Terra Firma

Chapter Six – The Voice of the Crown

When the cowl was pushed back and the Voice of the Crown stepped forward, Riddick growled loudly. The dark man paused before taking Vaako’s place, aware of the danger and power radiating from the man on the throne.

“I am Uriel, Alpha, and I am here to inform you that by coming into this system you and yours have placed yourself in grave danger.”

Riddick sat up straighter, and then leaned forward to rest his large hands on his knees. The posture was demeaning to the other Furyans, but also a powerful gesture of a man who could either lead or destroy a race of warriors.

“If you should decide to land upon our soil, you will have decided your fate to die like so many others who have tried to subjugate our world. We have been beaten and broken once by this very fleet, we will not allow it again.”

The dark man was strong, stronger than any man Riddick had encountered. They did not need to fight to determine each other’s strength, it was clear by smelling the man…the dark man was stained with blood.

“I am not a Necromonger.”

“Yet you command the remnants of its fleet. Your First Commander has informed us of the state of your Empire and the specifics of your ascension to the throne. But we Furyans know that power can corrupt…even we Furyans have been corrupted by power in the past.”

“You know nothing about me,” Riddick growled.

The dark man, Uriel, grinned, or barred his impossibly white teeth. Riddick felt his blood spike and his fingers twitched, wanting more than anything to sink a shiv into the man’s chest.

“We will not allow your fleet to linger long in this system. Even now our ships are waiting at the edges of the system to move into position. We could pick off your ships one by one…”

“Bluffing…”

“That may be…but be sure that we will not allow your fleet to land on our planet.”

Riddick relaxed slightly. “Who said I was wanting to do something like that?”

The dark man did not answer, but stood silent and unflinching.

“I am sure that Vaako only told you what I told him…to scout out the planet, if it had life…if anything could be done to bring life to it again… If anything, remove the Icons and let the planet return to the wild.

I don’t know anything about this planet, I may have been born there, but that’s it. I must’ve grown sentimental in my old age, but I would like to see it once…like a tourist, and be on my way. Can I help it if the whole fucking fleet has to follow me everywhere I fucking go?”

The dark man smirked.

“I don’t wanna fucking invade…too much work. I don’t wanna fucking destroy the place either. I just wanna pay a visit, and pay my respects…”

The room fell silent, the five cloaked figures unmoving. Riddick could smell the scent of fear, hatred, and awe…but from whom and why was unknown.

“If you set foot on our soil, Alpha, you are welcome, but your fleet will have to leave the system. You will come alone, and on our ships. We have treated your men well, they can attest to this fact, but you are to come alone…

We are not adverse to the removal of the Icons, and would gladly negotiate for their removal… However, no Necromonger is to step foot on our soil…Those who Remain or not…”

Riddick smirked. Vaako surely had explained himself well.

“If you accept these terms, we can proceed.

I suggest that the removal of the Icons occur first, the removal of this fleet to the edge of the system should you wish to return to it…the length of your ‘visit’ can be negotiated later.”

Riddick sat back into his throne. “The removal of the Icons will take several days, weeks even. They can be removed without any of my men setting foot on the planet, so we don’t have a problem there… The fleet can be moved back, but I would like to see that my destroyer is left in orbit…high orbit…”

Uriel paused, turning his head slightly to glance at one of the female figures in the back of the room…and not the one who had spoken. Riddick’s eyes narrowed.

“The Elemental is to be removed beyond the edge of the system.”

Riddick felt a wind, but Aereon did not speak.

“It will be done.”

“And the number of ships to remove the Icons?”

Riddick nodded to Vaako who excused himself and left the chamber. Within a few moments Vaako returned, moving to Riddick’s side and whispering.

“Twenty ships…two to each Icon.”

“Then we will wait until all is set in order. The destroyer may remain in high orbit, but all weapon systems must be disabled.”

Riddick said nothing for a moment, the familiar scent filling his nostrils again, distracting the beast.

“It will be done. Vaako, send the command to the fleet and prepare a ship to transport the Elemental to the cruiser of her choice…”

Vaako nodded and made to move when Aereon drifted next to him, gliding between him and the Lord Marshal.

“Do you have any idea what you are doing?” the Elemental whispered with a heightened state of agitation.

Elementals, as far as Riddick knew, did not get angry…and Aereon’s distressed face was the closest thing to angry he had ever seen of her.

“This situation is dangerous! They will take you hostage and demand ransom! That is what these Furyans do to increase their power. And to have the Lord Marshal, it would be war! Riddick…” Aereon seemed to hiss, but was cut short as a blade was pressed into her throat and an dirty hand grasped her chin to wrench her head upward so that her neck was exposed.

But it was not Riddick who held the Elemental upon the edge of death, nor was it Vaako who had quickly stepped out of the way. Riddick rose slowly to his feet, slinging his arm so that the shiv hidden in his sleeve slid into the palm of his hand.

“Riddick!” Aereon breathed, her eyes wide with fear…

Fear…it had been Aereon’s fear that he had sensed…and it smelled so good…


* * *


Elementals did bleed, for they were human after all. But after so many years, Riddick had almost forgotten that Aereon was human, and as a human, could never be totally logical. Fear could still take the woman and make her still and wide eyed. She could still feel pain as the edge of the blade began to divide skin cells to that a thin line of blood welled to the perfectly cream surface.

“You will not speak, witch. Your poison tongue has done enough damage. I should gut you and steal your heart. Now, use your logic to escape my blade!”

It was one of the females, but not the old one who had spoken before. Riddick tightened his grip upon the makeshift handle of his own shiv, one he had made long ago…dull in comparison to the one held at Aereon’s throat.

“You will not kill me, Furyan…” Aereon breathed, her form beginning to phase into air, but to her surprise she could not move. She tried to phase again, to somehow escape the Furyan woman’s grasp, but remained stuck, the blade beginning to increase its pressure against her trachea.

“I should kill you. You tried to kill my world and my brothers and sisters…all for the sake of one man and your race’s survival against the Necros. You thought my world unworthy…is it so logical to sacrifice billions for the sake of one?”

“What do you know of logic?” Aereon breathed, her eyes set on Riddick and confused at the Alpha’s inaction.

“Plenty, for a common beast,” the Furyan woman hissed into Aereon’s snowy hair, her eyes flashing luminescent from under the cowl.

Riddick felt his spine stiffen, and he moved…only a step.

Blades were suddenly drawn and cloaks falling to the floor. The dark man, Uriel, was holding his scimitar, the three others had blades…and the other woman, an old woman with long white hair and familiar eyes, holding a long thin sword in a pose that reminded Riddick of a picture of a samurai… These people were Furyans, and the scent of blood, sweat, smoke and power inundated his nostrils…

There was a fight awaiting…but whose?

“Riddick…” Aereon breathed again, a hand reaching out in a gesture of askance.

It unnerved, but thrilled him… It would be so easy to let the woman kill Aereon…

“As much as I would love to be free of the witch, I will only ask you once to release her,” Riddick growled, his eyes glowing. He wanted to fight, the beast was rattling the cage…it had been so long.

The Furyan woman flinched at the deep sound of Riddick’s voice and the pressure against Aereon’s throat lessened.

“My Lady…the odds are not good for us at this point in time,” the dark man said softly, his black eyes like precious stones, glittering in the dim light, his sword lowering as he stretched out a hand much like Aereon had…in pleading.

“Have I ever been one to give a flying fuck about odds, Uriel?” the woman ground out, Riddick catching sight of the woman’s chin…

There was a pale scar on the woman’s chin that curved in and around the protuberance of her narrow, jutting chin. Riddick’s beast paused…something was wrong with this situation…Aereon now bleeding and the woman who held her with dirty, childlike hands and the scar upon her chin and the light in her eyes, caught only in passing.

“This man is the Alpha and we are not on our own soil! My Lady, please?” Uriel utter gruffly, the power in his voice making the woman flinch, but not as profoundly as she had when Riddick spoke.

Riddick took a step forward and the woman and Aereon a step back.

“You should listen to the man, lady…he knows what he’s talking about…” Riddick purred. “And besides…this is MY ship, so it’s MY rules.”

The woman snorted. “I’ve heard that before…”

Riddick paused again.

“My Lady!”

Riddick growled. “Why the fuck are you calling that bitch ‘My Lady?’ And for fuck’s sake, if you don’t want one hell of a fight, bitch, you’d better back off!”

Everyone flinched at Riddick’s tone…and the result was a rush of fear roiling off everyone in delicious waves.

The woman relented…and Aereon spun free, grasping her throat and glaring daggers at the woman who wiped her shiv on the hem of her heavy fur cloak. Aereon opened her mouth to speak, but Riddick raised his arm and shiv to silence the Elemental.

“I suggest you leave the room, Elemental…and make arrangements off the ship. Vaako…you escort her. Post an additional guard outside the door.”

Vaako bowed his head, his eyes having been hooded and calm all the while…he had flinched at Riddick’s voice, but did not move to help the Elemental. He had not been ordered to move, until now…

Riddick moved to sit again, this time at the edge of the throne, his shiv still in his hand. The only cloaked Furyan stood where she had released Aereon, before the throne and close to the dark man named Uriel. She too, held her shiv in her hand, only the dark man having sheathed his sword.

It was then Riddick took the time to study the Furyans…all dressed differently and laden with weapons or potential weapons. They wore boots, the men in breeches, the old woman in a long skirt. Straps criss crossed their bodies with small guns and blades. Their eyes were bright, their faces handsome… The dark man was the darkest, only one other man with dark skin…one was of a pale race with long matted red hair…the other was strikingly similar in appearance to Vaako with short black hair and bright blue eyes. The old woman with the long white hair wore it in small braids woven with beads and bright feathers. She had to be a century old by the wrinkling of her face and the spots on her hands, but her body and posture implied strength…but it was her eyes that struck Riddick the strongest.

He knew this old woman…somehow.

That left only the other woman, skill cloaked and still poised to strike if need be.

“Now…let’s get a few things straight. This is my turf…and if you’re itching for a fight, I say bring it on… But, I doubt that would do little to further diplomatic relations, would it?” Riddick grinned. “And you, bitch…” he said addressing the cloaked woman, “Take off the cloak already, and…explain.”

The entire envoy seemed a bit put off, their mouths setting in hard lines…except the old woman whose mouth softened into a laugh.

Riddick watched as the small hands moved, a shiv still in one hand, to undo the clasp of the cloak. With a heavy shrug, the cloak fell…and Riddick’s eyes narrowed as he rose to his feet, his shiv ready to carve out the answers as to why he was seeing what he was seeing…