Sandqueen (Rise To Omniscience Book 7)

by Aaron Oster

  The horrible screaming drowned out the lioness’s roar of rage, the soundwaves visible. Sand blasted out around her, forced away by the wall of sound. Though the Pinnacle King tried to escape, she remained trapped in the skill’s area of effect. Although she felt proud of what she’d accomplished, Grace could see that, while her skill had managed to land a hit, it wasn’t doing any damage.

  Her heart rate increased as the skill began to wear off, and gradually, the lioness righted herself, shaking her head to clear it of the ringing as she approached her once more. She was on the ground now, having given up on flying, and strode over in lithe, smooth strides. She towered above Grace, her frame nearly double her own in height, and seemed to blot out the sun.

  Grace tried to turn and run, but the beast’s arm snapped out, snagging her by the collar of her shirt and hoisting her off the ground. She struggled, punching and kicking at the limb as it dragged her into the air. It was all in vain, though. The grip was simply too strong for her to break. Her entire body was trembling as the Pinnacle King brought them face to face, the lioness’s bloodied and blackened muzzle now just inches from her own.

  The glowing orbs of violet drilled into her and seemed to pierce down to her very soul.

  “Stop struggling, human, and accept your fate,” the Pinnacle King said, her muzzle bunching up to reveal massive, gleaming canines.

  “Screw you!” Grace yelled, then unleashed her final gambit.

  Both hands flashed up, slamming over the beast’s ears as she unleashed her Siren Scream once again. It used the last of her RP, all she’d managed to recover after using her Wail Wall. Her muscles vibrated as she unleashed the powerful soundwaves directly into the Pinnacle King’s ears. With a roar of pain, the beast threw her back, staggering away and clutching at her head.

  Grace hit the ground far harder than mere gravity could manage from such a height. She screamed in pain as her leg buckled, twisted and then snapped, leaving it crooked at an odd angle and preventing any further attempts at escape — not that it really would have done her much good. Through the teary haze of pain, she could see the beast recovering, removing her paws from her ears and leaving bloody smears in their place.

  In all fairness, one of her paws was already a bloodied mess beforehand, so that wasn’t much of an accomplishment. As the beast stalked towards her, she felt the distinct sense of satisfaction that came along with giving her all. Sure, she’d still failed in the end, but at least she’d managed to go out with a bang.

  The Pinnacle King didn’t attempt to communicate with her this time, simply lifting one of her massive paws and driving it down toward her head.

  Grace didn’t close her eyes, didn’t blink, just stared at death in defiance, determined to go out like a real supermage. However, for the second time that day, death would not take her. A boulder the size of a small horse slammed into the Pinnacle King’s back, hurling her free of Grace and leaving her unharmed. Well, as unharmed as someone with a shattered leg, dozens of bruises and cuts could be.

  She winced, craning her head to the side to try and see if perhaps Lumia had managed to wake up to help. Instead of the drake, she saw something else entirely. A man, or at least, she thought it was a man, was cloaked in a burning reddish-violet light that sat around him like a second skin. His eyes were two blazing pinpricks of golden fire. His hair was wild, flowing out behind him, yet at the same time, was neat and cropped close to his head. Morgan had never before looked so familiar, yet so different at the same time.

  He looked down at her, and the twin orbs of burning gold sent a chill down her spine. At the same time, though, they made her feel safe and reassured.

  “I told you not to come,” Morgan said, his voice echoing oddly through the violet cloak.

  “I couldn’t help myself,” she replied, her voice tight with pain. “I wouldn’t leave you all alone. That’s not what…What I would do.”

  She’d hesitated on that last one, having nearly said ‘family,’ instead of ‘friends.’ The pain must have been worse than she’d realized, but now that Morgan was here, everything would be fine.

  He stared at her for several long moments, then seemed to relax, even if just a little.

  “Stay here and don’t move. We’ll talk about this when I’m done.”

  Grace let out a light chuckle, then pointed down to her broken leg.

  “Not going anywhere on this,” she groaned.

  A roar from behind caught both their attentions, and Grace turned to see the Pinnacle King charging them, a wave of sand building up behind her as she ran, growing taller by the moment. Instead of being nervous or afraid, Morgan seemed to be calmer than ever as he turned to face the oncoming tide.

  “I won’t be long,” he said, his voice growing a bit deeper and taking on an almost feral quality. Though Grace didn’t know why – she’d seen how powerful this beast was – she didn’t doubt his words for a second.

  52

  The thirty seconds in which it took him to finally regain control of his body had been the longest of his entire life. He’d had to just lie there while Lumia fought to defend Grace, who he’d only just managed to save with his last-minute spear throw, waiting for the skill to wear off. The constant drain and replenishment of his bodily fluids had been one of the most painful experiences of his entire life, but it all paled in comparison to the pain he felt when Lumia went down, leaving Grace to have to fight on her own.

  Had he been capable of doing as much, Morgan would have dashed to the surface and torn the beast apart with his bare hands. Instead, he was forced to just lie there as Grace struggled for survival. He could see the scenario unfolding in his mind’s eye. He saw Grace give her all against a foe she couldn’t hope to damage. Yet she fought hard and didn’t give up until the very end.

  As Grace went down, Morgan felt the assault on his body end, leaving him free to move for the first time since it had started. Power rushed back to his limbs, and he exploded upward, smashing through one ceiling after the next on his way back to the surface. As he flew, he pulled chunks of stone along with him. When he exploded from the ground, not even ten feet away from Pentagon, he unleashed his attack, sending the massive boulder streaking across the distance. It slammed into the Pinnacle King just as she was bringing her foot down on an injured Grace’s head.

  The attack was weakened, as her tail had whipped up to intercept, but injured as she was, it only managed to lessen the force of impact, leaving Grace unharmed. Well, not exactly unharmed, as it was clear she was badly injured. Her leg was all twisted up, and there was a long line of red tracing down the side of her face. But, she was still alive, and that was all that mattered to him.

  He honestly didn’t know what to say to his student. In truth, he was both furious and proud that she’d come out after him. Furious, because of the sheer stupidity that she displayed in coming to a fight she could not hope to win, and proud because of the bravery of her actions. Of course, he couldn’t let her see that he was proud, so he put on a stern face when confronting her.

  Though he’d initially been worried about Lumia, he’d spotted her curled up behind a small piece of sandstone, fast asleep. When he approached his student, it was with a mostly clear head. He was still fighting down the mounting rage at seeing her hurt and was wrestling with the knowledge that he had nearly been too late to save her — twice! But Grace was alive. She was still breathing and was still her usual self. He had not been too late to save her. He would not need to bury another friend.

  After a short exchange with his student, Pentagon decided to attack once more, and when he looked up to see her pulling a massive wave of sand along with her, he felt the inner Beast he’d been suppressing surge to the surface. It wasn’t in the position to take full control, but was enough to assure that he would be utterly ruthless in the fight ahead.

  His Soulstream was nearly up. He had perhaps another minute with the skill, which meant that now was the time to end this monster, once and for all. She had nea
rly killed Grace, who was the only person who could keep him sane and motivated enough to keep going. She was the light of his life, and this beast had tried to snuff her out. That, in his mind, was unacceptable.

  The fact that she’d been trying to kill him didn’t bother him at all. What made him angry was the fact that she’d gone for Grace, knowing what it would do to him. That action alone assured that when they clashed again, Morgan would hold nothing back.

  The wave of sand rose higher into the air, trailing Pentagon as she ran. The Pinnacle King let out a roar, then came to a sudden halt, her feet grinding into the ground as she hurled the wave forward. Morgan approached with calm steps, extending a hand and unleashing the power of the sun. Now that he was outside once more, the power of the star rushed into him, flooding his body with warmth and strength.

  His Sunblast exploded from his outstretched hand, burning through the wave and causing it to crystalize from the sheer heat. When the light faded, it revealed a massive sloping glass wall, frozen in place and hanging over Pentagon’s head. The Pinnacle King only had time to stare up in shock before the cyclone came crashing down on her.

  The funnel cloud was the largest Morgan had ever seen, and even as it shattered the glass wall, slamming Pentagon into the sands, he began to drift up into the air. Violet lightning crackled across the surface of his 10th Category Gravity Breaker, searing across the ground and ripping into the beast. Massive spheres of burning black fire began forming in the air around him, streaking off into the funnel. It joined in, spinning and twisting into a conflagration of burning black and bright violet.

  A single streak of lightning, nearly twenty feet across, flashed from the sky, slamming into the top of the funnel and blowing it apart, causing an explosion of black fire to wash outward for nearly a hundred yards in all directions. The ground shook, and cracks began appearing along the stone. Realizing what was happening, Morgan vanished, appearing briefly to snatch Grace and a still-sleeping Lumia, before teleporting them to the top of the city walls.

  “What’s happen…?” Grace tried to ask, but he was gone before the question was even fully formed, appearing back in the Ruined City as his attack faded.

  Pentagon the Desiccator was nowhere to be seen, though Morgan could still sense her presence far below the surface of the city. In her place was a crater, one that had broken straight through the upper layer of the city and was now causing fault lines to appear. Morgan didn’t care and focused only on the monster, who was slowly rising back to her feet.

  He vanished, appearing before her, power blazing forth from his body in waves. Pentagon no longer resembled the proud Pinnacle King she had once been and looked more like a blackened husk of her former self. The very fact that she was still alive spoke to her resilience, and Morgan wasn’t going to let her get off another attack.

  Streaking forward, he slammed a fist into her abdomen, blasting her up and through a half-dozen layers of stone, nearly back to the surface. The shaking was getting worse, as bits of stone and debris began raining down around him. Morgan didn’t pay them any heed, instead rocketing up after the Pinnacle King.

  Pentagon’s wings, now resembling nothing more than tattered flesh on bones, snapped out, trying to arrest her momentum, but as she did, Morgan appeared behind her. She whirled, letting out a pitiful squeal as she tried to mount a defense, only for Morgan to slam a massive, gauntleted fist into her head and blast her all the way back down through the multiple layers and chambers beneath the Ruined City.

  He teleported after her, using Maximum Increase, and lashed out with a powerful kick. Pentagon wheezed as she shattered all of the bones in her left arm and side, blowing dozens of buildings on the bottom floor to dust, using her body as a wrecking ball. He teleported after her, continually putting on the pressure and using her body as a weapon of mass destruction. Pentagon bounced through the city, her body smashing through stone, buildings and boulders as Morgan continued his assault.

  By this point, she could no longer defend herself and was simply using what little strength she had left just to stay alive. Morgan’s rage built as he fought, his fists shattering bone, pulping organs and tearing chunks of flesh from her body with each consecutive blow. He brought his hands together, slamming her down through multiple levels and creating yet another crater that was well over a hundred feet in circumference.

  Buildings on the surface began to fall, crumbling inward and sliding down. The entire city was shaking now, trembling on its weakened foundations, yet Morgan’s rage was not yet spent. He vanished, reappearing in the ancient underground city, just as Pentagon’s ruined form came smashed through the ceiling.

  Her body rocketed upward, her spine now shattered by Morgan’s powerful kick. She then blasted straight through the ceiling once again. He followed, the last traces of his Soulstream sputtering and dying as he did. A massive wave of exhaustion washed over him, trying to force him to slow down, to stop and crash right there on the spot. Yet his rage kept him awake, kept him moving. Remaining focused, enraged and above all else, determined, he appeared above the Ruined City once more.

  It was collapsing in on itself, his battle with the Pinnacle King finally bringing the ancient city to its end. Pentagon’s body smashed through to the surface again, bent at an odd angle and completely limp. He could still sense the life in her, though, and flashed before her.

  “Never again!” he roared.

  He brought his leg up and around, slamming it into her head and blasting her through the ground once more. This time, when she impacted with the ground, the hole that was blasted was nearly five hundred yards across.

  As a reaction, the city began falling apart. Buildings were sinking into the ground, creating giant dust clouds that billowed high in the air. The rumbling and cracking sounds were nearly deafening. Morgan followed, streaking after the Pinnacle King and managing to land just seconds before she did. His hand flashed out, snagging the beast by her neck.

  All around them, debris rained. Massive chunks of stone, some as large as buildings and some that were actual buildings, slammed into the ground near them.

  Morgan’s body hovered just a few feet off the ground, his grip on Pentagon’s neck assuring that she remained airborne as well. Both of her arms dangled by her sides and one of her eyes resembled nothing more than a bloody mess. The other eye was still wide open, glaring at him in hatred, even as the world around them seemed to be falling apart.

  “Die!” she hissed, her voice weak in his mind.

  Her tail, which was hanging limply at her back, flashed toward his neck, set on taking him down with her. Morgan caught it, his hand clamping around the appendage just inches away from his body.

  Pentagon growled and tried to force her tail closer, but she simply did not enough strength to do so. With a savage yell, Morgan heaved back, ripping the tail from the Pinnacle King’s body, while simultaneously throwing her to the ground. The beast roared as Morgan tossed her tail aside, and she tried to scramble back. Morgan would not allow her to leave, and stomped down hard on her chest, driving her back into the ground.

  For several long moments, the two stared at one another as the city crumbled around them. Then, much to Morgan’s surprise, Pentagon began to laugh, low, chuffing sounds coming from her ruined throat and chest as the city continued to fall.

  “It appears I have failed,” Pentagon said, her voice weak. “Not that it really matters. Beasts that have power the likes of which I could not have ever imagined are rising in the east. They are far from here, yet I know you will have to face them eventually.”

  Morgan didn’t say a thing. He stared down at the dying Pinnacle King with a mix of anger and, strangely enough, pity. These creatures, just like him, had never been given a choice in the decisions they made. They’d been created for a singular purpose. So, in the end, they were not to be despised, but rather, pitied. Despite that knowledge, Morgan still felt a distinct sense of satisfaction as the beast began to fade.

  “I should not ha
ve awoken,” Pentagon continued, chuckling to herself. “Yet the power of those beasts pulled me from my slumber, just as they will awaken my siblings. Defeating me can hardly be called a victory when the other Pinnacle Kings will soon rise to take my place.”

  Pentagon’s laugh was cut short as Morgan rammed his fist into her chest, his fingers curling around her core. His eyes, gleaming in the near darkness of the collapsing city, were now just inches from her own.

  “Let them come,” Morgan whispered, his voice hard as steel. “I will kill them all!”

  Then, he ripped his arm back, tearing the shining core from Pentagon’s chest and leaving the Pinnacle King to breathe her last breath. He looked down at her one last time, watching as the light faded from her eyes, then vanished, leaving Pentagon the Desiccator, Pinnacle King of Drought, to be buried under the collapsing ground of the Ruined City.

  Epilogue

  Morgan, the original Morgan, stood in the central living area where all of the gods were staying, his arms crossed as he stared around the table in grim determination. To his immediate left sat Gwendolyn, who was now fully recovered from her battle with his counterpart. Herald sat to his right, and he wore a grim expression as well. Sarah and Katherine were there, but they were sitting a bit further down. At the end of the table was an empty chair, which they’d been hoping Loquin would occupy. Unfortunately, she was still suffering from the adverse effects of breaking a rule and had had to be bound in Chaos’s chains to keep the side of the Author known as Order from destroying her outright.

  What they were here to discuss had little to do with her and everything to do with the man who’d been cloned from Morgan’s DNA.

  “Are you sure that that is the case?” he asked, addressing his question to Herald.

  “Without a doubt,” the man replied. “The elves have struck a bargain with the humans to end the war, and the dwarves and beastmen have gone along with it.”