Cartlidge: Rise of the Imperfect Flame (18 page)

I surrendered to it, rose to my feet, and bathed myself in a
field of purple energy. It was not an action that I called upon through will or
a form of voluntary thought, but simply a state of being. I felt the energy
surround me and I allowed it to take its own form. Random notes of sound formed
themselves into a symphony. I looked about myself in surprise. The field was my
exact form, no thicker than a millimeter off my skin. The energy hummed with a
sort of buzz one hears from flies or bees. The buzzing fluctuated rapidly and
constantly, giving me the mental image of the typical Tesla-Coil.

The third time Arivictus threw himself against the door
caused the seam of the doors to split at the center. He shoved his hands
through and forced the two doors apart. The paragon of anger revealed itself
upon his face. He let out a roar and charged towards the ship, and the
horrified soldiers around and within it. I released my energy and darted to
intercept him. I crashed into Arivictus with all the force I could command. We
both fell to the ground.

“Ezekiel!
Get that door open! I’ll
keep him busy!” I felt a hand wrap around my head, just before flinging me,
like the catapult flings a rock towards a castle wall. I crashed into an empty
crate, forming a torso-shaped crater. Luckily, my energy field acted as a shock
absorber. I swore, and opened my eyes just in time to see Arivictus almost
flying towards me with his axe. Freeing myself from the crate, I managed to
roll away as his axe embedded itself in the crater my body had created.
Arivictus was forced to pause a moment in order to free the axe head. I took
the advantage and fired a sphere of energy at his left leg. The orb struck the
lower part of his hamstring, causing him to wail, rip his axe from the crate,
then
fall backwards to the ground. His armor was thin where
the sphere struck, and as he rose I saw the large burn I had inflicted. He
rested his axe on the ground, holding it like a cane,
then
closed his eyes. I readied another portion of energy and fashioned it into a
throwing spear. The sound of thunder erupted all around, and Arivictus was
engulfed in an energy field of his own. His color was as dark as midnight,
making his stature all the more intimidating. He charged towards me, axe
raised
, showing no effects from the burn injury. I threw the
spear and simultaneously felt the impact of his axe. It threw me backwards and
I struck the ground, taking the brunt of the impact with my upper back. My
breath tried to flee my lungs and I struggled to catch it. I looked up to find
Arivictus pulling the spear out of his shoulder guard at a spot where the
energy field had shattered like glass. The guard came off next, allowing his
field to reform itself to the shape of his shoulder. The upper hangar door was
finally ready to fly open, and the drop ship started its engines. Arivictus let
out a roar and barreled towards me. I responded by firing spheres of energy at
him as rapidly as I was able. As I turned to dart, Arivictus grabbed me by me
right leg. I felt myself swing through the air before crashing into the floor,
again and again. On the last time, my vision began to blur. I couldn’t move.
Either I had a concussion, or I was dying. I pondered the idea of both
possibilities. Everything began to spin.
Everything except
Arivictus.
The blurred shadow was now standing at my side, axe raised to
give a killing blow. My energy field had dissipated and I became an easy target
for the blade of his weapon. Who was I fooling? I never really had a chance
against Arivictus. I was only target practice for him. He brought the axe
downwards as I closed my eyes.

“I’ll see you soon, Sapphire.”

The sharp crack of gunfire instantly cleared the fog from my
mind. I felt an excruciating pain in my right leg, just below the knee, that
spread until my entire leg felt as if on fire. My right foot became instantly
numb. The pain mimicked that of the serpent bite from
Something
was wrong with this room.
months
ago. I forced my eyes
open. Arivictus had stumbled backwards from the shots, and now hid behind an
energy shield as additional rounds continued to pepper him. Looking in the
direction the rounds were coming from, I could barely see what looked like
Ezekiel and his squad as they ran towards and surrounded me while spraying
Arivictus with everything they carried on them.

“We got you sir!
Sci
! Get him to
the ship!” He dropped the life gem into my hand. I involuntarily wrapped my
fingers tightly around it.

“Yes, sir!”

“No!” I tried to free myself. “Get out of here! Leave me
be!” Pain shot through whatever remained of my right leg. I screamed out and
lost the strength to resist. I felt myself being dragged towards the ship. My
peripheral vision was shrouded in darkness, but I managed to notice a lack of a
blood trail. I looked at my leg. Something black, like charred ash, covered the
area of my knee. My leg was gone from the knee down. I looked up to see one of
the soldiers cut down by Arivictus. Another continued shooting until he was
quickly impaled with the bottom of the axe as if it were a spear. I begged then
demanded to be left behind but my pleas were left unanswered. Ezekiel stopped
fighting to look back to me. Arivictus hesitated only for a moment before
cutting down his last defenseless opponent. The door of the drop ship closed
before his body could touch the ground.

I became disconnected. The only thing I was sure of was that
I was in the drop ship. It was moving, so we clearly weren’t dead.
Blurs of soldiers darted about my body in a manner that seemed to
mimic a tribal dance.
They were stabbing slashing me with their cultic
tools, while shouting evil things to one another. I couldn’t struggle. My body
disobeyed me and surrendered itself to the whims of the devious warriors. My
conscious mind became separated from my body. The only thing I felt was the
warmth of the life gem as I held it against my side. They could not take it
away from me. The last thing I saw was Sapphire’s shadow, and then I lost
consciousness.

In that moment, The Undying was forced to retreat with its
battered fleet. For a second time, the work of others allowed Jacob to cheat
death.

I found myself in a sea of darkness, and I was filled with
the sensation of floating to the top of that sea. Opening my eyes, I discovered
instead, that I was in a small bed in a medical room and was unable to move.
The doctors must have given me something to keep me asleep and still. The
former failed. I struggled for a moment and let free a small grunt in
recognition of my current state. I heard footsteps.

“Ah! You’re awake!” I heard a voice call. “Can’t move? Don’t
worry. It’s a numbing device that has a slight
paralyzation
side effect. It’ll wear off in a minute or two. You were already unconscious,
but we wanted to make sure you stayed under for your surgery.”

“
Surg
…
er
…
ey
?”
I forced. The
doctor remained silent, then walked over to me and adjusted my head so I could
see my legs. Legs! Two feet protruded out from underneath the blanket. I sat
there fascinated for a moment at the medical marvel that was Rovanekren
technology. I turned my gaze to the doctor, who stared silently towards my leg.
His face was grim and unmistakable. It was the signature expression of a doctor
who bore the burden of delivering crushing news. Silence reigned over the room
for a time. The doctor then banished the silence by clearing his throat.

“We… had to take extensive care to remove all the tissue
that had been corrupted.” He paused. “We haven’t seen this kind of shadowing
before. The other soldiers said it was caused by Arivictus’s axe. Is that
correct?”

“Yeah…”

“Hmmm… There have been shadow weapons before… Teeth of fire,
dark blade… but usually you can’t get one unless you have an agreement with a
shadow.”

“What exactly… is a shadow?
Or really
shadowing for that matter.”

He turned over to a monitor and pulled up various images of
my leg. The bottom half looked as if it had been charred off in a fire, then
covered in a black, oil-like slime.

“This is shadowing. It’s the corruption of
ones
physical body and spirit. When this occurs the person
becomes a shadow. Shadows are dark skeletal creatures that prey on anything
living. We had to expose your leg to immense amounts of radiation from nearby
stars just to remove it.” He paused again. “The fact that you didn’t die from
the radiation alone was a miracle.”

I figured the life gem that I now held so close was the
reason. I tried bringing us back to the original topic. “We were sent to a
pitch-black room when we first saw Arivictus. When someone opened the door
another figure at the back of the room shifted around a bit. I think it was a
shadow.”

“Shadows are pretty rare now. However, if Arivictus has a
shadow under his control then that could finally explain his immortality.” We
were silent for a moment. The doctor guessed at what I could’ve been thinking
and continued.

“Arivictus is billions of years old. There have always been
theories, but we’ve never really figured out how he does it. You might just
have helped us find the answer.”

By now full control and feeling had returned from its exile,
everything except the sensation in my leg. I couldn’t stand the confusion any
longer and tore the covers away. In place of my leg was a prosthetic one. The
entire leg was a black iron color, with the texture of stainless steel. A large
metal plate covered in place of the shin and wrapped around the top and bottom
of the leg. Springs and wires filled the calf area and six thin pistons ran
down the sides. A small box with a glowing blue coil took place of the Achilles
tendon. The foot was similar in design to the skeleton of an actual foot, with
the exception of the toes, which resembled small arrowheads. I attempted to
move my feet to test the responsiveness of the new leg. The leg responded
instantly as if it was the original foot. I turned the foot about to examine
it.

“We surgically attached it to existing nerve endings so that
it will respond instantly. It’s the closest to a real leg you can get.”

“Thanks” I motioned to get up but the doctor raised his arm
to gently force me back down.

“We still need to do some calibrating for the leg to be
ready. Also we need to run a few more checks to see if there are any cancerous
growths from the treatment. To do so we need to put you into another sleep.”

I paused for a moment,
then
sighed.

“Alright.”

The doctor took a syringe and inserted a clear liquid in my
arm, then moved towards the communications panel. I felt myself fall backwards
into the dark pool of sleep.

“Jacob.”

The voice sounded familiar. It was the same voice I had
heard many times in my dreams. I forced my eyes open, and returned to the realm
of consciousness. Something was different. The voice had a physical location in
the room. I raised myself from the bed to locate the source of the strange
voice. Standing in front of me was a beautiful young woman, probably around my
own age. She wore some sort of white outfit-
no,
the
woman appeared to be in fact a strange translucent white herself. Her hair and
eyes were as colorless as the pure-driven snow, and though I could see through
her to a degree, her curious aura did not delude her features. She seemed to
come from the realm of dreams, as her face was perfectly formed, without a
single sign of blemish anywhere. Her features were soft yet distinct, like that
of a loving mother watching over her newborn. She wore a clear halo above her
head and bore small wings that were more invisible than she. When she spoke she
spoke in a voice that could peacefully lull a child to sleep, yet was audible
enough for me to easily understand her. “Be not afraid, my dear.”

“What
?-
Who? Who are you?” I
stuttered.

“Jacob, I am your guardian angel.” She replied.

“My…
My what?”

She giggled at my confusion. “My dear, you know what an
angel is, your friend told you the other day! Although I am sure you never
expected to see one.”

“What? Wait, Tolenva? That was over a year ago! How… how do
you know that?”

“I have been with you since your birth. I have watched you
grow into the man you are now. I know everything about you. You have lost your
way, my dear, but I am here to guide you back.”

I felt a sudden sense of violation at the revelation that my
entire life was this woman’s TV show, but I shook away the feeling and
continued.

“What do you mean help me? How come I’ve never seen you
until now? Where were you before?”

Here facial expressions turned grimmer as she spoke, “Most
never see their angels because we are usually invisible to you. The only way
you could see me is when you have witnessed the two worst possible crimes
someone could commit: The violent destruction of love and the murder of an
angel.”

Her words reminded me of that horrible night. The entire
scene flooded my mind as if I was reliving it. No, wait, I was reliving it! The
nightmare filled the room and began to play like I was in a satanic theatre.
First was the execution of some of the prisoners.
Then came
the killing of the wingless angel, followed by the demonic sounds that filled
my mind when they killed him.
I was now on the floor, screaming and
trembling, begging this terrible angel to remove the images forever, but they
continued on against my plea. Arivictus still held us hostage, he still taunted
us as he continued his gruesome work, and then he still murdered her before me.
I tried with all my strength to close my eyes or look away, but my body
betrayed me. All I could do was watch.

When the room cleared I felt as if someone had torn my
intestines out and a blade was driven through my throat. “Why? Why would you
show me this?”

“So you could remember why you must carry on.” she replied.
Her voice was grim, but comforting. She almost sounded like a mother, calming
her recently scolded child. She walked over and dropped something in my hand.
It was a thin golden necklace, with a small pendant at its end. A gem was
missing from the pendant. I took hold of it. I couldn’t will myself to stand,
so I laid there as she continued.

“You have to continue fighting on against your true enemies.
I cannot explain myself or tell you what lies ahead
,...
but I promise you, in a way you will not expect, … you will see her again.”

The last part of her words echoed in my mind, with dozens of
questions in its wake. She started to leave as I sat up. The only thing I
managed to say was: “Wait
!...
What is your name?”

She smiled as she turned the corner, leaving me to return to
unconsciousness.