Eight of Hearts: The Rift Blade - Book 1

Chapter 39

Pahana watched the confrontation between his sister and the mad scientist wide-eyed. He knelt in one of the open doorways behind Dr. Higgins, unable to move any closer for fear of being caught. Kaya can do this, he thought to himself. No one can beat her if she goes all out!

But so far they were at a standstill; Kaya's bullets bounced harmlessly off the mad scientist, but he had yet to make his own move. In fact, he seemed almost too relaxed.

"Do you really think you can fight me?" he cackled. "Guns are useless! And even if you were properly trained to use your powers, I designed this metal to nullify psychic waves!"

The metal nullifies psychic waves, Pahana though. That's why I couldn't sense Kaya, and why he faded away as he wrapped himself in that metal! The walls in this section dampen my power!

If this was true, it raised another question: why hadn't Dr. Higgins locked him away here? Even with Isaac's help, he wouldn't have been able to reach out to Kaya like he had. Had this mad scientist somehow known what would happen? Even if Pahana hadn't reached out to her, Kaya would have still come. Why had he allowed Pahana that opportunity? He could have added Pahana to his little army, and things would have still played out the same.

Power wasn't his goal, Pahana realized. There was something beyond it--something that had to do with that horrible shadow that infused the doctor's aura. It writhed as though it had a mind of its own. Even now, he could sense it slipping between the strands of metal, reaching out to probe at his mind with fingers of ice.

"Join me, and live, Kaya! Together we can become gods!" Dr. Higgins yelled, spreading his arms wide in welcome. "We can be forever joined together with your brother, I swear it to you!"

The shadow in his aura grew stronger, overwhelming the psychic-dampening metal that wound about him. A tendril of shadow lashed out at Pahana. He felt it reach into his brain, searing him with overwhelming energy. He tried to scream, but couldn't make a sound.

Then he had his first vision.

He saw two armies, battling in a barren wasteland. In the distance, a wall of pale light rose up from the ground, and beyond it was the same thick darkness as the shadows he sensed from the doctor. As the fight raged, the wall of light dimmed, then collapsed. He watched in horror as both armies vanished. A dark cloud washed over the battlefield, consuming everything in seconds. As the shadows raced toward him, he tried to turn and run, but his body wouldn't move. He looked down at himself, and saw the same shadow where his body should be.

The wall of darkness rushed over him, crushing him with an oppressive power. In that darkness he saw people, tormented like he was: lost and consumed as their minds were expunged of all sense of self. He saw Kaya, her eyes as black as the shadows around them, her mouth open in a soundless wail of despair. He reached for her, but she crumbled into dust and was swept away by a blast of wind he couldn't feel. He saw many others: some he recognized, others he didn't, all vanished by the same force that took his sister. In moments, he too would be consumed.

As he braced himself for what was coming next, he saw a flash of white that cut through the void. Pure white hair that waved like a flag in the middle of a battlefield, perched on the head of someone he recognized at once: Isaac.

Isaac grew larger until he loomed over Pahana, still buffeted by the clouds of darkness, still wearing his unbreakable smile. Though his eyes were black as Kaya's had been, he seemed calm, oblivious of the storm that rushed toward them both. He winked at Pahana, then put a finger to his lips as he too vanished into nothing.