Untitled Space Xianxia - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: We All Scream

There are a few things you need to know about void beasts. Well, actually, there are a bunch of things you need to know about void beasts, but I didn’t know most of them at the time, so you don’t get to either. Fair’s fair.

Void beasts come in all shapes and sizes with a few unifying characteristics. As the name would imply, they can all survive in a hard vacuum. They’re all black as the infinite night, often visible to the naked eye only as a splotch of starless sky. Finally, they’re all blind. They can sense qi and they can sense heat—two far more useful senses in deep space—but the visual world remains off limits to them.

That’s where the rules end. Some void beasts travel in hordes, frantically devouring any source of qi they can find. Others float alone, massive leviathans that happily feed on whatever radiation comes their way. Yet others will drift in from whichever corner of the abyss they originate and conquer an entire system, swarming the local star and anything in orbit, eating and reproducing until there are so many of them that some number break off into a swarm of their own.

Every once in a while, a star somewhere in the galaxy will go dark, no supernova, no black hole, just darkness. Usually, a void beast colony is responsible.

That a void horde would come for Fyrion at all was a bit of an anomaly. Whichever mind controlled it would’ve had to have been smart enough to realize it couldn’t overcome the cultivators in the inner system, yet stupid enough not to realize said cultivators would come for it the moment it attacked Fyrion. It was either some kind of weird fluke, or there was more going on than I realized.

Of course, at the moment, I thought about absolutely none of this. My thoughts ran more along the lines of, shit shit shit, we have to get out of here.

Calmly, of course. The nice voice in the ceiling had told us to remain calm, after all.

I realized then that all thirty of the kids were looking at me. Threads damn it. Why did I have to be the adult? Just because I had a cape on didn’t make me a superhero. Welp, needs must.

“Take me to the nearest bunker!” I all but shouted at my holopad, glancing at the map that popped up and swiping audio navigation on. “Everyone, let’s go!”

My stampede of children led the way, sprinting as fast as their short legs could carry them while I took up the rear. I cycled my heart and lung, and blood meridians as we moved, forcing my heart rate and breathing to keep calm and even. That alone staved off the worst of the panic, though I won’t pretend I was thinking entirely clearly.

For instance, I kept pushing the fucking freezer cart. By all rights I should’ve abandoned it. Last I’d checked, ice cream was only of marginal utility in life or death crises, but at the quick jogging pace my young charges limited me to, the freezer didn’t slow me down enough for my mind to even consider the idea.

My holopad beeped a direction at me and I echoed it to the children ahead. “Left at the fork!”

Only a handful of them made it out of the hallway before the window shattered.

It took a few moments for my eyes to make out the details of the jet black shape that burst through as the station’s qi shields flickered to life to limit the loss of atmosphere. The thing was roughly the size and shape of a large dog, but wrong in every sense of the word. Its six legs bent in opposing directions, adding a weird twisting motion to its steps. Spiny chitin coated its torso, the bulk of its body scarcely wider than my neck yet three times as tall.

Rather than a canine snout or insectile mandibles, a three-pronged beak sprouted from its mouth, the right and left sides hooking up and the center hooking up. The simple act of this thing closing its beak over something would tear it apart.

It took a few moments for my eyes to make out the details of the void beast that burst through the window, but under a second to note that instead of feet, its limbs ended in sharp points.

One of which pierced a familiar child through the belly.

“Vihaan!”

I didn’t think. I didn’t plan. I didn’t hesitate. I charged for the thing as it lowered its beaks for the kindhearted child, as drool dripped from its maw onto his face.

I would’ve preferred if my history of heroic acts had begun with the discovery of my signature technique, if I’d drawn a legendary sword and cleanly separated the thing’s head from its body in a move with some bullshit name like The Meteor That Flies Across The Heavens. If only the void horde had waited until I’d gotten that far.

Instead, I rammed it with the ice cream cart.

Stainless steel met ebon chitin with a sickening crunch. Black blood dripped to the floor as the collision knocked the beast back, ripping its pointed leg from Vihaan’s stomach and bowling it over. I pulled back and slammed the freezer into it once more, crushing its narrow torso and the organs within. I stomped the side of its head for good measure, caving in its brittle exoskeleton and shredding the gray matter in its fragments.

I feel to my knees over Vihaan. His eyes were still open, his face contorted in pain. I grabbed his arms and pressed his hands down onto his open wound. “I need you to press down on this. Can you do that?”

He grit his teeth and nodded.

“Good, good. Okay. This is going to suck, but I have to take you to safety. Ready? And up.” I heaved as I lifted him, cradling him in my arms like an infant as he held his injury closed as best he could. I stood and turned to the other children to find them gawking at me.

“We need to move! Left at the fork!” I shouted at them.

They listened.

Together we ran, a chaotic mess of kids swarming around me as I carried Vihaan through the halls of Fyrion. I called out directions as they came up, my eyes flitting up to the path ahead and back down to the child in my arms.

We’d taken a half dozen twists and turns before I realized three of the kids had banded together to bring the freezer cart along. I let them. It didn’t seem to be slowing them down, and any amount of comfort it could bring to the kids would be worth it. The last thing I needed right now was an argument over leaving the ice cream behind.

My qi-cooled heart lifted as the bunker finally came into view. It sank again as three windows shattered in sequence behind us. “Faster!”

My imperfect focus slipped. Adrenaline took hold. My breathing quickened. My heartbeat sped. My hands shook.

The void beasts gave chase.

The six inch steel door slid open at our approach. I stopped just outside, ushering the kids inside and yelling at them to hurry. Five of the vaguely dog-shaped monstrosities bore down on us, their pointed feet digging into and scraping against the linoleum floor. “Hurry up!” I shouted. “Inside, inside, inside!”

Vihaan and I were the last ones in.

“Close the door!” I called to my holopad, the kids, the door controls, the gods, anyone, really. I don’t know which listened, but the bunker door slammed shut behind us. I didn’t even have time to exhale before something crashed into the other side, scratching and clawing against it powerfully enough to echo past six inches of solid steel.

We held our collective breaths for tense seconds until the void beasts finally gave up and moved on. I exhaled, relief flooding me for the few seconds I could spare. We’d made it.

I spun away from the door to survey our surroundings. They weren’t promising.

Apparently, our nearest emergency bunker spent ninety nine point nine percent of its time as an oversized broom closet. Mop buckets and cleaning supplies lined the walls. The only bunker-like aspect to it was the toilet in the back, wide sink, miniature qi stove, and cupboard full of basic rations and supplies. It was to that last I sent two of the children to search for a first aid kit.

“Make room.” I gestured with my head for the crowd of kids to back off and clear some floorspace, upon which I stretched the blanket with my foot and deposited Vihaan. I paused to untie the knot around my neck to allow my former cape to lie flat before I leaned in. “How’re you doing?”

Vihaan looked up at me with red eyes. “It hurts.”

“I know it does, buddy. You’re doing great. Just stay with me, okay? I need to take a look at your injury.”

He nodded weakly.

I gently lifted his hand and lowered my nose to the puncture wound in his lower abdomen. It smelled foul.

“Shit,” I cursed, letting the unintentional pun go unnoticed as I pushed Vihaan’s hand back onto the injury. “It’s pierced your bowel.” I looked up. “Where’s that first aid kit?”

A woefully small tin box landed at my side. Inside I found some bandages, a packet of med gel, a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, and a few doses of various medications. I cursed again.

I couldn’t seal up Vihaan’s wound without addressing the hole in his bowel, yet I had neither the equipment nor the training to do that. Even if I could’ve muddled through it, the act of moving him from that hallway would’ve shifted the damaged bowel away from the entry wound. I’d have to root around inside him to find it again.

That wasn’t happening.

I found a single dose morphine syringe in the first aid box and injected a quarter of it just above the wound. It wouldn’t be enough to fully remove the pain, but I didn’t dare give the kid any more. I knew jack shit about narcotics dosing for minors, and with the local net down I had no way of looking up how much was safe to administer.

Next, I grabbed the alcohol and emptied the small bottle into the wound. Vihaan gasped and writhed and cried out, and I knew you couldn’t disinfect a perforated bowel, but I prayed it would buy me a bit of time before the sepsis took hold.

“Is there an emergency phone in here?” I called out to the uninjured kids.

They responded with blank stares.

“A hardwired comm terminal?” I tried. “Something that would work with the network down?”

Still nothing. A few of them even shrugged.

I sighed and scanned the walls myself, searching through the painfully fluorescent light for anything that looked remotely like a way to call for help.

I came up empty.

“Okay. Shit. Um…” I trailed off. I was going to have to move him. With no way to call for help, I couldn’t trust that anyone would find us anytime soon. Vihaan needed medical attention now—trained medical attention.

An idea struck.

“Nicki!” My eyes shot up to one of the kids whose name I knew. “There’s a switch on the underside of the freezer. I need you to turn it off and take all the ice cream out. Can you do that?”

She didn’t answer, simply darting right for the cart and feeling around the underside for the off switch. Unbidden, three others ran to help empty it.

As they worked I stuffed the wound with synthetic cotton and wrapped it with gauze to stop the bleeding, instructing Vihaan to maintain pressure.

“You still with me, buddy?”

He nodded.

“Good. Good. You’re doing great. So great. Okay. I’m going to get you out of here, take you to a doctor. I need you to keep a hold of your qi. Don’t cycle. Don’t cultivate. Just hold it in as tightly as you can. Don’t let any leak out. Can you do that?”

He flashed a frightened look.

“Okay. Just try your best, alright?” Ideally I would’ve had him cycle his blood meridian to reinforce his body against infection, but the class hadn’t gotten that far. He’d have to depend on his natural defenses and hope to minimize the detectible qi he gave off.

Vihaan nodded.

“Perfect. Excellent. Vihaan, you’re a wonder. Alright, I’ll be right back.” I leapt to my feet and walked over to the freezer, snatching the leftover ice cream off the ground much to the kids’ charging. I knelt down to find the refrigeration unit at the bottom and held a hand over it. Sure enough, it still radiated heat. I iced it down with the half empty box of ice cream bars, melting the delicious treat for the sake of ridding the freezer’s exterior of the last of its warmth.

Next I reviewed the map of Fyrion I’d thankfully cached on my holopad. Without comms I had no way of knowing how much of the station had been overcome, but I couldn’t just wander randomly. I didn’t trust that the transport network would still be running, so I threw together a hasty list of potential holdouts within walking distance.

Far and away the most likely candidate was Family Housing B, where sect members with young children lived. It would have the largest pocket of combat-ready cultivators on this side of the Fyrion. That left us with a twenty minute walk ahead of us.

A twenty minute walk through void beast territory.

I returned to Vihaan’s side. “Okay, everyone,” I addressed the class. “I have to take Vihaan to a doctor. I need all of you to stay here until someone comes and gets you. Okay? It’s dangerous out there, but you’ll be safe in here. Understand?”

A girl raised her hand. “What about you?”

“Sometimes adults need to do dangerous things to keep people safe,” I said. “But you don’t. You stay here, got it?”

The kids all nodded.

“Perfect. You’re all so brave.” I leaned down to wrap the blanket around Vihaan, layering him up against what was to come. That done, I lifted him up and carried him to the open freezer, bending his knees against his chest so he’d fit in the tight space. I’d have to be quick. At least I didn’t have to worry about the residual frost freezing him to death. The CO2 buildup in the confined space would kill him long before that happened. If only he’d had an open lung meridian to help with that.

I left the freezer open as I pushed it up to the bunker door, pausing just before the exit to take a moment for myself. I dared not linger, dared not let the absolute insanity of what I was about to do sink in. Unarmed, undertrained, and without even a core from which to externalize my qi, I’d no hope of winning a fight against a void beast. Threads, I’d only defeated that first one because it’d been distracted drooling over Vihaan.

I didn’t calculate the odds. I didn’t itemize the dozens of ways this could get us both killed. I only knew that letting Vihaan die was not an option.

If I was going to flail against infinity, saving a child’s life seemed like a hell of a good way to start.

“Nicki, you’re going to close the door behind me, got it?”

The girl nodded firmly.

“Excellent. Thank you. Okay, Vihaan. Deep breath.”

I heard a fierce little inhale from within the freezer. I smiled with false bravery. “And here. We. Go.”

I cycled my blood, heart, lungs, and skin meridians, slowing my pulse and my breathing and chilling my body both inside and out. Keeping my focus, I swiped at my holopad and the door slid open. I pushed the freezer cart through.

The hall outside was clear, the pack that had chased us apparently losing interest in defended prey when easier targets abounded. The bunker door slammed shut behind me.

I turned right, back down the way we’d come, and set off. I walked with purpose, with long and solid strides rather an outright run. I cared not for the sound or the smell of our passage—such things didn’t exist in space—but I feared motion itself might draw attention. Any heat from the friction of the cart’s wheels certainly would. I’d have to hope we didn’t generate that much.

The gentle rumble of the wheels against the floor echoed eerily through the empty halls. The red emergency lights cast the space in angry tones that clashed with uncanny peace of the lifeless passages. We passed a broken window, atmosphere slowly wheezing out through imperfections in the qi field that patched it. Hopefully the life support systems could replace the lost pressure.

We found our first corpse before our first void beast. I uttered a silent thanks that Vihaan couldn’t see the rent flesh and missing organs and exposed bone as we passed. Even as the red light muted the gory scene, the blood and viscera and flesh all blending together into a mess of what looked like brown compared to the crimson world around it, I swallowed down bile. Man or woman, old or young, mortal or cultivator, not enough remained of the carcass to know. In the moment, I thought it would take decades to unsee that sight.

It took twelve more steps.

I froze as I pushed the freezer cart around the next bend to find three black shapes stooped over something red and wet. I heard the drip of lifeblood upon the floor, the rip of tearing flesh, the damp smacking of beak against beak. I smelled the gas and shit of death. I tasted iron in the air.

I gulped.

None of the void beasts looked up from their meal.

I pushed onward, swerving around to hug the far wall and keep as much distance as I could. My left shoulder passed but four feet from the closest beast’s rear end. I refused to look, refused to watch the carcass’s feet twitch as they chewed on its spinal cord, refused to see their narrow bellies engorge as they feasted.

They left me alone. With no qi they could sense and a body even cooler than air around it, I held no appeal to the void dwellers. Where they came from, they had plenty of cold and dead.

The qi and adrenaline running through my body kept my panic at bay, kept me from considering what would happen if they detected Vihaan’s qi through the freezer.

I kept my eyes straight ahead. The soles of my shoes stuck against the floor with each step as I strode through the blood that had pooled upon the floor. The wheels of the cart left four thin red lines in their wake, a visible trail of our harrowing passage.

I fought back a sigh of relief as we turned from that hallway into the next, even breathing of the utmost importance until we found safety. Until that happened, I had to keep calm. I had to keep steady.

I had to keep moving.

——

Senior Cadet Alice Garret gripped the shaft of her pike with white knuckles. For two cycles she’d trained with the weapon, including even a spirit beast hunt on Ilirian.

She’d never faced down a blackblood.

Alice had been in class when the alarms rang, when the lights turned red and the comms went dark. In her mind she’d done her duty, escorting her pack of teenage students to the safety of the housing block, only to find that the housing block hadn’t been as safe as she’d hoped.

There were too many people to realistically sequester them all in a bunker, too many to organize without functional comms. For lack of an elder, a senior member had taken command, ordering cultivators about to defend the altogether too many entrances to the housing block.

Instead of safety, Alice had found more duty. Instead of a team, she found herself the lone guard at the eastern first floor hallway. Senior Wallace had understandably directed most of their forces towards defending the higher levels where more of the void beasts had landed, but with only a dozen yards of visibility before the hallway turned and without even a partner to fall back on, Alice resented the choice.

Standing alone in a red-lit hallway in the height of a void horde incursion made for a harrowing experience in and of itself.

A scream sounded in the distance.

Glass shattered somewhere in the maze of passages ahead.

Her breath seemed to echo down the empty hallway. Alice’s heartbeat sped as her qi invigorated the muscle. It kept her jumpy and nervous, but ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice.

She froze. Her ears, empowered by the qi running through them, caught two distinct noises in the distance: the eerie and dissonant whine of a squeaky wheel, and wet and sticky footsteps. The steps came even and rhythmic, not the desperate flight of a survivor but a calm and deliberate walk.

They were coming closer.

Alice tensed. She lowered her pike, ready to bring her main offensive technique, The Comet Falls, to bear on whatever monstrosity presented itself.

Instead, a skeletal figure in cadet’s clothes rounded the bend, pushing before it a steel cart stained with black blood. A chill ran down her spine as the walking corpse approached. She’d never heard of void beasts with necromantic magic, but she couldn’t deny the lifelessness of the thing that approached her.

Nor could she deny the spark of qi she sensed not in the undead monstrosity, but from the cart it pushed.

She pointed her pike at it. “Stop right there!”

To her surprise, the figure actually stopped. An unfeeling voice called out in reply. “Is the housing block secure?”

“It is,” Alice growled, “and it’ll remain that way. Release your captive and step away from—”

“Oh, thank fuck,” the corpse swore. It—he, Alice supposed—leaned forward and opened the lid of his cart. From inside she heard soft breathing and smelled blood and excrement.

She glared at him. “I said, release your capti—”

He charged her. “Medic!” he shouted into the air behind her.

Alice readied herself to strike, but hesitated as the life seemed to spring back into the corpse. She still sensed no qi within him, but color returned to his face and emotion to his voice.

“I need a medic!” he shouted again, desperation finally apparent in his tone.

Alice blinked in stunned silence as he barreled past her, unable to bring herself to strike down a man calling for a medic, however uncanny his appearance. She turned and watched him disappear down the hall behind her, fighting off the urge to follow.

All she could do was keep her vigil and hope she hadn’t unleashed a demon on the mortals and children of the housing block. Anything else, she concluded, was below her pay grade.

——

I stopped cycling the moment I saw the look the guard lady’s face, mentally adding her to the list of people who’d seen me go all corpse-like. The last thing I needed was to scare the bejeezus out of the medic Vihaan so desperately needed.

“Vihaan?” I asked him as we raced past the guard. “How are you doing, buddy?”

He didn’t answer, but I heard a ragged breath drift up from he now-open freezer.

I ran faster.

“I need a medic!” I shouted once more as the hallway spit us out into a cavernous room over twice the size of housing D’s common room. I rushed past a gray-haired man barking orders at groups of scurrying cultivators up to where two sect members directed a team of mortals around a half dozen maimed and wounded.

A woman in a junior member uniform approached me. I preempted her questions as I reached into the freezer to pick up Vihaan. “He’s got a punctured bowel. I gave him a quarter dose of morphine and rinsed the wound with isopropyl. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Lay him there,” the woman ordered, pointing to a section of empty couch. I obeyed.

“You and you,” she jabbed her finger at two of the mortals, “with me.” She looked up to face me, eyeing both the empty ring denoting my low rank and the dark bags under my eyes. “You did well. We’ll take it from here.”

I nodded mutely and stepped out of her way.

I sat on the floor as they worked, leaning against the side of the sofa by Vihaan’s head. Time passed in a blur as I waited, exhaustion and fading adrenaline leaving me feeling hollow as mortals and cultivators alike hustled and bustled around the lobby or similarly sat stock still with vacant expressions. One of the nurses tapped me on the shoulder when they finished with Vihaan. I didn’t wake him.

The day dragged on. The medics began to flag as fewer and fewer injured came in. Someone brought me a wet towel to wipe the blood from my hands. It only kind of worked.

In time, the red emergency lights flickered out. A collective sigh of mourning relief echoed through the room in lieu of a victorious cheer. The comms came to life.

“Cal?” Lucy’s voice sang like music to my ears. “Cal, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” I replied. I exhaled, listening, for a moment, to Vihaan’s soft and rhythmic breathing behind me.

“I’m okay.”

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