by Randi Darren
He wasn’t about to tell anyone that, though.
“Let’s go let the others know,” Sam said instead. “No sense in them wasting ammo either. Then we should figure out where we are.”
“I can tell you that already,” Aster said from the other side of the gate entrance. “This is Retribution’s. All of it.”
“Really?” Sam asked. “I… but… isn’t he missing?”
“Yes, he is, and no, he isn’t here, but this is his fort,” Aster said. “And before you ask how I know, because the Scales are here.
“They’re sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the courtyard, covered in dust, but they’re there.”
“The scales?” Jes asked.
“The Scales of Justice,” Sam said and then sighed. “And if he’s not here, that means the balance is on its own.
“The Judge is gone, the Tenders are gone, Retribution is gone, I… what’s next, the Fates?”
Aster grimaced at that, her frown looking rather troubled.
“Actually… I haven’t heard from the Fates since I came back. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that I worked with them a lot. I reached out to them. Several times,” Aster murmured. “There was no response at all.”
Sighing, Sam pressed his hands to his face.
“By the Originator, the Prime is coming apart at the seams,” said Sam. “A pox on the Silent One’s twisted nethers. This is far worse than I ever thought it could possibly be.”
Eleven - Irony -
“A great many cogs and wheels, spinning, turning, pushing things along,” Sam murmured. “All without someone to tend to it.”
Shaking his head he stared at the Scales of Justice. A giant set which was the size of a small building. In the cup on the right was a small glowing pile of gold, silver, and white squares. Stacked and organized appropriately.
In the left cup, was an overwhelming pile of black and gray squares. The scales were so terribly unbalanced that it was almost as if one side would touch the ground.
One of the tools left behind by the Originator himself to help balance the world. To keep everything in motion and moving accordingly.
From everything Sam had heard over the ages, there were a great many mechanisms littered throughout the planes just like this. Things that measured and offered the ability to mold and shape the world accordingly.
“And the Log is just like the Scales. For all of that… the Silent One does nothing with any of it. If anything, this whole existence is unraveling. When it finally goes… it’s likely to cost him more to hold it all together than it would have to simply maintain it,” Sam said and then sighed heavily.
“Sounds like my mom,” Hillary said from Sam’s left. “She’d rather spend what she had in her hand on a new toy than replace the tires on the car. Even though it’d probably cost more when the tires fail and we have to get a tow truck to haul it, too.”
“Yes. It’s expensive being poor, more so for those who aren’t aware of the value of money,” said Sam with an odd smirk.
“Damn right it is,” Hillary grumbled, folding her arms in front of herself. “Though… obviously my life is pretty good now. Never thought I’d get paid so much to have a boyfriend and run around with a gun.”
Boyfriend?
Sam didn’t argue her statement, though he realized he’d have to talk to Irma about it. He’d always been of the opinion that mortals couldn’t truly have sex more often than a one-night stand without feelings getting involved for mortals.
Well, there are exceptions but those tend to be damaged in one way or another.
“—bought a new car for the first time ever,” Hillary said. “Baby the damn thing all the time. Fucking Ass spilled french fries all over the other day and I made her pick them up.”
“You’ve become quite friendly with Aster,” Sam said, looking away from the forgotten and depressing mechanism of a god long since forced to flee.
“Huh? I mean, yeah. We’re all kinda in this… feed… harem… thing, so we really should be friends. Shouldn’t we? As far as I understand it, I’m more or less immortal as long as you’re my boyfriend,” Hillary said with a shrug of her shoulders. “That means everyone else is, too. And you don’t seem like the type to get rid of people which means… which means unless someone opts out… I’ll be with these girls a really long time.
“So why not be friends? It’s a little harder with Wren and Tiffany but I think they’re just so much older than I am that it makes them a bit harder to relate to. I’m good with Carissa, Irene, Stacia, Aster, Abby, and Irma.”
“And Decima?” Sam asked.
“No one really gets along with her, but that’s how she wants it as far as I know. Whatever. Like… it’s not really my problem to force her to be friends. She and Ass talk a lot though,” Hillary said. “Okay. I’m going to go check on Carissa.”
Hillary leaned over and kissed Sam for a second before wandering off.
Looking back at the Scales, Sam took in a slow breath and let it out.
As he watched, a light gray block became a darker shade of gray and the Scales shifted fractionally.
And it’s always getting worse. Maybe… maybe it really is time to get my own plane back together. Get everyone off the Prime. There’s no reason to remain anymore.
Jes and Aster could connect their planes to mine and we could… we could just have one big plane to ourselves.
We three Branded.
Turning away from the Scales, Sam headed over to the large doors which led to the center of the fort. They’d already spent some time wandering around it, looking for supplies or anything usable.
A large number of planar weapons, armor, and gear, but no food of any sort.
Or water.
Both of which would be something they would need to find soon for the mortals in their group.
Standing in the inside of the “throne room” of the fort, Sam found Aster and Jes in a quiet conversation.
“Hey, baby,” Jes said, giving him a wide smile. “Come for a three-way? I wouldn’t mind sitting on Aster’s pretty face while you filled her up.”
“Oh, hell yes. Sign me up and then fill me up,” Aster said with a laugh. “I bet we could go for hours between the three of us. Let’s go find something comfy though. I think these stones would screw my back up as you two rolled me.”
“Ah… no,” Sam said with a smile. He wanted to say yes, but he’d noticed Decima was acting decidedly odd since the orgy. There’d need to be a conversation with her before he let himself run wild again.
Not to mention this doesn’t seem like the time or place.
“I really just—”
Sam froze in mid-sentence. He could feel a direct connection to his personal plane suddenly. It was faint, but there.
Latching onto it, he reached out and tore open a portal right then and there back to his personal plane.
On the other side of the portal, he could see the vast grasslands of his very empty plane full of animals, water, and nature. Even the castle he lived out of when he’d been trapped there was visible off in the distance.
But not a single solitary living Humanoid.
“How did—oh, I can feel my plane,” Jes said. Lifting a hand, she reached out and punched a hole straight to her own plane as well.
“Well, I don’t have a plane anymore,” Aster said. “Jenaphila took it. But I can feel it. I really should make a new one.
“Though… why can we suddenly feel them?”
“Because someone opened a portal somewhere,” Sam said, reinforcing the portal to his plane. He wasn’t about to lose this exit. They could easily get back home from here with almost no effort as long as it remained open.
“But there isn’t—oh, I suppose we have visitors somewhere,” Jes murmured. “But who would come to a place like this? I don’t think anyone’s been here in a while.”
“Could be Retribution. Or one of the other Archangels of the Originator,” Aster said, getting to her feet. “A few s
tayed behind with Retribution. They led quite the guerrilla war.”
Sam winced at that possibility. He’d run across Retribution on occasion and they hadn’t gotten along very well.
The three planar lords exited and went to the wall.
Tiffany and Wren were standing side by side near the front gate. Looking out to the distant horizon.
Definitely something out there then.
Grabbing his SMG as he went by the Scales, Sam kept moving. Straight up the stairs and onto the wall next to Wren and Tiffany.
Out in the distance, a great many people were heading their way.
“Angelics, Planars, Weres,” Sam said, peering out at the group heading their way. “The… the Fates. Tenders. The Judge.”
“What?” Aster asked, catching up to Sam and looking out as well. “Oh… it… really is. Damn. What the hell? I mean… we could just open up right now and send them straight to hell. What are they thinking?”
“They’re thinking that we’re not who they expect to be here,” Wren growled. “They’re interested in the fort, or whoever should be here, not us.”
“And that means we need to get into cover and hide our positions,” Decima said from behind them. At some point, she’d joined them. “Wren, front left tower, Tiffany, gate overlook. Aster, Jes, Sam, could you please get down and out of sight?”
“Oh, sure. Let’s have that three-way right here while we wait,” Aster said, sitting down on the stones right there. “I’ll just deal with the stones. Decima, could you take some pictures for me? I really want my first three-way with Jes and Sam to get documented. Could you get some of me when they’re done with me?”
“Whore,” Decima sneered and stormed away. Her face a bright red color.
“I mean… I don’t think so,” Aster said, looking at Jes and Sam. “I mean, you two are my Branded. It’s not like I’m slutting it around. I’ve only had one dick in me for the last fifteen hundred something years and the only pussy I’ve eaten in that same time was attached to a mouth sucking the dick I had in me.”
Sam sighed, his eyes following Decima.
“She’s got a lot to deal with right now. Leave her be,” Sam murmured. “She’s finding that—beyond being lied to about her actions—her entire religion was false. All of it.”
“You know, I wasn’t very fond of the Romans for what they did to my people, but they at least kept everything safe. They even made me Jupiter,” Aster said. “It really was the beginning of the end when the Bogeys decided they didn’t care for the human protectorate.”
“I think we should skip the three-way till we can be alone,” Jes said. “Besides, we’ll need to find someone to bring along for Sam to eat from. I think he’ll want to have you without feeding.”
Jes was right. He planned on having Aster next without any type of feeding.
She knows me too well.
“Fine. No sex. Are we going to talk about the fact that the Tenders, the Judge, the Fates, and a lot of Angelics from both the Originator and the Silent One are all out there together then?” Aster asked. “Because I’d really rather get used by the both of you then talk about that. Because that’s not good at all.”
It really isn’t good, is it? It’s a who’s who of the leftovers from the war.
“Pretty sure that’s the First Were of the Wolf clans by the way,” Aster said. “Just… as an aside. You know. Probably as old as they could be without being an Elemental like me or desire made flesh like Sam. Romulus was always rather strong. I mean, he made Rome single-handedly you know, once he got tired of the Vampires.”
She sounded rather nervous to Sam. She’d seen something out there that’d spooked her.
Looking more carefully, Sam peeked out from between the crenellations.
Then he suddenly saw what was likely the problem.
Her old pantheon was out there. From what Sam could see, it was the entire pantheon. There didn’t seem to be anyone missing. Each and every single person who had been directly in her control and part of her “court” as it were.
Maybe they’re part of the reason she was imprisoned for so long.
Jes was leaning over Aster’s shoulder and talking quietly with the Elemental now. Sam didn’t pay any attention to it. He figured if they wanted him to be part of the conversation, they’d speak louder.
Slowly the group stopped out in front of the gates. One and all, they were peering up at the fort as if they were unsure on what to do next.
The black monsters were endlessly flinging themselves at the newcomers as well. They were being repelled by some type of translucent blue shield that covered everyone.
“Retribution!” called out a young woman in a black dress. She had black hair, black eyes without color at all, or whites, and skin that was as pale as death.
Her figure was slightly more than average and she definitely had an appeal to her.
It was the mistress of all the Tenders, the Judge herself.
The first thing he noticed was how tall she was. Her build was athletic, and an aura of power came from her. Short hair framed a delicate, oval-shaped face with cold eyes.
Beautiful, cold, and as emotionless as one would expect from the queen of Limbo itself. Because everyone faced the Judge after her reapers ushered people across.
“We’d like to discuss matters with you! We have a plan and we’d like to talk to you about it!” called the Judge.
Well Decima? What now?
Sam looked for the Witch-hunter.
She was far down the wall, crouched low behind a block of stone. She was staring at him though, clearly waiting for him to do something.
Damn. She’s worse in her insecurity right now than I thought.
Damn, damn.
Closing his eyes, Sam let out a quick sigh, then made sure his connection with his plane was secure.
Standing up, Sam leaned over the edge of the wall.
“Well, I’m not Retribution, but if you’d like to barter yourself for something I have, I think I’d be more than accommodating,” Sam said with a silky smooth smile. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re stunningly beautiful, Judge?”
There was a stirring in the crowd as Sam revealed himself.
The Judge lifted her chin up, her shoulders squaring. There was also a faint redness in her cheeks.
“Torment of Lust. You have no business being here,” the Judge proclaimed.
“Well, I’d disagree. In fact,” Sam said, spotting someone he wasn’t expecting here. “I’m here on the behalf of Reixhitz who’s returned to the Prime. He’s looking to reclaim something of his that was stolen by a wayward ‘employee’ as it were.
“I’m here to enforce a contract and regain something that’s his. I’m here because of that. The trail and chase just happened to lead me here.”
Locking eyes with Reixhitz’s first spirit, Sam didn’t look away.
The man shrunk slightly at the look Sam gave him.
Frowning, the Judge turned and looked at the same man.
“You said Reixhitz was dead. That you were under no obligations,” accused the Judge.
“He… he was as good as dead. He was sealed away for all time. All his artifacts and summonings were gone,” complained the First Spirit.
“Yes, well, I helped bring him back, after I was brought back,” Sam called out, putting his chin in one hand. He decided to up the ante a bit. “I’m here to collect the Log. By the way… the Curator says hi.”
That got everyone’s attention.
Each and every person was looking at Sam now.
The Judge shook her head, looking angry and bothered at the same time.
“We can’t let you have the Log. We need it,” said the woman.
“Then… we’re at an impasse, because I was hired to bring it back to its rightful owner,” Sam said. “Though I find it funny that you’re about to commit an injustice while standing before the fort of Retribution and asking for his aid. I’m sure he’ll be pleased to hear about it when
he comes back.”
Sam could clearly detect the disgust in the Judge’s face at being lectured so. She was older than even the Angelics and the Elementals.
When the Originator made the world, she’d been first among all.
And she’d sat on her hands when he called for her help.
“We must have it for our plan to succeed,” the Judge said. “And if that means we have to… deal… with you, then so be it.”
That hadn’t been the right thing for the Judge to say.
Decima made a sharp whistle and the fort came to life.
A dark cloud appeared in the sky above them, purple and menacing, as Irene called forth her powers.
Bloody crimson shapes appeared at the edges of it, Stacia using the shadows and shade of Irene’s magic to begin her sorcery there.
Jes popped up, her wings shooting out to each side, and beginning to pool up a large charge of Essence.
Wren, Decima, Hillary, and Abigail all rose up from their positions and aimed their weapons at those below.
Slowly, Aster stood up beside Sam.
Holding up a hand she constructed a bolt of lightning from thin air and held it aloft.
The picture of the old Olympian she was.
“I think you’ll find this is a bit more than you were expecting from just me,” Sam said. Then he did something he hadn’t done before. He pulled on the life Essence he’d been struggling to gather and pool into his plane.
Up until this point, he’d acted as if none of it existed. As if it were not there at all. His goal had been to pile it up as high as possible while never touching it.
Right now, this was a different situation.
Gathering it all up, Sam let himself be what he truly was.
A planar lord of infinite power and prestige that’d battled Gods, Goddesses, Angelics, planar lords, and entire countries.
The Judge and her people were all looking rather nervous now. Though a few seemed poised for battle.
There was a sharp retort of a heavy rifle going off.
One of the Angelics on the end went down to the turf in a heap, the magical construct they’d been about to throw hitting the ground and fizzling out.