by Mark Russo
The itchlings horde was not ten meters ahead.
The noise from below became ear-splitting, like an incipient earthquake. The soil broke open before me as I hit the brakes on the stone board. The stone worm appeared again, exploding from below then plummeting to the ground, amid the faceless monsters.
I got closer.
My armored ally was wreaking havoc among our enemies—parts of those tiny beasts’ bodies, legs especially, flew here and there, creating an unpleasant rain effect.
The giant snake, on the opposite side of the confrontation, became invisible. Typical Path of Mind.
The surviving itchlings attacked the worm. A moving mass of limbs and heads soon covered it, rendering my already massive friend even bigger. It took it but a shrug to scatter and dismember most of them.
I was close now. I heard dozens of minuscule claws trying to scratch the worm’s thick carapace. An unknown force bent my legs, and I fell off the stone board. With my back on the ground, my head hurt violently, like my brains were about to burst from my ears. Despite my eyes being closed while facing the ache, I could see something before me. It was a daydream like vision with the head of the reptile at the center of it; its yellow eyes stared into mine.
“It’s you. I knew it was you,” I said, or probably thought. I opened my eyes and jumped on my feet.
A thick layer of stone lifted me above the ground. I was moving again now that I had a clear objective. Rockjets galore followed; my energy reserve seemed limitless. Many more stones floated in the air than I ever thought I could raise—I just effortlessly lifted more and more.
The stone worm, immune to the cloud of debris, ravaged the rest of the itchling horde. Each time it opened its mouth, he would gobble one as feeble claws attacked with ineffective strikes. I ignored the threat they posed and sought for the invisible beast.
The override and bind blast skills the serpent was using were not affecting me anymore.
When I turned my back, the stone worm stood among the itchlings’ remnants.
“Find him,” I said.
My pet submerged, breaking through the ground again.
The serpent attacked me from behind, and before I could even see it, his spires imprisoned me.
“I should have done this way before, James. Thanks for coming here.” Its voice sounded different from what I remembered. The worm emerged from the underground and towered in front of us—a resounding roar replaced the chirp I expected.
I couldn’t shake the monster off me. Its grip around my body tightened. I heard one of my ribs creak noisily, and my skin turned blue as the reptile held me even tighter.
The pain that had almost felt like unendurable up to that point diminished abruptly. My limbs and head became stiff. I couldn’t move anymore. I noticed my arms had greyed to the same color of common rocks. Is this what death feels like?
The long black creature swathed around me, opened its mouth and bit my right shoulder. It withdrew when its teeth broke, loosening the grasp on my chest.
I faced my enemy while it flinched from our hand-to-hand skirmish. I jumped forward and grabbed its large head with my stone hands. A mind blast reached out to me again, but it felt like a sting from a mosquito—annoying but bearable. “Is this the best you can do, Frank?” I squeezed my finger inside the snake’s cranium; it was soft as butter.
The stone worm emerged from the ground before me with a geyser-like effect of rocks. Its mouth chopped a huge chunk of the snake’s body.
“It’ll be fun, Frank, or whatever your name is now. I think you are getting used to this place, uh? One more death will not matter that much.” With my fingertips plunged into the beast’s head, I pulled in separate directions.
“I assume you killed it,” Emma said, startling me from behind my back.
“I think so. Do you know who that was?”
“Oh god, what happened to your face? And the rest of your body?”
“Turns out I can turn my skin to stone. Handy at times.”
Emma gave me the thumbs-up. “What was that monster, and why did you want me to stay back?”
“Do you remember your best friend, the teddy bear?”
Her face turned to stone too, but just metaphorically.
“In Plane K, he is a big, not very soft serpent.”
“He will spawn here again. These are the pools—the ponds, whatever.”
I nodded, as her intuition was correct. “Mr. Sweet, or whatever they call him here, will appear soon by one pond.”
“We will have to fight him again. This time, I want to help. This time I want to be the one ripping his head open.”
I got closer to her. “He will be weaker than before. Each time you die in Plane K, you lose some of your power.”
Her eyes widened. “Like in those RPGs everyone is playing. I tried, but gosh, I suck so bad at those.”
“I am good at killing monsters. I can teach you. It will be a lot of fun.”
9
Maria
Emma’s ghost disappeared, but a floating trace of a pink like fog-like substance that drew an irregular line two meters from the ground stayed where she had passed. The powder-like substance in the air thinned as I approached the end of the tunnel that was just a long hole in the ground, in which someone had carved some steps off the crude rock.
When I exited, I found myself in a much wider space resembling a desert, with scattered rocks and green soil—probably the Wastes, a huge area of Plane K where nothing much happened, hence the name. Akko had spent days telling me about Plane K, and it hadn’t been completely boring. Now, I was alone though as I moved straight in front of me—or better, following the trail the ghost had left behind.
The more I walked, the more all that felt like one of those fantasy worlds in TL; I was wielding a sword while following a specter, and I was about to join my friends in their adventure to hunt down a group of some other monsters. Joder, that was too geeky for me already.
On the horizon, I noticed something gleaming in the distance, something big. To be more precise, the entire line of the horizon glistened in a purple light, and the trail led toward that brightness ahead.
Akko had said if I died in Plane K, I would pop up at the Creation Ponds. Okay, that was reassuring, but still, I tightened the grip on my blade.
What looked like a detail on my line of sight thickened and widened as I walked. If that was a creature, I had no chances; my legs were trembling. My feet offered some resistance to my already not-so-relentless march.
I heard a very familiar sound—waves crashing on the shore. I placed my sword in its immaterial sheath. The sound of the waves increased as I approached. This was really not possible; I had to be high, or someone was pranking me. What I had before me was the Luminescent Sea. The only thing wrong with it was the place was part of TL.
I stowed my weapon and stepped forward to have a closer look at the sparkling purple substance. For a moment, I forgot about Plane K, the Paths, Akko, and all the rest; it was just the sea and me. In the corner of my eye, I noticed something I didn’t before. And that, well, it was a hundred percent TL. I was sure it was.
A five-meter-long auto piloted wooden boat floated above the water in the vicinity. I didn’t see many local inhabitants, but none of those I had seen looked like a sailor, given some of them did not even have arms. There was nothing to do there except hanging on the boat myself, and so I did. It was the first time I touched the gleaming waters of that sea, and it felt exactly like that—colored water, nothing more. I sat on the cracked wood, and the boat got underway. Somehow, I had expected it; I was at the right place at the right time. The magical vehicle moved, riding the waves gently, headed somewhere I still had to find out.
The sea was so bright all around me; I had never sailed it before. It was like riding a star-studded sky, just it was brighter and purple. The waves rhythmic cradling and the ruffled surface combined for quite an experience. I’ve never done drugs—no one does these days—but I assume this w
as more or less what it felt like.
Everything around was, at the same time, exactly the same yet completely different. Among my fluid thoughts and hypnotic waves, something appeared not a hundred meters from me. It had to have been there before since its size was unignorable, but I didn’t notice it until I was about to bang against it. A small island of dark sand stood before me.
My boat slowed—again, magically—and approached the small land mass. As all that was not already enough, a tall and thin tower stood on top of the island—a dark stone brick construction, like those people owned in TL. Many had houses, towers, or research stations at the sea.
I hopped down and splashed in the water. I covered the few meters from the shore walking; I never enjoyed swimming with too many clothes on. The tower seemed familiar—either I had been there before or someone had discussed it with me, I couldn’t remember. A small wooden door stuck out on its side in the opposite direction to where I was coming from. I had to kneel and crawl to enter.
Once I got in, I looked up to see the first steps of a spiral staircase. Somehow, my clothes were dry already; that water had to be magical for real. The staircase had nothing magical to it; instead, they were just levitating stone steps arrayed in a spiraling line. A lot of steps. I lost track of time, even more than usual. It felt like I was climbing forever. After I climbed a step, there was yet another to climb. Since we were in Plane K, I didn’t find it tiring, just boring, a lot. Someone had told me he or she owned a place like this, but I couldn’t remember their name.
I raised my head. I was at the end of the staircase. A wide, round hall opened in front of me. Long, vertical slots opened on the outer wall. The glistening of the sea surprised me again. No one else was there, but there was something else. At the end of the room, a small object lay on the floor. From a closer distance, I could tell it was a metal box—a toolkit one, like the one my grandpa had in the countryside.
Reaching it, I slowly kneeled to see a thick layer of rust, like no one had touched it for years. I grabbed the handle and pulled. The thing creaked but wouldn’t open. I used a little more strength, and it worked. The inside was in a better condition but mostly empty if not for a small, smoothed metal cube, nothing too special. I picked it up. Again, nothing special happened; it was lighter than I expected.
The object slipped from my hand, but instead of plummeting to the floor, it remained hanging midair. I leaped back, startled. It rose in the air in front of eyes. I lowered my head to see my time blade was in my hand, although I didn’t summon it.
Something like an invisible force swung it off my hand. Now both the metal cube and my sword levitated before me. I didn’t move, my eyes focused on the two dancing objects before them. The blade spun so the hilt would get in contact with the ore piece. The latter was colored in a deep red, like burning from the inside, and soon turned to a smoking ember.
It exploded, forcing me to land on my butt in a very unfashionable way. A soft layer of black powder covered my face. The explosion became a burning flare of red and blue, engulfing my blade and coming very near to me again. I threw myself to the ground, but the flames never came too close. The ball of fire that, for a moment, looked like it would grow even bigger, shrank to half its diameter then disappeared. I was safe. My sword swiveled in the air and fell to the ground, penetrating the wooden floor I was using as a bed.
And that was it; nothing else happened. After a long moment of hesitation, I stood and put my hand on the time blade. I dug it from the pavement; again, nothing exploded. I stowed it and decided to ponder what had just happened on another day.
A light clack behind my back, like a heavy door’s bolt, drew my attention. I trod back and found an open trapdoor just before the staircase. What else could I do? I descended the tiny steps of the narrow flight of stairs.
I couldn’t see a thing. I pushed my hands forward as a safety measure. The next step proved way more slippery, and I stumbled and fell. I expected to reach a landing and to get hurt—I could even break my bones—but it didn’t happen. I kept plummeting in the obscurity. When I calmed down a bit, I realized I was not gaining speed but losing some instead. It was more of a gliding movement, and when I finally landed, I was unharmed.
Either my eyes were defying me or I had gone nuts. The area was dimly lit, and it didn’t help. There were no walls, floors, or anything indicative to a room. I stood on the outer edge of a gigantic analog clock, those with turning hands and Roman numerals.
“You found it, Maria. You found the Path of Time.”
“Madre de Dios, you followed me here? I told you multiple times not to sneak up on me. You will give me a heart attack one of these days!”
“Well, you escaped. I had to make sure you were safe.”
That sneaky monster.
“I don’t buy it, Akko. This is another of your tests, right? The ghost, the Luminescent Sea, everything.”
“Are you saying my tricks are cheap? This is because of you.” He was already getting on my nerves. “Come, have a look at this. You deserved it.”
I frowned but tagged along.
“Maria. I have never been here before. The Paths do not show themselves to us, to people from Plane K. This really is all because of you.”
I looked at the clock then at my mentor. “So, how is this even happening? What do we do now?”
He giggled from below his wizard’s hat. “You tell me, Maria. Me? I have no clue.”
“Something was in the tower. What happened to my blade?”
“All I know is that, ever since you came here, this place, everything around me has been different.”
I unsheathed my time blade and showed it to him. We inspected each part, even the bas-relief symbols line on the hilt.
“I see nothing different with this thing.”
I exhaled. “So, you are saying all this happened with no help on your side?”
He nodded, widening his eyes.
“What do we do with the Path?” I pointed at the clock, the one all around us.
“Be patient for that. I must study it.”
I scoffed. “What do I do while you are at it?” The tip of my right foot tapped on the clock’s metal cage.
“Reach Emma and James. It’s time you help them.” He gestured with his hand.
I don’t know what happened next; I fainted and fell to the ground.
10
Emma
Another rockjet tore the serpent’s body in two. I had lost count of how many times we had killed it, or him.
“Do you plan to keep doing this for long?” I asked James.
His breath was heavy. “I am not satisfied yet. I want him to be completely harmless. Then we might leverage his knowledge.”
I hadn’t considered that.
“We will use him to find a way to stop the Communion. There has to be one,” he added.
“This sounds like a plan, you redhead. Oh, look. He’s returning already.” This time, I sent two doubles by his side and held James back; it was my turn to end the snake.
“Enough!” he screamed after emerging from a shallow pond.
“Oh, so now you are the one asking me to stop? Who would have thought, Mr. Sweet?” I yelled at him.
“Vagras. That is my name, my real one.”
I felt James push the hand I lay on his forearm. “It’s a very nice name. Are you enjoying our manners? I guess killing and exchanging me with a proxy had to be just as fun.”
The serpent rose.
I kept clones close to him, but I would not attack. It appeared way tinier than before.
“You can’t make me weaker than this. Even if you kill me another ten times.”
“Really? I do not trust you. Let me try one thing.” I left the doubles where they were and used an override skill, the same one I would use to take control of an itchling.
Vagras bent his head and danced, as I had commanded his mind.
“I like it when you dance. Go ahead some more.”
The snake
just did.
James whispered in my ear, “Do you think he can still read our minds?”
“That’s something I have barely managed to learn, and I can do it only at times. I think we lowered his level of mastery to novice. I mean, I can control him,” I whispered back.
“Emma, you know I might help. Can I stand up now?”
I released my control over his will.
He slowly crawled forward.
“Keep him at least five meters from me. I can’t promise I won’t attack him again.”
I could almost touch how much James wanted to do that. “Sure, I’ll keep him away from you. But we need him. Do you get it?” I wrapped his hands with mine.
He nodded while looking away.
“So, Vagras, where do we go now? You better not pull any tricks.”
“I couldn’t even if I wanted, Emma. We should find the spires—three columns of rock that convey the Communion’s power to Plane R.”
James appeared by my side. “Are those made of gleaming rock?”
Did he already see those?
“Yes,” the serpent replied, “you have seen those already.”
“I might be capable of finding them again. It’s just it was quite far from here.”
“We might use the stone board. Just create a bigger one.”
James turned his back on us, and I heard that almost familiar noise of grinding rocks. “This big enough?”
“I’d say that looks more like a ship than a surfboard,” I said.
His eyes remained serious. “Okay, let’s go. I think those spires, as he called them, are at least half an hour away.”
“You are considering time and space in Plane R terms. You know it doesn’t work like that here, James.”
“Vagras, right? I don’t care what you have to say.”
So, two humans and a big specimen of what I’d call a black mamba, if I knew it wasn’t mounted aboard a rectangular piece of rock and plowed the ground below them. I assumed we would proceed at a slower pace since we were heavier than before, but it didn’t happen. Plane R terms.
James stood at the front of the makeshift vessel, like an old-times pirate captain. He crossed his arms and didn’t check on Vagras and me once.