by Kyle Prue
“Neil, don’t,” the Doctor said. “For all of our sakes.”
The window shattered as Neil looked down at the cliff face below. There was no way he’d survive something like that. “Misty Hollow,” Neil said to Bianca. “If I’m alive I’ll meet you there. One month from today. Town square.” He felt like he had swallowed his tongue and now he was choking on it.
“Neil, think about what you’re doing,” Bianca said.
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” Neil decided as he met her eyes. “I’m showing some dedication.”
With that final note he hurled himself through the open window into the night air. He plummeted quickly and all the while attempted to dematerialize away. The energy in his body travelled passive-aggressively back and forth through his chest but refused to turn him into smoke. Without warning, the bomb exploded and he burst into particles along with it until he was floating through the air on the wind as if he had never been created in the first place.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
THE CLIFF
THE PACK
The Doctor looked up at his captors. It was time to crush them in his rattrap. He bolted up suddenly and precisely at just the right angle so that the top of his head collided with the weak spot right under Darius’s chin. Before Rhys could escape, the Doctor used an unforeseen flexibility to slip his cuffs from behind his back, under his legs, and out in front of him. He wrapped the chain around Rhys’s neck and pulled it tight enough to keep him from escaping. Darius, who had been dazed, lifted his arm to strike the Doctor, but there was no way to get a clean swing in. “Move any closer and I will fracture his tiny neck,” the Doctor breathed.
Darius stared him down. “I’m going to crush you, spider.”
The Doctor laughed. “I’ve issued thousands of death threats in my line of work.” The Doctor’s voice was eerily filled with glee. “Advice from a professional: don’t mark someone for dead unless you’re certain you can complete the job.”
From across the room the Doctor could hear Bianca sobbing. Where was Anastasia though? With a start the Doctor realized that she had used his distractions to go looking for his special needles. He heard footsteps approaching from behind and knew that Bianca was charging him in revenge for how he’d treated her beloved. He dodged the first knife and jerked Rhys around so that his shoulder was nicked by the second. Rhys would have cried out if he weren’t being suffocated. This maneuver was enough to distract Bianca and he lobbed a knife from his own arsenal at her. She blocked it, but just barely. “Victor. Take care of her,” the Doctor said without raising his voice.
The Marksman leapt from the rafters and landed on all fours. She turned to face him. “You’re furious,” he noted. “It will make you easy to beat.”
Bianca pulled her last two knives from her belt. “I just watched the person I care most about sacrifice himself.”
“Things would be different if he were smarter,” the Marksman said. “No mercy for fools.”
They clashed, but the Doctor didn’t have any more time to pay attention. The Taurlum was obviously trying to think of a way to free Rhys from his custody. Rhys was passing out and the Doctor lessened his grip. No need to suffocate his newest toy before the fun could begin.
“Hyena,” the Doctor said, “your turn. Take the Celerius to General Carlin.”
The Hyena slid down a banister using his claws to slow the fall. He scampered over to Lilly’s unconscious body but Darius kicked him away. “You’re not taking anyone anywhere.”
The Doctor laughed as he transitioned Rhys’s unconscious body so that it was draped over his shoulder. “I like you, Darius Taurlum. I have something spectacular planned for you. You’re going to die. But you’re going to witness true horror before you do.” He winked his hazel eye and used his free hand to fumble with some chemicals on the table next to him. Darius charged. The Doctor tossed a mixture of chemicals onto the ground and a cloud of gas swelled up from the ground. “Be careful not to breathe that,” he whispered.
Darius, however, was intent on charging the Doctor. He ran through the smoke and, unfortunately, sustained a whiff of it. He collapsed to the ground, wheezing in pain. The Doctor jeered. “Not one for listening, are you? Would you mind rating your pain on a scale of one to one hundred?” he asked.
Darius responded by coughing violently.
“Victor, get to the hideout. Make sure my workshop is ready,” the Doctor called to his eldest son across the workshop.
Victor’s fight with Bianca had gone well for him apparently, seeing as he had Bianca in one of his special holds. “Yes, father,” he said simply.
He pulled her arm out of its socket and she screamed. He dropped her body and bolted through one of the side doors. The Hyena had already escaped with the two Celerius. The Doctor knew that Darius was recovering quickly and he had little time to flee before the beast attempted to crush him into a puddle. He retreated with Rhys through the back door and on his way out saw Anastasia by one of his tables pulling a needle from her belly. She looked up and saw him. Her eyes were desperate and pleading. He nodded at her once, subtly enough to get his message across. You still work for me. He didn’t have any more injections prepared so she would have to be back at his mercy in one month’s time.
He adjusted Rhys’s weight so that it was easier on his back and carried him through the deep stone hallways of the outpost. By tomorrow they would be across Volteria and he would be free to begin his experiments. Hopefully this boy was the one he was looking for. Hopefully this boy was his heir.
Chapter Forty
THE CLIFF
DARIUS TAURLUM
Darius felt like his lungs were filling with blood. He couldn’t be sure but part of him knew he’d drown in it. Suddenly, Anastasia was beside him. “Drink this,” she said.
He was nervous at first because the liquid she gave him was in a test tube but he was happy to learn it was water. “Help your sister,” he said. “He broke something on her.”
Darius leaned his head against the ground and knew he’d be kicking himself as soon as he could. The Doctor had outsmarted them in dozens of different ways and now he had Rhys. Not to mention the fact that Neil was now either dead or in the water hundreds of feet below. He groaned and rolled over onto his hands and knees. Across the room Anastasia was popping Bianca’s arm back into her socket. “Where were you?” Darius asked. “While we were getting thrashed?”
“I decided to take a look around. It looked like you all had it covered,” Anastasia said. “Should have known better.”
Darius bent over and vomited. It made him feel much better. He stood and grabbed his head in his hands. “We have to get to Misty Hollow,” Bianca said, tears in her eyes.
“In a month,” Darius said. “Going now won’t do anything for anyone.”
In response Bianca rolled over into the fetal position. Darius sighed. “We have a decision to make. We either go after Lilly and the Wolf or we go after Rhys.”
Anastasia gritted her teeth. “We need to go after Rhys.”
“He might already be dead,” Darius said.
Anastasia shook her head. “The Doctor was promising double the money if anyone would bring Rhys in alive. He’s got plans for him. If I know the Doctor it’ll be worse than death.”
Bianca stood as well. “Even so, how do we know where to find him? The Doctor was sloppy enough to be caught. He won’t let it happen again.”
The room was silent, aside from the wind blowing in from the broken window. “I know a guy,” Anastasia said. “Well, I know a guy who knows a guy who will know where he is.”
Darius groaned. “That sounds like it’ll be a walk in the park. I’m not convinced we shouldn’t go after Lilly.”
“Lilly is with the Wolf,” Bianca said. “They’ll figure something out. I’m sure of it.”
“So we’re going after Rhys?” Anastasia asked. “Because if we are I’ll get in touch with my contact.”
Darius stared at the ground. “
He beat us. He beat every single one of us: Lilly, Neil, the Wolf, me, Rhys, you guys. None of us stood the slightest chance.”
“And?” Bianca asked.
“If we go after him again we might not live through it,” Darius said. “We have to accept that now. We are risking our lives for his.”
“When have we ever been concerned about risking our lives, Darius?” Bianca asked.
Darius remembered how many times he’d rushed headfirst into battle for less. “Okay. Anastasia get in touch with your friend. We’re going after Rhys before the Doctor can break him.”
“And if we can’t get there in time?” she asked.
“Then we’re going to avenge him,” Darius said.
PART TWO
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin must be shed before the new one can come.”
- Joseph Campbell
Chapter Forty-One
Volteria’s Ocean
Neil Vapros
In one moment Neil was floating through the wind, then suddenly, without warning, his consciousness reassembled. The force of his mind gluing itself back together was so powerful that if he had been whole, it might have knocked the wind out of him. He tried to open his eyes and look around, but quickly found that not everything was working yet. He was surrounded by darkness. Until a small light the size of a firefly appeared. It grew slowly and took the form of a man.
“Death, right?” Neil asked.
His voice wasn’t coming through his mouth, but his mind. The Man with the Golden Light hovered in front of him silently. “That killed me, right?” Neil asked. He knew if he could he’d be crying. “This is where it ends for me?”
“You are not a prophet, Neil,” the Man said in thousands of voices. “You are the same as any Lightborn. You’ve been foolish at times, prideful, selfish.”
Neil wanted to argue, but had trouble finding the words. He could be stubborn, but not arguing-with-deities stubborn. The Man with the Golden Light continued, “But you have always been extraordinary in one aspect. Your capacity for hope is unbridled. Unprecedented. It’s a great power.” He floated closer to Neil and touched his forehead lightly. “Don’t abandon that hope. Don’t tell me you’re even willing to consider that this is the end.”
“My great power is… hope?”
“Do you know why you received your advanced ability?” the Man asked. He didn’t wait for an answer. “An advanced ability can only be achieved when a person is on the verge of losing hope. It was created to remind Lightborns to be our inspiration and to keep pushing onward. When you’re at your lowest, it is never easy to see the way upward. The advanced ability is to clear the way.”
Neil let the words wash over him. He thought immediately of how it felt when his ability had presented itself: terrified for Bianca’s safety, in pain, and out of options. That night at the gate rushed back. He then thought of his sister Jennifer and how she must have felt standing over Edward, the boy she’d killed by accident. “The only thing worse than pessimism is the total absence of hope,” the Man added.
“I’m alive,” Neil said. He allowed the hope to grow within him.
“Alive. Yes,” the Man said. “You have yet to reform, but I assure you it is coming.”
“Reform?” Neil asked. “I remember dematerializing… But I guess for the first time I don’t remember rematerializing after.”
“Your soul is pulling the remaining pieces of you back together. Soon you’ll be one with yourself again. Although, I can’t promise you’ll feel the same. You’ll be new. You’ll be confused.”
Feeling appeared in Neil’s fingertips. It began to stretch toward his torso. The feeling of existence was soft and warmer than he’d expected. “Wait!” he said. “Why meet me now?”
“Your mind is nearly empty. This is the best possible time for learning, re-creation and advice,” the Man said. “What’s your purpose, Neil?”
“I don’t…” Neil trailed off as the feeling of warmth engulfed his legs and feet. “I don’t know.”
“Then now is the best time for you to realize your meaning. Lightborns were made to protect the people, and each other. Remember now that the right thing is not always the easy thing, but you should always know it to be the right thing.”
“The right thing,” Neil repeated.
“You must also remember how heavy guilt is. If you decide to carry it, it will break you. Learn from your pain, acknowledge its lessons, ask my forgiveness, and then let it rest. Never carry it.”
“Guilt is heavy,” Neil repeated. The feeling of warmth stretched over his face. “How do I know…?” With those words his eyes opened and he realized his voice was coming through his mouth again.
He was wrapped in blankets. That explains the warm feeling, he thought. He unraveled himself from the blankets and realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He lifted the sheet and sighed with relief upon realization that he was in fact wearing pants. Even though they weren’t his own pants, he’d take that over nothing.
“That’s the first thing I’d check for too,” said a soft feminine voice from the foot of the bed.
Neil instinctually rolled into fighting position, however he did so while only halfway sitting up, probably ruining his only chance of intimidation. His guest was leaning against one of the bedposts and had her legs casually kicked up on the bed. She raised an eyebrow at him and he lowered his arms. “What’s going on…?” he asked as he stumbled out of the bed. He grabbed a nearby cabinet to steady himself.
“Maybe you should tell me first. What’s your name?” she asked.
Neil stepped away from her. He swiveled around to examine the room. The floor, walls and ceiling were all completely wooden, as were the bedframe and all the cabinets. Not only was the entire room made of wood, it was also creaking mysteriously. He considered lighting his hands on fire, but instantly realized what a mistake that would be. “You’re Imperial,” Neil said.
For some reason he didn’t know what that word meant. It left his mouth nevertheless. She stood up and approached him. “You’d better calm down,” she said forcefully.
Neil heard enough. He used his front foot to perform an ankle breaker the way someone had taught him. Unfortunately his new foe slid her foot back, effectively dodging his attack. She lashed out with superhuman speed and jabbed him just below his chest and above his stomach. The strike sent Neil reeling into the wall, then to the floor. He wanted to vomit, but there was nothing to expel. He gasped for air pathetically until she picked him up. She set him back in the bed and frowned at him with crossed arms. “I thought you’d be nicer,” she pouted.
He stared at her, as his vision returned. She was actually strikingly beautiful. Neil hadn’t noticed until she punched the air straight out of his lungs. Her skin was unnaturally tan and only served to make her turquoise eyes brighter. Her sandy blonde hair had been pulled into a long braid that reached her mid back. Small golden rings held the braid together. That was the only hint of jewelry she wore.
“You’re staring,” she said.
Neil was thrown off by her tone. It wasn’t judgmental or serious. It simply seemed like an observation. Her voice was harmonic and pleasant, as if she were singing without even trying. “I think you broke every bone in my chest,” he said.
“Sorry,” she said in her airy tone. “We’ll see if you can breathe in a bit. If not I might have to hit you again.” She winked. “Knock everything back into place.”
Neil blinked a few times. “What’s your name?”
“Serena. Serena Tridenti.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” he managed.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“It’s…” Neil stopped. “It’s…”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know your own name?”
“I feel like I must’ve had one,” Neil said. “But for some reason I can’t remember.”
“When you’re feeling well en
ough to stand we should go see my brother,” she said with a scratch of her nose.
“I don’t know,” Neil said. “I feel dizzy. The room won’t sit still.”
Serena laughed melodiously. “You really don’t have any idea where you are, do you?” He shook his head. “The reason you think the room is moving is because it is,” she continued. “Currently you’re sailing on the Tridenti family’s prized long ship.”
The room shifted violently, and Neil was practically thrown from the bed. “Welcome to my crew,” she said playfully.
Serena led Neil through the underbelly of her ship without slowing to accommodate his lack of sea legs. She glided through the halls and storage rooms with ease, while he slipped and stumbled into walls. Neil had never been on a ship before. In addition, he’d only ever seen one boat in his life. Altryon’s largest river had a steamboat that could carry goods from the factories in the slums to the stores in the markets. They reached a large door, presumably on the other end of the ship. Serena threw it open and ushered him inside.
Sitting at the desk was a man that looked only a few years older than Neil. Like Serena he had blond hair with sandy streaks in it. Except, instead of a braid his was pulled into a bun. He had a thin beard, the kind that probably needed to be styled and neatly trimmed every morning. He looked up from the papers he was reading. Serena placed her hands out as if Neil was a trophy she was proudly presenting. “I win!” she said.
The man behind the desk smiled, and Neil was struck by how white his teeth were. “It doesn’t count if you woke him.”
“I didn’t!” she said. “He started talking more and more and then eventually he shot up!”
Neil felt awkward. He didn’t exactly know how to address Serena or the man behind the desk. “What did she win?” Neil asked.
“We were betting on whether you’d wake up within a week,” the man said. “Serena is an optimist and said you’d awake within five days. My estimation, however, was that you’d awake after a week, or not at all.”