Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (54 page)

Zaid stared at Terra. “I
tried to return.”

Terra put her hands on her
hips. “And after you said you were my friend. I suppose I shouldn't
be too surprised. Everyone in this training spends most of their time
looking out for themselves. I had always thought you might be
different.”

Zaid frowned. “I am telling
the truth.”

Terra glared at Zaid for a
moment before crossing her arms. She sighed. “Well I guess I
believe you. You are better than most of the team leaders who just
tried to get rid of me.”

Zaid turned away and walked to
a nearby pipe that overlooked the salient. He sat and gazed into the
distance. “You know why I am here?”

Terra remained silent.

“I am here because I failed.
All my men died because of betrayal. Because I let my guard down.”

“So is that how the Legion
found you? All your men were wiped out but you?”

“I was a slave.”

Terra paused before looking
away. “I'm sorry.”

Zaid shook his head. “I am a
Mamluk. Property. However, we had more rights than many free men. I
trained in academics and the ways of war since I was a child. My
skill earned me a position commanding the personal guards of Sultan
Qutuz himself.”

“How can you be a slave and
a soldier? I don't see how that works.”

Zaid shrugged. “It is not so
different than what the Legion does. They find people who are not
loyal to local lords. Outsiders without ties to the established
structure. Such people will not betray you to their family or tribe.
So long as they are treated well, they will not try to flee. My life
as a Mamluk was quite good for that time. At least until the hordes
of the east came.”

“Who?”

Zaid's expression darkened.
“Mongols. They rode out of the east. They did... unspeakable things
to the people they captured. My Sultan marched against them at Ain
Jalut and we won.”

“You don't seem very happy
about it.”

Zaid turned away. “We won.
We sacrificed everything, risked all and our reward was betrayal. On
our return home to Cairo, we were betrayed by our own allies. They
were likely political rivals of Sultan Qutuz. Since he had defeated
the Mongols, they must have felt he had no further purpose. I failed
to protect my Sultan and he was killed. I survived and fled for my
life.”

Terra wondered if he had ever
told anyone else this story.

Zaid stood and faced her with
his fists clinched. “You are right to not trust me, though not for
the reasons you think. I am a failure and I wish to atone. I am sorry
that I failed you. Still, it is little excuse for leaving the others
behind.”

Terra stood silent for a long
while and considered Zaid's words. “I believe you. I suppose I
trust your word over Roland's. Speaking of which, I haven't seen the
rest of our strike team.”

Zaid shook his head. “Neither
have I. That is why I am waiting out here. The rest of the strike
team leaders have already come up with a plan. We will sortie in a
few hours towards the center of the salient.”

Terra turned to look at the
center of the salient. A thick green fog shrouded it.

Zaid frowned. “I am worried
about this salient.”

Terra turned back to Zaid.
“Because they unlocked our aeon edges?”

Zaid nodded. “Yes. They gave
us something. Also, this salient is too quiet.”

“You are right. The
Labyrinth never held back in the other trials.”

“Which is why we should take
advantage of it,” came a familiar voice.

Terra and Zaid turned to see
Roland saunter out into view with a faint smile. He turned to Zaid.
“Zaid. I must admit, that was a cold betrayal. I applaud you for
it. You are indeed a worthy Turk.”

Zaid scowled. “I can ex–”

“No need to explain,”
Roland interrupted as he held up a hand. “I have dealt with Turks
before. However, the artistry of your betrayal was impressive. Most
Turks I know would have been content with a knife in my back, but not
you Zaid. No. You had to leave me stranded in the hands of a savage
enemy. Truly a masterstroke of spite. I salute you for such
dedication.”

Zaid sighed.

Roland grinned. “I tried to
find you during the Trial of Blades, but I had no luck.”

Terra looked at Roland's aeon
edge, noting the lack of a safety lock. “How did you get a key?”

Roland spared his aeon edge a
brief glance. “The key? I waited until two tirones finished dueling
for one and then defeated the exhausted winner.”

Terra glared at Roland. “You
vulture!”

Roland raised an eyebrow,
looking at Terra's aeon edge. “Where did you get yours?”

Terra sighed before looking
away. “I had to fight Hikari for mine.”

Zaid and Roland exchanged
looks. Before anyone had time to ask Terra further questions, the
other strike teams moved. Zaid and his team joined them though he
regretted not having time to find Hikari. Each team kept in line of
sight with the others as they moved forward.

Zaid looked at his shieldwatch
and then activated his cipher. “The closer we get to the center,
the more toxic our surroundings. The gate has be in the center of the
salient at the toxin's source.”

“I think you are right,”
Tacitus said over the shieldwatch. “Whatever is making this poison
is at the center of the salient.”

“And it's probably guarding
the gate,” another added over the cipher lines.

After hesitating, they walked
into the miasma. Their shieldwatch stasis shield protected them from
the toxins. As they drew further in, the green fog grew thicker and
Terra could see more and more growths of strange bio luminescent
plants. The plants grew bigger and thicker as they neared the center
while the metal pipes became more corroded. Small creatures scuttled
amongst the plants.

Terra felt her skin crawl at
seeing the strange bug-like creatures moving all around them. Her
Sped vision saw the full extent of their crawling motions, that made
them no less creepy. The monsters grew bigger the further into the
miasma they walked. She worried that the small versions she could
step on now would soon threaten to step on her.

A tiro leaned in close to
inspect a dog sized creature. It had a thick carapace with a cluster
of eyes on the front and a dozen legs propelled it forward. He drew
his aeon edge and poked the creature. It hissed and sprayed something
at him before he could raise his stasis shield. The force of the
spray was enough to push past the weaker environmental shield, which
could only filter radiation and gasses.

Everyone stopped when he
screamed. He waved his arm frantically. Terra's face went pale when
she saw a mass of small creatures from the spray burrow into his arm.
The creatures ate into his other hand after he tried to pull them
off. He then used a Restore that erased all the parasites which were
simple enough creatures that the shieldwatch could remove them.

Zaid cursed. “No one touch
anything. We are not here to explore. We are here to find the gate
and get out of this horrible place.”

They continued on with more
caution this time. The creatures grew bigger the deeper they
ventured. Now the creatures stood as big as the tirones while green
growths obscured the pipes completely.

“There!” Zaid pointed to a
clearing ahead.

Tacitus motioned for his
strike team to halt and crouch. The other teams followed his lead.

With a few quick hand motions,
Tacitus's strike team split up and disappeared. A few moments later
they returned.

John moved up to Tacitus.
“Looks strange to me. Critters got a nest there, a big nest built
around the gate and they are crawling all over it.”

Zaid moved up to Tacitus along
with the other strike team leaders. “Ambush?”

Javed looked at the clearing.
“The creatures may become hostile towards us.”

Zaid thought for a long
moment. “How about we all advance and surround the nest. Tacitus,
your team holds center and secures the gate. Javed, your team acts as
a screen to intercept anything that tries to crawl to the gate.
Nergüi, you wait in reserve in case anything big attacks the gate.
My team will hold the nest itself and keep it occupied if the swarm
there moves.”

They all looked at Zaid with
doubtful expressions.

Zaid sighed. “Look, this
uses everyone's strengths. Tacitus has discipline so his team should
hold the objective. Javed has the largest team, so they should be at
the front. Nergüi has the most skilled members, but her team is
small, so they should engage powerful specific foes.”

Nergüi raised an eyebrow.
“And you?”

Zaid grinned. “My team is
the most balanced. We have skill, talent, and determination in equal
parts. That's why I gave us the hard task.”

Javed shrugged. “Unless
there is another plan?”

There was a moment of silence
before the strike team leaders nodded.

They all advanced towards the
nest that surrounded the gate on three sides. Terra could see it from
here. It was huge, like a bee hive the size of an office building and
it pulsed with a sickly green glow. Things crawled all over it and
out of numerous burrows on the nest's surface.

Things. That was the best word
Terra could find to describe them. Each creature had a different form
though they shared a few traits. Thick armored carapace protected the
creatures' bodies. Green glowing eyes regarded the approaching
tirones while the creature's bodies had patches and stripes of neon
green bioluminescence. Many had rows of razor sharp teeth while
others had crushing mandibles and claws. A few scuttled on the ground
with crab like legs while others had no legs at all and instead
writhed on the ground in worm like bodies. When the tirones drew
closer, the creatures' mouths watered and fangs dripped with venom.

Terra remembered a lecture she
had in class. At one point there was a plague that spread across
Time. A single spore could multiply into an entire hyper adaptive
ecology that threatened to displace every native species across Time.
There was something else in the center of it that controlled the
other creatures. She tried to recall the details, but she found it
difficult to remember every enemy and monster the Legion had faced in
the past.

“Don't charge,” Zaid said
under his breath as though addressing the creatures. “Look at us.
We are not easy prey. Just stay in your nest.”

The creatures advanced slowly
at first. Terra noted that at a distance the monsters looked
menacing, but up close they looked terrifying. Even the smallest
stood a few heads taller than her. They hissed and growled while many
stamped their feet or claws.

Roland's knuckles turned white
while he gripped his aeon edge. “They are going to charge.”

Zaid readied his aeon edge.
“Right. Draw them to the sides if you have to. Try to keep them
away from the gate.”

Everyone set the aeon edge to
the lethal setting.

The creatures charged.

To Terra's surprise these
monsters were not as difficult to fight as she had feared. They were
scary, but had no sense of coordination or tactics. They snarled,
they hissed, they snapped, but were easy to out maneuver with a
shieldwatch and a quick strike from an aeon edge would sever limbs
and carapace. Terra marveled at the deadliness of an aeon edged
weapon. Every slice through an armored foe was comparable to swinging
through air.

Dead creatures piled around
them. Terra found that the corpses were more of a threat for when she
stepped on one, a parasite tried to bore through her boot. After
that, she gave bodies and limbs a wide berth. As glowing neon green
blood splattered on the floor, the creatures fled from the nest. They
ran to the edge of the outer growth and hid themselves.

The tirones advanced over the
nest, nearing the gate.

Zaid tensed. “I don't like
it.”

Roland frowned as his gaze
searched the area. “I have to agree with the Turk. Too easy.”

The other tirones continued
towards the gate and walked over the now vacant nest.

Terra still tried to collect
herself, but agreed with the others. The Labyrinth didn't pull
punches. There must be another beast here. But where? Her eyes went
wide as she looked at the nest. It wasn't a nest.

The mound shifted. Plants and
growth fell away in chunks as a creature rose. It towered over Zaid
and his tiny strike team. A few of the other tirones who stood on it
stumbled and fell the ground before scrambling away. It stepped
forward as more growth fell away to reveal long stripes of glowing
green bioluminescence that illuminated its full form.

The head was like a large
armored shield that extended over its body, guarding much of its
front. Embedded on either side of the head were six sunken shell like
eyes that glowed bright green. Behind its head were rows of sharp
spines around its neck like a lion's mane and each tip glistened with
poison. Armored overlapping shell carapace protected a long insect
like body with small gaps hosting more poisonous spines. Each step it
took with its six long crab like legs shook the ground while a long
segmented scorpion tail rose above it. Two huge scythe shaped claws
protruded near its head.

There, the tirones dressed in
pearl white armor stood before a massive dark green monster three
stories high and eighty paces long.

The other tirones stepped back
upon seeing the monster.

Zaid gritted his teeth. “Hold!
It's still a mere beast!”

The Manticore turned its head
towards Zaid. “Mere beast?” it said in a slow, deep, monstrous
set of voices that echoed in the salient. “I possess the collective
memory and knowledge of all my progeny and of my ancestors.”

“What are you?” Zaid
asked.

“Your hunters named me Sero
to sate their fear. Instead I took that name and made it so soaked
with their blood that the name itself became fear. Fear of my kind
imprinted scars upon humanity's memory. The monsters of your myth are
merely an echo of your fear of us. Names to give fear form. Dragon.
Hydra. Orochi. Quetzalcoatl. But your Legion called us something
else.”