The demon opened his jaws, and into the accursed pit of his maw, his master’s body vanished, including the sword Wrath the Godslayer. The monster was followed by several demons and walking dead, all hurling themselves into the crater made by the explosion Alac had created when he had crushed Mórgomiel against the earth.
Alac had not stopped to think about it. He ought to have prevented the demon from eating the sword, for within it lay the trapped essence of gods, dragons, mages, and other magical beings. Great powers lay dormant within it.
He became aware that sáffurtan and other mages of a dark nature were beginning a chant to create a spell of immense proportions. The demon that had devoured Mórgomiel and his sword now became a mass of darkness.
In horror, he watched as the spells of those dark mages fed the great monster. The enemy captains organized their troops, and groups of a hundred soldiers defended each of the mages. What on earth was going on? Could they have planned this? Was it a part of their contingency plan? The enemy was certainly highly organized!
All attention was centered on the walking horror that had devoured Mórgomiel and his sword. Alac, flying in the sky, saw that General Leandro had focused his efforts on eliminating the mages who were feeding the monstrous creature as if he had sensed in it the origin of all misfortune.
Through signs and cryptic communications, the enemy had gathered around the monster. This made it impossible for the archers, lancers, and other missile throwers to defeat the practitioners of the Black Arts who were working to create the spell that was feeding Paladin.
Alac tried to attack, managing to get close to one of the dark mages. The resistance he encountered was powerful. Orcs, duj, voj, evil humans, corpses, Amaranth, and every single one of the demons were giving their lives to defend the dark mages.
He had no time to attack again and was forced to withdraw in a steep arc so that the monster’s huge weapon would not reach him. What the hell was this hostile entity that seemed to possess such enormous powers? Why were the dark mages feeding it and defending it so determinedly? Could it be that it had gained all Mórgomiel’s powers when it had swallowed his corpse and sword?
With his gigantic ax now shining with black, radiant energy, Paladin tried to hack the God of Light to pieces. The monster was the size of two tall trees, and its width was impossible to state clearly as its morphology changed thanks to the shadows that grew from its body. The giant was growing bigger moment by moment, and slowly, its height surpassed that of three trees. At the same time, it began to expand in width at an alarming speed so that it lost all shape and it was no more than a vast shadow.
That shadow, Alac saw uneasily, was a devouring one. What it touched, it swallowed as if it had millions of mouths to eat up whatever it came across.
The gelatinous shadow began to swallow the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were defending it. Those same mages who had fed it seemed to have stopped casting their spell. They had now completed their duty and instead of fleeing from the shameful horror they had created, they were giving themselves to it with relish. Thousands of voices cheered for the shadow, creating a chant that encouraged it to grow and devour everything in its path.
The lines of combat had previously been clearly defined by the defenders, who were keeping the millions of enemies that were trying to eliminate them in check. But now, with the monster of shadows beginning to expand, the evil army seemed to have recovered the vigor they had lost with Mórgomiel’s fall.
As the lines of defense collapsed, the attackers’ way forward was left clear. Chaos was flourishing, and with the Goddess of Night dead and absorbed by Wrath the Godslayer, none of those evil spirits would ever be absolved or condemned. As a result, the more dead there were, the greater the number of corpses that could be animated with evil spirits.
The balance had been maintained thanks to the efforts of General Deathslayer and the different armies, but now, with the coming of that devouring shadow, the balance had tilted to the attackers’ side.
Elgahar was wearying. Around him, his Maggrath pupils had gathered, and the most advanced of them, Ítalshin and Uroquiel, had supported him in the creation of two spells on an enormous scale. These were intended to create a forcefield to provide continuous protection for the defending army since nothing seemed able to hold back the endlessly-expanding shadow.
“The shadow is unbeatable!” Elgahar shouted. “Nothing seems to stop it! Magic is useless against it!” He was in a cold sweat. He was pale and he had lost too much energy casting spells.
“Elgahar! There’s still hope!” came an answering shout. It was Lombardo, who was running toward him, eyes red with rage. His leather armor was covered in blood. “Forge a link with Alac! It seems to me he’s the only one who can stop the shadow!”
The eyes of Ítalshin and Uroquiel brightened at the idea and Elgahar smiled. “Gather together all the mages of Maggrath. Let’s send our energy to Alac.”
The God of Light was still trying to attack from the sky, but every time he came close to the shadow, a hundred tentacles thrust out of that mass of malice and tried to trap him.
Teitú! How in the name of sanity are we supposed to defeat this thing? And what the hell is it?
I don’t know, Alac. But it’s the most evil thing I’ve ever seen! And it keeps expanding at a terrible rate!
Alac felt a force of pure fury penetrating his mind. He held his head in pain.
It’s me, Elgahar! We’re going to create a link with you! Let us in so we can give you our energy!
Teitú shone sky-blue. They’ve created a link with us! They’re transferring their energy!
It’s a brilliant idea! Alac replied in thought. With the extra power the link would give, I might be able to do that monster some real harm.
He was getting ready to attack when the metallic dragon went by, flying at top speed.
“Mórgomiel has been defeated!” he howled. “Now we’re going to finish him off!” On his back, the Metallic Knight hurled spells of enormous power, great sabers of energy that battered the growing shadow. These attacks caused the beast no harm. It seemed to be absorbing the attacks without any effect.
“Alac! Join in the attack! Together we’ll be able to defeat it—!”
But Nordost’s words never finished leaving his mouth. Before he could dodge the attack, the shadow stretched out several tentacles at a tremendous speed. More than a thousand of them coiled around the dragon and pulled him toward the shadow. There was no doubt that it intended to devour them.
The Metallic Knight raised the Sword of Stern and cut some of those tentacles, freeing the dragon from its capture. But for every one he severed, ten more bursts forth from the evil mass. In a matter of seconds, the metallic dragon was completely trapped amid two thousand of them and they were drawing him in.
“Alac! Help!” the Knight shouted. Even before that help could arrive, more tentacles burst forth to entrap him.
“No! No!” he yelled as he did his best to hack at them with no success.
When the dragon and his rider were as tightly wrapped as a mummy, Nordost lost his ability to fly and began to fall and fall…
Alac sped to help his allies, burning with pain at the sight of his most powerful ally being consumed by the shadow. The moment he began his descent—and although he was traveling faster than light—the shadow somehow detected his presence. From its body, now swollen like a balloon, it launched a hundred tentacles in his direction. At first, those limbs were easy to dodge, and he managed to approach the Knight and Nordost to free them from their dreadful fate.
“Fly away! It’s a trap!” the Knight shouted. In his eyes was one last plea for mercy before he was completely swallowed by the shadow.
Beware! came Teitú’s warning in Alac’s mind.
“No!” Alac yelled. The last thing he saw was the motionless tail of the metal dragon as it disappeared within the shadow’s shapeless body.
Two tentacles grasped his heel. He managed to free
himself. A hundred more sought to catch him.
Fly! Fly! Teitú urged him. Those tentacles are too strong! Flee!
From inside the shadow there came a growl and then an explosion. After this, it seemed to grow to at least three times its previous size. Thousands of more tentacles came out of the monster and began to consume everything in their path to feed and grow even larger. Corpses, living creatures, carts, and weapons. Everything was swallowed and every single one of them fed its evil essence. Nothing escaped its net. The more it fed, the more it grew. And as it grew, it began to consume the attacking army. The orcs were the first to notice that something was wrong, that the supposedly evil being that was fighting on their side was now swallowing them. They were the first to flee. When Elgahar and Leandro saw them running away, they realized that they must begin to withdraw as well.
“Retreat! Toward Kathanas!” Leandro yelled. The message spread rapidly. Before the front-line defenders could hear it, they were already beginning to flee at the sight of the colossal mass of tentacles and shadow advancing in their direction.
“It’s gaining power!” Alac shouted from the sky. The thing was unbeatable. All he could do was watch in terror as the world was devoured by it.
“What the hell happened to the God of Chaos when he was swallowed by that giant?” he asked in horror.
I don’t know, Teitú answered. But I fear it’s now taken on all the power of Wrath the Godslayer with its ability to absorb everything, that must be it!
“You’re a genius, Teitú! Now we’ve got a probable explanation of why it’s behaving like that, what the hell can we do about it? How do we stop it?”
I don’t know! But I do know we need to act quickly! At the rate it’s growing, the shadow will soon occupy the whole of the Fields of Flora. That means it’ll have engulfed Elgahar and his mages, and they’re still linked to you! If you’re going to use the energy of the link, now’s the moment!
Teitú was deeply worried, and he was right. If the shadow went on devouring everything, including the mages, then they were lost. That would mean that Luchy and their friends and comrades in this war would perish too. Once the planet was within its reach, it would not take long to devour Lulita, Tomasa, Rufus, and the estate. No. This madness had to be stopped, now or never. If he failed in the attempt, he would die and be swallowed too.
“I wouldn’t like to stay alive if we don’t manage to stop this shadow, Teitú. I can’t imagine a life without—” He could not finish the thought, because a knot had formed in his throat. Despair had arrived with its black wings and had landed on his shoulders. Were they lost forever?
I understand you, Teitú said. Let this be our last battle together.
An idea came to Alac. His head cleared. For brief seconds, he looked closely at the tentacled shadow that was devouring everything in its path. He thought he could see something at its core, some kind of sphere that seemed to be controlling it all. It might be the central machinery that was setting this shadow and its tentacles in motion.
The God of Light charged his energies. Using the power given him by Elgahar and his mages, he plunged headlong. He became a bolt of pure energy with his spear as the tip of that bolt. He wrapped himself in his wings, creating a forcefield around himself. He looked like a burning comet on its path of destruction.
It’s today, Teitú. Today’s the day I come to my full potential and release all your powers. Do it, Teitú. Help me release it all. I love you, my little friend. Never forget, I’m still Manchego the Shepherd inside and I’ll never forget that we’re more than best friends. We’re twin souls.
Done, brother. Release all your powers. Burst forth as you’ve never done before. Shine with the incandescence of a thousand suns!
The blast caused a brightness that blinded the world for several moments. The air froze, creating a vacuum that imploded. Its clangor shook the foundations of the earth.
From the sky came an incandescent bolt that burned with titanic force. The tentacles that tried to stop the shining phenomenon evaporated and all the shadow could do, given its size, was wait for the moment of the lightning bolt’s impact.
“Look!” said a soldier from Kathanas. Catalgar, elves, centaurs, monoliths, Dakatak, Mílikin, humans, wyverns, Amaranth, and orcs watched the event with a mixture of emotions. The lightning bolt came down with a roar, leaving a wake of smoke in its trail. The battlefield seemed to be caught in stillness for the briefest of moments. A sound like flames from a blowpipe filled the atmosphere.
Chapter LX — Exasperation
“Alac! No! What happened!”
“He exploded! He died when he hit the shadow!” They had all expected the lightning bolt to kill the horror. But all that came was a flash of light. The shadow seemed to continue to grow.
“We’re lost!” the soldiers shouted. They were fleeing north to the safety of Kathanas. But with the shadow expanding, not even Kathanas was safe.
“Even the demons don’t want to go on fighting! They’re fleeing south! Look at them!”
“Elgahar!” Leandro yelled at the leaders as they fled. “What on earth are we going to do against this nightmare?” At this point, they had passed the Portal of the Worlds which had already been consumed by the black mass that was devouring everything with its long tentacles.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve no idea, sir. I’ve never witnessed a hell like this unfolding. Never. I don’t know if it can be defeated. I don’t understand what it is.” Elgahar was nervous, pale from so many spells, and panting with the effort of running. Beside him were Ítalshin and Uroquiel. Sendar had been carried away by the healers as he had fainted after casting so many spells. Most of the wounded had died or been left without hope on the battlefield. There was not enough transport to carry them all. At the speed the shadow was spreading, anybody who stayed behind helping the wounded would most certainly die.
“Hell has been unleashed!” Turi cried. He was running beside Funia and Cail. Lombardo was carrying Luchy’s poisoned body on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Flóregund had not moved from Luchy’s side and had no intention of doing so now. As a guardian who had promised to serve her and devote himself to her until death, whether it was his own or hers, that was what he would do till the end. He had offered to carry her himself, but Lombardo was much taller and stronger.
Valímidos and fewer than five thousand Catalgar were galloping fast. Ostherlan, the leader of the Gatasclán army, was leading his soldiers away from the epicenter of destruction.
“The Portal we came through has been swallowed up!” the centaur commander had said. "We’ve got no way of returning home!”
The red wyverns had fled back to the west, together with the Wild Men who had chosen to return to the safety of the forest.
Fewer than twenty thousand insects were still alive and Gelkak was leading their flight northward.
Fewer than ten thousand monoliths had fled back to the Lithium Caves.
By now, Düll Donn and Othus had arrived with their armies at the city of rock towers, and Janikur had done everything possible to ensure that all the food, water, supplies, and infirmary with its healers in Kathanas were available for the wounded and the hungry.
“We have to find out how to defeat that thing!” Turi said urgently.
The general, sitting on the ground with his back resting against a wall, was pale. Kathanas had come back to life with all the armies assembled there, although there were only two rock towers that could hold so many people and they were already full to overflowing.
“We must do something!” Turi insisted.
“What about Balthazar, can’t he help us?”
Leandro was taken aback. He was about to say something when he realized that hardly anybody knew that the shaman had died. How could he tell them? Could he do so now and plunge his soul yet deeper into despair?
“Leandro? Do you feel all right?”
“I’m sorry, Turi. The fact is that I’m exhausted,”
&nbs
p; “Have you seen Meromérila by any chance?” Turi asked out of the blue.
The general took off his helmet and wiped the dried blood off his forehead. “The Queen of Gardak? And why should you care, you rascal?”
“It’s personal,” the thief said unhappily. The noise of people suffering filled the chambers of every rock tower. Nobody could avoid mentioning the shadow that was spreading inexorably.
Leandro looked around and saw Funia sitting against the wall with Luchy’s head in her lap. “Luchy? It’s unbelievable, the fact that they did it and that she came back from wherever it was she found the God of Light.” He stroked the girl’s hair. “You’re a great warrior, Luchy.”
He took the poisoned girl’s hand. It was cold and pale, and her veins looked grey, almost black.
“She was cut by the black sword of the God of Chaos.” the healer said. There was sadness in her eyes. “She’s been poisoned and I haven’t been able to heal her wounds. I fear she’s going to die. Her breathing’s very shallow, the air’s hardly moving, and her heart’s beating too fast.”
Beside them were Lombardo and an elf he did not know. When he saw the look of grief on the elf’s face, he realized that it must be one of those who had accompanied Luchy to find Manchego.
Tenchi and Nidra, the two Naevas Aedán, floated among the crowd, shining a depressing purple. For the seraphs, this was the end. The spread of the shadow to them meant nothing less than a certain victory for Chaos. The universe would soon be swallowed up by that shapeless mass, that nightmare. They knew that the thick walls of Kathanas would be no use at all for protection. This was a temporary measure, a senseless flight since everybody in the world of the Meridian would fall to the tentacles of malice.
Tagulumich was the only monolith that had not fled west with the other crystals who were returning to what they considered the safety of rock and minerals. As usual, the great crystal was barely expressing itself except through vibrations.
“Hey!” came a shout from within the rock tower. “To the top of the tower! Come and take a look at the horizon!” It was a soldier of the Empire, young and covered with mud and blood like all the others. He was standing on a step that looked out on to both the top of the rock tower and the courtyard beneath.
Necromancer’s Sorrow: (Series Finale) Page 59
