by Adam Witcher
Edwin rushed past him and got to work with his new sword like arms. Another creature had crouched over Rhotha, and he rushed it. When it turned its ugly head to face him, Edwin sliced right through its mandibles, sending green goo spraying all over himself.
The first creature rushed Isaac so quickly he barely had time to launch another arrow into its face. The blow felled it, but one of its glistening limbs smacked into Isaac and sent the phantom bow flying from his grasp.
Another of the creatures took advantage of Isaac’s temporary vulnerability and charged. He dove below its body and drew his dagger as it dipped its mandibles down to attack him. It shrieked in frustration. Isaac was about to thrust Saldana’s dagger into its gut when it did something he did not expect—it dropped. The horrible thing lifted all six legs in unison and let its entire weight fall on Isaac.
Isaac grunted in pain and fury. His arms were flattened into the dirt again. The insectoid seemed to be getting heavier by the moment. He couldn’t breathe.
“Isaac!” called Rhotha from somewhere he couldn’t see. “Just hang on!”
A few agonizing seconds later, the creature on top of him jolted and shrieked again. Then it jolted even harder, and the weight was lifted from his body. Eyes watering, Isaac stared upward at the once again visible sky. Glowing against the white clouds was Rhotha’s spectral hammer.
It swung again with a heavy thud. Rapid slicing sounded from somewhere behind his head. Shrieks of pain still filled the air, but none of them were human.
Soon the fray calmed, and all three of his companions stood over him.
“Isaac, are you okay?” Aerin asked, fear and concern in her expression.
“I don’t know,” he responded.
“I’m going to run to the woods,” Rhotha said. “There might be some alchemy ingredients. If I can find a wortherwort mushroom and some shingled moss, I might be able to make a healing paste.”
Rhotha rushed off.
“Oh gods, your ribs might be broken,” Aerin said. “Don’t say anything, just breathe slowly, okay?”
“Ok—”
“I said don’t say anything!”
“Isaac,” Edwin said. “I just want to let you know. I saved your life. And when we get back to Avalour, you’re buying the biggest ale we can possibly find. Deal?”
“Deal,” he wheezed.
“Damn it Isaac! Get away from him, Edwin. You’re going to cut him with those sword arms. Mind putting those away?”
“I haven’t figured out how yet, but I promise it is on the agenda.”
Isaac closed his eyes and tried to breathe. Five minutes later—though in his pain it felt much longer—Rhotha returned with a sickly smelling green paste. She carefully pulled apart his armor and slathered it over his torso. The effects took hold almost immediately, the pain drifting away into a cloud of relief. She continued the process until every part of him that was in pain resumed its normal feeling. When it was done working, Rhotha wiped it all off and tossed it in the dirt. She took the extra goop and stuffed it into a vial, which she threw in her rucksack.
He sat up. To his great relief, Sunfire and Moonlight were okay. They paced anxiously but were unharmed.
“So, uh, sorry about that.” Isaac felt his cheeks redden.
“I don’t think it was your fault,” Aerin said. She sat in the grass beside him. “There was some kind of enchantment on the familiar, I think. Did you lock eyes with it?”
Isaac nodded.
“I think that was the problem. Some kind of attraction charm. It was all a part of the trap.”
“Well I, for one,” said Edwin, beaming. “Am glad that it happened.”
“Why the hell would you be glad?” Rhotha asked.
“Because I remembered that I know about transfiguration! That gem did something, reinstated the knowledge, I don’t know, but I had swords for arms. How cool is that?”
“It was awesome, man,” Isaac laughed. “I regret nothing. Those things are totally going to come in handy. And I’m willing to bet you can change other parts of yourself too.”
“Ladies,” Edwin said with a grin, “Care to test that theory?”
Rhotha burst out laughing. Aerin furrowed her brow.
“I honestly don’t know what that means. And I don’t think I want to know.”
“Really though, what the hell were those things?” Edwin asked.
“We don’t know,” Rhotha said. “But they showed up in my village too. Ugly fuckers, aren’t they?”
“Look,” Isaac said, finally standing. “If everyone is okay, I say we keep moving. We’ve got to be close, and they’re going to know the trap failed.”
An understanding took root in Aerin’s expression, making her grimace.
“My father,” she began, “my own damn father just tried to kill me.”
“He did indeed,” Isaac said. “What do you say we go get our revenge?”
19
A couple hours later, they began to see the outer sprawl of Sardonia—what was left of it anyway. The most direct route led them through a forested region, so they lost their view of the sea as they were plunged into the shadows of trees.
The first sign of it came in the form of an old lumber mill set up over a river that crossed through the woods. It was an old-style water mill—the kind that used a rushing river for power, but the weak stream that flowed now wasn’t powerful enough to make it turn. The wood that comprised the structure was worn and rotting. It could have been a century old. A bridge crossed the remains of the river, and thankfully it held under the weight of the horses. Moonlight pranced across without worry, but Sunfire snorted at it nervously before crossing.
They kept moving until they encountered an abandoned encampment of shacks—small, modest hovels with missing pieces of wood. Isaac peeked into a few, but nothing beyond some primitive cookware and the foundations of bedframes remained. Old firepits sat overgrown around them.
“Gods, how long has this place been abandoned?” Aerin asked.
Edwin pointed at something. “Maybe not as long as we think.”
Beside an old firepit, a makeshift enchanter had been set up. The wood was old and worn, though not so thoroughly as the shacks. The candles, however, were still a crisp white. They were only partially melted.
“Keep your eyes open,” Isaac said.
The trees then opened, and the group saw the glint of sunlight reflecting on the water. Before it, the remains of Sardonia lay in ruins.
It was a wide and long town, which hugged the seashore closely. It must have been high tide, because the sea lapped at sand only a few dozen feet away from civilization. Only about thirty structures still stood. Though most of them unrecognizable in their dilapidation, most were larger than the shacks in the woods—some were two stories, with attachments that must have been stables or storage houses for goods. Others were small hovels, but those stood closer to the tree line than the sea. It was a modest town center, but a town center nonetheless—at least it had been, sometime in the past.
Beyond them, out in the White Sea, the sun hovered over the horizon, making everything in the ruined town look even darker as a partial silhouette. Night would fall soon, within the hour.
Directly along the seashore, one building stood more than twice as tall as the others, and in a much better state of repair. The temple was plain but magnificent. A massive dome made up the center, its top terminating in a twisting spire. The sides curved into divets as they led down to the sandy soil. Two thin but tall towers bookended it, both of which were comprised of orb-shaped segments.
Unlike any other churches Isaac had seen, there was nothing engraved or ornamented into the walls—no prayers, enchantments, depictions of gods. It was as if someone had built the temple but failed to consecrate it.
“This was meant to be for Saldana?” Isaac wondered aloud.
Aerin stepped toward it. “It doesn’t look like they got that far. I can see why they chose this place. It’s utterly bizarre. It cha
nnels all of the spiritual energy that any temple would, but with no consecration to guide it.”
“Why go through the trouble of building a place like this and not dedicate it?” Rhotha asked. “Seems like a lot of work.”
“Maybe they got interrupted,” Isaac said. “Judging by all the stuff lying around, this place got abandoned in a hurry.”
“Look,” Rhotha said, pointing to the top of the left tower. “It’s that damned rabbit.”
Though perfectly still, the rabbit’s glow was still visible from roof. It glared, as if still taunting them.
“I’m getting really sick of that thing’s stupid face,” Rhotha grunted.
“How dumb does my father think we are?” Aerin said. “Is he trying to lure us into the temple?”
With that, the rabbit bolted off the roof like a purple lightning bolt, then ran off along the water’s edge away from the town’s ruins. It didn’t stop or look back.
“Apparently not,” Edwin said. “We’re not actually thinking of going in there, though, are we?”
“You got a better idea?” Rhotha asked him.
“I do,” Aerin said. “Surround me, I don’t want anyone to see me if they’re watching us.”
Isaac, Rhotha, and Edwin dismounted their horses and stood in a triangle around her. They all four moved behind Moonlight.
She closed her eyes when obscured and took a deep breath. After a moment, she split into two. Her real body still obscured, Aerin’s double stepped out from the group and moved toward the temple’s entrance. The real Aerin threw her voice to follow it.
“I’m here, father!” she called out. “This is enough. I don’t know what Scorpius offered you, but it’s a lie! Come talk to me.”
Silence from the temple. The only sounds were faint birdsong, the lapping water on the beach, and the rustling of leaves in the wind.
The false Aerin took several more steps forward, and the temple door flung open. A beam of energy took form from the doorway and blasted through her phantom figure. It singed the grasses around it, leaving several burning leaves in its wake. Curiously, the beam did not extend past her, but stopped in midair. The phantom Aerin blinked in and out of focus but remained. It grinned toward the temple.
“Nice try, father, but your attacks are useless. Come out and talk.”
“Oh gods,” Edwin whispered. “We have to run! They’ll shoot us next.”
“Hold your ground,” Isaac said. “The beam can’t come this far. It must be rooted in the temple. I’m willing to bet Scorpius has a portal in there that he’s shooting through.”
For several seconds there was only more silence. Then a booming voice, one vaguely familiar to Isaac.
“Aerin, go home! This is bigger than you could possibly—”
There was a loud thud as something cut him off.
“Oh, now you want me to go home? A moment ago you wanted to kill me.”
“I never wanted you mixed up in this!” Mayor Hector bellowed from inside. “Go run home to your mother. I won’t hesitate to destroy you if you stand in my way.”
“Clearly,” Aerin said. “But I’m afraid we are going to have to stand in your way. Now come outside!”
“Stupid girl, if you had any idea—”
“What’s he offering you, Hector?” Isaac called out.
Another brief silence.
“Who the hell are you? That bastard with the dagger? Why aren’t you dead yet?”
“Apparently nobody is trying hard enough to kill me,” Isaac said. “Now tell me, what’s Scorpius offering you? I promise it isn’t worth it. We can offer you more.”
Hector boomed in laughter.
“Foolish, Saldana-worshipping imbecile.” Any lost confidence was now regained. “You could never offer us more than Scorpius does. Limitless power, access to all realms of existence. If you knew the true nature of this demi-god, you’d join him too.”
“Can we just clobber this bastard?” Rhotha whispered, folding her arms. “What’s with the diplomacy act?”
The rest of the group ignored her.
“You really think he’s going to stay loyal to you?” Aerin yelled. “Scorpius isn’t like those groveling sycophants who bend over for you in Avalour. Once he doesn’t need you anymore, you’re dead.”
“Nonsense,” Hector replied, though it came out a little more like a question than he likely intended. Isaac took the opening as his cue. He stepped toward the temple but was careful to not get as close as Aerin’s double.
“Let me ask you this, mayor, what did Scorpius really need from you?”
“He needed… he needed help from this realm. To bridge the gap. To facilitate the transfer.”
“He needed a human sacrifice,” Isaac said, his confidence growing. “He needed me. But he didn’t get that sacrifice, did he?”
Another silence. Someone coughed inside the temple.
Aerin called out again. “Why didn’t he need that sacrifice, father?”
“He was mistaken! The phantasm gems are far more valuable. The same great power but from a renewable source.”
Isaac pondered the word renewable. Were they renewable? He’d been casting aside fragments after use. Did he mean renewable because Scorpius could send the mayor to mine for more?
“He was mistaken?” Rhotha chimed in. “This demi-god who you’ve put all your trust in messed up? And you still think he should rule the realms?”
Edwin shifted uncomfortably, petting Sunfire to occupy himself. “What’s going on?” he whispered.
“Figure we might as well give diplomacy a shot,” Isaac replied.
“But don’t we need to kill this guy?”
“Yeah, but let’s not remind him of that yet.”
“You’re all fools!” Hector boomed. “You know so little. My companions and I have a much more important role than you could conceive of in this. I don’t expect you to understand.”
“We know you’re a talisman, father,” Aerin said.
An argument erupted inside the temple. At least three voices all spoke over one another. The loudest shushed the others.
“That damned traitor told you, didn’t he?” Hector boomed. His voice then lowered, as if only meaning to speak to those around him. He was still audible outside. “I knew we should have killed him.”
Rhotha sighed. “This is getting old, Isaac, can’t we just smash their heads in?”
Isaac put a hand on her shoulder. “Give me two minutes, okay? I want to try something first.”
“Hector,” Isaac called. “Have you ever considered that Scorpius isn’t all that powerful after all? If he was truly a demi-god, why would he need phantasm gems? Those are mortal tools.”
“Scorpius is no idiot,” Hector called back. “He knows a great source of power when he sees one. Besides, Scorpius is a mortal, but not for much longer.”
“It isn’t too late, Hector,” Isaac said. “Take whatever gems you still have and join us. We can bring down Scorpius together and save this realm. Nobody ever has to know you were helping him.”
“That isn’t possible,” Hector said, his voice suddenly tinged with regret. “Things have gone too far. We… we must see them through to the end.”
“Why?” Isaac called. “He’s still mortal. The realms haven’t merged yet.”
Another brief silence.
“Aerin,” Hector began. “I sent that rabbit to kill you because I didn’t want you to get this far. I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
Rhotha laughed. “But you had no problem having us murdered?”
Isaac pondered his words for a moment. “What do you mean, ‘like this’?”
The door of the temple slowly opened, and something long and spindly came out of the door. A greyish brown leg that looked much like a spider’s but was longer than the average man was tall.
Aerin gasped as Mayor Hector fully emerged.
Only his face was recognizable. Isaac remembered it from posters where it smirked and was accompanied by phrase
s like Only the best for Avalour! And A leader you can stand behind! Now, it was contorted into a monstrous grimace. Around it, Hector’s head had taken the triangular shape of one of Scorpius’s interdimensional monsters.
He was much larger than the ones they’d fought already. His shining legs—their jet-black sheen reflecting the setting sun— lifted him eight feet into the air. All six culminated into three segments of dark carapace. On either side of his still-elven mouth, enormous mandibles, each a foot or longer, wiggled side-to-side with a shlicking sound that was audible from thirty feet away. Two antennas topped his head, but both drooped into an arc.
“Gods, father, what happened to you?” Aerin asked.
“This…” he began. “This is the form in which I can best serve Scorpius. I have transcended my old body.”
He trembled slightly as he stared at her. Behind him, three more forms exited the doors, each of them the same horrid shape as Mayor Hector. They slunk around him and stood by his side. Isaac recognized the faces from the almost sacrifice, but he couldn’t place them otherwise. Hector’s lackeys. All three seemed more comfortable in their new bodies than Hector did. Then again, they didn’t have their daughter staring at them.
“Go home now, all of you,” Hector said. “Aerin, perhaps I can convince Scorpius to have mercy on you. Perhaps there will be room for you in his new kingdom. First though, hand over any of gems you have remaining. Then leave.”
“A tempting offer, father,” she said. “But I think I’ll have to pass.”
“Last chance, Hector,” Isaac said. “If you want to help us, you still can.”
He pondered the request for gems, cursing himself for forming the bow in front of that rabbit. Otherwise, the mayor might not have known they had any.
“Look at us,” Hector said. “Do you really think we’d go back after a transformation like this?”
“You can!”
Another brief silence. The mayor actually seemed to be considering it. The former elf to Hector’s left finally broke the quiet.
“Fuck this, Hector! I’m not going to let you go soft just because it’s your daughter. Scorpius wants us to kill these bastards and take their gems!”