The Nost

Chapter Twenty Three: The Horde

Braiden pushed the door open slowly and peered inside. The floor was rough, covered with rocks and dust. Old graffiti covered the stone walls. Pentagrams and crude beasts with horns. An electric lantern rested on the floor next to a jagged cave entrance across the room. It looked like someone had smashed through the wall with a sledgehammer. As Braiden inspected the cave entrance, a short man stepped out from the darkness of the cave's mouth. Pockmarks and scars crisscrossed his face, and his clothes were tattered and ripped. He fumbled with a flashlight, turning it off before looking up. At the sight of Braiden, he spun and darted back toward the cave. Braiden struck like a bolt of lightning. One moment he was in front of Jack and the next, he had his arm wrapped around the small man's neck. A second later, the man fell to the floor, lifeless.

"Oh God," Greg said.

"Easy," Sarathen said, stepping past them into the room. Her cloak stirred dust up into small clouds around her boots. "He was a Taek."

"A what?" Jack said, pulling his own cloak around him. Sarathen gave it to him moments before, and it would take time to adjust to its weight.

"Horde members chosen by their master to evolve have a Taek stone embedded in their brains," Sarathen said. "It helps the Nostshi control them, and it eases the infusion of Nostshu blood into their system. Many still die or end up as Nostmara, but it helps."

"Oh god," Greg whispered, backing into the far corner.

"You just..." Graves paused, pulling in a long breath. "You just committed murder." She held her handgun lowered in front of her, but it looked like she wanted to point it at Braiden.

"Easy," Sarathen said again. Jack felt a calming wave of emotions run around the room and he lifted a wall against it. He wasn't sure how he did it, but it came naturally. Graves only relaxed slightly and Greg stopped shuffling backward, but he still stared at the corpse with wide eyes.

"The Taek are cursed to a life of service," Braiden said. "They spend their time kidnapping, raping, and murdering for the horde. When they are evolved, they either become powerful Nostshi, Nostmara monsters, or die." He stepped past the body, into the mouth of the cave. "They lost their humanity the moment that stone was placed inside their skull."

"Where do you find a Taek stone? What does it look like?" Pete asked, taking a step closer to the corpse, staring.

"It's Shu tech," Braiden said, twisting the name in his mouth as if it left a foul taste.

"I don't understand," Graves stepped up beside Pete. Greg was still standing in the far corner.

"The Shu can still create some things, but the Shen have lost the knowledge," Sarathen said. "We use the relics we find. The gauntlet Braiden wears, that Jack to from the Order, is old tech. It gives the Nost wearer incredible strength. It's not first age ancient, but old, thousands of years maybe. The Order probably found it in an attic or an old dig site." Braiden held up his metal-clad fist to show the group as he covered the body with a filthy blanket he dragged out from the corner. He nodded to Sarathen before disappearing into the dark tunnel. Jack assumed he was scouting their route. His movements were graceful and silent, a deadly enemy to have. "Can you imagine how much power he would wield if he had the entire suit?"

Jack had not considered that.

"It sounds like magic," Graves said.

"It's not magic. We are biologically connected to our tech.," she said.

"So you have biotechnology that makes you superhuman," Pete said. "Do any of your gadgets work for humans?"

"Some," Sarathen said. "It depends on their coding."