CHAPTER 9 - The Hunt of the Cindravis

  The Rectoliner cut through the wasteland outside the Outer Wall. Five of the massive, stealth transports moved in formation, their only light sources the dull internal cabin glow and the cold violet pulse of the distant Aurora. Skeletal buildings and monuments from the ancient world jutted out of the toxic orange haze, silently observing their flight. These gigantic vehicles—capable of holding up to five hundred personnel each—sped across the terrain, using gravitational distortion fields that kept them virtually untracked and invisible.

  In the command bridge of the lead Rectoliner, Laryth gripped the controls.

  "I think we are clear, ma'am," Laryth said, the tension only slightly relieved in his voice. "No threats detected in the radar."

  Aura stood directly behind him, her silhouette imposing against the front viewport. "No, not yet. Keep moving and keep your alert level high."

  Laryth nodded in agreement, not daring to question her command. He knew better than to doubt Aura's sense of danger.

  In the huge cabin bay, Kael lay on a narrow cot, tended to by Mira. He was still pale, and fresh bandages covered the wounds

  "Mavis... Mavis..." Kael muttered the name, his brow furrowed in unconscious distress. He suddenly thrashed, panicking in his sleep, and bolted upright with a sharp, ragged scream.

  "Whoa, whoa, dude, calm down. We are safe now," Mira said, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder, visibly shaken by his terror.

  Kael blinked, his eyes adjusting to the dim, synthetic light. He looked at his surroundings, then at Mira, his breathing ragged.

  "Don't worry," Mira reassured him gently, checking the dressing on his arm. "We're going to our base. Lay down. Your wounds aren't healed yet, and you bled a lot."

  What happened? How long was I out for? Kael thought, trying to process the terrifying rush of the uncontrolled temporal vision. He eased himself back onto the cot, the movement causing sharp pain in his skull.

  Mira sat back, continuing to quietly re-tape his bandages. "You were calling out names while you were out," she said softly. Kael looked at her, his face tight with pain and grief. He looked moments away from breaking down.

  Mira understood instantly. She stood up, ready to give him space. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought her up."

  As she reached the sliding door, Kael spoke, his voice cracked and hollow.

  "She was my hope," he said, loud enough to stop her.

  Kael kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling, the words pouring out of the darkness he carried. Mira stayed by the door, listening intently.

  "My parents abandoned me. The Cinderlands saw me as a curse. I was starving, eating garbage filled with toxic waste. Then Old Jax found me." Kael swallowed hard, trying to keep his composure. "He fed me, but I didn't speak for days. I had no will to live... until I met her. Mavis. She lit up the darkness inside me. For the first time, I actually wanted to live."

  His voice broke. "But she's gone now. And I feel that darkness rising inside me again. The Enforcers took everything I ever had. Why us? What did we ever do to them? Why is this world so cursed? Filled with people like them, ruining our lives?" He closed his fist, pressing his knuckles white against the cot.

  "I'm sorry for what happened," Mira said, leaning against the wall, her gaze distant. "I know the darkness you mentioned. I was a slave. My own father sold me as a sex slave to an Enforcer while I was growing up. My mother tried to protect me, but he killed her."

  Kael was shocked. He pushed himself up again, ignoring the blinding pain, needing to look at her straight.

  "He abused me constantly," Mira continued, her voice flat with old sorrow. "I wanted to die. But one day, something snapped inside me. I killed him. I killed that Enforcer." A bitter smile touched her lips, hiding deep sadness in her shining eyes. "It was Elpis who found me standing outside the walls, soaked in blood."

  Kael stared. "Elpis...?"

  "He took care of me. He gave me a purpose." Mira smiled, though her eyes remained empty of true joy. "So yes, I understand you, Kael. We both carry a lot of dead weight."

  Kael was visibly tearing up, his grief finally finding an anchor in her shared trauma.

  A colossal impact ripped through the hull, not a sound, but a deafening, kinetic shockwave that shattered the cabin's fragile calm. Mira was thrown violently, slamming into the opposite wall, while Kael was driven deep into his cot, his injured body screaming in protest. The Rectoliner began a chaotic, wrenching descent, alarms wailing a shrill, electronic panic.

  The collision impact hurled Laryth against the console, but he fought to regain control. The pilot area was flashing with urgent red indicators.

  "What was that, Laryth?!" Aura demanded, rushing forward, her voice sharp and alert.

  "I don't know! Our outer shield is gone, and the Rectoliner is descending fast!" Laryth shouted, terror flashing in his eyes as he fought the unresponsive controls. "I need help stabilizing the core!"

  Aura didn't hesitate. She grabbed a helmet from a nearby rack, strapping it over her head. Wires immediately connected to ports behind her ears—a direct neural link to the ship's systems. Instantly, she gained a full, panoramic view of the Rectoliner and the world below.

  She stared out the viewport. The familiar toxic haze of the wasteland was gone. Below them was a treacherous, jagged landscape of massive, overgrown towers and ancient, ruinous cities.

  "The Forsaken Verdure" she muttered, her voice dropping with cold dread. "This is bad. The Forbidden Lands."

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  Laryth glanced over, his voice laced with venom. "Those fucking Enforcers messed with our navigation system! We were routed straight into danger. Now help me stabilize! I hope you can handle the G-force!"

  With a violent yell, Laryth slapped a final override button. The entire inertial stress of the descent transferred directly to Aura's neural link. She grit her teeth, her entire body rigid as she channeled her focus, fighting the inertia to stabilize the colossal ship.

  Blood instantly sprang from her nose, dripping onto the console. "Fuck! I'll disconnect!" she gasped, the feedback burning her brain.

  "No! You can do it!" Laryth roared back, pushing his own manual controls to the limit.

  With a final, agonizing surge of effort, Aura stabilized the Rectoliner's gravity fields, arresting the descent. She snatched the helmet off, wiping the blood from her face.

  "We are stable, but the danger is not over," she stated, her breathing ragged. "Our shield is down. Laryth, try contacting the other Rectoliners."

  Laryth's fingers danced over the comms panel, but his face paled further. "Our communication system, too. Completely compromised by the Enforcers. We're isolated, ma'am."

  Aura looked out at the jagged terrain of the Forbidden Lands, a grim resolution settling over her. "We have no choice but to push forward until we pass The Forsaken Verdure. It is too dangerous to linger."

  The floor shook again, this time with a different, high-pitched screech.

  "What was that?!" Laryth yelled, checking the monitor.

  The image that flashed onto the screen froze them both with dread. It was a Cindravis—a massive, crowlike flying monster, its scaled body the size of a small airship. It was rapidly gaining on their exposed tail.

  "Fuck!" Aura roared, snapping back into action. "Armory alarms! Sound the general alarm, Laryth!"

  Laryth immediately triggered the ship-wide alert. Along the sides of the Rectoliner, large ports snapped open, revealing the heavily armed defensive batteries. The armory bay instantly flooded with Nemesis rebels, who scrambled to take control of the twenty high-caliber electroguns—ten mounted on each side of the transport. The air was thick with the scent of fear and ozone.

  The Rectoliner hurtled through the vast darkness. The Cindravis, a monstrous flying predator, circled them on the monitor, flanking the transport as if seeking a vulnerable spot.

  "Laryth, I think the Nidhi is what attracted it," Aura analyzed, her voice tight. "We must get away from this Cindravis immediately."

  Laryth nodded, his attention fixed on the controls. He connected to the ship-wide voice system. "Nemesis! Prepare to attack! Hold positions! On my command!"

  The rebels in the armory bay swiftly fixed their electroguns onto the massive, dark silhouette circling the ship.

  "NOW!" Laryth commanded.

  All ten electroguns fired simultaneously, unleashing a colossal ray of charged energy. The Cindravis, however, moved with frightening agility, evading the combined blast, and vanished instantly into the dark.

  "Where did it go?" the rebels muttered across the comms.

  Aura, still neurally connected to the ship's systems, saw the predator's true trajectory. "BELOW US! BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

  The Cindravis reappeared from the void, slamming violently into the Rectoliner's underside. The ship shuddered, the impact nearly shattering the stabilizer core. Aura strained with all her might to channel the core's energy, trying to dampen the shock.

  "Damn it! Two electroguns are damaged!" Laryth shouted. Before they could react, the Cindravis was already maneuvering for its next strike.

  "WE ARE DONE FOR IF IT ATTACKS AGAIN! FIRE!"

  The rebels opened fire again, but the Cindravis effortlessly dodged every ray. Just as despair gripped the bridge, a sudden, blindingly violent ray of energy struck the monster. The Cindravis shrieked—a deafening sound that reverberated through the hull—and fell back, flying a distance from the Rectoliner in pain and fury.

  "Who was that?!" Laryth yelled, awe and shock mixing in his voice.

  The voice that answered over the comms was familiar: Mira. "I'm sorry, Captain, for being late." She had connected to the armory systems minutes before, stabilizing the rebels' targeting grid.

  "We have a chance now!" Laryth yelled, renewed hope flooding his voice. "We just need to hold it until we clear the Forbidden Lands!" Aura remained silent, intensely alert, searching the system for the next attack.

  Mira is amazing. This is the Nemesis, Kael thought, regaining consciousness and watching the chaotic scene unfold. These are the people who have hope in me? Why?

  The attack siren wailed again. Aura watched her command monitor, her eyes widening in profound shock as more hostile signatures emerged from the darkness.

  "Laryth," she said, her voice smooth but laced with extreme tension. "There is more than one Cindravis on our tail. They are hunting in a pack."

  "Fuck! Those damn Enforcers!" Laryth muttered, before tapping the comms. "Keep your eyes alert! They're attacking coordinated! We can't afford any casualties here!"

  The Cindravis pack attacked in synchronized waves, tearing into the Rectoliner's exposed armor. But Mira was locked in, defending their flanks with full, calculated strength, taking down the monsters one by one.

  At the other armory bay, a rebel succumbed to the physical stress of the system feedback. A man named Maxion immediately took the empty position. "Listen, Mira," his calculated voice cut through the comms. "The Cindravis are attacking coordinated. We need to disrupt their formation leader."

  "Understood," Mira replied. The pack attacked again, but Mira and Maxion struck simultaneously at the lead Cindravis, shattering its assault pattern and saving the Rectoliner from devastating damage.

  "Incredible..." Kael thought, watching the coordinated defense. But then the echo hit him.

  His senses screamed danger. He saw into the future: a devastating attack from above that utterly destroyed the Rectoliner.

  "ABOVE! THEY ARE ATTACKING FROM ABOVE!" Kael yelled, his voice raw and desperate, without wasting a second.

  Mira, Maxion, and the others instantly looked up. Aura confirmed the threat on her system: the largest Cindravis they had ever seen was charging directly into them.

  "SHOOT!" Laryth commanded through the voice system.

  All eight remaining electroguns fired in a unified blast. The Cindravis was hit, but it merely swirled its massive wing, and huge, razor-sharp feathers tore through the Rectoliner's side.

  "Fuck!" Maxion cursed. A gaping hole now compromised the hull, and the ship began a rapid, spiraling descent.

  "We are almost there! We need to hold a bit more!" Laryth roared over the system.

  But it was hopeless. The feather had struck the side of the core; the electroguns were dark and useless. Aura and Laryth realized with grim dread that the Cindravis pack had been scouting for the core all along. They were devastatingly intelligent.

  "LARYTH, USE THE FINAL BIT OF ENERGY LEFT TO SUPERCHARGE THE ENGINE AND BLAST THROUGH!" Aura yelled, seeing the Cindravis pack preparing for a final unified attack.

  "EVERYONE BRACE FOR IMMINENT G-FORCE AND IMPACT!" Laryth screamed through the comms. The rebels fell down, bracing for the inevitable. Kael was dizzy from his vision. Mira disconnected from the armory and rushed back to the cabin, embracing Kael to shield him.

  "We can make it, Kael," Mira said to the dizzy boy as they braced for impact. "I know it."

  Laryth slammed the final switch. The reserve energy hit the engine core, and in a split second, the entire Rectoliner accelerated through the sky with an impossible burst of speed. The Cindravis pack missed their final attack. The immediate G-force was so strong that people inside the ship were thrown about like ragdolls, but they had crossed the threshold. They had passed The Forsaken Verdure.

  As they all believed they were safe, Aura instantly saw it. The huge Prime Cindravis had caught up. Impossible! Before it could pierce the Rectoliner, multiple colossal electro-rays came flying through the sky, striking the beast.

  The other Rectoliners were there, unified, executing a precise rescue maneuver.

  The radio crackled back to life. "Ca—Can you—Can you hear us?!"

  "Yes, we can," Laryth said, collapsing with exhaustion against the controls. "We barely made it."

  The Prime Cindravis looked back one final time before flying back toward the Forbidden Lands. It could sense the Nidhi's energy still emitting from the damaged transport.

  Hours later, they arrived at the base, Sector V-9.

  Kael watched from the window as the land below opened up and the Rectoliners headed into a vast, hidden canyon. He was in awe and shock. He thought he knew a lot about this world, but little did he know, he hadn't even seen the surface of the iceberg yet.