The Seeds of Evermore

by Andrew Haines

  He remembered visiting his grave, three weeks after he and the others won Cogs of War and came back be in the real world. The grey matted stone was carved with his brother’s name. Reading his name as one lost with all the others on the monumental memorial. His father bought the second headstone, for the monument was built in the center of each city for those who were trapped in Cogs of War, and didn’t make it home.

  A tear formed in Scott’s eye, the horror that they all had gone through, the death and destruction that had laid upon them. He feared that he was to see it again to watch so many lives be wasted. To lose someone he loved again. He didn’t just think of Charlotte when he thought that, but everyone, Tuomas, Elana, Alissa, Donovan, and even Nick. I wasn’t a soldier back then, I wasn’t some sort of hero that people look up to, but now, now I am. And we are all soldiers.

  Scott flipped the bedding off of his body and rolled out of bed. He was still wearing his clothes from the night before. He sighed, “It’s been a very long time.”

  He cleaned himself like every day before, and put all of his armor on. He latched Exuberus on to his left hip, and his normal sword onto his right. He looked at one of the daggers that he had found on himself when he regained his memories.

  The dagger had a symbol carved into its hilt, a Cog with a phoenix in the center. A momentum from my rewritten memories. I guess some memories are unable to be rewritten.

  He slid the dagger down his right boot, and left Charlotte still in bed. There was one more thing he wanted to do before the sorcerer appeared and brought out the end of times.

  Out on the streets of Crystle, Scott strolled down to the Inn that Nick had been running since the mountain top injury. He wanted to see it for himself. And retrieve a particular item he had stashed away there when he was the masked man. A wild perk I guess, keeping the memories of being the Masked Man have some perks.

  He stood at the corner of the Inn, on the far side of the wooden structure. With the Inn right on the wall to the city, Scott had hid a Drake tooth that he took from the dead beast and hid it in the wall. The tooth was harder than Tungsten and as malleable as Iron. He was hoping to get Donovan to forge a dagger out of it, and anything left over, a ring. Scott thought about it: Even if I don’t ask her here, I won’t ever be able to have something like this forged in the real world.

  Pulling out the tooth, Scott’s memory had not remembered the size correctly. It was much bigger than he had remembered, almost sixteen inches in length. Plenty for both, now to get this to Donovan.

  After sliding the tooth through a metallic ring he had dangling from his armor on the mid-back plate, he placed the large stone back into the slot in the wall. Sliding out from behind the Inn, and the wall, Scott saw Nick walking into the Inn. Following him in, Scott startled him, “Nick?”

  Nick jumped, “Jesus, don’t do that.” he turned to face Scott, “I am still not one hundred percent readjusted to you being back.”

  “My bad,” Scott defended himself, “I just wanted to see the Inn for myself.”

  Nick nodded and spun in a circle with his arms out from his sides, “It’s not much but it has helped us.”

  “I can tell, you’ve kept it up well,” Scott complemented him.

  Nick frowned, “What do you really want Scott?”

  Scott put his hands up to go against Nick’s hostility, “I am not trying to trick you or pull one over you. I was genuine with what I said, I have been gone for a while now.”

  Nick shook his head, “Is that why you hid a Drake tooth behind the Inn?”

  Scott took a step back, “I saw you back there in my way here one day back before we got you back, you just sneaked in and I saw you place that tooth, it’s the same day I had a runner bring Charlotte to the Inn and had her wait for you to finish. You were back there a while, didn’t think it would’ve taken that long.” Nick walked behind the bar, “I’m curious, did you have that letter on you from Liz for a while? Or was that just happen stance? Because that was way too well planned, as if someone knew that I would see you or you meant for me to see you.”

  Scott took a deep breath, before starting, “I didn’t have my memories, if that is what you’re referring too, I probably picked this Inn because it is right next to the wall and the wall is thicker due to the gate being right here as well. For the instance of you seeing me was mere chance that is all. As for the letter…” he paused, “I...” he put his hand on his head, “I don’t remember having a letter, nor dropping one after I defeated Charlotte…”

  Nick nodded, “If I give you the benefit of the doubt I would say that this has Archangel written all over it.”

  “I would say that is a high possibility, I still have gaps in my memory.”

  Nick looked up out towards the window, “I don’t remember there being clouds five minutes ago.”

  Scott turned to look out the window, “Oh no,” Was all he said as he bolted out the door.

  The skies about grew dark and eerie, as clouds started to form directly above the city. A low level of chanting became audible to the people in Crystle. Scott was in a full sprint heading towards the mansion when he saw Dracus and Liliana standing in the middle of the road, staring up into the sky. Scott stopped to get them focused, “You’re guys wanted their signal,” he pointed up, “there it is, get as many people here as you can, clans, solos, small groups. I don’t care, get them here!”

  He left them as they were still sorting what had just been told to them. Dracus figured it out first and bolted to those he needed to inform. Liliana caught on and went the direction she needed to go.

  Scott made it to the mansion and saw Charlotte in the garden area staring up. He yelled at her, “We need to get ready! That’s got to be it, the low chanting, do you hear it?”

  Charlotte looked toward the voice seeing Scott, and responded, “I do, are you sure.”

  “There is no way that it isn’t the sorcerer, the clouds formed in like two minutes, directly overhead, no warning!”

  Charlotte followed him inside. Scott hollered out for everyone to suit up and meet at the front door. He told Charlotte to wait at the door as the others arrived, and went to the room to drop off the Drake tooth.

  He stood over the bed and pulled the tooth from the ring on his back. Placing it on the bed he muttered a few words to himself, not quite like a prayer, but words of power, a memento of strength.

  “Finis coronat opus nomine et honore tenebris. Et ceciderunt hostiam, ad quam merito eorum.”

  He opened his door and saw Tuomas standing there, “The ending crowns the work be done, in the name of, and to the honor of the darkness. They had fallen victim to their merit. Fitting.” Tuomas said to him, “Where did you learn to speak Latin?”

  Scott looked at him, “It is just those two sentences; it was our motto, so to speak, for my battalion in Cogs. It seemed fitting for the last conflict in this world.”

  Tuomas looked at him, “I agree, but we shall not fall victim to our merits on this day.”

  “Come on then, we have a city to save.”

  The two of them headed for the front of the mansion. Alissa and Charlotte were standing there waiting for them. “Let’s get a move on you two, we don’t have much time.” Alissa scolded them.

  The four of them exited the mansion to see the city turning into turmoil. There wasn’t much time for them to find the sorcerer and prepare for the goddess to arrive. City guards and soldiers were pouring out of the barracks and castle to direct civilians into safe areas. Mages appeared as well, all attempting to halt the magic that was gathering above the city. They were unable to effect the clouds above, the power was beyond them all. The group made it to the outer wall. Climbing the stairs to the top of the wall, they all spoke to themselves words of encouragement. Trying to keep their minds clear.

  Standing on top of the wall, they looked out into the fields that spanned the area in front of Crystle, fields of crop and livestock. Scott searched for any human shaped figure. A flash of light illumi
nated above them and struck the ground not six hundred feet away, the shock wave sent them to the ground, knocking some of the guards off the two story wall, and a loud crack deafened them. Rain began to poor, heavily, around them, causing the dirt to turn to a think mud and the matte grey stone to darken farther. The chanting became louder and clearer as they all stood back up.

  Scott, Charlotte, Tuomas and Alissa saw a man floating thirty feet in the air, sixty feet away from the wall in one of the fields. His voice boomed towards them, as if he was using a megaphone in their faces. He was calling upon something, the words formed first in Latin, then in English, “By the names I demand the lord, Sorath... Azazel…and Beelzebub... I command you, give thy strength to our Dark Mother, take my life and summon the Goddess Hela, and command this world, bend thy will to your bidding!”

  The chanting transitioned back into Latin, the ground shook and the sky darkened farther, almost giving the feel of night, the sun could not break the clouds grip about the city. The earth cracked and split below the sorcerer’s feet. Black tendrils came from the ground lurching their way to him. In moments they had engulfed the sorcerer, and the chanting had stopped. The rain continued to fall and more lighting struck around them.

  Liliana and Dracus scaled the stairs and met the others on the wall. Tuomas did what he could to give out orders, trying to see what kind of strength they would have in this fight. “So this is that baddy, right?” Dracus asked.

  Charlotte looked at him, “Yes, this is it, the goddess is coming.”

  Liliana took a risk and looked back over the wall, down at the other players that were standing there waiting, to them this was a cut scene, the moments before they would be able to attack and claim their internet glory. “Prepare yourselves, it is almost time!” She yelled down to them.

  A rank smell filled the air, a smell of death and decay. A light fog descended from the tendrils pores and flowed toward the city. Rumbling started to crack the land open wider at the foot of the tendrils. They began to recede back into the muddy earth, leaving what looked to be a woman floating in the air. She stood over ten feet tall, with all of her proportions to match. He body above her waste was a stunning image of beauty, but below her waste, was a decaying half. It looked as if a disease had been crawling from her feet up to her head.

  This was Hela, the goddess of the Underworld. A deep booming laugh came from her.

  She lifted her hands and the earth moved with them, lifting up as a reverse trap door. Dead flowed through them, marching into formation. A mixture of historical and mythological garbed undead marched into a three ranked line. Lining from Anglo-Saxon to the Norse, the ranks filled. “Go my children, destroy this city, and we shall raise this world, to begin anew.

  Liliana looked at Tuomas, and he nodded. Looking back over at the gamers she yelled out, “For glory!” as she unsheathed her sword and made her way down the stairs with Dracus on her six. The gamers cheered, “For glory!”

  Tuomas stood with the others next to him, it was just the four of them to defeat Hela. “Are we ready?” He asked the others.

  Scott shook his head, “Nope,” as he walked towards the stairs, “But by anything we all deem holy, now is the time to put our fears away.”

  The others followed him, “So, no epic speech?” Alissa asked.

  “Nah, don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up,” Tuomas responded, “Unlike us, they all will respawn so we have an endless supply of help.”

  At the foot of the wall the gamers stood ready as the gates opened outward for them, “They are The Fallen,” Tuomas said to them all, “Cursed by Hela to serve her until she is done with them, they died ingloriously or were traitors of their words.”

  Scott stood in front of the group, he drew just his one sword leaving Exuberus in its sheath, “Today is the day we save this world,” he started, looking at the gamers, “Today we fight, we make history. We will kill a god!”

  The gamers vocalized a chilling response of excitement, “For honor!” Scott yelled out.

  “For honor!” They replied.

  “For glory!” Scott yelled.

  “For glory!”

  “And for the world’s ending!” Scott echoed with a booming voice.

  Cries of agreeing vocalizations met their ears, their desire to attack the lines of The Fallen grew.

  Scott gripped the one sword with two hands, turned to face the horde that stood in front of them. He started to run towards them. The clans followed him in yelling at the tops of their lungs, Alissa, Charlotte and Tuomas join them in the charge, following Scott towards the horde.

  The mud made it hard to run, the slopping of the wet earth slowed them down. Tuomas got into a position for him to start firing arrows out. He knocked an arrow and began to target the Fallen soldiers. The arrow hit its mark and the first undead fell back to the ground, his body dissipating into an ashy pile. One down, many more to go.

  Scott met the swords of the fallen soldiers. Parrying them he countered and took down two of the soldiers. He glanced to his left and saw some of the gamers overpowering Fallen soldiers. Blood and gore soiled the ground with the first ranks of the Fallen collapsing and turning into ash. This is way too easy, this can’t be the full strength of her army: Scott looked at Hela.

  She laughed at them, “Thank you for thinning out my weaklings. Now comes my true warriors!”

  The ground had larger men appear, they wore drab that gave a Norse and Celtic feel to it, but the soldiers were massive, their muscles were abnormally large and bulging, they grunted and spoke in their native tongues. The smallest one was just over six feet tall. They all held a combination of axes, swords, and shields.

  “Okay, they are way bigger than the others…” Charlotte said, walking up behind Scott.

  “They are. Much bigger, much more brutish too… This is going to be a long fight.”

  Charlotte leveled her one handed crossbow and fired at one of the Fallen. The bolt hit one the chest. The undead man laughed and pulled the bolt out and dropped it on the ground. He spoke in a language that they didn’t understand. He lifted the two axes that he had, and charged Charlotte. She rose up her sword to parry the warrior. And arrow whizzed by and struck the undead warrior in the face. The force cocked its head back and the body slumped to the ground, the momentum carrying the body another five feet until it stopped. Looking over her shoulder, Charlotte saw Tuomas giving her a nod. Alissa showed up next to Charlotte. The three standing there looked at the rest of the gamers who were now all occupied with the forces of the Fallen. The rain was still falling and it was getting darker and the fog was growing thicker from where Hela stood.

  Tuomas closed the distance between him and the others, he knew that they would need to stick together if they were going to survive. Without Donovan and Nick they were not going to be able to be as efficient as they normally would have been. Liliana and Dracus found them in the middle of the fight, joining them in the circle that they had formed holding up against the Fallen. A couple other gamers had joined them, bringing them to a total of eleven in the circle. They were holding their own, tagging in and out to give someone a breather and for the gamers to use potions and equip usable items to their quick bars.

  A crack of lightning hit the field again, sending both Fallen and gamers flying. Some of both groups disappeared. Each then respawning in their respective zones charging back into the fight. “We need to get to Hela and take her out before we are too exhausted to fight!” Charlotte yelled out, gutting another Fallen soldier.

  “Agreed,” Tuomas yelled out, “I am almost out of arrows, and I don’t think this little dagger I have is going to do much against these guys.”

  Alissa bashed one Fallen with her shield, “Okay, but how?”

  “We need to clear a path to her,” Scott replied to her.

  “Okay, but how? There is an army between us and her!” Liliana said before Alissa could respond with a similar rebuttal.

  “We need a few more people with us, get th
is group up a bit larger, we need to move as a larger group.”

  One of the games pointed, “Over there, those two could use some help, and we could get them to work with us.”

  Everyone agreed and started to push towards the two stranded gamers who were holding out on their own. Two guys were countering off of each other, working together in sync. The eleven pushed in and relieved them, “Thanks of the save.” One said, “We were almost out of stamina.”

  Tuomas looked at them, “Heal up, you’re coming with us, we need to push the Goddess.”

  The second one answered, “Oh hell yeah, straight to the heart of the raid! Let’s do this!”

  The two took some of their potions and the thirteen moved on, collecting more and more singled out small groups forming a large party and began to push toward the Goddess.

  “We are almost there!” One of them yelled out as they pushed through the horde, killing the Fallen as they pushed through them.

  “Fifty feet at most!” Another called out.

  As they drew close Hela laughed again and a bolt of lightning hit the group sending them all flying in different directions. Most of them disappeared including Liliana and Dracus. Within moments they started to respawn by the gates of Crystle.

  Tuomas, Alissa, Charlotte and Scott lay in the field, covered with burns and other injuries. A group of Fallen encircled them. The Fallen moved in for the kill.

  “Fire!” a voice boomed from atop the wall.

  A wall of arrows flung through the air, colliding with Fallen warriors. Some of the gamers were hit but they walked it off, the arrows bought them enough time for Liliana, Dracus, and a handful of gamers to get back to the other four and help them up.

  Scott struggled to his feet, his sword in his hand. The adrenaline was pumping through his head. He could feel the pain and death around him. The image of the last battle of on hills of Amiens. The last battle of Cogs of War.