A single black cybernetic hand was held above Lygo’s head, and in that instant it seemed even the wind was forced to fear his father. Nothing moved, no sound could be heard. It was as if all of creation bowed to his father’s brutal majesty.
Nox took in the moment, all around him were thousands of what he hoped would soon be his clan. Immediately he recognized close to a hundred of his brethren, born by his own mother. The youngest was yet to be named and barely 3 months old. Even so, within another cycle of the moons there would be another. Soon the clan would move on to claim new lands and continue as they always had to conquer and pillage. To claim by strength alone what was their right, what weaker lesser beings could never deserve.
All Nox’s life he had been regaled by the spoken memories of the clan, tales of his father’s prowess in battle. Lygo of Luna was practically a living legend, and if you believed the stories, it was he who had claimed this world. It had been just over eleven years ago, just before Nox’s birth when Lygo and one hundred Uraor of the clan had slaughtered the inhabitants of this planet, his pregnant mate fighting by his side.
The somber silence was shattered by the voice of Lygo, ripping Nox from his own thoughts and planting all his focus on his father. “As my right, by strength of conquest, I claimed this hand from my own father. Just as his had done before him. May your flesh bear scars, to mark you a man.” Nox immediately fought to maintain his balance as his father-now-for stomped his bare feet into the ground. Lygo’s sudden intensity was like watching a volcano erupt or a approaching tidal wave you cannot escape.
Nox could feel his blood burning inside him, primal aggression screamed for release. Teeth clenched, he slammed into the source of his life, just as countless others had done for generations. He locked his hands against his fathers and fought against what he already knew was a colossal and superior strength. Bones cracked and began to fuse themselves slowly back together, flesh fought to heal as it was pulled near to tearing. In mere moments Nox could feel himself being driven back.
An inferno ignited in his chest, and was given life by his lungs as Nox cried aloud. Thrill of contested strength surged through him, with a grunt he shifted his momentum. The sudden change of force drove Lygo’s abdomen directly into a waiting knee. But the gambit had cost Nox, already he could feel his right hand trying to repair shattered bones. Lygo’s own ribs were fighting to mend themselves as well as pride lit his eyes.
Pain flashed a vicious red as a stone like fist slammed into Nox’s jaw, sending him spinning. Riding the momentum the courageous child rotated and twisted to land behind Lygo his good hand planted firmly in front of his fathers’ throat . With all his weight he planted himself against his Lygo’s back, as he heard bone and sinew crack and tear.
Soon he would be a man.
Soon the clan name would be his to bear, a child no more.
No comments:
Post a Comment