Fragments of Light

by Beth Hodgson

  Kyle’s voice rang in Geeta’s head. You’re fucked, he would say.

  Yes, I am, she told herself.

  There was no sight of Kyle, either. Everyone was taking too long.

  Just when Geeta was about to summon her space-dimensional magic, a bright blue portal appeared on an adjacent platform, streaks of bright ruby light shooting out of it.

  Geeta’s heart quickened at the sight. It was the gifted from the future, flying through their summoned portal. The red-gifted that shot through first burned brightly with their magic and a trail behind them, like loose fireworks gone awry.

  Without waiting a moment longer, Geeta summoned her dimensional traveling magic, bathing herself in an intense violet, then jumped off the turret, disappearing.

  It was time to confront Ikaria.

  ***

  Telly felt the transport land, then the rumble of the engines ceased and the transport doors opened. The cyborgs began exiting the vehicle, giving Telly some space, allowing her to stretch from being cramped up inside.

  As the last of the cyborgs departed, Telly walked beside one of them, still surrounded in her invisibility. Making haste down the ramp of the transport, Telly froze in place.

  A giant black-violet glowing portal swirled at the center of the royal platform. In the distance, she could hear the advisor yelling out orders for the cyborgs.

  My God… Telly sucked in her breath. That’s how the units are going to the future!

  The colorful portal suddenly made her very afraid. She had already been frightened by the advisor, but Telly now understood the vast power Ikaria had.

  Telly looked around all the surrounding platforms within the area. There were a couple of close ones that Drew could possibly be on, but one in particular was closer than the others. If she had to guess, Drew would probably be on the closest one. But now how to get over there?

  Walking as silently as she could, Telly neared the edge of the royal platform where the guardrails were. Overhead, more ships were flying in and landing on the royal platform.

  Drew, how am I supposed to get over there? Telly asked herself.

  Then there was a bright blue flash where the adjacent platform was, and red streaks came shooting out of it.

  Blinded by the brightness, Telly covered her glasses from the radiance. With a sudden force, a body collided with hers, snatching her up. The winds raced against her as the body held her. A mechanical hand rested against her back, holding her tightly as they flew through the air.

  “Drew!”

  Telly saw the outline of his hand wrapped around her, radiating orange power. The rest of him was still masked with his magic. Was it that her magic made it so that she could detect him?

  They landed on the adjacent platform as the newly formed second portal rippled, shooting out reds, oranges, yellows, and blues. Telly looked around wildly, not believing what she was seeing, releasing her magic.

  Drew came into focus as his orange magic dissipated. He yanked the bag that was strapped on him, then flopped it open, revealing blood-filled syringes. He grabbed a couple, handing them over to her.

  “What am I supposed to do with these?” Telly asked, her head turning to look at the colors streaming out of the portal.

  “I-i-i-n-n-n… inject the f-f-f… future gifted,” Drew stuttered, his circuits jolting.

  “But how are we supposed to get their attention?”

  A black force rocked the buildings all around the palace, as if an earthquake rocked the area. Telly and Drew stumbled to the ground for a moment, the syringes falling out of the bag and rattling around the platform.

  “I will get t-t-t… them. You inject.”

  Drew closed his eyes, resting his hands on his forehead, glowing a bright orange. Then he flew up into the sky.

  ***

  Auron’s eyes shot open, acutely aware that he was not falling but flying. He felt a strong grip on him. A human hand, and… was it metal?

  His eyes darted across the strange hand, running his gaze up the arm. The arm had… technology? Was he in the arms of a machine? Mixed with a human?

  The machine noticed that Auron was awake and gripped him tighter.

  “Let go of me!” Auron demanded.

  A mechanical eye flashed orange. “No,” it responded.

  Auron pushed within the machine’s powerful grip, trying to pry the machine’s hands off him. The machine’s grip held firm. “Do n-n-n… not force. Need blood.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Y-y-y… you need blood.”

  Did this thing have what the future gifted needed… the green-gifted blood? Was this the answer to his prayers?

  The machine looked away, quickly guiding Auron to an aerial platform attached to a tall structure. Was this what the past really looked like? Auron marveled at the architecture, but then reminded himself that all that he saw was to be decimated in the future. All because of their arrogance in technology.

  They landed on the platform near a bright blue portal. The future gifted continued to shoot out of the gateway, out of control from the eternal fall from Vala’s spell. Auron watched as a few of the red and blue gained control of themselves, then went after the oranges and yellows who couldn’t fly or move dimensionally.

  A woman wearing strange glass rims around her eyes ran up to the machine, carrying a heavy bag.

  “Inject,” the machine told the woman, pointing to Auron.

  The woman nodded, her eyes wide in wonder. Auron noticed her eyes were pale orange behind her glass mechanism.

  “I need your arm. Please roll up your sleeve,” instructed the woman.

  “Is that… blood of the green gift in that device?” Auron asked, frightened at the sight of the glass vessel holding the blood.

  “Yes. Now hold still. It will only take a second to administer. It might help if you take a deep breath when I say when.”

  The woman held up the blood device as Auron glanced at her curiously. “How did you know that we needed the blood?” he asked, still confused as to what was going on.

  The woman looked toward the machine. “He had a dream about it. When.”

  He forgot to breathe and let out a loud yelp in response, flinching as the sharp needle stuck him.

  “I told you to breathe in when I said when,” the woman said, shrugging.

  Auron turned his attention back to the woman in disbelief. “That machine? He had a dream about the blood? Truly?”

  “Yes. He was quite adamant about it. He had an overwhelming feeling that he needed to help the future,” the woman said, rolling up Vala’s sleeve. “We have enough for a hundred of you.”

  A machine helping us? Did the God of Light intend that? Machines and technology are inherently evil…

  As Vala was given the blood injection, Auron turned to her. “Get the word out to the other gifted as quickly as possible about the blood of the green,” Auron ordered. “The machine and the woman have enough for everyone. No one is to be left behind.”

  “Yes, Uncle.” Vala nodded, then vanished into space, reappearing in a blue twinkle across the platform, grabbing on to an orange-gifted midair.

  Auron looked around while the woman continued to administer the blood to his people. From across the way, he saw Ikaria, surrounded by machines in the form of men, just like the one that rescued him. She was commanding them, yelling out loud as they entered the portal. Her gauntlet burned a strange black.

  I have got to get over to that other platform!

  There was a flash before Ikaria.

  Geeta.

  He clenched his fists. Now I really have to get over to that platform!

  “Need a lift?” a voice called out from above him.

  Auron looked up, his gaze meeting a red-gifted man holding a green-gifted woman in one of his arms while the other held a staff that cast an intense reddish-white light.

  His staff.

  “Are you the Ghost Man?” Auron asked the man hovering above him.

  “Th
at’s what they keep calling me for whatever damn reason,” the man replied while the green-gifted woman held on to him tighter.

  “I see that Geeta gave you my staff. That gives me hope.”

  The Ghost Man looked at the staff, then shrugged. “This thing? You can have it back once we kick some sorceress ass.”

  Ghost Man swung the staff hard in the air, leaving a trail of vibrant red light in its path. Bits of dust, dirt, rock, and debris began to assemble midair, bridging the two platforms together. With another solid swipe of the staff, ice formed all over the bridge, solidifying the structure.

  “This should hold temporarily, I think. But if I were you, I wouldn’t sit my ass down too long on the damn thing. Not sure how much weight it can hold.”

  “Thank you,” Auron said reverently.

  Turning behind him, Auron summoned his protective magic, casting barriers on the gifted who started to cross. Auron saw the green-gifted in the Ghost Man’s arms shoot out protective barriers as well on those flying by, her barriers being greenish yellow.

  Auron gaped. She had the ability to cast magic outside the green capabilities. Had she consumed other gifted’s blood too? Or was it truly like what Geeta had told him, that gifted had the ability to cast adjacent powers?

  No time to wonder. Auron and the gifted began to charge over the bridge while other gifted flew above past him.

  Then the machines swarmed the skies. And they looked angry.

  Auron heard a loud booming noise coming from their hands. Some of their hands weren’t hands, but long barrels.

  Metal barrels.

  From the metal barrels, it began raining metal.

  ***

  Damn! I hope we aren’t too late.

  Kyle flew past the half-assed bridge in his funneled red winds, gripping Emerald tightly and holding the staff.

  That shit better hold. He eyed the bridge one last time before turning his focus to the royal platform.

  A warm flow of bright green-yellow magic surrounded them both, encasing them in a translucent barrier. It was right on time, as firepower shot through the skies, raining metal not only on them, but also the other gifted on the bridge.

  “Oh no!” Emerald cried, gazing in horror at the gunfire. “We have to stop them!”

  “We will. I just have to figure out how without killing them all.”

  The future gifted fought back, sending out firepower of their own, ranging from hurling fireballs and ice storms to jolts of red electrical power. Some of the blue-gifted stopped time on a handful of them, with the bullets freezing midair.

  Kyle noticed that magic did not seem to be very effective against the machines, especially against orange illusion magic. The machines were not fooled by illusions, and they were using their calculations to see through the magic, gunning right for the gifted. Several of the cyborgs that had been damaged started to heal themselves, regenerating back to their original state.

  Kyle slashed magic toward the cyborgs with the added power of the staff, casting a wave of electric magic, enough to cause them to go into overload. Emerald cast new barriers on the gifted as older spells faded away.

  Shit, she won’t be able to keep this up for long. Yellow wasn’t her main color, so he knew it took her more effort to cast the barriers.

  “Try not to kill them,” Kyle called out to the gifted below. “They are my people.”

  “Your people are very strange,” called out a gifted from the bridge.

  Yeah, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.

  Many of the cyborgs fired again, this time unleashing a giant wave of firepower while other cyborgs engaged with the gifted, hacking at them with their built-in weaponry. The magical barriers protected some of the future gifted, while other barriers faded instantly, the bullets and blades breaking through. Many of the gifted fell to the ground while others were flung off the bridge.

  Shit!

  The rumbling of air transports could be heard nearby. Kyle turned and saw the crappiest transport he had ever seen. He couldn’t believe that the scrap of metal was actually flying, and then he caught sight of a familiar face.

  “Hey, asshole, you need some help?” Garrett’s voice called out from an open window. Behind him, Kyle could see Reila piloting the contraption. Another transport hovered nearby, in just as bad shape as the first one, with Victor and Jared inside.

  “Garrett? What the hell are you doing here?” Kyle yelled back, casting another spell at a cyborg coming at him.

  “I can’t let you have all the fun!” he answered. Garrett armed himself with a grenade launcher, then aimed at the bridge with the cyborgs.

  “Are you fucking crazy? You’re going to shatter the damn thing!” Kyle roared. “Everyone is gonna fall!”

  “Kyle, we can’t let them die!” Emerald chimed in.

  “Hey, I got this, okay?” Garrett called out above the sounds of the transports, getting into position.

  With a sudden force, the launcher boomed, and a metal device shot out, landing on the bridge. It rolled along the bridge, then stopped two feet in front of a cyborg.

  Underwhelmed by Garrett’s weapon, Kyle turned back to him. “How the hell is that thing supposed to help?”

  “Shoot your lightning into it, idiot!”

  “And why would I want to do that?”

  “Kyle, more cyborgs are coming,” Emerald said.

  “Just do it, asshole! You’ll see!” Garrett called out. He motioned, and both transports vacated the area.

  Turning back to see the metal device on the bridge, Kyle swung the staff, aiming at the ball, then sent a large bolt of red lightning at it. Upon the magic’s contact, a pulse of energy emitted from the device, sending a shock wave across the bridge. The second the shock wave hit the cyborgs, their technology died, shutting down their power.

  The humanized cyborgs started acting in confusion, their machine parts inanimate. It gave the gifted the time they needed to prepare their spells, freezing the stunned machines into place.

  “Damn, that was pretty useful,” Kyle said.

  “Kyle! Down there!” Emerald said, pointing frantically at the injured on a platform below.

  “All right! Hold on tight!”

  He released the wind from around them. They fell for a short moment, then the wind surrounded them once more, and they made contact with the bridge, breaking their fall.

  Emerald rushed over to one of the gifted. The injured gifted was mutilated, bleeding from numerous wounds, most of them resembling puncture wounds from a cyborg’s blade. There were two yellow-gifted trying to utilize their newly acquired green skill that had been injected into them, but it wasn’t enough. They didn’t understand how to fully utilize it. Their attempts could only soothe the injured instead of heal them.

  Emerald began vigorously casting her healing magic. As she did so, Kyle looked over toward the royal transport platform where Geeta was. There were so many bodies swarming the morning sky—the colorful gifted casting their magic and the dark machines that hadn’t been hit by Garrett’s bomb.

  He turned to Emerald. “I need to go stop Ikaria before shit gets out of hand. Geeta is up there waiting for us.”

  “Geeta?”

  “My mentor. No time to explain now.”

  Emerald nodded, quickly kissing him, then started healing the mangled gifted’s body. “I will join you after I heal them. I promise.” Her eyes told him that she didn’t want to part from him for long, but the need to help was too great to ignore.

  “Hurry. I’ll hold the witch off until you get there.”

  “Okay.” Emerald nodded, giving him a concerned look.

  He gave her a smile, then gathered all of his wind power, funneling it around him. He shot into the sky, the staff glowing fiery red in his grasp, a newly formed storm raging around him. Red lightning shot into the staff’s orb as thick red clouds swirled around him, gathering all of the air. Some of the gifted stopped in awe at the sight of the intense power.

  As K
yle flew toward the platform where Geeta and Ikaria were, a body basked in blue magic appeared right in front of Kyle. The blue magic created a blue-violet force, hurling Kyle out of his path. Within the glowing blue magic, a dark figure emerged with a menacing grin.

  Derek had a smug look on his face, narrowing his eyes. “How did I know that you were going to show up? Don’t you have anything better to do in the lower levels than stick your nose in Arcadia’s business?”

  “Em’s business is my business,” Kyle snarled.

  “So crass. I can’t believe she was actually soft on you.” Derek’s crystal-blue eyes began to glow. “She’s already forgotten everything, especially you.”

  Kyle scowled. “Yeah, look at the big bad king. You had to fucking control her in order for her to be swayed by you, so fucking classy. More like a piece of shit, is what you are. A cowardly piece of shit!”

  Kyle grasped the staff, then shot toward Derek, flames burning from his hands. Just when he was about to make contact with Derek, Kyle released them, hurling a huge fireball toward him. Derek disappeared, then reappeared behind him. Kyle spun around and struck the King firmly, landing a solid blow to the chest. Derek faltered for a second, giving Kyle the opportunity to clock the King in the face.

  “Damn you!” Derek snarled, wiping fresh blood from his nose. His body began to slowly radiate blue magic. As he did so, everything around Kyle began slowing down and turning blue as Derek’s magic burned brighter by the second. The world was coming to a halt.

  Kyle started summoning an ice shard, intending to hurl it at the King, but his movements were coming to a standstill. Kyle’s body was locking into place, and his face was slowed to the point that he could see the beauty of the ice crystals forming at a painstakingly sluggish pace, the reflections of the blue magic being cast shining across the smooth icy surface.

  Just as Kyle couldn’t take watching the torturous slow motion of the spell, he felt speed return to him, and the motion of his ice spell continued at a normal pace. Kyle looked immediately at the prince. Derek sneered, then burned his blue magic brightly, causing Kyle’s movement to slow down once more.