by Clayton Wood
“Take off your clothes,” she ordered, her voice muffled by the door. “Put on the ones I put on the bed.” Kyle glanced at the bed, seeing a neatly folded pile of clothes there. He took off his shirt, glancing at his right arm as he did so. It was terribly bruised around his bicep, and it still ached slightly.
Kyle sighed, slipping on the shirt Ariana had given him. The material was rough, with muted gray and beige colors. It had numerous pockets sewn into it. He changed into the new pair of pants, then sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Ariana to finish.
Minutes passed.
Kyle fidgeted, wondering what was taking her so long. He hesitated, then slipped down from the bed, walking over to the bathroom door.
“Ariana?” he called out. “You okay?” But there was no answer. He paused, then leaned against the door, putting his ear against it. He heard a soft clicking sound beyond, and then the sound of water running for a moment. Then he heard nothing at all.
Suddenly the door opened, and Kyle took a step back, his eyes widening. Ariana had changed into gray and beige shirt and pants, very similar to his, with brown leather boots. But her hair was gone – most of it, that was. Once long enough to reach her waist, all that was left was a short pixie cut.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Kyle stammered. Her eyes narrowed, and he put up his hands defensively. “It's just...I have to get used to it, that's all.” He smiled at her. “I do like it,” he insisted.
“Thanks,” she replied. “It's part of the disguise. Now we have to dye it.”
“Wait, why do we need a disguise?” Kyle pressed. “We're going to be invisible.”
“That might not work forever,” she countered. “We can't afford to be recognized by anyone on the ship.” She grabbed his hand then, pulling him toward the bathroom. “Come on,” she urged. “We'll do yours first.”
“My what?” he asked.
“Your hair, silly.”
* * *
Kyle stared at the bathroom mirror in despair, running a hand through his hair. He hardly recognized himself after Ariana had finished with him. She'd cut his hair first – far too short, and hardly with the skill he'd become accustomed to at the hair salons back on Earth. Then she'd dyed it nearly blonde.
He looked, he thought in dismay, ridiculous.
“Can I use the mirror?” Ariana asked, gently pushing him to the side. Kyle nodded, stepping back and watching as Ariana wet her hair, then applied more dye to it. She'd chosen black dye, and it wasn't long before she'd finished. She rinsed off her hair, then dried it, being careful not to leave any dye on the towel. She combed her hair quickly, then turned to face Kyle.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“Wow.”
With her short black hair and pale white skin, her big brown eyes were almost hypnotically beautiful, like pools of color against a stark snowy field. He found himself staring at her.
“You like it?”
“Uh,” Kyle stammered. Ariana smiled widely, running a hand through her hair.
“You do like it,” she observed. “You're blushing.”
“Let's go,” he mumbled, gesturing to the two backpacks on the bed. Ariana grabbed the backpacks and slung them over her shoulders with distressing ease. Kyle walked toward the bedroom door, but Ariana stopped him.
“Not that way,” she stated. “We might be seen.” Kyle turned to her with a frown.
“This is the only way,” he protested. Ariana shook her head, leading him over to the large window beside his bed.
“We can get out this way,” she countered. Kyle stared at the window, then shook his head.
“Not anymore,” he reminded her. “Erasmus warded the windows so no assassins could get in.”
“I know,” Ariana replied. “I'll take care of it.”
“How?” Kyle asked. “It'll set off an alarm if you try to break it.”
“Step back,” she requested, “...you make too much magic.” Kyle complied, backing up until he was all the way on the other side of the bedroom, near the door. Ariana turned to the window, closing her eyes. A watermelon-sized gravity shield appeared to her left. At first it was only a faint blue, but the light quickly intensified as Ariana put more magic into the sphere. An impressive amount of magic; Kyle had never seen her create such a powerful sphere.
“What are you doing?” Kyle asked.
“Using up my magic.”
The sphere continued to brighten, the blue hue of magic now visible on Ariana's forehead as well. In fact, Kyle realized that rays of blue light were coming from the walls, the floor, and the window, and were converging at her forehead.
“My shard has a Void crystal in it,” Ariana reminded him. “When I get low on magic, it sucks magic in from around me.”
“Right,” Kyle murmured. That it was; it was sucking magic in rapidly enough to allow her to continue generating the powerful gravity sphere. He looked down, noticing that bright rays of light were coming from him. But while the rays coming from him stayed bright, those coming from everything else around Ariana began to dim as they were slowly drained of their power. It wasn't long before the lights winked out altogether.
“They're drained,” Kyle declared. Ariana frowned, her gravity shield vanished abruptly.
“I can usually tell they're drained when I can't weave anymore,” Ariana explained. “But you make so much magic that I couldn't tell.”
“They're drained,” Kyle repeated. “I can tell.”
“Okay,” Ariana replied, clearly unconvinced. But she walked up to the window, grabbing it and pulling it open. To Kyle's relief, no alarm sounded, and no bolt of lightning flew down from the heavens to annihilate her.
“Wow,” Kyle breathed. “Good idea.” Ariana smiled.
“Thanks,” she replied. “Let's go.”
“Wait,” Kyle blurted out. He ran to his nightstand, opening one of the drawers there, revealing a few dozen small crystal cubes Lee had given him to practice with. He grabbed them all, stuffing them into his pockets. Then he walked back up to the window, gazing outward. The ground was over eight hundred feet below. A week ago, he would have been too terrified to consider climbing up onto the window ledge. In fact, a few weeks ago he'd nearly plummeted to his death from the Tower. But now he had his gravity boots. He activated them, levitating upward and out of the window, then turning around to extend a hand to Ariana.
“Grab my hand,” he stated. She did so, and he pulled her in close. Once she was inside the stabilizing gravity fields that his boots generated, he barely needed to hold her up; she climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.”
Kyle streamed magic to his boots, flying away from the window, and wove the invisibility pattern just as he'd practiced it, seeing a faint blue haze surround him. It was doubtful that anyone would think to look up, and even less likely that anyone would see them in the darkness, but he wasn't about to take any chances. He felt Ariana tap him on the shoulder.
“The docks are that way,” she stated, pointing to Kyle's right. He angled rightward, the huge expanse of the Secula Magna's campus stretching out underneath them. From way up here, the trees looked miniatures, and he could see the white roofs of the dormitories scattered across the campus. He accelerated, hearing the shriek of the cool night air blowing past them as they sped up. It wasn't long before he saw the tall black fence surrounding the campus, with the shimmering blue dome of the Gate shield before it. He brought them into a slow descent, aiming for a patch of grass a dozen feet in front of the shield, stopping a foot from the ground. He cut the magic stream to his boots, feeling himself lowering gently to the grass. Ariana let go of him, dropping to the ground.
“We've got to get you through the shield,” Ariana stated.
“How do you do it?” Kyle asked. Ariana shrugged.
“I just walk through,” she answered. “My shard does the rest.” Then she hesitated. “I don't
know if it'll protect you from the shield though.” Kyle frowned, considering their options.
“Why don't you just suck the magic out of it?” he reasoned. “Like you did with the window?”
“It won't work,” she replied. “The shield is powered by the city's underground magic storage crystals,” she reminded. Kyle nodded; Erasmus had mentioned that during the Council meeting yesterday. The storage crystals were massive; it might take weeks or months to drain them.
“I’ll wear the Aegis,” he decided. “It should protect me if something goes wrong.”
“Maybe,” Ariana conceded. She took off the bigger backpack, rummaging through it until she found the Aegis. She handed it to him, and he put it on quickly. Despite its sturdy construction, it weighed almost nothing, and within seconds of putting it on, it shrank to accommodate his slender figure. Ariana stared at him, looking suddenly worried. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“It's the only way,” Kyle replied. But Ariana didn’t seem convinced.
“Maybe this is a bad idea,” she stated, glancing back toward the Tower far in the distance. “What if you get hurt?”
“I'll be fine,” he insisted. He tried his best not to think of what would happen if he was wrong. “We have to clear the fence,” he stated, pointing to the three-story tall fence that generated the Gate shield. “I can fly over it,” he reasoned. “If you hold onto me, maybe your shard will protect me.”
“Maybe,” Ariana replied, clearly unconvinced.
“Come on,” Kyle urged, presenting his back to her. She hesitated, then climbed up on him, and he activated his gravity boots. They floated gently upward, until they were a few feet above the fence, some forty feet above the ground. The faint blue outline of the Gate shield shimmered before him, and he took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. He closed his eyes; images of himself being blown to bits came unbidden to his mind's eye, and he hesitated, fear gripping his innards.
Then he thought of the Void Behemoth descending through the heavens, the white-hot beam from its lone eye melting the entire city, of Kalibar and Erasmus bursting into flames as they tried in vain to escape. He remembered how Kalibar had given his eyes so that Kyle might live, a debt that Kyle had no way to repay.
Until now.
“Kyle?” he heard Ariana say.
Kyle opened his eyes, squeezing his hands into tight fists and glaring at the shimmering blue wall before him. He knew that if he didn't do this, if he didn't act now, he would never forgive himself.
No regrets.
He took a deep breath in, then gathered magic in his mind’s eye, thrusting it at his boots.
* * *
Kyle's head exploded in a burst of light and ear-shredding sound, and suddenly he felt something strike him hard in the back. The world tilted crazily, the heavens and earth spinning madly around him. Then he felt something slam into the side of his head with terrible force, and his vision went black for a split second. He groaned, a white blur appearing above him. The blur came into focus, and he found that he was staring at Ariana's pale face, her eyes wide with fear. Her lips were moving, and he realized she was talking to him.
“Kyle!” she called out, lifting his head up...off of the ground, he realized. He was lying on the cool pavement of the road just outside of the Gate shield. “Kyle, are you okay?”
“I'm...” he began, then cleared his throat noisily. “I'm okay.” Ariana broke out into a relieved smile.
“Oh thank god,” she replied. She helped him get up into a sitting position, then lifted herself to her feet, pulling him up with her.
“What happened?” he asked, lifting his arm and rubbing the back of his head.
“There was an explosion when you went through the shield,” she answered. “You flew through the air, then hit your head really hard on the road,” she added. “Are you sure you're okay?”
“I'm wearing the Aegis, remember?” Kyle replied. “I'm fine.” And he was, surprisingly enough. The Ancient armor had protected him. He glanced back at the three-story tall fence behind them. They were standing on a cement path that encircled the fence, some forty feet from the shimmering Gate shield. “Come on,” Kyle urged, presenting his back to her again. She climbed on his back, and he wove magic, creating an invisibility sphere around them. Then he activated his boots, accelerating forward and upward into the night sky. A thousand stars twinkled at them from the infinite blackness of the heavens, the air cold and crisp. Ariana pointed to Kyle's right.
“The docks are a few miles that way.”
Kyle nodded, and arced rightward, continuing to ascend. He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing the Tower standing miles away, the glittering crystalline pyramid at its peak shining like a diamond against the velvety blackness of the night.
“We're really doing this,” Ariana murmured in his ear. Kyle said nothing, pushing even more magic at his boots, feeling them respond instantly. They were higher than the tallest buildings now, higher than Great Tower itself. He gazed at the maze-like city streets below, lit with a soft white glow by thousands of magic streetlamps. He'd never been this far up before; it was surreal, and a little daunting. At the same time, he felt a marvelous sense of freedom. He took them higher; beyond the vast stretch of buildings, he spotted the dark, glittering surface of the ocean, its churning waves sparkling dimly in the starlight.
As the city passed below them, the ocean grew bigger, until he couldn't tell where the ocean ended and the sky began. Kyle stared at that void, wondering what awaited them beyond that vast unknown. The infinite possibilities of his future stared back at him, terrifying and wondrous at the same time. For the first time in his life, he was choosing his path. For better or for worse.
He grabbed Ariana's hand with his own, aiming for that blackness where the ocean met the sky. Wherever it took them, and whatever his fate, he had Ariana with him. And no matter what happened, they would meet their fates together.
Chapter 12
Sabin pulled away from the memory he'd stored within his Chosen, returning that portion of his mind to his own brain. The eternal, bitter cold of the translucent crystal that surrounded his withered body was barely noticeable against the constant waves of fiery pain that rippled across his flesh. It was a reminder, that pain, of the tremendous sacrifice he'd made so that he would endure. The agony reminded him of the day he had been encased in this eternal prison, when his deteriorating body had failed him at last. When he'd finally succumbed to the pain, and wished only for death.
No more regrets.
That, he mused bitterly, had been a noble goal, one his younger self had striven to achieve after losing Vera. Such a noble sentiment, and one he'd utterly failed at. Only the dead were free from regrets.
He paused, then reached out for the Chosen that had watched as Ampir had spoken with Kyle on the lawn of the Secula Magna, seeing through the Chosen’s eyes. Kyle was returning to the Tower after speaking with Ampir. Seconds had passed since Ampir had vanished...and it would likely be a long time still before Ampir arrived to meet him.
Sabin sighed inwardly, searching for another memory. Within seconds, he found the memory he was looking for, throwing a small portion of his consciousness into it, even as the rest of his enormous will prepared for Ampir's arrival.
* * *
The Council Chamber is filled with the hushed murmurs of the twelve Councilman seated around the massive, circular table, the sweet aroma of burning candles in the air. Sabin yawns, clasping his hands in front of him on the warm surface of the table, his crisp white robes contrasting starkly with the dark red wood.
He glances up at the men around him, all of them his age or older. The very eldest, the Elder Runic Samel, a man who had served on the Council for longer than Sabin had been alive, had decided to retire. Sabin leans back in his chair, rubbing his eyes tiredly and trying not to yawn again. The Council had called a late-night meeting to discuss Samel's retirement...and to vote for his replacement.
One of the Coun
cilmen raises his hand, indicating that he has decided his vote. He pushes a folded piece of paper at the Councilman to his left, and the paper is passed along to the Elder Runic, who reads it silently, then folds it again and puts it down.
Sabin smiles, thinking of how far he's come in the last five years. Since he'd met Vera and Ampir in that park on Renval's floating island in the sky. From that day onward, he'd worked furiously, forging his future with a singularity of purpose that had surprised even him. He'd used his reputation to campaign successfully for mayor of Stridon, using his considerable resources and connections – and his willingness to devote the entirety of his being to his job – to usher in a golden era for the city. He'd become enormously popular, which had clinched him a nomination for a coveted spot on the Council.
And to his surprise, he'd won.
Sabin watches as the next Councilman raises his hand, folding his piece of paper and passing it along as before. Being the most junior of Councilmen, Sabin knows he will be the last to vote. He glances down at the blank sheet of paper before him, considering his options. He needs to write two names down, one for who will replace Samel as the Elder Councilman, and another for who will be chosen as the next Runic to be voted into the Council. For the first, Sabin knows he cannot put his own name; though it is his goal – his dream – to become Elder Runic, he has little chance to win the position now. He is the most junior member of the Council, regardless of his reputation. To write his own name down would be considered the ultimate in conceit.
He pauses, then scrawls down a name on the paper, folding the top of the sheet over it to hide it.
He sighs, stifling another yawn and leaning back in his chair. He has one more name to write, and in theory what he writes will be known only to the Elder Runic. But he has been in politics long enough to know that confidentiality is a lie, that men can never truly be entrusted with a secret. He must assume that everyone on the Council will discover his choice for the next Runic. The name he writes will have serious repercussions for the future.