by Jarod Meyer
William felt the odd sensation that his body was flying. He couldn’t see, but the cold wind whipped his battered face. He was dropped, and he fell a long way, before he felt the ground come up to meet him. He crumpled into a heap, pain shooting through his back.
He groaned as a boot slammed against the back of his head. Blackness flickered in and out as he fought to stay conscious.
After a time the cold snapped him back to clarity. He felt frozen. He could see his breath in front of him and his hands were numb. He felt his energy spread over his face, and slowly his vision cleared.
He was lying on a lumpy mound, and as his eyesight returned he discovered that he was in a pile of bodies. He jumped up, and almost immediately slipped back down on one of the corpses. He gave a cry, and tried to stand again, but his body seemed to be sinking into the sinew. He yelled, and shot up into the air, but almost immediately came crashing to the cold hard ground, and skidded to a halt. They had dumped him with the rest of the tortured and executed demons like trash.
I’m going to kill that bastard.
He got up, and brushed himself off, then looked around wildly. All he could see was a barren wasteland. He had no idea where he was, the massive fortress was nowhere in sight. He fell to his knees with a long cry, and began to pound the ground. Soon his gloved hand was sore.
“Oh, quit crying like an infant, and get up.”
William’s head spun. A tall man stood before him. He didn’t wear any armor, but leather gear similar to Tamara’s.
William said nothing, but stood slowly, and summoned his sword, which appeared in his hand in a burst of light. “Are you friend or foe?” William asked slowly.
“I’m neither, you imbecile. But congratulations, you managed to piss off Vanity, and get Tamara imprisoned. Only the creators know what is happening to her right now,” the man sneered.
“What is your name?” William asked, still on the defensive.
“I’m Leopoldo. Patriarch under Vanity, and am another one of lord Achilles contacts,” the man explained.
“What is the passphrase?” William demanded. The man looked at him, and scoffed.
“The Garden of Medina. Whatever that means,” he replied, crossing his arms. William lowered his weapon.
“Take me back to the castle. I’m going to rip that son of a bitch apart with my bare hands,” William said, grinding his teeth.
Leopoldo scoffed yet again. “You just expect to go waltzing in, fight Vanity’s entire guard as well as his minions, and simply kill him? You will do all of this in the middle of his own lands? Really? I thought Achilles would send us someone of intelligence,” the man said sarcastically.
William growled, but before he could retort, the man continued.
“They will kill you, and then they will kill her. And I’m not going to let that happen. Besides, look at the state you’re in. You can barely walk,” Leopoldo said.
“Then what do you expect me to do!?” William shouted, startling Leopoldo. There was still quite a distance between them, and it made him uncomfortable.
“The only way you will get close enough to Vanity is if you bring him the heart of Karma, as he has requested. And I will only lead you back to the castle if you are strong enough to kill this beast. If you can do that, then I will believe you are strong enough to kill Vanity. Now come, we must get undercover, it is going to rain.”
William looked up. The clouds were swirling, and the wind picking up. He hated this place. For the first time since arriving, he wished for nothing else but to be in Archonia.
The trip was short, Leopoldo leading William to a cave where they sought refuge from the acidic rain. He could hear it sizzling outside as it melted the stony ground into an ashy powder. He watched Leopoldo draw his bone sword, and run a rounded stone down the blade to sharpen it. William finally broke the silence.
“My name’s William,” he said softly.
The man continued to sharpen his blade, but he looked up and nodded.
“If you are a friend of Tamara, you should know that I will get her back,” William insisted.
Leopoldo didn’t look up this time.
“I can’t kill Vanity though. At least not right away. He has to lead me to Luxor.”
Leopoldo laughed openly. “Do you really think that Achilles sent you on this mission, thinking that you would return?” he asked.
“I chose to go on this mission. It was my idea, and it will work,” William responded, defensively, before standing and pacing away.
Leopoldo sighed. “I will help you, but you must understand that Vanity does not think that you will return either. Only one man I have ever heard of has faced this creature and lived to tell about it,” he said.
“But you told me that I won’t be able to get close to Vanity again without its heart. So what do I do?” William asked exasperated.
Leopoldo continued to hone the edge of his blade, but said, “I suppose you should choose how you wish to die. Just know that I won’t lead you back to that castle without the heart. So, if you wish to try finding the Basileus on your own, you will have to wander aimlessly around Dichonia until you find him.”
“Then I will have to face Karma,” William responded.
Leopoldo simply nodded again. William dropped his arms to his sides, defeated.
“Will you help me? You just said that nobody has faced it and lived,” he asked.
“No, I said that one man has lived,” Leopoldo responded, impatiently.
“Great. So…what then?” William asked, grinding his teeth, his patience wearing thin.
“We must see him, and learn what he knows of the beast. Learn where its lair is, and then we can face it and defeat it together. Once we have slain it we will return with the heart, and when you are close enough to Karma you will kill him,” Leopoldo stated calmly.
William squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
“I can’t kill Vanity. I need him to tell me where to find Luxor,” he said slowly, like he was speaking to a child.
“The Basileus moves around a lot. He does not dwell in any one place. The only reason Vanity might know where he is would be because of his oculus,” Leopoldo said, sheathing his sword finally.
William had no clue what an oculus was, and breathed to argue, but Leopoldo cut in.
“His oculus allows him to see anything he desires. It is like a mirror, I think. He loves his mirrors,” Leopoldo finished.
It dawned on William that he just might have seen this oculus already, but didn’t say anything.
“Okay then, so we kill Vanity and use his oculus to find Luxor,” William said, triumphantly.
“Yes, and in turn you will help Tamara and I get into Archonia,” Leopoldo added. The final statement seemed to satisfy Leopoldo, and he stretched out on a flat stone, as if preparing to sleep. “Let me know when it is done raining.”
William became slightly annoyed at this, but he let it go. He watched the rain sizzle on the stone outside for many hours. He felt too weary to explore the cavern further. After all, it grew too small for him to walk or even crawl through after a while anyway.
He didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself, but he began to work on forming a shield again. It was still difficult, but he walked out into the rain, the burning acid giving him the proper motivation. The first few drops singed his skin. He pushed through the pain, and as his energy left his skin, so did the acid.
Eventually the rain finally let up. He tossed a stone at Leopoldo, who startled awake when it hit him.
“Rain’s done, let’s go,” William said casually, walking outside.
Every moment lost was possible torture for Tamara. Despite William’s best efforts, he seemed to care for her. Part of it could have been guilt or compassion. After all, he had walked into her village and turned her whole world upside down. He’d ruined her life essentially, and was determined to set things right.
Leopoldo exited the cave shortly after William,
glancing up at the sky to be sure that he was indeed correct in his assessment of the rain. When he seemed satisfied he walked out, and stretched. William struggled with impatience, demanding, “Where is this person? Who survived his encounter with Karma?”
“His dwelling is in the foothills of the eastern mountains. It is a few days walk form here,” Leopoldo responded, and then began to walk.
William caught up with him instantly, and growled, “We aren’t walking.” He took off at a faster pace.
Leopoldo was slow though, and struggled to keep up. Every minute felt like agony to William, who could have been blazing a trail of dust through this wasteland.
“Can’t you go any faster?” William asked.
Leopoldo stopped, and held up his hands, gasping for air.
“Please stop, I can’t go any more,” he sputtered.
William could no longer contain his anxiousness. He grabbed Leopoldo and tossed him onto his back taking off leaving nothing but a loud crack as he broke the sound barrier. Leopoldo screamed in surprise and William felt his hands tugging at his armor.
After a few moments the man seemed to calm down. And William felt him adjust himself on his back.
“Okay you tell me where to go, and I will get us there,” William said, not breaking pace.
“We go east until we hit the road…oh, that was it,” he shouted, quickly pointing.
William circled back, and followed Leopoldo’s finger.
“We follow this until we hit the mountains. Then we go south,” Leopoldo finished, re-adjusting his grip on William’s back.
William began to make out the mountain line, even in the darkness of Dichonia. It looked eerily similar to the ones surrounding Archonia, like a fence, separating this world from the vastness of Oblivion.
In the end, a trip that should have taken days took only hours. The terrain got rockier, and the road eventually disappeared. William turned as Leopoldo indicated that he should turn south. He felt a twinge in his spine, and came to a stop. Leopoldo slid forward from the residual inertia, and yelped as he skidded to a halt in the dirt.
“What the….” he began to complain, but William held a hand, silencing him.
“Be quiet. I can feel something.”
In a fluid motion, William drew his sword, and twisted around. The movement of the aura was quick, but unmistakable, and William lifted his sword just in time to block a thin, shiny blade.
The assailant was clothed in all black, wearing what looked like hardened leather armor. William thought he look much like a samurai.
He hung in the air, as if standing on William’s sword, before doing a back flip, and landing deftly on his feet. The warrior charged again, his movements fast, precise, and powerful.
The engagement went on for a moment, the two blades pinging off one another like lightning. Gungnir kicked at the blade with every connection, but somehow the dark warrior used the force to his advantage, allowing the kick back to set him up for the next strike. Three more parries and William began to feel off balance. The black clad figure was actually pushing him back.
“Enough,” William yelled, his body erupting, repulsing his energy away from him in a shockwave, sending the figure flying backward. An energy ball formed in his hand. He held it up, preparing to unleash hell upon his attacker when Leopoldo shouted.
“No, William! Stop!” He jumped between them. The ball of energy surged in his hand, but he didn’t let his guard down.
“William, this is Shou. He is Achilles’ third and final contact here in Dichonia,” Leopoldo said.
“Then why the hell did he attack me?” William asked, incredulously.
Shou stepped forward, taking off his mask. It was black metal, and engraved to look like a demon sticking its tongue out.
“To see if you truly were as strong as Achilles believes,” he said, in a husky soft tone.
“For the love of God. Couldn’t you just ask first? You people are insane. Tamara did the same thing. You could just introduce yourself, and say, ‘hey I was wondering if we could fight, so that I know you are as strong as Achilles says you are,’” William said, exasperatedly.
The energy flowing from his hand disappeared, and he put away his sword.
“My name is Shou. It is a pleasure to meet such a powerful warrior,” he said bowing.
“Yeah, whatever,” William said, turning. He started to walk south again and spoke to himself, but loud enough for the other two to hear. “I suppose you expect me to get you into Archonia too?”
“That wasn’t very courteous,” Leopoldo said, jogging to catch up.
“This coming from you, who told me I was a cry baby, and needed to get up, and save Tamara, and blah blah blah,” William replied, spitefully.
“Look, William,” he said, trying to get in front of him. “I’m sorry. We got off on the wrong foot. I sent for Shou after I learned that you were being tossed out of Vanity’s fortress. He is faster so he was going to be waiting for us. We have sought you out, William, because we wish to help you on your quest.”
William stopped after a few paces, and turned to look back at the two strange men. He looked between them for a long moment, and sighed.
“I’m going to kill this Karma creature, and then I’m going to kill Vanity, and get Tamara back. Once I do that I plan on finding Luxor, to finish this. It won’t be easy, and we’ll face death at every turn. I can’t worry about you. If you choose to help me, I need to know that I can trust you, and that I won’t have to take care of you,” William said, firmly.
The two looked at one another, and nodded.
“I will aid you on your quest. If this is what I must do to earn my place in Archonia, then I will give my life,” Shou said, bowing again to William.
“And I will help you until my last breath, William of….” but William raised a hand to stop him. “Dichonia,” Leopoldo finished.
William nodded in approval.
“Okay, you two. Let’s go and figure out how in the hell we’re going to kill Karma,” William finished.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SHAMBHALA
Katrina could smell singed cloth, hot metal, but could see absolutely nothing. The blast of energy from the sentinel was powerful. It had blasted her breastplate wide open. He was aiming to kill.
True fear washed over her for the first time since the battle of the twin soul. Colors flashed before her eyes as she scrambled along the ground, helplessly waiting for the cold steel of the enemy’s blade to descend.
She turned over, her vision clearing and saw the enemy soldier kneeling on the ground not ten feet away. Parsa’s blade lay across his throat. Samuel had seemingly disarmed the soldier by projecting his aura around the sentinel’s sword, which now hovered unmoving in the air. Katrina guessed that he had given up the struggle against Samuel when he felt Parsa’s steel across his neck.
“What do we do with him?” Samuel asked.
“We can’t kill him. He is our brother,” Parsa offered.
“We can’t take him with,” Sam interjected.
Katrina didn’t wait around for the debate to end. She stumbled to her feet, and drove her fist into the sentinel with all her strength. The man’s head snapped back violently, his jaw cracking from the force of the blow. He crumpled backwards, unconscious. Then Katrina’s armor disappeared and she wiped some of the dust off of her traveling clothes. Her two companions looked at her in disbelief.
“Tie him up, and leave him. He will be fine. We need to leave before another scout comes by,” Katrina said, brushing past the others. “Oh and I’m fine by the way. Thanks for checking!”
“I’m not going into those mists again. That plan was insane,” Parsa said.
“I agree, we got lost in there,” Samuel added.
“And a lot of good it did us, we still ran into a scout,” Parsa said, glancing back at their prisoner with disdain.
“We will just have to go with our original plan of travelling as common folk. At least there will b
e fewer scouts in these mountains. And definitely fewer Adjudicators,” Katrina said.
The others agreed and they continued their journey. The slopes of the mountains were not as extreme as the ones that faced the interior of Archonia. But they were treacherous nonetheless. They made inhuman leaps and sometimes flew, but whenever possible they travelled as a normal human would to mask their energy outputs. Katrina was frustrated that she hadn’t been able to tell how strong that sentinel was. All Guardians were trained to be the strongest fighters and she was beaten with relative ease.
She tried not to let it bother her because the group had much bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that their attire suggested they were simple travelers along the road, but now they were in the mountains. Night came and passed without encountering another scout, but they knew with daylight approaching they would be easy to spot on the face of the rocks if a soldier flew overhead. For the remainder of the evening the group travelled slow, while trying to produce more appropriate disguises.
They decided that they were thrill seekers, simply travelling the far reaches of Archonia, so they created garments that would suggest a great deal of wear and tear. Samuel was the most skilled and creative using his inner energy, and helped Katrina complete her outfit. By morning she was wearing thick trousers and boots that allowed freedom of moment, but also protection from the most extreme terrains.
“If we stick to low profile feats like leaps we should be okay. I think it would be believable that we have developed some skill over the course of our adventures in rock climbing,” Parsa declared, as he hefted a large pack onto his shoulders.
“Should we come across anymore scouts please let me do the talking,” he added. Katrina exchanged a glance with Samuel, but they didn’t argue.
Their travel progressed faster and with much more confidence after that. Katrina found herself actually enjoying the challenge of rock climbing. They didn’t come across a single soul until midday, when they were on a particularly dangerous traverse. As the three hugged the rocks overhanging the ominous mists of oblivion another sentinel scout appeared, rocketing through the cloudless sky. His trajectory changed abruptly when he spotted the group, floating cautiously up behind them.
