Ashes (Of the Earth Series)

Chapter 18.1 - Echo

The human was no match for our cunning.

I bristled, listening to their footsteps approaching, languid, dragging. They had been weakened, maimed from the encounters with our brethren outside. Yet, somehow, it had survived long enough to make it this far... It was strong... Door after door slammed open as it searched for sanctuary, growing closer and closer to the room in which we awaited it. Anticipation crackled through my veins as I approached the door, waiting in the silent dark, knowing that soon it would be mine. The empress will be pleased with the honor and glory I bring to her with this conquest.

As soon as the door opened, I saw its face register fear and understanding before quickly slamming it shut. But it wouldn't be enough. We were faster, stronger, smarter. I lunged at it in my bio-suit, determined to claim what was rightfully ours.

But my suit only clanged against the door, the human's strength and intelligence thwarting my attempt. Frustration boiled within me as I fell to the ground, seething with anger. How dare it deny me?

I could hear its labored breaths on the other side of the door, wounded from our previous encounter. A string of expletives burst forth from the creature. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck."

My comrades and I circled around the door, trying to find a weakness in their defenses. But it had barricaded us inside. Their groans of pain taunted me. Blood began to pool under the doorway, and I cursed. It was going to bleed out long before I could begin transference. Before any of us could begin. I pushed forward and tried to shove my claws beneath the door, but the spindly appendages were too thick to go more than an inch or two beneath. I saw the shadow of the human's fingers dance away from my grasp.

Just when hope seemed lost, I heard the feral growls of my own kind - infesting the creatures these humans called "Dogs," vicious beasts somehow tamed and domesticated by the homo sapiens. Aramat, we called them, after our god of the hunt. My heart leaped with excitement; the Aramat would bring us our prey. The human bellowed at it, a deep and booming voice echoing down the hall as it issued a final challenge. My admiration for the creature grew. To face down an Aramat and not flinch was worthy of respect.

I hesitated. I had not seen any weapons on the human when it opened the door, but its survival to this point may well have meant it was capable of fending off the lone warrior approaching it.

My fellow soldiers bristled with excitement and eagerness as we anticipated our triumph over this pocket of resistance. We were young and hungry for battle, eager to prove ourselves worthy to serve the empress.

Two more Aramat voices joined the fray and my frame trembled with joy. I knew this human would be mine. I had already shown, if only to myself, that I was more intelligent and faster than my brethren currently alongside me. Whilst they bumbled over one another, clambering and falling from edges and ledges, I easily and nimbly danced through the throng of bodies, nary ever being touched.

A wicked growl came from the hallway, much closer this time, catching everyone's attention.

At this point, the Aramat were secured around the door like a vise, the human trapped. Yet, it did not submit, bellowing defiance once again. "Well come on then, you fuckers! COME AND GET ME!"

"Prepare," I heard one of the Aramat whisper in my mind. "We have it." My brothers and sisters, responding to the telepathic call, seethed around me. I, however, sat and waited, patiently moving out of the way of my brethren's erratic movements.

Without warning, the door flew open. I paused, processing what I had just witnessed. The door had actually been opened, not pushed through. The human had opened it, it was not ripped open by the force of their bodies colliding with it. I glanced at the doorframe and the lack of damage confirmed my suspicions.