His Final Secret

by M. R. Forbes

  "That's it. That's it," she said. "A little more."

  A second juggernaut burned out, its fate almost identical to the first. Oz didn't pause for this one, but it leaned in harder, adding more of its strength to its single arm.

  A deafening crack, and then the door relinquished its hold, sliding inward while the juggernauts stumbled to stay upright.

  "It is pleased to follow First of Nine," Oz said, catching itself before it fell. The steam was heavy from its mouth when it turned to Eryn. "It is clear. It opens it. It starts it."

  Eryn looked past the juggernaut. She recognized the arrangement of gems and liquid from Genesia in an instant. It was clearly another reactor though it was tiny in comparison. A single, thumb-sized piece of ebocite rested at the top of it.

  "If I start the reactor, the subroute will activate?"

  "It is not prepared."

  "You said we needed to open the door."

  "It opens it. It starts it. It prepares it. It uses it." Oz tapped its foot with each statement. That was the order they needed to go in.

  "What about Shifters?"

  "It is clear."

  "Right now, yes. If we start the reactor, it won't stay that way."

  "It is pleased to follow First of Nine."

  "How do you know you can get to him through the subroute? How do you know where he is?"

  "It remembers."

  "What do you remember, Oz?"

  "It remembers. Jeremiah."

  Eryn felt her heart begin to pound. It had never said that before. "You know where Jeremiah is?"

  "It remembers."

  "You can bring us to him?"

  "It opens it. It starts it. It prepares it. It uses it."

  Eryn's gaze passed beyond the juggernaut to the ebocite at the heart of the reactor. Oz wasn't saying the Shifters wouldn't come. It was saying it could lead them to him. It made sense that it wanted to go to Talon first.

  "Okay. We should go and get the others. We don't want to leave them here."

  "It opens it. It starts it. It prepares it. It uses it."

  "We will, Oz. Let's get the others first."

  The juggernaut's eyes brightened, indicating its displeasure at the decision. "It opens it. It starts it. It prepares it." Oz tapped its chest during the last part. It wanted to prepare the subroute while she went to tell the rest of their party.

  "Fine. What do I need to do?"

  It stepped aside, giving her a clear path to the core. She felt a moment of fear grip her. She had to start the reactor by putting her magic into the ebocite. She knew that much. At the same time, she was terrified that the action would attract the attention of the Shifters. If she never saw another Shifter General, it would be too soon.

  She stood in front of the reactor for what felt like ages, staring at the ebocite and feeling the cold grip of the General on her once more. It had called her Queen. It had claimed her. She didn't want anything to do with the black stone, but Oz seemed so sure it could get them to Talon, and then to Jeremiah.

  "It starts it," Oz said, pushing her along.

  She bit her quivering lip and raised her hand towards the gem, trying to summon her Curse. For the first time in what seemed like forever she struggled to bring forth the power. Her sense of dread was overwhelming her concentration.

  "I can't," she said.

  "It starts it. It must."

  Eryn took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She tried again. Still, the magic wouldn't come.

  "Oz, I can't. The Shifters."

  "It starts it. It must." The juggernaut took two steps towards her and knelt down so that its face was at her eye level. "It is well," it said softly.

  She stared at its eyes. They were dimmer now, and she felt a thread of calm wind through her at its words. She nodded and turned her attention back to the ebocite. She forced her breathing to relax, her heart to slow, and tried again.

  She felt the tingling as the power gathered in her, and then the wetness of her tears as she released it.

  "Potentia," she said, casting the magic out towards the stone.

  An empty wave rippled the air between her and the ebocite, and then it began to hum, the magic beginning the resonance. This initial vibration created ripples in the liquid that spread to the other stones, and then they too began to hum, the individual components joining in a soothing monotone chorus. She heard an echo from somewhere else in the reactor, the sound of some ancient machine returning to life. A bright light washed over her from behind, and when she turned around she saw that the subroute was glowing.

  "It starts it," Oz said.

  She felt a tide of giddiness. It had been so easy to do. Much easier than opening the reactor had been. Easier even than lowering the platform down to it.

  It was an ease that was intoxicating. Addictive. To create so much power from so little. It was wondrously terrifying, and she turned away from the reactor, suddenly fearful of the consequences once more.

  "I'll go and get the others," she said.

  "It prepares it," Oz replied. It was already moving back through the doorway. She followed behind it, pausing when it climbed the platform and began spinning the ring, taking out the gems and rearranging their pattern in the gold. She wondered how many combinations there were, and how many the juggernaut knew.

  All of them, I bet.

  She spared Oz once last look and then headed back up towards the surface.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Eryn

  Eryn made her way from the subroute, hurrying back through the reactor towards the surface. She couldn't help but notice how much easier the stone platform was to control now that the reactor was active once more, lending its power to her own.

  She paused once when she reached the Empire Room, spinning the globe and marveling at the size of it before heading back to the surface where the others were waiting.

  The common area was empty when she arrived, the large, open space abandoned, though there were still cans of food laying on top of a cloak that had been spread in the corner.

  "Frieda?" Eryn shouted. "Trock?"

  She waited for an answer. When nobody replied, she felt her heart begin to race once more.

  Oz said it was clear. What if it was wrong?

  She ran across the common room, to the small hole that led to the surface. She leaned her head into the adjoining room, dimly lit from light filtering down a corridor that sloped in from the other side.

  "Trock? Loshe?"

  Her voice echoed in the space. When nobody answered, she climbed through the hole and crossed to the slope.

  "Where could they have gone?" she said.

  She looked up to where the ramp took a sharp turn. Beams of bright light reached the wall there. Sunlight from outside. It was daytime.

  "Is anyone here?" she shouted again.

  "My Lady?" Trock said, stepping around the corner. He was silhouetted against the light. He was old, but he looked rested.

  "Trock," Eryn said, rushing to him.

  He held out his arms and wrapped her in a gentle hug. "I'm so happy to see you well again, my Lady. You have to come and see this."

  "What is it?" She pulled away from him. "We need to go. I started the reactor, and Oz is waiting for us. We're going to find Talon."

  "What? Reactor? I don't understand?"

  Of course, he knew nothing about the reactors or the subroute. "A pathway, Trock. A special pathway to travel a great distance in a short time. We're going to Talon, and then we're going to him. Oz knows where he is."

  Trock smiled. "I'm still not sure what you mean, but if you say it's so, I believe you. Let's go tell Wallace, and you can see what we saw. Maybe you know what it is."

  Eryn didn't like the sound of that. She knew the Shifters would be drawn to the reactor. She didn't want them to come before they had gone.

  "Okay, but only for a moment. We need to leave this place."

  Trock guided her up a long slope towards the crack she had created in the mountai
n, where light was piercing through and shining in at her. She felt the coolness of the air against her face and hands but was surprised to find she remained comfortable in the strange clothes Oz had given her.

  Wallace was just on the other side of the entrance, standing in the crevasse and staring up into the sky.

  Eryn heard it before she saw it. A roaring wail that echoed across the mountainside and might have caused an avalanche if she hadn't already. She shifted her gaze to the sky, already knowing what she was searching for as her chest began to pound in fear.

  The dragon was high above them, sweeping past the narrow view from the cloven space in the rock, making tight circles and passing again.

  "I've never seen anything like it," Wallace said. "It's beautiful."

  "No, it isn't," Eryn replied. "We need to go, right now."

  She knew the dragon had escaped Genesia. She should have guessed it would be attracted to the power now coming from the reactor.

  It vanished from sight once more. "Now, Wallace," Eryn said again, backing into the safety of the entrance.

  The rock shook above them, sending small bits of stone tumbling down. Trock grabbed Wallace by the shoulder to drag him away.

  The dragon cried out again. The sharp sound echoed around them loudly enough to hurt their ears and drown out all else. It was close, so close.

  Its head appeared above them, leaning over the edge of the crevasse.

  A massive eye found Eryn.

  It's looking right at me.

  She felt a chill run through her. They needed to leave. To get away from the reactor through the subroute to wherever Talon was. The dragon was only the first Shifter to arrive. It wouldn't be the last.

  She started to run down the slope, with Trock and Wallace right behind her. She had only made it a few steps when Wallace grunted, and she heard him fall behind her.

  She spun around to see what had happened. Wallace was pushing himself back to his feet. The tip of an arrow sprouted from the front of his chest.

  He looked down at it, confused.

  "Wallace?" Trock said, looking at the arrow, and then back towards the opening. His face paled. "Eryn! Run!"

  Another arrow appeared, piercing the old soldier through the neck and knocking him backward.

  "No," Eryn whispered as he fell.

  Wallace was back on his feet. "Go," he said, drawing his sword at the same time.

  She did, rushing around the corner and down the ramp. She heard the echo of heavy feet reach the entrance. She heard Wallace's sword knocked aside.

  She reached the other side of the small room, slipping through the battered hole and into the reactor. Then she turned, reaching for her Curse, calling it to her.

  The reactor shook at the same time the dragon screamed again.

  Is it trying to get in?

  "Obex," she said, feeling the magic spread from her to the opening. A soldier rounded the corner. She recognized him from Varrow. The small man with the tattooed body. She felt her heart skip at the sight of him. If he were here, that meant General Spyne was, too.

  A second man joined him a moment later, even as Eryn started turning to resume her run. She recognized that one too, another of Spyne's men. He had a bow in hand, and he loosed an arrow towards her.

  It hit her invisible barrier, falling to the ground inside the room.

  The painted man approached it, stepping through as though the magic didn't exist, continuing to give chase.

  Eryn ran as fast as she could through the corridors of the reactor.

  "Frieda? Loshe?"

  She shouted for her companions, her friends. If they didn't hear her General Spyne would find them, and then they would die.

  She dared a glance back. The man was still behind her, at her back as she tried to get away. He wasn't gaining, he wasn't fading. His pace was even with hers though he didn't appear to be struggling.

  Is he chasing me or following me?

  She heard the echo of metal on metal and a hoarse cry.

  "Gesper," she said, recognizing the cry. They were all going to die unless she did something.

  The juggernauts.

  She had almost forgotten about them. She felt for them in the magic.

  "To the platform," she ordered, knowing they would hear her and comply.

  Frieda and Loshe appeared in front of her from an adjoining corridor.

  "Eryn? What's happen-"

  "Just run," she said without slowing. They didn't hesitate, falling in behind her.

  They reached the Empire Room, circling the massive globe and heading for the other side. Eryn risked a second look back when they reached the door. The painted man was still there, still following, still behind. His face was nearly expressionless though she thought she saw the hint of a smile there, as though he were toying with her.

  Following.

  She reached out with her magic, taking hold of the stone platform without being able to see it. She knew it was there, and the power of the reactor was making it so much easier to control.

  The mountain shook again. She heard the muffled cry of the dragon from somewhere outside, above the rocky terrain the structure had been buried in.

  They reached the end of the corridor, coming to a stop at the edge.

  "Where do we go now?" Frieda said.

  Eryn turned around. The painted man came to a stop a dozen feet away. She could see the others now, including General Spyne. She didn't feel fear at the sight of him. She felt angry. Very angry.

  Spyne reached the tattooed man's side, and she could tell by the way he looked at the man that he didn't understand why he hadn't caught her.

  She didn't understand it either.

  "The Whore," Spyne said. "We meet again."

  He held his broadsword at his side. Blood dripped from the end of it.

  "I'm going to kill you," Eryn said.

  He smiled, baring his filed teeth in a feral grin. "I should like to see that." His eyes passed over Frieda and Loshe. "Where is your metal guardian?"

  "Which one?" Eryn asked as the platform reached the top of its climb. The remaining functional juggernauts were arranged in a line across it. Oz was at their center.

  Spyne took the slightest step back at the sight of more than one juggernaut. The soldiers with him all looked afraid. All except the painted man. His hint of a smile grew larger.

  "That one," Spyne said.

  "It is here," Oz said. It held its massive blade in its hand.

  "Charge them," Eryn ordered the juggernauts. They didn't know how to fight, but there were things they did know how to do. "Push them back."

  The line of juggernauts shifted around them, storming towards the soldiers. The two Eryn didn't recognize turned and ran at their approach while the man with the bow screamed at them.

  "Turn and fight you sons of whores."

  He stepped out of the juggernaut's path, bringing his sword up and into the side of the one closest to him. It clattered off the metal surface harmlessly, and his face registered a moment of fear until the metal men continued forward without pause.

  Spyne laughed, hoarse and deep. "That is the best you can do? Builders?"

  He charged forward then, raising his blade. Eryn reached for her own, pulling it free of its scabbard, ready to defend herself.

  Oz stepped in front of her. It caught Spyne's attack on its metal hide, the force of the blow strong enough to score a deep mark in the ircidium. Oz's massive blade made for the General's head, and he backstepped and ducked below it.

  The bowman recovered from his surprise, reaching for an arrow. Loshe moved around the melee in his direction. The former slave was unarmed but undeterred. He threw himself on top of the bowman, using the strength he had gained from years in the mines to drag him to the ground.

  Eryn shifted her attention to the tattooed man. He had evaded the juggernauts and was standing near the back of the action, watching it with intense disinterest. His eyes met hers, and she felt a chill run through her body.r />
  "Worm, you worthless piece of garbage," Spyne roared, seeing the man standing there. "Get in the fight." He evaded another of Oz's strikes and counterattacked, driving the juggernaut back a step.

  The painted man, Worm, started moving towards her, a knife appearing in his hand from nowhere.

  Eryn could feel the magic coursing through her, its power magnified by the resonance of the reactor. She raised her hand towards the man. "Litsum," she said, sending a blast of energy towards him. It struck him full in the chest, sparking around his frame without damaging him.

  "Eryn," Frieda said, stepping in front of Worm and raising her own knife. She put up a good fight, managing to deflect his first series of jabs and cuts and fakes, proving herself more skilled than Eryn had even realized.

  In the end, she never had a chance.

  Worm grabbed her by the hair, wrapping his feet around hers and bringing her down, landing on top of her and hitting the back of his knife against her head. He bounced to his feet, his face still flat and emotionless.

  Eryn held Talon's blade up against him, circling away, putting herself behind Oz and General Spyne. She looked over to where Loshe had tackled the other soldier, and saw that they were both on their feet again, and Loshe had a dagger in his gut.

  They were dying. Her friends. All of them. She felt the pain of it in her soul, her Curse responding in kind, tickling her entire body and threatening to burn her from the inside out.

  The mountain shook again.

  "Augue," she said, her eyes sparkling with the magic.

  A massive gout of flame exploded from her entire body, spreading out to fill most of the space in the corridor.

  General Spyne fell back, bringing his ircidium sword up in front of it, the flames casting off the metal to either side of him.

  It washed over Oz, its ircidium hide protecting it from most of the flames though it melted the tubes and rods at the edge of its lost arm.

  It passed around Worm, covering him over and leaving him untouched.

  It finally reached the bowman and Loshe, and both vanished beneath the fury without time to scream.