Chapter 20
The Clarity
“So, you still attempt this folly, do you?” Alexander spoke, his voice booming and drowning out Atrum’s assertions. Terrill had no attention for the old man, preferring to watch Atrum as he gazed down at them from atop his blackened perch. “Still attempting to reenact the prophecy, despite not knowing what it says. I suppose you’re not as adept at corralling souls as you believe, boy.”
Atrum’s face twitched, a vein popping as something triggered inside him that Terrill had never seen before. It looked personal with this man, and yet, Terrill had never truly met Alexander before today. He almost wondered if it had something to do with those vague months before Atrum had arrived in Hart as a baby, but quickly cast aside that thought.
“Stop interfering, old man,” Atrum spoke. His was a voice far colder, though Alexander remained impartial in his dealings. “You can’t control the flow any more than I can, so stop getting in my way. I’ll use the Fiends as I see fit.”
“Yes, I’m sure you will. Anathema.”
Atrum didn’t like that, nor the unsettling smirk upon Alexander’s face that told Terrill this man held all the knowledge Atrum sought. He didn’t like that. So, Atrum snapped his fingers.
The giant, forested crab gave a horrendous shriek, and all five of them covered their ears from the noise. Then the pincer flew out for Alexander, as large as four of the bookcases. Terrill ducked down, the others with him, and they avoided the brunt of the blow, which collided against a shield that protected Alexander. It grated loudly and then rebounded, unable to hit the older man.
“There are many interpretations of the prophecy, boy. You know this,” Alexander said, his robes swishing around his feet as he approached Atrum without fear. “In one case, perhaps, war ruins the land. In another, the goddess descends. In yet another, a country is led to greater prosperity. He who reads the flow interprets destiny, but the cycle will continue unimpeded. It is fruitless to change that nature of this world. To try is to invite madness. Though you seem quite adept at instilling madness of your own.”
“Silence!” Terrill had barely gotten up when a wave of darkness was exuded from Atrum’s body. It toppled him back over, pushing him against the tattered couch before Walter’s body was thrown into him. The two scrambled to get up. “I have not crossed through darkness and light to listen to lectures from a doddering old fool. I will not let you keep getting in the way. I’ve worked far too long for this, and I refuse to remain a shadow any longer, not after fashioning my vessel for this very moment.”
“Is it that you wish to take my place? Supplant me?”
“No.” The brevity of Atrum’s words spoke to a change in demeanor, and Terrill observed his old friend. There had been shades of him before, shades of Atrum as he knew him, but now he seemed to have been swallowed whole within the identity of the Shadow King. “I want to rip this world apart. Free it from your chains. I’ll break your future.”
“Harbinger!” Alexander’s energy changed, converted to rage, or so Terrill believed. His facial expression didn’t change much, but his actions told an entirely different story. He raised his staff in the air, thrusting it in the direction of Atrum. With a flash, the boy was bound in white chains, sealed as he was pinned to what was left of the ceiling. The crab shrieked again, thrashing and knocking more of the library’s walls over as its master was held in place. “You would dare to interrupt the design in such a way? You would break yourself free by fashioning an ethereal vessel?! What more have you wrought, Shadow King?!”
The sneer from Alexander’s lips on those final two words was enough to make Atrum laugh. Bound in the chains, Atrum leaned forward, a grin on his lips. “I’ve started a war that will fill the world with despair. Then I’ll bind it together and destroy the foundations.”
“Then I shall bind you and your soul here until you have learned your lesson!” Alexander’s anger was complete, his hand twisting to tighten the chains before whirling Atrum around and pinning him to another, more stable wall. It did nothing to deter the laughter.
“I think you have more problems than me to deal with!” Atrum’s eyes flashed with his words, and at the same time, the monster he had rode in on roared to life. Terrill whipped around to see the creature stampede forward, its giant pincers throwing aside tables as if it was swatting a fly. Alexander was its main target, but Terrill and the others were just as much in its way.
Terrill moved, as much as his bruised body would let him, prepared to tell the others to move out of the way while he held it off.
He froze.
You can’t protect anyone if you’re dead!
Floyd’s words came to him, reminding him of why they were here, and what he almost lost. If he pushed them out of the way to take the hit for himself, it would make no difference in the long run. Throwing himself into the attacks meant for others would only hurt them, but he couldn’t see a better way. It was the only way for everyone to make it home.
“Terrill, get it together!” Before the claw could bisect him, Floyd tackled him to the ground, pushing him out of harm’s way. The pincer appeared to nick his arm, but Floyd was fine, springing up to his feet. “Come on, this is no time to space out!”
“Y-yeah…” Terrill pushed at the ground, the roar echoing in his ears while his limbs struggled to support him. The monster’s thrashing intensified, turning away from Terrill to send a claw into where Alexander stood. A barrier erected itself once again, but this time the claw finished its arc to embed itself in the floor. Terrill drew himself to his knees and looked up to where Atrum was pinned, finding that the boy’s eyes had settled upon him once again, his hand outstretched. It was just like the Forsaken Hill.
“There’s still time, Terrill. We can still fight this together. Work with me.”
Terrill watched him, his hand never wavering in the offer. For that brief second, Terrill saw the Atrum he knew and cared for. His best friend, who wanted nothing more than to be on the same side again. Perhaps there was some merit in what he hoped for. Perhaps Atrum was doing it for some noble reason.
Yet those he had allied himself with, and those he sought to control, weighed heavily on his mind.
They were irreconcilable.
And when Terrill next looked up, he saw a different hand, one right next to him, offering to help him up. In his other hand was his own sword; his father’s sword.
No…the sword of a Guardian.
“Terrill,” Floyd said, never wavering in keeping his own hand out. Krysta, Torry and Walter drew closer, away from the rampaging beast. “You know, you’re not alone. You don’t have to protect the world on your own. We’ve made some mistakes, sure, but…if we do this together, I think we can fix them.”
“The fool speaks wisdom,” Walter chuckled, his spear snapped to his side, ready for the beast that was breaking apart the library. Torry joined in the laughter, while Krysta nodded yet again. Then, Terrill looked to Floyd.
“What do you say, partner?”
Time stilled for Terrill, all of them in their own bubble, free of the outside world. In that very second, a moment of true clarity visited Terrill as he realized they were all standing around him, protecting him. He wasn’t alone, and he wasn’t the only one capable. He had people by his side, just as willing to take the blows, all so they could go home together.
They were his companions.
“I say…” he breathed out, reaching upwards and joining his hand with Floyd’s, “we put an end to this war.”
“Now that’s the Terrill we know,” Krysta said, sending a wink his way. Terrill was hauled up, and Floyd pressed his sword back in his hand, grinning all the while. Terrill offered one last, defiant look to Atrum, and then turned away, facing the crab that stopped its movements.
“Hey, Alexander, you said I had a choice, right? Well, I’ve made it!” Terrill shouted. He swung his blade around, feeling its weight in his hands. His exhaustion was peaking, but he knew he had enough left in the tank. “Maybe they’re just souls, but each life is still precious to me. I might not be able to do it alone, and maybe I’ll make things worse before they can get better, but if I don’t stop this, people will die. After all, Atrum won’t stop. The Fiends won’t stop. I don’t think Lumen will stop, too, not with Charles still out there under Atrum’s bidding.
“So, I won’t either. None of us will.”
“TERRILL!” Atrum’s curdling scream of being rejected sent a wave of darkness over the entirety of the library. The crab ripped its pincer out, and with alarming speed, turned around to face them, a giant tail manifesting to topple yet more bookshelves over.
“As I suspected,” the old man breathed. He wasn’t visible beyond the rampaging crab, but he was still audible before the crab shrieked one more time. “Very well, Mr. Jacobs, but be ever-aware of you and your companions’ actions. Do not make me interfere again on your end.”
“I think the only action we need to concern ourselves with right now is survival!” Floyd cried, his daggers held out, but his body ready to bolt. It was with good reason, of course. “Incoming!”
The pincer descended, and the group scattered, Terrill, Walter and Torry to one side while Floyd and Krysta ended up on the other. The couch they were near was torn in two by the simplest of attacks. The floor was gouged, cracking apart from the force. It wasn’t done, the other pincer swiping as soon as that one was lifted.
“Stone Shield!” Terrill bent low, touching to the floor. A slab emerged, while Walter yanked Terrill and Torry back. On the other side, Krysta had thrown up her shield, with Floyd behind her. They were pushed back from the force of the strike, the barrier protecting them from the brunt of the attack. Meanwhile, their stone barricade was shattered, the attack continuing through another set of bookshelves. The wood planks and tomes fell upon their group of three. “No more playing defensive! Stone Spire!”
Terrill knew it would do no good to focus only on his immediate vicinity against the rampaging creature. Instead, he held his hand out to focus on a point in the ground just underneath the murderous monster. He clenched a fist, and the floor bubbled before the great spire emerged, impaling the crab’s fleshy underside.
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SKREEEEEEEEEEEE!
The sound was enough to deafen all of them, but Walter and Torry endured it, coming up with a plan of their own. Terrill trusted them to do what needed to be done while the beast was distracted. A shudder traveled through the remains of the building, Atrum thrashing and straining against his bonds. Alexander’s face scrunched, attempting to keep him chained. Without delay, Terrill ran for the old man, who was in the direct line of the whipping tail. Walter and Torry launched themselves into the air with Torry’s magic, flying in an arc that put Walter above the beast. Electricity crackled from Torry’s fingertips as she dropped, and Walter sent his lance flying forth.
“Lightning Javelin!” he shouted, just as his spear dug itself into the beast’s forested backside. The lightning exploded, toppling the trees atop the crab, while it convulsed with the electricity throughout it. Terrill came in sight of Alexander, while Torry hit the ground, sliding to the small space beneath the paralyzed creature. Her palms aimed upward, giving Terrill little time.
With a slam of his foot, the stone column emerged on the other side of Alexander, and with a pull, Terrill yanked the stone and the old man towards him. The seal on Atrum was loosened, but not enough for him to interfere before Alexander regained his balance and pinned him once more. As Terrill watched, he could see both straining, though what was occurring between them was not physically seen.
“Wind Thrust!” Torry cried from beneath, and a large expulsion of wind hit the crab’s underside. It held for a second, and then was lifted high into the air, exposing its weak underside for all to see. It was Floyd, leaping over Krysta’s latest shield, that took advantage of that, forming a fiery orb near the tips of his daggers.
“Flame Shot!” The orb sailed into the creature’s belly, exploding and sending pained shrieks throughout the library. The crab rampaged, its tail flying out with alarming alacrity to nail Floyd in the stomach. Gasping from the blow, it sent him into a bookcase that he slid down. Krysta looked to run for him, but the tail soon targeted her, and sent her flying away from him, cushioned from a blow by Torry’s air. Both girls were looking exhausted.
Terrill’s only solace was that he was protected by standing near Alexander, and when the tail stopped its mindless rampage, he leaned in towards the man. “Atrum said he wants to bind it all together and destroy the foundations. What does he mean?”
“He means…” Alexander said with a grunt, the constant exertion of binding Atrum taking its toll. “He means that through war, he will foster a shadow using his darkness. The greater the imbalance, the greater the shadow.”
“And the Lifebloods? How do the Lifebloods play into this?” The crab’s red eyes gleamed with pain, crashing and spinning with its pointless attempts to get at Terrill behind the shield. Walter kept holding on to one of the trees. A pincer glanced off the shield, rebounding and causing the monster to focus on the prone Floyd.
“I’d imagine he is corroding them. Using them for his war. It would be his most efficient means of interrupting the flow.” Alexander looked back to Terrill, who was nodding, coming to the only conclusion that could be gotten. “What are you thinking?”
“We need to free the Lifebloods of his shadow, just like you and Krysta helped free me from him,” Terrill said, before he gripped Alexander’s arms. “Can you send us through one of the Lifeblood’s pathways to their location?”
“I can get you close. But I will need to have time, unless you wish for Atrum to follow you.”
“Then I’ll buy you time! Krysta, Torry!” His cry was heard by the two as they pressed against each other. Near Floyd, the pincer was about to hit, slowed only minutely by the redhead. Terrill smiled. He wasn’t going to let Floyd get hurt, but nor was he going to run into the path.
It left but one option.
With a strike of his foot, his magical energy raced through the ground, and with a wrenching of the earth, another spire rose. This one pierced the limb of the pincer. With a cry, Terrill expanded the earth, rending the pincer from the body.
“Firelight Combo!” the two girls cried at the same time. Light burgeoned from Krysta’s hands before being surrounded by flame that was jettisoned forward with the pinpoint accuracy expected of Torry the archer. It impaled the limb of the other pincer and then exploded with fury. The pincers flew off into the air, disappearing into a black smoke that was drawn back towards Atrum, but prevented from entering him through Alexander’s chains.
KREEE! The cry made Terrill wince, the crab a more dangerous force in its newfound desperation. It began to charge, crashing and smashing through everything, and soon it started to spin, with Walter whipping around on its top.
“Let’s end this. Get ready, Alexander!” Terrill called, brandishing his sword. “Floyd, slow it down. Torry, keep him safe and focused, but get me and Krysta up there first!”
There were no words to be shared. Terrill ran for Krysta, grabbing her as the two leapt upon a barrier she created. They jumped off and felt the gale beneath their feet, lifting them into the sky over the beast’s head. It was still spinning, but those rotations slowed, allowing Walter to break free, climbing atop the tree and jumping to meet them. He had already figured out Terrill’s plan.
Terrill reached out for him, the two men clasping hands high above the crab, and then, Walter tossed him, sending him hurtling for the very center of the crab’s giant backside. “Go, Krysta!”
“Light Imbuement!” Krysta called, clasping her hands together, as if in prayer. Terrill held his blade before him, plunging downward, and it shined with a radiant and pure light that streamed out.
With a great cry, Terrill impacted with the crab, the light enchanted into his sword piercing the dark creature’s hide and severing all of the strings that held it together. In one fatal blow, Terrill cleaved through it, landing upon the floor. The light where he had slashed shined bright and then ripped apart the crab, bursting it into ash which fell upon the ground. The creature was felled.
Walter and Krysta landed nimbly, if not elegantly, thanks to Walter’s wind, and Torry had picked Floyd up, dragging him over so that the five stood together. It was all Terrill could do to keep standing in that moment, looking up towards Atrum and the hatred in his eyes. The darkness around him pulsed, and Terrill knew it was now or never as the chains began to crack.
“You cannot contain me, old man! You’re mine!” They shattered, breaking apart in pieces that flew everywhere. Atrum vanished from the ceiling to appear in front of Alexander. The old man lifted his staff, and the hard wood met Atrum’s blade. In a deft movement, Alexander spun his staff, striking Atrum with light and sending him careening into one of the few standing bookcases remaining.
“It is time. Do what you must. Stop the war. Do not let Atrum’s ambitions be realized. It is not yet time for the two to become one.” Alexander now tapped his staff to the ground, and before they could realize what was happening, a rumbling shuddered the library. A gaping rift opened up beneath them, grabbing ahold of their legs and pulling them under. None struggled or resisted against it. “Free the Lifebloods.”
“Terrill!” Atrum’s shout interrupted Alexander, and Terrill saw the attack incoming. He lifted his sword with both hands, blocking the newest blow meant for him, Atrum holding his position as they all sunk. The rest of his friends prepared for their own attack, but Terrill didn’t worry. He just looked Atrum straight in the eyes.
“Don’t worry. We’ll see each other again when this is over. I’ll save you then, too, Atrum. I’ll free you.”
His words gave Atrum pause, and the hatred left his eyes for a brief moment, his lips looking like they wanted to smile. Then Alexander’s staff struck, sending Atrum flying away as the last of the rift pulled them in.
It was an immediate and familiar feeling to Terrill, riding the corridor of the Lifeblood, this time feeling shorter than all the others. The familiar sensation, like riding a pathway of souls, became comforting, and as he rode, his mind was made up, prepared for whatever arduous trials were ahead.
The trip didn’t last long, and in moments, he fell out, his body impacting with something cold. Four other thuds told Terrill he hadn’t made the journey alone, and he took solace as he stood.
“Wh-where are we?” Floyd asked, the first to get up. He brushed some snow off his pants and helped Torry up. Terrill was right there with him, the girl having been caught in a rather deep drift of snow.
“There’s snow here, so…the northern continent of Niveus?”
There was no answer to that as Terrill and Floyd finished pulling the girl out with a crunch. Soon as she was free, Terrill looked for Krysta and Walter to find that the two were together, staring out over a choppy sea, looks of horror upon their faces. Terrill made to join them, while Floyd and Torry took the rear.
“The shadow…” Krysta whispered, her hand pointing across the sea.
At first, it was difficult to identify, but as the land that marked the continent south of them began to be seen in the far distance, Terrill could see that which Krysta was speaking of: wisps of a shadow rising into the air, darkening the continent of Gladius. The seas gnashed and cried out with their dark waves, and the very breeze felt tainted the longer they looked south. Only one horrible conclusion could be drawn.
“We were too late,” Walter said, falling to his knees. “Invaria has begun to war with Valorda.”
“So, it was all for nothing? We failed?” Torry asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Terrill continued watching the shadow rise for a moment until he turned away. It was just as desolate to the north, a snowy field of nothing but trees and caves dotting the treacherous landscape.
Yet to Terrill, it was an opportunity they might not have been afforded before, and this time, they had more information. This time, they had a far clearer goal.
“Not yet we haven’t,” Terrill said. “We’re not done yet. It’s time to free the Lifebloods.”
They had failed, but it wasn’t over.
With that knowledge, Terrill took his first steps to cross the snowy plains.
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“I guess I pushed him too far.” Winifred’s lamenting sigh carried across the Carzentaurian Mountains, the woman sitting upon a peak that overlooked the plains of Valorda. Already the shadow had begun to rise, the stench of despair and the rancor of war evident in the air. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“You did what you felt was right. We cannot afford to regret any unscrupulous actions on our part, Winifred.” A hand curled around her shoulder, and Winifred looked up to find Clay resting there, overlooking the same sight together. Part of her, the part that was bound to their master’s soul, told her she should be glad to gaze upon all that she had helped devise. Yet all Winifred began to feel was shame. “If he breaks from this, then he is useless as a hero.”
“Isn’t his role as the hero done?” Winifred asked. Her hands reached up, absentmindedly playing with the locket on her chest. She snapped it open, gazing at the picture inside, that memory of a different time, or perhaps a different life. She never could remember at this point, how the years had blended together.
“Who could say?” Clay mused, sounding as though he found the whole situation rather humorous. Winifred wanted to laugh at that; only a Fiend could find war amusing. Although, she began to think, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t enjoyed it herself, and she hated that. “One prophecy speaks of the hero and Shadow King clashing to create a war. There’s no guarantee this is that war. And besides, we still need him.”
“Tch, yeah, all right.” Winifred stood, dusting her clothes off with a scowl on her face. “I’ll try not to muck it up this time.”
“Be sure that you don’t.” Clay’s warning was almost as chilling as when Atrum gave them. Almost. Winifred bit back her laugh, and flicked her hair out. She sniffed at the air, sensing its change and the smell of fire on it.
“That said, Blaise, could you not bother me? I have things to do.” The geyser of fire confirmed her thoughts, and through it strode the man in the monk’s robes, storming over to Winifred with a furious expression.
“You have things to do?! Your role was to find the hero, not interfere with my test!” Blaise reached up for Winifred, only to find his hand stopped by a resolute Clay. “Let go. She killed me.”
“Again, no less. You need better situational awareness,” Winifred said, knowing how her jabs would rile him up. She wasn’t disappointed, as Blaise lunged for her, but was fully restrained by Clay.
“Now, now, Blaise, Winifred still has her role to fulfill, and you need rest. Even for a Fiend, death is not something we can walk off without at least a momentary consequence. And I have a job for you.”
“A job?” Blaise relaxed in Clay’s hold, now intrigued by the situation. Winifred yawned, bored with the proceedings, but waited to hear things out.
“I need you to go to Dimidia and ensure that things remain the same. It would do no good for our Shadow King’s plan if the pieces were to move back into alignment.”
“It sounds boring,” Blaise scoffed. Yet Winifred could tell he was smiling all the same. As always, the Fiends were back in the game. She gripped her locket tighter. “But for now, I’ll play along. Let us ensure this world’s destiny is thrown off course.”
In a wink of flame, he disappeared, leaving Clay’s eyes to settle on Winifred. She waved her hand.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go find our hero. You just stay out of trouble, Clay, before you’re seen as some sort of manipulative chess-master that hasn’t picked a side in this conflict. Don’t want the old man interfering further, right?” His smile at that was unrevealing, as usual. Winifred just prepared to warp away. “Let’s bring an end to this farce.”
She disappeared from the mountaintop.
TO BE CONTINUED…