A New Earth 2.0
Chapter 6

War

Scarlett’s POV

When I open my eyes, everything is black. I have a feeling the torch went out on us… That or I could be dead. I very much doubt I’m dead though. I move my hands behind me, and press them against the wall. I slowly stand up, and I look around. Looking at anything is a bust though, I can’t see a thing. Scowling, I keep my hand on the wall.

“Dad? Marie?” I call out. I don’t get an answer. I reach out with my mind, this time looking for Zola or Rolanda.

’Hello? Is anyone their? Zola, Rolanda?’ I call out. After a minute of nothing, I begin to get the feeling that coming down here was a mistake, before I feel a nudge in my head.

‘This is Zola, what’s wrong?’ she asks.

‘I can’t see its pitch black in this room.’ I tell her. I try not to let the fear creep up in my voice.

‘I shall bring you a torch at one.’ She answers. After that she’s silent. I wish she would have stayed talking to me… A few minutes later, I hear silent steps along the wall. I know the Omn usually walk on the ground when around us, so someone on the ceiling gives me a bad feeling. Suddenly something grabs my arm. I’m about to scream when a hand wraps around my mouth. It feels cold and when I grip onto its arm, I know it’s one of the Omn.

’Calm yourself child, I hear your troubling thoughts and I’ve decided to come see what’s wrong. You need not to worry while being a guest of our home.’ The Omn says. I frown but nod none the less. I can’t see him, but my guess is the Omn have nocturnal vision, that or they use echolocation. Echolocation means that they use the active use of sonar (Sound Navigation And Ranging) along with special morphological (physical features) and physiological adaptations--allows them to “see” with sound while in the dark. They produce echolocation sounds by contracting their larynx (voice box) or click their tongues. These sounds are generally emitted through the mouth, but some emit their echolocation calls through their nostrils: there they have basal fleshy horseshoe or leaf-like structures that are well-adapted to function as megaphones. I know this because the Omn sort of remind me of bats, but with long arms and no wings.

‘Can you let me go?’ I ask. The hand falls away a second later. ‘Who are you?’ I ask in my head.

‘Ah, I have not introduced myself yet. I am Zola, Bia, and Rolanda’s older brother, Oyam. My name means speaking or communicating. I am fluent in many languages of my planet, but your language… it is one of our ancestors have not used in many millennia.’ (Oh-ya- m) Oyam says.

‘Ahh, I wonder why.’ I answer. I hear light footsteps again, this time from the hall.

’I must leave, do not tell anyone I was here, alright?’ Oyam says. I nod, and I hear his footsteps leave. Frowning, I try to get the unusual encounter out of my head. A small light enters the room, and nearly blinds me for a second. I see that everyone else that was in the room is all gone.

’Were did everyone go?’ I ask Zola in my head. She motions for me to follow her, and I do. At first were only on the ground, then she has to move to the ceiling. She pauses in front of me.

‘Ride on my back, and be sure to hang on.’ Zola tells me. I climb onto her back, with a little boost from her. When I’m even and balanced, I wrap my arms around her neck, and she holds onto my back with one of her hands. When she begins to move, she moves quickly with elegance. With a single bound, she moves to the ceiling, using one hand to support me and the other to crawl up. I’m actually quite impressed with her agility; humans could never do this. We would build something to do it for us like an elevator, or if we had to we’d climb up the wall a different way. We certainly wouldn’t climb with our hands acting like claws.

Zola is silent for most of the trip, and as she climbs I feel the air getting lighter. I’m curious as to what everyone’s been up to, and why nobody awoke me. I know the first night being on the space ship I didn’t get much sleep, nor did I get much sleep that night we landed. For some reason something about this planet unnerves me. It’s almost like this is Earth all over again, but the alien feeling I get about it is unsettling. Maybe it’s the fact that my Earth booted all of the humans off of it, or that this place just feels… different. Either way, I know the feeling can’t be good.

‘Be quiet, I will sneak you into the meeting. I will also translate what is being said. I must put out the fire, but do not be afraid. You will see in the dark.’ Zola tells me. I nod, a bit confused, and I scoot lower on her back, so anyone looking at her would only see her and my legs around her middle. I don’t know how she plans to let me see anything in the dark, but I don’t question her. Once were in the meeting room, the torch goes off. Suddenly the room lights up. All around me is little bioluminescent turquoise lights across the room. It gives off very little light, but in the pitch dark it looks brighter than it would if there was a torch lit. From the turquois light, I see in the room a few Omn. I recognize at least three of the Omn. Rolanda, Bia, Mcebisi, and L’wazi are all present. There’s about ten Omn in all, each have grey in their hair, all except Bia. Zola has white hair that fades into black at the end, which makes her look both young and wise at the same time. I notice the clothes the Omn are wearing now, which is long shreds of something… I think they skinned some animal to make it, although I’m not sure what they used.

’Qui!’ Mcebisi says. Everyone around us who were shifting and talking to one another stop. The clicking becomes dead silent.

’We are here because a traitor amongst the Omn has snuck they’re way back into our home. They’ve tricked the Healots, and angered the Se, and attacked the humans they’re first night here. We must replace the traitor, and whoever might be working with them.’ Mcebisi says, and Zola translates it for me.

’You don’t suppose…’

‘No, it can’t be.’

‘How did he get back in?’

‘This is truly confusing…’

‘We must replace him! He cannot be allowed near the humans.’

‘Agreed. He would hurt them!’

‘How easy he could. They would all die with him around.’

The Omn all begin to mutter all at once, some confused, angered, or scared. Mcebisi quiets them with a few clicks.

’We will not let Oyam harm our guest. We must replace out what he is up to, and put a stop to. Whoever sees him, contacts me immediately, and now is there any questions?’ Mcebisi says. I freeze, and my breath hitches. Oyam… That was the Omn I saw earlier, wasn’t it? Could it be the same Omn that they’re speaking of? Surly people here have repeated names, if so maybe it’s nothing. All the same I think I should keep quiet until the matter is solved.

‘Dismissed!’ Mcebisi says. I must have tuned out for the last of the meeting, because I didn’t hear anything. Bia, Rolanda, and Zola all walk up the walls, a different way than the other Omn are going. When we reach the top floor, were the cave entrance is, Zola helps me off of her back.

’Scarlet, your thoughts are most troublesome. What’s wrong?’ Bia asks me, once my feet are on the ground. I wonder if she can hear my thought’s if I’m just talking to myself…

’I’m fine, just worried is all.’ I answer.

’No need to worry, we will take care of the intruder. We shall protect you humans.’ Bia answers. She gives me a small smile, and I notice her teeth have sharp points to them. They remind me of a shark’s teeth, and the looks from them actually… wait a second… I shiver inside. I wonder if the Omn eat humans. They must eat some meat to have sharp teeth, or at least that’s what science on Earth concluded.

I nod to Bia, and she turns the other way. She clicks to someone, then leaves. The Omn stands posted by the exit. To me it looks more like were being held in this room rather than being protected. It’s funny that the edit is right their; and if I wanted to I could just jump and land in the sea. My problem is what happens if the sea creatures catch me? Are they as evil as we’ve made them out? Or has the humans already misjudged the sea creatures based on their appearances… I wouldn’t know if siding with the Omn was the right idea, or if our traitors that tried to sell us had a better idea of thing’s on this planet then we did.

I jump as the ground beneath me begins to shake violently. I stumble, and almost fall over. I reach my hands out to the smooth wall to keep me from falling. Outside rocks are falling from above into the sea. The ground keeps shaking, and every few minutes I hear a thump, a crack, and a ripping sound. I put my hands over my ears, and close my eyes. War… that’s what’s happening. I can only imagine what’s happening above. Looks like the Omn might be fighting above on the ground. I wonder if they’re fighting the sea creatures or if it’s those things that live in the extremely cold or hot spots.

“Maku! Maku! Aba!” Yells an Omn from above. Ten Omns appear out of the darkness behind me and run to the cave opening. They all jump out within seconds, and disappear. I blink, and wonder if they’ve fallen into the sea. I wait a few seconds in silents, before the ripping, snapping, and thumps come back, but no splashes. Suddenly out of nowhere, a face appears. At first I don’t recognize the face. It’s bloody, and the eyes are pure white. It looks like it’s possessed or something. It’s teeth have blood on them, and it’s nails have flesh hanging off of it. It’s skin has scratches, and it’s cheeks are flaking. Dry skin hangs off its cheeks, with big purple bruise like spots. I watch in horror as the thing hisses at me, and slowly crawls toward me, on the ceiling. It’s head is turned a total 180 degrees as it hangs from the ceiling and stares at me. It’s long black tongue lashes at me, and flicks against my cheek. I reach my hand up and feel something wet on my face. When my fingers pull away, I see blood…tiny drops fall from my face. When I look back up, the thing lunges at me. All I can do is stare at it, with a silent scream as it gets closer… closer…closer. Its nails are stretched out, aiming for my throat. I raise my hands over my face, and shut my eyes tight.

~Bia’s POV~

‘Dapuka! Issa.’(Da-Poo-Ka) (I-ss-ah) I say to Rolanda. I told her to check on the fallen or wounded soldiers, the wounded Omn; our family. She nods, and with a bleeding arm, she limps over to our wounded fallen. We were attacked by the ’Dabula.’ (Da-Boo-la) The Dabula are like the Omn, like us, except their souls have left their bodies, and angry spirits have taken over the bodies, making the empty shells filled with evil and strong spirits. They would the fallen spirits of past Healots, or sometimes the dead Se. Their spirits can take over any dead body that hasn’t decayed here. Possessed I would think is what they’re considered. But all the Omn know the Dabula that are possessed are no longer our friends… and we must rid the bodies of the fallen of those evil spirits, no matter their motive for returning to our plane of existence.

As I limp back toward the edge of the cliff, I hear scratching below. All of the Omn or most of them left the caves… that could only mean one thing. One of the Dabula got past us. I quickly run as fast as I can, my breathe coming out in ragged bursts, and I jump over the cliff. My feet hit the edge, and I propel myself forward. The cave is dark, but as an Omn I can see in even the darkest places. We as Omn have adapted to such things in order to survive. I smell blood, and I look on the ground to see claw marks of something being dragged. I run as quickly as I can down the hallway. It leads to the meeting room where we took the Humans yesterday, in order to meet with them. That’s were some of them were taken when we got attacked, all except…

‘Scarlet!’ I reach out with my mind to replace her. Her mind is scrambled, so much so that I can sense she is frightened, perhaps terrified. My pace quickens, and I stop right before the meeting room entrance. Before me a Dabula is holding the unconscious Scarlet, whose arm is bleeding, by her foot. The other humans stare at in horror. One human has rage in its eyes. The Dabula lets out an ear piercing laugh, and he lowers Scarlet. I take that moment to attack. I lunge at the Dabula, making it drop Scarlet. Behind me I hear more Omn approaching, and with my mind I reach out to them. I tell them that there’s a Dabula in the room, attacking the humans and that one is injured. L’wazi, Rolanda, Mcebisi, and Zola all approach the cave entrance. They’re moving quick, but not quick enough to help me defeat this Dabula.

I wrestle the Dabula below me, as I attempt to get hold of its wrists, and keep it’s fangs away from me. It’s grey eyes are dead, and it’s flaking white skin cracks under my weight. It flings me off, and I jump onto the ceiling. It hisses at me as I lean on its hands and feet. It moves left, then right, before it jumps. I jump at the same time and we meet in mid air. We clash, and I gnaw my teeth onto its neck. It lets out a loud roar, and uses it’s claws to try and pry me away. I don’t let go. Instead I dig my teeth deeper into its neck, before I use my claws, reach through it’s chest, and pull out its heart. Then I rip off its head and throw it to the ground. Blood drips from my fangs, and I spit out the loose flesh in my mouth. The Dabula lies at my feet, not dead, but disabled. We must set the body on fire before it truly dies, and the spirit must replace a new host.

I go back down onto my hands and feet, as I crawl over to Scarlet. I lean close to her, and I press my finger to her throat. With my keen sense of hearing, I can hear her heart beat, and feel it in her throat. I carefully lift her off the ground, and carry her over to the meeting table. There, the humans finally run over. All of their minds are scrambling to think, to comprehend what has happened. I step away from them, and move over to the Dabule’s body.

L’wazi, Rolanda, Mcebisi, and Zola all approach me. I drag the Dabule’s body over to them, and stare at they’re eyes. Each Omn has that one spark… the spark we now recognize as life, still in their eyes. They each stare at me in return.

’Is the human still alive?’ Zola asks. I nod.

’The Dabula…’ Rolanda says, and I jerk it to the side. It doesn’t move.

’Burn it.’ Mcebisi says. I turn away from them, and dead out of the cave. Outside of the cave on the main ground were the grass is, there’s a pile of over sixty Dabula; each with their throats and hearts ripped out. I throw the Dabula in my hands onto the pile, and one of the other Omn lights it on fire. I stand there and watch as they all burn to ashes. Something is amiss… The Dabula shouldn’t have attacked in such a magnitude… I limp toward the ship the humans were in. I’m right. From the outside it looks like the ship got hit majorly, but none of the doors are open. The means the Healots, or whatever tried to get to the humans, failed. The Se only leave the ocean once a year, so it cannot be them. Whatever came out of hiding when the humans arrived, wants them to die by the looks of the damages to the ship. I click on a key pad outside of the ship, and the door opens. Inside there’s two Omn, standing guard. I have a quick conversation with them, and they confirm my suspicions. I know exactly who this mysterious foe is, and what they want with the humans. Slowly, I limp back to my caves, careful to keep away from any snow.