Post by raptor-chick on May 29, 2006 23:53:04 GMT -5
((Wow. I really went on a writing wrampage{hee} there!))
Final Hunt
I could barely fasten my armor, my hands were trembling so badly. It took me three tries just to buckle my curved sword on correctly. I would finally get to hunt the prey known as Pyode Amedha. They were one of the more dangerous creatures we hunted. They had soft bodies and were smaller than we were, did not have deadly claws and teeth like most of our prey, but they were intelligent, perhaps even as smart as we were. They devised weapons to bite for them, much as we did, though theirs are not as advanced. Many a warrior had not returned from a hunt, lead into a false sense of security by their inoffensive appearance. Such idiocy was always their downfall. To turn your back on any prey, to let your guard down for even a second was to invite death.
Sliding my last dagger into its sheath on my thigh, I turned and strode out of the room, heading from the armory to the launch bay. A few other hunters were there as well, excited as I was. I was the last. Flushing slightly, I ducked my head to hide my embarrassment from the irritated glares of the other warriors.
“Dahken. You are late.” Elder Zuur-Zak scolded.
“Sorry. It will not happen again.”
“It had better not. Such tardiness can cost lives. What we do is not a game.” I gritted my teeth, hating how I had just been treated like an Unblooded warrior, a child. Of course this was not a game! The scars knotting the flesh of my right shoulder proved that. I drew in a deep breath and held it a moment before breathing out slowly, willing my anger and frustration out with the air. Discipline was part of being a warrior, part of the Path. Then, the doors on each of the pods hissed open. The six of us stepped in obediently, the padded bars coming down over our shoulders, securing us in firmly. I shut my eyes and gripped the bars tightly, waiting for the next part. It started as a muffled, metallic click and then my stomach tried to leap out my throat! The horrible, screaming plunge down lasted only a short while, thankfully.
Once my pod thumped down and the door slid open again, I staggered out, shuddering. The drop was always the worst part. We had been orbiting the Pyode Amedha’s planet for several days, waiting for the correct moment. An incorrectly timed drop could result in us landing in a populated area. That would be nothing short of a true disaster. If such intelligent prey learned of our existence… I could not bear to think of the consequences. Our Code helped to prevent such a thing from happening. Accidents did happen, though. A culture as old as ours was bound to make mistakes every now and then. All that knew of us would be killed and the evidence hastily destroyed.
I pulled my mask off my belt and placed it on my face, sucking in a deep, grateful breath. We couldn’t last long in this atmosphere. It was too thin and dry for us. The terrain in this area was lightly treed and the ground covered in a small, spiky leafed plant. The trees looked ridiculously small and spindly compared to the giants on our world. I shrugged and started hiking towards the Pyode Amedha settlement, remembering just in time to turn on my camouflage. While we could easily see each other in it, the Pyode Amedha could not. It was cunningly made to hide us from sight in their spectrum. The other warriors were scattered quite a distance from each other, but we would all get to the city just the same.
As night fell, the temperature dropped. After shivering for a while, I gave up trying to be tough and turned on the thermal regulator. How could anything live on a planet that was so cold, even during the summer! Strangely enough, more creatures came out at night, filling the still air with their cries, darting about. The computer in my mask picked up on their activity, telling me that there was no dangerous prey around. I snorted. I knew that! I was not such an abysmal hunter that I needed a computer to tell me that! The little messages that constantly scrolled in the corners of my vision were distracting, so I shut them off. Now it was just me and the night, the way it should be. Voices rang out in the darkness. I quickly moved off the path I had been following and slid into the undergrowth. Pyode Amedha! I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, ready to attack if they proved to be ones I could hunt. They came walking up the path. I slumped slightly. These were still not adults and we did not hunt females or young. They chattered in high pitched voices, waving their slender arms and hopping about occasionally in response to the noises that the forest creatures generated. Were they lost? Usually an adult was not far from them. That was what the Elders had said. Or maybe I was close enough to their settlement. Yes. That was probably it. I got up from my crouch and began following behind, freezing whenever they stopped to glance nervously about with their very large, round eyes. They looked so strange! Their bodies were similar in general shape to ours, but much thinner. We were naturally quite strong and muscled. Their eyes seemed to pop out of their heads, but that was due to their larger size and near-absence of any sort of brow. The mouths were bigger too and had more teeth than us. They had very little hair on their heads and what was there was thin and limp. Such ugly young, I thought, shaking my head slightly.
Soon, we reached the edge of the settlement. Once inside the designated village, the wilderness ended abruptly. They had covered the ground in hard stone and there was naught a tree in sight. Most Pyode Amedha grew a small patch of plant life in front of their homes. Maybe it was to supplement their diet? They seemed to be inexpert at cultivating the plants. Many were wilted or undersized or infested. We grew vast forests inside buildings, so we could have the fruit they bore all year long. They seemed bound by the fickle seasons. What an awful place! Hardly any life here except for them. I felt very exposed here despite my camouflage and quickly left, heading deeper into the settlement. Nearer the center were slightly taller buildings, reminding me of the cities back on my home planet, but smaller and shabbier. More Pyode Amedha were out here, wandering the streets. They were all adults, fit and healthy, perfect for hunting!
I quickly began stalking one group of males. They looked as if they would put up a good fight. They acted very dominant, posturing and threatening some of those that they passed, barking loudly to each other, chattering rapidly. I slunk through the shadows, carefully watching them. There were seven, all smaller than me, but I could see that they carried weapons. From their movements, I guessed where they might go and hurried ahead to a gap between two buildings. There I waited, crouched, hand resting on my sword.
They entered the gap, some falling behind each other to be able to pass between the walls without soiling themselves. With a mighty battle cry, I leapt from my hiding spot, dropping my camouflage! My sword slid out of its sheath with a hiss, the blade glinting coldly. The Pyode Amedha screamed, recoiling from my form. Some of them, the braver ones, drew their weapons. They were small blades mostly, though one had a primitive gun, one that fired metal projectiles rather than plasma as mine did. We had long given up such weapons, favouring the deadlier energy guns. They waved the blades in what seemed to be a threatening manner, approaching me warily. I gave a short laugh and dropped into the Hiju, a battle stance, also known as the proper stance for disemboweling your opponent, though you did not have to use it for that. My sword was held in my right hand and in my left was a net gun. I fired it, fastening two of the prey to the wall. One of them was the one with the gun. I would deal with them later.
I nimbly dodged the attack of one of the males, giving silent acknowledgement to his skill. One of the other Pyode Amedhas threw himself at my flank, screaming hoarsely. Then, suddenly, another attacked as I was distracted with his companion. The blade plunged deep into the thick muscle of my shoulder, which would have been my back had I not seen the attack coming. I screamed in pain, swatting the creature away and into the wall, then turning and beheading the one who had distracted me. The remaining three backed away slightly, muttering to themselves, devising a plan of sorts. I panted, glaring at them, swiping away the blood pouring from my shoulder and the drops from the beheaded creature. A quick glance at the one that I backhanded into the wall revealed it was dead, most likely from a cracked skull or broken neck.
“Come and get me, you puny beasts!” I spat, “Dahken is ready!” They rushed me, attacking as one coordinated entity. I was ready, sweeping out a roundhouse kick, knocking one over, and then following up with an uppercut to another. Finally, I darted out with my sword, impaling the remaining male. He dropped and I finished off the two unconscious Pyode Amedha. It was not the most sporting thing, but what could I do? Wait until they awaken? Let them go and report what they had seen to their leaders? Once I heaped the dead beasts a short distance away, I turned to the two I had captured. Walking over to the net, I yanked the small barbs out of the wall, rolling the net up and tucking it into by belt. They had fallen to the ground, bruised by the net and shaken by the brutal deaths of their fellows. The one that had had the primitive gun had dropped it. It lay a few feet away. He had no weapon. I slowly approached, making sure they would not jump me and picked up the gun. It was bare and simple; unadorned, purely functional cold metal. Then I handed it back to him, holding my hands up in a gesture that said I would not harm him. They watched, terrified. I pointed at him and made a little swirling movement. After pointing to myself and doing the same thing, then repeating it a few times, he got the idea. It was so hoping to live, it would do anything. We turned our backs on each other and began walking a few paces away. I heard movement behind me a whirled, just as he fired off a shot. It was deafening in such close quarters, but I couldn’t let that distract me. I fired a shot from my shoulder-mounted gun as his bullet whirred past my head. There was a crack and a blinding flash of light. Then the male slowly dropped to his knees, head and upper torso obliterated. He slumped to the ground, though there was no blood beyond what had sprayed out during the initial shot. The plasma cauterized the wound instantly. The remaining Pyode Amedha fled, screaming a warning. I growled and began pursuit, my greater strength and stride length eating up the ground. I struck with my sword. It gave a choking sound as the blade sprouted through the center of his chest and dropped.
I quickly removed a couple skulls from the carcasses and left. The noise had drawn more and I did not want to be seen. The streets of this alien town were confusing, but I managed to find my way to the outskirts, dropping into a breathless heap in the thickest grove of trees I could find. Then, I removed most of my combat armor and settled down to clean my prizes.
First thing I did was remove all skin and as much flesh from the face as possible. I was not familiar with this type of prey and made a few mistakes on the first skull before figuring out what to do. Who would have thought that the large piece of flesh that protected the nostrils was nothing but cartilage? It had looked so strong. Then I carefully doused the head in a chemical to dissolve the flesh, rinsing it off with another to prevent damage to the bone. Once finished that, I turned it over and with a small knife, carefully enlarged the opening at the bottom where the spinal cord would have passed. Then I vacuumed out the brains. Soon, I had my trophies, gleaming pale and cold.
…..
The next few days were wonderful; full of hunting and learning. I soon began tracking my victims, since hunting them after I knew much about them, their mannerisms and habits, was much more fun. So was almost letting them see me, watching them try to construct defenses against their unknown assailant. But then, everything changed.
Some new Pyode Amedha arrived. These were organized and carried much more advanced weaponry. The Elders had said nothing of this. I knew they were very intelligent, but to have their own group of hunters to hunt those that hunted their lessers? I had never heard of such a thing in any of the many species we hunted. Clever, but they could not be so dangerous, could they? The Elders would have said something about that. Besides, I had not been injured since that first night and the wound was knitting well. I would pursue them, as I had pursued every other Pyode Amedha that had caught my interest.
…..
I waited silently, watching a male that was currently sitting on a stone edging the road, eating something. Presumably, he was looking for me, but he was looking in an entirely wrong place. Why was it that they never looked up? I shook my head, grinning slightly. Tentatively, I placed my foot on a lower branch, moving so slowly, so carefully… These tree were so small and flimsy feeling, I half expected it to snap in half under my weight! Really, the worst that would happen was a branch would crack and shake the tree, alerting it to my presence. It was a pity it chose such an open place. This was the only good place to hide. Suddenly, something beeped loudly in my ear, scaring me. I jerked and nearly lost my balance, rattling the leaves. I cursed and jumped down, my cover blown, fleeing to a more secure location. The noise meant much more than I previously thought, after checking the small computer mounted on my wrist. It was a distress signal from one of the other warriors. I had received it because I was the closest. They were automatically sent out if our vitals dropped below a certain level. The other warriors would then come to collect the body and equipment if it had not already been destroyed. My heart pounding in my chest, I began my long trek to my fallen comrade’s location.
It was a grim scene in the warehouse. There was evidence of battle all around; burn marks from plasma blasts, bullet holes, dead Pyode Amedha and blood. Buckets of it! Pooling on the floor, splattered across the walls, staining railings… And not just alien blood. My species blood was present as well, in alarming amounts. I ventured in further, the air smelling of the coppery-sweetness of blood and the stench of those whose bowels had cut loose.
“Pa’anuket? Can you hear me?” I called hesitantly. I stepped over a shredded carcass, my nerves fizzing with tension. “Hello?” There was a much larger form ahead, one that looked almost like… “Pa’anuket!” I rushed over and dropped to my knees. He breathed. Barely. His powerful body was riddled with bullet holes, still oozing blood.
“Da… Dahken…” he choked.
“What? What is it?” I said, lifting his head to cradle on my lap. No one should be denied comfort during their final moments.
“The… Py… Pyo…” He began coughing, weak and damp. I wrestled with his mask, pulling it off so he did not drown in blood. He gasped a deep, rattling breath, and said, “Trap. Save… Save yourself…” He slumped lower, fighting a losing battle with consciousness.
“I’ll get help. The Elders will be able to fix you up.” A lie, nothing but a dirty lie! We both knew he was going fast. I heard someone walking, several someones walking and knew that these were not more warriors, but instead were Pyode Amedha. A cold tube pressed into my back and I heard some words in a foreign language. I turned my head and glared out of the corner of my eye at a Pyode Amedha standing directly behind me. He was only visible from the neck up. How ingenious. They too had figured out a way to camouflage themselves. They had probably been there the whole time. Turning my attention from my dying friend, I growled, low and menacing. In a flash I struck, fighting with an urgency I did not know I had. He parried a few lightning fast blows on the barrel of his gun before I killed him. Then I moved onto the next. They had blood on their feet and so I could see them walk. Plus, their guns were visible now, having been taken out of camouflaged holders. I attacked, my plasma gun killing right and left, my sword cutting down those that avoided it. Suddenly, horrible pain bloomed on my legs and back. I roared in pain, stumbling. Several bullets struck me in the stomach. For a few minutes I managed to keep fighting, driven by adrenaline, but soon, the cumulative effect of those many wounds dragged me down. I seized Pa’anuket, who still clung to life and dragged him out of the large room and after kicking open the door, into a much smaller room. I dragged a few boxes in front of the door and collapsed. The Pyode Amedha had set a trap up for us. Mortally wounding one and letting him lure me here. And if I did not stop this, more would come. More inexperienced, stupid warriors. I was a fool. My injured friend looked at me, hopefully, asking a silent question though he did not have the energy to speak.
“Yes. I will do it and we will die with honor and keep the rest safe.” I opened my left wrist computer, tapping out the code. The countdown began. Pa’anuket smiled faintly. I looked up as the former prey began battering at the door. When I looked down, Pa’anuket was dead. “I will join you in the glorious afterlife soon.” I said, picking up my sword. It felt amazingly heavy now, having been like a feather before. I turned it around and paused, not quite able to finish the deed at the moment. Some of our women were against the hunts. Too many of their children died for what? Honor? Status? I understood where they came from now, but if I could re-live my life, I would not ignore the Path. We were a warrior people, out very culture shaped by the organized hunts. Unlike the Pyode Amedha, we do not kill because it is our nature. We kill because we love it. We cannot deny instinct. We have not tried to distance ourselves from out primal past. We embrace it fully. I thrust the sword deep into my belly, letting out a strangled cry as the razor sharp blade split my skin and flesh, grating against bone. I slumped over, coughing and panting, my vision beginning to haze over. I could still see the countdown on my arm though, burning brightly among the growing darkness. It was comforting. The Pyode Amedha would have quite the surprise in about a minute and a half. Afterwards, the Elders would come and claim any part of us that had not been destroyed. We would be heroes, warriors that did not shy from the Path! My last breath shuddered out of me.
…..
The door burst open, several boxes crashing out of the way as two men stumbled into the room.
One laughed, “Hey! We got ‘em good! Those monsters aren’t going to be up soon!”
“Don’t be an idiot, Johnson. Keyes wanted at least one alive. He’ll roast us good for this.”
“Still, I feel better knowing that we got rid of a couple more. Besides, we have all the equipment and that’s what counts, right?” Johnson said, grinning and tucking the shiny silver hood under his arm. The damned suits were hot!
“Mmm… I suppose. You can take the brunt of the punishment then.” He leaned against the door frame. One of them had impaled itself, just like the Japanese Samurai used to do… Maybe they weren’t such stupid beasts… Maybe they were smarter than anyone, Keyes included, thought.
“Crap! Those are some ugly mofos, huh?” Johnson pointed at the bare face of one. Four tusked mandibles surrounded and small, sharp-toothed mouth. The head was huge and long, with thick brow ridges, under which a pair of small yellow eyes could be seen, half lidded with death. The hair appeared to be made of ropes or tentacles or something… They wore bizarre armor and had claws. “Hey! Lookit this!” the hyper man said, pointing at the impaled one’s arm. “Looks almost like a countdown, huh?”
Final Hunt
I could barely fasten my armor, my hands were trembling so badly. It took me three tries just to buckle my curved sword on correctly. I would finally get to hunt the prey known as Pyode Amedha. They were one of the more dangerous creatures we hunted. They had soft bodies and were smaller than we were, did not have deadly claws and teeth like most of our prey, but they were intelligent, perhaps even as smart as we were. They devised weapons to bite for them, much as we did, though theirs are not as advanced. Many a warrior had not returned from a hunt, lead into a false sense of security by their inoffensive appearance. Such idiocy was always their downfall. To turn your back on any prey, to let your guard down for even a second was to invite death.
Sliding my last dagger into its sheath on my thigh, I turned and strode out of the room, heading from the armory to the launch bay. A few other hunters were there as well, excited as I was. I was the last. Flushing slightly, I ducked my head to hide my embarrassment from the irritated glares of the other warriors.
“Dahken. You are late.” Elder Zuur-Zak scolded.
“Sorry. It will not happen again.”
“It had better not. Such tardiness can cost lives. What we do is not a game.” I gritted my teeth, hating how I had just been treated like an Unblooded warrior, a child. Of course this was not a game! The scars knotting the flesh of my right shoulder proved that. I drew in a deep breath and held it a moment before breathing out slowly, willing my anger and frustration out with the air. Discipline was part of being a warrior, part of the Path. Then, the doors on each of the pods hissed open. The six of us stepped in obediently, the padded bars coming down over our shoulders, securing us in firmly. I shut my eyes and gripped the bars tightly, waiting for the next part. It started as a muffled, metallic click and then my stomach tried to leap out my throat! The horrible, screaming plunge down lasted only a short while, thankfully.
Once my pod thumped down and the door slid open again, I staggered out, shuddering. The drop was always the worst part. We had been orbiting the Pyode Amedha’s planet for several days, waiting for the correct moment. An incorrectly timed drop could result in us landing in a populated area. That would be nothing short of a true disaster. If such intelligent prey learned of our existence… I could not bear to think of the consequences. Our Code helped to prevent such a thing from happening. Accidents did happen, though. A culture as old as ours was bound to make mistakes every now and then. All that knew of us would be killed and the evidence hastily destroyed.
I pulled my mask off my belt and placed it on my face, sucking in a deep, grateful breath. We couldn’t last long in this atmosphere. It was too thin and dry for us. The terrain in this area was lightly treed and the ground covered in a small, spiky leafed plant. The trees looked ridiculously small and spindly compared to the giants on our world. I shrugged and started hiking towards the Pyode Amedha settlement, remembering just in time to turn on my camouflage. While we could easily see each other in it, the Pyode Amedha could not. It was cunningly made to hide us from sight in their spectrum. The other warriors were scattered quite a distance from each other, but we would all get to the city just the same.
As night fell, the temperature dropped. After shivering for a while, I gave up trying to be tough and turned on the thermal regulator. How could anything live on a planet that was so cold, even during the summer! Strangely enough, more creatures came out at night, filling the still air with their cries, darting about. The computer in my mask picked up on their activity, telling me that there was no dangerous prey around. I snorted. I knew that! I was not such an abysmal hunter that I needed a computer to tell me that! The little messages that constantly scrolled in the corners of my vision were distracting, so I shut them off. Now it was just me and the night, the way it should be. Voices rang out in the darkness. I quickly moved off the path I had been following and slid into the undergrowth. Pyode Amedha! I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, ready to attack if they proved to be ones I could hunt. They came walking up the path. I slumped slightly. These were still not adults and we did not hunt females or young. They chattered in high pitched voices, waving their slender arms and hopping about occasionally in response to the noises that the forest creatures generated. Were they lost? Usually an adult was not far from them. That was what the Elders had said. Or maybe I was close enough to their settlement. Yes. That was probably it. I got up from my crouch and began following behind, freezing whenever they stopped to glance nervously about with their very large, round eyes. They looked so strange! Their bodies were similar in general shape to ours, but much thinner. We were naturally quite strong and muscled. Their eyes seemed to pop out of their heads, but that was due to their larger size and near-absence of any sort of brow. The mouths were bigger too and had more teeth than us. They had very little hair on their heads and what was there was thin and limp. Such ugly young, I thought, shaking my head slightly.
Soon, we reached the edge of the settlement. Once inside the designated village, the wilderness ended abruptly. They had covered the ground in hard stone and there was naught a tree in sight. Most Pyode Amedha grew a small patch of plant life in front of their homes. Maybe it was to supplement their diet? They seemed to be inexpert at cultivating the plants. Many were wilted or undersized or infested. We grew vast forests inside buildings, so we could have the fruit they bore all year long. They seemed bound by the fickle seasons. What an awful place! Hardly any life here except for them. I felt very exposed here despite my camouflage and quickly left, heading deeper into the settlement. Nearer the center were slightly taller buildings, reminding me of the cities back on my home planet, but smaller and shabbier. More Pyode Amedha were out here, wandering the streets. They were all adults, fit and healthy, perfect for hunting!
I quickly began stalking one group of males. They looked as if they would put up a good fight. They acted very dominant, posturing and threatening some of those that they passed, barking loudly to each other, chattering rapidly. I slunk through the shadows, carefully watching them. There were seven, all smaller than me, but I could see that they carried weapons. From their movements, I guessed where they might go and hurried ahead to a gap between two buildings. There I waited, crouched, hand resting on my sword.
They entered the gap, some falling behind each other to be able to pass between the walls without soiling themselves. With a mighty battle cry, I leapt from my hiding spot, dropping my camouflage! My sword slid out of its sheath with a hiss, the blade glinting coldly. The Pyode Amedha screamed, recoiling from my form. Some of them, the braver ones, drew their weapons. They were small blades mostly, though one had a primitive gun, one that fired metal projectiles rather than plasma as mine did. We had long given up such weapons, favouring the deadlier energy guns. They waved the blades in what seemed to be a threatening manner, approaching me warily. I gave a short laugh and dropped into the Hiju, a battle stance, also known as the proper stance for disemboweling your opponent, though you did not have to use it for that. My sword was held in my right hand and in my left was a net gun. I fired it, fastening two of the prey to the wall. One of them was the one with the gun. I would deal with them later.
I nimbly dodged the attack of one of the males, giving silent acknowledgement to his skill. One of the other Pyode Amedhas threw himself at my flank, screaming hoarsely. Then, suddenly, another attacked as I was distracted with his companion. The blade plunged deep into the thick muscle of my shoulder, which would have been my back had I not seen the attack coming. I screamed in pain, swatting the creature away and into the wall, then turning and beheading the one who had distracted me. The remaining three backed away slightly, muttering to themselves, devising a plan of sorts. I panted, glaring at them, swiping away the blood pouring from my shoulder and the drops from the beheaded creature. A quick glance at the one that I backhanded into the wall revealed it was dead, most likely from a cracked skull or broken neck.
“Come and get me, you puny beasts!” I spat, “Dahken is ready!” They rushed me, attacking as one coordinated entity. I was ready, sweeping out a roundhouse kick, knocking one over, and then following up with an uppercut to another. Finally, I darted out with my sword, impaling the remaining male. He dropped and I finished off the two unconscious Pyode Amedha. It was not the most sporting thing, but what could I do? Wait until they awaken? Let them go and report what they had seen to their leaders? Once I heaped the dead beasts a short distance away, I turned to the two I had captured. Walking over to the net, I yanked the small barbs out of the wall, rolling the net up and tucking it into by belt. They had fallen to the ground, bruised by the net and shaken by the brutal deaths of their fellows. The one that had had the primitive gun had dropped it. It lay a few feet away. He had no weapon. I slowly approached, making sure they would not jump me and picked up the gun. It was bare and simple; unadorned, purely functional cold metal. Then I handed it back to him, holding my hands up in a gesture that said I would not harm him. They watched, terrified. I pointed at him and made a little swirling movement. After pointing to myself and doing the same thing, then repeating it a few times, he got the idea. It was so hoping to live, it would do anything. We turned our backs on each other and began walking a few paces away. I heard movement behind me a whirled, just as he fired off a shot. It was deafening in such close quarters, but I couldn’t let that distract me. I fired a shot from my shoulder-mounted gun as his bullet whirred past my head. There was a crack and a blinding flash of light. Then the male slowly dropped to his knees, head and upper torso obliterated. He slumped to the ground, though there was no blood beyond what had sprayed out during the initial shot. The plasma cauterized the wound instantly. The remaining Pyode Amedha fled, screaming a warning. I growled and began pursuit, my greater strength and stride length eating up the ground. I struck with my sword. It gave a choking sound as the blade sprouted through the center of his chest and dropped.
I quickly removed a couple skulls from the carcasses and left. The noise had drawn more and I did not want to be seen. The streets of this alien town were confusing, but I managed to find my way to the outskirts, dropping into a breathless heap in the thickest grove of trees I could find. Then, I removed most of my combat armor and settled down to clean my prizes.
First thing I did was remove all skin and as much flesh from the face as possible. I was not familiar with this type of prey and made a few mistakes on the first skull before figuring out what to do. Who would have thought that the large piece of flesh that protected the nostrils was nothing but cartilage? It had looked so strong. Then I carefully doused the head in a chemical to dissolve the flesh, rinsing it off with another to prevent damage to the bone. Once finished that, I turned it over and with a small knife, carefully enlarged the opening at the bottom where the spinal cord would have passed. Then I vacuumed out the brains. Soon, I had my trophies, gleaming pale and cold.
…..
The next few days were wonderful; full of hunting and learning. I soon began tracking my victims, since hunting them after I knew much about them, their mannerisms and habits, was much more fun. So was almost letting them see me, watching them try to construct defenses against their unknown assailant. But then, everything changed.
Some new Pyode Amedha arrived. These were organized and carried much more advanced weaponry. The Elders had said nothing of this. I knew they were very intelligent, but to have their own group of hunters to hunt those that hunted their lessers? I had never heard of such a thing in any of the many species we hunted. Clever, but they could not be so dangerous, could they? The Elders would have said something about that. Besides, I had not been injured since that first night and the wound was knitting well. I would pursue them, as I had pursued every other Pyode Amedha that had caught my interest.
…..
I waited silently, watching a male that was currently sitting on a stone edging the road, eating something. Presumably, he was looking for me, but he was looking in an entirely wrong place. Why was it that they never looked up? I shook my head, grinning slightly. Tentatively, I placed my foot on a lower branch, moving so slowly, so carefully… These tree were so small and flimsy feeling, I half expected it to snap in half under my weight! Really, the worst that would happen was a branch would crack and shake the tree, alerting it to my presence. It was a pity it chose such an open place. This was the only good place to hide. Suddenly, something beeped loudly in my ear, scaring me. I jerked and nearly lost my balance, rattling the leaves. I cursed and jumped down, my cover blown, fleeing to a more secure location. The noise meant much more than I previously thought, after checking the small computer mounted on my wrist. It was a distress signal from one of the other warriors. I had received it because I was the closest. They were automatically sent out if our vitals dropped below a certain level. The other warriors would then come to collect the body and equipment if it had not already been destroyed. My heart pounding in my chest, I began my long trek to my fallen comrade’s location.
It was a grim scene in the warehouse. There was evidence of battle all around; burn marks from plasma blasts, bullet holes, dead Pyode Amedha and blood. Buckets of it! Pooling on the floor, splattered across the walls, staining railings… And not just alien blood. My species blood was present as well, in alarming amounts. I ventured in further, the air smelling of the coppery-sweetness of blood and the stench of those whose bowels had cut loose.
“Pa’anuket? Can you hear me?” I called hesitantly. I stepped over a shredded carcass, my nerves fizzing with tension. “Hello?” There was a much larger form ahead, one that looked almost like… “Pa’anuket!” I rushed over and dropped to my knees. He breathed. Barely. His powerful body was riddled with bullet holes, still oozing blood.
“Da… Dahken…” he choked.
“What? What is it?” I said, lifting his head to cradle on my lap. No one should be denied comfort during their final moments.
“The… Py… Pyo…” He began coughing, weak and damp. I wrestled with his mask, pulling it off so he did not drown in blood. He gasped a deep, rattling breath, and said, “Trap. Save… Save yourself…” He slumped lower, fighting a losing battle with consciousness.
“I’ll get help. The Elders will be able to fix you up.” A lie, nothing but a dirty lie! We both knew he was going fast. I heard someone walking, several someones walking and knew that these were not more warriors, but instead were Pyode Amedha. A cold tube pressed into my back and I heard some words in a foreign language. I turned my head and glared out of the corner of my eye at a Pyode Amedha standing directly behind me. He was only visible from the neck up. How ingenious. They too had figured out a way to camouflage themselves. They had probably been there the whole time. Turning my attention from my dying friend, I growled, low and menacing. In a flash I struck, fighting with an urgency I did not know I had. He parried a few lightning fast blows on the barrel of his gun before I killed him. Then I moved onto the next. They had blood on their feet and so I could see them walk. Plus, their guns were visible now, having been taken out of camouflaged holders. I attacked, my plasma gun killing right and left, my sword cutting down those that avoided it. Suddenly, horrible pain bloomed on my legs and back. I roared in pain, stumbling. Several bullets struck me in the stomach. For a few minutes I managed to keep fighting, driven by adrenaline, but soon, the cumulative effect of those many wounds dragged me down. I seized Pa’anuket, who still clung to life and dragged him out of the large room and after kicking open the door, into a much smaller room. I dragged a few boxes in front of the door and collapsed. The Pyode Amedha had set a trap up for us. Mortally wounding one and letting him lure me here. And if I did not stop this, more would come. More inexperienced, stupid warriors. I was a fool. My injured friend looked at me, hopefully, asking a silent question though he did not have the energy to speak.
“Yes. I will do it and we will die with honor and keep the rest safe.” I opened my left wrist computer, tapping out the code. The countdown began. Pa’anuket smiled faintly. I looked up as the former prey began battering at the door. When I looked down, Pa’anuket was dead. “I will join you in the glorious afterlife soon.” I said, picking up my sword. It felt amazingly heavy now, having been like a feather before. I turned it around and paused, not quite able to finish the deed at the moment. Some of our women were against the hunts. Too many of their children died for what? Honor? Status? I understood where they came from now, but if I could re-live my life, I would not ignore the Path. We were a warrior people, out very culture shaped by the organized hunts. Unlike the Pyode Amedha, we do not kill because it is our nature. We kill because we love it. We cannot deny instinct. We have not tried to distance ourselves from out primal past. We embrace it fully. I thrust the sword deep into my belly, letting out a strangled cry as the razor sharp blade split my skin and flesh, grating against bone. I slumped over, coughing and panting, my vision beginning to haze over. I could still see the countdown on my arm though, burning brightly among the growing darkness. It was comforting. The Pyode Amedha would have quite the surprise in about a minute and a half. Afterwards, the Elders would come and claim any part of us that had not been destroyed. We would be heroes, warriors that did not shy from the Path! My last breath shuddered out of me.
…..
The door burst open, several boxes crashing out of the way as two men stumbled into the room.
One laughed, “Hey! We got ‘em good! Those monsters aren’t going to be up soon!”
“Don’t be an idiot, Johnson. Keyes wanted at least one alive. He’ll roast us good for this.”
“Still, I feel better knowing that we got rid of a couple more. Besides, we have all the equipment and that’s what counts, right?” Johnson said, grinning and tucking the shiny silver hood under his arm. The damned suits were hot!
“Mmm… I suppose. You can take the brunt of the punishment then.” He leaned against the door frame. One of them had impaled itself, just like the Japanese Samurai used to do… Maybe they weren’t such stupid beasts… Maybe they were smarter than anyone, Keyes included, thought.
“Crap! Those are some ugly mofos, huh?” Johnson pointed at the bare face of one. Four tusked mandibles surrounded and small, sharp-toothed mouth. The head was huge and long, with thick brow ridges, under which a pair of small yellow eyes could be seen, half lidded with death. The hair appeared to be made of ropes or tentacles or something… They wore bizarre armor and had claws. “Hey! Lookit this!” the hyper man said, pointing at the impaled one’s arm. “Looks almost like a countdown, huh?”
