“For starters, I’m going to keep hitting it.” Timmy hit the creature again, sending up another fountain of gore. The damn thing was too big for his shovel or earth magic to deal with. It was time to try something else, something that he had been really hoping to avoid because if he made even a little mistake, they might end up with two of these things instead of just one.
“Gerald,” Timmy shouted. “I’m going to need a few things. It is absolutely important that you get them for me as soon as I ask for them.”
“And if I can’t?” Gerald asked.
“Then it is extremely likely that we will die horribly.”
Timmy began a long and complicated chant in a language known to only a select few. This monster had been summoned using ancient rituals that Timmy was familiar with. Perhaps he could banish it in a similar manner. The sky above them churned, and a vista of dying stars appeared as the fabric of reality warped and tore. Cosmic lightning raced down to strike the monstrosity over and over. It reeled, howling and shrieking in pain.
“Get ready!” Timmy yelled. “I’m going to need your help soon.”
The things that Gerald had stored away with his magic were truly remarkable. Timmy could only hope that Gerald had what they needed. The rest of the ritual involved drawing intricate seals all over the creature in the blood of at least seven different animals, all of which had to be sacrificed according to ridiculously complicated rituals. Sacrificing things was annoying under the best of circumstances. Sacrificing an angry badger while atop an otherworldly monstrosity that was hundreds of yards tall was going to be substantially more difficult. By some miracle, Timmy managed to get through the rest of the ritual although the last animal to be sacrificed – a rabid crocodile – had almost managed to take a piece out of him. An instant slower, and he’d have been missing a good portion of his arm.
The skies cracked open, and the vista of dying stars vanished. In its place were colossal shadows, echoes of beings as powerful as the one they faced. They too wished to destroy the world, and they refused to let this thing do it first. Of course, if Timmy had performed the ritual wrong, there was a good chance that they’d simply manifest in the mortal world and race to see who could annihilate the world faster. Thankfully, he hadn’t. An absolutely absurd amount of lightning smashed into the creature as tendrils of some nameless, impossible to identify colour reached down from the sky and began to tear huge strips of its flesh away. Timmy winced. As much as he loved his shovels, lightning and big pieces of metal did not mix. Something flew into his face, and he spat out some feathers. The first animal he’d sacrificed had been a chicken, and the headless thing was still flapping around.
“It’s still alive!” Gerald wailed over the boom of thunder. “Whatever you did, I’m not sure that it’s working.”
“You might be right.” A sudden shift in the creature’s movement sent Timmy flying, but he managed to grab hold of a rope that Gerald tossed his way. The skies were returning to normal again, and the lightning had begun to weaken. Timmy had used the power in the surrounding area for his ritual, but there simply wasn’t enough left, not after Lord Taylor had already used so much to summon the creature. “We’ll have to try something else, but the lightning definitely hurt it.” He took a closer look at the monster. It looked more solid, and it wasn’t healing anywhere near as quickly as before. “I think we might have cut it off from the power of the great beyond. It’s almost stopped regenerating. It should be easier to kill now.”
Old Man appeared, twisting in mid-air to grab onto the same rope as Timmy. “My apologies. I would have gotten here sooner, but this creature’s powers have been interfering with my magic. I believe I have something that can help you.”
Timmy blinked. “Since when can you teleport?” A host of tentacles shot toward them, and Old Man slashed through them with almost comical ease. “And since when can you use a sword?”
“I would be happy to answer those questions later.” Old Man nodded at the rats that had hitched a ride with him. They had attached themselves to the monster with their own ropes. “They have something for you.”
Timmy’s eyes widened. The rats had an explosive – an extremely powerful one, by the looks of it. “That’ll help.” He pointed down at the gaping maw of the thing. It was spread out below them, and though the centre of it, the yawning abyss of darkness, seemed to swallow the light, the edge of that space was radiant, ringed in brightness. Power flowed around the edges of the maw, currents of raw energy half-hidden by the creature’s teeth. “Aim at that. If we can destroy it…”
The rats gleefully shoved the explosive in the required direction and then put on their goggles and helmets. The explosion that followed was tremendous, a pillar of fire that smashed the clouds and clawed up toward the heavens. Timmy could barely hold on as the monster’s entire body shuddered beneath the attack. But it did not die. Instead, as black ichor blood rained down around them amidst a hideous cacophony of inhuman shrieks and wails, all they’d managed to do was wound it. And since it was no longer regenerating quickly, it was very, very unhappy. Worse, the flesh around the edges of its maw had begun to give way. One gigantic tooth was torn loose and sucked into the blackness followed by another and another.
Timmy pursed his lips. If the creature’s maw was now sucking in its own teeth, then maybe there was a way to get rid of it. Yes, he knew exactly what to do. “You guys should get out of here. I’m about to do something crazy. Just make sure that Katie is ready to catch me.”
“Are you sure you want us to leave?” Old Man asked.
Timmy nodded. “I’ll be fine.” He nodded at Gerald. “Besides, I think he’ll give himself a stroke if he has to stay up here any longer.”
Old Man’s lips twitched. “You’re probably right about that.”
Old Man grabbed Gerald and the rats, and then the whole lot of them vanished. Timmy swung himself back up onto the creature’s body, hacking and slashing with his shovel. It gave a hideous bellow and then reached for him, one ponderously huge limb after another twisting to come after him. He ran as fast as he could, half-falling and half-tripping as he made his way down the monster’s body, toward the lightless abyss of its maw. Thank the gods he’d always kept himself fit. Running away from angry mobs was one thing. This was something else.
He waited until the very last moment and then leapt out over the gaping hole in reality that was at the centre of the creature. Its gaping maw seemed impossibly huge at that moment. It was a space devoid of light, an ocean of darkness that led into the madness from which this thing had come. One of the creature’s limbs rushed down to snatch him out of the air – only to miss as a slab of rock shot out of a nearby cliff and hit Timmy out of the way. It hurt – it hurt a lot – but he still had the presence of mind to turn and watch the creature’s limb vanish into its maw. There was a hideous sound, like a billion bowls of thick soup trying to be drawn through a narrow reed, and then the creature began to devour itself in earnest. First its limb vanished, and then the rest of it began to follow, sucked into its maw with irresistible force. Its body twisted, contorted, and collapsed in on itself as the creature consumed itself. Blood, flesh, teeth, tentacles, claws, eyes – nothing, absolutely nothing, escaped the pull of the creature’s maw. The suction accelerated until there was nothing left, save for a terrible, gaping field of darkness ringed with light. Timmy stared into the darkness below. Then he began to fall toward it – until Katie swooped in and grabbed him.
He laughed. “I was worried you’d let me fall.”
“As if, master.” Katie smirked. “You still have plenty to teach me. Besides, if anyone is going to get you, it’ll be me, not some crazy monster that just ate itself.”
“Well, that’s one way to put it.” Timmy grinned as Katie angled toward the ground. “And I did tell you that flying would come in handy.” He paused. “Wait… I feel like we’re forgetting something.”
“Hey!” Avraniel hurled some fire in their direction from the ruins of the
castle. “You can’t just leave me up here with the demon bastard!”
Timmy and Katie shared a look. Apparently, Old Man hadn’t stopped by to get Avraniel.
“Fly faster!” Timmy urged. “Fly faster!”
* * *
It was a testament to how odd his day had been and how easily he could take things in stride that Timmy didn’t so much as blink when Vicky’s glowing form floated into view a few hours after they had dispatched the nightmarish horror that Lord Taylor had summoned. Thankfully, nothing had emerged from either the ruins of the castle or the caves beneath it to attack them. After what they’d managed to pull off, he had a feeling that anything alive down there had probably decided that discretion was the better part of valour.
He wasn’t surprised that Vicky had come. Her magic was sensitive enough to have felt the shockwave of the creature’s summoning and banishment all the way from the capital. He and the others had used the hours until her arrival to rest while Avraniel and her rats looted the castle. Apparently, Lord Taylor had possessed quite the wine collection – a collection that Avraniel had kindly liberated and already begun to sample.
“Only you, Timmy, could visit the son of a dreaded demon lord and make things worse before somehow getting everything to work out.” Vicky grinned as the light she radiated spread over the battered landscape. If there were any demons left, her presence would have them fleeing for their lives. Behind her, Lord Taylor’s castle teetered on the brink of collapse. Only a generous helping of Timmy’s magic had been able to stabilise it, and he and Katie had taken the opportunity to rummage through Lord Taylor’s library once they’d had a bit of rest. They had snagged quite a few valuable tomes and relics. Old Man, meanwhile, had taken the liberty of retrieving the bonsai trees he’d sold Lord Taylor. As for Gerald, he’d stayed outside the castle with Cezanne. The further the bureaucrat was from the place, the happier he was. “You have the entire Council in a conniption.”
He laughed. “Did anyone else I don’t like have an unplanned medical emergency?”
Her lips twitched. “Almost, but not quite.”
“A pity. What about James?”
“He was not pleased that one of those… things was actually summoned into Everton, but he was pleased that you dealt with it and apprehended Lord Taylor. What exactly was it, anyway? I can’t say I know as much about those things as you.”
“It was an inter-dimensional being of some kind. You’ve met Sam, right?” Timmy asked. Vicky nodded. “The thing that Lord Taylor summoned was sort of like a god amongst Sam’s kind. I won’t get into the specifics of what it wants, but it would have ushered in the apocalypse. Luckily for us, it wasn’t able to fully manifest.” He grimaced. “I honestly didn’t think Lord Taylor would have something that powerful up his sleeve, but it worked out. As for Lord Taylor…”
“Can we kill him after we get all the information we need?” Avraniel asked. She’d already interrogated him regarding the whereabouts of his treasury. Now all she had to do was convince Gerald to go in there, so he could store as much of it away with his magic as possible. The half-demon wasn’t so tough now that he was covered in strength and magic suppressors. “We do get to keep part of his treasury, right? That was in the agreement.” She took another swig of wine and smiled. Lord Taylor had good taste. “This is good, do you want some, sparky?”
“I’m afraid it would be wasted on me. I can’t taste anything when I’m like this.” Vicky smiled. “As for his treasury, you are indeed entitled to some of it. However, I would suggest that you avoid taking anything dangerous. Gerald should have a copy of the contract, but the Council wants to seal away the more dangerous items.” She drifted over to Gerald and gave him a pat on the back. “Are you all right, Gerald? You’ve been in some very interesting situations lately.”
“Thank you, councillor.” Gerald sighed. “It’s been tough, but I’m just glad to still be alive.”
“Rest assured, everyone on the Council appreciates what you’ve done. I appreciate what you’ve done.” Vicky’s gaze shifted to Katie. “Good work. You’ve done very well. Apparently, you saved your master’s life.”
Katie shrugged. “I wasn’t about to let some monster eat him. He still has plenty to teach me.”
“Of course.” Vicky took a quick look around. “What about the rats?” Cezanne and Rembrandt climbed out of Katie’s pockets. The others were still busy going through Lord Taylor’s castle. “You have my thanks.” Her eyes narrowed faintly, and she tapped one finger on her cheek as she turned her attention to Old Man. “You… you are very interesting. James made no mention of your abilities, and I genuinely believe he didn’t know. Nor did I, for that matter. Still…” Her lips curved up at the edges. “I remember reading about a swordsman with magic like yours, but he was supposed to have vanished a long time ago. Everyone is convinced he died in battle.”
“Vanished isn’t the same as dead.” Old Man pulled his hat down to hide his expression. “Although I wouldn’t know a thing about the man you’re talking about. I’m no swordsman. I sell plants for a living.”
“If you say so.” Vicky chuckled. “But what will you do now?”
Old Man pursed his lips. His sword was gone. It was a bonsai tree again. “I’ve been wandering for a long time now.” He smiled faintly, and his gaze drifted to each member of the group. “When you get to my age, there’s really only two things to look forward to: an interesting life and a good death. I think I’ll be able to find both if I stay with this group.” He gave Timmy a meaningful look. “Although I don’t have anywhere to stay…”
“Yes, yes. You can stay at my castle.” Timmy rolled his eyes. “Everyone else is.” He scowled at Avraniel. The elf had yet to offer him any of the wine. “I have a feeling you’ll be a better guest than her.”
“Oh, give it a rest.” Avraniel tossed a flagon of wine at Timmy’s head and then stomped off to go take another look at Lord Taylor’s treasury, stopping just long enough to grab Gerald.
“At least, I won’t have to worry about you trying to overthrow me while you’re staying in my castle.”
“Do people do that?” Old Man asked.
Timmy nodded. “They get in line to try. Katie has tried, Avraniel has tried, and even the rats have tried. In fact, the rats have little number cards, so they don’t have to fight over who gets to try each day.” Rembrandt pulled out a small card and held it up. “See?”
“In any case,” Vicky said, clearing her throat. “Well done, all of you. You can hand Lord Taylor to James on your way back, and the Council will take care of his interrogation and imprisonment. You can have a bit of a break too. You’ve done more than enough for the time being.”
Timmy glanced at the ruins of the castle and the heavily modified landscape. One of the few surviving mutants flew by, but a blast from the group’s resident pyromaniac reduced it to ash. “We could use the rest.” He pointed at the portal where the creature had consumed itself. It was still there and still roughly the size of a large house. For the first hour or two, they’d amused themselves by catapulting things into it using a catapult that Gerald had, for reasons unknown, stored away with his magic. It was surprisingly fun. “What are you going to do about that?”
“It’s a one-way portal, isn’t it?”
“As far as I can tell, things can only go in. They can’t come out.” Timmy picked up a rock and threw it. It vanished through the portal. “You could turn it into the world’s greatest garbage dump.”
Vicky snickered. “I’m not sure that would be wise although given that everything there already wants to kill us…” She bent down and picked up a rock before throwing it in. “That might not be out of the question. Is it stable?”
“It was a lot bigger before, but it appears to have stabilised.”
“Good. I’ll talk about it with the rest of the Council although I’m open to any other ideas you might have. You’re more familiar with this sort of thing than anyone else, Timmy.” Vicky paused. “Oh, by the way
, I stopped at your castle on the way here. I wanted to see that lovely garden that Avraniel has made.”
“And what did you think of it?”
“It’s very unique. But what I wanted to tell you was that it shouldn’t be long now before that dragon egg hatches. I could feel the dragon’s soul stirring.”
Timmy groaned as he imagined the astronomical repair bill he’d have when a miniature engine of doom began spewing fire everywhere. He flopped onto his back. “Great. Wonderful. Perfect. Now, I’m just going to lie down here for a while. I would love it if you could maybe fly around and find a river or something. I need a bath.”
Vicky eyed the goo that covered him and winced. “Yes, I believe you do.”
About the Author
I am a writer with an avid interest in psychology, physics, history, and economics. Writing has long been a passion of mine, and I hope to someday make a career of it. Apart from writing, I have worked in education as a lecturer in one of the aforementioned subjects.
I believe that writing is a wonderful thing and that good writing and the techniques required to develop it should be shared with as many people as possible. In that regard, I’m always open to hearing from anyone who was read my work. If you want to contact me (perhaps to praise or perhaps to put your proverbial stake and pitchfork to work), then by all means send me an email, or drop by my blog where I discuss issues related to books, writing, and my own work.
My email: [email protected]
My blog: http://lgestrella.wordpress.com
If you send an email or leave a comment, I’ll do my best to get back to you.
More From L. G. Estrella
If you’re interested in reading more of my stories, you can find them on Amazon.
There are also previews for each of my stories at my blog: lgestrella.wordpress.com
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