by N. P. Martin
As I held my hand out palm up, a small sphere of bluish energy appeared unbidden in my hand. For the longest time, I just stared at it as I wondered what to do with it. Then, following some deeply held instinct, I gently tossed the sphere of energy to the floor, and promptly jumped back when a fully formed oak tree suddenly burst up from the floor and shot through the ceiling, continuing to grow at an alarming rate until its upper branches demolished their way through the flat upstairs and finally burst forth from the roof. All of this happened in a matter of seconds.
"What the fucking hell?" I said in shock and wonder as dust and bits of ceiling continued to drop down into the bookshop. I could only stare at the tree—at what I had done—in amazement.
And I knew that was just the start, for within me, I could now feel a new power source come to life, a power that was many times greater than the magic that normally resided within me. The magic which was now gone, replaced by this new higher power. As it coursed through me, my body straightened in exhilaration, and suddenly I became aware of a vast pool of energy gathering in me; a source of power that felt world-changing in its intensity and sheer potential; life-giving, but also hugely destructive if I wanted it to be. As energy arced between my palms, I realized the power of life and death was literally in my hands now. And I was going to use it to stop Erebus and the Disciples once and for all…after I figured out what to do about the huge tree in my shop.
Once I got dressed into jeans and a leather jacket, I teleported to Amelia’s place. No portals this time, just straight teleportation, which proved to be effortless as I appeared in the front entrance hallway of the huge house. But after five minutes, it quickly became apparent that there was no one home, and I didn’t have a phone to call anybody either. I stood stressing for a moment, wondering what to do, before a sudden sense of calmness came over me and I closed my eyes, guided now by some previously unknown instinct or inner power. The second I closed my eyes, I thought of Amelia, and suddenly I was hit with a vision of her that almost took my breath away, for it was like landing in a battlefield—the very worst of battlefields— and one populated by huge, tentacled monsters that were attacking everyone in sight. I saw through Amelia’s eyes as she shot bullet after bullet into one of these eldritch creatures, which still kept coming at her until she produced a sword from somewhere and cut the thing in half, spraying greenish-black blood everywhere. I felt her exhaustion after she made the cut, and her despair as she looked around to see people falling in battle, overrun by monsters and hooded Disciples of Apep, all clamoring across a blackened wasteland. Even the sky was unnaturally dark and full of winged beasts. I saw all of this through Amelia’s eyes, and I even caught a glimpse of Dalia nearby as she used her powers to defend against the monsters attacking her. And throughout all this chaos and bloodshed, I was aware of Erebus’ presence in the background as he directed the whole show. Then someone shouted, "Look out!" and I felt the pain as it went through Amelia’s body, and then darkness clouded out the vision and my eyes sprang open as I gasped, "No! It can’t have started already…not yet…"
"I’m afraid it has," a voice said that made me spin around to see none other than Constantine standing there, looking uncharacteristically disheveled—dirty and bloody—and I knew he had just come from the battle I had seen raging.
"Constantine!" I said. "What the hell is going on? Where is everyone?"
"Where do you think?" he said almost angrily. "The Final Battle has been raging for days now. Where have you been?"
Frowning, I shook my head. "What do you mean for days? I’ve only been gone for two days."
"No, Corvin," he said, wiping blood splatter from his face. "You’ve been gone for over a week."
"What? No, that can’t…"
"Believe me, you have. Mirahorn sensed your presence back in this realm, and he sent me to find you."
"I must’ve been in Apep’s world for much longer than I thought," I said almost to myself.
"What? Whatever you’re talking about, it doesn’t matter. Erebus and his forces have almost overcome us. He stands on the brink of victory…"
A sudden cold rage filled me. "No, he doesn’t."
Constantine stared at me, as if he was just realizing there was something different about me. "Whatever you plan on doing, you need to do it now," he said. "For the world as we know it is about to end."
Chapter 18
I half expected the Final Battle to take place in the remote desert that I hadn’t long come from, but staying true to the vision that Drakkar had shown me, the battle was taking place in the Wicklow mountains, within a deep valley that was far from the view of anyone. In the end, I realized it didn’t really matter where the battle took place, as Erebus and his Disciples saw it as nothing more than a ceremonial one anyway; a changing of the guard, if you like, and a chance to have the satisfaction of defeating the opposing forces, humiliating them before the final death knell sounded.
When I landed in the valley with Constantine, I was shocked at the extent of the death and destruction all around me. The once lush, green valley was now nothing more than a blackened husk. Erebus had spread his dark energy into the earth, killing every living thing for miles around. A dark energy that still appeared to be spreading to the surrounding hills and forest, rotting everything in its path. I felt this terrible evil as it decimated the surrounding landscape, and I knew it would never stop until it had spread around the globe at a rapid rate, poisoning the Earth, leaving it a lifeless shell.
As Erebus’ poison spread, another kind of evil ran rampant in the blackened valley, making it resemble some sort of hellscape. Everywhere there was hooded figures with all manner of weapons, most of which were blades of some kind, or vicious looking spiked clubs, brutal weapons designed to do terrible bodily damage, which they did do. Mirahorn and the Order of the Serpent appeared to have gathered a sizable force to oppose Erebus, but this army of druids, magicians and warriors was greatly outnumbered by the Disciples, many of whom were warlocks or just plain thugs who seemed to be delighting in using magic and might to wrought as much bloody chaos as they could. Everywhere I looked I saw mangled bodies lying atop the blackened earth, their blood spilling out and soaking into the ground, the dark energy in the soil drinking it up as fast as it flowed out of the lifeless corpses. The few allied forces that were left fought valiantly on as they clashed with the hooded Disciples and the hordes of eldritch creatures that were also present. The creatures were of various sizes, some as big as the one I had seen in the desert at the nameless city, others no bigger than a large dog, but much more deadly, with innumerable teeth and abrasive tentacles that lashed out at whoever was near them, including it seemed, the Disciples themselves. Clearly, the monsters didn’t discriminate and everyone was fair game. This went for the monsters in the blackened sky as well, which swooped down in all their terrible glory to pluck the unwary off the ground, carrying the bodies off into dense black clouds that glowed erratically with lightening bursts.
And that wasn’t even the worst of it. The worst was high in the sky, above the winged creatures and the battle that raged below:
Apep.
As I looked up in near terror, I saw that a great hole had been ripped open in the sky—in the fabric of time and space itself—so that Apep’s colossal, monstrous face could be seen peering through from his own dimension. The great god looked down with innumerable eyes, pitch black tentacles thicker than anything on earth writhing beneath him as though tapping into the evil spread out below, lapping it up, his rumbling roars almost orgasmic in nature as they carried across the battlefield like a death knell.
The whole scene was stupendously overwhelming, and all I could do was stand there and stare, wondering how anyone—least of all me—was going stop what was happening, never mind fix the damage that had already been done. But whereas before I may not have had the power to do anything about what was happening, now I did. I just had to find it within myself first.
Looking around, I soo
n Mirahorn about fifty yards downhill from me. He was dressed in his usual white robes, dirtied and bloodied by this stage, and was using a staff to direct magical attacks at the monsters that were intent on swarming him, probably at the behest of Erebus. Other members of the Order stood around Mirahorn, no doubt trying to protect their leader. Then, out of nowhere, a great demon-like monster came rushing through a cloud of black smoke and began to use its clawed hands to grab and tear at the monsters surrounding Mirahorn. The demon was nothing like the other creatures, it being horned and standing on two legs. I recognized the beast immediately, for it was the same one that Monty had conjured at Iolas’ place the time we took him down. I was glad to see the beast, for it also meant Monty was around somewhere, and more importantly, was still alive, though I couldn’t see him. With the thick drifts of black smoke clogging the air, it was difficult to see much of anything for longer than a minute.
"Corvin!" Constantine shouted after brutally dispatching a hooded disciple that tried to come at him with a huge ax. "Get your head in the game man!"
I nodded, still unsure of what to do at this stage, especially since my attention was now taken by a raging tentacled beast that was now coming at me on four legs, its huge mouth dripping saliva in anticipation of biting into me. As the creature drew close, I instinctively thrust out my hand to stop it with magic that I no longer had. Luckily, my new powers stirred in me, coming to the fore without hardly any conscious thought, and to my surprise, the ground itself opened up underneath the eldritch creature just as thick roots wrapped around it and pulled it down into the earth. In seconds, the creature disappeared like it was never there in the first place.
Constantine was still standing nearby, and he looked at me with something like astonishment on his face after I had dispatched the creature. "That was just one," he said as more creatures continued to swarm in, as if Erebus knew of my arrival now and was sending his eldritch minions to come and get me. "Now kill the rest of those fuckers before they kill us all!"
Nodding, I turned and ran to the top of a nearby hill, once again astonished when I was afforded a better view of the valley, which was like a scene from one of Herri met de Bles’ hellish paintings, which is to say it was like the Underworld itself had burst up through the earth, bringing with it all of its hellish atmosphere and terrible violence. I was dismayed and disgusted that such evil could spread its wrath across the earth, and I was determined to stop it, starting with the foul creatures still running around lashing out at anything in sight. Taking a deep breath, I stood atop the hill and raised both arms out to the side of me as I felt my power gather within me, coursing through every inch of my being until it felt like I was nothing but pure energy. As this energy reached a crescendo within me, I directed it to burst from me in a huge blaze of light that shot out in all directions through the valley. Any eldritch horror that found itself getting hit by this light—which was almost all of them—suddenly found themselves gripped by thick green shoots that burst up from the cracked, blackened earth and intertwined around them, wrapping around the greenish-black bodies of the monsters which screeched and howled with unearthly voices as they struggled against the bonds that now held them. All across the valley, monsters were being pulled down deep into the earth where they would suffocate and eventually rot, never to be seen again. As this was happening, everyone on the battlefield suddenly stopped what they were doing to stare in amazement at the thick green shoots that appeared to move with a life of their own as they grasped for the monsters above ground. Even the winged beasts in the sky were not safe from the grasping vegetation as the shoots reached up high to pluck the beasts from the air, dragging them squealing to the ground where the earth opened up to swallow them whole. And as all this was happening, a mighty roar sounded across the valley, coming from Apep as he sounded his dissent at what was happening. The roar was bone chilling and brought back memories of when I was trapped in that awful dimension of his, but this time the memories didn’t affect me, for I didn’t hold the same fear as before.
When all the monsters were buried beneath the ground, both sides continued to stand around, most unsure of what to do now as they looked upon me standing atop the hill. Mirahorn and the allied forces looked at me with elation on their battle weary faces, knowing the tide was now turning in their favor. Erebus’ Disciples had also gathered now at the far end of the valley as if in fear. Erebus himself walked out from among them, his stature seeming to grow greater the farther he walked. By the time he reached the center of the valley, he appeared massive, his completely black, naked form now standing at least ten feet high and seeming nearly as broad, his eyes burning like cauldrons in his face.
This is it, I thought as I walked down off the hill to meet him. It’s time to end this tyranny once and for all.
Chapter 19
Despite the fact that Erebus towered over me—and in spite of the fact that his father towered over him—I felt no fear as I stood in the center of the blackened valley. What was left of Mirahorn’s army stood a couple of hundred yards behind me, while Erebus’ Disciples stood bunched up not far behind him, hooded figures that almost blended into the darkness surrounding everything.
"I see you found your powers at last, son of Cernunnos," Erebus said, his voice booming across the valley like thunder. "But you are too late, for they will do you no good. My blood is poisoning the Earth even as we speak. The sea is turning black as my essence spreads to the four corners, and there is nothing you can do to stop it." As he spoke, green shoots burst from the ground and grabbed at his legs, but the second they touched him, the green turned to black and they fell away dead. "Not even your disgusting plants can stop me," he added, smiling to himself as if his victory was all but assured now.
Which it would have been if I hadn’t remembered something—the little weed that had managed to grow in his lair in the nameless city; the little weed that had burned him just before he had turned it to ash. Life here on Earth was simply not strong enough to resist his black poison, but there was one place where I knew that life would be strong enough to not only resist him, but negate him.
Cernunnos’ world in the Eternal Forest.
I was positively buzzing with energy at this point as a sense of calm settled over me, a calm that came from knowing what I had to do now.
But first I had to get Erebus into the Eternal Forest, and he wasn’t just going to let me take him there by the hand. Not that I had ever attempted anything like this before, but I somehow knew that in order to get Erebus to the Eternal Forest, I would have to make physical contact with him first. Once that happened, my power—directed by my will—would take over.
Standing on top of the hill, I allowed my head to drop heavily as if I’d just realized that it was time to suffer defeat, and that it was all over. Dejectedly, I came down off the hill to stand in front of Erebus, who had shrunk in size now, probably so he could look me in the eyes to know that he had won. "Okay, Erebus," I said, my voice heavy with affected depression and despair. "You win. The prophecies were obviously true. I mean, who was I to think I could stand in the way of destiny? I’m just a man, after all…"
"NO!" someone shouted from far behind me. It sounded like Mirahorn, though I couldn’t be sure. Whoever it was, I was glad they expressed their despair upon hearing about my surrender, for it only added to the credibility of my performance.
Erebus, however, didn’t appear to be totally convinced by my apparent capitulation. He stared at me for a long time, and then a ghastly grin spread across his coal black face, and I knew the game was up. "Really, Corvin," he said. "Do you expect me to believe that you would just give up without a fight? I know you too well by this stage, well enough to know that you never give up." He took a step toward me. "Tell me, what were you planning on doing? Smothering me with your vile vegetation?" He laughed and shook his head as if the idea was sad and ridiculous.
It was my turn to take a step forward as I began to smile slightly myself. "How much do you believe
in the prophesy, Erebus? Are you completely confident that your destiny is assured? Because looking around, it sure seems like it is."
"What are you getting at?" he asked, frowning now. "What game is this now?"
"No game," I said as I took another two steps forward until I was now standing at arms length from him. "Just a test of faith."
His frown became a scowl as he stared at me. "What?"
"It’s simple. Your faith against mine. Nothing more or less."
He looked like he was going to smile again, but it soon disappeared. "How do you propose to administer this test then?"
"Just take my hand," I said, slowly outstretching my right arm. "If your power is as strong as you believe it is—if your destiny is that set in stone—then you will surely infect me with your poison and I will die right here, giving you your victory."
As Erebus narrowed his eyes at me, the valley all around felt pregnant with anticipation, with the people on both sides maintaining a hushed silence as they looked on. Only a low rumble came from Apep high above us, as if he was speaking to his son directly in some abominable language. Then Erebus himself finally spoke. "I’m not sure if this is some last grasp at victory on your part, or something else," he said. "But know this: you or anyone else will not stop the rot that I have set in motion, nor will anyone—least of all of you—get the better of me in any capacity. My power is supreme, and always assured. You want a test of faith? Fine." He reached out and grabbed my hand, clasping it tight. "But this will be less a test of faith than it will be the start of your death, for I will drain you of all life force before you can even—" He froze mid-sentence as if he felt something, and I saw the panic in his reddish eyes as he went to let go of my hand again.
