Across Worlds - Chapter 34 Part 2

A single, utterly crazy plan took over. “How’d you get the magic in there?” If she could feign interest, she might be able to delay the inevitable.

That unsettling grin set across Dorrin’s lips again. She could see nothing but pure evil in it. “That is a trade secret, my dear. I did what needed to be done to keep everyone under control.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes, everyone in my world.” If possible, his grin grew.

The statement threw Akia into a whirlwind of panic. What world was he even talking about? Agathi and Lightport were the only two left standing. Was it possible that he had taken over Agathi? This wasn’t the same man that was in charge of the mages as she had come to know. Maybe they had overlooked chaos in Agathi because everyone still had their powers. What had they done?

She looked passed him and back at the crater. There were so many different colors, so much energy being kept beneath the surface. It looked like mage magic, but it didn’t feel like it. Magic, no matter that kind, had a way of finding other magic. Whenever Akia was around something strong, she could feel it. She’d been around mage magic before and it didn’t feel like this. This magic was stronger, more powerful. It even had a sophisticated feel to it. It was nothing like she’d felt before.

“What kind of magic is there?” she asked, hoping against all odds that she’d get an answer.

“We’re not telling you anything until you agree to work with us,” Rhys spat. “I’m not falling for any of your tricks.” Of course. She knew that that would be his reaction.

What now? She wondered. She had run out of ideas. Manipulation wasn’t going to work with Rhys there, and Dorrin didn’t seem to be very open minded when it came to negotiations. He wanted things done his way and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“So are you on board?” Dorrin asked.

“Yeah, sure,” she responded. “Let me just pop back to Lightport, pack my stuff, and leave everything I’ve worked for in the past six years behind to join you guys. Give me a few minutes, I might get a bit emotional.”

Rhys pursed his lips. “Don’t get sarcastic on us, daughter of Kit. Your father had the same snippy remarks and it didn’t get him far at all.”

Her blood boiled at the mention of her father. “Stop talking about my father. He was a great man and you knocked him down. All because you didn’t want to fight him. Do you now what we call people like you? We call them cowards.”

Rhys was at her throat in a flash. His hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed, cutting off almost all of the oxygen. Her breaths came in shallow gasps as she clawed at his hand and wrist. But he wouldn’t let go.

“I am no coward,” he growled, staring her right in the eyes. She refused to look away. “You are the coward. I was only doing what I knew to be right. Everything went well until you decided one day that my ideas would somehow ruin us. When you saw something bad, you ran. You could’ve stood with me and fought for what was right. But you didn’t. You ran away and hid from me for years. Tell me how that isn’t cowardice?”

“Let her go,” Dorrin said calmly. Rhys hesitated, but let go of Akia, sending her crashing to the ground. She sputtered and coughed, trying to regain her strength. Once during training she had been thrown to the floor, getting the wind knocked out of her. This felt much worse. Her entire body felt weak even as breaths filled her body.

She tried to push herself up, but her arms only shook and eventually gave out. The ground was cool against her face, but it felt good. It almost gave her relief, something to keep her mind off of the pain in her throat.

Dorrin was muttering something, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying. She looked up only to see Rhys staring down at her. “You know, this looks rather familiar,” he said slowly. “Ah, right, this is what your father looked like in his final moments.”

Akia lashed out. She jumped up, adrenaline coursing through her, and threw a punch at Rhys, one he easily dodged. A hot pain flashed across her face as he slapped her. It stung, but she recovered quickly. Desperate, she kicked out her foot, aiming at his stomach. But he easily caught it, twisted, and sent her tumbling to the ground.

“You might want to work on those fighting skills.” Rhys sneered. She wanted to see him hurt, see him suffer for what he said. Her father’s memory wasn’t something to just be thrown around.

“If you two are done, I’d like to get going,” Dorrin commented, sounding bored as ever. He wasn’t even watching them. Instead, he was staring down the alley that had led them here. “There are things that need to be done.”

“So you’re just going to give up?” Akia asked. “All of this happens and you’re going to let me go free?”

Dorrin chuckled. “Oh no, we have something in mind for you.” His gaze focused on her. She could see the anger in his eyes, the desire to eliminate anyone that stood in his way. At that moment, it happened to be her.

She wondered what they could possibly do. Rhys had ruined her life already and Dorrin had gotten his bit of torture in. They needed her alive to bring the magic out. The only solution she could come up with was for them to kidnap her and take her back with them. And she wasn’t going to let that happen.

Shaking, she pushed herself off the ground. She was weak, tired from what she had been put through. There wasn’t a bone in her body that felt able to fight. But she was going to do it. There was no way that she was going to let them succeed.

She glared at Dorrin. “I won’t let it happen. Whatever you have planned, expect a fight.” Dorrin didn’t react, but then a grin appeared on his lips and he started to laugh. She expected him to say something, but he still laughed. She shifted from one foot to the other.

“You, Ms. Akia Noyes, is going to fight me?” Dorrin pointed to himself and laughed some more. She couldn’t understand what was so funny. But soon the laugh disappeared and a shadow came across his face. “No one dares defy me. I can make you wish that you never stepped foot back in your old world. I can show you the real world, not that silly place you created to compensate for your destroyed world.

“Do you know what a real threat is? Have you ever felt completely out of control? I bet Phillip hasn’t taught you any of that.” He moved closer to her, one step at a time. She retreated with every passing step, but soon ran into a building, trapping her. “I bet he didn’t teach you how to take a defeat, or how to bow to your superiors. He taught you stupidity, arrogance, overconfidence. There are more powerful people out there than you.” He was so close now that she could smell his breath. It smelled of chicken that had been left out too long. She knew the smell well as her brother made the mistake one too many times at the noodle shop.

Neither of them moved for what felt like an hour. Akia was used to being on the offense, but this situation was different. She still didn’t know what Dorrin’s magic was. How could she fight when she didn’t know her opponent? And she had to be careful. She hadn’t known him for long, but she knew enough to fear him.

Before either one could act, Rhys spoke up. “It’s getting late. We still have to get back before…”

Dorrin nodded. “Ah, yes. There are more important things at hand aren’t there?”

There was a sudden gust of wind, throwing Akia back against the wall. It wasn’t far, but the force of the blow made her head throb. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, willing the pain to go away. It wouldn’t. Instead, she felt the air warm up to her right. Then she felt it to her left. When she opened her eyes, terror ran through her.

She was surrounded by flames, a threatening semi-circle, climbing nearly seven feet in the air. They connected to the wall on either side of her, but they didn’t burn the material. It felt like they were burning her, even though they were three giant steps away. The flames were much stronger than she had ever been around before. It was nothing she couldn’t handle though.

She envisioned a dark cloud above her, ready to burst. She’d experienced plenty of storms to know which clouds would produce the most water. But even as the image grew stronger in her mind, the rain never came. The cloud was there, gray, dark, threatening. It wasn’t enough. Her magic wasn’t responding; again.

The heat was starting to get to her. And without anything to combat the flames with or protect her, she’d soon have nothing left. She felt as if she had a terrible fever, one that kept running and hadn’t broke.

She looked up to see Dorrin walking toward her. He stalked right through the flames followed by Rhys, neither one seemingly affected by the fire. It didn’t make sense. The fire was very much real, yet the two of them passed through without a simple singe of their clothes.

“If you’re not going to cooperate,” Dorrin started. “We’ll just have to find our own means.” He stopped, but Rhys stomped over directly to Akia. She stood up straighter, planning to stop him, but she didn’t have much energy to do anything. She raised her fists as if to fight, but Rhys grabbed her wrists and held them tight. Every inch of her body fought against him, but she had no strength left.

The heat had reached her head and her vision turned blurry. When she blinked it would clear, but fog up once again quickly. Her head felt like it was being squashed, like someone was pushing down on her. Her stomach churned. If she didn’t do something soon, she’d pass out.

And then Sam was there. She saw him standing not far from her, a look of shock on his face. At first she thought it was a hallucination, but then he pulled Rhys off of her and sent him flying into Dorrin. The two men fell to the ground and the fire disappeared. Akia swayed and fell into Sam’s arms. He had transported back.

She coughed. “You have the best timing.”

“Good thing I came back when I did,” he responded. “Now let’s get out of here.”

-------------------------------------

For the LMS contest. Word count: 1,850