by Charley Case
Next to the machine, Finn spied the Gjallarhorn.
It was a bit smaller than he imagined the legendary relic might be. At nearly three feet long, an actual animal horn had been coated in an intricate pattern of gold, silver, and Mythril. Finn recognized sigils from his family heraldry worked into designs that sent an inexplicable chill down his spine.
The horn itself sat in a stainless steel metal stand holding it aloft at head height so the user could blow it while not having to bear the weight of the heavy instrument.
Hellena, the Dark Star, stood behind the Gjallarhorn in all her dark splendor. Her face had healed from the blast of celestial magic Mila had delivered on the lake, but there seemed to be a tightness to her left cheek still as if the skin were just a little too taut to fit comfortably. Despite the slight defect, she was still beautiful, with long raven black hair, and piercing eyes that seemed to look directly through you. She wore a black, felt gown with long sleeves and a short train that flowed out behind her a foot or so. Her throat and collarbone were exposed to the cold by a plunging neckline, but her skin showed no redness or signs of chill.
Black smoke roiled around her, pooling at her feet, and rising above her head and shoulders like a cowl. That smoke had been present the last time Finn had seen her, but now it seemed thicker and more substantial. A sign that Finn recognized as her falling deeper into the darkness consuming her.
However, the most extraordinary thing about it all was that while a blizzard of biblical proportions raged all around them, there was a circle that encompassed the entire park, along with the front facades of the government buildings at each end, where no snow was falling. The wall of white powder slithered around the cylinder of calm like a giant snake, seeing its prey inside a glass jar and seeking its way in.
Then, there was the snow thunder.
Finn had seen a lot of shit in his life, but never had he seen anything like this. The blizzard was lit from within as lightning bolts flashed through the storm, one after another, the snow refracting the light and spreading it out so that whole sections glowed with angry energies as light bounced around, trapped in the snowstorm. The sound of thunder was constant, but only just audible, the thick snow absorbing almost all the noise.
Finn quickly hit the talk button on his earpiece and spoke softly. “Remmy, I hope you’re ready because this is going to be a hell of a shit show. We’re at the Capitol City Park. Get word to the Huldu and Preston if you can. I don't exactly have time to make a phone call.”
The goblin’s raspy voice cut in. “We’re on our way, Boss. I’ll let the others know. Try and stall ‘em. We have more minutes before we get there. Not many.” The line went quiet, and Finn muted his end.
A group of Kashgar noticed them first, raising the alarm with a shout, and leveling rifles and hands that filled with bubbles of magic.
Hellena regarded them with a cold smile. “Kill them,” she ordered, before noticing Stephanie standing behind Finn. “Hold!”
The men seemed a little confused but lowered their weapons and hands slightly. The call had garnered the attention of several groups close by and they all came running, their guns at the ready, but held in check for the time being.
Hellena’s dark expression faded as she looked at her daughter. Stepping closer, Hellena spread her arms out, her face almost beatific with joy. “Stephie. Oh, I’ve missed you so much. Come, give me a hug.”
Finn felt Stephanie grab hold of the back of his jacket and move closer to him, half hiding from her mother.
Hellena’s demeanor changed in an instant. “I said come here, child.”
“No.” Stephanie started weakly, but she gained volume and confidence with each new word. “I don't even know who you are. My mother would never do this.”
The outrage changed again, this time to disgust. “You’re right. That weak woman had no drive. I made her better, more powerful, more resilient. Your mother was weak, so I reforged her. Come and join me, child, and I shall do the same for you.”
“You’re insane,” Stephanie said in disbelief. “I wanted to save you; to bring you back, but I don't even know if you’re still there.”
Hellena struggled with herself, her teeth clenched and eyes rolling wildly. She finally calmed and the face Finn saw shocked him. She had fear in her eyes.
“Oh, my poor girl. I’m so sorry, I was just trying to protect you, not control you. I wanted a normal life for you, not one mired in magical politics.”
“So you locked my powers away, and made me tell people that creep was my dad? How is that making things better for me? You abandoned me. When I turned fifteen, you left for six months. Do you know what it’s like to live alone at fifteen? It’s terrifying. You did that to me. My life isn’t better. Look around. You think this is a good life?”
“Life isn’t easy, Stephie.” Hellena was becoming more wooden in her movements. “Sometimes, it gets messy. There are a lot of people that need help; that need protecting, and I thought I could be the one to provide it.” She clenched her teeth, obviously in pain. Her eyes screwed shut. “I just needed a little more power.”
Hellena’s face relaxed, and she opened her eyes. They had become solid black orbs, the blue was gone. Blood trickled from her tear ducts, leaving red lines down her cheeks. She smiled. “Lucky for me I found all the power I could ever want.”
“You were supposed to protect me first.” Stephanie cried, clutching at Finn's jacket as a sob racked her. “Now, you’re no better than a monster.” Stephanie buried her face into the back of Finn's jacket, wracked with sobs.
The Dark Star pursed her lips in disgust at the show of emotion. “I’m done with this. No daughter of mine could ever be this weak. Kill them all.” She turned and walked towards the Gjallarhorn. Her men took aim and fired.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Balla cloiche.”
Finn set his magic free. He crouched and drew Fragar. A wall of stone two feet thick and ten feet long shot out of the ground, rising to just over three feet high and blocking the incoming bullets and spells. Chunks of the wall rained down around him, but he could feel it was stable and would hold.
A muttered word and Fragar unfolded, blazing with purple magic and itching for a fight. Finn glanced down the wall and saw Mila had pulled out the Ivar. She was keeping cover and looking at him, then at Stephanie. “We need to keep her safe.”
Finn nodded and pulled the young woman around in front of him. He took her by the shoulders and resisted hugging her tight, Hellena’s last words sounding so similar to the words his father had last said to him.
“I’m going to put you in a stone fortress. I can't protect you otherwise.” He said, keeping his voice calm as his rage began to flow in his blood.
She nodded, and he sat her down on the ground, placing a hand in the snow and focusing. “This won’t take long, then we’ll have a hot coffee and talk it all out.” He reached into his inside jacket pocket and tossed her the Charleston Chews. “Just in case you get hungry.” He gave her a wink.
“Daingneach.”
He forced power through himself, and the earth reacted. A granite square three feet thick with an opening just large enough to fit Stephanie rose quickly around her, stopping when it reached six feet. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. He doubted that anyone would try to climb in during a fight, and it was going to be a hell of a dispute.
Mila poked her head around the end of the wall to aim and unleashed a white blast of energy from the Ivar. The celestial bolt tore through three men, before slamming into a Black Hawk. The chopper exploded and tumbled through the air. It landed on four orcs that happened to be charging at the wrong time.
“Aim for the machine, we need to neutralize the horn,” Finn shouted, spinning as three Kashgar came around the end of the wall. The one in the lead had full-body armor on, Fragar sliced through it as if it were a tee-shirt. The man’s scream became a gurgle as his damaged lungs filled with blood.
The two behind were
casters, and they lobbed small bubbles that burst into flame. Finn smacked the first away with the flat of his ax and sidestepped the second. He charged forward, his rage awakened. His steps quickened and he had decapitated the first Kashgar before the latter could form another bubble.
To the man’s surprise, Finn didn't chop his ax at him; instead he snatched the back of his collar and spun him to face his fellows, who didn't seem to have any trouble mowing him down to get to Finn.
Charging forward, the bullet-riddled Kashgar shield held high, Finn closed the distance with the nearest group and lobbed their dead fellow at them before tearing like a dervish into the tight cluster of Kashgar.
“Aim for the machine, we need to neutralize the horn,” Finn shouted, before turning and slicing a man in half.
Mila watched him for a second, before glancing around the stone wall Finn had summoned from the ground and searched for the cube.
A flash of orange light coming in from her left caught her attention, and she ducked back behind the wall as a fireball splashed across the corner she’d been peeking around. Some of the brining liquid fire splashed on her boot, and she twisted her leg to smother the small flame in the snow and dirt. When she looked up, the caster, an elf woman whose face was contorted with rage, loomed over her, an angry red glow forming between her palms.
Mila pointed the pistol up and fired from the hip, the thick bolt of white-hot power incinerating the elf’s hands, arms, and head. The rest of the body fell at her feet, but Mila didn't have time to be horrified at the sight as she scrambled to her knees and popped up, the Ivar held in two hands. She pulled the trigger, sending another bolt of pure magic racing for the black cube.
Mila smiled. “That was easy.”
Her smile faded when the bolt of white light slammed into a barrier of black smoke and dissipated, leaving the cube untouched.
“Oh, I’m all studied up on your particular brand of magic, Valkyrie.” Hellena sneered, before throwing her hand out and sending half a dozen black spikes streaking towards Mila.
Pushing off the wall, Mila was able to roll backward and avoid the spikes, which passed over her only to slam into an orc’s chest. She was clear of the first attack, but the move had thrown her outside the protective cover of the wall.
Before she could react, a black bolt, not much different from Mila's white bolt, slammed into her chest, her armor taking most of the blow, but it still threw her off her feet to tumble through the snow and slide to a stop on her back.
She was exposed to a group of soldiers that had come running when the fighting started but was just now getting into range. They raised their guns and two of them threw bubbles, one popping into a green acid, and the other turning into an ice spike.
Mila scrambled and let out a scream when she saw she wasn't going to be fast enough to avoid the attack.
Finn heard Mila scream as he cut down the last of the Kashgar. He spun about to find her. His rage was full bore, his vision red at the edges, but he also kept up his mantra that he was in control, not the blood. So far, it worked.
He had been hit with a force bubble that blew the shoulder off of his jacket, but he had taken hardly any damage at all. Right after that, he had sent a stone spike through two charging men, and his control was spot on.
Now that Mila was in trouble, he allowed the rage to have the upper hand. He spotted her, just as the casters sent their bubbles her way. He roared in anger at not being able to do anything to stop them, then he paused when he saw the earth quickly mound up in the path of the spells, catching them both and letting them either soak in or shatter depending on the spell type.
Finn blinked in confusion but didn't have long to consider when a bullet ripped through his left forearm and pulled his attention to a group hunkering down around a monument ten yards away.
He pivoted, and charged, weaving in an unpredictable pattern, and causing both bullets and spells to miss, if only by fractions of an inch. At the last second, he spun like a wide receiver and attacked the right side of the monument instead of the left where he had focused his snarling insults as he had run.
Coming in with an overhand chop, Fragar bit into a Peabrain’s head, cleaving the entire back of the skull off without slowing. Finn lowered his shoulder and hacked the next guy in the gut, then he bull-rushed through six men, knocking three to the ground, and slicing the legs off one of the others. Finn kicked out with his right leg, catching another in the groin, and tumbled to the ground with him, their limbs tangled.
Finn buried Fragar in the man’s chest then pulled it free and threw it at the last man standing. Finn didn't even check to see if the ax hit its mark, trusting in his abilities; instead, he scooped up a rifle as he sprang to his feet and smashed it into the face of one of the three he’d bowled over.
Running past the monument, Finn ripped Fragar free of the chest of the man he had thrown it at and shouted, “Spìc cloiche,” while channeling magic into the ground. The sound of spikes ripping through the last two men told Finn he hadn't missed with the magic either.
The fight only took a few seconds, but when Finn ran to where Mila had been laid out, he was shocked to see a mound of dirt rising eight or nine feet tall and humanoid-shaped. It appeared to be made of packed dirt with stones and twigs mixed in giving it a lumpy, unfinished look. It blinked glowing yellow eyes, surveying the scene before pointing at Finn.
“Dwarf?” The giant thing’s voice sounded like Barry White had eaten a bag of rocks and every rumbling word crushed the rocks to dust.
“Yeah. Dirt Elemental?”
“Yeah.”
That seemed to be the extent of the exchange. Dirt focused his attention on Hellena. “You must stop. Earth wants your darkness gone.”
Hellena, unlike most of the others around, didn't seem all that phased by the sight of the towering brute. She smirked. “You think I give a shit what this old ship wants? You want me to stop? Come make me.”
Dirt started a ponderous run that took him directly at the group of soldiers that had been attacking Mila. With a swipe of his arm, he sent the entire group flying off into the night, their screams cut off as they hit the ground. The Elemental didn't stop his run however, and Finn realized the only reason he had even attacked the men was because they happened to be between him and the Dark Star.
With each step, Dirt picked up speed, each footfall shaking the ground. Soon his footsteps were coming fast enough it was difficult for Finn to keep his footing. He saw several people fall over, and no one was able to fight in the earthquake-like tremors.
Finn saw the Dark Star reach down and flip a switch on the machine, and the red runes grew in intensity. The device whined with some internal mechanism spinning on an axis.
Dirt stumbled, slowing down, then falling to a knee. To Finn's shock, the elementals arm fell off at the elbow.
Dirt looked up at the Dark Star, his face a mask of pain. “You can't win.”
“Looks like I already have, rocks for brains.”
Finn was trying to figure out a way to get the damned machine off, but with Hellena hovering over it…
His thoughts were cut off when all the trees in the park began to shake, dislodging their snow in huge white puffs. As he watched, all the trees leaned towards the Elemental like there was some calm wind sucking them to him.
Finn had to cover his eyes when the sky lit up with raw magic that began to flow in giant rivers from the trees and into the Elemental. The lost arm was reabsorbed into his foot, while at the same time, a new arm grew from the stump. With a ground-shaking move, Dirt climbed to his feet and roared in defiance at Hellena, her hair being blown back from the wind.
When he quieted, she smiled pleasantly, her black eyes showing no emotion. “My turn.”
She sucked in a breath and blew the Gjallarhorn.
The note started low and quickly rose, ending in a tearing sound as the universe was ripped open for a split second. Raw energy blasted out from the tear and engulfed the Dirt Elemental a
long with half a dozen of the Dark Star’s men. The blast of power only lasted a fraction of a second, but as it dissipated the destruction was clear. Nothing remained of the Elemental except scattered pebbles. The men were converted to red mist, and the ground was scraped clean all the way across the park. Even part of the courthouse’s facade crumbled from the short note.
Finn knew he had to stop this woman. No one should have that kind of power, especially someone as insane as her. He let the rage flow, gripping Fragar in two hands and roaring.
She looked over at him with boredom in her eyes. “You want a turn, as well?”
Finn broke into a sprint, closing the distance in a matter of moments. His vision was almost entirely red, but he held tight to that last little thread of humanity making sure he had a way back.
Hellena didn't bother using the horn again. Instead, she flicked a hand upward, sending out a wall of thick black smoke.
Finn didn't hesitate and charged into the smoke wall, passing through it as it left a burning sensation on his skin and his clothes smoking. Her look of surprise made the discomfort worth it. He smashed his ax down in a two-handed overhead blow, but she was able to block it by creating a shield of condensed black smoke that became as solid as steel. In her other hand, she created a sword of the same material and swung it at his guts, forcing him to dance backward or be sliced open. They exchanged blows, and Finn was surprised at her skill, but he could tell that he was better than her. He just needed to wait for the right moment.
She backed him up a good ten feet when he saw her starting to tire, and he knew his moment was coming. When she dropped her guard, a loud popping sound came from behind Finn, and he was forced to spin away or be trapped between Hellena and one of her casters.
Preparing to fight on two fronts, Finn turned so that he could see both enemies, but he stopped, his rage-clouded mind having trouble understanding what was happening.