by Matthew Peed
It didn’t take long before they came to a sewer grate. Yuno glanced around before he slammed down on it with his foot. There was a minor boom as the grate broke and dropped to the bottom of the sewer. The two looked around to make sure no one was coming to investigate the sound, then jumped in, Yuno first to catch his sister.
The sewer was lit by old sun stones, so they had no need for torches. They ran carefully until they reached the section shown on the map. They slowed down as the path grew quite complicated. Finally, two hours later, they came to the section that led deeper into the ground.
Yuno was surprised that the sun stones were still working in this ancient section. He had to hand it to the Golden Age people for their work. As they rounded a corner, Yuno heard something and raised his hand.
“How could you let some kid steal the map?” said a man’s voice up ahead.
“Sorry, messenger. You told me it was warded, and it went to my head,” said another voice, one that Yuno had heard a lot this afternoon.
“This is a fool’s errand without it, but you’re too scavenge this area until you find something of value. I would hurry if you don’t want to be turned into an undead.” A green light suddenly appeared around the corner in front of the two.
Yuno urged Sera back the way they came, but as if the fates were laughing at them, Sera stepped on a bone, which snapped loudly. Throwing caution to the wind, Yuno grabbed her and pulled her down another tunnel. In a repeat of this afternoon, pursuing footsteps kept up with him no matter how hard he tried to lose them.
“Leave me,” Sera said, breathing harshly.
“Shut up!” Yuno growled at her.
“This way!” Yuno heard as if from the wind.
He changed his direction and ran down the tunnel. The faint voice whispered in his ear, leading them farther into the maze of tunnels. The architecture had changed three times already during the time they’d been running. Finally, they reached a huge door that must have been twenty meters tall. Yuno heard an unnatural moaning from the way they’d come and knew he didn’t have much time.
He moved forward and pressed his hands against the massive door. He tried to push it, but the passage of time had sealed it shut. He kept trying and soon felt the familiar heat as his body grew larger. With a howl, he slammed against the door and felt it budge. After a grueling minute, he had opened it enough for him and his sister to get through.
Yuno quickly ran to the other side and pushed it shut with a resounding boom. He slid down against the door as his muscles released steam. Sera knelt next to him, breathing heavily.
“I thought that door would never open again,” said a voice deeper in the room.
Yuno jerked his head but wasn’t sure what he was seeing. A man was stuck to the wall, impaled through not only his hands and feet but also his six wings. One pair consisted of feathers, another scales, and the third leather. A symbol neither of the children had ever seen before was engraved over the entire back wall, a blooming black flower with vines of thorns from the center of the flower.
“Beautiful,” Sera said as she gazed upon the man. As if she had lost control, she stumbled over to him, wanting nothing more than to touch him.
“Sera! No!” Yuno shouted, struggling up before tackling his sister to the ground.
“Boy . . . you should let the young lady do what she wants. Trust me, I don’t bite . . . much,” the man said with an air of humor.
“I can only think you are a monster,” Yuno said, fighting to keep his sister under control.
“I am perfection. The son of Grand Celestial Lucifer, Nero, at your service,” Nero said.
The door shook as something collided with it from the other side. It held but cracks formed. Yuno glared from the door back to Nero, not sure which was the greater threat.
“Then why are you trapped here, Nero?” Yuno asked.
“Alas, perfection is not welcomed in most place. My power scared the others, but I was too much and they bound me here in this manaless chamber. I would have been trapped forever since only a high race can open the door. Thankfully, you opened it,” Nero explained with a yawn.
“High race?” Yuno asked, confused.
“From the looks of it, high beast race.” Nero glanced at the girl. “Siblings, but she suffers from the Lumo curse, so you must be descendants of Laro. Grisly way for a person to go,” Nero said, shaking his head.
“Do you know how to cure it?!” Yuno asked.
“Hard for even one of my status. But a Celestial can do it. I happen to know a few, and if you help me, I’ll help you. I’ll even stop the compulsion,” Nero said, wiggling his fingers. Sera stopped struggling to get to him.
The door boomed again and more cracks formed. Yuno clenched his fist until blood dripped from it. He knew the men outside would definitely kill them. He was only partially sure that Nero could kill them. He growled, deciding to go with the lesser of two evils.
“I want a mana-bound contract!” he shouted.
Nero grinned and snapped his fingers, which must have been incredibly painful. Mana streamed from my body and met a stream from his. There was a small burst of sparks as they both agreed to the terms. Once the contract was signed, Sera and Yuno ran forward to pull the spikes from Nero. It took longer than expected, as the spikes were nearly three meters long.
Just as the doors exploded in, Yuno managed to remove the last spike from Nero’s wing. There was a shock wave of mana as Nero was truly released from whatever was binding him. Mana surged into the room like a tidal wave. He raised a single hand, then there was a blinding light. Yuno and Sera turned to see that the door and everything past it had become a blackened burn on the ground.
“So, kids, where can we get something to eat? I haven’t tasted food in . . . what year is it?” Nero said as he stretched.
“It’s 1654 of the New Age,” Yuno answered.
Nero considered. “So . . . in over two thousand years, then,” he said, thinking for a while.
“How are you still alive?” Sera asked with wide eyes.
“How indeed.” Nero smirked before pacing toward the entrance.
“Treasure enough for you?” Yuno asked Sera.
“He is easy on the eyes for a two-thousand-year-old man,” Sera said with a giggle and took off after Nero.
Yuno just smacked his forehead, then finally followed after them.
Chapter 29
Helicilia
A few days ago
“Damn it!” I shouted, kicking a tree.
That bitch Morka left me on the path to the valley. That wasn’t even the worst part. She ordered me. Ordered, I thought with a growl. No one orders me except the master. I kicked the tree again, infusing it with mana, causing the tree to explode into splinters.
“Mistress, we cannot stay here. There are patrols . . .” one of my men started to say before I whipped around to grab his neck.
“Do you plan to order me now?” I growled, lifting him easily several dozen centimeters off the ground. I’d mastered physical enhancement magic long ago. I might look like a slender woman, but I could lift a man twice my height and weight without strain.
“N . . . o . . .” he gasped out. Not really feeling it, I dropped him to the ground before moving toward the carriage. I’d delivered the Celestial to the target. No reason for me to stay around any longer.
“Let’s go! I want to be at the capital in a week!” I shouted.
As I boarded the carriage, there was a massive blast in the distance, then the ground rumbled from the direction of the dungeon. I smirked. At least someone else is having just as bad a day as I am.
I glared at the roughed-up carriage. It had been tossed about earlier in the night when a strange wave of terra mana rippled throughout the forest. The trees had reduced the impact, but it still ended up killing two of my men when the carriage landed on them. They were still with us of course. You never left a necromancer unless they didn’t want you around anymore.
~~~
&nb
sp; “Beautiful,” I said as I took in the sight in front of me. As far as I could see was a black, twisted landscape with undead of all types wandering the charred land. I couldn’t find even a trace of life within the borders of the black land. The smoldering ruin of the Lecazar capital lay in the distance, unholy mana radiating from it like a heartbeat.
“The masters used Alara’s core in the spell to compensate for the lack of mana. Our ‘help’ in the castle of Lecazar was a great aid,” said a skeleton in black armor.
“Excellent. I would like to convene with the other masters. I’m sure they have missed their leader. Gather them at once,” I ordered, not turning from the landscape.
“At once,” I heard but didn’t bother to acknowledge it.
Soon five figures formed around me. “Where are the rest?” I asked, glaring over the five.
“Dead beyond the means of the mana. One was killed when a weapon tore through the upper half of Alara’s dungeon. Two more were lost in battle while resisting the attackers. Finally, three during the ritual of the transformation,” the man, Master Heghor said. He wore a full suit of black plate armor and walked over with a girl on his arm.
“Well, Princess Kyla. Glad to see you with us,” I said with a smile at the woman.
“Helicilia,” Kyla said with a curtsy. “Thank you for showing me such a wonderous power.”
“As long as you continue to prove useful to the master, then you’re welcome in the cause.”
Kyla nodded to me, then went back to grabbing ahold of Heghor. I could only think of how stupid she was to move just because Heghor made her fall in love with him. I myself would never understand the calling of the feeling called love. I just shook my head and turned to the other masters.
“Mistress, would the Dark One like us to remain here or head back to the capital?” Weiss asked, the master responsible for recruiting new blood to the cause. He was a middle-aged man who radiated his power. It was all part of the show to make people understand what they could gain if they joined.
“There are rumors in the ranks the north is no longer safe,” said Master Carmine with a frown. She was older than I was but looked younger than me. I never understood her desire to look like a child and draw in men with that. It did work, hence the reason she was so highly ranked among the necromancers.
“We may have gained a foothold in Lecazar, but we cannot abandon the north. Too many of our resources are located there for us to forsake it lightly,” I said, shaking my head. “Weiss, stay here and try to turn more people to the cause. Surely with such a blatant display of power, we can get many that want to just stay alive in the coming times. Carmine, head back to the capital with me. We will work to fortify the home front against the invader that so obviously has it in for us.”
Less than three days. That was how long it had taken for whatever had attacked the north to free Alara. A century of hard work lost in three days. I wouldn’t stand to have that happen to our main base of operations.
“Understood. I promise to double the ranks before next spring, though I won’t be able to vouch for their quality,” Weiss said with a nod before he vanished in a plume of smoke.
“It’s good we still have Selmore,” Carmine started to say.
“Enough. Just go prepare,” I said, waving my hand at her in dismissal.
“What would you like us to do?” Heghor said in a heavy voice.
“Stay here and deal with her family. You failed to get most of them, right?” I asked with a smirk. “Clean up the rest of your mess.”
He nodded, then bowed as he led Kyla way. I turned to look at the last two masters. They were a pair of twins that were twisted in their ways but followed the master with all their being. Perfect for the cause.
“Jin, Fin. I want you two to deal with the church. I doubt they will take a relaxed approach to this.”
“Yes, Mistress!” they answered in unison, then burst into shadow and vanished.
I looked to the ruin of the city again before laughing. This is the power of unholy mana!
Chapter 30
Creation and Destruction
Creation and Destruction sat at a table drinking tea. Galaxies swirled around them, but they stared at one in particular. Creation sighed as he “picked up” the galaxy after a few moments. It quickly lost its light and crumbled to dust. Destruction chuckled at the sight.
“You win again, sister,” Creation said as he closed his hand around the galaxy. It was one of many that they had made bets on. When you had eternity, you had to come up with something to distract.
“It looks like your latest project is well on his way to destroying his new home. Pity that shortly after he left his old one everything calmed down,” Destruction said with a pout.
“He did surprise me with—what did he call it again? Starfall? I thought I was going to lose right then and there,” Creation said, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip from his tea.
“Surprised? You?” Destruction asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Figure of speech,” Creation said, waving her off.
“Have you tried to look at the fate of that universe?” Destruction asked.
The future always ended in Destruction, nothing could outrun it, so she lacked the ability to look ahead. Creation was the one that could prolong the inevitable. It was an interesting game they played.
“Too many paths, with branches from other universes intersecting. After the first two million, I decided to just watch and see.”
“That is unlike you,” Destruction said with a grin.
“Maybe, but even I like to watch a good show every now and then.” Creation laughed.
“I don’t know if I should call it lucky or unlucky that the dungeons and various other entities on that planet managed to absorb enough of the terra mana to keep it from ripping it apart. You might want to tell your pet project to be more careful in the future if you want to have any chance of winning this time,” Destruction said seriously.
Creation shook his head. “Of the paths I looked at, any in which I spoke with him of my violation again soon ended. No, I will just watch.”
“Interesting. I always find it fascinating that the people from the worlds without direct intervention from their gods usually end up destroying themselves slower than the ones with their gods influencing them.”
“Free will. No one likes being told what to do.” Creation sighed again as he reached over to grab another galaxy from the surroundings, only to have it fade to dust.
“And that’s forty-two trillion for me and two for you,” Destruction said with a loud laugh.
“As is the will of their universe,” Creation said.
Creation won if the universe lived past half its projected age. Destruction won if something happened that caused it to die before then. Of course, universes are endless, but if there is no life in the universe, there is no point keeping it around. Creation would recycle the universe for a new batch of life.
Universes where the planets with life managed to achieve space flight were usually the ones that lasted longest. That way the life could spread its seeds much farther than if it remained on its home planet. Once its sun went out, that was game over, after all. Some universes were lucky and got several planets with life. Of the two wins Creation had, that was how one of the universes achieved the goal. It had fourteen planets spread out among its vast reaches that eventually reached space flight and didn’t immediately try to kill each other.
“I really do like your pet project. Every time he creates something, it’s more deadly than the last. Even the things he gives life to are destructive enough to wipe a country out if they tried,” Destruction said, gazing at the universe that Regan had gone to.
“Oh, you find him interesting?” Creation asked, surprised.
“Quite so. It’s like he takes after my own soul,” Destruction said with a warm tone.
Chapter 31
Kingdom of Lecazar Capital City
A blonde girl with twin t
ails was walking down a hallway. She would have been called a beauty by anyone who saw her if not for the scowl on her face. She came to about a hundred fifty-six centimeters tall, with piercing golden eyes, and was the third princess of the Lecazar noble family, Chloe Lecazar.
“I can’t believe that pig just let her run off his own daughter,” Chloe muttered to herself walking down the passage. She eventually came to a grand door that looked like it should take at least two people to open. She casually pushed it, and it opened without a sound.
“Father? I need to . . .” Chloe called before a rumbling and slight tremor in the floor made her pause.
The room shook again, and some books fell off the shelves that made up most of the grand king’s office. There was another shake, and the king came from the other side of one of the bookshelves, looking worried but still regal.
“Chloe.” The king said her name with concern, then moved to look out the window in the hallway she came in from. The sun had just set, but it seemed as if a sea of flames covered half the city.
“Father?!” Chloe shouted, alarmed and surprised at the sight.
“Go get your mother and sisters. I want you out of the city ten minutes ago. Use the ancient teleport ring in the basement. If we make it through this, I will meet you . . .” The king paused for a moment to think of a good meeting spot.
“The village of Robia!” Chloe said and quickly voiced her reasons. “My friend is the viscountess there! She can offer us aid, and it’s technically in Thonaca territory, so it will be the last place people will think to look for Lecazar royalty.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” He stopped for a second. “I’m very proud of you,” he said, warmth filling his voice. Chloe couldn’t hold back and threw herself into a hug with her father.
The ground shook again, and the sound of guards searching for the king could be heard down the hallway. They quickly came to the pair and stood looking nervous before some of them angered. Chloe couldn’t blame them, as they had family and friends in the city, and someone had dared to attack it.