by Ramy Vance
Jim pinged Alex and she hit her comm. “Hey, you know that energy scan you did a while ago? I just did another one, and I’m starting to pick up some energy discharges. You should run another one and let me know what you get.”
“Gotcha.”
Alex swiped up her visor and ran the scan again. Jim was right. There was an energy discharge coming from somewhere in the tunnel. She locked onto it and said, “All right, now we have something to work with.”
The two of them sped toward the signature. It wasn’t easy since the tunnels they were in didn’t always lead in the right direction. There was a lot of backtracking and doubt, but Alex knew they were getting closer because her head was hurting more. Whatever had caused her headaches before was in here.
Chine squeezed through a new tunnel, wiggling to make it larger for himself. I don’t have a good feeling about this
Alex directed her thoughts to the dragon. What do you mean? We’re on a suicide mission. What would you feel good about?
The energy we are moving toward is powerful. More powerful than I thought. Much more.
So what? Doesn’t mean it won’t blow up. We’ll be cool, Chine. And by cool, I mean we’re going to blow this thing sky-high. Trust me.
I do trust you, Dustling. You have great courage.
Alex realized she hadn’t talked to the dragon about what she had decided to do. When the meteor blew, it wasn’t just going to take Jim and Alex. He was going to be caught in the blast as well. Oh, my God, Chine, I didn’t even ask you about all this. I am so sorry.
There is nothing to apologize for, Dustling. Where you go, I go. We are bound to each other. Our lives will always be intertwined.
I still don’t understand the whole binding thing. Have you got a minute to explain it to me?
It is a binding of fates. Mortals don’t understand life outside of themselves, even the long-lived ones such as dragons and elves. There is always fate. It is unseen and unheard, but it can be touched. In our case, our fates have been bound together until our death.
Alex laughed as Chine took a hard left. You know, that’s almost romantic
Chine did not laugh. No, it is not. You do not want to know the extent of bonding that dragons find romantic.
Maybe I don’t. Let’s just leave it at that.
They flew in silence for some time before Alex spoke again. Are you cool with this? I mean, you’re not an old dragon.
And you are not an old human. To answer your question, yes. Yes, I am okay with this. The Dark One’s forces must be stopped. I am happy to help in any way I can. There is purpose in that. Solace, even.
Alex checked her visor for the power signature. They were very close. “Hey, Jim, I think the power source is coming up in a little bit,” she called. “Maybe to the left this time…I hope.”
Jim answered, “I’m glad you are taking care of directions. I have absolutely no idea where we are, but left it is.”
Alex and Jim turned left and exited the tunnel into an open space much like the room full of eggs they had seen when they entered the meteor. “Ugh, I hope this isn’t another gross room,” Alex groaned. “I’d like to die without being covered in goop.”
Jim’s mech pointed at the ceiling. “Alex, look!”
Alex followed Jim’s finger and looked up.
The ceiling was covered in what could only be called veins. They were massive things, as big around as a bus, pumping and quivering. They were crisscrossed like a spider’s web, hanging from the rock of the meteor.
In the middle of the ceiling was a thing like an eye but not made of flesh. It hung from a bundle of veins like a piece of rotting fruit. The energy was coming from that.
Alex and Jim landed at the bottom of the room. Thankfully, there were no eggs. “What the hell is that?” Alex asked as she stared at the ceiling.
Jim exited his mech, staring up at the red mucus-covered eye hanging over them. “I have no idea, but that’s the energy source. Whatever it is, it’s in control of this whole place.”
“You see those things all over the ceiling? They look like feelers or tendrils. Or like earthworms.”
“I don’t care what they look like. I just want to know if this is the place we’re supposed to be blowing up.”
Alex jumped off of Chine and paced around. “You know, maybe this whole ‘sacrificing ourselves for the good of existence’ thing doesn’t have to happen,” she said, thinking aloud.
Jim asked, “Are you seriously thinking about backing out now?”
“Hardly. I’m just thinking, we didn’t know there was this much energy coming off that thing when we got here. Maybe we can just pull the plug on it. And if we can’t do that, we could set off your mech. Start a chain reaction and get out of here before it blows.”
Jim thought about the plan Alex had just proposed. “You know, that’s not a bad idea,” he finally assented. “And I’m pretty stoked about the part where we don’t die.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of my favorite part of the whole thing, too,” Alex agreed. “If we make it out alive, I’m gonna want more than a peck from you. Full-on Twilight, all right?”
Jim blushed brightly but didn’t turn away. “I can definitely promise you some Twilight-level sparks,” he boasted.
“Great. Let’s do this.”
Alex climbed atop Chine and anchored herself. Let’s go, buddy.
Chine didn’t move. The dragon stayed rooted to where he was, staring at the eye above them. I can’t. I can’t move.
What do you mean, you can’t move?
The eye or whatever it is is keeping me from moving. The headaches we’ve been having, the psychic projection outside the meteor—it’s all telepathy, coming from above.
Alex couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Are you telling me that thing is alive?
It is alive and aware of me. I do not think it has recognized you or Jim yet.
Alex wracked her brain, trying to figure out what options she had. If Chine couldn’t move, she couldn’t get close enough to the eye to do any damage. Then a gamble popped into Alex’s head. Hey, Chine, did you mean what you said about me becoming a strong psychic?
Chine groaned as he tried to move. I do not see why that is important at the moment, but yes. You have a tremendous amount of raw talent.
How about we find out right now? Can you boost my whatever the hell it is strong enough that I can connect with that thing? Maybe I can force it to release you, or at least take a look at what we all look like from up there.
Alex, I think that is a very bad—
We don’t have a whole lot of options right now. Can you help me or not?
Chine was quiet for a moment. Finally, he said, Yes. I can. But I will not be able to help you past that.
Great. That was just icing on the cake. Wouldn’t have it any other way, my dude. Patch me in.
Chapter Eight
Alex did not close or open her eyes. She did not know when the change came, but it had been sudden, and she was no longer in the same place in time. Wherever she was now was a place outside of all that. She was aware of very little. Her body? Her mind? Perhaps they were here. She did not know.
All around, nothing but darkness beyond anything Alex had ever experienced. Darker than blindness, darker than the years spent alone, fumbling through books with her fingers. Darker than the quiet dreams that brought her screaming into the waking world.
Alex tried to feel around, tried to grasp where she was, tried to make sense of what she was experiencing. It did not last long. Each moment she spent trying to understand what she was experiencing made it more difficult to grasp.
In the darkness, there was a light. It was not bright, nor was it dark, yet it was all-consuming. Alex saw it, and she did not see it. In any other situation, the paradox would have driven her wild. Now, it was merely the current state of affairs.
Alex had heard many times in life that you were never supposed to go toward the light. Obviously, she would. Curiosity never fade
d. In or out of her body, Alex needed to know.
The light was humming. It was the hum of something lifeless, of machines working without any knowledge, of a bug zapper waiting for its next kill.
Alex went to the light. She could not tell if she was running, but she was moving as fast as she could. It wouldn’t be long now.
Blinding—that was the only word Alex could think of, and she understood the irony. She stood before the light, watching it, waiting to see what was going to happen.
Somewhere out in the dark, someone was speaking. Alex couldn’t hear what they were saying, nor did she care. It was just noise. The light was interesting. There was something special about the light. That was why Alex was here, fighting her way through the darkness. It had something to do with the light.
Then it was gone. There had been no warning. The light simply disappeared. Then the darkness disappeared as well.
A young boy stood before Alex. The child only came up to Alex’s waist. She had no idea how old the child was because there was a mask over his face. The mask was made of wood—a deer with swooping horns, the face painted with white chalk.
The boy’s black eyes peered from behind the mask. “What are you doing here?”
Alex felt like she should kneel to be on the same level as the child, but she remembered what Brath had told her about insulting gnomes. “I’m not sure,” Alex admitted. “What are you doing here?”
The masked boy pointed into the darkness. “I’m traveling,” he said. “There’s a place I’m going. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone. What’s your name?”
“Alex. Alex Bound. What about you?”
If the boy heard her question, he gave no sign of it.
Seeing he wouldn’t answer her question, at least not now, she asked, “What are you waiting for?”
“I’ll remember when I see it.”
The darkness grew bright with runes, shining as if they were stars—the same rune, over and over as far as the darkness extended. Alex wished she knew what the rune stood for. Its repetition brought no insight into its meaning.
The masked boy started to walk. It did not seem as if he thought he would be followed, but Alex walked after the boy. “Is there anyone else here?” Alex asked.
The boy stopped. It was not as if he stopped walking, but rather that his body no longer had any weight. It was as if he shimmered in and out of existence, waiting to be called back, yet unwilling to wait for the calling. “Yes, there’s someone else,” the boy answered.
“Can you take me to him?” Alex asked.
“Sure. He’s cruel, though. I’m not sure you would like him.”
The two walked through the darkness, the light flickering around them like the darkness was filled with thousands of pixies. “Do you like him?” Alex asked. “Do you want to hang out with him?”
The boy stopped walking, looking around as if there were answers to be divined in the darkness, in this place where there was nothing but everything at once. “No, I don’t,” the boy said. “I don’t like him at all. But I’m stuck with him. Bound to him.”
Alex thought of Chine and their intertwined destinies before answering, “Yeah, I know what you mean. At least, I think I do.”
The two continued walking, pilgrims of the night, unaware of that which they strode toward, yet heading toward it nonetheless.
Alex could not tell when her legs started to hurt, nor when she realized she had legs. Slowly, memories came flooding back to her. None of this was real. This was a psychic projection—Chine had told her that—but she wasn’t outside anymore, so It couldn’t be a projection. She was inside something.
The masked boy stopped walking and pointed to the light. “Go in there,” the boy said. “That’s where he is. The one you want to talk to.”
Alex, against her better judgment, knelt and looked the boy in the eye. She reached out and touched his mask. The boy didn’t protest. Alex pulled the mask off.
The unmasked child did not have black eyes. One was the brightest, clearest blue Alex had ever seen. The other was a black hole as dark as death. The boy’s face was covered in soft freckles, and his hair was sandy blonde. Even though he couldn’t have been any older than ten, his eyes held the age of the ancients. “What’s your name?” Alex asked.
The boy was silent, his lip quivering as if he were uncertain of being able to speak such a profane thing. “Forni,” the boy finally said. “That is what everyone calls me.”
“It was nice to meet you, Forni.”
“You too.”
With that, the boy was gone. Alex stood alone before the light. Her heart was racing. With Forni gone, Alex remembered why she was in the darkness and what she was doing. She was looking for a way to save Middang3ard, and that way seemed to be in the light.
Alex took a deep breath and stepped inside.
A shriek tore through Alex’s head, heard and unheard. She thought it had just been in her head until she opened her eyes. Then she saw the truth.
The light was emanating from a black hole, a large tear in reality. Planets, stars, and time were swirling around it. Alex felt drawn to the black hole, but she refused to move.
That was when the eye focused on Alex. It came from the black hole, but she did not know how. She could not see the eye, but she could feel it watching her, peering into her, piercing her skin, crawling through her chest. The eye saw every single thing.
Alex did not know when she began screaming, but she feared she would never stop.
Before her was an eye, nothing more and nothing less. It floated in the blackness, its veins massive and terrible, quivering and shaking as it rolled its iris toward Alex, slow and awful as the tide of a tsunami.
The eye trembled, and the darkness swelled and screeched as Alex stood before it, wishing she could run and knowing there was nowhere she could flee. How are you here? came a voice, crashing through Alex’s head.
The sheer power of it reduced Alex to tears. She did not know when she fell, but she embraced the darkness beneath her, screaming to cover the reverberating words echoing in her brain.
HOW ARE YOU HERE?
Alex felt her mind unraveling. It was not a slow process. There was sanity, and there was insanity. She almost slipped from one to the other.
No, she thought to herself. You are here for a reason. The mission. Remember the mission.
Alex forced herself to stand. Her nose was pouring blood and her head was pounding, but she made it to her feet. “Who gives a crap?” Alex managed. “I’m here. What the hell are you doing here?”
A wave of psychic energy blew past her. It was like having her head ripped open, dissected, and displayed. She tried to hold it together, but it was impossible. Her thoughts lay splayed out for the eye to see.
The eye swelled as its veins grew redder. How dare you? the voice thundered.
Alex felt another wave of energy coming at her. She imagined herself far away, standing atop a castle, looking down at a horde of warriors rushing toward her. The walls would hold. She knew that. “You’re the Dark One, aren’t you?”
There was no answer. The eye continued to twitch and swell. Alex had expected an answer. This gave her an idea. “You are, aren’t you?” she asked again. “I would have expected the Big Bad to be more intimidating. I didn’t know we were fighting a giant eyeball.”
The darkness expanded and then contracted, becoming tangible. Alex felt it creeping across her skin. It didn’t matter, though. She didn’t understand what was going on, but she knew how she was going to play this out. It was a battle of minds, of wills.
The Dark One’s voice lashed out as the eye constricted and then grew larger. How dare you speak to me? Do not dare to question me. You are nothing but a speck. I will crush you.
“Yeah, yeah, okay, I got you, but why are you just an eye? Is that, like, all you got?”
Alex felt her body pull away from her. She had no idea where it went, but she was floating separate from all physicality. She saw
the meteor, and she was the meteor, all of its tunnels and corridors stretching out before her as if they were her body.
Another screech ripped through Alex’s mind. The sound was nearly enough to send Alex into the darkness, but she remembered why she was here. She guarded herself, not fully realizing what she was doing, but it worked. The darkness peeled away, showing her the Dark One’s eye.
“What the hell are you?”
The answers came at her faster than she was able to process. There was a meteor, which she could see. A thousand bodies fell into each other, biting and tearing at each other’s flesh. A scream, speaking a language she had never heard.
Alex was on her knees, trembling as the eye quivered. She tried to pull herself together. They’re just thoughts. That’s all, she thought. That’s all.
Then the true nature of the Dark One’s eye was revealed.
Chapter Nine
The Dark One’s eye filled the entirety of the liminal space. Alex was aware that she was both inside and outside of the Dark One. Was this what she always experienced when she looked through someone’s eyes? Was there this much connection?
A force pushed Alex down, and she went skidding across what felt like water. She was drenched when she finally came to a stop. The eye was now the sun beaming down on her
When the Dark One spoke, it radiated through Alex. You are a waste, all of you. A waste of potential. Humanity. Elves. Dwarves. You could all be so much more. I will show you how. Through me, you will know perfection.
Alex watched as a meteor, the same meteor she was currently inside, passed through the sky. The meteor fell to the earth, crashing into the ground, tearing through anything in its path. As the meteor impacted the earth, millions of tendrils slipped out of the rock, latching onto the ground, forcing their way under the soil.
Alex was inside the meteor. Or inside the meteor inside the Dark One’s head within the meteor. It was confusing. She thought it better not to think too much about it. But from inside the meteor, she could see where the tendrils were coming from.