Apocalyptic Life (Era Series Book 2)

by Patrik Mielonen

  “Finally! Gimme.”

  Ion hands over a canteen, keeping the other for himself. He, too, is thirsty. He drank some at the stream, but he didn’t dare to stay there for too long.

  After gulping down the water, Louir speaks up, “Refreshing! Err, Ion? What exactly happened last night?”

  “Quite a few things. And she left you a message.”

  “Tell me about the tavern first.”

  “As you wish.” Ion begins the recap. “The raven brought money, and you made me order drinks for you. Whiskey, wine, rum, you drank all of it. It took you a long while, but once you had a blackout, things got easier. You almost revealed your identity in your drunken state. And when Lou arrived, I had to wake you up, and it wasn’t easy. As for the mayhem, if I said you were like a psychopath, would it be enough of a recap?” A sudden realization comes to him. “Wait, raven! Did you bring her the money because you knew it’d happen? You’ve witnessed the previous iterations, haven’t you!?”

  Oh, he found out, The Void perched on a windowsill blurts such.

  “No way...” Ion should’ve known.

  I would not pay too much attention to that.

  “Anyway, Louir, you’ll be needed on Mount Hiphlor, and I’ll be teaching some priests, I hear.”

  “She said such?”

  “Ayep.”

  ***

  Later that day, once Louir has cleared her head, and Ion’s gotten a chance to sleep on the bed alone (and again), she appears in the hut.

  “So, how are we here?”

  Louir replies, “I’m okay. I heard you want me to do something.”

  “Yeah, kinda. I just came back from Ion’s home. Sheesh, he’s a jerk. Remember the Demoni army from the previous timeline? You’re gonna do that. Gather animals on the plateau, build an army. Also, do not let Ion die. We need him doubled, if that makes sense.”

  “Got it.”

  Chapter Four of Arc Two

  Wolf of the Apocalypse

  She convinced the past Ion of the Titan’s awakening less than half a day ago, and now, she is going back there, for she needs to get Ion out of the Titan’s way, just like in the previous timeline. She will teleport him to the same jail where Lou is stuck in.

  Louir has begun corrupting the animals on the plateau, and Ion is waiting for her orders. He has no idea where and when he’ll be lecturing the two Dragoni Priests. The only thing he knows is the subject of the lessons; he needs to convince them to fight the Titan. His timer is the Titan itself. The plan is to make Tereahn and Ohan die by the destroyer’s doing. Of course, they’ll die regardless of what they do since the Titan is superior, and it knows exactly where the Heart of the World is. So, in other words, they cannot escape it. They can only die.

  Ion merely helps them to find peace sooner. And also, he ensures they won’t bring much trouble as they do.

  That isn’t what Ion is needed for, however. They need him to create a path to the other dimension. In fact, it requires two Mage Elementalists, as it’s a spell that combines both the Arcane and Elementi powers. Furthermore, Ion is the only person in the whole world who won’t die of drinking the potion, aside from Lou(ir).

  Once running, the portal to the other dimension cannot be closed, but it’ll expire after a thousand years. So, in short, they have a timer of a millennium. They must wipe out the humans in the other dimension before they find the Elementi lords. And for that, they need at least one Louir, preferably even two. The humans on the other side are technologically advanced, and thus powerful. The First World is historical in comparison.

  Ion is sitting outside, watching birds fly and sing. He’s gotten some dried rations to eat, and the bed is free. He’s slept enough, though. He made up his mind to wait for her to appear and send him somewhere. In his boredom, he actually tries to imitate the birds singing outside. Thankfully, neither Louir is present. They’d call him a bad singer if they were.

  ***

  Early in the morning of the next day when the Sun has yet to rise, the Titan awakens again, and Ion’s counterpart is sent to the same prison where Lou is. They begin their escape, and just like in the previous iteration, they succeed at it without the aid of anyone from the future.

  As they ride out of Hantor, the Sun is rising, and the Poer Haem wolves are panicking over food. They struggle to feed the young. Both Louirs are the cause for that. They’re corrupting the animals, bringing them to the plateau of Hiphlor. One by one, they turn them into creatures of the Void: Demoni.

  Ti sets out to investigate, the young female Wolf of Poer Haem. Ek is accompanying her to the mountain where dark clouds are gathering. The Elementi lord of Air is summoning those clouds to warn everything and anything of the danger. But even so, the corruption of the Void cannot be hindered.

  “Wait, we weren’t supposed to go this far!” Ti shouts from below as Ek is about to reach the top of the mountain, where the plateau is.

  “Don’t worry! It’s not like this is a Demoni nest. Elders visit this place weekly to discuss things.”

  “But still!”

  Ek climbs faster than Ti. She hasn’t climbed a mountain before, and it shows. Whenever she looks below, her hairs stand on the edge, and she can’t help it. Ek reaches the top of the mountain in no time, and Ti still has a way to go before she gets there. She fears Ek might find himself in trouble. The clouds look darker by the moment, and no matter how she looks at it, the cause has to be the Void. There are stories of powerful Demoni that call upon the powers of the Void to eradicate life.

  And once she gets to the plateau, her maw gapes in terror. Ek is standing there, right at the edge of the cliff next to her, just as frozen as Ti.

  “Oh, I have visitors?” Louir, who is hovering in the air above the Demoni, says.

  There are countless corrupted animals on the plateau. The hideous, dark violet monsters are eyeing them with bloodthirsty gazes. They aren’t attacking them, but if Louir weren’t there, Ti and Ek would be dead meat before they even knew it.

  The animals aren’t malformed or anything. Rather, they have violet, glowing tattoos imprinted on their skin, and their furs have turned dark, reeking of evil. Their eyes are violet, and their fangs and claws are deadlier than before.

  “What is the meaning of this!?” Ek yells.

  “Meaning, you ask? I’m saving the world, of course.”

  “By corrupting it!?”

  Louir smirks. “Exactly, I’m bringing an apocalypse to save the world, and I ain’t joking.”

  Ti is too horrified to say anything.

  Ek roars, “You’re a twisted monster!”

  “Twisted monster? Me? I might be a harbinger of the Void, but let me guarantee you, I’m doing this to protect the world from a fate far worse than mere destruction.”

  “And what might that be?” Ek demands.

  Louir answers, “This world is about to cease existing.”

  Neither Ti nor Ek gets it. They are both partly animals, so they aren’t educated anyhow, and thus the concept of ‘existence’ is unknown to them. Of course, they do get the idea that the world will be destroyed, but mere destruction isn’t enough to portray obliteration of everything.

  “How do you know it? And how does this plan of yours save it!?”

  “Easy.” Louir reasons, “I’ll build an army big enough to battle the threat on the other side.”

  “So, you’re turning all the animals into mindless servants that’ll fight for your cause?” Ek keeps roaring.

  “Yes. I will turn them all into beasts that devour, tear, and annihilate all life, for the sake of saving this world.”

  “I don’t believe your reasoning!” Ek keeps yelling.

  “You don’t need to. Whether you like it or not, I’m going to make an army, and you’ll either let me be, or be corrupted.”

  “This bastard!” Ek is about to lunge at the mass of Demoni.

  “Wait! Ek, don’t—”

  “I’m going to tear you apart!” Ek refuses to listen to reas
on.

  “Stooop!” Ti’s cry resonates.

  Ek dives into the Demoni army, driven by wrath. Surprisingly enough, the monsters make way for him, allowing Ek to attack Louir directly. She drops down from midair, preparing to face him.

  “Try as you might!”

  Ek lunges at her. His massive body with its huge claws can easily shred her. However, Louir disappears, and Ek’s attempt is thus in vain.

  “What the...?” Ek blurts.

  Next to Ti, Louir whispers, “If you can make him leave this place peacefully, I’ll let you do so.”

  Ti’s eyes are round open. She’s never seen anyone disappear and appear like that. Panicking, she makes an evasive maneuver to her left. Louir smiles at Ti when she turns to look at her. Then, she taunts Ek to come at her.

  Ti tries to comprehend it, and she is coming to the conclusion that the young woman is truly trying to do something for the sake of this world, but Ti can’t quite grasp it yet.

  “Ek! Please, stop this!”

  “Shut it! I’m killing this bastard!”

  As soon as he spots Louir again, he is dashing at her with fangs and claws ready to strike.

  “Fool.” Louir dodges the Wolf again, stepping through the Void right next to Ti. “So, can you make him leave this place? Or do I really have to resort to killing him? I like wolves, so I’d really like it if you could make him retreat.”

  Ti’s eyes are wet. She is crying. She doesn’t know why, but her heart is aching. She doesn’t want him dead, and with the low intelligence she possesses, she’s concluded they need to go back, and hopefully without bloodshed. She’s never been so confused. What is good and what is evil? She is an animal as much as she is a human. Therefore, her knowledge is lacking.

  “Ek, stop it! Please!” Her cry resonates strongly.

  “No! This isn’t right!”

  Louir appears some dozens of yards away from Ti, taunting him elsewhere from the young wolf. Louir’s been fond of wolves ever since her childhood, and she wants to save at least the other.

  “Die you monster!” Ek is at it again.

  And then, a cry that resonates strongly stops Ek in his movements, a cry that is articulated from the heart.

  “STOOOP!”

  He turns to look behind, and he can see Ti with a really pained expression. But then, suddenly, her eyes go round open out of shock.

  Blood is sprayed.

  Ek’s belly is torn open by a Demoni with long claws. It has lunged so swiftly no one saw it coming. It isn’t Louir’s fault. She’s done her best to keep the corrupted creatures at bay, but in the end, she couldn’t save Ek.

  Ti is frozen. Her mind is blank, and she is breathing heavily. She’s never seen a Wolf die like that, and now that she is witnessing such, her mind is in turmoil. Gradually, she is coming to her senses, and once she does, she cries loud enough for the clan to hear it.

  Louir finds it sad. She promised to let him go, but alas, he died. Of course, she’ll let Ti go, if she wishes to. She walks over to her, trying to look as friendly as she can.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep him alive.”

  Ti doesn’t reply.

  “Trust me, I’m trying to save the world. Whether you believe it or not, it won’t change my mind. I’ll do it for the sake of everyone, including your friend. He was just clueless, and that’s all.”

  “No...”

  “Don’t worry, I understand. Please, shapeshift into a human. I can handle you better then.”

  “I...”

  “Shh, I can get you down the mountain, if you wish.”

  “But...”

  “Be a good girl.”

  “...Okay.”

  Ti shapeshifts into a human. The process looks magical. A blue light takes over her, and once it’s gone, there’s a girl sitting on the rocky ground, a fur coat covering her naked body.

  Louir kneels in front of her. “Do you want to go home?”

  Ti doesn’t shake or nod.

  “Then do you want to stay here?”

  Ti shakes her head.

  “Then do you want to be somewhere alone?”

  Ti nods.

  “I know a place. Do you want me to show it?”

  Ti looks hesitant.

  “Do you fear the Demoni?”

  Ti silently admits it.

  “Then do you want to be protected from them?”

  “Y-yeah.”

  “I can mark you with the Void. It won’t turn you into a monster, but it’ll make you a servant. You’ll have free will, and no Demoni will ever try to kill you.”

  Ti doesn’t like the idea.

  “Then do you want to take the risk? I’m doing my best to keep these creatures at bay, but they, too, have their own free will.”

  Ti makes the decision. “Mark me.”

  “It won’t hurt.” Louir takes her hand, imprinting a symbol on Ti’s hand. Once she lets go, there’s a violet flower tattoo on Ti’s palm. “Now, you’re a servant of the Void. You won’t have to fear the Demoni anymore. Do you want to go to that place now?”

  “Please.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  ***

  It’s evening. Louir has taken Ti to a place she knows all too well. They’ve traveled quite the distance. Louir suggested they’d ride a corrupted horse, but Ti denied it outright. Instead, Louir has been riding on Ti’s back while showing the way.

  Ti’s Wolf form has grown in size during the past few hours. It’s thanks to the Void mark. She is taller than male Wolves now, so having Louir on her back isn’t much of a trouble. With her current strength, she could hunt bears like they were hares with claws.

  They arrive at the place in no time. It’s one of the many hideouts. More precisely, it’s the place where Lou and Ion should be resting even now, the one where the naked girl came by.

  Louir has a real apartment in the town where she met her, but the underground home she has is the safest place she can think of. Also, she’s grown fond of it over the years, and because of it, she finds herself spending her free time there instead of a real house. Besides, she now knows who the naked girl was. She knows it’ll be fine, thanks to the previous timeline.

  “My other self is down there. She looks exactly like me, except her eye and hair color is different, probably golden or white. I’m an Elementalist, you see, the other me and me.”

  “How can there be two of you?”

  “We used the Time Elementi, so I’ve come from the future.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “In short, that other me, who is inside, will become me in less than a week.”

  “Ah, I think I got it. But I wanted to rest somewhere alone.”

  “Trust me, the other me won’t disturb you. There’s a bedroom you can use. Rest there. Just make sure you come back before midnight. You should be able to rest for a couple of hours alone.”

  “Okay.” Ti shapeshifts into her human form.

  “You can wait for me here once you leave that place, but if I’m not showing up, you can go wherever you like, even forget about me, if that’s what you want.”

  “No, I don’t want to. For some reason, I think I want to stick to you.”

  “Then, if I don’t appear, head to Hiphlor. I’ll eventually meet you there. But I don’t think I’m needed elsewhere right now, so you should find me waiting here.”

  “Okay.” The young Wolf in the form of a human trotts to the door of Lou’s home.

  Louir watches her enter, and she can hear her past self speaking to Ti. Once she’s inside, Louir heads to the village where Lou will fetch her horse later in the evening. She recalls she saw a Poer Haem Wolf lacerating some armored men and villagers back in her timeline.

  I wonder what the reason was.

  With that question in her mind, she goes to study the village in advance. It’s likely that there is some threat there, one that needs to be eradicated before the past Lou gets there. Thinking back on it, Lou has the whole country looking for her
, so it’s possible the Order has knights and Elementalists in the village.

  Louir smirks. If there are hostile humans, she’ll make Ti do the same she did in the previous timeline. She needs to terrorize the Order as much as she can to make them give up the idea of capturing Lou, and making a huge Wolf devour their troops might prove powerful.

  She won’t go to the village, but instead, she is watching from a distance, eyeing for any possible threat. Void, mind if I ask you to scout the village? I have a plan to spill some blood, so I think you’ll like it.

  The raven, who’s been hiding from Ti’s sight, perches on Louir’s shoulder. Do not worry about that. I have scouted that village in the previous timeline, and I can assure you, there are humans who deserve to die. Send her.

  Got it. I’m going back to the spot where I’ll wait for her.

  ***

  After a long, painfully boring wait, Ion is finally sent to a location he’s never been to. It’s a glade in the middle of nowhere in the North close to the borders of Orloss. She is with him, and they’re both sitting on top of a rock. According to the devil girl, the two Dragoni Priests should arrive at any given moment.

  Ion hasn’t had students before, and because of that, he is anxious. He’ll have to improvise, a lot. As long as he can keep them in Poer Haem, there won’t be any problems. Ideally, he wants to get them to Hantor around the time when the Titan comes. Even better, if he can make them fight it willingly, she will be pleased. The whole plan is to get rid of them with as minimal damage as possible.

  More precisely, Ion won’t be teaching them; he’ll be herding.

  “Any tips to share?” Ion asks.

  “Try to stay alive.”

  “Are they that bad!?”

  “Their minds are consumed by the Dragoni, so they’re kinda... crazy, I’d say. Try to maintain your calm at all times.”

  “I think I’ll just stay Cloaked.”

  “For the first few minutes, yeah, do that. However, you don’t want to do that for too long, as they can grow tired of your play.”