The Sneila

Chapter 7

The Sneila

 

            The Taqar almost floated away twice on its transport to Esab.

            The first time, the Sneilian carrying the Taqar and another Sneilian accidentally bumped into each other, causing the Taqar to dislodge from the Sneilian’s claws and start to float off. It caught it and returned to the travelling pack. The second time, the pack traversed into a small meteor belt. The Sneilian carrying the Taqar was blindsided by a meteor, the Taqar came loose, and if it hadn’t been for the Sneilian next to it that got hit in the face, it would have been lost forever.

            When they approached Esab, their metallic wings produced a force field around their bodies and they flew through the atmosphere and back home.

            They landed back at the king’s palace, ready to present him the Taqar as his prized possession. He had tried for years to get the Taqar, the Anerians’ most valuable possession; now that he was about to possess it, he could then launch a surprise attack on the Anerians and force them to be Sneilians’ slaves.

            When the transport convoy returned, the king stood as a smirk crossed his face. “Good,” he said as they approached. “I can smell victory already.”

            As the Sneilian convoy entered through the large doors of the palace, one Sneilian in the convoy got jealous of the one carrying the Taqar. If I am the one who brings the Taqar to the King, then I will reap all the benefits of being a hero to all of Esab, he thought. He sped toward the Sneilian in front carrying the Taqar, and crashed full force into him. The Taqar fell toward the floor of the palace, and the jealous Sneilian raced for it. The King, as he watched his prize fall to its destruction, sprouted his metal wings out of the side of his armor and flew to its rescue. He had to fly through a chaotic swarm of Sneilians, flying about, trying to catch the Taqar. The King was ruthless is his efforts to reach it. As he neared it, he retracted his wings and dove through the air toward it. He almost had it in his hand, but the Sneilian who knocked it loose in the first place bumped into the King, sending him sprawling against the wall. He didn’t see the Taqar crash to the floor, but he certainly heard it. When it crashed to the floor, there was a powerful wind that entered the palace. But it wasn’t through a window: it was coming out of the Taqar. The pages flipped through, almost completely tearing out. Every Sneilian was being sucked towards the Taqar, like it had its own center of gravity. The King was the closest to it, so he was almost next to it. He knew that he had to shut the book in order to save himself and all of his minions. When he got within an arm’s distance, he reached out and shut the Taqar. Immediately, every Sneilian, including the King, stopped in their place.

            But the chaos didn’t stop.

            One of the Sneilians across the throne room was on fire. One of the fire canisters on the wall (it was basically a small candle behind a glass box on the wall) fell off the wall and on top of the Sneilian. He was now running around. They tried to stop him, but before they could, he ran out the palace doors and floated off into space. He didn’t have his flight suit activated, so he exploded in an icy chunk. The doors were shut and the King let his anger out.

            “Doesn’t anyone in this room have a brain?” He slammed his fist on the arm rests of the throne, and the entire palace shook. “I’ve been trying for years to get my hands on this book, and my chance was almost ruined by YOU!” He pointed his talon at the Sneilian that caused the chaos. “You caused all of this to ensue. So explain to me,” he said as he walked back to his throne and sat down, “why you would even think of doing such a thing?”

            The Sneilian, named Sulawesi, stepped forward feebly. “Well sir, I was just… I was trying to be the one to bring you the Taqar myself. I tried taking it from Chironax-“

            “You know that you would have reaped the benefits even if you weren’t the one who brought it to me personally,” the king said rising to his feet. He began walking towards Sulawesi. “But now after what you have done, I have no choice but to punish you. Since you are a commander of the Sneilian army, and even though I thought I could trust you,” the king said in a somber but serious tone. He was now face to face with Sulawesi. “You shall be put to death for the crimes of dishonor and insubordination. Take him away.” Guards flew beside Sulawesi as he stood in utter shock. They carried him away to the torture chamber, and the massive doors shut behind them, the screaming of Sulawesi still heard.

            The King returned to his throne and the palace was silent for the next hour.

•••

            The torture chamber was the epitome of the word “rotten.” The walls were cracked and covered in all sorts of mosses, vines, and the occasional acid bubble seeping through a crack. The prison cells were dank, and all the prisoners were sleeping as it was nighttime on Esab. As the guards marched Sulawesi down the corridor through the center of the rows of cells, a prison cell could be heard being opened. Sulawesi gazed down the small row to the end, where he saw two guards pick a dead body up out of one of the cells. As he walked by, he thought he faintly heard one guard say, “He was completely healthy two days ago. Wonder what happened...” A knot formed in his stomach.

            But that wasn’t the only thing forming.

            They group marched to the end of the long corridor and came upon a set of gates. One guard walked up to the door’s keypad on the side, and almost simultaneously, the other guard spun Sulawesi around. Everything was quiet in the prison, and Sulawesi didn’t want to stare into the guards eyes. So he closed his.

            The guard spun him back around as the other guard opened the two doors to the torture chamber.

            Now, at first sight, one would never guess that this place was a place for torturing and killing rebels and insubordinates (like Sulawesi). It was a giant glass dome with a single stake in the middle. Outside, you could see outer space.

            But it was when one looked around the edge of the dome that the word “torture” came into play.

            Over to the right, near the edge of the dome, same a set of gallows. Around it were piles of dead bodies that looked like they had been sitting there for hundreds of millennia (either that or the green stuff on the bodies was leaves to try and cover the bodies up). As they walked toward the stake, Sulawesi looked to the other side and saw an even more horrific sight: a building with smoke coming out of a chimney. And the worst part: there were creatures going into the building, being led by chains and handcuffs. Sulawesi almost stopped, but one guard nudged him forward saying, “Keep moving, Sula.”

            They brought Sulawesi to the stake and threw him at it, causing him to lose his balance and stubble headfirst into the stake, making him dizzy. He lay sprawled out on the ground, seeing stars (literally). He lay there, wondering what was going to be done to him.

            He saw the whip at the last second.

            This was no ordinary whip either. It was more of a sword, except much longer and more elastic. It had the hilt of a sword, but the rest of it was a leather strap with half metal spheres protruding from its surface. So when it made contact, it came along with searing pain.

            It came down with a CRACK, right on Sulawesi’s bare skin, where the armor didn’t cover. Sulawesi bent into a V-shape, grunting in pain as more blows rained down on him. One guard stood him up against the stake. The other kept whipping away.

            By that time, Sulawesi’s plan had formed.

            He endured three more whips, then lashed out with incredible speed and grabbed the whip inches from his face, without looking. He yanked it from the grasp of the guard, and flipped it so he was grabbing the handle instead of the head. He spun wicked fast, whipping the whip towards the guard’s feet. It grabbed hold, and Sulawesi threw him into the pile of dead bodies by the gallows. He turned to the other guard and stared at him with an evil glare. He sprouted his mechanical wings, and the guard knew he was in trouble. He tried to outrun Sulawesi, but he was too slow. Sulawesi whipped it around his neck and yanked up, tightening it. He turned to exit, but the doors had been shut. He flew to them, and much to his dismay, they were locked. He closed his eyes again, remembering the sounds the buttons made when the guard pressed them the first time. He made sure he knew them, and went up to the box and typed in the code.

            The sirens went off.

            Sulawesi was sure that he had it right. He tried it again, but it failed. The guard tried to say something, but Sulawesi choked him up. The doors burst open in front of him, and the Special Ops Sneilians ran to surround Sulawesi. There was no exit.

            But maybe if-

            His thought was interrupted as a loud booming voice came from behind the wall of Sneilians. It was the King.

            “Sulawesi, you have caused more trouble in an hour than I’ve ever experienced here in 365 years as King! If-“

            The King stopped midsentence to look at Sulawesi as he broke through the wall of Sneilians to look at him.

            The perfect time to strike.

            While the King was talking, Sulawesi was untangling the whip from around the guard’s neck and preparing it for his attack on the King.

            A very gutsy move.

            As the King broke through the circle, he immediately saw a whip coming straight for him. It made contact, but it coiled around his neck and Sulawesi pulled tight. He fired up the jet blasters in his metallic wings and flew for the small hole at the top of the glass. He looked down at the Special Ops Sneilians coming after him. He halted. “Hey!” They all stopped in their tracks. “Take another step and your King gets blown to bits in space.” The Sneilians all lowered to the ground. ‘That’s what I thought,” Sulawesi said. And with that, he dropped the King from 100 feet up.

            The Sneilians below formed a trampoline with their wings (which must have hurt the King at least a little bit), and they caught him without him bursting to bits.

            Sulawesi, in the meantime, seized the opportunity to escape. He opened the hatch and flew out, closing it behind him.

            The King recollected himself and looked through the glass as Sulawesi flew off into space. He recognized the direction: the way they had come from stealing the Taqar. The King immediately turned on his heels and started to quickly walk out of the chamber. An officer questioned him, asking, “Your highness, what is that matter?”

            The King stopped and straightened. He spun slowly around with a face that looked red and hot with anger. “What’s the matter?” he said. “WHAT’S THE MATTER!? I’ll tell you what the matter is! One of my former commanders just let me fall 100 feet to my death, and now is flying off into space! And the direction he is flying can only mean one thing: that he is going to Anera, previous home of the Taqar, which caused all the chaos this evening! So I would say that’s a pretty big matter!”

            He turned to walk out again, and Chironax questioned, “What does this mean sir?”

            The king turned and said, “This means war.”