Mother's Protection

"I'll explain everything, just follow –"

Marcy had started to tell the newcomer to follow her back to the encampment, but he suddenly disappeared again, emitting no sound and only a faint white light. He vanished as suddenly as he had appeared on the hilltop.

She quickly instructed Charon to the other side to try to get him back again. Hopefully they would be able to pull him directly into the encampment this time. Charon crossed over with no more indication than a flicker in the air.

In the meantime, Marcy would have to find a way to dispose of the monstrous body, otherwise their scouts would be able to track her bow work.

The brute was incredibly heavy, but Marcy managed to manoeuvre the corpse onto a fallen log and tie it down with some wire, then slid the whole contraption down the hill. Where the bottom of the hill ran into the forest she found a pile of dead leaves that would help with decomposition.

By this point, the sun was much lower in the sky than when she set out to find the newly arrived Protector. It was time to return to camp. She wasn't too far out, but she didn't want to worry Mother.

Aaaand of course Mother was worried, "where have you been Marcy? I've been worried sick."

"I'm fine, Mother," Marcy replied, but could not meet Mother's eyes, "you have an entire division to look out for, stop worrying so much about a single one of your fighters."

"You know full well I watch out for everyone under my command, blood or not," Mother's voice raised almost indistinguishably, but her eyes betrayed a look of sadness that did not go unnoticed by Marcy.

"I'm sorry Mum," Marcy replied again, much more softly this time.

"What happened on the hilltop?" Mother asked, changing the subject, "did you locate the anomaly?"

"I did, it was a humanoid being. They just appeared suddenly, then disappeared just as quickly…"

"You're leaving something out. What else happened up there?"

"I may have had to, ummm…."

"Marcy." Mother stared at Marcy intently.

"I had to kill one of the Arkesian slavers."

Mother hid her dismay well, but still let out a barely audible gasp.

"Don't worry, I covered my tracks well."

No one had any doubt about that. It was just that Mother was reasonably worried. The Arkesians were cold, ruthless, and most terrifyingly efficient. It had been almost a year and a half since they landed on the planet and began to shape it in their vision. Prior to this, Marcy's people knew of them from nightmarish tales spoken by merchants and travelers at the spaceport. One geographer in particular had experienced their stranglehold first-hand, when his own planet had been subjected to their rule. Most of his people had not been so lucky. As he told it, many actually sided with the Arkesians and their promises of wealth and power. Those who rejected them met a cruel fate, death, or arguably worse was the forced labour that allowed the Arkesians to expand their empire.

Marcy shuddered as she made a few adjustments to her bow. She made sure to lace her boots tightly and tied her green cloak securely at the neck

"You don't want to rest a while before going back out there?" Mother asked her.

"I need to seek out Charon, see if he was successful in finding the humanoid. If they can be confirmed to be the Protector, they would prove to be a help to our cause."

"Very well then."

Marcy ventured off alone again, under the cover of nightfall.

The nights were so quiet in the forest. Not the old peaceful quiet that used to linger as the sun went down. With the arrival of the Arkesians, it was more of an ominous quiet. The indistinguishable hum of something lurking, just out of earshot.

Marcy shivered.

She heard a gentle mewing behind her. Charon softly head-butted her shin, causing her to smile and reach down to give the mysterious cat creature a pat on the head.

Charon had just ran across her path one day when she was on a scouting mission. He was jet black except for a single small white patch of fur on his belly, and he had huge yellow eyes.

She had learned pretty quickly that there was something odd about Charon, he seemed to blip in and out of existence occasionally – now she realized he in fact was traveling to other worlds.

Charon's tail began to twitch back and forth rapidly. Then Marcy heard it – the ground being pounded by large footfalls, still some distance away. Arkesians.

The pair took off quickly but quietly and dove into a natural crevice formed in a nearby slope of the forest floor. They tucked themselves in tight as they could under fallen brush.

A minute or two later, the Arkesians – five of them she counted – trudged past under the light of their torch, leaving behind an acrid smell as they returned from one of their worksites.

Marcy and Charon arrived back at camp to sounds of celebrating. There were clinking glasses, fiddles and flutes blazing and people dancing all over the place. Marcy hadn't seen things like this in… she couldn't say how long.

"What's going on?" she asked one of the dancers closer to her.

"It's the Protector, he has arrived!" the young man announced ecstatically. He pointed towards the centre of the camp, where Marcy saw Mother speaking with the very same young man from the hilltop the other day, the one who had appeared then disappeared.

Charon really did it. Things were going to get better. Marcy ran over to the two of them.

"Marcy, this is Andy," Mother introduced the man.

"Andy, you've brought us all hope. Mother has repeated the tale of the man on the hilltop, appearing from Nothing… who will save us all,”" that hope was welling inside Marcy, finally they would be able to stop the Arkesians.

"Yeah, I'm Andy, but… I don't know how I got here. Your Mother has been trying to explain that I’m some sort of Defender –"

"Protector," Marcy interrupted.

"Right, Protector," Andy continued, "from an alternate universe. But, well, I just quit my job and followed this cat," he pointed at Charon, "because I thought, why not, things couldn’t get worse."

"I'm sorry to break this news to you then Andy, but things are really not going well here…"

Marcy proceeded to tell Andy about the arrival of the Arkesians on their planet. As she finished her tale, she was surprised by Andy's reaction. He had been listening intently the entire time, then just shrugged and made a hunh noise.

"So you're telling me, these Arkesians travel the galaxy and force people to make them a profit. They repeatedly expand their empire by exploiting the labour of others."

"Yes," Marcy answered, "I'm sorry for pulling you from your own world. I feel horrible pulling you from a utopian land…"

Marcy didn't go on with her apology at this point, because Andy seemed to be… laughing?

"Sorry, I don't mean to laugh, it's not funny," Andy chuckled, "it's just that, I get pulled into a whole new world, and sure it's a bit more spacey, but it's really not that different. I'll give it to the Arkesians though, at least they don't try to hide behind a façade that what they're doing is better for everyone."

Marcy didn't really understand what he was talking about.

"So, what can I do to help?" the man from the Other World asked.

"First we shall get you outfitted with a bow and a blade."

"A what now?"

"Your weapons."

Marcy could almost see the beads of sweat forming on Andy's forehead.

"I don't do the whole, you know, fighting thing…"

"Mother says you are the Protector, a great warrior from another world that will lead us to victory, your very presence will push back the dark threat," Marcy explained.

"As much as I like the vote of confidence, I'm, not a warrior. I've been in one fight my entire life, and only a single punch was thrown… it was directed at me. Knocked my eight year old ass in the dirt."

Marcy didn't know what to say.

"When everyone was saying I could help, I thought it was more with like, around this camp, gathering food and building things. Mind you I'm not very capable at either of those tasks either but –"

"It's okay Andy, Mother will get you sorted in the morning, she will be able to explain better than I."

With that, Marcy said goodbye and walked through the throng of jovial people to her place, a small little domicile formed mostly of clay and a bit of wood for support. It was nothing fancy, but nothing in the whole camp was that fancy. The people Mother had gathered had carved out an alright existence for themselves over the past eight months. Their camp was far enough outside the city of Etopier, where Marcy was born, that it didn't draw heavy attention from the Arkesians.

Etopier held on as long as it could, but it finally fell on the one-year anniversary of the invasion. Marcy's sister Marie was killed in the attack, and a day hasn't gone by that Marcy didn't think about her.

Marcy's hand had gone white from making a fist, just thinking about the scum that were plaguing their home. She hung her bow on the wall, and set her quiver and one short sword on her lone table. The other she set by her pillow, and tried to fall asleep.

"Do you really think he will be able to help us stop them?" Marcy asked.

"If he has half the power Mother says he does, then absolutely," Powell, one of her squad mates, replied.

"He's gonna lead us all in knocking their asses off this planet," Ingrid, the third member of the squad, chimed in enthusiastically.

"I sure hope so," Marcy said, for some reason still unsure. It wasn't that Andy wasn't helpful, and he was actually taking to training extremely well, especially for one who was so skinny and uncoordinated when he arrived. Marcy had been having second thoughts about this whole prophecy thing.

The three heard a muffled shuffling sound in the near distance.

"Get down," Ingrid ushered them behind a rocky outcropping.

A crew of Arkesians were coming up the road – Marcy counted five. Three at the front of the convoy, two in the rear. Between them were eight prisoners, shackled at the hands and feet, being transported to a new working camp.

Ingrid and Powell would take out the two Arkesians at the back, while Marcy shot at the three in front to distract them. Once at least a few of the workers were free, they would have strength in numbers to overpower the remaining slavers.

Ingrid and Powell were already up the tree, waiting for Marcy's signal. Marcy took aim at the middle one. She steadied her bow, and let loose her arrow. The only sound came as the sharp point pierced the outer layer of armor on the brute’s shoulder. Once that sound rang out, Powell and Ingrid launched out of the tree, landing on the two Arkesians, blades already drawn and piercing the back of the neck at the weak point in their armour.

They fell quickly and the four prisoners at the back were partially free, Ingrid smashed the wooden plank they were tied to. The largest of the freed prisoners, who could still stand up straight, grabbed a broken piece of the plank and joined Ingrid and Powell in rushing the remaining three Arkesians.

Marcy's next shot struck one in the throat, dropping him to the dirt. Ingrid, Powell, and the rescued prisoner made short work of the other two.

The squad quickly broke free the remaining prisoners and hurried them into the forest, in the direction of camp. It would be at least some time before the receiving camp realized they would be short eight new miners.

When they got back home, the rescues were shown where they could wash up and get some food. Some needed treatment at the medical tent. Marcy caught sight of Mother in the crowd and went to her.

"Another group of prisoners freed Marcy, that's the sixth convoy this month, we’re making some headway," Mother was happy.

“The Arkesians are still dominating in the region, as I'm sure they are across the planet. We know what they can do Mother, what they have done.”

"Don't be so weighed down by negative thoughts, child," Mother tried to be encouraging. She knew what Marcy had lost when Etopier fell.

"We have him now," she pointed a hand in the direction of the training grounds, where Marcy could see Andy training in sword combat with Jakoby, Mother’s Second-in-Command.

"How has he been doing?" Marcy asked.

"If you ask me, he's already been ready for weeks."

"It's only been three months Mother, prior to arriving here the man didn't know how to hold a sword."

"He is the Protector, this is why he's here."

Marcy approached the training grounds, but stayed on the perimeter. She watched Andy’s footwork and the way he held his sword, not too tight, but firm enough for control. He never lunged too far to Jakoby that he couldn't defend himself, seemingly aware of Jakoby's next move with each strike and parry. She had to admit, he had taken to warrior training very naturally. He had become as good a fighter as most in the camp.

Jakoby and Andy stepped back from one another and bowed, ending their session. Andy caught sight of Marcy and came over to her.

"Hey, you get those prisoners back?" he asked.

"Yeah, we did," Marcy gave a half-hearted smile.

"What's with the sad face then?" Andy tried to wipe sweat off his face but ended up just rubbing dirt into his cheek.

"All this Chosen One business is a lot to put on someone. I'm worried it's too much."

"So, on Earth, we have sooo many stories of someone travelling to another world, bringing peace and wiping out all evil yada-yada. This is exactly like that. Me getting here must mean something, right. It always works out in the end."

"This isn't a story Andy, this is real life. The Arkesians are a plague on the galaxy that has never been stopped."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to make light of it. It's just that, Mother believes in me, and I wanna do my best for her. She seems to know the right thing to do. I mean, she brought everyone here together, and were making a difference. We've been getting some good hits in against those dirtbags, and I think we're ready for the big one."

"How have you become adept as a warrior so fast, Mr Only Lost one Fight?" Marcy teased.

"I didn't lose, I withdrew."

"You were unconscious."

"That's besides the point," Andy laughed.

"I dunno," Andy answered her question, "I've been able to get really good at things really fast if I actually focus on them, and have a reason to focus on them. I have a pretty big reason this time."

"Do you ever," Mother approached the two of them. "He's ready Marcy, to be our hope, our Protector."

"Yeah-HA!" Andy punched his fist in the air, "Let's do it!"

Marcy rode with Andy at the front of the battalion, their carrier a little louder then Marcy was used to. However, this was not to be a stealth mission. This was an all-out assault on the primary Arkesian stronghold.

Jakoby, Ingrid and Powell rode with them, as well as Yshmal, one of the prisoners Marcy's squad had rescued earlier in the week. Mother was driving, keeping a steady pace at the front of the battalion, with the rest of her troops closely following.

This was it, Mother thought to herself. Her people finally had hope. Finally. Some bit of good had come into the world. At the same time, she felt a deep sadness. Regret. Andy had come to them, not out of some prophecy, or vision. The one that Charon brought through the Planes was entirely random. Mother knew there was no Chosen One. She was the only one who knew. Even Charon, bless his soul, didn’t know why the man he brought through the Plane was special, he was just told to bring through the first person he saw, that they would be The One. He was just being a good boy.

Mother knew she had manipulated everyone, even though Marcy had begun to lose faith as the weeks wore on. She was desperate, this was the last hope for her people. Andy even showed promise. For someone who really had no special power, the boy did learn fast, and showed a genuine willingness to help people. Even if it was hidden behind a bit of cockiness that one gets when they are told they are THE One chosen by destiny to save the planet.

Mother called her troops to a halt on the crest of a hill. The Arkesian stronghold was near, maybe three hundred metres away. The whole place was brightly lit, the sounds of the dig site still penetrating the evening air. The Arkesians knew they were coming, but there was no way they were going to let that halt production, so they had left a few of their own to mind the slaves while the rest came out to battle.

The gigantic metal door on the front of the stronghold slowly screeched open, as the horde of brutish soldiers marched out to meet Mother's Army. They truly were imposing to behold, even from this distance. The largest of them stood nine feet tall, with their armour built into their bodies. Their hulking mass of arms held all sort of bludgeoning weaponry, and their two hundred or so soldiers spread out in a most intimidating line.

The fear amongst her own soldiers was not lost on Mother as they exited their vehicles and formed up. They may stand at greater numbers than the Arkesians, but murmurs were rising in the crowd.

Then Andy ran to the front of the crowd on the hill and shouted for them to listen.

"Most of you know me as the dude that just appeared in camp a few months ago," this caught the attention of all those gathered.

"I had been stuck in my life, for a long time. It felt like forever," Andy continued, "then one day, I saw a cute cat in an alleyway. A series of events took place, I won't bore you with the details, but you should know, Marcy here saved my life. Didn't know who I was, just saved me anyway."

"I quit my job that same day, and ended up back here again, following that cute little guy Charon. Thanks to all of you, I finally found a purpose in my life. Now, I know that sounds cheesy, and I might cry a little, but –"

Andy was violently knocked down from the hill top, blood seeping out of his chest, his mouth open in a silent scream.

An initial hush fell over everyone present. Then someone shouted out:

"FOR THE PROTECTOR!!!!!!"

The whole army charged towards the Arkesian gates.

Mother rushed to Andy, Marcy hung back.

"Andy!" Mother called to him, trying to wipe the blood away from the wound to get a better look at it.

Andy shook uncontrollably for a moment, then vomited. Mother rolled him over so he didn't choke, then got back to tending the wound.

"Marcy, come here and apply pressure," Mother yelled to Marcy, who snapped out of her daze and hurried to help.

"OH MY GOD!" Andy opened his eyes and exclaimed.

"Good, you're conscious," Mother said.

"Holy shit that hurt," Andy said, a little calmer now as Mother injected the remainder of a greenish liquid from a syringe into his arm.

"How are you even alive at all?" Marcy asked, amazed, "that slug should've penetrated your heart and exploded it instantly."

Maybe he truly is this Protector that Mother put all her hope in.

Andy laughed a little before answering, "us humans from Earth, our hearts are on the left side… well, if you want to get technical, a little more slightly left of centre."

"Please don't laugh Andy, you could still bleed out," Mother said quietly to him.

"Oh right, good call Ma," he tried to relax as best he could, but he caught an odd look on Mother's face, then asked, "I'm not really the Chosen One, am I, Mother?"

"I…" Mother started but had to pause. She looked to Marcy.

"What is it, Mother?" Marcy asked.

"The Protector story is a total fabrication."

"What?"

"We had nothing left. Our people were on the verge of giving up. I know it was wrong, but I needed to cling to anything to give us hope, Marcy, you have to understand…"

Marcy didn't say anything.

She couldn't think of anything to say. So she turned, then started to run. Out to the battlefield. Mother risked this person's life by putting it in his head that he would be our saviour. She put all her people at risk by making them think they had some sort of divine power on their side. They were going to be slaughtered out there.

But then she reached the battlefield. Her people, they were holding their own. Phasma cannons were blasting away at the Arkesian battle tech, arrows hissed through the air, swords came up to meet powerful axe swings.

Jakoby was nearly overwhelmed by three behemoth soldiers, but one well-placed shot from Marcy evened the odds.

Next, she made for her squad. Ingrid, Powell and Yshmal were pinned down by an auto gun. Marcy was able to get behind the turret and take out the Arkesian manning it. There was a tussle, but she managed to find a weak point in the armour around the knee joint, and from there with swift motions was able to bring the monster down.

She rejoined her squad as they all drew swords, cutting their way into the fray, teaming up to take down the brutes who had laid waste to their people for far too long. As they drove through the horde, they picked up their brethren as best they could, adding to their strength.

They pressed on, not knowing if it would be enough, but knowing that it had to be.

Mother sat in the camp by the fire, watching over a sleeping Andy. His breathing was under control now. She kept going over-and-over in her head the last time she saw Marcy. How she had broken her trust. Now she may never see her again, she may never see any of them again.

The camp was eerily quiet, not many of the townspeople had stayed back from the battle, only if they were too young or old, or too injured from previous skirmishes. Mother now worried for their safety too.

A loud banging came at the gate. Mother made her way over as the bang came again, and again. She would not let her people become slaves for these monsters. She opened the small security door, and there stood Marcy, absolutely tattered, but standing stronger than she had ever seen her before. Behind her was the rest of Mother's Army.

Mother met Marcy's eyes, and they just stared at each other for a moment. To Mother it felt like an eternity.

Then Marcy smiled and said, "let's go save the rest of this planet."

THE END