Spires of Infinity (3 page)

“There can be only one Apostle of Cain.”

“This day was foretold by Cain.”

“You were created to fight each other this day.”

Subject 32 tensed, eyes flitting from the single knife, to 27 across the arena from her.

Involuntarily, her lips curled back from her wickedly sharp teeth in a snarl. She hated the Council. She hated them with every fiber of her being for what they’d forced her to do.

“You may begin.”

Subject 32 did not hesitate. If she died here, it would make the deaths of the other Subjects meaningless. She did not want to kill 27, but he was a zealot, believing in everything that the Council had force-fed him his entire life without question of morality.

He would never turn on them. To win her freedom and seek her vengeance he had to die.

She would avenge no one dead, and she could not live without killing him.

Racing forward with every shred of speed she possessed, Subject 32 was much

faster and far more agile than Subject 27. She’d done little else in life but study how to use her strengths and weaknesses against those of others. Unfortunately he’d received the same training.

Subject 32 dove for the knife, grabbing it a split second before Subject 27 was upon her. Rolling on her shoulder, she threw her legs into 27’s with all her strength and momentum, knocking him off his feet. Twisting as he fell, 27 landed in a crouch as 32

leapt to her feet and charged at him. Her only chance was to defeat him before he knew what was happening.

Subject 32’s vision began to tint red with her rage as it flowed through her, not quite strongly enough to extinguish the anguish gripping her heart. Flying at her opponent with knife raised, she tried to ignore the hateful sneer on his face.

Ducking under his fist, she spilled his guts with a slash across the belly. With a twist she brought the knife around to sever the tendons in his right arm with surgical precision. In the moment of shock her lightning quick cuts caused him, she spun around 27 and drove her knife into his kidney. Stiffening, he rose to his tiptoes as if doing so might allow him to escape the killing wound. Wheezing, he stumbled, but no other sound escaped him as he slumped, falling off of the knife and leaving a bloody mess on 32’s hands and belly.

“Very good Subject 32,” a red light flashed over one of the windows.

“Subject 32 is no more,” she gripped her knife as she looked up at the window.

Just one shadow, that was all she’d need to begin her vengeance. “I am the Apostle of Cain.”

“So you are.”

“Your duties are as such.”

“This world is closest to the prison that our god is trapped within.”

“We have been tasked with destroying that prison.”

“How is this possible,” the Apostle asked.

“You will use this,” there was a flash of light and a purple crystal on a leather cord appeared floating in the air before her.

Tossing the hated knife aside, the Apostle took it in one bloody hand, examining it. It seemed as though she could see the depths of eternity within its facets.

“It is a shard of the Gate, a doorway that links all worlds together. It will allow you to travel from world to world ”

“You will travel to many worlds and preach the words of Cain.”

“As belief in Cain increases, so does his power.”

“With enough followers he will break free of his prison.”

“Very well,” the Apostle said, hoping that they could see her face and know that it was only a matter of time before she was able to reach them. “I shall begin

immediately.”

“There is one last test.”

“Centuries, take her to the Eye of Perdition.”

The Apostle growled savagely as the Centuries clanked forward. Quickly, she put the purple crystal around her neck, so as not to lose it. The thought of fighting briefly crossed her mind, but it would be completely futile. There were twelve of them and they could shock her into submission with a single touch.

The Centuries surrounded her, and one of them lifted her from the ground by her upper arms. She screamed and thrashed as electricity surged through her, momentarily blacking out. When she came to, the Century was holding her still twitching body as it walked. Every few seconds it would shock her enough to keep her muscles from

recovering the strength to break free. Humiliation festered in her heart.

Some time later the Century stopped, setting her down before an unfamiliar door.

The Apostle swayed as her muscles continued to twitch and jerk from the shocks while the other Centuries gathered in around her. With lightning speed a Century reached out and ripped her prized clothing off of her, leaving her naked for all to see.

Snarling with rage, the Apostle stepped forward to destroy the automaton, but the others pushed in menacingly and she stepped back toward the unknown door, resisting the urge to cover herself with her hands. She was the Apostle now, and would conduct herself with dignity regardless of the conditions.

There was something behind the door—a power unlike anything the Apostle had

ever felt before, vast, wild, and insatiably ravenous. Turning to regard the door, she felt real fear for the first time in a long time. It slid open upon her approach, and there was dead, dark silence beyond.

She had not realized she’d stepped through it until the door slid closed behind her, plunging her into pitch-blackness. She could see better in the dark than in the light anyway. Smarting over the loss of her clothing, the Apostle swished her tail in anger.

Glancing around, her wolflike ears twitched, trying to catch any sound as she sniffed the air.

There was a sound at the far end of the room, but she wasn’t entirely sure that she was hearing it with her ears. Drawn, the Apostle began to drift toward it. She could not make her feet stop moving toward the source of the sound that was not a sound, and the power that churned hungrily in the darkness.

Stopping dead, the Apostle stood slack-jawed in fear and awe. The air was

twisted and bent, distorting everything seen through it. Within the distortion was a black
thing
that the Apostle had no words to describe. She could feel it reaching out to her, and she wanted nothing more than to turn and run away, but her feet moved toward it of their own accord

The thing in the distortion was darker than anything she’d ever seen, and it

radiated disturbing currents of wild power. It was so black that it actually almost seemed to shimmer with a power that could be sensed, if not exactly seen. Whatever it was, it was hungry, and would devour anything that strayed too close to it, yet the Apostle could not stop her feet from moving toward its call.

Stepping into the distortion caused her bones to hum within her, resonating with some unheard sound. Her feet carried her straight up to the reflective surface of the black orb. Liquid blackness seethed and surged hungrily, as she looked at her reflection, seeing the fear plain on her face.

Fading away, the Apostle’s reflection was replaced by that of a man with eyes

that blazed like fire, and skin made of the same inky black nothingness of the of the thing that sat within the distortion. He grinned and spread his arms wide in welcome to her.

“My Apostle,” a distant voice reached her. “I am so proud of you.”

The blazing eyes took in her nudity, lingering between her legs for a time and then on her breasts, making the Apostle’s skin crawl. She wanted to scream and run away, but something was holding her in place.

“Come to me. Surrender yourself to me.”

“No,” the Apostle said, fear causing her voice to squeak. “No. I don’t want this.”

“You have no choice but to obey me.”

To the Apostle’s horror, she stepped forward. Fighting against her own body, she tried to turn and run, but to no avail. The inky black arms encircled her and she felt cold emptiness filling her body and soul, numbing her mind and her senses in a way that she had never before experienced.

“Become one with me and I will give you power so great that none will ever be

able to stand against you.”

The black head lowered toward the Apostle’s face. She felt its cold, empty lips on her neck, moving down to suck on one of her nipples before pressing against her mouth. Darkness pushed into her, becoming one with her, a part of her. Her heart beat so loud and fast in her ears that it was a constant rumble, as something vile and alien forced its way into her mind. It was a far worse violation than any that she’d ever endured. She had no concept of rape, but if she had, she would call the way that it rooted around in her memories, rape of her mind. She was helpless to stop it.

Unable to handle it anymore, the Apostle fainted dead away.

When she came to she was completely clothed in black from head to toe, wearing black body armor, and a hooded cloak over it all. Not a single inch of her flesh was showing. She’d never been so covered in her entire life, and she reveled in it for a few seconds before she remembered the dark figure that had forcibly entered her mind.

It was still within her, watching through her eyes. She could feel its pleasure.

Now go, my Apostle, your god commands you to set him free.

Unbidden, her left hand raised to the purple crystal hanging around her neck, and she stepped through the place between worlds to find herself on a completely different one.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen! She was supposed to be free.

She was supposed to avenge the other ninety-nine subjects. But now, she’d been violated in the worst way imaginable. She wasn’t free! She was caged even worse than before!

Serve me, my Apostle, and I promise to you that you will have your revenge.

“Get out of my head,” the Apostle cried.

The dark presence of Cain only laughed. The Apostle did not have enough

experience with other people to recognize the complete and utter insanity in that laugh as she took stock of her surroundings. She didn’t even know where to start.

There shall be no other gods save me. Start there.

Standing on a dirt road in the middle of flat green fields, the Apostle could see a massive tower in the distance, casting a shadow miles long in the late afternoon sun.

She’d find some way back to the World Closest to Perdition, and make the

Council pay for what they’d done to her, and all of the other Subjects. Plans began to form in her mind as Cain cackled. She bared her teeth behind her mask wickedly as a plan began to form. It was only a matter of time before she found what she would need to put it into motion. And she’d kill Cain too, if she got the chance. Any god that would force her to kill the other Subjects didn’t deserve to be called god. Until then she had little choice but to serve him, it seemed. She would serve him as best as she could until the day came when they met face to face, and she took his head.

A wagon pulled by a beast of burden trundled up the dirt road toward her. The elderly driver brought the cart to a halt, examining her quizzically. It was so strange to see a person without a tail, or the triangular ears of a Subject atop his head. The Apostle had never seen anyone without either.

“Tell me,” she said, “have you heard the Gospel of Cain?”

Chapter 3: Leaving Home

There were always chores to be done, and Kari was usually the one who got stuck doing them, because her two older brothers were completely useless for just about everything except for a few occasional laughs. Forcing them to help, and listening to their whining, was usually worse than doing the work by herself, but not this time.

Stomping though waist high grass, she moved aside only for the sparse trees

which, despite her best scowl, did not get out of her way. Her brothers lovingly called her “the beast” because of that scowl. And that was usually amusing, after her anger passed.

Following the scent of her brothers through the grass, she found herself beneath a large oak tree with several low hanging branches. Storming right up to the tree trunk, She kicked it with all of her considerable strength. The mighty oak shook violently and her two worthless brothers fell from its branches.

Regarding her with identical shocked expressions, the twins sat up from where

they’d fallen, massaging their hurts. Looking at each other, they seemed to communicate telepathically before turning back to regard her with quizzical expressions.

Jonathan and Michael were near perfect copies of the Northern Sage, their father, if a little shorter and much younger. Except for the fact that her father was a human and her brothers were Heretics, of course. Their mother was the daughter of a Demon, and so all of her children had Demon blood in them. It did strange things when mixed with humanity. Kari herself was a fox demon. She had pointed fox ears atop her head and two bushy foxtails that were mostly hidden beneath her skirts. The boys were either dogs or wolves, and they changed their minds often as to which it must be. They also had triangular ears atop their heads and wolflike tails as well. They bore their father’s purple eyes and black hair, where Kari’s eyes were bright green and her hair was pale blonde, hanging loose to her waist in the way her mother confided got the most attention from the boys. Not that there were any boys around that she was not related to, but that was beside the point. What girl didn’t want to look attractive?

“So there I was,” Kari folded her arms beneath her breasts, “digging a new well in the east field and I say to myself, ‘self, why are you doing this alone when you’ve got two strapping older brothers to help you with it?’ And then myself replied, ‘why self, I have no idea why my worthless brothers aren’t helping!’ So I said, ‘well then self, I’d better go drag them by their tails back here to dig this damned well!’ so here I am.”

“What a beautiful story,” Michael said.

“Beautiful indeed,” Jonathan nodded, dabbing an imaginary tear from his eye.

“What are you up to all the way out here when you could be helping your dear

baby sister dig a well?”

“As little as possible,” the twins replied in unison.