Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (39 page)

Fireworks exploded across the arena followed by bursts of flame. The crowd chanted and cheered as the drum beat grew deafening.

The announcer raised a hand and the crowd settled down. “And now, denizens of doom, patrons of paucity, I give you a warrior made of circuits and servos. Your mechanical overlord, the robot you so love to hate, the reigning champion, the Amazing Achilles!”

The rain of boos and screams that ensued were overwhelming.

Sally and Breeze looked at each other and shouted in unison above the cacophony of noise, “Achilles is a robot?”

The spotlights shifted to the center of the arena as the announcer floated away. A circular opening no more than four feet in diameter appeared and the head of a robot emerged from it. As it rose up, the spotlights highlighted its gleaming metal body while all around the beating of drums was deafening and the crowd was becoming unruly. Achilles, now on level ground, held a fist high in the air as it walked the circumference of the arena. Angry boos echoed and reverberated throughout as garbage and debris was thrown down at it.

Ray leaned over and shouted at Breeze. “Are you seeing this?” he pointed at Achilles.

Breeze nodded and yelled, “Yeah, it looks just like the RF on Perihelion!”

The announcer swooped down and hovered over the center ring. “Warriors, take your positions!” he ordered.

Sargon and Achilles took to opposite sides of the arena.

“Combat!” the announcer shouted as fireworks exploded from the ceiling. The crowd was on their feet and roaring.

Achilles casually strode to the center and waited.

Sargon hesitated, and then charged across the arena toward Achilles. The armored plates of his suit shifted and morphed as he ran at full stride. He lifted his right arm to form a sword while his left hand shifted into a shape of an ax. His chest plate burst open and a metallic whip lashed out and snatched Achilles by the neck then retracted, jerking the robot off its feet and sending it flying towards him.

Achilles grabbed the whip with both hands just as it was pummeled into the ground by Sargon’s ax. The crowd shouted their approval as Sargon rained blow upon blow on the robot as sparks flew with every strike. He stopped his assault long enough to raise a leg and slam a spiked foot down on it.

Achilles quickly rolled out of the way and sprang to its feet. It threw off the whip that was wrapped around its neck, then jumped and kicked Sargon in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Achilles turned to the crowd and raised a fist in triumph. The crowd booed harshly, and then shifted into cheers as Sargon scrambled to his feet. The robot kept its back to him as it continued to antagonize the crowd.

Sargon’s chest plate opened and the whip lashed out again, this time snaring Achilles’ raised fist and yanking the robot to the ground. As the whip retracted back into his chest and dragged Achilles across the arena toward him, Sargon morphed his right hand into a trident and thrust it into the robot when it came within striking distance. Sparks flew as it struck Achilles’ chest and glanced off. Sargon went for a second strike, this time aiming for the head.

Achilles leapt up with the metallic whip still coiled around its hand and vaulted over Sargon’s head where it landed on his back. It wrapped the whip around his helmet and yanked back, shattering the face plate. Sargon roared in anger and pain as he reached up and tore the helmet off his head, revealing a scarred and bloody face. He spun in a circle rapidly and flung Achilles off him.

Achilles was still tethered to the whip as it flew through the air when Sargon released the connection from his chest, sending it crashing into the side of the arena. Concrete shattered and rebar was exposed as Achilles tumbled to the ground. It stood up and shook its head, then began to brush the dust off.

Breeze leaned over and shouted at Ray. “Achilles is just playing with him!”

Blood ran down Sargon’s face as he staggered toward Achilles, and then dropped to one knee with a groan. He stabbed a finger at the robot. “It ends! Now!”

Achilles shrugged as the crowd went into a frenzy.

Sargon stood up slowly as the metal plates of his armor shifted back into place. He raised both his hands and they morphed into propellers with sharply angled tips.

The propellers began to rotate, gradually picking speed until they spun with a roar. Dust and trash that was strewn across the arena floor blew everywhere.

Sargon dropped one propeller to the ground and the blades chewed up the concrete, sending chunks of it flying into the crowd as he marched toward Achilles. He pointed the other propeller at the robot and the jet blast of air pinned it against the wall. Sargon then let out a mighty roar and charged with both propellers facing forward.

Achilles leaned into the hurricane force winds in an attempt to break free, but failed to escape in time as Sargon arrived and slammed the propellers into him. Sparks flew everywhere as the sound of metal scraping against metal created a horrible screech that made the crowds reach up to cover their ears.

Achilles stood its ground with its arms across its chest as Sargon attacked. Propeller blades began to break off upon contact with its armor and flew off into the crowd. Screaming erupted across the arena as everyone ducked and threw themselves onto the floor for safety.

Achilles swiveled its head rapidly as it watched some of the crowd run from the danger, then its eyes glowed brightly as it raised a hand toward Sargon. Sargon’s eyes went wide with surprise as he was lifted off the ground and sent sailing through the air to the opposite side of the arena.

“How was that possible?” Sally said as she turned to Breeze, “Achilles didn’t even touch him!”

Sargon landed with a thump and skidded across the floor as Achilles sprinted towards him. While Sargon was trying to get to his feet, Achilles covered the remaining distance in a blur and struck him hard in the chest, sending him cart wheeling into a wall.

“I am beginning to realize why Matilda sent us here. There’s something definitely strange about that robot,” Breeze said.

Sally grabbed him by the arm. “I can see an aura glowing around Achilles. It’s almost…like a living thing!”

“Impossible! It’s a machine!” Ray shouted.

“Sally, I need you to project and get closer to it,” Breeze said.

Her eyes widened. “Are you sure? They said no use of powers—”

“Ray and I will cover for you, don’t worry.”

“What do you expect her to find?” Ray yelled over the noise of the crowd.

Breeze shrugged. “Don’t know, Matilda may be crazy, but she was right. Look at Achilles. That robot is no different than the RF on the island. Except this one is doing what it was programmed to do which is to fight, not fix aerocraft. Let Sally get closer to it. Who knows what she’s going to find, but we need to know more about it.”

Sally nodded. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said and raised the hood of her jacket to obscure her face as her eyes began to glow.

Breeze pulled off his new coat. “Use my coat so we can disguise you better”, he said as he draped it over her, and then pulled her close. “Listen, we’re here for you, don’t worry. Just get close and report what you find.”

If she heard him, she gave no indication. Her body grew stiff as her eyes glowed brighter.

“She’s projecting,” Breeze called out to Ray.

Ray nodded as he looked around cautiously.

On the arena floor, Achilles was charging Sargon when something distracted the robot as it turned to look to its right. It came to an abrupt stop and began waving a hand at the empty space in front of it.

The crowd jeered and laughed. “That stupid machine is losing it!” someone in the row below Breeze said.

“Got hit in the head too many times,” his companion responded and they both laughed raucously.

Breeze felt Sally squeeze his hand. “Achilles can see me!” she hissed in a disembodied voice.

Breeze shook his head. “Impossible, you’re projecting.”

“I’m telling you Breeze, it’s looking right at me!”

Sargon took advantage of the distraction and charged, slamming the robot into the ground and pinning it by squatting on its chest and arms, then he raised his fists into the air as metal plates slid up his wrists to form sledge hammers and began raining blow upon blow onto Achilles’ head as sparks flew everywhere.

Achilles twisted and squirmed violently as it tried to break loose. It kicked its legs wildly to no avail, but did manage to yank an arm out from underneath Sargon’ s leg, then made a fist and pointed it at his head.

Sargon slapped it away with a sledgehammer as the fist fired off Achilles’ arm and into the crowd.

Sargon then continued pounding on the robot’s head, each blow breaking the concrete under it and creating a jagged recess that they sank deeper into when he stopped and raised both of his sledgehammer shaped hands into the air.

Everyone in the arena stood up and began chanting “Junk it! Junk it!”

Sargon bowed his head to the crowd in acknowledgment. As he began his final deathblow, something hit him hard in the back of the head. His eyes went wide, and then rolled back. He let out a loud and pitiful groan and toppled over onto Achilles.

The crowd stood in stunned silence.

Achilles couldn’t be seen underneath the mound of metal and flesh that was Sargon, except for its arm, minus the hand, held high.

Something fast flew over the spectators and glided toward the robot. It was Achilles’ fist. It hovered over the arm for a moment, then lowered and reattached itself with a muted click that sounded like a gunshot to the stunned and silent crowd. Achilles held its arm up high with a clenched fist in a display of defiance that sent the crowd into a frenzy of anger. Chants of “Re-match! Re-match!” echoed throughout the arena.

Achilles rolled Sargon off with a mighty heave, then stood up and continued holding its fist high as it strode about the circumference of the arena. The crowd responded with more anger and catcalls as garbage and debris rained down upon it.

Achilles came to a stop at the section where Breeze, Sally and Ray were sitting where it looked up and stared at them.

Breeze felt Sally shudder and he turned to look at her. Her eyes ceased to glow and her eyelids fluttered as her astral form returned and merged with her body.

She gripped Breeze to steady herself. “That robot…is paranormal!” she said as she gasped for air.

Breeze looked back at Achilles, but the robot was already heading for the exit. It disappeared into an opening in the arena wall as a sliding panel closed behind it.

The announcer appeared in a puff of smoke and fire and raised his hands in an attempt to calm the crowd. “Fighting fans from all across the far flung lands! Please, celebrate, not capitulate, to the victory of the Amazing Achilles!”

The crowd booed even harder as fights fueled by frustration broke out amongst them. People began to jostle and shove one another as they streamed to the exits.

“Okay guys, we’ve seen enough. We need to get out of here!” Breeze shouted as he grabbed Sally by the hand and motioned to Ray. Ray nodded and followed.

They made their way from the stands and spilled out into a grand hallway when Breeze spotted a non-descript door to his right. Dragging Sally behind him as Ray followed, he broke away from the crowd and their stampede to the main exit, and burst through it and into the cold night. Together they ran and didn’t stop until they came to the edge of a forest that lined the back of the arena.

THEY SPRAWLED ONTO THE
grass breathing heavily. The air was cold and their breath was like steam. They could still hear the raucous crowd inside the arena trying to get out.

Breeze was the first to speak. “Sally, what happened? What did you see?”

Sally was sitting with her arms across her chest and shivered when she spoke. “You know, I can see flashes of light when a machine is using its electrical power, and the aura I originally saw around Achilles was dull and monochromatic. But then the robot began to change and I swear it had the same spectrum of color as a human.”

Ray shook his head. “Impossible. Are you saying that was a man in a suit?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so—”

“You do or you don’t, Sally, you can’t—”

Breeze jumped in. “Ray, go easy man. Give her a break, she did her best. Let her breathe.”

“Her best isn’t good enough. We need to know exactly what we’re facing here.”

“You’re starting to sound just like your father,” Sally said.

“Well, if my father were here—”

“He’s not. It’s just us. We need to figure this out by ourselves,” Breeze said as he knelt before Sally. “Sally, that robot is the key to something. What, I don’t know but we got to find it and talk to it.”

“And ask it what?” Ray said.

“Sally,” Breeze ignored him and took her hand, “please project again. We’ve got to find it. I just know this is right. Can you do it?”

“It could be anywhere. This place is huge and I wouldn’t know where to start,” she murmured.

“There has to be some sort of trail you can follow,” Breeze suggested.

She nodded. “I can pick up where we last saw it. It did exit into that open panel in the arena, and if I find any imprint of its energy, it should lead me right to it.”

“Do it,” Breeze said.

“I don’t want to go alone, come with me,” she pleaded.

“How?”

She took his hand and together they stood up. “I’m sort of new to this,” she said. “Oslo encouraged me to learn how to project with a passenger when I first met him, and part of my solo training over the past several weeks was to practice endlessly with Kera. I guess that’s one of the reasons I wanted to leave,” she paused for a moment, “I remember Kera would make me practice that one skill, as if she was preparing me for a moment like this. It almost feels like a dream how she always seemed to be with me.”

Breeze took her other hand and drew her close. “Perihelion was a strange experience for all of us. Funny how suddenly I want to go back, as if it’s safer there than any other place on the planet right now.”

Sally smiled and nodded as she quickly wiped a tear from her face. “If you’re willing to come with me, I think I can find it. I just don’t want to be alone.”

“What about me?” Ray said.

“I feel a little more comfortable with Breeze. He can help me navigate and guide my way through.”

Breeze gestured towards the arena. “Well, let’s do it. How do we start?”

Sally took his hand and they stood side by side. “Just empty your mind and relax. Remember, you have to be willing to make this work. I can’t force you. You’re going feel a tug, like someone wrapped a rope around you and yanked it, and then you will feel weightless as if you’re flying.”

“Flying? Now I know why you really picked me,” he turned and winked at Ray.

Sally giggled. “Come on, concentrate. This is scary for me, and I’ve never really done this before except with Kera.”

They both closed their eyes as Sally took in several deep breaths, then her eyes suddenly fluttered open and they were a brilliant white.

Breeze opened an eye to peek at Sally and was about to say something when everything around him blurred. When it came to a stop, he felt light as a feather and could see his body standing before him with eyes that glowed a searing white. He recoiled at the sight of it as an acute feeling of loneliness swept over him, then flailed his arms wildly when he felt a gust of wind sweep him off his feet and drag him away from his body.

Someone grabbed his hand and he turned to look. It was Sally. She was radiating with a brilliant light that surrounded her while wearing a flowing white dress that streamed away from her body as if blown by the wind. Breeze stared at her in stunned silence.

Sally laughed. “Told you it would feel a little funny.”

“You look so beautiful,” he blurted out.

Sally looked away shyly. “Thank you, but I don’t know why you’re saying that for…oh!” She let go of him when she saw the dress. She quickly threw up her hands and the dress faded away and was replaced by a training uniform she wore at Perihelion. “Okay. That’s better.” She glanced around and saw Breeze was nowhere to be found.

“Sally, a little help,” Breeze called out as he floated away.

“Sorry!” she said and raced over to grab his hand. They glided back and hovered before their prone bodies.

“Why do I keep floating away and you just stay perfectly still?” Breeze asked her.

Sally smiled. “You have to be anchored. Time doesn’t flow; we do. Whenever I project it’s like jumping into the ocean from a boat that is anchored. The boat stays in place but I drift away. As long as I remain tethered to the boat, I can never lose my way back. Do you see?” she said as she pointed at a faint tendril of light that led from her astral form to her physical body. “I just follow the light and I always make it back home.”

“Always go to the light,” Breeze said.

“Yeah, something like that,” she smiled.

“So how come I don’t have a light trail to follow?”

“I’m not sure,” Sally said, “this is the first time I’ve ever projected with a passenger. This is as new to me as it is to you.”

Meanwhile, Ray was pacing back and forth. He stopped and began waving a hand in front of Sally’s eyes, then Breeze’s while calling out their names. Receiving no reaction from either one, he stepped back and grunted.

“Can he see us?” Breeze jerked a thumb toward Ray.

“No. At least not now he can’t, but let me make our presence known. This way, he’ll know we’re all right.” Breeze watched as her astral form began to shimmer.

Ray spun around to confront a glowing sphere of light and his eyes widened as an apparition materialized from it. It was Sally He looked down at her hand and saw she was holding onto something when a second image appeared next to her. It was Breeze, who was grinning as he gave Ray a thumb’s up.

“Raymond, we’re off. Stay close to our bodies and protect them while we’re away. I will stay in contact with you and give you updates on what we find. I’ll be speaking—”, the tone of her voice changed as she spoke from her body in a dull and monotone cadence, ”—to you from here.”

Ray’s head swiveled to look at her body, and then looked back at her astral form. “Don’t take too long. Just find that robot and get what we need from it. I really want to get back to the ship.”

“We’ll do our best,” she said with a smile and winked at him, then she and Breeze faded away.

They glided slowly at first, then, as if an ocean wave had engulfed them, they hurtled toward the arena before coming to a sudden halt.

Breeze squeezed Sally’s hand and it felt electric. “Could you slow down just a little? I thing I’m feeling sick.”

“This from a hotshot flier? I thought you could handle something like this.”

“Seriously, I’m feeling a little weird.”

“I’m sorry, Breeze, I know it’s pretty disorienting at first. I just got carried away. But remember what I told you about the tether? Look behind you.”

He turned and saw a wisp of light trailing behind him. He traced it back and saw how it ended far off in the distance where their bodies stood.

“How did that happen?” he wondered aloud.

“Doesn’t matter now,” she said and tugged on his hand. “Come on, are you ready for this?”

Breeze noted the concern in her eyes. “As ready as ever. Look, we’ll be fine because no one will see us. Besides, we’re just looking for clues.”

“Achilles was able to see me in the arena when it was fighting with Sargon. How was it able to do that?” Sally said.

Breeze nodded. “You said during the fights that the robot seemed to give off paranormal energy, and that’s probably why Matilda was emphatic about us coming here. Oslo would always say there’s a reason for everything, and that there is no such thing as coincidence. That was something he would always hammer me with.”

“We loathed the man while we were there, and practically ignored his teachings. Now, we find ourselves quoting him,” she murmured.

They hovered before the back entrance to the arena where there was sign above the door:
No Admittance Other Than Authorized Personnel
.

Sally ignored it and glided forward while pulling Breeze behind her, and he recoiled as he was plunged through thick concrete walls. The sensation of passing through solid matter was disconcerting, and he felt intense relief when they passed through and into a dimly lit hallway.

“Are you okay?” Sally asked.

Breeze shook his head. “That was …strange.”

“What?’

“Passing through a wall like that and seeing something from the inside.”

“Oh, I remember the first time I passed through someone’s body it was—” she pulled on his hand suddenly and they merged back into the wall with only their heads poking out as a pair of cyborgs came marching down the hall. They spoke loudly in a heated conversation and passed right by them without even a glance.

“Well, Sally, you weren’t kidding. They really can’t see us.”

“You had doubts?” she asked with mock indignation.

“Well, you did say you were nervous about bringing a passenger.”

She looked him in the eye. “I don’t feel that way with you.”

Breeze was a bit stunned at her remark as his mind ventured back to their first meeting at Perihelion and her apparent indifference to him. “Are you and Ray—”

“Just friends. Let’s go down the hall this way.”

Breeze felt a sense of despair as they glided away and wanted to punch himself for his clumsiness. He felt like he never knew how to act around her.

They arrived at a stairway that led down into inky blackness where they could hear the sound of voices and raucous laughter coming from below. Sally looked at Breeze. He nodded, and together they dropped into the darkness.

They stopped at the bottom of the steps and hovered before a tunnel entrance with a string of lights that lined its ceiling. They could see movement at the far end of it, accompanied by the sound of doors opening and slamming shut, and the whine of power tools and the banging of hammers. As they glided forward they were confronted by the sight of cyborgs, robots, and paranormals they had seen fighting earlier in the arena, stepping in and out of rooms that lined the tunnel.

“I’m familiar with this, it’s just like the air shows back home. We’re in the staging area and the arena is above us,” Breeze whispered. “Achilles exited through the panel, and it looks like it leads down here.”

“You can speak normally, they can’t hear us,” Sally said.

“I know, it’s just weird sneaking around like ghosts.”

They glided further down before coming to a stop. The tunnel was emptying out as the last of the gladiators were leaving to return home.

“Everyone is leaving, we’re not going to catch it. Who knows where it could be by now,” Sally said.

“Don’t be so quick to give up. Achilles and Sargon were the last two contestants. I bet that robot is still here, we just need to check each room.”

Sally looked from one end of the tunnel to the other. “Breeze, that could take forever. Look at how many doors there are.”

“You need to think like a flier. We’ll use a sweep pattern. Listen, we can’t let go of each other, otherwise we break our connection. So let’s do this; I float through each room while you stay in the tunnel. This way, we double our chances of finding it.”

“Are you sure? You said you get a little queasy going through walls.”

Breeze’s astral form shimmered. “Yeah, it’s pretty weird. But I’m betting it can’t spot me like it can spot you.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Call it a hunch.”

“Fine. Are you ready?”

He responded by towing Sally behind him, then held tightly to her hand as he closed his eyes and phased through a door. When he opened them he found himself in a dimly lit room. It was spartan in appearance, with a few hooks that lined the walls for hanging clothes and equipment, along with shelves for storing tools.

Sally squeezed his hand, and then poked her head through the door. “Okay, how do we do this?”

“Right, let’s just go slowly and if either one sees something, squeeze the hand.”

Sally nodded and pulled her head back. He looked down at his hand holding hers while her arm disappeared through the door. He tugged her hand gently and they glided forward.

He floated from room to room as Sally stayed out in the tunnel. He often hesitated before phasing through a wall and always with his eyes shut tight. When he would emerge into the next room, it was always with a sense of relief.

He glided through room after room, but not finding much of anything except the usual shelves and storage racks for the gladiators to keep their things.

Sally poked her head through again. “There is one last room to check before we switch to the other side of the tunnel, but the door is different. It has multiple locks on it, almost like it’s reserved for someone.”

Breeze tugged on her hand and pulled her through. She floated to his side and came to a stop.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“There is something on the other side of that wall. I don’t know what it is, but I get a weird sensation.”

“Feeling a little nervous? Need a tiny girl like me for protection?” she teased.

“No, but I do know we should go in together.”

“Why? Another one of your hunches?”

“You can say that. Ready?”

Sally smiled. “We’re together, so I’m ready as ever.”

They phased through the wall. Breeze kept his eyes shut as Sally pulled him forward when he became stuck. She gave a hard tug and they spilled into the room while gasping loudly for breath.

Outside of the arena, Ray watched their bodies shudder and breathe rapidly. He stood before Sally and waved his hands in front of her. “Sally, can you hear me?”