2

Int. Horkiko’s Chamber — Day

The woman and Shadow burst from the hallway into a giant dome chamber. White panels covered every inch of the dome walls, reflecting a foreign blue code of letters and numbers. Four pillars of silver foil connected from the floor to the ceiling. Among the pillars was an old spacecraft hanging from the cables stretching from the top of the ceiling. The floor was hidden by a pile of white monitors gathered at the center and fanning out. The woman quickly slammed the door to the room shut, lodging her shotgun through the door’s crack, keeping it from sliding open.

“Why are there so many Raliksi so close to the Bastion?” Asked Shadow. He wasn’t looking for an answer but more of thinking out loud. “And what’s wrong with you? Why did you attract all of them to our position? How did I end up with a defected Sentinel? Do you know how long I’ve been searching for one? Of course, you don’t. You were dead only an hour ago!”

The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. She smacked the shadow on the head with the butt of her rifle.

“Ouch, what was that for?”

She pointed to the panels and then the room. Gesturing to the shadow to explain. The area felt almost like a holy alter.

“You want to know about the room? Well, I don’t know. Give me a second.” Shadow floated up to the panels. “It looks like old Raliksi code, being repeated. I don’t know what it says. I haven’t downloaded a Raliksi Lexicon, but all I’m getting is Saints. Saints? Oh no,” said Shadow come to a realization. “Oh no, oh no, oh no. We shouldn’t be here. Find an exit quick!”

The woman pointed to the ship.

“We don’t need a ship! We just need to find an exit,” said Shadow zooming around the room, scanning for doors. “Over here, there’s a small shaft we can climb through.” He glanced back to the woman, her gaze set on the ship. “Ignore the ship! We don’t — ,” The woman readied her aim, her attention now on something else. In the back of the room in the shadows covered in a cloak of black. A large Raliksi stood up.

It was two times taller than the Warrior, hitting a peak of about twelve feet. It had all six arms, which were dressed in armour plates with wires stringing to each other like nerves. The Raliksi wore no mask, revealing its fanged teeth that hide behind its lips. The hair of the Raliksi was pure white, almost as if it was cybernetic fibers. It flowed longer than a male Raliksi.

It took a step forward, throwing back its cloak with all six arms. The panels on the walls started to flicker as more code began to cycle on the screens. Electricity sparked revolving around the pillars before launching towards the Raliksi. Its six hands shaping the power into a small ball of lightning. As more electricity flowed into the ball, it grew as the code from the panels started to blend in. It was making the digital, made physical.

The Raliksi placed five of its arms behind its back and with one hand grabbed the ball, squeezing it, and a sword of digital code erupted. Then, lifting the weapon high, she took aim at the woman.

“Impossible,” whispered Shadow, then realizing that his Sentinel was the target of such an ungodly weapon said, “Run!”

The woman fired a couple of shots into the large Raliksi only to have the bullets stopped by another solar shield, much stronger than the Warriors. She accepted that the Rangurff stood no match against the shield, sent the gun away. Posing herself into a brawling stance, she tightened her hands. She could feel a surge of energy flowing through her as parts of the room’s electricity started to gather around her hands. It was barely noticeable, but the woman felt she could win this fight.

The Raliksi threw the sword, and it flew like lightning, discharging around the room, shattering the panels on the walls, and ripping the foil from the pillars. As the weapon reached the center of the room, a lance of purple light shot down from above, ramming the sword on impact and sending the pile of monitors flying in all directions.

The woman shielded herself with her arms but was still launched back into the door she sealed, breaking it inward and into the hallway. Shadow flew high enough to avoid the monitors. As they sparked and shattered against the pillars. The clash of the weapon sounded like crying birds as the electricity sang.

The woman groaned as she struggled up out of the metal door to see the lance of light rammed into the floor. The lance was detailed with runes on the shaft like the ones found on Shadow. It pinned the digital sword to the ground. After a couple seconds, the sword disappeared, and the lance did the same. From above, the man from before landed in the middle of the room.

“I think that’s enough, Horkiko. Back the way you came. I wouldn’t want the emperor to lose his wife,” said the man. His voice was clear and clean.

The Raliksi growled. “Your time will come, Scout.” With that, she left the room through a massive hole in the wall that she guarded with her body. Disappearing deeper into it.

“Come now, she’s all gone. It’s safe for now,” said the man.

The woman stood up and glanced back down the hallway, which was filled with Raliksi, only to find them all dead. The Warrior hung from the wall with its flame sabers sticking out of its chest. She turned from the man and headed to the dead Warrior.

Back at the room, the man stretched his arms high above his head. Then tapping a switch on the back of his helmet, it dematerialized. Revealing a head full of black hair shaved up to an almost fohawk. He glanced over the woman returning with a flame saber in her hands. “Took a fancy to it. Can’t say I blamed you. It’s a smokin’ hot weapon. It’s nasty,” said the man placing his hand underneath his chisel chin. He grinned. The man reached out for a handshake. “Aztecross, but everyone calls me Cross.”

“Shujinko,” said the woman.

“You can talk!?” The two glanced over to Shadow as he hover down between them. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“You were annoying.”

“Excuse me,” roared Shadow. “After all I did for you?”

“Shadow?” Said Stacie floating from behind Cross.

“Stacie?”

“It is Shadow.”

“Seriously,” said Cross with an astonished smile on his face. “So, this one is a fledgling,” Cross pointed at Shujinko. “From the way she fought, I thought she might have been a new graduate. Damn, and you tried to square off with Horkiko. That’s some balls of steel. Les is not gonna believe this.”

“Horkiko?” Asked Shadow. “The large Raliksi?”

“Yup, that was Horkiko. Horkiko, the Priest of the Exalted Saints. An old big gorilla lady,” said Cross; there was a hint of pain on the last thing he said. “Good thing you made all that noise from before because if I wasn’t around, you’d be digital code by now.”

“I could have taken her,” said Shujinko.”

“No, you couldn’t. You reckless fool” yelled Shadow. “You are new to all of this. You don’t know anything. You need to trust me. I’m the leader.”

“You haven’t given me a reason to trust you.”

“I brought you back.”

“In a hell zone.”

“Alright, alright,” interrupted Cross. “You guys can argue back at the Bazaar. For now, grab your ship and get the hell out of here.”

“It’s a stupid ship,” said Shadow, floating up and transmatting into the metal husk. After a couple minutes, it sprung to life, freeing itself from the cables and hovering.

“It’s not a stupid ship. It’s my ship,” said Shujinko stepping up.

“Hey, Shujinko?” Asked Cross.

“What?”

“Did you really think you could take on Horkiko?”

“Of course,” she finished and was transmatted onto the ship. With that, it smashed through the ceiling and up to the open sky. Leaving Cross and Stacie among the rubble.

“Wasn’t that the ship you came in here looking for,” said Stacie.

“Was looking for. It’s just one of the many things I’m looking for,” said Cross. “Just one of the many things Ziya Amazir left behind.

3

Ext. Mid Sky — Day

The two sat quietly as the ship made a circle around the Wall. It was massive, with the center holding an enormous hexagon building. Just off the right of the Wall was the Wayfarer casting its large shadow.

“It’s not that big, is it,” said Shujinko.

“The Wayfarer is just right. A small moon for quick space travel.”

“Sure.”

“Listen. I’m your shadow; you need to trust me. I know this world inside and out. I’ve been around a lot longer than you. You should’ve run like I told you to.”

“And you should’ve trusted me.”

“That’s not how this works.”

“It is how it works,” said Shujinko. “If you want someone to trust you. You need to prove it. You revived me and told me to run. From my angle, you put me in a dangerous situation, and instead of trusting that I could fight my way out, you decided to run.”

“Because you — ,”

“The light will provide, remember? I know how to fight, I know how to kill, because light taught me that. This is not a slave and master situation. We’re partners. Equals.”

Shadow nodded and looked out the window. The ship cruised through the air, letting the wind carry it. “There’s a port just on the edge of the Wall. It overlooks the Last Bastion.”

Shujinko looked out, and just below the Wayfarer was a large city with skyscrapers and apartments. Life was there. It was thriving under protection. A force that saved them from the Raliksi and whatever dangers lie out in the wilds. “Sentinel,” Shujinko said. She noticed a red shard at the bottom of her boot. She bent and picked it up. It was crimson, and the texture was rough, but underneath the shard was a black shine. Shujinko figured that it was no shard but a scale.

“Yes, that is what you are, Sentinel,” said Shadow. “A hero for the Wayfarer, for the people, and for the world.”

“A hero, huh,” said Shujinko bringing the scale up to her ear.

Hello.

Shujinko dropped the scale.