Lost Son

by Marcus Abshire

  Even now he was counseling me.

  I sent back, finally getting my bearings again.

  I did a quick search, looking for the Warlord. He was nowhere in sight.

  I sent, knowing he would understand what I wanted.

  They fled through the door to your right.

  I turned, intent on heading out the same door they had gone through.

  I can.

  Three soldiers carrying rifles came through the door low and fast and started laying down cover fire for two others who scrambled towards Neal. I had to dive to the side and hurry towards something to hide behind. There were soldiers and body parts lying on the ground all around me but I managed to put the machine between the shooters and myself.

  I tried to get right up against the machine, but I came in contact with something hard and unyielding. I peeked around the corner and one of the soldiers shot his rifle, the blast connected with the same barrier I had encountered. A cylindrical transparent force field blazed with a momentary golden glow as the rifle blasts energy interacted with the shield.

  The shield circled the machine, allowing it to continue keeping the rift stable but not letting anyone near enough to touch it. I noticed Neal was within the shield’s border and a nagging thought began growing in my brain. I had to table my wondering mind and focus on the task at hand.

  “Be careful not to damage the machine, you imbeciles will kill us all!” I heard one of the men yell.

  The two guys not carrying rifles rushed to Neal, trying to get close, only to be stopped by the barrier.

  “Dammit! He has protected himself; we cannot upload the control program!”

  “Well what do we do now?” One of the soldiers asked.

  “We follow the Warlord’s orders, you kill him, we will try to gain access to the sentinel.” He answered.

  I was stuck, the soldiers had me pinned. I needed a way to distract them so that I could get close. I missed my pistol.

  I looked around the room in desperation only to settle my eyes on something that made my heart swell.

  I asked.

  I believe I can provide you the diversion you require. He answered.

  I got into position, ready to run across the room when Neal acted.

  Now. Neal sent.

  I got up and sprinted across the room, the soldiers saw me and started drawing a bead, aiming their rifles right at me. I felt exposed, like a sitting duck. A bright golden flare ignited in the shield, lighting the whole room up with a light so bright its afterglow made my skin feel like it had been sunburned. I heard the rifles fire and was happy to not be shot as I ran. I reached my destination and grabbed the old pistol from its place of honor on the wall. I flipped over onto my back and tried to focus long enough to channel some energy into the pistol.

  As soon as I reached within myself I knew my previous actions had weakened me. If my newfound power was akin to a muscle that needed exercised then my actions had essentially made it cramp. I was only able to gather a small fraction of energy, but hopefully it would be enough.

  The soldiers had finally recovered from the explosion of light and were aiming their rifles my way. I raised the pistol and pulled the trigger, sending a bright blue energy charged lead bullet towards my enemies the same time they fired their rifles.

  Thankfully I was a much better shot than them, or maybe I just had a wider margin for error. One blast flew past my head to blow a chunk from the wall behind me, the other hit my arm and I felt a stinging pain as the rifle blast knocked me sideways. I reached out to feel where the blast had grazed me, thanking god that’s all it was, if it had of been a clean shot it would have taken my arm off, as it was it would bleed and hurt, but my skin suit was already closing, giving my body time to heal.

  I wasn’t able to watch what happened when my shot hit home, but I did see the satisfying aftermath. All three soldiers were lying in unmoving heaps, their bodies smoked from the pistol’s destructive energies and the two programmers were like wise out cold. I looked around at all the bodies and knew that at least ten of them should be starting to awaken soon. In fact I saw two of them starting to stir and knew I needed to be out of here when they did come awake.

  Another tremor ran through the building, causing even more of the structure to break off. I began to get worried; I didn’t want to go through all of this only to die as the building collapsed.

  I sent as I hurried out of the room, towards the lift.

  I have been able to track their movements through the internal security systems. They are on the roof, preparing to manually launch an offensive attack.

  I sent, fear began to grow in my belly.

  I indeed have, but there was enough energy diverted to the system before I could shut it down to initiate at least one firing, perhaps two. It appears they have already locked in their intended targets and are waiting for us to surface before finalizing the launch sequence.

  I came to the door, only to find it stuck closed. I began to physically force it open.

  I don’t believe you understand the magnitude of the Warlord’s offensive capabilities. The energy gathered from the rift is enormous. The devastation to the Warlord’s targets would be the equivalent of a small grade nuclear weapon.

  Hole. Eeee. Shiit.

  The elevator doors began squealing in protest as I was able to force them open.

  Yes, my lord, Washington D.C. and Moscow.

  Dear god, if those attacks were successful each country would think they were under a nuclear assault and there’s no telling what they would do in response.

  I asked Neal.

  Approximately thirty minutes if we keep the current rate of ascent.

  I guess it took a while to lift a city as large as New York from the bottom of the ocean.

  I finally was able to wrench the doors open enough to get inside when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I spun, sword in hand, only to drop it as Kim came and crushed me with a hug.

  “What are you doing here? I told Arendiol to get you somewhere safe.” I said, both angry and elated at seeing her.

  “We tried to get out, but there was a large group of soldiers out here, it was all we could do to keep from being trampled. We tried the lift, but it wasn’t responding.” Arendiol answered.

  I looked at Kim, smiling forgivingly. “It’s okay, kid. You did good, now let’s get the heck out of here.”

  She beamed with pride before a wrinkle appeared between her eyes. “How, the only way down is not working.”

  I sent.

  I believe I can accomplish what you ask.

  Within a few seconds the inside of the lift lit up. I smiled at Kim and Arendiol. “See, no big deal.”

  My lord, we have incoming.

  The door opposite of us blew open from a controlled blast and twenty more soldiers came rushing in, this time with three men who obviously looked out of place.

  More programmers, maybe?

  They saw us in the small waiting area near the elevators and raised their weapons when the door slammed shut, protecting us from their attack, for a little while anyway.

  I sent.

  Of course. It is probably wise to consider leaving by the lift, any other avenue of exit is most likely ill advised.

 

  Yes, you will ride down with Kim and Arendiol, ensuring they exit safely. It appears there is a large force attacking the capital and it is keeping m
ost of the Warlord’s men busy, it should be possible to slip past them unnoticed. Once that is done you can use the lift again, exiting three floors below the roof, there is a large window on that level from which you can exit and climb to your destination.

  I hurried everyone on the elevator and hit the button that corresponded with the ground floor. There was a slight shift as we began moving.

  I sent.

  Yes, my lord. Neal answered, not a hint of emotion in his mental voice.

  Just once I wished there was an option that resulted in me sitting in front of my TV watching football.

  Okay, first things first, get my friends to safety, then settle up with the maniac on the roof.

  I knelt down, coming eye level with Kim. I looked up to Arendiol so she would understand I was talking to her too.

  “When we get to the bottom it will be pretty crazy. I want both of you to follow me like a shadow, never leave my side, do you understand?” They both nodded, fear and nerves were evident on both their faces.

  Looking at Kim in such distress was heart wrenching, but seeing her be strong in spite of her circumstances made me proud. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, if after all of this I would see Kim and Arendiol again, but I was going to make sure they both came out alright, or I was going to die trying. In order to do that I had to stop a nuclear holocaust by a man who had already proven that he could kick my ass.

  Nothing worth doing was ever easy.

  There was another quake and the elevator shook wildly. Kim lost her balance and I grabbed her and pulled her close, protecting her body with mine. I heard the gut wrenching sound of metal twisting and ripping on metal and the lift fell about five feet before it lurched to a stop. We all looked at each other with the unspoken fear on our faces.

  No one dared move a muscle for fear of causing the elevator to break free when another tremor shook the building and the elevator came loose and began to plummet dozens of stories towards the hard, deadly earth.

  Kim screamed and Arendiol fell to the ground, hitting her head. I tried to brace myself and shield Kim. In my mind I saw us hit, the elevator being ripped to shreds from the impact and all three of us being turned to a pulp of meat.

  I don’t know how long we fell, but it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, although those seconds seemed like years waiting for the inevitable impact. I kept hearing a phrase being repeated in my head, a phrase I had heard somewhere but couldn’t remember where.

  It’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the sudden stop at the end.

  Fortunately the sudden stop didn’t kill us. Instead we somehow slowed down and even though the g forces from our deceleration caused all my blood to rush to my ten toes, we all survived.

  For a second I didn’t know what had happened. I was in shock from our sudden change of circumstance. I kept hearing a loud high pitched noise and realized that Kim was still screaming, waiting to become a permanent part of the tower’s infrastructure.

  “Kim, Kim, it’s okay, we’re alright, we made it.” I soothed her.

  Eventually she stopped screaming only to replace it with full body sobs, the shock of what had happened causing her to release her emotions with gut wrenching tears.

  I held her, keeping contact, making her realize we were okay. I looked over at Arendiol, seeing her start to stir. She sat up; one of her eyes was stuck shut due to the blood that had congealed from a cut on her head.

  “Auuugh.” She moaned, holding her head with one hand.

  “Arendiol, can you hear me? Hey, are you with me?” I asked, hoping to get her to focus.

  She squinted from the pain of her injury but looked over at me; her one open eye seemed clear and alert.

  “Yeah, I’m here.” She answered groggily.

  The impact had crushed the elevator but thankfully not enough to kill us. The doors were a mess of twisted metal, light streamed in from a large gap in them as the destruction caused them to break apart.

  It was this crack I nodded towards while speaking to Arendiol. “Can you take a peek outside; see if we can get out without getting our faces blown off?” I asked.

  “Yeah, sure.” She answered, ambling over to look.

  After a second she turned back to us. “It looks clear, there’s a stand-off near the front entrance. A large group of fighters have assembled there and are being held off by a small group of the Warlord’s men. Thankfully, the elevator is on the side of the building, not much happening over here, although the crash has attracted some attention, it’s not yet of the soldier kind.” She added, coming back to help with Kim.

  That was a lucky break, if the soldiers were aware of our presence we would be sitting ducks in here, literally like shooting fish in a barrel. Hopefully we could squeeze out of the door’s wreckage and get Kim and Arendiol to safety.

  “Can you move?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I’m a little woozy, but I can run if I have to.” She responded, gently patting Kim’s head.

  “Hey, are you alright?” She asked her.

  Kim pulled back from my shoulder. Tear streaks made two lines of wetness among her dirty face. Her eyes gleamed bright from crying and my heart again twisted in anger at seeing her in such pain.

  She nodded to Arendiol, looking back up at me. “I’m okay.”

  “Good girl.” I answered, she smiled back weakly.

  “We need to get out of here quickly, do you understand?” I asked her.

  “Yes.”

  “Good, once we’re out of this death box we run as fast as we can across the street and try to get a block away, then we can turn back and find Brigand’s fighters. They should be able to keep you safe.” I said, Kim turned back to me, worry on her face.

  “Aren’t you going to stay with me?” She asked.

  My heart twisted again, like someone turning a knife in it.

  “I want to honey, but in order for you to be safe I have something to do first.” I held her shoulders, keeping eye contact with her. “As soon as I finish I will come for you.”

  She searched my face, looking deep within my eyes for the truth. Finally she nodded once. “Okay, deal with Krackpot, then hurry back.” I smiled as she used my nickname for him.

  “You got it.”

  I turned, keeping her small hand held firmly in mine. It felt fragile, like a warm delicate doll, one that I feared would easily break. We squeezed out of the doors and stood in the open air. I felt exposed, fully expecting someone to scream that we were here and to start shooting us full of holes, but thankfully it never happened. We managed to run full out across the street and I only stopped to look back once we were in the shadows of another building.

  The elevator was a mess, it was a miracle we had survived. There was a large pool of slowly dissolving white foam underneath the wreckage. It looked like the same stuff used to immobilize people. It was most likely the safety feature built into the system to stop a runaway elevator. I had to say it did an effective job, other than Arendiol’s bump; we were all no worse for the wear.

  I turned and led our small group around the building, circling back to the action. Once we got around the corner we ran into a small band of fighters, crouched behind an abandoned vehicle. The streets were awash in chaos, people were wandering around, staring towards the fighting in stunned shock, while others ran from the violence. The whole city looked like it was in the middle of an apocalypse, everywhere we looked the normal day to day operations had been stopped, as the fighters attempted to break the soldier’s defenses and gain access to the capital.

  “Hey, get out of here!” The fighters yelled, motioning for us to hurry past.

  We were almost by them when one of them saw my sword and the old pistol in my holster. “Stop, stop or we’ll shoot!” We heard.

  I raised my hands in a non-threatening gesture, hoping they wouldn’t start shooting. I wasn’t sure what kind of training they had, Brigand’s fighters seeme
d more of the rebellious revolutionary types, not the well-disciplined warrior types, like Sessarian.

  “Easy fellas, we are no threat; we are on the same side.” I tried, hoping to get them to back off.

  “Maybe, maybe not, you have some serious hardware there, perhaps it’s safer just to take you all out.” One of them said. He had a wild look in his eyes, a look I didn’t like. It would be hard to know who was stable and who wasn’t, I guess if he started trying to murder us I would know pretty quickly.

  “Perhaps I outta just take you out first, Basteed.” A woman’s voice said from nearby.

  Basteed went still as a long barrel was jammed into his neck. I looked over and saw a steely eyed woman holding a rifle, pointing it at Basteed.

  “Look at them, a woman, a girl and a man who looks like he just escaped Poseidon’s deepest dungeons. I swear I don’t know why Brigand allows bastard’s like you to fight with us.” She sneered.

  “Because you need all the help you can get.” Basteed answered with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

  She looked over at us, taking her time in sizing us up. Finally she settled her gaze on me. I noticed she looked intently on my pistol and sword. “You’re the one Brigand told us about aren’t you, the surface dweller?”

  I stepped forward, placing myself in front of Kim and Arendiol.

  “I am.” I said.

  She glared one more time, then huffed in acceptance.

  “You idiot Basteed, you almost opened fire on king Raiphaim.” She took the rifle from his neck and then went to one knee, grabbing Basteed and glaring at the others, they quickly followed suit.

  “Please don’t do that.” I pleaded; their actions made me feel uncomfortable.

  They rose back up and looked at me with a newfound level of respect.

  “Please forgive me, my lord. I was just kidding, just a little joke, ya know, didn’t mean nothing by it.” Basteed said, nervous fear evident on his face.

  “Hey don’t worry about it. I get guns pointed at me all the time.” I said, “Does anyone know where I can find Brigand?” I added, looking at the woman.

  “Yes. He’s in the command center, back that way, inside the building surrounded by fighters.” She said motioning down the street.