They both nodded. I opened a portal and realized that something was wrong. I closed it and recalibrated our entry point.
“I think the hub is under attack, so you may want to prepare,” I said. “The only open access point puts us near the nexus area. The rest of the plane is blocked somehow.”
Samir unsheathed a sword and daggers appeared in Kal’s hands as I opened another portal.
“This one puts us in the training hall,” I said. “Are you ready?”
They stepped in and I followed.
FORTY-NINE
THE INVERSION GLYPH continued to undo everything. Around him, the complex disintegrated and became rubble. The rubble in turn broke down into dust and the dust slowly disappeared until nothing remained. Lucius sat with his eyes closed and breathed. The orb of light around him negated the effects of the glyph as he waited. This type of glyph required active chi, in this case, Rael’s chi. He only had to wait until the Harbinger was consumed by his sword. In the meantime, he focused on Maelstrom. The inversion glyph slowed to a stop and he dropped the orb of light. He looked around the cell. Everything and everyone in the cell outside of his orb had been consumed. He sat on a small island of stone, surrounded by emptiness.
As I told you, Harbinger, futile, but creative. With anyone else, your last gambit may have worked.
He closed his eyes and located his weapon.
Wheel is headed for the nexus, with my weapon. I can only imagine what he wishes to do. I think it is time I reclaim what is mine.
He opened a portal to the hub and sensed the difference immediately.
The portal polarity has changed. It would seem I am just in time.
He stepped in.
FIFTY
“THAT SHOULD ENSURE that anyone who wants to get the nexus meets a swift end,” said Devin.
“Will it be enough?” asked Mouro. “If we fall and Wheel gets the nexus?”
“Then we will be the first of many dead,” said Devin. “I don’t intend on letting that happen.”
The floor of the training hall started to tremble.
“We don’t get earthquakes here, do we?” asked Mouro.
“Get ready,” said Devin. “He is close, but he is sending his Lotus in first, it seems.”
The surface of the lake was shattered by the presence of hundreds of Lotus as they stepped into the plane and surrounded the training hall. In the center of the multitude of White Lotus stood Wheel. He wore a white robe with gold brocade. His emblem of a wheel inside other wheels on the left side blazed with its own light. Beneath his robe, violet light emanated from glyphs running across his torso. In his right hand, he held Maelstrom. It trembled in his grip as he raised it before the training hall.
“Warriors!” he yelled. “I have come for the nexus. We can make this easy and painless, or I can make you suffer.”
In the tree line, Franca, with a rifle in her hand, lay prostrate and aimed.
She placed Wheel in her sights, took a few calming breaths and squeezed the trigger. Wheel turned in the direction of the bullet and swept his arm across his body. The bullet deflected off his energy shield and killed one of the closest Lotus. He peered in the direction the bullet had come from, traced a glyph, and sent it.
“By force it is, then,” said Wheel as he brought Maelstrom down. “Kill them, but leave the nexus intact.”
The glyph advanced on Franca as she dropped her rifle, broke the cover of the tree line, and ran into the nearest group of Lotus. She made it in time to see three of the Lotus burst into flame and become ash before her eyes.
Around her, the Lotus drew their short swords and attacked.
The Lotus advanced on the training hall as the tree line erupted in gunfire. Wheel stood in the center of the Lotus, unfazed.
“Nothing matters but the nexus,” he said. “Capture that and then we deal with the distractions.”
He traced a glyph in the air and Devin inhaled quickly.
“What is it?” asked Mouro. “What did he do?”
“He just used the inversion glyph, but it wasn’t just that glyph,” said Devin. “He combined it with something else. This isn’t looking good.”
All around Wheel, corrupted RahVen and Lotus appeared and they rushed at the training hall. Beneath the training hall, Ono held her sword in one hand and Mariko’s fan in the other. As the Lotus approached, she opened the fan. She stepped onto the lake and advanced. She cut down dozens of the Lotus, but more came to fill their place. She closed her eyes for a brief second and waved the fan in an intricate figure-eight in front of herself.
The fan glowed a sickly green as the Lotus dropped to the ground, dead, around her.
On the other side of the training hall and on the perimeter of the throng, Meja eliminated Lotus with Truth. Michael joined her.
“We need to close the portal somehow or we die here,” said Michael as he sidestepped around a frontal lunge and led the Lotus into another behind him. “There are too many of them.”
“Cut them down,” said Meja. “Work your way to the center and get Wheel.”
Meja looked around the lake. It seemed impossible. Wheel remained in the center of the attacking force surrounded by corrupted RahVen and other creatures she had never seen. The lake trembled again, and an ear-splitting crack resonated throughout the entire plane. She half expected to see the plane split in two from the sound. A large portal appeared in the center of the Lotus and a figure stepped through. All of the Lotus in proximity to the portal lay dead.
“No, it can’t be,” she said. “Michael, we need to get away, now.”
Michael was fighting behind her and had turned at the sound but could not see the figure. “What the hell was that sound?” he asked. “Is the lake fractured?”
Meja grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away. She cut a path away from the newly formed portal and headed to the training hall.
“What are you doing?” said Michael as he tugged his arm away. “Why are we running?”
He looked at the portal that had just opened and went pale before keeping pace with Meja.
“Is that who I think it is?” he asked her. “It can’t be, right? That’s his shadow. Tell me he is still imprisoned.”
“I don’t think his shadow can wield that much power,” she answered. “Don’t you feel it?”
Behind the figure, hundreds of Gyrevex entered the plane and engaged the Lotus. Their bells whistled through the air as they swung and released them. Lucius the Destroyer had entered the plane.
“We have to warn Devin,” said Meja. “He won’t be able to stop him.”
“Stop him?” said Michael. “He won’t even be able to slow him down. We need to get off-plane now.”
“We can’t,” said Raquel, who joined them. “The plane is blocked. Nothing is getting in or out now.”
Lady Ono had retreated to the training hall once she sensed the power of Lucius entering the plane. She saw the others and gestured for them to join her.
“We cannot stand against that power,” she said. “Even if we attacked together, it is a gnat attacking an elephant.”
“Where are the others?” said Meja. “Have you seen Devin?”
“He should be downstairs with Mouro, guarding the nexus,” said Michael. “Ono is right. Our best bet would be finding a way out of the hub.”
“There is nowhere to go. The plane is shut down,” said Devin as he approached. “I have prepped the nexus. Once anyone tries to access it, it will sever all connections to the other planes and implode, destroying this hub…and anyone in it.”
“And us?” asked Ono. “I can assume it will consume us as well?”
“I don’t think we will be alive long enough for it to matter,” said Devin. “Once he realizes what happened, he will come for us.”
“I have no intention of dying here today,” said Meja. “There should be a window of opportunity between the nexus severing the hub and our getting off-plane.”
Devin rubbed his chin. “You m
ay be right, but the window is small,” he said. “So small that you will have only a few seconds to open a portal and get out.”
“I only need a few seconds,” said Meja. “In the meantime we need to find somewhere to do this. This place will be overrun soon.”
“This is the safest place right now,” said Devin. “I placed glyphs on the perimeter. The Lotus or the Gyrevex won’t be getting in here.”
Meja manifested Truth and released it. It floated around them in a lazy orbit.
“I’m going to see what is happening,” she said. “Someone try and reach Franca and bring her back.”
Meja sat cross-legged in the training hall and closed her eyes. She allowed her senses to expand and then focused them. She directed her awareness toward Lucius. She let her awareness get close enough to witness what occurred, but kept at a distance for fear he would retaliate.
“I’ll go get Franca,” said Raquel. “They should be busy with each other out there.”
“Don’t get caught in the crossfire,” said Michael.
“I will assist you,” said Lady Ono. “Two of us will work faster than one.
They jumped off the side of the railing and landed soundlessly on the lake below. Around them, the fighting continued between the Lotus and the Gyrevex. They ran for the tree line in search of Franca.
**********
“You have something that belongs to me,” said Lucius as he removed the perimeter of Lotus and RahVen with a gesture.
“You still don’t understand, Lucius. Your shadow is no threat to me here, of all places,” said Wheel. “I will have to erase you.”
He formed a sphere in his hand.
“Do you remember what I told you the last time we spoke?” asked Lucius. “When you last used that on me?”
“I don’t think so,” answered Wheel. “I try not to listen to the ravings of madmen.”
Lucius walked toward Wheel as he spoke.
“I told you, you should have killed me when you had the opportunity,” whispered Lucius. “I promise to make this quick. You will pay for my family, my imprisonment, for everything.”
“You truly are mad,” said Wheel. “Do you really think you can exact revenge on me? I will control all of the planes. You are a ghost, the pathetic attempt of a relic to exert control on a world that no longer exists. I’m done with you—we all are.”
Wheel threw the sphere at Lucius. It hit him square in the chest and he stopped moving.
“What did I tell you?” screamed Wheel as he raised his hands in triumph. “You are nothing!”
He walked over to the immobile Lucius and raised Maelstrom to strike. He brought down the staff only to have it stopped by Lucius. Once Lucius touched the staff, it leaped from Wheel’s hands into Lucius’s.
“I told you, this belongs to me,” said Lucius as he slammed Maelstrom into the lake.
“Destruyir,” he said.
A wave of energy exploded from Maelstrom and erased everything around Lucius and Wheel. All of the Lotus, RahVen, and Gyrevex surrounding them were devoured by the wave.
“Now with the exception of the few remaining loose ends by my nexus, it’s just the two of us,” said Lucius. “Shall we end this?”
Wheel lunged forward as he manifested a sword. Its black blade gleamed in the light as Lucius parried the lunge.
“A life stealer,” said Lucius. “Clever, but it won’t work.”
“How did you escape, Lucius?” said Wheel. Fear tinged his voice and the sword in his hand trembled slightly. “I’m willing to allow you dominion over this plane, as a courtesy of course, if you surrender now.”
“You… will... allow… me?” said Lucius. “Every plane is mine for the taking. I will remake them all.”
He swung Maelstrom faster than any eye could track and slammed it into Wheel’s side. The sound of several broken ribs could be heard. Wheel slid back and released the inversion glyph at Lucius. The glyph raced across the space between them as a portal opened.
***********
I opened the portal and we entered the hub plane. I fully expected to be in the training hall and found myself face to face with what I could only assume was Samadhi Wheel. A glyph was bearing down on us and I could see it was the inversion glyph. I quickly traced the reversion and hoped it would stop it. The glyphs collided and for three eternal seconds the world held its breath. I felt the surge of energy almost instantly, grabbed Kal and Samir and threw them to the side, away from the glyphs and hopefully to safety. They slid across the surface of the lake and stopped close to the training hall. I hoped that was far enough as the roar of the explosion filled my ears.
As I lay on my back, I saw Lucius jump over my body and land next to Wheel. He took Maelstrom and buried it in Wheel’s chest. I heard him speak the word I had formed in my mind, but never uttered when I held that cursed weapon.
“Consumir,” said the Destroyer as Wheel howled under him while Maelstrom consumed his life. “In the end it was you who did not understand.”
He headed toward the training hall. I could sense the others were in there. They did not stand a chance against him. I could feel the power and energy coming off him in waves. I stood up slowly and manifested Shadowstrike. Covered in a black aura, he turned to face me.
“You do not want to do this, boy,” he said. “Put that sword away and I may gift you your life.”
“Can’t do that,” I said. “I have to stop you here.”
“Do not make the same mistake he did,” he said and pointed at Wheel’s body with Maelstrom. “You cannot face me and win. You cannot stop me alone.”
Several bullets came our way. I heard them in the distance as they homed in on Lucius. He deflected them easily with Maelstrom. I twisted back and out of the way, as a swarm of daggers rushed by me followed by a swarm of orbs. Whirling Maelstrom, he managed to avoid both swarms.
I felt Meja before I actually saw her as she advanced with Truth. She stepped close and threw her sword at Lucius at the same time another swarm of daggers came at him followed by a wave of green energy that he couldn’t deflect. Truth impaled itself in his shoulder as several of the daggers exploded on contact and sent him flying back.
Meja placed a pendant around my neck. “You are not alone, but you alone must end this.” She touched my cheek for a second before a wave of energy launched her away from me and slammed her into the lake.
I looked down at the pendant around my neck. At the end of it hung a black prism.
That is a sliver of Maelstrom.
I know what I need to do. Allow it to merge with us.
Dante, that sliver will taint our bond beyond any ability to repair it.
I know, but it’s the only way.
Lucius had pulled Truth out of his shoulder as Sylk’s words came back to me. Sometimes darkness is needed to conquer darkness. If I absorbed the sliver, I could face and beat Maelstrom.
“You and your friends will die today,” said Lucius as he advanced on me. “Then my reign will begin.”
I let Shadowstrike free, took the pendant in my hand, and shattered it. The energy of the pendant merged and bonded to us. I ran forward faster than I had ever run before, faster than Lucius could track, and buried Shadowstrike in his heart.
He began to laugh. “Do you think you can kill me?” he said. “I am beyond you and your pathetic weapon.” He pulled Shadowstrike out of his chest and it disappeared.
I looked on in shock. I had thought it would work.
“Don’t be disappointed,” he said. “You just don’t possess enough—”
A beam of black energy erupted from my chest and impaled him. Shadowstrike had reformed in my hand.
Strike him now, Dante. End this.
I drove forward against the resistance of the energy trying to push me away. I swung Shadowstrike with all my strength. It cut through and across his body.
“Impossible, you cannot defeat me,” he said as his body lay in separate sections on the lake floor. “I must …I must—”
His body burst into flames and the entire plane shook. Devin raced over to me. “That last attack set off the nexus,” he said. “Now would be a good time to open a portal, Meja.”
She raced through a glyph and opened a portal. They ran through it. When I attempted to go through, I was bounced back as the portal closed. Behind me, I could hear laughter. The charred body of Lucius was still alive. The beam of energy that extended from my chest still connected us.
“You are part of me now,” he sputtered. “I will take some small measure of satisfaction in knowing that you will perish with me.”
Can we break this bond?
Use the sliver.
The sliver?
Darkness to fight darkness.
I let the darkest part of me rise to the surface, and embraced it. The part I hid. The anger, the hatred, and the killer. I looked at this part of myself and embraced it. It was part of me, but it didn’t define me. I was more than a killer.
“No,” I said to Lucius. “I am not you. I will not live your way.”
The beam connecting us severed. I looked down at his charred body and, for moment, I thought I saw a look of peace. His body disintegrated as another tremor rocked the plane. I opened a portal and jumped in.
I knew the taint remained. I could feel it in my bond with Shadowstrike. I didn’t know how bad it was, but I could tell it was there. I could sense the others even across the planes. It would seem my abilities had increased considerably. I found myself on a desert plane, alone. I looked around. I had never been to this plane, but it mirrored how I felt. Alone and desolate. A portal opened beside me, but I didn’t feel a threat so I remained seated. I don’t know if I would have gotten up even if it had been a threat. I was so tired. A woman with a young child in her arms stepped through.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“A friend,” she said. “I have to give you something. Why don’t you lie back for a moment?”
“That sounds excellent,” I replied, but my speech was slurred. “Tired…so tired.”
She pushed me back into the sand and it felt warm and comfortable. I could hear her saying words, but I could not make out the meaning. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm sand on my body. I heard the little girl giggle once before I lost consciousness.
Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy Page 89
