by Eric Vall
The crystal in my hand was round and large, about the size of an apple, and it glowed with unsettling blue light as I turned it around.
“Summon her back,” Sera demanded, and she shrank back to her normal size until her yellow eyes glared directly into mine with a crazed bloodthirst. “I’m not finished with her, Gryff, summon her back.”
“No,” I snapped in response, “I’m keeping her right where she is. Your method of revenge is shallow and temporary, at best. I’m going to keep Phi locked away forever. Can’t that satisfy your taste for blood?”
“It’s too painless,” Sera snarled, and her eyes gleamed with unnatural, feverish light. “I need her to scream for mercy. I need it, you understand?”
“No,” I replied simply, and I tucked the essence crystal into my hip pouch.
Sera lunged for it, and I stepped away as she reached to snatch my pouch away from me. Her sharp fingernails left deep scratches on the leather of the bag, but the fabric held together.
“If you won’t give it to me,” Sera growled as her yellow eyes narrowed, “I’ll take it for myself.”
The Archon lunged, and her knife-sharp nails reached right for my throat.
Chapter 18
Her fingers wrapped around my throat, and I struggled as she squeezed at my windpipe.
“You won’t kill me,” I tried to say, but the words came out nearly too weak and raspy to be heard.
“You’re right,” Sera agreed, but her hand didn’t loosen. “I won’t kill you. You’re far too valuable for me to risk my monsters on, but I can make you do exactly what I want to get my sister back. All I have to do is possess you, once and for all.”
A smile spread across the Archon’s lips, and her excitement grew palpable as she squeezed at my throat.
My vision blurred and grayed at the edges as I fought to breathe, and I kicked and scratched wildly at Sera to try to push her off me. The Archon’s arms were like solid steel, and fighting against her felt like trying to move a building.
Her mind slammed up against mine, and it was nearly as powerful as Phi’s attack had been in the Shadowscape. I threw up walls to block her attack, but they faltered and threatened to crumble as she slashed away at my defences.
Sera really was stronger, and now I was going to pay for my decision to let her free.
Her hands squeezed my neck as her mind sliced into my head, and my hope began to fade as my defences weakened and faltered.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and a bullet slammed into Sera’s right shoulder. She spun away as the force of the gunshot pushed into her shoulder blade, and her pale hands released me as she hissed out in pain.
I fell away and scrambled backward on my hands as I fought to regain distance. My breath rasped harshly through my throat, and my vision blurred as air filled my lungs once more.
In the distance, a soldier squad advanced from the edge of the clearing at a jog as they skirted the edge of my muddy lake. At the head of the group, three female mages led the charge, and I grinned as I recognized Cyra, Layla, and Erin in their academy cloaks.
“Charge!” shouted Erin’s voice as the orange-haired mage pumped her fist in the air, and the entire group picked up speed as they approached at a run.
“Fools,” Sera spat as she pressed her hand across her bleeding shoulder wound. “I hope they’ll enjoy the privilege of seeing my leviathan one last time before it rips them to shreds.”
Anger flared within me, and I launched to my feet to face Sera fully.
“You won’t touch them,” I snapped.
“You’re going to stop me?” Sera scoffed as her full lips pulled into a mocking smile. “You don’t have enough mana left to summon a single imp, let alone the monsters required to defeat me.”
“No,” I agreed as my hand fell to my rhin dagger, “but I do have this.”
I lunged forward, and my right hand swerved into a feint as my left seized my father’s dagger and swept it forward, directly into Sera’s right hip.
The Archon fell for my feint, and I was shocked as my father’s dagger plunged home and hit bone as it dug deep into Sera’s flesh. I tore a deep wound straight up across her stomach, and arterial blood sprayed out in rhythmic spurts as my dagger cleaved flesh and muscle aside.
“Have you forgotten which one of us is really in charge?” Sera sneered as she knocked my blade away.
I knew my attack must have hurt her, but she didn’t seem to care. Even the advancing horde of soldiers and mages didn’t make her flinch, and my stomach turned over as I met Sera’s alien, yellow gaze. For a moment, I thought I could see exactly how old she was, and she no longer seemed like a woman, but more like a hungry creature from a dark cave. Her eyes reflected the passage of millenia, and when she smiled, it looked more like a wolf baring its teeth.
Then the Archon grinned wider, and her mind slammed into mine in the powerful wave of a telepathic attack.
I staggered under the mental blow, but I shored up my defences and met her attack halfway. I felt the walls of my mind buckle under the strain of Sera’s power, and instead of focusing on stabilizing my defences, I abandoned the task altogether to sharpen my offense into a single, pointed spear of willpower.
“How dare you threaten the people I love,” I spat as I advanced on her with my daggers drawn. “You’ve stolen my mind, terrorized me at every turn, and hurt my closest friends for weeks. Nia and Varleth are alone in the north, and they’re probably fighting right now. Ashla’s leg is broken, and she might never walk again. Braden, Orenn, Nia--so many people have lost their homes and families to monsters like you.”
The anger bolstered my willpower, and heat filled my gut and boiled over into my emotions. My mental power hardened like quenched steel, and I poured the sharpened edge of my rage into the next thrust at Sera’s mind.
Sera’s eyes widened as she staggered away from me by a single, small step.
“I’m sick and tired of being thrown around by demigods and monsters,” I continued, and cold fire laced my words as my fury grew. “You say I have special power? Well, I’m done with sitting around and letting you manipulate me like some kind of helpless puppet.”
“You can’t hope to stand against me,” Sera hissed, but her yellow eyes flickered with new uncertainty.
“You want my power?” I asked in a voice full of thunder, and a strange new feeling bubbled up within me. “Here, take it.”
The new force inside me blasted outward, and I felt Sera’s mind crumple under mine as power thrummed inside my chest. The Archon tried to retreat away from my mind, but I stabbed a spear of willpower through her and pinned her down like an insect.
As Sera’s mind folded under the weight of my own, her physical body collapsed as well. Her knees hit the ground, and I walked forward as I solidified my mental power over her.
“You’re wrong, Sera,” I said in a tone as calm and cold as a frozen lake. “You hold no dominion over me, and you never have.”
“How can you be doing this?” she gasped as she panted from the ground.
“It’s not about how strong or weak you are,” I told her as I stopped and stared down at her desperate face. “It’s about how well I know you. And I do know you, Sera, I know you better than you know yourself.”
I flexed the strange new power within me, and the Archon gasped as she stared up at me.
“For weeks, we’ve lived with our minds fused together,” I muttered. “For the first time, I think I can truly grasp how you think and feel. I’m sorry for how you’ve suffered, I truly am. Humanity pushed you out, and Phi locked you away. For over a thousand years, you languished alone in your cave, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to free yourself.”
“Release me,” Sera pleaded, and she stared at me with desperation written across her face.
“Even when you escaped your cave,” I continued, “you became no more free than you already were. You’ve been trapped by your endless obsession with revenge. No, I won’t release you, Sera. If you
want to fight by my side so badly, you’ll have to accept that on my terms. You’re mine, now.”
I reached out my hand and placed it on Sera’s forehead gently, and the growing force within me flowed freely between us. Drop by drop, our power mingled, and the bond between us strengthened into an entirely new category. Our minds and emotions mingled for a moment, and Sera finally stopped fighting the mental pressure I held over her.
“How is this possible?” Sera asked as she gazed up at me with wide eyes. “You’ve surprised me, Gryff. I knew you were powerful, but I didn’t suspect you could wield it just yet.”
“I’m full of surprises,” I answered as my eyes narrowed at the Archon.
“Now that you’ve had a taste of power,” Sera murmured with a mysterious smile, “I wonder if you’ll want even more?”
Before I could respond, my back suddenly tingled and burned, and I recognized it as the same feeling from before, when I first absorbed Sera. I didn’t know for sure, but if I had a mirror, I’d guess a new wing tattoo had etched itself into my skin. The opposite side of my shoulder tingled and burned, and I suspected the single wing from before had finally formed into a complete set.
“You’re done here,” I told her with a weary, relaxed sigh. “Come back and rest.”
My order held the ring of a true command, and Sera’s form faded and dissipated into black, swirling smoke as she returned to the tattooed markings on my shoulder blades. Liquid shadow misted up my arms and disappeared under my shirt as I recalled Sera, and I turned around as the final drop vanished.
Layla and Cyra stared at me from a dozen feet away, and at twice that distance, Erin held back the rifle-bearing squad of soldiers with firm orders and a stern gaze.
I caught a few nervous, wide-eyed glances from the battle-ragged squad as they examined me from far back, and I could tell the soldiers were uneasy with what they’d just witnessed.
“Don’t worry!” I called out as I waved a hand at the squad. “Just capturing a tough monster. Everything is fine, now.”
My casual tone seemed to ease a few concerned minds, though I knew what they’d witnessed was decidedly strange. As far as the public was concerned, monsters didn’t talk, and any of the squad members who had basic knowledge of summoning would know the capture and recall I’d just performed looked fishy.
Hell, if I was being honest, I was as freaked out as they were.
“Gryff?” Layla squeaked out, and she darted up close to me as Cyra followed in her wake.
“I’m so glad to see you’re okay,” I returned awkwardly, and I tried to shake off the distraction of the adrenaline still pumping through my veins.
“Did I just see what I think I saw?” Cyra asked urgently in a lowered voice. “You caught Sera for real?”
“Are you still partly possessed?” Layla asked with wide eyes. “Is she gonna take over? Can you summon her like a monster? Is she talking to you still?”
“Hold on,” I said with a wry smile as I held up my hands. “I’m not even sure what happened myself, much less what’s going to happen next. If I’m not mistaken, though, I think I don’t have to worry about Sera anymore.”
“What about Phi?” Cyra asked in concern as she glanced around. “We were busy clearing up the monsters and evacuating the injured, but I thought I saw her fall earlier.”
“Sera wanted to kill her,” I explained as I rummaged in my hip bag, “but I put her inside a crystal, instead. I don’t want her returning from death to terrorize us later.”
I pulled out the apple-sized orb of glowing blue crystal, and the girls gaped in surprise as they examined it.
“I didn’t realize you could put an Archon in a crystal,” Cyra murmured in bafflement as she tapped a fingernail against the surface of the orb. “Is she yours, now, just like any other captured monster?”
“Maybe,” I said doubtfully, “but something about it doesn’t feel right. It’s almost … malicious, in some way. I think if I let her out, she would go right back to trying to destroy the world.”
“Ah well,” Layla sighed with a shrug. “Guess we’ll just leave her in there forever, then.”
A sudden shock blazed from my fingertips down my arm, and I yelped as I nearly dropped the glowing orb.
“Did she hurt you through the orb?” Cyra asked in shock.
“Put it away, put it away,” Layla chanted as she pulled my hip pouch open. “We’re so fucking screwed if that crystal breaks.”
I hastily set the crystal back in my hip pouch, and I sealed it shut with the drawstring.
“This doesn’t seem like a good way to restrain a demigoddess,” Cyra said nervously as she stared at the thin bag which held the orb.
“Definitely not,” I admitted with equal concern. “I can’t worry about it now, though. We have a rift to guard, don’t we? Who’s watching it, now?”
“Don’t worry about the rift,” Cyra dismissed with an amazed shake of her head. “Two monster response squads got here just before we ran over to help you, and I think they’ll be enough.”
“That was fast,” I said in surprise. “Whatever Grand Mage Kenefick is doing to speed up response times, it’s working.”
“Arwyn came, too,” Layla added with a relieved smile. “Ashla’s getting looked at, and it seems like her leg is going to heal fine.”
My tension eased as I received that news, and I gave Layla a tight-lipped smile in response.
“I’m sure she’ll enjoy all the potions she has to drink in the meantime,” I joked as my worry melted away. “Have you heard anything from Svellfrer’s Rest and Ortych Sands?”
“It’s too early to have any reports back,” Cyra replied uncertainly, “but from what I heard, Svellfrer’s Rest had a monster response squad already near the area, and the nearest town to the south had at least one soldier platoon stationed there to combat bandits. If Nia and Varleth paced themselves, I’m sure they could hold out the hour or two it took for backup to arrive.”
“Good,” I replied solidly.
“As for Ortych Sands,” Cyra continued, “Arwyn told me their soldier platoons were already stationed in place, and I doubt it took long for a Varle Enclave response squad to arrive.”
“We got lucky,” I commented as I turned the situation over in my head.
“Or we got prepared,” Layla cut in with a shrug. “We know Kenefick is always trying to think ten steps ahead, and Sleet’s even worse. Those two old coots probably planned for this whole battle ahead of time, regardless of what kind of scout reports we came back with.”
“I can’t say it would surprise me,” I snorted as I shook my head. “At least it paid off, since none of the locations were left defenceless.”
We walked over and met up with Erin and the soldier squad. There were sixteen of them, I noted after a quick count, and my stomach sank as I considered exactly how many they might have started out with. If I remembered correctly, there were fifty riflemen in the typical platoon, which made it likely that over half of the platoon members were dead.
“Which one of you fired the shot at that monster?” I asked as I raised my voice.
A petite woman raised her hand timidly, and I grinned as I met her nervous eyes.
“You did amazing work, there,” I complimented the soldier. “That shot was a lifesaver. You should be proud of yourself, today.”
“Thank you, sir,” the petite soldier said in a quiet, quavery voice.
“She’s a fuckin’ star at shooting,” another soldier quipped out in a booming voice. “Real gem, if you ask me. Pardon my language.”
I took note of the shooter’s name patch, which spelled out ‘Loenson’ in embroidered letters. Maybe I could mention this to Kenefick later, and he could make sure she got the position she deserved as a sniper of that caliber.
“Are things … taken care of?” Erin asked as she glanced at me with concern.
“Both monsters are captured,” I replied as I caught on to her reluctance to talk about the Archons in more fra
nk terms. “We don’t have to worry.”
“Let’s get you looked at in the healer’s tent,” Erin decided as her eyes traveled over my minor injuries.
I agreed, so Cyra, Layla, Erin, and I walked together through the ruined village of Njordenfalls.
The little town was a terrible sight. Many of the trees bordering the village were downed, and those that stood looked like they’d been struck by a tornado. Cracked branches, stripped leaves, and burned bark marred many of the maples, elms, and pines around the village. The houses themselves were even worse, of course, and I estimated a good three-quarters of the buildings would need significant repair. My chest ached as my eyes fell on Tabby’s ruined inn, which had suffered a complete collapse of its roof. I couldn’t see any fire damage, at least, but anger roiled within me as I realized it was likely Phi who destroyed it.
The streets that were once full of the injured and fleeing were now clear, though the corpses of soldiers and citizens remained. The dead would be left until the living had been completely taken care of, and no sooner.
“I’m so sorry, Gryff,” Erin said gently as she touched me on the arm.
“It could’ve been worse,” I said with stolid firmness. “I wish it hadn’t happened, but Njordenfalls will recover. For that, I should be grateful.”
We traveled back along the river toward Erin’s airship, and I saw the healer’s tent come into view. The tent itself was just being erected, and I watched as four soldiers draped the white and red cloth overtop the structural poles. Once the cloth was up, the tent would keep both patients and healers from overheating or being scalded by the sun.
As I expected, Arwyn was knee-deep in the healing process, and she could only glance up and jerk her head sideways at us before she went right back to wrapping up a patient’s wound.
“That’s her way of being overjoyed we all lived,” Layla explained smartly.
“Did any of you take any mana potions?” I asked as I glanced over at the three women.
