World in Chains- The Complete Series

by Ryan W. Mueller

  "You are here before me today because you entered the empire illegally," said the judge. "What do you have to say in your defense?"

  Berig exchanged a nervous glance with Aric and Lara. Aric shook his head as if he had no idea what to say, but Lara adopted a look of fierce determination. She rose from the bench. "We know that we broke the law, and we know what the punishment is. But you have to take into account why we entered the empire illegally."

  To Berig's surprise, the judge nodded. "Go on. I'm listening."

  "It is a long story," Lara said. "Are you willing to hear the whole thing?"

  The judge nodded again.

  She took a breath, then fixed her gaze on the judge. "Recently, one of our friends was abducted and taken to a place known as the Shadowed Land. Have you heard of it?"

  "Yes."

  "We met with a sorcerer in Luminia who can read the Webs of Fate. He told us that our best chance to bring her back was to enter the New Earth Empire. Unfortunately, he couldn't give us much beyond that, but we had to act."

  The judge's expression was grave. "That sorcerer must be mistaken. No one can escape the Shadowed Land. I'm afraid you've thrown your lives away on worthless advice."

  Aric finally spoke. "Then you've already decided against us?"

  "It is my duty to be consistent in applying the law," said the judge. "While I feel no hostility toward you, I can't make an exception."

  Aric glared at him. "Then why do you even bother with a trial?"

  "Exceptions are rare, but they do happen. Unfortunately, you are not one of them." He banged some kind of hammer on the desk. "The accused are guilty. They will face execution immediately. Please remove them from my presence."

  Berig sat there stunned for a few moments. How could the judge have decided against them so quickly? All this time, Berig had held faint hopes that they might survive this. He should have known better. Life never worked out like that.

  The guards led them out of the courtroom. They were still encased in impenetrable force fields. Berig tried and tried, but he couldn't escape the force field.

  They made their way back to the elevator, and one of the guards pressed a button.

  "How're you gonna execute us?" Berig asked.

  The guard patted the weapon he was holding, the same weapon the border guards used. "A few plasma rifle shots to the head. Quick and nearly painless."

  "Nearly painless?" Berig said. "You ever been shot in the head?"

  "No, but the prisoners usually don't scream too much."

  The elevator doors opened, and Berig jumped back in shock, colliding with his force field. In the elevator stood the last person Berig ever thought he'd see. It was impossible.

  The person was short with curly brown hair and a beard that looked as if it had been trimmed more recently than Berig's. But there was no doubt about it. The face was the same. The eyes were the same. Even the way he stood was the same.

  Berig was staring at himself.

  Chapter 8: A Traveler in Time

  Berig watched as the other Berig made a hand gesture he recognized from his days as a thief. It meant that Berig should get down. He hit the ground immediately. Aric and Lara followed his lead. A moment later, the other Berig made a hand gesture and a great gust of wind whipped across the room. The guards had pointed their guns at him, but they didn't fire quickly enough.

  The wind caught them as they fired, and their shots went astray as they flew backward across the corridor, slamming into the wall. Dazed, they must have let the force fields drop, because now Berig and Aric were free.

  "Follow me," said the other Berig. "No time to explain."

  They didn't take the elevator. Instead the other Berig led them to a nearby stairwell. Berig had so many questions, but he was more concerned with saving his life. They raced down the stairs as a terrible squealing sound began.

  "Damn," said the other Berig. "Forgot how fast they got the alarm going."

  At the bottom of the stairs, they stood face-to-face with four guards, who'd all pointed their plasma rifles at the party. The other Berig made a sweeping motion with his right arm, and a swirling barrier formed around them. The blasts from the guns were swept aside.

  Then the barrier died, and the other Berig sent a fierce gust of wind at the soldiers, toppling them again. As they scrambled to their feet, the other Berig led them off to the left, toward another exit from the stairwell.

  The door appeared to be locked with one of those locks that needed a handprint. The other Berig ignored this, sweeping his arm across his body again. This time, the ground rumbled beneath them. Some of the stone composing the floor burst upward, bending the door out of shape. They raced forward and kicked it in the rest of the way. While they did this, the other Berig made that swirling wind shield again.

  The alarm continued blaring as they raced into the dark corridor beyond. More rifle blasts came from behind them, but the barrier protected them. The other Berig seemed to know where he was going as he led them through a door off to the right.

  The room they entered was packed with crates that towered from floor to ceiling.

  "Can't keep the barrier going any longer," said the other Berig. "But we won't be needing it now." There was a flicker of doubt, or perhaps regret, in his expression.

  Shouts came from behind them. The guards. Berig's party raced through the crowded storage room, toppling a few crates here and there. Berig, Aric, and Lara had no weapons, but the other Berig had his magic. He kept sending shards of ice over his shoulder. A few grunts came from behind. Good. Hopefully they'd taken care of enough of the guards.

  "This way," said the other Berig, pointing off to the right. "Hurry!"

  Rifle blasts came from behind. One hit a crate less than a foot from Berig. His stomach lurched, and he hastened his pace as more rifle shots rang out, glowing strange colors as they collided with the crates, some of which caught on fire.

  They zigzagged between crates, following the other Berig's lead. Berig had no idea how the other Berig was so sure of himself. Berig never would have felt like that in this situation.

  A set of double doors stood ahead of them. Berig's heart pounded, and when he glanced back, he saw the guards gaining on them. They leveled their rifles at the party. Berig was able to duck behind a crate just in time, but Aric wasn't quick enough.

  Three rifle blasts caught him in the chest. His scream lasted only a moment, and then he hit the ground, where he lay still. Dead.

  Berig was about to crawl out to him, but then a hand gripped his arm. It was the other Berig. "You can't save him," he said. "It had to happen this way."

  "Come out now," said one of the guards, "or we'll blow up the crates."

  The other Berig shook his head. "We're not coming out. I have a plan."

  With another gust of wind, he sent a stack of crates tumbling down upon the guards. The guards screamed as the heavy crates hit them, but there was nothing they could do. The other Berig pulled Berig to his feet. Berig wanted to stop and help Aric, but the other Berig wouldn't let him. Besides, Berig knew deep down that Aric was dead.

  They darted through the double doors and reached a courtyard of some kind. An enormous fence stood at the end of the courtyard, fashioned of some kind of chains. It looked like something Berig could climb, but he didn't think Lara could manage.

  "We can't climb it," said the other Berig, as if sensing Berig's thoughts. "It has lightning running through it. But there's a thing called a generator nearby. If we destroy that generator, then we can climb it."

  As they ran, Berig turned to Lara. "Can you manage it?"

  "I've lived in a forest my entire life. I know how to climb."

  They rounded a corner of the large stone building, and three guards stood before them, rifles aimed at the party. But the other Berig was quicker. He used another gust of wind that catapulted the guards backward. Two of them were so surprised they dropped their rifles.

  "The problem with an Empire that relies too much on
technology," said the Other Berig. "They ain't ready for true magic when you use it against 'em." He pointed toward the rifles lying on the ground. "Grab those. If any guards get near us, shoot 'em."

  Berig and Lara both scooped the rifles off the ground. The third guard was rising at the same time, and aimed his rifle at them. Berig had seen how the guards fired these rifles, and he hoped it would work the same for him. He pointed his rifle at the guard and pressed the button he'd seen the guards pressing before. A bluish burst of energy came from the end of the rifle. It went a bit lower than Berig expected, but it still struck the guard in the stomach.

  He fell back, clutching the spot, his face twisted in agony. Berig tried not to think about what he'd done. He might have killed that man. Of course, that man was intent on killing him. Berig shouldn't have felt any guilt, but he did. For the moment, though, he pushed it aside.

  Two more guards stood outside a nearby building. Berig and Lara fired at both of them, catching them by surprise. Neither Berig nor Lara had great aim, but it was good enough to make the guards scream and hit the ground.

  "Shoot 'em again," said the other Berig. "In the head."

  Already, the guards were struggling back to their feet. Berig felt terrible about it, but he had no choice; he shot the guard right in the head. Lara did the same to the guard on the left. Berig felt like throwing up, but he'd worry about morality later.

  He had to focus on the moment. He couldn't let his emotions get the better of him, as they had so often during his time as a thief.

  The other Berig led them into the building, inside which they found all kinds of glowing machines. Berig had no idea where to go in the confusing maze, but the other Berig led the way with confidence, as if somebody had given him perfect knowledge of this place.

  The largest machine stood at the back of the room. The other Berig stopped before this machine, staring at it for a few seconds before he pushed three red buttons. When he did, more alarms sounded, giving Berig a headache.

  "Just turned off the power for the whole prison," said the other Berig. "That means we can climb the fence. Don't worry. I've got enough magic left over to protect us while we climb." He pointed at two spots on the machine. "Shoot here and here."

  Once he got out of the way, Berig and Lara let loose with their rifles. After a few shots, the rifle blasts must have penetrated the machine's defenses. Smoke came from the machine.

  "Run!" shouted the other Berig. "This whole place is about to explode."

  They sprinted through the labyrinth of machines, following the other Berig's lead. The smell of smoke filled the room. Berig's heart pounded, and sweat drenched his entire body.

  They reached the door, and just in time. A moment later, as they raced out into the courtyard, a series of massive explosions ripped through the building. The sounds were louder than anything Berig had ever heard. Smoke billowed everywhere, and fire shot high into the sky.

  Berig covered his head as bits of the building rained down upon them. Once the worst of the explosions stopped, the other Berig yanked him to his feet. Lara followed close behind as they took off toward the fence. Smoke obscured everything. Distantly, Berig heard guards shouting, but now their shouts were panicked instead of commanding.

  The three of them reached the fence at the edge of the courtyard and began climbing, and the other Berig created that swirling barrier again.

  "They probably won't be too worried about us," said the other Berig, failing to hide a grin. "By destroying that generator, I just freed every prisoner in this place."

  Berig grinned back. "Always dreamed of doing something like this."

  They climbed the fence, protected by the swirling barrier. A couple of guards decided to shoot at them, but the shots didn't even get close. When they reached the top of the fence, they swung over and made their way down. Berig was glad heights had never bothered him because the fence had to be at least fifty feet high.

  Slowly but surely, they made their way down, reaching the bottom without incident. Smoke blocked much of the prison from view. Berig took one last look at it as they sprinted into the forest nearby. Soon they were deep within the cover of the nearby trees.

  The other Berig led them to a place where the trees were especially thick. There, he rummaged in a small leather bag sitting beneath a tree. From it, he pulled out clothes that looked strange, like the clothes people wore here in the New Earth Empire.

  "You've gotta wear these clothes," he said. "They'll help you blend in."

  Even if Berig didn't care for the strangeness of the clothes, he knew exactly what the other Berig meant. Blending in was one of the most useful skills for any decent thief. Berig quickly changed his clothes while Lara did the same a few feet away. When she stood in only her underclothing, he felt a strange feeling in his gut. God, she was beautiful.

  She gave him a strange look. "You all right, Berig?"

  "Oh, yes, I'm fine." He turned to the other Berig, hoping to hide his awkwardness. "So what do we do now? And what exactly is going on?"

  "This is gonna be kind of hard to explain. You know how the Webs of Fate let you see both the past and the future. Well, there are some sorcerers up to the northeast, in a place known as the Breezelands, who don’t just read the Webs of Fate. They can help you travel through 'em. You can travel into the past or the future."

  "I still don't understand why you're here," Berig said.

  "To save you and Lara, of course," said the other Berig.

  Berig scratched his head. "But if you came here from the future, then I must have survived, right?"

  The other Berig scratched his head the exact same way. It was creepy. "Well, it don't really work like that. You can't change the past. What we just went through happened to me, too. You can change the future, obviously, but that's a different story."

  Berig felt as if his thoughts had become a foggy mess. He tried to make sense of what the other Berig had told him, but the more he thought, the more he got a headache.

  "But there had to be a starting point somewhere," he said.

  "Don't try to understand how it works," said the other Berig. "You'll only make your head hurt. Just accept that it works the way it does and take advantage of it." As he was talking, his skin seemed to grow paler.

  "Is something wrong?" Berig asked. "You look kind of pale."

  The other Berig nodded gravely. "That's an effect of meeting yourself when you travel in time. It won't be long before I die." He held up a hand to keep them from responding. "But I've gotta tell you a few things first. Once I'm gone, you need to head south to New Washington. You'll meet Nadia and Markus there, but I can't tell you anything beyond that. It would result in changing the timeline, and then really bad things would happen."

  "Like what?" Berig asked.

  "Like the world ceasing to exist. Traveling into the past is very dangerous."

  Berig felt sick to his stomach. "Does that mean I have to come back in time to save myself? That I have to die?"

  "Yeah, it does."

  "I don't think I can do that."

  The other Berig nodded. "I didn't think I could do it either. But you're a lot stronger than you think you are. You've got it within you." His skin had become a ghostly white.

  "Anything else you can tell us?" Berig asked.

  "I'm afraid not. My time's come."

  A few moments later, the other Berig's skin turned completely white. Then he blurred for a few moments before disappearing entirely, leaving no trace that he'd ever existed. Berig felt a cold knot in his chest, for he knew that was his eventual fate. Tears came to his eyes.

  Lara wrapped an arm around him. "You'll have the strength to do it. I know you will."

  He settled into her embrace. "I don't wanna think about it."

  "Then don't. Focus on the moment. Wait till the time comes."

  "I love you, Lara. You bring out the best in me. You really do."

  "And I love you too, Berig."

  He lay there in her arms, c
rying about his death. After all he'd survived, all the ways he'd changed, it felt cruel. His days were numbered, and that terrified him. Maybe there was something after death, but he couldn't depend on that.

  "I can't believe Aric's gone," he said.

  Lara nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. "It was so senseless. He was the kind of man who should have died doing something heroic."

  "Well, the world ain't a fairy tale," Berig said. "I've known that my whole life. The world don't care about justice or fairness. It don't care what you want from it." He shook his head, staring solemnly at the leaf-strewn ground. "At times, I wonder why we even bother. I mean, is this world really worth saving?"

  Lara wrapped him tighter in her arms. "As long as there are good people in the world, it's worth saving. We see cruelty and violence and all these terrible things, but that's just one side of the world. It is also a place of love and friendship and beauty. We can't forget that."

  "You're right," Berig said, looking into her dark eyes. "I can't forget that, not when I'm with you. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met, and not just on the outside."

  They held each other in their arms as day turned to evening, then to night. That was all they needed: the touch of a human being. Berig couldn't stop thinking about his future.

  He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.

  Chapter 9: A Comfortable Prison

  Markus was surprised at the accommodations of their prison. Their room contained two comfortable beds and had windows with a magnificent view of the glowing city.

  The furniture within the room contained clothing in the strange New Earth Empire style. It wouldn't be a perfect fit, but it was close enough. They could also order food from a device located in the corner of the room. The guard showed them how. It seemed a little strange to touch the thing the guard called a screen.

  The list of food contained all kinds of items Markus had never heard of, including pictures.

  "I wonder what a pizza is," he said.