by Eric Vall
“Son of a bitch,” I growled as I turned Rammstein around.
Our troops ran for their lives as more of the fire titan was revealed, and when his hollow gaze found me, he unleashed a torrent of red flames on the valley below.
My heart stuttered wildly in my chest as screams pierced the air, and while I watched a fleet of ogres and dwarves get consumed by the titan’s fire, I knew the Master had sent him here to find me.
I’d seen that stare too many times now to miss it, and there was no doubt in my mind what would come next.
Now that the Master saw me, my troops would be burned up while I stood helpless to do anything about it, and somehow, whatever was causing this storm had no effect on the titan’s flaming body despite the subzero temperatures.
Even if we had twice as many Defenders, we wouldn’t stand a chance in these conditions, and the mages we did have were too depleted even to shield our soldiers from the flames. Our only option was to destroy the portal before the full titan appeared, and I looked behind me to see the loose minions had faded out of view in the north.
If a fleet of possessed mages as large as the one we’d lost made it to Aurum, there would be no soldiers to protect those who stayed in the capital, including the Elders. We would lose Orebane to the Master as every remaining dwarf was wiped out, and with full rein on the beasts in the mountains, the minions would be able to undo the damage we’d done tonight in a matter of days.
Still, the fire titan was crawling his way across the valley to bring the rest of his form through the portal, and with his hollow eyes locked on me, I knew I didn’t have a choice.
“Shoshanne, take him out!” I ordered.
“What?” the healer screeched.
“Use the cyclone!”
Shoshanne gawked as another bout of red flames spewed across the valley, and I threw out my palm to tear a shield from the ground. The enchanted flames melted through it within seconds as our troops scattered to find cover, but the healer still couldn’t seem to form words or move a muscle in response.
“Now!” I ordered more firmly. “We have to track the troop in the north, but we can’t take on the titan! The troops don’t have enough left in them!”
“Mason, I don’t know what’ll happen!” Shoshanne screeched. “I can’t control my powers when I form the cyclones!”
“Our runed bullets will melt before they reach the portal,” I told her, “and our mages can’t influence the bones they’re engraved on! Do it, it’s our only chance!”
I kicked Rammstein into motion before the healer could argue, and Deya let out a roar while she vaulted higher in the sky to bring Shoshanne above the titan.
My rune warred in my mind at the sound of our troops screaming in terror from another flaming attack, and I could barely hear my own voice as I swooped down to drive our troops out of range.
“Get to the cliffs and shield yourselves!” I ordered.
Rammstein caught the dwarves in his talons to throw them toward the cliffs, and ogres grabbed the wounded soldiers and hauled them on their shoulders while they bolted for cover. The elves even helped drag the dwarves who couldn’t make it through the drifts, and as my Defenders shot down the griffins, I ordered my Boms to guard the troops wherever they could gather.
Then the titan let out a furious screech as I flew straight for him, and I kept my powers connected with Rammstein’s gem as I led him in a winding path to keep the titan’s attention on me. Shoshanne was already forming a cyclone up in the clouds, and the last of our troops had nearly made it to the cliffs when the titan’s legs began to emerge.
“Throw it!” I bellowed as loudly as I could, and while Rammstein jetted out of range, I sensed a static energy bursting above me.
Then I looked up at the clouds, and my jaw unhinged as a whirling orb dropped from the sky. It was as big as our mansion, and it caught lightning inside it on its way through the clouds, so it flashed with streaks of purple as it spiraled toward the ground at mach speed.
Deya dove from the clouds a split second later and flew her ass off to reach us, and when I saw how hard she was flapping her wings, I realized the orb was gathering strength from the wind around it.
“Holy shit!” I belted as Rammstein was dragged in by its pull.
“I told you!” Shoshanne screeched, and she clung desperately to Deya’s back while the flaming giant parted its jaws once more and turned toward our troops near the cliffs.
Then the whirlwind crashed into the titan, and the blast that came after immediately cut my hearing out as the world seemed to expand in every direction. I was thrown back with Shoshanne while both dragons spiraled into the sky along with us, and my first instinct was to soften our landing, but as I summoned my Terra powers, I could sense the peaks shuddering from the force of the blast.
Time seemed to slow down as a hundred possibilities flashed through my mind, and I barely registered the pain as I slammed into a snowbank. Then I wrenched my helm off to see sheets of snow breaking loose from the mountains on both sides of the valley, and hundreds of our soldiers were thrown against the cliffs just below.
The titan was nothing but a gaping crater in the valley floor, and all four portals ceased to send more minions our way, but now, we were all trapped in the path of the avalanche.
I immediately sensed the Defenders’ magic trying to steady the fall, but it wasn’t enough to save us, and when I saw massive chunks of rock tumbling down with the snow, I realized Shoshanne’s cyclone had broken the peaks apart.
I stumbled onto my feet as I willed my rune to overpower every fiber of my being, and I tried to hold the stone together, but the cracks were too deep. They jutted straight through to the mountains’ core, and there was only one other option now.
I could feel my powers building to a breaking point in my veins as I held my palms to both sides, and still, I kept summoning more magic. Shoshanne was screaming something in my ear as she wrenched on my arm, but I couldn’t make out the words. I just focused on channeling every ounce of my magic into the palms of my hands, because if these peaks came down, it wouldn’t only be us who died today.
Aurora’s whole platoon on the other side of the ridge would be wiped out, too, and no one would be around to save the troops in the south before the fire titans came for them.
So, I blocked out everything as my body shook from the effort of containing my magic at this level. Then I felt another hollow crack of stone reverberating through the ground, and I released my powers on the mountains surrounding us.
The last thing I registered was the sight of the peaks shattering toward the sky, and a blinding pain shot through my chest before everything went black.
Chapter 22
“Mason,” the goddess whispered.
My eyes shot open, and I tried to lunge to my feet only to find I wasn’t on the ground. I was floating in a starry abyss, and Nemris’ eyes glistened with galaxies as she hovered close to me with a hand on my cheek.
“No, I can’t be dead,” I gasped as I wrenched her hand away. “I need to go back. My women are still out there, and I haven’t killed--”
“Shhh,” Nemris interrupted, and a wave of her calming powers doused me from head to toe until I felt almost drowsy from it. “You are not dead, my love.”
“I don’t know what happened,” I muttered in confusion.
Then I tried to piece everything together, but while my mind reeled with the general chaos of the battle in the mountains, I couldn’t grasp any specific images. It was like I’d hit my head too hard, but I didn’t feel any pain, and I stared down at my battered armor as I realized I wasn’t freezing cold anymore, either. I could have sworn my legs had been numb, and my chest had seized only moments ago, but here I was without a hint of exhaustion.
And somehow, I wasn’t dead.
Nemris smirked lightly as she watched me pat my chest. “This isn’t the first time you’ve sacrificed yourself for the sake of those who follow you. It’s become a habit with you. ”
“Save everyone at once,” Nemris finished for me. “Yes, I know. It’s one of the things I love most about you, but I do wish you would remember you are a mortal. However, it appears some believe this is not a good time for you to die.”
I couldn’t help chuckling. “Is it ever?”
“Yes,” Nemris said simply. “You know this. Or at least, you would, if you had not asked that I erase your memories the last time you were reborn.”
I sobered as I considered the look on the goddess’ face, and the further I gazed into the abyss of her eyes, I felt something familiar beginning to bloom in the far reaches of my mind. It was only a shadow of a memory, and I couldn’t form it into more than that, but the feeling it left behind my ribs was distinct.
I didn’t remember how I’d come to the conclusion, or how many times I’d died by now, but I knew in my heart what Nemris said was true. There was always a good time to die, and I’d walked headlong toward death more than once knowing full well what I was doing.
But if I’d died in other lives, why was I alive now if I’d sacrificed myself?
I looked around at the cosmos stretching to infinity around me as I struggled to find the logic, and then I met the goddess’ gaze.
“Nemris, how am I here?” I asked. “Who are the ‘some who believe?’ Did you save me? Can I not return to a realm if I’ve died there, or do you need to save me right before? Are you even allowed to save me from dying? And why haven’t you done it in my other lives? Or have you? How many times have I died?”
The corner of the goddess’ lips twitched with amusement, and she looked so similar to Deya for a moment as I stared at her pixie-like features and the glint of mischief in her eyes. Then her cosmic gaze clouded over with a soft pink mist, and the memory I’d been unable to reform faded from my mind with all of my questions.
I tried to hold onto the direction of my thoughts, but as Nemris smoothed her violet dress across her hips, the way her breasts swelled against the sheer fabric hit me like a slap in the face.
I didn’t know how long I raked my eyes over her lithe curves and supple breasts while her dress barely concealed her most erotic features, but somewhere between her navel and the slender slope of her neck, I realized I was ogling a goddess in the middle of a conversation.
And Nemris was smiling the same way Deya did when she was secretly proud of herself.
“Are you using your body to distract me?” I snorted. “Wait, are goddesses allowed to do something so--”
“This is why I try not to interfere with your work,” Nemris giggled, and the silvery sound brought a smile to my face as her eyes glittered with stars again. “Not only do you ask too many questions, but you always see through my motives.”
“I’m seeing through a lot more than that right now,” I said as I glanced down her dress once more.
Then Nemris gently cupped my chin to bring my eyes back up to hers, and her touch sent a silvery jolt through me as her smile slowly fell.
“Something is about to happen, Mason,” the goddess whispered. “Breathe and remember where you have been.”
I furrowed my brow, but I could sense the goddess drawing her powers out of my veins, and my adrenaline suddenly surged to replace the calming haze I’d been drifting in.
“The lost mages,” I breathed. “They’ll take Orebane.”
“Yes,” Nemris said with a nod. “And the titan your woman destroyed… ”
“The Master will send others to the southern tunnels,” I remembered.
“That and much more,” Nemris assured me. “Unless you stop this.”
My resolve grew as I remembered more and more of the life I’d just come from, and the need to be back with my women built in my chest as my heart beat heavier with anticipation. Still, a nagging curiosity kept prodding at the back of my mind as I noticed a supernova bursting some thousands of lightyears beyond the goddess.
“But why am I alive?” I tried once more. “Shouldn’t I have passed into another life if I was about to--”
Nemris let out a curt sigh before she abruptly kissed me, and I knew she was purposely silencing my questions. My spine tingled with longing, though, as just the tiniest touch of the goddess overpowered my thoughts, and I instinctively pulled her into my arms. Then I let her kiss me until my lips were numb with her powers, and Nemris clutched my armor like she’d changed her mind about how urgent it was that I leave.
She must not have, though, because just as it occurred to me that I needed to make love to her before I lost my mind, I felt a sudden falling sensation, and my arms closed around nothing.
Then pain shot through me as an agonizing cold overtook my limbs, and I opened my eyes again to a jagged flash of purple lightning while dense black clouds rolled above me.
Shoshanne was screaming my name close by as her voice grated with fear, and others were yelling as well, but I could hardly hear them through the howling wind. I was more disoriented than I’d been when I found myself in Nemris’ company, but as I pushed past the crippling chill biting at my skin, I focused on what I was supposed to do next.
“The other tunnels,” I gasped, and I strained to drag myself up out of the snow.
Shoshanne was frantically searching the snow drifts about twenty yards away, but when she saw me swaying in the blizzard, she stumbled toward me like her legs weren’t functioning properly. My gut clenched as I realized she looked sick with worry, and I caught the caramel beauty as she made it into my arms.
“I’m okay,” I said as gently as I could. “I promise.”
“H-How?” the healer stammered. “Where did you go? I… I couldn’t find you, and--”
“We can go over this later,” I told the healer. “Please just trust me that I’m okay, and I’m sorry I scared you. Did everyone survive?”
Shoshanne looked me over as her breaths came out shallow, and I brushed the flecks of ice from her brow while I waited for her to recollect herself.
Then the healer gave a shaky nod. “The troops were thrown by the blast, but they’ll recover. Mason… you broke the mountains open. How are you able to stand?”
I blinked for a moment, and then I looked to our right to see the valley had a giant crater in the middle of it that spanned the whole width of the pass, and on either side, the mountain range was only half as high as it should have been.
Jagged shafts of granite and obsidian replaced the lofty peaks that had shuddered from the force of Shoshanne’s magic, and the avalanche must have collapsed into the rubble after I sent the rocks flying who knew how far.
I nodded as I turned full circle to take in the extent of the damage, and while I knew it should have killed me to force my magic to have this kind of impact, I tried not to let my confusion distract me.
“I’m so sorry, Mason,” Shoshanne whimpered while she stared at the crater. “I didn’t mean to create such a--”
“You saved us from the titan,” I interrupted as I took her frozen hands in mine. “Don’t worry about anything else, but we’re definitely going to sit down and have a discussion about your magery when all of this is over.”
The healer bit her lip. “I know.”
“Right now, we have to end this,” I continued. “I’m going after the mages in the north, and you and Deya need to warn the generals in the south. Tell them to destroy the portals immediately. Can you do that?”
“I can,” Shoshanne said, but she eyed me all over like she still wasn’t convinced I was okay, and I pulled her closer to tuck a kiss in her copper curls.
“Where are the dragons?” I asked.
“I sent Rammstein to search for you near the cliffs, and Deya is getting Aurora,” the healer admitted. “I didn’t know what else to do, Mason. You… you screamed like you were dying, but before you hit the snow, you vanished. You just--”
“Stay focused on the next task,” I coaxed. “Deya should be here soon, and I need to catch those mages. If they make it to Aurum, we’ll l
ose Orebane.”
“Okay,” the healer said with a nod.
Then I carefully sparked just a sliver of my powers, but it was as if I hadn’t used them at all in days. There was no fatigue from breaking the mountains open, and the world didn’t spin in the effort to use my magery again. I suspected Nemris had something to do with this, but I shook my head to push this notion aside along with all my other questions, and I quickly connected with Rammstein’s gem further down the pass.
I summoned him back to me just as I heard Deya screech from the sky as well, and the black dragon had Aurora mounted on her back with my axe still in hand. Deya landed moments before Rammstein broke through the walls of snow to join us, and my half-elf ran over as she scanned the remains of the destroyed valley.
“W-What’s going on?” Aurora stammered. “Did you do all of this yourself? How are you still standing? Why did you send Deya--”
“Mason vanished,” Shoshanne said with a slight huff. “I didn’t know what to do! He almost died, and then he was gone! But now he’s back?”
“What?” the half-elf scoffed as she turned on me. “You almost died? Mason, how could you? Do you realize how furious I would be if you died?”
“I know, but it’s not like I did it on purpose--”
“And how did you vanish? Are some of these minions Tenebrae Mages? Where did you go?” Aurora asked another ten questions while I shivered violently beside Shoshanne, and as the notion of how much time must have passed since I blacked out pressed down on me, I decided to take a cue from the goddess.
So, I abruptly dragged Aurora over and kissed her to stop her questions, and then I kissed her some more to make absolutely sure she couldn’t think straight. Her lips burned so hot against mine that my face began to thaw for the first time in an hour, and when I released the Ignis Mage, she blinked up at me as her cheeks turned pink.
“This isn’t over yet,” I said as another blast of wind broke over us. “I destroyed the train tracks, and we need to get our troops out of this storm. Shoshanne’s flying south to destroy the other tunnels, and I’m flying north to catch a band of minions heading for Aurum. Is your magery intact?”