Amendments (34 page)

Chapter 34

Streets of Chaos

              Straghs poured into Garmak from several breaches in the town’s walls.  Men, women, Tierian soldiers, and Din Mages alike fought the creatures in the streets.  Noir’s stomach churned as he turned a corner and saw several Straghs feeding on a deceased soldier by draining the liquid from his body with their bizarre appendages.  Noir drew back his sword to attack the beasts when they erupted in flames.  Aimee ran past Noir and said, “Keep up, cousin!”

              “Aimee!” Noir called as she ran around the burning, writhing straghs.

Aimee skidded to a stop and looked at Noir.  “What?” she said in an annoyed tone.

“Can you create ice walls where the city walls have been destroyed?”

Aimee shook her head.  “I could, but it’s a waste of time and chakra.  They’ll break through the ice or another spot in the walls.  Those catapults are firing nonstop.”

Noir ran to Aimee’s side.  “Shouldn't we try to keep them out?”

“It’s too late.  The walls are pointless now.  We have to kill them all, Noir.”

Aimee ran off toward another group of straghs down the street.  Finn was dancing between their claws and slashing at the beasts with his daggers.  Aimee jumped into the fray by Finn's side and started impaling straghs with ice spears.

A bluish-green blur shot by and Ratt suddenly stood in front of Noir.  “They’re all over the city,” Ratt reported.

“I know.  This is a disaster”

Ratt frowned.  “Yes, but it’s not over yet.”  Ratt lifted his silver axe and looked troubled.

Noir was about to ask if Ratt was alright when a building shook, then collapsed in a cloud of debris.  A behemoth powered through the wreckage and onto the street.

Noir and Ratt both cursed and burst into motion.  Ratt started slashing at the stragh bodies around the creature's feet and Noir hurled a ball of fire at the top of the creature.  From down the street, Aimee started impaling straghs that were built into the creature with impressively precise icicle projectiles.

Noir was unsure if a creature that was a construct of dozens of seemingly mindless straghs had a collective consciousness.  However, the behemoth seemed to turn in confusion at the multiple attacks coming from several directions.  The metal monstrosity swiveled on its center axis and its massive arms swung over Ratt's and Noir's heads.  It seemed to choose a target, and then started lumbering resolutely toward Aimee and Finn.

Noir had a clear view of the behemoth's back and saw that Aimee had impaled many of the stragh bodies.  However, many more still undulated on their frightening host.  Noir created another ball of fire in front of him and flung it at a group that seemed to stare at him with blank, eyeless faces.  It exploded and stragh flesh burned, but the massive construct did not slow.  It continued toward his cousin and friend down the street.  Aimee hurled din attacks at the behemoth while Finn defended her from the small straghs who were flooding the streets.  Finn seemed overwhelmed.  He tumbled and spun between the creatures and slayed them with impressive skill, but there were simply too many of them.

“Aimee could die here,” Noir realized with horror.  He'd spent so much effort trying to help the Tierians and other citizens of this world, that he sometimes forgot his overall goal.  He had to get Aimee, Steven, and himself home.  If Aimee died in a battle here, that could never happen.

Noir looked at the behemoth with renewed determination.  The fire that he was hurling at the creature was fairly effective at burning the straghs attached to it, but it wasn't good enough.  They burned slowly and the fire did not spread across the beast's metal frame.  He had to increase his din attacks somehow.

An idea came to Noir and he immediately put it into motion.  Just behind the Behemoth, he created the strongest spherical light shield he could.  He used din to make a spark of fire, then flooded din into the flame.  It grew in size for a moment, but quickly lost its brilliance no matter how much din he pumped into the flame.  “Oxygen!” Noir said to himself.  He immediately started hardening huge amounts of air around the sphere.  He then created a second, larger light shield sphere around the first to include the hardened air, and then let the original disappear.  The flames inside the original light sphere devoured the hardened air greedily and surged with incredible force.  Noir shrunk the size of his light sphere to further increase the contained power of the fire.  The fire within his light barrier churned an angry red.

Noir quickly repeated the process several more times as the behemoth continued lumbering toward his friends.  The sphere of light and explosive power cast a bright, violent yellow around the street.  Finally, Noir felt his light shield could not contain the immense, explosive power within.  Noir screamed for Ratt to get back.  His friend paused in his attack and looked at Noir questioningly.  “Just get back, Ratt!”

Ratt sped back to where Noir stood and blurted, “What's wrong?”

Noir replied, “I am not sure how strong this will be.”  Noir moved the bomb so it was pressed against the behemoth's back and finally released his flow of lux into the light barrier.

The sudden expansion of heat and energy shot out with tremendous force.  Windows in nearby buildings shattered.  A deafening boom echoed across all of Garmak.  Pieces of metal shot every direction away from the behemoth.  The massive construct was flung violently forward into the street.  The cannon on its back was a twisted, unrecognizable hunk of metal and a large portion of the creature's top half was missing.  A massive plume of fire and smoke rose slowly into the sky.

Ratt fell to his backside in the street.  “Noir... what the hell was
that
?!”

“A bomb... I guess,” Noir responded as he stared at the smoking wreckage of the behemoth.

              Ratt shook his head in amazement.  “How did you think to do that?”

              Noir laughed and looked at his friend.  “Ever forced air into your stomach and then burped?”

              A smile stretched across Ratt's face.  “No way.  That was how you thought to do that?!”

              “Yep.”

              Ratt laughed hard.  “You're a strange one, Noir.  You know that?”

              Noir looked again at the behemoth that lay face-down in the middle of the street and marveled at what he'd done.  He'd never imagined the things he could achieve wielding two vigors at once.  Aimee and Finn looked over and past the beast at Noir and shared a look of shock and amazement.

              To everyone's horror and disbelief, with awful metal screeches, the massive creature put one of its huge arms beneath itself and started to push itself up slowly.

              As the behemoth rose slowly, a stragh lunged toward Finn's back.  With expert dexterity, Finn ducked the creature's attack and slashed his dagger down the length of the creature's abdomen.  Still in one motion, Finn then thrust his legs upward to make use of the creature's own momentum.  The stragh's body flailed and flew toward the behemoth.  The stragh slammed into the behemoth, went prematurely limp, and then exploded in a burst of fire.  The final few straghs that were stretched across the behemoth's body burned violently.  Finally, the behemoth slammed limply back to the street.

              The four shared a moment of triumph and ran toward each other around the side of the smoldering behemoth corpse.

              Ratt shouted, “Finn, that was incredible!”

              Finn conceded, “It was nothing compared to what you can do, Savior!”

              Aimee asked with amazement, “Noir, how did you learn to do that bomb thing?”

              Noir started to respond when dozens of straghs clattered silently down an alley and onto the street they were on.  All four made ready to battle, but were shocked as the straghs started to collapse to a hail of arrows.

              A man on horseback led a large group of men on foot.  To Noir's surprise, every one of them wore the leather, hawk-adorned armor of Talik.

              The remaining straghs bounded toward the soldiers silently.  The man on horseback called out, “Ready spears!”  Noir was pleasantly surprised to realize it was his old friend Elrid.

              Spears were leveled toward the approaching straghs.  The pale creatures hurled themselves into the spears seemingly without thought of self-preservation.  The few that got through the spears were slashed to pieces by swordsmen.  Noir threw up several light barriers where straghs clawed at the soldiers.

              Within a few moments, the street was littered with stragh bodies.  The Talik soldiers withdrew as several straghs exploded with din.

              “Elrid!” Noir called out.

              Elrid turned his horse and stared at the four in the street.  He looked at Noir with confusion and concern and Noir was reminded of the scars that covered his body.  Elrid pointed his sword at Noir aggressively, but lowered it when his eyes fell on Ratt.

              “Ratt?!” Elrid questioned.

              “Elrid!” Ratt replied.  “It's good to see you.”

              Elrid kicked his horse forward and got close to Noir and the others.  “I haven't seen you since you left for Chiron with Grandel and Noir.  Who are your companions?”

              Ratt looked at Noir with a look of pain.  “This...
is
Noir, Elrid.”

              Elrid stared questioningly at Noir for a long moment, and then recognition flooded his face.  “Noir!  What happened to you?!”

              Noir turned away.  He looked down with sadness at the scars covering his hands and murmured, “It's a long story, Elrid.”  A somber moment spread among the group.

              A soldier behind Elrid walked to his horse and said, “Sir.  The city is still swarming with straghs.  We must continue our campaign.”

              Elrid nodded down at the soldier.  “Yes.”  He turned back to Noir and the others.  “We will have time to discuss all that has happened after the battle.”

              Finn took a step forward and asked, “You are from Talik?  How did you know to come to our aid?”

              Elrid turned to go, but replied over his shoulder, “Fafnir somehow knew and told us to come.”

              Another spear of pain and regret shot through Noir.

              Elrid kicked his horse forward and motioned for the soldiers of Talik to follow.  Over his shoulder he said, “We have almost five hundred men here from Talik and The Returners.  Garmak will be cleansed of these straghs before the night is over, my friends.”

Chapter 35

The New Lumin

              Talik soldiers and the freed men and women of The Returners swarmed through the streets of Garmak slaying the remaining straghs.  The behemoths had been slain one-by-one before they could do tremendous damage to the city.

              Kit watched the progressing battle with growing frustration from atop a pillar of earth.  The straghs had done their job with minimal efficiency, which Kit had expected.  The walls were breached in many places and surely many had been slain by the creatures in the town.  The time was right for the Tierian army to swarm into the city and take over.

              Kit was amused at the destruction, but winning the city had never been his goal.  He wanted Grandel.  Kit had promised himself a hundred times that Grandel, the abomination of a man, would be killed by his hand that day.  He'd finally get revenge for Grandel destroying his family and childhood.  Kit gritted his teeth at the memories of the man standing over him and his family and calling out their fates without a second thought.

              “Where the hell is Grandel?” Kit said to himself.”  I guess I need to destroy even more for him to show his vile, cowardly face.”

              Kit turned to look at the Tierian army around and beneath him.  They stood a short distance from the crumbling walls in organized ranks.  The catapults had been abandoned farther back when the last of the ammo for them had been expended.

              Kit yelled to the army, “The straghs have served their purpose.  The walls have been breached and destruction and chaos surely rules inside the city.  It is time to recapture this town for Tier.  Now, attack!”

              Not a single soldier moved.  Every rank, row, and platoon stared ahead resolutely.  Kit's anger flared and he screamed, “Attack, you peons!”

              “They will not!” a voice declared.  Kit turned and found the source of the voice.  General Eremund returned Kit's gaze with resolve.  “You send us to slaughter!  The straghs were torn apart.  We will—”

              Kit had taken enough from Eremund.  He embraced din and hurled a fireball at the man.  Eremund raised his shield in time, but his entire body was instantly engulfed in flames.  Soldiers jumped away from the explosion.

              A sea of Tierian soldiers lifted their bows, knocked arrows, and fired at their former leader.  Kit surrounded himself with a barrier of light and deflected the hail of arrows.

              Kit realized with relief that it didn't matter where the destruction happened, Grandel would come.  He didn't have to destroy or capture Garmak.  He only had to cause death and mayhem and Grandel would show himself.

              Kit drew upon a massive amount of lux, bent down, forced light to form on his back, created blinding, massive wings of light, and shot into the air.

~~~

              “The Lumin!” one of the soldiers nearby said.  Grandel looked at the man and saw where he was pointing.  Grandel followed his motion and saw a confusing sight.  Beyond a collapsed section of the city wall, a figure with wings of light soared over the approaching Tierian army.

              “That's impossible!” Grandel exclaimed as he pulled his sword from a still-writhing stragh.  “I watched the Lumin die!”

              Other soldiers nearby finished off the last of the straghs in the area, and then looked up and repeated, “The Lumin!”

              A Returner exclaimed, “The Lumin has returned from the dead!”

              “She has come back to save us!”

              “She's here to free Garmak!”

              Grandel couldn't keep his hopes from soaring as he stared at the blinding visage.  The winged figure hovered in the air over the troops in awe-inspiring majesty.  However, Grandel's joy was contradictory to the facts he knew.  The Lumin was dead.  He had helped bury her.  Nothing in the Lumin Prophecies claimed she could rise from death.  It couldn't be the Lumin.

              Grandel watched in horror as several balls of fire streaked down from the winged figure into the Tierian soldiers.  Men burned and screamed.

              “She is here to defend us from the Tierians!” someone called out.

              “No!” Grandel found himself saying.  “She wouldn't kill like this!”  The Talik soldiers and Returners near to Grandel looked at him with confusion.  “Her first decree was for peace!”

              Eyes widened with understanding.  They looked back at the winged person raining down destruction onto the Tierian soldiers.  Their faces were a mix of shock, fear, and disappointment.

              “Grandel!” a voice nearby called out.  Grandel turned and saw another unusual sight.  A young man who wore servant's clothing and was covered in deep, layered scars ran toward him.  Grandel and many soldiers rounded on the intruder and pointed their weapons at him.

              Grandel recognized a familiar face that ran behind the scarred young man.  “Ratt?!” Grandel said incredulously.

              “It's me, Grandel,” the young man pleaded.  He skidded to a stop outside the defensive perimeter the soldiers had created around Grandel.  “It's me, Noir!”

              Ratt added, “It really is Noir, Grandel.”

              Grandel studied the two young men for a moment.  They had each changed tremendously since he'd seen them last, but he recognized them.  “Stand down!” Grandel called to his men.  They all lowered their guard and let the two approach.  “Noir, what happened to you?”

              Noir sighed sadly and said, “It's a long story, but we'll have to talk later.”

              A man in simple clothes holding a bow and arrow said with wonder, “You're Noir.  You're the Diviner!”

              Noir ignored the comment and pointed out the city wall at the slaughter outside.  “We have to deal with that.”

              “Agreed,” Grandel said.

              To Noir's surprise, from behind several other soldiers, Luxin Adeel in her full Luxin armor approached him.

              “Adeel!” Noir burst out with deep fondness.

              “Noir,” she started, “what did you do?”  She scowled and motioned at his body.  It was obvious she knew the answer to her own question.

              “It wasn't me, Adeel.  I... it wasn't in my control.”

              “You are always in control of your actions, Luxin Noir, but I will spare your lecture for later.  Where is Fafnir?”

              “She....”  Noir couldn't finish the sentence he started.  Before him was someone else who knew Fafnir's kind, gentle heart.  Few in this world would fully understand the massive force for good that had been destroyed in the Tierian Capital.  Noir steeled his emotions and spoke again.  “Nidhoggr killed her.  She is dead.”

              For the first time since he'd known Adeel, she lost her confident, dignified poise.  Adeel's eyes grew wide.  She shook her head in disbelief and cried, “No!  You're lying!  That's impossible!”

              Another explosion drew many eyes back to the destruction outside of the walls.  Grandel said sternly, “Much has happened.  Much must be discussed and... lamented, but now we must deal with this new threat.”  Grandel looked around him.  “Does anyone know what or who that is?”  He pointed at the figure that rained destruction down on the Tierian army.

              No one responded.  No one denied that, despite the wings of light, that person could not possibly be the Lumin.

              Noir said, “It's someone with tremendous power with lux and din.  I can sense both.”

              Grandel frowned.  “How do we deal with someone like that?”

              “With someone
else
like that,” Noir said sadly.

              Noir put his hand to the ground and formed his wings of light high above the others.  Grandel, Ratt, Luxin Adeel, the Returners, and the soldiers of Talik all shielded their eyes from the immense light that filled the area as Noir rose into the air.

              Many proclaimed with wonder, “A new Lumin!”

~~~

              “Ugh, where is he?!” growled Kit as he made the ground underneath more retreating soldiers heave upward, then collapse.

              Kit was immediately aware of someone in the direction of Garmak using a tremendous amount of lux.  He ceased his merciless attack and manipulated the light wings on his back to turn him toward the city.  Another rose from the partially destroyed city with blinding wings of light.  “Who else could be this strong?” Kit said with wonder.

              The figure flew straight at Kit with surprising speed.  Kit threw up a barrier of light, but found it unnecessary as the other figure slowed and stopped in front of him.  Kit studied the other winged man and realized he had deep scars much like the ones he had received from Nidhoggr's blood.  Kit had taken the time to contort his flesh with lux to return his body to its normal state.

              Noir squinted and suddenly felt a surge of dread.  “Kit,” Noir growled.

              Kit laughed.  “Is that little Noir?!  My how far you've come since we last met!”

              “Stop this pointless killing, Kit!”

              Kit flapped his wings sending him higher over the battlefield.  Noir followed and matched his height.  “I would gladly stop killing, Luxin Noir, if you give me one thing.”

              “What is that?” Noir asked fearing the worst.

              “Give me Grandel.  I want to destroy him.”

              Noir shook his head.  “Of course I am not going to give you Grandel.  When will you stop this pointless crusade against him?”

              “Never.”

              Noir sighed.  “In Garmak there are hundreds of former slaves who have every reason to hate Grandel, but they've forgiven him.  They call themselves The Returners.”  Noir made the mistake of motioning with his hand toward Garmak.  “They see the man he's become.  They see all he's done to try to help—”

              Kit smiled evilly and interrupted, “So he's in Garmak.  Thank you, my foolish boy.”  Kit flapped his light wings and shot past Noir toward Garmak over the heads of the Tierian army.

              Noir cursed his foolishness and created a shield of light directly in Kit's path.  Kit saw the creation and steered his flight path around it.  Noir flapped his own wings and shot after Kit.  Noir screamed, “Stop the killing, Kit, or I will be forced to stop you myself!”

              Kit spun to face Noir but kept soaring toward Garmak.  “You can try, boy!”

              Noir saw red energy appear in Kit's hands, then spears of ice solidified in front of him.  They shot in Noir's direction.  Noir dodged beneath the ice only to find another din ice attack shooting his direction.  He created a moving barrier in front of him and deflected the shower of ice spikes flying in his direction.

              Noir felt his chakra draining.  Creating the light wings was a major drain on his energy by themselves.  He knew he couldn't have a prolonged battle with Kit after he'd already fought so much in Garmak.  Noir knew he had to end this quickly.

              Noir created a strong barrier that surrounded Kit.  He couldn't dodge a fully enclosed sphere.  Kit stopped flying and rounded on Noir inside his light prison.  The sphere was a huge drain on Noir's chakra, and Kit seemed to realize it.  He smiled at Noir, and then created his own shield of light that surrounded his body.  He then made the light shield expand so it smashed into Noir's.  Noir found himself in a battle that directly tested his strength with lux and drained his chakra rapidly.

              Noir held on to the shield surrounding Kit and tried to press it inward against Kit's barrier.  The two lux users pushed each others' limits and Noir felt his chakra getting dangerously low.  He soon felt like he wanted to go to sleep more than anything else.

              Noir remembered the bomb he'd made in Garmak to knock down the behemoth.  He created a spark inside of Kit's lux barrier, then fed din into it.  Light barriers apparently blocked the physical manifestation of a din attack, but not the direct flow of din.  The spark inside Kit's sphere grew to a roaring flame and Noir lost sight of Kit within.  He felt Kit's light barrier disappear and took the opportunity to force air into his sphere.  The fire raged, but suddenly the light shield failed.  Kit exploded out the side of the sphere.  The din-created fire followed after him.  Kit darted toward Garmak with renewed speed.

              Noir cursed loudly and followed the other dual vigor user.  He could feel the remnants of his chakra draining.  The Einlanzer had never regained its well of chakra, so he left it on his belt.  Noir knew he had to end the battle right then or Kit might finally achieve his goal of killing Grandel.

              Noir hastily solidified the air around Kit's ankles.  Kit jerked to a violent stop in mid-air and cried out in pain.  Noir stopped and created a ball of fire in front of him in an effort to finally stop Kit, but Noir suddenly found the air inside his lungs impossible to move.  He gasped for breath, but the air refused to budge.  In a flurry of rage and desperation, Noir released the solidified air around Kit's ankles and solidified the air in his lungs as well.  Noir figured Kit wouldn't let them both die in a stalemate.