Hell's Gifts - Complete Series Boxset

by Mark Russo

  That thing released me, and I plummeted onto the stony soil again. My grasp on the walking ember was tight.

  It slid backward, leaving a fiery trace.

  I tried to lift it to no avail.

  The two people were still flying above my head.

  When I tried standing, my legs would not bear my weight. I fell again, face first.

  The monster rolled me over. Something emerged from the undistinguished mass and reached for my throat.

  That was the last thing I remember.

  10

  Emma

  I inhaled loudly as I woke up. It was such a sudden move my head got dizzy. My breath was irregular, sweat beads covered my forehead, and all my limbs shook. I turn on the lamp on my nightstand. The room looked like it did the night before; the small wardrobe door was still open. I took a sip of water from the glass I had by the lamp. Whatever the nightmare was that had pulled me from sleep, I could not remember.

  That night, I slept intermittently and turned in bed now and then. My eyes opened again at five in the morning, and I failed to fall asleep again. I got up and went to the window, as I would do on any other day. On that one, I still had three full hours before my class would start.

  The thought of having breakfast did not seem as appealing as it usually would. I went downstairs and roamed a bit in the empty main hall before going outside. It was a standard greenish day, but it was not rainy. Oddly.

  I pushed open the fence. No one ever tried to hop on this side, probably because no one was around. The ruins of Berlin lay peacefully in the distance. I could not hear any sounds coming from that direction.

  I recalled when I had walked on the Path of Mind, the actual one. That place had pushed back James and let only me in.

  The next thing I knew, I walked through a portal, heading there.

  *****

  That place differed from what I had remembered; the peak appeared much higher. I climbed the sharp rocks, and I could have sworn I had never been there before. Then the stone spurs smoothened, and a mountain trail appeared before me, climbing as high as I could see, growing steeper by the meter.

  The path turned right, running alongside a tall wall. On the other side stood a mild ravine. I passed through some low clouds that hid the sick sun I almost got used to. Then, after another curve, I passed a narrow canyon with moist walls. At the end lay a tiny valley carved inside the rock. The height of the rock faces obscured the sun.

  And there she was—that person who looked exactly like me. “Hello, Emma,” she said.

  “Hello. I don’t know what I should call you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Do you know why you’re here?”

  “You knew I was coming?” My eyebrows lifted slightly.

  She smiled. “Of course, I did.”

  “Then no. I have no idea. I just felt I needed to be here.”

  “Did you bring me a present? Last time we met, you said you would if you ever returned.”

  “Well, I was not sure about your taste. But I brought you this.” I pulled the pendant James and Maria had worn from my pocket.

  She came closer and looked at it, then she took it in her hands.

  “Did they use it?”

  Her eyes were suddenly all serious. “They did. Is something wrong with it?”

  “Maybe. Do you think I could know where Maria is?” She threw me off guard with that. “I do not know how to answer that.”

  “Emma, I don’t know where she is. Are you sure you did all you can to find your friend?”

  Again, words got trapped in my throat.

  “One thing I can tell you, I know you did not achieve your full potential yet.”

  “Okay. Can you please tell me how I’m supposed to reply to your questions and statements?”

  She smirked. “I can’t tell you that, but I’ll give you a little homework. Challenge yourself. You’ll know how and when this will make sense.”

  “I guess it’s time for me to go now,” I mumbled.

  “Thanks for visiting then.”

  “See you.” My words sounded like a question.

  “We will not see each other again, Emma.”

  “How about if I need more guidance or advice?”

  “You won’t. Now go. You have a very busy day ahead of you.”

  “Okay. You make it really hard to talk with you.”

  “That is what I’m here for. Be well, Emma.”

  “You too.”

  We eyed each other for a moment, grinning.

  I turned and walked through a portal. She said it would have been a busy day.

  *****

  When I returned, it was still way too early for my class to start. I went inside to the kitchen on the ground level and brewed myself some coffee. It tasted horrible, but real coffee had been unavailable for years. I sat at a table and prepared a sandwich; the bean paste we had on most of our meals did not look better today. There were no other options, and I had to eat something. After finishing the unsatisfactory sandwich, I washed the dishes and headed to the main hall. It was early; I could have slept for another thirty minutes.

  I had just set my right foot on the first step when I heard a muffled thump from outside. Maybe it was just a tree dying from the effects of that damn plane merger and crashing to the ground somewhere in the distance. Then I heard another and another. I ran to the window. At first, I saw nothing peculiar, just a few windblown pines outside our fence. Then one of them seemed to move, and I realized it was not a large plant.

  When the thing emerged from among the branches, I jumped backward and screamed. It was like time had slowed down; I ran up the stairs, shouting with all the air my lungs could hold. I slipped on the top step and fell. Luckily, my hands and wrists hit the wall in front of me, saving my face. I didn’t check to see if I had any deep scratches.

  A moment later, I was in a corridor. I must have turned left. I banged on all the doors while screaming. Time became even slower.

  “What? What is going on? I was sleeping!” someone shouted. When he recognized me, he lowered his head.

  “Help me! Let’s wake up everyone. We need to leave the school immediately. Do not go out the front door. Run!”

  He hesitated, so I shouted in his face again. He went to the room across the corridor and hit the door multiple times.

  I reached the end of the hallway and found myself in front of another window. My eyes betrayed me when they looked outside; the thing drew closer. For a second, all I could hear were the stomps of the largest demon I had ever seen. I stepped backward, and someone grabbed my shoulders. My voice broke as I shrieked.

  They spun me around and grabbed my arms. “Emma, what’s going on?” It was James.

  “There, look.” I pointed at the window.

  He looked out, dropping his hands on the windowsill. When he turned to face me, his facial expression was more than explicit. “We have to get everybody out and start running.”

  “Let’s gather them in the back of the school. We’ll portal out of here. Somewhere.”

  He nodded, his skin seeming paler than usual.

  I returned to the entrance hall to see the stairs crowded with students and colleagues. The stairs rapidly created a choke point. I heard people calling each other names. Then a loud crashing sound came from the front door; the wall around it shattered and crumbled to the floor. A tall cloud of dust and debris plumed and filled the entire room. I lifted my t-shirt to cover my mouth. The concrete mist blocked my sight, but my ears were working at the top of their function.

  Lots of people screamed. I did too.

  The creature’s profile towered before us, blocking the few rays of light filtering through the thick cloud.

  The screams grew louder and frantic. Then something changed.

  Another mastodon appeared within the blurry scene. It charged the demon and dragged it from the building.

  I conjured a double on the outside and rapidly switched positions with it. The taste of fresh air final
ly hit my nostrils. All I did for a couple of seconds was try to breathe. When my eyes could see again, I realized the other giant was James.

  The two giants were on the ground, my friend on top of the other. He punched the creature’s oversized cranium multiple times. Apparently, the monster had bones, as they were cracking.

  The first people who exited our school had dirt-covered clothes, and all were coughing loudly.

  My clothes did not look any better once I checked.

  When those students realized what was laying in front of them, they resumed their vocal concert of laments and horror.

  The monster squirming underneath James’s massive stone body hit him back with one of its many limbs. The mass of skinless flesh did not seem beat up yet.

  James grabbed it by the neck and pushed his fingers deep inside the creature’s exposed muscles.

  Finally, Vaim exited, and he ran to my side. “We have to leave. Now!”

  “No way. We are not leaving James.”

  “Sure, we aren’t leaving behind anyone. But the building suffered severe structural damage. It might collapse any moment.”

  I opened a portal and almost dragged him inside. “Get the students through here. I’ll get to a safe distance and help James with that thing.”

  He nodded and hugged me.

  I did back; I held him so strongly I felt his bones against mine.

  Vaim strode to the portal and waved his arms at the people exiting the almost dissolved cloud of dust behind us.

  The next time I looked at James, the scene had changed. Now the abominable beast held his trunk in a vicious vise, as he would squeeze its neck stronger and stronger.

  Laura and Akko reached the portal, followed by some more students; one of them had tears pouring to his chin. Laura’s left shoulder bled like a fountain with lots of clotted blood covering it.

  “Akko and Vaim will take care of you. Use the portal now. It leads somewhere safe,” I told her.

  She ground her teeth as she trudged forward.

  I surveyed what remained of our school; no more people were escaping from what had once been the building’s main front. It was time for me to kick some ass. I used a double to get close enough to the fight.

  James and the monster were on their feet, except the demon did not have any. My friend gave the Plane K creature an elbow to its wildly asymmetrical face; a violent blow that spun the monstrosity around a full ninety degrees. That was when it saw my clone. It growled and revealed several lines of teeth in both its mouths.

  Before it could do anything, I used my mind blast. I imbued a small amount of energy in the ability, but it was too weak to lift it or hold it still.

  My move distracted it long enough for my friend to hit again. Both James’s fists smashed against its massive head.

  The beast remained still for a moment then fell to the ground. The umpteenth loud bang rang out that day.

  I assumed James had ended it, but I was wrong.

  It twitched then wiggled and wrapped one of its flexible limbs around one of James’s legs.

  My clone ran toward it, and I exchanged my position with his. Then I touched the creature. When I did, something I did not expect happened. I was reading my override skill, but there was no use for it.

  The monster squirmed and trembled, like that student had done. The majestic creature withered and turned to dust.

  James quickly returned to his natural size and body form. “Why did you get this close? You could have died, Emma.”

  “But I didn’t, right?”

  He scoffed while shaking his head. “What was this thing? I’ve never seen one before.”

  “Me neither. Let’s go now. The others are already on the other side of the portal.”

  “Where does it lead?”

  “To the islands in the sky.”

  11

  Vaim

  After walking through the portal, we found ourselves in a wide dale with lots of trees on the sides where the mountains grew taller. Something seemed unusual about this place—for what was once Plane R, especially. Three large blocks or rock detached from the top of the peaks and floated above them.

  I asked everyone to stay behind me, eyeing the unusual landscape.

  On my left, Laura fell to her knees.

  Everyone suddenly focused on her.

  Akko stood in front of her, letting Laura cling to the stick he always kept only for himself.

  Behind us, Emma and James finally reached us too.

  “Are we all here?” she asked the crowd.

  A few of us looked around and confirmed.

  Emma said something to James by her side, but I couldn’t hear it. She came by me and checked Laura. Her face got stern before she talked again. “Laura, how are you feeling?” She rapidly kneeled to assist her wounded friend.

  The marcher on the Path of Time’s voice was much weaker than I’d ever heard. “I’m fine. Just get me something to patch this thing up.”

  “Sure. Guys, do any of you have anything we can use for Laura?”

  People looked at each other, a few heads shook, some other low voices answered in the negative.

  “Okay, let’s get up there. We’ll ask those guys for help,” Emma said to James but ensured everyone could hear her.

  “I might help with that. Gather around me. Which of those flying mountains are we going to?” I asked.

  “Let’s try the small one, on the left,” Emma said.

  “Okay, let’s see what’s up there.”

  I channeled my energy into one of my shields and wrapped everyone around me with it, then I lifted it from the ground. The technology was powerful enough to carry over fifty people, and we were less than twenty.

  No one talked as we rose in the almost blue sky above us; I could not recall the last time it had been so close to its natural color. We landed safely at our destination—a small patch of grass I had chosen.

  I released my energy shield and let everybody out.

  Laura, on my side, was very pale and again dropped on her knees as soon the invisible barrier around her dissolved.

  Emma moved in front of us. “Guys, search the area for a place we can use for the night. Form groups, and do not push yourselves too far away. Akko, Vaim, please stay with me. We’ll take care of Laura.”

  The students rapidly split into three groups.

  Before leaving, James said, “I’ll monitor them from a distance. If anything happens, I’ll be right there for them.”

  We agreed that was okay, then he left.

  Emma and I let Laura lay on the grass.

  Her shoulder was turning blue, and she was slightly shaky. “I’m cold.”

  “Let’s see if this works. Emma, please step away from her,” I said and created a barrier around her. “This should keep you warm for the moment. Is it better?”

  She nodded imperceptibly.

  Akko made some weird gestures, trying to lure Emma and I away from that poor woman. He asked us to sit on the ground so he could look us in the eye. “She’s not going to make it. We must find a new suit for her if we want her to live.” His voice was the warmest he’d used in a long time.

  “Can’t you just create another for her?” Emma asked.

  “Don’t you think I’ve tried that already? I do not enjoy my Plane K body so much I could not abandon it.”

  “I’m not sure I’m following.” A wrinkle appeared between Emma’s eyebrows.

  “I tried to get a suit for myself. It’s a complicated process, I won’t dig into detail. Long story short, it didn’t work.”

  “Why did that happen?” Emma laid her elbows on her knees, supporting her head with her hands.

  “Ever since the planes’ merger, things have worked differently.”

  “What do we have to do then?”

  Akko and I shared a look, as he was searching for the best words to say what we both already knew. “We need an actual one. A living person’s body we can move her essence into.”

  E
mma extended her fingers and covered her face. “Let’s say we do this. How?”

  “We need someone who’ll sacrifice themselves for her,” I said.

  “Does this person need to express a consent for this to happen, like when students embrace the Paths?”

  “Not necessarily,” Akko said.

  “Do you have something in mind?” I asked her.

  “Not for the moment. I just wanted to consider all options.”

  Laura wailed from under her transparent shield.

  “Whatever we choose, we need to do it fast,” Akko said.

  We shared a look of understanding.

  In the distance, James was surfing toward us and stopped within earshot. “You might want to see what we just found, guys. Hop on the board. We’ll be there in a minute.”

  James drove us on a winding dirt road among the trees and brought us upon the floating piece of rock. When the board stopped, James pointed at something partially hidden by a large oak’s branches.

  “That is a mountain hut,” Emma said.

  “Yes, we did not check the inside yet. But it might be a good start.” James moved his stone board ahead and brought us in front of the building where ivy had covered a part of it, but for the rest, the building seemed in good condition.

  The students arrived there shortly after.

  “We should check the inside. I’ll do it. If someone is in there, they won’t see me,” Emma said. She approached the small door in the house’s front and pushed it; apparently, it hadn’t been locked. Before entering, she became invisible.

  “How is Laura doing?” James asked me.

  “We have little time. We’d better think of something soon. We can’t create another suit for her after the merger.”

  “How about the Ponds? Are they still working?”

  “Have you heard from Aaragul recently?”

  Akko stepped in from behind us.

  “No,” James said.

  “That is your answer then?”

  James did not comment any further; he appeared to be contemplating something.

  A few invisible footsteps announced Emma was back. “It’s clear. No one has been in here for months,” she said as people gathered around her. “Guys, get inside and clean it up a little. There are some mattresses that might require extra care. There are a few cans of food too. We should be fine for the evening.”