Chronicle 5: Shadow Play
Rook smiled sadly, leaning in close to her. Their eyes touched in that moment and she knew his fear for her, his affection that went far beyond mentoring. He kissed, light as a breath then he slipped away. "May the current be at you back and steer you true, angel."
And without a word, he slipped into the shadows of dawn.
When the Quake of 09' struck is now called the Tatters, no one believed that the area would be rebuilt. But, of course, it was. Telos' vast population simply couldn't afford to waste the space; nor could it move its citizens out into the Cannibal Sectors. So, it simply built over the ruins of the Old City, burying entire communities under a million tons of ferroconcrete. Rather than wasting money on a new sanitation system, they just emptied everything down into the abysmal world below. Subsequent quakes damaged the ruins further, erasing decades of work and lives in a crumbling darkness.
Those few brave enough to dare these depths had reported wonders and horrors alike. Vast oceans of boiling vermin, cyclopean chambers with stained glass and polished marble, endless rows of skeletons stripped of flesh and dignity. Rumors grew like mold, spreading their infectious touch on every surface, every soul. But one rumor, or rather one myth, was repeated time and again. He-Who-Walks-In- Darkness. His name was scrawled on every surface, every pillar, every shattered wall. The Zoners and Gutters drew arcane symbols to ward off his dead gaze. But it rarely worked. When the God was hungry, it took what it wanted. People walked into dark corners and were swallowed by the living shadows. For he was not alone down here in this Stygian world. He had eyes and hands and teeth; the zealous Servants of the Cairath.
Asha stood on the dusty platform of a MagLev Station; long abandoned and forgotten. In either direction, the tunnel opened like a mouth, waiting patiently for her to enter. Nor were they her only path forward. So to were there service and maintenance tunnels and ladders, coiling deep into the earthen flesh of Telos. Somewhere, out in the midnight corridors, it waited. And she could feel it watching, even now.
Knowing that there were dangers in the underworld other than Cairath, Asha knew that she could not blindly search for her prey. Though these other dangers could never hope to be as powerful as their master, she knew that she must husband her strength if she was to hope to defeat the monstrosity.
Garbed once again in her combat gear, Asha could almost imagine that she was on a scouting mission with Grey. Almost. There were differences, the most obvious being the absence of the stoic hunter. He had not been pleased when had told him that she had to leave once more- she knew that he could tell that she was going somewhere that he should be with her.
But for once, she needed to depend upon herself. It was ironic that she had gone from one strong male figure in her life to another. Ironic in that she had never had one in her youth, so she supposed that she was overcompensating in some manner or other. So leaving Grey with final instructions, she had descended into the darkness alone.
Knowing that she needed to hide her nature for as long as possible, she had once again donned the overcoat that she used to hide her wings, though in this case, she had made a long slit up the back of it, just in case she needed to get out of it quickly. Her rifle, blade, pistol, and knife completed her armament- she was not sure how much they would help, but it was better to have and not need than need and not have.
Glad that the subject had come up, Asha knew now that she could not rely on her ability to see into the otherworld to track Cairath as she would have done otherwise, so she supposed that she would just have to fall back on her training with Grey. Ignoring the burning of the scents of the dead and dying things around her, she opened her senses fully, attempting to pick out even the smallest details.
As she looked around- really looked- she began to see beyond the obvious things and into the cracks between the lines that defined most people's view of reality. "To become an effective tracker, you have to see what most don't. You have to become the environment that you are in." Words of wisdom from Grey- and words that she took to heart now.
The ancient brickwork was rotten with mould and fungus. It felt like touching a week-dead fish, and the smell wasn't that different. She began to see the eyes in the darkness; those that had eschewed the bare light cast above for the blackness of the underworld. They looked like enormous rats, scurrying back and forth, nervously hunting for that next crumb of bacon. Scraps for clothes, heads and shoulders hunched, scrawny hair, scrawny bodies, scrawny minds. They don't even know why they go on living. Forty yards of habitable road before everything sinks back into the chaos of tangled concrete and mashed steel again, into the tunnel that beckoned like a great maw- for that's what it was. To the right was a pipe, it took a vertical dive downward- that was where the dwellers in the dark avoided- the place that they dared not go. As she made her way towards it, they avoided her- they could smell the danger on her. She had been marked even as she descended by the one that she sought.
It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse- but she still had to be on the lookout. The ones here had little to live for, and Cairath's command was likely as not to be disobeyed. So she descended through the muck, landing on a thin ledge that at one point had been a fire escape. It was more like an obstacle course than a city, and the wreckage compared to the Tatters above just as the Tatters supposedly compared to those levels above it.
Inexhorably drawn to that final confrontation, she made her way ever on through the darkness..
The descent into Old City took Asha time. The labyrinth of jumbled causeways and rusted catwalks took every ounce of her concentration.A broken ankle or pulling down the ceiling on top of her would not help in the slightest. Even with her preternatural awareness, twice Asha nearly plunged through a hole when the ground gave way beneath her. Rook's training on the platform, it appeared, would do her well here. The uneven surfaces and crumbling footholds would twist a limb or fell a fighter with a simple miscalculation.
The worst enemy one could face was ones self, as Asha was discovering. She felt as if she were going against a timetable that she knew nothing about. More than once she thought of Rook and wondered how he was faring. She felt that she was wandering aimlessly at times, and more than once had to backtrack to find the most minute of details. More than once she had been tempted to follow the trail that she was sure Cairath left in the Ether. But she remembered Rook's warning, and eschewed her ability.
It wore on her- the level of misery in this place. She wanted this to be over in one way or another. Though her sense of smell had long sense been overwhelmed by the smell of the place, the sights still weighed heavily on her. But then remembering Rook's distance from the humanity that he walked among, she wasn't sure that was a totally bad thing. What would worry her more was when seeing this level of human suffering *didn't* affect her.
Asha came out into a subcorridor lined with old steam pipes and electric conduits. She paused for a moment, sensing something about this place. For some reason, it felt too clean. As if the mold and filth had been scrubbed away. The ever-present rats were nowhere to be seen here. Old City might have been the tomb for tens of thousands, but no where else felt this… dead. It was as if something had sucked the very life from the stone and metal. The colors were drained and the air tasted forgotten; shadows grew too deep.
The Cairath had been through here recently; she felt it in her bones.
She pressed forward, following the corridor
down to a steam junction. From there, Asha gained access through to a maintenance
room. Light, so alien to this world, flickered over the dusty consoles and shelving.
Amazingly, old SecCams were still working down here; fed by some geothermal
or fission power source, perhaps.
Most showed only static, but three jumped between various locations. A roller
coaster, a dried up aquarium, several demolished stores, escalators, a food
court. Asha must have wandered into an old shopping complex.
Immediately seizing on this advantage in her pursuit of the Cairath, Asha began to look at the screens with a frightening intensity, seeking to expand her senses through the tiny screens. She looked for any signs of where these places were in relation to herself, signs of the Cairath's passage- or perhaps even the Cairath itself.
It was at that moment that she realized that she didn't *really* know what the Cairath looked like. In all of Rook's training, there was never really a *physical* description of the thing. But for some reason, she felt that she would know it when she saw it.
It took her only a moment to disable the security protocols and gain full access to the complex's system. A small joystick allowed her to move a selected camera if she so chose; twisting the top allowing her to zoom in and out. The rest was a matter of flipping back and forth between the several hundred cameras; many showing different angles of the same location.
A cursory search of the room found a laminated map. Its illustrated material provided her a rough idea of the most prominent landmarks. She assumed she was located near an auxiliary Sec-station near the fourth `phase' of the building; the farthest southern end. The aquarium, sub-ride, and major food court should just be outside. The complex itself covered 1350 hectares of tunnels and shops.
One thing she did notice was that the `upper' level near the giant wave pool was completely dark; where as the other sections of the shopping complex had some form of emergency lighting. She quickly confirmed this with the maintenance Deamon. Every light in the swimming area was in need of repair. Someone or something had smashed every last one.
Asha wished that she had asked if 'He Who Walks in Darkness' was merely a reference to the fact that the Cairath dwelled in the undercity, or if it had a deeper meaning. Her hands flying over the boards, she checked to see if she could find the maintenance daemon's drone. It *had* to have a physical presence- or perhaps multiple physical presences- to take care of issues like this. If she were lucky, it would be rigged for control from here, and functioning.
In the distance, Asha heard a sudden rapping-noise; metal on metal. She strained her ears, listening to the deafening silence. Once more, there was a rap-rap-rap. Almost like… code. Someone was communicating out there in the gloom. She checked a cam close to her. It showed the entire aquarium area, only a few meters away. A pile of rags she'd dismissed as garbage… moved. It stood up slowly, a metal pipe gripped in its gnarled hands. She couldn't tell if it was human; its shape too indistinct. Then, it rapped the pipe against an electrical conduit; the sound echoing down the line.
Soon enough, something answered it; rap-rap-rap. Asha immediately knew what it meant. They were coming.
Cursing her lack of attention, Asha immediately began processing the information that she had. Taking whatever the messenger was out was superfluous at this point. It had already informed whoever was doing the tapping that she was here- her cover was blown. But this close, they had to be hooked into the Cairath...
...of course. It wanted to test her first. But she had no time for such games. Looking at the map, she determined if there was another way to get to the wave pool.
According to the map there was a small steam tunnel just beneath her. Access could be acquired through a manhole cover, then down ten feet via ladder. The tunnel runs the entire length of the southern building, including beneath the waterpark. After a brief examination through the cameras, Asha could tell that there'd been significant damage to the tunnel. It was knee deep in brackish water, possibly seepage from the pool itself. Only the ruddy glow of emergency lighting illuminated the 150 yards between her and the service ladder up to the park. With the exception of tangled pipes and some piles of debris, there were few obstacles blocking her path.
Seeing that she had another exit, she focussed on the cameras there to see if it was not blocked. After programming one camera to watch that area and the aquarium area at all times,she took out her sword. The black blade brought back memories of Grey, and his gift of the sword.
"You are the finest student I have ever taught," he told her in a rare display of emotion. "Take this blade, and know that when you wield it, I am always with you. As long as you don't shatter, it never will."
Nodding to herself, she jammed the blade downward. The folded black metal slid effortlessly into the ground, sticking up beside her as she began to search for the drone once again.
It took Asha an agonizingly long minute or so to find the drone's signature on the maintenance roster. She dialed it up, transferring control to her working terminal. Most of its functions were damaged, but it had one tread and a few lights left working. When she activated the lighting system, a powerful beam allowed her to see what looked like a cave system. It took her a moment to realize that the rocks were actually molded spray foam; some type of fake attraction. She turned the drone around to get a better view of the area.
The attraction, it appeared, was some sort of flume-ride, except swimmers must have used inner tubes to float through an artificial cave system. A cyclic flow of `white' water continued to go by with sluggish grace. The drone must have been near the top of the ride, because Asha could see out into the waterpark; a vast building several stories high and quarter of a mile long. Towering water slides could be seen like metallic skeletons in the distance.
Suddenly, the camera turned to static and the drone went off line. In its death-throes, it registered severe structural damage; as if it had been torn in two. Its `vitals' went flatline, severing the connection.
Blinking her eyes in surprise at the sudden destruction of the drone, Asha knew that she had her answer as to the Cairath's location. She worried her lower lip, as she fought off a shiver.
'Am I really ready for this,' she wondered. 'Can I really beat the Cariath?'
The unknown assailed her with almost palpable force. If she had a clear picture of what she faced, she might have been able to quell the doubts. But now her imagination ran wild with speculations of what could have cut the drone in two so violently.
The smartglass wall separating the maintenance room from the rest of the building erupted with noise. Asha's head shot up in time to see a staccato of bullet impacts mar the window. Through the fractured spiderwebs, she could see a figure raise its head in a howl of frustration. In that snapshot moment, its twisted features reminded her of the flagellant members of the Glorious Lords. Behind it, other robed creatures were shuffling closer with unnerving speed; armed with slug-throwers and rusted melee weapons.
Snapped out of her moment of indecision by the adrenaline of impending danger, Asha berated herself for her lapse. First checking the surveillance camera to see if there was anyone in the service tunnel that was to be her escape route, she then plucked her blade from the floor, performing an iai draw through the screens in front of her. The crackling and hissing of the monitors popping filled the room, as wisps of smoke trailed from the damaged monitors.
Satisfied that noone would be able to use this monitoring station to track her movements, Asha quickly moved to the service entrance she had seen, and yanked the cover. The portal resisted her efforts momentarily, but as she applied more force to it, she was able to get it open. She looked down into the tunnel, making sure it was clear, before swinging into the portal. Standing on the ladder, she lowered the hatch into place before climbing down into the brackish water.
Asha could hear the grind of metal and
frustrated howls topside. Below her in the inky shadows, there was only the
sound of water moving. The way between her and the waterpark remained wholly
unoccupied. Not even rats or vermin were down here. The entire tunnel possessed
an absence of life to it that made her skin crawl.
It felt like an ancient tomb, disturbed after centuries of patient waiting.
"For Cairath!" a human voice screamed up above; accompanied by the sounds of a door giving. The room above filled with gunfire and growls and laughter. Glass and metal exploded in a deafening roar that filled the manhole. Then momentary silence quickly followed by curses of frustration. Whoever had broken down the door must have expected her to still be there. A frantic search began.
Quietly, Asha moved up the tunnel; her legs encased in frigid water and silt. She was forced to tear some of her jacket lining into a makeshift mask to help block out the heady methane fumes. She prayed her pursuers didn't follow down here; especially with their tendency to shot wildly. A spark here would ignite the fumes and roast them all in blue flames.
Something struck her knee and for an instant she panicked; images of claws and teeth filling her head. But it was only an old steam pipe, twisted under the water. She unsnagged herself and proceeded forward. The water began to grow shallow as the tunnel angled up to the water park. The access ladder to the flume-ride was mere yards ahead of her.
And then a cry of triumph echoed up from behind her. A loud splash proceeded the first of many worshippers coming after her.
Knowing that she needed to make it to the exit before the cultists figured out where she was, Asha discarded her trenchcoat with a rip- it had become superfluous anyway. She didn't have full wing extension, but she was able to move them enough for the short distance she had to travel. After one last furtive look backwards, she started to run towards the end of the tunnel. When it was in sight, she placed the tip of her blade against the wall of the tunnel, then took off in flight towards the exit, sparks trailing in her wake as she winged out of the tunnel...Howls and slashing could be heard behind her; a distinct madness in the frevor with which her pursuers rushed toward her. She caught a fleeting glimpse of their scarified faces and burning eyes and wicked teeth. With a surge of muscle and agility, Asha flew up the narrow tunnel into the darkness above.
It wasn't dark for long. Her trail of sparks touched off the methane almost instantly. To her, it sounded like a giant sucking in a heavy breath. Then an azure Hell shot up from the service tunnel, spiraling toward the roof in a column of blue flame. Due to the confined space, the explosion transformed into a blowtorch. Asha tucked her body into ball roll and twisted away with blinding speed. Even so, the sharp stink of burning feathers filled the air. She landed quickly, dousing herself in the flowing stream.
Asha took deep calming breaths as she attempted to control the adrenaline raging through her body. 'That was almost *too* effective,' she thought. 'I have to *move*.' She forced herself to move, shuffling to the right of where she had landed. The tower of flames was sure to draw an audience - of one if she was not mistaken. And she did not want to be the hunted.
The flames disappeared almost immediately, but their job had been done. Anything behind her wouldn't have escaped the incinerating blast. The howls and splashing had gone silent. Now all she heard was the fake river flowing beside her and the faint crackling of roasted meat.
Around her, the darkness was utter; impenetrable and looming. When she focused her senses, she could make out low whispers. An insane gibberish like a breeze in the night. With some concentration, she was able to extend her Etheric Vision out into the gloom. Something indistinct and malformed drifted behind a large outcropping of false rocks. As fleeting as the glimpse had been, she estimated the thing's height around nine feet. The gibbering drifted away with its passage.
Asha's blood froze in her veins at the site of the monstrosity. Her shuffling became more frantic as she struggled to put as much distance between herself and *it* as possible. 'The Cairath,' she thought. 'That must be the Cairath.'
She was on the edge of hysteria- nothing Rook had told her had prepared her for the sight of it. And for it to just leave like that...
As her thoughts came, the gibbering sound briefly intensified. Sexless voices
drifted through the murkiness like gas bubbles escaping a tar pit. Their source
remained indistinct, but she could understand some of it; not that she wanted
to. "Must be the Cairath… Rook… never told me… must be
the Cairath." As the creature moved,
the babbling voices faded once more.
Her cleansing breaths became gulps before she was even aware of it- her movement had turned into a scramble. She was operating on pure instinct- the lizard brain had come to the fore, and it's response was *definitely* not to fight. She stumbled up the fake rock edifice behind her blindly, scrabbling up it's face in panic. It was only when she reached the top, and realized that she was seeing from the drone's vantage point that reason once again began to reassert itself. With conscious effort, she slowed her breathing and pushed back the fear that had encroached on her thoughts. 'Rook,' she thought. 'I can't fail Rook. Not like this. He said that I could defeat it.'
She hung onto the image of Rook like a lifeline. She could almost see him in her mind's eye, reassuring her. His easy confidence, the handsome lines of his face... A smile appeared on her face as she thought of him. 'Panic won't help me in this situation. I have to remain in control... Or I will fail.'
With that, she took stock of her situation. She knew that she had made a lot of noise in her flight, not that it mattered- the Cairath had seen her, and chosen not to strike. It knew where she was. The only thing that she could do was to attempt to choose the time of their confrontation.
Bringing the map of the water park to mind, she reconciled it with what she now saw, and made her way to the most defensible area of the park...
The calculations in her mind transformed into a three-dimension image of the
building. With what little `light' her Etheric Vision provided her, Asha was
able to ascertain her surroundings, and then relate them to her image. The flume-ride
had been built into the rear of the waterpark, pressing up against a soild wall
of ferroconcrete several stories high. A wading pool at the top of the ride
provided a vantage point for watching the entire structure. In
addition, she could see down the two `caves' that made up the ride. Every approach
was visible and defendable. She could also escape down one of the tunnels if
need be. With the exception of fighting in ankle deep water, the wading pool
appeared the best choice for a battlefield.
She climbed the walkway up to the wading pool, which churned and swirled with chlorine smelling water. Thanks to the wonders of maintenance nanotech, the area was relatively clean and devoid of mildew build-up. She tested the textured floor of the pool, finding it relatively stable; slipping would be extremely difficult. Flying over the `canyon' walls would be easy enough, if need be.
Once accustomed to her surroundings, Asha glanced out at the park. She immediately caught another glimpse of the Cairath, deftly making its way toward her in a stalking fashion. Although she only saw its `etheric' form, that was enough to confuse and terrify her. Long canine legs provided it with blinding bursts of speed, while its four arms allowed it to climb with a predatory grace. Its head was a lump of decaying flesh, steel, and exposed bone. But its bio-luminescence filled her with true fear.
Normally, a creature had a single aura that surrounded them in a faint glow. The Cairath had too many to count; living auras meshing and overlapping one another. Creatures were being slowly being consumed and utilized to create the Cairath's body. She could see vermin and insects and even human faces; their mouths working and moving with horrible life. And that's when she understood what the gibbering sound was. It was the voices of those `added' to the Cairath's flesh.
Fear threatened to encroach on her thoughts again, but Asha realized that just as the Cairath was not alone, she was not either. She *felt* Rook's presence in her mind, whispering to her, just as she did Grey. With them was one other though- one that she did not recognize by sight, but somehow she recognized him on a deeper level. He was an island of calm, his sharp eyes picking out every tactical advantage and disadvantage that her location provided her. He confirmed a lot of the things that she had already seen- but in addition, there were levels of subtlety that she had not picked up on that he pointed out to her. Though he did not look the part of warmaster, on some level she almost instantly knew that he was more skilled than she would be in hundreds of lifetimes.
But somehow she knew that she did have that capability. Couple that with Rook's training, and there was no way the Cairath could defeat her. The hearing of it had done little for her, the knowledge of her training had not done it for her. But somehow knowing that she was even in the same league with this man suffused her being with a confidence that she had never felt.
She was prepared to wait until the Cairath picked his way up to her location, but she realized that this would be a waste of resources. Plunging her blade into the floor beside her, she unslung her rifle, and stitched a line of fire towards her adversary- but not at it exactly. No. She aimed at the faux rocks beneath its feet, chipping away at the very areas that it was using to advance towards her, not only to make it's progress harder, but also to gauge it's abilities.
Once she had done this, she began to prime herself for descent into Chaos. Reaching deep within herself to grab hold of that twisting energy within her, she allowed it to guide her aim, sowing confusion into the beast.
For a being its size, the Cairath moved with surprising grace and speed. The instant bullets began impacting near it, the creature sought cover; moving in a blur of sickly bio-luminescence. Sparking ricochets followed as it slid behind the protective steel infrastructure of the attraction. Then it was gone again, fading into the darkness. Only the echoes of gunfire and that low gibbering could be heard.
The gun wavered in Asha's grip as the essence of Chaos ran through her. As Rook trained, she let that force guide her hands and aim. Instinctively, she fired a short burst into a tunnel wall. The armor- piercing bullets tore through the plaster and wiring like paper. A hideous scream of rage and pain erupted from the hole. The wall exploded as the Cairath plowed through it and sped toward Asha with frightening speed. She could `see' the gaping wound in its leg where her bullets had found their mark. Although its speed wasn't reduced, at least she knew the thing could bleed.
Then, once it began to close, she plucked the sword from the ground, taking to the air. She would not just utilize Chaos, she would become it. Casting away the concept of ground, she began to assault the creature, with her blade, never committing, never thinking about her actions consciously, but flowing through them as Chaos dictated...
Her initial attacks confused and tormented the Cairath. Until now, its victims had been solely terrestrial in nature. An avian being truly boggled its calculating mind. Asha's first blows caught it completely off-guard, slicing large pieces from its body. Even so, she found it difficult to maintain her flight path after each hit. The Cairath's stolen flesh might be soft enough, but her sword continued to catch on its metallic endoskeleton. Twice, she nearly dropped the blade because of the numbing impact. Even lost in the flow of Chaos, she had to smile when an upward swing took one of the creature's paws; sending the chunk of flesh and muscle spiraling into the dark.
For a moment, she thought victory assured. But on her final pass, the Cairath feinted and lashed out with one of its remaining arms. Rusted knives snagged deep into the membrane of Asha's wing and clamped shut. With its strength and her momentum, there could be only one result. The delicate bones shattered and the limb was nearly torn from its socket. She saw her feet passing over hand as the Cairath flipped her over and down. Fortunately, the shallow water absorbed most of her impact, damaging her hip rather than completely snapping her spine.
Blood and water filled her mouth and nose in a choking deluge. In the next heartbeat, her inhuman reactions prevented two things. The first was the recovery of her sword nearby. The next was to twist her neck to the left, so only her already damaged shoulder was speared by the Cairath's downward thrust. Pain blinded her entire soul as its claws scissored shut in the wound.
Asha screamed at the violation of her body by this monstrosity, and at that moment, her consciousness retreated deeply into her mind. Forgetting all that Rook had said about the Ether and the dangers of tapping into it, she fully opened her inner eye- and at that moment, realized how blinded she had been because of fear of what could happen.
The Cairath was fully a being integrated with the Ether- but Asha realized that she controlled that force with a frightening certainty that could manifest itself in the physical realm. Not fully aware of what she was doing, she took the force in her hands and grabbing it ripped outward with a wrench of space...
The many eyes of the Cairath stared down at her with hunger. "Be with us, be one of us, never alone again…" gibbering its hundred mouths. The fetid stink of its stolen skin choked her. Rusted blades dug deep into muscle and bone as it played with her. And yet, Asha pushed all those thoughts away, focusing on a realm she'd only really heard of. The Ether. Her body became distant, a nonentity to her mind.
Asha's vision of the Ether remained woefully restrictive in this environment, her only connection to it being the Cairath. If at all possible, the creature's Avatar was even less appealing than its flesh form. An undulating mass of screaming mouths and fearful eyes churning in an ocean of gristle and meat. At the heart of this protean tempest was an enormous arachnid, bloated and sickly. Its cast bronze legs continuously scooped and guided the torrent of flesh back to its body. When the Cairath's torrent of glowing eyes focused on her, she knew why Rook had warned her against entering the Ether.
Strings of barbed wire shot out of the Cairath's abdomen like filaments; Black ICE unlike she'd ever known possible. They drove through her nose and eyes and ears before she could blink. The wicked metal ravaged the inside of her brain, threatening to peel it apart like an orange. The pain was unspeakable. Her flesh form would surely die just from the mental shock. And she'd never know, trapped in this other world.
With one last scream of defiance, Asha let forth the elemental forces deep within her body. The electric current flowed down the barbed wire and directly into the Cairath's Avatar. Its howl of fear and agony thrust her back into the Flesh world, severing the Ethereal connection.
She lay there in the cold water, her wounds pleading for attention. Yet, all she could do was watch the Cairath's death throes. Built and held together by nanotechnology, the creature's internal systems were extremely vulnerable to EMP. Each nanite, like the cells holding together a human body, had suddenly and violently been reset in the electric flash. The effect was devastating, each nanite losing its cohesion with the others around it, causing the Cairath's body to literally fall apart. Lumps of flesh and muscle fell from its endoskeleton to be carried off by the current. Its skinless legs buckled, plunging it forward.
Within seconds, only the useless undercarriage remained; its body draining away in a cloud of filthy water.
For long moments after the Cairath's demise, Asha lay there. It was truly dark, as she used only her normal sight. She heard only the water running down the ride, and the sounds of her own ragged breathing, as the pains of her flesh prevented her from doing anything other than simply enjoying the fact that she was alive. The coppery tang of blood filled her mouth, and so it was that finally she turned her head letting some of the water flow into her mouth.
'I suppose I shan't have the heart of the Cairath now,' she thought, remembering Rook's words. 'But I think that's for the best... I wouldn't *want* any part of that thing in my body.'
When she forced herself to finally move, the silence was broken with the scream that tore from her throat. She almost passed out from the pain and agony, falling back into the water with a splash.
'Rook knew that the Cairath was here.... perhaps...' Now against her better judgement, she once again opened herself up to the ether. She didn't know if she could even access it without the Cairath's presence. And with that, she attempted to let Rook know that she was there...
Asha opened her mind to the Ether once more, cringing as the flayed neurons began to burn with the effort. A shock of terror made her heart race when she realized the Cairath was still active. She nearly cut the connection until she realized its cerebellum and higher cognitive functions had been wholly destroyed in the EMP blast. While its Ether connection remained active for the moment, the creature was essentially brain dead.
Asha followed the fragmented connection to the shopping complex's Construct and then out into the Ether. The rolling sea of information made her queasy and her head sting. Because of the damage to this area of the Ether, the connections and images flickered as they lost and regained substance. Fortunately, from what she could tell, the Cairath had previously consumed someone with an InfoLink, because several options started flashing in front of her; including e-mail. As the pain from her flesh-form began to weaken her connection, she struggled to send a message out Rook.
The etherscape was very unfamiliar to her. Though she had attempted to cone to grips with this ability before, she had never pushed herself this far. For one, there was the lack of experience with the reality. Two, there was the alienness of the whole out of body experience, and last- it frightened her.
Add a little more fear to the mix since her attempted ethereal 'rape' by the Cairath, and her physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion and pain, and she was having serious problems remaining coherent and focussed.
She didn't know if this 'other' self could cry, but she felt that soon she'd find out, as the frustration stressed her out all the more...
Her makeshift Avatar, hardly more than a reflection of her Flesh form, did indeed begin to cry. She could taste the tears on her lips; feel the shuddering breaths in her chest. Out here, in a sea of phantoms and daemons, she felt totally vulnerable and naked. With time, she might be able to build up a resistance to this realm, but for now she remained all but helpless.
Initially, it didn't seem to work. There wasn't a listing for him anywhere. Just as she was about to give up hope, an Icon suddenly popped up in front of her.
The large fox had nine, brilliantly red tails that waved in the Ethereal winds. Its goof grin almost made her forget the pain chewing its way through her body. Wiggling of its black nose, it looked her up and down with cartoon eyes.
"Hrm. Don't know you. Talk fast. The boss, he donna like waitin."
"I ... I don't," she was having trouble focussing- didn't really know what to say, or why if this was Rook, he didn't recognize her. "Rook. I was looking for Rook. This is Asha. I... won. But ... I'm hurt. Bad."
She didn't really know what else to do... then she remembered the map that she had assimilated. Not really knowing how to do what she was trying to do, she attempted to transmit it... highlighting her location...
"ASHA?!" it gasped, eyes bugging out a foot before snapping back into its head. It leapt on her, patting her head and hugging her and giving her sloppy kisses. Nuzzles its wet nose into the crook of her neck, it held on. The warmth of its furry tails enveloping her actually protected her bare skin from the glacial Ether. "Asha. Good Asha. We likes Asha. The boss will be happy if we make her happy. How do we make her happy?"
"Hurt?!" it shrieked when she told him. "That's not good. No good at all! I'll tell the boss. He'll know what to do. He's smart, handsome, and very good with kids. Yes sir. By the way, did I say he's handsome?"
It tapped her nose with its paw, "Now you just stay right there. This'll only feel weird for a minute." The fox pulled on a rubber glove, then squeezed and reached its paw into Asha's right ear. She could feel his fingers wiggle for a second; a far more pleasant experience than with the Cairath. When he pulled his paw out again, the Fox an Ether-construct of the shopping center and waterpark came with it.
"You get some rest, I'LL tell the boss."
And with that, the fox disappeared in a cloud of cartoon dust. Asha, self-aware from birth, knew it was time to head back to the Flesh. Her body wasn't fairing well. As soon as she dropped the connection, she found herself several yards from where she'd been. She could feel ground beneath her; a place to rest, to recoup. It seemed as good a place as any to pass out. So she did.
In her dream, she thoughts of a forest with trees so tall they scratched the purple sky. She lay there, watching the autumn leaves twirl down around her. The scent of woodsmoke hung heavily in the air; the campfires of ten thousand men and women. Her muscles burned pleasantly, the aftereffects of a five-day Hellride. Somewhere, her father would be plotting and planning, but for now he'd allowed her some free time. For that she was grateful, she had so few moments to herself now with the war. Sometimes, she yearned for her home. She would have liked to see her niece; how old was she now? And Random's boy. He'd be there wouldn't he? The melancholy romantic that her father trained during the summer months. She'd like to see him again… that quirky smile.
"Natasha?"
She tried to ignore the call. Fought it with all her might. "Natasha!" the man called with more urgency. Damn him. Let me sleep. Don't take me from this warm place… I don't want to go…
"ASHA! Wake up, damn it. Don't you die on me, girl."
Asha awoke to the trickling water, pain, and weak light. Rook gazed down at her with a panicked expression; his face so close, yet so far away. She felt him jab something into her arm. A cool wave of numbness washed over her, covering the agony under a blanket of snow. He noticed her eyes were open and sighed happily.
"There you are. I thought I'd lost you again."
As Asha opened her eyes, she saw Rook and smiled weakly. She tried to speak, but for some reason she couldn't force any sound to come out. Her head felt like there was cotton in it, her mouth parched. "Mmhgh," she finally managed, then attempted to swallow. That turned out to be a bad mistake, as she started to cough violently.
When the wave of coughing had passed, she tried to speak again and failed once more. So she contented herself with caressing his cheek weakly with her good hand, as she looked at him fondly. Finally, she motioned towards the ruined remains of the Cairath, to see if he had seen what she had accomplished...
Rook held her through the coughing fit, making sure she didn't reopen any of the wounds he'd been treating. When it passed, he lay her back down and stroked her hair. For a time, he lost himself in her eyes, just watching her; caught between tears of relief and sorrow. When she motioned to the Cairath, he nodded. His pride in her shone brightly over his face.
"Here, drink this slowly," he said, bringing a bottle and straw to her lips. "It'll help with your throat and give you some strength back."
The liquid tasted like berries and instantly calmed Asha's urge to cough. When it hit her belly, she could feel warmth fill her up; radiating out into her limbs. "Quik Heal," Rook explained. "It'll help repair the muscle and internal injures. I've already sprayed your wounds, so you'll be on the mend.'
Then his face turned grim. "Your wing is going to be… it'll take time, Asha. There's an infection growing, but I've suppressed it. You'll be flying again in no time." He bent over and kissed her brow. She felt a soft patter of tears on her cheek, and when Rook sat up he was sniffling.
When he referred to her wing, her eyes widened as she remembered the intense pain that she had felt when the Cairath grounded her. She resisted the impulse to try to move it, even as she tried to stop the crimson tears that threatened to flow. Then she realized that he was crying for her, and she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
Still sniffling himself, Rook took out a silk handkerchief and dabbed Asha's cheeks. "Now, don't you start crying too. Everything will be fine, I promise. I'm just so ashamed is all. Forgive me. You should never have gotten hurt. Not for me. I should have killed this thing long ago. Along with my uncle. But I swear on my soul, I'll spend every moment of my life making it up to you. Maybe you'll stop hating me for this someday."
"Damn," he chuckled sadly, "Haven't cried for someone in a century. You're a special one, yes sir. Now, you rest for a minute while I get a few things. Then we'll get you to a comfortable bed, okay?"
As he rose to his feet, she was finally able to find her voice. "Rook," she said, her voice little more than a whisper. When he turned around, she just said, "Thank you."
"My pleasure, luv," he said, smiling tenderly. "Now rest for a moment. Let the medicine do its work, okay?"
He patted her hand, then wadded out to the Cairath's skeletal remains. With a plasma-cutter, he removed the creature's skull, then cut through its armored chest plate. Rook dug around for a moment, then cursed quietly. "Can't be helped," he muttered and returned to her side.
"What were you looking for?" she asked.
Rook sat down beside her, double checking her injuries. "I'd hoped its heart might still be intact, angel. Too much of it was flesh, though. Whatever you did to the Cairath damaged its heart beyond use. My cousin told me she might be able to develop a retrovirus that might slow the Ephemeredes down, maybe even kill them. No matter. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."
"I don't know about that, either. It's hard to explain," she said. "When I looked into the ether and the Cairath began to ... " She shuddered at the memory. "Well, I saw an energy holding the Cairath together... and realized I could control it. So I did- ripped it apart."
"Well, I don't know if to be proud or pissed at that," Rook said in mock anger. "All I know is you were lucky, angel. I designed it ICE capabilities. If it had… well, it didn't. Just promise me you won't mess around in the Ether until I've properly trained you, alright?"
He sighed faintly, "Pity the same won't work on the Ephemeredes. But they're EMP shielded and not as dependent on nanites. Still…" He scratched the stubble on his chin. "Well, that'll come later. But I'm glad I stopped at my workshop."
He squeezed her hand, sighing gently as he looked down at her. "Let's get you into a warm bed, shall we? Can you hold this electric torch for me? Just focus it on the wall over there. Tell me if it gets too heavy for you."
Rook rested the flashlight on her belly, then crossed over to the wall. She watched as needle-thin razors popped out of the fingertips of his right hand. With them, he cut into the soft flesh of his left arm, allowing the blood to pool in his palm. He dipped his index finger into the crimson paint and began to sketch something on the faux rock.
"I hope I can remember how to do this," he chuckled through his pain. "We're lucky Morgan freed the Serpent, or we'd have to take the long route out of here. And I don't know if you'd last through the journey. For that alone, I'll let him live after this is all said and done."
She realized that the pain that he experienced, he did for her sake, and wetness gathered around the corners of her eyes. She touched his arm lightly to get his attention.
"I... I could never hate you. I just want you to know that." There was more there, more that she wanted to say. But since she couldn't, she was silent, and let those words fill the void between them.
His face blazed with pain and joy, his quirk smile telling it all. "Thank you," he said quietly, kissing her fingers. "When this is all over, I want to spend my life earning the trust you've already given me. Now hush. Rest."
Rook kissed her fingertips again and returned to his sketch. Beads of sweat appeared on his brow as he worked, adding fresh blood to his makeshift palate when needed. Whenever he glimpsed over at Asha, his pain disappeared; replaced by a bashful grin. He seemed to gain strength from her, and from observing the effort of whatever he was doing required, she knew he'd have been unable to complete his task as easily without her. The painting grew in size and detail. And then it finally came to her.
It was the arboretum where they'd watched the storm. She could see the bench, the tangled flora, and even the minutest piece of rubble and debris. Strangely, rather than growing more pale, Rook's skin took on a dark sheen. An oily film began to flow over his flesh like shadow. For a moment, she thought he'd dissolve in shadow. And then, the membrane coiled down his fingers and into the painting as if he were peeling off a layer of snake scales.
The painting began to burn with emerald light. The flames followed the bloodstains, consuming them. Behind them, the wall crumbled away until the painting became a startlingly life-like picture of the arboretum. When Asha noticed a waft of dust blow across the wavering image, she realized it wasn't a painting… it was real.
Asha gasped in surprise as she came to the realization of the nature of the painting. It tickled something in the back of her mind- a memory it seemed. But why would she be having these memories?
Rook bound his wrist as she watched the scene beyond this unnatural phenomenon. Carefully, tenderly, he lifted her into his arms and held her close. "Don't be afraid," he whispered into her ear. "You'll be home in half-a-jiff."
Far from being afraid, Asha was in awe at the sight. "What is it? I mean... I recognize the arboretum, but I don't understand. The painting... how?"
Rook smiled as he carried her over the threshold, stepping out into the arboretum as if walking through a door. Behind them, the darkness disappeared; the subterranean world they'd just been in dissolving into thin air. Before he spoke, Rook let Asha down on to a smart couch. It was far more comfortable than the cement floor she'd just spent the last few hours lying on.
"It is…" he paused, considering his next words. Rook's eyes dimmed with a hint of confusion. "In the time of your ancestors, it was called a Trump gate; a Trump sketch, to be exact. But now… I don't know. It just felt `different' somehow. The Logrus has obviously changed the Art when Morgan revived it."
Rook noticed that he'd lost her and chuckled. He waved off her questions for the moment, and closed his eyes. His lips moved as if he were speaking to someone, then curled up into a relieved grin. '`Grey will be here in a few minutes. I contacted him before I went looking for you. Very protective fellow. I thought he was going to kill me for letting you go god-hunting alone."
He sat down across from Asha, rechecking her wounds. Satisfied nothing had reopened when he moved her, Rook leaned forward and kissed her brow. "You'll live," he said with a little more emotion than even he expected.
"Now. To those questions burning in your head. Part Order, part Chaos, Trumps were used as a mode of communication and travel before the Schism. But they and the ability to use them disappeared after everything fell apart. However, another Alpha, Morgan, recently released a thing called the Logrus. Simply put, it is the essence of Chaos. It must be feeding energy to the Trumps. But it's changed them. Our trip here felt more like… in all honesty, jumping through the Ether. I'll have to talk to my cousin about it. She was the one that gave him the clues to unleash the Logrus in the first place.
"Against my suggestion, I might add."
He reached over, brushing her drying hair back. "Do you want me to stay? I don't know if you want me around when the gang arrives. Fawning fools probably aren't accepted well around here."
"I would hardly consider you a 'fawning fool'," Asha replied. "And anywhere I am, you will always be welcome," she said, looking at him fondly.
"But for now... for what I have to do, I suppose it would be better if I saw them alone," she said. "That alone will be a lot for them to swallow, let alone the presence of someone whom they consider an outsider when I tell them what happened."
"But don't go too far," she said, taking his hand in hers. "I've grown rather accustomed to having you around."
Rook nodded, squeezing Asha's fingers before reluctantly letting her go. He pulled a soggy pack of nicsticks from his jacket. "I'll pop out for a smoke then. If you need me, I'll be around. Just call and I'll come running. Heh. I sound like a sappy folksinger. Bloody hell."
He bent down and kissed her forehead. "I think I'm falling for you, dearest," he whispered and meant it. Before she could respond, he stepped into a growing shadow and was gone. She could still hear his humming; a simple melody from a time long dead.
His statement had taken her by surprise, leaving her speechless. Her eyes widened as the impact of what he had said set into her thoughts. But she had little time for that...
"You're alive!" a voice growled.
Grey stalked into the arboretum and up to her resting-place. Robin and Guthook
followed at his heels, both looking both worried and shocked. Robin, an blonde
stick with ridiculously augmented chest, carried a medical kit with her and
immediately sent to checking Asha over. Guthook, a squat brick of
muscle, shouldered his LAW and kept an eye out for trouble.
Meanwhile, Grey set to berating Asha, waggling
his finger at her. His face had become a crimson gourd threatening to explode
as he growled. "That was incredibly stupid, you know that?! I warned you
about going off on your own and now look at you. A drowned rat, that's what
you look like. The infections alone should do you in.
And then what will we do?! I…I…"
His voice broke off; cracking. Then Grey was at her side, tears in eyes. He stroked her hair like a father mourning over his lost daughter. "I didn't think you'd come back to us, girl!"
For the second time in mere moments, she was left speechless. Tactiurn, staid Grey. Acting like this? Her world was being turned upside down, and paradoxically enough, it seemed as if it were because she actually asserted herself!
She smiled. "Well, I did. And it seems like we might actually have what we need to survive this turn with the Lords- and even more than that, to prosper!"
Sitting up, she winced at the pain that filtered through the haze of the medications that Rook had given her, and Robin's ministrations. Then she proceeded to tell Grey everything that had happened.
Grey listened, nodding with each point Asha made during her story. He rubbed his head when she came to a conclusion, pensive and nervous. Robin raised a skeptical eyebrow to the entire story, but then again she'd always been a cynic. She'd been the gangs medic for years and witnessed too much reality to believe in monsters. But by the end, Asha had won her over as well; not that she'd say anything.
Grey licked his dry lips. "Well, the game you set us on before you left has evened the odds considerably. Many of the individual coteries within the Lords have accepted us. The hard-liners are still standoffish. Those still breathing, anyway. I think if you show them their so-called god, they'll turn to you for leadership. Astaroth will still be a challenge. His cyberpsychosis is too far advanced for him to back down; especially not to a woman. You may have to fight him for gang dominance."
"May have to?" Asha replied. "I'd think that was a certainty."
He sat down beside her, his slate-colored eyes darkening. "These Ephemeredes you spoke of. Well, I think they're closing in. Four northern patrols haven't checked in for days. Astaroth keeps sending men to the outer boundaries, but they don't come back. They're probing us, I'm sure of it."
"I wouldn't doubt it. They could have taken us at any time, but they didn't know for sure. And until they did, they wouldn't strike." A slight smile touched her lips. "But they waited too long- at least I hope they did."
He squeezed her shoulder gently. "I have a plan, but it can wait until you've rested. You'll need your strength, because Astaroth won't pass up the opportunity to challenge you once he learns you're back. Nor do I want you to refuse that challenge. We need to become one gang tomorrow, if we're to survive."
"And the thing is, we need every warm body that we have. It is going to be quite a challenge just to get ready." She sighed, the mere thought of the morrow making her tired. "Let's get some rest," she said at last. "We're going to need it."
To be continued...