by Pedro Urvi
He sighed, unclenched his fists and relaxed.
The Dark Lady stared at Komir, the essence of perversity in her black eyes.
“What is the matter, Marked? Fear?”
There was nothing Komir wished more than to kill this woman. Nothing. But the desperate cries of his companions fighting and dying with courage and honor, beyond all call of duty, strengthened his conviction to avoid confronting her. He had to find another way out. He turned to the Bearers for a moment, then he knew for certain. He would not risk their lives for anything in the whole world. His quest for justice and revenge was coming to an end there and then. Forever.
“Order back your monsters and go whence you came, Lady of the Darkness, and nobody else will have to die here today. I have no wish to kill you.”
The Dark Lady roared with laughter, and Isuzeni joined her. A sarcastic smile flickered on her black lips.
“I did not come here simply to leave now, Marked. That would be an unthinkable act of cowardice. My destiny is to reign over all the known world, and so it has always been. So the Oracle predicted when I was no more than a child, and today I shall make sure it comes to pass. There is no other way for me, I can only move in that direction, for so my soul requires. Long years have I fought for this moment, nothing will stop me now.”
“We are not afraid to fight. There has already been too much bloodshed.”
“You do not understand, Marked, there remains only one final obstacle in my way to reach my Destiny of Glory, to govern the world.”
“Me…”
Yuzumi’s eyes flashed, with a gleam of pure, dark cruelty.
“Yes! You and that damned Premonition.” She brandished the Crystal Skull. “But it is no longer important, as it will not happen. Today you are going to die, and with you your pathetic company. Nobody is going to deny me my true destiny. I shall see my dream come true. Today I shall crown myself over your dead bodies.”
“I’ll tell you one last time, call back your monsters and go!”
Isuzeni intervened. “Control your tongue, or I shall cut it out and make you swallow it. Show the respect you owe to the Empress Yuzumi.”
The Dark Lady spread her arms wide. “Are you not going to fight me? Here I am, it is your opportunity,” she said provokingly. “I killed your parents…”
“No, I don’t want revenge,” Komir said through clenched teeth. “That’s not what I’m after any longer.”
Yuzumi lowered her arms. “Curious… I always thought you would be like me, that you would be searching for the same Destiny: two beings destined to rule the known world, colliding on the path toward the fulfillment of that ambition.”
“I’m not looking for power or glory. They don’t appeal to me. I just want to live in peace, end this nightmare, go home and be just another Norriel. That’s what my heart desires. Power, ruling over Tremia, that’s not my thing. It doesn’t interest me in the least.”
“What a disappointment,” Yuzumi said with a grimace of disgust. “You are no worthy rival. In the end, after all this time, I discover my fears were unfounded. You are no more than a simple man. What an outrage, what a waste of my time and effort, all for a spineless creature, without the courage to rise and conquer what his power offers him. It turns my stomach.”
“I’m a simple man, that’s true. We don’t have to fight.”
Yuzumi remained thoughtful for a moment. “You are wrong there… you must die so that my Destiny of Glory can be fulfilled. That statement is beyond question.”
“It might be for you, but not for me.”
The Dark Lady’s laughter sounded hollow and acid.
“You do not understand, Marked. You see nothing. Your mind, your ambition, are not enough to glimpse the greatness at your fingertips. But now I understand at last what you are and what you represent, it does not surprise me. I shall explain in a way your limited intellect will understand.” She raised the crystal skull. “For me to rule the world, the Prophecy must not come to pass. So that the Prophecy cannot come to pass, you have to die. Do you understand, Marked?”
Komir realized that nothing would sway her. He glanced briefly at Aliana, whose face was marked by concern. Her body was tense, her eyes reflected fear. He turned to Asti, Iruki, Sonea, so different and yet so similar: brave hearts, devoted, resisting fear. He thought of Hartz, Lindaro, Lasgol and Kayti behind him, surrounded by living-dead, fighting desperately to survive when there was barely any hope left. They were all going to die… No! I can’t let that happen, I can’t let them die, not if there’s any way out. And suddenly he saw it all clearly, like a summer dawn; he had to prevent them losing their lives. And for that there was only one way: he had to give his own.
He stepped forward. “I offer you my life in exchange for those of all the others,” he said.
“Komir, no!” Aliana cried.
“We’ll fight!” shouted Iruki.
“Don’t give yourself up,” Sonea warned him. “She won’t honor any deal.”
Asti tried to pull him back.
Yuzumi watched the scene with sarcasm written all over her face. “What a really touching gesture,” she said, “as are the reactions of your companions. I am almost ready to shed a tear. Are you not moved, Isuzeni?”
“My eyes are moist and my heart is tender,” the High Priest replied.
Komir was not daunted. “You want my life, don’t you? I’m offering it to you.”
“It is too late for that. Besides, I have the feeling your friends will not allow it.”
“Of course not!” Aliana said.
Yuzumi pointed at the four Bearers with her ceremonial axe. “Besides, I want their lives too.”
Komir moved back towards his companions. “I understand you want to kill me. But why do you want to kill them too?”
“Because I shall not take the slightest risk. You must die now, you and all those with you. It is the only way to make sure the Premonition does not come to pass. And… there is also an added reason… I want those medallions around your necks. Their power must be mine.”
“And what if we give them to you?” Komir offered.
“Don’t bother, Komir,” Aliana said. “She’s come to kill us. Nothing will make her change her mind.”
“Indeed. I prefer the idea of taking them from your throats after they have been cut. That way, the Premonition is not fulfilled and the Power of the medallions is mine. It is a proposition, you must understand, which is irresistible.”
“The only acceptable one,” Isuzeni added.
The Bearers exchanged agonized looks. They were all aware now that Yuzumi had not only come to conquer Tremia but to take their lives. That was her final goal.
The Dark Lady stared at Komir with eyes as penetrating as daggers and said:
“It is time for you to die. My Destiny awaits me.”
Destiny of Glory
Komir acted at once. He put his hands over the medallion. Before the Dark Lady and the Sorcerer could cast a spell, he closed his eyes and communicated with his Ilenian gem. Cast a spell on that Sorceress, don’t let her use her magic of death on us. The medallion of Ether gleamed in response, and golden runes passed through Komir’s mind. The runes indicated that a spell was being created, which cheered him. Each time he called upon it he found it a little easier to communicate and interact with the medallion. He guessed it was the same with his companions. He wondered whether the minimum of mastery they had over their medallions would be enough to defeat such a powerful sorceress and her minions. They would soon find out, for good or ill.
From his medallion there emerged an ethereal presence, a spirit. It was shapeless, but with a distant similarity to some specter out of a nightmare. It rose in front of Komir’s amazed eyes. He did not understand either what this spell was or the being which was rising in front of him. Hovering above his head, the spirit of ether gave a desperate wail. As it did so Komir glimpsed its face. It was Ilenian, twisted, filled with overwhelming anguish. The specter of a millenn
ial warrior.
It lunged at the Dark Lady.
When Komir saw the spirit cross the air shrieking, he was clearly aware that this spirit of Ether’s sole purpose was to cause pain and death. Why he felt that way he could not have said, but he was sure of it, not just because of its appearance but because of a feeling his medallion was conveying to him. For the briefest of moments, he felt pity for its victim.
When the Sorceress saw the specter lunge at her, she wielded her silver axe and murmured a word. The move and the word were performed with such amazing quickness that Komir knew his own spell had taken an eternity in comparison. An eternity which might cost him his life. The specter reached the Dark Lady, but she had already conjured an eternity ago. Two enormous outspread wings appeared before her, forming a barrier. Two wings of a deathly creature. The specter of Ether cannoned into them and bounced backwards. It gave a rending shriek, so that Komir had to cover his ears. It attacked again, but was rejected by the two black wings which prevented it from reaching the Dark Lady, and its shriek was chilling. He realized it was screaming with pain at the touch of the wings of death.
Come on, spirit of Ether, come on, break that shield and get to her, he pleaded. The medallion round his neck flashed, and the spirit attacked again with renewed force. But this time the Dark Lady conjured. When the specter reached the black wings it tried to break through, amid shrieks of agony. From behind the wings there emerged the head of a bird, a bird out of a nightmare, with eyes as black as a fathomless abyss. It was colossal, with a very long neck, bare of plumage, including its head. It looked like a giant carrion buzzard. But it was not that, for as it opened its beak it revealed two rows of sharp teeth. It was something much worse. It attacked the specter. Amid searing screams a sinister fight broke out between the bird of death and the spirit of Ether. In the end the Dark Lady’s magic of death prevailed. The bird of death gobbled up its opponent, and the shrieks ceased.
Komir cursed silently.
“We’ve got to help Komir!” Iruki cried to her companions. A moment later the Masig launched a frozen javelin against the head of the monstrous bird. It pierced one of its eyes, and they heard a furious bellow.
Asti concentrated and sent a great ball of fire towards the monster. But the head hid behind the black wings and the ball of fire burst against them. The flames exploded, burning everything around them, but they could not get past the barrier to reach the Dark Lady, who watched the fire without flinching.
“I’ll try as well,” said Aliana. She launched a dozen sharp stone stakes at great speed at the wings. The missiles struck them with a dull impact, but failed to go through. It seemed that nothing was capable of destroying them.
The head of the bird from the abyss appeared menacingly once again and bent forward towards them.
“I have you!” shouted Iruki, and launched a trident of ice at it. The frozen prongs struck the head of the monster. It bellowed to the heavens, this time in pain, and disappeared behind the wings.
“Good!” Komir said. He clenched his fist, celebrating their small victory.
The silver axe spun in Yuzumi’s hand. Where there had been a single head there now appeared three, their long vulture-necks joined to a body hidden behind the wings. Komir narrowed his eyes. He could see the black feathers of the body and a pair of short claws planted on the ground. They looked lethal. The giant bird of death was taking shape. This doesn’t look good at all.
“By the prairies!” Iruki cried.
Sonea was studying it. “It’s a giant three-headed vulture,” she said.
“Giant bird, death,” Asti said. She shook her head.
“We’ll have to destroy it somehow,” said Komir. “We won’t get to the Sorceress otherwise.”
Aliana nodded.
“Let’s attack together,” Sonea proposed. “That way it’ll be harder for it to find a defense against all the different spells and types of magic.”
“Good idea,” Komir agreed. “Let’s do it.”
Iruki, Aliana, Asti and Komir closed their eyes and focused on connecting to their medallions, while Sonea watched the giant vulture of death take shape. It flapped its wings amid bloodcurdling shrieks, then rose from the ground and hovered above its mistress with outspread wings.
The Healer was the first to finish her spell. Her knowledge of the Gift in the practice of healing helped her to communicate more quickly with her medallion and to cast spells faster and more powerfully. The symbiosis between her Gift and the medallion was stronger than it was with her companions. Above the great vulture, and beneath its feet, two grey shapes slowly took shape. They transformed themselves little by little into one row of huge stalactites above its head and another of huge stalagmites under its claws. Aliana opened her eyes and considered the mouth of sharp rock teeth she had created. She stretched her hand, spread it and then clenched it into a fist. The stalactites closed on the stalagmites, like a jaw of rocky teeth, piercing the bird through. A rending croak was heard from the three heads.
But the bird survived.
Iruki opened her eyes. From her medallion there shot an icicle of gigantic girth. The Masig aimed with her finger at the wounded bird. The giant icicle hurtled through the air and struck with enormous force. It pierced the bird’s body from one side to the other.
“Yes!” the Masig shouted joyfully.
But the bird, instead of falling, continued defending its mistress.
“Me can,” Asti said with a look of determination. From her medallion there surged a ray of intense fire which reached the body of the abyssal bird. It caught fire and began to burn. Its croaks reached an insufferable pitch, and before the eyes of the five the creature died.
For an instant the five Bearers felt like winners. But it was a brief victory. The Dark Lady laughed, a dark and condescending laugh. She twirled her axe and uttered something so fast they did not even see. The death bird rose, flapping its black wings. The fire was spreading along them by now.
“Punish them!” its mistress ordered.
The bird soared, then dove from the heavens straight at the five Bearers, as if it were the personification of a servant of the god of death. Seeing it hurtling at them they covered their heads. The impact was going to be massive.
And they were not wrong.
With a tremendous burst of fire and death the bird exploded over the Bearers. The blast was so intense that they were all thrown backwards and sent rolling across the ground. Komir wondered whether his sphere would hold. An intense pain ran through his body, as though he had been struck by a thousand whiplashes at once. As he rolled on the ground everything was pain. Finally, he stopped. He checked the sphere. It was still whole, and he breathed out with relief. He stood up as best he could, looked for Aliana and saw her a few steps away. She too was trying to get to her feet, and her face was twisted with pain. He found his other companions not far away. Thank the heavens, their spheres have held! A little more and we’d all be dead. The power of this Sorceress is devastating. She defeated us so easily, like a cat playing with a mouse. She can finish us off whenever she pleases.
Iruki was already on her feet, staring defiantly at the Dark Lady. But Komir noticed that the Masig’s body was hunched and her jaw clenched. She was suffering in silence. Sonea was on the ground, looking up at the sky, apparently unable to stand. Asti was on her knees, bent forward, and there was great pain on her face.
The Dark Lady’s disdainful laugh hit them like a spiked gauntlet.
“Is that all you can do?”
The five watched her, frustrated and impotent.
“Are those the spells you think to overthrow me with? Now I have witnessed your futile attempts, I cannot even believe how ridiculous and banal you are. You are slow in conjuring, clumsy and inefficient. Those spells can do nothing against me. You are preposterous.”
Aliana gave Komir a look of unease. The look he gave her in return showed a fortitude he was far from feeling.
“You are so pathetic I shall
not even bother to get my hands dirty killing you,” said Yuzumi, and laughed with profound disdain.
“It is indeed a disappointment,” Isuzeni agreed. He shook his head. “I believe my fears were unfounded. They have power, true… but they are no more than apprentices… a group of misguided and inexperienced dupes, doomed to inevitable death.”
Yuzumi addressed them condescendingly: “You disgust me. You do not know how to use it, you are unaware of your own power. That makes you inferior beings. A group of fools who have been blessed with the Talent and yet do not know themselves. What a waste! Such spells as you are capable of are pitiful. Any experienced sorcerer could finish you off. You could never use those medallions in the entirety of their magnificent power. Fortunately, however, I can.”
“They pose no threat. I was too zealous, my Lady. I regret having worried you unnecessarily.”
“You have served me well, Isuzeni. It is they who are an absolute disappointment. I had expected so much of this day ‒” her eyes were fixed on Komir ‒ “thinking I would face a power equal or even superior to mine, preparing myself to fight to the death against whatever might confront me. Today. Preparing with my whole being… and this is what I find… mere apprentices, not even initiates…”
Komir watched her in silence. All the spells we’ve thrown at her she’s deflected without even blinking. Nothing we could conjure seems capable of harming her. Her power is too great. We can’t defeat her. We can’t even touch her…
“The time has come to end this little tragedy. I must attain my Destiny of Glory. My little creature will deal with you.” Yuzumi smiled, and her eyes flashed maliciously. “I shall enjoy witnessing the carnage my creature is going to wreak upon you.”