“You don’t really pull any punches, do you?” I asked, dread welling up in my gut. The way Sam talked about Dred scared me. He seemed almost superhuman, and at the end of the day, I was a Slurpee Monkey in way over his head. Still, I had to try. No. More than that, I had to win. The first step toward that would be to enter the enchanted forest and find this Lady in her stupid lake.
“It’s part of my charm,” Sam said, nodding to me. “Now, let’s go before something else comes up.”
“Right, okay. Let’s get us a sword.” I sucked in a deep breath, and as I exhaled, I teleported us to the coordinates on the map.
37
The blackened, snarling forest across the massive ravine spread out in front of me like a blight upon the earth. Twisted, leafless branches reached for me as red-eyed monsters peered out from the thorny brush. A narrow footpath led into its twisting confines, and as lightning crackled overhead, I couldn’t do anything but stare at the small wooden sign next to the bridge leading into its depths.
“Abandon all hope ye who enter here,” I said, repeating the words on the sign. “And then they drew a picture of a skull.”
“I think that means it’s safe to enter,” Sam said, drumming one hand nervously on her thigh. “You know, opposites and all that.”
“I’m pretty sure it means exactly what it says,” I said, edging toward the bridge. It was rickety as fuck, and half the boards were missing, making it seem like a gap-toothed frown spread over an infinite abyss. I looked down once more, trying to ignore the fraying rope holding the bridge together. I couldn’t even see the bottom.
“I could try to fly us across,” Sam said hopefully, and then her face creased with concentration. Then one hand went to her back. “Or not…”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning toward her. “Because, to be honest, flying over that,” I gestured to the ravine, “seems like a great fucking idea.”
“I can’t call my wings.” Sam frowned. “At all.”
I looked at her for a moment before sighing. “Of course not…” Still, just because we couldn’t fly, didn’t mean we couldn’t get across. “Guess there’s no time like the present.”
I stepped onto the bridge, the entire thing swayed. The wind began to pick up, swinging the bridge to and fro as the board beneath my foot swayed. Still, as I tested my weight, I found it could hold me. I took another step, my hand gripping the rope for support, and as I did, I found that one could support my weight as well.
“Seems okay.” I looked at Sam who was watching me with both hope and fear plastered across her face. “Let me go across and wait for you.” I took another step. “I don’t know how much weight this can support.”
“Sure.” Sam nodded. “I know that between the two of us, I’d rather you fall than me. You understand, right?”
“Of course.” I smiled. To be honest, I’d sort of rathered that too. I wasn’t sure what was down below, but given that she couldn’t fly, I could at least risk a teleport.
I moved forward, concentrating on each step, and while the boards creaked and the bridge groaned, nothing much happened. Still, the swaying was starting to get to me so that by the time I reached the center, it was all I could do to keep from throwing up. My nerves were practically shot, and worse, the bridge was swinging so hard I found myself nearly horizontal more than once.
“Arthur! Watch out!” Sam cried, and as I turned toward her voice, a ninja swung a katana at me. Seriously. A goddamned ninja.
I leapt backward as its katana passed by me, barely missing me by an inch. The ninja’s eyes blazed bright red beneath its featureless cowl, and as it changed its grip on its katana, six more jumped onto the bridge from the darkness below.
“Not cool,” I whispered, unslinging my warhammer just as a trio of ninja stars came flying at me. I dropped, hitting the deck, which wound up being incredibly lucky. Well, for me anyway.
The ninja stars sank into the chest of another ninja that had been sneaking up behind me with a garrote. The ninja fell backward, blood spraying from its chest as I scrambled to my feet while bringing my warhammer to bear.
My target tried to block, but at the end of the day, I was a super-powered demigod swinging a massive warhammer designed to empower the goddamned Devil herself. My blow ripped the feeble katana from the ninja’s hands right before it smashed into the underside of its chin with a wet squelch. The ninja’s head exploded like an overripe melon, and it collapsed backward into its friend as I whirled around.
More ninjas had mounted the bridge, and I sprinted toward them. The bridge started to sway as I jumped through the air. This time the ninja didn’t try to block, opting to sidestep instead. There was just one problem. The movement felt slow. I could see every last twitch of the ninja’s muscles as my warhammer sank into the boards, blowing them out into the abyss in a spray of debris.
My left hand shot out, slamming into the ninja’s chest as it finished its sidestep, driving it back over the rope railing. The ninja tumbled over the ropes as I pointed the warhammer toward the end of the bridge. There were at least six more between the end of the bridge and me. That was bad odds, but as I stepped forward, swinging the warhammer, I realized I was way, way faster than them. My blows knocked them aside when they blocked, and when they dodged, I was easily able to counter.
In no more than ten seconds, I stood alone in the center of the bridge. “Sam. Come on before more come.” I stepped hard on the bridge. “Pretty sure this can support our weight.” I smiled. “Just a guess though, so if it breaks and we die, I’ll take responsibility for it.
“Arthur, how did you do that?” Sam stared at me wide-eyed. “I couldn’t even see them move they were so quick, and you beat them like it was nothing.”
“They were fast?” I asked, confused as she took a step onto the bridge.
“Really fast.” She gripped the rope railing as she came closer. “I’m the Archangel of Death, and while I’m not at full power, I should have been able to follow their movements. They were a blur, and you?” She shook her head. “You moved so quickly, it was almost like you were teleporting.”
“Well, I do have a lot of Armaments.” I looked down at the ring around my neck. It was glowing faintly, and I wondered if I had instinctively used Lust’s power to slow time without realizing it. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe I’d gotten strong enough to defeat Dred. After all, when the last Builder faced him, it had been without any Armaments, and right now I had five. That put us more or less on equal ground, didn’t it?
“Thing is, I didn’t feel you use any of them.” Sam joined me near the middle. “I think it was just you.” She touched my arm. “I think it’s whatever you did with Lucifer. I mean, you were fast after the Mammon business, but this.” She gestured at me. “This is a whole different level.”
“Good.” I nodded to her and began moving down the bridge again. “I’d hate to think I didn’t earn it.” I took a deep breath. “As nice as the power from the armaments is, I am just the guy who picked them up. The training? I did that.”
“I can see how you feel that way, Arthur.” She followed along behind me as I looked for more ninjas, but so far I didn’t see any. “You always seemed like you had a chip on your shoulder, like you didn’t deserve the power of Clarent.”
“It’s not just that really.” I reached the end, and the moment I stepped onto the blackened shore of the enchanted forest, my heart did a little flip-flop of joy. Sure it was scary as fuck, but at least it was solid ground. “It’s that you could replace me with anyone and it’d have been the same.” I took her hand and helped her onto the steps of the forest. “I know you guys talk about how no Builder has done what I did, but at the end of the day, I just picked up good gear.” I shrugged. “But the training I did is something I did. I worked hard and got stronger.” I sighed. “It’s just different.”
“Sure.” Sam smiled at me. “You’re turning into Annabeth.” Sam made a serious face. “Nothing is of value unless I work
harder than everyone else for it.”
“So, you’re mocking me now? That’s cool.” I nodded at her.
“Yeah, guess you’ll have to punish me later.” Sam squeezed my hand. “On account of how bad of a girl I’m being.”
“Looking forward to it,” I said, turning back to the narrow path into the forest. All around me, I could hear the sounds of monsters, could feel their eyes upon me. We’d barely started, and though I’d beat the ninjas, I knew that was the opening act. More would be sure to come.
“Yeah. We can call it a reward.” Sam extended one hand and this time her scythe appeared in her hand. Part of me didn’t quite understand how she could utilize the weapon to fight since it was totally the wrong shape for practically fighting, but I wasn’t going to argue. I could feel power crackling through the air as she gripped it.
“Should you be doing that?” I asked, looking her over. “You’re still hurt.”
“Look, if you want to walk in there with no weapon at hand, be my guest.” Sam clenched her scythe tightly. “I may not be at full power, but if something tries to eat me, I aim to stab it.”
“Fair enough.” I gripped my warhammer and stepped forward into the forest. “Fair enough.”
38
I slammed my warhammer into the mechanical ogre’s skull, denting it inward like a tin can. Sparks exploded from within as black smoke filled the air. The automation wobbled, arms moving in a jerky motion as I reared back and hit it again. The blow shattered its head into bits of metal that exploded outward across the ground.
“I’m not sure what’s worse,” I said, chest heaving and heart hammering as I surveyed the dozen mechanical corpses strewn across the clearing. “Ogres or mechanical ogres.” I gestured at the robots.
“You’ve not fought real ogres,” Sam said, coming toward me. Her hair was mussed, but she seemed otherwise okay, probably because she’d let me do most of the heavy lifting. Truthfully, I hadn’t minded. It had been fun to smash through a coterie of robotic guardians. That had been way better than the sloth-beasts and slug creatures. I shivered. Not to mention the ents.
“I kinda wanna keep it that way,” I said, moving back toward the edge of the clearing now that I knew she was safe. Below a crystalline lake spread out in front of me. It was so huge it reminded me of the great lakes back home, only, you know, bigger.
“Probably for the best,” Sam said, moving next to me. She gasped. “I think we’re finally here!”
“Thank goodness,” I whispered, wiping my head with the back of one hand. I was tired after nearly three days of nonstop fighting. “I’ll be honest, I’ll be glad to be done.” I hefted the warhammer. “As awesome as crushing mechanical skulls is, there’s something about Clarent I miss.”
Sam nodded to me as we looked over the edge and into the lake about a hundred feet below. “So, uh, how do we get down there? I can’t fly here, and you can’t teleport.”
“Uh…” I rubbed my chin as I looked around. “I guess we jump.” I smiled as I looked down at the lake. “It’ll be fun.”
“I am absolutely, one hundred percent not jumping—”
I cut her off by leaping over the edge. My stomach launched into my throat as gravity took hold of me, dragging me down. I put my feet together, bracing for impact as I hit the water below. Coldness sliced through me, drawing the breath from my lungs in a burst of bubbles as I surged beneath the surface.
Kicking my feet as hard as I could, I made my way to the surface just in time for Sam to smash into the water beside me. A spray of water hit me full in the face, making me sputter and gasp for breath as she bobbed to the surface.
“You’re an idiot!” she scowled at me. “You could have died.”
“I didn’t,” I said, giving her a stupid grin. “Sure, there could be a sea monster, or I could have hit a rock.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. “But I really wanted to get you wet.”
“You hardly had to go to all this trouble to get me wet,” Sam replied, looking me over. “And there can’t be sea monsters.”
“Why not?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“This is a lake. There could only be lake monsters.” She shook her head. “It’s like you know nothing.”
“That sounds like semantics.” I nodded at her as I tread water. It was a bit hard since I was holding a warhammer in one hand. “There could totally be a lake Kraken.”
“If there is, I hope it eats you first,” Sam said, right before she began swimming out toward the middle of the lake. “Come on.”
“Where are we going exactly?” I asked, following her. I made it about a foot and a half before I slung the warhammer on my back. The weight still made it hard to swim, especially since I was wearing full armor, but I managed anyway. Still, I was pretty sure if I didn’t have extra strength and stamina from the armaments and my training, I’d have already drowned.
“The lady lives in the center,” Sam said, not bothering to look back at me.
“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” I asked, shaking my head, which in retrospect was a dumb idea because I nearly swallowed a gallon of water.
“I dunno why you’re being uppity about it.” Sam glanced at me. “I didn’t make you jump into a lake wearing full battle armor and carrying a hundred and fifty-pound warhammer.”
She had a point but there was no way I was going to let her know that now. If I did, I’d never live it down.
So, I focused on swimming until we reached the center. Part of me still expected to find a lake Kraken, but when none wrapped their tentacles around my ankle and pulled me into the blimey deep, I almost relaxed. Almost.
“We’re here,” Sam said, and her words surprised me because I’d been so focused on what I was doing, I hadn’t noticed how far we’d come.
Two pale blue hands jutted from the water in front of us, and as I stared at them, an apparition rose from the surface. Her skin was translucent, and though I couldn’t see her facial features thanks to all the seaweed-like hair, a chill went down my body. She felt powerful, but more, she reminded me of the lich because she also felt dead.
“Why have you come here, Death?” the ghost said, its voice like nails raking across a chalkboard. “Why have you sought me after all this time?”
“I need your aid,” Sam said, shooting me an “I’ll handle it” look.
Laughter exploded from the apparition with such force the lake turned turbulent. Overhead, I felt the weather start to change, and as I did, I wondered if I could affect it with the crown. Short answer, technically, but since I wasn’t sure doing so would let me remain conscious, I decided to just deal with it.
“I will never aid you, Samael.” The apparition began to fade. “Not even if you were about to be eaten by the Empress herself.”
“Okay, you know what, Morgan. I fucking lied. I don’t give a rat’s ass about you or your help.” Sam’s finger jutted out toward me. “The Builder requires your aid to stop Dred. Will you give it?”
“No.” Morgan the ghost paused for a second, its face shifting toward me, and though I couldn’t see much of its face, I could slowly see a horrific grin spread out from its mass of hair.
“Are you sure?” Sam took a deep breath. “Because I think you very much want to.”
“What do you require?” Morgan said, looking at me, and as she did my world exploded into blue as a whirlpool sprang to life around me. I tried to move, tried to escape, but before I could, I slammed into the bottom of the lake. I scrambled to my feet, about to try to make a jump for it when the water above me closed with a crash, leaving me trapped in a bubble at the bottom.
Morgan stood there before me, only she wasn’t a ghost anymore. Her skin was the same pale blue as the hands above the surface had been, making me think they had been hers.
She wore a simple blue dress, that while well-made, looked old and well used. Still, she definitely filled it out in a way that would have made me stop and look if I hadn’t been so concerned about my wellbeing. After al
l, I had just been sucked to the bottom of the lake.
“Where are we?” I looked up, but I couldn’t see the surface through the murk.
“In my home.” Morgan gestured at the surroundings, and as she did, I realized that beyond the bubble was a chair, a bed, and various knickknacks. “Though I’ve created this pocket so you can breathe and to keep out nosy archangels.” She snorted. “Never can trust them. All tricky bitches.”
“You know, I’ve heard that,” I said, taking a deep breath of air that tasted like a salty swamp.
“Yeah, I care.” Morgan flipped her hair back, revealing her face, and I realized she was beautiful beyond words, but not in the same way all the angels and demons had been. No, Morgan was pretty in a way I couldn’t quite describe because I knew intrinsically she was less pretty than the others, but I still wanted her all the same.
“You’re beautiful,” I said before I could stop myself. “Absolutely beautiful.”
Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “So, I’ve been told, but unless you came here to try to fuck me, let’s get on with it.” She made a hurry up gesture. “Samael seems to think you can defeat Dred. Why does she think this?”
“I’m the Builder—”
“There have been lots of Builders.” Morgan rolled her eyes. “Each more legendary than the last, etc, etc, etc. No one cares.” She sat down in the mud, but none of it clung to her. “Gonna have to do better than that, and I swear if you pull out your dick, I will drown you.” She pointed toward the water, and I saw a skeleton dressed in armor. I couldn’t be sure how long he’d been dead, but it seemed like a long ass time. “Been there, done that.”
“Right.” I swallowed, feeling off-balance because I couldn’t imagine some guy would actually whip out his dick to impress her. “See, I broke Clarent—”
The Builder's Pride (The Legendary Builder Book 3) Page 22
