The Nick Of Time (and other abrasions)
A Heart Full Of Dust
by
Al Bruno III
(Twenty Eight)
As Vagabond drew closer to the tower, he was nearly blinded by the intensity of the scarlet radiance, by the sweltering power of its alien heat. The Myrmex drones ignored him as he ran past wearing one boot and one sock.
Standing at the base of the steel scaffolding he let his eyes trace a path up the thick bundles of wires that wove their way over and around the steel beams, leading up into the blinding radiance. The Queen Myrmex's song dwindled from his lips. The light seared his eyes. From this vantage point it was obvious that this was no ordinary aurora. The very fabric of reality was churning above him, getting ready to rend itself in two. The Xenon Splinter was in the middle of it all, waiting for him. He had to fight the urge to turn his back on it all; he was caught in a Mobius Strip, locked into a dance that was both intricate and improvisational.
And this was the first step.
Would it be so bad? Couldn’t someone else restart history again? Couldn’t someone else sacrifice one world for another?
The Earth shuddered beneath his feet. Dust poured into the widening sinkholes. Without thinking he leapt onto the metallic ladder.
He sighed with resignation, “Free will indeed…”
Metal screamed as the tremors increased and the hive began to collapse upon itself. Everywhere the Earth was tearing itself open. Vagabond stopped climbing and clung to the ladder. The tower lurched to the right and then stopped, leaving it at a seventy degree angle. The screams of the Myrmex filled the air. Some of the tower's crossbeams snapped and fell away, one of the rivets holding the ladder popped free and bounced off the top of his head.
The tremor passed, he loosened his grip and waited for his heartbeat to leave his throat. The sudden shift in the tower's angle left him dangling. He blinked and took turns wiping the sweat from first his left and then his right hands. Vagabond started climbing again, climbing fast.
With every rung he climbed the right side of ladder rattled forebodingly against the tower. It brought back unpleasant memories of his little climbing adventure back at Rhea's Quonset hut.
Still no sign of pursuit. That was good, it meant that the bulk of the Myrmex had been in the swarm.
A shudder shook the tower. A tiny squeal escaped from Vagabond as his legs kicked out from under him. He lost his grip and fell three rungs back down before his scrabbling fingers caught another support. Torn ligaments of his shoulder signaled their presence with a fiery ache that seemed to double in intensity with every beat of his hammering heart. Vagabond looked down, expecting to see the tower's lower supports on the verge of crumpling.
Adiramled was staring back up at him.
No, not Adiramled- just his face. The rest was a distorted amalgamation of both human and inhuman traits. The proportions were twisted out of true, the face was normal but the head it sat upon was a bulbous oval. Its neck was long and snake-like, leading down to a body that was both towering and angular. Its thin arms ended in cruel-looking prehensile talons.
Vagabond reeled in shock, he was too late. The alchemist and the Monarch had assimilated each other. He steeled himself, knowing that any moment a blast of cold gray energy would rob him of everything he had even known or dreamt.
But instead Adiramled/Ltolox gave the tower another savage shake.
Vagabond was so surprised that he almost lost his grip, but he managed to catch himself and held on for dear life. He looked from the monster to the Xenon Splinter and back again, his eyes widening with realization.
“What's the matter?” he shouted down at the composite beast, “The old batteries running dry?”
Adiramled/Ltolox roared back at him, its segmented eyes flashing with rage. A pair of insectoid pincers slipped from its mouth and clicked together. It started to climb up after him.
This was a mixed blessing at best. While on one hand the creature beneath him was fragile and weakened; a weakened Monarch, or a half-Monarch as the case may be, was still capable of doing a great deal of harm. Only now it had to get up close and personal. Vagabond doubted they could hold that form for very long on their own. They needed the Splinter to stabilize themselves.
And that was something he wasn't even all that sure the Xenon Splinter could do. He started climbing again, his shoulders screaming in protest. His eyes were starting to water, the light was too bright. With each step on the maintenance ladder he had to rely on his sense of touch more and more. By the time he reached the top he'd be blinded.
Adiramled/Ltolox bellowed and gave the scaffolding a shake. The ladder rattled against its moorings and another of the restraining bolts gave way. It started to swing wildly, held in place only on the left side. Unable to see, Vagabond nearly slipped from the ladder.
His eyes narrowed to watery slits, he clambered from the rapidly deteriorating ladder to the tower itself. He scaled the rungs, his stockinged foot threatening to slip with every step. The light burned.
Soon it was painfully bright, even with his eyes closed. This was too much, he needed to be able to see where he was going. There had to be a way around this.
He felt for the next crossbeam but all his grasping fingers could find was air. Balancing on the tips of his toes he stretched and found the next handhold. He cautiously pulled himself up.
Suddenly his mind was filled by a cool inhuman consciousness, ”You want to see?”
The light began to dim. Vagabond opened his stinging eyes and blinked. He was just close to his goal.
He looked down, Adiramled/Ltolox hung in place, staring raptly at the horizon. Vagabond couldn't help but follow its gaze.
From his vantage point he could see Lily making her way out of the swamp. How? He didn't know but realization that even after this last betrayal she had come back to him made his heart swell.
It was like a blessing, like a sign that he would succeed. When all this was over he would-
Vagabond screamed as Adiramled/Ltolox's teeth sunk into the flesh of his calf. He felt himself being dragged down, his sweaty hands slipping from the metal of the tower.
Hooking his arms over a crossbeam, Vagabond shook his leg franticly. Pain shot through him like a rocket. He wondered how much blood he was losing and how much more he could stand to lose.
Somewhere in the distance he was sure he could hear Lily calling his name.
Adiramled/Ltolox tore a mouthful of meat away from Vagabond's lower leg.
It gulped hungrily and reared to attack again.
As fast as he could Vagabond pulled himself out of reach, his right leg now a useless bolt of agony. Adiramled/Hanged Man snapped at his heels.
“Look! Look!”
The platform was tilted sharply askew. Vagabond had to abandon the ladder and attempt to scale the platform. The platform itself was made from sheets of ash-colored grating that had been hastily welded together. The Splinter's light shone though the network of metal and wire. He slipped his fingers between the lattices and tried to pull himself up but it was no good. He needed a foothold to climb further and even with two healthy legs he would be have been hard pressed to find that- the Xenon Splinter was less than a five feet away but it might as well have been a mile.
Look! Look! The hateful and unearthly voice filled his mind again.
He stared through the bars of the grating and sobbed his lover's name.
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