Ground of oam oams cry, p.55
Ground of Oam (Oam's Cry), page 55
“At least it’s on the way out,” Nigarious replied urgently. “We’ve got to move now.”
Levi turned around to face Nigarious while holding onto the blue lens.
The two of them ran for the door they had come in from, with Nigarious leading the way. The large wooden doors had closed on them when they had entered without making a sound. Nigarious and Levi nearly reached the door at the same time to open it when a strong tremor was felt on the other side.
Levi’s senses grew alert telling him not to go through, but it was too late. His hand had already touched the door when something on the other side hit it knocking both of them down. A loud bang was heard as the double doors shook, but they did not open. Levi felt the large wave of commotion disappear down another hall as fast as it had come.
Levi and Nigarious scrambled back to their feet, ready for something to break through. Nothing was felt on the other side though. Whatever it was, it had gone. Nigarious glanced over toward Levi, while Levi glanced over to him.
“What was that?” Nigarious exclaimed.
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s gone,” Levi replied, with his adrenaline going.
“Open the door carefully,” Nigarious ordered, with his revolver already out. He pointed it toward the door as Levi carefully opened it. With nothing jumping out at them, Nigarious quickly stepped through with his gun pointed straight out. Covering all corners of the hall with his eyes and seeing nothing, Nigarious motioned for Levi to follow.
“There’s nothing here,” Nigarious said, still alert.
“Is that blood?” Levi asked, looking down at a small red puddle on the floor in front of them.
Nigarious looked down at it and moved closer. Kneeling down, he checked it.
“Yes, it is.”
“Whose is it?” Levi asked.
“I don’t know,” Nigarious replied, with a hint of irritation in his voice. “Look there’s a trail.”
Levi looked farther on to see blood streaks across the hallway floor in front of them.
“Unfortunately it leads in the direction were going,” said Nigarious.
“Do we want to go that way?” Levi asked, with a tightening feeling in his chest.
“It’s the only way back,” Nigarious answered, standing back up. “Come on.”
They started down the hall with the blood trail, moving faster now than they had been for fear of lost time. The trail continued into the next room before turning down the next hall they needed to go.
It made Levi anxious to see the trail leading in the exact direction they had to go. They didn’t know whose blood it was, or what was responsible for spreading it. Levi had a strong feeling that they would encounter whatever it was soon enough however.
The two of them hurried back through the halls and rooms they had come from. The sound of their feet hitting the ground echoed loudly throughout the halls and passageways. They came to the end of one small hall which led to the side of another wider hall. This hall led to the left and to the right of them. It had a slight blue tint to it from the light that shone through the bluish windows running along the wall opposite them.
“We need to go right,” Levi said, when they came to a stop in the center of the hall.
“The blood leads to the left,” Nigarious replied, looking in the direction it led.
Levi had a sense of relief when he saw it leave in another direction.
“Perhaps we won’t run into whatever it is that made it then,” Levi said, ready to take off to the right.
“Wait,” Nigarious quickly said when he saw something.
He hurried down the hall along with the blood trail. Reaching down he grabbed something off of the floor. From what Levi could see it was a shiny blue bracelet.
“It’s Liseerioun’s,” declared Nigarious.
Levi became fearful when he remembered the many bracelets that Liseerioun had been wearing like many Morgni sign readers. He realized that the blood could very well be Liseerioun’s as well, which would mean another one of Nigarious’s men had been killed. Looking at the amount of blood on the trail, Levi couldn’t imagine anyone surviving.
“I’m sorry, but we need to go,” Levi said, desperate to keep moving.
“No!” Nigarious barked. “I’m not leaving him behind.”
“But we’re running out of time,” Levi protested.
“You go back to the room with the three statues,” Nigarious said, looking up at Levi. “I’m going after Liseerioun.”
“But something’s…”
“Just go!” Nigarious shouted, before Levi could finish. “I’ll catch up later.”
Levi hated the idea. It wasn’t because he cared about Nigarious’s well being so much, but because he didn’t like the fact of being alone in a place like this. Really, he thought of Nigarious as one of the worst of the bad guys so getting away from the man didn’t sound bad. Levi just wondered if he would be able to find his way back on his own.
Changing Nigarious’s mind didn’t seem possible though. So Levi accepted it without arguing. Nigarious got back on his feet and gave Levi one last hard look as if telling him again to go. The man then turned and ran down the hall after Liseerioun.
Levi reluctantly turned around as well and went the opposite way running. He felt alone now, and vulnerable. The Oam seemed stronger and more unbearable, and the feeling of being watched also grew stronger until Levi almost felt certain that there was something there with him.
A chill ran down his spine causing him to stop where he was when he heard something. It sounded like a deep muffled laugh. The flames on the torches flickered as it echoed down the hall. The laugh came again, but Levi couldn’t tell where it came from. It sounded as if it was everywhere.
Glancing around the halls franticly, Levi tried to locate it. Every shadow stood out, making him think that something was there, when there was nothing. He found himself disoriented. He didn’t know what to do now. He didn’t know how to act, but he knew for a fact that there was something there.
Chapter Thirty Two: An offer backed by Threat
There is little I can’t handle.—Kierken
Isaac Kierken began to regain consciousness. His vision was blurred, and his neck was sore. He was still alive but barely conscious. The Bioskin had saved his life. It absorbed most of the impact keeping his neck from breaking completely, and any damage was probably already repaired by the Bioskin.
The Endesmic Guard were similar to the Rebirtha that way. The Bioskin was designed to repair any wound or problem in the body that it could. The bullets that had hit him in the stomach and arm had also been pushed out of the skin. Isaac knew this because the Bioskin informed him of it, but it wasn’t a voice or image that told him. The Bioskin was connected to his brain, so it would send information there and Isaac would know what was going on within his body.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Isaac tried to look around the room he was in, but he felt that his strength was gone. A scream came from somewhere, but Isaac didn’t know the origin. It sounded like a man, but he wasn’t sure of anything. He found himself sitting in a chair with his wrists and feet strapped to it. The chair didn’t seem strong, and looking toward his right hand he could see that it was clamped down by a metal ring.
“I would be careful not to move,” a familiar voice said.
It came from in front of him. Looking up Isaac saw a blurred figure sitting on a chair.
“The chair is rigged with explosives. If you try to break free then you’ll find yourself with no limbs.”
Isaac focused on the figure ahead of him. The voice sounded familiar to him, but he couldn’t place who it was. His vision slowly began to clear though, revealing a clearer picture. An older looking man with grayish hair sat with his eyes watching Isaac closely. Isaac recognized him now.
“Peter Scolles,” Isaac said, in a weak voice. His strength was returning though. Isaac was surprised to see the man conscious. He had forced him to take the poison the previous day which knocked him out.
“Not the same Peter you remember poisoning,” the man replied.
Examining him further, Isaac could see that he was dressed in the same green military uniform from the day before.
“That Peter is gone, but I still know what you did to him.”
“Who are you people?” Isaac asked.
“It’s hard to explain. You probably wouldn’t understand,” Peter replied.
Another scream was heard, causing Isaac to look toward a rusted steel door to his left. The room that he was in was small. It looked like an old holding cell. There was one window in the room directly in front of Isaac with iron bars. The window was small and high so the only thing that could be seen was the bright sunlight.
“That scream, it belongs to a Rebirtha that you know as Relphilik I believe.”
“What are you doing to him?” Isaac asked, in a disgusted tone, turning his head back toward Peter Scolles.
“He’s a Rebirtha with a pretty face, which I believe is a disgrace. We’re just adding some scars to him. After all, Rebirtha aren’t known to look pretty.”
“You like playing with your captives?” Isaac asked, trying to assess the situation while keeping his enemy distracted.
“Actually we prefer to get straight to the point,” Peter replied. “We just don’t think any Rebirtha should return from a mission without a scar to show for it.”
“What is it that you want?” Isaac asked.
“Perhaps the real question is what is it that you want?”
Isaac stared into the man’s eyes and saw what looked blank to him. The man who had been Peter looked human, but did not seem to be human.
“After all, you guys were going through such great trouble to infiltrate this town, and you were almost successful. You put me in the hospital and nearly took control of the military base outside of town, and we’re not sure what you did with the Mandy family. Then, in the end, you killed a lot of our men.”
“If you’re thinking about torturing me for answers, I have to tell you that it will be useless,” Isaac replied.
Peter gave no expression in return. He seemed emotionless. “I know,” he said. “But there is no need for us to go to that kind of extreme, because we know what it is that you’re after. The Translator in the Bionine facility. Your master is desperate to have it.”
“You guys must be brighter than you look,” Isaac replied.
“You don’t have to worry,” Peter said, as if Isaac’s comment hadn’t been made. “We are not here to kill you. As a matter of fact, we plan to let you go. There’s just something we want you to do first.”
“And what would that be?”
“Well, first things first. You already know my name, but I would like to know yours.”
Isaac kept his eyes on the man’s face, but he didn’t say anything. Looking down to his right, Isaac could see the explosives Peter had talked about before. They were strapped to the side of the arm rest with a wire connected to the metal ring around his wrist. One wrong move would cause the explosives to go off, leaving him with no arm. There was another explosive on the other side of the chair for his other arm, as well as two more for each leg.
“Come on, you threatened me, and poisoned me, putting me in the hospital, so I should at least get to know who you are.”
“My name’s Isaac, the rest is irrelevant.”
With a short pause Peter responded, “Well, if that’s how you want to be, I will go ahead and get to the point. We want to make a deal with your Akilian.”
Isaac looked back up at him when he heard the title. He wondered if this man could know more about the Akilian than he did.
“He has something of ours, and now we have access to something he wants.”
Isaac thought it curious that Peter said have access to instead of just have. Could it be that they still didn’t have their hands on the Translator if that was indeed what they wanted? If so, then he could maybe use it to his advantage.
“We also know what it is that your master is after,” Peter continued. “We know what it is that he wants, but what he needs to know is that he won’t be able to get it. Without the key, the thing is unobtainable.”
Isaac didn’t know what it was that the man was talking about so he gave him a blank look.
“Do you not know what your master wants, Isaac?” Peter asked. “Has the Akilian told you anything, or are you only following him blindly?”
“I guess you could say that I’m pretty new on the job,” Isaac replied.
“Would you like to know what it is he is after?”
Isaac almost wanted to say yes, but there was something weak sounding about it. There was also the fact that he didn’t want to succumb to any mind games. Perhaps Peter knew that he couldn’t torture him for information. Maybe he was just going to mess with him psychologically.
“He is after what so many other people are after,” Peter said. “It’s the very thing that has made you into what you are now.”
“You’re talking about the Source,” Isaac said.
“Yes, that’s right, Isaac, the thing that gives you all that strength. He seeks it as we seek it, but there is something he has overlooked. The thing he wants is protected and cannot be obtained without the key. Fortunately, we know where this key is, and we have men out to obtain it as we speak. It won’t be long before they find it, and then we will have access to what he wants most.” He said it with a fake smile.
“Who are you people?” Isaac asked again.
“We are a people who have been for a long time. A people out for what is rightfully ours,” Peter replied. “We were sent after those who were before us, those who had fallen to one man and thus an empire. We were sent to make things right, but then it all went wrong. An ambush had been set, waiting for us, and we fell right into it. We were beaten and forced to flee by the hand of the Rebirtha, but we have been waiting for these last ten years. Watching and planning for the time to strike, and now that time has come at last.”
Isaac didn’t know what the man was talking about. Peter spoke vaguely as if hiding something, and then it occurred to him. Peter said they had been ambushed by the Rebirtha and hiding for ten years. It was ten years ago that the Rebirtha had first attacked. It was ten years ago that the bombings took place which Shorkmeth had denied the Rebirtha having any part in.
“You’re the ones who bombed us,” Isaac said, with a tone of anger in his voice. Peter gave another fake smile when he heard it.
“Yes,” he replied. “Humans give too much credit to the Rebirtha. Most believe that it was them that brought this world into chaos, but it was us all along. We were the ones responsible for the bombs, but it was the Rebirtha who used it to their advantage while putting an end to so many of us. In a way, the humans should be thanking the Rebirtha. After all, if it were not for them, human kind would have been exterminated by now.”
Isaac began to feel anger swell up inside of him. All this time he had thought it was the Rebirtha responsible for the bombs, but now he saw the true face of the enemy. He still didn’t know who they were or where they came from, but it didn’t matter to him. Isaac just wanted to take revenge upon them.
“You killed so many people,” Isaac said, trying to hold himself calm.
“Why would you care, Isaac?” Peter asked. “You work with the Rebirtha who have killed many human beings. So what if they weren’t responsible for the bombs? Are they really any different from us?”
The statement pained Isaac. He was working with the Rebirtha now. Guilt filled him because of it, but he pushed it to the side. Things were different now. The humans were no longer his responsibility, Isaac thought. But then why did he feel so bad, he wondered.
“What you must do for us is simple, Isaac,” Peter began saying. “Deliver a message to the Akilian. Tell him that we are not interested in making war, but that we want to work together now. If he gives us what we want, then we will give him the Translator as well as the help to find the source that he is after. But tell him also that if he does not comply with our demands we are ready to make war, and it will be a war that will cost him. We have the ability to send Tierikium up into flames with the secrets that lie within this town; all the secrets that Bionine left behind. And unlike the humans, we are not afraid to use them.”
With that Peter Scolles stood up from his chair and looked down at Isaac. “We will be releasing you soon.” After speaking, Peter left the room through the door to Isaac’s left. Another scream came from Relphilik, who was still being tortured in another area. The sound of the screams made the environment seem dark and oppressing.
Isaac remained sitting in his confinements thinking over what he had just heard. He was still clueless about what was going on, with everything seeming to get more and more convoluted. He was in the custody of an unknown enemy. He was working for a man that he knew nothing about, and nothing in his life made sense anymore.
A few minutes passed by before some more men came into the room to release him. They unstrapped him from the chair while constraining his hands by a pair of cuffs which were also rigged with small explosives. They were big and bulky, but they would do their job. Without them, Isaac would have been able to break the restraints and wreck a lot more havoc.
He was escorted out of the building and brought through the town. There were people busy everywhere still cleaning the place up. They all seemed to work as a collective of some sort, not showing much emotion of any kind. There were guards posted everywhere keeping watch.
He was brought to the edge of the town, close to where they had come in from. He found Shorkmeth and the rest of the Rebirtha there being held by some more men with guns. Isaac almost felt thankful seeing them still alive. He caught eyes with Relphilik whose face now looked butchered, and the sight sickened him. All the Rebirtha looked ashamed, for which Isaac couldn’t blame them. William Swile caught Isaac’s eye as he was escorted to the same area from a different direction. He also had explosive restraints on him. The man looked more angry than ashamed though.
