The Nexus Mirror

by Noah Michael

  “What gave you the right to make that choice? You could have spoken to me, warned me!”

  Alia’s chest ached.

  Just then, they were interrupted by a sound coming from below. The commander picked himself up onto his feet. He turned to face them. Alia aimed her blasters. David dug his staff into the ground.

  Alia almost dropped her weapons. His eyes were not the eyes of the commander.

  “Marcus?”

  “Hello, General.”

  “What are you doing here!?”

  “I’m your mentor, am I not?”

  “You’re my prisoner now.”

  “Is that so? Try leaving the simulator. Then let us see who is the prisoner.”

  Alia closed her eyes and tried to evacuate the simulator. She couldn’t. She looked at Marcus. Flames began to pour from his hands.

  “Let the others leave. They pose no threat to you.”

  “I will let them out except him.” Marcus looked at David. “He stays.”

  Alia lifted her watch to her face. “Gospin, do you read me?”

  “Yes, General.”

  “I need you to evacuate all the men immediately.”

  “But General, we are about to-”

  “Now, Gospin!”

  “Yes, General.” The sounds of battle died down as the men disappeared from the simulator. The mountain was empty. Alia, David, and Marcus were alone.

  “What the hell do you want, Marcus?” Alia asked, glaring into his eyes.

  “You know exactly what I want. I want command of the Following, and I want you dead.” And without another word, Marcus shot forth fire from his hands. Alia dove to the side and began sprinting across the mountaintop. Before the flames reached her, the ground shot up, lifting her into the air.

  “I did not keep you here to interfere, Sergeant!” Marcus pointed three fingers at the central tower. David and Alia were lifted into the air and, hurled by an invisible force, smashed into the side of the tower.

  He can use any ability or shape programmed into the simulator.

  Marcus transformed. A spiked tail and dragon-like wings grew out of his back. His hands grew fingernails sharpening to thick, razor claws. His tongue split and slithered. “There’s nowhere to run!” he hissed.

  “Come on!” Alia pulled David’s arm. They ran to the other side of the tower. The fire blew the tower to pieces. Marcus charged at them, claws forward. He surrounded them with an energy field, trapping them. David stuck his staff into the ground. A huge boulder shot out from the Earth, smashing into Marcus, knocking him to the floor. Alia pulled out her weapons, firing non-stop at Marcus. After a minute, she paused, waiting for the dust to clear. Marcus emerged from the cloud.

  “You cannot defeat me!” he screamed. Alia fired her blasters. The shots were deflected, one after another. David summoned ten golems from the Earth, sending them storming towards Marcus. Marcus summoned twenty golems of his own. He froze David’s golems as his own marched forward. David closed his eyes, trying to take control of Marcus’s golems. Marcus pushed back.

  I guess I will have to beat him the old fashion way. Alia put her weapons back in their holsters. “Hey, Marcus! Is this what brings you joy? The slaughter of innocents? Your heart is sick. You are a monster.”

  “Do not waste your words on me, Alia. You cannot sway me!”

  Alia looked into his eyes. There had to be something she could do. David pushed with all his might as his own golems marched against him. “Alia! Hurry!”

  She searched his eyes desperately for a trigger. Finally, she found one.

  “You dedicate your entire life to betrayal, always turning against those who fought beside you. You don’t care for anyone but yourself. You certainly didn’t care for Salience!”

  “How dare you! Get out of my head!”

  “He trusted you with everything, yet you destroyed him. And for what? Power?”

  “I said, get out of my head!” Marcus roared. He pointed his arm at Alia and she flew up into the air. He lowered his arm, and she shot downwards towards the rocky ground, head first. She screamed and closed her eyes…

  Alia opened her eyes.

  The mountain was gone. She was in a laboratory. There were rows of high-tech computers. The lab was organized and well kept. At the front of the room were large tubes, filled with a green liquid. Within each tube was a human body. Between the tubes was a door. A man walked through the door. He looked in Alia’s direction but couldn’t see her.

  Alia recognized his face from somewhere…

  It’s Salience! This must be a memory.

  The door opened again. A young Marcus walked out, his expression both awestruck and shaken.

  “The creature is both incredible and horrific,” he said. “It seems to be devouring the actual life force of the subjects.”

  “It can devour energy of any kind,” Salience replied, glancing over data in one of the computers. “This creature can do much more than free Galaxius. If Roko controlled it, he would be unstoppable…”

  “But how could it possibly be controlled?”

  “Roko said that the creature was captured during the operation in England last year.”

  “You mean when they were searching for that girl? I don’t understand the big deal about her, the entire team was killed over a simple girl.”

  Searching for a girl in England? Could that mean me? Alia wondered.

  “Yes, well I was doing research into ancient Enlai mythology, looking for any references to such a beast, and I came across an intriguing legend. It spoke about terrible monsters known as the Decrepit, some sort of fallen angel. It said that they were searching for their queen. The Demon Queen.”

  “How does that help us?”

  “It also gave a lot of information about the creature, including that if someone finds the creature’s true name, they might be able to control it. Do you realize what this means?” Salience turned to Marcus, his eyes lit up. “If we found the name, we could use the beast to kill Roko, and even Galaxius. We could save the Resistance.”

  “Yes,” Marcus muttered, his gaze conflicted. “Or we could use it awaken Galaxius and rule the world beside him.”

  “What was that, my good friend?” Salience asked, too focused on his work to hear.

  “Nothing,” Marcus sighed. “Nothing important.”

  The surroundings disappeared and were replaced by Roko’s office. Roko sat behind his desk. Across from him stood Marcus.

  “Marcus, it’s good to see you.”

  “As it is to see you, sir.”

  “I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

  “Please.”

  “I’ve been watching you for a long time. You and Salience, and your project. Ever since I assigned you two to work together, I knew it was the right decision. But lately, I’ve been sensing a rift between the two of you. Is everything all right?”

  “Salience and I have discovered that we have very different ways of looking at life.”

  “How is that?”

  “He sees the present as a continuation of the past. I see it as a bridge to the future.”

  “Ah...” Roko took a minute to think. “You know, Marcus, you and I share a lot in common. We think the same way.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “If you are to achieve your full potential, there is one very important point you must know. There comes a time when people like you and me must leave people like Salience behind. Because if Salience, let’s say, was about to be punished for withholding secrets, you wouldn’t want to be dragged down with him. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Roko took a deep breath. “Thank you for your time.”

  Marcus turning to leave, but he paused. “Roko?”

  “Yes, Marcus?”

  “There is something I must tell you…”

  Alia couldn’t believe her eyes.

  Marcus was also part of the Resistance. He betrayed Salience, ratting him out. He was
hoping Roko would appoint him as the new head of the project, allowing him to free Galaxius and rule beside him. But Roko didn’t give him the position, so he framed James to get James’s access to Galaxius’s room and to floor 176 so he could finish their work. He would have had it all...if it weren’t for-

  “YOU!”

  Alia turned to Marcus.

  “It’s a glitch! Get out of my head you back-stabbing wretch!” Marcus roared, and fire burst forth from his hands.

  Alia closed her eyes.

  “Everyone, get out!” A voice cried.

  Alia opened her eyes. They were back in the lab. Computers were on fire. Papers were strewn everywhere. Bodies littered the floor. Screams echoed across the room. The scientists were banging on the doors, begging to be let out. The voices of drones could be heard from the other side of the door. “The doors cannot be opened.”

  “Salience! What have you done?”

  “You left me no choice. The creature is free, and I’ve learned its name. I deleted all of our research. It answers only to me!”

  “No! I won’t let you do this!” Marcus grabbed a knife from a lab table and threw it at Salience’s leg. Salience fell to his knees. Salience opened his mouth to call for the creature, but Marcus cut him off.

  “Silence!” Marcus commanded hypnotically. As Salience struggled to speak, Marcus knelt beside him.

  “Tell me the name!” he screamed, pushing as hard as he could against Salience’s mind.

  “You’re…too…late,” Salience rasped.

  Marcus turned towards the exit where a woman was frozen, a ragged, black blade protruding from her stomach. Her skin started to turn black. The blade retracted, and the woman fell to the floor, revealing the creature behind her. The creature hovered over the woman’s body, moving slowly towards Marcus.

  “Tell me, now!” Marcus yelled desperately, using the full brunt of his power.

  Salience’s eyes grew wide, his brow drenched his sweat. His lips began to open. Suddenly, his gloves shone, and his body glowed with golden light. A layer of solid energy began to harden around him like a statue. Marcus’s eyes widened in horror as the beast drew closer and closer.

  “No!” he cried.

  Ten Shifters jumped into the room, darting towards Marcus and Salience. The creature dashed towards one of the Shifters and stabbed him. The Shifter shriveled and fell, but the others closed in on their targets.

  “Leave him to die!” Marcus raged.

  “Roko’s orders! We need to get you both out of here!” The creature had finished devouring the Shifter and turned towards the rest of the group.

  “Come on! We need to keep moving,” one of the Shifters shouted. They made their way to the doors. Everyone in the room disappeared, but something was moving in the room. Alia drew her blasters from her waist and turned. On the wall, engraved in blood, was a name: “Adiel.”

  The creature materialized in front of her, shrieking, its claws stained red. Its eyes were golden. Marcus was out of control and she desperately needed a way out of the simulation.

  I entered here through his memories, perhaps the way out is through his memories too.

  “There’s still hope! You can still undo your sins,” Alia urged him.

  “I could have had everything if it weren’t for you!”

  “You have no enemy but yourself! Power will not bring you happiness. Think about the future! You could be happy! You don’t have to hurt anymore!”

  “This is who I am!”

  “No! This is who you choose to be!”

  “You think you can manipulate me, Reader!? You will never have my power! As soon as I’m finished with you, I will kill your sister!”

  Alia’s blood boiled.

  “Yes,” Marcus crooned, “Your emotions render you weak! This is why Roko trusts you, because he holds you by the reigns!” Marcus was winning, and he could feel it. “He’ll keep her as a tool until she is no longer needed, and then he will kill her!”

  “Don’t you dare speak about my sister! She’s twice the person you will ever be.”

  Marcus screeched sending Alia flying into a wall. Marcus lunged at her, claws extended.

  “Alia!” David surged forward, and the claws sunk deep into his chest instead.

  “NO! DAVID!” she shrieked. “What have you done?” Alia drew her knives furiously.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll be joining him shortly. And after you, Bella!” Marcus charged at her, blades forward.

  Then, everything went black.

  Alia opened her eyes. Her men stood quietly in position, Gospin in front of them, a solemn look upon his face. “David! Is he...”

  Gospin shook his head, tears in his eyes. She couldn’t believe it. She needed to see. The men parted. Alia walked toward David’s simulator. It was open and powered down.

  He lay still.

  “David, David please wake up.” Alia placed her hand on his chest. “David...David, please...I’m so sorry.” She took David’s hand and closed her eyes.

  The last simulator opened behind her. Marcus opened his eyes.

  “YOU!” Alia grabbed him by neck and smashed him against a wall with all her strength. He fell to the floor. He sat up, and a smile spread across his face. “He’s never coming back.”

  Alia smashed her foot into the side of his head and drew her knives. As she moved on him for the final time, Roko and an army of drones entered the room. “Put down the knife!”

  Alia heard Roko, but she was beyond caring. She lunged but a drone knocked the blade from her hand. “Arrest him!” Roko’s voice carried over her frustrated cry. The drones surrounded Marcus.

  “He’s a murderer!” she raged. “Kill him!”

  “Alia” Gospin put his arms around her. He shook his head. “It’s over...there’s nothing more we can do...”

  “Everyone out, immediately! Except Alia,” he commanded. He turned to the drones, “Take Marcus to solitary confinement and take David straight to the infirmary!”

  As they carried Marcus away, his face held a devious, satisfied grin.

  Gospin hesitated. Alia took a deep breath. “It’s okay, you can go.” He closed the door softly behind him. The room was quiet.

  “Alia, I’m very sorry. David was-”

  “Don’t. It’s because of your filthy greed that he was here in the first place.”

  “Today marks a great loss for us all.”

  “You didn’t care about him, you only care about your bloody alliance.”

  “Does this change anything between us?”

  “My sister is all I have left. I want her healed, and I want to leave.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that. There is one more thing I need you to do for me.”

  Roko brought his watch up to his face. “Bring in the Shadow.” The door opened, and two drones walked in. There was a young man between them. His hair was long and black, his eyes dark.

  “General, Raja here has informed me that the Chief of Shadows has betrayed us. He is about to enter the mirror, together with the girl we’ve been searching for. We are left with no choice but to take the mirror by force. If we do so while the Chief is stuck within, the Shadows will lack leadership and the scales will tilt in our favor, despite our failure to unite with the Molders. We will crush the Shadows and institute Raja as their new Chief. Work with Raja now to draft our battle strategy. He knows the grounds well.”

  “Sir, now that the Prince is dead, shouldn’t we fear war with the Molders?” Raja asked.

  “The Molders observe a two-week mourning period. I will inform them of David’s death, and they won’t interfere until we’re finished with the Shadows.”

  Alia eyed Raja. “I will lead the troops to battle, and I will win. But only under three conditions. First, arrange my sister’s immediate release from the organization, as well as my own at the end of this mission. Second, stay far away from the Molder tribe for the rest of your life. Third, I want Marcus executed. Now. It’s in everyone’s best interests
.”

  Roko considered her. “I agree to the first two. But I cannot execute Marcus until I learn his secret. But, as soon as I force it out of him, he will be executed. You have my word.”

  Alia nodded. “Fine, as long as I can get the hell away from you.”

  Roko looked at Alia and Raja. “Ladies and Gentlemen. Let there be war.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Into the Mirror

  The Shadow Kingdom

  July 22

  9:00 a.m.

  The Chief marched towards the treasury where the mirror was kept, Arias by his side. “Am I making the right decision?” the Chief asked. “Leaving the tribe at such a tumultuous time?”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let the tribe fall in your absence. You have my word.”

  “What do you make of Sarah’s companions?”

  “From what I’ve seen, they are honorable.” They stopped before the door of the treasury. The Chief put his hand on Arias’s shoulder.

  “Thank you, for everything. You are a true friend.”

  The guards opened the door. The room was filled with piles of gold and valuable artifacts. Sarah was already waiting, dressed in full shadow attire, holding her kaza. Raiden had a laser gun fastened to his belt, and Maximus sheathed a single sword at his waist, despite the large bandage still wrapped around his left arm.

  “Are you ready?” the Chief asked.

  “We are.”

  “It is possible we may never return.”

  “It is a risk we are willing to take in order to put an end to Roko.”

  The Chief nodded and turned to his guards. “I go alone from here. In case I don’t return, I would like to say to each of you that it has been an honor to have you by my side. I trust that you shall aid Arias in my absence. You’re all aware of the order of succession.” The guards bowed their heads and the Chief turned to Sarah. “Ready?”

  “I am.”

  “You are being asked to do things no ten-year-old has ever done before.”

  “Don’t worry, we will find your sister,” Sarah said.

  “Maybe, yet she is not the priority. The priority is stopping Roko.”