James Somers: The rise of Lucin

Date: The Year 9042: Planet Castai III

Zurig felt the screams of the men as they perished in blinding light and flame. He felt the agony of his master, Lucin, as his host body was enveloped in brilliant fire-a trap left for him by the Barudii King, Tiet and his band of survivors before their unforeseen escape. The entryway to the underground base burst outward and the rock above crumbled and shifted under its own weight as the stone beneath the ground became molten and displaced by the massive explosion.

Zurig, a Castillian man, and one of Lucin's servants, assimilated by the symbyte organism well before the thousands that served him now, crumpled to the ground as he felt the loss of strength. The line of communication between minds appeared severed now and Zurig gasped under the pain of the loss.

For years now, his master Lucin's mind had been the dominating force and being within his head, but now Zurig no longer felt him present. The sensation crushed him like a sudden onset of withdrawal threatening to send him spiraling into madness and despair.

The army of symbyte assimilated soldiers, which had responded to their master's call, stumbled around in complete disorganization. And then, as suddenly as the voice and presence of Lucin was taken from him, he returned. At first a crushing weight, but Zurig quickly accepted the presence of his master again. Zurig, my servant.

"Yes, my lord?" Zurig said speaking to the air.

The Barudii king has escaped me, but I will yet have him and destroy him, the mind of Lucin said.

"Of course, my lord."

Zurig, you will be my chosen vessel to lead this new campaign, the voice said.

"I am honored, my master."

Zurig felt himself slip away as his consciousness melted into the powerful mind of Lucin. He allowed his master to absorb him. Zurig surrendered as the symbyte organism wrapped around his brain stem. Its tendrils, fused to his cerebral cortex, exerted the physical control and channeled the malevolent spirit within his new host body. Now, more than any of the other assimilated Vorn and Castillian people, Zurig manifested Lucin himself.

Kale awoke from yet another symbyte induced nightmare. His sheets were soaked with sweat. Their group, led by his father Tiet, might have escaped the symbyte take over of their planet Castai, but he had not. This foul thing, now doing its best to takeover his mind and body remained ever present with him. It desired his power and told him so often.

Even being on planet Kosiva for weeks had not dulled its painful ability to intrude upon his thoughts and play visions inside his mind of killing his own father and mother along with everyone else onboard the Equinox.

Images of the young symbyte controlled girl, which had attacked him and infected him with the creature, came rushing back to taunt him with his own helplessness. Somehow, Emil's immune system had fought off the infection. His mother's medical scans showed it shrinking in size and withering to nothing near Emil's brain stem where the beasts take residence within their hosts.

Kale sensed its thoughts as much as his own. How long would it be before he succumbed to the sinister, murderous visions and unconsciously carried them out to fruition? The thought of his own weakness had become too much for him to bear. Kale knew he had to get away from his loved ones.

Kale turned to the desk in his compartment and to the piece of white paper which he had been staring at recently. He needed to say he was sorry to his father and mother before it was all over for him-needed them to know that his actions were only intended to keep them safe from harm by these terrible creatures. At last, he picked a writing instrument and allowed the liquid pigment to join itself to the parchment before him. Kale knew what he had to do, he only wished with all of his heart that he didn't have to.

A strong wind blew across the grassy plains where the Guniran province stood. Of all of the habitable planets of creation the planet Kosiva was the most sparsely populated, yet one of the most beautiful. With mild climates across most of its land mass and its longer growing seasons, Kosiva remained as near a paradise as one could find among the habitable planets. And most important of all to the Guniran clansmen residing there, it spared them from the ravages of the war.

The province consisted of primarily small homes packed around a small metropolitan area. A number of larger structures stood among them including the Council Chambers for the province. For a small group of people, they had managed to fashion a peaceful and well manicured town.

The delegates from the Guniran council seated themselves inside the ornate council chambers located inside one of the larger two story buildings in the province. The delegates wore similar apparel, consisting of tan trousers and shirts with a long waist coat that opened in front below the waist, even when buttoned. The borders of the garments had been embellished with an intricate pattern of darker material. They wore brimless caps upon their heads and carried themselves like true politicians, which made Tiet uneasy.

Tiet had always been taught that politics tended to be a dirty sort of business with scheming and backstabbing usually taking place. He preferred open combat in a warrior's uniform with clearly defined enemies and a sturdy blade to the sort of dress he was made to wear today. Mirah had insisted that he dress formally for the meeting, since so much depended on its successful outcome. She had selected for him, a dark blue semi-formal suit purchased in one of the province's shops. Similar in style to the delegate's attire, Tiet didn't like it, but he was consenting so long as Wynn and Grod were made to wear the same. With dark wavy locks hanging on his high, tight collar and his olive skin, Tiet looked handsome in the attire but terribly uncomfortable. He would never be a politician.

Tiet, Wynn and Grod took their seats and a beverage was poured for each of them by a servant. "Thank you," Tiet said.

He picked up the wooden cup with its intricate carvings along the rim and took a sip-it tasted quite good, but he wasn't familiar with what it was.

"Gumji," one of the delegates said as he took a drink from his own cup.

"Excuse me?"

"Gumji. It is made from one of Kosiva's native plants. It has medicinal properties."

"Ah… my wife is a physician. She might be interested in knowing more about it."

The small talk grated on his nerves. Tiet wanted to get straight to the matter at hand. "Gentleman, now that you have consented to our staying near the province, I would like to discuss the possibility of enlisting some of your people to aid us in a permanent dwelling for our group," Tiet said.

"And what would you pay our laborers with?" asked one of the other delegates.

Tiet noticed a hint of sarcasm in the man's voice-he didn't look pleased to be meeting with them.

"I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement," Wynn said.

"The fact of the matter is you don't really have anything of value that we would be interested in," said a delegate named Onnell.

Clearly the small talk and pleasantries are over, Tiet thought.

"The only reason that we have consented to this meeting is because of Aija's influence," Onnell said.

"Who is this, Aija?" Tiet asked.

"He is the prophet of Elithias, the Eternal One," one of the other delegates replied. "He instructed us to meet with you, since you are the Barudii king."

"Well, that's fine," Tiet said. "So then why do we appear to have a problem if your prophet has told you to meet with us?"

"The problem, Master Soone, is that we know who you are," Onnell said. "We are afraid of the trouble that follows you."