The Key of Astrea

by Nicholas Marson

  Astrea gazed back at her with an expression of relief and sadness. Thank you, Jenny.

  The voice echoed in her mind. Jenny gasped. “Astrea?”

  The ghost nodded. You have freed me from my bond.

  “How can you speak now?”

  The Riftkey has connected us.

  There were a million questions Jenny wanted to ask, but only one that mattered. It was a question that had haunted her life even more than Astrea’s ghost. “That night, at the wedding, when I first saw you—” Jenny squeezed the Riftkey with both hands. “I mean, there was a strange sound in my head that night, and I hummed along with it. Whatever it was, I fixed it. There was a flash, and they…disappeared. Was it my fault?”

  Astrea shook her head. That was not your fault. The Riftkey sought a new master and found you. It activated the Waypoint.

  Jenny let out a loud sob and moved toward Astrea.

  The ghost looked up at something unseen. I must go now.

  “No, no, no. You can’t leave me here.” Jenny looked frantically around the narrow space.

  Astrea squeezed Jenny’s shoulder once before fading into a silvery mist and vanishing. Jenny stared at the spot where Astrea had been. The ghost had been her last connection to home. She stared up into the gray clouds. Rain mixed with the tears that flowed down her cheeks. Jenny looked down at the Riftkey. It’s so dirty.

  With nothing else to do, she knelt down and rinsed the sword in the dank water. Soon, she exposed the mirrored flat of the blade that sandwiched the blunt black edges. Now that it was clean, she examined herself in the Riftkey’s mirror finish.

  Jenny flinched at the sight of her own face. Black streaks of makeup ran down her eyes, and blood coated her chin from the bite on her tongue. It already hurt to swallow, and it would be worse tomorrow. She examined the Riftkey from tip to base. She found a triangle inside a circle on the pommel. Like my amulet. She touched the heirloom under her wet black T-shirt and thought of her mom. What does it mean? Is my family related to Astrea’s clan in some way?

  Suddenly, Jenny’s entire body hummed like she had drunk twelve cups of coffee, and a buzzing chaos exploded in her mind. The muscles in her arms seized. She moved to pry her frozen fingers loose of the hilt, but she couldn’t.

  Please do not drop me, said a pleasant, singsong male voice. I have spent enough time buried under organic matter, unable to activate without my master.

  What was that voice? What did it mean by master? Jenny spun around, looking for a person and finding no one. There’s nobody here. So, the voice is definitely in my head. Am I having a schizophrenic hallucination? A ball of ice formed in her stomach. When did I last take my pills?

  This isn’t a hallucination, the voice said.

  Jenny looked down at the Riftkey and asked, “Did you speak to me?”

  Is there anyone else here?

  “N-n-no,” Jenny stammered, shaking, “but you’re a sword.”

  Who said I was a sword?

  Jenny thought back to Astrea’s vision and remembered how Astrea had sliced a Risi in half. “That’s how Astrea used you. So, if you’re not a sword, then what are you?”

  I am a Terminal key, or Riftkey.

  Jenny shook her head. “Keys don’t talk.”

  And swords do?

  “Good point. So, what is a Riftkey?”

  A life form for Terminal management. I was assigned to the Tricaster in support of the Sol expedition to unlock the Terminal. But my mission failed, and my master perished. But, that was so long ago, you know.

  “I do not know, and I can’t just call you ‘Life Form for Terminal Management.’ Don’t you have a name?”

  Cobol.

  “Okay. Well, Cobol, it’s nice to meet you.”

  How should I refer to you?

  “Oh, my name’s Jenny Tripper.” This is so weird, Jenny thought. I’m talking to a sword. I wonder if Astrea talked to it too?

  She did.

  “Oh, you really can hear my thoughts.”

  Yes.

  “You know, I saw you earlier, in a dream, or a vision, or something.”

  Yes, I remember. You released Astrea from her bond after touching me.

  “Her bond? What does that mean? What did I do?” She looked down at the Riftkey and saw that a red welt had formed on the inside of her forearm. It was in the shape of a triangle inside a circle. “What is that?”

  A mark that represents our new bond.

  Jenny loosened her grip.

  Wait. We both want to get out of here. We can help each other.

  Jenny stopped struggling against her grip. “I’m listening.”

  Follow the water out.

  “You mean crawl in there?” Jenny shivered as she stared into the tunnel’s impenetrable darkness. A squeak echoed off the stone walls.

  Unless you can climb out of here…

  “No.” Jenny sighed in defeat as she looked up. “I couldn’t even climb down.”

  Then the only way out is through the tunnel. I can provide you with light.

  “You can?” Jenny looked for a switch. “How?”

  Blue fire formed inside her mind. It reminded her of her method for curing migraines. A sound, like hitting a baseball, resounded in the tiny space, and the sharp tangy odor of ozone filled the air. Jenny squinted as the air around the Riftkey sparked with a fierce blue light.

  Careful of my edges. They will disintegrate anything they touch.

  “Anything?” Jenny asked. That explains the sparks, Jenny thought, and the ionization of the air.

  Well, almost. The Riftkey cannot cut through the same material it is made of.

  “That makes sense,” Jenny said as her body shivered from the cold.

  We should hurry before you suffer hypothermia.

  “Agreed.” Jenny’s teeth chattered. She held Cobol up to the tunnel’s opening. A meter gap separated the water from the roof. With a sigh, she got down on her hands and knees and crawled. Her duffel bag scraped the green-and-yellow-slime-covered arch of the tunnel. The Riftkey caused the water to fizz like soda as she slid it along the floor. Up ahead, she heard something skitter and shivered.

  I need to take my mind off the creepy-crawlies, Jenny thought. “So,” she said out loud, “Astrea’s bond to you made her a ghost?”

  Yes, and we are bound until another Æon takes your place.

  “What does it mean to be bound?”

  It means that only you can use me. We share memories, senses, so you don’t have to speak out loud. I can hear your thoughts, as long as you direct them at me.

  Jenny crawled through a spiderweb and picked the sticky silk off of her face and hair. It would be nice, she thought, if I didn’t have to open my mouth in this tunnel.

  Yes, that is one good reason, but more importantly, we can talk in secret, and be heard where your voice should not.

  Cool, well, now that I found you, what should we do?

  Find my body and break Nimue’s bond.

  Who’s Nimue?

  She was my original master.

  Something squeaked and skittered up ahead and made her scalp itch. What happened to her? Jenny asked.

  She died in a crash.

  And where is your body?

  I do not know.

  Can’t you detect it or something?

  Could you locate an amputated limb? Cobol asked.

  Fair enough.

  There are ways to detect the material my body is made of, but the technology was likely lost in the crash.

  Jenny’s teeth chattered as she crawled. The stones under her hands transitioned from mildewed to muddy. The roots dangling in her path pulled at her hair and tickled her back. Wait. At the end of Astrea’s vision, I saw a silver statue. Was that your body?

  Yes, but I have no memory of the location.

  Light at the end of the tunnel beckoned her onward. Soon, Jenny stumbled out of the drain and into the brightness of the day. Shielding her eyes, she studied her surroundings. Thick grasses an
d shrubs bordered a stream. Bent trees leaned over the bubbling water. Behind her, a small, stacked-stone structure housed the drain’s exit. Farther up the hill, the walls of the ruined fort were visible through a cluster of trees.

  Jenny followed the outflow of the drain to the stream. Carved gray rock and smooth, colorful stones were visible through the clear water. Holding the Riftkey out for balance, Jenny stepped onto the nearest rock. Her black boots provided good traction as she walked from stone to stone. When she was halfway across the stream, a booming voice echoed out of the woods ahead of her. The silhouettes of two large men appeared through the mist on the opposite bank. Her mind conjured up memories of the Risi. She turned, and her foot slipped off the stone and splashed into the cold water.

  As Jenny struggled to regain her balance, the Riftkey slipped out of her hand. The moment she lost contact with it, its glowing blue edges turned black as the Riftkey deactivated. It plunked into the water and settled into a deep section of the stream.

  “Wait!” a man’s voice cried out.

  The voice sounded familiar, so Jenny stopped.

  “Are you Jenny Tripper?” he asked.

  “Lin sent us to find you,” said the other man.

  Each man stood at least two meters tall and wore full body armor painted in greens and browns that blended in with the surrounding woodlands.

  I know him, Cobol said in her mind. His name is Rygelus.

  Rygelus resembled a Greek god, like Adonis. Pointed ears extended from wavy brown hair. A bump protruded from his forehead, just above his thick brown eyebrows, which accentuated his deeply angled brown eyes.

  “Oh, thank g-g-goodness,” Jenny chattered. “Ry-Ry-Rygelus?” That’s right, I saw him in Astrea’s vision, but how could he still be alive? He’d have to be hundreds of years old.

  Thousands, Cobol amended.

  A fully formed ghost, like Astrea, stood next to him. She wore a black bodysuit and had the same angled eyes, pointed ears, and a bump that protruded from her forehead.

  Don’t tell me this is Nimue, Jenny asked Cobol inside her mind.

  Cobol remained silent.

  Cobol?

  You told me not to tell you.

  Is she Nimue?

  Yes, this is Nimue. She is Rygelus’s daughter.

  Isn’t it strange that she’s right here, right now?

  No, she would want to remain close to the Riftkey, and her father. What is strange is that Rygelus is here.

  Rygelus studied Jenny like he was reading her soul. “How do you know my name?”

  “I—I—” Jenny debated whether or not she should tell Rygelus about her vision. Ultimately, she decided to wait until she knew more about what was going on. “How did you find me?”

  “Tracking you was easy enough.” The other man held out the soggy box of Lamingtons in a hand the size of a baseball mitt. He looked like a comic-book version of Thor. Broad-shouldered, with a smooth, rugged face and a cascade of golden hair that danced in the breeze. His trimmed, reddish-blond beard framed a powerful jawline. He waded out into the stream and bent down to retrieve the fallen Riftkey.

  Rygelus’s eyes went wide. “No, Brock.” He splashed into the stream. “Don’t touch it!”

  “What’s the big deal?” Brock lifted the Riftkey from the water. Suddenly, his body went stiff and shook like he had grabbed a downed power line.

  Jenny felt odd, as if something was touching her mind.

  The next moment, Rygelus tackled Brock. The Riftkey flew from his grip, and together, they splashed into the stream. Rygelus sprang to his feet and pulled Brock upright. The blond man gasped for air. Rygelus stared at the Riftkey and laughed. “It was here the whole time.” He withdrew a wool blanket from his backpack and wrapped it around the Riftkey.

  The cold stream had numbed Jenny’s extremities, and she hugged herself as her teeth chattered. Her injured tongue felt huge in her mouth, and she was growing light-headed.

  You are about to lose consciousness, Cobol said in her mind.

  Okay. Jenny nodded. That sounds nice. She giggled because her head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. Her vision narrowed to a single point of light, and she collapsed face-first into the frigid water.

  Jenny dreamed of giants with faces twisted in rage, and Alfur worshipping in front of a faceless silver statue. A blur of light- and dark-brown hues filled Jenny’s vision. Someone lifted a damp cloth from her forehead and stroked her skin with a rough hand. As she woke, Jenny rolled over and found herself lying on a bed. A chest of drawers sat in the corner of the rustic bedroom. A single window revealed a thick canopy of tree branches.

  “How are ya?” Brock sat on a stool next to the bed.

  “Better,” Jenny croaked. “Thanks.”

  “I never got a chance to properly introduce myself.” He held a giant hand out to her. “My name is Brock Holger.”

  “Jenny Tripper.” She took his hand, and he shook her entire arm.

  In another corner of the room, Rygelus screwed the cap onto a copper flask and thrust it into a coat pocket. The ghost of Nimue stood next to him with a look of sadness on her face.

  I should be able to trigger a vision if I touch her, she thought to Cobol.

  Perhaps, he answered.

  Jenny’s hand passed through the ghost.

  That is what I thought; it will only work if you are near the object she is bound to. Which means—

  That your body is not nearby.

  Well, how do we find it?

  I do not know.

  Rygelus cocked his head toward Jenny as if confused. He picked up a glass of water from a small table and approached her. “Thirsty?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She took the cup and drank greedily.

  “I’ll be right back,” Brock said, then left the room.

  “I’ll be here,” Jenny called out.

  Rygelus took the empty glass and exchanged it for a granola bar. “Have an energy bar. I make them myself.”

  Jenny thanked him and took the bar. She winced from the pain in her tongue, but she forced herself to chew. The bar tasted of nuts, fruit, and some sort of thick, rich syrup. “I know it sounds weird,” Jenny said between bites, “but I watched you fight alongside Astrea at the fort.”

  He glanced at the Riftkey and nodded. “That was a long time ago, in the year 1405.”

  Jenny’s mouth opened wide. Even though she’d seen it in her vision, hearing him admit it, and so nonchalantly, was entirely too real.

  Soon, Brock returned and handed Jenny a steaming mug of something like cocoa. She wrapped both hands around it and took a sip. The warm liquid slid down her throat and heated her from the inside out. She shivered as if the heat reminded her of how cold she had been.

  “Where am I?”

  “You’re in our treehouse.”

  “Treehouse?” Jenny lifted an eyebrow and took another sip. Visions of boys with signs that read “No Girls Allowed” flashed into her mind. There was a sound of a door opening in the other room. A woman wearing a red trench coat over a patterned yellow button-up shirt entered the room.

  Jenny sat up straight, feeling the stiffness in her soiled shirt and jeans. “Hi, are you Lin Yuan Song?”

  “Please, call me Lin.” She sat at the edge of the bed. “Sorry, I’m late.”

  Red ringed Lin’s dark-brown irises, and dark circles framed her bloodshot eyes. Compared to the holographic message, Lin’s skin appeared dull, and her once shiny, straight black hair was frizzy.

  “No, it’s my fault for getting lost.” Jenny smiled and shook her head. “I shouldn’t have followed Heather.”

  “That should never have happened, and I take full responsibility.”

  “I’m just happy to see you.”

  “So, what happened?” Lin asked.

  “I fell down a hole and scraped my back.” Jenny turned and lifted the back of her shirt to show the bloody scrapes. “Then I passed out.”

  Lin sucked air through her teeth. “That looks bad.
Does it hurt?”

  “Not as much as this.” Jenny stuck out her tongue, showing the red bite marks in the tender flesh.

  Lin frowned.

  “We found her in the stream outside the fort.”

  “I—” A shiver racked Jenny’s body and her teeth chattered uncontrollably.

  “We tracked her from the cabin,” Rygelus said.

  “It seems Heather found her first,” Brock said.

  “How can that little Alfur cause so much trouble? Wait, what is that?” Lin looked at where the tip of the Riftkey jutted out from the wool blanket in Rygelus’s arms.

  “The Riftkey.” Rygelus set the blanket between Lin and Jenny.

  “I thought it was gone,” Lin said. “To the Astrea realm.”

  “Apparently not,” Rygelus said. “Jenny found it in the ruins.”

  “Amazing.” Lin looked at Jenny.

  Brock stepped backward as Jenny reached inside and slid the Riftkey out from Rygelus’s blanket. “Lin, why did the Riftkey shock Brock and not me?”

  “Because you’re an Æon,” Lin said.

  “What’s an Æon?”

  “Someone who can sense the patterns that make up our universe,” Rygelus said as he rolled up his empty blanket.

  Is that why I can see ghosts? Jenny thought as she looked at Nimue.

  “How did you find the Riftkey?” Rygelus asked.

  Jenny told them about her vision at the edge of the storm drain, and how she had seen Rygelus help Astrea fend off the giants long enough for her people to escape.

  “And why did you go to the fort?” Lin asked.

  “After losing Heather, I got lost. Then—” Jenny gasped.

  “What is it?”

  “After seeing so many people die in the vision, I almost forgot that I found a dead body in the woods,” Jenny said.

  “Where?” Lin asked.

  “On the path between the fort and the cabin,” Brock said. “I’d estimate that he was killed about four hours ago.”

  “Killed?” Lin asked. “Did you recognize him?”

  Rygelus shook his head. “No, but he was wearing a gray Cabin uniform.”