The Dark Materials

by Amanda Churi

  Mabel and Griffin glanced at me for guidance. The last time we told someone our names, we were almost brutally killed. Would exposing our origins have the same effect? Furthermore, could we come up with a lie to get us out of such a bind?

  I knew the answer… And no matter how much I didn’t like it, it was the only thing we could do. We needed to come clean if we wanted help.

  “We’re… From the past…” I answered timidly, the words hardly able to form on my tongue in fear as to what their reaction would be.

  Seek’s eyes exploded, her body lurching back in horror. Kaitlyn was startled just as badly, both girls scuffling away from us in a panic and standing close to one another for protection.

  “No way!” Kaitlyn screamed. She snapped her head to Seek, who looked just as frightened. “That can’t be them! That’s not the kind of past it meant!”

  Seek took a deep breath, struggling to hold herself back. “No, Kaitlyn,” she said in a hushed, overwhelmed voice. “That’s got to be them. I told you I sensed an odd presence—something not of this world!”

  “I thought you meant a supernatural!” she argued.

  “I did,” she replied, her eyes brightening. “But… Maybe they’re both.”

  Our group exchanged a wary, concerned glance. What the heck were they talking about?

  “We need to get them to the queen as fast as we can,” Seek continued,

  “We didn’t tell her we were bringing outsiders,” Kaitlyn argued.

  “Do you think she’ll care who we brought if we’re right?!”

  “And what if we’re not?” Kaitlyn roared back. “She’ll have our heads!”

  Seek looked down, gripping the shackle around her emaciated neck. “That’s a risk I will gladly take,” she mumbled. She looked back at Kaitlyn, giving her a curt nod. “I don’t care what they say. Get them home. Now.”

  On those words, she snapped her shackle open so that her throat was freed. It immediately began to glow white, the air around the two latches bending the atmosphere as the powers within her secret weapon built. She turned the open end of the shackle towards her throat, her body overtaken by a white aura of light until her features became masked. As though she was one with the air, her body suddenly dissolved into a single strand of mist, sucked into the metal latches and trapped within the confinements as the shackle snapped shut in midair, clattering to the ground as though nothing had happened.

  “What. The. Frick.” Mabel mumbled in dumbfoundment, her face resembling a fish out of water as she stared at the shackle.

  “Seek cannot enter the cities like us,” Kaitlyn quickly explained. “Anyone can see she is not normal. She has to get in and out undetected.” She bent down, grabbing Seek’s shackle before letting her eyes fall upon me. “Mind hiding her in your pack?”

  “Uh, no, of course not,” I responded unsurely, throwing my backpack off of my shoulder and crouching down to open the flap.

  Kaitlyn delicately placed Seek’s shackle on top of my clothes before covering them in more shirts for further protection. “I would advise hiding your weapons as well,” she warned us as she unsheathed her knives, placing them in my bag as well. “If the Proxez see that you have weapons, you will be shot down immediately.”

  “So, the Proxez are the reigning force here?” Mabel questioned.

  “You catch on fast,” Kaitlyn acknowledged as I placed Coruscus in my bag, Griffin and Mabel stashing their own weapons. “We need to go through Aphrite to get you guys to safety, and Aphrite is fully controlled by the Proxez. We need to slip through very quickly and get to the queen before our cover is blown.”

  “And the queen is who?” I butted in.

  “The leader of our revolution against the Proxez.” Kaitlyn turned to look at Laelia, who had disconnected herself from us, staring down at her crippled pet. “You need to hide the lerial as well.”

  “No!” Laelia refused, burying Sybil into her breasts for protection.

  “Girl, do what I say if you want to live!” Kaitlyn snapped. “It won’t be for too long, but she has to stay hidden like Seek! Do you understand?”

  Laelia huffed in disgust, though in the end, she did what was asked of her, stowing Sybil in her satchel after arranging a bed for her out of clothes. “Not long…” she whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. “I promise.”

  I seriously wondered just why she liked Sybil so much; the two had taken to one another like peanut butter and jelly.

  “Come on,” Kaitlyn said in a rushed voice, waving us in her direction with a hand as she began to move towards the unseen civilization, her pace increasing with each step. “We can’t lose any more time.”

  Before long, she was sprinting away, the four of us exchanging an unsure glance before hesitantly following the brutal warrior.

  “So, I have a question,” Griffin said through a frantic pant as we raced across the decimated land, ripping layers of frost off of the frozen soil as our heels dug into the pitiful earth. “How can you wear something like that and not freeze to death?”

  That was actually a good question; her arms were completely exposed, and her black jeans were shred far beyond repair. We had been cold within minutes of inhabiting this world; how could she be perfectly content, choosing to wear those clothes by choice?

  “I don’t know the definition of cold,” she responded tensely, flashing a sharp blue glare over her shoulder. “And neither will you. Just wait; you all have a lot to learn.”

  Well, that definitely did not answer his question. Jeez, everyone seemed to beat around the bush whenever you asked them something simple. It was nothing short of frustrating, especially since I wanted to get to the bottom of things as fast as I could.

  A distant image slowly formed in my eyes, my pupils enlarging when, piece by piece, I took in the horrendous scene before me.

  Kaitlyn, noticing my drooping face, quickly looked back ahead of her. “Whoa, hold up!” she ordered, her pace dramatically slowing down as she held both of her arms out to make sure no one passed her. We came to a halt in the decimated land, looking ahead, silent.

  What I saw broke me in a way I hadn’t imagined.

  Looming in the distance was a wall—a humongous stone wall, stretching its cold, gray hands hundreds of feet into the air, lurking beneath the gloomy sky plaguing the land. It went on for as far as the eye could see, straight across the landscape so that no one could possibly sneak in… Or escape. Every quarter of a mile or so, a stone tower soared above the wall by a few hundred feet more; even with the distance spanned between us, I could see faint figures shifting on top of the wall, keeping a watchful eye on the decimated land surrounding the city. Directly ahead of us was a gate; the only opening to the city I could see for miles. Two large iron doors matching the height of the towers were open, two lookout posts lining each side to closely inspect those passing in and out.

  It looked like a prison. I highly doubted that anything we were going to see beyond this point was something we would be envious of.

  “Good grief…” Griffin gasped in shock. “This place is a living Hell.”

  Kaitlyn nodded gruffly, preparing herself for the dangers beyond. Being out of the death-strewn earth didn’t make us safe; in fact, I was sure it made us far from it. Moving forward seemed even less promising than what we had ventured through.

  “What happens if they attack us?” Mabel piped up thoughtfully. “We need our weapons to defend ourselves!”

  “If they see that we are capable of starting something, we’ll probably be dead before we get the chance to,” Kaitlyn argued stiffly, keeping her eyes peeled ahead. “Stay calm and collected; if they sense you are anything but ordinary, they will stop you.”

  On those words, Kaitlyn decided to take the risk of entering enemy territory. We definitely didn’t look like anyone to be feared, that was sure; Mabel was soaked from head to toe in dried blood, Griffin, Laelia, Kaitlyn, and I bearing our own share of scars to reinforce that we really were some of the unluckiest p
eople in society. I just prayed that we wouldn’t be questioned, because I wouldn’t know what to say—we definitely would not be using our real names this time, though; that was for sure.

  Silent, we approached the high and mighty gates in the distance. Our feet dragged across the frozen soil in misery and defeat, my heart beating wildly beneath my skin the closer we came to the heavily guarded city. The men keeping guard on the large stone wall noticed us, screaming orders and racing to the towers, pointing their guns in our direction—a weapon I had long forgotten existed.

  “Play cool,” I hissed under my breath, noticing Mabel shaking beside me. We had to act normal… Act like there was nothing wrong with what we were doing.

  We approached the gates—gates that surprisingly remained open. Kaitlyn did not seem fazed by the men; she must have been far too used to these threats. I warily glanced up, seeing multiple soldiers on each side of us placed at the top of the lookout towers, aiming their guns which crackled with white electricity—the same type of soldier as the man I had slain upon arrival. The fact that they did not immediately shoot us down put me under the impression that they were at least still oblivious to our faces.

  The guns followed us as we passed through the gates and into the city; the wall had to be meters upon meters thick with concrete, only further confirming just how fortified this place was. When we entered the boundaries of the city, the soldiers seemed to quickly lose interest, turning back towards the desolate land to resume their duties.

  Kaitlyn came to a halt nearly the moment we passed into civilization, the four of us stopping behind her as we were overtaken by sheer astonishment. “Welcome to the fourth district of the Proxez Empire,” Kaitlyn said dryly. “Aphrite.”

  Back in my future, despite the reign of the Nobles, people were basically free. As long as the Nobles were not offended or gone against, one could do most whatever they wanted depending on where they lived. Here… The faces and body language of those trapped in the walls told an entirely different story.

  The city loomed high and mighty despite the suffering inhabitants within. Everywhere one looked, there were buildings and skyscrapers made of shining silver and iron. The road we arrived on changed from dirt to pearly marble, so slick and frictionless that if one ran, they would find themselves sliding instead. On top of almost every building was a constantly moving hologram, projected into the sky by a white pole mounted on the roof. Most were propaganda and news—scenes of humans covered head to toe in dust, chipping away at stone with pickaxes while men in electrified black armor kept watch, tapping a white rapier impatiently against their silver, sparking gloves—the Proxez. Others were simple messages with overly dramatic graphics: obey, live, work.

  The majority of people who dominated the main street into the city were soldiers, their helmets removed as they laughed carefreely going to and from buildings, some randomly giving an innocent, reserved human a rough shove to the ground, laughing heinously as they watched them struggle to pick themselves back up.

  Those who weren’t soldiers seemed to be similar to some degree. Everyone here looked broken and helpless; it was as though they had no purpose to even exist. They moped around, many holding crates and bags filled to the brim as they ventured to their destination. They were dressed in filthy rags, so I was relieved when I took note that we fit in quite well; many bore scars as well or had suffered extensive injuries: missing limbs, missing skin, and deformed body parts on top of bruises and abrasions that were so extreme it looked like each and every one of them had taken a personal beating. They were thin as well, some far beyond that. I didn’t even see one, so to say, “average” person. The skin just hugged their bones and sunk into their faces—faces deprived of everything ranging from food and hygiene to hope and happiness.

  “The city is unbelievable,” Mabel whispered in awe as she shifted her gaze to the buildings, “but the people look like the bottom of the barrel.”

  “It’s slavery,” Kaitlyn stated glumly. “Public slavery and the people don’t even care.”

  “Then why can they come and go as they please?” I questioned, referencing our entrance into Aphrite; I was still surprised that no one had stopped us.

  Kaitlyn sighed. “It’s a way that they break us further,” she replied quietly. “They almost always leave the gates open in the day; if you want to try your luck and attempt to survive out there, go ahead.” She paused. “But they know that you won't make it, and when you realize that and come crawling back, you will be reminded of how lucky you are.”

  I cringed. Their reverse psychology made sense but my gosh… This place was so messed up…

  After looking around a bit, Kaitlyn made her way forward, our group sticking close by. Bronze poles lined the streets, cases of glass mounted to the tops as lively electricity zapped around within to illuminate the dull and dark city. People didn’t even seem to realize we were there, shoving past us and continuing on their way as though we were nothing but scum. The farther we moved into the city, the more populated it became until we were literally moving down the street like a herd of cattle, the roar of threats and conversations merging together so intensely that my ears rang, my nose also burning due to the reek of oil and flesh emanating from each and every peasant.

  From the small roads that branched off of the main street, the marble path immediately ceased, turning to broken concrete or dirt. Beyond the first look one had at the city, the more you analyzed it, the more you could tell that the magnificent buildings were nothing but an illusion, trying to hide the poverty in the alleys and slums where people “lived” in shacks and on the streets.

  “Kaitlyn?” Mabel spoke up timidly, her eyes continuing to shoot around in horror as the beauty quickly turned to famine.

  “What?”

  “Why… Why don’t I see any children?”

  Surprisingly, her observation was correct. I could see some faces in the ocean of humans who looked similar to our age, but young children and toddlers seemed non-existent; there were no babies to be found with parents either.

  “You also won’t find any elderly,” Kaitlyn informed her. “The only people you will see on the streets are those ranging from the ages of thirteen to forty.”

  “Then where is everyone else?” Griffin wondered.

  Kaitlyn did not answer him, instead sighing in defeat as she lowered her head. “Don’t worry about it…”

  I was about to say something but not before the crowd of people suddenly turned, catching my zoned out brain off guard.

  It looked like we had reached the center of the city, for the road suddenly wound around a large marble statue which sat in the center of the pathway. The four of us observed it as we passed by, intrigued. There was a wall a little over a meter high to protect the statue, but beyond that, there was something that looked like water but was not. Much like we had first seen when we arrived, strands of incomprehensible code flowed around the foot of the statue and across the surface of the Earth; the base of the hologram it traveled on was blue, while the information scribed in white characters moved so quickly it took on the appearance of shimmering water.

  The statue stood dozens of feet high—the mold of a man leaning on a staff, smiling smugly with a cape thrown over his shoulders as his stone eyes stared out upon his land in pride.

  “Hey, keep it moving, would you?!” a soldier standing on top of the short wall yelled my way as I became aware of sluggish pace.

  “Come on,” Kaitlyn encouraged, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the outside of the traffic circle so that we could get out when we pleased, which was what I wanted very soon. Mabel followed us, sticking to me like a shadow as Griffin tried to pardon his way across the crowd of humans, who were anything but happy as he interrupted their path of travel; Laelia didn’t give a damn, as usual, shoving past them to prove that she stood higher than everyone else. Kaitlyn finally managed to guide us out of the human roundabout, our group sighing in relief when the pushing and pulling was over.


  We stood off to the side of the road in front of a thin alleyway, watching the mindless people move around on the street in a constant state of chaos; the circular road branched off into four separate ones, making the center of the city look like a cross with a revered jewel in the middle.

  A very misleading case of symbolism.

  “What do we do now…?” Mabel wondered, shaking her head in disapproval the longer that she stared at the poor civilians.

  “We have to get to the base of the Encryption,” Kaitlyn told us, all eyes falling on her. “Ideally, we should arrive tomorrow, but we need to cover as much ground as we can while it’s light.”

  “The Encryption?” Mabel pressed.

  Kaitlyn smirked mischievously. She pointed to the statue in the center of the square. “Proxez,” she said simply before pressing a thumb self-righteously into her chest. “Encryption.”

  “Is everyone a…?” Griffin paused. “Encryption?”

  “Singular, it’s Encryptor,” she corrected. “And no.” She waved her hand to the people. “They’re mere subjects—people serving the Lord, waiting for either us to take control or for the Proxez to bring us down. We suffer incomprehensibly if caught, yes, but they suffer on a daily basis…”

  I sighed submissively. She was right about not only the suffering but the people… I could just feel the tension in the air and see the drained souls behind their eyes. The people here… Something was very wrong with them.

  There was something wrong with everything that existed, Kaitlyn and Seek included; I could only hope that I chose the better of the two sides.

  “I guess we just have to wait…” I said warily, staring at the statue in the center of the city. I could imagine a man behind those marble eyes—a man who smiled proudly as he observed the terrible world held under his thumb.

  “For?” Kaitlyn wondered.

  I looked back at Kaitlyn and then my friends, feeling my heart ache as Calla’s words echoed in my head. I wasn’t only the cause, but I dragged them with me into this suffering—a decision I now regretted making. They didn’t deserve this; no one did.