Birth of a Mortal God (29 page)

Joneras met his gaze; his face a mask of fanatical glee. “Something not found here in this realm: the blood of a god.”

His eyes widened. “It can’t—”

The otherworldly tendrils retreated back into the rift as abruptly as they had sprung forth, leaving behind an eerily quite battlefield, as if both armies were holding their breath in anticipation of its return.

“Joneras, why are you here? What is causing all of this?” said a deep voice.

Killmar recognised his native language and felt a strange sense of nostalgia. Unlike mortals, spiritual beings communicate in an universally understood manner, not relying on simple vibrations within the air. However, when mortal minds are exposed to it, they experience it as if they are being spoken to in their native language; their minds not being evolved enough to comprehend it, otherwise.

Joneras silently wished that the crimson being had brought his army with him and not pulled them back to what he probably thought was a safe distance. “Asteroth, I came to stop this man. He intends to plunge Cortast into ruin. We must kill him at once!” he said, unleashing a white scintillating ball of energy at Killmar for emphasis.

Asteroth hesitated, until he saw the magical attack being swatted away as one would a fly. He roared a battle cry and charged his new enemy.

Killmar pushed Jessica away as he jumped back to avoid the sideward slash of the enormous battleaxe.

“Yes, kill him! You can do it! Save us all!,” encouraged Joneras, his face a mask of perverted glee.

“Don’t listen to him! He is manipulating you!” screamed Jessica.

Asteroth hesitated as he pulled back from a thrust, and Killmar swirled around one of the giant blades, closing in and striking him squarely in the stomach. The blow was impossibly heavy, and he flew back as if plucked by an invisible hand.

Jessica watched the strange red creature hop, skid, and tumble across the ground like a flat stone flung at a pond. “Killmar, is he-”

“I do not have time to deal with him right now. I need to stop them before they can cross over,” he answered as he purposefully walked towards the rift.

“You will not interfere!” screamed Joneras before yellow beams of light sprang forth from his hands and stabbed the area around Killmar, barring his way.

Killmar reached out and lightly touched his prison. It attempted to burn him, and he smiled. “This is fine work. You must have spent most, if not all of your quenru in its creation. Some of the most powerful mortals upon this world would have trouble escaping from this, however . . .” His hand turned black, and he swung it through the conjuration, completely disintegrating it. “I am no mortal.”

“Killmar, look out!” shouted Jessica.

Instinctively, he ducked, and the axe head whistled through the space where his neck had been. He turned and responded with a blow of his own, which his attacker managed to take on the haft of his enormous battleaxe.

“Shuk!” exclaimed Asteroth as the resulting vibration nearly made him drop his weapon.

“You are just as annoyingly persistent as your father,” said Killmar, before performing a quick drop sweep.

Asteroth fell hard on his back but rolled away immediately, barely avoiding having his skull stomped into the dirt. Before he could get a chance to regain his footing, a muscular leg smashed into his chest, launching him into the air. He grimaced as he landed on his feet, wondering if this was what broken bones felt like.

Killmar watched as Vendrious’s progeny prepared himself to charge again. His weapon still in hand, despite his recent adventures as a tumbleweed.

“I do not know how much of the prophecy is true, but one thing is certain. You are too dangerous to be kept alive!” Asteroth said, before roaring and rushing forward, his axe held high.

Jessica sensed the change in her husband’s demeanour and knew what was going to happen and what she had to do.

The black battleaxe was brought down with all the force its wielder could muster, and it howled as it sliced through the air. Its intent: to kill a god.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, half-breed,” said Killmar as he caught the axe with his blackened left hand while placing his right on Asteroth’s chest.

“Impossible,” said the astounded Tsa’rog when a shockwave exploded out of his back, plates of cre’per’um scattering as if they were twigs thrown into a squall. His armour slipped off his chest and his knees buckled. Blood dripped down his mouth when his nemesis caught him by the throat.

“Ignorant whelp, you may speak like us, but in the end, you are more mortal than not. Send my regards to your father,” he hissed.

Jessica lightly touched his shoulder. “Killmar.”

“Yes, dear?”

“The situation seems to have worsened,” she answered pointing to the rift.

Various grotesque monsters started pouring from the rift by the hundreds. They all seemed driven by a singular purpose as they attacked human and yog’mur alike. Once again, men found themselves facing a foe that seemed impervious to their weapons and had to watch helplessly as their comrades were dragged screaming to the widening black tear. “Feed the gate! Feed the gate! Feed the gate!” chanted the monsters, many of whom did not even possess mouths and yet all heard the unholy mantra.

“Why are they not attacking us?” asked Asteroth as the demons passed by them like a river around a rock.

“Because, unlike you, they are fond of living,” replied Killmar smugly.

“Wait, wait, I am a servant of our Lord,” said a startled voice.

They turned to the source and saw Joneras surrounded by demons.

“We know,” answered one of them as they continued to close in around him.

“But I helped you. If not for me, you would not be here! I am under Ashaat’s protection!” screeched the young magician.

The demons laughed. “The Lord of Lords does not protect
anyone
.”

Joneras said an incantation and lashed out with an arc of teal energy. It struck half the demons, and a few staggered back, surprised that it managed to cut into their flesh.

“Well done. Most impressive for a mortal,” said a demon as it stepped forward, its body nothing more than a gigantic reptilian eye surrounded by a writhing mass of elliptic tentacles. It lashed out, and cyan tentacles wrapped around the thin limbs of the ewienian magician before he could disappear in a cloud of purple smoke. “We must feed the gate.”

“No! Wait, wait. I can still be of use! Listen to me!” pleaded Joneras as they reached the black tear, now the size of a prominent city’s Merchant Gate.

“You are being useful,” replied the demon as it pressed him against the void, disintegrating his clothes, skin, flesh, and bones in an instant.

“Well, that is one less problem; now what are we going to do about all of this?” asked Jessica motioning to the hundreds of surrounding demons.

The human army was all but annihilated while the yog’murgarr host had managed to hold their ground with the help of their magic users. But they were suffering heavy casualties, and demons continued to pour out from the gate. It was clear that it was only a matter of time before they would be overrun.

“I need to get you out of here,” said Killmar finally.

“Don’t you mean,
we
need to get out of here?”

Killmar turned to his kneeling captive, his hand still firmly fixed around his throat. “You will take her to the Dale of Echoes.”

“You murdered thousands of my brothers! Why would I help you?” he replied defiantly, despite the fact that he had never felt weaker in his life.

Killmar sighed. “Listen carefully. For every moment that gate is open, the fabric of this realm is being altered to resemble Ashaat’s realm. When enough alterations have occurred, Ashaat will be able to fully cross over. If that happens, all you hold dear will be destroyed. He will enslave every mortal being in this realm, kill those who won’t submit, and torture those who do. I can stop this from happening!”

“If you are able to do so, why haven’t you already?”

“Being in my immediate presence is the only thing that’s keeping the demons from feeding my wife to that gate. However, it would be too dangerous for her to be in my company when I close it. You will either do as I ask, or I will take her and leave this place, leaving you to the mercy of Ashaat.”

“You would condemn us all for her?” asked Asteroth in disbelief.

“I would see this entire realm burn for her!” he snarled.

Asteroth stared into his eyes for a moment. “By the gods, you are serious. All right. If it will save my kin, I will take her to the Dale of Echoes.”

“Unharmed. Swear it!”

“I swear I will take her to the Dale of Echoes unharmed,” said Asteroth when he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

“That is one oath you don’t want to break,” warned Killmar as he helped him to his feet.

“Don’t I have a choice in this? I don’t want to leave you!” said Jessica as she kissed him.

He savoured the soft touch of her lips. “Do you still remember what I told you to do, should we ever get separated?”

“Yes, but what of our-” she started when he pressed his finger against her lips and shook his head.

“You should order your army to retreat if you want them to live,” he said to Asteroth.

Without hesitation, the Tsa’rog retrieved his father’s orange crystal from his belt pouch and cracked it with a single squeeze, before throwing it into the air. Seconds later, there was a bright orange flash.

“In a few moments, you two won’t be able to move. Don’t panic; you won’t be attacked. But the moment you regain your ability to move, you should get as far away from here as possible,” said Killmar as he began to walk away.

“Wait!” called Jessica as she ran after him.

He turned and smiled slightly before light exploded from his body. The demons all turned as one, their bloody purpose forgotten as they knelt down, awestricken.

“No!” cried Jessica as an invisible force drove her into the ground. Her heart ached as she peered at the being in front of her.

Nine feet of hair rippled in the air like a scarf in an imaginary light breeze. From it radiated a majestic blue light whose purity seemed to overwhelmed the senses. The blue locks stemmed from a featureless humanoid void, the very sight of which invoked an intense sense of dread, as if one’s mind might be swallowed by its unfathomable darkness. Yet it was his eyes that exuded deific power as they burned with bright golden flames.

Killmar started towards the rift and the demons began to chant as they gave way, “Reaper of Life, Slayer of Gods, Devourer of Worlds, Consumer of All.” He pushed his hands into the gate and as it began to shrink, he heard an all too familiar voice.

“Why are you doing this, old friend? These mortals are the source of their power. If I gain control there, they’ll be at our mercy. Why do you protect them?”

He laughed. “I am not protecting all of them, only one. I know you, Ashaat. You won’t understand why I want to spare her.”

“It is true then, you’ve taken a mortal as a mate?” he asked calmly.

“She is . . . unique. She must live.”

“So you will deny me what I helped you obtain? Have you forgotten that it was I who sheltered and helped you contact that mortal woman so long ago?” reminded his friend.

“I have not forgotten, but I also remember a time when you only controlled nine realms, not seven hundred and twenty-nine. Some would say you owed me one. Besides, given our present predicament, it would appear that you had ulterior motives when you helped me cross into this realm.”

Ashaat chuckled. “I never claimed otherwise. However, I only want what I helped you obtain. Is that so unreasonable?”

He felt a wave of nostalgia and smiled. “I have missed you, old friend. I know that I’m being unreasonable and am truly sorry, but I simply cannot let you have this realm.”

“Will you then keep me company like in ages past? I’m sure you know that there is only one way to close that gate.”

“I have to sever its connection to the mortal realm-”

“-by returning what anchors it to the mortal realm.” finished Ashaat happily.

Jessica peered at the rift and saw that it had shrunk to no bigger than the average doorway. As if he sensed her gaze, Killmar turned to her, “I love you, Jessica. Forgive me,” he said before stepping into the black tear.

“No!” she screamed as the pressure on her person ceased.

Asteroth snatched her into the air as the demons started to rise. The rift exploded almost immediately thereafter into a wave of purple and black energy. It rolled on for miles, disintegrating everything it touched into dust. Asteroth said a silent prayer of gratitude to Killmar for allowing him to retreat the host.

When the wave finally dissipated, he noticed that somehow some of the demons had managed to survive. He loathed leaving them alive, but knew he was in no condition to fight them, being barely able to keep the two of them aloft.

“Don’t even think about it,” said the woman in his arms in icy tones.

He studied her and found that, for some reason, she reminded him of a lioness protecting her cubs, despite the fact that tears were endlessly flowing down her cheeks. Killmar’s warning regarding his oath rang in his head, and he managed a nervous smile before starting off towards the Dale of Echoes.

New Life

A
steroth descended slowly
to the soft grass below. His charge had been silently grieving for the duration of their journey, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to comfort her. Despite having saved them from the demons, Killmar had been responsible for the deaths of thousands of his kin, something he could not simply just forgive. Though he had to admit that he appreciated the delayed return to his people, he was not sure how he was going to face them after such a massive defeat.

Talvirnia appeared out of the mist almost immediately upon their arrival. “Ah, you have returned. We take it you were there when the gate opened? We still don’t fully understand how it happened or how it was closed. Could you enlighten us?”

Asteroth didn’t know why he was surprised the mysterious yethlo knew something had happened. He released his charge, and she walked off, seemingly unimpressed by the gigantic two-headed being. “I was there, but I am not even sure what happened.”