by Dakota Krout
Chapter Fifty-Seven
With the flood of reinforcements continuing, the war was swinging heavily in favor of the Dwarves. The Elves had no chance to bring in more people, as the travel point became restricted right after they were invaded. After all, if the Dwarves had easy access to Elven territory, they could use it just as well as the Elves had.
As far as Joe could see behind him, silver-clad Legionnaires were pushing forward. They had spread out to fully encapsulate the fort and were rapidly defeating the remaining defenders. Victory was assured; it was only a matter of time.
Joe pushed the last distance to the wall, far too close for comfort to the breach made by Havoc. That area was still uninhabited, and at first, he thought that it had just been out of either fear or respect for what Havoc had done. Then he noticed that Dwarves were dumping boulders from the elementals into the strange, colorless region, and the magical material was just… melting away.
Then a hand pushed up through the floor, and the colorless zone receded toward the center; not fully, just enough to be noticeable. The hand pushed on the floor, and a hulking golem pulled itself up and ran into the fort. Screams and insults soon followed, but they were too faint for Joe to understand. Captain Cleave studied the new creation and shook her head. “I truly wonder who authorized the weapons of mass destruction. I do not envy the Elves this chance to study a Grandmaster Golemancer’s work up close and personal.”
“You know what that is?” Joe glanced at the uncomfortable Dwarf, and her mustache quivered as she tried to provide the proper reply.
“Only what history has told me of this effect,” she slowly admitted. They had a few minutes until they were able to rejoin combat; a new hole had been made, and the fight was ongoing. Still, a foothold needed to be established before they could sweep through the space. “Major General Havoc was the first known Micro-Golemancer in Dwarven history. He studied what was once forbidden knowledge and learned to apply it to his own work. That ‘smoke’ is actually hundreds of thousands of golems too small for the eye to see.”
“He made nanites?” Jaxon enthusiastically chimed in. “How extraordinary! That was far away with science. Magic is just so… forward thinking! I’ll need to adjust my perspective!
“I know not what ‘nanites’ are.” The Dwarf shook her head. “So long as these golems have material, they will build up and deploy war golems over time. The better the materials provided, the more potent the war golem will become. It will take any material; do not let it touch you.”
“So…” Joe’s brow furrowed as he realized that he may have had a misunderstanding with the Dwarf when they were first discussing tactics to deploy against the Elves. “He didn’t unleash a spell on them that destroyed their vegetation?”
“No. He cast an area spell. The rest, as far as I know, came from applying his studies of a forbidden art and applying it to his craft as a golemancer. A ritual is something similar to what you did outside to give me this eye, so it was not that.” The Captain gestured at the back of her head.
“A lovely color, by the way.” Jaxon’s voice was filled with sincerity as he stared into her singular eye.
“If that was a ritual, then I can say with full certainty that he did not use a ritual even a single time. He had his golems eat everything in the material world, and then replicate themselves. Eventually they were more numerous than the grains of dirt in the plains of Jotunheim.” The Dwarf shuddered at the terrible image in her mind. “The havoc that he created by destroying hundreds of kilometers to defeat a few mere fortresses… his name, and the accompanying shame, has haunted him ever since.”
“Traitors… he shouted something about traitors. Did his troops turn against him at that time?” Joe recalled how Havoc had reacted when he first started this fight in the volcano.
“They did,” Captain Cleave nodded sadly. “It was their treachery that led to the death of Francine the Stabilizer deep in enemy territory. When he learned of her death and loss from the rolls, the Ledger of Souls, he vowed to trust no one ever again.”
Jaxon pushed for more when she remained silent for too long. “…And then?”
“Then? Then he never did. He holds no love for the Dwarven Oligarchy, but he needs their resources in order to wage his personal war against the Elven Theocracy.” Cleave shrugged, her armor jangling heavily. “I can only be glad that he is on our side, and I will be terrified if I need to stand in front of him on the field of battle.”
“Who was Francine to him?” Joe was suddenly desperate to know who this mystery figure was that held such a large portion of his mentor’s attention.
His question had to be ignored, for at that moment, the interior defenses were broken. The Legion drained into the opening, and Joe’s party was swept along with the tide. Once more, he was seeing familiar territory, though it was in much worse shape than the first time he had come through. The interior of the fort was burning, and most of the buildings at the edge were rubble. The merchants where he had window shopped, and the streets that he had walked, had only the barest resemblance to that which had once stood.
Huge footprints had torn the ground apart, and flashes of light still raged deeper within the fortress. The roaring of voices, clashing of weapons, and energetic detonation of spells dropped Joe’s mind into an almost fugue state, where the only thing that mattered was getting deeper into the fortress. They needed to capture this place to ensure the safety of the capital, as well as to be able to respawn or even grow their forces.
“To the Guardian!” A voice rose above the others, and the people not actively engaged in combat roared their approval. With every step, Joe trod upon fallen Dwarves, but even more Elves. He looked down at them, expecting to feel sorrow for the fallen, but even in death their faces were smug and seemed to be laughing at him. The combat moved along the shattered streets of the major fort, slowly closing in on the massive plant that nearly brushed the ceiling of the volcano.
Joe planned to go with them, to tear the plant out by the roots along with the others, but that seemed… more like a… compulsion than anything else. Not for him, as he was immune to illusions, but when he tried to get the attention of the Dwarves around them, he was brushed off. They only had eyes for the great plant; everything else was secondary. “Jaxon!”
“Yes, down with greenery and vegetables! Let’s cheese that broccoli!” Jaxon finished his inspiring speech, getting roaring approval before turning to Joe. “You needed something?”
“Jaxon, Cleave, come with me. This isn’t right. This was too easy. They knew we were coming, so why didn’t they do something about it?” Joe veered off the road, heading for the crystal tree that was still flashing with an intense light.
“You think this was too easy?” The Dwarf sounded shocked. “Breaking into a volcano, fighting a true horde of Wind Spirits, and toppling a major fort? I… I look forward to the opportunity of seeing what you consider a hard fight.”
“We’re a pretty big deal.” Jaxon wrapped his arm around her shoulder, helping to guide her toward the building Joe had zeroed in on. “Did you ever hear why Joe got exiled from Midgard? He killed… like… a couple hundred thousand people over and over? I think he’s wearing white clothes so people don’t think of him as a dark person. Turning over a new leaf, and all that. Hey! If we are in the Shoe, and this place is hot and painful, does that mean Gramma’s ankle is inflamed?”
“Not now, Jaxon.” Joe stepped through the unguarded illusion of a door, entering into the cavernous room filled with foci, stabilizers, and as it turned out: Elves. He came to a screeching halt as they all turned to stare at him. Jaxon and Cleave stepped through, a similar reaction of panic crossing the Dwarf’s face, while Jaxon waved chipperly.
“Hello! Have you heard the benefits of chiropractic services? I’d be more than happy to hold a seminar, perhaps be on whatever panel it is you’re watching?”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Four Ritual Orbs popped out in front of Joe, and he double
-checked that his Exquisite Shell was at full power. He was about to leap back and out of the building, when he realized that not a single Elf had made a move on them, nor cried out. Peering closer, he could see that their normal smug expressions were gone, replaced with a strange hollow stare that he had only seen in the most drastic of battles.
Captain Cleave hissed in a sharp breath, her hand jabbing forward to point out the thick layer of ‘smoke’ that swirled around their feet. “They’re golems! Don’t move.”
Joe felt sick, but forced himself to stay still. “You really meant it when you told me that it can use any material, huh?”
“I try to use every word to maximize my truthfulness,” Captain Cleave stated in a hushed tone. “They have not attacked us yet, which I take as a good sign, but I don’t know why-”
“Francine, please just listen to reason!” Havoc’s cataclysmically loud voice shattered the unnatural stillness of the area. “If I kill you here, you’ll lose so many more levels than you would if I got you into the capital first!”
“You still think you can kill me, you old monster?” A too-familiar Elven voice snapped back, followed with a ray of multi-colored light that caused spots to break out all over Joe’s vision. “I’ve been breaking chunks off you since we got started!”
“I just don’t want you to suffer more than you need to, Francine.” Havoc’s voice was almost laughter. “You need to suffer, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re back where you belong, we can finally-”
“I. Am. Elfreeda!” Each of the words were followed by blasts of lightning that seemed to come from the walls of the building itself. Havoc came into view with the light show, his appearance so grotesque that Joe was almost sick once more.
“For now, Francine. For now.” Havoc’s face had been pulled and stretched until it was almost flat. His defining features were affixed in the center of the chest of a huge golem, so large that Joe had initially mistaken it for the nearest wall; it put the Guardian of a minor fort to shame. A hand swept through the air too fast for Joe to see, but a bright firefly dodged it and sent another light burst at the golem that Havoc had turned into. “Why not give in? There’s no escape from here; I’ve ensured that.”
The ‘firefly’ resolved into the flying form of Elfreeda; they were just so far away that she seemed tiny. “You ensured that? Ha!”
The stark laughter felt like a gut-punch to Joe. He knew that this had been a trap. The Elf continued a sudden monologue, “This building is failing, thanks to your minion. What do you think happens next, Dwarf? You think the Prismatic Evergreen will simply shatter and have no repercussions? The main force of the entire Legion is within this hollow space, with only one thing holding back every. Single. Volcanic eruption… that should have occurred over the last few years! Every bit of fire, lava, and pressure that mounted as we grew this place from the crystal seed!”
That did seem to impact Havoc, but instead of putting fear in his heart, his flat smile widened fractionally. “Isn’t it so good to speak with each other again? I have so many stories to tell you! What an eventful half century it has been, Francine.”
“Stop saying that name! It means nothing to me!” She flew backward, the air shifting in the colossal space. Lightning rained down on her outstretched hands, and the room dimmed as every spectrum of light was drained into the area in front of her. “Let me tell you what is going to happen, Havoc!”
“You die, the building shatters.” Havoc recited calmly, his uncaring words ensuring that the Elf fell deeper into despair. “The energy that had been going into sustaining this tree is diverted into the outer walls, closing them and ensuring that nothing can escape the impending volcanic eruption. The Legion dies. You die. I die. We died in an Elven fort, and this one will be fully destroyed, meaning we all come back at the nearest major Elven fort. As Elves.”
“That’s right! Even if you manage to capture the fort, the eruption will… destroy it and make sure it becomes an… Elven fort again.” Her words slowed as she realized that Havoc didn’t appear concerned at all. “Why aren’t you trying to stop me?”
“I’m just… I’m so happy that we get to die together, and come back together.” Havoc’s words sent a chill down the spine of everyone hearing them. “Together again as my greatest enemy is better than a lifetime apart as the most honorable race. Success… it is truly its own reward, Francine.”
“You’re up to something, and I won’t let you do it. Whatever it is.” The spell in front of Elfreeda shifted slightly, condensing and firing as a finger-thick beam. It pierced right through the Havoc-golem, right above the bridge of his nose. It exited his back, and swept upward like a sword slicing through butter.
“Feel better?” Havoc’s ability to speak after being almost cleanly sliced in half made Joe feel like he was in a horror movie. The two sides started melding back together, and Havoc continued speaking as if nothing had happened. He took slow, careful steps toward the flying Elf. “I replaced my brain years ago. It was such an imperfect memory storage device.”
“But… your path forward would have been…!” Elfreeda’s voice was frantic as she tried to think of a way to destroy him. Her face stilled, and shifted in a way that Joe could understand clearly. She had decided on something.
“The path of the Sage was closed to me, but all that needs to happen is a single death and resurrection to reopen it. Sure, I can’t progress, but a Sage already stands on the first rank of GoleMaster. Enchanter, too. Everyone thinks it would be empty, since it is such a hard path… but no. Of course, there is always a final trial that keeps them from progressing.”
Joe was yanked closer as Havoc blasted forward, the movement of such a huge body at that speed causing an implosion of air in the enclosed space. Havoc appeared again next to Elfreeda, slapping her out of the air and into the ground. To the credit of the powerful building, she simply bounced and skidded along instead of breaking through the crystal flooring. War golems in the shape of her once-people swarmed over her, and the smoke in the area concentrated until it had all coalesced on her.
For a long, long moment, Joe thought it was over. Then the Prismatic Evergreen itself intervened, and a perfect column of light stretched from the base to the crown of the room, centered on Elfreeda. Every light-generating element seemed to be a part of the column. Fire, lightning, radiation, anything that made light was a part of the torrent. An eruption followed a fusion reaction, until finally, the light turned soft and Elfreeda stepped out, in pristine health and garb. Her clothes, skin, and eyes had been bleached by the light, creating an albino effect that could only be matched by a snowman.
“Oh? That’s a one-time effect, I’m sure. Too bad, You might have enjoyed the life of a golem. Until we reached the capital, of course.” Havoc’s voice was still soft and oddly cajoling. “I suppose you’ll just have to lose the levels, then.”
Havoc loomed above Elfreeda, his fists hammering down to end her. They impacted a dome of light, and she gasped in pain. With a push, the dome stabilized and her hands began flying into different seals and positions. “This cannot happen. You seem to think that you’d survive mentally as an Elf… there must be something you know.”
“That’s… no, Francine!” Havoc was studying her hands, and his face shifted to reveal a terrible fury. An additional set of arms grew out of the top of the golem, blades affixed to the ends instead of fists. All four appendages flailed against the protective dome, and after the first few… cracks began to appear.
“This will delay the eruption, and force your people to perish in a panic instead of swiftly, but so be it. Your mind cannot be trusted, as an enemy or ally!” Francine’s words seemed ritualistic, as if she were chanting instead of speaking. Her voice was an edict, a proclamation that a king would be hard pressed to match in tone or authority. “Your people have been chanting their thirst for war crimes? Fine! Let them taste a war crime, starting with you!”
“Francine! Don’t you dare!” Havoc’s weapons landed, and
a chunk of the dome shattered. He focused in on that spot even as she completed the spell. “Francine! You listen to Daddy!”
All around them, energy was pulled from the Prismatic Evergreen and siphoned into a massive spell circle that centered under the golem. The building began to break down as it was cannablized to feed the spell, but Havoc never stopped slamming the dome protecting the alabaster Elf. She didn’t seem to mind at all. “Forbidden Art Resplendent Trap: Nostrum of Progressive Eradication!”
All movement stopped. All sounds halted. Black lines appeared over the entirety of Havoc's body, but rapidly flowed toward his face. “Good bye, Havoc. A thousand years in a mental illusion, introspection without stimulation, will either fix your broken mind or grind it away to nothing. Either way… fortress command, imprison target upon death.”
Elfreeda stood fully erect, allowing the final shards of her protective dome to fizzle out of existence. “Time to end this war. I’ve been looking forward to a large influx of troops, and the promised rewards will bring my research to the heights I’ve been dreaming of for years. Sure, the loss of the shapers and their research into environmental energy supplies was a blow, but I’ll have all the time in Eternium to get it right when the Dwarves are gone. I’d ask if you had any last words, but-”
“Oof. That smarts.” Havoc’s raspy voice was Elfreeda’s only warning before his blades came down and sliced her apart. He stared down at the slain Elf, tears already flowing down his face. “I’ll be with you soon, sweetheart. Daddy’s coming to save you.”
Chapter Fifty-Nine
“Thanks for the save, Joe. A thousand subjective years of sensory deprivation isn’t something I was looking forward to experiencing again.” Havoc couldn’t turn his eyes from her, but he didn’t need to; he simply sighed his next words. The eye on the back of his head studied his mentee and the bloody needle he was holding in his hand. “How’d you sneak over to me?”
