by Clayton Wood
“It wasn't always,” Ampir stated. Sabin's eyebrows knit together.
“Yes, now that I think of it,” he murmured. “Your original armor was gold.” He gave a twisted smile. “That's why they called you the 'golden warrior' of the Empire.” He chuckled then. “You do have a sense of irony, don't you? Disguising yourself as yourself.” The smile faded. “Why did you change your armor?”
“I fought against Verhan during their 'liberation,' remember?” Ampir answered. Sabin nodded.
“I do,” he agreed. “I always wondered why the Empire couldn't defeat the Barren tribes when they had you on their side.”
“They didn't,” Ampir countered. “I refused to fight the tribes.”
“But you discovered the Reaper bark,” Sabin deduced. “And applied it to your armor.” He nodded. “Very clever.”
“It's over, Sabin,” Ampir stated. He gestured at the Void crystals all around them. “Free these people. Let them rest. Humanity doesn't need to be controlled. Help them find their own way.”
“I tried that once,” Sabin retorted. “It failed.”
“Let them fail,” Ampir shot back. “It's the only way they'll grow.”
“No,” Sabin stated, his tone sharp. “Not the only way. I've guided humanity to heights of civilization they haven't even imagined since the fall of the Empire. I've created civilizations across the globe, on every continent.”
“They would have done it themselves.”
“Not like this,” Sabin retorted. “The world has been at peace for over two hundred years,” he added. “No major nations have gone to war with each other. There is no slavery. There are no despots, no demagogues.” He shook his head. “All this would be impossible if humanity were allowed to govern themselves. Men with power gain more at the expense of the powerless, taking advantage of the ignorance and rage of the very people they abuse, redirecting it for their benefit. It’s in their nature.”
Ampir put a hand on Kyle's shoulder.
“I've seen what humanity can accomplish without you. Without me,” he argued.
“So have I,” Sabin countered. “And without me, they would resume the cycle of corruption and violence. I am the only one who can bring order and justice to this world...true justice.”
“It's over,” Ampir stated. “If you don't end this, I will.”
Sabin stared at Ampir, then started to laugh. Great, rasping bellows echoed throughout the massive chamber, his thin lips stretched wide over his rotted teeth and gums. He ended with a wheezing chuckle, shaking his head.
“You can't,” he proclaimed. “And even if you could, you won't.”
“Try me,” Ampir growled.
“You won't,” Sabin repeated, “...because if you do, everything you've fought for will be lost.” He smiled. “You can't, because only I can weave magic. You can't attack me here.”
“I won't need to.”
“It's pointless to argue,” Sabin stated. “If you kill me, my Chosen – millions of them – will rise at once, and they have orders to destroy every city of every country in the world. Thousands of Behemoths will descend from the skies, and they will erase Man from the face of the planet.”
“You really do care about them,” Ampir grumbled. Sabin shrugged.
“I do,” he replied. “Think of it as an...insurance policy. Ensuring my safety is the best way to protect them.”
“By threatening to destroy them.”
“It will never come to that, will it, Ampir?” Sabin mused. “I'll tell you what; I'm willing to let you have your Empire, if you want it. I'll withdraw my Chosen from it, and they will not attack again.”
“You're right,” Ampir agreed. “They won't.” He reached into the recesses of his armor then, and pulled out a familiar black cylinder. It was the bomb Kyle had carried all the way from the Empire.
“What is that?” Sabin asked.
“The most powerful weapon of all,” Ampir replied. He touched one end of the cylinder, and it flashed red, extending outward to reveal silver metal beneath. Then he tapped the other end, and it too flashed red, extending outward. He tossed it up into the air, and it hovered there for a moment. Then the cylinder split in half, each end shooting in the opposite direction, connected by a brilliant line of red light. The entire thing began to spin, forming a red circle in front of Sabin, spinning faster and faster, until it was a blur.
“Am I supposed to be afraid?” Sabin asked wryly. “What kind of weapon is this?” Ampir smirked.
“Information.”
The red circle began to rotate on its vertical axis, picking up speed until it formed a perfect red sphere before them, over twenty feet in diameter. Bright red dots appeared on the surface of the sphere, followed by thin red lines. They were, Kyle realized, the outlines of Doma's continents. And the tiny red dots were speckled across all of them. Millions of red dots.
“What is this?” Sabin demanded, staring at the globe. The hologram gave the illusion of slowly rotating, like a planet in space.
“The location of every Chosen outside of this cave complex,” Ampir replied. “Or, more precisely, their shards.”
Sabin stared at the globe, his eyes widening.
“How did you get this?”
“You just gave it to me,” Ampir answered. He draped an arm over Ariana's shoulder then. “Through her.”
“What?”
“I made some modifications to the Dead Man's shard after I killed him,” Ampir explained. “It listens in to your network, but only from a short distance.” He stared up at the spinning globe, the red lights reflecting off of his visor. “When she was close to your Chosen, she could hear your commands to them. Now that she's close to you, I have access to your entire network through her.” He gave Sabin a tight smile. “Thanks for inviting her in, by the way.”
“Clever,” Sabin conceded. “But useless. I've just changed the way I communicate with my Chosen.” He smiled. “My mind can think a thousand thoughts at once,” he added. “You don't stand a chance against me.”
“Too late,” Ampir retorted.
“Too late for what?”
“I'm revoking your insurance policy.”
And then, almost as one, the red dots on the globe vanished.
Chapter 35
Kalibar heard someone moaning.
He ignored the sound, far too tired to pay it much mind. He was sleepy, so sleepy. It was a blissful feeling, really. It reminded him of when he'd been a boy. Of snuggling into his warm, comfortable bed after a day filled with adventure, of spending time with his father on the lake. So tired that he felt like sinking into his pillow, drunk with the ecstasy of falling into his dreams.
It was heaven, this feeling.
He heard the moan come again, and felt mildly irritated by it. He was, after all, trying to sleep. He wished it would just go away, but he was too tired to make the supreme effort of asking. He sighed inwardly, feeling as if he were floating on a cloud. His arms and legs felt heavy to the point of being immovable. Not that it mattered...he had no desire to move them.
Again, the moaning.
He felt his irritation return, stronger this time. It cut through him, jarring him from that profound sense of peace, and he had the sudden urge to lash out at whoever was disturbing him. He felt a sharp pain in his neck, followed by shooting pains in his arms and legs, and he heard the moaning come again.
It was only then that he realized that the person who was moaning was him.
He opened his eyes.
Piercing blue light seared his retinas, and he groaned, squeezing his eyelids shut. He paused, then opened them again, seeing a dark shape appear above him. His eyes focused, and he realized he was staring at a person's face. A woman, with skin so dark it was almost black. Her eyes were wide, her lips moving. A halo of faint blue light surrounded her head.
I can't understand you, he thought.
He felt hands grip his temples, then fall away. Then he felt a sharp stinging sensation on his left cheek, his hea
d jerking to the right. He gasped.
“...coming!” he heard a woman's voice shout in his ear. He turned his head forward.
“What?” he croaked. He stared at the woman above him, realizing that he was lying on the ground, and that she was laying on her belly beside him, propping herself on her elbows.
Petra!
“Get up!” she yelled. “They're coming!” She raised her hand to slap him again.
“I'm up, I'm up,” he blurted out, grunting, then pushing himself up into a sitting position. He rose shakily to his feet, then extended one hand. “Come on,” he urged. Petra shook her head.
“I can't,” she replied. “My leg,” she added with a grimace. Kalibar looked down, spotting her left ankle. It was deformed, rotated at a grotesque angle. Her uniform had torn behind her shattered ankle, the rip extending all the way up to her mid-calf. The skin below had torn as well, yellow fat exposed under the gaping wound. Blue light leaked from the flesh there. Kalibar put a hand to his mouth, then dropped down to his knees before her.
“Petra...” he began, then his voice caught in his throat.
“I filled you with magic,” she said between clenched teeth. She took a deep, hissing breath in, then grabbed his hand with her own. “Go,” she ordered. “Leave me!”
“I can't...”
“Go!” she shouted, letting go of his hand. “It's my turn to save you.”
He heard a thump behind him, followed by another.
Kalibar turned around slowly, knowing exactly what he would see. There, standing before them, were two tall men in black, rippling cloaks, their faces shrouded in the shadows cast by their loose hoods.
“Run, damn it!” Petra shouted. But it was too late. He felt a vibration in his skull, then felt a terrible force shoving him downward. He fell to his knees, then onto his back, feeling his head strike the ground.
One of the Chosen stepped forward, staring down at him. Sunlight caught the green, diamond-shaped crystal in its forehead, making it glimmer as the Chosen knelt down before him. Kalibar tried to move, but his limbs were bolted to the ground, locked there by an invisible force. The Chosen stared at him, its eyes barely visible in the shadows of its hood. It reached a hand into its cloak, then pulled it out.
A long, tapered green crystal glittered against the dark skin of its hand.
“No,” Kalibar blurted out. The Chosen leaned forward over him, rotating the crystal so its cruel point hovered over the center of his forehead. “No!”
“Kalibar,” he heard Petra whimper from behind him. “I'm sorry.”
Kalibar saw the tip of the green crystal descend, felt its cool sharpness press against his forehead. He grit his teeth, trying to lift his arms in vain.
“Kill me,” he spat, glaring at the Chosen. “I'd rather be dead than be your slave!”
The Chosen's lips curled up into a smirk.
“You'll be both,” it murmured.
There was a hissing sound, and all of a sudden the Chosen's head jerked backward, and it tumbled to the ground.
Kalibar stared up at where the Chosen had been, seeing only tree branches waving against a blue sky. He flexed his hands, feeling them move easily, and grunted, rising up into a sitting position. He saw the unmoving form of the Chosen before him, sprawled in a heap on the ground, its face covered by its black hood. A few feet away, the other Chosen was also lying on the ground, also unmoving.
Slowly, Kalibar got to his feet.
“Kalibar?” he heard Petra call out from behind him. He turned to her, saying nothing, then turned back to the nearest fallen Chosen. It still hadn't moved. He walked up to its head, kneeling down before it, and put a hand on its black hood, curling his fingers around the thick edge of it.
He peeled it back from the Chosen's face...and his breath caught in his throat.
“Kalibar, what happened?” Petra asked. He barely heard her, his eyes on the Chosen before him. The thing's eyes were open, staring right through Kalibar, its mouth agape.
And there, in the center of its forehead, where the green, shimmering facets of its shard had been, was an empty, blackened hole.
* * *
Kyle stared at the red, spinning globe created by Ampir's cylindrical device, watching as the countless tiny red dots on its surface winked out. He saw Sabin’s avatar blink, saw his mouth fall open, his eyes unfocusing. His ancient face went blank for a long moment, and then suddenly re-animated, his eyes focusing on Ampir's mirrored visor.
“What did you do?” Sabin demanded, his gnarled fingers clenching into fists at his side. “What did you do!”
Ampir said nothing, raising his hand up toward the globe before him. The black and silver ends of the spinning globe retracted suddenly, re-forming the black cylinder in the center. It spun madly for a moment, then slowed, coming to a stop above Ampir. It lowered itself slowly into his hand, and he placed it back into the recesses of his armor.
“What did you do with my Chosen?” Sabin shouted. Ampir smirked.
“I introduced them to the latest version of my spacetime bridge cannon,” he replied. Sabin stared at him uncomprehendingly, but Kyle's eyes widened; he pictured the rifle Ampir showed him on Antara, the one that had locked on to his beating heart.
“Where are they?” Sabin demanded. “Why can't I see them?”
“They've lost their minds,” Ampir replied.
Sabin stared at Ampir mutely, his jaw working silently. Then his expression went flat.
“You killed them,” he stated, his voice perfectly calm.
“Yep.”
“Why?” Sabin asked.
“I don't know,” Ampir replied. “Something about 'erasing Man from the face of the planet.'” Sabin's eyes narrowed.
“You know I would never have done that!” he exclaimed angrily. “You threatened me!” Ampir shook his head.
“I don't trust you anymore, Sabin,” he retorted. He raised his visor to Sabin's true body, trapped in its crystalline tomb. “You're not the man you used to be.”
“Neither are you,” Sabin countered acidly. “The Ampir I knew would never have betrayed me.” He gripped his cane with both hands, his jawline rippling. “I invited you here in peace!”
“You'll have peace,” Ampir replied, “...when you're dead.”
Sabin stared silently at Ampir, his cataract-glazed eyes unblinking, his mouth slightly open. Then he lowered his gaze, bowing his head. When he raised it again, his expression was serene. Almost sad.
“Then you leave me no choice.”
The Void crystals in the massive chamber – every single one of them – flashed bright white.
Blue light burst from Kyle's head, and he cried out, feeling the magic in his mind's eye being torn from him. He felt Ariana's hand grip his like a vise, then go slack. He turned to her, seeing cords of blue light shooting out of her forehead in all directions, sucking into the Void crystals beyond. Her eyes widened, her mouth gaping open...and then she slumped over, her body lifeless.
“Ariana!” Kyle cried. He pulled on her arm, drawing her in close, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He turned to Ampir, seeing the man floating there in front of Sabin, his arms at his sides.
“Goodbye, Ampir,” Sabin muttered.
The massive cylindrical crystal Sabin's body was suspended in flashed blue.
Kyle felt an intense vibration in his skull, and then an incredible force slammed into him, shoving him backward through the air. He felt Ariana slipping from his grasp, and clung to her desperately. An incredible barrage of flashing lights exploded around Ampir, the air crackling with energy. Kyle flew backward, Ariana in his arms, the wall of razor-sharp Void crystals behind them zooming toward them.
“Ampir!” he cried.
Still backward he flew, the wall speeding ever closer, until he could see the blank stares of the Chosen trapped behind the glittering spikes. He cried out again, thrusting one arm in front of his face and closing his eyes. He felt a horrible, piercing pain in his lower back.
/> And then it faded.
His eyes snapped open, and he turned, feeling the point of a Void crystal jab into his cheek. He jerked away, then reached down to his lower back with one hand, feeling a narrow spike pressing against his armor there. He almost laughed out loud with relief, until he turned forward again.
There, in the center of the chamber, floating in front of Sabin's encapsulated body, was Ampir. Surrounded in flames and flashing lights, the crackling boom-boom-boom of explosion after explosion slamming into his body.
“Ampir!” Kyle shouted. The Void crystals throughout the cavern shifted colors, turning bright white again. The barrage stopped instantly, ending in a brilliant corona of blue light that streaked back to the Void crystals lining the chamber.
Ampir stood there, levitating before Sabin and his ancient avatar, his hands at his sides.
“Pretty colors,” the Battle-Runic murmured.
Sabin's avatar smirked, the spotted flesh of his cheek forming deep wrinkles with the movement. He gave Ampir a slight nod.
“Your armor is more sophisticated than I thought,” he conceded. “Impressive, to counter that many attacks so quickly.”
“If you can weave,” Ampir replied, “...it can weave.”
“Yes,” Sabin agreed. “And with my Void crystals active, draining magic, neither of us can weave.”
“A standoff then,” Ampir declared. Sabin snorted.
“Hardly,” he countered. “I can attack, but if you do, I'll simply pull your patterns out of the air into my Void crystals. And with every attack, I'll be one step closer to completely mapping your armor's defenses.” He flashed a grotesque smile. “It's only a matter of time now.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Ampir replied coolly. Sabin's eyebrows rose.
“Very well.”
The Void chamber's walls turned a dull white, and Sabin's cylindrical tomb flashed blue again. Kyle felt the air around him crackle, and then an explosion of pure white light seared his eyes, pain lancing through his head. There was an ear-shattering boom, and then he felt himself lurch backward against the Void crystals behind him. He felt his grasp on Ariana slip, felt her tear away from him.