by Aaron Oster
“We’ve got more incoming!” Grace called, right before a second attacking force charged out of the surrounding trees.
A wall went up in their path, but it wasn’t enough to stop them. They drove forward, smashing through the wall and beginning to hem their group in. Katherine and Ragnar tried to lunge outward and create some more space, but the new group of attackers didn’t immediately engage, instead moving to try and surround them, holding them in place while more backup arrived.
However, when their group tried to turn and continue to the portal, the soldiers moved in to attack, forcing them to split their focus. Lumia dove down, letting out a blast of roaring fire, but several mages countered with attacks of their own. This was followed by a flock of burning green arrows, which peppered the drake’s wings, forcing her to land.
She shrank down to her hybrid form, tearing the arrows from her wings and growling in pain. Grace quickly moved over to her but found herself shoved back to the center of the circle. Around her, the other fighters formed an outward-facing circle, all of them threatening their attackers while still trying to drive slowly to the portal, but Grace could already sense that it was too late.
More soldiers burst from the undergrowth, moving to reinforce the others and hemming them in even tighter. They began attacking then, quick, flickering spear-strikes, scoring a hit and retreating before any real retaliation. The others tried striking back using skills, but any time they did, small, shimmering barriers would rise, dispersing the attacks and forcing them upward.
Grace tried to help, sticking an arm through and using her Siren Scream and Sound Burst, but neither really did anything to the row of fighters, all blazing with green energy. Slowly, they moved in closer, slashing into her friends and allies, causing dozens of shallow wounds while they were unable to do much of anything.
There had to be well over a thousand fighters surrounding them by now, and more still were coming. The spears flashed again, and Ragnar finally dropped his arm, the hammer too heavy to wield. That started a wave, and within seconds, the rest were standing, shoulders drooped, bleeding from dozens of wounds, and unable to do much more than glare at the unrelenting enemy.
This is it, Grace thought, looking around at the diminished and defeated force.
Aside from her, Lumia, Katherine, Elyssa, Ragnar, his son, Gilderon, Malachi, and his wife were all that remained. They were defeated and defenseless, and at any second, Grace expected to feel the pain of the spears, glowing green with corrosive power, plunging into them all and cementing the gnome’s victory.
They should never have come through that portal. They should have remained safe in Faeland and waited until the gnome had left with his army. But when Grace really thought about it, could she have done that? Could she have left all those people to their fates without trying to help?
Her back straightened when she realized the truth. No. She could not have left them to die. Even knowing what she’d be walking into, knowing that she would only be good as a navigator – who had failed miserably in her job – Grace would still have come. She gritted her teeth, waiting for the pain, but it didn’t come.
She blinked, staring as the forces backed away, giving them a little breathing room. They were still poised to attack, though they didn’t make any obviously hostile movements.
What’s going on? Why aren’t they attacking?
Grace got her answer just a moment later as a familiar sneering voice echoed through the darkness.
“My, how the mighty have fallen,” Shedra said, strolling into the clearing, soldiers parting around him and a dozen or so following him, holding lanterns.
Of course, Grace thought as despair and anger warred within her. It makes sense that the gnome would come to gloat.
“Easy for you to say, surrounded by your lackeys,” Elyssa retorted, still breathing hard.
Shedra just smiled wider, then motioned behind him, still talking.
“You gave me quite a bit of trouble, more than I thought you were capable of,” he said. “Trying to undermine my authority, working to prevent this war, even escaping multiple assassination attempts… That was all very troublesome indeed.”
A pair of guards, both with Strangler’s mark on their shoulders, pushed through the surrounding soldiers, both dragging a sagging Tork between them. The troll chieftain was covered in so many injuries that Grace initially thought he was dead, but when Shedra grabbed him by the hair, the troll groaned.
“I suppose I should thank you, though,” Shedra continued, pulling a dagger from his robes.
“Oh, yeah? And why’s that?” Elyssa asked, glaring at the smug gnome.
“Because without your interference, I never would have had to go as far as I did,” Shedra said. “Before, I might have been happy with sharing my power, consigning myself to years more of dealing with those whiney Councilors. I might have had to deal with all of these other rulers as well. It might have taken years before I would finally have been able to end you. But after you all turned on me, things changed.”
The gnome lunged, plunging the dagger into the center of Tork’s chest and twisting viciously. The troll chieftain’s body locked up for a moment, his eyes snapping wide. Then Shedra tore the dagger free, leaving the troll to fall to the ground, dead.
Shedra stood back, watching the troll’s body for several moments, then, to Grace’s horror, a bright violet light began streaming from the troll’s chest, flowing up and into the gnome. The dagger slipped from Shedra’s fingers as the reiki suffused his body, pouring from the dead troll’s core into his own.
Shedra grinned, his smile so wide it stretched from ear to ear, but the smile didn’t last long. A horrible crunching and popping sounded, and the gnome’s bones began to crack, twisting and expanding. Shedra fell to his knees, his eyes going wide and a scream of agony tearing itself from his throat.
“Move!” Katherine yelled.
Grace spun, just in time to see Katherine summon her glowing blade and slash outward, cleaving some half dozen soldiers in two. Elyssa acted a moment later, walls of flowing stone rising, splitting the enemy force down its center and shoving them to the sides, leaving a clear path to the portal!
They all began to run, Elyssa holding her arms to the sides, face strained as she held back the enemy force while Katherine and Malachi ran atop the walls themselves, sending attacks into the soldiers below.
Behind them, the screams continued, the popping, crunching sounds of Shedra’s body twisting, echoing so loudly that it could be heard above the sounds of battle. The walls shuddered and nearly buckled, but Elyssa screamed, her face going beet red as she forced the walls to remain as they were.
Soldiers began pouring in from both sides, trying to hem them in once more, but Lumia dashed out in front, opening her jaws wide and unleashing a blazing firestorm, knocking the soldiers back and leaving the path clear and wide-open.
They were nearly there! Fifteen feet…Ten…five…Lumia vanished into the swirling portal, followed a second later by Malachi’s wife. Elyssa stumbled to a halt, still holding the walls while Ragnar moved in after her.
Gilderon refused to leave her and remained by her side, turning to face the oncoming horde.
“Go!” Katherine shouted as the walls began buckling.
Grace didn’t need to be told twice, diving through the portal and finding herself suddenly surrounded by a completely different landscape. Bright sunlight shone down from above, nearly blinding in its brilliance. Shining and sparkling trees, so unlike the tall, dark trunks from before, stood all around her, reflecting the sunbeams showing through. A cobbled road stretched before her for several dozen yards, before they were cut off by a pair of wooden gates, flanked on either side by guard towers.
Malachi came through the portal a second after she did, staggering and falling to one knee. Ragnar was yelling up at the walls, screaming at confused-looking guards.
Katherine staggered through the portal a moment later, already shouting for backup. The
elves on the walls were beginning to move, though not nearly as fast as Grace would have liked. However, when Gilderon and Elyssa stumbled through a moment later, shouting orders, the elves sprang into action.
They may have been shocked by the fact that their queen, who was supposed to be dead, was not, but they were soldiers, and after getting over their initial surprise, they acted quickly.
“The portal won’t close!” Gilderon yelled, trying to pull a lever next to the portal.
“They must be holding it on the other side,” Elyssa panted.
There was a scream, and an enemy soldier came running through, only to have his head caved in by Ragnar’s hammer.
“We’re under attack!” Elyssa yelled, already jogging toward the gates. “Get those damned gates open and a force prepared! Now!”
While trying to hold the portal might have been the smarter thing to do in a situation like this, none of them were exactly in good enough shape to do so. Their group was bloodied, beaten, and on its last legs. Instead of trying, they simply turned and ran for the gates, which were now slowly opening.
As they reached the halfway point, the screaming began, and Grace took a quick look over her shoulder to see enemy soldiers pouring through.
“How many do we have here?” Elyssa asked, staggering up to the gates, which had been opened just wide enough to allow them in.
“A single squad,” the guard said, watching the oncoming enemy grimly. “We’ve already called for reinforcements, but it’s going to take at least ten minutes before they arrive.”
“Will the walls hold until then?” Elyssa asked as Gilderon – the last in line – stumbled through.
“I don’t know,” the soldier said grimly as the gates began to close once more.
“Well, then, here’s to hoping our good luck holds out,” Katherine said, then collapsed forward in a dead faint.
The others weren’t far behind.
84
Before he’d even begun the fight, Morgan had known about the full potential of the spear. However, it was only now able to be brought out due to the fact that he’d finally reached the Pinnacle. It was an odd feeling to have the spear melt in his grip, flow over his arm, and coat him like a second skin.
For one, because of Sarah’s giggling after making a crack about him being ‘inside’ her, and for another, because of the sensations running through him. When he’d first triggered the full power of the spear – something he could only do for a limited amount of time before he’d need to rest – he’d thought it would give him some immense rush of power.
Instead of that, though, he got something completely different. He was overcome with a complete sense of calm, unlike anything he’d felt before. It was as though he were in perfect control of every aspect of himself, from his hearing, to sight, to the very movements of his arms and legs.
As soon as the spear had coated him about halfway, the goddess Sarah had finally given up and turned to flee, but as she tried to tear open a hole in space for her escape from, Morgan extended a hand and closed it.
Had someone asked him how he’d done it, Morgan wouldn’t have been able to answer. It was instinct, something he knew he could do.
Sarah stumbled, then turned, staring at him wide-eyed as the silvery armor flowed over his shoulders, completely covering him up to the neck. But it didn’t stop there and continued flowing up his face, covering his mouth, nose, and eyes. Strangely enough, he could still see just fine – better than fine, actually.
Before, he had been able to sense the power of the goddess, and, to an extent, had been able to see it. Now, though, with the spear’s power cloaking him completely, he could see it all. The blazing red light warping the air around Sarah extended some hundred yards in all directions. However, he could tell that it was a mere fraction of what her output had been before.
Morgan lifted his arm, his fingers curling into a fist as he stared at Sarah, and in her eyes, could see himself reflected — a figure cloaked in a silver skin, seeming to be made of the metal, and radiating a soft, silver-blue light. He could see no features on the face, which, if anything, was even more unnerving.
Being killed by a faceless, expressionless, metal monster would probably be quite damaging to the psyche. Then again, when he was finished, she would be too dead to care.
Having had her escape route cut off, Sarah took off into the air, stepping on stairs in a completely different dimension to get her airborne, then running along a straight path to the east. She was trying to conserve power, running instead of flying. She could move just as quickly by running, but it would burn a lot less of her dwindling supply.
To someone who couldn’t see into other dimensions as he now could, it would appear as though she were walking on air, but having torn the veil back on all the gods’ little tricks, it made Morgan feel a whole lot less impressed with what they could do.
“Are you just going to stand there and let her get away?”
Morgan jumped, hearing his Sarah’s voice in his mind once again. He’d forgotten she was here, since he wasn’t actually holding the spear.
“Right,” he muttered, his voice sounding oddly metallic in his ears. “Let’s see what you can do.”
He crouched, keeping his eyes locked on the goddess’s fleeing form as he soared after her.
***
Sarah ran, her preferred method of escape having been cut off by the terrifying monster down below. Only now did she truly understand what she faced and knew that she shouldn’t have come after him on her own. Loquin had tried to warn her before she’d left, but she’d been too self-assured and too arrogant to listen.
When that thing had been just a spear, it had been easy enough to avoid – for the most part – and she’d only sensed a minor threat from it. Now, though, it felt dangerous. Not only that, but deadly to the point where she wanted to run, screaming, back to the safety of their hideout. That was exactly what she’d tried to do as soon as she’d seen the weapon’s transformation, but he’d stopped her, something which should have been impossible.
The hole she’d opened between dimensions had been slammed shut, and now, she was being forced to run, like a human, terrified for her life.
She turned, glancing back over her shoulder – and she was lucky she had – just in time to see a silver blur flashing toward her. Blood armor curled around her arms, and she blocked the silver man. Under normal circumstances, that would have been the right move. Her blood armor was strong enough to block almost anything, and even if it didn’t, her body could take the hit.
However, it was those very instincts that betrayed her now.
Pain screamed through her very soul as Morgan slammed into her, ripping her armor apart and blasting her from the air. She fell from the sky, her arms smoking as she summoned her scythe, and swiped up at him as he dove after her. He threw up an arm and caught it, his fingers flexing and shattering the blood blade to a thousand pieces.
They hit the ground, the air flying from her lungs as he punched deep into her chest, the metal burning like nothing had before. She kicked back, sending him flying off her and scrambled to her feet. There was now a sizable indent in her chest, and blood streamed from the wound.
Sarah felt her panic rise even further as she tried – and failed – to close it up, the wound remaining stubbornly in place, pain radiating out from the point of impact. Scrambling to her feet, she cursed silently, realizing that he wasn’t going to be letting her go that easily. She had come here to end him, and now, she – a goddess – was going to have to fight for her life.
***
Morgan spun in the air, barely feeling the power behind Sarah’s blow, and caught himself. He didn’t give her a moment’s respite, diving back down and engaging once more. Sarah attacked viciously, punching and kicking for all she was worth. She was pouring all she had into this last desperate push for freedom, but after all he’d been through to get to this point, Morgan wasn’t about to let her off that easily.
Sar
ah lashed out with a powerful punch, and Morgan ducked. His hands flashed out, catching her by the wrist and whirling her overhead before slamming her into the ground with enough force to create a new crater. Blood sprayed from the goddess’s open mouth, her eyes going wide as bones crunched under the force of the impact.
He whirled, his Bestial Might giving him a burst of strength, and hurled the goddess into the debris at the base of the wall. Another explosion of stone blasted skyward as she hit, and Morgan followed, ignoring the crashing sounds as another section of wall collapsed.
The dwarves were not going to be happy with what he’d done to their wall, but right now, he was too concerned with the mission at hand to really care all that much. Truthfully, when this was all over, he still doubted he’d care at all. He was close.
Just a little bit more, he thought to himself.
Sarah exploded from the wall, her body leaking blood from dozens of wounds. They were no longer closing up, the attacks from Morgan’s Godsteel-clad body and her own weakened state, ensuring that the injuries would stick around.
She screamed, both in anger and fear, and charged him, burning through what little power she had remaining.
Morgan struck out, catching her in the chest with a powerful punch, but Sarah retaliated, driving a punch of her own into his stomach and driving him back. The force of the blow wasn’t enough to knock him off his feet, but he’d actually felt that one.
“I won’t go down that easily!” she yelled, then came at him once more, dogged in her determination.
Morgan warded off another dozen blows, each more powerful than the last, before breaking her stance by sweeping her legs. In the same motion, he punched down, driving her into the ground hard enough for her to bounce back up.
There was another crack, and her eyes bulged as blood sprayed from her open mouth once again. He lunged at her, trying to end the fight with a quick blow to her head, but she lashed out with a powerful kick, driving him back and into the air. He caught himself just a second later, but that single kick had launched him nearly fifteen hundred feet.