The Rise of Nazil- Complete Epic Fantasy Trilogy

by Aaron-Michael Hall

  First one, and then another Desu Beast screeched, grasping and biting at the fiendish demons. Xandi’s massive tail whipped furiously, impaling the imps as they thrashed mid-air, from the febrile poison Xandi had injected into their flesh.

  Each beast, in turn, descended, continuing the onslaught. Their movements were a blur, with only their reverberant screeches giving any hint to their location. The beasts’ assaults were unrelenting, impaling and crushing the demonic imps until Lilinth stood alone, her extensive injuries distorting her necrosed features. The beasts circled the tree line, and then ascended past the Guardian’s arc, resuming their aerial formation.

  Lilinth propelled herself forward, and extended her claws, thirsting to rake the flesh of the interlopers. Ahvixx struck his staff to the ground, and then raised it, spinning it above his head: each rotation forced Lilinth back with a rippling wave of energy.

  Regaining her flight, Lilinth soared above the two men, positioning herself to strike. As she dived toward her prey, the crowned eagle squawked, launching a vicious attack. The twirling mass hovered above the men, entangled in fevered combat. The eagle’s massive talons shredded Lilinth’s desiccated face and neck, while his obsidian beak pecked the wan eyes from the otherworldly creature.

  The mage clawed back at the fierce bird, beating her leathery wings. With a final, brutal slash, the crowned eagle ripped the flesh from her face.

  Lilinth flailed in the air, soaring higher to escape the eagle’s savage assault. When her wings grazed the Protectors’ arc, a bestial scream issued forth as the Guardians’ essence perforated her skin, cascading throughout her body. Writhing in agony, Lilinth convulsed, unable to free herself from the divine arc. Growing orifices tore through her haggard body, and her screams intensified, until the suffusing light exploded from within.

  Raithym snarled, leering at the advancing Ayrmeis.

  “Raithym?” Ayrmeis said, holding his arms out wide. “I know you’re in there. Please, we don’t need to do this. You must fight it.”

  A look of desolation crossed Raithym’s face as he stared at Ayrmeis, squinting.

  “It’s me, Cousin, please,” Ayrmeis said. “I’m here with you. We can defeat her together. We’re always stronger together, remember? You and me.”

  For a moment, Raithym’s stance faltered. He shook his head, lowering his sword. “Ayr—Ayrmeis?”

  “Yes. It’s me. I’m here, Raithym. I’ll never leave you. Fight her. You must continue to fight.”

  Raithym trembled, his eyes reverting to their natural coloring. Taking a shaky step forward, he met Ayrmeis’ eyes. “She’s too strong. I—I can’t, Ayrmeis. Pierce the—the darkness and end my pain. Pierce—” Raithym screamed, wobbling back as his eyes faded to white.

  “He’s weak. Just as you are weak,” Raithym said, in a voice not his own. Slaver oozed from his mouth as he brought his sword up, offering a serrated smile. “Raithym is mine.”

  “No,” Ayrmeis said. “The Guardians will free him.” He brought the scepter forward. “You are alone.”

  “Never am I alone.” Raithym pivoted, bringing his hands around with such rapidity, Ayrmeis barely noticed the movement.

  Ayrmeis dropped, rolling to the side as a stream of fiery projectiles hurtled toward him. In a blur, he’d regained his footing, blocking Raithym’s sword with the scepter.

  Raithym cackled, extending his blade toward Ayrmeis, while more disfigured imps rose from an acrid fog.

  “Never am I alone,” Raithym repeated, lunging forward in a rage.

  Ayrmeis parried Raithym’s well-aimed attempt, and before he could riposte, Ayrmeis roared, slashing with the scepter, and following with a combination of jabs and cuts.

  He cried out, releasing the mounting anguish assailing every part of him. Ayrmeis landed in a defensive crouch, facing Raithym again.

  With a broad, serrated smile, Raithym traced a weeping wound in his chest, tasting the life fluid that ran from it. After sucking his fingers clean, he smiled.

  “The blood of Oisin,” Raithym taunted, as his wounds began to close.

  Ayrmeis lunged again, swiping out with his sword, not allowing time for Raithym’s wounds to heal.

  As Raithym parried the strike, Ayrmeis rolled backward, coming up in a side stance. With a shift of his foot, he pivoted, coming around with a spinning hook kick.

  Blood-tinged spittle spewed from Raithym’s mouth as he staggered sideward, nearly toppling from the ferocious kick.

  Ayrmeis feigned left, and then pressed forward, never ceasing his powerful advance. With devastating rapidity, he feigned a jab, following with two side-kicks before whirling out of Raithym’s reach.

  He staggered sideward, struggling to regain his footing. Raithym nearly swooned, shaking his head to clear the blackness creeping in from the corners of his eyes. In desperation, he launched more projectiles, putting more distance between them.

  Ayrmeis dropped in a side split, unable to block the speedy missiles. An eruption of blistering heat radiated down his arm as two of the projectiles impaled his shoulder.

  “Jasiriaah!” Ayrmeis yelled, wrenching the spikes from his shoulder. He stood aslant, struggling to remain upright. Ayrmeis took a step forward, nearly toppling as his legs weakened beneath him. Everything was a blur, and he shook his head, trying to clear the haze from his mind. When he saw Ahvixx combating the demons Raithym had summoned,

  Ayrmeis gripped the pommel of his sword, with Symeon’s words repeating in his mind: I won’t be there to defend you. Loss is death! Ayrmeis stared at the frothy slaver oozing from Raithym’s mouth as the demonic creatures shrieked, writhing in their death throes.

  Control your breathing, and build your endurance.

  “A warrior is able to endure. I am a warrior,” Ayrmeis said, inhaling a steeling breath, and bringing his weapons to the ready.

  “Loss is death!” he roared, charging.

  With a backward roll, Raithym landed in a crouch, spitting sprays of blood between him and Ayrmeis. Small apertures erupted from the dirt, sending ashen tendrils coiling into the air. Grinning wickedly, Raithym wiped the remains of blood from his lips, disgorging a viscous blaze.

  “You can’t wound him, Ayrmeis,” Ahvixx shouted in his mind. “You must pierce his heart. The blood can break the seal.”

  Raithym teetered, feeling the sting of his cousin’s blade. Even with Mah’saahc’s possession, his mortal form couldn’t withstand the onslaught. With a leer, he loosed a barrage of fiery bolts, sending Ayrmeis sailing backward, careening into a tree. He rolled on his side, crying out as the otherworldly energy cascaded through his body.

  “Ahvixx,” Ayrmeis yelled again, convulsing on the ground, lost in the agony consuming every part of him. His mind wouldn’t focus. There was only the pain, escalating as he fought to regain control.

  With a clash of his staff, Ahvixx sent a crackling discharge of energy toward Ayrmeis, causing him to scream out again. The Guardians’ essence radiated around him, suffusing his body, and dulling the pain.

  “The darkness you serve will be defeated,” Ayrmeis said, dragging himself to his feet. He shook the weariness away, and reclaimed his weapons, facing Raithym again.

  “I don’t serve the darkness! I AM the darkness!” Raithym released an eldritch shriek. His mouth contorted, elongating as the deafening timbre caused Ayrmeis to shield his ears. With a mordant exhalation, a white gaseous veil spewed from Raithym’s mouth, engulfing Ayrmeis.

  He tottered back, blinking within the blinding pall. There was nothing but white, and the sting from the noxious cloud distorted his already obstructed vision.

  Ayrmeis’ breathing became labored, while a tease of laughter came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

  When he felt a slash to his shoulder, he spun around, as Raithym retracted the blade, leaving a line of blood in its wake. Ayrmeis slashed futilely at the empty air only to hear a loud, resonating cackle that preceded another painful slash.

  “You can’t defeat what
you can’t see, Cousin ,” Raithym taunted, jabbing forward with his sword.

  Ayrmeis panted, rubbing his stinging eyes. With a ragged breath, he pushed to his knees, only to be slammed back to the ground.

  “Coward!” Ayrmeis shouted, wincing. He rested on his haunches, desperately grappling for his weapons. As he clutched the pommel of his sword, a gelid zephyr caused the hackles to raise on his arms.

  Ayrmeis shifted, stretching his legs in a side split. He gripped his pommel with both hands, stabbing upward with all the strength he could muster. Only the subsequent shriek testified to the accuracy of his strike.

  Forcing the pain from his mind, Ayrmeis pushed to his feet, delivering a swipe into the seemingly vacuous cloud. When the strike landed, he closed his eyes, concentrating not only on the sounds, but also on his breathing.

  He closed his mouth, breathing slowly through his nostrils, calming his thoughts, and focusing his inner vision. His breathing relaxed, becoming rhythmic as his perception amplified.

  With a fierce roar, Ayrmeis rolled forward. He landed in a crouch, stabbing out before he leapt to his feet, delivering a roundhouse kick.

  “Plamahje r’aymed tr’eon ,” [112] Ahvixx spoke in his mind. Ayrmeis didn’t recognize the words.

  And yet, he did.

  With one fluid strike, he drove the scepter into the ground. A flash of energy erupted from the aperture, causing Raithym to fall back as it exploded over the cloud, sparking as it arched, and drew the gaseous vapors within the aperture Ayrmeis had created.

  Ayrmeis coughed, retching on mucus-laden blood and bile, roiling up from his stomach. His legs trembled beneath his weight, as he struggled to his knees, lurching sideward.

  Darkness crept in from the corner of his eyes, stealing the lingering vestiges of his conscious away. He felt his body begin to sway, but it no longer responded to the pleas of his mind. It drifted back, seemingly tethered to the barren ground.

  When he saw the shadow in the distance, Ayrmeis couldn’t react. He reached for his sword, for his scepter, but his body didn’t move. It felt weighted, brutalized beyond use or repair.

  With a lolling nod, his eye rolled back, the other swollen completely shut. No pain had ever been as great as what permeated the very essence of his being.

  “Your battle has just begun,” Ahvixx whispered in his mind. The words echoed around him, shifting through time and space. Images streamed in his closed eyes, accompanied by prickling surges, igniting every receptor in his body.

  “I combine my strength with yours,” Ahvixx’s voice murmured, as a jolting heat, surged through Ayrmeis’ body.

  Ayrmeis’ eye blinked open, widening with Raithym’s swift approach. His sword glinted in the air, as he raised it, positioning himself to strike.

  Weakly, Ayrmeis swung his legs around, sweeping Raithym from his feet. Ayrmeis’ reclaimed his dropped weapons, and then stood, resuming an unsteady stance.

  “Pierce his heart!” Ahvixx said in his mind.

  *“No,” Zeta and Danimore screamed in tandem, rushing toward Tardison. Before they’d crossed the room, Symeon and Turahn halted their advance, pulling them away. Danimore struggled against Symeon’s tight grasp, screaming for his son. *

  “Forgive me, Cousin,” Ayrmeis said, raising the scepter. “You will be free.”

  Raithym snarled, releasing another barrage of bolts. As he started to rise, Ayrmeis rushed forward, accepting the sting of the piercing projectiles in exchange for the crucial strike. With a pained roar, he brought the scepter down, aimed for Raithym’s chest.

  “No!” Raithym cried out, bringing up his arms to block.

  Never breaking his stare, Ayrmeis lunged, plunging the si’val tak isfan into his cousin’s heart.

  A shrill caterwaul escaped Raithym’s lips. His face contorted, shifting from the features of Nikolina, to Allister, and then Molag. Instinct begged Ayrmeis to withdraw, but he didn’t waver, struggling against the enhanced strength of Raithym’s possessed and thrashing body.

  Raithym’s furious screams became guttural, as the luminous veil encasing Ahvixx surged upward, emitting a puissant beam that contacted Ayrmeis. He groaned, gritting his teeth, while the increased energies penetrated his flesh, strengthening both his body and his resolve.

  “Please, Ayrmeis, don’t. Don’t. It’s me, Raithym. Please,” Raithym whimpered, his face reverting to his own. With tears streaming down his face, Raithym clutched his chest, begging for Ayrmeis’ help.

  “Please,” he said again. “The pain, Ayrmeis. Help me, please.”

  When he rested his gaze on the scepter embedded in Raithym’s chest, Ayrmeis nearly stepped back. Raithym’s tunic and fingers were blood sodden while he begged for the pain to end.

  Ayrmeis looked into his cousin’s eyes, feeling as if his heart would implode in his chest. The scepter should’ve drawn forth the eidolon, freeing Raithym from her influence.

  Yet, Raithym’s agonized pleas testified to the contrary. Ayrmeis had pierced his chest, but Mah’saahc remained. He had to free his cousin and destroy the creature inhabiting him.

  His fingers loosened on the scepter. This was the first time he’d harmed anyone. Ayrmeis shook his head, contending with what he’d vowed to do, against what he felt in his heart was right. He looked at the blood again, whispering a desperate prayer. This was his cousin, and that truth caused his resolve to wane.

  “Raithym?” Ayrmeis murmured.

  “Help me, Ayrmeis. Please,” Raithym said. “I—I can’t move it.”

  Ayrmeis stared at the scepter’s point: the tip scarcely pierced Raithym’s chest. The force behind his thrust should’ve impaled him completely. His eyes rested on Raithym’s fingers then. He could’ve easily knocked the scepter aside, but he wouldn’t touch it.

  Ayrmeis’ brow knitted, recalling his father’s words.

  Don’t be deceived .

  Ayrmeis tightened his grasp.

  Raithym grinned wickedly, moving a leg around to topple him, but before he could complete the move, Ahvixx thrust his staff forward, sending a burst of energy through Ayrmeis.

  With an ethereal scream, Raithym convulsed, his eyes flickering to completely black. Ayrmeis’ arms trembled, straining to keep the key lodged in his cousin’s chest.

  His powerful hold didn’t evince his overwhelming emotional conflict. Ayrmeis cried out again, as Mah’saahc’s essence was syphoned into the key of souls, sending Ayrmeis sailing across the clearing.

  Ayrmeis winced, unable to move. His leg was twisted, and shattered from the impact of his collision. Everything was a blur with only the intense pain testifying that he was still alive. When he raised a hand to wipe blood from his eye, he noticed the scepter still clutched in his hand.

  “You’ve done well,” Ahvixx said. He brought his staff around, pressing it against Ayrmeis’ side.

  His body stiffened, each pulse from Ahvixx’s staff pounded beneath his skin, enflaming numerous wounds with the healing energy.

  Ahvixx reached for the scepter, holding it aloft. The swirling particles encased within the key looked almost beautiful, glittering in the sunlight that now streamed into the clearing.

  “R’eMahd resh r’aymed k’ahndelae dar’rassa r’aymed tr’eon !” [113] Ahvixx said.

  Thundering jolts shook the isle, while the nexus of the Protector’s arc brightened, discharging an empyrean flare that transpierced the key.

  “R’aymed k’ahndelae,” Ahvixx repeated, plunging the si’val tak isfan into the dirt.

  Ayrmeis rose on weakened knees. The rhythmic pulses from the si’val tak isfan had stirred him back to consciousness. Pain still radiated throughout his body, but with Tardison’s connection, Ayrmeis was able to endure.

  Reaching a hand to his calf, he extended his leg out, and then back again. The bones were no longer shattered, but it could not yet support his weight.

  With a ragged intake of air, Ayrmeis raised to his knees, but sank back to the ground, noticing Raithym sprawled out but meters away
.

  “No!” Ayrmeis cried. He crawled forward, dragging his wounded leg behind him until he’d reached his cousin.

  *“No, Raithym. Please. You can’t die. I love you. Do you hear me? You can’t, Raithym, you can’t. Please,” Tardison pleaded, hugging the empty floor.

  “Raithym,” Zeta screamed. “My son!” *

  Ayrmeis shook his head, resting a hand over the wound in Raithym’s chest. His tears were irrepressible as he met Raithym’s eyes, before draping his arms around him, never wanting to let go.

  “Forgive me, Raithym, please. You were supposed to be free…you…you…the key…you were supposed to be free. You mustn’t die. I love you, please.”

  “I. love. you, Ayrmeis,” Raithym breathed, gasping between each word. “Always, I will.”

  Ayrmeis’ head snapped up. He stared at Raithym’s sunken face, and then leaned down, kissing his brow.

  “Never would I harm you…never. Please don’t leave me, Raithym. Don’t make me suffer this pain. I can’t live knowing what I’ve done. I’ll die beside you.” He wept, and cast his gaze skyward. “Take me in his stead. I beg of you. Not Raithym…I’ll die in his place. Please, Raithym.”

  *The audience hall fell silent except for Tardison’s mournful laments. Each of the siblings stood unmoving, fixated on Tardison as he mimicked Ayrmeis and Raithym’s confrontation. Danimore closed his eyes, unable to contain his tears. When he reached to embrace his wife, Zeta pulled away, dashing across the room.

  Before anyone could intervene, she’d grasp Tardison’s arms, turning him around to face her.

  “What have you done?” she demanded. “Where’s my son? Where’s Raithym, damn you? What did you do to my son!”

  Symeon was seconds too late, sweeping the pregnant woman up in his arms. Tardison collapsed, his head thudding to the floor as his eyes reverted to their natural coloring.

  “The connection has been severed,” Kuhani said. He knelt at Tardison’s side, regarding the Uzon. “He needs the nectar.”

  Turahn handed him the phial, and then turned toward the siblings.

  “Tardison and Ayrmeis are no longer connected?” Thalassa asked.