As they all slowly climbed out of the canyon Skye couldn’t take his eyes off of Toyatsu.
Why were they trusting her so blindly?
“Stop,” Skye said. He hadn’t thought of exactly what to say yet, he just had a bad feeling in his gut. “Let’s go a different way,” he said snatching the map from her. It looked like there were about eight exit points from this valley of death. Even though Toyatsu had crossed off seven of them didn’t mean much. A lie she used to lure strangers.
Each exit point on the map was numbered one through eight. Four was the supposed way out.
“Let’s try six,” Skye said. And for the first time, since they met her, Toyatsu showed fear. In fact, it was the only emotion they’d seen from her.
“Okay… Maybe not six. Two maybe?” Skye said. This time all she did was shake her head no and say, “Hmm. Wouldn’t go there. Not much left. Way too cold.” she said.
Skye looked at his comrades for support. “Come on, what do you think? She could be leading us straight into a trap.”
“We’ve thought of that,” Bryn said, both Dorian and Myka nodded in agreement. “If it is a trap, we’ll survive, and this little girl will have to pay the consequences. Bryn did her best to give an intimidating look, but Toyatsu just looked over her shoulder like she couldn’t care less.
“Let’s try seven,” Skye said, Toyatsu lunged at him, swiping the map from his hands.
“No. That’s where the spaceman is. Was. His domain. I don’t like any of you. Don’t trust you. But I would never send my worst enemy there,” Toyatsu said. Skye looked closely. Either she was the best actor he’d ever seen, or she was telling the truth.
“You said you wanted to get as far away as you could. Discover something new. This is the only way,” she continued.
“Fine. Lead the way. But when we’ve all been tricked and are hanging upside down by meat hooks waiting to be someone’s dinner. I’ll—”
But before Skye could finish his rant they were already on the move again.
—“No one cares Skye. Let’s go,” Bryn said.
When they reached the top of the canyon Dorian felt the same thing in the air as when they had entered. Toyatsu was marking her steps carefully, precisely. She had done this before.
“What are these places?” Dorian said to no one in particular.
“Just a mirage, to keep us separated,” Toyatsu said.
“To keep who separated?” Bryn asked.
“You all really know nothing. You won’t survive” Toyatsu said before stepping through the thin veil. Just like Dorian in the desert, she completely disappeared. Like walking through a portal.
“Now is our chance, we can go a different way—” Skye said, but everyone was already following her lead. He stood alone in the valley of death. “I’m not bailing you all out again when this goes sideways!” He yelled at no one before he himself stepped through.
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When each of them stepped through their spirits were lifted. There was no valley of death. Or vast expanding graveyard. No, instead they walked along a vibrant bridge that pulsed with color every time they took a step. It was vast and stretched for over a mile, leading to a fortress like no other. High up in the mountains, nestled within the jagged peaks. It was embedded into the side of a towering cliff, its sleek metallic walls blending seamlessly into the rocky terrain. The fortress was a marvel of futuristic engineering.
“This…” Myka said, but she couldn’t think of an appropriate way to describe the scene.
“Is your safest option,” Toyatsu said. They all looked back, the bridge seemed to extend over a great body of water. It looked like it extended into infinity, but they knew better. Apparently, all of these realms were somehow connected. The desert of The Structure, The Valley of Death, and now this.
“Wait, guys just wait. Before we go any further. What’s our game plan here?” Skye asked.
“To find another home,” Dorian said taking Myka’s hand.
“To scout and gather as much intel as we can in order to best protect The Structure. To prevent what happened earlier from happening to anyone else. Our information is outdated.” Bryn said.
“Great so we have no plan.”
“We will lead the people of The Structure to a better life,” Bryn said. “First we just need something concrete. Something safer, better, or else they’ll never leave.”
Toyatsu burst out into laughter, though it was more of a grunt and a snort. It sounded unnatural, clearly, her people didn’t laugh much.
“What’s happening…” Myka began to panic, looking to the group for help. Suddenly they were moving slowly. Being swept along the bridge. It was like their feet were connected by magnets to the bridge itself. It was pulling them toward the fortress.
As hard as they tried to break free they were stuck. Bryn placed her hand on the bridge to see if she could manipulate the material.
“It’s made of something I don’t recognize…” Bryn said. Skye looked over his shoulder, noticing Toyatsu.
“Why are you so calm?” he asked, but she just looked straight ahead avoiding their gaze.
As they approached the colossal castle gate, its metallic surface shimmered under the bright neon lights of the city. The intricate patterns etched onto its surface seemed to shift and change the closer they got. Giving the impression that the gate was alive and watching their every move. It was an awe-inspiring sight, one that made them feel small and insignificant in comparison.
They were halted before the gate. A small compartment appeared in the ground, it contained a large box.
Toyatsu walked over to it, picking the box up.
“What’s going on!” Skye shouted. They still couldn’t move but she was walking around freely.
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“I didn’t lie. You have the best chance of surviving here,” she said. They watched her as she casually walked back toward the portal.
The giant doors swung open, and Bryn, Dorian, Myka, and Skye were ushered inside the fortress, still stuck as if they were on a track.
As they entered the fortress they were struck by the juxtaposition of old-world grandeur and futuristic technology. The soaring Gothic arches of the central hall were illuminated by neon lights and holographic displays, while the stone walls were covered in circuitry and augmented reality projections. It was as if the past and the future had collided and merged into a single, stunning entity, a castle that was at once ancient and modern, now timeless and cutting-edge.
Except there were no people. No one was wandering the city or outside. It was completely empty.
As they continued to glide inside the castle walls, they found themselves face-to-face with two towering humanoid sentries. Each guarded the entrance to the citadel in the castle center. They were at least eight feet tall, with gleaming metal armor and glowing red eyes that seemed to bore into their very souls.
“Not this time,” Dorian summoned a wind to slash so fierce, it sliced through one of the sentry’s chests. Revealing a mess of wires and machinery.
Skye expected some kind of horrific backlash, a retaliation that would have them fighting for their lives. Instead.
The humanoid sentries asked a single question:
“Please state your region,” it asked, like it couldn’t care less it had been attacked. This took them off guard.
“Excuse me?” Skye said. They were still trying to free their feet, but it was useless.
“Please state your region,” the sentry repeated.
“Look we don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Let us go,” Bryn fought harder and harder. But there was no earth to manipulate, it was all metal and steel.
The sentries looked at each other, and while they had unmoving faces and the inability to make facial expressions. Skye could have sworn they rolled their eyes.
“Are you Hessian?” the sentry asked.
“Why would they be Hessian?” the other sentry responded.
“I didn’t think they were I just—”
“Then why did you ask?”
“It’s protocol so I—”
“They’re not Hessian.” the sentry said with finality to its statement. Skye found this all strange, it was like they were siblings bickering over who gets to eat the last slice of pie.
“Fine. Not. Hessian. Are you Terania?” The sentry asked.
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bryn said, still desperate for a way to escape.
“The little girl that brought you. Terania?” they asked once again. Skye thought back to the prison Toyatsu was living in. They each had large T’s on the sides of the buildings. He gazed up at the citadel in the middle of this new strange city, a small H was crested above the doors. Hessian perhaps?
“No, that’s doubtful. Fine. Not Terania. Coradez?” it asked, but the other sentry cut it off, this time with a bout of laughter.
“Do they look like Coradez to you? Ha. Ha. Ha.” its laugh was utterly robotic, which made it worse. “Shame. We could really use one of those.”
“Are you Glatzayas?” the sentry continued its questions.
“How many times do we have to tell you? We don’t know what you’re talking about. Now let us go.” Dorian kicked up a massive windstorm. Slicing through the sentry’s armor once again.
“Not Glatzayas. Ah. With that power. You must be Iliapas. Send him back.” the sentry confirmed. Dorian began moving away from the others. A large tunnel opened up, leading to the depths beneath the fortress.
“Dorian—” Myka tried to yell but instantly grabbed at her throat. Yelling always burned the most.
It was just Bryn, Skye, and Myka now.
“Does that mean they’re all Iliapas?” the sentry asked.
“Suppose so. Mark it as such and let’s move on. They’re testing that Coradez kid in the corridor. They’ve been training him for months. I gotta see it,” the other sentry said.
“Why the hell won’t you let us go!” Bryn yelled, slamming her fist hard into the ground, cutting her hand.
“They’ve got a fighting spirit at least. Might have lucked out on this bunch. If they score high, make sure to send that Teranian girl extra rations,” The sentry said.
“Come,” Myka said to Bryn, they had been placed side by side. Myka reached out and healed her hand.
The sentries froze.
“Did she just?” one of the sentries said in shock. It began scanning its tablet.
“Only they would be able to do such a thing.” one of the sentries said. It almost sounded panicked, scared.
“That’s impossible. They never leave The Structure, and to venture this far out is unthinkable. Unless…”
“They’re expanding,” the other sentry said.
“Send them down with the others. Full lockdown. If there are others coming. We don’t have long to prepare.”
“Right.” the sentry agreed. Immediately sirens alarmed the entire fortress. Steel bars lined the doors and windows. More and more sentries began appearing, heading toward the castle’s walls. It seemed like they were preparing for war.
Skye, Bryn, and Myka began moving again, and the floor opened up, in the same area they had sent Dorian.
Even with the chaos ensuing around them Skye couldn’t shake what he’d just heard. They said The Structure. So they know who they are. Why were they so afraid?
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They headed deep under the castle, hidden from the world above. When they reached their destination, each of them was guided into a large, futuristic cell. The walls were made of a transparent material that glowed softly, illuminating the high-tech devices within. Once the cell doors materialized they were free to move around.
“Nice of you to join us,” Dorian said, slashing his wind against the cell barrier, it was useless.
Skye looked around, it was just them, and one other small boy who sat in the corner cell. He had his back turned, it was possible he was sleeping. Or simply trying to not attract too much attention.
They could hear the commotion above.
“You must have really set them off, what did you do now Skye?” Dorian teased.
“They know who were are,” Skye said, more concerned with what he’d just heard. “They know where we’re from…”
“Course they do. The Hessians know everything. How dense are ya?” the strange boy stood up and turned to face them.
His skin was tanned and flawless. In fact, everything about the boy seemed perfect. Objectively he was one of the most attractive people any of them had seen.
“Do you know how we can get out of here? Skye asked.
“The only way out is to fight your way out. And no one is strong enough to fight their way out. We just trained and used as sacrifices.” The boy began stretching and warming up his body. There was an athletic prowess to his movements.
“Fight who?” Bryn chimed in.
“Not who… Come on seriously? Oh, it doesn’t matter, they’re dropping me in the corridor soon. I won’t survive much longer. Maybe I can give you a fighting chance. What realm are you from?” the boy asked.
No one was quite sure how to answer.
“We’re from The Structure,” Skye said finally.
The boy tilted his head.
“Huh. Thought you’d be. Different. I was told you locked yourselves deep under the ground and all went crazy,” the boy said.
No one quite knew how to respond to that.
“So what do you know about this world?”
Once again, no one responded.
“Yikes. What do they even teach you at The Structure? Where do I even start…”
A small alarm beeped in the boy’s cell.
“Shit. it’s time. The quick version then. What you need to know. Okay. The Hessians are a small race of advanced hyper-intelligent beings. These psychopaths are some of the worst of the worst. Their technological advances are next to none. They’re virtually emotionless. Always looking to innovate, leading them to enslave any and all races they can to exploit them for labor. It’s all they care about. Which has led them to do some pretty horrific things.”
The back of the boy’s cell opened. “Anyways, moving on. Just like all of us, they were finally caught by the Staatengrad.”
The boy could see the empty looks on everyone’s faces.
“Seriously? You don’t know? Alright, I definitely don’t have time for all of that. The Staatengrad, you’ve got to give them credit. They banished the Hessians to this secluded mountainside, filled with Razmerak. Virtually the only things in existence that can keep the Hessians at bay. They’re terrifying creatures that hunger for one thing and one thing only. Stellizite. A precious metal that the Hessians use in all their technology. The only thing protecting them is the fortress walls. If they were to venture one step outside, the Razmerak would tear them apart.”
The boy smiled, waving his hand in a strange pattern, it looked like a form of saying goodbye.
“This is what they’re training us to fight. If we can kill all the Razmerak. They’ll be free. But that’s never going to happen. Which is bad news for us, But the good news for the universe. Trust me. You don’t want the Hessians going anywhere. If I survive, I’d be more than happy to fill you in. But. No one survives the corridor. So I bid you farewell,” The boy winked before voluntarily stepping through the doorway in the back of his cell. The wall closed behind him. He was gone.
They could hear cheers erupt from throughout the fortress above, accompanied by blood-curdling roars
Then, the back of their cell doors opened.