“Because people like you are so ready to throw their morals away for promises of power,” I spat.
Herk sat back, studying the dark blade of his sword. “I see you've tasted some of what Cusion offers. Isn't it satisfying?”
“It's filthy.”
“You're ignorant, Caleb. I'm sure you're comfortable in your black-and-white world, labeling things as good and bad. Makes it easier, doesn't it? I bet you feel lighter than you've had in all your life, no longer carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
“It's still there, bearing down on me. Borrowing this black energy was a matter of necessity. Kind of ironic that I'll be sending Cusion to the void with his own dark energy.” A harsh grin stretched out on my face.
Herk glanced over at the core before returning his attention to me. “I figured it would go this way. I'm not good at sharing anyways.”
“So that's the way it’s going to be?” I planted my feet and looked into his eyes.
“No, it isn't going to go the way you think.” Herk smiled superiorly. “I think you'll kill your lady friend here for me. Then you'll do the same to any of your friends who survive the hordes.”
“Fighting in the arena for so long must have made you insane. That isn't going to happen.”
“We'll see.” A malignant light shone in his eyes.
Kathryne leapt for Herk's throat while I readied my attack, locking up his sword arm in the process. The energy within me sought release and there wasn't any will in me to fight it anymore. When I started piecing the two elements together, however, an overpowering force drove me to my knees. My psyche was in pieces as Cusion drove his mental probe deep inside me, latching onto the source of my power, the locus of my being. Sharp needles drove into my skull and laughter echoed through the chamber. I couldn't tell whether it came from Herk or Cusion. Probably, it was a blend of the two.
I grasped the stakes of the game instantly. We were fighting for free will or for trading coherent thought for a less strictly defined alternative. I didn't like the idea of being pushed out of the decision making process. In fact, I'd be rather miffed at the thought of someone else acting in my stead.
Rolling with the punches, I fought a shadow war in the depths of my psyche. All bastions on the periphery had to be surrendered if I wanted any chance of beating the superior power. My sight dimmed and the sounds of struggle between Kathryne and Herk faded. Battling this Leviathan head-on wasn't going to get me anywhere. As the subtle whispers and promises of power filtered through my mind enticingly, I wracked my brain for a plan. Bits of my glowing orb were shredded slowly, a slow-acting acid that would eventually wear away the most well-constructed defense.
Seeing that, I knew there was only one thing that might work: the wholly unexpected. Scrambling about in the darkness of an unformed Dreamscape, I fought the familiar battle with my psyche, implementing the plan before my barrier could be worn away. Really, my idea was simple, laughable really. So simple and crazy that it might actually work. After it had been constructed, I did possibly the most dangerous thing one can do when fighting a battle of wills: I unbarred all the gates and let the enemy past my walls.
It had already become apparent that pitting my will against Cusion’s would end badly. I was fighting a being who had millennia to hone its craft. The pseudo-fight on the destroyed streets of San Francisco with the ancient Royal would be child's play in comparison with Cusion, and Jeeves wasn't in any condition to provide backup.
Leaning back in the simple chair, I listened to the harsh creak of wood as all the weight was distributed to the back legs. The sudden lack of resistance had caught Cusion off guard. He took the bait, though it was obvious by a slackening in oppressive power that he was wary. A fluorescent bulb swung back and forth in the air, a point of darkness cradled within its depths. The light within it flickered in time with a drumbeat I'd started on the table before me.
A figure emerged from the diminished black that was my mind. The corners of my psyche had been corralled and conquered, hardly a challenge for a Leviathan of this caliber. My brash move was probably the only thing that stopped my enemy from obliterating me entirely without pause. Details filled in as my light fell on it. Cusion's chosen form was a man of middle stature and height, sandy hair and a calm, confident demeanor. His arms were held loosely at his side, bright eyes studying me in fascination.
“You are curious indeed, Manling,” he said, cocking his head in a decidedly inhuman fashion.
“Take a seat.” I raised a hand in greeting. “Welcome to my humble abode. Though most people would have knocked first.”
A cloak of roiling black billowed in an unseen wind as he sat. My senses told me that the screams on the edge of preternatural hearing were consumed souls crying out for mercy, endlessly relating their horrible deaths. His light-skinned hands slid across my lacquered table curiously, studying the whorling designs.
“You humans are simple. Taken to your own vices and insecurities, driven by habit. Easily seduced, deceived, conquered. Such fragile flesh, so easily fractured.” He stretched one black-nailed hand stretched out towards me in demonstration.
“Hold your horses.” My chair slammed back into the ground and I clenched one hand around exhibit A. “No need to go and get hasty. Someone might get hurt, and we wouldn't want that.”
Cusion's eyes flashed in confusion. “What do you have, human, that you might think to stay my hand after setting me back so far with that blasted sword of yours?”
I looked down at the trigger, studying its simple design. A dead man's switch was rigged to go off if constant pressure wasn't applied to the trigger after activation. Mine was a hotrod red button, and my thumb was already pushing it gleefully. I was always one for the classics.
“Wellll,” I said, drawing out the word and forcing a calm demeanor. “This here is what we call an impasse. I didn't let you in here to eat my soul, believe it or not. I might have taken down those shields, but they're up now and stronger than ever. If I don't apply constant pressure to this here switch, there won't be enough left of us to fill a dustpan. If you kill me, it will be activated. If you try to escape, I'll release it.”
Now I was the one who had the high ground. Cusion got the picture. He wasn't leaving here intact.
“Then why all this talk, Manling? Did you feel a need to make a grand speech before sacrificing yourself? I assure you, if your friends aren't dead already, they will be soon.”
“I don't think so.” I buffed my nails on my shirtfront. “You really are an inspiring fellow. It wasn't easy, but I made a little time capsule for us. Time in here is meaningless. By the time we're through here, my friends won't have moved an inch.”
“Ah.” He leaned back and made himself comfortable. “You think to outlast me, mortal? Your pitiful lifetime passes in the blink of an eye for one of my kind.”
“Again, an impasse. That's not what I'm getting after. I'll give you a choice: leave this dimension and never return or face extinction.”
“Tempting.” Cusion had become bored, judging by his expression and tone. “But I've become rather enamored with this place. I think I'll enjoy consuming your world. It's been awhile since I had my last meal. This time, I'll be taking my leave before the planet implodes. Although, I'd have missed out on all this fun if that dimensional gate hadn't brought me here.”
It sounded like he said that the world he ate before this one had imploded, that he took the wormhole express into our dimension. I didn't want to think of the chances of those events happening by coincidence. These days, true coincidence was hard to come by. While I'd kept the being talking, I'd cleared my psyche of Cusion's dark influence, its oppressive will no longer consuming my own. Cut off from his power, he hadn't even been able to sense the change. The scales slowly tipped in my favor.
I kept my face carefully neutral, leaning back in the squeaky chair and glancing up at the innocuous looking light. You wouldn't know from looking at it, but inside it was every scrap of my
power, including the dark energy that had been pumped into me by Kathryne.
“You know, I think I've had a change of heart.” I shrugged one shoulder and stared in defeat at the lacquered tabletop.
“Have you?” He rubbed his grimy hands together in anticipation.
A firm nod. “Yup. This place is going to be your grave.” I lashed out at the table with a blast of Air.
The heavy wood flipped and landed on Cusion, groaning protests at the uncalled for treatment. My finger released the meaningless bobble and the dead man's switch fell to the ground.
“A bluff?” he asked incredulously, breath rasping and body writhing. “My power, gone!”
The light bulb shattered and we were plunged into a darkness that only my eyes could penetrate. Cusion began putting up resistance immediately while trying futilely to flee, trapped by the power imbued into the table. Air and Water with a thin film of Earth. It had been one of the riskiest and trickiest gambles of my life. I had to hope I'd be able to keep Cusion distracted long enough to cut the ties of power that would allow him to overwhelm me with ease. Before that, I had to piece together three disparate, independent elements and disguise their true nature. If he'd sensed anything was amiss or got bored with play, I'd have been a willing servant of anything he asked.
Earth denatured and flowed away, giving my frozen design its chance. “Release me, or I shall consume your soul and torment it personally until your mind unravels!”
“Tempting, but I'll pass.” I crouched down beside his face.
The cold energy coiled around Cusion, binding him in an inescapable trap. Panic set in as he realized that this would be the end for him if he couldn't dispel my construct. His will slammed against the restraining barriers locking us both in this place, but it wasn't enough. My fingers clenched and I stepped back as all energy was leeched from the vicinity. Air became cold in my ethereal lungs. The Leviathan's harsh breathing mirrored my own. This attack was a two-edged sword, no matter the outcome. To kill this Leviathan, I had to risk destroying myself. But my bindings were doing their job and my enemy was weakening.
Cusion choked horribly, his body slowly crushed. “You cannot kill me! I am immutable, undying! There will be another who steps in to take my place. The power is undeniable.”
“No matter what happens, you won't be there to see it.” I activated the second stage.
My construct forced its way down the throat of the Leviathan, pouring through its body, crowding into every pore. Blue ice spread across its body, the violent protestations and threats halting as his body began to slow, stop. In a matter of minutes, I was standing before an extraterrestrial icicle. Allowing another portion of stolen energy to power my third phase, the azure power expanded exponentially. Bracing myself, I turned my face away and brought down all the barriers. Time took up its mantle of eternal dominance once more.
— Chapter 27 —
My bright eyes shot open, my power thrumming. Herk's dark sword began moving, stabbing towards Kathryne's midsection. Sapphire seeped from my skin, slow at first but then in increasing certainty, snaking out to envelop Herk. Pain wracked me. My skin smoked and cracked. Time had been on my side, but I was too slow. Kathryne's eyes widened as her flesh parted under Herk’s weapon. Blood spurted from the mortal wound and her shaking hands moved to grasp the dark hilt. Kathryne’s lips parted and her muscles slackened. Hr legs betrayed her and she fell limply to the ground.
Herk was encompassed totally in a shroud of cold energy, but he had the entirety of the core's power behind him now. Roiling black expanded and burst toward him, the thin connection latching onto a new vehicle. Red light writhed under blue, then burst outward, tearing my construct to shreds. Herk laughed insanely, delighted at this new influx of power. He had limitless power at his fingertips. But he was an untested neophyte newly bestowed with the might of a god, an enterprising child trying to catch air between his grasping fingers. Nonetheless, although his methods were ham-fisted and blunt, he lashed out with that dark muscle effectively.
There was still some power remaining, but pain overrode all possibility of defense. In reality, my position was untenable. Kathryne was dying and Gallick, Zack, and Mary were likely facing down the unstoppable might of the hordes. I tried coming up with some grand scheme, but drew blanks. A dark fist slammed into my midsection, flinging me into the far wall with all the strength of Hercules doped up on god juice. I could feel my bones break at the impact, capillaries burst, and my vision flickered uncertainly. My hope dimmed and died, leaving only a sea of pain and hopelessness.
“Thanks for making this easy for me.” Herk clapped happily, grinning.
My heartbeat slowed, faltered. Slick blood choked my airway. The distinctive patter of blood pooling around me was unmistakable. I was battered and broken. I was dying. My mind reeled, struggled, decided. I was dying.
“I don't know how you managed to best him. I'd planned to turn on him eventually, once I stole enough of his power. Cusion had become bloated and overconfident in his age. It was only a matter of time before another took his place. That's how this place works, you know.” He crouched beside me, patting my head and clucking, displeased with my inattention. “An empire falls, but another emerges from the ashes. I think I'll enjoy being a god.”
I pleaded with my eyes, gurgling. “Cahh-losssss-errr.”
“What's this, your dying words? How precious.” He bent to one knee in my blood, bringing his head nearer to mine.
“Sahh-prissee.” I spat a globule of partially clotted blood in his face.
Kathryne had shuffled her way over, dragging the black sword behind her. Herk had been so engrossed in glorifying his victory that she'd been able to approach unnoticed. An Aevum is not one to be crossed lightly, and making an Aevum woman intent on your blood is tantamount to suicide. The blade passed cleanly through Herk's neck as he recoiled into the path of the dark steel, hands streaking blood, eyes clenched tight. He didn't even have time to process his death and probably deserved more pain for his treachery.
My own soul was unraveling at the seams, vision darkening. Kathryne collapsed at my side, one hand held against her chest. The other snaked out to grasp mine. A detonation of sound, the core had split. All in. Dark stone groaned in protest, an earthquake slamming into the ground around the podium an expanding outward. Ruby light glimmered and formed within the dark core. The core had been thwarted twice; it wouldn't let us escape. Self-destruct was the last line of defense. Every soul would be obliterated, wiped out of existence as Cusion promised. A fate worse than death.
Stone buckled as the wave of blunt power traveled towards us. A ball of energy coalesced in the domed room, expanding outwards. This was a high stakes game, as if that wasn't clear. But it hardly mattered, right? Faced with the destruction of your soul when you're already as good as dead? The choice was simple. As usual, it wasn't really a choice at all.
The room dropped several degrees as the power I'd been holding back began to coalesce on the air. Every last scrap of energy in my flickering form was put into the effort. There wouldn't be a chance to contain the blast if I wasn't prepared to go all in too. Azure energy wrapped up the expanding red orb, encompassing it in a flimsy barrier. The two disparate constructs clashed, mine contracting inwards and the other doing its all to release its payload. A fluttering heartbeat, a flash of pain, hardly noticed with the agony consuming me, driving me to the edge of insanity.
It wouldn't be enough. I could see that. Game over. The deck had been rigged from the start. There wasn't any way we could go up against an eater of worlds and win. My head slumped and the power was released. In the last instant before my construct shattered and all was lost, tainted power mixed with an intoxicating mix of sea green flooded into me, intertwined into an indistinguishable whole.
Kathryne lent the last of her strength and the orb shrunk, vibrating in anger but unable to resist the icy energy stealing the power from its final strike. I laughed, a horrible, half-deranged thing. A wal
l of stone crashed down on us and I lost hold of my construct. The weight of the dark stone crushed our broken bodies beneath its incalculable weight, but I held on long enough to witness the end. Second stage, the collection of energy exploded outwards into the world, unchallenged, unstoppable. The pain stopped, and so did my heart. The world dimmed, the curtains drawn, the story concluded.
— Epilogue —
The afterlife wasn't what I'd expected. I'd had high hopes, all things considered. It was a huge letdown, to tell you the truth. Actually, it wasn't a whole lot different from when I was alive. There was pain, for one. A lot of it. I opened my eyes, expecting to see pearly gates or at least a gaggle of admiring fans. Instead, Jas' inhumane ministrations awaited me. You would expect a friend like that to welcome you with open arms into the next life. After all, we were adopted brothers.
“He made it,” Jas announced.
“Yeah, I made it. Now stop pounding on my damn chest, you half-wit.” I clutched at my contracting heart.
“We've been waiting,” Simon said.
“Kathryne not so patiently. She gave up a lot,” Zack said.
“I know,” I grumbled. “Wouldn't have been able to save our asses without the help.”
Something was off. Did heaven move, or were we in some kind of transitory hell? The entire vestibule bounced, sending waves of pain through me. I looked down at my body to find my skin cold and clammy, icy and frostbitten. You'd think someone would have had the decency to clean me up, even if this was hell.
“The fool thinks he's dead.” Kathryne pinned me with her luminous eyes, clamping my cheeks in her grasp, looking deeper.
She sat back in her seat, satisfied. “His psyche is scarred, but that's no surprise. Only a fatalistic idiot would think to unleash that power within themselves on purpose.”
“You aren't dead,” Razor assured me from the driver’s seat of the SUV.
Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) Page 27