by Dmitry Bilik
“Oops, sorry. I didn’t realize you were so sensitive.”
“Who is Two-Face?” I asked Arts quietly.
She waved my question away. However, the subject of my curiosity had heard me.
“I’m your death,” he chuckled. “I am one of this world’s oldest procreations! Oh sorry, I didn’t tell you my full name. It’s not Jan but Janus. Janus the Two-Faced, as your mentor has kindly introduced me.”
“So what the hell do you want?” I demanded, struggling not to betray how shit scared I was.
“Peanuts, really. When you had the outrageous luck to have killed that Chorul, you inherited his Divine Avatar. Which is so rare that I sensed it right across four worlds at the time. I have a long history with Savior, actually. A long time ago, I already tried to take his Avatar off him. But he hoodwinked me with his fake death and escaped. So I wasn’t gonna miss a second chance.”
“For a god, he yaps too much,” Traug sniggered.
The Darkest One ignored the remark entirely. “In my millennial travels, I met a Player who told me a thing or two. Humans can become very talkative when they think that the information they offer might help them survive. So he told me lots of interesting things. Like the fabled blacksmith god who lived in Cesspit. And Gramr, his famous sword which could penetrate any defense. He also told me about its four keepers, only two of which were still alive. Oh sorry, did I say two? One, of course. I forgot to tell you that the talkative guy’s name was Jisra.”
Hunter gnashed his teeth. How strange. He seemed to struggle to suppress his fury. He must have known that Jisra guy very well.
“So when I finally came to reclaim the Avatar and saw the sword’s last keeper standing next to its carrier, I decided to kill both birds with one stone.”
I wasn’t happy to hear him refer to me as a thing. Still, this wasn’t the right moment to voice my objections. I cast a furtive glance at my number of charges left. Only 18. Barely enough to rewind time just once. And my enemy was clearly not easy.
“So all I had to do was arrange for Hunter to go and fetch Gramr himself once he’d realized who he was dealing with.”
Jan finally deigned to look at me. His gaze made me shudder.
“Because you see,” Jan went on, “your mentor has the naivety to believe that this sword might give him a chance to slay me.”
“Enough of your blabbering,” Hunter said, heading for the hill.
“If you say so. Harph, kill him.”
The skies rumbled. A bolt of forked lighting reached out, striking the exact place where my mentor had stood only a split second ago. His shadow was already running uphill, zigzagging like a hare chased by hounds.
I’d long realized that Harph was a good and experienced wizard. Now I was witnessing another proof of his art. As soon as he’d noticed that his opponent had activated invisibility, he cast the same spell he’d used earlier, sending a cloud that billowed down to the ground.
Although I could see that Hunter wasn’t seriously hurt, the cloud had unstealthed him. He somersaulted, then continued up the hill.
“We should help him,” Arts said.
What a girl! Even though she knew that her staff wouldn’t work on the hilltop, she still couldn’t help herself. I couldn’t have agreed more. We needed to help him. But how were we supposed to do that? With my ridiculous excuse for a penknife and just one charge left between all of us?
If I’d thought that my team members would embark on an extended discussion of our tactics, I was wrong. Unlike Janus, they weren’t in the mood to shoot the breeze. They just darted up the hill, all of them.
“Spread out and outflank them!” Traug shouted as he broke into a run.
“The probability of my meeting a lethal outcome is especially high today,” Litius said sadly.
Before I could reassure him, he leapt forward, overtaking Traug, and headed to the back of the hill in order to attack the enemy from the rear.
Arts wasn’t in the mood for talking, either. Ignoring me, she took a swing with her sword and beelined for Harph who was launching everything but the kitchen sink at Hunter.
I braced myself. Come what may!
I drew my rusty sword and took my knife in my left hand in the best Spanish fencing style, then ran after all the others. I stumbled and slipped several times but I did make it to the top.
It looked like I was late. When I finally ground to a halt with my Vigor down to 30%, the battle was already all but over.
Litius was growling as he rolled around on the ground, his shoulder ripped to shreds. I was pretty sure he’d been the first to attack and had paid for it. Arts was lying on her back some distance away from the action, her chest heaving slightly. She was unconscious but still alive.
Traug was still trying to fight the Darkest One but even my untrained eye could see who was gonna win.
Despite all my hatred for Janus, I could appreciate his swordplay. The grace with which he blocked Traug’s lunges, dodged and counterattacked was exemplary. Had it not been for Traug’s armor, he’d already been lying on the ground with his throat slit. As it was, Janus had shown remarkable clemency by punching him in his exposed Adam’s apple unprotected by the armor.
But maybe I spoke too soon about clemency. Traug was lying on the ground, bug-eyed, holding his throat. The Darkest One was just about to give a coup de grace when I turned up.
I came running at him and poked him with my Roin-steel blade, ready to rewind time at a moment’s notice.
My amazement was so great I even forgot to breathe. The Darkest One didn’t even try to defend himself. Although his in-game clothes were quite good, he was still an easy target for a sword.
I was even more surprised when my sword met with an invisible barrier.
“You’re so stupid, my boy,” the Darkest One laughed. Forgetting all about Traug, he turned and stepped toward me. Mechanically I shrank back. “Why do you think your mentor ran off like a headless chicken to fetch his sword as soon as he knew about the arrival of the Destroyer god in Cesspit? The Destroyer Avatar has an interesting characteristic: its carrier can’t be killed with a regular weapon. Know what I mean?”
He didn’t have to waste his breath. I’d already worked that out. The only thing that worried me now was what to do — or more precisely, where to run to. I’d already missed my opportunity to rewind time so now I had to wait for him to attack me. The problem was, what would happen next?
“And seeing as the sword is now here, and so is your mentor,” Janus faked thoughtfulness, pretending the idea had only just crossed his mind, “then it looks like I don’t need you anymore. Now I can finally reclaim the Avatar which belongs to me by right, becoming the greatest god that ever lived. The Dark god with a Destroyer Avatar and the Light one with that of Savior. The two-faced god in possession of the opposites in both power and strength. The one who can turn into anyone he wants.”
“You do love to yap, don’t you?”
I swung round. Hunter was standing over the slain Harph, holding the bloody Gramr in his hand. His face scared me. Devoid of either fear of cruelty, it exuded steely determination. He didn’t look human now. More like a preprogrammed killing machine.
“Sergei, step aside. It’s not your fight.”
The Darkest One smiled and gave him a mocking bow as he side-stepped me. “A Player against a God. A Keeper against the Destroyer of Bonds. A doomed one against the Invincible One. Come on now, show me once again that it’s not the sword that makes the warrior.”
Hunter didn’t reply; he simply began walking towards him. At that moment, the hope was born in me that we just might defeat this scumbag.
Chapter 28
AS EVERYBODY KNOWS, it’s great watching professionals at work. Still I think that this notion only applies to peaceful professions. Like watching a cobbler making a pair of shoes, a woman clicking her knitting needles or a baker kneading a new batch of dough.
Because watching these two expert fighters going at it was anyth
ing but pleasing to the eye. If anything, it filled me with primordial fear, making my heart pound in my chest.
Judging by Hunter’s initial onslaught, I really thought he would get the upper hand. His movements were far from graceful or eye-pleasing: rather, they were perfectly calculated. He went for Janus like a tank not giving his opponent any possibility to recover and launch a counterattack.
Still, Janus kept either parrying or fending off his every blow, dodging my mentor’s charmed sword just before it could meet its mark. And then...
Then Hunter began to get worn out. His movements grew slower, his every lunge taking longer than the one before it. At a certain moment, Janus simply stepped back and struck out. Miraculously, Hunter managed to raise his hand, parrying the blow with the hilt of his sword. With a resounding clink, his enemy’s blade slid against the crossguard.
Hunter took a few steps back, trying to evade a potential attack. Still, Janus didn’t look as if he was going to follow it up. He was playing with my mentor like a well-fed, obese cat that watches the throes of a tiny wounded mouse trapped in a jug of milk.
Hunter then cast a spell. A dark vine entwined itself around his opponent’s leg. How strange. Hadn’t Harph cast anti-magic?
Only then did I realize that Harph must have already been dead, therefore his spells didn’t work anymore.
Which meant that everyone standing on the hill could now use their magic. The problem was, my mentor and I were the only ones still conscious in my little group. Granted, I could hear Litius groaning but he didn’t count, anyway. My own powerful spells weren’t even worth mentioning, especially seeing as Hunter was having a hard time.
As soon as the vine touched Janus’ leg, it crumbled to dust. Of course. This was the Destroyer Avatar’s universal protection at work. Hunter must have realized it too because he switched from damage spells to diversions.
He threw his hand high in the air. The ground in Janus’ path rose up like a landmine exploding, throwing clods of earth in all directions. Immediately Hunter moved forward.
The Darkest One wasn’t going to be caught out. He twirled into the air like a dustdevil, avoiding the attack without as much as using his sword.
Hunter then tried a few more spells, including Blindness which I already knew (and which affected me this time as well), but Janus just grinned, dodging his every attempt. He seemed to be testing my mentor, trying to find the limits of his technical ability.
That was awful.
It’s awful when you consider your mentor an expert and he turns out to be a common fighter compared to an invincible god incapable of either mercy or pity. A god who could afford being disdainful of common people.
Another awful thing was that by then, Hunter was completely exhausted. After only a few minutes of combat, he was already panting heavily. He was sweating like a pig, his damp clothes clinging to his body. Now I could see that he was in fact an old man: a retired Player who’d been round the block a few times. He had enjoyed a quiet life away from the Game and its problems until one of them had turned up on his doorstep — literally. And now he was forced to remember his old glory.
“Not bad,” Janus said, outflanking him. “You’re a much better fighter than Jisra used to be. He was writhing on the ground like a worm in the hope that I might spare his life.”
Hunter gnashed his teeth and attacked. His sword swept through the air as he dealt a broad slashing blow. Janus promptly stepped to one side, dodging it, then tried to strike back. Hunter recoiled just in time. Janus’ sword sliced through his sleeve. Blood, as red as the moon above us, dripped to the ground from Hunter’s wounded shoulder.
The Darkest One shook his head. “Only human. Only a Player. You might be older than me but I am still stronger. A god is always stronger than a human being.”
At this point, I realized that the tables had turned. The ugly grin came off Janus’ face which was now furrowed with a fine web of lines. He stopped retreating — which earlier had made one believe he wasn’t sure of the fight’s outcome. His eyes turned cold, harsh and prickly, filled with his resolve to finish this drawn-out comedy.
He raised his sword and moved resolutely forward. Hunter managed to block his first blow with the flat of his sword, then dodged the second one at the very last moment. But Janus followed up with a powerful kick, throwing Hunter off balance and sending him head over heels.
He didn’t get the chance to get back to his feet because Janus already towered over him. The Dark god raised his sword and with both hands brought it crashing down onto the empty ground.
“You’re not serious, are you?” he said, his gaze following the flitting shadow. “Are you gonna keep on running away from me?”
He tore his attention away from the shadow and turned to me. The look in his eyes made my blood run cold. Suddenly I wished I was as far from here as possible.
He took a step toward me. And another one. And again.
Hunter unstealthed behind Janus’ back and gave him an almighty blow. Lazily Janus turned and crossed swords with him. He then ducked to one side, dodging the attack, and sliced through my mentor’s sword arm.
Gramr dropped to the ground. Hunter bent down to pick it back up but in this, too, Janus was faster.
“The Dark god with a Destroyer Avatar and the Light one with that of the Savior. The god who owns the great Gramr,” Janus spoke in singsong. “You’ve fulfilled your destiny, old man. Now you can die in peace.”
The sword which Hunter had had in his safekeeping for so long had now betrayed its keeper. Its impartial blade went halfway deep into his chest, slicing through his flesh. Gramr didn’t care who it would serve, whether a Player or a God, a force of Dark or Light.
Hunter grabbed at the blade, trying to take a breath. His disheveled hair covered his face. I couldn’t see his eyes, only the thin strip of his pursed lips and his figure frozen against his death throes — the figure of the man who’d tried to save me.
I remembered the Oracle’s prophesy. You’ll die in your student’s arms. That was exactly what had happened. He was dead, and it was all my fault.
A wave of inexplicable all-consuming fury flooded over me. As long as I was alive, I could still turn this round.
[ ∞ ]
“...die in peace,” the Darkest One said, lowering his sword.
He was too busy relishing his victory to notice the most important thing. He didn’t see me dart for dear life, cursing those wretched boots and my low Athletics stats. He didn’t see me take an almighty leap, shielding Hunter with my own body.
I’d made my choice. Good or bad, it was mine alone.
Janus’ sword softly slid down my belly, slicing through skin, ripping through my guts and exiting my back. As I dropped to the ground, so did Gramr which was now firmly stuck in my body.
Caught by surprise, Janus let go of the sword — which was so firmly lodged in my belly that it immediately changed its owner. Even though I wouldn’t say that retrieving it would affect the outcome of the fight: the only way I could get it out would be by pulling my own guts out with it.
You’ve saved a Player who is neutral to you.
+100 karma points. Current level: +580. You gravitate to the Light Side.
You’ve sacrificed your life in order to save a Player who is neutral to you.
+500 karma points. Current level: +1080. You gravitate to the Light Side
New characteristic available: Hero of Light
Health: 23/60
Health: 21/60
Health: 20/60
I forced a crooked grin. I’d finally hit the 1000-point mark. You never know, it might come in handy after I die. They might let me through the pearly gates after all.
Then I remembered. Shit. There are no pearly gates. All there is, is Elysium with its wretched Archali and Firoll with its equally stupid Kabirids. The world has no place for Jewish fairy tales. I’ll die now, and my ashes will be scattered all over Purgator. Then the Two Face will finish off the others, so that
no one will ever find out what happened here. After which he’d move on to destroying all the nearest worlds because he’d now have the two strongest Divine Avatars which he can use at once.
“What a very commendable but silly thing to do,” the Darkest One leaned over me. “The funny thing is, it’s not gonna change anything. So you’re a time master, are you? A boy who shot right to the top thanks to a chain of lucky coincidences. Who therefore believed himself to be above destiny. But in the end, everything fell back into place.”
I struggled to peer at him but the world swam before my eyes. I could only make out a blurred spot where the Darkest One stood. There was no sky; no earth; just darkness which hugged me in its tightening embrace.