Nightslayer - Chapter Fifty-Eight

 

Zoe and Thaddeus arrived at Gelevan Gorge in a ball of fire. Traveling by fire had been Thaddeus’s idea, and Zoe thought it no doubt fueled by the battle they had had with the Mother’s demons. Toward the end of that fight, Thaddeus had fought with a ferocity Zoe had never seen before, and she had even gotten the impression that he had begun to enjoy the killing. She had wanted to talk to him about it before they left for the Gorge, but even she had been forced to admit that there was no time. Maybe I’m worrying about it for nothing, Zoe thought, despite what her Sorceress’s senses were trying to tell her. Maybe he’ll be okay.

Aylander appeared before them seconds after their arrival. There was a triumphant smile on his face, and Zoe could see why – the battle seemed to have ended, and it appeared that the side loyal to the new Magister of the Torvaran Empire had won. Not that there weren’t signs that it had been a very close run thing. Many of the soldiers Zoe saw were dirty, bloodied, and looked exhausted. Because of her nature, and the way the Order had trained her, she felt an urge to go and see if she could help, but there were others of the Order, here, and her presence, alone, would bolster them enough to help with any of the injured that they could.

“Welcome, Brother!” Aylander said. His smile grew into a grin. “Trying to wait until all the fun was over before showing up, were we?”

“Hardly,” Thaddeus said. “Those demons did their damnedest to delay us, as you well know. We took care of them, though.” A dark smile touched Thaddeus’s lips. “We took care of them.” He refocused his gaze on Aylander. “What’s the situation here?”

“Well, as you can see, because of a very convenient turn of events – which I may, or may not, have had something to do with – the Baron’s forces have been driven back across the Gorge. They would be withdrawing further if they could, and if they still had competent leadership, but I’ve made it so they can’t leave here, and the Baron has been so unmanned by the loss of his Necromantic powers that his leadership abilities are currently nonexistent.” Aylander paused, and the joviality in his tone and expression vanished. “There are two Demon Lords here, Brother. One of them is Hel, the Mother, herself. I believe the other might be the Hidden King.”

“Why aren’t they trying to do something? Either one of them is more powerful than all of the magic users gathered here combined.”

“I don’t know. Shock, perhaps. I don’t think either of them were expecting a god to show up and ruin their battle plans.”

“A god?” Zoe asked, already knowing Aylander was referring to himself.

“Yes, my Lady,” Aylander said. “The new God of Death and Magic stands before you. Tell me, do either of you sense anything different? Anything new?”

“There are a lot of mages here,” Thaddeus said after a moment. “A lot.”

“Indeed there are. All of them awakened by my presence.”

“There were Abominations, here,” Zoe said. “I can sense their echoes.” She looked at Aylander. “Something happened to them. You put them back to sleep, didn’t you?”

“All but the Twisted Sword Priests,” Aylander said. “They are somehow beyond my touch.” He frowned. “I wish I knew why.”

“It’s their connection to the Demon Lords,” Thaddeus said. “Though their souls were Twisted by a Necromancer’s touch, the process for them was different than for normal Abominations. Once the power of the Demon Lords is broken, they’ll be yours, Brother. I’m sure of it.”

Aylander studied Thaddeus for a moment, his frown deepening. “And what of you, Brother? Are you well?”

“Yes,” Thaddeus said. “Quite well.”

Is he? Aylander asked Zoe, touching her mind. That he was able to do it without being linked to her via Thaddeus’s sword proved how powerful he had become.

I don’t know, Zoe told him. I’m afraid he isn’t.

“Having a nice little chat, are we?” Thaddeus asked. He glowered at both of them. “I can’t hear it, but I know you are. I’m fine, I tell you. You needn’t worry. If I’m seeming a little harder, a little darker, than I was, maybe it’s because that’s what I have to be. I am the Nightslayer, after all.” He looked away from them, toward the other side of the Gorge. “And, right now, there are two Demon Lords, here, that must be dealt with. Perhaps the two most dangerous of all. Taking care of them is my responsibility.”

Zoe reached out and laid a hand on Thaddeus’s arm, stopping him before he could leave, which is what she knew he was about to do. “Let us go with you, my love,” she said. “You know we’re better together than we are apart.”

Thaddeus looked at her. The light from the fires burning on the battlefield glittered in his eyes. “Not this time, my love,” he said. “I’m sorry.” And then he was gone.

“He’s traveling like I did,” Aylander said. “He shouldn’t be able to do that.”

“Unless he’s giving in to the power the darkness, here, has unleashed. You don’t think that’s something he needs to do, do you? To become what he needs to be, I mean?”

“It may be. But something about this feels wrong. We need to follow him, Zoe.” Aylander looked at her. “I fear he may have just stepped into a trap.” He reached out to her. “Take my hand.”

She took his hand, and the two of them vanished, following after Thaddeus.

Thaddeus arrived on the western side of the Gorge, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight that greeted him. It was apparent that neither of the Demon Lords – and it was more than obvious which one was which – had moved since Aylander had left them. In fact, one of them – the male half of the pair, whom Thaddeus was certain was the Hidden King – appeared to have been frozen in place while in the act of lunging at something. That Hel hadn’t taken the time to reverse the Hidden King’s condition was something Thaddeus found more than a little amusing. Sliding his sword from its scabbard, Thaddeus started toward them.

“So,” Hel said, turning toward Thaddeus as he approached, “you are the new Nightslayer, I take it. The one who called himself your brother said you would be coming. Do you know how difficult that Eltaran has made things for me? I can’t even leave here because of his meddling.”

“He just wanted to make sure you had a chance to meet me before you left,” Thaddeus said. He gestured at the Hidden King. “What happened to him?”

“Oh, Magnus, you mean?” Hel shrugged. “Your brother took him out of time and froze him. I just haven’t gotten around to restoring him, yet.” She looked at the Hidden King. “I actually prefer him this way. You wouldn’t believe how troublesome, not to mention boring, he’s become over the millennia.”

“I could fix that for you,” Thaddeus said.

Hel looked at him for a moment, considering. “Yes, I imagine you could,” she said. “But what about me? Once you’ve finished with Magnus, I’m sure you’d no doubt turn your attention to me. Your brother did say, after all, that he was saving the job of killing me for you.”

“You’re right. I would turn my attention to you.” Thaddeus paused. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’d have to kill you.”

“Oh? What would you do, then?”

“I could take his place.” What was Thaddeus saying? He found he couldn’t stop himself, however. “I’m sure you’d find me a welcome change after having to put up with Magnus for so long.”

Hel walked – sauntered – closer to Thaddeus. “But I thought you were the Nightslayer?” she said, her tone teasing. “Isn’t it your duty to kill creatures like me?”

“Maybe,” Thaddeus said, licking his lips, “maybe I don’t want to be the Nightslayer, any longer. Maybe I want something greater.” He eyed Hel and smiled. “Something more rewarding.”

Hel returned Thaddeus’s smile. “Oh, rewarding is definitely something I’m good at doing.” She reached over and touched the side of Thaddeus’s face. “Will you kill Magnus for me, Thaddeus Alvarem?”

Thaddeus shivered. “It would be my honor, Mistress.”

Zoe looked on in horror. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, what she was hearing. Right in front of her eyes, Zoe’s entire world was falling apart. By calling Hel his mistress, Thaddeus had all but pledged himself to her, and there had been nothing Zoe could do to stop him. No, she thought. No!

“Thaddeus!” Zoe shouted. “Stop!”

Hel lifted her hand and sent a blast of energy hurtling toward Zoe. The blast only crossed half the distance before Aylander dispersed it with a blast of his own. And then a force like a great wind pushed both he and Zoe back, knocking them to them ground, stunned. Once she was able to get her head cleared a little, Zoe tried pushing herself back up – and found herself anchored where she was. Since she was a Spellbreaker, this shouldn’t have been a problem, but, whatever had her bound was no ordinary spell, and there was nothing she could do. Zoe wanted to scream, but when she tried, she discovered her mouth had been bound shut, as well. Aylander! she called with her mind. Help me!

I cannot! Aylander sent back. She has bound me, as well.

Can’t you break it? You’re a god, now!

Every time I try, it fights back. It’s like it’s alive. I may be able to break it given time, but, by then, it will be too late for Thaddeus.

No! NO!

Suddenly, Thaddeus was standing above her. He looked down at her, but there was no compassion or concern on his face. Just cool indifference. His eyes still glittered, though the fires were less on this side of the Gorge. “I told you not to follow me, Zoe,” Thaddeus said. “You didn’t have to see any of this.”

The binds on her mouth relaxed, and, when they did, Zoe understood. Whatever held her and Aylander, it didn’t come from Hel. It came from Thaddeus. “You don’t have to do this, Thaddeus,” Zoe said. “Please. Please! I love you!”

“I know you do,” Thaddeus said. His voice was flat. “I thought I loved you, too. I was wrong. There is only one mistress for me, Zoe.” He paused. “Please don’t struggle against your bonds. They’ll smother you if you do.”

“Damn you, Thaddeus!”

Thaddeus gave her a mirthless smile. “No one can damn me, Zoe. Not any more.” He turned and walked away.

Aylander heard the entire conversation between Thaddeus and Zoe. He felt Zoe’s heartbreak and dismay, her anger, and he also sensed that, in the strictest sense, Thaddeus was no longer himself. But did that mean he could still be saved? Aylander didn’t know. He wanted to believe that such a thing was still possible, but Thaddeus had fallen under the spell of not only the Mother of Monsters – who, Aylander understood, was nearly as powerful as he, himself, had become – but also of the chaotic energies that had been unleashed. Could anyone survive falling under the sway of such a combination? Could anyone still hold on to even just a part of themselves? Aylander didn’t know.

The bonds that kept Aylander anchored to the ground hadn’t come from Hel – something that Aylander should have seen at once, but had allowed himself to be willingly blind to – but they were incredibly strong. As he had told Zoe, it was almost like they were alive, reacting to even the smallest action Aylander tried to take, whether physical, mental, or magical. That Aylander could eventually break them was a given – he was, after all, a god, now – but once he’d broken them, what then? How could he bring Thaddeus back from the brink?

You cannot bring him back from the brink, a woman’s voice suddenly said from within Aylander’s mind. The voice wasn’t Zoe’s, but he still recognized it. It had been so long since he’d heard it, however, he couldn’t quite remember who it had belonged to. This is something that must happen. What’s important is that you are here for what comes after. That will be when you have your chance to save your brother and make sure he becomes what he needs to be.

Who are you? Aylander asked. I know your voice.

Don’t tell me you forgot me so easily. The voice had become teasing. Not after you held your silent candle for me for so long.

Lanaira? Is that you? But how? You died centuries ago.

And are you not, now, the God of Death, Aylander? None, save those whose souls have been swallowed by darkness, who have passed beyond are outside of your reach.

But I didn’t reach out to you. You came to me!

Lanaira sounded amused, now. The ability goes both ways, and I felt you needed a friend. Surely you remember how I was always that.

Aylander found himself smiling. Of course. Lanaira, please forgive me. There is so much I should have told you. So much I should have said.

Don’t trouble yourself over it. I’ve always known. And I’ve always loved you. I do wish you had been brave enough to tell me, but all of that is in the past, now. And we need never be separated, again.

Can Thaddeus be saved, Lanaira? Aylander asked.

He can be, but, in order for him to be saved, he must be allowed to die.

What do you mean? I don’t understand.

Neither do I, Aylander. Not fully. All I do know is that it must be allowed to happen. Only then can your brother be saved.

Stay with me, Lanaira, Aylander said, feeling a sudden stab of fear. Don’t let me face this alone.

You need never worry about being alone, again, my love. Aylander felt something, something gentle and ethereal, touch his face. I will always be with you.

Aylander closed his eyes. I love you, Lanaira.

He could hear the smile in Lanaira’s voice. I know. I love you, too.

Just as she always had before, Hel had won. Seeing what the new Nightslayer had done to his friends – one of which, it seemed, had been more than just a friend – proved that, once again, Hel had turned that which was supposed to be unturnable. Now, to solidify the deal, all she had to do was release Magnus and let Thaddeus – whom Hel was tempted to allow him to go on calling himself the Nightslayer, even after he had proven himself to be utterly hers – take care of him. There was no doubt in Hel’s mind who would win the fight – she could feel the new powers that had blossomed inside Thaddeus, powers that, someday, might even come to rival her own – but something made her hesitate. She didn’t know what it was that caused her to hold back, but something about letting Thaddeus and Magnus fight filled her with foreboding. Was it nothing more than the fact that Thaddeus was still largely an unknown to her? Or was it something else?

Thaddeus was looking at Hel expectantly, his sword drawn. The runes on his sword pulsed red – they were hungry for blood – but Hel noticed there was one that did not pulse, at all. It remained dark and cold, seeming to suck in some of the light coming from the others, and there was something about its shape that gave Hel a moment of pause. She knew that rune, didn’t she? Wasn’t it one of the six she had helped to create so long ago, the signs of power that marked someone a god? Hel wore one of those runes, herself, engraved on a length of the obsidian chain that encircled her neck. Hers was the Sign of Corruption, and was, at least in part, what conferred on her the ability to conjure her children. Which one was Thaddeus’s? And why didn’t it pulse with the same infernal light as the others?

“Shall I just kill him then, Mistress?” Thaddeus asked. “I was hoping we would fight.”

For a moment, Hel didn’t know what to do. Why now, all of a sudden, had a piece been added to the puzzle that didn’t seem to belong? Does it matter? she wondered. He has already pledged himself to me. He is mine! “Forgive me, Thaddeus,” Hel said. “I was reveling in my victory.” She waved her hand at Magnus. “Please, do you your worst.”

Magnus unfroze, the suddenness of his release nearly causing him to topple forward. He caught himself, however, casting a puzzled look at Hel before turning his attention to Thaddeus. “I remember you,” he said.

“Yes,” Thaddeus said, “I’m sure you do. And I’m not sorry to say that you won’t be able to run away, this time.” He stepped forward and raised his sword to strike.

Magnus conjured a blade of his own and, at the last moment, parried Thaddeus’s downward stroke, the two weapons coming together with a frightful clash. The fighting began in earnest, then, and Hel watched. She wasn’t able to enjoy the spectacle as much as she would have liked, however, for she had finally figured out what the rune on Thaddeus’s sword that failed to glow was. It was the Sign of Unity, the most powerful of the six. None had ever borne that sign, before, and its secret was supposed to be as forgotten as the ultimate location of the Key. How had Thaddeus gotten it, and from where? For the first time, Hel began to feel as if she were on the cusp of making a terrible mistake.

Nightslayer - Chapter Fifty-Seven

The battle had started badly and was growing worse by the moment. Chaos and confusion ruled the field – fed by a furious, lighting and wind filled storm that had blown up as soon as the first wave of monsters had struck – and friends were just as likely to kill one another as they were to kill an enemy. Garrold went everywhere he could on the field to lend aid, often doing no good beyond killing a few monsters or enemy troops, and the effort was taking its toll. Not even the focus granted by the Shining Circlet was fighting the exhaustion off, entirely, and Garrold knew that it would only be a matter of time before he would no longer be able to fight, at all.

A cry went up from the left flank of Garrold’s army, and, when he looked, he saw the glow of amber light that told him what members of the Order of Catharzen who were present had been engaged by Abominations. Would they be overrun? Who could say, though the tide of the battle, thus far, seemed to indicate that, in time, even they would either be forced to fall back or face total annihilation. Of course Garrold knew what a loss here, meant – far, far more than the crown of the Kingdom of Voranar being placed on Baron Vabarn’s head – but there just no longer seemed any way he could win. And to compound it all, no Demon Lords had appeared on the battlefield, yet. If – and when – that happened, the loss that had already grown inevitable would only become that much more agonizing. How many of my men will I have to see become thralls? Garrold wondered. Or will I be spared that horror by being turned into one before any of them?

Garrold saw the approaching eight-legged, twelve-eyed monster too late. He raised his sword to try and defend himself, knowing at once how futile the effort was, and was saved at the last moment by a well-timed fireball cast by Stevan, who had raced up from somewhere on Garrold’s right. “Gotta watch your flanks, Your Grace,” Stevan said, his face almost unrecognizable through the layers of blood and grime. “These things won’t give you a second chance.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Garrold said. “Have you seen Robert?”

“Not lately,” Stevan said, glancing briefly over the battlefield. “But I think we’d both know if something had happened to him.”

Garrold knew Stevan was right, of course. Garrold had no idea what happened when a mage died, but he knew that, had he been killed, he’d no longer have been able to sense Robert’s magical presence, which he still did. It was just moving too much for him to locate. Had Robert, Garrold wondered, already learned how to use the darkness to travel? It had taken Garrold three days to learn that, and that was only after the unnatural darkness that gripped the land had fallen. “We’re losing, Stevan,” Garrold said.

“Oh, don’t say that, Your Grace!”

Garrold looked at him. “You know it as well as I do. The Torvaran Empire ends here, now, before it even got a chance to get back on its feet. We’re finished, Stevan.”

Stevan didn’t say anything for a time, looking around at the chaos that surrounded them, then turned his eyes back to Garrold. “Well,” he said, “be that as it may, Garrold, don’t you think it would still be better to make a fight of things? Show these bastards that we’re not going to back down, even when all the cards are against us? I mean, isn’t it better to die, here, now, rather than in the days and weeks to come when our army has already been beaten and broken?”

“You’re probably right. I’m just worried about what will happen if one of the Demon Lords shows up. You know what that will mean, don’t you?”

Stevan nodded, then reached up to cast another fireball over Garrold’s left shoulder. “We’ll just have to hold on for the Nightslayer, then,” he said. He looked at Garrold. “He is still coming, isn’t he?”

Garrold could still sense the Nightslayer’s presence, but that presence hadn’t moved since the battle began. He wondered what that could mean. Had something waylaid Thaddeus? And what about the . . . other . . . presence Garrold felt? What was that? And how was it hurtling toward the battlefield so quickly? Whatever it was, it would arrive in a matter of minutes, and whether it was friend or foe was anyone’s guess. “I don’t know,” Garrold said. “Something’s coming, though.”

“I sensed that, too,” Stevan said. “What do you think it is?”

“I wish I knew.”

Hel stood on a slight rise on the western side of the gorge, smiling to herself as the battle progressed. The army of the man who had proclaimed himself Magister of the Torvaran Empire was close to collapse, and, now that the Risen – what the backwards people of this world called Abominations – had joined the fight, its total annihilation was at hand. Hel didn’t know what she would do once the battle was done – the Baron had proved himself to be interesting, and bedding him might even turn out to be enjoyable, but he was in no way someone who could take Magus’s place – but she still had hopes that, even after the slaughter was finished, the Nightslayer might still turn up. That would prove the more interesting challenged, and, if she was able to turn him, then Magnus would become obsolete.

But what about the other presence that she felt, the one that, even now, was hurtling toward the battlefield? There was something maddeningly familiar about that presence, something that reminded Hel very much of two people that, eons ago, she had once known. It even, in a way, reminded her of herself – after all, hadn’t she, at one time, been of the same race as the men who had called themselves Geoffrey and Aaron? That couldn’t be possible, of course. Geoffrey and Aaron, after the death of the fools they’d been allied, with, had locked themselves away in the Void, which had left no one but Hel, herself, with any connection to the cosmos as it had been before the Cataclysm. So what was it she sensed? And, once it arrived, what challenges – and, no doubt, temptations – would it offer her?

“A beautiful evening, isn’t it, my dear?”

Hel turned to face Magnus, surprised that she hadn’t sensed his arrival. Equally surprising was the fact that, when she saw him, Magnus had dropped the flames he normally haloed his head in. He usually only did that in private, where only Hel’s eyes would see him, and, though her eyes were the only ones that saw him, now, it was still something of a shock to seem him so unmasked. “Hello, Magnus,” Hel said, keeping her voice level so as not to give away her surprise. “It’s not evening, you know?”

“With this darkness that’s fallen” – he gestured at the sky – “it’s always evening, now.” Magnus smiled. “You didn’t sense my arrival, did you?”

Hel said nothing.

“Not that I blame you,” Magnus went on, coming over next to her. “I can sense whatever is approaching, too. That can’t be the Nightslayer, can it?”

“You know it isn’t,” Hel said.

“Yes,” Magnus said, “but what is it? I sense an aura of . . . divinity . . . about it.”

Hel had sensed that, too. Not even the fools that had made up the last Divine Council had seemed as godly as whatever it was that approached. And doesn’t that make you feel uneasy? “Nonsense,” Hel said. “I’m sure it’s just an anomaly. Dealing with it should not be a problem.”

“You don’t sound so sure about that, my dear. Tell me, are you afraid?”

Hel made the fire in her eyes blaze, which made Magnus take a step backward. “Don’t push me, Magnus!” she hissed. “You know what will happen if you push things too far. Or have you forgotten who made you?”

“Of course I haven’t,” Magnus said. He lowered his eyes, and Hel sensed genuine remorse coming from him. Yet another surprise, she mused. His feelings for me must be deeper than I thought. What a pity for him, then. “Forgive me, Mistress.”

Hel made no reply, turning her gaze back to the battle that raged on the other side of the gorge. Only moments remained before whatever the divine presence was arrived, and Hel was disturbed to find that she was, indeed, afraid. Was it possible that what was coming would be as strong as she was? And what did it mean if it was? Had something finally happened to allow beings like herself – and like the cowards Geoffrey and Aaron – to reemerge? Was another power at play in all this, something that had kept itself hidden through the ages?

“Excuse me,” a new voice suddenly said, and Hel didn’t need to use her powers to know who – and what – it belonged to, “but am I interrupting?”

Magnus hissed, and Hel turned to watch him lunge at the newcomer – an Eltaran wearing armor as black as the night that surrounded them, holding a cruelly curved, flame-wreathed sword in his hand. As Magnus lunged, the Eltaran held up his hand. Magnus froze in place, and Hel knew that, somehow, the Eltaran had essentially taken him out of time. Physically, he was still there, but time no longer passed for him, and wouldn’t until the Eltaran released him. Or until I do, Hel thought.

“Fancy trick,” Hel said. “I haven’t seen anyone else pull that off in a long time.” She smiled. “Now, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure. Who might you be?”

“My name is Aylander,” the Eltaran said, “and your tricks, I’m afraid, won’t work on me.”

Hel made her smile more seductive. “Oh, won’t they?”

The Eltaran – Aylander – blinked, then chuckled and shook his head. “Very nice,” he said. “But, I’m afraid you just aren’t my type.”

Hel frowned. “Who are you?”

“Just someone who has come here to undo everything you’ve started.”

“And I suppose you intend to kill me?”

“No.” Aylander grinned. “That privilege I intend to save for my brother.”

“But what if my tricks, as you called them, work on him? After all, I haven’t met a Nightslayer, yet, who I wasn’t able to turn.”

“Yes, but you haven’t met my brother. I assure you, he is most unlike any of the others you’ve turned. He has a will of iron, and a constitution to match.”

“I’m sure.” Hel smirked. “He is, though, still just a man. Now, do you intend to keep talking, or did you come here to do something?”

Aylander grinned, again, and in the light cast by his flaming sword, his eyes glittered. “Oh, I already have.” And then he vanished. And, with his vanishing, Hel found herself unable to do anything as she watched the battle she had initiated shatter before her.

A pause fell over the battlefield. In the days, months, and years that followed, no one would be able to say exactly how long the pause lasted, but all of them who survived would agree that it did happen, and that, when it was over, the world changed forever. When the fighting resumed, the change, at first, seemed small and gradual, but it quickly grew into a firestorm where one out of every ten men left alive in Garrold’s army – and even some in the Baron’s army – suddenly found themselves able to wield magic. Torrents of magic were released in every direction, and the surviving units rallied around those who unleashed it, most of whom did it on nothing but instinct, alone, and would, after the battle was done, succumb to the enormous physical drain such an act wrought on those who had not been trained or given the proper focus.

Those lucky few amongst the new mages who survived – and there were a few, though, even if there had been none, that would not have meant the end of those who could use magic – claimed to have been blessed by the Gods Above, who had, for reasons of their own, chosen to intervene at just the moment when things had been their darkest. This wasn’t all that far from the truth, though only one god – a new one – had given the blessing, and had only been able to give it because he had arrived before the tide of battle could no longer be turned. But this new god wasn’t just the new God of Magic – just as no true god ever had only a single aspect – and it was his additional role as the new God of Death that proved to be what truly broke the power of both the Baron, and his Demon Lord allies.

Out on the far right of Garrold’s army, Wilem fought with an ever-dwindling number of other monks, clerics, and ordinary soldiers against a horde of Abominations the likes of which hadn’t been seen on a battlefield in over a thousand years. The Abominations ranged from Liches, to Ghouls, to Vampires, and there just weren’t enough members of the Order of Catharzen remaining on the field to turn them back. Wilem was exhausted, and knew that the other people he fought with couldn’t be faring any better. With each passing moment, as more and more people either fell to the Abominations, or joined their ranks, the temptation to give in to what seemed more and more likely to be the inevitable grew. And, if Wilem did allow himself to give in to that temptation, he would at least spare himself the pain of being forever separated from Niela, who had joined the Abominations’ ranks not long after the attack had begun.

It should have been me who was turned, not her! Wilem thought, not for the first time, swinging his staff in barely enough time to beat back the charge of a pair of Ghouls. If, for some strange reason, he managed to survive this battle, he would never be able to live with himself. Not with the look of horror he’d seen on Niela’s face the instant before she was touched haunting his memory. No, no matter what happened, Wilem had to make sure he either died, or became an Abomination, himself. That didn’t mean sacrificing the lives of those who fought with him, though. There was still time for them to escape, and Wilem could buy them even more. But, he wondered, if he did buy them that time, would it really be doing any of them any favors? After all, any people who managed to escape this battlefield would only be having their inevitable fates postponed, which might be viewed as a greater cruelty than letting them face it, here.

A newcomer suddenly appeared on the battlefield. This newcomer was dressed from head to toe in black, with a cape the same color billowing out behind him. In his hand, he held a wickedly curved sword – Wilem thought there was something scythe-like about its appearance – wreathed in flame, and he radiated a presence that went beyond the magical. Wilem had felt this person’s approach prior to his arrival, but he hadn’t known what to make of it – had, in fact, tried not to think of it at all, as what he sensed disturbed him greatly. Now that the person had arrived, however, Wilem found he didn’t feel disturbed, at all. If anything, he felt suddenly invigorated, and he noticed that a number of the soldiers who fought with him seemed to stand up straighter, their blows against the creatures that assailed them growing surer and more forceful.

Wilem wanted to ask the newcomer who he was – even from this distance, he could tell that, whoever he was, he was Eltaran – but there was no time. And then Wilem noticed a curious thing. With this stranger’s sudden appearance, the horde of Abominations that had been advancing on Wilem’s group had paused. The majority of them, Wilem saw, were looking at the newcomer as if uncertain what they should do, and some of them, he saw, seemed to be genuinely afraid.

“BRING FORTH THE ONE WHO COMMANDS YOU!” the newcomer bellowed. “FOR I WOULD FACE HIM!”

The Abominations milled about as if unsure of what to do. And then the air shimmered. When it had finished, the Baron – summoned, it seemed, against his will – had appeared on the battlefield before the newcomer. Wilem watched what happened next with a strange mix of amusement and apprehension.

“You are the Necromancer who controls these creatures?” the newcomer asked.

“I am,” the Baron said. “And who are you to ask such a thing? Who are you to have me summoned here?”

“Who am I?” the Eltaran hissed. “Who am I? I, my dear Baron, am Aylander, the God of Death. And you have committed the worst kind of blasphemy by raising these creatures and using them to kill.”

“But, but, Adarion is the God of Death,” the Baron spluttered. “And he is dead!”

“Indeed, Adarion is dead. But his mantle has been passed on to me.” The Eltaran – Aylander – gestured at the front of his armor, which bore a stylized image of a scythe. “Do you not recognize his sign? I ask you again, Tymothe Vabarn, Baron of Blanchart. What right do you have to command the dead?”

“They’re, they’re mine! Mine!”

“No, Baron,” Aylander said. “They are mine. Your power is broken!”

All at once, many of the Abominations collapsed to the ground and faded into nothingness. A few of them remained standing, including Niela. Aylander waved his hand at the Baron – encapsulating him, it seemed, in a spell that made it so he couldn’t move – and walked over to the few Abominations that hadn’t collapsed and disappeared. He addressed Niela.

“You were turned, weren’t you, Sister?” Aylander asked.

“I was,” Niela answered. It was painful for Wilem to hear her voice, which was devoid of all life.

“I am sorry that you were,” Aylander said. “It was not yet your time. Tell me, did you have a reason for carrying on, Sister? Do you have a reason for wanting to return to the world of the living?”

“I did. His name is Wilem.” Niela paused. “And I loved him.”

“Then you shall love him, again, Sister Niela.” Aylander waved his hand. All at once, Niela’s expression changed. No longer was her expression dead, her skin pale. She looked as she had before the Abomination had touched her – blessedly alive. “Go now, and be happy.”

Niela looked confused for a moment, then caught sight of Wilem. She ran across the battlefield toward him and threw herself into his arms. Both of them cried as they embraced. Over Niela’s shoulder, Wilem addressed Aylander, the God of Death. “Thank you!” he shouted. “Thank you!”

Aylander smiled at him, and was gone.

The tide of battle had turned. Gradually, the Baron’s forces began to retreat, confronted, as they were, by forces they had not expected. The Baron – feeling more impotent than he had the day he had come into Garrold’s audience chamber, despite the fact that he still controlled a great deal of magic – returned to the opposite side of the gorge and fled into his tent. Those of his forces that couldn’t make the return journey over the gorge were annihilated. This, however, did not meant that the battle was truly over. The Baron still controlled a sizable force of soldiers that were bolstered by magic users in the Twisted Sword Priests that remained. They could still retreat to the Royal District, where they would no doubt be bolstered by whatever forces were still there. It was true that they had lost at the Gelevan Gorge, but there could be other battles, other places where they could still prove their dominance.

Then, the Nightslayer arrived.

Nightslayer - Chapter Fifity-Six

 A fierce storm, full of savage lightning and swirling winds, struck at the same time as the Mother’s children.  Even as it broke, and even as he had to busy himself striking the head off of a crab-like monstrosity that skittered toward him out of the darkness, Aylander recognized the storm for what it was–another, more elemental child of the Mother, one that could be every bit as deadly as the things that came at them with their slashing claws and ravening mouths.  Would the storm drop a Black Twist–one of the violently rotating columns of cloud the humans called a whirlwind–from its belly, seeking to scour he, Thaddeus, and Zoe from the face of the earth?  Aylander thought it likely, and would be surprised if the storm decided to only drop one.

Despite the number of creatures that attacked them, the storm was the greater threat, here.  Essentially mindless, it would rage until its energy was spent, and Aylander knew of no spells that could affect it.  But was that really true, or was he only thinking of the powers he’d had before his time in the Abyss?  Back then, all Aylander had been was a Sword Priest, and had only had whatever spells and magical abilities he’d either learned, or been born with, at his disposal.  Even now, he still had all of those same talents, but didn’t they seem somehow less than they had been before?  Wasn’t his being able to conjure a flaming sword from thin air, and to blast aside the beasts that charged toward him with nothing more than a gesture and a thought, proof of that?  If he could do those things, wasn’t it just as likely that Aylander could do things that no mage before him had ever been able to do?

The battle against the Mother’s children went on, the creatures emerging from the darkness in wave upon snarling wave.  As Aylander had expected when the battle began, none of the Mother’s children came close to reaching them, each wave breaking apart under the torrent of magic and steel he, Thaddeus, and Zoe unleashed.  The storm continue to rage, however, and–during a brief lull when it seemed the monsters were pulling back in order to regroup–Aylander was sure he caught sight of a pair of Black Twists, illuminated briefly from behind by a flash of lightning, snaking their way toward them.  

I saw them, as well, Brother, Thaddeus’s voice said from inside Aylander’s head.  Is there anything we can do to stop them?

Not with ordinary magic, no, Aylander replied, slicing a creature that barely came up to his knee, but which had curved claws on its hands that were almost as long as its arms, in two.  Not even if we linked.

Can you do anything?

There was hesitation in Thaddeus’s question, and Aylander knew that, via the bond they shared through Thaddeus’s sword, his brother could sense something of the greater, internal changes that had happened to him.  Perhaps.  If I can’t, then there may be no way of escaping.  Which I’m sure will amuse the Mother to no end, as I’m certain she never intended for this attack to end our lives.

Brother, Thaddeus said, who is this Mother?

You call her Hel.

Not wanting to waste another moment, Aylander rushed out into the darkness, heading straight toward the spot where he’d last seen the Black Twists.  Strangely, even after he was out from under the halo of light Zoe had cast, Aylander found that he could still see just as well as if he’d never moved at all.  Things weren’t as bright as they had been, but nothing had been lost to his field of view–in fact, it seemed some things had been added.  Now, while it was true that Eltarans had better night vision that ordinary humans, not even that could explain why, even without the presence of lightning, Aylander could now clearly see the Black Twists that approached them.  And there weren’t just two of them.  There were four, each of them revolving about, and even sometimes crisscrossing the paths of, each other.

Aylander raced across the ground, unaware, for now, that his speed grew faster with each passing moment.  Beasts passed by him on each side as he ran, skittering and clambering out of his way, only a lucky few escaping the sweep of his sword and the raw power he cast from his hands.  And that was what it was–raw power, the very essence of magic, itself.  It was a chaotic thing–much more so than it had been back in the Abyss–and touching it should have utterly obliterated anyone foolish enough to do so, but, instead of destroying him, it made Aylander feel alive, much more so than he could ever remember feeling.

I am a conduit for this power, Aylander suddenly realized.  I can bring order out of this chaos.  I can make it obey my will!  And, if he could do that, what was there that he couldn’t do?  Probably more than I realize, he mused, his lips curling wryly.  But why worry about what I can’t do?  Let’s see what I can!

Aylander leapt into the air, rising high above the confused, seething mass of demonic monsters, and then streaked toward the Black Twists, which no longer seemed as ominous as they had on first sight.  What was he going to do?  He didn’t know–not for sure–but that hardly mattered.  With the power at his command–and, because he had first seized it while in the Abyss, when it wasn’t as strong as it was here, it was, indeed, at his command–a true plan wasn’t necessary.  Improvisation, coupled with instinct, would work just as well.

There, Aylander thought, sensing a knot of power in the sky above the storm which had given birth to the Black Twists.  There was an intelligence there, a mind, and Aylander smiled as he understood these Black Twists were nothing like the ones he’d feared them do be.  A demon controlled these–yet another child of the Mother–and, though it was stronger than the ones on the ground, it could still be dealt with in much the same way.  And so Aylander pushed himself higher into the sky, above the black storm clouds that boiled with lightning, laughing as he caught sight of the lumbering form of the Wind Demon that drove the storm.

“HEAR ME, DEMON!” Aylander roared over the storm’s cacophony, his voice reverberating with the power he commanded.  “YOUR POWER IS BROKEN!”

The Wind Demon bellowed and raised its arms, lightning flashing from its hands to streak across the sky toward Aylander.  The lightning struck him, and then broke around him like water around a rock.  Aside from a slight tingle on his skin, he felt nothing.  Making his sword vanish, Aylander spread both hands wide and pushed them out from his chest, bellowing in much the same way the Wind Demon had.  The blast of power he hurtled at the creature–a blast of power that flared with a kaleidoscope of color–struck and the Wind Demon screamed, a scream that became a wild shriek of wind as both the demon, and its storm, disintegrated.

Aylander laughed, again, then looked down at the ground far below.  Many monsters still charged toward Zoe and Thaddeus, but there were fewer, now, some of them, it seemed, having been blown apart by the same blast of power that had destroyed the Wind Demon.  Aylander had to fight the urge to go down and help.  Helping his brother and his Sorceress wife was not what he needed to do, just then, no matter how much he wanted to.  Far to the north, at a place called Gelevan Gorge, a battle had been joined, a battle that very much needed someone there who could do the things Aylander could.  Would going to that battle turn the tide?  Not likely, but it would buy those who fought it time, and time–time to wait for the arrival of the Nightslayer–was what they desperately needed.

Go!  Thaddeus’s voice said from within Aylander’s mind.  They need you!  Zoe and I will be there as soon as we can.

Aylander smirked.  Pray don’t take too long in your journey, Brother.  You have bigger prey to face this day than the pitiful monsters the Mother has thus far thrown at you.

Funny, Thaddeus said, and Aylander’s smirk grew at the effort he sensed as his brother fought, these things don’t seem that pitiful to me.

They may in time, Brother.  They may in time.  And then Aylander was gone.

Nightslayer - Interlude Three

 The Mother of Monsters–who had come to be known by so many names over the ages that she had forgotten the one she had been born with–smiled to herself.  A new Nightslayer had come into being for the first time in millennia, and there was every indication that this one was going to be a powerful one, indeed.  Would he, though, prove as easy to corrupt as the others had?  If not, it would be a welcome challenge, and, perhaps, allow the Mother of Monsters–whose most common name among the people of the world the current Nightslayer had come from was Hel–to finally have a chance of ridding herself of the boredom that had become her daily life of living with Magnus.  Magnus–who hated that name, and preferred to be called either the Hidden King, or the King in Yellow–wasn’t the same man Hel had corrupted all those centuries ago, and had grown far too proud of himself and his power for Hel to be truly comfortable.

Had Hel made a mistake when she’d seduced and corrupted Magnus?  It was possible, but, provided this new Nightslayer could be turned, it was one she could live with.  Hel’s smile faded.  What if this new Nightslayer couldn’t be turned?  What if he turned out to be something different than his predecessors had been?  What if he turned out to be something more?  He might still turn out to be useful, Hel thought.  He might be the one who leads me to the Key.

The Key, of course, had always been her goal.  None of the other Nightslayers she’d turned, of course, had turned out to be the least bit useful in finding it, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t been useful, at all.  They’d kept things in check–even after their banishment to the unimaginatively named Sundered Halls–and were now, once again, free to stir up as much chaos and destruction as they saw fit.  Hel would let them have that–for a while, at least–and then she would rein them back in, just as she always had.  The fallen Nightslayers–Demon Lords, to the superstitious simpletons of the worlds they came from–were hers, and, no matter what Magnus said or did, always would be.  But, Hel wondered, again, what of this new Nightslayer?  What was he going to be like?

That he was going to be powerful Hel could tell right away.  Only one other–the fool Solanas, who had walked away from the power of the Nightslayer because he’d been afraid–had ever come close to the power the current Nightslayer held.  This current Nightslayer could slay any of Hel’s Demon Lords without a second thought, and might even–based on what Hel could sense–give Hel a run for her money, herself.  He might even be able–Hel realized, her stomach feeling a bit queasy–be able to kill her, given all of the right conditions had been met.  But, Hel reasoned, those conditions could never be met.  Not after Geoffrey and his all-too-close friend Aaron had banished themselves to the Void.  Once they had done that, they had made sure that no one like them–or like Hel, herself–could ever exist in the cosmos, again.  Hadn’t they?

 And what if they hadn’t?  Hel rose from her bed, stretched luxuriantly–some might even have called it sensually, especially considering her scantily-clad state–and walked over to the window.  The view out her window was whatever she wanted it to be–this being nothing more than a mental construct–and, today, it showed her a peculiar version of a garden.  The garden was peculiar because of what it grew–crucified corpses that had been stripped of their skin instead of trees or flowers–but Hel found the sight of it beautiful and calming.  If this Nightslayer turns out to be like how we used to be, Hel thought, then that only means I will have to work harder when I move to corrupt him.  But nothing can keep me from doing to him what I did to the others.  Nothing!

Magnus, of course, would not be pleased when Hel had finished her work, but that hardly mattered.  Once she was done, there was nothing Magnus would be able to do.  Particularly if the man who had been given the powers of the Nightslayer–his name was Thaddeus, an interesting, and, if Hel remembered correctly, very old name–turned out to have powers beyond that of the Nightslayers who had come before him.  If he did turn out to have those powers, and if Hel succeeded in corrupting him–and, seeing as how she had never failed before, how could she not succeed, this time?–then wouldn’t he turn out to be her greatest creation of all?  Of course he would, and, Hel reasoned, he would bring power to her that, before, she had only dreamed of.  Because he would be the one who, after all this time, finally found the Key.  And, once he found it, he would, of course, give it to her.

And then the greatest power of all will be mine! Hel thought.  Mine, and mine alone!

Hel looked out her window at the corpses rotting on their wooden crosses and smiled.  Great days were coming.  Great days, indeed. 

Nightslayer - Interlude Two

 He awoke from the dream knowing that, this time, the dream would be a reality.  Once before, ages ago, he’d awoken only to be confronted with the bitter reality that, aside from the death of the man who, in the eons since the beginning of their self-imposed exile in the Void, he had come to realize was just as much of a brother as the one he had lost so long ago, nothing had changed.  Oh, it nearly had–the Power had been mere moments from being conferred–but, in the end, the one to whom the Power could have been given to had turned away, condemning the cosmos once again to another cycle of pain and suffering.  Surely it had been that refusal which had killed the Bespectacled Man’s friend–why it hadn’t done the same to him was just another of the mysteries that had, over the course of his very long life, been lain at his feet–and, though his friend’s body had appeared peaceful when the Bespectacled Man had found it, he had a very real suspicion that the actual death had been anything but.

The Bespectacled Man sat up and swung his legs off of the bed, resting his feet on the floor.  Taking his spectacles off of the bedside table, he put them on and looked across to the other bed, where the perfectly preserved body of his friend still lay.  His friend–the Bespectacled Man couldn’t remember what the man’s name had been, just as he could no longer remember his own–appeared to be peacefully asleep, his eyes closed, his hands folded together on his chest.  That chest did not rise and fall, however, and, for a brief moment, the Bespectacled Man allowed himself to mourn for his friend, who hadn’t been allowed to live long enough to see the day they had waited for come to pass at last.  I am sorry you aren’t here, Brother.  We could have rejoiced together.  For a time, at least.

The Bespectacled Man left the bedroom and went downstairs to the kitchen, where he put a pot of coffee on to brew.  The house he lived in wasn’t real, of course–not in any truly physical sense–but it was still a comfort to go through the motions as if it were.  Why dwell on the fact that what surrounded him was nothing but a mental construct when he already had enough to think about?  The coffee finished brewing.  The Bespectacled Man took the pot and filled his favorite mug–it had the design of a horse’s head on either side, an emblem of a sports team that had existed before the Cataclysm–then went over to the kitchen counter and sat down at one of the stools.

The coffee was good–just bitter enough without being acrid, and just the right temperature–and, as he drank it, the Bespectacled Man began to realize that he’d never had a cup quite like it, before.  With each sip, the coffee awoke things within him, memories he had long thought lost forever.  In a startling moment of clarity which actually made him laugh out loud, he remembered both his own name, and his friend’s.  His friend had been named Aaron, and his name had been Geoffrey.  Aaron had been fond of a particular kind of music–What had it been called?  Heavy metal?–and it had been over that music that he and Geoffrey had first bonded.  Gods, that was so long ago.

And then Geoffrey remembered the name of his brother–the true brother–he had never known, but still lost.  His name had been Kevin, and he had died the same day he had been born.  Geoffrey suddenly knew that, in the days to come, he would get the chance to finally meet his brother.  But not because he, himself, would soon join him in death.  No, there would be another kind of meeting for them, one that directly concerned the person who had been conferred the Power.

Did that mean what Geoffrey thought it might?  That, this time, the one who held the Power was the one it had been destined for?  Since Geoffrey was awake, and even had some inkling of what events the days ahead held, it was a definite possibility.  The holder of the Power would need to be tested, of course–as would any who accompanied him.  But, even as Geoffrey finished off the last of his coffee, he somehow knew that, regardless of what the tests revealed, this would be the end of the cycle.  Never again would he go to sleep only to be awoken after millennia had passed to go through it all, again.  For good or ill, this would, at long last, be the end.

But what about the Key? Geoffrey wondered.  If this Nightslayer passes the tests, will he be able to find it in time when, even now, I still have no memory of where it is hidden?

Only time–and there wasn’t much left of that–would tell.

Nightslayer Prelude

 There were only two of them left, now.  Two, when once, long, long ago, there had been billions.  Luckily, even with their numbers reduced to so little, they still had been able to do what needed to be done.  But had what they’d done been enough?  Would the cosmos survive the eons to come–the eons where there would be no one powerful enough to keep the Prison guarded?  The hope was that it would, provided that the Key stayed hidden–or that it had already been destroyed, altogether.

Knowing the status of the Key, however, had become a problem.  The efforts to hide it from those who would use it–and there was at least still one of those, may her name be forever cursed–had made it all but impossible to detect.  Touching it with so much Obliviation–which had seemed a wise precaution at the time the plans were made–now seemed foolish.  Why keep the location of the Key from those who wanted it hidden, and who had gone to all the trouble of hiding it in the first place?  Surely they–of which there were now only two–would know better than to use something so dangerous, wouldn’t they?

Perhaps, thought the bespectacled man who stood at the doorway of what had come to be called the Void.  But, if we’re so trustworthy, how could we ever have done the things we have?  How could we have left so much devastation and suffering for those who will come after us?

You linger too long, Brother.  The voice in his head spoke to him from the other side of the doorway, and, though the person to whom it belonged was very much like him, that person was not his brother.  No, his true brother was long dead, one of the lucky ones who had never lived to see the Cataclysm.  What’s done is done.  It’s time for you to join me.

And so it was.  The bespectacled man opened the door to the Void and stepped through, thinking as he did so that he, as well as the one who waited for him, the one who called him Brother, were no better than the monsters they left behind.

Book Announcement!

 My friends,

As of a couple of weeks ago, all of the chapters I have thus far posted here for both books have been combined into one book.  It is called Nightslayer.  It has a new prelude, will be divided into three parts, and there will be interludes between the parts.  The first interlude is already posted here, in the form of the final chapter of The Divided Knight (which is now the title of the first part of Nightslayer, the second part being titled Into the Abyss).  I will now post the new material I've written, starting with the prelude.  I hope you all continue to enjoy, and thank you all for reading!