by Sever Bronny
Augum opened his mouth to speak but was unable to utter a sound.
“Trust yourself. Trust your friends.” Her eyes fell upon Leera, whose cheeks were wet. “Trust … love.” She withdrew the divining rod from within her robe and held it out to Augum. The ebony artifact hung between them, shaking with Mrs. Stone’s age, the polished stones glowing subtly. It was a symbolic gesture. The passing of responsibility. Augum took it with numb hands and brought it tight to his chest.
Her eyes now crackled with lightning. “Do not be afraid to become the man you are destined to be.”
He still could not speak, so tight was the lump in his throat.
Sniffing, Leera gently took Augum’s arm. “Come, Aug.”
Augum hesitated. Behind him, the bull demon roared mightily, the sound shaking the walls. But his gaze was on his venerable great-grandmother, standing proud and strong … standing up to a foe one last time … for one final duel.
His insides roiled. It wasn’t meant to happen here and now, against someone he had barely heard of. She was meant to teach them more, show them more, ready them more for the battle to come! She was meant to live longer … wasn’t she?
He wanted to say something meaningful, something utterly profound. Yet he only stared at her, and she at him. And behind her eyes, she was saying goodbye.
She was saying goodbye …
“Nana … I …” yet the love he felt for her was deeper than the oceans. It was … inexpressible.
Her voice was soft. “I know, Great-grandson. I know.” She smiled at him bittersweetly, placed her gaze upon each of them once more, gave a single nod, and slowly turned to face Von Edgeworth. The space around her began warping as the hairs on the back of Augum’s neck rose. Suddenly, Anna Atticus Stone’s arm ruptured into a sleeve of pure lightning.
“ZIGMUND VON EDGEWORTH, I ACCEPT THY CHALLENGE!” she boomed in an arcanely-amplified voice, sending dust falling from the ceiling.
Von Edgeworth’s eyes grew as he saw her full sleeve. Perhaps he understood for the first time that he faced the only living master, a warlock widely revered as a genius arcane artist. Despite her age and failing health, here she stood in defiance. Here she stood in the old way, ready to duel one last time.
“Come, my love,” Leera said in a soft voice, squeezing Augum’s arm. “Come …”
There was a small squeak. Augum’s gaze shifted to Mr. Ribbons, who was still on his knees, staring at the demon, his terrified face lit up by the crimson sun. “My destiny awaits too,” the man said, swallowing hard before clambering to his feet and fixing Augum with a terrible stare. “Take what I offer. TAKE IT!” and he suddenly bolted for the demon.
“MR. RIBBONS, NO—!” Bridget shouted. But Augum saw that there was no talking him out of it, and the chance he offered was precious and fleeting and had to be respected.
He glanced one last time at Zigmund Von Edgeworth. The warlock stood waiting for the trio to depart. It was an act of honor, a final nod to the old way before the duel began, a duel that would see no mercy. Across from the man, Anna Atticus Stone stood tall, chin high, body rippling with lightning fierceness, the space around her warping heavily. For the briefest moment, Augum saw that beautiful young woman in the painting meeting the challenge of her destiny.
It was time.
It was time to let his tired mentor go.
“Goodbye, Nana,” Augum whispered, before turning to the girls and shouting, “GO, GO, GO—! RUUUUN—!” and he shot through the door, sprinting and waving frantically for the girls to catch up to him. The tall grass whipped his necrophyte robe like thousands of reedy snakes. There was a strange freedom to running through that plain. It reminded him deeply of the Tallows, of those long days spent wandering into an unknown fate.
The girls followed … but so too did the shadows. Swarms of them, catcalling and cajoling and spitting and hissing and punching. Together the ridiculous lot of them ran in a wide arc around the massive demon. And just behind the great beast, underneath the majestic arch, lay the unmistakable prize …
A sarcophagus.
Augum caught a distant blur. It was Mr. Ribbons, and by contrast to their wide run-around, he sprinted straight for the massive beast, shouting something at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his cheeks. The bull demon tossed its head derisively before smashing the ground with its two gigantic horns. The earth exploded in that spot, sending a massive tremor that almost knocked the trio to the ground.
Mr. Ribbons had fallen. That is, until Augum heard, “THAT ALL YOU GOT, YOU UGLY COW?” from somewhere behind the pile of smashed earth. The madman had somehow dodged and was running away! The bull demon roared, a sound like an enormous whistle combined with a crumbling mountain. It began furiously punching the ground with mammoth hooves while Mr. Ribbons danced and yelled and dodged and rolled, laughing hysterically.
Meanwhile, as the trio sprinted for the sarcophagus, a mass of shadows chasing Augum, there came multiple bright flashes from the doorway, followed immediately by matching concussive bursts much like a giant drum being struck by a hide mallet. The doorway, which floated in an endless ocean of grass, belched an enormous cloud of smoke.
Augum forced himself to ignore it. He had to get to the sarcophagus. He had to get to his mother.
“It’s working!” Bridget gasped, panting. “He’s drawing it away!” And sure enough, the bull demon was following Mr. Ribbons, an elephant trying to smash an ant. The ground rumbled with each hoofed step. The noise of both battles was deafening.
At last, the trio careened into the sarcophagus. It sat under the towering arch on a simple lichen-covered stone dais. On top of the coffin lay a single red rose.
“Don’t you touch that!” Erika was screaming, her long fingernail claws raking at Augum’s back. “Don’t you touch that, it’s sacred!” Meanwhile, Robin was repeatedly punching his arms, which were already sore from the Cron casting and his bleeding injuries. But Augum merely took the pain, allowing both to do as they pleased. This was no time to be distracted.
“Lid!” he snapped, heaving telekinetically at the crusted block of stone, the girls joining. Augum gave no thought to what he’d find, or the significance of what he was doing. He only thought of the quest. Through the noise, the chaos, the pain, the shadows … he focused on the quest.
Suddenly, Leera reappeared on the other side in front of Augum with both hands up, face splattered with blood. “STOP!” she screamed. “It’s booby-trapped!”
Augum instantly knew what had happened—she had cast Annocronomus Tempusari. He cursed himself. Yet again they had forgotten to cast Disenchant! Again! Luckily, it had obviously been a short casting for Leera because she seemed relatively unfazed—except for the blood all over her face, which sent a horrible shiver down his spine from the realization of what must have happened—she had survived the explosion … and they had not.
But there was no time to dwell on it, for who knew what lay ahead.
Leera, bloody face scrunched in sheer determination, splayed her hands over the sarcophagus. “Un vun asperio enchantus!” After a quick study, she then cast Reveal’s brethren, Disenchant, and immediately began peeling back layers, muttering, “You can do this, Leera, you can do this … atta girl, there’s a layer … and another …”
There was a sudden shout from the demon’s direction. “I’M COMING, MY LOVE! I’M CO—” only to be suddenly silenced by a stomp that reverberated through the ground, the final gong of a funeral bell.
Augum dropped his head for a moment. Mr. Ribbons was no more. He had gone to join his beloved wife.
“Oh, Mr. Ribbons,” Bridget whispered. “Thank you …”
Repeated flashes came from the doorway, diffused by the belching cloud of smoke. Mrs. Stone was still alive and in the fight! The realization bolstered Augum’s spirits.
The ground rumbled as the massive bull demon began slowly turning on its heel, satisfied it had finally smashed poor Mr. Ribbons.
Meanwhile, Leera fran
tically worked on the sarcophagus lid trap.
“There’s nothing in there, you fool!” the ghostly shadow of Erika said, laughing.
“Waste of time,” shadow Robin added.
“Hurry, Lee,” Bridget said in a voice that wavered.
“Almost … there … got it!”
Augum ignored the gut punch delivered from a particularly close shadow, forced the dry heave down, and stepped beside the girls. The three of them then hefted telekinetically, flipping the lid off the sarcophagus.
Revealing an empty coffin …
The Sway of the Grass
“No, no, NO!” Augum kept repeating, wanting to throttle something. “This can’t be …”
“What? What’s the matter?” Bridget asked.
Erika was roaring with laughter. “I told you there wasn’t anything in there!”
Augum glanced about. His mother’s body had to be nearby, it had to be. Beyond the arch, the sharp crimson rays of the sun gleamed against the mighty demon as it snorted a plume of hot breath. Its great bull eyes found the trio and it began lumbering their way, each hoof thundering the earth.
“She’s not here,” Augum blubbered, suddenly lost.
“Augum Stone, what are you talking about? Help us get her out!”
Augum gaped stupidly at Bridget a moment before looking inside the sarcophagus. The body was there, wrapped like a mummy in tight linens. He glanced furiously at Erika, but she was gone at the moment, as was Robin. The gang of shadows was chortling, however.
Unnameables, the side effects were bleeding over into his vision. The seriousness of the realization jolted his suspicions. How much of this was real? He glanced around at the grassy field, at the arch towering overhead, at the crimson sun. Was it all a mirage? He grasped his head, feeling the beastly eyes of madness peek into his mind.
“Is that thing real—?” Augum asked, pointing at the advancing bull demon, suddenly questioning everything.
“Are you kidding!” Bridget shrieked. “Help us get the body out! Come on, move, move, move—!”
Augum helped hoist the body telekinetically. It lifted from the sarcophagus.
The ground thundered as a shadow loomed. The trio looked up to see the demonic behemoth tower over them. Augum realized there was no outrunning it, not with a body to carry.
“I have a plan—” he suddenly declared. “You two take the body to the ovals at the elevator.” The girls would have to push their boundaries with Telekinesis to make it, just like with the floating stone challenge. “I’ll meet you there. If I don’t come in one hundred heartbeats, you take the drawbridge portal. Hopefully Jez will still be there, waiting. I’ll join you one way or another. Got it?”
To his surprise, the girls nodded.
“We trust you, Aug,” Bridget said, eyes ablaze.
Leera gave a firm, loving nod. “See you in a hundred.”
Augum grabbed Leera’s arm before they could speed off. “The locket is enchanted with Object Track. Be sure to disable it. Oh, and Emerga exato. Those are the words to the portal. One hundred heartbeats. If I don’t show—”
“—you’ll show.” She said it so powerfully he didn’t say another word. He leaned in to firmly kiss her soft lips, then let her go. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” and she shot off with Bridget, his mother’s body floating between them.
The bull demon turned his attention on the fleeing pair. Augum immediately touched his throat. “Amplifico.” He felt it expand and strengthen. Five lightning rings ruptured around his arm.
A sneering Robin leaned into his vision, only to get blown apart in a smoky haze by Augum’s roar. “DEMON! HERE! FIGHT ME—!” and to accent the speech, he lashed at the ground violently, shouting, “GRAU!” The air ruptured with a mighty crack of thunder so strong the pebbles on the dais jumped.
The massive demon lumbered to a halt and turned its attention on Augum.
Augum focused all his attention on what was to come. The distant explosions and the irrepressible call of the shadows faded to the background. His blood thundered through his veins.
He was already keeping tabs. Eighty heartbeats remained.
There was only one spell powerful enough. Above, he heard the mountain groan of the demon as it raised its house-sized hoof. But Augum took a precious moment to examine the minutiae of existence—the ancient black lichen growing on the stone. The way the yellow grass swayed in the gentlest of breezes, so soft on his skin. The warmth of the unnatural crimson sun on the back of his neck. The temporary stillness in his being. The cold shadow from above.
His body tensed. He spat the words precisely.
“Centeratoraye xao xen.”
The river coursing through his veins became a torrent. His knife-like concentration sharpened. Time slowed. The air was being pushed down above him, flattening the grass. The moment to move had come, and he jumped aside just as a massive hoof smashed the dais, sending pieces of the sarcophagus flying. He finished his roll, snapped to his feet, and lunged onto the pronged front hoof, latching on to strands of fur as thick as nails. He held on, appreciating the course texture of the fur, refusing to allow the demon to shake him off.
Sixty heartbeats remained until he had to meet the girls at the portal.
The demon gave up trying to send Augum flying and began bringing him closer to its mouth, most likely to eat him. It was the opportunity Augum had been waiting for. At the right distance, as the rays of the sun hit the bull’s eyes, Augum stood up, balancing precariously on the moving hoof. He slammed his wrists together, garnering his immense focus on one spot.
“ANNIHILO!”
The thick bolt of lightning connected with one of the demon’s eyes, exploding it into a bloody mist. It roared in pain, the sound so loud it made Augum fear it would break his innards. But there was no time to lose. Using Centarro, he judged the angles … and jumped to the demon’s knee, which had bent as it struggled from the pain of a lost eye. Then he jumped down onto its back hoof, using its angled surface as a slide to safely roll into the grass, before smoothly transitioning to a sprint. He blazed through the demon’s legs and straight at the smoking doorway that was now eerily silent.
Forty heartbeats.
The ground shook as the great behemoth chased him. Augum, Centarro coursing through his veins, body and soul, judged it was going to be close.
He dove for the floating doorway just as something smashed into the ground behind him. He hit the floor on the other side with an expert roll, stabilizing to a crouch.
Twenty heartbeats. He could already feel Centarro beginning to wane.
The smoky round room was dark except for flashing crimson rays broken by the demon in the doorway. But he knew the demon had no possible way to reach him as his hooves were too big for the doorway. The occasional sounds of crumbling stone echoed, followed by a hiss.
“Nana—?” Augum advanced into the hot smoky darkness until his foot struck something soft. The hairs on his entire body instantly straightened.
It was a body.
For a horrifying moment he just stood there in the dark smoke, before dropping to his knees.
“She’s dead, fool,” Erika spat from the darkness.
Augum ignored her. “Shyneo.” His palm bristled to life … revealing the body of Zigmund Von Edgeworth.
She had beaten him. She had beaten him! The sheer joy of it made him leap to his feet and forget the count. “NANA!” he cried. “NANA—! Where are you! You did it, Nana!” He couldn’t believe it.
A weak moan came from nearby. He raced over, finding a massive glowing orange cavity in the floor, extending into the next room. Not far below steamed hot magma. The edge kept crumbling into the lava, bubbling and hissing. And laying precipitously on the edge of that hole was Mrs. Stone. When he saw her face, his heart dropped like a stone.
“Oh, Nana …” He quickly but gently moved her a little away from the edge before falling to his knees beside her, focusing all his arcane energies on hol
ding the side effects of Centarro at bay. But it would soon be too late. He had to move. He had to find the girls.
Mrs. Stone lay in a bloody heap, limbs twisted. Her staff was beside her on the ground, the scion dark. She was barely breathing. Her eyes opened up at him.
“Nana, I’ll take you home to the castle, we can heal you—”
“Dear … child … do … not … fear …”
“Nana, please, there’s no time, let me lift—”
“Listen … instructions … on … use … left … with … ally …”
“Instructions? I don’t understand—”
“Listen! Vital … you … arm … your … self … find … the …” She began gasping.
“Nana? NANA!” The tunnel of cognitive consciousness began closing in. Time was rapidly running out, yet he grit his teeth and, through sheer force of will, kept the side effects of Centarro at bay.
“… master … runeword …” Her eyes began to close.
“NANA—!”
Blood trickled from her mouth, yet somehow she continued to talk, but so softly he had to bring his ear close to her mouth.
“Do … not … fear. We … each … face … one … more … battle …”
Augum was shaking his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. He had no idea what she meant, he just wanted her to have the will to allow him to somehow try and save her … even though he knew it was impossible.
Suddenly her eyes flared open as she seemed to summon the very last vestige of her life strength. In a firm, final voice, she declared, “Krakatos the Ancient, hear me now! I accept your invitation to Ley. I … accept …” and her eyes closed as she gasped her last.
For what felt like an eternal moment, Augum just gaped at her limp form. The breath had gone from her body.
The legendary Anna Atticus Stone … was no more.
Suddenly his palm light died as the heavy fog of Centarro descended upon his mind so quickly it made him dizzy. There was a rumbling crack as something nearby broke off, followed by a steaming hiss.
