Amorlia: Age of Wonder

by Chris Wichtendahl

  ***

  Mandhe struggled in the grip of the Worldbreaker, firing her guns into the giant's face with little apparent effect. She stole a quick glance at Kael, who was still clutched in the Worldbreaker's other hand. As it was occupied with her, it had stopped squeezing. Kael was clearly injured, but seemed to be rousing himself. Mandhe needed to give him more time. "WHY FIGHT ME, CHILD?" the Worldbreaker asked. "WE WERE JOINED ONCE, TO GREAT BENEFIT FOR YOU. DO YOU NOT WISH THAT SAME POWER AGAIN?" "No!" Mandhe shouted. "You know what happened to both of us the last time! How could you want to put me through that again? More important, how could you do all that you've done? All those people, all those worlds! Gone because of you!" The Worldbreaker laughed, its voice shifting in tone. "EMFEX ISN'T THE ONLY ONE IN HERE, DARLING." Mandhe's eyes widened. "Four?" she asked incredulously. "ESSENTIALLY," the Worldbreaker answered. "I AM A COMPOSITE OF BEINGS YOU ONCE KNEW AS FOUR AND ONE OF THE GREY STRANGERS, AS WELL AS THE TECHNO- SPIRIT EMFEX." It stared down at her with unblinking red eyes. "I AM MADE FROM THE PHYSICAL REMNANT OF THE FIRST UNIVERSE I RAVAGED, ITS DENIZENS SUFFUSE MY BEING. I AM THE WORLDBREAKER," it intoned, "AND I WILL MAKE YOU PART OF ME BEFORE YOUR WORLD DIES." "Don't count on it, monster!" Mandhe, Kael and the Worldbreaker all looked toward the voice. They saw Kel and Artemis standing in the broken stone circle, Kel holding the glowing Sword of Vega aloft. Behind them, hideous creatures never before encountered climbed eagerly out of the crack in the earth. "AH," the Worldbreaker said, a slight quiver in its voice betraying its outward calm, "IT WOULD SEEM THE FAMILY VEGA HAVE COME TO FIGHT ME." "We have indeed," Kel said. Behind him, the full rabble of the Umbruden gathered, shrieking and cackling, reveling in their new- found freedom. "And all Hell comes with us."

  ***

  "Really, Kel," Artemis quipped at her son, craning her neck to see the Worldbreaker's full height, blinking away the raindrops that fell into her eyes, "I leave you with Amorlia for a little while and what do you do with it?" "I am sorry, Mother," Kel replied with a smirk, "but you know how these things go. You invite a few friends over and the next thing you know a mechanical giant shows up to destroy the universe." "You have a plan I assume?" she asked. Behind her, she could hear the Umbruden chittering and mewling, desperate to run rampant across the world. "I'm glad you asked," Kel replied. He turned to the monsters. "Remember the Bargain." He pointed at the Worldbreaker. "Destroy that and this world is yours." He stepped aside as the horde of demonic creatures swarmed up the legs of the Worldbreaker. In shock, the giant dropped its two captives. With practiced ease, Kel caught Mandhe. He flew deftly around the clambering mob of Umbruden so he might also catch Kael, but saw that his father's doppelganger had already stopped his own fall. Though still injured, he was recovering quickly. Kel reached the ground moments ahead of Kael, just as Artemis noticed the other man's approach. As Kael landed, she ran to him, throwing herself into his arms and kissing him passionately. Kel cleared his throat as he let Mandhe down. "Mother," he said, somewhat embarrassed, "that isn't Da." Artemis broke off her kiss and Kael shook his head, blinking rapidly, a foolish grin spreading slowly across his face. "I know who he is," Artemis informed her son. "I brought him here." "What?" Kel gasped. Close by, Thom and Mandhe watched the Umbruden and the shadow creatures do battle over the towering body of the Worldbreaker. It staggered, but did not fall. "That's what I was doing in Faerie, Kel," Artemis explained to her son. "I was looking for another Kael, throughout the myriad alternate Amorlias." She shook her head sadly. "On almost every world, your father was dead. On many, you had died with him. Then I found him." She smiled up at Kael, who wrapped his arms around her. "I pulled him from his world just as the Worldbreaker arrived. You have to understand," she said, "I just couldn't live without him any more." She bit her lip. "I just couldn't..." "Then what were you doing in the Broken Hells, tied over a pit of lava?" Kel demanded. "I was coming here," Artemis said, "to meet him. But when I tried to open a doorway from Faery to Amorlia, I ended up in Hell. The Umbruden found me and dragged me to the pit. They recognized me immediately, and intended to use the regular eruptions to execute me. Something about the fires of the Broken Hells, though," she mused. "They didn't burn my flesh at all, instead they seared my soul. The fire would also leave behind prophecies, which I could not help but speak." She shook her head. "I do not know what caused my detour." Kel pondered this, then glanced over at the Worldbreaker. It now stumbled under the pummeling force of the raging battle it hosted between two groups of horrifying creatures. The Umbruden had lost many of their number, but the shadow creatures were equally diminished. "Likely its doing," he said. Then, "None of this is important now. You," he indicated his mother, "need to get to the cave. Kai is in there resurrecting Davin. If he wakes up a murderous psychopath, I want you ready to grab his mind and break whatever hold is on it." Artemis nodded. Kael regarded his son. "And me?" he asked. Kel sighed. "Just look after her," he gestured after his mother, who was almost to the cave. Kael nodded and walked after her. Mandhe approached. "Well," she said, "that was certainly-" "Not now," Kel muttered. "Right now we need to figure out a way to destroy that thing, as well as the things fighting on it. I only brought the Umbruden here to keep the Worldbreaker occupied while we talked strategy. So," he asked, "any ideas?" "I have one," Thom offered, walking over as Darine joined them. "We can take them to my universe." "But, your universe isn't there any more," Kel protested. "True," Thom conceded, "but its vibrational plane still is, and I surmise that if I attempt to travel to my universe, all I'll find when I get there is void. Such infinite nothingness could destroy even that vile creature." "Wait," Kel said, holding up his hands. "How will you even get it there? I know you can apparently run so fast as to pass between universes, but I don't believe enhanced strength is one of your abilities." "I can do it," Darine spoke up. "I can lift just about anything while I'm flying, and I'm pretty sure I'm fast enough to keep up with Thom. So, I can carry the Worldbreaker into Thom's universe." Thom nodded slowly. "And I can share my speed with you through our Totems. Because they're so similar to one another, I should be able to use them to link with you through the Spark and pass along some of my speed. You'll be as fast as you need to be." He looked hard at her. "You know this trip is one-way, right? We won't be coming back. The void will destroy us as surely as it does him." He pointed at the struggling Worldbreaker. Only a handful of combatants remained, but their fighting had risen in intensity. "What?" Mandhe yelled. "No! No, I won't allow it!" She pulled Thom into her arms. "You can't! You just... you can't." Thom cupped her chin gently and made her look at him. "I can. And I must," he said softly. "I don't like this. I don't like that all I seem to do is tell you goodbye, but..." Mandhe nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "But it's the whole world at stake, and I'm just one girl." "You're more than just one girl," Thom whispered, smiling through his own tears, "you're my girl." He held her close and they shared one last kiss. Then Mandhe stepped back so the speedster and the flier could prepare. "But what about the Umbruden?" Kel asked. "How do you drag them along with you? There are far less than initially came through, but still enough to wreak havoc across Amorlia." "I'll handle that." Kel turned and saw Artemis and Kael helping Davin walk out of the cave. He walked with great difficulty, and the others nearly had to carry him. He wore a reformed Panopticrown and the Eye glowed brightly. "That thing forced its way into my mind," he said to Kel. "I will not allow that to go unpunished." Kel nodded. "So what do you propose?" Davin pointed at the Worldbreaker, which was attempting to grab at the struggling monsters on its chest. "Fly up there and smash it across the head with your sword," he said. "That should disorient it long enough for me to get inside its mind. I'll command it to absorb the Umbruden and remaining shadow creatures into itself. Then Darine and Thom can start their run." Kel and Darine took to the air. Kel held the glowing Sword of Vega before him and Darine carried Thom. The young woman had turned very quiet once she'd made her decision to go, mumbling cursory farewells to her teammates. This was her chance now, she knew. Th
is was how she would clear her soul of what happened in Baern. Kel sped toward the distracted Worldbreaker, swinging his Sword in a mighty arc so it hit the monster's head with a resounding crack. As the Worldbreaker staggered, the red light in its eyes died and it ceased moving. Its eyes flickered back to life almost immediately, however, and it pulled open the metal plates of its chest. As the shadow creatures were pulled into their host's chest cavity, they grabbed hold of the panicked Umbruden, who were dragged screaming into the body of the Worldbreaker. Just as the giant closed its chest, Darine shot forward and grabbed hold of it, lifting its massive bulk into the air. Thom raced across the rain-drenched plains toward Drego, Darine nearly igniting the sky behind her as she followed. There was a crackle in the air, then a loud boom and in a flash, the two Wind Adepts vanished into nothingness with their charge. Kel flew slowly back down into the Valley as the rain stopped and the clouds parted. He landed next to Mandhe and she looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. Without a word, he gathered his friend to him, wrapping arms and wings around her as she sobbed into his chest.

  Post-Crisis: Year 1

  Kel stood in the Valley of Mystery, looking up at the tall black obelisk that served to block the rift he'd made to the Broken Hells. The stone circle had been torn up and rebuilt as a triangle, with the obelisk in the center. At each corner of the triangle stood the silent stone sentry of a Sister. Kel shook his head. After the Worldbreaker had gone, its control over the Sisters failed. Once again in their own minds, they'd offered themselves in sacrifice to seal the rift. Rendering their bodies into living stone, they would hold the barrier in place, guaranteeing the hordes of the Broken Hells never escaped through the Valley. "Brooding again, darling?" Kel turned and smiled as his wife approached, walking with some difficulty under the burden of her very pregnant belly. "Just thinking, dear," he said. "And I was under the impression that Moryn had confined you to bed." "Moryn," Kai said testily, "is my star pupil, and it has been a joy having her as my midwife. But if she thinks I'm going to--" "Behave sensibly?" Kel raised an eyebrow. "Don't you start," Kai wagged a finger at her husband. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid." Kel shook his head. "You're due any day," he scolded her. "Given how you were with Mandhe..." "Mandhe's pregnancy was different," Kai pouted. "Little Thom was born after only six months in the womb." Kel reached out and clasped his wife's hand. They began walking toward the makeshift living quarters, passing the more permanent facilities in their final stages of construction. "Well, that's the son of a speedster for you," the Champion said with a smile. "Though I'm still amazed she got pregnant at all. She and Thom didn't have much time together." "We had enough." Mandhe walked toward them, a sleeping infant strapped to her back. She smiled at Kel and Kai. "We had what we needed." Reaching out, she touched Kai's belly. "Hmm. She's an active one today." Smirking, she asked, "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Kai scowled and looked Mandhe up and down, noticing the young woman once again wore leathers and pistols, her wide-brimmed hat upon her head. In addition to the baby, she wore a pack slung over her back. Kai met her gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Going somewhere?" Mandhe gestured at Kel. "Blame your husband," she said. "I'm part of his 'City Champions' program. I'm for Drego City, and it's a long walk to the nearest airship launch." "I could fly you," Kel offered. Mandhe smiled and shook her head. "Knowing your luck, we'd be halfway to Drego when Kai's contractions started. No," she shook her head again, turning to nuzzle her infant son, "this little man and I will be fine." She looked back at her friends. "And the two of you?" "We'll be fine as well," Kai said. "With all the new prospective Champions coming our way, we certainly won't lack for occupation." Mandhe gave Kai's belly a final pat and flashed a knowing smile. "No, I'm sure you won't," she said. Little Thom woke then and began to cry. Mandhe chuckled, "See what I mean?" She slid her baby around into her arms. With brief final farewells and already nursing her son, Mandhe walked off toward the newly-installed lift that would bring her out of the Valley into Greatwood Park. Kel and Kai watched her go for a while, then continued on toward home. Davin approached when they reached the collection of huts. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked Kai idly. Kai heaved a sigh. "It's a conspiracy," she said, throwing up her hands. "I give up." With a grunt, she waddled petulantly into the hut she shared with Kel, who moved to follow her, only to be brought up short by Davin. "I'm sorry, Kel," he said. "I know you want to stay close to Kai, but there's a delegation from the Pacifica High Command here to meet with you." Kel sighed. "Wonderful. What do they want now?" "They didn't say," Davin answered as the two men began walking toward the recently finished reception pavilion. The young telepath shrugged. "Of course, they did seem to be thinking awfully hard about the matter of jurisdiction." Kel rolled his eyes. "Urghh," he grumbled. "How many times do I need to go over this with them?" "At least one more, it seems," Davin answered. "Now, I was thinking we could..." his eyes widened and lost focus for a moment, the Eye of the Panopticrown flashing. "Oh," he said. Then, turning to Kel with a smile, he said, "It would appear I must extend your deepest apologies to our honored guests and stand in your stead. I'm sure the delegation will understand, given that you're otherwise occupied by the birth of your daughter." Kel turned and stared at Davin. "Congratulations," Davin offered. Kel continued to stare. "Your hut is that way," Davin told him, pointing back the way they came. "I'm having a baby." Kel's voice was that of the partially concussed. It was flat and distant, yet filled with astonishment. "If Kai is to be believed," Davin said calmly. "I should," Kel stammered, "I should go." "I'd say so," Davin agreed, a bemused smile on his face. Kel turned and walked as one dazed toward home. Then, making certain the Champion of Amorlia still knew the way to his own hut, Davin turned and walked toward the reception pavilion, grinning at the sudden whoop of joy behind him.

  Post-Crisis: Year 100

  The Mad Wizard stood atop the Dagnae Tower, lightning arcing between his fingertips. On the street below, people rushed about, desperately seeking cover before the super-powered lunatic unleashed another salvo. Baern's garrison of Pacifica sailed in on their floaters, miniature single-occupant airships. One officer drew aim with his pistol and had his floater blasted out of the sky for his trouble. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" the Mad Wizard cackled. "No matter the era, they never learn!" "And apparently, neither do you," a melodic voice spoke from the sky above him, though even those on the ground could hear it. They looked up and cheered at the sight of the light-blue-skinned woman with the white wings. A deep blue triple-moon symbol was a mask across her eyes and her long red hair nearly glowed in the sun. "The Champion!" one woman cried. "You're late," the Mad Wizard sneered. "I managed to kill one of the lawmen." "Yes, because one exploding floater is all it takes to kill an officer of the Pacifica," the Champion snarked back. "He's fine. As for being late, I don't like to step on the Pacifica's toes..." she glanced back over her shoulder at the captain on her floater. "Oh, please do be our guest, Lunara," the older woman said with a smile. "This one is more your type of job than ours." With a wave of her arm, she directed her officers to fly down and tend to the civilians. They would also make sure the battle to come did as little damage to the city of Baern as possible. As Amorlia's primary financial hub, the Dagnae Tower was filled with people at this time of day. When they'd retreated to a safe distance, Lunara Vega looked down at her adversary and smiled. "Well," she said pleasantly, "this is a bit more comfortable, isn't it?" The Mad Wizard hurled a bolt of fire at her, which she caught deftly in one hand. She closed her fist around it and it vanished. She looked at him again and sighed, shaking her head. "Really, Conte," she said, "aren't you getting tired of this?" "You know me?" he said, confused. "Of you," she corrected. "You fought my father and the Adept Legion twice now. After your last escape into the timestream, he figured it was only a matter of time before you returned." "Well, isn't he just a clever fellow," Conte said. "And how is the old man?" "The same as he's been for the past hundred years," Lunara answered. "My family age well." "How nice for you," Conte replied dryly. Then, Spark crackling
around his hands, he said, "A pleasant chat, my dear, all things considered, but I think it's time we did this properly." "Indeed," Lunara agreed. She moved so fast she was nearly invisible, seeming to appear directly in front of her opponent. She reached out and flicked the Mad Wizard's forehead with one finger. He went limp and she caught him before he fell off the Tower. Grinning, she thought back to the Valley of Mystery. That was easier than expected. Tell my father I'll be along once I've dropped our time traveling friend at the Cells. Just leave him with the Pacifica, came a terse reply. You need to get back here now. Dalia, what's wrong? The Legion's newest Adept of the Eye was prone to drama, but her mental tone was different this time. Tears were evident in Dalia's thoughts. She doesn't have much time left. And she wants to talk to you. After pausing briefly to leave the unconscious villain with the Pacifica, Lunara raced toward the Valley of Mystery. She arrived moments later, angling down into the deep forest of what some had begun to call the New Wood. The old Greatwood Park had long since grown wild, though her grandmother insisted these new trees were still saplings compared to the long-vanished Great Wood. Lunara dove toward a gap in the trees, coming to land before a lavish mansion built against the cliff side. Nodding to the students milling around the lawn, she rushed up the stairs to the top floor, where she and her family had their quarters. She nearly flew down the hall toward the open door at the end. She breathed a sigh of relief to see the ancient woman sitting propped against several pillows, smiling at her. "No, girl," she whispered, "I'm not dead yet. Come sit," she gestured weakly to the chair beside the bed. Lunara sat. "Auntie Mandhe..." "Shhh," Mandhe soothed the younger woman. "Don't fret, Lunara. I've lived long enough. Long enough to see my son grow up, father his own children and to see those children start families of their own. I lived long enough to see new generations of Adepts come and go. I lived long enough to see my boy..." her eyes clouded and she looked away. "Well," she said at last, "maybe I've lived too long, at that." Eyes brightening, she turned back to Lunara, who's own eyes were wet. "But that isn't what I called you here for," she said. "I have a task for you." "For me?" "Aye, for you." She reached into the top drawer of the table beside the bed and pulled out a plain wooden box. Inside were two revolvers, gleaming and shiny as though new. Mandhe lifted one with a shaking hand, then dropped it back in the box with a wry smile. "Been a while since I've used these," she said. "I've kept them too long, should've passed them on decades ago." She sighed. "But it's hard. I paid so dearly for them." Clearing her throat, she held the box out to Lunara, who took it. "But," Lunara stammered, "I'm... I'm not an Engineer. I can't--" "Oh, of course you can't," Mandhe laughed, though her laughter ended in a fit of coughing. When she finished, she drew a deep ragged breath. "You'll... you'll wield your father's sword someday. No, these," she gestured to the box, "these are for you to give away. Your father brought them to me, now it's up to you to bring them to someone else." "I... I don't..." Lunara was stunned. "You don't need to say anything," Mandhe said, lying back against the pillows, clearly spent. "Just promise you'll do this thing for your old Auntie." Lunara nodded, tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks. "I promise." Mandhe smiled. "Good girl. You'll make me proud. Always... always have." Lunara leaned over and kissed the old Gunfighter on the forehead, then walked out of the room. She passed her father at the door, noting his own wet face and red eyes. He pushed a thick lock of black hair back over his head and squared his broad shoulders. Mustering a smile for his daughter, he patted her arm affectionately. She could only nod as she rushed out of the room. Behind her as she fled, she heard the start of the last conversation between two legends. "Hey, old man," Mandhe's ragged whisper teased from the bed. "Hey, kid," was Kel's reply, straining with forced nonchalance. And then Lunara heard no more, for she was already flying far and fast, flying blind with eyes awash in tears.