Kai’s shurikens whooshed through the air – then stopped within inches from Gnarl’s face. Kai hunched up, tensing every sinew. For several seconds, the two were frozen in what appeared to be almost physical combat. Then Gnarl shook his head, sending the shuriken stars back in a cascade of bright-blue specks of light.
The blow blinded me, smashing both my helmet and my own head. Next to me, Kai gasped, thrown backward to the ground.
Once I’d resurrected once more, I saw Gnarl up real close, followed by Evelynn. I didn’t get the chance to stop them or do anything at all. I did release a Speck of Ra – but immediately I was thrown back to the ground. A volley from several guns hit me in the face; several more people lunged at me and pinned me to the ground. Kai wheezed next to me, bound hand and foot.
“They’re trying to capture us, Incarnator. The only possible solution is for you to leave the host’s body and flee the scene!”
Flee – and leave my friends to their fate? I don’t think so!
I kept struggling.
Activation No 31
I saw the cold glint of metal. Felt a painful prickling sensation in my neck. Evyl’s skinny frame was leaning over me. She was grinning vindictively, the steely Azure extractor in her hands.
“You remember me, don’t you?” she hissed under her breath, moving the needle inside my neck to make sure it hurt as much as possible.
Azure extraction process initiated
Azure lost: 14200
Current Azure count: 0/34100
She’d syphoned off all of the energy I’d managed to accumulate. The Possessed knew very well how to strip Incarnators of their fabled power. And this was something I couldn’t do anything about. Luckily, the night before I’d formed a new neurosphere thanks to the Roc’s egg, so now I hadn’t lost that much – but still I couldn’t do anything while my Azure count was at zero. I couldn’t even reincarnate...
“Easy, Evyl,” Gnarl’s cold emotionless voice said nearby. “You might regret it.”
“Yeah right! Who do you think he is? Why are you so precious about him? The way you treat him, one might think he’s Siegfried himself! Or Prometheus even,” she sniffed.
“Put these on them,” Gnarl ordered, ignoring her quip.
I saw a wide metallic collar in his hands, glinting with the familiar reddish gold of beryllium bronze. The next moment, it clicked shut around my neck, clenching it in its bitterly freezing embrace.
Miko flung up her hands in despair. Then she covered her face.
“Too late, Incarnator... Too late...”
“Miko, what’s that?”
“I... I really don’t know. Some sort of Azuric artifact pinning one’s anima to one’s body. It means we can’t leave the host’s body now...”
“What’s this?” Evyl asked, pointing at the collar. “It can’t be a Warden, surely? One of those made by Leftie?”
“That’s right. I still had a few left over from Kratos.”
“And you’re gonna waste it on this piece of—?”
“I sure am. What’s with the girl?”
“She’s gone into Azure shock. But she’s alive. Her regeneration levels border on impermeability. I told you she wasn’t easy to handle. You gonna finish her off now?”
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea. You have another Warden, don’t you? Put it on her. If she becomes a problem, then we can kill her. By the way, can you feel all the Azure coming from somewhere? What’s that? Do they have something on them? Search them!”
The egg! It had rolled away from the scene, still wrapped tightly in the Chameleon cape, and was now sitting in the grass pretending it was part of the scenery. The Possessed found it in no time and threw back the camo fabric, exposing its precious glittering flank.
“Well, well, well. So they did it!” Gnarl said, studying it closely. He then peered up at the sky – it was almost night by now – and hurried to wrap it back up. “Find something to block off the radiation,” he said, addressing Evyl. “And have those two brought over there. And the girl too!”
Rough hands grabbed us, ripping off most of our armor, the helmets and the cryptors, and dragged us toward the ruins with kicks and blows. They forced us into sitting positions, immobilized and impotent, facing a bristling circle of gun muzzles stinking of burnt carbide.
Kai gasped and wheezed, spitting blood. They brought Alice and pushed her to the ground next to us. Her armor was all blackened and charred. Alice herself appeared unharmed but her skin was a deadly white hue. She didn’t move; I got the impression that she didn’t even breathe. The collar on her neck was identical to mine, her body trussed up with a humming bundle of glowing power restraints. The Possessed had every reason to be more afraid of her than of Kai and myself taken together.
“Are we gonna take them to Avenger or back to the Convoy?” Evyl asked.
“I don’t think so, babe. We just don’t have the time. The Star is too close at the moment, so we really shouldn’t risk it. We’d better do it now... Ah, you’re awake now?” he said to me by way of greeting. “So here’s how it works. The Warden blocks your Azuric abilities and prevents your anima from leaving your host body. It can also hurt you... or kill you, if needs be. Good old tried and tested way of keeping Incas nice and obedient.”
He touched his hand to Kai’s collar. My friend came round, wailing in pain, his body arching and dripping perspiration.
“Here we go,” Gnarl said smugly. “So I suggest you keep nice and quiet. You can’t reincarnate without Azure, can you? The only reason you’re still alive is because I have a proposition to make. That concerns you, Grey.”
He gave me a long look that didn’t bode well. As usual, his headdress concealed all of his face with the exception of his eyes glinting harshly in the eye slit – a hostile glare twinkling with Darkness. Still, this time I read something else in his gaze: a painful, strained curiosity.
How weird. What did he want from me?
“We don’t have much time, so I’d better get on with it,” he said. “Evyl, will you get me the carrier, please?”
Evyl promptly set a demilune box on the ground, its surface gleaming with the familiar hue of beryllium bronze. Gnarl turned it slightly so I could see a small symbol engraved on its flat side: three wavy parallel lines, just like the ones on Lion Face’s master key.
“This is Aurora’s carrier,” Gnarl said, watching me closely. “She was Gloom’s girlfriend and team member. This carrier is one of the few we managed to rescue from the Black Moon.”
He touched the box. Its two halves opened soundlessly. He reached in for an item which looked rather like a large cylindrical first-aid cartridge. It was very similar to an Azure capacitor – at least I was pretty sure the idea was the same – but instead of the blue glow of Azure it was filled with swirling, impenetrable black substance.
Darkness.
“You know what this is?” Gnarl asked without taking his watchful gaze off me.
“Darkness,” I wheezed.
“No. This is Umbra. This is what brought us freedom from the bondage of Stellar.”
“With freedom like this, who needs slavery,” Kai croaked, struggling in his bonds. “Grey, just don’t listen to him, man. It’s alien infection speaking...”
“It was made by he who became the first amongst us,” Gnarl went on, ignoring him. “Gloom used the technologies developed by Project Aurora to reprogram the xenocyte so that Darkness served us instead of the Shard. Courtesy of Umbra, we’re free and independent.”
“Bullshit!” Kai spat on the ground. “You idiots! You serve Darkness, don’t you understand?”
“Unfortunately, we have very little neutral Umbra left,” Gnarl’s voice rang with regret. “Which is why I can only grant freedom to one of you. By embracing Umbra, you’ll see lots of things in a totally different light.”
He paused. “I can’t force you to join us. Infecting an Incarnator’s host is easy – his host but not his anima. You have to do it yourself. You have to di
sable your cogitor and willingly take Umbra in.”
“Why me?” I asked.
My question made sense. Gnarl kept talking to me alone, ignoring Kai’s and Alice’s presence. Although logically speaking, the Possessed would have gained much more by enrolling a seasoned old Incarnator like Kai or even Alice who’d already made her third Evolution.
“Because I know what – or whom — you used to be once,” he replied. “So you’re the one destined to embrace Umbra. This isn’t punishment: this is an honor.”
“Tell me, then.”
Gnarl shook his head. “No. Or rather, not now. The deal is very simple. You disable your cogitor and take Umbra in. And in return, I’m gonna tell you who you are.”
“What about them?” I licked my dry lips as I nodded at Kai and Alice.
“Despite the fact that they’ve killed a lot of my men, I can guarantee their life and safety. Then it’s up to you to decide their fate.”
“And what happens to them if I say no?”
Gnarl heaved a weary sigh. “How about this: I’ll just let them go as soon as you receive Umbra. Literally within minutes. They’ll be free to go. You say yes, and they’ll live.”
“Don’t listen to him, man!” Kai shouted. “All he wants is to infect you with Darkness! Once you do it, he’ll take all his words back!”
“He’s right,” Gnarl said through clenched teeth. “I’ll do whatever it takes. I don’t care. If you say no, I might just kill the two of them in front of you. He'll die first. Then I’ll kill her. So this is another option.”
“And you really think that’s gonna help me say yes?”
“I know you won’t. I’m quite prepared to believe that you have a will of steel. But I have my method of disabling cogitors.”
He raised his hand. The steel hilt of the Lash of Void glinted in his clenched fist.
An ill-boding little light lit up in the air above it. The purple lasso of the energy of Void shot out of it, branching out as it moved slowly toward us.
“Azuric shock,” Gnarl went on. “You probably remember what it feels like. It disables Enyo which is responsible for the energy information exchange within a living creature, giving one a little grace time in order to implant it with Umbra. It’s not the best way though, as there’s always a high risk of dealing irreversible damage to the creature’s anima. It really is luck of the draw, a fifty-fifty chance. But if everything else fails, I’m prepared to risk it. So these are your options: either your friends die a slow agonizing death – in which case you might join them too. Alternatively, they’ll be free to go – provided you embrace Umbra. It’s up to you.”
Chapter 30
I CLOSED MY EYES. I had no doubt he meant what he’d just said. I’d just seen death staring me in the eye from the Darkness-filled depths of his pupils. My odds were simple and promised nothing good. First, the death of my friends – or Umbra. Then my own death – or Umbra.
Which meant I really had no option at all. Yes, it felt dreary. Yes, I was scared. But I’d rather die alone than drag everybody else down with me.
Miko?
My virtual assistant stood cross-armed and enunciated as if explaining life’s basics to a young child:
“He’s manipulating you, Incarnator, it’s as simple as that. He’s bluffing. I very much doubt he’s gonna use the Lash. It’s too risky. And they need you.”
“So what do you suggest? What other options do I have?”
“In order to infect you, they will need to disable the Al-field of the collar on your neck. Our only chance is to distract them somehow at that particular moment in order to break free. The only solution to this would be by activating the egg. You need to awaken the hatchling.”
“I’m running short of time,” Gnarl said. “What have you decided? You wanna do it our way... or the bad way?”
“First, I need to know the truth about the Possessed – and about Stellar,” I said.
“Very well. Disable your cogitor. Then I’ll tell you.”
“No, you tell me first. I need to know everything about the side I’m taking.”
“You idiot!” Evyl hissed. “Can’t you see it’s for your own good? You’ve got a switch in your head, don’t you understand?”
“It’s just a safety precaution,” Gnarl said, agreeing with her. “From our experience, it might prevent certain unfortunate incidents. If you want to know the truth, you’ll have to disable her, I’m afraid.”
Which was exactly what Zac had told me. It looked like I was left with no choice. I looked at the egg still wrapped in the chameleon fabric pretending it was just an innocuous tuft of grass. Then I glanced at the impenetrable blackness of Umbra swirling inside the capacitor in Gnarl’s hand.
“Bye, Miko,” I said mentally.
She looked at me sadly, tears welling in her eyes. Slowly she shook her head:
“Grey, please don’t.”
I searched the interface for the Disable button. Found it.
Miko’s face — which had become almost as familiar as my own – disappeared from my mental view. Her icon turned gray and inactive.
Evyl must have sensed it because she announced,
“His symbiotic activity is at zero! It looks like he’s disabled her, after all.”
“Excellent,” Gnarl said. “You made the right choice. We don’t have much time... but seeing as I promised... Stellar, hm. What do you know about it? Do you know where it came from? Know the purpose it serves?”
“I know about Blue Bird.”
“Blue Bird! The starship which brought us the message from the dying civilization of the Shea. It was a warning about the apocalyptic war they were engaged in and about an equally apocalyptic danger threatening all sentient beings in the universe. Knowing they were losing their battle, they sent out those ships – those Birds – to deliver copies of a specially compiled database to all sentient civilizations to make sure they were ready to confront the Shard. That’s Stellar’s version of the story, isn’t it?”
“What’s the Shard?” I countered his question.
“I’ll tell you later. Every word of it is true. But it’s not the whole truth. When we studied the Black Moon, we came across the Shard’s effectors. That’s when we realized that the xenocytes which comprise Darkness and the onthoprions which make up Stellar have one and the same nature. Whether by chance or design, the Shea had created a trap for everyone. Our ancestors who came up with the Incarnation Protocol; ourselves in the past; you as you are now – all of us are hostages to the Stellar System, dead warriors whose souls it uses to achieve its own ends. And I’m afraid they have nothing to do with humanity’s interests.”
“I don’t understand.”
“What’s there not to understand? Azure, or the energy of A-space, is the Shea’s main creation, the product of their technology. The entire Stellar System is rooted in it. The moment our civilization had opened the door leading over the Edge in order to start using Azure – just like the Shea had done millennia earlier — it disturbed the fabric of Azure creating a perturbation, a vortex – a beacon, if you wish. Which was a signal. The signal for the Shard’s Black Moon to arrive and destroy the Earth!”
“This is exactly the kind of bullshit they use to brainwash all the others,” Kai said with a chuckle. “With not a shred of evidence to support it, of course. Where would they get evidence from, after they fled the Black Moon like a bunch of coyotes, leaving half the First Legion to die there! Siegfried, Theseus, Ariadne, Angel... Darkness was the only thing they brought back.”
Evyl slapped him in the face fast and hard. The blow was so powerful that it threw Kai’s head thudding against the wall behind him, leaving long bloodied scratches across his face.
“Shut up! You didn’t come with them, did you, mister Hero? You chose to sit it out here!” She bent down and spat in his face, shaking with contempt.
“We did have the evidence,” Gnarl said. “We did try to convince them. We tried to reason with them. Back at the Ci
ty Council.”
“So when they refused to listen, you just decided to blow up Stellar at any cost to human lives!” my friend croaked, straining his voice.
“That’s another lie they spread about us,” Gnarl said wearily. “We didn’t blow up the main terminal. It was Stellar itself that employed the Absolute weapon, targeting the Needle Tower. It happened directly after we’d shared the results of the research conducted by Gloom and his group. We showed them the effectors’ simulation skins that Aurora had managed to decrypt. The Council took our side then. It was their cogitors that betrayed them as soon as they found out the truth. The cogitors brought their masters under their control and leaked the information to Stellar’s nucleus which took the matter in its own hands. It destroyed everyone just to be on the safe side, viewing both us and our opponents as a potential threat. As a result, most of those present were killed, not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. There was no one left to tell the tale. They slandered us, portraying us as some kind of villains...”
The Enchanter (Project Stellar Book 2): LitRPG Series Page 36
