Mangas the Terrible (Caveman Chronicles)

The Index -|-

Zara stood with eyes closed awash in the power of Qon. Her breathing was light as Qon flowed around her and through the top layers of her skin. Her mass of curly, light-brown hair hung where it laid naturally, but it felt to her as if it flowed with Qon’s movements.

It was a gentle caress and seemingly as random as the breeze on a sunny day. It felt amazing. Zara rested for a long time. The peacefulness of being enveloped again, this time knowing that she had found it eased her mind. She slept.

It was later that she woke with a start. Her eyes opened, and she could see Viinox standing before the red-tiered device. Immediately, she reached out for Qon in a panic. In a split-second she found and latched onto it. Then she aimed its power at the aji flow above the red-tiered device. The false lines were cut as expected, but nothing changed in the flows and Viinox did not seem to notice.

[Even more false Qon! Was I dreaming?]

Her pulse raced, and she swiped at the aji again to no avail. With great effort, she calmed herself. After a moment, she reached out again, this time carefully pressing and probing beyond the obvious. With a sigh of relief, she found the real thing, invisible, golden, and tangible. After a few long moments, she could not resist. She snipped one of the yellow aji lines leading to the table surface she was laid on. The line quivered and shrank in on itself before simply disappearing.

Zara opened her eyes. There was no change in the room as expected. The yellow line was false aji after all. With a satisfied sigh, she closed her eyes again.

[I have Qon. I can escape… or should I wait and learn more? How much do I know about the Xi? Can I really defeat them?]

Zara remembered killing the many Xi when they captured her. She remembered the excruciating pain that seemed to pierce her brain. She remembered seeing Phaedro, her home, as an orb in space. She remembered her Da, Mama, Jial, and the other Ganix back home.

[I have to learn more. I can defeat them, but it will be with rage and blunt forces. I might kill myself in the process. How can I get back home to Da? Is Phaedro even nearby? I must know what the Xi know. I must wait.]

###

Time passed. It was really just a little time. To Zara, it seemed like an instant, flowing in a stream of data harvesting, brain bending, and planning.

She had just tapped into Hsstak’s main data stores, and then it happened.

The tall, primary Xi appeared in the room followed by five of its associates. Viinox turned from its station and took a place on her left.

“Hello again,” said Zara with a shiver. She had only seen this configuration of the seven once before, at the beginning of her time on the Hsstak.

[What is going on?]

The primary Xi had refused to offer a name and so Zara had dubbed it “Mangas.” In fact, Viinox and Oiitr were the only two Xi on the Hsstak that had offered her their names.

“We have been studying your patterns, and our calculations predicted that this time would come eventually. You have broken the false aji.” Mangas’ head tilted slightly, and within a few seconds four of the other six Xi lifted their chins ever so slightly. Viinox and another one did not move.

[Agreement, but not unanimous.] Zara strengthened her grip on Qon and waited for the punchline.

Mangas hissed. “You have found your Qon. Yes?” It tilted its chin upward slightly and waited.

Zara was surprised by the direct statement. After a moment, she spoke. “Yes. Now you must negotiate me instead of treating me as a test subject.”

There was a pause as the all of Xi stood perfectly still. Then Mangas twittered in an odd manner, its noise even more breathy than normal. “Negotiate. Impossible.” Its head turned slightly toward the entrance. “Many Ixant have come and gone. You are not different. You are not out of our control.”

Zara smiled, having already noticed the Xi’s inability to see their own shortcomings. “Am I Ixant?”

Mangas looked at her and lifted its chin. Its neck slits fluttered beneath the high, silvery collar causing it to shimmer.

“You are Ixant. You are unaware of the past and the future. You do not understand the flows of aji or the inevitable treachery of the aji-ko. Like every Ixant before you, captivity and functionality are your lot in life. Now we must move onto the next phase in our research.”

Zara shrugged with an attempted air of unconcern, but inside she was tense.

[Do I kill them all now or wait?]

Mangas turned his head toward the side and blinked.

A searing and scraping pain penetrated Zara’s skull immediately. Her fingers tightened on the skin of her thighs until fingernails drew blood, but the pain did not register. Her voice whined in an uncontrolled shriek through her clenched teeth. She closed her eyes and desperately held on to Qon. The pain grew and she felt as if she were being dragged into a pit. Each moment, she lost a tiny grip on herself.

Her grip pulsed slightly, and she remembered. [The real Qon.] With a throaty cry she raised a weak sheet of Qon over her. The torment in her head ceased for a mere moment as the source was severed.

Zara unclenched her eyes and saw the seven Xi standing over her. Behind Mangas, a tall Xi in a brown, tight-fitting, robe held a towering staff. Her resolve strengthened when she saw its glinting, sharp teeth.

A thought flashed through her. [Kill the Xi, end the pain.]

But the pain struck again, even more ferocious than before, and she saw her blanket of Qon flutter and shatter. She had not meant it to be a shield. It had been only a panicked flailing in the dark. There could be no more unfocused attacks.

Zara grunted and quivered on the table. She felt as if she neared the edge of her stability again, and she knew that if she blacked out, she would not have another chance to escape. In the past, Zara had always had time to contemplate her work, to focus, and prepare. This time, she used Qon as blunt instrument. With all of her will, she focused a single, vicious strand of Qon forward toward the brown-clad Xi.

A strong hand gripped her neck just as the pain ceased broadcasting into her brainpan. Zara saw the tall staff tilt and begin to fall with its accompanying Xi, and her eyes turned toward the faces above her. Mangas bared its teeth and its hands began to throttle her tiny throat. The edges of her vision pulsed and grayed. She gasped for breath.

With a sweeping attack, she threw Qon in an arc toward Mangas and whoever stood next to her table.

Mangas’ grip loosed, and Zara inhaled deeply. She cloaked herself in Qon, and looked around the room. To her left, Mangas lay crumpled but moving. Toward the foot of her table on the floor, there were three piles of silica dust among various robes and silvery collars. The brown cloaked Xi lay face upward almost motionless, but Zara could see its eyes moving. To her right were more piles of silica dust.

[I have to get up and ensure that I am safe.]

She heard a noise and looked to her right only to gasp in horror. Viinox swung a portion of the tall staff downward toward her.

“No!” Zara croaked. She raised Qon, but it was too late.

The staff crossed her vision and struck home. Zara felt nothing, and blindly swatted with a thread of Qon.

[No pain?] She turned her head toward the left and saw Mangas clutching its chest where the broken staff protruded.

“Viinox?” She turned her head back to the right and saw Viinox clutching at what was left of his arm.