by Kyle West
I needed something else. Treeform was not going to cut it, and if Isaru fell, it was all over.
I grunted as a jab forced me to back away, even as another spear swipe nearly slashed my side. Worse, I felt my energy draining, even as my muscles obeyed the imperatives of Battletrance. The men weren’t even fighting their hardest – their object was to tire me. What for, though? If they weren’t trying to kill me, then what was their goal?
The men attacking Isaru, however, seemed to want nothing more than his blood.
They aren’t trying to kill me, I thought. They’re trying to capture me.
This thought alone seemed to heighten my desperation, a desperation that was immediately burned in the clarity of Silence. I felt a surge of energy, and with a flurry of motion, I battered away their spears, knowing that they weren’t trying to kill me, which allowed me to join back up with Isaru. With he and I working together, the men shifted tactics by backing away and completely encircling us.
This would have been where most people would surrender, but surrender was not an option. I had one last move left, and it was a terrible gamble.
I lowered my sword and walked forward. From outside Silence, I heard Isaru shout my name. The three men in front of me were confused as to what I was doing, but in the end, decided that there was no hope of trying to spare me for whatever purpose they had in mind. They were going to fight.
As they moved to engage, I quickly assumed a sword form that felt intimately familiar to me; even so, I knew its sequences had never been practiced in the Sanctum. I completely ignored the men in front of me, instead falling back to the three men behind, who were now moving to engage Isaru. I turned with wide sweep of my blade, catching one of the attackers in the side.
On a sudden premonition, I fell to the ground, narrowly missing a stab from behind. I stood back up, sidestepping another stab, even Isaru stepped into the space in front of me, cutting my attacker down.
That left four. They were gathered together, and they spoke to each other again in their strange language, apparently deciding on a plan right there in front of us. It sounded like no language I’d ever heard. Even as Isaru and I moved forward, they formed a row, one of them focusing on Isaru to keep him occupied, while the other three focused on me.
So that was how it was going to be, then.
Even three against one, the men pressed forward cautiously. One of the men sprang forward, and I easily nicked him on the arm. He yelped and stumbled backward, fighting to keep his feet. I left him alone for the moment, because the other two were now fanning out to strike at my sides, even as the other one nursed his wound.
As the other two men fell on me, I dashed forward and stabbed the injured man in the gut, finishing him. I pivoted just in time to knock away the strike of another man while side stepping the final man’s spear.
I was in Flame, now, but curiously, I was defending, not attacking. It wasn’t as if defense was impossible with flame, because my defense ended up being me keeping them off me through sheer aggression.
Isaru, meanwhile, had gotten the better of his opponent, with a quick stab in his abdomen. Before the man had even hit the ground, Isaru was running to help me.
With us against the remaining two, they didn’t stand a chance. They fought hard, and well, refusing quarter. If anything, the intensity of their fight only increased, but in time, they both crumbled. They showed no fear as they died. Several times, Isaru and I slowed our attacks, to signal that we didn’t want to fight anymore, but they never let up. Not once.
As soon as it was over, I lost my hold on Silence and collapsed to the sand. Everything rushed at me at once – my exhaustion, my pain, my sadness at having had to kill again. I choked out a sob, which was intermixed with gasps for air. Blood trickled into the sand from the bodies around us, each with lifeless eyes staring into the dark sky.
When Isaru put a hand on my shoulder, it made me jump. “We did what we had to do, Shanti. I know it’s hard...but we had no choice.”
I made myself nod, and forced myself to stand. I wouldn’t cry over men who, if they’d had their way, would have made me wish I were dead.
It was hard, but we walked through each of the bodies, looking for things that might be of use. There was nothing outside of their weapons, however, which we left behind.
We made our slow way back to the dune where we’d left our packs. By some miracle, we came out mostly unscathed, aside from some bruises I’d earned. I had never known such thirst, and when we reached our packs, I drank until my canteen was completely drained.
And then, we climbed up the dune to see the empty camp before us. The fire was still burning. We walked among the tents, and it was here that we found items of value. There was food, mostly in the form of dried jerky, and there was also some crusty, very dense loafs of bread, each weighing as much as a stone. I took a bite out of one, and it was almost as tough as a stone. A tough bread for tough people.
Though it was strange to, we slept each in our own tent, well into the next day. It would have been pointless to ignore the resources we had available just because they had belonged to our enemies.
But what I had hoped to be a deep and refreshing sleep turned out only to be another window into the past.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
THE NEXT MORNING, I MADE my way west through the city alone, bringing a plain white cloak over my head to hide my face. I wasn’t too optimistic that I’d go unrecognized, but if I traveled alone, perhaps it was possible.
Instead of walking the Highstreets, the network of bridges interconnecting the city’s many towers high above the main roads, I walked on the ground level. I didn’t come down here often, which was part of the reason why I wanted to walk the streets. The other part was that I didn’t exactly want to reach where I was going in a timely fashion. Just thinking of being stuck with Lord Shal for any length of time, let alone an hour or two, made me sick to my stomach.
I had never been to the Thought Dome, the nexus of the Hyperfold, mainly because I’d never had any reason to go. It wasn’t a place people physically went, usually, but rather it was where one’s thoughts connected while under the influence of Aether. If one went further, a trance could be entered that allowed the user to enter the Hyperfold itself, like a waking dream.
The Dome’s energy needs were so great that a second Xenofont had been grown just to accommodate it, almost as large as the one that powered the city.
Other than that, though, my knowledge of the Thought Dome was next to nothing, and if it hadn’t been for Shal, there was no way I would go there of my own volition. Not in a million years.
I had pleaded with my mother, of course, but if anything, that only made her surer of herself. The only thing I could do was get this over with as quickly as possible.
I tried to clear my mind as I walked through the crowded streets, where I passed completely unnoticed — just another soul among thousands.
Rakhim Shal was probably up to no good, and here I was, forced to take an unwilling part in whatever it was he had planned. I didn’t know what he needed me for; apparently, it had something to do with my raw ability to connect with the Xenofold. While my Gifts were not well-developed, I’d been told ever since I was young that I had the ability to use all Twelve Gifts. In the past, it’s said that such people were more common, but with the dilution of Elekai blood in general, they were now increasingly rare.
What I feared most of all was that Shal was going to want me to connect to the Hyperfold itself. Of course, to do that, I had to take Aether, something that was technically illegal for someone my age. Then again, with my parents’ blessing, that law could easily be overlooked.
I continued walking down the Gods’ Way, one of Hyperborea’s main thoroughfares running east to west. Not only was it a street, but a canal. A channel of pink ichor ran down the center of the wide avenue, while arched bridges spanned it at intervals. Barges and gondolas floated up and downstream, filled with either goods or passengers. Al
ong the streets on either side, stores were thrumming with shoppers. I jostled through a particularly thick crowd forming outside a theater.
I broke through the throng and continued walking west along the Way, following the street as it curved past various towers. The streets and canals split fairly often — there were almost as many canals as streets in Hyperborea.
I didn’t catch my first sight of the Thought Dome for a half hour more, as the towers lowered, and I approached the western end of the city. The street straightened and narrowed, leaving the Gods’ Way behind. Past the last of the buildings, I could see the Thought Dome rising on the horizon, pink and semi-translucent in the morning light. True to its name, it was a massive half sphere, so large that it had to be built outside city limits.
Getting to the Dome by ground would take the better part of the day, but recently Shal had convinced my parents to have a Highstreet built to it, even if it was rarely used. This particular Highstreet led for several miles west, connecting to the Thought Dome itself. In fact, it was the only way in.
I found a platform nearby and stepped onto it. Sensing my weight, it shot upward. The street fell away, and within moments, I was stepping onto the Highstreet. It went straight west, past a few of the city’s final towers, in a single, lonesome line until it connected to the Thought Dome in the distance.
Reluctantly, I began to walk, and the surface of the street rippled, moving in time with my steps. Though I was moving at no more than walking pace, the moving street allowed me to go as fast as sprinting. The wind rushed through my hair as I sped down the Highstreet, and I stopped walking altogether, allowing the circle beneath me to ripple through the surface. While the platform stayed solid, the street immediately surrounding the platform softened, allowing the platform to glide over it.
Another person passed going in the opposite direction on the other side, going so fast that I couldn’t get a good look at him. Even if it seemed like the xenoforest below was passing slowly, I could perceptibly see the Dome grow larger in my vision.
As I slid through the opening into the Dome itself, all too quickly, the platform slowed until I was completely still. Now inside, I could get a sense of the place. It was enormous. The ichorous surface from the inside was like a pink sky, through which the sun still shone, while below the street was an entire lake of pink ichor, glowing brighter and brighter as it reached the center, where tendrils of energy coalesced into a massive siphon, at the top of which shone a bright orb, blazing like a miniature sun. It was bright, but not too bright to look at –still, it cast a pale aura that made it difficult to see the area around it. That orb shone in the exact center of the Dome, exactly where the street ended.
And exactly where a man stood, silhouetted. It had to be Rakhim.
That concentration of energy was the Point of Origin of the Hyperfold. Just as there was a Point of Origin at the meeting of the Seas of Creation and Destruction, the two opposites that combined to produce the consciousness of the Xenofold, here there was also a Point of Origin. Only this one was powered by only one substance – Aether. Because of this, it was said the Hyperfold was not as stable, or as powerful, as the Xenofold. And it was why Aether had to continue being taken and fed into it in order for it to continue functioning. At least, that was how Isandru explained it to me.
Looking at that bright light, it was hard to believe, within all that energy, that hundreds — and perhaps even thousands — of people’s thoughts, memories, and imaginations were contained within.
I made myself walk forward, having delayed long enough. As I approached the shining light, I expected it to get warmer, but curiously, the temperature remained the same. The air was cool, but sterile. The only sound came from the light itself, like a slow and constant breeze, barely perceptible. It sounded altogether unnatural.
As I neared, the silhouette turned, and I recognized Lord Shal’s face. He watched as I walked forward before turning his attention back to the nova of light. I stopped, leaving a good distance between us.
After another moment, he turned back around, and his eyes were glowing so brightly that they were white. As an Elekai, I was used to seeing that, especially when watching duels when strong Champions entered a deep state of Battletrance.
But something about Shal’s eyes seemed...wrong. Their glow was far too intense, and it could have only been an effect of Aether.
Slowly, his eyes reverted to their usual pale blue, and he gave a tense smile.
“Princess Mia.” He gave a respectful bow. “You honor me with your presence.”
He said it as if I had decided to come here of my own volition, but pointing out the fact would have been pointless. There was little honesty in Shal. Sometimes, I suspected there was no honesty, and to even speak with him, you had to pretend like you didn’t notice.
“What did you require of me?” I asked.
“You honor me with your willingness to help, Princess,” Rakhim said, without a touch of irony, “for I am having great difficulty finding any one strong enough to test the limits of the Hyperfold.”
“What limits?”
“That is what we will discover today.”
“It sounds dangerous.”
“If it were, you would not be here, Princess,” Shal said, with a touch of impatience. “The Hyperfold works by molding itself to the person using it. It does respond differently to those of strong blood, but different does not mean dangerous. Your brother has done things with the Hyperfold I had previously believed impossible.”
“Like what?”
Isandru hadn’t told me about any of that. Then again, he and I didn’t talk as much these days; yesterday had been an exception, mainly because he’d been sent to track me down.
“In the Hyperfold, Isandru is as a god. Whatever he wills, comes to pass. Those of strong blood have a similar potential, so you can see how I would be most curious as to how the Hyperfold will mold itself to you.”
“I don’t want to do this, you know,” I said. “If you’re wanting me to take Aether, then you can forget it.”
“I know there are laws,” Rakhim said, carefully, “but in this one instance, as previously agreed...”
“It’s not about that,” I said. “I just choose not to use it.”
Shal nodded gravely. “Aether is what forges the link from your mind to the Hyperfold. Observing you while you’re using it will allow me to make adjustments.” He turned back to face the Point of Origin. “In a time where Fadings are commonplace and threaten to extinguish all power within the Elekai, you are an anomaly. It makes one wonder why the gods forsook us, if the fable of our disobedience to the Elder Dragons has any merit.”
It surprised me to hear Shal say that, since he considered himself a man of science. The tale of disobeying the Elder Dragons was widely considered a fable. But as Fadings had grown more commonplace, many people had begun to wonder if there was actually something to the story. Even so, most people believed the Fading was a matter of blood and had nothing to do with curses.
Whether I liked it or not, this was something that was going to happen. I could run away if I wanted to, but if necessary, my mother would take me back here herself.
“What do you need me to do?”
Shal reached within his cloak, producing a vial of glowing pink Aether. “It’s simple. You’ll drink this, and find Silence, as if you were to connect to the Xenofold.”
I didn’t like the sound of that one bit, but then again, it was probably best to get this over with as quickly as possible. Aether probably wouldn’t do much harm in such a small dose.
Still, I couldn’t help but look at it as if it were poison.
“What will it do to me?”
“This vial is not highly concentrated,” Shal said. “It should be enough for a first time user. It will feel much the same as if you had entered normal meditation, only the trance will take you into a dreamlike state. It is completely safe, and I merely want to observe whether it still works on someone with as stro
ng a natural connection as you.”
“Why did I need to come here to do this?” I asked. “Why not the Palace?”
“Because there might be fluctuations with the Point of Origin itself, and if there are, I don’t want to miss it.”
“If you’re lying about any of this...”
Rakhim Shal smiled graciously. “I assure you, I have spoken the complete truth. The king and queen have placed their full confidence in me, and I would do nothing to betray that.”
Before I could respond, he held out the vial further. I just looked at it, feeling queasy. My problem was that I couldn’t trust Rakhim, and I didn’t care if he knew that.
At the same time, though, I knew I wasn’t getting out of here until I ingested it. I was afraid of getting addicted, more than anything else. I knew addiction wasn’t an issue unless you did it often, but still, it was something that worried me. There were Aether addicts who lived for the drug in its most concentrated form, called Hyper. Hyper was illegal, but that didn’t stop dens from forming all around the city in the last few years.
I reached out my hand. Shal handed the vial to me, and I just stared at the liquid. There wasn’t much, but it glowed brightly and had a hazy quality. I could see swirls eddying within it.
I unstopped the vial and tilted it toward my lips. I hesitated just a moment before drinking. It had no taste, but it practically crawled down my throat. I almost coughed it right back up, and it felt like a living thing inside my stomach. It finally grew still.
I handed the empty vial back as I tried to ignore my nausea. I wished I didn’t have to take this here, far away from anyone who might be able to help me. However, Shal had turned his attention to the shining Orb, as if it were of the greatest interest.
“All right,” he said. “Find Silence. You should begin to feel a connection soon.”
Perhaps a minute passed with nothing happening. I felt the same as before. But then, there was a curious tingling in my fingers and toes. I became intensely aware of every sensation — the coolness of the air, the smell of the soap I had used for my bath, the hypnotizing brightness of the Orb. I smiled, though I couldn’t have said why.
