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They headed straight for the skyscraper in the distance—the one that Chloe had admired earlier. Nathan didn’t say anything and Kyran was happy for it. He was too busy observing their surroundings. There was no visual indication that they were walking into a trap, but that’s how it felt, and he learned to trust the uneasy feeling in his gut.
He glanced over at Chloe to see how she was feeling and all he saw was joy in her eyes. For the first time in weeks, she was thinking about something other than the massacre, and he didn’t want to take that away from her so he said nothing. Bastion and Lily’s faces told him that they were optimistic, but still cautious. He wasn’t surprised. They had been burned too many times in the past.
“What evidence do we have that this isn’t a trap?” Kyran found himself saying.
Nathan didn’t turn around to address him. “None, you’ll just have to trust me.”
Chloe gave him a glare but he ignored it. If he was a Delilah, and he wanted to spring a trap, he would lead his enemies out of the public sphere and the Delahcourt center, where they would lose most of their cultural structures. The shining skyscraper in the sky was a considerable distance away, placed at the beginning of the outskirts. Fewer people were seen as they got closer to it. Kyran prepared for the worst.
“You will be a wonderful addition to our people,” Nathan replied as they reached their destination. Kyran hesitated once they came upon the doors—an entrance that seemed out of place based on the structure as a whole. The building was impressive and modern but the doors were literally two pieces of plywood barely hanging from the hinges.
Kyran narrowed his eyes as they followed Nathan through the door. As expected, the inside of the building was empty. There were blank papers blowing around in the wind that came through the open doors. Their footsteps echoed off of the walls in the distance and the high ceiling. There was a heavy amount of dust in the air and there were beams placed randomly throughout the area they were standing in, acting as the pillars holding up the ceiling. The beams weren’t painted, sanded, or even placed correctly. It was as if they had done the bare minimum to make the building stand and then completely neglected the presentation.
“How many floor is this?” Kyran asked.
“Nearly a hundred,” Nathan said.
“And they all look like this?” Kyran said, taking in the grey, drab ambience.
“Almost,” he replied. “This structure wasn’t built that long ago.”
“And what is the point of this place?”
“It will be a fortress. Delahcourt is not built for war. It is almost a certainty that it will fall if the Delilah are ever attacked. This building is all that we have to protect our young and our non-combatants. It’s not finished on the interior, but the exterior is good to go, except for the doors of course.”
“I noticed,” Lily chuckled.
“Please, right this way. We have a pulley system in place that will take us to the top floor where your induction will begin.”
“Stay alert,” Kyran whispered to Bastion. Nathan didn’t seem to notice the exchange.
They walked along the barren concrete floors and past the beams until they reached the far end of the building and came across the system that would take them to the top. If it wasn’t for the fact that Nathan was riding it too, Kyran would surmise that this was how they were going to kill them. But then again, they had been through worse. If need be, they had their eidolons to stop their fall.
They stepped onto the massive wooden plank covered rigging, which creaked and was shifty.
“It still has some kinks that need to be worked out,” Nathan said as they all found their footing. Nathan reached out and grabbed one of the very thick ropes that were all around the rigging, attached to massive steel hooks jutting out of the corners the metal rigging the plank of wood rested on, reaching high above their heads and into the darkness.
Nathan gave the rope a big tug and the plank and rigging beneath them shifted. Slowly but surely, it began to rise, carrying them further upwards. As they rose, the lights got dimmer and the darkness consumed them.
“We still have to install lighting,” Nathan said in the darkness.
Kyran wasn’t uncomfortable. Though he couldn’t see everything, his eyes were used to staring out into the pitch black, looking for signs of movement. From what he could see and sense, there was nothing out of the ordinary. They were still rising and no one was moving in to attack them.
The ride was slow, but eventually they reached the top. A door slid away in front of them and light flooded their eyes causing the five of them to squint for a moment to adjust to the brightness. Kyran squint his eyes but he fought through the pain in order to see their fate. There were only eight men and women standing in the center of the barren room, but only a couple of the people in the group actually looked important. The rest were either new to the game or guards undercover. It was all in the way they stood that gave them away. It was too loose and comfortable. The ones in charge had that rigid superior stance but their bodies had little toning to them, signifying that their power was all in their minds.
“No chairs?” Bastion asked as Nathan shook his head.
“It’s next on the list.”
He began walking toward the group in the distance and they followed suit as Kyran looked to his left and right, admiring the gigantic glass windows and the skylight. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been up so high, but he was already coming up with contingency plans in case he was thrown outside in a scuffle.
“Ladies and gentlemen, these are the four Sages that have graced us recently with their presence,” Nathan paused for the group of eight to examine their visitors. “They have pledged to become Delilah, and I have already explained to them the gravity of their decision.”
“Excellent,” one man said, stepping forward with a smile that Kyran felt was a little too wide. He was wearing a tux that was so snug his ribs were almost showing. His teeth were pearly white and his hair was slicked back. His eyes were wide and too close to each other. “I’m Elian, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And who are they?” Lily asked.
Elian chuckled. “They are here to observe for now. You can think of this as a gauntlet of sorts, and I get to test you first.”
“Test?” Bastion asked.
“It’s nothing serious,” Elian said quickly. “It’s just that they will be observing your first and then one by one, they will reveal who they are and what they can do. That way, it protects us in case someone is taking the Delilah pledge and they’re not that serious. But you don’t have to be worried. There’s no physical requirements or missions to go on. We’re merely being cautious.”
“So...what happens now?” Kyran asked, crossing his arms. Chloe punched him lightly in the arm and he scowled at her.
“Well,” Elian sighed. “We’re going to tell you some exciting and equally troubling things. As Nathan explained to you, we are to be forthright with all of our Delilah, even those that are new recruits. So, I will be explaining everything to you. Please, come with me.”
He walked over to the windows and put both of his hands on his hips. Kyran thought that his suit was about to burst from the movement.
“You know what we stand for,” Elian said. “That is nothing new. We take in warriors that seek refuge from the horrible world around them and we give them asylum. Together, we create a place in which we can all live in harmony, yet still protect it with our talents and diverse abilities. It is the core of who we are, but that all changed with—”
“—the Great Collision,” Bastion finished for him.
“Actually, no,” Elian said, glancing over at him. He was past Kyran and Chloe in their side by side line. “It was Gideon’s arrival that confirmed everything for us. We must make our mark on the world or else the world make its mark on us. All of the armaments and preparations were to protect our town, but it wasn’t enough. If we were Gideon’s target, we would have been destroyed. That’s what I believe.”
“So what is your,” Chloe cleared her throat. “Excuse me...what is our focus now?”
“We’re going to take this world,” he said, and then he looked to the Sages, searching their faces for reactions. They were already thinking of what that could mean, but Elian didn’t want them to entertain false notions. He continued. “And when I say that, I don’t mean that we will take over everything and be a dictatorship. No, we’re going to be a guide for all of the worlds.”
“And how are you going to do that?” Chloe asked.
“I want you to think about this very carefully...we are the only society that has accomplished harmony. Think about it. We are the only place in which people of all types and cultures have lived together for decades. We wanted to be as secluded and neutral as possible, but we see now that that’s not possible, so what do we do? What side do we take? You already know that we can’t join with Paragon nor Cimmerian.”
“Then what is the point of accepting Paragon’s invitation in the war?” Kyran asked.
“Because Paragon isn’t as innocent as they claim either. If the war started, and we had declined their invitation to join them, they would consider us an enemy as well.”
“And Cimmerian? Have they contacted you?”
“Not yet. But I know they will. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t have Delilah out there in the field making plans with Cimmerian forces for the greater good of all of us. We trust our people, and no matter what their actions look like, we know they won’t betray the Delilah.”
“That is a lot of trust,” Bastion said. “Especially since people prove all the time that they aren’t reliable.”
“Yet they will be loyal to a fault if they are treated properly, and that’s exactly what we do here.”
“So what’s the plan?” Kyran said. “You’re going to take over the world again like you tried to do with the Yama?”
“This time, it will be a little different. We understand that many people are only acting out of their personal experiences and from what they’ve learned. Many aren’t at fault, so a massive invasion like we did before is unwarranted. We’ve learned from our mistakes, and should we have to do something like that again, we want to take as few lives as possible.”
“So what’s the plan?” Kyran said, growing a little impatient.
“The real threat is not the three worlds,” Elian said, frowning as he faced forward. “It never has been. No, the real victors of this great conflict will wait until Paragon and Cimmerian have exhausted their forces and then step in to take over. That will be the Seven Sorcerers, or the Ancient Knights. Both groups are hidden, rarely seen forces that we have confirmed do in fact exist.”
“They are probably aware of you as well,” Kyran said.
“I know. And that’s why this will turn into a game of shadows. The war is simply a masquerade.”
“What do these groups want?” Chloe asked.
“We’re not entirely sure about the Sorcerers, although we have gotten word of a sighting recently. It was only a couple of seconds, but the being was so fast that we were sure it had to be one of them. She seemed to be in a hurry.”
“Do you have any hope of fighting one of them?”
“None right now,” Elian said with a weak smile. “But we are working on it. No one is completely invincible.”
“How can you be sure they’re enemies?”
“Like I said, we get a lot of people coming here looking for refuge, and it just so happens that one of those refugees worked for one of the Sorcerers.”
“Really?” Lily asked, pressing her hands up against the glass and looking down below. Of course they couldn’t see anything but the tops of the houses.
“Her identity is being kept a secret for her safety, as well as her location, but the knowledge we’ve gotten from her has been invaluable.”
“Such as?” Kyran asked. “What’s an example?”
“I...” Elian turned and looked at the group of eight behind him. Kyran followed his glance and noticed that one of the men in a black suit nodded. Elian turned back around and swallowed hard. “The Sorcerers are going to scorch the worlds. All three of them. Whatever their master plans are, it involves wiping the slate clean and then remaking everyone and everything in their image.”
“But why?” Chloe asked in shock. “What have we done to them?”
“I don’t know,” Elian sighed. “But they want us dead.”
“What’s holding them back?” Kyran asked.
“The former assistant is not entirely sure, but she suspects that the Sorcerers aren’t all in agreement, and as long as there is a civil war amongst themselves, we are safe for now, but time is running out. She said that their activity behind the scenes has increased greatly, and it’s only a matter of time before they unleash what they’ve got.”
“While we’re all caught in the crossfire,” Kyran growled.
“Exactly.”
“And the Ancient Knights?” Chloe asked.
“Former warriors of the past. They are sort of like us in that they all have diverse abilities and strengths, but the positive is that they aren’t organized, at least to our knowledge. Still, we suspect that once the war officially begins, they’ll start becoming more active.”
“So...where do the Delilah stand as of right now?”
“Currently we’re preparing to take Terra completely. They are the easiest to overcome, and we’ve gotten strange reports of people being kidnapped. There has to be a reason.”
“Possibly someone is increasing the size of their army...so what does taking Terra gain?”
“Terra is right in the middle, and if we control the flow of the war, we can greatly affect the outcome. After securing Terra in secret, we’re going for Paragon next. They have great resources at their disposal, but no experience in how to use them.”
“And you think Cimmerian will just allow this?”
“Cimmerian respects their enemy when they see how great their weapons are. We have the right technology to push them back for a little while. They will wise up and figure out a way around it, but by then, we should hopefully have Paragon under control. Our takeover has to be swift though.”
“And then what?”
“We form a mutual alliance with Cimmerian, asking them to work with us to combat the Sorcerers. The Ancient Knights will have already picked sides by them, and they are too spread out to target. The Sorcerers are the main threat, and that’s where our focus will be.”
“So for Cimmerian, they will see how you pushed them back and how quick you took over Paragon and Terra, and so there’s the hope that they will be intimidated enough to value an alliance,” Lily said.
“Yes,” Elian said. “It’s a risky move, but we don’t have the time or the resources to continue a prolonged war with them. If we do, we’ll just be playing right into the Sorcerers’ hands.”
“So with Cimmerian and the Delilah aligned, you think you’ll have a chance?”
“It’s all we’ve got, until we find out more about the Sorcerers and if there’s any of them that don’t want to destroy all of us. Then we side with him or her, and afterwards, we secure our preservation.”
“We’re a threat,” Kyran said suddenly. Because he hadn’t said anything a little while, everyone turned their attention to him. “That’s why at least some of the Sorcerers want us destroyed. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“It could just be turf wars,” Elian said. “We might be pieces in a game of theirs and we’re just struggling to survive.”
“No, we shouldn’t think of the Sorcerers so highly,” Kyran said. “That was our mistake with Thorn. What makes more sense with all of this is that we are a threat. Maybe we’re not close to their level of power, but they see the potential.”
“It’s the eidolons,” Chloe stated, turning to Kyran. As soon as he heard her speak, he nodded. It made so much sense.
“The eidolons?” Elian asked.
“They’re useless,” Chloe said. “They were one of the greatest levels of power in the old world, but ever since the Great Collision, even we have begun to realize how limiting they are, and more and more people are developing new abilities every day under the changing atmosphere. The Great Collision didn’t just change the physical world, but the spiritual as well. Our bodies and souls are responding to these changes in ways that are only making us more powerful if we embrace them. We’re only weak when we hold onto the eidolons.”
“But what about the rest of us? We haven’t used eidolons in a long time.”
“That’s why you should be especially cautious,” Kyran said, looking directly into Elian’s eyes. “Because if I’m right, the Sorcerers will target you first if anyone. And though you may have gotten some great information from this Sorcerer’s assistant, you can’t know for sure that she wasn’t planted here.”
“No,” Elian whispered, putting a hand to his mouth. He turned to the eight and one of the women in the center of the group scowled at him. Before Elian could say another word, she made a shoving motion with her hands and an invisible force of energy erupted from the center of her body, knocking the other leaders around to her to the ground.
“She’s here?!” Bastion shouted, staring at her in horror.
“She gave us so much,” Elian whispered, crumpling to his knees. “And she took the oath. I didn’t think that she would ever betray us.”
“You’re too trusting,” Kyran growled as the woman before them looked at them with a pained expression.
“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her hands on her light blue, two piece suit. She was thin, but Kyran knew that looks could be deceiving. He was sure the leading Delilah around her weren’t pushovers and yet they had been knocked down with one blow.
“What do you want?!” Elian shouted and a tear rolled down her chubby cheeks. She wiped it away and then wrapped her fingers through her long black hair, trying to wrap it up into a bun so that it wouldn’t get in her way. When it wouldn’t do what she wanted, she chopped it short with a quick swipe of her hand.
“I am here to collect information,” she said sorrowfully, “but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like being here. I loved being a Delilah. I was made. I’m not an individual. I have no control in the end over what my destiny is.”
“You sound like an individual now,” Chloe said, taking a step forward. Kyran nearly shoved her back. He could feel his hands trembling in fear. He was designed for stealth, not all-out combat.
“They don’t control us like puppets,” the woman said, “but we might as well be. At any moment, they can shut me off or destroy me.”
“Like the stones,” Lily said. “You’re an object.”
“I am,” the woman sobbed. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Is someone telling you to attack us right now?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice getting choked up.
“Don’t do it.”
“I don’t have a choice,” she said, beginning to close one of her fists.
“What happens if you don’t?”
“I get recreated and tortured, and...and I have to watch someone else go through the same thing.”
“That’s sick,” Lily said, gritting her teeth. “But that doesn’t mean you have to be in fear of them. We’re trying to figure out a way to get free of that kind of terror. Help us show the Sorcerers that we are to be respected, and then we can change your fate.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“The Delilah were wrong in their Yama invasion, but I think they’ve changed. The Sorcerers can too. Tell me, are the Delilah bad people?”
“No,” the woman said. “They’re wonderful. I mean, I know the stories. I know about the stones and the Yama and all, but I’ve seen nothing but love since I’ve been here, and I’ve lived here for years.”
“Then the Sorcerers can change too, but it won’t happen if we give in to their demands.”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s your name?” Chloe asked.
“My name?” she asked, her eyes lighting up. “I don’t have a name.”
“What if I give you one?” Chloe asked, smiling warmly. “Would you like that?”
“I would.”
“How about Krystal?”
“I like it,” she said.
“Okay, Krystal, then let’s talk. Tell us—” Chloe stopped speaking as Krystal’s head suddenly slumped onto her shoulder and then her entire body fell to the floor as if someone had removed her spine. Lily rushed over to her and caught her before her face hit the concrete floor hard.
“What happened?” Lily shouted but Krystal gave no response.
“It had to have been the Sorcerers,” Elian sighed. “They knew somehow that she was going to reveal something that she shouldn’t.”
“Do you think they’re monitoring us right now?” Bastion asked. “Through her?”
“Don’t know for sure,” Elian said. “But either way, she has to be quarantined.”
“I would also prepare for an attack,” Kyran said. “The Sorcerers know we’re going to be coming after them.”
“I’ll...I’ll send out the word to fortify the island. I’m the only one conscious that can do it anyways.”
“I think that we should be careful with her,” Lily whispered. “She might come back and she’s going to be scared. I don’t—” A gurgling sound in Lily’s throat cut off her words. Krystal had come back to life, and her hand was now lodged right in the middle of Lily’s neck. Krystal ripped it away and Lily fell over backwards. Bastion screamed and rushed forward to attend to her but Krystal rolled onto her side, leapt to her feet and jump kicked Bastion in the face before he could reach her. He skidded across the floor and Elian barely stopped him from crashing into the window.
“Krystal, are you there?” Chloe asked, but there was nothing but red in the assistant’s eyes.
“They’re controlling her,” Kyran sighed heavily.
“So be it,” Chloe said as a tear fell down her cheek. In her right hand, her longsword eidolon appeared.
