LUNA HELEN
This was probably our best chance to get out of that place. They didn’t seem like a threat. We were alone and defenseless; if they had wanted to do something to us, they would have already done it. At least, I hope so.
— Come on, get in. Let’s get out of here.
Said the shorter man. His voice was soft. He was a little taller than me, which contrasted with the other man, who easily stood over six feet tall. He was bulky and intimidating, even though he always wore a smile, as if he found some sort of humor in the whole situation.
— Do you know what caused the explosion earlier? We heard the blast, and another team saw the wreckage. That thing was ugly.
— Carla. She did it. She blew that thing up… the damn spider.
Carlos answered, his voice shaken as he remembered what had happened.
— You mean you blew up one of those things? What did you use?
— She used the vehicle. The self-destruct system.
— And why would a vehicle even have something like that programmed into it?
— Well… that’s something she always wondered too.
Carlos replied with a smile — something I hadn’t seen from him in quite some time.
I think we all smiled in that moment.
My body had relaxed. I felt it sink heavily into the seat’s upholstery. After all that tension, I was at my limit again. I had reached it far too many times over the past few days.
Edmond. Lúcius. Helen.
And how many more would I watch fall in this chaos?
My hands trembled and my vision blurred, until I felt Erick’s hands holding mine.
— Are you okay?
— Yes!
I wiped away a stubborn tear that slipped down my face and smiled at him.
— Don’t worry. I’m fine. Just tired.
— Right… okay then.
Erick said with a hint of suspicion while smiling back at me.
— What are your names?
The shorter soldier asked.
— My name is Luna. Luna Helen.
— Carlos Andrade. And yours?
— My name is Kolá Petit. And the big guy over there is Tarhib Alef. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team later.
The softness in his voice calmed me a little.
But it didn’t last long.
— What the hell is that? What could’ve done this to those things?
Tarhib said while staring out the window at the mutilated bodies of the creatures Saklas had slaughtered.
I didn’t know whether I should reveal that information or not. Saying that I knew him might only create more problems.
— It was that bastard.
Carlos spoke before I could give any sign.
Erick and I immediately looked at each other.
Damn it, Carlos.
— Bastard? Who are you talking about? How could someone do something like this?
Damn… Carlos started talking.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
— It’s a bastard who looks human, but he’s more dangerous than those things. I don’t know much about him, just that he fell here sometime before those damn meteors. He screwed us over back at Acrox.
— What are you talking about? A man managed to do this to those creatures? Are you sure?
— Yes. Tell him, Luna. Tell him what you saw.
I couldn’t hide it anymore. But I also couldn’t tell everything I knew. So I only described what I had seen in the forest.
— I see… Could he be related to those things? I’ve seen some of them attacking each other.
Kolá asked.
— I don’t know. He seems to feel repulsion toward them… like they’re opposites.
— Opposites… I see.
— One moment. There’s something I need to check.
He stepped away toward the cabin where the rest of the team was, leaving us alone.
I sighed.
I had no idea what was going to happen next. I just wanted to leave that place as quickly as possible.
As if someone were deliberately going against my wishes, the vehicle suddenly stopped.
I looked around. Everyone was confused.
Then Kolá opened the cabin door.
His expression, which had been calm and gentle until then, was now tense.
— Hey, you. Luna, come here.
He was nervous. I could tell by the tone of his voice.
But what could have caused that?
When I stood up, Erick grabbed my hand.
— What’s going on?
He asked Kolá.
— We need one of you to confirm if it’s him.
Him.
Saklas?
My heart started racing.
Don’t tell me we just ran into him.
Erick stood up.
— I’ll go.
He said, determined.
I watched Erick walk toward the cabin with Kolá.
ERICK HELEN
I made the decision quickly.
If something happened, maybe Luna would have time to escape through the back of the vehicle.
We reached the front.
About twenty meters ahead… there he was.
Walking with his body covered in blood.
He looked like an animal.
He was completely indifferent to our presence. And that might have been a good thing.
— That’s him. It’s definitely him.
There was no way to forget that presence.
It felt like we were prey waiting to be hunted.
The images of him destroying those creatures were still fresh in my mind.
— Don’t get close. Let’s get out of here. He’s extremely dangerous.
— We found him… exactly as it was said.
Kolá said.
His voice carried a mix of excitement and disbelief.
I didn’t understand what he meant.
He grabbed a transmitter.
— We found him. I repeat: we found him. Everyone come.
— What? What do you mean? Wait! We need to get out of here! You don’t understand what you’re dealing with!
— Calm down, kid. You need to relax.
— NO! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, DAMN IT! WE NEED TO LEAVE!
— ERICK! WHAT’S GOING ON?
I heard Luna’s desperate voice coming from behind the door.
— Everyone calm down.
Tarhib said as he grabbed my shoulder and forced me back into the seat.
— You’re making a mistake.
He simply ignored me.
Moments later, I began hearing the sound of other vehicles approaching.
They started surrounding Saklas.
But he showed no reaction.
He just kept walking slowly through the forest.
I could feel pressure building in the air.
As if he were becoming heavier.
The closer we got, the worse it became.
LUNA HELEN
I didn’t know what was happening.
But I recognized that pressure in the air.
Saklas.
He was nearby.
But what the hell did they want with him?
The air kept getting heavier.
The pressure made it hard to breathe.
This was becoming unbearable.
I was nervous. I didn’t know what was going to happen.
The vehicle stopped.
The door began to open.
Kolá and Tarhib stepped outside.
Right behind them came Erick.
His expression was tense.
He grabbed my hand.
— We need to get out of here.
He said.
I nodded.
I looked at Carlos.
He was confused, but he knew something was very wrong.
They opened the back door.
The pressure outside was even stronger.
Kolá nearly fell to his knees, but Tarhib caught him.
We looked through the window.
A group of heavily armed soldiers were aiming their weapons at Saklas, ordering him to stop.
But he kept walking.
I saw Kolá and Tarhib.
They were the only ones unarmed.
They tried to approach, but it seemed like the pressure was holding them back.
A man from another group shouted through a loudspeaker:
— STOP IMMEDIATELY! OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO USE CONTAINMENT MEASURES!
What the hell did that idiot think he was doing?
Saklas kept walking.
— NOW!
The man ordered.
Several soldiers fired containment nets toward Saklas.
The nets collapsed onto the ground about a meter away from him.
The impact drove them deep into the soil.
Right after that, all the soldiers dropped to their knees, coughing up blood.
I had to hold onto something to keep from falling too.
Even from a distance, the pressure was still strong.
KOLá PETIT
Now I understood.
We were not capable of dealing with him.
It felt like my body would be crushed against the ground at any moment.
I could tell that this wasn’t even half of his strength.
What was that man?
And how was he doing this?
What does she want with him?
So many questions ran through my mind that I almost forgot what she had told me to say if he refused to come with us.
— Χαιρετισμο? σοι, κ?ριε του αι?νιου χρυσο?.
I repeated it, afraid I had said it wrong.
— Χαιρετισμο? σοι, κ?ριε του αι?νιου χρυσο?!
I shouted, as if my chest would burst from speaking those words.
Kneeling on the ground, I looked at him.
Suddenly, the pressure vanished.
The air returned to normal.
But my body was still trembling.
I could taste blood in my mouth and hear a ringing in my ears.
He stopped.
Then he turned.
I saw his face for the first time.
It was as if he had stepped out of a dream.
His unnatural eyes shone like imperial topaz.
His thin pupils were fixed on me like a predator watching prey.
It felt as if those eyes could see straight through me.
I felt invaded, as if he were searching through something inside me.
Then he spoke.
— Π?? ξ?ρει? αυτ?? τι? λ?ξει?;
His voice echoed through the forest, reverberating as if it came from several places at once.
I trembled.
My body wouldn’t respond.
He noticed my confusion.
— How do you know those words?
This time his voice came out normally.
Controlled.
Almost natural.
— The oracle… she was the one who taught me those words. She sent us here to find someone. And I believe that someone is you.
The expression on his face changed.
Confusion.
Curiosity.
I had never imagined a being like him could show something like that.
— Take me to her.
His tone was cold and sharp, as if my head would roll at the slightest sign of disobedience.
— Y-yes, sir.
I hoped she knew what she was doing.
Oh, my great mother…
What do you want with this being?
And why does the energy I feel from him resemble the one from the object so much?
— P-please… follow me.
I tried to stand, but my legs failed.
Tarhib had to help me.
Saklas walked slowly behind us.
Even now I couldn’t understand how that being could follow us so calmly.
My body was still trembling.
I saw several men being helped back into their vehicles.
This was absurd.
We could be obliterated so easily.
All it would take was a whim from him and we would all become corpses buried in the mud.
I climbed into the vehicle.
Tarhib sat me down in one of the seats.
I saw the stunned expressions on Luna and the others’ faces.
They were just as confused as I was.
I admit I found their shock amusing.
Then I felt the back of the vehicle grow heavier.
Saklas had entered.
How was that possible?
Judging by his body, he didn’t look like he weighed more than a hundred and ten kilos.
But the vehicle sank a little with each step he took.
He stopped.
Then he looked again at Erick.
The same expression of confusion.
