The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (49 page)

Grimm’s eyes worked back and forth, and then he
stumbled backwards, and his face creased as he closed his eyes and
ran his hands through his hair. He began talking to himself,
whispering. “Time. Around and around we go, and where the dice
fall,
nobody
can know. Except
me
.”

“
Matthias, there is something in this man. It is
unlike anything I have ever felt,” Luccius said from behind. His
ears flickered quickly as if he were feeling the air. “It’s like he
is
trapped
in some way.”

“
Trapped?” Josephine asked. “How?”

“
I can’t explain it,” Luccius shook his head. “It’s
like something has a hold of him and won’t let go. I can
feel
his emotions.
They’re fighting each other. I have never felt it from humans
before.”

Matthias nodded and turned back to Taico Grimm
where he was backed against the rocks. “Grimm. Tell me who you are.
I can
help
you, if you will let me.”

"You still don't
see
wizard!" he said in agony. "You are no more
enlightened than the others!" He tapped his temples. "The future
is
here!
In
my
mind! And it
can't
be changed for the better
however
hard you try! I tried and I
lost
everything!
” He looked up, his eyes enraged again. They sparked green.
“How
small
you are. I was once like you. Hopeful.” He smiled. “But now
I am
so
much more! They have given me the power to become the
Vessel of deliverance! All I need to do is stop you, and the way is
clear once again! History will unfold and there will be peace in me
at
last
. My mind will be overcome and dissolve before a higher
power and the world will unfold without me."

Matthias swallowed. “Grimm, do you know
what
these men have
turned you into? Those symbols on your cheeks are
poison
to anyone who wears
them. You’re tainted, and they’ll suck your soul
dry!”

“
You speak as if you care!” Grimm said. “But the
truth is, there is
little
soul left.” His face contorted. “The gods took that from
me, all those years ago!” His head twitched. “They took
everything
from me. All that
time watching, listening,
seeing!
” He spat on the ground. “The gods
began
my downfall. I am
soulless, no matter
what
happens.” He stood up straight. “So I will do what must be
done. The girl
must
die.”

"I still don't understand
how
you can be alive," Thadius said. "But if
you don't let us pass I
will
cut your head off again, and this time I will make
sure it cannot be reattached!"

Grimm laughed. "Soldier, had things been different
I would have liked to have called you friend.” He shook his head.
“But your time has
always
been marked. Here or there, it makes
no
difference.”

“
Why do the sorcerers
want
to release the dragon?” Matthias
continued. “Why would they want that thing to return to this world?
It makes no sense, Grimm! If it’s power they’re after, there’ll be
none of it when that creature is freed! It will destroy everything!
They can’t hope to control it! You
must
see that their plan is mad!” Matthias squinted.
“There is reason within you somewhere. Deep within your riddled
mind, there is a sanity screaming to get out! Don’t let them
control you.”

“
I knew what had to be done long before
they
arrived!” Grimm
exclaimed. “They just gave me the ability to take action myself!
This world
needs
to be reborn! The flame is just the beginning. It will mark
the start of things to come. And it cannot be
stopped.”

“
I’ll
stop it!” Josephine growled. She started forward,
but Thadius gripped her arm and pulled her back.

Grimm shook his head. “You have to die princess! Only then
will this endless song cease!”

“
What did I ever do to you that you
loathe
me so much?”
Josephine asked.

“
I do not loathe you, Princess,” Grimm replied.
“For a time I loved you above
all
others. But I see you for what you really are
now.”

“
And
what exactly is that?” She said defiantly.

“
Death
.” The word sent shivers up her spine. “You must
be stopped.”

“
You’ll have to go through
us
first!” Luccius growled at him, hefting
his spear.

“
If
I have to, ansuwan!” he growled, and threw out a bony hand. Waves
of green and black energy surrounded Luccius. He wailed and dropped
to his knees, the spear falling from his hands and rattling to the
floor as the energy spun around him. His skin blackened and legions
sprouting from his skin. Boils ruptured all over his hands and
cheeks and his skin burned and flaked off around his forehead.
Matthias stepped in front of him, and the energy sparked off a
field of white around him. Grimm lowered his hand and the energy
stopped.

“
Stop this!” Matthias exclaimed. “You’re being controlled by
them somehow! They are filling your head with trickery and mad
ideas! You must listen to us!”

“
No!
No more talking! No more of your
false
words!” Grimm spat
back. “This
must
happen!” He vaulted forward at Matthias, who threw out his
left hand. Taico sailed backwards on a beam of light that speared
its way into his stomach and collapsed against the wall of the
pass.

“
Get
Josephine out of here!” Matthias cried behind him to
Thadius.

“
You
won’t escape!” Grimm hissed, and threw a fist into the stone behind
him. The rock shattered, and began to fall forward. Thadius threw
himself around Josephine as debris shot through the air and bounced
off his back. Dust enveloped them as the path ahead was blocked by
falling boulders.

“
You
bastard!” Thadius growled, and ran forward, raising his sword. He
whirled the blade at Grimm, but his body twisted and weaved,
avoiding the advance. His bones cracked and doubled back on
themselves, and he slipped past Thadius like a snake, grabbing him
by the leg and with strength unnatural to someone so skeletal,
pulled him over. He landed with a thud onto his back. As the man
turned, Matthias was there, his own sword slicing through the air
with a hum at his face. Grimm threw his hands together and stopped
the blade before it could touch him, and twisted it out of the
wizard’s hand. It clattered to the floor and Matthias hit out at
him with his staff. Grimm blocked him with his upper - arm, and
punched out at Matthias‘s stomach. The air rippled and the wizard
flew back, his boots cutting into the ground as he fought the
energy Grimm directed at him and slowed to a halt, maintaining his
balance.

“
Well it seems that we are more of an equal match for one
another now wizard, are we not?” Grimm smiled.

“
They have given you more borrowed power,” Matthias
replied. “But these abilities are not yours to own. You will use
them clumsily, like a butcher would wield a sword. They will fail
you.” Matthias shook his head. “If you face me, you will
die.
Again
.”

“
You
would have me give up now and let you leave?” Grimm shook his head.
“My old friend, you don’t know me very well, do you?”

The
blade of Thadius’s sword burst through Grimm’s chest, its end
sticking out an arms’ length, covered in black, sticky blood. Grimm
gasped and stared at the end a moment, and then the knight pulled
it back out again with a swift tug, and stepped back. Grimm
remained standing. He looked at the wound in his chest, and then
turned to the knight.

“
That
hurt
,” he said, before his free hand shot out and
pulses of energy that wriggled from his hand like hundreds of
snakes burrowed into the knight’s body. Thadius dropped limply to
the floor, his muscles turned to jelly, and his sword fell to the
dirt. “I am afraid that I have grown quite a bit more resilient
since we last met,” he said, staring down at the man. “I have felt
the maggots and the rot of decay. Now it cannot touch me as it once
did.”

“
Stop
it!
” Josephine cried from where she had moved to comfort
Luccius. She tried to use her power, but she couldn’t. Fear
paralysed her ability. Grimm turned to her, but Matthias stepped in
front of her, a hand raised defensively.

“
Stay away from her Grimm,” Matthias commanded. “She has done
nothing to you.”

“
She has done
everything
to me!” Grimm exclaimed, and shook his head
frantically. “Her and the false gods! I wouldn’t expect you to
understand. You are just as much a victim of your faith as I once
was!” His nostrils flared. “Step out of my way wizard and let
me
end
this!”

“
If
you think I am going to let you hurt her, whatever your confused
reasoning might tell you she has done, then you are sadly mistaken.
I gave you a chance to live.”

Grimm shook his head. “Then prepare yourself wizard! Because
I will not lose her again!”

Matthias and Grimm faced each other, swirls of energy
counteracting the other, sparking off the rocks. The wizard leaped
and bounded across the path, dodging bolts of light that surged
from Grimm’s palms. He threw a line of fire at the man that
engulfed his withered body, but it barely touched him.

“
Will we dance with each other like this all day?” Grimm
asked, as the circled one another.

“
I
have barely started,” Matthias said. “You’re on the losing side,
Grimm.”

The
man snarled and his eyes flared. He began running at Matthias
unnaturally fast, his fists flying as he pummelled him, striking
with an upper - cut to the chin that sent the wizard to the ground.
The lights that had swirled around them dimmed, as Matthias lost
consciousness. Darkness enveloped the pass a moment, before a dim
light emerged in front of her. Grimm had turned to Josephine, his
body surrounded by a murky green aura. His serpent-like glare met
her doe - eyes. She rose slowly, her legs shaking, but she forced
herself to keep calm as he approached and took a deep
breath.

“
I suppose you are planning to kill me now, are
you?” she asked. “Well you can just think again! I am not some
helpless damsel who will just lie down and let you cut me up
into
pieces
while I wait for a knight in shining armour to arrive!
I
am
powerful!” Her
heart pounded in her chest, and in truth, she felt like her legs
could give way at any moment.

Grimm smiled and his yellow teeth seemed to glint
in spite of the lack of light. He was more than ugly, he was
wretched: the body and face of a haggard, walking corpse. “So why
have you not slain me with your gods - given powers?” he asked. She
swallowed, unable to reply. “I know how powerful your gift
could
be, princess,”
Grimm said. “I have
seen
what you are capable of. But it is a potential that you
could
never
hope to fulfil. A longbow has the power to kill a man, but
only if the one who wields it has the strength to pull back the
string.” He stepped forward, and his foot caught on something.
Matthias’s staff sat at his feet. He bent down to pick it up and
Josephine pounced. She jumped on him, clawing his face with her
nails. She fought to find the power, but it wouldn’t come! He
grabbed her arm and tore her off his back, throwing her to the
ground.

“
Why
do you resist? With a flick of a wrist, this could all be over for
you! You would not need to worry about the world you leave behind.
You would be at peace!”

“
People are relying on me,” she said, as she felt the wetness
of blood on her tongue from her cut bottom lip. “I can’t let them
down!”

“
You
can’t stop the inevitable princess,” he said calmly, and held up
the staff in his hand. “You are fighting against the tide. Not even
your friends can help you.”

“
I believe
that
is mine?” said a voice from behind him. Matthias
was on his feet again. He nodded to the staff, still in Grimm’s
hand, as the man spun to look at him. Grimm shook his
head.