Rift

by Nancy E. Dunne

  Lex released her hands and circled her with his arms before pulling her close. "Shocking? No." He looked at her, eyes hooded and bright blue. "Electrifying? Most certainly." He cocked an eyebrow and grinned as she groaned loudly at the terrible pun.

  "How did you do that, though?"

  "Easy. I took the current from you. If I hadn't, you might have made a circuit, and it would have stopped your heart." Lex rested a hand tentatively on her sternum, smiling slightly when she did not make a move away from his touch. His hand warmed her skin through her tunic, and she felt her body respond. "Careful," Lex said softly. "You're turning purple."

  Em laughed as she rested a hand on his cheek. "Am I? Can you save me from that as you did from the electric shock?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished the ground would swallow her up. They were up against incredible odds, and she was flirting like a teenager. "Sorry. We need to -" Lex cut her protest short by again covering her mouth with his. His kiss was less urgent than before, and the sweetness and gentleness of his advance warmed Em's heart - and other parts if she was entirely honest. She put her hands on his broad shoulders, moving them up to his neck and over the now-pulsing tattoos.

  As her fingers grazed the ink on his skin, Lex broke away from her lips and threw his head back as his top lip curled. He looked back at her after a moment - she was frozen in place with just her fingertips on the tattoos. "I'm sorry," she stammered, still too afraid to move. "Is that bad?"

  "No." Lex hissed his answer as he pulled her closer, lifting Em off her feet and settling her against his waist. She wrapped her legs around him, her eyes wide as he pressed against the most sensitive parts of her. "Is this okay?" He was speaking through gritted teeth, and Em could see the relief in his eyes as she nodded. His lips found her collarbone, and her body tensed, ready for his fangs to nick her skin again. He pulled away and met her gaze for a moment before she ran her fingers up into his hair and pulled his head back down to where he had been. With a growly purring sound, he tightened his grip on her ran his tongue gently against the skin of her neck and jawline.

  "Lex," she moaned as her head fell back this time. Her fingers moved out of his hair and down his jaw to his neck - she smiled wickedly at his sharp intake of breath when her fingers traced the tattoos, now pulsing madly.

  "Em...I need…" Lex lifted his head and met her hooded gaze.

  "So do I." Lex carried her back to the bedroom.

  Outside the tiny house, nestled deep in the forest of Iredale, a hooded figure lurked behind a nearby tree. Amber eyes glowed against the darkness created by the green cloak. A gloved hand retrieved a piece of parchment from the ground - it was the note that Em received and clearly dropped when the thunderstorm rolled in earlier.

  The letter was lifted to the face still obscured by the hood as the wearer inhaled deeply and audibly. "Maddie." Loud moans filled the night air, and the parchment was tucked away onto the cloak just before gloved hands came to rest on a nearby windowsill. The unobstructed view of the bedroom - Lex pulling Em’s tunic over her head and lifting her off the floor, the two of them climbing under the covers as the rest of their clothing was discarded. Em's naked back rose out of the bedclothes with Lex's hands holding her firmly in place - all of these sights and sounds brought an angry hiss as fingers gripped the sill, nearly puncturing the wood.

  Lex was suddenly still as he tightened his hold on Em, who was straddling him on the bed. "What's wrong?" she whispered as she climbed off him awkwardly.

  "We are being watched." His tattoos seemed to writhe as they faded from a brilliant purple to red. "Be very still." He pulled a sheet up to cover her and rose from the bed, gathering up his trousers as he crept from the bed. "Lie down and do not move."

  "If you think I'm not going to help you are mad," Em hissed in response as she wrapped the sheet around her and rolled off the bed onto the floor, landing in a crouch. She fought the urge to giggle happily - she had seen Em do that roll and crouch on her screen many times, but doing it in person was terrific. She wished she had more clothes on, but beggars can't be choosers.

  Outside, the stranger saw her roll out of bed and decided that was the cue to leave. The green of the cloak was the same hue as the woodland, and by the time Lex reached that window, there was no one there. He swore in his language and slammed his fist into the wall, shaking the entire house.

  "Watch it, Lex, you'll bring the house down around our ears." Lex turned to face Em, tattoos flaring a warning. "Did you get even a glimpse of who it was?" He shook his head, and Em closed the space between them as she reached for him, but he caught her hands in his.

  "No. We must not give in to that again, at least not here." He retrieved his tunic and pulled it over his head. "I will check the perimeter outside. Do not touch the box again while I am gone."

  "Why? You afraid I will figure it out before you do?" Em made a face at him, and he was nose to nose with her before she saw him move, glaring down at her, bathing her pale skin in the red light from his tattoos.

  "I am afraid it will shock you again, and without me here, your heart will stop." He stomped out the door, leaving Em to shudder and watch him go.

  Lex returned just as Em was dozing off by the fire. "Did you find anything?" He seemed startled by her question.

  "No. Well, there are footprints in the soft ground just under the windows. I don't think we should stay here, Em."

  "Agreed, but where can we go?" She was on her feet and moving about the house, collecting necessary things for their journey. "We can buy food and water along the way - how much cash do you have?"

  "Cash? Oh, you mean money. I have enough gold to keep us comfortable for a long while." Lex picked up the box and held it out to Em, but she shook her head.

  "Sparky, remember?" Lex nodded and slipped it into his pack. Em checked her supplies - where was her spellbook? She had been so amazed to see it in real life - well, whatever life you wanted to call this place - and now she couldn't find it. "Blast! Trouve le livre!" The air next to her hand shimmered, and her spell book appeared.

  "You remembered the spell?" Lex looked genuinely impressed.

  “No, not really, I said, 'find the book' in French and poof!"

  Your spells are all written in Earth-French, Em. Didn't you know?"

  Em's eyes were wide as she shook her head. "I never really said them aloud...before. I just clicked on the icon for the ones that don't come from me."

  "You mean like your elemental magic." Lex nodded. "All of my magic is elemental, just as a comparison. I don't have to learn to tame natural magic with words."

  "Right." Em scratched her head as she thought. "So, I can make anything happen by speaking it aloud in French?"

  "Can we talk about this later, after we get on the road?" Lex looked nervous, and she nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "What are you smirking about, Em?"

  "Allons-y!" Energy surged into both of them, rising up from the ground beneath the house and filling them with renewed purpose and slightly accelerated speed. "Oh, this will be fun!" She nearly sprinted out the door with Lex right behind her.

  “Where are you going?” Lex called out, but she didn’t answer - she simply kept running, arms flung out to her sides. Once again, she was taking in the feeling of actually doing something that she had only seen her avatar do on the screen. Her hair flew behind her. The sweet, woodsy smell of Iredale filled her nose and her head. The stars were fading, giving way to the sun that rose ahead of her. The sky was draped in pinks and purples. Em looked around her as she ran, feeling that she had seen this place before. Of course, she had seen it before, she had been playing the game for years - but it was more than that. She felt that she had been here before. It was the real world. She looked behind her, and Lex was nowhere to be seen, just trees and a gravel path. Em skidded to a stop, scanning the area for Lex and was thrown backward by something that seemed to hold her to the ground. A guttural scream escaped her lips as she fought off the unseen force - and then Lex’s f
ace appeared above her, his arms partially covering his features to protect his eyes from her attack.

  “LEX!”

  “Yes, Em, you stopped, and I couldn’t stop fast enough - I’m sorry that I ran into you, but you were getting so far ahead of me.” His eyes and tattoos glowed blue as he looked her up and down, then moved off her and helped to her feet. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right, I just thought you had left me, is all.” Em hung her head. Of course he hadn’t. Of course, he was invisible. How many times had she and Alex run this way with Lex under invisibility because Prophis were hated in Tyrael? She let the novelty of the game world cloud her judgment. Em was jarred roughly out of her own self-deprecating thoughts when Lex grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

  “I will not leave you, Em. Not now, not ever. Even if it isn’t my job anymore. I will not leave you, I swear it.” He shook her again, and she met his gaze. “Please, tell me you believe me. I swear it on my life, Em, I will never leave your side.” Em put a hand on the side of his face, and he eased up his grip on her shoulders.

  “I believe you, Lex.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. “But hear this. We will discuss what you meant by ‘even if it isn’t my job anymore’ when we get to a safer place, and if you ever decide to just become invisible without telling me first, I will fry you, do you understand? You have seen me light things up before, and I do not think you want to do that again.”

  Lex stared at her for a moment before chuckling. “It’s a deal.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him before placing a kiss on her forehead. “How about we transport somewhere rather than keep going on foot?”

  “Like we did out of the burrow?”

  “Yes, just like that.” He looked over his shoulder, and Em followed his gaze, gasping aloud as his wings unfurled. “It isn’t magic this time, Em. I couldn’t fly us out of the burrow. I knew that you would recognize the spell, and I just told you to close your eyes so you wouldn’t be afraid.” He gave her a moment to process. “You can keep your eyes open this time if you want - you will be within my invisibility shield so you will be able to see me. You can also see everything around - and below us, if you want to look.”

  “I do.” He smiled at her and flapped his enormous wings as he tightened his arms around her, then jumped up into the air. Em looked around as they lifted up through the trees and above them. The view was breathtaking - it was the view on the cinematic that she had long since skipped watching every time she logged into Arcstone. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

  “It never gets old.” She looked up at Lex and saw that he was also looking well beyond the horizon, a smile on his face. “Look, there are the spires of Embercrest. It must have been something to grow up there.” Em frowned. She hadn’t grown up there. “I’m sorry, Em. I just mean it is beautiful, that’s all.” The circular spires rose up until they nearly pierced the sky like needles. Made of a shiny ebony stone, when the sun rose and set, the spires looked like the embers for which the citadel was named. Before she realized how fast they were moving, the spires were behind them, and Lex turned to the south.

  “Where are you taking us?”

  “Ghostfell. That is the only place I know where neither of us will be bothered.” Em’s fingers tightened on his arms. “This is a new place for you, a new -” He paused for a moment. “Zone?” Em chuckled and nodded. “It is a dark place, compared to your Iredale, but I keep a room in a local inn run by someone that doesn’t ask questions.”

  “Okay.” She smiled up at him, and he rearranged his hold on her, placing one arm around her legs and one around her torso. “What are you doing?”

  “Um, allons-y?” Em threw her head back and laughed as Lex soared up higher and faster. There was so much still to figure out - how had she ended up here? How could she get home? Who rearranged Lex’s memories? There would be time to figure all that out. That seemed to be all she had right now - time.

  Lex

  Eight

  As he flew along, holding Em as tightly to his chest as he dared without hurting her - or risking sending his own senses into overdrive - Lex sorted through the things he had told Em about himself. How and where they had met compared to the things she told him about her world, the real world. Even that seemed strange to him. This world, this life - it all seemed real to him even though he knew that it wasn’t.

  In a way, he had always known. He vaguely remembered a life - a computer, voice chat, and M, whom he now knew as Em - but it was like the last bits of a dream that lingered after you woke. Tangible, retrievable, but just not solid enough to be clear in his mind. He knew that she would ask him about that again - she had said as much. Lex smiled as he remembered where they had been just hours before. She was more beautiful than he could have ever imagined now that she was three-dimensional and real. And when they landed and were somewhere safe, she would undoubtedly start questioning him again about his background and the box - that damned box. Lex frowned. His master told him to steal it from the burrow and keep it away from her, but why?

  In his early days as a Prophis, Lex had been looking for work, so to speak, to keep himself fed and clothed. Em was correct when she said that no one would house a Prophis. He even returned to his family, and though they knew him, they would not help him. Being turned away by them once had been bad enough - the second time nearly broke him. He was wandering Ghostfell one night when a carriage pulled up alongside him and stopped. He remembered having to shield his eyes as he looked up at the gilded scrollwork around the door, and how the horses snorted and stomped at him - they seemed to share the opinions of most of the races in all of Arcstone when it came to his kind.

  The door swung open, and a voice came from inside the carriage. “Step in here, boy, be quick about it!” It was a man, a human, and his speech was accented. He was not from Ghostfell, but no one was really from here. They just ended up here. When Lex climbed in, the man across from him banged on the side of the carriage. “Away!” he called out, and the horses reared up before charging forward into the foggy night. Lex kept his eyes down, knowing that he would bring trouble on himself just for looking at the man. Often the humans came down to Ghostfell to pick up Prophis for particular types of mercenary work - bodyguards mostly, but sometimes settling debts and other unsavory things that they won’t do themselves. “What’s your name, boy?”

  “Lex, sir.”

  “Lex? Might you be Alex? Alexander?” Lex was tempted to look up in surprise but kept his eyes downward.

  “Just Lex, sir.”

  The man chuckled. “I won’t hurt you, boy, you can look at me. I can see your fear of me crawling up your neck.” Lex clapped a hand on his neck to cover his tattoos and made the man laugh harder. He was about to throw the door open and leap back out - no money was worth this - but the carriage was moving pretty fast, and there was no light save the stars above to help Lex know where they were.

  “Pardon me for asking, sir, but what can I do for you?”

  “Direct! To the point! Mon Dieu, I do like that. I was hoping you would still have your human grit about you. The Prophis are a very tough race, but I fear I did not give them enough fortitude to stand up for themselves. They are more likely to toss someone out of a carriage for laughing at them than have the grace to be chagrined.” Lex was still looking at his feet. “Look at me, boy, let me see my handiwork.”

  Though he was uncertain what the man meant by ‘his’ handiwork, Lex slowly looked up and met the man’s gaze. Across from him in the carriage sat a man several decades older than Lex himself - or than Lex would be, were he still human. Prophis were immortal, so time meant nothing to him anymore. He was tall and lean of build, but not slight - it would probably be a grave mistake to underestimate the power that sat coiled and ready to strike under his suit and cloak. His dark hair was pulled back into a tidy ponytail at the nape of his neck, and his facial hair was neatly trimmed - it was as dark as the hair on his head, but interspersed wi
th a bit of gray that betrayed his age. On the bridge of his hawkish nose sat a pair of round eyeglasses. He stared down through them at Lex, amusement in his dark eyes.

  He was tall, probably as tall as Lex had been when he was human, for his knees were a bit higher than his lap, and his trousers were tucked neatly into off lavish and shiny black boots. He leaned forward on a cane with a giant wolf’s head at the top and studied Lex. “Oh, yes, you’ll do nicely.” Lex shifted uncomfortably in his seat - it felt as though the man was one of the humans that came through the village to purchase livestock, and Lex was a thoroughbred. “Relax, boy, I told you I wasn’t going to hurt you now, didn’t I?” Lex nodded. “I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Valentin Badeaux.” Lex stared at him in disbelief. “Ah, so you’ve heard of me?”

  “Pardon me, sir, but Valentin is a myth, a way to frighten the newer members of my race into following orders.” Lex remembered the whispered conversations from the early days in the pit, where the older Prophis would talk about the progenitor of their race, Valentin, and how cruel he had been to those he used to create their race of demons. “It is Valentin that made the worst of us what we are.”

  “But you don’t believe this Valentin is real?” The man smirked as he leaned in toward Lex, quickly using his cane to hook around Lex’s neck and pulled him close. “You don’t believe I am real? Again, I can see the fear crawling up your neck, Alexander.”

  Em was saying something that brought Lex back from his memories. “- when we figure that out, I will take you with me, Lex.”

  “Sorry, figure what out?”

  “How to get back to my world, weren’t you listening?” She sighed and snuggled into his arms. “I will admit, though, I will miss this mode of travel - unless Alex can do this too?” He didn’t answer. How could he? Lex had no idea what Alex could or couldn’t do - what Alexander was, who he was - if he was even real. “What’s wrong? You’re frowning.”