Ascent

by M. T. Miller

  “No…” the Nameless hunched forward. “No sorceries!”

  With lightning speed, he pulled the pistol out of his inner pocket. The force of the armored man’s magic pierced the Nameless’ chest at that very instant, but not before he squeezed the trigger. Brains splattered from the back of the helmet as the bullet pierced it. They both collapsed practically at the same time.

  Lying on his back, the Nameless stared upward. It was still blindingly bright, but he did not mind. Yes… I could use some well-deserved rest, he thought.

  The screams that came from the other side of the door decreed otherwise.

  “No!” he shouted, rolling onto his stomach, gun in hand. He had expected his intestines to drop out as he did so, but they somehow remained inside. “The undead!” he shouted as he rose to his feet. “They have come for all of us!”

  The winged Asians stared at him with surprise. By the time they realize the danger, it will be too late, the Nameless concluded. With a quick glance, he looked down, noticing not only that the ground was nowhere in sight, but that he had no injuries to speak of.

  The dragon! He turned toward the floating island, and ran toward it with the speed of a cheetah. Arrows flew toward him with astounding slowness, and evading every single one required no effort at all. “Dragon! I have come for you!” he shouted, right in front of the coiled serpent.

  Apparently fast asleep, the creature did not respond.

  “You judge me unworthy?” the Nameless screamed. With several leaps, he climbed on top of the thing’s back, pressing his pistol against the back of its head. “I demand satisfaction! Speak my name, lizard, or I shoot you dead!”

  The beast snorted. The winged easterners had stopped firing their arrows, apparently in fear of hitting their leader. The Nameless looked toward the door he had slammed shut. Somehow, the monstrosities from the other side were not getting through. Perhaps they too do not wish me to harm the hostage.

  “What do you want?” one of the winged ones shouted frantically.

  “Down!” the Nameless shouted back. “Your flying is unfair! Get on the hanging bridge!”

  The easterners exchanged confused glances.

  “Now!” the Nameless screamed.

  Like a flock of pigeons fleeing a child, the easterners obeyed. The bridge was crawling with them.

  “Thank you!” The Nameless said. Then, with no warning whatsoever, he pulled the trigger.

  The beast’s scream was a disappointing grunting sound, not at all worthy of such a majestic creature.

  “Honorless, lying fiend!” someone shouted. In unison, the whole lot of Asians drew their blades.

  “I did not lie!” the Nameless leapt from the back of the beast and onto the floating island. Back on his feet, he was ready for more. “I did not lie!” he shouted again, before charging the whole lot of them.

  The dragon truly did not say my name.

  Interlude Four

  “With respect, sir,” the sheriff greeted the Sun God as soon as the he entered the small room. “What the hell have you tasked me with?”

  The place was, for lack of a better word, minimalistic. Besides a table, a large window, and a set of chairs facing it, there was nothing else. However, on the other side of the glass was a different story: a well-equipped hospital room, housing but one patient. He was so pale that his skin was almost blue, but the machines to the side insisted he was still alive.

  “I came as soon as I heard,” the Sun God said, mostly disregarding the sheriff’s question. He approached a chair, sat, and made himself comfortable. “What has happened to him?”

  “What hasn’t happened to him?” the sheriff said. Still up on his feet, he took a piece of paper from the table and started reading. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “From the point I told you to run him through your program, I suggest,” the Sun God said.

  “Ah. Well, you see—” the sheriff stopped looking at the paper “—at first everything seemed perfect. Decent young man, from the look of things. Sure, perhaps a bit homicidal, but nobody’s perfect.”

  “And you have a soft spot for those.”

  “Heh. What can you do? Family is family.”

  “Is it ever,” the Sun God said, understanding more than the sheriff would ever know. “Go on.”

  “Well, he agreed to join my Crew. Do the jobs, live the life. Make this fine city an even finer place. But here’s the kicker: he had something he, and I quote, ‘had to do first.’”

  “What could that possibly be?”

  “Would you believe me if I said ‘an Endurance match?’”.

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I would,” the Sun God said. ‘Not as he was so long ago,’ eh, Tarantula?

  “So, he insisted that he fight in it. I told him to do what he wanted.” As if he expected the Sun God to say something, the sheriff stopped for a moment. Then, after noticing a lack of reaction, he continued. “If you had told me to give him special treatment, I might have prevented it. But you didn’t, so I let him dig his own grave. So, our guy fought. Did great for a while, too. Then,” he pushed a photograph toward the Sun God. A strange-looking, purple-haired girl posed on it. “Rush, a recently downgraded third-floor tenant came in.”

  The Sun God raised an eyebrow. “Is this going where I think it is?”

  “Oh, it definitely is!” the sheriff nodded. “She beat the Jesus out of him! I’m talking fractured ribs, knocked-out teeth, the works.”

  “Have you investigated this girl?” the Sun God asked.

  “No need, I know exactly who she is,” the sheriff said. “I don’t have a picture here, but… remember Khalid Abadi? The chemist?”

  “The one who improved our gruel production?” the Sun God said. “The genius?”

  “The one and only!” the sheriff said. “Apparently, they came to this city together. One of the clauses in his contract was that I turn as much of a blind eye to her as I can. Of course, I obliged. To a point.”

  “And how exactly does this all come together?”

  “Stupidly,” the sheriff said. “Apparently, our guy and his colorful friend have been running some sort of drug-based experiment in their free time.” He pointed to the photo. “This girl’s strength and speed… you have to see it to believe it. She tore right through the guy in that room.”

  “Do you think Khalid might be planning something?” The Sun God asked.

  “Him? Not a chance,” the sheriff said. “I haven’t seen anyone more addicted to the excesses of this city. He’d die before he tried anything destructive.”

  “So, why is he making his own personal superhuman?” the Sun God said.

  “No idea. A bodyguard, perhaps?” the sheriff said. “Hey, if you want these people under close watch, I can do that. It’s just that I’ve had them shadowed for a while, and uncovered zip. No ambition at all, on both sides. Hell, this girl has somehow managed to squander all of her money away and wind up back on the second floor. How’s that for forethought?”

  “And Khalid didn’t help her out?”

  “Khalid can’t help himself,” the sheriff said. “Right now he’s probably snorting something he made himself, off of some hooker’s chest! No, our girl is likely alone in this. I’ve considered her as a candidate in the past, but let it go. Volatile. Probably dependent on something, too. Can’t trust a soldier like that.”

  “I agree,” the Sun God said. “Give them both a quick sniff when you can, and leave them be if they don’t smell.”

  “Yes, sir. Should I proceed?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, I visit the guy, and I see that he’s in no shape at all. I moved the Zhang thing up, you see, and in doing so I’ve raised some dust. It was a ‘now or never’ sort of thing. And in becoming unavailable, this guy turned it into a ‘never.’ I see that I can’t use him, and I get pissed. You know how long we’ve been stalking Zhang.”

  “Of course.”

  “I do what I’d do with anyone else: I tell him just
how done he is,” the sheriff said. “That I’m sticking him into the dungeons, et cetera, et cetera. Again, if you had told me to give him special treatment, I wouldn’t have done that, but under the circumstances…”

  “You did well. Proceed,” the Sun God said. Always good to know you can rely on someone.

  “So, our man Bones somehow manages to not only get up in the state he was in, but subdue and disarm the guard I left in front of his door!” the sheriff said. “He presumably stuffs the hardware below the lab coat he steals, and heads right down into the slums. Yeah, he took his fighting pit manager hostage, apparently to assist him with walking.”

  “And the lift guards just let him through?”

  “Of course they let him through!” the sheriff said. “He was a regular. I had told them to monitor his movements, not prevent them! And I most certainly didn’t assume he’d get up and leave in the state he was in, so I didn’t update my orders!”

  Maybe we should start frisking everyone again at the one-two gate, the Sun God thought. No. Last time we did it, the economy ground down to a halt.

  “And that is where this whole thing becomes crazy!” the sheriff said. “Down in the slums, the guy finds Zhang’s palace all on his own, and completely kills it! I’m talking no survivors, trashed furniture… hell, he even ripped up all the paintings! There were some expensive pieces there, too.”

  “And you found him there?”

  “Affirmative,” the sheriff nodded. “Gunshots and screams echoed throughout the second floor. And since we were down there looking for the guy anyway… well, we went in and found ‘im. Wasn’t easy, too. Had to form a barricade and climb up with grappling hooks.”

  “You climbed up a rope?” The Sun God seemed amused.

  “Not me, of course!” The sheriff almost seemed hurt. “Not that I couldn’t if I wanted to. It’s just that a man has to be careful at my age. Anyway, by the time my men found him, he was already out like a burnt-out candle. And that’s more or less everything. The doctors are registering abnormal brain activity, but they say he’ll make it. So…” he looked into the Sun God’s eyes. “What in the world are we looking at here?”

  “A headache,” the Sun God said. “A migraine I can’t seem to shake. Because if I do, I’ll get throat, testicular, and colon cancer all at once.”

  “I’m not following you,” the sheriff said.

  “And I don’t expect you to,” the Sun God said. “In essence, I can’t get rid of the guy. If he goes away by himself, then that would be acceptable. But I can neither kill him, nor order anyone to do it for me.”

  “I’m sure I can find a way to get around that, if you give the order.”

  “No,” the Sun God said. “I’ve considered it. Too risky. For now, ending his life has to be our last option.”

  “Understood, sir,” the sheriff said. “But you still haven’t told me what he is.”

  “And I won’t.” The Sun God rose. “Just as I didn’t tell you what I and the rest of the Management are. We are most certainly not human, but the rest of that knowledge is not for you.”

  “Oh, well,” the sheriff sighed. “A man can hope.”

  “One certainly can.” The Sun God pointed toward the hospital bed. “Can a man also make use of this one? You’ve seen what he’s capable of. It’d be a shame not to.”

  “You expect me to work with that?” the sheriff shouted, a moment before remembering who he was talking to. “Forgive me, please. I meant no disrespect.”

  “And I take none,” the Sun God said. “He will get better. Good as new, much sooner than you think.”

  “Yeah, I figured that. He regrew all of his teeth.”

  “And for as long as he can keep repeating his little ritual in the slums, he will keep recovering.”

  “And you will just allow that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” the Sun God asked. “It’s not as if he is killing anyone useful. The mobsters are getting frisky and less cooperative. The way I’ve read the figures, business has been improving since he’s been hitting the underworld.”

  “I wouldn’t know about that,” the sheriff said, “but I’ll take your word for it.”

  “The leaders are scared,” the Sun God said. “So they turn to us for protection. They provoke me less. Everything keeps getting even better and better.” If only it wasn’t due to him.

  “You know best,” the sheriff said, resigning himself. “So, I let him do whatever he pleases? Or…?”

  “Not at all. You let him continue to do what he used to do. Downstairs. If he kills anyone here or above, and it’s not self-defense… well, even if it is, you come to me.”

  “Got it.”

  “And if he does anything at all that you judge as fundamentally harmful to the city, you jail him immediately! If he resists with lethal force, you have my express permission to use it yourself.”

  “So now we are allowed to kill him?”

  “If I have to choose between his life and those of my men” the Sun God said, “I choose the lives of my men.”

  He turned toward the door and opened it. Fate or not, I refuse to be made a fool of.

  “Affirmative,” the sheriff said.

  As he left the room, the Sun God did not say a word.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Bit by bit, the beeping sound drew the Nameless back toward the land of the living. Repeating in regular intervals, it became louder by the moment.

  Am I alive?

  He tried moving his arm, only to learn that it was immobilized in some way. He wiggled the rest of his body. No sell. Bindings?

  Mentally prepared for the inevitable flash of light, the Nameless opened his eyes. He wished that his body was ready as well. White competed with white to form a blurry image. A somewhat darker shape moved near the right corner, but recognizing it was impossible.

  Completely disoriented, the Nameless attempted to speak. Not only did it not work, but it seemed to antagonize the shadowy figure. It started moving in an accelerated manner. Worse yet, it grew.

  He tensed his muscles, attempting to break free. The bonds held, adding to his panic. Is it out for revenge for the dragon? Have I not killed the lot of them? His temples pulsated at the thought.

  Was there even a dragon? he asked himself, the figure a mere foot away from his face. Its breath was a mixture of mint and something sweet, and it spoke into his ear.

  “Can you hear me?” it said in a woman’s voice. “If you can, try nodding your head.”

  Fragments of what happened in the hanging palace flashed before the Nameless’ eyes. It seems unlikely. Was all that a hallucination? If it was, how could he tell if the figure was real?

  “No response.” She turned to her side. It might have just been the Nameless’ imagination, but it seemed as if she was slowly taking shape, along with everything else. “Seems like he’s awake, though.”

  “Give the sheriff a call, nurse,” another blur said as it came into the white room. The sound of running followed. “Ah, I see that his eyes are opened. Good. Inject him with a mild stimulant.”

  Drugs? The Nameless’ eyes widened. He remembered Rush’s vial-gun, and most of what happened afterward. A cold sweat trickled down his brow.

  “N-Nwgh!” he mumbled out, shaking in his bonds.

  “Ah. So you’re aware enough to understand me.” The shape approached, taking the appearance of a dark-skinned, thin man. The one to the right became clearer as well; a sizeable black woman in her late 40s.

  This time, the Nameless nodded.

  “Seems like someone doesn’t want any stimulants,” the man said.

  The Nameless repeated the motion.

  “Can’t see why, you’ve been out for a full day. But suit yourself. Do you know why you’re in here?”

  “In… injuries,” the Nameless said. Sensation was slowly returning, in the form of a thousand tiny needles stabbing every part of his body.

  “Precisely,” the man nodded. “You can call me Doctor Sethi, by the w
ay. I’m not one to brag, but I and that lovely lady to your right have saved your life.”

  The Nameless looked at the black woman again. Round-faced, she gave him a warm smile.

  “They call me Mama,” she said. “And so can you.”

  “Ch—charmed,” the Nameless said. I think I can assume that these are real people.

  “The sheriff will be here any minute now,” Doctor Sethi said. “You sure you don’t want that stimulant? It’ll loosen your tongue.”

  “I am... certain,” the Nameless said, one word at a time. I think I have had enough needles in me.

  “Yeah, I bet you are,” the doctor said. “Listen, there are other patients I have to see. Nothing as serious as you, but I’ve put it all up until you came to. Are you in pain? If you are, we can help you with that.”

  Yes, the Nameless wanted to say. The needles were slowly turning into a conflagration. Instead, he said the opposite.

  “I see,” the doctor said as he turned away. “Nurse, you can take my spot. If he asks for anything, give it to him.”

  “And the restraints?” Mama asked.

  “Leave them on. You know what we’ve been told,” the doctor said as he stepped out.

  “I do.” She sighed, turning toward the bed. “Sorry, Mr. Bones. Seems like you’ll have to stay strapped in.”

  Ah. Special request. The Nameless did not reply.

  “Now, don’t hesitate to call on me,” Mama said as she too walked away from the bed. “You’re stable, but that doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way. You hear?”

  “Yes,” the Nameless said.

  Barely a second passed before the Nameless tried to lift his arms. Predictably, it did not work, but at least he saw the straps. Leather. Reinforced with a sort of metal. He let his arms drop. I seem to have made an impression.

  Now If only I knew what had happened out there. Images kept swirling, but there was no rhyme or reason to them. Flying Asian warriors and sorcerers. Reanimating dead. A dragon. Like lightning, a heavy dose of pain hit his head, passing by as soon as it came. Rush’s vials, he concluded. It had to be. Anything else was impossible.