by Aaron Oster
Morgan felt his anger boil over and he screamed, launching himself at the man. Edmund side-stepped easily, and dealt Morgan a crushing blow that shattered his ribs and drove him to the ground. He chuckled, watching as he coughed up blood and gasped as he tried to take a breath.
“Does that upset you, boy? The fact that I’ll be bedding your woman? Well, that’s just too bad!”
He slammed his foot down on Morgan’s right leg, shattering the bone like it was made of glass.
Morgan screamed, pain and rage warring in equal parts, as the sadistic King continued breaking his bones, all while telling him the myriad of ways in which he would be violating Sarah later that night.
“Perhaps I should leave you alive. Drag your wretched body back to her tent so you can watch as I take her. Would you like that, boy?” Edmund yelled, slamming his foot down on Morgan’s only remaining functional limb.
He didn’t even have the energy to cry out as his arm snapped, the bone shattering to pieces under the force of the blow. Edmund stepped back then and Morgan heard, as though through a dream, him conversing with Simon.
“You don’t really intend to do all those things to the future Queen, do you?”
“But of course, Simon. As much as I’m sure you love your daughter, she must be taught obedience. She disobeyed you when she ran away with this boy, and we need to ensure her loyalty to the Kingdom. This punishment will dissuade any future attempts to take such actions against either myself, my son, or yourself, of course.”
Morgan stared up at the night sky, at the myriad of stars twinkling overhead. He could feel himself fading fast, but he no longer had the strength left to fight. He was weak. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he trained, how much he suffered, or how strong he became, there was always someone stronger than he.
He gasped as he felt something smash down on his already shattered chest, and looked up into the eyes of Edmund. He was a man he had known for less than five minutes, but already hated more than anyone else in the world. He grinned, grinding his boot into Morgan’s shattered ribcage.
“Here’s a little secret between you and me, boy,” Edmund said so only he could hear. “There is no way I’m going to let that girl become Queen. Not after the way she ran off with you. Even after I do everything I promised, there’s no telling if she’ll really be compliant. No. After I’m done using her in every way imaginable, I’ll hand her over to my soldiers. She won’t last long once they’ve got her, but don’t you worry, I’ll make sure to bury her corpse next to yours.”
He grinned then as he saw the horror on Morgan’s face, then brought his foot up and slammed it down on his head. Morgan heard the crack, but never felt the blow. As Edmund’s boot moved away and the light faded from his eyes, all he could do was think of one thing. Sarah. He was too weak and now he was dying for that weakness. His mind began to roil at that thought, and the mantra began repeating itself, even as his consciousness faded.
Too weak, too weak, too weak, too…
***
Edmund stepped away from the corpse, and held his arm up in the air. Though it could hardly have been considered a fight, his men cheered. Simon looked troubled, but he was sure he’d convinced the man that what he would do to his daughter was necessary. Of course, he wouldn’t be happy once she turned up dead, but he was pretty sure that the one thing Simon really craved was power.
If he were to set the man up as the Regent of the Central Kingdom once he’d killed Herald, he was sure he’d be forgiven. Simon could always have more children, and the promise of a title greater than he ever could have dreamed for would be more than enough for him to swear his undying loyalty. Simon was an extremely useful man to have around, and he had just the perfect blend of ambition and stupidity to make him the perfect pawn.
He pumped his fist again, and the men’s cheering grew louder this time. Edmund grinned, basking in their adulation, then turned back to the corpse.
“Today marks a victory for the North,” his voice boomed out over the cheering men. “We have rid the world of a serious potential threat by killing this boy. And, even as we speak, our armies are crushing the Central Kingdom’s forces. When this night is through, our legend will be spoken of through all of history. The day when the North won their first victory in the domination of the Five Kingdoms!”
The soldiers cheered even louder and Edmund turned away from the wrecked body of the young supermage, raising his hands in the air and laughing.
Now all those who had doubted him and all those who had dared to oppose him would learn what it was to feel fear. Katherine would pay for her betrayal with her life, just as Morgan just had, and Sarah would later on tonight. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when the cheers suddenly died down.
Edmund looked around, confused for a moment. He saw his men, frozen in fear, all of them staring at him.
No, he realized after a few seconds, they’re staring behind me! What the..?!
Whirling on the spot, Edmund just barely got his arms up in time to block a glowing purple gauntlet from colliding with his head. To his shock, he found himself driven back under the force of the attack, his feet digging twin furrows through the solid stone beneath his feet. The ground cracked as the shockwave of the blow passed over it, followed by a loud boom.
Had that punch really been fast enough to break the very air itself?!
Edmund stared in horror as the gauntlet retracted, flowing backward until it met with the still lifeless corpse on the ground.
“What the…?” Edmund had time to ask out loud, before the body jerked.
He took an involuntary step back as it did so, and watched as the body began glowing with a bright violet light.
There was no way in hell! Edmund thought, as the body began stitching itself back together, the violet light wrapping in like a cocoon.
He was snapped from his shock when he realized that the supermage must have tricked him somehow, and was even now attempting to heal himself so he could attack again. There really wasn’t anything to worry about, as the boy had been so weak in the first place…
“Still,” he muttered, moving forward quickly. “Best not to take any chances.”
His left arm throbbed painfully where the boy’s last attack had impacted. That was quite impressive in and of itself. No one had managed to bruise him in over a century, and the last one who’d managed it had been his own brother. He stopped before the glowing youth and raised a fist glowing with spatial distortion.
“You have my respect, boy. Now die!” Edmund drew back his fist, and punched down.
He was too late.
The violet light around Morgan shattered, leaving the boy whole and unharmed. A clawed purple hand shot out and caught Edmunds punch, engulfing his own hand and muffling his attack.
Edmund stared at the violet construct holding his hand in place, then followed the purple energy down to the body, lying on the ground below. His eyes met Morgan’s and he flinched. He expected to see anger or hatred in those eyes, but instead he saw…nothing. The boy stared blankly back at him, as though there were nothing behind them. No soul, no intelligence, no signs of life whatsoever.
Then Morgan’s lips twisted into a grin and he squeezed hard around his hand.
Edmund screamed as he felt the bones in his hand grinding together under the pressure exuded by the purple gauntlet. He struggled against it for a few moments, trying to pull his arm from its vice-like grip. Morgan only squeezed harder. Edmund felt sweat beading on his brow as the pain intensified.
“Enough of this!” he roared, forming a Reality blade on his other hand and slashing clean through the construct.
He staggered back, as his hand was suddenly free of the crushing force, breathing hard and flexing his fingers to make sure that none of them were broken. Morgan rose then, purple light flaring all around his body as he floated out of the crater Edmund had made while he’d been crushing his body.
The same manic grin was still plastered on his face, and
two purple lances of energy formed, one on each of his arms. He laughed then, a high pitched sound that made the hairs on the back of Edmund’s neck prickle. The soldiers standing all around him had gone quiet as well, each of them staring at the apparently unkillable monster that had risen from the dead.
They all stood there motionless, and stared at the boy who just floated in the center of the crater, laughing all the while.
“Well!?” Edmund yelled, startling all his men. “What are you waiting for? Attack!”
The soldiers hesitated, but only for a second. They had seen what happened to people who disobeyed the King, and as much as they feared the unknown power of this boy, they still feared him more.
One thing’s for damn sure, Edmund thought as his men charged the glowing supermage. This was going to be a bloody and brutal fight.
53
Loquin appeared in the air over the North Kingdom’s war camp, just as Morgan’s core flared and reiki began leaking from his skin.
Good, she thought with a self-satisfied smile. She was just in time to watch the show.
She settled back in midair, watching as Morgan rose and gathered power around himself. Even from where she was, she could feel it rapidly increasing.
That Edmund wouldn’t know what hit him.
Just then, she felt a disturbance in the air and a moment later, Samuel appeared, followed closely by Gold.
“Looks like you’ve both come to join the party,” she said, feeling her previously good mood dissipating.
“But of course!” Gold replied, waving his hand and conjuring a theater chair, complete with soda and popcorn. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world!”
“Bringing foreign objects into Somerset is against the rules!” Samuel yelled, clearly agitated that Gold hadn’t been struck down for his impudence.
“Better brush up on those rules there, Sammy,” Gold replied, stuffing and handful of popcorn into his mouth. “It’s against the rules to bring in outside weapons or technology. No one ever said anything about popcorn or soda.”
Samuel stared open-mouthed, as Gold took another handful and popped it into his mouth, taking a sip of his massively oversized drink to wash it down.
“I would offer you some,” Gold said, “but I don’t like you, so I think I’ll keep it to myself. You’re free to share some if you’d like, Locky.”
Loquin was eyeing the two men with distaste.
“No, thank you. I think I’m good.”
Gold shrugged and turned back to the fight below.
“Ooohh, he’s laughing now! I love it! Really sets the mood for the carnage that comes next,” he said, pulling a small lever that caused his seat to recline back and a footrest popped out as well.
Loquin sighed, but conjured a chair of her own. Her chair was nothing as ridiculously out of place as a movie chair, but something more comfortable than one of the straight-back wooden ones this world seemed to be so fond of. Samuel glowered at her as well, before conjuring a chair of his own. Predictably, it was the previously aforementioned uncomfortable wooden chair.
“I don’t know why you look so grim, Sammy,” Gold piped up. “I mean, Morgan is about to wreck King Cockroach down there. And a whole three hours before the next Pinnacle King is set to awaken! The timing could not have been better!”
“It’s your fault I’m in this situation in the first place, Gold,” Samuel replied, grim as ever. “Yes, if Morgan manages to kill Edmund, another King will not awaken, but I still have no solution to the first one yet.”
“And how, pray tell, is this my fault?” Gold asked with a raised brow.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice your power lingering around the Pinnacle King’s lair. You tampered with the seal, causing him to awaken before the allotted time had passed.”
“How could I have managed that? In case you’ve forgotten, I was with Morgan and Sarah that night,” Gold replied, giving him his best innocent look.
“Do you really think we were born yesterday, Gold?” Loquin asked with a snort. “It’s really not that difficult to be in two places at once if you put enough power into it.”
To prove her point, Loquin suddenly appeared standing beside Gold, yet also remained seated in her chair at the same time.
“Oh well, guess I’ve been caught red-handed,” Gold said holding up both hands, which were now colored a bright red.
“Ha, ha, you’re a regular comedian, asshole,” Samuel said sarcastically. “Now because of you, Morgan won’t listen to a thing I say. He was even prepared to die rather than take one of my deals.”
“Then it’s very lucky for all of us that Loquin over there just happened to sneak in the only item that could have saved him.”
“Just what are you trying to say?” Loquin asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Oh, nothing. I’m merely making an observation,” Gold replied with a smirk. “Looks like the real fun is about to start, so how about we save our sniping for afterward? It’s been centuries since I’ve seen power on this scale and I don’t want to miss it.”
As much as Loquin hated to agree with the man, this was what she’d been pushing towards ever since the academy. Samuel might have whispered into Simon’s ear about Morgan’s particular strengths and weaknesses, but she’d been the one to get him here. She’d been the one who’d supplied Simon with the means to take Sarah and it was all for this. All of the planning and trouble, to test how powerful Morgan really was when he didn’t hold back.
True, he was still only at rank 33 and at the Intermediate stage in his ability, but this would be a pretty good indicator as to what could be expected of him in the future.
“Fine,” she agreed and she heard Samuel’s consent a moment later.
There would be a temporary ceasefire, but only so long as the battle was going on. As soon as it ended though, Morgan was fair game!
***
Edmund stumbled back, quickly putting himself behind his front rank of soldiers. He could feel his heart pounding as he looked at the glowing boy, who was laughing away. It was a laugh that sent dread to every part of his body, though he couldn’t understand why that was. No one should be strong enough to even pose a challenge for him. He’d literally pounded Morgan into a bloody pulp just minutes before. So why was he suddenly feeling like running as far as he could get and hiding from the monster standing before him?
His soldiers swarmed forward, the first rank finally reaching Morgan and each using their own skills to attack. These men had all been personally selected by him, either for their power or cunning. Either way, these were the best the North had to offer, and he’d held them back for good reason. They were here to guard the camp, should the Central Kingdom attempt a flanking maneuver. It had just been sheer dumb luck that Simon’s trap had been sprung so quickly. In fact, had it not been for his ability to transport people over short distances, he never would have gotten them all here in time.
Edmund grimaced, despite himself. At the maximum rank, he still lacked one key aspect of his power. It was one that his daughter had received almost immediately- the power to travel long distances. Sure, he could make a portal, but could only transport people as far as he could see. If he couldn’t physically see the location, he couldn’t open an exit portal. This was why Katherine had been such a crucial part of running his military, and why it hurt so much to have lost her.
He was snapped from his thoughts as the first soldier brought a massive steel halberd down on Morgan’s head. Edmund’s eyes widened when the boy didn’t even attempt to dodge the blow, instead, taking it literally head-on! Instead of caving in his skull, the haft of the weapon shattered in the soldier’s grip and when the blade hit the ground, a massive dent was visible in the blade.
“Just what the hell…argh!”
The soldier gurgled as Morgan’s arm snapped to the side. The lance of energy shifted to a gauntlet twice the size of his head in an instant, and slammed into the man’s ribs. The soldiers to the man’s immediate right and left staggered b
ack as a shockwave hit them, followed closely by the booming sound of the air splitting.
Edmund, as well as the rest of the soldiers, stared at the man whom Morgan had punched. It wasn’t just his ribs that had been shattered. While the attack hadn’t actually penetrated the man’s body, it had blown out a big chunk of his back, painting the men behind him in blood and gore. The soldier collapsed a second later, hitting the ground with a wet squelch, a pool of blood already forming around him.
Morgan wasn’t laughing anymore, but his lips had curled upward in a manic grin.
“He was so weak! Just one punch was all it took. Can any of you give me a challenge?”
The men flinched back at the sound of his voice. Like his laugh, it sounded nothing like the boy from just a few minutes ago. Before any of the men could answer, Morgan attacked. Edmund stared with growing dread as his soldiers were butchered one by one, and in gruesome fashion. The worst part about it all was that Morgan was moving so quickly, that even he was having trouble keeping up with him.
“Keep attacking, men! You’re bound to overwhelm him!” Edmund barked, already backing up and allowing more of his men to pass him.
“What do we do, your highness?”
Edmund turned to see Simon standing there, looking equally as terrified, and he couldn’t blame him. At the rate Morgan was going, his entire force would be decimated within minutes.
“We’ll have to call our men back,” Edmund said, already hating himself for making the decision.
“Get a messenger out there. I want them back now!”
Simon nodded, then disappeared in an explosion of dirt and dust. It appeared that Simon would be fetching the men himself. That was good, as he wouldn’t be held up waiting for a messenger.
Edmund turned his attention back to the battle, just in time to see one of his men land in two pieces, while yet another had the whole top half of his body turned to a bloody pulp. Morgan’s strength was unnatural, but he had to have his limits. Eventually he would tire, and then, Edmund would kill him a second time.
