by Skyler Grant
“Okay. So you’re going to unleash a terrible danger on the world, because Liam doesn’t want to give up this throne?” Gina asked.
It sounded bad when she put it like that. I didn’t have a counter though. That was basically the situation.
“I guess, but he is a scary, bad guy,” I said.
“Seriously, I doubt he is as bad,” Gina said, staring me down. “But your insane level of selfishness aside, let me just give you a better option. Me.”
“You’re going to use this as a pitch to get us to wish? Are you kidding?” I asked.
“I mean, you are about to unleash a long-sealed ancient evil. Am I really the worse option here? Wish for me to take care of that army. Wish to keep your throne, no matter what happens, if that is how you roll. Whatever the case, it’s going to be better for the world at large than opening that door.”
“She’s making sense,” Walt said.
“I thought you hated the whole idea of wishing and using the lamp?” I said, spinning to face him.
“I do. It is insanely risky and dangerous, and she is likely going to find a way to kill us, if we do it,” Walt said, with an unhappy frown at Gina. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t our best option.”
Gina smiled widely. “So what do you say? I can do big and I can do small. Perhaps the undead will never rise again. Perhaps this guy in charge of the army is now insanely loyal to you.”
“Ashley?” I asked.
Ashley was staring at Walt intently. I asked again and her attention snapped back to me. “Sorry, I was just thinking what happened next. You are the Chosen of Yvera, I’m the Chosen of Atlantia. You know what’s going to happen, if we open up that door.”
“I’d become the Chosen of Mela,” Walt said.
“And all that stuff we saw in your head would be in her head. How much do you know? I mean, I know you have memories of the others, but how extensive are they?” Ashley asked.
“I repaired those pods on my own. I did some programming of the nanomachines. I could, with proper equipment and supplies, build an atomic weapon,” Walt said quietly. “She’d have all of that.”
I didn’t like Walt having that. I liked even less the thought of a stranger renowned for her world destroying ways having it, too.
“Yvera,” I said. “I think we should talk this over and do so outside my head.”
A swirl of flames and there she was, as flawless as ever, staring at the door to the prison.
“I’m here. I’m listening. I know you have your reservations, but you still need to open that door,” Yvera said.
“Why? What has anyone said that is wrong?”
“Because I need to win, Liam. Because it is about more than this world, it is about that one. Until Atlantia joined my pantheon I had not even thought of gaining support on that side from here, but the aid has been enormous,” Yvera said, turning back to face our group as a whole. “I refuse to lose again.”
I knew her. I knew her mind in an intimate way, sharing a part of it. I didn’t have to ask questions like was she willing to risk the entire world for the sake of her victory. Of course she was. She wouldn’t lose again, she wouldn’t go back to her cage. I also knew that I was hers, absolutely and completely. I didn’t like this choice, but I knew I’d find a way to make it work. I had to.
“We open the doors,” I said.
“Like hell,” Ashley said disbelievingly, “Haven’t you listened to a word that’s been said? Gina, I wish…”
I felt time slow around me at those words. Yvera’s doing, I was sure. She was giving me the time needed to do her will. I raised my hand to the doors and focused. The gear upon my hand glowed a blinding white and then vanished, appearing imposed on the door instead. The drawings of gears began to move and turn, and with a grinding hiss the doors cracked open.
“Fuck!” Ashley said.
Gina looked frustrated, “Oh, the thousand ways I wish I could realistically interpret that as a wish. Would you care to rephrase that as “fuck me”? I can do wonders with a fuck me. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it. For a while.”
Creepy Djinni was creepy.
The doors continued to spread open and beyond they revealed a blazing inferno. I squinted at the blast of heat, the fires going nonstop.
“Huh,” Yvera said, stepping forward.
“Nice to hear you so confident about what we find,” I said.
“Divine magic, but not mine. Not hers either, given it’s fire. Which makes sense since she is aligned with metal—fire would be what you would want to contain her,” Yvera said, as she reached a hand into the flames. They flickered for a moment and then died away.
“That was simple,” Yvera said.
Right before a massive mechanical dog with buzz saws for teeth bounded out of the doorway and attempted to take a bite out of her midsection.
Yvera vanished in a burst of flame. Great. Glad she could stick around and help. I analyzed the hound.
Gizmo the Guardian Hound
Level 45: Type: Construct HP: 20,000/20,000
Legendary
Gizmo is the faithful companion of Mela and the first hybrid creation she ever made. Once a living canine companion Gizmo was gravely injured in the taking of Moros, and Mela saved his life by adding mechanical components. Over the centuries Gizmo would become more and more machine yet deep within a still living heart beats.
We were outclassed a little. Gizmo bounded forward and let loose a savage growl that made the air tremble.
Terrifying Roar
Walt screamed in terror and ran away, racing over the dunes. That was new. It must be some kind of mental debuff although both I and Ashley seemed to have resisted it. Perhaps it was intellect-based—could we be too stupid to be scared?
Behind Gizmo a woman stepped out. She had dark hair and wore a pink dress short enough that even under the circumstances I spent a moment admiring her legs. They seemed to be part-machine, as were her arms. The Goddess Mela, I assumed. She was staring intently at the sky. Scraps of metal began to hover in the air around her and swirl into a vortex.
“We seem to have lost Walt,” I said to Ashley. “Ideas?”
“To stealth and let you deal with the mess you created yourself? What the fuck did you think was going to happen, Liam?” Ashley said, staring at Gizmo and frowning. “Three of us couldn’t take that thing and two of us sure can’t.”
“Maybe Gina wants to help?” I asked, directing the question towards the Djinni.
“More of a cat girl,” Gina said. “Though if you want to make a wish, go right ahead. Do it fast though, things are starting to get outside of even my power level.”
Fantastic. Fire magic would be particularly effective against metal-aligned creatures. I could hurt the dog, but given the level differences I still wouldn’t do more than annoy it. As for the Goddess, that was more of a Yvera situation. I didn’t see where we had any other options but my fire magic right now.
“Hey guys,” Walt said, running back and panting a bit. “That was weird.”
“I can hit that dog with a few Smite spells, if you can hit it with fire,” I said to Walt. “Maybe between us we can actually do something.”
I felt myself rising into the air, turned upside down and shaken about violently. Walt and Ashley reached out to steady me. Ashley’s daggers lifted from their sheaths and flew away. Right, metal. Chainmail may not have been the best thing to wear.
The metal fragments in the air around Mela arranged themselves into an arcane sigil which glowed a brilliant pink. A beam of light emerged vanishing into the heavens.
The magnetic pull upon me faded and I crashed with a resounding thud face-first into the sand.
“Oof,” I said, or at least something to that effect, the wind knocked out of me.
“I’ll thank you not to try catching Gizmo on fire,” Mela said, striding forward. “I am inclined not to murder you given that you released me, and I would like to know the reason why.”
“Social situation, Liam
,” Ashley said. “Do get up and make friends, or try to seduce her or something.”
“Having just spent many centuries in prison I promise you seduction is hardly necessary,” Mela said. “I’ll quite cheerfully drag any or all of you in for a shag right now.”
That’s an offer I’d be all in favor for—under other circumstances.
With the dog seeming less threatening Yvera poofed back into being. Mela tossed her a wary look.
“You I don’t know, but I should,” Mela said.
“I’m friendly,” Yvera said. “I’m the new fire goddess and the reason you’re out of that pit. Liam, you two should go get it on.”
“Pardon me?” I said.
“She just got out of prison. I get it. I so get it. I may have the irritating tendency of burning my partners alive, but she doesn’t. Besides, this whole negotiation will be easier if she’s in a good mood,” Yvera said.
“Standing right here and hearing every word,” Mela said, and then glanced at me speculatively and shrugged. “Though I meant every word. Business later, then.”
Mela wandered back through the door making a motion to follow.
“You people are weird,” Gina said.
“You’re one to talk,” Ashley said.
My life was very complicated.
Still, I was who I was. It wasn’t like I was not going to walk through that door.
*****
It was a few hours later that we made our way back and I was considerably more sore for the experience. However much I may have wanted to I’d not actually slept with a Goddess before. She smelled faintly of oil and iron, and so far as I could determine was completely tireless. I got the impression that she might have gone for centuries without pause, but my body faded much faster.
When we emerged night had fallen. Ashley and Walt had a fire going. Yvera was a source of light all on her own as flames flickered around her and she stared up towards the sky.
“Took you long enough,” Ashley said.
“Better than not long enough,” I said. Seriously. What did they want from me?
“So, what did you do?” Yvera asked. She wasn’t usually one to ask for details. She was in my head at all times anyways.
“Well, she does have a bed in there. It’s kind of in one corner of this giant workshop, but it’s nice,” I said.
“She is talking to me,” Mela said with a chuckle, moving closer to Yvera and casting her gaze towards the sky as well.
I looked that way. I hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a bright star that was new. I’d become familiar with the night sky during our travels in the desert.
“What needed to be done. I reached into the sky and I found justice. Even now I’ve called a great meteor which moves towards this world to purge those who locked me away,” Mela said.
That was alarming.
“And you’re just telling us now?” Walt said. “How destructive will it be?”
“Quite,” Mela said, sounding very pleased with herself. “The Queens of White and Black shall perish and their lands laid to ruin. All of you will die, I apologize for that.”
“How long do we have?” I asked.
Yvera was staring at the sky and her lips pursed. “I don’t have enough information. My influence does not extend that far. Walt, be useful and open a portal.”
“I’m not Lea,” Walt said. “You know I’m not that good at scrying.”
“I don’t expect you to be competent,” Yvera said briskly. “Just basically functional. Get me a scry portal close to that, so I can get an idea what we’re dealing with.”
Walt muttered unhappily and waved his hands through the air. A portal flickered into existence. He really wasn’t Lea, she would have managed to focus it almost at once, but this time it took several minutes. The star in the heavens had grown alarmingly brighter by then. Things would grow even more terrifying yet when that portal snapped into being and we got a look at what was on the other side.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Walt’s portal shifted from one part of the sky to another. Stars, stars, and more stars. When he finally focused upon the bright one, the view zoomed in. Mela had said it was a meteor she’d summoned, but she was wrong.
A faint corona of blue energy surrounded a starship that seemed to be sporting an absurd number of guns. An emblem I couldn’t recognize was painted near the stern.
“That doesn’t seem to belong,” I said.
“It doesn’t,” Walt said, straining to hold the magic. “That is the UFC Hyperion, pride of the fleet and home to the deadliest crew in Symspace.”
“He’s right,” Yvera said, and the flames around her flickered with greater intensity. “I’m picking up on connections. That is a full ship and it is almost completely crewed by PCs.”
“How many?” I asked.
“Crew compliment of three thousand two hundred and fifty-seven,” Walt said.
“How does that work? Are they in the Crucible Shard?” Ashley asked.
“They’re picking it up on their sensors at least, which means my siblings are aware,” Yvera said. “Mela, can you stop this?”
“No,” Mela said. “I wouldn’t even if I could, but at this point it is too late. I could slow it down. That is a great machine. Explain what is going on.”
“We don’t have the time,” Yvera said as she began to pace. She was growing so agitated and her flames so heated that glass was forming beneath her feet. “They’ll make an atmospheric entry. I can heighten the heat on their shields and that will rip most of them away.”
“You’re going to kill everyone on board?” I asked.
Yvera gave an angry shrug. “It doesn’t matter. They are not connected as you are connected. They will bounce back and their connections will be severed, and hopefully stay that way.”
Mela was taking all this in with a rapt sort of attention, “You are part-machine. You and Liam, both parts of a growing hybrid. The girl is one as well.”
“Mela, we don’t have time for this. Walt there has a head filled with otherworldly technological designs and access to the world that sent that ship. Agree to serve me and I’ll see it happen,” Yvera said, all but hissing the words.
“Deal,” Mela said. Yvera was speaking her language.
“Why would I possibly agree to this?” Walt asked.
“I’m hot?” Mela said.
“I’m so not interested.”
“Mela here is a Goddess of crafting. Imagine how that is going to translate in our world, what she will be capable of and what you’ll be capable of, because she is a part of you,” Yvera said as she spun to face Walt. “You are a part of a pathetic and weak order that has been dying for centuries. You want to actually matter again, you let her into your head.”
In a way it was nice to see someone else getting beat up on. So often I seemed to be on the receiving end from pretty much everybody.
Walt looked like he might storm off for a moment, but finally nodded. “Fine. Not that it matters if we can’t survive.”
“We’ll shelter in Mela’s prison,” Yvera said. “You don’t build a prison for a Goddess out of weak materials. I can boost the flame wards surrounding it. It may be enough.”
Yvera snapped her fingers and a familiar-looking book appeared in Mela’s hands. I’d first seen it in the depths of Castle Sardonis after passing through a gate there. The book contained the secrets of the nanotechnology that was keeping us in the game.
Mela flipped through the text, looking rather pleased, and grabbed Walt by the hand to drag him off through the doorway. She was in a hurry, I got that—wow, did I understand what it was like to be on the other side of that.
“Can you stop it?” Yvera asked, looking towards Gina.
Gina stared towards the sky speculatively for several long moments and said, “You have no idea how much I wish I could say yes. That would be one hell of a wish. It’s too much though. No matter what any of us do, that thing is going to come down.”
“Eve
n if you team up?” I asked.
“We each work different ways,” Gina said. “Mela attracted that thing here and she could push it back, but it has picked up speed since then. It’s too much for her now. Your Goddess can try to melt the thing to scrap, which doesn’t slow it down. I can try to make it not be there at all, but that is pushing on it in a completely different way.”
That made sense. I thought of Liara, I knew that thing was aimed straight at her. It was she that had locked up Mela, it was she that Mela wanted to kill.
“Can you save the people in the palace and the city?” I asked.
Gina tilted her head. “You’ve got a thing for her, don’t you? The Queen. I hear it in your voice.”
“I do,” I said. Yvera shot me a worried look.
“It’s nothing you need to be jealous of,” I said. I didn’t even know which of them I was talking to. I really needed to stop making things so complicated.
“I can’t save her,” Gina said. “Or anyone in the palace. The wards are too powerful. That might save them. The Queens endure, Mela isn’t the first Goddess to try to kill them. Everyone else is certain to die though. If you’d care to chance a wish, I can save them.”
Did I? I really wasn’t one for selfless gestures. I didn’t think I was. I wasn’t a good guy, a good guy wouldn’t even question doing everything he could to help those people no matter the cost. I wasn’t a bad guy either though. A truly bad guy wouldn’t have even asked the question.
I glanced towards Yvera, but she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts as she paced. For some distance around her now was glass from melting the sand to such a degree.
“Do it,” I said to Gina. “Save them.”
“Care to fancy that up a little and try to save your ass?” Gina asked. Maybe she did care, at least a little.
I met her gaze and sighed. “Gina. I’m not smart enough to make it foolproof and I’m just smart enough to know that. Save those people you can. I know there will be a cost, I’ll pay it. I so wish.”