The First Champion

by Sandell Wall

  Cold determination crept over Sorrell. Gently, she lowered Tarathine’s head to the floor and got to her feet. She needed a way to make sure the girl did not suffer more than she had to. Lacking a sharp blade, a tough strip of leather was the best Sorrell could find. She tested forming it into a garrote and decided it would work.

  Something hard crashed into the door. They had decided to force their way in. Sorrell took a step towards Tarathine and then stopped in her tracks—power flooded through the core of her being. She felt like she had just plunged beneath the ice of a frozen lake. A terrible, life-stealing coldness radiated out from Sorrell’s heart, spreading through her body and into the tips of her fingers—she relished the familiar sensation.

  Tears of joy spilled down her cheeks and turned to ice in an instant. Mazareem had succeeded!

  Sorrell cast the leather garrote aside and reached for the power inside her. For the first time since entering Vaul, it answered in full. Plates of frozen armor started at her feet and quickly rose to cover her legs, upper body, and head. In the span of a few seconds, Sorrell went from unarmored and vulnerable, to clad in a full suit of invincible, enchanted platemail.

  Next, Sorrell summoned her weapons. Rapier and chain whip formed at her command, and Sorrell faced the door. It took her a few seconds to realize that she was holding two weapons. Sorrell raised her right hand in amazement. Without consciously thinking about it, she had used her power to form her missing right hand. The fingers were brilliant icicles, but each one moved individually as if it were her own flesh and bone.

  She did not have long to wonder at this, because in the next instant, the door crashed open. Three tomb keepers rushed into the room. They stopped short in surprise at the sight of Sorrell.

  Sorrell snapped the icy whip.

  “You should have picked a different door.”

  Chapter 55

  KAISER RAN OUT OF arrows far sooner than he ran out of targets. The heavily armored tomb keepers shrugged off most of his shots, but he was able to force them to keep their guard up while what was left of the shield wall retreated towards the perimeter of the arena.

  Under the command of the swordsman, the battle line of untrained fighters had slain two tomb keeper squads before the enemy adapted and formed a massed force of their own. Now, he was overseeing a clumsy retreat in the direction of Kaiser and Brant. The tomb keepers were matching his pace with their advance, and soon, they would be pinned against the edge of the arena with no escape.

  The crowd was growing tired of the caution both sides were displaying. Rotten fruit, rocks, and bags of filth started to rain down on the combatants. Kaiser and Brant moved close to the wall to avoid the worst of the bombardment.

  “What now?” Brant said. “When they get to us, we’re going to be trapped.”

  Kaiser glanced up at Mazareem. Morricant was up there now, and she had just stabbed Mazareem in the chest. Kaiser hoped that was a part of the plan.

  “We hold for as long as we can,” Kaiser said. “We’re waiting for a sign from Lacrael.”

  Brant clearly did not like this answer, but there was no point in arguing. He hefted his axe and turned back towards the fight. The shield wall had reached them now, and Kaiser and Brant stepped up to join the back rank. Ten paces in front of them, the tomb keepers stopped their advance.

  Kaiser thought this strange. With their armor and superior weapons, the tomb keepers could wade into their midst and slaughter them like pigs. Why would they wait? The answer came in a dull thud when, beneath the stone arches of the platform that spanned the center of the arena, a giant trap door fell open. As Kaiser had anticipated, those alcoves under the bridge were a trap. And now that the fight had moved away from that trap, they were bringing up whatever lurked beneath the arena into the light of day.

  Handlers dragging long chains appeared first. They heaved on the chain, pulling their captive up and out of the pit. A massive white head appeared out of the dark hole, and Kaiser’s stomach clenched. It was a mist monster, the same sort that had almost killed him in the fighters’ camp. The crowd loved this new development. Their cheering reached a new frenzy, and the trash barrage stopped.

  The creature climbed out of the pit and moved out from the shadow of the stone platform. It towered over everyone, muscles rippling beneath its white skin. A pink maw gaped when the beast roared its fury. The thing was giant and hideous, but Kaiser found its shape and movements strangely humanlike.

  Four handlers surrounded it, each one holding tight to a chain connected to a stout collar around the monster’s thick neck. Any time it lunged towards one of them, the other three yanked it off balance.

  Working together, the handlers coaxed the beast across the sand towards the fighters’ shield wall. The tomb keeper ranks parted to give the creature plenty of space.

  “We can’t fight that thing like this!” Brant said. “Let me deal with it. I can make short work of it.”

  “No,” Kaiser said. “If we reveal our powers too early, we’ll make ourselves targets. Right now, they’re just playing with us. If they think we’re a real threat, we’ll have a serious fight on our hands.”

  Kaiser could not shake the image of Morricant with her strange, animated ribbons from his mind. If anyone could challenge them fully powered, it was her.

  “You don’t think that’s a serious fight?” Brant said, brandishing his greataxe at the approaching monster.

  Kaiser opened his mouth to reply, but the words did not come. Instead, he shivered as the forgotten sensation of lightning danced across his bones. Power came surging back into his being, power that he thought he would never feel again. Dormant since entering Vaul, the thunderstorm raged once more in his soul. His eyes found Mazareem on the platform. Against all odds, the man had succeeded.

  Brant had seen the effect this had on Kaiser, and he did not fail to notice Kaiser looking to Mazareem.

  “What was that?” Brant asked. “You got your powers back, didn’t you?”

  Kaiser nodded. He still could not speak.

  “That’s it then,” Brant said. “Time to end this.”

  Brant turned away, but Kaiser reached out a hand and grabbed his arm. Brant looked at him in surprise. Kaiser forced the words across a tongue that did not want to work.

  “We wait for Lacrael.”

  Chapter 56

  LACRAEL’S EYES SNAPPED OPEN. She had slept. Trapped in the cave, it was impossible to know for how long. She rolled over on her side to look at the miasma crystals. Nothing had changed. What had woken her? Lacrael could have sworn she heard someone calling her name.

  In the pit of her stomach, a spark of warmth ignited, and she thought she might be sick. But the fire quickly spread, and Lacrael gasped as her powers came roaring back to her. Heat poured from her body. Her armor soon became hot to the touch. A grim smile spread across Lacrael’s face—Mazareem had succeeded.

  Looking out over the crystals through a vision wreathed in flame, Lacrael got to her feet. She raised her hands to summon a fireball, but she stopped when she remembered where she was. There was a roof of solid rock over her head, and she had no idea if she could find her way out of the cave. What if the crystals were volatile? The heat from the explosion would not harm her, but a cave-in would crush her like a bug.

  Behind her, the sloped stone was too steep to climb. She reached as high as she could, scrabbling against the rock, but her fingers found no purchase. Lacrael’s mind raced. She searched desperately for a way in which she could survive hurling a fireball into the miasma, but every possibility she considered ended in death. Either she would bring the cave down on herself, or she would cut off her way out and the cavern would become her tomb.

  Before her frustration turned to despair, a vision came to her. Lacrael watched it play out before her eyes. It was so vivid, so real. She watched herself take a running leap, hurl herself out over the crystals, and launch a fireball straight down. The resulting explosion propelled her up at the rock ceiling which gav
e way at the last instant, and Lacrael sailed into the open sky above.

  As the vision faded, the power within Lacrael surged. The fire was too much for her to contain—tiny flames ignited at the tips of her gauntleted fingers. She knew then that the shrouded king was with her. He had given her the vision. He must have. There was no other explanation. Lacrael’s heart leapt in her chest—the high king had not abandoned them!

  Lacrael had already wasted enough time. The others were waiting for her sign. She backed herself up against the stone wall at the back of the ledge, braced her foot against it, and stared out over the crystals. This was madness, but then, this plan had always been insane.

  The power rising inside her reached a crescendo, and Lacrael knew it was time to act. She pushed herself off the wall, took two long strides, and leapt from the ledge. At the same time, she put her hands out in front of her and tapped into the power demanding to be released. An angry fireball swirled into existence between her palms. Below Lacrael, the pale crystals seemed to pulse, their inner light growing brighter in anticipation of what came next.

  Lacrael reached the apex of her leap. When she started to plummet down towards the floor, she sent the fireball streaking at the biggest crystalline formation in sight. Magus fire struck crystallized miasma—the world exploded.

  Crystal shattered into a million pieces as the chain reaction raced across the cavern faster than the eye could follow. An inhuman voice shrieked in pain. The shockwave arrested Lacrael’s fall and reversed her direction. She was tossed at the ceiling like a leaf on the wind. Her goggles turned almost opaque to shield her eyes from the raging inferno.

  Caught in the grip of the terrible force she had unleashed, Lacrael twisted her body to face the roof. The rock rushed at her. Lacrael threw up her hands and screamed. Instinctively, she launched another fireball. She did not know if it was her attack, or the shockwave she was riding, but the ceiling fragmented and then exploded outward. Lacrael rose into the raging miasma.

  All around her, the miasma burned. The air itself ignited as the flames from below spread outwards. Buoyed by the explosion that had propelled her out of the cave, Lacrael reached the top of her arc far above the earth and hung there for an instant. Spread out before her, she witnessed the terrible destruction she had triggered.

  ——

  Mazareem felt the first tremor shudder through the colosseum, and he knew that Lacrael had done her part. Morricant felt it too. She lowered her dagger and took a step back. No one else in the crowd seemed to notice. They were too fixated on the spectacle playing out on the arena floor.

  A few seconds later, and even the crowd could not ignore the rumblings. Screams for blood faded as the onlookers turned to each other in confusion.

  “What is this?” Morricant said. “What have you done?”

  In answer, a geyser of flame shot upwards from the abyss on the edge of the arena. The moat that ringed Morricant’s castle had become a ring of fire. Mazareem watched her face. To his supreme satisfaction, he saw real fear in her eyes.

  Mazareem tilted his head back and laughed. In the sky overhead, he noticed gray crowds swirling. He knew this magic. Kaiser was summoning a thunderstorm.

  “Answer me!” Morricant said, her voice almost a shriek. “What have you done?”

  “You’d best turn your attention down on the sand,” Mazareem said. “Because the surprises aren’t over.”

  ——

  Kaiser called the lightning. As the first subtle tremor shook the arena floor, he knew Lacrael had started the chain reaction that would burn the Ravening. The handlers of the mist monster stopped their advance when the earth shivered beneath their feet. The beast on the end of their chains stood at its full height and sniffed the air. It must have smelled something it did not like, because the creature whined like a struck dog.

  In front of the fighters’ pitiful shield wall, the tomb keepers looked about themselves in confusion. From somewhere deep in the earth, the rumbling grew, until it reached the surface, and pillars of fire exploded from the great chasm.

  Kaiser pushed through the front rank of the battle line and walked out onto the open sand. He discarded his bow and quiver as he moved. High overhead, the storm was ready. Lightning crackled on Kaiser’s fingertips. He stood alone before the monster.

  The beast turned its hideous head to regard Kaiser. It looked down at him, its piggish eyes almost hidden beneath folds of white flesh. Kaiser raised his right hand, and the sky thundered in anticipation. He brought his hand down in a swift striking motion—a tremendous bolt of lightning lanced down. Pure white energy struck the monster in the top of its skull, pierced its body, and stabbed a glassy hole in the sand.

  Every eye in the colosseum had followed the lightning down. The fire and the earthquakes were forgotten for a moment. Eyes rolled back in its head, the beast swayed for a heartbeat before toppling lifeless to the sand. Its handlers scattered. The tomb keepers backed away from Kaiser.

  Brant appeared at Kaiser’s side. The eyes of the golden dragon amulet embedded in his chest burned, and claws of shadow and fire hovered in the air over his hands.

  “We’ve got to get to Mazareem,” Kaiser said.

  They both looked up to where the pale man hung. Morricant was up there, staring down at them.

  “Put your arms around my neck,” Brant said. “I can scale that wall.”

  Kaiser did as Brant indicated. Brant bounded across the sand as if Kaiser weighed nothing. Bouncing against Brant’s broad back, Kaiser hung on for all he was worth. Brant reached the stone platform in seconds, and without slowing, he leapt up and clung to the wall.

  With a mighty heave of his powerful arms, Brant launched them up and over the edge of the ceremonial causeway. Kaiser let go the instant it was safe. He landed on his feet and ran towards Mazareem.

  Morricant stood between them and Mazareem, and Kaiser already had his hand up to summon another lightning strike. A second bolt flashed down from the heavens—Morricant’s black dress unfurled itself with the speed of a striking snake. One of the ribbons intercepted the streaking lightning. It absorbed the attack, white-hot energy coruscating down the length of the ribbon, but the enchanted fabric was reduced to ash.

  Kaiser attacked again, and another of Morricant’s ribbons fluttered to the ground, burned to a crisp. She backed away under this onslaught. Kaiser kept up the pressure, not wanting to give her a chance to counterattack. Morricant must have decided to cut her losses, because before Kaiser could hit her a third time, she leapt off the platform and escaped into the arena below. Her ribbons slowed her fall and lowered her gently to the ground.

  Mazareem grinned, and Kaiser felt the temptation to fry the pale ghoul where he stood.

  “Can you walk?” Kaiser said, stopping in front of Mazareem.

  “I can manage,” Mazareem said.

  Brant swiped a burning claw at each of Mazareem’s restraints, and the ropes fell away from his wrists.

  Freed from his bonds, Mazareem slumped forward. He pulled the remains of the ropes from his arms and massaged his wrists.

  “I’d bet we’ve only got a few minutes before she decides to come back with reinforcements,” Kaiser said. “I hope you know where this portal is.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Mazareem said. “I think she might’ve had enough shocking surprises for one day.”

  Mazareem chuckled at his own joke. Kaiser said nothing.

  “You reavers never did have a sense of humor,” Mazareem muttered. “Come on, the portal isn’t far.”

  Kaiser and Brant fell into step behind Mazareem. Together, the three of them left the arena by way of the stone platform that ran right up to the ceremonial gate. In the stands, the crowd had turned into a mob with people clawing over one another to escape.

  Before they passed through the gate, Kaiser looked back to make sure Morricant was not following them. She stood on the sand, surrounded by her tomb keepers. Kaiser got the impression of a wet cat, having dashed to saf
ety after being caught in a surprise storm. Unable to stifle this amusing image, Kaiser waved goodbye before ducking out of sight.

  ——

  Sorrell, Gustavus, and Tarathine raced through the streets. Gustavus led the way—he knew where they were going. Tarathine had a fierce grip on Sorrell’s hand, but the girl ran hard. Sorrell had dismissed her frozen armor and weapons after dealing with the tomb keeper squad. Once they had left the room behind, they were just three more terrified souls fleeing the fire in the sky.

  Chapter 57

  LACRAEL WATCHED THE CATACLYSM spread outward like a blossoming flower of death. The dying miasma left charred earth where it retreated. In its wake, a hundred burning monsters littered the ground. Lacrael spotted the beast that had chased her into the cave. It writhed on the sand as the hungry flames consumed its flesh.

  A horrible, alien screeching split the sky, and Lacrael jerked her head towards the sound. A blight star had been nearby. Lacrael stared in awe as the inferno reached it. Its great, tentacled arms flailed as the magus fire cooked it alive.

  Gravity reached up and demanded that Lacrael return to earth. When she felt the downward tug, she pointed her palms at the ground and released a steady stream of fire. To her surprise, this provided enough lift to slow her descent. She would never have thought to try such a maneuver, but the high king continued to give her inspiration—and the power surging through Lacrael could not be denied.

  Lacrael turned towards the city as she descended. The walls of Orcassus were closer than she had anticipated. Even after her mad dash through the miasma, she had not gone far from the bronze gate. Lacrael’s feet touched lightly to the ground, and she extinguished the twin pillars of flame that had been spewing from her hands.