A young woman suddenly revealed herself from a nearby shadowy alcove, completely startling Miri. She seemed to be barely past puberty, and wore nothing but a thin white sheet made of some strange material Miri had never seen before. The strange girl continued her approach until she stood just a few paces away. Miri hunched her shoulders, fully prepared to do battle.
The woman made a faint smile. “Welcome, Miri. I am called Atrexs, Oracle to the Maker.”
Miri remained on guard. “I believe you know why I am here.”
Atrexs nonchalantly dismissed her readiness to fight with a wave of her hand as she gestured towards the swollen form ahead of them. “My mother said as much. We awaited your arrival, and gave orders to the Exalted to let you pass unmolested.”
“So you could fight me alone instead?”
“My mother and I hope it shall not come to that,” Atrexs said. “After all, you are part of our family. We desire to welcome you into our fold, cousin.”
Miri was taken aback. “You knew!”
Atrexs nodded. “Yes, the moment your presence was felt in these lands. There was a time when my mother could sense the thoughts of everyone across the entire world, but even she could not battle past the ravages of time. Her Vis is still somewhat potent, even though it only extends no farther than the Sea of Dunes.”
“If you do not wish to battle, then heed my words,” Miri said. “Perhaps we can work together in restoring the world to what it once was. The Keeper has told me of a time when much of the wastes were covered in water- he called them seas.”
“Yes, my mother told me of these same tales, I have no doubt of their truthfulness.”
For the first time in days, Miri was hopeful. “Then let us cooperate! I know the secret of the Maker- it is nothing more than a broken machine, a device in violation of what it was meant to do. Help me to destroy it, and let us rebuild the world together.”
Atrexs sighed and looked away. “While it is true the Maker is but a machine, and while this machine ravages the world by creating the mists which are then sent forth across the lands, it is doing this for a noble cause.”
Miri scowled in confusion. “A noble cause? It is preventing the people of these lands to flourish. There is nothing honorable about such a purpose.”
“I am afraid there is,” Atrexs said softly. “You see there is one tale the Keeper did not tell you, and for good reason. He does not want you to know the whole truth of the matter.”
“And what is this truth you speak of?”
“The Gorgons themselves were a product of humanity,” Atrexs said. “It was man’s own hubris which brought forth such a catastrophe that befell the world. There was a time when our ancestors traveled the stars, but all those things are gone now.”
“Gone? How?”
“The answer is obvious,” Atrexs said. “Every time mankind is given the power to create, they ultimately destroy themselves. Give humans too much power, and the entire world shall be threatened once more.”
Miri shook her head slowly. “I … I do not understand.”
“This was not the first cycle in which mankind destroyed itself,” Atrexs said. “It has come about many times. The planet’s gifts are but few, while people’s ambitions are limitless. If given too much, then humans begin to think they are greater than gods, and their own greed ravages the lands. It was not the Gorgons who caused the seas to dry up, but the actions of men.”
Miri looked away, her thoughts in a seeming state of uncertainty.
“You witnessed what had befallen the Khanate with your own eyes,” Atrexs said. “The tribes fought each other into a state of oblivion because of their never ending lust for power. There are but few survivors left, mostly women and children. The people in the Sea of Dunes will rebuild again, and the circle will return to its same state once more in the coming cycles.”
“There … there must be a way to end all this.”
“What you have observed is the true state of humanity,” Atrexs said. “Whatever was built up shall eventually be destroyed. It is but an unceasing sequence of ends that ultimately returns to its beginnings. Now, imagine the destruction of all this, but many times greater, and on a worldwide occurrence, it is what happened to the world because of mankind.”
“The Gorgons were responsible for the carnage,” Miri said tersely.
“Do you believe the Gorgons could have done all that by themselves? No, they had armies of men who fought with them- ever loyal to their cause. Why? Because they wanted the power that came with conquest, yet in the end all had fallen.”
Miri made a loud sigh. “So is this what you and your mother wish? You want this circle of birth and destruction to continue?”
“It is the way of the world,” Atrexs said. “We merely wish to keep man’s ambitions in check. By preventing the rains from falling, we keep the desert from becoming watery seas teeming with life. By limiting the mining of metals, we prevent more horrific weapons from being created. Humanity’s ultimate destruction has been lessened.”
“It is not your right to decide the fate of the world,” Miri said. “You must leave it up to those living in it.”
“If the plants return then more life is created,” Atrexs said. “Men and beasts shall flourish once more, but only for a time. The moment cities become too powerful, the inevitable march towards self destruction commences.”
“You fail to fathom what life is like out there,” Miri said. “You sit in this hollow mountain of yours, yet you cannot understand the world is dying. In due time there shall be no more of humanity. All that will be left will be the sand and the rocks.”
Atrexs made a blank stare. “Then we shall create more, and perhaps in a better form than what we have now- less greedy, more compliant.”
Miri remained quiet.
“You sense the truth in my words,” Atrexs said. “Despite your formidable defenses, my mother can read your surface thoughts. You saw our cause as evil before you came, but now you know it is not so.”
Miri bit her lip. “Man must be given the chance to do better. If we could but guide them towards a bright future, then we could undo all the past destruction we have wrought.”
“To what end? I promise you the time of plenty will be short, it shall only be a prelude to more destruction.”
“If mankind is to destroy itself again, then it shall be their choice,” Miri said. “I cannot allow you and Elayris to control everyone’s destiny.”
Atrexs had a look of mild disappointment. “Are you certain this is what you desire? My mother is still powerful, but she has not many cycles left- for time claims us all. I will make you a bargain.”
Miri frowned. “Bargain?”
“Yes,” Atrexs said. “Join us. When my mother finally passes onto the afterworld, you shall become the new Gorgon of the Maker. We both can sense your growing Vis, and you can help steer the world into stability.”
“I have no desire to control the lands of men,” Miri said.
“You can prevent the coming destruction,” Atrexs said. “By working with us, we can guide humanity in the right direction. It is important the Maker continue its work.”
Miri took a deep breath and stared into her mirror-like eyes. “No. Life must be restored, and you and Elayris must loosen your hold. No more manipulation. The world shall be free to determine its own fate.”
Atrexs pursed her lips. “This is a pity, but nevertheless it is expected. Your mother was always the rebellious one, and she has passed the weakness onto you.”
Right after she heard those words, a shrill, unrelenting noise rang out in Miri’s head, almost knocking her to the ground. The sound was like a million screams all at once, drowning out her senses in a distorted cacophony of unending torture, gnawing into her very self. Her trembling fingers dropped the spear, as she subconsciously placed both hands over her ears in a futile attempt to shield herself from a disquietude that wasn’t there.
Her knees buckling, Miri willed herself to remain sta
nding as she gritted her teeth, trying desperately to strengthen her thought defenses in order to push back the overwhelming mental attack. The ringing in her head was uncompromising, sending out waves of psychic agony, paralyzing her motor skills. It felt like her brain was being bombarded on all sides, battering down her sense of self, and threatening to leave nothing behind but a blank, empty shell.
Atrexs’s voice was a mere whisper, even though she was standing but a few paces from her. “This is what we do to the youth who are brought to us for sacrifice. We drain their mental and life essences except for the truly gifted ones. Those talented few become Exalted.”
Miri’s eyes were clenched tight. She groaned while balling up her fists. For a brief time her battered thought defenses had nearly broken down, exposing her vulnerable mind to Elayris, but she had been able to shore up the mental fortresses of her inner self at the last second, just before the psychic walls broke. Little by little, Miri began to build up the bastions of her mind, ignoring the distracting pain and concentrating on the fundamentals of her mindsense. Pebble by pebble, stone by stone, she commanded herself to rise up above the chaos, creating an unassailable tower of resolve. Slowly but surely, she began dampening the mental attacks directed against her.
Dismayed by her seeming recovery, Atrexs held her arms up, transforming them into a pair of sharpened, blade-like weapons. Just as she got closer to Miri, the spear on the ground suddenly leapt up in the air and into Miri’s waiting hands.
With an extra amount of Vis for added strength, Miri swung the blunt end of the spear and struck Atrexs on the side of her jaw, sending the Oracle stumbling backwards and out of melee range. Using her mindforce, Miri made a long jump across the length of the cavern before landing close to the bloated form of Elayris. Miri was ready to thrust her spear into the side of the ancient Gorgon when she looked down and was suddenly taken aback by what she saw.
Elayris looked up at her with mournful, drooping yellow eyes. Cradled in the folds of her pudgy arms was a young girl, naked and paralyzed. Elayris’s long blackened tongue had extended on down past her corpselike swollen chest, its barbed end embedded in the hapless child’s jugular, draining her life essences away.
Chapter 31
The seven remaining Exalted continued to stare out over the darkened high plateau. They had been ordered not to let anyone else into the Temple of Entropy. Calm and unmoving, they resembled lifelike statues while continuing their seemingly unending watch. There was a strange, eerie silence between them, as it seemed they only spoke to one another when necessary. Each and every movement they made was an economy of effort, for it appeared they were more like machines than men.
Without warning, the Exalted guard closest to the steps leading down from the mountain suddenly sensed something out of the ordinary. He quickly turned, moved over to the edge of the elevation and looked down. As he peered out into the foggy lowlands below, a metal ball struck him at the base of his neck. The Exalted one staggered backwards as he clutched his injured throat, making a slight gurgling noise while falling to his knees as the blood began to pour out from the fatal wound.
The remaining six drew their swords and began to approach the edge of the mesa. As the next two stood close to the fringe with their weapons at the ready, a sudden, invisible force pulled at them, throwing the pair off the ledge and sending them tumbling down into the distant ground below. With only four of them left, the other Exalted began to retreat backwards, hoping to find safety near the cavern entrance.
At the other edge of the plateau, Zeren used his mindforce to leap up onto the flattened rock and began to approach them, his hands hidden beneath his fluttering cloak. The moment he got close to the middle area he pulled out a pair of flintlock pistols, aimed and fired them, one at a time. The first shot caught one of the Exalted in the chest, penetrating the leather gambeson he wore and mortally wounding him. The second shot struck another Exalted guard in the leg, forcing him to the ground. Zeren dropped the pistols onto the smooth rock while continuing to move forward.
No sooner had Zeren made his advance when Rion suddenly appeared behind him, using his own mindforce to make a flying leap onto the plateau. After getting to one knee, Rion picked up one of the pistols Zeren had left behind and began to reload it, first by placing some powder down the barrel and then ramming a steel ball in afterwards. The moment he was able to have the first pistol ready, Rion stood up and threw it towards the man in front of him. “Here!”
Zeren used the mindforce to catch the gun as it dropped slowly in front of his hand without even bothering to turn around. Locking back the firing mechanism, he aimed again and fired, bringing down a third guard with a shot to the shoulder. Continuing his forward progress, he dropped the now empty pistol on the ground once more.
By now the Exalted had realized their precarious situation. The one guard still on his feet quickly charged towards Zeren, using a silent assault that unnerved most men who faced them. Zeren refused to be intimidated as he strode past one of the injured guardians, drawing out his broadsword and striking the top of the wounded man’s head, killing him almost instantly. The sentry with the wound on his shoulder had also managed to stand up, but Zeren made short work of him as the Magus lashed out with two quick thrusts into the Exalted one’s stomach before the injured man could even react, sealing his fate.
The final guardian of the plateau made a swing towards Zeren’s unprotected head, hoping to bring down the Magus with one blow, but Zeren quickly sidestepped and ducked underneath the obvious attack while twisting his blade obliquely, cutting across the back of the Exalted one’s arm. The injury was distracting, and the Exalted lurched forward, out of balance as he tried to bring his blade back up into a guard position. Zeren was much too quick for him as he made a hard thrust into his enemy’s back, the added force of the Vis almost severing the other man’s spine. In mere moments, all the guards were now dead or dying.
Rion ran up to Zeren as the latter wiped the blood off his blade with one of the tattered robes of the fallen. The boy quickly moved past him. “Hurry, there is no time to waste!”
Zeren angrily pulled the boy back behind him as they both ran into the great cavern. “Do not get ahead of me, boy! Who knows what horrors reside in this place.”
Rion was desperate to get to Miri, for he sensed she was having great difficulties. “You must move faster then, Miri needs us.”
Zeren said nothing as they both made their way towards what looked to be an opening at the far end of the cavernous Temple of Entropy. Zeren couldn’t help but stare upwards in awe at the strange glowing spheres illuminating the subterranean hallway, for he had never encountered such things before. He was tempted to linger and marvel at the strange sights, but the boy kept getting ahead of him.
Just before they made it to the entryway at the end of the chamber, another Exalted suddenly appeared, blocking their way. Rion had been able to ready another pistol, but just as he was about to hand it to Zeren, the weapon leapt out of his hands and rebounded away to the side of the room, its metal barrel rattling on the hard stone flooring.
Zeren pushed the boy behind him. He knew who it was. “Rion, you must find another way to Miri.”
Rion could barely contain his surprise. The enemy in front of them had used the mindforce to take the gun from his hands. “Who is he?”
“He is known as the First,” Zeren said between clenched teeth. “I must deal with him alone.”
Rion sensed the animosity between them. “May the gods be with you, Zeren,” he said, before running off into a side corridor and out of sight.
The First strode forward while drawing out the sword he had once left behind.
Zeren had retaken the basket-hilted broadsword he had left in the ship’s hold. Now he brought it up to a middle guard position as he faced his former mentor. “It is you, Fumal Led.”
“I am no longer called by that name,” the First said. “I had left you for dead before, but like a fool you have returned. This
time I shall make sure you do not come back again.”
Zeren began a wide circle as he threw off his cloak. “I do not know what sort of demons they had placed within you to turn you into such a twisted creature, but I shall do my best to bring out those unclean spirits after I take your head.”
Miri’s brief hesitation upon seeing the child in the Gorgon’s arms quickly dissipated, due to the swirling danger all around her. Using both hands, Miri lunged forward, her spear thrusting out towards Elayris’s bloated neck, but the point of the weapon had stopped just inches from the pale folds of skin. Miri’s mouth opened in shock, she had been using a large amount of Vis to help push the spear point forward but it wasn’t enough, the counterforce was stronger than she had anticipated.
Atrexs had recovered quickly, and she ran up the slope towards them. “Feel the great power of the Last of the Three, for it shall be the final thoughts of your true self before oblivion takes hold.”
Miri backed away, still trying to formulate a strategy that could somehow reveal a weakness against her enemies. Atrexs came up just beneath her, swinging her arm blades in order to slice at her opponent. Using the higher ground to her advantage, Miri parried both thrusts with the shaft of her spear before using her mindforce to jump over the Oracle, somersaulting high in the air and landing behind Atrexs.
Just as the Oracle turned to face her, Miri used a spurt of Vis to thrust the spear into her adversary’s exposed chest. The spearhead immediately pierced the skin just underneath the Oracle’s ribcage as Miri used the mindforce to make it penetrate even further, the point stabbing past, nearly a full arms length deep into the body of Atrexs until it came out through her back. Miri thought she had mortally wounded her opponent, only to stare deeply into the confidently smiling face of the Oracle.
“You have fallen into the trap,” Atrexs said. She had somehow transformed her arms again, this time the ends of her wire-like fingers resembled sharpened needles. Atrexs clawed at Miri’s eyes, the barbed points damaging the pupils beyond repair.
The Maker of Entropy Page 32
