Eight of Hearts: The Rift Blade - Book 1

Chapter 28

Kaya sat with her two best friends in her small bedroom. They relaxed on the carpet, enjoying the cool air conditioned room as they swapped gossip. The room lit with a sudden blinding light, flooding in through the window, and they screamed in surprise. The light faded a moment later, but the eerie sense of foreboding that came with it did not.

Kaya stepped outside to investigate. Their property was small, so she didn't have far to go to find the source of the disturbance. A man stood in the center of their yard, which now had a small crater where something had exploded. He had olive-toned skin and brown hair, and wore old leather armor. But the strangest thing about him was the sword he carried. It was massive, similar to a claymore, though he held it easily in one hand. A ruby was set in the pommel, and it gave off an eerie sense of malice that made Kaya's skin crawl. He ignored her completely, his attention focused entirely on a small boy who stood not far from him, paralyzed with shock.

"Pahana!" Kaya called to him, not daring to move.

Pahana looked at her, his eyes pleading with her as the strange man continued advancing on him.

The look in his eyes galvanized Kaya into action. She dashed forward, throwing herself between her brother and the strange man. She was terrified, but she put on her fiercest scowl as she faced the man.

He stopped his advance. His expression was stoic, and his eyes stared blankly down at her, as though he didn't even see her. "Children..." he muttered. He had a strange accent, but she understood him. That single word sounded like a scream of agony. "Are you yet innocent?"

She didn't know how to answer his question, but she knew she had to say something. His expression demanded an answer. "I..."

A blast of energy hit the man's back, and he staggered under the force. Despite the force of the explosion, he looked unharmed, but his face twisted in sudden rage. He spun around with a roar, seeking out his attacker. He was hit a second time in the chest, and this time he was enveloped in an electric field that forced him to his knees.

Kaya brought up a mental barrier around her and Pahana as more shots blasted around them. Several men in ballistic uniforms charged out of hiding, firing energy blasts from their rifles as the man kept trying to stand. Kaya's shield took a direct hit, and the feedback made her head throb painfully. Sparks danced across the ground, but her shield held.

"Kaya!" her brother shrieked.

"Well, well! I think we found a couple of psychics!"

She turned to see Pahana being dragged backwards by his collar by an old man in a lab coat. Despite his age and small frame, he held Pahana in the air as he taunted Kaya with a cruel smile. The air rippled around her as she unleashed her power, ripping the ground apart with her own blast of energy that she flung at her brother's captor. But the old man vanished, and her brother with him. Kaya collapsed as the feedback hit her again, only this time she did not get back up.

Tobias listened to Kaya as she talked, and the weight of her mood kept him subdued.

"There are many dimensions like yours," Kaya explained. "Everything has a place and an order. People live as they ought. People die as they ought." She seemed almost...feminine, with how gently she spoke. "But if someone manages to break free of their world, they can unleash unspeakable chaos anywhere they go. To prevent that, a military group was formed to police the known universe. They call themselves the Human Dimensional Security Force."

Tobias wanted to ask why they specified "human" in their name, but he thought better of it. She clearly had more to say.

"They were agents of peace, devoted to protecting the worlds from evil men who might exploit the powers each world held. Such men could become unstoppable, if left unchecked." Her voice suddenly hardened again, and she bit her words as though it hurt to speak them. "But they use the void as a pathway. Exposure to the void will break even the strongest mind, twisting them into monsters. They still scour all of space and time to catch people who cross between worlds, but sometimes they claim other victims too. Specifically people with powers like mine."