I reached out, focusing with my mind like I was playing one of those stupid stuffed animal claw games at the bowling alley. My eyes opened as I positioned the claw above the stairwell and dropped it. The magical blades cut through the earth, shearing through it like a hot knife through butter before pulling up into the air with a mouthful of earth.
My gaze flitted to the closest statue as I flung one hand out, flicking the earth at it. The attack bowled the statue over, but it was already starting to get to its feet as I got up.
Morg was coming toward me now, a glistening trail of ichor on his lips. He looked ill, reminding me of the time I’d gone sailing with my friend and he’d thrown up the whole damned time. Part of me wanted to help him, but I didn’t have time for that now.
“Come on!” I screamed, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward me as the first of the statue landed on the island. Its stone head swiveled toward us, and I saw flame crackling from within its maw.
It meant to charbroil us.
“Sorry, I’m more of a sushi kind of girl,” I said, throwing us into the hole I’d made in the earth just beyond the door. We hit the stairs hard and began to roll into the darkness as flame blew over the top of the cavern. Fortunately, I’d expected that, and a quick spell arrested our descent, leaving us standing on the stairs just beyond the doors.
Outside the statues continued to rage, but I was betting they couldn’t fit through the hole I’d made in the ceiling nor could they get through that door with brute force. We were safe. For the moment anyway.
“How did you get us in?” Morg asked, turning to look at me as torches came to life on either side of the cavern like a motion-sensitive array.
“No one ever wards the walls, just the doors,” I said with a smirk as I turned back toward the staircase as it stretched down into the depths of the planet. “Now, let’s go.”
23
The tunnel continued to glow with eerie green light as we made our way down into the depths. Hieroglyphics depicting orcs fighting insane monsters that reminded me of creatures straight out of HP Lovecraft filled every square inch of the walls, and worse still, they seemed to dance beneath the flickering flames.
“So, uh, how long has it been since someone has been down here because let me just say that the place is a bit, uh, musty,” I murmured, glancing back at Morg. The stalwart orc glanced at me and shrugged.
“I am not sure. I don’t think anyone has managed to get this far before. Normally the gray ones stop them long before they reach the island, and no one has thought to do as you did.
“Really?” I said staring at him like he was insane. “I mean come on. I’m not particularly smart.”
“We’re orcs. We rush at things head on.” He smirked at me. “Not to say you don’t, but you’re much more creative about it.”
“Fair enough,” I said, sighing. I didn’t like this. The walls felt like they were closing in on me, and what’s more, I didn’t quite like the atmosphere of the place. I could feel dark, forbidding energy deeper within the tunnel, and as much as I wanted to get the bone staff of whatever the fuck, kill Vah, and save the day, I really didn’t want to go any further down.
The air seemed to slither across my skin, and my stomach twisted with trepidation. I was also concerned about what was to come because I believed Morg.
Without cheating, it would have been nearly impossible to make it through miles of jungle while fighting the gray-skinned, dino-riding orcs. The door itself was damned near impenetrable, and I was willing to bet those statues were no pushovers.
Now I was trapped in a tunnel heading deep underground with a guy whose idea of a good time was dying on a battlefield with his guts clenched in one hand and an axe in the other.
The sound of something behind us filled my ears, and as I glanced over my shoulder toward it, torches flickered and danced. Cold air wafted from below, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up straight.
“So, you seek the Bone Staff of Greatward?” a voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere. I turned in a slow circle as Morg reached for the switch on his chain-axe.
“Yeah, I do. What of it? Wanna fight about it?” I asked, trying to resist the urge to teleport away. The sound of it crawled over my skin in a way that was just wrong.
“Why?” it asked, and this time the torches went out, leaving us in near darkness. The only light was from the amulet around my neck and the glow from Morg’s chain-axe.
“I wish to do battle with Admiral Vah. He is coming to suck the life of this planet dry. I will stop him.” I curled my hand into a fist like I’d seen the spider-orc do in the hologram. “I wish to fight him until the last of the blood has been spilt from my body.”
“Even with the staff, you will not succeed. It has been foreseen, and so it shall be,” the words swirled around me, and as I tried to focus on them, I realized I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. The world erupted in a flare of color and sound, and as I tried to call upon my own magic to stop whatever this was, I realized I couldn’t.
Okay, that wasn’t exactly, precisely true. I could have done it, but doing so would have been like speeding down the highway at ninety-plus and then leaping out of the car for no damned reason. Magic swirled around me so fast I knew if I tried to grab onto anything, my mind would be jerked from my body, and I’d find myself whipping around in a vortex of suck. Call me crazy, but I wanted to avoid that if I could.
A moment later, I slammed into the ground. My teeth slammed together, and my mind reeled. Braziers flared all around me, throwing gobs of rainbow color into the air, lighting up the room with dancing, multicolored shadows.
I shook myself, trying to clear my blurry vision, and found myself looking at a throne made of spikes and not a lot else. Points struck out at inconceivable angles, and sitting upon it was an orc older than fucking time. His skin had so many wrinkles his wrinkles had wrinkles, and even his wrinkles’ wrinkles had more wrinkles than my skin did.
His long white beard stretched down past his feet and onto the stairs leading up to his twisted throne. His eyes were white and unseeing, but even so, he looked in my direction like he could see me, which was ten kinds of creepy.
“Greetings, Mallory Quinn.” He smiled, revealing a toothless maw. “Tell me, are you having fun yet?”
“What?” I asked, confusion filling my brain as the orc pointed heavenward. The ceiling above his was lined with runic drawings I couldn’t discern, and each of them glowed with primordial magic. The kind of stuff that held together the universe, and as I stared at it, I found myself confused. If they had this much magic, this kind of magic, why the fuck weren’t they using it? Why did the orc’s magical ability seem subpar at best? Hell, I’d met pot-smoking druids in Arizona with more skill than these guys.
“I see the questions rolling around in your brain.” He waved a gnarled hand at me, and power spilled out of him in an opaque wave of emerald fire. It hit me before I knew what was happening, and I felt time slow down to a crawl in a way that left me in awe. I could never have done this on my best day. “Ask them. For we have all the time we require.”
“How are you so fucking powerful?” I asked, deciding to just go for it. “This place is filled with so much magic, I can practically taste it.” I gestured around the room. “No offense, but the orcs I’ve met barely know of magic.”
“I know you have seen Absoltooth. Seen what was required to bind him.” He smiled again, and his gum-filled face made me want to look away. “We made a decision to bind away the darkness of our warlocks, to forget the old ways. We stepped forth from that as warriors, great and noble.”
“Well, you better fucking stop because Vah will crush the fuck out of you guys. Your ships and whatnot will be like primitive spears versus an atomic bomb. I’ve felt his power. He can destroy this planet.”
“I know,” the orc replied, calm as could be. “It is why I have allowed you into this room.” He waved a hand, and the stone in front of me vanished, revealing the Bo
ne Staff of Greatward. Wards glistened along the bone, throwing ethereal sparks into the air. It was so strong it sucked the breath from my lungs. Having access to that much power scared me. What if I did something stupid with it and wound up killing everyone by accident?
“I see you are wise,” the orc said, getting to his feet. Each step he took boomed in the silence of the room. “Otherwise you’d have snatched up the weapon.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head. “You seem strong enough to use the staff. So take it up and defeat Vah. Save the planet.”
“That is not my place,” he said, reaching out to me and offering me his palm. A rivulet of green fire danced within it. “I can only offer you a choice. Take the staff and use it as best you can, or find another way.”
“Is there another way?” I asked, staring at the orc and trying to read his face. Part of me didn’t want to take the staff, sure, but I knew deep down I’d do it. No, more of me wanted to know if this sly old orc had a way to definitively beat Vah. If he did, I wanted to know what it was.
“There is always another way,” the orc replied as the entire world shook violently. The wards in the ceiling flared, and the magic faded slightly. The temperature began to fall, and as it did, the orc withered.
“What is going on?” I cried, looking around for somewhere to hide. Was there a doorway? Those were supposed to be good for earthquakes right?
The ceiling rumbled again, and stones fell loose to shatter against the ground.
“Vah has arrived, and he is taking what he believes to be his.” The orc shook his head sadly. “I fear this may be the end of me.”
That’s when I realized who he was. My mouth fell open as he waved a hand, causing the room to reform.
“You’re the soul of the planet…”
“For now. For as long as this rock has one.” He smiled at me and offered me his hand again. The fire within it was dimmer. “Make your choice, Mallory. Take the Bone Staff of Greatward and fight Vah, or find another way.”
“Which choice is the correct one?” I asked as the room shook again and the wards started to wink out.
“That’s the thing about choices. You never really know.”
24
I stared at the old orc as another earthquake shook the entire goddamned planet. The staff pulsed and sparkled on the ground before me. It begged me to take it up, to grab hold of its power and defend the planet.
The magic in the air dimmed, and the sparkle started to fade from the old orc as I turned my eyes back at him. The flame still danced in his outstretched palm, and within it, I could see the heart of the entire world. I could see the dying planet within its writhing flames.
“What does the flame do?” I asked, nodding toward it as the orc waited patiently for my response. Leave with the staff or without it, but leave either way.
“The flame will return you and Morg Doomslash to the surface of the planet. It is my gift to you for making it this far.” He smiled, revealing his gums and licked his suddenly chapped lips. “But if you do not hurry, I will not be able to offer it.” He coughed violently then, leaning forward to place one hand on his knee. His skin was beginning to lose its luster, and I knew, just knew, that whatever Vah was doing topside was killing the manifestation of the orcish world.
And I couldn’t have that. Maybe there was another way to stop the admiral. Maybe there wasn’t. Only I knew one thing. If I didn’t do something, we were all going to die. I had no doubts that the orcish armada was throwing itself at Vah. I could feel it in the pulse and shift of the energies. I could also feel the orcish lives winking out, and with each one that died, the power in the room diminished fractionally. Even with time slowed as it was, every moment I spent here cost lives.
Lives that were my fault. My responsibility.
And truth be told, I wasn’t worth those lives. Not even one life.
If taking up the Bone Staff of Greatward would let me save them, I was going to do it. I would pay that price gladly.
“I’m going to go with option A,” I said, kneeling down to pick up the staff. As I did, I felt the power of the planet itself swarm through me, filling my veins with molten lead and sending power surging through my entire body. I could feel everyone on the planet, feel the ships in the air as they fought against one another. Hell, I could have singled out each and every speck of life on the planet from the tiniest amoeba to the greatest warrior.
I could feel the sun beating down on me like a fresh summer’s day and feel the night in my bones. Feel the cold of the snowcapped mountains and the heat of the desert. I could feel it all and knew I was dying.
It was sort of an out of body thing because I couldn’t even feel myself in the normal sense of it. More it was like I was an outside observer watching myself die. I saw the sores opening in my flesh, saw the way the ends of my hair started to smolder and burn, saw the moisture wicking from my body.
But I had time. I knew when I’d go down to the second, and while ten minutes didn’t seem nearly long enough, I knew it had to be.
I had to use it wisely because everything had a cost. I could see the planet draining away with every second, and as it did, I saw my own power diminish. If I used it all or let it all get taken, the planet would die regardless. Well, that was fine.
Maximum effort was what I was all about.
“I’ll take that help now,” I said, reaching out with my free hand toward the elder orc.
“Go with the gods and be blessed.” He touched my forehead in the same way Morg had done countless times. Emerald flame swirled around my body in a wave.
“Be safe,” I replied as the scenery flickered away into ash.
Then I was on the surface of the planet with Morg beside me. The big orc’s chest heaved like he’d been fighting hard, and as I turned to see him, I realized I knew him deep down to his tiniest cell. I absorbed that knowledge and stowed it away for later as I turned my eyes heavenward and raised the Bone Staff of Greatward over my head.
Lightning and thunder answered my call like I was Thor himself. Clouds began to churn as electricity darted through the air, striking down Vah’s ships. It wouldn’t be much, but it’d be something.
“Mallory Quinn… are you okay?” Morg asked, reaching one hand out toward me as I scanned the sky for Vah. I found the Planet Breaker a moment later. It hovered just beyond the edge of the atmosphere, and while I couldn’t feel Vah through the planet, I could feel him in the magical symphony.
He was like a big sound dampener, voiding out all the magic as it flowed up toward him. My head followed the line of it, and that’s when I saw the beam.
Huge and sapphire, it crackled with magical power as it slammed into the ground a few miles away, cleaving into the earth like a giant oil derrick. It pumped and sucked, directing the flow of energy up from the planet inside into Vah’s ship.
Part of me had half a mind to rush there, to try to throw it back, but I knew that’d be impossible. I might be able to deflect it for a while, but I’d only succeed in letting the planet burn itself dry trying. Then the world would die either way.
That could not be allowed. No. The key was to take it to Vah. Only, as I stared at the horizon, I saw the admiral was winning.
His ships outnumbered the orcish ones three to one, and worse, I could see armies of mechanized warriors and four-armed Mornir waging a ground war on the orcs. While the denizens of this planet were vicious and strong, they were being overwhelmed. And as they died, I weakened.
“I’m okay,” I said, turning my eyes to Morg. “Thank you for asking.”
The orc nodded to me as I gathered energy, letting it coalesce around my feet. He inhaled sharply, nostrils flaring. “It looks like you’re about to do something stupid, Mallory Quinn.”
“What can I say, I’ve always had more guts than brains.” I tried to smile at him as the winds heeded my call. It whipped across the world, zooming toward me with tornado-like forces that swept through mechs and orcs alike. Angry
, violent, like nature unleashed. “But I’m doing it for you, and that makes it okay.”
Morg cocked his head curiously at me, and before he could say another word, I vanished.
I reappeared miles to the south in the middle of a raging battle. Vah’s mechs fired, sending bolts of plasma blazing through the air. Orcs fired back with crossbow bolts that struck the mechs in a flurry of sparks.
The machines continued on, ignoring the arrows. Still more orcs swung weapons like Morg’s or the gray-skins in vain attempts to cut through the armor of the mechs. It should have worked, but it didn’t, and as I watched, I knew why. There was a thin layer of magic around the armored monstrosities, and when a blow hit them, it projected the force out into the ether, dissipating it harmlessly.
Well, I could fix that.
“Hey, motherfuckers,” I said, calling upon my power. The staff blazed like lightning in my hand as my feet lifted from the ground. “Get off my lawn.”
I threw my hands outward in a wave. Power swept out from everywhere to heed my call. It came from the ground beneath our feet, from the winds raging across the plains. From the distant volcanos long dormant. From the swell of the oceans, but mostly, it came from the mech’s themselves.
As I grabbed hold of the magical strands tying their shields to their armored torsos, I twisted, jerking it free. It should have hurt. Hell, it should have been impossible to work such a spell across an entire battlefield, but I had an entire planet at my beck and call.
Power spiraled outward in an explosive arc. The closest mechs were rendered into twisting wreckage as the shockwave of power spread out from me. Others were thrown skidding across the ground. The spell built upon itself like a chain reaction, and with each magical shield it deflected, it grew that much stronger. It spread like wildfire, and even though mechs as close as a half a mile weren’t destroyed, my spell kept going.
In my mind’s eye, I saw the whole of the planet enveloped in magic, saw the shields fall away from Vah’s army, and for a single glorious second, I thought we might actually win.
Planet Breaker: A Supernatural Space Opera (Witching on a Starship Book 2) Page 12
