(This is a short story based on the game Crystalis Descendant, featuring -at the time of writing- non-canon characters, places and events.)
Jumps;
Part 1: The Ranger and the Emerald Queen
A lone explorer slashed his way through the thick foliage of the jungle that surrounded the Olivine Ravine. He had been sent out on yet another assignment to confirm the location of a newly discovered Crystalisk burrow. No one had reached the place yet, but through studies of cave networks, some higher-ups and scientists speculated there might be one of those nests located down in the ravine.
Dac swung his blade at any plant that blocked his way, avoiding green crystal outcrops on the ground. They covered the woods like an infection. Equipped with only his blade, a pulley and rope and his self-made mechanical blunderbuss, Dac ventured ever deeper into the jungles. There wasn’t really any threat of Crystalisk here, but just to be sure, he held his blunderbuss at the ready. He had been surprised before.
“Of course it had to be the jungle!”, Dac said through his teeth. “No one ever comes here. Crystalisk in a ravine in the middle of nowhere, what a threat.”
Usually, explorers like him would be sent out close to city borders or rural land, when the burrows posed a threat to locals. Those damn higher-ups better have a good reason to send him all the way out here for some dumb crystals.
Dac swung his blade in frustration. It crashed against one of the crystal rocks next to a huge tree, causing the blade to shatter.
“Ah! Great!”, snapped Dac.
He pushed through nonetheless, doing this job would get him a huge reward, even if he didn’t encounter a burrow down there. It’s really just the engineers and scientists that want the live crystals for their… whatever they do with it. Dac didn’t know or care, he could take care of himself without the crystal technology.
Forcing his way through a few small trees and brushes, he finally reached the edge of the Olivine Ravine. The natural feature was stunning… or so it was told to him when he was young. The people spoke of blue rocky walls, carved over centuries by an emerald colored river. But what lay before Dac now, was a filthy green crack in the land, filled with emerald colored gas, rather than liquid.
“That doesn’t look like the ideal place for a family trip”, he said to himself.
Dac repurposed his coat into a face mask, and readied his rope and pulley to start heading down. Completing the mission required him to explore the area and recover a sample of the burrow present here. Though he still couldn’t be certain about if it were the crystallisk’s doing, something on this bit of land was definitely wrong.
Jumping down in segments of around three meters at a time, Dac couldn’t help but notice an increase in green crystals as he went down. He held his breath for a moment when the gas around him became thicker. He then took a short, careful breath. No taste, no smell, no pain. He deemed the air safe, for now.
It was only when he reached the bottom that it dawned on him. Dac loosened himself from the rope and didn’t have to search far to find a couple of crystals. He stuck the remains of his broken blade underneath a small crystal outcrop and picked it loose. He held the crystal in his hand and it twitched, confirming his fears. This wasn’t the Olivine Ravine he was looking for, it was a singular, massive burrow.
Something stirred above him. Dac looked up in fear and through the green gas he saw a shadow scuttle across the vertical wall. Panicked, Dac re-fastened the pulley to the rope so it could take him back up. But mere seconds later, the rope he had taken down into the burrow fell beside him, limp to the floor.
A screech sounded from somewhere down further. They knew he was here, whoever, or whatever they were. A projectile of some kind came flying past, missing him by a few meters, and Dac sprinted to shelter. Hiding behind a bigger crystal outcrop that could obscure his entire body, Dac readied his blunderbuss. If it came to a fight, Dac only had a few shots. He carried the weapon to scare off any Crystalisk, and most of the time, it would be effective. But Dac had a feeling this time… it wouldn’t be.
Dac peeked behind the massive green crystal to try and spot what had shot the projectile at him. He couldn’t locate any threats, mostly due to the dense fog. To his knowledge, Crystalisk with the ability to shoot were never registered before. This could be the breakthrough of the century! Or at least the decade
Pushing himself up against the crystal, Dac started sneaking around the burrow, following along its slippery walls. He passed a few smaller burrows and holes, which nestled small, spherical gemstones inside what looked like nests made out of the wilted remains of the surrounding foliage at the top of the burrow. Dac decided to investigate. The gemstones were round, smooth and cold to the touch. They sat loosely in the nest, huddled together like a cocoon. Carefully, Dac picked one of the dozen rocks and examined it. It fit neatly into his hand and was perfectly see-through. He opened a pouch and placed it inside for recovery. He left the other gemstones alone, and left the cavern.
Following along the walls again, once more before him, a shadow moved and Dac almost tripped over a small crystal. To his surprise, the crystal he had tripped on made a squealing sound. Dac looked back, and just before fading into the fog, he spotted what looked like a small crystal larva crawling away as fast as it could. This was bad news.
Somehow, the burrow became even quieter than it had been before. The shadow that moved in front of him was still there, frozen in place. It looked like it turned to him. Whatever this creature was, it was magnitudes bigger than the previous shadow he saw, let alone the tiny larva. Thinking quickly, Dac hid away in one of the holes, sheltering another nest.
Dac tried to calm his breathing as he held his blunderbuss with a tight grip. But when he saw the legs of a massive Crystalisk his breathing almost stopped. Slim, sharp, crystalline legs tapped the ground without sound, carrying the massive body of the creature that passed by. Dac could only see its green crystal-covered underside from his hiding place, but he was certain he saw eight legs and that it would be at least ten times as tall as he was. The pride he took in his height vanished within seconds of seeing the absolute behemoth.
Silently the mother Crystalisk moved away from Dac’s position. He let out a shivering sigh and pushed himself to his feet once again. When he did, a green light filled the cavern. It came from a small tunnel on the backside. Curiosity got the better of him, and Dac approached the tunnel. Out of it came a sickly green Crystalisk, big enough to reach his knees in height. It, too, had a multitude of thin and sharp legs, and a body made out of living green crystals. It noticed Dac, near what was presumably its nest, and the crystals on its back flared up.
With a screech of the creature and a flash of green light, it shot one of those projectiles from earlier. Dac was able to avoid getting hit by it thanks to his sharp reflexes but, he projectile blasted a small hole in the wall, which soon began leaking neon green ooze.
“What the… That will melt me alive, if I get hit by that!”, thought Dac.
The Crystalisk began charging up a next shot, but this time, Dac aimed his blunderbuss at the thing and shot first. Most of the pellets bounced off of the Crystalisk’s hard shell, but a few hit where the creature shot its attacks from, and clearly seemed to hurt it. Reloading the blunderbuss would take too long, so Dac jumped on the Crystalisk, jamming his snapped blade into the hole on its back.
After a few seconds of struggling, the Crystalisk was defeated. Dac cracked off a good chunk of its crystal pantser to take home too, if he could even make it there. When he looked outside the small nest into the burrow, dozens, no, hundreds of similar crystal vermin were swarming around the place.
He needed a plan. Dac went over his options, fighting his way out seemed impossible, the gigantic Crystalisk, which Dac figured to be their Queen, didn’t seem to be around, but could return any second. Climbing out of the burrow was frankly equally impossible, the walls were too slippery to get any grip on, and his rope was snapped, laying on the floor somewhere out in the burrow. There was no way out, he was trapped here, and would soon become Crystalisk fodder.
Dac then looked at the glowing, pulsating green crystal in his hand. The crystals held power, he knew that much, but not at all what they were capable of. Using the crystal’s durability, Dac shaved off small shards of the dead Crystalisk’s shell and loaded them into his blunderbuss.
“Work your magic, little one, it’s now or never”, he told the crystals.
Dac decided that his best odds lie in the rope, so he dashed into danger, back where he came from, to retrieve it. Holding his blunderbuss, now loaded with crystals instead of pellets, in front of him, he let out a battle cry. All the scuttling Crystalisk immediately turned to him and started charging their backsides for attack.
Time felt like it slowed down as Dac pushed down the trigger. The blunderbuss released a flash of green light. The crystal bullets flew out of the barrel like lightning and the blunderbuss exploded like thunder. The Crystalisk army in front of him exploded into a green cloud of crystal shards and spindly legs.
The path was clear and Dac kept running. The blunderbuss felt warm in his hands. It felt… different. One look at it brought Dac to astonishment. The shot before, the green energy it had unleashed, had crystalised the shotgun’s frame. He wanted to open the barrel to load in more bullets, but found it to be stuck.
A new wave of the Crystalisk approached and Dac aimed his newly transformed weapon at them. He prayed to whatever higher beings existed for the first time in his life, and pushed down the trigger a second time.
It fired. Green flashes of light exploded all around him. The bullet holes it left created a lingering field of crackling smoke. It felt unnatural to Dac, forbidden even, the power his blunderbuss now held. But it was saving his life.
A few meters ahead, he saw his rope laying on the ground. However, it was accompanied by several long, slender legs. The Queen. Her multitude of eyes shone through the dense fog, like beacons.
Dac cursed under his breath. Even though his shotgun was now stronger than ever before, he doubted it could take on the big one. Something kept him going, it was do or die.
The emerald green Queen Crystalisk screeched, and from its abdomen shot a dozen of newly hatched Crystalisk that immediately sought to attack Dac. But these small fry were no match for his crystal powered blunderbuss. He shot the weapon again, and all of them exploded into more shards. The Queen cried out, almost as if it were in pain. Dac reminded himself he was the prey here.
Filled with newly found confidence, Dac sprinted at the Queen and fired his gun at her giant crystallized face. The Queen flinched and one of her incisors fell beside Dac, who had used the opening to grab his cut rope. The incisor alone was about twice the length of his arm at least. He needed to get out, fast.
The Crystalisk Queen stabbed one of its legs in Dac’s general direction and almost pierced him. Holding on to the rope and his shotgun, he ran for shelter behind some rocks. He took out the pulley and fixed it to the blunderbuss. Next he tried fastening one end of the rope to it when one of the Crystalisk Queen’s sharp legs stabbed through the rocks he had hidden himself behind. He needed to work fast. Once the rope was in place on the pulley, he stuffed the other end of the rope inside the barrel of the Blunderbuss.
His next move was a risky one, but worth the shot. If it did it once, it could do it again. Dac only had to hope for the best.
He aimed the shotgun at the Crystalisk Queen and fired. Immediately the green energy crystalised the rope into a chain of green shards. Along with firing crystal charged bullets, the rope flew out of the barrel and wrapped itself around all eight of the Queen’s legs. When Dac activated the pulley, it retracted the crystal chain, pulling the Queen’s legs together, causing it to lose balance and fall on its face.
“Yes!”, yelled Dac in victory.
Only one thing left to do. He cut the chain holding the Queen, who was still struggling in her binding, laying grounded. Dac then aimed his shotgun high above him, at the edge of the burrow, and fired. On a moment’s notice, the crystal chain unleashed by the weapon started pulling Dac back up, out of the burrow once and for all.
Part 2: The Emerald Egg
Dac forced his way back through the jungle. This proved to be no easy task with his sword that was still busted. He tried to retrace his steps the way he had come and hoped to have an easier time returning. But, if he had found the path he had created earlier, it looked as if it had overgrown again, just as quickly as his blade had slashed the vines and roots that had blocked him then.
After what felt like hours of struggling, Dac reached the edge of the jungle. He was glad to see the yellow coloured Crystalisk was still where Dac had left it, tied to a post. The Institute had somehow found a way to tame these rather passive, long and slender Crystalisk, and make use of them as steeds. The Gladiators who discovered their nest deep within the cavern were Dac’s parents.
He called to the beast and it growled. The slightest wrong move would turn it aggressive, which is why only those recognised as Gladiators by the Institute were allowed to ride them. Carefully, Dac undid the knot holding the Crystalisk in place and wrapped it around one of the three big crystal spikes on the beast’s back. After which Dac jumped onto its back and made way to return to the capital.
The Crystalisk was swift, as it slithered close to the ground. Its four limbs moved rapidly as they upturned the soil behind them. It didn’t take long before the city’s walls came into sight. Dac directed the steed towards the designated, secured stables where Gladiators started their quests, and ultimately finished them. The stables were mostly filled, but one steed caught Dac’s eye. It was similar to his own, but had plenty more scars and the crystal spike on its right shoulder was broken off. Dac recognised it as the steed of a ferocious colleague.
Dac exited the stables after securing the Crystalisk, and proceeded towards the city gate, in front of which he saw a hooded figure. Nox, the owner of the scarred Crystalisk steed. Nox carried a black bag over their shoulder, bigger than their own body, no doubt filled with Crystalisk shards. Nox was a true menace, worthy of their title as the “Executioner”. Dac had never seen Nox in action, as both of them preferred working alone, and he wouldn’t want trouble with someone nicknamed “the Executioner”.
Dac intended to slip past the other Gladiator, but Nox, probably sensing his presence, turned around to face him. “Daccy! How was your expedition to the jungles?” Nox’s slender figure jumped closer to him to inspect Dac’s loot. “Do I see something sparkly in there?”
The shotgun would draw attention, Dac knew that, so he had done his best to hide it underneath his cloak. But Nox’s ever so perceptive abilities spotted it anyway. In an attempt to change the subject, he pushed the gun away from sight under his arm. “Why don’t you there go and find out, Nox?”
“No one likes the jungle, Daccy, and you are the only reliable gladiator to bring results from that place.”
Nox’s joyful demeanour didn’t fool Dac, it never did. They were a coldblooded killer who enjoyed slaying the Crystalisk for sport.
“I have to go to the Institute for a report”, Dac said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Aw, Daccy, you’re no fun,” Nox pouted.
Dac entered the city, leaving Nox behind, hoping he wouldn’t be followed. Nox must have had some other business to take care of, for they left Dac alone for once. He never understood why other gladiators clung to him like this.
The Institute was an imposing building. It was situated close to the wall, but was almost as grand as the structures found in the heart of the city. It was decorated, inside and out, with beautiful organic structures and crystal glass, no doubt acquired from the crystal caverns below the ground.
Going up a few steps, Dac reached the grand double door that led into the Institute’s main hall. Chatter of people, Gladiators and researchers alike echoed through the grand, open space. With the many people around him, Dac did an extra effort in hiding his newly crystallised weapon. He knew it would draw attention to him, and that’s currently the last thing he wants. His plan was to reach his boss, make his report, and be out of here, back to his humble home outside the walls.
But it wouldn’t be so. Mere minutes after entering, the brat had spotted him.
“Dac! You’re back already!” shouted the young Gladiator across the hall.
No point ignoring them now. Though this pest couldn’t leave Dac alone for a single day, he still cared for them. There was a certain pride he took in being the mentor of one of, if not the most talented new recruit.
“Ven, now is absolutely not the time,” Dac said. But Ven, being persistent and eager as ever, would not let anything slide past them.
“How did the expedition go? Did you discover anything new out in the jungle? Is that a crystal?” Ven tried to pull at the cloak hiding Dac’s weapon and loot, so he pulled back.
Not even Nox could compare to Ven when it came to their obsession over the crystals. The institute had recognized Ven’s talent early on and granted them a crystal weapon, which sparked that obsession even further.
“I have business with the boss, I’ll tell you everything later.” Dac hoped that would be enough to convince Ven to leave him alone, even if just for a couple of hours.
“You better, I’m still mad I wasn’t allowed to come along with you.”
Dac cringed a little. It was him that had convinced the board to not let Ven come along, but Ven didn’t need to know that. However skilled with a weapon Ven might be, that eagerness was still a drawback when it came to real life situations like the one Dac went through.
“Good, I’ll be off then,” Dac said.
Walking away from the troublemaker, Dac approached a platform with a sizable blue crystal fixed on its centre. It functioned as an elevator and Dac took it to the second to highest floor where he was to meet the mission director.
He swiftly gave his report, as he had done many times before, but avoided mentioning certain details, like the state of his weapon. The director was usually not a great listener, but at the mention of the massive burrow, its green crystalline inhabitants and the Mother Crystalisk, Dac had gotten his full attention. After Dac’s report, he was instructed to bring the recovered crystals to an appropriate place. The director excused him, saying he needed to contact several people, probably higher-ups that Dac had never even seen before.
Leaving the director’s office and heading out of the institute building, Dac was relieved to see Ven wasn’t waiting for him outside. He spent little time wondering where they had run off to, since he still had other business with a person called Xeo. Doctor Xeo leads the scientific field dealing with the crystals gathered by the Gladiators on their missions. He and his subordinates are responsible for many of the inventions they now utilise the crystals for, ranging from the elevator Dac used earlier to the weapons wielded by most of the Gladiators.
There were a lot of people that Dac didn’t like, but doctor Xeo was on a different level even among all the others. Dac always had a feeling that mad scientist was up to no good. Whether it was simply the fame and power he gained spearheading the development of crystal science, or simply the crystals themselves corrupting him, not unlike Dac’s gun had been corrupted by them, Xeo was a dangerous individual.
Dac had only been to the scientific quarters very few times. The first time he remembered was when he was being initiated as a fully fledged Gladiator himself. His weapon of choice would have then been infused with the magic of the crystals, had he not politely refused the offer since he preferred the idea of pressing on with a weapon he could trust and rely on. The second time was to bring in the loot of his first mission, where he subsequently met the then already aged Xeo, and decided never to enter again. Except for emergencies, like this one.
He found his way to Xeo’s personal lab through a never ending maze of corridors. The labs were highly technological and efficient hatcheries of new and progressive ideas, though Dac had no intention of learning how the people here worked those ideas out.
An old Gladiator stood before him now, with their back to Dac and the rest of the lab. Xeo was feverishly cutting and polishing several red crystals laid out before him. Suddenly he dropped his tools as Dac approached them.
“I have been witness to many oddities and surprises, but I thought I’d never see the day when you came looking for my advice,” the old Gladiator rasped, never turning around to face him. “To what do I owe you your visit, Dac?”
“Trust me when I say I really did not want to come here, Xeo.”
“Doctor Xeo, if you will.”
“Doctor,” Dac repeated unwillingly.
Xeo turned around and faced Dac. He could never tell what Xeo’s expression truly meant, always squinting their eyes as if they were either plotting some hideous plan or simply attempting to see sharper.
From underneath his cloak, Dac revealed his shotgun. The old doctor froze in place at the sight of the weapon with a mischievous glint in their eyes. Dac stepped over to an empty desk, placing the weapon carefully on its surface.
“Hope you don’t mind?” asked Dac.
“Not at all. What happened to your toy gun to produce such a marvellous weapon?”
Xeo picked up a walking stick that had been leaning against the closet full of lab equipment beside Xeo. The thing was shaped weirdly, like a tornado of branches, and held a smooth magenta crystal ball at its top end. Without removing their eyes from the crystallised shotgun, Xeo shambled over to the desk.
“Desperate times call for desperate actions.” From his pouch, Dac retrieved the small green crystal shards he had retrieved from his mission. “I loaded these into the gun.”
Xeo inspected the green shards carefully. “Same colour as the crystals on your weapon. It changed after firing it, didn’t it? A massive release of energy…” Xeo held the crystal orb of their cane close to the shards in Dac’s hand. Small bolts of energy caused the sards to float and attract to Xeo’s crystal.
“Have you seen crystals like these before?” asked Dac.
Xeo turned back to the weapon to also inspect it from every possible angle. “I have not… Where did you find them?”
“The jungles, close to the Olivine Ravine.”
“That cave was dormant…” Xeo opened up the chamber of the shotgun, releasing a spark of green energy.
“Apparently not. That said, there is another thing I have to ask you, something even the director doesn’t know.”
Xeo did not react, still hunched over the desk the shotgun was laying on, so Dac set the green oval crystal next to it on the desk, knowing it would catch Xeo’s attention immediately.
“Is this what I think it is?” asked Dac.
Xeo looked at the thing in wonder and then to Dac. “This… This isn’t good.” Xeo said, but there was a hint of excitement in their voice.
“It’s an egg, is it not?” Dac picked his shotgun back up, stuffing it away on his back.
Until now, no evidence had ever been found in how the Crystalisk reproduced, it was simply believed they formed like any other crystal in the caverns and at some point or another gained sentience. The things Dac discovered could forever change their knowledge on the creatures ravaging the world.
“It is.” Xeo tapped the egg softly with the magenta crystal of his cane and the egg moved slightly. “And it’s close to hatching!”
Suddenly the ground shook, hard enough to knock the egg off balance. It rolled a few metres before Dac’s reflexes kicked in to stop it.
“That was a heavy explosion. It must have come from the Western gate!”
“Give me the egg, go check what is happening outside,” Xeo said, stretching out an arm waiting to receive the burden of the Crystalisk egg.
With a sigh, Dac placed the egg under Xeo’s care. If the city was under siege, Dac would be needed on the front lines as a senior Gladiator and he could not risk the egg being lost in the mayhem.
“Just this once, Doctor Xeo, I will trust you.” Dac laid venom in the way he pronounced Xeo’s honorary title. “Just this once.”
Crystalline shotgun in hand, Dac left the building, into the streets where chaos ran amok, and searched for the cause of the commotion.
Part 3: Dusk Upon Crystalis
Smashing his way through Doctor Xeo’s front door, Dac found himself on an empty street. Long shadows of buildings covered the city, they seemed almost alive in the purple light of the setting suns. Dac figured the streets were calm because most of the citizens living nearby must have already evacuated.
In the not so far distance, he heard the sounds of battle raging just beyond the city walls. Readying his weapon, Dac prepared to sprint towards the commotion when he spotted a flash of blue, dashing towards him.
“There you are, Dac!” Ven came to a halt, holding both their guns powered by bright blue crystals in hand. “The Director told me to find you here.”
“Ven, where are the other gladiators?” Dac asked. Surely Ven couldn’t be the only back-up sent by the Director, unless this all was some personally targeted joke.
“Oh, they are on their way, I left them in the dust”, Ven said, proudly pointing a thumb over their back. “Wait, is that…?” Ven’s eyes met Dac’s newly reborn weapon for the first time. “Is that your shotgun?”
“It is, things happened in the jungle, I’ll tell you the whole story when we can peacefully sit together and have a drink or something, but right now, we’re needed at the Western gate.”
“It looks wild!” Ven complimented before dashing away.
At the start of his duties as a mentor, Dac couldn’t help feeling amazed at the young gunslinger’s speed. Ven, like many others, was a true menace on the battlefield, Crystalisks would get shot before they realised what hit them. But unlike others, Ven had only just begun their career. Now, Dac was used to Ven’s remarkability, and did his best to keep up with his pupil.
When they both reached the gate, Dac immediately understood what had happened. On the open fields, crawling out of the forest was an army of green, scuttling, energy spitting Crystalisks, led by their oversized mother that Dac thought he had escaped from.
“For one egg?” Dac didn’t realise he said it out loud.
“Why are you talking about eggs?” Ven asked.
“Nothing. Let’s go help Nox out.” Between the green creatures, a red shine was dancing and weaving through the army, cutting crystals in half in its wake. Dac had recognized it as Nox’s scythe. Had it not been a warzone, it would have been a beautiful scene, contrasted against the purple light of dusk.
“Alright, that big one is mine”, Ven said, acting cool in front of their teacher.
“No, it is not. It only has business with me”, Dac said, as he started calmly walking towards his recently made mortal enemy.
Crystalised shotgun in hand, Dac made himself a path towards the mother Crystalisk, blasting any small scuttling creature to shards. Ven, unleashing a storm of bright light-blue bullets, joined the fray alongside him.
The Crystalisk Queen must have noticed his presence, for the further Dac marched, more and more small monsters kept approaching him. They were climbing and cluttering all over each other to get a good shot at their mutual target. But Dac was unphased, his new shiny weapon was capable of taking out multiple with the force of one shot, and Ven was still gunning down every Crytalisk that dared come their direction.
But the wave of Crystalisk felt unending. While not being pushed back, Dac and Ven didn’t seem to make any progress towards the commanding force of their Queen. When the small critters didn’t seem to be enough anymore, bigger ones took their place. They were similar to the Queen in appearance, although still several times smaller than it. Dac noticed they were being surrounded.
“Ven!” he called. “Make a path for yourself and get out of here!”
“Asking me to leave you behind again? Classic Dac move.”
“If you won’t do it, you’ll either become Crystalisk dinner, or…” Dac hesitated saying it, but there was a risk of Ven getting caught in the blast of his shotgun, and he didn’t want to portray himself as not being in control.
Just then, a red streak of light crossed before Dac’s eyes. A red crystal Scythe moved from Crystalisk to Crystalisk, cutting them to pieces as if it had a mind of its own. Nox’s scythe.
“Hiya, Daccy!” they shouted, joining Dac at his last stand. “Welcome to the buffet!”
The executioner was practically bouncing with joy at this opportunity to slay massive amounts of crystal pests. This is exactly why Dac never wanted to share the battlefield with them. To Nox, this is a playground.
“Nox, we need to get to the big one over there”, Dac said as he pointed his shotgun in the Crystalisk Queen’s direction.
“But slashing the small ones is way more fun!”, Nox said, throwing a tantrum while the scythe continued its work. “I like how they die so fast.”
“There is no end to them, at this rate, they will trample the city until they get what they want. The only way to stop their onslaught is to kill the Queen”, Dac explained.
“What they want?” parroted Ven. “Do you know what that is?”
“That doesn’t matter, make a path to the Queen.”
As soon as he knew what the attacking force was, Dac had considered turning around. He knew why they were here, and it was his fault. This was the wrath of a vengeful mother. Maybe, if Dac presented the egg he had stolen from their burrow, the Crystalisk force would pull back. But he couldn’t be sure they would simply retreat, he couldn’t be sure they weren’t looking to claim his life, or the rest of the city. Even if he went back now, getting the egg out of Xeo’s hands now could be a whole war on its own.
In the end Dac figured there was only one surefire way to stop the invasion; Defeat the Queen.
With the force of his own seasoned skill and the help of two of the most prodigious young gladiators, it was a matter of time before they came face to face with the Crystalisk Queen. The monstrous entity stood taller than Dac remembered and its eyes glowed red in fury.
“Watch the legs, they are sharp as swords”, Dac warned.
“This one is going to eat some bullets!”, Ven shouted in anticipation.
Dac’s mind was racing for a strategy to take the mother Crystalisk down. He had a feeling the trick he used earlier wasn’t going to work again, so he needed a new way. This time, he had help though.
“Listen up”, Dac said, keeping eyes on the enemy. “Ven, focus fire on the head, Nox, cut off those nasty legs. Nox?”
Dac swore. The executioner was already making their way to the colossal enemy, trying to take the glory for themselves.
Something was off. The Crystalisk Queen remained unmoving, perfectly still while Nox’s scythe was attempting to slash into its exo-skeleton of green crystal. Her eight spear-like legs remained stabbed into the soft ground. It was only when Ven followed Nox’s lead that Dac noticed a certain glow around the Queen’s massive abdomen.
“Ven, wait!”
The young gunslinger tried to stop in their tracks but it was too late. In swift motion, the Crystalisk Queen jumped into the air, spreading a massive web over the battlefield below, capturing Nox and Ven in a green sparkling prison of silk.
Fearing his juniors would get impaled on the Queen’s sharp legs, Dac fired his shotgun’s crystal chain to rappel himself quickly to their position caught underneath the webbing. Just in time, Dac used his shotgun as a shield to deflect the Queen’s leg aimed at Ven’s body. In a panic he looked to Nox, who had been able to save themselves from the incoming leg-spear using their scythe, but was still caught up in the web.
The web was now sticking to him as well, and it seemed the Crystalisk Queen noticed. Her two forelegs stabbed into the ground next to Dac’s head, locking him in place. As if to spite him, the Queen brought her hideous crystal face as close as possible to Dac’s without biting his head off. In being so close, Dac noticed the one mandible he had blasted off was slowly but surely growing back.
Right when Dac was ready to accept his fate, a new presence appeared on the battlefield. For a moment, the Crystalisk Queen seemed distracted and Dac took that opportunity to shoot off its other mandible. The Queen, startled, stumbled back a few steps.
From the maniacal laughter closing in on him, Dac could make a few assumptions from who exactly had appeared, but he did not expect it in this form. Floating well above the ground, Dac saw a gladiator looking well over a few years younger than him. He wore what looked like Xeo’s robes and wielded their cane like a scepter, purple energy pulsating from the sharp purple crystal at its upper end. On their head, the gladiator wore an ornate skull helmet, fitted with more magenta coloured crystals.
“Dac! I must say I’m grateful for what you brought to me!” Triumphantly, the gladiator wearing Xeo’s clothes lifted a green oval object to the sky. “This power is unprecedented!”
“Who… No, I know who you are.” Dac said, as young Xeo floated above him, holding the egg as if it were a weapon of mass destruction. “I should have known letting it in your care would be an even bigger mistake. What have you done?”
“The power of rejuvenation, Dac. With more of these, we could become immortal!”
“That’s absurd”, Dac replied in disbelief.
“And not only that…”, Xeo said as he raised his staff. A mighty blast of purple energy sprang out of it, raining down crystal dust onto the fields. Mere moments later, broken and defeated Crystalisk were walking again.
Dac aimed his shotgun at the risen critters, but they didn’t make any moves to attack him, instead turning on their own kind. Xeo was in control of the corpses of dead Crystalisks.
“Xeo, stop this madness!” Dac shouted.
“What options do you have, senior gladiator Dac?”, Xeo scoffed. “Our poor juniors are stuck, we are being overrun. I can stop them.”
By now the reanimated army was crawling all over the Crystalisk Queen. Confused about why her own offspring had turned on her, she must have given some sort of signal, as the still living Crystalisk began to retreat.
Relishing in his own newfound power, Xeo didn’t notice a thing until Dac fired. The rope of green crystals wrapped itself around the Doctor, and started pulling him towards Dac at high speed. In his surprise, Xeo gave an order to his crystalline husks, but it was too late for him, with the back of his shotgun, Dac knocked Xeo out.
“This power cannot fall into the wrong hands, Doctor Xeo, I’m sure you understand”, Dac said, taking the Crystalisk egg from the Doctor’s limp hand.
Dac looked back towards the forest’s edge to make sure the Crystalisks had retreated. Once he confirmed that they had, he used the Queen’s second mandible as a sword to cut her own webs and free Nox and Ven.
“What the hell was that all about?”, asked Nox, who was clearly grumpy after being defeated.
“A Crystalisk egg?!”, gasped Ven, “I’ve never seen one!”
“No one has, and no one else will, until we figure out what should be done with it,” Dac said, putting the egg away in one of his coat’s pockets. “Let’s head back to the city.”
“What about him?”, asked Nox, pointing their scythe at Xeo.
When Xeo regains his consciousness, they would no longer return to their resentful relationship, they would be enemies. Dac knew Xeo would do anything to get the egg back from him, but he couldn’t allow it.
“Go back to the city, I’ll deal with him.”
After a brief moment of hesitation and an exchange of looks, they did as they were told without a word. For Ven to be able to swallow their curiosity, that must mean even they felt the gravity of the situation.
With the two juniors now gone, Dac aimed his shotgun at Xeo’s head. He noticed his hand shaking. Never before had he turned his weapon to one of his own. Even with Xeo becoming more of a threat than ever, Dac couldn’t pull the trigger.
What if he is right? What if collecting these eggs would so greatly progress their sciences and civilization?
No, it can’t be right. While what Xeo said might be true, the Doctor would never think about the consequences. The war between the gladiators and the Crystalisk would worsen and could end up destroying civilization as a whole, let alone the world. The safety of the people should always be the priority. Xeo would plunge the world into darkness with more and more forbidden sciences. Dac could not let that happen. This all happened because of him and he would put things right.
-END-
