Kartega

The room that held the Arcane prisoner was covered in bodies and the smell of blood and charred flesh wafted through, turning Sid’s stomach each time she inhaled.

She looked over the destruction they had caused. Heaps of death surrounded her and she tripped over limbs as she stumbled through the room. People glared her way, some wounded and others still holding up their weapons in anticipation. Tazmin walked beside her, holding up her hand to every warrior they passed, urging them not to attack. Some dropped their weapons at her command, others stayed vigilant in their doubt, looking to Sid periodically and muttering in Kartegan. Only three Magistras had survived and they huddled behind a group of guards, trying to nurse Leona back to life. Sid knew it would be some time before the queen regained consciousness and she resented the moment it would happen. If she was to kill, she should have quenched her anger with the queen. She took solace in the fact that there was still time and with Leona’s mouth shut for the time being, they at least stood a chance of getting control of the situation.

By the time they reached where Serryl, Tann and Ashlan stood, her legs were exhausted from having to wade through bodies. What had they done? What had she done? Surely this was enough to wake the Arcane from their slumber!

She was very aware of Tazmin’s magic vibrating behind her and felt some relief in knowing the high priestess had abandoned her crusade, at least for the time being. Sid still couldn’t trust her but the high priestess’s magic was stronger than anything she’d seen. They could use that kind of power when they finally shut the ring down. People would need structure in the new world they were about to create and if she had to choose, Tazmin was the least unstable leader for the star’s residents.

Sid let herself smile, despite the tears that still flowed freely down her face.

“Where are they?” Sid asked when she realized she couldn’t see the women near Serryl. “Where are the Arcane?”

Tann and Ashlan exchanged glances and her stomach dropped as Serryl stepped aside, revealing the three women on the floor, blood pouring from their sliced throats. The body of a Magistra lay behind them, a blade-sized hole in her chest.

“I’m sorry,” Serryl said. “I was too late.”

Sid couldn’t feel herself fall. Her knees hit the floor, almost shattering her bones to pieces. Arms cradled her on either side and her gaze trailed over Dalrak’s markings as he squeezed himself against her. The cold wet of his wound pressed against her suit and she could feel the blood soak into the fabric. She wanted to push him away, to help him be strong like he had helped her so many times. To heal his wounds. But her limbs refused to budge. Her chest rose and fell sporadically as her body tried to regain composure. Her head ached, her entire being ached. Everything they’d gone through, all the people that had died to get them here, it was for nothing. The Arcane were dead and they had no way to turn the ring off. All those people in the domes would never be free. And the Citizens? What of them? Would they go on living their life under the guidance of a power-hungry lunatic? She couldn’t let that happen. If she couldn’t turn off the ring then she would at least turn off the source of this star’s poison. She would kill Leona. If these three women wouldn’t be able to help…

A thought pinched the back of her ears and she squirmed under Dalrak’s firm hold. Three! That’s it!

“Three!” She shouted and looked up, “I got it!”

Tazmin cleared a path for her, confused. She looked over to Tann and Ashlan who only shrugged. Sid knew she was starting to sound like she’d lost it but she didn’t care. As soon as she was on her feet, she rushed to the Arcane, inspecting the still glowing chips at the back of their necks.

“Sid? What’s going on?” Ashlan asked and approached her slowly, his arms up in surrender. “What three?”

“Ash! Your dad!”

“What?”

“He said something the last time I talked to him before my ship went to muck. I didn’t get it then but I get it now! I think he knew, Ash!”

“Knew what?”

“That this is where I’d end up!”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Ashlan took a few more awkward steps toward her, “Why don’t you let them go and we can try to figure out another way to end this.”

“I have figured it out! Well, I didn’t. Colton did.”

“My dad?” He looked back at Tann and shook his head. “My dad figured this out?”

“Look,” she said, continuing to inspect the chips, “I know this sounds mad but the last time he talked he said I needed all three. I had no idea what he meant but now I do!”

“Alright…”

“The chips, Ash! I need all three!” She pointed to the necks of the Arcane. “The chips are part of the key right?”

Ashlan nodded.

“And you need all three to have control over the ring?”

Another nod.

“So all I need is these three chips. Not the Arcane, just these.”

Ashlan looked from her to the chips to the rest of the group. “In theory, yes, that’s what you need. But where do you suppose you’re going to get three un-chipped Domers to volunteer? Tann and Serryl are already chipped and the priestess is useless!” Tazmin grunted and Ashlan shook his hands apologetically. “I’m sorry but since you and your tribe ripped your chips out, you pretty much destroyed any chance of going through the process again. The neurons are fried.”

“I don’t need three volunteers, Ash.”

“Huh?” He looked from her crazed expression to the glowing chips. “No! Absolutely not! Are you crazy?”

“Can someone fill me in?” Serryl asked.

“She wants to put all three chips in herself. I’m not wrong, am I? That’s your big plan here?”

She nodded. “It’s the only plan. It was the only plan from the start, I think. We just didn’t know it. Colton did though and he made sure to warn me. I have to do this, Ash, for everyone. I’m the only one who can.”

“But you could die. No one had ever been secured to more than one chip. It could suck your energy dry. It could kill you!”

At those words, Tann perked up and started at her. She threw her hand up to stop him and smiled. “Calm down, I’ll be fine.”

“We don’t know that,” Tann said.

“We’re about to find out,” she smirked and placed her hand on the back of the neck of the Arcane in front of her. Her magic grabbed hold of the metal, magnetizing and pulling on its strings until she ripped it out. “I’m sorry,” she said and patted the exit wound on the back of the dead woman’s neck. “You can rest now.”

Shouts of shock rose from her team members as Sid pulled out the screwdriver from her pocket and shoved its rough tip into the back of her neck. Blood poured from the wound as soon as she opened it and she dropped to her knees, wheezing. Ashlan rushed to her side, holding her up with one hand and trying to stop the bleeding with the other. Her hand trembled as she raised it to him, the small, bloody chip in her palm. “Put it in! Do it now!” She yelled.

Ashlan’s face scrunched and he shook his head no. “Now, Ash!”

His eyes were wild, fear and fury gathered behind the irises. He let go of her neck, letting the blood flow freely down her shoulders. Grabbing the chip, he looked at her one more time before shoving the device into her neck. Her body tingled for a brief moment before the sensation of burning encapsulated her. She felt like every blood cell in her veins was set alight. Her magic rushed from end to end, swirling in panic and commotion. Sid wanted to scream. She wanted to reach back and claw the stardamned thing right out. Instead, she dropped to her hands and knees and breathed deeply. “Get the rest before it’s too late!”

“We got it!” Tann shouted, “Serryl! Use your blade!”

The two ran to the Arcane. With a quick swipe of their blades, they sliced the backs of their necks and pulled out the chips. The absence of the blue glow from the chips made the bodies look like mauled cadavers, cold and hopeless. They ran to her, holding out the chips to Ashlan who grunted in disapproval before inserting them into Sid’s neck one by one.

If one chip was pain, three were an unspeakable torture. Her magic riled in her, defying the foreign objects and trying to push them out. Sid’s back curved and she punched into the floor to keep from screaming. Beating it until the skin on her knuckles ripped and bled.

“Now what?” Ashlan screamed.

She unclenched her fist and pressed her hand on the back of her neck. Please work.

“Get me a cloth!” Tazmin yelled, kneeling beside her. “Breathe, Stardaughter.”

Sid nodded, taking deep breaths and trying to calm her racing mind. With each breath, she regained control of a small part of her magic. She willed it to still. Commanded it to listen. Everything around her flowed. Her vision blurred and she tried to focus her eyes but all she could see was magic. Its glow surrounded her, sparkling and bright, like a fuse on fire. She felt hands on her neck then something rough, a fabric of some sort. Tazmin wrapped the belt of Tann’s tunic three times around her neck and tightened it, stopping the blood flow.

“How long until we know if it worked?”

Something yanked at the back of her brain and she fell backward. Her body shook and she could hear the clamor of her team around her. Could see them bending over her, holding her limbs to steady her writhing form. The magic grabbed hold of the chips, a wave of electricity binding into the microns of the devices. It pulsed its power into them, pushing and pulling until it inhaled them. Until it trapped them entirely in its hold. Her body stilled and her limbs dropped to the floor on either side, feet collapsing out and hands outstretched. Sid lay there, for how long she couldn’t tell, before she finally raised herself half up on her forearms.

“Do you think it worked?” She asked no one in particular.

“I believe so, Stardaughter,” Tazmin answered and searched the floor for something.

The high priestess grabbed hold of a large piece of glass that had shattered from the ceiling, bringing it up to Sid’s face. It wasn’t the most reflective surface but it was enough for her to see her own shape clearly. She stared in awe at herself, taking in the new form of her body.

The warm glow of magic that had once surrounded her was a bright blue, the color of energy and power; the color of weapons. She shone bright enough to light half the room. Though that wasn’t the part that shocked her most. What Sid had the most trouble accepting were her eyes. The eyes she once tried so hard to hide were pure white, her pupils gone entirely. She looked like someone had slapped two ship headlights into her skull and turned them to full power. She reached for her head, her fingers finding the musty goggles with ease and snapped them into place.

Smiling sheepishly, she looked at the rest of her team, all covered in sweat and blood. “So,” she asked with an awkward chuckle, “who wants to shut the ring down?”

“Sid,” Ashlan said, gawking at her, “you’re-”

“We have a problem!” Serryl shouted over him.

“What now?” Tann asked.

The bar owner pointed to the doorway. “The queen, she’s gone.”