by Billy Wong
"I didn't say I support this practice."
"They shunned religion, yet called their elemental puppets God Soldiers? A tad contradictory," Scott said.
"It wasn't meant to be literal, just a name to strike terror into the hearts of those who opposed them."
"A truly godless land," Lars mused. "Not easy to believe in any gods these days as it is, though."
"Maybe the gods will come back and save us someday," Cart-Dragger said.
He regarded her with surprise. "You think like that? I wouldn't have expected you to rely on anyone for saving but yourself."
"I think I've mentioned this before... I may be strong, but my reach is short. I can't wrap my arms around the world and protect it. So sometimes I fantasize about deities coming down to makes things like they were again or better. I know it won't happen, but it doesn't do any harm to dream, right?"
"It sure doesn't. One of the greatest things about the human mind is its capacity for hope even in the darkest times."
She smiled. "Heh. Have I ever told you you're pretty well spoken for a mere sellsword?"
"I've been around enough to steal my share of lines."
They set up their bedrolls in the middle of the lobby presided over by tall, stoic statues, and after eating laid down to rest. Early in the morning, just before she would have wanted to get up, Cart-Dragger was awakened by some sounds outside. Had more imperial supporters found them, or was a monster lurking about? She went to the nearest window and peeked out. Her blood ran cold as she saw something... wrong. Hunched, naked and hairless figures surrounded the building, ranging from child to adult sized. They had all kinds of deformities facial and otherwise—bulging fish eyes, flat noses, hare lips, webbed feet, three-fingered hands, grapefruit sized bloated scrotums, and worse. One had a cleft mandible, the sight of which made her want to be sick. She wasn't sure if they communicated with each other through their moans and gibbering noises, or just made them for the hell of it. They must have already hidden somewhere for the night when her party arrived, and now showed themselves again.
"Are they monsters?" Scott asked beside her. The others had awoken, and looked outside with her.
Her answer was the reason she felt so disturbed. "No, I think they're human."
Ruth held her weapons in hand. "Are they hostile?" From her shaken voice, the eeriness of those familiar yet twisted forms must also be getting to her.
"I'm not sure. They're watching the place intently, but haven't attacked."
"We were leaving anyway, right?" Lars said. "Maybe we should just go out and see what they do before reacting."
Cart-Dragger agreed that was a better option than waiting inside indefinitely to see if the creatures—people—would leave. They opened the front door and stepped out warily with readied arms. The warped ones didn't act particularly cowed, but neither did they make any aggressive moves. When the group walked away from the building, the ones directly in their way parted to let them pass.
"I guess we won't have to fight," Scott said in a relieved tone tempered by the uneasiness of still being among the grotesque beings. Their awkward, shuffling movements seemed so unnatural as they continued to issue incomprehensible sounds... "You say they're human? They look kind of like they are or at least were, but how do you think they got this way? Did just being here on contaminated land for too long change them into these things?"
"I don't know. Maybe they were experimented on by their rulers, or there's something specifically in the water or soil here that altered them. Still, we should probably leave the former empire as soon as possible in case..."
"I should count myself lucky compared to them," Allen said. "Think maybe it'd be a mercy just to kill them?"
She had to admit there might be some logic in his idea. They seemed barely human anymore, and had likely devolved to the level of animals. She knew some people would rather choose to die than continue living on in this state. But she answered, "We can't. They haven't done anything to us, and probably wouldn't welcome death in their current mindset. Pathetic though they may seem, we have no right to decide for them if their lives are worth living."
Steeling herself against her instinctive queasiness, she decided to reach out to them. They couldn't spare that much food, but they could try and help a little bit. She took a roll from her bag and offered it to a huge-headed child, only for the boy to shrink back. She instead attempted to give it to an adult woman, who also retreated. How could they not understand... before she realized it she followed too close to the crowd, and they scattered. Her face fell. She left a few pieces of bread on a rock, hoping they would eventually recognize it as food when they came back.
"See," she said softly as they left the village behind them, "that's the type of problem my strength can't do anything for. Those poor people... if only a god could show mercy and restore them to how they should be."
Ruth patted her back. "Hey, just because you can't hammer them back to normal doesn't mean there's nothing we could ever do. Just look at the empire to see what human ingenuity can create. Maybe not the most inspiring example... but if we get enough great minds like Scott here together, they might figure out a way to bring them back."
"I'm an engineer," Scott reminded her, "I don't really deal with the treatment of people. Other than that, well said."
Ruth's idea seemed pretty unlikely on the face of it. But seeing the merit of the optimism behind it, she nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Since we can't count on help from gods, we have to keep doing the best we can to improve things for ourselves and others."
They went on. The land became even more desolate, as the ground beneath their feet turned to bare, uneven stone. Finally the immense outline of the ultimate fortress came into view—a dome spanning the area of a small city, and hundreds of feet high. Many gaping holes covered its facade, yet it still made one of the most imposing sights they had ever seen. "It's so huge..." Ruth whispered.
"You never been here?" Allen asked. "I thought you might have as an imperial soldier."
"Most of us regular grunts didn't have the privilege to come here. This was used mainly to make and house the empire's God Soldiers. Truly the heart of the imperial war machine."
"Would be a fitting place to have the final battle," Lars said.
Cart-Dragger gave a short nod. "It would be, but it's just as likely to be where we look at some giant broken rings and do nothing else. Either way, let's keep our guard up."
Chapter 9
They entered the fortress through a gap one could have sailed a full sized galley through, assuming there was water. Gazing up the monumental wall, Scott breathed, "I'm humbled before the work of my predecessors."
"Don't give the empire's lackeys so much credit," Allen spat. "Think how many of them it took to come up with this stuff, and they still couldn't create anything good in the long run."
"Of course you're right, but imagine if all those talents had been put to better use. What could have been..."
Cart-Dragger bowed her head, then looked up. "We needn't dwell so much on the past. Humanity will rise again. We'll make sure of it."
They walked through vast halls many times larger than would have been required for humans; she thought of the King Elementals and how they might've had to pass through too. Littering them were the remains of numerous lesser God Soldiers, ranging from ten to close to a hundred feet long. "Some of these might have been tough even for you," Lars mused.
She regarded the head bigger than her whole body of a humanoid biped lying on its side, dead mouth open to reveal butcher knife-sized teeth. "Maybe a little. I wonder if anything survived here at the epicenter of the destruction. If so, they probably left afterwards with nothing else here for them."
But shortly after she said that, they spotted fresh footprints in the dust at a fork in the hallway. "Somebody's been here recently," Allen said in a nervous tone.
"It might be Maximilian or his allies. Get ready."
Deeper and deeper they went without b
eing attacked, until they spotted in a chamber ahead a ringlike structure looming nearly as high as the ceiling. "That must be it!" Ruth said. "The Rings of Rulership..."
From afar, it looked fairly intact. Perhaps the enemy did intend to fix it rather than create a new one. If so, they must be near. Surely they would have left someone to guard-
A dozen lightly armored men dashed into view behind the doorway and loosed arrows at the group. Most of them dodged or deflected the quarrels shot their way, but Allen took one to the hip and reeled back grabbing the shaft. "Allen!" Lars said, swatting aside another arrow streaking at his friend's chest. "Quick, behind the cart!"
Before the archers could shoot again, Cart-Dragger threw back the three arrows she had caught, dropping three men. She then drew two javelins and hurled them at once, slaying two more. The rest dashed back out of sight. "On second thought..."
While Lars helped Allen with his wound, Ruth chased after the attackers. "Be careful!" Scott warned as she crossed the threshold into the room.
An instant later, she cried out and went flying back into the hall. As she landed at Scott's feet and struggled to sit up, Cart-Dragger saw a long gash across her chest. "A g-giant!" she rasped. A towering figure stood in the doorway. It was a woman in her thirties, her curly flowing hair and feminine features doing nothing to detract from her seven foot and probably three hundred pound frame. She gripped a glaive taller even than herself, and a smirk played across her haughty face.
Cart-Dragger sputtered, "Y-you're..."
"I am Strength, of the Four Virtues. If you wish to obstruct the new dawn of the empire, then there is no hope for you."
Having feigned surprise, Cart-Dragger recovered her composure and pointed at Strength, making her eyes widen in turn. "I know who you are! They said the Four Virtues were killed at the end of the war, but I figured you too tough for all of you to be gone! I've always wanted to fight with you. So let's dance!" She sprang at the giantess, her hammer sweeping down.
Their weapons clashed. Strength took a step back, and her eyes narrowed. "But you're so small..." She launched a kick that would have broken a bull's neck at Cart-Dragger's head. Cart-Dragger caught her ankle and surged forward, throwing her off her feet and into the central chamber. She stalked after the giantess, who rolled backwards to her feet, and Lars and Scott followed.
The surviving archers shot at them from the side. Cart-Dragger caught two arrows and threw them back into a pair of foes while hopping over Strength's opportunistic slash at her legs. "You guys can handle the rest, right?" she asked. Lars and Scott nodded, and she swung back at Strength. "You're not as strong as you're talked up to be, big lady," she taunted as they strained with locked weapons against each other's muscles. Strength began to get the advantage with leverage in her favor, but then Cart-Dragger twisted around her and an elbow to her spine sent her stumbling off balance. "Maybe you're getting old and stale, and past your due date."
Strength spun whipping her glaive around, forcing Cart-Dragger back. "I'm not that old! I was the youngest of the Four Virtues—and that's ageist!"
"Well I wouldn't say that if you didn't have such dated loyalties. The Red Empire's time is past, plain and simple."
"You're a fool if you think so. Ignorant little girl, you should kiss the ground at my feet and beg me to educate you."
"And I'm ageist?" They traded more deafening blows, Lars and Scott observing now that they'd defeated the rest of the archers. Ruth helped Allen into the room, and they watched too. Strength felt physically stronger than Maximilian had, but didn't seem to have magic to help her. She rocked Cart-Dragger with a punch, ripped open her shoulder with her followup glaive strike. "Good one." In return, she slammed her hammer into the side of the huge woman, who doubled over. Strength straightened and they glared at each other, both trying not to show pain though blood soaked Cart-Dragger's shirt and stained Strength's teeth.
"Should we help?" Ruth asked, clutching her chest.
Cart-Dragger might have wanted to continue challenging herself one on one if the stakes were lower, but knew letting herself get more injured than she absolutely had to could cost them everything. "Fine, let's get this big bitch together."
Strength growled, "So you won't fight fair? Damn, little girl, I really liked testing myself against you in single combat..." Ignoring her for the moment, she suddenly charged at Cart-Dragger's friends. Before Cart-Dragger could catch up, she knocked Lars and Scott sprawling with a wide swipe, then sidestepped a thrust from Allen and kneed him powerfully in the head. He dropped like a stone, looking lifeless. Ruth tried to hit her with her mace. She caught the head in her palm and was drawing back her glaive to shear Ruth in half when Cart-Dragger struck at her flank. She turned just in time to block, then flung Ruth by the mace into Cart-Dragger.
"Maybe you guys should stand back," she said after catching Ruth and setting her on her feet.
Lars glanced at the motionless Allen. Cart-Dragger wished he would get up "awakened" like he had against her and fight better, but it appeared he was too badly knocked out for that. "Nah. We can at least help by distracting her."
Cart-Dragger in the lead, they all rushed Strength at once. She jumped back from Cart-Dragger's swing, kicked Ruth in the wounded chest so that she fell writhing in pain and blocked Lars' downward chop. Scott stabbed at her crotch. She twisted away to avoid taking the point full in the womanhood, but it grazed her thigh and she hissed. Her elbow came crashing down on his skull. He fell like Allen, a puppet without strings. She raised her glaive over him, but switched her target to Cart-Dragger as she came on. Cart-Dragger caught the blade on her haft, sparks flying as it slid down it. She wrenched it aside and smacked Strength in the face with the butt of her weapon, snapping her head back.
The bigger woman shoved her away and grinned bloodily. "Your friends are weak and useless."
"No, they have different strengths. You're losing out on a lot if you only value one attribute in people, or look so hard to qualify their worth in the first place."
"I like your idealism. It's pretty nice."
Cart-Dragger blinked. "Really, you think so?"
"I'll still kill you though."
"Good to see your emotions don't get in the way of your principles," she said sarcastically. She, Lars and Ruth advanced again. This time though, Lars and Ruth stayed back further, only taking shots at Strength when she was occupied fending off attacks from Cart-Dragger. She still managed to desperately avoid most of their blows, but eventually Lars' axe laid open her arm. Enraged she lashed out with broad strokes, driving them all back. Cart-Dragger sensed she was weakening, though. She timed one of her slashes and leaned just out of range, then lunged in swinging her maul high. Strength tried to duck, but not quite fast enough. The hammer struck her in the head.
Unlike any normal person, she wasn't instantly killed. After the hammer glanced over the top of her skull, she spun stumbling away into a wall to lean dazedly against it. She clutched the side of her head, blood pouring down her face from her torn scalp. "You're good," she admitted. "You would have a chance of beating me even without your unworthy friends. Why don't you join us and replace one of the Four Virtues who have died? You could be Courage, or Ambition."
"I like the sound of Courage." She laughed. "But even if I had no opinion about the empire itself, you think I would ever consider serving Maximilian Rouge?"
"Has he done something to you?"
"He murdered my best friend. I swear, I'll kill him for it."
Strength exhaled. "Your best friend? A weak friend, I take it."
"Don't you dare call Jen weak. You think just because someone doesn't have the physical gifts we do, that makes them weak? It probably takes a lot more mental strength to live in this world, when you don't have the power to smash the closest things to gods..." Even though she knew she shouldn't blame herself either for being born a monster, she felt a little bad about it just now. Did she really "deserve" her strength? But if she didn't, she should do her best
to change that.
Seeing that the woman looked intrigued, she continued, "Jen might've been a better person than me. She was less willing to kill, didn't have as bad a temper, and definitely did better with kids. In an ideal world, my physicality might not be of much use, other than if I played sports... so she'd probably be more valuable than me."
"Don't sell yourself that short," Scott said from the ground, awake but too groggy to get up. "What about your leadership skills, and your ability to make speeches like that?"
She shot him an admonishing look. "I was making a point."
Strength raised her glaive again. "They're good points. But we don't live in an 'ideal' world."
"We don't, it's true. If we keep fighting though, at this rate you'll die."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," a voice said from the other side of the room. A man in his late forties wearing heavy armor and carrying a mammoth sword strode forth. As he got close Cart-Dragger saw that he too was huge, a few inches shorter than Strength but wider and probably heavier. "I figured you didn't want me to interfere, but it appears necessary now."
Strength sighed. "They won't fight honorably anyway. So while this girl is an interesting foe, fair play for her and her 'friends' to take on the both of us."
Cart-Dragger grew seriously worried. Though they still had the numbers advantage, she knew all four of her companions likely couldn't stand up to one of the giants for long—and two were already out of commission. "You're Resolve, aren't you?" she asked the big man. "Kind of tacky for two of the proud best warriors of the empire and supposedly the world to gang up on one much smaller girl, no? Why don't I ask my friends to back off, and we can go at it one on one? You can even take turns."
Resolve replied, "You've already thrown away the privilege of being treated with courtesy. Now you'll be put down like a simple beast."
"But wait," Strength asked, "don't you want to see how she measures up against you?"
He seemed tempted. "You kill her friends first. Then we'll decide whether or not to give her the honor of dying in single combat."
