Shadow Plague

by William Massa

  I now understood why he’d wanted me to go after Keira. He’d gotten to her first and placed the magical jewel on her. An easy task considering his telepathic talents. He could have tricked or manipulated Keira in a hundred different ways. She probably hadn’t even realized she was wearing the pendant or that she had become a pawn in a dangerous game.

  Xorron had known I would use the magical surveillance system to check in on Keira as soon as I discovered that she was in danger. Once I showed up on the scene to rescue the reporter, Xorron engineered a scenario designed to get the sorceress involved. He’d gambled that Octurna would have no other choice but to use one of her portals to save Keira.

  Keira and I were alive thanks to the sorceress’s swift interference, but as more monsters spilled into the observation chamber, the rescue felt more like a stay of execution. Could we defeat this fast-growing horde?

  There was no point in letting doubt poison my soul.

  Instinctively, I brought up my magical machine pistol and unloaded into the front lines of the mutant army. Bloodcurdling shrieks and roars pierced the chamber as the first volley of silver bullets struck their targets.

  The effect was devastating.

  The monsters lit up, transforming into walking torches that reeled and shuddered before turning to ash. As each new blazing creature disintegrated, my tattoos blazed with renewed power. I was drawing energy from these defeated creatures, spurring me on to attack again and again.

  Meanwhile, the sorceress didn’t remain idle. Swirling crimson energy ignited around her hands as she joined the fray. Her eyes narrowed with concentration as she lobbed a series of fireballs at the advancing monsters. The pulsating energy spheres landed like grenades from an RPG, incinerating them on contact.

  Unfortunately, the monsters kept on coming.

  Undaunted, Octurna fired off three more fireballs in quick succession, then twisted her other hand to cast a new spell. The skeleton of a fast-approaching monster burst from its grotesque body in a shower of gore. The skin collapsed with nothing to support it. I barely had time to cringe at the creative carnage before a third spell made a few of the beasts turn on each other, inhuman jaws burying deep into mutated flesh.

  My eye ticked to Octurna for a beat. The sorceress’ countenance was solemn as she regarded the invaders, her icy features betraying zero emotion. She looked like a medieval queen, aloof and ruthless as she defended her realm.

  I wanted to say that I was sorry. I felt responsible for bringing this chaos to her doorstep. If not for my feelings for Keira, Xorron would have never gained access to the Sanctuary.

  Octurna regarded me as if she could read my mind. “Stop beating yourself up, Slayer, and kill a few more monsters for me.”

  I snapped a fresh magazine into my rune-etched firearm, glad to oblige.

  Perhaps this was a battle we couldn’t win.

  Perhaps this would turn into a last stand.

  But hell, I planned to take as many of these bastards with me as I could.

  I let off volley after volley into the wall of mutated flesh. More beasts succumbed to the deadly hail and turned to ash. Each time a fresh barrage of bullets shredded the air, another group of monsters went down but here was little reason to celebrate. For each beast that fell, two new ones seemed to take their place.

  A hundred, maybe even two hundred monsters had descended on us from the windows. They filled the chamber now, but they were still coming. The virus had spread like wildfire, the monster population numbering in the hundreds if not thousands.

  Every time I looked away from the battlefield to scan the magical windows, I saw another phalanx of strange new creatures emerging. At the rate the beast army was growing, they would overrun us in minutes.

  I shot a glance at Keira. She was still in a trance, under the spell of the medallion hanging from her neck.

  Then an idea hit me. The medallion!

  Shit, why hadn’t I thought about this earlier? The glowing pendant was, after all, the key to this invasion, its magic creating a link between the fortress and the outside world. Destroy the link, and I should shatter the bridge between the two worlds. Okay, I didn’t know that for sure, but it was the best I could come up with on short notice.

  I continued firing at the ring of snapping jaws and whirling tentacles with my right hand while I pointed my left at the medallion around Keira's neck. My magic snatched up the jewelry, and it flew toward me, the chain snapping instantly. The glimmering pendant landed in my outstretched palm.

  I was about to incinerate the talisman with a fire spell when a thick tentacle snaked out from the crowd and whisked the medallion right out of my hand. I followed the trajectory of the tentacle and realized the appendage belonged to an all too familiar mutant slug.

  Xorron, the monster maker, had joined the party.

  The dragon inside me stirred, and the sigils on my chest flared.

  Stay calm.

  I would have loved to tap into the strength of my new monster nature, but I worried that with Xorron this close, his telepathic powers might somehow seize control of my mind. I couldn’t risk it.

  Making matters even worse, my machine pistol was out of ammo. Time to switch to my other weapons. Twin blades shot out of my gauntlet while my other hand reached for my silver-studded whip.

  With the machine pistol out of commission, I wondered how much longer we’d be able to stave off the ring of death closing in on us. Already, I was backing away from the horde which now had spread throughout the entire chamber. Ironically enough, the beasts were using Octurna’s collection of monster skulls as cover. I knew collecting those macabre trophies was a bad idea!

  I joined Octurna and Keira near the black throne as the creatures pressed forward and surrounded our group from all sides. The sorceress locked eyes with me and tilted her head downward. I remembered the secret staircase under Octurna's command chair and figured we were about to make a run for the lower levels of the chamber.

  A closer look at the sorceress gave me further grounds for concern. I had hoped she might pull a super-spell out of her bag of tricks. The castle was her realm, after all. And to be honest, I had gotten used to thinking of her as a nigh-invincible magical badass. To my dismay, she looked worn and haggard—the exertion of this battle was taking its toll.

  Despite the visible signs of strain, her face radiated defiance as the circle of beasts drew closer. Just as they were about to reach the dais, Octurna brought up both her arms, and a dome of energy formed around us.

  A wave of monsters slammed into the protective sphere and howled in agony as Octurna’s fearsome magic ripped through their distorted anatomy.

  Despite this momentary victory, I sensed that the sorceress’ power was waning. The field of energy crackled with each impact, and Octurna gritted her teeth as sweat began to bead on her alabaster forehead. Only a few feet separated us from the beasts. If the dome came crashing down, we were screwed.

  The monster maker must have come to the same conclusion as his androgynous voice lanced directly into my brain. “Nice move, witch, but you’re only delaying the inevitable. You can’t defeat my children, not even inside your domain.”

  Octurna’s eyes narrowed in response to the monster maker’s words. Xorron was in her head too. The dome kept the monsters out for now, but it could not shield our thoughts from Xorron’s telepathic assault.

  I searched the sorceress’ face, hoping she might have a plan. An ace up her sleeve. I only saw desperation etched into her features.

  Xorron reared his massive slug body, and his eye stalks swiveled to take in the details of the chamber. More monsters poured into the fortress behind him, an endless flood of grotesqueries that encircled the dais where the three of us sheltered. It felt like we stood at the center of a hellish maelstrom.

  The monster maker’s words rang through my mind. “A hundred years ago, you destroyed my castle, murdered my children. Now it’s my turn. Your sad rebellion against the Dark Masters ends today.” />
  “We shall see about that, freak,” Octurna said defiantly.

  “You can’t win against these odds. You destroyed my castle. Only fair that your Sanctuary will become my new castle.”

  The creature slithered closer to the crackling dome of magical energy but wisely used several beasts as flesh-and-blood shields in case the sorceress launched a surprise attack.

  “I must thank you. When you threw that fireball at me and interrupted my ritual, you made me more powerful than you could’ve ever imagined. In the past, I had to craft each new monster with my own hands, limited by my imagination. Now my children can pass on the dark seed I created. Look at them, marvel at their variety, their grace. Their savagery.”

  Xorron sounded like a cross of a stark-raving lunatic and a proud daddy. Or was it momma?

  “My seed will seek those worthy of joining the new race. A world of darkness awaits. And neither you nor your soldier boy can stop me.”

  Xorron’s laughter raked my brain.

  “I read the warrior’s thoughts. You’re but a pale shadow of the combat magician I faced a hundred years ago, Octurna. You need this fool to replenish your waning energy.”

  “I tire of this conversation,” Octurna hissed under her breath, her features twisted with effort. “You want to finish me, then take your best shot. But I refuse to be handed over to your masters. I would rather die. ”

  The monster maker’s laughter rang through our minds again.

  “I don’t plan on handing you over to anyone. You belong to me, witch. They don’t even know you’re alive. Your return to the world of the living will be our little secret.”

  Octurna’s eyebrows cocked upward. “You did not tell them? But why?”

  “I don’t want you dead or imprisoned, sorceress. I’d prefer to see you join my ranks. I suspect that you’ll make a very pretty monster—the star of my personal harem.”

  I stared at the monster maker in shock. It was bad enough that he had assaulted me and used Keira. Now he would impregnate Octurna with his virus and turn her into a beast. The last hope of humanity’s survival would flicker out.

  “Imagine what sort of creature our magic would spawn. A monster such as this Earth has never seen before.”

  As I eyed the king of monsters, I realized that I’d misunderstood his goals. Xorron saw himself more as an artist than a conqueror. He drew joy from the birth of each new abomination. Xorron didn’t care about the Dark Masters’ plans to change the world. He only did their bidding because their agenda overlapped with his twisted desires. All Xorron wanted was to make more monsters. Make them, and fuck them.

  In a way, he was no different than poor, doomed John Davis. Driven by his libido and his arrogance, completely unconcerned about the lives he destroyed in pursuit of his self-indulgent goals.

  A creature suddenly lunged at the shield, thrusting me out of my thoughts. The stink of burned flesh followed a violent hiss of energy. The dome was still up, but it was growing weaker. Judging by how quickly the beast recovered from this latest attempt to knock down our defenses, we had minutes—maybe less—before the forcefield shattered.

  At my side, Keira stirred and then struggled to her feet. “J-jason?” she stuttered, looking around the room in wide-eyed horror. “What’s happening?”

  “That’s the bad guy,” I said, pointing at Xorron. I fished a dagger from my boot and held it out to her. “If anything gets through this shield, stab it. Okay?”

  She nodded, dazed, but adjusted her grip on the knife.

  Despite the reporter’s bravery and the sorceress’s power, we had to get out of here. Why wasn’t Octurna making a go for the lower chambers? At least down in the catacombs, we might lose our pursuers. We could hide down there and regroup. Hell, at this point, even five more minutes of life seemed like a miracle.

  Xorron’s sharp voice cut through the howls and wails of the monsters.

  “The witch knows that the dark catacombs and secret chambers won’t stop us. My children were born to dwell in darkness. Your tunnels and passageways will seem like home to them. And that’s what this place will become. Our new home.”

  Xorron turned one of his eye stalks to the wall of shimmering magical windows.

  “From this chamber, I will spread my dark seed and send out my beasts across the entire globe. Not even the remotest part of the planet will be safe from my magic. Humanity will fall. And the monster empire will rise and flourish. This is my castle now, Octurna. Accept defeat graciously and I might even spare the blonde bitch.”

  Ice crept down my spine as Xorron laid out his freakish plan. The mad wizard's agenda was a tad different from what the Dark Masters had in mind for the world. I wondered how the Shadow Cabal would react if they found out their lackey had gone rogue.

  The dome flickered and faded. Another nightmare creature threw itself against the energy shield and even managed to stick the length of its arm through the barrier before a flash of crackling magic sent it reeling. Smoke rose from singed fur, but the monster appeared otherwise unharmed.

  Fuck. The writing was on the wall. The barrier would crumble.

  I steeled myself for the end. The sizzling magical dome painted my twin blades red almost as if offering me a preview of the blood I would soon spill. I was ready and eager to face the horde—and to meet my maker, if that’s what fate had in store for me.

  I’d won my share of battles over the last few months, but it looked like I was about to lose the war.

  I let my mind turn blank and tried to block out the guttural squeals and howls and snorts of the beast army. Tried to find my center and prepare myself for the final confrontation.

  Suddenly, a new sound wafted into my ears. Someone was laughing, but it wasn’t the monster maker. It was the sorceress.

  I stole a glance at Octurna. To my surprise, she was getting comfortable in her throne. No longer were her hands raised in a combat stance but resting now on the command chair’s armrests. And with each passing second, her laughter grew louder and more terrifying until it drowned out all sounds of the beastly horde.

  Had the sorceress lost her mind?

  I could sense Xorron’s presence recoiling. Even the monsters, seconds earlier all too willing to test the energy shield, backed off.

  There was something intimidating about Octurna’s icy laughter. She didn’t sound like someone close to defeat. This was the laughter of someone who was about to kick your ass. It even gave me the chills.

  “This is my fucking castle, monster maker.”

  And with these words, the protective dome fizzled out of existence, and the chamber grew quiet. You could hear a pin drop. Nothing separated the creatures from rushing our group. I expected to be buried under an avalanche of disgusting bodies within the next few seconds.

  For now, though, the beasts remained frozen in tableau, awaiting their master’s command to tear us apart. Why did Xorron hesitate? Had Octurna’s laughter rattled him that much?

  A high-pitched whine cut through the observation chamber and made me flinch. The piercing sound intensified, followed by a few explosive noises. I looked around wildly for the source of the noise. What new threat did it signal? Then I realized the new sounds were emanating from the bank of magical windows.

  My gaze turned toward our surveillance system, and a thrill of excitement shot up my spine. One by one, the stained-glass church windows were going dark and being bricked up.

  Octurna was sealing the portals.

  I was still wrapping my head around this development when the sorceress dramatically rose from her throne, her striking pose commanding instant respect and fear, a goddess about to unleash her wrath. Her eyes gleamed dangerously. All traces of weakness were gone.

  “Monster maker, I’m not trapped in this castle with you. You’re trapped in here with me.”

  “We’ll see about that, witch!” Xorron tried to project strength, but I detected the note of fear under the false bravado. “Feast my children, my children!”

>   With these bone-chilling words, the horde exploded into motion. My heart pounded as the tsunami of monsters surged toward us. How could we stand a chance against such overwhelming numbers?

  I waited, weapons ready, every muscle bunched. Beside me, Keira raised her knife.

  The devastating assault never came.

  Instead, the chamber erupted with blinding spectral light. The scene vanished in a flash, replaced with darkness. I drifted in the black void for what seemed like an eternal moment before pinpricks of flickering fire filled the blackness, multiplying until they chased away the shadows.

  We were in a cavernous underground lair. It reminded me of the monster maker’s dungeon, but my gut told me we had to be inside the Sanctuary. I stood on a circular stone catwalk ringed by what appeared to be holding cells. Leaning over the railing, I could look down at a large pit latticed with iron metal beams.

  No wonder the sorceress had skipped this lovely chamber during the initial tour of the place.

  A shadow stirred in the hole below, and I glimpsed a flailing tentacle. The monster’s arm snapped against the steel bars, which ignited with magical blue light on contact. Xorron’s pain-filled roar of agony filled the dungeon.

  More bestial cries joined in with the monster maker’s bellows, emanating from all directions. My gaze shifted from the pit to the many holding cells that extended upward for multiple levels overhead. Each cell in the underground prison held one of Xorron’s monsters.

  The sorceress peeled from the shadows next to me. She protectively draped her arm around Keira, who was still clutching the knife I’d given her like a lifeline. It was surreal to see the two of them together in this place. For a split second, I almost thought the golems were playing a trick on me. But this was no illusion.

  We had survived, and Xorron was our prisoner.

  All around us, a multitude of cells lit up with crackling energy as the imprisoned monsters tested the bars of their new homes. Their monstrous lamentations provided a haunting soundtrack to the light show. If their screams were any indicator, they would avoid all contact with the magically charged prison bars in the future.