Amanda looked back down to the courtyard, to see Yasmin staring right back up at her. The Nomad smiled in a way that did nothing to comfort her.
Magic flared, and a battering ram of force smashed into Amanda, knocking her back into the wall and shattering the edge of the balcony.
Yasmin snapped into existence on the balcony and looked down at her. Amanda stayed where she was for a moment, sitting on the floor, looking up at Yasmin’s black-clad form. Lilith’s green Orb glowed brightly from the centre of her chest, held in place by her outfit. She could also make out runes flowing over her catsuit, like petals floating on water.
“I’m so pleased you could be here to witness my ascendancy, Amanda. You were there at the beginning when you found me in that farmhouse and set me on this journey. It’s only fitting that you’re here at the end, as well.”
“What have you done?” Amanda asked.
“Nothing less than claim my birthright. I was destined for this, Amanda. It was always meant to be mine, and now it is.”
“You killed an Archon,” Amanda said , not quite believing what she’d witnessed.
“Amanda, I have done so much more than just kill one. I have consumed one! I have taken its essence and joined it with my own. I am so much more now. I am ascended.”
“What of the others?” Crystal asked.
“What of them? I’ll find them eventually. They can’t hide from me for long.” Yasmin’s tone was almost flippant.
“You freed them, you broke the Demiurge’s Magic,” Crystal accused her. But Yasmin wasn’t listening. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and looked back down at Amanda.
“Alas, Amanda, your time has come, and I must end this chapter now,” she said, as Essentia rushed in towards her. Amanda quickly shunted whatever Essentia she could into her Aegis as Yasmin suddenly threw her Magic at her.
“No,” Amanda said, her voice strained from the effort.
Yasmin’s Essentia Strikes tore into her Aegis, hammering into the shield with a power she had seldom felt before. The green Orb in Yasmin’s chest flared brightly as her Magic flowed, casting a sickly green glow up onto her face as she grinned maniacally.
Amanda shunted as much energy into her Aegis as she could, and just barely kept Yasmin at bay as she ripped at her with a fury Amanda had never experienced before.
Essentia lashed in at Yasmin from the side as Crystal attacked, and suddenly two more Sentinels appeared and joined in, throwing their weight into the fray.
Then two more appeared, and three more. Magical energy blasted Yasmin and tore at her Aegis. Yasmin stepped back, pulling her Magic in and bolstering her shield to fend off the attacks.
“Damn you, Amanda. You can’t hide here forever. I’ll see you in New York,” Yasmin threatened, before her Essentia flowed and she disappeared.
Silence fell over them as Amanda sucked in a lungful of air before releasing it and dropping back to the floor. “Well, feck, this is all kinds of messed up.”
“The Demiurge’s Magic is broken and the Archons are free,” Crystal whispered as if she didn’t quite believe it. “This is madness. This shouldn’t have happened.”
Amanda sat up and got to her feet. “And yet, it did. And now, I need to get home.”
“New York?”
“That’s right,” Amanda said.
“We can get you there.”
“And Bramble?” Amanda asked, looking at the Fae who was keeping quiet and trying not to be noticed.
Crystal looked over at the fairy and then back to Amanda. “We’ll get her back, as well.” She said with a sigh. “Come, we have much to do.”
In turns, Crystal looked both confused and unsure, and then determined and resolute. This was definitely new territory for all of them.
“Custodian, what do we do now?” one of the men nearby asked. He seemed scared as he looked around at the Archons’ former prison and then back to Crystal.
“Go back to the fortress and gather everyone, we have much to discuss. This changes everything. Go, now, I’ll be with you shortly,” she ordered, and watched the group of men and women run off through the door or Port away with a flare of Magic. Amanda guessed the prohibition on Teleportation Magic had ended when the Demiurge’s enchantment was broken.
With them gone, Crystal turned back to Amanda. If you’ll allow me, I’ll Port us all into the fortress,” she said.
Amanda nodded. Crystal worked her Magic, drawing Essentia in and enforcing her will upon it. Energy surged, and the three of them were teleported from Tartarus into the Sentinel’s fortress. They appeared in a large room full of Sentinels who looked over in curiosity at the new arrivals standing beside their Custodian.
Arrayed along the centre of the wide room were a series of rectangular stone frames that pulsed with energy and Magic of a power that Amanda had rarely seen, not counting today.
Crystal looked at Amanda and offered her hand. “Thanks for coming and trying to help, I… We appreciate it,” she said.
“Pity it didn’t work,” Amanda answered.
“Honestly, I’m not sure anything could have worked. Yasmin might very well be unstoppable now.”
“No one’s unstoppable. There’s always something bigger out there, waiting to ruin your day.”
Crystal smiled. “I hope so, for your sake.”
Amanda nodded, she knew what she meant. Yasmin would be coming for her. In fact, maybe she already had, maybe… No, she just needed to get back home and warn her friends. If she got back quick enough, perhaps she could muster some kind of defence or something.”
Crystal walked up to the nearest stone frame and looked back at them. “Bramble, is it?”
The Fae nodded.
“Where do you need to go, Bramble?” Crystal asked.
“To the Near Aetheric, in Central Park,” she said.
“As you wish,” Crystal said and pressed her hand to the dark stone. Essentia rushed into the centre of the frame filling it with Magical energy.
She could feel the Flux and Astral Magic flooding the device and linking it to somewhere far off.
“I’ll go with her,” Amanda said, “I can make my own way back from Central Park,” she said.
“Very well,” Crystal said. “Safe travels, my friends. I hope we meet again under better circumstances.
Amanda nodded and smiled. “So do I,” she said and followed Bramble through the Portal.
They appeared in the familiar environs of Central Park in the Near Aetheric. They were close to Bramble’s hideout, and she seemed to visibly relax as she recognised where she was.
“Thank you,” Amanda said. “You went above and beyond what I asked you to do today, and I can’t thank you enough for it,” she said.
Bramble smiled. “That’s okay, but it sounds to me like your troubles have only just begun.”
Amanda looked at her feet, and then back up at Bramble with a smile that didn’t really touch her eyes. “I’m afraid you might be right.”
“Then, I wish you well, and good luck, and I hope you live to repay the debt you owe me,” the Fae said with a smirk.
Amanda chuckled. I hope so, too.”
Finished with her goodbyes, Bramble looked around to see if anyone was watching before darting off toward home.
Amanda watched her go and then turned to the ruined reflection of the city. With a thought, she concentrated and willed herself to be standing in her home. With a snap of air, she Ported to the reflection of her Brownstone. She immediately noticed there was something in the air, some kind of energy, like a feeling of electricity all around her.
Amanda drew Essentia into herself and bolstered her Aegis, hoping she was worrying about nothing, before she worked her Magic once more and shifted back into the Material Realm.
- Manhattan, New York
“Matt, come on, we have to go,” Shaun said from behind him. Matt looked up to see Mercy standing at the door, ushering Howie and Vanessa out of the room.
“I know, I kn
ow, hold on,” he said, scrolling the wheel on his mouse and reading the latest messages.
This was incredible, he thought. A short time ago, the power had gone out, booting him from the DWeb and briefly knocking out power around the globe. Everything was back online now, and the internet had been on for a good ten minutes, but already, changes had been noticed.
Big changes.
The DWeb had crashed, suffering a critical failure and whiteout, booting him and thousands of other users from the web.
He’d been using Amanda’s new VR rig at the time and felt a little strange afterwards, but he was fine now.
It took a little while for Shaun’s servers to restart, but already the messages were coming in.
They were saying the DWeb was gone, wiped entirely from the system, but something else, something new was there in its place. It was virgin territory, unformed and new, and the experience was already so much better.
People were reporting that the emersion was unlike anything they’d experienced before. They said it was as if you were really there.
The pioneers of this new digital frontier already had a new name for it. They were calling it the Hypernet.
Shaun grabbed his arm and pulled him forcefully from the workstation. Matt still had hold of his new rig and brought it with him.
“We’re going,” Shaun grunted with frustration. Matt wasn’t really listening, his mind was already thinking about the new possibilities that awaited him in the Hypernet. He was desperate to try it out, but it would have to wait.
The house was under attack, and they had to leave.
Endgame
Manhattan, New York
For a moment, Amanda thought she’d stepped into a war zone. She found herself standing amidst the ruins of her house. The entire front of it had exploded, creating a giant crater in the street. Rubble was everywhere. Water spouted up out of cracks in the road. A nearby car was crumpled and on fire, while Essentia rushed, flared, and burned as the Magi stood in the street throwing it at each other.
For a moment, all she could do was watch in horror.
Balor and Horlack were locked in a titanic struggle against Yasmin herself, who was holding her own, Porting from place to place and throwing Magic at the two Scions while others fought for their lives.
Gentle Water struggled against Kez, while Nate crossed swords with Liz and Stella. She could also see Maria, Sabine, her daughter Maya, Tabitha, Israel, and Aaron as well.
She was about to move, to join in when movement behind her caught her attention. She looked back into the house to see Mercy guiding Shaun, Vanessa, Matt, and Howie up the stairs towards the Null Realm entrance.
Mercy looked her way and nodded. “I’ll watch these,” she yelled at her over the noise of the fight.
“Thank you,” Amanda said, feeling a little better knowing they would be safe.
Amanda turned back to the fight and gathered Essentia to her. Porting over the short distance, she appeared close to Gentle Water. She lashed out with a barrage of Essentia Strikes at Kez, who looked to have been getting the better of him.
“We meet again,” Amanda taunted her.
Kez grunted and went to throw more strikes of her own at Gentle Water.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Throwing her own energy at Kez’s Magic, she swept them away giving Gentle Water precious seconds.
She could already feel her friend and former mentor feeding Essentia into his Aegis and fortifying his defences behind her.
~Thank you,~ Amanda heard Gentle Water say through their Link.
~Anytime,~ Amanda replied as she brought a Kinetic blast down on Kez, knocking her to the ground with a grunt. Amanda lashed out with another Essentia Strike, ripping at the Nomad’s Aegis.
“Things are a little different when you don’t get the drop on me,” Amanda smirked.
“Laugh all you like. Today, we end you,” Kez taunted as she jumped up and leapt at Amanda. Gentle Water charged in from Amanda’s right with an Essentia-laced kick that struck the Nomad in her face and sparked as it hammered her Aegis.
Magic flared to Amanda’s right as Yasmin delivered a horrendously powerful attack on Horlack, throwing him back into the rubble where he writhed in pain, his body smoking.
With a cruel laugh, Yasmin lunged for Balor, grabbed him by the throat, and threw him to the ground at her feet.
Reaching out with her mind, Amanda used her Psi Magic to take telekinetic hold of a huge chunk of building nearby and slammed it into Yasmin.
She smashed into the far building, creating a huge dent in the wall.
Amanda Ported over next to Balor, who was pulling himself up.
“You alright?” Amanda asked.
“I’ll survive,” Balor reassured her. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Amanda raised an eyebrow. “Thank you, you old charmer, you,” she said with a wry smile. “Go help Gentle Water, I’ll deal with her.”
Balor nodded once and backed off.
Looking back, Amanda watched as Yasmin floated down towards her.
“You’ll deal with me, will you?” Yasmin asked.
A shadow fell over Amanda as a great chunk of building hurtled down and smashed into her from above. It crunched against her Aegis and broke into smaller pieces.
Amanda propelled herself through the air with a thought and hit Yasmin like a battering ram. She slammed her into the building opposite where she grabbed the Nomad by the throat with her left hand and punched her in the face, over and over, with her Essentia-infused fist.
“Damn right I’ll deal with you,” Amanda agreed, using each word to punctuate a hit.
Lightning lanced down from the sky and hit Amanda, ripping her away from Yasmin, and slamming her into the ground.
“Ugh,” Amanda grunted. Her Aegis had protected her, but it still hurt like crazy.
Looking up, Yasmin laughed. The Nomad suddenly streaked down at her like a bullet. Amanda flipped backwards, throwing herself out of the way and landing on her feet in time to see Yasmin standing in the dust cloud, the Orb glowing in her chest.
“It ends here, Amanda, you know that, right?” Yasmin asked.
“Fine by me, I’ve been meaning to put an end to you for a while now.”
“Such confidence in the face of such overwhelming odds, little one. You must know you can’t win this.”
“Says you? Forgive me if I don’t take you at your word,” Amanda said.
“You saw what I did, you saw me take the life of an Archon and consume it. I’m more powerful now than ever before. You can’t stop me this time,” the Nomad said, as she rose up into the air.
“I think I’ll give it the old college try, if it’s all the same to you,” she answered with a shrug.
“Poor girl, it’s sad to see such delusions,” Yasmin replied. Essentia surged and rushed at Amanda as lightning flew out at her. Simultaneously, she was hit by bolts from twenty other directions all around her that pummelled her Aegis.
Amanda leapt into the air, surging up and out of the centre of Yasmin’s attacks before she infused herself with Kinetic energy that sent her rocketing down at Yasmin, where she hit her with a series of Kinetic strikes and an Essentia-infused punch for good measure.
Yasmin slammed back into the concrete, a spider web of cracks radiating out from behind her.
“Hah, that almost tickled.” Yasmin laughed, her words overflowing with mirth.
Yasmin suddenly gripped Amanda’s throat and surged upwards, rising into the air, taking Amanda with her. With incredible amounts of strength, Yasmin threw Amanda across the battlefield.
She flew between the other fighters, seeing Gentle Water and Balor dealing with Kez while Maria and Sabine traded blows with Anastasia.
Amanda pulled the Kinetic energy from Yasmin’s throw and came to a stop in mid-air, only for a huge chunk from the top of her house to smash down on top of her and knock her into a crouch. She looked up to see Yasmin float down amidst the fighting, ignoring the struggles
going on around her, and focusing only on her.
“I told you this was my destiny, Amanda. I wasn’t lying. Destiny comes to all of us eventually, and yours is to die this day, by my hand.”
“I think you’ve got that backwards,” Amanda said. “Have you read the Prophecy of Helene?”
Yasmin laughed. “The words of a two-thousand-year-old mystic mean nothing. We make our own destiny, and I have worked for centuries to make mine a reality. Destiny and success are earned, rather than handed to us on a platter, my dear. Have you earned your destiny? Have you worked towards it like I have? Or were you merely told about it one day?”
“You will not win,” Amanda said.
“Is that right?” Yasmin asked, her eyebrows rising up as she waited for an answer.
Amanda stared at the Nomad and for the second time today, felt her confidence waver. She had a sinking feeling in her gut, fuelled by the slowly growing pain from a hundred different knocks and bruises as she pumped Essentia into her shield to refortify it. Yasmin’s attacks were powerful, incredibly so, and the fight was starting to wear her down.
Adjusting her position, she felt her leg wobble and shifted her weight to her other leg to keep it from buckling beneath her.
“You look weak, Amanda, beaten. You can’t stand against me, not now,” Yasmin taunted her.
“Allow me to try,” Amanda answered.
“Very well.” Essentia surged once more, ripping out of the Nomad and hitting Amanda like a battering ram, making her Aegis flare in protest.
Bolts of lightning and balls of super-heated plasma laced with more Essentia hammered into Amanda’s shield, tearing great rents in her defences as she forced more power into her defences.
It felt like she was fighting against a raging torrent of water rushing at her, forcing its way through a door that she was trying to shut against the unrelenting flow. But it was a losing battle, and she could feel her defences crumbling despite her best efforts.
The sheer force of Yasmin’s seemingly endless attacks and apparently unlimited reserves of power were too much until, despite everything, her Aegis failed and was blown away by the raging torrent of Essentia.
Magi Legend Page 138