The Heart

Rachel flowed through complete darkness. She was aware of her body around her, but there was nothing beyond it, nothing to ground her in any place or time. She tried to reach out, grasping at the darkness, but there was nothing she could take hold of. Her mind started to unravel at once. Panic took hold of her. When light returned, it was so shocking that she fell to her knees, gasping for air like a newborn baby that had been thrust into a brand new world. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the light, and half expected to see Annie staring back at her, but what she saw instead was a pale red light illuminating a mist covered floor.

'Oh no,' Rachel said as dark memories rose up inside her.

Her heart sank when she realised that her greatest fears had been confirmed. She was inside the Heart again, bathed in a red light that she could never escape. Wrapping her arms around herself, she sat back and stared up at a thousand stars that covered the dome-shaped ceiling above her head. Every one of them was a fragment of a life that had once lived. Every one was a prisoner here, trapped forever in this unnatural place.

Her initial despair was made worse by the realisation that she had no idea how to get out. The last time she had visited the Heart, Lord Hades had brought her with him, and he was the one who had taken her back out. She was alone this time. There were no doors or exits of any kind. If she couldn't work out how to use the gemstone to get out of this place, she might never be able to leave.

'Rachel,' a familiar voice said.

Rachel hugged herself hard, clinging onto the crumbling concept of who she was. 'Mother? Is that you?'

'I've missed you every day of my life.'

'Don't. It's too late. You weren't there when I needed you.'

'I had no choice, Rachel. If Lord Hades hadn't taken me he would have taken you.'

'It makes no difference now. He has us both anyway.'

'Oh, Rachel. I'm so sorry. I didn't want it to be this way.'

Rachel shook her head. She didn't want to hear her mother anymore. She was a dead woman, speaking of things that had long since passed. There was no way to repair their broken bond. Eleanor Henson had stopped being Rachel's mother the day she had walked out, leaving Rachel and her father to piece together the remains of their life alone. It was true that Lord Hades had forced her hand, but if she had really loved Rachel she would have found a way to stay. Her mother believed she had saved Rachel through some sacrifice but Rachel didn't feel saved at all. She felt dead inside whenever she spoke to her mother, and nothing could change that.

'Are you ready?' another voice said.

Rachel remembered hearing it the last time she had been inside the Heart. It was Lord Wembern. Normally she didn't want anything to do with the lords, but if it meant she didn't have to speak to her mother it might just be worthwhile.

'Ready for what?' she said.

A different voice answered. 'When your enemies pound on your door you must always be ready.'

'Who are you?' Rachel said.

'My name is General Anault Wolfhammer.'

Rachel climbed to her feet and stepped into the middle of the room. She hated this place, but the voices around her were a source of great knowledge. Drefnig would never forgive her if she didn't use this opportunity to find out all she could.

'A great army comes this way,' Wolfhammer said in a deep powerful voice that couldn't be ignored. 'Why are you not preparing?'

'We are preparing,' Rachel said, 'but General Markov has been injured and we don't know what we're preparing for.'

'You're a lord, aren't you,' Wembern said.

Rachel didn't answer.

'What need have you of generals or men to do your bidding. You are a force beyond them all.'

Rachel blinked. The conversation wasn't going as she had hoped. 'How can we prepare when we don't even know the nature of the threat?'

It was Wolfhammer who answered this time. 'Even lords are fallible. Where is your Lord Hades now?'

Rachel spun around. 'I don't know where he is. Can you bring him here?'

'No,' Wembern said in voice that was old and sad and yet full of strength. 'Lord Hades hasn't been here in a long time. Those who come here come of their own volition. We have no power to draw them to us.'

'Who else has been here?'

'I cannot say.'

Rachel watched the pale mist flowing across the floor. It covered her boots and continued on towards the far wall, concealing everything beneath it. The lords had so many secrets. She was starting to realise that they could never operate any other way. 'Do you think something has happened to him?' she said.

'Ask Lord Goran,' Wembern said. 'He has always been the bearer of bad news. An ill wind roamed the land when he was born. It has often been said.'

Rachel frowned. She was losing track of the conversation. 'I don't understand. What is it that you want me to do?'

'I will tell you,' Wolfhammer said.

'It is forbidden to speak of the past,' Wembern said.

'What use are such laws now?' Wolfhammer said. 'If she fails, we all fail. She cannot face this challenge alone. If the towers fall, the Heart will fall with them.'

'We're not important here,' Lord Wembern said. 'We already fell, so many years ago.'

'What does it matter if the Heart falls?' Rachel's mother said in a broken voice. 'We're already dead.'

'Silence!' Wolfhammer's voice echoed off the curved walls around her.

Rachel turned in circles. There were too many voices clamouring to get inside her head. 'Stop this,' she said. 'I can't take it anymore.'

Another voice laughed. She didn't know who it was. She felt like she was standing on a stage with the audience a sea of unseen faces calling out to her. All she wanted was to be some place else.

'We must help her,' Wolfhammer said. 'It's the only way.'

Wembern spoke in a foreboding voice. 'This breaks every rule of our being. There could be repercussions.'

'So be it. I have fought through life and death for Central Command. I can't stop fighting now.'

'How can you help me?' Rachel said, glancing at the twin crystal pillars that stood in the middle of the room. Red light sparkled across their surface, forming beautiful patterns that seemed to draw her towards them. She remembered how Lord Hades had once told her it would be dangerous to touch them but their sparkle was so alluring. She couldn't help herself. Her feet took one step towards them before she knew what she was doing.

'Stay where you are,' Wembern said. 'Don't touch the pillars. You shouldn't be here, Rachel.'

'State the nature of your problem,' Wolfhammer said in a more formal voice.

'You know what the problem is,' Rachel said. 'The Kamari are going to attack Central Command.'

'How will they attack?'

'I don't know.'

'You must know the nature of your enemy if you are to defeat them.'

'We can't know that yet. The Kamari haven't started their attack.'

'Then the risks are unknown.'

'We need to prepare for any possible attack. That's all we can do.'

'How will you prepare for that which you do not know?'

'I don't know! We're just guessing. What else can we do?'

'I can only respond to what is known.'

'We know nothing,' Rachel said, shaking her head. 'We don't anything at all.'

'Then I can tell you nothing.'

'Then what use are you?!' Rachel felt heat rising in her face. She wasn't sure whether it was a good idea arguing with a legend from the past, but she needed to get some clear answers. She was tired of talking in riddles and she knew that she might never have the opportunity to talk to Wolfhammer again.

The voices were silent for a time, leaving her to mull over her own thoughts, but then Wolfhammer spoke once more. 'How would you like me to help you, Rachel?'

Rachel glanced around the Heart's interior walls. Strange tubes had been embedded into them, some travelling across the floor beneath her feet. It was a confusing place. The crystal pillars kept drawing her towards them as deep red light seeped into her mind and body. She wondered whether the two were connected as she stood with her hands hanging useless by her sides. She had to start somewhere. Her thoughts ran in circles as she tried to form a question that might glean any meaningful information.

'What are you?' she said. 'What can you do to help?'

'I am many things.'

Rachel held onto her frustration. She would try a different track. 'Okay. I'll tell you what happened. Maybe we can go from there.'

Wolfhammer made a strange moaning sound in the back of his throat. Was he in pain?

'What?'

'Continue,' he said.

Rachel nodded. 'Okay, General Markov is unconscious. He's been poisoned. We don't know when he'll be lucid again. Commander Gary Drefnig has taken his place. He's a good soldier. He can lead the commanders because he knows their strengths and weaknesses. Together, we can form a plan. Central Command has many weapons and shields that we can use, and we have the droids too, of course, but there must be more to it than that.'

'Only a fool starts a fight that he knows he cannot win. Is Jacob Helleron a fool, Rachel?'

'I don't know. I've never met him. How am I supposed to predict the actions of someone I've never encountered?'

'Your enemy's weapon is your greatest gift.'

'That doesn't make any sense. We don't even know what weapons the Kamari will use until the attack begins.'

'Is that really true?'

'Of course it is. The battle hasn't started yet.'

'What makes you think Jacob's attack hasn't already begun?'

Rachel blinked. 'Are they attacking the towers now, while I'm blind in here? They can't be. I would feel it.'

'If you focus too hard you will not see anything at all.'

'I don't understand. Why are you talking in riddles? Don't you realise how important this is?'

'You need to learn to think, Rachel. Think now.'

'I am thinking.'

'Are droids and proton cannons the only weapons in war?'

'No. Of course not.'

'Then why wait for an attack that has already begun?'

Rachel rubbed her face with both hands. She was getting so frustrated. If Wolfhammer had been standing in front of her she would have grabbed his jacket and shaken some sense into him, but he wasn't there. He was up above her, one of so many twinkling stars. She had asked Wolfhammer for help but he had spoken in nothing but riddles. Instead of answers he gave her more questions. How could the attack have already started? What the hell was he talking about? Suddenly, her heart raced.

'Trent?' she said. 'You mean Riser Trent is part of the attack?'

'You said General Markov was unconscious. Wouldn't he be well if it were not for the Kamari attack?'

'Okay. So Riser Trent is the Kamari weapon. That's what you meant before?'

'He's one of many, yes. You must never close your eyes to what is around you. A true leader needs to think with clear vision.'

'But we already know Trent attacked Markov. How does that help us now?'

'You know General Markov is unconscious. Do you know what weapon was used against him?'

'Toxins and parasites.'

'No!'

'Then what?'

'The toxins were the weapon's tools, not the weapon itself.'

Rachel thought about Wolfhammer's words. He was leading her thoughts like a mentor, training her to think like a general. 'Trent is the weapon then. I understand that now.'

'What was the weapon that was used against you?'

'I told you.'

'You didn't. You gave me a name.'

'The weapon is Riser Trent.'

'What is he?'

'He's a man, a hacker, a trouble maker from the city.'

'Is that all he is?'

'What do you mean?'

'Do you know your enemy?'

'I don't know. You're confusing me now.'

'Never assume, Rachel. Don't wait for what hasn't happened. Make sure you understand what has already taken place.'

Rachel stared up at the lights twinkling on the ceiling above her. She wished she had never come to this place. The Heart didn't want to help her. It just wanted to confuse her. She was talking to a dead man, a man who was fragmented and yet part of some greater whole. How did she even know that he really was General Wolfhammer? If the Heart was a cluster of minds, couldn't Wolfhammer's knowledge have become diluted over so many centuries? Maybe the man himself had been completely different when he had walked the land in human form. How would she ever know if the man she was talking to was a true reflection of the man General Wolfhammer had once been?

The mist thickened around her feet. The red light pulsed in the chamber around her and the crystal pillars sparkled more than ever. When a thousand voices spoke as one, Rachel almost fell to the floor.

Be our eyes and we will guide you.

Be our hands and we will help the hammer fall.

We are the Heart.

We are the fallen ones.

When darkness comes we shine as one.

Rachel stumbled, tumbling backwards. The voices were so loud and there were so many of them. She felt overwhelmed and lost beneath the weight of them all. She reached up, grabbing the gemstone around her neck and squeezed it harder than ever before.