by Erik Weir
“Care to explain yourself,” Victor said with an annoyed edge.
The shadow dipped its head, eyes closing for a moment before opening and standing straighter. “After you hear the truth, will my death be next?”
Victor and Lily stared at the shadow before the Blade shook his head.
The shadow gave a small thin smile. “Do you remember the first time your father beat you?”
Victor looked away, the memory of his father seeing his messy room and then beating him until he couldn’t stand. It was the first time he lost control but the scars would be forever there. The tumor had just begun to press on his brain and it caused a once kind man to become horrific and evil.
The shadow continued, “I was exploring…trying to find a new home to feed and live. I could feel your sadness and I came into your home. Your damaged spirit called to me and I was like a moth to a flame. I came into your room as you sobbed in the dark. You didn’t notice through the pain as I slipped into your heart.”
The shadow looked away. “I thought I could simply live and feed off you until your eventual suicide. But, despite your pain, you saw through it, even when it had become too much. I no longer thought of you as food. You had become someone to respect.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed, “And you became the voice in my head. I thought you were just another part of my mind, slowly going crazy...but you…encouraged me.”
The shadow nodded. “Part of it was survival, but the other part was to see you grow. Not many are strong enough to overcome their pain. You did. I can’t help but feel you infected me as much as I infected you.”
The shadow looked to Victor with sad blue glowing eyes. “I cannot survive and keep everything I learned if I don’t inhabit a body. Vala may have an answer for us, but I must ask to return to your heart until we find that answer.”
Lily’s brow wrinkled, “You have faith in Vala?”
The shadow nodded. “I do. After everything we just experienced, I too wish to worship the Goddess of lust and love. Maybe she can heal what I am.”
Lily crossed her arms. “Even if you do have faith, if you think I will let you return to Victor you’re sadly mistaken!”
Victor looked to Lily and touched her shoulder. The succubus turned to the Blade, seeing the answer already in his eyes. Lip curving, she barely gave a head nod before Victor let go and stepped closer to the shadow.
“Since you’re not my madness, what name shall you go by?”
The shadow let a small smile form. “Please, call me Chill. It seemed to suit me.”
Victor smirked. Chill bowed his head before his form sharpened, rose up and struck Victor’s chest. The Blade gritted his teeth as the shadow sank into his chest. When the last bit slipped into his chest, Victor let out a strong exhale, feeling the darkness settled around his heart.
“Family is getting bigger,” Victor said offhandedly.
Lily curled her arm under his and the pair walked on. They reached Cassandra’s home and stepped inside. The pair moved to the Keeper’s bedroom. Cassandra lay with a blanket over her, chest rising and falling. Dawn sat on a chair by the bed. The elf looked up to the Blade and Shield as they entered.
“She hasn’t woken up yet,” Dawn said with a sad tone.
Lily stepped closer and pressed a hand to Cassandra’s forehead. “I tried to heal her before, but what happened to her is beyond my abilities. She spent too much of her energy. The best thing we can do is watch her until she wakes…if she wakes.”
Victor looked down, “She’ll wake up. She’s too tough to stay like this.”
Dawn stood up; eyes dark. “I have to go back to my sister. She will need her next dose.”
Victor looked to the elf with glasses. “How is she?”
Dawn sighed before she spoke. “She is much better. Her madness has quelled and hopefully by the end of the treatment, she will be my true sister again.”
The elf tilted her head to the Blade and Shield. “I can’t thank you both enough. If you didn’t take us in and help find the ingredients, I would be out there still searching for a cure.”
Dawn stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Victor and Lily’s necks, giving them a tight hug. The pair returned the hug. All three stood for a long moment before Dawn broke the embrace. The blonde elf gave Victor and Lily a warm smile before leaving the room and Cassandra’s home.
Victor and Lily looked down at Cassandra as she slept peacefully.
“How are we going to feed her while she’s like this,” Victor asked.
“Here in Vala’s realm, we don’t really need food. Her power can nourish us. Cassandra has told me she has gone long periods without food and never felt weak because of it. Vala will watch over her, just like us.”
Victor nodded and looked to the sad succubus. Taking her hand, the Blade gently pulled the demoness with him. The pair made their way out of the Cassandra’s home and stepped out to the stony street. They walked until they reached the edge of the stone barrier, overlooking the bottom of the mountain.
Victor and Lily smiled as Wynn, the cat women and the slyths held up bottles and began to drink. May began to sing and the rest joined in. The graves were filled in but it seemed the acolytes were celebrating to chase away the sorrow in their hearts. The dancing and singing were infectious as Victor found himself smiling.
Lily looked over to the Blade. She took hold of his arm and leaned her horned head on his shoulder. “The pantheon of Gods will take what happened here seriously. They will influence their cults and religions to chase us, slay us.”
Victor faced the succubus and held her close, his gaze meeting hers. “When they come, we will stop them. Vala will rise again.”
The Blade leaned in and pressed his lips to Lily’s lips. Warmth blazed between their beating hearts as they savored each other. The small realm seemed to roll to a stop as they held each other close. When their lips parted, Lily pressed a hand to Victor’s chest and looked up into his green eyes.
Victor smiled. “Let’s go downstairs, enjoy good company and toast to those who will forever be in our hearts.”
Lily nodded with a small smile. The pair split except for holding hands. They walked slowly as voices sang on. A nagging doubt touched his mind as they walked to the stairs. Vala’s enemies would dog their every step. Victor squeezed Lily’s hand, knowing as long as they were together, they would defeat any foe and bring back true love to the realms.
Yes, WE will.
Victor grinned as he helped Lily down the stairs to the singing and dancing below, hands beckoning to join the celebration in the pale moonlight.
~Fin~
Realm Walker
Monsters and Angels
Book Two
Erik Weir
One
Dark gray clouds stretched from horizon to horizon. The air took on an electrical charge as a breeze caressed large green leaves. Amid the thick jungle, two pairs of eyes stared out to a mountain in the distance. Black and gray smoke spiraled into the air, touching the already dark sky. Tall flames danced from bonfires as figures camped, ate and patrolled the area right before the mountain. Tents stood with spears leaning against wooden racks. Three mammoths picked at trees along the edge of camp, their massive trunks coiling and pulling plants before stuffing them in their mouths.
Victor never blinked as his eyes drank in the scene. The Blade stayed on his knees, information filling the sides of his vision. Nano-drones worked, scanning the camp, counting people who populated it and noting locations. Victor’s senses sharpened as data indicated probabilities of success and creating a small map in his visual display.
A purple-skinned succubus moved closer to the Blade, hand on his shoulder but red eyes on the camp before the mountain, “How many?”
Victor continued to stare as he spoke, “So far, about three hundred. There are three mammoths off to the side. The cave entrance is guarded by a dozen big guys and I have no idea how many more are inside the mountain.”
Lily tu
rned her red eyes to the Blade, “There might be too many. How do you feel about it?”
Victor blinked and turned his attention to the beautiful demoness, “Pretty positive. They are savages…strong, intelligent savages, but I still feel we have an edge.”
Lily watched as the Blade gave a confident grin before turning her attention to the camp. “This might be too big for us right now.”
Victor reached over and gave the succubus’s shoulder a light squeeze, “This is the perfect time to get back to the crusade. If I spend another day in Vala’s realm, I think I’m going to go crazy.”
Lily shook her head, “It’s only been two weeks since Baaldir attacked. Maybe we should take a little more time.”
Victor looked to the succubus’s tail as it trembled slightly, “Cold tail?”
Lily’s brow wrinkled, “No, just uneasy. Since we are here and Cassandra…,” the succubus trailed off.
Victor gave an understanding nod. “I know you feel Vala’s realm might be open to another attack but Vala did show us this place in our dreams. I doubt she wants us to simply wait until Cassandra wakes up. Besides, the acolytes can hold the fort while we’re gone.”
Lily sat down, head tilted forward and shadows covering her eyes. “Vala has so many enemies.”
Victor eyed Lily as she sat. It didn’t take a supernatural connection to see the succubus was filled with concern and a touch of uncertainty. The last two weeks were spent in mourning and recovering from the invasion of Vala’s mountain. The Blade knew Lily and Cassandra spent a lot of time together those years before he came along. The Keeper was the closest thing to family the succubus had.
Victor sat down next to the succubus, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “I know your worried about Cassandra, we all are. She’s going to wake up. The best thing we can do now is bring ourselves that much closer to resurrecting Vala.”
Lily turned her gaze to Victor’s, seeing a light in his eyes.
The Blade smiled. “Let’s do our job. I need my Shield, and my partner.”
The succubus gave a wry smile before nodding slightly. “I’m here for you. So, how do we want to do this?”
Victor nodded before turning to the mountain camp in the distance. “I can gain a few powers here in the Tempest Realm. Once I activate them, I’ll attack down the middle while you try to distract the mammoths.”
Lily stared for a moment before speaking, “Mammoth duty? Shouldn’t I be at your side when we attack?”
“You know I want you at my side but I can’t see myself fighting the mammoths. They are just too cool to hurt and…I would feel bad. If you distract them until I reach the cave entrance, we can meet up and I’ll close the entrance behind us.”
“There could be an army in the mountain. You feel confident we can take them all on?”
A dreamy memory touched the Blade’s mind, seeing four faces in anguish as they were whipped. They cried out as their torturers delighted in their suffering. Victor and Lily were in each other’s arms as the dreams crawled into their minds, the pair waking up as images of whips came down again and again. Victor knew it was Vala, guiding what they had to do. When they entered the mists, they arrived not far from where they currently were hiding. The goddess gave them their time to mourn but the crusade must continue, for all their sakes.
“It’s better that we try. We don’t know how long the prisoners will last and I’m tired of sitting on my hands. Let’s kick some ass in Vala’s name.”
A tiny flame ignited in the succubus and she nodded in agreement.
Victor looked to the mammoths and the camp, “How long do you think it will take you to reach the mammoths?”
Lily followed the Blade’s gaze, “Ten minutes, I think.”
“Okay, start making your way down and if I run into trouble…” the demoness cut him off.
“I’m not leaving you behind,” Lily said with a scowl.
Victor smiled. “I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say do everything you can to rescue me. They threatened to eat me last time and I don’t feel like being anyone’s meal.”
Lily gave the Blade an evil smirk, “That’s right, you’re my meat.”
The couple’s smiles grew broader. Victor looked to the demoness as she kissed his cheek. Getting to her feet and staying low, Lily gave Victor a wink before darting into the thick jungle. The Blade watched as she was swallowed up by the trees and was gone from sight.
Victor closed his eyes for a moment, spreading out his senses and calming his heart. Despite his confidence, the young man couldn’t deny his own reservations. An enemy god walked into Vala’s realm and tried to kill everyone there. Victor opened his eyes and looked away, the images of Hisk, Anita, and Abby still fresh in his heart and their remains buried in a small cemetery. Lamenting on their deaths would only slow them down. He needed to focus on the tasks at hand if they were going to be that much closer to bringing Vala back.
Victor pulled up his stats in his vision. His gaze caught sight of the line where he had three powers he could unlock. The time he spent in the Xull realm was too short. Had he stayed just a little longer, he could have acquired three powers from that realm. The Blade knew he had to more careful since the battle in Vala’s realm nearly killed him as well. Since he was here in the Tempest Realm, this was the best time to try and max out one of his Spheres of Influence. Taking a deep breath, he mentally tapped at the Powers to be Unlocked.
Energy surged into his body as he sat, chest pushing out and eyes wide. Power crawled into his heart and snaked out to his limbs. Three points of inner light slid open and the Blade let out a long exhale as his alerts and stat sheet changed.
You have unlocked the Jump ability!
You have unlocked the Animal Shapeshift ability!
You have unlocked the War Form ability!
Victor Hobbs
Acolytes Unlocked- 17/77
Divine Orbs- 1
Powers to Unlock-0
Spheres of Influence
Str (Gaia)- 5
Con (Nano)- 4
Int (Abyss)- 3
Will (Holy)- 3
Wis (Mind)- 4
Cha (Shadow)- 3
Swords
Iron Sword
Elemental Sword
Gun Blade
Sphere Abilities/Powers
Mind
Speak/Read/Write Languages
Gaia
Increased Strength/Speed
Animal Tongues
Jump
Animal Shapeshift
War Form
Nano
Heightened Senses Upgrade
Shadow
Holy
Abyss
Impulse Control Touch
Victor studied his stats. Each sphere of influence has six powers he had to unlock. Looking to the Gaia Sphere, he saw that he now had five out of six. The Blade was that much closer to becoming a force to be reckoned with, but he knew he still had a long way to go. With six realms and six powers from each, he had to make sure he was gaining each ability as quickly as he could.
Victor focused on the Gaia Sphere. Gaining a power was pretty self-explanatory, but how to use it was another matter. Judging from his own experiences, the extent of his powers was learned through trial and error. The Jump ability seemed obvious, but he didn’t know how far or how long he could jump. The Animal Shapeshift ability seemed very interesting, and again he didn’t know what the limitations were on what animals he could change into. The Blade looked to the War Form ability and wasn’t sure what would happen, and it made him feel uneasy.
Change into a fly, and buzz into the cave.
Victor frowned. “And leave Lily out there tackling the Mammoths…no,” the Blade whispered.
She’s a big girl. She can handle herself.
“Chill, if you’re not going to be helpful, be quiet,” Victor said in an annoyed tone to the shadow lurking in his heart.
An invisible smile filled the Blade’s heart.
&nbs
p; I am being helpful. You should use discretion when entering the camp instead of what I know you’re going to do…diplomacy and then bash your way in.
Victor shook his head. “I don’t think the savages are open to diplomacy.”
So, aggressive negotiations is your plan?
Victor looked up to the sky, time ticking away. “I’d rather not kill anyone if I can help it. Maybe a display of power will cause them to run.”
I think you underestimate the stupidity of the mob. You killed war wolves, and that didn’t slow them down. Face it; they are going to come at you with everything they have.
“Then this will be the time I show them death isn’t the only answer,” Victor smiled and stood up.
This is a mistake.
“Maybe…let’s make it a spectacular one,” Victor laughed.
Mentally taking hold of his Spheres of Influence, the Blade channeled a point of Strength into his Jump ability. Power surged into his legs as his entire body felt lighter. Victor bent his legs while keeping his eyes on the camp in the distance. A steady pulse of energy coiled into every cell as the Blade readied himself. Taking a deep breath, the energy reached a tipping point and Victor blasted off into the air.
The Blade’s eyes widened as the ground grew smaller as he launched himself skyward. Wind whipping at his trench coat, Victor looked around with a grin. A quick alert appeared in his vision indicating he was still ascending, reaching a height of two hundred feet in the air. Still climbing, eyes looked down as the lush jungle blurred past. When he reached two hundred and fifty feet, he hit the apex of his jump and almost glided forward before gravity began to pull him down. Falling, his eyes grew to the size of saucers, a thought stabbing into his mind wondering if he would survive the landing.
The Blade quickly fell and when the ground rose up to meet him, he landed with a cloud of dirt billowing up. Not wanting to slow down, he was low to the ground before launching into the sky once again. Wind touching him again, he savored it as the thrill of almost flying filled his senses. For a brief instant he nearly forgot he was jumping into battle, and when he reached the apex of his jump and began to fall, he looked down to the wide-eyed expressions of the camp as they watched, stunned.