Hearts of Darkness - Plague of the Void Seeds / 16

@summonerrk - VoidArt Argantuan competition entry

Please click here if you would like to read Post 1, the beginning of the story

Please click here if you would like to read the previous post

This is an original, write as I go, Steemit adventure

Post 16

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Present

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Anna was dreaming. She cried out as the boy snatched her books, tore out some pages and threw them to the floor. Three other boys stood by and laughed.

“That’s for being a clever clogs.”

“I didn’t do anything to you.”

“My Dad doesn’t like know-it-alls and neither do I.”

The boy shoved her to the ground then sauntered off, laughing with his friends.
Anna wiped the tears from her eyes, picked herself up and began reclaiming the pages of her precious books.

“We’re so proud of you.”

She looked up to find her parents standing beside her. She stood up and was older. She had just received word of her acceptance into university.

“Thanks Mum. Thanks Dad.”

She hugged them both and stood back. They began to slide slowly, still smiling, into the ground. She was at their grave side. They had been buried together.

She turned to Gary, who stood beside her.

“Thank you for coming with me.”

“Anytime. I'll always be there for you Anna.”

“I can’t believe it’s already been a year since the accident.”

When there was no answer, she turned and Gary was gone. In his place stood a Void Seed formed in the shape of a naked human woman. Her arm was stretched out towards Anna and in her hand was a great, beating Void Heart with black blood pumping out of it.

“No. Get that away from me.”

She turned from the Void Seed but she was surrounded on all sides. One of the Void Seed woman suddenly grabbed her by the throat and began forcing one of the hearts into her mouth. Anna Screamed.

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Present

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Anna woke with her heart pounding. She looked around and realised she was in an optimisation pouch. Why though? She felt a little queasy and there was a dull ache behind her eyes.

“Ahhhh, you’re awake. Good.” Click announced within her mind.

“Hello Click. Why am I in here?”

“You don’t remember the battle?”

“Oh no. Sserwellia! My people?!”

“Peace! There’s a lot to discuss but only once you are deemed well enough by me. For now, all you need to know is that the Void Seed were defeated. We, the Alliance and the Ziff, are assessing the damage and licking our wounds.”

“Click. Tell me of my people.”

“Later.”

“No. Now!”

“Are you aware that you ingested a Void Seed’s heart and are undergoing a similar transformation to that experienced by Joshua?”

“Wh….what?”

“You were mortally wounded in the battle and Joshua felt it was the only way to save your life. He was right. He fed you a piece of heart, you woke up, devoured the rest and the collapsed.”

Anna looked at her hands, legs and arms. They all appeared normal.

“But none of my veins are black.”

“Apparently, the transformation, if it is successful at all, manifests differently.”

“Oh. What has happened to me….so far?”

“Initially you appeared completely normal, as did Joshua. But at some point after we had placed you, unconscious, within the optimisation pouch, you began to get very angry. I tried to sooth you but was shut out. Externally, your eyes have turned red like Joshua’s did initially. You also have black skin which seems to be concentrated in locations around your body, most notably your head, neck and face, in places where you had sustained injury during the battle. Your hair has turned black in places too.”

“Ok. That's a lot to take in. How's my mind?”

“Thankfully, you are still you Anna and if you are ready, I think it’s time for you to come out.”

Anna took a deep breath. She tried to remain focused on the fact that she was alive, a fate so many had been denied.

“I’m ready.”

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Present

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Khal was hosting a gathering of the Alliance council aboard the Shaad-rin. Several representatives from the races were in attendance. They were in Dagr’s hangar. Some sat around a great table, others, too large to sit comfortably, were standing around it or sat upon cargo crates.

Dagr had the floor and was addressing the council.

“Now is the time to press the enemy. Our recent victories have given us the initiative but we are in desperate need of White Bone. We must go to Genr and Eod now.”

Ccceecccccquoccc, the Daxiste-agori Great-mind, stood from her seat and looked solemnly around.

“Blodhur Dagr. I have to agree with you. Now may be our last chance to bring about a victory for the alliance. It is with heavy hearts that I must inform you of our latest intelligence, recovered by Crispin of the human contingent. The Void Seeds are rebuilding their numbers by attacking planetary cores. They no longer need the stars to replicate and can remain hidden underground.”

Silence greeted her words.

“No doubt, stars provide the optimum source of energy for the Void Seeds but it makes no difference to us. If they are able to reach a critical point in their numbers, they will simply overwhelm us. I think we all knew that this day would come, when we faced the truth together. They will destroy turn this universe into a barren wasteland unless we can stop them now.”

“We will never the time to mobilise all the races of our universe that are capable of mounting an attack on the enemy. Our emissaries are yet to return with an offer of help. Potential allies are short-sighted, distant, aloof or nonchalant. Perhaps part of the reason is due to the fact that the Daxiste-agori brought this plague upon us and it is only right that we take responsibility for eliminating it?”

Dagr stamped his massive foot down on the floor. The room rung like a huge bell.

“No! Those responsible for building the Gateway have paid. The Daxiste-agori are of the Bone. We are one until the bone drowns.”

Several of the gathered beings roared their approval.

“Um, thank you Dagr. Well then. I speak for all the Daxiste-agori when I say we must gather everything we have and attack the Void Seed. We must identify the planets they have infected and destroy them. We must destroy their Mother Spheres and close the Gateway. We must obliterate every trace of their existence and we must do it soon, or everything and everyone will be lost.”

“Therefore, if we are all in agreement, we will mount the greatest mobilisation the Alliance has seen in our entire campaign against the Void Seed. Multiple missions will be approved for simultaneous initiation.”

Ccceecccccquoccc looked around the gathered representatives and one-by-one, they all nodded their agreement.

“So it begins and so it ends.” Said Dagr with deep solemnity.

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Present

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Anna is sitting cross-legged in the centre of the Deepsee with the twin stars of the binary system Joshua often visited.

“I can see why he likes to come here to learn and meditate. It’s beautiful and peaceful.”

“Indeed. I’m glad you are also enjoying it. I hoped it would help ease you to feel connected with the experiences of another who is going through the same changes you are.”

He was right. It did help. In fact she was looking forward to meeting Joshua, not only to thank him for saving her life, but to perhaps help satisfy her growing curiosity about what was happening to her.

It had been three days since she left the optimisation pouch. She had been thoroughly examined and spent most of her time either sleeping or with Click in the Deepsee. Every time she tried to get information about the disposition of her people, she was politely, but firmly rebuffed. Well, there were probably very good reasons for that but her imagination was currently doing more damage to her state of mind than the truth would.

“Click.”

“Yes?”

“I must know the disposition of my people and what happened on Sserwellia. Please, you cannot expect me to continue without knowing what has happened to everyone.”

“Yes. You have been about as patient as could be expected. So be it. Do your best to remain calm…it will be difficult.”

Oh dear. If he was prepared to give her so bleak a warning, some truly terrible things must have occurred.

“I’m sorry Anna. Of the three hundred and two human fighters that participated in the battle for Sserwellia, two hundred and sixty have perished.”

Anna felt as though she’d been punched in the stomach by an Argantuan.

“Oh no.”

“Do you want me to continue the report?”

“Yes…..please. I must hear it all. I am responsible for them.” She spoke quietly.

“Oh my dear. Very well. When you became embroiled with a large number of Void Seeds in order to help one of your Ussilass squads, you were attacked and gravely injured. At that point, you had lost approximately thirty fighters. Once they saw you fall, all of the remaining units converged on your position. They surrounded and protected you. They were fighting hand-to-hand with the Void Seed and began to suffer grievous losses. Joshua fed you the Void Seed heart and when your second, Gary, saw that you were alive, he called out that he would join you in your fate. Your people, every single one, followed his lead in eating the hearts of fallen Void Seeds.”

“Gary wanted to follow my fate?”

“Yes and all the others. Void Seed heart passed the lips of approximately one hundred humans. Forty one of them passed out immediately, including Gary. The others underwent a more immediate transformation. Ziff and Valhalconin have provided testimony to what happened.”

Anna said nothing. She felt numb. What had happened to her people?

“They had writhed around on the ground, screaming, then stood up. Their eyes had turned completely black with a black fluid leaking from their eyes, mouths, ears and noses. They also had distended chests, almost as if their hearts had grown too large for their chests and were attempting to burst out. They went berserk, every one. They all fell fighting the Void Seed or once their hearts had burst from their chests. One managed to survive until the Void Seed had retreated but he didn’t stop fighting. A Shaddonos held him down and a Daxiste-agori entered his mind but there was nothing there. Eventually, his chest burst like the others.”

Anna had tears streaming down her face and her eyes had begun emitting a deep red glow.

“Where are the forty one survivors?”

“They are on the medical deck.”

“Take me to them.”

“Anna.”

“Now.”

“Very well.”