The silence that followed my entrance was heavy. Everyone just stared. Their weapons now pointed towards me as I walked infront of blue colored natives.
I stood there, eleven feet of violet-skinned alien nonchalance, I blinked behind my cracked visor. The humans stared up at me with mouths agape. Their rifles now pointed at me.
I brought a hand up to my face, brushing the metalic surface. I felt a thrumming vibration beneath my fingertips, a low-frequency purr that seemed to resonate in my very bones.
The headache now more prevalent and my mind slowly swimming in a fog.
"What the hell is that thing?" one of the soldiers whispered in their comms.
"Eyes up, weapons ready. He is just one threat, the moment he moves you are go for free fire." A comand resonated in their ears.
The tension now more palpable.
One of the juveniles' arrow pointed at one of the soldiers suddenly came loose.
*Whistle
It whislted through everyone and into the forest. Nobody knew who fired the first bullet but all hell broke loose.
"Fire! Light them up!" another shouted.
I sighed, a deep rumbling sound that vibrated in my chest. "So noisy," I muttered. "I really haven't had my coffee yet."
The air erupted. Muzzle flashes sparkled like angry fireflies.
I didn't dodge nor run. Instead I moved my right hand up with my palm facing out.
Hummmm
The air in front of me didn't just stop; it hardened. A geometric pattern, like a honey comb made of hard, violet light, bloomed into existence inches from my palm and stretching outward.
The bullet didn't ricochet; they simply stopped, flattened against the barrier like bugs on a windshield, and tinkled harmlessly to the ground.
I shook my head again trying to get rid of the headache.
It took a while but the soldiers stopped firing, their magazines empty, staring at the pile of twisted lead at my feet.
"He… he stopped them," a soft voice
I glanced over my shoulder. The blue girl—Sylwanin—was staring at me, her golden eyes wide, her ears pressed flat against her skull.
"Stay back, kid," I said, my tone breezy, through a sharp, stabbing pain was beginning to bloom in my side where the crash had battered my ribs. "Things are about to get a little topsy-turvy."
I turned back to the humans. They were reloading, shouting orders, calling for backup. A bulky machine— an AMP suit— was stomping through the bush towards them, its massive cannon leveling at my chest.
"Target the big one! Take it down!"
I felt a prickle of annoyance. I looked at the AMP siut and held out my hand and clinched it.
Fingers curled loosesly as if holding a bseball. Then I twisted my wrist.
CRUNCH
The soldiers screamed as they were suddenly yanked sideways, their feet leaving the ground, pulled toward a center of gravity created.
The AMP suit groaned, its metal frame screeching. The pilot inside shouted in terror as the multi-ton machine was lifted into the air, weightless, before being slammed down into the mud with the force of a hydraulic press.
I didn't even break a sweat. I waved my hand as if shooing them.
"Go away," I said simply.
A pulse of pure force exploded outward from my position, like a bombe without the fire.
It didnt touch the schoolhouse. It didn't touch the children. But the soldiers were blasted backwardsm tumbling end over end through the jungle, crashing through ferns and vines until they were swallowed by the treeline.
Silence returned to the clearing.
I stood there for a moment, my hand still outstretched and wiggled my fingers.
I turned slowly. My ribs and head both leaving a creeping numbness.
Sylwanin stepped forward, leaving the safety of the schoolhouse porch. The other children peeks out from behind her legs.
"Who…" she started, her voice trambling. She looked up at him, craning her neck. He was a giant even to her. "What are you?"
I tried to summon a smirk.
"I'm…"
My vision swam and the world tilted the ground rushed up to meet me.
My knees buckled and hit the earth with a heavy thud.
The last think I remember seeing was the blue girl rushing towards me, her braid whipping in the wind, and the concered, terrified faced of the children I had just saved. Then the darkness took me.
»»»»»»
Wakefulness returned in pieces.
First, there was the smell, a rich earthy smell. Like damp moss and something sharp and spicy.
Then the sound, a low rythmic chanting, the rustle of leaves, and the creaking of wood.
I opened my eyes.
I wasn't in the jungle anymore. Instead. I was inside something vast. The ceiling of it was lost in shadows and twisting roots high above. Biolumisnescent dots drifted in the air like dust motes caught in a sunbeam.
I tried to sit up, but my body felt heavy, like it was filled with lead.
I looked down, my silver and violet suit had been stripped away. Leaving me naked with nothing but a small cloth covering my privates.
My chest was bandaged with thing, large leaves and a sticky, cooling paste that smelled of mint.
"He wakes," a deep voice rumbled.
I turend my head.
Three figures stood near me. They look the same as the one he rescued before he passed out. But they seem more, at least older.
They carry themselves with an air of authority that the children earlier hadn't possesed.
One was a male, with a skin like weathred leather. He held a bow that looked taller than a human.
Next to him was a female, draped in a complex beadwork, her presence commanding and heavy wiht spiritual wright.
And slightly behind them, looking anxious, was the girl he rescued with the other.
"I am Eytukan Warrior Chief of the Omaticaya. This is Mo'at our tsahik, and my daughter Sylwanin, what are your intentions and what are you here for?" Eytukan as he is called questioned right away.
"Easy, big guy," I croaked. My voice was raspy. I tried to clear my throat. "I assume I'm not dead. The afterlife usually has better lighting."
Eytukan stepped forward, his tail lashing behind him. He stopke in a language I shoudlnt have understood, hard and guttural sounds.
"It speaks our language and yet you also said it speaks the language of the sky people, but it is not of them," Eytukan growled, looking at Mo'at and Sylwanin. "Look at it. It is too large, Its skin is the color of a bruised moon without a kuru no less. It is a demon. Another conjured by the sky people, like the dreamwalkers."
I blinked. Strangely, the sounds filtered through my brain and rearrange themselves into meaning.
'Universal translator?' I thought. 'Or am I just that good?'
"Hey now," I managed to sit up, propping myself on my elbow. I winced as my ribs protested.
"Less with the 'it,' please. The name is Kaelen. At least… I'm pretty sure it is. I hit my head pretty hard."
Mo'at moved closer, her eyes narrowing as she scanned me. She didn't look fearful, only intensely curious. She reached out a long, slender finger and poked my shoulder.
"You have flesh," she said, her voice dry. "You bleed and break, you speak our language and you protected our children. Demon I do not believe so."
"I bleed excellently, thank you," I muttered. I looked at Sylwanin. "You okay, kid? The little ones safe?"
Sylwanin stepped past her father, ignoring his warning grut. She looked at me witha mixture of awe and confusion.
"They are safe," she said softly. "Because of you. You… you stopped the bullets. With your hand. You three the metal walker with your mind."
Eytukan hissed. "Sorcery. False magic of the sky people."
"It was not a machine," Sylwanin insisted, turning to her father. "I saw him, Father. He had no weapons. He simple… moved the air. He stood between the metal men and the children when Grace Augustine wasn't there to protect us."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Why did you save them?" Mo'at asked.
I leaned back against the curved wooden root that served as my bed.
"I just found them noisy… plus I don't like bullies," I said a small tired smile projected on my lips. "Besides…"
I looked at three of them. The cat-like eyes, the flat nose, the way their ear twitched.
I saw my own reflection in a distorted mirror.
"You guys look like family," I said half jokng. "Distant, blue, slightly shorter family. Figured I should look out for the cousins."
Eytukan didn't smile. He looked at the strange, violet giant, then at his daughter, and finally at the pile of advanced, silver armore stacked in the corner of the alcove something the Omaticaya could never understand.
"You will stay," Eytukan decided, his tone final. "Until you can walk. Then, we will decide if you are a guest… or a threat."
Kaelen chuckled, closing his eyes as exhuastion pulled him back down.
"Fair enough, Chief," I answered, drifting off. "Just don't wake me up early. I'm not a morning person."