The LoST 12

The Lone Shadow Templar

12: Pyrky

I awoke, letting the blurry dark vortexes swirl back into view. There was no light, save a dimly flickering candle somewhere off in the distance. The faint moan of the wind reminded me of the savage snowstorm raging outside. I propped myself up with my elbows and felt a sudden pulse pound against my brain.

Wincing, I gently put a palm to my forehead; it was feverishly hot. I groaned and sat up, looking around. The couch I sat on was made of some sort of Lycan fur and it felt surprisingly soft. I brushed my fingers through the smooth fabric; it was ice cold against my hand.

Then, I heard voices coming from another room. I slowly turned my head in the direction of the dying candle and saw two silhouettes dancing on the opposite wall. Brushing my bangs away, I stood up shakily. As I took one step, my legs suddenly gave out and I hit the floor with a thud. The voices stopped and before I knew it, two pairs of hands lifted me back up onto the couch.

“Easy there Natalie,” a gruff voice commanded. His silhouette revealed a cleanly buzzed head. This must have been Pyrk.

“Pyrk…” I whispered. He let out a small laugh and nodded. “Where’s Wolfe,” I continued.

“Right here missy,” Wolfe’s voice resonated from the other figure. He sighed and then turned to Pyrk, “So now that she’s awake, we should fill her in.”

The little fire was just about to meet the end of the wick. I shuffled through some papers, drawings and diagrams of random places and some machinery. “What’s all this?”

“Well,” Wolfe began, “A week ago, Pyrk and I were working on this project. We’re inventors you see, and we constantly come up with new blueprints to things that are probably impractical and impossible to put together.”

“But last week,” Pyrk started, “We came across something that was most peculiar.”

“Yea, I’m getting to that part,” Wolfe said, a bit exasperated that Pyrk had interjected, “Anyways, I was out trekking on Wolf Mountain when I came across this glassy object. When I dug it up from the snow, I realized it was a sphere that seemed to contain a tiny light source. It glowed a pale green when I examined it a bit closer.

“So he took it back here where I took a shot at the research,” Pyrk piped up.

“Yea ok,” Wolfe snapped, “But he didn’t know what the hell it was either. It had barely been a day before the Dominion came knocking on our door. I don’t know how they knew we had found something, let alone where we lived, but when Pyrk wouldn’t give them the object, they peaceably left.”

“That doesn’t make…” I started, but was cut off.

“Let me finish,” Wolfe cut me off, “They left, calmly stating something about our rights and privacy and whatnot. Then, right as I shut the door, ten men burst in, their weapons all trained upon me. Needless to say, they forcibly took me as well as the object. Now one thing has returned, but not the other.”

“The more important one,” Pyrk muttered.

“F*** you,” Wolfe retorted. He gave Pyrk a menacing look, then returned his eyes to me, “So I know you’re the no-bullsh** kind of girl, so I’ll just cut to the chase now. You help me get that orb back, whatever it is, and I’ll help you kill Nass. Deal?”

He stuck a hand out at me. I looked at it for a few seconds, then slowly reached up and shook in agreement.

“One condition,” I said, still grasping his hand, “I kill him in the end.”

“Done.”

Pyrk’s armory was nothing less of magnificent. He had led us down to a shoddy looking basement, but with a flip of a hidden switch, the rotting bookcases and overturned desks magically morphed into a stockpile of weapons. Everywhere I looked, the cold steel barrels of assault rifles, pistols, and shotguns were staring right on back.

“Knock yourself out,” Pyrk grinned.

I stepped into the room, letting my fingers fall onto a cleanly polished MK-9 SMG. As my fingers wrapped around the handle, I immediately felt at ease. The gun seemed to be just an extension of my own arm. I smiled and tossed the weapon to Wolfe, who caught it, but just barely.

“Going to need a suppressor for that,” I muttered quietly as I continued to make my way around the weapons.

My eyes found a nice wrist watch that seemed out of place. It’s silvery coating reflected the almost burned out candle dimly.

“What’s this doing here?” I asked, picking up the watch.

“Careful there,” Pyrk said, walking forwards, “That watch has an EMP. It only has a charge enough for one good blast, but that will last you for more than you need.”

“Good I’ll take it,” I snapped and tossed it over my shoulder. I heard Wolfe grunt as he narrowly caught it.

Suddenly, I found myself face to face with something I thought I would never see again.

“Is that a…” I started.

“A S-36 Seraph?” Pyrk finished for me, “Yes indeed it is.”

“I thought they discontinued this five years ago,” I said, still astonished at the familiarity of the weapon.

“They did,” Pyrk smiled.

I touched the rifle, feeling a shiver as a cold memory blasted into my mind. I had to have this one. Gently removing it from the shelf, I heard Wolfe prepare for me to throw it to him. I hesitated, then slung the weapon over my shoulder. His sigh of relief brought the tiniest smile to my lips.

“Natalie,” Pyrk brushed past me as he talked, “You can’t go anywhere without grenades.” He held up a box of frags. I grabbed four and tossed them behind me. Wolfe cursed loudly as he skillfully managed to catch all of them.

“Careful there,” Pyrk muttered, eyeing me with uncertainty. He moved a table on the far end of the room and turned around with a small device in his palm. “This communicator will allow for communication to us from anywhere in the world. I’ve tapped into a Dominion satellite that will transmit your signal as long as you’re on this planet.” He handed the device to me. “Also, it has a popup HUD, which has infrared, night vision, and your everyday sunglasses.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Hey, if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features.”

A thought suddenly hit me, “Where’s my knife?”

Pyrk grinned and replied, “I’m glad you asked.”

He strode into the darkness and immediately came out with two black sheathes. He handed one to me, “This is yours. I took the liberty to cover it with a new coating of neo-steel alloy finish, my own mix, and rewrapped the handle. This…” he handed me the other, “Is what I assume a souvenir?”

I took the other blade and immediately recognized it as False’s combat knife.

“You could say that,” I muttered as I took the blade. I was going to give it back to its rightful owner, one stab at a time.

Whirling around, I threw both knives at Wolfe, who swore loudly again and dove to the side, dropping everything he had in his arms. The blades dug deep into the wooden railing of the stairs behind him.

I walked past him as he staggered up, still in shock. “Where are you going?” he spat angrily.

“To take a shower.”