Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I reach out.
Nothing.
But my arm—my own arm—leaves a streak of light in its wake. Blue. Glowing like wire-thin threads. I draw a heart, thinkin’ of Clara and her talent of drawing shapes in the air with her light. I find myself smiling as I watch it hang in the air in front of me.
I have spark in me.
Just like her.
It’s good. It’s… good. It is. I’m gonna need this spark.
It’s for Clara. She’s gonna need it.
So you can steal it back, right Tyse?
I didn’t make the rules now, did I?
I want to tell myself I won’t take it back. But it’s true. I will because I feed on her. And when I kill, and take the spark from all those monks—I can spool her back up after she’s drained to near death.
Negative feedback loop. I wish I didn’t know what that was. That I didn’t understand it the way Clara doesn’t understand it. But I do.
I close my fist.
A sound—so soft I almost miss it—slips through the cavern.
A sigh.
Not from my lips.
From everywhere.
A final exhale of somethin’ that doesn’t even realize it’s gone. I swallow hard, turnin’ to the crystal megalith. It’s still there. Still pulsin’. Still hungry.
And alone.
Because I unmade those monks. I unspooled them.
A deep groan rolls through the cave, vibrating through my ribs, then the ground yanks me back—
The Arena.
I blink.
The roar of the crowd slams into me like a hammer. Floodlights burn too bright. Metal bars gleam with fresh blood. Three bodies at my feet that I don’t remember killin’.
Fuck. I don’t even remember movin’.
I breathe in. Even. Steady. My heartbeat is slow—way too slow.
Something hums inside me.
Not Spark. Not right.
A long, static-drenched chuckle rumbles through the speakers.
Epsilon.
“Ohhhhhh, my boy.” His voice is silk and wire, pleased, amused. Proud. “Now, wasn’t that fun?”
I stare at the bodies.
At my own hands.
I don’t answer.
It wasn’t. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I don’t remember it.
I do, however, remember the monks.
And I think I could unspool ‘till the end of time.
The smile is just creepin’ up my face when I hear somethin’.
Strainin’ I lean forward. And when I do this, I slip right out of my fuckin’ body. Just… walk away from it—like a shadow. And when I look over my shoulder, the rest of me is slumpin’ to the ground.
I look down at myself, only to find that… I’m him.
Empty man.
Except my insides aren’t black anymore, I’m filled up with spark. Glowin’ bright blue. Full.
Because I’m the spark stealer.
The unspooler of monks.
What the hell is happenin’ now? Can this shit get any weirder? Can this fuckin’ day get any worse?
I’m pissed off, fuming—but then I hear it again… a voice. A sweet song of a voice compellin’ me to keep walkin’.
I do, and when I get to the edge of the platform, I just… float. Like a ghost.
This time, when I look behind me, there’s a group of mutants on the platform next to my body. I have a moment of panic that they might kill me, but this fear disappears as quick as it came because they pick me up, raising me over their heads, and carefully start lowering me down the cage maze.
I look up at the screen where Epsilon’s face is, and realize he’s takin’ care of it. So I turn back to the empty air holding me up and let that song draw me in.
Floating down, my feet feel nothin’ when they touch the ground. But they are walkin’ with purpose. Heading towards a section of yelling and raging mutants.
I don’t feel in control right now. It’s like I’m being guided. Or forced. Like a puppet. I slide right through the mutants, closing my eyes when it happens, holdin’ my breath.
It’s cold. Freezing. But when I come out, I’m no longer in the arena. I’m in a hallway. I laugh a little as I look over my shoulder. It’s not funny. It’s disturbin’, actually. Because not only did I just walk through men, I just walked through walls.
Again, the song snaps me back to my mission.
Is this a mission?
And my feet are walking. Well, not walking. Floatin’. I go through a few more walls, letting myself be carried on this current, so I can think about what’s happenin’.
I left my body. Something is calling me towards it.
No, not that part, you dumbass! The part about the monks!
Right. I killed them. Much like I’ve killed others to steal their spark. But I was never among them before. This is the first time I’ve crossed a dimension without Clara. Except, I didn’t actually cross. I was in two places at once.
Tyse, you idiot! You’re still in two places at once.
So what’s different?
Looking down at myself, seems pretty obvious. The spark is what’s different. The fact that I can see myself as a reservoir, number one. But also, the way it happened.