Meta Gods War 3

by B N Miles

  Cam knew it was over. It was only a matter of time before they killed every last wolf. It was hard, exhausting work, and the men around him were drenched in sweat, grunting with anger, and looked ready to drop at any second. But they fought on in the hot sun, fought on because the fate of their entire world rested on their shoulders. If they gave up now, if their spears faltered when victory was in their grasp, all would be lost.

  They reached the midway point, and the tree line felt within reach. Cam thought he could hear Elvish singing coming from the woods. Their battle hymns floated over the wind in strange and looping cadences. It sent chills down his spine and made his resolve harden into steel.

  His hands gripped his father’s sword and he sent a prayer toward the heavens, where he hoped his father watched with pride in his heart.

  This was the end, what they’d worked so hard for.

  Just across the field, right at the edge of the trees, a blinding flash took him by surprise.

  Men let out grunts and groans and the army ground to a halt.

  “What in the hells was that?” Arter said.

  Cam blinked, trying to clear his vision. Something glowed as bright as the sun. It floated just above the field and began to rise higher into the sky.

  The light it gave off felt like a warm, gentle caress. Men began to lower their shields and spears. The wolves before them turned to stare up at the glowing orb, then they cowered downward, bowing their heads to the ground.

  Cam stared in horror as the glowing orb’s light dimmed and it resolved into a figure.

  A beautiful woman with long hair that curled around her like smoke appeared above them, wearing a gossamer gown that rolled off her perfect pale skin like mist. She spread her hands out wide.

  “Lycanica,” Cam said.

  ENOUGH, the goddess boomed. It sounded like her voice was stuck inside his skull. The men around him moaned, shouted, and some dropped to their knees.

  ENOUGH OF THIS MADNESS. ENOUGH OF YOU SWINE. ENOUGH OF MY CHILDREN’S BLOOD. THE DAYS OF STANDING ASIDE ARE OVER. I WILL NO LONGER BE IDLE. I WILL NO LONGER ALLOW MY CHILDREN TO BREAK AND DIE.

  Lightning crackled around the goddess and the sky dimmed. Clouds rumbled from nowhere in dark swirling patterns.

  “Hold!” Cam shouted. “Hold together. We’re almost there. We have to keep moving! Keep going!”

  But nobody listened. He stepped forward, out of line, and turned to face the men, to exhort them to kill every last wolf—

  The men stared into the sky with wide child-like eyes.

  Cam turned back to Lycanica, and he could have sworn she stared right down at him.

  BURN, her voice boomed. BURN FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE.

  And lightning burst from the heavens, smashing into the front line of men ten feet to Cam’s right, scattering blood and bodies like clay.

  38

  The wind picked up as flashes of lightning tore into the men around him. Bodies shattered and splintered. Blood splattered the earth. The smell of sizzling ash filled his nostrils as Cam let out a scream. The lightning struck wildly and in dizzying numbers, killing, slaughtering, destroying.

  The wolves remained prostrate before their goddess.

  Lycanica’s arms spread wide and mist streamed off her skin.

  Cam screamed at his men. “We have to move!” he yelled. “We have to go forward. Come on, damn you, come on.”

  He grabbed Arter and tried pulling the man forward. But Arter threw his hands up, his eyes wide with an insane mixture of horror and delight.

  None of them moved. They stood, dumbfounded, giddy, foolish, as lightning struck around them, killing them by the scores.

  Cam let loose a savage roar and turned to face Lycanica. He reached for his magic—

  And a lightning blast smashed into the ground before him, throwing him off his feet.

  The power felt like a hammer slamming into his knees. He landed on top of the men behind him in a heap. His head swam and he felt electricity tingle down his teeth. He pushed himself up and to his feet—

  When another bolt struck nearby. More bodies broke into ash.

  Screaming erupted as the army seemed to wake around him.

  The back lines broke and ran. He watched them scramble, but it was too late. More lightning struck, slaughtering any that tried to get away.

  The wings suffered just as badly. The heavy divisions were mangled, smoking messes. Cam’s mind screamed for Brice and Key. He clawed at the men around him, trying to shove his way through the mass of panicking people.

  Lightning slammed all around him. Another bolt threw him off his feet.

  He landed against a rock on the ground. His ears rang.

  BURN FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE, the goddess screamed. Her voice sounded giddy. BURN FOR THE SINS OF YOUR FATHER.

  Cam rolled to his side and pushed himself up. He wouldn’t give up. He wouldn’t lose Key, or Brice, or anyone else.

  He reached for the magic within him and found the ice Urspell Sirrin had taught him. He formed the ice into a thin, translucent, diamond-hard barrier and cast it around the army as far as he could. It shimmered into existence twenty feet above them.

  Lightning hammered against it.

  He felt every blow like a punch to the skull. But he kept pouring more power into the barrier. It cracked in places, but he filled those cracks as fast as he could.

  The lightning came faster, harder, a cacophony of strikes. The power was overwhelming, and it didn’t matter how much or how fast he channeled.

  The ice cracked around him.

  “No,” he yelled. “No, damn you.”

  YOUR MAGIC IS STRONG, the goddess said, staring down at him. BUT YOU ARE AN ANT TO ME, LITTLE HUMAN.

  “You can’t have the world,” Cam said. “I don’t care why you’re doing this. You can’t have it.”

  I TAKE WHAT I PLEASE, she boomed. I KILL WHAT I PLEASE. I REMAKE THE WORLD AS I SEE FIT. THAT WAS THE WAY OF THINGS ONCE, BACK WHEN YOUR FATHER WALKED THE LAND. AND NOW I RETURN TO THE OLD WAYS.

  “No,” Cam said. “There’s another way. There has to be—”

  Lightning cracked the sky and ripped his magic into pieces. Cam screamed as it shattered. The power reverberated through his mind like a struck gong, and he thought his skull might shatter into a million pieces. He dropped to one knee, groaning in pain, clutching at his head.

  But the lightning stopped.

  Slowly, Cam lifted his chin. Another figure floated in the sky, not far from Lycanica. He blinked, trying to clear his vision of the after-image, but the figure didn’t go away.

  She was tall and thin and wore a long green flowing dress that hung down beneath her feet. Her blond hair was braided and reached down to her lower back. Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent. Long pointed ears jutted out on both sides of her almond-shaped head. She looked like a willow compared to Lycanica.

  “Enough, sister,” the new figure said. Her voice echoed over the field, but it didn’t have the same horrible, booming quality. It was more like a windchime rustling on a tree branch.

  It took Cam a breath to realize it was Danua, goddess of the Elves.

  THIS DOES NOT CONCERN YOU, SISTER, Lycanica said.

  “My children are down there dying alongside the Humans,” Danua said. “We turned our backs to your little crusade, but you’ve gone too far.”

  SO MUCH HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM US, Lycanica said. AND YET YOU SIDE WITH HIM STILL. IT HAS BEEN EASY FOR YOU, HASN’T IT, SISTER? YOU, WHO MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN FROM DEATH.

  “Nothing’s been easy these millennia,” Danua said. “But we made our pact. Your war was bad enough, but this? This is too much. Release your children and leave this place, sister.”

  I AM FINISHED BOWING TO THE WILL OF OTHER GODS. Lycanica lifted her hands up above her head. I AM FINISHED LIVING UNDER THE YOKE OF HIM STILL, EVEN AFTER ALL THE LONG YEARS.

  “He’s gone, sister, and he’s not coming back. This won’t change anything. You can’t undo what h
e’s done.”

  BUT I CAN TAKE FROM HIM WHAT HE LOVED MOST. Lycanica brought her hands down, and lightning flashed from the sky again.

  Danua’s hands flew out to either side of her. The lightning slammed against a barrier barely five feet above the heads of the army. It rippled as the lightning struck it, but it didn’t break. Men ran back toward the baggage car, leaving the field, but Cam remained where he was, his eyes transfixed on the sky above him.

  “I will ask you one more time,” Danua said. “Leave here.”

  SISTER, YOU NEVER DID KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

  Lightning flashed again. But this time, it was one singular conflagration of power from hundreds of different points in the sky, all of them aimed at one single person.

  They converged on Danua, and the shockwave that followed the strikes knocked Cam back to the ground. The wolves fell flat on their sides and Cam’s men were thrown off their feet. Trees bent to the side; limbs snapped from their trunks. He heard screams and howls of fear. When he lifted his head and the sky cleared of light, he saw the wolves running back toward the tree line, fleeing the field at last.

  He slowly looked up. Danua’s hands were held high above her head, palms flat toward the sky, like she was holding up a roof. She brought her hands down and let them hang limp by her sides.

  “If that’s your wish, then,” she said.

  Then she flew forward so quickly, she became nothing more than a green blur as she slammed into Lycanica, and a deafening crack filled his ears.

  39

  The goddesses fought in a blur of bodies, energy, and magic. The field around them was ripped into pieces. Lightning smashed against the rocks. Fire scorched the earth.

  Cam shouted at the men to retreat.

  “You have to come too,” Arter said, grabbing Cam by the arm. “You have to come with us.”

  “No,” Cam said, pulling himself away. His eyes scanned the field. Both wings were retreating back toward their camp, running as fast as they could. The heavy divisions were slow, though, and couldn’t keep pace with the lighter infantry.

  He made his decision and began to sprint as fast as he could. Arter shouted something that was lost in the deafening roar of the fight above them.

  Cam stumbled as magic slammed into the ground around him. The earth shook and chunks of rock and soil broke off, floated into the air, then smashed back down. He used ice magic to smash through boulders and to keep lightning from breaking down onto his skull. He pulled men up and shoved them toward the camp, screamed at them all to flee as fast as they could.

  And he kept running, legs moving, eyes locked on the heavy infantry.

  He knew Key would be able to get away. She was surrounded by her men and was mobile enough to run. Her wing was already making a fast retreat, and he had to hope she was still among them. Miuri and Felin were safe on the ridge, out of range of the battle. He couldn’t do anything for them.

  But Brice was still in danger.

  The battle raged above him. The goddesses smashed against each other in lightning claps and bursts of energy that rained fire down onto the field below. He heard people scream, wolves howl, and trees burst into splinters and shards. Cam had to throw himself to the ground more than once as the earth exploded around him.

  The heavy infantry drew closer. They shed their armor as they ran, dropping it as fast as they could. Cam thought he could see Brice in their midst, her plumed helmet blowing in the unnatural wind.

  Green clashed with silver in the air as swirling black clouds rolled around them.

  Cam called on his power again as lightning ripped down around the heavy division. Men were roasted in their armor and fell to the ground smoking and groaning. He threw up a barrier of ice and held it as the division continued to run. He held off as much of the power as he could, but the energy sloughing off the two fighting goddesses was unlike anything he’d ever imagined.

  “Cam!” He turned and saw Brice standing nearby. Her gauntlets were off, half her breastplate hung from her chest.

  “Run!” he yelled, walking backwards, holding the magic in the air.

  “Not without you.” She stepped toward him.

  And lightning smashed into the ground near her, sending her tumbling along the ground like a leaf caught in the wind.

  “Brice!” Cam ran toward her, leaving his barrier in the air. His mind felt like it would tear into pieces. He ran to her limp body. She was jammed up against a jagged piece of rock jutting from the ground. He dropped to his knees and unbuckled her armor as fast as he could then pulled her helmet from her head.

  Her eyes were closed. Blood trickled from a wound in her head.

  “Brice,” he said. “Brice, damn it.” He reached down, touched her neck, and leaned his face near her mouth.

  She was breathing. Her heart was beating.

  He finished pulling her armor off, stripped her down to her tunic and trousers, then lifted her into his arms.

  Green and silver swirled, clashed, exploded above them.

  Cam turned and ran.

  His magic fell apart behind him, and he didn’t have the strength to call it back. He clutched at Brice and dodged over the broken earth. Ahead of him, the army pulled back as far as it could away from the fighting goddesses. Cam nearly stumbled and fell more than once. He ripped up his knees and shoulders and arms on jagged rocks, but he kept Brice pressed tightly against him, her arms wrapped around his neck. She stirred and seemed to hold on as he kept going, his breath coming ragged, his chest and arms and body burning, his mind twisted with Need.

  But nothing could stop him, not with Brice in his arms.

  The further he got from the fighting goddesses, the calmer the landscape became. Fewer rocks fell, fewer lightning strikes sent shards of earth careening through the air. Cam caught up with Brice’s division as they filed past the camp’s trenches and took shelter beneath the trees and the tents.

  “We can take her, shaman,” one of the armored men said.

  But Cam waved them off. He shouldered through the throngs, limping forward, sweat pouring from his body. He felt like he might collapse at any moment as more and more men streamed in around him. The camp was in a panic, and he noticed more than a few men packing their tents and shoving their belongings into bags.

  He knew he had to do something to stop the army from dissolving. But the thunder claps of the two goddesses kept booming through the air and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Brice’s chest rose and fell in steady rhythms and her eyes fluttered open several times, but she only groaned and pressed herself tighter against Cam’s chest.

  The rise overlooking the camp and the battlefield jutted out ahead of him. He stomped forward, jaw clenched, determined. He made it halfway before he heard someone shout his name. He turned to find Arter coming toward him with Key just behind.

  Relief flooded over him so hard he dropped to one knee. Key ran forward past Arter and supported Cam’s arm, taking some of Brice’s weight.

  “Is she okay?” Key asked. “Are you hurt?”

  “I don’t know,” Cam said, his head spinning. “I mean, I’m not hurt. But she might be.”

  “I’ll take her,” Arter said. “There’s a man in your guard that can help. He was a doctor, back before this all happened.”

  Cam stared up at Arter. He didn’t want to let Brice go.

  But Key’s fingers gently pried his arms back.

  “Let her go,” Key said softly. “You saved her. You got her this far. Let Arter take her.”

  Cam grunted and let Key gently move Brice away from him. Arter stepped forward and took Brice into his arms. He turned and waded back into the mass of men.

  Cam stayed on his knees, hands on his thighs, breathing hard. Sweat dripped from his brow.

  Key kneeled in front of him and threw her arms around his neck. She was covered in her own sweat and blood. Cam touched her face and brushed her matted hair back from her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I�
�m fine,” she said. “As soon as Lycanica started throwing lightning, we began to retreat. We got halfway back toward the camp before Danua intervened.”

  “Fuck,” Cam said. “Danua. Lycanica. Those are… those are goddesses fighting in the air.” A particularly loud percussive boom rocked the camp. Tents bent sideways and men covered their heads.

  Cam gritted his teeth.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Key said. “If they keep going like that—”

  “Can a goddess even die?” Cam asked. “I don’t know how either one can win.”

  “We can’t stay,” Key said. “We need to retreat.”

  “I think they’re already retreating,” Cam said, pointing at the chaos. “Look at them. I don’t think we can get them under control.”

  “Where are the others, then?” Key asked. “Miuri and Felin. Where are they?”

  “Last I saw, they were up there.” Cam pointed back toward the slope. “I left them with the flag bearers.”

  “Come on.” Key took his hand and helped him up. “I know you’re suffering. But we need to find them first.”

  Cam grunted and let Key lead him forward, up the slope, toward where the flags still fluttered in the air.

  40

  Key led the way and Cam struggled to keep up. He felt like every muscle in his body was snapped and sore. His bones ached and his head spun from the Need. He wanted to claw his own eyes out just to make the noise in his skull stop screaming, at least for a little while.

  But the thought of Felin and Miuri kept him going.

  They reached the midway point. Cam could see some of the flag bearers still standing in a loose clump, the flags billowing in the wind, some already blown away and scattered toward the field. The drums were abandoned and silent.

  “Look,” Key said, half turning back to him. “By that tree over there.”

  Cam followed her gaze and felt a flush of emotion. Felin and Miuri stood beneath it, their hands intertwined, their faces turned up to the sky. They stood close together and Cam could almost feel the tension in their bodies, even at a distance. But their hands remained together.