by Corey Tate
Unfortunately, Scott took the time to look at it.
—Get up now, Plegaborne thought to him. Now.
The creature looked like a cross between a centipede and an alligator. It had a sandpaper hide with hundreds of legs protruding from both sides. Something that looked like greenish-yellow mucus ran off its body in various places. The tail had a barbed stinger at the end with venom leaking from it. One large red eye gazed at Scott in hunger. Scott did what came naturally: he screamed and punched it.
—Idiot, Plegaborne scoffed.
The thing didn’t blink an eyelid—well, not that it had one—when Scott hit it dead center in its bulging eye. It just continued to stare at him.
Suddenly the creature was torn away from Scott by a hurled chunk of metal.
Scott jumped to his feet.
“Come on!” Nick shouted weakly. “Before it gets up!”
Scott ran as quickly as he could toward Nick. He almost made it too.
With a wild screech, the ugly creature leaped at him. It hit him in the side, and Scott rolled several painful yards and came to a stop on his stomach.
The creature was about to strike again.
Scott quickly dissolved the earth into quicksand beneath the creature and, with a start, realized at the same time that he had Accelerated. The thing began to slide backward, being sucked quickly into the muck as if into a giant vacuum.
All at once, the centipede-alligator creature rocketed out of the quicksand and landed on the cave floor, looking angrier than ever.
We’re dead, Scott thought.
—That is a fair assessment, Plegaborne agreed.
When the monster had propelled itself from the quicksand, most of the mucus that had covered its legs and hide was left behind. Now Scott could see that all over its body, hidden between and behind the centipede legs, were thousands of sharp, thick, jagged teeth.
The creature turned slightly and curled up into a deadly, spiky ball. It somehow propelled itself toward Scott, and he dove aside at the last second.
The creature took a wide turn and began rolling back toward him.
“Nick! We can Accelerate again!” Scott yelled behind him without looking away from the deadly ball in front. “A little help?”
Scott’s sonar vision allowed him to see inside the dark cave perfectly. The beast was bigger than he had originally imagined.
“Too . . . weak,” Nick mumbled softly.
Scott was on his own.
He quickly jumped in the air above the rolling mass, but his right shoe caught on one of the jagged teeth of the monster, stretching the rubbery material of the footwear. Startled, the creature howled and reversed directions. The momentum freed Scott and flung him to the hard-packed earth. He landed roughly on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
—Get up and fight, or I will die as well! Plegaborne screamed.
Scott wheezed in and out in a feeble attempt to get air, but it wasn’t working very well.
—Pathetic, Plegaborne mused.
As he finally caught his breath, Scott realized the cave had fallen totally silent; the only sounds that could be heard were Nick and himself breathing.
The hairs on the back of Scott’s neck stood up. He knew he was in trouble. He turned around and used most of his remaining energy to pull himself to his knees.
The creature was right there, savoring its moment of triumph.
The thing flexed its huge tail and was ready to shoot poison at Scott. Luckily, it had completely overlooked Nick, who was now lying directly under the beast in his Accelerated form.
“Nick, kill it! Kill it!” Scott wheezed, staring at the tail that would soon become a murder weapon.
Nick moved his hands pathetically, but no metal emerged from the ground.
“I can’t,” Nick moaned. “No energy.”
The creature shot poison at Scott, but he threw up a rock wall. The poison cut right through the rock like acid and kept on coming. Scott ducked, and the poison narrowly flew overhead. The creature roared like a deranged lion and, with his enhanced vision, Scott got a good look at its multiple rows of serrated teeth.
“Try, Nick!” Scott gasped, unable to look away from the creature. The thing was flexing its tail again.
“I can’t—”
A sword miraculously bounced on the ground and slid right next to Nick. Nick stared at it, amazed.
“Kill it!” Scott screamed.
The creature was about to shoot poison again.
Nick broke out of his daze, and by summoning the last of his strength, he picked up the sword and thrust it into the creature’s soft underbelly.
The loudest, ugliest, and most torturous scream ensued for about a minute.
Nick stayed under the creature the whole time, slicing the sword up and down into its flesh.
Once it stopped wailing, the beast curled up like a dead spider and black fluid leaked out from all over its body. With one violent shudder, it was dead.
The sword gave a slight shake in Nick’s hand, and a cloak of black energy enveloped the centipede-alligator. When the cloak dissolved, the creature was no longer there. It had been absorbed into the sword.
Without pausing, Scott got up and picked up Nick, who was still holding the sword and gazing at it in bewilderment. He half carried Nick in the direction that they had been going, afraid to look back.
—That sword is from the planet Irri, Plegaborne thought inside Scott’s head. But how did it come here?
“There it is!” Nick cried.
They both saw the light. It was the light at the bottom of the steps that would eventually lead them to the entrance.
No, the exit. It was now the exit.
At the bottom of the stairs, Scott and Nick combined their last remaining strength and used their curses to churn the ground up underneath their feet, riding a wave of metal and earth up the steps, destroying the ancient architecture beneath them without a backward glance. When they reached the top and emerged from the Infinite Cave, they fell greedily into the Armadronian darkness and simply lay there.
Nick was the first to speak. “How come we suddenly could Accelerate down there?” he asked. “Did you kill that Higher Being guy who was controlling me?”
“Sort of.” Scott looked up at the purple lightening, then closed his eyes briefly. “I trapped him.”
—Idiot! Plegaborne yelled at Scott inside his thoughts. You are the one who is about to be trapped! GET UP!
“And here is the package I’ve been waiting for,” someone greeted in a mock charming voice. “Lord Terminus will love this.”
Just before the boot hit his face and knocked him out cold, Scott saw Claire. She didn’t look so good. In fact, she looked like a seriously messed-up voodoo doll.
Rejoined! Or . . . Maybe Not
“You must go to your team,” Abigale told Seth.
“Yeah, but don’t I have to lead you into battle and everything?”
“You can do that if we all meet at the correct Gateway,” one of the men from the council said. “For now, you must find your team and get them there. They need you more than we do, I fear. We have our own forces to command.”
“Are you sure?” Seth asked.
“Yes, I am sure,” the man told him, a note of irritation creeping into his voice. “Find your friends. The Otherfire is meant to be shared, not held up in Inno Mountain. Every second you spend here is another second in which they could be captured. Or worse, killed.”
“Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll go and—”
“I will show you out,” Cameron smoothly cut in.
Cameron turned on his heels, and with a short “good-bye” from Seth to the council members, they were out of the council chamber. Soon, they were back in the hallway that would take them to the shaft with the blue flaming disc, which they would use to rise out of the volcano.
“Is it weird looking at me like this?” Seth suddenly asked Cameron as they were walking.
“Yes,” he replied, gla
ncing at Seth’s hair.
They reached the opening to the shaft, which was now in the ceiling above their heads. The panel was already green, but Cameron put his palm on it anyway.
A circle of flickering blue fire appeared before them. Without any hesitation this time, Seth stepped on the disc of fire. As soon as Cameron was on, they shot upward. The ride was a little shorter than the last one, and a little faster too.
When they stopped, Seth jumped in the air and activated his Otherfire. He was now floating high above the floor, his arms and legs streaming fire.
“I guess I’ll see you all in a bit?” Seth asked.
“Hopefully you will.”
They were both silent for a moment, then Cameron spoke. “Two of my guards are waiting at the top to part the magma for you, so you will not have to stop.”
“Thanks.” Seth grinned. “I’ll see you later at the Gateway.”
“Yes,” Cameron agreed, “and take this.”
He tossed a roll of parchment up to Seth. Seth burned out his left arm and caught it easily. He opened it. It was a map.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Now get going.”
Seth took a couple more seconds to memorize some things on the map, and then he was gone.
He flew up into the mountain. He reached the magma on top, and it instantly parted for him. Without stopping, he soared through and came out into open air. Seth floated there for a minute, looking down at the peaceful volcano and the people he might never see again.
I want to live here, he thought. When this is all over, if we win, I want to come home to Armadron and start over.
He shot toward the direction of the Infinite Cave. Even though it would take him a day or two to get there, it would be worth it. He was about to change the universe.
He just hoped that everyone else was still okay, and that he could find them and get to the Gateway in time.
* * *
He was back in a cage. He was back in one of these stupid, smelly cages that were coated in blood. Scott wasn’t too happy.
Hmm. If I’m in here by myself . . .
—You are not, Plegaborne interjected calmly, making Scott jump.
—Plegaborne! Scott thought excitedly, can you get us out of this?
—No.
Scott’s shoulders slumped.
—Normally I could, Plegaborne explained, but my powers are trapped with your body now. I fear that we must respect your physical limitations, or we will both die.
—Gotcha, Scott thought to Plegaborne, then began thinking to himself again. Where are Claire, Nick, and Sam? Where’s Seth? He won’t ever know where we are now! This sucks! We were supposed to take Terminus by surprise! We were all supposed to come up with a plan and attack him with the other Protectors! I need to get out of here. And where the heck are Thaught and Artam right now anyway?
A headache and a painful throbbing in the crook of his right arm interrupted Scott’s thoughts. He squinted at his arm in the darkness, but there was no evidence of any wound or damage. Maybe he was just imagining things in this tiny cage. He couldn’t move anywhere, he couldn’t use his curses, and he was scared. He was back to square one. Back in the Coliseum probably.
His arm throbbed again, and instantly he remembered what the pain was. It was the pain he always felt after being stuck with a needle!
Someone had taken blood from him! His monster headache and his feeling of being weak told him that it had been a lot of blood too.
—Yes, Plegaborne told him. A man came in and took some blood from you. I tried to wake you up.
Before Scott could process this, purple light spilled into the small cave as the wall was slid aside. Two of Terminus’s brainwashed Conjurers walked in, dressed in their usual black robes. They put their hands on the bars of the cage and pulled. The bars ripped off with a clang, and Scott climbed out.
“Follow us,” the guards said, then headed toward the Coliseum.
Without any time to waste, Scott unleashed a huge torpedo of water and dirt at the two men. The first man was knocked down instantly, but the second one dodged to the side.
Scott directed the torpedo back around with his mind and aimed it at the second guard. It looked like it would easily take him down, just like the first one.
Scott looked down at his shoes for a brief moment and discovered a piece of folded paper tucked into the side of his shoe. He picked it up and closed it in his fist while the guards were distracted.
The Conjurer waved a quick sign and a blue symbol glowed in midair. The man thrusted his palm through the symbol, and his whole hand glowed a deep blue. He held out his hand and the torpedo disappeared into it. The Conjurer simply continued walking like nothing had just transpired.
Scott realized with a shock that the Conjurer he had knocked down was gone. He started to turn around, but something white hot pressed into his back, making him stop and face forward again.
“Move,” the Conjurer behind Scott ordered.
He walked with the Conjurer shoving him the whole way. Once he stepped out of the cave, he was once again greeted by a screaming crowd, the familiar bloody-black soil, and an imminent sense of doom.
He had time to look at the people sitting in the crowd this time. None of them looked like they wanted to be here. Sure, they all were standing and screaming, but none of the onlookers seemed cheerful or genuinely happy about the fact that somebody was going to die. Some people were even looking away while they continued to smile awkwardly.
He also noticed that many of the spectators would occasionally cast nervous glances around themselves. Scott suspected they were looking for Kane, or maybe even Terminus.
This was pathetic. Terminus was so lonely and so loathed that he had to force people against their will to be near him. Disgusting.
—Focus, Plegaborne warned him in his head.
The Conjurer stopped shoving Scott forward, and based on the immense amount of blood, bones, and skulls at his feet, Scott realized they were in the center of the battlefield again. It was dim outside too, and Scott had no idea how long they had until the Gateway would open. He looked up and saw someone walking purposefully toward him.
“Nick!”
“Prepare to die,” Nick said in a monotone. His eyes were glazed over, and he was looking at Scott as though calculating the best way to kill him. Like a machine.
“Nick!” Scott shouted, realizing what was going on. “Nick, stop it! Someone is controlling you! He’s—”
“Be quiet,” one of the Conjurers ordered calmly.
“Go to hell!”
“Welcome to my Coliseuuuuuum!”
It was Kane’s voice.
“Everyone take their seats and enjoy the show! The time for action is at hand! Today I have a special treat for all of you. First, the only half-Armadronian in existence on this planet, Scott Faranger, will battle one of his dear friends. Watch as this Mediator is ground into dust! And to top it off, our ruler, Lord Terminus, has taken personal interest in the battle. Who will win?” Kane chuckled from wherever he was.
“Come out and fight, Kane!” Scott yelled. “You’re a coward!”
“Next, I have a powerful, psychically-inclined female who will battle her own little brother. Can you think of anything more entertaining than that? I think not!”
The crowd grew quiet.
“I said, can you think of anything more entertaining than that?”
It was still quiet. Scott looked over at the towering rows of benches and saw that almost all the people were gone. There were only maybe a hundred or so left.
Just as he was about to look away, Scott saw him.
He was walking through the crowd slowly, looking for something. As he walked, he whispered something repeatedly to the people nearby. Some people’s hands twitched when he whispered to them. Nobody turned in his direction, and when he bumped into someone, they turned around confusedly.
Scott realized with a shock that he was the only one who could s
ee the man. He was invisible to everyone else!
He continued walking through the crowd and met up with another man, also invisible to the crowd, who had been walking through on the other side, doing the same thing. They joined hands and yelled, “Now!”
In the moment before the rest of the audience was teleported away, Scott saw Claire attempting to smile to him as she sat in one of the seats, holding the hand of a boy who looked like her, except he had no eyes.
After Artam and Thaught teleported everyone away, all of the Conjurers in the Coliseum vanished, beginning what Scott imagined was a deadly game of teleport-tag.
Realizing that this was probably his only shot, Scott quickly opened his hand and read the words on the paper from his shoe.
Scott,
The other Icranu will be assembling where we now suspect the Gateway to be, which is near Terminus’s castle. I, along with Thaught, have assembled hundreds of different teams for different tasks. Your task is to get Nick out of Kane’s control and distract Kane long enough for us to release some of the prisoners in the castle. There is one boy in there who, with your help, can defeat Terminus. I will explain everything when next we meet.
Claire is secured. However, after I removed the bonds from her mouth, she told me about Sam’s death. I am truly sorry. She was an amazing young woman. Now we all must honor her sacrifice and win this battle.
I can only hope that Seth gets to us in time, before he is lost as well. Thaught has told me that he is now the Otherfire. You may not recognize him when you see him.
One more thing, Scott. You must survive for us. We do not have the resources to come get you, secure the Gateway, and take up battle positions all at the same time. We have narrowed the appearance of the reversed Gateway to seven locations around our world. We are manning ours so that we may defend it. Hold on and buy us time to fortify our positions. Kill Kane. You can do this. We believe in you. You are the Mediator of Earth. If you fail, there is no one else who can take your place, and all is lost.
Scott dropped Artam’s note in shock. It floated in midair, suddenly consumed in purple and green flames. Then it dropped to the Coliseum floor, no more than a small pile of ash.