by Eric Vall
The only problem was, I couldn’t control the sun giant at all anymore.
It lumbered dumbly toward Phi with no thought in its head, and the Archon’s fury turned into action as she snapped a kick directly up into the giant’s chin. My monster groaned and lurched back as it rubbed at its chin.
Phi followed it up with several jabs, and again, every single one of them hit home. Then she lunged forward and grabbed the sun giant by either side of its neck.
I directed the giant to do something, anything, but it only scrambled to try to pry Phi’s hands away. If it was smart, it would do another palm attack, or twist its head to one side, or kick, but it simply grabbed at the Archon’s fingers as it tried to remove them.
I drew my daggers and slashed fruitlessly at the Archon’s knuckles from my position on the giant’s shoulder. Phi hissed as my daggers cut deep lines into her fingers, but her hands didn’t budge an inch.
My monster began to shudder, and its knees weakened until it collapsed. Still, Phi’s hands continued to squeeze. Her knuckles creaked as she increased her force, and my sun giant’s radiant eyes began to flicker and dim as it lost all access to air.
I felt the life of the giant dim to nothing, and I decided to cut the mana drain loose. I recalled it back to its crystal, my monster disappeared, and weightlessness seized me as I dropped into thin air.
The fall didn’t last long. Phi seized me in her blue-fingered grip, and she drew me uncomfortably close to her snarling face.
You lose, she spat in my head. You had all those monsters, all those little friends of yours, and now you’re all alone. You’re mine, now. Mine, and I’m going to use you for the only thing you’re good for. When I open that permanent rift, my armies will march across Mistral and snuff the life from your dear countrymen. When I’m done with them, I’ll move on to the rest of humanity, and your sickness will be stamped out for good. No child will be spared, no mewling infant will sway me to mercy. Mankind slighted me, and now mankind will pay.
Rage flared inside me, but frustrated curiosity warred with it almost as strongly.
“Why do you need me?” I asked as I grew desperate for answers.
Why don’t you ask Sera? Phi sneered back. After all, it’s not like she chose you by accident.
Sera just wanted a strong summoner to possess, didn’t she? I assumed she tried to overpower me instead of Cyra or Layla because she had a much better chance of seducing a man. Wasn’t that why the Archon chose me?
There is a power within you, Sera whispered in a voice that teased at hidden knowledge. You have unique potential, Gryff. Yes, I chose you for this purpose, and so I would never hurt you. Think of this, and make the right decision now. Free me, and I will destroy Phi for both of us.
Silence, Phi demanded with a smirk. You’re finished, dear sister. Gryff’s power will be mine, even if I have to tear his mind to shreds to get it.
Suddenly, Phi’s vicelike grip around me tightened, and a simultaneous shock of pain shot through my mind as I felt the blue-skinned Archon pry at the walls of my willpower. She was blunt and wild in her attacks as she battered at my mind, but I began to shudder with the pain of it as she chipped away at my defences.
Let me free! Sera insisted urgently. Summon me, and I will kill her myself. Use your head, Gryff. This is the only option left for both of our sakes!
I couldn’t let Sera win, not after so long, but Phi’s grip around my body was beginning to make me dizzy with lack of air. As my vision blurred and darkened, my mental defences began to soften.
Slowly, Phi was beating me.
I twisted weakly in the blue-skinned Archon’s giant hand as I struggled to free myself, but I didn’t have even an inch of space to gain. Sparks of random color began to pop before my eyes as my chest heaved ineffectually for air it couldn’t draw in.
Do it, Gryff, Sera’s voice insisted distantly. Summon me!
No, Gryff, Phi gloated, give in to my power. I’m the stronger of us sisters now, and I will have you no matter how long it takes. Why drag out the pain? Do it, give in.
My vision blurred into one streak of colorful darkness, but I clung to consciousness with iron determination.
Do it! the voice in my head insisted.
Was it right for me to make a choice? Was there really a lesser of two evils here, and was it worse to let both into the world?
I sparked the mana inside me, and I reached for the one summon that could possibly win me this fight.
I set Sera free.
Chapter 17
The walls within me that held Sera back crumbled into dust, and the Archon rushed into the world with unchecked, uncontrolled power.
Instead of Sera possessing me or me overcoming her, we’d reached a third option of mutual separation. Mana drained from me as Sera manifested with the help of my magic, and I gasped as I felt her leave. I knew exactly what this meant, however, and my heart pounded with fear.
Sera was out in the world with nothing to control her, and I would pay for it if she beat Phi.
I was used to the familiar flash and whirl of smoke that accompanied a summon, but this was immediately different. Instead of Sera appearing instantaneously, a cloud of black smoke flowed from the wing-shaped marking on my back. I’d had that tattoo-like pattern on me ever since Sera first possessed my mind, and now it flowed away like liquid shadow to hover atop Phi’s knuckles.
No! Phi snapped in wild anger, and her fist clenched around my chest.
I gasped as I struggled for air, but my eyes stayed fixed on the ink-dark smoke.
The cone of black shadow whirled slowly upwards, and when it passed over, Sera’s angelic form was revealed. The shadows parted to show her bare toes, ankles, coal-colored outfit, and it continued on all the way up to her midnight-black hair.
“Hello, dear sister,” Sera crooned, and she stretched her arms theatrically, like a woman waking up from a long nap. “You always did have a flair for the dramatics, but this is just gaudy, isn’t it? Tall as a building, all telepathy and no actual speech, you’re truly impressing every dirt-groveling mortal you come across.”
You always had a knack for showing up where you’re least wanted, Phi spat. Spare me the arrogant attitude, for once. I’m going to bury you away, and then we’ll see for real who’s the most powerful of the two of us.
“Unlike you,” Sera drawled, “I don’t need to look like an overgrown ogre for people to take my seriously. Though, maybe that’s because I don’t have the temperment of a spoiled child.”
Phi snarled audibly, and her free hand formed a fist that came straight down to smash Sera’s human-sized form. It looked certain Sera would be crushed, but instead, the dark Archon simply caught Phi’s incoming fist with the flattened palm of her right hand.
Phi’s fist trembled as it pressed against Sera’s tiny palm, but my Archon didn’t even move a muscle out of strain. Sera was perfectly, terrifyingly still.
“That’s what you get for diluting your strength into such a large form,” Sera chided blithely. “Honestly, sister, who taught you how to fight?”
You did, Phi snarled with outright anger.
“Well then, of course you can’t fight properly,” Sera tutted. “I never taught you a single move that could ever be used to defeat me.”
Phi roared wordlessly before she lifted her fist and swept it sideways to backhand Sera away.
Sera hopped up as quick as a flash, and the giant hand passed harmlessly underneath my dark Archon.
You’re going to suffer for your arrogance, Phi shrieked with obvious jealousy, and I’m going to snatch Gryff right out of your claws.
“Good luck with that,” Sera replied mockingly, “Gryff has fallen to my power. Now that I’ve earned dominance over him, you’re the only thing that stands between me and ultimate victory over mankind.”
Sera skipped across Phi’s giant hand before she bent down and slashed at her sister’s fingers with her long, sharp nails.
Phi’s hand flinched o
pen, and the vice-like grip around me vanished as I collapsed weakly to my knees. I was ready to summon another monster to get us out of there, but Sera gripped my arm and tugged me off the side of Phi’s palm, out into thin air.
We dropped like stones toward the hard, unforgiving earth, and I didn’t have a single flying monster in hand.
“What are you doing?” I shouted in panic as the wind whistled past us, but Sera just grinned back at me wordlessly.
Then she snapped her long, pale fingers, and instantly, I landed on the back of something smooth and chitinous. I winced as my ribs bruised painfully from the landing, and I propped myself up to look around in confusion as I tried to figure out what had happened.
A large flying monster had flashed into existence beneath us. Its four wings buzzed in odd patterns as it flew, and the sun glittered off the shiny, iridescent membrane of each long, partly-translucent wing. The monster was mostly black in color, though brief white accents along its spine gave it a startling look.
Its head was scaled and dragon-like, with a long snout and two reptilian nostrils, but its eyes were large, insectoid orbs that reflected a hundred different colors as the light hit them. Its back and tail were made of a segmented exoskeleton like an insect, though its tail ended in an arrowhead spike reminiscent of a dragon. The entire creature was perhaps fifteen feet long, and it showed no sign of effort from carrying both Sera and me.
Sera was seated sideways on the creature just behind me, and her legs dangled idly off the side of its tail as we flew like a bullet away from Phi.
“What do you think?” Sera asked coyly. “My snapdarner is quite the creature, isn’t she?”
“She’s quite the overgrown dragonfly,” I responded with stunned disbelief. “You can summon your own monsters?”
“Of course I can,” Sera scoffed. “Anything my little sister can do, I’m even better at. Phi has power, but no wisdom for how to use it. Thanks to you freeing me, I’m going to rip her to pieces and claim my rightful place as ruler of all realms. Together, we’ll command a land of monsters that bend to our every whim.”
Sera leaned in and ravished me with a kiss that sent fire searing through my spine. As her tongue sought mine, I pulled away and gasped in fresh air.
“You’re a bloodthirsty killer,” I snapped. “You’ll destroy humanity just for power. You’re no better than Phi.”
“I’m infinitely better than Phi,” Sera disagreed, and her eyes narrowed in annoyance. “The difference between us is vaster than the difference between a mouse and a mountain. Phi is no more than a blip on the history records, while I am inevitable. Don’t worry, Gryff. Humanity’s end will come about quickly, without much pain.”
“I won’t let you,” I swore fiercely. “After Phi is gone, I’m putting a stop to you.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Sera responded with a lazy blink of her yellow eyes. “If you can’t defeat Phi, what hope do you have of holding up in a fight against me?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Sera waved a hand dismissively to cut me off. The snapdarner turned suddenly and zoomed back toward Phi as the blue-skinned Archon thundered toward us on giant feet.
“We’ll see if you can even beat Phi,” I yelled over the roaring wind. “So far, you don’t have me convinced.”
“Simply watch,” Sera hissed as her yellow eyes narrowed at her sister, “and you’ll see.”
Sera snapped her fingers again, and a new monster flashed into existence on the ground below us. It looked almost like a wild boar, though it was maybe thirty or forty feet long, and larger than an elephant by a long shot. Two wicked tusks curled from its lower lip, and each tooth gleamed ebony-black in the light. The beast’s irises glowed the same yellow color as Sera’s eyes, and its black hooves left imprints of festering black liquid in its wake.
“It’s tar,” Sera explained without waiting for me to ask. “Stepping in the bre’gura’s path is a sure way to lose to me.”
“How many monsters do you have on call?” I asked as my brow furrowed into a tense knot.
The snapdarner buzzed and swerved underneath us, and I clutched at its segmented carapace to keep my balance.
“Just three monsters,” Sera answered easily, and a smile curved over her luscious lips. “Three is all I need.”
The bre’gura suddenly charged, and dust flew behind it as it left a trail of sticky black hoofprints in its wake.
Phi’s giant form crouched in response, and the blue-skinned Archon braced for the boar monster’s arrival. Her ivory-colored wings usually stayed tucked against her back, but she spread them to balance herself as the bre’gura approached.
The final feet between them disappeared, and Phi met the bre’gura halfway as she lunged to catch it by its ebony tusks. She underestimated its power, however, and the balls of her feet skidded through the grass as she fought to maintain her position.
The bre’gura tossed its head, and its right tusk gored a huge slash across Phi’s stomach. Blood spattered onto the ground, and the Archon bared her teeth in a snarl as she pushed against the monster’s tusks.
This old trick? Phi growled through our heads. You forget, sister, I haven’t been imprisoned for centuries, and things have changed since then.
Phi twisted her hands sideways, and one of the bre’gura’s tusks cracked loudly before it snapped entirely in half. The bre’gura squealed, and Phi flipped the broken tusk around in her hand before she stabbed it forward, directly into the monster’s snout.
The bre’gura erupted into pained squeals that made me flinch with their volume. The beast stumbled away from the blue-skinned Archon, and black blood dribbled from its face as it did.
Sera hissed and recalled her monster with a quick gesture, and the bre’gura vanished from the field.
“Better to rest it than to waste its life on a fight it won’t win,” my dark Archon murmured.
My breath caught in my throat at how quickly Phi had gotten the upper hand. If Sera was down to only two monsters now, how could she possibly hope to win?
As if to underscore my point, Phi snapped her huge fingers, and a monster of her own flashed into existence by her side.
It was about the size of a large cow, and it was neon blue and amphibian-like, as far as I could tell. Though its skin was slimy and smooth, it had a long, narrow tail that ended in an odd tuft of feathers. Two pointed, feathered ears sprouted from its frog-like head at an angle, and its cheeks bulged and shrank repeatedly as it fixed its unblinking eyes on us.
“What the hell is that?” I asked as I leaned over the side of the snapdarner to get a better look.
“I haven’t seen this one before,” Sera mused, “though it appears to be a blue variant of a venlusai, which frequent the southern regions far from Mistral. If it has the same abilities as a normal venlusai, its skin is venomous, and its retractable tongue is powerful enough to reel an enemy in.”
“In other words,” I groaned as I stared down at the venlusai, “we’re in trouble being this low to the ground.”
Suddenly, a blue, slimy tongue shot into the sky, and my stomach dropped as Sera’s snapdarner barely managed to dodge the tongue with deft movements.
You’re old, sister! Phi shouted mentally. Prepare for the real world, the new me, and your destruction!
Phi cackled eerily through our minds as we rose higher into the sky to get distance from the venlusai.
“You can’t beat her,” I accused as I twisted to stare at Sera.
“It may seem that way,” the Archon purred with a smile, “but you haven’t seen my third monster yet.”
Sera snapped her fingers, and a behemoth descended on the battlefield.
“Leviathan,” I breathed in horror as my eyes widened at the sight.
It must have been over a hundred feet long, though it coiled instantly in a serpentine heap behind Phi’s venlusai after it appeared. The leviathan’s fishlike hide was dark gray and rough, and a tiny sliver of a yellow eye gleamed from its giant head. Do
zens of thick, muscular tentacles split off from its main body all along the last two thirds of its length, and two bony frontal fins propped the creature up partially. Its tail ended in a whale-like fin that lay flat on the ground, and its mouth was a mass of writhing tentacles. I caught a glimpse of a bony, beaklike part within the mouth tentacles, and I shuddered to think of it closing around an enemy.
The leviathan lunged, and in an instant, it seized the venlusai in its long body tentacles. Those limbs squeezed with terrifying power around the venlusai’s body, and the froglike monster struggled to free itself with helpless desperation. In an instant, the tentacles twisted, and the venlusai’s bones crackled before it shivered and died.
You fool, Phi gloated, your leviathan is poisoned now. Good luck winning with only a snapdarner and an injured bre’gura.
“Really, I’m the fool?” Sera shouted in a querying tone, and I frowned in perplexity at the exchange.
The tentacles the leviathan had used to strangle the venlusai suddenly blackened and shriveled, and I watched in shock as they dropped off the monster’s body entirely. The limb loss seemed to not affect the leviathan at all, and the only damage was a series of slightly lighter calluses that formed on the monster’s body where the tentacles had once attached.
“It can drop the poisoned limbs at will,” I released breathlessly.
“Like what you see?” Sera asked with a pleased lilt to her voice. “Now you know why you should just give in and join me in my conquest. We could be unstoppable, untouchable … just you and me, and the children I bear you. Nobody will ever compare to the kind of love I can show you, Gryff.”
I found myself leaning in as she spoke, but I scoffed and shook my head in disgust as I regained my senses.
“I’ll never join you,” I insisted, and the force of my emotion rang out hotly from my voice. “I don’t even know why you want me, but I know you have nothing in your heart but lust for power.”