The Bad Seed

by Michael Lackey

  Gabriel stepped forward. "Sorry to disappoint you, but my soul is staying with me today." He looked to his friends and allies who now stood with him. "We came this far; will you follow me to the end?"

  A thundering cheer erupted from the people.

  "My king, we are here to bring the Light back," Benzoete told him.

  Gabriel turned to his right. "Are you ready, my son?"

  Tradan glared straight at the fallen God, "I most certainly am father."

  Craotonus motioned his hands forward sending the minions into a frenzy. Gabriel shouted orders to focus all on the minions because Craotonus could not kill on his own. He could not kill, but he could mettle. Winds, lightning, smoke, and debris crashed against the warriors. The skirmish between the minions and refugees waged all around. Gabriel saw this as an opportunity to catch Craotonus off guard.

  Zachery rushed to try and get Cassy to a safe place as he and Barrok shook off the effects of the shadow bolt from Craotonus. "Stay here out of sight. Launa should be just over that rise, go to her and stay there. If we do not come for you run, run anywhere far from here."

  Cassy pulled him in close and kissed him, looking deep into his eyes. "We will see each again soon. I believe in you and the others." She kissed him again and turned to find Launa.

  Barrok exhaled, blowing Zachery's hair. "Oh hush, she loves me. I owe her my life." They took to the air and headed back to the castle.

  The herbs Elos had given Antoine had him back on his feet even though he was not fully himself, but half of Antoine was still better than most warriors in the land. He and Andrea stood by Tradan, fighting off the orcs and barkers best they could. Aliz'Ra made her way toward Craotonus, vowing to right her wrongs of the past.

  She did not have the Bloodblade this time, but she would make her presence known. "Craotonus! Face your doom!" she shouted at him.

  "Foolish, Aliz'Ra, have you not learned? You cannot best me, not three thousand years ago, not now, not ever," he replied.

  "I have learned from my mistakes, and I had a long time to ponder on them. I thought I could defeat you on my own back then, now I know we have the power." When she finished her sentence, a bolt of light hit Craotonus, knocking him backwards.

  Tradan was close enough to connect with holy fire, burning the God where he stood. Craotonus now knew Aliz'Ra was just a distraction she had no intentions of engaging against him. He turned and fired off several bursts of shadow bolts, each one finding its mark, each one wrapped around the refugees, asphyxiating the life from them. Each death weakened the fallen God, but each soul fed his power.

  "No!” Gabriel screamed. “You shall not have my people!" He leapt with his blade held high.

  Craotonus used the Shadow Bone to block the strike. "I need your soul, son of Akadius. You will make me invincible."

  Gabriel twisted his blade and took a step back. Left then right he swung, slash after slash they met head on. With every slice, Craotonus grew more confident. He lunged forward, thrusting the Shadow Bone at Gabriel’s midsection. The king, using the hilt of his blade as leverage, twisted the Shadow Bone free from his hands, dropping it to the ground. Craotonus looked at him in shock, then waved his hand sending shadows to grip Gabriel's throat. The king dropped his blade and started to rip at the shadows gathering his breath.

  Craotonus leaped behind him, grabbing around his body. "You are mine now, son of Akadius. I can smell your soul!" He buried his claw-like fingers into the stomach of the king, trying to rip the very soul from him.

  Tradan saw his father in danger and instantly fanned out his wings to fly toward him when he felt a sharp pain in his back. An orc had severed one of his wings, grounding him. Gabriel screamed out in agony now. Tradan pulled his injured wing in close to him and quickly opened the orc's stomach, spilling out its contents in front of him.

  He locked eyes with his father, "Father! Take the sword! You have the blood of the Gods inside you!" Tradan gripped the hilt and the Bloodblade ignited. One last effort, the Champion hurled the blade for Gabriel to catch it. The noble king stretched out his arm and snatched the blade from the air. "Strike him down! You have the power to destroy him!"

  Gabriel hoisted the sword above his head, the flames of the blade changing to a bright white aura. Craotonus sensed the new power of the Bloodblade and cowardly crouched behind Gabriel. One last act of honor. One last selfless deed for his people. Gabriel looked to his son, who had dealt with the orc and was coming toward them, he smiled and plunged the blade through his own body, pushing out through his back piercing the black heart of Craotonus.

  "Father, no!" Tradan screamed.

  A thunderous howl erupted from Craotonus; the blade burned his cursed heart. Gabriel fell to his knees, still clutching the blade inside him. Desperation started to flood the mind of the fallen God, he had to have Gabriel's soul to buy him time to get away and find Malonox. He found the Shadow Bone and raised the blade ready to strike when he was whisked away. Craotonus found himself in the clutches of Barrok.

  The dark life force was rapidly escaping him. "Release me, beast!"

  Zachery looked down at him. "I am afraid we cannot."

  Craotonus swung his blade. "Release me or I will strike you down!"

  Barrok turned to give Zachery a sly smile, "You heard him Barrok, release him." The dragon clenched his mighty talons, crushing Craotonus’s wings, then opened them and dropped him.

  The dark one had to use the last of his power to try to sustain his life. Barrok had flown up higher and higher so Craotonus dropped through the air and landed with a thud in the middle of the castle courtyard.

  Tradan stood over him with tears streaming down his face, "I've lost my mother because of you, I've lost my father because of you, I will not lose my world to you. Not today, not ever."

  The sky darkened, smoke-filled the courtyard, Malonox appeared before them. "Young Champion, do you realize the shadows are strongest when the Light is brightest?"

  Tradan held the Bloodblade to Craotonus’s throat and replied, "Yes, but what happens when you remove the obstacles?" He removed the head of Craotonus. "You have only the Light again."

  The Shadow Lord walked around the courtyard. Darkness trailing behind every step. "Your destiny was written eons ago. Like your father, your time ends here today."

  Aliz'Ra stepped in front of Tradan. "I have been alive for eons and have seen the pages of time rewritten."

  Malonox laughed, "Ah, yes, the last elder of the great elven people. We created your kind first, alas, you became so obsessed with your magic that we were just an afterthought. We decided to create the stone image dwarf, again you turned from us and focused on steel and treasure."

  Antoine shouted, "We do not need a history lesson."

  Malonox pointed to Antoine, "And we come to the humans, last of the free will. Your kind has become so self-involved that even most of the other races shunned you."

  Tradan asked, "So this is a genocide for you to start over?"

  Malonox clasped his hands together in front of him, "Start over? No, dear boy. We have the orcs that have proven to be far superior. We have been working on a new race, a more work focused race. We just need to eradicate you and your kind." Malonox opened his arms, sending shadow tendrils across the courtyard snaring all that stood there to the ground. Benzoete used his magic to burn the shadows from his body, but to no avail. "Now, seeing as I cannot end your life myself, I will leave that to the new leaders of Amundiss."

  The orcs charged in to claim their prize and put an end to this battle when a bright light flashed across the sky, thunder rang out, and the ground quaked.

  Standing before Malonox was Akadius, Lord of the Heavens. "Enough of this Malonox, this ends now."

  The Shadow Lord looked down to him. "You are correct, soon so shall you and your siblings end. You placed me in that hole but left me the sight to see everyone that loved you still. I will regain my throne."

  Akadius looked across the courtyard. He saw the fallen bod
y of Gabriel, he knew the sacrifice he had paid for his people; and he saw the Iron Army, holding their weapons at the ready. Even faced with certain demise, they would fall fighting. Akadius waved his hand and sent light streaming across the courtyard trapping each and every orc and barker that remained in a cocoon of light. "You are the creator of the creators. I am so sorry for your fall into the darkness." He closed his hands and the cocoons shrivel up with the minions still in them.

  "You fool! You know if you interfere and take mortal lives it will be your demise. Do not take the joy from me of taking your life!" Malonox bellowed.

  Akadius charged fast as lightning toward the Shadow Lord. With one hand, he grabbed the arm holding the Shadow Bone, holding it steady. "I know the price I have to pay; it does not compare to the price we have already paid for allowing you to exist, thus giving you this chance to wreak chaos. I am ready to pay the price, are you?" Akadius clenched his hand into a fist, gripping tighter and tighter until it began to glow.

  Zachery felt his dagger vibrate. He pulled it from his boot to see that it was glowing. "Forgive me, father." The dagger flew from Zachery's hand to Akadius.

  Akadius then plunged his fist into the chest of Malonox and summoned his power of pure Light while inside the dark one. He took Malonox's hand that held the Shadow Bone and thrust the dark blade deep into his own chest. The shadows fell from the refugees as they looked on in disbelief. The Light purged the very skin from Malonox's body. Shadow and death spread across Akadius.

  Tradan sprinted to Akadius's side, "My Lord, what do I do?"

  The fading God looked to the young Champion, "Lead the people as your father would."

  With that both the Lord of the Heavens and Malonox, the Eternal Prime, was gone. The life force had escaped them both.

  The dagger passed down from Aliz'Ra's father was the first gift of the Gods ever bestowed to mortals. It was created by, and given with pure love, by Malonox. That was the key to mortality's salvation: love.

  46

  The Champion’s Reign

  After all had settled and the shock of what had happened wore off, Tradan rushed to his father's side.

  Benzoete and Antoine try to comfort him. "He was the bravest man I have ever known," Benzoete said.

  Antoine placed a hand on his shoulder, "He did what had to be done, and he did not hesitate. How many of us could have done that?"

  Tradan tried to be brave, "What do we do now? How can we move forward without him?"

  Now with everyone gathered around their fallen hero, they mourned the loss of a true leader. Aliz'Ra and Valindra were still with George.

  "He is coming around now," Valindra said.

  Aliz'Ra leaned in, "George? George, can you hear me?"

  George rolled over and held his chest, "What happened? I saw the spear go through me."

  "You can thank Valindra for that?" George looked up at his mother for the first time that he could remember.

  "You saved me? How?" he asked.

  Aliz'Ra answered, "She used her gift, all of her gift." She then stood up. "I will let you two talk; I need to go find that stranger with the Guardian sword."

  As Aliz'Ra walked away, George sat up, "What gift was she speaking of?"

  Valindra sat down beside him, "Our bloodline is one of the oldest of all elven kind. Each one of us have a gift. My father, like his mother, is a powerful wizard. My gift was of healing."

  George stopped her, "You said was."

  Valindra held her head high. "I used my gift of heritage to heal the infected or wounded. I could not bring anyone back once they crossed over to the afterlife, but I could stop one person from tasting death if I truly needed to." She told him.

  George rubbed the place on his chest where he saw the spearhead pierce his body. "I was going to die, and you used your gift to save me. What will happen now to your gift?"

  Valindra smiled and held his hand. "You do not need to worry yourself with that. We should go find the others." She helped him to his feet, and he pulled her in close and hugged her tight.

  "I am proud to finally be able to embrace my mother." They shared a smile and walked toward the castle.

  When they stepped into the courtyard, they saw everyone standing around a man's body.

  "That's Gabriel's armor!" George shouted as he tried to run through the crowd. He fell to his knees and clutched his friend close to him. Tears streamed down his face, "It was not supposed to end this way. We have endured too much to fall now!" Antoine consoled him and told the others to take the king inside and prepare him for his rest.

  Zachery pulled his father off to the side. "We have experienced loss beyond measure, but Amundiss is free! That is what King Gabriel wanted, that is what mother wanted. We must honor them by living the life they gave their lives to protect."

  "I'm the father, I was supposed to give you the advice and help."

  Zachery smiled. "You have, my entire life. Now, it is my turn to help you. Let's go find Cassy and Launa, we have much to do now."

  Aliz’Ra had found the mysterious warrior that had the Guardian blade standing off to himself still clutching the hilt. She wondered who this brave man was and more important, where he got the sword. "Hello there, brave warrior! Have we met?" she asked. Receiving no response, she walked closer, being as careful as she could to not startle him. "Young man, may I inquire whereabout you came across that sword?"

  Aliz'Ra touched the man on the shoulder and then had to duck several wild swings. She waved her hands and sent the warrior flying backward. As he hit the ground, the sword was knocked from his hand and his helmet flew off his head. "By the Gods! You’re not a man at all!" The young woman turned to face Aliz'Ra, "Launa! How did you. . ."

  Launa stared at Aliz'Ra, "When I held that sword, I was not myself. I did not know I could move the way I did, do the things I did. I... killed."

  Aliz'Ra held her tight and tried to calm her down. "You did what you had to do, deary. They would have killed you if given the chance." She leaned over and picked up the sword, "Now tell me, where did you get this?"

  Launa explained finding it on a dead orc.

  "This is a blessed Guardian sword. They were given to the Guardians of Terra’Fayoak. The Guardians were a special breed of elf with very powerful abilities brought to life by the blade itself." Aliz'Ra looked hard at Launa, "This means the elven bloodline did not skip you. You are a Guardian!" She took Launa by the hand. "We will tell the others when the time is right. We have other things to do right now." The two walked back to find George and the others.

  THE NEXT DAY, WORD had already spread to all that remained in Amundiss of the bravery of King Gabriel and the refugee army. The fight was over. Everyone could begin rebuilding their lives. The courtyard of Castle Whitehold had been cleared and made ready to lay the mightiest that have fallen to rest. An altar was made for King Kegan of the Iron Army, who led his men with honor, with no fear. One was made symbolizing everyone that lost their lives in the fight for freedom. An empty one was made, honoring Lord Akadius, who stepped in and broke the rules of the Heavens to stop Malonox.

  The last altar held the body of King Gabriel, the noblest and most compassionate king in history. As night began to fall, torches lined the courtyard, circling around the altars. People made their way toward the altars to thank all that sacrificed everything to free their home from evil. The Iron Army stood stoically by their king in respect, saluting their leader and friend. George and Antoine were with Tradan inside the castle throne room.

  "He was to take this throne and lead us to a brighter future. I came into life as a normal kid thinking my father had died. You would think I would be used to it."

  George sighed. "This journey has twisted everything we all knew into a new way of life."

  "Do not forget, we are here for you. You will lead in your father's footsteps." Antoine added.

  "You and Zachery are my most trusted friends and family, but I still wish Father were here." They turned to prepare for the fu
nerals.

  As night fell, there was a mixture of joy and sorrow. Tears flowed from every eye in attendance. Barrok sat in the back with Cassy. Zachery didn't want him to scare the people.

  Tradan and Antoine stood before the people. "We are here because of sacrifices, not only by these honorable people behind us, but of the thousands of souls taken before their time. We were fortunate to have them in our lives, and I for one feel lucky to have called them friends," Antoine began. "Behind us rests more than one king. King Kegan Kadrisson of the Iron Army led his brave men against the demon's army when we needed them the most." Antoine turned and saluted the dwarves. "I thank you for your service and know your king was proud to be an Iron Army Dwarf!"

  A loud battle cry of "ANG THRONG!" rang out from the mighty dwarves. Tradan stepped forward, "King Gabriel of Whitehold. I knew him for a very little time, but I know he stood as a fixture in this kingdom. He was not only the noblest king this land had seen, but he was also my father. His presence will be missed."

  Just as Tradan was about to continue the eulogy, the sky was filled with small, fluttering lights. Four pillars of light formed in front of the altars. There stood the remaining Gods themselves, Sybillias, Hagorith, Artoga, and Hypotios. They were dressed in all white with purple and silver trimmed attire.

  Sybillias stepped forward as the people bowed before her, "Arise good people. We came here today to honor our fallen brother, alongside you. As he made his choice to break the laws of the heavens, he came to us. He wished to fill his place among us. Someone to take his seat and help us govern the worlds before us."