Kings of Ghumai- The Complete series Box Set

by D N Meinster

  They were going to lose, as he predicted. The original Neanthal had gotten the better of Aros. Another Neanthal was on top of his girlfriend, choking her to death. And the third Neanthal was on his way with a copy of the black blade.

  Doren didn’t have a weapon to defend himself. He had nothing but a black-and-white cloak. His ancestor had died in it, and so would he.

  Unless he shifted away.

  Doren spun in place and reappeared at the resting place of his shield. He scooped up each half, smacked them together, and let loose a bronze beam into the back of the Neanthal that had broken it.

  The second Neanthal burst into a cloud of black smoke that quickly dissipated.

  The third Neanthal’s hands were still on her neck as they began to melt. The pressure eased off Rikki’s neck as his fingers became little more than wet clay.

  Rikki pulled herself up from the ground with a seemingly invisible rope. The Neanthal copy slid off of her and sat in a clump at her feet as he continued to liquify.

  With both copies dealt with, Rikki and Doren regrouped.

  “You forgot about him,” Neanthal growled, approaching them with Aros floating in the air above him, his face blue and his body ensnared in gold.

  “Let him go!” Rikki ordered, extending her staff out and aiming it at him.

  “You don’t intimidate me, little girl,” Neanthal grumbled. “But I am curious to see how well you’ll be able to put this one back together when he’s in so many pieces.”

  The entire war seemed to slow down as Rikki kept her eyes on Aros. The clanging and screaming blurred together until there seemed to be no sounds at all. Not a breath. Not a footstep.

  She wasn’t about to let Aros die. Her staff moved at normal speed, and it was the world that seemed unable to keep up.

  Aros began to fade from Neanthal’s grasp, just as his outline reappeared at her feet.

  Neanthal caught on to her manipulations and sent forth a blast of red energy.

  Rikki created a translucent green barrier to protect herself and her friends.

  Time returned to normal and Aros was at Rikki’s feet, his skin gradually returning to its normal color.

  Neanthal had not let up on his bombardment, as a red beam continued to pound away at the green shielding.

  Doren felt a hand slide against his arm and fingers clutch onto his wrist. He looked at Rikki, her eyes glowing as green as the rest of her. But though they were bright, he could tell there were tears in them.

  He shook his head. “We do this together.”

  Rikki tried to smile. “I was born for this. It’s supposed to be me. Only me.” She planted a kiss on lips, one that lasted far too short for either of their liking.

  She yanked herself away and slipped through her own barrier. With her staff raised high, she allowed the channeling crystal to absorb Neanthal’s attack.

  He ceased as he realized what she was doing.

  With a flick of her staff, Neanthal’s black blade shattered while it was still in his hand.

  His initial scowl reversed and became a huge grin. The pieces of the blade came back together and reformed atop the hilt. “I am a god while you are merely a servant.” He held up a hand and a lightning bolt came down from the clouds and froze while it was in his possession. “Ghumai is already mine.”

  “You can take our castle. You can claim our kingdoms. You can rule our continent. But even if you are victorious, it will never be yours.”

  The lightning bolt in his hand turned a shade of red before he let it fly in Rikki’s direction.

  Rikki put her staff between herself and the lightning, and red sparks flew in every direction as she minimized the damage from the bolt.

  Neanthal’s heels lifted from the ground. He was hovering six inches in the air. Then six feet. Then sixty feet.

  He tossed his sword to the side, where it floated in place before diving back to the ground. As it went, hundreds of identical swords appeared at its side. And they were all targeting her and her friends.

  Before Rikki could conjure up another barrier, Neanthal created a ball of lightning between his hands. He raised it over his head and red lightning struck down before the swords had even made contact.

  As she blocked a bolt with her staff, the airborne blades began landing. They hit indiscriminately around her, embedding in allies and enemies alike. Though her original barrier protected Doren and Aros, another bolt effectively eliminated it.

  Rikki whirled her staff upwards and reversed the course of the remaining swords. They flew back towards the airborne demigod but disappeared before making contact.

  Neanthal clapped his hands together and absorbed what was left of the red lightning. Flickers of red appeared to climb up his arms before his entire body began to glow. He stretched his sword in Rikki’s direction, and a massive red light shot downward at her.

  Rikki was done with barriers. In response, she sent a burst of green energy right back at Neanthal.

  She held his attack at bay but was unable to push back against it. They were locked in a stalemate.

  Doren came up to Rikki’s side and pressed both halves of shield together. A bronze beam joined with the green to counter the red.

  Aros, weakened but alive, raised his sole remaining clawblade and sent a golden beam to join up with the light of his friends’.

  “What are you still doing down here?” Doren asked. “Get up there!”

  “Elfmon!” she shouted, referencing the reason mages couldn’t fly without aid.

  “Neanthal!” Aros screamed back, not getting what she was referring to.

  “If he can, you can!” Doren yelled.

  Rikki had never even tried lifting herself into the air before, but she supposed it was not unlike lifting any other object. As she willed it, her feet left the ground. She was so startled, her green beam faltered and Neanthal’s advanced on them.

  While her legs dangled above her friends’ heads, she looked down at them. Aros and Doren had intense and painful expressions as they willed the light enchantments from the weapons and towards the Beast.

  She turned her focus back on Neanthal and proceeded to rise into the sky. Eventually, she made it to the point where the red energy met the tricolor of the trio’s. Even from that position, she couldn’t push Neanthal’s attack back. There was only one way to make it up to him. She had to go through it.

  Rikki’s green glow intensified before she flew upward into the red light.

  All around her was red. She was blinded by it, but she kept on with her trajectory. Up, up she went, the slight green layer the only protection as she soared to confront the Beast.

  Her staff was shaking. Her necklace trembled. Bits of the silver cloak began to peel away as she went on. It felt like she was burning.

  But she could not stop. She would not. Below, there was only gold and bronze light keeping Neanthal from consuming the entire battlefield.

  Finally, through the red haze, she spotted him. He was like a shadow floating in the sky; a dark smudge amongst the never-ending red.

  He must have noticed her, for he briefly let up his attack.

  His fiery eyes were locked onto her, a flicker of concern in his gaze exposing his shock that the mage had joined him in the sky.

  Rikki wanted to look down; she wanted to examine every direction to see what the united Ghumai looked like from so high up. But she kept her sights on Neanthal.

  Her green glow had not faded, and neither had her determination.

  “All for a goddess that has sent you to die!” he roared.

  “Not just for Her,” Rikki softly replied. “For my friends. For Ghumai.”

  He sneered as he let go of his sword, though it remained hovering at his chest. He stretched his arms to his side, both of them turning into spinning black clouds before they became solid red light. His sword mimicked them, becoming a luminous red projection. And then it shot forward at Rikki, and the light of his arms followed.

  Again, Rikki was consu
med by red, but this time he was only targeting her.

  Clouds burned away as Neanthal’s energy struck them and lit the sky red.

  Rikki was trying to hold herself together as his attack devoured her and everything in her proximity. She could not let him win. There were no mages left to stop him if she died here. Everyone below would perish. Aros. Doren. Yveen. Loraya. And when he was done with Ghumai, the Bastion would be next.

  What then? He’d enslave Magenine. The souls of those long departed would be lost. Other worlds would fall to Neanthal’s will. Stars would go out. The sky would forever be darkened.

  But only if she gave up.

  Rikki’s eyes became a solid green light. Her glowing aura deepened until the green mass was visible amidst the red.

  And she kept letting her light grow, until Neanthal’s energy could no longer penetrate it and she stopped burning.

  Neanthal redoubled his attack, sending forth a black storm from his chest to join with the red energy.

  He was putting his entire being into the assault. She had to do the same.

  The channeling crystals on her staff and neck began to crack as their luminosity increased. Rikki’s green aura spread until she appeared to be encased in a sphere.

  She inched forward, urging herself to float closer to the Beast.

  Even though he was not letting up, Neanthal noticed she was advancing. So he started to grow larger, becoming twice her size and doubling the force of his attack.

  But she would not be deterred.

  Both channeling crystals shattered. Her staff and necklace turned vivid green before bursting apart.

  Still, her green energy widened until it was as large as the Beast it encroached on.

  Her light cut through what remained of his attack, piercing through the red and implanting itself inside Neanthal’s dark essence.

  Rikki found herself within a black cloud as Neanthal’s visage was broken apart by her green light.

  It was his chest. She was within his chest. It was not reforming. And neither were his arms. And his legs were breaking apart.

  Neanthal’s eyes had become green, and his face was dispersing into black wisps. But he was not yet defeated. The black clouds around Rikki continued to swirl in place.

  Beams of gold and bronze broke through, but the black smoke reacted to them and Neanthal started to reform as a massive beast.

  Still encased in her green aura, Rikki closed her eyes, spread out her arms, and let loose a barrage of green energy from within.

  Green light swallowed the black cloud, preventing its expansion while eating away at its fringes.

  She kept it up until the smoke no longer swirled; until she could feel her very life start to fade away.

  But she had to be sure.

  Even as her mind went fuzzy and her thoughts deserted her, Rikki’s will kept the onslaught going. She had but one goal: the destruction of Neanthal.

  It wasn’t until her cloak had disintegrated and she completely exhausted her magic that the attack stopped and Rikki began to fall.

  Doren watched from below as Rikki fell through a fading black cloud in the sky. He ran toward where she would land, expecting he might catch her no matter how difficult such a feat would be.

  He kept his eyes on her as he ran, leaving Aros, Yveen, and Loraya to clear his path to his girlfriend.

  She was falling so fast. He wasn’t sure he could make it to her.

  And then, Doren heard an audible neigh as a pegasus flapped its way toward her.

  Mirabelle dove down and caught Rikki on her back. She nestled the young mage between her wings as she glided to the ground.

  Doren slowed down once Mirabelle landed and he saw Rikki splayed out on her back. She was partially nude, with bits of Bellish undergarments covering only tiny sections of her body, and she was completely still.

  He trembled as he neared.

  His eyes were already watering as he grabbed her hand in his.

  He leaned his head down and placed an ear on her chest as he listened for her heartbeat.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Late

  Sunlight poked through the remains of the black cloud above the battlefield. Neanthal’s smoky residue spread out as it dissolved, making way for the clear sky that waited above it.

  Below, the Faun puppets Neanthal had recruited for his army went still. Without a master to control them, they woke up. Howls of confusion sprang from the injured. Discarded helmets and dumbfounded looks came from those well enough to stand. Their cessation in hostilities was matched by their opponents.

  Kytheran volunteers went still, dropping their arms and glancing upward. The velizard riders stopped charging through enemies’ lines. Twileans and Streamers caught on to the armistice and turned their focus to the sky.

  All were entranced by Neanthal’s destruction; by a cloud that eventually disappeared. The Beast of Faunli, the Divine Corruption, the Divider of Lands, was no more. A tale started over three hundred years ago was finally over, and they were all witnesses to its end.

  Though the demibeasts and plated Massku had ended their assault with their creator’s demise, they did not die along with him. They went still, whining and attempting to discern their next course of action by gazing at one another. It was a single demibeast that led them to their next phase. After clawing at the ground, it turned around and sprinted back along the route it’d come from.

  Packs of demibeasts reversed direction and chased after the first one to leave. They paid no mind to the survivors or the corpses, navigating through them all to get out of the warzone.

  The plated Massku watched their quadrupedal brethren retreat and followed course. Some tossed away their swords and clubs, others dispatched with their entire armor, as they sped away from the Ghumaic armies and sought refuge somewhere in Faunli.

  No one chased after them. Having already achieved victory, there was little desire to resume the conflict to finish them off.

  Nevertheless, the Massku discovered a massive obstacle waiting for them along their path.

  Empress Simma of Faunli marched with thousands of troops supplied by the forty families. Upon sighting the retreating Massku, hundreds of arrows were launched from Faun crossbows.

  Cries from the demibeasts ricocheted across the landscape as the packs were downed by sharpened projectiles.

  When they reached the frontlines of the Faun army, they attempted to scurry through without engaging them. But Simma had brought skilled warriors with her. None made it beyond the battalions.

  Simma herself donned spherical battle gloves that made it look like her hands were encased by barbed wire. She joined the first wave of her soldiers as they charged the stationary plated Massku, who’d frozen in indecision.

  The first went down easy, as it’d ditched its helmet and left its head vulnerable to a well-placed punch.

  Simma had more trouble with the next, as it was fully armored and her gloves could not penetrate it. But it was only armed with its gauntlets, and Simma danced around it and sent blow-after-blow until she’d removed its helmet. Before she could take it out herself, an arrow stuck it in the middle of its beast-like face.

  A demibeast launched itself at her, but its jaw got caught on Simma’s right glove. One single bash on its eye and it ceased moving.

  While the late-arriving Fauns eliminated the remnants of Neanthal’s Massku, the Kytheran border was unnervingly quiet as the survivors reviewed the extent of their losses. Those found injured yet alive were rushed back to Castle Tornis by horse or velizard. The dead were left on the muddy fields.

  Doren Tunsev’s head was resting on the chest of Rikki Nasem. Each beat of her heart seemed to take an eternity to come, but each pulse reassured him that she was still alive. He would not move his head from her, for to behold her current state might convince him of something that her heartbeat instantly refuted.

  “Is she…?”

  Doren recognized Aros’ voice and opened his eyes. Loraya was at Aros�
�� side, as was the Lady Yveen. Even Eloise of the Twilight Islands had come to check on Rikki. They stood together, all of them battered, cut up, and bleeding, but their only concern was for the mage that saved them all.

  Doren didn’t want to speak. He wasn’t sure what to tell them. Rikki was alive, but he didn’t know if it would last. As soon as he answered, her heart might go forever silent. She was on the cusp of death but had not yet surrendered to it.

  “Pray to the Goddess.” Doren looked Aros in the eyes as he said it.

  But before Aros even got the chance, he felt a pair of fingers tighten around his own. The sound of Rikki’s heartbeat deepened, and Doren finally lifted his head off of her.

  Brilliant green eyes were staring into his own.

  She was alive. Somehow, he knew he had Magenine to thank.

  Doren slipped out of his cloak and loaned it to Rikki as she started to come around.

  “Neanthal?” she asked, barely able to speak his name.

  Doren glanced up at the striking blue sky. “Gone. Destroyed.”

  Rikki managed a smile. She locked a hand onto Doren’s arm and then grabbed at his shoulder with the other.

  Doren carefully lifted her from Mirabelle’s back, setting both her feet on the field. She needed to lean on him to stay upright, while keeping another hand on her pegasus for support. But she managed to steady herself, just as Aros rushed in to give her a hug.

  “You did it,” Aros whispered as his eyes moistened.

  After letting go of Rikki, Aros embraced Doren.

  “We did it.” Aros dropped his arms down and took a couple steps back. “How did we do it?”

  No one provided an answer, though it seemed obvious there was only one among them that deserved credit for their victory.

  Rikki had lost a cloak, a staff, and a necklace, but so much more had been sacrificed on this day. Lives had been given and taken in defense of a world that they all sought to preserve. She wanted to ask who was gone and who was left beyond those she already knew, but her voice was not yet capable of conveying such a question. Instead, she bent her head closer to Doren and whispered, “Who survived?”

  Doren surveyed the aftermath, wondering if there were even a couple thousand of their allies left. So many were dead. It would take seasons of mourning to get over their losses.