Legacy of Dreams: Freedom

by Thomas J. L. Green

  “Bye bye,” she grinned and formed ten huge balls of her flame around her. Elias made a shield of ice. He had no time to dodge. The flame erupted into a massive explosion that formed a pillar of flame. Steam filled the air. Elias was nowhere to be seen.

  Good!

  Yen flew back to her ship through the smoke and reviewed the battlefield. No ship was pursuing them. Yen turned back to her normal color and her eyes lost the inner light.

  “Send a bird to Khalia. We have the mirror.”

  118

  Nashimaeal

  “You don’t have to do all the fighting yourself,” Nashimaeal told Miranda calmly once he reached her. Their advance through the fortress was smooth. Miranda went ahead and killed everything she met. Nashimaeal and the soldiers just stepped over corpses. They got attacked from sides multiple times, but it was a barely organized effort. One that was easily thwarted by the elite soldiers they had with them.

  “Sorry, I just need to beat it out,” Miranda admitted.

  “I am sorry about what happened to your friend,” Nashimaeal told her softly.

  “She will be fine,” Miranda cut him off.

  Still in the denial stage.

  “We head left here, then through the long corridor to the right,” Nashimaeal revealed. His magic was originally designed to heal people. Part of it was finding what exactly is wrong with their bodies. The magic to find this was, incidentally, used to do the same with buildings. Miranda headed off and soon he heard the screaming of men, then bodies falling. Soon they reached a massive well-locked door.

  “Give me a moment,” Miranda ordered. She went to examine the door.

  “Take all the time you need, we are not in a hurry,” Nashimaeal confirmed.

  Miranda went around the door for a while. She examined every nook and cranny, knocked almost all over it. Then she stood in front and kicked the weight of Scitalis into a spot she marked. Then again, again and again. Soon the spot gave out and the reinforced wood shattered. Miranda cleared it out. There was a mechanism beneath. She took out a dagger and moved the mechanism. The loud click echoed through the room as the door unlocked.

  Miranda pushed the door and it swung open. Inside was a large treasury filled with gold and diamonds.

  “Fortify the place up; we wait here for when the battle ends,” Miranda commanded. The soldiers went on to make whatever fortifications they could. Nashimaeal went in to take a seat on a luxuriously decorative chair.

  “You may go,” he smiled at Miranda as he saw her leaning on a wall, visibly burning inside.

  “Lucas said I can’t leave you,” Miranda countered.

  “We are in a well-fortified position and you look like you will explode if you don’t kill someone soon,” Nashimaeal retorted.

  “I will deal with Lucas later,” he added.

  Miranda wanted to protest but didn’t.

  “Thank you,” she whispered and left the room. Soon the sound of men dying echoed from the hallway she turned to.

  “TAKE COVER!” a soldier shouted. A wall of the corridor in front of the treasury room exploded inwards. A massive demonic beetle poked the head in, then disappeared. Soon after entered a man. Tall, dressed in black armor and cloak, holding a massive war ax over his shoulder. He turned his bright blue eyes toward the treasury room.

  “You have opened up the present, how kind of you” James purred as he stepped toward the fortifications. His men soon started flooding the corridor and reinforcing the freshly dug tunnel.

  “Hold position!” Nashimaeal ordered his men and got ready to fight.

  “I wish I had time to play with you…. but I don’t” James sighed, turned deathly grey and charged.

  119

  Lucas

  “I am honored that you came to face me yourself,” Edward Collward tossed up from his throne.

  “I figured it would be appropriate,” Lucas smiled as he advanced into the room. There were statues on both sides. Statues depicting various people and creatures.

  “Appropriate and foolish,” Edward smiled and raised his hands. Huge golem statue shot out a hand in a punch. Lucas dodged backward, then ducked as a winged woman swept at him with her claws. The golem stepped in for a smashing blow. Lucas switched his position with the harpy and the golem smashed it to bits. Wood, metal and crystals shot out from under the smash.

  Puppets indeed. There are eighteen puppets in the room plus Collward himself.

  This will be harder than I thought.

  A puppet of a man with a sword leaped at Lucas and slashed at him. He parried with his spear and ran it through its thigh. Crystal splinters shot out from where his spear exited and the leg went limp. He dodged the next attack of the golem and spun to smash a shoulder of the swordsman puppet. Crystal shards scattered from the wound.

  “I see you have done your homework,” Collward evaluated.

  Yeah. Magic amplifying crystals are in all major joints, which allows the puppeteer to lose no time on transition and makes them well protected. Most fighting styles hit human vitals, which are not in the joints. Miranda was right.

  Lucas finished off the swordsman puppet and went straight to the next one that stood like a statue. It was a man with a bow. The archer ducked, but Lucas teleported behind it and severed its head off with a sweeping cut.

  “Not going to attack me straight?” Edward asked.

  “We both know that’s a trap,” Lucas smirked as he dodged another strike of the golem puppet while engaging with a bear puppet. The bear swiped at him. Lucas ducked and shattered its knee with a stab. The bear statue suddenly imploded into itself. Lucas made a quick gesture with his left hand. The imploded bear puppet teleported to the face of the golem puppet. It exploded in a second and shattered the head of the golem puppet.

  “Superb. You have truly refined your art to perfection,” Edward smiled. Statues of a panther and of a spider stepped out.

  “Trying to measure out my capabilities?” Lucas asked back.

  “Indeed. It’s not like I need to hit you more than twice given how fragile your shell is,” Edward retorted. The spider puppet shot out a large web. Lucas teleported the web, so it catches the panther. He teleported behind the spider puppet and shattered the core crystal in its midsection with a stab. The panther puppet had the crystal in the middle of its hips. It shattered easily.

  “What makes you keep going? What has been driving you?” Edward asked as Lucas shattered two more puppets.

  “I have something I need to achieve,” Lucas returned coldly as he went on to engage the minotaur and the large bird. He switched his positions with the bird to make the minotaur smash it against the wall. The neck of the minotaur statue shattered as he hit it with the spear after the next jump.

  “You wouldn’t have done this for yourself. For who then? You were the most selfless of us all… who do you fight for?”

  Lucas ignored him and went on to destroy the next set of puppets.

  “Is… Nehamah alive?”

  “Yes,” Lucas confirmed and destroyed the next puppet.

  “I see… that means you will not stop fighting no matter what the fallout is. I hoped I could reason with you, but now I see why it was impossible from the get go,” Edward conceded.

  “I am sorry, Edward, but you will die here today.”

  “I have no intention of doing that,” Collward cut him off.

  “It’s not a point for discussion,” Lucas smirked as he destroyed the next set of puppets. “Four puppets left,” he evaluated as he looked around.

  “Indeed,” Collward concurred and rose from his chair. His eyes turned midnight black with golden pupils, two mighty horns sprouted from his forehead and a tail slid out from behind his armor. Two more statues got up and Edward pullet a greatsword from its place at the throne. “How cute,” Lucas smirked and teleported behind the statue of an armored man. He stabbed it into the neck and whirled to chop its head off. Pain erupted from his right arm. Four sharp needles were stuck into it. Needles that on
e of the twin puppets shot from its mouth. I thought these wouldn’t be able to penetrate my armor… this is getting dangerous!

  “That’s three puppets at the same time,” Lucas remarked as he finished off the knight puppet and dodged the next series of attacks. He now faced Collward, the twins and a demon knight puppet. The demon knight came at him with a wide swing of the axe. Lucas dodged. The twin shot the needles. Lucas teleported behind it. It whirled and parried his attack with six sword-bearing arms. Lucas teleported to the second twin, but blades shot out of it and it started spinning. Lucas dodged behind and barely blocked the blow from Edward. The blow went at his midsection. His spear almost bent under the impact. It sent him flying into the wall. Strong! Lucas switched his position with the needle twin, but it parried the knights attack.

  “These are a lot faster,” Lucas evaluated. Edward Collward smiled.

  No wonder Miranda lost. She would need her fire for these and even with it she would likely take serious damage before destroying them. Elias doesn’t have the close range defense, Merewen long range. I was right to come alone.

  The needle twin started shooting at Lucas while the other three spread out to corner him. He kept dodging, but his shoulder and side felt like they were on fire.

  The demon knight puppet is a lot slower than the twins. From the twins, both have extremely swift defense and complete offense. Edward is both strong and fast, moving fluently while controlling the others. No weaknesses, no openings. I will need to make one.

  Lucas charged in. He slid under the swing of the demon knight while hitting its kneecap. That immobilized it’s leg. The blade twin was at him, he whirled away and used the demon knight puppet as a shield. Edward struck, Lucas ducked, but Edward followed with a kick. It hit Lucas in the chest and shot him into the demon knight. The needle twin leaped at him with blades. Lucas slid down and crouched between the legs of the demon knight. The blade statue opened its mouth and flames shot out at Lucas. Lucas teleported and in his place appeared a barrel. A pressurized barrel full of oil. The explosion threw Edward and the puppets around. The demon knight statue shattered completely. Lucas hopped back from the Dream World to be behind Collward. He stabbed him in the chest. Collward smirked and his chest opened up, revealing a globe of pure energy. Lucas teleported the globe to the needle statue. The explosion of light shattered it to nothing. Edward swept at Lucas, but he dodged backward.

  “You turned your own body into a puppet… not bad.”

  “You aren’t the only one who mastered his art,” Edward smiled and lunged himself at Lucas together with the blade twin.

  I really need to thank Miranda and Elias for this. If they didn’t find out what his main attacks are, I would have likely lost this fight.

  Lucas switched himself with the blade twin. Edward buried his blade into it and Lucas hit Edwards knee. It shattered into a spray blood and bones. Edward screamed. Lucas teleported to his side. Edward’s blade hit him in the left shoulder and catapulted him backward. Breath shot out of his lungs and he coughed out blood.

  He predicted me… impressive! My left shoulder is done, my right arm still has the needles in it… I can’t use the spear anymore.

  Edward held himself by the greatsword as Lucas slowly got up. The pain bit at his energy, the bleeding was making him nauseous. Lucas made the spear disappear and teleported a sword into his hand. Broken sword. Only a hilt and a few centimeters of the blade were left of it.

  “You still have that?” Edward breathed in surprise.

  Lucas didn’t reply. Instead, he focused his magic on the hilt. It formed a blade of darkness. Blade of pure magic.

  “Farewell, my friend.”

  Lucas teleported to Edward and swung his blade. Edward collapsed to his knees. The upper half of his head landed nearby. The explosion echoed through the castle. The entire building started shaking.

  120

  Nashimaeal

  “Not bad,” James smiled as a sword pierced through his neck. He skewered the soldier who hit him and whirled to kill another one. Weapons and arrows stuck from James as they stabbed him. It didn’t slow him down the tiniest bit.

  “Seems like it’s just us,” he remarked as he turned to archbishop Nashimaeal.

  Nashimaeal was breathing heavily. He did what he could to help the soldiers face James. Nothing worked. He stared at the monster before him, utterly speechless. His soldiers hit him enough times to kill a dozen men. James leisurely removed the weapons from himself and the leftover wounds closed instantly.

  Suddenly a sound of an explosion echoed through the room and the building started shaking.

  “Well… fuck… Edward blew off the safety. OI! GET MOVING AND TAKE WHAT YOU CAN! ONE TRIP EACH!” he shouted backward and his men started flooding in. James stepped toward Nashimaeal.

  “What the hell are you?” Nashimaeal breathed.

  James smirked and long fangs extended from his gums. Two from the top, two shorter ones from the bottom. Nashimaeal clapped his hands, focused his magic on them and released them. Blinding flash of light shot through the room. James just stood there smiling, unharmed.

  “Impossible,” Nashimaeal exhaled.

  “I bet you killed dozens of my kind with this spell. I am not like the others though. It’s a shame, archbishop, but I need you to die here,” James charged. Nashimaeal tried to hit him with a blast of light, but James dodged and hit the archbishop with a spinning kick. It flung him backward into the wall. Nashimaeal groaned and James caught his head with his left hand. James buried his fangs into the archbishop's neck. Nashimaeal screamed like his soul was being torn apart. James detached and the wounds left by his fangs closed instantly.

  “Your blood tastes well, old man. Now, you shall do something for me,” James spun. He rammed the back of his axe into Nashimaeal’s stomach, piercing through it. Nashimaeal slid by the wall to the ground. James crouched next to him and pulled an opaque ball from his pocket.

  “This is the safety that keeps the fortress from collapsing. It shall stop working the second it touches anything from this room or leaves it,” he put the orb into Nashimaeals hand, “why don’t you hold it for me? Until you bleed out that is. Oh and don’t worry, I will survive even if the whole fortress were to collapse this very second. I don’t think anyone from your Order would though,” he added as he grabbed a large golden candleholder before he left.

  “NASH!” Miranda shouted as she got back to the treasure. She headed back as soon as the fortress started shaking. Now she got to the treasury room and saw archbishop Nashimaeal bloodied and sagged by the wall. She sprinted to him. The wound on his midsection looked horrendous.

  “It’s gonna be alright! I will get you out of here,” Miranda went to grab him by the shoulder.

  “Don’t,” Nashimaeal refused.

  “I am beyond salvation,” he added.

  “I am not leaving you behind, Nash! The priests will put you back together in no time!” Miranda protested and tried to lift him up.

  “My spiritual core… is destroyed. My life cannot be saved,” he breathed softly and Miranda froze. Nashimaeal slid back down to the ground.

  “No… No. No! NO! NO! You will not die here, Nash!”

  “Listen, Miranda. One hundred and sixty four years ago, five men revived dead faith and started this very Holy Order. Out of the five, there shall soon be just one. Tell him… tell Lucas… that I am sorry…. sorry for leaving him alone… to be the last,” Nashimaeal exhaled.

  “What are you talking about Nash? Why are you telling me this now?” Miranda exclaimed in confusion.

  “You need to know… you are one of the five now… the sixth head of the special forces… in the history of the Order. Help Lucas. Help him find a way… when he gets lost… when he loses it… when he can’t go on. Please… help him stay human,” Nashimaeal added.

  “Wait... what? Are you telling me you and Lucas started the Holy Order over one sixty years ago?” Miranda exclaimed.

  “Go… tell Merewe
n to get… get her men out… of here,” Nashimaeal finished up.

  “SHIT!” Miranda cursed, “FUCK! SHIT! ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH! Farewell, Nash… may the heavens treat you well.”

  Miranda grit her teeth, turned around and dashed away.

  121

  Collward

  It’s been a while since I had used my real body, but I should get used to it soon.

  Edward Collward was running through a secret tunnel within the trembling fortress.

  Lucas should be too wounded to pursue me. My army is lost, my empire has fallen apart, but it’s nothing I can’t rebuild. It will be tougher moving things from the shadows, but I don’t mind the extra challenge when it comes to it.

  Just… how the hell did I run through all my magic so fast? The fight was intense, but I am dry like I thought for a week… did Lucas…

  “AAARRRRRR!” Edward screamed. His left shoulder was shattered and there was a deep cut in his body. Collward leaped forward and narrowly avoided the consecutive strike.

  Lucas stood behind him like a shadow made manifest. Collward twisted his body and shot his hand crossbow from the hip.

  Lucas teleported the bolt to make it hit Collward in the thigh. “Really?”, he smirked.

  As Edward landed on the ground, the trap sprung. Bolts flew out of the walls, floor and ceiling over the whole length of the corridor. Lucas focused and misdirected them. One by one, he made them hit Collward.

  Shit, missed one! Pain shot through him as a bolt hit him under the belly. He leaned on the wall to not collapse. Edward Collward was collapsed on the ground with over fifty bolts stuck in him. Lucas stepped to be above him, then ran his blade of darkness pierced through Edward’s forehead.

  So much for my body. It will take forever to make a new one. Scint’Har’Iinn’Ix observed from the Dream World as the body of Edward Collward was released of life.