Darklight: Precipice

Part 16: City Of The Dead

It was like being in a vertical wind tunnel, however the force that was propelling them upwards was the most intense force Soran had ever come across. As they all passed through the wormhole they found themselves over the planet, its beautiful blue-green expanse far below. The beam of energy that was carrying them seemed to retain the atmosphere and warmth of the departure location. The white light appeared to be constantly phasing in and out causing a water-like rippling as it forced Soran, Natasha, Raine, Draz and Ana away from their planet and into the vastness of space.

Soran noticed that they were all facing forwards and not tumbling, somehow being orientated correctly by this mysterious force. The rushing in his ears was intense but by no means deafening and he could hear Natasha screaming in fear to his left. He reached out and grabbed her hand, bringing her into him with his left arm and embracing her as the group hurtled through space - the Darklight Sword was still ready in his right hand.

Looking down Soran could see that the planet was getting smaller rapidly as the beam apparently sped up. The stars around them blurred as Draz called out over the din.

"We're accelerating beyond the speed of light!". The universe was streaking past them in an incoherent spectrum of colours. Asteroids, nebulae, other planets - they were all hurtling by in the blink of an eye. Soran thought he saw a flash of a nearby gas giant circling a mysterious blue star but it was gone too quickly for him to concentrate on. After a few minutes of these cosmic sights the beam began to slow. Up until this point they had just passed planetary bodies, but now they seemed to be slowing as they approached the surface of a white dwarf star. The heat of the star was breaking through into the beam itself. Soran readied himself to protect the group as Raine shouted for them to be prepared, Natasha buried her face into Soran's side and Ana screamed in fear. They impacted the surface of the star and Soran waited for the inevitable... but it never came. They were passing through the blinding centre of the star and seconds later broke through the Corona on the other side of the celestial powerhouse, unharmed. How was this possible? But there wasn't s chance for them to wonder because before them now, previously hidden by the star, was a planet. A blue-grey planet that looked like the homeworld that they had left minutes ago. As they approached its surface the grey colours came into focus - a colossal city that spread all over the surface of the planet right up the the watery border of every landmass. But it looked different from Utopia City - it seemed more natural, less severe. Soran could make out streets and the larger buildings before another black wormhole swallowed the entire beam and without warning he found himself orientated in the opposite direction, his feet gently hitting the floor of the same sort of device that had propelled the group to this place. The rotation of the device began to slow rapidly as the portal above it closed.

Natasha freed herself from Soran's arms, stumbled and then threw up on the cold light brown stone on which they stood. Soran moved to her aid and found himself swaying on his feet as he crouched down and rubbed his wife's shoulders.

"Really screws with your balance, doesn't it?" Raine asked, leaning against the side of the sister device in which they now stood.

"What the hell was that?" Natasha asked groggily as she wiped the vomit from her mouth.

"I think that..." Draz said, holding Ana steady with a smile as she wobbled on her feet. "Was space travel".

"What?" Ana said looking over at Draz. "You mean that wasn't some kind of simulation?"

"Easy way to find out" Draz replied, heading for the gap in the device so that he could take a look outside.

"Draz" Soran shouted as he took a few steps towards him. "Don't do anything stu...." Draz waved his Draklight Axe at Soran without turning to look at him.