Dungeon Master 8

by Eric Vall

  “But first,” the Qianlong whispered softly. “There is something I must do, since they’re begging to join in this fight.”

  Heijing’s icy blue eyes burned with a new fire and then snapped closed.

  Her massive form glowed and flashed with bright lights of cerulean and scarlet as the spirits of her parents she held within her body were released. Swirling smoke obscured the two massive dragons from view for a few seconds before it cleared and Guoshe lowered her enormous face closer to my godly body.

  The dragon’s golden eyes glittered excitedly as smoke curled out of her snake-like nostrils. Anteng towered over the two of them and turned his light-colored eyes toward the city ahead of us. The Akalong and Qianlong’s spirits were so much larger than their daughter who curled between their two large bodies. Heijing may have reached her maturity, but she was nothing compared to the fully grown dragons standing beside her.

  “We will aid you,” Anteng’s voice boomed from above as his wings beat at the air. “The gods destroyed our home, took our lives, and separated us from our only child. If you think we will stand back and watch from the sidelines, you are very wrong.”

  Guoshe moved her massive head, and a soft shift of air beat at my face as the red dragon stared down at Carmedy’s petite frame.

  “Shall I start, little one?” the Akalong asked in a sweet voice, and Carmedy nodded as she reached for her ingredients. “My adopted father, the commander of the Akalongs, the man they once called the Demon Lord, Shihito.”

  Anteng’s massive lips curled over his teeth as he leaned his head closer to Carmedy along with his wife.

  “Bring my adoptive father too, the Qianlong war general of the name Kosetsu,” Anteng seemed to grin through his enormous dragon face as he turned to look over at his wife. “Our fathers hated each other so much, my love, and now they’ll be fighting side by side.”

  “They are united on this front, Anteng,” Gushoe whispered as her yellow eyes shifted over to Heijing. “They have something very precious to protect. I can still remember the look in my father’s eyes the day that I was offered up as a prize to you after losing the war. I may not have been his blood, but I was his daughter through and through. The sadness in his eyes as I boarded the ship and departed toward Nekoka was something I’ll never forget. I can assume that I had the same look in my eyes moments before the gods took our lives and separated us from our child.”

  Guoshe’s voice changed in tone and deepened with rage as she uttered the last few words. The crimson dragon lifted her head and glared down at the gods’ city. These were the people that destroyed their home and took their daughter away from them. I could feel Guoshe’s hatred physically pulse through the air, and I was glad to have the Akalong on our side.

  All the stories we’d heard about Guoshe were true, she struck fear into the hearts of man. Heijing had once recalled that during her mother’s adolescence, her father, the demon dragon himself lovingly used to call her Ko Omo, the Child Lord because of not only her short stature but also her viciousness on and off the battlefield. The Akalong towered over all of us next to her husband, and they both were a frightening pair to take in.

  Both Anteng and Guoshe named off eight more of their ancestors and Carmedy quickly scribbled the names down on a small notebook. Each of the names was long and hard to pronounce in their traditional language, but the alchemist asked for spelling and pronunciation as they went along. The feline wanted to make sure that she got each of them right when summoning up their spirits, and the two dragons corrected her any time she made a mistake.

  Morrigan floated over and stood behind the alchemist as the elf peeked over Carmedy’s shoulder. The elven woman’s dark eyes moved over the paper curiously, and suddenly, her plump lips moved to speak.

  “Let me help,” Morrigan said in a firm voice as she looked me straight in the eye. “The spell looks fairly simple, I’ve looked it over from the book Haruhi gave us. I’ve summoned up spirits before, and I can create creatures out of thin air. I can do this.”

  “How many?” I inquired as I took a step closer. “How many do you think you can summon?”

  “This isn’t a slight against you, Carmedy,” Morrigan started, and the feline giggled and shrugged softly for the elf to go on. “My mage capabilities are strong, and Carmedy has different abilities than I do, but I believe with my skill that I can summon up to twenty, possibly more.”

  “Why would you think I’d be angry about that?” the alchemist cried as she wrapped her arms around the elf’s middle. “That’s amazing! The spell has limitations for alchemists but for mages, I don’t think it does.”

  “Very well then,” I grinned and turned back toward Guoshe and Anteng who hovered over us. “We’re going to need more names then.”

  As Carmedy and Morrigan took down more names, I ran through the plan with the rest of my women and the four gods. I would lead the eight of them ahead while Heijing, Carmedy, and the three dragons stayed back on the hill of the sanctum. As soon as we left them, they would start summoning up the spirits of the dead Akalongs and Qianlongs.

  It would take the nine of us fifteen minutes to race through the city streets and reach the fortress. During that time, Morrigan and Carmedy would bring forward as many of the dragons that they could summon safely. Once we reached the castle and entered into it, they would make their descent. The other party would wait until they heard my signal, and then they would attack along with us from above.

  I already knew that all the homes and buildings outside of the palace were empty of gods and goddesses, they were all hiding out inside of the fortress along with my father. I sensed three other powerful presences to the west, but they hadn’t yet revealed themselves. They were stronger than all the gods within the fortress combined, and I worried that I would have to fight them too after I dealt with my father and the others.

  I glanced to the west where the power pulsed from but couldn’t make out any shapes or silhouettes that would give away their location. It didn’t matter, the three gods would reveal themselves to me at some point during this battle, and I would stand my ground against them.

  Annalise, Rana, and Haruhi all came to stand by my side as we prepared to take the castle. Domor, Bellum, Ruituri, and Malsumis clustered directly behind us, and to my surprise, the goddess of rot was quiet for once during this journey. When I glanced back at her, her wild yellow eyes were soft and filled with a strange emotion. My brows furrowed, and I moved to speak, but Ruituri opened her mouth first.

  “It’s time to end this, Kazama, for good,” the goddess spoke in a frighteningly soft voice that I’d never heard her use. “It’s time to end their reign of terror.”

  “You are right,” I nodded in a firm voice as I gripped the holy weapon Allagis tighter in my hand. “The gods have been left to their own devices for too long, they’ve corrupted and ruined too much. We will bring them down and take back the gods' realm. Let’s go. Morrigan, Carmedy, you know what to do.”

  “Yes, Master!” Carmedy giggled as she began moving her deft paws through the air and whispering the words from the spell she learned.

  “Of course, Master.” Morrigan bowed her head.

  I took a single step backward as Heijing brought her enormous head down, and I rested my bare hand against her scaly snout. Her icy blue eyes cut into me as they always did, and her soothing voice boomed in my head.

  “Be safe, Kazama,” the Qianlong stated as my hand dropped, and I nodded as I turned away from her. “We’ll be waiting for your call.”

  “We’re off,” I uttered as I broke out into a run down the incline and the eight of them followed after me.

  I glanced back over my shoulder once right as the air all around my two minions began to glimmer. Sparks of royal blues and scarlets rained down all around them as enormous outlines of beasts began to take shape all around them. Glowing eyes appeared in the sky at different heights and glared down at the massive fortress below. I could feel the rage and hate radiate from
each of the summoned spirits, and I turned my head back toward the path ahead of us.

  We raced through the heaven’s streets with barely any time to look around. I knew that this was hardest for Haruhi, who loved learning more about the gods' realm, but the sage kept her eyes forward on our target. The librarian held her pistols loosely in both hands as her heavy boots pounded the ground, and when her eyes connected with mine, she gave me a weary smile.

  Annalise strode assuredly from my left, her loose braids rustling in the wind as she kept her chocolate brown eyes straight ahead. On the other side of the high queen, Rana ran, and every few seconds, the redhead would phase in and out of view as her powers activated sporadically. Their abilities were fully formed within them, no longer aided by the holy children placed within their bellies. My minions were now gods just as I and the four others were.

  As we passed different parts of the city, memories of my past flooded in. The gardens slowly passed to our left, and I glanced over at them for a few seconds as I found the exact place where Euron and I used to play as children. Higher up, amid the blooming flowers and trees, a low bench sat where Mizu used to watch me fondly.

  I quickly turned away from the tranquil gardens as I guided them and turned down a side street, remembering this was the place where I would often go to escape the tyrannical reach of my father and mother. I pushed all of those rising emotions down as I focused my eyes on the massive gilt doors of the palace.

  Being here again made me feel as if I had never left at all. So many memories rushed through my brain and hit me from all sides. I almost couldn’t take it, all the pain and misery I’d suffered in such a beautiful place. All the pain my father made me suffer under his house and rule felt as if it was all happening again. I wanted nothing more than to leave this place, but I knew deep in my heart, I had to stay and kill the rest of the gods.

  I couldn’t let them survive, couldn’t let the heavens remain as they were now. The things happening here weren’t as the three creators intended, the deities of today had strayed so far from their teachings. My father had called me an abomination on multiple occasions, even before I was thrown from the heavens. It wasn’t true, he was the abomination, the gods on the holy council were abominations, and I was here to cleanse the heavens of their filth.

  It was my duty.

  I sensed my father’s eyes from all directions, they pressed down on me, but I pushed on. Chirus was a coward, as he’d always been. Each time he wanted something done, he’d sent someone else to handle it. First, with the Holy Order, The Elders, and finally with my mother. I’d killed her without mercy, without even shedding a single tear, and he had watched the entire time. He wanted to keep his hands clean, but he hadn’t realized that they were already coated with thousands of mortal and gods’ blood, including Qyris’s.

  I wasn’t surprised that he’d sent his wife out to fight me, and it made me wonder who else he’d send out to fight me instead of facing his firstborn head-on like a man. He was afraid of me, I’d seen it when he fought against me at the Holy Order’s fortress. He’d seen the power I wielded behind theses hands and fled away in fear. Now, he would have to face me for the final time, and I wouldn’t let him escape like before.

  As Ruituri said, it was time to end this. The heavens had been allowed to go on like this for too long without any repercussions. The gods' realm had created me, saw me for what I was, and then cast me out. They left me, abandoned me when I was a mere child, and I would exact my revenge on them, not only for myself but for all those they’d wronged before me.

  The door inside loomed ahead, making my women look like ants in comparison but I pushed them forward toward it as I growled in the back of my throat. My powers pulsed all around me, no longer constricted by the tiny avatar my essence had once inhabited. I was stronger now, my links to the heavens stronger since entering back through the sanctum. I’d missed this feeling, the surge of my abilities through my veins like the very lifeblood that kept my heart pumping.

  “Master, the door,” Bellum called from behind me, and I glanced back at her.

  The scarlet haired woman ran like a gazelle, and she held her hands out in front of her, the fingertips of both pressed firmly together as her eyes glowed brightly.

  “What about it?” I shouted back as I turned my eyes back toward the quickly approaching gilt entrance.

  “Enchantments protect it, they’ve locked it!” the redheaded goddess shouted, and I grunted in response as I lifted Allagis.

  I held the holy weapon in both hands as I bent my knees and launched myself into the air. Wind brushed my long locks back over my shoulders, and I roared for all to hear as I swung Allagis down. The weapon shifted three times in my hand, first to a longsword. Indigo light flashed around the blade as it widened, shifted, and changed into a broadsword. None of these seemed large enough to attack the massive blockade, and I pushed all of my strength into the weapon.

  The weapon crackled loudly, and sparks flew from the blue aura as it again shifted in my hands into a claymore even larger than the Eye of Alipsis and the sword Rana held. The blade extended four times an average claymore’s length and widened. The weapon was so heavy in my hands that I strained against it as I brought it down toward the entrance.

  I felt the weapon hit the invisible enchantments and stop for a mere second. I gritted my teeth as I slammed my power down into Allagis, and a loud cracking sound thundered in my ears. I was nearly blown back from the force of the enchantments breaking but held my ground as I followed through with another blow to the door.

  Ancient symbols and glowing runes flashed across the blade of the weapon, and I barely had time to glance at them as the blade connected with the golden metal of the entrance. I screamed as my muscles bulged tautly under my flesh, and the golden doors blew inward, completely coming off their hinges and spiraling through the air in the inner chamber. Both of them slammed into the far walls, buried into the stone from the force behind my blow. The hallway beyond the door was devoid of any life, but farther down, a second set of doors stood.

  I felt the pulse of godly power behind it right as a chorus of roars rose into the air from behind us. The dragons were ready and anxious to fight as their enormous talons raked against the sanctum. I concentrated in on my three women and could see them in my mind’s eye. The mass of scaly bodies almost obscured Morrigan and Carmedy, but the two women kept their eyes trained on us in the distance.

  “Now!” I screamed to them telepathically. “Send them now!”

  Carmedy and Morrigan both nodded at the same time, hurried over to Heijing and deftly climbed onto the Qianlong’s back. The dragon’s journey would be much faster than ours, and they would descend upon the fortress in a matter of minutes. Heijing rose into the air right as I turned my attention back toward the hall and the gods waiting beyond.

  “This is it,” Annalise breathed as she slipped her hand softly into mine. “Are you ready?”

  I turned to my minions as I looked deeply into each of their eyes. I loved them so much, and even as gods, there was a chance of them getting hurt or injured in this battle. I knew they would do well despite that, I’d trained each of them thoroughly and made them into capable warriors. They’d killed gods alongside me for a long time now, they knew what to expect going into this. I inhaled and then exhaled loudly as I brought Allagis up in front of me and examined its mighty blade.

  “There were many times in my life I wondered why I had been born,” I murmured to all of them. “I was a disgrace to my parents, despised by all other gods and a scourge on earth. I thought there must have been a reason I was brought into this world and I think I finally found it. This is my destiny, I was born to kill the gods, and I will personally make sure that all of them perish on this day. We will spare none of our enemies and all those who stand against us.”

  My minions stared up at me with wide eyes and awestruck expressions. Annalise hid her face as she wiped away a single tear that threatened to drip down her chee
k. My core four women had been with me since the very beginning, and they’d stayed by my side through all things. They had happily trekked along with me through snow-covered mountains and over oceans filled with wayward spirits. My pain was their pain, and even as my heart ached at this moment, I knew they felt it too.

  I was destined to do this, from the moment I was born, my fate was set in stone. Each moment from then on became a stepping stone to the god I was in this moment, standing at the entrance of the gods’ fortress. My life, accumulation of anger, and rage all up until this point as I stepped one foot into the hallway.

  The air all around us changed immediately, and the gods’ power beating from the other end of the hall intensified. My father’s presence weighed heavily on me from all directions, it was stifling, but I brushed it off easily. I’d grown up with that feeling hovering over me every day, and even after being away for a long time, I was still accustomed to it.

  My feet moved as if on their own, and my minions watched me from behind. The first steps I took were slow as I stared down at the cherry-colored wood of the second door. I’d been in this place hundreds of times before during my life in the heavens, and I knew the rooms by heart. We were headed straight for the grand hall where my father and mother led many Holy Council meetings.

  My feet moved even faster, and finally, I broke out in a run with an earsplitting roar. My minions and the four gods followed quickly on my heel as we pounded forward. To the left of me, Annalise threw back her head and let out a mighty scream. The high queen lifted the blades of Bloodscale and the unnamed sword and scrapped them across the stone walls as we passed. The blades sent brilliant yellow sparks into the air and trailed them behind us.

  As we neared the door, the dark wood swung open on its own. I gritted my teeth at the loud sound of my father’s throaty laughter as we slowed at the door. I was the first to exit as Annalise and Rana slipped in behind me. The others filtered in behind us, and as soon as we all entered into the great hall, we fanned out into position.