by Kunego, Chad
Squatting down, he tensed his legs before springing upward, wings trailing behind him. As he cleared the roof-line, Amitiel’s powerful wings launched him further into the air, heading toward the LARP group’s meeting place.
Please don’t let me be too late.
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Cora watched in disbelief as Samuel launched himself skyward, easily clearing the thirty foot vertical distance before the dragon’s wings spread out, causing Samuel’s form to shrink rapidly into the distance. She turned back to Sybil to ask a question when she noticed the look of dread on the other woman’s face.
“Uh… What’s wrong? Samuel finally got his memories back…”
The hairs on Cora’s neck lifted as the other woman looked back at her.
“I think I just made a horrible mistake…”
Chapter 38
Cora tried catching up to Sybil as she stormed up the library steps. She’d tried unsuccessfully to get Sybil to tell her what horrible mistake she was talking about on the ride back but the only thing she’d been able to get out of Sybil was her mumbling, “how could I have been so stupid?”
Reaching the top of the steps, Sybil slammed the doors open before storming through. As Cora followed inside, she saw Sybil heading back toward a door behind the main desk. Jogging to catch up, she caught the door Sybil had swept through before it closed. Without warning, Cora got stuck as the door frame squeezed in from the sides to pin her. In the distance, she could hear Sybil yelling.
“Where’s the Archivist? I need him, now!”
Cora started to panic slightly as she looked around the library over her shoulder. She noticed that most of the patrons glanced at her before going back to what they were doing. Squirming to try and free herself, she watched as the librarian moved from behind the desk and approached her.
“Miss Renault, isn’t it? How the hell do I get this door frame to let go?”
The librarian smiled as she touched Cora and the door frame at the same time, Cora noticed a slight shimmer form in the other woman’s eyes before going normal again. At the same time, the door frame relaxed, letting her go.
“You better hurry and catch up to her detective. I’ve never seen her this upset before.”
Nodding at the other woman, Cora turned and ran down the stairs. She caught up to Sybil just as she yelled again.
“Where’s the damn Archivist!”
“You bellowed for me?”
“I need answers, and I need them fast. I just fought against Samuel, and he had a pair of peltae’s with matching peleus. How’s that possible?”
Cora watched as the man stroked his chest-length beard before replying.
“Oh dear, that doesn’t sound very promising. Can you describe what the other dragon looked like?”
“Yeah, it was a freaking red dragon. Samuel placed his arm on his back and the damn thing crawled off his arm and attached itself to his backside. Then they flew off.”
The archivist’s eyes widened slightly at the description before he turned around and hurried back through the door. Looking over his shoulder, he motioned for them to follow.
“You need to see something before I’ll be able to give you the answers you seek.”
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Cora looked around the large room. The shelves were jammed with thousands of books in various states of decay and disrepair. As the Archivist lead them across the large chamber, she ran her fingers over the spines of some of the books. One of them looked vaguely familiar, causing her to stop and pull it off the shelf. Flipping it open, she realized she’d seen something like this on a science show several months ago. As she stared at the pages, she kept catching movement out of the corner of her eye. When she focused on that part of the page, it appeared to be like any other normal page.
“The Voynich Manuscript?”
The Archivist turned back toward her with a twinkle in his eye.
“Yes, that’s one of the originals. There were three original volumes. It was somewhat comparable to an encyclopedia, but for Aerth. That’s why nobody can decipher it. Without mystical energy running through your veins, the text won’t animate and flow into a readable script.”
Cora shuddered slightly before replacing the book on the shelf. She didn’t want to think about why she’d thought she’d seen movement on the pages.
“Come along now.”
She glanced back up and saw the archivist pulling down a massive book and laying it down on a nearby table. Hurrying over, she glanced down at the ancient-looking tome. The book looked like it was made out of some type of leather cover with grayish-tan looking pages. As the Archivist opened the book, she reached out to touch one of the pages. She suddenly realized it was some form of animal skin instead of paper. Stroking her fingers across it, she looked up questioning toward the archivist.
“It’s a very old tome, written on vellum. This one was a copy of a copy I’m afraid, so some of the information from the original was lost along the way. Thankfully, I believe the important bits are still readable.”
Cora watched as he flipped gently through the pages. She glanced over at Sybil and noticed she had her arms crossed and was impatiently tapping her foot.
“How much longer?”
“It’s in here somewhere Sybil, you just need to learn patience like I keep telling you.”
“Archivist, we almost died because I didn’t know anyone beside Genevieve ever had two peltae bonded to them. And the things he was getting peleus to do… He got them to change into some type of chain-sword form that I’ve never heard of. I’ve got a sinking feeling that the set that’s strapped to his arm is the same one she used to nearly destroy the realms nearly seventy-five millennia ago.”
“Ah, here we are,” he said as he finally flipped to the right page, “is this the set you saw?”
Cora glanced down at the page. The gilded artwork was beautiful, but what caught her eye was the image of a statuesque platinum blond-haired woman with a flaming sword in her hand, along with a dragon attached to her back just like Samuel had. Another image below it showed the two engulfed in flames.
“That’s the one! Shit! I just helped him regain his memories and now I find out he’s working for her.”
Cora looked up at Sybil.
“What do you mean her? Samuel got that one from a guy.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely, my partner and I just saw it a few hours before it decided to make itself at home on his arm.”
Sybil looked back and forth between Cora and the Archivist.
“That doesn’t make any sense. How the hell could Samuel bond with another peltae in the space of a couple hours?”
“Well, one possible way would be if he’d been bonded with it before.”
“Then that brings us back to Genevieve. That’s her peltae… or at least it used to be ages past.”
The Archivist flipped the page as he answered.
“That’s not entirely true. Based off what we’ve been able to recover, there’s records of at least one other person who’s had two peltae. They also happen to be the original bond partner to Amitiel.”
Cora watched as the other woman tried to hide her shock.
“There’s another person who’s had that thing bonded to them besides Genevieve and Samuel? Who?”
The archivist gave Sybil as guarded look before he flipped the page again.
“I didn’t say that exactly. I said one other person has bonded with that dragon… Genevieve’s husband.”
He punctuated the statement by tapping on the page in front of him.
Both women looked down at the book at the same time. Cora heard the other woman gasp.
“How is that possible…?”
§§§§§§§§§§§§
>Can we go any faster?<
>Sorry Samuel, I’m flying as fast as I can. There’s something wrong with the air in this era. It’s not as alive as it used to be.<
>Yeah, it�
��s called pollution. Just do the best you can then.<
>I already —<
The sudden wave of Aetheric energy slammed into them without warning. The blast-wave tumbled them like scraps of paper in a windstorm.
>Amitiel, we’re heading toward the water!<
>I’m trying!<
>Samuel, face me downward!<
Samuel swung his left arm in some semblance of pointing toward the water below.
>Let’s hope there’s enough moisture in the air!<
Raguel let out a blast of supercooled air, causing a block of ice to form and rocket toward the surface of the river. The impact caused a plume of water to splash up toward them.
>YES!<
Raguel let out another blast of supercooled air, forming it as they plummeted toward the quickly rising geyser of water. Twisting aetheric energy, a ice ramp formed beneath them.
>Retract your wings, now!<
As her wings folded up, Samuel continued to direct the blast of subzero air at the water ramp. As his feet hit, he skated down the ramp.
>Aim it back upward!<
Samuel followed Raguel’s directions, forming a U-shaped ramp. The momentum of the fall caused him to launch back into the air before Amitiel unfurled her wings, rocketing toward the rapidly approaching warehouse.
>We’re too late!<
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Cora felt a weird sensation wash over her, causing her to grab the table for balance. Before she had a chance to ask, Sybil and the Archivist were flung several feet across the room before coming to a rest in a heap.
“What the hell was that?”
Sybil got shakily to her feet, holding her head with one hand while reaching over to help the Archivist to his feet. As Cora looked at them, she noticed a trickle of blood coming out of Sybil’s nose while blood dribbled out of the Archivist’s ears.
“What the hell is going on?”
Sybil looked back at Cora, struggling to focus on her face. Slowly, the other woman made her way back over to the table before dropping heavily into a chair. The Archivist stumbled back over to the book, placing one hand on the table to keep his balance. Flipping through a few pages, he ran his fingers across several passages before looking back up at the two women, a deep furrows forming across his forehead.
“Unless I miss my guess, that was the completion of a ritual to weaken the weave of the world.”
Cora glanced between the Archivist and Sybil. She noticed they’d both gone deathly pale.
“Can I get that in English?”
The Archivist sat down slowly in a chair.
“In layman’s terms, it’s the end of days. The start of Armageddon.”
Chapter 39
>There it is.<
Samuel hovered over the warehouse, Amitiel’s wings scooping big slices of air to keep them aloft.
>Thermal-vision.< Samuel’s vision rapidly changed to a landscape of blues, yellows, and reds. As he focused, he slowly started to identify the thermal outlines of humans and what appeared to be a mixture of orcs, goblins, and trolls. As he tried to formulate a strategy, one of the human shapes launched themselves at the group before being snatched up by one of the trolls. He could tell the person’s thermal outline was different than everyone else’s.
“Blythe!”
>Amitiel, two fireballs and meteor strike pattern, now!< With a powerful flap, Samuel was flipped over backward before his entire body burst into flames. The yellowish orange flames rapidly spread across his body as more flames erupted along the length of Amitiel’s wings. Dropping into a rapid freefall, she spit out two gouts of fire, striking the roof and causing it to instantly glow white hot. As they approached the roof, Amitiel wrapped her wings tightly around Samuel’s body.
>Hang on tight!<
The last thing he saw before Amitiel’s wings blinded him was the brightly glowing roof rushing up to meet them.
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Blythe stared as the now dead body of Hazel was tossed on the floor, her body making a heavy thunk as it hit. The creatures had swarmed into the place while her friends had been practicing with live steel, rapidly surrounding them. They hadn’t even had time to register what was going on when the huge creature had slowly come into view, his weight causing small items to bounce off the concrete floor.
“Wot d’ we have here? More bodies to add to the ritual, eh?”
Blythe had heard one of her friend’s whimper in fear as more of the nightmarish creatures came into view. Reaching over the rest of the group, the monster had plucked Hazel up and held her effortlessly in front of him.
“Oi, wot’s with da mewling, eh?”
As he held her, the monster glanced over his shoulder.
“Hurry up, boyo’s, we gotta get dis set up quick. The syphons’s ‘r on ta us. We can’t lallygag around here.”
Blythe felt lightheaded as the creature slowly licked the side of Hazel’s face, causing her to cry out in fear.
“Wot a shame we won’t get da chance ta eat ya, but the boss was very clear on it. No eatin’ da sacrifices.”
As the girl shivered in the monster’s grip, Blythe noticed a trickle of fluid start dribbling off her dangling feet.
“Oi, she sprung a leak, she did.”
“We ‘is all set boss.”
“Good, then let da fun begin.”
As he said it, Blythe had watched as he’d carried Hazel over to the center of the area the other monsters had cleared and set up a globe shaped device. They’d somehow driven metal spikes into the support beams around it and had a tangle of cables connecting to the globe, suspending it a few feet off the ground. Without warning, he’d stuck his thumb against the side of Hazel’s head and pushed, snapping the frightened girl’s neck before dropping her on the ground. As the body landed, a glow started emanating from the globe as smoke started to rise from it.
“Next.”
As one of the creatures grabbed John, Blythe felt something break loose inside. An uncontrolled flood of rage began to course through her system.
“NO!” she screamed as the world slowed to a crawl.
She leapt up, rushing toward the thing holding John. As she bore down on them, she instinctively snatched up a longsword, whipping it forward and lopping off the arm of the creature holding John. With her free hand, she pushed John back toward the rest of her friends, causing him to fly backward and knocking several of the others down. Continuing her assault, she lashed out with a vicious kick, launching the wounded creature halfway across the warehouse before it struck with a meaty thwack, embedding itself into the wall several feet off the ground.
As her rage continued to climb, she threw herself into the closest group, gouging, ripping, kicking, and slashing her way rapidly through the slow moving monsters. Without warning, she was grabbed in a vice-like grip from behind, pinning her arms tightly against her sides. She struggled for a moment before going limp, the rage draining out of her as suddenly as it had appeared.
“Wot da we got here, a wilder? Oh, dat’ll help the ritual a lot. Might even let us take sum of da sacrifices we brought back ta eat after all.”
Blythe nearly gagged as the creature breathed in her face, the smell of rotting meat and sulfur causing her eyes to water and burn.
“Guess you jus volunteered ta be the next one, eh?” he said as he started carrying her toward the globe.
As he approached, a loud splattering sound struck the roof before the room was bathed in a bright yellowish-white light. Blythe felt the creature’s grasp relax slightly as it shielded it’s eyes with it’s other hand as it glanced at the now-glowing roof.
“Wot’s dat?” was all it managed to say before the roof exploded in a shower of molten metal and bright sparks.
Almost everyone was knocked off their feet by the sudden impact of something striking the ground on the other side of the room, showering those closest in razor sharp splinters of metal rebar and concrete. As the dust settled, Blythe could barely make out a bal
l of flame flaring up from the crater.
“Hurting them was your first mistake. It’s also your last mistake!”
Something about the voice sounded familiar, but the voice was distorted by the roaring flames rolling off the winged creature. Without warning, something moving too fast to discern came slithering out of the flames. All she had time to make out was something that sounded like tinkling glass before the object wrapped around the creature holding her with blinding speed. As it stopped moving, she could make out what looked like rippling bolts of lightning held together with sharp chunks of blue crystal. As she watched, she could see the monster’s muscles start to bulge as it strained to move. She gasped in pain as it start to squeeze her tighter.
“No,” the fiery creature rasped, a ripple forming in the chained lightning flowing from it. Without warning, Blythe dropped to the ground, the hand that was holding her flopping lifelessly on the ground next to her. She glanced back up and saw the fiery mass clearly for the first time. A man slowly strode toward them as his flaming wings flared out to his sides, a wave of heat washing over them.
“You’re not going to hurt anyone else here today.”
Blythe watched as ice rapidly started spreading across the monster’s body, causing it to whimper in pain and fear.
“Who’s mewling now, asshole…”
As the creature stopped moving, the weapon flexed, causing the monster to shatter into frozen chunks that tumbled across the floor. Then it rapidly flowed back toward the man, forming into a glittering crystal sword.
“Now you all die.”
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Samuel caused the blade to retract into a sword again.
“Now you all die.”
Without warning, he blurred forward, lashing out with both swords. As he flowed through the creatures, he rapidly switched from long sword to chain sword forms, carving a path through them. Moving as if alive, his blades sought out targets, slashing, burning, and freezing their way through them like wheat. Accentuated between sword strikes, Amitiel and Raguel took turns freezing and roasting orcs and goblins at will. Flapping her wings, several of the creatures were blown off their feet while Raguel froze them to the ground moments before Samuel slaughtered them. Within moments, the only sound left was the crackling of small fires and heavy breathing from his friends huddled at the far corner of the warehouse. Looking around, he spotted Blythe lying on the ground. Without thought he rushed toward her, flaming wings folding up behind him.
