by Ramy Vance
The ground beneath her skull broke apart from the sheer amount of force. It was all Alex could do to shield herself.
Roy hit Vardis from the side and knocked the alien off her. She rolled away, holding her head as blood poured from her nose.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw that Roy wasn’t letting up. He had grabbed the alien and pulled him to his feet. Roy punched him in the stomach, and as Vardis doubled over, the mech rider brought his elbow down on his neck.
Vardis stumbled back, raising his hands as if begging Roy to relent.
Roy cracked his knuckles and walked toward Vardis, but grabbed the side of his head and screamed in pain.
Vardis dashed forward, jumped up, and delivered a roundhouse kick to Roy’s head, sending the rider into a pile of debris from one of Vardis’ earlier attacks.
Then the alien lashed out with his telekinesis at Alex, hitting her in the chest.
Alex tumbled across the floor as Vardis lifted a tank into the air, positioning it right over her. He brought the tank down.
Alex reached out, trying to stop the tank from crushing her.
The tank froze in midair, vibrating from the stress of the two opposing psychics.
Roy slipped behind Vardis and put the alien in a half-Nelson.
The alien lost his focus, and Alex was able to move the tank far enough to be out of danger.
As Vardis struggled to get away from Roy, Alex rushed over and punched him in the face with her bionic arm. Vardis’ body slumped, and Alex hammered the alien with another blow. His body went limp, although Roy continued to hold him up. “Finish him,” he growled.
Alex looked at Vardis, who had blood trickling from his eyes. “I think he’s finished.”
Suddenly Vardis surged up, and the lights in the hangar went black. Alex felt herself tumbling, and she could no longer tell if she was in the real world or in the manipulation the alien had cast. Either way, she had been wrong. He was only getting started.
Chapter Four
“We can end this right now, Vardis! It doesn’t have to be a fight!”
Alex was stalling. Even though she and Roy had gotten the jump on Vardis a couple of times during the fight, it was becoming obvious that he outclassed them. Every time Alex thought they had the alien, he tossed them off and kept going.
Chine was going to be needed for this one. Alex wasn’t sure where he was, though. Roy had mentioned earlier that everyone had been evacuated. On top of that, Vardis was doing something to block communications.
Alex was able to reach Chine through a shared dream with Vardis when she was at home, though. The distance then had been greater, and she’d been under much more stress. If she’d contacted Chine then, she’d be able to do it now.
All Alex needed was for Vardis to focus on something other than killing her for a second. It was too hard to concentrate while dodging tanks.
“We both want the same thing—the end of the Dark One. There’s no reason one of us has to die.”
Vardis’ psychic energy lashed out of his body, tearing through a helicopter at his right. “One of us isn’t going to die. Both of you are.”
The ground in front of Vardis was vibrating from the energy coming off his body.
Alex focused on Chine, searching for him and concentrating on her message. Chine! I need you! Vardis is going to kill us!
She put everything she had into it, and as she focused, her skin grew hot, just like in the dream space. Without warning, flames burst out over her skin and shot from her eyes. As suddenly as the flames had erupted, they disappeared.
Alex fell to the floor, drained. She could hardly keep her eyes open. This was the most energy she’d ever expended using the draconic fluid in her blood. It felt as if she’d used it up.
Roy stepped in front of Alex and aimed his pistols at Vardis. “You take another step this way, and you’re gonna have a hole the size of a watermelon in your head, if there’s anything left.”
Vardis cackled as he floated into the air. “If you could have killed me, human, you would have. There’s no need to lie to yourself.”
Roy chuckled as he fired at Vardis, who waved away the blasts. “That’s because I’ve been playing with a handicap. Didn’t think I was going to have to bring out the big guns.” He slammed his hands together, and the exo-suit linked his fingers. He aimed his index fingers at the alien as if they were a gun. “Bang.”
The tips of Roy’s index fingers began to give off a faint blue light, then a plasma blast the size of a small car burst out, pushing him back against Alex.
It went straight at Vardis, whose eyes widened in fear. He tossed up a psychic shield as the plasma blast engulfed him.
Roy ran over to Alex and helped her to her feet. “Come on, we need to take cover. I don’t know how much juice this thing has.” He ran off, dragging Alex behind him. “Speaking of juice, how are you holding up?”
Alex leaned on the tank they were taking cover behind. “Tired, but I’ll make it. I don’t know if I can launch any more psychic attacks, but other than that, I can hang. What’s the plan?”
“Uh, now that calling for backup is out of the question, I’m thinking we maybe try not dying?”
Vardis’ scream rang through the hangar as the ground trembled. “He’s losing it,” Alex said. “He was referring to himself with the royal ‘we’ earlier, and you saw the look in his eyes. He’s unhinged.”
Roy was looking at the power reserves on his suit. “I was thinking it had more to do with the whole ‘wipe out an entire universe without thinking twice’ vibe but you know, to each their own.”
“I reached out to Chine, but I don’t know if he heard me, and I don’t think I can do it again.”
Roy nodded as he checked over the side of the tank for Vardis. “Guess it boils down to us. Thought you should know, you fight better than most people with three times your experience. And I don’t think I’ve ever met a kid with as much heart as you.”
Alex clapped Roy on the shoulder. “It’s cute how you get all sentimental when you think you’re going to die. Has Myrddin seen this side of you?”
“More than I’d like to admit. You ready? I’ll go left—”
“I’ll hit him from the right. Let’s go.”
They split up and went their respective ways. As Roy ran through the maze of broken tanks and helicopters, he kicked a truck-sized amount of debris out of his way, then stepped into the open.
A tank flew at Roy. He barely jumped out of the way, then rolled on the floor and fired two more plasma blasts in the direction the tank had come from.
Meanwhile, Alex circled around to flank Vardis while the alien’s attention was on Roy.
Vardis was out in the open as well, but a psychic shield surrounded him—a giant bubble with a blue aura.
Alex assumed the shield would protect Vardis from psychic blasts and a reasonable amount of physical damage, but she wasn’t planning on limiting it to “reasonable.”
She charged him at full speed. While the alien was focused on deflecting Roy’s plasma attacks, Alex leaped, whipped out her scythe, and slashed his shield open.
Vardis spun, catching Alex in midair. He pointed, and she slammed into the wall.
The rider tried to move, but she could not. It felt like a giant hand was squashing her into the wall. The alien wasn’t holding back anymore.
Roy clapped his hands and fired another giant bolt of plasma.
This time Vardis was ready. He flew toward the ceiling, letting the plasma race past him. Then he yanked Roy into the air and held him there for a moment before slamming him into the ground.
Roy was trying to get to his feet when Vardis grabbed him again and flung him into the air before sending him back into the crater the first attack had created.
Vardis laughed loudly as white energy shot from his eyes.
Alex felt the alien’s grip tightening around her body.
Once more, Roy was thrown into the air, only to be brought back down with
enough force to break more than a few bones. This time Roy didn’t get back up. He laid there, unconscious.
Alex struggled against Vardis’ grip. “Get up, Roy! Get up!”
Vardis whirled to face Alex. “You can’t get up when you’re dead, human!”
Come on, Chine! If you’re gonna get here, you better make it fast, Alex thought.
Vardis floated over to Alex and stopped nearly nose to nose with her. “Did you think you had a chance?”
Alex tried to fight off his attack, but her mind was too tired. “What now? You kill me and go to Middang3ard like nothing happened? Don’t you think everyone is going to be suspicious if Roy and I don’t show up?”
“You’re in the medbay, and Roy said he was going to stay with you until you got better.”
“And the staff here? They’re just going to pretend they didn’t see anything.”
Vardis pressed his finger to Alex’s forehead. “A few human minds to warp? Hardly a problem. You should know by now how fragile the human psyche is.”
Alex tried to pull away from Vardis’ finger. “Doesn’t seem to be any more delicate than yours. Remember, I was in your head as well, and what I saw didn’t look particularly strong.”
Vardis winced at Alex’s words. “Sometimes the things we see, they change us. We don’t always get to choose how they do it. Change just happens.”
The two looked at each other in silence for some time, Vardis’ words hanging over Alex like an axe ready to fall on her neck. “You don’t have to be changed like this,” she offered.
Vardis turned away from the rider. “No, Alex. Someone must be strong enough to destroy the Dark One. I have that strength. I will not fail.”
Alex felt a familiar warmth in the back of her head. It was Chine, but she was too tired to hear him. There was only a faint feeling of reassurance.
All Alex had to do was keep Vardis talking. She’d noticed the more she tugged at him, the harder time he seemed to have fighting. That was all this was now. He was distracted enough not to outright kill her and Roy. “What happened, Vardis?” Alex asked. “What really happened? Everything in your dreams, in your mind, was all jumbled. What did you see?”
The alien’s shoulders relaxed and he sighed heavily. When he looked at Alex, his eyes had returned to normal, and his lower lip trembled. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. There are things I remember, but I’m not sure if they’re my memories or if someone placed them there.”
Alex wanted to take his words and throw them back in his face since apparently his mind could be broken as well, but that would have sent him into a rage that could easily end with him killing her right then and there. “Did someone tamper with your mind?”
Vardis’ eyes hardened, and he looked like he was preparing to fly into another murderous rage. “It doesn’t matter. I know the Dark One is real, and I know what he is capable of. That is all that matters. Goodbye, Alex.”
Alex felt an invisible force tighten around her throat and wrists. She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were starting to burn, and everything was going fuzzy. “Wait, wait…”
Vardis crossed his arms and laughed harshly. “What for?”
The concrete wall Alex was pinned to exploded forward, throwing concrete and debris everywhere as Chine’s head burst through the wall.
Vardis released her, and she fell to the floor.
Chine scooped Alex into his claws, where she lay limp for a moment, almost too weak to stand. I am here, Alex.
Alex shakily got to her feet, peering over Chine’s claws at Vardis. Glad to hear that. Now let’s toast that bastard.
Chine smiled toothily before loosing a blast of ether fire that consumed Vardis.
Chapter Five
Alex climbed up Chine’s back and laid down, anchoring her feet to Chine so she wouldn’t slide off. She felt ready to pass out. The battle had been grueling, but it was over. An extended stay in the medbay sounded heavenly.
Then she remembered Roy and sat bolt upright. “Chine, we need to check on Roy!”
The dragon swooped from the rafters to Roy’s body. Alex forced herself up and jumped off Chine. She ran over to Roy’s side and knelt next to him. “Roy! Roy!”
Roy rolled over, groaning loudly. His nose looked broken and was gushing blood, but other than that, he looked fine. “Don’t know why we stopped using these suits. These things are tough.”
Alex helped Roy sit up. “I don’t think you can give the suit all the credit for you still breathing.”
“Don’t want to get too full of myself. My head is big enough.” The mech rider leaned back, wincing from the pain, and looked at Chine. “Glad you made it when you did. I don’t know what kind of steroids Vardis was on, but he was a monster to take down. Wouldn’t be surprised if he would have given a couple of dragons a run for their money.”
Alex took a seat next to Roy. She needed to be off her feet for a little bit. “Yeah, talk about good timing. How’d you find us, Chine?”
The dragon curled around Alex and Roy, smoke coming from his nostrils. I’ve been looking since we were escorted off the base. It seemed odd that we all had to leave you while you were in the medbay. The captain who issued the order did not seem to be in complete control of his faculties.
“Vardis probably inserted the idea into his head. The poor man most likely didn’t know the idea was false.”
Chine nodded slowly. That was what I assumed after I remembered how strong a telepath you said Vardis was. It is not a simple task to rewrite someone’s memory; even I can’t do that. But once I had my doubts, I did not stop searching for your thoughts and your heart. Unfortunately, I’m too large to sneak away from a convoy without being missed.
Alex laughed as she imagined the dragon trying to sneak through the Nest. “Yeah, that’s hard to imagine. Where did you come from?”
Boundless and I were responsible for transporting the shard to a collider transport near here. There are a few military bases with designated colliders, this being one of them. From there, we were being taken to another base to get outfitted with augments in case something came up.
“How come Myrddin didn’t have you go back to Middang3ard?”
Roy stepped in to answer that one. “He probably had them hang back in case something happened here. Boundless might be one of our best teams, but you aren’t the only forces Myrddin has at his disposal. The shard’s going to be heavily guarded. It would make more sense to have you guys stationed here in case something happened.”
“Something like Vardis trying to kill you and me.”
“Exactly.”
Roy struggled to get to his feet, leaning on Alex’s head like a makeshift cane while hauling himself upright. Then he reached down and helped her up. “Come on, we should check out the corpse. Knowing Myrddin, he’ll probably want to ship it to some science department and have it dissected.”
Alex thought of Abby getting Vardis’ body in the mail and how much it would freak her out. “Oh, yeah, I imagine that’ll make everyone’s day.”
The two of them walked over to where Vardis’ corpse lay, followed by Chine, who towered over them.
Vardis’ skin was burned to a crisp, and his body, which lay face-down looked like a broken toy. Alex thought the alien’s corpse looked pathetic, almost tragic. The last few moments she’d shared with him had deeply confused her. Even though Vardis had the drive, it didn’t seem like he understood where it was coming from. “I think someone tampered with Vardis’ memories,” Alex suggested.
Roy rolled Vardis’ body over, knelt, and peered into the alien’s eyes. “Wouldn’t know how to tell. The only training I have in all this psychic stuff is protecting my mind. I don’t know how to tell if someone has been or is currently being manipulated. Not my field of expertise. But even if he was, you gotta hand it to the guy. He sure as hell knew how to put up a fight.”
“The Dark One is stronger than he was.”
Roy looked over his shoulder at Alex, his face puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
Alex thought it was obvious. “Vardis nearly tore us apart. If Chine hadn’t gotten the jump on him, he might have been able to take him as well. He destroyed nearly twice as many ships as anyone else on the moon without breaking a sweat. Vardis was the strongest being I’ve ever met. And the Dark One is supposed to be even stronger?”
Roy shrugged as he pulled out a cigar and lit it. “Yeah, he is stronger. Don’t mean we can’t beat him, though. You saw today that just because someone is tough, it doesn’t mean they can’t die. Vardis was the biggest, baddest son-of-a-gun you’ve fought so far. Now he’s dead. The Dark One is next. Don’t tell me you’re starting to crack.”
“No, it’s not that. I just mean, if I was as strong as Vardis and knew there was something stronger than me out there, I might have been insane enough to want to use that shard. It would probably seem like a good idea.”
Roy walked over to Alex and ruffled her hair. “Well, I’m glad you’re not that strong, then. Come on, we should regroup with the rest of the team. They’re probably wondering where Chine is by now. I’ll radio for someone to take care of this. Comm should be back up with this asshat taken care of.”
Roy pulled up his comm and frowned as he heard static. Then he pulled up his HUD menu. There was nothing there. “That’s odd.”
A massive psychic blast erupted, sending Alex, Roy, and Chine flying.
The cracked skin on Vardis’ body started to peel back like the burned outer layer of a marshmallow. A slimy, slippery Vardis emerged from the thin layer of burned, dead skin. He looked untouched by Chine’s fire attack.
The alien stretched out his hand as if he were getting used to his new skin. “I’m flattered that you had such kind things to say about me when you thought I was dead. It’s fitting for warriors such as yourselves.”
Without wasting another word, Vardis exploded into the sky, taking off in the direction Alex could only imagine led to the shard.
Alex rubbed her head, trying to shake away the ringing in her ears. She wasn’t ready to keep fighting, but it didn’t look like she had a choice. “Wait, Vardis is screwed. The shard is on Middang3ard. He can’t get out of this realm without the collider, and that’s where everyone is.”
