by Billy Wong
"You saved me," Finn said.
"I guess I have you to thank for my life too," Brandon added. "I wouldn't have gotten through all those battles without your help."
Her heart still throbbed with the resurgent memory of her failure to save Julie, but Derrick told her, "You did the best you could for her. I mean, if I had better magic, I could've saved her too. If Finn didn't collapse, or you had gone in my place to Hullel—any number of 'ifs'—Julie could be alive today. So don't worry, Rose. If there's someone here to be blamed for Julie's death, it's all of us."
"You're too kind to me. It was your love who got killed."
Derrick wiped away a tear of his own. "Yes, and I still think about it all the time. Hurts like nothing else. But it's not your fault any more than mine, and you did more than your share for her. We live dangerous lives, and bad things happen sometimes."
Accepting the truth of his words, Rose managed a smile. "I guess I should be happy we managed to save you."
"I'm useless, aren't I?"
She shook her head firmly. "Not at all, Derrick. I mean, if it weren't for you, we might never have rediscovered magic. Sure, you aren't equal to us in a fight, but we've all got our strengths."
"I wish my strength was the kind you have."
Rose knew he wanted justice for Julie's death, and assured him, "Don't worry, we'll make them regret ever wronging you and Julie. Trust me. If nothing else, I'm pretty reliable when it comes to winning fights."
"And if she's having a bad day, I'll take up the slack like last time," Finn said.
Derrick nodded slightly. "Alright, guys, I'll put my hopes in your huge arms. So where am I going to stay?"
Obviously, Trumil was no longer safe. Though she couldn't know for sure, Rose suspected the enemy had an informant there—how else would they have known Derrick was there to kidnap him? "Ashleigh, could Derrick-"
"Sure, he can stay at the fort. My treat."
"Maybe we should all stay the night there instead of going back to Trumil," Brandon suggested. "Throw whoever's watching in my town off a bit."
Rose and Finn agreed heartily, and they dragged themselves to Fort Resnick. The two big men went to bed after a hearty meal, easily falling asleep as their injuries and exertion took their toll. But though the women were equally battered if not more so, Rose wanted to talk about something. "Ashleigh, you still like Brandon, right?"
"Of course."
Rose smiled. "He still likes you, too. It's just that he wants a strong, smart lady who'll treat him like an equal. You've got most of those things going for you."
"Except?" Ashleigh looked expectantly at Rose, as if eager for advice from a woman Brandon so admired.
She'd been afraid Ashleigh might be suspicious or annoyed at her attempted help, and seeing her reaction said happily, "Your formal attitude towards him is a bit offputting. Loosen up a little."
"He never told me he didn't like it. I thought that was how you were supposed to act around a nobleman."
Rose chuckled. "Not if you're to be his lover, I think. Or even his friend, really. I think he just didn't tell you because he wanted to let you be yourself. But I prefer to point out mistakes so you can learn from them. Anyway, I imagine it's not very comforting to be called by your title all the time."
Ashleigh returned the laugh. "You noticed?"
"Well, you always address him as Count, never Brandon."
"So use his name, and..?"
"Just be more casual, joke around with him and talk to him like he was one of your regular soldier buddies. He likes that."
"Would it help to get more scars, too?" Ashleigh joked.
Thinking over it for a moment, Rose decided, "You have enough. I just have too many!"
"Thanks a lot for the advice." She paused. "I hope I'll be alive to keep it in mind."
Rose grinned. "I'll protect you."
Sharing another laugh, the women went to join Finn and Brandon in revitalizing slumber. When morning came, all of them aside from Derrick, whose back would take some months to heal, put on their armor and set out to end the source of their misery.
#
Graham groaned as he realized that his plan had failed, and his enemies wised up to his servant's presence in Trumil, refusing to return to the place where his mental connection to his chosen would allow him to keep tabs on their activities. Had Derrick at least finally met his end? He didn't know, but somehow doubted it—though the scholar didn't seem like much compared to his huge warrior friends, he had frustratingly good luck. As for those friends, how could they have beaten his worm-angels? Were they that strong? It was almost unbelievable, and yet unsurprising considering Rose and Finn's previous exploits.
Already the couple had killed most of the children he'd managed to create, leaving him almost back where he started when he became the avatar of his goddess. But he still had his archangel, a guardian even mightier and more magnificent than his predecessor's, and his chosen in Trumil. Now he called the latter too to his home, knowing his enemies would soon find him, and that he needed to be prepared for the final battle to come. But doubt filled him. Could he really beat his awful foes?
They were so strong, those two warriors. Were they epic "heroes" to defeat a god like him? Indeed, they'd caused the death of his predecessor, and he felt fear at the coming fight. It wasn't fair! He was far more complete a vessel for the Earth Mother's power, if missing a leg. His creations were much better, stronger. But he hadn't spent nearly the time the previous avatar had building up the strength of his forces, and now, they'd been mostly destroyed. He knew he might have been too hasty, but how he had wanted to see the magic-loving destroyers dead! Now his zeal might cost him.
He thought of passing his powers onto his chosen, dying himself so the Earth Mother's power could live on in a another vessel. The new avatar could escape before the transformation finished, and hide until he had the strength to destroy the enemies. But no, he couldn't give up his own life that easily. He was the best bearer for the divine power he'd been granted—the most devoted of the goddess' servants, and thus her most suitable host. If he failed, then another would not succeed. He knew this as surely as he knew he was the god's vessel, and that he had to win. He had to. He'd do anything it took to ensure his survival. As long as he lived, no matter how weakened he was, he could recover and start anew. So when his chosen arrived, he wouldn't hold anything back. By giving all the power he could to those who would fight on his behalf, he would ensure his enemies' demise and his own continued existence.
Chapter 13
Rose felt satisfied to see Brandon and Ashleigh chatting with bright smiles on the way to the hills, having explored the swamp to find only a few scattered monsters which they quickly disposed of. She hoped Brandon would stay so engaged—Ashleigh really liked him, and Rose thought the courageous woman deserved a man as cheerful and good-natured as the count. She'd miss both of them once she left Resnick, but for now what mattered was ending the threat and bringing safety back to the county for good.
Doubt surfaced again in Rose's mind while she pondered the nature of their true enemy. If it was truly a god, could they prevail? And moreover, who were they to think their sense of right and wrong should apply to a divinity? But she looked at her friends and brushed that doubt aside. Even a god had to be wrong to want to kill good people.
"This is it," Ashleigh said. "No mistaking it even if I've never seen it before. He said he saw the monsters coming from a cave like a mouth, and here it is."
The cave which came into view when they reached the top of a steep incline indeed resembled a mouth full of sharp fangs, its opening lined top and bottom with stalagmites and stalactites. But Rose hardly paid attention to that, focusing instead on the mammoth creature which lay seemingly asleep before it. Wider than it was tall—over twenty feet wide—the loam-black mass had numerous spike-tipped tentacles protruding from its back and no visible head, or for that matter back or front.
Rose sighed. "Hope that thing do
esn't wake up when we get close."
"Are we ever that lucky?" Finn didn't really ask.
"No."
"We might as well attack it from afar first," Ashleigh suggested. "We might not be able to kill it before it reaches us or gets away, but any harm we do will help."
"Good idea," Brandon said, and raised his bow. Before he could even nock an arrow, blood sprayed from his shoulder and he yelled in pain. Now they saw the newcomer stride out from behind the monster, a human-like figure with undulating oily-black skin which reminded Rose of the last giant she'd faced at Fort Resnick. This one however was much smaller though still tall, over eight feet. It bore no visible weapons, but had obviously shot Brandon with something, and Rose put a hand to her head in remembrance of the terrible headaches a similar attack had caused her.
With a grin, the creature proclaimed, "Welcome to your last battlefield."
"I bet you're Graham's spy, aren't you?" Brandon said while Ashleigh stared with concern at his wound. "You must have been human once, like all the ones who talk—do I know you?"
"Yes, I was once a man. Now I am better. Better than the sniveling lackey Alphonse I once was! I'm the new improved Alphonse."
Brandon glowered and explained for Rose and Finn's benefit, "My old sycophant of an agricultural advisor, who I dismissed for being too much of a yes man. And you're still content with being a lackey to whatever you serve now, aren't you?"
It sneered. "Lackey? No, I'm her prophet. I am the mortal closest to the divinity of the Earth Mother, whose will only the greatest of fools would attempt to defy."
The words unsettled Rose, but she cried, "You monster! My friend was killed in the name of your god, so I'll defy her as I please and stop her cruelty once and for all!"
"What hubris!" Alphonse snarled.
She shrugged. "If a god will stoop to the level of directly intervening in our mortal affairs, I say we have every right to fight for our survival. Besides, your god's done a piss poor job trying to get rid of us mere humans thus far. I must've killed over six hundred of her divine minions just by myself."
"And I got more," Finn reminded everyone.
"Cheating dragon breath."
"We outnumber you, monster!" Ashleigh pointed out, rather awkwardly despite her meant-to-be-confident smile.
Alphonse only laughed. "In number, yes. I think you'll have your hands more than full with the two of us." He patted the creature at his side and its dozens of tentacles came off the ground to wave high above, jagged tips gleaming in the bright sunlight.
Brandon stared nervously at the wicked blades slicing the air, and his voice came out shaky as the monsters started a slow, deliberate advance. "So, do we have a plan?"
Rose sighed. She could understand his apprehension at facing a titan armed with dozens of built in spears whose reach far surpassed a man's, but... wasn't she the one who'd been skewered by a similar thing? She was certainly a little scared too, but she'd never let her opponents know her fear. "Brandon, you and Ashleigh take the small one. Me and Finn have the house-sized, many-limbed beastie."
"We do?" Finn asked.
"Don't we always?"
Her wonderful husband grinned. "True, true. Damn, Brandon better give us a fine reward after this!"
"You two are probably richer than me with all you've won from your 'legendary deeds!'" the count countered. "Don't try and rob me!"
"Never," Finn assured him with a smile. "I love you, Rose!" And they all charged the monsters.
The four tried to follow Rose's plan of pairing up against the opponents, but that threatened to fall apart as the great lump-beast attacked all of them at once with rubbery appendages able to extend twenty feet from its body at the least. Rose hacked down tentacle after tentacle, but there seemed no end to the things, while Finn's mace hits had even less effect. A smiling Alphonse pointed his open palm at Ashleigh and she jerked and cried out, blood erupting from her flank to splatter over her armor.
Grimacing, she charged him alongside Brandon, only to take a slash across the back from a flexible tentacle. She stumbled, then another jagged blade stabbed into her shoulder from above and she fell to her knees. Brandon chopped through that appendage with a roar of rage, only to promptly find himself beset by three more. He cut away two with his next furious blow, but more replaced them. Before he could slash at these, Alphonse's ranged attack hit him in the forearm and opened him up to their deadly strikes.
Gleaming blades shot towards the count's head and neck—and fell harmlessly around him, severed by the axe Finn had drawn to replace his ineffectual mace. Alphonse pointed a hand at Rose's husband, only for her to stab him from behind and lift him thrashing into the air. Taking heart, Ashleigh cut through the tentacle piercing her shoulder, and though white with pain took a strong double swing at the beast's lump of a body. Her swords carved long scratches onto the thick black hide, but a multitude of threatening tentacles forced her to back away. Wounded as she was, she proved too slow to evade their lightning-fast strikes for long, and the next glancing hit knocked her down. Brandon saved her, stepping before her to ward off the jabbing blades though he took several cuts himself.
"Rose? Finn? A little help here!"
Finn was busy with his own set of tentacles, but ran from them anyway to jump through the area directly in front of Brandon, axe blade passing through many tentacles. He took a spike in the arm upon landing, but quickly cut through the attached limb and stepped in close to swing his axe full force into its owner's body. The lump flinched as the steel sank deep. But more tentacles dove at Finn, slicing the back of his hand open while he raised his axe to defend the attacks. "Damn, this thing is tough!"
Alphonse struggled hard on Rose's sword, his size making it difficult for her to control his body. Though impaled deeply by her huge blade, he seemed strong as ever, and to her shock grew a flexible, bone-tipped tail with which he stabbed at her belly. He could change shape?!
Though surprised, she sidestepped and grabbed the tail in her shield hand. She wasn't about to get skewered a third time so soon! Now Alphonse turned his head all the way around to bite her, revealing rows of nasty serrated teeth. She twisted the sword in his body, but it seemed to have little effect, not even causing much more blood to flow. His maw, open wider than humanly possible, came down at her neck.
Rose shuddered to imagine being bitten by those flesh-shredding teeth, and in desperation thrust his own tail-spike upwards at the underside of her opponent's jaw. She struck true, driving the bone spike through soft flesh and continuing into the roof of the mouth. It should have been a fatal blow, but Alphonse kept trying to bite at Rose's neck, though her strength held his mouth away. Nonetheless, she thought she had the situation in hand—at least until he grew wings.
Startled by the improbable development, she stumbled back from the battering of powerful new limbs, and Alphonse tried to take to the air. As he came a man's height off the ground, though, she ran right back at him. She jumped to catch hold of the flying monster's thighs, pulling his body down so that the back of his head was whipped hard into the rocky ground. He rolled slowly onto his belly, and Rose raised her sword for a blow that would decapitate him. Before she could strike, a second tail shot out of his backside to spear her in the thigh.
Numerous tentacles lay around the larger creature, but there seemed to be no less stabbing at the three warriors who fought it, for it regrew the appendages as it lost them. They tried again and again to close in for strikes at the body, but so far had been unable to do more than superficial damage, and suffered wound after wound for their efforts. A wide sweeping cut from Finn cleared the way momentarily for Brandon and Ashleigh to charge. Their blades ripped great gouges into black flesh, and the enemy screamed. But its cries were more of rage than pain, and worse, revealed great fanged maws opening up all over the lump-shaped beast.
Rose stumbled back, bleeding profusely from wounds in her leg and side. Alphonse followed close behind, slamming into her to bear her to the ground.
As they fell together, she grabbed the top of his head to keep those gnashing teeth from her neck, but he was so strong, and had so many weapons... Already his mortal wounds had sealed themselves, while she was losing a ton of blood from the gashes made by his tails.
His right tail shot down at her chest, but she batted it away with her sword hilt. His left tail sliced cruelly into her hip, and he raised his hands to shoot whatever came out of his palms into her face. Rose blocked the projectiles with her shield. Both his tails tensed to stab at her gut. Desperately, she flipped him off herself with her legs. She rolled over to mount him, pinning one of his tails beneath her knee.
She wasted no time cleaving off his other tail and rammed her sword through his chest, nailing him to the ground. Rose raised her steel-rimmed shield high in hopes that a shattered skull and brain would finally be enough to kill the unyielding monster. But she never got the chance to find out, for after her first blow two great tentacles stabbed into her front and dragged her forward, over and away from the downed Alphonse towards huge waiting mouths.
Looking down, she confirmed that one spike had buried itself deep in her chest, and the other tentacle pierced clean through her upper abdomen. Not again! This was as bad as when she'd fought the Spelldrinker... Blood bubbling from her mouth, she cried, "Dammit Finn, what the hell are you doing?! I thought you had this thing!"
She looked to her friends and her breath caught in her throat when she saw they could barely stand, near the end of their ability to defend themselves against the many tentacles assaulting them. Indeed, their giant enemy had the battle in hand enough to divert some attention to saving its partner, the pinned Alphonse who was beginning to try and free himself, by attacking her. Seeing Rose's predicament, Finn attempted a desperate spell only for Alphonse to shoot him in the upper chest, disrupting his chant and dropping him. Rose's heart skipped a beat as he tried to stand and fell back. It couldn't end like this. She wouldn't let it. But it hurt so bad...
