Evil Spirit

      The Irk was outlasting hard times. The Resistance dropped a biological weapon in the heart of the main planet. Civilization, built in millenniums, has wilted in no time.        Unknown beasts of unknown origin were tearing down the best soldiers, they were vulnerable only to the most powerful shots of laser guns, but it wasn’t possible to recharge it in time. They were swarming everywhere, they were getting in every hole. No evacuation capsule had no free rider. Millionth population was reducing constantly.        But ones, who managed to hide themselves nicely, who hid themselves in the most secret places and always kept cautious, were lucky to survive and get out without apprehension. The creatures died by themselves very fast, their nests were destroyed, and those, which weren’t, revealed to the light of day a very weak offspring, it didn’t get enough of irken blood to grow bigger and stronger. But what a loss their parent brought upon the irken history…        Staggering, society started to stand up and recover. In some places there were surviving specialists, who played their role and helped the raising. The losses were colossal. Both of the Tallests and the whole top of irken society were gone. Just like never existed. There even were no reported bodies, but, maybe, they were surfing the space in the sealed mass grave. And gnawed rotting corpses were listening to the requiem of the spaceship’s rumble.       The Control Brain was hopelesslydamaged. Monsters, covered in chitin, covered all the filters with their biological liquids and chewed through its’ important systems to get warm from the electricity and then blocked everything with the substance, that didn’t allow any warmth leave the inners, so it all just burnt down. There were no specialists to fix this. They had to rule themselves.       Out of habit, the tallest one was selected to rule. It was a commander, that nobody really knew to this time. Unexperienced ruler, that only knew how to abuse. Poor servants listened to him, letting him put them in his illusory slavery. But he managed to build something like a village. It started growing up, because of the defectives in its’ rows. For the first time after the centuries of Control brain’s ruling, the irken society had the same number of defectives and the right ones, lately it even went in the preponderance to the side of defectives. But there was no other option, it was necessary to let the unperfect part of the society live, raising them with the stories of great past of the Empire, which fell because of someone’s snap of the fingers.       “Catch the thief!” was screamed in the crowd, while Ruge was rushing through it, panting and running in circles. Finally, somebody from the crowd listened to the screams and caught him by the collar, making him choke and spit up, to stop him. Soon, the owner showed up, clutching her claws around Ruge’s clothes and rummaging in his pockets. “Uh-huh! Bastard, slime, worm! You stole my hard-earned money!”       It was an ex-invader, yelling at him. She wasn’t young anymore, she saw the times, when Empire was standing tall and demolishing every other civilization. Her strictness and irreconcilable rage gave away her as a hardened right one. She pulled ten monies from his pockets. Terribly small number, but in new society it had a big value, you could feed your whole family with these. But earning this money also became harder. Even though she was being a right one, she ended up having a family, and now she was busy raising her ill grandsmeets.       “I will tug your mother’s antennas for raising a criminal! In old times nobody would stand on ceremony with you.” the old female was resenting, holding with a hard grip on his tunic by the chest. All invaders were incredibly strong, no matter how tall they are, what’s their sex and age. “You’d lose you PAK in no time! Be grateful, that nowadays the laws are nice!”       Ruge was a green youth in every meaning. Because of his age, nobody forced him to work, mother spoiled him and let him not working at all, but father was dissatisfied with this approach, but did not interfere with anything. And he didn't get to argue about it. He didn't come back from the forest. He was a hunter for those creatures, their meat turned out to be edible. It was useless to tame them, there was simply nowhere to keep them forcibly, and it was dangerous. Irkens had to look for single individuals, shoot them and drag them to the community. At the same time, their habitat reclined far from the walls.        Mother earned poorly. They kept purely on the father, but he was gone. His work was a priority in the society, mother was just a simple servant drone, but out of need she retrained as a seamstress and dressed the whole community. She sewed and dyed son’s tunic to match the color of his eyes, in crimson, as the invaders used to be dressed. He was proud and ashamed of his clothes. He would have been dressed up according to all the canons of the lost Empire, but he defamed a brilliant name for his thieving activities. After the first theft, they didn't want to hire him anywhere. Petitions to the current Tallest did not lead to anything, it remained either to steal further, or somehow miraculously find a rich bride and live on her family's money… But who will agree to accept a thief into the family?        Ruge went home and looked longingly at his father's blaster hanging on the wall as a trophy and the last reminder of the deceased. The mother was inconsolable, all the children, except for him, quickly deceased, the breadwinner deceased. Only the two of them remained, unable to survive on their own. The slowly aging female irken traded on the square all day, and then sewed and dyed fabric all evening, working until her hands ached and she was tired. And still earned small monies. She didn't tell him directly, but he heard her talking to the neighbors, under whose powerful arm to fall in, so as not to starve.       A desperate thought was beating in his head as he watched his mother's behavior like a predator. He was waiting for her to fall asleep. Towards night, the tired mother finished her work, gently pushed him towards his room, ordering him to go to bed too, and went to bed. But young Irken was not going to sleep. Once again, like a thief, he collected some food and slowly and quietly pulled off a massive blaster from a nail, leaving with it into the darkness of the night.       For so many years, the surface of the Irk has changed a lot. Vegetation, clean-shaven centuries ago, began to sprout from somewhere. Perhaps those creatures dragged her with them and, having died, allowed the undigested seeds to germinate through themselves. Nevertheless, the forest grew, and no one ever interfered with it.       At nightfall, something was chirping in the grass. Perhaps some other small animals, which abruptly multiplied when they hit the Irk. But no one really paid attention to them, and they did not attack hunters. Neither they nor the Irken cared about each other.        It was cold at night. He did not know such a simple fact, because he always spent nights in the warmth of the house. And then all of a sudden, he went hunting. Ruge was constantly holding the blaster in front of him, ready to shoot at any moment. The leaves rustled from the wind, from which almost nothing could be heard. Behind any tree trunk, in any bush, a chitinous danger could be waiting. The forest did not end, flickering in tired eyes with an endless vision. Ruge decided not to torture himself and find a small shelter to eat and rest. He just found a fairly quiet and well-surveyed place. A cold wind blew, taking away a significant amount of heat. Trembling from such a loss, irken began to collect sticks under his feet in order to make a fire. The fire was warm, he knew it perfectly well.       After a thousand and one attempts, the flame began to flare up, licking sticks and twigs. Ruge foolishly threw leaves there too, but almost extinguished his grief-won fire. The leaves smoldered and burned, blowing greasy steam into the wind. It was nice to warm up by the fire. He almost dozed off, chewing the dried meat of those chitinous monsters.       He recalled his father's stories about hunting, the tales of other hunters in the settlement. One of them, by the way, returned home that blaster, which now lay with a pleasant weight on the knees of Ruge. They talked about all sorts of tall tales… About how the whole brood of those creatures was crushed, how two or even three were killed with one shot. He also remembered stories about mutant monsters with two heads or other extra appendages. Someone told about those who lacked limbs or body parts.       And there was the most terrible story that Rouge had only heard ... He was scared of it as a smeet so that he would not run into the forest, although even adults shivered from this story and were afraid to go hunting alone.       It was rumored that not only monsters covered with chitin live in the forest. There's someone else there… Or something… It was seen only a couple of times, but clearly. One day two hunters, bosom friends, went on a night hunt. By nightfall, the creatures became sluggish and sleepy, so it became safer to hunt them. They go, notice fresh tracks, agreed to disperse a short distance in order to see each other, but at the same time to survey more territory. Suddenly one disappeared, there was a fuss and screams in the distance. Another rushed to help, but the screams subsided, he came out on a terrible scene. Some ragged, dark figure was dragging a limp comrade by the neck. Hearing the rustle of a bush at the foot of another, the unknown creature turned around, looking in the dark with a yellow eye light. The unknown monster was massive, bigger than the two of them. It immediately dropped the body and disappeared into the thicket nearby. The hunter felt someone else's pursuit all the way and seemed to see yellow gaps in the foliage again. He ran out of the forest and until morning in shock tried to explain to the villagers what he had just seen. In the morning, the one who was considered killed also returned. He said that someone attacked him from behind and began to strangle him, but, apparently, did not strangle him to death and threw him. However, it was clear from the clothes that the hunter was being dragged, and he found himself much closer to the settlement than he was before the unsuccessful strangulation. After this incident, the friends understood each other and forgave each other, but they swore that they would never go deep into the forest again in their lives.       Then one of the little smeets noticed a strange figure standing in the forest. It, noticing the observation of itself, immediately disappeared. No one else saw it, but everyone kept in mind that something creepy was wandering in those woods. Unless his father was not afraid, and perhaps in vain. Everyone started making up what it was. Scientists assumed that this was another mutant of those creatures or a completely different form of life that somehow ended up on the planet. According to the Tallest and military community, it was a paratrooper of an enemy civilization who came to crush them. Those who didn't know much and were superstitious believed that this was something out of this world, which is very jealous of its forest and gets angry when someone visits it. No one knew for sure, but everyone knew for sure that there was no good to be expected from this.       These memories made him start looking around nervously in search of yellow highlights in the blackness. Ruge listened, only the wind rustled the grass, drowning out the other sounds. However, some rustle got out of the general background, the inexperienced hunter twitched. He was on pins and needles and was waiting for an attack from all sides. Chewing nervously on a piece of sweet dried meat, young irken stood up and took the blaster in his hands. He screwed himself up, and now he was going crazy for fear of dying from a material and non-material threat. No one came to reap his soul, moving nasty legs or rushing with one glare among the vegetation.       He clenched his jaw tightly, twitching his antennas in order to hear at least something around. But there was nothing but the noise of tall plants. Ruge tried to calm himself down. The branch broke off and fell into the grass… Something fell off from the building buried under the forest… They're not coming for him… This is something third-party…       Self-persuasion began to work slowly, and Ruge lowered his weapon, relaxing his back, and then something cracked over his head, and he was knocked to the ground. Stars scattered before his eyes from the sharp pain.