by Clayton Wood
No!
The bright light faded, and Kyle blinked the spots from his vision, his eyes darting frantically around the chamber. Then he saw a dark, limp shape cartwheeling through the air ten feet below him, floating away slowly toward the crystal-lined floor far below. He tried to move, then realized he'd been pushed back into the spaces between the Void crystals, wedged between them. He gripped the crystals on either side of him with his gauntleted hands, straining to pull himself forward. He didn't budge; his shoulders were wedged tight.
Kyle lowered his arms, exhaling as much as he could, then sucked his shoulders forward and inward. Then he twisted his torso, pushing back with his legs, his feet braced on the sides of the Void crystals. He felt himself lurch forward, and he grabbed the tapered ends of the crystals on either side of him, seeing them flash blue, then bright white again, strobing through the two colors in rapid-fire succession. He looked downward again, spotting Ariana some thirty feet away now, cartwheeling slowly through the air.
He took a deep breath in, then pulled his legs up behind him, aligning himself with her position. He shoved with his legs, propelling himself toward her. His aim was perfect; he dove down toward her, and stretched his arms out to grab her. There was another flash of light, following by the crackling sound of thunder from above, and a blast of air struck Kyle, shoving him backward right before he reached her. He spun out of control, and thrust his arms out at the last minute, feeling his right hand strike something. He grabbed on to it, discovering to his relief that it was Ariana's wrist. He pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her back, and clung to her as hard as he could.
There was another flash of light from above, followed by an ear-splitting boom, another shockwave blasting into Kyle. He lurched downward, spinning faster now, the chamber a rotating blur around him. He grit his teeth against a wave of nausea, locking his hands together behind Ariana's back, then felt his own back slam into something...hard. Pain lanced across his spine, and he grunted, feeling an enormous pressure on his shoulders. He realized they'd stopping falling, and that he'd been wedged – again – between the Void crystals on the floor of the chamber.
He tried to move, but he couldn't.
He stared upward then, seeing Ampir far above, facing Sabin's avatar. The huge crystal cylinder in the center of the chamber flashed, a monstrous bolt of white-hot energy shooting outward from it, right at Ampir's chest. It struck with terrible force, sending Ampir careening backward into the wall of Void crystals behind him. The crystals shattered as he slammed into them, translucent shards exploding outward from the impact, then falling toward Kyle and Ariana in a glittering shower. Kyle shut his eyes, turning his head to his side. He heard pieces of crystal clang off of Ariana's armor, then clatter between the Void crystals he was wedged between. After a few moments, the deluge stopped.
Kyle opened his eyes.
He saw Ampir there, his black armor standing out sharply against the wall of Void crystals he was embedded in.
Why isn't he doing anything?
Ampir grunted, trying to pull himself free of the crumpled crystalline wall, but with no success. Sabin's avatar watched idly as Ampir struggled.
“At long last,” Sabin declared, raising one crooked finger and pointing directly at Ampir's chest. “The great Ampir has finally been cracked.” Kyle followed Sabin's finger to Ampir's chest, and saw a large rent in the surface of the metallic armor, blue light pouring from the misshapen hole in the center of Ampir's chestplate.
Kyle's blood went cold.
“Goodbye, Ampir,” Sabin murmured.
The massive cylindrical crystal in the chamber flashed bright white.
Thick cords of blue light burst outward from the hole in Ampir's chestplate, fanning outward to the countless Void crystals lining the chamber. The light brightened, growing more and more intense, until it was almost painful to look at. The Void crystals glowed with an intense white light, voraciously consuming the enormous magical power. Kyle saw Ampir's features contort into a grimace, his hands clenching into tight fists. Small, tight clusters of blue light burst from his forehead, unraveling rapidly and speeding toward the Void crystals around him.
“Don't bother,” Sabin stated, his voice almost pitying. “You can't weave here, Ampir.” He smiled sadly. “I warned you.”
The blue light continued to flow from Ampir to the surrounding Void crystals, a torrential outpouring of unthinkable amounts of power. Ampir struggled to yank his arms free from the crystalline wall they were embedded in again, with no success. Sabin watched Ampir for a moment, then flew through the chamber toward him, until he was only a few feet away. He reached into his tattered shirt, retrieving a long, tapered green crystal. Its facets glittered in the light from the Void crystals.
“It's only a matter of time now,” Sabin murmured, staring at the green crystal as he twirled it between his fingers. He looked past the shard, at Ampir. “Soon you will be utterly drained, helpless to resist me.” He smiled then, his breath hissing through the rotted stumps of his teeth. He brought the tapered end of the green crystal forward, pressing it against Ampir's forehead. “And then you...and your memories...will be mine.”
Kyle felt his blood turn cold.
Ampir shrank back, pulling away from the deadly tip of the shard, but Sabin moved forward, pressing it against his forehead again. Magic continued to course from Ampir's shattered chestplate, shooting outward in all directions like a brilliant blue corona.
Sabin's smile broadened.
“You will be,” he murmured, “...my greatest Chosen.”
* * *
Marcus sat on his favorite chair at the far end of his small lawn behind his house, only a few feet from the edge of Anatara. He gazed down at the open book in his hands, reading the small, perfect print there. It was slow going, as it was written in English, a language he'd only starting learning five months ago. But he found it utterly fascinating. Written by a philosopher like himself, a man long dead who'd lived in a world on the other end of the universe. Yet despite this vast distance in space and time, the author's wondrous prose and gentle wisdom had managed to touch Marcus's spirit. Each word so clearly proved the universality of human nature, the unique greatness of the human spirit.
Marcus turned the book over, glancing at its cover. “Assays,” it read. He was so thankful to Ampir for having given it to him. A gift so precisely fitting for Marcus's temperament and interests, it was yet another example of the legendary Battle-Runic's careful, measured thoughtfulness.
He felt a vibration in his temples then.
Marcus frowned, glancing up from his book. He gazed out across the perfect blue sky above, and the mist-shrouded forests of Doma far below.
The sky rippled.
Marcus felt his heart skip a beat, and he opened his book, marking his page with a fallen leaf. Then he closed the book, bending over to set it down on the ground beside his chair. He gripped the handrails on either side of him tightly, and leaned back, closing his eyes.
It was time.
He felt another vibration in his temples, and gripped the handrails even tighter, taking a deep breath in, then letting it out.
Agony tore through his chest, ripping to his back.
He cried out, lurching forward, and felt something slam into his chest, pressing down with such incredible force that it blasted the air from his lungs. Pain radiated to his left shoulder, shooting down his arm. His hands started to tingle, then went numb. He could no longer feel the handrails he was gripping, could no longer hear, no longer see. Blackness and nothingness surrounded him. The only thing left was the pain.
And then, as quickly as it had come, it stopped.
Marcus sat there, feeling his palms slick with sweat, his breath coming in short, panting gasps. His heart hammered in his chest, and he forced himself to slow his breathing, to calm himself.
Breathe, he told himself. In and out.
He waited until his heart began to slow, then opened his eyes, seeing the sa
me blue sky as before. He grunted, then pushed himself up from his chair, rising shakily to his feet. He stepped forward then, toward the end of his lawn, at the very edge of Antara. Looking down, he saw the treetops of the huge forest far below, thick white mist obscuring what lay beyond. He looked straight down, at where the churning gray clouds of the alien atmosphere that Antara hovered over were supposed to be...and saw that they were gone. In their place were a few mountains that stood clustered miles below.
Marcus stepped back from the edge, then returned to his chair, sitting down on it. He leaned over to pick up his book, and opened it to the page he'd marked, tossing the leaf he'd used as a bookmark aside. He found the paragraph he'd stopped at, and continued reading.
* * *
Kalibar stood there, staring down at the two Chosen lying motionless on the forest floor, blackened holes in their skulls where their green shards had been moments before. Then he turned back to Petra, who was still lying on the ground, staring up at him.
“Kalibar, what happened?” she asked. He looked at the Chosen for a moment longer, then turned to her, realizing she couldn't see them from her vantage point. He shook his head.
“They're dead,” he answered.
“What?”
“Dead,” he repeated. He stepped to the side, allowing her an unfettered view. “Look.” Petra did so, her eyes widening.
“How?”
“I don't know,” Kalibar replied. Petra shifted her weight, and immediately cried out, freezing in place. Kalibar looked at her deformed ankle, and rushed to her side, kneeling before her.
“Don't touch it!” Petra yelled out. Kalibar studied the wound, then reached out with his fingers to the top of her foot. “Don't!” Petra repeated, taking a sharp breath in.
“I need to see if blood is flowing to it,” Kalibar replied. “I'll be gentle,” he insisted. Petra said nothing, but she nodded. Kalibar leaned forward, pressing two of his fingers on the top of her foot, trying to feel the pulsing of her lifeblood flowing through the vessel there. It was difficult through the tough fabric of her Reaper suit, but he felt the faintest pulsation there. Then he got up, scanning the ground for some sticks. He found a long, relatively straight one, and picked it up, snapping it in half over his knee. Then he turned to one of the fallen Chosen, staring at its black cloak. He grabbed a corner of it, and wove magic to create a tear in it, throwing the pattern outward. The faint blue light of his magic struck the cloth...and stopped.
He frowned.
Kalibar turned back to Petra, staring at her black Reaper suit, then turned back to the Chosen's cloak. They were absolutely identical in shade.
“Kalibar?” he heard Petra ask.
Kalibar rolled the Chosen over, pulling off its cloak, then removing his own brown cloak, donning the black cloak instead. Then he grabbed the end of his brown cloak, weaving another pattern to make a cut in the thick fabric. This time it worked, and he tore a few long strips of the cloth free, walking back to Petra and kneeling before her ankle.
“Wait, what are you doing?” she asked, stiffening again.
“I need to splint your ankle,” Kalibar explained. “It's going to hurt.”
“No!” Petra protested. She took a deep breath in, then let it out. “Please don't touch it.”
“I have to,” Kalibar warned. “I can't move you without stabilizing it.”
“I'll stay here then,” Petra decided. Kalibar sighed.
“Petra...”
“I know, I know,” Petra muttered. She grimaced. “Just give me a second.” Kalibar nodded, laying the sticks on either side of Petra's ankle. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths in and out. After nearly a minute, she opened her eyes, and nodded at him.
“Okay,” she stated. “Do it.”
Kalibar grabbed her big toe, pulling up on it to raise her foot off of the ground, hearing a clunk as her ankle went back in place. She screamed, and he moved quickly, wrapping the fabric around her leg with the two sticks flanking it. He set her leg down gently, then tied off the strip of fabric. When he looked up at her, he found that she was sweating profusely. And even with her dark skin, she looked pale.
“Sorry,” he offered.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“Come on,” he said, putting a hand under her knees, and one behind her back, then lifting her up from the ground. She bit off another scream with the movement. “Let's get you out of here.”
“But Ariana,” she began.
“I need to make sure you're safe first,” Kalibar countered. “Then I'll look for her.”
Petra nodded, then rested her head against his shoulder, putting a hand on his chest. She gazed up at him silently. Looking down at those eyes – and feeling her closeness – made his heart beat faster. She smiled.
“One of these days,” she stated, “...I'm going to save you.” Kalibar smiled back.
“I think,” he replied, “...you already have.”
He wove magic then, and felt himself floating upward into the air, his black cloak rippling in the wind. Higher they rose, until they cleared the treetops above, the magnificent sky opening up all around them. Kalibar turned to face the Spine of Grimore, staring at the spot where Kyle had been only a short while ago, and felt a surge of grief come over him.
Then something above caught his eye.
He turned his gaze upward, far above the Spine, and stared at the blue sky there. He could've sworn that he'd seen something there. Something moving.
The sky rippled.
Petra lifted her head off of his shoulder, staring up at him, then following his gaze. The sky rippled again, then it pinched inward for a split second.
And then it exploded.
Gray mist shot outward in all directions from the once clear sky, high above Mount Grimore's peak. Above the mist, Kalibar saw a massive, hulking shape appear. A sound as loud as a dozen thunderclaps rolled through the air, followed by a blast of wind so powerful that it knocked Kalibar back through the air, making the trees below bow outward violently, the white mist around them blown away instantly. The wind faded as quickly as it had come, and Kalibar recovered, staring up at the monstrosity in the sky once more. His eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat.
It was a massive island, so large that it rivaled the mountain below it, floating miles above Mount Grimore's peak. Its underside was enormous, like a mountain of rock turned upside-down. Halfway down this, the rock gave way to an incredible tapering mass of gunmetal gray, almost as if the rock had been dipped in molten steel. The shadow of the island cast all of Mount Grimore in relative darkness, extending even to Kalibar himself.
He heard Petra gasp, felt her hands grip the front of his cloak.
There was a flash of brilliant blue light at the seam between the rock and the metal portions of the island's underbelly, and suddenly the enormous metallic end broke off.
Kalibar swore, then spun around, weaving magic in his mind's eye. He burst away, accelerating toward Mount Kress in the distance. He glanced over his shoulder.
The metallic base of the island fell slowly through the air, descending toward Mount Grimore miles below, picking up speed as it went.
Kalibar pushed more and more magic into his stream, shoving as much power as he could into it. He felt his blood drain from his head with the enormous G-forces of his acceleration, felt his vision starting to blacken. Still he pressed on, the edge of the island's shadow now only a short distance away. He crossed over it, then glanced backward.
The base of the island fell straight toward one side of Mount Grimore's peak, the tapered metallic monstrosity slamming into the mountainside. Stone and dust burst outward from the incredible force of its impact, shooting outward and upward in an enormous explosion. The shockwave blasted across the landscape, ripping the surrounding trees out of the ground and tossing them into the air.
Kalibar pushed even more magic into his stream, pushing himself beyond his limits, his vision blackening completely. The shockwave rippled ac
ross the forest after them with terrifying speed, even as he felt his consciousness starting to slip away. His concentration wavered, his magic stream threatening to collapse on itself. He felt himself slowing down, his vision clearing as he did so, and saw Mount Kress looming a quarter mile away, the steeply-sloped mountainside to his left. He grit his teeth, angling leftward.
If I can just get behind the mountain...
He focused, pushing himself to go faster again, balancing himself on the razor's edge of his consciousness, arcing around the mountainside. He felt a blast of wind strike him from behind, hurtling him forward and blackening the air around him with thick, choking dust. He wove magic deftly, trying to stabilize himself in mid-air, and turned left hard, descending toward the rear of the mountain. He aimed between the treetops on the mountainside below, weaving magic rapidly, feeling the blood rush into his head with the violence of his deceleration.
The rocky face of the mountain rushed up to meet him, right as a wall of flying trees and boulders slammed into the other side of Mount Kress, destroying everything in its path.
* * *
Kyle clung to Ariana's unconscious body, wedged between the Void crystals at the bottom of Sabin’s massive lair. He stared in horror at Sabin's ancient avatar, at the shimmering facets of the green shard Sabin held against Ampir's bare forehead. The tip pressed into Ampir's flesh, denting his skin. Ampir grimaced, jerking his head to the side suddenly, the shard's vicious point sliding off of his forehead.
“It's pointless to resist,” Sabin stated, grabbing Ampir's chin with one hand and forcing his head to face forward once again. He pressed the shard against Ampir's forehead. “You're mine now.”
Ampir struggled mightily, his hands curled into fists, and jerked at his arms, still embedded in the crystalline wall. But they didn't budge.
“Go to hell,” Ampir growled.
“I've been there,” Sabin replied. He pressed the shard against Ampir's forehead, pressed hard. But the green crystal's tip did not pierce Ampir's flesh. Ampir's visor flashed, and it vanished suddenly, revealing his blue eyes. They stared right into Sabin's, even as Ampir's lips curled into a smirk.