by Clayton Wood
“Not at all,” Kyle confirmed. Ariana touched her earlobe with one finger absently, then lowered her hand.
“I guess my hearing is better now.”
“What else did you hear?” Kyle pressed.
“There's more of those Void spheres,” she answered. “The prisoners let them loose in the city. They've evacuated the area, but the spheres are coming this way.”
“Now?” Kyle asked, suddenly nervous about going to sleep.
“Not for a while,” Ariana clarified. “Urson's scouts say they're moving slowly, draining the city of magic.”
“Great,” Kyle grumbled. “Anything else?”
“Councilman Goran came back,” Ariana replied. Kyle gave her a sour look; he hated the man, or at least the way he treated Kalibar. Ariana gave Kyle a sad smile. “It's okay,” she added. “He can't bother Kalibar anymore.”
“Why's that?”
“Kalibar claimed the Right of Dictatorship,” Ariana explained. Kyle's eyes widened; he'd heard of the old law that allowed Kalibar and Erasmus to take complete control of the military away from the Council, from Erasmus during one of his typical tirades against Goran. If Kalibar had claimed the Right of Dictatorship, there was no way the pesky Councilman could get in his way anymore.
“Finally!” Kyle exclaimed. But Ariana didn't look pleased.
“It's not a good thing,” she countered.
“Why?”
“It means they might execute him after his term,” she whispered. Kyle felt a chill run through him, and he stared at Ariana for a long moment, hoping she was joking. But it was clear that she was dead serious. He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, feeling despair come over him. They couldn't execute Kalibar! He was the best Grand Weaver they'd ever had, after all...and their greatest war hero. The people of the Empire would never let the Council do something like that to him...would they?
“We've got six years,” Ariana murmured. Kyle felt something cold grab his hand and squeeze it; he pulled away at first, then realized it was her hand.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn't realize...” But Ariana pulled her hand away. Kyle stretched his arm out, searching for her hand, and found her arm instead. He tried to pull it toward himself, but he might as well have been yanking on a statue. “Come on,” he urged, yanking anyway. She paused, then yielded. He slid his hand down her arm, finding her hand, and squeezed it.
“You don't have to pretend to want to,” she protested. But she didn't pull away. Kyle smiled, squeezing her hand again. She looked lovely in the darkness, and he was suddenly struck with an overwhelming affection for her.
“You're still beautiful,” he countered, then felt a bolt of terror run through him. He'd never said anything like that to a girl before – he'd never had the guts to. But Ariana smiled, turning on her side to get closer to him. She stared at him for a long moment with those hypnotic eyes, and Kyle had the sudden insane urge to kiss her.
“Really?” she asked. “You think I'm beautiful?” Kyle nodded, emboldened by her smile, and squeezed her hand again.
“Really.”
“Thanks,” Ariana whispered back. She slid forward then, letting go of his hand and wrapping her arms about him, hugging him...hard. Kyle gasped, his ribs threatening to crack under her vise-like grip. Ariana pulled back, putting a hand to her mouth.
“Sorry!”
“Try again,” he offered. She paused, then leaned in, hugging him gently. Her arms were cold, but he didn’t mind. He hugged her back, savoring the moment. Eventually she pulled away.
“Thanks,” she whispered. She stared at him for a moment – making him feel all sorts of strange and wonderful things – and then patted him on the shoulder. “You're tired,” she observed. “You should get some sleep.”
“Aren't you tired?” Kyle asked. Ariana shook her head.
“No,” she answered. “I'm not tired at all.” Then she looked worried. “I don't know if I need sleep anymore,” she added. The thought seemed to bother her greatly, and she turned onto her back, covering her mouth with one hand, staring up at the ceiling.
“It's okay,” Kyle said, giving her a wink. “I feel better with a brave Weaver watching over me.” That got a smile out of her.
“I won't let anyone hurt my poor little tinkerer,” she promised.
“Does that include you?” Kyle pressed, raising one eyebrow. Ariana smirked.
“No promises,” she replied. “Now get some sleep.”
Kyle complied, already feeling his eyelids getting heavy. He closed his eyes, visions of floating islands flashing in his mind's eye, of tiny fish blinking to and fro in a giant aquarium. It wasn't long before sleep claimed him, bringing a much-needed end to what had literally – and figuratively – been the longest day of his life.
Chapter 24
Dark clouds hover high above the ruins of Stridon, rain pouring down on the glowing embers of shattered buildings. The Behemoth towers over the wreckage, its diamond-shaped eye glowing a bright, sickly green in the darkness of the night. Its eye flashes, another beam of deadly light shooting outward toward a few untouched buildings nearby, burning through the stone with terrifying ease. The rain falls on the red-hot rubble, stream rising into the air around the Behemoth's massive legs.
Ampir stands on the slick roof of Stridon Penitentiary, watching the Behemoth as its beam fades, its domed head turning to find another target. The muscles in his broken shoulder spasm, and he grits his teeth, taking short, quick breaths.
Focus.
With a thought, he rises into the air above the roof, then accelerates forward. The city passes by underneath him, a seemingly endless landscape of destruction. Huge silver airships fly far above, just below the dark clouds. Smaller ships fly closer to the ground, pulses of green light firing from their turrets, destroying any buildings that still stand. Ampir spots a group of people running down the street away from one of the smaller ships. Survivors trying to flee the city.
They're hunting everyone down, he realizes. And destroying every building.
This isn't a war...it's an extermination.
Ampir veers off after the small airship hunting the fleeing civilians, picking up speed rapidly. He catches up with the ship easily, hanging back a hundred feet or so, then centering it within his visor's field of view. With a thought, he activates a few runes on the visor.
A large gravity shield appears directly below the airship, yanking it downward. It flies full-speed into the ground, shattering in a cloud of dust and debris, well clear of the fleeing citizens.
Ampir shoots past the wreckage, seeing more small airships flying over the city. He looks up, spotting dozens more of them coming out of one of the huge airships above, spilling out of docking bays on the huge airship's sides.
He ignores the smaller airships, activating another set of runes; he feels a vibration in his skull, the telltale sign of the invisibility field being activated around him. While useless against a Weaver, the field might fool the smaller airships; he flies upward toward the huge airship, accelerating quickly until he is only a few hundred feet below it. The smaller airships ignore him, diving toward the city, then leveling out a few dozen feet above the streets.
He faces the huge airship above, spotting the telltale blue gravity shield surrounding the ship's hull, covering it like a second skin. To anyone else, its shield would be nearly impenetrable.
Ampir flies up to the airship's right flank, stopping a foot away from its metallic hull. The runes on his right gauntlet glow bright blue; he punches his fist through the ship's gravity shield, his armor automatically nullifying its effects. He tears through the metallic hull, ripping a large hole in it with his good arm, then squeezes through to the ship's interior.
He finds himself standing in a long hallway.
The interior of the ship is bare-bones, with grated metal floors and ceilings, and walls made of thick white fabric pulled across thick metal beams...nothing at all like the sleek exterior. It was made quickl
y, and cheaply...evidence of the enemy's limited resources. Sabin had made the most of what little he'd had.
Ampir deactivates his invisibility field, then shoves his fist through the fabric wall in front of him, ripping a hole in it and stepping through. He finds himself in another long hallway. Two men are walking toward him, and freeze, their eyes widening as they spot him.
“Hi,” Ampir greets.
He raises his right hand, a beam of white light bursting from it. The beam takes the men's heads clean off, burning a hole in the wall beyond. Both men slump to the floor lifelessly, nothing left of their heads but the blackened stumps of their necks.
Ampir walks up to another wall on the opposite side of the hallway, ripping through it and stepping through. This time he finds himself in a massive chamber dropping several stories down. Row after row of small airships are docked here...the same kind as the ones he'd seen hunting the civilians below earlier. He scans them quickly; he can destroy them all one-by-one, or...
He spots a bright blue glow on the opposite side of the huge chamber, coming from behind another white fabric wall.
Magic!
He activates his armor, flying above the grated metal floor, passing between rows of small airships, making his way toward the opposite end of the chamber. He reaches the fabric wall on the other end, ripping through it and stepping into the room beyond.
The room is twenty feet squared, the floors and walls similar to the hallways he'd just passed through. In the center of the room, however, is a truly massive crystal. Over ten feet high and half as wide, the uncut, unpolished crystal stands on a metallic base. Countless wires connect to that base, extending in all directions across the floor, some of them climbing the metal beams on the walls. The crystal glows a bright blue, evidence of the enormous amount of magic stored within. This must be the main power source for the massive ship, he realizes.
“Hey!”
Two black-robed Weavers step out from behind the crystal, gravity shields appearing around them. One of them points a staff at Ampir, a bolt of electricity shooting out from it and slamming into him. His armor deflects the attack effortlessly, automatically generating a counterattack. The Weaver's shields vanish, two gravity fields appearing around him...one from the waist up, the other from the waist down. The gravity fields pull in opposite directions violently.
The Weaver splits in half at the waist, his intestines spilling out onto the floor.
The other Weaver stumbles backward, staring at his comrade in horror.
“No,” he begs, raising his arms up. “I...”
Ampir leaps toward the Weaver, slamming his gauntleted fist through the man's gravity shields and into his face. Bones crumple with the impact, the Weaver flying backward and slamming into one of the metallic support beams behind him. He falls to the floor, his limbs twitching once, then going still.
Ampir ignores the fallen Weavers, stepping over the wires on the floor and up to the massive crystal in the center of the room. He stares at its unpolished surface, realizing that it's a diamond. A single, massive diamond, larger than any he's ever seen. It could only have come from one of the legendary mines in the land far west of Stridon, across the ocean.
Orja.
He places a hand on the surface of the crystal, then leans in, pressing his forehead against the cool surface and pulling.
Sheer power gushes into his mind's eye, filling it instantly. He gasps, struggling to maintain his focus, redirecting the energy to his armor. Its systems come back online within seconds. Ventilation, gravity nullification, shielding, temperature controls, weapon systems, strength modulation...all awaken almost instantly in the wake of the ocean of magic coursing into him.
He stands there, his forehead slumped against the crystal's cool surface, draining its power until his armor and his mind are sated. Pushing himself away, he cocks his right fist back and slams it into the crystal. The giant diamond shatters in a burst of blue light, fragments of crystal scattering across the floor and falling between the holes in the metal grates. The lights in the room wink out almost instantly, plunging the ship into darkness.
A few seconds later, Ampir feels the floor start to tip to one side as the ship's gravity fields vanish, entering it into free-fall.
He flies upward into the air, ignoring the metal beams on the ceiling in his path. His fully-powered armor plows through the thick metal as if it were paper; he continues upward, bursting through one floor after another, until he suddenly he finds himself outside of it, seeing thick, angry clouds above. Looking down, he sees the massive airship rotating slowly as it plummets toward the earth.
A minute later, it slams into the ground at terminal velocity, obliterating an entire city block below.
Ampir stares at the wreckage, then gazes across the Great River, at the other half of the city. Far in the distance, the Behemoth's giant head turns to face the fallen airship. Then its head tilts upward, its glowing eye focusing on him.
That's right, he mutters silently. Come get me.
He descends toward the city far below, accelerating forward at the same time, aiming for the Behemoth. Ahead, the Great River flows into the ocean, its black waters filled with debris. Down he soars, leveling out a few dozen feet above the ruins of the once-great city. The shore of the Great River passes rapidly beneath him, water spraying upward behind him with the violence of his passage. Miles ahead, the Behemoth's eye continues to track him.
Then it flashes.
With a thought, Ampir triggers his armor, feeling the fabric of spacetime bend around him, teleporting him thirty feet to the right. The Behemoth's deadly green beam shoots outward, passing through where he'd been only seconds ago. He ignores the beam, accelerating forward, now over halfway across the river. Activating his visor, he magnifies the image of the Behemoth, studying it quickly. Its domed head is covered in black metallic plates, not a shred of blue light leaking from it. Only one material could insulate against magic so completely...the same material that coated Ampir's armor...and Torum's uniform. A perfect insulator for magic...perfect for hiding the Behemoth's runes. There is no way for Ampir to know its capabilities...not without fighting it.
Very clever Sabin, Ampir muses.
Ampir activates runes on his visor, the colors shifting as it goes through the electromagnetic spectrum. No electromagnetic signals are coming to or from the giant machine...and no magic signals either. Which means the Behemoth isn't being controlled remotely. And artificial intelligence is too sophisticated even for Sabin. It has to be controlled by someone inside of it.
The Behemoth reorients on Ampir, its eye flashing a second time. Ampir bursts upward, the beam shooting outward toward him, missing him by only a few feet. The air around him ripples, superheated by the deadly ray, but with his armor fully charged, Ampir feels nothing.
He reaches the opposite shore of the river, flying over more ruins, only a quarter-mile from the monstrous war machine now. Though he cannot know its capabilities, Ampir feels no fear. His armor, even with the runes on his left arm crushed, is far more advanced than any other modern runic technology. With the ability to see magic since birth, Ampir has advanced beyond any other Weaver or Runic. His armor's exterior runes are merely a facade, randomly activating dozens of weak patterns when triggered, patterns that serve to confuse nearby enemies. The interior runes are effectively invisible...and incredibly complicated.
He slows as he reaches the Behemoth, stopping to hover in mid-air less than a hundred feet from its enormous green eye. Though the runes on its head are shielded, those within its eye are not. He studies them quickly.
The eye flashes.
Ampir doesn't move this time; the Behemoth's deadly beam shoots outward, engulfing him instantly. He feels his armor react, complex gravity fields appearing around him. The beam reflects off of Ampir, slamming into the Behemoth's head just above its eye...and deflects harmlessly off of its own gravity shields...just as he predicted. Ampir smirks; he'd expected more from Sabin.
Again, as predicted.
At the same time, Ampir's armor senses the Behemoth's nearby gravity shields, nullifying them as well. The Behemoth's beam slams into its own head, the black metal glowing red-hot.
The ray of light stops abruptly, the eye going dark. The red-hot metal on its domed head fades to black, completely unharmed.
Ampir smirks, mildly impressed. Sabin had anticipated such a counterattack, and constructed his creation to be immune to its own weapon. Not that it matters; the exercise had simply been a test. If his armor alone can successfully overwhelm the Behemoth's defenses, then he has little to fear. All he has to do is strike; his armor will take care of the rest.
He circles around the Behemoth then, flying faster than its head can rotate. He moves in closer, facing the back of its head, seeing the blue gravity shield glowing around it...just like the airship earlier. He descends, his boots striking the metallic plate below, going right through the gravity shields. Bolts of electricity shoot outward from the plate, striking Ampir's shields. He ignores the assault, kneeling down. He raises his right fist into the air, then brings it down at the domed head.
The Behemoth's giant fingers come at Ampir from behind, closing around him and pulling him from its head before his fist can strike.
With a thought, Ampir bursts upward out of the Behemoth's grasp, flying clear of it. He looks down at the giant hand, spotting the huge white hemisphere embedded in its palm. Rays of brilliant blue light are flowing into it.