By Chris Gilman
Chapter 13
When again I wake it is again to a world of pain, but the pain is manageable. Slowly I open my eyes to see the inside of my tent. From the way the light is shining on the tent it looks like about midmorning. With great care and pain I sit up and examine myself.
Looks like the battle went rough for me. Half healed wounds cover approximately seventy to eighty percent of my body. No wonder I hurt so much. My movement must have caught the attention of someone outside because I can hear the sound of footsteps just before the tent flap is opened.
In steps Melliss looking right at me. "What do you think you are doing?" She runs over to me and forces me to lay back down. "After the beating you took, I am still trying to understand how you survived."
"How did this happen. One second I was fighting beside you and the next I remember I was standing before the AI. I pulled a little surprise package I had brought and I remember the explosion hitting me as it shot me again with some type of laser. But I don’t know how the hell I got there or how I survived." I lay back and close my eyes for a second again. After sitting up it almost hurts to lay back down.
"I think you went into a feral state again. A bullet caught me and when I cried out from the pain you looked over at me and went wild. Roaring, you charged at the drac with Drac Slayer and started cutting them to pieces. Last I saw you were swallowed up by the tide of drac bodies in the way."
I open my eyes again slowly. "I must have fought my way up to the AI’s main building. There it shot me, which somehow kicked me out of the rage I was in. But, I destroyed the building right, why am I still alive? I should be dead, the grenade went off right behind me."
She shushes me with a finger to my lips. "I think I know how you survived." She takes a cloth wrapped package from behind her and sets it on my chest.
I unwrap it and find the hilt of Drac Slayer, the blade is entirely missing. "What happened to the blade?"
Melliss shakes her head. "It was found like that beside you. I think Drac Slayer called apon the powers of Vari to protect you, but was destroyed in the process."
Suddenly the hilt in my hands starts to shine like the sun. I have to look away as it turns an almost white. Suddenly the weight in my hands increases and a familiar voice sounds in my head.
‘Well, well. Chosen one, I see you are healing from your wounds.’
Opening my eyes I see the blade returned to the hilt. "What the hell!"
Melliss’ head whips around and her mouth drops when she sees the sword returned to all its glory. "How in the name of the gods did that happen?"
‘I used power focused from Vari to protect you John. It temporarily destroyed me though, too much power to direct at one time. But I see it did what it was supposed to do and keep you alive.’
"Well, I am very appreciative to you for the help Drac Slayer."
Melliss looks at me with a look of surprise. "You mean to tell me Drac Slayer saved your life?"
I give her a nod. "That looks like what happened. How else can you explain the fact that I am here after all. That little grenade packed quite a wallop." I look back up at her. "What was left of the building?"
"From what I have heard not a whole hell of a lot. That little surprise did its job, but why did you try to sacrifice yourself like that?"
I give a painful shrug. "Seemed like a good idea at the time. The AI was about to kill me slowly little by little by shooting me with a laser. It just came to mind at the time and it looked like a good alternative to it killing me."
Melliss takes the sword from my hand and puts it to one side. "We’ll talk about this again later. But for now you need to sleep some more."
"Wait, how long have I been out?"
But before she answers me she waves her hand over my face and I go out like a light. Once more into the void we all must enter eventually to recuperate. I hate that place. I always wonder if I will awake.
***
I had thought the dreams would have ended when I destroyed the drac base. But, I guessed wrong.
A dream starts, at least I think it is a dream. I am sitting in a small clearing in a forest. Drac Slayer is embedded in the ground by my side and I just stand there. Soon a familiar form approaches from the edge of the forest. It is Vari.
She walks up to me and stops about a yard away. Before I can do anything she bows before me. "John, you have done more then even I had thought possible. I know you are wondering how you are alive, but between the protection your sword was able to give you and the fact that you are my avatar, it is not too surprising."
I look around at the clearing. "So, does this mean we won?"
A worried look crosses her face. "You won this battle, but the war will go on. There are still drac out there. They will want to continue the plans of their god. And they are going to continue to battle you as long as they, and you live." Once more she bows her head before me. "I am sorry for the trouble I have put you through. If I could send you back I would."
I shake my head. "Even if you could send me back I would not ask you to. This world offers a better life then what I faced back home. Here I have a mate and a child on the way. Here I am happy. I should be thanking you for this opportunity."
"As you wish. I shall be around, and will offer any help that I can grant to you. Go my champion, and enjoy the rest of your life." With that she gives me a smile and the world disappears in a dark haze.
***
Once more I surface into the real world. Light and noise intrude apon me and I slowly rouse from my sleep. This time I am not alone though. A furry form is lying against my side, must be Melliss. I painfully roll over and drape my arm around her and hug her to me.
With the feeling of my placing my arm over her she stirs and slowly opens her eyes. Turning her head towards me she gives me a grin. "Are you feeling better this morning John?"
I don’t answer her. I just dip my head to give her a long, deep kiss. She responds in kind and we stay that way for several minutes. Finally we break the kiss and look at each other again. When she rolls all the way over towards me I see her belly is starting show the signs of her pregnancy.
A startled look crosses my face as I look at her. I don’t remember her showing yet. "How long was I down Melliss?" She looks away and stays silent. "Come on Melliss. If you don’t tell me I will find out from someone else. Now how long was I out?"
She looks back over at me with a look of fear in her eyes. "You have been out over two months John. You were out a week since you last woke and I put you out again."
"Over two months huh? I must have really been messed up from that blast."
Her eyes are starting to brim with tears. "Yes, you were really bad off when Sean found you and brought you back. When I first saw you I thought you were dead because there was no way a normal falasi could have survived what you did, but then, you never really were a normal falasi."
I stroke her headfur back. "Neither were you Melliss. None of us could be considered normal or average."
She lets out a slight laugh. "That may be." She gives me a comforting nuzzle and hugs me tighter. "But at least we are all together."
I hold her for a little while longer before finally letting her go. "Now, I would really like to stay like this for a few weeks, but I am really hungry. Can I get some food?"
She lets go of me and swats my arm. "All right, lets get you fed."
I painfully sit up and whip off the blanket. Looking down at myself my eyebrows go up as I see my current state of undress. "But, first can you pass me some of my clothes? I don’t want to go outside of the tent in just my fur."
***
When I exit the tent I am wearing a pair of my shorts, just enough to keep my modesty. Sean sees me first and waves me outside to a cheery fire that he Kimpia, Ragge, and Meffia are sitting around.
"Now that the base is taken care of I figured a nice camp fire was called for to sit around and discuss what our new plans should be."
I give him a nod as I look around at the others. "Where are the others?"
"They are helping the other slaves who were still in the base build a new settlement near where the base was located. But the real question on everyone’s mind is what do we do now?"
"Can’t I have some food before I have to answer any questions?" I ask in whining voice.
They all get a laugh out of it and Melliss passes me a plate full of food. "Well, since you saved us from slavery, I guess we can give you this much." She has a huge grin plastered on her face as she says this, and the rest start laughing all the harder.
After I finish my first plate, and they stop laughing so hard, I finally speak to them about the future. "Well, first of all I am not dumb enough to try to think that we killed all the drac when we took that base. Ragge, you remember what we talked about. About these weapons," I pick up one of the pistols sitting on the ground. He gives me a nod, I have his full attention. "Well, I think it is time to start a new group of defenders for this world."
Sean looks over at me. "What, are you talking about forming an army?"
I shake my head at him. "Nope, something more along the lines of the Texas Rangers. A police force, kind of like your enforcers. But, they will be trained in the use of these weapons, and with tactics of how to use them when necessary."
"But where will we get these weapons, and where will they be trained," asks Meffia.
I look at her. "Don’t you remember the base we raided on our way here. That is where the dracs had been raiding their weapons. And if we fix it up it will make the perfect training area I can think of."
Sean brings up a good point though. "But, what is to stop people from using these weapons unnecessarily?"
I have to think on this one for a few minutes before I answer him. "Guns are now outlawed unless in time of extreme peril or we are fighting the dracs. Those are the only times such weapons should be used. No one other then a trained ranger will have access to such weapons."
Ragge brings up the next question. "And how do we keep them out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them?"
"After what has happened, there will be no absolutely stopping of such weapons getting into the wrong hands. So we might as well make preparations for the necessary."
Everyone seems to think on this for a little while and soon they all nod their consent to my plans. Melliss is hanging on my arm, resting her head on my shoulder. Together we rest in the secure peace of our friends. For soon, we have much work to do.
Melliss looks up at me with a still unanswered question on her mind. "How do we know we finally got that foul construct that was guiding them?"
I look down at her with a worried look on my own face. "We don’t."
***
Somewhere else in the world a small group of lizard like people makes its way across a savage and wild land. Held in the hands of the leader is a small black case. It is clutched there like a holy relic. What purpose it serves, is known only to them, but they carry it onward. Not knowing what awaits them still.