Into the Storm

by Christopher Johns

  “Muu, get over there and hold the stone in place, go,” Yohsuke said tersely, taking command. “Zeke, shift to dragon and hold the higher portion steady so that it stays still. Vrawn, you’re strong, go get Jaken, and drag him back here to us.”

  We moved into a flurry of action. I towered over Muu as he held the pillar in place, the pressure of thousands of pounds of stone further splintering the pillar sending several motes of dust and rubble crumbling down on us.

  Ice froze the cracks and portions of the pillar that seemed closest to falling down, but it didn’t seem to be enough.

  “I’m still weakened from that fight with Lilith!” Maebe warned loudly as she ground her teeth and flexed her arms closer, shadow and ice packing up the sides of the pillar. “My magic wanes, we need to hurry and evacuate this place!”

  “James, Bokaj, and Balmur.” I grunted, the strain of the pressure taxing me more and more. “Go warn the dwarves. Do what you have to get them away from here.”

  “What about you guys?” James retorted, he was already in motion leaping above my head, kicking away large chunks of stone and rock that could brain me and render me useless.

  “Did I fucking stutter?” My roar reverberated in the air around us. “Go! Take Mae and Vrawn, too. Maebe can protect you all with shadow and ice.”

  “I will not leave you!” Maebe and Vrawn snarled in unison.

  “I can buy you time, so go!” A hiss of pain escaped my clenched teeth as a large chunk of ice and stone sliced into my shoulder.

  “You heard him, move!” Yohsuke called, I could see him hesitating, but I nodded to him, and he was gone. Vrawn had Jaken over her shoulder, and the other swifter members of the party led the charge toward the dwarves.

  Let me help you.

  “How?” I hoped that whatever was speaking to me could hear me where I was.

  Call my name.

  The insistence that I knew the thing’s name was silly. I would be perfectly fine if the place went down, I could turn into an earth elemental and move through some of the looser earth, though the bones of the mountain would be unacceptable even if I had permission from the primordial earth elemental. If nothing else, I could teleport away from here.

  But that was if whatever happened here didn’t bring down the roof to the whole damned dwarven city. Shit.

  Maebe, Vrawn, and all of my brothers were in danger. Mortal danger.

  Call my name.

  “What is it?!” I shouted, the strain on my muscles continued to build, my draconian knees wavering and shaking like I had just squatted my max six times in a row.

  Call. My. Name!

  “Damn it!” I racked my brain. Searched my heart and came up empty.

  “Dream eater?” No. “Captain Cru—FUCK!” Another chunk of ice hit my shoulder and my tail, knocking 20% of my health bar away.

  “Hubris!” I snarled, something flashed into my clawed hand and calm descended over me. I shifted into my fox-man form, and the pillar threatened to crumble and collapse onto my head.

  Master.

  The knob at the end of the weapon burned white-hot, then cooled until the wood became a large gem the size of a softball. I took my left hand with Hubris in it and lifted it into the air, channeling the energy in my body, my mana funneling in and seeping into the world around me. The mana fixed cracks, the shifting of the stone stopped, and my straining muscles collapsed so that I remained on one knee, but continued to pour my magic into the weapon, willing the world around me to right itself.

  Stone lifted into the air and back to where it had been. My mana soon ebbed, and the ring on my finger fed the hefty spell before draining dry. Even as what mana I had came back, it all fed the scepter in my hand. My life force drained, blood seeping from my nose and traveling down my arm to feed into the glowing gem.

  More.

  More of my health drained, further and further.

  Almost whole again.

  Darkness ebbed into my vision, the edges of my sight fading as the scepter fed hungrily. My knees grew weaker, and suddenly, I found myself sitting and staring up at the ever-darkening ceiling of stone. Cold. So very cold.

  Chapter Five

  My awareness of my body was off. I had been snoring again, my throat was dry and my tonsils slightly swollen, then I was going down once more. Something seemed to be ferrying me, grasping me beneath my armpits like a parent carries a child, the light-lit doorway of my room fading from view slowly as if it were never meant to reveal my comfortable bed and red comforter at all.

  Light faded further until darkness surrounded again, different from the void I was used to, I had no power here. Alone with this sensation of being carried and the sound of slowing flapping wings that I never got to see. Then I knew peace.

  “Return to me, my love, please?!” Moisture found its way onto my cheek.

  Odd, I thought belatedly. I touched my cheek in the darkness, the moisture glowed radiantly against my fingertips.

  Come on, Zeke! More voices of encouragement reached my ears, their hollow echoes as if thousands of miles away, but right next to me, too.

  It is not yet time to return, friend. You must go back. I blinked, light suddenly arching the distance toward me at hyper speed. The darkness was eaten away, slowly at first, but then gone in a painful white that made my whole being ache.

  “Ahhh!” I cried as a sharp whumpf forced my lungs empty, like I had been slammed back into pain and something constraining.

  A pounding headache erupted from my head, and my mouth felt like I had decided to try and eat sand.

  “What happened?” I groaned, my voice rasping out of my throat. The light flooding my gaze blinded me, and the shapes I could make out were heads and shoulders made of shadow.

  “Oh, Zekiel.” Small hands grasped at mine, larger ones cupping them, and a third set of arms lifting me.

  “Let’s get him back to the compound, we can talk it out there,” Muu said from nearby.

  “I can walk myself.” I said, overcome by everyone’s sudden distraught act. I was fine. “I’ve passed out before, I’m fine.”

  We stopped moving, the motion sending the world toppling dangerously as Maebe swam into view. “Zeke, you died.”

  “Bullshit.” I blinked, the light a lot easier to deal with than the still red-eyed woman before me. “There’s no way.”

  “Yes, way.” Vrawn snarled, jerking my chin toward her, her eyes serious and worried. “You used that item we warned you about, and it killed you making things right.”

  We began to move again, me still being carried like I was a damned damsel in some old movie.

  Did I really…die? I asked the others. None of them answered outright, but their silence was enough.

  I had died. And it was because of Hubris.

  We will be better when you have more mana to offer, and when the desired magic is less…unrefined. I can help you.

  I closed my mind off from the whispering weapon and let myself be returned to the compound in near silence. The echoing sounds of footsteps masking the whispers from onlookers as we passed by.

  By the time we arrived at the compound, I was strong enough once more to truly walk on my own.

  Muu took pity on me and let me down gently. Maebe and Vrawn sandwiching me between them protectively.

  “What made you use that item, Zeke?” Vrawn’s question wasn’t anything I hadn’t expected, but the force behind it was.

  “I was flagging.” They seemed confused, so I explained, “I was tiring, and once all of you were out of harm's way, it occurred to me that if that pillar fell, there could be more of the structural integrity at stake than simply that room. The scepter speaks to me. Calls to me. It helped me fix the room, and it told me that I could use it better with more mana.”

  “A sentient weapon can be a dangerous thing when you don’t know what the weapon wants,” Maebe spoke softly, her troubled frown forcing her gaze away from me.

  “I found this for you.” I held out Encorn’s Sign
et, and she took it.

  “This is quite powerful, but I’m afraid I cannot accept it.” Maebe pressed the ring toward me. “That ring would be most useful to you since you can control multiple elements. Who knows what you would be capable of with it.”

  “I can only have one item from there, though.” I shook my head, and she smiled as she shook her head back. “And while I don’t know where it is, I think I still have it.”

  “I planned to give you whatever I gained from there.” She grinned, though it seemed sadder than anything. “I am a queen, my love. I have many interesting baubles and weapons. I find that news disconcerting, but while I am... weakened as I am, I worry that my trying to interfere with it could drain me further and I would be unable to muster what little strength I have to return home.”

  “You do indeed.” I kissed her hand and I could feel her aching sadness through our bond. “It’s time for you to go home, isn’t it? I mean, I did just die.”

  “My strength wanes too deeply here now, and I worry that if I do not recover, it will not be the last time you die.” Soft tones for something so detrimentally painful. “I need to return to our kingdom to recover and see to our people. Next time, Jaken may not be able to bring you back.”

  Crestfallen, I pulled her close and shifted into my human form to kiss her deeply before stepping back. “Be safe, and send to me.”

  “I will.” She brushed my cheek with her knuckles and smiled pleasantly. “Vrawn, come to me.”

  Vrawn stepped toward Maebe and hugged the other woman goodbye before dipping down to give her a chaste kiss. “I will miss you, little one.”

  Maebe chuckled at Vrawn and brushed a hand over her cheek. “I shall miss you as well. I need you to take care of our Zeke while I am away.”

  Vrawn eyed me from where she stood, slightly bent over Maebe. Her piercing blue gaze penetrating mine, and I could see indecision there.

  “He seems to stubbornly hold to the idea that he needs no help and listens to no one.” Vrawn’s ire was well deserved.

  “He listens to me.” Maebe growled as she lifted her hand and yanked on my shadow. My body slid toward her without a fight. Her hand landed on my cheek, the soft sting of her flesh slapping against mine. “And I say that he should be a little more receptive to things now that he realizes what can be taken from him if he doesn’t tread carefully from here on out.”

  “Yes, dear.” The rumble in my chest traveled farther than I meant for it to, and her eyes half-closed.

  “I love you, do not continue to be foolish about things, for my sake?” Maebe’s question got a nod in return. “Goodbye, and do take care of each other, will you?”

  “Yes.” Vrawn huffed and stepped back.

  “I love you.” I returned her affection by rustling her hair and grinned. She smirked, reaching into the air before her and pulling out a single small vial of something that flowed almost like mercury inside of it, but it moved of its own volition in the glass. “Before you ask, this is a special elixir that will give me enough strength to tear the veil, but after that, I will weaken rapidly. I will be home, so my power will return more swiftly, but even then, I will be down a while. Do be safe until I return.”

  Sighing, I stepped over to Vrawn and pulled her to my side, a small gasp escaped her lips as Maebe’s hair fluttered in an unseen breeze. The shadows tore the veil apart, and she walked into the Fae realm, a single glance back to smile at the two of us.

  “Presumptive of you, Zeke,” Vrawn observed with her arms crossed before her.

  “I wanted her to go knowing that you and I would try to patch things up.” I let her go but stayed where I was, glancing up at her. “I wanted you to know that.”

  Vrawn simply watched me a moment. “Why?”

  “Because before I died, when I was trying to figure out what to do…” I ran my hand over my head, still trying to cope with what happened. “You were one of the people I thought of. You matter to me. Your safety. Your happiness.”

  I brought my hand up, staring at it, the two rings on my metallic right hand glinting in the low light.

  “I’m stupid, I’m brash and headstrong.” I clenched my fist as hard as I could. “I will sacrifice everything to make someone else happy, or to be there for someone else, and my own happiness means less to me than anyone else’s, usually. I figure if I do something like give you things, or make grand promises, that the gesture will just hurt me trying to do what I truly want to do, which is to prove that you are worth more to me than that. ”

  “Why are you telling me this?” Vrawn sounded genuinely worried.

  “Because.” I turned to look at her, and realized what was going on. “I’ve been doing everything for everyone else. And I found someone to be there for. So I’m going to do that. For you. For Mae. For me. And my friends will understand.”

  I reached out my right hand, about to speak when I felt something in it. I looked over to see Vrawn’s hand in mine, a soft look on her face.

  “Good.” Her dainty tusks flashed at me from where she stood. “That’s a start.”

  “He also forgot to say that he’s ugly as fuck, has a shitty temper, and smells like a wet dog at all times.” Yohsuke stood grinning off to my left. “So, you finally decided to do your own thing?”

  “You been expecting it?” I tilted my head at the man, and he shook his head.

  “You forget that other than Muu, I’ve known you the longest out of all of us.” Yoh paced around Vrawn and me. “Not to mention, I’ve died too. No one knows you better than me, right now. So, how is it you want to grow?”

  “I think I’m going to up my magic, for now.” I ran my fingers over my smooth chin. “And maybe work more on enchanting.”

  “Good. Let’s make sure we have what we need before we get going to this new city that we’re to leave from to cross the ocean.” He went to turn away, then stopped and walked over to me, pulling me into a fierce hug. “You ever scare me like that again, I’ll beat your ass.”

  I snorted, and he punched me in the bicep for it, which was pitiful, but I understood where it came from. Taking a mental inventory of the rings I wore, two of which were crazy important for me to keep. Spell storing and Mage’s Well, like I could give up that much. That left Radiant’s Binding that increased my healing ability and range that it took for the spells to take effect and my charm resistance ring. We had been using that lately, and if I was to go more caster intensive, then the signet would help.

  I took off Radiant’s Binding and stored it before slipping Encorn’s Signet ring onto my metallic right hand. The ring shimmered and turned black, spreading along my fingers, then up my forearm until the metal was completely hidden from view.

  “What the hell is this?” I touched the arm, and it felt like my normal skin. “That’s weird.”

  “It makes you look like you’re whole, and at the same time hides that you wear the ring,” Vrawn observed, taking my hand in hers. “Can you feel the effects of it?”

  I shrugged, then reached out to the shadows around us and coaxed them toward me. They were normally eager to come, but now they whipped toward me like a rubber band.

  “Oh, that’s going to take some getting used to.” Shaking my head and sending the shadows home, I grasped Vrawn’s hand and walked with her toward the others as they gathered. “Before you guys ask, yes my arm has changed, yes it’s still metal, but the ring I got makes it look like my skin.”

  “I was mainly staring because you look weird in human form.” James blinked at me honestly, the mischievous glint in his gaze making me flip him off. “We need to go say goodbye to Farnik or anything?”

  “He said that once we were good, the clan was good to say goodbye together; we just had to let them know.” Balmur whistled, and the clan came around the corner from where they had been hiding. All of them looked completely fine, the bastards.

  “Taking off already, lads?” Farnik and his family stepped closer to us than the others and looked over us. His gaze halted on me
. “Well, ye donae look dead.”

  “I’m a ghost?” I tried weakly, and he just snorted at me.

  “What all did ye pick then?” Roslyn’s excitement shone from her rosy cheeks. “From the armory?”

  Jaken held up a new shield of softly glowing stone, the red jewel in the center of it pulsing slowly. “Remembrance, it should do me well. Thank you.”

  “Oh aye?” Gerty stepped forward and touched the craggy item. It looked like tectonic plates that had crashed into each other amid a magma rise with the jewel. “It be one that can cast a hostile spell on it?”

  Jaken nodded, and all eyes turned to Bokaj, who grinned and held up a metal drum with an older looking brown skin pulled tight over it. “Bongo’s Spectral Drummer, tap it three times and a spectral drummer plays a song. I can’t wait to see how it works.”

  “That does sound really awesome man, it’s like having a band!” Balmur gave his best friend a high five, then held up a hatchet that looked surprisingly normal. “This’ll do me just fine. It’s kind of like Storm Caller, but it just returns to me when I throw it.”

  James held up a vambrace that he wore and smiled. “Should be handy in a close combat situation.”

  “Don’t you have scales to protect you?” Jaken asked with a look of scorn leveled at the monk. “That’s a waste, man.”

  James just punched toward him with that arm and a small blade of light erupted from the bottom of his wrist and sliced the air next to the paladin’s ear. “Okay, never mind, that’s dope.”

  “Yohsuke?” Brawnwynn raised a brow and pointed at the distracted vampire. “What’d you get?”

  “Oh, I took this grappling hook.” He pulled out a chain with a three-pronged hook on the end. The chain was no thicker than an average gold necklace, but the links looked to be either platinum or silver. “It grows and grasps anything so long as my aim is true. I was just thinking about how to attach it to something, so I could throw it unexpectedly.”

  A clanking and clattering sound crashed through the area, and everyone turned to see Muu donning his new armor, spikes lifting from the shoulders and flaring out from his elbows and knees, sharpened like blades.