply. Heart pounding in his chest, he turned back to the cage as the hound gave another whimper. Swallowing, he stepped up to the bars and looked down at the creature. It stared back at him, dark eyes wide. They…they seemed to understand, to reach for him. He heard a distant whisper, as though the beast were trying to speak, to communicate with him.
Abruptly, the hound threw back its head and gave a terrible howl.
The others in the room leapt, spinning in expectation of an attack, but Rydian stood fixed to the spot, heart racing, fists clenched, Manus reader pulsing as he faced the beast behind the bars. Drawing in a breath, he reached down and unlocked the cage.
Behind him, Hazel cried a warning, but the noise was drowned out as the hound howled again and leapt through the open door. The three of them scrambled, hurling themselves from its path as the creature darted across the room and burst out into the corridor.
There, though, it paused, another whimper coming from the depths of its throat as it turned back. Rydian swallowed as those dark eyes fixed on him, and the whispering came again.
“I…” Blinking, he looked at the others. “I, ah…think she wants us to follow!”
Rydian stood at the edge of the jungle and stared into the unknown, Hazel and Falcon aligned behind him. Falcon had found knives for each of them, and Rydian held the blade at his side. He would have felt better with a gladius in hand, but this was better than nothing.
Aureli’s hound crouched at his side, ears flat to its skull as it growled at the undergrowth. A lump lodged in Rydian’s throat as he saw the beast’s fear. If one of the jungle’s own creatures dreaded to enter that wilderness, what did that say about their hope for survival?
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the fear reflected in the eyes of his companions, but neither showed any sign of backing down. Even Falcon seemed strangely determined, and not for the first time he wondered at the woman’s relationship with Aureli.
Rydian turned back to the forest. The darkness beneath the trees remained impenetrable, their Manus readers barely lighting the ground beneath their feet. How easy would it be, to become lost in those trees? Even without the beasts, what were their chances of returning once they stepped into that place?
A tremor shook him and Rydian wavered, before a whimper drew his attention back to the hound. Its overly intelligent eyes looked up at him, as though watching for something, waiting. Swallowing his fear, Rydian drew in a breath, and nodded.
As though it understood, the hound turned and stepped into the jungle. Hesitating only a moment, Rydian spread his hand to coax more light into his Manus reader, then followed the creature into the unknown wild.
The darkness swallowed them up. In an instant, the complex had vanished, the stars and rising moon with it, and they were left alone in the blackness, lit now only by their own softly glowing devices. Walking through that awful dark, a part of Rydian was surprised they were not struck down on the spot, that some secret power of the Alfur did not fall from the sky to smite them.
But nothing happened. Instead the three humans followed the hound ever deeper into the wild. Dark trees pressed up against them as they struggled through the dense vegetation. At times they were forced to use the long blades of their knives to hack their way through, at others the foliage opened up, allowing them momentary respite. Always, though, the darkness remained, as they followed Aureli’s hound ever further into the unknown.
Despite the beast’s apparent confidence, Rydian’s heart raced as the shadows shifted around them. The branches of the trees moved in strange, unpredictable ways in the Light of their Manus readers, so that it seemed the jungle were alive, as though at any moment jaws would close upon them, swallowing them up…
Who knew what creatures might be watching them even now, stalking them as they slipped deeper into the wilderness, waiting for the moment to strike? With only knives to defend themselves, Rydian didn’t like their chances of fighting off even a single primate—let alone the packs he’d spied from the windows of the Alfurian ships.
But as they pressed deeper into the forest, the jungle remained silent, its inhabitants absent for the moment. Eventually, though, a soft pounding began in the distance. Rydian paused, glancing at the others. Behind, his friend wore a confused mask on her face. Only Falcon seemed unconcerned as she brushed past him, to follow after the disappearing hound.
His heart thumping in time with the distant beat, Rydian followed the Goman champion, until finally the trees opened out before them and the source of the sound was revealed.
Ahead, the twin moons of Talamh shone high in the heavens—and reflected from the horizon before them, dancing on the shimmering surface of the vast ocean.
Rydian swallowed as he found himself standing on the sandy shore he had glimpsed from above. The endless waters stretched out before them, calm in the night air, their surface forming a perfect mirror to the heavens above. The pounding had been the gentle crashing of waves upon its beach.
Staring out across that expanse, Rydian found himself enthralled, unable to look away.
Until a cry from nearby snapped his attention back to reality.
Pulse suddenly racing, he spun towards the sound, expecting primates or something worse to come for him, teeth bared, claws extended.
Instead, he watched as Falcon fell to her knees beside a slumped figure, another cry tearing from her lips. Alongside her, the hound whimpered, pawing at the sand where Aureli lay. His hands clutched around his abdomen, eyes closed, Marcus Aureli might have been sleeping—if not for the sheen of liquid on his hands.
Blood.
A lump swelling in his chest, Rydian stumbled to where their mentor lay. As he neared, he saw the blood staining the man’s shirt and thought Aureli already dead—until the soft rasping of his breath carried over the thumping of the waves.
“You bloody bastard,” Falcon was saying. “What were you doing, coming out here alone? I always told you…”
“Wanted…to finally see it…after all these years,” Aureli rasped, his eyelids fluttering, though his eyes did not open. “Damned…pinniped…didn’t see it until it…came out of the waters.”
Heart pounding, Rydian glanced over his shoulder at the waters, but in the faint light of their Manus readers, he could see nothing moving in the waves. He turned back to Aureli, falling to his knees beside the injured man.
“Aureli,” he rasped. “What…” He couldn’t finish, couldn’t ask this man why he had come to this place, what madness had taken him. He knew that despair well, had been close to giving into it his first night here.
The weapons master’s eyes flicked open at his voice. “Ahh, little Mouse, I’m…sorry,” he murmured. “Thought…I was strong enough…haze…finally caught…me.”
A tear streaked Aureli’s cheek as his words became jumbled, no longer making sense. Rydian squeezed his eyes closed, hardly able to bare the sight of his mentor lying in such a state. So close now, he could see the edges of the terrible wound he covered with his hands.
“It’s not your fault,” he whispered. “Ruby and the others…” he swallowed, a lump lodging in his throat.
“No…” Aureli managed, “poor kids…couldn’t do it all…again.” His eyes drifted towards the sky, to the endless tapestry of stars above. “So many…possibilities. Who…would have thought...”
A tremor passed across his face and his eyes slid closed. For a moment, Rydian thought the man had passed. A moan built in his throat, a grief at losing the one person in this world that had believed in him, who’d cared enough to lift him from his despair, to drag him kicking and screaming back towards the light.
“Your…reader…” Aureli’s voice was barely a whisper, but Rydian’s heart leapt to hear he still lived. He leaned closer, holding his breath as he struggled to hear the man’s words. “…glitch…can’t trust…beware…”
The man’s words trailed off, turning to a moan as his face grew taut, twisting with pain. He clenched his fists against the sand. His Manus reader was dark, its Light consumed by his injuries. A desperate idea came to Rydian and reaching out his own device, he held it over Aureli’s abdomen, willing its Light to infuse his mentor. But as always, the Light refused to come, and rather than grow brighter, it instead flickered, and died away.
“The haze…” Aureli murmured, eyes still closed, voice fading. “Shouldn’t…shouldn’t be out here…the primates…other things…not ready.”
“I’m not leaving you, Aureli,” Rydian hissed. “And we’re not losing you.”
Gripped by a sudden determination, he rose and turned to the others. If his Manus reader wouldn’t work, they would have to carry the man back to the complex. Though Rydian had never seen the creature, Aureli himself had claimed one of the Alfur resided on site. It could help.
“Quickly,” he said, gesturing for Hazel and Falcon to help him. “It can’t be more than a mile back to the complex. We can carry him that far, if we share…
He trailed off as the two remained where they were. Neither responded to his instructions, and Rydian realised that their eyes were fixed on something behind him. Blood pounded in his skull as he turned, knowing what he would see but not wanting it to be true.
At his feet, Aureli still lay slumped against the sand, but his hands had slipped from his chest now, revealing the full extent of his injuries. Something had opened him up from chest to stomach, leaving a terrible, bloody gash. Watching him, Rydian waited for the man’s chest to rise, for him to inhale another breath, but…instead he lay still.
“No,” Rydian whispered, looking from Marcus Aureli to the others. Tears spilt from his eyes as he struggled to breath, to think. “No, he can’t…”
Hazel stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Rydian…” she began, then trailed off as a soft growl came from behind them.
They turned as one towards the sound, as froze as they found Aureli’s hound crouched before them. Teeth bared, eyes red in the Light of their Manus readers, it snarled again, a deep, angry sound Rydian had never heard from the creature before. Confused, he raised a hand towards the creature, a reassurance on his lips.
Moving with incredible speed, the hound leapt at him, mouth wide, teeth glinting in the shimmering Light. Crying out, Rydian reacted by instinct, twisting away from the creature’s charge. It struck him anyway, slamming into his side and sending him staggering away. Pain slashed across his hip as its teeth tore through cloth and flesh, before momentum carried the beast on.
Stumbling on the soft sands, Rydian cried out his shock, even as the beast unleashed a terrible howl. Falcon and Hazel scrambled back from it, even as Rydian risked a glance at his side. The hound’s teeth had opened a long gash across his hip, but thankfully hadn’t found enough grip to sink too deep into his flesh.
Another howl drew Rydian’s attention back to the beast. Blood pounded in his ears and he felt his Manus reader responding, the thrum of its power awakening as it tried to heal the wound. He reached for more, urged its Light to swell, to come to his aid…
…his vision swum as his palm grew hot, searing at his flesh, turning his hand numb. Crying out, Rydian withdrew his attention from the device, and the heat vanished. Spots danced across his vision but he forced himself to focus on the beast as it started across the sands towards him again. He drew from knife from his belt as Hazel joined him, exchanging a glance with his friend.
There was no time for words, however, as the hound launched itself at them again. Hazel’s blade flashed out, striking the beast across the head, but its thick skull repelled the blow and it slammed into her with a snarl. She went down beneath its weight, a cry tearing from her lips as the terrible jaws snapped closed just inches from her face.
Rydian charged. Afraid of striking his friend with a wild blow, he lashed out instead with a sandaled foot, catching the beast in the side. A whelp came from the mutt as it crashed sideways, legs thrashing, teeth still snapping as it tried to reach Hazel. She scrambled back, blade lost in the chaos, and Rydian leapt in, placing himself between the hound and his friend.
Madness shone from the hound’s eyes as it scrambled to its feet. Rydian cursed it, mind still scrambling for an explanation for what was happening. It had led them here, brought them to Aureli in time to hear his final words. Not once had Aureli’s hound appeared aggressive before now. Was it the forest, being so far away from the complex? Or had something about the man’s death brought about the madness?
He didn’t know, but there was no time for questions now. Without Aureli’s help, there was only one cure to a maddened beast. Drool dripped from the terrible jaws as it barked, rage shining in its eyes. Resolved, he gripped the knife tighter in his hand, watching as the beast crept closer, listening to its awful growls.
This time when it leapt, Rydian was ready.
Unleashing a roar, Rydian surged forward, blade thrusting out. This time he aimed not for its hardened skull, but the hound’s chest, exposed as it leapt. The tip of his knife lanced out, and he felt a thump as it connected.
Then the weight of the beast slammed into Rydian, driving the breath from his lungs despite Aureli’s training, throwing him from his feet. He gasped as the creature fell cross him, its weight crushing him, its jaws just inches from his face. The knife was torn from his grip and winded, he lay gasping, helpless against its fury. Closing his eyes, he waited for the jaws to close upon his throat.
Nothing happened.
Finally Rydian managed to suck in a lungful of air, to recover his life. Wheezing, he lay listening to the sudden silence, and finally forced his eyes open. He found himself staring at the face of Aureli’s hound, lying dead across his chest. In passing, the madness had vanished from its eyes, and it seemed again the gentle pet that had followed their mentor wherever he went.
Pushing the dog from him, Rydian struggled to sit up. The others stood nearby, silent in their shock, and Rydian scrunched his eyes closed. Emotion rose within him, despair and grief and anger, rage at what he’d lost that day.
Crouched there on the shores of the great ocean, listening to the silence of the night, Rydian finally allowed the tears to flow.
Become a paid subscriber to access this entire series from the start, plus many of the other series I have written! You can even take a free 7 day trial to see if my books are for you.