by Sam Ferguson
Soulfin gnashed his teeth and fell to the ground. His fiery wings broke apart as if made of nothing more than ash fighting a hurricane wind, scattering out over the land behind him, poisoning the ground it touched. The demon’s blue skin melted away to reveal thick cords of muscle that hissed and smoked once exposed to the elements. Reshem teleported down and drove his spear into the same hole as well. It caught the last bit of crystalline heart remaining inside and created a terrible explosion.
Lysander was thrown several yards away, and Reshem only barely managed to teleport himself out of harm’s way before green flames erupted and consumed the rest of Soulfin’s flesh.
Nagé landed beside Lysander and stretched out her hand over his forehead. Lysander shook and trembled, but as the goddess’ powers flowed through him his body calmed and grew still.
“Is it over?” Lysander asked.
Reshem appeared at his side in a flash of silver and knelt down. “You have been struck by a few of the shards,” he said.
“I’m all right,” Lysander replied as he looked to his torn shoulder.
“No, you won’t be,” Reshem said. “If you’re lucky, you will only go mad, but you could die from this.”
“I can heal you,” Nagé said as she continued to pour her powers into Lysander.
Lysander pushed himself up and looked out over the small crater in the ground. “There is something there,” he said. The others looked to where he was pointing. A glowing crystal stood on its point, spinning in the center of the crater.
“That is the Astral Crystal,” Reshem said.
“From the creation?” Lysander asked. The ex-god rose to his feet and looked around. Most of the orcs and other cursed races were scattering, running away at the sight of Soulfin’s defeat, but the lesser demons were only partially frightened. They were like a pack of dogs that had been chased off by a bear, scared and running away, but they would regroup quickly once they realized they had the advantage in numbers.
“It has to be protected,” Reshem said. The Watcher turned to Lysander. “You must take it, and hide it.”
“What? Why me? You said my wounds would…” Lysander winced and grabbed his arm as a burning pain ripped through his shoulder. The sensation left as quickly as it had begun.
“Your heroes have done well,” Reshem said. “They have made it possible for the others to retreat. Take them with you, go somewhere to hide the crystal, and then charge them with its safe keeping. If you live through the madness that Soulfin’s poison will inflict upon you, then you can return for the crystal.”
“I can take it,” Nagé said with a decisive nod. “It will be safe with me.”
“No,” Reshem said quickly. “When I leave this place, I will have to report to the Cosmic Council. If they were to discover that such an artifact had already given rise to a creature like Soulfin, they would investigate further. If that investigation revealed that you held the crystal while other gods fled the world, then it would mean the end of Terramyr.”
“Doesn’t the Cosmic Council already know about Soulfin?” Nagé asked.
Reshem took in a deep breath and shook his head. “No. I have already lost a world. I will not lose another.”
Jonathan suddenly realized that he was on the ground with the three of them, so near he imagined he could feel their breath as they spoke. He felt dizzy and confused. Cosmic Council? Another world? There was so much more hanging in the balance that Jonathan had ever imagined!
“You haven’t told the Council about any of the missing crystals have you?”
Reshem shook his head. “If they knew the Crystals of Power were unaccounted for…”
Nagé nodded. “I still don’t understand why I can’t have it,” she said.
“Because,” Lysander said. “You are not of appropriate station to safeguard the crystal. Khullan was.”
“You aren’t of an appropriate level either, my prince. Forgive me, but you are no more than a fallen god now.”
“Better Icadion’s son than the collector of the dead,” Reshem said. “Now come, we have no more time.”
Lysander nodded. “I will help them hide the crystal.”
Reshem grabbed Lysander’s arms and the two of them vanished with Jonathan in tow, only to appear an instant later next to the spinning crystal. Lysander reached down and took the crystal in hand. Though he knew his body was nothing but the reflection of his own consciousness, he also reached out to touch the crystal, and thought he could feel a coldness seeping into his hand.
“To think that Soulfin was made by joining the Sacred Dark to this crystal…” Lysander whispered.
“Come, I will carry you to a place I know near Tanglewood Forest. You will be safe there while I make arrangements for you.” Reshem teleported Lysander hundreds of miles in less than a second, and set the injured ex-god down upon a large, gray stone. “I will be back with the others.” Reshem vanished. A few moments later he reappeared with Drenylin.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Drenylin said as he straightened his belt. The dwarf walked two steps, and then turned to retch on the ground.
“The feeling will pass quickly,” Reshem said before vanishing again.
Next he returned with Yaen, the elf.
Yaen went straight to Lysander. “I have some herbs,” Yaen said. “I will help you, master.”
“There is nothing for it,” Reshem said as Yaen quickly made a poultice and applied it to Lysander’s arm and shoulder. The Watcher then teleported away once more and returned with Jaeger.
Once all three comrades had been reunited with Lysander, Reshem spoke up. “Listen, the ram from which I took the horns can help you still. I will find it and take it to a village northeast of here, deep inside Tanglewood Forest.”
“Ram horns?” Jaeger asked. “You mean the same ram horns you used to make the spears before?”
Lysander patted the air and nodded. “I can explain later.” He turned back to Reshem. “How will the ram help us?”
“The magic in his horns dispel magic born of the Sacred Dark. So long as the animal’s horns are kept nearby, the crystal can be effectively hidden from the demons and any of Atek’s minions’ sight. I will go and procure the ram, and then I will take it to the village northeast of here. You will know it when you see it, for it is an albino, and it is much larger than any other ram in these parts of Terramyr. Go there as soon as you are able to travel, but you must take care. The ram will shed its horns every hundred years and grow a new set. Each time this happens, you will replace the old pair of horns with the new, this will ensure that the magic is always as potent as possible, for the demons will never cease their search for the crystal. As long as you keep the animal close to the village and keep it protected, you should always be able to conceal the crystal’s existence.”
“Rams don’t shed their horns,” Jaeger said dismissively.
“This ram does not come from Terramyr, and it does shed its horns. Remember, gather the new horns every hundred years.”
“I will remember,” Lysander said.”
Reshem nodded and smiled. “I hope the sickness will pass from you quickly, but caution you that it may be centuries before you regain all of your strength, Lysander.”
“We’ll keep him safe,” Yaen responded dutifully.
“We won’t leave his side, not even for a day,” Drenylin added.
“Very well,” Reshem said. “I must leave you all now. Good luck, and may the fates be kind. I will return as soon as I can.”
Lysander nodded and waved, but Reshem was already gone. The ex-god leaned to the side and brought out the crystal. “You did well leading the others out of the valley, but now we have a new assignment.” He winced and jerked to the side as pain shot down along his spine.
“Master, are you all right?” Yaen asked.
Lysander shook his head and held the crystal out for Yaen.
Drenylin stepped up and snatched it away. “I know every kind of gem, jewel, and crystal on Terramyr, but I
have never seen anything like this before in my life.”
“It’s one of the Crystals of Power,” Lysander said. “It was used to make Soulfin.”
“How did you find it?” Jaeger asked, stepping forward and leaning in to inspect the jewel.
“It was buried in the center of Soulfin’s heart, which was itself a crystal that formed around this one,” Lysander answered. “We have to–”
Giiiiiiiiyaaaaaah!
The screech rang out over the plains as loudly as though it had been only a few feet away.
Lysander stood on his feet. “Jaeger, give me Myrskyn.”
“But, you can barely stand,” Jaeger replied. “Let me handle the demon.”
“There’s more than one of them,” Drenylin shouted as he whipped out his axe and pointed off to the side.
Lysander turned and felt his heart drop as columns of black fire rose from the ground all around them. Some of the monsters had long, scythe-like arms of sharp bone, others were massive with hundreds of legs and sharp pincers and fangs, and others were winged imps.
“Protect the crystal at all costs,” Lysander said. “If it falls into the wrong hands, the Cosmic Council could learn of it and come to handle the situation themselves.”
“You mean send the Four Horsemen,” Yaen put in.
A wyvern appeared in a puff of smoke nearby and swooped in toward Lysander. The ex-god spun around with Myrskyn and cut the demon in two, showering the ground in hissing, black blood.
Drenylin charged a four-legged thing that looked like a bear, but had a scorpion’s tail. The stinger came down, but the stout dwarf chopped the tail off by a third and then spun around to sink his axe into the beast’s left shoulder. Yaen came in hard and fast, casting a fireball that disoriented the beast and then driving a spear into its eye. Jaeger let out a cry to Mother Terramyr and went to work, nimbly dashing between the legs of larger beasts and stabbing them in the groin, stomach, or any other soft spot he could manage to reach.
Lysander cut down a large snake slithering toward him, and then he called forth Myrskyn’s lightning to zap a trio of humanoid demons before they could unleash their fireball spells at him.
For a time, Jonathan was certain they would be victorious, but as Drenylin engaged a tall, slender demon that walked upon hooved feet and wielded a fire-whip, the demon snatched the crystal from him and somehow accessed its power. A great earthquake ripped the ground apart. Fireballs fell from the sky, pummeling the ground and exploding in great gobs of deadly magma. Drenylin tried to retake the crystal, but a beast that looked like a panther leapt out from an opening chasm and took him to the ground. Drenylin shouted and grunted, but Lysander could see it wouldn’t end well. He charged forward and drove Myrskyn through the panther’s neck and then kicked the beast off of his friend.
Jaeger sprinted into the fray, ducking under a fireball just enough to avoid losing his head as the massive thing left a crater behind him and sprayed a nearby demon with magma. The gnome darted around demons and fireballs alike until he reached the fleeing demon with the crystal. He planted his spear up into the demon’s lower back, going straight through the kidneys and out the abdominal wall. The demon spun around and struck Jaeger with the fiery whip, knocking the gnome across the ground, but this gave Yaen just enough time to cast a spell that froze the spear stuck inside the winged demon. The ice creaked and cracked as the demon snarled and tried to fight against the cold, but it was no use. The demon fell to its knees.
Drenylin rushed in and struck the frozen spear, shattering it into hundreds of razor-like shards that ripped through the demon’s torso. As it tried to lash out at the dwarf, Drenylin came in hard and swift with his axe, killing the monster and regaining the crystal in the process.
There was so much action all around him, Jonathan almost missed seeing the way Lysander’s demeanor suddenly changed as he held Myrskyn, focusing his attention on the magical blade. Suddenly, clouds began to gather thick and dark, so near that Jonathan could have sworn he could hit them with an arrow had a bow been available to him. A tremendous lightning storm was upon them. Explosions rocked the area as the earthquake intensified. The very ground started to groan in protest as Terramyr was ripped apart and scarred. Lysander and his comrades fell into a widening chasm, tumbling and rolling down the sides until they landed hard on the rocky bottom. A river that had been nearby before the earthquake was now pouring over into the canyons, and soon Lysander and the others were swept away. Yaen’s magic kept them all afloat until they came to a tall, thick column of stone that stood alone in the middle of the canyons, like a proud tower that refused to bend to the earthquake’s power.
“Here,” Yaen said as he summoned his magic to lift them all from the fierce, newborn river. “Jaeger, help me with this.”
Jonathan stood next to Lysander as he leaned against a boulder and watched as the gnome and elf used their magic to turn the pillar into an actual tower, creating an entrance on the south side. The very tower in which Jonathan had met Yaen in the flesh.
“We can shelter in here,” Yaen said.
“I can scout ahead, see if there is a way out of here,” Jaeger announced before jumping down to a log that was floating upon the river. “I’ll be back soon. Get Lysander into the tower and keep him safe.”
As his friends moved to help him, it was obvious to Jonathan that Lysander’s body was already beginning to betray him. It appeared as though he wanted to speak, perhaps to warn his friend that scouting alone would be dangerous, but his jaw wouldn’t obey his mind. It shivered as though he was racked by chills, but Jonathan could see – could sense - that his forehead was burning and dripping with sweat, and he could barely focus his eyes.
“Come, Master,” Yaen said as he slipped under Lysander’s uninjured arm and pulled the ex-god to a standing position. “We’ll be safe inside the tower. We have cast many wards upon it. The demons will not find us inside.”
“We can use the crystal,” Drenylin said just as Yaen and Lysander reached the entrance to the tower. The dwarf walked out away from them and stood upon a large rock that was not yet covered by the rushing waters. “I can use it the same way that demon did, and I’ll send the buggers all back to Hammenfein where they belong.”
Lysander mouthed the word “No,” but his voice was gone.
Whatever Drenylin tried, it didn’t work. A deafening explosion threw out purple and silver flames and a shockwave that struck Lysander and threw the ex-god and Yaen into the tower with such force that they lost consciousness. The report echoed across the canyon several times, and then all went still.
“Master, can you hear me?” Jaeger called.
Lysander opened his eyes, but could only make out Jaeger’s outline. “Drenylin…used…crystal…”
“I know. I found it. I have it here,” Jaeger said, bringing the crystal up in front of Lysander’s eyes.
“How long…”
“I heard the explosion several minutes ago. It took me some time to make my way back against the river’s current.”
“Drenylin?” Lysander asked in a whisper.
“Dead,” Jaeger responded. “I found only the lower half of his right leg upon a rock. The rest of him was gone. The crystal was lying between two stones, trapped by the current.”
“Yaen?” Lysander asked.
Jaeger nodded. “He is unconscious, but alive.”
Lysander arched up suddenly, obviously overtaken by a great spasm of pain. “Gyah!” Lysander snarled as a second, more forceful wave of cramps hit him. “Did you find a way out?”
“I did.”
“Then go,” Lysander said. “The demons will come for me, and I will make my last stand here. You must take the crystal to safety.”
“I can’t leave both of you here,” Jaeger protested.
Lysander grabbed Jaeger’s hand and put it on Myrskyn’s handle. “Take this, and it will serve you well.”
“What about you?” Jaeger asked.
“Go…protect the crysta
l. When I am able, I will come for it.”
“And what if you aren’t able?” Jaeger asked.
“Then I will send another champion in my place, and he will carry my bow as a token of my authority.”
Jonathan gasped when he heard that. Here he was, listening to words that seemed to be talking about him, spoken by the son of the All-Father thousands of years ago.
Jaeger nodded. “Until we meet again, Lysander, Protector of Men.”
Lysander smiled weakly and then coughed up a small amount of blood. “Go to the north, as Reshem told us. Find the village of which he spoke, and the magical albino ram will help you hide the crystal.”
“Wait, you can’t leave him!” Jonathan tried to yell, but again his voice fell flat, and he knew that no one would hear him. He turned to look around the cave, wondering what, if anything, could be done. He could hear the roar of the river outside, and the shrieks of the demons above that. He watched as Lysander stood and gathered his strength. With Jaeger gone, he was alone, preparing to face off against the rest of the demons. Jonathan could see from the expression on Lysander’s face that he didn’t expect to win. The roars and snarls echoed through the canyon, but Lysander stood defiant and ready for whatever was to come.
A flash of silver light appeared next to Lysander and he turned to see Reshem.
“I thought you had to leave?” Lysander said.
“I went for help,” Reshem replied. Several more silver lights flashed around them as Nagé and several warriors appeared. “Your father gave Nagé one more gift.”
Lysander turned and looked at the warriors. There were humans, Valkyries, and elves all ready for battle as they stood in glowing armor.
“My powers now extend beyond gathering the righteous dead,” Nagé said with a sly smile. “Icadion has allowed me to select the most valiant warriors and grant them a new life, so they may become angelic warriors at my side.”