Through the Mirror

by D C Tullis

  “They took my gun,” I declared as I frantically searched my suit.

  A grinning Jason tapped my shoulder and placed it in my hands.

  “Stole this the second those beasties were dead. Even got my sword back,” he said with a prideful tinge in his tone.

  “You’re a lifesaver,” I said as I aimed the gun, prepared my shot, prayed that it somehow wasn’t jammed anymore, and blasted a stream of tiny darts into the obstructive door.

  The door ripped free, instantly leaving nothing but a steaming hole and twisted bits of hinge in its place. We pushed ourselves up the stairs at an exhausting pace pausing only once to kick an infected Fae exhibiting symptoms of agony over the side of the stairwell and into the pits below.

  “Hey Jason, wasn’t my gun jammed?” I asked him as we rapidly scaled the stairs.

  “Yeah, about that…,” Jason chuckled. “IMRA told me to just smash it against the wall once. I was skeptical at first, but hey it worked. Who knew violence had so many uses?”

  I groaned at his response.

  The final two levels of stairs burned my aching muscles, yet I continued to sprint with the assistance of the rush of an overflowing amount of adrenaline. Eventually, we finally tore through the correct door and cut right into the central security office. The door opened automatically and locked seconds later. Jason and I rested for a moment knowing we could finally breathe easy.

  “Jesus, I haven’t ran that fast since I knocked out that douchebag in the cafeteria in 8th grade,” Jason declared.

  “Oh my god, I remember that, dude. Wasn’t that the guy who called Ben ‘a fairy’? It’s always the idiots running their mouths about things they don’t understand,” I replied.

  “Yeah, he had it coming. Oh god, I remember racing down the hall with a gang of school officials and that dick’s friends hot on my tail,” Jason said with a mighty smile.

  “I do too,” I added. “I’ve always admired you for that.”

  “You’re blushing,” he laughed. “Look at yourself.”

  I took out the mirror on my phone and probably blushed further, but something about the sight of my phone brought on a state of deep melancholy. The only thing I wanted right then was to be home. I was missing my aunt and her ranch. The stable, the gun range, just… all of it.

  I exhaled heavily.

  At least I was with Jason. That definitely made it a bit better.

  “Okay, let’s stop wasting time and search for those power supplies,” he called.

  “Definitely, my dude.”

  We split up and began a quick search of the room.

  “You humans know you can just ask me, right? I happen to know where both the disks are and where I am,” IMRA announced.

  “Ellie, you grab the cylinders. I’ll grab IMRA,” Jason shouted from across the room.

  “On it, J,” I replied.

  “They’re on the other side of the room in a tall, beige tube adorned with gold and indigo. Three cages are built into its frame. The uppermost one is the one you want. The code is listed as Mel-lohb Dah-mir Fee-roone in the registry. Speak it clearly, the locks are not built for human vocals,” IMRA informed me.

  “Got it,” I whispered. “Mel-lohb Dah-mir Fee-roone.”

  The cage swung open.

  “I remain pleasantly surprised,” IMRA chimed into my comm link.

  I withdrew the two sizable and very heavy coffee can sized cylinders and put each securely into the expandable side pouches that were detachable accessories to my body armor. It looked good and it was practical. Just my type of outfit.

  I crossed over to the other side of the room to see Jason talking to a metallic cube, about three inches on each side. It was illuminated by scarlet lines running symmetrically across its face. It had to have been IMRA.

  IMRA spoke, “When I am removed, I will be unable to keep the mechanical bugs maintained. As such, any stragglers will assault you with full intention to kill if they see you. I am also activating protocol ‘Full Shutdown Module 3-Kah’. This protocol will begin locking and closing all metal dividing doors. Upon full lockout, the facility will overheat and incinerate all within it. You will have a very limited window of opportunity to escape. Both of you will also likely wish to meet up with the two Fae halfway to the final exit. They are already making their escape. Are you ready?”

  “Fuck no, but it’s what we’ve got to do,” Jason declared promptly with a suicidal enthusiasm. “You ready?”

  He was right. I was absolutely terrified, but this was our best… scratch that, only option for escape.

  “Let’s kill it,” I replied as I gave him a fist-bump.

  “Proceed,” IMRA announced.

  We both locked fingers as we lifted IMRA from her console and placed the A.I. into Jason’s suit-integrated backpack. Immediately, lights began to flash and everything went to shit. Steam poured from overhead vents, the orbs turned to a paralyzing crimson hue, and we could already hear doors closing. We launched from that room up the maintenance stairs and towards our exit at a speed that would have made track and field coaches across the country weep with joy.

  Lunging left and right we were able to avoid the majority of the creatures, till we made it to the bridge. They had formed a barricade of near twenty creatures all blocking our escape. Beyond that, they all seemed different. When we had first laid eyes on the monstrosities they had been deformed and vicious, yet now they also looked rabid and thirsty for blood. As if they were free from the control of the hideous and massive Eldritch horror in the sky, yet still completely deranged.

  As they lunged towards us Jason extended his arm out in front of me and readied his blade. The teal energy swam violently with explosive patterns of fury and control. He dived into the abyss of creatures hacking and slashing at throats, limbs, appendages, and anything that could be precisely removed. Swing after swing he decapitated creatures, spewing grotesque fluids onto his armor and the ground below. In the heat of the moment, he failed to notice the closing of the gate. The gate on the opposite end of the bridge was beginning to shut.

  “Run, Jason,” I screamed as I dashed through an opening in the distracted crowd.

  “I know,” He shouted back. “Just give me a minute.”

  He readied his stance and attempted to burst free from the confines of the swarm of Eldritch. He failed. His blade removed limb after grotesque limb, but his inexperience allowed the enemy to counterattack. The Eldritch relentlessly jostled Jason around, tripping him and scratching off bits of flesh. In a stroke of pure luck, Jason spied an opening and dived through the legs of a corrupted Fae. He jumped to his feet in the nick of time and we both sprinted as rapidly as we could toward the nearly closed vertical metal gate. Barely, we slid under the tiny gap and then repeated the process once again through another door seconds later. We could hear the stragglers that had chased after us slamming unintelligibly into the barriers, trapped. Jason and I took a left and found ourselves back in the Testing Labs Akh and Bej hallway. It was there that we nearly knocked over the sprinting duo of Irithril and Khail.

  “Thank god you’re alive. Are you guys okay though?” I asked.

  “Do not stop to talk,” shouted Irithril as she continued charging down the hallway towards the stairwell.

  “Oh, I am doing just brilliantly,” yelled Khail sardonically as he carried his severed arm. It was clear that the Eldritch insects had failed to penetrate the seal his suit had extruded over the wound.

  The stairs provided us no opposition except for the two infected Fae shrieking on the top steps of the worn stairwell. Khail lunged through them with his remaining fist, and suddenly there appeared to be no more opposition before us and the exit. The doors were still speeding up in their locking. This thought was the most worrying at the moment, yet it didn’t stay that way as we arrived at the last hall. A horrifying and giant figure blocked our path with its white sagging head and almost daemonic grin.

  “By my calculations we have maybe about a pehk to get to the
end of the hallway and out before the place seals for good,” Irithril announced.

  “Screw that,” Khail spat. “I have a debt to settle. Get out of here. Wait for me until this place closes. If I am stuck in here, at least I get to perish sitting on this ugly bastard’s skull. Here, carry my arm,” he said as he tossed the severed limb to Irthril.

  “Come on,” Irithril shouted as we sprinted out of the final unlocked barrier into the hue of fuschia sunlight beating across the raided city with only moments of Irithril’s calculated time remaining.

  We waited desperately for Khail to arrive. Time seemed to slow down to fractions of seconds, yet even then in the final seconds we heard nothing but aggressive shouting and the incinerators finally kicking into gear. And then, the last door sealed shut; permanently locking the facility forever.

  We stood in silence for nearly fifteen seconds before Jason finally broke it.

  “There’s no way… damn it,” Jason yelled as he punched the wall outside the facility. “He could’ve made it. Why didn’t he just run?”

  “He did not and we are just going to have to accept that. Some of us Fae have too much pride,” Irithril solemnly spoke. “Let us go. We can pay our respects back at the base. Khail understood the risks he took with his actions. I highly doubt he would wish for us to die as well.”

  “Serious…,” Jason began to announce furiously, appearing entirely ready to clobber Irithril, before I cut in.

  “Do you hear that?” I asked them.

  Jason and Irithril both halted their breathing completely. They noticed the sound almost immediately. It was the sound of a heavy object pounding on the door. Suddenly, slam went the final emergency door as a burnt and panting Khail punched through it fist first.

  “Miss me yet?” Khail asked as he wiped the gore of the Eldritch slug beast off of his suit and into the alley. “I feel that copious amounts of alcohol will be necessary.”

  Jason

  Aos

  Our return back to the base was no easy trip. The sounds of continuing explosions in the facility were making quite a bit of racket, and there was a towering cloud of smoke rising behind us. Cause enough to at least warrant several Eldritch scouting parties. Just to be safe we took a route that was longer than the one we had come in on. Even so, the scenery remained much the same. Scattered debris littered the streets. Cathedrals poked through the silvery-grey sky and jutted in all manners of unorthodox directions. The further we traveled, the more residential it became. We passed by the grounded remains of previously floating streets and villas. Reflective metals trapped beneath piles of rubble occasionally caught the sun and gave us faint glimmers of nostalgic beauty. It was eerie and beautiful all at once to behold a world of the Fae. One could almost feel the presence of people still living within the straightaways and curves, dancing amongst the walkways and talking through the windows of ruined apartments. The city felt haunted to its very core.

  The extended route worked as we saw no Eldritch on our ride back to the base camp. We made sure to update Eldevui on the events that had followed and that we were on our way back safely. We were, however, unable to confirm why communications with him had gone cold. Irithril parked the gliders in the building above the base and we ventured down the hidden hatch. Irithril and I waited for a moment at the bottom of the ladder just in case Khail needed assistance in his descent. The tough bastard made his way down one handed and then passed right by us to search for a drink, all while carrying his severed arm.

  “You need to get that arm looked at,” Irithril called after him in an almost motherly tone.

  Khail gave a nod, but failed to change his direction or stop moving.

  Irithril turned to us and sighed before speaking, “You two must meet up with Eldevui and give him the cylinders. I am going to get Khail to the Medical Lab before he drinks himself into a coma.”

  A moment later she was gone and the room was silent save for the flickering buzz of the lights above us. I turned back to find Ellie smirking at me in a way she had a few times before. The thought crossed my head immediately. We were alone for the first time since we had landed on this godforsaken abomination of an alien planet, and she did pull off the smeared makeup monster killing badass look pretty well.

  “What is it?” I asked her, my gaze locked on her smirk.

  “You’ve… got a little bit of blood on your lip,” she said as she moved closer to wipe it off with her thumb. We stood there for a brief moment, her thumb gently massaging my lower lip. She was close enough that the hairs on my neck stood straight under the presence of her breath. Her emerald eyes were locked to mine in a gaze of seductive comfort.

  “Did it sully my beautiful mane?” I joked nervously.

  Her face which had been just inches from mine suddenly burst into laughter and backed off a bit.

  “Goddamnit, J,” she giggled as she punched my arm.

  I bit my lip when I realized what I had done.

  “Uh… come on, we should deliver these cylinders, dude,” Ellie declared.

  “Yeah…,” I replied with a heavy breath of disappointment.

  We made our way along the winding, empty corridors until we reached the central room where the others sat. Unlike our previous visit, however, the room was now packed. There must have been nearly twenty Fae lining the walls or sitting in the velvet chairs surrounding the podium. Eldevui stood at the central podium anxiously tapping the floor with his right foot and eyeing the almost rowdy crowd. His eyes lit up when he saw Ellie and me enter through the door.

  “Silence!” He called throughout the hall in an iron tone. The chatter which moments before had been palpable was now hushed to dull whispers. Many of the Fae swiveled in their seats to see what had caught Eldevui’s attention. We entered the room in our gore covered armor, and Ellie removed the cylinders from her side pouches with some effort as they were heavy. We crossed through an opening in the sea of chairs and Ellie handed the cylinders to Eldevui. His face burst into the widest smile I’d seen in a long time.

  “Oh, this is very good. It is time now for talk of our final plan, but where are Irithril and Khail?” Eldevui asked us quietly.

  “In the med lab....,” I replied.

  “Getting hammered,” Ellie cut in.

  “And getting Khail’s arm reattached,” I finished.

  “Ah, yes, I did receive Irithril’s updates as you re-entered the proximity. Regardless, it is time now to educate the entire group with the plan. Hopefully Khail and Irithril will join us at some point, otherwise it will be up to you two to inform them of what must be done. I am afraid we cannot wait any longer. This base of operations has almost reached its power and oxygen limit. And the Eldritch… they may have sensed something after the destruction of the facility. We need to act now,” Eldevui announced before turning back to the rest of the room.

  “Brothers and sisters, fellow Fae of Aos, now is our time to find solace. Now is our time to leave what remains of this defiled world and seek shelter anew. These two humans along with Irithril and Khail have recovered what we need to power the gate and evacuate to Ahlann. I have already made contact with the Council of Elders on Ahlann and we will receive safe passage. We must get armed and take all of the valuable equipment we can to the other side. My fellow men of science Johrgil and Dennyk will be in charge of deciding what equipment must be taken with us, and…” He paused to scan the room. “It doesn’t matter… Venaryn will be in charge of assigning weaponry. With that, I believe we are in fact ready to begin our departure. Any questions?”

  “Not so much a question as a change in plans,” spoke Irithril from somewhere in the back of the crowd.

  “Splendid, you are here now. What is the status on Khail?” Eldevui replied after the initial surprise passed.

  “He is healing. I believe it will not take much longer for the process to be complete,” Irithril answered. “That is not why I spoke up though. We must return these children of the first Earth to their home. It is unjust for us to
leave them here after they helped us so greatly.”

  “That is fair. What do you suggest then?” Eldevui asked as he ran his veiny fingers through his long grey hair.

  “What I propose is that we bring them to the gate at Myradill Rock just beyond the Great Plains and the Noil Woods. We send them home, randomize the gate transmission record, remove the power supply, and then follow the main party to send ourselves to Ahlann through the gate on Mt. Estellus,” Irithril announced.

  Eldevui stood silently for a moment stroking his beard. Irithril used this time to cross the room and stand next to us.

  “Do you even know how to activate the gates, let alone randomize the destination after use?” he asked Irithril contemplatively.

  “About that…,” Irithril replied sheepishly. “Well, I was hoping you would be willing to make the journey with us,”

  Eldevui chuckled and ran his fingers through his aged hair once again. He turned to look us over for a moment and then returned his gaze to Irithril.

  “What’s a few more hours to an old man anyway?” He spoke gently. “I shall do it, but for a journey that far we will need more bodies. Two children of Earth, a cripple, an admittedly formidable scout, and an old man are not much for a defensive squadron.”

  “Fair enough,” Irithril nodded. “Who did you have in mind?”

  He surveyed the room, sweeping his eyes across the returning chatter and pinpointed two Fae sitting with stern expressions in the back of the crowd.

  “Artaegen, Kleidus, would you two join us to escort the humans back to their gate?” Eldevui asked authoritatively.

  The two elderly Fae he had looked at did not appear the friendly sort. Tribal tattoos differentiated each of their faces in sweeping patterns and scars from combat long since passed fully characterized their vicious mugs. Each of them stood over seven feet tall. If they had been humans, you’d likely have found them drinking and playing pool at a seedy bar populated with coked up hookers, bikers, and the scent of stale cigarette smoke wafting through the air. They shot each other grim looks before the taller spoke, “We choose to pass on this one.”