“Now,” continued Alfonse, “you’ll join our dance for all eternity.” Some of the clones turned toward us. Some toward Alfonse. Some toward each other. And then all manner of chaos ensued.
Alfonse made to blast Garstil with lightning, but five clones jumped at him, swords and axes brandished. His shot went wide and vaporized a few of them. I guess his clones were insane too. Convenient.
Alfonse fired an Arcane Sphere at Sai, but he managed to jump high enough that the blast propelled him in an arc instead of atomizing him. Once over Alfonse’s head, Sai launched both of his daggers and impaled him through the neck and spine. His lifeless body dropped like a rock. As did all of the clones. Sai landed gracefully in a crouch.
“That was too easy,” said Thasgrin, metallic voice echoing strangely. “It was way too easy. Alfonse was never this weak.”
All of the dead clones smiled at the same time. Their bodies began to twitch and convulse on the ground. Alfonse struggled to his feet, clearly in pain. “You think you have bested me? Alfonse, the vessel of Severus?” He laughed. “Please. You are but mere insects…” A blast of air pulled all of the clones toward him in a blinding flash of light.
The clones were gone. Every one of them. But in their place, Alfonse now stood thirty feet tall, and power emanated from him in chaotic waves. I could barely breathe from the overwhelming pressure of it. “Mere insects in the presence of a god!” The room shook with his bellow, and cracks split the floor, spidering in every direction. Floating runed weapons appeared in the air, glowing with magic. There were enough of them to keep everyone except Garstil busy. The weapons snapped toward us and zoomed at our faces.
I deflected a pair of massive swords and Dashed backward and upward, trying to get some distance. The swords were on me in a heartbeat. No matter how much distance I tried to buy myself, the swords were relentless. With my back to the wall, I’d managed to dodge the last stab, and the swords embedded themselves to the hilt in the stone wall. I kicked them sideways, snapping them. The magic faded, and the hilts turned to mist before fading away.
Around me, the rest of my party had come to similar conclusions and were just freeing themselves of their own paired weapons. Alfonse and Garstil exchanged fire on a scale that was hard to fathom. The amount of power going to and fro could power a city for years and have plenty left over to stockpile. My hair stood on end and static arced between everything in the room. We all charged Alfonse at the same moment, weapons held high, battle roars in the air.
Alfonse smiled. “Useless tripe,” he said as he raised his hands, and a shockwave of force slammed us back into the walls, pinning us there. “I will destroy you one at a time while the rest watch.”
Alfonse walked smugly over to Garstil. “I’ll kill this upstart mage first.” He raised his hand at Garstil’s face, and energy coalesced in a blazing ball of fury. “Say hello to Noslen, child.”
Alfonse’s head rocked upward, and blood sprayed the air. He fell backward, blood flowing freely from his face. Morogan stood between him and Garstil, shoulders heaving, blue flames enveloping his body. His massive muscles rippled with restrained power. “Alfonse not hurt Garstil.”
Alfonse laughed, causing the room to shudder. “What will you do about it?” Alfonse punched Morogan in the chest and sent him flying across the room. He cracked the wall and slid to the floor. He managed to get halfway to a sitting position when Alfonse landed beside him, slamming his massive fist into Morogan’s back.
Morogan fell to his hands and knees and grimaced as he fought back against the pressure on his back. “Morogan…not done,” he gasped, coughing up blood.
Alfonse laughed. “Oh?” He pushed down harder. I could hear bones start to pop. Morogan screamed out in pain. “What exactly do you plan to do about your current predicament? Half-breed filth.”
We all watched in horror as Morogan surrendered. “Ydru. Give Morogan power,” he wheezed.
“Morogan! No!” I screamed, the others joining in as well. It was too late.
Morogan’s eyes turned black. “As you wish…Master,” said Morogan in a deep, disconnected voice.
“What’s this?” asked Alfonse. “Ydru? You still live? How? I killed you.”
Morogan smiled. “Nay. You did not. You merely destroyed my dragon vessel.” Azure flames engulfed Morogan, and his muscle mass tripled. “And for that, you will recompense with your life.” Morogan pushed off the ground with such force that he cratered the stone floor, and he shoved Alfonse off, knocking him off balance. Morogan stood and calmly walked out of the massive crater in the middle of the room. With a wave of his hand, we all fell from the wall.
I immediately began channeling heat into my hands and poured everything I had from the reserves. I wouldn’t have shields after this, but hopefully, I wouldn’t need them. Garstil triggered Arcane Infusion and began firing Arcane Blasts as fast as he could. Thasgrin was healing Sai, who’d taken a blow to the head when he hit the wall.
Morogan didn’t bother moving out of the way of the Arcane Blasts. Instead, he punched Alfonse in the stomach and doubled him over. Explosions annihilated the ground around them while they continued their fistfight. Back and forth they traded blows as explosions tore at their flesh. Or so I thought. On closer inspection, they both were shielding themselves from damage.
I Dashed forward, positioning myself beside Morogan, and unleashed Armageddon from my hands. A scarlet wave of energy obliterated stone in a forty-five-degree cone in front of me as Arcane Blasts continued to pour in. Stone atomized around us, and part of the wall flowed like water.
Suddenly, Morogan grabbed me by my shoulder and tossed me across the room one-handed. I hit the ground in a tumble and looked back at angrily at Morogan. He must have turned on me due to Ydru’s compulsion.
23
The Staff of Severus
Looking back, however, I noticed Alfonse had punched the floor where I had been standing, leaving nothing but rubble. He would have smashed me like a bug. Morogan backhanded Alfonse and sent him crashing into the wall. Blood flowed freely from several places on his body.
I looked over at Garstil and noticed he’d begun channeling energy into his palms. His eyes met mine, and I could see what he wanted—Buy him some time… I nodded, picked up my swords, and triggered Burning Rage.
My vision went red and my Dash detonated the ground as I surged forward. I slashed outward in an “X,” and blood sprayed from Alfonse’s back. He spun on me, but I’d already Dashed out of the way. Morogan lifted his palm and blasted Alfonse in the side with azure energy. For several minutes, the two of us taunted Alfonse, taking potshots at him.
“Down!” screamed Garstil. I Dashed straight at Morogan and plowed him over. We both went tumbling through the rubble and into the wall. We turned just in time to see Alfonse skewered and a three-foot-wide bolt of lightning. It grew in brightness until we were forced to shield our eyes.
When the light settled, Alfonse lay on his back. He’d shrunk back to normal size, and a massive cauterized hole was in the center of his chest.
Thasgrin made his way over to Alfonse. “This isn’t the way I wanted to see ye off…”
Alfonse smiled. “Thasgrin, I hope you’ll accept my deepest apologies. I’d lost myself while I waited these last two centuries.” He tried to sit up and coughed blood.
“Of course,” said Thasgrin, smiling. “Be still, my friend, it won’t hurt for long.”
“My task is done. Finally, I can rest,” said Alfonse. “Garstil, you are indeed worthy.” He grimaced in pain. “Thank you, brave warriors, for freeing me of this madness. Give Noslen my fondest love and farewell.” His body faded from existence.
A wooden staff clattered to the ground and came to rest at Garstil’s feet.
Morogan jumped to his feet and offered me his hand. “Thank you, Sword Bearer. That surely would have been painful.”
“You’re welcome, Ydru. What will you do now?”
Morogan looked pensive. “I will rest a wh
ile. I am still not strong enough to inhabit another host. I will accompany Morogan for the time being. We have much we can teach the other.” We traded grips. “Fare thee well, for now, it has been an honor.” Morogan’s eyes returned to normal.
Morogan shook his head like a wet dog. “Strange feeling. Morogan see everything this time. Easier to stay awake.”
“I’m just glad he hasn’t decided to keep control of you…”
Morogan nodded. “If Ydru bad, Morogan can’t stop.” He turned to Garstil. “New stick likes Garstil?”
Garstil shrugged. “I’m not sure, let’s find out.” When he reached out, it flew up into his outstretched hand. Power exploded from him momentarily and was gone just as fast.
“Looks like the Staff of Severus has accepted ye after all,” said Thasgrin. “Tha’s good news indeed.”
Garstil gasped. “This…” His eyes went wide. “This is unbelievable. So much power. And—what? Who said that?” Garstil looked around. “Who’s me?” he asked.
Thasgrin smiled. “It’s the staff, it’s sentient, like Aba’s bracer.”
Garstil’s body language relaxed. “Oh good, I thought I was losing my mind. It sure talks a lot. At least SADA isn’t so…mouthy.” A loud zrrrrcck suddenly filled the room, and he jumped and yelped. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry. Geez…” We all joined Thasgrin laughing.
SADA beeped. “Map data has been updated. New locations available.”
I checked the map. “Whoa, yeah. There’s an oasis on the other side of Haran, as well as a small village of some kind.” A section of the wall ground open, and bright sunlight shone in from outside. “Well, I suppose that’s a hint for us to get out.” I chuckled.
We made our way back to Haran without incident. I ended up buying a wagon and horse from the caravan leader. One of their members had died and, apparently, they wouldn’t be needing it anymore. It was also one less mouth to feed, and the silver would be of more use than a horse and wagon with no wagon master.
After eating a good lunch, we bid farewell to Haran and set off for the open desert.
We crested a dune with the wagon and found a horrifying sight. “It must stretch for hundreds of yards,” said Thasgrin. Before us was a field of bones. There was no pattern to the bodies. It was as if a group of people had just died and deteriorated for no apparent reason. We said silent prayers as we passed the mass graveyard in the desert.
“What would cause something like this?” I asked. “I’ve never seen or heard of anything like that. On Tempest or on Earth.”
“Striders,” said Morogan. “Army of striders do this. One night, kill camp. Morogan really not like striders.”
“I would not want to meet an unfortunate end at the jaws of a strider, let alone an army of them,” said Sai. We all murmured agreement and continued on.
A few hours later, we came across another peculiar site. A metal husk, half-buried in the sand, stood out like a monument at the top of a dune. “What is this thing?” I asked.
Thasgrin walked up to it and put his hand against the metal. “I’ve never actually seen one in person before. But this is an airship. It could transport troops or supplies over vast distances very quickly. I’ve heard stories, but none survived the great war. We should see if there are any supplies inside.”
Thasgrin managed to get the door opened, but the inside was hopeless. “It's been stripped of anythin’ that wasn’a bolted down,” he said, ripping a panel off, seemingly at random. “A few bits that might be useful though…” He pulled out a cylinder from under the panel. “Here, try this.”
I took it from him, and a panel opened on the top of the right bracer. I inserted the piece, and everything lit up.
“Power storage capacity increased thirty percent,” said SADA.
“Awesome, thanks,” I said.
Also in the airship, we found that they had left behind five glass lenses to start fires, two spears, and half a barrel of water in a storage compartment. It had been locked until Thasgrin’s touch powered it. We refilled our canteens from the barrel and added the rest of the loot to our inventories.
“Hey, Thasgrin,” I said. “Could this thing still fly?”
“Well, if we had power cells and somethin’ to control it with, maybe. It’d be a flyin’ deathtrap though. Best to go it on foot, for now.”
“All right. I’ll mark it on the map. Might come in handy someday.” I brought up the map and marked the airship’s location. “There’s a village not too far from here. We should check it out.”
We closed up the airship and Thasgrin managed to get it to seal. At least no one else would loot any more of its components.
We came upon the little adobe hut village just as the map had indicated. “What do you suppose happened here?” asked Sai. “The tracks are a week old at best. There was life here, more recently than that.”
The village was in ruins and devoid of life entirely. “No bugs,” said Morogan. “No rats. No animals. All missing.”
We split up and explored the huts but found nothing of value. “The only thing I’ve noticed is this weird dirt mixed with the sand,” I said. “And there isn’t a single thing of any value anywhere in the homes.”
Morogan leaned down and touched the ground. “Not dirt. Ash.”
“But there has been no fire,” said Sai.
“No,” said Garstil. “But there’s that.” He pointed toward thirty-five pillars of ash surrounding a well at the other end of the village. “There’s enough of those ash pillars to account for the number of people these homes would hold. What could have done this to them though?”
“Morogan hear something,” he said. “Animals, running.”
“Camels or horses,” said Thasgrin. “And comin’ this way pretty fast, by the sound of it.”
In the distance, a cloud of dust was fast approaching. “This can’t be good,” I said. We waited for them to arrive.
As the group approached, I noticed their eyes. Almost every single person’s eyes were glazed over, as if in a trance. An emaciated old dark-skinned man with trembling hands and beggar’s robes approached us, supported by a gnarled walking stick. “’Ey, mon. What ya do to our villagers?” he asked. His accent seemed to be Jamaican or something similar.
“Why, whatever do you mean?” I asked, playing dumb. “We’ve only just arrived and found no one here.”
The old man pointed at the pillars of ash. “Ya gone and turned our villagers to ash. We be a peaceful village. Why attack us?”
“Yeah,” I said, “I’m gonna call you on your bullshit.” I noticed the body language of several of the gathered group tense up, muscles coiling to strike. Raiders? Bandits? Can’t be anything good… “What do you want?”
The older man with the walking stick wheezed a sickly laugh. “Well, since ya be callin’ me bullshit, we gon’ take anytin’ of value ya might be carryin’,” he said. The old man laughed again and lifted his gnarled walking stick. “An’ mabe turn ya to ash for bein’ a smart mout.”
I triggered Temporal Shift and Dashed sideways. Apparently, Sai had the same idea and had triggered his Focused Instincts, because he was right beside me. Between us and the old man was a purple lightning bolt heading right for where my face had been. I moved one of his goons into the path of it and stepped to the side to watch the show. Sai grinned and then bound the feet of several raiders together and to each other. This is going to be good.
Time returned to normal. The purple lightning bolt hit the man as intended. An anguished scream shocked everyone around him, and he collapsed into a pillar of ash. Everyone tried to jump away from him; however, having their feet tied together and to each other made most of the crowd hit the ground. The old man inhaled slowly, somehow shedding some of his age. He grinned wickedly and lifted his staff again.
Morogan smashed shoulder-first into the old man and sent him sprawling on his ass in the ash and sand. He reached down and wrenched the staff from the man’s feeble fingers. “Not tough when fight back. You cowa
rd Human. Morogan not like coward Human. Maybe break stick? That teach Human?”
“No!” blurted out the man, reaching for his staff. “Please no, do not break da staff.”
Morogan looked around at the pillars of ash. “Turn ash back to Humans,” he said, pointing at the pillars. “Now.”
“I can’t, they be gone,” he said.
“Then Morogan break stick.” Morogan held up the staff to the old man. And snapped it in half. A cloud of purple energy rose out of the staff and enveloped the old man. He shrieked and writhed, screaming in agony. Then his skin withered and turned to ash in front of us. The gathered crowd gasped from their places on the ground. Their eyes went wide. Some with panic, and some with joy.
“Thank you, kind sir…” He began to weep uncontrollably.
“Thank you for saving us from his magic,” cried a young woman.
I looked around at the gathered group of emotional men and women. “What happened here?” I asked.
The woman who I’d been speaking to calmed a little. “He’s been coming to this village for years. He would take the able-bodied men and women and enslave them. If anyone became a burden, he’d drain the life from them.”
“And the villagers by the fountain?” I asked.
“They…angered him. They didn’t want to obey his rule any longer. He killed them all…” She began to weep uncontrollably.”
Thasgrin looked at me hopefully. “What do we do now?”
“We’ll rebuild our village,” said a young man. “We know where the stolen supplies are kept. We’ll bring them back here and continue on. It’s what our families would’a wanted.”
Sai stepped forward. “You are sure that you will be all right alone in the desert?”
The young man nodded. “Aye, good sir. And Haran is only half a day’s run from here. We’ll be okay.”
The two traded grips, and we said our farewells. We set off southward, toward the coast.
Legend of the Sword Bearer: Tempest Chronicles Book 1 Page 24