She stood, gripping her daggers until her knuckles went white. She caught sight of something and her expression softened. “We have to tell him. Nikulo doesn’t know.”
Talis pushed himself up and caught Nikulo’s concerned gaze. He looked to Jorem. “Can you cast the flying spell over Nikulo? These are our friends.”
Soon Nikulo floated up to them, his eyes narrowed and tense. “What is it? What’s happened?”
He grimaced when he spotted Rikar and Devonia’s bodies. “Oh, no. No… It can’t be. Not like this. Are they dead?”
Talis nodded and Nikulo stumbled over to Rikar’s body, a tear falling down his cheek. “After all this time? After all the insanity and shit you went through? You have to die now? I don’t believe it…”
Nikulo’s face reddened. He clenched his fists and fell to his knees, pounding the floor.
Below, the creature raged with Nikulo’s anger, smashing the burned bodies of the priests and citizens. The giant beast flung broken chunks of stone and grabbed dead bodies, tossing them at the buildings. It seized anything it could get its hands on.
“You might want to get ahold of that creature,” said Crar, glancing at Nikulo.
“Go to hell,” retorted Nikulo, aiming a fist at the old master. “Rikar was my friend. This shitty war cost him his life. If you’re so concerned about that stupid beast then kill it or you control it. I’m done. Rikar and Devonia didn’t deserve to die. He made amends. Why in the name of the gods did he have to die? I’m serious. Do the gods love tormenting mortals? Where are they when we need them!”
Nikulo had shouted the last words and they echoed across the broken buildings.
Lightning flashed and the sky went dark and stormy, thick clouds bunching together. Thunder boomed and roared. Drops of rain struck Nikulo’s face as he looked up, his eyes laughing and mad.
“Now you listen? Are you going to strike me dead like you did to Master Viridian?”
A ghastly face formed in the clouds, moving and searching the land below.
Talis could feel the power of the gods. His heart thumped in his chest. He heard the hissing of their words in his mind. Nikulo covered his ears and winced. He was hearing it too.
We gave your friend a lasting peace, a swift journey to the Fair Seas. He rests, with the girl and with his father. His time had come. The voice was haunting and melodic. Chills ran down Talis’ spine.
He looked at Rikar and Devonia and saw a brilliant glow of golden light illuminate them from inside. The light raged, blinding, so strong Talis had to look away.
When the light disappeared, he turned back and felt his heart race.
Rikar and Devonia were gone. Nothing of their bodies were left. Only a warm wind blew down from the settling sky. Where there had once been storm was now sunshine.
But no longer a gray sun. No longer a drab, gray world.
Golden brilliance shone from the star. Color flooded the world. Crar and Jorem turned toward the sun and gaped, marveling at the change. The world had been utterly transformed.
In the sky appeared glittering golden particles. The particles swirled and came together. A figure, feminine and bold, spun and twirled in the sky. Talis knew it at once.
The Goddess Nacrea was here. She had come to grace this dark, gray world with light.
The old black stain wouldn’t last. But it didn’t mean that the darkness wouldn’t fight back.
From somewhere deep within the building came a massive explosion and the whining sound of fireballs tearing through the air. Mara turned and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the sounds. Her face looked furious and determined.
She gripped her daggers and stalked into the building.
31. The Twins
Smoke poured into the brutalized room. Talis chased after Mara, passing scattered books, broken vases, chairs, and overturned tables. The wall had a burned hole as if it had been hit by a flame spell. He stopped and looked down. A dead soldier lay on the ground, eyes blackened. The man’s mouth hung open, tongue hanging out.
Horrified, Talis turned away and realized Mara had already left the room. Crar and Jorem seemed amused as they looked around, their expressions unhurried. Talis pushed on down another long corridor, heart racing as he heard a scream ahead and more thunderous booms.
Was that Mara’s voice? After losing Rikar and Devonia, he didn’t think he could survive if anything happened to Mara. He jogged ahead, his senses raging and alert.
Another scream. A feminine voice.
Please, gods, don’t let it be her.
His mouth felt dry and tasted sour as he stormed out of the corridor and looked over a massive inner courtyard with several combatants fighting each other.
What kind of spell was Caisa casting? Her hands spun webs of dark magic around the priests of Yavreel. It seemed like whatever she was doing was working.
One of her priests, a young talented sorceress, stood next to her summoning shadow beings to life. The shadow creatures formed into warriors wielding black swords that oozed green putrescent waves. A scream of power leapt from the woman’s mouth as she commanded the shadow warriors to attack around ten priests of Yavreel facing them. Snake-headed cords of dark energy burst out to meet the warriors, but the shadow creatures were faster, slicing cord after cord until nothing of the enemy’s attack was left.
Mara appeared suddenly and stabbed an alien priest attempting to cast a spell. The fish-skinned fiend arched its back in pain as the daggers plunged into its sides. Several other priests turned to face the new threat, but the shadow warriors sliced into them, lopping off ugly heads, blood gushing up from torsos.
Crar and Jorem joined in next. Spells fired off, causing alien priests to explode from within. Soon all the enemy priests were slain.
Talis glanced around, surveying the remnants of the battle. Where was Charna? He couldn’t find any sight of the lynx.
Caisa strode forward and spat on the headless body of an enemy priest.
“So much for their overwhelming power and knowledge.” She turned and eyed Crar and Jorem with suspicion. “You’re not one of them, are you? But you feel familiar. You feel very old. As old as I am, perhaps.”
“We are older than you. Aren’t you the mad fool called the Nameless?” Crar snarled at her. “What are you doing out of your prison? That was meant to keep you sealed away for all eternity.”
The Nameless raised an eyebrow, studying Crar. “You recognize me? That’s only possible if you are one of the old masters.”
“We are, indeed.”
“So you’ve come now to attempt to put me back into my cell?” Caisa shook her head, expression amused. “Good luck. I’ll never lose my freedom again.”
“It matters not to us,” said Jorem, giving Caisa an indifferent shrug. “We’ve experienced a thousand years of imprisonment and know what a torture confinement is. And now, we’ve found freedom thanks to these adorably awful children. We know death is far more appealing than the horrors of a jail. It would bring us the greatest pleasure to ensure you enjoyed death as the final option. Count on us.”
Crar and Jorem raised their hands together in unison. Their eyes were cold and murderous as they fixed their gaze on the Nameless.
“Have you finally found a way out of the catacombs?” A new voice came from within the shadows of an alcove. This voice was sonorous and shrewd. “I dearly hoped your confinement would never end. Tsk, tsk. I do hate dealing with competition.”
“Veralia? Could that really be you?” Jorem narrowed his eyes in the direction of the voice. “Show yourself. It has been too long since I’ve had the pleasure of admiring your fine figure. Though after a thousand years, I imagine things have sagged a bit.”
“Dirty old Master Jorem. How horrible it is to hear you speak once again. Even the alien voice of the body you’ve inhabited can’t mask the taint of your endless sarcasm. I was going to wait for you to obliterate the old crazy Nameless, but I couldn’t resist bantering with you fools. And I see you’ve
brought children to do your petty work?”
“Still the same old Veralia,” sighed Crar. “I should have known it was a lie that all the old masters had been killed. I’m guessing you were behind all the religious uprisings against the old corrupt rulers? Killed them all so you could secure power? A brilliant move, I’d say.”
A figure cloaked in scarlet slipped out from the shadows. She was beautiful, thought Talis, with velvety black hair that fell below her shoulders. Piercing blue eyes gazed down at them as she placed slender fingers on a railing. Her thin lips parted to speak.
“What I wanted to know was how did you bring color to the sun?” Her voice was filled with incredulity. “Has the Origin World ever held color I wonder? Our legends say the gray world was made gray by the birth of the gray sun. All life originated from this place in the universe and spread out through the stars. But here I stand on this monumentous day and witness the world filled with color and the sun bright and golden. How did it happen? Not through any magic that I know of.”
“Don’t look at us,” said Jorem. “The boy here cried to his gods at the loss of his friends. It’s the strangest thing.”
Veralia turned to study Nikulo, her expression doubtful. “I would say I was impressed by the boy, but I’m not. I’m inclined to believe that a mortal such as this boy fails to possess such power. Though perhaps the strange children might have the eye of their gods watching them.”
“Never underestimate a flabby, flatulent boy,” said Nikulo. “We’re not so hopeless as you might think.”
Charna gave a low growl, appearing from the shadows. She looked around and hopped up onto a stone statue of what seemed like a fertility goddess. Its breasts were full and belly was round. The eyes were slits and the mouth laughed. A golden glow surrounded the lynx as she peered at Veralia. The cat looked at the woman as if staring at prey.
“Look here, now. Who has invited you to this party, little magical one?” Veralia chuckled as she considered the cat. “I’m not a tasty rabbit, you stupid creature. Why are you looking at me like that? I’ll zap you and turn you into a fat, ugly Dorellian Toad.”
The Nameless seemed concerned by all the banter and the arrival of the old master. She kept her hands raised, aiming them at Veralia, then back to Jorem and Crar.
“She’s a gift from the Goddess Nacrea.” Talis caught Veralia’s attention. “And I don’t think you’ll be doing any kind of zapping. You don’t threaten to kill a gift from the gods without striking the ire of said gods.”
The sky rumbled in agreement and the glow around Charna intensified. The lynx hissed at Veralia and gave a low, menacing yowl. The air crackled with electricity, causing her hackles to rise.
“That’s our Veralia. Always making friends and appealing to people’s positive side.” Jorem shook his head. “Who do we kill first, the witch Caisa or the witch Veralia? The Origin World is not big enough for us to share.”
“My bet is on the lynx,” said Crar. “It looks like it wants to devour Veralia.”
Charna pounced over to the balcony near where Veralia stood. The witch looked amused at the lynx’s advance. But the thunder came closer and lightning flared up in the still sunny sky.
Golden particles appeared in the air, coalescing.
Could it be her again?
Talis spotted a feminine shape appearing in the sky. The figure descended toward Charna.
He cast a living shield spell around the lynx but the spell failed to take hold. Charna turned back briefly to study him, then returned her gaze to Veralia. He wondered why the lynx was so fixated on the witch. Charna had had negative responses to the Nameless and Aurellia, but never this bad.
“I see who you are now,” said Veralia, her voice menacing and cruel. “My old nemesis of the light. Have you come back to torment me after ten thousand years of darkness? Have you grown strong enough to face the power that once brought you to your knees? You fled from this world in fear and terror. I suppose mere mortals would call you a Goddess. But I would call you a fool for returning.”
“You know nothing, sister,” a feminine voice said, calling out from the whirling storm of golden particles.
The outline of the Goddess Nacrea descended. Talis’ pulse went wild as her golden eyes glanced at him. Her mouth formed a hint of a smile that vanished as she turned her gaze back to the priestess. But Talis looked back and forth between the Goddess Nacrea and Veralia and gaped in amazement. They were truly twins. Though Nacrea had flaxen hair and Veralia long, silky hair the color of night, their faces were the same.
Veralia seemed amused by the sudden appearance of her twin. “Back so soon, sister? It has been ages since you’ve set foot on this world. You were a fading goddess made weak by the lack of people who believed in you. You who were once so powerful are now ignored by an entire world. We caused the citizens here to forget about you. We erased your history.”
“And yet I’ve brought back the light.” The Goddess Nacrea raised a finger to point at the golden sun. “The age of darkness is over. Now you will wither and die like the vine drying up at the end of the season. The people, once they lay eyes on the sun, will worship me and forget about you. The Goddess of Darkness? Or the other name, the masculine form, Yavreel. Do you really think when given a choice of worshipping light, wonderful, nourishing light, they will choose the cold, lifeless form of darkness?”
The Goddess Nacrea laughed and twisted around, dancing in circles as her golden light magnified. Talis found a broad smile coming to his face as his hands rose in adulation. Mara joined him, along with Nikulo, and the fervor in their eyes mirrored his own feelings. The golden light around Charna rose to a feverish pitch, causing Crar and Jorem to shield their eyes. Worry spread across their faces.
Veralia spat on the floor in front of the lynx. “The light in the universe always struggles against the power of darkness. The framework that holds up the universe is dark energy. Light flares up for a time then is snuffed out as the energy wanes. As all suns are born, they mature, and die, turning into black holes of energy. This is where our power comes from. A power you can never vanquish. But let’s see you try. Let’s see how much power you have stored up over the last ten thousand years.”
“I was punished by you,” said the Nameless. She strode over and positioned herself where she could get a good look at Veralia. “Because of my worship of both the light and the darkness. I was considered a heretic. It was said I was consumed by madness. Because of my belief in the balance of the twin universal forces. In a way, I separated myself from the love and nurture of both gods.”
Caisa cast her gaze at both the Goddess Veralia and the Goddess Nacrea. “Where there was too much light, we brought darkness. And in the darkness we shone the brilliance of day. Now once again we are faced with a choice.”
“The choice to live or to die,” said Jorem, and he scowled at Caisa. “Today you will die for your madness and for forcing these younglings to leave their homes.”
“They were sworn to Lord Aurellia and he was sworn to me. They had a duty to join me.” The Nameless whirled around, searching. “Where is he? Where is Aurellia?”
“Who is this person you are talking about?” Veralia scoffed. “I know my faithful priests slew one who called himself the lord of darkness. Their snakes consumed the lord of ash. I could taste his anger and his inner fire. But alas, he is no more.”
She cast an irritated look at Caisa. “And who are you to call yourself a goddess? You are nothing but a peer of these petty immortals. The old masters, they call you. Yes, you are old, at least to mortal standards. But to a true goddess, you are nothing. Nothing but a blasphemer. Mark my words, I will forever silence your wretched voice.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” said an ephemeral but familiar voice.
Out of a dark, hazy mist, a shadowy form coalesced into Lord Aurellia’s figure. “Your pathetic minions did kill my apprentice and his friend, but they lacked the power to kill me. In case you were wondering where your elder
priests are, they are in hell. Their souls are being feasted on by the twin guardians of the Underworld. Two of your most powerful priests slain by a devious trick. I let them consume me, then my energy, like a disease, consumed them.”
The Goddess Veralia laughed, a deep, rumbling laughter that shook the ground. The quake was so strong Talis struggled to keep from falling over. “How interesting to hear this from an immortal who calls himself the Lord of Darkness. Do you not worship me and all my godly forms? If you worship the darkness then you must bow down to me. Who are you to issue a command to your goddess?”
“I do not only worship the dark. The wisdom of years and experience causes me to also worship the light. The Nameless and I are of a similar mind on this matter.” Aurellia cast a glance at Talis, nodding. “And I suspect my apprentice also shares my observations.”
A cold wave of logic hit Talis, cooling his former adoration of the Goddess Nacrea. He looked between both gods and realized what Aurellia said was true. Why couldn’t they worship both gods? Why was there a never-ending enmity between the light and the darkness?
The Goddess Veralia glowered at the Goddess Nacrea with such ferocity and venom that it chilled Talis to the bone. But the Goddess Nacrea only returned her stare with an amused expression of cruel and playful indifference. Both gods looked petty and childish at that moment. They were merely feuding sisters.
“It took thousands of years of isolation for me to realize the truth,” said the Nameless. “I was angry for the first thousand years. I turned to darkness and dwelled on the mysteries of Yavreel, going deeper into the blackest night. Perhaps I had been wrong, I thought, but eventually I tired of such dark thoughts.
“I turned back to the light. We call the God of Light Yuneen. The words are forbidden to be spoken on the Origin World, if you can believe it. Under the blessings of Yuneen, my mind was filled with ecstasy and kindness, all the wonderful attributes of the light. I saw visions of light exploding across the universe. The birth of the stars. Memories of sunlight shining off enraptured faces came to me. I was filled with bliss.”
Origin Mage Page 21