Читать книгу Universe Аeternov. Book three: A Heart in Ashes - - Страница 4

After their triumph, dazzling as the flash of an ancient supernova heart, the air still trembled above the ring of Cybernexia.

The crowd, which knew neither compassion nor tears, but was still able to believe in the power of victory, dispersed like the smoke of molten stars when Alina approached Alexey and Lev.

She walked softly, as if she were made of light, and her eyes, two attentive galaxies, carried a warning.

«I need your experience,» she said softly, but in such a way that the noise of the arena receded. «Knox is calling.» Darkness is already breathing in the seventy-eighth. Join the «Fist of Retribution»

Alexey lowered his gaze. The Core heart hidden in his chest shimmered with a warm exhale, like the sun sinking over the edge of the chronogorizon.

– I’m sorry, Alina, – he replied. «We are not warriors. We are runners. And today our path calls. The last race of the season is not waiting for heroes – only those who know how to move forward, even when time is turning their backs.

The lion, curled up in a furry ball on his shoulder, purred, vibrating with the frequency of the chronodrive.:

And besides, if we leave, who’s going to tell the world the joke about the cyborg who forgot to feed the cat? A world without laughter is a desert without sand.

Alina tried to smile, but there was something dark in her smile, like the shadow of a distant room.

«Then run, – she said. – But know this: when the time comes, I will call. And you will respond. Because you are unique.

The world moved around her, and Alina disappeared in a whirlwind of light and a chronoscope.

1. The start of the «marathon without return».

On the edge of Cybernexia, where the holographic sky always repeats the same words – «THE WINNER IS THE ONE WHO REMAINS» – runners from all the worlds that space has managed to forget gathered.

They stood side by side here:

Ferronia’s mechanicals are exoskeletons, similar to forges that went into battle.

Pyrolia’s fire – jumpers – flames leapt from their footsteps, as if the earth itself was ignited by their determination.

The Etherians were from Melody – their every step rang like a note that could wake up a sleeping comet.

The cyber-beasts of Somnium are creatures that cross dreams as easily as the desert.

Ghoul runner shadows are alive with twilight and fear, squeaking with the despair of those who falter on the track.

The prize shone on the pedestal:

The Eternal Pulse Crystal is an artifact of such power that it could ignite an extinct Core Heart or restore lost memory even to those whom oblivion had eaten almost completely.

Alexey took out his flying boots «Star Dog-9», forged on Pyrolysis from the tears of the blacksmiths and the ashes of hope.

«I’ll put them on, – he said, buckling his seat belts. – Today, the highway is not just a path. She’ll be checking the soul, not the legs.

The lion, sharpening his claws on a stone, grinned:

– And I can reach the first space speed even without shoes. Especially if there’s a moon-sized laser pointer looming ahead.

«Then hold on to your tail, brother, – Alexey smiled. – Today we are bringing the light to a place where it is no longer expected.

2. The highway. The path through hell.

The marathon was known for its brutality, as if Cybernexia itself had decided to test every nerve.

1. The Desert of Forgotten Names.

The sand here stole the memory.

Every step was filled with the pain of loss: I forgot why I was running, who I was, who I loved.

2. Mountains Of Broken Oaths.

The rocks are as sharp as treason.

And chrono traps hid in the cracks: if you make a wrong step, time will go backwards, erasing the future.

3. Fragments of the Last Breath.

It was possible to jump only with faith.

Doubt, and you will fall into the abyss, where the echo carries the voices of those whom history has erased out of pity.

4. Lakes of Mekhanos-9.

These artificial reservoirs were inhabited by transforming Mecha – Beasts, the remnants of cyborgs rejected by factories.

They weren’t stealing lives; they were stealing speed.

Race.

The starting signal was not a sound, but a flash of light, like a stroke of fate on the heart.

Alexey soared up, his boots leaving a trail of blue flame behind him.

Leo turned into a plasma comet; his eyes flashed like two searchlights of hope.

– Attention! «Stop it!» he barked. – Lakes ahead! The monsters can already sense our microchips!

Iron Hydra burst out of the black water – multi – headed creatures, each jaw of which was a saw, each eye was a death radar.

Alexey raised the shield of the Core-Heart.

The lion soared higher – and released a wave of humor-impulse:

– Hey, you guys! Have you heard how cyborg was afraid of water? So that’s how he died dry!

One of the hydrae grunted… and then she laughed softly and crumbled into rusty dust.

– That’s it! Alexey shouted. – Humor is our armor!

The finish of the first section.

The road of Revelations opened up before them, thin and bright, like a memory that you are afraid of losing.

Every runner here has seen his past.

Alexey is a daughter laughing in the wind of a vanished world.

Leo is himself, a little kitten chasing a laser dot like a new universe.

But they didn’t stop.

They knew that the past was a light behind them, but the path leads forward.

They crossed the finish line at the same time.

The crowd exploded – not with fear, not with rage, but with a rare feeling that Cybernexia had long since lost, hope.