The Light Thief

by David Webb

  “Nicky, please wake up.” She spoke shakily through her tears, which fell on his body and sizzled, wisps of steam rising from his skin.

  “Aniya,” Roland said again. “You have to leave.”

  She ignored him and stroked Nicholas’s hair, kissing his forehead gently.

  Roland crawled over and sat by Aniya’s side as he placed his hand on hers. “Please, Aniya. I can’t watch you die again.”

  In response, Aniya squeezed his hand tightly but refused to move.

  “No.”

  That voice. Terror gripped Roland’s heart as the pained, angry voice shook his very soul.

  “No.”

  It came again, rumbling the ground beneath him. Her voice morphed, taking on a depth and gravitas that was hauntingly unnatural. It wasn’t human. But it wasn’t inhuman. It was somehow . . . more than human.

  Meltdown imminent. Evacuate—

  “No!” The voice burst forth, and the shout rattled the cavern again. The pillar Roland sat on finally shook free from the ceiling, and it slowly tilted toward the wall.

  Roland grabbed the being’s face with his other hand, forcing it to look at him. “Aniya, come back! You have to stop!”

  But it wasn’t listening to him any longer.

  The pillar continued to tilt slowly, then careened toward the wall, tilting the ground in the wrong direction as Roland felt his body start to fall off the edge.

  “Aniya!”

  The being made no move to save him, and his body dropped off the side. Roland closed his eyes in preparation for the fall.

  But it never came.

  He opened his eyes and watched the pillar crash into the wall. Thousands of pods shattered as unconscious men were freed from their prisons, helplessly falling to their deaths in a morbid freedom after a lifetime of slavery.

  The pillar rocked back and forth for a moment, then crumbled under its own weight and fell into the depths below.

  The entire pillar had missed him somehow, but what was more remarkable was the fact that Roland remained suspended in the air. His hand was still holding on to the glowing phantom, which sat on thin air as well, still holding Nicholas.

  Did Kendall turn back on the anti-gravity shafts?

  But instead of vaulting to safety, propelled by an unseen force, they instead rose slowly to the main walkway. The surrounding light gradually grew, now a sphere that encompassed them.

  They came to rest on the main walkway, and Roland yelped, startled by an intense heat racing up his right arm. He turned to see the being, now glowing a shimmering gold, one hand on Nicholas’s chest and the other clutching Roland’s right hand.

  Tiny veins of yellow light danced across the being’s body, from its heart, down its arm, into Roland’s hand, and disappearing around his side.

  Suddenly, his back grew hot, and the pain coming from the bullet hole was replaced by a warm feeling that calmed his spirit and slowed his heart.

  Roland felt the bullet still embedded in his back slowly drill itself backward, passing bone and muscle that stitched itself up behind the foreign object. Within seconds, the bullet dropped to the rock behind him with a clink.

  Then the heat was gone as the being released his hand.

  Roland opened his eyes after the initial shock wore off. The light was now focused in a different direction, now channeling itself from Aniya into Nicholas. The yellow tendrils were brighter now, and the light seemed more intense, racing faster and spreading over Nicholas’s entire body.

  The being shuddered as the light took on a reddish hue. It mumbled, almost whimpering. For several minutes, crimson light coursed over Nicholas’s body, its intensity growing with every second. Soon, the light was so bright that Roland could no longer see him.

  Roland covered his ears again as the noise emanating from the being escalated into a deafening, howling wail. Terrible pain throbbed in his ears, and warm, thick liquid bathed his palms as he moaned in pain.

  The light reached its peak, and almost instantly, it began to diminish rapidly, dwindling back to its source as the being’s cry turned to a whine.

  He could now see Aniya’s face once again. His heart broke as her face strained in agony. For a moment, it seemed like she was about to give up. The light had almost completely left Aniya, and Nicholas reappeared as the light bathing his body vanished as well.

  Aniya looked up at Roland as tears streamed down her face.

  “I can’t.”

  She looked down at Nicholas.

  “I’m sorry.”

  As Aniya’s eyes grew dark again, she leaned over and kissed Nicholas.

  The light returned instantly, bursting into a white blaze and lighting up every nook and cranny of the cavern. Roland felt his eyes grow hot, and smoke rose in his vision as he realized that his eyes were quite literally burning. But there was no pain, and he could not bring himself to look away from the incredible sight.

  Then his eardrums burst as a colossal explosion shook the cavern once again. Fire rose from the depths below, shooting upward in a pillar of flame and surrounding the trio as they sat on the walkway, which remained unnaturally still despite the powerful quakes.

  And just like that, it was over.

  The fire vanished, the roaring boom ceased, and the white light vanished. Roland’s eyes were normal, and his ears were restored. In fact, as Roland ran his hands over his body, he felt perfectly fine.

  Aniya sat before him, faint streams of light coursing over her body. The crystal around her neck glowed green, pulsing in time with her breath. Several streaks of white highlighted her black hair, and her eyes held a sharp green sparkle that took Roland’s breath away.

  Nicholas’s body, now flush with color, was shaking in her lap. After a moment, he opened his eyes and gasped loudly. His eyes darted between Aniya and Roland.

  “What happened?”

  Aniya looked back at him and smiled.

  Then, her eyes went dark again, and her crystal drained of color, turning black. All that was left was a tiny, dim speck of green light, barely visible in the dark gem.

  Aniya toppled over and fell to the ground.

  52

  The next day, Aniya finally opened her eyes again, groaning at the pain coursing through her body. She was in a small room, lit by a candle that flickered just out of sight.

  “Good morning.” A voice came from her side.

  Aniya tried to turn to the source of the voice but found that it was simply too painful to move.

  Roland’s smiling face came into view as he leaned over her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like death,” Aniya muttered, wincing as her words revealed a sharp headache.

  “Yeah, Kendall said that might happen. You’re fine. A picture of perfect health, apparently. You’re just feeling the effects of the electrotherapy they used to bring you back after we lost you the second time.”

  “Electro—” Aniya searched her mind, but her memories were scattered and blurry. “Where are we?”

  “Back in Refuge. Xander and Malcolm found us in the Citadel and brought us out.”

  “What happened?”

  Roland took a deep breath. “A lot. What do you remember?”

  Aniya closed her eyes and tried to push the pain out of her mind. “I remember you getting shot. I remember stepping into the tank. I remember the pain. I remember Nicholas . . . I remember Nicholas dying.” Suddenly, the darkness provided by her closed eyes turned from comforting to crushing, and she opened her eyes again as tears spilled out.

  “That’s the last thing you remember?”

  Aniya nodded.

  “Nicholas is alive.”

  Aniya choked on her tears as a cry of joy escaped her lips. “But I watched him die.”

  “I know. I watched you die too.”

  “I died?”

  “Or at least I thought you died. I pulled you from the tank and revived you. You woke up, and then you . . .” Roland looked down.

  “I healed you.”

>   Images came flooding back, exacerbating Aniya’s headache as she relived the trauma in the Hub.

  “I healed you, and then I healed Nicholas. But it wasn’t me,” Aniya said. “I didn’t do any of it.”

  “That wasn’t you? But I saw—”

  “I know what you saw,” Aniya said. “I saw it too, but I don’t think I was in control. It felt like I was outside of my own body, watching myself do things without any say in the matter. It scared me, not knowing what my body was going to do next.”

  “So if it wasn’t you, what was it?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it was me. Maybe I just don’t remember. I do remember being surrounded by light, almost like it trapped me and made me watch. And then there were the voices.”

  “Voices?”

  Aniya closed her eyes again, remembering the hair-raising feeling of a thousand voices pervading her mind. “I don’t know what they were saying, but there were so many of them.” She opened her eyes. “If you’re alive, and if Nicholas is alive, is William—”

  Roland looked away and bit his lip.

  Aniya’s throat closed as the tears started to come again.

  “He died to save you, Aniya.”

  “You don’t get it,” she said, spitting out her words as her chest heaved with the sobs. “I was supposed to die to save him, and I failed.”

  “No, Aniya. I’m alive because of you. You went to the Hub to save your brother. You didn’t fail. You saved me. I just wasn’t the brother you set out to save.” Roland smiled. “Nicholas is alive. The man who killed our parents is dead. Their awful machine is destroyed. The Hub is in ruins. The Lightbringers are scattered. We won, Aniya. We won.”

  As Aniya’s tears subsided, she felt a hand in hers, and she looked down to see Roland’s hand gently caressing hers, a green glow faintly shimmering as their joined hands exchanged warmth. She looked up again before Roland could notice her stare.

  “What now?”

  “Now, we finish the job,” Roland said. “No one’s seen the Chancellor since the battle in the Hub. He could be anywhere, so Kendall is organizing a full-scale attack on the remaining Silvers spread out among the sectors in hopes that we find the Chancellor. We lost Salvador in the Hub, so Corrin has taken command of his army. Combined with a few hundred Silvers loyal to Kendall, we’ll have an army that will quickly take care of the remaining Lightbringers. Hopefully, we can restore the Web to normal in a few weeks at the most.”

  “Normal? What normal do you think could possibly be waiting for us? The power is out now for good now.”

  Roland shrugged. “I think Salvador put it pretty nicely. We got along without the Lightbringers for centuries. We can do it again. The rest of it should fall into place. Of course, Kendall plans to hold special elections for a new chancellor as soon as the war is over . . .” Roland trailed off and looked away.

  “But?”

  Roland looked back at her and frowned. “I’m not sure about Kendall.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We don’t know anything about him. He was the Chancellor’s right-hand man for almost twenty years, but beyond that, we know nothing. For all we know, Kendall just wanted to pick a fight with the Chancellor so he could take his place.”

  Aniya shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. He helped us blow up the reactor that powered the entire Web. The Lightbringers were only in control because they knew how to provide power. Without that, they have nothing.”

  “Yeah, but people need leadership. Now that they’ve gotten used to having a leader, they won’t know how to live without one. And the one who got rid of the dictator that everyone hated would seem like a pretty good fit.”

  “You said there would be a special election.”

  Roland scoffed. “An election with only one candidate is pretty special, don’t you think? I just don’t trust him.”

  “The last thing you told me before we got separated was to trust no one but Kendall. What changed?”

  “I said Kendall because Salvador told me about him. He said Kendall the one Nicholas was working with on the inside. But if Salvador knew Kendall, that must mean that he had some idea of what Kendall was up to. And since Kendall’s plan was to use William to end the Lightbringers, Salvador had to have known that he would try again, maybe with you.”

  “That sounds pretty circumstantial.”

  “That’s the whole point. Nothing about this adds up. And since the story we know doesn’t make sense, we can’t know for sure who to trust. Salvador either lied to us or didn’t tell us the whole story. He even told me not to say anything about being related to you. Why hide that from you? It just doesn’t sit right with me. And if we can’t trust Salvador, we can’t trust Kendall.”

  “You’re not making sense, Roland.”

  Roland threw his arms in the air. “Nothing about this makes sense, which is why we can’t trust anyone until we learn more.”

  After a long pause, Aniya said, “Nicholas trusts him.”

  “Yeah, I know that Nicholas will follow him to his death, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m just saying that we should be careful with him.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Aniya rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I can refuse to go along with his plans. My part is done. He doesn’t need me anymore.”

  “For starters, maybe we shouldn’t tell him about everything that happened under the Citadel,” Roland said slowly. “After all, we’re not sure what happened ourselves.”

  “Why would it make a difference if Kendall knows?”

  Roland paused. “I know you don’t have a clear picture of what happened down there, but I saw it all. The light that came out of you didn’t just heal me and Nicholas. It shattered glass. It blasted a hole clear through wall of the cavern. I don’t know if whatever that was is still in you, but it was terrifying. And it was dangerous. I’m afraid Kendall will see it that same way and want to use you as a living weapon.”

  “You really think he’d do that?”

  “I’m not sure. That’s what I’m saying. There’s no telling what he’d do to fulfill his agenda, and we don’t even know for sure what that agenda is.”

  Aniya nodded slowly. “Maybe you’re right. So we don’t tell Kendall about what happened in the cavern. We should tell Nicholas before he says something.”

  “I already talked to him. He agreed, but probably only because he wouldn’t be able to explain it even if he wanted to. I was intentionally vague when I told him what happened anyway.”

  “We can trust Nicholas,” Aniya said, narrowing her eyes.

  “Can we?” Roland asked quietly. “In any case, he knows enough that I made him promise not to say anything to Kendall until I talked to you. Now that you agree, I’ll let him know that we’re all on the same page.”

  Aniya glared at him. “And I’ll tell him myself what happened. You may not trust him, but I do.”

  “I didn’t say I don’t trust him. I’m just . . .”

  “Not sure,” Aniya finished, sighing and leaning back on her cot. “Do you trust anyone, Roland?”

  Roland took her hand again. “I trust you.”

  She looked at her brother. “Then trust Nicholas.”

  After a moment, Roland nodded.

  “Where is he?”

  “He was watching over you earlier, but Kendall insisted that he report for a full medical evaluation. I’ll send him up to see you as soon as I can, but I think they’re running tests on him for the rest of the day. Kendall may not know much of what happened, but he knows enough to realize that none of us should still be alive.” Roland stood and started walking toward the door. “As for me, I’m going to go check on Tamisra. She’s still recovering from a nasty bit of torture.”

  “Are you going to tell her anything?”

  Roland turned around and gave a sad smile. “No. I love her, but like I said, I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

  He turned again and left.

  Half-truths, lies, cons
piracies—Aniya felt it would have been so much easier if she had just stayed dead. She wouldn’t have to look over her shoulder, wondering who she can trust.

  She tried to sleep several times over the next several hours, but the pain in her body would always keep her from finally drifting off.

  Finally, hours later, the pain began to dissipate, only to be replaced by a new feeling that spread throughout her body. Restless life buzzed inside her, tingling every inch of her skin as her insides felt like a balloon beginning to expand.

  She looked back down at her hand. Sure enough, the green glow was still there. It was almost imperceptible, but in the dimly lit room, it was just bright enough that she could see the emerald tint that covered her body.

  The more the pain vanished, the stronger this strange vibration grew. The more she felt as if something inside was beginning to grow.

  Aniya touched her thigh, and her skin seemed to respond with a tiny spark of green and a quick buzz that drowned out the immediate tingle.

  She traced the feeling from her waist to her stomach to her chest—but she paused as a hard object halted her examination. She reached underneath her shirt and pulled out the crystal, still draped around her neck where Nicholas had placed it.

  The crystal was no longer clear as she remembered it, but it was now green, the same emerald hue that covered her body. As she turned the crystal over in her hand, the light shifted, glinting in unusual ways as it caught the candlelight. But even as she held the crystal still in her hand, the light still seemed to move slowly.

  The beauty of the gem held Aniya’s rapt attention, and she suddenly realized that she had been holding her breath. Aniya let her breath go, and the crystal gave off a shimmering light, its color growing much richer, a bold green that flickered with her ragged breath.

  A whisper startled Aniya, and she gasped, dropping the crystal. It was caught by the necklace and hung from her neck, draped off to the side. The whisper came again, and it was joined now by many more voices.

  They were back.

  The voices grew louder, plaguing every corner of Aniya’s mind. She reached her hands to her head and clutched her temple, wishing away the intruders.