Blue Hell And Alien Fire (Middang3ard Book 4)

by Ramy Vance

  Chip fired two more shots into the darkness.

  The plasma lit the cavern for a brief second before everything was plunged back into darkness. She looked around, trying to find the creature, but much like the rest of the Mundanes, she couldn’t make sense of what was around her. The creature must have burrowed back into the stone. As Suzuki watched Chip, Beth, and the rest of the Mundanes flail, something clicked.

  Suzuki turned to Stew and shouted, “Go berserker now!”

  Stew gave Suzuki an incredulous look. “Why the fuck would I do that?” he asked.

  “Go berserk now and pound on the rock.”

  “But they’re covered in those—”

  “Pound on the fucking walls, Stew! That’s a fucking order!”

  Stew stopped hesitating and listened. His body swelled, the muscles bulging out as his torso and his legs stretched. His eyes went red, and he turned to the rock walls. When he slammed his fists into them, the walls quaked. Suzuki had been expecting something of the sort, but he was not prepared for how strong Stew was. It felt like an earthquake had just ripped through all of Middang3ard.

  Almost as soon as Stew’s knuckles pulled away from the rock, the creature came screeching out. Suzuki didn’t have time to think or explain. He undid his belt and threw his axe at the creature, who dodged it effortlessly.

  Suzuki fell, his body weightless.

  His axe was coming back. He knew that, but he wasn’t sure if it was going to be fast enough. In the meantime, the creature had thrown its body toward Suzuki, the only obvious prey.

  Suzuki pulled down his HUD with one hand as he waited for the inevitable impact, either from whatever was below or the snake thing quickly gaining on him from above.

  Even in the dark, Suzuki could see the creature coming for him. Its serpentine eyes glowed in the little bit of light shimmering across the slick sprout-covered walls. The creature’s jaws opened wider still, preparing to slip around Suzuki. A droplet of its spit fell on Suzuki’s throat and it erupted in pain. It felt as if someone had laid him out on the ground and taken a knife to him, deciding to slowly dig the blade around as if they had no care in the world for how long it would take for him to bleed out.

  Suzuki screamed in the emptiness of the cavern, and it echoed across the cold, dead walls.

  In the distance, Suzuki could hear the Mundanes screaming. He could hear the snapping of rope and belt, the gnashing of teeth, and screeching of the abominable creature. All he could concentrate on was the pain. He felt as if his heart was going to slip out of his chest. Cool air brushed against his face as he gasped for breath.

  Suzuki’s rope hit a snag, and his body went limp as his belt clung to the rope. His eyes forced themselves open as he coughed up blood, a thick, black substance that stung his mouth.

  Beth swung from the rope, throwing herself with all her strength until she landed next to Suzuki, her bow drawn, waiting for the creature to make itself evident again. She did not have to wait long. The cavern walls shook.

  The creature burst from the rock near Suzuki. Beth saw the rock moving as if it were experiencing a seismic upheaval, kicked off the stone, and cinched her belt so the rope was taut. She swung past the creature, nocked two arrows, and let them fly. The arrows hit the creature in the back of the head. Its blood spewed and hit Suzuki in the face, burning off his flesh instantly.

  Suzuki grabbed his face out of reflex, unaware of the pain that would come afterward. He vaguely thought about how he had never wondered what his skull and his bones felt like. There would be no reason to wonder ever again. His fingertips grazed the cold bone of his skull, and he screamed in horror as he fell into the darkness.

  The feeling of weightlessness disappeared. His body went slack, and whatever held him up, he accepted as his savior. He felt the side of his face melting. If he had wanted to say anything, it would have been pointless. His jaw worked idiotically in his skull, the skin melting off it.

  In the dark, the creature flew forth from who knows where. None of the Mundanes were prepared for another attack. The creature slammed into Suzuki, its body crushing him against the rock as its jaw retracted and slammed shut, grasping at Suzuki, dripping its acid spit over him. Suzuki screamed and his body seized as he tried to call his axe toward him. He was not capable of forming the thought. He held his hand out in the dark of the caverns as his axe lay someplace he could not reach.

  Chip jumped from the rope, disengaging it from her belt, her hands forming into two plasma cannons. Sweat beaded her forehead as she exhaled, taking aim. Beth came to her side, leaping through the air, her bow drawn. Diana came as well, her wand inches from her hand as she conjured an immense fireball. Stew’s hulking body climbed down the cliff wall, detached from his belt, eyes wide and full of red hatred. They all converged on the creature.

  To call it an explosion would do a disservice to what happened. It was as if a comet had punctured the earth. The rock gave way, and the creature shrieked its last cry as it fell into the darkness of the chasm. Diana scooped Suzuki into her arms and cinched her belt against the rope.

  Suzuki tried to keep his eyes open.

  It was difficult.

  He wanted to know what was going on around him, but he couldn’t seem to focus. Each time he blinked his eyes, he felt like he could close them forever. There was nothing he was going to miss. There was only the song beating in the back of his head and the black sprouts.

  He would be okay.

  That was all he needed.

  The world around Suzuki faded.

  It grew gray and cold.

  The pain in his neck ceased to exist.

  He looked around and saw only blackness, then the faint trace of a star went past him, too fast to catch. He was sorry he didn’t make a wish, but deep down, he knew there were no wishes to make. Wherever he was, it was a place without wishes, without possibilities, perhaps only built on intention, hope, and will.

  Suzuki looked around, trying to get his bearings. Even with the bleak nothingness, he was experiencing, he felt deep down that there should be some order, some kind of understanding. At that moment, Suzuki understood he was dying. This was the end of his life. It had never been clearer to him before.

  In the distance of the darkness, there was a song. Suzuki did not know how to sing along with it, but he was certain he knew the words. He felt them deep in his chest. He looked down. His skin was burned away. There was a hole in his chest. His heart peeked through, and he watched it beat through the ivory of his sternum.

  Still, there was a song. It was strong. It continued on. Suzuki remembered what he had heard Diana say about Sandy singing their safety into existence. Suzuki didn’t know how to put it into words, but he tried to compose his own song. Not thinking of notes or measures, he let his heart and soul call out in the only way it could in this place of blackness and chaos.

  And there was an answer.

  The song changed its tune.

  All around, the universe began to change. As Suzuki floated through the darkness, he split into thousands of versions of himself flailing for their lives in the black. He reached out for them, but none took notice of him.

  A face came to him in the dark.

  It was ridged as if had been carved from the most ancient of stones. Fire burned in its crevices. Suzuki knew he had seen this face before, and he knew it was important that he did not look at it again.

  He turned away, and in the distance, he saw a light bright enough to obliterate the darkness threatening to consume him.

  It was Sandy.

  A bright white glowing light in the black. She hardly had a form. Suzuki didn’t know why he knew it was her.

  Until she spoke.

  “Get the fuck away from Suzy!” Sandy shouted as she pointed her hand at the vestige of the Dark One. A beam of light shot from her fingertip.

  The world collapsed on itself. Everything turned to white and then to black. The universe collapsed.

  Suzuki woke up in a place he had n
o remembrance of. It was similar to places he had been before. Places he had been to recently. Still, his mind did not seem able to grasp onto those concepts. There was chaos around. No doubt. Yet, somehow, there was more sense here, more conciseness. In the deep void, Suzuki called out.

  In that calling out, there was an answer. It did not come with a boom or a shout, nor a whisper or a whimper. It came as a voice Suzuki understood. “What are you doing here, Suzuki?” Sandy asked.

  Suzuki was a child.

  He did not know how, but he was a child.

  He looked at his hands, and they were those of a babe. When he cleared his throat, he was surprised it was his voice he heard. He assumed it would have been a child’s. “What’s happening, Sandy?” he asked.

  “You are in a place where you should not be,” she replied.

  Suzuki tried to look around. It didn’t matter. What he saw made no sense. Universes falling into collapse. His body, the many iterations of it, lambasted by the cosmos, morphing into forms he had never imagined, their limbs growing long and confusing. “Why shouldn’t I be here?” he asked.

  “This is not a place for you.”

  Suzuki looked around, trying to make sense of where he was. “What is this place?”

  “You are not ready. This is a place where you can understand yourself and…”

  The fabric of the fragile reality began breaking apart. The universe sped up. Stars came into existence and died with hardly a notice.

  And Suzuki woke up.

  The Mundanes were sitting on the bridge above the chasm. Diana was crouched above Suzuki, trying to stem the blood oozing from his face. These were the worst burns she had seen in her life.

  Suzuki tried to breathe. Each breath felt like his lungs were ripping open. He tried to sit up to get a better idea of the state he was in, but his body wouldn’t respond. His eyes fluctuated between open and closed as he choked down whatever it was he was coughing up.

  The rest of the Mundanes were quiet as they watched Diana working. Diana moved with the efficiency of a surgeon. She held her wand above Suzuki, reciting through incantation after incantation to find something that would stitch up his chest. It was as if the wound was beyond magic. Sweat beaded her forehead as she became more frantic, and Suzuki’s breathing slowed.

  Black mucus oozed out of Suzuki’s wound. It was the same color as the black sprout petals they had been seeing throughout their journey.

  Stew was standing guard, waiting for the creature to return. They had lost track of it in the commotion, but they knew it was not dead. There had not been time to talk about what they thought it was or where it came from. The only thing that was important right now was making sure Suzuki didn’t die.

  Diana cast her wand aside. She leaned over Suzuki and pressed her head to his chest, to the wound, and screamed. Her robes exploded in light as the magical cracks across her skin spread. The god shone through her, and the entirety of the cavern vibrated with her power. The light leaked into Suzuki, pouring from her eyes as if it were tears, Diana weeping, her body shaking as the god within her lent its power.

  Suzuki’s wounds healed within seconds, and the light vanished. He sat up, grasping at where the wound had been, and he gasped as he sucked in air as if he had never breathed before. “Oh, my fucking God,” he whispered.

  At his side, Diana slumped over, struggling to breathe. She grabbed the side of her head as her body returned to normal, and the light faded. She was still for a moment before Beth rushed to her side and shook her awake. “Diana! We need to move!” Beth shouted.

  Diana’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked Beth in the eye and smiled. “I know,” she replied. “Help me up.”

  Beth pulled Diana up. Then Beth called Stew over and motioned to Suzuki, who still lay on the ground as if he were a child waiting to be picked up by his parents. Stew was still in berserker mode and easily picked Suzuki up and slung him over his shoulders.

  Chip led the way as they crossed the bridge. She watched the water pouring from overhead and the dark rocks covered in shadow as closely as she could. There was no light. They couldn’t risk it. They moved within the darkness toward the destination Chip reminded them was true. It did not take long to cross, even with two of the Mundanes carrying their wounded comrades. After a while, they stood before the cliff on the other side of the chasm.

  Beth looked up at the heights they were going to have to scale. “They’re not going to be able to get up there. Not Suzy, at least.”

  Chip nodded as she paced back and forth, trying to come to a solution. “All right, someone has to get up there and place the harpoon. I’ll do it.”

  Beth grabbed Chip and shook her head. “No,” she said quietly. “You have more firepower than me. You need to stay with them. If anything happens, you and Stew in a fight will be a better match than anything else.”

  Chip shook her head as if she disagreed but didn’t say anything. Instead, she opened her HUD and went through the inventory until she found a second harpoon gun. She pulled it out, and when the gun materialized in her hand, she handed it over to Beth. “You need to plant one down here and then one up top. Just make sure it’s secure,” Chip advised.

  “Got it.”

  Beth aimed the harpoon gun and fired it, the harpoon driving into the ground. Then she slung it over her shoulder.

  Chip reached out and grabbed Beth’s shoulder. “Wait,” Chip said. “Take these. It’ll make it easier.” Chip handed Beth two daggers. They were worn with age and covered in rust. Their hilts were engraved with words in a language long dead, without meaning.

  Beth took the daggers. They were heavy in her hand, much heavier than such small daggers should have been. And still, they felt as if they were an extension of her body. She looked at Suzuki as she stood before the great rock wall she had to scale. Then she plunged her dagger into the rock before her, the second dagger after that, kicked her boot into the rock, and began her ascent up the chasm walls.

  As Beth ascended the wall, Stew placed Suzuki onto the ground next to where Diana was leaned up against the rock. Suzuki’s eyes closed and opened rapidly, time and time again, but he focused on nothing. Stew took a seat across from Suzuki, crouching low and looking Suzuki in the eyes. “Dude, you need to get out of this,” Stew said. “We need to get the fuck out of here.”

  For a moment, Suzuki’s eyes connected with Stew’s. Then they went foggy and gray. Stew shook his head and took a seat next to him. Suzuki’s head tilted over and fell against Stew’s shoulder. “You know you’re my best friend,” Stew said. “As long as I’ve known you. Nothing’s ever going to change that, but you’re not pulling your weight right now. You’re sitting on your ass like a fucking baby, and you can’t be sitting here like that. Not now, not ever.”

  Stew took Suzuki’s hand in his massive one. It was like a giant holding the hands of a child. “You need to get up, Suzuki,” Stew whispered through his tears. “We need you to get up.”

  Suzuki looked at Stew. His stare should have implied he understood what was going on, but that was not true. There was nothing behind his stare. The wound in his chest had healed physically, but his body was still trying to make sense of how close he had been to death. He wished he could explain that to Stew, but his mouth wouldn’t work. No matter how hard he tried to speak. All he could really focus on was the song he heard playing in the back of his head. The sweet voice. The voice he now knew was Sandy’s.

  If death was so simple to slip into, why weren’t other dimensions? Wasn’t that what death was? José had died and gone onto an entirely different plane of existence, one that could still interact with the living world. Sandy had disappeared within seconds. Diana had brought back a god to reside within her body. Only minutes ago, he had almost died and slipped into that same realm. What was to keep him from doing it while living?

  Suzuki smiled at Stew and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the singing, on the voice he knew and understood.

  He felt his body gr
ow weak and frail and break away.

  Suzuki opened his eyes, and he was no longer in the cavern.

  The room he was in was familiar, but at first he did not know why. As he settled into the new situation, he realized it was familiar simply because it was normal. It was someone’s bedroom. Someone from Earth. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he’d seen the room of someone who was like him, back before he had been drafted into Middang3ard.

  The song was still present, but it was clearer than before. Suzuki felt like he should get up and follow the song. The voice was pleasant. And he didn’t want to be sitting in someone’s bedroom. There were clothes strewn about. Underwear that made him feel uncomfortable. It was like he had just walked into someone else’s life. So, he stood and went after the voice.

  Suzuki walked out of the room and down the hallway. The walls were covered in pictures. Suzuki felt like he knew the people in the pictures, but he couldn’t place any of their faces. He stopped and looked at one. It was a photograph of a child. She stared back at him, and he thought he saw her blink, but he wasn’t sure. Either way, the song was clearer out in the hallway. It sounded as if it were coming from downstairs. He went toward it.

  From the stairs, Suzuki crossed the living room and went into the kitchen. A young girl was sitting at a table, singing softly. Suzuki took a seat across from the child. The child was playing chess against herself. The pieces were black and white, but a kind of black and white Suzuki had never seen before. It was almost like the pieces were radiating black and white energy. The child did not pay any attention to Suzuki.

  “Glad to see you finally made it,” a voice said.

  Suzuki turned around to see Sandy.

  She wasn’t wearing her MERC attire, but a baggy sweat suit instead. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she looked tired. She crossed the room, poured herself a cup of coffee, and sat down next to Suzuki. “Do you want any?” she asked.

  A cup of coffee appeared in front of him. “Uh, yeah, I guess so,” he said.