There was a strange disconnect between my mind and body; it was as though I could hear myself telling the story from outside of my own head. “I hadn’t even set down Kel’s body when the darkness came. It couldn’t even give me that one moment.” I looked from my hands to the bureau in the corner where I could see my last companion standing. “Jarut couldn’t see it, but it was everywhere. Creeping up through the stones, winding around my arms and legs. I tried to warn him, but it filled my lungs and eyes to stop me.
“I saved Alderea, and the darkness took me anyway. As soon as my duty was done, it swept me away, pulled me apart, and threw me down into another world with a new problem to solve.” My voice sounded so distant and sad that it made me want to curl into a ball and cry. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” The visions of Alderea faded away, replaced a moment later by whipping snow and rolling hills.
Something tugged at me, and I sluggishly blinked away snow to find the source. I realized I was sitting in Lia’s bedroom again, and my eyes were full of tears. “Oh. I, uh, I’m sorry. I don’t, uhm, I’m not…” I shook my head in an attempt to reorient myself, but it felt as if I was moving through some sort of viscous fluid, and it only disoriented me further.
Lia tugged at my hand again. “Come with me.”
It finally dawned on me that she was trying to lead me somewhere. “Sure,” I said, confused. I knew we were in her bedroom, but I could feel the biting winter winds on my back, and the sticky warmth of blood dripping down my hands. Unable to resist, I followed her across the room to the bed.
She pressed down gently on my shoulders. “Lie down,” she commanded, her voice barely more than a whisper. I nodded absentmindedly and complied, obeying without a thought. The mattress felt as soft as the grassy hill behind Ashedown’s forge, and the raging blizzard shifted to a sunny afternoon.
My head was shifted up momentarily, then set to rest on a comfortably soft cushion. I held out a hand to block the warm afternoon sun as I looked up, and found Amaya smiling down at me. “Hey there, beautiful. I’ve missed you,” I said lazily, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her face.
“Lux,” she called out softly. “Lux, please.”
“Right, right,” I nodded in reply, running my hand through the grass. Nestling my head further into her lap, I yawned. “Just a minute.”
“No, I…” Her voice sounded concerned. “Elden, I need you to come back to me.”
I felt a spark at the base of my skull, and the room snapped back into focus. I was lying in bed with my head in Lia’s lap, staring up into her eyes. My heart was racing, and I could feel my arms and legs tremble uncontrollably. “Lia. I’m—” My words cut off abruptly as a sob choked me. “I, I, I’m—”
Lia brushed a hand through my hair. "It's okay. Let it out." Her free hand slid down and intertwined with mine. "I'm here with you."
I cried wordlessly into her nightgown as I processed all of the emotions built up from my momentary episode. Kel's death, my banishment to Hedaat, and my own death; each struck me in turn and brought on a new round of sobs. Through everything, Lia scratched my head in a soothing rhythm and whispered calming words into my ear.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked when I finally regained a modicum of composure. “I shouldn’t—”
“No,” she interrupted. “You should. You’re carrying so much pain, and you never talk about it. It’s too much for one person to bear.”
“I don’t want to burden you with it,” I said weakly. “I don’t want you to turn out like me.”
“That’s silly. You’ll feel better after you talk about it,” she replied. “I want to help you.”
“I’m fine, really. I think I just need a good night’s sleep, and I’ll—”
“You died, Lux.” Lia rolled my head over to give me a stern look. “That’s not a memory somebody should have to deal with. You’ve gone through some terrible things, but you don’t have to go through it alone anymore.”
I took a deep, shaking breath. “You’re right,” I said with a sigh. Rolling onto my back, I gave her hand a light squeeze as I closed my eyes and rested my head comfortably against her stomach. “I’ll tell you about it.”
***
5. END OF THE WORLD
My boots peeled away from the floor with a sticky snap as I hurried down a stone corridor. Silver iridescent blood coated every surface in the hallway; the rotten, clotted substance filled the air with a foul odor so strong you could taste it on the back of your tongue. I had gone noseblind to the scent long ago, but even the sight of the blood was enough to unsettle my stomach. I slowed to a walk to observe a heavily coated section of wall. Running a gloved finger across the surface, I could identify distinct layers in the fetid blood going back multiple days.
The sudden piercing wail of an alarm klaxon renewed my focus, and I doubled my pace to the end of the hall. Placing my ear against a clean patch of metal, I took a moment to ensure the next room was clear before heaving the heavy iron door open. The room was in the same state I had left it in, thankfully, and I moved quickly to make my final preparations.
A large ring of black barrels sat in the center of the chamber, wrapped up and strung together with copious amounts of copper wire which coalesced in a small metal box on the floor. Every visible surface of the setup was completely coated in blood, which seemed to shimmer in the yellow light of a single filament bulb on the ceiling. Fresher blood crept its way towards me across the uneven floor, flowing out from beneath the massive pile of bodies against the back wall.
Although I knew there were at least fifty corpses lining the wall, it would be difficult to point out exactly where one ended and the next began. Save for the mortal wounds that had been inflicted upon them, each one looked identical to the others: smooth slate colored skin, humanoid in shape, and completely featureless aside from their faces. Their noses were sealed over and hardly visible above a distended mouth filled with multiple rows of teeth. While the lifeless eyes appeared entirely white in their current state, I could never forget the otherworldly purple glow they emitted while alive.
I walked around the circle of barrels to inspect my handiwork for what must have been the twentieth time. Satisfied again with the setup, I moved to the side wall and uncoiled a large length of heavily insulated cable. Slotting one end into its home in the wall, I walked the remaining length across the room and attached it to the receiver in the control box. A deep humming sound resonated out from the walls of the chamber, and a small indicator light flickered to life on the box.
I let out a sigh of relief. With my task completed, I moved to leave the way I had entered, but I stopped when I noticed a handwritten note on the inside face of the door. It was scrawled in a messy, uneven font and only lightly stained with blood. “Don’t forget. The switch is on the table in the center room. Don’t forget. The barrels have to be hooked into the wall before the switch will work. Don’t forget. You have to press the switch before the end. Don’t forget. Don’t forget!”
My brow furrowed. The note was written in my own handwriting, but I had no memory of creating it or attaching it to the door. Beyond that, the idea that I could forget how my own equipment worked didn’t make sense. My stomach knotted as I tried to recall the reason I would need the note in the first place, but its meaning eluded me. I did my best to shake off the worry and left the room, sealing it closed again behind me.
I had barely taken a step down the stone hallway when my leg spasmed. I toppled forward and landed hard on my shoulder and chin, which sent a splash of rancid blood up along the side of my face. Sharp lances of pain shot through me as I rolled on the floor, my leg convulsing uncontrollably. I instinctively pulled at my mana reserves in an attempt to calm my leg, but was startled when I found the energy already pounding throughout my body at maximum capacity.
As the convulsions began to settle, I dragged myself up to a sitting position against the wall and tried to center myself. My head was swimming from the impact of the fall, and my
body throbbed in pain much worse than I expected from such a trivial injury. I knew something was wrong, but it was difficult to pinpoint it through the daze.
Another klaxon blared down the hallway, pulling me back to my senses. With a pitiful whimper, I managed to struggle to my feet and continue my journey down the hallway. I limped through the dim passages, winding and weaving through the labyrinthine halls for what felt like far too long. Eventually, I reached another metal door, though this one was considerably lighter and already unlatched. I stuck my head through the open doorway and peered into the dark room.
It seemed to be some sort of living chamber, though it was coated in a layer of filth similar to the rest of the building. Three cots lined the wall to my right, while a small kitchen area took up most of the left side of the room with an ice chest and dining table. There was another door on the far side of the room, and an opening on the right wall half-covered by a hanging sheet. I watched the room intently for movement, then entered and closed the door behind me.
Through the dull yellow light, I caught a glimpse of something shiny on the farthest cot. I approached cautiously, wary of some sort of trap, but when I reached the bedside, I saw that the shimmer came from the reflective face of a sword. It was made of a beautiful light blue metal and was etched with strange runes along one side. The crossguard was heavy and unadorned, guarding a worn leather grip and a pommel ringed with a small golden band. A smile spread across my face as I examined it, although I didn’t know why.
My observations were interrupted by a loud crash against the far door of the room. I crouched in cover behind the cot and watched the small viewport in the door for movement. After another impact, a face appeared in the window, and a chill raced down my spine. Whatever was standing on the opposite side of the door was definitely not human.
The creature had slate grey skin, a nose that seemed to have no holes, and a gaping, circular mouth that hung open to reveal multiple rows of teeth. I barely had time to notice the secondary features before I became transfixed on just one: its eyes. They shone through the darkness with an eerie purple glow, completely devoid of pupils or irises. My stomach turned as I tried to identify the creature to no avail; whatever it was, I had never encountered anything like it in my entire life, and it terrified me.
A guttural scream echoed out from its cavernous mouth as it spotted me behind the bed. It smashed its head against the viewport, completely destroying the small window and sending glass shards raining down onto the floor before me. After another bellow the face disappeared, replaced with a spindly arm that reached through down towards the door handle. Fingers much too long for its hands brushed in searching waves until they curled around the metal latch.
There was a faint click as the mechanism released before the door violently burst open. Seeing the full form of the creature for the first time was disturbing; it was so close to human in its build, but everything was a degree off from normal. The skin was perfectly smooth and featureless, stretched taut over hyperextended joints that bent in sickening directions as it moved.
With another roar, the creature lunged across the empty space towards where I cowered behind the metal cot. I screamed and reached out desperately for the sword beside me, praying I would miraculously learn how to wield a blade in the fraction of a second I had left in life. When my fingers contacted the leather-wrapped grip, I felt a surge of mana pour down my arm and into the blade.
Energy crashed through my body like lightning, electrifying every fiber of my being. It felt as if a dense fog had lifted from my mind, and I remembered things that had been lost to me moments before. The room snapped into a bright focus as time dilated and slowed the Thrall before me to a snail’s pace. My hand curled around the familiar sword handle as I sprang out to meet my foe head-on. The blade whipped up in a flash, easily slicing through the monster’s outstretched arm. I leaned to one side and let its body brush past me, then gripped the sword in two hands and brought the cutting edge down through its neck.
Iridescent blood gushed out over the mattress as the head and torso separated. The head bounced and rolled along the stone floor, purple eyes fading to a dull white as its life quickly drained away. I wiped the edge of my sword on a small clean portion of the bedsheets and took a moment to collect my thoughts.
“They’ve reached the living quarters,” I said out loud, taking care to speak clearly and with emphasis. “That means the defenses in the main entry have finally given out. I have to move out to the central chamber and secure it at all costs.” I moved to the bureau at the back wall, directly past the doorway. Wiping a hand across the filthy mirror attached to the wall, I regarded myself coldly.
I was barely able to make out my own features through the dim yellow light and the silver blood on the glass. Dull eyes peered back at me from sunken sockets surrounded by bruised and wrinkled skin. White hair hung down past my shoulders, matted and crusty with old blood. There were multiple cuts on my forehead and cheeks which looked to have scabbed and peeled repeatedly, leaving the skin puffy and infected. I scowled at my condition.
“Don’t. Forget.” I repeated the words to myself. “Don’t. Forget. Don’t. Forget.” As I spoke, I pulled a silver orb from my bandolier and retrieved the needle from the fastening. Without breaking eye contact with the mirror, I punctured the orb and pressed the small button at the top of the needle. The orb swelled and began to glow with a faint orange light. After replacing the needle in the top of the bandolier, I held the orb up directly above my face and crushed it in my fist.
Orange liquid burst out as the thin silver membrane popped, coating my hands and face in the warm fluid. I wiped the excess from my skin and flicked it away, leaving the rest to sizzle and evaporate over my wounds. When I opened my eyes and examined myself again, the cuts on my forehead and cheeks were gone without a trace. I gave myself a small nod and turned to leave, but paused at the mirror. “Don’t. Forget. And for fuck’s sake, don’t put down the sword!”
As I strode down the narrow stone passageways of the lab, I went through a quick mental checklist of my current status. There was a sharp pain in my stomach, no doubt caused by a lack of food over the past three days. Even with the combat enhancements, my mind still experienced periods of cloudiness; whether it was due to lack of sleep, dangerously low mana levels, or my deteriorated mental state, I couldn’t say. The rest of my body was surprisingly intact, having sustained no major injuries in the fighting thus far.
I dispatched three more Thralls on my trip through the corridors. The narrow walls created a combat arena where only a single Thrall could engage me at any given time, regardless of their numbers, which put me at a severe advantage. When I arrived at the central chamber I found the door smashed off its hinges lying in the corridor, dented and bloody. The scene inside the room was much the same; every wall was scratched and covered in blood from where the Thralls had apparently attempted to smash their way through to deeper sections of the lab.
The chamber was sparsely furnished, containing just a wooden desk and chair at the far wall and a small metal table with a matching chair in the center. The tabletop was bare aside from a small, circular notch on the surface by the chair and a fancy border around the edge. I made my way to the center chair to sit, but took pause when I heard growls emanating from the doorway on the opposite side of the room. I pulled another orb from my bandolier with an exasperated sigh, this time filling it with a sinister blue liquid. When the silver bodies of two Thralls crept into sight from the dark hallway before me, I hurled the orb through the entrance towards them.
Brilliant blue fire erupted at the point of impact against the first Thrall’s chest, engulfing it in liquid flame. The fire grew quickly, spreading to the second thrall as it tried desperately to push past its writhing comrade. They both flailed their way into the room and fell to the ground just before they reached the metal table. I shook my head dismissively as I took my seat and pulled two more orbs from the bandolier. I filled them both with the s
ame blue liquid, pausing after the first one when I was hit with a rush of vertigo. I set them both down on the table along with the needle and waited for the next enemies to arrive.
While I sat in anxious silence, I traced my hand around the edge of the table, following the intricate patterns carved into the face. Although it looked like a random series of lines designed to add aesthetic value to the tabletop, each symbol was a tiny Alderean rune akin to the runes on my blade, all arranged in a precise order. I breathed a sigh of relief as I read through the runes for the thousandth time. “It’s almost over.”
My meditations were interrupted by a disturbance at the entrance. I could hear a large pack of Thralls scrambling their way towards me, but this time they were accompanied by a much heavier set of footfalls. I gripped my sword tighter in anticipation and picked up the first orb from the table. At the first sign of movement I lobbed it forward, catching the vanguard unaware. When the remaining Thralls crashed into the roadblock of their flailing ally, I threw the second orb, spreading the conflagration to the entire group.
A menacing bellow thundered out from the hallway. “ENOUGH,” the voice commanded. In response to the word, the pack of Thralls stood upright, suddenly unaffected by the flames consuming them. Their eyes were more intense than I had seen before, their purple light now overpowering the blue of the flames. The fire gradually subsided, leaving the Thralls horribly burned and melted, but they showed no signs of suffering from the injuries. They walked into the room single file and lined up against the back wall with an unprecedented level of control.
A massive figure filled the doorway as the source of the pounding footsteps reached my chamber. The beast must have been over seven feet tall, and was forced to stoop to enter the room. The skin on its lower half was a similar slate color to the Thralls, but it shifted in hue near the waist to a sickly purple, which darkened as it grew closer to the head. While it was clearly a distended human form like the Thralls behind it, the new creature rippled with muscle in clear contrast to their usual slender forms. Its eyes shone with brilliant purple light, although they still seemed to have traditional human irises and pupils, which scanned the room with clear, directed purpose.
Restart Again: Volume 2 Page 8