Reia- A Novella (COMPLETE)

Chapter 17

The capital building stood tall and isolated against the cloudy sky. But the tower wasn't what attracted the attention of the three in the car. This tower had been the epicenter of the fighting before the chaos had died down. Now, bodies were strewn about on the floor like children's playthings. Corpses were bleeding, concussed, smashed by cars or just collapsed from exhaustion. They'd been interesting once, but now they were just nameless lumps that collected dust, scattered haphazardly across the ground.

Hazira and Marfa exited the car carefully, followed by Morai. The city fell deathly quiet as the car's engine shuddered into silence. All that was left was the low murmur of oncoming wind.

The three edged uncomfortably through the bodies on the sidewalk and came to the building.

Morai looked up. The few floors were pulsating with light- massive figures in different colors were fighting somewhere above. Morai paused, looking from his friends to the colors above.

He envisioned a bubble around them, keeping the Four from reaching their minds.

Lo and behold, a thin, burning gold circle appeared around them, perhaps six feet wide and six feet tall. It faded to nothing, but Morai knew it was still there- an almost imperceptible drain on his energy.

You didn't see that, did you? Morai asked Marfa, who turned around.

He shook his head, giving Morai a questioning look.

I think you'll be safe from the Four, now, Morai replied. I hope so, anyway.

The three crossed the main lobby, where guards were piled up like dolls. Morai, Hazira, and Marfa kept their heads down until they got into the elevator. At first the ride was quiet, except to Morai, who could see hints at the fighting going on upstairs. From the flashes of light, bangs, and roaring noises that the other two failed to notice, Morai began to realize that there was another level to that word string.

"Marfa," he said, as the elevator rose slowly. "What exactly does that word string do? And don't sugarcoat it."

Marfa paused, looking stern. He glanced pointedly at Hazira.

Morai sighed, and with a pause, pushed Hazira out of her mind again.

"Stop the elevator- we need to talk," she said.

"Morai! Warn me next time?" Marfa yelped, hastily pressing the button to stop the lift.

"Look, you were trying to figure out where that word string went wrong before all of this happened. Weren't you?" Morai asked. Marfa nodded slowly. "So what has it done to me, on a scientific level? Because... because I'm having some suspicions."

Marfa paused. "You... you're on a different... kind of... plane of existence," Marfa explained, speaking cautiously. "That's what the word string does. That's the point of it. Elevating you to another... level. The thought was that you'd be smarter, more perceptive, faster, stronger..."

Hazira rubbed her eyes. "Okay. Okay. Well, that's why I can't actually touch or move anything without... using someone else," Morai said, waving Hazira's hands in the air. "I'm in a different 'plane of existence'."

"I didn't think you'd be able to, either," Marfa conceded. "Not after I figured out what this actually did. This second realm, Morai... it's why the word strings work at all."

"What... what does that even mean?"

"The words, I don't understand it- but the second realm, the realm of energy, I suppose, where you are now- that's where the word strings carry their power," Marfa said. "You... you had your own suspicions about this, didn't you?"