by Mark Russo
I summoned a stone worm and ordered it to attack the dinosaur.
It burst from the floor and went for the leviathan’s flank, spreading its jaws as wide as it could.
The leviathan simply extended an arm and slapped the worm.
It plummeted to the floor, motionless.
The moment one of his arms was no longer wrapped around my chest, I tried something else. I rapidly erected a stone wall between us, and the mineral block crashed against the leviathan’s arm. I expected it to cause damage, but it crumbled to pieces upon impact.
“Come on, James. Fight as you should. Are you scared of hurting me?” he yelled in my face. He threw my body in the air again, but that time, I found myself ready to react in time.
I used my stone giant skill midair and landed on my feet maybe ten meters from the purple beast. Now our body sizes were similar. I did not put much thought into it, and I charged. I blew a straight, frontal punch at the large, scaly face, but he blocked it effortlessly. I tried again with my other arm, but the result was the same. In the heat of the moment, I improvised a headbutt. He placed his arms in front of me, but I managed to push him back.
“See? Put some effort into it. I think we’re done with the warmup.” He disappeared and popped up at the other end of the room, so I ran toward him. He vanished again and materialized on my side.
I saw him in the corner of my eye and expected he’d punch, kick, or anything that would involve violent physical contact. All I know was something pulled me back and forced me to the floor, like a hundred chains strapped to my legs.
“Did I tell you we can use all our powers?” he scoffed.
The more I tried to escape his invisible grasp, the more I failed.
“Okay, if you’re not willing to try, I’ll just end you.” While remaining motionless, the leviathan caused a large stalactite to fall from above, pointed straight to my face. Those few seconds lasted forever.
My legs still could not move. The rock cone got closer. I put all my efforts in escaping, but it was pointless. It was a few meters from me and looked much bigger than I thought. I grew my size even more until I was twice as big. I grabbed the falling stone column and threw it at the leviathan.
He teleported somewhere else and avoided the immense projectile. It crashed to against a wall and broke in two large trunks. I saw Vagras by the stairs still completely stiff.
My opponent blinked left and right. Each time I moved a foot to get to him, he would already be somewhere else. From frustration, I punched the floor, and it broke in a straight line, and rock spurs emerged from below, like spears being thrown from the depths of the Earth.
He appeared at the end of the crack and clapped. “See? Now you are trying.”
That made me see red. I punched the ground multiple times, causing waves of stone to crash in each direction. The entire room shook and trembled. Another earthquake was about to begin, but I stopped. My breath was short, and my whole body vibrated in the most energy I’d ever demonstrated.
The leviathan materialized in front of me. “You stopped. That is very good.”
“Are we done?” I asked, panting.
“Almost. Did you understand what was going on?”
“You were trying to piss me off. That’s what I understood.”
“That is true. Why did I do that?” He blinked again and came very close to me. “Do you understand the responsibilities that come with being a god?” He grew and placed a hand on my forehead.
My head spun. Different images appeared before my eyes in a kaleidoscope of colors, memories, and smells. It was simultaneously overwhelming and calming. I saw moments of my life I thought I had completely forgotten—my father’s voice merged with the wind of the Highlands, the taste of jacked potatoes became a vision of me pulling my aunt by her long skirt, the mountains and sea and sky blended. I touched those; I was all of those. Then I was in Third Life. I remembered all my friends, all the people I hadn’t talked to in years and I won’t ever talk to again. All those hours, days, and months I had passed immersed in different worlds returned at once. All of that was there, and it was real—crystal clear.
I remembered everything.
25
Vagras
When the leviathan lifted his hand from James’s head, he fainted and fell to the ground, returned to his human form. The divinity turned to face me. He could have teleported, but he chose to walk.
I perceived all his stomps in my guts. My throat was dry.
“You,” he said, pointing one of his long claws at me.
I closed my eyes and prepared to die. Being killed by the hand of a god was something I could tolerate.
“What are you doing?” He covered his face with his hand.
“I’m preparing to die?” I do not know why that sounded like a question.
“Get up. You must help me.” He turned and returned to James.
“Is he dead?”
“No. We’ll see what happens to him in a minute. Grab his legs.”
I doubted he needed my help with moving James’s unconscious body, but I kept my mouth shut.
“You know I can hear all your thoughts, right?”
“I didn’t know that. I’ll keep my mind shut too.”
We carried James across the room and placed him on a marked spot on the ground. Again, I refrained from asking questions, and the giant by my side ignored my thoughts.
The leviathan made a small gesture with his left hand, and James levitated. He closed his eyes, and a tall column of light appeared out of thin air, wrapping James, and making him disappear. The light was so bright I had to protect my eyes.
“This will take a while. Come with me. We have something else to do,” he said.
I looked again at the bright column of light. It seemed to pulse rhythmically, following the same beat of a human heart.
“That is correct,” the leviathan said. “The column movements follow James’s heartbeat.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just kept walking. We reached a doorless hole in the side of the room. The first two steps of a spiral staircase emerged from the darkness when we got close enough.
“Go up. My body won’t fit in there.”
“Can I use a ball of light? It’s pretty dark in there.”
“I’m sorry we don’t have electricity down here. Go ahead.”
When the ball appeared in my hand, I climbed the stairs. Again, I did not ask questions. The stairs were made from an unfamiliar metal. I tried to look up to understand how tall they were, but the steps blocked my view. I summoned a double and exchanged my position with his. I repeated the process a couple times and reached the top of the stairs where another ample salon sat with openings on the walls, letting in sunlight.
“Okay, you’ve reached the temple,” the leviathan’s voice resounded in the large hall. “Two braziers are on the side of the throne. Ignite them.”
I looked right and saw a large, stone-carved, bas-relief adorned chair of stone; judging by its size, the giant lizard could not fit in there.
“I can still hear your thoughts, Vagras. Would you prefer not having any thoughts at all? I could free you from the burden of that head you carry around.”
“I’ll keep it for some more, but thanks for the offer.” I went to the braziers placed on the sides of the throne that appeared like two large stone half spheres and seemed very heavy. I went to the throne next and searched for something I could use to light a fire.
The floors seemed clean, like someone had swept them recently. On the righthand side of the room, in proximity of one of those windowless openings, I found two bundles of dry branches. I placed them in the braziers and searched for something to start a fire but couldn’t find anything.
“Flints and strikers are at the base of the braziers,” the omnipresent divinity’s voice thundered.
I found them and inspected them for a moment before I rubbed them against each other. I expected sparks to come from my hand, but I was wrong. My wrists
got stiff, but I had generated enough burning powder. I expected a tall fire to explode immediately, but I got a timid, little flame instead. I put more effort in the second one, and I got a much better result. Red burning stripes wrapped the fry branches without mercy. The room heated slightly in a few minutes as I stared at the fires dancing and cracking.
“Now get the torch from the side of the throne.”
I located a wooden torch on the throne’s side, grabbed it and touched the top part to the closest brazier. It ignited almost immediately. Maybe it had been dipped in some flammable substance.
“Now go to the other side of the room and wear the hat and mask you’ll find on the main altar.”
Sure, I had lots of questions, and the weirdest thing of all was Milan’s voice had been silent for days. I rushed to not anger the scary dinosaur and located the altar on the other side of the hall. There, I found a wide-brimmed, stiff cotton and a bronze mask. My eyebrows almost fell into my eyes. I expected that voice to talk again, but it didn’t. Without forcing my mind to untie all the logical knots that had brought me in front of those two objects, I took a deep breath.
I placed that hat on my head, and it fit just perfectly, as if it had been tailored for me. The mask covered most of my face, leaving just my lips and the lower part of my chin uncovered. That, again, fit perfectly.
“Now, the most important part—go outside to the balcony and wave the torch three times. Do not go down the stairs.”
“Okay, I’m really not following. Can you please explain what is going on?”
“All will be clear very soon. Now, do as I instructed.”
I walked toward the largest doorless opening and assumed it would lead outside. My assumption proved correct. Outside was a large balcony with two lateral flights of descending stairs. When I reached the parapet, I saw maybe a hundred people staring at me and wearing very peculiar clothes. I noticed three of them wearing hats like mine.
When they saw me, I waved the torch three times, as the Leviathan had suggested. They kneeled and bent their heads.
Not knowing what to do next, I turned my back. When I did, the high crest of a mountain surprised me. I had seen that place before but wasn’t sure where. I lowered my eyes and noticed the building I had been inside donned a minimalistic façade that framed the entrance, which purpose I was still to figure out.
I had just entered the hall again when the Leviathan said, “I have to say you did well. We’re almost done.”
“What do I have to do now?”
“Stay where you are and wait.”
I looked around and realized the only place to sit was on the throne. Maybe I was being too strict, but I figured I’d better not place my butt there, so I walked in circles from the entrance to the braziers, back and forth, maybe a dozen times.
From the crude stone ceiling of the unique building, a string of light descended to the floor. At first, I thought the roof had a crack and the sunlight had leaked in, but the string enlarged and thickened. Soon, it became a column of light like the one I had seen before with the leviathan. The column grew larger and pulsed faster. Before I could prepare, the glistening pile exploded, flooding the entire area with light. I dropped to the floor, fearing for my demise again on that day. The light disappeared, and I checked my flesh for wounds or anything that might confirm the nefarious images my mind had created, but it all seemed fine.
I looked at the spot where the column of light had originated and saw James laying there, still unconscious but breathing. I tried calling his name or tapping his shoulder, but he seemed to be sleeping.
The leviathan appeared by my side, startling me. “If he wakes up now, we have a chance to save this world.”
“What do you mean? He might not wake up?”
“I’m sure he will, just give it time.”
“Where are we now? Who are those people out there?”
“Let’s wait for James. I’ll give you all the details you need.”
I sat on the floor. I was in a human body, after all, and that one needed to rest his limbs. Chitchatting with a god did not seem like a good idea, so I just stared at James’s body.
I couldn’t say how much time had passed, but he moved his arm at some point. It was one of those involuntary movements, like those humans do while sleeping. Then his legs moved, and soon, he shook like he was having a seizure.
“Do we do something?” I asked, ready to intervene.
“No, we cannot.”
His eyes opened, and he screamed, as if something terrible was happening to him. His back bent so much I thought it would break. The crack I heard next made me think that had happened. The sound escaping his mouth peaked and broke, lost somewhere in his throat. His neck snapped and turned in our direction, but his eyes were blank. He stopped moving and breathing; his abdomen was immobile.
We stayed silent.
James’s skin grayed to the color of stone, a trick he had used a million times. His entire body grew but in a different way. When he stood, he did not look like the person I knew at all. His head was placed between his shoulders, his neck had shortened almost entirely. His arms and legs were longer. He had turned to a muscular, oversized human made of stone. “What happened?” His voice was not the voice I remembered.
“It all worked. Now you guys listen to me.” The leviathan stepped right, placing himself between me and who once was James. “We are exactly eight hundred and seven years in the future.”
Both James and I asked, “What?”
“Please let me finish. We have little time. We are in the future, as I said. Human society thrived on the islands in the sky. The planet is uninhabited for the most part.” He summoned a see-through ball showing images of what the world had become. “You guys will help me.”
“How?” James roared.
“Well, you two are in charge here.”
The stocky rock monster eyed me. “Again, I’m not sure I understand.” Each time James talked, the room almost shook.
The images in the ball changed. “Fifty years after you guys left the islands, this guy,”—he pointed at a creature made of fire—“appeared in this very place. I never understood how he came to exist, but Nagun inspired the people. He helped them to structure their society and to develop.”
“Where is he now?” I asked.
“We don’t know how, but he disappeared. That is why I need you here.”
“Are you saying I have to be a god to these people?” James asked.
“You are already a god, James. You just didn’t know it. Vagras,”—he pointed at me with his longest finger—“if you so much try to pull your usual shit, I’ll come back here, and you will not like it.”
I nodded and inched backward.
“Are you saying you’re leaving us alone?” Again, James made the floors tremble.
“The entire continuum is in trouble, James. I must leave. You can contact me through the sphere. It will remain here.”
“How? How do we manage all this? We know nothing about this future!” I asked, raising my voice.
The leviathan’s corneous eyebrows furrowed. “The ball will tell you all you need to know.” He paused, and I thought he was preparing to leave. “Vagras, drop that suit. I need you to wear another one,”
“I don’t know how to find one.”
He snapped his finger, and what seemed to be a human body appeared before us.
“Is this person dead?” James asked.
“Yes, they killed him on the same day Nagun disappeared. His name was Sevran Barstan. This will be you, Vagras. You will be the High Priest of Telluria.”
I was about to open my mouth, but the leviathan pointed at the sphere and disappeared. I wore the new suit, and it felt oddly more comfortable, despite it being a corpse for who knows how many days. Apparently, now I could wear a human body even if they were not alive.
James and I stood in front of the sphere. We were about to watch a very long movie—the longest one I had ever watched since I was in
EIBM and training Emma.
26
Emma
The giant light in the sky had left, and I could not move. It was like time had frozen, though I still felt my lungs filling with air, but I was not controlling my breathing. I was on my knees and had been ever since the flying object had left the area.
Maria’s body was frozen in a different position. She was charging Akko, blade in hand. Her lips were parted, revealing a sliver of teeth.
Akko and Vaim had disappeared.
My shoulder and back would torture me even if I was not moving, and my lower back was wet, I assumed from some clotted blood. I had no way to check what had happened. The gleaming trees around me emitted a dead light, frozen as all the rest around them. A star appeared brighter than the others and seemed to grow. I would have checked better, but my neck wouldn’t bend. The light grew until it hovered somewhere above my head. That giant thing had returned. I wanted to look at it, but I just couldn’t.
“Hello, Emma,” something said, but it did not sound like a voice; it was more something inside my head.
Who are you? I thought since my lips were glued together.
“My name is Alpha. I am what you people call a spaceship.”
What did you do to me? Where are Vaim and Akko?
“They are fine. Don’t worry about them. I froze time so Maria and Vihkan would not kill you.”
I do not need your help. Let me fight.
“I won’t stop. Have at it, but I’ll remain here.”
When the time unfroze, I saw Maria swing her weapon, but Akko was no longer in her reach. Who knew what that thing over us was up to?
Maria saw me, sheathed her sword, and approached me with a crooked smile I could not read. “There you are, Emma. On your knees. Are you comfortable?”
I did not reply but became invisible instead. I used the oldest of my tricks; a bunch of doubles scattered around the area. I was ready to switch my position with any of them.
