Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux

by Randy Blackwell

  How did he find teleportation? Where has he been all this time? But all of these questions were lost in one moment. It had only been a brief second and a subtle move from a Drakoni that Myles had not seen as he teleported to one spot, the positioning was bad and wrong leaving Myles' back completely open to a Drakoni already turning from slaying a Gabad with sword in hand. Omar wanted to warn Myles but he was speechless, caught in the moment, and too high for Myles to hear him anyway. The Drakoni turned to see Myles taking down two Drakoni unaware of his presence. The Drakoni thrust the sword into Myles’ back and he fell to the ground. There was no way he could have survived that sword through the center of his body. He fell, lifeless. Omar yelled out, reaching his hand toward the battle field, “No!”

  But Omar’s attention was quickly drawn away from the image of his friend lying dead on the ground. He heard a rumble from the east; the winds shifted, pushing the blimp. He looked towards the sound to see a storm cloud rapidly spreading from above a volcano. The earth shook as the volcano erupted and a large silhouette rose from the lava spewing from the mountain. Had it taken flight? Was this some unknown Drakoni enemy? Omar readied himself to activate the launcher by positioning his body in the direction of the approaching mass.

  Omar stood there staring, stuck in the moment and unable to move. At that distance… its size… it must be massive. What is it? Omar kept asking in his mind. It moved with supernatural speed and was now approaching quickly. When Omar saw it in all of its horrible glory, he let out a gasp. It was The Great Red Dragon that his old assistant Tyree had described to him. It was one thing to hear a monster spoken of and an entirely different matter to see it in person. Omar could feel goose bumps start to rise on his arms and the hair at the back of his neck raise. It looked directly at Omar, or so it seemed to him, bearing down on him impossibly fast. Omar hesitated for a moment and then sent a rocket flying at the massive dragon. If only Omar had brought the matter displacement chip that he had gotten from Tyree… but there was no time to think of regrets now.

  Omar watched as the rocket hit and bounced off of the dragon’s scales and fell to the ground never exploding. Was it a dud? These rockets have been field tested. But then the laughter came. It was a wicked sinister laughter. Not audible; it resounded in Omar’s mind.

  As the Dragon dove to attack, its tail whirled around and struck the blimp ripping through it like butter and leaving a man sized gash. Before Omar could fly away he was thrown back by the force of the balloon ripping and letting out all of the air. Like when someone lets go of an untied but blown up balloon, the blimp rocketed south and east. All Omar could do was hold on.

  He felt helpless: a feeling alien to Omar these days. Fear struck him as he saw how fast the scenery blurred by. He loosed his wings from the hidden flaps in his outfit and tried fly away. It was a desperate attempt but as he suspected, the amount of g-force acting on his body at this moment would not allow him to even flap. Instead of flying, his wings were pinned to the deck of the platform. I don’t want to die, he thought in despair. I don’t want this existence to end; I have come so far… accomplished so much here.

  Tears rolled down Omar’s cheeks. He began to have what he imagined was a panic attack. There was a pain in his chest and he could only take short breaths. He felt as though someone was choking him; his throat felt so tight.

  Omar looked to either side, barley able to move his neck because of the g-forces. His stomach dropped as the blimp plunged and hit the ground with such force that it rocked his entire body. The skyship broke apart, tearing his skin and snapping his bones. Omar felt intense pain and pressure but then he couldn’t feel anything below his neck.

  Then all was still. Blood mixed into his tears tinting his vision. I never found poor Misaki… he thought desperately as darkness swallowed him and he fell unconscious.

  MYLES LOOKED AROUND. Is this real? Or is it another dream? His vision was blurred. Am I drunk? Confusion engulfed him. Last he remembered he had been dreaming that he was sleeping on a sheet of ice and all was dark around him except for an albino cat. As if looking on from above, Myles could see himself sleeping. The white cat circled his prone body and pawed at him a few times before it climbed on top of him, walked up to his face, and lay down on it. The cat was smothering him in his sleep. Myles felt panic come over him, but he could do nothing. He could feel himself begin to choke and cough as the cat perplexingly looked at him with love. His body started to rot as his arms flailed helplessly, but just when Myles' arms fell to his sides motionless, a man who wore a hooded robe of white and walked with a shepherd’s staff approached the cat. He stroked its fur a few times while it looked to him and down to Myles as if pleading for help. The shepherd nodded to the feline, and, for just a moment, the cat glowed. It looked at Myles, bent over his face, and began to breathe life into him again. But as Myles' body was restored, the cat's body decayed in exchange and blew away in the wind.

  This time Myles was in his own body in a gambling hall. He could feel the hard wood stool that he sat on and it was good to be reunited with his own body after the previous dream. His vision was beginning to come back to him. It was a dimly lit room with a cement floor and ornately designed red and gold wallpaper. Smoke hung in the air as laughter echoed the hall. It was an empty, forced laughter that Myles knew all too well… the laughter of people trying to drown their sorrows in drunken stupors. He knew everyone there and half seemed to be having a good time.

  Omar was playing cards with the other members of the council of the Magi; King Alagaar of Marasimlah, King Pacal of Suchikos, and a Miyka king he couldn't name who kept rubbing his head as if he had a terrible headache.

  Omar and his companions laughed as the dealer kept passing them cards. Their hands were bad, but the worse the cards were, the more excited the players became. Myles glanced at the dealer and a chill ran down his spine. It was Haylale; the devil himself. He was staring at Myles with icy blue eyes, alight in his radiant human form. A sinister grin stretched across his face as he tossed the cards to his players without even looking at them. Haylale wore a light grey robe stained with blood. Myles could see a great wound running down from his right shoulder, across his chest, and to his left hip; but Haylale didn't seem to mind and kept smiling.

  An Asian child ran past Haylale trying to hide from his sight. She snuck under the large card table to where Omar was sitting and began tugging at his sleeve lightly, but Omar didn't notice. Wait… she wasn't Asian, she was a Yaarma. The child pulled harder and harder at Omar's sleeve but he kept his eyes on the game. He also kept winning and the more he won, the more crowns the other players would heap upon his head. Each crown turned Omar's grey skin a slightly darker shade until it eventually turned black. Omar began to look almost as evil and powerful as Haylale, who smiled knowingly.

  One corner of the room seemed to house the other half, the downers of the party. They sat, watching silently, as if waiting for something. He recognized them all. Erestar, with long black hair and dark blue eyes, but instead of being 25 feet tall as the giant ruler of Raphad that Myles had come to know, he was human sized. He sat with a sword in his lap; the sword Haylale had asked him to steal the first time they'd met. Kasey sat staring daggers at Haylale and if her glare was any colder, it would have dropped the temperature in the room. Sebastian was sitting with them and was giving Omar an equally ominous glare. Queen Ariana and Prince Seux of the Nepsah were there, too, looking at the game as if in fear. Queen Elizabeth was calling to the Miyka king, but all he would do was look at his cards and rub his head. Occasionally he would look over his shoulder and push away at the air. He would mumble something and in Myles’ dream he could almost hear something being said back as if someone was trying to whisper in his ear.

  Myles tried to take it all in as everything seemed to move around him at inconceivable speeds. He was sitting at the bar with a man who had his back to him... Myles thought about tapping the stranger on the shoulder to ask where he was, but the man turned around
before he touched him. It was Nekar, servant of the Master from Musterion who had cured the deadly poison that had been killing Kasey and had cured the curse of the Kalat turning her into the beautiful Miyka that she was today, but Nekar was taller and more powerful looking. He was almost scary. Myles didn't want to look at him, he couldn't... he looked away for a moment but then Nekar spoke with a voice that stopped all of the gambling and partying. "MYLES CALLAHAN!" It shook the very earth. Myles looked back at him with a mix of fear and guilt as he spoke and saw Nekar's arm out-stretched and pointing at him. Everything in Myles’ view became warped as Nekar roared again. "THIS DREAM IS AS REAL AS YOU ARE!"

  Omar and the other players put their hands over their ears and began yelling profanities. Erestar and his group stood as if this was what they had been waiting for. Kasey looked at Myles intently, with hope in her eyes. Haylale was no longer smiling.

  Nekar leaned in closer to Myles with his voice still booming, " MYLES, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE. AND YOU WILL DIE IF YOU DON'T DIE, SO YOU'D BETTER DIE TO LIVE!"

  Nekar kept speaking but Myles couldn't understand him anymore. Haylale had started to laugh hysterically. He was laughing so hard that his wound opened up, making him cough and choke.

  Myles turned back to Nekar, but he was gone. Everything became a blur with different images coming and going so fast that he could not make them out. He thought he blinked and then everything was black and silent.

  The world started to fade back into existence. Myles knew where he was now. Back to the stable dream… He was on Soterion, laying in the field of Epher covered with countless pieces of armor of the armies of Soterion. Nothing moved. All on the field were dead. The Dragon… Myles had seen the Dragon rise from Mt. Drakonge and slaughter the armies of the good people of Soterion with a supernatural fire that clung to their bodies once it touched them. Those poor people were now reduced to ash. Ash itched at the back of Myles neck as he looked upward.

  Two spheres of light were rising from the west, casting light on a new day. The plain was stained black, a terrible smell of burned flesh hung in the air and a blanket of thick fog covered the ground as the suns began to peak over the western horizon. A. Myles was not sure how long he had been unconscious, or how long he had been awake for that matter, after the Shepherd had healed Myles for several hours he had slipped in and out of consciousness and at times he would wake and just lay there when he wasn’t having weird dreams. Myles was at a turning point in his life and the direction he decided to take would impact the rest of his life greatly. He did not want to move until he decided what direction to go.

  His thoughts raced on as a morning fog began to cover the ground. Myles was not sure if he would follow after the man who healed him or if he would explore the new power that Haylale had shown him. One path would lead to a change in his life that would make him into a new man. The kindness, love, and goodness of the Shepherd were all in his eyes, and Myles had seen and felt it. He felt he could learn a lot from that man. However, it would require him to give up all the vain pursuits that he so love: cheating, lying, and my new found love - the power of knowledge. I could use this new power in so many fun ways. He had drifted in and out of sleep but it was time to come to a decision.

  As if to answer these questions, Myles began thinking of all the things that he could do while being able to shape the environment around him like a dream. The possibilities were only limited by his imagination, but his thought process was interrupted by the voices of two men arguing.

  “I says we loot the bodies for valuables and leave the armor. There’s just too much of it to carry,” said a deep voice that rumbled like the moving of a large boulder. A Daqad, thought Myles. Then the other man spoke with a much more cheery almost melodic voice, “Dear Jasper, don’t let your laziness shine so blindingly. We could buy a kingdom with the metal from all of this armor.”

  Myles was hidden by the blanket of fog. As the argument ensued Myles snuck a look from under the fog and found the two strangers. They were walking along as they led two horses pulling a wooden covered wagon. The one called Jasper was indeed a Daqad and the other was a Gabad giving off a yellow glow. I wonder what the color yellow means to that Gabad. He had learned in Musterion (the planet made of tunnels) that the glow of a Gabad depended on their mood, but the color for their mood depended on their taste in colors.

  The two strangers stopped for a moment to look through the bodies of those charred and slain by the fires of the Great Red Dragon. Myles wanted to get closer to them without being seen. He looked at the coin inlayed in the metal bracelet on his wrist. As he went to touch it, though, he thought, Wait. I might not need this anymore to teleport. I wonder if I can do it with just thought.

  Myles looked at the ground behind the looters’ cart and imagined himself being there. It was nothing like the teleportation of the coin. With the coin it was like blinking. For a split second everything would go black and then he was where he wanted to be. This was entirely different. It was almost like a camera zooming you in. Myles looked at the spot and suddenly he was there. He grinned, pleased that it worked.

  Myles could hear Jasper lecturing his partner, “Orasmus, we would need an army just to carry all of this away. Don’t be ridiculous. The change purses and valuables alone could fill this wagon easily.”

  Myles went to activate the invisibility device that Omar had given him, but he stopped. Instead he just thought about being invisible. Thinking this way seemed almost silly and childish to Myles. It reminded him of when he was a kid and would hide under his blanket thinking the monsters lurking in the shadows could not see him. Myles slowly crept around the wagon. The two horses did not react to him so he just walked right up to the two strangers as they were talking.

  Orasmus was shaking his head at Jasper. “Have it your way then. I just think more money could be made from the armor.”

  Myles spoke, a disembodied voice to the two strangers, “Jasper, you should listen to Orasmus.” Jasper whipped around and tried grabbing in the direction Myles’ voice had come from, missing him by a few inches. Orasmus took flight, flapping his large, purple, skin-bound wings. “Show yourself!” yelled Jasper as he drew a dagger. As if in response Orasmus notched an arrow to his bow surveying the area from 15 feet in the air.

  Myles smirked, this time projecting his voice from four different directions, “Really? With your weapons drawn? Don’t think so.” As Myles spoke Orasmus landed beside Jasper and said, “Now Jasper, I do believe that this bodiless voice would have harmed us by now if he intended to.”

  Jasper nodded reluctantly and both of them put their weapons away. Orasmus then nodded impatiently. “Now, stop fooling with us and show yourself.”

  Myles did appear to them but not without a dramatic flair. This is too much fun. The fog rose up from the ground and, before Jasper and Orasmus’ eyes, took human shape and then dissipated to reveal Myles.

  Myles could see goose bumps raise on the purple skin of the Gabad and the Daqad's eyes widened with a look of fear. They began backing up. Jasper reached for his knife again and spoke stuttering out some words, "There is only one kind of creature on Soterion that can change its form and voice in such a manner. Either you are a wretched Drakoni, or the Dragon himself."

  Myles laughed. Then he tipped his hat and winked at the two gentlemen. The men still looked afraid. Myles spoke with sarcasm, "Sure pal, I am the Great Red Dragon! Come to torment two mighty looters, cause I've got nothing better to do." As Myles mentioned the dragon, he fought back a shudder.

  Jasper suspiciously pointed his knife at Myles, "Good, then its settled. You are no dragon. You can leave now. This is our loot." Myles shook his head. Greedy little guy. Greed was useful and a vice easily manipulated. These guys are the only ones out here and smart enough to see the value of all of this armor. And coin does have its uses even on Soterion. Myles had grown up with simple people who were always struggling and working hard for their next meal. The more money Myles had the more distance he could put
himself from that lifestyle he so loathed. "I say we split it. There is more than you can carry in that wagon. I, however; could move it all pretty quickly."

  Orasmus cocked his head as he looked at Myles, "Are you insane? No one man can move all of this." Orasmus gestured to the massive amounts of armor laid out on the field were the fog had begun to dissipate.

  Myles clapped his hands in anticipation. I haven't been able to show this off yet, this should be fun. Myles reached into his long coat and pulled out the collapsible walking stick that Omar had created for him. He tapped his walking stick on the wagon and armor rose from the ground swirling then landed clanging in a steaming pile in the bed of the wagon. It formed a teetering tower as high as it could go without falling over. Myles gave them a knowing smile, "Go sell that. We will split the rest."

  Orasmus looked around, overwhelmed, "There must be millions of pieces of armor here." Myles nodded and looked at the field behind him with a smile as the armor began to assemble itself and became animated. Myles intended to form it into a marching army all the way to its destination. Then he winced at a sharp pain in his head. The animated armor began to fall to pieces and lay back on the ground motionless. Blood began to trickle from Myles’ nose. So there is a limit to what I can do. Myles looked at Orasmus and laughed, “And you thought I was the dragon?”

  Orasmus stepped closer to Myles. “Perhaps something simpler. Can you create a hole and move the armor there so we can come back and get it?” I believe so. Myles thought of a deep hole in the earth before them and suddenly it was there. Then he moved the armor into it and covered the hole with a thin layer of ash from the field.