by Jeff Altabef
Clear, jagged crystals line the walls and litter the floor. The ceilings stretch fifty feet in the air, and are dotted with columns made from pure Alphian gemstones that stretch downward like jagged teeth. A standing pool of water sits in the center of the cavern, which reflects the columns from the ceiling like a mirror. The air feels cool and wet, fresh and old, all at the same time.
Fire crystals flicker in an uneven ring around the outskirts of the cave, casting just enough light that I can see my father, who stands at water’s edge. He’s half a dozen paces away and wears a black robe with a white hood and arms.
I try hard to keep my thoughts free of snark, but some impulses are hard to restrain. “Father, how wonderful to see you. You look well.”
“Somehow I don’t think you are as pleased to see me as you would like me to believe.”
The hair on my arms prickle; he knows something is wrong.
He lifts his arms from his sides, acting a bit like a showman. “Do you know where we are?”
I force myself to look at him. It’s hard; all I see is the monster who killed my mother. “The crystal caverns, I presume.”
“The crystal caverns are my favorite place on Alpha. Have I mentioned that to you?”
I shake my head, and he continues. “These caverns, these crystals, are what separates us from the dreck of the universe. Until we learned how to harness the power from these gems, we were nothing more than another primitive life form. These tunnels saved us. Do you notice anything odd about this particular cavern?”
“Since all the crystal caverns are connected to each other and there’s only one entrance to this one, I presume this is the deepest cavern.”
“Yes, very good. Maybe there is hope for you yet.” He sweeps his hands out from his sides and spins in a slow circle. “This cavern is where we discovered the Heart Stones. They were so named, not because of their red color as some foolishly believe, but because we found them so close to the heart of Alpha itself.”
“And now you want to use one to destroy Earth. How evolved of you, Father.”
He rubs his bald head. “Oh, I see that you are disappointed in me. You think I’m a monster.” His thoughts strengthen and deepen. “Someone needs to be strong enough to do what must be done. I would trade all the humans on Earth for one Alphian life. We alone have souls. We alone are superior. They are no closer to us than bugs we crush beneath our feet. By sacrificing their planet, I will save countless Alphian lives. Superior lives. Souls.”
He looks so smug, as he preaches to me about the sanctity of Alphian life, that I want to choke the breath out of him. What a total fraud. All he cares about is his own life, his own comfortable existence, and the power he lauds over others.
My eyes turn to slits as my thoughts spit out from my mind, hot and fast before I can hold them back. “You have no problem sacrificing lives, do you? You don’t value all Alphian blood. I’m sure Mother would attest to that if she were alive.”
He stares at me for a long moment.
I’m a fool, letting my emotions get the better of me. I’ve said too much, and now he knows everything. The Prime Elector is the only person who could have possibly told me the truth about my mother. If there was a chance to save Earth, I just squandered it; my temper has doomed the planet.
He ignores my comment and points to the center of the lake. “The Heart Stones were discovered under that body of water. It took millions of years for that water to collect this far underground. No one knows how the combination of that water and the crystals formed Heart Stones. Sure, we have theories, but the process has never been replicated. Your priests believe the Creator intervened to make the Heart Stones for us, so we can use them for divine purposes. On this point, I tend to agree with them.”
He won’t ignore me. I won’t let him. “How could you have murdered my mother—your wife?” I clench my hands into fists. “Did she mean nothing to you?”
“It is time for you to come home, Son. Create a portal, transport yourself to your ship, and leave within the hour. You have failed me. The consequences will be... harsh, but I will grant you one last chance to redeem yourself.”
The cavern starts to waver as he begins to release our connection, but I won’t let him go. Linking crystals work both ways. Once the link is established, I can hold the connection, so I concentrate and the cavern solidifies.
One event, one decision, one action... can define an entire life. This is my moment.
I can flee. The logical thing to do would be to leave, slink back to my ship. My father is more powerful than I am, but my soul would be forever torn and that is a fate worse than death, one I cannot abide. I will not sacrifice the Chosen and Aaric and all of humanity to live my life in shame. They deserve more; my mother deserves more. I will make a stand and defy logic—defy my father at last.
I growl. “I’m not going anywhere, Father, and neither are you.”
He removes his hood from the top of his head. “Where is the logic in this? You will not defeat me, and even if you did, Earth would still perish. I alone do not determine its fate. That would be illogical. Once the Alliance learns of my death, they will detonate the Heart Stone. Your sacrifice will accomplish nothing.”
“I’m not like you. I’m not going to do the convenient thing, take the logical action. I’m not your son. I am my mother’s son and will stand with her.” A sword appears in my hand, solid and cool to the touch. “I would rather die than live under your control for one moment longer.”
He nods and, for the first time, something resembling respect gleams in his eyes. “You have made your decision then. Send my regards to your traitorous mother when you see her in the next life.”
He conjures his two-headed snake, and it slithers toward me. The firelight dances off its armor plated scales. The two heads fork from one long body, each fork stretching as long as my arm. I must guess correctly which of the two heads is venomous.
What did mother always say about father? I remember a conversation we had a long time ago. I recall her face, her intelligent eyes, her loving smile, and the laugh always close to her lips.
I was young, upset at my latest run-in with father. I had just angered him by failing to do something he wanted of me. How I failed him escapes me now; there were so many ways over the years, and they all mix together. I do remember how he scowled at me and dismissed me with a flick of his wrist, as if I were useless, as if he were ashamed of me.
I found my mother in the garden. She took my hand and asked what was bothering me. I explained to her what had happened—how he was a mystery, always asking something from me that I never understood.
She cupped her hands and cradled my face in her motherly way. “Your father is the easiest man alive to understand. He will always do the most logical thing. Always.”
The image fades as the snake slides toward me. I’m right handed. Logic dictates that the right head contains the venomous fangs. It’s farther away from my blade as we face each other, making it harder for me to defend myself.
The snake stops and coils itself. When it hisses, I bend my knees, ready for it to attack. It springs forward and flies for my chest.
I leap to my right, away from the poisonous fangs, slice my sword at the beast, roll off to the side, and jump back to my feet. The tip of my sword bounced off its armor plated scales, barely scratching it.
The snake recoils and flings itself at me again. I step to my right, expecting the creature to fall back to the ground, but it stays suspended in the air. My father must be using his mind to keep it airborne.
The right head darts for my arm. I spin to the right just before it catches me, but that leaves an opportunity for the left head to bite me. It sinks its teeth into my shoulder and clenches its strong jaw on my flesh.
I scream in pain. My shoulder feels as if it has been plunged into flames and the skin is melting off. I grab the creature, rip it off me, and heave it away.
My father mentally catches the snake midair and flings
it back at me.
I barely have time to lift my sword, but I move just quickly enough to clang the blade off the neck, right below its right head.
The blow stuns the creature, so it takes a moment to regroup.
I use the time to jump behind a crystal column that reaches up to my chest.
The snake lunges forward with one head on either side of the crystal. I spin to my left and hack at its neck again. I aim the blade well, and further carve into the wound I had begun with my last strike. My blade breaks though the armor plates and sinks into muscle.
The left head tires to bite into my side, but the column blocks its path. I hack at the neck on the right again and again, and a sickening sulfur smell escapes form the beast. It tries to retreat, but I’m too fast. I slice into the neck again and the head falls off, but the force of my blow throws me off balance, and I stagger a step backward.
Without the right head and neck, the column no longer blocks the snake from me. The creature bolts forward and chomps down on my right arm.
I cry out in pain and try to stab it with my sword, but it has wrapped itself around my chest, pinning my arms to my side. I can’t lift them. Sweat coats my body and panic rips through me.
The snake continues to coil its way around my torso, squeezing the air from my lungs, its fangs now digging into my chest. My entire body feels as if it has exploded. My vision turns black around the edges.
Just when I’m sure I will pass out, the snake relaxes it’s grip and air floods back into my lungs.
My father has moved forward and now stands barely a step in front of me, a sick smile on his face.
Thoughts sputter from my head. “At least your... legacy... dies with me, Father.”
He chuckles. “Really. You are truly a fool. You will die as a hero. You came to Earth knowing the risks to lead the Chosen against the Prime Elector. Very admirable of you. When you were about to defeat him in glorious battle, he blows up the planet. I’m not sure how, just yet, but I will come up with something spectacular.”
I struggle against the snake, but it has locked its armored plates together and has become an immovable vice. “Still, I was your only heir. Without me, you have no legacy.”
“There is another who has the genetic makeup to provide me with an heir that I desire. I think you know her. Her name is Cassandra.”
“No! There’s no way her family would let you!”
He smiles. “Your sacrifice is the key. Your heroic death makes all things possible. I will be the next Leader. The others will feel sympathy for me, and that will swing the last few votes. Once I am the Leader, the Arrangers will have no choice but to proclaim our match perfect. No one can stop me.”
My head pounds.
I’ve given him Cassandra. How could I have failed so completely?
I concentrate all my energy on my arms and try to free myself from the snake, but it doesn’t budge. and the truth of the situation hits me. “You wanted me to fail from the beginning!”
He shrugs. “I realized there was a good chance you would betray me. I needed to find out for certain where your loyalties lie. Now that I know, I must say this outcome pleases me. I wouldn’t worry too much about your precious Cassandra. You will probably see her soon. Once she delivers my heir, I doubt she will last long. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
The snake hisses and stretches open its mouth, ready to sink its fangs into my neck.
“Goodbye, son.”
Barrett
I close my eyes and prepare to meet the Creator, expecting the lethal blow any second. Instead, I sense another’s presence and look up.
Juliet stands next to me, her sword in her hand. Without hesitating, she chops her blade into the snake, cleaving it in two.
The head flops off and the beast drops from my body. I fall to the ground, my ribs and lungs aching.
My father has a sword in his hand and speaks aloud. I hear his voice for the first time, and it’s not what I had expected. It’s not thick and deep and menacing—it’s high-pitched and calculating.
“What a pleasant surprise—Juliet Wildfire Stone. I am happy that we shall meet before you die. You were a bit of a mystery to me.”
Juliet glances at me for a second and turns her glare to my father. “I wouldn’t expect any Father’s Day gifts if I were you.”
“No, I guess not.”
She leaps forward and attacks my father in a blur. She spins and leaps over columns and crystals.
My father deftly thwarts her strokes, backing up slowly toward the lake. The chamber fills with the sounds of their swords clashing. As fast as Juliet moves, my father moves faster. It’s as if she’s fighting a shadow with his black robe swirling about him. Even though he’s retreating, she is no match for him. He’s just drawing her in to a place where he’ll finish her.
“Instead of this pointless fight, you should drop to your knees and thank me,” he says, his voice calm and easy.
Juliet steps back, panting from her efforts. “Thank you? You’re going to blow up my planet.”
He smiles. “I created the Fusion that made you what you are. Otherwise, you would be nothing, just an ordinary human. Now look at you! You are superior. Except, of course, that you’re an abomination. That was not my fault. That was your weak grandfather’s doing. If he could have followed instructions, you would be a simple Alpha—not nearly this powerful, but not this hideous genetic failure either. Your parents were supposed to be from the same tribe.” He shrugs. “I guess it doesn’t matter in the end.”
She snarls at him. “My grandfather was a tower of strength compared to you. You’re nothing but a sniveling, insignificant worm.”
She jumps toward him, fighting with renewed vigor, but it does her no good. She slashes for my father’s head, but he ducks under her blade and smashes her with a backhand slap that sends her reeling to the ground.
She staggers to her feet and lungs forward in a desperate plunge.
Father sidesteps her and, with his free hand, chops down at her neck as she passes.
Juliet crashes headfirst into a column and moans.
Father studies her for a moment, shaking her head. “You see, Barrett? You’ve wasted your life on inferior beings. They are worthless.”
He’s wrong. Juliet’s heart is stronger and her soul more powerful than my father’s. He could never compete with her in what matters most.
My father lifts his sword. In another second he’ll chop into her neck.
I can’t let that happen; I won’t let him kill her.
I concentrate on a crystal column above him and yank it free with my mind. My father notices the falling column just in time and steps back as it crashes to the ground.
I jump to my feet and fight through the pain, each step bringing a new round of agony. Sprinting, I reach my father before he’s ready for me. I take a deep breath, tackle him and splash us both into the lake. The cold water engulfs us, shooting needles against my skin.
He tries to swim for the surface, but I grab him around the waist and yank him down. We’re falling now, into the chilly darkness.
He fights me, and I focus everything I have, everything I am, to drag him lower, and we sink.
He projects in my head. “Let me go! It’s not too late. We don’t have to die.”
“I guess you were right, Father. I am a perfect genetic combination between you and Mom. Consider this my final test.”
“No!”
He struggles, but I won’t let him go. My lungs burn and I see visions. My mother waits for me. She’s smiling, a white light behind her. A sense of calm settles into my bones. The water is no longer cold.
I am warm.
I look at my father’s eyes and see terror. Whatever vision he sees is nothing like mine.
His eyes roll backward; his life extinguished.
A glorious crystal palace waits for me and the light burns brighter.
Juliet
I feel as if someone has just forced my mind throug
h a meat grinder and cranked the handle; the pain is beyond intense. The world bends and twists. Visions flash before me: a bright light, a woman’s face, a sweet breeze, and a crystal palace.
I groan and shake my head. The world swims and my stomach revolts. Connor’s face appears before me and I reach for him, but it shatters into an infinite number of shards. I try to force it back together, but a tornado forces its way through my mind and turns everything gray and then black.
I’m no longer outside the sweat lodge. I’m weightless, floating in a vast white ocean. There are no markers, no way for me to find my way back, no way to help the others.
I fight against a growing sense of panic.
Where am I? Will I be lost here forever, never to see my friends again?
I reach out with my mind and project a mental grid outward, looking, hoping to see something, anything.
I find one—Aaric. He’s calling my name. It’s no louder than a whisper but I hear it. It’s real.
“I’ve got you, Juliet. Follow my voice back. You can do it.”
His voice grows louder, and I push myself in the direction from which it comes. He keeps repeating the same message, and his voice becomes stronger and turns into a concrete beacon, a pinpoint of light in the distance.
My heart races as I focus on that one spot until it grows. Other specks of light join the ocean. I feel Connor, Troy, Akari, Blake, and my parents. They’re all points of color in the whiteness.
With a burst of willpower, I open my eyes and....
I’m back. The world sharpens into focus.
Aaric squats in front of me, his hand—soft, strong, and warm—squeezes my arm. His usual confident, slightly arrogant expression has morphed into one of concern, with newly formed worry lines webbing from the corners of his eyes.
He saved me. He reached into the void and pulled me back.
I hear his voice in my mind. “Don’t worry, Juliet. I won’t let you go. I will keep you safe. Trust me.”
“Thank you,” I project back at him.
He winks and the supremely self-assured Aaric returns, and he sends me another telepathic message. “We are linked together, you and me. We can do anything, change everything.”