by Unknown
“Stop!” Kyle yelled, taking a step forward.
Xanos turned to look at Kyle. His eyes narrowed, and he let go of Kalibar. The former Grand Weaver fell onto his hands and knees, gasping for air.
“Well well,” Xanos murmured. “Isn't this unexpected.” He stepped away from Kalibar, cocking his head to the side. He stared at Kyle with those dead eyes, the gemstone in his forehead glowing a bright, eerie green. “You're supposed to be dead.”
Kyle stared back at Xanos, swallowing in a suddenly dry throat. He glanced at Kalibar, who was struggling to rise to his feet.
“Who saved you?” Xanos inquired, taking one step toward Kyle, then another. Kyle glanced backward, seeing the edge of the suite not ten feet from where he stood.
Suddenly an overturned couch to Kyle's left rolled over, and Darius came out from underneath it. The golden warrior stepped in front of Xanos, blocking the dread Weaver's path.
“Darius!” Kyle cried.
The bodyguard ignored Kyle, facing Xanos defiantly. He drew his sword from its scabbard, pointing the tip directly at Xanos's chest.
“Step aside, insect,” Xanos ordered, stepping forward until Darius's sword collided with his multi-layered gravity shields. The blade jerked backward.
“I'm gonna shove this through your heart,” Darius shot back, standing his ground defiantly.
Xanos stared at the bodyguard for a moment, then rolled his eyes.
Darius's sword jerked up out of his hands, flying upward over his head, then arcing backward. The tip of the weapon slammed into his back, piercing through his armor, burying itself to the hilt.
Darius stumbled forward, twisting around. The tip of his sword jutted through his chest. Blood poured down his armor, his eyes wide, his mouth agape.
“No!” Kyle screamed, rushing forward. He grabbed Darius's upper arm, staring in horror at the bloodied blade impaling him. Darius fell to his knees, his armor striking the granite with a dull clang. He clutched at the hilt at his back with one hand, blood pouring from the corner of his mouth. Then he collapsed onto the ground, laying on his right side, his breath coming in short gasps. Xanos gazed down at the bodyguard, a smirk curling the corner of his mouth.
“Me first,” he murmured. He turned to Kyle, stepping forward and grabbing Kyle's breastplate, lifting him up into the air. Then he let go...but Kyle remained levitating a foot above the ground, facing his undead tormentor.
“You killed him!” Kyle shouted, rage building within him. “You bastard!”
“I asked you a question,” Xanos stated calmly. “How did you survive that fall?”
“Go to hell,” Kyle spat.
“Answer me,” Xanos ordered, reaching up with one hand and squeezing Kyle's cheeks together painfully. The man's dead eyes searched Kyle's face. “Tell me how, Kyle.”
Kyle said nothing.
Xanos smirked, his grip on Kyle's face tightening. Kyle's cheeks mashed up against his teeth. He felt a sharp pain, then the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
“Leave him alone!” a voice cried from behind.
Xanos let go of Kyle's face, turning around. Kalibar limped toward them, surrounded by a shimmering gravity shield. A bolt of energy shot outward from Kalibar toward Xanos, striking the self-proclaimed god's shields harmlessly.
Xanos smirked.
Kalibar's shields vanished immediately, and the former Grand Weaver fell to his knees, shoved downward by an unseen force. He cried out in pain as his knees slammed onto the hard granite.
“No!” Kyle yelled. “Don't hurt him, please!” He looked down at Kalibar, his anger vanishing instantly, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Please, don't hurt him!”
“Tell me how you survived,” Xanos commanded, gesturing toward the broken windows, “...and I'll let him live.”
“I...” Kyle paused, feeling his mouth go dry.
Kalibar fell to his hands and knees, his palms shredded by shards of glass lying on the ground. Blood oozed between the old man's fingers.
“Stop it!” Kyle screamed.
“Tell Me and I will,” Xanos replied. His gaze flicked to Darius, and the sword impaling him drew backward out of his body with a loud screeching sound, whipping around until the point of the blade was touching Kalibar's back. The bodyguard moaned once, then lay silently on the floor, gasping for air.
“No, don't!”
“Answer me,” Xanos ordered.
Kyle glanced down at his left hand, at the ring on his thumb.
“It was my ring,” he lied, staring back at Xanos. “It protects me.”
“Kyle, no!” Kalibar cried.
Xanos paused, then grabbed Kyle's left wrist, peering at the ring.
“My, my...” he murmured. The sword hovering over Kalibar dropped out of the air, falling to the ground beside the old man with a loud clatter. Xanos glanced up at Kyle. “This is a marvelous antique,” he stated. “Where did you get it?”
Kyle stared at Xanos mutely.
“I said, where did you get this?” Xanos repeated. Darius's sword rose up from the floor, hovering with its point at Kalibar's back once again. Terror gripped Kyle.
“You promised!” he exclaimed. Xanos frowned.
“I suppose I did,” he admitted ruefully. Then Darius's sword flew through the air, sailing over Kyle's head. A moment later, something cold and sharp pressed against the back of Kyle's neck, and he yelped in surprise. Xanos raised one eyebrow.
“Better?”
Kyle swallowed hard, then winced as the cold blade pressed harder against his skin. He felt a sharp pain, and then something hot and wet trickled down the nape of his neck.
“It's a marvelous piece,” Xanos murmured, staring down at the ring again. Then he sighed. “But it's just a glorified transmitter...extraordinary range, but nothing more.” He let go of Kyle's wrist, staring into Kyle's eyes again. “You lied to me.”
Kyle felt the blade behind him move forward a fraction of an inch, sending a deep, agonizing pain through him. More hot fluid poured down his neck. He moaned, the tip of the sword pressing forward another fraction of an inch. He felt it hit something hard, and knew it had struck bone. The pain became excruciating.
“The Dead Man was quite impressed with you,” Xanos stated, eyeing Kyle coldly. “He imagined great things for you.”
Kyle grit his teeth against the pain, his breath coming in short gasps. He felt the tip of the sword press hard against his spine, and groaned.
“The Empire needs Me,” Xanos continued. “With My guidance, it will surpass the Ancients, and bring a new era for Mankind.” He smiled then. “You can be a part of it, Kyle.”
Kyle heard a crunch, agony lancing through his spine as the blade sank into his vertebra. He screamed, feeling suddenly woozy. Black spots floated in his vision.
“I am willing to forgive your disloyalty, Kyle,” Xanos stated. “You have a great deal to offer.” He extended one hand. “Swear your loyalty to Me, and I will let you live.”
Sweat poured down Kyle's forehead, stinging his eyes. He moaned, trembling in mid-air.
“Swear your loyalty to Me,” Xanos continued, his hand still outstretched, “...and I will even let Kalibar live.”
Kyle glanced at Kalibar, who had risen to his feet on the glass-strewn floor. Blood stained the old man's palms.
“You said you'd...” Kyle began, swallowing back a wave of nausea as another burst of pain shot through his spine. “You said you wouldn't kill him!”
“I did,” Xanos agreed. “If you hadn't lied to me, I would have honored that promise.” He stared at Kyle, his cold eyes unblinking. “Join Me, Kyle.”
Kyle glanced at Kalibar again, seeing the old man's head raise up. Kalibar shook his head.
“Don't do it,” he urged. Then he slid backward on the ground, struck by an invisible force.
“Your friends are misguided,” Xanos stated. “We both want the same thing, Kyle. Together, we can bring the Empire to heights the Ancients could only have dreamed of!”
>
Kyle felt the sword sink a fraction of an inch deeper, and he howled in pain, reaching up for the back of his neck with both hands and trying in vain to grab onto the blade. He felt a thin metal chain around his neck, and froze.
The amulet!
He slid his hands down the chain to his upper chest, where Darius's amulet still lay, under his armor. There was barely any magic in it, he knew. But what if...
“Swear your loyalty to Me,” Xanos commanded.
Kyle glanced at Kalibar again. Then he turned his gaze back to Xanos, gritting his teeth. He felt a sudden calm come over him.
“No.”
Xanos frowned, lowering his hand.
“This is your last chance,” he warned.
“Go to Hell,” Kyle spat.
Xanos stared at Kyle for a long moment, then sighed, shaking his head.
“Very well,” he murmured.
Kyle shoved as much magic as he could toward the amulet, just as the sword at his neck jerked forward. He screamed, agony coursing through his spine.
The green gem in Xanos's forehead went dark.
Kyle felt a tugging at his neck, felt the blade pull away from his flesh, falling to the ground with a clatter. The invisible force holding him in midair vanished, and he dropped onto the floor, stumbling backward and landing on his butt. Xanos's eyes widened, his gravity shields disappearing.
“What...” he began.
He jerked forward suddenly, his mouth hanging open in a silent “O.” A white-hot blade jutted out of the center of his chest, smoke billowing from where it contacted his flesh. A golden arm wrapped around Xanos's neck from behind, pulling backward as the blade was shoved a few inches further through his heart.
“Surprise,” Darius growled from behind.
The bodyguard yanked the blade out of Xanos's chest, then held the glowing blade – Kyle’s magical sword – out to the side, swinging it full-force against Xanos's neck. The blade sliced through the dark god's skin, passing through his flesh and out the other side. Smoke rose from the black fissure created by its passage.
Xanos slumped to his knees, shards of glass crunching underneath. Then his body fell forward, slamming onto the floor with a dull thud, his head separating from his neck and rolling across the floor.
Darius stood over the fallen body, one hand over the wound on his chest, his blue eyes coldly surveying his work. Then he looked up at Kyle.
“About time you remembered that damn amulet,” he grumbled.
Then he lurched to the side, falling onto his shoulder on the hard granite floor. He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, blood seeping from between his fingers over his chest.
“Darius!” Kyle cried, sprinting forward and leaping over Xanos's headless corpse, then sliding to Darius's side. “Darius, are you okay?” The bodyguard stared at Kyle as if he had three heads.
“Seriously?”
He coughed then, and turned his head, spitting blood onto the floor. His chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow breaths, his face terribly pale.
“Kalibar!” Kyle yelled, turning to the former Grand Weaver. Kalibar was climbing slowly to his feet.
“What's happening?” Kalibar asked.
“Xanos is dead,” Kyle answered. “But Darius...he's been hurt really bad!”
“Wait, Xanos is dead? How?”
“The amulet I gave Kyle,” Darius answered, exploding into another fit of coughing. “It...dropped his shields long enough for...me to kill him.”
“Well done,” Kalibar exclaimed, not without a bit of awe in his voice. “Darius, I think I'll retain your services indefinitely, if that's alright with you.”
“Good luck,” Darius gasped, “...with that.”
“Xanos stabbed him through the chest,” Kyle stated, his voice rising in panic. “He's dying!”
“Someone, get a doctor!” Kalibar shouted. But of course, no one answered; the room was filled with the corpses of the Councilman and their guards. And all of the communication orbs had been destroyed, along with most of the furniture.
“We have to get help!” Kyle exclaimed.
“Don't bother, kid,” Darius mumbled. The warrior gripped Kyle's arm with one hand, squeezing tightly. His blue eyes stared into Kyle's. “It's too late.”
“No,” Kyle protested. “No, Darius, don't.” He shook his head, tears dripping down his cheeks. “You can't die!”
Darius said nothing, his eyes unfocusing, his breathing slowing. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his hand falling from Kyle's arm and striking the ground.
“No, no, no,” Kyle whimpered. He glanced at his ring, the crystal glittering dully. He closed his eyes.
Save him, he pleaded silently. Please, Ampir, save him!
Kyle heard Darius groan, and opened his eyes. The bodyguard took a single, deep breath in, then let it out, a rattling sound coming from his throat.
And then he laid perfectly still, his blue eyes staring lifelessly up at the ceiling.
Chapter 24
Kyle stared down at Darius, his heart leaping in his throat. He waited for the bodyguard to move, to breathe. To do something. But Darius just laid there on the glass-strewn floor, his eyes unseeing.
“Darius?” Kyle said.
There was no response.
“Darius!” Kyle cried. He reached down, grabbing Darius's armored shoulders and shaking them frantically. Darius's head rolled limply, his chest no longer rising and falling. His eyes stared lifelessly upward.
“Darius, no!”
Kyle straddled Darius, clasping his hands together over Darius's breastplate and locking his arms. He pressed hard into the bodyguard's chest, pumping fast and hard like his parents had taught him.
“Come on, Darius!” he yelled, pumping harder. His efforts were in vain; the golden breastplate covering Darius's chest didn't budge under his palms. He scrambled to find the latches holding Darius's armor together, but couldn't find any. “Damn it!” he swore, slamming his fists onto Darius's chest. “Damn it!”
“Kyle...” he heard Kalibar say from behind. He felt the older man's hand on his shoulder. Kyle shrugged Kalibar's hand off, pounding one fist, then the other, into Darius's chest.
“No!” Kyle shouted, beating on the bodyguard's breastplate. Tears blurred his vision. “You can't die!”
He saw Kalibar reach out to Darius, saw the former Grand Weaver's fingers slide up to Darius's throat, checking for a pulse. Kalibar shook his head.
“Kyle, he's gone.”
Kyle turned to Kalibar, then back to Darius, his shoulders heaving. He stared down at the puddle of blood on Darius's breastplate, and at his own hands, slick with blood, and got lightheaded. He fell forward, collapsing on top of his friend, feeling Darius's still-warm cheek on his own.
“Kyle, I'm sorry,” he heard Kalibar murmur.
“He saved us,” Kyle said, tears welling up in his eyes and dripping down his cheeks. He felt a crushing guilt come over him. “I called him a traitor,” he added miserably. “I didn’t believe in him.”
“Kyle...” Kalibar began.
“He died trying to save me,” Kyle interrupted bitterly, closing his eyes and clinging to Darius. He felt a hand grab his shoulder, and pushed it away.
“Stop,” he mumbled, clutching Darius tighter. The hand grabbed his shoulder again, firmly this time, and pulled him up off of Darius.
“Leave me alone!” Kyle cried out angrily.
“You hit like a girl,” a voice grumbled back.
Kyle opened his eyes.
There, laying on the floor below him, blue eyes staring right back at him, was Darius...his face pink, his lips twisted into a smirk.
“Darius?” Kyle breathed, jerking upright. Darius broke into a big grin, and Kyle whooped with delight, reaching down and giving the bodyguard a big bear hug. Then he pushed himself away, staring at Darius incredulously.
“Wait, you're...?” He paused then, looking Darius over. The man's breathing was no longer shallow and rapid, the w
ound on his chest having stopped bleeding. “Darius, you're okay!”
“Seems that way,” Darius replied. The golden warrior propped himself on one elbow, then reached up with his other hand. “Help me up,” he ordered. Kyle grabbed the man's hand with two of his own. He heaved upward, and after a few moments, Darius got to his knees. Then, with the sheer force of his will, the warrior rose slowly to his feet.
“What's going on?” Kalibar asked. “What's happening?”
“It appears I'm alive,” Darius answered, staring down at his blood-spattered body.
“But you were dead!” Kyle exclaimed in disbelief.
“Guess I was too dead to notice,” he muttered. “What happened?”
“I don't know,” he answered. He frowned then, glancing at his ring. To his surprise, it was glowing. The light faded even as he watched. Goosebumps rose on his arms.
Ampir!
Kyle glanced up at Darius, who was staring down at Kyle's ring. The bodyguard shook his head.
“Glad I got you that ring,” he muttered.
Kyle closed his eyes, sending a silent pray.
Thank you.
“Kyle's ring?” Kalibar asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
“I think it saved me,” Darius said.
“My god,” Kalibar breathed.
Suddenly Kyle heard footsteps, and turned to see an elderly man in bloodied white robes walking toward them.
“What's going on here?” the man asked. It was Jax...he was alive!
Kyle looked beyond Jax, seeing movement there, among the corpses on the floor. They weren't corpses at all, he realized...the bodies were moving, pushing themselves up off of the floor. Every Councilman, every guard. They all stared down at themselves in disbelief, brushing glass off of their clothes. Then they looked around the room, shell-shocked.
“Xanos is dead,” Kalibar proclaimed.
“What?” Jax replied. He walked up to Kyle and Kalibar, staring down at Xanos's headless body. Gasps of amazement echoed throughout the suite.