Sunscorch (Rise To Omniscience Book 8)

by Aaron Oster

  “I can’t fight you,” Morgan said, feeling his knees trembling as he tried to keep himself upright.

  He was so tired. He just wanted to give in, to close his eyes and rest. This creature could take over and right all the wrongs he’d done. Yes, the Beast King would probably leave a wake of blood and destruction in his path for vengeance, but at least he would have paid for his mistakes and ceased to be, just as things were supposed to happen on the day Sarah had died.

  The lightning before him grew brighter, the Beast King turning into a glowing halo of crackling light and destruction. And Morgan didn’t move. He remained where he was, rooted in place and staring into the light, waiting for the end to come. He’d finally be able to rest, and maybe, just maybe, he’d get to see Sarah one day and apologize for everything he’d done.

  The Beast King was screaming, his voice so powerful that cracks were appearing all over the room, spreading across the ice and triggering the start of the collapse that saw Octagon the Bitter to the depths of the ocean, never to see the light of day again.

  Lightning was now lashing out in a wide area around the Beast King, tearing into the walls and ceiling and causing gigantic blocks of ice to rain down around them. Morgan could sense that the end was near and began to close his eyes, accepting his deserved fate, when the silver glow from beside him intensified.

  He was too distracted to notice it at first, but he did notice when a familiar form stepped out in front of him and spread her arms wide, standing in the path of the oncoming attack.

  “What…What are you doing?!” Morgan croaked. “Get out of here!”

  The ghostly figure turned her face, revealing the beautiful features he’d come to love. Sarah gave him a warm smile but didn’t get out of the way.

  “Why would I get out of the way,” she began, “when I have the opportunity to save you again?”

  Morgan’s eyes widened as the Beast King pointed both hammers at him, all of the lightning in the area condensing down to a point and crackling with such intensity that he knew this was the end.

  “Go!” Morgan yelled. “I won’t let you die again! Not for my sake!”

  Sarah just shook her head, then turned back to face the oncoming attack.

  “I made the choice to sacrifice myself to save you, and no matter how many times I need to, I will always save you.”

  The Beast King roared then and unleashed his attack.

  30

  Morgan watched the scene unfolding before him, the world seeming to have slowed down to a snail’s pace. The ghostly form of Sarah was standing before him, her silvery, transparent arms spread wide to shield him from the blast. The Beast King stood just fifteen yards away, a pair of Stormforge hammers extended and twin bolts of lightning, thicker than his torso, lancing toward him.

  At that moment, seeing Sarah so willing to die for his sake once again, Morgan felt something other than pain for the first time since coming in here. He felt fear. But it wasn’t only that. He felt love, happiness, hope, and so many other positive emotions as well. It was overwhelming, as it was a combination of emotions he’d never felt before.

  There was one thing he knew — he couldn’t just sit here and allow Sarah to take the hit for him a second time.

  New strength flooded his body as he reached out and grasped the silver spear. Sarah turned, as though feeling his presence, and gave him another warm smile.

  “I knew you hadn’t given up on me yet,” she said, her body already dissipating into silvery mist as she flowed back to the spear. “I’ll see you again soon…” This last bit sounded more in his mind than anything else as Sarah vanished, leaving him to face the massive arc of electricity on his own.

  Gritting his teeth, Morgan slammed the butt of the spear into the ground, then leaped into the air. The lighting slammed into the weapon and was then dispersed into the ground, acting like a lightning rod. Except, the ground underfoot wasn’t made stone, but ice. There was a massive explosion of steam as hundreds of pounds of ice were liquefied in an instant, and the trembling in the room turned into a full-blown collapse.

  Massive blocks of ice began raining down from the ceiling, the ground below his feet beginning to split and shift as he landed, grabbing the spear once more. As expected, the Godsteel weapon didn’t show so much as a scratch, proving its indestructibility once again. His skills and abilities still seemed to be locked, but now that he had a weapon in hand and the will to fight back, Morgan rushed toward his adversary.

  He could feel the warmth of the spear in his hands, and with the knowledge that Sarah was on his side and supporting him, he was confident of his victory.

  The Beast King propelled himself forward with a mighty leap, covering the remaining distance and clashing with him. Their weapons collided with enough force to send out a shockwave, shattering a nearby pillar of ice that had shot up from the ground as the cavern collapsed.

  Morgan was driven back, his feet sliding over the ice until he managed to grind to a halt. The Beast King followed, appearing behind him in a flash and slashing out with the lance. The spear came up, intercepting the blow and causing Morgan to stagger. Despite his new resolve, he was still greatly weakened, had no access to his abilities, and was carrying around dozens of injuries. Still, he refused to back down. Not now. Not ever again!

  The Beast King yelled, leaping into the air and bringing a massive hammer down on Morgan’s head. Morgan raised the spear to block in a double-handed grip, and while his knees – and the ground beneath – buckled under the force of the blow, Morgan didn’t fall.

  He grunted, shoving the attack to one side and forcing the Beast King off balance. He then spun the spear in a half-circle, then thrust forward, managing to score a hit along the Beast King’s shoulder.

  Silver mist flowed from the spear, and a portion of the Beast King seemed to disappear, flowing into the spear itself and back into him. New strength flooded Morgan’s body as half a dozen small cuts closed themselves up. He grinned, lunging forward with the spear and trying to catch the Beast King through the neck.

  His counterpart batted the blow aside, then returned, slamming the oversized hammer into his body and sending him flying. Morgan turned midair, managing to land feet-first on the wall, then propelled himself back. The wall buckled and began to collapse, but Morgan ignored it. He crashed back into his younger self, driving the spear through the shoulder this time, and the Beast King howled in pain as more of his mass was siphoned away.

  More of his injuries healed, and Morgan felt something else return as well. One of his skills.

  The Beast King vanished, appearing behind him and punching forward to unleash his Compressive Blast. This time, Morgan was able to meet him. His Compression blasted out of his fist, dispersing the weaker version of the skill and causing the Beast King to stagger back. Morgan twirled his spear in a glittering arc, slashing a deep groove across his counterpart’s chest, more silver mist trailing into the spear, then flooding back into him.

  The two of them went on like that, battling back and forth as the cavern collapsed around them. Morgan was clipped by falling chunks of debris several times, but with each cut or stab he managed to land on the Beast King, more of his strength returned, and more of his injuries vanished.

  Finally, Morgan managed to corner the Beast King, pinning him to what remained of the wall with a lance of purple energy. His own Stormforge was more powerful than the old Stormforger skill, and his attack shattered the violet armor cloaking the Beast King’s body. The younger version of himself struggled and kicked but was unable to break free, and finally, he just turned to glare at him.

  “I finally understand what everyone was trying to tell me,” Morgan said, staring up at the Beats King. “I can’t be whole until I accept that you are a part of me. But more than that. I’ll never be whole so long as I allow this version of myself to continue to live on. The past is in the past, and I cannot undo what has already been done.

  “But now I have a chance to bring her b
ack, and I won’t let you, or anyone else, get in the way of that.”

  “Does that mean you’re finally going to accept me then?” the Beast King asked, his lips quirking into a sardonic grin.

  Gone was the enraged version of himself, lost in pain and grief. He could still see it, sitting right below the surface, ready to emerge at a moment’s notice, and Morgan knew what he had to do next.

  “I’m ready to put the past behind me,” Morgan said, pulling his spear back. “But as for accepting you…” His eyes narrowed, and he thrust the spear through the Beast King’s heart. “Not a chance in hell!”

  The Beast King grinned, even as his body began to turn to mist and his form flowed back into the spear.

  “Then I’ll be seeing you again real soon.”

  His body vanished, leaving Morgan fully restored and feeling better than ever. A feeling of peace and tranquility he hadn’t felt in years flowed through him, and when he thought back to the day when Sarah had died, he no longer felt the same burning pain and self-loathing. Now, the Gatekeeper’s words finally made sense to him.

  To advance, he’d needed to make a great personal sacrifice. He’d had to kill the version of himself who blamed Sarah’s death on his weakness and who constantly whispered in his ear that he was unworthy. It was his old self that held him back and dragged him down. That Morgan was now dead, leaving only the present-day version of himself to forge his own path.

  No longer would he be haunted by the specter of his past. Now, he would look only to the future, to his reunion with Sarah and to a day when he could give up fighting forever and finally give her the life she’d always wanted.

  Of course, there was still the matter of facing his inner demon, the creature of wrath still living as a separate entity in his mind. Morgan understood what the Beast King was and knew that in order to advance, he would need to accept it as part of himself. Right now, he just couldn’t accept that monster openly and without restraint. The Beast King was a force of anger, rage, and destruction, and Morgan wanted nothing to do with him.

  The scenery around him began to vanish, leaving Morgan to watch as the area reconstructed itself. Within just a few seconds, he found himself standing upon a plateau, an area atop the towering vine nearly a hundred yards across. Peering over the edge, he could see a bank of clouds several thousand feet below, which told him that he was either extremely high up or the clouds were just exceedingly low today.

  Seeing as there had been no clouds in the sky when he’d started this climb, Morgan honestly had no idea. In fact, he had no idea how long he’d even been in there. He really hoped it wasn’t longer than he feared and figured he’d find out as soon as he made it back to Spirit Town and talked to the Great Shaman again.

  Right now, there was something else he had to do. At the very center of the plateau, Morgan could see a depression filled with bright, violet water — The Well of Eternal Youth. All he had to do now was bathe in those waters, endure some ridicule for not accepting the Beast King as part of himself, and then, he would most likely find himself back on the ground.

  However, as he took a single step toward the Well, Morgan realized that he’d forgotten one crucial step. The one where he needed to fight again, against a powerful creature designed for the sole purpose of getting in his way.

  Okay, so maybe that wasn’t exactly why it had been designed, but as the massive beast separated itself from the vines surrounding it, Morgan had a hard time believing otherwise.

  Like the last Guardian, this one was massive, nearly thirteen feet at the shoulder and well over forty-five long. It was bulky, its body distinctly shaped like a bear, and made of intertwining green and silver vines that writhed all along its massive bulk.

  Its head seemed to be made of a massive slab of violet crystal shaped into the likeness of a bear’s. Twin orbs of gold sat deep in its sockets, and Morgan could see several rows of jagged teeth, even though its mouth was closed.

  Its paws were made of the same, with glowing golden claws extending well over a foot each and gouging into the ground. The worst part of it all, was that although all his skills had returned, Morgan could still feel that his Flight wouldn’t work. So, if that behemoth tossed him over the side, there would be no way for him to catch himself.

  He used his Aura Sense to get a good look at the monster, and seeing how powerful it was didn’t make him feel any better about what he was going to have to do.

  Name: Guardian of Eternal Youth

  Rank - 75

  Ability type - Supermage

  Power - 1,880

  Defense - 1,220

  Ability - 1,640

  Well, he thought to himself as the massive beast opened its mouth and unleashed an earth-shaking roar, at least its Defense isn’t too high.

  31

  The Guardian’s roar was almost crystalline, echoing out through its open maw and reverberating in the air. It sounded oddly beautiful but terrifying at the same time and set Morgan’s teeth on edge. The air around the beast seemed to warp as it lifted a paw and swiped out. It was only because of his Aura Sense, now extending past his body, that he managed to dodge in time.

  A gigantic paw made of golden light appeared in the spot where he’d been just moments before, tearing into the ground and gouging through the vines.

  The ambient reiki of the outside world didn’t reach into the Well, giving Morgan an advantage he’d sorely been lacking since his return to Faeland. He rolled to one side, avoiding another paw swipe, then sprang to his feet and dashed toward the oversized beast.

  The creature seemed rooted in place – literally – as Morgan noticed the silver vines twisting around its body were connected to the ground. He had no idea if it meant cutting them would kill the creature or free it up, but for the time being, he contented himself with inflicting as much injury as he possibly could.

  Using his Maximum Increase, the world around him blurred, and Morgan closed the remaining distance between him and the Guardian in a single step. The spear blurred through the air, slamming into the beast’s side with enough force to destroy a mountainside. The beast was flung several feet into the air, silver vines trailing it before it slammed into the ground with an enraged roar.

  Morgan didn’t let up, dashing forward and summoning a half-dozen spears. They lanced toward the fallen Guardian, lightning arcing over their surfaces. They didn’t manage to penetrate very deeply into the beast’s hide, but when they unleashed their payload and Morgan continued to stream reiki to keep the attack going, the beast roared in pain.

  A bubble of force exploded from the beast’s side, hurling Morgan back before he could attack again, and several paws made of golden light appeared at once, all swiping and tearing at his body. They opened several bloody gashes in his side before he managed to throw up a shield, and even then, it only stood up to a couple of blows before shattering.

  He tried using his teleportation, but just like his Flight, the skill was inaccessible. Cursing to himself, Morgan used his Nature’s Wrath, a skill he didn’t call upon often, and absorbed the power of the Godsteel.

  Instantly, his skin took on a silvery-green sheen, and immeasurable strength flowed through him. He’d never tried to use Nature’s Wrath on his spear, but now that he felt how powerful it made him, he wasn’t sure why. Then, the pain set in. A brutal, burning pain that assaulted his mind, body, and core!

  It was so intense that after just a second, Morgan was forced to release his hold on the skill, lest it tear him apart from the inside.

  Unfortunately for him, the Guardian didn’t allow this lapse to go unpunished. Its jaws opened wide, and it bit down hard. Morgan let out a pained yell as his left arm felt like it had been caught in a steel trap, and when he looked over to the massive bear, he could see the warping in the air around its jaws.

  Of course, the golden teeth digging into his arm should have given it away, but he was still a bit disoriented from trying to absorb the Godsteel’s properties.

  The bear beg
an to shake its head, and Morgan was lifted bodily into the air as the golden jaws pulled him upward. Bloody furrows were carved into his arm as the powerful teeth and the creature's incredible force caused the jaws to slip over his arm, ripping into the skin and muscle beneath.

  Morgan ground his teeth, then lashed out at the jaws with his spear, shattering the construct and freeing himself. The force of the beast’s shaking sent him flying through the air, and he was forced to use his Compression to keep himself from flying over the edge. He landed back on the ground, wishing with all he had that his Flight skill could be returned to him.

  But wishing did him no good, especially seeing as the Guardian was still completely uninjured, and he was starting to resemble a piece of torn up cloth.

  The Guardian attacked again, massive golden paws forming to swipe at him as he ran forward, dodging and ducking his way between them in his bid to reach the beast’s body. His spear flashed in glittering arcs, deflecting the blows he couldn’t dodge, but something would have to give eventually, and it did.

  Another attack came, this one from underground. Massive silver vines exploded from beneath him, wrapping his body in an instant and beginning to constrict. Morgan had managed to keep an arm free and slashed with his spear, but it did absolutely nothing. The air rushed from his lungs, and his ribs began to strain under the pressure.

  Morgan had broken his ribs so many times while in this place that he wasn’t going to let it happen again. He released the spear with a roar and sent it flying at the Guardian’s head, aiming for the glowing orbs that were its eyes. Of course, the Guardian covered up, but when the spear impacted, it finally did some damage.

  The bear roared its crystalline roar as the spear sank into its skull, sending a web of fine cracks spreading across its head. The vines loosened then, giving him the opportunity to spring free. Morgan inhaled, ignoring the pain from his sore ribs, and reached for the power of the sun, shining brightly above his head, and used Sunblast.