“Keep attacking, we’re getting close!” said Mazik as he unleashed spell after spell, each one getting closer to the cultist leader before it dissipated. The True Head Cultist disappeared as the corpses crawled over him and swallowed him whole.
All across the Houkian lines, guards, soldiers, and adventurers attacked the growing monstrosity with everything they had. The remaining cultists rose to meet them. The two sides crashed into each other like opposing tides, both of them threatening to drag the other down into the crushing depths. With the cultists thinned by mass sacrifice, the battle should have been in the city’s favor, but it was not. With the two aku still active, the city’s defenders were punished dearly for any progress, and made little.
The bodies near the top of the pulsating mass of dead flesh rolled away, and the True Head Cultist’s face reappeared. His skin was now stretched and purple, and his eyes had morphed into protruding red orbs that spun in his flayed sockets like broken gimbals.
“YOu SH-aLL nOt iM-pEDe—!” he yelled, spittle spraying from his cracked lips as he took a great, heaving breath, “—tHE Ri-IsE OF mY—YOUR LORD!!”
The True Head Cultist’s eyes spun in their sockets like lottery balls, moving so fast they threatened to scorch the sides of his face. Then they disappeared completely, and what was once the True Head Cultist spoke, softly at first. “you sh-ALl not … im-PEDe … YOU shaLL NOT INTERFERE—WITH MY RISE!!”
“Gah!” yelled Mazik as the face roiled and stretched, its nose and mouth growing to uncomfortable proportions. “Kill it! Kill it with fire!”
“Isn’t that your job?” asked Raedren as he smacked an enemy with his staff.
“Working on it!” said Mazik as he hit a cultist in the face, mana building within him for another spell.
KRA-KOOOM! A thunderclap swept across the arena. Everyone clapped their hands over their ears and waited for the horrible noise to pass. When it had, everyone looked up.
A massive figure towered over the arena. Standing over three stories tall, nearly as tall as The Pit itself, it looked similar to the aku rampaging around its feet, with its broad shoulders and long arms that pulled it forward until it loomed over the mortals below like a collapsing building. Mana crackled along its burnished purple skin, cooking the air and crawling across the ground, incinerating not just everything it touched, but everything near what it touched. Its thick skull swung around, its red eyes spinning until they snapped into place, bringing the world into focus. A toothy grin split its face.
“I AM REBORN!” roared the colossus, its otherworldly voice oscillating disconcertingly as the sound climbed out of the arena and bounced off distant buildings, rattling windows for blocks around and outright shattering ones nearby. The cloud of mana around the monster was beginning to disperse as it looked around.
“Okay, that’s not good,” said Mazik, slowly backing away. Everyone was doing the same, from confusion more than fear. The fear hadn’t sunk in yet.
“What do we do now?” asked Gavi.
“I don’t know,” said Mazik.
“AH, THERE YOU ARE!” said the gigantic being. Everyone around the trio scattered as the creature turned to face them.
“Not good not good not good!” said Mazik as the immense being sucked in a huge breath, a spinning ball of mana appearing in front of its cracked lips. Barrier after barrier appeared in front of the panicking trio—and then the monster exhaled.
A blast of pure mana shot out, lighting up the night sky. The ground erupted as it struck, pillars of sand rocketing into the air and melting under the onslaught.
The mana cleared, and Mazik, Gavi, and Raedren staggered to their knees. They stood in the middle of a miniature wasteland. Everything around them had been obliterated outright.
The immense being sniffed, and then pointed at the trio. Without warning another beam of mana shot out and slammed into the reeling adventurers, and exploded. The ground cracked, fissures opening up beneath their feet, and then it collapsed. The chaotic magicks ripped through the magickally tempered steel that lined the arena floor and dumped the trio into the Catacombs below. The explosions continued as the beam scythed through the underground tunnels, cutting down to the bottom level and burying the falling adventurers with everything above.
The giant lobbed another sphere of mana into the hole. It exploded, the ground bucking as the mana hollowed out the Catacombs.
The creature, standing taller than most buildings and rippling with muscles as big as a herd of cows, tossed its head back and roared. “YES!! FEEL THE POWER OF THE GREAT AMOUGOUREST!! I AM REBORN!!!”
Major Rur waved her sword. “Fall back! FAAALL BACK!!”
*
Where once the Catacombs were a warren of tunnels, now they were a cavern. Over a third of the tunnels had caved in after Amougourest’s second spell ripped through them, sending the upper floor collapsing onto the bottom, only for the rampaging god’s third spell to incinerate much of the rubble as it fell. What was left was a giant empty space surrounded by ruined tunnels, like a bombed office building that looked as if a bite had been taken out of it.
Rocks continued to fall from the ceiling as the Catacombs’ condition continued to decay. In one of the rooms on the edge of the blast crater, a pile of rubble shifted. There was a groan, and then the heavy rubble fell away as a figure pulled itself upright.
“Zaxat whult pit ret,” said Mazik as dust showered off his clothing. He rubbed his jaw, and there was a loud snap as he popped it back into place. His eyes crossed. “Kztaagh.”
“Ugh…” said Gavi. She tried to roll off Raedren, but Mazik’s legs had her pinned down. She tried to kick him off, but her legs were too weak to move.
“Am I dead yet?” asked Raedren as he stared up at a shattered ceiling. His glasses had finally cracked. “Because I feel like it.”
“No,” said Mazik. He took stock of his injuries. His collarbone, his left wrist, probably a rib or two…. He winced. “Not yet, at least.”
“Ah,” said Raedren. He sat up. “Damn.”
Mazik groaned as he collapsed off Gavi and Raedren, and then groaned again as pain shot through his everything. “Ugh. How the hell are we still alive?”
The scene played through each of their minds. The second blast had come, and Raedren’s last-second barrier combined with Mazik tackling them had saved them from instant death. Then the floor collapsed, and the spell was less intense as they fell—that was probably thanks to the m-tempered plates, since it took an astronomical amount of mana to break them—and as soon as they landed Raedren grabbed them and rolled away, narrowly saving them from the third blast.
Mazik grit his teeth as he tried to push himself to his feet. He got as far as his knees. “Guh. Fuck me.”
Raedren closed his eyes and mumbled the only spell he cared about right now. His entire body began to glow light green, and soon, the pain began to subside. He sighed in relief.
Gavi rose to her knees, thanking the gods—and more specifically, Raedren—that she wasn’t as dead as she should have been. She rubbed her throbbing back as she looked at the newly created cavern around them, and then up. It was oddly quiet above, where the night sky was shining down. Not silent, but not as noisy as it should have been.
Mazik crawled over to Gavi and crumpled beside her. He joined her in looking up at the night sky. Far above, the stars glittered like the sequins that had once decorated the True Head Cultist’s robes, before they were damaged, and before he changed.
“What the fuck do we do?”
*
Major Rur dove out of the way as Amougourest leaned down. As the god’s torso drew closer to the ground, mana flowed out from its body like waves from a meteor impact just offshore. Acrid smoke wafted across the battlefield, and flesh and cloth were incinerated. Major Rur scrambled away as the line of fire reached for her, mana licking at her heels as she dodged around a similarly fleeing cultist.
The great deity crouched down, its elbows resting on its knees as it peer
ed at all the scurrying mortals below it. Major Rur picked herself up and, like everybody else, stopped and stared back at the god. It seemed silly to run when it was this close, its massive bulk blotting out the sky.
As its cultists and aku knelt at the border of the god’s damage shield, Amougourest examined the city’s defenders. It pointed. “YOU. ARE YOU THE LEADER OF THIS RABBLE? TELL ME WHICH OF YOU IS IN CHARGE!”
Major Rur looked on in confusion. The god hadn’t pointed to her, or Captain Ankt, or any high-ranked guard, soldier, or even adventurer—he had pointed at one of her soldiers, a private wearing an identical uniform to the other privates scattered across the battlefield.
The private looked surprised for a second, but then he puffed his chest out and skewered the god with an arrogant scowl. “How did you guess? I am the leader! What do you want, foul beast?”
Amougourest considered the private’s word for a second, and then gave every appearance of shrugging. Major Rur briefly wondered how much of the True Head Cultist’s memories and knowledge had transferred over to the deity. It didn’t look like it could tell most mortals apart, save for especially aggravating ones like the trio.
“TELL ME MORTAL, WHERE CAN I FIND THE FORMER RULER OF THIS CITY?” asked Amougourest.
The private pulled himself up tall and crossed his arms over his wimpy chest, his thick eyebrows vibrating indignantly. “I will never tell you that, monster!”
“HM,” said Amougourest. With a rumble as loud as plates shifting, the god stood up and loomed over the battlefield once again. It pointed at the private. “GET THEM.”
A beam of writhing mana tore a long, sweeping gash through the Houkian forces just as the private dove out of the way. As the air superheated and exploded, scattering people like confetti on a parade route, the cultists and the aku charged.
*
“So that was a god,” said Mazik. He was on his back, glowing pale green. Raedren had already finished dulling Gavi’s wounds, and had now moved onto Mazik.
“Yup,” said Gavi. She stood up and began looking around the area. The rooms around the blast crater were all badly damaged, but the ones above them didn’t look like they would collapse much more. Outside they could hear more screams and explosions.
“What’s the point in being that big anyway?” asked Mazik. He waved a hand. “I mean, other that the obvious people stomping reasons. I just feel like if you’re that big, all you can really do is break things. Who’s going to take a god like that seriously?”
“You don’t take any gods seriously,” said Gavi.
“Well, yes,” said Mazik, “but that’s why I said ‘anyone,’ not ‘me.’” He thought about this. “Or ‘I,’ I guess. You know what I mean.”
“Scaring people seems to be a pretty standard tactic among gods,” said Gavi. “Plus, dying a horrible, screaming death seems serious enough to me.”
“Well, he—” Raedren thought back to the god’s appearance “—it can probably transform into a smaller form if it wants to. That’s pretty common for corporeal gods, from what I remember.”
“Oh, right,” said Mazik. “I never paid much attention during those classes.”
They all paused, thinking about the massive three-story deity above.
“What happens to the rest of its body when it shrinks?” asked Gavi.
“It’s better to not think about it,” said Raedren.
“Squish and splat,” said Mazik. Gavi stuck out her tongue at him.
“There you go,” said Raedren as the glow around Mazik faded. “Just remember to take it easy. Your injuries aren’t any better, you just can’t feel the pain as much.”
“I know, I know,” said Mazik as he sat up. His entire body still hurt, but he could deal with it now. “Thank you,” he added earnestly.
*
“I don’t care how much the guilds charge, just get them here right fucking now!” said Captain Ankt, one finger to his ear as he yelled into the open air. He paused while the voice in his head responded. “ALL OF THEM!!” he roared, his face turning purple.
Major Rur knelt in front of her colleague, scanning for threats. The two of them were taking refuge in a hastily dug hole behind a pile of bodies, with Major Rur guarding Captain Ankt while he called for help.
“I’m telling you, if this thing gets out into the city, we’re going to have THOUSANDS of casualties!” Captain Ankt was yelling, veins bulging on his forehead. “I don’t—NO, I do NOT care how hard it is to get them to help, just promise them whatever you have to—do you want to come out here and fight this thing? …WELL THEN FIND SOMEBODY WHO WILL!”
Major Rur lifted her head above the pile. Amougourest had stopped attacking, and was looking at the buildings that peeked over the top of The Pit’s highest level.
Major Rur could tell what was about to happen. She stood up and looked around the battlefield, searching for anything she could do to stop this monster. There was nothing.
Unceremoniously, and leaving its worshippers to continue fighting, Amougourest turned and stomped toward the Gate of Life.
*
“We can’t just stay down here,” said Mazik.
“I don’t see how we’re going to get out of here,” said Gavi. All the tunnels near the hole in the ceiling had been blasted away.
“Details, details,” said Mazik. He looked around. “Important details for which I don’t have an answer, but still. We need to figure out what to do about that thing first,” he said, pointing at the ceiling in the general direction of where they last saw Amougourest.
The three sat on some rubble and thought. Raedren scratched his beard, Mazik scratched his stubble, and Gavi, due to her lack of facial hair, rubbed her arrowhead pendant.
“Come on, think!” said Mazik, slapping his cheeks. “Everyone probably thinks we’re dead, so we have time to think this through. How do we kill that thing?”
Mazik stopped. He looked startled, as if only now realizing what he just said. He mentally rewound. “Everyone thinks we’re dead,” he repeated.
Gavi’s brow creased. “Yes. So?”
Mazik perked up noticeably. “Well, that simplifies things!”
Now Gavi frowned in earnest. “Mazik, what are you thinking?”
“Maz,” said Mazik automatically.
Gavi rolled her eyes. “Fine. Maz, what are you thinking?”
Mazik stood up and walked to the edge of the newly created cavern. “No one expects us to be alive,” he said. “That means we have time to prepare.”
Raedren pulled Mazik back from the edge. “Be careful, that could collapse.”
“Bah,” said Mazik. “You never let me have any fun.”
“But what are we going to prepare?” asked Gavi, alarm bells going off in her head.
Mazik turned back and flashed Gavi a grin. “Everything. We’re going to throw everything we have at it. I bet if Rae and I pool our mana together, and we have enough time to cast a really big spell, we should be able to do enough damage to take even that thing down. Full power, no mercy, and nothing held back for defense. We either kill it, or die horribly trying.”
“Why do all of your plans end with somebody dying horribly?” asked Gavi.
“I want to know why those people are ever us,” said Raedren. “That’s a worrying trend.”
“Hey, I’m a realist,” said Mazik, the man suggesting the three of them attack a living god without any defenses. The hypocrisy was not lost on them, nor on Mazik. He laughed.
“But why no defenses? That seems like a good way to ensure we’re the ones getting killed,” said Gavi.
“I can answer that,” said Raedren, raising a hand. “It’s because it took everything we had to survive the last time it attacked us, and if we hold anything back, we probably won’t be able to kill it. Plus any mana we have left probably won’t save us anyway.” He looked at Mazik. “Right?”
Mazik gave him two thumbs up. “Right you are, good sir!”
“Okay, and what’s my role in this
plan of yours?” asked Gavi. “Because I hope you’re not depending on what little mana I have.”
“Not in the slightest!” said Mazik, more quickly than Gavi would have preferred. Then he flashed her an evil grin, and suddenly Gavi was very, very worried.
*
Amougourest stopped in front of the Gate of Life. It stooped down, peering through the bars and into Gladiator’s Way. A smattering of spells struck it from behind, splashing harmlessly across the barriers protecting Amougourest’s burnished skin. The god ignored them.
“It’s at the gates!” yelled Major Rur from halfway across the arena. “Hurry, we need to stop it!”
“What tha hell are we gonna to do when we get there?” said Captain Ankt, his chest heaving.
Major Rur pursed her lips as she looked around. Most of their most powerful people were still wrapped up fighting the aku, trying to keep them from rampaging through their forces and ending the battle quickly. “We’ll have to think of something.”
“We need some godsdamned help,” swore Captain Ankt as he wiped blood off his cheek.
Amougourest stood up, and then looked at the rows of seats that were now at eye level. It looked up and beyond the top of the arena, and apparently made its decision. Amougourest rested its hands on the edge of the wall and pulled itself up.
It froze in midair. Hanging with its body several meters in the air, Amougourest looked at its feet.
Great bands of multicolored bindings were wrapped around its legs and feet, bands of mana that wrapped around its feet and bound it to the ground. Amougourest tugged, still suspended in the air by the strength of its arms, but the bonds held.
Firesign 1 - Wage Slave Rebellion Page 33
