Emergence by Chris Harris (best feel good books .txt) 📕

“Do you know when we fight?” Ash snatched a protein square and shoved it into his mouth, before holding his nose as he chewed; it got rid of the taste.

“We should have had our first about a month ago; they're gonna start demanding soon.” Carnat looked him in the eyes and asked, “Do you think you're ready?”

Ash nodded. “I think so, yeah.”

“Good.” Carnat turned away and banged on the bars. “Oi! Guard!”

A humanoid face, albeit with a crushed nose and giant tusks emerging from its lower jaw, answered him with a snort. The Hak'i were not the most articulate of races, but they were one of the strongest and visually imposing. Standing at about 8 foot high, and about the same width, the tusks and eyes were the only parts of their bodies not covered in matted hair; this one's was brown, but most of it was hidden under armour fashioned from the skin and bones of various desert creatures.

“Tell the masters that we will fight now.” Carnat spoke condescendingly, before waving the beast away. The beast glared and grunted something at Carnat, but Ash only heard Carnat's sarcastic response.

“Now?” Ash's heart was suddenly beating faster.

“While you're ready, yeah.” Carnat smiled and winked. “Don't want them demanding a fight when you're asleep, do you? Now, eat more of that crap before they come.”

“Why?” Ash asked, looking at the pile of protein squares.

“May as well be full stomached if we die.”

Ash smiled in spite of himself. “I really hope that was a joke.”

“Of course it was; you don't want to eat that shit before you die.” Carnat walked over to the table and ate another square. “Unfortunately, we ain't got a choice.”

The room fell silent for a while and Ash sat on the sandy floor, picking up bunches of sand and let the grains run between his fingers. “You say you know your past. Where you from?”

Carnat opened his mouth to answer, but faltered slightly before hesitantly uttering, “Far away from this place.”

“I'm sure I am too. What place in particular?” Carnat's question-dodging had only piqued Ash's interest.

“You ever heard of the Oblivion Gateway?”

“You never told me about that, only the eleven planets in the Empire.”

“There are twelve planets in the Empire, and the twelfth is beyond the Oblivion Gateway, in another solar system.” Carnat gave a short laugh, as if remembering a good time. “That's where I was born. But I wanted out of that planet, so I came here,” he shook his head, “Here! In search of a better life, a more fulfilling one. I helped the Hak'i for decades in the ancient wars; humans, Corlens, Pyrkagia, they all attacked Rat'hak at some point. And look at me now; thrown in a fighting pit for all of Rat'hak to see; entertainment, a slave.”

There was silence for a beat, before Ash said, “That's a bit shit.”

Carnat sighed. “Yeah, it really is.”

“So,” Ash asked, curious, “What are you? Species-wise?”

“It really doesn't matter anymore; I'm the last of my kind. Nothing else quite like me.” Carnat paused and smiled a sad smile. “When I die, so will my entire species. That's why I never bothered to tell you about my kind, only the others. But, if you really want to know, you can call me an –“

Footsteps approached from outside, distracting Carnat for a moment.

“Call you what?” Ash could see the silhouettes of Hak'i approaching their cell.

Carnat moved away from the door as the Hak'i opened it and whispered to Ash:

“Adjeti.”

“T-1, come in!” Nothing.

“T-2, come in!” Static.

“T-3, come in!” A brief hiss.

Trexor strode across the wreckage of the skyscraper, not knowing where to start digging. At the ruins' high point, it would still be about half the size of the monolithic structure it once was; Trexor could not search through the entire mountain, and his infrared readers detected no life, or they could not penetrate through the thick rubble. He continued walking, sensor pointed at the ground. Bricks shifted and clattered beneath his feet as if he was walking on snow, and, more than once, he nearly lost his footing. The screams of those elsewhere in the city were alien to him; his first priority was to those in this building, that was his job. All around, other skyscrapers were still falling. Looking up, he saw one building shaking, before breaking in half, the top half carving a deep gash through the adjacent building as it fell. He saw people fall to their deaths, flailing like ragdolls as they fell. But he felt nothing for them. He felt nothing for anyone right now, just the emptiness of failure.

To his right, bricks moved and he heard a muffled cry. Throwing himself down, he tore bricks and wreckage away from the source of the sound, jagged edges reaping blood from his palms. Bricks, plaster, metal, wood, before finally skin. A hand. It clasped around his own, and he pulled up hard. He clenched his teeth and grimaced; he was using his left hand to steady himself and his right to pull, but this twisted his right side and made the blade inside him pain him again. With a roar of pain, he pulled a black-haired woman out of the ruins. In her other arm was what Trexor thought was a bundle of blankets, before realising that it was a small child. The woman looked at him, blood pouring down her face from a gash across her forehead. At least one leg was broken; she couldn't stand. The shirt she wore was torn across the back; obviously she had bent over the child to shield it from the debris.

Trexor bent over to catch his breath again and rubbed his side; he'd have to get that checked out. “Do you know if any others survived?” Trexor panted, barely able to get the words out.

“None on my floor, no.” she said softly, unable to pry her eyes away from her son's scared face. “I was in the hallway with one of your troops and a few other families. Then the ceiling came down and...and...they're gone!” She looked at Trexor now, before she said, “And I would be too, if it wasn'' for you. Thank you.”

While the words sounded sincere, Trexor knew that the woman did not want to praise him, but wanted time to grieve. “Can you stand?” he asked.

She nodded. “Jus' abou', I think.” She tried to stand, using one hand to steady herself, but her legs faltered as she cried out in pain. Trexor caught her before she fell and put her arm around his shoulders.

“Hold onto me and use this,” he passed her his sword, “As a crutch for the other side.”

Holding the child with one hand and supporting the mother with the other, Trexor walked slowly and carefully back down the mountain. The son watched him with wide blue pools of curiosity, but gave away no other emotion. “What's his name?” Trexor asked; it's a long walk, he thought he may as well try to interact normally with someone.

“Cane,” she said, “After his daddy. And I'm Disa.”

“General Trexor,” Trexor said, acknowledging the hidden question in her upwards intonation. “Shame we couldn't meet in better circumstances.” He dreaded to ask the next question. “And where is the father?”

“He went to Narcsia to get some real money for li'l Cane. Got caught up in the storms, and can't leave the planet yet.” Disa forced a weak smile. “Probably for the best.” She coughed; the dust must be getting to her.

“General!”

Trexor recognised that voice, but he knew that it shouldn't be there. He turned to see a slender man dusting himself off. “How are you still alive, Trem?”

The hatred was obviously clear in his voice, because the assassin put his hands up when he walked over, before he pointed at a vial of green liquid on his belt. “This is some good shit from Prauw; heals you right up.” He took a blade out of his pocket. “This is what you left in me earlier and this,” he turned and showed them a faint scar on his shoulder, “is what's left.” He nodded to Disa and proffered the vial. “Here, take it; two drops is all you need.”

Disa dropped Trexor's sword and took the vial, before unscrewing the cap. Under the cap was a dropped-like opening, and she squeezed two drops of fizzing green liquid onto her tongue. Trexor faced Trem. “Why are you helping? Doesn't seem like you.”

Trem took the vial back and smiled encouragingly at Disa, who thanked him. “I'm helping because I don't want to see these people die. Despite what you may think, I have morals. I just put them aside for the money that keeps me alive. I'd like to think that we could work well together, you and I, Trexor.”

Trexor thought about for a bit, until Disa supported herself and moved away, taking Cane back. “Thank you, Trexor. For everything.”

Trexor nodded to her in recognition of her thanks. “I guess we are kind of even, even if you could just heal yourself up. But we could use all the help we can get, by the looks of it.” He turned to Disa. “Get somewhere safe. I don't know where, probably the fields on the Tapal border. Now go.”

Disa looked at both Trem and Trexor. Her face was covered in dust and scrapes. Her clothes looked as if they had been mauled and blood covered most of her skin. And yet she smiled thankfully; not a happy smile, but one of relief; she and Cane had both survived. “Thank you.” She spoke softly, almost a whisper, before turning and walking away.

“Do you think she'll be ok?” Trexor asked.

“I do hope so.” Trem replied solemnly.

Silently, they ran towards the next building. On the ground, there was silence aside from the moving debris. In the sky, buildings scraped against one another and fell, but not near Trexor; those had already fallen. He looked up and saw none of the skyline that he had once despised, only a gaping void where nothing would live.

When they reached the next building, they began to dig.

The city of Sutib was very similar to Tapal in its north/south divide, as well its skyline and structure. However, it was a much smaller city and many Raanians probably wondered why Raan needed such a city so close to Tapal, as