by John Hook
What I saw made me feel like I had been punched in the stomach. Guido hung from the ceiling by a rusted chain, his feet just off the ground. His body was bound in barbed wire and iron spikes had been driven into some of his joints. There were cuts and what appeared to be electrical burns on his flesh. He looked malnourished and his head looked beaten. One of his dog eyes was puffed up and almost swollen shut. I felt tears on my shoulder and knew it was Saripha.
“Guido.” It was a sigh as much as speech and I realized I was letting air out and remembering to breathe.
Guido looked up and let his mouth hang open, tongue out, appearing to smile as even an abused dog will if he's happy to see you. It broke my heart.
“Don't worry too much about all this. It is an illusion, a metaphor for the pain they are harvesting from me.”
“How do I free you?”
“As you can see, I can't travel while in the grip of this spell. Those spikes in the joints are problematic.”
I noticed that Guido's voice was actually in my head and, as in the underground chamber, he was much more communicative. It must have been that our energy was connected.”
“So, how do I break the spell?”
“You have to get the Magister to let me go.”
“How do I do that? Do I fight him?”
“You could. He's not too smart, but he is powerful and tricky.”
“So what do I do?”
“You have been doing fine without me for a while. Trust yourself to figure this out. You have the full power of the dreaming. Change the dream.”
“There's the Guido I remember. Even when it comes to saving yourself, you won't give too much away.”
Guido panted some more. He looked like a wounded dog laughing at me. It was weird and happy and heartbreaking all at the same time.
I went within myself and connected to Saripha.
“Stay with Guido while I deal with the Magister. If I don't come back, you'll have to try and free him.”
Saripha stepped into the chamber and looked at me.
“You'd better make sure you come back.”
“Yes, Mom.”
I left the chamber. The Magister saw me again and went into a rage. I expanded my body as much as I could without knocking down the wall of the maze. Somehow, I decided that was important. For some reason, the Magister couldn’t enter the maze. I climbed over the wall carefully.
“Simmer down, Gorgo.”
Once outside the wall I matched the Magister's size. He backed up and balled up his clawed hands, screaming and beating his chest. I caught myself almost laughing because he was still doing everything with jerky motions, which is why I had called him Gorgo.
I held up one finger and then pressed it to my lips. I winked and sat down cross-legged. This was not what he expected and the interruption from the display of aggression by the puzzlement was instant and obvious. He stepped closer one, two steps, sniffing the air.
I thought of the tower and all the large-sized features, stairways and thrones. I had thought that at one time the Magisters were near the top of the hierarchy, but if this creature was an example, it was hard to imagine how. It was a beast with only rudimentary intelligence. I had to find out if there was more.
The Magister took another hesitant step towards me. I extended my arm. He stepped back, expecting an attack. I simply motioned with my finger for him to come and motioned with my hand to sit down.
“We can always fight. Sit down with me, I want to show you something. Surely someone as powerful as you isn't afraid.”
I could see that last remark puff up his ego. He came over and sat, eyeing me cautiously.
“What could you possibly show me that would keep me from crushing you?”
It was good to know he could talk. I didn't respond, but closed my eyes and reached out with my energy. Sensing him, I drew his energy in.
“What have you done?”
I opened my eyes slowly. We sat facing each other on the bare, rocky island where the Angels had shattered the sky. Energy hissed, spat and arced from the hole in the sky. As before, the surface was almost polished by all the devastation.
“Why are we here?” the Magister asked.
I stood up. “Do you know where this is?”
The Magister wasn't going to be below me, so he stood up too. “It looks like the place where the sky shattered. I've only heard of it. Hey, I can think more clearly.”
I nodded but didn't comment.
“It's now a place with no life on it, except the hive. I figured we wouldn’t get interrupted here.”
“What's the hive?”
“Come over here.”
We walked to the edge of the large chasm in the middle of the island. “You see the light coming up from deep within? Down there, very deep down. That's where the Angels have to stay most of the time until they change the world.”
“So?”
“Do you know what happens when they change the world?”
“Many will die?”
“We're already dead.”
“Yes, but what is left of you will be gone.”
“And you work for the Angels?”
“Because they will reward us. They will make a place for us.”
“And you believe that?”
“What choice do we have? Even though they can only exist in this world a short time, they are powerful and they will succeed. There is no choice but to hope they will do as they say if we help them.”
“Ah, you do have more intelligence than in the maze. You can reason. You can grasp at false hope.”
“False hope? You have no hope.”
“Why do you think they reduced your intelligence in the maze?”
“So I would be more ferocious.” There was pride when he said it.
“Or to keep you from thinking everything through thoroughly. If they destroy the universe to make it one they can inhabit, and they have the power to do so, why should they bother to do what you say? It may not even be possible with the physics of their universe.”
“I have to hope they will. There’s no other choice.”
“Sure there is. I'm fighting them. These Angels you think are so powerful, they haven't stopped me.”
“They will.”
“They might. It's true, you can never know for sure. You have to pick a side. The question is, do you want to die feeling betrayed or would you rather die knowing you did the right thing?”
I could see the Magister hesitate. I could see him weighing. And I could tell he wasn't going to come through. It was a shame, because I was sensing the real underlying intelligence, but he had been too well brainwashed.
His face morphed and he grabbed onto me. He shouted down into the chasm. “I have him! I have the Blue One! Come and get him.”
I waved and floated out of his grip.
“I'm afraid there is no one there to answer you. I'm afraid I have no choice but to leave you on this island.”
And then I was back outside the maze. The Magister lay on the ground in a coma. He was locked in his own mind where I had recreated the island over which the sky had shattered. Maybe I would get the opportunity at some point to come back and release him. Right now, he was no longer a threat to us. I returned to natural size and floated over the wall.
I reentered the chamber to find Guido freed and being comforted by Saripha. She was applying poultices, which were actually symbols of spells she was casting. They stood up.
“This is like a crucible.”
“Yes.” Guido nodded.
“So what do we do now?”
Guido patted me on the back, almost knocking me down. His strength was back.
“We walk back out the way you came in.”
I watched Guido and Saripha exit arm in arm.
I shook my head. “Of course.”
20.
Saripha and I opened our eyes in our sitting position. We scrambled up. The Magister figure still appeared sitting on the throne. Izzy ran up.
Guido appeared right on cue behind Izzy. He put a hand on Izzy's shoulder. Izzy jumped about a foot. He turned and threw his arms around Guido. Guido looked a bit surprised, but then relaxed.
“I think we'd better get off this roof,” Izzy said, looking up.
I surveyed the sky and the city. The battle in the sky was still raging, but the skeletal warriors seemed to be turning the tide. They had the advantage of numbers. They also had the advantage that they didn't actually have to survive the battle. I saw one warrior tear off his arm, splintering the bone at one end and then driving it through the chest of an adversary. The Hadaran had no time for precise aim, and although they might shatter some portion of their opponents, that didn't stop them. Most energy shots were wild and hit the city, causing damage. People were panicked and running through the streets. Roland had entered the city with his troops and they were getting the people fleeing to calm down and herding them more safely out of the city. Kyo's archers had gotten to the roofs and were taking shots at the Hadaran. The Hadaran took a lot to kill, but the arrows were painful.
“Let's get out of here,” Izzy repeated.
“Wait!” I ran around behind the throne. There was the rubbery pipe that carried whatever the pain had generated from Guido. I didn't know if it was also collecting from the Magister, but I didn't want to leave it. I looked for bolts or lugs or anything that would allow me to disengage it. I didn't see any way to disconnect it. I didn't know if I could cut it, but I figured I'd try. I reached for my waist and then I remembered. I had given away my short sword.
“Here, try this.”
Izzy held the energy staff he had taken in front of me. I took it and hefted it.
“Did you figure out how it works?”
“It's just a weapon. Don't know what it's made of, but there is a trigger about a third of the way down. Hold it and the energy charges, getting stronger; release and it fires whatever the current charge is.”
I found the trigger and held it. The tip of the staff started glowing white and the staff began vibrating more and more. Finally I released it. The blast tore a hole in the tube. Green-yellow goo glopped out onto the rooftop. Carefully avoiding stepping in it, I inserted the energy staff into the hole in the tube, angling it so it went into the back of the throne. I held the trigger for as long as I could bear and then let it go, jumping back. Cracks formed in the back of the chair and there were definitely the sounds of things breaking. The ooze stopped.
“Okay,” I said. “Let's go.”
Suddenly Tweedledee and Tweedledum appeared right on cue and the next thing, we were all at the command post for Roland's and Kyo's forces out in the desert.
The battle raged in the skies, but the conclusion was clear. While the skeletal forces lost almost two-thirds of their numbers, mostly from being shattered, the Hadaran were routed. Superior firepower proved no match for having more and harder-to-kill bodies. The last handful of Hadaran fled with the remaining force of skeletal riders in pursuit. The fates of either no longer mattered. They wouldn't be returning here.
“Maybe we should have hung onto some of those warriors. Might have helped at the Mountain.”
“They served their intended purpose. The sword is for you to deal with.”
“You know about the sword then.”
Guido said nothing. We were back to Guido as normal.
“I feel strange. Like there is an undercurrent of pain in my body.” I looked at Saripha and Guido to see if either had a clue.
“It's the dreaming,” Guido answered. “You are now becoming more connected to everything. You feel everyone's pain in this world because everyone is connected to the dreaming. Most are simply unaware of that connection.”
“Is this just more mystical nonsense or is this a property of our glamours?”
Guido didn't say anything again. That made me favor the former as the correct theory.
Roland showed up with Blaise, Kyo and Anika. Anika and Izzy threw their arms around each other. It made me miss Rox, but it made me happy to see such total devotion in this inhuman world. I noticed that the covered areas I had seen from the air were being used for Antanarians who had been injured from energy bolts or, more often, falling debris. Mostly, they just needed to be calmed down and rest while their glamour bodies recovered.
“What's happening in Antanaria now?” I asked both Roland and Kyo. Roland answered.
“Once the battle was mostly over and we calmed down the people in the streets, we opened the gates to the inner city. Troops are moving building to building. We aren't getting a lot of resistance. A few still foolishly think they are working for the Angels. They are being captured if possible, but if they insist, they get to become a proto.”
“What about the sword?” Kyo asked.
“I'm pretty sure it’s not quite finished yet. I believe I'll know when it is.”
“Don't you need a plan before it's finished?”
“And spoil a perfect record?” Izzy interrupted.
“I'm serious,” Kyo pressed.
“I am too, Kyo.” I sighed. “There is no lack of plans. The Angels want to use the sword to destroy and remake this universe. Rox, who happens to be possessed by a Black Angel, who is kind of the last real Angel, wants to just destroy the universe to prevent the bad not-really-Angels from destroying it and surviveing. Rooni, wherever she's gotten herself to, wants the sword destroyed before it can be used, which, by the way, no one including Rooni seems to know how to do. You want plans? We have lots of bloody plans and I don't like where any of them lead!”
Kyo gave me a polite bow, acknowledging that she had pushed too hard. However, she was right to push and I had opened up on her more than was justified.
“I'm sorry, Kyo. You didn't deserve that kind of intensity.”
I looked at Guido.
“I guess I have to figure out something.”
“You will.”
“You seem to have a lot of confidence in me. You knew about the sword before and seemed to think I was the one to handle it. Why not you? You're so much more powerful.”
“You won't like my answer. It is because it was always yours to do.”
“You’re right. I don't like your answer.”
“Is there any way we could get the sword into the lake of lava?” Blaise said this as casually as someone asking if we wanted coffee.
“Hard to imagine how. It's pretty large and tightly rigged up.”
“What about bringing the lava to the sword?” Blaise's eyes seemed to glow.
“How do you mean?”
“A few well-placed exploding rocks in that lake of fire might just blow out the walls to the chamber with the sword.”
“I don't know if we have time to transport the rocks.”
“They're already there.” Blaise grinned. “Taka had them transported near the top of the Mountain so they could just be sent into the lake of fire. No guarantees. It wouldn't be a precision demolition, but it might work.”
“So I just have to decide if I like Rooni's plan. We destroy the sword, the multiverse is safe for now, but we still have Angels.”
“Seems a lot better than the other two alternatives. The Angels aren’t that effective if they can't exist here very long. Up until now, they’ve counted on scaring people. We don't scare easy.”
“He's got a point,” Roland said.
I looked at Guido. I didn't think he would answer me, but I decided to ask.
“What do you think about their plan?”
“Makes sense. But you were given the dreaming. That is your tool.”
I turned to Blaise. “Go and make sure everything is set up for your plan. I don't know that I want to do it yet but I want it ready.”
Blaise nodded.
“And have Kyo and Roland with you. If the choice is taken away from me, you may have to make the call. I want you all three to agree before you take action. I'm pretty sure all the angles will have been consi
dered if the three of you agree.”
“Why not include Saripha?” Kyo asked. Saripha raised an eyebrow.
I shrugged. “Don't know for sure, but I think I'll need Saripha with me negotiating with Black Angel Rox. Not sure how well that’s going to go. You folks are the backup unless I decide blowing things up is our only good plan.”
“What about us?” Izzy and Anika stepped forward.
“We'll take Saripha and head to the Mountain... and hope I can figure out what we’re doing by the time we get there.”
Blaise left with Kyo and Roland to help them wrap up things in Antanaria. They would already have trusted lieutenants in charge and they would just make sure they knew that they were the top of the command chain locally. Then they would head for the Mountain.
“What about you?” I asked Guido.
“I will stay for now. There is still much to be done.”
“We've been through a lot.” Saripha took my arm.
“Yes we haaaa!”
I collapsed as pain that felt like hundreds of hot needles shot through my body. I tried to get up but was hit by another wave. It was as if I were strapped in the pain farm again. I looked up at Guido as Saripha and Izzy rushed to my side.
“What is it?”
Guido was silent for a long moment. “The dreaming connects you to everyone.”
“What just happened? What am I feeling?”
“Come. I will show you.”
Guido reached for me. I thought he was just helping me up, but when our hands clasped, my body glowed and suddenly we were no longer with Saripha and the others at the command post in the desert. We were on a high ridge overlooking a mountain valley. It took me a few moments to take in what I was seeing. It took even longer for the true horror of the tableau to hit me.
What I was looking at was a pain farm the size of a major metropolis spread across a valley that would have possibly accommodated the five boroughs of New York City. They were sprawled across the valley floor like clusters of mushrooms. Most of the clusters had five towers and then the clusters themselves would radiate around in fives. There were open spaces between clusters of clusters that had pathways, but mostly the open spaces were to accommodate the infrastructure of piping running among and between the towers and tower clusters. There were also scattered flat buildings of the typical adobe-like material and wood. Being such a large pain farm, the pipe work was complex, with maybe hundreds of pipes feeding into nexuses of tens of larger pipes that were gathered into a dozen major conduits that exited through a pass in the mountains. The scale was staggering, particularly when you realized that all that engineering was moving the by-products of torture and pain on an inhuman scale. Such a scene was terrifying enough. Zara had once tried to get me to see that pain farms on this scale existed, but actually seeing it was almost more than I could bear.