Interphase (50 page)

"No clue what that means, but I think I've got a fix on the current portal's position." Clyde's eyes narrowed as he studied the characters on the display. "It's at the exact location of your first entry into the system, Dave."

"Which means?"

"Someone has opened a portal to Analath in your hover-bike module."

The memory of flying off the track flashed through David's mind. "All right, we know where we need to go now. However, Totarakh may be more than we can handle in their world. Is there anything you can do from here to give us some more firepower?" he asked.

Clyde grinned devilishly. "I thought you'd never ask. While the system is in flux like this, I think I can modify the external dampeners." His fingers dashed from one command to the next. A new warning chime sounded, but was quickly silenced. "There. I removed the limiter on the alterations we can make to ourselves while we're in their system. We'll have full access to our abilities inside Analath."

David flashed Clyde a relieved look. "Then I say it's time we finish this bastard off for good."

A sudden surge of power rippled through the level, and the holographic display shut down. All around the platform, the consoles flashed and then went dark.

"Damn it," Clyde shouted. "Whoever set the control locks on this place must have detected my hack and shut the system down remotely. Dave, I'm not sure this was Totarakh's doing. Someone else has been here."

"We don't have time to investigate that now," David said reluctantly. "We've got to get back into Analath."

Together the group ran for the exit and reappeared in the broken command level. Clyde was already punching commands into his interface as they ran down the corridor. "We won't be able to transfer directly into the module. The portal has created some sort of interference that VERA can't penetrate. We'll have to ride my shell module."

They reached the point where David and Clyde had first entered the command level months before. As they waited, a growing fear gnawed at David's stomach. He touched Analara gently on the shoulder and motioned for her to step aside.

She's not going to be happy about this.

"Analara, I need to ask you to stay behind on this one," David whispered.

She blinked, a look of confusion crossing her face. "I don't understand. Why?"

"I don't know what affect returning to Analath will have on you. Within the system, you're not entirely human or Anrathian, and with the virus attacking your world, I don't know whether you'll be able to survive there." Analara started to object, but David continued, "The last time we returned from Analath, you ended up in my arms, dying of whatever Shalaron had infected you with. I can
not
bear the thought of losing you again."

Analara smiled wistfully at him and smoothed the hair away from his forehead. "It means a great deal to me that you care so much for me, David. However, this is my home, my world, and I can not and
will
not stand aside and let it be destroyed by a false prophet. Whether or not I belong there anymore, I must protect it to the end."

David closed his eyes, the fear inside expanding into a consuming terror. "This isn't going to be a simple fight. The very fabric of Analath may be coming apart, and you could be destroyed simply by being present."

Analara's eyes flashed with a surprising anger. "And how is that any different than when we fought to protect VERA and your world's existence was at stake? You can not honestly expect me to stay behind waiting and hoping that you return safely. Whatever doubts I have, I have more respect for myself than that."

"This has nothing to do with respect. This is about keeping you alive," David shouted. Surprised, the other members of the group turned to stare at them.

"And what guarantee do I have that you'll come back to me, that you'll survive this battle?" Analara retorted. "Please don't pretend that you're the only one who has someone to lose!"

David turned away from her, his insides a boiling pot of fear, frustration and worry. She wasn't going to see reason, wasn't going to take steps to protect herself. If she wouldn't, then he had a responsibility to.

"In that case, I'm sorry," David said deliberately.

Analara's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "For what?"

"This."

Quickly opening his holo-interface, David typed out a series of commands, linking himself into the connection control system. Before Analara had a chance to protest, she vanished, forcefully logged out of the system.

"Bro, what the hell did you do?" Lucas shouted over the surprised gasps of the others.

"What I had to." David sighed. "I
will
keep her safe."

Thomas gazed thoughtfully into David's eyes. "While I understand your fear, I'm not sure that this was the wisest course of action you could have taken."

David shifted uncomfortably. A slight shudder indicated that the shell had docked with the command level. "What's done is done. We have a mission of our own to get to."

The group moved into the shell, and Clyde sat at the controls, inputting their destination. He gave a quick glance back at the sober faces behind him. "All right, boys, time to save yet another world."

***

Pushing aside a low-hanging branch, Shalaron strode from the grove, all of his senses focused on the world around him. It groaned, tortured by the presence of something dark and foul. A feeling of urgency pressed him forward, and he oriented himself on his target.

A nearly imperceptible rustle warned him that he was being followed.

"Halathas, I told you to remain with the camp," Shalaron growled.

"You told me to see to the men. Once that was done, my duty impelled me to follow," Halathas responded.

Shalaron let a small breath loose. "Your loyalty is appreciated as always, but this foe is beyond you or anyone else of this world. I can not tell if even I will be able to halt its advance." Shalaron focused his gaze into the distance once more. "Gather a guard of our finest warriors and begin the next phase of our plan. Acquiring what we need from the girl is paramount." He spared a glance behind.

The stoic expression on Halathas's face did not change, but he nodded. "As my Sage commands, so it shall be done. Siath guide you until we meet again, my friend." With that, he turned back into the grove and disappeared from sight.

As Shalaron sprinted across the tall grass, the sense of wrongness grew within him. He slowed his pace as he approached the grove where the gateway stood. The trees seemed wilted and diseased, and a faint green glow extruded from within.

A figure appeared from the shadow of the trees and floated slowly toward Shalaron. The aura emanated from it, sickening the grass and the very ground as it passed above.

"Whatever you are, you are unwelcome in this world. Depart, invader, and you may yet survive this day," Shalaron declared.

Sibilant laughter rippled from the figure. A shock of diseased energy radiated outward, and a wave of revulsion swept through Shalaron. The figure lifted its head to gaze upon him. Its frame was as gaunt as a long-dead corpse, and its face, if it could be called that, was warped by decay and madness. Something about the figure stirred his memory.

"Fate continues to serve me well," it hissed. "I am pleased to see that you have recovered from your wounds, Shalaron, for this will allow me to return them to you in even greater measure."

There was no mistaking the oily, condescending tone. Shalaron's eyes widened. "Totarakh?" The change that had befallen the former High Priest of the Siathrak was truly horrifying. "What manner of abomination have you become?"

"Abomination?" Totarakh snarled. "Is that how you address your God?" He stretched out his hand, and the nearby grass blackened and shriveled. "I wield mastery over death itself. I have become lord and destroyer. The only abomination is that I must tolerate your presence for a short time longer."

Shalaron watched the corruption spread away from Totarakh and glared at him. "You would dare bring this affliction to my world?"

"
Your
world, Sage?" Totarakh sneered. He floated forward, his movement deliberate and dangerous. "You are barely a man to me in years… and less than a child to me in power. You are but a fragment of the dreams of our ancestors, while I have transcended their thought and purpose. I have broken free from the prison they crafted, and now return to claim dominion. Be purged from my presence!"

The air filled with green fire, and streams of burning decay leapt toward Shalaron. Stepping back, he drew in currents of air, and a howling gale swept across the field. The chill of the wind swirled around the burning columns, twisting and bending them away. Turned aside, the fire tore into the ground at Shalaron's side. Narrowing his eyes in anger, he launched a wave of jagged ice at the glowing figure.

A warped field of energy surrounded Totarakh, and the shards melted as they crossed its threshold. Totarakh threw his head back and laughed. "Is that the best the almighty Sage of Ilinar can do?"

The ground shuddered and lurched. Shalaron made a claw with his hand and thrust it upward. Fingers of sharpened rock stabbed from the dirt, piercing through Totarakh's midsection. His arrogant smirk never wavered as he touched the offending protrusion. A green mist spread over the hardened rock, and it quickly dissolved.

Shalaron's lips curled in disgust. "You are no god, thrice damned priest. You are nothing but a rotting corpse. A mindless disease!"

"I am the ruler of the world beyond the gateway," Totarakh roared. "I control the true face of Analath. What have you, Sage? One city at your command? A single thought, and I will burn it from this dream world!"

"You shall never set foot in Ilinar again, betrayer. Nor shall you return to the world beyond the gate. Learn well this place, Totarakh, for it shall be your grave." The burning staff appeared in Shalaron's hand. He brandished it and charged toward Totarakh.

Totarakh roared his challenge, and the aura around him solidified into writhing snakes of energy. He flew forward to meet Shalaron's attack.

Shalaron channeled his rage into his strikes. The flaming staff flickered in and out of reach, constantly probing for a gap in his foe's defenses. But wherever he struck, the tendrils countered. Soon, he was forced on the defensive, as Totarakh's strikes became quicker and stronger. The energy drew back, revealing an opening, and Shalaron struck with his full force. The gaunt figure of Totarakh shattered from the blow. The snakes remained, however, and leapt forward to strike Shalaron. A crippling numbness spread through his body. The tendrils recoiled and hurled him backward.

Crumpled on the ground, Shalaron could barely lift his head. He watched, horror stricken, as the shattered body of Totarakh poured back into its original shape. The glowing cadaver settled to the ground, and streams of energy flowed into the dirt beneath him, spreading the lifeless aura further.

Agony rippled through Shalaron's limbs as the infection grew within him. Totarakh approached and sneered down at him. "Foolish infant, to think that you could challenge divinity itself. You are but a mortal. No hope. No future. And very soon… no life."

A flare of anger rose inside Shalaron, burning ever brighter. The infection had to be purged. Closing his eyes, he pulled the essence of heat deeper. His skin began to smolder as fire raced through his veins. The infection was gone, but the inferno continued to rage. This was it, the only way to cleanse Analath of Totarakh's malevolence. Calling out to the sky, Shalaron opened the gate in his mind, drawing power from the hidden master level. A faint hum resounded through the world as energy flowed into Shalaron from across the entire planet. An incandescent light shone from his skin, and Totarakh backed away, confusion casting a shadow over his features.

The blaze was all Shalaron could feel, a wave of energy greater then anything he had ever known surging through him. The tiny island of his mind held like a bead of dew on the tip of a blade of grass. Cracking his eyes open, he glared molten fury into Totarakh's eyes. "As I consumed your city in holy fire, so shall I consume you."

A look of horror broke through the madness in Totarakh's eyes. "It was you?"

The world shuddered around them as the stored power and gathered infection bent the very fabric of Analath. A faint smile spread across Shalaron's lips. "In Siath's name." He released his anger. A wall of blinding energy tore across the field, incinerating everything it contacted. Time seemed to slow as Totarakh's body disintegrated, leaving no trace of his intrusion. The blast wave raced outward and scoured the decayed ground clean.

Shalaron weakly opened his eyes and surveyed the devastation. The outer layer of trees nearby had been charred down to their trunks, and the grass had been swept clean as far as he could see. But the sense of wrongness, the infection of the world was gone. Analath was safe.

Chapter 42

David dashed through the gateway ahead of the others and appeared in an ancient grove. He examined his surroundings and faintly recognized the place where he'd first met Analara. However, nostalgia would have to wait; there was a threat to remove.