Chapter 35

Darvian felt like he'd been fighting for an eternity. The surface, or his waking consciousness, was so far away. Pushing himself so hard seemed like such a waste of time and energy. He couldn't win.

I'll never beat him, Darvian's mind whispered harshly at him like a traitor stabbing him in the back.

He tried to push those thoughts aside but the effort to fight his dark, depressing thoughts and struggle to get back control of himself was too much. He wasn't strong enough. Whatever was happening to him was beyond his abilities. The other, the insidious and alien presence in his head, wouldn't let him go. The harder he struggled, the harder it was to break free.

There was a moment when he could feel its presence suddenly weaken and he thought he was actually going to win. Hope flared to life inside him.

It didn't last long though.

Sensing his near escape, the other bore down on him and finally crushed his remaining strength.

In the physical world, Darvian sank to his knees. There was a brief moment where his eyes didn't look blank and emotionless anymore. They were watery and tears fell down his face.

Then the blankness came back.

He rose slowly to his feet. His mouth opened wide.

And a new torrent of croatoans exploded out of him.

**

"I suggest you throw up a nano-shield, Sire," a voice crackled over King Rowan's com. He stared down at his mechpak in complete confusion.

"Now would be good, Your Majesty," the voice repeated. "And make it a big one."

Rowan couldn't understand what was happening and part of him distrusted that voice. He knew who it belonged to and he also knew that person was dead.

It must be a ruse, he thought to himself. He's dead.

"Your Majesty, do it now!" the voice shouted.

The spiders were swarming over the wall now. There were thousands of them.

King Rowan threw a hand into the air and the nanos creating the wall of light suddenly broke apart and swirled back over to the king. At the same time, the rest of Rowan's nanos emerged from his mechpaks and were added to the others.

"Sire!"

"What are you doing!?"

"You're going to get us killed!"

Everyone was shouting and yelling but Rowan ignored them. He concentrated on making the nano shield. He wasn't sure what was going to happen in the next few moments, so he made it big and as dense as he possibly could. He compacted the nanos in close to each other, less than a millimeter apart from one another. Then he created several other layers with shock absorbing padding in between them.

"Get down, now! Everyone on the ground!" King Rowan bellowed.

No one knew what was going on but they did what Rowan commanded. Everyone dropped to the ground and covered their heads. Everyone except for Milo. He remained standing because his nearly indestructible skin would protect him against most threats.

The Behemoth readied himself and the new cannon on his arm hummed loudly.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a huge explosion of some kind. The ground shook and the nano-shield grew uncomfortably hot. There were a couple of spots where the metal glowed with bright red-orange light. There were four other explosions, each one bigger than the last.

People screamed and yelled. The noise was deafening.

King Rowan felt the ground shake. He saw the spots where the red-orange light from the explosions grew and expanded. He felt the heat inside the shield go from uncomfortable to nearly unbearable. He wasn't sure how long the bombings lasted. It felt like each second dragged on for an eternity and for a moment, he thought he was dead and stuck in Hell to be tortured endlessly.

"It's safe, Your Majesty," the voice said over Rowan's com. "You can lower the shield."

"Identify yourself," Rowan commanded. He was sure he knew that voice but he wouldn't allow himself to really believe it to be true.

"Captain Quint Tims, Sire."

Rowan looked at Milo whose face registered a gruesome look of shock. His twisted features didn't convey the emotion all that well but Rowan still saw it there.

"Quint?" Fiona asked. "He's dead."

Rowan wasn't sure what was going on but he wasn't dropping the shield until he got some sort of clarification on the matter.

"Captain Quint Tims was killed in action in the Ceonti Mountains shortly after the first attacks on Roanoke. I repeat, identify yourself!" Rowan yelled.

"I assure you, Sire, I am who I say I am," the voice returned. It was calm and rational, as if he knew this was to be expected. "We intercepted chatter that you were pinned down in the jungles around Binsuil. I thought you might need some help. And by the looks of things here, I was right."

"Sire, don't," Fiona warned.

Rowan looked like he was about to take the shield down.

"Darvian and Dr. Taran both testified that Captain Tims's entire regiment was slaughtered. It has to be some kind of trick," Fiona went on.

"Why would they create such an elaborate ruse? The spiders were already over the wall. They would've finished us in seconds," Rowan returned.

"Sire, above everyone else, I want Quint to be alive. Killing him and the others will be my greatest sin in this life but this seems too good to be true," Milo warned.

"Your Majesty, we are running out of time. Lower the shield. We need to get out of here," Quint said.

Rowan was torn. He was sure that Quint was telling the truth but there was a huge and lingering doubt that clung to him. It was too convenient and highly improbable that Quint would still be alive. It was even less likely that he would find his way to this place to help Rowan and his people out of their current situation. He wasn't sure what to do but he knew he had to do something quickly.

He made up his mind, silently praying that it was the right decision. He stood up and released his nanos from their configuration. They broke apart and swirled back into his mechpaks. There were several bursts of protest but he ignored them. He was the King, and good or bad, he had to stand by his decision.

No one was sure what would they were going to be facing when the shield came down. Half the people were expecting more Blak Soldiers and spiders. Others may have expected to be gunned down.

What they saw instead was a charred and burning wasteland roughly seventy or so yards in diameter. It completely encircled the perimeter of where Rowan erected his domed nano-shield. The ground was insanely hot and several fires were still raging.

Standing just beyond the scorched earth was a band of men and women about two hundred to three hundred strong. They looked battered, bruised, and beaten down but they were otherwise healthy, all things considered.

Standing at the forefront was Quint Tims. There was no question it was him and there was no question he was alive and well.

Rowan used his nanos to create a wide path over the burnt ground. He and the other refugees walked forward. He was about halfway to the group in front of him when he saw who else was interspersed within Quint's people.

About a third of the people there were Terraquois.