“It wasn’t hard,” Mandi said darkly.
The group slowly fanned out, brandishing their weapons cautiously. Bunni took cover behind a rock.
The Queen looked Athel over carefully. “Impossible. How can you be here? I…I broke you.”
Athel nodded, the green light highlighting her scars and ruined eye. “Yes, you did. But you didn’t break my friends. They picked me up. And now, we are here to end this madness.”
“Stand down, Queen Sotol!” Privet commanded, holding Covenant Breaker before him.
She snorted derisively, gripping her carved black staff tightly. “And if I don’t?”
Mandi held up her crossbow. “Honestly, after watching my father die, I’m really hoping you don’t.”
Queen Sotol cackled, great black limbs like a spider growing from her back. “You’re going to destroy me, are you? You created me, Athel Forsythia. Don’t you realize that? I am different than I was in every single vessel I occupied before this one, because of your meddling. Oh, I know all about your spy, Tigera Hissledorf, and his afet. It infected me with Spirea’s feelings, with her goals. Do you have any idea just how much she hated you, Athel?”
Athel took a step back in surprise. “But why?”
The Queen smirked, her body glowing with evil. “Because you were born with everything, and she had nothing. That’s right. All those things I did to hurt you, they only happened because you tried to save her. You see, you really aren’t that important. You’re not the prophesied hero, you were not destined for greatness, or anything really. You’re just some little bug that got in my way. I probably would never have even taken notice of you, to be honest. But because you contaminated me with Spirea’s hatred for you, I took great relish in tearing you down, in stripping you of everything you had. You know what the funny part is? Even though I know these feelings aren’t really mine, I still can’t describe how wonderful it feels to see you like this right now. Even the goodness inside of you has been destroyed. I’ve dragged you down, made you dark like me, and it fills me with incomparable delight to see it.”
The Queen grinned devilishly, relishing in how deeply her words were hurting Athel.
Athel stepped back, her breast burning with guilt, her scars cold with stigma. She felt cool sweat trickle down her brow. Distantly, she could hear a thousand voices condemning her every sin.
The Queen licked her black lips, savoring her choice of words. “You…are unworthy of Alder’s love!”
Athel shrieked in agony and fired her crossbow.
Queen Sotol jinked left, letting the shot fly past her. She charged forward like a bolt of lightning, her feet tearing the very stone apart around her as she launched herself forward. Blinded by rage, Athel countercharged, the two women meeting in the center with a crack like thunder. Athel slammed her shoulder into the Queen’s chest, knocking the wind out of her. She held her weapon like a club and swung, hitting her so hard it nearly knocked her off her feet. Tears flying free from her face, Athel hit her again and again, breaking the crossbow in her hands. One of Spirea’s talons caught Athel in the thigh, plunging deep into her flesh. Ignoring the pain, she punched with the broken butt, smashing the Queen across the face, then moved in close and struck up, clocking her hard in the chin and throwing her head back.
Andolf released a trio of spirits, binding the Queen’s feet to the floor. Mandi fired her crossbow, the bolt striking the Queen in the shoulder. The magical tines raced through her cursed body, but barely slowed her down. The Queen stabbed down with one of her talons, straight at Athel’s heart, but Talliun fired her volley pistol, shearing the insect limb clean off.
Privet leapt behind the Queen and rolled to his feet.
“Too easy!”
He sliced at her from behind, Covenant Breaker making a squealing clang of frustration as it hit something.
Privet’s face twisted into shock. She had blocked him with her staff, sparks of black and white streaking out from where the two weapons met.
“Impossible! Nothing can…”
The Queen twisted her staff, revealing a scratch of glimmering dragon bone beneath.
“Did you really think you were the only people in Aetria with access to dragon corpses?”
Queen Sotol released a black wave of energy, throwing her opponents back in all directions. They slammed hard against the walls, cracking the stone.
* * *
The people of Sutor screamed, funneling into their office buildings of hard light, frantically climbing staircases, wildly abandoning railways and trolleys. Trying to get higher, higher, anything to get higher. They clamored over one another, climbed atop each other, trampling each other beneath their feet as they flew in terror.
Sevtah and a few others tried to cull the madness, pulling screaming children and the elderly free of the press, seeking out the wounded and the infirm before they suffocated from the crushing weight of the crowd pushing from behind.
Sea water burst through the east docks, sliding gleefully down the slopes, releasing plumes of fume and steam as it ran down towards the center of the crater, pouring down into the caves below. The land shifted, the entire island squirming in pain as it was assaulted from within. The sky above Sutor was dark, crackling with energy as the island began to fracture on all sides.
* * *
The chamber shuddered with evil as Queen Sotol lifted her staff and fired a beam of white energy at Athel as she lay on the floor.
Privet pulled himself up and stepped into it, slicing through the beam and dispelling it, his own weapon crackling with black electricity.
Privet charged into her, attacking so fast it was nearly impossible to follow. He slashed high, stabbed low, spun around and cracked the Queen in the face with a kick. She blocked with her staff, their two weapons exploding in flashes of black and white, blinding the entire room.
Privet ducked beneath one of her claws and slashed upwards, the floor shredding to pieces by the force of his blow. Queen Sotol pulled back in fear, his blade passing just millimeters before her face.
Steam rising from her chipped and notched staff, she blocked as fast as she could. A slash aimed at her face, a thrust at her midsection, a quick cut at her leg, a stab at her heart. He seemed to be everywhere at once. The air between them exploded with florid detonations of white and black.
She snarled in anger, rocketing herself around behind him, her insect limbs stabbing with razor-sharp pincers. He caught her staff and flung it upwards, the ground beneath them exploding in shards of stone. Her defenses open, he caught her with a kick to the midsection, an elbow to the sternum, the back of his fist to her face.
He spun around and nearly decapitated her. She blocked with her staff at the last possible moment, the material straining and groaning behind the weight of his attack, threatening to splinter in her grip.
She spun her staff into a hilt-lock, but was flung back in shock, then charged again.
Queen Sotol reached into her pouch and flung out a handful of seeds, and the floor erupted into a forest of spear-tipped roots.
The image of Queen Sotol split in half and rotated around her opponent.
Privet dodged again and again, slashing and cutting the murderous plants as fast as he could, but each time he landed the ground exploded with spear thrusts. They tore off his sleeve, his collar, his shirt, cutting into his flesh with reckless abandon.
The two ghostly images reformed behind him and fired a blast of white lightning.
Privet kicked himself into the air, spinning horizontally as the lightning passed beneath him, cutting a deep furrow before her dark throne.
Fighting against her hurt leg, Athel propped herself up on her elbow and fired her pistol. The shot struck the Queen in the back. Snarling in pain, she spun around and held out her taloned hand. The stone floor curled up like a scroll and flung itself at her.
Tall
iun pulled herself to her feet and jumped, grabbing Athel and rolling her away a split second before the stone pummeled the ground where she had been.
Privet leapt from behind and stabbed at the Queen. She spun around and blocked, only to be shot in the leg by Mandi. Queen Sotol reached down and grabbed the magical arrow with a pincer, only to have it explode in her grip, pulping the pincer.
Privet ducked below a strike from another of her pincers, then leapt up, head-butting her in the face with a wicked crack. She blasted him away with a white wave of energy, only to have Mandi leap at her from behind and stab her in the back with a dagger.
The Queen roared in pain, grabbing the woman in mid-air and slamming her to the ground, only to be shot in the arm by Athel. She held out her hand and fired a gout of white fire, but Privet sprinted before Athel and slashed, destroying the magic.
Andolf finished preparing his spell and released a storm of spirits. They wove themselves into a net around Queen Sotol. She struggled and slashed with her many limbs, but it held her fast.
Mandi lit a hand mortar and threw it into the netting. It exploded, shredding black flesh and clothing.
Talliun fired with her pistol, then threw it aside and pulled out another and fired, then pulled out a third.
Athel reloaded her pistol and fired again.
Shot after shot slammed into the Queen’s body, the magical runes inscribed into the balls doing far more damage than any mundane lead could ever do. Her black blood dripped out of the net of spirits that held her and she screeched like a caged animal.
Privet ran and leapt into the air, Covenant Breaker held high, gleaming in crackling darkness as he stabbed it down at her. “I got her!”
Queen Sotol wailed like a banshee, releasing an expanding ball of white fire that tore her prison to tatters as it flashed out, throwing Privet and everyone else back along the floor like rag dolls.
* * *
The women of Hatronesia fled their city, lamenting and mourning as the ocean spread across their jungle. The trees melted, the flowers dissolved before the dark wave as it clawed its way beneath the slowly spinning floating buildings of their capital.
Frightened women took to the skies on their white wings, fleeing their homes as the lower buildings were grabbed by watery tentacles and pulled down, one by one. When the seas hit the temple, they flooded inside, tearing the small structure to pieces with reckless glee.
The women looked at one another in fear. Without Poe’s light, they began to sink towards the invading waters below. They flapped their wings harder and harder, wailing in terror, but only managed to slow their descent.
* * *
Talliun fired her volley pistol, striking the Queen in the gut. But she didn’t seem to be made of flesh any more. The black tar that was her body absorbed the blow, sopping blackness dripping out of the wound.
Mandi fired another bolt, but the Queen swatted it out of the air, only to be shot in the back by Athel. She swept her leg out as a great black blade at Athel, only to be slashed across the chest by Talliun.
Queen Sotol pulled away a piece of her shoulder as if it were made of dough and threw it. The blackness spun in the air as it raced towards Mandi, stretching out into a spinning buzzsaw. Mandi jumped clear, the blade biting deeply into the stone, only to land in a thicket of the roots from earlier. The Queen clenched her fist, and the roots wrapped themselves around her body, venomous barbs sprouting and piercing her skin. Mandi hollered from the powerful toxins racing through her. Her struggles grew weaker and weaker, then her limbs went limp.
Athel fired again, striking the Queen through the hip.
Queen Sotol shot out her arm like a weapon, her limb stretching into a long, black spear that struck Athel through the shoulder, pinning her to the wall. Athel screamed, clawing at the limb that impaled her.
Privet ran up behind and leapt into the air. The Queen grew a wall of barbed roots, but he sliced through them. Her back opened up into a large red eye and fired a beam of heat, but he dispelled it.
At the last second, the Queen blocked with her staff. The ebony weapon creaked and bent. Privet roared like a lion, putting all his strength into the attack. The two magical weapons released fountains of white and black sparks, shrieking against one another.
Her staff squealed, then shattered in her grip. The explosion of white threw Privet back, where he came crashing down to the ground hard with the sickly snap of breaking bones.
Talliun lit a trio of runic shells and rushed the Queen from the side, ramming the spheres deep into a sopping wound.
Queen Sotol’s legs melted into a mass of tentacles. She swept Talliun’s feet out from under her, then bashed downwards, intending to crush her. Talliun rolled aside, the tentacles smashing the stone to dust from the force of her blow. She reached for the explosives, but Andolf released a pair of spirits that bound her tentacles together.
The mortars exploded inside her with tremendous force, tearing large black chunks free from her dark and twisted form, splattering Talliun in the greasy fluid. What was once the Queen let out a ghastly wail, its tentacles and limbs flopping around in agony.
Then it seemed to explode again, but this time it was intentional. Hundreds of black bits of flesh reformed themselves into venomous needles. Talliun bent back, letting one pass before her face, then snapped forward, letting two more slip behind her. She held up her crossbow and let it catch a fourth, the weapon darkening and cracking from the dark magics.
But Andolf was not so fast. His spirits crowded before him, shielding him from as many as they could, but as their ghostly forms fell inertly to the floor, he looked down at the pair sticking out of his chest. He fell to his knees, then collapsed, paralyzed.
Turning her attention back to Athel, the beast held out its claws, gathering together a sphere of dark energy pointed directly at Athel’s head.
Athel screeched in terror as she struggled with her quiver.
With a high-pitched little war cry, Bunni Bubbles ran up and stabbed the monster in the foot with her tiny cutlass.
The beast flinched.
Talliun fell to her knees, her skin growing pale, the black tar sizzling where it touched her. Her hand trembling, she pulled out a knife and threw it before collapsing to the floor. The blade flew true, stabbing the beast through the palm.
It roared and jerked its hand back as the attack fired. The beam of darkness missed by mere inches, slamming into the wall beside Athel’s head, burning away most of her hair, and digging a tunnel straight through hundreds of feet of solid rock before bursting out the far end of the city.
The beast swatted Bunni away. Her little clay body broke into pieces, scattering along the floor. When her cracked head rolled to a stop, she looked back at her body lying next to her.
“I have a boo boo.”
Athel pulled all the arrows free of her quiver and jammed them all into the beast’s arm. The combined magic from all the bolts released at once made it howl in pain, pulling its burnt arm free and dropping Athel to the floor.
Privet stood up, breathing heavily, his broken arm hanging limply at his side, blood running down his face.
Athel forced herself to her feet, gasping for breath as her amber blood trickled down her ruined leg and shoulder.
Talliun, Mandi, Andolf, and Bunni lay helpless on the floor.
* * *
Inside the Dreadnaught, the distant flashes and rumbles from the city barely registered in Dahlia’s cell. She continued to rhythmically rock forward, as she had done for days now, her chains yanking with a thud each time, the wood creaking where the links were rooted to a timber.
“I’m not a man,” she whispered to herself, rocking back and forth. “I’m not...”
The wood cracked, and she nearly fell forward, unaccustomed to being able to lean past a certain point.
She looked back, and noticed
that the bolts through the timber had finally shorn free. Reaching back, she slipped her chains free and stood up, wandering out of her cell with vacant and empty eyes.
* * *
The black beast of tar grew larger, towering over Privet as it stepped before him. Great horns sprouted from its head, a long scorpion tail from its back. Great hands like a gorilla, and hooves like a horse.
Athel drew her saber and hobbled towards the beast. It ignored her, and breathed white fire at Privet. He blocked the flame, his sword scattering the flames, but a second spell grew beneath him. The floor exploded, throwing Privet to the ground, his body bleeding from a dozen puncture wounds.
“No!”
Athel tried to move faster, but her wounded leg buckled beneath her and she fell down.
The beast picked up a ruined slab of stone and lifted it above its head. With a titanic crash, it threw the stone down. Privet barely rolled free in time. The slab hit the ground and became a spray of large steaming chunks. One of them landed atop Privet’s leg, pinning him in place.
Athel crawled, her blood trailing on the floor behind her. “No! Not again! No, please…!”
The beast stepped up atop the chunk, grinding it down into his leg further. Privet screamed in agony.
“NO!”
It stood over Privet, fire escaping from its nostrils.
As a final act of defiance, Privet flipped his grip and threw Covenant Breaker like a spear, but the beast merely stretched its body of black tar, opening up a circle in the center of its chest.
The sword flew through the hole, and clattered fecklessly to the ground beyond at the far end of the hall.
Athel reached out her hand. “NOOOOOOO!”
The beast turned around and looked at her with eyes of white fire. “It hurts, doesn’t it?”
The voice was low and gravely, a sensual gargle filled with hate.
“You traded away everything you had, didn’t you?”
It stretched out its hand, grabbing Athel by the neck and lifting her aloft. Athel kicked and struggled, fighting with all the strength she had left.
Isle of Wysteria: Throne of Chains Page 36
