by Eric Vall
“Maker,” Ashla sighed. “I’m certainly tired, but I’m not sure I need the elixir just to get home. Should we save it?”
“No,” I replied simply. “I think it’s a very good idea to take it. How about you drink your third, and I’ll have mine right after.”
Ashla downed her portion of the elixir, and she made a grimace as she coughed in reaction to the taste of it.
“I think he doesn’t ever put any sweetener in,” the ice mage rasped out. “That’s why it’s so potent.”
“I can’t imagine I’ll notice the difference,” I replied as she handed the vial over.
I downed my portion and nearly gagged as the taste of overwhelmingly salty, bitter fluid trickled thickly down my throat.
“This is awful,” I choked out. “I forgot since last time how terrible his potions are.”
“I’ll never forget,” Ashla mourned. “Months of it. Years of it. I’m cursed to remember forever.”
“I’m so sorry,” I told her seriously.
The airship jolted into the air, and we made our ascent at a rapid pace. I tapped my knee impatiently as we rocked through the turbulent currents and up into the smoother air the ship usually rode in.
“Say,” Ashla mused in a slow, considering tone, “you didn’t just ask for this elixir so we could go home and rest, did you?”
“Ashla,” I answered as a sly smile spread over my face, “you might be onto something. How would you mind if we took a detour east to the very close, very small town of Njordenfalls?”
“Njordenfalls, you say?” Ashla asked as she tilted her head in mock consideration. “That’s your hometown, right? Maybe we should stop by. Ought to be quiet, peaceful, lots of room for relaxation …”
“We certainly didn’t hear any reports of an enormous monster attack there,” I agreed before I raised my voice. “Erin, can you come out here once we’re at elevation?”
“Coming!” came the pilot’s faint voice before the sound of her footsteps drew near.
Erin poked her head out and raised her eyebrows expectantly at Ashla and me. A faint frown spread across the mimic’s face as she looked between our two grinning expressions.
“Erin,” Ashla began sweetly, “how would you like to take a detour?”
“Set a course for Njordenfalls,” I cut in with excitement. “We’re going to go give Cyra and Layla the backup they deserve.”
Erin burst into a dazzling smile as she heard exactly what we were up to.
“I’ve never made a more wonderful course correction in my life,” Erin chirped happily at us both.
“Great to hear,” I answered with a wide smile. “Now, come take your medicine before you go back there.”
“With pleasure,” Erin replied, and she hurried forward to snatch the blue-stained vial from my hand before she ducked back into the cockpit.
The airship tilted noticeably as it swerved to change course, and then it leveled back out with its nose firmly pointed east. There was a moment of pleased silence between Ashla and me as we considered our change of plans, but then we were interrupted by the sound of coughing and hacking from the cockpit room.
“You okay in there?” Ashla called as she stifled a chuckle.
“What did he put in this?” Erin wailed in a hoarse voice. “An entire salt mine?”
“Sorry!” Ashla yelled back, but her laughter broke free, and she snickered into the palm of her hand.
“Sounds like she’s topped up on mana,” I pointed out happily as a low chuckle shook my shoulders.
Ashla sobered, and the two of us fell silent as we considered the possibilities of what was happening at Njordenfalls.
“Do you think it’s Phi?” Ashla asked worriedly.
“How could it not be?” I responded. “Attacks at all three permanent rift locations, and Njordenfalls is the epicenter? Even if she’s not marching around the battlefield personally, it sounds like she’s launching a war on humanity.”
“And we know that’s exactly what she wants,” Ashla added grimly.
“At least we scouted all three locations,” I said as I tapped at my knee nervously. “I wish we knew how far out the soldiers are from Svellfrer’s Rest and Ortych Sands.”
“Let Sleet and Kenefick worry about that,” the ice mage pressed. “Doc said Njordenfalls was by far the biggest attack of the three, so that’s what we should focus on.”
“Right,” I agreed as I let out a heavy sigh. “Njordenfalls also has the worst capability for defence, and Layla and Cyra don’t have a banisher with them. They’ll need to hold out for many hours before one arrives.”
“You think it matters if they don’t have a banisher?” Ashla asked. “It could be a permanent rift, for all we know. Doc didn’t have that kind of information.”
“It could be,” I admitted. “In which case, the lack of a banisher won’t matter. Still, I have a feeling this isn’t a permanent rift.”
Ashla gave me a questioning glance, but I didn’t have any real answers for her. I didn’t think Phi had managed to open a permanent rift, though my only reasoning was the gut feeling in my stomach that told me she hadn’t.
“How long does it take to get to Njordenfalls from here?” Ashla asked as she turned to me with a concerned twist to her mouth.
I reached down to snag the map from my travel bag, and I pulled it open so I could examine our airship path.
“Just under an hour,” I replied. “We’re really close in terms of north and south, so we’re heading directly east to reach Njordenfalls.”
“Less than an hour,” Ashla mused. “Okay, wake me up right before we’re there, like during the descent. I’m going to power nap the shit out of this trip.”
“Good luck,” I replied skeptically. “I’ll wake you up, I guess, since there’s no way I can hope to sleep right now.”
“Too nervous?” Ashla asked as she slumped sideways and cradled her head in one hand.
“Too eager,” I replied seriously. “I’ve been waiting to take Phi out for a long, long time. She sure likes running, but this time, I’m not letting her get away.”
My sister draws her last breath today, Sera hissed in the corner of my mind. I’ll rip her heart out with my bare hands, if I must.
“Wow,” Ashla said as she gazed at me. “You really mean it, don’t you? I shivered a little, just then.”
“I do mean it,” I answered as determination blazed within me. “She’s not getting away.”
“Good,” the ice mage hummed before she yawned widely. “I’m ready to kick that bitch to the curb.”
The ice mage laid her head down to sleep, but I couldn’t find the same willingness for rest inside me. I knew a nap would help, but tension snapped in my chest like a taut cable. My hands were clenched so tightly, it felt as if I was about to dig my fingers straight through my palms.
Every jolt of the ship made me nearly leap up in anticipation of our landing, but time and time again, it was only a breeze. It seemed unfair that somewhere out there, Cyra and Layla were fighting for their lives, yet today’s weather was just as sunny and bland as usual. The mundane growl of hunger in my stomach seemed ridiculous when only a few miles away, Phi could be commanding an army of monsters to wreak destruction on the land of Mistral.
Would Cyra and Layla really be alright? Would Nia and Varleth win without help, and could Braden, Gawain, and Almasy seize victory on their own? I felt like a fool for leaving anybody behind, but I couldn’t save everyone at once. I was just a man, just a summoner, just one mortal in a sea of mortals.
Why stay ordinary? Sera questioned in a curious whisper. Why suffer, like some masochistic weakling born to live and die in the dirt? You mewl about your problems, yet you don’t take the one action that could fix them. You were destined for greatness, Gryff. You only have to free me, love me, and we can change the world …
Shut up, I told the Archon, but my protest sounded weak to my own ears. Somewhere deep inside, I was damn tired of seeing Phi get away with mu
rder. In some corner of the dark, small part of my mind, I was ready to see her stopped no matter the cost.
Think about my words, Sera whispered before she ghosted away from the forefront of my thoughts.
Suddenly, the ship lurched to a halt and hovered in position.
“Landing!” Erin shouted at the top of her lungs. “I hope you can hear me, ‘cause I’m not waiting around to set Diomesia down!”
“Got it!” I called back.
Beside me, Ashla startled into confused wakefulness.
“Are we there?” the ice mage asked thickly. “I just put my head down.”
“We’re there,” I confirmed darkly. “Make your final preparations, because we’re going to jump in fighting if we have to.”
“Got it,” Ashla replied, and she rummaged in her travel pack to shove some hardtack bread into her mouth. “You should eat, too. It’s been a long time since our last meal.”
“Right,” I said distractedly as I tried not to let my whirling thoughts get the better of me.
I snagged a piece of beef jerky from my bag and ripped at it viciously to get my stress out. Ashla sent me a few side-eyed glances, but she didn’t comment on my volatile state.
The airship rumbled and jolted as it touched ground, and I hastily stuffed the rest of the jerky in my mouth.
“Ready?” Erin asked as she ducked out of the cockpit.
“Give me a minute, then I’d better be,” Ashla replied intensely as she unbuckled her safety harness.
“Almost there,” I said as I rose from my seat and checked my bandolier and pouches.
My hand ran into a new shape of crystal in my hip pouch, and I pulled it out to examine it. It was green and globular with a sort of dull, muddy color streaked through it, but otherwise, it didn’t have much distinction.
“What’s that?” Ashla asked me as she frowned at my new essence crystal.
“Fish monster,” I replied as I remembered stuffing the new crystals into my pouch during the action. “I’ve got a lot of them, now. I’m glad I always carry so many empty essence crystals with me.”
“You’re always prepared,” Ashla observed as she strapped on a pair of white, leather gauntlets. “I’m not surprised you’ve got a whole stash of extra crystals.”
“Alright,” I told Erin, “we’re ready enough. Let’s do this.”
Erin slammed the palm of her hand on the ramp button, and we charged as a team down the hatch and out the door.
Instantly, I noticed the monsters at the base of the ramp, but I also caught a brief glimpse of the familiar Njordenfalls river and grass. I couldn’t see the destruction itself, though there was a haze of foreboding smoke on the horizon. Erin wasn’t able to set down very near to the village itself, so there wasn’t much to see beyond the trees.
“Goblins!” I yelled as the first of the monsters rushed us.
We had little time to prepare, since they’d obviously been waiting for us. The goblins met us instantly at the bottom of the ramp, and Ashla plunged her axe into the skull of the first one as it reached us. It gurgled and died without fanfare, and she heaved Bessie free from the dissolving corpse.
These dozen-or-so enemies were just normal goblins, no special abilities or weapons, and they held nothing more than crude, rough pieces of metal that could barely be called swords.
In short, they were a piece of cake to get rid of.
“Warm welcome,” Ashla grunted as she sliced through another goblin limb.
“I’d say a little closer to annoying than warm,” I huffed back as I threw out two axe goblin crystals to combat them.
I felt a little extra mana get sucked away as the summoning completed, but I wasn’t surprised. It had been just a couple hours since I’d last used practically every single one of my monsters, and it would cost nearly double the mana to summon them again. Doc’s potion did the job of fixing up my various scratches and bites, but no amount of wound healing and magic regeneration would solve the cost of summoning a monster twice in one day.
My axe goblins sheared through their enemies with ease, and Erin picked off the stragglers with a flaming sword that left flickering, fiery wounds on their charred bodies.
“You’re getting better at fire magic,” I complimented as I directed my axe goblins to pin down the stragglers.
“I’m still not even close to how a real fire mage would fight,” Erin answered as she whipped her flaming sword through the torso of a blue-skinned goblin, “and I probably never will be, but I’m okay with that. Flexibility is more fun than becoming an expert at one thing.”
“I feel the same way about summoning,” I responded as my axe goblins finished off the last enemy.
“Phew,” Ashla huffed as she leaned on her axe. “I hope it’s not a bad sign that a bunch of grunts were all the way out here.”
“I hope not,” I echoed in similar worry. “I’m guessing Cyra, Layla, and the soldiers have their hands full with worse monsters.”
“Let’s go,” Erin urged.
I recalled my axe goblins before I led my team at a jog along the river of my childhood. We passed a few copses of trees before we were greeted by the vision of a meadow and an empty, half-destroyed military encampment.
Tents were ripped open by claw marks, and various crates of supplies had been trampled and strewn across the ground. Hardtack was crumbled into the dust, and a few uniformed bodies lay strewn around like discarded children’s dolls. Most lay in large pools of their own blood, and all were silent and unmoving.
“Should we check for survivors?” Erin asked as her expression tightened in concern.
“I don’t think the military left anybody here except for the dead,” I answered grimly. “Let’s keep going, we need to hurry.”
We dashed along the small trail that led up the river, and grass gave way to dirt as we neared the town itself. The sounds of fighting, screaming, animalistic roaring, and chaotic destruction filled our ears as we made the final turn past the forest and into the village itself.
We stopped and stared as the three of us tried to understand what we were seeing. Phi was waging full-out war on Njordenfalls, and the town was losing.
Teams of organized soldiers in military-green uniforms fought desperately against an onslaught of monsters both familiar and unknown. Buildings raged and crackled with blue fire, and ash bloomed into the air in a cloud of black, billowing smoke and debris.
Through it all, an enormous monster in the form of a blue-skinned woman strode through the village, and her bare feet crushed monsters and soldiers alike as she walked. She wore nothing more than a black leotard wrapped in golden chains, and a faint blue aura surrounded her. She was at least fifty feet tall, and her white hair, milky eyes, and angelic wings were unmistakable.
“Phi,” I growled.
My sister, Sera spat with vehemence.
“She’s really here in the flesh,” Ashla breathed. “This must be the epicenter of her attack.”
“What should we do?” Erin asked as she ran her fingers distractedly through her short, orange hair. “There’s so much fighting … “
“Let me think,” I murmured as I examined the rest of the village.
Behind a few of the burning buildings, I caught a glimpse of a large, churning rift. It was certainly volatile, but it wasn’t bordered by anything out of the ordinary, and it was lacking any sign of golden chains or glowing writing that characterized the permanent rift that nearly opened in Ortych Sands.
“Is it a normal rift?” Ashla asked as her eyes flickered from me back to the portal.
“Yeah,” I replied, “I’m almost positive Phi doesn’t have what she needs for the permanent rift. Perhaps this attack is necessary in some way.”
“Blood sacrifice to fuel the magic?” Erin wondered out loud.
“Could be anything,” Ashla refuted.
I turned my gaze to the less significant parts of the battle. A crowd of refugees sheltered along the bank of the river as soldiers formed a protectiv
e ring around them. The soldier guard tried to stave off the monster onslaught, but members of their team were dropping like flies. Two mages in familiar academy cloaks stood at the head of the protective soldier ring, and the mages fought beside a silver-scaled dragon and an elephantine, snake-headed hyppocrans.
“Cyra and Layla,” Erin gasped as I pointed out the two mages.
“We should go help them first,” I decided, and I stepped forward. “Alright, we know where we need to be, so let’s try to not draw attention to ourselves until we’re there. Let’s move out.”
The two women nodded and followed me as I led our group into the fray. Most of the monsters were engaged in combat with the platoon soldiers, and I knew they wouldn’t be looking for a fight until their current victims were dealt with. I led my team sideways first, then snuck along the riverbank as we wormed around the backsides of buildings.
“Shadowcat,” Ashla hissed out as we crept beside the riverbank.
I froze, and the two women stopped beside me.
Sure enough, a dark, pantherlike Shadowcat prowled along the edge of the building in front of us. The jagged spikes on its legs and back rippled as it walked, and it growled softly as it searched for prey. Shadows rolled off it like tendrils of smoke, and a bolt of fear ran through me.
“Don’t let its aura of dread get to you,” I whispered to my teammates, but it was just as much to remind myself.
The nightmare I had in Svellfrer’s Rest was still vivid in my mind, and I expected the golden-eyed cat to speak in my friends’ voices at any moment.
I shook off my fear and reminded myself it was nothing more than the effect of the Shadowcat’s aura.
“Let’s take it out,” I rasped, and we moved into combat together.
Ashla layered ice at the shadowcat’s feet while Erin simultaneously lobbed a fireball at its face.
The cat roared and leapt free of the ice, but the fireball hit it in the chest and knocked it to the ground. The shadowcat’s fur burned fitfully, but it snarled and shook its body like a dog shedding water, and the fire snuffed out. It roared again and pounced forward to rend us from head to toe.
I threw out a wallerdon and a daggerdillo, and my two monsters combined to form a steel-spiked wall in front of us.
