Darklight 6: Darkbirth

by Forrest, Bella

  I was dreaming of Laini's violet eyes when the knock on the door came. My heavy eyes fluttered open. It was always strange to sleep in the Higher Plane because it was about four steps away from real sleep, just a haze of rest. I threw the covers around my naked body as Dorian scrambled to do the same. The cotton-candy clouds and light show were gone, the knock and the atmosphere of the tower sounding serious. Our problems were literally knocking on the door, and there was nothing but gray mist overhead.

  "Come in," I called once we were covered. It would take too long to get dressed.

  Ruk opened the door with Jia just a step behind him. Ruk's tight face said everything.

  "Un has summoned us to the final Games." He pressed his lips together. "It's time to go. Are you ready?"

  I shivered, unsettled by the way it came out of Ruk's mouth. He was just speaking honestly, but it felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over my head.

  Dorian and I shared a look. “We’re ready,” I said.

  Ruk nodded in acknowledgement, then excused himself and shut the door without another word. The last thing I saw was Jia's curious blue eyes staring at me. My brow furrowed as my body tensed. This was it. The final game for us, one way or another.

  We dressed quickly. Part of me almost wished Ruk had made a wisecracking comment about our clothes littering the floor in such an obviously sloppy fashion, but… no, everything was all business now.

  With my fiancé beside me and all the planes at stake, I mentally readied myself for the Games. It was impossible to deny the fear, the shapes it took in my mind ones I couldn’t share even with Dorian. There was a strong probability that I was going to see Dorian get terribly hurt or even die in these Games, or that he was going to have to watch the same happen to me. The arbiters had never explained whether death was possible for us here, but I knew we could be badly wounded enough that if we returned to the lower planes we would immediately die. And it had been made very clear that the arbiters would not spare energy to heal us.

  Almost against my will, my thoughts flickered to Zach, to his tears as he’d hugged me goodbye the first time I traveled to the Immortal Plane. How must he be feeling now? There was a new weight to his face when Ruk had shown him to me; the anxiety and uncertainty he must be carrying with him every day had to be excruciating. He had no idea where I had gone. To him, we had split before the battle at the training camp, and he hadn’t seen me since, only being given some strange report from Gina and the others that Dorian and I had left the battle on the back of a strange redbill with no discussion of where we were going or when we would be back. If we died here, he would never have answers about what happened to me. My parents would never have answers. I would become a ghost in my family, never truly laid to rest while pointless hope and uncertainty hung in the air like a shroud.

  I didn’t want to die, I realized, the thought startlingly visceral in a way that it usually wasn’t. I led a dangerous life and knew death was a possibility. Ultimately, death would come for us all… except the arbiters, I guessed. But I didn’t want to die—not here, not now. I looked over at Dorian, who was fastening his boots, dark hair tousled from my touch, and the thought came again like a punch to the chest.

  I don’t want to die.

  My eyes narrowed with determination as I finished buckling my pants. I would do everything in my significantly expanded power to make sure both of us survived this trial. We had trained. We were as ready as we would ever be. Above us, the weather was clear and without worry. The gray mist swirling overhead sent a rush of calm through me.

  None of us spoke as Ruk guided us to the location, Jia trotting behind us. My mind imagined the intricacies of an enormous building, maybe a castle, that might emerge before us. Given our previous experiences, I knew the arbiters liked to go big for the Games. I was expecting something out of their usual playbook.

  What I was not expecting was that there would be nothing to see at all.

  Shapes began to appear in the distance, and Ruk let out a little growl of discontent, but I didn't understand why until we made it closer. There were no other contestants. It was just us, Ruk's team, and the largest crowd of arbiters I’d seen so far at the Games. I couldn’t count the bustling mass to be sure, but I was fairly certain every single arbiter was here to observe. I darted a fervent glance at Dorian, not understanding why a giant, complicated obstacle course of mind-bending properties wasn't appearing from the mist.

  Un waited at the front of the crowd, a pleased smile on his smug face. It sent an acidic sensation of worry straight to my gut. What was he so happy about?

  "Greetings to the lower-plane mortals," Un called out. He was flanked by Krysh and Debt Keeper, who stayed a modest distance away from him. There was an undeniable air of tension around the three of them, even if it wasn’t visible in the air. It occurred to me that Un had screwed over both Krysh and Debt Keeper to make this rematch happen, something neither of them was apparently thrilled with.

  We stopped a few yards away from the front of the crowd. I crossed my arms, not liking the faint smile on Un's face. In the corner of my eye, a group of approaching unfamiliar humanoid arbiters caught my attention. For a moment, I didn't recognize them, until it dawned on me that I was seeing Xiu and Sen in their humanoid forms for the first time.

  Xiu was easy to pick out. She was beautiful in a strange, inhuman way. Her figure was more elf-like than the others; everything came to a perfect length or point or curve. She'd clearly spent a lot of time on her humanoid form. A simple braid of her signature blue color ran from the front of her hairline to the back of her head and all the way down her back, but the sides looked shaved close to her angular skull. A golden ribbon tied the entire thing in the back, visible where the end of the braid swung side to side behind her like a pendulum. Beside her, Pik hung back a few feet. Her general features remained the same, but she wore new robes of a deep green that complemented her mottled brown-and-green complexion. Sen was smaller than Xiu and Pik. She was bald, with skin the color of her green orb, but her tone was more on the sea green side. Her eyes were gray, and she wore simple but fine robes of a dark blue that veered toward black.

  Xiu's naked brows pinched together. If I looked closely, it appeared she had given herself the vaguest hint of eyebrows, but they were silver and blended into her blue-tinged skin. She stared at Un warily. Perhaps this round of the Games was momentous enough to prompt the arbiters in orb form to take humanoid shape? I’ll count that as a good sign. Hell, I’ll count anything as a good sign right now.

  Sen looked Dorian and me up and down without any shame. "Didn't you want to dress up even a little?" Her teasing lifted some of the severity of the situation, but I just shook my head. These clothes were all we had, and besides, I wanted to wear what was comfortable. The same went for Dorian. Our clothes were practical. They were what we’d trained in.

  With no warning, Un clapped several times, drawing the attention of the crowd as Krysh swept away a cloud of thick mist.

  “Let the course be revealed!” Un announced.

  I tensed in anticipation, but all I felt initially was confusion.

  A door. It was a violet-gray color and looked rather plain, standing independently in the gray mist, lacking even a frame. I stared at it. Is this it? The door stood halfway open, but nothing came out. It was blinding white inside. If I squinted, I could see the beginnings of lines in some way, but it was so white that it hurt to look at it.

  Ruk narrowed his eyes and turned to the trio of Un, Krysh, and Debt Keeper, who were standing nearest to the door. Un leveled a deliberately blank look at us. Behind us, the crowd of arbiters grumbled and muttered to one another in speculation. I heard snippets of who had placed how much energy on what result but tried to push them from my mind.

  Ruk glared at Un and then turned to us, his expression serious but encouraging. "Good luck."

  He rapidly moved out into the mist without another word to any of the other arbiters. He was not allowed to be
at this game, and I’d known that, but it still knocked me momentarily off balance to see him go. Our only ally had now left us among his own kind. Wherever he goes, he can’t help us. We were truly alone in this.

  "Are you ready?" Un asked, with all the friendliness of a viper.

  We can do this. I calmed every nerve in my body as I slid my gaze toward Dorian.

  Dorian and I answered at the same time. "Yes."

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Squaring our shoulders, Dorian and I walked forward together. Immediately, I slipped into a hyper-focused state, letting everything but my training drift to the back of my mind. Beside me, I felt Dorian do the same, his body language shifting into something more fluid and powerful. It felt like there was a current of electric determination sparking between us as we approached the door.

  As we drew to a stop by Un, Krysh, and Debt Keeper, waiting for the rules we would be required to follow to be announced, I looked at Krysh, because I was no fool. Un might have had a hand in crafting this course, but she was the real genius behind the architecture. I still couldn't figure out whose side she was on. Maybe she was just on the side of testing the limits of her own genius. When she noticed me watching, a strange smile spread across her face very slowly, like molasses pouring from a bottle. Krysh thought her course would best us. I could see as much in her sly smile and in Un's gloating face, but they were wrong. I would make sure of it. The Higher Plane had done more than help Dorian and me… it had forged us into new, better fighters.

  "Greetings, everyone," Krysh announced, spreading her arms out wide. "The rules for this special installment of the Games are simple and clear. We can't have another ruckus on our hands after this game."

  A twitter of eerie laughter rippled through the crowd. A few came from supporters I’d previously seen with Un, but the jab didn’t faze him. No, in fact, his creepy smile remained cemented on his face. I wondered whether he was even paying attention, or if he was already counting energy units in his head.

  Krysh lifted four long fingers, all lacking fingernails, into the air. I couldn’t wait to get away from this place.

  "Since the original issue revolved around accusations of the lower beings cheating or having help via external influence from Ruk, for this test, they will be the only team. This will allow for more rigorous observation and the ability to study their technique to determine if their actions constitute as breaking the rules. Now,” she paused. “For this game, the team needs to find their way to the finish line. On the other side of this door, four obstacles await. They must overcome all four of the obstacles and cross the finish line, which will bring them back to the waiting crowd. They can use any powers within their capability." Her eyes shifted to Xiu. "It has been agreed that there are no limitations on how the contestants make it through the course, only that they cannot have help from any arbiters and that they cannot break out of the boundaries of the course until they reach the finish line. However, only one needs to pass the finish line for the win to be considered valid."

  My heart skipped a beat. Only one of us? That doubled our chances, but it also meant that Krysh planned on potential sacrifices. I can’t lose him after all this. A sour smell filled my nostrils. The memory of the liquid metal was fresh in my mind. It had tasted like acidic metal.

  "If either of them sustains too much damage to remain conscious, then that contestant will be counted out. If one leaves or is removed from the course boundary by a challenge like a swinging trap shoving a body out of the forcefield, they will also be considered out. If both of them pass out, go out of bounds, or forfeit before the finish line, they will lose the Games."

  And our lives. A chill seeped into my bones.

  Debt Keeper floated forward a few inches. "I have surveyed and tested the course. Each challenge meets my requirements for a fair game. The designers have not created tasks that are impossible to surmount, taken in accordance with the abilities demonstrated so far by the pair. It is statistically possible for them to succeed." She paused. "Therefore, I find the game to be fair. All bets have been placed. No one may back out of their wager from this point forward."

  It is possible.

  Listening to the arbiters talk so casually about something that might lead to Dorian’s and my very existence ending made me feel sick. I fought a wave of nausea with the knowledge that Ruk had prepared us for this as best he could. Even though he wasn't here, I still felt him with us. Jia accompanied us, too. He’d chosen to stick with us instead of immediately going to Xiu.

  Krysh gestured toward us as we stepped to the door. "I just want to say something else," she added, with a daring edge to her voice. Her eyes widened. "No matter the outcome, this will surely be the most entertaining thing that has happened in the Higher Plane since the Separation."

  We pushed her baiting aside, and I held my head high as I stared down the door.

  “Whenever you wish to begin,” Debt Keeper said, “you may proceed through the door.”

  Dorian and I shared a look, and I drew strength from the fierce determination in his eyes. We walked through the door, the bright white inside growing even more brilliant, and it shut behind us silently. Just like that, the crowd of arbiters vanished. We were alone. For a few moments, I was blinded by the bright light inside, but once my vision adjusted, my skin crawled.

  It was the sanitarium.

  The blank white walls glowed with the threat of malice, and Dorian let out an instinctive growl of alarm. The white hallway slanted downward with doors flanking us on either side. I peeked into one and saw that it was a lab, identical to the one I’d cut off Zeele's hand in. I swallowed rising bile. How did the arbiters even know what this place looked like?

  "How did they know?" I wondered aloud, but then I stiffened. We ourselves had shared this with them when we visualized the sanitarium at the trial. We’d shown them the torture we had endured, and now they were using it against us. I grimaced in disgust. What a dirty, disgusting move.

  Dorian snarled. "I'd like to wring some arbiter neck when we get out of here." He glanced at the end of the hall. "I have a feeling I know what the first challenge is going to be—trying to find our way through this."

  I followed his gaze as we took a few steps forward, moving cautiously until we reached an intersection. The hall split off into three parts, each one seeming to stretch endlessly with no visible difference between the three. I let out a huff of worry. They were making us out to be mice in a maze, with no idea which way to go or what was waiting for us. How long could we wander in this maze? How much time would pass outside? My frustration and fear grew, but I took a calming breath, shaking off these early nerves. They were trying to get a rise out of us, but we needed to keep our cool and think logically.

  Dorian paused. "I can't sense anything near us right now from any direction, but in this plane I don’t think that means much."

  I required focus. All of Ruk’s training had taught me that my mind needed to focus absolutely on my powers, even if they still felt strange to me. It was odd. I used to feel completely at ease with a rifle in my hand or a blade, but now… my strength went beyond the physical. I concentrated on the intersection, asking the universe what direction to go. Dorian had his enhanced eyesight, but I had worked hard on focusing my energy to a pinpoint level. It was only after releasing my emotions, when I finally accepted them, that I could even get to this point.

  Let’s go full circle, universe. Whatever you are. Come on.

  For a moment, I felt a tiny tug in the left direction. It was the same sort of tingle I’d felt when we hunted down Ruk in the desert. I eyed the left corridor skeptically. Should I trust my instinct, or was this merely a trap set by Krysh? Dorian placed his hand on one of the walls.

  "Maybe we can leave a trail," he muttered and drew a circle on the wall with his finger. "Channel our anger into lightning on the fingertip or something. I’m sure I can just think of Irrikus and burn it in. It can help us leave something like breadcrumbs in case we get mixed
up in this thing."

  I nodded. "It’s a good idea. We can see if the walls will let us leave a mark. And… I’ve got something like a pull in my head. It requires a lot of focus, but I worry that we can’t rely on it completely. It’s only giving hints." Dorian knocked on the wall, and we frowned at each other. It didn't sound thick, but there was a hollow sound after the knock. I stared at it and raised an eyebrow. For a moment, I again concentrated on asking the universe for some direction. This time, there was nothing… nothing but a small spark that lit up in my brain. It was blue, the color of grief and my determination that Ruk and I had worked on together. It blinked out after a moment, but not before showing me the number zero. It was much harder to hold in my brain than the rope that I used to snap around Jia in training. Nothing. I pushed inside myself, but my concentration slammed into a wall as solid as the ones around us. It was, even after training, insanely difficult to hold my attention.

  "Are you getting a vibe from this place?" I asked Dorian.

  He nodded. "Fear and anger. I'm thinking red to mark the walls. My anger is easily accessible."

  I tapped my head. "Let's try going left. I have a feeling about it, from the universe. If we’re wrong, we can turn back around."

  He nodded. “Good. I’ll mark our way. I just got a better idea than a circle.” We hooked a left, and Dorian stopped, conjuring his fury. I admired the speed of it; it must have been easy after just seeing Un's gloating face. He seared a deep red handprint into the wall.

  "You're getting good at this," I said with a grin.

  The hall went on and on, reminding me of the endless tower. I stopped for a moment and leaned against the wall on the right, the same one Dorian had knocked on earlier. I closed my eyes. For a moment, I pictured us as two tiny pixelated characters in a video game discovering a little world map. So far, I only had this hallway. I pressed a shoulder against the wall.