JON PANTED, TRYING TO CATCH HIS BREATH. The Mekan had moved, forcing him and Fa’ Vel to run back toward Faerow, hoping the Mekan would only go a few steps before coming to a halt. They couldn’t outrun it if it decided to keep coming.
--I think it stopped-- Fa’ Vel said.
Jon turned and collapsed in the middle of the road in relief when he saw that the great leg of the Mekan was at a standstill. He had held onto the dark power for longer than he’d ever done before and it was slowing draining him of his life energy.
--Are you going to try to speak to it again?-- Jon asked.
--I’m not so sure it’s possible--
--Ready to give up so soon?--
--Are you saying you care to try?-- Fa’ Vel smirked.
Jon shrugged. –It couldn’t hurt--
--Let’s move further away from this thing first--
Jon nodded, his heart racing as they jogged back toward Faerow.
***
Saemus shouted as he hurled fireballs at the Mekan that was walking slowly across the ground. Its huge legs had already crushed hundreds of villagers. The strip of cloth he had tied around his head to cover his ears against the noise was coming loose. Screams from the injured and dying and the whine of the engines pierced his brain.
He spotted Kaelin nearby. She was firing a plasma rifle into one of the legs of the machine. Several other villagers who hadn’t run in fear were using the plasma rifles as well. Following Kaelin’s lead, they shot at the joints, crippling one of its legs.
The machine stopped and a panel opened in its side. Several long arms emerged. Two of them picked up the piece of leg that had been blown off and a third was tipped in a bright blue flame. In moments, the machine had repaired its own leg and was once again walking across the ground.
Saemus drew on his power and hurled fire balls at the approaching machine, trying to aim for its head. He hit his knees, exhaustion robbing him of his strength.
“Maybe if Jon was here, he could use the dark power to stop them.”
Saemus glanced up at his twin, shaking his head. “I can’t believe what you’re suggesting.” He had to shout to above the noise of the machine.
“He was stronger than the two of us together. Who knows, maybe he can do something to them that we can’t do.”
“It doesn’t do any good to wish for what we can’t have. He’s far from here.”
“The clone can talk to him.”
“We tried that, remember? He closed off his mind.”
“The Kromin needs to try again. We’re out of options.”
Saemus sighed. He knew it was no use but he wasn’t willing to admit that to his sister. He contacted the clone and asked it to try once again to speak to Jon.
--I can see into his mind but he is unwilling to listen to me--
--Does he say why?--
--No, but I have ascertained that he and the one you call Fa’ Vel are trying to contact the Mekans using telepathy--
Saemus paused before answering. –Is that even possible?--
--Unknown--
“What are you saying to the clone?” Kaelin asked.
Saemus waved his hands, needing a minute to think. –Can you somehow make him aware of what’s happening here? That his family, his sisters are in danger, and that we’re surrounded by these blasted machines? He needs to use his power to take them down rather than talking to them.
The more he thought about Jon trying to make contact with the Mekans, the angrier he became. Jon had always been headstrong and often acted like a child, but this was the worst display of his impetuous nature. Saemus knew Fa’ Vel was most likely to blame. Though he couldn’t understand why, Jon had clearly become closer to the dark magician.
The man is his father.
Saemus shook his head, trying to shut the voice up before it could speak again. The man may have fathered Jon but he certainly was no father. Willam Stone was Jon’s real father. Saemus couldn’t believe that Jon would so easily turn his back on his family, even if it meant being able to use the dark magic freely.
--I conveyed the message but I don’t know that he received it--
I don’t know what else to do.