Amorlia: Age of Wonder

by Chris Wichtendahl

  ***

  The Sisters moaned and chanted, their voices an eerie discord. The language was at once alien and familiar, and though they could not understand the words, those who heard the words were filled with revulsion. The ground shook and the walls of the Valley began to crack and slide downward. The sky darkened, appearing bruised as a rough wind howled through the Valley. "So," Mandhe said to Kel, struggling to summon a small measure of her old swagger, "this would be the end of the world, then?" "Looks it," Darine said, coming to stand next to them. Thom stood in front of them, whirling his arms at incredible speeds to force back the biting wind and blown detritus of the growing storm. "The world won't end today," Kel growled. "Get inside, all of you." "Inside where?" Mandhe demanded. "The safest place here is the cave, and Kai is rather busy in there right now." "Yes!" Kel yelled back over the booming footfalls of the approaching Worldbreaker "She's busy bringing Davin back to life! However, since we're without the most powerful telepath on Amorlia, and should Davin still be feeling murderous when he wakes up, I thought it best you were there to shoot him again!" Lightning cracked open the sky, unleashing a torrent of rain. Kel looked up, then back at Mandhe, somewhat subdued. "And it's raining," he said. Mandhe smiled up at him. "Fair enough," she said, "we should probably- oh bloody broken hells! Darine!" Her face turned white at the sight in front of her. The Sisters surrounded Darine, still uttering their moaning chant. Their bandaged hands fluttered around the terrified flier like wounded birds. Darine was immobilized, unable to move or fly away. She could only stand perfectly still while the terrible Sisters danced a ragged circle around her. She looked desperately at her teammates, tears streaming down her face and mixing with the rain. "Huuuuhhhhh!" she cried, begging for help. Mandhe shot at one of the Sisters, but the bullet was caught in mid- air. Then the Sisters turned toward their attacker and pounced as one. Mandhe put bullets in two of them and they all scattered back into the depths of the Valley, their moans turning to shrieks. Thom and Mandhe rushed to Darine, catching the horrified flier as she fell. "Are you okay?" Mandhe asked. Darine shook her head. "N-n-nuh..." she sobbed and collapsed into Mandhe's arms. The young Gunfighter made soothing noises, looking urgently at Kel. "Get her to the cave," he barked. "Then stay there with her and Kai. Guard them while you two," he pointed to Thom and Kael, his gaze lingering a moment on his ostensible father, "hit that thing that's coming as hard and as fast as you can until I get back." "Back?" Mandhe asked, helping Darine to her feet. "Are you going somewhere?" Thunder roared across the sky as the tremors of the approaching footsteps increased. Kel drew the Sword of Vega, and the wooden blade nearly glowed with Spark. Energy crackled up his arm and he smiled at his friend. "I have an idea."

  ***

  The Worldbreaker stood at the edge of the Valley, a towering monster of metal and shadow. Its eyes were lenses of deep red, its muscles coiled steel. Cold metal armor etched with odd symbols covered all. Shadow creatures roiled and swarmed in and around it, making it appear at once solid and insubstantial. Thom ran around the ankles of the Worldbreaker, mindful of the wet ground, trying to bind the creature's legs together with rope. Kael T'Ken flew nearby, holding the other end of the rope, intending to pull the Worldbreaker's feet out from under it. Then the Worldbreaker shifted its foot and snapped the rope. A deep laugh echoed across the world. "A FUTILE EFFORT, LITTLE SPEEDSTER," its voice filled the sky. "YOU'VE TRIED THAT SAME TRICK ON COUNTLESS WORLDS. IT DID NOT WORK THE FIRST TIME, WHAT MADE YOU THINK IT WOULD WORK TH-- UNGH!" The creature was knocked back, stumbling a few feet and leveling acres of forest. Kael floated in mid-air, wings beating as he rubbed his fist. "Misdirection," he smirked. He dove in and landed several more blows, continuing to drive the Worldbreaker back, but not succeeding in knocking it over. A giant hand grabbed him from the air, and suddenly he was staring into one of the enormous eyes of the Worldbreaker. "KAEL T'KEN," it said curiously, "YOU DO NOT BELONG ON THIS WORLD." "Your fault, presumably," Kael shot back, struggling to free himself. "When you destroyed my Amorlia, I ended up here." He stared hard into the uncaring orb before him. "This world may not be mine," he said defiantly, "but I'll die defending it." "YES," the Worldbreaker answered calmly, "YOU WILL." Then the massive fist squeezed and Kael felt his body start to break.

  ***

  Kel stood in the center of the stone circle, Sword of Vega raised above his head. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed across the swollen sky as the torrent of rain continued to fall. The shaking caused by the Worldbreaker's footsteps had ceased, but that was only because he had stopped walking. He was where he wanted to be, which was right outside their door. Kel didn't look up at it. He trusted the others to hold the monster back, as he had his own task. With a mighty swing of his massive arms, Kel brought the glowing sword down to strike straight in the center of the stone circle, directly into the crack from which he'd drawn it. The crack grew, finally splitting the stone floor of the circle in two. Spark ran from the wooden blade along the crack, widening it further.

  ***

  Kai leaned over Davin's cold body, forcing sips of water from her Chalice past his dead lips. She reached out to him with her healing talents, delving deep into his body's tissues, down to the cellular, molecular and atomic levels. If there was just one small spark of life left... Yes! She found it. An atom inside a single molecule of a tiny cell in the tissues of Davin's heart still moved feebly. She forced it to move faster, energy reaching out to get the others moving, finally revitalizing the entire cell. It would be slow and arduous going to pull Davin back to life cell-by-cell, but she could do it. She took a sip from the Chalice, then fed another to Davin's corpse. She could do it. Darine watched the healing with equal parts fascination and horror. To raise the dead seemed a monstrous thing, and yet, what choice did they have? At the end of the world, even monstrous deeds can seem noble. She pulled herself shakily to her feet and crossed to Mandhe, who stood in the cave entrance watching the battle. She had an oddly detached look on her face. "Mandhe?" Darine touched the Gunfighter lightly on the shoulder. The other woman jumped and turned quickly, causing Darine to take a hasty step back. For a while, it seemed Mandhe did not know her friend at all. Then her eyes cleared. "D-Darine?" she asked. "Are you okay?" Mandhe shook her head. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I was watching the fight, then all of a sudden it felt like I was part of it. Like I was..." She held out one hand, opening and closing it slowly. "I had him, right in my..." She looked back out at the fight and gasped, running from the cave. "Mandhe!" Darine shouted, loath to follow her. Mandhe ran toward the battle, looking up at the towering figure of the Worldbreaker. Pain stabbed through her brain and she fell to her knees. Panting, she looked up as the Worldbreaker looked down. Their eyes met, and recognition dawned. "Emfex?" she whispered. "AH," the Worldbreaker looked down at the Gunfighter, reaching for her with its free hand. "THERE YOU ARE."

  ***

  The stone circle opened wide, swallowing Kel. Gripping the Sword of Vega tight in both hands, he fell through darkness and fire. He landed hard on packed dry earth, coughing from the dust and soot that clogged his lungs. He looked around, horrified by what he saw. The ground was flat and lifeless. Crumbling architecture of a style he didn't recognize dotted the landscape, as well as squat ugly buildings belching foul smoke. Otherwise, there was nothing to see. The sky was a deep black, with a hint of red that made him slightly ill to look at it. Indistinct figures shuffled and crawled about, though none seemed to take notice of him as yet. This was not Faery, he was certain, nor was he still in Amorlia. Where was he? A hissing sound behind him made him turn. Standing on a pile of crumbling masonry was a vaguely man-shaped creature. It was covered in scales and rough hair and a long tongue snaked out of a fanged mouth. At the end of the tongue was another mouth, round and lined with sharp teeth. The creature hissed again, blinking vertical eyelids as it smiled a hideous grin. "Hello, meat," it said. The hideous creature walked sinuously down the pile of rubble. It had legs, but somehow seemed to slither all the same. Its biti
ng tongue snapped at the air in front of Kel's face as the vile monstrosity stopped in front of him. "What brings a piece of living meat to the Broken Hells, then?" it inquired casually, sniffing at him. It groped him roughly, scaled and calloused hands running over his skin. The tongue followed, attempting to latch on but unable to do so. "Tough one," the tongue squawked. "Tough one, no bite, no suck." The tongue slid back into the thing's mouth and the thing regarded Kel with its odd-lidded serpentine gaze. "Well?" it demanded. "Explain. What sort of meat are y--?" Its eyes fell upon the glowing sword in Kel's hand. "The Sword!" it shrieked. "The Sword of the Redeemer!" Then it stared hard at Kel's blue wings. "AAAIIIEEEEGGGHHH!" it screamed to all within hearing. "The Scion! Scion of the Redeemer!" Other, equally repulsive, creatures began to gather around Kel and the first one. "Foul offspring of the Unmaker!" A low growl rose up from the assembled horde of demons. Their leader cried out, "It is as the Oracle of the Pit foretold! Kill it!" The demons shouted their assent. "Kill it so we might unleash Hell upon the world!" The throng of monsters let out a howling cheer. "Right," Kel said, hefting the now-blazing Sword of Vega into a fighting position. "Because the end of the world isn't happening fast enough." He fanned his wings out, ready to strike with them or take to the foul air if need be. "I've important business, and no rabble of misshapen demons is going to slow me up." The leader cackled, its tongue snaking out and snapping its teeth. "We're no ordinary demons, friend," it said. "We're what happens when damned souls and demons mate." It slid around Kel, the others closing their circle tighter. The tongue pulled at Kel's hair and the demon-thing smiled. "We are the Umbruden," it dragged filthy claws across Kel's chest, "and we're going to make you our dinner." A long defiant howl rose up over the noise of the mob and a hunk of masonry smashed the leader head-first into the dusty ground. Kel swung his sword at the two creatures nearest him, slashing three others with his wings. He kicked one away as a damned soul jumped down to stand next to him. Kel glanced over, eyes widening. "Davin?" The soul grinned. "Don't tell me you're surprised I'm here." Kel considered this a moment. "I'm not, really," he said. "But shouldn't you want to kill me?" Davin's soul shook his head, tossing a group of demon-things with a wave of his hand. "This is how my power is manifesting here," he explained. "As for your question, no. Whatever was controlling me doesn't have a hold over my soul." He pushed a few more creatures away while Kel mowed some down with his sword. "Why don't you fly us out of here," the soul suggested, "so we can have this conversation without the pile of Umbruden?" Kel grabbed Davin's soul, which proved tough to hold onto, and took to the air. He choked again on the soot and ash, his wings beating double-time to stay aloft. Finally he set down behind a broken wall far from the horde of monsters. Man and spirit regarded one another. Kel fixed the damned soul with a hard look. "You're here to help me, yes?" Davin nodded. "I know your plan," he said. "I can't get you to Faery, there are no doors from here to there anymore, but I can take you to the Oracle of the Pit." "Who?" "She's living," Davin explained, "like you. She delivers prophecy from the great festering burn pit that used to be the Sixth Hell. She's the only hope we have in this place." Davin indicated the direction, and Kel took them into the horrid sky again. "Why would a living woman speak prophecy for a bunch of demons and their twisted brood in the Broken Hells?" Kel asked as they flew. "She doesn't do it by choice, if that's what you're asking," Davin answered. "They have her stretched taut by ropes at her wrists and ankles over the burn pit. When the pit flashes, the flames don't burn her flesh at all. It only feels like she's burning straight down to the bone." Kel shuddered. "We have to help her," he said, determined. "Oh yes, we certainly do," Davin agreed. Pointing down, he said, "There." A woman was tied spread-eagled and face-down over a massive bubbling put of lava. A few Umbruden stood around. One said something Kel couldn't hear, being too far away, and the woman shook her head. Another laughed and pulled a lever. Flames shot straight up, enveloping the woman. She screamed. As Kel swooped in from above, he could see that her skin was unmarred. The poor woman still screamed in terrible agony, however. She looked up as though sensing his presence and Kel nearly fell from the air in shock. "Mother?" Kel dropped Davin and landed before his mother. She strained against her bonds as she tried to reach for him. "Kel," she cried, her voice hoarse, "Kel, you have to leave this place." Kel reached up and touched her face. "You're right," he said, "but I'm not leaving without you. Davin," he turned to his ghostly companion, "use your new power to untie her." "I've been trying," Davin responded. "The knots aren't moving." "And they won't, either," a new guttural voice made them turn. Standing behind them was a bloated and scaled monstrosity similar to the ones surrounding the lava pit. "Only the Umbruden can untie those knots," it said, "and the Umbruden answer to me." "Then tell them to free her," Kel demanded. "Hooo!" the Umbruden chieftain laughed. "And who might you be to order me around, eh?" The lumbering monster jabbed its thumb against its chest. "I command the Umbruden! I rule this place! I am the biggest and the strongest, and that's why the rabble obey me!" It laughed again. "So what are you going to do about that, meat?" Kel stepped forward and punched the laughing demon-thing in the face. The creature staggered back, then lunged forward with a powerful blow of its own. Kel dodged to one side. Then, reaching out to grab hold of the thing's head, he twisted it right off its neck with a cracking pop and a spurt of black viscous blood. Dropping the head next to its body, Kel said, "That, to begin with." Turning to the gathered Umbruden, he called out, "Now I am the biggest and the strongest, so you will obey me!" "And if we don't?" one of the creatures snarled. Kel walked calmly toward the Umbruden, twisted off its head and kicked the headless body into the lava. He dumped the head in after it and turned back to the others. "Anyone else?" he asked. When no one answered, he pointed to Artemis. "Then untie my mother." When no one moved, he growled, "NOW." The Umbruden rushed to obey.