Nexus Games [Chaps 38-39]

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—Chapter 38—

—The Net—

Kellan reached for the ladder and then hesitated. He walked over to the ten arcana shining in the centipede’s blood. When he knelt to absorb them, Kellan briefly contemplated the origin of the glittering crystals. Was the Arbiter using people’s souls to make monsters? Just to fill his games?

What kind of sadist lunatic was that machine dragon?

Kellan absorbed the arcana, bringing his total up to seventeen. It seemed like an outrageous amount, up until he thought about his eclipse powers.

Eclipse Magic Rank C Cost: 10 arcana

He couldn’t even rank to C without spending ten arcana.

And for some reason, he couldn’t preview the abilities like he had with D rank. When he thought about his magic, all he managed to see were the E and D rank powers.

Kellan sighed as he headed back to the ladder. Somehow, Sen’s short legs had taken him all the way up to the road, even though the top rungs were damaged from the yami attack. Kellan climbed up to the surface, wondering whether he should spike up eclipse to gain more useful powers—like the ability to slip through darkness—or if he should just save his arcana for travel magic.

In the end, he decided to save. Travel magic was just rarer and stronger. The only person in the AVU Palace Kellan had seen with it was Brenner Hawke. Apparently, Xiang had it as well, and perhaps a few people with their magic concealed had it, but they were few and far between.

Kellan stepped up to the road. The air hung heavy with humidity, drenching him in sweat. Afternoon light streamed through the red Net overhead, the aura of crimson straight out of a horror movie. And the Net pulsed as it moved, shrinking around them, even as Kellan stared.

The top of the Net touched the roof of a nearby office building, the red dome washing over the fifteenth floor, harmless passing through the cement and metal. A pair of pigeons, who had been sitting on the edge of the roof, were caught by the silent movement of the Net.

The pigeons didn’t go up in flames or burst like a balloon—they disintegrated. Within a couple seconds, the living breathing birds were nothing more than dust on the wind.

“Why is everything here a nightmare show?” Kellan asked, his attention glued on the ashes.

Sen rubbed his cheek. “I told you. The Nexus is made of every other dimension and—”

“Yeah, yeah. But that doesn’t explain why the Net has to instantly cremate life.”

“It’s instant and not painful. That’s the Arbiter being kind.”

Kind.

Kellan couldn’t believe it was a word used to describe the bizarre dragon. Then again, it could’ve been worse. The Net could’ve killed them slowly from the inside out. Or it could’ve been a nightmare spider that chased them around the game arena, looking to hook-claw them when they least expected it.

His heart skipped a beat, and his stomach twisted with anxiety. “We need to find Mavis and Husker,” he whispered.

“No,” Sen snapped. “We need to find a third key! Focus. The moment we have a key, we’ll be teleported out of here. That’s how we’ll help our teammates.”

Kellan glanced at the sky. The Net continued to move. Tremors disturbed the ground, softer and softer, but ever present. He knew they had to keep out of any instant-death traps.

“Let’s go this way.” He pointed toward the center of the city.

Sen nodded once.

Together, they headed down the road. Kellan kept his rifle close and his backpack tight on his back. He didn’t have much in the way of supplies. Some black hane cigarettes and a vial of perfume. Kellan didn’t have any other surprises or tricks, and it made him nervous. They were coming down to the wire.

To Kellan’s surprise, the road ended in a giant loop driveway. At the opposite end of the driveway was a neoclassical building, reminiscent of American government institutions. White walls. Pillars. Giant dome at the top. The entire thing was probably larger than it needed to be, but that was no doubt a specific design choice.

But the sign outside was written in more Chinese hanzi—characters that Kellan had no familiarity with. He cursed under his breath, wishing he knew something other than Farsi.

“We should go around,” Sen said, narrowing his eyes. “Although we might find a prize or puzzle room inside, we’ll be at a disadvantage if we run into any trouble.”

“You don’t think a bunny will be inside?”

Sen shook his head. “We found a bunny in the park—somewhat in a building. The Arbiter doesn’t usually hide them in similar locations.”

“What if—”

And then earthquake hit. Kellan almost lost his footing. Sen hit the ground with both hands, scuffing his palms. The Net pulsed faster.

And then it started shrinking down in dramatic fashion, narrowing down toward the center of the city. Kellan couldn’t believe it. The Net started moving fast. Then faster than that. When he glanced back at the office building, he realized the Net had shrunk down enough to wash over the eighth story.

The Net hadn’t been close enough for Kellan to see down the street, but now he could. The bubble of death was rushing toward them.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his breathing shallow.

Unlike the yami, Kellan couldn’t fight the Net. If it came for them, what was he going to do? What couldhe do?

“Someone must’ve found the third key,” Sen said, still lying on the ground. He brushed his black hair out of his eyes, blood smearing on his forehead. “We’re running out of time!”

Kellan glanced around. To his dismay, he saw no vehicles. He would’ve given a finger for one of those Lightning Lifts. Instead, he had only a few options if he wanted to head away from the approaching Net.

He could walk around the neoclassical building.

Or he could go through.

The shortest distance between two points was a straight line. But the earthquakes were getting worse. What if the building collapsed on top of them?

“We’re going inside.” Kellan stepped forward, grabbed Sen by the back of his robes and then hauled the kid into his arms. With confidence in his gait, Kellan jogged toward the front stairway. Despite the shaking of the ground, he managed to keep his balance.

“Maybe we can go over,” Sen said.

At first, Kellan was ready to argue, but then the words sunk in. That’s not a bad idea. Going over the building would be the safest—and it would eliminate the chance they would get lost inside, or have a roof come crashing down on top of them. And government buildings almost always had utility or emergency ladders on the outside.

There was a dome on the building, but there were flat portions of the roof all the way around.

Once Kellan made it up the front stairs, he stopped by one of the pillars. Then he set Sen down and examined his surroundings. No ladders would ever be on the front—where the public could see. They were on the inside, near the front entranceway, usually behind doors secured by sheriffs or local police officers.

Kellan had seen it hundreds of times. But he didn’t want to waste time searching around inside.

“Wait here,” Kellan said. He moved toward the wall of the building.

When the ground shook again, Sen fell over. He gritted his teeth and looked up. “Don’t leave me,” he commanded.

The worms—they flared to life once again—and Kellan jerked to a halt. But his Ignore Pain was still active. He knew he could power through, if he needed.

Kellan glanced over his shoulder, trying hard not to yell. “I need to find a way up. Let me go.”

“I don’t want… you to go too far on your own. You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“I’ll be right back, I promise you.”

There was a prolonged moment between them. The Net was moving, the ground was practically threatening to break underneath them… Even the pillars of the building were cracking.

“Okay,” Sen said with a sigh of defeat. “Fine. Go. Just come back. Please.”

Without wasting time, Kellan dove into the darkness. He moved with the freedom of shadows, going up the wall and then exiting on the edge of the roof, right at the end of his ability. When Kellan stumbled forward, he slammed into the side of the dome. Cracks—starting at the base—cascaded upward, forming lightning-style lines all the way to the top.

Now on the roof, it would be easier to find the access ladder than from inside. Kellan ran around the dome, keeping his eyes open for Sen’s way up.

A small part of him contemplating moving on without Sen—Kellan could easily leave the kid behind—but he knew he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t even let Hank die, and Kellan hadn’t even known the bastard. He just couldn’t stand the thought of losing people.

Then Kellan spotted it.

The ladder access point. A large metal door.

He ran over and grabbed the handle. Locked. He shook the door, frustrated. Could he shoot through the handle with his cursed rifle? Then Xiang’s voice echoed in his thoughts. I’m a mage. I don’t have to solve things the traditional way anymore. I can solve problems with magic.

And Kellan had the power Mold Metal.

He spent a single point of mana.

Which brought him down to seven remaining.

With his magic activated, Kellan touched the metal door. He scooped out the door like it were made of Play-Doh, effortlessly dismantling the handle and lock. Once he could, Kellan opened the door and headed for the ladder. Instead of going down the metal ladder—and potentially molding each rung—he dove into the darkness and zipped down the ladderway.

When Kellan emerged, he was in some sort of security room. He couldn’t read the hanzi, but he recognized the lockboxes, security cameras, and paperwork. He ran to the next door, carved out the lock again, and then ran out into the front foyer.

The rumbling and earthquakes had ruined the beautiful architecture with debris and cracks. Kellan dashed for the front doors and once again molded the metal so that there were no obstacles between Sen and the ladder.

The moment he burst outside, Kellan was greeted with a terrible view of the moving Net.

It swept down the road, heading straight for them.

Sen struggled to get up, and Kellan ran over to the man. Again, with little effort, he scooped the kid up and carried him into the building. Tiles rained down from the decorated ceiling. Each tile shattered when they hit the floor, creating mild hazards.

Kellan didn’t stop for anything.

He slammed into the security room, and then set Sen down by the ladder. With some encouragement, he pushed Sen up the starting rungs. He watched the man go, and once he was at the top, Kellan used the darkness as an elevator. When he stepped out of the shadows, he was on the roof of the building, the humidity waiting there to greet him.

“Thank you,” Sen said, his voice shaking.

Kellan smirked. “Don’t get soft on me now. We’re not out of woods.”

“Yes, well, we’ve got to keep moving. That’s always the key. Keep moving.”

But Kellan hadn’t heard a word the man said. His attention had been drawn to the top of the dome. Something gold, glinting in the red light, circled around the peak of the building. What was it?

He stared, squinting, until he realized it was a buzzing gold machine.

In the shape of a bunny.

Kellan’s heart sank into his feet. The Net was quickly coming up to the loop-around driveway. They were literally running out of time.

“There it is,” Kellan said, pointing. “The fourth key.”

—Chapter 39—

—A Toy Shop—

Sen glanced up and squinted. Then he held up his small hand, his fingers fanned out. At first, Kellan wasn’t entirely sure what the kid was doing, but then the gold machine jerked in the sky and turned straight for them. The buzzing of its little propellers grew louder as it descended.

When it got close, Kellan was surprised by how tiny it was. The machine—it looked like a gilded wind-up toy—was a toy bunny. The legs had springs, the propeller was on top of its head, in the shape of long ears, and its arms moved up and down on a quick cycle.

The bunny flew straight into Sen’s hand and then shut off. Even though the building rumbled and shook, Sen managed to stay upright.

“How did you do that?” Kellan asked, balancing himself on the side of the dome. “I thought we’d have to climb up there or something.”

“I have the title puppetmasterfor a reason.” Sen held the toy close. “Non-sentient machines are easy to control. Simple computers are the same way. Bodies without a mind who fights back are perfect.”

“You know that sounded creepy, right?”

Sen motioned to the far back of the building. “Carry me while I break into this device.”

After a short sigh, Kellan scooped up Sen into his arms and headed for the back of the building. Sen wasn’t heavy, but Kellan hated being his horse. He hadn’t minded being Mavis’s horse. He would’ve been Mavis’s ride until the end of time. But Sen…

Not Sen.

The earthquakes wouldn’t relent. Twice, Kellan almost tripped. He stumbled and slowed, and just before the roof gave out, he made it to the back of the building. He glanced around, hoping to find another ladder, but there was none.

“I’m going to throw you,” Kellan said, his attention drawn to a large tree growing close to the walls. “The branches will hurt, but you can heal, right?”

“What?” Sen barked. “You can’t throw me.”

“Oh, I definitely can.” Kellan ran over to the tree, trying to judge the distance to the ground. They were at least thirty feet up. They’d survive.

“I’m not a ball!” Sen held the gilded machine close to his chest. “Don’t you dare throw me!”

“I either throw you, or you fall with me when I throw myself.”

Kellan stopped at the edge of the building, mere feet from the tree. There were no leaves, just empty branches poking in all directions, some of the twigs pointier than Kellan would’ve liked.

Sen grabbed Kellan’s bloody shirt. “I’ll… I’ll stay with you.”

Although the fall intimidated Kellan, he knew his Ignore Pain ability was still in effect. He exhaled, and then leapt from the building. He hit the tree—and several branches—as he plummeted to the ground. And despite the fact it hindered his ability to roll, Kellan kept Sen cradled in his arms. He protected the other man as much as possible, even when he hit the ground back-first.

Winded, but feeling no agony at all, Kellan struggled to get a breath.

Sen clutched Kellan close. He coughed, then rubbed at his face, and finally crawled out from under Kellan and stood. “I really dislike these games…”

After a moment of recovery, Kellan stood and brushed himself off. “Open the damn bunny so we can get out of here.”

“Ah, yes… The bunny.”

Sen caught his tongue between his lips as he fidgeted with the small machine. For several long seconds, he adjusted and twisted the toy, seemingly taking it apart one piece at a time. Kellan waited and watched, fully aware of the rumbling and the shrinking of the Net.

But he said nothing. He knew Sen wouldn’t appreciate any commentary, and it would just lead to them fighting.

Finally, Sen popped the machine in half. “I did it!”

Kellan clapped his hands together once. “Fantastic. Get the key. Let’s go.”

But Sen didn’t find a key inside the machine. Instead, he withdrew a small piece of paper. It was rolled up like a tiny scroll, held together with a piece of string. Sen undid the string and rolled it out in his hands.

A map.

Sen stared at the drawing, his eyes following the vague lines. Kellan knelt closer. He didn’t understand all the symbols, and the writing around the legend was in a language he didn’t even recognize.

“What’s this?” Kellan asked.

“It’s written in Eastern Psian,” Sen stated matter-of-factly. “It says the key we’re searching for is in a toy shop.”

Kellan cursed under his breath. He stood straight and almost laughed. Of course—they would never find their way out of this.

“The good news is that we’re close.” Sen pointed down the road. “This way. Come. We’re heading in the right direction.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, fool. I know how to read maps.” Sen snapped his fingers. “Now let’s not delay. We’re short on time as it is, and I don’t—”

Kellan scooped the kid up in his arms and took off in a run. His legs didn’t work as well as usual, and he suspected he had twisted his ankle, or perhaps cracked a bone… But since he couldn’t feel the pain, he didn’t know how or what was damaged. And he didn’t care. If they made it to the toy shop before anyone else, they could finally escape the game.

And Kellan still had seven more mana. He could use his Ignore Pain ability again, if needed. Anything to get them out of here.

But it became a moot point. Sen placed a hand on Kellan’s chest and a flood of warm healing energy entered Kellan. He breathed easier as he continued to run down the street, his legs returning to their normal functionality.

“Thank you,” Kellan said between controlled breaths.

Sen didn’t reply.

Gun shots and screams rang out in the city. Kellan pushed them from his mind. Although he wanted to check out the sudden outburst of fighting, he knew it was a terrible idea. He had already saved some people—it wasn’t his job to protect everybody.

I need to focus on my team. Save them first. Then worry about others.

The rumbling and quaking stopped. Kellan smiled to himself.

Thank sweet baby Jesus.

The Net was still shrinking, unfortunately.

Thankfully, Sen had been correct. The toy shop hadn’t been far. Kellan ran five blocks, all while carrying a kid, but that was when he spotted the neon lights in the shape of a video game controller and a sailboat. That had to be the place.

Kellan’s stomach grumbled—almost louder than the distant gun fire.

He hadn’t eaten in… so long. The toll of everything was finally catching up with him. Toy shops had candy, and Kellan found him fantasizing about M&Ms and Snickers Bars. What would they taste like mashed together? Kellan wanted to find out with every fiber in his being.

“We’re almost there,” Sen said, pointing to the neon sign. “That’s it!”

Kellan slowed his run to a jog as he approached. To his dismay, he spotted movement inside the building, just beyond the giant display windows. People were searching through the aisles, knocking over stacks of blocks and board games.

“People are here,” Kellan said as he approached the front door. That was when he sat Sen down. “What’re we going to do if they find the key before us?”

“We’re going to start searching for the fifth key,” Sen said with a sarcastic edge.

“No other plan?”

Sen pointed to the glass doors. “My planwas to find the first key and be out of here already. Since you lost it, I say you get in there and deal with these chumps. Scare them off. Or threaten them. Or something.”

Kellan wasn’t going to do that. He knew whatever he said, he probably wouldn’t follow through with, and he still thought it was a terrible idea to antagonize everyone around them.

But he had to do something. Kellan stepped forward, prepared to just search harder and faster than everyone else. He walked past the half dozen cash registers and straight into the toy shop, enjoying the smell of fresh-cut wood and clean floors. It reminded him of the local stores near his apartment.

For some reason, even the mundane seemed exciting, like he would never experience it ever again.

And then Kellan spotted the two individuals in the shop.

Mavis and Husker.

Right as he saw them, they both noticed Kellan.

“Is that really you?” Mavis asked. She ran out of her aisle and straight to Kellan. With a smile, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. “I’m so happy you’re okay!”

When they separate, Kellan realized she had her own rifle—a semi-automatic Springfield SAINT. A hunting rifle, but a nice one. Kellan wasn’t surprised. Although Husker was apparently capable of dealing out lethal hex-based damage, Mavis needed something for protection as well.

She tucked some of her purple hair behind one ear and smirked. “You’re never going to believe what happened to us.”

Husker came walking out from an aisle, his fitted coat looking a bit unfortunate for him. The humidity bothered Kellan, and he couldn’t imagine living with both the heat and fur. Husker was practically panting, and his pointed ears were pressed back on his skull.

“I have a lot to tell both of you as well,” Kellan muttered.

“Where is Xiang?” Husker cut in. “Wasn’t she with you?”

“I, uh, lost her.” Kellan turned to the door. “Sen! Come in here. It’s our team.”

The kid hesitated for a second, but then crept into the toy shop through the front doors. He peered inside, and then hurried beyond the cash registers. As soon as he could, Sen headed straight for Kellan and stood right next to him. “Finally! Now we’re in good company.”

“We stumbled across a puzzle room,” Mavis said as she smacked Kellan’s shoulder. “It had traps, and riddles, and Husker and I had to, like, outsmart the building in order to escape. We almost died. It was intense. I mean, I was scared in the moment, but afterward, I was riding a high like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Oh, I can believe it,” Kellan muttered with a chuckle. Then he smacked her back. “I found a prize room. It wasn’t flashy, and I didn’t die, but there was an imp.”

“You found a prize room?” Husker stepped forward, his fox-face in shock. “What did you get?”

Kellan half-shrugged. “Look, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Oh, it’s a huge deal. Those prize rooms can sometimes have the most wondrous of items.” Husker stepped even closer, his damp fur sticky with sweat. “If you find another one in the future, you should request a divine egg.”

Kellan choked back a laugh. Xiang wanted a sword. Sen wanted clay. And now Husker wanted an egg? He almost couldn’t believe the requests. “Sure, sure. An egg. Anything else I need to add to the grocery list before I find another of these prize rooms?”

“I’m serious,” Husker said with a growl. “A divine egg will hatch into a powerful familiar. Since none of us are bonded to one, it would be a great boon. Those creatures add to your magic—and they’re rare in the Nexus.”

Kellan stopped his joking and nodded once. A familiar? He knew the term. Wizards and witches had familiars. Well, he thought they did. He wasn’t entirely sure. Mages needed familiars, didn’t they?

“All right,” Kellan muttered. “I’ll remember that.”

Sen shot him a glare, but otherwise said nothing.

“We haven’t found any keys yet,” Mavis said, ignoring everyone else’s commentary. She just continued to smile up at Kellan. “But we found this golden toy bunny. Husker could read the writing on this map, and it brought us here. You felt the earthquakes, right? Husker said that was because people were finding keys.”

Kellan nodded along with her words. “Yeah. I know.”

“Have you found anything yet?”

Sen snorted and laughed. “Oh, we found some keys.” Then he crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed in a glower.

With an amused lift of her eyebrow, Mavis gave Kellan a questioning look.

“We found a key.” Then Kellan sighed. “Two keys, actually.”

“Really?” Mavis’s eyes went wide. “What happened?”

“He lost them both,” Sen interjected.

Kellan could barely look at Mavis and Husker as he said, “Yeah. Yeah. That’s what happened. I lost them.”

Husker flashed his fangs. Then he smoothed his reddish fur and exhaled. “How? What happened?”

“Some other guy on one of the enemy teams appeared out of thin air and grabbed the first key before I could. Then… the second key… It was in this stuffed animal. And I gave it to some other guy so he wouldn’t get killed by the Kuji.”

The story wasn’t elegant or well told, but it was all the relevant details. Mavis and Husker waited, like they wanted to hear more, but Kellan wasn’t sure what he would even tell them. There wasn’t anything else. He offered them another shrug.

“That’s it,” he said, ending it lamely.

“Wait,” Husker said. “A stuffed animal? Like a toy?”

Kellan nodded once. “Yeah. It was a toy.”

The werewolf man turned and walked to the back of the toy shop. Mavis, Kellan, and Sen followed. Although the store was dim, and barely lit, Kellan didn’t have any trouble seeing. He thanked his magic again, loving the ability to see through the thickest of darkness.

Husker stopped near the back wall.

Something had obviously tunneled into the store. The wall was destroyed, and a whole display of stuffed animals had been toppled over…

The bunnies were ripped to the shreds.

Had the centipede yami come through here? Kellan knelt near the stuffed animals and cursed under his breath. They looked identical to the rabbit he had ripped out of the mouth of the monster.

“What’s wrong?” Mavis asked.

“Oh, nothing. Situation normal—all fouled up.” Kellan stood and then ran a hand through his hair. “We’re going to need to find another key location.”

“You’re sure?”

“Pretty positive.”

Sen threw his arms into the air. “Oh, Hakael, give me strength. Have you forsaken me?”

“Now isn’t the time to be prayin’ to gods,” Husker growled. He grabbed Sen by the robes and practically dragged him into the air. “Where’s Xiang? She can solve this problem. I know she can.”

“We lost her,” Sen stated. Then he ripped his clothing out of Husker’s clawed hands. “In the park. But I’m certain that my sister is still searching for the keys, just like we are. She doesn’t give up.”

Kellan wasn’t sure what else they would do, however. Didn’t Xiang know everything about the Nexus Games? Wasn’t she prepared to find keys, and fight the others? Why wasn’t she—

The number on the back of Kellan’s hand—the 101—sung his skin. Had his Ignore Pain worn off? He rubbed at the number, but the agony intensified. The others rubbed at their hands as well…

And then Kellan and the rest of his team was teleported away.