by Ryan Attard
And in the midst of all this power was Leviathan. The monster was completely hidden beneath the waves until his giant gator-like head slowly reared up, like a submarine surfacing from the abyss.
I locked eyes with him and time stood still until the mental link between us flared back to life.
I am here, I projected at him.
"Good," he replied. Then after a while, "You are here to kill me." It wasn't a question. It was a fact, a statement, a declaration of simple truth.
Yes. I must protect what needs to be protected.
I heard him chuckle mentally. "Wizard, your intentions are noble but I cannot die. I have tried many times and the Sin prevents me from doing so."
That's why you want me to kill you.
"I am the plane and the plane is me. Destroy me and you destroy the plane."
I know. There is no other way.
"And you know I must fight you. I am the Sin of Envy, whatever my conviction may be. I shall not let you kill me. I cannot."
I gave the mental equivalent of nod. My eyes searched upwards until I found one of his eyes. It was still hard to believe that there was no malice there.
Here was a monster that was designed as a weapon, a monster that was the real-life equivalent of Galactus. It was hard not to imagine him wanting to claim the world for his own and telling us, puny humans, to suck it.
But despite everything, all he wanted was to be left in peace. And the powers of the universe wouldn't even allow him that.
I always said that I did what I did for the sake of those who can't help themselves. And this giant, world-eating monster was one of them. Someone, or something, had forced the Sin of Envy into him, and now he was losing everything, including his life.
Including his hope.
So as he looked at me with those giant eyes, I understood what he wanted, why he had summoned me here.
"Leviathan," I shouted over the crashing of waves. "I challenge you to a duel."
Stillness descended on the plane. Leviathan rumbled and his head descended back into the ocean.
"I challenge you to a duel," I declared again. "No angels, no super powers, no shadows, no backup. Just you and me, dueling by the sunset on the shore. Just like an old Samurai movie."
"Why?" His question rumbled all over the area, making every molecule vibrate.
"Honor," I said. "You deserve to die honorably, instead of being butchered by either us or the Warlocks outside." I took a deep breath. "Neither one of us has any control over our destiny. But we can at least decide how to die."
I extracted Djinn. "Just you and me. My guys will stay away. No one else has to get hurt. No one else has to suffer like she had to suffer."
There was no need to mention Locklania by name. He knew who I was referring to, and he knew why I referred to her. I needed him to say yes to this duel. Me and him, one on one. I wanted the Sin inside of him to be a part of this as well. I wanted to face that evil, the thing that caused such suffering, and know that I had beaten it.
And besides, it seemed like a fitting end. A lot of people think dying honorably is some brainwashing bullshit but in my world honor is something to be valued. When your life is a battle, the only thing that matters is how long you are going to survive, and if you're lucky, you get to choose where and how it will end. In ancient times, duels were a ritual, where two equal opponents faced off against each other. It was a question of honor and respect. Respect for your enemy in acknowledging their strength and value. Respect in knowing that even when one of you dies, that death meant something.
And in my eyes, Leviathan had earned that respect.
"Yes," he said. "I accept your challenge and your terms." I felt the plane starting to shift again. A whirlpool appeared in the middle of the ocean and slowly approached the beach I stood on.
"I will use enough of my power to rival yours," came Leviathan's disembodied voice. "The rest I shall use to stabilize the plane."
I turned around. "Amaymon," I called out. "Take the others to the very edge of the portal and put up a barrier. Get ready to bail if things go south."
He gave me a thumbs-up and grabbed the other two, hoisting them up like they weighed less than nothing. He hopped high into the air and landed a few meters from the swirling vortex of the portal. Earth and stone grew into a dome, covering the trio, while leaving a section in the front open so they could witness the battle. I turned my attention back to the whirlpool.
Rain and sea water mingled in front of me, and began melding into a tangible shape. Slowly a miniature version of Leviathan appeared, about seven feet long. It had the basic shape of a stout crocodile, with long humanoid arms that had spikes jutting out from the elbows and a row of saw-like protrusions that resembled the snout of a sawfish on each forearm. It retained its forked tail but lost the hunched back and the tentacles, and only had two pairs of eyes, two on each side of its crocodile head.
Mini Leviathan reared up on its hind legs and stood erect, towering over me. "Let us begin, Wizard."
I nodded and took a few steps back.
There was a long pause of silence. It was the perfect picturesque scene from a movie. The sun was setting over the ocean, bathing the battlefield in amber light. Waved crashed into the rocky beach, foaming at the bay and then receding. I held my breath, taking in all the tension.
And less than a second later, all that tension exploded and the battle began.
Chapter 37
Leviathan opened his mouth and let out a stream of purple energy. I dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding the attack and was sent reeling forwards. The blast left a deep hole in the ground, neat and wide. I stared at the damage.
One hit of that and its game over.
Another stream shot forwards, this one a little faster. I didn't have time do dodge. Instead I just threw myself to one side and rolled on the ground. The beam seared the ground and I felt a sharp jolt of pain on my leg. The energy had seared off half my trouser leg and a good chuck of flesh that was now in the process of healing. I raised Djinn and grimaced. I had to figure out a way to counter those beams since I wasn't fast enough to dodge them. Leviathan was just feeling me out. There was a world of hurt he could bring down upon me and right now he was just figuring out his strategy.
He fired off another beam and this time I caught it with my sword. The basic rules of energy are simple. Newton's three laws apply in pretty much every situation. One of them says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Magic takes that a step further. When I caught Leviathan's spell I poured in enough of my own energy to counter his: equal and opposite power.
For a second, blue and purple energy crashed against each other. I thrust my sword forwards, pouring in a fraction more power than necessary—just enough to send the entire blast back at Leviathan.
I fully expected him to dodge. Instead he opened his mouth, jaws stretching unnaturally, and ate the entire thing.
He stood still for a second before tilting his head forwards and then shooting out a bigger stream of energy, twice the size of his regular attacks. Newton's Second Law: energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another. I guess Newton never imagined a giant lizard taking that law to the letter.
There was no playing around with this new blast. I swung hard, sending a giant wave of azure energy to counter his purple one and managed to deflect it backwards. For a moment I thought he was going to eat this second wave again, but the blast was directed towards the ground. Rocks vaporized and the air was filled with debris and dust—exactly the cover I needed to take this fight up close and personal.
The dust parted just enough for me to properly aim at his neck. Leviathan took a step backwards and blocked my chop with his forearm, trapping my sword in between the saw-like protrusions on his arm. He lifted his other hand and I instantly regretted going in for close quarters combat. You can be faster and have better technique, but make one mistake and the big guy will crush you.
I blocked a swipe fr
om his clawed, webbed fingertips and maneuvered the arm to the opposite side, sending him off-balance. I was aiming for his belly, a clutter of white scales and rippling muscles. I knew from what little Animal Planet I had watched that crocodiles have vulnerable bellies and that's why they stay low. Maybe Leviathan was the same.
I stabbed Djinn at the vulnerable area—only to have the sword clasped firm in between his stomach muscles. I tried wrenching it out but my weapon wouldn't budge. From my peripheral vision I saw Leviathan pull back both his arms and swipe them across, aiming to behead me with those Sawfish forearms of his.
I poured magic into my weapon, elongating Djinn's blade. Since the tip was stuck in place, the only extension that could be done was backwards. I gave a small hop and let the blade carry me ten feet backwards. His swipe met air and he was left there with crossed arms.
I gripped my weapon with both hands. The ten-foot-long blade was akin to a spear: long, thin and glowing a faint blue. It was mostly energy and just like all energy, it would remain in one motion unless something, or someone, gave it a nudge in a different direction. I stabbed forwards with all my might and released the energy blade in a giant explosion. Leviathan's hide may have been too thick for me to stab through, but nothing could withstand a bomb at point-blank range. Leviathan toppled backwards, flailing his arms like a beetle on its back. That white belly glistened in the sun and I leapt forwards, sword raised high and a war cry escaping my lungs.
As soon as I was in range Leviathan stopped flailing about. His forked tail bent over, like a scorpion's, and blocked my strike. At the same time his giant crocodile head rose upwards, jaws open, ready to bite me in half. With no where to run, I used his own tail as leverage when I hopped upwards, placing one foot on his snout and using his momentum to throw myself away from those skull-crushing jaws.
I rolled on the ground and stood up, swaying groggily. Leviathan found his feet and shook his head violently. I heard him cough and realized he was saying something.
"I will not let you take this moment from me," I heard him say. "I will fight this under my own terms, not yours."
I didn't dare interrupt. He wasn't going insane, although he was talking to himself.
"Be gone, Sin. This is my fight," he said, violently shaking his head. Finally Leviathan raised his head and looked at me.
"Talking to your inner demon?" I asked.
"I can feel the Sin inside me yearning to unleash its power against you,” Leviathan said. "I am holding it at bay but prepare yourself, human. As I grow weary, its influence grows stronger."
"I can handle it," I said, with more confidence than I actually felt. Then I lifted my sword. "We're gonna finish this once and for all."
He nodded. "Indeed, we shall."
An orb of swirling light and darkness the size of a soccer ball, manifested in his hand and he threw it at me. It wasn't the fastest projectile but every cell in my body screamed for me to dodge and get the hell out of the way. The ball met the ground and exploded—no, imploded. A ball-sized swirling black hole appeared on the spot, crushing and absorbing all matter within it.
"The fuck is that?"
"A localized black hole," I heard Amaymon yell from the edge of the beach.
"How the hell can he do that?" I yelled back. "That type of magic is not supposed to be possible on our plane."
"It's a Sin coupled with a creature that can create its own universe. Do you think they're gonna play by Earth rules?" he replied. "Besides, they have powers that are like eleven dimensions beyond ours."
"Oh great."
I dodged another orb and ran to the other side. If I could close the distance between us maybe he wouldn't throw those things around and I wouldn't have to worry about taking a trip into Chaos space. Another orb flew close to my face and I instinctively threw a streak of azure energy at it. The orb ate up the spell but withered away after a few seconds.
Interesting.
I filed that nugget of information in my head and began formulating a second plan while I carried out Plan A.
This is why I insist on being called a wizard. Sure, in my world wizards are below Specialists, the elite users of their respective magical areas, but to me it's so much more than that. It's about versatility. I don't want to be pigeon-holed in one school of magic. In the past few days alone I've had to use at least three different types of magic. My survival depended on me being the magical equivalent of a Swiss knife.
Leviathan must have wizened up to my plan because he immediately changed tactics. He sent two more orbs, waiting for me to dodge them and then let loose a stream of purple energy. I had barely enough time to raise my sword, let alone adjust my magical output to match his. The best I could do was to meet his blast with a weaker, but faster, blast of my own and reduce some of the pain. I rolled on the ground, before splashing into the water from the ocean waves. I felt a black hole orb flying towards me and instinctively reached for my gun, magic already charging the bullet inside. The orb absorbed the magic and withered away harmlessly.
“Is that the best you got?" I challenged as I got up. "I got your purple blasts figured out and now I figured out how to neutralize those black hole bombs of yours," I said smugly as I rested the barrel of my gun against my shoulder in a totally Gonzo pose. "So what else you got?"
At that exact moment the ground gave a violent shudder and I was sent on my knees. "Good one," I muttered.
"Erik," Amaymon shouted. "You only got a few seconds left. This thing is about to fall quicker than the London Bridge in the good old days."
"He is right," confirmed Leviathan. His head turned slowly from one side to the other, as if taking in the landscape one last time. "My plane, my home, will end in mere moments."
"Best make those moments count then," I said meaningfully.
We walked until we faced each other with about ten feet in distance between us. Leviathan spread his arms open. The light coming from the setting sun glinted off his scales as he relaxed into a fighting stance. I could feel his conviction. He knew this would be his final moment and was ready give it all he had, one final time.
I threw away my gun and grabbed my sword with both hands, causing the blade to glow in faint azure.
"Just like a Samurai movie," I muttered. "It all comes down to this one last cut."
We looked each other in the eyes and relished in a second of peace.
The waves crashed once, twice, thrice...
And we dashed forwards, swinging our respective weapons. I let him pass by my left and felt my blade pierce his flesh. Just a split second before I cut through, I realized he had dropped his arm. I was carried two steps forwards by the momentum of my swing and stood there, sword held high. I felt moisture on my face and a single tear fell from my cheek.
Behind me I heard Leviathan drop to the ground and immediately rushed towards him.
"Thank you," he rasped as I knelt next to him and gently cradled his head. "Thank you for an honorable death."
"You let me win," I said.
"Yes," he admitted. "One final act of kindness, just to spite that entity inside of me. I am now rid of it and will be free to carry on, wherever my journey may take me next.”
Leviathan's throat began rumbling and I realized he was laughing. He let out a final breath and a burst of magic escaped from him. My body exploded in shadows and obsidian power, and at that moment I felt the pure undiluted energy of the Sin of Envy release itself into nothingness. My shadows protected me from the sheer malice of the power.
It was quickly over and the Sin of Envy had now dissolved into nothing, forever gone.
More tears streaked down my face and onto Leviathan’s head. I reached out to close his eyes. The tide washed over my legs. Leviathan's body began melting into the ocean water, until he was no longer solid and was claimed once more by the abyss.
I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Abi standing next to me. She too had tears in her eyes.
"Let's go home," she said sof
tly. I nodded and stood up, picking up my weapons. She clasped my hand in hers and led me towards the portal where Jack and Amaymon were waiting. Jack nodded and put his hand on my shoulder. I smiled, appreciating his gesture of comfort.
Amaymon just smirked. "I ain't holdin' your hand if that's all right with you," he remarked as he made his way towards the portal.
"That's fine," I replied. Then, "We know you're insecure."
"Motherfu-” His insult was cut off as he crossed the portal. I let out a laugh, enjoying the way it sounded. It felt good to laugh again.
I was the last one through the portal and before I crossed over I looked back at the tiny beach and the white void that was claiming it. I smiled affectionately.
Goodbye hell-hole island, I thought as I stepped through the portal and forever exited that universe.
Chapter 38
"Alpha team, neutralize the second floor."
It was two days later. I had slept for most of that time, unless I was stuffing my pie hole with anything too greasy, salty or anything else that might potentially kill me in a few years' time if the demons didn’t get me.
Thirty-six peaceful hours later, my sister called me up to tell me they had tracked down a small Black Ring hideout in Colorado. I was surprised with how eager I was to dive back into action. I'm an addict and this is my drug.
And besides, the whole island adventure had almost made me forget that there was still this issue to be resolved—and I, for one, was all about conflict resolution.
Especially when there are a few explosions.
Alpha team stormed the small apartment in Denver. Like all of Gil's soldiers they were covered in black and looked like a cross between a SWAT team and a group of ninjas. They ditched most of their magical toys in favor of sub-machine guns and your regular tactical equipment. They even drove up in a black unmarked van. Gil's source had told her that most of the members here were human acolytes—wannabes who spent too much time playing World of Warcraft.