"What's the problem, Rav? Didn't think I would go down that easily, did you? Just bumped my head on the landing. And what was that about you going off and leaving me there to die in the snow? Is that the kind of funeral I get? Left to decay on a dead planet where no one would think to find my corpse? You're more heartless than I thought, Rav Tillman."
So, it wasn't over.
Vance stepped closer, giggling like a madman. "You can't kill me that easily, Rav. Oh, you tried. You tried admirably, but there's still a part of this that you don't understand. If it was human versus human, you would win hands-down. What's missing from this equation?" He bared his teeth where fangs broke through his gums. His eyes shifted to a pale lavender purple. "I'm Azimandian. Alien beats human."
"What the hell are you?" Rav inched away from the grotesque sight in front of him. "What did you just do? Fangs? Purple eyes?"
"I had a long chat with my dear daddy before coming to Elysia. We discussed so many delicious things. Ways I could save my people and ways to defeat you. But most of all, Tirlmayn and his scientists showed me what I had been missing all my life. The Azimandian part of me. They stimulated the muscles in my mouth so I could use my fangs. Who knew they were there all along? See these bumps on my forehead? They continue to grow because my horns are under there. Just a little while longer and I'll be a warbringer like I was born to be. And my eyes? This is how they are for young members of the royal family. You aren't facing human Vance anymore. Now you face Prince Aveni Azimandi."
"That's it. That's what's wrong with you. Your father pumped you full of those warbringer hormones and chemicals. Your brain is being clouded by all those substances. Tell me. That syringe you just had, did you just take more? You have some with you?"
He grinned again, showing his pointed fangs. "Yes. I take it whenever I need strength."
"And it's working this quickly? A few days of taking it and you've changed this much?"
"The wonders of the Genesis Sequence, mate. Enough of this babbling. Bow before me, the next warlord of Azimandia. Bow and die."
Rav dropped to his knees to avoid Vance's fist. He hooked his leg behind Vance's knees and pulled, throwing him onto the catwalk. Rav leapt onto him and tightened his hands around his ex-friend's throat. The more he pressed his fingers into the windpipe, the more feral Vance's gurgling and hissing became.
With a surge of growling, Vance grabbed onto Rav's forearms then rolled to the side as he overpowered the human. He was on top then, wringing the life out of Rav's neck. He smiled down at his helpless victim.
Rav struggled to breathe. He attempted to pry Vance's fingers off of him, to no avail. His vision became fuzzy and his lungs burned, crushed below the half breed prince. Above the pounding of his heart in his ears, a strange sound purred outside the warehouse walls. The roar grew louder until a female voice over a speaker called out to them from a silver ship that hovered above the roof of the warehouse with a spotlight shining down on their battle.
"Rav! It's Leah. Leah Morgan. We're here to help. Get off of him, Vance. Let him go! Rav, listen closely to me. 7913462."
White filled Rav's vision. The scent of blood flowed into his nostrils. He blinked. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing over Vance with his boot crushing the half Azimandian's chest. Rav took the railing in his hands and ripped it free, snapping the thick metal cleanly in half with little more than a flick of his wrist. He blinked again and the jagged metal was thrust through Vance's left leg, impaling him all the way to the other side. The popping of bone accompanied the fountain of steaming blood in the cold air.
He could hear Vance's agony-filled cries, but Rav was removed from it. He felt nothing. The power of his mental conditioning and the alterations made to his nervous system took over. During those minutes, Rav was not human. Hit after hit, he beat his enemy into a writhing pulp without any control or care.
But then the stopped. Rav froze with the steel railing raised above his head in preparation to deliver the final blow. A tart fruity fragrance tingled in his nose.
Green apple.
Rav instantly blacked out.
* * *
"Ravy boy, don't wake up. You can't wake up now."
Rav could only see darkness around him, but he heard the soft voice. "Mother? Mother, you're not real. None of this is real. It's another hallucination."
"But your fight is real. You have to kill Vance before he harms your son. Vance will destroy Nemo. He will corrupt him."
"Then let me back out there. I'll stop him. I will."
"No, you won't. Not today, Ravy boy. You've been out played, deceived, betrayed. You've been defeated by the man you called your friend. If I let you back out there into reality, it will be painful. It will be terrible. You will be defeated. Wait in here with me until after the pain. I do not wish to see you suffer."
"I have to go out there for my son, no matter how much pain I go through. Let me out, mother. Let me out!"
* * *
Rav's eyes flashed open to find himself being dragged across the rough metal of the catwalk. His face scraped on the edge. He reached out to try to stop moving, but the hands around his ankles were stronger. His ears were ringing, his eyes were swollen nearly shut, and a rampaging headache raged behind his nose. Eventually, the hands released him.
Vance hobbled in front of him, his left leg soaked in dark blood. His chest heaved with every forced breath, but he appeared to be primarily unharmed. Vance placed the sole of his boot on Rav's shoulder and pushed.
Rav screamed as his legs and hips slid off of the fourth-story catwalk. His weight pulled him further down, his chest scratching over the edge. He gained enough clarity to wrap his fingers around the lip of the walkway, finding just enough leeway to keep himself from falling the rest of the way. Swallowing hard, he dared to look below him. He was hanging by his fingertips over the lava sea that flowed across the first floor of the warehouse.
Vance stood above him, chuckling menacingly in his bloodlust. "Still hanging around, mate?"
"Vance! Vance, help me up. We don't have to do this to each other." Rav grunted through the cramping in his hands. The heat from the lava surrounded his limp body. For the first time that night, sheer panic rose up in his chest. He was going to die. Rav thought of Nemo. He thought of his young son's reaction when he would inevitably find out about his death. "Vance, you can be warlord. You can do whatever you want with the bombs. I'll work with you to end this war. If I'm a good pilot for Elysia, I will be excellent for Azimandia. I will bow to you. Let me serve you, Prince Aveni!"
"Oh, Rav . . ." Vance squatted in front of him to pet Rav's hair condescendingly. "All right. Truce. Take my hands and I will pull you up."
Rav seized his hands.
But Vance clenched his hands tightly, causing him to yelp in pain at the bones grinding together. Vance held Rav out over the lava, his newly enhanced warbringer strength allowing him to hold all of Rav's body weight. "I said I would pull you up, not that I would save you. This is the death of you, the death of my weakness, the death of amity between us. Farewell, Rav Tillman."
Rav gasped when Vance let go.
Chapter 14
Tobias Desruisseaux unlocked the door to the Olonictian-guarded apartment on the third floor, balancing a paper bag of onions, potatoes, and smoked ham on his hip as he pushed the door open with his foot. He was excited about making a hearty potato soup for him and Nemo for dinner. It was a cheap version with the ingredients he could find in the supermarket nearby, but it had to be better than the strange jelly that Brooke and the others had been feeding them.
He carried the bag to the table in the compact kitchen and unpacked it, waiting for the patter of little feet and the hug he always received from Nemo upon returning. A few moments passed without either. Tobias removed his purple coat and draped it over the back of a wooden kitchen chair before placing his hands on his hips. "Nemo? Don't tell me you went to bed already. I know today's filming tired you out, but you said you had pai
nting to do."
No answer.
Tobias tiptoed down the carpeted hallway to the boy's bedroom, staying as quiet as he could in order to peek in on him through the cracked door. He leaned close to look through the narrow opening, but what he saw made him immediately push the door the rest of the way open and rush inside. "Nemo?"
The blond boy was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a circle of twenty motionless Olonictians, including Brooke. He had tears freely flowing down his pink cheeks as he painted with orange and red paint on a small canvas he held on his lap. The teardrops splattered onto the painting, smearing the colors and blurring the outline of the shapes. He dipped the brush into the open pot of dark red paint then grimaced and tossed it across the room before picking up a jar of black ink and dumping the entire contents over the canvas.
"Nemo?"
The boy's pale green eyes glittered in the light from the ceiling fan as he slowly lifted his head up from his strange painting. "Daddy."
"No, it's me, Tobias. I'm Toby."
"No . . . Daddy is hurting. Daddy is dying. Daddy is . . . trying to die."
"I don't understand, Nemo. What happened in here? Are the Olonictians asleep?"
"They are talking. Can't you hear them, Toby? They're talking in the hive mind. They want Daddy to live. They sent so much power that they fell asleep because they got so tired. I'm tired too, but I have to paint. It's in my head. I see it all. I see my Daddy." He held up the ink-drenched canvas, still wet with a mixture of orange, red, and yellow paint. "See him? Liquid fire."
"Are you hearing voices?" Tobias asked. "Who is talking to you?"
"Daddy is talking to me. He is arguing with the queen. He wants to die, but the hive won't let him die. He is fighting. They don't like each other. Ripping, burning, skin and bone with black underneath. Wings and teeth. Reborn in fire."
"You're speaking nonsense. You're exhausted and overworked. Come with me. Come into the living room and get away from these aliens. They're doing things to you, bad things."
Nemo ran his tiny fingers down the middle of the canvas. "Don't fight them, Daddy. They can give you a new human skin to cover up your new body. It will be okay. Can you hear me, Daddy? Yes. Yes, I'm still here. I painted you a picture. What do you want me to do? But that . . . okay, Daddy. I love you too. See you soon. Bye bye."
"Who were you talking to, Nemo?"
"Daddy. He agreed to the queen's terms because I talked him into it. Olonictians like fire. The hotter the better. The hotter the better." Nemo hugged himself with his canvas pressed against his chest and trembled as he giggled gleefully. "The hotter the better. The hotter the better. The hotter the better!"
* * *
Benjamin Trainor stood in front of the crowds of warbringers, korvishi men, rejecteds, humans, and the two Biromians who had gathered in the largest room of the sewers underneath the streets of Star-World Zero Alpha. Clothed in a long white robe with a blue hood pulled down over his brown curls, he scanned over the members of the Azimandian Underground and the few remaining members of the Red Sand Rebels. They had all come here to listen to what was to be said by their new leader . . . by him.
It had taken him five days of drinking, meditation, and prayer to come to embrace what Visht had asked of him. Ben had never been dominant or demanding in any way, but the common people on both sides of the inter-galactic war needed a sound leader they could have faith in. If they wanted him to be that leader, then he would stop at nothing to do his best in filling that role.
Visht placed his hand on Ben's shoulder and whispered to him. "Before you start, I have some news. Sandra, Sawyer, Leah, Slayven, and Kalimis have been located on an asteroid not too far from here. Their ship's communications system was bugged up, but they got it back online this morning. Slayven is still bedridden and not talking to anyone."
"And Vance? They were supposed to stop him on Dualictum, right? That's what they told you they were doing five days ago? Tell me good news, Visht."
The red-horned warbringer shook his head. "Vance defeated Rav on Dualictum. He stole the Galaxy Glider and he is currently on Darkshot for an unknown reason. No one has heard from him. Sandra and Leah and the others were able to make it to Dualictum to help Rav activate his codes and fight back, but Vance was too strong. He had a travel-sized can of green apple air freshener inside the pocket of his flightsuit that he used to trigger Rav's momentary shutdown hallucination state. It was a cheap tactic. Vance then dragged Rav to a walkway and pushed him off into a lava pit."
"So Rav is . . ."
Visht ran his hands over his circular horns. "His status remains unknown. Leah Morgan spoke with me briefly, but she could not give any details for fear of Vance or Tirlmayn hearing her. The cryptic things she said led me to believe that Rav may possibly still be alive."
"He fell into a lava pit. There's no way he lived through that. Even if our rebel friends had caught him and saved him from hitting the lava, Vance would have known. He would have attacked them too. Vance was going to eliminate Rav no matter what he had to do."
"Perhaps Vance only believes Rav is dead. I don't know, and I won't know anything specific until I hear back from Leah. Operation Death of Amity is now on, Ben. I'm very sorry."
Ben wrung his hands together. "All right."
"You know what you have to do. Tell them. They're waiting to hear your first decree as their leader. Show them that your allegiance lies solely with the rebels."
"Before I do this, I need you to go find a way to get a secure signal so we can speak with Leah and Sandra to get more information. That is your job right now. I also need you to get into Tirlmayn's laboratory to check on Lucas Stephens's well being. Make sure he's okay. Then you are to locate his exosuit. We're going to need all the technology we can get our hands on."
"Yes, My Prince. Anything else?" Visht asked with a bow.
"Oh, yes. Locate Nemo Tillman. I want him here with me. I know that move will be putting him in danger, but I cannot risk the boy falling into Vance's hands. Vance has proven that he chooses violence and hatred over any other course of action. I love children, so I will take care of Nemo personally, even if that means keeping him hidden in my bedchambers or somewhere down here in the sewers."
"It will be done."
"Wait. One more thing." Ben slid his gold and pink topaz wedding ring from his finger and handed it to him. "Destroy this."
"Are you certain? I can get rid of it, but you won't be able to get it back if I do."
"Take it. I want nothing to do with the demon my husband has become. I heard what Tirlmayn did to him, all those injections and drugs to turn him into a warbringer. He's no longer Vance."
"As you wish, My Prince." Visht took the ring then motioned to the crowd of their agents and allies. "Go ahead. This is your time, Ben. Do the right thing."
Ben stepped up to the empty beer keg on cinder blocks that he used as a pulpit. He met eyes with Dallis, Neon, Jezzien, and the cyborg, Derek. He looked into hopeful eyes of every man and woman in attendance below the crumbling stones of the abandoned sewers. Through the chilled air and moisture dripping around them, they stayed there patiently to hear from their leader. He could not let them down, no matter how painful his upcoming announcement would be. After all, it had not been Visht's idea. Operation Death of Amity was Ben's own creation. If he was going to do this, he would do it fully and without reservation. There were black sides and white sides in the war. Nothing was grey any longer. He would have to choose between destruction or peace. However, that peace would be attained through any amounts of destruction necessary.
With a deep breath, Benjamin adjusted his pink-rimmed glasses then spoke for the first time as the leader of the rebellion. "Brothers and sisters of the Azimandian Underground and the Red Sand Rebels, I stand before you as your leader. I accept this position, this severe and binding responsibility with a heavy heart. I am fully aware of what needs to be done to ensure the happiness and safety of every soul in the known universe. From Azi
mandian Star-Worlds to Elysian colonies, I will serve you all. I will be the beacon for the lost ones, the soldiers on ravaged battlefields who lay down their weapons to fight for peace instead. I will welcome warbringers, no matter what grievous crimes they have committed. I will accept priests from Elysian churches, giving them pardon for whatever moral atrocities they have inflicted upon the young and weak. If they will pledge their allegiance and their lives to the rebellion, I will greet them with arms wide open."
The crowds of rebels cheered and applauded.
Ben held up his hand to silence them. "However, there is a matter that cannot be ignored. Certain lines are drawn for the sake of everyone. A man very dear to my heart has brazenly crossed those lines." He paused for a moment to rub away the aching in his throat. "And when those lines are crossed, no mercy shall be shown to those perpetrators. So, today, I enact my first declaration as your leader. By the power I hold as your prince, I enact Operation Death of Amity. I hereby place a bounty of one hundred million Dayta Notes on the head of Vance Trainor. He is armed and dangerous and must be stopped. Upon locating the fugitive, you are to subdue him. I will be giving each of you a copy of a letter to be given to him upon apprehension. Once Vance Trainor has read the letter . . . he is to be eliminated without hesitation. Do not attempt to take him prisoner. The warrant on his head is for execution."
Fracture of Reality
The Genesis Sequence
Book Eight
Chapter 1
"I just want my son back. That's all I want. His name is Nemo Tillman. He's six . . . or seven. Blond hair, green eyes, pale skin with tiny freckles on his back. He's little. I know someone here knows were he is. Please help me. I know I look insane . . . I look unstable and confused . . . I get that. But you have to help me. My son means the world to me. He's out there somewhere. I know he is. He has to be. I'm a grown man with tears in my eyes, laying my heart on the table and blubbering like an idiot only to get this chance. He's all I have. No one else matters to me now. I'm desperate. I'm clinging to every scrap of faith I have, but it's fading fast. You can keep me here. You can lock me away. You can beat me and starve me, keep me awake for weeks at a time, but I need him. More than water, more than air. I can't live without him."
The Genesis Sequence Books 6-10 Page 26