by Simon Archer
I stared at my hands, entranced at the glowing aura that surrounded me. The strands of light ebbed and flowed around, dancing like Asian dragons between my fingers. As the lights danced, I already felt the power within me start to ebb. As powerful and amazing as this new form was, it wasn’t permanent by a longshot. As I sighed, I released a deep breath along with the form, the gold weave fading from sight as I returned to normal.
Unlike before, when I was at the whim of my own powers, I could feel a switch inside of me this time. Even if it was only for a few seconds, I could call upon this form again whenever I needed to and, with time, maintain it for longer periods if necessary. But as the transformation ended, I felt as absolutely exhausted as when I first activated this power.
“How absolutely unbecoming of me!” I heard a voice call out from the void in the air. It was pitchy with a bit of squeak, like what you would imagine a mouse in a petticoat would sound like. Officium’s true voice was much more pleasant to hear than the nasty rasping from before. “If next we meet, I will treat you to the finest of my hospitality, but while we’re here, I’ll return what I stole. Good luck on your endeavors, brave warrior.”
In a flash, the exhaustion from before melted away, and I could keep myself steady again. I had gone from barely capable of standing to feeling fit enough to fight another army. It was as if I hadn’t even participated in a battle in the first place.
I remembered the Baroness and ran over to where she had fallen down. She was still lying on the floor, seemingly lifeless. I got down to my knees, rolling her over so she was facing up as I held her in my arms. She moaned ever so slightly and opened her eyes, and I knew she was going to be fine then. Those eyes, now shining like black pearls, looked up to mine, and I could see the color and fullness return to her cheeks, her body no longer having the gaunt and stretched appearance from before. All the years under the sway of the corrupted Brand washed away as the breath returned to her lungs as if for the first time. She put a hand to my cheek, softly pawing at it as we stared into each other.
That’s when she pulled me in for a kiss. Unexpected, yes, but certainly not unwelcome. Her lips were soft as velvet, given that she’d been without a self-care routine for a while. As we parted, she smiled at me, quickening my heart as she did.
“My champion,” she said, her voice a flowing melodious call to my soul, “you are a welcome sight for these poor eyes. I could give you your weight in precious jewels, and it wouldn’t be enough to repay what you’ve given me.”
“Don’t push yourself, Baroness,” I whispered to her. “Too much poetry after a curse will run you ragged.”
“Call me Solanna, my champion,” she said, pulling me into another kiss. “It would be a small price to pay for how I feel now.”
“And here I thought you were in trouble, Master William!” I heard the familiar British dialect of Reginald Thorpe call from behind me. “We were whipped up into a tiff, called from the field of battle, and here you are snogging a defenseless woman!”
The British knight stood with the rest of my circle, all of them standing battle-worn and covered in the grime of combat. Amalthea had taken the liberty of laying down, obviously exhausted from her own wounds. Shikun and Petra walked over to my side, with Libritas not far behind.
“Um, I can explain,” I said, standing both myself and Solanna up. “It wasn’t anything like--”
“Don’t worry, Will,” Petra said as she hugged me. “We were simply worried after Libritas sensed you were in trouble. We understand more than anyone what it means to be released from the influence of such a curse upon the mind.” She gave me a heated glance and a knowing grin. “If I were her, I’d be a bit disappointed that other people had shown up so soon before I had my fill of you.”
“Very astute, Madame Dryad,” Solanna said, brushing the wild strands of her highlighted hair down. “Thank you for your forgiveness of my intrusion upon… your claim.”
“I have no singular claim, Your Highness,” Petra said, kissing me on the cheek. “However, I do take what I want.”
“There is more than enough of William to go around, after all.” Shikun pressed herself up to my front as she kissed me. “Once we’ve all properly rested, I think I’ll be taking what I want as well.”
“Aren’t you the popular one, my champion?” Solanna looked upon the girls who had joined me on my quest as I traveled. “And I assume this metal girl is also a part of this?”
“Not to get too terribly technical,” Libritas said, her glistening skin hugged my armor as she squeezed between Shikun and Petra, “but I may have been the one to help start ‘this’ in the first place.” And just like that, I was surrounded.
“Yes, I’ve meant to ask about that, and I don’t want to sound rude,” Shikun said as she pulled away, a hand to her chin. “What…?” She couldn’t bring herself to finish one question as so many flooded her mind by the look on her face.
“This is my Avatar form, Shikun,” Libritas explained. “In times of great need, a Brand can call upon this form to help their veteran wielders in combat. Usually, it would only be for a brief moment, as most people cannot withstand the strain. William is a special case, though.” She graced my lips with a kiss, as well. “Without him even trying, I can maintain this for long periods.”
“Could you have forced this transformation before, Lib?” I asked her, curious about Officium.
“Definitely not,” she answered. “Such an attempt would have killed both of us. Of course, that is the case with most normal Brandwielders. What happened with Officium is a curious thing.” She seemed to still have the psychic connection that we shared before. I had felt the Khalati Record fade from my mind halfway through my fight with Officium, and I hadn’t mentioned the Brand of Savagery, yet.
“What happened with who?” Petra asked.
“The Brand that was enslaving the barony,” I answered for her. “It somehow used my latent energies I couldn’t even tap to form a bond with me and create an Avatar form. But it wasn’t nearly as elegant as Libritas, here.”
“I would imagine such a bond would prove unstable, considering it would be forced,” Libritas continued. “If Officium had managed a deeper connection before changing his form, things could have been much worse. I doubt that was possible, however, given that I had already created a bond with you.”
I nodded. “It was practically cracking at the seams, in a very literal sense. I’m sure that he was struggling to maintain it as much as I was struggling to keep up with him.”
“Well, we’re glad you’re safe, Will,” Petra said. “It sounds as if he wasn’t any real trouble for you.”
“He was, don’t kid around,” I said, letting out a breath like built-up steam. “I was only able to beat him out of lucky genetics, I guess.”
“Lucky genetics?” Shikun said. “Do you mean those angel powers you talked about before?”
“Yeah, when I got desperate enough, I could call upon it.” I paused for a moment, thinking about how it felt. “At that moment, I think I found the switch to turn it off and on. It’s useful, but it drains my, well, ‘power,’ for lack of a better word, in seconds.”
“I don’t quite know what all this means, but you sound like you need rest,” Solanna said, pulling me forward. “Come, we’ll give you the royal treatment. My drones will make sure you’re completely taken care of.”
“Sorry about your soldiers and guards, by the way,” I apologized. “It may be really insensitive of me to say at a time like this, but we only killed those we had to.”
“Do not be hard on yourself, Champion.” Solanna placed her hand on my chest. “anthophilan drones are about as alive as your common tree. They act like an extension of my will, as we share a psychic hive mind. In truth, I am the only real person in this place, and the others are just vessels for my desires. Think of them like organs or parts of my body. Technically all individually alive in their own way, but only my brain has any real personality or soul.”
“That doesn’t leave you with a lot of options in the ways of mates,” Shikun mused as the rest of the girls followed behind us. “Do you… pick a drone to help with the next generation?”
“Since a royal anthophilan male is both rare and usually related, like my brother, such roles must be outsourced to other races.” Solanna continued her lecture on anthophilan studies. “Thankfully, our compatibility with other races is incredibly flexible. We usually try to find those of…” She looked up to me. “Strong lineage.”
Her stare made me nervous. She seemed even hungrier than the other girls had first been when I freed them.
“We should take to rebuilding the Solspire and making reparations to the Marches as soon as possible, wouldn’t you say?” Reginald said, coming into the conversation along with Amalthea. “We can worry about ‘strong lineages’ once the first day of work is over.”
“Can you get your drones to help with that?” I asked the Baroness.
“My dear Champion, they are already working on it,” she cooed in my ear. “They are an extension of me. I’ve merely to think it, and they will make it so. As soon as I was released from that Brand’s grip, I began to restore my control over them. The drones are fixing the barony as we speak.”
“What do you say, Reggie?” I said, pleading with my eyes. “We’ve all had a rough couple of days. Can we just take a night for ourselves without the threat of someone dying?”
“Fine,” Sir Reginald relented with a huff. “But only because all of this flying has completely decimated my mental reserves. I’m still upset about that, William!”
“How was I supposed to have any control over that, Reg?”
“Decades in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces!” Reginald shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “Dozens of combat scenarios! Quite a few airdrops as well, mind you! One exposed flight over a sea of teeth and claws, and now, I have to find the stairs in this bloody building to make my way down.”
“I will happily fly you down, sir knight,” Shikun offered.
Reggie waved the dragon-girl off as he stomped deeper into the throne room, desperate for an exit. The rest of us chuckled at him as he stormed off behind a pillar.
“I may not have been the most conscious of his position on my back as we flew through the drone airspace,” Amalthea chimed in. “There were one or two moments where his grip wasn’t as strong as it needed to be to keep himself on my backside.”
“We’ll try to minimalize flying if we can,” I said. “For now, we rest. Then we help rebuild the Marches. Then, we find Khaba and take his head.”
“He’ll be garrisoned in his Necropolis, my savior,” the sphinx noted. “As I was kept there as part of his personal retinue, I can assure you that his power will be strongest there. Do not underestimate him at any cost, or he will kill you. He is far more powerful than anything you’ve faced before.”
“That’s why I’ll be bringing as many soldiers as possible to help me,” I assured her. “If I can help it, I’d like to single out Khaba so the six of us can bring the pain like he’s never had it. He’ll answer for everything he’s done.”
“If he’s anything like the Weaver,” Shikun said, “he’ll be as cruel as he is cunning. I know you must be sick of hearing this by now, but please be careful, William.”
“If anyone has to worry right now, it’s Khaba,” I said to them. “I’m sure he’ll be quaking in his boots if he had any sense.”
34
Khaba Va’Khem
Worthless. I’d given my minions as much power as they could hope for, and none of them have the slightest competency with it. Uruk, Weaver, Officium, Karthas, all of them miserable failures.
As I gazed through my scrying window into the Solspire’s throne room, my stomach turned. After all of this time, this body could still feel vile revulsion. Within the window, I saw Libritas, in her Avatar form, fawning over William Tyler like a newlywed bride. I grew sick of watching him and his harem celebrate their victory and closed the window with a wave of my hand.
“Do not be so distraught at the boy’s insolence, my lord.” Via’s Avatar crawled onto the armrest of the throne and grabbed onto my arm. “He is but a brat that has yet to be spanked.”
“It is you who will hold ultimate victory, Lord Khaba.” The Avatar of Death, Nethum, came to my other arm. “Nothing this boy does will amount to anything but false hope for the people of Etria. He is a usurper and will be dealt with.”
I sat silent. Did these Brands see weakness within me? Did they think me so desperate for reassurance that they must coddle me so? I could only ponder what I would do now that William had gained this victory. By the day, he grew more powerful and more arrogant. In his own words, he claimed to have his sights set upon my kingdom next. If he were only delayed a week longer, I could have handled this easily. But ultimately, the obstacles placed in his way were only catalysts for his strength to grow.
“Perhaps, Lord Khaba,” Via brushed her hand across my chest, trickling her fingers across the ribs exposed under my skin, “all you need is some time to rest, relax, and rethink how you will squeeze the life out of that insolent boy.”
“Let us revitalize you, my lord,” Nethum said, bringing her body up to my flesh. “Let us show you how much we love you and how much faith we have in your victory. You will feel anew.”
With a flick of my hand, my body sent out a pulse of invisible energy, blasting Via and Nethum far away from me. They fell to the ground in crumpled heaps, far below my throne.
“Are you not pleased with us, Lord Khaba?” Via said through tears. “Do you not find us pleasurable anymore?”
“Please forgive our insolence, my Lord,” Nethum said, picking herself up to her knees. “We will change anything about ourselves to suit your tastes. We wish only to please you, most powerful Khaba.”
“I will find William Tyler, my lord!” Via lifted herself up by her arms. “I will find him, and I will kill him myself if I have to for you. I am useful. I can please you, my lord. You need only give me the chance!”
“We’ll bring every dark wrath upon him.” Nethum stood to her feet. “Every black magic and unholy power at our disposal will rain down upon him like acid! Say the word, and he will be destroyed.”
“Your groveling disgusts me,” I said.
They grew completely silent at my words, but it was more than my disgust that fueled my words. The truth was that I couldn’t afford to send them out. If they were destroyed, or worse, converted, then all would be lost. I needed them here to complete my work… but we were far from finished. Drastic measures had to be taken to make sure I was uninterrupted.
“What would you have us do, Lord Khaba?” Nethum finally spoke.
“Move to the top of the Necropolis,” I said to them. “Prepare the Miasma.”
“But, what about the construction?” Via said. “If we create it now, your power will be a fraction of what you were hoping for--”
“Do not question me.” I lifted my hand up, to which both Via and Nethum recoiled. They knew all the different ways I could make them compliant. “You are to obey. Nothing more.”
“Yes, most gracious Khaba!” Via then disappearing in a spark of light.
“You will be done, my lord.” Nethum faded away into a flare of shadow.
Via was more than right. The Miasma would be crippled by the hasty implementation, but it was necessary. If I waited for the opportune moment, William would have taken his armies through my lands and conquered my Necropolis before I had a chance to start a counteroffensive. In this ever-weakening state, I would be helpless to stop him. I could only delay him long enough to amass the power I needed to crush him and take what I needed.
Things were not nearly as bleak as I expected. William’s new power may prove both a blessing along with a curse. His strength could be used to my own advantage, as long as I could harness it properly. That shouldn’t prove too difficult. After all, I had plenty of practice.
I stood from my throne, walking
down to the black obsidian floor. As I walked forward, dark stones floated to my feet, suspending me as I stepped toward the center of the shadowed expanse of my throne room. Upon my final step, I took my hands to the air, calling the obelisk forth.
The stones of the entire chamber shifted as the earth began to shake. Like gears and puzzle blocks, the stones churned and slid into place. From the ground far below, a glowing red crystal emerged and rose to meet me. The crystal reached me, suspended in stone, still stretching ever upward. The chains that wrapped around it clanked as the crystal obelisk continued its ascent. Those chains kept the woman restrained to it, both her arms and legs pinned underneath the dark steel. Her golden hair draped over her face, stretching far down below her, a testament to the time she spent here. Her tattered robes remained upon her, still clinging to her thin frame as if they were desperate to hide her shame. When she came to my level, I stepped towards her, more stones meeting my feet as I approached her.
I took my hand to her chin, clenching her cheeks as I inspected her. She was thinner. The Blood Ruby was working as expected. With her capture, my machinations were propelled by leaps and bounds as I siphoned her power away. If she hadn’t proved so troublesome in the past, I might have thanked her.
“Are you so desperate for entertainment that you have to torture me yourself?” she said with all the wind her lungs could muster. “You really are the most pathetic creature I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m glad you have such spirit, Laurelin,” I said to her, keeping my hand upon her as I continued my inspection. “It would be a shame if the power of the Angels was truly so feeble.”
