Data file 8364: Chimera generator.

  Inventor: Lord Flameye.

  Type: Tool.

  [The chimera generator is an experimental device used for the transfer of time energy. Little is known about its functions or components, but when it is used on a racazoid, the effect channels artificial time energy stored from the Shadowbane Amulet. This results in increased physical strength and an invincibility-level rate of regeneration.]

  ***

  The chopper rumbled ferociously from the sheer speed. As I was slammed back into my seat, I strained to look to the side and checked the speedometer. It read: 117 mph. I looked forward and saw, past the green expanse of jungle, Flameye’s warship.

  The rest of the world outside the windshield zoomed past, yet Flameye was maintaining a constant speed. A mist descended and blocked my view of the massive warship. I responded by pulling back and leveling at a higher altitude. Fog still covered most of the path ahead, so I almost didn’t see the tree rising in my path. I gasped and swerved right, narrowly avoiding an impact.

  When I pulled out of the mist, I smiled by force of habit. A crash now would likely be lethal, but I was genuinely enjoying this. The speedometer now read: 119 mph, and Flameye was again in view. The dashboard was beginning to smoke as the afterburner switch lit up. I took a deep breath, shifted the control stick to the proper position, and flicked the switch.

  I fell out of my seat and was thrown to the back of the cabin from the acceleration. I climbed back into the chair as the speedometer read: 143 mph. I looked forward, but didn’t see Flameye’s warship anywhere.

  “But, where?” I exclaimed. Suddenly, a colossal shadow blotted out the sun as the warship appeared directly over me. It was slowly pulling ahead, but this was the best chance I had. “Let’s do this," I whispered.

  I pulled up until I was almost touching the bottom of the warship and surveyed the area. There was a large exhaust vent straight ahead, engineered to air-cool the reactor. I eyed it carefully before realizing that it was about two feet wider than the chopper. This was an excellent idea.

  Actually this was a terrible idea, but that’s why Gears hadn't come. Bad ideas are my specialty, not his. The speedometer soared to 152 mph as I slammed the stick forward, boosting toward the opening. The sides scraped against metal and threw sparks in every direction, but the chopper nevertheless slipped through the gap. I took a deep breath just before the entire vehicle stopped, sending me flying through the windshield!

  That was less than ideal. I rolled across the ground as I felt pressure on my chest. I heard scurrying sounds and firebolt pistols while I got to my feet slowly, my chest aching. I checked for obvious wounds, but found none, save for an ugly bruise on my abdomen and the cuts on my leg from earlier. That was simultaneously awful and extremely lucky.

  I then checked the area for racazoids, and spotted a three-trooper patrol leaving the area. I seemed to be in a secondary cooling room, where water was pumped from tanks kept in this room to the reactor core. Troops were unlikely to be in this area. Perfect for stealth.

  After pulling a medkit from the damaged chopper and doing what I could to cover the gashes on my leg (just a quick bandage), I found a map of the warship. Finding the Amulet was a priority, but sabotaging the warship could prove useful. Unfortunately, there was no way to reach the reactor room without going through the entire army. Another time, maybe? The bridge was close. Unusually close, in fact. My pain disappeared as a cold, quiet anger took its place, anger toward Flameye.

  “I’m coming for you now, murderer," I said as I made my way toward the bridge.

  ***

  I reached my destination with little difficulty, being far better at hiding than Flameye expected. I stepped into the hallway leading to the main door of the bridge, and immediately regretted it. Two racazoid troopers were standing guard. They aimed their pistols and fired, and I ducked underneath both firebolts. But as I did, an ache surged through me because of my wounds. I recovered and shot the first racazoid, the bolt exploding right through its face.

  As the first died, the second one vented its gun and fired again. This time, I ran forward with my right hand lifted. The firebolt exploded against my gun, which was an effective shield in this case. I reached the racazoid and blasted it in the gut. It fell to the ground, but to my chagrin, the metal began to reform where my bolt had hit.

  Clearly, Flameye had created a portable chimera generator. Fast progress unless he’d been planning this for a while. I quickly searched for the source and found a small energy pack on the racazoid’s back, glowing a distinct purple. I pointed my gun at the pack and shot the wires with another blast. The racazoid immediately fell to pieces as I ran through the door to the command center. There, I came to a stop.

  Flameye was standing before me, wings unfurled and claws ready.

  “Oh,” he scoffed, “did you expect to catch me off-guard?”

  “Frankly, yes," I admitted, and aimed my gun.

  He roared and swung a clawed fist at my face. I ducked and slipped behind him, blasting several times at the weak point on the back. His wings flapped and blew me off my feet. I slid backwards and saw that the room was round with a disc-shaped command platform, one which we were currently on, suspended above the floor. Flameye rushed and tried to knock me off this platform with his foot, but I blasted his ankle and recovered by rolling to the side. I stood and watched in equal parts horror and plain frustration as he regenerated before my eyes.

  “Yes, Rasil, I have a portable chimera generator," he laughed when he saw my face, “It’s a shame you don’t have one too.”

  He was referring to my wound, which I now noticed was aching again. But I chose to ignore it. “Only one of us is walking out of here alive," I spat.

  “I think not," Flameye replied, “You can’t kill me, and I am finding it very hard to kill you, all things considered.”

  “So it’s a stalemate?”

  “That implies it is not over yet. I prefer the term ‘draw.'”

  I ran for him and blasted several more shots at his face with no effect. But he simply stepped aside and gave a powerful gust with his wings that sent me over the edge of the platform. I smacked into the glass of the main viewport and heard a cracking sound. Whether it was glass or bone cracking, I didn’t know. Flameye walked to the edge and said, “You will never beat me, Rasil.” I closed my eyes as Flameye flapped his wings again, blowing me through the glass and into the talons of death.

  ***

  Data file 1: Railstorm.

  Inventor: Icarus Blade.

  Type: Artificial intelligence and combat system/companion.

  [Railstorm is a sentient machine entity created in the first years of Aljian civilization. While he originally ran the Terran Knights’ computers and dropships as a military AI, Icarus uploaded his data into a bird-like robot body and treated him as a close friend. After Icarus’ tragic death, Railstorm disappeared, but has been rumored to be watching over the Blade/Archmal family from a distance.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Attached audio note from Maria Blade: “That AI, Railstorm, has been missing for decades, they keep telling me, but I could swear I saw him the other day. He was just watching me, not really saying anything until royal guards approached me, and he flew off. I might sneak out again tomorrow to look for him.”]

  ***

  I don’t know how long I had been falling, but when I awoke, I found myself on the ground. Additionally, I was looking right into the glowing blue eyes of Helios.

  “Yes!” He exclaimed, flapping his wings with excitement, “You’re alive!”

  “What gave you the impression I wasn’t?” I groaned as I sat up and squinted to see him in the bright sunlight. My wounds had been cured, but I felt a pressure in my legs, as if they were crushed. Helios was flying around me in circles, laughing as if he were on an adrenaline rush.

  “I can’t believe it. You flipping fell out of the sky! But I caught you!” He yelled.

  “Whoa, lower your voice, Helios. I’m only a foot away from you.”

  “I caught you at top speed and stuck the landing!”

  I resigned myself to laughing along with him encouragingly, but as I looked around, I realized we had landed in the desert to the south of the Amulet’s location. There was nothing but sand in every direction. Everything was wrong, I realized. Flameye was almost there, and we would have to move on foot. I winced again as I felt my legs.

  “Boss?” Helios asked, sticking a wing in front of my face to block my view.

  I replied, “Come on, we need to find the Amulet before Flameye.” I started to rise to my feet, but failed.

  “Rasil, you hit the ground hard, I mean reeeally hard. I patched up the slash wound on your leg, but you might reopen it.”

  “I’ll manage.” I tried again, but a wave of darkness flushed over me as I fainted.

  The last thing I heard was Helios saying, “And don't worry so hard! Even if Flameye gets there first, he still has to—”

  ***

  Four years before Flameye’s attack.

  “Rasil, where are you going?” my father asked as I walked past the throne room. I stopped, my blood running cold. I had hoped to remain unseen, but I was a few lessons short in stealth.

  “Just out to the city," I said. I turned to face him while maneuvering my gun behind my back.

  “With a weapon?” he inquired. He rose from the throne and walked towards me. His tall figure was a combination of a shadow I would never surpass and a great warrior I was proud to call family. “I saw your gun," he continued.

  I shifted my stance defensively and held the weapon in front of me. He was probably going to try to take it, so I gripped it with both hands and clutched it to my chest.

  “I’m not upset about that, Rasil.”

  “Oh," I said, letting the gun droop.

  “I see something else as well, a fierce determination. I shouldn’t have to remind you that a gun is meaningless, what matters—”

  “—Is what we do with it," I interrupted.

  “Exactly. I know what you have in mind, and I greatly disapprove.”

  “Father, we both know that sometimes the law prevents our troops from acting. I want to take down mercenaries because I’m the only one who can. I can sneak into their bases, beat them easily, and leave in a matter of minutes. Doing so could save lives.”

  “There’s your uncle Marcus talking through you again.” Uncle Marcus had always taught me to never be idle for even a moment; after all, an innocent person could be shot in a moment.

  “Well, maybe he has a point," I answered indignantly.

  “He tried to teach you to be a vigilante.”

  “Well, maybe that’s what I need to be," I finished. Father stroked my blond hair with a gloved hand and said,

  “Don’t break the law, Rasil. Save lives if you can, but don’t break the law.”

  “That’s reasonable, so I’ll bend the law instead.”

  “There’s very little difference there, Rasil.”

  “I’ll do what I have to.”

  “You’ll do what I say," he added sternly.

  “What if you’re saying something wrong?”

  “Does it sound wrong? Is patience so deplorable?” he asked.

  We stared at each other for a brief moment before I looked away and said, “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “There are people in this city who have been murdered because the law didn’t permit authorities to take action." I raised my voice, almost shouting, “Our law says the enemy must strike first. A crime has to happen first. We have to wait until lives have been taken to defend our own flesh and blood! Marcus said I have skills, and I will use them!”

  “At the price of honor, caution, and self-restraint? What remains when those are gone?" my Father inquired sadly. I gripped my gun and walked away.

  ***

  I awoke with Helios perched on my shoulder again, his talons digging into my vest.

  “Get off," I ordered. To my surprise, he listened.

  “Sorry,” he said as he jumped off, “it was just instinct.”

  I paused for a moment, confused about where I was. All around me were random tunnels and passageways, dark and filled with sand. A single beam of light shone through a hole in the ceiling. Helios had lit a small fire that provided heat, but for a desert, the whole place felt deathly cold.

  I stood up and began pacing while checking my equipment. The pistol was still functional, and my vest was mostly intact, save for a few claw marks from Helios. As for my surroundings, I could only assume Helios had dragged me into the very temple I had hoped to find, where the Shadowbane Amulet was hidden.

  I smiled to myself at this unexpected stroke of good fortune. While facing Flameye alone had been an admittedly terrible idea, I had managed to reach the temple first! I carefully proceeded to check the symbols on the walls for any clues. Sure enough, one of the passageways had a Watcher symbol carved above its entrance.

  “Come on," I said to Helios as I walked into the tunnel.

  “Fine,” he said, “but I don’t like it here.”

  “Noted," I replied as he flew into the tunnel with me.

  “You know Flameye’s probably overhead looking for the thing, right?”

  “It’s not in his hands yet.”

  ***

  After about thirty minutes of walking, we opened another gate and stepped into the room we had started in. “What?” I gasped. We had gone in a full circle!

  Helios landed on my shoulder again and said, “Rasil, do you hear something?” I ignored him, as I was trying to figure out how we turned around. We had walked straight the entire time!

  “Rasil, I hear something.”

  “Not now.”

  “Rasil, listen to me. This place doesn’t want us to find the Amulet. We should leave.”

  “Not when we’re this close," I insisted. I was going to demand he leave me alone for a minute to think, but then I heard something. It was almost like a heartbeat, but mechanical. Each beat resonated through the room, as if some old machinery was reactivating. “It’s a defense system!” Helios shouted.

  A railgun emerged from a wall to my left and began charging. I dropped down and slid underneath the barrel. I fired a bolt through the bottom, then reached through the hole I had created. Pulling my hand out, I removed the core. The railgun sputtered and fell from its perch in a heap of wires.

  A similar railgun appeared from the opposite side of the room. Helios flew down and raked his talons across it. The railgun shut down, broken from the impact. My jaw dropped as Helios quickly dispatched five more railguns that emerged from the walls. I didn’t need to do anything.

  Helios ripped a sixth from the wall behind him and, with a shriek, tossed it across the room. It smashed through the stone wall with a crash that shook the room.

  “I kinda wish you’d been my partner before...” I said, staring through the hole he made.

  It seemed like he was about to say something else, but he stopped as we both gazed through the opening in shock.

  There, resting on a decorated golden pedestal, was a circular ornament, dark grey and made of a polished metal. In its center was a gleaming jewel with wear around the edges that indicated it was a button of some kind. This was it.

  I had somehow found it first.

  It was the Shadowbane Amulet!