by Unknown
“Stay down!”
Kyle felt something slam into his back, pressing him and Ariana belly-first onto the floor. He cried out, struggling to get out from under the massive weight.
“I said stay down,” a gruff voice shouted. Kyle turned his head to the side, and saw a pair of blue eyes glaring back at him.
“Darius!” he gasped. Darius was impossibly heavy, his armored body crushing Kyle's chest against the floor. Glass shards flew in a whirling hurricane above them, the razor-sharp projectiles slamming into the couch next to them, cutting large holes in the fabric. Shards slammed into Darius's back, bouncing off of his armor with loud clanging sounds.
“Stay here,” Darius ordered. He got up from Kyle and Ariana's backs, grabbing the wooden frame of the upended couch. A large hunk of glass slammed into the bodyguard's shoulder, but the bodyguard didn't so much as flinch. He got in between Kyle and Ariana, pulling the couch forward and down, rotating it over Kyle and Ariana's heads until it laid upside-down above them, forming a triangular roof over their heads. Glass shards slammed into the couch with a terrible clatter, but none penetrated the makeshift barrier. Kyle spotted Jax ahead in the distance, shielding himself from the deadly whirlwind of glass, his jaw set in a firm grimace. His face was beet red, the veins popping out on his forehead. One guard's shield failed, and he was thrown violently backward, glass pelting his body mercilessly. Then another guard's shield vanished, and he too was cut down.
Kyle saw a white-robed Runic lurch forward, the amulet around his neck snapping at the chain and flying toward Xanos. The amulet shattered, scattering across the floor in front of the self-proclaimed god. Soon amulets, bracers, and rings were all flying from each Councilman, shattering before Xanos's gaze. Then, one by one, the shields around each Councilman failed. One by one they fell before the onslaught of razor-sharp glass, collapsing to the ground, glass whizzing over their fallen bodies.
Holy...
Something bumped Kyle from behind, and he yelped, twisting around. He saw Darius behind him, with Ariana close behind at the other end of the couch; the bodyguard said nothing, reaching one hand inside the recesses of his armor and pulling out a small object. He took Kyle's right hand in his own, placing the object in Kyle's palm. It was a small silver ring with a yellow gemstone on top, tiny crystals on the sides.
My ring!
“Put it on,” the bodyguard commanded, shouting over the deafening clatter of glass raining against the couch. A large piece suddenly pierced through the wooden base on Kyle's left, lodging itself in the wood, its razor edge stopping an inch from his head. He flinched backward, lowering his belly to the ground.
“Put it on!” Darius urged. Kyle hastily placed the ring on his left thumb, where he'd worn it so long ago. It felt strangely warm, and he felt a vibration coming from it.
He heard someone shouting from beyond the couch, and immediately recognized the voice.
Kalibar!
Kyle crawled forward to the edge of the overturned couch, peering out at the room beyond. Half of the guards had fallen, the remaining men forming a barrier between Xanos and the Council. Jax stood directly behind them, and Kalibar was at his side, multiple layers of shields surrounding them both. As Kyle watched, two of the guards' shields vanished, glass pelting their armor mercilessly. They cried out, falling to their bellies on the ground and covering their heads with their gauntleted hands.
Xanos stood before them, a dozen layered gravity shields protecting him from the hurricane of broken glass, his dead eyes turning to Kalibar and Jax. The outermost gravity shields protecting the two men winked out. Kalibar grimaced, turning to Jax and saying something into the elder Councilman's ear. Jax nodded, and Kalibar lowered his head slightly, his jawline rippling.
Suddenly, the spinning vortex of glass pulled inward, each shard hurtling toward Xanos!
Xanos's gravity shields began to vanish, one-by-one, glass shards slamming into the remaining shields from all directions. Xanos regarded the two men, his lips curling into a slight smirk.
The whirlwind of glass surrounding him exploded.
Shards flew outward, slamming into Kalibar and Jax's shields. A large piece of glass struck the wooden armrest of the couch just to Kyle's left, embedding itself deep within it. Darius grabbed the waistline of Kyle's pants, yanking him backward to relative safety.
“Your armor,” Darius yelled in Kyle's ear. “Use it!”
Kyle nodded, closing his eyes and pulling magic into his mind's eye, then streaming it to the crystal on his breastplate. He felt the immediate hum of it activating.
He heard a blood-curdling scream, and opened his eyes, seeing the last of the shields surrounding Jax and Kalibar vanish. A hunk of glass slammed into Jax's chest, throwing the old man backward and onto the floor, blood rapidly spreading across the front of his white cloak. Another piece struck Kalibar in the left shoulder, blood spraying from the wound. Kalibar cried out in pain, jerking backward and losing his balance. He fell to the floor next to Jax.
“Kalibar!” Kyle shouted, terror seizing him.
Multi-layered gravity shields appeared around the former Grand Weaver, the storm of glass bouncing harmlessly off. Kalibar grunted, rising unsteadily to his feet, his left shoulder wet with blood.
“Someone has been protecting you,” Xanos's voice boomed, rising above the clatter of whirling glass. His dead eyes scanned the room, then settled on Kalibar. “Someone here.”
Kalibar grit his teeth, holding his wounded shoulder.
“Stop this!” he shouted.
Xanos stared at Kalibar, then gestured with one hand.
“Tell me who killed five of my Chosen,” he replied, “...and I will spare your life.” Kalibar shook his head.
“I don't know what you're talking about!”
The whirlwind of glass pulled backward then, forming a spinning vortex around Xanos. Kyle heard Darius grunt, and turned to see Ariana squeezing past the bodyguard. She crawled up to Kyle.
“I'll help Kalibar,” she stated, talking directly into his ear so that he could hear her over the clattering of glass. “You stay here.”
“If you go out there, he'll kill you!” Kyle protested. Ariana gave him a weak smile, leaning in close and kissing him softly on the lips. Then she slid past him, turning around to stare at him with her big brown eyes.
“Thank you,” she murmured, laying one hand gently on his cheek.
Then she vanished into thin air.
“Ariana, no!” Kyle cried, bolting forward. Darius grabbed him, yanking him backward. Kyle struggled against the bodyguard's grip. “No!”
Kalibar's shields winked out, one by one, until none remained.
“So be it,” Xanos muttered.
The vortex of broken glass flew forward from Xanos, slamming into the former Grand Weaver, throwing him backward violently. He fell to the floor, razor-sharp shards flying into him and past him. Kyle watched in mute horror.
Kalibar!
The beam of glass ended, pieces bouncing off of the wall behind Kalibar and scattering to the floor. Kyle turned away from the gruesome sight, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Interesting,” he heard Xanos say.
Kyle hesitated, then turned forward, his gaze drawn to Kalibar's body. He stared at the former Grand Weaver, hardly believing his eyes. There was hardly a scratch on him...he was alive!
How...?
Xanos stared down at Kalibar, then smirked. A loud crack echoed through the suite...and then Ariana appeared, lying on top on Kalibar. She must have shielded him with her body, protected by her Ancient armor!
She got up from him, helping him to his feet, then turned around to face Xanos, unsheathing her dagger and holding it before her. Xanos stared at her for a moment.
Then the crystal in the center of her armor shattered.
“How interesting,” Xanos murmured. He strode toward her, and Ariana backed up, her boots crunching on pieces of glass underfoot. Xanos closed the distance between them with frigh
tening speed, reaching out with one pale hand and slapping her dagger away. It fell to the floor with a loud clatter, and Xanos grabbed Ariana by the throat, lifting her upward until her feet were dangling inches above the granite floor.
Ariana stared down at Xanos, her eyes wide, the veins in her forehead bulging.
“I seem to remember burning you alive,” Xanos stated. He turned toward the shattered windows at the edge of Rivin's suite. “Strange that you still live.”
Ariana opened her mouth, making garbled choking sounds. Kyle's heart leapt in his throat.
“Stop!” he cried, scrambling forward, emerging from the protection of the overturned couch. He rose to his feet, sprinting toward them. Xanos turned to face Kyle, his dead eyes regarding him for a moment. Then he turned back to Ariana.
“So delicate,” Xanos murmured. “Like a little bird.” He walked toward the shattered windows, stopping some twenty feet before the edge of the suite, the cool breeze from the open air beyond whipping through his black cloak. “I wonder if you can fly?”
Ariana burst backward, careening through the air toward the precipice!
Kyle pumped his legs frantically, changing direction to intercept her. Ariana slammed into the floor, sliding rapidly toward the edge. She screamed, clutching desperately at the slick granite, but it was useless. Kyle leaped forward onto his belly, reaching out with his hand, and grabbed her by the ankle as she slid by. Then they both slid, carried by Ariana's momentum...right over the edge.
No!
Kyle reached back with his free left hand, desperately grabbing for something, anything. His fingers closed around a metallic groove at the very edge, and he jerked to a halt, hanging over the edge. He cried out, his other hand slipping further down Ariana's ankle. He tightened his grip, looking down.
Ariana stared up at him, her eyes wide with terror, dangling upside-down in mid-air, hundreds of feet above the huge lawn of the Secula Magna.
“Kyle!” she screamed.
“Hang on!” Kyle shouted back. He grimaced, trying to pull himself up with his left arm. It was useless; Ariana was too heavy. He grit his teeth, feeling his fingers slipping from the ledge above, his forearms starting to burn. Ariana looked down, then back up at Kyle, her lovely face pale in the starlight.
“Let go,” she ordered.
“What?”
“Kyle, let go, or we'll both die.”
“Are you crazy?” Kyle exclaimed. “No!”
Ariana reached up, grabbing Kyle's hand, and started to pry his fingers from her ankle.
“What are you doing?” Kyle shouted, his voice rising in panic. She gripped his fingers and thumb, forcing them apart.
"Ariana!" Kyle cried.
Her hand slipped away from his, and she fell, plummeting through the night air.
Chapter 23
"Ariana!" Kyle screamed, watching in horror as Ariana fell away from him. He heard her scream, saw her flailing as she plummeted downward. He turned away from the awful sight, tears streaming down his cheeks.
No Ariana, no...
He heard a thump, and Ariana's screams stopped abruptly. Then there was silence.
Kyle grit his teeth, a tortured sob bursting from his throat, hot tears blurring his vision.
I'm sorry Ariana, I'm so sorry.
He felt his fingers starting to slip from the groove above, his forearm feeling as if it were on fire. He grunted, swinging his free hand up, grabbing onto the groove. He gathered himself, then pulled upward...but his elbows barely bent with the effort. His sweat-slicked hands slipped further from the metal groove.
No!
Kyle struggled, placing his boots on the wall of the Tower and bending his knees. Then he pushed upward with his legs, pulling with his arms at the same time. This time he managed to pull himself upward a little. But then his arms gave out, and he nearly fell, his hands slipping until only his fingertips were left clinging to the shallow groove.
He held himself there, his heart pounding in his chest.
And then his fingers slipped free from the ledge, and he fell.
Kyle's gut lurched as he entered into free fall, cold air rushing upward around him, tearing at his clothes. He tipped backward through the air, spinning until he was upside-down, the cobblestone road surrounding the base of the Tower accelerating toward him at a horrifying rate.
He heard someone screaming, and realized that it was him.
The windows marking each level of the Tower zipped by faster and faster, the wind screaming by his ears now. He continued to somersault, flailing his arms and legs helplessly. Then a bright light flashed in the periphery of his vision.
Kyle jerked his head toward the light, realizing it was coming from his left hand…from his thumb.
His ring.
He stared at the ring, at the yellow crystal glowing bright white, and then looked down again, seeing the ground, not even a hundred feet below, rushing up to meet him. He closed his eyes, throwing his arms in front of his face, and screamed one last time.
Suddenly something slammed into Kyle's back. He opened his eyes, seeing a pair of black, metallic arms wrapping around his torso, intricately carved symbols glowing a faint blue on the armor's surface. A powerful vibration filled his consciousness, pulsing through every particle of his being.
He felt the arms around him pull upward, felt his descent begin to slow. Still, he was falling far too fast...the ground was rushing toward him with lethal speed. Strangely, he felt no fear. The font of power surrounding him only allowed one sensation.
Awe.
And then the cobblestone road rose up to meet him.
Kyle's feet struck the ground – or rather, the ground caved in underneath him before his feet even touched the road. Kyle fell even as the ground dropped below him, forming an ever-deepening crater in the earth. A plume of dust shot upward and outward all around him, surrounding him in a dense, choking fog.
His descent slowed, then stopped, his feet touching down gently on the shattered ground below.
What the...
The black metal gauntlets released Kyle, and he felt his legs wobble underneath him. He fell onto his hands and knees on the cold dirt of the crater, his breath coming in short gasps, dust choking his lungs and stinging his eyes.
The wellspring of power vanished.
Kyle rose shakily to his feet. His legs gave out again, and he fell onto his butt, pain shooting up his back. He sat there for a moment, his entire body feeling numb. Dust swirled in the air around him, tickling his nose. He sneezed, then looked up, realizing that he was in a crater over ten feet deep, not a dozen feet from the base of the Great Tower.
He felt something heavy on his shoulder, and turned his head see a black gauntleted hand there, tiny blue runes etched into its surface, each pulsing with blue light. He tried to stand a third time, and this time his legs obeyed him. He tried to turn around, to face whoever was behind him, but the hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“Who are you?” Kyle asked.
He sensed a presence in his mind then, a powerful voice that echoed through his brain.
I've shown you who I am.
The hand on Kyle's shoulder lifted, freeing him from its powerful grasp.
Now you've shown me who you are.
Kyle hesitated, then turned around.
A tall man stood before him, his body covered in black, metallic armor. Countless tiny runes glowed blue across the surface of the armor, fading in and out slowly in random patterns. The man wore a silver reflective visor that hid his eyes, so that only his nose and mouth were visible. A tuft of short brown hair rippled in the cool night breeze above his visor.
Kyle stared mutely at the man before him, a being plucked out of time, out of his very dreams.
“You!” he gasped.
The man said nothing.
“But you're dead!” Kyle protested.
Come.
Suddenly Kyle lifted up off of the ground, pulled by an invisible force. He felt himself rising upw
ard from the crater, the black-armored man rising with him. They exited the crater, landing a few feet from the edge. Kyle stared at the man before him, still unable to believe his eyes. Then he caught a glimpse of something in the periphery of his vision.
A body lying on the road.
Kyle's heart leaped into his throat, and he ran toward it, skidding to a halt before it. It was a body...a girl with long dark hair curled up in the fetal position on the ground.
“Ariana!” Kyle cried, reaching for her shoulder. He stared at her, seeing her chest rise and fall gently. “She's alive!” He fell to his hands and knees before her. “Thank you,” he blurted, grabbing Ariana's soft, warm hand. Tears of joy streamed down his face.
He felt the hand on his shoulder again, and turned, facing his savior.
“Why?” he asked. He meant to ask much more – he had so many questions – but that one word was all he could muster.
The armored man did not reply, but he knelt down until his head was level with Kyle's, his visor shimmering in the starlight. Kyle stared into that perfect, curved mirror, seeing his own face reflected back at him.
Then he heard a scream from far above, in the Tower.
“Kalibar!” he cried, looking up at the massive Tower standing beside him. “And Darius...they're still up there. We have to save them!”
The armored man remained silent, the runes on his armor pulsing blue in random patterns. Kyle felt himself rise up from the ground then, pulled upward by an unseen force. Faster and faster he rose, his guts plummeting to his feet, the ground – and his savior – falling away beneath him. Within seconds, he was nearly at the top of the Tower; his ascent slowed, then stopped, and he flew forward and downward in a gentle arc toward the glass-strewn granite floor of Rivin's suite. His feet touched down, shards of glass crunching under his boots.
He stood there, seeing the motionless bodies of the Council and their guards sprawled across the floor, blood spattering the granite around them. And in the center of the suite stood Xanos. The dark Weaver had one hand around Kalibar's throat, and lifted the former Grand Weaver up until his feet were kicking a few inches above the floor. Kalibar's face turned purple, the veins on his forehead bulging.