by J M Hamm
A cloud of dust blotted out the sky, but Liv was still clearly visible. She glowed with golden flame, two long tendrils of yellow energy had constricted her torso, breaking through flesh and bone. A third tendril was racing towards her head, but she turned and batted it away with a golden lance. She lashed out again and again, but each time the tendril grew closer.
She was physically unrecognizable as the girl I had grown up with. There was now little dichotomy between the two halves of her face. Her smooth, porcelain skin was charred and had become of a patchwork divided by jagged rivulets of blood. Her mouth was bent into a defiant scowl, a look I recognized. It was possible, even now, to find traces of the girl I knew.
“Liv!” I shouted.
I still found it difficult to hate her. The revelations were too new, and I couldn’t reconcile what she had become with the girl from my memory. None of that stopped me from trying to end her. She was weakened, I may never have a better chance.
Long pikes glowing with swirling black and red energy burst from the ground. I reached out with the full strength of my eldritch arm and grasped each pike before throwing them into the sky, one by one. At first, Liv ignored my attacks as each throw was pushed wide by an unseen force. I responded by increasing the frequency, until she was forced to spin her long, golden spear to deflect my own.
The parry cost her only a fraction of second, but it was enough for the golden lash of energy to break through her defenses. She screamed as flesh sizzled and a long gash appeared that ran down her shoulder and across her chest.
I continued my barrage, forcing her to split her focus between myself and the tendril of energy that danced around her. Its blows continued to increase in speed, but I noticed the tendrils wrapped around Liv’s torso were beginning to grow fainter.
Once more, my throw broke through her defenses and she was forced to parry. As she deflected my blow, she turned to look at me, her eyes narrowing and her cheeks dimpling as she smiled.
“Finn,” she said with a raspy wheeze. “Aid me and we can be together once more! We can unlock your birthright and rule this land together as gods …”
“Fuck you.”
My words were quiet and failed to rise above the howl of the wind. I was too tired to banter. Instead, I communicated with action. I continued to throw my conjured javelins but also split my focus to produce a rain of spikes from above. They might not do much damage, but I would whittle away at her focus as much as possible.
Wait … if all I wanted to do was distract her, then I had the perfect tool. It was dangerous. Who knew what fucked up shit I’d see inside Liv’s head, but it had proved effective. I threw a spear while dozens of razor-sharp spikes rained down from above. At the same moment that Liv spun her spear to deflect my attacks, a glowing eye slowly opened in the middle of my forehead.
A wave of pain and nausea rolled through me as my vision went black. I fell to my knees and clasped at my reeling stomach. I felt as if burning needles were being shoved under my eyelids, and every inch of my skin began to itch.
A soundless scream escaped my throat as an image began to materialize in my mind. Dull, earthy browns floating in a void of white swirled until they revealed a forest. Men and women dressed in fur and linen walked down a cobblestone path. Horses and goats followed, with small children playing underfoot.
I saw a man turn to speak to a woman next to him, both smiled as he took a small child from her arms. As the man raised the child above his head I looked into the babe’s eyes. They were brilliant sapphire-blue gems framed in golden curls.
The image began to fade, but before it went dark, I saw a powerfully built warrior turn to scold the two lovers playing with their child. The face was harsh and weathered. His mouth twisted in anger as he shouted unheard words. Deep lines creased his face, and intense green eyes stood out against a massive beard streaked with grey.
“Dad …”
The pain intensified, and my legs gave out, sending me into the dirt. My hands scraped against the sharp stone and splinters of bone that still littered the ground. The eye in my forehead began to burn and my head craned upward, as the eye focused on Liv.
She no longer fought, she merely stared down at me. Her eyes were narrowed, and her mouth was slightly open, but still turned upward in a wide smile. All three of the golden lashes held her firmly and were beginning to draw her downward as they tightened, cutting into her.
“More, Finn!” she yelled in triumph and glee. “See the truth. See what we truly are!”
As the eye locked onto her I became aware of every molecule of her being. The information was too much to process, and all conscious thought stopped. I gave in completely to the desires of the eye, its mission to show the truth.
As the golden lashes bit into Liv’s flesh I became aware of hidden lines of energy binding her to something else. Thin, wispy streams flowed from her. She was connected to thousands of people from all over the earth. I could see them, their belief in the goddess of myth giving her power.
These connections were insubstantial and flimsy, true belief had long since vanished. Only the faintest whiff of tradition and yearning for times of old remained.
Something larger and more powerful bound her as well.
It flowed into her as a thick, venous tendril of purple and black. It spread throughout her, rhythmically pumping as it filled her with vigor but taking something as well. I cast my vision outward and saw that the writhing vein stretched far into the distance, disappearing beneath the ground. Whatever was connected to Liv was located directly at the center of the pillar of purple light that divided the sky in two.
At the bottom of the dungeon, something waited. Something far older and more powerful than giant spiders or fledgling goddesses. I could sense its hunger as its attention noticed my gaze. For a moment our vision met. It whispered something to me, before breaking the connection with a wave of buzzing metal backlash.
The eye in the middle of my forehead slowly closed and faded. Whatever was feeding Liv was powerful and sinister but didn’t seem to wish me dead. At least not yet.
As the eldritch vision cleared, my physical eyes regained their clarity. I was still looking upwards at Liv. She was bound, but no longer struggled. She merely looked down at me with a wide smile on her face. I could see the streams of energy that flowed through her, but as the Eye of Madness faded the tendrils began to diminish.
At the moment before they disappeared from my sight, the thin, wispy tendrils began to glow. Liv moaned in pleasure as the human half of her face began to mend. She closed her eyes and reached out to one of the golden lashes binding her. She squeezed the lash between her thumb and forefinger, and the binding shattered like glass.
Golden sand fell to the ground, losing its luster as it was cast among the dust and bone that littered the field.
“Oh, Finn,” she said. “You have truly outdone yourself. I had no idea so much of the old religion still existed. Thank you for opening my eyes.”
She pouted, playfully sticking out her bottom lip as she put one hand on her hip.
“Well, they don’t exist anymore — but, oh well.” Her voice was chirp and chipper. She sounded just like the cheerleader I remembered from High School.
"I think a little Old Testament style recruiting will do wonders for my complexion."
I stood alone on a field of bone, beneath a literal goddess of death. My mind was still confused. I tried to speak but my words came out as slurred syllables, lacking any sense. Liv slowly glided to the ground, standing above my prone form.
“Oh, Finn,” she said. “I hope you didn’t believe that whole ‘rule together’ thing. It was all an act, you understand.”
Liv’s face lit up with delight, as she reached down and grasped me by the throat. She easily lifted me above her head, as if I were a toddler.
“Know I could kill you Finn. I’ve killed those far closer to me. You’d be but an ant beneath my boot, and in the end that’s all you are.” She sighed dramatic
ally, before throwing me back unto the ground.
“But… he seems to have a plan for you.” She leaned down and pulled me up by the jacket, until her mouth was inches from my ear. “You know where to find us. Don’t keep him waiting.”
The back of my head struck the dirt once more and I saw four massive wings unfold before I drifted out of consciousness.
Chapter fifty-eight: Dreamscape
“Hey, Kid.”
“Fisher?” I said, opening my eyes slowly. “I thought you were gone for good this time.”
“No, Kiddo,” he stood up from a crouch and offered me his hand, “This time it’s all me.”
I shook my head, refusing to take his hand as I stood.
We were in a dusty brown field full of winding cracks and sparse, yellow grass. Dawn was just beginning to appear, painting the sky in orange and blue. I smiled as unfiltered sunlight warmed my face for the first time in days.
“Where are we,” I said, “this doesn’t feel familiar.”
“Augustus, my son” he grasped me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. “You’ve known this place all your life. It’s who you are.”
I looked around at the arid desert but found nothing familiar. It was just dry, cracked ground devoid of life stretching as far as the eye could see in almost every direction. Tall mountains, blue and snowcapped, stood like giants to the west, as dark storm clouds gathered behind them.
“If this is all I am,” I shook out of his grasp, “then I’m worse off than I thought. Perhaps it’s all the lies I’ve been told. My whole life has been a lie, hasn’t it? Dad. Fisher? Whoever you are.”
“No,” he shook his head, “not that. “Everything else was a lie, but not who you are. The power. The truth of our family, our past. We are not gods, Gus. Not like we were, like all men can be. We are merely the descendants of fools who made a poor choice in allies.”
“Then tell me where we are, why any of this is happening. Tell me why a girl, a child I barely knew, had to die. My child, Dad. And tell me why the monster that killed her still lives.”
“Gus … son. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. I can’t answer your questions. I am just a memory, a fragment left by a dying man. The world has become a dangerous place, but I’m afraid you will have to make your own way once you leave here.”
“Then tell me just one thing, you’re useless to me if you can’t.”
“I will, if I can.”
“How,” I growled, “do I kill a god?”
“The source of a god’s power, son, is the Dreamscape. It is a world that binds all minds, from the lowest insect to the beings that play marbles with our universe. Perhaps even creatures greater still. The power to visit that world is what allowed my grandfather to create the first generation of ‘gods’. It’s a power you share.”
“I don’t understand. If I’ve had this power all my life, why have I never used it? Why did you never tell me?”
“The mantle, a shackle really, suppressed it. Recently though, you’ve felt it haven’t you? Perhaps you’ve even begun constructing your own Mindspace?”
“That’s …” I thought back to my chats with the Fisher and the floating island in the middle of a black void. The creature had said it was a part of my own mind. His part.
“Maybe,” I conceded, “and the Fisher, and the burning Eye?”
“Creatures of the Dreamscape, yes, but also more. Beware the temptations of Madness, Finn. It is what first gave rise to mortal consciousness and it is a powerful weapon, but it’s a sword that cuts both ways.”
“And I can use this place,” I waved my arms in front me, “to kill Liv?”
“She is not a god,” he shook his head, “not like those of us who once ruled in Midgard. The Liv you knew is long since dead, but now is not the time to mourn. Not until you face our true oppressor, and the true source of Liv’s strength. If the Founders return, I’m afraid it will be too late. That’s why I’m here.”
“You’re here to tell me it’s too late?”
“No, Finn,” he smiled, “I’m here to train you. Here, in this place, anything is possible. Weapons, opponents, even time can be created and destroyed with a thought.”
“Train me?” I raised one eyebrow, “to do what? Fight gods and level up?”
“No,” he shook his head, “not to kill gods, but to create them. You’ll need to grow powerful, but you’ll also need allies to face your true enemy.”
“The creature at the source of that giant pillar of light?” I asked. “The creature at the very bottom of a dungeon that already almost killed me once?”
“Yes, son,” he placed a hand on my shoulder, “and the source of Liv’s power and the architect of the machinations that have ruined our world. Our family’s shame has come to fruition, you must set it right.”
“So … what you’re saying is, we need to go on a boss raid?”
“Gus, I have no idea what that means.”
“I know, dad. I know.”
***
“Oh, thank fucking God.” I heard Tiller’s voice. “He’s awake!”
He sounded muffled, and far away. My eyes slowly opened, but I quickly shut them under the assault of a powerful light. I saw only white as I blinked away the crust that had formed in the corners of my eyes
“Finn,” I heard Telvy’s voice, “Can you hear me?”
“I’m here,” I moaned. “Where am I, though? How long have I been out?”
I slowly sat up, my muscles felt stiff and unresponsive. I hadn’t been this weak since before the system. Was atrophy still a thing I needed to worry about?
I felt like I’d been gone months, but I had no idea how long had passed outside the Dreamscape. Everything seemed hazy, and unreal — like a dream. Something had called me back early.
“It’s been a few days, Finn,” Tiller said. “But you were very injured. We tried spells, and potions but you just kept getting worse —”
“What my apprentice is saying,” interrupted Telvy, “is that you would be dead if not for me. I devised a brilliant formation that isolated you from all outside interference, allowing your natural healing to take effect. You’ll find you have no mana, or Ancestors forbid, eldritch energy, to call on, but you should make a full recovery quite quickly.”
I flexed my right arm, finding it to be just as strong as ever. It seemed the Archmage could be wrong.
“Thank you, Telvy,” I said. “You’ve truly done wonders.”
“As usual,” she preened. “Now tell me, did you witness the entity? I can’t imagine how any backwater godling could escape my ritual.”
“I did,” I sighed, “Her name is Liv Swanson, and she’s apparently connected to everything that has been happening. Eldritch Night, the abominations, the dungeon, the cultists, all of ….”
I paused for a moment before continuing, “She killed Sebbit.”
“Wait a fuckin’ minute,” Tiller said. “Your childhood friend, grew up together, married your best friend Liv? She’s the motherfucker that just killed an entire army single-handedly, and took out Sebbit, as well?”
“Does your little sister know you’ve got such a mouth on you?”
Two pairs of eyes stared at me unapologetically.
“Fine! Yes,” I said, “It’s her, but she’s not the same. Something about founders and mantles. She … I can’t, won’t talk about it now, but it’s fucking bad … The things she told me. I just don’t know.”
“I’m s—” Tiller began.
“Wait,” I said. “Catayla. Is she okay? Did you find her?”
I leaped up from the sleek, white hospital bed but Tiller and Telvy both stopped me from leaving and guided me back to the bed. “Let me go!”
“Wait, Finn,” said Tiller, “it’s okay. We found her. She’s alive and already up. At first, she looked worse than you, but she recovered two days ago. She’s checked on you constantly, but she was called away. She should be back tonight.”
“She’s alive,” I fell back
into the bed. “She’s alive. At least someone is. Everyone is dead, because of me. It’s all my fault.”
“A soldier never blames herself,” surprisingly it was Telvy who spoke. “And if she falls, she never blames the shield beside her. All soldiers die, only the unlucky few die old and fangless within piss stained beds.”
“You don’t understand, this isn’t self-pity …”
“Captain Xern, Sebbit … was a friend. You dishonor him and those who fought beside him by taking his death unto yourself. We will find the one responsible, and I will gut her personally, and feast on her entrails.”
The Peacekeepers were a terrifying bunch, especially the women.
“So, what now then?” I asked.
“You know her, she spoke to you,” there was no hint of a question in Telvy’s voice. “You must have some idea where she went, or what her plans are.”
“… I do, but it’s not going to be easy.”
“The best hunts,” said a mouth full of pointed teeth, “never are.”
Epilogue
“Tiller, you sure this is going to work?” I asked.
“No idea whatsoever,” he answered, “Telvy assures me it will, but she made me work out all the calculations on my own, and she refuses to check my work. So, you know … “
“Great,” I patted him on the back, “I’m sure you’ve got it in hand. This coronation needs to go over without a hitch.”
“And you’re sure you have your part under control?”
“My training wasn’t finished, but I can do this much,” I sighed. “It’s not much, but it will help Charleston survive while I go do what needs to be done.”
“Fuck off, you think any of us are letting you go alone?”
“We’ll probably die, you know? We’ll be fighting literal gods and … worse. Much worse.”
“Look, I know you don’t believe this, but I know one thing,” Tiller’s voice got deeper and took on a cadence like his uncle’s, Father Belk, when he was preaching. “There is only one God, and he is a loving God. He wouldn’t give us this challenge if there weren’t any hope.”
