Califax

by Terina Adams

  “Carter is one sick bastard,” I said.

  No, not just Carter. Dominus was not Carter’s idea alone. Dad played his part too, demanding the creators—of which Elva and Jax were two—to produce the sick and twisted special effects they wanted, each idea designed to strip a person of their humanity and mold them into the perfect tool.

  As if sensing the uncomfortable silence, Jax said, “We’re eating into our head start.” He set off, going as fast as the narrow tunnel would allow, as fast as his body would allow.

  We crowded along behind him. The narrow walls felt protective; how could we be attacked down here? Sure, we didn’t have room to fight, but neither would whoever came after us. But this was Level Nine. No time for complacency, for it was akin to an early death.

  “How’s it going down the back, Elva? Clear?” Jax asked, almost as if he read my mind. His cautious tone wiped the security I felt from our confined space. “Try not to become too strung out.” Another warning that gobbled up my confidence. Lesson understood—in Dominus, expect anything.

  We finally reached the fork Jax had spoken of earlier. We gathered in the space now widened to accommodate the extra direction and waited for Jax as he ran a finger along the branching tattoo, trying to find our route. The other three flicked glances down each tunnel. Always alert. My lack of training and experience meant I readily relied on Jax to give the signal. But being a member of the party, I needed to be an active player, not a passive participant. Besides, I had to wipe out my memory and concentrate on the game, my surroundings, and any noises I heard. Hopefully, this would keep my mind from recalling what I’d seen.

  Our avatar faces were distinct in the mysterious glow of light that shone the way. We were nothing but sharp juts and chiseled angles, defined muscles and ridges. Everything about us was a fabrication, like Dominus, and as real as the slow-mo fight I’d experienced moments ago. All in my head, but close to killing me.

  My party, the bond we shared, felt like the only real thing at this moment. But that too could turn into a fabrication when the right moment arose.

  “This way.” Jax headed left. We followed without question, me safely sandwiched between my Aris friends. For everything they did for me, I would not let them down. If there was only one promise I could make, that was it.

  Chapter 6

  We all skidded to a halt with the rumble beneath our feet.

  “Anyone care to guess what that was?” Patrick said.

  Silence from the two who helped design Dominus did not bode well.

  “Felt like an earthquake,” Nuke said.

  “In a game?”

  “Really? After all this time, you’re going to start questioning the reality of what you experience inside Dominus?”

  “How about you children shut up and keep your pace.” Elva’s voice of reason, brittle as new-season ice, cut through the squabble.

  “Just keeping the tension light,” Patrick said.

  “We’ll take the next left.” Jax peered in close to his forearm. “Looks like it widens out into a cavern not too far ahead.”

  I wasn’t about to point out how neither Jax nor Elva bothered to answer Patrick about the rumble. They either didn’t know or think it important. And given everything we had to worry about, the question was best left behind us.

  The tunnel ceiling glowed a mysterious dull blue-white. Without it, the tunnel would be a black hole forcing us to move with caution, using the wall as our guide with no hope of finding our way. “Where’s the light coming from?”

  “We programmed the lighting into the game to help those who made it this far, back when we thought Carter and Nixon would allow us to enter the tunnel. In the real tunnel, we’ve buried trylite into the walls and ceiling. It’s a special rock that is mined in the deserts thirty miles sunder of Califax. The Senate of Factions control the area. It’s mined under strict regulations to ensure no faction contains the monopoly. It’s expensive stuff because of its natural illuminance. Our cities are lit by the usual means, because the cost of buying trylite makes its wide-scale use prohibitive. Plus, it doesn’t give a bright light. Ironically, it’s cheaper to use in the long run. Thanks to Carter and Nixon, we were able to source an ample supply of the rock for the tunnel.”

  “That, I would like to see,” Patrick said.

  “It would mean leaving your world for ours,” Jax replied.

  “Hallelujah, show me the way.”

  “You wouldn’t be so ready to give up your world if you understood mine.”

  “If you knew my life, you wouldn’t question my desire.”

  The quiet hung in the air like smoke, suffocating and persistent. Except Jax and Elva, we knew little about each other and the experiences that warped us for better or worse. Inside Dominus was not a time to explore our diversity, but his comment reminded me there were many ways to suffer, many people who’d suffered, and many paths that enabled finding commonality with others. But in Jax’s world, factional differences overshadowed everything else.

  “Oh, God, I just remembered,” I said, coming to a halt, banking up the three behind me. “Carter said he and Dad made changes to the game, so it would hijack everyone’s free will, forcing them to belief only in his vision, just like brainwashing. It’s the reason no one has questioned the sanity of what we’re doing.”

  “He did?” Elva’s question speared through the dull light.

  “It doesn’t work on anyone native to his world. I wasn’t playing long enough to experience any effect. Patrick and Nuke, both of you were, but you’ve betrayed Carter to help us.”

  “I don’t feel any different,” Nuke replied.

  “Me neither,” Patrick said.

  “But this is great. It means Carter’s tweaks weren’t foolproof. There has to be others free from his control,” I added.

  “If there are, once they’re in my world, it won’t make any difference,” Jax said.

  “But it does. They’ll refuse to fight.”

  “I’m not sure they’ll have a choice. Not once the senate finds out. Fear is the greatest influencer. And the senate isn’t known for their leniency. Carter’s plan will be the more attractive option.”

  “Maybe the senate finding out will be the better option,” I said.

  “I’ll be glad when you reach our world. Then maybe you will stop being so pathetically idealistic,” Elva said.

  With the dull blue light from above, Jax’s features looked ghostly. “The senate usually acts with retribution. And they cast a wide net. Many innocents will be caught inside. It’s not something you want to happen.”

  He continued on, leading the way through the small tunnel. I followed after with my head twisted in conflicted knots. Carter’s war was wrong. But the senate didn’t sound much better. Who could blame people for wanting to free themselves from suppression and tyranny?

  I didn’t get to argue with myself over whose war would be more just, because the tunnel widened out into the cavern Jax mentioned earlier.

  “’Bout bloody time. My neck’s developed a crick from being bent so long,” Nuke said.

  We fanned out in a semi-circle, attention centered on the pool of water in front of us. The mysterious glow from the cavern ceiling ran in a blue line across the surface of the water. Like a map showing the way, the line of light, sharp and smooth in the ripple-less pool, revealed the only tunnel exit on the other side.

  “Before we get in that water, I want to know for sure this is the right way,” Patrick said, but Jax was already scrutinizing his forearm, holding it up close to his face, because the dull ceiling glow provided little in the way of a torch for map reading.

  “Can’t swim?” Nuke said.

  “It looks cold, and yes, I know it’s all in my head, but we all know how much Dominus messes with our heads. I’m not keen on making the trip back because we made a wrong turn.”

  Elva moved to stand beside Jax. “Well?”

  “It’s the only way. When we get beyond this, there will be a m
yriad of choices. Things could get a little tricky.”

  “Tricky! What do you call this?” Patrick said.

  “We’ve come this far unmolested. I’d say that’s thanks to our efforts in cleaning out Aris HQ. But we’ve still got a long way to go.”

  “I’m a good swimmer.” I smiled at Elva. I meant I was willing to take the plunge, but her snarl told me she thought I was boasting. Would we ever be friends? Probably not. And why should I be able to read her avatar facial expression easier than I could read Jax’s?

  Like a good leader, Jax plunged in first, sinking to his waist in no time.

  “This sucks,” Patrick said as he waded out after Jax.

  I touched my toes in the shallows and gulped in a sharp breath with the feel of ice-cold water penetrating through my shoes. I’m not really about to enter a black lagoon. The shiver that raced up my spine told me otherwise.

  “How deep is it?” I asked.

  “Don’t know. Elva and I weren’t responsible for designing this.”

  “You don’t suppose there is something in here?” Nuke said.

  “We’re in Dominus. Of course there will be monsters in the water,” Patrick responded.

  I was the only one not up to my waist, so I held my breath and waded forward. The cold rushed around my ankles, down into my shoes. Farther in, it gripped the calves of my legs and sent shards like ice up my inner thighs. By the time the water reached my waist, my breath wheezed in and stalled. “I hope we’ll dry off automatically once we reach the other end.”

  “You’ve got nothing on that’ll weigh you down when wet.” Patrick’s words came out choppy through chattering teeth.

  He had a point. My bra and briefs were like bathers.

  No good thinking about the hidden depths of the black pool and what could be lurking. This was the only way across, and the others were leaving me behind. I pushed off from the rocky bottom and settled into freestyle to catch up. Not wanting to put my head under the water, my strokes were awkward and slow. Like an optical illusion, the gap between myself and the others increased with every stroke I made. The pool itself appeared to stretch farther into the tunnel mouth, which had to be all in my head, another Dominus mind game.

  I abandoned my vigil on the whereabouts of the others and concentrated on increasing the speed of my strokes. My weapons felt like anchors at my sides. The battle axe banged against the front of my left thigh as I kicked my legs, trying to gain the extra speed. At this rate, the others would reach the other end while I was still at the beginning.

  The cold was a vice around my chest. My inhale was a gasp sucked up a tube the size of a pin head. I slowed to scan for the others, who were now just small heads bobbing through the water as they disappeared to the other side.

  In the dim light, the digital display messed with my night vision. Stupid bloody status bars. And all the info on the factions was cramming up one side of my vision. If only there was a way to turn it down.

  I stopped, my legs spinning frantic pinwheels to keep me afloat. The axe had to go. I wrenched at the stone head, but it wouldn’t budge. The handle had to be caught in the fastening. Since the thing appeared at my side, I had no idea how it latched to my belt. What special clips or tags held it in place?

  Legs going like a beater, I attempted to yank the axe from its place. “God dammit.” It wouldn’t move. Without my hands helping me stay above water, I sunk to my chin. The churn of the water and a mouthful, feeling like ice sludge, rushed down my throat. I let go of the axe head and flailed my arms, coughing and splattering the ice sludge out of my mouth. The cold so deep. There was no flavor to the water, no stagnant or putrefied taste that would make me wretch, just the feeling of a knife slicing down my throat and into my chest.

  A slimy slither brushed across my right calf. “Jesus, what was that?” I flapped backward, making enough noise to echo back up the tunnel to Aris HQ.

  “What did you feel?” Jax was the first to respond.

  “Something slimy, like a tentacle.”

  The mention of it had my stomach zipped up to a small bag.

  “Swim.” Jax only needed to say the command once. Everyone splashed through the water in an uncoordinated race to get out, including me, the weight of my weapons forgotten.

  The inky black of the water fed horror scenarios through my head. I felt a million slimy tentacles crisscrossing my body, wrapping around my legs, tugging, tugging me under. I gasped and spluttered, swallowing mouthfuls of water—which weren’t real—because my mad dash churned the water like rapids.

  Jesus Christ, get a grip, Sable.

  The unknown was the terror I faced. It took hold, kidnapping my sanity. I splashed about without making progress, because I couldn’t focus on saving myself when my mind was constantly constructing the feeling of something grabbing my legs and pulling me back.

  “Nuke.” It was Elva’s voice.

  The single cry stilled me. I tried to count heads, but the damn digital display crapped up my vision. Jax was waist deep on the other side of the pool, but with Elva’s cry, he splashed back into the pool.

  “No!” Patrick yelled at him. “No point in you risking yourself.”

  Someone bobbed down beneath the surface. At least I hoped they bobbed down and had not been yanked.

  I held my breath, trying to peer through the light show in my way. I flicked a glance to the bottom left of my screen, scanning down the list of factions. Phonus ruled the night. There was nothing darker than underground. This had to be one of Phonus’s night pets.

  “There has to be a Phonus warrior close by controlling it!” I yelled.

  Jax backed out of the water, skimming the cavern for movement.

  With a sudden splash, Nuke shot to the surface, gasping for air.

  Next to him, another head popped up. “Oh god, Nuke.” Elva swam toward him. “Are you all right?”

  “You need to ask the critter that,” Nuke said between gasping breaths. “I know you want to kiss me right now, Elva, but how about we leave that until we’re on the shore?”

  “Finish the crossing. Get out of the water!” Jax yelled from the shore. How did the injured amongst us manage to reach the shore first?

  I followed the other three, pounding my arms that were fast losing their sense of touch through the cold. I managed a few strokes, when a wall of fire corralled us backward from the shore.

  I scanned my left vision for the culprit. Negal, fire and pestilence. And knowing that didn’t help me any. While I was at it, I risked a quick look at my status bars to see my health status bar inch higher with each breath I made. The chill was working its way deep within, freezing me from the inside. Soon, I would be frozen in place.

  Splashes just outside the wall of fire meant something was rearing out of the water or something was coming in. The wall was too high for me to see Jax on the shoreline. The intensity of the fire created its own wind. I squeezed my eyes tight as a hot gust burned my face and funneled down my throat to scorch my lungs. The pain constricted my windpipe. But the instant heat did nothing to soothe the cold in my heart.

  I gagged on water and surged to the surface only to have my face dried in a nanosecond. Someone grabbed my arm and tugged me around.

  “Turn your back to the flames” Elva yelled over the roar generated by the scorching wind.

  We all ended up facing each other in a circle, Patrick opposite me. Behind him, I spied someone emerge from the flames, a face half-masked by leather. Small spears like needle-sharp teeth protruded from the leather on his cheek. The nightmare deepened with the appearance of a ring of warriors, silent assassins swimming through the flames, gliding with the grace of sharks.

  In the water, what use were weapons? And I wasn’t sure if in my panic I could control my factional nature enough to prevent the cavern roof from coming down.

  A thick arm grabbed me from behind, clamping me around my throat, cutting off any scream. My struggles were pathetic, legs banging helplessly against the warrior’s
large body. In one firm tug, the warrior pulled me under. I flailed, using up my energy and my breath without succeeding to free myself. The idea broke the mental restraints I used to keep my factional nature in. I cloaked myself in its lure, warming from the strength it gave. But what did I fear more, drowning or bringing the tunnel ceiling down on our heads?

  Before my ability punctured a hole through my control, the arm around my throat lessened. Not waiting for the warrior to gain a better grip, I swam to the surface. Someone burst from the water in front of me. I whipped my dagger from my belt in one smooth action that impressed the hell out of me and jabbed the dagger in a downward motion to pierce the warrior’s skull. A hand manacled my wrist.

  Jax pulled me close, his face shoved into mine. “Swim for the flames. When you’re close, duck under the water and pass underneath. We’ll take care of this.”

  “Jax,” I gasped, fingering his face.

  He released my wrist and pushed me away. “Go!” he shouted at me.

  “You’re not giving me a chance.” None of them understood how much I’d made peace with my destruction, how much the two of us worked together, most of the time.

  “It’s not that. I wouldn’t put it past Carter to construct this part of the game with paper-thin walls. We’re in Level Nine, which places constraints on what we may and may not do.”

  “That sucks.”

  “It’s called Dominus. Now get out of here.” Without another word, he swam back into the fight.

  The flames flicked and danced across the surface of the pool, creating a light show that would be stunning anywhere else. The sound of fighting cornered me. My factional nature did not want to leave. Destruction thrived on the swirl of chaos. All around me, the grunts and noise of fighting, the guttural cries of death, fed my need to destroy. The ache of withholding my power seized my limbs. I trod water, fighting with myself.

  My inertia broke when I spied a dip in the wall of flames. It took immense effort to force my arms to obey. Destruction wanted to hijack my body, turn me around the other way. While in Dominus it felt like that side of me became the bigger part.