by Aaron Oster
***
Sarah started as a commotion sounded from outside her tent. She’d been sitting alone in the dark for over an hour by her last count, and was beginning to grow bored, despite her precarious situation.
Just what the hell is going on out there? she wondered, as she saw shadows moving frantically across the tent walls.
Loud booming sounds echoed out in the night air, followed by screaming.
Was someone attacking the camp? Had the Central Kingdom launched an attack of their own?
Sarah strained against to free herself, but had no luck in breaking the steel bands honing her in place. She attempted to reach for her power and found that, surprisingly, she could feel it! It wasn’t much, just the barest hint of her power, but she could feel it nonetheless.
The crashing sounds from outside grew louder, and she heard more soldiers shouting. The ground beneath her began shaking, making Sarah wonder just what kind of abilities the Central Kingdom soldiers had. A man poked his head into the tent, as though to make sure she were still there.
“What the hell is going on out there?” Sarah asked, hoping the man would deign to reply.
“None of your damn business. Just sit there like a good girl and maybe…”
The man never got to finish his sentence, as a chunk of stone the size of her fist slammed into the back of his head, splattering its contents all over the inside of the tent.
“Eww!” Sarah complained as she wasn’t spared from the shower of blood and brain matter.
Even as she felt bile rising in her throat, Sarah could feel something else. Her power was tugging at her mind. It wasn’t back all the way yet, but she could feel more than enough of it for what she had planned. Focusing on the air in front of her, Sarah quickly formed two half-moon blades of ice. Then in one quick movement, she sent them slicing through the steel bands holding her in place.
Her control was a bit shaky, so she ended up cutting one of her hands, but it wasn’t bad enough that she had to worry about it. Quickly moving to the dead guard, Sarah crouched down and tore a mostly clean strip of cloth off his shirt and wrapped her hand with it. She really hoped she could find a healer once this was all over, as an infection was no doubt already working its way into her bloodstream.
“Gav! What happened to you?” Sarah looked up just in time to see another soldier come into view.
Fortunately for her, the man was staring in horror at his friend’s corpse and didn’t even notice she was free. By the time he did notice, it was already too late. Four Icicle tridents impaled his body, giving Sarah back the last of her control.
She let out a satisfied breath, finally feeling in control for the first time in hours.
Now that she had her ability back, she could fight. And since there seemed to be some sort of battle going on in the camp, she could use it as her opportunity to escape.
Several more icy tridents formed around Sarah as she moved out of the tent, taking special care to avoid the mess Gav had left by dying. As she stepped out, she was forced to roll quickly to the side, as a chunk of stone larger than her torso slammed into the ground, turning Gav’s already headless body into a flattened pile of gore.
Grimacing at the horrid sight, Sarah held back the bile once more. Now was not the time to be vomiting; now was the time to escape! Moving swiftly, she began jogging through the disorganized camp, stopping every so often as a chunk of stone would come hurtling out of the sky. The war camp was in utter chaos, with the injured and dying littering the ground. They were all wearing the North Kingdom’s military uniform, so any sympathy Sarah might have felt toward them was soon washed away.
Rounding a corner, she came face to face with a patrol of soldiers. They stared at her for a moment in incomprehension and those few seconds cost them their lives. Sarah’s barrage of Icicle tridents punched through their ranks, drilling holes into flesh and tearing off limbs. Not even bothering to wait around to see what happened to the downed men, Sarah took off running again.
She ran into a few more patrols, but oddly enough, they just ignored her in favor of the unknown enemy. Whoever they were, they must pose a serious threat if this many people were going after them. Sarah could feel her stamina depleting quickly, and knew that being tied up in a chair the entire day probably hadn’t helped her much in that regard. Rounding the corner of a tent, Sarah found what she’d been looking for: a lookout tower.
These were the only non-material structures in the entire war camp, instead being made out of wood and steel. This one was empty and it didn’t take Sarah long to reach the top. Scrambling into the nest, she slumped back for a few moments to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding and adrenaline was pumping within her. She’d been extremely on edge for the last few minutes as she attempted her escape, but it was important that she bring her adrenaline down before continuing on.
Finally getting her breathing under control, Sarah rose to her full height and began scanning her surroundings for the quickest way out of the war camp. Her eyes scanned over the landscape, lit by hundreds of torches. The area had been fairly dark, but soldiers were bringing in torches so they could see the enemy.
Sarah found her way out within a few moments, but paused just as she threw a leg over the side to climb back down. She wasn’t sure why, but she wanted to see who it was that was attacking the North. If it was the Central Kingdom, then maybe she could seek shelter there. According to Morgan, Katherine was with them. If so, then she was sure she would help reunite her with Morgan.
Her eyes scanned rapidly over the camp, following the direction of the streaming soldiers, until finally, they settled on an area near the center of the camp. She blinked, then squinted, rubbing at her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. Then she felt her heart drop to her toes.
That was no army, though judging by the way he was fighting, he may as well have been one. She just couldn’t believe that Morgan had become this powerful. It shouldn’t have been possible, but yet there he was. As she watched, she became more and more convinced that something was wrong. While Morgan was ruthless in battle, he was never overly cruel or in the least bit sadistic.
He was measured and efficient, using only as much force as was necessary to complete his objective. Right now, though, he was ripping bodies apart. Literally! And with his bare hands! She watched in growing horror as swarms of North Kingdom soldiers mobbed him, and were summarily dismembered, bisected, disemboweled, and beheaded.
Morgan fought like a man possessed, his body in constant motion. Shards of stone flew all around him, exploding outward from his body in random bursts and sending rubble scattering throughout the camp. He danced through the ranks of soldiers, a single purple weapon moving along his body.
Sarah watched in fascination, wondering at how he moved and flowed with the weapon so quickly. The single forged weapon seemed almost to be alive. It flowed down his right arm, turning into a spear for just an instant, piercing through the eye of a man to his right. Just as quickly, it turned into a shapeless purple blob and flowed down his right arm, across his back, and to his left, where it turned into a hammer that Morgan used to crush a man’s chest.
Then it flowed back to his right, forming a gigantic fist and flattening two men. He did all this in a blink of an eye, the weapons forming and reforming faster than she could follow. Lightning flashed along the weapon, and Sarah wondered just how much reiki he could possibly have left. Sure, he was holding out for now, but as she noted, something was terribly wrong.
The soldiers had cleared for just a moment after Morgan formed a massive longsword and killed all the men gathered around him in a half-circle, and she’d gotten a good look at him. His entire body was drenched in blood, his uniform was in tatters, and his body blazing with violet light. All of that wasn’t even what had alarmed her. What had frightened her bounds more, was the look on her friend’s face. A wide, manic grin stretched his blood covered face from ear to ear, and judging by the way his chest was heaving, he
was laughing.
“What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time, Morgan?” Sarah asked herself as she quickly clambered down the watchtower.
Now more than ever, Morgan needed her help. She knew why he was here. He was here for her. Sarah hit the ground, rolling to lessen the impact of the near twenty-foot drop she’d taken, and sprang right into a full sprint.
Her hand clutched at the necklace hanging around her neck and her resolve firmed. Morgan had always been the one to save her from danger. Now it was time to return the favor.
54
Morgan felt as though he were in a dream. He watched as his body moved of its own accord, completely out of his control. It was as though he were a passenger in his own body, and something else had taken over. Something far more sinister than himself.
At the same time, he could feel the savage pleasure of tearing the soldiers apart. It was exhilarating. The way he moved and utilized his abilities was far beyond anything he ever could have imagined. The speed in which he shifted and formed the wind with his Stormforger skill, the way he used his new Restructure skill to cover gaps in his defenses and use it as an offense at the same time, or the way he used his Explosive impact and Supersonic flight in tandem, covering huge distances and striking at soldiers who believed they were out of his reach.
His body moved with perfect fluidity and grace, flowing from one move to the next, not a single one wasted. Every small shift of his shoulder, every small step and twist of his body was carefully calculated to give him the maximum efficiency. His reiki wasn’t even running out! The way he was utilizing his skills, it always regenerated to have him at near maximum capacity. The only downside to this entire thing, was that he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He just hoped that once all the soldiers were dead, he’d be able to regain some modicum of control.
Morgan dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding a spear thrust, then shifted his Stormforged weapon into a spiraling lance and tore a gaping hole in the man’s chest. With each kill he could feel energy flooding into him, and he moved it all towards ranking up. It seemed that killing people, even if they were lowered ranked than you, would still award you energy.
He spun in a circle, knocking back a couple of soldiers, then slammed his fist into the ground, dropping to one knee and avoiding the four attacks aimed for his head, heart, shoulder, and chest. The solid stone rippled outward, then exploded into fragments, riddling every soldier within a ten foot radius with numerous rents and holes.
Men screamed, staggering back and throwing down weapons. Some turned to flee, but Morgan wouldn’t let them go. They all had to die! Cackling madly, he hurled himself after them, covering the distance with his movement skill, and slammed a bare fist into one of their backs. The man bent over double as his spine shattered, but Morgan was already gone before his corpse hit the ground.
A soldier took a swing at his head with an iron mace as he dashed by, and Morgan ripped the man’s core from his chest. He stared down at the glowing blue sphere of mana, before crushing it and absorbing the energy. His body shuddered as the mana flowed into him, and his eyes glowed blue for a few seconds. When he finally relaxed, he looked hungrily around at the other soldiers, who were all staring in open-mouthed horror.
None of them had even known it was possible to do something like that. Tearing a core from someone’s chest should have been impossible, as they were made of either pure mana or chi. It was an insubstantial energy. Trying to grab it was like trying to grab the wind. Apparently no one had told Morgan this, as he pounced on another soldier, tearing the core from his chest, and crushing it as well.
And that was all it took. The men broke, screaming in terror and fleeing before the monster.
Weak! All of them are so very weak!
Morgan laughed, turning to chase one of the soldiers, who was looking over his shoulder at the blood-drenched boy and crying in fear. He could sense the man’s chi, beating rapidly through his veins as he tried to move faster and escape the monster who was, for lack of a better term, eating the hearts of his comrades.
“Enough!”
Everyone froze as a voice boomed out over the carnage. Morgan stopped as well, then slowly turned to face his newest foe. He was strong, perhaps the strongest one here.
“I wonder what your chi will taste like!” he said with a grin, licking his bloodied lips.
Edmund grimaced, but stood firm.
“I don’t know what sort of monster you are, but you are most definitely not human! I will not have you destroying my plans, not when I’m so close to achieving victory!”
Morgan cocked his head to the side, fingers twitching in eager anticipation. Killing this man would give him a ton of energy. Even more energy than the last twenty soldiers he’d killed combined!
“Men! Stand your ground. Your King will slay this beast, then lead you to victory against…gah!”
Morgan had not allowed Edmund to finish his heroic and inspiring speech, instead launching himself forward in a surprise attack, and slamming an oversized purple gauntlet into the man’s head. He felt the energy in the air shift around him as Edmund prepared for a counterattack, and moved his head to the side, avoiding the return blow. A light cut opened on his cheek as the fist passed, and Morgan felt his grin widen.
Finally. A challenge!
***
Edmund staggered back under the force of Morgan’s attack, wincing at the power behind the blow, but managed to return the favor by opening a line of blood in his cheek. He grimaced, throwing an arm up to block the follow-up punch aimed for his own jaw, and felt his arm bruise under the impact. He barely managed to step back to avoid a kick aimed at his knee, and was forced to duck to avoid losing his head to a shrieking purple sword.
Edmund could feel his chi-heart pounding in his chest as he staggered back, only just managing to turn aside crippling blows and attacks that would leave him bleeding out on the ground. If he were fighting anyone else, he might feel confident enough to just take one of the blows and retaliate with one of his own, but he’d already seen the damage Morgan could do with any single attack and wasn’t willing to take the chance. He knew he had to do something though, as Morgan’s attacks were starting to come faster.
It wouldn’t be long before he found an opening, so Edmund had to go on the offensive. He took a step back, using his short range portal and using one of his favorite maneuvers. Disappearing into the whirling red hole in space, he stepped out a second later from an identical one that had opened behind Morgan and slashed out with a Reality blade. The long blade, colored like a black-tinted rainbow, slashed through the air, leaving a ripple of distortion in its wake as it approached Morgan’s head.
Edmund could already feel his lips turning up in a smile as his blade neared the young boy’s skull. He may have come back once, but not even Morgan could survive if he was missing half his head!
“Is that really the best you’ve got?”
Edmund blinked in surprise as Morgan seemed to vanish into thin air, only to reappear behind him. Whirling on the spot, he slashed at him with the blade, only to have Morgan tap him on his right shoulder. Edmund screamed, and quickly used Spatial burst, sending an explosion of distortion in all directions.
Soldiers who had been standing too close screamed as the rippling force washed over them, tearing their bodies to bloody chunks and sucking them into an alternate dimension. A glowing purple fist slammed into Edmund’s right arm, buckling it at the elbow and making him lose concentration. He screamed again, but this time, in pain. The Reality blade fell from his now useless fingers, and he whirling to face Morgan, who was covering up a yawn.
“Here I thought you’d be a challenge, but all you’ve managed to do so far, is kill your own men!” Morgan cackled.
Edmund could feel his anger rising now as the insolent boy laughed. No one made a mockery of him! He was the King! And the rightful ruler of all the Five Kingdoms! So Edmund did the one thing he swore never to do, and used his most powerful skil
l. It would cost him dearly once the fight was over, and if there were no immediate healers nearby, he might very well die, but he had no other choice. Taking a few deep breaths, Edmund used his Augment skill. This was a skill he’d received after reaching rank 50. It would massively increase his physical abilities, past the point that his body would normally be able to handle.
It would give him increased strength, speed, endurance and so forth. It would even increase the power of all his other skills by a factor of three. The downside to this was the toll it would take on his body. Even as the skill empowered him, it would begin eating him from the inside. If he left it active for too long, it would kill him, so he would have to finish this fight quickly. There would no doubt be hundreds, if not thousands, of casualties from this fight, but what were a few lives when weighed against his legacy?
Edmund groaned as his body became cloaked in crimson light as the skill activated. His arm twisted painfully, resetting itself with a series of crackling pops. Power flooded him then, and he could feel his muscles and tendons already beginning to strain. He grinned all the same, and turned his eyes on the still laughing boy.
“Laugh at this, you bastard!” he yelled, digging his feet into the ground and launching himself forward.
The stone beneath his feet exploded, and he had the satisfaction of seeing the boy’s eyes widen, before he slammed into him with bone shattering force. The two of them carved a bloody furrow through the ranks of his soldiers, Edmund’s momentum carrying him a good fifty yards before he stopped, sending Morgan hurtling back.
Instead of bouncing across the ground and coming to stop in a bloody heap as he’d expected, Morgan slapped a hand on the ground as he hit it, launching himself into the air, and floating there. Edmund could see a line of blood tracing down from his lip. And although Morgan was covered in blood, it was easy to tell that it was his own.
