Midrealm

by Garrett Robinson

  “You coming?” I asked Greystone, who was still sitting there and panting.

  His eyes flashed. “Oh no,” he said. “I thought I’d simply let you go on without me. I am an old man, after all, and require my rest. Perhaps I’ll simply take a nap right here on the staircase.”

  I looked questioningly out the open hatch. “Um…okay, I guess. Really?” I took a tentative step toward the open hatch.

  “No, not really, you idiot!” Greystone snapped, hauling himself to his feet. “The disrespect of you brats from True Earth. Cannot an old man rest after he has fought with the armies of darkness and then engaged in an utterly pointless bout of exercise just to satisfy the wheedling curiosity of a brainless nitwit?”

  Without waiting for an answer he moved cautiously up the stairs through the hatch, hunching over so that he was bent almost double. I followed, walking the same way. Greystone cautiously made his way over to the edge of the tower’s platform, hiding behind a rampart. I knelt behind an adjacent one.

  “Now,” Greystone said quietly, “carefully look over the edge and down toward the gate. Then you will see the death that you have been so eager to meet.”

  Slowly, I pushed myself up until one eye was just peeking through the gap in the parapet.

  It was something out of a nightmare.

  It was a creature of pure Chaos, no doubt. It wasn’t quite as formless as the Shadows, but it had the same black, twisted look. Its body was shaped almost like a gorilla’s, yet shadow black and hairless. Its short legs made its massive arms look even larger and its gigantic chest looked twenty feet wide. Its face, however, was like a hideous lizard. I thought of a dragon because of how big it was, but every drawing of a dragon I’d ever seen had a degree of nobility, of intelligence. This was a face of hatred. Its eyes looked calculating and cunning. The teeth in its blunt snout had to be as long as my arm, and it gnashed them as a thin tongue snaked out to lash at the air.

  It was hard to tell how tall it was, because it was hunched over and alternated between walking on its hind legs and walking on all four like an animal. But when it stalked around on all four limbs, from its grounded fists to its massive shoulders it was about half as tall as the barrier gate.

  Now as I watched, it reared up on its rear legs and brought its massive claws into fists. It slammed them into the gate with the force of a pile driver.

  BOOM.

  I saw the gate finally beginning to give way, a dent forming in its front and the hinges shifting slightly.

  I ducked down behind the rampart once again.

  “Holy cow,” I whispered.

  “That is a hellion,” Greystone said. “A greater spawn of Chaos. We are both lucky and incredibly unfortunate. This creature is new, freshly spawned from Chaos below. It is not yet in full possession of itself. A fully aware hellion in command of its own powers is a force greater than you could possibly imagine.”

  “What’s the unfortunate part?”

  Greystone’s hands tightened on his staff. “No hellions have been seen in centuries. It was thought that they were all banished. If Terrence has managed to summon more — ”

  He stopped talking suddenly and gave me a shifty look before sliding up to peer over the wall.

  “Who’s Terrence?” I asked him, tugging on his robe.

  “The man you saw at the Battle of the Circle,” Greystone said shortly. “The one who wants to kill you.”

  “Oh, him,” I said. “Terrence isn’t a very daunting name for a bad guy,” I chuckled.

  “It will be when he separates your limbs without letting loose a drop of blood, keeping you alive just for the fun of it,” retorted Greystone.

  I shuddered at the thought. The guy had certainly tried his hardest to end us at the circle, and if it wasn’t for Greystone he would have succeeded.

  “What’s his deal, anyway? Why’s he working with Chaos?” I asked.

  “I thought you were well-read,” Greystone said angrily. “What motivates all evil men? Power. Glory. The thrill of domination, the enjoyment of crushing others. All else is a byproduct. Evil men are possessed of a sickness of the mind whereby they cannot enjoy their own existence unless they are ruining the lives of others.”

  “So, he’s evil because he’s evil?” I asked skeptically.

  “Are you here to argue theology, or to fight?” Greystone hissed.

  I rolled my eyes. I could tell there was more to that, and I didn’t want to let it go, but Greystone was right; we had more pressing matters to tend to.

  BOOM.

  “All right, fine,” I said. “Did you already try casting spells at it? Fire, or earth or something?”

  “No, I yelled at it to go away,” he said sarcastically.

  “How about water?”

  “Of course! Dousing him with water will make him wet and angry! Brilliant!”

  “Well, what do we do then?” I said, my voice rising too high above a whisper.

  “Need I remind you that you are the one who wanted to come here?” Greystone retorted. “I was perfectly content to let it break through the gate and have the army destroy it.”

  I looked back over the tower’s edge toward Morrowdust. The soldiers were still waiting, still ready to lay down their lives in defense of their city. And Greystone had a point: there were a lot of them. They’d almost certainly be able to subdue the hellion. But it wouldn’t be without cost.

  “I don’t want people to die,” I said firmly. “Not if there’s something I can do to stop it. You’re the one who wanted me to take my duty seriously. So tell me. How can I stop this thing, and save the lives of the men down there?”

  Greystone’s glower cracked a little. He peered over the ledge at the hellion once more.

  “Using air proved nearly useless,” he said. “Cold will not stop it, and I cannot summon a strong enough gale to deter it. I tried fire and lightning. They only served to anger it. I pushed it away again and again with Earth, even tried trapping it in a cage of rock, but it burst free. In the end I only managed to attract its attention, and barely escaped with my life. The simple truth is that I am not powerful enough. The Realm Keepers who came before you could have defeated it with ease. Now I am afraid only blades and the men behind them will make a difference.”

  “Great,” I muttered. “So I’ve got the weakest element.”

  “Thus my reluctance to bring you here,” said Greystone.

  I thought back to the training I’d done earlier, the abilities I was only starting to uncover. Suddenly I had an idea. There was one thing Greystone hadn’t mentioned…

  “Did you try using air in defense?” I asked. “To keep it away from the gate?”

  “If earth did not stop it, what good will air do?” Greystone said.

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  It took everything I had, every scrap of courage, to stand up from behind that wall, but I did it. I stood and peered out from between the ramparts, looking down at the hellion.

  It was standing there, staring idly at the gate as though forgetful of why it was there in the first place. If Greystone was right, it was still confused, still without a singular purpose. That was the only advantage we had.

  Then it stirred, seeming to remember its goal. It raised its giant, black, scaly claws to slam them on the gate again.

  I raised my hands, pulling at the air in front of the beast. I envisioned a solid wall of molecules, pushing them together as tight as I could a foot in front of the gate.

  The hellion swung.

  BOOM.

  I felt the plate shatter, the shockwave echoing in my arms. The claws slammed through it like it was gossamer, pounding the gate with titanic force. The gate rocked, another dent forming in its front.

  “Shoot,” I said, wincing and shaking my arms to dispel the pain. “Hold on, let me try again.”

  The thing raised its claws, and I put the plate back.

  THWUMP.

  The hellion rebounded from the gate like it had been struck, i
ts claws bouncing harmlessly a few inches away from the metal. It recovered its footing, staring angrily at the metal and stone before it. The burning of its red eyes intensified, and it opened its mouth in a massive roar. I nearly wet myself, losing my concentration as the plate of air dissipated into nothingness.

  The hellion lurched forward, pounding toward the gate and raising its claws again. I’d deterred it for a moment, but it seemed I’d also focused its rage on the gate. I threw the plate up once more, concentrating as hard as I could on making it solid.

  BOOM.

  The plate shattered. The gate groaned as it shuddered, bending inward slightly.

  “Crud!” I cried.

  Big mistake. The hellion’s head jerked up toward me, its red eyes narrowing as it spotted me atop the tower. Its yellowing, rotted teeth bared in a snarl as it roared again.

  “Um, Greystone?” I said weakly. “It sees us.”

  The creature’s head bent down as a low gurgling emerged from its throat. It sounded like it was about to cough up a hairball. Greystone found his feet beside me to look down at the thing. His eyes widened, and his arm snatched out and grabbed mine.

  “Down!” he shouted, leaping to the side and pulling me with him.

  With a sound like an elephant losing its lunch, a dark stream of corruption burst from the hellion’s mouth, flying toward us on the tower. Greystone got us out of the way just in time; the deluge passed by us, splashing all over the top of the tower, hissing on the stone as it landed. I landed heavily on the floor beside Greystone. Darren leapt forward to help me up.

  “What was that?” I asked as I stood once again.

  “Pure Chaos,” Greystone said grimly. “And it appears to have cut off our escape.”

  I looked to see the Chaos hissing and boiling on top of the wooden hatch that led to the stairwell and safety. I didn’t know what would happen if we touched it, but I was betting it wasn’t good.

  “You mean we’re trapped?” I squeaked. “Can you fly us out of here?”

  Greystone was panting heavily. I realized for the first time just how exhausted he was. “I am too weak,” he said. “I might drop us. I’m quite certain we wouldn’t survive the fall.”

  “What do we do?” I said, my voice coming out as a squeak.

  Darren, meanwhile, was looking over the parapet at the hellion. He turned with another scream of “Down!” and lunged forward, tackling Greystone and me to the stone. Another hissing stream of Chaos poured over the ramparts. It missed us by a good few feet, but now it was pooling in the top of the tower and beginning to flow toward us like a sickly river.

  “Quickly!” Greystone called. “We must make it to the other tower!”

  There was a short staircase leading down to the stone wall above the gate. Greystone led the way, descending the stairs with surprising agility for his age. I ran after him, Darren following close behind. I leapt the last few steps and landed hard, skidding to my knees but leaping up again and continuing my mad dash across the wall.

  I heard the gurgling noise from below again. It had seen us. Then came the roar of more Chaos gushing forth.

  I threw up a plate, desperately placing it just over the edge of the wall. I saw Chaos splatter off of it as from an invisible barrier, raining back down to the ground below. Eagerly, I leaned over to watch. The black, viscous liquid splattered all over the hellion and the ground surrounding it. With a sickly squelch, it absorbed harmlessly back into the creature’s skin.

  “Aw, dang,” I said, my face falling.

  The gurgling started again.

  “Run, you fool!” Greystone said. Darren grabbed my shoulder and hustled me along. Another stream of Chaos filled the air where we’d just been standing.

  We fled to the other end of the wall, Chaos flying through the air around us. Far away and down below, I could hear the delighted yells from the Shadow army standing just out of range, waiting. They were cheering the hellion on like an ancient Roman crowd cheering a gladiator to complete his kill.

  I leapt up the stairs to the top of the other tower three at a time. Greystone was already holding the hatch open.

  “Faster!” he shouted. I heard the tell-tale gurgling below. Closing my eyes and praying, I simply leapt through the open gap of the trap door. Darren did the same, his armor clanking loudly down the steps behind me. Greystone fled through last, slamming the door shut just as a final spurt of Chaos washed over it.

  “We must reach the bottom before it breaks through!” he cried, running past the prone forms of me and Darren. I’d have been fine laying there for a second to catch my breath, but I forced myself to get up and follow him down the stair leading to the ground. My legs were burning and I felt like my lungs would burst from my chest, but somehow I kept myself moving.

  We hit the bottom and sprang out through the iron door. The officer we’d spoken with earlier was there, looking relieved to see us.

  “Lord Greystone!” he cried. “Thank goodness. We heard the hellion and saw the Chaos flying over the wall. We feared that — ”

  “We are alive, if not entirely safe, and I am not a Lord!” snapped Greystone. “Now form up your men, Captain. It will come to blades before the end of the day.”

  BOOM. The shaking of the gate increased. Looking at it, I could see a wide rent in between the doors grow wider.

  Greystone was looking off toward Morrowdust, glaring at the city walls as though personally affronted. “Nestor, you fool,” he said quietly.

  I glanced in the direction he was looking. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “He has not sent more men as I advised,” he growled. “Curse Elanor and her meddling.”

  “But we’ve got a legion, right?” I said nervously. “I mean, a thousand men have got to be able to take the thing down. Right?”

  Greystone looked at the gate. “We shall have to hope.”

  BOOM.

  “We should do what we can to hold the thing off,” I said. “Maybe more men will come.” I held up my hands and put up a plate, then looked at Greystone. “Come on. Put something up. I’m doing everything I can, but you know what you’re doing better than I do.”

  “I am nearly depleted,” Greystone rasped. “We would do better to wait until it gets through, when we can focus our abilities on it.”

  BOOM.

  My plate shattered, the gate bending inward visibly.

  “Come on!” I cried desperately, looking at Greystone and putting up another plate. “Aren’t you supposed to be like the Grand Wizard and stuff? Help me!”

  BOOM went the gate, shaking on its hinges. I felt my plate shatter.

  “I’m a glorified advisor!” Greystone snapped. “I instruct. I teach. You people are supposed to be the muscle.”

  “It’s just me, not ‘people.’ And I’m, like, a level two elementalist at best. I’m a padawan, dude!”

  BOOM.

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying, and it makes me want to set you on fire,” said Greystone through gritted teeth.

  “You always want to set people on fire!” I retorted.

  “If anybody’s going to be setting things on fire,” said a rude voice behind me, “It’s going to be me.”

  I sighed with relief and turned around.

  CALVIN

  BLADE WAS STANDING THERE, THE sleeves of his robes rolled up to reveal his muscular forearms, a disparaging smirk on his lips. Samuel, Blade’s Runegard, was standing right behind him.

  “Of course it would be you,” Greystone said. “First the scrawny one, and then you. Destiny seems determined to deliver my Realm Keepers in order of least importance.”

  “What the heck did you do, Calvin?” Blade asked, giving Greystone nothing but a rude gesture.

  “Boy are we glad to see you,” I said with relief.

  “You, perhaps,” muttered Greystone.

  “There’s a whole lot to explain, and none of it is my fault, by the way,” I said hastily. “But here’s the short version: something is about
to come through that gate. As soon as it does, you need to set it on fire.”

  Blade unfolded his arms and cracked his knuckles. “Well, you’re speaking my language.”

  BOOM.

  I heard a growing roar from the direction of the barrier gate. I turned to see the army of Shadows pressing forward, all of them gathering just on the other side of the barrier, waiting for the hellion to break the gate down.

  “Where are the others?” I asked Blade, suddenly realizing that he was alone.

  Blade shrugged. “Don’t know. I turned in early, so we might not see them for a bit. We didn’t exactly know the city was under attack.”

  “Argh,” I said frustrated.

  BOOM.

  Another strike from the hellion reminded me of what I’d been doing when Blade showed up. I put another plate on the other side of the gate.

  “What are you doing?” Blade asked.

  “I’m putting a barrier up on the other side,” I said. “Trying to hold the thing off as long as I can.”

  “I’d stop,” said Blade. “It’s going to get through anyway. You might as well save your strength.”

  BOOM. The gate shook again, sending another jolt of pain through my arms. I yelped at the suddenness of it.

  “Impossible as it is to believe, he’s right,” said Greystone.

  “I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” I complained.

  “You are a scholar,” said Darren. “Use your mind. Think of a plan.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Look, I’m super flattered, but I’m getting a little sick of people thinking I know what to do,” I blurted. “I’m not a strategist, I’m a nerd.”

  “Truer words were never said,” Blade quipped. He swirled his hands before him like he was flexing his muscles. A tiny ball of flame emerged there, growing larger and larger the harder he concentrated.

  “If you cannot come up with an idea,” Darren said, “I am afraid that no one else will.”

  “Oh, I’ve got a great idea,” Blade said, loosing his fireball at a spot on the ground ten feet away. The spot erupted in a bright streak of flame. “Step one: wait for whatever-it-is to come through. Step two: kill it with fire.”