by Samuel Small
When they arrived at the main plaza, where only a few hours before one of Dante’s fellow villagers had tried to kill him, a crowd of Purists waited. A sculpture of a long, twisting dragon swirled to the top of a three-story building. Its scales were removed in certain sections, making it see-through, although Jake had no clue as to why. There were also tally marks carved into the beast. Confused, Jake decided to wait at the back while Dante did this whole ritual thing, as nobody had noticed him yet and he hoped to keep it that way. Dante nudged his way through the crowd until he arrived at the dragon design, where the woman from before waited. Once she took him in she nodded then faced the crowd.
“We will now begin the right of succession.”
The woman placed her hand into the mouth of the dragon and closed her eyes. There were a few seconds of bone-chilling silence, and nobody in the large crowd even whispered. Then the woman’s eyes shot open and she let out a roar while unleashing her energy in one powerful burst. It swirled through the dragon, lighting it up with a blue glow, and Jake could now tell the purpose of those holes: so that you could visibly tell where the energy was. It soared to nearly the top of the beast, coming just shy of the final tally mark.
A man pulled a ladder to the beast, chisel in hand, and marked the spot where the energy had dissipated. As soon as he was finished the mark, the crowd began to applaud. There were cries about that being a new personal best and how Dante would never beat it. In front of the crowd, the boy only stared into their happy faces with an indifference that killed the celebratory mood. Soon they were all silent. Jake practically tasted the apprehension in the air.
Dante placed his arm into the dragon’s mouth and without a word let his energy explode out. It shot well past the woman’s tally mark in an instant, then the whole beast began to shake. The light that encompassed it grew brighter as it lit up the grass. Then there was a dull whine before a loud pop could be heard. Bits of the beast’s tail sprayed over the crowd as Dante’s energy rushed out and into the sky in a steady, pumping stream of raw power. The Purists standing next to Jake looked ashen and their jaws fell open in horror, their eyes locked on the energy that sailed into the sky. The man who was set to mark Dante’s placement dropped his tools in shock.
Silence filled the area as the last of that energy glimmered and faded. Nobody said a word, nobody even moved. Then there was a slight shift as Dante made his way through the crowd. He didn’t need to nudge his way through now, people stepped back and gave him a clear path. Despite his victory, when he reached Jake he looked sad, like he didn’t want it to come to this. A few steps later he came to a sudden stop. “The kingdom to the north has been invaded and we’re going to assist. Be ready by nightfall.”
He then continued forward and Jake picked up his pace to meet him. The trainee hesitantly looked back, just then seeing the woman nod firmly, the action in contrast with the tears that streamed down her face. She glanced up at the particles that drifted into the sky as if they were the last remnants of something very important to her. The crowd finally dispersed, all of their heads held low. With his words Dante had brought a peaceful community to war, and it showed in their drained faces. They were returning to their homes now to grab weapons and supplies and wish farewell to loved ones. In a week they would be on the blood-soaked battlefield.
Chapter 16
The landscape rushed below him in a blur of colors. First it was the white of Niflheim, then the burning primary palette of the realms beyond mixed with the gray-brown of the dull grass and dead trees. When he thought he’d gotten close enough he slowed down, and before long he was hovering directly above the Purist village. He lowered himself to the ground and slipped unseen through houses, streets, and alleys but found the village was practically deserted aside from a few women and children. And wasn’t it the human’s custom to leave them out of such ordeals?
He returned once again to the sky and followed the paths the humans used to travel, trying to make out any large gathering of them. After a while he found them – the boy with orange hair leading the pack, but looking incredibly sad. It was unbelievable, he’d actually brought as many Purists as possible. Practically all of them by the look of it. What luck!
This next part was easy, he simply allowed himself to return to his body, the landscape once again becoming a blur. But he didn’t focus on it, instead he concentrated on his plans. He supposed he could delay things until they arrived, maybe even make it so that they showed up in the nick of time and give those humans a possibility of hope, just to swat it away. Yes, he liked that. That was what he would do.
***
Pacing the castle, Sara was antsy. Aquinas seemed crazy at the meeting, his advisor Whip too. But he apparently wasn’t eager to launch an attack. It had been two weeks since that assembly and she’d heard nothing from the kingdom across the canyon. Which was strange as, based on the lack of any kind of logic behind Aquinas’ actions, Sara would have guessed he’d have leapt at the chance of battle at the earliest possible opportunity. Was he planning methodically all that time or did he just want to drive her crazy? If it was the latter, it was working.
Pounding footsteps tore down the hall and Sara raised her head. A panting guard stopped in front of her and she already knew what this was about without him speaking, based on his fearful look alone. She stomped past him without a word, came to her father’s chambers, and she saw that he must have already known too. When she entered he was placing a piece of lightweight armor on his shoulders. He turned from the mirror to her, his expression somber, and nodded.
Once her father was ready they left the castle and walked through the streets, a platoon of guards behind them. Her people saw her, saw their intense expressions and the direction they headed, and must’ve understood where they were going. Doors opened on either side of Sara, citizens coming out of their homes while desperately trying to place any military equipment they could onto their persons. Before long it seemed the entire population of Niflheim crowded those streets. It eased Sara’s heart a little, although when the canyon came into sight it skipped a beat.
Aquinas had gotten his entire kingdom behind him, that much was certain. In fact, he must have instituted a draft of some kind, which would have explained why it took them so long to arrive. Sara could see children scattered throughout the crowd clutching daggers in their shaking hands. She glanced up at the adults who cast shadows on those children and saw apprehension on their faces. They didn’t want this either.
But the man who stepped forward, his hands cupped behind his back, clearly did. He glanced over the entire Niflheim army, his eyes hungry like his enemy was a meal to consume. His lips pulled into a smirk as he extended a hand to his side and gathered flowing water into it.
“So this is the best Niflheim has to offer, is it?” Whip called over the ravine. “Quite pathetic, really.” The man’s calm eyes suddenly widened and he jerked his head to the side as several icicles flew past and hit a soldier behind him. The man grasped his mangled face, blood flowing between his fingers. Whip stared at him in shock for a few seconds then turned a grin to Sara’s father, who had his arm outstretched.
“An act of aggression from Niflheim? Why, I’ve never heard of such a thing!” he laughed, the sound falling down the canyon and echoing back, causing Sara and her entire military to take a fearful step back. When that loud clack echoed in unison, Sara saw murderous intent flare up in Whip’s eyes. His smile curled so wide it nearly reached his eyes. The water that gathered in his hand twisted into the sky like a featureless snake, undulating back and forth. He rolled his free hand casually toward them and his army took up their battle stance. They placed their bodies to the sides so that they were thin targets and gathered water in both hands. Dammit, Sara thought, he’s opting for an entirely offensive strategy because he doesn’t care about his own citizens!
Sara and her father exchanged a glance then ran to either end of the long line of combatants. Sara placed her hands to the ground, aware that her
father did the same on the other end, and put as much of her Sol into the motion as possible. A wall sprung up, large enough to encompass half of her army. A second later another one materialized, and they were entirely covered by the towering structure. If Aquinas and Whip wanted to send normal citizens to their death and against their will then Sara doubted they were in the best of shape. If her army could just hold out the enemy would exhaust themselves, and then they could pick off the remaining combatants one by one. It was a great plan, but a feeling of sadness at the impending slaughter bubbled in the bottom of her stomach.
The first wave of attacks slammed into the wall, shooting bits of ice out of the other side. The whole structure shook briefly then settled. In a few more seconds there’d be another wave. Sara knew it was coming and moved back to her father in the middle of the line.
Now that she thought about it, she realized that Aquinas wasn’t actually here. She glanced at her father and he stared back intently, the shadows cast by the wall making it seem like there were bags under his eyes. Sara clicked her tongue just as another violent force hit the wall and threatened to topple it over. A few droplets of water made it to the other side of the structure, dampening the snow at her feet.
So that man was sitting on his throne casually while the rest of them fought. It was customary of leaders, who tended to be the strongest of their nation, to fight alongside their people during battles, but he apparently couldn’t be bothered. A bit of the ice wall cracked away and fell at her feet, giving a perfect view of Aquinas’ castle in the distance. She wondered if that man even bothered to glance out his window at the carnage he had created.
Another attack exploded into the wall, and this time it had taken enough and shattered into pieces that tumbled into the darkness below. On the other side Magnum Undo’s forces took a moment of respite. One of the children at the front nearly fainted and fell into the canyon, but an adult pulled him back. Whip stood casually at the front, his arms folded behind his back.
Sara clicked her tongue again before returning her arms to the ground and creating another wall. No more than a second after she raised it up it shook violently from the force of the high-pressure jets of water and Sara glanced at her shaking palms. These structures were powerful but they also took a lot of energy from her. She wanted this to be a war of attrition, but did she have enough endurance to win it?
“If you can’t, I can!” her father called, as if he was reading her mind. That eased Sara for a moment. Then the wall shook again. And again. It was rapid, not the same methodical attack as before. It crumbled in front of her eyes, revealing Whip on the other side of the ravine smiling like a maniac. The water wrapped around his arm was stretched out into his namesake. He brought it around and destroyed the remainder of the wall in one final whip-like crack then looked Sara dead in the eyes. When the last of the ice wall had crumbled into the canyon, he returned his hands behind his back.
It appeared he wanted to keep the carnage up and didn’t care for her defensive tactics. That’s fine, Sara thought, then thrust her hand out so that sharp icicles raced forward in a direct line for Magnum Undo’s advisor. Instead of being afraid of the attack as she would expect, his smile stretched even wider and he lashed it away. Dimly, Sara realized that the other soldiers had their attacks prepared and ready to launch, but she didn’t consciously recognize it. It was more of a feeling, a sense of doom. Several loud cracks filled the air, followed by screams of pain.
Something heavy lay on top of Sara, but she was too focused on the screeches of her men to give it much more than a passing thought. Behind her, the line of warriors who made up the front of the battalion all rolled around on the floor in pain and yelled. There were whiplashes all over their bodies, some that tore through clothes to reveal savage welts. She turned away from the sight of it, her face brushing against a beard she knew all too well. Her father’s beard.
He smiled at her, despite the fact that his eyes radiated intense pain. She tried to move from underneath him and see how bad he was hurt, but he placed a hand on her head and stopped her. Sara stared up in shock at her father’s face, which looked incredibly young in the moment as he tried to soothe her. That hadn’t happened since she was a little girl.
Her ears picked up a swishing sound in the distance. That water swirled once again in the palms of her adversaries, but most looked at their feet. They weren’t able to face what they’d done, and that made Sara’s heart burn with a fierce rage. She found unbridled strength in that moment and sat up, dislodging her large father. She saw apprehension in the faces of her adversaries as they stared fearfully at her from across the chasm, all except for Whip who looked thoroughly entertained. That made her rage grow even more, the power within her welling to a point of no return. She felt she could anything with her Sol, create anything, and take on this whole army. She pulled her arm back, intent on gathering as much as destructive power as possible and letting it go.
“Everyone, duck!”
The shout broke Sara from her trance and she immediately dropped to her belly. Less than a second later, something soared past her head and ruffled her hair. Neon blue balls of energy crossed the divide and slammed into the bodies of the Magnum Undo’s forces, igniting them, and they screeched in pain while flailing backward. Some slipped on the uneven surface of the ground and fell into the canyon. But worst of all was the intensity with which the burns formed. Sara could see the holes in their bodies crawl steadily outward like a flaming infection.
Awestruck, Sara looked behind her to see Dante with an arm outstretched, Jake at his side, an army of Purists behind them. He spotted Sara in the large crowd of people and looked straight at her. “You guys fall back, we’ll keep you covered. Just keep your heads down!”
Sara obeyed Dante’s command as if it was an order and she wasn’t in fact the leader of this army, and she raced toward the line of strangely dressed people. The energy continued to rush just overhead, but she kept herself low so that it avoided her. Before she reached Dante an explosion erupted, which for a second made her want to drop to the ground until she realized that it came from very far away. She reached Dante’s side and turned around to take in what had happened, and was shocked at what she saw. The first were Magnum Undo’s soldiers, charging across that bridge in a giant cluster that barely fitted on it. The second was Aquinas’ castle in the distance, which had a beacon of pink light racing out of it and consolidating in the sky. It whirled like a hurricane, painting the clouds around it a strange pink-red hue.
Sara raced toward the bridge once again, realizing that her father was doing the same. Once she was on it with the Magnum Undo soldiers about halfway across, she placed her hands down and allowed her Sol to leak out. It coated the bridge, making the surface slippery beneath the charging invader’s feet. They all slid at an incredible speed, so fast that many flipped over the railing and tumbled to the ground. Those that were left struggled to get back up. Sara’s father was sure to finish them off with a series of powerful ice blades. She had to look away from the carnage and focused on the scene at Aquinas’ castle.
“That looks like a trump card if I’ve ever seen one.”
Despite those being her thoughts, it wasn’t Sara’s voice that stated it. Dante had appeared at her side, studying the beam of pink energy in the distance like it was something familiar.
“Somebody has to go and check it out,” Jake said as his head appeared just over Sara’s shoulder. Dante nodded in agreement with the statement, before looking at the army across the canyon, who all stared in shock at the spot where their comrades had fallen. “Only a few of us are gonna need to stay here and hold down the fort, but that asshole from the meeting looks pretty tough.”
“Right,” Sara said, “but I think I should go. I know the city of Magnum Undo well, so—”
“Let me handle it,” her father said, smiling at her side. “I still owe that bastard Aquinas a smack or two!”
“Okay,” Sara said, “but you shouldn’t go
alone. We have allies, so there’s no reason for a mano e mano.”
“Then let me take care of ’em,” Dante said. “No offense but me and bedhead here are the least drained out of the pack, so one of us should go. I don’t trust that messy-haired fuck taking on a world leader yet. Montasir’s good, but he ain’t gonna get anyone that good in one session.”
Dante leaned toward Jake, rubbing his chin with a hand while glancing up and down the boy. An eyebrow raised, Jake leaned away. “This is turning out to be a long-ranged battle, and you don’t have anything do you? I mean, I guess you could throw your sword but that’s only good for one hit. Do you have some kind of allergy to guns?”
Jake opened his mouth to respond but his eyes caught something on the other side of the canyon. His face drained of color. Sara checked to see what scared him and saw that Magnum Undo’s forces had regained their composure and were now ready to launch an attack. She placed her hands back on the ground along with her father and the two created a big enough ice wall to keep them safe for a minute or two. Without a word her father and Dante rushed to the far end of the structure, just as it was struck by something that cracked it.
Sara thought it would take maybe three more hits, then she heard rushing water and got a feeling of intense dread. She grabbed Jake by the arm and ran as far away from the wall just as the whole thing fell down and nearly flattened them. On the other side of the ravine, Whip stood with his arm outstretched, apparently having knocked the ice wall down singlehanded. He looked at Sara like she was a piece of meat he was about to tenderize. He was so focused on her that he didn’t notice her father create a bridge of ice to cross the canyon or him and Dante slide silently across it.
A sound echoed from Sara’s side, where Jake had drawn his sword and stared at the man on the other side of the chasm. Whip glanced at him then back to Sara, seeming to accept that they’d both be his opponents. He created an insane amount of water in his hands then swept it upward to create a massive wave of water that carried him across the gap. He landed several meters in front of them, staring with that amused grin. Ice, hot energy, and water sailed to either side of them as the battle continued. The force of it swayed Whip’s robes, but he didn’t seem to notice, his eyes locked on Sara.
