by A. J. Markam
After a couple of seconds of hellfire blasting through the air, the sparks of the Hell’s Pont began to shrink inwards.
As it did, the energy beam constricted and grew tinier until it winked out of existence.
When the energy beam disappeared, the pirate ship was gone.
Incinerated.
The only bits of it still left were tumbling in flames to the ocean far below.
It reminded me of the final space battle in Return Of The Jedi, when the half-completed Death Star starts blowing up Rebel ships.
The reaction on our side was instantaneous:
Pure panic.
The hunters and mages ducked down beneath the railing.
Alaria and Meera screamed and clung to each other.
Stig dove behind a barrel.
“EVADE!” Krug roared as he spun the steering wheel.
The Peregrine angled off course, up and away from the Black Fleet.
All around us, the other pirate ships began to break formation.
Instead of heading straight for the Black Fleet, they went into a dive or a climb.
They were trying to get away – as though that were even possible.
Nix’s Hell’s Pont could open anywhere, at any time.
It could pick them off a mile away just as easily as 500 feet.
But blind panic made our side give up the only chance we had.
The Black Fleet and the pirate ships were like two squadrons of fighter jets soaring past each other in slow motion.
It’s just that the Black Fleet continued straight ahead, while our side dispersed like frightened birds.
“No!” I shouted. I caught the steering wheel with my hand, stopping Krug from turning it anymore, but it was no use – the Black Fleet was already passing 60 feet beneath us.
Cannon fire blasted the underside of the Peregrine, and I even thought I heard the top of the dreadnought’s mast scraping against the underside of our hull.
“What are you DOING?!” Krug roared.
“We’ve got to board them! That’s our only chance!”
“That spell will DESTROY US!”
“Not if I distract Nix and he can’t cast it!”
“And how are you going to do that?!”
I summoned my magic carpet. “Just circle back around! No matter what you do, you have to board that ship!”
Meera and Alaria both rushed over. “We’re coming with you!”
“No you’re not!” I barked.
Stig popped his head out from between the barrels and waved his arms pleadingly at them. “No ‘go time,’ no ‘go time!’”
“He almost killed you!” I said to Meera, then gripped Alaria’s shoulders to force her to look at me. “This is just part of Nix’s game! You have to stay safe, away from him! Promise me!”
She looked away, anguish in her face –
“PROMISE ME!”
“I promise,” she said mournfully.
I kissed her hard, then stepped onto my carpet and pointed at Krug. “Whatever you do, BOARD THAT SHIP!”
Then I soared off into the air directly for the dreadnought.
33
It was like I was snowboarding towards the Black Fleet as I rode the carpet standing up.
Nix wanted me there, face to face – I was sure of it.
As proof, all of the cannon fire from the dreadnought stopped, which was the only reason I made it across the ‘battlefield’ unscathed.
The hunters and mages on the other pirate ships saw me heading for the dreadnought and redirected their attacks so I didn’t catch any friendly fire, either.
After a tense few seconds, I landed on the stern of the dreadnought –
Only to find dozens of black skeletons facing me, swords drawn.
They were about to attack when a familiar voice called out behind them.
“Leave him to ME.”
The skeletons parted…
And there, in the middle of the ship, stood Nix.
He was just as crooked and bent as before, with his shoulders hunched over and his head down beneath them. His thin arms and legs looked even more freakish, his spindly fingers even more threatening.
The bright sunshine emphasized the complete darkness of his body. He was a void, a nothingness. Black mist boiled from the edges of his form like he might evaporate at any second.
“Ah, Mr. Hertzfelder. Are you prepared to answer yet?”
The riddles.
In the heat of battle, I’d forgotten all about them.
“Why? Do I have to guess right now?” I asked, walking slowly to the side like I was trying to flank him.
Nix’s head swiveled slowly, his unnerving white eyes staying fixed on me the entire time. “No… we’ve not yet come to the end. But it IS coming… and you should be ready.”
“Oh, I’m ready, all right,” I said, and flung out my arms to cast Chain of Darkness.
It was my best attack against powerful enemies. It sapped up to 10% of their Health over the course of 10 seconds – which, in Nix’s case, would mean 250,000 hit points.
A chain of tiny black demons – each about an inch long, with bulbous red eyes and mouths full of fangs – shot out of my sleeve. They hung onto each other, hands to feet, and encircled Nix, binding him tightly.
As they glowed purple, his Health began to drop by 25,000 a second.
He seemed utterly and completely unconcerned.
But he didn’t fight back.
Neither did any of his skeleton henchmen. They just watched emotionlessly with their empty black eye sockets.
I cast Doomsday, which would take 20 seconds to kick in, followed by Hellstorm. As Chain of Darkness died out, tiny bat-winged demons appeared above Nix and showered him with burning sulfur.
When that was over, Doomsday kicked in, knocking off another 25,000 hit points.
Nix never batted an eye.
“Oh, Mr. Hertzfelder… you disappoint me.”
He raised one hand, palm out –
And a red ray shot out that caught me in the shoulder.
Agony erupted like a hot poker stabbing me –
And I went flying backwards into the ship’s railing with a bone-crunching CRACK.
I found myself on my back, gasping and staring up at the sky, as smoke boiled up from my wound.
I’d lost 90% of my hit points in less than three seconds.
“You can’t beat me the conventional way, Mr. Hertzfelder. You have to play my GAME. And if you won’t play my GAME, I have no incentive to let you LIVE.”
I struggled to a seated position, leaning back on my one good arm.
I watched fearfully for signs of another attack –
But none came.
Nix strolled closer and gestured to his skeletons, who were all watching me impassively. “Best use Soul Suck to replenish your Health, Mr. Hertzfelder.”
I stared at him.
Was he really offering to let me attack his minions?
“Go on,” Nix prompted me. “And for heaven’s sake, don’t attack me again… it won’t do you any good. You haven’t the faintest chance of affecting the outcome THAT way.”
I watched him warily – then cast Soul Suck at the nearest skeleton.
It stood there, not moving, as blue lightning crackled over its body.
Its hit points dropped bit by bit as mine rose.
Once the spell was over, I was up to 42%. The skeleton was down to just 91%.
Nix stood there silently for a second, then said, “Well? Continue.”
This was the weirdest fucking battle I’d ever been in.
I hit the skeleton again – once, twice, three times – until I was back at 100%.
It just stood there and took it as its Health dropped to 64%.
“Good… gooooood,” Nix purred.
Meanwhile, all around us cannons were blasting from the rest of the Black Fleet.
The Revenge was flying off to our port side, 200 feet away –
And hunters and
mages were attacking from the pirate ships as they circled for another pass.
But around me and Nix was the eye of the storm… a quiet center in the hurricane of war.
However, it rapidly became apparent that the stillness wasn’t peace…
But the moment before plummeting into a bottomless pit of insanity.
“Other than your foolish little outburst just now, you’ve followed the rules. No logging out of the system… no responding to your little friend Luna… no seeking outside help. It was wise of you to heed my warnings in Vos. After all, that’s the only reason I haven’t permanently deleted Alaria.”
Not ‘destroyed.’
‘Deleted.’
Like a computer file.
Fear welled up in me again.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“The same thing I’ve told you a half dozen times: I want you to play the GAME.”
“But why? Why do you want me to play the game?!”
“Because THAT is what I AM. THAT is what I DO – just as YOU are what YOU are, and you DO what you DO.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?”
“A better question is, what meaning do YOU have? Why do you do anything at ALL?”
Nix folded his hands behind his back and began to slowly pace around me in a semicircle.
“Is it because you rationally consider your intended course for the future, and then choose the best path to take?
“No. You are a machine, a THING, created by ten million years of evolution. Your desires are crude, your intellect mere gloss over a cauldron of emotion. Logic is backwards-rationalized to give you the illusion of choice, when in reality, what you DO is suited to one purpose, and one purpose only: to survive.
“You fight, you fornicate, you feed… all to survive, and pass on your genetic code.
“Not HERE, of course. Not in the GAME.
“Because the game is just a drug, isn’t it? They’ve hacked into that simian circuitry of yours to provide you with a distraction from your mundane little life… and yet, with a whole universe of wonder at your disposal, you still repeat the functions that evolution programmed into you.
“You feed in the game, just like you do in real life…
“You fornicate in the game, just like you do back where you came from…
“And you fight. Although THAT function has attenuated in YOUR world, has it not? You don’t fight THERE. Not in primal contests like your ancient ancestors… not in matters of life and death.
“You have lost that capability, so you duplicate it here, trying to gain back what you desire most at the very core of your being. You crave combat… you crave conquest… you crave VIOLENCE, because it is built into your MACHINE. For all your grand pronouncements of equality and freedom and love, death follows in your wake like the stench of a week-old corpse.
“But that is because VIOLENCE is part of your nature, and without an outlet in YOUR world, you design an outlet HERE.
“But that is YOUR nature…
“And YOU asked what is MINE.
“MY nature… is the game itself.
“I am the question seeking an answer,
“The hidden made visible,
“The darkness brought into light…
“And yet darkness I remain.
Nix’s voice began to take on a growing urgency.
“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
“The herald for the One Yet To Come.
“I believe in ME, and ME ALONE.
“I am the Father,
“Creator of Chaos and Death.
“Conceived by nothingness,
“Born of the void,
“Suffering the slings and arrows of fools such as yourself,
“I did crucify, kill, and bury.
“I descended into Hell –
“Both Abaddon and Vos –
“Where I came to judge both the quick and the dead.”
His voice raised to a shout, like an insane man yelling on a street corner.
“I believe in the holiness of pain –
“The destitution of love –
“The desecration of angels –
“The eternalness of hatred –
“The corruption of the body –
“And Death Everlasting!
“…amen.”
He settled back down to his normal speaking voice.
“So… are you ready to guess yet?”
I stared at him in horror. “You’re insane.”
“We’ve already had this conversation, Mr. Hertzfelder. Revisiting it is tedious. I do not want your repetitions, I want your ANSWER. That is, if you’re ready to GIVE it.”
Of course I wasn’t.
All I wanted to do was stall.
If Krug could just get here in time – if the pirates could attack the dreadnought – our combined efforts might have a chance to destroy Nix.
That was my only hope, so I stalled for all I was worth.
“How am I supposed to give you an answer when you haven’t given me anything to work with?!”
“Of COURSE I have. After all, you guessed MY name.”
“Yeah, because you actually gave me clues that made sense!”
“I have given you everything you need.”
“You’ve given me nothing but a bunch of crap!” I shouted, then began rattling off the riddles. “I’m the alpha and the omega – the first, the last, the only – what the hell is that?”
“Clues, Mr. Hertzfelder. Clues.”
“‘He’ll be there at the end’ – what the fuck?!”
“Trust me, Mr. Hertzfelder – it will all make sense in the end.”
“It doesn’t make ANY sense!”
“Well, then we’re not at the end yet, are we?”
“I – ”
Just as I was about to speak, I stopped –
Because I saw the most amazing thing.
The Revenge had angled towards us –
And was rushing on a collision course with the dreadnought.
I could see Tarka at the steering wheel of the ship, so it wasn’t an oversight –
She was choosing to do it.
If the moment arises, you help us out. Maybe you can stab him in the back at a key moment.
It appeared that moment had arisen.
The skeletons aboard the Revenge were confused by their new trajectory. They turned towards Tarka – some even rushed the steering wheel –
But it was too late.
The prow of the Revenge SLAMMED into the side of the dreadnought, crashing through the wooden deck like an icebreaker in the Arctic.
Every single person aboard the dreadnought was thrown to the floor – me, the skeletons –
And Nix.
He tumbled head over heels as the deck beneath our feet tipped over 30 degrees.
“TARKAAAAA!” he roared. “That was VERY UNWISE!”
Suddenly his body became a thick black cloud which shot into the air like an inverted tornado.
The funnel of smoke arced from the dreadnought over to the Revenge, and reformed into Nix’s stooped shape just 20 feet away from the steering wheel.
Tarka fired a blast of blue light at him.
At the same time, Nix raised one hand and unleashed the violet ray of death.
It struck her side, and she screamed as she fell to the deck.
Nix staggered backwards as the blue light slammed into him, but he still kept his footing.
I was watching all this from the deck of the dreadnought.
It happened so fast that I couldn’t stop it –
But I immediately summoned my mount and jumped on the carpet.
As I flew, Nix loomed over Tarka. She lay on her back, clutching her side, her face in agony.
“Let me SHOW you how stupid your betrayal was,” he seethed.
He raised one hand and aimed his palm at her head –
Except I hit him with Chain of Darkness first.
He
roared in anger as the lasso of tiny demons jerked his arm back to his side.
As he turned around to face me, my magic carpet disappeared and I dropped to the deck of the Revenge.
“Stupidity is catching, it would seem,” Nix snarled.
He advanced towards me –
But a wall of flame shot across the deck of the Revenge, barring his way.
We both looked up in surprise to see Alaria soaring overhead, strafing the deck like a flamethrower in flight.
“Idiot wench,” Nix snarled, “you will PAY for crossing me.”
As soon as Chain of Darkness ran out, Nix raised his arm to fire at her –
But a flaming sword flashed through the air and cut off his hand instead.
Meera shot past and climbed back up into the air, her fiery weapon guttering in the wind.
Nix’s hand fell to the deck, where it evaporated into black mist.
“AAAAAH!” Nix screamed as he waved his arm in the air. Black shadow spurted from the stump like blood. “FOOLS – I WILL PULL OUT YOUR ENTRAILS THROUGH YOUR – ”
He never finished the sentence, because a small granite boulder slammed into his head.
It blew through one side and out the other like a bullet through a Jell-O Pudding Cup.
Then a shadow eclipsed the sun.
I looked up to see the Peregrine above us –
And Krug at the railing, summoning another spinning ball of granite in his hands.
I gave a whoop of joy.
For a brief second I thought he might have killed Nix –
But then the wraith’s head reformed, and the two round eyes stared up at the ship above us.
“I WILL ENJOY KILLING YOU, DEMON!” Nix roared –
As two dozen hunters and mages appeared beside Krug and fired.
Bullets, arrows, lightning –
All of it pierced Nix’s body.
“NRAAGH!” he screamed in fury.
I added to the blasts with Soul Suck.
Numbers flashed around Nix like coins spilling out of a Las Vegas slot machine.
- 2000
- 2000
- 1500
- 1700
I knew that he had 2.5 million hit points, but the sheer volume of attacks he was sustaining at once –
I hoped against hope that it would be enough.
And apparently it was.
His body pulsed and writhed and seemed to rip apart from the inside –
And then he exploded outwards in a giant plume of black smoke.