The Duelist 6, page 25
“You don’t have a choice,” Sskern said with an evil smirk. “The Law has been enacted.”
The crowd around him closed in, and I knew some sort or retribution was due.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the fucking sky to suddenly go dark red and a howl to rip open the earth.
Demon scourge.
Fucking wonderful.
Chapter 21
The subterranean howl sounded louder than ever before, and it was echoed by dozens of screams as the sound of something scratching and scrabbling started up from somewhere close.
“The Scourge!” Bartus, the long-necked dino-man, bellowed almost as loud as the next unearthly howl that followed right on his heels. “We’re all on the wrong side of the chasm! We are all going to die!”
His words had the same effect as someone yelling “fire” in a full movie theater.
Pandemonium.
Both the Uppers and the Lowers launched into a frenzy of activity, and in the melee, I lost sight of Councilman Hess.
All around me, I could hear orders being barked out mostly from Major Tharfin, who was ordering all women, children, and the feeble to be tucked inside some of the caravan grubs. When the beasts curled up in a ball for defense, there was enough room to tuck a few people inside for protection.
Once I saw this, I jumped in to help however I could, and when all the grubs were “full,” I went to see who I could help next.
Which happened to be literally all of the Up-ish as they ran around like decapitated chickens. None of them knew what to do, and their terror prevented them from listening to Griss’ many barked orders.
They were such a hopeless mess that trying to figure out who exactly to help was futile, and I decided to abandon the quest in order to do something productive.
Boom. Boom.
The rock launchers went off again and again, and I turned toward the sloping edge the sentinel tower was perched on. Over the cliff was a horde of scourge-mites clawing their way up to the surface, and as another demonic howl pierced the air, the ones crawling up the side seemed to double.
Several miners were using the launchers to take out three or four of the beasts at a time, but they were soon out of vine-rocks and had to resort to single launch projectiles they could find on the slope.
As I approached, a demon materialized up from the ground in front of me, and I pulled my dual swords free from their sheaths on my back and slashed through the fucker before it even had a chance to hiss at me.
Its head fell from its shoulders and left behind an ashy stump.
One down, and about… a billion to go.
The horde finally poured over the ridge and forced us all back with their slavering jaws and lashing barbed tails, and my lungs wanted to collapse as the overwhelming demon army swarmed like a tsunami.
We were so fucked, and as I cut and slashed at demon after demon, I did something I seldom did: I prayed for a fucking miracle.
“Alex!” Zoie called out in the sea of chaos, but I was too busy slicing off tentacles to see which direction her shout came from.
“Zoie!” I yelled instead and then ran my right blade through the chest of another scourge-mite.
“Reeeeeererrrrr!” the demon squealed, and when I yanked my sword free, clumps of ash flowed to the ground.
“I’m here,” she suddenly panted as her back slammed into mine so we could fight more in the center of the group of demons currently surrounding us.
“Where is everyone else?” I asked her and then kicked the jaw off a demon going for my cat-wife’s ankle.
“Anwaar and Amaya are helping those who couldn’t make it into a protective grub in time,” she said and threw two sharpened rocks into the eyes of a demon getting ready to lunge at me.
It hissed as it pawed at its face, but before it could get Zoie’s rock-daggers out of its eyes, I flipped around my left sword and plunged it through its heart.
“Where are Shay and Horus?” I asked when we danced around and switched sides.
“I don’t know,” she responded, and then she used my back to help her twirl her legs around like a helicopter so she could kick two of the demons at once and send them flying. “Shay kept saying something about wanting to go to the tower all of a sudden, and Horus chased her to keep her from going.”
I scanned the battlefield for the avian siblings as best as I could, and when my eyes spotted the flame of my wife’s red hair, my heart sank.
She was alone, so who knew what had happened to Horus during the violence, but what made my blood turn icy with fear was the fact that she was running full-tilt toward the tower, with a surprisingly fast Councilman Hess in pursuit of her.
“Zoie, help me get to her,” I said as I pointed to where Shay was closing the distance between her and the tower.
“Right,” she said, and my cat-wife unsheathed her katana from her belt and twirled around like a deadly but beautiful tornado wreaking havoc and destruction with her blade.
With her clearing the path in front of me, I was able to follow behind her and strike down the strays that decided to get bold and try to make a move for the cat-warrior.
“Rrrrrrrrooooooiiiii!” a somewhat familiar yowl pierced the air, and I looked over in time to see the other Varthan woman, Issa, yell out her battle cry as she sliced through a stump demon with her battle axe.
Lieutenant Vertiss was battling next to her, and while the stump tried to wrap its barbed tongue around Issa’s ankle, the lizard-man ran his makeshift shovel-spear into where its heart supposedly was.
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of white light erupted from the stump demon the same way it did when Horus ashed his first demon, and like before, a newly minted Duelist Stone revealed itself as the demon’s ribcage crumbled away.
“Woah,” I took a moment to say as I kicked another scourge-mite off the end of my blade.
Another flash caught my attention on my other side, and Serrek stared down at the sharp branch he was using with a shocked expression on his yellow-striped face.
Then another flash, and another, until it looked as if there were paparazzi all over the battlefield with how many Terrans were becoming Ashers.
I’d never seen such a sight, and apparently no one else had, either, because all of us who were Duelists already just stopped and stared as the demons started to freak out and retreat in the presence of so many deadly warriors.
“What’s happening?” Zoie asked as she too lowered her weapon at the strange sight.
“I think my prayers for a miracle were just answered,” I murmured as I glanced up at the red sky.
“Alex!” Horus staggered up to me and gripped my arms. “Shay is--”
“Shit, I know,” I said, even though Hess seemed stunned enough for now to watch the light show as Low-ish after Low-ish Terran became an Asher with a notable rank and the ability to permanently “ash” the scourge so it wouldn’t come back.
However, I knew it was only a matter of time before the stego-man snapped out of his trance.
“I have to get to her,” I said as I saw her red head duck into the tower, but I was halted by Horus’ hand on my arm. “Let go.”
“I’m not trying to stop you, but if you go on foot, you might not reach her in time,” the falcon-man said as he dragged me back into some of the trees. “Mozz!”
I picked up on what he was planning when the girl with the blue hair and sour disposition walked both La and El out into the clearing.
“I didn’t want them to get hurt,” she said with wide eyes, and I was reminded that she was still just a kid.
“You did good,” I told her and patted her on the shoulder. “I’m going to borrow El, but you keep La safe, and if no one you trust comes to get you, get your brother Neelix and fly to Snake Tree.”
“Okay,” she said with a little sniff, and she handed me El’s reins so I could mount the blue pterodactyl-creature.
“Horus, go help the girls,” I ordered. “I’m going after Shay.”
“Wait, chief,” the falcon-man said and stopped me from launching into the air. “You have to know Shaylee started talking strangely right before the Red Sky.”
“What do you mean?” I asked sharply.
“I could barely hear it at first, but she kept mumbling about ‘healing the heart’ and ‘staring into the eye,’ and it scared me. She’s going up there for what?”
His implication was too horrifying to contemplate, and I didn’t want to give any energy to the image of her plunging off the bridge and into the dark chasm.
“I’m going to bring her back,” I said as I firmed my jaw in determination and tightened my hand around the reins. “El, away!”
The squaller flapped its large wings and rose into the air above the trees. When I looked down, there weren’t any more flashes taking place, but there sure was a hell of a lot of demon ash flying through the air, and if it wasn’t so nasty, I would have opened up my mouth for a laugh.
Instead, I urged my mount on toward the dark tower where a small figure was hunched over on her knees in the middle of the large rope bridge.
“Prrrt!” El said.
“I see her, girl,” I said and stroked the creature’s neck. “Take me to her.”
I guided us to glide alongside the bridge where Shay was crouched in the dead center. The updraft could be felt here, and once I jumped off my mount, El was free to hover just above me in the strange current of air.
Then I crouched down in front of my wife, and I was worried when she didn’t even raise her head.
“No,” she whispered and clutched her arms tight against her.
“Shay?” I asked, and my worry only grew when she wouldn’t open her eyes that were screwed so tightly shut.
I gently moved the hair out of her face and didn’t know what to do to erase that look of pain.
“It’s almost too much, Alex,” she whimpered. “I looked down into the Eye, and I can see all of Terr’s pain.”
“What do you…” I trailed off when I followed her pointing finger down toward the boards of the bridge.
No, not the boards, but whatever was below them.
I squinted one eye shut and saw what she was talking about. This so-called “Eye” was actually what this gaping chasm resembled when staring directly down from up above. None of us realized the first time we were on the bridge, because none of us bothered to look through the slats.
Now, I could see very clearly the almond shape of an eye with a distinct orangish glow for the iris.
“The Eye is the connection to the Heart,” Shay continued in a strange cryptic way, and her voice started to sound like a multitude of voices all at once.
“The Heart?” I whispered, and she nodded.
I remembered coming across the Heart of Terr way down deep in the mines, and I wondered how I could have missed the connection Snake Tree was trying to get me to make.
Fat lot of good that did me right now because if I was supposed to get Shay to heal the heart, welp.
That ship had most definitely fucking sailed.
Or… had it?
Something niggled at the back of my brain about the heart thing, and as I tried to remember what it was, I gazed up at the sky.
The sun warmed my face, and I suddenly remembered what was bugging me.
When we were down in the mines, Tharfin told us the heart of Terr was unique because it was in the exact lowest and darkest place on the island, and yet the sun could still reach it.
And if the sun could reach it, why not a healing tear from the Incarnate-- Mother Life herself.
“Sweetheart,” I said as I took her clammy hands in mine. “You have to look one more time.”
“Oh, it’s s-so painful,” she said in a shaky voice.
“I know, but it’s the only way it will stop,” I said, and I helped her lay her head down on the bridge. “Just let go. I’m here.”
She sighed as my hand ran through her red hair, and after a few moments, a crystal tear leafed in gold trailed down her face, across the bridge of her nose, and fell through the gap in the boards of the bridge.
“There,” she sighed as if that single tear was equivalent to running a triathlon.
“You!” A furious bellow sounded from the other end of the bridge where a heavily-battered Councilman Hess appeared in the doorway of the sentinel tower.
His robes were ripped to shreds, he had a large gash across his forehead, and there was a manic glint in his reptilian eyes.
“I see you got a taste of your own medicine, Councilman,” I snorted, and after one more caress to Shay’s head, I stood up and slowly walked toward him with my swords drawn. “But what’s the plan now?”
“The plan?” he asked like I’d just asked him the days of the week. “There is no plan other than to kill you as painfully as possible.”
“Now, now, isn’t it me who has the Rite of Punishment?” I asked just to stall a little longer. I didn’t know how long it would take for Shay’s magic tear to reach its destination, but something inside me knew we couldn’t leave until it was done.
I only hoped I would know it when “it” happened.
“I no more acknowledge you as a Terran than I do claim myself a screecher,” Hess spat just like the snake in disguise he was. He then pulled out two sharp daggers with a red herald core glinting on each hilt and took a step toward me.
“Do you recognize me as a Duelist, then?” I challenged him as I pulled out my Stone. “Because I officially evoke the Rite of the Duel so we can finish this once and for all.”
“Foolish boy,” he snorted. “I care not for this game anymore. You think I would waste my time trying to hold onto a status that will only be stripped from me once my treachery has been known to the Ashers of Blood. Then they will gladly kill me themselves. At least now I can find a certain glee in killing you and your beloved first!”
Instead of attacking me like I was prepared for him to do, the other man turned tail and ran back toward the tower.
I was confused for a moment when he took one of his daggers and stabbed it into the anchor holding the left side of the bridge. Then, from his pocket, he pulled out a cursed medallion and hovered it over the herald core of the stuck blade.
My gut was telling me this was bad, and whatever I had to do to stop him from touching the two objects together needed to be done hasta yesterday.
So, I sheathed my blades, sprinted toward the man, and tackled him to the ground where he landed on his back, and a small pouch of the medallions spilled across the floor.
“Really?” I roared and slammed him on the floor with his lapels. “Just for this shit, you deserve to be thrown off this fucking thing.”
“Argh!” The stego-man was strong where he wasn’t fast, and with a quick twist and an arch, he threw me off him in one fell movement.
I tumbled a few times before landing against the stone wall with a smack to the head that made me see double for a second.
The double vision messed with me, but I shook it off when I saw the Councilman scrabbling for another coin on the floor.
I kicked him in the jaw so he went flying, and then I kicked him in the gut for good measure.
“How do you know Alda!” I bellowed at the pompous waste of space, and then I kicked and scattered the medallions all over. “What is he trying to accomplish with this shit?”
“He’s perfecting his army.” Hess grinned a bloody grin and then struck out swiftly with a kick to my leg that had my knee buckling.
The overweight asshole was more than he made himself appear to be because he moved faster than I ever thought would be possible with a gut so rotund.
“Get off!” I struggled against the full bloated weight of the Councilman as he pinned me soundly to the ground and wrapped a beefy hand around my throat, while his other pried open my mouth so he could cram a medallion inside.
“Now you will know what it is to be my slave!” Hess screamed in triumph, and I was shocked he didn’t wring my neck when he had the chance because I was literally just at his mercy.
Instead, the man actually got off me and stood up eagerly like he was waiting for something to happen.
I wasn’t sure what until I sat up and looked at him. “Uhh--”
“That’s correct, slave, do my bidding and rise,” Hess said, and I just blinked at him. “Oh, Alda did say it has to come from a strong mind…”
What the fuck was actually happening?
I continued to stare at the man who was glaring at me full-force with veins in his forehead and everything, and it dawned on me the man thought for some reason that having the medallion in my mouth would somehow put me under his complete control.
Which was obviously not the case, but he didn’t need to know that.
So, I took a stab in the dark and figured he was trying to think-command me. It was either that, or he was actively trying to shit in his pants.
Since the former seemed more likely, I stood up with my best zombie expression on.
“Excellent, excellent!” Hess clapped as I walked toward him, and then when I was about an inch away from his face, I spat the medallion right in his eye. “Argh!”
He wailed and flew backward, and with one swift motion, I brought my blade down through his torso just as his fat back side hit the floor and effectively pinned him to the wooden boards.
“Yeah, not quite,” I quipped and then unstuck my sword with a squelch.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Hess rasped as he clutched the wound in his abdomen. “Why didn’t you obey me!”
“Maybe Alda lied to you.” I shrugged and wiped off my blade as I started walking toward the bridge where I’d left my exhausted phoenix-wife. “Not my problem.”
“Impossible,” he burbled as blood pooled in the corners of his mouth. “Impossible… it… always… works.”
“Then I’m just lucky.” I glanced down at my Stone, and the added fish swimming around the etching of a star was becoming darker and darker with each passing second.
“Let’s… test that… shall we?” the dying man gasped, and I turned around just in time to see him pull out the twin to the first dagger still stuck into the bridge’s anchor.
