Dungeon Master 8

by Eric Vall

  “Mizu no on’na,” Rana spoke the Tichádáma’s true name as she held the rune then set it down beside the others. “The lady of the water.”

  “She really was not of this earth,” Annalise muttered as her chin dropped sadly. “She deserved better than the death she received.”

  “It’s better now though, we killed Tuzakeur,” Rana hissed through her teeth as she stroked the glittering surface of the sapphire. “He’s the one who took her life, and he paid dearly for what he did. The gods are next, we’ll rip them to shreds for all the terrible things they’ve done to mortals and their own kind.”

  Neither Heijing nor Haruhi had been there for the goddess’ death, but tears welled in the sage’s eyes. Haruhi had specifically been the one to ask us to allow the goddess to live, and we hadn’t been able to do that. We doubted the librarian’s words, we thought the Tichádáma was evil and had mortals sacrificed in her name, but in the end, we found out the truth behind it all.

  “Is there any sort of order we need to put them in?” Annalise asked with furrowed brows as she stared down at the sacred items. “Nothing is happenin--”

  The high queen’s voice died in her throat as all six of the sacred items began to glow a deep indigo. The light surrounding each piece flashed and glimmered as each item shook on the marble floor. Slowly, each of the objects floated up from the floor and raised into the air. The indigo light fluctuated and reached such a peak that all of us squinted our eyes at the pieces.

  The jewels in the long rod Heijing gave us glowed in deep scarlets, bright amethysts, and neon yellows. The golden metal shook as the two rounded blades we found in Otia’s dungeon spiraled from one tip to the other. The smaller objects glowed so brightly that we could no longer see their shapes, and I watched them sink into the shining metal of the staff.

  The combined items spun in the air slowly at first, then faster and faster. A soft whisper of words rang in my ears, too far away to pick out they were saying, but from the sound of them, I knew it to be the gods’ language. An unseen gale beat at us and blew our hair back as we all stared up at the blur of blue light that hung in the air. I felt it first in my chest and then through each one of my bones. A calling that I couldn’t understand, a voice beckoning me toward the holy weapon and I stood right as the indigo light flashed brilliantly.

  I reached out my right hand and thrust it into the swirling mass of power. My eyes widened as heated metal found its way into my palm, and my fingers slammed down on an unseen hilt.

  The surrounding voices were no longer whispering but screaming in our ears instead. Even though the words were louder, I could barely make out anything they said as I held onto the weapon in my hand even tighter. With a mighty roar, I ripped the holy weapon backward, and the indigo light exploded all around us like fireworks. I barely had time to register what was happening as a new wave of emotion hit me. I felt adrenaline burst through my veins and a strange sense of enlightenment I didn’t possess before.

  I held the weapon aloft as all the light dissipated around us and I breathed heavily for a moment. The sounds, voices, and rushing wind ended with a loud snap, and silence rang in our ears as I breathed heavily. My eyes focused, and I stared up at the weapon as if with new eyes. It felt as if the weapon was a part of me, like an extension of my arm that hadn’t been there before.

  At first, it looked like a sword surrounded by an ethereal glow, but as I swung it down, the silver blade shifted in my hands into the shape of a glaive. The transformation was seamless, and I stared down at it in wonder for a few seconds. I gripped the hilt even tighter as a wide grin crossed my lips and whipped the weapon through the air. The glaive morphed yet again into a massive, heavy flail.

  I stared at it in wonder, and when I glanced down at my minions, their eyes were wide, and their mouths fell open in surprise. Haruhi scuttled to her feet and came to stand beside me as she admired the weapon in my hands.

  “Do you know what this is?” Haruhi asked in a hushed voice. “May I see it for a moment, Master?”

  “Of course,” I smiled as I handed it over, and the sage took it and held it in both paws. “But what is it called? It’s a holy weapon, but I don’t know if it had a name.”

  “This is the holy weapon, Allagis, forged hundreds of thousands of years ago, before you were even born, Master. It’s supposed only to be a legend, but here it is, before our very eyes.” Haruhi whispered as she dropped a paw from the weapon, took a decisive step forward and lashed out at the open air.

  Allagis morphed once more into the shape of an enormous claymore, larger than the Eye of Alipsis ever was, and Rana gasped at the sight of it.

  “What does it do?” I inquired as the rest of my women rose to their feet and hurried over.

  “First, I have to tell you how it came into existence,” the sage asked as she looked into each of our faces. “Allagis was formed by the first three gods. You all know them, don’t you? The first gods to enter into existence, before the earth and everything beyond were created. Nirankar, Akal, and Alakh Niranjar, shapeless, timeless, and sightless. They worked together to create all living and nonliving things. They were the key builders of the heavens.”

  “Never heard of them.” Rana shrugged then chuckled, and Haruhi snickered softly.

  “I’ve only heard their names mentioned a few times,” Annalise stated as she ran a finger over the blade of the weapon.

  “We learned about them extensively when I studied here with the mages.” Morrigan smiled slightly as she nodded to the sage.

  “I know them,” I admitted as I ran my eyes over the weapon, and the librarian handed it back over to me. “I believe they still exist somewhere in the heavens, but they never appeared to me as a child. Most of the older gods kept to themselves and didn’t bother with the nonsense of the holy council as my parents did.”

  “Nirankar, Akal and Alakh Niranjar wouldn’t fit in with the new rules of the gods anyway,” Haruhi chuckled, and her hazel eyes sparkled as she went on to tell us more. “They created the mortals and beasts of the land and loved them more than anything. They were much different from the gods we know of today. They spent most of their days on earth with the mortals and barely visited the heavens.”

  “If they loved mortals so much then why did they create a weapon like this?” Annalise questioned innocently, and Haruhi nodded feverishly.

  “Allagis wasn’t meant to be a weapon but a symbol of peace.” The librarian smiled softly.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Rana shook her head. “It’s a weapon, how could it be a symbol of peace?”

  “Think about each item that it’s composed of,” the sage instructed. “An amulet, a necklace with a ring, the Eye of Alipsis which in its dormant state is also a necklace, a brooch, a scepter, and its two attachments. Do those sound like weapons to you?”

  Haruhi looked to each of us slowly, and I realized what the sage meant. The librarian noticed my expression and grinned.

  “Master?” Haruhi prodded, and I smiled back.

  “They were meant to be gifts,” I stated, and Annalise and Rana looked at me with confused expressions.

  “Think about where you found all the sacred items,” Haruhi instructed them. “They were in different countries, spanning hundreds of miles from each other. You’d think if they were meant to be together, they would’ve been kept in the same place. The three creators gave the pieces of the weapon to the mortals as gifts, they loved them so much, and the mortals loved them back. They trusted them with the holy weapon and gave a decree to all living things that if they were to ever be displeased with the gods, then they should bring the pieces together and fight against them. It never happened, the mortals loved the three creators so much that they never rose against them and the Allagis was forgotten to time.”

  “That’s so weird, the gods today would never do such a thing,” Annalise whispered as she ran a hand over her intricate braids.

  “Times have changed, and the gods no longer look upon
mortals with love and affection,” Haruhi sighed sadly. “But Allagis is in our hands now, and we will use it against the people who created it, just as the three creators intended.”

  “You never answered what is does,” The fox chuckled, and Haruhi giggled softly as her cheeks flushed red.

  “You’re right,” the sage admitted as she eyed the weapon once more. “We all know that mere weapons don’t do much against the gods. When we fight them, we really have to put our all into it. With Allagis…that’s not the case. The holy weapon senses your enemies strength, and weaknesses and then changes to a better-suited weapon against that attacker, but that’s not all. The Allagis is designed to kill an enemy in one blow.”

  “O-one blow?” Annalise gasped as her brown eyes shot open.

  “Seriously?” Rana gawked as she came even closer to me and the weapon.

  “We will never know if it’s true...” Morrigan stated in her cold voice but then her dark eyes glittered with intense fire. “Unless we test it out.”

  “W-what?” the high queen shrieked.

  “How?” Haruhi cried in a panicked voice.

  “Do not worry, little kitties,” the elven woman grinned as she stepped back and threw out her hands. “No real person will be injured during this test.”

  I knew exactly what the elf meant and faced off with her as the rest of my minions protested from behind me. Morrigan’s hands instantly glowed with emerald fire, and she slammed her palms together as she conjured up something for me to fight against.

  “Let’s start with something small, shall we?” I snickered, and the elf nodded in agreement.

  Morrigan’s eyes turned wholly black, and her snow-white hair whipped around her as she concentrated. The elven woman threw out her hands at the same time, and the emerald power encasing her blasted out onto the marble floor. It pooled there for a moment then rippled with life. A shriveled hand ripped through the portal of green light and slowly pulled itself up and out.

  The creature was small, barely standing up to my knees and covered in human-like wrinkled flesh. Its face was long and square with large ears that almost resembled a bat’s wings. The creature wriggled its fingers and toes, its long, cracked toenails clicking against the granite of the floor. Its feral yellow eyes rolled in their sockets, and its grimy lips pulled back against its small, pointed teeth. The creature was vaguely humanoid, but from the way it moved and reacted, I knew it was nothing more than a cave-dwelling gremlin.

  I was impressed by Morrigan’s skill as I scrutinized her creation. Unlike the others she’d summoned up before, this creature had its natural coloring, and it was perfectly solid as if it were a real, living thing instead of just a conjuring.

  The gremlin sauntered forward, its greyish tongue lolling from its misshapen mouth as it snorted and growled in my direction. I stepped forward surely, Allagis firmly in my hands and right as I was about to lift the weapon in a downward slice, I felt a sudden change come over my body. It was as if the weapon guided my hand and changed the direction of my swing.

  If I looked hard enough, I could almost make out the faint lines of the trajectory the weapon wanted me to take, and I followed it perfectly. My arm shifted from a downward slash, pulled back toward my waist and plunged forward into the gremlin’s body. The creature didn’t have time to scream in pain as the same indigo light transferred from the sword onto its body and covered it in pulsing blue light.

  Before our eyes, the gremlin’s body cracked, shifted, and then broke apart as if it were made from glass. The shards of its body crumpled to the floor, and once each piece landed, it disappeared with a loud scream from the gremlin. I stared at the shining granite for a few seconds before I lifted my eyes back to Morrigan.

  “Dang!” Rana shouted as she threw her paws into the air and jumped around.

  “That was so intense,” Annalise breathed as she pressed a hand over her pounding heart. “I never knew something like that could happen.”

  Haruhi didn’t speak, only looked pleased with herself as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched Morrigan and I gape wide-eyed at each other in shock.

  “Again, let’s go.” I barked through a smirk, and the elven woman nodded.

  “Slightly bigger?” the elven woman asked as she brought her pale hands up in front of her again.

  “No, give me the largest thing you can summon,” I commanded her, and Morrigan grinned wickedly.

  The pool of green energy rippled and expanded seven feet across the floor as the elf concentrated hard on her next creation. It took longer this time, and as we waited, the emerald green turned a darker shade right as the beast emerged from the depths. Plums of deep forest green rose from the swirling space, and it took me a few seconds to realize they were massive palm leaves, larger than my entire body. The greenery rustled softly as the shapely body climbed out.

  The body, much like the gremlin from before, was humanoid in nature but covered in dirt and small hairs. Its flesh appeared to be rough and textured in tiny little rolls that collected grime and other particles. It looked to be female from the badly formed breasts and wide hips but other than that, it was featureless. Its fingers waggled in the air like long roots, and its lumpy feet did the very same.

  The fronds of green waved through the air like a crest as the towering beast glowered down at me with sightless eyes. The creature’s mouth fell open and a warbling, high-pitched scream thundered out. My minions behind me covered their ears and dropped close to the ground as they winced in pain.

  “What the hell is that thing?” Rana screamed in agony as her eyes squinted closed.

  “Mandrake,” Haruhi and I answered back.

  I shifted the weapon in my hand and watched as the transparent lines appeared in my sightline. Two different tracks came into view, and I glanced in between them for a split second. I had two options here, strike straight for the head, or slash it across the belly. I gripped the hilt of the weapon and went with the first option.

  I grounded my feet, centered my body, and then bent at the knees as I prepared to jump. I pushed all of my power into my legs as I launched myself into the air and slammed my boots into the solid knee of the mandrake. The beast cried out and swiped at me, but I evaded it by flipping out of the way.

  I brought the weapon up from my belly right as it began to transform once more. The blade extended, curved slightly at the tip and became a butterfly sword right before my eyes. I thrust forward into the mandrake’s thick throat, gripped the hilt between both hands and ripped it upwards with a mighty roar. The blade tore through the fibrous being’s skull as if it were paper. I smashed my heavy boots off the mandrake’s chest, flipped once, and landed with ease back where I started.

  The mandrake teetered on its feet for a moment then fell like a falling tree. Like before with the gremlin, its root-like body cracked, splintered all the way up from its feet to its shredded throat. The mandrake shattered, and the pieces fell to the floor like a flurry of snow. Each piece hit the ground then fizzled out with a soft cry from the being.

  I turned and looked back at my minion’s as they all stared at me wonderstruck. I took an assured step toward them and lifted Allagis above my head as I spoke loud and clear.

  “And this is the weapon that will kill all the gods.”

  Chapter Twelve

  With the holy weapon Allagis in our possession, we had gained a huge advantage in the fight against the gods. I placed the weapon into my void pocket for safekeeping as Ansel burst through the door with the twins on his heels. The oldest Decathmor’s face, which was usually severe and serious, held an expression of sheer elation.

  His chocolate brown eyes moved over the slaughtered bodies on the dais, and he smiled even wider. Ansel and his brother quickly climbed the stairs and reached up as they panted for breath. Their faces were red with exertion, but they didn’t seem tired from the battle, in fact, the battle seemed to bolster them more than usual. I turned to them with my arms spread wide and grinned to my brothe
rs-in-law.

  “Damn, what happened in here?” Amos asked as he leaped over a mage’s body severed completely in two.

  “The powers of Master and his minions, duh.” Rana snorted as she placed her paws on her hips.

  “I can see that, but you really did a number on these poor guys,” Adam snorted as he kicked over the corpse of a burnt body. “Did you even give them a chance to fight back?”

  “We are taught never to allow your enemy an opening,” Annalise smiled to her older brothers. “You should’ve remembered that from training, you bone-head.”

  Amos repeated what his sister just said in a higher-pitched voice then chuckled as the high queen punched him in the shoulder.

  “I assume that all the tasks have been carried out?” I asked as I stepped closer and all childish antics from either of the twins stopped at once.

  Their faces became somber, and they nodded vehemently as they stood on either side of Ansel.

  “Yes, all mages within and outside of the fortress have been eliminated,” Ansel stated in his deep, raspy voice. “The Tintagal soldiers surrounded the outer wall and apprehended any enemy that attempted to escape us.”

  “And the soldiers from Valasara, Machstein, and Canarta?” I inquired as I crossed my muscular arms over my chest.

  “They’ve done excellent jobs,” Adam uttered as he stepped forward. “Makar and I guided them perfectly. You wouldn’t have thought they weren’t skilled in battle, I wish you could’ve seen them, Master, it was incredible.”

  “Fantastic,” I grinned and nodded approvingly to them. “I am proud of each one of you.”

  “What should we do now, Master?” Amos questioned. “All the mages are dead, and you’ll be moving on to the heavens soon.”

  “Rest, I want each of you to rest easy knowing that you did a job well done,” I stated as I looked over my women. “We will prepare a feast and celebrate tonight, a small thanks for your servitude. You’ve pleased me well, and all of you will be blessed in our futures together. Now go, tell your men how they’ve pleased me and tonight, we will rejoice together!”