by A. K. DuBoff
I placed my hand on my sword’s hilt. “Thanks. We’ll see you— Oh!”
“Forget something?” the engineer asked.
“Yeah, the monument. We were going to bring cleaning supplies to get it back to how it should be.”
Kaiden shook his head. “Elle, I have to say that I’m impressed. After everything we’ve done over the past week, you still care about scrubbing some sealant off of an old stone.”
“It’s a crystal,” I corrected, “and it’s connected to an ancient artifact. We should be respectful.”
He smiled. “I appreciate that you care.”
“Sealant, you said?” Tami frowned. “That stuff is a pain to get off, but I have something that should do the trick.” She motioned to one of her maintenance techs and gave instructions about what to bring back.
A minute later, the tech returned with a container of cleaning solution, some wipes, and gloves.
“This should get it off.” She handed it to me.
“Thank you. We’ll see you soon.”
I dropped my bag and the cleaning supplies in the common room and then went to the bridge to assume my usual seat.
A somber mood settled in the bridge while we strapped in.
“Do we need a pep talk?” I asked while the shuttle taxied out of the hangar.
“This does seem like one of those times for a speech,” Toran replied.
“I think you just volunteered yourself, Elle.” Kaiden smiled at me.
I sighed. Giving speeches wasn’t typically my thing, but I was feeling oddly inspired. “Okay, well… I know we haven’t known each other for long, but the past week has shown we’re here because of a common goal. It has nothing to do with where we’re from or what we were before we were called, but what’s in our hearts. We will do anything to help our loved ones and the other victims.
“We didn’t ask to be chosen for this role, but we were. It hasn’t been easy, and I’m sure it won’t get easier, but we have each other.” My gaze met Kaiden’s for a moment. “Everyone is counting on us now, and we need to push forward for them. We’re going to go in there and do whatever it takes to seal the Archive, because that’s the only way we can be sure our loved ones are safe. I know that won’t be the end of it—the Darkness isn’t going to go away just because the Archive is sealed—but it’s a big step forward. It’s a step that shows we can work together and do this.
“We may have started off as strangers, and maybe not all of us wanted to be fighters, but we’ve all risen to the occasion. I know I’ve done things I never dreamed I could do. Whoever I thought I was going into this, I now know I’m so much more. All that we need to do is try.”
The others stared silently at me as I concluded.
“Was it that terrible?” I asked.
Kaiden shook his head. “No, that was actually really good. You sure you didn’t prepare that?”
“No, just got all psyched up in the moment.” I glanced behind me at Toran and Maris, both of whom still looked stunned. “You know, when someone gives a rousing speech, typically you cheer, or, you know, react.”
“I was moved by your words,” Toran stated matter-of-factly.
I shook my head and slouched in my seat. “I’m definitely going to dial back my expectations for speech reception in the future.”
“Might be the setting,” Maris said. “Like, we’re not facing each other, and arm-pumping is a little awkward in these harnesses.”
“I am not a cheer-er,” Toran said.
Kaiden chuckled. “Guys, the Dark Sentinels need to work on our team spirit.”
“I’ll say.” I crossed my arms. “Well, I tried.”
After clearing the Evangiel, the shuttle began its descent into Crystallis’ turbulent atmosphere. Kaiden took manual controls as the clouds thickened outside the viewports.
The shuttle jerked as the first of the winds hit.
“What was that?” Maris asked.
“Oh, did we not mention that part?” I glanced back at her. “This whole planet it a mess. The inertial compensators don’t work here for some reason, and we need to go in for a semi-blind landing.”
She paled. “You what?”
“Nah, it’ll be fine with the upgrades, I’m sure,” Kaiden assured her. He frowned at the control panel. “Well, I mean, we’ll figure it out.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The destination won’t lock in the nav system,” he replied.
“That’s not the same issue we had last time, is it?”
“No, before we knew where we were going but couldn’t see it. Now we have sensors to see where we are but the destination isn’t standing out.”
My chest constricted. “We saw something like this before… on the last planet that was touched by the Darkness.”
“Shit, you’re right.” Kaiden paled.
“There’s no visual sign of it,” Toran stated in an assured tone, but his drawn face belied his inner concern.
“Maybe the magical signatures are the first to be affected,” I hypothesized.
Kaiden nodded. “Let’s hope there’s an extra layer of protection around the Archive like the dragons had.”
“Stars, I hope we’re not too late.” I sunk as deep into my seat as I could.
“First we have to get there,” Kaiden said. “I’ll head us toward the spot where we entered the valley last time.” He entered in our previous stopover location and adjusted the shuttle’s course.
I nodded. “We found it once before that way.”
We descended through the thick cloud cover, bracing ourselves against the turbulence. Maris moaned most of the way down, but I tuned her out, distracted by thoughts of what we might find at the Archive.
It hadn’t occurred to me before that the Darkness might reach Crystallis before we returned. It had felt like we were making good time in our quest to retrieve the artifacts from the other worlds, though, in truth, we had no idea how the interstellar infection was transmitted. The affected worlds followed no clear location pattern or commonalities that were readily apparent. The only reference guide was the information the Hegemony had been able to extract from the Archive, and that was far from complete.
After an uncomfortable ten minutes, the shuttle dropped through the lowest cloud layer, revealing the barren landscape of the world.
I saw no hint of the Darkness, giving me hope that perhaps that wasn’t the reason for the navigation issues. In my heart, however, I knew that was wishful thinking; this world was at risk like any other, and its time may have come.
“I think those are the rocks where we fought the lizard things,” Toran said while pointing out the front viewport from his seat.
“That’s correct based on this nav log,” Kaiden confirmed. “Which means the valley should be up this way.” He altered the craft’s trajectory to head toward the mountain range to the east.
Kaiden followed the readings from the new sensor suite to navigate the shuttle through the foggy mountain pass to the hidden valley.
The cloud cover cleared as if a veil had been lifted, revealing the sheltered valley filled with thousands of crystals. To my relief, there was no sign of the black speckled infection I’d seen on my own world right before the reset. Maybe the Darkness wasn’t here yet.
“Stars, this is amazing!” Maris gasped.
“Pretty incredible, isn’t it?” I agreed.
“I’ve never seen crystals this size.”
Kaiden shook his head. “Didn’t even know it was possible before we came here.”
“It’s no wonder this place is kept hidden. I can only imagine what would happen if the location of this world got out,” Toran said.
I nodded. “Regardless of your political opinions, I’m glad the Hegemony has more sense than that.”
“They have reverence for the crystalline network, that much is clear,” Toran murmured. “Their motivations behind it might be another matter, giv
en what little information they’ve been willing to share.”
“Can you blame them?” Kaiden asked while navigating the shuttle toward the landing site. “We’re a bunch of random people they bioprinted after extracting our consciousness from… wherever it is we go between resets. Would you really trust us with your secrets, either?”
I laughed. “When you put it like that, I wouldn’t, no.”
Toran inclined his head. “We’re only here because they were desperate, that’s true. Perhaps after we complete this task we will have earned their trust.”
“I think we’ve already done a lot for them,” Maris stated.
“Well, we have,” I corrected. “You pretty much just got here.”
“Two days after you!”
“That’s an eternity in this business.” I grinned.
Kaiden landed the shuttle, with only a slight bump to indicate we were on the ground. “We’ll all be veterans after we face this. Ready to go to the place no one has been for hundreds of years?”
I unbuckled my harness. “That does make it sound even cooler and more exclusive.”
“The coolest and most exclusivist.” Kaiden smiled back while he powered down the engine.
“I don’t believe that’s how I’d characterize this mission,” Toran said, unbuckling his own harness.
“Just keeping it light, my friend.” I patted him on the shoulder while I passed by his seat on my way to the common room.
I was about to put on my backpack but then thought better of it; whatever we might face inside, I wasn’t going to need camping gear. I opted to instead grab the flashlight, a length of rope, and a tablet from the pack. I was able to fit the small tablet and flashlight in my coat’s pockets, and the rope I slung diagonally over my arm and torso.
By the time I was finished, the others had joined me in the common room and had retrieved select items from their own bags. Only Toran opted for his full backpack.
“I’ll bring a med kit,” he stated. “May as well be prepared for a fight.”
“I can take care of that.” Maris replied.
“What if you’re the one hurt?”
“Oh, right.” She frowned. “I don’t want to get hurt.”
“I think that’s a pretty universal sentiment,” I responded.
Kaiden slipped a flashlight into his pants pocket. “We might not even have to fight anything. The artifact guardians may have been the worst of it.”
“Hopefully.” I didn’t believe it for a second.
“Everyone ready?” Kaiden asked.
I checked my pockets. “Yep.” I paused. “No, wait.” I jogged over to where I’d left the cleaning supplies.
Kaiden sighed. “Elle, I appreciate what you want to do, but can’t we deal with that later?”
I smiled. “Just saving us a trip. We can take care of it on the way back out.”
“All right,” he agreed. “Everyone else good to go?”
Toran and Maris nodded.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Toran released the exit hatch, and we filed down the ramp into the sand-like ground covering of crushed crystal.
The diffused light through the fog gave the valley a strange purple tint I hadn’t noticed on our previous venture, likely because I was distracted by visiting an alien world for the first time. Even having spent the last week in space and on other planets, walking among the giant crystals remained the most awe-inspiring location of all those we’d visited.
We wove our way through the groups of crystals and rock formations toward the slope up to the cave entrance. I was mesmerized by the subtle hum in the air, which seemed to come from the crystals themselves. I was barely paying attention to where I was walking when a snarl from the shadows next to some rocks snapped me back to focus.
The sound was familiar. “Freaking stone lizards,” I mutter, drawing my sword from its new scabbard.
Kaiden sighed. “Ugh, I hated those things.”
Three of the spiny creatures emerged from the shadows at the base of a giant crystal five meters to our left.
“We really don’t have time for this.” Kaiden raised his hand, and a fireball shot out from the end of his staff. It divided into three, each headed directly for one of the stone lizards.
The fireballs struck each center mass, and they all but vaporized into ash.
I sheathed my blade. “You’ve gained some skills since the last time we were here.”
“Crazy how far we’ve come, isn’t it?” Kaiden strolled toward the cave’s entrance.
When we reached the foot of the incline leading to the cave, we took a running start to get up the scree. The task was more challenging with my hands full of cleaning supplies, but I managed to make it to the top on my first attempt.
At the cave mouth, Kaiden illuminated a light orb in his palm and led the way inside.
We walked in silence on the way down to the inscribed column that had sent us on our hunt for the artifacts. When we arrived, everything was just as we’d left it, with the black sealant still marring the opaque crystal.
I set down the supplies at its base. “We’ll get you back to how you should be.”
“I don’t think it can hear you,” Maris said.
“Considering the artifact guardians, some kind of sentient force here wouldn’t surprise me, actually,” Kaiden said.
“Even if there isn’t, good cosmic karma is never a bad thing,” I added.
Toran nodded. “Indeed.”
Maris sighed. “Okay, whatever.”
Kaiden approached the back wall of the cave. “How do you think we get this open?”
“Maybe touch our artifacts to the symbols?” Toran suggested.
“Sounds reasonable.” I drew my blade.
Together, Kaiden, Toran, and I extended our respective artifacts toward the stone wall, touching each to its corresponding symbol. I held my breath with anticipation.
Nothing happened.
“Okay, there goes that idea.” Kaiden returned his circlet to his head.
I lowered my blade. “Maybe we need to use the items?”
“Punch the wall?” Toran raised an eyebrow.
“I dunno.” I shrugged. “All of the other worlds we visited required us to interact with the crystals.”
“Hmm, I wonder if that’s the problem.” Kaiden walked back over to the central column. “Maybe we need to do something with this?” He brushed his hand against the crystal’s surface.
The white monolith glowed pale blue in response to his touch.
“I think you’re onto something!” I jogged over and placed my hand on the opposite side. The light intensified.
Toran joined us. As soon as his hand touched the crystal, the light flashed blindly bright and then returned to a subtle light blue glow.
“Did that do it?” I wondered.
A moment later, the symbols on the wall started to glow. To the left, the central crystal that the tunnel wrapped around began to glow, as well. The light took on more definition as the outline of an archway formed in the surface of the crystal wall, then pressed backward through the crystal to form an arched passageway.
I stepped toward it. “Well, shall we?”
24
“Yep, hidden passageways aren’t the least bit ominous,” Maris muttered when we entered the ethereal crystal corridor.
The walls were as smooth as a plane of glass. I wasn’t sure if there had been some sort of camouflage over the entryway or if the pathway had actually formed right before our eyes. Given the transformative feats we’d witnessed over the past week, I was inclined to believe it was the latter.
The corridor sloped downward at a subtle angle, presumably passing underneath the spiraling tunnel we’d entered on the way in. It continued straight for twenty-five meters and then there was only blackness.
Kaiden held up his hand and increased the intensity of the light orb. The illumination cast on our faces go
t brighter, but the light faded three meters from us.
“Okay, yes, it’s a little creepy,” I acknowledged.
“Is the space so large that we can’t see the walls, or is something actively suppressing the light?” Toran asked.
I looked behind us; the passageway through the crystal was visible, but it was only darkness all around us. “This is going to sound a little weird, but I don’t know if here is here.”
Kaiden spun around to look where I had. “What do you mean?”
“Remember on the last world in the tower where we fought the dragon? The geometry didn’t work,” I said. “I think there was some kind of magic at play, where reality was… distorted.”
“Like, portals?” Toran asked,
“Maybe. Or perhaps distances aren’t what they seem.” I walked back in the direction of the passageway but stayed to the right. “There’s one way to test the idea.”
I stretched out my hands in front of me when I neared what should be a wall, but there was only emptiness. I continued forward until I was parallel with the mouth of the passageway; standing next to it, I saw only blackness.
The sight freaked me out, and I hastily stepped backward. “That isn’t right.”
“What?” Kaiden prompted.
“The corridor is there, but it… isn’t.” I steeled myself and returned to the parallel position. I extended my hand toward where it should be, feeling nothing. “Okay, if I’m not crazy, this is about to get even weirder.”
I turned to my left, directly into where the crystal-lined corridor should be, and walked forward. I took five steps through the darkness, then turned left and continued walking. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw that I was now on the left side of the passageway.
Kaiden was staring at me, dumbfounded.
“I just walked through—or behind—or whatever that supposedly solid thing we all came through, didn’t I?” I questioned.
My companions nodded silently.
I shuddered while I returned to the group. “Okay, yeah, this place is officially messed up.”
Toran frowned. “So, if we’re here-but-not-here, then where do we go?”
