She gave him a small wave, bent her knees, and then leapt into the air. Hal watched in dumb silence as her diamond spell pulled the wind underneath her and lifted her off in the distance.
I seriously need to learn how to do that…
He turned and raised an eyebrow when he saw the reactions of his companions. Laurel looked annoyed and a tad jealous. Cadrian was her usual pensive self. Zoria was smiling and shaking her head slightly.
“You actually did it?” asked Laurel. “So every time you entered the crystal… were you and her…?”
“No!” Hal said, quickly. “I mean, only the first time. And that was in part due to her emotions being out of control, I think.”
He sighed and gave a small shrug, knowing that his words would only dig him in deeper.
“We shouldn’t waste too much time,” said Cadrian. “The melting snow might tip any enemies still nearby off to the fact that something important has changed.”
“Right,” said Hal.
“I’ll head south, up the hill we came down on the way here,” said Cadrian. “Make sure that Tessianna and her valkyries truly have left the area. Can you and Zoria make an attempt at dealing with the lift crystal?”
“Of course,” he said.
Cadrian hesitated before leaving. She stepped in closer to Hal and met his eye.
“Before I go, I just want to thank you,” she said.
“You too?” He raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
“For doing well.” A slight smile crossed Cadrian’s lips. “You made a choice when you fought Mrido. A choice that took character and principle.”
Hal started to shake his head and then stopped. Had it taken character? Saving Laurel and Zoria was something he’d felt like he had to do. An obligation born of friendship and love. But there had been a moment at the start of the fight. A slight hesitation on his part, in regard to whether to act immediately and help Cadrian, who’d done so much to hurt him through her actions.
Maybe it did. Part of me wanted to see her suffer, but I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had.
“It wasn’t about character,” said Hal. “It was just about who I am right now, and who I want to be in the future.”
“That’s the definition of character, in this context,” said Cadrian. “For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you. As your old master.”
Hal felt his face flush. The words had more of an effect on him than he would have expected. There was an edge to her praise, a reminder of how they could never go back to the way things were, but it still uplifted him.
“I appreciate that,” he said.
Cadrian nodded to him, and then turned and left without another word. Hal watched her disappear across the melting snow for a moment before walking back over to Zoria.
“Are you ready to do this?” he asked, gesturing to the crystal.
Zoria looked contemplative. She tapped a finger against her lips and frowned.
“This is what we traveled all this way to accomplish,” she said. “And now that we’re here, at the end of our quest… all I can think of is how it will affect my family.”
“Jessa already told me that it won’t be a hard landing,” said Hal. “The Upper Realm will descend slowly and safely, and I’m assuming, back into the space it once filled here.”
“And then what?” asked Zoria. “I detest the culture of my people, but my frustration there only goes so far. Can you promise me that my family will still be safe, master?”
Hal winced. How could he promise something like that?
“I can’t,” said Hal. “All I can promise is that you’ll have my support. As a friend, and as an ally. I’ll help you protect them if this puts them in danger.”
Zoria stared at him, examining his face closely for several long seconds. Finally, she gave a small nod, turning her hazel eyes toward the lift crystal instead.
“Alright,” she said. “I can accept that.”
CHAPTER 50
Hal walked over to the lift crystal, furrowing his brow as he took a closer look at it. Even with the thick ice coating it melted away, it didn’t look like something that would be easy to damage, let alone destroy.
“Any ideas about how to go about this?” he asked.
“I have an idea about how we can start,” said Zoria.
She extended her hand, and violet light flashed as she summoned her runic spear. Hal watched as she charged forward, stabbing the point of the magical weapon against the tall white crystal. It deflected off, flashing slightly on contact, and leaving no visible mark of damage.
“This might be harder than we expected,” said Hal.
The snow beyond the lift crystal was still melting, forming a slowly deepening basin in the snow and ice and revealing more of the lift crystal beneath ground level. Hal drew his pistol, not expecting to be able to do much with Flame Shot, but deciding to try anyway.
His spell deflected off, coming back at him at an angle and forcing Hal, Zoria, and Laurel to dive to the ground. Hal scowled and chewed his lip.
“I guess I could try my sword,” he said. “Maybe if I use Wind Dash to give myself a running start?”
He reached his awareness into his heartgem and frowned as he realized that there wasn’t enough diamond essence left in it to make the possibility workable.
“It could be resistant to magic,” said Zoria. “It would explain why my spear and your spell didn’t work against it. Maybe your sword will fare better?”
“It’s worth a shot,” said Hal.
He approached the crystal cautiously, aware of how much looser the snow was at the edge of the empty chasm the Upper Realm had once occupied. He drew his short sword, shifted his grip on it, and then took a swing at the crystal.
The recoil was sharp, and vibrated deep through the flesh and bones of his hand. The strike didn’t seem to do anything, but the crystal didn’t flash, as it had before with Zoria’s runic weapon and his spell.
“Try it again,” said Zoria.
“I’m not so sure about this…” muttered Laurel.
“We didn’t come all this way to give up once we’d found the Upper Realm’s weakness,” said Hal. “This is happening.”
He pulled his sword back and struck the same spot on the crystal again, and then two more times after that. It seemed to be biting into the crystal slightly, no more than a scratch really, but enough to be noticeable.
He switched to a two-handed grip that was made a little awkward by the size of his weapon, pulled his arms back, and put all of his strength into the next swing.
This time Hal saw a spiderweb of cracks forming throughout the lift crystal’s structure. The entire length of it flashed with light, including the sections still hidden by ice and snow below them, and then shattered. Energy pulsed outward in a shockwave and Hal was thrown off his feet. He shouted as he felt something sharp pierce deep into his shoulder, and landed in a tumbling sprawl on the wet ground.
“Uhh…” he moaned. “Well… I think that worked.”
He reached his hand to his shoulder. He could feel fresh blood flowing from the wound, and trying to move his right arm felt painful, but it wasn’t a debilitating injury. He slowly sat up and glanced over at his companions.
Zoria and Laurel had their eyes locked onto the sky, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Above them, where there had previously been a puffy, unassuming cloud, they could now see the Upper Realm. It was an island of earth and rock, floating so high above the surface that it almost seemed small against the horizon. The sun was setting to the west, which kept its shadow from being as imposing as it might have been.
“It’s sinking,” said Zoria. “Can you see that? How it seems to be getting bigger?”
“It worked.” Laurel shook her head. “I’d hoped that it would, but I still… almost can’t believe it.”
Hal let out a groan as he rolled his shoulder, testing his range of movement. Laurel glanced over at him and immediately started moving to pull bandages out fr
om one of the packs.
“This changes everything,” said Zoria. “The world will never be the same.”
Hal extended his arm, giving Laurel the access she needed to start cleaning and bandaging his wound. Almost as soon as she’d tied a bandage in place, a shout came from the hill to the south.
Cadrian was sprinting their way, waving one of her arms. Hal stood up, grabbing his sword from where he’d dropped it and drawing his pistol.
“Tessianna and her valkyries,” shouted Cadrian. “They’re…”
Whatever else she had to say was drowned out by the sound of a massive roar. A dragon appeared on the horizon, flying toward the broken lift crystal at high speed. Hal could make out a blonde-haired figure on its back.
Tessianna. She’ll take revenge on us for what we’ve done.
“Get behind me,” said Hal. “Hurry!”
Tessianna guided her dragon on a downward pass. Hal barely had time to pull his pistol free from its holster before the dragon let loose a billowing stream of flames from its mouth in their direction. He entered Ruby Ascension as he cast Flame Shield, feeling his emotions surge as he channeled the essence of his heartgem.
The spell was enough to shield him, Laurel, and Zoria, but only just barely. Steam hissed up from the ground around them, where the flames had struck and left the grass charred. Tessianna and the dragon rose back up into the air, slowly circling and preparing for another attack.
Hal looked back in Cadrian’s direction, immediately seeing why she was running as fast as she was. A contingent of a dozen valkyries in glowing runic armor were chasing after her. They weren’t closing the distance fast enough to reach her before she reached Hal and the others, but it didn’t matter.
“We have to fight,” said Hal. “There’s no other way. The area is too open for us to have any chance at escaping.”
Zoria summoned her runic armor, the purple segments covering her chest, arms and legs. She gave her runic spear a spinning flourish and took up a position next to him.
“Watch the dragon,” she said. “I’ll fight with Cadrian to hold off the valkyries.”
Laurel was close behind Hal, lacking the combat expertise to help in any meaningful way. She was their biggest weakness, the one thing that kept the fight from being a straightforward conflict.
The dragon swooped low a second time. Hal felt the fires dancing over his body and clothing surge as he cast Flame Shield again. Some of the fire breath made it past his defense this time, and Zoria had to throw herself into a roll to stay out of the way.
Cadrian reached the group, drawing her sword and taking up a position next to Zoria as the valkyries closed the last stretch of distance to them. An elf with a runic war hammer leapt into the air, smashing the weapon down and missing Zoria by less than a foot. Zoria countered with a spear strike through the elf’s shoulder, but it deflected off the glowing green armor there.
Hal’s attention was torn between assisting Cadrian and Zoria, keeping an eye on the dragon, and protecting Laurel. The valkyries were already moving to surround them. Hal caught the sword of one particularly brazen one as he tried to attack from the side, and the movement caused his shoulder to erupt with pain. He ignored it and counterattacked. The elf parried, and then the dragon was upon them again.
“Stay close!” he shouted. He cast Flame Shield again, feeling his ruby essence dwindling faster than he would like, even with the improved efficiency of Ruby Ascension stretching his reserves.
He felt his anger boiling over, pushing him to pull out the stops and decimate the valkyries with Burning Hand. It would leave them defenseless if he did, given how little ruby essence it would leave him with. And yet the pull was strong, his emotions affecting his logic and reasoning, making hard for him to resist.
Cadrian was fighting three valkyries at once, pushed back completely on the defensive. She was clearly winded from her sprint back to their campsite and could do little more than block the strikes as she came, occasionally using Earth Tremor to knock one of her attackers off balance.
Zoria was posing more of a danger to the valkyries, but they knew her. Her style of fighting was similar to theirs, and some of the valkyries were even shouting at her in elven, trying to goad her into taking a stupid risk, or possibly even convert her over to their side.
And then the dragon came, again. This time, Hal fired a Flame Shot at its mouth as it prepared to unleash its fire breath. He missed, and suspected that even if he hadn’t, the attack would have done little more than annoy the massive creature.
Fire splashed across the battlefield. Hal’s Flame Shield barely managed to protect him and his companions and had the unintended effect of also shielding the elves closest to him. They were losing, and beyond that, their strategy was more cautious than that of the elves. Tessianna didn’t care about hurting her own people. Her willingness to sacrifice them, if necessary, was unchanged from their encounter near White Mountain, with the avalanche.
A second dragon crested over the horizon, and Hal’s heart sank. He wouldn’t be able to do it. They’d come so far, achieved what they set out to do even, only to lose in the final battle. His ruby essence would run out before they could even find a way to make their final stand. He moved to shield Laurel and felt her grab his arm and squeeze in desperation.
Wait… Why is she waving?
“Karnas!” shouted Laurel. “Hurry!”
Hal felt bewildered as he watched the dragon, his dragon, fold his wings inward and dive into the conflict. Tessianna didn’t react quickly enough on the back of her dragon to stop him, giving Karnas a chance to send the valkyries sprawling with claw, fang, and fire attacks within their midst.
“Hally!” bellowed Karnas. “Lolo!”
“Are you healed?” shouted Hal. “Can you carry people again?”
Karnas let out a roar that Hal took for a yes, swinging his scaly, coal-colored tail like a club to bludgeon back another valkyrie who’d strayed too close. Hal took Laurel by the hand and pulled her over to the dragon, helping her up onto his back.
“Get her to safety!” said Hal. He glanced up at Tessianna and her dragon and pulled out his pistol, preparing to distract him. It was easy enough to cast Flame Shot in Ruby Ascension, especially as his emotions surged and began to restore the essence of the heartgem.
Tessianna’s dragon flew lower, moving to pass across the combatants on the ground again. Hal signaled Karnas, who took off in a southward direction with Laurel on his back. Cadrian and Zoria, both uplifted by the appearance of their forgotten ally, were fighting with confidence again, holding the valkyries back.
We can do it. We have a chance.
Hal’s optimism lasted for only a few seconds before Tessianna’s dragon descended again, this time landing in the middle of his group. One of its claws lashed out in his direction, tearing his shirt open, and severing the heartgem from its cord around his neck, instantly knocking him out of Ruby Ascension.
CHAPTER 51
Hal picked himself up as quickly as he could, holding his pistol in his hand, useless without his heartgem. He tried to reach out to it, much as he did when drawing essence from its depths. He couldn’t feel it, and there was too much going on for him to take the time to search for it in the melting snow.
He heard a sound behind him and spun around to find a valkyrie advancing in his direction, wielding a dual set of curved short swords. Hal leapt back from the first slash aimed at his stomach, and then swung his own sword to counter. His blade glanced off the elf’s armor, but he reversed the strike, following up with a blow that drew on his size advantage to knock the elf off balance.
Tessianna and her dragon were entirely focused on Zoria, batting after her with claw and tail strikes as though she was a buzzing insect. Hal was starting toward them when another valkyrie slammed into him from the side. He fell, and only barely managed to roll before the point of a runic spear stabbed into the ground next to him.
Stumbling to his feet, Hal managed a clumsy block as
the spear came at him again. He spun past it and delivered its wielder a slash across the face, which was undermined by the elf’s runic helm.
The dragon managed to knock Zoria down, and immediately followed up with a blast of fire breath. She was protected by her armor, but only to a certain extent. Hal saw her trying to shield with her glowing gauntlets as her body contorted away from the heat and flames on reflex.
Cadrian was fighting the bulk of Tessianna’s valkyries. Hal saw six surrounding her at a glance, enough to force her completely onto the defensive. Each and every movement was designed to put her into a position where she could keep an eye on all of her opponents, spinning blocks and manipulative feints. Her sword level was beyond what Hal had ever seen from her in training, and yet still, it wouldn’t be enough.
Has it really come to this? We make it to the end, and then we lose?
The valkyrie Hal had been fighting got their spear behind one of his legs and tripped him, as though to answer his question. He slashed up at his opponent with wild, desperate strikes as he fell. It was only a distraction to the elf, and didn’t stop them from readying the final blow.
Karnas arrived in a blur of motion, slamming the valkyrie off Hal and roaring to draw the attention of battle. Tessianna and her dragon moved to engage. Hal was up on his feet, and before he could think of anything better to do, he scrambled up onto Karnas’s back.
“Laurel’s safe?” he shouted.
“Safe…” said Karnas.
Hal gave a small tug on the dragon’s neck, and just like that, they were airborne. The rush of flying was amplified by adrenaline and the chaos of battle. Tessianna was pursuing them, urging her own dragon to chase them down. Karnas turned, flying away from where Zoria and Cadrian had begun to fight back to back against the remaining valkyries.
“Hold on,” said Hal. “We can’t just leave them!”
“Distract…” said Karnas. “Stronger apart.”
Eternal Palace (Sexcraft Chronicles Book 4) Page 27
