by Clayton Wood
“Good idea,” he conceded. He reached in to give Kyle a hug, then stopped himself, clearly not wanting to mess up Kyle's mud. “You're going to make one hell of a Runic,” he murmured.
“I'll go with you,” a voice stated. Kyle turned to see Ariana standing there, her hands on her hips. She faced Kalibar defiantly. “I can sense that thing's thoughts,” she explained. “I'll be able to anticipate its next moves and protect Kyle.”
“Ariana...”
“I'm going,” Ariana interrupted, her tone final. “Kyle needs me.” She walked up beside Kyle. “Come on,” she urged.
“Cover yourself with mud first,” Kyle stated. Ariana nodded, doing so with remarkable quickness...far faster than a mere mortal could have. Then she climbed on Kyle's back. Kalibar sighed.
“Good luck,” he stated. He took a deep breath in, then let it out. “I love you both,” he added. His lower lip quivered slightly, and he turned away, facing Urson and clearing his throat. “Urson, I need you to create a diversion.”
“Tell me what to do,” Urson replied.
“After Kyle gets airborne, get the Behemoth's attention and hold it for as long as you can,” Kalibar commanded. “Gather as many Battle Weavers as possible to mount an attack.” Urson frowned.
“An attack?”
“You'll know when to strike,” Kalibar replied. Urson hesitated, then bowed.
“Yes your Excellency.”
Kalibar turned back to Kyle, swallowing visibly. Then he nodded.
“Go.”
Kyle streamed magic to his gravity boots, flying upward, the wind tearing at his clothes. The boots' stabilization runes kicked in, pulling Ariana to his back and minimizing her weight. He accelerated forward, aiming for a cluster of Void spheres in the distance.
“Hold on,” he called out.
Accelerating quickly, he zoomed a dozen feet over the ground, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a gemstone. He held it in his palm, then flew within a few feet of one of the Void spheres, watching as blue light streaked outward from the gemstone. He passed the sphere, aiming for the next one. Ariana gave him a squeeze.
“It's following us!” she confirmed.
Kyle zoomed past a second sphere, then a third, then cut to the left toward another cluster of Void spheres in the distance.
“Slow down,” Ariana urged, giving him another squeeze. “They're falling behind!”
Kyle complied, glancing at the gemstone in his hand. The blue light streaming from it was fading fast; he thought about dropping it, but then realized that it might make the Void spheres follow it instead of him. He placed it in an empty pocket, retrieving another gemstone. Bright blue light emanated from it.
He flew forward over more Void spheres, until at least a few dozen were trailing behind him. He found that he could tell how far away they were based on how bright the light streaming from the gemstone was. At a distance of about forty feet, the spheres still followed him, but they drained the gemstone at a relatively slow pace compared to when they were closer. Still, with so many following him, the gemstone was being drained quickly. He replaced it with another.
“That's the last of them,” Ariana yelled as they zoomed over yet another Void sphere. “Watch out,” she warned. “The Behemoth sees you!”
Kyle glanced at the Behemoth, perhaps a half-mile in the distance. The monstrosity's eye was looking right at him!
“He's going to attack,” Ariana warned, giving him a squeeze. “Dodge to your left,” she added hurriedly. “He's going to sweep to our right!”
The Behemoth's eye flashed.
“Hold on!” Kyle cried.
He cut to the left, feeling the G-forces pull the blood from his head, his vision blackening. An impossibly bright beam of pure energy shot outward from the Behemoth's eye, cutting across the night sky. It missed Kyle by a few dozen feet, sweeping rightward...just as Ariana had predicted. Still, the heat of the passing beam was so intense that it burned Kyle's skin; he grit his teeth against the pain, focusing on maintaining his magic streams.
“It's going to attack again,” Ariana warned, clutching him tightly. “Stay the course,” she added.
“What?” Kyle shouted back.
“Go straight!”
Kyle swallowed, glancing at the gemstone in his hand. Its light was fading...he replaced it with another. He was already halfway through his supply...he needed to reach the Behemoth, and quickly.
The Behemoth's eye flashed again.
Kyle took a deep breath in, resisting the urge to dodge out of the way, aiming straight for the Behemoth. Another deadly beam shot outward from its eye...to Kyle's left. It swept leftward, no doubt anticipating that he was going to dodge that way again. He let his breath out, not realizing that he'd been holding it. They were only a few hundred feet from the Behemoth now.
“I'm going to circle around it,” Kyle shouted. It'd be safer to lead the Void spheres to the back of its domed head, where its deadly beam couldn't reach them.
“Watch out!” Ariana cried. “It's going to create some sort of gravity pulse!”
Then the air around the Behemoth's head exploded.
The Behemoth's eye turned away from them, its head rotating slowly. Dozens of small lights flew across the sky toward the Behemoth; Kyle blinked, realizing that the lights were coming from black-cloaked figures flying high above the campus.
Battle-Weavers!
The Battle-Weavers swooped around the Behemoth, keeping their distance from the deadly machine. Flashes of light shot from the Weavers, slamming into the Behemoth's metallic armor. Or rather, into the blue gravity shields surrounding its body like a second skin.
“Change crystals!” Ariana called out. Kyle glanced at the gemstone in his hand, realizing it was fading quickly. He grabbed another, then aimed to the left of the Behemoth's head, blasting past it. He slowed abruptly, cutting to the right, circling around its head. He felt Ariana's arms tighten around him, felt her slip down to his waist.
“Hold on!” he cried.
He continued to decelerate, stopping ten feet from the back of the Behemoth's dome-shaped head. The huge, black metal plates covering it stood before him.
“Kyle!” Ariana warned, pointing at the dozens of Void spheres flying right toward them.
Kyle grimaced, realizing that the Void spheres still hadn't absorbed enough magic to switch to their other phase. If he didn't give them more magic – and soon – his plan wouldn't work. The Behemoth was perfectly insulated, giving off no magical energy. It wouldn't activate the Void spheres by itself.
He reached into his pockets, pulling out the rest of the gemstones, holding them outward.
Cords of blue light shot outward from the gemstones, converging on the rapidly approaching Void spheres. He resisted the urge to retreat, knowing that they'd have to be as close as possible to the Behemoth's head when they activated.
Come on...
The Void spheres zoomed up to him, dozens of them surrounding him. Blue light shot outward from the gemstones, making them shine like a miniature sun.
Suddenly the rays of light began to wink out.
Kyle felt his heart leap into his throat, and he reacted instantly, pulling a cord of magic into his mind's eye, redirecting it into his boots.
“Hang on!” he shouted.
He burst away from the Behemoth's head, the air screaming past his ears, his gut dropping sickeningly with the sudden acceleration. He glanced back, seeing the Void spheres congregating around the Behemoth, hovering motionlessly behind its head.
Then they activated.
Layers of spinning gravity fields appeared around each Void sphere, a sudden gust of wind pulling Kyle back toward them. Kyle grit his teeth, focusing on his mind's eye, pulling more magic into it and streaming it to his boots. He accelerated, but much more slowly now, barely moving forward. The combined vacuums of the Void spheres were too powerful.
“Kyle!” Ariana warned, her voice rising in alarm. He realized that they'd stopped movi
ng forward...and were starting to slide backward toward the Void spheres. He streamed even more magic to his boots, realizing that it was getting significantly harder to do so; he was running out of magic. They stopped sliding backward...but barely.
Suddenly he heard a loud screeching sound coming from behind them, and glanced back. A large metal plate from the back of the Behemoth's domed head was being pried off by the Void spheres' devastating power, exposing green crystal underneath. As Kyle watched, the plate tore off completely...and more plates began to peel off of the gargantuan machine. But he hardly had time to celebrate...they were being pulled backward again.
“Kyle!” Ariana shouted.
“I'm running out!” Kyle yelled, struggling to stream more magic to his boots. But he'd nearly run out of magic, his skull bones holding on to the magic they had greedily. They slid backward toward the Void spheres, accelerating at an alarming rate. They were only forty feet away now, and the distance between them was rapidly shrinking.
“Fragel zin morf!” Ariana cried.
Kyle blinked, then realized that the magic in his earring was depleted. Not that it mattered...even if he had understood Ariana, there was nothing he could do. They accelerated backward toward the Void spheres helplessly, now only a dozen feet from the nearest rotating gravity field.
Shit!
Kyle struggled, tearing magic from the bones in his skull, but he had nothing left. He closed his eyes, clutching Ariana's hands in his own, waiting for the end.
Suddenly he felt Ariana's hand slip from his, felt her slide her hand across his forehead, flinging the mud from it. Magic burst into his mind's eye, filling it with bright cords of light. He grasped at them desperately, shoving them into his boots. They stopped sliding backward abruptly...but even with the magic coursing into him, he still didn't have enough to gain any distance from the Void spheres' deadly gravity fields.
Then, without warning, the Void spheres' gravity fields vanished!
Kyle burst away from the Behemoth's head, careening through the air at incredible speed. The blood drained from his head, stars floating at the periphery of his vision. He cried out, feeling Ariana's arms slipping from his waist. He slowed down, trying to grab her arms, but he was too late...she fell from his back, plummeting toward the ground!
“Ariana!” he screamed.
Suddenly, a dark shape flew underneath Kyle, colliding with Ariana...and plucking her out of the air! It was Kalibar, he realized.
“Go!” Kalibar shouted, gesturing for Kyle to fly away from the Void spheres. Indeed, blue rays were already starting to converge on the dozens of spheres. Bright rays shot outward from the crystalline flesh exposed on the Behemoth's domed head where the metallic plates had been pulled off. Kyle glanced down, realizing that rays were also coming from him...the mud on his body had dried and cracked, much of it having been pulled off by the Void spheres' powerful vacuum. Magic was leaking from those cracks and draining into the Void spheres.
Kyle complied, bursting away from the spheres and following Kalibar as the old man flew toward the campus ahead. They descended steadily, until Kalibar landed on the ground a few hundred feet from the Behemoth. Kyle landed beside the Grand Weaver, turning to look at Ariana. She was slumped lifelessly in Kalibar's arms, her eyes open but unseeing. Kyle remembered the burst of magic he'd gotten right before he'd fallen into the Void spheres' clutches...Ariana must have given him her own magic, depleting herself completely. She'd sacrificed herself to save him.
“You okay?” Kalibar asked. Kyle nodded. “Good work,” Kalibar added, gazing at the Behemoth in the distance. The Void spheres were still clustered around the back of its head...at the exposed crystal there. Thick rays of bright blue light were being sucked into the dozens of Void spheres, the Behemoth's magic rapidly draining.
“Look!” Kyle exclaimed. “It's working!”
“We should back away,” Kalibar stated, turning around and striding quickly away from the Behemoth. Kyle followed suit.
“What now?” he asked.
“I'm almost out of magic,” Kalibar replied. “Do you have any more of those gemstones?”
“No, I'm all out.”
Kyle glanced back at the Behemoth. Suddenly the rays of magic sucking out of the Behemoth vanished...and the Void spheres activated. Rapidly rotating layers of gravity fields appeared around the dozens of spheres. Luckily he and Kalibar were far enough away to not be pulled in. Still, he followed Kalibar as the Grand Weaver continued to retreat, not wanting to risk another near-death experience. He looked back, seeing more metallic plates peeling off of the Behemoth's head, hunks of green crystal beneath breaking off and flying into the Void spheres' gravity fields.
The Behemoth leaned forward, pulling its head away from the spheres. Their combined gravity fields were no match for the Behemoth's enormous weight; the distance between them was sufficient enough that no more plates were being peeled off now.
Then the Behemoth's eye flashed.
“Watch out!” Kalibar cried, breaking into a run, clutching Ariana tightly to his chest.
A huge spherical gravity field appeared around the Behemoth, and the Void spheres shot outward in all directions. The shockwave struck Kyle and Kalibar, nearly throwing them from their feet. Kalibar skid to a stop.
“Damn!” he swore. “We need to corral the Void spheres again...but we don't have enough magic.”
Suddenly Kyle saw dark shapes in the sky around the Behemoth...the Battle-Weavers! They swooped in behind the Behemoth's domed head, hurling fiery missiles at the Behemoth. Explosion after explosion struck the Behemoth's vulnerable spot where the plates had been removed, hunks of crystal falling from the wound. Just as quickly, the Battle-Weavers dispersed, flying far away from the massive thing...and toward the scattered Void spheres.
“Look!” Kyle exclaimed.
The Battle-Weavers flew over the Void spheres much as Kalibar had, forcing the spheres to follow them. The Weavers then circled back toward the Behemoth, the Void spheres trailing close behind. Other Battle-Weavers continued their assault on the Behemoth, striking it in the back of the head in wave after wave of attacks. More chunks of green crystal fell from the Behemoth's head.
“It's working!” Kyle declared.
Suddenly the Behemoth's eye flashed, and a deadly ray shot outward at the Battle-Weavers attacking it. The Behemoth's domed head rotated rapidly, the beam sweeping across the night sky. Kyle watched in horror as a few Battle-Weavers burst into flames instantly; their burning corpses fell from the sky, landing on the charred grass below.
At the same time, the Battle-Weavers leading the Void spheres toward the Behemoth reached the deadly monstrosity, flying up toward the back of its head like Kalibar had done earlier. Rays of blue streamed from the Battle-Weavers as the Void spheres drained their magic; a few of the Weavers fell from the sky, their magic completely drained. They plummeted downward, slamming into the ground at the Behemoth's feet with lethal force. More and more Battle-Weavers fell from the sky, the remaining Weavers herding the Void spheres up to the gaping wound on the Behemoth's head. Massive cords of bright blue magic streamed from the Behemoth's exposed crystalline innards, pouring into the dozens of Void spheres.
Then the blue rays pulling into the spheres vanished.
“Damn it, they're too close!” Kalibar swore.
The remaining Battle-Weavers burst away from the Behemoth...just as the Void spheres activated. Spinning gravity fields appeared around the dozens of spheres, pulling the Battle-Weavers back toward them. Only a few Battle-Weavers managed to escape in time; the rest were sucked into the deadly gravity fields, disintegrating in a spray of blood and mangled flesh.
“Damn it!” Kalibar cursed.
More plates on the Behemoth's head were pulled off, hunks of green crystal ripping out of monstrosity, turning to dust as they struck the spinning gravity fields.
The Behemoth's eye flashed.
Another massive gravity field appeared around the monstrous machine, s
hoving the Void spheres away from itself. But this time, the effect was weaker; most of the Void spheres were only pushed a short distance away. These levitated up toward the Behemoth's exposed crystalline flesh again, attracted to the magic it exuded. Massive amounts of magic coursed from the Behemoth, absorbed by the Void spheres. The Behemoth's head turned, no doubt in an attempt to use its deadly eye to shoot them out of the sky. But the Void spheres circled with it, clustering at the back of its head. It generated another massive gravity field, attempting to push the Void spheres back. But this was even weaker than the last, and the Void spheres quickly returned, draining even more magic. The blue rays emanating from the Behemoth were noticeably paler now.
Then they vanished.
The Void spheres activated again, and this time the Behemoth could do nothing to stop them. More and more plates were ripped from its domed skull, exposing huge expanses of green crystal beneath. Hunks of crystal flew out of the wound and into the spinning gravity fields in a continuous stream. The Behemoth stepped away from the Void spheres, the spheres' gravity fields again no match for its immense weight. It spun around slowly, turning its head to face the Void spheres. Its eye flashed, a deadly beam destroying a few of the spheres.
But the remaining Void spheres returned to sucking the magic from the Behemoth, flying to the back of its head and draining it even further. It took another step away from its attackers, its huge foot slamming into the ground, creating a deep indentation there. Jagged bolts of electricity burst outward from the Behemoth's domed head, striking the Void spheres and shoving them away. But the spheres simply flew back, unfazed by the Behemoth's assault. The rays of magic streaming from the war machine were fading fast...the Behemoth was running out.
Its eye flickered...and went dark. It stood there motionlessly, a massive shadow against the night sky.
Then, very slowly, it began to tip forward.
“Get back!” Kalibar ordered. The Behemoth was falling forward...right toward them.
“Get on my back!” Kalibar cried, turning his back to Kyle. Kyle hopped on. “Stream magic to me,” Kalibar added, flying upward and to the side, away from the falling giant. Kyle tried, but he had no magic left.