Those Who Returned

Sil walked through the void first, the bundles tight in her arms as she made her way through to the ice covered mountains. Another woman followed closely behind, the hem of their capes billowed violently in the wind, a storm was coming. She looked over her shoulder at the hole in the side of the mountain, she squinted her eyes as she willed the hole to close. Nothing happened. “Faster Nomi.” Sil choked through the arctic onslaught. Nomi was already going as quick as she could, part of her was busy focusing a safety net around them to keep the ice shards in the air from freezing the newborns in their arms. Sil huffed, she was older than Nomi but still pushing through like the old, stubborn ass she was. They rounded the side of the mountain, the path narrowed so they had to press their backs against the freezing stones as they shimmied across the ledge. Nomi wouldn’t looked down, a fall of this height wouldn’t kill her but it would take time to heal, time they didn’t have. She clutched Cyn and CirKay in her arms and swore under her breathe. “I can’t believe she convinced us to do this.” “Hush you know this was the only way.” Nomi answered. Sil was already worried and anxious. Cyn and Cirkay had become like her own daughters after the passing of their mother. She’d watched eagerly as they grew into young women, Sil had always wanted children of her own but for whatever reason she was unable to carry one of her own. Sil’s muscles tensed, the idea of being caught had her feeling on edge. She shuddered as the image of the Creet generals passed through her mind. They weren’t like their people, they were giant humanoid ants, with pincers for mouths, able to cloak their appearance but they knew their true form. Nomi watched in horror as a plane began to descend into the small town in the horizon. “They know we’re here.” A loud boom rocked and swayed the valley, bouncing off the mountain walls and echoing down into the city as the plane met the solid earth. Ripping a void had caused an anomaly on the other side and brought attention to their arrival. Nomi and Sil moved as quickly as they could against the ridge, it wouldn’t be long before the Creet infantry was tracking them. They made it to a clearing at the top of a hill, it sloped softly down the mountain and they smiled at each other as they ran to the tree line for cover. Sil placed her hand on Nomi’s chest. “Wait, I hear something.” Sil pulled Nomi down beside at the foot of the tree. Nomi shook beneath the levity of her words, they needed to keep moving and get the children to safety. Sil shifted, the form of two large headed bipedal creatures appeared at the mountain’s edge. They still had time to run. Sil grabbed Nomi’s hand and began pulling her toward the lights in the distance, where the plane was crashing. Nomi tried to pull her hand back and halt. “Are you nuts? We’re running right into the very thing that has their attention. We should go back or keep moving.” Sil’s shook her head. “The best place to hide is in plain sight. We need to think about the babes.” She said as she softly nudged the head of one of the newborns toward her to reiterate their mission. Nomi knew she was right but that didn’t help the way her stomach churned at the idea of the Creet catching them. She nodded and hurried along behind Sil. Even with their abilities, they were out of breath and worn from opening the void and the long run through the mountainous terrain. They were a few 100 feet away when they heard scuffling behind them, the click of the pincers snapping against each other. Sil could feel a force reaching out to search for her, she immediately threw up another barrier around them to hide their signatures. This was temporary, since it wouldn’t completely cloak the heat their bodies gave off. Nomi let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding tight in her chest, they reached some shrubs and the perimeter of the homes closest. They crouched down for a moment to regroup. Sil looked at Nomi with worried eyes. “We need to split up so at least one of them survives…. We have one chance at this.” She feigned a smile to try and calm Nomi’s nerves. Nomi felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes but she nodded anyway, she knew Sil was right. “I’ll wait for you to go first.” Sil stared down into Nomi’s face, how did she manage to stay so calm? Nomi hesitated, what if they knew she wasn’t human? Sil recognized the worry on Nomi’s face. “I told you, they’re no different than us, they’re just a few millennia off. Physically on the outside, there is no way to tell.” Nomi climbed to her feet and made a mad dash between houses, she opened her mind feeling for anyone who could be following. It wasn’t long before she began to feel the same nagging feeling in the back of her mind, as if something was nudging at her too forcefully. Nomi knew there was a Creet in the vicinity and it was looking for her. Nomi’s nerves were getting the best of her. “Come on be smart, don’t let yourself get caught.” Her heart hammered in her chest, the force was getting too strong, she looked around for shelter in the distance. Nomi could feel the energy wrapping around her form as if they were invisible tentacles reaching out to suffocate her. Slowly she could feel the fingers tightening, in a panic she jumped up and ran. The soldiers behind her clicked their pincers, the sound was disturbing. She clenched her teeth and began to run for dear life, she had no specific direction, she just knew she couldn’t be there. Nomi could still hear them behind her, she was making no leeway and if felt like she was running through the streets for hours, looking for the right people to leave the newborns with. Her gaze caught a small structure in the distance. She’d stop and regroup before going out again. Nomi slipped into the shadows of the small garage and slumped in the corner, she could feel Sil’s energy somewhere in the darkness but it was faint and waning. Nomi moved to her side. “Sil, what happened?” Nomi could smell blood in the air, she knew Sil was hurt badly. She looked down into her arms and saw the two sleeping boys, fear kicked her in the gut with force. Sil reached out for Nomi’s hand. “Nomi I’m gonna ask you to do something to make sure Cyn and Cirkay make it.” Nomi began to interrupt her. “I am already cloaking us I will sacrifice myself if I have to..” Sil shook her head and interrupted her. “I took these two boys and put Lex and Rahx in their place.” Her face looked ashamed but she did whatever necessary. Nomi hesitated for a moment, she didn’t want to responsible for robbing children of their lives. She nibbled her lip as she hesitantly nodded to Sil’s request. She squeezed Nomi’s hand gently before slinking away. “Now go, let them find me. It will slow them down. They’ll think they succeeded. I don’t have enough strength to heal after the journey.” Sil spoke in shortened breaths. Nomi could hear the familiar click of the pincers, she knew she had to move but her feet wouldn’t carry her. Sil looked at Nomi “Hurry!” the loud, guttural command echoed in the tiny space. Nomi turned on her heels, she faced the door and hesitated for a moment before she started running again. Her mind searching, reaching into the abyss for the energy of a new soul. Behind her she could hear the clicks louder and more aggressive, she knew they’d found Sil. Nomi turned the corner down a suburban street, the unfamiliar scent of her surroundings lingered in her nostrils and then an explosion. The wave shook her and threatened to knock her from her feet, she could feel a faint energy in the distance, she crept across the manicured lawn toward the house. As she peered through the window she could see a new child asleep in a crib beneath the low window. Nomi felt horrible for what she was about to do. If she didn’t the future of her people would be lost. She shifted the newborns to one arm and reached for the window, pushing it’s frame gently to see if it was open. Click. She froze for a moment, watching to see if anyone stirred inside. Nomi placed Cyn on the soft soil of the flower bed beneath her feet. She reached in and placed CirKay on the mattress, in the same motion she grabbed the other sleeping child and shifted her into the crook of her shoulder. “Be safe CirK.” Nomi shut the window and ran behind the bushes along the house, reaching out for a child preferably in the same vicinity, her heart jumped at the idea of them growing up together. She looked out into the street, she didn’t see, hear or feel anyone. Nomi took a deep breath and began to run across the open space between houses. Nomi had almost reached the house when a scaled hand reached out and grabbed her by the cloak. “Mmph.” She moaned as she hit the ground. She’d turned last minute, falling on her arm, the electricity shot up her fingers as tried to stifle a scream. Nomi looked up only for her gaze to be met with large black pools of nothing staring back at her. The Creet snapped it’s pincers at her, moving to her neck. The dark-haired child let out a shrill wale. The Creet seemed to panic, jumping back it snapped it’s pincers defensively in Nomi’s direction. She scooped up the child from the ground and pressed her fingers to the child’s forehead putting her back into a dream state. She ran as quickly as she could for the bushes of another home. The energy emitting from inside seemed weak and sickly, the home did not seem as well taken care of as the last. Nomi’s began to pick up speed, she was going to pass this house. She reached the end of the yard when another Creet came crashing into her. Nomi used the bottom of her shoe to kick the advancing Creet in what she believed was it’s face. It grabbed the sole of her shoe and ripped it from her foot, it’s tweezer like arms reached to grab her and pull her towards it’s mandibles. A scream escaped Nomi’s lips but the creature kept advancing. The lights in the house began to flicker on and she panicked. A loud wailing was ebbing closer in the distance, then lights flashed. A slew of vehicles sped down the road in the direction of the crash. Again the Creet seemed to freak out as if the noise was too loud, she didn’t get it but she used this opportunity to concentrate her energy. She let it go as she kicked the creature again, this time sending the ball through her foot. The Creet flew back a few feet, Nomi was exhausted from using so much power but she made herself move. She came around the side of the house to see a disheveled woman standing in the front yard, she didn’t quite seem to be acting normal. Nomi looked behind her, she could feel the Creet making sense of what just happened in the yard. Her eyes travelled down the small alley between houses, she nervously opened the door to the house with the faint energy. When she couldn’t feel anyone but the small weak child she entered. Nomi ran to the bassinet, placed Cyn down and grabbed the newborn. She was the smallest babe Nomi had ever laid eyes on. Nomi was broken from her thoughts as the woman fumbled for the knob to the front door, she looked behind her, feeling the Creet on the other side. She shot to the back of the house hoping there was a door there, of course there wasn’t. The woman entered the house and was moving up the hall behind Nomi, she found the nearest window and pushed. Nothing. She went to the next window, nothing. For some odd reason they were nailed shut. Nomi took a breath and hurled herself through the glass, clutching the children tightly against her body, she shielded them from the shards and just kept running. It didn’t matter who saw her now, the newborns were safe. The energy of the Creet was long behind her but she kept running anyway, she wanted to put as much distance between herself and them as possible. Nomi began to slow, people in the streets were watching her and it made her more anxious. In the distance she could make out a sign lit up, Truckee Medical Hospital. Nomi had remembered reading about the usage of human hospitals, she stared down at the small bundles in her arms. They weren’t caught, what would she do now? She wouldn’t sacrifice innocent babes. Nomi decided the medical ward was the best place for the misplaced children, she would walk in, leave them with the first person she saw and make a run for it. As Nomi approached the door a man shot past her, he was wearing thin blue clothing and he stared at Nomi. In a panic as usual, she approached the man. Before he could address her, Nomi shoved the newborns into his arms and turned on her heels. She ran from wence she came. The man called after her. “Hey wait!.” He started to move toward her before remembering he was clutching two small children. Peter was a nurse at the hospital, he’d seen an abandoned children once before, but not in this manner. With wide eyes he watched as the woman made a hasty escape, he smiled down at the fresh bundles. He turned back to the hospital and headed toward the maternity ward, he’d have them looked over to make sure they were okay.