Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) (37 page)

T
hat dark power faltered at the sight of what awaited me. A singular spot of shadow partially concealed the centerpiece of this great labyrinth, a black podium with a dark crystal bobbing paradoxically in the air above it, defying the laws of gravity with impunity. As it bounced up and down, a pulse of power spanned the length of the room, the dark shadows surrounding it roiling, alive. But that wasn't what most bothered me most. Herk's muscled form sitting lax in a throne behind the core of Cusion was what threw me off.

“Herk.” I ambled forward, black power crying for release. “What exactly are you doing here?” I reluctantly offered him the benefit of the doubt.

“You're more stupid than I first took you for if you haven't figured that one out.” Herk grinned, spinning a black sword lazily between his feet.

My anger spiked, but I reeled it back insistently. We walked across the chamber slowly, avoiding the core entirely in an attempt at diplomacy. I didn't want to fool myself, though, the set of Herk's eyes had me thinking this wouldn't be an easy task. Kathryne wasn't so picky about being restrained. Ignoring the sharp steel flashing towards her chest, she slapped Herk full on the face.

“How could you? After we saved your life? After all the trust we gave you, while you hardly spoke two words, barely lifted a finger to help!”

Hercules popped his neck, ignoring the red welt rising on his face. His sword quivered in the air, but he made no move to strike either of us. “Let the men talk, girl. I'll be with you in a second.”

Kathryne moved to hit him again, but I restrained her. Goading Herk would only leave us with one option, and I wasn't enjoying the idea of fighting him a second time. She relented, if only under the impression that she'd beat her due out of his hide.

My eyes traced a thin path of shadow that extended from the core and into Herk's body. “What'd it offer you?” My fingers itched and I resisted the urge to blow him to smithereens. “All flowery lines and beautiful lies, I'd bet.”

“Not quite.” He smiled thinly. “Power, yes. But I've stopped fooling myself. I was never meant to be a force for good. Too much blood spilled by my hands. What good ever comes to those who fight the good fight, anyways? Not respect or admiration of the public, not even simple recognition or gratitude. No, the only thing you're ever sure of is a bloody death waiting once the Dark gets a jump on you. Don't you see? It's useless to fight! Why are there so many Darknesses prowling the world, when the number of Light seems always to be dwindling?”

“Because people like you are so ready to throw their morals away for promises of power,” I spat.

Herk sat back, studying the dark blade of his sword. “I see you've tasted some of what Cusion offers. Isn't it satisfying?”

“It's filthy.”

“You're ignorant, Caleb. I'm sure you're comfortable in your black-and-white world, labeling things as
good
and
bad
. Makes it easier, doesn't it? I bet you feel lighter than you've had in all your life, no longer carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

“It's still there, bearing down on me. Borrowing this black energy was a matter of necessity. Kind of ironic that I'll be sending Cusion to the void with his own dark energy.” A harsh grin stretched out on my face.

Herk glanced over at the core before returning his attention to me. “I figured it would go this way. I'm not good at sharing anyways.”

“So that's the way it’s going to be?” I planted my feet and looked into his eyes.

“No, it isn't going to go the way you think.” Herk smiled superiorly. “I think you'll kill your lady friend here for me. Then you'll do the same to any of your friends who survive the hordes.”

“Fighting in the arena for so long must have made you insane. That isn't going to happen.”

“We'll see.” A malignant light shone in his eyes.

Kathryne leapt for Herk's throat while I readied my attack, locking up his sword arm in the process. The energy within me sought release and there wasn't any will in me to fight it anymore. When I started piecing the two elements together, however, an overpowering force drove me to my knees. My psyche was in pieces as Cusion drove his mental probe deep inside me, latching onto the source of my power, the locus of my being. Sharp needles drove into my skull and laughter echoed through the chamber. I couldn't tell whether it came from Herk or Cusion. Probably, it was a blend of the two.

I grasped the stakes of the game instantly. We were fighting for free will or for trading coherent thought for a less strictly defined alternative. I didn't like the idea of being pushed out of the decision making process. In fact, I'd be rather miffed at the thought of someone else acting in my stead.

Rolling with the punches, I fought a shadow war in the depths of my psyche. All bastions on the periphery had to be surrendered if I wanted any chance of beating the superior power. My sight dimmed and the sounds of struggle between Kathryne and Herk faded. Battling this Leviathan head-on wasn't going to get me anywhere. As the subtle whispers and promises of power filtered through my mind enticingly, I wracked my brain for a plan. Bits of my glowing orb were shredded slowly, a slow-acting acid that would eventually wear away the most well-constructed defense.

Seeing that, I knew there was only one thing that might work: the wholly unexpected. Scrambling about in the darkness of an unformed Dreamscape, I fought the familiar battle with my psyche, implementing the plan before my barrier could be worn away. Really, my idea was simple, laughable really. So simple and crazy that it
might
actually work. After it had been constructed, I did possibly the most dangerous thing one can do when fighting a battle of wills: I unbarred all the gates and let the enemy past my walls.

It had already become apparent that pitting my will against Cusion’s would end badly. I was fighting a being who had millennia to hone its craft. The pseudo-fight on the destroyed streets of San Francisco with the ancient Royal would be child's play in comparison with Cusion, and Jeeves wasn't in any condition to provide backup.

Leaning back in the simple chair, I listened to the harsh creak of wood as all the weight was distributed to the back legs. The sudden lack of resistance had caught Cusion off guard. He took the bait, though it was obvious by a slackening in oppressive power that he was wary. A fluorescent bulb swung back and forth in the air, a point of darkness cradled within its depths. The light within it flickered in time with a drumbeat I'd started on the table before me.

A figure emerged from the diminished black that was my mind. The corners of my psyche had been corralled and conquered, hardly a challenge for a Leviathan of this caliber. My brash move was probably the only thing that stopped my enemy from obliterating me entirely without pause. Details filled in as my light fell on it. Cusion's chosen form was a man of middle stature and height, sandy hair and a calm, confident demeanor. His arms were held loosely at his side, bright eyes studying me in fascination.

“You are curious indeed, Manling,” he said, cocking his head in a decidedly inhuman fashion.

“Take a seat.” I raised a hand in greeting. “Welcome to my humble abode. Though most people would have knocked first.”

A cloak of roiling black billowed in an unseen wind as he sat. My senses told me that the screams on the edge of preternatural hearing were consumed souls crying out for mercy, endlessly relating their horrible deaths. His light-skinned hands slid across my lacquered table curiously, studying the whorling designs.

“You humans are simple. Taken to your own vices and insecurities, driven by habit. Easily seduced, deceived, conquered. Such fragile flesh, so easily fractured.” He stretched one black-nailed hand stretched out towards me in demonstration.

“Hold your horses.” My chair slammed back into the ground and I clenched one hand around exhibit A. “No need to go and get hasty. Someone might get hurt, and we wouldn't want that.”

Cusion's eyes flashed in confusion. “What do you have, human, that you might think to stay my hand after setting me back so far with that blasted sword of yours?”

I looked down at the trigger, studying its simple design. A dead man's switch was rigged to go off if constant pressure wasn't applied to the trigger after activation. Mine was a hotrod red button, and my thumb was already pushing it gleefully. I was always one for the classics.

“Wellll,” I said, drawing out the word and forcing a calm demeanor. “This here is what we call an impasse. I didn't let you in here to eat my soul, believe it or not. I might have taken down those shields, but they're up now and stronger than ever. If I don't apply constant pressure to this here switch, there won't be enough left of us to fill a dustpan. If you kill me, it will be activated. If you try to escape, I'll release it.”

Now I was the one who had the high ground. Cusion got the picture. He wasn't leaving here intact.

“Then why all this talk, Manling? Did you feel a need to make a grand speech before sacrificing yourself? I assure you, if your friends aren't dead already, they will be soon.”

“I don't think so.” I buffed my nails on my shirtfront. “You really are an inspiring fellow. It wasn't easy, but I made a little time capsule for us. Time in here is meaningless. By the time we're through here, my friends won't have moved an inch.”

“Ah.” He leaned back and made himself comfortable. “You think to outlast me, mortal? Your pitiful lifetime passes in the blink of an eye for one of my kind.”

“Again, an impasse. That's not what I'm getting after. I'll give you a choice: leave this dimension and never return or face extinction.”

“Tempting.” Cusion had become bored, judging by his expression and tone. “But I've become rather enamored with this place. I think I'll enjoy consuming your world. It's been awhile since I had my last meal. This time, I'll be taking my leave before the planet implodes. Although, I'd have missed out on all this
fun
if that dimensional gate hadn't brought me here.”

It sounded like he said that the world he
ate
before this one had imploded, that he took the wormhole express into our dimension. I didn't want to think of the chances of those events happening by coincidence. These days, true coincidence was hard to come by. While I'd kept the being talking, I'd cleared my psyche of Cusion's dark influence, its oppressive will no longer consuming my own. Cut off from his power, he hadn't even been able to sense the change. The scales slowly tipped in my favor.

I kept my face carefully neutral, leaning back in the squeaky chair and glancing up at the innocuous looking light. You wouldn't know from looking at it, but inside it was every scrap of my power, including the dark energy that had been pumped into me by Kathryne.

“You know, I think I've had a change of heart.” I shrugged one shoulder and stared in defeat at the lacquered tabletop.

“Have you?” He rubbed his grimy hands together in anticipation.

A firm nod. “Yup. This place is going to be your grave.” I lashed out at the table with a blast of Air.

The heavy wood flipped and landed on Cusion, groaning protests at the uncalled for treatment. My finger released the meaningless bobble and the dead man's switch fell to the ground.

“A bluff?” he asked incredulously, breath rasping and body writhing. “My power,
gone!
”

The light bulb shattered and we were plunged into a darkness that only my eyes could penetrate. Cusion began putting up resistance immediately while trying futilely to flee, trapped by the power imbued into the table. Air and Water with a thin film of Earth. It had been one of the riskiest and trickiest gambles of my life. I had to hope I'd be able to keep Cusion distracted long enough to cut the ties of power that would allow him to overwhelm me with ease. Before that, I had to piece together three disparate, independent elements and disguise their true nature. If he'd sensed anything was amiss or got bored with play, I'd have been a willing servant of anything he asked.

Earth denatured and flowed away, giving my frozen design its chance. “Release me, or I shall consume your soul and torment it personally until your mind unravels!”

“Tempting, but I'll pass.” I crouched down beside his face.

The cold energy coiled around Cusion, binding him in an inescapable trap. Panic set in as he realized that this would be the end for him if he couldn't dispel my construct. His will slammed against the restraining barriers locking us both in this place, but it wasn't enough. My fingers clenched and I stepped back as all energy was leeched from the vicinity. Air became cold in my ethereal lungs. The Leviathan's harsh breathing mirrored my own. This attack was a two-edged sword, no matter the outcome. To kill this Leviathan, I had to risk destroying myself. But my bindings were doing their job and my enemy was weakening.

Cusion choked horribly, his body slowly crushed. “You cannot kill me! I am immutable, undying! There will be another who steps in to take my place. The power is undeniable.”

“No matter what happens, you won't be there to see it.” I activated the second stage.

My construct forced its way down the throat of the Leviathan, pouring through its body, crowding into every pore. Blue ice spread across its body, the violent protestations and threats halting as his body began to slow, stop. In a matter of minutes, I was standing before an extraterrestrial icicle. Allowing another portion of stolen energy to power my third phase, the azure power expanded exponentially. Bracing myself, I turned my face away and brought down all the barriers. Time took up its mantle of eternal dominance once more.