by Jamie Hawke
“She makes a good point,” Steph said, stepping up next to me. “Didn’t you say you dressed as General Lee for Halloween once as a child?”
“That, you remember?” I laughed. “Come on, nobody even knew what I was supposed to be. Someone thought I was a toy soldier from Toy Story—which is weird, because I don’t think they even had soldiers with Civil War clothes in that film!”
“Off track…”
“Right.” I put my hands on my hips, looking around at our surroundings, and sighed. “Maybe. Maybe there’s a subconscious part of me that made this happen because in some way I’m suddenly putting my obsession with certain aspects of our history—I mean, America’s history—to work here with what we’re doing in the magical sense. I don’t know.”
“Of course, you have. And it’s adorable—but for what it’s worth, every single troll and goblin I interacted with while under the spell, on their side, seemed pretty damn evil. Helpless, to say the least.”
“And I’d counter by saying that you either had to surround yourself with people like that, because of the situation you were in, or they had to act like that to fit in, to not be killed. Then again, they could have been under a spell. You should know that better than anyone.”
She pursed her lips and nodded.
“Only one way to find out about them.” I took her arm in mine, nodded to Riland who was watching with curiosity, and we headed up the incline to join the others.
I paused at one point to watch the moon, shining down on us from above. It was hazy, with a light layer of clouds drifting through the sky, causing the moon to have a glowing ring around it. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but for a moment I thought there were shapes moving about in the mist.
No way could the enemy have tracked us down already, right? Unless they had followed us from the senator’s house, which was entirely possible. Not that it mattered, since our whole point was to lead them here for a battle.
“I used to stare up at the moon and wonder,” Steph said, pressing close to me. “Wonder if, since there was magic and people like me and the others, were all those other myths true, too? I mean, about werewolves, vampires, all that.”
“And? Did you ever get your answer?”
“It’s complicated,” she replied. “But… yes, I’d say that pretty much every horror you can think of really exists. But, they aren’t always the horror you imagine.”
“As you would seem to expect,” Riland said with a humored nod my way.
“What do you know about it?” I asked.
Riland shook his head. “Only what I know from my time, and what I saw in the Dark Lands. These stories, fairy tales from your world… not so much.”
“And in the Dark Lands?”
“Some creatures were dark, others less so. Some formed into groups, others stayed on their own. You’d have some who saw it as a license to do whatever they wanted, others who took up the standard of justice and tried to keep the place sane, to start over.” He sighed, eyes moving to Aerona, likely thinking of his fallen friend, her lover. “I’m glad to be done with that place, regardless.”
We kept walking, the darkness around us very much pressing in, reminding me of the short amount of time I had spent in that place. For Riland, it had gone on much longer. Megha, too.
“And you?” Steph asked as we entered the clearing the others had formed. “What were you thinking about while you were staring up at the moon just now?”
I grinned. “Thinking that I wanted to throw back my head and howl.”
She laughed. “Do it.”
“When the fighting starts, I will.”
They were already starting to work on the spell, with Aerona in the center as Mizoa faced her, much like she had done with me and Megha to prepare for infiltrating the coven. As the spell began, Ebrill and others worked on concealment spells to ensure that any random explorers or people on airplanes—I hoped satellites, as well—wouldn’t happen to glimpse what was about to go down.
“And if they don’t bother to come for it?” I asked Steph at my side.
She only scoffed. “Based on what we’ve seen so far, they’ll come.”
The chanting increased in volume and tempo, and a flash of mist came in from what I guessed to be the east. It flooded in like thick clouds or dragon smoke, filling the historic battle field as the chanting seemed to echo from all angles.
Cackling came first, and that got my blood moving. It was exciting—when you go into a battle with a bunch of witches, you kind of expect cackling, right? It wouldn’t be the same without it, and I wasn’t let down in the slightest.
The orcs came first, though, before the witches came into view. So, I had no choice—if they were going to try and hurt me or mine, I would fight them. Whether some were good or bad, in this case, we would have to wait until later to deal with it.
“Now comes the fun part,” Mizoa said, eyes alight.
Glitonea laughed, threw back her head, and became a griffon. She flapped her wings and rose into the sky, and then, followed by the gargoyles, led the charge against the oncoming orcs, Drow, goblins, monsters, and more.
Aerona stayed back, however, I thought, since I didn’t see her there with them. Only, when I turned all I saw was an outline of her.
I stayed back with Megha and Steph, casting defensive spells over us, offensive ones at groups of enemies that were exposed, and called out for Aerona.
“Searching,” her voice came like a whisper.
“We’ll need you here.”
“No,” Megha countered. “If she stops searching, the others will sense it.”
“Speaking of others,” Steph said, raising a hand and pointing as her wraith knights appeared, Percival nodding at us, ready for duty. “They’re here.”
Sure enough, a black sphere was visible forming in the mist, flashing about with whipping tails and more colors moving up behind it. The last of the Nine, led by Moronoe. Fatiha appeared at the base of our hill, eyeing first me and then the oncoming sight of Moronoe.
“You have no idea what you’ve done here,” Fatiha shouted, cursing and then turning and charging at the oncoming Nine, rising into the sky and pulling together her own flashing, bursting circles of magical light.
I grinned. We knew exactly what we were doing, and apparently, it was working.
“Let’s take out the ranks while the more powerful ones are distracted,” Steph said, and without waiting, moved down the hill with her wraith knights, led by a wall of flame that shot out before her.
“Protect Aerona,” Megha said, following Steph and leaping into the air to ride one of her titans. It appeared, gray skin, nasty face without eyes but a gaping, sharp-toothed mouth, and leaped out into the midst of the enemy. All I saw was a flurry of fists and the enemy falling before it. Then her pet Bob was there, jumping out and landing on another summoned beast, merging with it to grow large and fly at her side, then another—she was making more and more summoned monsters form with it, tearing through enemy ranks.
And I was there, glad to have Shisa at my side as I chanted defensive magic and sent out flurries. My spells brought remnants up from the fallen enemy troops so that we had a growing army down there on the ground.
Only, as they pushed the tide below, a body went flying past me to slam into the ground near Aerona’s translucent form. I spun to see Mizoa, recovering. When she saw me, she cried urgently, “Look out!”
Moronoe and Fatiha were incoming, locked in battle with each other, while behind them the others were still going at each other in flashes of light and darkness.
Ebrill landed at my side to check on me, sent a healing spell winging its way toward Kordelia, then ran and leaped to take on a large beast that was fighting among the orcs.
“Tell them!” I shouted, then turned to others, amplifying my voice. “Make sure they know that we won’t hurt any who want to come to our side.”
“On it,” Mizoa said as she rose to join Glitonea. The two were like flashes across
the sky, playing a game of hit and run over and over while passing on the message.
I went back to my spellcasting, summoning every spell I could come up with, working to keep my allies safe and focus mostly on the main enemies who I knew had no chance of switching sides.
With more remnants rising below, I saw enemy forces begin to kneel, forgoing alliances, joining what would soon be our empire. My empire.
At that moment, Galahad and Riland charged in with members of the Order, all wearing gold robes and joining Steph and her wraith knights. Percival turned to me and nodded, then charged out.
“On them,” I said, and rushed out to join Steph and her wraith knights. Apparently, this new attack brought the attention of Moronoe down on us, along with a renewed assault of rune-covered creatures. They reminded me of something between a lion and a rhinoceros, with a heavy mane and horn, great clawed paws and more horns on their backs.
Yenifer was still the size of two of them together, at least, so when she flew in to take out two of them, I had to cheer. More were coming, though, and were too much for her to handle on her own. I caught one with a blast of lightning but another leaped up to my ledge and swiped with one of its paws. My ice wall rose and was instantly shattered, but Aerona landed at my side with a flaming magic sword that went right through the beast’s head, leaving it to collapse, dead.
She winked and then went to fight at Yenifer’s side, where the two were able to fight off waves of those creatures. Orcs and Drow were fighting, too, or trying to get in to fight us—except my remnants were keeping them busy.
Moronoe turned on me. A moment later Fatiha did, too, each launching individual attacks my way.
It was time to bring the power of Avalon back into the fight. Staff thrust forward, Liahona summoned, I once again went wild with all spells at once, pulling together everything I could—this time including the amplified power of my internal runes—and attacked. My clothes were replaced by those robes again, my feet by sandals as I became one with that other land, embracing the magic of Avalon.
My assault on the lion-rhinos was like a child tearing apart clay. I spun, robes fluttering around me as my magic cut through them. I felt like at last I was in my true element. Each new spell came out of me naturally, and as my XP rose and my levels increased, I ‘learned’ the spells I was using, learned what I was taking from Avalon and made it my own.
To say the battle that followed was anything other than destructive and devastating would be an understatement. I was like a force of nature, shooting waves of magic and bolts of lightning, casting down the enemy and binding them in place so they couldn’t move. If it had only been me the area around us would have been in chaos, but Fatiha was fighting with equal fervor, the members of the Nine as well, and plus the gargoyles with their magic.
Knowing I needed to focus if I was going to end this thing, I turned to Fatiha. The longer I held this connection to Avalon, the more dangerous it got. Taking her out quickly was the only way.
Sprinting in sandals—even the magical sandals of Avalon—wasn’t the best way to travel, so I attempted a levitation spell. Instead, what I got was a spell that threw me up into the air and propelled me directly at her. She turned from her fight with Moronoe, and then it was the three of us casting spells at each other, throwing up defensive walls and counter-curses.
A roar sounded, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that the Order had made a wall of fire, one that caught the majority of the other half of the Order members, the traitorous ones, in its flames.
To hear their screams was sickening, and I was glad to have the explosions of magic to drown them out. Flashes of magical power came at me, or so I thought, but quickly realized it was my magic sending me a warning. Spells were about to come my way, and I needed to be ready.
In a flash, I used my power to bring myself down. There I sprang left, dragging my staff along the ground to create a line, then again and again, creating a binding rune. When completed, Moronoe was hit by its effect, her next spell failing to come through. She cursed as a hit from Fatiha got her with a blast of green in the chest.
When her eyes met mine, they were green with lines of the same spreading along her skin.
“You think it’ll be so easy, simple Rune Waker?” She knelt and created a rune that defended her against the next attack from Fatiha, but a third didn’t come. We both looked up to search for Fatiha, but she had taken advantage of the distraction and abandoned that attack for a more strategic move—catching the others of the Nine with Moronoe, she had them on their backs, hand to her amulet, absorbing them with a cackling laugh.
“No…” Moronoe muttered, but turned her anger on me, creating a new rune that caused me to freeze in place.
For a moment I felt helpless, defeated, until I remembered that runes didn’t have to be physical. Going into my mind, I performed a counter rune, hoping it wouldn’t be the one to drag me into insanity. Almost done with the last stroke, though, pain took hold along with visions of me with a blade, slaughtering Steph.
My own insanity, or images put there by the enemy?
I didn’t have to find out, because a moment later Glitonea was at my side, moving in flashes of purple and creating a new series of runes that both set me free and sent a wave of counter spells at Moronoe.
Not wanting to go up against the combined rune power of Glitonea and me, Moronoe leaped into the air, dark sphere growing around her.
She glanced my way, tossing Yenifer aside when the large gargoyle tried to attack her, and then froze as Fatiha appeared from behind, one hand on the amulet and the other wrapping around to cup the woman’s breast.
“It’s a sensual thing, this taking of your life and soul, absorbing your powers,” Fatiha said, and licked Moronoe’s ear as she eyed me.
“Then by all means, seduce me,” Moronoe replied.
A glow emanated from Fatiha’s hand, coursing through Moronoe at first, but a confused look came over Fatiha. Her hand started shaking, then crumbling apart, bits of it breaking off and floating off at first, then circling in the air around her.
“What… magic… is this?” Fatiha demanded.
“Magic you could never understand,” Moronoe replied, grinning, turning and taking her in a kiss that absorbed the woman into herself, all of her and all of the magic she had stolen as well. “The magic of Avalon.”
“No,” I shouted, waving my hand and trying to dismiss the Liahona, break off my connection to Avalon. But, it didn’t go anywhere. It was like she had thrust her foot into a closing door, so that it was stuck.
All around us a new wave of the lion-rhinos were up and charging through the walls of flame, absorbing the energy of the fire and growing in size and ferocity. Each one now reminded me of the bull at the end of The Last Unicorn, and Moronoe was floating toward me, a sensual smile on her lips, hands roaming along her body, touching herself as if she really felt the extra power coursing through her.
I had only one option here, one thought of how to save the others, how to possibly take this fight to equal grounds.
Thrusting the Liahona forward, I said, “Take it,” only to pull back as she reached, embracing her desire for the magic, and pulling both of us into Avalon.
147
Moronoe was, by all measures, likely the most powerful magical being in existence at that point. To my knowledge, anyway. She had not only been incredibly strong to begin with, but she had now absorbed Fatiha and through her, those who Fatiha had absorbed.
Like the others and the late Fatiha, she wanted access to Avalon.
Therefore, it was a great risk to bring her to that magical land. A risk I had to take, because to stay in my home world, I was certain, would have led to certain defeat for us.
Judging by her laughter, however, she didn’t see it that way.
“Thank you,” she said, strolling out in front of me, appearing for the first time as a normal woman, not some mystical witch or divine spirit. Upon arriving in this land, her clothes had tra
nsformed into a flowing gown of lavender with violet highlights, silky and clinging to her body as the breeze blew past.
She eyed me, then gazed back at the green hills.
“You still have a defensive stance to you,” she noted, “so I’ll assume this isn’t a surrender?”
“Correct.”
“And, as stunning as I am, I don’t seem to be having any effect on you in that regard, so I’ll assume this isn’t a move on your part to accept me as your lover and partner in this endeavor.” She paused, but held up a hand before I could answer. “Because I must say, that is still on the table. And, knowing what you know of me and my power, it would be prudent to consider the offer.”
“Knowing what I know of you is exactly why I cannot consider the offer.”
She snarled at this. “Oh, come now. Your little team of girls has been any better than me?”
“Not perfect, but we’re a team. We’ll grow together.”
“Blind devotion is stupidity.”
“And lack of devotion, what is that?” I took a step toward her, my staff with the Liahona very much at the ready. “Lack of judgment, character… honor—what does that all add up to?”
“None of that will matter to you when you’re dead.” She scoffed. “When you and your team are gone from this world, and nobody remembers the simpletons who tried to stop their goddess from ruling. All they will remember is me.”
“My bet, if all that came to be? All they’d remember is your inability to shut up.”
She laughed, held out a hand, and let her smile linger. “Come, boy. Let me show you what a real woman is capable of.”
“Gladly.” I thrust out with a Liahona-amplified version of my ice claw spell, so that hundreds of ice claws shot out at her, some going straight in, others spinning around like a blizzard before moving in for the attack.
Her smile faded as she worked her counter spell, throwing walls around herself and a flash of fire and lightning that cut through my spell and sent an attack of flames at me. My ice wall and stone skin came to mind, but then I had a better idea. I was here in Avalon, a land I was now fundamentally connected to. My transmutation powers, if they would work anywhere, should work there.
