The Mark Of Rebirth

“I should probably check this one too,” Kaelith muttered to himself.

Leaving the others to finish securing the Kyritite, he approached the overturned vehicle. The truck, still precariously balanced with its front end hanging over the edge, was battered and smoking. Kaelith moved cautiously, glancing back at the Airblade to ensure their escape route was still clear.

Gunshots echoed through the air as Farthington, wielding his mana-infused sword with dramatic flair, drew the attention of the remaining guards. His movements were a blur of flashing steel and energy, creating a dazzling spectacle that held the guards at bay.

Positioning himself at the back of the truck to open it, Kaelith used the plasma cutter to slice through the lock. Sparks flew as the cutter ate through the metal, causing the lock to fall off with a metallic clink, its severed portions glowing red-hot.

As light seeped into the dark truck, Kaelith finally got a good view of the contents inside. His eyes widened in surprise.

As I remained in the Airblade, ready to step in if necessary, Kaelith’s voice crackled through the earpiece, “Tokei! I found a person in the other truck!”

Taken aback by this unexpected development, I tried to piece together what this new information could mean. “Is there anything else in there?”

After a second of silence, likely as Kaelith looked around, his response came back, “The only other thing I can see is some kind of intricate black and gold sword that looks like it could be worth a pretty penny,” a hint of greed surfacing in his voice.

“Never mind that. Is there anything else in there?”

Kaelith hesitated before answering, “No, just the person and the sword. The rest of the truck seems empty.”

I frowned, considering the implications. “Is the person alive?”

“Barely,” Kaelith responded. “Looks like they’re unconscious, maybe injured. What should we do?”

I weighed the options quickly. Bringing an unknown person into our midst was risky, but leaving them behind was out of the question given the circumstances. “Get them out of there and bring them aboard. We’ll figure out who they are later. And take the sword, too. It might be important.”

Kaelith didn’t need to be told twice. He carefully pulled the unconscious figure from the truck, a young woman dressed in what appeared to be a mix of combat and ceremonial attire, her face pale and streaked with dirt. The sword he mentioned was sheathed at her side, its ornate hilt glinting in the dim light.

“I’ve got her,” Kaelith said, his voice strained as he lifted the woman. “She’s not too heavy, but she’s definitely out cold.”

“Understood. Get her to the Airblade, and be quick about it. We’re running out of time.”

The roadway suddenly began to shake violently, as if threatening to collapse entirely, and the truck Kaelith was in began to slide, the front of the truck leading as it inched its way toward falling off of the roadway.

Seeing this from above, I screamed through the comms, “KAELITH, GET OUT OF THERE NOW. THE TRUCK IS ABOUT TO FALL!”

Inside the truck, Kaelith tried to move as fast as he could to get to the back and escape. However, the falling truck picked up its speed, rapidly hurling toward the desert floor. He made a desperate dash, but before he could get out, the truck had gone past the point of no return, and gravity viciously pulled the truck and him toward the sandy ground.

His body flew back into the truck and violently smashed into the truck's interior. The woman he picked up crashed next to him, still unconscious, with the sword she held still stuck to her arms as if it was glued to them. The truck hurtled downward, and Kaelith braced for impact, his mind racing with ways to protect both himself and the woman.

Farthington, who had finished dealing with the last remaining gaurd, seeing the truck’s rapid descent, sprinted toward the edge of the roadway, his mind working frantically to devise a plan. He couldn’t let Kaelith and the woman perish in the crash. Summoning his mana, he focused it into his blade, enhancing its strength and power. He then leapt off the edge, diving toward the falling truck with unexpected confidence as if he was sure his idea would work.

Inside the truck, Kaelith struggled to shield the woman from the worst of the impact. The ground rushed up to meet them, and he closed his eyes, bracing for the inevitable crash. Suddenly, a blinding flash of mana-infused light enveloped them, and the truck’s descent slowed dramatically. Farthington’s blade had pierced the side of the truck, its mana energy creating a temporary barrier that miraculously cushioned their fall.

With a tremendous crash, the truck hit the desert floor, but the impact was somehow significantly reduced by Farthington’s intervention. Sand and debris flew in all directions, but the occupants were spared the worst of the collision. Kaelith groaned as he regained his senses, feeling the dull ache of bruises but thankful to be relatively unharmed. The woman was still unconscious, her sword securely fastened to her arms, but otherwise unharmed.

Farthington, panting from the exertion, pulled his blade free and quickly moved to help Kaelith and the woman out of the wrecked truck. “You alright?” he asked, his voice laced with mocking concern.

“Yeah,” Kaelith replied, wincing as he stood. “Thanks to you. Let’s get her out of here.”

As the two of them worked together to pull the woman from the wreckage, a low rumbling began to emanate from the ground beneath their feet.

Kaelith’s eyes widened, and he desperately yanked the woman out of the truck, hoisting her over his shoulder and moving as fast as he could away from the unstable vehicle. Farthington followed suit, his senses heightened and alert.

Suddenly, the ground behind Farthington exploded, sending a shower of sand into the air. A massive tunnel-boring snake, its matte body, rough from constantly scraping against the sands, glinting in the desert sun, rose from the depths, its segmented form undulating as it crashed back down onto the sand. The force of its impact sent shockwaves through the ground, causing the already unstable roadway to tremble even more violently.

“RUN!” Farthington shouted, his voice barely audible over the cacophony of the snake’s movements.

Kaelith and Farthington sprinted away from the looming threat, the unconscious woman’s weight adding to their urgency. The tunnel-boring snake, a creature designed for excavation and destruction, reared back, its menacing ivory jaws opening wide as it prepared to strike.

Inside the Airblade, I watched in horror as the scene unfolded below. “Kaelith, Farthington, get out of there now! That thing is going to tear everything apart!”

“We’re trying!” Kaelith yelled back, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

Farthington, with his usual flair for the dramatic, twisted his body mid-run, unsheathing his blade and infusing it with mana. He turned to face the snake, ready to fend it off if necessary. “Keep going, Kaelith! I’ll buy us some time!”

The snake lunged, its ivory jaws snapping shut with a deafening clang. Farthington’s blade met the creature’s attack, the mana-infused weapon slicing through the air with a radiant glow. Sparks flew as the blade clashed against the snake’s armored body, but the creature was relentless, its sheer size and power overwhelming.

“Tokei! How do we get out of here?” Kaelith cried out, unable to find a feasible way to escape.

Looking down from my vantage point high in the sky, I saw a single way to deal with this catastrophe, and that was to step in myself. “Neuro! Take control of the Airblade while I get out and bring the Airblade down to pick us up when the coast is clear!”

Neuro’s voice came to me through my earpiece, “How exactly do you plan to get down there?”

In a serious tone, I said, “The fastest way.”

As the butterfly door of the Airblade’s cockpit opened high in the sky, I fell backwards out of my seat, my body racing toward the ground. While I was falling, I activated Combat Trance 2.0 and took a look at the situation below.

The world around me slowed down as my senses heightened. I could see every detail with crystal clarity—the massive, armored snake coiling and thrashing, Farthington and Kaelith struggling to keep it at bay, the unconscious woman lying on the ground, and the wreckage of the convoy scattered across the sand.

I adjusted my trajectory, angling my body toward the snake. The ground rushed up to meet me, but in Combat Trance 2.0, I had all the time I needed. I manifested a blade out of data shimmering with a blue and purple glow, and prepared for impact.