“Uh, what exactly—”
“Duck!”
Taelien ducked just in time to avoid a spear of ice that lanced out from the darkness ahead of them. His sword was in his hand a moment later, the destructive essence around the Sae’kes making a tearing noise as it crackled against the barriers around them.
He heard what sounded like a giggle from the forest ahead.
“Okay, nope. Done with games.” Taelien walked ahead of the group. “Can you hear me, singer? You want to talk, you come to us. No more bewitching music, no more cowardly attacks from the shadows.”
The music stopped in an instant.
The temperature around them dropped rapidly.
Taelien heard a crack as the trees around them froze. Then, a moment later, the ones closest to them shattered like glass.
“Uh, Sal, I think you might have upset her.”
“Yeah, thinking that might be the case, Wrynn, thanks.” His grip on the Sae’kes tightened. “But I’m absolutely done with subtlety and tricks. That’s never been my style, and I’m tired of it. Sometimes, when you’re in an evil forest, there’s only one thing to do about it.”
Burn.
A burst of flame emanated from his right hand, surging up and mingling with aura around the Sae’kes. As the auras intermingled, the destructive aura shifted, taking on the properties of the flame.
His sword blazed with silver fire as he walked forward. “You want to sing? Fine. Come sing with us. We’re right here.”
A white blur descended from the sky, crashing into the ground in the middle of the path ahead like a meteor. As the blur landed, the stone path froze and cracked on contact, and the air around it fell still.
As the blur shifted closer, the wind itself seemed to freeze in its wake.
It stopped a mere dozen feet away, solidifying into the form of a tall, blue-skinned woman. Her hair was a flowing sheet of ice, and her skin was translucent crystal, showing something white shimmering within.
In her right hand she held a halberd wrought from frost, and in her left hand she held a gleaming blue crystal. Strange dark markings were visible on her forehead, a stark contrast to the brightness of the remainder of her form.
She whipped her arm to the right, and a tendril of shadow erupted from it, lashing out into the shades that flanked the group. Where the shadow touched, the ruinshades changed, shifting in color to a blue-white and solidifying.
Then she moved her hand to the left, shadow striking out again — but Taelien was faster this time.
As he swung downward, a wave of flame shot forward, cutting the shadowy tendrils in two.
The icy figure hissed, stepping back.
The now-solid shadows on the right side of the group began to slowly advance from the trees, lifting their frozen claws.
Taelien smiled for the first time in days.
Finally, something I can actually fight. This is better.
He took a few steps forward. “I’ve got the big one. Handle the ice shadows.”
“Uh, Sal, love you but no.” Wrynn stepped up next to him. “You’re not fighting her by yourself.”
“Why not? I’ve got fire, and she seems to hate that.”
Wrynn raised a figure. “Yeah, that’s good. But remember when I said that ruinshades could occasionally possess things other than humans?”
The frozen woman floated closer, raising her halberd.
“Sure.”
“Well,” Wrynn winced. “I’m pretty sure she’s what happens when a ruinshade possesses a god.”
Chapter XVIII – Lydia VI – Winter
Vendria gasped in Lydia’s mind.
[No, no, no. She can’t be here.]
Please, be calm, Vendria. We are strong. We will handle this fight together.
[I...don’t...]
Lydia couldn’t focus on Vendria entirely. The frozen woman was striding forward, and the icy shades had begun to circle them.
Taelien ignored Wrynn’s warning and charged straight at the angry possessed deity. This was, in Lydia’s assessment, the least surprising thing that had happened in days.
The goddess didn’t bother moving. Instead, the air around Taelien shimmered for an instant, then froze.
In a moment, he was encased in a solid block of ice.
Only then did the goddess raise her hand, pointing at Taelien’s chest. A glimmering blue field appeared around her finger, growing larger by the moment.
“Taelien!” Lydia dropped her cane, reaching for a belt pouch at her side. She didn’t have long to panic.
The ice around Taelien cracked. A moment later, it shattered into a thousand shards.
The goddess released her attack — a blast of focused darkness that seemed to warp the air around it.
Taelien cut the beam in half. The split blast streaked past him, careening into a nearby tree.
The tree withered where it struck. In moments, it was naught but white dust.
Taelien glanced back, saw the effect of the beam, then turned back toward the goddess and let out an appreciative whistle. “Nice. Wouldn’t want to be hit with that.” Next, he cracked his neck and stretched. “I can tell you’re going to be fun.”
Wrynn grabbed his arm. “Don’t antagonize her. She’s just warming up.”
Taelien snorted at the pun. “Fine, fine. We’ll end this quickly.” He took another step forward, and again, his sword ignited with fire. “You want to go left, or...”
Lydia finished opening her bag and emptied it out. “Wind, rise.”
A burst of wind carried the dust inside the bag across the battlefield, and with her mind, she controlled where it moved. If Wrynn was right, she’d need to do some subtler work to ensure the fight went the way they wanted.
Wrynn blurred forward, toward the left as Taelien had indicated. She smashed a fist into the frozen woman’s form, sending the goddess staggering back a step. A glyph flashed in the air on the impact, but Lydia didn’t have a chance to identify the strange symbol.
Taelien rushed to the goddess’ right, swinging the Sae’kes.
The blade sliced through her halberd, then the center of her body, seemingly without resistance.
She slid into two halves. And, as the halves fell, her top half screamed.
Her body vanished entirely, leaving Taelien looking horrified. “That... shouldn’t have happened. I was restraining the cutting aura, I wouldn’t have...”
Lydia spun around, finding the goddess right behind her.
She barely managed to put her arms up and think “shield” before a frozen blast slammed into her.
Infectious permafrost, her Comprehensive Barrier reported.
She let out a gasp as she processed that, and noted the ice spreading further along the shield. She whipped a hand upward, blasting much of the ice clinging to the shield away with wind, but the few fragments remaining began to rapidly spread.
Then the frozen shades were upon them. Wrynn jumped in front of Lydia, smashing one apart with a bare fist. Again, a glyph flashed in the air on impact. Her movements that followed were a blur that was too fast for Lydia to follow, with individual strikes annihilating frozen creatures without difficulty.
Taelien rushed straight back for the goddess.
Again, his sword rose and fell, but this time she vanished before he even struck.
She reappeared right behind him, stretching out an already-glowing hand.
He spun, but not in time.
Lydia waved her hand. A gust of wind blasted Taelien out of the way.
That left the goddess to throw the blast of withering energy straight at Lydia instead.
Her barrier, already half-frozen, shattered the instant the beam came in contact with it.
Accelerated decay, her barri
er reported as it failed.
Vendria’s secondary shield flickered into existence just in time. The green, shell-like structure seemed to hold better against the blast, but still began to crack almost immediately.
It might have failed a moment later if the goddess wouldn’t have stopped, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
The voice that invaded Lydia’s mind wasn’t Vendria’s. It was frigid and cold, withered and decayed. But it was almost the same.
It was Vendria’s voice that replied.
[That’s...Lydia, she’s...]
Lydia’s eyes shifted to the gemstone in the woman’s hands, and she understood. “You’re her winter aspect, aren’t you? Venlyra, the Cold of Winter.”
She stepped forward, reaching out with a hand. “It’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you. We can—”
The world around them froze.
Taelien and Wrynn ceased to move, and the remaining shades froze along with them.
The air, the wind, even the flames around Taelien’s sword stilled.
Lydia couldn’t move. She couldn’t even breathe.
In a moment, she felt her breath come surging back, and she could move.
The others around her remained frozen, save for Venlyra. As Lydia watched, Venlyra slowly raised a hand in a beckoning gesture.
Lydia glanced around, processing what she was seeing.
...Is this...time sorcery?
She knew such things existed, but she’d never seen anything like it in person. It was truly remarkable, a power on a scale she couldn’t possibly resist on her own.
But she wasn’t alone.
A silver layer of energy appeared around Wrynn, then she snapped free of the spell effect. “Annoying.”
Venlyra whipped her head toward Wrynn just in time to take a punch straight to the face.
Her frozen body flew backward, smashing into the ground and shattering to pieces.
Then it flashed and vanished, gem and all.
Taelien took a breath, spinning around, holding his sword defensively. “What...was that? It was like everything slowed, and then—”
“No time to talk. Now she’s starting to get irritated. I—”
A frozen lance pierced Wrynn from behind without warning.
Wrynn looked down, groaned, and snapped it in half. Blood flowed from the wound. “That’s...even more annoying.” She fell to her knees.
“Wrynn!” Taelien rushed over to her, his eyes searching the area for the attacker without any success.
Lydia worked while Venlyra was gone. “Dreams, seek and bear my message,” she whispered. The sand she’d spread flickered in the air, seeking targets. “Shield.” A new barrier appeared around her.
“She’s not here.” Wrynn coughed, fingers going to the wound in her chest. “Those bodies we’re fighting...they’re just puppets.”
The air around them grew colder.
“You’re wrong.”
Another form of the goddess appeared, speaking out loud for the first time. Hundreds of blades and spikes of ice flew in circles around her, obscuring her body. “They’re not puppets. They’re pieces. Precious pieces of me.”
Venlyra’s visage shifted to a scowl. “And you broke them. You’ll pay—”
Taelien didn’t give her a chance to finish talking, he just swung the Sae’kes and projected a cutting wave of fire in her direction. Her blades of ice flew in the way. A handful of them melted, but hundreds remained, and more began forming every moment.
Dozens of them flashed toward Taelien and Wrynn a moment later.
Taelien’s blade moved in a flurry, his arms a blur beyond Lydia’s ability to follow. His speed had increased vastly since she’d last seen him fight.
But he still wasn’t fast enough. Tiny fragments of ice slipped through his defense. Many broke harmlessly against the defensive spell that Lydia had placed on him, and others shattered against his reinforced skin.
A few bits of ice glimmered brighter than the rest, leaving jagged cuts as they cut his skin like tiny knives.
He grunted, concentrating, and flames burst from his skin. No further ice would harm him; it melted before it came close.
She’d only seen him use that trick once before. It was an impressive technique, but one with a severe time limit.
She’d have to work fast.
“Eru volar shen taris.” The ring on Lydia’s right hand flashed, and a ball of blue-white flame appeared. She hurled it toward the goddess.
Frozen swords flew to intercept the sphere.
Lydia snapped her fingers. “Burst.”
The sphere detonated in a thundering crack. Swords melted into rain, and the frozen air of the forest was momentarily replaced with a warm mist.
The bottom half of Venlyra’s body had been melted away for a moment.
The ring’s attack had been far stronger than she’d managed before. With Hartigan’s training, she’d mastered it, preparing for a rematch with Sterling.
It still hadn’t been enough to destroy the goddess.
...But it wasn’t meant to. It just needed to make an opening.
As Venlyra raised a hand in the air to counterstrike, the ruinshades struck her from behind.
Venlyra screamed and spun in confusion as phantasmal claws raked the remainder of her body. She flickered backward, appearing on the ground, still missing her lower half. A barrier appeared around her. “What have you—”
The ruinshades pursued Venlyra, flying after her and clawing at her barrier. It held, but the goddess was struggling now. More ruinshades were emerging from the forest — dozens, hundreds of them.
Every time Venlyra blasted one, three more seemed to descend from the sky or emerge from the ground beneath her.
Venlyra howled, spinning toward Lydia. “You took my children.”
The goddess raised her hands, darkness forming between them. Lydia recognized the spell as something similar to the withering beam she’d seen before, but this was on a much larger scale. “You’ll wither and—”
Wrynn surged forward from the ground, grabbing the goddess by the neck. “Stop.”
Venlyra froze in place, her eyes wide. The sphere of blackness between her hands warbled dangerously.
Taelien made a running jump, swung the Sae’kes, and sliced the sphere of darkness in half.
Wrynn trembled. “The gem! Now!”
Taelien spun and raised the Sae’kes to strike.
“No, wait!” Lydia rushed forward and put her hand on his arm.
“It’s her true—” Wrynn began, then broke into a cough.
Venlyra slowly began to move again.
“I know. Don’t destroy her. I have a better answer.” Lydia stepped forward, releasing Taelien and moving her hand to touch the blue gem. “Dominion of Knowledge, link our minds.”
Interlude II — Venlyra —Seasons
Venlyra remembered Rendalir.
She remembered the frozen tops of mountain peaks, the hidden palaces far below the surface of the oceans, and the seemingly endless books of Ionel’s libraries.
Most of all, she remembered the cage.
She remembered waking in a prison of silver bars tinged with red. All around it was a void, seemingly without end.
She didn’t remember how she’d gotten there, but she knew that something was wrong. There was a burning pain in her chest, and when she inspected it, she found the lingering traces of a wound. A scar that should have been impossible, for her body had been completely rebuilt as she changed to her current seasonal state.
Worse, she remembered the cracks.
The spiderweb-like veins of blackness spreading across her chest. It was a slow progression, but a horrifying one. She recognized it immediately.
She clutched her hand to her chest.
No, no, no. This isn’t happening.
She
trembled in her prison, sucking in a breath.
Stop panicking. Solve. You’re intact, for now.
She balled her hands, but steeled herself. She was no powerless mortal to be consumed by a shade in mere moments. As long as she had her mind and her power, she could find a way forward.
Venlyra closed her eyes. She was not a healer, like her sister-self of spring, but she counted water among one of her dominions. True, her efforts to heal the so-called “vek taint” with water sorcery in the past had failed...but humans changed faster. She was more resilient. And she had ways of buying time to experiment further, didn’t she?
She was the winter. She could freeze anything in place — an affliction was no exception. That had to be the first step.
She pressed a hand against the center of the spreading shadows and spoke. “Stop.”
Nothing happened.
No flash of power, no cessation of the progression of the shadow.
Then then pain shot through her body, seemingly striking every part of her at once.
>You’re awake, I see.<
The voice was not one of sound; it was within the sharpness inside her body, digging into her very essence. And, somehow, it was also in the void beyond the cage. The infinite nothingness that stretched beyond even her comprehension.
She shivered as she recognized the tone. Not because she’d heard him speak before, but because every being on her world had been born with a primal fear of that voice.
Mere gods were no exception.
Venlyra trembled, but her eyes searched the void. “Sun Eater. What have you done to me?”
>You have been shown the price of resistance.<
The pain surged through her again, agonizing. Rather than falling, however, she moved to the bars. When she gripped the silver-red metal, her hand burned.
She didn’t flinch away. She pulled with every bit of her might, because she understood that she was rapidly running out of time.
If the Sun Eater was speaking to her, then...
The metal strained against her strength. She could not call extra power to empower her form as Venora had, but her body was still divinely forged. No mundane material could match her.
>A worthy effort, but pointless. You would not survive exposure to the outside.<
‹ Prev Next ›