Dark Matter

by Luke Donegan

  Dark Matter flowed, and Erys, defying gravity, rose into the air, his arms spread like wings. A net of Dark Matter flung from his hands arrested the stream of fire. Black liquid and fire contested for brief moments before the fire was consumed. With barely a thought, Erys sent Dark Matter spraying over the Umawari, extinguishing their burning feathers.

  He saved them, but they lost their mastery of the doors.

  “Arach!” cried the Commander. The army surged forward again. The doors burst open, one door falling from its hinges.

  “Pull!” cried the Builder.

  With sounds of snapping wood, tearing metal and breaking tiles the statue toppled forward.

  Like an avalanche the army rumbled into the foyer. The Umawari leapt away, dragging their fallen companions with them. Erys used Dark Matter to pull aside those too slow to save themselves.

  The Builder and his helpers jumped as the great statue crashed to the floor, crushing beneath its solid bulk the soldiers already through the doors. Soldiers screamed as ten tons of steel crashed down on them. Broken floor tiles spun in the air. The statue’s broad shoulders smashed into the doorway, lodging into the space to form an impenetrable barrier. The globe of the world, a heavy steel ball ten feet in diameter, dislodged from the arms of the statue and rolled across the landing, dashing soldiers in its path. It rolled towards the General in his seat. With a wave of his hand the General shunted the oncoming globe to the side with Dark Matter and sent it careening down the stairs to knock down unfortunate soldiers in its path.

  A small group of soldiers inside the foyer managed to jump from the statue’s path. They scrambled to their feet, alone and disorientated. They lifted their batons uselessly as the half animal, half human creatures fell upon them.

  “Remember the Law,” cried the Builder as the Umawari pecked and tore at the soldier’s masks with their beaks.

  “The Laws are broken,” replied the Scion-Teacher. “Look.”

  The young man pointed at the fallen statue. Through the settling dust the Builder saw that the statue effectively blocked the entrance to the Museum. But its legs of History, Science and Nature were mangled and snapped.

  “Regardless, we will not kill. If it can be helped. Saskareth,” he implored.

  The emu man looked at him with unreadable, black eyes.

  “Saskareth. No killing.”

  The emu man turned to his people. “Gob! Gob! Gob!”

  The emu people attacking the soldiers looked up. Blood splashed their beaks. They pulled the masks from the soldiers to reveal the faces of a young woman and three boys, alive and terrified.

  “Tie them,” ordered the Builder.

  The world is falling, he thought. The Laws are broken. But there must be a natural law we can hold on to. Something dignified. Something decent. There must be something to save us from all of this.

  The Builder, Erys and Saskareth crossed to the doors to inspect the barrier created by the fallen statue. Most of the opening had been blocked but for two sections above each shoulder. Already, soldiers were scrambling up the statue on the other side to gain these openings.

  “There, and there,” said the Builder, pointing.

  Saskareth directed the emu people to climb up and defend the breaches.

  “Can you do something?” the Builder asked Erys.

  The Scion-Teacher seemed distracted as if listening to something carefully. His black eyes looked blankly into space.

  “Erys! Can you do something?”

  “Teacher?” said Erys to himself.

  The Scion-Teacher looked at the Builder, his face pale like a ghost.

  “The Teacher is in great need. I must go to him.”

  “We need you here,” demanded the Builder.

  Erys felt devastated. He could not leave the emu people, and he could not leave Jay undefended.

  “He is dying!” he cried.

  But fire rolled through the breaches above the fallen statue. Soldiers wielding flame throwers pushed in from the outside. Emu people fell back, uttering horrible high-pitched bird screams as they fell to the floor.

  “Erys!”

  The Scion-Teacher flew up, Dark Matter spewing from his arms towards those engulfed in fire. The Builder watched as Erys used this dark force to save those who were burning.

  What has he become? asked the Builder. What Law binds him to this Earth? Or has he surpassed Law?

  There must be something, beneath all of this. Behind it. A natural law that holds all this together.

  Something to bring reason to this lawless nightmare our world has become.

  The Director approached like a predatory animal. Calm, sure of its dominance. He circled Jay slowly, watching, searching for weakness.

  The oil of Dark Matter and the fire of Passage were evenly pitched. Both raged and fought with equal strength, parrying, defending, thrusting. At the centre of this furor lay Jay, fire bursting from his body, Dark Matter pouring back in to contain what was lost. The pain of Passage blinded him, but part of his mind was keenly aware of the Director’s presence. In his mind he watched the Director circling him. He saw the man was maskless. Behind the power and the immortality he was a plain looking man. But despite his dullness, his dark eyes betrayed a corruption and a depravity of Spirit. His baseness struck Jay like a physical blow.

  “You cannot hurt me,” called Jay through the turmoil engulfing him. “Like you, I am immortal. You cannot touch me.”

  The Director stopped and smiled.

  You are wrong, little bird, said the Director in his mind. I can hurt you very much.

  Instantaneously, the Director transformed. Where the man had been now stood a magnificent white unicorn, towering above Jay. A short, spiraled horn emerged from the creature’s skull between its eyes. Its coat was luminescent, almost silver, and it shone with its own light. Only its eyes were wrong, for they were yellow like a snake’s eyes.

  The unicorn snorted, its nostrils flaring. It whinnied and reared up, waving its fore hooves in the air. Its horn and head pushed through the ceiling of the hospital ward, and plaster and dust rained to the floor. Floor tiles shattered beneath the unicorn’s hooves as it came crashing down.

  Jay watched the creature with disbelief. But for its eyes the Director’s Spirit was beautiful beyond anything Jay had ever seen. The unicorn lifted a fore hoof and waved it in the air before Jay.

  I know your plan, said the Director’s voice. But you will fail.

  Jay turned away and tried to concentrate on his Passage. It cannot stop me, he told himself. He pulled more Dark Matter into himself to slow the rate of his Passage. He focussed on his destination.

  Suddenly the hoof of the unicorn slammed against his head. The bed on which he lay disintegrated as he was thrown to the floor. He lifted fingers to his head and felt a sticky wetness that was blood. He turned to the unicorn with shock.

  You can hurt me?

  Almost instantly Dark Matter poured into his head, knitting the skin and the bone back together. The damaged was repaired in seconds.

  The unicorn reared up. More of the ceiling dislodged and tumbled to the floor. The unicorn fell upon Jay, crushing his skull between its hooves and the floor.

  Bone and flesh splashed across the floor.

  Darkness and emptiness ... before Dark Matter pulled him back, made him whole.

  I cannot kill you, said the mind voice. But I can stop you.

  Jay’s Spirit to emerge partially into the physical world. Wings flapped and he rose up. He faced the unicorn. A torrent of Dark Matter rushed from his body towards the adversary. But with a hoof the creature deflected the torrent to the side. It splashed weakly to the floor like a bucket of spilt water.

  I have lived for two thousand years with Dark Matter in my being, said the Spirit. I know all the tricks.

  The unicorn cantered forward and sideswiped Jay with its head, knocking him down. Instantly his wings became arms again. He looked up. The unicorn stood over him, snorting, a threatening hoof held
above his face.

  You will not succeed, it said. Once, many years ago, I tried to do as you are doing now.

  The unicorn lowered the hoof and stepped backwards.

  When we broke the First Law of Science, I was horrified by what we had done. I rejected my companions and wandered the world for many years, alone. These were the days of Loss and Decline. Then one day I had the same realisation you have had. I thought to repair the damage. As you have attempted I controlled my Passage and transformed into my Spirit. I flew to the rift in our universe and found the core of Dark Matter. I tried to fix it but I could not. For I had broken the Law and only one pure in Law can repair such damage. And so I failed.

  Then I tried to consume Dark Matter. There it lay, a sphere of darkness, sizzling and spitting before me in space. I tried to consume it ... to destroy it all. But to succeed would have taken a vast amount of power. Vast! Far more than I, or you, or any pure Spirit possesses.

  The unicorn turned a circle, its hooves clattering on the floor tiles. Jay realised that this beautiful creature had been forever corrupted.

  The unicorn whinnied.

  I barely touched it. I was ... unequal to the task, said the Spirit.

  But you tried, thought Jay. There is merit in trying.

  There was merit in failing! it howled. I joined my brothers and sisters. Together we redesigned the world.

  The unicorn lowered its head and pointed its horn at the Teacher’s heart.

  The universe has changed. The Laws have changed. And you will discover little bird, as you sleep through this eternal night, the profits of immortal life.

  Jay closed his mind off to the creature.

  Dark Matter will protect me, he thought desperately.

  The Spirit stamped a hoof, reared, then charged at the defenseless boy. Head down the unicorn crashed into Jay. Its horn punctured deep into Jay’s chest, into the core of his Passage.

  Jay screamed and screamed! But not enough!

  Not enough to give full voice to his agony.

  Do not become! Do not become!

  Erys poured Dark Matter over the burning emu people. He saved their lives as an afterthought, for most of his mind was focussed on his desire to transform. His Spirit ached to be released. To be free.

  I could topple this army. But the cost. What would be the cost? How many Spirits would I consume to be free?

  He sent a tentacle of Dark Matter through the breach, grasped the flame-thrower and snapped it in two. In those moments more soldiers poured through the breach on the other side. Armed with batons retrieved from fallen soldiers, Saskareth and a small group of followers leapt onto the toppled statue and ran to the breach. Emu people and soldiers collided with an audible crash. One Umawari caught a falling baton in her beak, twisted and broke her assailant’s wrist.

  The Umawari were stronger but vastly outnumbered. For each soldier thrown from the statue, three or more climbed up to replace them. Before Erys could react, two of Saskareth’s companions were dragged through the breach and thrown down to the mercy of the army outside.

  Do not become!

  “Builder!” cried Erys. “We must retreat. To the Nature Dome.”

  The man below answered: “No! We hold here. Do not let them through.”

  More emu people climbed up to join the fighters on the statue. Erys saw the Commander outside wading through a sea of black soldiers. The Commander, standing head and shoulders above his army barked a command in his guttural language.

  Something large moved up the steps beneath the sea of soldiers. Like a giant worm burrowing under the surface of the soil, a large battering ram emerged onto the landing. Soldiers moved away on either side as the battering ram was pushed into position before the broken doors.

  “There!” cried the Commander, indicating the wall beneath Erys. “Break it down!”

  The soldiers hefted the battering ram and swung it forward. The impact shuddered through the statue and Erys fought for balance. Cracks fractured the wall.

  “Below me,” directed Erys. “They are breaking through.”

  The Builder and the emu people rushed to brace the wall.

  The soldiers swung the battering ram back and slammed it into the wall for a second time. The Commander dropped his arm. “Again! Again!”

  Do not become!

  Erys closed his eyes. Fighting for control he summoned gouts of Dark Matter to throw at the attacking soldiers. His arms filled with a steaming mass of tar-like liquid. But before he could use the substance, someone screamed inside his mind.

  He clutched his head as white pain seared his mind. The Dark Matter spilled ineffectually away as he fell to his knees.

  Teacher! he cried. Teacher!

  There was no answer. Erys could only see white pain in the Teacher’s mind.

  As the soldiers prepared to swing for a third time, a group of emu people leapt from the statue and fell amongst them. Their head feathers swung as they landed. The battering ram fell and rolled to the side, crushing a drove of soldiers as it went. Four emu people fought back to back against the tide of soldiers, striking with their beaks. But the fierce tide overwhelmed them and they quickly disappeared beneath a flood of striking batons and black, armored bodies.

  Teacher! Erys staggered to his feet. Through the fog of pain he caught a glimpse of a white, horned creature driving forward. As if it were his own body, he felt the horn pierce Jay’s heart. His body stiffened with agony.

  Erys! The cry was distant and faint. Jay was failing, and with him all hope of defeating Dark Matter. The emu people were failing beneath the weight of the army. But Erys could not save everyone.

  Teacher! I am coming!

  He sailed on outstretched arms from the statue to the floor beside the Builder and Jaime.

  “I must go,” he told them. “The Teacher needs help.”

  “We need you!” argued the Builder.

  “I have to go!”

  “We are lost without you. Erys?” But before the Builder could receive an answer, the sound of cries dragged him away. He ran to help Saskareth where the animist fought with the emu people at the second breach. Soldiers were steadily forcing the emu people back.

  “Erys?” begged Jaime. “We need you.”

  “I’m sorry,” he told the boy.

  His soul wailed as he backed away from the unbelieving Curator, from the Builder and Saskareth and his failing companions, from the tide of soldiers poised to flood into the foyer. His soul wailed and screamed to transform.

  Do not become!

  As he turned away an explosive force threw him headfirst across the floor. A mighty crash filled the room. Hands of Dark Matter cushioned his fall. Through dust and smoke he saw that half the wall had disappeared. Rubble fell as more sections of wall and ceiling collapsed. Dust billowed across the room. Emu people and soldiers alike had fallen with the force.

  Erys stood. Something moved behind the dust cloud. Something massive.

  Something a hundred feet across rose up and fell, and beat the air. Wings!

  Suddenly a creature appeared in the space. A winged beast, larger than any animal, sprang onto the statue. Jaws six feet wide opened and roared. The foyer shuddered with the sound. An emu man near it tried to back away on hands and feet. It snatched the emu man with a paw and swung him into its jaws.

  Its body shook and its wings unfolded, collapsing more ceiling as they reached full span.

  It was the General in his Spirit form.

  The General, savoring the taste of animist, looked around for more prey. One man stood brazenly before it.

  The creature hunched down and readied to spring. It hissed slowly, pulling furry lips back to reveal yellow fangs. It roared like an earthquake and the sound brought down what remained of the foyer’s outer wall.

  Erys braced for the attack as the massive creature vaulted across the foyer towards him.

  Do not ...

  Chapter 21 THE GREAT WIND

  ... become!

  B
efore it a man. Standing alone. A man staring into the dark pit of immortality.

  As a man it too existed in that dark well. As a man it saw no end in sight. But as Spirit it knew nothing of eternity. Just appetite.

  Before it a man. Through the dust and fire. Turning towards it. Black eyes.

  Dust and fire filled its nostrils, and the scent of prey. As it sprang across the foyer, the beast thought of crunching this prey between its jaws. Saliva, mixed with Dark Matter, sprayed in the air.

  But its prey was no longer a man. Spirit and power! Flash of light! The creature blinded ...

  ... before it a dragon of silver light.

  The impact rocked the Museum. Floor and walls shook. Plaster fell. Emu people and soldiers alike were thrown across the floor.

  The creatures of Spirit collided in mid air. They shone with a mixture of fire and silver radiance. The Spirit form of the General was massive - a griffin with lion-like body and broad wings that stretched halfway across the foyer. Dark Matter sprayed from its jaws. Fire and smoke leached from beneath its fur and from the undercarriage of its wings.

  The dragon was smaller and slender in form. Its body was coated with silver scales that sparkled as it flew. Its head was dog-like and sleek. It had blue eyes, and two short horns protruding behind its ear holes. Polished white teeth curved down over its lower jaw to razor sharp points.

  “Gob! Gob! Gob!” cried the emu people as Erys transformed.

  They shielded their eyes against the blinding light of these creatures.

  The creatures collided. The griffin far outweighed its opponent and knocked the dragon back across the foyer. It slammed into the Attendant’s desk, crushing the furniture into splinters. It skittered, rolled and was up, hovering in the air above the broken desk, facing the griffin in the centre of the foyer.

  The dragon glared with blue eyes at the griffin hunching low on the floor. Fire rolled from its belly and spilled between its teeth as the dragon roared. Gouts of fire splashed towards the griffin. It twisted in the air as it flew up to the ceiling. With the advantage of height it then speared down like a bolt of lightning.

  The griffin rose to meet its attacker. It braved the dragon’s fire. Red flames washed about its blinded face. It felt pain, but no damage was done to the Spirit. It opened its jaws and crunched down blindly, closing its teeth around the dragon’s body. As its teeth slid into the dragon’s flesh its eyes rolled into the back of its head with pleasure.