THE LEGEND OF TURLUMIN
In ancient times when Virteleon was, for the most part, uninhabitable and unsuitable for any kind of life across much of its surface, Turlumin was born, the last warrior of Virteleon. The son of Tumin, the greatest warrior Virteleon had seen in its multimillion year history.
Due to harsh living conditions, caused by poisonous gases that occupied the largest part of the planet’s surface, there were only three small regions where conditions were suitable for life. The primary goal of the inhabitants was to preserve and expand the species by giving birth to new offspring. That goal also had to be carried out through the defense of territories against various enemies who periodically attacked Virteleon from nearby galaxies. It was not possible, given the level of knowledge, to determine which galaxies; they recognized them by shape.
The last battle for the defense of Virteleon occurred when Turlumin was still small and unfit for combat. Worm like creatures with growths on their backs that allowed them to fly were a challenging opponent, but Tumin, Turlumin’s father, eliminated them with the help of his army. The battles lasted exactly seventeen days.
Turlumin, now already a grown warrior, the strongest and most capable, stands in a clearing welcoming the morning, unaware that the day ahead will change the entire history of Virteleon turning upside down certain established postulates.
1. Monument
I stood tired from the night watch, not far from the monument to Virteleon, our progenitor, whom we considered a deity. On the plaque at the base of the monument it read:
A sacrifice is noble and pure if it is made for the benefit of others, and not for one’s own benefit. Then it becomes selfishness.
A huge flaming sphere was rising on the horizon, marking the beginning of a new day. End of the shift. Time to report to the next guard on duty.
Looking at the small stone tablet on which the names of those on duty were carved, I saw that the next one was Mramona, the only woman among us, the guardian-warriors. She was distinguished by extreme courage and endurance. She could spend the coldest night or the hottest day singing, without a single cry. I admired her.
She waved at me with urgent motions as I descended the sentry clearing.
“I have terrible news.” – she said instead of a greeting.
“I’m listening.”
“We received information about a new invasion! We still don’t know who it is. What we do know is that certain beings have settled on a meteor that is passing by us. Since the meteor will pass very close to the surface of Virteleon, they will very easily be able to jump to the ground and begin their campaign.”
She sized me up for a few moments, and then, not seeing any reaction, continued.
“They are very resilient. You can imagine how much, when they have no spacecraft at all, nor any protective suit. Please, don’t ask me how we know this. I am only the messenger, and you know they rarely give us those details. Supposedly, so our morale doesn’t drop, so fear doesn’t spread, and other stupid excuses.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder, seeing that she was somewhat unsettled by the whole situation. I smiled.
“Don’t panic, please,. We need you focused and ruthless.”
She nodded, relaxing her shoulders, clearly lifting a heavy burden off herself by telling me the bad news.
2. The Enemy
The sky, across its enormous expanse, was streaked with black specks, which were our attackers.
We deployed tactically across all three territories, roughly ten thousand guardian-warriors in each. We counted on the poisonous gases in the surrounding parts of Virteleon to kill a large portion of the attackers. Even so, the number of black specks in the sky suggested there were several dozen times more of them than us.
When they reached the ground, I managed to shape their at first only vague contour. Ugly insect-like creatures. Their bodies were made of a material that looked like metal, but the surface was patterned with some sort of scaly form. I would say that was their armor.
The head was fleshy, black, with two antennae set above huge, equally black eyes. The antennaes looked like flexible needles that swayed in the wind, but could stiffen, ready for attack. The limbs, arms and legs, were long, four in front and four on the back part of the body. That number, a total of eight, contributed to speed, as well as flexibility, because they could abruptly change direction of movement as needed.
The poisonous gases did not kill the insect-like beings, but they significantly slowed them down, affecting their motor skills, which would greatly ease our task. In the first few minutes they were not aware of our presence. Maybe they didn’t even expect there to be life on Virteleon. I think that because the moment they noticed us and saw how many of us there were, they stopped, pulling back a little. They grouped up, probably deciding on their next steps.
A feeling of dread and fear flooded me. What am I afraid of? Their disgusting appearance? Death? The destruction of the Virteleon race? I must focus, otherwise everything is over.
Not much time passed when, having made a firm decision, they started toward us. Moving slowly due to impaired motor skills, they gave us time to see the way and direction in which they would attack us.
Our three territories stood on the same plane next to each other, picturing, vividly, the last bastion of Virteleon. We had an enormous responsibility to protect the civilian population that inhabited the interior of the territories. Women, children, men who were unfit for warfare or had simply decided to do other work useful for the development of the planet. And of course the old, who were also very important members of the community, primarily because of their immense accumulated knowledge and experience.
Mramona was silent, staring at our aggressors, with a mixture of anger and disgust. I am sure that, like me, she was thinking about how we could kill those creatures. Resistant to terrible weather conditions. Are they equally resistant to the cold metal of our weapons?
In my right hand I held a metal whip, five meters long, flexible, very light and effective in combat where the opponent is several meters away from me.
In my left hand an axe, which clears the path in front of me. Ideal for close one-on- one combat.
I was ready. With a dose of fear, but determined to defend my homeland.
3. The Beginning of the Battle
The last moments before the battle began passed in questioning decisions. Is the defensive formation set well enough? Given their numbers and, at first glance, not a very precisely formed method of attack, by which they simply charged toward us, randomly arranged, as if in haste.
Our formation consisted of fragmented little groups of about a hundred of us, who formed defensive positions. In that way we were quite strong frontally, allowing the enemy to pass us on the sides, where we then attacked them from the left and right, approaching laterally with the neighboring group of soldiers.
The field where the battle was to be fought was initially good for us. On such a large space we could determine all weaknesses as well as the strength of the enemy. Behind us were mountain ridges that formed a solid fallback. We knew every pebble of those mountains, every passage between them in case there was a need to lure them into narrow passes. Although we used the phrase among ourselves – if there is a need, I was unpleasantly convinced that it would surely come to that, given their numbers.
Silence, a mind without any thoughts, concentration and focus. I managed to remove all sounds from my head and outside it, after a few minutes in which the thud of the enemy’s steps was becoming ever more audible. Fear of the insect-like beings was still present. I decided to use it, transforming it into disgust with which I could freely give myself the much needed confidence.
I did not see my father, Tumin, before the battle. We were deployed in two different areas, although not too far apart, enough that time and duties did not allow it. And I loved to fight alongside him, even if only in training, because the last attack on Virteleon was long ago, when I was still a child.
Mramona, screamed, breaking the silence in my head. I turned toward her and saw that together with another hundred soldiers she was drawing a bow and releasing the first contingent of fire metal arrows at the enemy.
Some of the arrows bounced off the metal armor. Those that hit the head were fatal for the enemy. Convulsing, they rolled onto their backs and died, spasmodically waving their legs in the air.
The insect-like creatures, caught off guard by our first arrow attack, stopped for a moment. And then, quickly adapting to the initial shock, continued more fiercely and faster toward us. That was still quite slow, given that their motor skills had not yet returned, due to the poisonous gases.
With fire arrows we achieved no results, because they were obviously resistant to every kind of damage, except metal through flesh.
It took me a little time before I discovered the perfect combo of moves, which later turned into a routine. I would swing the metal whip, with which I would wrap the antennae on their heads, tighten it, and with an energetic movement to the left or right break the antennae, throwing them onto their backs that way. Under the armor that was placed on their backs, flesh was revealed, which was vulnerable. While they lay on their backs, the axe would do the second part of the task, finally killing them.
The problem arose when we established two very unfavorable characteristics. First, given that there were several dozen times more of them, they formed lines that were initially straight, and then as soon as they drew near, they surrounded us from all sides, properly tormenting us in defensive tasks. Second, as soon as they died, they would disintegrate, vanishing, thereby preventing us from having a potential fallback and the block their dead bodies would represent, making it harder for new enemies to surge in.
On the horizon the glowing ball slowly descended to its rest, leaving us at the mercy of the night. Its last light cast elongated shadows over the heated, bloody battle like an ominous sign that a culmination was coming that we refused to think about. Until it crashed down right on our heads.
Ten days passed. Heavy losses on both sides. The mountain ridges that had initially been designated as the final point of defense became the only refuge and hope for defending the territory. Of the three regions of Virteleon that were initially the bastion of defense, they shrank to one, the one in the middle. About a thousand Virteleonians and three thousand insect-like beings entered the final phase of the fateful battle.
4. The Leader
The labyrinth of mountain caves was the scene of the last battles. The cold that ruled in them due to the unavailability of the glowing ball’s light was unpleasant, sharply seeping into the bones. Exhaustion from days of fighting became a burden I could barely overcome. The routine moves with which I defeated opponents were no longer easy and fast.
The way the enemy fought, almost changing tactics in an instant, horrified me and fascinated me at the same time. I could not comprehend how such primitively looking beings had such a strongly expressed intellect.
The antennae on the head proved to be a lethal weapon. They hung limply from the head, but in combat they became rigid needles that stabbed into the bodies of my comrades, leaving them dead after a few stabs. There was no defense against it. They pierced any armor with dreadful ease.
Staggering through the cave corridors, killing enemies, a horrific sight appeared before my eyes. The body of Tumin, my father, lay in a pool of blood while a creature much larger than all the others stabbed him manically with antennae all over the body. He was already dead, but that did not prevent the creature from continuing to stab him. I shouted in absolute despair, preparing the whip with which I would break off those antennae, when the creature turned, hearing me, and with one of its eight legs struck me hard on the head. Dazed, lying on the ground, I noticed the creature approaching me, wanting to finish the job. Already ready to perish, I heard a scream and a powerful blow.
Mramona jumped onto the creature’s back, trying to drive her sword into its skull. By an unfortunate twist of circumstances, slipping on the metal armor, she missed and fell to the floor. The creature trapped her arms and legs with its limbs and began to stab the needle-like antennae into her violently. She did not utter a sound, although in my numbness I clearly saw her blood spraying across the cave walls.
With my last atom of strength I grabbed the whip and axe that had fallen from me. In the distance behind us, light was emerging from the cave exit. Maybe if I manage to reach that exit I will have a chance in a fight with this creature. Because, undoubtedly, this was the leader of the insect-like beings, larger, much stronger and tougher than all I had encountered until then. And I needed strength for that fight. In the cave, where the space is small, I was not able to perform the necessary maneuvers. My idea was that, if possible, I would avoid his blows until I gathered enough strength to deal him the final blow.
5. The Last Death
Behind the mountain ridges, in the middle of a huge field, I waited for the leader of the insect-like beings. I had time to get here, since the creature clearly wanted to see what my next move would be. He was playing with me. He knew he was stronger, he considered himself superior.
We stood facing each other, measuring each other, in silence. Who would move first? I was perfectly focused. Until the moment a terrible thought occurred to me. I and this creature are the last ones left. We will decide who will take the victory. But what victory? The entire defensive force of Virteleon, even if I win here, is gone irretrievably.
– Surrender. All your fighters are dead. You have no chance against me!
The creature was getting into my head. Communicating with me. How is that possible?
– It is possible. How do you think I could control such an army of primitive, low-intelligence beings?
– Alright, we are communicating through thoughts. What is your name?
– Does it matter? No matter, let that be your last wish, for me to tell you my name. In your language it is pronounced – Krehtkog. I don’t know if you knew that I don’t actually look like this. I took over this body so that I could fulfill my ambitions. To be king of Kutrop, the most powerful warrior race in the known universe. What I am, I will not tell you. Unnecessary knowledge given that you will die now.
He began to insert into my mind images of his reckoning with my father. The fight was completely unfair, given that about ten of them surrounded him, slowly driving their antennae into him, wanting him to suffer as much as possible before the final death. They wanted him a painful death, as revenge for the enormous number of slain comrades. Of course, since they were primitive beings, Krehtkog planted those ideas in their minds. And in such an unfair battle he managed to eliminate all but their leader, who was finishing the job when I ran into them.
One idea smoothly slipped into the ever more occupied spaces of my mind. I had to distract him so that I would have time to land the first blow. I prepared the whip in my right hand, wrapping it tightly around my fist.
“I fear you and I am disgusted by you at the same time!” – I said aloud, laughing loudly.
Confused, thinking that we had established conversation through thoughts, at the same time seeing the contradiction between the spoken words and the emotions I expressed by laughing, Krehtkog stumbled back in confusion. He left me just enough time to swing the whip, catching his antennae on his head. I yanked hard to the left. The antennae broke off. A loud howl tore through the inside of my thoughts. It hurt him. But he did not fall onto his back.
Two new antennae grew from his head, leaving me in shock. Unprepared for such a development, I was not ready for what followed.
First one, then the other antenna plunged into my chest. Blood spurted, painting the grass in front of me red. I dropped the axe from my left hand. I felt no pain. Some processes in my organism did not allow me to feel pain. Not at this moment.
Thinking he had finished the job, that my final fall would now follow, he did not expect that the whip, which I still held tightly wrapped around my left hand, would dance its last dance. With a powerful motion, with my last atom of strength, I swung and tore off his remaining antennae. This time, he fell onto his back, fiercely waving his legs in the air. Our mental conversation stopped. This time he did not scream loudly in my thoughts.
I picked up the axe from the grass, approached him and drove it into his body. Once, twice, ten times! I knew I had killed him only when he began to dematerialize before my eyes.
My strength failed me. I fell to my knees, watching how the blood that had spurted from my chest, in ever smaller jets, flowed, releasing the last amounts of red liquid.
Lying on the grass, half-conscious, ready to leave this dimension, knowing that I had done the task and defended my beloved homeland, I released my last thought.
Why wars and destruction, killings and hatred instead of peaceful, nonviolent coexistence with others?
-End-
The second and third enclaves of Virteleon were named after Tumin and Turlumin, the greatest warriors of the planet. Billions of Virteleon rotations later, there were no wars, nor attacks by races from other galaxies, allowing the inhabitants of Virteleon a peaceful life and the possibility to equip their planet with all possible defense mechanisms that prevented anyone from attempting an uninvited landing on the planet.
The story of Tumin and his battle against the worm-like race still waits to be told…