Dio went to the tablet, laid it on its back and poured her thick red blood into the engraved lettering of the tablet. The embossed grooves glistened with this blood offering, and he sang out the spell with praise. “Oh great Nyxe, Creator of the mighty behemoth, grant me the power to summon Falakh! I offer you this royal blood as sacrifice to unseal the doorway… I summon you. Rise and Destroy! Falakh!” The tablet glowed, responsive. “At last! This is my redemption! Now I can surpass my brothers!” Dio laughed, a vicious laugh that went on for some time. He went out of the Great Hall and said to Aezil, “Guard the queen. Let no one enter. Now I shall destroy Bristal. All shall tremble before me.”
Above Excauhalt, a storm brewed. At the altar located at the highest peak of Excauhalt, Dio raised his hands. Lightning bolts split the sky. Towering in size, Falakh, the Shadow Dragon emerged leisurely through the coagulating storm clouds. With an imposing rumble that matched the thunder echoing throughout the valley, the dragon spat thick black acid, melting the rocky outcropping in the courtyard below. “Falakh, heed your calling! Destroy the whole kingdom! Leave nothing alive! Rampage!” Dio shouted, and Falakh spread its massive wings and swooped in, touched down.
Falakh was a shadow dragon. Unlike most other dragons, Falakh was not from the land of Draconia. It was created by Nyxe, the rival of Excalla. More accurately described as a wyvern: a dragon with two legs, two arms connected to the wings. Falakh’s tenebrous figure cast terror upon any who laid eyes on it, towering a hundred metres tall, flapping enormous leathery wings as it came to light upon the blighted earth. Its body was shrouded with shadowy gloom, its eyes burning bright red. When it opened its mouth, a heavy tone resonated. The sound of death itself.
Everyone aboard Anthony’s valkyrie reeled with horror at the sight of the dread dragon summoned from the abyss. “We are too late!” Mikhal exclaimed.
“Why? Is my mother dead?” Jael asked in terror. For only that would be too late–even now, injured and afraid, he had nothing but hope they could win in combat.
“I do not know about the queen! Falakh has been resurrected!” he replied.
“We should stop. Let me summon Bakunawa and defeat that behemoth,” Anthony said.
“I strongly agree. If Falakh spots us without Bakunawa, our efforts will be in vain,” Diurus uttered, and Jael agreed.
“We are above the Isle of Inuevo Jica. Falakh is at a reasonable distance. However its movement is towards here. We need to land now and summon Bakunawa,” Mikhal said.
“This should be perfect. Bakunawa is also a dragon, the Sea Dragon. Bakunawa might catch the attention of Falakh. We will use this area for its advantage,” Anthony determined.
“Let’s do this,” Jael, Diurus and Ace agreed in unison.
At once they landed on the tiny deserted island of Inuevo Jica. It was a small island about the size of a city, and rich in minerals. The huge mountain penetrating the heart of the island was formed of impenetrable hard rock. Mining operations had long since been abandoned. At the foot of the mountain, a lush green field filled with various kinds of plants and trees stretched out towards the sea. Clearings were overgrown with plants, but there was space enough for a valkyrie. “This should be a perfect place,” Anthony said and he landed the valkyrie.
“Sir Mikhal, please monitor Falakh’s movements and tell us if it is rampaging towards us,” Jael requested.
“Will do,” Mikhal replied.
“Please summon Bakunawa now!” Ace gasped in excitement.
“Ace, get yourself together,” Diurus nudged him with his elbow and a little smile.
“Here we go,” Anthony said and he withdrew the Helico. “Serpent of the sea, oh hear my call. I command you as your keeper. Arise and fight!” With his shout, the ground shook and blue waves crashed the cliffs of the island. The waters churned and the head of Bakunawa emerged.
Bakunawa was the dragon of the sea. It had a long bloody red tongue, used for piercing. Six massive wings supported its serpentine elongated body to take flight. Four of its wings were attached to its back while two of it was attached to its legs. Black sharp spikes pierced through its back. Legend called this beast the moon eater, ancient tales holding it was the source of lunar eclipses. But compared to Falakh, Bakunawa was considerably smaller.
Bakunawa roared as loud as thunder. It caught the attention of Falakh, which rampaged towards them. “Brace yourselves!” Mikhal exclaimed. It was too late to leave the island by valkyrie, and being caught between those two dragons would be a death sentence.
“We need to head off to the mountain and take cover!” Diurus uttered. The team ran towards the cover of the mighty mountain.
Only a few minutes later, Falakh reached the Isle of Inuevo Jica. Immediately, it challenged Bakunawa, issuing a deafening blast. Bakunawa roared back. Sign of the challenge’s acceptance. The two dragons clashed mid-air and fell to the ground, convulsing the earth, rippling the air around them.
The Floating Fortress shadowed Falakh and shortly thereafter, Dio saw Bakunawa. “What’s this? Another dragon?”
Aezil looked out of the window, to the scene below. She recognised the mighty water dragon, its long body whipping around like a wave as it tangled and clashed with their own dragon of the dark. “I believe it is Bakunawa. We had been planning on capturing that monster, years ago.”
“Hmph. This means one thing. The knights are near. They’ll try save the queen. Be alert, stand guard,” he answered.
Colossal behemoths clashed. Sky darkened to pitch, but the moon glowed bright, its beams glittering silvery light over the scales of the dragons. Everything else was dark. Falakh released its fearsome roar, a terrorising keen of death, and sank its massive claws into Bakunawa’s lower wings. Bakunawa bit Falakh’s left leg and it released Bakunawa, who plummeted, falling in the deep sea. Falakh landed on Mount Jica.
Moments later, the sea torrents became vicious and immense wind gusts stormed towards Falakh. Falakh again roared. The gusts of wind died instantly. But even as the storm brewed, the moon darkened and its gaze became blood red.
“Look! The moon has turned into blood!” Ace cried. Anthony nodded. “Yes, it is Bakunawa’s special ability, called the Moon Eater. Bakunawa draws the energy of the blood moon. As soon as Bakunawa absorbs all the energy emitted by the moon, it rises from the depths of the sea and discharges an unstoppable beam of energy. The energy beam is so immense that it completely evaporated anyone who gets in its way. I truly hope Bakunawa manages to defeat Falakh with this magick.”
“In that case, we need to leave this mountain. Since Falakh is on top, it is highly probable this mountain will be exposed as well. We might be caught by it!” Diurus said.
“I agree, we need to return to the valkyrie,” Jael replied. “Wait! Look!” Mikhal pointed at Excauhalt. “The Floating Fortress is already here.”
“What perfect timing!” Jael said. “Here’s the plan. We go back to the Valkyrie swiftly. Anthony and Mikhal will drop the three of us and save the queen. We can’t let this chance pass by!” he added and they rushed to the Valkyrie.
“Heh. I can’t miss this. Two Behemoths collide!” Dio murmured as his attention is greatly drawn by the battle between the two dragons. “Falakh cannot be defeated. It still has its ultimate spell…”
As the moon turned to blood, Bakunawa gathered as much energy as it could. Falakh, rampaging, dived into the water to grab Bakunawa. Moments later, Falakh emerged from the waters, Bakunawa clutched in its grasp again. It soared high and used the gravity to plunge from the heavens. “Ahhhh. So this is Heaven’s Dive,” Dio said. As Falakh was nearing Mount Jica, it threw Bakunawa towards the mountain and powerfully flapped its wings to avoid collision. Bakunawa spread its wings as it was catapulted towards the mountain, but the momentum was too great, too fast to stop and it crashed into the cliff wall. Bakunawa roared in pain. One of its wings was broken by the fall and it limped, crippled.
The team ran from the foot of the mountain, tearing through the green
foliage towards the valkyrie. “Bakunawa!” Anthony shouted.
“Anthony, you can’t be emotional now,” Mikhal said.
“We need to be discreet. We can’t be spotted by Dio. It would be better to surprise him with an attack,” Jael explained.
“Yes, my valkyrie is considerably smaller so it will not be easily spotted,” Anthony replied. They boarded the valkyrie and flew right away.
Falakh began to prepare its immense spell. Ginnunggagap, a Fate magick possessed by Nyxe. A spell which could create a black hole, sucking in its victims to be forever trapped in the void of another dimension. Ginnunggagap is considered the most fearful dimensional spell ever harnessed.
As Falakh prepared its Ginnunggagap spell, Bakunawa managed to dive to the raging sea again gathered the blood moon’s power. The red waned and waned, the crescent shrinking. But just when Bakunawa had absorbed the entire blood moon’s energy Falakh released Ginnunggagap. It exhaled a small black dot. This point of ink black started to grow, sucking anything and everything. No longer a pinprick, the hole devoured everything it touched, growing larger and larger. “We need to get away from that hole!” Jael exclaimed.
Anthony manoeuvred the valkyrie away from the black hole, toward the floating fortress.
As the battle between the two behemoths drew to a close, Dio celebrated. “Ohhh, the beauty of Ginnunggagap!” Dio shouted. “This truly is a legendary spell! Only I should wield such powerful magick!” The envy was ripening within him as he watched the almighty spell take hold.
The desecration of the island was something truly beautiful to behold.
Trees were sucked in by the black hole, branching splintering and cracking. From the ocean too, even the water rose up from the raging sea, consumed by the dimensional rift. Just as the black hole was beginning to suck even Bakunawa into oblivion, it rose from the sea and the moon emitted a powerful red light upon the kingdom, and the eyes of Bakunawa turned blood red. The Moon Eater was complete. Bakunawa unleashed a booming roar and blasted the bright beam of energy straight for Falakh. But because of the immensity of Ginnunggagap, the black hole sucked the beam. The two magicks entangled. It began overloading.
Moments later, the black hole exploded and all the matter it had consumed scattered in an almighty explosion. Because of the Moon Eater spell, Bakunawa had exhausted all of its magick. It slowly disappeared and the moon returned to its normal state. Even the sky began to show blue once more.
“What’s happening?” Ace asked.
“Whenever Bakunawa uses the Moon Eater, it will return to the Helico to sleep for another generation. We lost. Falakh is still standing.” Anthony sobbed as he explained.
“Do not lose hope! We need to defeat Falakh and Dio!” Jael answered in confidence. “We need to believe in ourselves. We are the final stand; there is no one else. We are the remaining knights still able to fight. We must defend Bristal! The kingdom depends on us!”
“Aye! Anthony, straight to Excauhalt! We need to finish this quick!” Diurus answered, and Anthony raged full speed towards the Floating Fortress.
Momentarily in Excauhalt, Dio stood in exclamatory triumph. “Now is my chance. Thanks to those knights, they have exhausted Falakh. Ginnunggagap is all mine!” He stood exposed at the outer gate of his fortress and cast a spell called Adrasteia, a spell in which the caster sucks the magick out of a living entity. “Adrasteia! The inescapable!” he shouted. With Falakh exhausting itself by using Ginnunggagap, Dio had an opening and he seized it. With that spell, he managed to drain its life, absorbing every last drop of its magickal spells and capabilities. As Dio captured the magick out of Falakh, the mighty dragon lay lifeless, corpse abandoned on the Isle of Inuevo Jica.
“Wow! This is intense!” Dio said and laughed madly. “This will certainly be the end of Bristal! In a few weeks, the power of the spell will be charged enough for me to create a black hole that will destroy anyone that stand in my way!”
The fog enveloping Excauhalt thickened. Darkness dense about the floating fortress created a cool and drastically different atmosphere. Mikhal shivered as the valkyrie drew in nearer to the imposing fortress of shadow. “Are you ready? We are now directly above the fortress,” Anthony said. He brought the ship to a pause above the altar in the courtyard of Excauhalt.
“Yes. Let’s do this,” Jael replied. He readied himself at the bottom hatch of the valkyrie and Anthony opened it. Dank air wafted in from the cursed place. “Let’s go!” he exclaimed, and jumped down. Diurus and Ace quickly followed, drawing their weapons the moment they touched the ground. Jael cast Blazia, holding it at the ready in cast of surprise.
“They’re here,” Dio murmured. He entered the Great Hall, where the lady of shadows sat, brooding in a crimson red chair in the corner of the chamber, in the shadow of a statue and a shelf of dusty tomes. The queen was still unconscious, slumped against the sacrificial pillar in the centre of the hall. He moodily crossed to her and inspected her wounds. “Aezil, go meet the intruders. I don’t want to be disturbed. I need sufficient time to fully understand Ginnunggagap,” he said.
“Yes, my lord,” Aezil replied.
Dio roughly treated Jeannah’s wounds while she slumbered, and whispered to her, “Do not die just yet. I want you to witness how I devour all of Bristal.” Then he went and sat upon his throne, beginning to meditation on the massive spell he had consumed, but not yet truly come to know.
Soon the ultimate power would be his.
The trio entered the fortress, looking about for any sign of danger or ambush. The halls, however, were dark and empty. Lined with embossed faces on the obsidian panelling, there were grim decorations where the shadow was not so thick it obscured any chance of decor. A few too many places, the dark was discomfortingly. “This place is eerily disturbing…” Diurus mumbled.
“Come on now, we can’t back out on this. The queen’s life is in danger,” Ace replied.
“Hmph. Let’s not forget who outranks whom, kid,” Diurus answered.
“Stop it, both of you,” Jael whispered.
As they carefully treaded the halls of Excauhalt, Diurus noticed something about the familiar twists and turns of the halls. “This fortress is just like Krimmirr, only more… disturbing. With all those… faces in the walls instead of paintings. Everything seems to be sharp,” he stated.
Excauhalt was indeed the dark version of Krimmirr, ominously transformed. The stained glass windows bore disturbing images and shapes. When they were not brutal, violent, or offensive depictions, instead they were gut wrenching impossibilities and tricks of the mind that were outright uncomfortable to gaze at all too long. Furniture had blades and spikes extending from joints, threatening to catch any stray flesh. Anything that wasn’t savagely sharp was wrought of twisted black metal, and even the torch flames emitting from the wall sconces were black, glowing unnaturally from some magickal source.
“How bold. Three of you dare tread Excauhalt alone.” The strange voice taunted, drifting from around the hallway. “All of your efforts… will be in vain…”
“Show yourself!” Jael exclaimed.
“Now, now. You are too hot-headed. The Dark Mage wishes to meditate and you cannot interfere,” Aezil said. She emerged from the shadows, eyes red from weeping, her black robes shouldered around her like a hug. While her face was distorted from grief, her body language suggested extreme caution should be used. Her steps were mincing and quick, and she twitched with occasional bursts of emotional instability–would it manifest as anger, laughter, rage?
“You! What happened to Kielvine?!” Jael demanded. “I… I killed him…” Aezil replied, shoulders shaking.
“Why did you kill him?! You loved him didn’t you?!” Jael asked furiously, his Blazia intensifies.
“I had no other choice…” Tears streamed down her face. “No other choice?! Why?”
Aezil deliriously laughed, cackling and crying at once, but her words came out as angry, furious and extreme. She swung her hand out, pointing at
him, her finger trembling. “Who are you to understand?! You do not know Kielvine! You do not know me!”
“Let Ace and I handle this crazy witch. You go and find the queen and save her!” Diurus said.
“I cannot let you interfere with the Dark Mage!” Aezil shouted. She cast her Spectrum spell. The darkness expanded rapidly, threatening to devour all four of them.
“Wind Slash!” Diurus cast and swung his Kazedachi. Wind in the form of a blade struck Jael, eventually shoving him away from the Spectrum, propelling him out of the range of the spell. “Go get him, Jael!” Diurus said. Then they were devoured by Spectrum. Her customised dimensional space snatched them up.
“With such a colossal dimension, I am pretty certain you cannot activate Spectrum on and off in a short interval,” Ace uttered. It would be best to defeat her quickly, and hasten to Jael’s side in the match against the Dark Mage. But such a task would be nearly impossible. This realm was crafted by Aezil, and it bowed to her demands. “Diurus, we have to defeat her or at least keep her busy, and buy Jael time to finish off Dio.”
“You… I will dispose of you quick!” Aezil threatened.
“I am sure this will be easy,” Ace said, with a smirk in his face.
“Such confidence will destroy you…” she uttered.
Teliko Mageia: Curse of the Frozen Flame Page 36
