by A. J. Markam
“GRUNG, SAVE ALARIA!” I screamed.
The war golem leapt off the rim of the volcano and jumped feet-first into the lava.
I hung on to the robot’s neck for dear life with one hand, and hugged Grung’s head under my other arm like an oversized football.
Scorching heat seared my skin, and I screamed in terror as the golem landed with a jolt in the lake of molten rock.
Ripples wafted out all around us. I saw Alaria’s body thrashing at the surface, her ruined arms desperately trying to keep her head above the surface.
“GRUNG, TO YOUR LEFT!”
The war golem’s hand dipped down into the lava, fished Alaria out, then lifted her into the air.
Her lower body was completely gone below the waist. Her corset had burned to ash, and virtually everything beneath her neck glowed red-hot.
To my right, I noticed the iron lock box half-submerged in the lava. The coins inside had melted and were spreading out like a shimmering golden oil slick on top of the glowing orange liquid.
Fuck it, I thought, and turned back to what was important.
“Get her to safety!”
“IAN, MY LEGS ARE ALREADY MELTING. I CAN’T CLIMB UP THE SIDE OF THE VOLCANO.”
“Just get her up back up there!”
“WHAT ABOUT US?”
“I’ll save you – just save her first!”
Grung crawled as far up the rocky side of the volcano’s interior as he could, and tossed Alaria up over the edge. I heard her metal body clatter on the rocks above.
Unfortunately, Grung and I began to sink back down into the lava.
“Now reach out for the ledge!” I shouted.
As soon as his arm straightened, I unplugged the cable from his head.
The war golem’s body immediately froze in place as it was – one arm outstretched but dipping rapidly beneath the edge of the cliff.
I held onto Grung’s head like a football player and ran as fast as I could. I raced from his shoulder, up the arm, to the tip of his fingers – and then jumped.
As my legs kicked and flailed in space, I threw the robot’s head onto the ledge.
Good thing, too, because the rest of me fell short.
My chest slammed down onto the edge of the volcano’s rim. My ribcage felt like somebody had hit me with a sledgehammer, and my chin and hands scraped painfully across the rock as I slid backwards towards the fiery abyss.
I was just about to fall when a powerful hand clamped down on my wrist.
Soraiya.
She grunted in pain, the arrows still sticking out of her chest, as she heaved me up onto the ledge.
I collapsed onto the rocky ground. I could have kissed Soraiya, I was so grateful. “Thank you!”
“Just remember who saved your life when it counted,” she snarled.
I nodded, then crawled on hands and knees over to Alaria. Her body was still too hot to touch, so I just stared in horror.
Her legs and pelvis were completely gone. Her arms had melted and oozed like one of Salvador Dali’s clocks, then cooled off into warped slabs of metal.
Though her face was scorched and streaked with carbon, and only one eye was still intact, she smiled as soon as she saw me.
“Did we kill him?”
“You did,” I whispered as I smiled sadly.
“WE did,” she said, then frowned. “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you happy?”
Besides seeing her in such a painful, broken state?
There was just one more tiny little thing.
My heart despaired as I looked up at the Feminine Void.
Despite everything we had accomplished – despite Alaria’s sacrifices – it was all for naught.
The abomination in the sky was still drawing closer. Within the next few minutes, this entire region was going to be – destroyed? Swallowed up? Obliterated?
I had no idea what the implications were for OtherWorld. All I knew was what was going to happen to us.
I smiled at her sadly and lovingly caressed her cheek. “At least we can die together.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
I pointed up in the air. “Giant space vagina from Hell and the end of the world?!”
Alaria burst out laughing. “Oh, that!”
I stared at her in shock. Maybe the heat had fried her circuits, or brain, or whatever she had in her head.
“That’s not real,” she continued.
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
“Dorp!” she called out.
There was a shuffling sound nearby. I looked over at a war golem a hundred feet away, and saw a blue head pop out from behind the giant metal foot.
I was absolutely thunderstruck.
What the fuck is HE doing here?!
“Can I make it stop now?” Dorp asked in his breathy helium voice.
“Yes,” Alaria answered.
Suddenly the skies above us cleared. The boiling clouds dissipated and the monstrous sex organ from another dimension faded away, leaving only a black sky scattered with millions of stars.
I looked back and forth between the sky and Dorp, not quite comprehending what had just happened. Finally, I blurted out, “YOU did that?!”
“Obviously,” he sniffed.
“You pulled that – that thing out of Daidonia’s head?!”
“Yes.”
I was confused. “That was her greatest fear? But she looked so happy to see it!”
Dorp shrugged. “People are strange. Sometimes the thing they want the most is the thing they fear the most, too.”
Huh…
“But…why did you do it? You hate my guts – why would you help me?”
“I wasn’t helping you,” he said crossly. “I was helping Alaria.”
I looked down to my succubus for an explanation.
“I saw Soraiya leave the volcano and figured she was up to no good, so I followed her. When I saw her meet up with Shyvock, I knew we were going to be in trouble unless we had someone else who could help us. So I went after Dorp.”
“But how did you convince him?”
“I pointed out that when he created that image of me naked and enslaved with a bunch of mewling brats, it sent me off the deep end.”
She was talking about the illusion that Dorp had conjured on the deck of the Revenge – the moment he had given form to Alaria’s greatest fear.
“I knew that he was only trying to help you, but I pointed out that you and I might’ve been able to reconcile a lot earlier had that not happened. And because my rejection of you sent YOU off the deep end, he had a hand in everything that happened afterwards. It wasn’t his fault, but he did bear some responsibility. And because of that, he owed me one.”
I wasn’t sure how much she believed what she was saying, and how much was actually being said for Dorp’s benefit. Probably a bit of both.
It bothered me a little that she’d manipulated Dorp to get what she wanted… sort of like I had so many times. But the fact of the matter was that we’d needed Dorp’s help immensely, and Alaria had secured it. I couldn’t fault her for that. If she hadn’t done it, I would have been on Death Number One out of 300 right about now.
“Are we even?” Dorp asked.
“More than even,” Alaria assured him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said in a grudging voice.
I teared up again. Alaria couldn’t help but notice – and rib me about it.
“What now?” she teased.
I looked at her poor, battered, melted body. “Aren’t you in pain?”
“No… no, I can’t feel anything anymore.” Then she smiled impishly. “Which is going to suck during sex.”
I laughed through my tears in spite of myself. “We’ll just have to get creative.”
She laughed along with me for a second, then grew serious. “Were you able to get the money out?”
I shook my head, but when I smiled this time, I was completely happy.
&nbs
p; Her expression clouded over. “Oh, Ian… I’m sorry…”
“I’m not. I got back the only thing that matters to me.”
She smiled like she was on the verge of tears.
I grinned at her and caressed her cheek. “Don’t worry – now that it’s all over, we’re going to get you back to the lab and – ”
“AAAAAARHHG!” a rumbling voice screamed just a few feet away.
I looked up in horror to see a living nightmare crawling up over the edge of the volcano, directly behind Alaria’s head.
Shyvock.
Every square inch of his leather armor was on fire, and his helmet was half caved-in. Whatever body still existed beneath it, surely it had been charred and blistered beyond recognition – but he had crawled up the side of the volcano through sheer willpower and hatred.
The three remaining fingers of his left hand clutched the ledge like claws. In his other hand, he clasped his giant Bowie knife, its steel blade red from the heat of the lava.
“WARLOCK!” he screamed with whatever ruined vocal cords he still had left.
Alaria looked up from where she lay on the ground and screamed in terror.
This was it: it was him or me.
He had a sliver of hit points still left. I had a far higher percentage of my Health, but his attack would be more powerful than any I could summon.
Whoever struck first would win.
I raised my arms to cast Soul Suck. There was still a good six feet between us; I would hit him before he could crawl up on the path and stab me.
Then I realized he wasn’t planning on stabbing me with the knife.
He was planning on throwing it.
His arm reared back, ready to release it –
Alaria’s rockets popped out of her back – or at least one did. The other had been melted into her skin.
And then she ignited them.
She shot across the black rock like a missile and hit Shyvock’s body dead center in the chest.
The blow knocked Shyvock off balance just as he threw the knife. It spun off course as it whipped past, mere inches from my head.
Then both Alaria and Shyvock went hurtling off the ledge and plummeted down once more towards the lava.
“NOOOO!” I screamed as I scrambled to the edge.
I watched in horror as they clattered off the outstretched arm of the golem. The rest of its body had disappeared beneath the lava, but the arm still reached out like a hand from the grave.
Shyvock roared one last time as he caromed off the robot’s hand and then plunged headfirst into the fiery liquid.
The golden numerals ‘70,000 XP’ appeared midair, but I barely noticed.
Alaria had landed waist-first in the lava and was submerged up to her collarbones.
In seconds she would be gone.
There was no time to save her. Even though I could theoretically attach Grung’s head to another war golem, it would take me 20 seconds to scale the nearest robot, plug Grung in, and have him jump back into the cauldron. By then she would be dead.
So I watched in hopeless panic as she sank slowly beneath the surface.
Soraiya’s voice shouted beside me, “Pull out the arrows!”
I looked over at her, stunned and uncomprehending.
She was kneeling beside me, Shyvock’s arrows still embedded in her body.
“I can’t fly like this! Pull out the arrows and I’ll save her!”
I had a flicker of a thought like, If I do that, she’ll just fly away – but at this point I didn’t care. I was beyond caring about anything except a chance to save Alaria, no matter how slim.
I grabbed the arrows in her chest and yanked with all my might.
Soraiya screamed, then dove over the side of the volcano.
I peered over the edge in terror, watching her hurtle towards the fiery surface.
At the very last second she pulled up.
Beneath her, a metal body rolled over in the lava and disappeared beneath the surface.
The bitch HAD betrayed me.
With a fury and hatred greater than I had ever known, I prepared a spell to strike her from the sky –
Then I saw it: a glimmer of silver in Soraiya’s hands as she wheeled through the air and staggered back down onto the rim of the volcano.
She dropped to her knees, and Alaria’s head rolled out of her hands and onto the rock.
The bottom of her neck looked like taffy that had been pulled and snapped off in a point. Apparently her neck had been melting when Soraiya grabbed her out of the lava.
I ran over babbling at Alaria, “Are you all right?! Are you all okay?!
Again, she got me.
“I’d say I’m a hell of a long way from ‘okay’ – but I’m still alive.”
I burst into both tears and laughter, then looked up at Soraiya. The hatred I’d felt for her just seconds before had become overwhelming gratitude.
“Thank you,” I choked out.
“That’s twice I’ve saved you two,” Soraiya growled. “Just remember that when it’s time to settle up.”
Then she collapsed onto her back, exhausted.
I put my hand on Alaria’s cheek. It was hot to the touch, but I didn’t care. I wanted to touch her, to make sure that she was real.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whispered to her. “Everything’s going to be okay now.”
“It better be,” Alaria said, and couldn’t suppress a grin. “Or I went through a hell of a lot for nothing.”
I laughed, then leaned over and kissed her.
44
The next morning was busy as we made preparations to leave.
I’d re-summoned Stig shortly after Shyvock’s final plunge into the volcano, just so he didn’t have to spend the night in Limbo. When the sun came up the next morning and he had enough light, Stig scouted out the remaining war golems and found the one with the least damage. Then I detached the destroyed head and replaced it with Grung’s.
“AH,” the robot sighed contentedly as he flexed his fingers.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” I said. “We still need to get you back into your old body.”
“I JUST ENJOY HAVING A BODY AGAIN.”
“Sure, rub it in,” Alaria joked from where her head leaned against a rock.
“OH, I AM SORRY – I DID NOT MEAN TO BE INSENSITIVE – ”
“It was a joke, Grung.”
“And the situation’s only lasting until we can get you back to Orlo’s lair and switch you into your old body again,” I said.
“I know,” she said. “So I have to enjoy messing with you guys while I still have the chance.”
I was worried that Alaria was a bit too chipper about her situation, maybe a little too jocular. Just a couple of days ago, she’d freaked out that she was inside a fully functional metal body. Now she was cracking jokes about being reduced to a one-eyed head? It didn’t make sense. She should have been having a nervous breakdown.
I figured one of two things was happening: she was either doing everything she could to keep the panic at bay with every psychological defense she could muster… or she no longer had anything to lose, and so she had accepted the situation. Que sera, sera.
I was just hoping that we would still be able to transfer her back into her old body without Orlo’s help – and without something disastrous happening.
Actually, that was my greatest fear, but I pushed the thought out of my mind as much as I could… so I suppose I was the one using psychological defenses to stay sane.
After we had finished patching up Grung, I said my goodbyes to Dorp.
“Thank you again for everything.”
“I told you,” he said coldly, “I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Alaria.”
I ignored his hostility. I had hurt him a lot, and God knows he’d helped save us last night, so I let it all go. Instead, I offered another olive branch.
“We’re headed back towards the Plains of Mor-El and then Verlandia. You could travel wit
h us if you want.”
“No.”
Awkward pause.
“All right… well, if there’s anything I can do for you – ”
“You can’t.”
“…okay.”
He looked at me hesitantly, as though he didn’t believe I was going to let him walk away – that I was going to attack him or abuse him – but when I didn’t, he turned to Alaria and said, “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Dorp. And thank you.”
He nodded, then turned around and walked away across the fields of black rock.
‘500 XP’ flashed in the air, and a window appeared:
You have achieved peace of mind!
The game was right.
My quest to apologize to Dorp was over… and the reward was one of the best I’d ever received.
Finally there was Soraiya.
Somewhat unexpectedly, there had been no change in her status since Orlo died. The old collar still remained, and she couldn’t get it off by herself.
If nothing else, I had learned a bit more about how Warlock shit worked.
“I need you to free me from this collar,” she insisted.
“Once we get Alaria back to the lab and into her old body.”
“I told you I would help you!”
“And I appreciate that. But if I give you what you want, there’s no guarantee you won’t just fly off and leave us.”
“I could fly off and leave you anyway, even with the collar still on me!”
“And yet you haven’t. Why is that?” I asked sarcastically. “Maybe because you WANT something?”
“If you don’t free me and I die before we reach Orlo’s lair, I get sent back to Limbo to await enslavement by another master!”
“I guess you better hope you don’t die, then.”
“I saved your life – AND hers!” Soraiya snarled as she pointed at Alaria. “You owe me!”
“And I’m fully willing to repay that,” I snapped, “but you’ll have to wait.”
“You can trust me!”
“You’ve betrayed me at least twice, Soraiya. So no, I can’t trust you.”
“Ian,” Alaria said.
I looked over at her propped up against a rock. “What?”
“If she agrees to swear by the Seven Hells, free her.”
