Destiny

by Jason A. Cheek

  Flaring nostrils struggled to keep up with the demands of her laboring body as she passed Ashima Falls. Still, she had no idea how long she’d been running when the sounds of battle suddenly stopped with a knelling howl.

  “Nnnooo!” Crying out as fear gripped her heart. Nessa whispered a quick prayer as memories of Enelya flooded through her mind. “Please, Luonnotar don’t let me be too late.”

  For a long moment, there was only the muffled drumming of pounding hooves to offset Nessa’s beating heart as her long ears strained forward, searching for more sounds of fighting. She had just about given up hope when she heard Enelya’s defiant voice coming from further up ahead as her blood ran cold.

  “No matter what happens to me, you are still nothing more than a beast lapping at your Master’s feet.“

  Enelya’s sudden cry of agony pierced Nessa’s heart a second later as pain flared through her chest. Staggering in mid-gallop, she barely stopped herself from plowing into the ground, before recovering her balance once again. Semi-shocked Nessa forced her legs to keep moving as she realized nothing had actually hit her. Shaking the sensation away, she raced around the bend in the river as the combatants suddenly came into view.

  Immediately, Nessa felt the battle rage of her people rising within her as she saw Enelya dangling by her neck in the grip of a Tuonellian Hulk, while further in the distance stood the silent ranks of Imperium legionnaires impassively watching. Incredulously she realized the Oathbreakers were going to do nothing to stop the atrocity happening before their very eyes as the evil creature raged in triumph at the dying Elf held in its grasp.

  “I will rend the flesh from your bones before your eyes, and you will beg for death when I’m finished with you.”

  Still too far away, Nessa was helpless to stop the horror unfolding before her eyes. Time seemed to slow as the misshapen fanged maw of the Hulk opened towards Enelya’s bloody face, when a bellowing war cry suddenly changed everything.

  “For the Imperium!” The entire rear of the Minotaur formation seemed to collapse in on itself in chaos as five battered legionnaires’ suddenly attacked the force from behind. Unbelievably, Nessa watched the remaining bulls instantly drop to their hands and hooves. The unnatural position made the creatures look like a misshapen caricature of true Minotaurs. As one, they threw their heads back in a bone-chilling screech that rang out across the river before attacking in a living wave.

  Cutting a wide bloody swath of death through the savage creatures, the five legionnaires fought a desperate battle against their attackers as the Hulk spun around in shocked surprise. Batting Enelya’s broken body away, the Tuonellian began striding towards the newest threat as Nessa charged into the fray. Gripping the Staff of Yatra before her with two hands, she had only a split-second to consider the ramifications of her decision to fight as she called forth her power.

  Luonnotar had entrusted Nessa with saving the future of Irlendria and that of her people. If she failed, the world and everything she knew would be turned into a burning inferno for the Tuonellians to reap at their leisure. Everyone she’d ever known or loved would be destroyed by their rampaging hordes. How could she selfishly risk the future of her people by throwing her life away trying to rescue her first love?

  For a heartbeat, Nessa almost turned away from the battle as the implications of her decision weighed on her soul. Still, no matter how much logical sense it made for her to focus solely on completing her quest, she couldn’t leave Enelya’s fate in the hands of these abominations. Doing so would betray everything that made her who she was. Focusing on the creature’s hate filled face. Nessa threw herself at the Hulk yelling her Clan’s battle cry.

  “WwwaaaNnniii!” Nessa’s first blow caved in half of the Tuonellian’s skull as she bodily crashed into the Hulk at full gallop with a bone crushing crash. Slamming into the ground in a tangle of arms and legs she nearly lost her weapon in the chaos as they came to a sliding stop. Rolling onto her knees, Nessa recovered the Staff of Yatra before springing back to her hooves.

  Screaming out another the war cry, Nessa slammed the black glowing wood through the center of the creature’s chest as the Hulk roared in agony. Pulling the smoking tip free she lifted the weapon high overhead for the death blow as the Tuonellian’s red glowing eyes focused on her in pure hate. Crying out with an undulating shriek, Nessa slammed the Staff of Yatra down with all of her might for the finishing strike, when the Hulk’s clawed fist batted the tip aside at the last moment.

  Smoke rose from the creature’s seared flesh as the glowing wood gouged a large chunk from the Tuonellian’s neck like a hot knife through butter, but before she could raise her staff to strike again. The Hulk ripped the glowing wood from her numb fingers as the monster’s other clawed fist slashed open her belly.

  Crying out in pain Nessa threw herself at the evil Tuonellian’s hate filled face with her flailing fists as the creature’s arm whipped back quick as lightning. Wrapping its clawed fist completely around her throat, the Hulk caught her in its overpowering grip. With her failing strength, Nessa hammered at the Tuonellian’s arm as her flailing hooves tore gaping holes in the Hulk’s chest. Just as she was breaking free, a gut-wrenching agony shot through her lower abdomen

  Looking down in shock, Nessa’s eyes bulged out as the Hulk’s clawed fist ripped out her innards with a sharp jerk. Holding its bloody fist before her eyes for her to see, the creature’s bone-chilling laughter filled Nessa’s ears as her eyes began rolling up into her head from lack of air. Around her, she saw the legionnaires being ripped to shreds as her consciousness began to fade.

  Grief filled Nessa’s heart as she realized they were all going to die. Still, she wouldn’t have chosen differently if she had the chance to make the choice all over again. As tears ran down her face, Nessa looked towards the sky whispering out in anguish with her last breath.

  “Luonnotar help us!” As if in response to her prayer, Nessa heard the Hulk’s sudden shriek of terror.

  ***

  Location Irlendria / Startüm:

  I knew I was in trouble when came aware of my surroundings once again. My head burned with a raging fire as the Fring consumed me, but I was too weak to do anything except writhe in pain. From the stories I’d heard from my Grandsire, once a Werewolf succumbed to the effects of the consumption they normally didn’t recover, which was a direct result of our bodies regenerative ability. Without enough food to fuel our hyperactive metabolisms, our bodies’ began consuming themselves from the inside out until the ravaging sickness killed us.

  The pain was excruciating. A small part of me just wanted to curl up and let the sickness drag me down into blissful oblivion, but that simply wasn’t who I was. With an effort of will, I fought against the agonizing pain when my feverish thoughts were suddenly slammed into focus as an ancient spirit reached out and touched my soul.

  With crystal clarity the foreign thoughts slashed through my mind like nothing I’d ever experienced before. There were no spoken words assigned to concepts, but more a flow of sensations that held meaning. It was like the wind swishing through the trees, the feeling of rain hitting my face and the warmth of the sun against my skin … it was all these things and more. Just as my thoughts adjusted to the sensation, I felt my perceptions suddenly shift. The feeling was akin to being stuck in a close-up street view of Google Maps. Even though I was looking down at my own body on the bank of the Otso River, I could still feel Starfire and Frostbrand held in my arms.

  For a moment, I struggled with the dual perspective, but quickly my mind adjusted to the alien perspective. As if I were riding an old house of horrors amusement ride, I felt my focus zoom in onto the battle for survival raging around us. Closest to us were two small Elves and an ivory-white Centaur dying at the hands of a Tuonellian Hulk. Further out were the bulky forms of Scourge swarming over a small band of Minotaurs, a shaggy brown-haired Wenci and the bloody remains of a Nightclaw surrounded by more dead bodies. I had the impression that there was more hap
pening just outside of my field of vision, but it was beyond my reach.

  The spirit’s touch wasn’t anything like my communion with Ukko. The contact was more like a community of voices that had one voice with its own consciousness. Although the concepts being communicated were alien to my logical Klavikian mind, I felt the Werewolf inside of me stir in understanding. For the first time in my life, instead of fighting the primitive instincts welling up inside of me, I fully opened my soul to the ferocious nature that was my birthright.

  In a flash, the spirit of the Great Forest came alive around me. Savage and untamed, I felt the call of the wild rush through my veins as the beast inside my soul fought for life. Instantly my golden eyes snapped open, focusing on the mangled body of the beautiful Elf lying next to me. In that instant we were connected by the same spiritual link that had awakened me. I felt the vitality of her life force rush through my soul in a sharing of emotions and intent that took my breath away, before her small hand weakly fell away from my cheek.

  Tearing my gaze away from the fierce brown eyes staring back at me, I shivered from the intensity of the contact as I focused on the life and death struggle happening around us. It was obvious the Hulk had won. Already the Centaur filly’s eyes were rolling back into her head as she weakly hammered at the clawed fist wrapped around her throat. A part of my mind registered the barbaric beauty of the female Centaur as my eyes momentarily locked on her heaving chest. Slick with blood and sweat, her full breasts jiggled with each shudder of her body’s final death throes as her eyes began bulging in her head.

  What in Ukko’s name was wrong with me? How could I notice something like that at a time like this? Shaking my head in disgust, I fought to clear my thoughts from the powerful instincts and raging hormones surging through my body, sickened in part at my own physiological reaction. Tearing my gaze away, I focused instead on the bloody gash in the side of the Tuonellian’s neck.

  Once again, I felt my primitive urges take over. I wish I could have said it was the need to save the filly’s life that drove me forward at that second, but in truth, I knew it was the smell of fresh blood as a voracious hunger rose up inside of me demanding sustenance. The Hulk’s cruel guffawing laughter filled my ears as I drew near. Although my katanas were still strapped to my back, I didn’t even think about using them as I reached my hand over the Tuonellian’s scraggly head. Hooking my fingers, I rammed them through the creature’s eye sockets as I yanked the misshapen head back and to the side baring its throat, while my other hand captured the Hulk’s flailing arm. Pulling my body up, I sank my teeth into the Tuonellian’s neck ripping out a bloody chunk of meat.

  Instantly power flowed through my veins as the evil creature cried out in terror. Its body bucked like a wild bronco in my iron grip as I struggled to rip the grotesque head from its shoulders. I felt the skin of my face grow taut as the bones of my jaws began elongating, stretching into more of a muzzle like shape, while my eye-teeth started growing at the same time. Curving-out over my lips, they quickly formed into oversized fangs with each bloody chunk of flesh I gulped down as the savage beast raged inside of me.

  The gruesome act of feeding was unsettling enough to my Klavikian sensibilities, but even worse was the ravenous craving that I felt as the energized blood’s corrupt warmth filled my senses. For a second, bile rose in the back of my throat as I fought back the urge to purge the revolting filth from my mouth. Ignoring the feelings of disgust, I drove my fangs even deeper into the Hulk’s neck until my jaws closed around the creature’s spine. With a resounding crack, I ripped the Tuonellian’s head from its shoulders as my canines cleanly snapped through the bone.

  I watched the blood-covered Centaur collapse onto the ground as she weakly ripped the clawed fist away from her throat. Wide-eyed she stared in shock at her entrails strewn across the ground as the Tuonellian’s foul blood began spouting into the air around us like a fountain. Numbly I knew what I had to do. With calm deliberation, I clamped my jaws onto the creature’s headless corpse drinking deeply.

  From the many stories I’d heard from my Grandsire, I had a good idea why the Hulk’s blood was affecting me the way it did. The creatures had a predilection for feasting off the life forces of the prey they consumed. My old teacher, Luthar Feltalc, had always believed Tuonellians acquired their power through the pain and suffering inflicted to their prey during feeding. So as I fed on the Hulk, I wasn’t just getting the needed protein for my starved body, but also a supercharged powerade of torment energy for my metaphysical reserves.

  Although distasteful in thought, when it came down to the basics, energy was energy. With a Werewolf’s practicality, I sucked the bleeding corpse dry. Corrupt or not it didn’t matter, I needed the sustenance for what I planned to do next. Rising to my knees, I heard a keening screech ring out from the surviving Scourge as I raised my arms in supplication to the sky. Calling forth my power, I called out to Ukko.

  “Gi meg styrke til å helbrede disse krigerne, slik at de kan kjempe mot dine fiender.“ (Give me the strength to heal these warriors so that they may fight against your enemies.) Drawing every last ounce of power left in my devastated body, I spoke my prayer.

  “Helbredende bølge!” Immediately my body began convulsing uncontrollably as the holy symbol of Ukko lit up on my chest like a glowing beacon. Even after sucking the Hulk’s corpse dry, I knew this was going to be close, but there just wasn’t any other options left if I was going to save us from our enemies. I’d never tried such a complex spell before in my life. I fought to clear my mind of all thought as I pictured the bodies of the wounded around me.

  In general, I knew the principle was the same as any individual healing spell. My father and the rest of the Klavikian Paladins had regularly performed more incredible feats during the Great War against the Tuonellians, raising thousands of warriors as they lay near death on the battlefield with a wave of their gauntleted hands. If it weren’t for their abilities and the grace of Ukko, the Alliance of Aurenko would have collapsed at the onset of the war. In comparison to a Paladin like my father, I wasn’t much more than a cheap substitute, a wannabe compared to the real thing.

  All at once the healing energy exploded out of my body in a massive wave as the glowing light enveloped each being that the Great Spirit had shown me in the vision. Concentrating on each individual with my senses, I tried to direct the energy where it was needed most, but that proved to be beyond my ability as I screamed in agony. As if in a dream, I felt my consciousness begin slipping away as I was borne to the ground by a screeching wave of Scourge when the darkness enveloped me once more.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Location Earth / Megan Driscoll:

  Flipping her night vision goggles up in disgust, Sergeant First Class Megan Driscoll scanned the shadowy mass that suddenly loomed up out of the darkness with her bare eyes. The only thing that showed up clearly was the red dot from the laser scope attached to her M4, which didn’t show dick in this murky darkness. A quick check of the personal navigation system strapped to her wrist confirmed that the target area was just ahead. Unfortunately, nothing was looking like the pictures they’d been given in the briefing.

  Snapping on the maglite attached to her barrel, Megan swept the focused beam of light across the indistinct shapes, swearing under her breath. She still couldn’t see jack! Even with the additional light, she could barely make out the indistinct outlines of the individual crystals that reportedly made up the massive formation. Checking her navcom once again, Megan came to a stop signaling the Marines behind her to set up a perimeter. Without waiting for the “all clear” signal, the science team they were escorting hurriedly pushed past her without waiting for the all clear signal.

  It took an effort of will for Megan to hold back the grin that instantly sprang to her lips as Doctor Holdgate purposely ignored her as his team began silently unpacking their equipment. She wanted to yank is ass back into line. Instead of giving in to her urges, Megan unhooked the handset attached to h
er webbing and called their status into command.

  “Raider, this is Hunter two Charlie, over.”

  “Hunter two Charlie, this is Raider, over.”

  “Hunter two Charlie to Raider. We have reached the target area. Commencing operations now, over.”

  “Raider to Hunter two Charlie. Affirmative, next radio check in thirty, over.”

  “Hunter two Charlie to Raider. Gotcha Lima Charlie, out.”

  A year ago such a transgression would have had her swearing up a storm, but now Megan just rolled her eyes at the needless drama of it all as she mentally reviewed their tactical situation for the zillionth time. Even though Captain Griffith had ordered a full quarter of their metal halide lighting towers to be deployed inside the “Pit” as her Marines were now calling the dig, there was still barely enough light to walk around the chamber without a flashlight. If anything, the powerful floodlights just made the visibility that much worse. Besides making their night vision goggles almost useless, the heavy shadows cast by the numerous rock formation placed large portions of the Pit in pools of darkness that were almost impossible to illuminate.

  They’d all heard the scuttlebutt about the impossible creatures discovered inside the ancient tomb. It had sounded absurd. Perfectly preserved Minotaurs dressed as legionnaires fighting against hordes of nightmarish monsters. Megan wouldn’t have given the rumors any credit if not for the hordes of scientists, press, and crazies flooding the island. By the end of the first day of their arrival, Admiral Wright had been forced to close the local airport indefinitely. While that had helped the immediate chaos, it hadn’t stopped the flow of people. From what she’d been hearing boats of all shapes and sizes had been arriving in a steady stream throughout the night.