Destruction of a God

by I. K. Bartlett

  With a ground shuddering thud, the Demon hit the floor, allowing Bray to stab it through the back of its neck; his Mogya enriched, Sentinel-forged blade passing easily through it. The beast died instantly, howling a pained scream, which spurred the other three Demons into action.

  Bray saw them coming and, as Gwion continued battling with two wolf headed creatures, leapt at the three mighty monsters charging towards him. He flicked out his blade, catching the first Demon under the chin, which sent a fountain of black blood splashing to the floor. He then spun, kicked the next of the beasts in the chest, with such ferocity that he crushed its ribs, and stabbed it through the face.

  As the monster died, its companion halted a few yards away from him and burst into flames. Seeing this, Bray relaxed, thinking that the beast was dying, but it lurched forward, trying to grab him in its inferno-like grip.

  Bray’s Mogya enriched reactions allowed him to leap out of the way just in time, but he now had to rethink his strategy, so that the beast did not burn him. His momentary pause almost cost him his life, because, as he considered his options, a massive Demon with a bird’s beak, attacked him from behind. Rolling away, he saved himself from his attacker, but strayed close enough to the burning monster, so that it could grab him.

  Searing pain flooded through his body, as the Demon gripped him. He hacked wildly with his sword, but to no avail. The beast was causing him so much agony that he could not aim straight and, although he killed a few smaller Demons as he struck out, he did not get anywhere near the monster holding him.

  As Bray screamed in agony, his Mogya kept trying to heal his wounds, but the corrupt power flowing through Bray’s assailant fought its every attempt. As Bray grew weaker, he managed to glance across at Gwion and groaned in despair when he saw his son pinned to the floor by the body of a dead, but very large wolf headed Demon.

  As Gwion squirmed, a smaller, but just as deadly, monster shook its heavy buffalo-like head and roared in triumph as it leapt at Gwion. Bray’s mind began to give out, as the pain became too much. He closed his eyes and prepared for death, but all of a sudden, the Demon screamed in agony. Its body immediately ceased burning, as it released the very weak Bray, and then it crashed to the floor. Bray hit the ground limply and lay helpless against any further attack. He glanced across at the Demon he had been fighting and saw a single white arrow standing proud from its back.

  As Bray watched, more of these arrows sped across the enemy camp, bringing down the Demons around him. His befuddled mind tried to fathom what was going on, but could not. He tried to sit up, but this proved too much and he slumped back down.

  Gwion sighed in relief, as he watched the Demon pouncing at him, crash to the ground with an arrow protruding from its chest. He struggled a little more and managed to lift the body pinning him, just enough so that he could slide out from under it. As he laboured to his feet, he glanced across at the gate in the east and saw the last of the enemy warriors defending the wall die, as a dozen Elven archers galloped across the clearing towards him.

  The elegant white horses came to a halt a few yards from Bray and Gwion. The archers then leapt nimbly from their saddles and rushed across to the two warriors. Two of them reached Bray’s unconscious form and lifted him up, before scrambling back, struggling under his weight to their horses. As another of the Elven archers halted in front of Gwion, the two carrying Bray lifted him onto the back of one of their horses and laid him flat across the beautiful creature’s saddle. One of the two warriors then clambered up behind him to keep him steady on the steed.

  The blonde Elf sitting on the horse in front of Gwion smiled and, in a deep musical voice, said, “Lord Gwion, my name is Limi, named after he who was my Grandfather. I’m the commander of the third squad of Elven archers. Please come with me.”

  Gwion pointed to Ciqala’ cage and said, “We must free Ciqala and the Ancient ones first.”

  Limi shook his head and replied, “We don’t have time. Very soon, word of our attack will reach Merihim and it will send reinforcements.”

  As if his very words were prophetic, a rectangular white light suddenly appeared not ten yards away from where the Elven horses were grazing. Gwion and Limi rushed towards the other Elves. As they closed with them, Limi sprung into his saddle and then lowered an arm to help Gwion up behind him. When Gwion was up, gripping tightly to him, Limi screamed, “Let’s go!”

  As the Elven squad spun their horses around to gallop through the eastern gate, Gwion glanced back and saw that the magical gateway had finished forming. In an instant, an army of silver-armoured warriors began marching through it. However, the fleet footed Elven horses were out of the gate and racing across the burning plain outside, before the first of the enemy column had seen them.

  Gwion peered through the night’s gloom, at the horse in front of him, and saw that the Elven archer was still holding Bray firmly to the back of his horse. After a few minutes of riding, Gwion spotted the dark silhouette of riders up ahead. Marvelling at the pace of the Elven horses, he continued staring at the column of riders as they drew ever closer. Eventually, they were close enough, so that Gwion could see that they were Sentinels.

  The archers slowed their horses and guided them towards the long column of Sentinel riders. As they drew nearer, a small squad of scouts galloped towards them. Gwion smiled when he saw that their commander was none other than Donny, looking far more haggard than he remembered and much older, but nonetheless he was the same proud warrior.

  Gwion smiled as Donny spotted him and then guided his sturdy steed towards him. The mighty Sentinel came to a halt next to him and grinned before saying, “It’s so good to see you safe and sound. I’m sorry that we did not wait around for you after we defeated the enemy in that camp back there. Unfortunately, we’ve proved time after time that, although our horses are powerfully built and perfect for battle they are nowhere near as fleet as the Elves’ mounts, so we had to get away as quickly as possible or the enemy would have caught us.”

  Gwion smiled, shrugged and then replied, “It‘s of no consequence. We’re all safely out of there.” He then thought of Ciqala and sighed.

  Donny saw this and patted Gwion on the back, before saying, “Don’t worry, Ciqala is safe enough for now. Merihim is terrified of him and plans to keep him caged for as long as he survives, which gives us time to prepare a plan to end this madness.”

  With this, Gwion forced a smile to his face and replied, “Let’s do that. I want nothing more than to kill that thing. I owe it more than you could ever imagine.” He then went quiet and faced the front, with the venom of his words reflecting in his eyes.

  Donny saw the change in the young man’s attitude and went silent, as they rode from the flaming grasslands, which surrounded what was once Antia. Donny then led them to the column of Sentinel warriors. Glancing around, Gwion noticed that they were now riding over harsh rock, where once the tall proud trees of the Great Forest would have been.

  As Donny’s scouting party led Gwion and Bray to the front, the remainder of Sentinels and Elves in the column came to a halt. They then began preparing themselves for the night. As Gwion and Donny drew closer to the front of the column, with Bray still lying across the Elven rider’s horse, a number of cooking fires lit their way. Donny immediately guided his horse towards the largest of them, bringing Gwion and Bray with him.

  As the horse Gwion was riding came to a halt within the fire’s warmth, he slid from the saddle. He then patted Limi on the calf before flashing him a smile and saying, “Thank you Limi, you have proved to be just as brave as your Grandfather.”

  At this compliment, Limi beamed with pride and then, without replying, slipped from his saddle to help the other Elven archer lower the badly burnt Bray into the outstretched arms of a massive Sentinel guard, who was even taller than Donny.

  Once Bray was safely off the horse, the two archers remounted and rode back to join the remainder of their squad, whilst Gwion followed the muscle-bound, black-furred Se
ntinel, who was carrying Bray, to a table in front of a tent, around which a number of warriors were assembling.

  As the guard lowered Bray onto the table and placed a blanket over him, one of the Sentinel warriors putting up the tent moved across to them. As the large soldier marched out of the thick shadows, Gwion barely recognised him as Sam. The now white-furred commander of the Sentinel warriors was limping severely and one eye was sewn shut with a thick scar running across it.

  Sam stopped as he arrived at the table and took a folding chair from underneath it. He then placed his heavy body into it and sighed. Glancing up at Gwion, he said, “Don’t worry about your father; his Mogya will heal him.”

  He then indicated to another seat, which one of the sentries had just placed by the table and continued, “Sit down Gwion.” With a heavy sigh, he paused briefly and said, “I know that Ciqala told you how to kill Merihim. The Light likes a certain continuity to everything he does and unfortunately Mogya has adopted the same tendency.” Seeing the confusion on Gwion’s face, Sam smiled thoughtfully and then explained, “We cannot simply send you and your father back in time to do what is needed. As Merihim is a living spirit, it will take Mogya to kill it. To do this, Mogya needs to use the same souls to kill Merihim as it used to trap it in the Demon realm.” Pausing briefly he then added, “Well at least the same blood line.”

  Gwion gratefully took a plate of steaming vegetables from the guard as a Sentinel healer tended to his father and asked, “What does that mean?”

  Sam sighed once more and then in a resigned voice replied, “When King LilPeg’s ancestor, Slighthome banished Merihim from Earit, he had help from Gelentre, Bray’s mother, her father Rahin and a human warrior called Millar, whose only surviving descendant is Muru, son of Ratlar. The final warrior needed is Galivan, who was, as always by Rahin’s side when they defeated Merihim. For Mogya to build enough power to destroy Merihim, it will need people of each bloodline to draw from.”

  Gwion, his heart heavy with the sorrow of Rahin’s memory, fought the tears, which he felt building in him and said, “That’s all well and good, but Rahin is dead.”

  Sam raised an eyebrow at this and replied, “Are you not forgetting that you’re his Great-Grandson.”

  Gwion, who had missed the part about Mogya needing one of the bloodline, looked slightly ashamed, as he said, “Oh yes, of course.”

  At that moment, Bray opened his eyes and groaned. He rolled on to his side and after thanking the healer, said, “That’s all well and good, but I’m too weak to bring the warriors you need. Sam smiled and replied, “Don’t you remember teaching me how to use the gates of time Bray.”

  Bray smiled and in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, laughed before replying, “Good, I was just letting you know that I’m tired of being the one to bail everybody out.”

  At this, Sam laughed and said, “It‘s good to have you here Bray, I’ve not laughed for a long time; not for ten years.”

  This statement peeked Bray’s curiosity, so he threw off his blanket, swung his legs over the table and whilst peering down at his now burn free arms, asked, “What do you mean ten years?”

  Sam smiled grimly and, after taking a sip of a hot drink passed to him by his brother, who had just finished erecting the tent, replied, “Bray we are two hundred years from when you liberated Velumia. Merihim has almost destroyed Earit; the only thing stopping him from releasing his will on the planet is the Mogya coursing through the warriors in my column.”

  Seeing anger erupt in Bray’s eyes, Sam added, “Before we arrived here, the Sentinels were almost wiped out; the last of these, a warrior called Ray.” Sam sniffed, tears welling in his one wise eye, as he said, “He was my Grandson.” Taking a moment to gather himself, he continued, “Ray managed to use the spell, which you taught me and in turn I to him, to travel through gates of time to get our help.” He paused briefly to take a sip of his drink, his massive club-like hands shaking, as he controlled his grief and then said, “If you remember back to the year that Gwion was kidnapped. Kayla threw a party in honour of Artir passing his Officer selection course.”

  Bray narrowed his eyes, trying to remember that far back and then replied, “Yes, I remember, you had to leave very suddenly.”

  At this point Tom interrupted by saying, “Yes, I had to get him as soon as possible, because if I hadn’t, then we may have lost Ray before he could fully explain what was happening.”

  Sam nodded and then continued, “We travelled here ten years ago and began the fight. We almost freed Ciqala and the Ancient ones, but Merihim killed many of us in the ensuing battle, so we had to retreat. However, Ciqala managed to tell me how to kill Merihim before we fled. I have been waiting for you, ever since, knowing that if I brought you forward too soon, your Mogya would fail and Merihim would grow too strong for us to defeat it.”

  Gwion, who was listening with interest, suddenly furrowed his brows and then interrupted by saying, “All this talk is great, but shouldn’t we get the people we need.”

  Sam grinned at Gwion’s blunt manner and then said, “Chip off the old block isn’t he.” His face then grew solemn, as he continued, “Gwion is right, we must get them.” He then looked at Bray and asked, “Are you strong enough to send yourself and Gwion back to the time of The Great War?”

  Bray shook his head and replied, “No, because I must save my energy just in case we have to fight, but I know somebody, who can help.”

  Sam cocked his head curiously and asked, “Who?”

  Bray merely winked, pulled the crystal that Primero had given him and whispered, “Now.”

  Sam sat up straight and stared at Bray, hoping that he would reply, but he did not; he simply sat in silence, smiling. They remained quiet for a few moments more and then they heard the beating of gigantic wings. Sam and Tom looked up as a massive shadow blocked the moon’s light and both of them started grinning when they saw Primero swooping towards them.

  The Dagon stretched his wings and then sped towards the ground in a headlong dive, which they had all seen him do before. As always, he waited until the last minute and then flared his wings to bring himself floating to the floor. As the huge beast landed, Tom and Sam stood up, laughing as they moved towards him. “A Dragon is the last thing that Merihim will expect. He thought that the last one died a hundred years ago,” said Tom

  Primero lowered his head to the same height as Sam’s and asked, “Who died a hundred years ago?”

  Answering his question, Tom looked deep into Primero’s eyes and replied, “Merihim tricked you over a hundred years ago. I don’t know how he managed it, but you and your mate died together.”

  Primero did not know how to react to this. He looked completely amazed, but simply asked, “What do you mean mate? I thought I was the last of the Dragons.”

  Tom shrugged and replied, “Obviously not.”

  Sam then patted the huge black and golden Dragon before saying, “Right, enough history. Let’s get the people, who will help us defeat Merihim and in so doing, stop all that has happened.” He then closed his eyes and let his Mogya flow through him.

  As the others watched in silence, Sam began pooling his Mogya in front of him to form a gateway. It did not take long, but he was tiring fast, his endurance not being what it once was. Before long, the gateway solidified and opened up into a plush bedroom, in which Muru was standing talking to Manil.

  As his brother concentrated on keeping the gate open, Tom stepped through it onto the thick pile carpet and said, “Muru, please follow me. You’re needed.”

  Muru did not even question the Sentinel. Not one to ever shirk from a challenge, he stood up and strolled through the gate. Tom was just about to step back through the gate, but stumbled as Manil pushed him out of his way. He looked in disgust at the Sentinel and growled, “If Muru needed, then Manil definitely be needed.”

  Once Manil was through the gate, Tom followed him. Once he was on the other side, Sam staggered with the effort of re-directing the gateway
, so Tom pointed to Donny and said, “Help him out Donny.”

  Once Donny had added his extra strength to Sam, they formed the gate again. Peg and Omni were deep in conversation somewhere in The Great Forest, having still not reached Tamlin. Seeing them gazing at the gateway, Tom leant through and simply said, “We need you.”

  Hearing this, both seasoned warriors stopped talking and stepped through the rectangle of light. Once they were through and had moved across to the cook fire, where Gwion was busy briefing Muru and Manil, the gateway flickered. The picture contained inside the flashing frame suddenly blurred and then twisted. It then reformed itself and Tom could see Galivan deep in conversation with Bazil.

  On seeing the massive Sentinel, both warriors stepped towards him, but Tom shook his head and said, “King Bazil you must remain and rule your people. Enough has been done to them in the last few years to warrant your personal care and attention.” He then smiled to show that he was only half mocking the King of Anlam, before saying, “For this one I only need Galivan.”

  Galivan, who was still holding the dagger, which the commander of the silver-armoured warriors had thrown at Manil, nodded in response and then stepped through the gateway to stand next to Tom. As soon as he was through, Sam and Donny lost their grip on their Mogya and the gateway flashed brightly, before disappearing. Tom immediately detailed two towering Sentinel sentries to carry Sam and Donny across to their tent and moved across to where Gwion was explaining what was required of all of them.

  Once Gwion was finished, Omni glanced up at Galivan, who was still fingering the ornate Elven dagger curiously. The Elven war leader, noticed the Dwarf looking at him and said, “It worries me that one of those warriors had this dagger.”