by Aaron Oster
He spun in the air, feeling a sneer beginning to pull at his lips. Violet light flared around him, the last dregs of what he’d managed to regenerate as Morgan had beaten him into the ground.
“You had your chance, and you failed!” Octagon roared, spittle spraying from his icy-blue lips. “Now, you d —!”
A blast of invisible force slammed into his chest, knocking the air from his lungs. It didn’t really hurt at all, didn’t so much as scratch his tough hide. What it had done was push Octagon into the reach of the icy altar, the prison which had kept him locked away for millennia.
“No!” he roared as icy chains snaked up from the slab and began twisting themselves around him. “I won’t be locked away! Not again!”
Morgan watched with a detached calm as the Pinnacle King thrashed and tore at the icy chains. He managed to shatter a few, and one of the lines of script began to go dark. Morgan wasn’t going to get worried, as the chains continued coming, wrapping around Octagon the Bitter’s chest and suppressing his core.
Before his very eyes, the Pinnacle King seemed to deflate. His body was continuously shrinking, and his wings, horns, and scales were vanishing. His height was reduced to a mere eight feet as the chains snared tighter and tighter. Morgan stepped up to the altar, even as Octagon continued to thrash against his tightening prison.
Chains shot from the block, burrowing into the floor all around, into the ceiling and walls as well, and new scripts that Morgan hadn’t noticed before began to light up as well. Octagon’s attempts at resistance had stopped by the time Morgan stood over him, his eyes having changed back to a bright amber. By now, Morgan’s face had changed completely back to its usual human structure.
“Was it worth it?” Morgan asked. “All the destruction, loss of life? The pain and suffering. Was all of that worth it?”
Octagon opened his mouth to respond, but a chain flowed up between his jaws, pulling his head down and stopping him from answering. Morgan let out a long sigh, watching the Pinnacle King’s eyes begin to droop.
“Guess I’ll never know, will I?” he replied, then turned away, leaving the Pinnacle King of Winter to his eternal slumber.
58
Katherine stood before the oncoming horde, her legs braced wide, and blood streaming from all over her beaten and battered body. Le’vine lay behind her, panting hard, a monster’s severed arm protruding from her side. Hilda crouched beside her, trying to staunch the bleeding and save her dying sister-in-law. Herald wasn’t in much better shape, down on one knee and fighting to stay conscious, and still, the monsters kept coming.
The mace was heavy in her hands as Katherine continuously swung it at the next slavering twisted monster to come before her. They never stopped, never ceased their advance, never hesitated to throw themselves at her mace. They now stood nearly ten feet off the ground, the mountain of corpses so high that she was nearly level with the first of the castle windows. From her elevated position, Katherine could see the state her city was in.
Not a single structure was left standing, all destroyed by the monster’s onslaught. Bodies littered the streets, piled high, and though the vast majority were monsters, there were several humans who’d died without turning. They were the ones who no longer had heads or were missing significant parts of them. And, in Katherine’s opinion, they were the lucky ones.
She stumbled as a monster got past her guard and tore a strip out of her ankle. Pain flared from the wound, and she swung her mace with a bit more power, splattering the monster across its comrades. For as far as she could see, there were still more. Still more pouring through the walls, still more beyond that. The sheer size of the Pinnacle King’s army was staggering, larger than anything she had ever seen.
By this point, she doubted that even if all Five Kingdoms had banded together, that they would have been able to drive them back. Each death on their side simply added to the enemy’s numbers, which meant that the monsters grew stronger as they weakened. This was unnatural, something that was never meant to be. An imbalance like this should not exist, yet here it was.
Katherine fell to one knee as another monster got her leg, the mace slipping from her fingers. She could no longer fight. She no longer had the energy to keep going the way she was. All she wanted was for the pain to end, for the fear to go away, and for this all to be over. If Morgan and the others were still alive, they would return to find nothing but ruins, and if he didn’t…
Well, I suppose that doesn’t really matter anymore, does it? Katherine thought bitterly.
She could feel their hot breath, see their looming shadows as they closed in, yet Katherine could not bring herself to look up. In the end, it seemed that she simply didn’t have the courage to face the monsters head-on.
Guess I am a coward, after all.
Katherine closed her eyes and waited for the end to come. The shadows around her grew darker, and in them, she could almost imagine her father’s face, haughty and imperious as he sneered down at her.
“Looks like you’ll be joining me after all, my daughter,” the look seemed to say.
Yet, even as Katherine waited, the moment stretching out into eternity, the darkness surrounding them seemed to be brightening. Her father’s face was slowly fading into nothingness. Confused, Katherine slowly cracked an eye, noting a sudden and very distinct lack of sound. The silence was almost deafening, and when she opened her eyes, she finally understood why.
The blizzard that had been howling non-stop since before the attack had begun had died away, suddenly and without warning. The millions of monsters all stood, frozen in place, completely still and unmoving. One might have even thought of them as hideous statues, had they not known what they really were. The silence stretched on, long moments where not a sound could be heard. The first cheer rang through the still air, breaking the spell.
Katherine felt a wide grin stretch across her face as the cheer was taken up by two, then ten, then a hundred. Before long, the city rang with the cheers of the troops who’d made it through the ordeal with their lives intact. Katherine herself could hardly believe it, but when the clouds parted to reveal the sun, it finally hit her.
It was so warm, leeching into her bones and driving away the bitter cold that had permeated the North for months now. She took a deep breath, and through the stench of death and decay, she could smell the first hints of spring. It was something she’d never thought she’d smell again, and Katherine could feel her eyes growing wet with moisture.
“It seems they have succeeded,” Herald said, limping up beside her.
“So it does,” Katherine replied, looking back.
Le’vine was sitting up now, the pallor of death that had clung to her just moments before, now wiped away. She even managed a weak smile and a nod, before Hilda pushed her back down.
“I believe that our heroes should not have to walk all the way back here, don’t you?” Herald continued.
“No, they shouldn’t,” Katherine said.
Her CP had long since regenerated, though she just hadn’t had the will to use any of her skills. Now, though, with the sun shining down upon them and warming them all with its light, she had no problems at all opening up a portal. And this one reached all the way to the Pinnacle King’s lair, proving without a doubt that he was really gone.
“Can you manage while I’m gone?” Katherine asked.
She knew it could be an hour or more before they emerged from the glacier. She herself was too tired to go looking for them, so the best she’d be able to do was wait.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Herald replied. “We can handle things while you’re gone. Go, and return with those to whom we owe our lives.”
Katherine gave him one last smile, then stepped through the portal. She emerged on the opposite side, just a few feet from the massive glacier. She looked around and saw that it wasn’t nearly as massive as it had been when she’d last been here. Cracks riddled its surface, and the constant shaking booms that echoed through the
air told her that it was collapsing, just as they’d planned.
She decided that she should probably move back so as to avoid any falling debris, and simply wait for them to emerge. Her body was still in a great deal of pain, but Katherine managed to ignore it in light of her current situation. The air here was still bitterly cold, though it was warming up by the minute. The temperature was so vastly different from one moment to the next that she could actually feel it happening.
When she was at a safe distance, Katherine turned back around, pulled a chair from one of her pocket spaces, and flopped down with a grunt. Then, she simply enjoyed the show. Over the next several minutes, the glacier continued to collapse. At one point, she began to worry that whoever had survived would be trapped within, but if the Pinnacle King had been defeated, that meant that Morgan would have to be alive. Seeing as he could fly, they should be fine.
Still, she didn’t feel her worries alleviate fully until she saw the small dark form drift out from the top of the glacier. From this distance, she couldn’t make out who he was with, though judging by the size of the spec, it couldn’t be more than two or three people. Still, they had expected these losses, and while it did fill her with sorrow, they had lost so many during this war that a few more deaths wouldn’t make much difference. The ones who’d died here would be hailed as heroes for the rest of time, their names engraved upon history as the ones who stopped the mightiest of beasts, a Pinnacle King.
Still, as the form drew nearer, Katherine could make out that there were only two of them. Morgan was upright, and judging by the way he was carrying her, the other had to be Sarah. Katherine knew that Morgan wouldn’t carry anyone else like that.
However, as he grew closer, drifting down and floating in her direction, Katherine couldn’t help but notice that something seemed off. Why was Morgan moving so slowly? He’d obviously sensed her if he was coming this way. He also didn’t set Sarah down, and while she thought she might be injured, Sarah was the type of person to want to walk on her own, especially after a battle like this.
The answer became apparent as Morgan came over a small rise, now clearly visible. Sarah hung limply in his arms; her head draped to one side. Her long hair covered her face in bloodied strands. Morgan’s eyes were red-rimmed, and the look of pain on his face was so extreme that Katherine could feel her heart breaking for him.
Morgan came to a halt just a few feet from her. He looked nothing like the powerful supermage he was. He no longer looked like the confident and powerful fighter who had gone off to face immense odds, all in the name of saving others. He looked like a broken man, someone who had lost everything and had nothing left at all.
“Morgan, I…” Katherine began, reaching out a hand.
“Don’t,” Morgan replied, his voice raw with emotion. “Out of respect to you, I came to say goodbye.”
“Wait, goodbye?” Katherine asked. “Where are you…?”
“Without Sarah, life just isn’t worth living,” Morgan replied, the certainty in his voice making Katherine’s pulse spike in alarm.
“Morgan, I can’t let you go! If you’ll just…”
“No!” Morgan snapped, already drifting back. “I’m going to bury her, and after that, I’ll be joining her. If there is an afterlife, perhaps I’ll get to see her there. Goodbye, Katherine.”
“Morgan, wait!” Katherine yelled, her hand outstretched to try and stop him.
His body elongated for a brief moment, and then he was gone. Katherine’s hand slipped through thin air and she stumbled forward, landing on her hands and knees. She stayed there for over an hour, hot tears pouring down her cheeks.
They may have won this war, but the cost had simply been too high. Morgan was a man of his word, and if he set his mind to something, he would go through with it, no matter the consequences. Katherine knew that she would have to get up eventually, to go back and join her people in the rebuilding effort.
They had a lot of work ahead, and many, many years of recovery. But for now, she wept. She wept for the bravest and most noble man she had ever known. Wept for the Supermage Morgan and all he had sacrificed, just so that others could live.
Epilogue
Morgan emerged from his Gravity Warp above a familiar city in the West Kingdom. Of all the places he could have brought Sarah, this was the most suitable resting place he could think of. Here, in the place of his birth, the two of them could be together forever. He soared over the Ruined City, the setting sun making the glass reflect light back at him as he flew, and making the entire city sparkle and shine.
He banked to one side, heading towards the very center, where he and Sarah had once faced the massive wolf. He was all out of tears by now, though he could feel the crushing sorrow on his shoulders like the weight of a mountain. The clearing came into view, the massive spire of glass twisting into the sky in the very center of the crater.
Morgan drifted slowly down, landing just before the spire and gently placing Sarah’s body before it. Glass was made of sand, and seeing as how his Rupture now allowed for the manipulation of other minerals, he had no trouble molding a grave where the two of them could lie peacefully. All he’d need to do once they were lying side by side was seal up the hole. The air would slowly disappear, and he would drift off into oblivion.
“Ah, good. You’ve returned as I asked.”
Morgan didn’t even bother turning around as the voice of the mystery god sounded behind him.
“You know, it’s rude to ignore people when they’re talking to you,” the man continued.
The ground before Morgan rippled and shifted as he hollowed out the grave.
“That hole looks awfully roomy for just a single person,” the god commented.
Morgan continued to ignore him, reaching gently beneath Sarah to lift her into the grave.
“Okay. I really hate to do this, but you give me little choice.”
Morgan felt his body lock up suddenly, Sarah’s limp body falling from his arms. He let out a cry of rage as he was spun in place, then slammed up against the glass spire.
“Let me go!” he roared, thrashing uselessly against the god’s bonds in an attempt to reach Sarah, who was now floating in midair beside the pudgy man.
“I can’t let you go. Not until you’ve heard me out.”
“I don’t care what you have to say!” Morgan snarled. “The answer is no!”
“Tut, tut, children these days are so rude,” the god replied. “All you need to do is listen to my proposal. Then, if you don’t like it, I’ll let you go. Or you can spend the next hour throwing empty threats, and then still listen to my proposal. Your choice.”
The man’s voice hardened, reminding Morgan that he was still a god, while Morgan was just a mortal. Much as he wanted to scream and yell, he had enough sense to know that it wouldn’t do him any good. And the longer Sarah’s body was exposed to the air, the more chance it would decay. He couldn’t let that happen to her, so he would do as the man said. Then, when he was done, he’d say no and go about what he’d been doing before the rude interruption.
“Fine,” Morgan growled out, feeling his teeth grinding together from the sheer effort of saying that single word.
“Excellent!” the god replied. “I knew you’d see reason.”
He gestured, and a chair appeared out of nowhere. It was large, plush, and didn’t fit at all with the destruction surrounding them. The god didn’t seem to care at all, taking a seat and steepling his fingers.
“Now, I’m afraid I haven’t properly introduced myself just yet, though in all fairness, the chances of you succeeding in your task were less than one percent.”
“I don’t care who you are,” Morgan snapped. “Just get on with it!”
“Oh, but I can assure you that you do care, Morgan. I am sure you’ve heard of me before, my name whispered to you by a few of my more carefree underlings. I am the Author.”
Morgan froze, his mouth half-open to offer a stinging retort to the man’s interruption.
“Good, I see that I have your attention now,” the man claiming to be the Author said. “Yes, I am the Author, or more precisely, the half of the Author known as Order. That is my real name. For time immemorial, I have fought against my darker nature, the other half that makes up my being. While I fight to keep the balance, Chaos would see the entire multiverse burn.”
“If you’re so good, then why did you kill Dabu? Why kill all those people and force others into servitude?”
“I never claimed to be, as you say, ‘good,’” Order said, making air quotes with his fingers. “I keep the balance, no matter the cost. If that means killing millions or even billions of sentient lifeforms, then I will do so without hesitation. Chaos must remain at bay, and I must remain in control. However, the man I put in charge of this world did something very unwise when choosing to remove all restrictions.
“He placed this planet in flux, inadvertently inviting Chaos to come out. You see, this universe is far more important than you may think. As there are worlds of order, there are also worlds of chaos, the two balancing each other out and keeping one from outnumbering the other. However, when Samuel and his group started meddling, they threatened to undo that balance.
“Chaos was very near breaking free of our eternal struggle, so I made a compromise. A new universe, outside of either of our direct influences, would be created, and so long as it existed, we would remain in a stalemate.”
“Then why have Samuel or the others create a way for their worlds to be destroyed in the first place?” Morgan snapped.
“Balance must be in all things,” Order replied smoothly. “I could not simply have them create perfect worlds where nothing could go wrong. Chaos would not have been happy, and so, I had to place many stipulations in place, along with the one that forbade mention of my name or existence. This world, in particular, got off to an admittedly shaky start, but soon balanced itself out. And thus, it remained for thousands of years, until humans here began meddling where they should not and opened a portal to another world.