Stormforge (Rise To Omniscience Book 5)

by Aaron Oster

  “Hey! Drop your weapon and surrender, or I take the girl’s head!”

  Sarah felt her anger flare as the swords-monster called out, likely warning Katherine against further resistance. This was all her fault. If only she’d been a little stronger, had a little more MP, or could defend herself just a bit better, she’d be useful. But instead, she would be the cause of their ultimate demise.

  In her periphery, she could see Katherine raising her hands, a grim expression on her face as she dismissed her Reality Blade and sank to her knees.

  It was all over.

  “Good girl,” the sword-monster said, obviously pleased. “The master will be happy that we managed to take them both alive.”

  Sarah didn’t move, feeling bitter tears spilling from her eyes and freezing just a moment later. She hated being so helpless, feeling so useless and being unable to do anything. Helplessness had been something she’d sworn never to feel again, because relying on others simply meant being unable to protect yourself.

  She’d relied on Morgan too much, and now, as a result, she found herself unable to fight back. The blood in her cuts had long since frozen over, but the pain was still there. Worse than that, though, was the knowledge of what her weakness had cost her.

  “Good, now tie them up and…”

  Sarah felt the blade torn away from her neck in a sudden, violent movement, a gale force whipping her hair across her face. A massive boom sounded just a moment later, followed by the cry of surprise from the monster with the chain.

  “What the…?!”

  Another gust of wind, this one followed by a muffled whump. Sarah’s confused mind couldn’t really comprehend what was going on, but when Katherine let out a wild laugh, she thought she finally understood. Slowly, she raised her head, not even daring to hope that what she thought could indeed be true.

  A shadow fell across her body as someone crouched down next to her, and, looking up, Sarah saw the most wonderful sight in the entire world. Despite the pain and numbness spread through her entire body, Sarah felt an odd warmth as her lips turned up in a smile.

  “You came,” she whispered.

  Strong arms enveloped her then, pulling her into a tight embrace, and Sarah felt all of the anger and frustration built up over the past few weeks evaporate in an instant. Her arms came up as well, squeezing back as tightly as she could as she buried her face in his shoulder.

  “Of course, I came,” she heard him say into her ear. “I’ll always come for you, no matter what.”

  38

  Morgan crouched there for a few seconds longer, enjoying the warmth of Sarah’s body. She wasn’t actually warm, she was freezing, but in his mind, she was the warmest person in the entire world. He’d almost missed them, flying through the blizzard, but he’d sensed her familiar aura, even through the storm, and had come as quickly as he could.

  “It’s good to see you, Morgan,” Katherine said as she walked over. “Your timing couldn’t have been better.”

  “Don’t ruin this for me, witch,” Sarah said, pulling back and glaring at her.

  “It’s okay,” Morgan said, releasing her from the embrace and helping her to her feet. “I know I hit those monsters hard, but I have a feeling they won’t be down for long.”

  “That feeling of yours is correct, human filth!”

  Morgan turned, keeping a supporting hand on Sarah’s hip and saw all three monsters approaching. He’d flown down from above, simply ramming into them to throw them clear. He’d needed to do something quickly in order to stop them hurting Sarah anymore, and that was the best strategy he’d come up with.

  “Well, now that it’s an even fight, I’m sure we can manage,” Morgan replied flatly. Then, to Sarah, he asked, “Can you stand on your own?”

  Sarah bit her bottom lip, then slowly shook her head.

  “I can heal it, but I’d rather not until the fight is over.”

  Morgan nodded, setting her down gently with her back to a snowdrift.

  “Good thing you can fight without standing then,” he said with a smile. “I’ll try and do as much of the work as I can. But the two of us could still use some ranged support if you can manage.”

  Sarah nodded happily, and Morgan turned to Katherine, who’d summoned her rainbow-colored blade and was gearing up to resume the fight. His eyes briefly landed on the small, icy overhang as he was turning, and his eyes fell upon Gwendolyn’s prone form. And, as though sensing he was there, her eyes snapped open.

  Morgan could feel a mix of emotions hit him all at once, relief, joy, and many others, as well as anger and sorrow at her obviously deteriorated state. He had no idea what the Pinnacle King had done to her in her time as a captive, but the mere fact that she was still alive meant that he would have a chance to have a life with her once more. He’d thought he’d lost her once before, and he wasn’t about to lose her again.

  “Let’s destroy these bastards,” he said, curling his hands into fists and raising them before him.

  “I’ll second that,” Katherine replied, pulling energy into a crackling black ball at the tip of her blade.

  One of the monsters picked up speed, charging forward with his blade brandished high. Another sent out a blast of steam, meant to interrupt Katherine’s attack, but Morgan was here now. He stepped forward, thrusting out with a punch of his own and using Compressive Blast. The steam was dispersed as a cloud of condensed air blasted out with a loud boom, and Morgan immediately followed up with a second, harder punch.

  The condensed air blasted in a straight line, slamming into the lead monster and punching a hole right through its upper arm. The monster howled as blood spurted from the wound, forcing him to drop his weapon. The third, much faster than the others, darted around in a wide loop, rocketing towards Katherine. The deep snow didn’t slow him at all, his body seeming to almost glide over the ground instead of sinking into it.

  However, Katherine had had enough time to charge her attack with Morgan’s defense, and just as the monster closed within striking distance, she slashed out with her blade. The black sphere of energy shot from her blade, extending out into a thin line as it approached the monster. He tried to dodge. Caught unawares by the attack, their battle finally saw its first casualty.

  “Darren!” the dark-furred monster cried as Katherine’s attack cut the creature in half, neatly bisecting him at chest-height.

  The monster fell to the ground without a sound, his lower body, upper body, and arms hitting the ground with four distinct thumps.

  “I’ll kill you for that!” the dark-furred monster yelled.

  “Wait, Den!” the ranged-attacker called as the monster named Den scooped up his sword in his off-hand and continued his charge.

  It was too late though, and Den, sword raised high, didn’t even see what hit him before his insides were blown out through his back, and he toppled to the ground with the majority of his upper body reduced to a pulp.

  Morgan turned, whipping his whirling lance to one side and dislodging the gore as he faced the last monster.

  “Looks like you’re the only one left,” he said, raising the blade. “So, will you go quietly, or are you going to make me chase you down.”

  “Neither!” the monster yelled, extending his arms and allowing multiple blasts of superheated steam to fly. “Dusk never surrenders!”

  “Dusk should have surrendered.”

  The monster froze, half-turning to see Morgan standing right behind him, his eyes glowing in the dim lighting caused by the storm.

  “People call me a monster,” Dusk said in a shocked voice. “But you’re the real…”

  The monster’s head exploded as a spear made of ice slammed into it from the side. Morgan looked over in surprise, to see Sarah standing a few feet away, an expression of livid anger on her face.

  “Don’t you dare call him a monster!” she yelled.

  Morgan felt a smile crack his lips as he watched her march forward. This was the Sarah he loved, the one who had a massive
temper, who always did whatever she wanted no matter the cost. Someone who would do anything for…

  Sarah wound up and delivered a ringing slap right across his face. Before he could do anything, she was kissing him, her lips still somehow warm despite the freezing temperatures. If he thought that was the end of it though, he’d have been sorely mistaken. As Sarah pulled back, Katherine approached and…slapped him as well. This one really hurt, as Katherine was far stronger than Sarah.

  She then shoved Sarah bodily aside and wrapped him in a crushing hug that actually hurt more than the slap. Suffice it to say that Sarah was not happy.

  “Hey! What did I say about ruining moments?” she demanded. “He’s mine, not yours!”

  “Actually, I don’t really ‘belong’ to anyone,” Morgan said over Katherine’s shoulder.

  “Shut up, and hug me back,” Katherine demanded. “After all the shit we’ve gone through, I deserve at least that much.”

  “You did slap me pretty hard…”

  “Hug! Now!”

  “Fine,” Morgan replied with a sigh and complied with the woman’s demands.

  As always, Morgan was surprised by how soft she really was under all her armor, and he couldn’t help but remember the painting he’d seen in her room.

  Nope! Not gonna think about that!

  He quickly pulled back as Katherine slackened her grip and once again found himself pulled to Sarah as she snatched his arm.

  What is it with these two? he wondered, and why are they both so touchy-feely all of a sudden?

  Sarah, he could understand, although, with all their fighting in recent weeks, not really. And Katherine had never been so aggressive in front of Sarah before… No, she definitely has been, Morgan immediately corrected himself. Katherine was the very epitome of shameless flirting and butting in. In fact, she and Sarah didn’t get along solely because of him, which was completely ridiculous, in his opinion. After all, what did he have to do with it?

  Then again, if I liked Sarah, but she was into some different guy, would I really be okay getting along with him?

  Morgan stomped down on that train of thought and instead turned his attention back to Gwendolyn. She looked weak and pale, though her eyes were still open and fixed firmly on him. Morgan could have kicked himself for just leaving her there to joke around with Sarah and Katherine, even if it was only for a minute or two.

  “Come on, she’s awake,” Morgan said, interrupting Sarah and Katherine’s arguing and pointing to his adoptive mother.

  Their arguing immediately cut off as they noticed where he was pointing, to the woman they’d come to save. Sure, they’d come to get her because the risk had been deemed worth it, but still, they all felt differing levels of guilt as they approached the woman. They’d left her to rot, to be tortured and die at the hands of the Pinnacle King, and they all knew that they’d played some small part in that.

  Above even Morgan, Katherine felt the guilt most heavily due to the fact that she’d been the one to order Gwendolyn out to investigate, and she’d been captured as a result. Together, the three of them approached and crouched down near the woman, none of them even sure what to say.

  Gwendolyn looked between the three of them, her eyes landing on Morgan last and staying there. Morgan opened his mouth to say something, but the words became caught in his throat. What could he say?

  Despite her condition, Gwendolyn actually smiled, her thin lips pulling up and her eyes sparkling.

  “It seems I’ve finally lost my sanity,” she said in a soft voice. “But, even so, I am glad that in the tortured recesses of my mind, I get to see you one last time, my son.”

  “Gwen,” Morgan said, feeling the words sounding a bit choked. “You’re not insane. You haven’t lost your mind. We’re really here.”

  “Ah, yes. Of course, you are,” Gwendolyn said with that same smile.

  She reached out, gently caressing the side of his face, brushing at the small line of fur tracing his jaw. It was clear that she didn’t believe that any of them were real, and no amount of convincing right now would work. Morgan could scarcely imagine what had been done to drive her to this point, and he had to wonder if she’d ever recover from this.

  “It seems that you’ve grown into a fine young man since I’ve last seen you,” she said as she felt at his face. “But I can still see in you the little boy I found so long ago. I’m sorry I didn’t come looking for you sooner. I just wish you’d known that, during all those years of loneliness, how much I loved you.”

  “You’re telling me now, and that’s good enough,” Morgan replied, reaching up and cupping the back of her hand.

  Gwendolyn smiled, reaching up with her other hand to brush something away from his cheek. A moment later, Morgan realized that he’d begun crying.

  “Don’t cry, Morgan, you’ve shed enough tears in this life. Despite all that’s happened, you’ve built yourself a wonderful life, found friends who would stick by you no matter what, and a woman who loves you as much as I do. Go now, leave me to my fate. The monster will be coming and I won’t be able to protect you from this one as I have shielded you in the past.”

  Before Morgan could ask her what she meant, his Aura Sense practically screamed in his ear as the entire sky was blanketed in a mass of red, blue, and violet.

  He turned, feeling his heart rate spike as the overwhelming might of the Pinnacle King washed over him. Never in his life had he felt such immense power, nor a certainty that he could not win a fight. This creature’s might was on a level he could scarcely comprehend, and yet, as it neared, he could feel it growing stronger.

  “We need to leave. Now!” Morgan said, getting quickly to his feet and surprising both Sarah and Katherine, whom he noticed were both also crying.

  It seems like I’m not the only one who can’t stand seeing her this way.

  “What is it?” Katherine asked, getting to her feet and scanning the horizon.

  “It’s the Pinnacle King,” Morgan said grimly. “He’s coming.”

  39

  Katherine reacted immediately, reaching down to try and lift Gwendolyn once more, but the woman resisted her, slapping her hand away.

  “I told you to leave me. You have to run,” she said once more.

  “We’re not leaving you to die here,” Morgan said. “Not again.”

  Gwendolyn gave him that same sad smile, and it made Morgan’s heart sink yet again.

  “You do not seem to understand, Morgan. I am already dead. I simply wished to spare you the pain for just a little longer.”

  “No, you’re not!” Morgan snapped. “You’re still very much alive. I mean, look at you. Sure, you’re missing a leg, but you’re perfectly fine, completely healed!”

  Gwendolyn shook her head once again, then lightly tapped at the silvery-purple band around her neck.

  “I died nearly two weeks ago from my wounds. What you see here is merely a remnant, the remains of my soul tethered here by this necklace. Though, if I did not truly wish to remain, it would not have worked.”

  “What? What does that even mean?!” Morgan demanded.

  Gwen was clearly not in her right mind. They had to get her back to City Eleven, even if it was against her will. It would be for her own good. Moving quickly, Morgan stooped and tried to grab her, but his hand slipped right through her arm. He stared, eyes wide as the arm vanished in a puff of mist, the remainder of the appendage wisping slowly away.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Morgan whispered.

  She’d touched him before, he’d felt it. Sarah had obviously fixed her up as well, and they’d carried her this far.

  “The necklace you see only keeps the person around for as long as they have unfinished business,” Gwendolyn said. “The Pinnacle King must have known I would not leave until I saw you again, and so, was able to continuously torture my soul after my body had perished.”

  “It…can’t be true,” Morgan whispered, feeling all the hope he’d had at seeing Gwen again vanis
hing, much as she was.

  “Oh, but I can assure you that it is.”

  Morgan froze at the sound of that voice. It was deep, resonant, and filled with malice. It carried with it a chill, one that settled down to his very bones. He’d been distracted by Gwen and had thus failed to notice the Pinnacle King’s arrival. Slowly, Morgan rose and turned to face his enemy, the creature responsible for Gwen’s death and the deaths of countless others.

  Both Sarah and Katherine were already facing him, both seemingly frozen in place, locked down by the crushing force of his presence. And there he stood, not ten yards away, white fur billowing in the wind kicked up by his mere presence and amber eyes glowing in his deep-set, bestial face.

  The Pinnacle King most resembled an enormous ape, albeit one with shorter arms. He stood just over twelve feet, his shoulders massive and broad. The white fur covered everything except for his massive chest and abdomen, both bulging with muscle and black as pitch. His arms were massive, rippling layers of muscle showing as he held his arms out to the sides, as though expecting some sort of hug. He grinned then, blue lips parting and revealing a mouth full of enlarged canines.

  “It’s almost as though you’re unhappy to see me, father.”

  That single word sent chills down Morgan’s spine.

  Father? What the hell is this monster talking about?

  “Come now, I know we’re not exactly the same. But I was created from your DNA. How about you give your son the proper greeting he deserves?”

  Morgan could feel the power intensifying from the Pinnacle King, washing over him in waves. The reiki, chi, and mana in his core were twisting and whirling in a strange pattern. Morgan’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt at that.

  Chi and mana? If the beast uses reiki, there shouldn’t be any trace of either one!

  “What, nothing to say?” the Pinnacle King asked, slowly lowering his arms. “I’m disappointed. For the longest time, all I wanted was to meet you, to see you with my own eyes. I tried to get your location out of that woman for months, but she never gave you up. Even in death, with her soul held by a mere tether, she refused to say anything.