by J D Dench
“What the…” Olap got up and ran toward Liz again, but he was pushed back again. A barrier stood between Liz, Leif, and Hanika and the rest of the group. “A barrier? But why?”.
Liz, Leif and Hanika stopped and turned around. They tried to reach out for Kayla and Matias, but the barrier that had formed pushed them back. And in the distance behind them, Kayla spotted a figure. Not any figure. A woman, one that Kayla had become all too familiar with.
“Dream,” she muttered as her eyes locked on the evil woman. “That’s why the barrier. She lured us into a trap.”
Leif caught Kayla’s worried eyes and followed them to the woman. And that was all it took. His power left him as his eyes settled on the woman. And the energy left his body. The control he had vanished into thin air. One glance, and he was under her spell. Just as Kayla had been. And Matias.
That’s how I killed them, you know, Kayla recalled from a dream long, long ago. The Dwarves. They saw me and fell in love with me. And one by one, I killed them. And then, I cut off their faces and replaced it was flesh. Because that’s all Dwarves are. Piles of flesh.
Leif walked toward Dream, each step out of his control. He had glanced at her face once, but it felt like he had gazed upon it a million times before. It was the most perfect face he had ever seen. All thoughts of Silvia left his mind. Hanika and Liz called out to him, but he couldn’t hear them. And even if he could, it wouldn’t matter. He was trapped in the trance of Dream.
She was so close. “Hello,” she said, and her voice sent chills down every nerve in his body. His mind was panicking, trying to find a way out. But he was helpless. She reached out to stroke Leif’s cheek, the same cheek that had been scarred.
“Do you love me?” she asked, her eyes staring into his own.
He nodded his head. “I love you,” he mumbled with a small smile spreading on his lips. “So much.”
“Then kiss me,” she whispered, leaning toward him.
The kiss was interrupted by Liz tackling the woman away from Leif. She spat in Dream’s face, “I’ll be damned if you take him from me!”
A ferocity overcame her that she rarely felt. She let the anger consume her. “I have lost enough people to you vile creatures! I cannot even count them all, but I am finished. So if you want to go after Leif, you kill me first, you witch.”
The woman looked up at Liz with the same smile she used on Leif. And Liz felt her control slipping. Liz climbed off of Dream and sat on her knees. The woman stood in front of Liz and leaned down, stroking Liz’s cheek gently.
That was the same moment Leif regained control. “Liz!” he cried, running to her.
He got close before being kicked aside by Dream, her smile only widening. Hanika was frozen in place. She had no idea what to do. When Liz fell to her knees and Leif was kicked aside, Hanika finally found control and pulled her sword from its sheath, springing forward to fight. But she was too far away. She knew it was too late.
The woman looked down at Liz and whispered in her ear words only Liz could hear. “You ruled your Kingdom into the ground,” she said to Liz. “You failed your people. And now, you’ve failed your friends.”
With a flick of her wrist, a dagger appeared in her hand. She kissed Liz gently on her lips.
“Rest with Rizza, Your Highness,” she breathed into Liz’s ear. Just before bringing the blade to Liz’s throat and sliding it through.
“No!” Kayla, Matias, Olap, Leif and Hanika all shouted it at once. Matias sprung forward and pounded at the barrier with his bare fists. Olap ran at it with him, using his hammer to try and break it. But it was no use. The barrier was far too strong for either of them.
A sob escaped Kayla’s throat. She covered her mouth and let the tears fall from her face. “Liz!” Kayla screamed it out. “You can’t be dead. You aren’t allowed to die, Liz!”
Kayla had shut her eyes, allowing the tears to cascade down her cheeks. When she opened them again, she was in the cabin with Lillian again. Part of her was happy to see the Elf, but another part was filled with too much rage to feel joy. Kayla felt the anger winning over.
“What do you want?!” Kayla spat. “I just lost my best friend and you call me here? You can’t just beckon me here every time you need something, you know. I’m busy!”
Lillian didn’t budge. She sat in her spot with a sad look on her face. Kayla actually saw tears on the Elf’s cheeks. Instantly, Kayla felt the regret taking over the anger, and she felt exhausted as the anger washed off of her like a waterfall.
But the Elf didn’t speak. She gestured to her side, where a bow sat. And suddenly, the bow began to glow. It was a blinding light, a lot like the first time the weapons brightened Kayla’s apartment the first time her and Matias met Hamerst and Lillian.
And when the light faded, Liz was standing beside Lillian.
“Liz!” Kayla cried, running to her friend and hugging her more tight than she could believe. “Liz, I knew you couldn’t be gone. I knew it, I just—”
“Kayla.” Liz’s voice was stern. Emotionless. Kayla backed up and realized that Liz was crying. But her voice gave no indication of it. “I’m dead, Kayla.”
“No,” Kayla muttered.
Liz continued as if Kayla had said nothing. “This is just a stop before I go into my eternal rest. Kayla, you stepped up when I broke down. I thought the way to serve my people was to charge headfirst to their side. But you’re not like that. You’re smarter than I am. You listen to others and let logic work with your emotions to make decisions. I failed to realize that when I was alive.
“Kayla, Lillian gave me the Bow. But she told me it wasn’t her Bow to give. It was made by the people and given to their protector. I’m gone. I can’t protect them anymore.”
Liz’s tears intensified, and sobs broke her voice. She pushed through them and continued, “Kayla, I’m giving you Arrieta’s Bow. I can’t protect you anymore in body, but in spirit...maybe I can still do something right. I messed up, and many paid the price for my mistakes.”
“Liz, you did nothing wrong,” Kayla said, her voice dry and cracked. “You fought bravely and listened like any good leader should. You did the best you could with the cards you were dealt, Liz.”
Liz smiled sadly and looked Kayla in the eyes. “Thank you for that. But I cannot lead them anymore. So I ask you to rule the Kingdom in my place.”
Kayla didn’t know what to say. She just looked between them both, searching for the words to speak. “Liz,” she finally said, “I’m not a leader. How can I run an entire race of people? I don’t even know how to run myself.”
Liz let out a small laugh at that. “No, Kayla. You know how to rule far better than I do. And I hope you will accept what I offer. But my time has run out, hasn’t it Lillian?”
The ancient, youthful Elf gave a single nod of her head. “I’m afraid so, Liz.”
“So be it,” Liz said with a grim smile. She closed her eyes as her body began to glow. “Let me rest with Rizza. Finally. Together forever and ever.”
And she was gone.
“What are we supposed to do?” Matias asked, but nobody answered him. He turned to Kayla, who was lost in a trance as she stared in the direction of Dream. He wrapped his hands around her shoulders, making her look at him. “What do you think we should do, Kayla?”
Kayla didn’t answer. Her eyes had a blank expression. She was lost in another world. And then, she snapped to life and took a deep breath, looking at Matias as if seeing him for the first time.
“Azzaan,” she breathed. Her eyes were looking over Matias’ shoulder. “It’s him. He’s here.”
His brows furrowed as he followed her gaze. In the distance, there was a mass of shadows. They were coming toward the Chosen Ones, like a dark fog rolling over the battlefield. Matias reached for his Hammer.
Kayla stopped him, putting her hand over his. “No,” she muttered. Her voice didn’t seem like her own. She seemed like a woman possessed. Is this Lillian? Or Liz? Or...could it be both gu
iding me? “He’s mine, Matias. Azzaan is my problem.”
“What are you talking about? You said it yourself. We are a team, which means we fight together.”
Kayla didn’t even glance in his direction. She stared at the darkness swimming ever closer to Minicule. “Matias, Azzaan will not be alone. He will have one or two powerful Demons with him, and look at the darkness. It’s the wolves again. He has us outnumbered. But he won’t want anybody else killing us. If I challenge him, he will accept. And he will send his strongest to fight against you.”
“How do you know all of this?” He took a step back, almost tripping over Olap standing behind him. “How do you know any of this?”
Her eyes finally flicked over to his own, and a small sad smile appeared on her lips. “Because I’m not just Kayla. I’m Lillian. I’m Liz. I am all of the Elves that have died and that will die. I am a body. A vessel for the Elves to battle through. Lillian guides me, but I decide what to do. Because I fight for my people.”
The black mark that Liz had now appeared on Kayla’s palm. She rubbed it with her fingers and let the Bow appear in her hands. It took on a different form for her. It was the same shade of black as the Sword with a silver arch from top to bottom. The string stood out with a thick silver string.
This is the power of Arrieta.
“Matias, I know you don’t want to stay here. So if you want to go, then you can go. I understand.” Her eyes left his once more, staring at the darkness consuming Minicule. It would be on them in minutes. “But I am never leaving this land. Liz left me the Bow. Lillian left me her trust. And the Palace needs a leader.”
She drew back the string of the Bow, feeling the power collecting along her right arm as she took aim. Luckily for her, a year ago she had trained with Matias with a bow. Unluckily for her, she hadn’t been the best with a bow a year ago, and now she would be worse than that. But it didn’t matter. Her target was the dark mass growing toward them. No individual. All of it.
She released the string. A sphere of a moving silver mass flew toward the darkness, and as it grew closer it flattened and became a large arrow. Then it broke apart into dozen of smaller silver arrows.
As the arrows met the darkness, they swept over the waves. The arrows sliced through the dark mass with ease. The darkness broke apart as the darkness of the wolves pressed against the light of the Bow.
Olap turned his attention away from Leif’s battle toward his own, grabbing his hammer as his eyes widened. He recognized the wolves. The wolves he had fought out of BlueCrest to battle. “Oh no,” he huffed. “Not them again.”
Halfway through the darkness, the arrows broke apart. The silver light traveled upward and made a sphere once more, coming to Kayla and pushing into her. Only then did she turn and see Hanika get kicked hard in the back of the head. She fell backward and tripped over something. She landed where Olap had been standing. Wait. Olap wasn’t inside the barrier, was he?
“Olap, the barrier by Hanika is broken. I need you to go protect her.”
He turned to argue but saw the look on her face. This was not the same Kayla he had known a year ago. This was a Kayla who knew what needed to happen. Reluctantly, he turned to Hanika and ran around the barrier to her side.
“The barrier broke? Dream is getting weak.” Matias looked at the torn apart black mass. “So what do you need me to do?” She reached out and took his hand. A fresh light seemed to sweep over both of them. “I need you to fight with me,” she said quietly. “But I need you to defend me from Azzaan’s Demons. Distract them. I know what I must do, but I’ll need time.”
Matias gave a single nod of his head and a grunt. “Alright, but you better not die on me.”
Funny. I made a similar promise to Zae.
A man broke away from the wolves. He was clapping his hands with a large grin on his face. It was the man known as Jam’aal by Olap when they had first met. And beside him was his shadow, also clapping its hands.
Behind them both was a towering mass of shadow. It appeared much like the wolves made of shadows, only this wolf was twenty times larger with piercing yellow eyes and two horns sticking out of its shoulders. It also walked on two feet, its tail sweeping over the ground and sending gusts of dust where it walked.
“Azzaan,” Kayla yelled out, her voice carrying in the sudden silence. The only other sound was the battle between Leif and Dream. “We settle this now. You and me.”
The man’s smile faded, and he looked insulted. “But what about my friend Oth’tuun here? He came all this way looking for a fight.”
“Then I’m your man,” Matias called out. “I’ll fight your pup.”
“Pup?!” the wolf-Demon growled. Green saliva fell from its mouth, its eyes piercing into Matias. “I’ll rip you apart, little man.”
“Then it’s settled,” Azzaan added with that same smile. He walked closer to Kayla, who walked closer in turn. Matias and Oth’tuun stayed behind them. Only the shadow joined the man. “But I would hate for us to be interrupted. That would take all the fun from the game, wouldn’t it?”
As they got closer, the air around Kayla seemed to grow darker. Soon, the outside world appeared like a dull gray vision. So he makes the barriers. And Dream got the power from him, I guess.
“My thoughts exactly,” is all she said. The Bow retreated into her skin as she drew the Sword. “Call off your minions.”
He waved his hand in disregard. “Don’t pay them any mind. They’re more of an insurance policy. If I somehow lose, they will finish the job. Otherwise, they will stay where they are.” His eyes turned to Olap and Hanika on the ground in the distance. “Unless your friends over there choose to get involved.”
“They won’t,” she said between clenched teeth. “And if you think you’re going to touch them, think again.”
She turned the Sword into a spear and launched it toward Azzaan in a sudden burst of speed. The spear soared through the air, cutting the distance between the two into bits in a matter of seconds. And it appeared the spear would strike the center of Azzaan’s chest.
But the Demon God simply stepped back and grabbed the spear in mid air. “So eager? That’s just boring, but I guess it’ll have to do.”
Chapter Twenty
Oth’tuun kept his eyes on Matias. The beast was a giant wolf with two enormous axes dangling from his sides. Saliva dripped from his mouth down the fur around his chin, the green goo making the beast only that much more ferocious in appearance.
“Axes, huh?” Matias asked with a grin. He grasped his Hammer by the head and thrust it into his chest, allowing Hamerst’s Strength to take over. The axes appeared on the backs of his arms. “Then let’s play with axes.”
Oth’tuun didn’t speak. He tilted his head to the sky and let out a deafening howl that shook every bone in Matias’ body. With a single, swift movement he grabbed both axes and flew at Matias at impossible speed, both axes aimed at Matias’ chest.
The force of the axes against Matias’ armor was tremendous. Matias couldn’t believe that Oth’tuun was even stronger than the vicious opponent Galruman. The armor chipped away, but it was able to push back the axes. The impact was enough to kill Matias with a single strike to exposed flesh.
But Oth’tuun didn’t know how Matias fought. He had been prepared for the attack and confident Hamerst wouldn’t disappoint him. As the axes dug into the stone, Matias put all of his weight on his heel and spun around with his blades exposed. His axes sliced through the beast, forcing Oth’tuun to retreat and drop one of his axes in his rush.
The beast snarled and grabbed at the fresh wound across his chest, the green blood dripping down his fur and onto the ashes around him. The wolf cursed and ran at Matias, scooping up his other axe and pushing the two into one another.
Matias watched the axe double in size, and a downward swing met the armor on Matias’ right shoulder and cracked it down the entire length of his arm. The impact was enough to cut Matias though the armor, and he felt the blood trickle do
wn his arm and along his fingertips.
Damn, Matias thought to himself. How can anybody be so powerful?
Matias shouted to the wind and charged forward again, pushing himself to go faster and stronger. The axes met the wolf on every swing, but no attack was fatal. Green blood trickled on the ground. The wolf jumped back again, his breathing now a stream of heavy pants.
“I knew you were powerful,” the wolf growled. His eyes were sharp enough to pierce the darkness clouding around him. “I never realized how powerful you would become. I see now.”
“See what? Your death?” Matias flashed the wolf a cocky smile, but his breathing was just as heavy as the Demon’s.
“No,” he responded with a chuckle in his voice. “I won’t be dying, especially here. I’ll fight you again one day, Hammer-Holder, but not today. Today, you have the victory.”
Five wolves sprinted from the darkness and surrounded Oth’tuun. His powerful, yellow eyes never left those of Matias. Before Matias could so much as twitch, the shadow wolves sprinted around Oth’tuun. Soon, more wolves were running around him until it seemed as if the giant wolf was being absorbed into a dark tornado.
Oth’tuun lowered into the ground. Matias could only tell because the yellow eyes were moving downward. “This isn’t the end, Hammer Holder,” Oth’tuun growled as he lowered into darkness. “We will battle again.Someday.”
And then the wolf was gone, leaving nothing but his minions behind. And soon, even they descended into the ground. The countless number of minions that had served Azzaan fell apart with no warning. The wolves lowered into the ground, the only part of them remaining being their shadows. And soon, even the shadows fell apart and dispersed.
“That’s it?” Matias said to himself as he approached the barrier where Kayla was battling. “That’s all Azzaan’s greatest remaining warrior had to offer? Kayla, you have to defeat him. You have to finish the fight once and for all. No second chances this time.”
