“That’s not going to happen,” Brendan said boldly.
Caoranach cackled and moved closer to Elathan. “Are you the god I thought you to be or not? You allow a human to defy you?”
Elathan snarled and walked forward. “I’ve allowed you to live twice, Protector, but this time I will offer no mercy.”
“Neither will I,” Brendan answered.
Brendan ran forward a few steps and then felt his body lift into the air and accelerate towards Elathan. He didn’t fight it but rather used the extra momentum to bring his sword down hard on the ultragod. Elathan’s eyes revealed that he wasn’t prepared for Brendan’s advanced skills and power, but he managed to block the strike anyway. Brendan landed in a skid and looked back at Elathan who was softly lit by the green glow of the orb.
“Your strength has improved,” Elathan observed. “Not that it will help you.”
“You know there’s no reason for this. You could walk away and head back to Tech Duinn satisfied that you did the right thing and leave the Earth alone.”
“This isn’t about Earth anymore, fool—although the Earth will die in the process. Even you should be able to sense the power of the Crown and the power of its designers. This is where I belong.”
…
“You,” Caoranach said, noticing Dorian for the first time. “You reek of the Protector. Are you his one true love?” she added with a scoff.
Dorian didn’t know how to respond to the mother of demons.
Caoranach floated closer to Dorian, smiling as she stopped a dozen feet from her. “Poor child. Sucked into the Protector’s world as such an innocent girl.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dorian claimed, her body glowing red against the green haze that dominated the room.
“There is no Protector that follows, is there? No heir?” Caoranach shook her head mockingly. “The bloodline inheritance ends before you have a chance to pass it along.”
“Well, we’re kind of young…” Dorian started, and then asked, “What are you doing, lady?”
“I’m deciding if I want to keep you or kill you,” Caoranach said, mulling over her decision. “I think I’ll kill you.”
Caoranach raised two closed fists and them opened them slowly to reveal piles of scales. Her eyes were giddy with the prospect of what she was about to do to Dorian. She blew gently and the scales began to float out of her palms. As they left her hand they quickly morphed together to form a two-headed dragon beast that reached fifteen feet tall.
“Crimmany!” Dorian said, leaping backwards trying to not get burned alive by either head of the beast.
She could hear Caoranach cackle as her creation tried to stomp on Dorian and bash her with its tail. Dorian was fast, however, and nimbly avoided the blows. Dorian sent two blasts at the creature’s faces trying to take out its eyes, but the energy just reflected harmlessly off of its eyelids.
One of the heads tried to snap her in two, but she dove out of the way and rolled into a running position, sprinting straight towards the dragon beast’s body. She slid to avoid touching it and came out the other side right next to Oscar and Angie.
“Here!” Oscar said, tossing the bracelet to her. “Frank’s sword is already, for a lack of a better word, programmed into it.”
Dorian clamped the bracelet in place and then remembered that the last time she wore the bracelet she took on Biddy’s wings. Suddenly, two large wings appeared on her back and her left hand gripped an energy falcata. She glanced over to see how Brendan was holding up and saw that he and Elathan were sparring in a near deadlock.
The dragon beast clumsily turned around not having much room to maneuver on the bridged pathway.
“Alright, let’s do this,” Dorian said over Caoranach’s laughter.
…
The arrival of the fachen was quickly becoming a big problem not only due to their power and aggression but also their sheer numbers. Lizzie and Frank were running through the fachen and the Goblins, but they just kept coming.
“How are you holding up?” Frank asked through labored breath.
“Sore, but what choice do we have?” she replied also drawing heavy breaths.
“I smell the blood of a Protector,” Dewi said, pushing a few fachen aside. “Since I can’t have your brother’s head, I’ll take yours instead.”
Dewi heaved out a stream of fire, but Frank stepped in front of Lizzie with his sword. The falcata absorbed the energy and Frank was just about to use it when a purplish-scaled dragon came out of nowhere and squashed Dewi flat beneath its body.
“Violet!” Lizzie shouted excitedly.
“Violet?” Frank asked in surprise. “You have a pet dragon?”
“Oh, can we keep it?” Lizzie pleaded with a smile.
They shared a quick kiss and then Lizzie said, “I’ve got an idea. Follow me.”
Lizzie ran straight for Violet and hopped directly onto her back. Frank waved his hand and pointed to the ground. Two Brags came after him and he blasted them with the energy from his sword.
“He’ll be fine, Violet. Take me up, and let’s see if we can’t even the score a little bit.”
…
Brendan was beginning to work up a sweat as he and Elathan traded strikes. He finally felt a telekinetic force slam into him and knock him across the path nearly taking him over the edge. He almost forgot that he could do the same thing too, so when he established his footing he fired back at the golden god and knocked Elathan back several steps.
Elathan removed his large cloak and slammed it to the hard floor to reveal a warrior’s leather armor. Brendan almost laughed at the drastic difference in their attire. He was still in the usual T-shirt and jeans.
“You can’t win,” declared Elathan. “You’re not strong enough.”
“We’ll see,” Brendan retorted.
They each stalked forward, and then the metal started clanging. Brendan would strike high then low and then have to be on the defensive. Elathan was clearly growing frustrated, so he knocked Brendan’s sword aside and punched the Protector in the face. Brendan was knocked off his feet and rolled across the floor, his lip split and bleeding.
Elathan charged towards him and prepared to strike Brendan when he received a slamming force in the gut that actually knocked the wind out of him. Brendan pushed off the floor and delivered a foot to Elathan’s chin knocking him back.
“Just fall down!” Brendan shouted.
Elathan smiled cruelly as golden tentacles squirmed out of his fingertips. He reached out and the tentacles shot across the pathway and snared Brendan, wrapping tightly around his body.
“Suffer!” Elathan shouted just before he sent ten million volts of energy through Brendan’s body.
Brendan screamed in pain and dropped his sword.
…
“Brendan!” Oscar and Angie yelled in unison.
“Do something, Oscar; you’re a Protector!” Angie pleaded.
Oscar tried to move his legs but it was like he was paralyzed from the waist down. “I can’t move my legs.”
“I can’t watch him die,” Angie said through tears.
“Have faith, Angie. Have faith.”
…
One tree trunk after another popped up from the ground surrounding Olwen, Della, and Colym to protect them from a group of Goblins. The fearsome creatures tried their best to ram their swords and hatchets through the trunks but their efforts were to no avail.
“We’re going to drink your blood and clean the meat from your bones!” an ugly Redcap exclaimed.
“Get away from us!” Della screamed.
Swords were poked through the gaps between trunks, one tip actually nicking Della’s leg, but in an odd moment all of the noise immediately outside their natural fence was silenced.
“Are you alright in there?” Peigi asked through the thickets.
“We’re okay,” Olwen shouted, tears staining her cheeks.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happe
n to you,” Peigi promised.
“Thank you,” Olwen said as she and Della hugged one another.
…
Dorian began to lay it on the dragon beast, assaulting it with feather arrows from her wings and energy blasts from her falcata by absorbing the fire blasts from the creature. The beast seemed to be finally wearing down.
“Kill her! Kill her!” Caoranach croaked gleefully.
The beast swung its tail around trying to crush the Leprechaun, but she deftly avoided the blow and concentrated her powers on the creature’s neck. The scales began to glow under the intense barrage. The creature tried to duck away from Dorian but lost its balance and toppled off of the pathway into an abyss. When it tried to spread its wings, they slammed into the bottom of the bridge and broke off of its body. Seconds later the creature was swallowed up by the darkness.
Dorian landed to the sound of Caoranach giving her a round of applause.
“You are making it more and more tempting to keep you as a slave, Leprechaun. If only you weren’t the Protector’s chosen love. Alas,” the mother of demons said before she sent a poisonous spray burst from her mouth.
The toxins hit Dorian and she immediately dropped to the ground writhing in pain. Her wings, her sword, and her red glow faded away. Caoranach floated over to her and hovered nearby.
“Poor, poor, child.” Caoranach smiled to herself. “I would say that it pains me to kill you, but it doesn’t.”
The green orb glowed a little brighter and began to hum. Caoranach turned towards it and saw a figure coming towards her.
“Morrigan? That can’t be!” she cried.
“I have been sent to retrieve you, sister,” the Morrigan declared. “Your interference in Earth’s affairs has not sat well with the Dagda.”
“And what of your meddling? Hmmmm? Does the Dagda know of it?”
“My husband and the elders encouraged my actions to counterbalance yours.” The Morrigan waited a moment and then said, “This is not up for discussion.”
The Morrigan reached out and Caoranach was compelled by an invisible force to join the Morrigan in the orb.
“No! I’m so close to immortal power. You can’t…”
The orb’s light spiked, and then the two sisters were gone.
“Dorian?” Oscar called out, but she didn’t reply.
The Leprechaun Queen remained still on the cold, marble floor.
…
“You’re going to suffer like no human ever has before. After you die, your legacy will be as the Protector who let the world burn,” Elathan threatened.
Elathan raised Brendan up and slammed his body repeatedly into the marble floor. The marble began to crack under the assault. Brendan felt like his brain was being boiled in the middle of an earthquake. He could feel his senses beginning to grow numb. His parents were yelling for him but it was like they were speaking to him from the other end of the tunnel.
Gold energy sizzled all around him blurring his vision and filling his ears with noise.
“So arrogant. You disgust me, human,” Elathan lectured.
Brendan wasn’t listening to a word the evil god was saying. He was concentrating on his powers since his human senses were failing him. The dominion pulses of Otherworld kept flashing into his mind. The five realms that he had absorbed spoke to him and encouraged him to stay in the fight.
Then, he felt it—there was a sixth pulse nearby. He knew he needed the final piece, but where was it?
…
Niseags, dragons, and fachen were causing more havoc than Lizzie cared to think of, but thankfully the Gnomes and Leprechauns were holding their own. The diminutive clans knew how to use their size and speed to their advantage, and by the looks of things there were very few casualties on their side. The Magogs suffered bigger losses from the dragons and the addition of the niseags. Fire and ice was quickly becoming a very deadly combination.
Lizzie was moving more quickly now thanks to Airmid and the healing waters, but she knew her strength was still limited. Rain had moved into the region, which didn’t help things. Goblins were slimy to begin with, but when the added slickness from the rain was added to the equation they were nearly impossible to grab.
A dragon flew overhead and blew a stream of fire into a group of combatants, regardless of whether they were Leprechauns or Goblins. Creatures were getting burned and maimed, and Lizzie wanted it to stop.
“Violet, are you ready to take down some bad dragons?”
Violet made a few grunts so Lizzie took that as a yes. She rode her dragon across the sky and held her staff like a javelin. As they neared several niseags and dragons, Lizzie started throwing her staff like darts while Violet let loose her own assault of fire. The other winged creatures began to scatter, surprised by the attack.
It still wasn’t enough. The army of Otherworld creatures was growing each time the megaliths lit up.
“Oh no,” Lizzie groaned to the dragon as the megaliths signaled yet another arrival. “Here come more.”
She was surprised when a single man emerged in battle gear holding a plain-looking sword. The man surveyed the scene and then held his hand out towards the Standing Stones. It was subtle at first, but then the stones began to move. Jagged arms and legs pulled free and the stones somehow took on humanoid shapes and began to walk away from their spots.
“What is going on?” Lizzie said aloud.
A niseag flew low to blast a group of Gnomes and Giants, but one of the stone giants jumped up and pulled the creature out of the sky. Soon all of the stone giants were moving and taking the battle to the dragons, fachen, and niseags.
“Maybe we’ll survive this after all,” Lizzie mused. “Just be careful to not get too close to the stone giants, Violet.”
…
Elathan tightened his grip on Brendan, squeezing the energy tentacles in on him with enough force to crush an elephant, but he observed that the Protector’s silver glow was only intensifying. There were even flashes of white energy crackling. It was time to put a stop to Brendan O’Neal.
…
Brendan could feel the pressure around his body even with the millions of volts coursing through him, stimulating his nerves and touching every cell. The weird thing was that he felt like he was getting stronger, as if the energy Elathan was firing into him was acting like a catalyst for his own power.
I can handle this. I’ll use it! Brendan focused his thoughts on his power, building the intensity as Elathan increased his onslaught. Finally, when he felt he had enough energy—and courage—he pushed outward with all he had. Elathan’s energy trap exploded, and Brendan dropped to the ground landing on his feet. He doubled over to catch his breath, but when he looked up it was too late to stop Elathan’s sword from being driven through his chest.
“Ahhhh!” Brendan yelled before the golden god blasted him with energy and threw him off the sword.
Brendan hit the marble floor and skidded over near his parents.
“Brendan!” Angie screamed and reached out for him.
Oscar grabbed her and pulled her into his chest. “Have faith.”
“Camulos,” Elathan called, “come out of the shadows.”
The war god strode out of a darkened corner and stopped before Elathan. “Well done, sire. The Protector was a truly worthy adversary.”
Elathan scoffed and then motioned towards the fallen Protector. “Worthy? He’s nothing.” Elathan walked past Brendan and began chanting in the ancient tongue, ignoring the Protector.
Camulos smirked, seeing an opportunity to seek revenge on Brendan and began to stride towards him unsheathing his god killer.
Brendan raised his head and looked at his parents; that’s when he felt the final pulse. He reached out and pulled. The jagged white pulse turned to granules and fought their way through the fibers of Oscar’s pocket. The stream of particles raced across the open air and was quickly absorbed by Brendan’s skin.
His eyes flashed over in a white energy that completely obscu
red their natural color and healed the gash in his chest. His senses grew even more aware of his surroundings, feeling every particle around him. Camulos!
The god of war stood over Brendan laughing. “Let’s try this again.”
Camulos brought the sword down, intent on separating Brendan’s head from his body, but Brendan wasn’t about to let that happen. The sword stopped inches from his throat and he pushed it away.
“That’s not possible!” Camulos screamed.
Brendan stood up and looked directly into Camulos’ eyes. The Sword of the Protectors flew back into his hand obediently, and he stood before the war god entirely healed and desperate to save everyone he loved.
Camulos gave out a war call and charged forward, striking at Brendan. The Protector nimbly blocked the blow with white energy flashing at every contact.
“I need to kill you,” Camulos ranted as he plunged forward trying once more to skewer Brendan.
Brendan moved to the side and grabbed Camulos by the wrist and squeezed. Instantly the war god dropped his sword and looked at Brendan with fear-stricken eyes.
“Get in line,” Brendan quipped before tossing Camulos past Elathan’s head and straight into the emerald orb.
Elathan’s eyes opened wide, and he looked back at Brendan who was gripping two swords.
“Perhaps you are worthy after all to be killed by my hand,” Elathan said with a twisted grin.
…
Dorian moaned and rolled onto her side facing Oscar and Angie.
“What did that demon do to her?” Angie asked.
“I don’t know,” Oscar answered honestly.
His legs were still unable to move thanks to whatever Elathan was doing to them, but his arms were mobile and he crawled the few feet to Dorian and felt her forehead. It was saturated with sweat, and she had grown deathly pale. The positive side was that she was breathing, even if it was shallow.
“Pull her over to me,” Angie said.
Oscar worked hard and pulled her dead weight and his own to Angie. His wife laid Dorian’s head on her lap and stroked her hair. Oscar looked at her quizzically.
The Bloodline Inheritance Page 27