Across Worlds - Chapter 30

Rhys kicked at the rubble as he made his way down the road. The path was nearly buried beneath all the scraps of metal and debris. He could barely make out where the path ended at walkways to buildings. And it made him smile.

This world was once a large powerhouse. He had spent many a night trying to sneak out of captivity there. All those years that he had disappeared, when no one knew where he had gone, he had been trapped in Vertfay. The magicians thought they owned everything because their powers were more advanced. Of course they decided that they would be the ones to imprison him.

Now it was nothing but a desolate landscape of broken and toppling buildings. They had wronged him and he had made them pay. It didn’t even matter that it was Akia’s home world. She had found a world that treated her much better than Vertfay ever could. She was a part of something great. Unfortunately, that greatness would need to come to an end.

It was dark. The sun had risen nearly four hours ago, but the smog combined with the thick clouds kept it hidden from view. Combined with the crumbling buildings and fallen trees, the entire world seemed like a blur, like it wasn’t even there.

The fight had been long and hard. Kit had tried his hardest to save the world. But in the end, Rhys had captured Kit and destroyed the world he loved the most. And then he killed him. Everything had been taken care of. Now he was back to meet someone. Why they wanted to meet in this world made no sense to him.

“You made it,” came a sly voice from behind him. He spun to see a man standing there with a green mask covering his face and dressed in purple robes. It was the same purple that the Hund Warriors wore. A smile crept across Rhys’s lips. The man had done his research.

“So did you.” Rhys responded. He had met the man before, but he had been wearing a different mask. The past mask was a deep blue color with golden swirls on the forehead. This one had the same design, but was a deep green color. The hue truly stood out against the empty grays that surrounded them.

“There was never any doubt that I’d be here,” the man said pompously. “It’s you I’ve had to convince to play along.”

Rhys rolled his eyes, tired of the man’s attitude. “Well you’ve convinced me. Sow why exactly am I here?”

The man didn’t respond. He simply motioned to the street before them and started walking. Rhys had no choice but to follow. He could stay and argue with the man, demand that he get information before going, but he knew he couldn’t win. The masked man wasn’t one to converse with commoners such as himself.

Commoner. Rhys scoffed at the thought. He wasn’t a commoner anymore. He was in charge of people. People were scared of him. He wasn’t their equal anymore.

The surroundings didn’t get any better as they walked. Buildings were crumbling, siding still cracking as the wind attacked it. A sign barely hung on to the hair thin string keeping it attached to the point next to a door hanging off its hinges. Two bright, green letters shone into the dark:

Noyes Noodles

He stared at the words, trying to make sense of them. Akia’s family had a noodle place, he knew that. But why was it this sign still in tact? There were many other businesses in the world, yet this was the only one that still had life to it.

“Are you going to stare at an old sign all day?”

“No,” Rhys said quickly, turning to face the man. “It just reminded me of what this place used to be.”

“Don’t get sentimental on me,” the man grunted. He led Rhys a bit farther down the road, then paused. It wasn’t until he glanced around him that he took a step forward that he realized what was going on.

“What the hell is that?” Rhys couldn’t contain his surprise.

There in the middle of the road, was a giant crater. It was unlike any he had ever seen. It wasn’t a normal crater, one made by a meteor hitting the ground. The ground barely even bent inward. There were cracks running from where they were standing to the center of the crater. They got smaller, but more populous as they reached the center. It seemed that the ground was cracking from the center out. The ground was destroyed from the inside out.

Rhys had seen craters before, that wasn’t what worried him. It was the center of the crater that was confusing. The ground seemed to be pulsating. If he squinted enough, he could see the rocks and gravel shaking and sliding across the ground.

But what concerned him the most was what was shining through the cracks. He thought it was just his imagination at first, but when he took a step closer, he realized that it was really there. Each time the ground pulsed, more color showed through. It started out as a simple orange color, as if a meteor had struck and was stuck beneath the surface. When it changed to greens and blues and yellows, Rhys knew that it was something different.

“It’s magic,” the man said, his voice so quiet that Rhys barely heard it. “Trapped beneath the surface – hidden from anyone who truly needs it.”

Rhys stared. If what the man was saying was true, it would explain why there was magic he couldn’t get to. The seers only had so much. The teleks had even less. The shapeshifters were so drained of their magic that they barely put up a fight.

“You mean, all of the magics are being held here?”

“Indeed.” the man responded. A smile appeared on his lips before abruptly disappearing. “I thought this is what you wanted? All of the magic is right here. All you have to do is get that silly locket of yours and absorb it all.”

Rhys hesitated. He still hadn’t been able to find the locket. It wasn’t something he wanted the masked man to know about either. But it seemed like it wasn’t a secret he could keep.

“You don’t have it, do you?” the man asked. Rhys remained silent, staring at the cracks beneath his feet. He jumped when the man laughed. It was loud, echoing off the broken buildings surrounding them.

“And I thought I was dealing with an equal here.” The man shook his head and turned his back to Rhys. The motion angered Rhys, but he didn’t retaliate. If he wanted the man’s help, he’d have to stay on his good side. “Here I get you the one thing you’ve been searching for and you can’t even contain it.”

“I’m close,” Rhys said defiantly. “Not long from now they’ll be here and I’ll get the information I need.”

The man turned back to face him. If he didn’t have a mask covering his expressions, Rhys was sure he’d see his face twist into confusion. “They? You’re relying on others to get you to where you want to be?”

Rhys stood taller. “Yes.”

The masked man shook his head. “You’re an idiot.”

“I am not,” Rhys retorted. “Everything is working according to plan. You leave me to my business and I’ll leave you to yours. That was the deal, right?”

Before the masked man could answer, there was a sudden rush of wind and a bright green light. Rhys whirled around to see Niro walking towards them, dragging a small kid with him by the collar of his shirt.

The boy looked to be twelve years old. He had short black hair and his cheeks were littered with freckles. They weren’t as pronounced as others Rhys had seen, but it was obvious that they were there. The boy’s big blue eyes were full of fear.

“Here,” Niro grunted, letting go of the kid roughly when they reached Rhys. “They’ll come for the kid soon.”

The masked man laughed again. “This is your plan? A lonely kid to act as bait?”

Rhys ignored him. After waving Niro away, he squatted in front of the boy. They were at eye level with each other. Rhys hadn’t noticed before, but the boy’s eyes were glistening with tears. “What’s your name?”

“Seth,” the boy responded in a small voice. “You’re not gonna kill me, are you?”

Rhys felt a sudden rush of sympathy for the kid, but he forced it away. He wouldn’t lose it again like when he last saw Akia. “No. We wouldn’t do that. But the person who’s coming to get you… well, we’ll probably kill her.”

The terror returned to the boy’s face and he started shaking his head furiously. “You can’t so that! I won’t let you! If you try and do anything I’ll punch you in the face!”

Rhys only rolled his eyes and stood again. Looking to Niro he said, “Can you get this kid to shut up?” Niro placed a hand on Seth’s shoulder. It only made his panic more, but soon Seth’s eyes began to droop. Seconds later he was lying on the ground, snoring.

“You two are too much,” the masked man said, shaking his head. “You let me know if your little kidnapping gig works out. I’ll be off doing the real dirty work.” And with the snap of his fingers, he was gone.

Rhys let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. The man had come and left without doing any damage. And Rhys was able to convince him that he was still on track. As long as he followed the plan exactly, he’d be able to join the masked man and the real plan would go into action.

“Is that the creep you’ve been telling me about?” Niro asked. Rhys wrinkled his nose. He didn’t appreciate Niro calling the man a creep, but he nodded. “Huh. He should probably respect us more.”

Rhys was going to respond, but decided against it. He had enough to worry about. He didn’t want to get into an argument with Niro. “We have to get going. We’ll have to be as far away from this… thing when she gets here.”

“Why?” Niro asked. He turned to look at the crater. “What is this?”

“Magic.” Was all Rhys said as he turned and walked away. Niro would follow, he knew it. And without a reasonable explanation, Niro wasn’t going to risk going near the crater. The magic would be there when he ready for it. When Akia gave him the locket, he’d be back.

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For the LMS contest. Word Count: 1,798