As the humans approached, surely awed by the display, I picked myself up and dusted off my clothes.
“Nice job,” I managed, my breathing still labored.
Baranak did not even look back at us. He straddled one of the still figures, his armored form crushing it down, and pried at the featureless faceplate. With a popping sound, the dark, glassy oval came loose, and Baranak actually gasped. Looking over his shoulder, I did the same.
A once-familiar face, now all pale and gaunt, stared back at us through vacant eyes. Half embedded in the center of the forehead, a small, ruby-colored jewel flickered with internal light. As we watched, the flicker changed to a steady pulse, and the Dark Man attempted to sit up.
As I kept an eye on that one, Baranak whirled and grasped the faceplate of the other, wrenching it loose. A different face greeted us, but in a similar condition, complete with throbbing jewel in the forehead. The surprise was gone by then, though our sense of shock and outrage felt just as profound.
Baranak stood slowly and uncertainly, a look of great confusion masking his features.
“This is what you suspected,” he said flatly.
I nodded.
Evelyn approached, gazing down at the black-clad bodies, seeing the faces.
“I take it you know them.”
“Ferrik, our mischief-maker,” I said, indicating the one I had fought. “And Kravak, god of the current.” Regarding Baranak, I asked, “Both were believed dead, yes?”
His silence was all the confirmation I needed.
“It seems the reports of their demise were slightly exaggerated,” I said, probably needlessly.
Baranak glared at me for a long moment.
“I felt their lights extinguished, all of them, within the aether,” he said at last. “Having seen them now, are you so convinced I was wrong?”
I looked again at those bleak, blank faces, and could not argue.
Someone had not murdered the gods, but done something nearly as bad, or perhaps worse: transformed them into automatons. Into mindless slaves.
Baranak looked from one to the other of our former foes, his face now revealing not fury but disgust.
“Kravak was no weakling. Someone brought him to this state… made him into this. To humble him so…”
Something else caught my attention then; something at the very edge of perception, like the buzzing of a tiny insect. “There’s a signal,” I said. “It’s pulsing to match the gems.”
Baranak nodded once. “I feel it.”
I gazed at their blank faces and knew unexpected grief. “They have been reduced to nothing more than puppets,” I muttered.
He frowned. “There’s something else. The Power…”
“Yes…”
I could feel it happening even as he spoke. The Power was fading. This could be no coincidence. Someone was tampering with the Fountain, just as they had before. And I was certain I knew whom.
“Yes,” Baranak said, nodding. “Just in the past few seconds, it has diminished…”
“It’s going away,” I said, the thought chilling me. “They’re shutting down the Fountain again.”
Baranak’s face grew ashen.
“We will be trapped,” I said. “Powerless.”
“The Golden City,” he barked. “Now!”
“How far away are we?”
“Too far,” he said softly. Then, with greater force, “But we have no other choice.”
Understanding what he was about to do, I stepped back a pace, watching. And I was awed.
Baranak raised both his mighty, gauntleted hands before his chest, arms extended outward, fists clenched tightly, knuckles almost touching. Closing his eyes, he emitted a deep, resounding groan, and then slowly moved the fists apart. In the widening space between them, the fabric of reality itself rippled and twisted and tore itself apart. How many layers, how many barriers he broke through simultaneously at that moment I do not know; but it represented a titanic effort, an act of sheer power and will, and on a scale I would never witness again.
He shuddered from head to toe, but still he stood, his arms stretched out wide to either side. A blazing golden portal stood open before us.
The humans rushing along behind us, we committed our bodies to the void.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
We ran along the Road to the City: that main, best-mapped, most-traveled thoroughfare that leads among the planes closest to home, and then right up to the City’s gates themselves.
The last time I had traversed this route, one of the Dark Men had hounded my steps the entire way. Taken by surprise on that occasion, I had nearly been demolished by the savage attack. I found myself wondering now which god that had been, evidently brainwashed and hidden away beneath layers of ebon armor, and how much damage I had done to him. I truly hoped it had not been a former friend. Given my level of popularity, the chances of that were slim.
Baranak ran just ahead of me, and the three humans trailed only a short way behind. The Golden God had made no objection to their accompanying us, and I felt they deserved to see things through to the end. Their worlds, too, were at stake in this conflict, and besides, I had gotten used to having them around. Evelyn, at least.
For now, I had advised them quietly to keep the pistols hidden away. Baranak’s reaction to discovering such weapons still existed at all, much less seeing them in the hands of mortals, was impossible to predict. Better, I felt, to wait until absolutely necessary before revealing their presence.
On we raced. Trying to gain some sense of our whereabouts, I found myself frustrated continuously. Baranak was navigating now, and before him, we’d been following Alaria. Consequently, I will admit that, aside from recognizing the Road itself, I had no idea where we were. I was not entirely sure just how close Baranak had been able to bring us to the City, with that one jump. Despite his heroic efforts, clearly we still had some distance to cover.
The area we moved through now consisted of rolling, grassy hills under a bright, yellow sun. The place seemed familiar. If so, it would mean we were getting close, and the City would soon witness a homecoming no one could have expected: Lucian and Baranak, entering together, as allies. Unthinkable. Yet here we were.
The Road could not possibly be wide open to us, all the way, though. Obstacles seemed inevitable. Soon enough, the first arose.
The air just ahead of us sparkled and twisted in upon itself, a gaping, blood red wound ripping open. From out of it poured demons—demons by the bushel, demons by the barrel. Their tattered, dark clothes fluttered madly around them as they looked this way and that, saw us, and rushed forward madly. Their void-like mouths gaped, slashed eyes sparkling with unearthly hunger.
Baranak hardly slowed. He plowed into the first wave, moving right through them, sending them sprawling. On he ran.
Hastily I erected a blue dome of protection over the humans and myself—just in time, as the demons fell upon us next, pounding at the barrier’s sides, scratching and clawing at its coruscating surface. I heard shocked questions from the two men behind me, as well as quick explanations from Evelyn, who had seen more than a mortal’s share of such creatures. I remembered then that more of these things—many more—now lay siege to her people’s worlds. Cassidy and Kim might well have been the last humans of their generation to lay eyes on the demons, rather than among the first.
More of the foul creatures appeared further along our path, and this time attacked in sufficient numbers to halt Baranak’s progress. Coming up behind him, I unleashed what Power I could, driving some of them back, keeping them away from the humans who, behind my shield, had their pistols in hand, ready.
As the crowd around us thickened to the point that not an open space remained in any direction, my hopes faltered somewhat. Baranak raged and pounded straight ahead, pushing a portion of the attackers back, but always they closed ranks again and struck back. Many lay incapacitated around us, yet the bodies vanished within seconds, even as reinforcements poured out to repla
ce them. Soon a much larger wave of demons surged forward, and this time Baranak was swept from his feet and buried under the deluge.
No longer able to see him, I whirled around, checking to be sure the humans were still safe. To my horror, I saw that the rising tide of creatures had nearly engulfed my blue dome, assailing it from all sides. While simultaneously maintaining the defenses around myself to hold them off, I directed what energy I could to reinforcing the shield.
Not good. Not good at all.
My capacity in no way matched Baranak’s, even in his weakened state. With him swept beneath the onslaught, I knew I surely could not hold out much longer—especially while keeping the others safe, too. Panic sought my heart, found it. I faltered.
They were upon me then. Crawling, flailing, beating with their fists, they overcame my personal defenses and drove me down, beating me to the ground. Their weight, their stink, their overpowering wrongness—all these things pressed down on me, suffocating me, driving me toward despair. The sunlight was gone, and darkness closed in, crushing, crushing…
And then it lifted, if only a tiny bit. For whatever reason, they had ceased to concentrate on bashing at me and were squirming and wriggling away; only a few, at first, but soon in sufficient numbers that I forced myself to my feet again and blasted them away in a small circle around me.
Gasping, able to move again, I looked around frantically for the humans. The shield I had constructed for them was gone, as I had feared it would be, and for a long moment I could not find them. Then, I saw, and was amazed. And proud.
The humans stood in a triangle, each facing outward, and blasted away at the demons with their pistols. While not dealing a tremendous amount of damage, they had managed to drive the attackers back and hold them at bay. Surely they had also distracted the demons enough to enable me to break free.
Striking at the demons with my hurled spheres of blue energy, I attempted to make my way toward the humans, all the while scanning about for any sign of Baranak. A conspicuously large and dense conglomeration of demons some distance away seemed the best indication of his whereabouts. The fact that the occasional demon came flying out of that scrum, tumbling head over heels, also indicated Baranak yet lived and fought. Finding myself surprisingly happy for his success, I trudged toward my three mortal charges.
Just before I could reach them, a renewed wave of attackers—the largest yet—crashed into all of us. Seemingly limitless in number, the demons carried me under again, sweeping me along like a child caught in a riptide. I fought them hard and well, and scarcely a minute had passed before I regained my footing and pushed them away. Looking back to where I had been standing, however, I saw that the humans had vanished.
Striking down attackers as I moved, I raced as quickly as possible for that spot. Reaching it, I could find no signs of Evelyn or the others. I called their names, turning in a slow circle, still dealing death and destruction upon my foes as I moved. Nothing.
An explosion of demon bodies behind me caused me to whirl about then, and I beheld Baranak forcing his way out of a crowd, golden energies flaring around him, fists flailing. Quickly he carved out a circle of relative safety around himself, as I had done.
“The humans,” I called to him. “Do you see them?”
He cast his gaze about quickly. “No.”
On we fought, pressed from all sides. Still the numbers against us grew, and we could not help but wear down. I found myself wondering what would become of us if we were defeated by this unholy crew.
The huge silver axe that slashed its way through the crowd at that moment thus became one of the more welcome sights I have ever beheld.
As many of the demons before us whirled to see what new enemy had struck them, Baranak renewed his offensive and surged into the main bulk of their forces. For my part, I moved toward him and attempted to shield the other attackers away from the group he fought, preventing reinforcements from entering the battle and overpowering him. Together we created an opening in the wall of bodies ahead of us, even as the silver axe appeared again, rising and falling, sending demons and demon parts spinning away.
“Karilyne!” I shouted.
The tall goddess in silver and black roared to match Baranak, and her axe and her sword rose and fell about her, bringing in a harvest of destruction.
“Did you lose something?” she called to me.
I saw then the humans grouped closely behind her.
“Yes!” I cried, overcome with joy. “Yes!”
Fighting his way to her first, Baranak stood back-to-back with her, the humans in between, and together they carved a circle of bodies out of the horde.
I arrived some moments later, and saw that the humans had apparently lost their pistols. The weapons were no longer needed here, though; Baranak, Karilyne and I authored a tale of devastation upon the demons then, and soon the survivors lost their nerve, backing away or vanishing entirely, as their fallen comrades had already done.
And thus, moments later, we stood alone on the Road, our adversaries and our victims all gone.
Gasping, panting, leaning forward, hands on our knees, we sought to catch our breath and recover from our wounds and exertions. Once we could speak again, I thanked Karilyne for the timely aid and for rescuing the humans.
“I do not know these other two,” she said, indicating the men, “but I could not abandon my new friend, Captain Colicos, to such a hideous fate.”
Evelyn smiled at her, and they shook hands.
Cassidy and Kim just looked at one another, still struggling to comprehend all they were seeing, learning, experiencing.
“Those things—the demons,” Cassidy said, “They stripped away our guns. I tried to hang onto mine, but…”
“They knew what they were doing,” I replied. “Or whoever directed them did.”
Baranak nodded. He had come to the party late, but now he was a believer.
Sufficiently recovered, we caught Karilyne up on what was happening.
“I felt it, too,” Karilyne said after we described the sudden drop-off in the Power that had spurred us to this course. “Just as it felt before, when the Fountain stopped. Heading to the City seemed the best thing to do.”
“It is no accident,” I said. “We go to remedy the situation, no matter the cost, once and for all.”
Karilyne required no convincing. She was with us.
Onward we raced, toward the City.
With three of us acting together, the transitions through the various planes proceeded very smoothly, barriers yielding easily as our combined power and vision brushed one after another of the veils aside. One could hardly tell we were jumping from universe to universe as we ran.
Soon, the grasslands gave way to a rocky topography, with smooth hills replaced by rough and jagged outcroppings. As we picked our way along this more difficult route, the violet sky overhead darkened to indigo and rain began to splatter down in big drops around us. Disturbed by us or by the weather or both, unseen creatures among the rocks chirruped an insistent, tuneless call. We came then upon a narrow stream that meandered its way through the jagged countryside. Following along beside it, we came to a small waterfall, emptying down from a high outcropping into a broad, circular pool of a peculiar shade of green, before continuing to flow past us.
Something about the water troubled me, but I could not say what, precisely. Then, it became all too obvious.
“Look out!” I cried, again summoning a shield from the greatly diminished Power now available.
Baranak and Karilyne whirled, uncertain of what we faced. Then they, too, saw it.
From out of the waterfall emerged five forms, all female, each carrying a flaming sword. Behind them strode their mistress, Vodina.
“Not again,” I muttered, preparing for the worst.
Then I realized that Vodina looked, if possible, even worse than when I had first rescued her from the lake bottom in the cave. Her eyes were dim, vacant. Her skin had none of its vibrant, green colo
r to it. And, in the center of her forehead, a small, crimson jewel pulsed.
“They’ve gotten to her,” I yelled, even as Baranak and Karilyne stood still, uncomprehending.
The Furies struck then, knifing instantly across the distance from the pool and swinging their swords in broad arcs, the green flames lashing at the two warrior gods and staggering them back.
Struggling to his feet, Baranak saw the jewel then and, understanding, attempted to rush Vodina, but the Furies swung around and beat down at him with flame and sword. He staggered backward a few steps and glared, defiant.
Karilyne must have gotten the gist of the situation by then, too, for she unsheathed her sword with her right hand and hefted her axe in her left, and brought both to bear on the Furies. They grouped into a shimmering wall of violence in front of her and, raising their swords high, they advanced.
With an ear-splitting roar of defiance, Karilyne leapt forward, into and through the Furies, splitting their line easily. Tumbling past them and then regaining her footing with remarkable skill, she spun her sword and her axe in a dexterous, complex maneuver. Then she rushed ahead, colliding violently with Vodina. The two crashed to the ground, each seeking to grasp the other as they rolled along the rocky surface, back toward the pool. The Furies, apparently taken aback, unsure whether to press the attack on us or move to defend Vodina, hesitated momentarily. Then they whirled and rocketed back toward their mistress, swooping down toward the spot where the two goddesses grappled.
As Baranak and I pressed forward, Karilyne got to her feet once more, gained a bit of distance from her foe, and hurled her axe. The big weapon struck Vodina a titanic blow just below her chin and flipped her backwards. Racing toward her, sword held high, Karilyne called back to us, “Go! The City! The Fountain!”
Lucian: Dark God's Homecoming (The Above Book 1) Page 27