by Aaron Oster
“Yes, I completely agree,” Nathan said. “Now, we should probably talk…” he trailed off as a woman entered from one of the back rooms.
She was dressed in a loose-fitting robe, and with the amount of cleavage showing, it was clear that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. They all stared at her, but the woman acted as though they weren’t there, simply walking past them and exiting the room, but not before turning and giving Nathan a wink.
To his credit, the man managed to keep a straight face and not devolve into a stuttering mess, something which Grace very much doubted she’d have been able to do if their places had been reversed. Tai snickered to herself while Nathan cleared his throat.
“Anyway,” he said, glaring at Tai before returning his attention to Grace. “Who exactly are you, and why are you here?”
“Don’t you know who I am?” Grace asked in confusion.
Sure, she hadn’t been expecting him to know her, but she’d thought he’d at least known who she was.
“Should I?” Nathan asked.
“Wait… You have no idea who I am, but you brought me here anyway?” she asked, turning to Tai.
The woman shrugged.
“I was bored. Nothing fun ever really happens around here. So, when some girl flies up on the back of a freaking drake and asks to speak with the commander, I decided to go along with it.”
“Wait, you flew in on the back of a drake?” Nathan asked. “Why does that sound so familiar?”
“Because there’s only one person in the Five Kingdoms who’s friends with one,” Grace said, starting to become annoyed.
When Nathan continued to just look confused, Grace had to resist the urge to sigh.
“I’m Morgan’s student. You know, the supermage who stopped the monster who did all this to the city.”
Nathan’s eyes went wide, and his lips formed into a large O.
“Well, fun as this is probably going to be, I really should be getting back to my post, so…” Tai said, already heading for the door.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Nathan’s yelled, stopping her in her tracks. “If I’m getting into trouble for destroying that wall, you’re going down with me.”
“Wait, you destroyed a wall?!” Grace exclaimed, then shook her head and let out an annoyed huff. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. That’s not why I’m here. Katherine is trapped with the Queen of the South, the Elf Queen Elyssa, and the Eastern queen’s sister-in-law in a bunker in the South Kingdom. I came all the way here because they need your help, and I didn’t know where else to go.”
Nathan stared at her for a few long moments, the relief of not getting in trouble over the wall washed away in an instant.
“Please explain yourself. Tell me everything. Start from the very beginning and leave nothing out.”
The blustering, bumbling man from just seconds ago was gone, replaced by a serious man who Grace felt much more confident in asking for help. So, she told him everything, from Morgan’s fight with the Pinnacle King to Elyssa’s arrival. She spoke of the defeat of said Pinnacle King and the fight between Morgan and the enemy gods.
She wanted to gloss this part over, but she forced herself to recount everything in as much detail as possible. She then spoke of the ambush. How she and Lumia had made it through the portal before they were cut off, and how Katherine and the others made it into the bunker and were now trapped there with no way out.
“I don’t know how much longer they can hold out, or if they’re even still alive. But they need your help to clear the enemy forces away, and you’re the only ones who are strong enough to do so.”
Nathan sighed as she finished telling her story and began to rub at his temples.
“Why didn’t you just go to the nearest city and ask them for a portal scroll?” he asked.
“Because we didn’t want anyone else to get hurt,” Grace replied. “I thought I told you that.”
“Yes. You did,” Nathan said, beginning to pace back and forth agitatedly. “What you don’t seem to understand is that it’s a soldier’s duty to lay their lives down for their leader. Yes, they would probably have died, but you could have gotten a portal scroll from them and reached us over a week ago.
“Those other soldiers would also have been able to buy us enough time to make it back through. Now, for all we know, they’re already dead, and we’ve just lost the leaders of two Kingdoms and our only chance at an alliance with Faeland!”
Grace felt herself growing angry under the man’s tirade, especially with the way he was talking to her.
“You would sacrifice the lives of hundreds of soldiers just to slow down the enemy’s advance?”
“I would sacrifice thousands if it bought us another minute,” Nathan said, slamming a fist down on the table. “But I wouldn’t expect a little girl to understand the duties of a soldier.”
“This little girl, as you call me, is the only reason you even know about what’s happening!” Grace snapped.
“And it’s also because of you that they’re not already out of there!” Nathan snapped back.
“So, what are you waiting for?!” Grace shouted. “Go save them now!”
“We can’t!” Nathan yelled. “We don’t have any portal scrolls!”
Having said that out loud, the wind seemed to vanish from the man’s sails, and he collapsed back into his chair.
“There’s nothing we can do for them,” he said, his voice now barely above a whisper. “The closest city with a supply of scrolls is City One, and it would take us nearly two weeks to reach it. Worse still, the place is overrun with beasts. It’ll take us weeks to clear the place out and retrieve the scrolls. If they aren’t already dead, they definitely will be by the time we make it.”
Grace was silent at that, unsure of how to respond. She’d been prepared for him to keep yelling, to continue berating her for her poor choices and make her feel worse than she already did. This, though, she didn’t know how to deal with.
“There has to be something we can do, though, right?” she asked.
Nathan just shook his head but didn’t say anything, which made Grace start to panic.
“No. There has to be something we can do! Maybe Lumia and I can fly to City One and get the scrolls for you.”
“You’d never be able to fight through all the beasts,” Nathan said with a sigh. “And even if you somehow managed to sneak in, you’d still have to face the guard dog Morgan left with them.”
“Wait, what does Morgan have to do with all of this?” Grace asked.
“How else do you think all of those portal scrolls got into City One?” Nathan replied. “In case you’ve forgotten, City One fell in the middle of the war, before the scrolls really went into production. Katherine had Morgan place them in the center of the palace, then took away our entire supply as punishment for destroying a city we were supposed to be defending.”
“Um, in our defense, we did technically save all of the people,” Tai interjected.
“And caused thousands of gold in property damage in the process,” Nathan said, glaring at her.
“So, you were punished by having all of your portal scrolls taken away? How does that make any sense?”
“It was supposed to teach us a lesson and ensure that we would be forced to completely clear City One before we were allowed back home.”
“And there’s no way we can just sneak in?”
“Not unless you can hide that gigantic drake of yours and defeat a rank 60 beast on your own,” Nathan said.
“I can’t,” Grace said, finally feeling a small sense of relief. “But Lumia can.”
“I’m assuming you have some way of sneaking her into the city,” Nathan said, interlacing his fingers.
“Lumia can change her size at will,” Grace replied. “She can carry up to three people, so long as we travel light. If we can sneak into City One, do you think we’ll be able to get the portal scrolls we need to transport your entire garrison to the bunker in the South Kingdom?”
For the first time since his outburst, Nathan looked hopeful.
“Yes,” he said, slowly rubbing his chin. “If Tai, Kuruni, and I all go, we might just be able to make this work.”
“I’m coming with you,” Grace said, crossing her arms.
“You’re not strong enough,” Nathan said dismissively. “You’ll just get in our…”
Grace leaped up onto the table so fast that Nathan was unable to react in time. A moment later, he found himself flat on his back with Grace’s hand clamped over his ear. She looked him straight in the eye, then blew his table apart using her Siren Scream. She doubted it would have been able to hurt someone as strong as him, but she’d made her point.
“I’m coming,” Grace said. “End of discussion.”
Tai began laughing as Nathan glared up at her.
“Fine,” Nathan said as she climbed off his chest, allowing him to rise. “But if you get into a situation you can’t handle, don’t expect me to bail you out.”
Grace returned his glare with an icy smile.
“So long as we manage to get those scrolls and get back to Katherine, you can do whatever the hell you want.”
What Grace didn’t say was that even if Nathan tried to leave her behind, there was no way Lumia would allow that. So, she was quite confident in her ability to make it out of City One alive. And, even if Grace hadn’t had that security, she’d have done it regardless. This was a mission that only she could complete, and it was her responsibility to see it through to the end.
“Gather your things. We leave in ten,” Nathan said, already moving to the back of his room.
“We’re actually going to be leaving in an hour,” Grace corrected. “Lumia hasn’t slept all night, and she deserves some rest.”
She could see by the way the veins were all but popping out of his head that he wanted to argue. But after a few tense moments, he just gave her a curt nod, then left the room, all but slamming the door behind him.
It seemed that even he had good enough sense to not wake a sleeping beast.
29
Morgan threw both his arms up, feeling pain reverberate through his very bones as he blocked the strike from the Beast King in the guise of his younger self. He was still exhausted from his journey up the endless staircase, and now, having to fight an enraged version of himself controlled by the Beast King was not something he thought he could do.
He was hurled back through the air, his body slamming into the far wall and shattering the ice with the force of the impact. The Beast King vanished, appearing in front of him a half-second later and lashing out with one of the hammers. It was only once the blow struck, driving him to the ground below, that Morgan finally realized what had been off about the way the creatures on the staircase had been moving.
They had been using his skills — just the versions he’d had back when he’d fought against Octagon.
“It’s your fault she’s dead!” the Beast King roared, diving at him with a vengeful fury.
Morgan winced, then reached back for the spear he’d had slung over his shoulder. To his surprise, it was gone. He felt panicked for a moment, but he was distracted as the Beast King slammed into him, an oversized gauntlet impacting with his face and driving him half a foot into the ground.
Normally, he wouldn’t have taken damage from this version of himself, even one controlled by the Beast King. He’d been at rank 53 at that point, and he was now at 75. His defenses were many times higher, and he had more experience. But beaten and exhausted as he was, the attacks hurt.
He tried to pull himself up, but the Beast King drove downward once more, a massive hammer forming in his counterpart’s hands. Lightning jolted through him, driving his body further into the ground, and Morgan felt one of his ribs break. He tried to teleport away, but something was preventing him from using the skill.
In fact, he tried to reach for any of his other skills and found that they were all unavailable.
The Beast King pulled back, the anger and rage etched so deeply into his features that Morgan wondered how he’d ever managed to recover.
He rolled to the side, avoiding the next hammer blow, which shattered the ground and sent stinging needles of ice into his arms and face. He staggered to his feet, trying to muster some kind of defense, but instead of facing the Beast King’s wrath head-on, he felt the next attack hit him in the back.
He was sent tumbling once again, slamming into the far wall face-first, and felt his nose break. Hot blood rushed down his chin and throat, coating his lips and tongue with a metallic, coppery taste. His vision was beginning to swim as he pulled himself from the wall and turned to face his younger self.
Contrary to his expectations, the Beast King wasn’t right on top of him just yet. Instead, he was slowly approached as plates of Stormforger armor – the older version of the skill – appeared over his body.
“You were too weak to protect her,” the Beast King said. “Because of you, Sarah is dead! Because of you, everyone is going to die!”
The words struck Morgan just as hard as the last ones, because what this version of himself was saying was something he’d been telling himself every day since this had happened. How could he then refute what his younger self said? Still, he didn’t really like getting beat up, so he raised his arms to defend himself.
The Beast King charged, appearing before him in a blink and lashing out with swift strikes from lightning-charged hammers. Morgan tried to defend himself, raising his arms to ward off the attacks.
However, they came so quickly and viciously that he couldn’t even think of using a counter. The fact that he was too tired didn’t even register, because truthfully, deep down, Morgan knew he deserved this. It was his fault that Sarah was dead, and this version of himself had every right to hate his weakness.
His guard wavered, and a hammer came up from below, slamming into his chin and launching him into the ceiling. He impacted with the force of a meteor, his body creating a crater nearly fifty feet across. His head rang with the pain, and when the Beast King’s next blow came, another of his ribs buckled.
The force of these blows was far stronger than the ones before, showing that the Beast King was now using his older enhancement skill, Concussive Burst. Blood streamed from his lips as he felt his ribs taking a severe pounding, yet Morgan was no longer trying to defend himself and just accepted the punishment.
The Beast King roared, then grabbed Morgan by the collar and hurled him back to the ground. Pain flared from his spine as he struck the icy floor, creating yet another miniature crater with the force of his landing.
“Weak!” the Beast King yelled, plummeting from the air and landing feet-first on his chest.
The loud crack told Morgan that another of his ribs had broken, and judging by the pain, he’d suffered some more severe internal injuries.
“Look at you,” the Beast King said, landing beside him. “You’re just lying there and taking it, like the bitch you are! Where is your fire?”
Morgan just groaned in reply but couldn’t give him an answer. The Beast King was silent for several seconds before letting out another growl, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and hoisting him into the air.
Lightning coursed through his body, and the Beast King slammed a lance of violet energy into his chest. The pain was horrific, but still, Morgan refused to fight back. All of this pain. All this suffering. It was nothing compared to what Sarah had gone through before she’d died. For that, he deserved no less.
“Why aren’t you fighting back?” the Beast King roared.
“Because you’re right,” Morgan replied, his voice coming out as a croaking whisper. “Sarah is dead because of me, and I deserve to die a thousand deaths. So, do what you must.”
Morgan felt strong hands grab his hair, and then he was flying through the air once again. He almost didn’t feel the impact this time when he slammed into the wall. Something sharp dug into his back as his spine took the full brunt of the momentum o
nce more.
Through blurry eyes, Morgan saw the Beast King’s form appear before him. He could see the lance of whirling light and saw the lightning crackling over its surface. He couldn’t imagine how many of his enemies saw this exact sight before they died. It was fitting somehow, to be killed by a shadow of his former self. He was guilty of the crime, and for the past two years, he hadn’t paid the price for his failures. Now, the world saw fit to return all the pain he’d inflicted, and he was more than happy to let it happen.
A powerful grip seized the front of his shirt, and Morgan was dragged forward, pulled face to face with the specter of his past. To his shock, he saw tears flowing down his counterpart’s face. His face was so contorted with grief that it made Morgan want to recoil.
“Why aren’t you fighting back?” the Beast King yelled, though, this time, it sounded less like an accusation and more like a pleading question. “You were too weak to protect her back then, but what’s your excuse now?”
“I…I deserve this,” Morgan said. “Just kill me and end it. You’ll have your revenge, and I’ll finally be free to see her again.”
“Will you?” the Beast King asked. “Because last I checked, Sarah was right beside you this entire time! If you die, then who will be left to bring her back?”
A soft, silver glow bathed the side of his face, and Morgan half-turned his head to see the spear, hovering in the air beside him. He could feel its warmth, radiating off his skin and making him feel even worse than he already did.
“I don’t deserve her,” he whispered. “You take over. I’m sure you can bring her back.”
“And what will that accomplish?”
Morgan looked up, meeting the Beast King’s glowing eyes, which were so full of pain, grief, and anger. In them, he could see something he never had before. He could see himself.
His body shuddered as the Beast King released him, taking several steps back. Two lances formed over his counterpart’s arms, and lightning crackled across his entire body. Morgan just stared back at the Beast King, for the first time, truly seeing him for what he was. He wasn’t just a separate entity, one of pure chaos and destruction. The Beast King was a part of Morgan, a manifestation of the darkest parts of himself. One that he called on when everything seemed hopeless and lost. Now, this creature was challenging him, and he was failing.