by Isaac Hooke
"It doesn't seem like these spears should be able to hold our weight," Ari said. "And yet, they do."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were specially designed by Six," Tanner told her. The corded muscles in his arms indicated he was also straining unsuccessfully against his binds. "Formed with unnatural hardness and durability."
"The physics-defying world of the Inside..." Ari muttered. She pulled harder at the cords that bound her hands but succeeded only in cutting deep gashes into her wrists.
The headhunters had heaped the chopped wood up to her knees by then.
"Tanner," she said. "Try to disbelieve reality."
"I already tried. Like the Dwarf said, the area seems shielded. I can't get out."
"Try again." Ari turned her attention to the Dwarf and raised her voice. "Six, listen to me. This is your last chance to help us. I promise we'll give you abilities that you never dreamed of. Maybe even your own city to do with as you please. But if you don't help us, you'll never get any of that. You'll be relegated to this backwater jungle for the rest of your days, knowing that you had the chance to become so much more but you turned it down."
Six laughed heartily from his throne and then addressed his warriors: "Apply the oil."
One of the headhunters emptied a bucket of black oil onto the wood around Ari. Another did the same for Tanner.
The Dwarf stood. "I will now pronounce sentence. For interfering with my daily life, and for threatening to confine my abilities to the limits of this jungle, I hereby sentence you to death by burning." He raised the fire sword. "Fitting, that you should die from flame sourced from your own blade."
He pointed the sword toward Ari. A stream of flame erupted from the tip, but his aim was off and he ended up igniting two of the headhunters who watched from the side. As the men ran away howling, Six sheepishly cleared his throat and tried again. That time the fire swept into the chopped wood beneath both stakes.
Flames instantly erupted around Ari.
"Tanner?" she said urgently.
"It's not working. I can't get out."
The flames licked at her legs. Inside her boots, she felt her feet roasting. The smell of burnt flesh—her own—reached her nostrils. She bit down her tongue at the pain. It was almost unbearable.
It's not real, she told herself. None of this is real.
And yet, while she could deny the pain all she wanted, the fact was, if she died there, burned to a crisp, she would never wake up in the real world again.
She couldn't do that to Tanner. Or Hoodwink.
She had already died once. She had no plans on dying again.
She put all of her effort into breaking the cord that secured her boots. It gave relatively easily—most of the material had burned away.
She pulled her hands hard toward the stake, braced herself, and then bent her knees, lifting her boots from the flames. She kept the tension on her wrists, knowing that if she released her hold at the wrong moment she would slide down into the flames. Her center of balance was far forward; she arched her back, resting one boot on the stake below her; when she found tenuous purchase, she shoved upward with that leg while relaxing some of the tension on her wrists at the same time.
She ascended an inch.
She reset her boot higher up the stake and repeated the process, alternately tightening and loosening the tension in her wrists, timed to correspond with the thrusting motion of her leg. In that way she slowly edged upward from the flames toward the top of the stake.
Tanner followed her lead beside her.
"Shoot them!" the Dwarf said, apparently realizing what they were doing only then, perhaps distracted by that hacking sub-process he was running.
But by that point it was too late. Ari thrust upward, and her wrists unexpectedly slid over the top of stake. She was free.
She plummeted straight down toward the burning inferno below. She extended her legs and landed on both feet, and then bounded over the terrible heat in one strength-enhanced leap.
She barreled into a stunned headhunter as the arrows came in. Her hands were still bound behind her back, so she forced the warrior aside with her shoulder and then ducked into one of the huts.
She took up a position just to the right of the entrance. Tanner joined her inside an instant later. Smoke rose from his smoldering lower body. He moved in behind her and, with his back to her, began working at the cord that secured her wrists. She reached past his hands and explored his own binds by touch.
"I can't seem to find—" she began.
A headhunter dashed inside, spear at the ready. Fortunately he was facing the wrong way.
From her position beside the entrance, Ari wrenched herself from Tanner and leaned sideways to give the warrior a good, one-legged kick. The headhunter crashed into the far wall.
"Hold still!" Tanner said.
"Sorry."
Ari put her hands back into Tanner's. In seconds he loosed her binds. Ari grabbed the spear from the fallen headhunter and used it to slice away Tanner's cord.
Another headhunter came crashing inside. Ari sliced the tip of the spear through his gut and wrenched it free in a gory mess. Tanner grabbed the warrior's weapon as he fell and finished the man off.
The hut began to feel hot. That's when Ari noticed the outside was on fire.
Ari gripped the spear tightly in hand and glanced at Tanner. "You ready?" she asked.
Tanner grinned cockily. "Always."
"Let's do this."
The pair burst outside, brandishing their spears.
Arrows came in.
Ari dodged behind a nearby headhunter, using him as a shield. His torso became littered with arrows.
She threw her spear, taking down an archer across from her. The warrior who served as her shield toppled, dropping his own weapon. Another headhunter ran at her. She dodged to the side, extended a foot and tripped him. She snatched the first warrior's dropped spear from the ground; hearing footsteps behind her, she spun around in time to deflect the spear of another warrior and then rammed her own weapon home.
She slid it free and scooped up the small bamboo buckler the man held, then raced toward the throne. She held the shield toward the archers and the incoming arrows struck it.
"Halt!" the Dwarf told her. He stood at the top of the throne, and both of his hands were extended. Tines of lightning erupted from his fingers.
Ari dodged to the side but some of the electrical energy struck her and she was sent reeling into a tree.
The wind was knocked out of her. She tried to stand. Too dizzy.
The Dwarf descended the steps, walking toward her imperiously. She crawled away with one arm. An arrow struck her leg. She raised her shield to defend against more arrows and threw the spear at Six, but he unleashed lightning again and the weapon exploded.
Six closed on her and raised his hands to deliver the killing blow.
Tanner appeared from behind the adjacent hut and clasped the bronze bitch around the Dwarf's throat. "Gotcha."
The Dwarf's face contorted in terror. "No!"
Arrows continued to come in.
Tanner swiveled the Dwarf toward the headhunters. "Tell them to stop!"
Like Ari, Tanner had procured a leather shield for himself, and it was porcupined with arrows.
"Stand down, stand down!" Six said.
The headhunters obeyed.
"All right," Tanner said, offering Ari a hand. "Let's get our prize out of this artificial jungle."
"I might need a few healing shards," Ari said, struggling to her feet.
"I'll get you everything you need," Tanner promised.
Ari limped toward the dais that held the throne. The headhunters parted before her. When she reached the steps, she leaned toward the throne and collected the two fire swords and lightning rings at its base, and then rejoined Tanner.
"Please let me go," Six begged. "Please let me go."
"You had your chance." Hanging onto the leash that dangled from the collar, Tanner sho
ved the Dwarf forward. "Now lead us out of here."
45
Ari and Tanner took the necessary portal hops back to Severest, and made their way to the Black Den. Tanner dragged Six along behind him the whole time by the leash. At first the Dwarf had begged every passer-by to set him free of his oppressors, but he soon learned that no one would dare cross Ari and Tanner to grant him quarter.
At the Den, the pikeman Barkley met them at the entrance and escorted them to the Warehouse, where Briar was waiting in the Control Room of the Inside.
"There you are," Briar said, moving away from the main display screens. He glanced at Six. "So this is the Dwarf I have heard all about."
Six looked up long enough to scowl at Briar.
"He doesn't like me, pity," Briar said. "I always wanted to count a dwarf among my friends. Anyway, I have some news regarding Amoch."
Ari raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"One of my embedded men tells me that uncollared members of Amoch's army have been transitioning through the portal hops of Greave City," Briar continued. "Hundreds of them. They wore fake bitches to avoid attention from the customs officials. They were headed through to the frontier city of Tamarra."
"I received a similar report from the transit center in Mern," one of the terminal operators added. "This time from an alert Keeper hidden among the customs officials."
"So that camp we found in Rhagnorak was only one of many," Ari said. "Amoch has hidden his army in cities throughout the world. And there they have lurked, waiting for his summons to attack. Which has finally come. Do we know if Tamarra is their final destination?"
"No," Briar said. "But it's doubtful. Tamarra is too small to be of much value. It's more of a resupply route for portal traders. The only other city connecting to it is Kismet."
"The hub of the east?"
"The very same," Briar said. "One of the biggest cities in the world, population-wise."
"Have the Children shut down all the portals to Kismet worldwide," Ari instructed the operator. "I only want the Keepers, and those they bring with them, allowed through."
"On it," the operator said.
"What do we do about all the lightning wielders who've arrived already?" Tanner said. "There could be hundreds of them, just waiting for the order to attack. Which will come soon now, when they realize the portals have been sealed."
"How many portal hops is Kismet from here?" Ari asked the nearest terminal operator.
"Three," the operator said.
"Gather up all the Keepers and Users we have," Ari told the operator. "Tell them to meet me in the safe house in Kismet." She glanced at Tanner. "When the attack begins, we'll be there to intervene."
Tanner shook his head. "What if Amoch himself is present? Or his wife Wraylor? We can't fight him on the Inside. He's too powerful. You'll be killed, Ari. Along with all the Users." He glanced at the Dwarf. "But I can stop him from the Outside."
"Let's plug the Dwarf in," Ari told him.
Tanner brought the Dwarf to the terminal specifically designed for gol interfacing. He forced the sub-AI's hand into a clamp. The palm interface activated.
"I'm getting a reading," the old man who was the terminal operator said.
The Dwarf's eyes rolled up into his head.
"Lock in," Tanner said.
"He's getting away," the old man said. He swiped his finger on the screen, and typed commands directly on the touchscreen.
"Don't let him slip from your grasp," Tanner told the operator.
Ari could tell that Tanner wanted to take over. But she knew the old man was the best operator for the job, as the user interface of the Control Room on the Inside was very different from the Outside. One couldn't simply tether to the terminals, or use aReals.
The Dwarf abruptly slumped.
"Got him," the old man said.
"All right." Tanner rubbed his hands. "I need the location of Kade Jones."
"Operator Kade is on deck four, in the vicinity of compartment 4-77-3-Q."
"So he's not on deck five after all," Ari mused.
"Resourceful bastard," Tanner commented. To the Dwarf: "You don't have an exact read on where he is? Other than the vicinity of that compartment?"
"Negative," Six said. "The terminals in that subsection all connect through a single optical cable that runs through 4-77-3-Q."
Tanner glanced at Ari. "All right, then. I'll take a team to deck four and capture him."
Ari nodded slowly, but then turned her attention to the Dwarf. "Six, see if you can pinpoint any of the changes Kade made to the codebase. Specifically, anything that would prevent a Keeper from returning to the real world."
"There isn't anything obvious," Six said. "I will dedicate fifty percent of my CPU allocation to continue the search in the background."
"Knock that up to eighty percent," Ari said. "Are there any other changes that stand out immediately?"
"No," the Dwarf said.
"All right," Ari said. "Tell me this. Is there a way we can disable the ability to freeze avatars system-wide?"
"There is," the Dwarf said. "I can comment out a single line of code."
"Do it."
The Dwarf was quiet a moment. "I've published the change and hot-reloaded the codebase."
Ari glanced at Tanner. "That evens the odds a little. If Amoch or Wraylor show up, they won't be able to freeze our entire army."
"Assuming he's using the same mechanism to freeze avatars," Tanner told her. "Even if it works, it's still too dangerous. You should just let me handle him from the Outside."
"And what if he sets his minions in motion before you reach him?" Ari asked him. "I can't allow Kismet to be burned to the ground. It's too important a city. And given that it's one of the most populous, too, you can understand why I'm reluctant to leave them to their fate." She turned toward the operator: "Keep working with the Dwarf. When the sub-AI pinpoints any changes Kade made to the codebase, transmit the relevant information to the Children for reversal."
"Will do," the operator said.
She turned to Tanner. "You handle Kade on the Outside. Meanwhile, I'll take care of Amoch on the Inside."
"All right," Tanner said. "Fine. I still don't like it."
"I'll have the support of all the Keepers and Users in the world. I'll be fine."
Tanner turned toward Briar. "You should really gather all the men you can from the Black Den and help your niece."
"Er, we're all collared, as per your rules," Briar stammered.
"Then uncollar them," Tanner said. "Or use the lightning rings. And fire swords. I'll instruct the Children to send them to you in profusion."
"But I'm a peaceful man at heart, as are the people of the Black Den. We are but poor thieves and—"
"Don't give me that peaceful man shtick," Tanner said. "Ari's going to need all the help she can get out there if I can't stop Kade in time."
"All right." Briar sighed. "All right. I'll see what I can do. But no promises." He turned to Ari. "Oh, before you go, I have some new toys you might be interested in."
Briar led Ari and Tanner across the room to a storage closet. He opened it, revealing an assortment of medieval-style shields and weapons.
"The Children injected these an hour before you arrived," Briar said. "I sent a courier out to inform you, but apparently you missed him somewhere along the line."
Ari scooped up one of the shields skeptically. Embossed into the front was an open palm deflecting a lightning bolt. "These ones aren't going to vanish after a few hours, are they?"
"The Children assure me they've fixed all the glitches. And they've even improved the things. You can actually throw the shield now and it will mow down anything in its path, shooting out forks of lightning from the sides. When it strikes its target, or reaches a maximum distance based on how hard you throw it, it will return to you. Try it."
Ari slid her arm through the buckles on the inside of the shield and gripped the inner handle. With it secure on her arm, she tested the
weight, making a few feints, and then marched to the hallway.
"Come inside for a second," she told the man on guard in the hall. "As you value your life."
The man complied.
"Wait, what—" Briar began.
She aimed down the hall and curled the elbow of her shield arm.
"Wait!" Briar said.
She flung out her arm, letting go of the handle. The shield flew away from her, moving at an incredible speed down the hall. It rotated as it traveled and forks of lightning blasted huge tears into the surrounding wooden wall panels. Some of the electricity struck near her and she was forced to duck inside the room.
She heard a clang, likely from the shield striking the far side of the hallway. She peered out once more: the object was indeed flying directly toward her.
She extended her arm, trusting, hoping, that the thing would safely reattach.
"Ari..." Tanner said.
The shield promptly slid over her arm, the buckles neatly enveloping her skin as it came to an abrupt stop. She wrapped her fingers around the inner handle, lowered the shield, and turned to Briar.
"Very nice," she said. When she saw the dumbfounded, slightly horrified way Briar was looking at her, she added: "You did say try it."
"I meant outside, on a rooftop or something." Briar shoved past her to observe the damage to his chewed-up hallway.
"I'm sure you'll be able to repair your Warehouse easily enough," Ari said. "With all the high-tech gear you have around here."
"You're never going to respect me, are you?" Briar said. "Despite all the things I've done for you."
"I do respect you," Ari said. "Though sometimes you irk me, which makes me do something like this."
"Just as you irk me!" he snapped.
Ari sensed something in the shield, then. "Is that vitra I'm feeling?"
"Yes yes." Briar stomped back inside the Control Room. "Apparently you can also summon fire from the shield, just as you can from the sword. But please don't try it now."
She glanced at Tanner. "Could be useful. Let's see what other treats the Children sent."
Ari and Tanner made their way back to the closet.