stared at the priejst’s reflection. He was tall, like Kael, but thinner, his skin even paler in contrast to the paleness of his master. He wore a black leather duster that reached to the ankles of his black leather boots, and his long fingers were gloved, also in black leather. Clearly, he was trying to mask his looks with what he assumed were cool street clothes. Despite the cold winter air, he’d left his head bare. Unusual for a priejst. He would have blended into the New York scene with ease, but his long, white-blond hair made him stand out, and his clothes were dated, like a copy of a character in some old sci-fi earth movie. He looked young, maybe thirty-six by earth years, but Kael knew him to be well over a hundred Trinoor years old.
“Master,” the priejst called to him. “They are coming.”
Kael’s blood rushed forward in his veins as hormones catalyzed his body for war. He turned around to stare into the grey eyes of the priejst, every muscle in his body coiled for action. “The Sulcrum?”
The priejst lowered his chin in a brief nod, then looked Kael directly in the eyes. “Jindom himself tortured the youngest of us until he laid our secret bare.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“Do not waste time on anger, Master Jai. The young one was weak, too weak to withstand the pain Jindom gave him.”
“You are mistaken, priejst. I feel only remorse over the young one’s pain. I take full responsibility. I should have ended this war long ago. But….”
“But you do not possess the savagery that Jindom thrives on. That is as it should be. You are a great ruler, worthy of your calling.”
“Was,” Kael corrected.
“Your loyal army is still yours to command, master. As it always will be.”
Kael stared at the priejst. “How many does Jindom send?”
“Just one Sulcrum. Through the portal. But if he doesn’t secure you, ships will arrive to lay waste to this planet until you are found and killed.”
The muscles along Kael’s neck bunched and his teeth clenched so tightly that his jaw ached. “I should have never left. Now, because of me, these people are in danger. And they have no idea we even exist.”
“One’s own territory makes one strong. But unfamiliar territory brings light to weakness.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated the priejst’s words. When the priejst turned to leave, Kael’s anxiety deepened. “Priejst!”
The priejst looked over his shoulder at Kael, “Do not worry, master. I cannot go back. I am like you now, outcast and running for my life.”
“We should— ” Before he finished the thought, the priejst vaulted twelve feet into the air and vanished. The priejsts of Trinoor had the power to manipulate energy fields, a gift that took years of training and afforded them many opportunities to appear and disappear at will. If only Kael had that tech. Maybe he wouldn’t feel so anxious now.
Feeling even more tense, and even more alone, Kael took a long sniff to check the air for more visitors. He didn’t relish the idea of fighting a Sulcrum with nothing but a Strongblade for defense. How long before it appeared? A hulking, seven-foot tall robot that looked like a man wearing high-tech armor would stand out in the crowd, any crowd, anywhere. A machine that was made of a metal so polished that it reflected its surroundings and seemed to flux in and out of the atmosphere would be a spectacle among the more primitive race of earth. A Sulcrum had the ability to morph its right arm into a blade, a club, or a phaerig, adjusting its fighting tactic to suit the situation. And it was nearly indestructible, with few weaknesses. Kael was a sitting duck in the New York crowd.
He sensed the shift, a barely perceptible displacement in the air that let him know the Sulcrum approached from behind. The barb under his wrist twitched but remained sheathed. His venom was useless against the Sulcrum. Mindful of the many innocent citizens around him, he strongly considered running. He knew he could never outrun the Sulcrum, but he could at least lure it to a place with less people. Maybe then there would be less collateral damage when he took the Sulcrum’s head off.
His gaze shifted to the small woman at the flower stand. A flash of sunlight gleamed off the metal clasp on her coat. And in that tiny bit of metal, he saw the reflection, a movement behind him. No time to run now. The Sulcrum was already preparing to deliver a death-blow to the back of Kael’s head. Might as well take the machine down now and be done with it.
The woman’s eyes widened. Just as her mouth was opening to scream, Kael spun around, his left arm moving in an upward arc to stop the downward force of the Sulcrum’s blow, his right hand balling into a tight fist and thrusting forcefully toward the inner thigh of the Sulcrum’s leg cavity. A Sulcrum had only two weak points in its entire body: the bend where the thigh met the groin plate, and a very small pivot just at the top of the throat, beyond the chin, tucked into the neck. If he could disable the power conduits running through the inner thigh, the Sulcrum would go down on one knee, and Kael could use his Strongblade to take the Sulcrum’s head off at the neck’s weak point.
Just as the woman’s scream was splitting the air, Kael’s fist rammed into the Sulcrum’s inner thigh. As expected, the Sulcrum’s leg buckled. As it began to fall forward, Kael drew a thick, short blade from the sheath in his boot and used his entire body to swing upward toward the weak neck point. The arm-blade the Sulcrum had raised at Kael’s head retracted backward, shortening in length as the Sulcrum automatically repositioned to strike another blow at Kael, this time aimed at his belly. Kael’s forward thrust was abruptly shortened as he side-stepped the blade, but he managed to thrust sideways and connect with the Sulcrum’s neck. He missed the weak point but managed to sever at least one energy conduit. Steam poured out of the Sulcrum’s neck as it reeled backward, its shiny chrome-colored metal arms wheeling to regain balance. He watched the seven-foot tall machine as it began to right itself. Made of ulbinium, the strongest metal on his planet, the Sulcrum was nearly indestructible. Kael would have to be quick and precise to take it down. The odds were stacked against him, but Kael was one of the best fighters in his region.
The woman at the flower stand screamed again. Kael’s heart skipped a beat a split second before the Sulcrum’s head began to turn in the woman’s direction. In an attempt to block the Sulcrum’s gaze, Kael launched himself into the air and hit the Sulcrum sidewise with a double-footed drop kick. Even with all Kael’s weight and forward momentum, the Sulcrum was barely moved by the blow. Besides which, it was too late. The Sulcrum’s gaze was on the woman. A nearly imperceptible blue beam of energy shot out of both eyes, spanning the ten-yard distance between the Sulcrum and the woman. Kael watched helplessly while the Sulcrum ran a full scan of the petite blonde.
Kael bounced off the Sulcrum and hit the pavement with his shoulder. People were already scattering away from the area, terrified of the huge manlike machine that had suddenly appeared in their midst. Everyone was in movement and everyone was screaming as the scene took place in front of them. But the woman didn’t move. She stared at the Sulcrum, watched it start to right itself. Kael lost track of what she was doing. Instead, he used the opportunity, while the Sulcrum was occupied scanning her, to pick himself up off the street and thrust his Strongblade into the Sulcrum’s neck. His biceps straining with the effort, he twisted the blade with his right hand while using his left hand to push hard against the helmet of the Sulcrum. The Sulcrum’s right arm swung around hard to the right and caught Kael mid-abdomen. The force of the blow nearly broke Kael’s ribs and sent him flying backward away from the huge metal hulk, right into the flower stand.
The girl shrieked as she ducked away from being hit by Kael’s body as it sailed over her. She fell to her knees, hands over her head, and peered out from under her forearms as the Sulcrum quickly walked toward the destroyed flower stand. Kael lay amongst a pile of flowers, vases, splintered wood and twisted metal. He saw the Sulcrum heading his way and braced his hands backward behind his head against the
pavement, drew his knees to his chest and waited two beats before kicking out as hard as he could. His brain registered the fact that his blade was no longer in his hand, nor was it in the Sulcrum’s neck, just as his feet connected to the nearly indestructible machine. It was like kicking the side of a building. The shockwave traveled up Kael’s spine, sending pain careening through his body and through his skull, making him feel like his bones were going to shatter. Although his bones were much denser and stronger than human bones, a Sulcrum could snap him like a twig. Kael’s kick barely swayed the hulk. The Sulcrum’s gyros were designed to rebalance the metal body under even extreme circumstances, which left it nearly invulnerable to physical attacks.
“My blade!” he roared in the woman’s direction.
She winced, as if startled by the sound of his voice, then quickly looked around. The blade lay four feet away, hovering on the edge of the sidewalk, precariously balanced above a storm drain. One wrong move and the blade could fall down that hole, never to be recovered. Kael’s brain worked over the problem as he raised an arm in defense against the Sulcrum’s attack. He was still on the ground, still reeling from the pain in his body. As the Sulcrum swung