Until All Bonds Are Broken

by Tim Frankovich

  Volraag looked down and chuckled. “I guess it pays to absorb the right kind of power.” He lifted his hand and a wave of vibratory magic blasted at Kishin.

  Once again, the warpsteel sword absorbed the attack. Rathri ran across the portal toward them, but Talinir jumped down and faced him. Ixchel hesitated, but stood firm behind Kishin.

  Volraag paused. “I have got to get one of those.”

  “Your power won’t reattach your head if I cleave it from your body!”

  Kishin feinted a blow toward the neck, and Volraag dodged instinctively.

  Kishin whirled and threw the sword at the stone wall, embedding it next to where Volraag had been placing his hands.

  “Eldani! The sword! I don’t know how, but I know you do!”

  Continuing the motion, Kishin spun and dove over Talinir and into Rathri.

  “Marshal… hear me.” Evander’s weak voice barely caught his attention. He knelt once more next to his grandfather.

  “I am dying,” Evander said. “Don’t argue. I knew it would… be today.”

  “But I just met you!” Marshal’s anguish could not be contained. Not another death. Not again.

  “I… am sorry that I wasn’t there for you. Or Aelia. By the time I even learned… that I could go back”—Evander’s frail body was wracked by coughing again—“I… thought I could do more for Antises here. I may… have been wrong.”

  Of course he was wrong. How would Marshal’s life have been different had this man returned to it? Aelia might still be alive! Marshal didn’t know whether to be angry, sad, or frightened. All three warred within him.

  Evander pointed toward the regrouping army with a shaking finger. “If the… portal is opened, they will invade our world. These gods… will try to take control… of everyone.”

  “But Volraag is on the other side. And I can’t get through now.”

  “Yes. You can.” Evander placed his hand on Marshal’s and guided it to the hilt of his sword.

  “I don’t have enough power to stop him,” Marshal whispered.

  “You will.”

  “Grandfather, I—”

  “I have… always loved you, Marshal. I have fought… here… for you. And now you must fight… there… for me. For all of us.”

  Marshal bowed his head, and held Evander’s hand. He swallowed hard. To do as Evander asked meant leaving his grandfather to die here. And it meant leaving the stars, perhaps forever. It would be the hardest thing he had ever done. He didn’t have the strength. He couldn’t.

  A hand rested on his shoulder.

  “We’re here for you, Marshal. Whatever you need.” Victor.

  Another hand gently touched his other shoulder.

  “You can do it,” Seri whispered. “I believe in you.”

  “We all do,” Dravid added.

  “This sentimental drivel is making me sick,” Curasir said loudly. “I do hope Volraag speeds things up.”

  Marshal stood and drew his sword. He smiled at his friends, then turned to the portal.

  “It’s time I put an end to all this.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE

  WHAT HAD THAT idiot Kishin done now? Volraag turned and looked at the sword stuck into the wall. What difference did that make?

  He turned back. The warrior girl stood a few feet away, shield up, sword at ready. Kishin and Rathri rolled across the portal. And the Eldani turned to look back at him.

  So feeble, all of them. He could destroy them all with a single burst of power, now that Kishin had released that annoying sword. He lifted his hands.

  The Eldani was faster. His hand whipped up, and he cried out, “i hatel indalanim!”

  The warpsteel sword exploded.

  Marshal did not look up. He knew that if he did, his determination would waver. Another look at the stars and he might never leave. But they pulled at him, even so. How they pulled. He gritted his teeth. A tear escaped his left eye.

  “If you leave now, you might never return,” Curasir called.

  Marshal stifled a whimper. He had a purpose. “In this world,” Aelia had said. Not the Otherworld. His purpose lay in Antises.

  “I made you an offer before,” Curasir continued. “It’s not too late, Marshal. We can remake this world.”

  “Will you shut up?” Victor snapped. Marshal smiled. Whatever he did now, he had friends backing him up.

  He looked at the portal. How to do this, exactly? He stumbled on the uneven ground and stepped out onto the surface of the portal itself. As anticipated, it felt like solid ground. He walked into the middle and looked around.

  “You can do it!” Seri called.

  Marshal lifted the blade and stabbed down, holding his breath. The warpsteel sword penetrated through the portal’s surface without any resistance. He paused for a moment and looked at the others one more time.

  Dravid moved beside the others. He, Seri and Victor all watched. Evander sat where Marshal left him. Curasir argued something with Calu.

  Marshal turned the sword in a circle around himself, slicing cleanly through the portal’s surface.

  And plunged through.

  Seri lowered her gaze as Marshal disappeared through the portal.

  “Seri…” Evander’s whisper drew her attention. Had she ever told him her name?

  She bent close to hear him. “I’m here.”

  “You and Marshal, together,” he managed. “Heal the worlds. End the curses.”

  “We dream of that,” she said. “But we don’t know where to even begin.”

  “You need… help.” He lifted a single finger and pointed. Seri followed it and saw Dravid, still watching the portal.

  “He is… channel. But… one… more…”

  Seri lowered her ear close to Evander’s lips.

  Volraag pulled himself up from the pile of gravel. What had just happened? He blinked dust out of his eyes and shook his head.

  Rathri’s hand grasped his shoulder and pulled. He got to his feet without difficulty. His clothes were torn in many places, even bloodstained, but he could find no wounds. His new power protected him again.

  He looked back. The entire southern platform had been obliterated by the exploding sword. Nothing remained but a hole in the hill. He could no longer open the portal.

  The Eldani and the Holcan stood on the opposite side of the portal, pulling Kishin up onto the walkway. He appeared to have been stabbed in the gut. Rathri’s doing, no doubt.

  This had gone on long enough. He should have blown them all away when they first arrived. Time, at least, to correct that error. He lifted his hand.

  Marshal exploded out of the center of the portal, warpsteel sword in hand. He landed in a crouch, and pointed the sword at Volraag. “Let’s try this again.”

  Volraag laughed, a deep laugh that shook his upper body, throwing his head back. He looked down at Marshal and unleashed his power.

  Victor paced back and forth. “There has to be a way we can help him,” he muttered. “We should have all gone through the portal with him.”

  “We can’t leave Evander,” Seri said, pointing at the old man. She seemed shaken, and not by Marshal’s departure.

  “We don’t even know what’s going on!”

  “I can see,” Curasir said.

  “I didn’t ask you!”

  “But he can,” Seri said. “He has one eye on our world all the time!”

  “Fine.” Victor whirled on Curasir. “What do you see?”

  “Marshal started out well,” Curasir answered. “He confronted Volraag, probably with some suitably dramatic statement about destiny or something. And then they started blasting at each other. So crude. Marshal used the warpsteel sword a little, but he doesn’t know well enough how to use it. I’m afraid it won’t go well for him now. He’s already being driven back.”

  “How do we even know you’re telling the truth?” Dravid demanded.

  Curasir put a hand to his heart. “Why would I lie? I’m winning.”

  “I can
feel it in my Bond! He’s in great danger.” Victor growled. “We have to help him!”

  “How?” Dravid asked. “Even if we could get through the portal, we don’t have any way to harm Volraag. He’s too powerful now!”

  “There must be a way! You’re both mages! Can’t you think of anything?”

  “Seri might be able to open a way to our world, but… no. Volraag has a Lord’s power and… part of a god’s power. I don’t know if anything can hurt him.”

  “A god.” Victor turned and strode to Wolf. “W- Calu! I need your help.”

  “Why would I help you?”

  “Because, when you were lost and everyone called you Wolf, we helped you! We took care of you. We kept you alive!”

  Calu nodded. “I acknowledge this. And I have granted Marshal a boon in return.”

  “What’s a boon?”

  “Seriously?” Dravid said. “It’s a favor.”

  “That’s what I need!” Victor said. “A favor. How can I stop Volraag?”

  “The boon was granted to Marshal.”

  “I’m doing this for Marshal! I claim it on his behalf!”

  Calu frowned and considered for a moment. He glanced at Curasir. “Get the army moving. It won’t be long.” Curasir smiled and dashed away.

  “Devouring fire!” Victor shouted. “God or no god, you will help me save Marshal, or I’ll—” How did one threaten a god?

  “Give me your weapon.”

  “My—?”

  “Your weapon.”

  Victor reached for his sword hilt.

  “No. The other one.”

  The flail? Victor removed it from his back. Only as he handed it over to Calu did he realize he could have used the new flail. He had taken the old one out by instinct.

  Calu looked at the flail for a moment, his expression unreadable. “You have something else that will help. A stone, I believe.”

  A stone? Oh! Victor dug in the pouch at his belt and pulled out the Ranir Stone. It had been there so long, he had gotten used to its weight and forgotten it. He held the stone for a moment. Aelia had given it to him, calling it valuable beyond his understanding. Yet when he tried to use it to call for help, nothing happened.

  “You can’t trust him,” Dravid said, limping up beside him.

  “I have to,” Victor said. He held the Ranir Stone out to Calu. “For friendship.”

  Calu studied him, then took the stone. “For friendship.”

  Marshal gasped in pain. Volraag’s power exceeded his. Dravid had been right. He had no chance.

  He pushed through the pain. The last time he used his power this extensively had been against Curasir months ago. He had no desire to break the bones in his hands again, so he let the power flow out through his whole body. It hurt everywhere.

  Yet for all his efforts, Volraag seemed unfazed. He held one hand up toward Marshal, pushed back, power against power. He lifted the other hand and sent another stream of power toward Talinir and Ixchel.

  “No!” Marshal cried.

  Talinir held his own warpsteel sword up, absorbing or blocking Volraag’s attack and shielding Ixchel. They would be all right, as long as Volraag couldn’t turn his full power against them.

  Marshal tried again to use his own sword in the same way. He felt it absorb some of the power, but it seemed to be pulling at his own power at the same time. That wouldn’t work. He tossed it away and focused.

  He could do this. He had to. Everyone depended on him. This was his purpose. Wasn’t it?

  Volraag laughed. “Why did you think this time would be different?” He leaned back and then thrust his hand forward once more.

  Power unimaginable pushed back at Marshal’s own. He felt it pouring around the edges of his own blast, forcing it back and back toward him.

  In the end, he had no chance. Volraag’s power struck him.

  Marshal flew across the portal’s surface and slammed against the walkway on the north side. His head wavered and fell. For a moment, he could see through the portal to the other side. Evander’s tired eyes looked back at him. “Grandfather,” he whispered. “I failed you.”

  Volraag seized Marshal by the hair and lifted him. He threw one last burst at Talinir to drive him back, then drew a dagger from his belt.

  “Goodbye, Marshal.”

  Calu held the weighted end of the flail in one hand and the Ranir Stone in the other. He brought the two together and murmured something Victor couldn’t hear. A soft, golden glow burst from his hands and surrounded the two items. The brightness grew until Victor couldn’t see any more.

  Beside him, he heard Dravid make a sharp intake of breath.

  The glow faded. Victor stared at his flail. The Ranir Stone had become a part of it. In fact, it looked as if the iron ball on the flail’s end had simply been fused into the stone itself.

  Calu offered him the flail’s handle. Victor took it, still staring. He touched the stone tentatively and found it cool.

  “Amazing,” Dravid whispered.

  “The boon is fulfilled,” Calu said. “And all debts, all connection that I have to you, or Marshal, or any other human is now repaid. We are friends no longer.”

  Victor shook his head. “You have strange ideas about friendship. It’s not an obligation.”

  “Regardless. I have spoken.”

  Victor spun on his heel and ran back to the portal. “Seri! I need you!”

  She stood. “What do you mean?”

  “Get me through!”

  “I can’t do that!”

  “You’ve done it before,” Dravid pointed out.

  “And I’ve never been able to do it again!” she argued. “Except with Marshal’s help, with the sword.”

  Victor grabbed her upper arm and looked into her eyes. “Please, Seri. I’m begging you. Try!”

  “All right, all right. I’ll try.” She cast one last look at Evander, then moved to the edge of the portal.

  “You can do it,” Dravid said. “This is a portal already. You just need to open it.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Seri muttered. She reached a hand out and seemed to be trying to grab things only she could see.

  The pull of Victor’s Bond to Marshal hadn’t been this strong since the ravine. Victor felt as if his own heart would burst out of his chest. “Hurry, hurry!”

  “I’m trying!” Seri snapped. “I feel it too, you know!” In the moment, Victor had forgotten that Seri was now bonded to Marshal also.

  She seemed to grab something else and then pushed. “I think… yes… Victor, when I say, you need to jump right in front of me.”

  Victor began to swing the Ranir flail, as he thought of it now.

  “Almost…”

  He braced himself.

  “Now!”

  Victor leaped through the worlds.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

  DRAVID WATCHED VICTOR’S head disappear through the portal. Now only he and Seri remained. Would Seri be able to open it again for them to escape?

  “The time has come,” Calu announced.

  Dravid turned, holding on to the staff. “The time for what?”

  Calu pointed at Seri. “I told you there would be a price to pay. It is due now.”

  “What does he mean?” Seri asked.

  “When he saved your life,” Dravid said, “he said there would be a cost. I said I would pay it.”

  “Dravid! Why would you do that?”

  He shot a look at her. “To save your life, of course! I would do anything for you, Seri.”

  “…oh…”

  He took a deep breath, then turned back to Calu. “I’m ready. Will you let Seri go?”

  “She is free to leave whenever she is able,” Calu said. “You, however, are not. You will serve me, crippled one.”

  Dravid nodded. “For how long?”

  “Until I grow tired of you, or your mortal life expires.”

  Victor burst into the regular world like diving through the surface of water. Volraag stood almost
right in front of him, bringing a dagger toward Marshal’s neck.

  The Ranir flail rotated once more.

  The dagger pierced Marshal’s skin.

  Victor screamed, bringing the flail up and forward. The chain hooked under Volraag’s right arm. The stone swung up under it and smashed into his face.

  The dagger fell. Marshal collapsed. Once again, the Bond was fulfilled.

  Volraag skidded across the portal’s surface from the impact, rolling and clutching at his face.

  Talinir gasped. Not because of Victor’s sudden appearance.

  In the Starlit Realm, a hero breathed his last.

  A tear formed in Talinir’s right eye.

  And Marshal’s hand began to shake.

  “You can’t have him!” Seri shouted. She stepped in front of Dravid and glared up at Calu.

  “He agreed to this,” Calu said calmly.

  “Well, I didn’t! You can’t have my friend!”

  Calu cocked his head. “And again, we come back to this concept of friendship. Fascinating.”

  Dravid touched Seri’s back. “Seri.”

  She turned, tears filling her eyes. “You can’t go with him! Not for me!”

  Dravid’s hand shook as he reached out and brushed away one of her tears just as it spilled out. “For you.”

  “No! I can’t lose you!”

  Dravid took a deep, shuddering breath. “Do you remember back on Zes Sivas when I lost my leg, and you stayed with me?”

  Seri nodded.

  “I complained that you were going to be the death of me, and you… you said you were going to be the life of me.”

  Dravid had tears in his own eyes now. That made Seri’s spill out all the more.

  “And you were!” Dravid went on. “You saved me. And now… now I’ve saved you. And I get to be your life. Literally. Going with him is the price for your life!”

  “It… you don’t have to… we can fight him!”

  Dravid shook his head. “There’s an army coming. We can’t fight. You need to go, as soon as you can.”