Xiao Yingzi Extra 5
[Turn X]
[Bad Timing]
Lights dimmed, the air grew stale and the constant cycle of life in their bunker came to a halt. The glow of arrays in the walls had dimmed, much of their power cut off. It pained him, but it was necessary. He watched with bated breath as Marcus, his youngest grandson sat, legs crossed and eyes closed, attempting the lost art of cultivation.
He was breathing in with a steady rhythm, with the precious spirit stone held within his hands. Julius felt an urge to snatch it away from him, the stores of the material the only thing keeping them alive as the arrays worked, providing them clean air, food and water even as they remained trapped inside unable to escape without control over qi.
But Brutus, the eldest, was right.
The energy stores were running low. Soon, they wouldn't have enough to survive anyway. They had managed somehow with numbers dwindling over the generations, but the end was coming. It was either to slowly starve, or to attempt to cultivate blindly in the hopes of survival. Still, the conditions were worsening now, he could feel it. Was the sweat running on Marcus' body truly because of his effort or merely the rising heat?
Julius was an old man of fifty, his bones already creaking every time he walked. His grandfather had been twice the age and had looked younger than some of his children before he had perished, leaving them trapped. He could feel his mind feeling faint as time went on, though he didn't show any sign of his discomfort.
The children didn't need that.
They didn't struggle as he did - they had the strength of youth beside them - though he could see the occasional fidgeting as their bodies felt the change in the air before their minds did. Brutus was sitting with his back to the wall, head facing the ceiling as he took a break from the act of attempting to break through.
Martha, the middle child, had given up on it entirely and was rocking back and forth on the ground, too bored to concentrate but having nowhere to go and nothing to do with most of the arrays inoperative. Only Marcus still continued, only stopping occasionally to eat or sleep. Julius watched him as he meditated, praying to whoever was listening.
That was when things changed.
Marcus' eyes flew open, red and popping out and his face twisted into a grimace. The children reacted with alarm, but only Julius was paying enough attention to try and catch him as he fell forward. He stumbled as the boy's full weight fell on him, and he nearly dropped him before Martha came to steady him.
It was just as well that Julius was pushed to the side, because in that very moment the boy began to cough and then vomited some strange black gunk on the ground. As Martha screamed and jumped back, Julius found the weight too much for him and dropped the boy gently to the ground before he reached out to pat the boy's back encouragingly.
And then he grimaced as well as he immediately withdrew his hand, realizing that what he had previously assumed was just sweat was in truth that same substance his grandson had vomited out, only thinly dispersed over the surface of his body. As Brutus took over for him, Julius brought his hand up to smell it and shuddered at the rank odor it released.
"Marcus, how are you feeling?" Brutus asked, after Marcus steadied himself and began to wipe his mouth.
He opened his mouth to reply, before going back into a coughing fit. This time Julius went and patted his back once more, uncaring of the stench and the feeling of the strange material on him. Finally, he managed to croak out a single word. "Water."
Julius glanced at Martha, who immediately rushed to get the last of the water they had and placed it into a glass to bring it over. "Here." She said, handing it over and then the boy drank it in one gulp.
"How do you feel, Marcus?" Julius asked, kneeling next to him.
"I feel- I feel amazing." Marcus replied, his eyes opening and for a moment, Julius was struck by their color - the bright blue of what he imagined as the sky. It was like looking into grandfather's eyes once more. But unlike his grandfather's sharp gaze, these were unfocused. "I think I feel something - I think it's all of you. This is amazing!"
There was a gasp from Martha. "Marcus, are you taller!?"
As Julius blinked at that, Brutus took a step back to take a better look. "I think he is," The eldest grandson said, shaking his head with a smile. "He also looks - healthier?"
"I think you broke through, Marcus." Julius replied, getting increasingly convinced with every passing moment. "That thing you feel, I think it's qi. Try to control it and channel it into the arrays."
Marcus got up unsteadily but his steps grew surer as he moved. Raising his hands, he placed them on the door that had been locked for longer than Julius had been alive. For a second, nothing happened. They all clustered around him expectantly, as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Then a pulse of light traveled across the inscriptions of the array and with a hiss of air, the door fell open.
Heat flooded in immediately and they could see the endless sands that they had only seen in pictures before. Marcus made to leave, when Brutus stopped him by placing a hand on his back. "Let me go," The eldest of the three children whispered. "We can't afford for anything to happen to you, brother."
After a hesitant glance at Julius, who nodded in agreement, Marcus stepped back and Brutus took his place. Taking a breath, he peeked outside, looking all around before finally walking out. In a moment, he disappeared outside and the rest of them leaned at the door and watched as he looked around, hands covering his eyes from the desert sun.
Then Brutus froze.
Without a moment's thought, he turned around and ran back into the door. Julius and the children rushed out of their way as he ran past, shouting urgently. "Giant Scorpion! Close it! Close it! Close it!"
Julius' eyes widened at that and he turned to Marcus who ran to the door, swiftly closing it. Unfortunately, the door didn't lock automatically and he placed his hand on it, attempting to replicate his earlier feat. Unfortunately, there was no pulse of light even as he closed his eyes tightly in concentration.
After a moment, he kicked the door and cursed. "It's not closing." He said, before opening it slightly to take a look and then squeaked, closing it back quickly. "It's as big as a man." His voice was a little high-pitched.
"Let me see." Martha said, walking up to the door and Marcus looked at her in a strange mix of confusion and fear. Before any of them could react, she pulled the door open and looked at herself. She squeaked too, and it took a moment for Julius to realize the sound wasn't the same as the one Marcus had made. "It's so cute!"
Pulling the door open completely, she stepped out to meet the scorpion ignoring both Julius and Brutus as they shouted for her to stop. She disappeared outside and everyone followed her, unwilling to let her face the beast alone. However, when they got out, they did not see a vicious creature attacking Martha, but the absurd sight of it wagging its stinger in joy as she patted it's head.
"Is that a saddle on it's back?" Brutus pointed out and now that he was looking, he realized that it did indeed have a saddle on its back.
"My grandfather sometimes spoke of the clan riding scorpions." Julius slowly remembered. "Perhaps this could be one of them?"
Marcus' eyes widened. "Do you think there might be a legionary out here?"
"Maybe?" Julius replied, frowning. He glanced again at the saddle, noticing the saddlebags next to it. "Martha, check if there is anything that can tell us more."
"I'll check!" She shouted back, before turning to the scorpion. "Mr Scorpion, can you tell us if there are more people around here?"
Julius blinked at that, and then blinked again as the scorpion shook its head sadly or at least, shook its body in a manner that seemed like its head was moving side to side and for some reason he interpreted it as sad.
"Oh, did your rider die?" She comforted the beast, patting it on the head some more. "Don't worry, you have us now. We'll take care of you."
It responded far more enthusiastically to that.
"Um, Mr Scorpion." Brutus called out, walking up to the creature awkwardly. The creature turned to regard him. "I'm sorry about running away from you, but is it alright if I ask you a question?" The scorpion nodded cautiously. "Could you guide us to a place with more people? People from the clan?"
Julius blinked, realizing that might be possible and his heart surged as the creature began to nod enthusiastically. He cleared his throat loudly, and everyone's attention turned towards him. "Mr Scorpion, can we check what you have in the saddle?" He asked, causing the Scorpion to freeze before it nodded reluctantly. He turned to Brutus and nodded.
By now, feeling a bit more comfortable with the beast, Marcus walked up to see what the bags held as Brutus began to check the saddles. After a moment, he let out a whistle. "I think those are spirit stones. More than I've seen in my life! I couldn't feel them in the bags for some reason, but I think that's what they are."
Brutus brought it up to Julius to look at and after a moment's examination, he nodded. As far as he could tell, they were genuinely spirit stones. "I also found some pills and a knife." He reported, handing him a sample of those as well.
"These are food pills." Julius said, his eyes widening. He could feel tears falling from his eyes. "I think… I think we can make it with all of this. We can finally get out of here."
"I always knew we'd make it," Brutus said, clasping his arms. "After nearly a hundred years, our family will be returning to the clan!"
Julius smiled and shook his head. "We need to be focused, with this much spirit stone you can all cultivate and we need that for protection, not everything will be as friendly as the scorpion."
Marcus walked up to them and smiled. "Don't worry so much, grandfather." He said and then he pointed a thumb at himself. "I'll protect you. After all, I'm a proper legionary now."
That was when his head exploded.
There was a spray of sand in the air from something hitting the ground and it blinded him, causing Julius to look away. There was a scream from a girl - Martha - and an animal's roar, the scorpion? Then a stranger's voice cut through the air in an unrecognizable language. "
I told you it'd lead us to more of those devils. Aniket, check if any of them are hiding their power and Sachin, take care of that scorpion before it hurts any of these devils."
There was a sound of something being ripped apart and something similar to the same roar as before, but it was a pathetic sound - more of a whimper that was suddenly silenced. Julius felt himself being lifted up by strong hands, before being tossed to the floor unceremoniously. Before he could understand what was happening or process the last images on his mind, he heard another voice speak. "
Nope, all of them are mortals."
"
Damn it." The older voice muttered, before speaking up again. "
All right guys, let's move on then. Can't let Akash's group get ahead of us."
There was a chorus of answers and then there was no more sound. Sobs reached his ears, both male and female as he carefully stood up, cleaning his eyes. Then he looked at the carnage that had been wrought around them, and then at Brutus and Martha, both of whom were on the ground and crying.
He glanced at the spirit stones in his hands and then turned back to the bunker they had come out from. "Brutus, Martha." He said, his voice quivering. "Let's - Let's just go home."
Hollow-eyed, the two children stood up, glancing back at the bodies in the ground before wordlessly walking towards the door behind him. With a clank, he shut the door behind him, swearing never to open it again.
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Just an extra I wrote stream-of-consciousness. Hopefully it was entertaining! 2193 words.
