by Clayton Wood
“It's complicated,” Darius answered. “Come on,” he added, gesturing for Kyle to step closer. Kyle did so, and Darius wrapped a cold, metallic arm about his shoulders. “Don't move,” he ordered.
Suddenly there was a flash of brilliant blue light, followed by a vibration deep within Kyle's mind, building in intensity until it was so powerful that he felt his brain would explode. He cried out, clutching his head with his hands, trying to keep his skull from flying apart. He felt something squeeze his shoulders, and he opened his eyes, seeing Darius looking down at him, the runes on his armor glowing so brightly that Kyle's eyes ached. The bodyguard glanced upward, and Kyle followed his gaze, his eyes widening.
The sky above their heads rippled like waves from a rock thrown into a pond, then split open, an expanse of infinite black growing from the tear. The void grew ever larger, chewing through the bright blue sky and fluffy clouds. At the same time, tiny points of light flashed against the darkness, then streaked outward in all directions from the center of the void, until they expanded and coalesced into a single, blinding white light. Kyle shielded his eyes with one hand, squinting against the glare, then saw a bright gold disc appear in the center of it all. The disc grew downward and outward, forming a dome some twenty feet above their heads. Still it grew, blotting out the bright white light that had come before it, until it surrounded them on all sides. The open pit mine, the forest – they were gone, replaced by walls of gold.
Then Kyle felt a shift, and there was darkness.
* * *
The pain was sudden, and agonizing.
There was an unbelievable pressure in Kyle's chest, as if someone had stepped on it, pain lancing through his chest and back, then shooting up his neck. He tried to yell out, but no sound escaped his lips. He opened his eyes wide, but he could not see; the world was bathed in blackness. His hearing went next, followed by a loud, high-pitched ringing. He clutched his chest, feeling his legs threaten to give out on him.
And then it all stopped.
Kyle's senses returned, the pain in his chest vanishing instantly. He stumbled to one side, his legs still wobbly, but Darius caught him with one black-clad arm. Kyle righted himself, then looked around, his eyes widening.
They were standing in a circular room some twenty feet in diameter. Above their heads was a large dome made of hundreds of thick, golden metal bars arching upward toward a brightly glowing disk above, in the center of the dome. The bars were set back against equally glowing walls with countless runes etched into them, each rune glowing a soft blue. As Kyle watched, the runes began to fade, until their light went out altogether. The disc above continued to glow bright white, illuminating the room.
Looking down, Kyle saw another glowing disk at his feet, as large as the one above, surrounded by a jet-black metallic floor. The runes between the metal bars of the ceiling continued on the floor, forming hundreds of lines of runes radiating from the disc on the floor, like the rays of a dying blue sun.
“Whoa,” Kyle breathed, feeling goosebumps rise on his arms.
Darius said nothing, letting go of Kyle and stepping off of the glowing disc on the floor, toward the wall in the distance. Kyle hesitated, then hurried to catch up with the man.
“Where are we?” Kyle asked as he reached Darius's side.
“The Gateway,” he answered. “This room is a gateway to the outside world, the only way in – or out – of my home.”
Kyle glanced back at the glowing disk in the center of the floor, marveling at how futuristic the room looked. It was very unlike the architecture of the Tower, which was rather old-fashioned with its granite floors and ornate trappings. The Gateway, Kyle decided, looked more like something out of a science fiction movie.
“Did you build this?” Kyle asked. Darius nodded, walking up to the wall, which was simply a continuation of the ceiling, made of the same alternating golden bars and inset strips of carved runes. Darius's armor lit up suddenly, runes on his right forearm glowing bright blue for a moment before fading quickly. A curved section of the wall in front of them rippled, a hole appearing in the center. The hole widened quickly, revealing a long, curved corridor beyond. Darius stepped through the hole into the corridor, gesturing for Kyle to follow. Kyle hesitated, then stepped forward until he'd cleared the hole. There was a sudden rush of air at his back, and he turned about, seeing...a long hallway behind him.
“What the...” he blurted. “Where did the room go?”
Darius said nothing, putting a hand on Kyle's shoulder and pushing him forward. Kyle began walking down the long hallway, Darius at his side. The walls and floor were nearly identical to those of the Gateway, but instead of a glowing disk above their heads, a long glowing strip ran down the length of the ceiling. As they made their forward, Kyle realized that the floor angled upward slightly, curving gently to the right. There were a few large glass windows on either side, and Kyle stopped at one of the windows on his left, peering through the glass. He saw a large room beyond, with big, squat tables. The tables were littered with countless metallic contraptions, most of which were unrecognizable. A few, however, looked rather familiar.
“Are those guns?” Kyle asked, pointing at a few black, gun-shaped objects lying on one table. They looked vaguely like long, black rifles, only they were covered in glowing runes.
“Something like that,” Darius replied.
Kyle peered more closely at the room beyond, noting what appeared to be black suits of armor hanging on the walls. They looked suspiciously similar to Darius's – or rather, Ampir's – armor.
“Are those...?”
“Come on,” Darius grumbled, pulling Kyle away from the window and back down the hallway. Kyle frowned, but didn't resist, knowing that with Darius resistance was futile. They made their way ever upward and rightward, traveling in a loose spiral.
“Where are we going?” Kyle pressed. But Darius said nothing. Kyle sighed, following the taciturn warrior. They passed more windows, but with Darius's quick pace, Kyle only had a moment to glance through them. To the left, there were more rooms, also with tables strewn with strange contraptions. To the right, however, there was an expanse of pure yellow-green. Kyle slowed, peering out of the window, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at.
“Come on,” Darius prompted, pulling Kyle away from the window. Onward they went. Kyle pushed down a rising annoyance, unable to help feeling slighted by the man's silence. He rubbed his chest, remembering the pain and crushing pressure he'd felt when traveling from the pit mine to...wherever this was. Not to mention the blindness; the experience had been terrifying, even if brief.
“What was that feeling when we came to the Gateway?” Kyle asked. “It really hurt, and I couldn't see.”
“Traveling between times,” Darius answered. Kyle's eyebrows raised.
“Wait, we just did time travel?”
“No,” Darius replied. “Time travels faster here than it does in Doma.”
“Doma?”
“The planet we just came from,” Darius clarified.
“So it is another planet,” Kyle stated. “How far away from Earth is Doma?” Darius shrugged, which made Kyle's brown furrow. “Wait, how can't you know?” he asked. “You traveled there to get me, didn't you?”
“I just followed the signal from my ring,” Darius explained.
“Your ring?” Kyle asked. Then he remembered who he was talking to; he was so used to thinking of Darius as...well, Darius...that he'd forgotten he was also speaking to Ampir. And of course Kyle's ring was really Ampir's ring. Ampir had sent the ring with his only son to Earth over two thousand years ago...and it had somehow gotten into Kyle's father's possession.
“How did my dad get your ring?” Kyle pressed. That had confused him ever since he'd learned the ring had been Ampir's. It had been over two thousand years since Ampir's son had been sent to Earth, after all. A hundred generations had passed since then.
Darius continued to lead Kyle further up the curved hallway, no
t answering the question. Kyle sighed, trudging forward. To his dismay, it seemed that, other than his armor and his extraordinary power, Ampir was exactly like Darius...a jerk.
Another set of windows – one on the left, one on the right, appeared ahead. Kyle glanced out of the rightward window as he passed by, seeing another expanse of yellow-green. He heard Darius stop, but this time the man didn't tell Kyle to keep moving. Kyle stared into the endless greenness for a long moment, then turned to Darius.
“What's in there?” he asked.
“Milarite,” Darius answered. Kyle frowned.
“Milarite?” he pressed. “What's that?” But Darius didn't elaborate, turning away from Kyle and continuing forward down the seemingly endlessly curving hallway. Kyle sighed, giving one last glance out of the window, then joining Darius. Upward and onward they went, passing yet more windows on either side. The rightward ones always showed the same expanse of yellow-green, while the left held various rooms, among other things. One window appeared to be an aquarium, with tiny silver fish darting about randomly in the blue water. Kyle paused before the tank, staring at the fish; most were of the same type, with streamlined silver bodies, far smaller than a goldfish. Their bodies were so small that they were translucent, and they glowed the faintest blue at the edges. For the most part they just floated in the water motionlessly. But from time to time, one would dart through the water so quickly that if he blinked, he'd miss it.
Kyle sighed, thinking of his grandfather – on his mother's side, of course. He was an avid fisherman, having learned the trade in Vietnam before coming to the states to save his family from the Communists. Kyle suddenly wished his grandfather were here now, so that he could see this. Or at least that he had a camera to record his adventures. As it was, he had nothing to show for the last few weeks, no proof that anything he'd seen or experienced had been real. If he ever got home – to his real home, on Earth – no one would ever believe his wild stories.
“They're extinct on Doma,” Darius explained, nodding at the fish. “I preserve them.”
“Why?”
“I owe them.”
“Huh?” Kyle asked, perplexed. Darius stared at the fish tank for a moment, then turned back to Kyle.
“I learned more in a few weeks from those fish than others have learned in a lifetime.”
“From their magic patterns, right?” Kyle guessed. “That's what I was telling Master Banar,” Kyle added, recalling his idea for the sensory rune array. Then he sobered, remembering what had happened to the poor Runic. Darius must have noticed Kyle's somber expression, slipping a hand off of the window and placing it on Kyle's shoulder.
“By the time I'd found you, he was already dead,” he apologized. “Even I can't bring people back to life.”
Kyle nodded silently, feeling suddenly choked up. He closed his eyes for a moment, a vision of the Dead Man standing over Master Banar's corpse burned into his mind's eye. Then he opened his eyes, looking up at Darius questioningly.
“Why didn't you just kill the Dead Man right away?” he asked. “Why let him capture us like that? You're so powerful, you could have destroyed the Dead Man – or anyone else that threatened you – without even trying!” And it was true, Kyle knew. Even in Ancient times, Ampir had been formidably powerful, leaps and bounds above the skills of his peers. Weavers today were nowhere near as sophisticated or powerful as they were back then...and Ampir had had two thousand years to build his power. The man was a veritable ocean of magic, when he chose to reveal it.
“You tell me,” Darius replied.
“How would I know?” Kyle protested. Darius nodded.
“Right,” he agreed. “You're useless.”
Kyle blinked, then glared at the man.
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“What'd you do when Kalibar's carriage was attacked?” Darius asked.
Kyle frowned, recalling the harrowing attack. He'd nearly been killed...would have been killed if Darius hadn't saved him.
“Nothing,” he mumbled.
“What did you do when the Dead Man's soldiers attacked us?”
“Nothing.”
“When the Dire Lurker attacked?”
Kyle glared at Darius, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Fine, I get it.”
“When the Ulfar attacked you?” Darius pressed.
“I blinded Mr. Tenson,” Kyle countered rather indignantly. “And I grabbed Ariana before she fell from the Tower!”
“Yup,” Darius agreed. “And then you dropped her.”
“I used your damn amulet so you could stab Xanos, didn't I?”
“Took you long enough,” Darius shot back. Kyle just stared at the man, his face burning with anger and shame.
“Fine, I'm useless,” he spat. “Why even bother with me?” Darius smirked, putting a hand on Kyle's shoulder.
“You're getting better.”
“Gee, thanks,” Kyle mumbled. But Darius turned away from the window, walking down the hallway once again. Kyle stared at the man's retreating back. “You didn't even answer my original question!” he protested.
“Did too.”
“You didn't kill the Dead Man right away because I'm useless?” Kyle pressed. “How is that an answer?”
“Were useless.”
Kyle gave up, trudging after Darius dejectedly. When the man didn't want to answer a question, there was no forcing him. But the thought that Darius had let himself and Kyle be captured by the Dead Man, then faked his own death back at the Tower...and with the Behemoth...it just didn't make any sense. In fact, now that he thought about it, it seemed incredibly – and unnecessarily – cruel.
“I thought you'd died back there,” Kyle protested. “Why'd you scare me like that?”
“You don't truly appreciate what you have until you lose it.”
“So you wanted me to appreciate you?” Kyle asked, unable to help smiling at the thought of the dour bodyguard craving some attention.
“The people you love can be taken from you if you don't fight back,” Darius replied.
Kyle sighed, following behind Darius, staring at the man's armored back. The countless runes adorning the armor, pulsing a faint blue in constant, random patterns, reminded Kyle a bit of the Dead Man's eternally rippling cloak. Even in death, the Dead Man's image raised goosebumps on Kyle's skin. It was remarkable how a mere few days with the dark Weaver had made a more powerful impression on Kyle than any other bad experience he'd had in his life. Particularly considering that the Dead Man had never once physically harmed him. His Death Weavers had, though. Right before Kalibar had been brought in, and held down on that table.
Right before he'd had his eyes ripped out.
Kyle shuddered; most of the memories of his life were a little vague, but his memory of that day was crystal clear. All he had to do was close his eyes, and he could see the Dead Man's pale fingers digging into Kalibar's eye socket, hear the muffled popping sounds as the Dead Man twisted his wrist, snapping the muscles anchoring the eye in place. Could see the brilliant white of the freed orb glistening in the glow of the Timestone above.
Kalibar falling off of the table and onto the dirt below, clutching his bloodied face, rocking back and forth in agony.
And Darius, standing there in the middle of the Arena, watching it happen.
Kyle felt a chill run through him, and he opened his eyes, staring at Darius's back. He'd completely forgotten that the bodyguard had been there the entire time. At the time, Kyle had thought him helpless to intervene. But now...
He stopped walking, standing there in the middle of the hallway, watching as Darius continued onward for a moment, then stopped. Darius turned his head, glancing at Kyle.
“What?” he asked.
Kyle stared back at Darius, his eyes wide. Darius had been there all along, standing idly by as Kalibar got mutilated, even though he could have killed the Dead Man and every Death Weaver present with ease. And now Kalibar was blind – permanently handicappe
d – because of it.
“What?” Darius repeated, taking a step toward Kyle. Kyle backed up, shaking his head.
“You were there!” Kyle blurted out, taking another step back. “In the Arena,” he continued, pointing at Darius with one finger. “You were there when they took Kalibar's eyes!” Darius stood there, staring at Kyle with his intense blue eyes for a long moment. Then he nodded.
“I was.”
“You let it happen,” Kyle accused, his voice rising in anger. “You could have stopped it, but you let it happen!”
“I did.”
“How could you?” Kyle shouted, feeling tears spring unbidden to his eyes. “He was your friend!”
“I had my reasons,” Darius countered. His voice was gentle, but firm. If he had any remorse at all for what he'd done, however, he didn't show it.
“Like what?” Kyle retorted incredulously, raising his hands out to either side. “To find Xanos?” he added sarcastically.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“You'll know soon enough,” Darius promised. “Be patient.”
Kyle shook his head, turning away and wiping the moisture from his eyes. He suddenly wanted desperately to get out of this hallway, to get as far away from Darius as possible. He didn't even want to look at the man anymore.
“I want to go home,” he stated, his voice cold. He heard Darius's footsteps echo from behind, coming closer.
“You will,” came the reply.
“I want to go now,” Kyle insisted, not turning around. “To Earth,” he added firmly.
“We're not done here,” Darius countered. Kyle spun around, feeling a flash of anger course through him.
“I'm done here,” Kyle yelled, pointing at Darius again. “And I don't want anything to do with you!”
A sudden burst of blinding blue light surged outward from Darius, slamming into Kyle with such force that it nearly knocked him off his feet. Kyle reeled backward, feeling sheer power pulse through his skull, making it impossible to think – or feel – anything else. Then the feeling vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving Kyle feeling disoriented.