Edelwizir bore down his might upon the demon, claws rending, and he fiercely reared up his head as the hound howled out in fury, seeking to bring his body under control. But for the moment, without his fires, there was nothing more that he could do. The fire wolf couldn’t even control his own form, stumbling forward beneath the dragon’s sudden strike. Like the serpent that he was, the great Shadow hammered into the back of the demon’s neck, biting down upon him and letting the heavens thunder as he forced the Power to stagger more swiftly forth, stutter-stepping away from the waters and onto land.
Shannon gaped. The dragon had forced the demon onto land, and he was coming right for her, feet and hands pounding the earth in effort to keep his balance.
For those amazing moments, it seemed as though Enfaeri was no match for the draconic god. In fact, he seemed to be nowhere near a match, being torn to shreds beneath the utter ferocity of a furious dragon. But it soon became apparent that even for his superior bulk and seemingly overwhelming powers, Edelwizir was no more than a terrible flea to be scratched.
The demon was almost unable to bring itself to a halt, howling in agony, but sure enough his pluming trail of smoke and steam was replaced by flame. In a triumphant gurgle, the wolf staggered to a halt, and a mighty pulse rose up as he was reignited in a violent boom. The Shadow reared back, screeching in his own pain and freeing the hound’s mighty head, whose twisted horns snapped back wildly, piercing the dragon’s flesh and goring him fiercely. Edelwizir screamed furiously, and the two began to maul one another.
They would rip each other to shreds, Shannon realized as she felt the concussive blows go back and forth. Her heart trembled in her chest. The two were getting closer.
That was, of course, if Deh Leccend did nothing. But the Black Leaf wasn’t about to miss his stride now. As if on cue, the Black Leaf left Shannon alone. His moment to strike had come. Edelwizir took hold of one massive horn embedded in his bulk, and like a crocodile he began to roll aside, jerking the demon’s head aside in a violent twist. Of course, he was not strong enough to hold it aside with it thusly embedded in his flesh, and Enfaeri reared back with his mighty jaws, furthering the goring of the wyrm by his foul horns.
The ringing length of the lance of the great Black Leaf struck home once again beneath the force of his killing lunge. He pierced the reared back jaws from beneath, and scythed cleanly through all of the demon’s dome. He rammed home not only through demon, but also the flesh of Edelwizir. With incredible force, the Black Leaf rocked the two gods backward by his impact, but Edelwizir had planned it all along. At that moment, the wyrm heaved down against the beast, and together the two dark figures wrenched the demon’s head aside. Forced into a stagger, the Power sought to keep his footing again, but to no avail.
He pounded up the last of the hill before he was upended to come crashing to a halt upon his back. All up the slope of Shannon’s hill the masses of the entwined combatants thundered to a writhing halt, and the poor girl who’d become the Lady White Leaves cried out in fear as their tumble landed not thirty feet below her, throwing up debris and dust and flame whilst forcing her to her knees.
In sudden wake of the plume, the heat of Enfaeri could be felt on her skin, and she lifted her head to see the trio. Deh Leccend stood upon the bottom of the demon’s jaws, pinning them shut and its head to the hillside with his great sword. The Dragon’s head was nowhere to be seen, buried beneath all of the hound’s bulk, but his claws and body were writhing, muscles flexing terribly to prevent the hound from moving.
The wolf was silent for a moment, and the Black Leaf’s eyes found her in a heartbeat.
“Milady!” Deh Leccend howled at her sharply.
“Quickly!!!” He cried, and suddenly the wolf’s snout snorted and twitched, violently shaking, trying to break the stranglehold that kept him pinned.
“White Leaves!” He howled again as she found herself unable to move.
“Move!” He screamed frantically, struggling to hold on. Shannon managed to bring herself to her feet beneath the intimidation of the huffing breaths of Enfaeri’s snout, and she dragged her dreadful lead weights forward.
“He cannot harm you! Now move!” Deh was crying, but Shannon staggered to a halt as the demon’s eyes snapped open beneath them. It saw her then for what she was, and abruptly whined and whimpered like an average hound. He struggled to move, but for now, was incapacitated. Shannon pitied him then, an insatiable, mindless thing, and she no longer feared him. She stepped forward, and his eyes narrowed. He growled, a sound of warning, but his time was over, and he knew it.
She merely walked right up to him, and his fires parted before her strides. He clearly didn’t wish to so much as touch her, and she was allowed to walk right up to his snout. Unaware of what she was supposed to do, Shannon received instructions from her beloved Black Leaf.
“Just touch him!” Deh was shouting, but it was a voice for all its power that was lost in the hush of her moment with Enfaeri. She simply reached out and touched him, and his whimper died, along with the light in his eyes. His smoldering flames went out in a wash, rushing away from her, and the ashes and embers falling continuously from the skies simply rained themselves to an end.
It was over, the fire wolf was put back to sleep, and Deh Leccend relinquished his sword with a heavy sigh. He came to her, dutifully dropping down beside her, and collapsing. He was burned everywhere again about his fringes, and he would need her touch, she knew. But she couldn’t not help herself from thinking about the noble act of Edelwizir.
“You did it milady.” Deh sighed, crumbling and drawing her to cradle him up.
“But what about, the dragon?” She asked gently, voice gone saddened, for his body was still powerfully locked about the hound. His muscles were still flexed, even though it was over. She was overcome by a feeling of dread for the wyrm.
“He is dead, milady. His head was crushed and consumed by the fires beneath the Enfaeri’s fury.” The Black Leaf answered her.
“I don’t know why, Deh, but I pity him too.” She revealed, and the Black Leaf was understanding.
“Edelwizir was noble, Firea’csweise. He found at long last, his path to salvation. His noble sacrifice was the bearing of his redemption. Do not pity him any longer. He has gone home.” Deh assured her of the greatness of the last of the wyrms, and Shannon was struck a pitiful note, a fearful sign of things to come. She was going to be the last human alive. Deh Leccend was already the last Black Leaf. In wake of the last dragon’s death, she couldn’t help but wonder if they too would go in a similar fashion. She couldn’t bring herself to voice it, however, and went silent, using her heart to cling to Deh. She would bring him back to himself in due time, but for now, she just wanted to stare at the pitiful ruin of the dead combatants, and the burning of the distant isles of Japan.
“Are there any left out there, Deh?” She asked, nodding towards the country so far off.
“There are.” Deh Leccend answered, and with that Shannon grew fierce.
Even through all such destruction, of tsunami and flame, humankind had survived in Japan. She swore to herself then and there, she could save many others elsewhere.
She would save them, as many as she could.
Chapter 26
The world was ravaged by the rising of the Powers.
Stopping two of eight was a good start, but already the others were taking their toll. The skies blackened. Burning embers fell from the heavens. The snows and polar caps had melted. People, millions of people perhaps, had already perished.
Chaos reigned, but as Shannon followed Deh Leccend’s dutiful guidance, she speculated how furious the first two monsters must be -back under lock and key so soon after waking. She wondered if they felt anything at all.
Deh had taken her from the new shores of Sakhalin, westward over the new reaches of the Sea of Okhotsk as she pondered his latest words. Although she found strength in him, she couldn’t help the fear that rose to greet her at talk of the monstros
ities.
Judging by what he spoke, Miqael and Enfaeri had been nothing by comparison. The latter had been terrible than anything she could have imagined. She’d seen first-hand the destruction of Enfaeri and all of his bulk, and what it had cost to bring him down. Miqael had spent but moments upon earth, but in that tiny breadth of time he’d destroyed the Everest, turned the heart of the Himalayas into a gaping molten hole in the earth, and set tectonic plates to motion.
However, the star-fire had come and gone so swiftly she didn’t connect with the event. Moreover, they’d had help in dealing with Enfaeri. That fact alone made Deh’s words more frightening, for the others were fast approaching far more terrible.
Dismal in his wake, she was unable to take her mind off the fear. The remaining Powers’ strength had been evident at Hokkaido. The seas had been roiling, destroying everything they could reach. It was just water, yet nothing survived its hunger. And soon, a quarter of the world away, she would encounter them. It was astounding to think very many might survive upon Hokkaido, or elsewhere for that matter.
Shannon tried to overcome her fear, lifting her chin to the horizon, but it didn’t help. The sky was darkening by unmatched cloud-cover. Rain was coming. They were getting close.
Swiftness be damned. Shannon slowed. She didn’t want to see anymore. She knew what she’d sworn herself to, but she couldn’t move. Her hesitation drew Deh up short.
“Are you tired, milady? Must you rest?” He asked, concerned.
She shook her head, distant.
“I want to.” Shannon said. “…if only for delaying the inevitable.”
“We cannot delay it. We must be swift.” He moved to take her slim wrist over his shoulder, lowering himself before her and turning his back.
“I will carry you.” He offered. Dutiful Deh. Shannon simply let him be her strength once again. She would be the fool, and let him take the steps only she must take. He plucked her up piggy-back, arms cradling her slim thighs, and bounded ahead as the super-elvine creature he was. Shannon clung to him in silence, thinking on what he’d said before they’d crossed the Okhotsk Sea, and bent their course through the Magadan highlands -aimed for the East Siberian Sea.
* * *
‘I can see them forming, milady, in what could be a stroke of luck,’ He’d hesitated as he’d offered his hand, begging to give her strength.
‘…of course, it could be the treachery of a trap.’ He'd smiled sadly. ‘But either way, we must go to meet it.’
‘I know.’ She’d said, taking his hand. At that point she’d grown resolute with the knowledge of what she’d done to put Enfaeri back to rest, but that changed quickly.
‘They have arisen, milady, from the far corners of the globe. Not much has survived where they have passed -most terribly where the Reclaimers have risen from the pyramid of Qaeng.’
‘Qaeng?’ Shannon asked. ‘A pyramid? Like in Egypt?’
‘No. In South America.’ He cleared the air, giving her a dreadful, serious look.
‘It has been buried by the ages of forest growth within the southernmost reaches of the Amazon, hidden, but no longer.’
‘In little time they will have consumed everything in their path. They work toward Addl’laen and the Heart of the Veil. They will cross into American soil, as all of South America has already been entirely reclaimed.’
‘How can that be?!’ Shannon stood aghast.
The Powers hadn’t even been awake for a full day, and what stood in the Reclaimer’s paths, which was reportedly the majority of the bulk of northern South America, had been taken? It didn’t make sense. Not until she put things into perspective -likening them to Enfaeri and Miqael. She gulped down the disbelief.
‘Because,’ He hissed off the words. ‘…they cover hundreds of square miles with every stride, milady. They are the Land! Travel is of no consequence, and all they touch, turns to dust. They unravel everything, reducing it to its baser elements like a temperature reaction turns water to steam or ice. They are moving for the Addl’laen! There will be no hope for anything in the path of the others, but in wake of Traemin and Gane...'
He'd almost sighed, but couldn’t manage to let his breath escape. He was voiceless, smooth face gone edged and sharp beneath the clenching of his brow.
‘…nothing stands that once was.’
His soft, solemn tone silenced her wonder, but something struck her as odd. Deh had said something of a trap, and something of luck. However, he’d made no mention of either.
‘Then what about this trap?’ She had the feeling she should know what he was talking about, but she couldn’t place it.
‘The four others know about you!’ He rested his gentle hand on her slim shoulder as they walked along, as though preparing her for the strength of that vocal blow.
‘They have sensed the slumber given back to Miqael and Enfaeri. They have smelled the intervention of Edelwizir.’ And his voice triggered the memory of the once-foul, redeemed dragon. Shannon still felt sorry for him.
‘As they are self-aware and wise, they have made an unwitting move to lay trap to you and slay you without confronting you. They know you are the Charms, my White Leaves. Unlike Traemin and Gane, who are oblivious, the others have sought to wage their everlasting battles, together.’
‘What does that mean?’ Shannon thoroughly failed to grasp the implications.
‘You will see soon enough, milady.’ Deh answered. ‘We must be swift. We must end them and return. We cannot allow the Reclaimers to find Addl’laen.’
‘Just tell me, Deh!’ Shannon demanded it, drawing him to a halt. She refused to walk onward until he leveled with her. His features grew taxed by stresses she couldn’t understand, but she felt like he was seeing into her heart, knowing what would come of her if he told her such dreadful things.
He was afraid of telling her, as she’d almost failed to end Enfaeri. If she’d hesitated for a moment more than she had, they might not have had a second chance at burying him. He bit back his tongue. She had to be strong, and if he gave her what she asked for, she might lose her rekindled resolve.
‘What does it mean to battle together?!’ She pressed ignorantly.
‘I’ve already told you!’ He abruptly snapped, shouting in wake of her demands. He grabbed her arm, and forcibly urged her to move along. Shannon was stunned by his harshness. She hadn’t expected him to shout at her, and the roughness of his grasp destroyed all of the gentle touches he’d ever given.
Shannon recoiled. Perhaps he was just stressed by the implications of having to face the Powers alone, regardless of his own strengths, but Shannon wouldn’t have bet on it. His irritation was her fault. It certainly wasn’t anyone else’s. It was her continuous naivety and fool’s ignorance that had wrought this of him.
‘There are four pairs, four sets of brothers! Two bound, two apart! One of each pair works together, and one of each opposes!’ He was vicious in his telling, brow narrowing to match his tongue. Shannon couldn’t help but shut down. Although he was only giving exactly what she wanted, the manner in which he went about it really hurt in a way she hadn’t expected. It cut deeper.
‘…In the interest of perfect balance.’ He loosed a heavy sigh.
‘Those bound are Traemin with Gane, and Lleviathan with Kraqen! Of those, the latter work against one another -eternally battling for supremacy. Traemin and Gane work together, harmoniously oblivious of self!’ He snapped off the talk. Shannon staggered, reviling the touch of his forceful hand upon her wrist as he marched her along after himself. He did not once look back to her.
‘The unbound brothers are Onix and Fafnir, the Bahthalamuts! And Miqael with Enfaeri. Of those -Miqael and his brother work together, single-minded in their drives to destruction, like the Reclaimers, whilst Onix and Fafnir, the great Rocs of the weather and wind, fight one another unending.’ His energy was dwindling, frustration melting away beneath his strides. Slowly, Deh was going back to who she knew him to be.
‘So you see,
when I say they battle together and that you will see it -that is what I mean. Soon, we will stand on what remains of the shores of Asia, frozen no longer, and you shall see the sea open to its very belly beneath the battle of the Quetzalcoatl brothers. And all about and above, you shall see the greater struggle of the Bahthalamuts.’
Fully put in her place by his rant, Shannon followed silently. It all prompted another question, but she was too timid to ask it now. She would wait to see it for herself -or so she told herself.
Not far down the walk, however, she just had to ask it.
‘What will it look like, Deh?’ She showed her hesitation, but the response that came back was again not what she expected.
‘What you call a whirlpool, a scourge in the sea, Charybdis, will sprawl vast -greater than you can imagine. And, you will see them… locked in combat, but you mustn’t quail, milady!’ He finally looked back to her, expressing the importance of strength in the face of immensity and monstrosity. She couldn’t meet his gaze, but he quickly lifted her chin.
E.L.F. - White Leaves Page 35