by R S Penney
What was that?
Lifting her spyglass, Desa examined the eastern horizon. There, at the line where green grass met gray clouds, something changed. A crimson haze appeared, creeping over the field, standing at least a hundred feet high and advancing like a wall of flame.
She turned to look over the side of the building.
Six men in blue uniforms stood on the cobblestone street below, chatting quietly with one another. The eastern road continued past them, extending into the field for a quarter-mile before it became a wide, dirt path.
“Hate to interrupt your discussion, lads,” Desa said. “But it’s here. Benson, run to the barracks and tell Nari that it’s time. Dispatch a runner to the teams on the other main thoroughfares. Tell them to be prepared in case Hanak Tuvar tries to go around the city. The rest of you, get those cannons in place!”
They scrambled to obey her orders.
Desa hopped off the roof, pulsing her Gravity-Sink to slow her descent, and landed in a crouch. She stood up slowly, pacing into the middle of the road.
Midnight waited for her there, gazing off toward the oncoming storm. The stallion flicked an ear toward her and nickered.
Closing her eyes, Desa nodded slowly. “I know,” she said, patting his neck. “I’m scared too. But we’ll get through this.”
That creeping redness was flowing over the distant hills, choking the life out of the grass. At long last, Hanak Tuvar scurried onto a hilltop, its massive tentacles digging into the earth. It was huge! Much bigger than she remembered.
The squid was as large as a three-story building, its bulbous head rearing a good thirty feet into the air. Its lips parted, revealing sharp, pointed teeth that ringed its circular mouth. And it howled.
Covering her ears, Desa winced as the dreadful noise pulsed through her. She felt tears welling up, spilling over her cheeks. “By the Eyes of Vengeance…”
Frantic and frightened, a quartet of soldiers wheeled the first two cannons out of the storage house on the south side of the road. They set them up side by side, pointed toward the creature, and then hurried to retrieve the next two.
The city had over two dozen cannons to spare, but with multiple thoroughfares all leading to the centre of town, they had to block every possible route the demon might take. They had expected Hanak Tuvar to come from the east – that was why Desa had four to work with instead of just two – but until now, they couldn’t be certain.
The demon kept coming.
Tommy hurried along the east road, charging up to the edge of town with his bow in hand. Miri and Kalia were right behind him, the three of them skidding to a stop behind the cannons.
A squadron of uniformed watchmen followed them, each carrying a rifle. Desa counted at least twenty. No one had told her to expect reinforcements – those guns would be useless if the Gamma-Sources failed – but then where else would the Watch be at a time like this?
Their sergeant was a tall, pale man with golden knots on his shoulders. He met Desa’s eyes and nodded once.
“Almighty, protect us,” Tommy whispered.
The wave of redness swept over the field, closing in on the city. Deep within that distortion, Hanak Tuvar continued its relentless advance. Thick tentacles pounded the ground, tossing up dead grass as puffs of ash.
Desa narrowed her eyes. “That’s right. Come closer.”
“Closer?” one of the watchmen squeaked.
“I want it feeling good and arrogant,” Desa murmured. “Be ready to move the second pair of cannons into place.”
Maybe she was imagining it, but Desa could swear that the beast was focused on her specifically. It hated her. Everyone else was just food, but Desa Kincaid? Killing her would not be sufficient. The insufferable, little human who had dared to challenge the majesty of Hanak Tuvar had to suffer. Anything less would be an affront to its dignity.
Mercy was huffing and puffing as she stumbled up to join them at the edge of the city. Pausing with a hand over her heart, she let out a breath. The woman had not been an athlete before her ascension. “It has come.”
Desa nodded.
The beast saw only a pair of cannons, a last, desperate attempt by the humans to fend off the inevitable. It knew that heavy artillery was useless. This pitiful display of resistance was almost amusing. It would laugh as it crushed them all.
The distortion field was barely half a mile away.
It was time.
Desa triggered the Gamma-Sources that she had Infused into the cannons. An ear-piercing screech made her shiver. Hanak Tuvar reared, thin trails of smoke rising from its scorched body. It danced backward, trying to escape whatever trap the humans had set.
The outer layer of its flesh melted, thick globs of blackness falling to the ground and boiling. Tentacles waved back and forth as it tried to shield itself. For a moment, Desa dared to dream that they might have frightened it off.
Then the demon stood up on all twelve tentacles and shrieked with a fury that made the earth rumble. Just like that, it was scuttling toward them, trying to push that distortion field forward.
“Switch cannons!” Desa shouted.
The watchmen were already in motion, wheeling the first set of cannons out of the way and replacing them with the second two. They inclined each gun as if for a wide, arcing shot, but that served her just fine. She would rather hit the beast’s head.
Once again, Desa triggered her Gamma-Sources.
And Hanak Tuvar screamed.
Its limbs collapsed, slamming its girth down on the ground. It was like a bear that had been speared, roaring with impotent rage. “Not so insignificant now, are we?” Desa whispered. “That’s right, you son of a bitch, the hairless apes outsmarted you.”
“It’s wounded!” the watch sergeant yelled. “Kill it!”
What? No!
Before Desa could protest, the idiot and his men were charging across the field, shouting and carrying their rifles like a bunch of spearmen trying to storm a fortified castle. Their efforts would be just as useless.
Hanak Tuvar writhed, trying to rise.
“Stop them!” Desa panted.
Tommy stepped forward, his face a mask of cold fury, and triggered a Sonic-Source. “Come back!” he shouted in a booming voice. “This will not make a difference!”
The men kept running.
They hoisted up rifles and fired shot after shot. Every bullet melted as it passed into Hanak Tuvar’s distortion. What were these idiots expecting? Desa had told them what would happen!
“The mayor told them to do it,” one of the cannon operators said. “She ordered us to finish the beast off when it went down.”
Gritting her teeth, Miri hit him with a ferocious glare. “And she chose not to share those orders with me!” she hissed. “Undermining my authority!”
The sergeant and his men ran into the red haze, their guns melting along with every button on their uniforms. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The instant they crossed into Hanak Tuvar’s domain, they stiffened as if they had been hit by an electric current.
One by one, they turned around and marched back out, loose clothing hanging off their bodies. And when they emerged from the distortion, they were gray. Completely gray from head to toe. Even their uniforms had been stripped of colour.
They began a mad scramble back to the city, snarling like enraged animals. Their eyes were black from corner to corner, every trace of humanity gone.
“No,” Tommy whispered, shaking his head.
“What’s going on?” the young cannon operator asked.
Miri drew her pistol, cocking the hammer, and extended her arm to point it at the oncoming men. “Our problems just got a lot worse.”
Tommy beat her to the punch, pulling an arrow from his quiver, nocking it and letting it soar. He loosed shaft after shaft, striking one man between the eyes and another through the heart. Bodies fell to land in the field.
Miri’s bullets brought down several more.
Desa felt the blood
draining out of her face. Her mouth dropped open as she finally comprehended the horror of what had just happened. “‘Within my realm, my power is absolute,’” she whispered. “That was what it said.”
She rounded on Mercy, causing the other woman to flinch. “If we get caught in that distortion field – even for a second – it can turn us instantly.”
“Yes,” Mercy agreed.
The watchmen kept running, undaunted by a barrage of arrows and bullets. Behind them, Hanak Tuvar rose, stretching its meaty tentacles, raising its bloated body into the air. Its scream rang out like a war horn.
The squid resumed its terrible advance, the red haze expanding to make room for it. She could feel the weight of its malice, its singular focus. “It wants me,” Desa murmured. “I have to go.”
Tommy shot a glance over his shoulder, scowling at her. “You can’t be serious!” he said. “You go out there, and it’s death!”
Desa snarled with white-hot rage. “If I don’t, it will just keep coming!” she barked. “We need a plan. Kalia, run to the south-east road and make sure those soldiers have their cannons in place, I’m going to bring the demon to you.”
Kalia took off in a sprint.
“Tommy,” Desa barked. “Once it’s gone, Reinfuse these cannons with Gamma-Sources. I may need to bring it back here.”
Something was niggling at her, the ever-present sense of some danger that she had failed to account for. She searched for it, running through all the possibilities, but nothing came to mind. So, that left her with no option but to go forward with her plan.
Climbing into Midnight’s saddle, she took the reins in hand and stared out on the field. “All right, you bastard,” she whispered. “Just you and me.”
With a gentle squeeze of her hips, she had Midnight galloping down the road in a headlong charge. She bent low over the stallion’s neck, the wind whipping her face and making her short hair flutter.
Hanak Tuvar noticed her approach, rising up and thrusting its hideous face forward. Its mouth opened, sucking in the air along with bits of debris. Yes, she had assessed the situation correctly.
It wanted her.
Midnight turned right, running in a straight line parallel to the red wall, his hooves churning up clumps of dirt. Of course, the demon tried to expand its territory. So, Desa veered her horse back toward the city.
The redness chased her, swooping over the field.
Midnight was always two steps ahead of it. She could feel it on the back of her neck like concentrated evil threatening to scour her soul away. Her efforts had changed the shape of the distortion field.
Instead of a uniform wave that advanced in one direction, it now grew in fits and starts, chasing her. Hanak Tuvar was focusing all of its efforts on catching Desa, ignoring the city as a prize that it could claim later.
The squid scurried alongside Midnight, dark tentacles propelling it forward with incredible speed. Desa was easily within arm’s reach of that thing – so to speak – but it didn’t dare leave its crimson domain.
It screamed.
Hissing air through her teeth, Desa felt sweat rolling over her forehead. Her heart was pounding.
A tendril of redness wrapped around her from behind, encircling Midnight and trapping them both in a pocket of normalcy that was quickly shrinking. With a powerful whinny, the stallion leaped over the crimson haze.
He landed on the other side, free and clear, kicking up a spray of dirt as he galloped toward the south-east road. Hanak Tuvar was livid. It slammed a tentacle down with enough force to jostle Desa in the saddle.
She guided Midnight toward the city. Mercy send those idiots had their cannons in place. She could feel the Sources she had created; she knew exactly how far away they were and in what direction, but that said nothing about the surrounding buildings. They could still be in storage for all she knew.
Wait, what was she talking about? Of course, the Watchmen had done their jobs. They weren’t that stupid.
Hanak Tuvar struggled to keep up. Maybe it was just her, but she was almost certain that the beast was getting tired. All that effort spent expanding its distortion field took a toll.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Desa shuddered. “Just a little further,” she panted. “Come on! Come on!”
The redness swelled again, wrapping around her, this time at a height that Midnight couldn’t possibly leap. Her island of normalcy kept shrinking and shrinking. In seconds, she would be consumed. And then she would be one of them: a soulless, gray beast. Her friends would have to put her down.
Or maybe not.
A tentacle hovered over her, ready to squash her the instant that she was submerged in the distortion field. Desa sniffled and whispered, “I love you, Kalia.” The scarlet wave washed over her. In a last act of desperation, she did the only thing she could think of.
She slammed her fist down on her thigh, crushing the crystal in her pocket. A halo surrounded her and Midnight, a rainbow of colours – red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple – oscillating in an endless cycle. If the Ether could heal ordinary wounds, perhaps it would undo whatever Hanak Tuvar did to transform people into gray monsters.
Desa only wanted a few seconds to escape, but she got more than she had bargained for. The halo expanded, stretching upward to encompass Hanak Tuvar’s tentacle. When it faded, some of the redness had receded, leaving her in a world of full colour.
And part of Hanak Tuvar’s slimy limb was now out in the open.
The beast shrieked, pulling back as the end of its tentacle literally fell off. Midnight quickly jumped out of the way. Three hundred pounds of oily, black flesh hit the ground. And it didn’t just melt.
It evaporated.
The tentacle disintegrated into a cloud of dark smoke. Hanak Tuvar retreated, waving its amputated limb at her. It slinked away, injured and frightened. “You can’t survive outside of your distortion field,” Desa whispered.
Suddenly, this war seemed winnable.
She turned Midnight around and set him galloping toward the city, to the east road where she had made her stand with the cannons. Hanak Tuvar made no move to attack, but the red haze did not dissipate.
When she arrived, the others were still gathered around the two cannons. Mercy was mystified. “What did you do?” she asked, stepping forward.
Shutting her eyes, Desa drew a breath through her nose. “The crystals,” she panted. “They can undo whatever Hanak Tuvar did to the land, restore the natural order. The demon can’t survive in our world.”
Mercy nodded as if that made perfect sense. “Yes,” she said. “Its body has a molecular structure that cannot exist within our universe. The laws of nature as they are here would not allow it.”
“So, it has to change the laws of nature to make our world hospitable.”
“Yes.”
Desa leaned forward, squinting at the other woman. “Then what if we changed them back?”
“Um, ladies,” Tommy said. “I hate to interrupt your conversation, but I’m afraid we have a new problem.”
Desa turned Midnight around and gasped when she saw what Tommy was referring to. People. Hundreds of people deep within the red distortion field, all plodding toward her. She saw farmers in overalls and bankers in fine suits, sailors in striped shirts and at least a hundred lost souls who still wore their bedclothes.
They were an approaching army, all staring at her with lifeless eyes, directed by a singular intent. That niggling fear she had been ignoring came roaring to the forefront of her mind. Why hadn’t she put it together before now?
If Hanak Tuvar could transform anyone who entered its distortion field, then what might it have done to the citizens of New Beloran? To those who had refused to flee or who had been too slow.
It turned out the beast didn’t devour them all.
When the first group emerged from the red haze, Desa was not surprised to discover that they were gray. Stripped of colour from their boots to their scalps. They seemed to notice her for t
he first time; their plodding footsteps became a frantic scramble for the city and its helpless inhabitants.
“You’re right, Tommy,” Desa mumbled. “We have a new problem.”
22
The gray army ran across the field.
Lifting his bow, Tommy nocked an arrow, drew back the string and loosed. The shaft buried itself in the chest of a portly fellow in a straw hat. And that poor man sank to his knees when Tommy triggered the Electric-Source in the arrowhead. Lightning spread out in a spiderweb, striking anyone who got too close. A dozen gray bodies fell to the ground, but there were hundreds more.
Miri stepped up beside him with her mouth hanging open, blinking as if she could not believe her eyes. “We can’t stop that many,” she said. “We need to retreat.”
“We can’t retreat,” Desa growled. “If we let them enter this city…”
Shutting his eyes tight, Tommy shook his head. “No, Miri is right,” he said. “If we try to make a stand here, we’ll be dead in five minutes.”
Nari came up beside Desa, resting a hand on her shoulder. The former goddess had a look of anguish on her face. “We cannot defeat so many by conventional means,” she said. “We need a new plan.”
“I’m open to suggestions!” Miri squeaked.
The lifeless army was still advancing, wave after wave of gray bodies converging on the city. The sight of them made Tommy shiver. Every single one of those bastards wanted to rip him to shreds.
“Hanak Tuvar controls them,” Nari said. “If we sever its connection, they will all become inert.”
Thinking fast, Tommy retrieved another arrow, nocked it and pointed his bow into the sky. He loosed, and the arrow flew in a wide arc, landing amid the advancing horde. Harmless. Until he triggered the Gravity-Source, that was.
Gray people fell over, sprawled out in the grass. Bodies piled on top of bodies, creating a mass of flesh that served as an obstacle to those who came up from behind. Tommy let out a sigh. From this distance, the pull of the Gravity-Source was incredibly weak. His friends were able to ignore it.
“How are we supposed to sever the connection?” Miri asked.