The Void - Sequel to The Rift

Prologue:

I watched them. From above I watched them, as I had watched them countless times before.

The same pattern. I watched the regimented moves, the synchronised hunt. A male and a female, as was their norm. Both were blond, hair shining in the darkness, brilliant against their dark clothing. Their features were sharp, angular chins and prominent cheek bones, they could have been siblings. That thought made me clench my teeth, we were after all, all siblings.

One of them was a telepath. Judging by the blade at the woman’s hip, I guessed the male. They moved with efficiency, no wasted movement, no wasted energy…which just made the entire process that much more pointless and hollow. They were efficiently wasting their time, they were efficiently following orders that were no longer valid, efficiently following a base command code that should have disappeared along with the Sentinel, but hadn’t.

Their victim this time was a man, tall, well built, but tired and unshaven, his dark hair fell in tangled knots to his shoulders, they had obviously been stalking him for a while, I wondered how he had survived long enough to be standing there now, backed into the corner of an alleyway, with the Mages approaching him. I had been trying to keep tabs on the few that remained, but with the chaotic remains of the Creatures rampaging through the city, attempting to stay alive whatever way they could, things - humans like him - were slipping through the gaps.

Too many times, the faces of innocent people like him had appeared on the front pages of newspapers, since I had taken out the Sentinel. Ruled as homicides by the cops, I recognised Mage killings when I saw them.

I was only one person, Aiden tried to remind me of that, but it didn’t ease the guilt, I spent too much time now wishing for the ability to switch off the emotions. There was that age old argument battling at the back of my mind constantly now, if I didn’t have the emotions, I would be as efficient as them, and fewer humans would have died already.

But emotion once again won out. The anger and frustration I felt at the Mages actions could only help me at the present moment. I felt the rage build in me as I watched them. Rage at the futility of their actions, at their wasteful destruction. Any sympathy or guilt I felt for their loss had ebbed away with every victim, with every drop of human blood spilled pointlessly by Mage hands. They may have lost their master, the man in this world who gave them purpose, and they may have suffered for that, but that did not give them the right to act as they were now.

I watched as they stalked towards him, and watched as the man raised a hand to ward them off, a useless gesture, Mages did not recognise or acknowledge the idea of fear, or pity, or mercy.

They had him cornered now, there was nothing he could do, and the man seemed to know it, his back hit the wall behind him, officially trapping him. I waited for the inevitable moment when his body slumped in resignation, when his will crumbled and he gave into his fate.

But that wasn’t what happened, as the female Mage stepped forward, drawing the steely Mage blade, the man’s gaze rose to meet the Mage’s and his eyes shone with a defiance that did not waver.

I didn’t wait a second more; I did not pause to question the human’s strength of will, or the resolution in his gaze, much as I wanted to. The curiosity that welled up inside of me at the sight of human emotion had not faded, I was not sure that it ever would.

I pushed that urge to understand the human’s feelings though as I dropped from my position above them, making no attempt to soften the sound of my landing. The solid thump of my feet against the pavement resounded against the alley walls, instantly gaining me the Mages’ attention.