The Key

  Chapter 64

  T'Sula opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, but she could still see Malek grinning triumphantly at her. His cracked, yellow teeth showed bits of his previous meals decaying slowly in his mouth. She realized that she was still restrained, but she didn't know how or where. What she did know, was that if Malek was smiling, something was wrong.

  "Welcome my dear." Malek's breathe reeked of unknown foods having been eaten countless hours before. "Today, you are going to make history."

  She didn't know what he was talking about, nor did she want to. T'Sula discreetly tested her bonds and discovered them to be unbreakable. Thick, living shackles held her tightly at nearly every joint. She quickly found that there was no hope of escaping, not that she had anywhere to run to.

  "Would you like to know how you're going to make history, T'Sula? I would be more than happy to tell you." Malek sneered, drawing close enough to touch her with his nose. "You have a rare honor. You have been selected to be sacrificed to the First Ta'Reeth."

  T'Sula tried not to breathe. Malek had to be lying to her. Why would the Ta'Reeth have spent so much energy to bring her here, just to make her a sacrifice? No, Malek was wrong. She was not a sacrifice. She couldn't be.

  Unable to break her bonds, T'Sula waited, biding her time until the moment was right. Her vision was clearing up now, and she could see that she was no longer being held in the same room that she had been. This one was much smaller, and seemed to be in motion.

  "Don't fret." Malek laughed. "We're almost there."

  T'Sula remained silent. She kept her eyes on Malek, watching his every move. There were too many reasons for her to hate this man, but she couldn't do that anymore. T'Sula had no compassion for Malek, but when she forced herself to name what she felt, she found that it was not hate, but pity.

  T’Sula glanced past Malek when she felt the motion stop. A portal behind him opened to reveal a bright, blue sky. A powerful Ta'Reeth, the likes of which she had never seen before, stood beyond the portal, seemingly in mid air. Its blue grey skin shimmered as it stepped forward with the grace of a warrior, and took hold of T'Sula's restraints.

  The warrior effortlessly maneuvered T'Sula onto a living, wingless platform hovering effortlessly in the sky. The platform was only large enough for only the two passengers, yet it was completely stable.

  "I will not fall. You will, if you do not do as I say." the creature looked at T'Sula as it spoke. Its voice was deep, heavy with untold emotion.

  "Do not resist me." with those words, it reached forward and released T'Sula's bonds. "Place your feet behind mine, and hold tightly to my waist."

  T'Sula looked up at the two meter tall creature, standing only centimeters away from her, and quietly did as she was told. Behind the Ta'Reeth, she saw Malek watching her from inside a pod that hung suspended below the belly of a Ta'Reeth ship. "What's your name?" she asked impulsively, not sure if she would get a response.

  She watched the Ta'Reeth while it pondered her question. This one was different from the others. It could speak, and it actually had a mouth, and a face with nearly human features. T'Sula decided that this Ta'Reeth was not merely another soldier or drone. Not at all. This one was different.

  "I do not have a name." the creature looked at her. Its dark blue eyes spoke volumes that its words had not.

  T'Sula decided not to press the issue. There were answers that she needed, but she wasn't sure if this creature could provide them. She resigned herself to that possibility as she gently rubbed her raw wrists.

  Mountains dominated the landscape as far as T'Sula could see. They were old mountains, massive and rugged. Trees covered their sides, up until the point where only scrub could survive. She watched the mountains fly by, and wondered how a race as brutal as the Ta'Reeth could have come from such a beautiful place.

  "What's that over there?" T'Sula asked, pointing to the top of the highest mountain. The remains of an old structure stood there, surrounded by a flat area that could not have been natural.

  Without saying a word, her captor gently guided the flying creature over to the top of the mountain. T'Sula felt a slight jolt as the creature gently landed on its armored underbelly. She waited patiently for the Ta'Reeth to disembark, before stepping to the ground.

  The air was chill, but not cold. T'Sula smiled, closed her eyes, and turned into the light wind, letting it caress her cheeks. It had been years since she had walked on mountaintops, and she wanted to savor the moment. Quietly, she opened her eyes and began to explore. The building was in ruins. Time and weather had ravaged its walls, breaking it down nearly to its foundation.

  T'Sula wandered aimlessly around the building until she came to the remnants of an ancient sign. Kneeling down, she carefully brushed away at the dirt and rock that covered the faded words.

  "What does it say?" T'Sula flinched at the question. She hadn't expected the Ta'Reeth to be standing behind her, let alone asking her questions.

  "It says 'Pikes Peak'." T'Sula read the sign, then stood and faced her captor. "Can you read it?"

  "No." the Ta'Reeth shook its head. "I cannot."

  The Ta'Reeth glanced at the sign, and then abruptly turned away from it. It walked out to the edge of the mountaintop, and stopped. A vast plain spread out beyond the foot of the great mountain. Minutes passed in silence before the warrior spoke again.

  "This place used to be the home of our creators." It finally turned to face T'Sula. "Now everything and everyone lives to serve the First."

  "Why?" T'Sula stepped up beside the Ta'Reeth. "It sounds to me like you have no choice."

  "There is no 'choice'. There is only the will of the First, and nothing else. As far as I know, I am the only Ta'Reeth to ever break away." It sighed heavily. It kept its gaze on the far horizon as it spoke. "There are not even any names, or designations, except for the First. I do not even have a name!"

  T'Sula could feel the rage building inside this creature. She gently put her hand on its muscular arm as she spoke. "You seem to like this mountain, so I'm going to call you Pike."

  "Thank you T'Sula Mir." Pike turned to face her. "Yes, I know who you are. You are feared by my people. Any Ta'Reeth that faces you in combat knows beforehand that they are already dead."

  "Yet they come for me anyway." T'Sula whispered more to herself than to Pike. "I'm so tired of fighting."

  "You offer them a release that they can't attain any other way." Pike took hold of T'Sula's hand. "That's the only way that they can escape the First. You honor them."

  "I just want to put an end to this war. It's gone on long enough." T'Sula stepped back from the edge. "Too many innocents have died."

  "All of my people, except for the First, are innocent. If you truly mean to end this, then..." Pike stopped as it saw something out of the corner of its eye. "Run!"

  T'Sula and Pike ran toward the flying disk. Staccato bursts of green fire slammed mercilessly into the ground where they had been standing. The old sign and everything around it exploded into a cloud of shrapnel.

  Two small Ta'Reeth ships streaked past, barely a meter above T'Sula's head. Pike covered T'Sula with its bulk, momentarily pinning her to the ground. "When we get airborne, hold on tight." Pike whispered into T'Sula's ear.

  Scrambling over rocks and debris as they ran, T'Sula and Pike dove onto the flying disk. Instantly they were in motion, skimming the ground as they accelerated down the mountainside. They reached the tree line quickly, but the fighters stayed close behind, relentlessly blistering their path with molten plasma. The armored underbelly of the flying disk protected them from the rocks and boulders, but nothing stopped the tree branches and scrub from slashing at their unprotected bodies.

  Pike wove the tiny craft through the trees in a futile effort to evade the ships. Bursts of plasma erupted all around them, sending debris and shrapnel in every direction. Both T'Sula and Pike were bleeding profusely from various wounds across their bodies.

  "Pike, I'm slipping!" T'Sula scre
amed into the roaring wind. Her knuckles had long since turned white from her grip on the flying disk. Still they sped on, reaching for the draws at the foot of the mountain.

  T'Sula tried to regain her grip, and failed. She tumbled off the back of the disk, barely missing Pike's outstretched hand as she fell. Striking the ground with an audible crack of her bones, T'Sula crashed against boulders and giant trees before she finally came to a stop. Her eyes were open, and her body lay limp against a boulder when Pike finally found her.

  Pike gently checked for T'Sula's vital signs. They were weak, but they were there. She was covered in her own blood, with compound fractures on her legs and arms. By the way that she was breathing, Pike guessed that most of her ribs were broken.

  "Uhn." T'Sula groaned, unable to utter anything else.

  "Don't try to move. You are badly injured." Pike placed a gentle hand on her cheek. "I do not have the knowledge to help you, and you cannot be allowed to die before you complete your destiny."

  "There is only one thing that I can think to do." Pike stepped away from T'Sula and grabbed a small, sharp stone. Picking up the stone, Pike quickly gashed its forearm. Blood began to run freely from the wound, and down Pike's powerful arm.

  "This will hurt." Pike said as it took hold of T'Sula's arm and covered her wounds with Ta'Reeth blood. Moments passed as T'Sula writhed in pain. Her head snapped back and her eyes glazed, with her mouth open in a perpetual silent scream.

  Pike watched as T'Sula's bones reset and knit together, all before her open wounds closed, and began to heal. After a few short minutes, T'Sula lay against the rocks, exhausted but whole. Her eyes closed and her body went limp.

  Checking for T'Sula's pulse, Pike picked her up and began to run. The tree tops swayed in the wind as the fighters continually whipped by, relentlessly searching for their prey. Pike ran down the mountain, to where the trees grew thicker.

  "Put me down." T'Sula whispered. "I can run now."

  "Are you certain?" Pike asked, still running hard.

  "Put me down Pike." T'Sula insisted. "We can travel faster if I run."

  Reluctantly, Pike stopped and set T'Sula down. They waited for a brief moment, and then continued to run. T'Sula's strength returned to her quickly as she ran. There was something different about her now. She felt stronger and faster than she ever had before, and it scared her.

  T'Sula decided to test herself. She ran faster, passing Pike. Ravines and boulders no longer posed an obstacle. Instead of going around or climbing through, she simply jumped over, or leapt up, never stumbling or losing her balance as she did so.

  Finally, after running for over an hour, they could no longer see or hear the fighters overhead. T'Sula glanced over at Pike, and pointed toward a cave.

  Nodding in agreement, Pike stopped running, and walked with T'Sula to the mouth of the cave. It wasn't very large, just big enough for two or three people to step in out of the weather. Together they sat on the cave floor, facing one another.

  "Thank you for helping me Pike." T'Sula smiled softly. "I owe you."

  "Don't thank me. I did not do this for you. I did it for my people." Pike drew a heavy breath. "You have a destiny to fulfill, and you could not accomplish that in the state that you were in."

  "Yeah, well, thank you anyway." T'Sula smiled and then grew serious. "What do you know about what brings me here?"

  The Ta'Reeth warrior sat in silence for a while before speaking. When Pike finally spoke, it was deliberate and cautious.

  "Our destinies, yours and mine, are intertwined, T'Sula Mir. I must accomplish my destiny, so that you may accomplish yours." Pike leaned back against the wall of the cave. "You are here to save my people, and as a result, the universe."

  T'Sula studied Pike. Pike's mannerisms were nothing like what she expected to find in a Ta'Reeth warrior. There was something about the Ta'Reeth that she couldn't quite figure out. Why was Pike actually helping her? What was the catch? There was always a catch.

  "If you truly are going to face the First, you must not do it alone. You would never survive." Pike recaptured T'Sula's attention. "To the South West there is a giant crack in the ground. Go to the bottom of it, near the river. Show this, and you will find the help that you need."

  Pike handed T'Sula small round stone. She held the cool rock in her hands, and idly turned it over. There were markings etched into the other side. They were two simple, straight lines, connected in the center. It was rudimentary a cross, similar to the ones that she had seen when she studied the Templars of ancient earth.

  "It is time to go now T'Sula. I cannot go with you, but you must hurry." Pike stood, and pulled T'Sula to her feet. "Good bye."

  Without saying anything else, T'Sula left the cave.