Amorlia: Age of Wonder by Chris Wichtendahl

Author:Chris Wichtendahl
Format: epub

Chaos

First hung from his shackles, barely there. He was so deprived of Spark that to the casual observer, he didn't exist at all. All that remained was a faint outline, his own self-awareness and a series of bitter memories. Memories of pain and suffering, of betrayal by his trusted lieutenants. He looked down on them now and would have laughed if he still retained a vestige of humor. They were less substantial than he was, mere wisps of idea fading into distant memory. First tugged again at his restraints. It was a futile gesture, but it was something to- Wait. He strained against the restraints a second time, and for the second time, he felt a minuscule jolt of Spark enter him. It wasn't enough to restore him in the least bit, but for someone in his state, it was a drop of water on a parched tongue. He exalted at it, and strove desperately to get more. He strained harder and was rewarded with yet another small tingle. He noticed out the corner of his eye that Second and Third twitched each time he struggled for Spark. A thought struck him. This little machine Four had hooked him up to... could it possibly... no, she couldn't be that stupid, could she? First decided that she, in fact, could. She copulated with the apes, after all. He renewed his efforts, rewarded by the sight of Second and Third shivering and fading faster. He himself was not quite actual as yet, still more concept than man, but he could feel his abstract nature begin to solidify. It would take a while, but with patience, he just might drain enough from those two clods to be viable again, all without Four even noticing. The battle was a wretched mess, the floor slick with blood and piles of corpses climbing the walls. Fourth fought hard to turn it in her favor, but Mandhe's forces were superior to all others by dint of their technological enhancements. Mandhe simply stood amid the carnage and laughed. "When I'm done, Your Majesty," she executed a mock bow toward the seething would-be High Queen, "I plan to tear this entire palace down." "Really?" That took Fourth by surprise. "And here I thought you fought on the side of poor pathetic Artemis or her battered proxy." She gestured toward Kai, who fought tirelessly against hordes of panicked soldiers and religious fanatics, as well as the mechanical humans who caused the panic. She was covered in blood, much of it hers, and her clothes were in tatters. Her gun was naught but splinters on the floor and she fought only with bare knuckles. Mandhe laughed. "Her? No, I don't think so." She waved her hand, and another horde of fresh mechanically augmented men and women rushed into battle. Fourth noticed many of her own Pacifica and a number of Jat Loren's followers among the rabble. Mandhe nodded. "I've shut down their reason and wired them to take instruction only from me.

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