by Jamie Hawke
A roar sounded, then two more, and I glanced back to see three large bears, one with Goldi locks on his shoulder. She held a bazooka, which she fired into the sky. The explosion hit the closest pyramid, sending a large section of it down to crush the enemy beneath it. Goldi and her crew came charging, others with rifles and more following. From what I could tell, this new group wasn’t even fairy tale.
Jets streaked overhead in the distance, laying down the attack on the buildings in the sky, but one vanished.
“The normies are back at it, at least,” Red said, momentarily appearing at my side. “They’re seeing our fight and rallying to the cause.”
“About time,” I grumbled.
Maybe they could at least serve as a distraction, but as few normie lives lost during the process, the better. I’d never understood the idea of valuing civilian lives more than those of the military, but now that I was there in the midst of a battle, it started to make sense. We were there to give our lives, if that’s what it took. Every one of us was there to sacrifice so that others didn’t have to, which meant that every life lost ‘back home’ was another loss to our cause, another reason our sacrifice, if it came to that, would mean that much less. Our lives weren’t less valuable, but if I were to die there on the battlefield, so be it. As long as my death resulted in less chance of success for the enemy, and in less death back home.
Not that I could compare myself to those men and women in the military, I thought with a laugh. They’d been doing this for years, training and fighting for our lives and freedom, and here I was like a baby in the grand scheme of it all.
Then again, I was going for the end game. Whatever it took to grow, to make myself the ultimate warrior… I’d do it.
Maybe when this was all over, I’d find a way of changing how the system worked. I could partner with the police, the Marines, all of them, and combine their discipline and firepower with my use of the supernatural. A conversation for another time, of course, because at the moment I was staring down a goddess who’d decided I was her next target. Then another. Then a third. All stared at me, slowly stepping closer, weapons drawn.
I recognized them, maybe from a show I’d been watching recently and then read about online? I wasn’t sure, but seeing them there with their gowns of stars and planet patterns, their curved blades, and the way their eyes seemed dark and full of the stars.
Confirming my guess, a voice said, “That’s the Evening Star on the right.” A moment later, Maleficent was there at my side, materializing next to me with a flash of purple and fairies darting about her. “I’ll take her.”
That left the Morning Star and the Midnight Star. Cool, I could try for two ancient goddesses. Why not?
“Good to see you,” I said to the queen of fairies, pushing energy into my sword and preparing for the charge.
She nodded, then pointed to my left. Crows were coming together in that spot, a moment later forming into Toewi.
“The one on the left?” Toewi asked with a wink.
Both of my new friends flew forward in bursts of darkness and color, but I had to rely on my feet to charge. Roar joined me, and I leaped up onto his back so that when I met the Morning Star in a clash of swords, it was leaping from Roar’s back and striking as I fell. She parried the blow with a flash of light that left me seeing spots, but my lion attacked her from the other side and gave me time to recover.
Remembering that I had my illusion skill now, I pushed it out so that it seemed there was three more of me crouching there. She struck, blade gleaming as it cut through the watery mist of my illusion, leaving her open for my strike. My blade slid along her arm, cutting a thin line along her cheek.
She was fast, but silver blood dripped down to her jaw, telling me she wasn’t invincible.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” she said, touching the blood, eyeing it, and then flicking it aside. Interestingly, it never touched the ground, instead floating off and becoming one with the air.
“Just Jack,” I said with a grin, and attacked again.
This time her confidence was down, a fact made even more true by her buddy yelping in pain as Maleficent broke the goddess’s arm. When I came in for a strike, she flinched and I faked with the sword to, instead, catch her with sweep of the legs that sent her to the ground. She flew out of the way of my sword as I brought it down, as if space had moved her on its own, but Roar was on it, darting left and coming back in to maul her as Toewi cast a spell that hit her goddess and mine with black roots from the ground, holding them in place.
Mine screamed as Roar did his thing, and then I came in for the final swing.
Head removed, she didn’t seem so badass anymore. Toewi had pulled two short, curved daggers from her belt and quickly ended hers as well. Morning Star and Midnight Star were both gone, their ichor flowing into us—one each.
“Sorry, was I supposed to give you that?” Toewi asked.
I laughed, dodging out of the way as the Evening Star’s arm went flying by. “No, I don’t know why my team always does. They need it too, I should think.”
She nodded. “Next time, just let me know.”
We both turned to help Hekate, but she was standing with both hands in the goddess’s chest, silver blood washing over her, taking on her form. I shrugged, figuring it was done, but Toewi cursed and charged in.
I was confused, but when Toewi grabbed Hekate and there was no reaction, I realized that silver blood must’ve had some power of its own. Toewi had both hands on Hekate, then, but seemed to be losing her focus as well, eyes going distant.
Without a clue of what to do here, I saw Arthur land nearby with his blade of light cutting a god in half, then spinning to cut through two more.
“Arthur!” I shouted, and a moment later he was at my side, Nivian following closely.
“This isn’t good,” he said, but turned to me. “Together, okay?”
“I…” Images of that silver blood taking over me, moving into me and filling every orifice tore through my mind. But what could I do? I nodded, reaching out with him.
“Focus on your Tempest abilities,” he said. “And on me.”
We laid hands on them and I felt like the damn Brer Rabbit with the tar, even feeling the silver enter me. It was too strong, even with my focus on Arthur and our connection to the elements. My energy was being sucked out, any connection with who I was.
Except, I still had unused ichor, and Roar was nearby. Focusing on that, I channeled myself into him, helping to break the bond the silver had on us. There it was like I was sitting on Roar’s back, and Arthur was suddenly with me, and we were staring at the goddess with darkness and discs floating all around, as if the three of us were in space. She turned her attention to us, and I was about to attack but for a hand held up from Arthur.
“This one’s not physical, friend,” he said.
Understanding, I focused more of my energy into the link and our powers, and as she started to scream, to break apart, the link broke in a flash of silver. Thrust out of this other plane, we all fell to the ground, all but Maleficent and the goddess.
The difference though, was that now Maleficent was herself again. She chanted, runes appearing around her forearms, silver receding. A moment later, the goddess exploded into nothing, leaving only the ichor behind.
She waved it toward me, collapsing to one knee. But I waved it back to her, pushing it in as I helped her to stand. “You need it more.”
“You…” She shook her head, then smiled. “I might have underestimated you.”
Toewi was looking at me with awe, too. “We’d be goners if not for you.”
“And Arthur, and Roar,” I said.
“You named your lion, your spirit animal… Roar?” Toewi laughed, then threw her arms around me. “You’re weird, but… thank you.”
All around us the fighting continued, and we could see the agents and military fighting the enemy in the distance, Chris and his witches having finally joined up with us.
But my attention was directed toward an ominous presence overhead, where a hawk flew, screeching out in a way that caused all of the gods to look up in reference to their leader, to Ra.
“I got this,” I said with the rush of our recent victory running through me, and leaped onto Roar’s back. His wings spread wide and he ran, pounding and then took off into the sky. Excalibur at the ready, I stared at the god above, totally wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.
We circled each other, him sending wave after wave of attack my way in the form of solar blasts. The only reason I was able to survive was thanks to Roar and the high amount of water I could call on up here. It was like riding waves, the two of us diving around Ra, always on the move, trying to get in hits. I’d shoot with my sword, sending gleaming blades of light his way, then come in for a strike, but couldn’t land a damn thing.
Each of his attacks left the air below scorched, and with each miss of mine I started to lose confidence.
“What do we do here, Roar?” I asked.
He roared.
And actually, that was the answer I needed. We didn’t need to charge up here and beat him as if I were his equal. We had a team, sure, but they were pretty damn occupied below. What I needed was to get him down to my level, and the best way I could figure making that happen at the moment was to roar as loud as I fucking could.
“Come and get me, you son of a bitch!” I shouted, flying past him and then guiding Roar toward the nearest pyramid, the one that had been hit earlier and had a good chunk of it missing. Chancing a glance back to see if he took the bait, I saw him following, and grinned.
Maybe this would result in my death, but hey, I hadn’t died so far. As far as I knew and hoped, it simply wasn’t my fate to die. More strikes came my way, but we had a destination now and made it, me jumping from Roar’s back and dismissing him, turning with sword raised.
There was only one way this could work, so as soon as Ra was within range, I activated the skill that would cancel out both of our powers. It was like I was squeezed dry, suddenly empty. While before I could sort of sense everything going on around me, feel my powers as one can smell and hear and see… now it was simply me. Nothing else.
Judging by the confused look in Ra’s eyes as he fell to the platform in front of me, the way his hawk wings vanished and the glow around his hands faded, it had worked.
With a rush, no powers here, only me versus him—man to man—I collided with Ra as he once was, as he was before he became this god. The man Arthur had known once as Pinocchio, with just hints of Torrind, the agent, whose body he’d taken over before that, but all of Ra fading. He was screaming, clawing, biting. Doing anything he could to try and fight me off, but even without using powers, I’d grown strong and learned a thing or two.
His strikes were easily blocked, my punches landing well. I kicked him back toward the edge of the platform, then came in for another kick that sent blood flying into the open sky. When he turned back to me, however, he had a wild, excited look.
“You thought it would be so easy?” He rotated, throwing himself over.
For a second I stared in confusion. But of course it wasn’t going to be that easy, and I realized this when I ran to the side and looked over, watching as other gods flew into him, giving themselves to him so that a moment later wings sprouted out—otherworldly, unholy wings that seemed to be made of skin and exposed flesh. He floated up toward me, long horns growing from his forehead, shoulders, back, and even a tail.
While he might not have been truly evil before, this creature he was devolving into clearly was.
“I have to ask myself,” he said in a thick, burning voice, “why bother with you when killing everyone on your team first would bring me so much more joy?”
He spun back toward the ground, where Huera was flying about in the fight, to where I could see Sharon the wolf engaged in battle against a Cerberus. And then he dove, bursts of lightning crackling as he prepared the attack.
“Roar!” I shouted, and ran and jumped, hoping my lion would be there. Air flew past, my panic rising as I descended, and then suddenly Roar was there, beneath me, catching me and continuing the dive. My sword flew to my hands, and I slashed in the air, sending blasts of light at the creature that had been Ra.
His back arched and he howled in pain, turning as we plowed into him, sword slicing, tearing. But for every strike, his body would grow back. Every time a limb went missing, another of his gods would join him, become absorbed into his body and a mutated lump would appear.
“You winning here is not how this day will go,” Ra shouted, coming back with a barrage of attacks that sent me spinning, head splitting in pain.
“If I can just kill you, I’ll be happy.” I charged back in with Roar, him clawing and biting as I leaped, sword up. With all my might, I thrust Excalibur into Ra as I fell.
The momentum and gravity brought me down, sword continuing to tear through Ra until he was cleaved in two, light bursting forth and taking me. Only, I wasn’t falling anymore, and as my eyes began to see in the brightness, a form lunged at me.
A short, wooden boy! Hit fist slammed into my gut, the light fading to no more than a bright light in the mists, and there was Pinocchio, staring up at me with hatred. Slowly, his eyes lowered to take in the fact that he was a nude, wooden puppet, and he shouted, “What have you done to me?”
“Brought you to justice,” I replied, and then shoved him back, Excalibur pointed. “It ends here.”
“You piece of shit. I’m a god now, not some wooden toy. I’ll tear you to shred, fucking splinter you to death!”
He came at me again, this time pulling in the mists around as runes on his wooden body glowed. The mists swirled, assaulting me like shards of glass—shards that never hit their target, thanks to my raised shield that I formed form my arm.
While he clearly still had power, it wouldn’t be enough. I’d trained in the mists enough to know my way around. To know that they could be my ally.
I spun, taking the mists and swirling them around myself so that I returned the attack. Only instead of the assault like glass, I took it to the next step, pushing the mists together so that the water hardened, even formed a sort of massive axe that swung for the wooden boy. He stumbled back and held up his hands, runes glowing, and the two of us were locked like that, mentally pushing, my will against his.
It took everything I had, focusing on all of my training with Arthur, on the energy I’d received through powering up and grinding. But most of all, what got me through that moment was thinking about my team, about Pucky, Red, Elisa, Sharon, and now the others joining us.
Was love the secret ingredient? Fuck if I know, but it sure as hell kept me sane as Pinocchio attempted to win over my mind with mental attacks.
No matter what, I had to return to my team. To be there for them, to ensure they were all right. And yes, the thought crossed my mind—to make sweet love to them all again. No way was I going to lose here and die knowing they’d be eagerly awaiting their hero.
Taking a gamble, I thrust out with my power-cancelling skill. The effect was immediate, mists exploding out, or so I thought. As the light started to return, I saw that my attack had hit its mark before being cancelled by the lack of powers.
Then the light was surrounding us, taking over so there was nothing but the light, and I was falling.
Wind tossing me about, light going in and out, all I knew was that falling sensation. Then I processed that Roar was there, catching me on his back. I could see again, and noticed Huera flying alongside us, casting her healing spell.
“Where…?” I asked, summoning back my sword so that it flew to my hand from where it had been tumbling down.
She gestured to a cloud of ash in the sky, being blown away by the wind. “You mean Ra? Gone, thanks to you.”
I watched as the ash circled, forming a small tornado before blowing away. So went Ra, the great god, the man, the agent… the boy of wood. Finally, gone.
Pyramids were falling all around us, exploding, crashing—only, not making impact but vanishing as they hit the ground. Or that’s what I thought at first as I descended, caressing Roar’s mane to show him how much I appreciated his help.
One of the larger pyramids was hitting nearby, but I watched as it made impact to see that there was an opening between worlds, another land being torn apart as the pyramid hit and exploded. Was it the Fae world, the place underneath, or some other place I hadn’t learned about yet?
I was curious, but based on the adventures I’d been on so far, I had a feeling this would be revealed in time as well. When we landed next to the others, I took a moment to look around at them, taking stock.
“Where’s Pucky?” I asked.
Elisa was being helped up by one of her brothers, and Red landing nearby. Sharon shook her head, and my heart froze.
“Behind you,” Pucky’s voice came, and I turned to see her holding her side, one of her horns broken off, blood on her forehead, but otherwise unharmed. “Don’t look so distraught, it’ll grow back. Eventually.”
“Maybe he’s making that face because, with just one of them, it kinda looks like a cock growing out of your head.” Red laughed, and then stumbled.
Pucky half-teleported to her side, catching her. “You’re hurt. And a bitch.”
Red chuckled, softer than her previous laugh, and moved her cloak aside to reveal a nasty gash on her side. It looked bad, but she was standing strong. “We did well, didn’t we?”
“We won,” I said, going to her side for support.
“And… what next?”
“Next we get you to a doctor,” I replied, trying to figure out how best to deal with the wound in the meantime. Apply pressure? I’d heard that in movies, but it wasn’t like I was trained in first aid or anything like that. We would have to add that to the training when we got back.
