by Unknown
This way, I'll never lose you.
He handed the ring to Junior.
“I love you, son.”
Then he wove again, and Junior rose upward in the air toward the rift. It was shrinking rapidly now; Ampir thrust as much magic as he could at his son, lifting him through the rift.
Then, just as his son's left foot was vanishing into the rift, it snapped shut. Something small fell from where the rift had been, bouncing off of the dais and falling onto the floor. Ampir stared at it, taking a moment to realize what it was.
A toe.
He stared up at where his son had been, feeling a terrible emptiness come over him. Then he looked down at Vera, finding her looking back at him with those painfully beautiful eyes. She smiled at him.
“See something you like?” she inquired.
He smiled back at her, swallowing past a sudden lump in his throat.
“I do now,” he replied.
She closed her eyes then, resting her head against his shoulder. Her breaths came more slowly now, her skin terribly pale.
“Kiss me,” she murmured.
He leaned down, kissing her soft lips. He smelled her perfume, that intoxicating scent she'd worn the day they'd met. Tears spilled down his cheeks, and he choked back a sob, pulling away. He looked down at her, taking a deep breath in, then letting it out.
It took him a moment to realize she wasn't breathing.
“Baby,” he called out, shaking her a little. She didn't move.
Oh god no. Please, no.
A massive boom echoed through the chamber. Ampir looked up; the ceiling above them was disintegrating, a huge, metallic foot smashing through it.
The Behemoth!
The single foot descended through the ceiling, filling the entire room with its obscene mass. The Behemoth fell downward, its single green eye locked on him from far above. The killing machine fell rapidly toward him.
He didn't even have time to run.
He looked down at his wife, running his hand through her hair.
“I love you baby,” he whispered.
And then the darkness claimed them.
Chapter 22
Kyle opened his eyes, squinting against the sudden brightness. He waited for his eyes to adjust, then opened his eyes further, seeing a plain white ceiling above. He looked down, seeing a light blue sheet covering his body. He was laying on a bed.
What the...
He sat up slowly, feeling none of the usual pain he'd felt in his back from the healing wound there. He frowned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and took a look around.
Where am I?
The room around him was small, the walls painted off-white. Light streamed in from a large window behind his head. He turned to his left, spotted an alarm clock sitting on the nightstand beside the bed. Big red blocky numbers on its screen said “7:30.” And to his left sat a dark cherry wooden dresser, a pair of jeans spilling out of the bottom drawer.
He sat up straighter, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked around the room, hardly believing what he was seeing. He knew this room.
This was his room.
He looked back at his alarm clock, and saw it turn to “7:31.” He rubbed his eyes, half-expecting to see the room disappear, for Darius and Kalibar and Ariana to be standing around him back in the tunnels leading to Stridon. But the clock remained, as did his room.
I'm home, he realized.
A strange numbness came over him, not of his flesh, but of his soul. He swung his legs over the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes again. Still, the room remained. He stood up, feeling none of the customary soreness and stiffness in his limbs, and walked across the room to the door at the far end, pulling it open. He peeked out into the hallway beyond. It was instantly familiar, the same hallway he'd seen a thousand times, at his dad's house.
How...?
He heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and took a step back. He pushed the door until it was nearly shut.
“Kyle?” he heard a familiar voice call out. Kyle's heart skipped a beat.
Dad?
He heard the footsteps reach the top of the stairway, then come down the hall, growing louder. He saw the doorknob turn, the door swinging open. And there, standing in the doorway, was his father.
“Dad!” Kyle cried, rushing forward and throwing his arms around his father. He closed his eyes, burying his head in his dad's chest. Tears sprang to his eyes, making the front of his father's shirt moist.
“Hey buddy,” Dad replied, hesitating for a second, then hugging Kyle back. Then he pushed Kyle away gently, frowning at him. “Something wrong?”
“No,” Kyle replied automatically. He wiped his eyes quickly, then found himself grinning stupidly at his father. He tried to control his expression, with little success. “Just...really happy to see you,” he added rather lamely. Dad smiled back.
“Happy to see you too, kiddo,” he said, tousling Kyle's hair. “I fell asleep on the couch. Almost had a heart attack when I saw the time,” he added. “Didn't want to waste my day with you snoozing.”
“Yeah,” Kyle mumbled, staring at his father. He couldn't believe that he was actually here, standing with his father, in his own room again. He thought he'd never see his dad again...or his mom.
“You get any sleep?” Dad asked. Kyle nodded.
“Yeah,” Kyle answered. He turned, glancing at his bed, with the sheets strewn haphazardly over it.
It was a dream, he realized, hardly able to believe it. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
“You hungry?” Dad asked. Kyle nodded absently, still staring at his bed. “Let's go downstairs and get some grub.”
“Okay,” Kyle replied. He followed Dad out of the bedroom and into the hallway, trotting downstairs and making his way into the kitchen. Dad opened the freezer, grabbing a frozen pizza box.
“Pizza okay?”
“Sure.”
Dad turned on the oven to preheat it, then gestured for Kyle to follow him to the living room. They both sat on the couch there, facing the blank TV screen. Kyle sighed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, then staring at his feet.
I can't believe it was all just a dream.
He thought of Kalibar, and of Ariana. Of Darius. Of magic. He closed his eyes, willing cords of magic to pull into the center of his mind's eye...but nothing happened. Then he opened his eyes, staring at his left thumb. His ring – his father's ring – was there, right where it'd been before he'd fallen asleep.
Everyone he'd met, everything he'd been through, had been pure fantasy. A figment of his overactive imagination. He shook his head, clenching his teeth against a sudden wave of sadness, and took a deep breath in, letting it out shakily.
“You alright buddy?” Dad asked, putting a hand on Kyle's shoulder. Kyle cleared his throat, and nodded.
“Yeah, uh,” he mumbled. “Just had another dream, that's all.”
“Another nightmare?”
“Sort of,” Kyle replied.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” Kyle muttered. The thought of trying to explain what he'd experienced – of the incredible things he'd seen and gone through – was overwhelming. There was no way anyone could ever truly understand what he'd been through.
“Come on, talk to me,” Dad pressed. Kyle shook his head.
“It's not that important.”
“It is to me,” Dad insisted. He grabbed Kyle's shoulders with both hands. “Come on,” he said, his tone harsher this time.
“No,” Kyle replied, trying to push Dad's hands from his shoulders. But his father gripped him harder, shaking him.
“Wake up,” he nearly shouted, shaking Kyle again, harder this time. Kyle shrank back, grabbing his dad's arms and trying to pry them off, without success. He had a sudden pang of fear.
“Dad, stop it.”
“Come on, Kyle,” Dad growled, his voice getting louder. He gripped Kyle's shoulders hard, his fingers digging painfully into Kyle's flesh. “Wake up!�
��
“What are you talking about?” Kyle exclaimed. “Stop it!”
“Wake up!” Dad screamed.
Kyle opened his eyes, taking a deep, gasping breath in. He felt powerful hands gripping his shoulders, felt them shake him again. Something cold and hard pressed into his back, sending a burning pain through the middle of his spine.
“Stop it!” he screamed.
A pair of blue eyes stared at him, mere inches from his face. The hands gripping him let go suddenly.
“Took you long enough,” the man standing over him grumbled. Kyle blinked, the man's face coming into focus. His heart skipped a beat.
“Darius!” he cried.
* * *
Darius reached out with one hand, grabbing Kyle's arm and hauling him up into a sitting position. Kyle stared at the bodyguard in disbelief, then looked around, realizing that Kalibar and Ariana were standing over him as well. He was sitting on the cold stone floor of a huge room, a few of Kalibar's magical lights illuminating the chamber. It was, Kyle realized, nearly identical to the room he'd been in...that Ampir had been in...when he'd used the teleportation device. He looked up, seeing the same arched ceiling the Behemoth had smashed through earlier.
What the...
He turned back to Kalibar and Ariana, staring at them. Then – seized with a sudden panic – he grabbed his arm with his finger and thumb, pinching it hard. He felt immediate pain. He pinched his other arm, with the same result.
I'm not dreaming, he realized.
“Kyle, are you okay?” Ariana asked, kneeling down and putting a hand on his shoulder. He found himself staring into her big brown eyes, and turned away, his cheeks flushing.
“I had the weirdest dream,” he admitted. Then he frowned, looking around. “Wait, where are we?”
“Darius had to carry you through the tunnels,” Ariana explained. “You were in and out of consciousness at first, and then you wouldn't wake up.”
“Oh,” Kyle mumbled. He looked around the room again. “This place...it looks almost exactly like the room Ampir was in.” He described himself as Ampir, finding the teleportation device, and using it to send his son to safety. And the Behemoth's violent descent toward Ampir...and then the nothingness. He considered telling them about his dream about being back home, but decided against it. Nobody interrupted him while he told his tale, and when he was done, Kalibar looked perturbed. Ariana slipped her hand off of his shoulder, reaching for his hand and squeezing it gently. Her flesh was warm, soft...and very real. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, looking absolutely radiant.
“You say that a rift appeared above Ampir,” Kalibar asked, “...and his son went through?”
“Yes,” Kyle confirmed.
“And Ampir gave the ring to his son before sending him?” Kalibar pressed.
“Right.”
“Unbelievable,” Kalibar breathed. “Do you know what this means?” he added excitedly. “It means we were right about Ampir,” he exclaimed. “He helped Renval create a teleportation device, and Renval discovered a way to travel to your world!” He began to pace, his chin in one hand. “And Ampir's ring was sent with his son to your planet,” he continued. “Which explains how a magical device came to be in a world where magic doesn't exist.”
“Right,” Kyle breathed. It did explain everything.
“And it means teleportation is possible,” Kalibar continued, “...and that...” He frowned then, stopping in his tracks.
“What?” Kyle asked.
“Ampir gave his son his ring at the last minute,” Kalibar stated, resuming his pacing. “If your dream is correct, he wouldn't have had time to give your ring the power to teleport you anywhere, much less here. Which means...”
“My ring didn't send me here,” Kyle finished, his eyes widening.
“Precisely.”
“But if my ring didn't, then what did?” he asked.
“Good question,” Kalibar replied. “And how have you been reliving Ampir's memories when you're not even wearing the ring?” he asked. “I should have thought of that earlier.”
“Maybe it gave me all the memories at once,” Kyle hypothesized, “...but I relived them over time.”
“Possible,” Kalibar admitted. “Still, if your ring didn't bring you to Doma, then something else did...or someone else.”
“It protected me from the Ulfar and the killerpillar,” Kyle stated. “And the rip-vines.”
“True,” Kalibar agreed. “Given the circumstances, I think we should make getting your ring from Erasmus a priority. Especially if we run into trouble in the Tower.”
“Wait,” Ariana interjected, looking confused. “What ring?”
“It's...complicated,” Kalibar replied.
“I'll tell you about it later,” Kyle promised. He stood up then, stretching his back.
“To think that this is the same room that Ampir stood in over two thousand years ago,” Kalibar murmured, rubbing his bearded chin thoughtfully. “Coming here must have triggered Ampir's memories, the ones that were already inside of you from the ring,” he added. “You were living his memories, if only for a time...experiencing everything as if it were happening to you. Imagine if we could reverse-engineer that technology...we could record history so future generations could live it. We could pass down knowledge and experience, teaching a lifetime of lessons in a fraction of the time. This could revolutionize society!”
“Let’s not die first,” Darius replied dryly. The bodyguard put a hand on Kalibar's shoulder, turning him about gently. “We should go,” he added. Kalibar nodded, following alongside Darius, who led them across the giant room, reaching a door at the other end. Beyond this door was another long tunnel. They walked through it for nearly ten minutes before reaching a second door. This opened up into a wide spiral staircase going up as high as the eye could see. Softly glowing magical lanterns were bolted to the walls at regular intervals.
“Pace yourselves,” Kalibar advised, going up the steps, his hand on the railing. “This is going to take a while.” Darius followed behind Kalibar, and Kyle went next, followed by Ariana. Upward they went, the stairs spiraling endlessly upward. It wasn't long before Kyle's legs began to burn. Sweat trickled down the backs of his legs, his breath coming in short gasps. He found himself lagging behind Darius, and had to force himself to keep up. He glanced back, seeing a sheen of sweat on Ariana's forehead.
“You,” Kyle asked, “...okay?” Ariana nodded, but said nothing.
Eventually Kyle saw a door, the staircase continuing upward past it. Darius stopped before it, and Kyle stopped as well, leaning over and bracing his hands on his knees.
“Are we there?” he asked.
“Is this the first door?” Kalibar asked.
“Yeah.”
“We're at the 20th floor,” Kalibar explained. “The next door up will be the 40th floor, then the 41st and the 42nd.”
“Which door do we take?” he asked.
“We want to bypass the Council, and go directly to the top. But we have to get Kyle's ring, too.”
“Where is the ring?” Darius asked.
“Probably still in Erasmus's study,” Kalibar answered. “Erasmus usually works well into the night, so he's probably still there, or in the Archives.” He shook his head. “But we can't afford you being seen by Orik or his supporters. It's unlikely, but...”
“Which room is his study?” Darius interrupted. Kalibar paused, then sighed.
“3110.”
“I'll get the ring,” Darius stated, putting a hand on Kalibar's shoulder. “Where do I meet you?”
“Room 4209,” Kalibar replied. “Grand Weaver Rivin's suite.”
“Got it.”
Darius opened the door, stepping through. The door closed behind him, and with that, he was gone. Kyle stared at the door, feeling strangely vulnerable without the bodyguard at his side.
“Let's go,” Kalibar prompted. He continued up the stairs, his hand still on the railing. Kyle and Ariana followed, cont
inuing upward for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually they reached another door – for the 40th floor. Ariana notified Kalibar, who nodded, passing by the door and continuing upward. They passed a second door shortly thereafter, and kept going. The next set of stairs went up quite a ways...probably to accommodate the high ceilings of Kalibar's room – until the spiral staircase ended at last, a single door facing them at the top.
Kyle rested on the guardrail for a moment, trying to catch his breath. Glancing down over the rail, he saw the staircase spiraling ever downward.
Next time, he vowed, I'm taking the riser!
“We're at the top,” Ariana notified Kalibar, who reached for the door, touching it lightly with his fingers.
“The doors all have one-way locks on them,” he explained. “They're meant to be opened from the other side, to escape the Tower...and to keep anyone from the outside from coming in.”
“Can we unlock it?” Kyle asked.
“Hold on a minute,” Kalibar replied. He stood there for a long moment, his head bowed. Something clicked, and the door swung outward toward them. Kyle pulled Kalibar backward to prevent the old man from being struck by the door, then led him through the doorway, with Ariana following. He found himself in a long hallway, the stone walls on either side adorned with brilliantly colored carvings of grave-looking men and women engaged in various acts of heroism. The floor was made of granite that had been polished to a mirror shine. Doors lined the walls on either side, spaced far apart.
“Where are we going again?” Kyle asked.
“Room 4209,” Kalibar replied. “That's the Grand Weaver's room. His name is Rivin.” Kalibar paused. “You should address him as “Grand Weaver Rivin,” he advised.
Kyle led Kalibar and Ariana down the hallway, glancing at the numbers on the doors as he passed by. He couldn't understand the symbols, of course. How was he going to know which door to open? His confusion must’ve showed, because Ariana gave him a curious look.
“You can't read?” she whispered. Kyle blushed.
“I can read English,” he retorted defensively. Ariana ignored him, grabbing Kalibar's hand, and leading him down the hallway until stopping at one of the doors.