Fifty-Nine

"I'm telling you, this is where we're supposed to be going," Kon said as he held up the roughly drawn map. Diur leaned over his shoulder, the heat of her body pressing against him as she peered at it.

"I believe we've run too far. It would make no sense for a radio relay to be on the forest floor. We should head toward that hill," Diur said, pointing back the way they had come. Kon craned his head back the way they came and realized she was probably right.

"Alright, let's go back that way," Kon shoved the paper back into a pocket and the two of them backtracked, running quickly up the first hill. With the advantage of height they quickly saw the radio relay that was supposed to be providing coverage for the area.

The blocky steel device had been knocked over, pieces of metal strewn all around it. Both of them froze as they looked at it, only a hill over from them.

"Think it'll work?" Kon ventured as the two of them stood there. Diur shrugged and then took off, running down hill at a full sprint. Kon cursed under his breath and took off after her, careful with his footing. The vegetation here was much drier, though still lush. Without the constant rain the regular, non-metal leaves crackled under his foot, dried out from the sun's constant warmth.

He hit the slope of the hill without breaking stride, his momentum not bleeding off as he raced upward without slowing. Kon actually had to marvel at the ease of traversing a steep hill.

"Everything's changed and I haven't had time to stop and really let it sink in. Just jumping from one disaster to the next." The downside to running as fast as he could was that his time to think ended nearly as fast as it began. Diur was already leaning over the rather large machine, her long fingers dancing over the equipment.

"It was just tossed to the side. I can't read this, though," Diur said, pointing at a small screen on the radio relay. Kon slid up to it and looked down to see a malfunctioning warning on it.

"All it says is malfunction. Let's get this upright and see if we can fix it," Kon said. The two of them walked around to the other side of the large, heavy machine. Kon stared at it for a moment before looking over to Diur.

"Can we lift it?"

"Easily. We are strong, you just don't know it yet," Diur said with a smile. She dropped down in a balanced squat, her fingers digging under the edge of the relay and Kon hastily followed suit. They looked at each and without another word they lifted.

"Holy shit it's working!" The heavy machine rose with ease, Diur and Kon in sync as they let it drop back down on its other legs. The entire thing shook as it landed, but didn't look any more the worse for the wear. Kon ran back to the other side to look at the screen.

"Still says malfunctioning," Kon said. The red letters were flashing on the screen. Diur was a bit more calm as she walked around the side to look at the screen.

"Turn it off and then back on," she said.

"It doesn't work like that. This is an expensive, delicate, piece of equipment," Kon argued.

Diur reached over to a corner and slapped it hard. Kon felt the surge of energy around her hand right before she struck the corner. Flesh met metal and Kon winced as delicate handprint was put into the metal siding.

"Diur! It doesn't work like that!" Kon yelled. He sighed and looked back and the screen and froze.

Reset???

"Damnit," Kon whispered as he clicked the yes option. With a subdued whooom the machine turned off for a moment. Then it booted back up with another audible whir of energy. Diur smiled widely next to him as she kept a hand on her sword pommel.

A series of options popped up and Kon quickly searched through all of the options until he found a resynchronize option. He clicked it and the small dish on the top of the rectangular box turned around, spinning in a full three-sixty.

"Most things just need a good, sharp, blow to fix it. Ancient magic," Diur said with a smile.

"I don't wanna hear about it, alright," Kon grumbled, but he offered her a smile as he waited for the loading screen to finish. It took only a few minutes before the screen populated him a series of designations, long strings of numbers and letters that he couldn't make sense of.

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Connect???

"These should be just the other relays right?" Kon asked to Diur as he stared at the blinking question.

"Kon, I have no idea what that screen says. My translator works on spoken language, not written. The implants needed for that are expensive and can have weird effects on cultivators," Diur said.

"It's just a bunch of serial numbers asking me if I want to connect," Kon explained.

"Who else would it be connecting with?" Diur asked, raising a single brow.

"More wolves? Goblins? I don't know, but I would feel better if I knew they were human or Ulmna."

"The only other Ulmna on the planet would be my Ancestor, and I don't think we'd want her attention," Diur said as she walked a few steps away, her back to him.

"So, she's definitely on planet?" Kon asked slowly, turning to look at a suddenly, very stiff Diur.

"I spoke out of line." She didn't deny it though.

"Diur, all of this could be avoided if we could find your ancestor. She's strong enough to protect us all while we wait for rescue," Kon said, anger sparking to life inside of him as one thought raged.

"Alice would still be with us."

"Kon, I ask you to forgive me. I have lied since the day we met. We were here to gain strength, that is true, but it was for something much more important," Diur said as she turned to look at him. The cultivator's eyes were hard, her hand still on the pommel of her sword. Tension filled the air between them.

"Well?" Kon asked as they stared at each other.

"We were here to protect her in her attempt at a breakthrough to the next realm. What you call B-Grade." Kon blinked slowly.

"What?"

"I don't understand much of it myself. But, like the beast that hunts us, when a cultivator attempts the next step, to breach the divide between realms, they are vulnerable. If she was disturbed while she gathered the energy she needed, it could have disastrous results for her."

"So, she's cultivating right now, on planet, to become a B-Grade?"

"Yes. Before her arrival, this planet was rife with powerful C-Grade and D-Grade rifts. She has hunted and suppressed them, gathered their treasures, and built a cultivation resource to gather the energy needed to breakthrough."

Kon felt like the world had just shifted beneath his feet. They had been through so much together, she knew his secrets, suspected she knew humanities secrets. And she had kept this to herself.

Kon stabbed a finger at the yes icon to begin the connection process for the relay. A whirr filled the hilltop as the relay began to process.

"Why are you telling me now?" Kon asked, his voice deadpan and devoid of warmth.

"It's almost done. Can't you feel the thinness of the energy in the atmosphere. She begins her final ascent and she will drain all excess energy out of the world to do so. It will be impossible to miss and I was tired of lying to you."

"Thanks," Kon said flatly. Diur winced.

"You don't understand, not yet, but you will. A B-Grade cultivator is a system guardian. An entire star system. Our clan will reach heights we never could have dreamed of. But, while she was gathering strength she was vulnerable. I'm sorry, Kon for lying to you. But I'd do it again. For my clan, for my people, this needed to happen," Diur said.

"Camp Bravo? Rudd?" A garbled, staticky voice broke them out of their deadlock and Kon turned to look at the machine. The menu was easy to use and he clicked the microphone icon and spoke into it.

"This is Cadet Kon of the Dragon's Maw."

"No cadets are supposed to be in the field! Where's Rudd?"

"Dead. Camp Bravo has been wiped out," Kon said, swallowing hard as he looked over at Diur. She looked more relaxed than he'd ever seen her, a weight lifted off of her.

Suspicion wormed through him as he suddenly remembered their conversation before leaving, her insistence on them taking the assignment. He released the icon, muting them, and turned to look at her.

"What's the real reason for taking this mission? For getting us out here?" Kon asked, anger filling his words as he started at Diur. She shook her head slowly, shame filling her features.

"I wished to live and see you live as well. That beast will know my ancestor is coming, the ripples are too strong. It was going to strike and strike quickly."

"You wanted us out of the camp. You wanted us to abandon them!" Kon snarled. All he could think of was Alice Roose who never abandoned him, of the Knights who stood in front of danger with their brethren even when they could run.

"No, I didn't want it. You are special Kon. A new way of training, of cultivation. Having you die on Crucible hours before my ancestor starts her ascension was too much for me. I am shamed by my actions." Her head hung low and he could hear the pain in her voice. The next words were so soft that he could hardly hear them, even with his heightened hearing.

"For my clan. For my people."

"Can you hear me! Camp Alpha is in danger and needs immediate reinforcements!" Kon screamed into the radio, his voice cracking as he cut off the rambling voice on the other side.

"Repeat?" the voice asked.

"A pseudo C-Grade monster is about to attack the camp. Reinforcements required!"

"You're breaking up, I can't understand. Listen to me Cadet Kon. Order the evacuation of Alpha to main base. Rescue has arrived, ETA 10 hours. Freymis out!" the radio crackled then died. Kon turned and looked at Diur.

"I'm going back to Alpha. If you ever want to hope to…to rebuild that trust you just shit on, you'll come with me." Kon didn't wait for her to respond as he turned from her and bounded off this hill, running back at full speed, just hoping that he'd be fast enough.

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