And it was a rice bowl.
I know it sounds crazy, but to be fair, it was one of the few objects I’d interacted with. That it was not only failing to fill with rice but not giving me an explanation was equal parts upsetting and infuriating. Part of me wanted to chuck it across the horizon while the other part of me wanted to beg its forgiveness.
A rice bowl.
I set it down before I did something I’d regret either way and looked back toward the crackling sky. My life was so strange.
I was the Builder of Legend. Me. Some loser from a dying city, and I was supposed to beat Dred and push back the Darkness. What was Dred even doing now? Driving his enemies before him? At the end of my year, it would have been twelve days after all. Maybe Heaven had fallen in that time.
No. I couldn’t think like that.
I just couldn’t.
Instead, I had to work to become stronger. I would push him back. I would drive him before me until I heard the lamentations of the Darkness itself.
The massive eye of the being I’d seen in the Graveyard of Shadows filled my mind’s eye, but I’d long since stopped being frightened of it. Maybe that was because I’d gone crazy, but either way, I wasn’t scared anymore.
No. All I wanted to do was get out of here and show my friends what I’d learned. Would Sheila be proud of my new skills? I hoped so because I wanted to make the guard proud.
That and I missed my girls. It wasn’t just the sex or anything. No. I missed the way they’d laugh. The way Annabeth would smile while working on a sculpture when no one was looking. The way Gwen would laugh at a silly joke of mine, or the way Gabriella would always say the right thing even though it was the wrong thing.
I missed them all, and as I started to picture their faces, I began to get sad. It’d been so long since I’d seen them, and if I went down this road, I’d never get anything done. I’d see them all soon enough.
I got to my feet, intending to head back to the battlefields just a few meters away. I liked it best because the enemies were the quickest. I knew I’d never be able to match strength with the demons or the angels. Both were stronger than me, so I’d have to rely on not getting hit.
Touching the pieces of Clarent once more for support, I rose. Rice or not, I’d still train. Still push to be stronger. I marched out to the fields, only as I went, it seemed louder than before. Bigger. Angrier.
The fields were different too. Not in substance but demeanor. Everything seemed somehow more than it had been. The tufts of grass moved more, the wind shrieked a bit louder. The sky boomed more often.
I’d have never noticed normally, but as I said before, things had been the same for so long, the new sounds were startling to me.
“What’s going on?” I whispered, turning in a circle.
“Your trial has ended.” At first, I didn’t realize someone was talking to me. I hadn’t heard another voice in so long, I almost didn’t understand the words. Then it hit me all at once. Someone had talked to me. Only, how was that possible?
I spun, looking for the source of the voice and saw the silhouette of a man. He stood about my height, but all detail was washed away by darkness so deep it actually was like looking into a void. There was no dimension to him, just formless darkness.
“My trial has ended?” I asked, repeating the words without actually processing them. Only, this time, as I repeated the question I realized what they meant. My heart nearly exploded with joy. I’d done it. I’d survived the year, and I was pretty sure I was still sane. Mostly sane. Kind of a little bit sane.
“Yes,” the inky figure moved, crossing its arms over its formless chest. “You may go.”
“Wait, that’s it?” I asked, confused. “I don’t have to battle a guardian or anything?”
“The only person here is yourself. Who are you to fight?” The figure held out its hand. “Your battle here is done.” It nodded to me. “Now go so that I can slip into blessed nothingness.”
“Wait, who are you?” I asked, quirking my head to the side and regarding the figure. “Have you been here the whole time?”
“I am you. Now and forever. All and none. The Once and Future.” It looked at me. “I am Arthur Curie as I am all those before you and all those after you.”
“How is that possible?” I asked, swallowing hard. If he was those after me, did that mean I failed?
“Perhaps it does,” the figure whispered, and I wondered if he could hear my thoughts. “I cannot hear them because I am you, and therefore already know them.” He waved a hand. “I cannot explain more to you, Arthur. Just know that my curse is finally broken, but by breaking it, you have caused a shift. Dred will not be able to ignore you forever now. He will know what you have done, and his Empress will be angry. Prepare yourself. The future is now.”
He touched me, and my world exploded into pain. The taste of blood filled my mouth. My eyes burned like I’d stared into the sun. My hair melted and my skin charred. And that was the easy part.
29
“Thank you, Arthur,” Mammon said, and the sound of her voice seemed strangely close. My eyes fluttered open to find her sitting next to me. No. that wasn’t quite right. I was laying in her lap while she stroked the hair out of my face with one hand. “You have held up your end of the bargain.” She gestured to the horizon. “See for yourself.”
I did just that, turning my head to the rolling hills I’d come to know so well. Only where before the scenery had been gray and lifeless, now it was different. The grass was lush and green, and the sky was the familiar hue of Hellish storm clouds. Even the air tasted better. Less like ozone and more like, well, cherries.
“You’re welcome,” I said, and at the words, Mammon nodded.
“You may be interested to know I paid your taxes, so your town should have been safe in that regard, but alas, I have not been able to check on them otherwise.” She swallowed hard, and her cheeks flushed. “I have been here, caring for your body while your soul was in the null space.”
That’s when I noticed the medicinal herbs spread out around me. Had she really cared for me this entire time? I wasn’t quite sure. All I remembered from before was walking into the Darkness. How had I wound up unconscious in the center of the stone pentagram?
I reached down and touched my stomach. I felt the muscle there, the muscle I’d recalled getting during my time on the other side. But how was that possible if my body had been here?
“I can tell you have questions, and while I do not know what has happened to you on the other side, allow me to answer some. When you stepped into the Darkness, your soul journeyed forward while your body remained here. Your body will be much as it was on the other side thanks to the magic. Whatever you consumed there, served to sustain you here. Otherwise, you would have perished.” Mammon smiled at me. “Still, you must be very tired. Do you wish to rest?”
“Why did you stay with me?” I asked, sitting up finally. I met her gaze, and there was something in her silver eyes I couldn’t quite discern.
“If I did not, you might have been killed. Murdered by the agents of Darkness or worse.” She looked away. “I have fought them off. Kept your body safe. It was my duty for asking you to enter, after all. If I had not, you might have perished, and my lands would be lost.”
“I see,” I said, nodding to her. “So it was all for your benefit?”
“Of course,” she replied, but she didn’t meet my eyes when she said it. “Now then, I suppose you’ll be wanting your reward?” She pulled out the gauntlets and held them to me, only they were still as lifeless as before.
“You didn’t do anything,” I exclaimed, anger rising in me so suddenly I practically saw red. “You promised me.”
“You misunderstand,” she said, shaking her head. “Of course they are not empowered now. To do as you wish, I must bond a piece of my soul to yours.” She took a deep breath. “Truly, I did not expect you to succeed. This curse was as much a trial to prove your worthiness as it was for me to get
my lands back. I didn’t realize that at first, but I do now, and now that I know you are worthy, I want you all the more.” She licked her lips. “And to get the power you wish, you must bond yourself to me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked, even angrier now because I felt like I had been tricked. “Don’t you just put your mark on the gauntlets or something?”
“No, Arthur.” Mammon shook her head. “The Armaments are just that. Armaments. They are powerful, but it is not the sword nor the armor that is truly strong. It is the hand that wields it.” She leaned in close to me. “I wish to strengthen your hand.”
I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. Part of me was pissed off at this turn of events, especially because I felt like it should have been disclosed prior. Still, there was no other way. I wasn’t sure what it would mean to be bonded to Mammon, but I knew one thing. I needed the Armaments to defeat Dred and save everyone. Damn. This bad deal just kept getting worse.
“Do it.” I opened my eyes and saw her watching me.
“It will be very painful. I do not think you can endure it as you are.” She held the gauntlets out to me. “Can you even wear these?”
“I can endure it for my friends,” I said, taking the gauntlets from her. Only as my fingers touched the metal, cold unlike anything I’d ever felt ripped through me. My fingers turned blue, and my next breath was a frosty mist. I blinked, trying to clear my eyelashes of frost and struggled to pull the gauntlets on with numb fingers.
I got the first one part way on before it slipped from my half-frozen hands and hit the ground with a clang.
“There is no harm in saying you cannot do it, Arthur.” Mammon picked up the fallen gauntlet. “After all, it is my place to help you in this. You have done as I asked, and I will fulfill my bargain.”
I watched her, looking for some catch, some reason not to trust her, but she seemed sincere. “Okay,” I said, holding my frozen hands out to her. “Put them on.”
“Very well,” she said, sliding the icy steel onto my hands. It hurt in a way I couldn’t explain. Agony ripped across every nerve ending, unleashing sheer, unadulterated hell upon me.
“Take them off,” I screamed, my eyes blurring with frost as the pain threatened to drive me insane. “I changed my mind. Please just stop.”
“I cannot, Arthur,” she said, pushing me onto my back. I was helpless to stop her as she crawled on top of me, nails running along my chest. I wasn’t sure how I felt her touch beyond the pain, only to say that it was at least another sensation to focus on.
“Please stop hurting me,” I screamed, my voice hoarse.
“If I stop, you will never gain my power.” She leaned down and kissed me, and as she did, I felt the connection to her through the gauntlets for one fleeting second, felt the icy touch of her long frozen soul as it sought me out, sought to join with me. Then there was pain, and it was worse. Enough to drive everything out of me.
I tried to throw her off, bucking beneath her, fighting to pull the gauntlets free, but before I could, she pinned my arms to the ground. Frost crept up her arms as she looked down at me.
“If you fight me, Arthur, it will be harder. As it is, you are nearly broken from the pain. Do something, anything. Focus on something else. Go to your happy place,” Mammon pleaded.
As her words hit me, I knew she was right. I could taste the blood in my mouth, feel it in the back of my throat. Worse, I could feel the ragged edge of her power slashing into me, rending my soul open so it could flow into me. The worst part though? I wasn’t strong enough to endure it, and I knew it.
“Arthur!” Mammon cried, slapping me. “Do not give up.”
“Please…” I whispered, and then as I spoke the words, she kissed me again, and for one brief moment, the pain receded. Only, as she pulled away, a fresh stab caused me to scream.
“I cannot make it hurt less, but perhaps I can take your mind off of it?” she asked, and I felt her hands running down my chest. Cold radiated from her touch, spreading across me, only unlike with the gauntlets’ relentless assault on my soul, I felt strangely numb.
Her lips touched my neck then, and that sensation dulled the stab enough for me to look at her. She smiled up at me, eyes hooded. “Do you wish me to do more, Arthur?” she kissed my neck again, dragging her tongue across my flesh as she went. “Is this what you would like?”
“Yes,” I wheezed because right now, that sensation felt better than anything in the universe. Hell, if she asked me to join her right now in exchange for one more kiss, one more quick flick of the tongue, I’d have done it gladly.
“Good,” she said, her lips dancing down my torso as she moved lower. “Because it’s about to get worse, but I think I have a way to make it more tolerable.” She sucked on my neck so hard, it’d have hurt if my hands didn’t ache so damned much. “How does that sound?”
“Like Heaven,” I replied, and I meant it because, at that moment, her touch was the only thing keeping me sane.
“Oh, this will be much better than Heaven.” She laughed as she tugged my pants off. A full throaty sound that tickled the lizard part of my brain. “Oh, is this all for me?” She gave me a look. “Color me impressed.”
She gripped me in one hand, running her thumb over me as a fresh stab of pain ripped from the gauntlets, meeting it with a sensual wave of pleasure.
“It won’t be enough,” I grunted as she slid out of her own pants and straddled me. “It’s getting worse.”
“But it’s about to get better too,” she whispered, her words hot on my neck as she leaned in close, bracing herself with one hand while guiding me toward her.
I penetrated her as the gauntlets turned ice cold. The warm, sensual feel of her crashed into the stab of ice like a tidal wave. My teeth gritted as she rose, drawing off of me just enough to come crashing back down. Pleasure erupted across my ragged nerve-endings, dousing the pain that had been coursing through me.
I focused on her movements, of the ebb and flow of her body as the frozen gauntlets shattered. Ethereal bits of energy flitted through the air around us like bits of snow, and as they did, I realized I didn't hurt anymore. No, and what’s more, I felt powerful.
“I think we’re all done,” she said, leaning into me so her lips were against my neck.
“No,” I said, reaching up to her and pulling her close to me. As my fingers wrapped around her hair, and I pulled her mouth to mine, I flipped her onto her back. “We’re not even close to being done.”
30
I shifted the box of Voodoo Star donuts under my arm as I approached the Nexus Gateway. Mammon was standing just a few feet away and had insisted on escorting me to the Nexus Gateway even though it’d been unnecessary. Still, since she had paid for the donuts, it wasn’t like I could refuse her. It had seemed the least I could do after all.
“Thanks again,” I said, waving a hand at the Princess of Greed.
“You’re very welcome,” she said, smiling at me. “And remember what I said. There is always a place for you at my side.” She nodded once, causing her silver hair to flutter around her face, blocking her eyes from view so that all I could see was her teeth as they twisted into a grin. “But I fear it is time for us to part. I have been away much too long as it is, and without the cat, well, mice will do as they will.” She spun on her heel and began walking back toward the entrance to town. She waved to me as she went.
“Goodbye, Mammon,” I said to her back, and as the words left my lips, she stopped.
“Don’t worry, Arthur. I have a fairly good idea of what is about to happen next.” She turned to look at me, but all I could see was her smile in the flash of lightning above. “We will speak much sooner than you think.”
“Probably,” I said, nodding as she began walking again. I had no doubt she was right. After all, she was the Princess of Greed and had been smashing the constructs that held the Royal Center together like a bull in a china shop.
I’d made a deal with the guilds to stop her,
and because she wasn’t yet gone, they would expect me to make good on that. I looked back toward the Nexus Gateway and summoned it back to existence.
As the portal opened, I couldn’t help but think I’d made progress in that direction. After all, I’d freed her demesne from the grasp of the Darkness. Surely, she’d want to return there sooner rather than later. Then again, Mammon was both a demon and a woman. Neither of which I particularly understood.
“Guess that problem can simmer for a while,” I said, looking down at the donuts. It wasn’t much, but I knew Gwen would like them. Or at least I hoped she did because I missed her. It wasn’t much, but it was all I could do given my lack of funds.
I stepped through the gateway, and as the familiar sensation tore me to shreds, I found the pain didn’t bother me quite as much as it had the previous times. Instead of stabbing me, the pain was numbed by a cooling sensation, like water poured over a bad burn.
Confused, I stared down at my hands. They were scarred from where I’d been fused with the gauntlets, but as I stared at them now, I saw little ripples of silver beneath my flesh, like someone had replaced the blood in my veins with mercury.
“Arthur!” Sheila called as I looked up from my silver-infused hands, I was surprised to see the guard standing there.
“Hello!” I called, moving toward her and wrapping my arms around the huge woman. “I missed you.”
“Where the hell have you been?” she asked, arms pulling me close to her body. “You have actual muscle under there.” She stepped back and looked me up and down. “You look different… more intense somehow.”
“I’ve been training in a void of eternal darkness for a year.” I patted the sack at my hip. It’d once housed the gauntlets, but now, in addition to those, it held the broken pieces of Clarent. “Once Sam gets my sword fixed, I want to show you what I’ve learned.”
The Builder's Greed (The Legendary Builder Book 2) Page 18
