by Thomas Green
“We are done,” the men who were making the potion said.
“Good. That should shut off her regeneration and kill her,” the captain said with a smile.
Luna struggled once more, with no result. Panic flooded her veins. She tried one more struggle, but the men held her firm. Someone... anyone... please.
“Bottom-up, monster girl.” The soldier grinned as he started pouring the black liquid down Luna’s throat. She tried to twist out of the grip but felt weak, so, so weak. She wanted to spit it out, but they stuck a blade into her mouth, to stop her from doing so. They poured the poison down her throat to the last drop.
Cold embraced Luna with the chill of death. The poison quickly spread through her body, and she knew her regeneration was about to reach its limit. The men plucked her eyes out and put them next to the other pairs.
“These are regenerating slower,” a soldier said. “She will be out soon.”
The captain shook his head. “Keep going with the eyes. We don’t need those for the bounty, and we want to be gone the second we can.”
“And there goes another one.” A man plucked out the eye that regenerated. “She can’t regenerate both at once now.”
Luna felt nothing but pain and despair. Darkness covered her world. She tried to faint but couldn’t, the pain from the poison eating her insides was too intense to get over, too sharp, too persistent… too final. Luna didn’t bother to struggle anymore and lay on the ground, waiting for the end.
***
Raven found the door to the healer’s quarters broken. His heart nearly froze as drew his sword and rushed to Samantha’s chambers. A man dressed in a black uniform stood guard by the door. Raven stretched out his aether, piercing the walls, feeling all around him.
His aether detected six living beings within the room, five healthy, one dying. He dashed to the man, running the blade through his belly before he could react.
Inside the chamber, two men held Luna, plucking out her eyes to add to the collection of almost a dozen eyeballs resting by the side while the two men turned to him. Raven’s vision fixed on the mess of ginger hair lying by the bathroom door.
Samantha’s body lay in a pool of crimson, lifeless. Anger burst through Raven’s insides, flooding all his senses. He forced his aether into the men, crushing through their defenses, and stopped their hearts.
They gasped for air and collapsed to the ground. Raven ducked above Samantha, confirming what he already knew. No matter how much wanted not to believe it, she was dead. He had failed her. Raven closed her eyes with his hand. I am sorry…
He rose and walked to Luna. Her entire body kept trembling while her veins were black and bulged, peering at him with one eye.
Her regeneration is out. She is dying. He looked around as panic flooded his insides. There was nobody left to help her. A tear slid down his face. Nobody but him.
He grabbed the shackle holding his neck, pushed his aether inside to soften the metal and tore it off. He removed the rest of the shackles. The world around him changed. The entire arena complex, the whole city, were filled by aether floating in the air without purpose. He reached out, and it replied as if it was waiting for him all along. He drew it in, filling himself to the brink, but the amount of aether in the air barely changed. As he wasted no time to ponder why the aether from the air was compatible with him, he ducked above Luna to raise her in his arms.
She tried to speak, releasing incomprehensible mumble.
“Save your strength.” Raven crossed the room, softened the window frame with his aether and leapt through with his shoulder. The glass and wood shattered before his pauldron and the hot summer air slapped him in the face. He fell, landing on a roof. His greaves dug into the tiles, but the construction held him.
The sound of combat, screaming of wounded and roaring of demons was echoing through the air. As he realized the city was under siege, he gazed over the building, overwhelmed by the size of his home. Where do I go?
Since he felt no need to conserve strength, he spread out his aether into the detection field, but this time thousand times larger, reaching as far as he could, enveloping the entire city. The amount of beings he sensed within his field surpassed all he could imagine. He searched through them, poking with his aether at their defenses, finding the two most powerful people in the city, the only ones through whom his aether could not pass.
Whatever strength he used refilled by the aether from the air as it entered him without him needing to do anything. Raven dashed over the roofs, leaping over streets as if they were nothing but cracks in the ground. Soon, they landed down on the road. Before him, soldiers in red-gold armor were swarming through the square, commanded by an old man in glorious robes.
Raven sprinted to the man. The soldiers turned to stop him, but something in his face convinced them otherwise, making them open a path to closest of the two people through whom his aether couldn’t pass.
He stopped before the robed man, greeting him with an awkward smile. “Can you heal her?”
The old man smiled. “I will try.”
Raven handed Luna to the man and turned. “I will handle the siege.” He walked toward the walls.
An explosion echoed through the city as a part of the wall blew up. Raven headed there, crossing the rubble to stand into the ten feet wide gap.
In front of him spread the entire slaver army, behind which, the horizon blazed in flames. Union’s soldiers rushed to him, like an endless sea of men.
They were all to burn alive if they didn’t get into the city. Yet he figured the man responsible for Samantha’s death was among them. He didn’t feel the need to check, deciding that if they all die, he will die with them. All he had to do was to let no one through. Raven drew his sword and put the shield before him. He didn’t care about hiding anything, about holding back, about making the fight interesting to watch. He used everything he had, strengthening his body and gear to the limit while spreading his aether in a ten-fee-wide globe around him to not miss a single insect trying to pass through.
The first wave of soldiers reached him. Raven’s blade swished through the air in a blur of death. The first wave died within moments.
The bulk of the Union’s army descended upon him like a tide. Yet the gap was too thin for them to surround him. Raven lost track of time and space, for all around him were men he kept turning to corpses. The air stank of blood, burned wood and scorched flesh.
When the tide subsided, Raven stood atop a mountain of corpses as tall as the wall itself. Ahead of him, the Union’s soldiers made way for a massive demon.
The monster wore the form of a mutated bull with a giant head dominated by humongous horns. Its scaly body stood on four sturdy legs tipped with hoofs and its mouth gaping open, full of vicious teeth. The demon huffed and charged.
Raven stared at the creature. As the aether from the city kept refilling his strength, he wasn’t tired. He reached to check his own aether reserve. It was there. Complete and untouched, burning like a second sun within his chest, as if he hadn’t used anything.
Raven stretched his aether to push his power into the monster’s skull, turning the bones soft. When the monster was before him, climbing up the mountain of corpses, he stepped in and slammed his shield into the demon’s brow. The monstrous head splashed like an apple hit by a hammer, showering him with flesh, bones, and brains. Its headless body collapsed, adding to the mountain of corpses.
Despite the terror in their eyes, the tide of soldiers advanced upon him once more. Yet this one ran weaker, for the main force of the Union’s army was heading away, straight into the flames.
Raven didn’t allow a single man past him, killing them to the last.
***
Lucas sat on an armored warhorse. By his side, Merewen mounted a similar steed. Behind him, almost ten thousand men stood ready in a well-practiced formation. The soldiers were eager and happy to finally get to fight, for upon his command, they had spent the past nine months hiding in the woo
ds.
He glanced at Merewen. Her skin was pale, turning blue, but her eyes still shone with an inner flame as her aether kept fuelling the forest fire.
Lucas smiled at her. “This should be enough. Keep some strength for the upcoming battle.”
Her eyes turned normal as she stopped the spell. She exhaled and almost fell off the horse.
Miranda appeared out of nowhere. “Update! Enemy siege of Illysaeas is about to fail and their main force is forming ranks to head east, straight into the fire. Aside from them, a group of about a thousand riders had split off the main force a few hours ago and vanished north. They have already passed the flames.”
Lucas stretched his neck, his joints popping. “Any word on Collward’s champions?”
“One is with him and the main host while the second one died by a single strike of Raven.”
“Good.” Lucas gave her an appreciative look. “Return to Illysaeas, where you are to gather Nash and his men to pursue the Union’s main force once the flames subside. The runaway group is likely James and his troupe, so they are no cause for concern.”
Miranda nodded and disappeared as she soulstepped away.
Lucas turned to Merewen. “There is an old coastal fortress, Tor Nukului, half a day of ride north-east. We move the army there and prepare to cut off Collward’s army from the north. I will notify Elias to move his fleet toward the fortress for the case they outrun our force.”
Merewen nodded. Lucas tied himself into the saddle not to collapse. He focused and passed out, ascending into the Limbo.
***
Miranda arrived at the center of Illysaeas, covered by sweat and breathing heavily. While the combination of sprinting and soulsteps made it possible for her to reach the city, it took its toll on her strength. The siege still raged on, but the noise was concentrated around a small gap in the southern wall of the town. What fixed her gaze was Archbishop Nashimaeal, who stood hunched over a blood-drenched, shaking body tied to a table, his fingers tracing one arcane symbol after another.
Miranda’s heart almost stopped when she realized to whom the body belonged. Luna. She was barely breathing. Miranda tore off her eyes to glare at the archbishop. “What the hell happened?”
Nashimaeal wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. “Raven brought her and asked me to heal her. I have repaired what I could have, so her fate will soon rest within her hands.”
Miranda scanned Luna’s body. As she did, her eyes filled with tears. “What are you talking about, Nash? Her regeneration is out while her eyes are black, full of poison. You can’t fix that. Nobody can. Even if she doesn’t die by herself, the backlash will tear her to shreds. We can’t help her.”
“I am sorry.” Nashimaeal sighed and stopped using his aether.
Miranda turned to a priest standing nearby. “Untie her.”
The man did.
She glanced at Nashimaeal. “Get the force ready. The flames will reach the edge of the city within half an hour, and we move out the minute they die down.”
The archbishop bowed and left.
Miranda took out her amulet and weighed it in her hand. On a chain of steel hung a symbol of an oval face topped by four horns. She turned it over, gazing upon the text etched into its back, ‘Never forget who you are! E’
I haven’t forgotten, Elaine. I will never forget. Miranda raised Luna in her arms. She carried her into the barracks, all the way to the top floor, where Miranda’s room lay lit by moonlight coming from a window in the middle of the roof.
She took Luna to the bathroom. There, Miranda removed all of Luna’s bloodstained clothes. Her body was a mess of scars, dried blood and all types of body fluids.
Miranda sat down by the barrel of water, grabbed a sponge and started cleaning her.
Softly and carefully, she cleaned all of Luna’s body, removing the dried blood, bile, piss, and shit. Using the soft woolen cloth, Miranda dried her. Luna kept shaking while her eyes remained a blend of white and black, staring unfocused into space in front of her.
Miranda carried Luna to the fur-covered bed and put her upon the furs. She tucked her in and pushed the bed to the middle of the room, straight beneath the window roof, so the bed stood in a column of moonlight.
Miranda bent over to her to kiss her onto the forehead. “I know you are still in there, Luna, so listen to me. In three to five hours, your backlash will come. By then, you are supposed to die. But you are not going to. It will hurt, and you won’t be able to move, speak or eat, but you will hang in there. You will survive the night, then the day and then so on until I get back. I will get back and help you with the rest of the way, I promise. Just… please don’t die on me. I have never seen a miracle happen, but I am about a century and a quarter old, so it’s about damn time I did.”
Nash had already prayed to Palai, so there was no point in her wasting breath on that. But she had her own Goddess to pray to. Miranda dropped on her knees by the head of the bed. She drew a dagger, cut into her arm and used the bloodied blade to carve a symbol into the bed, blank oval for a face with four horns, the symbol of the Faceless Goddess.
Miranda sheathed the dagger, put her forehead on the symbol and spoke her prayer.
“Hear me, Faceless Mother! Hear me, Goddess of Dreams! Hear and answer your daughter’s call! I have served you for over a century, and I never asked for a thing. I never questioned your teaching, and I never disobeyed. Now I ask you. Not for myself, but for her. Help her, please. I will do anything in return. So please save her. I beg of you. I have worn your symbol for my whole life. Prove me my faith was not in vain. For our paths bind us all.”
***
Raven stood atop the mountain of corpses, sealing the gap in the wall. Not a single soul passed him. Hundreds tried, none managed. Dried blood covered him in layers so thick he could barely see or move.
Behind him swarmed a cheering crowd, chanting his name while in front of him raged an inferno. The Union's armies were gone, disappeared within the flames.
Raven’s vision shifted. He saw himself standing on a mountain of corpses, but a different one. All around him lay plains lit by three moons while beneath his feet beneath was a mountain of corpses, ten times larger than the one he had now made. The blonde woman stood a few steps below him with her sapphire robes drenched in blood. Over her shoulder rested a sapphire glaive while on her back, a wide pair of feathery wings reached out into the air.
She turned to him with a smirk. Raven realized what the black thing in the corner of his eyes was, for he too had a pair of feathery wings, but they were black, darker than midnight. Her sapphire eyes met his, his heart skipped a beat, and his vision returned to reality, watching the dying flame that consumed the forest surrounding Illysaeas.
He gazed at the sky, confirming there was only one moon above him. Raven shook his head, sheathed his sword, put the shield on his back and turned around.
People filled the streets, windows and roofs, chanting his name. As they did, Raven noticed aether oozed out of the people, adding to the cloud of aether in the air. He paused, realizing what it meant. He looked at the people, seeing them not as the citizens, not as his fans, but as his worshipers chanting his name like a prayer. The arena was his temple and the aether filling the air their tribute to him. To their god. Not knowing what to think of it, he refilled his reserve with the aether from the sky.
Despite the shooting pain, Raven slid down the mountain of corpses and headed toward the Palai barracks. People made a path for him as naturally as water did when one passed through. The chant of his name was deafening, filling his ears.
At the square in front of the barracks, the Palai soldiers were forming units, preparing to head out. The well-dressed old priest sat atop a horse at the head of the soldiers. Raven walked to the barracks where a few young soldiers intercepted him.
He gave them a slight smile. “Brought a brown-haired girl. Where is she?”
“We don’t know, sir.”
A woman with a mane
of crimson hair walked out of the barracks. She pierced him with her emerald eyes. “Luna will be fine.”
Raven sighed with relief.
“Archbishop put together what he could, so now she is in the hands of the gods,” the woman added.
“Sounds bad.”
“It is, but she will be fine.”
“Sorry I didn’t reach her in time.”
“That goes for both of us. Go get rest. You look like a walking corpse. Luna will be fine.”
She was repeating that Luna would be okay to convince herself to believe it. I'm sorry, Luna, but I don't think I made it in time. Raven sighed. “Thank you.”
She passed him, walking to the head of the unit. “I have a war to win. Till next time.”
Raven said nothing and turned. He saw Miranda mount a horse and motion the men to depart.
As he walked back to the arena complex, he noticed a presence. He couldn’t see it, but he felt a being veiled beyond the fabric of reality. Raven focused, spreading his aether into the detection field. Standing on the sky up above the city was a frame of a man with a crown of horns sprouting from his head and a tail weaving behind him. A devil made of darkness. The second Raven’s field touched him, he ascended into the Limbo, disappearing out of range.
Not sure how to interpret this, Raven returned to arena complex. Around the gate moved Stallington’s soldiers, who were pilling the corpses of the Union’s soldiers onto each other while among them stood Prince Stallington. The prince’s eyes turned wide when he saw Raven.
“Jonathan.” Raven nodded in a greeting.
The prince’s surprise quickly faded, his face turning to the neutral mask. “I am happy to see you are all right.”
“Going to sleep. Please have Samantha’s body cleaned and put into a coffin. I will bury her myself.”
Stallington stared in confusion. “Are you…?”
Raven’s chest tightened, but he did his best to keep his voice calm and controlled. “Will finish the tournament as I promised, but then I am leaving. If I do so by completing your challenge or not is up to you.”
