Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 (21 page)

Eric’s strike disrupted
the crystal orb’s charge and dissipated its energy. It began again, which gave
Nolien time to enact his plan.

“We fight together! Blessing
of Chaos: Sage’s Might!”

A pale yellow ball shot
to Eric, seeped through his armor, and melded with his spirit. His eyes shot
open. He felt twice as strong magically, and the armor's enhancements amplified
his power further still. A pale yellow aura signified the enchantment’s
presence.

“Blessing of Chaos: Monster’s
Strength!”

A pale brown light
followed the yellow and Eric felt his strength increase beyond the armor’s
enhancements. A pale brown aura joined the first and melded with it.

“Blessing of Order: Orc
Skin! Blessing of Order: Orc Spirit!”

Two pale grey lights – one
light and one dark – shot to Tiza. With the power of both the orc and the magic
armor, she lifted the equally armored Eric as if he weighed nothing. Then she
chucked him at the crystal orb with the force of a sonic boom. Eric flapped his
winged feet to increase his speed further and pointed his spear forwards like a
harpoon. The crystal orb fired and he focused his barrier into the shape of a
wedge. When he collided with the beam, he cut through it and sailed unhindered
to the beam’s source.

Then he began to lose
momentum. The beam slowed him down and cracked his barrier. Eric dug deep
within his staff and his soul for greater power. He mended his barrier, cast
the Air Disk spell, and flapped harder with his winged feet. The outside world
began to dim, and the Tazul itself began to disappear. The colliding mana was
highlighted; the only thing in sight. His mind drifted into a single thought of
pushing forwards.

Immediately, he shook
his head and asked his staff for greater strength. The world came back into
view and so did his pain. The conflict seared his nerves, razed his mind, and
strained his spirit. His barrier continued cracking and his levitation spells
flickered. At this rate, he’d be lucky to fall into a coma before he was
vaporized in the beam’s path.

The barrier bent over
the crystal, pressed against it and into it by the beam’s force; tighter and
tighter and tighter. Despite Eric’s efforts and despite his pain, it was
pressed into a tight ball. The Tazul’s beam washed over him and he could heard
his armor disintegrating all around him.

This is the end, boy,
Shadow Dengel whispered.
You lacked the strength to be a hero.

I'm not a hero; I'm
a mercenary!
He dredged the last bit of mana from his soul and the last bit
of power from his staff.
I will beat this thing and the Dragon's Lair will
be famous!
Eric brandished his staff at the crystal orb and focused one
last mana bolt within his own crystal.
I'LL USE IT TO SMEAR YOUR ABYSS-CURSED
NAME!

Within the
Soiléir
,
grey light flared into life. It shot across the plaza and lit up the area like
the midday sun. Then it retracted like an ocean's undertow and pulled Nolien
and Tiza off their feet. The Tazul's beam was drawn away from them and into the
crystal. The grey light greedily drank in the monster's mana and channeled it
directly to Eric’s soul, refilling his mana reserves and restoring the Winged
Feet and Air Disk spells to full strength. Without resistance and now
supercharged, Eric rocketed to the Tazul’s belly and pierced the crystal orb,
shattering it in a fantastic display of light and sound.

The colossus’ roar of
pain collapsed the more shoddily built structures in the area. Eric crashed
into the fountain, pumped his staff, shouted “Huzzah!” and then collapsed,
unconscious.

Tiza clattered to his
side. She was tired, in pain, and her state-of-the-art armor was ruined, either
flaking off or outright missing. Yet she still heaved Eric over her shoulder
and carted him away from the monster. Nolien matched her pace and recast the
buffs on her before switching to healing. The Tazul charged another orb when
another armored figure ran forward. “Avatars of Lava and Ice: empower me!”

Gushing magma streamed
from the staff and coated the great monster’s belly. The local temperature
plummeted to that of Outer Space and froze the lava and the creature in place. Finally,
they joined to create a rock the size of the royal place, and smashed it over
the Tazul’s great head.

At first, the beast
didn’t react. The debris from the weapon sparkled on its way down. Then it
stumbled back and forth, like a silly cartoon, and failed to step on anything
or anyone. It fell face first, shrinking and dissolving on the way down. Its
claws melted and its hairs ran together. The entire body shimmered golden-brown
and coalesced into a giant blob. Seconds before it reached the ground, it took
the form of a humanoid creature with pointy ears.

“That was very rude,”
it said, rubbing an exaggerated bump on its head. “I come to show my support
for you, my favorite follower, and this is the welcome I get?” The creature put
its hands on its hips. “It's downright ungrateful.”

The armored figure
slouched in equal parts relief and disappointment. Then it pulled off its
helmet and shook out her shoulder-length green hair. Kallen Selios was decked
out in similar armor to Tiza and Eric, but hers was customized and far more
worn and torn.

 “I should have known
it was you, milard. A real Tazul wouldn't have bothered with small fry. They'd
go for something with more meat.”

“Like you?” Tasio asked
with his eternal smile.

 Kallen flipped her
hair. “But of course. I'm one of the most powerful spirits in this country.
Speaking of which, Tiza put Eric down so I can work on him.”

“
I’m
Eric’s
healer,” Nolien said.

“I know, but do
you
know how to treat soul trauma?”

“Tiza, put him down.”

Tiza did so. Kallen
knelt at his side and placed his head in her lap. Then she placed one hand on
his head and a second on his chest. She chanted a healing spell unlike any
Nolien had ever studied. It sounded more like a prayer than any academic chant.
 

“You two look
adorable!” Tasio gushed. “The perfect couple – soul mates!”

“Oh, stop, milard,”
Kallen said bashfully. She averted her eyes, covered her cheeks, and other
archetypal maiden modesty behaviors. “You're embarrassing
me.”

They shared a good
laugh. Tiza didn't get the joke and was about to ask when Basilard arrived out
of nowhere and shushed her. He insisted that the two follow him back to the
guild so he could remove Tiza's armor and tend to her injuries. They looked to
the trickster god that was formerly a monster. He gave them a thumbs-up and a
smile. They groaned and followed their mentor. The trickster and his follower
were left alone with Eric.

“‘Now he'll outstare
the lightning,’” Kallen quoted. “‘To be furious is to be frightened out of
fear. And in this mood, the dove will peck the estridge.' You seem to enjoy
Rattleglobe's work, milard.”

“Oh yes. The man's a
genius,” Tasio replied, lounging in the air. “Me and Krank saw every one of his
plays at the Sphere Theater;
Bugonthy and Leopatara
was one of our
favorites. ‘When valor dost prey on reason, it eats the sword it fights with.’
Keep a look out for that, okay?”

Kallen nodded as she
stroked Eric's hair. Then, with great personal interest, she glanced at his
staff. Within the crystal, there was a pale grey sphere. It glowed softly at
the very center. Pulling out her own crystal, she compared the two. Hers had
three lights, including the grey; the former orbited the latter like planets in
a solar system.

“He's taken the next
step to catching up with me...” she said softly. “How long till he's ready?”

“Mentally speaking, I
hope the Mana Mutation Summit will put the cap on it. Spiritually speaking, I'm
hoping for Arin’s Festival.”

“That soon!?”

Tasio shrugged. “It
can't be helped. He was supposed to stay hidden longer but –”

Kallen gasped, bringing
a hand to her mouth. “Is it...
my
fault!?”

Tasio shook his head
and smiled kindly. “No, no, Kallen. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I
could
have dropped him on another planet, but he would have no allies. I wanted to
give you two a chance to bond, so I dropped him in Mambi. There are other
factors involved with his accelerated homecoming – Kasile's paranoia for one
and Epideus' spawn for another – but the thing to remember is this: The best
possible outcome was what occurred – you coming back with him.”

“But if I stayed
there...extended my research...he could've trained and practiced and...”

“For what? If you
stayed any longer, then Eric would have
walked
back or bought his own
ticket. The best possible outcome is what occurred, Kallen. We have to make use
of the time we have.”

“He's not gonna make it...”
Kallen said, eyes truly downcast.

“He will. Believe he
will.”

When Eric awoke, he
wondered about what warm and soft thing he was lying in. He'd never felt
anything so comfortable; peace and contentment flowed from his head to the rest
of his body. With a start, he realized it was Kallen's lap. He jumped out and
waved his staff. Tasio put his mischievous smile back on and Kallen scowled.

 “You know, girls get
offended when you do that.”

“Wha-what's going on?
Where's Tiza!? Nolien!? The Tazul!?”

“I took care of it; don't
worry,” Kallen said.

Eric looked scathingly
at Tasio. “It was
you
, wasn't it?”

“Me?” Tasio asked with
wounded innocence. “Eric, I'm hurt. Has our relationship decayed so far that
you automatically assume the worst whenever we meet?”

Eric stared.

“Okay, it was me.”

“Do you get your kicks
scaring people half to death!?”

“Nope. I was helping.”
Tasio counted on his fingers. “The recruits wanted to see a creature of legend,
Tiza wanted more street credits, Nolien wanted to show off his new skills, the
soldiers wanted some time off, the city needed more room, the metallurgy and
construction industries could use a boost, and a movie director prayed for
inspiration. I granted their wishes.”

“You're so charitable,
milard.”

“You
vaporized
them!”

Tasio pointed behind
Eric. A rip in space/time opened up and another trickster floated out of it. He
wore his golden-brown hair curled into a loop about his ears with a
well-groomed beard, granting a distinguished air. He also wore a toga, sandals,
and a ballpoint pen in his ear. He raised one hand above his head and snapped
his fingers. The sound echoed like a stage whisper and more toga people walked
out of the shadows. Each of them carried one or more people in their arms; the
vaporized victims were present and accounted for.

“Allow me to introduce
the Patron of Poets, the Arbitrator of Actors, the Original Special Effects
Artist – my younger brother, Remho the Trickster.”

Remho took a bow.
“Thank you for the introduction, elder brother, and for this marvelous
opportunity. I haven't directed a stage this large in years.”

His followers placed
the unwitting actors in a circle between the two tricksters and then retreated
to a safe distance. Remho snapped his fingers and the people stirred from their
slumber. When they noticed the guffawing Tasio and the proud Remho, they
groaned and shot him dirty looks. All at once, they stood up and walked away.
They only looked back to make sure there was nothing attached to their backs.
The knight commander stayed only long enough to pull out a scry and say, “False
alarm... It was only Tasio. I repeat: false alarm.
It was only Tasio
.”

When they were all
gone, Tasio sighed and dropped his shoulders. He sank a little, but his feet
remained off the ground.

“I give and I give, but
I get not as much as a word of thanks in return.”

“It is very sad,
milard, but...” Kallen said. Unlike her earlier teasing, this was completely
sincere. “
I
appreciate what you do.”

 Tasio descended fully
to the ground to give her a proper hug. Kallen embraced him and nuzzled him. In
all the time he'd known them, Eric had never seen such a tender moment. Kallen
acted like she didn't care about anything and here she was like a five-year-old
with her father; Tasio never touched the ground in his “king of the tricksters”
persona, and here he was getting his divine feet dusty for a mortal.
Despite
what others say, I'm not the real Trickster's Choice.
As the hug prolonged,
Eric felt more and more like an eavesdropper. He was about to leave when they
pulled away.

“Go back to bed, my
favorite follower. You need the rest.”

Instead of backtalk,
like Eric was expecting, Kallen nodded and walked back the way she came. Tasio
poofed and was gone. Eric looked around the wreckage of the plaza and swung his
staff behind him. Basilard ducked and reached for his wrist, but Eric jumped
back and leveled the crystal at his neck.

“Better. So what do you
think?”

“I think Tiza is behind
me and Nolien is hiding in the rubble somewhere, muttering a curse.”

The veteran grinned.
“You're not being tested right now. I meant, 'what do you think about the
trickster's performance’?”

“I think it was self-absorbed
entertainment that caused great property damage, injured many people, and
interrupted my sleep. Good night!”

Eric ran off before
Basilard could say anything else.

Without the Tazul
stirring things up, the city resumed its peace and quiet. Damage-control crews
quickly put out the flames (magical and otherwise) and darkness resumed its
veil. Suddenly, Eric could see clearer than he had all night.

Everywhere he looked,
friends and family hugged in the street. Fear had already been replaced by
relief. The only tears were happy ones. They were too ecstatic that their loved
ones survived the attack of an S class to wonder why no one had died. One guy
was on his knees and holding a velvet case to a gal; she nodded tearfully and
they made out on the sidewalk. Eric moved to the other side of the street.
Shadow Dengel manifested next to him and walked nonchalantly beside him.