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Counter Earth Chronicles - Fallen Empire

Chapter 97: Some Must Be Sacrificed If All Are To Be Saved (The Dawn Of Civilization Part IV)

Day 200 Continued (1:30 PM The eating place.)

"So Celestine and Augustin missed a noon meeting with you Dianna? It is probably nothing." I said to the centaur.

"But they are always so punctual." Dianna's mate said walking up next to her.

I stared blankly at Hugh, who was dressed in a tan shirt with brown pants and a white apron.

"Hmm..." I started to say before looking at Mr. Wild's clothing.

"Alex are you ok?" The she centaur said as I approached her mate. "Alex?"

"Are you having a shimmer?" Shakara asked me.

"Or an alternate reality vision?" Mr. Wild asked.

"I can't put my finger on it, but something seems to be off." I replied.

"Off little cutie? Remember we did examine three monsters, carnivorous monsters who like eating beastials and humans and then there was the little otter girl who stole her mother's hover vehicle, crashed it near their lair and nearly became their snack."

It was then that I noticed that there was some scribbling on Hugh's apron- 'Enosiirot'.

(Enosiirot? What a name for a clothing manufacturer.)

"I think we should go and check on Celestine and Augustin Alex. They are a little snobbish but still."

"By snobbish you mean uppity. Fine. Hugh, Dianna please take care of Haem. We will go and check on the tardy porcupines."

"Sure." The female centaur said.

"Will do." The male human added.

Haem signaled that he even wanted thirds from his hosts.

"My such a healthy appetite." Hugh said. "Coming right up."

"As long as it isn't us." Dianna commented.

Shakara and I went down the hall from the eating place to see if our big cutie, Lady Barq, Rhinox or Shira were around. Their offices were vacant. We then checked in on Miss Una's class. The female naga was busy teaching Corey Collins, Corey Wild, Mia Wild, Tippi, Corbin, Yogi and Sandu. The day's lesson looked quite involved. Tippi was giving the fire lizard weird looks and he was sending them right back at her while licking his chops.

We then headed out of the central building. There was not a soul to be found the grey and blue prototypes were gone; only the red damaged one remained still in two pieces and still inoperable. However there was a scorpion monster who was practicing with his trident on the training grounds.

"Linias you are the only one here?" My lioness asked.

"Everyone is either on guard duty, attending class or working in the community garden."

"Um, why are you still here?" I asked the scorpion boy.

"Lady Ursa gave me some homework after attending her self defense class this morning. Something about working on my form before sitting in on Ms. Una's class. Slow afternoon in the infirmary?"

"Mostly, Shakara and I are checking up on some tardy persons." I said.

"Can I come with you?"

"Are you hungry?" I asked the scorpion monster.

"Actually no. I had something a little while ago." Linias responded.

"What was it?" I asked staring him down while the red eyed lioness drooled over his flat stomach and beautiful pecs.

"Alex! What he means is that we will manage." My devious person said.

"Fine. I will see you later then." Linas said returning to his form training.

My lioness and myself grabbed our weapons and headed for the north maze. Without the prototypes it would be a thirty minute walk from where the maze started to where it ended at the sealed entrance to the cave system that led to World Five.

As we entered the maze, I swore that I saw numerous scribbling on the walls of the interior with that word Enosiirot. Was it in Animalia or English? I blinked my eyes and the word seemingly disappeared.

"I always liked the coloring in this maze compared to the other three." My devious person admitted.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Still think this is much ado about nothing?"

"Well none of Corey's traps have been sprung."

"It is nice to get out of the infirmary every now and again though little cutie."

"I suppose." I said as we rounded another corner, then another. "We can just take a quick peak and then head back."

After winding our way around, we arrived at the exit of the maze and two upper class beastials talking to a mute sergal warrior.

"Celestine, Augustin." Shakara called out to the porcupines.

"Well, if it isn't Shakara and Al." The beastial female said.

"Alex." I said correcting her.

"Yes that. What are you two doing here?" Celestine asked.

"Checking up on you- you didn't show up for your appointment with Dianna." The dark tan lioness said.

"I guess we lost track of time chatting with Tori. She is such a good listener." Augustin replied smiling.

The female sergal with the skull on her head smiled and bowed.

Just above her near the ceiling I noticed more scribbling and the word Enosiirot.

"We prefer her company more so than some in the colony." The female porcupine said snootily.

"And she was so lonely out here." The male added.

"Very well. We will tell Dianna that you lost track of time and will catch up with her later." Shakara said as she and I turned to leave.

When we did I saw that word again. Enosiirot.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"What does what mean little cutie?" My lioness asked.

"I keep seeing that word all over- in the eating place, on a few of the houses in the lost colony and even in the maze here."

"What word human?" Augustin asked.

"Enosiirot." I replied.

"Doesn't mean anything to me. Celestine?"

"No." The female porcupine responded. "Tori?"

The female sergal put her paw to her chin as she thought for a moment. The four of us watched as she put her club down and held up a paw finger as if experiencing a Erika moment.

Tori walked toward Celestine and Augustin taking their paws in hers. The two porcupines trembled violently before fixating on Shakara and myself.

!!!

"Hello little slave." The two uppity beastials said in unison.

"ONE." I shouted.

"Excuse our tardiness, but we have been preoccupied with Other matters. But we are here now." The female porcupine added.

"Well it looks like I was right Alex." Shakara gasped fiddling with her spear.

"We will be taking these three oh and the lioness too." A voice using the male porcupine's vocal cords stated.

!!!

"Don't think so!" I said running toward Tori.

I prepared to fight her with the spear of my weapon when the porcupines grabbed me. The sergal then approached with her bone club and knocked me into next week.

*RRNFFH* I moaned landing hard on the ground a few feet away from my lioness.

"Here kitty kitty!!" Celestine and Augustin said approaching menacingly.

My devious person aimed her spear right at the two. Its tip flew off encasing the porcupines in a net. She then threw what was left at the possessed Sergal.

*swack* Tori hit it about as hard as she hit me.

"Come on little cutie!" Ms. Kubari said extending her paw.

"I don't get it, how did ONE get Tori?!" I said standing groggily.

"Less talking, more running. We have to lose them in the maze!"

"Right, left, right and another left." I ordered her as she led me away. We came to a three way intersection. "Straight ahead I think." My head was still spinning so it was difficult to think.

Unfortunately Celestine, Augustin and Tori weren't too far behind.

"I don't think this is going to work. It knows what they know." I announced to my lioness.

"Then little cutie it is over." Shakara said in grim tone of finality. Her face was conveying extreme fear.

"Come kitty kitty be ONE with us."

"You will never suffer from loneliness again or anything else for that matter."

"I already lost one lioness to the entity I will be damned if I am going to lose another." I growled. "You hear that ONE?! You can't have her she is mine!!"

"Aww." The dark tan lioness blushed. "Hey wait, what are you doing?"

"What other special spears do you have?" I asked her.

The possessed three soon found us at the end of a circular corridor.

"Oh dear, it looks like there is nowhere to run." I said feigning panic.

ONE appeared to have us cornered. That was until Shakara threw her spear right at the three. It landed on the ground of the maze right in front of them before exploding in a blinding flash.

We quickly ran by.

"So what now? We can't lead them back to the city!"

"They already know how to get back to the city. We have to alert everyone that there has been an incursion." I said as we ran like our lives depended on it.

"That's it! Start triggering as many traps as you can Alex!"

I quickly aimed and fired my grappling hook. It hit a trigger point causing debris from the ceiling to rain down behind us.

"Let's go!" I shouted.

But the question was where to? Back to the Lost City or the cave complex north of the maze? Past experience has told us the later was a dangerous proposition. So we decided to doubleback and make our way toward the colony.

That proved to be just as dangerous.

*STAB*

"GAH!"

"That didn't sound like a good gah." I said turning around. My devious person had been stabbed in her side by several porcupine quills.

"Apparently they set traps of their own little cutie." Shakara said trembling violently.

"SHAKARA NO!!"

"Alex... I feel... it feels like my soul is being ripped from my body!"

"NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!!" I screamed.

"Our body little kitty. Now that you are ONE of us you will never be alone or depressed ever again." Something dark said speaking through my lioness.

"Shakara, please, please stay with me!" I said grabbing her paws as Tori, Celestine and Augustin caught up to us.

"We are sorry little cutie." The leonine face with the red eyes looked directly at me. The warm broad feline grin that I have come to love was gone. In its place was that stupid goofy smirk of one now aligned with ONE.

(OH NO!!)

"She belongs to us now little slave as will you all." The female and male porcupine said looming over me as I wept over my lover.

*HISSSSSSSSS*

*SPLUTT*

*SPLATT*

"AH!! It burns!!!" The possessed she porcupine shouted as she dropped to the ground screaming in pain while trying to extinguish a fire that had started on her person.

"So this is the entity the king told us to avoid contact with. Sandu again!! Haem attack!!"

Another fire/magma loogie was hurled at the possessed this time hitting the he porcupine torching him while this black viscous muck landed on the sergal.

"Hot hot hot hot!!!" Augustin said as he joined his mate on the maze floor trying to put out the flames.

"Linias, Sandu and Haem?!" I said looking up from my lioness.

"I felt that you two might need backup." The scorpion monster said to me.

*Hiss* The fire lizard said indignantly.

"Ok, Sandu thought that you two might be in trouble."

"This is all my fault, they got Shakara!" I said to the monster trio.

"What do we have here?! Three more for our collective?" The entity said through Shakara.

The scorpion boy thought for a moment before brushing me aside as he spat this vicious white fluid at the possessed dark tan lioness.

"ACK what is this?!" ONE shouted through my lioness.

"Oh that is my venom. It is quite potent, by the way. Your other minions they will recover from their injuries... in time. She on the other hand will be dead in a matter of hours." Linias proclaimed proudly.

There was this pregnant pause while the entity considered what the scorpion had said.

"These three will do... for now." The synoptic said through its meat puppets.

Sandu, Haem, Linias and I watched as the porcupines and sergal limped away.

"Shakara!!" I shouted running to her side.

"Alex we, I don't feel so well." She said extending her paw and pushing me back from the white muck covering her neck, chest, torso and arms.

"It abandoned her!" I exclaimed.

"Thank you but why did it let me go?" The lioness said wheezing.

"Apparently it doesn't like damaged goods red eyes." Linias said.

"Sandu, Haem, Linias you have made a friend here today." I said hugging the scorpion, fire lizard and black octopus monster. Well, maybe not the last one.

"So you trust me now?" The scorpion boy asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Well we better get her back to the infirmary, you need to develop an antidote."

"Linias?" I asked cocking my head.

"I wasn't kidding about my venom."

That evening....

When my mistress found out she was not too happy at mine or Shakara's stupidity.

"Alex what were you thinking?!"

"That Celestine and Augustin's tardiness was no big deal mistress."

"You were very wrong pet." My brown bear said frowning. "We came close to losing someone very precious to the both of us."

"I still don't understand how the synoptic got Tori though."

"She had been guarding the north maze by herself the last few days that is when ONE made its move." My fierce ursine warrior concluded. "It was the perfect cover Tori is a mute and covers her face. The entity could have pillaged and plundered us at its will. How is Shakara?" Lady Ursa asked.

"Resting." I said taking my perfect person's paw guiding her to a room next door to the infirmary.

The dark tan lioness with the red eyes was talking to her savior as we entered.

"Thank you for poisoning me scorpy." She said running her paws down his flat stomach and washboard abs.

"You are welcome red eyes but don't call me scorpy. Hey Alex, Lady Ursa."

"How is she?"

"Better- she is back to feeling me up again." Linias said departing. "I had better leave. I am starting to like it."

"I am better thanks to the antidote- my chest and sides are no longer burning." My devious person said.

(Was that from the venom or the spines?)

"That was the only way Linias could force the entity to give you up." I replied.

"I understand now what the two of you experienced when you were Others, it was intoxicating." Shakara admitted. "I can't stop thinking about it."

"That was only a small part of it. You haven't experienced ONE's blessing (equivalent to thirty orgasms) or punishment (Equivalent to being eaten from the inside- out)."

"What you are experiencing now is called withdrawal. I can help you work through that." Lady Ursa said.

"And then there is that word I kept seeing everywhere. I could never figure it out."

"What was that pet?" My pregnant brown bear said raising an eyebrow.

"Enosiirot." I said writing it down for her.

My mistress looked at it for a minute before rearranging the letters. She presented the results to Shakara and me.

Tori is ONE.

"Someone was trying to warn us." My warrior bear said.

"Could it have been Sir Ram? I know he Mara, Primrose and Cody are trying to find a way to destroy the synoptic." I surmised. "Did they learn something we didn't know?"

"Which means they could be trying to change the timeline as we speak." Shakara coughed.

"Well today we missed their warning but managed to bumble our way through. But it cost us three members of our community." My brown bear said.

"It has been an interesting few days indeed. We gained four and lost three." Shakara said coughing again.

"What about the north maze mistress?"

"There was a small breach in the wall sealing off the maze from the cave complex. That reminds me, Commander what is our status?" My she beast said activating the cube she had with her.

"Rhinox here Ursa. Corey and I are repairing the wall now. The grey prototype is with us."

"From the looks of it, the entity's minions made their way into the cave complex from World Five and found where we had sealed off the north maze from the outside world and made their own entrance." The snarky teen commented.

"Tori was the first one they got to." The rhino warrior commented. "I guess ONE's plan was to infiltrate our colony using her."

"It is damned ingenious. A few would go missing, then some more and then some more until only Gahri, Zhade, Alex and Ursa were left." Mr. Collins commented.

*But that plan was thwarted.* The automated assistant said. *ONE is going to have to rethink its strategy now.*

"Is that why it took so long for the entity to start its assault on the lost city?" I asked out loud.

"That would imply that there are other issues going on within." Shakara said rather bluntly.

"It is a shame that we don't know what they are." My brown bear said.

"I suppose we should have Feleen increase surveillance on Worlds One and Five." Rhinox commented.

"Wait, I have another communication." My she beast said looking at her cube. "Shira, Barq."

"We have a problem at the east maze." The badger warrior said grimly.

"Malice has come back." Shira added.

"The name is Malicious. Malice is in traction." We heard a voice say on the communicator.

"It is quite hard to tell, you both look the same." Lady Barq commented.

"Tsk, Tsk and you are supposed to be the monster expert Lady Barq." The cat creature commented.

"To what do we owe this visit creature?" The saber tooth tiger asked.

"I am here on my liege's orders to reacquire his property."

"And if we say no?" The badger warrior said.

"I would have to ask you to reconsider." The voice said.

"Oh my." Shira responded.

"Oh my indeed." Lady Barq responded.

"Shira, Barq report!" Rhinox said overhearing the conversation.

"Malicious is it?" Lady Barq asked fact checking.

"Yes." The monster responded.

"Malicious brought friends, a lot of them." The colony's monster expert reported.

"Don't think so. Linias, Haem and Sandu are under our protection." Shira announced.

"You two are willing to die for those three?!" Malicious asked stunned.

"We would prefer to live peacefully with our neighbors. But we can't because the vast majority of them are hostile." Lady Barq said grumbling.

"Then give our king what he wants." The cat monster demanded.

"Not happening." Shira grumbled.

"Very well attack!!!" Malicious shouted.

"Evening ladies you can call me Malevolent will it be cremation or burial?" Rhinox, Corey, Ursa, Shakara and I heard a deep voice say to Shira and Barq.

"Are you kidding? Badger and tiger beastials are delicacies!" Another creature said correcting Malevolent before the communication abruptly terminated.

(SHIT!!!)

"Commander gather all available warriors and head to the eastern maze." My mistress ordered.

"Acknowledged Ursa!"

"Right, we were just about finished on repairs anyway." Corey announced.

"I will round up all we can spare here and head for the eastern maze as well." Lady Ursa said bounding out the room.

"Big cutie?" Shakara asked.

"Mistress what should we do?" I asked.

"Have Ms. Una, Dianna, Hugh, Milton and Melinda check on our warriors guarding the west and south mazes."

We nodded.

"And take Corbin, Little Corey, Yogi, Tippi and Mia and prepare the infirmary for casualties." The bear warrior responded. "A lot of them."

After weeks of waiting and preparing it was time. The siege on the lost city had begun from two separate enemies. Shakara and I traded uneasy glances with each other as our beloved bear left to fight.

Alex Winter July 27, YOE 34