by Jacob Whaler
You’ll find out soon enough.
In the short space of their conversation, the creature has grown to the size of a buffalo and is still feeding. The red fur is all but gone, replaced by metallic chrome scales. Just like the tail.
Without looking, Matt steps backward through the forest of anti-matter spikes. His hand brushes against one, and he drops to his knees from the excruciating pain.
This could get hairy.
A transparent blue dome forms over the arena floor, separating Matt and the beast from Jhata and the throng of spectators.
At last, the creature looks up from its feeding and casts a long glance around the arena. Throwing its head back, a low rumble escapes from its throat, like a belch. Sparks jump from its mouth.
Its eyes glow white.
Matt crouches near the floor and freezes, gripping his Stone with sweaty palms, praying that the creature won’t see him.
But the white eyes find him and stare with cold intensity.
Then the creature begins to change shape.
Its bat wings grow narrow and long, like blades extending far behind. The legs shorten. Enormous claws push out from beneath the fur on its feet. The body lengthens. The head takes on the shape of a wedge with the lower jaw protruding. Its mouth becomes a thicket of fangs.
Matt tries to remain calm, but can’t suppress one thought that clamors for attention in his mind.
The creature has turned into a dragon.
It leaps straight up into the air. The wings spin on each side like a dragonfly. At first, it flies away from Matt, circling against the blue dome above it at the far end of the arena.
Matt stands to his feet.
The creature stops and hovers in mid-air with its back to Matt. The tail grows thicker and stiffer, pointing straight at him.
He waits for the eyes to turn around and face him again. His plan is clear. As soon as the creature swoops down, he’ll use the Stone to throw an energy field around his body, a defense he discovered when fighting Ryzaard. Hopefully, it will save his life.
For a moment, there is movement at the tip of the creature’s tail. Matt narrows his eyes and waits for it to turn around.
A slender black spear shoots toward him like an arrow.
By the time he sees it, there’s no time to react. It catches him on the left shoulder and vaporizes. At the point of impact, the blue armor instantly turns thick and hard, its surface rippling and spreading the force out across his back and torso, down the legs and arms to the toes and fingers.
He feels the impact with his whole body.
Another spear shoots at him from the tail of the creature. This time he’s ready. Standing tall and erect, with his feet and arms spread apart for stability, he takes the hit squarely in the middle of his chest.
The spear turns to dust on the surface of his skin. Just like before, the blue armor absorbs and spreads the force of impact out from the point of contact, causing his fingers and toes to tingle.
It can’t be this easy, he thinks.
The crowd is starting to boo.
Two more spears shoot out, one hitting him on the thigh, and the other on the belly. Then a machine-gun barrage of smaller projectiles, like darts, sweep across his abs, and up his chest, the last one hits him directly on the sternum.
The armor instantly disappears, sucked from every part of his body until all that remains is the blue dot between his pectorals.
He’s left standing naked on the floor of the arena.
The crowd roars with laughter.
Then the beast turns in the air and charges.
Matt stumbles backward, narrowly avoiding an anti-matter spike. His fingers fumble for the blue dot on his sternum.
The beast surges at him with jaws gaping open, white eyes piercing the air. A blue fire burns in its throat. It dips its head and floats down so that it’s skimming a few inches above the floor.
At last, Matt’s finger finds the spot and applies pressure. The blue energy membrane begins its slow crawl across his skin.
But it’s too late. The beast is only meters away.
Taking another step back, Matt feels nothing. The arena floor opens up below him, and he falls into blackness. He looks up just as the beast swoops over the open hole. His hand shoots out. The blue armor closes on his fingertips, and one of the fingers just catches the edge of the floor.
And holds.
He brings his other hand up to the edge and grasps it, dangling in the darkness.
Just like rock climbing in Powder Puff Basin back home, he thinks.
He looks below him and sees distant stars in the blackness of the hole.
It’s easier to pull himself up than he expects. Somehow, the suit gives his fingers incredible gripping strength. In a few seconds his arms are out on the floor and he’s rising to a standing position.
But there’s no sign of the beast. Above him, he sees only a burning sun through the transparent blue dome. Feeling a dark shadow move across his chest, he remembers something and lunges to the side between two rows of anti-matter spikes.
The dragon beast crashes down into the floor where he had been standing. It’s small again and back to its dog form, red fur and all. Moving close to one of the anti-matter spikes, it ignores Matt, opens its mouth and begins to feed, growing visibly larger with each passing second.
Time to go on offense.
It might be his own thoughts or Jhata in his head. Matt can’t tell which.
Closing his eyes, he reaches out with his mind, gathering focus, channeling it into the Stone. His eyelids become transparent, and he sees through them with blurred vision. The world flips to a negative image. The black floor and his own blue body burn intense white. The Stone is jet black. It’s heavy in his hand and feels like a magnet, pulling waves of white energy from the floor, the anti-matter spikes, even his own arms, legs and torso.
When he opens his eyes, the Stone burns like a pure blue flame. The beast, now the size of a bear, is still feeding on the anti-matter spikes. He moves close to its side and looks down.
It doesn’t seem to notice.
You want energy? I’ll give you energy.
He thrusts the blunt end of the Stone hard against the beast’s body and pushes a massive pulse of energy into its side, expecting it to vaporize before his eyes.
Instead, it raises its head and yawns.
Big mistake.
This time, it’s Jhata’s voice in his head.
The beast explodes in size before him, knocking him backward through a forest of anti-matter spikes. They cut across his thighs and chest, causing such intense pain that it’s impossible to breathe or see. One sweeps across his chest and comes dangerously close to his neck.
He lies motionless on the arena floor, his right hand wrapped around the Stone and twisted under his back.
There is the thump thump of massive wings on either side of his head. He looks up.
The beast stands in its full dragon form, towering over him, looking down with its mouth open, eyes glowing white hot. A blue tongue unrolls from somewhere in its throat and slaps down onto his chest where it feels oddly cold and vibrates wildly.
Dinner time.
Matt shakes his head, trying to dislodge Jhata from his mind.
The blue armor scatters the cold and vibrations from the tongue out across his torso and down arms and legs to his fingertips and toes. His entire body is growing numb.
He realizes what is happening. The beast is draining energy out of him, quickly leaving him a used, empty battery. When the energy is gone, he will die.
Matt grasps the Stone more tightly in his fist between his shoulder blades.
The great claws on the forelegs of the beast tap the glossy surface of the floor inches from his head. They lift up and slam down on either side of his head, pinning his shoulders. Another identical pair of legs press against his thighs, holding him immobile. Its mouth drops down even closer to Matt’s face. Shark-like teeth bathed in blue goo slide out from
a hidden inner jaw and begin to probe the outside of his body.
Jhata’s voice comes into his mind.
I’ll give you a hint. It’s looking for the source of the energy high you just gave it.
Bone-numbing cold penetrates his body, making it harder and harder to move. As the energy and warmth drain out, his resolve to survive begins to fade.
First it paralyzes its prey. Then it feeds.
The teeth push harder into his abdomen, searching for the Stone under his back, but the suit refuses to tear or give way.
Matt senses frustration within the beast.
It rears up its head and stares down with cold white eyes. Pulling back it lips, two outer fangs slip out of its mouth and slam down onto Matt’s chest. The suit hardens into steel at the point of impact, and both teeth break off. Blue slobber pours out of the mouth onto Matt.
The numbness spreads to every part of his body, bringing with it an overpowering desire for sleep. He fights to keep his eyes open.
You will die now.
The spectators fall into pandemonium, as if they’ve seen this before. Jumping to their feet, they rip their clothing and throw it in the air, yelling, chanting. They act like they know how the script will play out and where it will end.
The beast’s talons rake up and down Matt’s body. It looks like it’s on the verge of a feeding frenzy
By now, Matt no longer feels anything below his neck. He can’t tell whether the suit is holding or not. His vision blurs.
A large dark object drops down close to his face. He inhales the creature’s fetid hot breath. Blue goo pours down from its lips. Shark teeth slide out and hover above his eyes.
Letting his eyelids drop down, Matt uses his remaining energy to visualize the Stone. Warmth and energy flow from it into his right hand, up his arm and out to his body. The energy begins to replace what the beast has taken from him.
But nothing happens.
He feels the twitch of a finger. Then more fingers. Soon his whole hand is moving. It’s slow and sluggish, but at least he can feel it. He still has the Stone in his grip, under his back between the shoulder blades.
The beast stops and cocks its head to the right side of Matt’s body.
You want it? Matt stares into its white eyes. You can have it.
Using all his remaining strength, Matt rolls his hand out and swings it up to the beast, opening his fist and letting go of the Stone inside its mouth. His hand falls down, empty, and drops to the floor, instantly going numb again.
The beast raises its head up and throws it back, as if swallowing a large piece of meat whole. The talons slide off Matt’s body, and it rises on its wings, flying up and away from him.
He follows it with blurry eyes.
For an instant, its body balloons in size, expanding so rapidly that its wings fail to keep up. It crashes back to the arena floor. Metal spikes burst out through its skin giving it a porcupine appearance. Its entire body convulses and shakes. The belly and throat go into a spasm of sudden jerks that spread to the legs. They buckle, and the beast collapses to the floor. Its mouth drops open and spills out a puddle of blue liquid. The eyes bulge and turn black.
Matt squints and stares.
The outline of the beast’s body grows faint. Its shape becomes plastic and fluid, as if lumps of flesh are swimming around just below the surface of the skin. The protruding metal spikes fall off and clatter to the floor.
He hears Jhata’s voice in his head.
What have you done?
The entire beast shrivels and implodes until nothing is left but the spinning Stone.
Jhata gets up from her throne and walks through the protective bubble until she stands over the Stone. Bringing her foot down on it, she stops the spinning and picks it up. Her lips curl into a snarl.
Matt hears the swishing of the kimono coming closer.
CHAPTER 124
Watching the little girl walk to him with the Stone in her hand, Ryzaard steps into the present moment, grasps it and stops time again. His eyes study her, hoping against hope that she hasn’t yet bonded with the Stone.
But she keeps coming.
He bends down to her height and reaches out his arms. “Come here, my little princess.”
You hurt Leo.
A tremor runs through Ryzaard’s body when he hears the words playing in his mind, loud and clear.
Leo is good. You hurt him. You hurt Matt and Matt’s daddy. You hurt the monkey. You hurt everyone.
The little girl’s eyes narrow.
Ryzaard stands on his feet up to his full height. “Would you like to play a game with the Stone? I can show you something funny.” He thrusts his hand out in front, opens the palm and withdraws it, leaving the Stone floating in the air. He twists his fingers and the Stone slowly spins.
But the girl stares past the floating Stone directly into his face. Tears well up in her oversized eyes.
Why do you hurt people?
“I only hurt bad people,” Ryzaard says.
You think I’m bad. You want to hurt me. I can see inside your head.
Reaching out, Ryzaard wraps his fingers around the spinning Stone. “I can see you are a special girl.” He does his best to put on a warm grandfatherly smile and look harmless. “The Stone has given you a special gift. Few people can look into another’s mind.”
You’re only pretending to be nice. You want to take my Stone.
“I only want your Stone so that I can use it to help people.” Ryzaard takes a tentative step forward.
She backs up, her eyes darting between Leo on the ground and Ryzaard coming toward her.
Leo heals people. He healed me. He doesn’t hurt anyone. Why do you hurt people?
“I want to help you and the whole world, to make everyone happy. Do you want people to be happy?”
The little girl cocks her head to one side. Her eyes grow large with understanding.
You want to grab me and wrap your fingers around my neck until I can’t breathe anymore. Then you will take my Stone. I see it in your head. How will that make people happy?
She takes another step back and drops her eyes to Leo, still on the ground. His moaning has stopped, and his breathing is labored and shallow.
The smile leaves Ryzaard’s face. His teeth press together. He can feel it coming. The anger is starting to build. “I can see that I can’t lie to you.” His gaze focuses on Yarah, eyes narrowing to slits. “Listen carefully. I know you can read my mind even if you can’t understand my words. Do you love Leo?”
Yes. He’s a healer. He helps people. I want to be like him.
“Good,” Ryzaard says. “You are a smart little girl. You will understand what I am about to say.” He pulls the leather sheath from his pocket and slides out the blade, still stained red with blood. “I will kill Leo if you don’t give me that Stone. If he dies, it will be your fault. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”
The little girl’s hands reach out to Leo, the tiny fingers trembling. Tears well up in her eyes and stream down her brown cheeks.
If I give you the Stone, do you promise to stop hurting Leo?
Ryzaard lets his eyelids slip down and feels the anger recede. He’s in control again. As he opens his mouth, he finds a way to believe the words he is about to speak. “Yes, my pretty little dear. Come here. Give me the Stone. I promise to stop hurting Leo. You can save him. Just like he saved you. He’ll always love you for this.” He kneels down to her level, a smile returning to his face.
The girl stands still, as if weighing the options and doing calculations of great importance in her mind. She looks behind her at the massive ape, motionless and dead, and shifts her weight back and forth on her small feet.
“If you leave, Leo will die, and it will be all your fault. You do not want that, do you?” Ryzaard shakes his head.
Her eyes follow his face from side to side. Lines of tears trail down from each eye. Looking one more time over her shoulder at the fallen beast behind her, her whol
e body quivers as she breathes in and out. A tiny fist comes up to her eyes, wiping away the tears.
She walks forward.
When she gets within reach of Ryzaard, he holds out his hand. “That’s a good girl.”
She drops the Stone in his open palm.
CHAPTER 125
Matt looks up.
Jhata stands over him, holding his Stone in her hand. She drops it into an empty gold loop on her belt. “You must be proud of yourself,” she says.
Matt wiggles his toes. The numbness in his body is beginning to drain away. His fingertips feel the hard surface of the arena.
A smile creeps across his face. “Looks like I won. Fair and square. Now let me go back to my friends.”
Jhata lifts up her right shoe and rams the spike of her heel into Matt’s chest.
He’s grateful for the pain. It means his body is returning to normal.
“I don’t have time for this anymore.” Jhata glances up at the crowd, standing on their feet in silence. “But we wouldn’t want to leave them with the wrong impression. Impressions are important in my business.”
Jhata turns on her heel, pushing it deeper into Matt’s chest.
He hears the crack and feels the stab of pain.
She walks back to her throne and sits down, her eyes drifting again up to the stands. “Citizens of my domain.” Her voice blasts through the arena. “Observe.” She closes her eyes and opens the palms of her hands skyward, lips moving in silence. Her fingers are shaking.
The sky above them changes from azure to dirty gray. On either side of her, movement begins, first just ripples that turn into a faint mist, like clouds forming out of nothing. It grows in intensity until the sky is boiling black. The stench of burnt sulfur wafts in Matt’s direction.
Not them again, he thinks. The Lethonen.
Life is seeping back into his thighs, calves and biceps. He bends his knees and elbows and lets his fists open and close. The cracked rib heals on its own. With effort, he turns over on his stomach and pushes himself up so that he is sitting Japanese style facing Jhata.
He has chosen.
Jhata’s words float through his mind, one side of a conversation between her and an unseen entity. It asks questions. Matt hears only her answers.
