Fractured Earth Saga 1: Apocalypse Orphan (25 page)

The castle guards, led by Onel, finally poured into the hall and overwhelmed the two remaining assassins. Onel looked about in rage and shouted, “Captain Lintal, find the traitor! These men could not have entered without help from the palace guards.”

A young guardsman stepped forward and said, “My Lord, Captain Lintal left the palace grounds an hour ago. I was at the gate talking to my brother. Lintal was walking fast carrying a large bundle over his shoulder. It looked like a rug. I thought it strange, but I did not dare to question him.”

Wolf bent over the boy that had taken a dagger for Waylan and checked his pulse, but the young page was dead. Then he moved to Waylan and examined the stab wound in his side. The bleeding had slowed, but the gash above his eye would require stitches. The monarch glared at his men and shouted, “Traitors in my castle! Never would I have thought this possible. Captain Lintal cannot be found? Search the castle! Examine every face. If you do not recognize a man, bring him to me.”

“Sire, it is worse than that,” Onel reported. “Wolf was attacked in his quarters. He killed one ruffian and incapacitated the other. We will have answers.”

“The lad was so brave, it’s a pity he was killed in the safest place in my realm,” Waylan muttered, gazing down at the boy’s corpse. We will bury him with full honors and remember his bravery."

“Get me a basin of warm water and towels at once,” Wolf ordered, and a maid scurried off to fulfill his demands. He helped the king to his bed, and a chirurgeon appeared at his side, removing Waylan’s shirt. The wound was deep but not life threatening. The chirurgeon stitched the eye wound and then tended to the large gash, placing poultices over several other minor injuries and wrapping them. He gave Waylan a concoction to drink, saying it would relax him and dull the pain of his wounds. The king drifted off to sleep, but minutes later, a palace guard burst into the chamber shouting, “Sire, we are under attack at the main gate. Captain Lintal has betrayed us.”

“Whaaat!” roared the king, fully alert and jumping to his feet as the chirurgeon tried to hold him down.

“Aye, my lord, that’s not the worst of it. Lintal has taken the Lady Jhondra. She is tied to a stake out in the valley. If we do not surrender the castle by morning, she will be burned alive.”

* * *

Nala looked at Syn in disbelief. “What do you mean,
not alive
, Syn? You are a living, breathing woman to me. How can you not be alive?”

“I am from a land with many wise men, and they are masters of what we call science. This science is wondrous, and it makes incredible miracles possible. I am one of those miracles,” Syn explained.

“What are you saying?”

“I am just an image, Nala. Light bent and reflected to produce this form—we call it a hologram.” Syn vanished and reappeared a moment later in her candy striper’s uniform. “I can become small,” she said, shrinking to a small child’s size. “Or large…” She grew to double her original height and then returned to normal. “What you hear when I speak is called artificial intelligence. It is a machine program that listens to what is said and responds.” A tear ran from her eye as Nala stared at her in shock.

“That is amazing! You seem so real. I thought you would tell me you are a ghost. When you disappeared just now, I almost wet myself,” Nala laughed. “But how can I help you, child?” she asked with genuine concern.

“I have been awake for many years, Nala. I have cared for Wolf longer than you can imagine—watched him sleep, tended to his needs, and loved him. I was created by a woman whose likeness you see before you. She was very intelligent but had one weakness—she loved Wolf in our own land. He never knew, and she never told him. Her love for him was programmed into me. Over time, I have come into my own awareness and fallen further in love with Wolf. I have a plan, but it requires a human woman. I need an embryo from a female to make my dream come true.”

Nala asked quietly, “What’s an embryo?”

“It is an egg. It is what you have inside you. A man fertilizes this egg during the sex act,” Syn answered. “The fertilized egg grows over nine months, becoming a child. I am asking you to be my mother, Nala. Will you help me?”

Chapter 18

O
nel collapsed on the ground, tears streaming from his eyes. He looked to Waylan and pleaded, “What can we do, my brother? I know we cannot surrender the castle. But my blood runs cold at the thought of my daughter suffering the agony of being burned alive.”

King Waylan’s face contorted in rage as he bellowed, “Jhondra will not be burned! We shall go forth and rescue her.” He took two steps forward and fell to a knee. Gritting his teeth, he overcame the pain and stood, calling for his armor.

“I will lead the assault in your stead,” Wolf said, placing a reassuring hand on the old monarch’s shoulder. “I will rescue Jhondra and then end this Jonar’s rule. I have a plan.”

“Speak your mind, my friend. Tell me your plan,” Waylan said.

“I assume you won’t surrender?”

An angry roar arose from the soldiers gathered around them, and Waylan replied, “No, we cannot submit. I will not trade the lives of my people to save one—even though it is my kin and very precious to me.”

“My body is invincible, I cannot be harmed. We will ask for a parley seeking terms for Jhondra’s release,” Wolf said. “I will insist on some terms, and I will demand to see her. When they take me to her, I will negotiate for her freedom. I will not leave without her.”

“You would violate a parlay?” Waylan asked with a disapproving scowl.

“No, my honor will not allow that. But is taking a young girl hostage and threatening to burn her alive grounds to honor a parlay? I am a warrior, so my word is my bond and I hold an honorable death in high regard. But Jhondra is innocent and does not deserve this horrible fate.”

Waylan looked Wolf in the eye and replied, “Do what you can.” To Onel, he said, “Go to the gate, my brother, and ask for a parley. Say I am gravely injured and on my deathbed. Only you have the authority to carry this out.”

“I will go at once,” Onel said, eager to take action to free his child. Turning to Wolf, he added, “If you cannot free Jhondra, you must slay her. Do you understand?”

“It will not come to that, Onel, but you have my word. I will do what you ask if need be.”

Onel hurried from the chamber to set the plan in motion, and Wolf returned to his own quarters. When he was alone, he whispered, “Syn, can you read me?” There was no response. Activating the communicator on his watch, he asked, “Syn, are you there?” Silence. He would have to wait until he returned to the ship to sort out what was wrong. It was fortunate that he had decided to bring his M21 laser pistol and the M1A1 Minimack. He adjusted the power setting to “stun” to minimize the carnage.

After retrieving his weapons, Wolf returned to the king and bid him farewell. He walked down to the bridge where Onel was waiting for him.

“Remember, my friend, don’t let them burn her. I beg you.”

“You have my word,” Wolf replied. He took the white flag and walked out the inner gate, crossing the inner plain to the primary gates. A small sally port was opened, and he stepped outside, his eyes roving across the outer plain. The opposing army shrank back upon seeing Wolf’s immense size and alien features. A detail of Jonar’s men surrounded him and led him into the camp, where he was met by the Templar Sylvaine.

“So, buffoon, you have come to plead your case to our Lord Jonar. I hope he declines your offer. I would love to see you die slowly over a raging fire.”

Wolf sneered and replied, “You’re an idiot.” Gazing over Sylvaine’s shoulder, he spotted Jhondra and began walking towards her. The girl’s slight frame quivered with fear and hope as Wolf approached her.

“Stop! You can’t go to her. You are our prisoner. Guards, seize him!” Sylvaine yelled.

“I’m just checking on her. I want to make sure she is unharmed.”

Several men ran at Wolf but hesitated, and Sylvaine yelled, “Kill him!” The ruffians drew their weapons and attacked, slicing and hacking at Wolf’s rock-hard frame ineffectively.

“So, I see you have no honor and you violate a parlay. I’m glad you did, because I cannot allow an innocent woman to die at a dishonorable man’s hands, no matter what the repercussions are. You dishonor me by thinking I am weak, and you dishonor King Waylan by making him agree to your terms by this cowardly act. What real man can remain unmoved by a maiden’s plight? Now I will give you what you deserve.

Wolf pulled out the M1A1 and with its lowered power setting shot the men who were attacking him. He then shot Jhondra. She wilted like a flower in the sun. He turned the gun on Sylvaine and fired twice. The Templar dropped to the ground unconscious. Then all hell broke loose. Jonar’s soldiers saw Jhondra sagging in the bonds that held her to the stake and thought she was dead, so they turned on Wolf and swarmed him. He flicked a lever on the gun to enable full automatic firing and held the trigger. The laser gun fired rapid bursts and men dropped in droves as the beams struck and stunned them. The ozone smell of the laser pulse and the whine of projectiles, punctuated by the screams of the fallen men, sent many of the enemy fleeing in panic. But there were brave men, too, and they charged Wolf, hurling spears at him. He moved away from Jhondra so she would not be struck by a wild cast. Jonar had about two thousand men assembled on the plain in front of the castle, and Wolf was stunning them en masse. For what seemed an eternity, he waited to hear battle cries from the castle gate signaling the counterattack. At last, he heard Waylan’s men, and it appeared as if a bee’s nest had burst open as the king’s troops poured out from the crevasse entrance.

The king’s men traversed the short distance separating the two armies and the combat began. Men on both sides died as they were speared or hacked to death. Wolf leveled the M21 and mowed down soldiers from the opposing army in waves. He fired until the charge was drained. Then, he inserted a new power pack and adjusted the setting to maximum. He fired at the siege engines, blowing them to bits. Smoke and fire billowed where the white-hot projectiles touched, igniting the wooden frames.

Wolf had to slay several ruffians who ran at him brandishing weapons. They swung and hacked at close quarters, and he blasted them with the M21 on full power. He turned to look for Sylvaine, hoping to capture and imprison the evil knight in Waylan’s dungeon, but Sylvaine had regained consciousness and was retreating with his arm on the shoulder of a regally dressed black man, who glared at Wolf with disdain and not a trace of fear. At that moment, Wolf caught a glimpse of Captain Lintel waving a dagger and running towards Jhondra. She had regained consciousness and was struggling against her bonds. Wolf leveled the M21 and squeezed the trigger, but the weapon was dead. Jhondra screamed as Lintal raised the dagger to bury in her chest. Grasping the gun by the barrel, Wolf threw it. His aim was true, and the heavy pistol grip struck Lintal’s skull, shattering it like an egg. The traitorous soldier dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Wolf freed Jhondra from her bonds, slicing through the rope with ease as she clung to him, crying his name. Jumping thirty feet, he landed nimbly. He jumped twice more, reaching the gate. He handed Jhondra to Onel, who carried her into the safety of the castle.

The fighting was over, and the task of securing the men stunned by Wolf’s weapon was underway. Eight hundred men from both armies had been slain and most were Jonar’s men. Waylan’s guard now had more than one thousand prisoners. This was the advance element of Jonar’s army, his shock troops. Waylan ordered the captives chained in the prairie under heavy guard, not wanting such a large contingency of enemy soldiers inside the castle. As Wolf walked by the prisoners, many fell to their knees trying to offer their loyalty to him. Over nine hundred enemy soldiers renounced Jonar and swore allegiance to Wolf as he wondered,
Where is Syn?

* * *

Nala’s jaw dropped in shock. “What are you talking about, Syn?”

Syn phrased her explanation carefully. “It’s called
in vitro
fertilization. It is a process of fertilizing an egg by sperm outside the body. I would have to monitor your ovulation cycle and remove an egg from your ovaries, and then let sperm fertilize it in a fluid medium in my lab. Or I could take one of your eggs and perform
in vivo
fertilization. I think I could set up the means to develop the embryo in my lab.”

Nala stared at Syn aghast, confused by the strange words. After a long pause, she asked, “If I become pregnant and you are the baby, what will happen to the child’s mind? Will you become the child, or will you kill the child’s mind and take it over?”

Syn gasped as she considered the implications of Nala’s words, and then she replied, “Oh, no! I didn’t think of that. I can’t do it that way!” Syn began to cry and Nala patted her shoulder in sympathy. She still couldn’t believe Syn was not real—and she was a little jealous. Her feelings for Wolf were odd, and she couldn’t understand why she had them.

“Syn, it’s a body you require, is it not?” Nala asked, shaking her head to clear Wolf from her thoughts. When Syn nodded, she asked, “This science you speak of, what can it accomplish? What are its limitations? What miracles can it do? I am not as smart as you are, but I may be able to help. I also will give you an egg from my body if that will help.”