by Riker Kane
The impact of the light hitting the barrier was an explosion that filled the entire valley. I squinted through the brightness, focusing on the cannon’s concentrated beam piercing into the black shield.
“Come on,” I muttered through gritted teeth. “Come on…”
The light faded enough for me to see it clearly. The cannon’s beam pounded the dark barrier.
“Come on…”
I waited, every passing second more agonizing than the last. But despite the cannon’s continued attack, the barrier resonated with an unchanged energy. Suddenly, the cannon stopped firing. Its aura was gone and it sat there plainly.
“What the heck?” I punched the wooden base then pulled the lever again to try and get more out of it. “Why didn’t it…”
Before I could even finish, it hit me. I looked out to the fortress and saw there wasn’t even a dent in it.
“You fool!” Romanis’s voice made me turn around. His pale face scarred by my snake’s bite, he bared his sharp teeth in a menacing grin. “Did you believe that would work?” His bellowing laugh echoed through the air, ringing in my ears.
I was completely exhausted, barely able to stand up. But I couldn’t stop now.
“I can’t take down the barrier,” I said. “But I can still take down you.”
I ran at him but he flew into the air before I could wrap my arms around him.
“I must say, Ultima. I thought I wouldn’t be disappointed. The blame is mine for having my expectations so high.” He raised his hands into the air and summoned a dark cloud bigger than I’d ever seen. Blasts of purple lightning rained down. But he focused not on the people fighting but on Haven itself. I watched as everything erupted. Every hut and everything within it went up in flames. The people there immediately began scrambling through the open field. He didn’t stop there, summoning more lightning on the cannon. It exploded completely, leaving nothing but a trace of wood and metal dust.
“No!” I mustered up what little strength I could and flew into the sky, tackling Romanis hard and driving him back into the grass. I reared back with a punch aimed right toward his face but he blasted me in the chest and sent me tumbling back.
“Don’t you see?” he said, his voice as smug as ever. “You do not possess the power to defeat me! I will end this now—”
“Ahhh!” Rhiannon screamed as she came flying from the side. She sank her Mana Dagger into his chest and ripped through his black robes.
“Zafina!” I called out instinctively, not even knowing where she was. But the Mana Seer caught the corner of my eye. She was already charging a fireball aimed right at Rhiannon. I used the last of my endurance to shoot a Radiant Beam. Rhiannon raised her dagger and caught both attacks in her beam, then plunged her now Divine Blade back into Romanis’s chest.
The Herald stumbled back as black blood dripped from the side of his mouth. He blasted Rhiannon away from him then fell to one knee.
“It does not matter,” he muttered. “Your defeat is inevitable.”
He flew back into the sky like a bullet and faded into the dark cloud he’d appeared from.
I looked out toward the dragon and saw it being surrounded by everybody who’d made it up from the valley. Lyra’s piercing arrows burned through its head until the beast was forced to succumb from the assault. It fell into a pile of Mana, joining all of the Mana littered across the valley below.
The skies cleared to make way for the stars. The moon was out. It would’ve been a beautiful night. Too bad it was illuminating a fortress that was still standing and a village that was seconds away from burning to embers.
“Hurry!” I said as I flew down. “We have to evacuate.”
35: Digging Up
Ultima
Level 89 Battle God
Hit Points 400
Endurance 200
Earth (Strength) 26 (+1)
Fire (Speed) 27
Water (Durability) 25 (+1)
Life/Death (Control) 46 (+3)
***
Elemental Levels
Light - Level 4 (+1)
Dark - Level 3
Water - Level 2
Fire - Level 3
Stone - Level 3
Abilities
Radiant Channel (Level 5) (+1)
Control energy and manipulate it into the power of any or all chosen elements
Spectral Summon (Level 3)
Summon an autonomous familiar with the element of your choosing
“You have gained five levels. Your affinity to light elemental has increased by one. Your Radiant Channel has increased by one.”
Cybil might as well have been talking to a brick wall because her words were barely audible to me. I couldn’t even hear the peaceful harps playing in the background. All I could do was keep playing the image of everything that happened in my head. I always felt alone in Zion but never more than I did now. I started talking to myself as if I could rationalize it.
“Haven has been destroyed. All of the people have been evacuated, thankfully there weren’t any casualties. Queen Cellica was willing to take a few to Euphoria. Vacindra took some to the marshes. Rhiannon and Zafina just finished transporting the rest of them to Navica. They should be safe there for now.”
“I do not sense any threats on Valen.”
“Some good news for once.”
I did my best to not start whining. The Holy Light Cannon didn’t work and was destroyed. The barrier was still up around the fortress. Romanis beat me up and didn’t have much trouble doing it. Haven was gone. All of the work I’d put in had gone down the drain. But I couldn’t stop now. Maybe it was just my own delusion that still kept me going.
“The Holy Light Cannon didn’t put a dent into the barrier,” I said. “I should’ve known that would happen. I was distracted by how big the thing was I didn’t stop to think that the dark barrier is a direct counter to light. It just ate it up like it was nothing.” I raised an eyebrow at the screen as if Cybil could see me. “You knew it, too, didn’t you?”
Cybil didn’t answer immediately.
“Or you didn’t know,” I sighed. “I don’t know which one is worse.”
“Pandora’s arrival comes when at a time when the gods have lost all of their strength. I could only offer you the Holy Light Cannon as a means to destroy the barrier. I incorrectly anticipated this outcome. As I stated, my omnipotence is limited.”
“Again with the limited omnipotence. Pfft… That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.”
“The blueprints for constructing the cannon are still available. It is possible for you to make adjustments so that you could charge it with dark energy to counteract the effects of the barrier.”
“A Holy Dark Cannon. I don’t know if we have much time to build one. Not to mention how pissed everybody is. Cellica decided to hunker down in Euphoria to defend her own people. Vacindra is praying to Aeona. That giant snake will probably do a better job protecting them than anything I could do. The raiders are scattered, scrounging together like it was before. Operation Reconciliation might not be scrapped but it’s pretty close to it.”
“You have the means to penetrate the barrier. You need only harness the power.”
“My dark ability is too low. I don’t have time to build a cannon. I don’t have time to level. I need a pure, unfiltered, overwhelming source of darkness. And I need it before it’s too late. Where can I get something like that?”
I put my hands on my hips, looking to the ground for an answer that didn’t exist. I was ready to punch a hole in the ground to see if there was anything there to help me.
“There is one such place,” Cybil’s voice stopped my frustration from getting the best of me.
“There is?”
“It would place you in a precarious position, though I would suggest you are already in one.”
“Can’t argue with that.” I took a step toward the screen and held my hands out, ready for anything. “All right, Cybil. Where is it?”
; ~ ~ ~
I sat on my chair at the end of the Main Hall in the Central Keep. I didn’t think of it as a throne. I didn’t consider myself a ruler though everybody in Navica looked to me for guidance as I made most of the decisions around here.
My face was covered in dirt with bruises and cuts streaking across my cheeks. The smell of the fires still lingered in my nostrils. I needed a bath and a chance to lie down even though there was more work to be done. No, it wasn’t a throne I was sitting in. It was just a place to sit down.
Rhiannon and Zafina stood in front of me in the dimly lit hall, the stone walls providing a more peaceful ambiance compared to the battlefield I’d just left. I made several decrees in this chair. So many decisions were made on the development of Navica. But with no audience to view me, I was getting ready to make my biggest decision of all.
Zafina’s brow furrowed with worry. “Are you certain this is a viable option?”
I nodded. “Cybil has no reason to deceive me.”
“I am not speaking of deception. I am merely considering the plausibility of it. To willingly venture into the Eternal Twilight—”
“I’ve already done it before. I can do it again.”
I looked over at Rhiannon, who was stone cold silent. Her blank stare locked on me like she was a wax statue. I couldn’t read her expression but I could guess what she was probably thinking.
“I forbid you from going,” she said.
My face scrunched in confusion. “That’s not your decision to make, Rhiannon.”
She took a step toward me. “I am making this decision for you. You hold court over this entire land. Your will is what is best for our people. But this not a choice I will allow you to make.”
“Rhiannon—”
“You have been to the Eternal Twilight. You have faced the Reaper. You have defied death itself and taken a soul from it. The Reaper will show you no mercy.”
“There’s no other way, Rhiannon. The greatest source of Dark Mana is in the Eternal Twilight. We have to attack the fortress before Romanis gets stronger. There’s no telling what they’re up to in that building—not to mention what he’s doing with that Dark Rune he has now. We have to do it now.”
I kept my composure, partly because I was too tired to argue and partly because I didn’t want to argue when all of us were upset.
“I cannot advise this,” Zafina said. “But if this is a decision you will make, I will not stop you.” Despite her approval, the somberness in her eyes was undeniable.
“Zafina,” Rhiannon said bluntly. “Please leave us.”
Zafina moved to me and kissed me softly on the lips before excusing herself from the hall.
The silence was unnerving. I didn’t look at Rhiannon, my head down as I waited for her to say what she had to say.
“You risked your very soul for me before,” she said.
“And I would do it again.”
“Yes… That is why I care for you.” She inched closer until she was standing right in front of me. “And that is why I cannot allow you to go.”
“Rhiannon, you can’t—”
“I will not let you!” Rhiannon’s voice raised enough for it to echo through the hall. “I will not let you…” She moved next to me, falling on her knees in front of me. A battle-hardened Mana Dancer had suddenly become submissive, putting her hands on my cheeks like I was a child.
“You can wait and find other means to fight. The people are safe now.” Her hands were trembling enough for me to grab her wrists and calm her down. “There must be another way. All is not lost.”
“You’re right. But we’re already at the bottom. There’s nothing left. We have to dig ourselves up.”
“Do not take this burden on by yourself.”
“I’m Ultima. I have to do this, Rhiannon.”
She moved up, leaning forward and kissing me. She didn’t stop, aggressively putting her lips on mine as she sat in my lap.
“Stay here with us,” she whispered. “You can be together with Zafina and me. We will watch over one another. We will find another way. But please don’t go.”
Seeing this side of Rhiannon was like nothing I’d ever seen from her before. She had escaped death itself. She had lost her very soul. Only an experience like that could make even someone like her so vulnerable.
She continued kissing me, pressing her hands on my chest and running it down over my stomach. “Stay here.”
“Rhiannon…”
“Stay here…” Her hands roamed into my pants, gripping my length until it firmed in her palm. Even at a time like this, she could draw my desires out of me.
“Rhiannon…”
“Stay here. I don’t want anything else. Just you.” She cupped my face and kissed me even deeper. I put my hands around her slim waist, holding her close as she continued to stroke me inside of my pants.
I reached into her skirt. She didn’t try to fight me when I tugged it down. Instead she shimmied her legs to help me free her. Her bottoms fell to her ankles, revealing her pale skin leading up to a thin pink slit that was dripping in anticipation.
“Come on,” she whispered into my mouth with another kiss. “Get these off.” She grabbed my pants, lowering them down enough to free my hard shaft.
I popped free and she immediately straddled me, spreading her legs out each side underneath the armrests of my chair. She cradled her head in my chest while she began to ride me. Up and down, up and down. Rhiannon moved in a rhythm that made the chair tap back and forth against the stone floor.
My hands squeezed her slim waist as if trying to maintain control of a wild beast. But I’d lost myself to my passion as much as she did. All I could do was sit there and lose myself to the desire we both suddenly had. So I pushed back into her. I dug my length up into her as deep as I could.
Her lips pulled on mine as her groans grew louder. The hall was open and anybody could walk in at any moment. Zafina could undoubtedly hear Rhiannon moaning in pleasure. But that didn’t matter to either one of us.
I pulled away from Rhiannon, breathing hard as the pleasure ramped up inside of me.
“Rhiannon, I’m gonna…”
“Yes… I want to feel you… Let me feel you inside of me, Virgil… with me… together…”
She rode me even harder, her skirt around one ankle and her top still on. Her pale body dripped with sweat. Her beautiful face contorted as the pleasure racked her body.
I held on for as long as I could, enjoying the tightness squeezing around my shaft. I was getting closer… and closer… and closer… until I couldn’t hold it.
“Rhiannon…”
“Virgil, be with me—”
She cut herself off with a hard sigh. Her body quivered on top of me. Her orgasm made her writhe in my grip but she stayed seated, impaling herself even deeper on me.
I buried myself completely, my hilt pressing against her folds as I emptied what I had into her. The slick feeling of wetness drenching my length made me shudder in my seat. The pleasure overwhelmed my senses in hard throbs.
My body lost itself completely but slowly, everything came back to me. My vision cleared and I saw Rhiannon’s face. Strands of hair dipped over her eyes. Sweat leaked down her cheeks. Her body trembled softly as the aftershocks of her orgasm faded.
A determined frown appeared on her lips. She knew what needed to be done. She just wasn’t happy about it.
“Come back to me,” she said. “Come back to us. We need you.”
She put her lips back to mine and gave me another passionate kiss. For a moment, I thought she would stir my desires again. But that moment faded quickly and my duty became even clearer.
36: Stage Three - Bargaining
The Legion Omega Defense perfected the art of bringing someone back from the dead. Get your head split in half? You get a new one without so much as a headache. Torn apart by ravenous wolves? You get put back together without any stitches. Obliterated down to your atoms? Just push the rewind button. You were alwa
ys safe as long as you had a Recall Box.
My Recall Box took the form of the Life Rune. It was the only thing that saved me when Blackhart beat me up. But the memory of what happens after—my ‘death’—was nothing more than momentary darkness that was little different from a good night’s sleep.
The Eternal Twilight was different though. If you ended up in a place like that, there was more than just darkness. There was eternal suffering, as the name implied. Your soul was left to the whims of the Reaper and not even death could save you.
It was understandable why Rhiannon was so adamant about me not risking everything. My life wasn’t at stake—my soul was.
An orb in Navica had the ability to take me to the Eternal Twilight like it had once before. When I activated it and looked at my surroundings, I couldn’t deny the voice in my head questioning my decision.
The image of the ruins around me was like nothing you would ever see on any world, Earth or Iorus. Everything was in black and white with a grayish tint to it. Even the sky seemed blacker than any night I’d ever seen.
The colors hadn’t changed from the last time I was here though the broken buildings had changed in arrangement. Stone columns—like something out of ancient Greece—crumbled after standing for who knows how long. White and black rocks were carved into square homes that looked like they hadn’t been occupied in centuries. But I knew the archaic ghost town I’d come to was only a facade covering the true dangers that lurked.
The smell of brimstone filled my nostrils with a soft wind whistling by my face. I looked in all directions, searching for the quickest way to find what I was looking for and get out. The path of broken gray stones in front of me looked untouched, covered in a layer of white dust that matched the shade of everything else here.
I only took a single step forward when the wind began to pick up. A ball of black energy formed a few meters away from me, swirling around like a portal until something came out of it. A floating ghost. An apparition. Black energy flowing with no concrete form except for its skull, two long skeleton arms, and a tattered black robe covering its half-body.