by Casey Eanes
Out of reflex Seam reached for Aleph’s Key.
Isphet’s attack turned as soon as Seam touched it, reversing his power onto himself, ricocheting like a tide smashing against Elum’s rocky coast.
Seam seized the momentum as his consciousness snapped neatly back into place, displacing the darkness and fear Isphet had pumped into his mind. Isphet’s body jolted back and went rigid as his own essence was being pushed out by Aleph’s Key’s energy.
Seam felt a snap as Isphet’s soul broke free from his body. The torrent of energy was amazing as it swelled and crashed over and through Seam. The power released by Dyrn paled in comparison, and the energy flowing from Isphet’s rigid carcass was explosive and intoxicating. Seam felt as if his body was expanding to absorb all of the energy, as if his shell was insufficient to hold the bolt of lightning it was receiving.
Isphet’s rigid frame collapsed to the ground and withered in seconds, his mouth agape as he let out a weak gasp. His decrepit frame crumpled in a heap as Seam rose over him, grasping the bracer as it slipped from his withered arm. Seam stepped over his fallen foe and slipped the bracer over his wrist, peering down at the ancient Keys as they glowed with a new energy. Seam turned the bracer over and noticed a new slot, one he had not seen before. He pulled Aleph’s Key from its hiding place in his pocket and clicked it into place.
Seam looked out over the hillside as a hush fell. All gunfire ceased, and all morel shrieks and screams ended as the battlefield surrendered to silence. The morel army stood motionless, their expressions blank, eyes fixed on nothing but empty space. Seam stepped to the pinnacle of the hill and looked down onto the armies of Candor below. He lifted his arm, the bracer shining in the sun and he let out a loud cry.
“For Candor!”
The valley stood silent for five seconds that felt like an eternity to Seam until a loud cheer erupted. Gunfire went up as the soldiers in the valley below jumped and hugged one another in jubilation. Seam looked back to the shriveled carcass lying at his feet and jeered. He leaned down and lifted Isphet’s withered body and held it high in the air as he called out to the crowd below.
“The Lord of Chaos has come to a quick end, and his army stands mute and dumb, ready to be disposed of.” Seam pointed at the morel army that stood silent and still, an army of flesh mannequins. “Let all of Candor and the heights of Aether hear your cry today! Candor, we are free!”
Adley and Ewing stumbled from their shelter to join Kull, Cyric, and Willyn outside. Rot trotted out, self-assured that his barking must have sent the morels into retreat. Adley drew close to Kull as they looked out over the crowd cheering for Seam. Cyric helped Willyn to the overlook and shook his head. “Don’t seem quite right. Too easy, right?”
Kull’s eyes were locked on Seam and his lips fluttered silently as he examined the celebration. He narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look at Seam and the morels crowding around him.
“Why him?” Adley said in disgust. “Of all the people to save Candor…ugh. I should be happy but I can’t stomach the thought of Seam regaining the throne.”
Willyn looked over to Kull and then back to Seam and the armies of Candor. “Kull. You knew this would happen, right? Why him? Why didn’t you just do that?”
Kull drew in a deep breath through his nostrils and exhaled slowly as he shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. I mean, no. I didn’t know what would happen. I just knew Aleph wanted me to give the Key away, and Wael...he seemed to understand too. This is what Aleph wants.”
Ewing looked up into the cloudy sky above and shook his head. “Well, I don’t make any habit of arguing with Aleph, but I don’t think our future looks much brighter with the jackal king in power. I don’t know, son. Doesn’t feel quite right.”
“No. It doesn’t.” Kull stared out over the crowd, scanning, searching for an answer.
Willyn stepped away from the ledge and checked her pistol. “It’s not finished. Not with him.”
“Ma’et,” Kull muttered under his breath.
A crack of blue lightning crashed in the distance, but it didn’t dissipate. The elevated position of the pill box revealed the distant storm crashing over the horizon in the direction of Riht. Instead of hitting and retreating into the clouds, the bolt of electrical energy increased and grew as one bolt after another crashed, combining into one waterfall of light. Despite the distance between the lightning and the battlefield, the sound of thunder was deafening, drowning out the cheers of the men and women that survived the battle of Vale.
Cyric stared down on the crowd through a pair of binoculars. His jaw dropped and he turned back to Kull. “Are you seeing this?”
“What?” Adley asked as she grasped Cyric’s binoculars and scanned the field.
Cyric squinted and pointed down into the valley. “I coulda sworn I saw some of those things start moving again.”
Willyn scurried to the ledge and flipped up a pair of binoculars while activating the datalink on her arm. “Griffin unit report. Confirm hostile movement.”
The line was silent for a moment before a gruff voice called back. “Negative. Just a lot of noise from that incoming storm. Must of been the thund—” The line went silent and the sergeant called back. “Uh. My Sar. Affirmative. These things are shaking back to life. Orders? Permission to fire?”
Willyn opened her datalink to all channels and called out, “All units, engage the nearest morels. I repeat. Engage all hostile targets.”
As her call went out, the morel horde snapped to life, as if a single bolt of lightning woke them from their comatose state. The horde let out a unified shriek that set the hair on Kull’s neck and arms on end. Then, before the armies below could lift their weapons, the swarm of shambling bodies bolted from the valley at breakneck speed, flowing like a human river over the hills, running toward the oncoming storm.
Seam stood on the hill overlooking the battlefield below as the swarm awakened and pressed at his position, each morel body moving with clear intent. Seam shook the confusion of the moment and reached out as he had so many times before for the empty vessels awaiting his control, but he found no foothold. There were no minds to control. The morel swarm was obeying the orders given, but they were not Seam’s. There was no familiar entry point into their collective consciousness.
“What is this?” Seam stammered, his body going cold with fear.
Bodies crashed against one another and slammed against Seam as the horde bounded over the hills like a stampeding herd. Hundreds of thousands of bodies eagerly pressed for the horizon, making a direct line for the lightning that continued to assault the ground below. Within a matter of two minutes the swarm had vacated the valley and was over a half mile away.
Seam looked down at the shriveled corpse in his hands and tossed Isphet’s frame to the side. His heart pounded in his chest as his mind quickly grasped the current reality, understanding exactly where the horde was heading. Ma’et. Seam stood on the edge of the hill and called out to the army that was celebrating the retreat below.
“This is not finished! The morels have a new master. I know what must be done and I call to all men and women of Candor. Ready yourselves and follow me! This is our time to reclaim our world!” Seam lifted his arm into the sky, revealing the Keys of Candor shimmering in the afternoon light. “I have the power to stop this. We are close, but we must finish this! Follow me now and don’t look back. Our best days are ahead!”
“Where is Seam taking us, Kull?” Willyn asked as she moved closer to the rook Cyric had piloted earlier for her extraction. “I am ready to call my men and women back. I will not follow Seam into the desert blindly.”
Kull lifted a hand to the horizon and drew in a deep breath before following the impulse tugging at him. He exhaled and stretched, cautiously at first but then releasing himself to the practice. The inky void that was so often silent and calm was vibrating with the sound of running feet and a droning call: the voice of the beast.
�
�Come to me, my husks, my shambling. Bow before your Master. My time has come, and every knee will bow before me as I obliterate your pathetic world. Run now, join me and take your rightful place. The door has been unlocked. Come to me!”
Another strike of lightning, and Kull saw the shadow of an immense serpent cast across the horizon. It was only for a half-second, but Kull’s mouth went dry with fear. “The veil between the worlds is receding. He is almost here.” Kull’s eyes rolled up in his head, and Ewing, Adley, Willyn, and Cyric rushed to him.
He began to tumble, overcome with shock. She grabbed him, propping him up on his failing legs. “Who is almost here? Who is it, Kull?”
Kull’s eyes opened, but they were distant, unfocused, and wide. His friends around him felt like distant shadows, blurred. He strained to ignore the noise and clamor coming from Ma’et and his army in that shadowy place, trying to hear from Aleph. Aleph...please.
Then a quiet breeze blew over him and a whisper crossed his ear. It was not that of Aleph, but Kull knew it from his time on Candor.
Go. We are waiting. From death comes life.
Wael.
Kull’s strength returned and he stood, his friends still wide-eyed with worry. “We need to go,” Kull answered weakly as he drew himself back to Candor’s plain. “I heard him. I heard Wael.”
“What did he say?” asked Adley.
“Go…from death comes life,” said Kull.
“Well, it’s a good day to die,” said Willyn as she hopped into the cockpit of the rook. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Yes,” Kull said, nodding. “I must talk to Seam.” He glanced over at Willyn. “Can you take me to him?”
Willyn sneered at the mention of the fallen High King. “If that is what you need, Kull. I’ll have my elite follow us, but we need to move now.” She nodded over at the distant horizon. Seam and the united army of Candor were moving fast after the morels rushing into Riht.
“Then let’s go.” Kull glanced at all of them standing together, and his heart longed for better days, for he knew what was coming.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Seam raced after the thousands of morels tearing across the plains of Lotte toward the Rihtian desert. Behind him came the collective rabble of scattered militia, a mosaic of people cobbled from the five Realms of Candor: Grogans, Elumites, Lottians, Baggers, and even a few exiled Preostians. They followed Seam, and Seam felt a beam of lofty pride in his heart. His body radiated with energy from the Keys that he bore, and he raced towards the veil that he could feel becoming thinner by the minute.
He searched the collective consciousness that swirled within him, for with every Serub he had fallen, he had gained not only their strength but their memories. With scalpel-like precision, Seam dove into Isphet’s essence. He knew that whatever was happening, it was linked with Isphet. In a span of several seconds Seam saw a tapestry of chaotic memories flood around him, threatening to overwhelm his mind.
Seam saw a flash of memory and Isphet was facing an open, dark portal. A musty chamber of stone surrounded the Serub. Seam could not place the location but something told him that they were in Preost. Under the Sanctuary? Seam stared at the fallen foe whose memories he now possessed, his mind struggling to understand what he was now seeing. The black portal stood open before Isphet, and suddenly Seam realized what he was seeing.
The mirror. This is Isphet’s prison...locked in the mirror. Seam stood behind Isphet, who sat silently in the dim, and peered out through the portal.
Why am I seeing this? Seam wondered silently, when suddenly Isphet spoke.
“I can feel you, master. Speak. I am listening.” The darkness began to intensify, and it felt to Seam like a storm was beginning to roll in. As the darkness expanded like a thick fog, a deep and powerful voice broke through the silence.
“The pieces are being set, my servant. When the Mastermonk presents to you the Grogan wench, you must strike. Strike her mind and hide your presence deep within her. Our freedom depends on this one act. Do not hesitate. Gain all of the Keys and free me from behind the veil.”
Seam stood back, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He could feel Isphet nod his head and answer, “Yes, master.”
The darkness of the grotto began to recede, but not before Seam caught a glimpse of the creature moving beneath the surface of the black ink. A dark dragon face the size of submarine broke through the black water like a crocodile’s. The creature’s cold, reptilian eyes stared at Seam with knowing, hate-filled eyes. They seemed to bore straight into him, and the sight filled Seam’s mind with icy fear. This is the enemy we face? This...this is Ma’et?
The roaring sound of Grogan rooks filled Seam’s ear, breaking up the distant memory. He turned as a flank of Grogan rooks rushed toward him, kicking up dust and grit into the air. The rook leading the charge rocketed forward as the cockpit window slid back.
“Seam!” Kull yelled over the din of the rooks behind him, sitting behind Willyn, who manned the craft, her hair waving in the cold winter air like a roaring flame.
Seam came to a halt, and his face became as cold as flint. “What do you want, Shepherd?” Willyn threw a stern glance at Kull as he lifted himself out of the rook. Quietly, he whispered back to her, “Trust me, Willyn.”
Willyn said nothing, but quickly arranged her elites to track their weapons on the fallen High King. Over the datalinks she typed, Keep your sights on him. Her elite soldiers folded around her like a phalanx, moving like a mercurial school of deadly black sharks.
Kull walked ahead of them, his hand wrapped around Wael’s staff. His eyes focused on the crimson eyes of Seam, and he held up the hand of peace. Seam mirrored the gesture, and Willyn was shocked at Kull’s boldness. He came face to face with the High King as if they were fast friends.
“The Keys will not be able to help you fight him, Seam,” Kull said, his breath clouding his face in the cold.
Seam laughed and flashed a wry smile. “So convincing, Kull Shepherd. Keep it up. I may believe you in the end.”
Kull shook his head. “You don’t understand. Ma’et is not affected by the Keys. If he were, I would have fought him directly.” A flash of pain jolted him as the remembrance of Wael’s sacrifice rolled over him. “The Key I gave you did not give me any strength against him. If not for Wael, I would have died.”
“I am not you,” Seam said sharply. “I bear all of the Keys of Candor. I am the Keeper. I know now that this is my purpose, Kull. Your warnings cannot change my destiny.” Seam held out the Keys with a terrible and furious pride. “I will destroy this leviathan, this dragon of old, and all of Candor will finally acknowledge me for who I am.”
“You will not survive this, Seam. I must face Ma’et, not you.”
“Just like you faced Isphet, Kull? Or have you so quickly forgotten who destroyed the Serubs? It was me! Me, Kull. I’ve hunted them down and destroyed them, along with their cursed creator, Dyrn.”
“You don’t understand…” Kull interjected, but Seam held out his hand as a rapid burst of energy burst from it. It sent Kull careening back to the Grogan rooks. Willyn’s fingers itched on the trigger of her weapons. Kull hit the ground, but held up a hand toward his Grogan allies, commanding them not to engage.
“No, you don’t understand, Shepherd. I carry the greatest power that Candor has ever known, and I alone can restore our home to its former peace, to its unity. Its order. Now leave me.”
Seam broke away, and the army continued its forward march as an enormous lightning bolt ripped through the sky, holding in the heavens for an unnatural amount of time.
“Aleph, help me,” Kull whispered.
“Well, that was effective,” said Willyn as Kull climbed back into her rook. “Now what?”
Kull kept his head down, quietly speaking to himself before glancing up, meeting Willyn’s stern gaze. “We go and fight. What other choice do we have?”
“I can do that.” Willyn smirked as she slid the cockpit shut an
d throttled forward. Willyn dialed into her com and called out. “Airmen of Elum. Mark my position and make sure as soon as you arrive that you keep us covered…no matter what.”
“We’ve already caught up, Sar Kara…and, uh, we assume our mark is that thing getting hit by all the lightning?”
“Just be ready…whatever this is, its big,” Willyn said as she ran one last weapons check.
Seam slid to a halt, the loose sand of the Rihtian plain gliding underfoot as he caught up to the morel swarm. The bodies were all lined in organized half-circle rows radiating out from the monolith. Each stood like a statue, with eyes turned to the electrified stone tower. Seam looked up at the towering monolith. The marker on top of Dyrn’s hidden Warren stood stark against the light blue sky. The sharp black outline accepted the torrential lightning that continued to crash and swarm over its glassy obsidian surface. Seam slowed his heart and noticed the ground underfoot vibrating with an invisible energy. As Seam approached the monolith, he noticed the lightning bolts crackling in electric blue revealed hidden etchings lining the four-story obelisk. Runes were scratched over its surface, only to be revealed by the fury unleashed upon it.
The skies stood open and clear but the lightning crashed from the open atmosphere. The army that had trailed Seam across the Lottian plains and Rihtian dunes held its position, not daring to wander too close to the monolith and its supernatural electric onslaught or the morel army surrounding it. Seam pressed forward, oblivious to the thousands of men behind him. Each step closer to the monolith raised his heart rate. He could feel his destiny calling to him. The bracer burned against his skin as he moved closer. The Keys urged Seam closer and closer. Now it is time to unlock your future. Candor’s destiny.