by Tyler Vance
There was a massive sonic boom. A blacksteel cannonball blasted straight through thirty feet falling rock, with a million clanking impacts and landed neatly on a ledge. In a single jump, Ghost had cleared more than halfway towards sunlight. Sheikoh was impressed. His hardware couldn’t have managed that leap. Even without Indigo over his shoulder.
Sheikoh was suddenly bounding off a rolling boulder and onto the ledge by Ghost’s. He landed lightly, sliding on the thick layer of dust. At the same time, Ghost crouched and then leapt. The android blew through the last fifteen feet of falling rocks like it wasn’t there. The shockwave of his liftoff sent an ominous rippling through the ledge Sheikoh was on. He followed Ghost’s lead and flung all of his and Indigo’s weight towards the sunlight. His ledge shattered into pieces under the force of his leap.
Sheikoh coasted through Ghost’s aerial pathway, relatively unscathed. A few pebbles smacked him in the face. Other than those, Ghost cleared a sizable pathway. The android had powered his way through the rubble, and forced the rubble to shudder back in on itself. The clanging was deafening. Rocks hammered Ghost’s metal framework and blasted aside.
As the lip of their only way out drew ever closer, Sheikoh’s trajectory started to slow. He became sure he’d misjudged the jump. Sure he and Indigo were about to die. Momentum and gravity battling over him and Indigo. Slowly, gravity began to take charge. Then it won. But they’d already rocketed into the glorious sunlight of their survival.
Ghost kept flying, higher and higher until he was the size of a toy. Sheikoh and Indigo had much less momentum. Sheikoh tossed Indigo onto the emerald grass around the caved-in hole. Then he unceremoniously smashed into the trunk of a tree. He rolled onto his back and gasped to himself.
Sheikoh flicked to his feet dizzily, still overdriving. He rubbed his aching head, as Indigo pushed himself up.
“Thanks… Silence…” Indigo muttered quietly.
“Don’t mention-
Something was happening up in the air. It was Khryzt. The demon was flying, bolting towards the falling Ghost. Sheikoh clenched his fists, as it caught one of Ghost’s ankles midair. The android kicked at the Sycrarian with his free leg, but Khryzt caught that one too.
Khryzt laughed maniacally as Ghost struggled, desperate to break free.
Sheikoh knew the demon was baiting him, knew this was a mistake, but it didn’t matter. He bunched his legs, preparing to throw himself at the Sycrarian.
He jumped into the air!
Only he didn’t.
His legs made no movement. They started shaking and then gave out beneath him. Sheikoh fell limply into the grass in shocked horror. He was out of action.
His overdrive had run its course.
They were dead.
Indigo glanced down at him. Then he aimed his assault rifle up at the Sycrarian and fired four jets of plasma. They bounced off of the invisible wall around the creature, and scattered. Sheikoh searched his jacket for his ML5. Almost immediately, he realized he’d left it in the cave.
An agonized scream rent the air.
Khryzt blasted currents of power through Ghost. Glittering sparks danced along blacksteel limbs, shrouding the dull grey metal with brilliance. The android’s skull ticked, and his jaw was opened nearly 180 degrees at the torture. Smoke began to curl off of his limbs. Indigo fired a few more useless streaks of plasma at the demon, and Sheikoh cursed. There was nothing they could do.
Ten long seconds, then the shreds of Ghost’s synthskin and clothing burst into flame, exposing a black, insectoid skeleton. Ragged, burning coverings fell into the trees, and the blacksteel began to glow red with heat. The power flared, and Ghost’s screams were suddenly replaced with loud pops.
Wires shorted, coolant fizzled, and muscles burst. Digital, green eyes flickered out, and the android fell limp in Khryzt’s hand.
Sheikoh clenched his fists. He’d never felt so useless in all of his life. Behind him, Indigo cursed.
Khryzt, however, seemed rather pleased.
With a loud laugh, the Sycrarian swung the android’s red-hot corpse straight through the trunk of a giant oak tree. Smoke stained the air, and the tree fell, taking a smaller one down with it. The earth shuddered, and Khryzt zoomed a gleeful loop through the sky. Ghost’s glowing husk trailed along behind the creature, along with two trails of white flame.
Then out of nowhere, Khryzt flung the sizzling blacksteel skeleton at Sheikoh.
He tried to crawl out of the way, but with his cyborg limbs useless, he only managed to drop down, onto his side. Breathing in grass and dirt, Sheikoh clawed at the forest floor. He managed an inch and gave up. It was hopeless. He looked back at the scorching missile on course to destroy him.
Sheikoh was about to die. He knew it with absolute certainty.
His body was suddenly wrenched through the air. There was a gasping panting and leafy footsteps, below and above him respectively. Through a wobbling blur, Sheikoh watched the spot he’d known he would die at recede in the distance. Only one explanation made any sense.
Indigo had saved him.
Scratch that. Nowadays, nothing seemed to make any sense.
Sheikoh’s musings were interrupted by a cataclysmic crash, as Ghost’s body rocketed into the earth. Cacophony and shockwave buffeted them, the ground shook and Indigo stumbled. Sheikoh slammed into the ground and rolled into a tree.
Then stillness.
A curtain of choking dust hung in the air. A blur of motion, and Indigo’s useless assault rifle was in hand. Sheikoh glanced around, slightly surprised; things looked much the same now as they had before all the shaking.
He’d expected more destruction.
Sheikoh looked up at Khryzt. Emili’s body floated towards them, an angel with flaming eyes. The creature didn’t seem to be in any rush.
It descended through the canopy.
Indigo dug his feet into compost and rained blood-red plasmafire the Sycrarian. Uncountable shots flicked in every direction, scorching stones and hissing into blaze. The automatic barrage splattered the demon’s magical shield, hissing like a thousand dying cats.
Sheikoh knew that Indigo could see it was futile, that the ganglord was more likely to kill the two of them than the Sycrarian, but he kept pelting the demon with plasma. Shots rebounded wildly, burning black holes into trees, and branches flickered with hungry flames.
Khryzt lightly touched down, and Emili’s uninjured arm lazily rose.
Indigo stopped firing. The assault rifle fell from his hands, and he suddenly hung limp. Emili’s hands rose and Indigo’s body followed, dangling like a marionette.
Khryzt held him there for a long moment. Its eyes flared with sparks and silent curiosity.
Then the Sycrarian gestured.
Indigo’s body smashed into a tree, with a loud crunch!
And another.
Crunch!
And another.
Crunch!
And another.
Crunch!
Khryzt flicked Emili’s wrist.
Indigo fell to the ground, coughing up blood. He laid there for a brief moment. Then, arms shaking, the ganglord struggled onto his elbows. Then he heaved himself onto his knees. Khryzt pointed a finger, and a jet of silver light slammed him back down.
Indigo rolled onto his back, wearing an expression of agony, and Sheikoh’s chest burned. Khryzt was toying with him.
“You are an interesting specimen,” Khryzt double-murmured. “When we first met, you attempted the human Arch Centaurai’s murder, and now you endeavored to slay me? I assure you, I have no intention of leaving the human alive.” The flaming eyes narrowed. “Could it be that you too imagine claim to the Celestial Crescent?”
Indigo spat out a stream of blood. Then he straightened and fixated a glare on the Sycrarian.
“Maybe I just got a thing for killing monsters,” he retorted. His dark eyes flashed with venom, and his voice dropped with quiet menace. “Mark me, demon. I’m gonna get you like you got Ghost.” Hi
s face twisted into a snarl. “You’re gonna die screaming.”
Indigo was fighting a virtually omnipotent demon, one that’d smashed him around like a pinball. And now, immobile in the grip of its magic, he found within himself the gall for a threat.
Sheikoh couldn’t help but smile the slightest bit. He had to admit; he was impressed. The bruised, dark man before him was truly every bit the ganglord hero. In this moment, Indigo was more than a murderer, a sociopath, dealer, or homophobe.
Indigo was more than a predator. He was playing a wider role. The realization made it that much harder to watch what happened next.
Emili’s fingers twisted into a veined clutch.
Indigo’s body was crushed in on itself. Splinters of his bones jagged out of his ebony skin. Blood poured from the holes torn into his skin. His mouth was open with a silent, bloodcurdling shriek that was choked off by his own blood.
In an instant, the ganglord’s chiseled muscles had given way to an obscene formlessness, while Sheikoh watched in horror. He opened his mouth, uncertain whether his body wanted him to scream or vomit.
Khryzt glanced over at him, lying in the dirt. It raised a palm, and Indigo’s broken body was tossed onto the ground beside him.
The ganglord met Sheikoh’s eyes with numb desperation. Sheikoh couldn’t believe he’d survived. He nodded tersely, eyes burning, and mentally promised the man Khryzt would pay for everything it’d done. Even if he had to kill Emili’s body in the process.
Emili was already dead.
Along with Ghost and Indigo-
Indigo clawed at the ground, trying to drag himself forward with his single, unbroken arm. The ganglord’s face burned with black hatred. Sheikoh had no idea how he was still conscious. Khryzt looked surprised as well. A cloud of blue and green sparks spilled into the air.
“You must be truly desperate to taste the oblivion of death,” Khryzt murmured with double tones of curiosity.
The very instant their luck changed.
Sheikoh’s chest jolted with hope. He kept his face hard and cold, but the inside of his chest filled with molten ecstasy. He wanted to sing. He wanted to jump with joy.
And jumping for joy was finally a physical possibility again.
His cyborg limbs had come back online.
Sheikoh narrowed his eyes at Khryzt, but he kept his limbs still. As much as he itched to attack the demon, he needed to bide his time.
The element of surprise was all he had.
“No… actually… I just want to… to dunk your head… in a lake… until you drown… demon,” Indigo gasped, with blazing eyes.
“We could call it a pool party,” Sheikoh called to distract those flaming, demonic eyes from Indigo. “I can just imagine you frolicking ‘round, until you’re so tired you spend the rest of your life… uh… dead.”
Both of their heads turned his way, like they’d forgotten there was a third person there. The Sycrarian burst into menacing double-laughter.
A crazy plan popped into his head. Under cover of the wild laughter, Sheikoh winked at Indigo and moved his pupils around shiftily, trying to tell the ganglord that he needed Khryzt distracted. Indigo nodded back almost imperceptibly.
Twin voices sounded, and their eyes darted to the demon.
“Humans become quite interesting when at the precipice of death,” Khryzt double-observed.
“Why don’t we… bring you to… the edge of death… then we can see if you’re any different,” Indigo coughed. A line of crimson trickled down his chin.
There was a flare of excited sparks.
Sheikoh smoothly slipped a hand into his clothes. The Sycrarian didn’t notice him reach down and click something out of a compartment in his blacksteel waist.
Sheikoh had remembered the gun he’d hidden inside his leg compartment, so many lifetimes ago. It was ironic; he’d brought it that day just in case Indigo had planned to betray him, and now Indigo was hopefully going to use it to save his life. Sheikoh knew there wasn’t much hope of piercing Khryzt’s barrier. That’d been established.
He had a different sort of idea.
His pinky flipped a switch on the pistol’s chamber.
“This world is certainly more fun than I had given it credit for,” Khryzt murmured eerily.
Emili’s burned shoulder shone with white light. Pale skin crawled together and intertwined, and the wound closed itself up.
“Before you kill us, mind telling me how much was a lie?” Sheikoh improvised hastily, gesturing with his left hand. “Was there any chance of me ever really living with Emili? I’m sure the thing about you having to follow my orders wasn’t true, right?”
Under cover of his exaggerated motioning, Sheikoh had subtly pressed the pistol into Indigo’s nearby hand.
Khryzt didn’t seem to notice. Nonetheless, Sheikoh held his breath while he waited for the creature’s response.
“If that is your final wish,” Khryzt solemnly intoned.
Sheikoh almost smiled.
Almost.
He glanced at Indigo. Hidden behind a twisted leg, the ganglord pointed the pistol towards Khryzt.
Whenever you’re ready big guy.
His body tightened with anticipation.
“I was forced to bow to your will, but upon departing-
Khryzt was interrupted by a crackling bolt lightning. Sheikoh lunged at the creature. He was mid-air when his pistol ripped apart under the duress of its final shot. A smoldering piece of metal slashed his cheek. From the corner of his eye, Sheikoh watched Indigo’s body blast back into a tree. He spent a microsecond hoping Indigo survived the backlash.
Midair, Sheikoh tore his focus back and fixated his entire being on the demon.
Explosion warped the barely-perceptible, silver wall around Khryzt. Heat stung in the air, and plasma wailed in Sheikoh’s ears. Waves of force pulsed out from the epicenter of the ball of destruction.
Emili’s feet tore furrows into the soft earth. Khryzt took a step back.
Shit!
He was too low. As it was now, his trajectory would slam into the Khryzt’s chest, totally at the mercy of the demon. Even the Transcendent amulet wouldn’t save him that close.
He tensed.
Then the Sycrarian stepped forward and pushed.
Yes! Stay right there!
The plasma discharge folded in on itself. Writhing around Emili’s fingers, it pulsed back against her magic. The energy’s heaving grew more and more violent, until, with a loud shriek and a burst of heat, it rebounded and poured plasma and destruction into the Schizma Canopy. The treetops were drenched in hungry flames.
Sheikoh came down on Khryzt.
The amulet’s silver-spun chain streamed from his hand, as he slammed into Emili’s body and knocked it onto the leaves. Sheikoh dragged the amulet over her hair. The chain went taunt. Then fell loose around her neck.
The frenzied blur stilled.
Two bodies fell onto the ground. Sheikoh instinctively caught the girl’s.
Emili’s.
She was surprisingly heavy.
He lay there, stunned and out of breath, for a few long moments. He breathed in wisps of frizzy, blonde hair and his panting turned to coughing. Her body was warm and lithe in his arms. He gingerly rolled Emili onto her back and brushed tangled hair out of her face. For a moment, he sat there and just drank in the sight. His eyes devoured everything from her soft lashes to the tiny dimples crinkling her cheeks.
Her soft, pale skin, textured like silken moonlight.
Her pink lips, sculpted with the elegance of flower petal.
Her eyelids, finally free of the demon’s white flame.
The demon was gone and Emili was one her way back. The connection he should’ve lost forever had been preserved within the girl he held in his arms.
The nightmare was finally over.
Part III: The Price of a Dream
Chapter 18 - The Aftermath
Sheikoh coughed at the smoke filtering down from the burnin
g canopy. He looked around, numb with disbelief. Hungry flames danced around the trunks and branches of trees in flickers of oranges and blues, blackening wood and reducing leaves to white ash. They’d already spread farther than Sheikoh could see, decimating a whole section of the forest.
Ghost was dead.
It just didn’t seem possible. After everything he and Indigo-
Indigo!
The ganglord had been at death’s door before taking the recoil of that massive shot, coughing up blood with only his fury to keep him conscious. Sheikoh knew that, whatever their past conflicts, if he left Indigo in the inferno to die here after fighting alongside of him against impossible odds, he’d never forgive himself for it.
Sheikoh wrapped his arms around Emili and flicked to his feet. He peered through the flames, searching for any sign of the ganglord. Memory streamed through his thoughts and jolted his chest; the last thing Indigo had said to him was thanks, right after the avalanche. In the end though, living had only earned his relentless body a mutilation at the hands of Khryzt. Sheikoh squinted through the smoke. The blinding flames were creeping ever closer. Blackened trees fell, trunks infested with hungry, leaping flames. The sparse green bulged and writhed before his eyes, distorted by the intense heat, as it rapidly gave way to ash. His face burned and sweat shrouded his skin.
There!
Sheikoh started moving. He could just make out the sight of Indigo’s body sprawled within a circle of fire. He took a running leap that barely cleared the wall of flames and stumbled his landing, weighed down by Emili’s unconscious body.
Sheikoh put Emili down next to Indigo, leaned over the ganglord, and looked at him with smoke-stung eyes. Indigo’s limbs were twisted in strange angles, and his massive chest caved in limply. Sheikoh touched two gentle fingers to Indigo’s neck, searching for any hint of pulse. There was nothing. He pressed harder and made out the faintest flicker of heartbeat, so weak though that it could give out at any time.
Sheikoh glanced wildly at the tree-high wall of fire, slowly inching towards them. His body felt like it was being slow roasted by the intense heat. Wind whistled through the roaring fire, flicking scalding hot sparks against his skin. He knew that he couldn’t make a leap over the flames carrying both Indigo and Emili. He looked at Emili for a moment debating taking the amulet off.