A New Night

Big Fruit Bats

As a giant robot, it was a bit tricky to hide—even with the boulders and short trees at the top of the Mountain. The icy breeze and light flurries made me think I probably would have done better hiding in the snow, but there was no time for that. Eventually, I was able to find a low-growing bushy tree adjacent to a boulder big enough to hide me if I crouched. Meanwhile, Dro had hidden so well that I had no idea where he had gone.

We waited for what felt like far too long. Without muscles to get uncomfortable or tired from how I was crouched, I didn’t feel too cramped. The only difficulty was distracting my thoughts amid everything happening, so the Queen’s Hunters could not use their mind-altering abilities on me.

I wondered how they could read my mind and push images in—given that I was a robot. It seemed a bit implausible that anything could control the programming of a computer. Did this mean that I was a cyborg? Maybe I had a brain floating around inside of me. Though, if I was right about how long I had been asleep, my brain surely would have decomposed, right? Then there were the nightmares about the man with the gun. If they were actual memories, what kind of cybernetics could possibly put a splattered brain back together?

I forced myself to stop when I realized my attempts to distract myself were mostly just causing me more stress. I couldn’t let my brain go into overdrive like this—not now. So instead, I let my mind focus on the same annoying pop melody from before. I had to hold onto this … I couldn’t let them in again.

Then came a feline scream.

My entire body went into defense mode. My machetes extended, and I had to force myself not to sprint toward the sound. There were footsteps, someone running.

Finally, I saw a small shadow with a green figure on its back—Scraa and Romalla! But they weren’t alone. They were being followed by several larger Hunters.

I nearly stepped out to intervene, but Dro stepped between Scraa and the Hunters pursuing him. Dro then aimed his staff aimed at the attackers.

The other Hunters stopped and then reared back bipedally. Among them, I recognized the Queen with her halo-like ears, the shorter-statured but heavily built Gar, and a few other Hunters. One of these held its face tenderly, and another had a tail that was visibly wounded even from here.

The Queen stepped to the front, about as tall as Dro and every bit as intimidating. She said, “I see that my little plaything failed to destroy you.” Then, to my surprise, she reached behind her and removed what looked like a rusty blade—an actual machete! The piece of metal was so old and rusted that there was no metallic glean left except on the blade’s edge.

The Queen aimed her weapon at Dro. As soon as she saw him alone, all pursuit of Scraa and Romalla was finished. Was this why Dro had wanted me to hide? I supposed that if I were dead, there would be no reason for her to be concerned with them.

The Queen continued, “But it is all the same. He distracted you long enough for me to climb the Mountain. It is mine!”

“Your monster was not difficult to kill,” Dro said with a scoff that was offensive even as a bluff. “His near-invincible body was made useless by how weak-minded and animalistic he was. Still … he was closer to a predator than these weak Hunters who have submitted to being your servants.”

The other Hunters hissed at Dro.

The Queen merely laughed and gave each of them mocking glances. “This is the new way of power. The strong rule, collect, and add to their own power. Together, we are a single predator that is stronger than you even from atop your invincible fortress.”

“I shudder to imagine the weak offspring your herd will birth,” Dro said without much interest. “Your diseased bunch of cowards will pass their weakness on from one generation to the next, until our kind are no better than prey.”

The Queen shook her head. “I now have the Mountain. I will ascend and learn the ways of the Alpha Predators, making my kingdom unstoppable. The new Hunter children will grow with the knowledge of true power. Ours will be purer than any lineage to have existed before.”

Dro gently closed his eyes and pressed his teeth together into a sadistic grin. “You may be disappointed by what you find. What if that weak monster you sent after me is closer to the Alpha Predators than what you’d like to imagine?”

“Then they will be destroyed, and I will have their kingdom in the sky,” the Queen replied with the faintest hint of a smile.

“They won’t, not by you,” Dro replied. And as the Queen began to speak again, he whipped his staff behind him and slammed it straight down.

The Queen was caught far less off-guard than I was and managed to deflect his attack with her machete.

The rest of the Hunters were momentarily caught by surprise. They stopped and stared as Dro and the Queen attacked, blocked, and parried in a frenzy of motions.

Then, the Queen roared a horrible noise that did not seem out of pain, anger, or even frustration. It wasn’t until the other Hunters began to move their tails to gather stones from the ground that I realized the scream was a signal. Rocks in hand, they made a circle with Dro in the center. No matter how strong Dro was, this would soon be over.

Something in my brain and body clicked. A blue light filled my senses, and I had a moment of complete calm as time seemed to slow. With a thought, I retracted my machetes back into my arms. I then charged with both arms extended like wings.

As I ran, I noticed that Romalla and Scraa were watching me from a bush not far away. As I moved toward the Hunters, they did the same.

Scraa clawed another Hunter’s leg from behind, while Romalla struck the same Hunter with her aerial kick.

My attack close-lined two of my targets, sending them flying like ragdolls.

The Hunter attacked by Romalla and Scraa fled, and the remaining Hunters collected themselves and followed.

The only one who remained at the Queen’s side was Gar.

When he looked at me with a glare of pure loathing—amplified by his powers—the moment of calm and blue light passed. Though I was able to keep control, it was just barely and only by the power of the song I repeated in my head. I was trembling, unsure exactly how I had done what I had.

But … we were all together again. And now, it was the Queen who was outnumbered.

The Queen hissed in the direction of her fleeing servants. She glanced at Gar and then back at us. Then, to my surprise, she hurled her weapon at Dro—who evaded it with a leap backward. Alongside Gar, she retreated in the same direction as the other Hunters.

For a moment, I don’t think any of us knew what to do. We just watched until the fleeing Hunters were out of sight.

Of course, it was Romalla who finally broke the silence. She bared her teeth, looking quite pleased with herself, though she maintained her somewhat formal air. “Bassello! You will be glad to know that I enlisted the aid of Scraa while I conducted my escape. I also retrieved your holy artifact from the demons.”

I tilted my head at her in confusion.

Scraa knelt and picked up a familiar metal circle—my ring gun! I took the weapon and let it magnetically fasten to my leg. I looked at Romalla and Scraa, amazed that they had not only escaped but also gotten it back. But, most importantly, she was here again … safe.

I felt a wave of emotions—happiness, regret, guilt, and a brief resurgence of all the fear I’d felt since she’d left. My face itched as if I were going to cry. But, of course, I did not. And it was only the knowledge that my giant frame could literally kill her that stopped me from hugging her.

Romalla nodded at me proudly. Then she looked at Scraa and whispered. “Nod your head to the Sleeping God, Scraa.”

Scraa looked unsure of this custom. But he nodded his head anyways. He seemed … a little bit intimidated by her.

“You really don’t have to,” I said, trying not to cringe. Surprisingly, this was not too difficult, with all my other emotions vying for attention.

Scraa turned to face Dro. I wasn’t sure that any real conversation occurred between them, even in the unspoken language of the Hunters. Instead, it seemed like they were … studying … whatever they could sense about the other.

Dro was the first to look away and did so quite determinedly—which still surprised me, despite not being out of character. I wondered if he didn’t feel he could simply tell Scraa they were father and son. I wasn’t even sure if fatherhood meant anything to Hunters. The interaction caused me to “remember” something about big cats—that the young generally maintained relationships with the mothers, whereas male cats were known to eat offspring. Compared to that, I supposed their meeting was going pretty well.

Romalla hopped down and looked at the two Hunters that I’d thrown. I’d entirely forgotten about them … and that I had knocked them out cold. Part of me felt rather impressed with myself, while the rest felt monstrous for having so easily caused so much damage. Fortunately, I could tell they were breathing, so I could at least avoid that panic attack. That, of course, could only last for a moment before I realized that the matter wasn’t finalized.

“We need to kill these two,” Dro said, looking at them.

I looked at the two mangled Hunters, bleeding, doubtlessly concussed, and possibly sporting broken bones at the top of a mountain. “Kill them?” I asked dully … somehow feeling like this was a stupid question.

“If we do not, then they will try to do the same to us,” Dro said. He lifted his staff over the first Hunter’s head.

“Wait!” I said, stepping between the unconscious Hunter being aimed at and Dro’s weapon. “There has to be another way.”

“This is the only way,” Dro replied with clear disinterest in discussing the matter. “They are both present and future threats to us. Moreover, they have proven themselves unworthy to live or procreate.”

“They probably would not stand a chance against the coming Golems anyways,” Romalla added, not looking particularly impressed with them either.

Dro raised an eyebrow.

Scraa crouched close to Romalla and whispered, “What is a Golem?”

“Foul-smelling creatures from beyond the sea,” Romalla replied in a tone that was low and even monotone … especially for her. Her face became uncharacteristically expressionless. “Bodies of stone … and only able to be stopped by the holy wrath of the Sleeping God and his artifact. You’ll see them soon. Once they are finished with the Night People, they will come here.”

I hesitated for a moment, sharing in her grief for Krogallo and wishing I could say something—anything that would help.

Dro looked between the two of us—doubtfully at first. I could feel him using his powers to try to see into my mind, and this time let him. He wrinkled his brow and looked at the Hunters on the ground. “Even if our kind did have to make a temporary alliance to stave those creatures off, that does not mean we need every Hunter. The truly weak … like these two … would only form a vulnerability for the rest.”

“Not every Hunter has to fight,” Scraa said—speaking up and surprising all of us. “They could gather food … or uhm … watch the newborns for the stronger Hunters.”

I had honestly not expected anything like this to come from Scraa. Dro also seemed to stare at him in confusion. And it was enough for Romalla to come out of her moment of mourning and give a resolute nod.

“Fine!” Dro said with a hiss. I don’t think he was convinced so much as wanting to appease us so we could get moving. “We will just cut off their tails so they are no threat to us.”

“No!” I replied, expecting Scraa and Romalla to agree with me on this matter. However, both of them seemed unbothered by this proposition. “Okay … fine. But that’s really permanent. What if we … break one bone each, set them, and then leave them? That way, they can’t climb fast enough to catch up to us.”

Dro did not seem impressed by my attempts at sparing them specifically. But something about what I’d said caused a spark to light up in his eyes. He asked, “What is setting?”

Oh, that was the key! I had offered him something of value, knowledge. If I wanted to spare their lives, I would have to barter for them with the currency of power. I was glad to discover that, but knowing what I had to do made me nauseous. With a weak voice, I said, “Romalla, Scraa … can you two go over by the edge.”

“You wish to show divine knowledge to a demon knowledge and keep it from your prophet?” Romalla asked and furrowed her brow. “I also want to know what setting is.”

I groaned.

Scraa looked between me, Romalla, and the unconscious Hunters with wide-eyed interest.

“Fine,” I said. I slowly walked over to the unconscious Hunters.

Romalla, Scraa, and Dro circled around.

Not sure what to do, I reached down and touched the first one’s back leg. Nausea, guilt, and fear overcame my senses. I jerked my hand away and began to mutter frantically. “No, no, no, no. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Breaking their bones … at the top of a mountain. No, I can’t break their legs. But … maybe a finger?”

I reached for one of their pinky fingers—which did not seem particularly suitable for putting weight on anyways. And while the other fingers were almost as long as those of humans, the pinkies were particularly small. If I could break just one pinky finger each, they would be in too much pain to continue forward but still able to get back. And, most importantly, they would neither be killed nor permanently maimed.

“Is the chanting part of it?” I heard Scraa whisper.

Romalla hushed him.

My body tried to heave, but, of course, no vomiting occurred. Slowly, I took the first Hunter’s hand. From there, I held his finger like a twig between my index fingers and thumbs. This made me feel dizzy. Was I really about to do this?

I slowly began to apply pressure. Given my body, I was surprised when I could feel all the damage I was building up to. Part of me had hoped it would feel like I was the machine part of a quick and easy machinery accident. But no—I had to feel every bit of it.

Then, to my surprise, there was a pop. I jumped and let out a terrified shout before dropping the Hunter’s hand. The sensation made me feel like I would throw up nuts, bolts, and wires. Then, I heard a second pop and almost fainted.

I turned to look at the other Hunter, where the second pop had come from, and saw that Dro had mimicked my act of brutality. He looked at me and nodded as if to say, “You’re welcome.”

I let out a miserable groan and then stood on my shaky legs. I looked around until I found some relatively rigid branches on the ground. I brought these back and then willed my first-aid kit to spill from its compartment. I aligned each pinky bone as it had been and then wrapped them firmly with the sticks as makeshift splints. When I had finished, I wobbled and then fell onto my backside.

Dro, Romalla, and Scraa studied my handiwork as I just tried to look away and not think about the sounds of bones breaking. I supposed it was a good thing that they were interested. Maybe it would help them one day … or they’d even perfect my shoddy ability into something really viable. As for me, however, I was emotionally done with it all.

“How did you learn this?” Dro asked and poked at the splint with his index finger.

“Don’t … ugh … nevermind,” I said, without the energy to stop him. “It’s just something I know how to do. But shouldn’t we focus on getting out of here before the Queen returns?”

“Indeed,” Dro said with a nod. “I would like to learn more, though. I propose that you teach us using whoever we incapacitate next.”

“Joy,” I replied dryly.

Scraa looked at Romalla and said, “Joy? But I sensed that Bassello did not like breaking their bones.”

“Yes,” Romalla said, then pointed up at me with an educational tone. “He is saying the opposite of what gives him joy to express his frustration. You are right; he does not like to inflict injuries. He once mended a fruit bat and then cared for it, despite that it would likely die.”

“Wait … are you not a fruit bat?” Scraa asked.

Romalla let out an indignant huff.

I finally stood to my slightly less shaky legs and walked toward the snowy peak. We would have to climb it if we were going to get to the wire at the top. This was the only connection point from which we could realistically climb directly to the Sky City. Of course, I tried not to think about that future part of the journey and focused on the slight climb up the mountain—which involved snow but no harrowing cliffs. It was a surprisingly short distance before the snow and ice covered the ground; flurries blew around my face.

I climbed a small ledge and looked back to check on the others.

Dro and Scraa seemed to handle the cold and the climb without issue. Romalla, however, was hopping in the prints I left behind. Then I noticed a shiver.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

Romalla chattered while she gave a resolute nod. She then climbed the ledge with a quick flap of her wings.

I knelt and offered my arm as I had in the jungle.

Romalla hopped onto my arm, which immediately began to hum and warm. From her perch, she glared scornfully at the snow.

We continued walking on like this for a small while. But it wasn’t long before we reached the base of the ice-covered peak.

I let out a miserable moan and then put Romalla on my back. I then extended my claws and instinctively struck the ice with a curved hand as if it were an icepick. Sure enough, my hand lodged into the ice and created a handhold… one that I realized Scraa and Dro could also use. It seemed I was getting better at this whole climbing thing—even being a skill that I would have never been interested in mastering.

Since this was not a particularly long climb, we did not take long to reach the peak. There, we found a small bit of rock that we could rest on. We sat wordlessly for a bit—the snow picking up and coating everyone’s faces.

After a few minutes, Dro pointed up at the enormous cable anchored at the mountain’s top. It wasn’t particularly long, but it was pretty steep and very frozen—in too round and large a shape for any sort of handhold or standing to be possible. He said, “You have any ideas for how to cross?”

“I … think so?” I said with my voice cracking. Again, I couldn’t believe that this was something that had been programmed into my voice box. I’d surely been created by a sadist.

“I have full faith in you,” Romalla said, returning to her perch on my arm. Her tone and expression were resolute as she continued. “You will get us across without slipping and falling horribly to our deaths.”

I just looked at her for a moment.

Then Scraa’s eyes lit up, and he added, “Uhm, there is no need to fear the height too much, Bassello. We would probably dash our heads against the rocks long before we fell.”

Romalla shook her head at him energetically, clearly trying to hush him. A bit too loudly, she whispered, “Don’t bring up truths to Bassello about heights. When he is like this, he finds lies far more encouraging.”

Dro opened his mouth a bit, “Oh! I thought the terrified energy he was projecting came from a fear of the Queen. If I’d known it was something as foolish as fearing high places, I could have just told him how silly it is to fear a swift death. After all, if she captures us, she’ll kill us individually. Very slowly, tearing our limbs off one at a time.”

“I can still hear you,” I said, indignant. “And it’s not like I love the idea of us being torn apart, either!”

“I thought he was comforted by things that aren’t true,” Scraa said, confused.

“Not when you tell me they’re lies!” I shouted, hearing my voice crack again.

“They’re not lies, Bassello,” Dro said, making a forced smile with a mouth that was clearly not meant for such expressions. Had he stolen human expressions from my memories? “We Hunters are nearly weightless and can fly if we fall, just like birds! So, there’s no reason to fear. This is just ... an exercise. Yes, an exercise. There are many thick bushes, trees, grass, and water, all waiting beneath us in case you do fall.”

All three of them gave me forced, toothy smiles. Dro even gave what I thought was a thumbs up.

I muttered, “assholes,” under my figurative breath.