The Pit of No Return (The King Henry Tapes Book 6)

by Richard Raley

  Answer: I built a fucking wall.

  Wasn’t exactly the Great Wall of China, but then I built the damn thing in about fifteen seconds, so suck on those apples. And I did it all by myself, didn’t get fifty-thousand Ching-Chang peasants terrified of Mongolians raping their horses’ assholes to do it for me.

  Used the anima from the World-Breaker.

  The real one.

  Not the fake one Paine just crushed into pieces with his gold-plated fist.

  See, you broke it easy enough, wasn’t an empty threat after all.

  Lot more anima unleashed from me than the hour of pooling I just used to throw the three of us back towards his army. Maybe not anywhere near what Annie B was around to witness first time I pulled on the plug, but equal to what I used to pull Paine’s warehouse down on his head in Seattle.

  Didn’t destroy.

  I built.

  With asphalt.

  With rock.

  With steel.

  With pipe.

  With sand.

  With dirt.

  Anything I had in the area.

  Up went a wall ten feet high along the entire width of Highway 101.

  Have fun explaining this shit, ESLED.

  Cut the battlefield in half. Everyone I loved and everyone I cared for was on the other half. On my half . . . just me.

  Just me and about five-hundred enemies.

  And I was already bleeding.

  Thanks for that one, Kitty Cat.

  “All that effort,” Paine actually sputtered, “all that anima just to protect them. Now what, little dog? You have nothing left! Are you going to fight my entire army with one of your lightning rings? Are you going to punch us like some barbarian?”

  “Nah, Obadiah,” I told him, “thought I’d just surrender.”

  Down I went to my knees.

  Just the way he liked it.

  Run Val.

  Wall ain’t gonna stay up, trust me.

  These people are gonna be really fucking pissed in about ten seconds.

  Down on my knees, I pulled out the Jinshin Ken and held it up for Paine to take. “All yours, chief.”

  Paine didn’t hesitate this time.

  He was right after all.

  He could feel it once it was in front of him.

  Even Catherine could feel it.

  All of us.

  Any mancer.

  A World-Breaker.

  A wand of anima itself.

  The key and the door.

  Paine reached out and grabbed what was his.

  But I didn’t let go.

  All I did was show some canine.

  Just like that, the world broke and took both of us with it.

  Session 179

  Hard to hear over the screaming, but somewhere out there Fate was laughing again. Kind of laugh most don’t ever manage in their lives. Kind of laugh put to shame all those Wilders still stuck in Eureka. Kind of laugh only comes when you screwed someone over completely and utterly, put them in such a situation where they are forced to acknowledge your superiority. The proverbial checkmate, unable to move another step without forfeiting your life. What Paine wanted from me, but what I just avoided.

  What Fate wanted from me now.

  Kneel.

  Give up.

  Do my will and not your own.

  Only, as well acquainted as me and the Bitch-Queen have gotten in the last couple years, don’t think she understands us mortals and our ability to throw the rules away at any moment, much less a fucked-up-beyond-all-repair mortal like King Henry Price.

  Or maybe she don’t exist and your personification of chance and fortune is the first signs of Anima Madness. First sign you end up like that sister of yours, talking to dead people. First sign you end up like the evil bastard you grabbed in Eureka and still got a hold on the other side of your realm-jump.

  Ain’t the time for this shit, subconscious.

  Ain’t time for doubt.

  Human or not, fucked up or not, was in a bad spot and it ain’t improved much over what I left behind.

  But it did work.

  Me.

  In the Geo Realm.

  Paine.

  In the Geo Realm.

  Only . . .

  Brought him here so he wouldn’t hurt any of them. Val or Vicky or T-Bone or Pocket. Brought him here so Ceinwyn and Moira wouldn’t kill themselves in the process of saving the rest. Give them all a chance to get out of Eureka alive, with Susan. Cut off the head of the snake. Five-hundred Wilders still, but no Curator to lead them, no Curator to keep them in check, no Curator to point them at one target.

  Susan.

  My Big Sis, still my Big Sis, but with madness in her eyes.

  With fear and terror in her eyes.

  Fear of him.

  Only out I saw.

  Only way to save the rest.

  Put it on my shoulders.

  Take the beating for the rest of them.

  King Henry Price versus Obadiah Paine.

  Just me and him.

  In the Geo Realm.

  A chance, a slim chance, but a chance to kill the fucker dead.

  Only Fate had her little fun and tripped me up immediately after my big move.

  No peaceful valley here.

  No deserted mushroom forest.

  No dragon’s cave.

  Might not have been Poug’s precious jewel of civilization, the capital city of Sawapann, but the Eureka crossover point landed us directly in the middle of a city.

  A city surrounding us.

  A city half of what I was used to and half a picture of yesteryear.

  Buildings standing stories tall in the distance. Three or four tall, not much more. Chimneys thick with smoke, roofs adobe, walls bricks or stone or even metal sheeting. No wood. Not here. Animals though . . . horses, big ass pigs, shaggoats. No bears, luckily enough. Had enough bear cavalry for a lifetime.

  Far away at least, directly surrounding us there were no permanent buildings to be seen. Stalls, tents, or just open air trading posts. People, lots of people, bartering goods of all sorts back and forth. Food for gemstones. Quality ores for leathers. Jewelry for silk cloth or dyed wools.

  Popped us out in the center of town during a fucking market day.

  Such bad luck all you could do was laugh maniacally, forget whatever Fate was doing.

  If you could laugh.

  Noticed the people next.

  Thousands of Black Elves.

  Was like all my senses, like existence itself hit pause for a single second, just before warp speed got engaged by whichever dweeby ensign happened to be sitting at the controls. No movement at all as those black skinned faces and those almost-glowing eyes looked upon the two figures of pink flesh that intruded upon them. Some of the eyes were sapphires like Poug’s, others emeralds, or sun-lit amber, but most common was the black of coal, black as their skin, black as their hair, just darkness all over. Like dirt or rock that had never seen sunlight in a million years.

  Darkness covered in bright silks and brighter metals still. Hoods, scarves, many layered skirts for the women. Armor, weapons, and leathers for the men. Equal between them was jewelry. Rings, bracers, necklaces of all sorts. Pierced ears, noses, even brows. I even picked out a number that had diamond studs patterned across their right cheeks, whether a sign of honor for their house or a sign of ownership I had no time to guess.

  The pause ended as quickly as it came.

  Those thousands of Black Elves screamed as one. Screamed at the humans, those pale demons that had just popped into existence in the middle of a bazaar. Some ran. Some stood unmoving in complete fear. A brave few even pulled steel, prepared to make their last stand or have a taste of revenge they never thought possible. Strangest of all was a wave of prayer, of kneeling and prostrated bodies directed towards Paine and me.

  Choices. Reactions.

  Choices of thousands.

  Choices that didn’t matter.

  Unlike in Eureka, here
only one choice mattered.

  The King’s Choice.

  Nobly proclaim checkmate or break the game board yet again?

  My choice.

  Choice after choice led me to it.

  Pit of No Return led me to it.

  Bring Paine here.

  Where I can fight him.

  Where he can’t hurt me and mine.

  But now . . .

  Made my choice.

  Fuck your checkmate, Bitch-Queen.

  Say I ain’t a hero, so time to prove it. Too fucking bad for all these people. Innocent? Yeah. Sorry. You got Val instead of me standing here and you’d have lived. She’d have given a shit about you as a fellow sentient being. Would’ve done the heroic thing, would’ve led Paine away or fought to protect you . . . typical comic book movie the-buildings-are-deserted shit.

  Buildings weren’t deserted.

  Bazaar was filled with people.

  I refused to accept civilization’s expectation that I do the right thing.

  I brought Paine here to fight him.

  I brought Paine here in the hope, the slim hope that I could kill him.

  End it.

  No more fear of the Broken One.

  No more fear of what he might be planning.

  No more fear that he might kidnap one of me and mine.

  No more dragon’s fears of upset plans.

  Or worse . . . Paine taking my place in whatever those plans might be.

  No.

  I refuse.

  End it.

  No matter the cost.

  No matter how much collateral damage I do to this city and its people.

  Horrible choices get made in war.

  Verdun. Gallipoli. Dresden. Hiroshima. Fallujah.

  Hell, that’s just the twentieth century.

  Humanity is lucky enough that I ain’t the one usually making those choices.

  Got the Lady for now, Ceinwyn when the Lady keels over.

  Black Elves . . . not so lucky.

  Not that my Battle Between the Gods started immediately.

  Stood there the two of us, each with a hand still on the World-Breaker.

  The fleshy arm for Paine, not the robotic one.

  Arm that could still feel, arm that was still human. Broken One or not, was enough of Paine’s humanity left to feel overwhelmed by his new surroundings. He gazed upon it with those cult leader eyes like a man caught in rapture. No fear in him either. It was everything he had ever hoped. It was a dream. No, Earth was a dream, a nightmare, and he had finally awoken in the Promised Land.

  All of it true.

  So many lies washed away.

  The truth visible, standing around him.

  Inside of him.

  Somewhere out there, just like me, he could feel Meteyos. Half a world never felt so small. In a way, this whole prison planet was made of Meteyos, whether the dragon’s corporeal from was locked away in a cave or not, a part of his essence had been used to bind all these people. I was shut off from the dragon, refused to listen. Only when he forced himself on me, only when the connection was too strong for me to resist it. But Paine, Paine opened up his ears . . .

  Opened up his mouth. “I am here . . . I have finally arrived,” his mouth quivered. “The one you are waiting for has come. Let us begin! Let us begin with these people! Let me forge you an army, a whole world worthy of you! Let us strike at the Divines, let us tear down the walls! Better than death, let us give them the hell you have lived for ten thousand years!”

  YOU ARE BROKEN, we both heard.

  Pretty sure the praying Black Elves heard it too with the way they whimpered and shook.

  Paine shivered too, not liking that response. “I was broken, but made myself whole once again! With the craft of your own discipline! I made myself better! Made myself stronger! None are stronger!”

  THE DAY I FEARED HAS COME, the dragon spoke in our heads, in the air itself. YOUR FAILURE IS LEGENDARY, LITTLE MANCER. YET . . . FEELING THIS ONE BEYOND THE PITTER PATTER OF HIS LITTLE FEET . . . NO, NO IT WILL NOT DO AT ALL. LET THERE BE NO DOUBT. LET THIS DAY END ALL INDECISION.

  “You would choose him?!?” Paine screamed, spittle flying from his mouth.

  YOU ARE BROKEN, MORE BROKEN BY THE DAY, OBADIAH PAINE. YOU DO NOT REALIZE HOW BROKEN YOU YET SHALL BE AND YOU WILL WEEP BEFORE THE END. ANOTHER’S TOOL YOU MIGHT BE, BUT NOT MINE, NEVER MINE. BEFORE YOU STANDS THE GLASSBREAKER. BEFORE YOU STANDS THE KING OF DIRT. BEFORE YOU STANDS MY PROPHET.

  NO LONGER CAN HE RUN FROM ME. NO LONGER CAN I RUN FROM HIM. YOU WILL FIGHT HIM, BUT YOU WILL FAIL. HE WILL KILL YOU. HE WILL TAKE FROM YOU EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR. HE WILL RIP AWAY YOUR ASSUMPTIONS.

  HE.

  WILL.

  BREAK.

  YOU.

  IF YOU HEAR MY VOICE, FLEE! IF YOU HOLD TO THE OLD WAYS, FLEE! FIND THE OTHER FOLLOWERS AND DO NOT TURN IN YOUR FLIGHT! YOUR GREAT ONE ORDERS THIS! SPREAD MY WORD! KNOW MY TRUTH!

  SPEAK THE NAME OF MY PROPHET IN ANY EAR WILLING: KING HENRY PRICE BRINGS FREEDOM! BRINGS DEATH! BRINGS DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD WAYS AND THE NEW!

  Always say that I thought I knew hate, but Paine always surprises me with how far he can go. Even those looks before were nothing compared to the one he gave me now.

  Wasn’t in the speaking mood, being I think Meteyos already said way too fucking much for my taste, so instead of yapping at Paine I just threw anima at his feet.

  Geo-mine. Same conjuration I learned from first fighting him.

  Fifteen minutes of anima placed in the ground beneath his feet, tightly coiled.

  About as good of a ‘let’s get ready to rumble’ as I’ve ever given.

  Since I learned it from Paine, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that he knew how to counter the conjuration, even if I’d never quite figured it out myself beside being anywhere not where the geo-mine was at. Rolling around on the ground, diving into holes or around corners like a dumbass.

  Problem with this fight . . . well, wasn’t a fight.

  Whole week been escalating.

  Fight with the Guild.

  Battle in Eureka.

  But here . . . a war.

  My first war.

  War that would only last an hour at most, but fight just don’t cut it for what happened, did it?

  Second problem . . . neither of us had any idea what to expect. Most anima battles, even those between Ultras know all the tricks, they just don’t last that long. Got maybe an hour worth of anima to split up and use however you will. In a way, it’s about conservation. A game of value, if you will.

  That wasn’t the game we were playing any longer.

  Playing a game where pools took a couple seconds at most.

  Why I brought him here to begin with.

  Paine is more experienced than I am, Paine has better and more numerous artifacts than I have, Paine probably even got a trick or two more up his sleeve when it comes to anima. Paine might even have better control than me, but that’s up for debate. Pugnacious, vandalous fucktard I might be, but my teachers always praised how I could get anima to move about at my command. So maybe we call that one a draw.

  Still, King Henry Price only had one clear advantage over Obadiah Paine.

  I’m a Maximus.

  I pool huge.

  Dwarf all other Ultras, even Paine, and I ain’t talking the Black Elf kind of dwarf.

  Even among Maximi I bet you I pool big.

  Shit, know I pool bigger than Val, even if she’s way faster than I ever manage most the time and damn near otherworldly she gets into that Super Saiyan mode of hers.

  So that was my out.

  Big ass stick to smack Paine with and here in the Geo Realm that stick was never bigger.

  Pool big, or go home.

  Pool big, or die.

  So why I only start with fifteen minutes of the stuff?

  Why not throw it all at him?

  Might not be a game of value any longer, but it was still a game where one of us could catch the other off gua
rd in that single second when we went completely anima dry.

  Not a fight, not a battle, a war.

  Not like what I did to Conan Sapa.

  Obadiah Paine ain’t going out like that.

  Fifteen minutes of geo-anima at his feet in an instant.

  Countered just as instantly.

  Let go of the World-Breaker to do that, so point in my direction, still . . . never seen a geo-mine get stomped like that before. Not a stomp, but a spear of anima. Twisted, gnarled, tethered together and then driven down right into the swirling center of the mine. Didn’t go exactly as Paine planned, could tell that by the way his eyes got large, but went well enough that the mine bowed under the strike, all that explosive force dissipating outwards with Paine at the center.

  Enough force that me saving a piece of my pool was immediately rewarded as I snapped up the ground at my feet, covering my body from the explosion.

  Blast went right around me, right into the crowd.

  Screaming picked up as bodies were flung down, blood already visible on the bazaar cobblestones. The brave men who ever thought to fight us even turned tail and ran, so did those that had been praying, carried on by the words of their god.

  Never gonna hear the end of this shit from Poug.

  Doubt Val would like it either.

  As for T-Bone and his Free Prime Shipping, well . . . package delayed, motherfucker.

  Fifteen minutes into geo-mine, fifteen minutes for my shield, rest of the hour I had directly in front of me, into those rocks. Splattered against the surface and threw them forward as one. Paine’s own shield of cobblestone formed in front of him, rocks ricocheting off of it, hitting any Black Elf too stupid to move, quite a few still gawking at our opening blows.

  All that and one second later there was my pool again.

  Opening blows and not a scratch landed.

  Small victory that I had the World-Breaker in my hand while Paine had nothing at all, even the fake I made. Tried to make his own, now that’s interesting, assuming I survive the next five minutes.

  Paine’s own pool filled back up.

  Couldn’t see it, even with both of us wearing Anima Detection Lenses. Natural defenses and all that. But you could still feel it. Not like on Earth, no rumble in the feet. Just a sharp pulse that carried from your legs upward. Right on through you. So much anima so quick it was like being shot in the gut.

  “You are the Maximus of the Earth!” Paine screamed at me. “That piercing conjuration, the way it couldn’t get through the thickness and weight of your anima . . . here you can’t hide what you are, little dog. You lied! You have my mantle as well as my World-Breaker. You thief!”