The Witch; Stronghold; Underworld

by Ky Tyrand

  The girl still had her rifle in hand, but was pressed face-first into the shelves, turned in a way that prevented her from using her weapon.

  With a wave of her hand, Ki’ara threw one of her Niksuru at the orange eye swiveling toward her. Her weapon struck dead on, piercing the light and sending bursts of electric tendrils dancing off the robot’s body and legs.

  The spider collapsed, bringing Je’nna down with it.

  Ki’ara raced across the aisle to her friend, who hit the floor hard and stopped moving.

  “Je’nna!” Ki’ara slid to the girl’s side, as sparks continued to fizzle from Je’nna’s armor. The plates that formed the protective shell around her body were no longer closed. Nor was her helmet. It was all half-open, as if stuck in a transitioning phase.

  There was no question that everything was fried, including Je’nna.

  What have I done?

  Ki’ara pushed the components of Je’nna’s helmet back, exposing her face and pink hair. Her mouth was open, but her eyes were closed. “Je’nna!”

  To no avail, the Princess tried to wake her friend while Petch leaned over her shoulder.

  “She’s pretty,” noted the boy.

  Ignoring Petch, Ki’ara removed her own helmet and leaned in to check that Je’nna was still breathing. She couldn’t actually tell.

  With Je’nna’s hi-tech armor panels flipped open all over the place, Ki’ara noticed that her wrist was at least partly exposed.

  Despite the fact that her Mu’turi textile didn’t reduce sensitivity unless she wanted it to, Ki’ara retracted her own glove before picking up her friend’s hand. She moved her fingers around, eventually finding a pulse. It was strong.

  Je’nna is strong.

  The Princess let out a breath, and was about to set her friend’s arm down when she spotted a mark on the inside of Je’nna’s wrist.

  Ki’ara had seen it before, but never up close. She’d wondered what it was, but hadn’t found an opportunity to ask. And she wasn’t sure the girl would tell her even if she did.

  Though she felt terribly guilty, Ki’ara found herself glancing down, even turning her friend’s wrist so that she could see…

  16

  Ki’ara heard herself take a sharp gasp when she saw the mark, dropping Je’nna’s hand like it was carrying a terrible disease. The tattoo was dark and clear.

  There was no mistaking what it was.

  “Ooh, look at the flower!” said Petch.

  Not just any flower.

  A black rose.

  Why would Je’nna have a black rose tattooed to her wrist?

  Ki’ara’s head began to spin as she wondered what the symbol could mean.

  It could just be a pretty tattoo.

  But a black rose… It seemed awfully coincidental that the Black Rose was the name of a lethal assassin sent to kill Ki’ara. And that the Princess had thought Je’nna was the Black Rose before she had met her.

  Ki’ara tried to calm the thoughts swirling in her head. She trusted Je’nna. Her friend had ample opportunity to kill her if she had wanted. Instead, she’d actually saved Ki’ara on more than one occasion.

  So what did this mean?

  It’s just a tattoo, Ki’ara told herself. Many people have them.

  But with Je’nna’s Mu’turi, she could have any tattoo she wanted, and change it every day if she desired. Why would she have a black rose permanently inked on her wrist, and use her Mu’turi to hide it?

  There had to be an explanation.

  “I trust her,” Ki’ara reminded herself. Je’nna would tell her when she regained consciousness. In the meantime, it was up to Ki’ara to get her friends to safety.

  “Okay,” said Petch.

  Ki’ara wasn’t sure what the boy was agreeing to.

  Standing up, she grabbed Je’nna’s rifle and slid it toward the secret door, before taking hold of the girl’s wrists and dragging her down the aisle.

  They’d only made it part way when Ki’ara sensed a strange tingling. She could feel her hair floating up as a static charge buzzed around her.

  Immediately recognizing the sensation, Ki’ara looked down the aisle to see a multiple silver orbs float up over the edge of the balcony.

  17

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Ki’ara’s heart nearly stopped when she registered what was happening. With her view blocked by rows of books, there was no telling how many more spiders were about to come at her. And there was no escape. The secret door would not fool these creatures. They would tear it down in no time at all.

  With Je’nna unconscious, and Petch delirious and with his legs unstrapped, there was no chance of them all getting away.

  Ki’ara realized she had to make a horrible decision, and needed to make it fast.

  She couldn’t carry both Petch and Je’nna.

  The instant the silver orbs were above the height of the railing, their upward movement abruptly turned forward. Their motion was precise but constant, not a smooth transition in the slightest. One instant they were moving up, and the next they were hovering straight toward Ki’ara and her friends.

  With Petch on her back, the Princess continued to drag Je’nna across the floor, dreading the choice she was about to make.

  Ki’ara’s thighs were burning, and she nearly tripped on Je’nna’s rifle. That meant she was at the hidden door.

  Just a few more steps.

  She dragged Je’nna into the darkness as the metallic orbs floated across the floor.

  Decision time.

  “Petch,” she said, releasing her Mu’turi’s hold on the boy and lowering him down. “I need you to do something for me.”

  He sank to the floor beside Je’nna, holding his arm where the spider had cut it. “What?” he asked, appearing lucid, if only for a moment.

  The bleeding appeared to have stopped, but Ki’ara could tell that he was in pain. She set his prosthetic legs in front of him, and let out a breath. “Look after her for me.”

  With that, Ki’ara kicked Je’nna’s rifle into the darkness, and pulled the bank of shelves shut, closing Petch and Je’nna into the secret room.

  “Your Royal Highness!” Petch shouted frantically, “Where are you going? I still have to…”

  The door clicked shut, muffling the boy’s voice.

  Ki’ara turned and clicked her Niksuru together as the silver orbs floated down the aisle toward her.

  18

  The long blade of Ki’ara’s sword lit up as she closed her helmet and marched up the aisle at the silver spheres.

  With Petch no longer on her back, and the G.R. responding to her body alone, Ki’ara’s legs instantly felt a thousand times better. She was free to move around, and no longer had to worry about Petch getting killed on her back.

  The orbs were flying in perfect formation, and halted at precisely the same moment. Three of them were lined up in the aisle with her. She could see more of them hovering above the landing, but had no idea how many were out of view.

  They sensed the Princess moving toward them, emerging from the dark recess of the aisle.

  Ki’ara swung her sword at the first globe before the transformation even began. Fully charged with static, the sphere exploded into a shower of sparks and smoke the instant Blue Energy flashed into its silvery mass.

  Parts and pieces of spider limbs burst out as the bot bounced against the bookshelves and clunked to the floor.

  Well, that was easy.

  Surprised by her success, Ki’ara threw herself at the next one, determined to catch the sphere before it had time to morph. The orbs were slow and easy to hit compared to the agile arachnids, with their lightning-fast reflexes.

  The second globe suffered the same fate as the first, bursting into a smoking pile of rolling metal.

  Ki’ara was getting excited. This was like swatting balloons with a stick.

  But the remainder of the orbs were beginning to transform, uncurling their legs below them as their eyes lit orange and swivele
d around to find the girl.

  Her Niksuru struck the third, batting it out of the aisle before its feet could touch down. A cloud of smoke rose up around Ki’ara as she charged out of the aisle to find a total of nine more mechanical bots, all at the exact same point of transformation.

  After glancing at the two closest morphing orbs in an attempt to choose which one to destroy first, Ki’ara couldn’t make a decision – so she smashed them both in one swooping pass.

  By the time their pointed feet touched the floor – which all the remaining bots did at precisely the same time – Ki’ara had obliterated nearly half of the dozen new mechanical predators. But she knew that her luck had run out. The transitioned spiders were much harder to kill, and she was grossly outnumbered.

  That didn’t stop her from plunging her blade straight into the glowing eye of the next bot in line, and cutting the front legs off another, as she continued her aggressive advance.

  A moment later, the spiders were lunging at her ferociously, puncturing the floor where she had taken her previous step. But Ki’ara didn’t skip a beat, and continued to push forward, blocking and slicing before taking a giant leap – onto the railing, and then out over open air.

  Ki’ara was seven floors up, staring down at the lobby far below. But with only the weight of her own body being supported by the G.R., there was little risk of falling. And even if she did, her armor would most likely protect her. She didn’t realize how much of a burden having Petch on her shoulders had been. Now that she didn’t need to worry about getting him killed, Ki’ara’s confidence skyrocketed.

  Taking out half of the bots so quickly didn’t hurt her ego any.

  Ki’ara even giggled as she soared across the opening. With her arms out to the side, it felt like she could fly like a bird – so free that she nearly forgot where she was.

  Pretty far from being free.

  Landing softly on the other side, Ki’ara turned to see the remaining spiders racing around the balcony and nearest bridge.

  She had hoped the spiders might try to jump. Or morph back into orbs and float across. Apparently they were smarter than that.

  At least they showed no interest in finding Je’nna and Petch. Now it was only her own life that Ki’ara needed to worry about. Nevertheless, she wanted to lead the bots away from the other two. The only chance her friends had was to be far away from Ki’ara and these stupid spiders.

  So the question was… which way?

  The answer was simple. With the threat of Royal Guardsmen in the corridors and at every exit, there was only one clear direction.

  Up.

  19

  An instant before the spiders converged on her, Ki’ara leapt. She shot straight up into the air as the bots punctured the floor at her feet, nearly colliding into one another as they smashed the wood like it was a javelin target.

  Ki’ara flew up to the ceiling, catching hold of a crossbeam and swooping onto it. She paused long enough to see how the bots would react. Even wearing the harness and G.R., spotting the dizzying distance all the way to the lobby floor, seven levels down, was enough to send chills up her spine.

  The spiders were climbing; first to the railings, and then to the columns that supported the crossbeams.

  She couldn’t rest now.

  The light from her Niksuru blinked out, and she placed the handles on her wrists. Leaping from one crossbeam to the next, Ki’ara maneuvered herself to the skylights.

  Up close, she saw they were more like windows, standing vertical in a way that formed small towers of light that poked up higher than the ceiling. There were three sections like this, separated by the towering columns that supported the roof from down at the very first floor.

  Narrow catwalks ran around the bottom of the glass, with retractable ladders that could be pulled down to the nearest balcony, presumably for cleaners or maintenance people.

  The glass itself wasn’t clear. It was frosted silvery-white, protecting the books from any harsh sunlight, but making it impossible to see through.

  Ki’ara spotted latches at the bottom of each window pane, and flipped open the closest of them. The window let out a high-pitched whistle the instant she pushed against it, and required more strength to open against the wind than the girl was expecting.

  As the spiders crept onto the platform beside her, Ki’ara leaned into the window with her shoulder – even pushed with her foot against the catwalk railing. With the robots about to pounce, the frame suddenly burst open, spilling the girl out into the fierce wind.

  She tumbled and slid when the hard shell of her armor touched sloping shingles, which were surprisingly steep and smooth. The Princess had never been out here, or anywhere close to the rooftops. From a distance they looked to be made of wood, but up close she could tell that the overlapping tiles were some kind of metal or fiber, colored to look like wood. Whatever they were made of, they acted like a great big slide, shooting her straight toward the ledge.

  Despite being so high up, Ki’ara had little concern of falling. Not with the G.R. attached to her harness. So she let gravity accelerate her to top speed. Under different circumstances, it would actually be kind of fun. But, with the lethal spider-bots chasing her, the danger was still very real.

  The girl rolled to her front so she could keep an eye on her pursuers. The windows barely slowed the spiders, as a hard tap with the sharp tips of their feet was all it took to send glass exploding into a million jagged pieces.

  Certain she was near the edge, Ki’ara opened the G.R. and buried her Niksuru into the thick shingles to act as a brake. With her knuckles pressed to the tiles, she stopped instantly, but had to scramble aside in order to dodge shards of glass that flew and slid toward her.

  Ki’ara hoped that none of the supporters Ma’gy had spoken of were on the ground below, as razor sharp chunks – some of them quite large – dropped over the ledge, raining lethal daggers onto the courtyard far below.

  The spiders were right behind her, pulling themselves through the window sills with their long, probing legs. All six of them emerged, creeping out into the open air. Two of them took to a wide overhang that shaded the glass from above, while four crawled out onto the sloping rooftop.

  Ki’ara wasn’t sure if they expected it or not, but the instant the bots let go of the window frame, they immediately began to slide.

  The uncontrolled movement actually caught Ki’ara by surprise. So surefooted had they been on the stone and wood inside that it was hard to believe the robotic monsters couldn’t gain traction on these shingles. But the spiders were racing down the slope even faster than Ki’ara had; shooting sparks from the tips of their pointed feet as they skated toward her.

  Her heart skipped as they approached.

  They were moving so fast the creatures appeared to be out of control…

  At the last second, the bots jumped at her, just like they had inside. Ki’ara sprang an instant before they landed, her G.R. taking her straight up, while the wind pulled her to the side.

  Unlike the wood floors of the Library, the spiders’ spear-like feet didn’t penetrate the roof tiles. Whether due to the hard metal, or the steep pitch, their feet deflected and slipped out from under them. Suddenly they were skidding and rolling on their sides, shooting under Ki’ara to the end of the roof.

  The Princess watched in astonishment as all four that had come at her disappeared out over the ledge.

  Her breath caught. Is that it? …did that just happen?

  Landing softly on the roof, Ki’ara looked up at the two remaining spiders, still clinging to the overhang. They were watching her from above, as if considering what to do.

  Something wasn’t right…

  Four bots had plummeted off the edge of the roof. But if they’d hit the ground far below, the impact didn’t make a sound. Though the wind was loud and gusty, Ki’ara was certain she would have heard something when they crashed into the courtyard.

  Her head snapped around in time to see a spider’s leg
reaching up onto the shingles from under the ledge. Another followed, and then more. Even without traction, they were somehow able to pull themselves up.

  Ki’ara stepped to the side, but something caught her ankle, tripping her up and sending her sliding to her knees. Taken by surprise, she was suddenly slipping toward one of the bots. A glint of light from the corner of her eye explained everything.

  Draglines.

  Practically invisible, they were following the spider-bots everywhere, and were the only things keeping them from falling to the ground.

  Ki’ara’s Niksuru flashed to the side. The thread severed with a spark and a metallic snap, sending the separated strands whipping apart.

  The spider she was sliding toward suddenly disappeared from the roof’s edge as Ki’ara opened the G.R. to stop herself from following it down.

  This time she heard a crash, far below and out of sight.

  With three more spiders trying to get back onto the roof, Ki’ara darted for their draglines. She moved as quickly as she could, but the fierce wind threatened to scoop her up with every step.

  Controlling her G.R. was like walking a tightrope – too little and she would slide over the edge; too much and she would blow away.

  She could barely see the fine strands that carried the weight of the silver assassins, but could tell when she hit them from the sparks and twanging snaps. All but one of the spider-bots vanished and fell; smashing into the ground a moment later and exploding on impact.

  With its lifeline already severed, the last mechanical monster fought to stay up, trying to punch and dig its pointed feet into the smooth metal shingles.

  Ki’ara stood above the clawing beast as the spider’s illuminated eye bobbled around its spherical torso. The orange light locked onto the girl, but there was nothing the robot could do.

  The Princess kicked it.

  The creature’s feet immediately lost what little purchase they had, scraping the tiles as they broke loose and disappeared over the ledge.