by Clayton Wood
“I can't,” Ariana protested, shaking her head. Darius walked to her side, appearing – as usual – wholly unsympathetic.
“He's a dead man,” the bodyguard retorted. “He can't hurt you anymore.”
Ariana took a deep breath in, staring at the corpse, then nodding silently. She walked up to the guard, standing over him for a long moment, then kneeling down quickly. She closed her eyes, her mouth set in a tight grimace, then grabbed the man's armpits, lifting him up and draping him over her shoulder. She practically ran to the riser, depositing the guard next to the other two.
“Guys,” Kalibar called out, stepping into the hallway, his arms filled to the brim with crystals. “Can you grab a few of these?” Kyle nodded, and he and Darius walked up to the Grand Weaver, each taking a few crystals and shoving them into their pockets. Kyle turned back to Ariana, who was standing on the riser as if frozen, staring at something that had rolled out of the dead guard's pocket.
A small white sphere.
“Ariana!” Kyle cried out.
“Get back!” Kalibar shouted. Kyle felt a hand grab the back of his shirt, felt himself being pulled backward from the riser. He resisted, trying desperately to get to Ariana, to pull her away from the deadly Void sphere. But Kalibar wouldn't let him. A large blue gravity field appeared behind them. He felt himself being pulled toward it, the air screaming past his ears, his clothes fluttering violently around him. He slid backward, away from Ariana, watching as the Void sphere rose upward from the center of the riser. Cords of blue light sucked inward from the walls, and upward from the riser below, and even from the center of Ariana's forehead, all converging on the sphere.
“Ariana!” Kyle screamed.
And then the riser dropped, and Ariana fell with it.
* * *
Ariana felt the floor dropping underneath her, felt the cauldron of magical power in the center of her mind's eye draining away. She tried to leap forward off of the riser, but her legs wobbled underneath her, and she fell to her knees on the platform below.
And then the platform fell out from underneath her.
She tried to cry out, but she could make no sound. She tried to move her limbs, but they were limp – and numb – as if they didn't even belong to her. All she could do was watch, catching a glimpse of the white sphere as it sped down the hallway toward her friends. The riser platform plunged faster and faster down the shaft, entering free-fall.
Then her vision faded, and there was darkness.
* * *
Kalibar watched the riser drop in horror, saw Ariana go limp right before she fell with it, the Void sphere sucking the magic out of her forehead crystal. He resisted the urge to run to her, knowing that there was no way to get past that terrible weapon without getting them all killed. He made the awful decision instantly, weaving a powerful gravity field behind them, then bringing it to life.
He felt himself falling as he was sucked violently backward by that gravity field, and streamed magic to his gravity boots, the stabilization runes embedded within righting him before his body struck the ground. He tightened his grip on the back of Kyle's shirt, pulling his son with him. Darius slid backward on the floor beside Kalibar.
And there, floating forward from the riser shaft into the hallway toward them, was the Void sphere. A sunburst of blue light sucked inward from the walls, the floors, the doors...even the magical lamps hanging on the ceiling. The lights winked out one by one as the Void sphere passed, the magically locked doors swinging open slowly as they were purged of their power. Faint wisps of magic were sucked inward from Kalibar toward that powerful void, the ghastly creation draining him despite the forty feet he'd managed to put between them.
He wove magic, then pushed it outward...and watched as the pattern untangled before his eyes, getting sucked into the deadly sphere. He grit his teeth, knowing that the thing would have its fill soon, and would then unleash its devastation upon them. The only way to survive would be to get away from it for long enough, so that it could discharge, then re-enter its absorption cycle, allowing Darius to get close to it...and destroy it. But they would never survive its powerful vacuum if it discharged here.
He pushed himself harder, ignoring the faint trails of magic draining from his body toward the Void sphere, using what remained to fly down the hallway at breakneck speed. He cut his magic stream to the gravity field further down the hall as they approached it, pulling Kyle close to him, so that the boy would be held fast by the gravity boots' stabilization fields. He spotted Darius, still sliding down the slippery hallway, his momentum slowing. Kalibar concentrated, throwing magic outward toward the bodyguard, a gravity sphere to pull the man along.
The pattern untangled, pulled into the rapidly approaching sphere.
Kalibar's eyes widened in horror, and he tried again, but Darius was too far away now; being closer to the Void sphere, no magic could be cast to him. The thing was only thirty feet from the bodyguard now. Twenty feet.
And then it stopped.
Kalibar reacted in an instant, weaving automatically, his decades of training kicking in. A gravity sphere appeared around Darius, thrusting him backward violently away from the Void sphere, which levitated motionlessly in the middle of the hallway. The endless streams of magic it had pulled into itself had vanished.
A shimmering blue sphere appeared around the thing, expanding rapidly, followed by countless more. The inner spheres began to rotate.
Kalibar felt a powerful gust of wind slam into his back, threatening to pull him toward that lethal vacuum. He heard a high-pitched screaming sound, the air sucking violently into those expanding gravity fields. He braced himself, streaming as much power as he could into his boots, even then only barely managing to stop himself and Kyle from being pulled forward. He saw Darius sliding toward the Void sphere, granite tiles chipping and flying upward into the spinning void, cracks forming on the ceiling and walls. Chunks of stone flew inward from all directions, disintegrating as they slammed into the deadly sphere's gravity fields. Kalibar tried to weave magic, but there was little left in his mind. He felt the weight of the crystals he'd placed in his pockets, and pulled magic from them, weaving what little he could draw out in his mind's eye, knowing he had one last chance to save Darius before the bodyguard was torn apart. He thrust the magic outward.
The stone floor below Darius groaned, then ripped upward and backward, forming a steeper and steeper arch until it reached the ceiling high above, forming a curved makeshift wall that blocked off the hallway. Darius slid down the floor-turned-wall, leaping to his feet as he neared the bottom of the arch, then stopping before Kalibar. Kalibar dropped his magic stream to his gravity boots, his magic completely drained, and dropped to the ground. Darius turned to look at the wall behind him.
“Thanks,” the bodyguard grumbled.
Kalibar nodded, staring at the wall he'd created. Even now, pieces of it were breaking off, the air screaming through the holes they left. More and more of the wall crumbled before them, and Kalibar knew it wouldn't be long before it collapsed altogether. He turned to Kyle.
“I need magic!” he shouted. Kyle nodded, closing his eyes. A faint beam of blue light shot outward from his forehead toward Kalibar. The Grand Weaver felt the power fill his mind, then dissipate as it redistributed into the bones of his skull. The beam coming from Kyle stopped, and Kyle shook his head.
“No more,” he shouted back. Kalibar nodded, his heart sinking. He didn't have nearly enough power left to create another stone wall, and despite his legendary ability to generate magic, most of the magic he created would distribute itself into his depleted bones, leaving little to work with until he'd replenished them. He needed to find more magic.
The center of the makeshift wall collapsed suddenly, huge chunks of stone flying into the rapidly spinning gravity fields beyond, torn to smaller and smaller chunks that orbited frantically around the small white sphere. A blast of air struck Kalibar from behind, and he stumbled forward toward the hole in the w
all. He felt Darius grip his arm, thrusting him backward, and then everything stopped.
The gusts of air slowed to a breeze, countless stone fragments orbiting the Void sphere falling to the floor with a dreadful clatter. Kalibar turned to Darius, who was already sprinting toward the giant hole in the wall.
“Now!” Kalibar cried.
Darius dove through the hole, tucking into a tight ball in mid-air, then flipping to land on his feet on the remains of the floor beyond. Cords of blue light streamed inward toward the Void sphere from the walls and floor as the sphere began to feed, the light much fainter than it had been before. Darius ran up to the sphere, grabbing it in one gauntleted fist.
The gilded bodyguard landed on the polished granite beyond, sinking to one knee, his fist tightening over the deadly sphere. Pulses of intense blue shone through the gaps in his fingers. Then there was a loud crack, and a massive burst of intense blue light shot outward in all directions, slamming into Kalibar's mind. He felt his brain instantly fill with magic, felt it thrumming momentarily with overwhelming power. Then the feeling faded, the magic redistributing into his starving bones.
Darius turned his hand over and opened his fingers, white dust falling in a stream to the floor.
“Woo!” Kyle exclaimed, leaping at Darius and giving him a bear hug. The boy turned to Kalibar, embracing him in turn. Then his face paled, and he turned to look down the hallway, and the missing riser beyond.
“We have to find Ariana!” he exclaimed.
A muffled boom rocked the hallway, the floor beneath them shuddering. Kalibar heard the sound of glass breaking in the distance, heard another explosion rock the Tower.
“We've got a problem,” Darius warned. Kalibar followed the bodyguard's gaze, turning to see a doorway beside them, the door having been ripped from its hinges earlier. Beyond, Kalibar recognized his own retirement suite, the one they'd just come from. The huge glass windows on the far wall had shattered, the city of Stridon visible beyond. Kalibar's eyes widened, gooseflesh rising on his arms. He strode forward through the doorway and into his suite, ignoring the shards of glass crunching beneath his boots.
There, below the stars that twinkled serenely in the night sky, the city was on fire.
* * *
Kyle stared out of the huge, shattered window in Kalibar's suite, looking past the sharp, irregular pieces of broken glass. Beyond the tall fence surrounding the Secula Magna, the skyline of Stridon stood silhouetted against the night sky, the shadows of the buildings beyond limned with tongues of red light. A shroud of black smoke, even blacker than the sky above it, hovered above the rooftops miles away.
“No...” Kalibar whispered, his voice barely audible. The Grand Weaver stood at Kyle's side, shaking his head from side to side. Then he slammed his fist into the wall beside the window. “Damn it!” he swore. Kyle jumped, shocked at the rage in Kalibar's voice. The old man spun around, running a hand through his short white hair. He cursed again, this time under his breath, then turned to Darius. “Okay,” he muttered, taking a deep breath in, then releasing it. “We need to identify and quantify the threat.” He tapped his goatee with one finger, then strode toward one of the end tables next to the many couches in the suite. He placed one hand on the communication orb there.
“Who are you calling?” Kyle asked. Kalibar sighed.
“No one, apparently,” he answered. “The entire communication system is down...I can't mobilize my Battle-Weavers from here.” He turned to Darius. “We need to get back down to Erasmus,” he stated. “He has to have gathered some Battle-Weavers. We need to organize our defenses.”
Kyle nodded, then glanced at Darius. The bodyguard was staring off into space.
“What's wrong?” Kyle asked. Darius turned his gaze to Kyle.
“He's right,” he replied gruffly, turning back toward the front door. “Let's go.” He began walking, and Kyle and Kalibar followed behind.
“We need to be cautious,” Kalibar warned. “I don't have much magic left, and neither do you, Kyle,” he added. “I doubt I have enough to repeat my previous performance if we meet another one of those Void spheres...or even if we meet up with any more of those prisoners.”
“I can give you what I have,” Kyle offered. Kalibar nodded, following Darius as the bodyguard opened the front door and stepped out into the ruined hallway.
“Please do.”
Kyle obliged, streaming magic to Kalibar's forehead immediately. Despite having had no magic left to give just minutes ago, he'd already regenerated quite a bit. He also realized that he was streaming magic without even thinking about it; magic had become – in a matter of weeks – something automatic, a reflex. He marveled at the progress he'd made; he'd been spending so much time kicking himself for his failures that he'd ignored his accomplishments.
“Thank you,” Kalibar said, nodding at Kyle. Then he raised an eyebrow. “You had a lot more magic than I did,” he added. “How did you make so much so quickly?”
“I make more magic now,” Kyle replied.
“Impressive,” Kalibar murmured. The three stopped in the middle of the hallway then, and Kalibar turned to Darius.
“The nearest risers are out,” he observed. “And we need to conserve magic. We'll have to take one of the emergency stairwells...but I want to stop by the 32nd floor first.”
“Why?” Kyle asked. The 32nd floor was well known to him. It contained the Runic Archives, after all...the Secula Magna's vast collection of runic items and tomes regarding all things magic. It was where his ring had been kept each day for studying.
“Erasmus and I created something that might be of use,” Kalibar explained. He smiled at Kyle then. “In fact, we used your idea to create it...your brilliant idea, I might add.” Kyle frowned; he had no clue what Kalibar was talking about. “The sensory rune array,” Kalibar continued. “To reverse-engineer magic patterns from nature.”
“Oh, right.” He'd almost forgotten about that. “It worked?”
“Oh yes,” Kalibar replied. “And we used the concept to create a weapon...one that might just help us win this war.” They walked down the hallway until they'd reached the door to the stairwell. Darius opened the door, ushering Kyle and Kalibar through.
“What kind of weapon?” Kyle asked.
“We had our naturalists bring us a killerpillar,” Kalibar answered. Kyle's eyes widened. He remembered the little red insects from his trek to Crescent Lake; seemingly harmless, the little buggers would flash bright red if threatened, then kill anything near them. “They flung dreamweaver silk at the specimen to force it to sleep, then hauled it back for us. We set up the sensor array near it, then – using gravity fields from behind a protective wall – irritated it until it reacted.”
“And you reverse-engineered its pattern?” Kyle pressed. Kalibar nodded, striding down the stairwell at a quick pace.
“We did...eventually. Erasmus did most of the work,” he admitted. “He designed and created a prototype for a weapon using the killerpillar's unique ability.”
“What's it do?” Kyle asked. Kalibar gave him a grim smile.
“Exactly what you might expect,” he answered. “And if it works as well in the battlefield as it did in the lab, our enemy is in for a nasty surprise.”
Chapter 22
Ariana groaned.
She was surrounded by blackness, and a silence so profound that it was overwhelming. She felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing. She could not move, because there was nothing for her to move. She had no limbs, no face, no eyes.
She groaned again, realizing that she was making no sound, that the sound was only in her mind. She tried to remember where she was, when she was, but all she could remember was her identity...everything else was gone. She had no past, no future. Even the present meant nothing.
Minutes passed, or maybe hours. Maybe days.
Then something appeared, not in her vision but in her mind. A subtle vibration. She latched on to the sensation, mostly because it was a sensati
on...something to distinguish itself from the eternity of nothingness. It grew, the vibration, becoming stronger. She felt it expand, felt her mind sharpen. Random sensations came to her, the smell of smoke, the sound of a bird chirping. Then bursts of color, a memory of her house in Mortown. Her parents' house.
The images came and went, replaced by countless of others, a rapid-fire chain of memories, random and senseless because of that randomness. She let the deluge assault her, having no other choice. She felt a burning sensation suddenly, far away from her. As it intensified, she realized that she could move the burning...that it was a part of her. She did so, bringing it closer to herself. The burning faded slowly, replaced by pins-and-needles, a sensation so powerful that it was agonizing. She cried out, and to her surprise, she heard the sound this time, echoing hollowly around her. It sounded strangely metallic and faraway, her voice, but it was her voice. She knew it now.
Slowly the pins and needles faded, replaced by the sensation of pressure. She realized that the burning sensation had become her left arm, and flexed it, feeling it rise upward. A sudden brightness – so unbelievably intense that it made her cry out again – seared through her mind, two bursts of light appearing before her. She raised her one arm to her face, the brightness fading slightly, and realized that she had eyes.
The brightness waned, became tolerable. Colors appeared in the distance, blurry at first, then sharpening. She blinked, feeling eyelids sliding over her eyes, marveling at the sensation. She'd felt it millions of times before, never paying attention to how strange and wonderful it was. She tried to move her eyes, but couldn't. She could only stare forward.