James went quiet again. His shoulders rose and fell through loud, deep breaths. Then, he turned his head up toward Liam. Liam saw only his own reflection on that chrome surface, curled over in a pathetic heap despite immaculate black armor.
When James spoke, Liam heard a dull, whistling sort of hum through the comms.
“You need to leave, Liam.”
Crystalline structures splintered and spread across the battleground. Plants became little more than glassy ice sculptures. The skeleton of the shattered dome resembled the sharp insides of a cerulean geode.
Ice clusters spiked around them as pale mist blanketed the garden. James rose to his feet and crossed through the mist toward Liam.
Three spikes of ice jutted out, downed, and then crushed a vespid that hovered too close.
“James,” Liam managed, “…what’s happening… why are there two…?”
Liam lurched forward as James closed one fist around his throat and dragged him to his feet. The wound in his torso felt as if it split further and Liam screamed. He didn’t want to think about what his protruding injury looked like under his armor.
“I can’t stop it, Liam,” James spoke through heavy breaths and grit teeth.
What the hell is even happening?
“You weren’t supposed to live. You need to leave… they… they want me to kill you.”
Every time James’s voice carried through the comms, Liam heard what sounded like a million other voices whispering over him. “They’re telling me everything… I…”
James trailed off and the chrome face of his visor turned up toward the sky.
“James…! Snap out of it!”
The new Chevalier dragged Liam as he carved a path down icy stairs toward the elevator they came from. He muttered to himself as he walked. Words which barely made it through glitched static in their comms connection.
“I fucked up… I fucked up…! Get out of here. Tell them they’re coming—”
Liam’s back slammed against the walls of the lift. James stumbled back on weary legs and slammed one fist against the control panel outside. His limbs spasmed as he curled and jerked as if some unseen force struggled to puppet him into submission.
The elevator doors began to slide shut.
“James, wait!” Liam had seconds to try and think of anything to remind James of, if only to help him fight whatever the hell was taking him. “Alyssa, she’s—”
The doors shut.
I… didn’t make it in time.
Liam slumped back against the wall in numb exhaustion as a slow descent began. He would probably be dead by the time those doors opened on the first floor. How he’d even held on this long was beyond him. The inside of his suit was soaked with blood and he wondered how much of what he’d just witnessed even really happened.
This… is just a bad dream, I think.
Blood loss.
Dehydration.
Maybe I’ve been dead for a while now and this is just the nightmare my final burst of endorphins leaves me. I thought it’d would be a little more euphoric.
The same quiet piano music from before ghosted into the lift. The same, mournful opera melody from the art gallery blended over it, a sound superimposed where it should not have been.
Shivering, Liam wondered which of the two sounds was a hallucination.
A reminder echoed with static in his helmet.
“Don’t forget this time, Liam.”
“Ah, there’s the hallucination…” Liam slurred. “Nym…”
Only glitched chirps buzzed in response.
“Nym… if you’re there… send the backup to Lo.”
Another static storm surged through his helmet.
Nym arguing in protest, perhaps, knowing the little AI.
“Delete… delete everything in this suit’s database. Get out of here. Find Lo.”
More glitched chimes and blips followed. He might have heard fragments of syllables in Nym’s voice littered through the noise.
Nym’s deletion process began and finished in seconds.
The lights in his helmet darkened and the glow of his suit’s lucidium veins faded.
Nym was gone.
All that remained was the uncomfortable awareness of isolation.
Without the visor’s clarity provided by his system, the lights on the ceiling bloomed with halos as Liam slumped onto his back.
Despite painful fatigue, Liam’s body trembled in bloodloss-induced cold. He could barely hug his arms to his chest as his flesh ached for warmth it would not find.
Halos…
Like a ring round the sun.
The lights flickered three times and then came the drop.
Liam body hurtled upward.
Light flickered in the lift before the music cut the silence and his freefall went black.
(3) Unread Messages
MESSAGE FROM ALYSSAY575-10-07
I know that I told you not to mention anything to James, but…
I know this sounds terrible, but I’ve been thinking about worst-case scenarios.
The truth is, if there’s a chance I might never see him again, I’ll forgive you for telling him about, you know. The thing. I wish that I could know for sure that he’ll come home and I’ll be able to tell him myself.
But I know that sometimes even Chevaliers don’t come home. I don’t know why that is. I don’t even know what Chevaliers do up in that tower. I just don’t want to risk the chance of him never knowing.
I’m sorry that you had to find out first and carry that secret. It’s unfair and stressful, I know. I’m sorry about this. I just wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted the news to be something that would make him happy.
Just know that I’m grateful that James has such a wonderful brother.
You’re going to be an amazing uncle, Liam. Come home safe.
[ MESSAGE DELETED ]
REPLY FROM LOY575-09-23
Don’t worry about it, Nerd.
Just meet me in Euclid someday.
[ MESSAGE DELETED ]
MESSAGE FROM JOVEY575-08-21
You did a great job, Liam. Don’t let James tell you otherwise.
You’ve come a long way. I’m proud of you.
[ MESSAGE DELETED ]
* * *
Other Tales in the Crystalise Series
Crystalise: The Exaltation System
A E T H E R B R E A K
“The worst is yet to come and the halcyon days are dwindling…”
In the Realm of Libelle, warriors called exalts take part in a battle royale for glory, prestige and survival known as the Exaltation System.
