by Mark Russo
Pavel followed him without uttering a syllable.
“What is that? Do I get on board?”
“Yes, come on. It won’t bite you.”
So, I did, one foot then the next one. The stone table slid forward, and I instinctively extended my arms to keep my balance. The board quickened, so I bound my knees, almost kneeling. I realized the soles of my shoes were like glue to the coarse rock surface. “It seems like you can do quite a lot of things with stones!” I yelled at James from behind his back.
“You still didn’t see all I can do. Wait for that.”
Pavel was behind me, but I did not turn.
“If you really want to know, we are here to meet with a person. The rift changed our plans a bit.”
“So, you have friends in Plane K? That is unexpected.”
He faced me and smiled. The board slowed, and James seemed focused on something on the horizon.
I looked in the same direction, but all I could see was green sand and rocks.
He slowed even more and stopped eventually.
We didn’t talk. I focused more, and I also saw something big approaching.
“We have company,” he said.
His skin became a matte grey, and I heard some rocks around us rustle and move. The thing on the horizon had drawn nearer, and now I could tell what it was. If those creatures were attacking us, it meant someone must have told them to. The profile of the majestic Eeb was now meters away from us, and I was ready to trigger my time walk skill, but that giant creature that had attacked and almost killed me was there again. I dropped my time blade and widened my eyes.
The Eeb’s black mass clashed against the underground beast the human could so easily summon and winded around it.
I turned to check on Pavel, but I did not see him. I checked on the nearest surrounding, but he was not there. When I looked again at the monstrous creatures fighting, the Eeb’s limber mass had wrapped the snake in its entirety.
The Eeb covered the stone creature and tightened its grasp.
James’s pet howled, but I could not tell if it was from pain.
The stone monster squirmed and wiggled before leaping in the air and crushing to the ground then through it. A low-pitched hum turned into a more intense vibration, and the soil fractured again.
James’s creature erupted from below, the Eeb’s flexible mass still tangled around it.
“Let me handle this,” I told the human by my side. I did not wait for him to reply and dove in a temporal series. The noise of the brittle Plane K ground pulverizing under my shoes followed me all the way. I got closer and closer, and the proportions of the two enormities grew exponentially. The stone monster had to be at least ten meters long. My sword was already in the air when I leaped toward them.
The two gigantic entities didn’t bother looking at me.
The Eeb sure noticed me. When the icy steel of the time blade pierced the softness of its skin, eyes emerged in many parts of that sombre mass. It released part of its grasp on the stone serpent and cast a thick black string in my direction, trying to disarm me. What looked like a thin tentacle looped around the blade and pulled, so I twisted the blade and fell to the ground. The monster’s limb chased me down.
I activated the time walk again and ran. The time series before me offered a very repetitive sequence of deserts and gigantic creatures. Behind me, I heard something creeping at a fast speed. That thing could follow me in there.
The lean figure of a tentacle slithered quickly toward my back.
When I moved outside the series again, it was still a few meters from me.
A loud rain of rocks rapidly covered it.
I spotted James behind it, surfing around his peculiar board. The hand-to-hand fight between the two enormities had moved to another step. Most of the Eeb’s fluid mass had moved onto the snake’s head and slid into the beast’s mouth.
James lingered in the fight’s vicinity but was not doing anything to help.
The serpent bent forward and hissed, like a pressure cooker. A gigantic cloud of steam spewed from the armored titan, then it retched a black substance—the Eeb. James’s pet then pounced toward it, again crashing through the ground. It soon disappeared, swallowed by a sizable amount of soil thrown in the air, then chaotically put back. Everything around shook so much me and James fell to the ground. Then it all suddenly stopped and quiet came back.
“I think they killed each other, James. We might need another of those soon.”
He shrugged.
“Those things just come. I still can’t control them.”
I got up and shook some dust off my clothes. “We have to find Pavel. He disappeared when that thing attacked us.”
He pointed past my left side with his chin. “He’s there, by those rocks. I guess he was hiding.”
“Well, I can’t blame him for that. Do you also think he wants us to go there?”
“I assume so. Let’s see what he has to say.”
I looked at James and noticed he had black circles around his eyes; his human body needed rest.
Pavel stood, holding his arms straight, as his bones became stiff.
“What now? Any other trick you want to show us?” James spat.
“We have to go somewhere.” Pavel’s his right arm sprang upward, his fingers straightening. A light emanated from his fingertips and grew bigger, taking the shape of something very familiar to me. “Follow me through the portal, please,” the Czech said, his head bent forward.
“Where does this lead?” James asked.
“We have one member of the Communion. Follow me, please.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Okay, but not now. We have to find Maria.”
“I will reach out to her. You don’t have to worry, James. She will be here soon.” Pavel closed his eyes and talked to himself in a language I could not understand.
I checked the wound on my arm. It had healed already; the wound was no longer visible.
My former student mumbled unintelligible sounds with his eyes shut.
“Do you know what any of this is?” James asked me, turning his back to Pavel.
“I know as much as you do. Until yesterday, he acted as a scared kitten. Now he’s straight creepy.”
He nodded, but his eyes remained still.
“Will you tell me how you guys found us in here?” a girl said a few meters from us. She was together with one of our people, one I knew well enough not to trust.
“Maria, to be completely honest, I have no clue,” James answered the person he was looking for.
I do not know how, but I pictured her much taller than she actually was.
“Will you introduce me to all these people?” James’s friend asked.
He smirked as he did.
I shook Maria’s hand, knowing she was Path of Time just like me.
“Good to know you, Laura,” she said while looking straight into my eyes.
Vagras did not come close to me. I kept myself at a distance as well.
James moved to the middle of us. “This guy behind me is one of the EIBM students. I found him there. He’s proved his worth already. Now, he asked me to walk through this portal. He says they have one member of the Communion. If that is true, I think this guy here might help us.”
Maria scratched her head. “How do you know you will not die if you walk through that thing?”
“We are in Plane K, Maria. Even if he did, we all know what would happen,” Vagras answered.
“For once, I have to agree with him. I do so much that I’ll ask him to come along.”
Vagras’ gigantic head tilted.
“We have another thing to do, James. A very important one,” Maria almost yelled.
“Whatever that is, it can wait. I want to see what lies on the other side of this portal.”
Maria crossed her arm and got closer to her friend. She said something to him in an inaudible voice. They whispered for a full minute.
I looked away t
o give her some privacy.
The serpent appeared by my side. “I’ll be the one making the first step, you remember that.”
“I have quite a lot to remember about you, Vagras,” I said.
“I’d put the past where it belongs, the past. As it appears, we are on the same side here.”
We shared a long look, but none of us added anything.
James approached us, followed by the other Path of Time marcher. “Guys, Maria will walk through the portal. I have to do something else first and—”
“No, both of you need to go. You and Maria,” Pavel said.
“Pavel, will you explain at some point? I’m getting tired of all this.”
“Just go, all of you, if you don’t trust me.”
We looked at each other—humans and us, the invaders, the monsters. We did not know what to do, I could tell from the dubious looks, the tilted heads, the unspoken uncertainty.
“Okay, let’s get this over with. We go there. If we see anything wrong, we just come back.” Maria’s voice was much louder than any of ours.
“Okay, let’s just go, whatever. Not the craziest thing I’ve seen today.” James walked through the portal and disappeared.
Maria followed him with quick steps.
“The guy said they have one of them. Aren’t you curious?” Vagras did not wait for me to answer and walked through the door of light too.
They left me alone with my former student. “Will you follow me if I walk in there?”
He nodded, finally making eye contact.
“You are not a human being, am I right?”
“It took you much longer than I thought. You’ll understand soon. Go, I’ll be right behind you.”
18
James
When my eyes could see again and the blinding light of the portal had faded, I found myself in a poorly lit, colossal building, and it smelled like a poorly ventilated warehouse. I slowly adapted to the absence of light and surveyed the stained-glass windows and frescos, drapes, and all the other things commonly found in a big church.
Soon, all the others were behind me.
Vagras stepped forward and came by my side. “Humans, welcome to the Red Vault.” I think he tried to sound funny.
The next voice I heard was Maria’s. “The strange guy brought us to church. I really don’t think now is the best time for this.”
“Maria, I don’t think we will attend mass here. We are, rather, meeting someone,” the serpent added.
Pavel emerged from the bottom of the line. “As Vagras said already, this is the Red Vault. James, Maria, I brought you here because we have a proposition for you. Let’s meet Valu. He will explain everything.” He walked us through the side of the building.
Without looking around much, I noticed many buildings just like those in Scotland. That smell though, it had climbed all the way up my nostrils and tickled my brain.
At the center of the building, where one would normally find the altar if that was actually a church, stood a tall guy who might have been forty but looked older and wore a very formal, handmade-looking tuxedo. “Welcome, guys. I hope you do not mind me inviting you here with such unconventional ways, but the circumstances are troubling.”
I knew he was talking to all of us, but he meant those words for me. “Thanks for inviting us here, Valu. Pavel did his job in the best of ways.”
The man smiled. “What else would you expect from an automaton? I created him to do this.”
We looked at each other, but no one was beyond surprised.
I heard Maria mutter, “That explains the weird.”
Valu ignored that. “Please, let’s not waste any more time and get to the heart of the question. You already know why I brought you here. What you do not know is what we can do together.”
“You mean, besides trying to kill me?” Laura spat.
“That was just a decoy. I didn’t mean you any harm, Karat,” Valu said and asked us to follow him to the other side of the building.
We shambled in a line; our light steps emitted almost no sound.
I could see the ball of water was now in that place. “This is what they call a liquid chamber. I can’t recall the last time I saw something like this.”
“I see you remember a lot about us, Vagras. I’m surprised, as humans would say.”
“I know a lot of things. Tell the humans they might be interested.”
Maria and I approached the gleaming ball as Valu described the incredible quality of the object.
“There is a person inside. I thought we’d see a demon in there.” Maria served left and right.
“Oh, he is, Maria. He is. Am I not wearing a costume as well?” Valu’s voice turned warmer each time he addressed us.
“Okay, now the Communion has one less Grand Master in it. They are still very strong, even without whoever this is,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too harsh.
“That is exactly the point. We do not only keep him prisoner. We can use his powers for our advantage.” Valu’s posture and open arms made me think of a seasoned salesman. He retrieved something from a chest nearby. He turned, holding a device I had never seen before. “This is another of our creations. We can use it for draining power from Aaragul and give it to you and Maria.” Again, he was mostly talking to me.
“Okay, so you want to get energy from him and give it to me. Can I ask you, what’s in this for you?”
Maria spoke loudly again, not allowing the man to answer my question. “What is it with you demons lately? Why does everyone want to help us suddenly?”
Vagras, Laura, and Valu looked at each other.
The Reds forefather took the floor again. “You have to understand, Reds and Great Communion are sworn enemies. They took everything we built and confined me in here. I have planned this for years. Surely, Vagras and Karat have their own reasons. Why don’t you ask them?”
“Okay. So, you all are good guys now? Let’s say I believe you. Let’s say we work together. What is our next step?” I addressed the guy holding what resembled a golden hourglass.
“We give you all the energy we can get from Aaragul, as I just said. Then you must find something I hid on the paths a long time ago.”
Maria and Vagras shared a furtive look but said nothing.
Valu and I shook hands; I noticed my hand was much bigger than his.
“Now, let’s see how this device of yours works, please.”
He nodded and, without further ado, went by the water ball. He kneeled and placed the hourglass close to the sphere. Nothing specific happened. Valu pulled another toy—this one shaped as a regular iron pendant—from his pocket. “There you go, James. Wear this and you will gain energy. It will be a gradual progress, so give it time.”
He dropped the jewel in my hand, and I felt coldness, but I didn’t get any other vibrating feelings. “Okay, now we grow my powers. Why does it have to be me?”
Vagras, from behind me, took the floor. “Because the Great Communion does not know the Path of Matter that well. You have a slight advantage in that, James.”
I exhaled while nodding. I put the piece of metal in the front pocket of my pants. God, they were so dirty. “Are we free to go now?”
Maria spoke even faster than she usually would. “For sure, guys. You can leave any moment. We will meet again soon.”
Valu opened a portal in the wall behind him. A blue hole appeared among two large statues representing holy figures.
Maria and I moved by the portal then turned around.
“We’ll go. We have a small thing to do now before returning to Plane R.”
“We’ll meet again soon,” Laura said. I had assumed she would tag along.
“I’ll join you in Plane R,” Vagras added, but I did not pay much attention to him. “When you have enough energy, I’ll have Pavel look for you again. We’ll find you.”
“Okay, Valu. I hope that is not a threat.”
*****
We appeared in an area that resembled
a desert, but this time, a different type of desolation sprawled before us. Large trunks of petrified trees crowded the space for as far as I could see.
“I really thought they would kill us back there,” she said.
“They could have, but it would not hurt us that much. You know, the ponds.”
“Yes, those things. I don’t feel like visiting anyhow. Any clue where we might be now?”
“Get on board and let’s find out.”
When we began surfing, the usual noise of grinding rocks I had gotten used to was not there. The soil was much harder than in other areas of Plane K, and it would not crush under the stone board.
“I was not here before. Why would they open a portal leading us here?” I asked Maria, but the question was for me as well.
“I told you we should not trust them. This might be just another trap or trick to waste our time.”
We moved farther, but the landscape surrounding us did not change; it was piles of stone and nothing else.
I stopped by one and touched it, tried to push it, pull it—nothing happened.
“What is it you are doing, James?”
“I do not know. Trying to do something? Do you have any better ideas?”
“If you want to move this thing, I have a better way to do it.” She unsheathed her sword and jumped in a temporal series, disappearing from sight.
I saw her not a second later, bolting at high speed from the series and wielding her weapon. She hit the rock column with it, and it exploded. The blast projected pieces of dirt.
“This is how you remove obstacles from your way. No heavy lifting needed.” She was smug in her pretty face.
“That was awesome, but I was not trying to make this explode.” I noticed something hidden by the petrified tree. I was silent for a few seconds and stared in front of me, so she prodded me with her finger. “Look, there are three columns of rock there, taller and thinner than the others.”
“You really are into rocks, aren’t you?”
“I saw a place just like that in a totally different area. It was weird. I found a metal box there.”
She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “What metal box? We must find that immediately.”
I wriggled from her strange hug and pushed her backward. “What’s with you and metal boxes, Maria?”
