Just Before Dawn

by Joshua Hernandez

  “Yourself included?” questioned Fadhe, sword raised and ready.

  “Me? By all the hells of this world and the next I've never aspired to such a height as godhood,” she laughed before changing her tone to a haughty purr, “though I must say recent decades have made the thought tempting.” She laughed again with a punctuating lightning bolt scarring the sky behind her. Fadhe fought a wince but he could not help it, this creature was trying every ounce of will he possessed.

  “Stop speaking in riddles demon,” Fadhe commanded, his irritation plain.

  “So,” she purred still, “the Bear of Adun does have claws.” She laughed again, but her eyes never lost the murderous gleam that so unnerved Fadhe. “Fine,” she told him, “I will speak plainly. I am here to offer you a choice: Join me as commander of my legions or die in the mud.”

  “With an offer like that,” Fadhe sneered, “how can I say no?”

  “Now is not the time for mirth, warrior,” the woman chided, though the leering smile she gave him showed Fadhe it was exactly what she had expected. “Times are quickly changing, the ways of the world are in upheaval and soon even the gods will be cast down from the heavens and die as men do. Thus it has always been, and so it will be again.”

  “What do you mean, oh weaver of lies?” spat Fadhe.

  The woman scowled and said, “You insult me? I'm wounded.” She pouted and Fadhe had to fight the sudden urge to grovel at her feet and beg forgiveness. Whoever this thing was, she was dangerous. She looked at him sternly and said, “I was here watching creatures die for their sins in the world long before the gods that now govern rose up and took their thrones. I will be here long after, for like my brothers and sisters we are children of the world, bound to and of it. Creatures like Adun,” she spat the name, “were born of us, the first children, but rejected their place. They will fall for it.”

  “You wish my help, a mortal man?” asked Fadhe, honestly curious. The muted sounds of battle were slowing more and more around him. Fadhe desperately wanted to look to see what was happening but didn't dare take his attention from the woman, not yet.

  “No,” she said to him, “I want a servant, one bold and strong in his honor. One that will bind to his word more than anything else, a human that knows what vows truly mean. There will be a day, not to long from now, when men will fell gods once more. I will not have power over those who come, for they are as alien to this land as the stars that fall from the heavens. If they pass this valley, all within, and without, will change. If they fail, things will still change, but the first children will be able to once again regain their rightful place in the world.” She looked at him and her eyes seemed to bore into Fadhe. He could feel her desire; she wanted him completely. But it wasn't just him she wanted. She coveted him; wanted to take him from Adun. Which meant that she might also have another reason for wanting him as well. “Those who come,” she purred to Fadhe, “I want slain.”

  “I refuse, creature of deceit.” Fadhe stood straight, his sword held out to her point first. “If those you speak of come here, to my valley,” he emphasized his possession, “then it will only be with my leave that they pass. It is not for you to decide how I govern what is mine!” he roared.

  “You dare defy me?” the creature screeched. “I am Sayala, mother of all pain and suffering! I rule my lands with silent cruelty, as I always have, for more time than you can comprehend! You dare challenge my desires? Who are you to defy me, me who has consumed gods, destroyed my very brethren and bound herself to the roots of the world? I who control the storms and ride the winds? It is only because your people have forever been insignificant that I have not wiped you from my lands like the pests you are! You dare?” Hate in her eyes the creature called Sayala began to move forward, but for this Fadhe had prepared. While they had talked Fadhe has slowly moved his free hand to his belt, and as soon as she showed the slightest hint of movement, Fadhe drew his dagger and tossed it at her as best he could. The dagger flew true, striking the flesh just underneath her chin. Blood began to gush from the wound, but somehow Sayala still shrieked in pain. The sound was like those Fadhe had earlier heard. It was a despairing wail that seemed to suck all the energy from him. His body felt heavy and the next thing he knew he had fallen to one knee in the mud before the creature. The two faceless men hefted their weapons and strode forward. Fadhe could see the evil edge of their axes and knew that his death was approaching. He felt something in him give; that ever youthful idea of immortality he had often felt while riding the plains or fighting some wild beast simply wilted and died within his chest. A cold surety filled his heart. Drawing on a reserve of strength he hadn't known he possessed, Fadhe regained his feet and brought his blade to bear, just in time to deflect what would have been a killing blow.

  The axe rang against the steel of Fadhe's blade, knocking the blow wide. Fadhe darted in and struck with a motion that was both sloppy and desperate. His blade ran upside down, drawing a line up the neck of one of the faceless men. The creature lurched to the side as his fellow came at Fadhe from the side. This one fought with his weapon in one hand, sacrificing speed for pure force. The weapon pounded against Fadhe's waning strength while the keening of Sayala further threatened to break his mind. Fadhe managed to block the first set of blows, but as he was just starting to gauge his foe's skill the first of the creatures came back into the fray, his neck showing no sign of the wound Fadhe had given it. Both creatures assaulted him with practiced movements. Each delivered deadly blows, moving out of each other’s way with perfect timing, and before long Fadhe was breathing hard with effort as he moved to either dodge or parry the strikes. His blade seemed almost too hot to hold as impact after impact hammered his defenses, numbing his sword arm from the sheer force of impact. Fadhe would have loved to think he was capable of giving as good as he got, but it just wasn't true. He was a fine warrior among a warrior society, but these creatures were untiring, supernaturally strong and not hindered by pain. He managed once more, and only once more, to deal a blow that should have been crippling. When the first creature came forward with a two handed swing Fadhe, instead of parrying the blow, stepped inward and drove his sword up and to the left. Then with a quick chop he severed the creatures arm at the elbow, just in time to avoid a swipe from the side by the second creature. That creatures weapon sunk haft deep into the chest of the first creature as Fadhe rolled to the side. He panted from the exertion as he watched in horror what happened next.

  The second creature merely pulled his axe free while the first retrieved its arm and held it up to the unbleeding stump. The skin shifted, like clay, and melded back together. The wound vanished. The two creatures gathered themselves and moved to battle once more. Fadhe, knowing that there was no hope left, charged. Remembering the stories of old he called to Adun as he struck, his blade moving with all of his remaining strength and skill. He pounded his blade against the weapons and arms of the creatures, trying every trick he knew. He slashed and backpedaled, he thrust and gouged, parried, feinted and turned every which way he could. Then, he felt a shock up his arm as one of his strikes was blocked. He barely saw a flicker of motion as one of the creatures swiped at him as the other blocked. The axe struck his sword, thus the shock to his arm, cleanly breaking the top half of his blade off. Fadhe tried to back away, but instead got the flat of a great axe to his face. Fadhe heard a pop has his nose broke and pain flared through his head. Next thing he knew he was on the ground. Blood was pooling in the muddy puddles beneath him. His head rang with pain as his body fought to stay awake. His vision wavered as he tried to get on his hands on knees, his arms shaking from both the blow to his head and simple over exertion.

  Belatedly he noticed that Sayala had ceased her screaming. He glanced up and saw her staring down at him a slightly pink line marring the flesh where his knife had plunged. Fadhe felt a grim satisfaction that he had even wounded the creature, though what good it did he would never know. Sayala knelt next to him and extended a hand to his face. The p
ain in his head flared once more as her fingers caressed his skin. “It doesn't have to be like this, Bear of Adun. I would much rather have you as one of my golems then dead before me.” She bent closer placing her lips almost directly on his ear. “I will give you the world if you take up you blade and fight in my name. You will ride amongst the clouds as my chosen, and all will bow before your name. You will have everything,” she purred. Then, even more seductively, “you will have me. Lay down your god of dirt and flesh, and I will give you true power.” Fadhe nearly broke. In that instant her voice pierced his defenses, driving away the visions of a unified people that had until then sustained him. Instead he saw himself, a godlike being of wrath, cutting down foes in the name of Sayala. He saw cities fall at the mention of his name, saw thousands laying prostrate while he lorded over them in a grand city of stone and metal. He saw himself as Sayala's consort, the chosen vessel of her power and desire. He saw himself, and though he yearned for such power, he felt nothing but loathing for what he would become.

  “No,” he muttered. It was barely a sound, but from the corner of his vision he saw Sayala flinch. “I would rather die than become your pet.” He turned his head and looked at her and saw that she really was unprepared for his answer. Anger, shock, outrage and disgust all played on her features, turning her beauty into nothing but an ugly mask. “Then die, Sword of Adhe,” she taunted. Sayala stepped away and her golems stepped forward. Their axes rose up for the killing blow. “Adun save me,” Fadhe muttered.

  Adun heard his prayers and they were answered.

  Fadhe nearly screamed as what felt like fire washed over his body. Strength once again filled his arms, his aching body was invigorated, and Fadhe felt at peace. Where once the shadow of death seemed to loom over him he now felt confidence. The axes came down and Fadhe rolled away from the blows, jumping to his feet only a few steps away from the golems. Unbidden, words came into Fadhe's mouth and as he spoke it was not his voice that came from his mouth. “Long has your shadow been over my lands, witch. The Elder ones did not choose you for this purpose, yet you think you can defy them?” He laughed and it thundered over the valley louder than the storm that still raged above him. The battle, still in preternatural slowness below the hill, felt the power thrumming from above but could not perceive the cause. Still, Fadhe's voice rang out and everywhere his voice touched the battle stilled. All eyes went to the top of the hill where suddenly there bloomed a pillar of light breaking through the storm. “I have let you live for far too long,” Fadhe shouted, and in his hand appeared a greatsword unlike any he had ever seen in life. Flames the color of starlight lit illuminated a blade as black as night, though as Fadhe looked at it he could not tell whether it was simply black or something else. In one moment the blade seemed as physical as his own flesh, in the next it seemed insubstantial, dotted with pinpricks of light like stars across a night sky. All along one side of the blade the weapon was serrated, groves set along them to help divert the flow of blood. Just above the hilt, a dark metaled piece ornamented with a single, pale sapphire, was a rune the likes Fadhe had never seen. Foreign it was, yet as Fadhe watched it seemed to twist into a symbol he had seen before, one that simply read “Balance”.

  Then, filling with a confidence and expectation of power he had never before experienced, Fadhe shouted in pure joy. His body renewed, Fadhe faced his foes. He looked upon Sayala and saw a look of unmatched hatred on her face. She gestured and around her materialized a host of the same golems that had already assailed Fadhe. Then, as if reacting to some unheard signal, everything reverted back to normal. The feeling of slowness around Fadhe abruptly came to an end and suddenly the sounds of battle returned. Most of the Valgara lie dead or dying, but the fight was not yet won. Fadhe felt the eyes of his warriors fall upon him and realized that the only daylight not consumed by the storm was falling on him. Sayala screamed. Her golems, standing in a ring around the lone warrior, charged.

  Fadhe met the charge with his celestial sword. A hollow ringing came from the blade, a song of sorts, that rose and fell as the warrior moved. As he parried the blade sang higher; as he struck the song went deep and dark. Wherever the blade struck, creatures fell, their bodies collapsing or crumbling as if their very substance had been taken from them. All the while the sword seemed to grow in power. Fadhe cleaved through limbs and bodies and behind him he left only bloodless corpses. Fadhe called out to Adun as the enemies swarmed him. He felt a fury come over him, his senses sharpened, and he screamed out again with the same voice with which he had challenged Sayala. He moved with an inhuman grace; ducking, dodging, sidestepping and dancing a deadly dance. Never once did the blades of his enemies touch his flesh, and while he fought among them he heard his men shout with impending victory. After but a few moments the golems lay unmoving, dispatched one and all.

  Fadhe lowered his blade and once again his gaze fell upon Sayala. The creature cringed bodily, but her gaze spoke of naught but hate and violence. Fadhe pointed at her with his sword and the voice of Adun spoke through Fadhe's mouth. “Witch of the night, your time has come. Behold, this is what man, the creature you have so long despised, is capable of when you have his heart and soul without coercion. This is my champion, the wielder of my avatar, the Sword of Adun, the Bear of Adhe!” With grim determination, Fadhe advanced.

  Sayala screamed with rage. As she did a curved sword flickered into existence in her hand while a shield enveloped her arm. Then she levitated, her feet hanging just above the ground, leaned forward and charged with unbelievable speed. Sword met sword in a clash of otherworldly power, and the hill on which they fought split down the middle. Fadhe fought with skill unmatched by any mortal, but Sayala was unbelievably fast as she flew about, arching her body and twisting in flight to strike from every possible angle. Below them the Salgara, the last men alive from the battle, watched as the two titanic powers clashed. Faster than the eye could follow the two beings exchanged blows. Sparks flew as Sayala's blade rang against Fadhe's. The two separated, eying each other patiently, when suddenly Sayala launched herself straight up into the air. Fadhe stood at guard, his eyes scanning the sky after the creature vanished in the clouds. Moments passed, turning into minutes, and just as Fadhe thought the creature had decided to flee, she came careening from the clouds. Sayala howled like a banshee as she fell and all the warriors within hearing distance fell to their knees in pain. Fadhe felt the pain of it but somehow was able to ignore it. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Stahl remind him that there would be time enough for pain when he had died and Fadhe smiled grimly. The creature plummeted, leading with her sword. They collided with a sound that dwarfed the mightiest peal of thunder. Earth filled the sky and the ground shook from the power of the impact, but when the air cleared the two combatants were simply locked at a stale mate; Sayala arced oddly above while Fadhe held firmly below. Fadhe gave a mighty push, throwing the creature up slightly, and struck out. Sayala shrieked as Fadhe's blade cut a furrow across her midsection with a hiss. She landed lightly on her toes but wobbled slightly from her wound; Fadhe stood oddly from the way he had struck with one leg braced, the other out with his foot extended.

  Then, before either could properly regain balance, they began to fight once more. Sayala screamed as she struck at Fadhe. Her blows were faster than before, stronger as well. Where before Sayala seemed content to toy with Fadhe and humiliate him now she was more than ready to kill. Yet Fadhe's strength did not flag. With one hand he blocked each attack, turning his body to avoid her more devious strikes with claw and shield. The parted and Fadhe switched to holding the sword with both hands. Sayala shrieked at him in impotent rage. They had fought for minutes on end and she had yet to land a single blow on the man while she herself bled out from more than one wound. Then Fadhe caught sight of the look in her eyes. He knew it well, because he had felt it too. At that moment, for the first time in her entire existence, Sayala knew what it was to fear death.

  As if knowing exactly what Fadhe had seen
in her eyes the creature shrieked again. Her body bucked as her arms sprouted great, leathery wings. Her body elongated, her legs bent backwards as spines erupted from her back. Her neck lengthened while her face retained her otherworldly beauty, albeit in an overgrown manner. Sayala's hair lengthened and began to whip about of its own accord as the creature locked her eyes on unmoved form of Fadhe. Gone was her sword and shield, but each wing looked more than capable of rending Fadhe in twain, while massive talons glinted dangerously at the end of her feet. Fadhe wasted no time. With a shout to Adun he launched himself at Sayala.

  The creature lifted off from the ground as Fadhe advanced, her body twisting to avoid the savage strikes falling around her. Claws lashed out as Fadhe attacked, but each time his sword would dart about without a thought, interposing steel against the rending claws. Then the creature called Sayala reached out with one massive leg and kicked against Fadhe's exposed side. Only luck, and the way Fadhe had been moving when she struck, saved him from her terrible talons, but the force of it was still enough to send Fadhe through the air on impact. He hit the ground with an explosion of breath while mud and earth went skyward from the force of his landing. For a terrible second Fadhe lost his sword in the muck and as he rolled about trying to find it he saw Sayala coming in for the kill. Fadhe rolled forward, nearly leaping forward, as Sayala fell at him, kicking. She landed hard in the muddy earth, and as soon as she touched down, she screamed in pain.

  Sayala lifted off from the ground again, just a few feet, and Fadhe saw why the beast and screamed in pain. As Sayala landed she had found Fadhe's sword; the blade of the weapon was firmly lodged in the middle of her foot. Fadhe quickly got to his feet and ran to where Sayala hovered above the ground. Crying out he leaped at her, leading with his shoulder. He collided with her in the air and, wrapping his arms around her thin form, dragged her to the ground. Then, as he lay tangled up with Sayala in the muddy earth, Fadhe fought the best way he knew how; with his fists. With all the fury, all the speed, and all the strength he could muster Fadhe struck at Sayala. His elbows struck her sides, his knees collided with her legs and lower abdomen, his fists struck her ribs, stomach and her neck. Sayala writhed about, twisting and turning as she tried to strike at him with her wings. He felt the impacts as her limbs struck him, but none were forceful enough to dislodge him. His head snapped back as her wing got under his chin and struck, and Fadhe bellowed in pain. He reached out without thinking, grabbed her wing, and with a mighty heave snapped the bone. Sayala screamed in pain, but Fadhe wasn't done. He struck the wing again, again and again until the place where the wing had broken was bloody from the jagged bone that now shone through. Then, he twisted her own wing and thrust the bone up towards her chin. Sayala's own, bloody bone struck the soft portion under her chin with a sickening pop. Her eyes went wide as blood came from the wound and her mouth. She flopped about on the ground uselessly as Fadhe leaped back and saw what he had done to her. Her body was bruised, one wing was twisted at an odd angle to where it struck her chin, she bled from several wounds and was covered in mud. Fadhe watched as she kicked weakly, his sword still protruding from where it had pierced her foot, and he knew he had to end it.